throne. Yet for strong political reasons, Nicholas took the oath of fidelity to Constantine, and had him proclaimed Emperor. But says his Majesty, "scarcely had we discharged this sacred duty, when we were apprised by the Senate that there had been deposited in their hands a letter, &c." And all this is related, as if the world would believe that his Majesty never had heard one word of the said act and will of Alexander, by virtue of which he was to become Autocrat. Such conduct needs no comment; this is only one act of the strange tragi-comedy, which carries falsehood on its front, and deception in its bosom.

According to his letter, by his renunciation of the throne, Constantine is not only to add a new warranty and a further power to the obligation into which he voluntarily entered on the occasion of the divorce of his first wife, but by this measure he is to prove to the empire and to the whole world, the purity of his sentiments; and besides he is peculiarly desirous that Alexander should procure his mother's accession to his abdication!! What sophistry!-the planner of his humiliation, months afterwards, is to be intreated to consent to his renunciation of a crown which was to be withheld from his brow. Alexander and the Empress Mother took their measures with security: they had obtained the as yet invisible supplementary act relative to the succession, before they even consented to the divorce, afraid perhaps, that if the separation from his first spouse had been previously accomplished, the Tsesarévitch might change his mind. From the first letter of Constantine to Alexander it is perfectly clear that though the whole affair had been cunningly arranged in the year 1820, yet that the obligation made in that year was not deemed sufficiently valid to insure the crown to Nicholas. Had not this been so, why was there composed a second declaratory letter in 1822?

Constantine's Imperial brothers and his mother's advice were tantamount to a command; for putting the power of the Tsar out of the question, in case of a refusal to comply with his wishes, the Empress Mother had always maintained the most extraordinary influence and ascendency, not only over Constantine, but over Alexander, and over all the other members of her family; an influence which has to some appeared almost to amount to fascination.

Constantine therefore addresses, as it were, a voluntary letter to Alexander at the time he earnestly desired to espouse Miss Grudzinski, because he knew there was not the least chance of his marriage being legalized, unless he consented to the sacrifice of a crown, which belonged to him by right of primogeniture and the law of succession of the Imperial family. His extreme earnestness to join himself to that lady, his being absolutely absorbed in love, and the pressure of the Emperor's and his mother's advice, will alone account for Constantine having signed a letter, couched in the strongest terms of personal humiliation and degradation-of absolute effeminacy and extraordinary weakness. Could that prince, whose powers of mind are far above mediocrity, ever have said that he did not lay claim to "the spirit, the abilities, or the strength," which would be required, if he should exercise the high dignity to which he possessed a right by birth, unless there had been some obliquity of his intellect at the time? Could any male member of the Imperial family of Russia, in the prime of life, endowed with good talents, full of corporeal vigour, of an enterprising spirit, and of unquestioned bravery, sign a deed which was only fit to have been presented to a Peter the Third of Russia, or a Stanislaus of Poland, unless he had been compelled by the force of circumstances? Most assuredly not.

The Russians en masse have been charged with duplicity by Dr. Lyall, and every day's experience, and every new book on Russia, confirms his statements; as for instance, Cochrane's, Holman's, and Lloyd's publications. The late Tsar was also chargeable with this vice. Besides many other public and private accounts, the following circumstances completely prove this fact. His Imperial Majesty, during many years, used every means in his power to persuade his nation and the world, that the French burned Moscow, while in 1824, his own aide-de-camp, Colonel Boutourlin, in his History of the Campaigns of 1812-15, boldly came forward and confessed that the Russians

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themselves were the incendiaries!!! But the excessive duplicity of Alexander is rendered still more evident by the second supplement to the Manifesto of Nicholas. Knowing the warm temperament, the impetuous disposition, the appalling actions of the youth, and the barbarous deeds of the manhood, of the Grand Duke Constantine; and bearing in mind the plan of the Tsesarévitch's exclusion from the throne, which was already written and signed: how could Alexander, but in the spirit of deep hypocrisy and unbounded dissimulation, and with the sternest attempt at false glossing, permit himself in answer to Constantine's first letter to say,-"I have found nothing in it which caused surprise, as I always knew how to value the sublime sentiments of your heart. It has given me a new proof of your sincere attachment to the state, and your care for the preservation of undisturbed tranquillity;" and how could the Tsar and his Imperial mother talk of the "noble motives" and the " pure sentiments," by which Constantine was guided? Such language was surely ill befitting a prince who had been compelled to exclude himself from a throne, and who had not hitherto been distinguished, except for his excesses, his martial spirit, and his bravery.

The Manifesto of Alexander, called the third supplement, is drawn up in conformity to Constantine's first letter and that monarch's answer; but though Constantine's letter be dated the 14th January O. S. 1822, and the Emperor's answer, the 2d February of the same year, the manifesto only seems to have got a diplomatic garb on the 16th of August, 1823; i. e. above a year and half after the business had been politically arranged. What was the cause of this delay ?

In this manifesto the same double dealing is every where remarked as in Alexander's first letter; hence his majesty speaks of Constantine's "voluntary act," and his following his "own inclination," having transferred his right of succession to his brother Nicholas: hence also the expressions "We are deeply affected by this sacrifice, which our dearly beloved brother has resolved to make with such great self-denial for the confirmation of the hereditary statutes of our Imperial house (i. e. the supplementary act respecting the succession, which excludes Constantine) and the unshaken tranquillity of the Russian empire," (i. e. the danger which was apprehended of Constantine's misrule, if he should ascend the throne).

The fourth and the fifth supplements to the manifesto consist of two letters of the Grand Duke Constantine, one of which is addressed to his mother the Empress, and the other to his brother, Nicholas. They are both dated Warsaw, the 26th November (8th December) 1825, and correspond in sentiment with the former documents. They were written, however, before Constantine was aware that his brother was about to have him proclaimed Emperor of Russia. Couriers were passing and repassing between Petersburgh and Warsaw, and even the Grand Duke Michael consented to become the bearer of despatches between his Imperial brothers, while the Russians of all ranks, both at home and abroad, were taking the oath of allegiance and fidelity to Constantine as sovereign of the North.

Constantine's forced renunciation of the succession, and his abdication of a crown-for although his name has been erased from the list, he assuredly was Emperor seemed to produce universal disappointment; but still tranquillity was maintained. These circumstances are explained by the fact that the Grand Duke had become much more popular within the last five years. On the ascent of Nicholas to the throne, the late insurrection took place, the results of which are fresh in the memory of our readers.

By the account of the Emperor Nicholas himself, in his address to the Russian nation, the sacred words-fidelity, oaths, legitimate order, and even the name of the Grand Duke Constantine, were merely a pretext for treason and for the better execution of the designs of the conspirators-" designs long contrived, long meditated, long matured in darkness." Inspired with furious and mad ideas of revolution, they intended at once to cast down the throne and the laws, to produce anarchy, and ultimately to overturn the empire. These inconsiderate, foolish, and bloodthirsty individuals, these discontent

ed, cruel, and barbarous desperadoes, were to commence their grand scheme, by a horrible deed-the assassination of the whole Imperial family!!! In the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, which is situated in the middle of the castle, repose the ashes of all the monarchs of Russia from the time of Peter the Great. On the 12th February every member of the dynasty of Románof makes a point of attending a religious ceremony, which is well described by Holman in his Travels, in memory of Paul. While in the acts of devotion, or after their conclusion, the Imperial victims were to have been shut up in the church, and there murdered. The castle was then to have been seized, all the foreigners in the Residence were to have been murdered, and Petersburgh was to have been given up to the soldiers to be pillaged for three days.

In a proclamation which the Emperor issued after the insurrection, he made known many of the details of the conspiracy, which he ascribed at the same time to "a handful of factious persons." That proclamation appeared in the London newspapers on the 23d January; and on the following day, Dr. Lyall made numerous comments upon the state of Russian affairs in the Morning Chronicle, among which is the following observation in allusion to the opinions of the Emperor Nicholas.

"These are not my opinions; I know, on the contrary, that the spirit of reform or revolution has spread far and wide, and that it exists among many of the officers of the army, and among some of the nobles of the highest and most ancient families of the empire."

This statement, alas! has already been but too fully verified. We learn from the journals of the day that the spirit of insurrection has manifested itself in the government of Kief, and even in Bessarabia, besides Petersburgh; and among the conspirators occur the standard Russian names Dolgorukii, Galitsin, Örlof, Lapuchin, Muravief, Trubetskoi, Demidof, Obolenskii, &c. &c. Two thousand officers have been arrested.

The late insurrection, however long prepared, and however well organized, was taken by surprise, and hurried into action by extraordinary events, and has been defeated for a time; but the Tsar and the Russians should recollect that the spark of revolution is not extinguished: on the contrary, the spirit of reform has extended from the borders of Poland to the walls of China, and from the Neva to the Araxes.

We should like to see Russia advance in the scale of nations; but the march of civilization cannot be forced; rude peasants cannot be transformed into civilized free citizens by revolution, by the cane, by the word of command, or by an Imperial Ukáz.

Like his brother the late Alexander, Nicholas goes about the city sometimes on foot, sometimes on horseback, to remark what is going forward, and is every where received with joy and enthusiasm. A short while ago he was in the square where the celebrated gigantic monument of Peter the Great is placed. Casting his eyes on the statue of the Tsar, he exclaimed to the great men by whom he was surrounded-" He also had many obstacles to overcome, but with perseverance and the aid of God, he succeeded in destroying the faction. I have the courage to desire what is good, and with that many difficulties vanish." It must be recollected, however, that Peter the Great possessed uncommon powers of mind, and that he had only a rude people and an ignorant army to govern, who had no ideas of liberty; whereas now, a portion, at least, of the general population is illuminated, and Russia having come into collision with the other states of Europe, has acquired a

new train of sentiments.

Other anecdotes must be reserved for another occasion. Therefore to conclude, when we take into consideration the dangers which Nicholas the First has already incurred-that conspiracies have so early manifested themselves in various parts of the empire-that a revolutionary spirit widely prevails; and that, besides revolts, we already hear of incendiaries attempting to burn the Residence, we cannot but view Nicholas's situation as one of great danger, and congratulate ourselves that Providence has not made us Autocrats of Russia.

DIARY OF A BARRISTER DURING THE LAST WEXFORD

ASSIZES.

I AM an Irish Barrister, and go the Leinster Circuit. I keep a diary of _extra-professional occurrences in this half-yearly round,-a sort of sentimental note-book, which I preserve apart from the nisi prius adjudications of the going judges of assize. In reading over my journal of the last Circuit, I find much matter which with more leisure I could reduce into better shape. I shall content myself for the present with an account of the last assizes, or rather of myself during the last assizes of Wexford, presuming that I do little more than transcribe the record of my own feelings and observations from a diary, to which, as I have intimated, they were committed without any intention that they should be submitted to the public eye. This will account for the character of the incidents, and the want of classification in their detail.

The stain has

I set off from Dublin on the 17th of July, and on Sunday morning passed in the mail-coach through Ferns. In England, a barrister is not permitted to travel in a public vehicle, lest he should be placed in too endearing a juxta-position to an attorney. But in Ireland no such prohibition exists and so little aristocracy prevails in our migrations from town to town, that a sort of connivance has been extended to the cheap and rapid jaunting-cars by which Signor Bianconi (an ingenious Italian) has opened a communication between almost all the towns in the South of Ireland. Be it, however, remembered, that it was not in an Irish vis-a-vis, that I passed through the ancient city of Ferns. Doctor Elrington, the present Bishop of Clogher, resides in its immediate vicinity; his palace is visible from the road. A word or two about the Doctor. He had been Provost of Trinity College, and was raised to this important office by Mr. Perceval, to whom he recommended himself by some mystical elucubrations upon the piety, poverty, and simplicity of the Irish Church. They were distinguished by a laborious flimsiness, and exhibited a perfect keeping between the understanding of the writer and his heart: they smelt of a lamp which was fed with rancid oil. The present Archbishop of Dublin had been the competitor of Elrington for the first station of the University. His eminent abilities gave him in his own opinion, and I should add in the judgment of the University, a paramount claim. But at that time he had the plague-spot of liberality in his character. been since effaced, but it was still apparent when he presented himself to the Minister. Doctor Magee used to give a somewhat amusing account of his reception by the flippant personage who was then at the head of the State. He threw out some broad hints as to the principles in which the Protestant youth of Ireland ought to be educated; and said that the office had been given away. "Let me see," (said Mr. Perceval, in the Doctor's description,) "let me see-yes, his name his Doctor Elrington, I have his pamphlets upon tithes ; he has demonstrated their divine origin. How much such men are wanted in these dangerous times!" The mistake made by the Minister in pronouncing the name of his successful rival, (which he hardly knew,) produced an increased secretion of gall in the Doctor, to which he used to give vent in many a virulent gibe. At this time he was Mr. Plunket's friend, and his own enemy. But Perceval's admonition was not lost upon him. He perceived that he had taken a wrong course, and, selecting his competitor as his example, speedily improved upon his model. But let him pass. Doctor Elrington, while a fellow of the college, published an edition of Euclid. A schoolboy might have given it to the world. But such is the state of the Irish Protestant University, that by constituting an exception to the habits of intellectual sloth which prevail over that opulent and inglorious corporation, even an edition of Euclid confers upon a fellow of the university a comparative title to respect. When Provost, he was a rigid disciplinarian. He attracted public attention by two measures:-he suppressed the Historical Society, and issued a proclamation against witchcraft. Special orders were given by the Doctor against the raising of the Devil. The library of Trinity

College is filled with books of necromancy; and, apprehending that the students might be reduced into a commerce with the Fiend, the Doctor gave peremptory directions, that the ponderous and worm-eaten repertories of the Black art should not be unclasped. A Scholar of the house, who appears to have had a peculiar predilection for the occult sciences, complained of the restraint which the Doctor had taken upon himself to put upon his intercourse with the "Prince of the Air," and called the former to account in a visitation, at which Lord Chief Justice Downes (not very appropriately) presided, as the representative of His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland. I do not recollect the decision of his Lordship upon this important question, but, if I may be allowed to conjecture from his intellectual habits, help suspecting that any appeal to the statutes of James the First must have been conclusive, in his mind, in favour of the injunction against sorcery. Shortly after this exploit against the Devil, the Doctor was raised to the see of Limerick; and upon the detection of his sanctimonious and detestable predecessor, he was promoted to the bishopric of Clogher. He resides in a noble palace, which arrests the attention of the traveller in his way to Wexford, and affords an illustration of that apostolic poverty, in which the teachers of the reformed religion embody it's holy precepts.

cannot

Wexford is a very ancient town. It was formerly surrounded by walls, a part of which continue standing. They are mantled with ivy, and are rapidly mouldering away; but must once have been of considerable strength. The remains of an old monastery are situate at the western gate. By a recent order of vestry, (at which Catholics are not permitted to vote,) a tax was laid on the inhabitants for the erection of a new church upon the site of the monastic ruin. Upon entering Wexford I missed a portion of the old building. I walked into its precincts, and found that some of the venerable arches of the ancient edifice had been thrown down, to make way for the modern structure. The work of devastation had been going on among the residences of the dead. A churchyard encompasses these remains of Christian antiquity; and I observed that many a grave had been torn up, in order to make a foundation for the new Protestant church. The masons who had been at work the preceding day, had left some of their implements behind them. To behold the line and the trowel in the grave, would be at any time a painful spectacle; but this violation of the departed becomes exasperating to our passions, as well as offensive to our religious sentiments, when it is occasioned by an invasion of the ancient and proper demesne of the almost universal faith of the people. Fragments of white bones had been thrown up, and lay mingled with black mould upon the green hillocks of the adjoining dead." Why should not that be the skull of an Abbot?" I exclaimed, as I observed the fragments of a huge head which had been recently cast up: "little did he think, that, in the very sanctuary of his monastic splendour, he should ever be twitched about the sconce' by a rude heretical knave, and that a Protestant shovel should deal such profanation upon a head so deeply stored with the subtleties of Scotus and the mysteries of Aquinas!" After passing some minutes in "chewing the cud of these bitter fancies," I became weary of my meditations among the dead, and strolled towards the Quay of Wexford, upon which both church and chapel had poured out all their promiscuous contents. Here was a large gathering of young damsels, who after having gone through their spiritual duties, came to perform the temporal exercises of an Irish Sabbath. There was a great display of Wexfordian finery. The women of Wexford of the better class have, in general, a passion for dress, to which I have heard that they sacrifice many of their domestic comforts. This little town is remarkable for a strange effort at saving and display. It is not uncommon to see ladies, who reside in small and indifferently furnished lodgings, issuing from dark and contracted lanes in all the splendour which millinery can supply. This tendency to extravagance in dress is the less excusable, because Nature has done so much for their faces and persons, as to render superfluous the efforts of March--VOL. XVI. NO. LXIII.

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