BOOKS.

ALISON'S HISTORY OF EITROPE..

Tars second volume of the History of Europe from the fall of Na- poleon the First to the accession of Napoleon the Third is superior to its precursor. Although there is still a superabundance of dis- quisition when Sir Archibald falls in with Democracy, Currency, Sinking-fund, Free-trade, and his other hobbies, there is more of narrative and of action. The direct revolutionary revolts in Spain and Italy, the widely-ramified conspiracy in Russia under Alex- ander, which broke out on the accession of Nicholas, the formation of the Holy Alliance, the political contests in the French Assem- blies, and the D'Angouleme triumph in Spain, form the leading Continental topics. At home, the reader is carried over events that stirred their contemporaries to fever heat,—as the distress and widespread dissatisfaction which culminated in the Manchester Massacre and the "Six Acts," the Trial of Queen Caroline. The efforts of Lord Sohn Russell and others in favour of Reform and Catholic Emancipation, the first signs of the downfall of strong old Toryism in Peel's Currency Bill, some small beginnings towards Free-trade and Law-reform, are among the leading poli- tical events. More connected with the chronicler than the his- torian, are George the Fourth's coronation and his visits to Ireland and Scotland. Passing from life to death, the period witnessed the decease of Napoleon, Alexander, Louis the Eighteenth, the Due de Berri, the Duke of Kent, Caroline of Brunswick, George the Third, and among subjects Lord Castlereagh. The plan or arrangement of the work is good, and calculated by

its a ment to impress the topics broadly upon the reader's mind. The volume opens with the affairs of Spain, the events connected with the return of Ferdinand, and the atrocious tyranny of which he was guilty,—not suppressed by Sir Archibald, but less forcibly dwelt upon than the crimes of democratic ambition and military revolt. Italy comes next, and is treated in a similar spirit. Then there is an elaborate chapter on the reign of Alex- ander, extended to the suppression of the conspiracy that broke out on his death and the establishment of Nicholas on the throne. French affairs follow, and British to the death of Castlereagh. Europe generally is then handled, in consequence of the connexion or complexity of matters which led to the Congress of Verona. The French invasion of Spain, and Canning's "calling a new world into existence to redress the balance of the old," terminate the volume. By this method, not only are events distinctly brought before the reader, but something of a national character is imparted to several of the sections. The execution, however, is not equal to the plan ; for the parts are rather a series of long• articles in a periodical than a history. Questions now pending bestow the greatest interest upon the Russian section ; and perhaps it is the best treated, or, the subject being less hacknied, it seems so. Sir Archibald, it is true, in- dulges in rhetoric and amplification ; but the subject admits of the former, and to magnify the greatness and power of the Emperor is a common enough error ; though Circassia, the effort of the last Turkish war, the severe contest maintained by the Poles, and the general reports of travellers who have seen more than the garrison of St. Petersburg and the got-up military displays, might have shown the unwieldly and therefore not readily usable nature of his force. That Russia is powerful against invasion is undoubted ; for there is nothing but bare and thinly-inhabited districts to in- vade. Reach Moscow, or even Novgorod, and burn them down; the whole result is the destruction of so much individual property ; the particular householders are injured, but the state is hardly touched. This, however, is the consequence of barbarism, not of power. Where there is nothing, you cannot destroy. Wherever Russia at- tempts or (chiefly by means of foreigners) attains civilization, she is assailable,—as at Sebastopol, Odessa, Cronstadt, St. Petersburg, and less important places of the Baltic. She is assailable, too, through her exports, and, from their nature, perhaps to a more *damaging extent than nations that furnish a greater variety of commodities. Such things should have been noted by a writer professing to write a history.

Sir Archibald Alison, however, is impartial in a certain way. He can see a thing when it is shown to him, and judge of it ; nor does the idea, whatever it may be, suffer in his hands from want of expression. This is a striking picture of the results of despotism.

"It is not merely that the Czar is despotic, that his will constitutes law, and that he is the master without control of the lives, liberties, and fortunes of all his subjects—the same system is continued, as is always the case in such circumstances, through every inferior grade in society. What the Emperor is in his council or his palace, every inferior prefect or governor is within the limits of his territory, 'over his vast dominions. Despotism is the general System, force the constant weapon of authority, fear the universal basis of • History of Europe from the Fall of Napoleon in 18l5 to the Accession of Louis Napoleon in 1852. By Sir Archibald Alison. Dart., Author of the • History of Europe from the Commencement of the French Resolution in 1789 to the Battle of Water 100," &e. Volume II. Published by Blackwood and Sons. government. Gross acts of -maladministration, indeed, are often made the subject of immediate and terrible punishment ; the efforts of government are uneeasing to find them out, and the justice of the Czar implacable when they are clearly established. But it may easily be conceived that in a country of such enormous extent, where the machine of government is so complicated, and no free press exists to signalize its abuses, these instances are the excep- tion, not the rule. Power is, in general, undetected in its abuses, or sup- ported in its measures. So universal is the dread of authority in Russia, that it has moulded the national character, determined the national tastes, and even formed the national manners. Obedience is universal, from the Em- press on the throne to the humblest serf in his log-house. All do not what they like, or what they would have themselves chosen, but what they are ordered and expected to do. Dissimulation is universal : if they are not happy, they pretend to be so, to avoid the reality of sorrow which awaits ex- pressed discontent. The present Empress—a woman of high spirit and the most captivating manners—is sinking under the incessant labour of amusing and being amused ; the fortunes even of the greatest nobles or highest func- tionaries are wasting away under the enormous expenses imposed on or ex- pected of them by the Court. All must exert themselves incessantly, and to the uttermost, to keep up with the demand of authority, or conceal the ennui or discontent which in reality is preying upon their bosoms. "Clark, the celebrated English traveller, says that there is not a second in Russia, during the day or night, that a blow is not descending on the back or shoulders of some Russian peasant. Notwithstanding a considerable soft- ening of manners since the time when the description was given, it is still precisely applicable. Corporal chastisement of their slaves is permitted to masters, without any other authority but their own ; and, except in the classes in the Tchinn who are exempt from that penalty, it is the great en- gine of authority with all intrusted with judicial power. The punishment of death is abolished by law in all cases except high treason ; but such is the severity of the corporal inflictions authorized, that it would be a mercy if it was restored. When a man receives the sentence of above a hundred strokes with the knout, the executioner understands what is meant ; by striking at a vital place, he in mercy despatches him at a third or fourth. The police- officers lay hold of disorderly persons or malefactors in the streets, and beat them, without the formality of a trial, in the severest manner, without their cries exciting any attention among those who witness it; who, glad that the tempest has not fallen on their shoulders, quietly pass by without either ob- servation or surprise. The nobles and higher classes of the Tchinn are ex- empt from such chastisement ; but Siberia is constantly hanging over their heads, the most effectual of all bastinadoes, to the mind ; and the prisons re- sound with the cries of those upon whom the punishment of flogging for crime, or at the instance of their masters, is inflicted. The frightful screams of the sufferers under these inflictions leave the most melancholy impression on the minds of such as have heard them; they recall the horrors of slavery among the boasted republican institutions of America. "It is this constant recurrence to force, and the frequency and severity of corporal punishments in Russia, which has imprinted at once its regular me- thodical aspect on the march of government, and their supple character and extraordinary powers of dissimulation on the people. Like a well-disci- plined regiment, in which the lash is the constant object of apprehension, everything goes on silently and smoothly in Russia. Nothing retards or checks the machine of government ; riots or disturbances of any sort are un- known ; resistance is never thought of, or, if attempted, is speedily sup- pressed by the strong arm of power. The country resembles rather a vast army obeying the directions and coerced by the authority of a single general- in-chief, than a great community actuated by separate interests and im- pelled by various passions. As a necessary consequence of this irresistible force of power and necessity of submission, the character of the Russians has been modified in a most essential degree. Originality or independence of thought is in a great degree unknown ; where these qualities exist, as doubt- less they must in many breasts, they are carefully concealed, as the most dangerous qualities which the possessor can discover."

Anything connected with the essential characteristics of St. Pe- tersburg is just now of interest. Here is an account of the inun- dation of 1824, which nearly destroyed the city.

"The Emperor had just returned from a visit to Orenburg and the South- eastern provinces of his empire to his palace at Tzarskocelo near St. Peters- burg, when a terrible hurricane arose, which, sweeping over the whole of the Baltic, strewed its shores with wrecks, and inflicted the most frightful devastation on all the harbours with which it is studded.But the catas- trophe at the capital was so frightful that for some hours it was menaced with entire destruction, and all but accomplished a remarkable prophecy made to Peter the Great when he commenced its construction, that it would one day perish under the waves of the Baltic.

"To understand how this happened, it is necessary to obtain a clear idea of the local circumstances and situation of St. Petersburg. When Peter se- lected the islands at the mouth of the river Neva, which, descending from the vast expanse of the Lake Ladoga, empties itself in a mighty stream into the Baltic, for the site of his future capital, he was influenced entirely by the suitableness of its situation for a great harbour, of which he severely felt the want, as Archangel, on the frozen shores of the White Sea, was the only port at that period in his dominions. Carried away by this object, which, no doubt, was a very important one, he entirely overlooked.. the pro- bable unhealthiness of the situation, where a metropolis rested like Venice on marshy islands, the highest part of which was only elevated a few feet above the branches of the river with which they were surrounded. * • • "The original danger, arising from the lowness of the situation and its liability to inundations, still continues. Great as it is, the power of the Czar is not so great as that of the Baltic waves. From the main channel, where the Neva majestically flows through superb quays of granite, sur- mounted by piles of palaces, branch off, as from the great canal at Venice, numerous smaller streams, forming by their intersection so many isles, some covered with streets, and forming the most populous quarters ; others adorned by beautiful villas and public gardens, the recreation of the citizens during their brief but brilliant summer. But these canals open so many entrances for the floods of the Neva or waves of the Baltic, to penetrate into every part of the city. None of it is elevated in its foundations more than a few feet

above the ordinary level of the water ; and the spectator shudders to think that the rise of the flood, even in a small degree, may threaten the entire

city with destruction.

"This was what in effect happened at this time. On several former occa- sions the river had been much swollen ; once, immediately before the birth

of the present Emperor, it was ten feet above its ordinary level.- But this wararnothing compared to the terrible inundation which now presaged his death. All the 19th of November the wind blew from the-South-west with

terrific violence, and brought the Baltic waves in such a prodigious mass to the mouth of the Neva that its waters were made to regorge, and soon the quays were overflowed, and the lower parts of the city began to be sub- merged. This at first., however, excited very little attention, as such floods were not uncommon in the end of autumn ; but the alarm soon spread, and terror was depicted in every visage, when it rapidly ascended and spread over the whole town. By half-past ten the water in the Perspective Newski was ten feet deep ; in the highest parts of the city it was five. The Neva had risen four fathoms above its ordinary level, and, worse still, it was con- tinuing to rise. The whole inhabitants crowded to the upper stories of the houses. Despair now seized on every heart ; the reality of the danger came home to every mind; the awful scenes of the Deluge were realized in the very centre of modern civilization. At Cronstadt a ship of the line was lifted up from a dry dock, and floated over the adjacent houses into the great square. At eight in the morning the cannon of alarm began to be dis- charged. The terrible warning, repeated every minute, so unusual amidst the ordinary stillness of the capita], proved the terror which was felt by Go- vernment, and augmented the general consternation. Ships torn up from their anchors—boats filled with trembling fugitives—stacks of corn borne on the surface of the waves from a great distance—cattle buffeting with the torrent, intermingled with corpses of persons drowned, or at their last gasp, imploring aid—immense quantities of furniture, and moveables of every description—were floated on to the most intricate and secluded parts of the city. The waters continued to rise till four in the afternoon, and every one imagined that all who could not save themselves in boats would be drowned. The rush was dreadful, accordingly, into every vessel that could be seized on, and numbers perished in striving to get on board. At five in the even- ing the wind fell, and the water sunk as rapidly as it had risen, and by the next morning the Neva had returned to its former channel."

The great conspiracy to overturn the empire and establish a re- public is well told. At the close of the narrative is a trait of Nicholas, on the fate of those ladies who accompanied their hus- bands to Siberia.

" The Emperor behaved generously to the families and relations of such as had suffered either death or exile for their political offences. So far from

involving them in any species of responsibility, he in many cases did much

to relieve them from the consequences of that which they had already un- dergone in the punishment of those who were dear to them. Ile gave

50,000 rubles (25000 to the father of Pestel, with a valuable farm on one of the domains of the crown, and appointed his brother, a colonel in the chevalier guards, one of his own aides-de-camp. He was extremely anxious tO relieve the distresses of Ryleirs widow, who had been left in very desti-

tute circumstances, and sent repeatedly to inquire into her necessities: but this highminded woman, proud of her suffering, refused all his proffered kindness, and said the only favour she asked of him was to put her to death, and lay her beside her husband. Unknown to her, he caused relief to be

conveyed to her children, with whose maintenance and education he charged himself. But to the women who had accompanied their husbands into exile he showed himself inexorable : he thought that by so doing they had adopted their crimes, instead of extenuating it by the opposite virtues. After undergoing fifteen years of exile in their appointed place of banishment, the Princess Troubetzkoi earnestly petitioned the Emperor for a removal, not into Russia, but to a place where the climate was milder, and she might ob- tain the rudiments of education for their children, and be near an apothecary

to tend them when ill. She wrote a touching letter to the Emperor, which concluded with the words, I am very unhappy; nevertheless, if it was to do over again, I would do the same.' But her petition was sternly refused. I am astonished that you venture to speak to me,' said he to the lady who ventured to present it, 'in favour of a family which has conspired against ale.'"

One of the foremost of the conspirators in point of courage and character, and one of the five who suffered death, was Ryleif.

- "He was a man of fine genius. In his remarkable poem, entitled I/bine- I rofski, he expressed his firm confidence in the irresistible march of Freedom, in these words, which he put into the mouth of an Ataman of the Cossacks-

' That which in our dream seemed a dream of heaven, was not recorded on

high. Patience !—let us await till the colossus has for some time accumu- lated its wrongs—till, in hastening its increase, it has weakened itself in striving to embrace the half of the earth. Allow it : the heart swollen with pride parades its vanity M the rays of the sun. Patience !—the justice of Heaven will end by reducing it to the dust. hi history, God is retribution: He does not permit the seed of sin to pass without its harvest.' "