Imatges de pàgina
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made his appearance at dinner, merely, as he said, that he might have the pleasure of talking with my young travelling companion and myself, on "dear and good old England," in whose glory and prosperity the gallant general seemed to take as lively an interest as if he had not been separated from his native country for upwards of forty years. The General appeared much advanced in years, and to be labouring under a chronic and organic disease of the stomach. Having been consulted on the subject of his health, it gave me pain to be obliged to convey an unfavourable opinion of his case. A few months sufficed to verify the prediction, which, however, I did not communicate in a direct manner to his sons, whose warm attachment to their parent loved rather to be deceived respecting the real state of his health. General and Senator Henry Fanshawe died at Warsaw on the 23d of February of the present year, scarcely two months after I had dined in his company. He had served in the English army up to the rank of Colonel, when he entered the Russian service, under the reign of Catherine, with the same rank, about the year 1785. He fought in Sweden and Turkey, and received honorary distinctions for his bravery on both occasions. A few years afterwards Catherine promoted him to the rank of Major-general, and in 1800 the Emperor Paul raised him to that of Lieutenant-general, appointing him at the same time General-inchief, and Governor-general of Kieff. During the memorable campaign of 1812, he offered his services, and was ordered to join the blockading army before Dantzig, commanded by the Duke of Würtemberg. At the conclusion of that campaign he returned to St. Petersburgh, where, as a recompense for his long services he was named Senator, and received an arenda or estate. He died at the age of seventy-two years, leaving five sons, three of whom are in

the Russian service, namely the General, another who is Military Secretary to Constantine, already mentioned, and a third a Captain in the Navy; and two in England, one Chaplain to His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, the other a Captain in the Royal Navy.

The Polish army consists, in a great measure, of very young soldiers, in consequence of the recent regulation, which limits their term of service to ten years. Many of them, and their subaltern officers, however, remain longer, from pure attachment to the service; and in that case, they receive some mark of distinction, and an augmentation of pay, in proportion to the additional number of years during which they have served. This is in imitation of the plan adopted in the Russian army, in virtue of an ukase of the Emperor Nicholas, excepting that the Russian soldier must be in the army twenty-three, instead of ten years. The reputation which the military administration of Constantine has acquired of late years, for justice and impartiality, General Fanshawe informs me, has been the cause of attracting a very considerable number of volunteers, who present themselves almost every day, in order to enter the military service. It is supposed that the garrison of Warsaw amounts, at least, to 20,000 men, including cavalry, all of whom are lodged in magnificent barracks, much in the style of those of St. Petersburgh. A curious practice obtains, in regard to the maintenance of the Polish army, if I recollect right, which is said to have given rise to very salutary results. It consists in giving an allowance of money to them, in lieu of provisions; experience having proved, that when the soldier subsists entirely on his own pay, he becomes more careful, economical, and attentive: shows a greater aptitude for subordination, and abstains from indulging in those irregularities which bespeak a relaxation of discipline. The number of crimes in the army, and of

cases of desertion, is said to have considerably diminished from year to year since the introduction of the system in question. That system, too, allows of another scheme, said to be productive of reciprocal benefit to the soldier and the civilian, which has been carried into effect once or twice already, namely, the assembling of the whole, or best part of the army, on different points of the kingdom, in order to afford the inhabitants an opportunity of disposing of their produce to the encamped regiments. Such a reunion of the Polish army took place in 1823, at Brzesc, where it was found to fulfil every expectation.

CHAPTER II.

POLAND.-WARSAW CONTINUed.

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The ZAMECK. Numerous and valuable Paintings, by Canaletti. The Ball-Room. -The Presentation Hall. - Bacciarelli. The old Sovereigns of Poland. - The Hall of Assembly for the Senate and the Diet. Radicals in the Diet. - Polish Legislators. Peut-on faire une Nation de la Pologne? - Liberty of Speech in doors. Present Government of Poland. The Charte Constitutionelle.-Polish Conspiracies. Subjects for Melodramas. - The National Archives. - The PALAIS DE SAXE and its Public Gardens. -PALACE OF GOVERNMENT. - A Jumble. - The President of the Senate. The MARIEVILLE Bazaar. Macadam at Warsaw, and Macadam in London. - The Catholic Churches. - The LuPrince Poniatowsky.

theran Church. National Monuments.

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Mosaic. - Polish Nobility. ·

Chateau of VILLANOV. -THE UNIVERSITY of Warsaw. - Collections. System of Education. -Modes of Electing Professors contrasted. The Great Russo-Polish Hospital. — Dr. Florio. Tight Dress and Diseases of the Heart. Digression on Prussic Acid. The Jews.-Ton of Society. Condition of the People.Dwarfs. Ministerial Exposé of the State of the Nation. Count Mostowski. — Religious Worship in Poland. - Public Instruction. - Administration of Justice. Pain of Death. How inflicted. - The Man-woman. Landed Interest. Remedy against low

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Population of Poland. -- National Manufactures.

ternal Communication and Navigation.

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THE Zameck mentioned in the last chapter is the name given to the palace of the old sovereigns of Poland,

situated, as I observed in the preceding chapter, on the left bank of the Vistula. It was erected under Sigismond III., enlarged by Augustus II., and completed by order of Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski. Two things I could not help being struck with in this palace. First, a very spacious room, the walls of which are covered with Canalettis of large dimensions, and of the very first merit, representing all the remarkable buildings, streets, and environs of Warsaw; among which, I noticed the large painting by that master, of a view of that capital, taken from Prague, which the French had carried off to Paris, and which was afterwards restored. Canaletti spent some time at Warsaw. Secondly, the Ball Room, in which marble ornaments and gilt bronze decorations have been unsparingly employed, and produce, it must be admitted, a pleasing effect. The plafond is executed by the elder Bacciarelli: but some of the best efforts of this artist are to be found in the Presentation-hall, in which there are six very large paintings, representing the most remarkable events in the history of Poland. The composition as well as the execution of these pictures, merits great commendation, and can only be found fault with on account of the faintness of their colouring. Bacciarelli painted at Warsaw, in 1780. The well-fed, fair-faced, and sensual looking sovereigns, and their courtiers, which that artist has portrayed in his historical pictures, form an appropriate illustration of a race of monarchs, most of whom made themselves more conspicuous for boudoir gallantry, than for gallantry in the field. The imagination really revolts at the recollection of those scenes of depravity which these productions of Bacciarelli, and a series of portraits of the kings and other Polish warriors, by the same artist, placed in a red and a black marble hall, are calculated to suggest.

Connected with the Zamech is the Great Hall of Assem

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