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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF EMINENT PERSONS. 
THE EMPRESS DOWAGER OF RUSSIA. 
Her Imperial Majesty, the Empress Ma- 
‘tia Feodorowna, was a Princess of Wir- 
temberg, sister of Frederick, late King of 
Wirtemberg Stuttgard, who married the 
Princess Royal of England, and niece to 
Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. Her 
baptismal name was Sophia Dorothea ; but 
on her marriage, at an early age, about the 
year 1766-7, to the Grand Duke Paul, 
afterwards Emperor of Russia, she assumed, 
in compliance with the custom of the court, 
that of Maria Feodorowna, as descriptive of 
her alliance with the Imperial family. On 
the death of the Empress Catherine II. 
Paul ascended the throne. 
the short reign of that unhappy prince, and 
the tragical termination on the 11th of 
March, 1801, are still remembered. What- 
soever may have been the political faults of 
the Emperor, historians are unanimous in 
attesting his amiable qualities in domestic 
life. The virtues of his accomplished con- 
sort were fully estimated by him, and to- 
wards her he at all times evinced the greatest 
tenderness and affection. Kotzebue re- 
lates an affecting instance of his attachment, 
which occurred the night before his assas-. 
sination, and describes the last and affec- 
tionate leave which he at the same time 
took of the Empress and of his youngest 
children. : 
In the various relations of life, as daugh- 
ter, wife, and mother, the Empress shewed 
herself possessed of every yirtue that can 
adorn the female character. She superin- 
tended the education of her children, with 
the most sedulous attention; and, to her 
instructions, and to the principles of mo- 
rality and religion, which she from infancy 
instilled into his mind, may be attributed 
the numerous acts of goodness and philan- 
thropy by which the reign of hereldest son, 
the late Emperor Alexander, was distin- 
guished. Nor were her exertions less suc- 
cessful in forming the characters of her 
younger children. The present Emperor 
Nicholas appears to sympathize, as did his 
brother, with the noble feelings of his mo- 
ther. Of the talents and graces of her 
daughters, a specimen was offered by the 
Duchess of Oldenburgh, during her visit to 
England ; and a similar example presents 
itself in the character of the Grand Duchess 
Anne, who is married to the Prince of 
Orange.—Her exertions were not, however, 
confined to her own family, ‘but were bene- 
ficially felt throughout the empire. She 
established schools for the education of the 
poor, and, in almost all the large provinces, 
female colleges, on the model of the cele- 
brated St. Cyr. These institutions she re- 
peatedly visited and inspected. She was 
also a munificent benefactress and patroness 
of every charitable foundation in the em- 
_pire. 
The events of, 
The Empress, on the marriage of the 
Princess Royal of England to her brother, 
the King of Wirtemberg, presented her 
with the Order of St. Catherine; and the 
Princess frequently displayed, on Windsor 
Terrace, the insignia of the order—a mag- 
nificent collar and star of jewels. 
Her Imperial Majesty expired, after a 
short illness, at St. Petersburgh, on the 5th 
of November. The terms in which this 
évent is officially announced in the St. Pe- 
tersburgh Gazette, strongly indicate the 
warm and kind feelings with which she was 
regarded by all ranks. 
MR. BEWICK. 
Mr. Thomas Bewick, the _celebrated 
wood-engraver, was born at Newcastle- 
upon-Tyne, about the year 1754. He was 
a pupil of Mr. Beilby’s, a gentleman who 
was employed -by Dr. Hutton in engraving 
some plates for his Mensuration, his Theory 
of Bridges, and his Diarian Miscellany. 
Under Mr. Beilby’s auspices, Mr. Bewick 
proved himself to be the best wood-cutter 
of his time. He is universally allowed to 
have carried the art to a greater height of 
excellence than it had ever before attained 
in this country. In partnership with Mr. 
Beilby, he, in 1793, published a General 
History of British Quadrupeds, the figures 
of which, on wood, were executed with un- 
precedented neatness, precision, and truth. 
In 1797, he published, in twé yolumes, a 
History of British Birds, similarly illus- 
trated; and, just before his death, he was 
employed upon a work of the same charac- 
ter, relating to Fishes. Amongst many 
other valuable performances, Mr. Bewick 
prepared the wood-cuts for a system of eco- 
nomical and useful Botany, to include 450 _ 
plants, the text of which was furnished by 
Dr. Thornton. 
Mr. Bewick was a man_apparently of a 
strong and durable frame ; but he had been 
many years subject to attacks of the gout, 
a spasm of which is thought to haye caused 
his death on the 8th of November. 
PROFESSOR BONTERWEK. 
Francis Bonterwek, a distinguished Pro- 
fessor of the University of Gottingen, was 
born at Goslar, in Germany, in the year 
1766. He was at once a poet, a philoso- 
pher, and a philologist. In the course of 
his life, he produced nearly thirty literary 
works, filled several public offices in his 
native country, and was indefatigable in 
promulgating and commenting upon, the 
doctrines of Kant. He acquired, by his 
General History of Poetry and Eloquence, 
since the End of the Thirteenth Century— 
a stupendous work relating to French, Ita- 
lian, Spanish, Portuguese, English, and 
German literature—the reputation of one of 
the most eminent writers on the Continent. - 
