ER. RAISES S VISIT TO ST. PETERSBURG. * „ N ember

1829, Mr. RAIKES started fur Hamburg, in an ill- !' November steam-boat, with a vulgar and motley company, con- 01)„ h says, very strikingly with the " well-known resorts of tril„1,1"Mgeayety 4 (Ang/in) the clubs ?) he had just quitted. From con Hamburg be posted to Berlin,—which he found very dull ; and travelled by the same mode of conveyance to St. Petersburg ; the gtollnd-13 marvellous thing in that region at that season—being red with snow, and the rivers almost frozen up. In the "City cove

he resided four months, at an hotel ; received the of the Czar"

o'nvitations to our own Ambassador's, which are customarily ex- ;ended to persons of his status ; and, scraping a few acquaint- ances, by their means got occasionally introduced to Russian set no ties. Ile visited the curiosities usually seen by strangers ; picked up some anecdotes, and some idle tales of great men ; collected reports of the internal workings of the Russian Govern- ment, touching serfs, municipalities, and public offices ; and, mingling these with rational enough views of the power of Russia, he weekly sent off the omnium to a dear friend,—though the letters were sometimes, as he candidly admits, hardly worth the restage.

The reason assigned for the publication of such trifles is, that "not a single traveller has published even a sketch of the system and manners of a country which differs so essentially from all

the civilized states of Europe. This, however, is scarcely the fact; for, besides incidental notices by other travellers, we have Mr. RITCHIE'S keen and shrewd, though of necessity, like Mr. RAISES'S, superficial observations. The real truth seems to be, that our author has collected his off-hand letters for the sake of flattering the Tories, abusing the present Ministry, and fos- tering the Russophobia. But as his own first impressions, derived from the reality, do not in any way forward this last object, he is compelled to affix a lengthy postscript—in which he gathers to- gether all sort of hearsays and conjectures on various subjects— about the increase of the Russian marine : as if seven years on the Black Sea could form a navy out of sailors formerly frozen up, according to his own account, more than half the year; as if the exploits of Russia in Circassia were any thing to boast of in the military way ; as if the physical circumstances of the Tartar deserts, which he properly comments upon in his text, were altered since lie wrote it ; or as if Russia was any nearer to the possession of Constantinople than in 1830. Nor is Mr. RAIKES always scrupulous in matters of fact : so far from having diminished the number of ships in commission, our present Government has increased them. Neither is lie always attentive not to contradict himself. For example— e, Affection for the Sovereign, and a general approbation of his measures for

the public good, may prompt the offer of a voluntary donation, as was the case lately at Nijni Novogorod, when the merchants came forward with a vote of a million and a half of roubles for the construction of quays on the Volga, ac. cording to a plan conceived by the Emperor on his journey. But the Emperor, who might obtain millions in this manner, was unable to raise a loan in his own dominions. With an immense revenue, and finances in the most prosperous state, his government is without credit ; as the mercantile spirit of the Rus. sins is too clear-sighted not to be convinced that arbitrary power and public credit must always be incompatible.

"If, then, it became an object of the present Government to throw down the gauntlet in Europe and commence a war of aggression, funds would be required for the purpose ; and those funds could only be raised by a previous consent to abrogate and limit that arbitrary power which now evidently exists, and which there is no disposition on the part of the ruler to curtail. The best security for peace is the want of means to snake war."

These rational remarks are from a note to his text : the follow. ing afterthought is from the postscript-

" Some grave politicians, who undervalue the power of Russia, and think that Messrs. Rothschild are the arbiters of peace or war, sigitificantly allude to, what they call, her vulnerable point ; they talk of her financial embarrass- ments, and assert that the want of money will prevent a collision. "Perhaps these reasoners are not aware that, personally, the Emperor of Russia possesses, in territorial property alone, a revenue ten times more cousi. dersble than any civil list in Europe; that, speaking financially, Rtessia has nothing to lose and every thing to gain, from the moment that the seat of war is carried beyond her frontiers ; besides, that her internal administration is less expensive than any other; that her levies of troops are collected with a sun. poling economy for the crown, and at the cost of the landed proprietors; that every military expedition once out of a country like Russia, is a speculation which can hardly fail to turn out profitable to the empire, as there is scarcely on record a treaty of peace signed between that power and her adversaries, by which she did not ultimately gain some augmentation to her own territory." Passing over these incongruities, and the slight nature of Mr. LIKES'S matter, his volume may be recommended as lively, read- able, and characteristic of the man of society. What he says is without depth or thought—often without justness ; but lie says it pleasantly albeit flippantly ; while in the lighter matters of etiquette, or even of graceful sentiment, he rises to the height of his theme. Such are these quotations.

IMPERIAL. FETE.

Yesterday was the Russian New Year's Day : it was celebrated by a fete which can be seen in no other country ; it is a fete original, extraordinary, and characteristic of the nation. The Sovereign and his family commence the new rar.hy an assembly given to the people ; not leas than twenty.five thousand in- vastums are issued to this gigantic rout. At seven o'clock in the evening, the doors of the Winter Palace and of the Hermitage are thrown open to the mul- titude; the innumerable rooms are lighted up with myriads of wax candles; • There seems to have been a change of title while the :work was in the press. Though only one volume, it was delivered to us in three fasciculi, under the name of " The City of the Czar " with the last fasciculus comes the title- , in the words that we have printed above, and with the alarming motto nom Bum% "A chief's among you takin' notes, And faith hen prent them!"

AMBASSADORIAL BLUNDER.

The Utile which, I am told, created at first some coolness in Russian society towards the Due de Mortemart, tip: French Ambassador, was of so ludicrous a nature that it is worth relating. A inistake of his secretary, in sending out cards of invitation without prefixing the proper titles of the guests, gave in the first instance some offence, which was afterwards to be repaired by another entertainment more carefully announced in proper form. The object proposed was a little French comedy, to be acted by the members of the Am- bassador's family, on a theatre fitted up for the occasion in his hotel. The Rus- sians are very partial to the French stage; and a spectacle de sucillte is always more interesting than a public representation : the company, therefore, assem- bled with great good.wila and lin mony, to all appearance, was completely re- established. By one of those unfortunate coincidences which are impossible to be foreseen, and which sometimes will furnish an unpleasant construction to the most innocent intentions, the comedy of L' Ours et le Padua was selected by the actors for this occasion. It is a favourite little piece in France, and must be in any country where bears are not indigenous, and where else climate does not oblige the lords and ladies of the laud to burrow their costume whenever they venture out of their houses. Perhaps the actual war which was then going on with Turkey might have tendered the allusion to the l'acha still more striking also. Be that as it may, the scene opened, and the principal dramatis personae proved to be two enormous bears : this was indeed past bearing ; the offence was not to he forgiven ; and even to this day the Ambassador, with

all his known one and high-bred manuers, has never been able to efface the impression of this unintentional affront.

SERFDOM AND THE SERF'S EETE.

At the national theatre of Moscow, after the curtain bad dropped, an actor stepped forward to announce to the public that he had purchased his liberty, and was about to leave the stage. This circumstance, from its rarity, created much conversation at the moment ; and the question was asked of a musician present, why be did not follow such a laudable example. " Ale," replied he with a sigh, " Serf God has math: me, self I have lived, and serf 1 shall die. While I continue punctually to pay my abed: to my master, he is under the obligation to lodge, to feed me, my wife, and my children, when in livable, and to take care of us when sick. Would liberty then procure to us equivalent advantages, when reduced to the scants salary of one hundred and fifty roubles, which is all I receive from the managers of this theatre ? In my position as a slave, I am readily admitted to a secondary siltation in the orchestra; but as a freedman, it would be a different thing; my talents would be questioned, and my pretensions viewed with jealousy. Nu, no ! serf I was burn, serf I have lived, and serf I will die."

This sentiment is much more generally prevalent than the world imagines. A feeling of immediate personal interest stifles iu this humbled race those aspi- rations for liberty which nature must have implauted in their breasts, in com- mon with her other children ; and, if any doubt could exist on that subject, it vanishes at once in the institutiun of an animal fke, when the natural bias is expressed in a very affecting manner. On that day the people hurry in crowds to the market.place, anxious to pur- chase all the birds that are MI sale, and restore them to their native air, amidst thejoyous cheers of the assembled multitude. There ie something melancholy in this allegorical allusion to their own hapless position.

A RUSSIAN ON THE INDIAN INVASIOIL

There is one subject which, from time to time, is repeated in England, as an alarembell to rouse the nation against the power of Russia,-..vrhich is the appro.. hension of an attack from that quarter upon our Indian possessions: but I hear nothing from the most sanguine advocates of Russian aggrandizement which would make me think that sensible men have ever seriously entertained the idea of such an impracticable project. I have seen Russian officers who have lately travelled into the country which separates their furthest provinces from our In. at convenient distances are placed sideboards with refreshments, adorned with pyramids of gold and silver plate; bands of military music resound in every

c truer to amuse the ear ; picked men, of the highest stature, from the Guards,

ate stationed in the ante-zooms to give effect to the scene ; and liveried servants swarm in every direction more numerous than the troops. And for whom was this colossal entertainment prepared ? For every rank and degree; from the highest noble to the lowest peanut, all were equally welcome without distinc- tion to pay their respects at the foot of the throne : there are no exclusions; rich and poor, the field.tnarshal and the invalid, the princess and the washer. woman, the master of the horse and the dancing.master, the maid of honour and the maid of all-wnek, the prince and the mougik, the Queen of Georgia and the French milliner, may all hope for a smile or a courteous word from the fours tain of honour.

In this immense crowd, slowly moving through the apartments, no instance of disorder or incivility ever occurs ; not even an attempt to steal the most Miffing ornament, which to some must be a great temptation : the Emperor is in the midst of his family, and the children are on their good behaviour. • • At seven o'clock, the different members of the diplomatic corps are intro- duced into the great ball of St. George ; where they are received by the Em- peror, the Empress, the Grand Dukes, and Grand Dutcheasea, attended by their numerous court. This interview lasts but a few minutes, during which the crowd flows in like an inundation of the sea. The Emperor then gives the signal to move, by offering his hand to one of the ambassadresses present ; the whole court follows his example; and a grave polwani,e is begun, which passes through all the different apartments to the sound of the military orchestras stationed in every direction. This procession advances, without interruption, through the surrounding masses of all ranks, headed by the tall, coininaudneg figure of the Emperor; at every instant he salutes his subjects, by raising the two forefingers to his hat ; and though the anxiety to catch even a glimpse of his person is so great that the eager crowd seems to present an impenetrable barrier, it opens befol e him as it by magic ; the waves of human bodies recede, and leave always a space of at least six feet in float to facilitate his progress. The men are all expected to appear in domino, which is only a %lent black mantle on the shoulder, without a mask ; but the tradespeople and inougiks are exempted from this rule. Here was a collection of all those nations who are only known in Europe by their name—Armenians, Greeks, Tartara, Per- sians, Georgians, Inieretians, inhabitants of Caucasus and of the Dori, wearing their appropriate iltyeseS. ■11111 gazing with astonishment at a scene which must hive appeared to them the wink of a magician. 10 these WORM where the Emperor was extaxted, the throng was at times so exces.ive that parties were separated, shoes were lost, gowns torn, and respiration impeded ; but no sooner had he passed than ease and tranquillity were restored. At last the polonaise is finished ; and at eleven o'clock the Emperor with his party retired to the private theatre at the Hermitage, where supper was prepared. It is illumi- nated in the most splendid manner with crystal ornaments and silver fringe, re- presenting cascades and fount ins of water, ahich have a dazzling effect to the ere; twelve Negroes in the Tallish dress keep guard at the entrance of 2116 fairy palace. This cut hills aseenibly was conducted with the greatest regula- rity, and without any interference of police, military, or dictation of any sort: it Is highly creditable to the mildness and civility of the national character, as the same exhibition on the same scale in Pare. or in London would have pro- duced scenes of endless confusion. dian frontier, and all agree 'n their dr s Tiption of the dangers and difficulties attendant on such a journey, even for a private individual, much more for a nu- merous army. Sonic reasuners go further, and pretend to wish that we should even advance our Indian outposts towards their province of Kaboul ; in order that we might meet amicably at that distant point, and cooperate mutually in promoting an overland communication from thence with Europe, which would insure to them the benefits of a carrying-trade through Russia, and would he of great advantage to those English who are established on that boundary of our Indian empire.