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the several rates of common time, and the terms adagio, largo, allegro, presto, &c. are also of very little avail, in ascertaining, with precision, the point the musician wishes to discover. Every composer of musical airs would be of real service to the practitioner, if he would point out the absolute rate, at which his music is to be performed; this would be no difficult task; as he would only have to mention the length of a pendulum, which would make one complete vibration in the time, that part of a bar called a beat was performing. Thus, for instance, suppose I set a tune in triple time, and wish to have each bar performed in a second and a half, the character I must make use of is, ; for from this it might be concluded, that there were three beats in a bar, and each of these beats must be performed in the time a pendulum, ten inches long, made one vibration.

"To explain this method clearly, much more room is requisite; but this would not be a proper place for it: however, those who understand what improvement is intended, from this short account, will, I hope, excuse me for exhorting them to use their best endeavours to make it general."

Allow me just to add, that the method of adjusting the "tune" in military bands by pendulums, so as to make the music correspond with the different rates of marching, has been practised some years; a circumstance which renders it the more remarkable, independent of the suggestions of Dr. Gregory, Dr. Crotch, and others, that a mode of such easy and universal application, should not long ago have been adapted by all musical composers and performers. Your's, &c.

April 8, 1809.

T. MYERS,

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.

I

SIR,

BEG leave to offer a few remarks upon some of the late French bulle tins, if it will suit you to insert them in your widely extended publication. It is not till of late that the French bulletins have come into contact with our gazettes; and if any dependence can be placed upon the authenticity of the latter, the former must be full of the grossest falsehoods. The French official accounts have long been thought full of exaggeration of the losses and disasters of their enemies, while their own have been either concealed or greatly diminished, It has been

the policy of the French ruler to endea vour to persuade all Europe, by these means, that his troops are invincible, not only when they meet an equal number of their enemies, but even when they have to contend with double or treble their own forces. This was their boast against the Russians. But later and more authentic accounts have proved, that they overwhelmed the troops of Alexander, by bringing into the field a more numerou army. The French ruler has pursued the same plan in his official accounts of his unjust invasion of Spain, stating the Spanish forces to be three times the number of his own, though from SirJ. Moore's letters to government, lately laid before the house of Commons, in which he could have no temptation to misrepresent facts, it appears that the Spanish army was in- " ferior to the French in numbers, and even a great part of it, armed peasants. In such circumstances it is not wonderful that the French should be victorious. To the French accounts of the defeat and losses of the British army in their retreat to Corunna, we may oppose the dispatches of our commanding offcers, supposing the latter to be more probable, when there are such numbers in the army who could contradict them, if they were false, without exposing themselves to any such danger, as the French soldiers would, in such a case; for who in the French army dare affirm that any, or any part of the bulletins are false? They have reason to think it would be death to them." It is not unlikely, however, that the bulletins receive considerable credit through Europe, in almost every particular; and therefore, if they can in any instance be disproved, it will so far weaken their pernicious effect. Some particulars in the French accounts of the retreat of our army, appear contradictory; one account, for instance, says that the British army was reduced to 18,000 men, and an account of a latter date observes, that scarcely 24,000 men will get safe to their native shores. In these accounts also it is said, that, in the retreat, two English generals were killed and three wounded; could this be concealed, if it were so, merely by the omission of their names in the returns of killed and wounded. They further assert, that two English generals were found among the dead upon the field of battle,one of them a General Hamilton; this must be false. They further assert, that the 424,50th, 52d, regiments of foot, in our army, were entirely destroyed. Af terwards, however, they admit that a few of them reached the ships; but say that it

did not amount to sixty men in each regiment. I have thought that the nuinber of the men belonging to these regiments, who have returned, might be nearly ascertained by any inhabitant of the place where each of these regiments is quartered, and by inserting it in any of the public papers, make the truth appear, and, I hope, disprove the statement of the French in these particulars. In a paper of yesterday, it was mentioned, that a battalion of the 52d regiment was embarking for Portugal. If so; it does not appear as if they were very much reduced.

The Moniteur, in its comments on our gazettes, contradicts General Hope, by asserting that we did not take one French prisoner in the battle of Corunna: the falsehood of which is capable of proof, I presume, by our soldiers. In short, I wonder that the accounts of the num bers of the army returned from Spain has not been produced, although moved for in parliament, and promised by the ministry at least two months since. General Stewart declared that our whole loss in Spain did not amount to 5000 men, and the French assert our loss to be 14,000; surely it would be wise in our ministry to disprove their latter statement, if it be in their power. I sincerely Your's, &c. hope it is. E. N.

April 8, 1809

For the Monthly Magazine. PROGRESS of the RUSSIAN EMPIRE, during the REIGNS of the EMPERORS PAUL and ALEXANDER, in ARTS, MANNERS, and

POLITICAL ECONOMY.

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THE public curiosity is not so capri

cious as it is usually represented. It usually follows in the direct line of public utility, and of the proportion of that utility. Whatever is generally useful, whatever adds to our stock of practical knowledge, will always be interesting, and will always interest us, in the exact proportion in which it is, or, may be useful.

Hence, indeed, originates the superior pleasure which has always been assigned to history, Historia, says Quinctilian, quoquo modo scripta delectat." But if his tory can thus delight us, by the representation of manners and events long passed, and therefore seen through the fog of time, how much greater must be our pleasure in the perusal of cotemporary events, in having those scenes and manners presented, as it were to our eyes, which are only severed from us by the anere circumstance of locality.

These thoughts have been suggested by the course of any late reading. Being desirous of forming a comparative estimate of the progress of different nations within the last twenty years, I have naturally been led to consult the recent travels and tours, into those several countries. By the comparison of the accounts of each, by searching the one to supply what is omitted in the other, I think I have been enabled to form a tolerable estimate of the present state and condition of the principal kingdoms in Europe. The French writers, who have a name and system for every thing, denominated these species of outline, Tableau.r. I will not,. however, say, that in two or three pages I shall exhibit a picture of the progress of the Russian empire, for the last twenty years, because the word will exceed the thing; but by a collation and comparison, I have diawn an outline, which may be useful to others, as, in some points of reference, it has been to me.

That I may confine myself within some certain limits, I shall follow the method introduced in the French Tableau. But to relieve the dryness of mere statement, I shall not be so much a Frenchman, to be so perfectly enslaved by my method, as to pursue it, at whatever cost of disgust and weariness to the readers. Where the method assists me, I shall keep to it. Where it would destroy all variety without promoting perspicuity, I shall conceive myself at liberty to depart from it.

ARTS-It is well known that the empress Catherine was the protectress of all the arts properly so called. If Peter the Great introduced into Russia whatever was necessary to the substance of an empire; Catherine superadded whatever was wanting to its ornament. The Emperor Peter drew a bold outline, a masterly sketch; and then, passing as it were his canvas and his pencil to the Empress Catherine, she filled it up, she added all the colour, the shade, and the drapery.

The Empress Catherine, however, stood in the same relation to the fie She was the arts, as the Tzar Peter to the arts of necessity and common use. founder of them, she found nothing, and left much: but, like all founders, she still Even her long, reign left much to do. was not sufficient totally to erase and extinguish all the relics of barbarian taste, or rather of barbarian want of taste. The painters and poets had still something of their ancient barbarism. The nobility,

Ignorant

ignorant of rule, and not instructed by the comparison of inodels, judged only by their eye or car; and he was the best painter or the best poct, who could attract the one or the other. The most florid paintings, and poems of the most monstrous images, were still in fashion in the last days of Catherine, and the walls of her favorite palaces were indiscriminately covered with the chef-d'œuvres of the great masters, and with daubs which would scarcely be admitted on an English sign-post. Music was precisely in the serne state. The Russian music is characterized by a simplicity which degenerates into monotony, and by a gaiety, which,wanting distinctness and variety, is more frequently noisy than musical. The Empress Catherine endeavoured to improve it, by infusing the Italian melody. The Empress, howevever, here compietely failed; and though there were few Things but what she could compass, at least in some degree, she left the Russian music where she found it. The ears of the Russians would neither understand nor tolerate the science of the Italian opera? An Italian singer was received by the audience with much the same temper, as they would have received the pope; the direct countenance and even the presence of the court, was scarcely sufficient to protect him from insult.

There is another minor art, if so that may be called, which is certainly an object of rule, in which the Russians bad ittle excellence, previous to the present reign. The Russians, though generally an active race, and particularly the women, had not that natural distinction which is said to have characterized the ancient Greeks, and which in no inconsiderable degree has descended to their posterity. They were not naturally dancers; their dancing was nothing but the irregular gaiety of a people of happy disposition. It consisted in nothing but a wild agility, a rapidity of motion, with no attention whatever to elegance or harmony. It was little to a Russian, whether he moved his arms or legs, if by such motion he could keep a kind of general time with a tune of about six notes. The savages of New Zealand dance on their hams, and the ancient Russian seemed to perform, as if he followed the palsy for his model.

Such was the condition of the arts of painting, sculpture, music, and dancing, at the decease of the Empress Catherine. Let us see what is their present state,

and through what interval they have passed.

This information is only to be found in the accounts of recent travellers. There are two of those who at present occupy the public attention: Sir John Carr, in his Northern Tour; and Mr. Ker Porter, in his splendid work, the Travelling Sketches. The Northern Tour of Sir John Carr contains much valuable matter, and personal observation; and I read it with much avidity. The Travelling Sketches of Mr. Porter, are infinitely beyond my praise; perimps to book can be produced which, without the dryness of professed statistical research, contains a more fuil view and survey of the present state of manners, arts, and political economy of the Russian empire. His pencil, more over, comes in to the aid of his pen, and by their united results, not only the substance, but even the form of Russian life and manners, is before the eyes of the reader. Mr. Porter has made the public a gift, which I hope will not be the last.

"The Emperor Paul," says Mr. Ker Porter, "with the best intentions in the world, but certainly with a strange way of pursuing then, was an avowed protector of the arts, and particularly of painting and sculpture. As an example for all painters, he issued an ucase, by which it was ordered that all bridges, watch-houses, and imperial gates throughout the empire, should be painted in the gayest possible manner. Every thing was accordingly arrayed in red, and this colour in consequence become so much in fashion, as totally to destroy, and as it where overwhelm all genius. No picture would be looked at, in which all the figures were not arrayed in this colour," &c.

As the book of which I am speaking, is of very recent publication, I am afraid of being thought to do injustice to the able author, by availing myself too liberally of his information. But whoever wishes to obtain a perfect idea of the present state of the fine arts in Rus sia, will do well to consult the sixth letter of Mr. Porter, in which he gives an account of the present state of the Russian Institution for the Encouragement of Arts. For the sake of completing this part of my subject, I must be permitted to avail myself of one extract further :—

This liberty we must give and take, hanc veniam petimusque damusque vicissim. What

"What I can pronounce with any certainty, as to the present state of the fine arts is, that sculpture and architecture have been much advanced. They appear to me in a very promising state. The little I have seen of painting, gives me a totally opposite impression. I have several times passed through the apartments of the Academy where the young men work, and, as an artist, have minutely examined their performances, but in none of them could I discern the germs of the future painter. I sought to explain this to myself, and found one very ethicient cause in the bad examples which are ever before the eyes, and which they copy as the standards of perfection. The walls, instead of being enriched with a few excellent paintings, are disgraced with myriads of vile daubings. Whom are we to blame for this? Certainly not the imperial foundress or her successors. The invaluable saloons of the Hermitage, are ever open to the students of the Academy. There they may stray from morning till night, imbibing from the sublime works of Michael Angelo, and Raphael, the very fountain of taste and improvement. These they neglect, or rather I should say, that the professors never introduce them to a glimpse of such great originals. Why, I cannot pretend to tell you; but so it is, and thus, for want of the same plan, which prerails in the schools of sculpture and ar chitecture, the whole of the expence Javished on that of painting is little better than absolutely wasted. When manifest want of genius and bad instrucLions are united, nothing but disappointment can be the result. Able teaching and industry may give respectable proficiency to the most moderate capacities; and it iswell known,that bad examples will corrupt and destroy the finest talents."

Mr. Porter then proceeds to give his judgment upon the productions of sateary and architecture, of the present Russian artists. He pays very ligh compliments to Mr. Marlarize, an elève, of the Petersburgh academy. This genderman has produced, by Mr. Porter's account, some admirable pieces of sculpture. One of his works is a colossal statue of John the Baptist. Mr. Ker Porter gives a description of this, which is very favourable to the present state of sculpture in Russia.

The churches and palaces of Petersborghi, such as have been finished by the present race of architects, are equally proof that architecture begins to be

The

understood, as well as statuary. perverse taste of the Emperor Paul, indeed, finished a magnificent church in brick, which his mother had begun, and almost completed in marble; but the taste of the monarch is so little in conformity with that of the n ion, that there is a general wish that this part of the church may be rebuilt. It is no inconsiderable argument, that a nation will shortly be distinguished for eminence in an art, when it already shews itself to be pos sessed of the primary principle of taste.

The music of a nation may be distri bated into thee classes; the popular mu sic, the church-music, and the scientific music of the theatre or opera. It has been already said, that even to the end of the reign of Catherine, there was no science in the Russian music; that the opern was not tolerated, and that the popular music was uniform, and merely' not un musical.

The present state of Russian music, according to Mr. Porter's account, is very much improved. The popular music of every country, that which characterizes their ancient songs and burthens, seldom. varies in any considerable degree; it passes from father to son, and is dear to the old, as having been remembered by them when young. But when a people, in the progress of their civilization, come to hear music of a better taste, when their cars become gradually formed by the melodies of the theatre, and the science of the opera, even the popular music suffers suine change; if the old tune is preserved, it is set as it were with new graces. It has thus happened in' the Russian popular music. It has be come improved, though it still retains something of its ancient character.

The church-music always follows the progress of the arts. In Russia, therefore, the present church music is solemn, without monotony, and grand without confusion.

The music of the theatres has equally improved, and the Russian dramatic boards may boast of singers, who are nothing behind those of London and Paris. Mr. Porter confirms these observations in every page. The reader, however, may prefer bearing him speak for himself. We shall again therefore avail ourselves of his authority.

"The wind blew perfectly fair; and the people having fade to dɔ, we gave them something to cher their spirits. Our present had the desired effect; auri they entertained both themselves and us,

throug

through the remainder of their voyage, by singing, with much simplicity and ease, several of their national airs. The strains are wild, and possess many pleasing and melancholy passages, yet the whole bore a strong tone of melancholy and abruptness. Such indeed is the general character of these northern songs. I think that the monotony which dwells so long upon the ear, with one or two plaintive notes, is the cause of their deep melancholy impression. I have remarked this effect in old Scottish laments, and also in the wild dirges of the Irish peasantry.

With respect to the churchmusic, "there is something peculiarly impressive in the whole of the church service. In the boors we see a simple and devout ardour; they pray and cross themselves, with an earnestness which is peculiarly gratifying. It is impossible in seeing them, not to conceive the most favourable sentiments of them; for however ignorant they may be in other respects, when once they know the nature of the Almighty Being, and are sensible of standing in his omniscient presence, a salutary awe fills their mind, and integrity is the natural growth, as the corn is from the ground in which the seed is sown. The church-music is fine, has much simplicity, and is all vocal. Those who chant are not seen, which gives a more charming effect to their voices. The most celebrated church in Petersburgh, for fine singing, is the Maltese chapel, and there it is of the most exquisite melody."

Mr. Porter likewise gives a similar description of the music of the opera and theatres; but it might be deemed unpardonable to give such length of extract. It will perhaps be thought that I have already availed myself too liberally of this gentleman's confirmatory observations. But it must be remembered, that we live in days when authority goes farther than reasoning.

The Russians of the present day, equally excel in the dance. According to Mr. Porter, they fall not a whit behind the French, except that they have more personal modesty. This latter quality, indeed, as far as it respects any delicacy of personal display, is confined to the higher ranks; for a Russian woman of the lower order, according to Mr. Ker Porter, has no idea that there is any part of her person, which it is required to keep from the age of her lover, or even of

stranger.

Manners.-The Russian manners have undergone a considerable change since the reign of Catherine. That Empress, by her encouragement of foreigners, and particularly of Frenchmen, at her court, had introduced a politeness and refinement, which had totally eradicated all traces of the ancient Russian barbarity. Peter the Great attempted in vain to change some part of the national habits of his subjects, but Catherine succeeded. The point of distinction was, that Peter attempted it by edict; Catherine, by the gradual influence of example. The one wished to compel, the other seduced. Catherine, therefore, left her court and nation perfectly European; she formed them to pleasure, and through pleasure to refinement.

In any enquiry into the manners of the people, the subject naturally distributes itself into four points; the manners of the court, of the nobility, of the middle class, and of the peasantry.

The present manners of the court of Russia, are perfectly those of every other court in Europe: whatever remained of the ancient barbarism, has worn away; and under the present emperor, the court of Petersburgh is at once magnificent and refined. The accounts of Mr. Porter upon this head, must give every one a very high idea of the progressive civilization of Russian mauners; so late as the last years of the Empress Catherine,the most avowed profligacy, the most gross and open licentiousness disgraced a court professing itself Christian; and the Empress herself, notwithstanding her French manners, was frequently in outrageous opposition against all the forms of civilized life and refined manners. Potemkin and the Orlovs, in the midst of their magnificence, had a brutality and a barbarism, which seemed only suitable to a nation just fresh from the woods. All this has now passed away, and Petersburgh has become what Paris was before the revolution.

The manners of the nobility who are not constantly appended to the court, have still something of their original character. "The nobles," says Mr. Porter, "deem no profession honourable, but arms. The study of the arts and sciences is left to slaves, or at best to slaves made free. The Russian nobility," however, continues Mr P. "are characterized by a noble frankness, which reminds one of the ancient barons of Europe. They want nothing of the more substantial social qualities; they are hospitable to a

proverb,

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