length he reappeared, and with that exaggerated politeness which one may almost call sarcastic, he exhausted himself in apologies;-that the prince was désolé at being prevented by urgent and important business from having the honour of receiving their visit, &c. After a few bittersweet phrases, the northern warriors strode out with thundering steps, and I, who had only staid so long to see the issue of this curious affair, after them. I can't deny it-my German heart felt a little mischievous pleasure, for, thought I, if we had a German emperor, his prime minister would not need-. But why should I say what I thought? Thoughts are duty-free, but yet they must not pass the frontiers."

"The Duc de Richelieu struck us by the elegance and dignity of his manners, and also by the ash-grey hue of his countenance, out of which all the blood seemed to have vanished-an appearance very suitable for the prime minister of France of that period. One was forced often involuntarily to think of M. de Talleyrand's mot- C'est l'homme de la France qui connait le mieux les affaires d'Odessa'--for every moment somebody was talking to him about that place, by way of making himself agreeable,-an affectation which did not seem to strike the duke. "The Emperor of Russia was uncommonly condescending. He' took several ladies' tea-cups, and enchanted everybody by his affability. His Russians imitated their exalted model with great success. Capo d'Istrias was the only exception. He seemed to wish to stand alone.

"What is the reason that nobody can go to Austria without a feeling as if it were Sunday? What is the reason that nobody, no German at least, can see the Emperor of Austria without a feeling of affection and respect? There is a peculiar charm shed over the land and its master, which has been often and strongly marked in history, but which is more easily felt than defined. Personal character does much, but that is far from being all.

"The Duke of Wellington attracted much attention. At that time his laurel-wreath was fresh and brilliant; the civic crown of thorns had not as yet crushed and spoiled it. He looked haughty and highbred. His face expressed thought and power, but little genius;—a periphery thoroughly filled, indeed, but narrow.

"Lord Castlereagh, pale and painfully smiling, looked like a vampyre who has lost his prey. Near him was the Prince Chancellor von Hardenberg, a noble, refined and genial old man, but already betraying considerable marks of feebleness. His manners were those of a perfect man of the world, but, in comparison with those of Prince Metternich, less commanding and unconstrained-nay, almost timid.

"General Benningsen, a veteran out of favour, and his wife, formed a truly antique group. Nearly blind, with snow-white curling hair, tall, imposing, suffering and emaciated, led by the beautiful young Pole, he reminded me forcibly of Belisarius. Many a serious reflection be sides did he awaken. His conversation, however, answered but little to his impressive exterior; he talked of nothing but horses and the battle of Eylau, where, as many maintained, it depended just on him to have given Napoleon a complete defeat. The excellent counsels of the Prussian general were paralyzed by his timidity.

"Madame Catalani now seated herself at the pianoforte. The Emperor of Russia, always serviable, arranged the desk for her. She began—' God'—. At this moment a postilion's horn sounded such a blast under the window of the low house, that, not without some suppressed laughter of the bystanders, the great cantatrice was obliged to stop. The diligence drove by, and she began again- God save'- ; but now the beiwagen, with an equally musical postilion, followed its principal, and alas! the second horn was louder and more dissonant than the first. It was in vain to think of keeping one's countenance; everybody burst out a laughing, and the confused singer was obliged to chew a piece of rhubarb (which she always carried about her) before she could make another attempt. This time, however, she succeeded in getting through God save the King,' without interruption.

6

"I took a Graf home in my carriage whose Grafschaft had somehow been lost. He was looking about for it at the Congress, like a needle, and in the meantime had nothing he could call his own but his old Dutch uniform. He was a droll old man, whose misfortunes had not robbed him of his embonpoint, for his shabby uniform set as tight over his portly belly as if, like that of one of our deceased majors of the Guards, it had been braced together with an iron hoop. He made himself merry at the expense of some of the caricatures we had left, not without humour, and sometimes with a grain of bitterness. Lady C held the first rank. 'Her dress, her figure, her conversation,' he said, were all of a piece. With her deep voice, her colossal height and enormous bulk, and the feathers on her head nodding at every word she spoke, she looked at once the champion and the wet-nurse of Old England.'

"There were but few German ladies in Aix-la-Chapelle, but those few were models of sweetness and grace. I shall mention only the Princess of Thurn and Taxis."

Among the jokes, this seems to us one of the best:

"The gate (of the Herrnhuter's churchyard) opened, and a tall man entered. After we had passed each other two or three times, I spoke to him, and admired the beauty of the churchyard. I beg pardon, sir,' said he, with Saxon accent, I am not a Herrnhuter; I am from Dresen.' The naïveté of this restored my spirits, for the good man clearly thought I only praised the churchyard by way of paying him a compliment, which he modestly declined: like the honest Austrian, who being at a sermon where every body was in tears, was the only person who did not weep. On this, the greatest enthusiast of the congregation turned to him with some displeasure, and said—' And you, sir, are you unmoved?' 'I hope you won't be angry, sir,' said the good man alarmed, 'I belong to another parish.'

An obliging friend tells us this is old. Long life to it! It de

* The coach which follows the eilwagen, and carries the luggage.

serves to be as old as the hills; but it loses all its pretty little Austriacisms in translating.

souvenir." 66

The last article in the book is a sketch of Berlin society, beginning with the court and descending to the bourgeoisie. Madame de Staël says, "Berlin est une ville qui ne laisse pas de This only proves," says our author, " that a very clever woman may say a very silly thing." In this we quite agree with him; but in order to feel the sort of impression from Berlin which creates souvenirs, one must know something of that vast quantity of intellectual light which from the time of Frederic the Great has emanated from thence; and of this, in spite of all Madame de Staël's genius, and in spite of her book upon Germany, she had a very imperfect conception. The author says

"Prussia is incontestably an object of interest, whether she be loved or hated:-despised she cannot be by any one, for she ascends. When the sun sinks, people grow sleepy, but they open their eyes to his rising beams."

"The political constitution of Prussia may leave something to desire; but where light is universally diffused, other defects are but of secondary importance. Under any form, even the worst, human happiness is better secured with that, than without it, by institutions the most artfully contrived. These defects will, however, of necessity, and without any violence, disappear, and all the wishes of true liberals, who have nothing in common with frantic destroyers, will be fulfilled.”

Though, as he says, and as his book will testify, a very bad courtier, he speaks with great attachment and respect of the reigning family, and especially defends the Crown Prince against the insinuations (which he complains have been so frequent in foreign newspapers,) that his accession to the throne is an event looked forward to with dread by his future subjects. These rumours our author treats as mere calumny. We earnestly hope he may be right. There are few things in which Europe is more deeply interested than the tranquillity of Prussia. If she has peace without and within, her population can hardly, under their actual system of education, fail to advance to a high pitch of moral and intellectual culture, and to operate most favourably on other nations, as she has already done on her bitterest enemy, France, and as she undoubtedly will ere long do on England.

Among the amusements, he speaks of some very curious balls, where every step in the ladder of society is to be found congregated. Of these balls some idea may be formed from the laudable attention to the toilet of the beaux, shown in the order, "that no gentleman be admitted in dirty boots." Spite of these refinements,--perhaps because of them, the balls seem to be dull; but the suppers, enlivened by an incessant feu-de-joie of corks from champagne bottles, are joyous enough.

The last of these balls I was at," says the author, 66 our gay Prince Albrecht wandered with his adjutants from room to room, unable to find a vacant place at a table. I couldn't help laughing as Cexclaimed with enthusiasm, That's what you call an absolute monarchy, where the king's son can't find a table to eat his supper at, because his good citizens have taken possession of them all! A constitutional Orleans would take care to be better served!' 6 Yes,' said I, that is one reason why we want no revolutions, and are so happy as to have a sound body that doesn't want bloodletting every year or two." " ** We had marked many other passages for translation, but what we have laid before our readers will suffice to give an idea of the varied contents and the various merits of the book. There are passages which show the author's well-known talent for description of natural objects. His ascent in a balloon in 1817, with Herr Reichardt, contains some most striking examples of this. A Transylvanian bear-hunt, taken down from the relation of Alcibiades de Tavernier, a nephew of the celebrated traveller, is admirable. We regret we have not room for it.

We take leave of our author, hoping soon to meet him again on his own undisputed and well-won ground-landscape gardeningen Though England is, as he is never backward to acknowledge, the classic land of gardening, we are convinced his acute perception of natural beauty, and his long and large experience, will enable him to produce a work of peculiar interest on that subjectw £75

mak

ART. VIII. Treaty for the Conveyance of Letters between England and France. (Parliamentary Papers, 1834.)

PUBLIC attention has been recently directed to the necessity of making important alterations in the management of the Post Office. There is a very general impression that this department might be rendered more serviceable and less costly than it is at present. The subject must shortly be taken up seriously in parliament, and the financial part of it will receive due attention. The state of the Inland Office will no doubt be thoroughly investigated, for almost every individual in the country feels a direct personal interest in its good or bad management. But, comparatively speaking, few persons are inconvenienced by the obstacles which the regulations of the Foreign Post Office throw in the way of a cheap and frequent communication with the continent and with America; and there is reason to apprehend that this part of the inquiry may be slurred over. Many also imagine that every practicable improvement has already been effected in this section of the Post Office. This, however, is a

VOL. XIII. NO. XXVI,

FF

mistake; for it will not be difficult to show that much more might be done with very little exertion by our own government, even without the co-operation of foreigners, and without any sacrifice of revenue.

The Treaty which we have cited at the head of this article was concluded on the 14th of June last, with the declared view and intent of improving the communication between England and France, and maintaining the good understanding which existed between the governments and people of the two countries. It is to be regretted that with such good intentions the negotiators were able to effect so little. The simple result of their labours, about which the public have heard so much, was the establishment of a daily post, or rather a post six days in the week, between England and France. This seems to be considered a mighty achievement; but when it is remembered that individuals of spirit and capital have for years experienced no difficulty in establishing and keeping up daily lines of steam-boats and coaches from London to Paris, and from Paris to London, the only wonder must be that measures were not taken immediately after the peace to put the post office arrangements of both countries on at least an equally good footing.

That an improvement, however, has been effected by the daily delivery and transmission of French letters, is undeniable. The complaint is that the noble postmaster-general did not proceed still further, and equalize the postage on foreign and domestic letters. Why should a letter from Calais be charged one shilling and twopence postage, and one from Dover only eightpence? Why should a person sending a letter to his correspondent at Paris pay one shilling and twopence inland postage to Dover, when, if the letter was to stop at Dover, it would be charged at little more than half that sum? It is not the cost of the conveyance across the channel that makes the difference; this is not pretended but the only reason that can be, or is, assigned for the extra charge is, that it is a foreign letter in the one case, and an English one in the other. That the letter is going abroad is no doubt a complete justification of the extra impost to the minds of all those enlightened persons, who fear that a communication with foreign countries will weaken John Bull's pugnacious propensities, and who would gladly see the island encircled by Berkeley's wall of brass. But the Duke of Richmond professes to be desirous of improving the communication with the continent. Surely then we might expect that he would exert himself to remove so great an impediment to this intercourse.

It is not merely on letters from France that this additional charge is made; a single letter from Germany is charged Is. 8d.;