1826.] [ 425 ] 



VAllIETIES, LITERARY AND MISCELLANEOUS. 



The young Russian Count Scherem^tieif, 

 who lias been arrested under a suspicion of 

 having been concerned in the conspiracy 

 against the reigning laniily, and wliom 

 the Emjieror Niciiolas, alter interrogat- 

 ing him Iiiinself, has declared to be inno- 

 cent, is a personage of impoitance, both 

 as respects his name and liis imniciiHe 

 niches. He is an officer in tlie regiment of 

 horse guards, wliich on tlie day of revolt 

 was commanded by General Alexis Orloff, 

 a regiment which holds the first rank on 

 account of the great privileges it enjoys, 

 its rich and magnificent appointments, and 

 more especially from the ciicunistunce of 

 the sons of the noblest families being am- 

 bitious of serving in it. 



This young man has been an or])han 

 from his infancy. His mother was origi- 

 nally a slave, but luiving been Hiarricd by 

 her master, was raised to the rank of her 

 husband. His father at his death left the 

 administration of his jiroperty to the em- 

 peror, whom he appointed bis heir in ea.se 

 «f the death of his son. His will in other 

 respects was equally singular. He ordered 

 that his son should liave only Russians 

 for tutors and governors ; lie establishe<l 

 some curious and peremptory rides for his 

 studies and mode of life ; and in compliance 

 with liis wishes, his son occupied for a 

 considerable period a \'ast number of sleep- 

 ing rooms, in order that he might breathe 

 a i)urer air, and have the advantage of chang- 

 ing it every night. 



Count Schorcmeticff is lord of 150,000 

 peasants, and of immense estates and mag- 

 nificent pafaces in several cities or lordships 

 which belong to him. Each peasant pays 

 him annually an abroch, "or a ta.\ of twenty 

 roubles, which is the minimum of taxation 

 exacted by a Russian noble, and which 

 he can at j)Ieasure raise to 100 roubles, the 

 usual sum, a)id thus quintuple his revenue. 

 Amongst his slaves are some rich mer- 

 chants, one of whom, it is said, has offered 

 300,000 rubles for his enfranchisement, 

 which has been refused, it being the gloiy 

 of a Russian nobleman to reckon amongst 

 his slaves merchants of wealth and con- 

 sequence. 



This young nobleman is of a mild and 

 amiable dis])osition. His education has 

 not been so carefully suiieiintended as it 

 might have been had bis health been less 

 delicate. He is very charitable, and sup- 

 ports at a great expense the magnificent 

 hospital which his ,'aiher has erected at 

 Moscow. A gi-eat jiortion of his fortune, 

 to the amount of 15,000,00(3 roubles, is 

 placed in the Imperial bank. The reader 

 may judge how unlikely it was for a young 

 man, under such circumstances, to have 

 compromised the safety of a government to 

 which EG immense a portion of his fortune 



M.M. New Series. — Vol. I. No. -i. 



was confided, and who would have lost all 

 had anarchy or disorder reached his estates, 

 the richest and mo.st prosjierous in Russia. 



AVe understand tliat Capt. King, who 

 not long since returned from a survey of the 

 coasts of New Holland, &c., is about to .sail 

 on another expedition, which is cslciilated 

 to l;i.st five years. His first opcuitions will 

 be to jiroceed along the South American 

 coast, from the Rio de la Plata to Cape 

 Hon), and to endeavour to open an inter, 

 course with the natives of this va.st penin- 

 sula, of whom so little is known. Captain 

 AVeddell's recent voyages in the Antarctic, 

 and intercourse with tiie people of Terra 

 del Fuego, seems to have awakened tlie 

 attention of our naval government to the 

 profound ignorance in which we are steeped 

 with regard, to the southern hemisphere, 

 and promi)ted it to order this laudable un- 

 dertaking, which we doubt not is only part 

 of an extensive system of inquirv', to be car- 

 ried on in the sjime quarter — every year be- 

 coming more and more important. Cap- 

 tain Lord Byron's voyage wc take to be 

 connected v.ilh the same object, and we 

 should be glad to see the scamanlike intel- 

 ligence and experience of the enlerprizing 

 Captain Weddell again employed in the 

 same service. It is strange, that while .so 

 much of effort has been directed towards 

 the North Pole, hardly any investigation 

 has been directed towards the South since 

 the time of Cook : yet as far as regards the 

 latter regions, the science of geogi-aphy is 

 miserably deficient ; and there is another 

 great inducement for a commercial country 

 to explore them, viz. the abundance of ani- 

 mal furs, oils, and other lu-ticles of trade, 

 which they furnish. Returning to Captain 

 King's late survey, ■we are informed that he 

 has found the eastern and northern shores 

 of New Holland to be extremely desert, 

 and the inhabitants in the most savage 

 state. He failed to discover any great 

 river flowing into the sea, as it was sup- 

 posed might be the case, and only one great 

 inlet was left unexplored, where it was pos- 

 sible such a*river might e.xist. All hopes, 

 therefore, of this coast being aught but bar- 

 ren and inhospitable seems to have va- 

 nished. An account of the voyage is pre- 

 paring for publication. 



The project of making Paris a port, 

 by means of a canal, to be fed principally by 

 the Seine, is still in agitation, and some of 

 the French journals are discussing the best 

 method of effecting so desirable an object. 



A salmon of uncommon size, perhaps the 

 largest ever taken in that river, has been 

 lately caught in the Tweed near Kelso, 

 being in length three feet eleven inches and 

 three quarters, in extreme girth two feet 

 four inches and a haltj and in weight fifty- 

 eight pounds. 



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