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Q4e T HE LEADER. [No. 324 Saturday ,
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THE MANSTEIN MEMOIRS. Contemporary Memoi...
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THE SANDWICH AND SOCIETY ISLANDS. Travel...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Stood, To Mean That Only Actual Visible ...
everyone remembers all that he has seen in the same way , and do not 3 rs £ Ld ^ it is that they alone can produce good drawmg « or g ent thoughts " This is a Ion * comment on the saying " Memory is the mother of the Muses" If a strfk ? ng example be needed , take that of Dickens , whose mw for all visible fa c ets andV all idiomatic expressions surpasses t £ t ofanTiSodernW riter we can name . Scenes are daguerreotyped in Ins roWory- pbr ^ es he must haye casually heard years and years ago issuing froTSe lips of persons among whom he certainly never hved , all he . ready It a moment ' s bidding , so that he can make the inhabitants of Bleeding Heart Yard speak as they do speak , and think as they think , —and this with his of the lace
a vividness of reality perhaps surpassing that of description p in which the speakers live . Let any man try to make the Londoner speak as he speaks in the streets of London , and not in comic novels , and he will then be aware how poorly furnished with idioms must be the memory of those who think that phrases like " cos vy" or « veil you know , I says , anys I I ain't going to do it , " reach the very flavour of Cockney dialect . The same storehouse of accumulated idioms is noticeable in Scott and bhakspeare . , Our ramblin" comment has again outrun our space , and we must reserve for next week what more we had to say on this delightful volume .
Q4e T He Leader. [No. 324 Saturday ,
Q 4 e T HE LEADER . [ No . 324 Saturday ,
The Manstein Memoirs. Contemporary Memoi...
THE MANSTEIN MEMOIRS . Contemporary Memoirs of Russia , from the year 1727 to 1744 . By C . H . V . Blan-Btoin . Longman and Co . I > AvrD Hume first introduced this book to the English reader . The translation accredited by him was performed by persons who could neither read French- nor write English , so that , by the literary public , the" Manstein Memoirs were very generally neglected , and , as for the unliterary perusing public—the reflector of phosphoric reputations—that is a creation of our own times . But "A Hertfordshire Incumbent , " known far and wide as a patient analyst of Russian history , who has followed armies with a surveyor ' s level , and mapped every creek in the Pontic coasts , has exhumed the Memoirs , after a laborious collation of the London , French , and German
editions . They refer , exclusively , to events which took place in the empire under the eye of General Manstein , a Bohemian by family , a Russian by birth , a German by education . The Empress Anne , attracted by his personal manners , gave him , at an early age , a captaincy in the St . Petersburg Guards . He was with Marshal Munich at the invasion of the Crimea , was wounded at Perekop , served in the defence of the lines of the Ukraine against the Tartars , and in the Finnish campaigns , and played an effective part in the politics of the imperial court . The favourite of Anne and of the Regency was not , of course , the favourite of Elizabeth . After several mortifications , Manstein entered the Prussian service , composed these Memoirs while in retirement at Potsdam , and , finally , died in an encounter with the Austrian forces in Bohemia .
His plain record abounds in materials of historical interest . He begins with the accession of Peter II ., in the twelfth year of his age , and explains , with the freedom of a personal observer , the singular enterprizes of the Menzikoflf and . Dolgorouki families . Compilers have usually hurried over these details , which are , however , of great importance to the dynastic history of the Russian Empire . It must have given a young man , new to the mysteries of palatial intrigue , a curious impression of public life to see a boy-emperor dragged from faction to faction , carried from palace to palace , betrothed to one princess after another , sometimes hidden , sometimes lured away into the forests on a hunting adventure , as one party or the other of his guardians and advisers obtained possession of his person ; lastly , tosee him die , before the consummation of a loveless marriage , while physicians were disputing over his disease . During this reign , which lasted less than
three years , Russia was under the government of rival families , who hoped to secure their own power by imposing conditions on the Empress Anne . The Empress Anne , however , like the English Elizabeth , dissembled at first , and only displayed her absolute policy when guarded by the troops , by the lesser nobles , and by the loyal masses of the nation , who were jealous of the Great Council of the State , and accustomed to live under the control of a single hand . They soon discovered what it was to be governed , in the name of Anne , by Biron , the scorn of the Russian and Courland aristocracy . This man , says the Memoir , the descendant of a stable-keeper , possessed neither of education nor of pleasant wit , but discreet , intelligent , ' and ready , and gifted with extraordinary beauty of person , reigned , with perfect despotism , during the life of Anne , and for some weeks after her death , over all the vast
territories of Russia . First obliged to quit the Academy of Konigsberg , in Prussia , for fear of arrest for disreputable conduct , he was next rejected nt the Russian court , and spurned by the nobles of Courland . Upon the election of Anne as empress , however , wo see her audacious favourite becoming Grand Chamberlain of the Empire , premier Duke of Courland—at the head of the body which had galled him by its contempt—and , in fact , Chief Councillor of the Crown . Of course the other great officers of state envied and abhorred . him . Count Ostein used to say , that when Biron spoke of horses , he talked like a man , but when he spoke of men , he talked like a horse . Manstein adds that ho was haughty , ambitious , insolent , brutal , selfish , cruel , unforgiving , and hypocritical . Nevertheless ho had conspicuous talents , especially for conspiracy , and for arbitrary administration .
The Memoirs contain some admirable sketched of Russian society . Wo find , in them , indeed , the originals of many anecdotes ninco passed from hand to hand b y the adaptive bookmaker . Manstein ridicules the nobles for _ wearing brilliant coat * and paltry wigs , for dressing gorgeously and riding , in miserable carriages , for heaping on their tables a lustrous profusion of gold , and other plate , while their tapestries were faded , and their furniture broken and dirty . The ladies , he adds , were on a par with tho men . " For one well-dressed woman , you might see ten frightfully disfigured . " Yet this arose from want of xeunomant , not from want of means . The countess spent enormous suras on clothes and jewellery . JJiron , conscious of his fine face and figure , sought to naturalize French elegance at tho court , but wan long unsuccessful , though ho was much imitated by persons anxious to
rise through his favour . All classes perceived that he was the confidential friend of the empress , who dined with his family , played billiards with him and gambled at his table . She was addicted to lively amusements , disdained operas , loved comedies , and laughed to extravagance at the antics of her buffoons . Her panegyrists have imputed it to her , as a virtue , that she disliked severity , and seldom avenged with rigour an offence against her dignity . Manstein disposes of this weak sort of flattery by observing that however little evil , the Empress Anne did deliberately and dir ectly , she allowed much to be done in her name . Numerous executions , some of remarkable atrocity , took place under her government . The number of exiles exceeded twenty thousand . These details are worth repeating , because they are now , for the first time , stated in English on General Manstein's authority . His former trans .
lators , with deferential reserve , toned down the strong passag es of the Memoir , omitted some paragraphs , modified others , and spread a softening tinge over the whole . For this reason , as well as on account of their desperate ignorance and incapacity , it was necessary to reproduce the book in a new and authentic form . Manstein was not only a spectator of the events that transpired in Russia from the death of Catherine to the unsuccessful conspiracy of Batta . Pan fuit . He it was who aided in the seizure and ruin of Biron and of his wife . The chamberlain ' s great enemy , Marshal Munich , when Russia was once more under a regency , had determined to crush at once the power of Biron , and , in concert with the Princess Anne , employed Manstein to effect his capture . With twenty soldiers following him quietly at a distanc e , he entered the palace , and passing among the groups of servants and guards , as though he were familiar with the place , felt utterly at a loss to find Biron ' s
room .. After a moment ' s thought , he resolved to keep advancing on , in the hope he should at length find what he was seeking . And so it happened in fact ; for , after he had gone through two chambers , he came to a door that was locked ; luckily for him , this was a folding-door , and the servants had neglected sliding the bolts at the top and bottom , so that he easily forced it open . In the chamber he found a great bed , in which the duke and duchess were lying , buried in so profound a sleep , that not even the noise he made in forcing open the door had waked them . Manstein having got close to the bed , drew the curtains , and desired to speak with the regent . Upon this , both started up , and began to scream with all their might , rightly judging that he was not come to bring them any good news . Manstein happening to stand on the side on
which the duchess lay , saw the regent throw himself out of bed on the ground apparently with an intention to hide himself under the bed ; on which , springing quickly round to the other side , he threw himself upon him , and held him fast locked in his arms till the guards came in . The duke having at length got upon his legs again , and wanting to disengage himself from their hold , distributed blows with his fist to the right and left ; which the soldiers returned with strokes from the butt end of their muskets ; and throwing him down again on the floor , they crammed a handkerchief into his mouth , bound his hands with an officer ' s sash , and then carried him , naked as he was , to the guard-room , where they covered him with a soldier ' s cloak , and put him into a coach of the marshal ' s , that was in waiting . An officer was placed in it by his side , and he was carried to the winter-palace . out of bed in he
While the soldiers were struggling with the duke , the duchess got r shift , and ran after her husbanding far as the street , when a soldier took her by tho arm , and dragged her to Manstein , asking him what he should do with her . He bade him carry her back into the palace ; but the soldier , not caring to take the trouble , threw her down into the midst of the snow , and there left her . The captain of tho guard , finding her in this piteous condition , lifted her up , had clothes brought to her , and reconducted her to her apartment . Thus was a bold scheme successful : Biron ' s fate is familiar to all readers . The Manstein Memoirs possess an interest only mellowed by the interval that has elapsed since their first publication . The general had much to tell of courts and camps , and told it pleasantly , and tho Hertfordshire Incumbent deserves thanks for his literary restoration of the narrative in an English form .
The Sandwich And Society Islands. Travel...
THE SANDWICH AND SOCIETY ISLANDS . Travels in the Sandwich and Society Manila . By S . S . Hill . London : Chapman and Hall Mr . Hill has already made two appearances as an author and n traveller . First , he gave to the public hid experiences in Siberia , which he brought down to the tune of his departure from Kam ' stchatka for tho tropics ; and secondly , his sketches in the Baltic Sea . The present volume is intended as the-sequel of the others . A short sketch of the history ot the Sandwich Isles precedes tho general matter of the book , as it . would be impossible , without such a retrospect , to present anything like a just picture of the natives at the present day ; and from a conviction that the importance which tho rapid growth of so many new countries on tho shores of the Pacific Ocean must shortly give to the Sandwich Isles in particular . h situated tlic
Honolulu is the most important place in the group , althoug on small island of Woahoo ; it contains tho principal harbour , the principal commercial mart , the principal missionary station , and the court . The first uiificulty of our tourist wuh to find a lodging , but , after much inquiry , he was directed to the sea-side , where he found within a spacious enclosure a neat little native house constructed of dried grass , containing two apartments , and furnished with chairs , tables , and even a sofa . This was built specially for letting to foreigners . Close at hand there was also a proper native Jiut , in which tho family who owned the property resided , tho patriarch beinj . Major Mahooka , of the royal army . Eight or ten men lay stretched oin upon mats , all indulging in the most absolute inaction . In fact , the nal ; ivc 3 are a lazy race ; they love to dozo away their listless existence by a lrcsi brook or beneath the shade of the graceful palm , amidst tho unohan « , 'in < ' taco of nature , forgetting tho past and iridiilerent to the future . Such is ui c > lutrii < : t . m- of most auvatre tribes : at least they avoid regular labour . ' » ' i
clirncH they prefer tho hectic exertion and danger of hunting mid fishing the quiet pursuits of agriculture ; in the tropics , nature lianas the boufj bonding with fruit over their mouths , and they havo but to hold up vw handH , while moodily basking in the huh , and pluck it . , Tho most interesting portions of Mr . Hill ' s book—in fact the P | j ^ original portions—arc thoao which relate his personal adventures wit "
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 7, 1856, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07061856/page/18/
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