The army of William was immenseSo is that of Bonaparte : It was composed of adventurers from every country in Europe Sos that of Bonáparte: It expected the plunder of an opulent nation-So does that of Bonaparte:The Crown of the Realm was involved in the attempt of William--So it is in that of Bonaparte : But, on the other hand,William had nothing to dread from the English navy-Bonaparte has every thing to dread : William was able to occasion a diversion in the north, by invaders from Norway and Denmark- -Bonaparte is not now able to effect such a diversion: betz, and some others, most of which run to a great extent, can be rendered navigable, and abound in all kinds of fresh water fish. The chief produce for exportation consists in grain, tobacco, fruits, tar, lime, tallow, hemp, flax, honey, wax, pot-ash, millet, hemp and linseed oils, linen, cloth, brandy, and charcoal. Wood is abundant, except in the southern parts, where the inhabitants use wild weeds, rushes, straw, and dried dung, for fuel. The soil is level, in general; for, though it has many high and extensive mountains, or perhaps, more properly hills, with a few exceptions, they rise gently, and fall insensibly, requiring several miles to complete their ascent and descent, and forming delightful vallies between them, which scarcely ever fail of being refreshed with springs of water, clear as chrystal, and covered with luxuriant grass. A summer traveller has but to choose in what valley to stop for the night, and he is William had a great party in his favour, and considerable pretensions to the sovereign-sure of finding food for his horse, with a supty, independent of his army-Bonaparte has none : William was able to assemble his army, and execute his plans unexpectedly-Bonaparte has long given notice of his intentions, and his motions are narrowly watched : In whatever aspect we contemplate the atchievement of William, it is interesting to us, as Britons: but the effects which attended it, are perhaps more interesting still; and these may with advantage be brought to the recollection of our countrymen. ply of water. The stratum of the soil is chiefly rich black mould, produced by the accumulated vegetation, which for many years has been thriving on its own decomposition. This mould is so pure, that gravel, a small stone or pebble, is quite a curiosity; and it is so fitted by the hand of nature for cultivation, that every obstruction which might require the trouble of paring, burning, &c. being removed, the peasant can break up a fresh piece of land without any previous preparation, and obtain from it, by only a single operation of plough and harrow, more produce than is necessary for his consumption. Clay, chalky and light sandy soils, are found in many parts, but the surface is, in general, LETTERS ON THE UKRAINE, BY A RUSSIAN Smooth, and safe for land carriage. It makes GENTLEMAN. [Vide Panorama, Vol. II. p. 1250.] better roads in its natural state than any contrived by art and labour. A messenger in the Ukraine can travel almost twice as far, in one day, as in many other parts of Russia, even where the roads are paved. It is common with a traveller, for the purpose of shortening his journey, to leave the main road, and, merely on the strength of his judgment, Little Russia and the Ukraine, including the governments of l'chernigow, Kiew, Novgorod Sieversky, Kharkow, and Ekaterinoslaw, contain a population of near four milto drive his vehicle across a tract of land exlions; and are bounded on the west by Po-hibiting no marks whatever to guide him; land, and the plains or deserts of Otchakow; on the north by the governments of Sinolensk and Moghilew, or white Russia; on the east, by the governments of Voroneje, and the habitations of the Don Cozaks; and on the south by the sea of Azow and Taurida. The principal rivers passing through the country, thus extending from 51° 24' lat. and 49° 13' long to 48 4 lat. and 53° 20' long. are the Desna, Dnieper, Psiol, Soula, Vorskla, Scym, Oskol, Ouda, Donetz, Orel, Samara, Siniukha, Ingoul, Ingouletz, Trou Compare Panorama, Vol. III. p. 154. and if he only be certain of not missing his place of destination, he apprehends no obstruction from a bad road, or from the want of a road. With such natural advantages, it is not surbour should produce so much; and that their prising that the Ukrainians with so little la herds, studs, and flocks, should be so extensive. The number of cattle they supply to` St. Petersburgh, Moskow, and foreign countries; of horses to the Russian armies, and. private individuals; and of sheep, which fur nish the finest mutton in the Russian empire, is truly prodigious; and, if necessary, might be increased ten-fold. I know a gentleman | which, introducing one common sentiment, in the neighbourhood of Slaviansk, proprie- supported by individual interest, in proportion tor of 17,000 acres of land (one Russian acre as it depends on the community, may, at makes about three English) situated on the length, form that desirable bond, which Toretz, who raised yearly a stock of 400 would be sufficient to supersede all other. cattle, excepting the bulls; 400 horses, not Until such a bond, that is, self-interest, the including the stallions; 5,000 sheep, and 500 unerring guide of the human heart, be estarams; yet he is not considered by any means blished, to give freedom to the boors would as a very rich man! It is evident, that to be a measure fraught with danger; it would maintain, and to provide winter fodder for not only deprive the empire of its best portion such a stock, must require a great many of industry, but would establish gangs of hands; and that, were it not for the indis- vagabonds, thieves, robbers, and murderers, pensable regulation by which a tenant, or preying on its vitals, whom no law could boor, cannot leave his master's estate, the controul, and against whose rapacity there price of labour probably would be greater would be no security. It is best, therefore, than it is even in America. that they should be continued in their present state, and be relieved only according to the progress of commerce and civilization. Humanity has done every thing to ameliorate their condition, and make them content and happy without injuring the interests of the public. Their property is protected, their life secured, and their morals are independent. They enjoy all those rights and privileges which are essential to a subject; and their slavery, if such it must be called, consists merely in being obliged to live on the same spot, or rather, in not having the liberty of leaving it without their master's permission. In other words, far from being slaves, like the negroes, and, formerly the Polish boors, they are only tenants for life; and the individual inconvenience arising from this restriction, is trifling, when compared to the vast public benefit of which it is productive. I cannot help observing here, that this regulation is the bulwark and main strength of the Russian empire. Occupying an immense space of the globe, limited by no bounds which absolutely deny a passage, and abounding with deserts and forests, which might afford refuge and wild food to the idle, its prosperity, and, perhaps, its political existence would be destroyed, if the people were not held together by a bond which they cannot break. None would live in the same place, cultivating with constant labour the portion of land allotted to him, when he knew, that by going a little farther, he might obtain as much as would supply his wants, comparatively without any trouble. No one could be made to contribute his mite to the public good, when he could avoid it, by taking refuge in places secure against all search and vigilance. In short, none would work that could live without working. To prove this, I have only to state what must strike every observer, that in all the villages inhabited by boors, the proportion of industry and stock, is triple to what it is in places occupied chiefly by free peasants; the reason is evident, from the fact, that the latter, having less impulse, work less, and pass their time in sloth and drunkenness; so that, were it not for the difficulty of obtaining passports, of making long journeys without incurring suspicion, and other checks by which they are kept somewhat within the regulation of the boors, they would emigrate to where they could subsist with still less exertion, and, by degrees, disperse themselves beyond the power of government to collect them, and to exact from them what they owe to the state; or, if this were practicable, they would have little or nothing to give; and the reduction of their individual means would, collectively, be highly detrimental to the public revenue and welfare. Before the emancipation of the boors can be adopted with safety, it is absolutely necessary to substitute for the above regulation some other bond or tie, which may, with equal effect, hold the body of the empire together. This can only be done by extending commerce, The climate of the Ukraine is one of the healthiest and, perhaps, the finest in the world. It has all the conveniences and pleasure of the Italian climate, without its evils. The seasons are so regularly divided, that the distinction between them is marked with reality, and certainty in point of time; whereas in some other countries, it is lost in confusion. The heat during the summer is intense, but not oppressive; and before any one of those dreadful calamities, which are incident to warm countries, can take place, the autumn steps in and prevents it; or, if any has taken place, suspends its ravages, till the winter destroys it. Winter is as severe as in the northern parts of Russia, and affords full as great a variety of pleasure; for this is the merriest season in Russia. From the rigours of the winter, the spring at length rescues the inhabitants, and by degrees, prepares them to endure the heat of the summer. Thus passing gradually, and with perfect regularity, from one season to another, a varie ty of delightful sensations and salutary effects is produced, scarcely to be experienced any where else in the same degree. The salubrious influence of the climate is evident from the fertility of the soil. The arable lands, very often, bear two crops from one sowing; for, if a field be cleared off, and left in fallow, as is generally the case, it will produce another crop the next year, which frequently proves nearly as good as the first. Pasture lands, especially on low meadows, are covered with natural grass so high in growth, that it will often conceal from sight a man on horseback. Cherries, strawberries, pears, apples, and various other fruits, grow wild in the greatest abundance; the inhabitants have only to repair to the fields and woods to gather them. The gardens contain a particular species of apple, of exquisite flavour, and a dark olive colour, imparting a seeming transparency to the fruit, whence it has received name of olive apple. But the most delicious fruit which the Ukraine produces, is, the water melon, often growing in such abundance as to be food for hogs. Towards the towns of Slaviansk, Bashmut and Taganrogh, I have repeatedly seen and eaten of water melons, that weighed upwards of forty pounds each; and the greater the bulk the better the quality. The most remarkable circumstance relative to this fruit is, that it grows ou bare sand of several inches in depth, and so hot that one can scarcely stand upon it, yet in this diy and scorching bed, it is matured to an amazing bulk; although the contents of it are nothing but a certain modification of water, which melts as soon as it is put into the mouth. Whence is this water imbibed? From the atmosphere, or from the immense depth of ground' to which the imperceptibly attenuated roots of the water melon must be supposed to penetrate? I am sorry that my want of knowledge in botany precludes ine from exploring the vegetable kingdom in the Ukraine. By what I understand from medical gentlemen, it affords a great variety of salutiferous plants; and among the rest, one called Dreck, with small yellow flowers, which is used by the inhabitants as an infallible untidote to the bite of a mad dog. If, on trial, its efficacy should be justified to the extent stated, the man who should make the world acquainted with its use, would merit the blessings of the present age, and of all posterity. Provisions of every sort are cheap, even in proportion to the quantity of money circulating in the country. The carcase of a sheep, except the skin, may frequently be purchased for 25 copecks (about eight pence); a quartern of wheat flour is sold for one rouble (two shillings and six pence), and a school boy is lodged and boarded, washing included, from eighteen to thirty roubles a year (from two guineas and half, to four). În consequence, a gentleman of 7000 roubles a year (about | 2050), beside a splendid establishinent, and equipage, is enabled to maintain a band of singers, and an orchestra, the harmony of which regales his car while his eye is delighted with a variety of exquisite viands on the table, provoking and gratifying his appetite, and again gratifying and provoking it. Bogs, marshes, and swamps, except in a few low places, laid periodically under water, on account of their vicinity to some river or lake, are scarcely known. The uniform dryness of the land ameliorating the climate, or, perhaps, the climate operating in producing that uniform dryness, the inhabitants are not exposed to those dreadful diseases, which follow obstructed perspiration, and are so fatal in damp climates. Except spring agues and fevers, which, though violent for a time, are seldom dangerous, the people have nothing to fear; and to the best of my recollection I have not met with any of them afflicted with asthmas, consumptive coughs, and other incurable maladies, proceeding from the same source. A man or woman, in the prime of life, dying of consumption, occasioned by cold, would scarcely be believed in the Ukraine. I have frequently wondered at the infatuation and absurdity of Russian noblemen and other wealthy individuals, who, when invalids, seek the smothering atmosphere, the damp chilly air, and the ever changing climate of England, the poisonous filth of Lisbon, or of Paris, or the feverish and infected breezes of Italy, rather than the salubrious and eminently efficacious purity of the air in this nearer climate of their own country, the journey to which, and residence there, would not require a seventh part of the expense they incur in foreign lands. Most of the inland trade is carried on by Great Russians; and the only branches of commerce, in which the Ukrainians engage, are the conveyance of salt and dried fish, and the distilling of gin. The first being performed by oxen proceeds very slowly; and, in general, it requires a whofe sumnier to complete one journey. At the commencement of this journey, the Ukrainian so trading, known under the name of Tchumak, in order to prevent the breeding of vermin, provides himself with a shirt and trowsers well seasoned with tar, which he wears constantly, until his return home, when they are burned with great ceremony. hero, after his body has been scowered and refreshed with a new shirt and clean pair of trowsers from the hands of his wife, comes forth in his best suit, to meet his friends, who welcome his arrival, to relate his adventures, distribute some trifling presents, and finish by making them, as well as himself and family, most insensibly drunk! The The Ukrainians were formerly busily employed in saltpetre works, but this was during their state of warfare, which having ceased, the works, though still extant in some parts, have been neglected, and the traveller now and then meets only with their ruins or vestiges, called miedanes. I am not capable of describing, the highly picturesque beauty of the country. The sublime scenery of the Dnieper, its thundering cataracts inspiring the beholder with awe, the towering situation of Kiew, and the extensive view it commands, may give you, perhaps, some idea of that diversity and grandeur of prospect which distinguish a country abounding with rivers of such magnitude; whose streams now nourish the smiling fields delighting the eye with their luxuriant growth, now make their way through forests involved in eternal night, now bathe the rugged foot of a frowning mountain, and now rove in an awful wilderness, where a man appears all at once an isolated being, where nature loves to shew him his individual helplessness, and where the roving anxious eye is only relieved, occasionally, by a rising hill, by a miedane, or by a kurghan (vide Panorama, vol. III. p. 1244) whose solitary baba is the monument, and itself is the grave, of ancient warriors buried in one common sepulchre. The river Donetz, which rises near Bielgorod and falls into the mouth of the Don, after running upwards of 600 wersts, begins and finishes its course amid the most romantic and majestic scenes that ever imagination conceived. On the right side, an uninterrupted chain of cliffs, rocks, and chalky mountains, seeming to labour under the heavy oak and lofty pine, that rear their heads above the rest of their fellow trees, strikes one with wonder and astonishment; while, on the left, the extensive plains, bounded by distant hills, interspersed with various trees, and expansive lakes, teeming with water-fowl, relieve the eye, and increasing the pleasure by contrast, convey softer and sweeter impressions to the mind. length into the church. On entering these sepulchral passages, which for a length of time must be traversed with lights, the mind is overspread by a sacred kind of gloom, not to be described.The inside of the church is spacious, and has several small windows in the side, or rather in the front, of the rock; and close to the church are several cells, hewn out and supplied with light in the same manner. The mountain being of a chalky substance is well adapted for such works, which resemble in every thing the catacombs of Kiew; indeed, tradition hints at a subterraneous passage, by which the caverns of Soiatohorsk communicate with those of Kiew, but this is rather too marvellous; though some may think the distance of 700 wersts but a trifle! The scenery around this convent is sublimely beautiful, and may be called the glory of the Donetz. The top of the mountain, or rather mountains, to the distance of several miles is covered with an immense forest, during many years the shelter of banditti, whose caverns or places of refuge, chosen generally in precipices overgrown with trees, and so concealed from sight that one incautious step might cost the unwary pursuer his life, are still visible, and whose destruction caused an incalculable trouble and expense to the government. To add to the impression, the famous line of the Ukraine (Ukrainskaia leneia) which commences on the Dnieper, and was intended as a barrier against the incursions of the Tartars, passes through this forest, and ends on the Donetz, not far below the convent of Soiatohorsk. The extent of this line is upwards of 268 wersts, and it has about 16 small fortresses erected upon it, which were formerly defended by the different regiments of the Ukraine. I am not certain by what Russian sovereign it was projected; but, from the magnitude of the undertaking, and the triumph over all the difficulties in the execution of it, I should refer it to Peter the Great.-Adieu, my dear friend! We shall soon meet at St. Petersburgh. In less than two weeks I shall leave the delightful re The convent of Soiatohorsk (holy mountain), situated on this river, between the town of Tzium and Slaviansk, stands at the foot of one of the mountains forming the chain, the height of which may be conceived from the distance of the road leading to the convent, across, or rather down, the moun-gions of the Ukraine. Lain; which road, though three wersts in length, and made with immense labour, is, nevertheless, so steep, that the traveller expects to be precipitated every instant to the bouton, and no one has courage to sit in his vehicle without a guide to lead the horse down; the wheels being fastened to the body in order to clog their motion. About the middle of the mountain, at some distance from the convent, is a church hewn entirely out of the rock; and as it is inaccessible on the outside, except by steps purposely made, but very unsafe in wet weather, the monks had caverns cut out in the rock, which, after several windings, rising all the while imperceptibly, bring you at PEALS OF BELLS. Having, more than once, noticed the history of bells in churches, and several customs relating to them in former times, we now give a numerous list of peals (as they are called), expressing the places where the bells are hung, their number, and the weight of the tenor in each. The casting of bells is a very interesting process; we have witnessed it several times at Messrs. Mears's in Whitechapel; where the following sets of bells have been cast since August 1738.-Compare Panorama, Vol. I. p. 412, 1077, 1233, and Vol. II. p. 143, 1249, 1251. Rickmansworth, Herts' Gainsborough, Lincolnshire 8 20 Snaith, Yorkshire We understand that another extensive foundry is carried on at Gloucester; and if we could be favoured with a similar list of the bells cast there, we should publish it with pleasure; being well convinced that in course of time such documents must be desirable. Fladbury, Worcestershire 6 15 6 12 South Molton. Devonshire 8 24 8 24 Kiston, Holland, Lincolnshire 9 17 |