man and Rufs, who read by her bed-fide till fhe falls afleep; and continue reading or talking, without intermiffion, all the time fhe is afleep; for, if they did not, the Countefs would awake immediately, not much, I fuppofe, to the fatisfaction of the poor attend

ants.

I need fcarcely tell you, that the Ruffians are very careless in the education of their children. They do not fend them to public schools; but have them taught at home under private tutors. These tutors are generally French or Germans, into whose character they make but little enquiry. If their children learn to dance; and if they can read, speak, and write French, and have a little geogra phy, they defire no more. I have seen one of thofe inftructors, who has, in the course of his life, appeared in the different fhapes of a comedian, valet-de-chambre, and hair-dreffer. Indeed I do not wonder at the conduct of the Ruffians in this refpect. Why educate their children? They are to live and die in thraldom; they may be in glory to-day, and to-morrow fent to Siberia. Why fhould they train their offspring for any expectations beyond thofe of the prefent moment? The citizens of free ftates alone are inexcufable, if they do not improve their minds to the utmoft limits of their capacity. Why quicken the fenfibilities, or enlarge the mind of a flave? You only teach him to hate himself. If, however, there was any probability, that, by enlightening the minds of the Ruffians, they should not only be enabled to difcern the abafement of their condition, but alfo to contrive, and execute the means of emancipation, I fhould heartily regret their prefent blindness.

The military education of the Ruffian youth is conducted very differently. They have an academy in the Wafiloftrow, where a very confiderable number, but none under twelve years old, are admitted. Here they live together; and during the fummer fleep in an adjoining field under tents. They are formed into a regiment; and each of them, of what rank foever, whether Prince, Count, or Boyard, muft pafs through every condition, beginning with that of a common foldier, and fubmit to every kind of obedience. They perform their exercifes with great exactness, and are inftructed in mathematics. From this feminary excellent officers may be expected. Like the Perfians, defcribed by Xenophon, they learn to obey before they are called to command.'

The account of the abdication of Victor Amadeus, King of Sardinia, in the year 1730, is very entertaining and curious, but too long for us to transcribe.

The following may ferve as a fpecimen of Mr. Richardson's poetical abilities. The verfes are addreffed to a lady, who had left Petersburg for England:

LESBIA, return-I cannot fay

To flowery fields, and feafons gay:

The Mufe, defponding, cannot fing
Of the fweet garniture of fpring;
Of funny hills, and verdant vales,

And groves, and ftreams, and gentle gales;
Thefe, in more hofpitable climes,
May run mellifluent in my rhymes :

For

1

For Winter, hoary and fevere,
Rules an imperious defpot here.
In chains the headlong flood he binds,
He rides impetuous on the winds;
Before him awful forefts bend,
And tempefts in his train contend.
But what tho' wintry winds prevail,
And Boreas fends his rattling hail,
Siberian fnows, and many a blast,
Howling along the dreary waste,
From Samoïda to the fhores,

Where black with ftorms the Euxine roars;
Thy blameless wit, thy polish'd sense,
Can ease and gaiety difpenfe.

Come, then, enchanting Maid, and bring
The kindly influence of Spring;
Come, with thy animating air,

And Nature's weary wafte repair.?

The Letter on the punishment of crimes, which is the production of a friend of our Author, and those on the comet, and on the feudal fyftem in Ruffia, are admirably written. Upon the whole, indeed, the reputation which Mr. Richardfon has acquired by his poetical productions*, and by his philofophical Effays + on the characters of Shakspeare, will receive confiderable addition from thefe Anecdotes; in which the Reader will find much information, instruction, and amusement.

* See our Review, Vol. LI. p. 94, for Poems, chiefly rural. + Review, Vol. LI. p. 10. and our Number for February laft, P. 134.

ART. III. Peru, a Poem. In Six Cantos. By Helen Maria Williams. 4to. 4s. fewed. Cadell. 1784.

REVIEWERS may be confidered as a kind of circumnavi

gators on the ocean of letters. The perils they undergo, and the difficulties they muft contend with, are many and perplexing. Frequently are they driven upon inhofpitable fhores, where the natives are as malignant as the foil is barren. But as in moft purfuits of life a diverfity of fortune prevails, so it is in theirs. Among the various regions to which their voyage of difcovery conducts them, though there are some doomed to perpetual fterility, or involved in impenetrable fogs, others are clothed in unfading beauty and inexhauftible fertility. It is not to be wondered at, if, when arriving at regions like thefe, they are fometimes willing to ftay longer than the nature of their engagements may admit. Their conduct, however, is not without an excufe: the reft and refreshment they thus occafionally meet with enables them to bear up against the mortifications they must encounter in lefs favourable climes, and

tq

to continue the remainder of their voyage with fpirit and alacrity. This confideration must be their apology for the ftay they intend making where they now are. Indeed, the richness and beauty of the scenery before them are too captivating to be paffed by inattentively even by the most careless obferver. They are, in fhort, juft going to land in "Peru," a newly discovered country in the poetical hemifphere; a country which, from the glimpfe they have had of it, promifes them every gratification. Their farther progrefs will, no doubt, confirm the ideas with which a firft view has impreffed them. But enough of allegory; let us now enter on the bufinefs of this article-The prefent poem is a production of the fame elegant pen to which the Public is indebted for the Legendary Tale, entitled, Edwin and Eltruda*. The author, judiciously confining herfelf to the leading and moft pathetic incidents in the hiftory of the fall of the Peruvian empire, has not attempted to give a full narrative of all the interefting circumftances which lead to that memorable event.

The poem commences with a general description of the country, and the character of its inhabitants. After painting the external beauties of this favoured region, which, perhaps, may boaft the prodigality of nature in preference to any other portion of the globe, the ingenious Author exhibits its moral portrait, previous to its invafion by the Spaniards, in colours at once glowing and juft. The following intellectual groupe will convey an idea of the spirit and delicacy of her pencil:

Nor lefs for thee, bleft Region, favour'd Clime;
The Virtues rose, unsullied, and sublime.
There, tender Charity, with ardor warm,
Spread her wide mantle o'er the shiv'ring form,
Chear'd with the feftal Song her lib'ral toils,
While in the lap of Age the pour'd the fpoils.
Simplicity in each low Vale was found,

The meek Nymph fmil'd with Reeds and Rushes crown'd:
And Innocence in light, tranfparent Veft,

Mild Vifitant! the gentle Region bleft;

In her foft fmile beam'd love, and artlefs grace,

And glow'd celeftial beauty in her face:
Light as her fnowy vesture fweeps the ground

Fresh flow'rets fpring, and fhed their odours round:
As from her lip enchanting accents part,

The fweet tones thrill thro' each refponfive heart,
And o'er the vermeil lawns that bloom around
Soft echoes waft each undulating found;
While Poefy's bright Sun diffus'd its ray
O'er the young Empire's mild unfolding Day;

* See Rev. Vol. LXVII. p. 26.

Bade

Bade the warm Virtues grace her pictur'd Scene*,
And dreft in Love's gay robe, their charms ferene,
The Seraph forms infpir'd Affection's flame,
While Admiration pour'd his loud acclaim.'

In the fame expreffive ftyle has the sketched out the confequences that flowed from the plunder of Peru:

When borne from loft Peruvia's weeping Land
The guilty treasures beam'd on Europe's Strand,
As prefs'd her burden'd Plains the fordid Ore,
Each gentle Virtue fled the tainted Shore;
Sighing each mental Charm forfook the Place,
Each sweet Affection, and each moral Grace;
Affrighted Love forefaw the deep'ning gloom,
And wav'd in liquid air his downy plume;
Chill'd by the fullen fcene he wings his flight,
While heaps of treafur'd Ore entomb Delight.'

The first appearance of Pizarro is in the fecond Canto, which concludes with the murder of Ataliba, and Alzira's confequent madness. In the next, the favage fanaticifm of Valverde, a Spanish priest, and the benevolence of the amiable Las Calas, are admirably defcribed. The fourth Canto is occupied by Almagro's expedition to Chili, and the events that took place at Cuzco during his abfence, in confequence of which he was compelled to return.

Soon as ALMAGRO heard the voice of Fame,
The triumphs of Peruvia loud proclaim,
Unconquer'd Chili's Vale he fwift forfakes,
And his dark courfe to diftant Cuzco takes;
Shuns Andes' icy Shower, its chilling Snows,
The arrowy Gale that on its fummit blows,
And roaming o'er a burning Defart, vaft,
Meets the fierce ardours of the fiery blast:
Now, as along the fultry Wafte they move,
The keeneft pang of raging thirst they prove;
No rofy Fruit its cooling juice diftills,
Nor flows one balmy drop from crystal Rills,
For Nature fickens in th' oppreffive beam,

That fhrinks the vernal Bud, and dries the Stream.'

Then follow two lines inimitably fine:

While Horror; as his giant Stature grows,

O'er the dread Void his spreading Shadow throws.'

* At Cuzco, and in all the other towns of Peru, tragedies and comedies were performed. The firft were leffons of duty to the priests, warriors, judges, and perfons of diftinction, and reprefented to them models of public virtue. Comedies ferved for inftruction to perfons of inferior rank, and taught them the exercise of private virtues. Raynal's Hiftory of the European Settlements. They

They are additionally ftriking from the admirable contraft that prefently fucceeds, when, after having almoft totally abandoned themselves to defpair, the troops led on by Alphonfo are detached to an eminence from whence,

• They view a Valley, fed by fertile Springs
Which Andes from his lofty fummit flings,
Where Summer's blooms their mingled odours fhed,
And glows a rofeate Wafte by Beauty spread!
To their charm'd gaze the fair enchanting fcene
That 'mid the howling Defart fmil'd ferene,
Appear'd like Nature rising from the breast
Of Chaos, in her infant graces drest,

When warbling Angels hail'd the lovely birth,

And ftoop'd from Heav'n to blefs the new-born Earth.' The fifth Canto is in a great measure epifodical, though not, indeed, unconnected with the principal ftory. It contains the loves of Zamor and Aciloe.

In this fweet Scene, where Virtue's radiance fhin'd,
Mild ZAMOR Own'd the richeft gifts of mind;
For o'er his tuneful breaft the heav'nly Mufe
Shed, from her facred Springs, their richeft dews.
She loves to breathe her hallow'd flame where Art
Has never veil'd the foul, or warp'd the heart;
Where Fancy glows with all her native fire,
And Paffion lives on the exulting Lyre!
Nature, in Terror rob'd, or Beauty dreft,

Could thrill with dear enchantment ZAMOR's breaft;
He lov'd the languid figh the Zephyr pours,
He lov'd the weeping Rill that fed the flow'rs;
But more the hollow found the wild Winds form
When black upon the Billow hangs the Storm!
The rolling Torrent dafhing down the Steep,
Its white foam trembling on the darken'd Deep-
And oft' on Andes' height, with eager gaze
He view'd the finking Sun's reflected rays
Glow like unnumber'd Stars, that feem to reft
Sublime, upon his ice-encircled breast.-
Oft his wild warblings charm'd the feftal hour,
Rofe in the Vale, and languish'd in the Bower ;
The heart's refponfive tones he well could move,
Whofe Song was Nature, and whofe theme was Love.
For now with paffion warm, his feeling breast
The fair ACILOE's tender charms confeft:
Yet lovelier still her foul's foft graces fhine,
And round his heart their mild endearments twine.
Ah fty ye rofeate Hours of young Delight!-
Linger ye Moments in your rapid flight-
For fure if aught on Earth can blifs impart,
Can fhed the genuine joy that fooths the heart,
'Tis felt when early Paffion's pure controul
Unfolds the first Affections of the Soul,

Bids