GENERAL HISTORY. 



[149 



a progress through those parts of 

 his dominion which hail been the 

 principal sufferers in the wai', for 

 the purpose of affording every 

 practical relief. Moscow, the an- 

 cient capital of the empire, was 

 tlie first object of his survey, and 

 lie foimd it rising fast fi'om its 

 luins, and putting on the appear- 

 ance of a splendid and j)opulous 

 city. He was received with all 

 due honours at the Kremlin, 

 whence he issued a manifesto 

 highly laudatory of the inhabi- 

 tants of Moscow, which was de- 

 posited in its archives. In Sep- 

 tember, from the quarters of the 

 regiment of lletzki, he issued an 

 ordinance, directing, that on ac- 

 count of the general peace in 

 Europe, the annual recruiting 

 through the empire should cease, 

 and the sixth corps of the army, 

 which was to be broken up, should 

 be employed for completing the 

 land and naval forces. 



That his Majesty, however, has 

 no intention to diminish the mi- 

 litary force of his territories ca- 

 pable of being called into action 

 when occasion requires, is appa- 

 rent from the following article of 

 intelligence published at Warsaw 

 on November 21st. 



By a decree of his Majesty the 

 Emperor our King, of the l/th 

 of last month, relative to the mi- 

 litary conscription, which was 

 published the day before yester- 

 day in 60 articles, every person 

 in the kingdom of Poland, with- 

 out distinction of rank, origin, 

 or icligion, is foi' ten years a 

 soldier, viz from his 20th to his 

 30th year. Two corps of reserve 

 are to be formed , the conscripts 

 of the first are destined to com- 

 plete the troops of the line, and 



those of the second come into 

 their places. 



From the Conscription are ex- 

 empt. — Foreigners and their .sons 

 born abroad, only sons, one son 

 out of each family, brothers as 

 guardians of their minor brothers, 

 widowers who have children, the 

 ollicers of state, those married 

 before this decree was published, 

 or who shall be married in future 

 before the age of 20, the clergy, 

 professors, lawyers, physicians, 

 surgeons, manufacturers, artists, 

 with their journeymen ; and 

 among the Jews, a rabbi in every 

 commune. Substitutes are al- 

 lowed. The conscripts of the first 

 reserve must appear at their depot 

 every year on the 15th of April, 

 and exercise till the f)th of June. 



It is acircumstance well worthy 

 of notice, though its final conse- 

 quences cannot be foreseen, that 

 an official journal, published at 

 Petersburgh in the Russian lan- 

 guage, contains an article expa- 

 tiating in the warmest terms on 

 the benefits resulting to states 

 from a free press, to which the 

 noble energy and patriotical en- 

 thusiasm by which England has 

 been so much distinguished, are 

 ascribed. The Emperor's visit to 

 this island, we may therefore hope, 

 has made a durable impression. 



The Republic of the Ionian Is- 

 lands, rendered on various ac- 

 coimts interesting to Great Bri- 

 tain, appears destined to attain 

 prosperity under her protection. 

 One evil to which it is exposed 

 by its situation will probably 

 continue its occasional ravages , 

 and while the government of 

 Turkey n^lects* every effectual 

 precaution against the contagion 

 of the plague, its immediate 

 neighbours 



