tion, Aug. 12, 1743, and the treaty of Dresden, Dec. 25, 1745. The House of Austria now possesses in it only the Principality of Teschen, with the eight Seigneuries dependant on it, and the barrier towns to the East of the river Oppa, which divides the possessions of the King of Prussia from those of the House of Austria.-Bohemia has been the seat of so many wars, that the number of its inhabitants, which was formerly about 3,000,000, is at present reduced to 2,100,000, of whom nearly 25,000 are Calvinists, and 9000 Lutherans; the rest are Roman Catholics. The proportion of Protestants to Catholics is very inconsiderable. No reference is made to the arrangements occasioned in the possessions of the House of Austria by the treaty of Luneville. From the Bill of Fare for the eye, we copy the following particulars: A peasant of Upper Austria--A peasant of Upper Carniola-A Tyrolian Wrestler and Hunter-A servant maid of an inn at Ins pruck-A Hungarian country woman-A Sclavonian peasant of the county of Neutra-A young bride of Egra in her wedding clothes -A Bohemian Serf-A peasant of Flipovan, in the Bukowine-Saxon Ladies of the city of Hermanstadt-Croatian women-A Polish Jew-A Zouppanese and his wife-A Greek priest of the country of Cattaro--A Serethian-A Pandour, or Red Mantle-A countrywoman of the mountains of Moravia--An Hannachian woman-A Russniac peasant of the Palatinate of Marmaros-A Blacksmith of Upper Austria,' &c. &c. By this specification, and by considering the geographical position and extent of the countries examined, the reader will not be led to expect such a variety of costume as is furnished by the vast and heterogeneous Empire of Russia: but he will find various figures well drawn and coloured; and if he can derive pleasure from the comparison of dresses, he will obtain amusement. One or two extracts from the Descriptions must suffice. A Tyrolian Hunter. The Tyrolian mountaineers are passionately fond of the chace, and train their children to it. In every village there is a little square appropriated, where the young people practise shooting at a mark, as soon as they are able to carry a gun. The best marksmen among them frequently go to the different places of Germany where prizes for shooting are distributed, and never return till they have gained some. The pursuit of the chamois, which is allowed to be the most toilsome and difficult of all hunting, is that which has the greatest attraction for the Tyrolian. Lightly clad, wearing a large green hat to keep off the sun, his gun slung at his back like a soldier's musket, and a stick pointed with iron in his hand, he traverses the deepest vallies and the highest mountains, on which he often often passes several days successively.. His haversac, which is commonly covered with fur, and in which he carries his provisions, a small speaking-trumpet, and a pair of iron hooks, serves him also for a pillow by night. He makes use of the iron hooks in climbing the most rugged rocks; and being often obliged to go down them, or leap from one rock to another, he frequently finds it expedient to make a considerable incision in the soles of his feet, that the blood which comes from it may stick about them, and make a kind of paste to prevent his slipping.' What will not keen sportsmen endure and inflict on them. selves! Self-denial and pain are forgotten in the pursuits to which man is passionately devoted. The philosopher, intent on the solution of a problem, forgets his meal; and the hunter in the chace braves death, and is regardless of wounds. A Serethian.-The Serethians have been successively subject to Turkey and the Emperor, under the appellation of Croats and Moldavians; and have long inhabited the confines of Transylvania and Moldavia. Those who are Mahometans have continued either under the government of the Grand Seignor, or under that of a prince become independent styled Hospodar; the rest are subject to the Emperor, and are embodied with his troops, their service being nearly similar to that of the Tyrolian chasseurs. They precede the army, and lie in ambush at all difficult passes. They are armed with a carbine, two pistols, and a cutlass. Their dress much resembles that of the Houlans; but instead of boots, they wear half boots that cover the ends of their pantaloons. A belt like a hussar's, in which they stick their pistols and cutlass, a very short red jacket sitting close to the body, blue pantaloons, and a simple but elegant bonnet of the same colour as the jacket, compose their dress. The Serethians are well made, brave, robust, and indefatigable. They are accused of being cruel, and of never giving quarter when attacked. They derive their name from the Sereth, a river of Turkey in Europe, which rises in Transylvania, and changes its name several times in its course; it is called the Moldaw in Moldavia, through which it passes, and waters the towns of Joczowa and Targorod.' This account is adapted to the intended purpose without being minutely explanatory: but some of the descriptions seem to have been furnished merely by a view of the plate, and afford no other idea to the reader than he himself could collect from the same source. Thus at plate 46 we are told that the water carrier is returning from the spring, with two pails hung to the ends of the stick which she carries on her left shoulder, taking great care to place it so as to preserve the equilibrium ! ART. XI. A Picturesque Representation of the Manners, Customs, and Amusements of the Russians, in One Hundred coloured Plates, with an accurate Explanation of each Plate in English and French. In Three Volumes. By John Augustus Atkinson, and James Walker. Vol. I. Imperial Folio. 51. 5s. Boards. Boydell, Nicol, &c. 66 MORE ORE sights" but not appertaining to the same class with those which are displayed in the foregoing and in other similar publications. Messrs. Atkinson and Walker take the pas of those gentlemen who deal merely in Costume; on the ground that character, action, and expression, and not the minute particulars of dress, form the distinguishing features of nations. No doubt, indeed, can be entertained on this head; and therefore we must admit the precedence which they claim, and regard these pictorial representations of the manners, customs, and amusements of the Russians as possessing a higher degree of interest than those which simply exhibit their habili The former, if accurately given, will in a great measure include the latter; but the execution of such a plan requires a course of observation not essential to the atchievement of the other. Sufficient opportunity for completing the task here undertaken was enjoyed by the artists before us, of which they profess to have availed themselves, in order to supply the deficiency of predecessors; for they lament that, while we are inundated with tours through Greece, Italy, Swisserland, and other known countries, the vast empire of Russia, which, whether viewed in point of scenery or of character, or even of antiquities, is at least as interesting as any of them, remains comparatively untouched. An apology is made for the want of finishing in these delineations: but, at the same time, the authors assure the public that no part has been neglected, nor left, through ignorance, to the imagination of beholders. They thus speak of their design : Our intention is to prepare the public for finding that secondary, which is in general made principal, and which we consider as the great defect in the generality of costumes, arising from a very obvious cause the impossibility of seizing the character of the people without an intimate acquaintance with, or a long residence among them; and to its being so much easier to give a figure its appropriate dress, than its true character and expression. As what is here advanced seems in some degree to argue a superiority as existing in the present work; in this respect we hope that it will not be deemed arrogant in us, when (we state that) the peculiar circumstances under which it was executed (viz.) a residence of eighteen years in the country, at that time of life when impressions are the strongest, a knowlege of the language, and above all the personal protection of the Sovereign, have given us advantages which few have ever passessed.' We We have endeavoured, in copying this passage, to rectify some defects, which do not exist in the corresponding French; the style of which is superior to the English. The picturesque representations included in the present volume are intitled Voizok (a kind of winter carriage)-Swaika (a game of dexterity)-Pleasure Barges-The Droshka (summer hackney coaches)-Finland Sledge-Milkwomen-Bashkirs (people who live on the borders of the river Ural, and whose name signifies Bees'-men)-Lapland Sledge-Summer Kibitka (usual travelling carriage) with a courier-Market of frozen Provisions-Winter Kibitka-Babki (a game played by boys with the small bones of an ox's heel)-Corn Barks-Cozacks-Horn Music-Cozack Dance-Hack Sledges-Fetching Water and rinsing Linen-Ice Cutters-Carriage on Sledges-The Russian Peasant or Boor-Charcoal BarksBathing Horses - Gypsies-A Kaback (a house for selling beer and spirituous liquors)-Russian Girl-Winter Carriers The Village Council-Finn Beggar-Katcheli (swings used at fairs turning on a cylinder between two pillars)-Russian Galliots -Summer Carriers-Tjaliagi-Isba (the dwelling of a village family). These subjects are sketched with considerable spirit, and will please the artist in this respect: but, in order to convey a correct idea to the ignorant, they certainly require to be more finished. From the explanations, which are short, we shall copy two or three: Market of frozen Provisions.-As soon as the winter is fairly set in, the farmers kill all but their breeding stock of cattle, pigs and poultry, and place it in the air to freeze. Fish and game they also freeze in great abundance. This circumstance is particularly favourable to Russia, as by it they save all the expence of winter feeding, and have cheaper and better carriage for bringing it to market. It is brought from the remotest provinces, and large supplies arrive at St. Petersburg, even from the frozen ocean in the north, and from the borders of the Caspian sea, in the south. The great market at St. Petersburg begins just before the Christmas holydays; the frozen provisions, I believe, are upon an average about thirty per cent. cheaper than if fresh killed; and it would be difficult even for a nice epicure to perceive the difference. (Pork, fish, and game suffer least by freezing.) Having purchased your winter or weekly stock, you take care not to expose it to any warmth, and just before cooking you thaw it in cold water. The market covers several acres of ground; and from the piles of animals, birds, and fish, with their several skins, feathers, and scales on, presents a most ludicrous appearance.' A market of this kind can only exist in countries in which. the winters are remarkably cold: but it is surprising that, when we are so well acquainted with the effects of congelation in retarding retarding animal putrefaction, more ice-houses (which are) Ice Cutters.-One of the comforts in the northern countries is the facility of preserving a great quantity of ice in ice-houses or cellars, during the whole summer. Not a single family, in the cities and villages, is without such a convenience, which serves not merely for cooling liquor at table, but principally for preserving beer, ale, and all sorts of fresh provisions during the summer season. In the months of January and February, when the ice has acquired the greatest thickness, the stock is laid in, and the whole cellar is floored over, or rather filled with cubical pieces from three to four feet diameter, all the interstices are filled up with lesser pieces, and on very cold days the doors are left open, that the frost may consolidate the whole mass. They sometimes surround a closet in the cellar with ice, in which they put the provisions, and which they can lock up.' This account may furnish a hint not beneath our notice. We now turn to a different subject: Horn Music. This music, or rather instrument, peculiar to Russia, was invented about fifty years ago, in the reign of the Empress Elizabeth, by a Mr. Maresch, a native of Bohemia, and one of the musicians of her court. It is a perfect living organ, where every pipe or tone is sounded by one man, who cannot produce any other but that one individual tone on his horn. A complete band of horn musicians consists of near forty performers (never less than twenty-five) who sound the completest symphonies of every kind, from the slowest largo to the quickest prestissimo, with admirable skill and accuracy. For a full description of this truly interesting musical performance, we refer our readers to the treatise published a few years since by Mr. Henrichs of St. Petersburg, where not only the whole organization of this extraordinary band of musicians is described, but likewise complete specimens are given of the manner in which the notes are set down for each performer.' A sight of the plate is necessary to obtain a complete idea of this living organ, as it is not improperly called. Each performer blows into a straight hollow cone, which rests on a frame, and which merely supplies the place of the pipe of an organ. The news-papers inform us that the sequel of this amusing work is published, but we have not yet seen the additional volumes. The present is dedicated to the Emperor Alexander I. 3 ART. Moy. |