SPECTATOR'S LIBRARY.

TRAVELS,

Notes of a Half-Pay, in Search of Health ; or Russia, Circassia, and the Crimea, in

184-40. By Captain Jesse, Unattached. Iu two volumes Madden and Co. narrow,

The Jacquerie. or The Lady and the Page; an Historical Romance. By G. P. R.

James, Esq., Author of " The Gipsy," &c. &c. In three volumes. STATISTICS. Longman and Co. The History of the Republic of Texas, from the discovery of the country to the pre- sent time, and the cause of the separation from the Republic of Mexico By N. Doran Maillard, Esq., Barrister-at-law of Texas Smith and Elder.

CAPTAIN JESSE'S NOTES OF A HALF-PAY.

AT sixteen, Captain JESSE found himself at the mess-table of a regiment in India ; where hot tiffins, Hodgson's pale, claret-cup, sangaree, and other beverages, with snipe-shooting under a Tropi- cal sun, and swamp-water up to the knees, as well as the casualties of service, produced two fevers and the cholera morbus, and sent him home, after six years service, a confirmed dyspeptic. The monotony of country-quarters for six years more failed to restore him; and he was advised to travel. A medical certificate procuring his retirement, the half-pay Captain started with his wife to ascend the Rhine, sojourn in Switzerland, and examine Italy. By this time his complaints had left him ; but having met some pleasant Russians at Rome, who recommended the Crimea as a second Naples, our traveller was seduced into taking a journey to Odessa by Greece and Constantinople. He was not long there before he discovered his error; but having come thus far, he determined to make the most of his situation. Circassia was forbidden ground— his travels there are only on his titlepage ; but he traversed the Crimea, wintered at Odessa, and having posted across the Steppes to St. Petersburg by Moscow, he remained in the capital time enough to see the sights, and returned to Hamburg through Sweden.

The earlier parts of his journey Captain JESSE passes over cur- sorily ; and there is nothing new in his rapid runs about Greece, sometimes by night, or his residence at Constantinople ; nor any thing of interest in his tour through the Crimea, except his exami- nation of the docks of Sevastopol. His Russian matter is of a more solid, general, and informing character. Residing at Odessa for sonic time, and mixing in a society less got up for show than that of St. Petersburg, he was more behind the scenes than a casual in- dropper upon the capital. The Half-pay Captain also possesses the curiosity and military precision characteristic of his profession: he looks sharp about as if upon a reconnoissance ; what is not pal- pable he inquires into ; and notes all down. The Captain also ob- served the navy, docks, soldiery, and warlike economy of the em- pire, with the eye of the " services " ; detecting many weak points latent to civil eyes, and making light of the finery and martinet precision of the show-troops for Imperial reviews. And although he is not particularly impartial when Russia is in the ques- tion, and possesses a pair of " truly British" optics, yet we make do doubt that the conclusions he comes to are more true than those formed by Lord LONDONDERRY, who had every thing pre- pared for him before be went to- it ; or even than Mr. VENABLE; who, residing with a family, was confined to a more limited sphere, and encountered every thing with padding interposed. It may be questioned, indeed, whether high rank or great interest enables one to acquire more real knowledge in strange places than less favoured mortals. No doubt, more can be seen in less time, and with much less trouble. But it is seen as we see a play or a pageant. A man in whose favour the rules of public offices are suspended, or made to work smoothly, cannot by possibility have the same knowledge of the general system, as one who has to comply with all its regu- lar forms and delays, dance attendance upon the caprices of the officials, and administer a succession of bribes to get his business done. Nor have the great time to observe what they see, whilst the humbler traveller can thoroughly study the fewer objects before him. Were it not for these counterbalances, royalty and nobility would monopolize knowledge ; which it is pretty well known is not the case, but the reverse : they are like men who walk through a library instead of reading a book—they know all about the out- sides.

In saying "that Captain JESSE presents a truer picture of Russia than other travellers, we do not think that there is any thing new in his book, strictly speaking, unless it be some of the pro- fessional observations : open venality in public officers whether civil or military ; despotism in the Government, the employes domineering over their social equals or inferiors, whilst the Empe- ror domineers over all ; forced civilization, with grand-looking but plaster public buildings surrounded by hovels; one high-road through a part of the great line of communication, and all the rest in st state of nature ; a high degree of accomplishment attained by a particular class, gross superstition and ignorance in the mass of the people, and the absence everywhere of all that gives principle or stability to the characters of men ; slavery pervading the entire country, the nobles having absolute power over the peasants, the Government over the nobles and citizens, and the laws in favour of the serfs being practically a dead letter, as in most slave- holding communities ; while a corruption mental, moral, and do- mestic, taints society, the whole threatening some terrible erup- tion when the resolute and active despot who compresses the aggregate together shall be withdrawn. The main facts of this picture, we say, are not new ; they may be gathered from the different modern travellers in Russia, and even from the notices of many works in this journal: but we think they are presented more plainly and compactly in Captain JESSE'S Notes than in

other books—though the external splendour of the court and courtiers was either not seen by him or did not impress him. The grenadier stature of the Emperor, the splendid appearance of theme- tropolitan troops, and the mathematical exactness of every thing about them, do not seem to have struck the Indian officer as they have done some ladies and fine gentlemen. In a soldierly point of view, he seems to look upon the Emperor as not much more than a military tailor and martinet. The future fate of Russia—the risk from the discontent and ambition of some of the nobility, and the raw Republican dreams of a few, together with the oppression of the masses—has escaped him, and has indeed only been caught by Mr. VENABLES.

The actual barbarism, and the " fine-waistcoat-over-dirty-shirt " civilization of Russia, are scattered through many anecdotes and many speculations of the Notes of a Half-Pay; and have, as well as the immorality of Russia, been somewhat familiarized to readers of' the Spectator. The nature of the empire's material strength has more novelty, is more important, and is more readily presented by extract.

RUSSIAN WORKMEN.

The difficulties of such undertakings in Russia are considerably increased by the scanty number of good artificers ; the principal part of those employed being soldiers, who, originally serfs, and not brought up to any trade, make but poor workmen, even when employed for the most ordinary purposes. This I saw strongly illustrated in the removal of the hill on the site of which the Admiralty is to be erected. Upwards of 4,000 men, taken from the garrison, were at work to effect this. Very few bad even band-barrows ; the majority were carrying away the earth in their coat-tails, and in bags about as large as those used by hackney-coachmen in feeding their horses. Their movements were slow and spiritless, and they seemed to be almost incapable of greater exertion. Those who are entirely under Colonel U.'s control, and obliged to use the wheel- barrows he has made, could with difficulty be brought to see the benefit of them ; but once satisfied on the subject, these articles were regularly fought for, as they work by task. The want of common energy exhibited by these men is easily understood. The Government allowance of fourpence a day, which they are supposed to receive, is put into the " caisse d'epargnes," (stock- purse,) from which few of them ever reap any benefit ; at any rate, the prospect of doing so on discharge is too remote to be a stimulus to their exertions.; whereas if the money was paid into their hands at the time, it would be an in- centive to their industry.

The pumps which clear the cofferdams at the Admiralty quay were worked by deserters. All persons travelling in this country without passports are con- sidered vagabonds, and are also liable to be so employed.

ROADS IN RUSSIA.

The whole distance from Odessa (to two stages from bfoscow) is a mere track marked by verst-posts about ten feet high on each side, and by them the traveller is guided across the open steppe ; but these posts do not determine the width of the road : each carriage picks its own way, either a hundred yards or half a mile to the right or left, as the horses or driver may think fit. This track cannot be called a road ; it is merely traced over the natural soil by one vehicle after another; there is not a shovelfull of material laid down, nor is there any fencing or draining. In she ',Ancor the verat-posts are the compass of the steppe, and without them it would be impossible to proceed after heavy falls of snow : in this season the track is so uneven that persons are constantly thrown out of their sledges by the violent jolts. In wet weather it is almost impassable, and after the thaw has set in quite so for a few weeks. Traffic is then almost suspended, and the transport of the mails is a service of great danger, as the wooden bridges, which have been taken up during the winter,are not replaced till the weather is settled : the gagers are frequently obliged to pass the rivers on rafts. In the latter part of the spring the ground is suddenly hardened by the slight frosts which follow the thaw, and in the summer retains all the inequalities it then had ; presenting, particularly through forests where the track is narrow, and consequently more cut up, a series of ruts, holes, and hillocks. In the continued heat, which withers all the grass on the steppe, some inches of the surface is beaten into dust, and in a light wind a hand- kerchief over the face is almost indispensable in travelling. The dust on a hot Derby-day will give but a faint idea of it. In some places a few trees are occasionally planted by the side of the track ; but they are not much more picturesque, and certainly at this season not more verdant than the verst-posts. When the Emperor is going to travel, instructions are sent to the Governors of the different provinces through which he intends to pass, to put the track in some sort of repair : should this circumstance chance to occur in the middle of harvest, the peasants are obliged to leave the crops and set to work.

RUSSIAN TROOPS AND DISCIPLINE.

The corps of guards and grenadiers go under canvass every summer. When at St. Petersburg, I went over to the camp at Sarsko Selo to see them ; and as rain had fallen for several days consecutively, the troops appeared to be in a most forlorn state. The interior of their tents was full of mud mixed up with straw; upon this the men were lying, in dirty cotton drawers and shirts, without either coats, trousers, or shoes. I was not a little surprised, however, to find that many of the officers, though apparently living in tents, were inhabiting small wooden houses under them ; they were about six feet square, and as easily packed up and reerected as the tents: the floor was boarded, and we dined four in one of them very comfortably. The Emperor when in camp lives under canvass.

I saw a picked man from each company of a battalion of the Preobrajensky regiment. They were remarkably tall; but being very much padded out at the breast, and drawn in very tight at the waist, they had, in their greatcoats, a very lanky appearance: many of the regiments of the line that 1 saw at Mos- cow and in the South would have worked them off their legs in a campaign of any duration. The hospitals were filling fast ; and I was told that a great many casualties take place on their return to their splendid quarters at St. Petersburg, after the summer manoeuvres. Here they are so worried by the numerous tracasseries connected with their dress and appointments, that they avoid leaving their barracks as much as possible. The Emperor not long ago, observing that but few soldiers were to be seen in the streets, asked the military governor the reason. He was either afraid, or too good a courtier to give the right one ; but to prevent a recurrence of the remark, issued an order that some of the men of each company should be told off every day as the "walking section," to ornament the most public parts of the capital. Discipline is kept up by extreme measures, and the cane is used at pleasure; but a man who has received the ribbon of St. George is, by the regulations of the service, exempt from this species of punishment. The officers not unfrequently give way to violence of temper. I once saw a captain inspecting his guard near the quarantine at Odessa, strike one of his men a blow on the face with his fist, and, seizing him by both his ears, shake him until he pulled him out of the ranks : the man's cap then fell off, and the officer, ordering a corporal to pick it up, jammed it down on his head with another blow. The whole system is carried on in the same tyrannical and overbearing manner. The Russian soldier meets with very little kindness or consideration to soften the misery of being imperatively driven into the service.

A MARTINET'S TREATMENT OP HIS BEST GENERAL.

Lieutenant-General Mouravieff commenced his career as a lieutenant in a regiment quartered in Georgia, of which country be was afterwards many years Governor-General. It is acknowledged that there is no officer in the Russian army of the same talents and acquirements: he has great capabilities as a lin- guist, and is said to speak thirteen languages, many of them Eastern. Though more than acquainted with the duties of his profession, he never, like the mar- tinet of Warsaw, examined whether the men's gloves were sewn on the inside or out; nor did be care whether their caps were put on at the precise angle prescribed by the Imperial orderly-book at St. Petersburg; moreover, he had opinions of his own, not exactly in accordance with those of his master. A. few years ago, his division was ordered to one of the great reviews : but, though in a good and effective state, its appearance did not meet with the approbation of the Emperor; who had scarcely glanced his eye along the line, when he or- dered Mouravieff to the rear, exclaiming aloud, " Bad, bad what troops! National Guards !" The manreuvres over, the disgraced General was ordered -into his presence. " What means this, Sir ?" demanded the Emperor. No an- swer. " What troops do you call these, Sir ?" Still no answer. "Do you know who is speaking to you, Sir?" The General raised his hand slowly to his cap, but remained silent. Dismissed with indignation, he retired to his tent : the policy, however, of Nicholas gained the ascendant over his ungo- vernable temper, and the next day Mouravieff received an invitation to dinner. But the insult had been too public ; he declined the honour ; and now resides at his estate near Tver, refusing either reconciliation or employment.

THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT

Was in a moat disgraceful state of inefficiency. The medicine-chests fur- nished by the colonels of reginienti,for which they draw an allowance, contained then, as now, only a few aperients and emetics : it is true there was a goodly array of bottles and boxes, duly labelled, but no quinine or other medicines that were necessary to the cure of the diseases which decimated the army during this war. The same mismanagement took place in Persia ; and of one regiment three thousand strong, serving in that country, only fifty men re- mained in 1839, nearly all having died of disease. The system of pillage which the troops were driven to adopt, from the wretched state of the com- missariat, made them, independently of other circumstances, thoroughly de- tested by the inhabitants. In conversation one day with an aide-de-camp of the Emperor's at Petersburg, upon the state of the sick-list among the Guards, I was not a little astonished at his telling me that mercury and qui- nine were medicines too expensive to be given to the men; and when I ad- verted as politely as I could to the inhumanity as well as false economy of such a system, he replied, " Ah, mon cher ! a, soldier in Russia costs nothing."