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tial instruments were borne towards them on the air. Multitudes were thronging in one direction; the Calle Soledad seemed one mass of human heads, save where the scaffold raised its frightful sign above them. Soldiers were advancing, forming a thin, glittering line through the crowds. In their centre stood the prisoner. On, again, dashed the chargers-scarcely a hundred yards separated them from the palace-gate. Wildly Marie glanced back once more-there were figures on the scaffold. And at that moment-borne in the stillness more loudly, more heavily than usual, or, at least, so it seemed to her tortured senses-the huge bell of the castle chimed the hour of noon!

(To be continued.)

REMINISCENCES OF NORTH WALES. No. IV.

THE GRAVE OF GELERT.

BY FREDERICK ENOCH.

Oh! I love the sunny vale of Gêlert,
Shrined in the mountain's clasp,
Like a wild enchanting beauty,
Smiling in a giant's grasp.
There the mountain torrent dances
Onward, with a joyous song;
There the summer sun-light glances,
Purple, cloud-veiled hills among.

There, when morning's mists are breaking,
Peals the wild harp's glowing lay,
Till eve draws her spangled curtain

O'er the blushing cheek of day.
With its old time-hallow'd strain
Breathing of the past again.

Not alone the torrent's song,
Borne upon the mist-hung gale,
Or the hills' majestic throng,
Make me love Beth-Gêlert's* vale;
Not alone the landscape's glory
Binds me to that home of bliss ;
But an old tradition's story

I have woven into this :

The pearly morn was breaking

Upon the mountain's side;
The mists their paths were taking
Along the streamlet's tide,
Far, far above, in ether blue

Their sun-lit forms to glide.

The lake, the dell, and mountain rang
With shouts of horn and hound,
And fast the hunted wild wolf sprang

Along the dewy ground;
Old Snowdon's forest, towering nigh,
Gave back the jocund sound.

Soon did the shouting huntsmen gain
Upon the gaunt wolf's tread,
And e'er noon's sun illumed the plain,
His form lay cold and dead.

But grief was on Llewellyn's face,

And thought was in his eye; His ear had miss'd, amid the chase, His faithful Gêlert's cry. And glad he turn'd his foaming steed, His homestead joys to share; He cared not the wild chase to lead

If Gêlert were not there.

The chief was soon within the gate,
The steed was in the stall;
With blithesome step and heart elate,
Llewellyn gain'd the hall.

Where he had left, with morning's light,
His child with gladsome mood,
O Heaven! the scene that met his sight!
'T was Gêlert, bathed in blood!
Who leap'd around him with delight,
As in triumphant mood.

The couch turn'd o'er-his child, oh! where? His favourite standing nigh, "What! hast thou slain Llewellyn's heir?"

He shriek'd, “then thou shalt die !

Like lightning from the summer cloud,
His blade flew from the sheath-
With one deep yell, prolong'd and loud-
The poor hound slept in death!
He turn'd the fallen couch aside,
His child lay smiling there!
And, weltering in a gory tide,

A dead wolf, gaunt and spare!

My strain, like Aberglaslyn's stream,†
Should dark and wildly flow,
And on the ear with sadness teem,
To tell Llewellyn's woe.

His heart's-dew glitter'd in his eye,
And blanched was his cheek,
And in his bosom battled high

The grief he could not speak.

His heart broke 'neath the madd'ning strainThe wild Welsh chief ne'er smiled again!

And where the mountain breezes fly,
To kiss the torrent's wave,
He raised a costly tomb on high,
And call'd it "Gêlert's Grave."

Three mossy stones are all that lie
To mark the sacred spot;
But while, beneath the changeful sky,
Old Snowdon rears his form on high,
It will not be forgot.

Not alone the landscape's glory
Binds me to that home of bliss,
But an old time-hallow'd story
I have woven into this.
High above the torrent's roar,

Floating on tradition's gale,
Still shall live this tale of yore,
Of Beth-Gêlert's sunny vale.

* Beth-Gelert ; literally, “The Grave of Gêlert." rent in the Pont Aberglaslyn,

*The conflux of the Blue Pool, a mountain tor

BIRTHDAY REMINISCENCES.

BY CALDER CAMPBELL.

The hour is drawing onwards,
Drawing onwards fast;

Like a bird that, soaring sunwards,
Meeteth clouds at last,

I shall feel its heavy press :Forty-six long years shall load me With a clanking chain,

While recurring memories

To a sense of pain,

goad me

As I count the friends whose tenderness

I can never know again!

"Tis death which hath bereaved me

Of all I most deplore:

Yet this knowledge hath relieved me
Of sorrow still more sore;

For oh! how dagger-sharp must be
Pangs that strike the heart, forsaken
By the friend untrue!
Memory, thou canst not awaken
Thoughts so dark of hue!

Oh! fairer than inconstancy
Seems the death-pall to my view?

Oh! twenty years and seven,
Seven-and-twenty years
Make up a bitter leaven

Of life's hopes and fears;

And this time hath pass'd since I
Left, with clear skies shining o'er me,
Health and hope in view,

Mine own Highland home-before me
Fields and fancies new;

A smile conflicting with the sigh
With which I said adieu!

Sighs and tears, my mother,

Sister too, for thee,

Well were due; for thee, young brother, Never more to be

Seen on earth, for o'er thy bed
Droop'd the winding-sheet unnoted!
But my smiles-as still

Youths are aye-like sea-birds floated,
Reckless of each ill,

O'er every surge, that raised its head
In vain, against my will.

I loved my Indian dwelling,

I loved my messmates all;

I loved to hear the cadenced swelling
Of the clarion's call.

Oh! a soldier's life was dear!
In the mazy woods I wander'd,
By the dashing streams;
While the sunshine, as I ponder'd,
Nurs'd romantic dreams

That had no hue of doubt or fear
In their bright and varied gleams!

And then came sudden battle,

Long and drear campaigns; But the cannon's stormy rattle Fills the soldier's veins

With a rush of rapture wild;

Then came travail, wounds, and trouble,
Then came peace at last;

Then disease, whose pains are double
When youth's glow hath pass'd;

And yearn'd I, as doth yearn a child,

For the spot where my mother's shadow was cast !

And on the rocking ocean,

On the rushing wave,
Boundeth with a bird-like motion

O'er many a drown'd one's grave,

The proud ship that bore me back;
And a father's arms are round me,
While my longing lips

Feel the kisses that erst found me
Pure, as dove that dips

A stainless beak in streamlet's track,
While the wholesome lymph it sips!

Then to mine Indian forests

I returned once more;

Oh! truly parting striketh sorest
When Time teacheth lore

From experience slowly taken!
Well I guess'd that, darling mother,
We should ne'er again

Ever breathe for one another
Words of hope in pain;

And then I felt all joy-forsaken
As our tears fell down, like rain!
Back to mine eastern forest,

Forest now unblest!
Oh! truly sickness striketh sorest
When hope quits the breast!

Dear ones perish'd in my arms,
Dear ones perish'd who had loved me:
By their weed-wrapt tombs
Hoarsely hissing snakes reproved me,
'Mid the midnight glooms,

For lax neglect of holier charms
Than lurk 'mid earthly blooms!

Now England is before me ;
Scotland, ne'er again

Shalt thou fondly scatter o'er me
Smiles to soften pain!

Father, mother, where are they?
Sickness, poverty, unkindness,
Friendship lost, love dead!
If I called for mental blindness,
Blame me not; than dread

Of living loveless, day by day,
Give me reason's loss instead!
The hour is drawing onward;

Hark, the chiming sound!
As a bird that, soaring sunward,
Meeteth clouds all round,

I can feel them gathering o'er
Steadily, a heart that sigheth
For redeeming grace;

Let me kneel, and pray, while dieth
Time, in Time's embrace,

A new and purer spirit for,

With strength to finish well life's race! March 30, 1846.

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"RUSSLAND'S INNERES LEBEN," AND "REISEN UND SKIZZEN IM RUSSISCHEN REICHE.”

These two works, the former of which is by a thirty-three years' resident in Russia, and the latter by J. G. Kohl, whose travels have extended through all the chief European capitals, form two as opposite pictures as could possibly be painted: they might with justice be termed "the lights and shadows of Russian life." Herr Kohl, whose actual residence among the people cannot have been of any long duration, appears to have written his "Travels and Sketches of the Empire of Russia" in the best possible humour: the sunlight of satisfaction shines in almost every page; and if he occasionally touches on the darker side, it is but to quit the ungracious subject as quickly as possible, and skim on again lightly and pleasantly over the surface. The author of "The Internal Life of Russia" who modestly, or perhaps prudently, withholds his name on the other hand, commences by declaring that it is not his intention to describe the lions of Russia, but to give a picture of life of the manner in which this mighty capital of the north thinks, acts, and lives, and of its internal policy; and plainly declares that he loves the country not, although remembrances of kindnesses received leave a grateful feeling in his heart towards many of its inhabitants. "If," he says, "there is one country in the world more incomprehensible than another, it is Russia; so much that is extraordinary, improbable, and inexplicable everywhere meets the eye of the stranger, that all appears like some strange dream, and the mind must pause and reflect before it can believe itself among realities. Russia stands, in fact, so entirely alone, that no comparison can be instituted between it and any other European country. Nor is there even internal harmony: all the separate portions are at extremes it is either the lord or the slave luxury or abject misery."

As Kohl gives the fullest description of the capital, the public buildings, &c., &c., we will take him first, and then fill up the picture and throw in the back-ground from the other author; and it is, however, by no means our intention to quote long passages from either author, but merely to give a brief summary of the contents of these four interesting and graphic volumes.

Petersburgh bears not the slightest resemblance to Berlin, London, Paris, or Vienna; for these cities are all centrally full, crowded, and dense with building, as if every inch of ground were precious. In Petersburgh, on the contrary, the streets are all wide, and the houses roomy, large, and surrounded by spacious courts or grounds. Many of the private houses will accommodate two or three hundred individuals, and are inhabited by a perfect colony, comprising in its list all ranks, trades, and professions;

and no city in the world can boast such colossal public buildings, as may be easily imagined, when we state that some of them accommodate from four to six thousand souls. Kohl says"Were all the buildings in Petersburgh placed side by side in one continuous row, they would occupy an extent of four hundred and seventyfive English miles." The population is estimated at 450,000, and the males are to the females as two to one. The streets, wide and airy as they are, have their disadvantages. In summer there is no shelter from the burning heat of the sun, and in the winter no protection from the bleak and bitter winds. The pavement, too, although constantly undergoing repair, is dreadful: this arises from the soft, spongy nature of the soil, which suffers wood, stone, cement, or any other material of which the pavement may be composed, to sink in. Were it not for the strenuous exertions of the police, who compel everybody to clean the portion opposite their own houses daily, the streets would be impassable either from dust or mud. In the winter only, when the ground is covered with snow, and frost-bound, is there anything like a solid road. And lastly, the small oil-lamps shed such a faint glimmer at night, that they do but serve to render the pitchy darkness more visible. The shops are very handsomely arrayed, and generally decorated with pictures in gay and brilliant colours, representing the articles sold within, and sometimes the tools made use of in the business; such signs being more in use, and perhaps better suited to the capacities of a great portion of the population, than letters and words. Some of those belonging to the better shops are beautifully executed, and very splendid; while others are gaudy and ludicrous. Most trades may generally be found dwelling together in classes; and the shopkeepers stand at their doors, puffing their wares and inviting customers, whom they will impose upon and overcharge if they can. All business ceases at sunset.

The Neva, on the banks of which Petersburgh is situated, and which is frozen for five or six months of every year, is invaluable; it is the only water which this great city possesses of any kind, and accordingly it forms the highway of commerce, fills the canals, supplies the inhabitants with fish and with water for drinking and cooking, is the general washing-tub-this necessary operation not being performed, as with us, in-doors, but on the banks of the river, or on floating rafts constructed for the purposeand cleanses the sewers! Kohl pronounces it "as pure and clear as it is possible for river water to be;" but admits that "just at first it has a peculiar effect on strangers.' Let us hear

what our thirty-three years' resident has to say on this point: "This water has the effect of jalap and aloes on strangers; yet lucky is he who gets it straight from the river, for the canals which lead off from it are receptacles for every kind of filth and abomination." He states that he has seen nightmen's carts emptied at the very spot where the following morning the water-carriers came to fill their carts; and has stood by, and seen these fellows filling their barrels and carts, while, close by, the foul water and soap-suds from some public baths were being let off, and tingeing and frothing the water.

The winter begins in October and ends in May; and the cold is most intense, the sun being beneath the horizon by 2 P.M. The brief summer is as intensely hot as the winter is cold, and then there is scarcely any cessation of daylight, it being for many weeks possible to see to read and write at midnight.

The churches in this city are mostly elegant and tolerably modern structures. Armenian, Greek, Protestant, and Roman Catholic places of worship are to be found almost congregated together. But the characteristics of what may be considered the Russian religion are picture, image, and saint worship, and the practice of numerous external ceremonies. Here we quote Kohl for awhile: "It blinds the eyes of the mind, leaves the senses groping in uncertainty, demands blind and unconditional obedience, and inculcates superstitious awe in the place of a lively, trusting faith. Its sacraments include baptism, the Lord's Supper, confession, marriage, consecration, and the communion of the dying." "In baptism the nostrils, mouth, and ears are closed, and the head plunged thrice under water." "At the Lord's Supper, bread is broken into red wine, and handed to the communicants in a spoon: no preparation is considered requisite, and children, as well as grown persons, are permitted to partake of it: everybody is required to receive it once in three years (a ten ruble note* presented to the priest will, however, secure to the most remiss a certificate of regular attendance)." "There is a day set apart for cursing all unbelievers; and even the Russians themselves shudder at the fearful anathemas then thundered from the pulpit.' Kohl gives a curious account of their funeral ceremonies. As soon as life has departed, the corpse is dressed and placed in an open coffin, in a room decorated with funeral pomp, and surrounded by lights, which are kept burning day and night. The relatives watch here by turns, and all friends and acquaintances come to pay their final visit to the departed: even strangers will often step in, and repeat a prayer for the dead. This part of the ceremony lasts three days, and then the corpse is carried to church, still uncovered, attended by bearers and torchmen (even though it be broad day), carrying lighted torches, and wearing long black mantles and large round hats: a long train of mourners

* A ruble is equivalent to 3s. 4d. English money.

follows it. Here the priest receives and blesses it, and places on its bosom a long paper, generally called "the pass," specifying the name, age, religion, and virtues of the deceased," and requesting his patron saint to recommend him to St. Peter as a fit candidate for the joys of heaven." A bandage is then bound round the brow, a cross placed in the cold hand, and a plate of dainty food (which afterwards becomes the perquisite of the priest) put beside the coffin. The funeral mass is performed; the relatives approach one by one to take their last farewell and kiss, and, among the lower classes, lament over and apostrophize the deceased: the lid is screwed down; the procession proceeds to the churchyard; the coffin is lowered into the grave, and each relative throws in upon it a handful of mould, and with it apparently all remembrance of the lost one, for rarely, if ever, is the slightest allusion made to a deceased relative, and all is over.

Coffins are very seldom covered with black: those for children are of rose colour; for young unmarried males and females, light blue; for elderly women, violet or ruby-coloured; and for men, dark brown, or occasionally black. The coffins for the wealthy are covered with velvet or rich stuff; those for the poor merely stained or painted. A large assortment of every kind and size are always kept in stock, as the coffin is required directly the breath has departed. The other funeral appointments are dead black, unrelieved even by a white thread or nail. The hospitals are numerous, well-endowed, and exceedingly well-built and arranged. The same observations apply to the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. The Lunatic Asylum, or as it is termed by the Russians, "The Hospital for Afflicted Souls," is an airy, spacious, commodious, and salubrious building. The doctors, matrons, and attendants, male and female, are selected for gentleness, endurance, and patience, and discharged on the least exhibition of opposite qualities: they are handsomely paid, and mostly Germans. They treat the lunatics with the utmost courtesy and politeness, and never, excepting in cases of absolute necessity, have recourse to severity. Amusements, employments, and recreations of the most healthful and simple kinds, are offered to all the patients who will partake them; several light occupations taught, and industry encouraged. For the outrageous there are two or three dark rooms, so thoroughly cushioned and padded, as to prevent all possibility of their injuring themselves; and the manager informed Herr Kohl that one or two confinements in these dark and soundless chambers seldom failed to calm the most violent. The female patients predominate, and many of these are said to have gone mad for love of their handsome Emperor.

The Foundling Hospital is another princely building, and most richly endowed: its annual income is estimated at 25,000,000 R., and the sum required for its annual maintenance at 866,666 R. There are two buildings; one at Petersburgh and the other at Gatschina. The infants are received at Petersburgh, and kept

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there for six weeks and wet-nursed; by that, time they are enabled to judge whether they will live or die; they are then farmed out to the peasants for miles round the city, and with these they stay until about six years of age, when the girls are brought back to Petersburgh, and the boys sent to Gatschina, to be educated. At these two establishments they remain until old enough to be sent out into the world. They receive an education in accordance with their capacities, the boys being prepared for some good trade, or for artists, priests, lawyers, or doctors: and the girls for servants, nurses, bonnes, and governesses; and the demand for these latter is greater than the supply the Russians, so far from feeling any prejudice against a governess educated at "the Foundling," eagerly desiring to have such in their families.

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from our other author, and look upon the shady side of the picture. According to him, "the courts of law are distinguished from those of all other countries by the flagrant injustice, cool roguery, chicanery, and bribery practised by all attached to them. How much do you think it has cost me in bribes only?' said a wealthy merchant who was at law with his nagh bour respecting a piece of ground-13,000 rubles I assure you!' The price at which justice may be purchased varies according to the means of him who seeks it, or the rapacity of the administrators. Sometimes it is paid in money, at others in plate, horses, valuable paintings, wine, &c. One buys it with his own honour, another with that of a wife or a sister; another barters it for some act, document, situation, or such-like, and the whole affair is conducted as a regular bargain in trade or com merce woud be, the highest bidder becoming the victor. The first question of a lawyer to his client, is, How large a sum can you advance?' Every separate limb of the law, from the humblest clerk up to the judge, has to be feed before a single step will be taken; and then they only make a beginning, and the affair is left to slumber awhile, until the impatient client urges them on, upon which they require from him a second stimulus; and having obtained that, advance another step; and thus it proceeds, until he is ruined or tired out, or his opponent outbids him.

There are numerous public and private schools in Russia, the former conducted by Government, the latter obliged to submit to its regulations; but most of the wealthy and noble families prefer educating their children at home. The thirty-three years' resident" says, "all the principal schools, whether for boys or girls, are under the control of Government, which thus obtains for itself as firm a hold over the minds of the free-born as it possesses over the bodies of the peasantry. The child, once entered at one of these, does not cross the threshold of the paternal home for six years, and only sees its relatives on a Sunday. Thus, when they do return, it is as strangers, devoid of all na- "An advocate, when reasoned with on the intural affections, their heads crammed with su-justice of his extortions, replied, 'I admit that perficial knowledge and showy accomplish-you have justice on your side; but we must ments their hearts a perfect void." We live! Were we simply to endeavour to do cannot, therefore, wonder that all who can af-justice, we should starve, our incomes being by ford it should wish to educate their children at

home.

According to Kohl, English, French, German, and Swiss governesses and preceptors are in great request; receive enormous salaries, even as much as four and five hundred pounds per annum (some difference between that and the miserable pittances here grudgingly accorded to them); are received into the very best society regarded as oracles, and may often marry well, or at any rate lay by a decent provision for after-life; but he adds, in order to do this, they must lay aside every shadow of sentiment, adapt themselves to circumstances, take and maintain a high ground, be showily and variously informed-it matters little how superficially-and have a good stock of assurance.

Manufactories of almost every kind are now established, or becoming established, in Russia; and instead of importing their articles of utility and luxury, the Russians now endeavour, and not unsuccessfully, to imitate them. Their tapestry, carpet, porcelain, paper, glass, and furniture manufactories are spoken of by Kohl in terms of the highest praise: they have also silk and cotton mills, iron foundries, lapidaries, and sugar manufactories. Most of these are conducted by English or Germans, but the

workmen are all Russians.

We shall now draw for awhile almost entirely

no means adequate to the style we are compelled to support: so, as our laws admit of being twisted into any shape we please, there is no reason why we should not avail ourselves of their pliability. Another comes and says, Your cause is about to be decided upon, and will assuredly be decided against you, unless we revive in your favour an ancient act. This we will do if you will pay us five hundred rubles; the president will not take a kopeck less.' The man, relying upon the justice of his cause, declines this proposal. In a few days comes the lawyer again- Sentence has been given against you; but we have not yet made it public, as we thought you might prefer paying the five hun dred rubles. Perhaps, nay, I am almost sure, I could arrange matters for you for four hundred.' The police courts are managed much in the same way; insolence, knavery, and reckless injustice distinguish the officials. A painter of some celebrity, who happens to bear the same name as a man charged with forgery, is arrested, dragged through the streets in broad daylight, handcuffed with common felons, and when the mistake is made so evident that even their obstinate senses cannot fail to perceive it, dis missed with the consolatory remarks- Mis takes will happen; and he may think himself well off that it is no worse!' A German finds a man half-buried in the snow, and nearly frozen

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