Soltikou was once more employed on a message to Menzikoff, by which he announced to him an order of arrest. His wife and children repaired immediately to the summer palace, to throw themselves at the feet of the emperor, but they were refused admittance. Meanwhile, Menzikoff was made to believe that he would be only deprived of his offices; that he would nevertheless have all his fortune left him, and that he would be permitted to pass the remainder of his days at Oranjenburgh, a pretty town on the frontiers of the Ukraine, which he had built, and in some degree fortified. In fact, the free disposal of his goods and fortune was left to him, while he remained at St. Petersburgh; and when he went out of it, his retinue had not in the least the appearance of the followers of a discarded minister. He was accompanied by his whole family, and a great number of domestics; and, from the manner in which he was treated on the first days of his journey, it did not appear that there was any intention to do him more hurt. But, on his arrival at Twer, a town situate on the road between Moscow and Petersburgh, he there found an order for all his effects to be sealed up, and nothing more to be left him than bare necessaries. His guard was doubled, and he was more narrowly watched during the rest of the journey. Scarcely was he arrived at Oranjenburgh, when there were sent to him whole reams of complaints made against him for grievances. These were instantly followed by commissaries, who proceeded to his trial. He was condemned to pass the rest of his life at Berosowa, situate on the most distant frontiers of Siberia. His wife, blind with weeping, died by the way; the rest of his family followed him into exile. He bore his misfortunes with more firmness than might be imagined; and from being full of gross humours, with a bad habit of body, he recovered health and plumpness. There were allowed him ten rubles per diem; a sum which not only sufficed for his wants, but left a surplus out of which he built a church, at which he himself worked hatchet in hand. He died in November, 1729, of a repletion of blood; because there was not one person to be found at Berosowa, who knew how to open a vein.

The general opinion on the origin of Menzikoff, is, that his father was a peasant, who had placed him at Moscow, with a pastry-cook, and that he carried about little pies, singing along the streets; that the Emperor Peter the First having stopped to speak to him, he had pleased him with the wit and liveliness of his repartees. Upon this he put him servant to Mr. Le Fort; thence he took him about his own person, and by degrees made his fortune. Others again say, that his father was an officer in the service of the Czar, Alexis Michaëlowitz, and that, as it was not in those days extraordinary to see gentlemen serve in the stables of the Czar, Menzikoff had also been employed in them, in quality of one of the head grooms; that Peter, having often spoken to him, had taken notice of the wit and shrewdness of his answers, and placed him as a more immediate attendant on himself; when, observing great talents in him, he had, in few years, raised him to the first posts in the empire. I have always thought the first of these opinions the nearest to the truth; for it is certain that he was of obscure birth, and that he commenced his career as a common servant; after which the emperor placed him as a private soldier in the first company of regular troops, which he raised under the appellation of Preprovojdenie, a word signifying "for amusement." the First having thence taken him about his person, gave him his entire confidence, in such a manner, that, on many occasions, Menzikoff 21

Vol. I.-No. 5.

governed Russia with as much despotism as his master. His credit had, however, been greatly diminished, during the last years of the reign of Peter the First, and it was believed, that, if that emperor had lived some months longer, there would have been great changes at court and in the ministry.

The character of Menzikoff may be thus impartially sketched. He was strongly attached to his master, and the maxims of Peter the First, for civilizing the Russian nation; neither did he behave ill to those who showed submission. He treated all his inferiors with gentleness, never forgetting a service done him. Brave withal, he gave, on occasions of the greatest danger, incontestable proofs of personal courage. Wherever he had

once formed a friendship, he continued a zealous friend.

On the other hand, he was inflamed with a boundless ambition; he could not endure a superior or an equal, and yet less any one whom he suspected of pretending to surpass him in understanding. His avarice was insatiable. He was an implacable enemy. He did not want for natural wit; but, having no education, his manners were coarse. His inordinate love of money had led him into several disagreeable explanations with Peter the First, who had sometimes condemned him to pay arbitrary fines; notwithstanding which, there was found, after his imprisonment, the value of millions of rubles, in jewels, plate, and ready money.

He had a son and two daughters: she who had been betrothed to the emperor died, before her father, in exile; the other was married, under the reign of the Empress Anne, to General Gustavus Biron, brother to the Duke of Courland, and died in the beginning of the year 1737. The son became a major in the guards.

Menzikoff, who, from the lowest condition, had been raised to the highest station of life, would have finished his career with honour, had he not been so infatuated with ambition as to seek to place his posterity on the throne. It was the same rock against which most of the favourites who followed him have struck, and sunk like him.

EXTRACTS FROM THE CONSPIRACY OF COUNT FIESKO, AT GENOA.

(From the German of SCHILLER.)

ACT II.-SCENE.-Antechamber in Fiesko's Palace.

FIESKO. (solus.)

(Lost in deep thought, paces the apartment.) What a tumult in my breast! What a host of ideas flying in secret through my brain. Like villainous associates, bound on the execution of some black deed, skulk noiselessly on tip-toe through the night, casting their suspicious and guilt-flushed countenances to the ground-so do these gorgeous phantoms steal past my soul. Stay! Stay! Let me hold the candle to your faces. Pure thoughts arm men's hearts and stand forth bravely in the light of day. Ha! I know you! You wear the livery of the eternal liar. Vanish! (another pause, then with more animation.) REPUBLICAN FIESKO? DUKE FIESKO? This is the yawning precipice which marks the boundaries of virtue, and separates heaven from hell. At this very point, heroes have lost their footing and sunk into the dire abyss, leaving the world to heap curses on their names. At this very

point, heroes have hesitated, have halted in their career, and have become demi-gods. (With increasing energy.) That the hearts of Genoa should be mine? That this same redoubtable Genoa should suffer itself to be led hither and thither like a child by my hands? O, fie on the crafty sin which stations an angel before every dæmon. Luckless desire for towering greatness! Most ancient of man's unbridled passions! Angels on thy neck kissed heaven away, and death sprung from thy labouring body. Thou sangest angels to slumber with the Siren-voice which warbles the beguiling song of endless sovereignty. Thou anglest for men, and thy baits are gold, women, and crowns! (after a pause of deep reflection.) To gain a diadem, is GREAT-To spurn one, is DIVINE. (resolved) Down with thee, tyrant! Be free, Genoa! and let me (with a soft and melting. expression) be thy HAPPIEST citizen.

ACT III. SCENE.-A Saloon in Fiesko's Palace; in the back ground, a large glass Folding Door, which opens on an extensive prospect of the Sea and the city of Genoa.-Time: dawn.

What is this? The moon vanished. The morn rising in fiery splendour from the ocean! Wild revelling fantasies have startled up my sleep, and whirled my whole being round one single sensation. I must seek my soul's expansion in the open air, (he opens the glass door. The city and the sea glare in the flaming brilliance of the morning sky.)

That I should be the greatest man in Genoa, and that the inferior spirit should not assemhle under the greater? But I violate the laws of Virtue! (stops short.) Virtue? The man of exalted mind is exposed to temptations, very different from those which beset him, of a mean and less refined character. Should the one be obliged to share virtue with the other? Ought the armour which compresses the puny frame of the pigmy, to be adapted to the huge body of the giant?

(the Sun rises)

This majestic city (hastening with extended arms towards it) MINE! and to rise above it in fiery brilliance like the imperial day-to brood over it with the power of majesty-to immerse the never-sated wishes of man in this bottomless ocean! Doubtlessly! For though the rogue's wit ennobles not the roguery, yet doth the prize gained ennoble the rogue. It is base-it is disgraceful to empty our neighbour's full purse-'tis audacious to cheat our fellow-creatures of millions-but it is ineffably great to filch a crown. The disgrace diminishes as the sin increases. (Pause. Then with deep expression) TO OBEY!-TO COMMAND! Immense and dizzying is the chasm between. Cast into it every thing that man deems precious -your mighty victories, ye conquerors-your immortal works, ye sons of genius-your voluptuous delights, ye epicures your seas and islands, ye circumnavigators! To OBEY!-TO COMMAND ! TO BE, AND NOT TO BE! He that can leap over the sickening gulf which lies between the lowest Seraph and the Eternal on his loftiest throne, may also be able to bound over the immeasurable space between OBEYING and COMMANDING. (with noble action.) To stand upon that majestic and terribly sublime heightto look down with haughty petulance upon the raging whirlpool of humanity, where the wheel of the blind and deceptive goddess rolls destinies round with capricious witchery-to be the first lip that may touch the goblet of joy-from my vast eminence, to guide as with leading-strings the mail-clad warrior Law-to see, far beneath me, deep wounds inflicted with impunity, whilst the short-armed fury of justice thunders impotently at the iron gates of majesty—to curb, as if they were so many stamping

steeds, the indomitable passions of the multitude with the easy play of the reins-to prostrate in the dust the seditious pride of my serfs with one, one single breath, when the creative wand of royalty chooses to rouse even the DREAMS of royalty's fever to life. Ha! what brilliant picture is this that sweeps my astounded spirit in giddy whirls beyond its limits? The being but one moment king, has swallowed up the entire marrow of my existence. 'Tis not the PLACE of life's conflicts, but what it CONTAINS, that fixes its value. Split the thunder into separate syllables, and you may lull children to sleep with it, melt the syllables together again into one sudden, single peal, and the majestic sound will convulse the eternal heavens. I am resolved! (He walks to and fro with an imperious and majestic mien.) J. D. PIERCEY.

SKETCHES OF GUERNSEY.-No. 1.

It must be obvious to our local readers that this article, as well as others that may succeed it on the same subject, is not so much addressed to them as to our readers in England. We are not aware that full justice has ever been rendered to the people of the Channel Islands in any publication that has yet appeared, and feeble as our efforts may be, they shall be exerted to make these countries better known, both in reference to their customs, manners, laws, and institutions. Moreover, when so many of our countrymen are compelled to quit England for the sake of economy and the purpose of educating their children, and to seek a retreat in France, it may be no unprofitable task to point out the advantages of a residence in Guernsey. Before, however, entering into details and particulars, it is important to allude to the illiberal prejudice which formerly denounced the inhabitants of the Channel Islands as a nest of smugglers and privateers, a prejudice which, it is to be feared, is not yet totally obliterated.

It is undoubtedly true that, during the war, Guernsey fitted out an extraordinary number of privateers and letters of marque, and captured very many valuable prizes. Is this any reproach to her people? Quite the contrary. If her merchants risked their money, and her sailors hazarded their lives, surely they were fairly entitled to recompense for their spirit and enterprize. If they benefitted themselves, did not Great Britain, the mother country, also derive advantage from the injury done to the common enemy by the armed vessels of the Channel Islands? We have by us some materials on which to found a calculation of the comparative services of the ships of the Channel Islands compared with those of some sea ports in England, which we propose, at some future date, to give to the public; and then it will be proved that Guernsey and Jersey, so far from being obnoxious to reproach for privateering, are entitled to the highest praise for the vigour, courage, and perseverance, with which they assisted in the destruction of our French and American opponents.

As to smuggling, in its literal sense, the charge is unfounded. English boats, it is true, came to our harbours, and purchased spirits of our merchants, and paid down cash; and there the transaction ended. But if smuggling be a crime, which we do not admit, for it has its good as well as its evil side, by preventing overtaxation, which it defeats, then all the sea port towns are as guilty as St. Peter'sPort or St. Hélier's. If this were not the fact, why did government, in addition to revenue cruizers, establish a coast blockade, and increase the rigorous scrutiny at the custom-houses? Surely, then, it is the height of ignorance and prejudice to condemn Guernseymen and Jerseymen for doing, on a small scale, the very

acts which the people of England have done on a large scale, and which they are doing to this very hour...... However, all these things have passed away and exist no longer, and we must, in candour, look at the islands as they now are.

COMMUNICATION WITH ENGLAND AND FRANCE.

During the war, and for some years afterwards, the communication between the islands and the mother-country was precarious and uncertain, the passage then only being accomplished by sailing vessels, and, on one occasion, an interval of seven weeks elapsed, without the reception of a single mail. Far different is the case at the present moment. The government steam packets, with the mail, arrive at the islands, and return to Weymouth twice a week. The same facility is afforded to and from Southampton, in about twelve hours and once a week, during the summer months, there is a steam communication with Plymouth. Independently of these vessels, there are two regular sailing packets to Southampton; one to Plymouth; three to Brixham; and two to Bristol. In the summer months, the Southampton steam boats run twice a month to St. Malo and Granville, thus affording great facilities to persons visiting the south of France; in addition to which, two sailing vessels run all the year to Cherbourg, and four to St. Malo. One of the results of these arrangements is to make the islands of Guernsey and Jersey a much more desirable residence to English families than they formerly were. The London newspapers arrive in forty-eight hours, and sometimes in less time; a letter on business, forwarded to the capital, is sure to be answered in eight days; and if matters of importance demand an immediate journey to the metropolis, it may be certainly accomplished within twenty-four hours, at an expense of three pounds. So much, then, on the point of easy and cheap communication.

GENERAL VIEW OF GUERNSEY.

The chief town of Guernsey, St. Peter's-Port, and the suburbs, can vie in beauty and cleanliness with any provincial town in England, and is, in these respects, infinitely superior to the majority of those in France. The streets, though not wide, are well paved with granite foot-paths, and the carriage way is of the same material. Shops of every description, supplying the very best articles, abound, and many of those in High-street are surpassed by none out of London. The meat and fish markets are most commodious, and the latter, in particular, is the admiration of all visitors. The national school-room is a noble building, and the court-house does not fear a comparison with any department of Westminster Hall. The environs of the town are studded with elegant mansions, surrounded with beautiful gardens, exhibiting a sound judgment and a correct taste. In no spot are fruits and flowers more choice and more abundant, and in consequence of the cheapness of glass, almost every cottage possesses a green-house. The country is intersected with admirable macadamized roads, so that an unbroken line of communication connects the town with the rural parishes, while cross roads unite the parishes with each other. And yet there are no such nuisances as turnpikes. They who are fond of sequestered walks, may gratify their taste in the green shady lanes which embellish the interior, or while away the hours in contemplative musings in the lovely and romantic bays which diversify the scenery of the coast.

PAROCHIAL INSTITUTIONS.

Two establishments, called the town and country hospitals, exist in the island, to which all persons are sent, who, for any reason whatsoever, are unable to obtain an honest livelihood. In these refuges are to be found females who would otherwise be living by prostitution-the habitual drunkard-the lunatic-the orphan -all have here an asylum, and are removed from the temptation and misery to