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To account for such partiality in censors generally so severe and scrupulous, it might perhaps be necessary to ascertain, which political sect in England claims the charitable Doctor as a partisan;-for this would not be the first occasion, on which these gentlemen have been suspected, of making their literary principles subservient to their political opinions. How eagerly do they avail themselves of the testimony of Dr. Clarke to confirm their belief" of the barbarism of Russia, and its unfitness to support a great and useful part in European affairs!" How triumphantly do they exclaim, “Such are the deeds of the people from whose interference in the concerns of civilized nations, so mighty a check has been more than once looked for, to the progress of French injustice and oppression!" Would it not seem, on reading these passages, that Dr. Clarke had advanced nothing without proof?

It is very possible that, as the Edinburgh Reviewers assert, the power of Russia and the importance of her alliance have been exaggerated in England;-but will they deny that the alliance was natural; and that Great Britain derived from it great advantages in her political combinations? When they say that too much importance, was attached to that alliance, in Lord Lauderdale's negotiations at Paris, we regret that they have not thought fit to explain, what concessions France would have made to Britain, on condition that the latter power should abandon the interests of Russia.-It is not given to us to comprehend how a solid and honourable peace, could have been the consequence of such an abandonment. Admitting, however, that Britain did make some sacrifices in favour of Russia on that occasion, yet, assuredly, it will not be contested, that in all the alliances contracted between the two nations since the year 1799, (when Russia first took an active part in the general affairs of Europe,) she manifested all possible good faith, in the execution of the important measures, which she had concerted with Great Britain. If events did not correspond with expectation, to whom is the fault ascribable? Will the world attribute to Russia the loss of the battle of Marengo in 1800?-the capitulation of Ulm in 1805?-the disaster of Jena in 1806? With every alliance torrents of Russian blood were shed in Italy, in Switzerland, in Holland, and in Germany. Until the treaty of Tilsit terminated our connexion with England, who is so ignorant as not to know, that nearly 100,000 Russians were lost to their country, whilst their English allies were employed in conquering Egypt and Buenos Ayres?

We indulge the hope that posterity will judge with less partiality, of the causes, which have placed Europe in her actual

situation. When the calumnies of Dr. Clarke shall be buried in oblivion, after having passed through merited contempt, more equity will be manifested, in appreciating the political conduct of Russia, from the accession of its present sovereign to the date of the peace of Tilsit. During this interval at least, of which alone, it is here material to speak, we insist that the proceedings of our government were constantly no less dignified, liberal and disinterested than those of Great Britain.We have allowed ourselves this digression, because it appears to have been one of the principal objects of the Edinburgh Reviewers, in their notice of Dr. Clarke's Travels, to justify their political opinions at the expense of Russia.-We will now proceed to point out some of the passages in Dr. Clarke's book, in which he has betrayed the most open disregard for truth.

In March, 1800, Dr. Clarke arrived at St. Petersburgh.His abode in the capital of Russia must have been of short duration, if we measure it by the chapter, which he has appropriated to the subject. He left St. Petersburgh on the 3d of April, and arrived at Moscow on the 8th of the same monthhaving consequently travelled, in less than six days, a distance of 500 English miles. He set out from Moscow the 30th day, after sojourning there nearly eight weeks. On the 7th of June we find him at Voronesh-a distance of 444 English miles (516 versts) from Moscow. Leaving Voronesh the 12th of the same month, Dr. Clarke arrived at Tsherkask, the capital of the Don Cossacks, on the 21st.-These two cities are 411 English miles (or 616 versts) distant from each other. He remained among the Don Cossacks twelve days,-viz: from his entrance into their territory at the village of Kasanskaja, to his arrival at the fortress of Rostof on the 27th of the same month. If we deduct two days spent at Kasanskaja, four at Tsherkask, and three at Oxai, we find that this savant went through the whole territory in question in three days;-a distance of 280 English miles. No more than eleven days were necessary for our expeditious traveller to traverse the country of the Cossacks of the Black Sea (Tshernomorskié Cosaki), and to arrive in the Crimea-for he sailed from Taganrock on July 3d, and was at Yenishalé on the 14th of that month. The distance which he overran, after landing on the Asiatic shore, until he reached the extremity of the Peninsula of Taman, is 363 English miles (544 versts), by the route he took. Two of the eleven days he stayed at Ekaterinoder, the capital of the Cossacks of the Black Sea.

Of the whole time Dr. Clarke spent in the Russian dominions, nearly one half was passed in the Crimea. He arrived

there the 14th July, and left it by the Isthmus of Perekose about the 12th October.-Two of these three months he lived in the house of Dr. Pallas,-part of the time from choice, but more of it, in consequence of a serious indisposition.

By comparing the above dates we learn, that Dr. Clarke was about seven months and a half in Russia,-from the 15th March to the 30th October† 1800. If we deduct two months at Moscow, as many at Professor Pallas's, and about three weeks at various other places, it will appear that the Doctor was no more than two months in travelling over a space of 2500 English miles.‡-We leave it to our readers to estimate the degree of correctness, with which he can have made observations, on the moral character of the Russian nation.

We have no hesitation in admitting, that there are some truths in the book before us. We will not deny that in the physical aspect of our country, many things must make a disagreeable impression on the mind of an Englishman. The roads do not resemble the turnpike-ways of England;-the inns are bad:-the habitations of the Russian peasants are not to be compared with the cottages of English husbandmen. Nay more; the details of administration necessarily bear, in many instances, marks of the imperfections resulting from an unlimited form of government. If our author had been content to notice only defects of this description, without confounding the personal character of the sovereign, with the habitual spirit of the government,-without establishing upon solitary facts, general opinions injurious to the Russian nation, his book would have been received with applause even in Russia. For in all countries there are useful truths, which are to be learned only from strangers. But he has undertaken to speak of the manners of the people, and to appreciate the national character, without having given himself time to become acquainted even with their leading features.-He has presumed to explain the most secret motives of conduct, in those with whom he chanced to meet, on the suspicious testimony of such beings, as a valet de place, or on the suggestions of his own malice. Is it then to be wondered at, that he has laid' himself open to the double reproach, of having fallen into gross errors and continual contradictions?

* We take this for the date of his arrival at St. Petersburgh. †The day he embarked at Odessa.

All the distances above stated, are taken from the tables in the appendix to Dr. Clarke's travels; they very nearly correspond with those marked in the carte générale de l'Empire published at St. Petersburgh in 1799. The meteorological table, (also in the appendix,) served to ascertain the time he resided at different places.

In the preface, (p. ix.) the Russian government is accused of fostering, from a principle of policy, the ignorance of the rest of Europe, relatively to the state of the southern provinces of its empire-and of sedulously concealing the only tolerably correct charts, which exist, of the coasts of the Black Sea, and of the course of the rivers which fall into it. As this accusation is frequently repeated, we shall notice it here, in order, as we think, to refute it, to the satisfaction of the candid reader. When Dr. Clarke made his appearance in Russia, officers belonging to the staff of the army were occupied in Finland, in Poland, in the Crimea, and in several other portions of the empire, with making detailed draughts of these respective countries. The object of that undertaking was, to rectify the errors in the general map of the empire, or rather to prepare one which should be more correct. This map or atlas, composed of more than one hundred sheets, was published at St. Petersburg in 1806, at the expense of government, and is for sale on very moderate terms at the depot imperial des cartes. We will not take upon us to compare it with that of Sweden by Mr. Hermellin, but we can assure our readers, that it completely destroys Dr. Clarke's assertion, respecting the want of geographical charts. In the one to which we allude, the learned gentleman will not find the soundings of the coasts of the Crimea laid down; but he will meet with topographical details of the parts of the Russian monarchy, which have hitherto been least observed, sufficient to satisfy every man who travels for the purpose of acquiring a knowledge of the country, and not, like the doctor at Achtiar, to search for the vulnerable points of the empire.‡

The empress Catherine II. is often subjected to the censure of Dr. Clarke. "There is nothing," says he," in which the late Catherine employed so much artifice, as in keeping secret the history of her own people, and the wretched state of her empire." That this empress received with complacency, the flattery of the philosophers of her time, (many of whom enjoyed pensions from her bounty,) is an undoubted truth;

Seventy-five roubles in sheets, and 105 or 110 roubles (paper money), mounted on rollers, &c.

Mentioned by Dr. Clarke.

Several charts of the Black Sea have been published at St. Petersburgh, some of which have the names expressed in Roman characters. In 1804 there appeared" A chart of the Black Sea and the sea of Azoph," in Russian and French, carefully draughted for the use of mariners;-it is copied in the famous "Chart of the Mediterranean" published in France, by Lapie,

in 1808.

VOL. III.

L

but it is absurd to suppose, that she entertained seriously, the intention of concealing from the rest of the world, the true state of the interior of Russia. Without breaking off all communication with other countries, and erecting on her frontiers a wall like that of China, the accomplishment of such a purpose would have been impossible. It is moreover contradicted, by the constant efforts of the empress, to allure foreigners into her dominions. She took into her service engineers from Holland, for the purpose of improving the internal navigation of Russia. By the labours of these officers, the courses of the navigable rivers throughout the empire were accurately traced.* The numerous individuals belonging to the British navy, who have at various times been in the service of Russia, must necessarily have made themselves acquainted with its coasts and sea-ports.

Lastly, the men of learning, who by order of the empress Catherine, travelled into the remote provinces of her empire, (the fruits of whose researches, were given to the world at her expense,) have thrown much light on the natural history of those very countries, through which Dr. Clarke galloped in such wonderful haste, though accompanied by a powerful escort. To the mass of information produced by the legitimate means above stated, ought to be added the accounts, whether true or false, which have been given to the world by strangers of all descriptions, who traversed Russia in every direction, and who insinuated themselves, under the disguise of men of letters, into the most distant corners of the country, for the purpose of pilfering a few pretended state secrets, with which they might pay their court at home.

The reign of the empress Catherine II. is so far from being enveloped in mystery, that the most minute details of the many remarkable events with which it is crouded, have long been generally known. Her journey to the Crimea was made in the company of such men as lord St. Helens, the Counts de Ségur, and Cobentzel, and can have led into error none but the dullest of observers, although there may have been found

Persons wishing to obtain the most exact information relative to the internal navigation of Russia, may without any difficulty, procure it by apply. ing to the Department which superintends that branch of civil economy. Besides the necessary charts, they may be furnished with a printed explanation, which details all the existing communications,-those begun and yet unfinished-and those which are only projected. Mr. Oddy has made use of the above work in his book entitled "European Commerce,"-published in 4to., London, 1805.

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