the depth of winter, when the aspect of inanimate nature is so peculiarly dreary, the lively notes of the sledgedriver, and the jingling of his horses' bells, are gay and animated.-While the shivering foreigner, buried in some six or seven fur mantles, hastily leaps into the carriage as if fearful of a moment's exposure to the air, and there fences himself round with cushions and curtains; the active driver, attired in his short pelisse, and with his neck bared to the inclemency of the weather, leaps on his seat with an agility equal to that of a French opera dancer; and immediately commences both his journey, and his clear, animated song. The keen winds cut his face, icicles hang upon his hair, his rugged beard is congealed to a mass of ice, flakes of snow fill both his bosom and his open mouth-no matter, he still continues to sing until he arrives at the next inn; there he hastens into the warm stove; removes the icicles from his visage, crosses himself before the smoked saint placed in one corner of the apartment; salutes every one as Matushka and Batushka, swallows his glass of brandy, and is again on his seat, and on his journey.

*

Singing is introduced into their most serious employments: while hauling up a vessel on shore through the breakers, while raising immense weights, while extinguishing a fire, they universally keep time in a sort of chorus, as if it aided them in acting simultaneously.

Another prominent trait in the character of the Russians, is their wonderful dexterity, especially in all mechanical labours. A foreigner is astonished at perceiving with what simple means they will elevate the greatest weights. Their wooden houses, which are executed with such neatness, as to appear cut out of a solid piece, are all formed with no other tool than the hatchet, which serves as a saw, a plane, and level. The fingers, or the teeth, perform the office of pincers for the smith; and the glazier has no other instrument for cutting his glass: even the most dangerous operations are performed with equal simplicity. A raw re

cruit is in a few weeks converted into an expert soldier; into a shoemaker, a tailor, or even a musician, just as his colonel may require: and there can be no stronger proof of the mechanical capacity of the Russians, or of what they may be rendered by discipline, than their extraordinary performances on wind-instruments; for each musician confines himself to one note, which be plays as long as he lives: and yet the most difficult passages are executed with a precision and taste truly astonishing. No other nation can boast of, or could execute, such singular concerts, which, from the number of performers they require, are never heard, except at the entertainments of the nobility. This dexterity is conspicuous in almost all that a Russian does: even the meanest of them has a freedom, lightness, and ease in his walk,—has an unconstrainedness, and even grace, in his motions: without ever being deficient in respect towards his superiors, he addresses himself, even to those of the highest rank, with perfect selfpossession, and without manifesting any mauvaise honte. A similar intrepidity and confidence are displayed in the ease with which he climbs over the most dreadful precipices without becoming giddy. Yet this fearlessness often becomes rashness: to save himself a few steps, he will cross over a rotten plank, or still more rotten ice; in the midst of a crowd of carriages, he sees as little cause for apprehension as if walking in a room. This apathy of, or rather this predilection for danger, mixes itself even in his very amusements, which would otherwise appear to him insipid: a striking instance of this is to be found in their fondness for their precipitous iceslides.

This dexterity is not merely corporal or manual; it displays itself in their mental exertions. It is well known that the Russian acquires every foreign language with particular facility; an advantage for which he is in some degree indebted to the difficulties of his own t: this renders his organs so pliant, and breaks them in so well, that he can imitate any

sounds with facility; while the German is never able wholly to acquire the sound of the English th, the Bohemian r, or the Polish l. I was also assured by all the German Professors in Russia, with whom I became acquainted, that the Russian possesses a decided and remarkable capacity for the mathematics.

A third trait in their national character is kindness. Among no other people does this truly amiable virtue appear to be cultivated to a greater extent. Whether in an unknown part of the city, or in the deserts of Siberia, one is equally sure of being directed aright; and even of being accompanied until he is certain of his way. Blind beggars sit in the most crowded streets with the money they have collected, in their hats; to these, persons, even of the lowest classes, will give an alms, and should any one have a larger piece of money than he can well spare, will put it down and take out as much change as he thinks proper; nor is the opportunity for being dishonest on such occasions, ever known to mislead them. This is a piece of confidence that in some other capitals of Europe, would soon be repented of by whoever should think of displaying it. It must not, however, be supposed that the Russians are absoÎutely immaculate in this respect; on the contrary, they make small scruple of appropriating to themselves any little article of value. But robbery, or any thing like violence, very rarely occurs; little care therefore is taken to secure doors and windows. Tra

velling is also perfectly safe, except, indeed, among the Nomadic tribes of the Caucasus, &c. &c.

Whether it arises from the disposition of the people, or from the character of the government, I know not; but nowhere does a more unlimited religious toleration prevail than in Russia. Another remarkable trait among the Russians, is their extreme and disinterested hospitality. A stranger, or a young man of moderate circumstances, in any of the larger cities, is sure of obtaining access to tables which he may consider as his own; and can avail himself of the general invitation given, without the least reserve or constraint. Gaiety and good-humour prevail at the entertainments of the better classes, without ever degenerating into Bacchanalian excess.

The common peo

ple, however, indulge very freely in the use of spirits, and particularly of their favourite brandy; yet even in their moments of extreme inebriety, they are rarely quarrelsome, and, when unable any longer to assist themselves, are treated with every attention, and all tenderness, by their less intoxicated companions. If Venice be the Paradise of monks, Russia is most assuredly that of drunkards; for, there, a man in liquor is regarded almost as a saint, and is sure to receive all the services his situation demands, an humanity that probably arises in no small degree from sympathy with the disabled person, and a consciousness of their own frequent need of similar acts of charity.

MY DEAR DICK,-I perfectly understand your quiz about the "Letters," and I have no doubt the doctor and you are laying your wise heads together, to make a lion of me when I return; but take care that when your head is in my mouth I do not wag my tail.-What a plague sets you. upon Peter!-Can a man

Edinburgh, May, 1821. not write a letter from this impudent town but you must make him the bear and fiddle of it ;—as if we were all seeking a hook in the nose for the sake of the crowd it may bring round us! But neither bear-dance, nor Morris-dance shall you lead me ;I have consulted a Scots law friend about my compact to send you an

account of the place, and he tells me, that I may resile at any time before implement, (as he phrased it) and may claim a locus penitentiæ.-You are on the wrong side of the post with me for law therefore, and I advise you not to force me to take advantage of my Scotch domicile. Speaking of law, I do not know upon what subject I can better in troduce Edinburgh and you to 'each other, for it is the living of both of you :-I am afraid, however, that were you to meet upon it, your mutual admiration would resemble what we may imagine that of Lycurgus and Jeremy Bentham to be in similar circumstances; for I am not sure that the Lacedemonian and the Bencher would be more ignorant of each other's craft, than a hoary Scottis laywer and my present Cor respondent. In one particular, you law gentry are the same in all countries, that is, the barbarism of your language: the Latin Lexicographers never omit the head" Barbarous or Law-Latin ;"-I am told, there is a similar distinction as to Law-Scotch, and of course, our descendants in the 30th century will have the same addition to their Johnsons and Sheridans.-In England, as far as ever you would let me learn, your mystic words are inapplicable to any thing else but law, and one can guess at the meaning of a rule nisi, a demurrer, and a rejoinder, although your fi fa's, and ca sa's are more than sufficiently enigmatical, but here the language is perfectly oracular, and it would puzzle Edipus himself to interpret it. When a Judge intends to be peremptory in an order, he ordains parties to condescend; when he is disposed to be mild and monitory, he recommends them to box their pleas!-Witnesses must be brought into court upon a Diligence, and before they can be examined, they must be purged!When a man leaves his estates to the poor, he is said to mortify them, and when you lose your deceased elder brother's estate, it is called a conquest!-They boast also of as much execrable Latin as you in Westminster-hall, some of it, indeed, is their peculium, (ex. gra. this word,) and for horrible phrases, such as "blasting you at the horn," "poinding your ground," "consigning you to the

Fisk," (all equally intelligible to me,) I think they beat your barring of dowers, dockings of tails, and titles of hotchpot, clean out of the field.

About four-fifths of my old playmates and school cronies live by the law, and I may almost say, the same proportion holds in the upper population of Edinburgh:--You will not, therefore, be surprised at my knowledge of the trade, for the Scots lawyers are not only not troubled with any of that shyness of being known, which some friends of mine in London are beset with, but seem rather to brag of their calling, and in mixed companies, they foist in the shop with an air of such easy facetiousness, that you are wheedled into picking up their jargon for the sake of the jocularity which is clothed in it. The profession altogether, here, is on a quite different footing from England:-That branch of it, which answers to your attorneys, is composed of a rank in society above the average of yours, and before an apprentice can be bound to it, he must produce certificates of having attended a University, and made progress in his studies;-an immense advantage, and one great source of the cultivation of intellectual pursuits which characterizes the young lawyers of this place.-In most other towns the society of young people is broken for ever by their leaving school, but here, generally speaking, they meet in two future stages, the College and the Court, engaged in the attainment of the same object, professional learning; and the desire of being "clever fellows" is kept alive, by its being necessary to preserve their status among their associates. This desire, and the consequent ambition of shining, have of late amazingly increased among my young townsmen. Indeed, I fear it is outrunning itself, they are but seedlings in literature, yet they assume a sharp knowledge of every thing connected with it, which to the really learned must be distressing.— It is now found such an apparently easy matter to talk, and to write, and to print, with the air and manner of a scholar and a critic, and the high road of learning is trodden by so many travellers, that its increase of rubbish can scarcely be wondered at.

You have often heard Allan and

me gabble about our debating Societies in Edinburgh, and you cannot have forgotten our dispute about a certain West Indian president of the Medical, of which one of us was an unworthy member-I am told they have increased ten-fold, and there are now the Select, the Speculative, the Juridical, Academic, Theologic, Theomathic, Philalethic, Dialectic and Didactic, besides numerous others devoted to particular branches of science. How they are all kept going I cannot so easily tell you, some of their names, at least, go upon tic-I have heard that one of them, at a full meeting, came to a resolution of applying the balance in their treasurer's hands to a dinner and drink at the house of my namesake Bill, a measure which, as one of their patriarchs prognosticated, with tears in his eyes, swallowed up the Society for ever. You cannot fail to observe, however, that where there is a spirit among the body of respect able young men, which sets these thinking speculations a-going, there must be a state of society very different from that of a trading or commercial capital. Men of sound sense and liberal education are much the sarne all over the world, but I rather think that it is in Edinburgh only that you have an enlightened city as a city, although London may exceed it in quantum of intellect, even proportionately to its excess of population; but the grievance of London is, that you cannot collect yourselves, you are profound philosophers and brilliant wits on such and such an evening, alternately at Kensington, Albemarle-street, Tavistock-square, &c. Now, in Edinburgh you meet your eminent men in clusters, daily and hourly if you like, in the streets or public walks, and you are saved a sensation (that will intrude itself at a party,) that you are looked upon as one of an audience brought together to see and be introduced to Mr. Such-a-one, the lion of the night: -besides, from the spirit to which I have alluded, society at large partakes of the nature of your eminent and distinguished society; and what in London is made a set feast of, is here an ordinary meal.

I went up to the Calton Hill (the Acropolis, as they will have it, of this Athens) for a walk, on Sunday VOL. III.

last, about twelve o'clock, and among the few Sabbath breakers that I saw, there was one whose grave elderly appearance set the consciences of us younger sinners quite at rest for our profanation. He looked as if he knew me, but trusting to looks in this respect has got me into so many ridiculous dilemmas, that I have resolved to disregard them whenever I am not sure of the looker, which, in a little, I was in the present instance: he was a man of sixty and upwards, fresh looking and healthy, dressed in a fine medium of the old school, the more modern fulness of the 1799, and the last fit from Allen and Wilson.. His face was a mixture of playful bluntness and waggery, with a good deal of genuine benignity, and an authoritative swell of the under lip; but above all there was a beam of arch intelligence, an incapability, if I may so speak, of not taking a sarcastic. view of a subject, that I have never seen more strongly marked, except in the face of Voltaire ;-in short, it was Mr. A- - When we had passed once or twice, I ventured up to him, and addressing him by name, asked him how he did;-before I could get out my sentence, he had recollected me, and holding out his hands, "Eh! Tam Young, where in the world, have you come from," he welcomed me home very cordially. We walked nearly a couple of hours round this most delightful of all possible places, as your newspapers phrase it, and my companion was quite a chronicle, a living abstract of

strangers guides," for upwards of forty years. He looked down upon the whole of the New Town as you and I look at a row of new buildings in the Regent's Park; or as I look upon the piles of streets, squares, and crescents, that have sprung up here since my boyhood. At the north side of the hill, he pointed out to me a most beautiful new chapel for the worshippers of your land, and close by it the gothic spires of the Catholic chapel, both built during my transportation-" Aye," said he," they were ay mithers bairns," (he gradually got Scotch in his language as we grew familiar,) "they were ay mithers bairns, though they coost out owre their parritch; now-a-days we may go to the devil without breaking an Act of Parliament, and

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as my freend John Downie the writer says, the mair gaits you try for Heaven, the better chance you have o' the right, so he taks a round of them all. You'll ken the Tabernacle in the Walk.-Yonder it hings oure the coach work. I mind, and so may you, when its members, the Halda nites, used to subscribe three bawbees in the week for the hire o' the Circus on the Sabbath nights (they ca't the Pantheon now) and they tell a story o' a parcel of you Englishmen gaun in half muddled and hissing the preacher, because, as you said, Mr. Merryman never appeared in a black jerkin, but you'll mak no such blunder now, for it has got its right name at last, at least, if all kinds of worship implies all kinds of gods." The place which he thus described has gone through numberless changes from a circus, chapel, assembly room, theatre, ball and concert rooms, and is now under the fostering management of the "United Stud" Company, as what Mr. A. called "a horse play-house!"

As we got round to the Old Town side, he continued-" Ay, and yonder's the closs where the Babylonish harlot was glad to get leave to lye forty years syne,-that's afore your day,-Chalmers's closs, just aff the Physic Gardens yonder.-I mind when the mob harried them wi fire and sword, and desolation, and I ance helped to save a poor auld Aberdeen priest from getting his neck broke out at a window in a flour sack-but the holy text of pike and gun has been long obsolete, and if it's ever revived, I suppose it will be somewhat in the fashion o' the French and English firing at Fontenoy,' "Après Messieurs, Après Messieurs," -for politeness is now the order of the day among the godly of all denominations." As we got down the hill into the town, we met a friend of A's, a Mr. T

a young advocate, to whom he introduced me; he told us that he had just returned from attendance on some ladies, with whom he had been hearing Mr. Alison in the episcopal chapel, and he remarked upon the elegance of the sermon and the gentility of the people who sat in the churches of your persuasion. "Nae doubt, nae doubt," said A—, "a genteel appearance will be a recom

mendation in the next world as weel as in this, and at any rate, Mr.James, you'll plead your habit and repute, for I see you're weel dressed, and I'se warrant you have been in good company, but come along with us to your friend Charley Deas, and if you are no better engaged, you can walk out with us to the land of Canaan." Mr. T- — agreed, and A- took us along the most public streets, just as the people were crowding to the afternoon service. I hardly ever saw so many pretty girls;-the carriage beauties of a Hyde Park Sunday cannot excel them, and the pedestrians, as the Morning Post calls them, cannot equal them.-I speak of respectable women, you will recollect, for if I did not make this explanation, Simpkinson and you would be on me immediately in a manner that I know of old.

When we were passing St. David'sstreet, (look for it on the map I left you, at the east end of Princes-street,) Mr. A mentioned a circumstance regarding its name, which was new to me-mind, I don't vouch for the fact-" Did it ever strike you Mr. Young, that the Edinburgh people retained their puritanism in all their streets but this?-You never hear of Saunt James's-square, or St. George's, or St. John's, or St. Catharine's,-and as to St. Giles and St. Cuthbert, they have unnamed them altogether, at least they have buried them wi' Saunt John Knox i' the Tolbuith Kirk, or wi' my gude-father Saunt Sanders Mowbray i' the Wast; but here the Saunt's as sure's the David or the Andrew." I could not account for the peculiarity, though its existence immediately struck me. "Look up," said A," to the corner house on the right hand, wi' pillars at the threshold,-that house, you see, was built before either the square or the street, and stood for sometime by itsel':-it was possessed by the saunt that lies below yon thing en the hill like a lang gallipot, or a porter-mug without the handle; and when the New Town Christeners had exhausted their Georges and Charlottes and Fredericks and Hanovers, (and, my word, they did extend the royalty,) some of them seeing this house, bethought them o' its illustrie ous occupier, and named it after