1809. ] 
did not amount to sixty men in each regi- 
ment. 1 have thought that. the num- 
ber. of the men belonging to these re- 
giments, who have returned, might. be 
nearly ascertained by any juhabitant of 
the place where each of these regi- 
ments is quartered, and by inserting 
it in any of the public papers, my ake 
the truth appear, and, I hope, disprove 
the statement of the French in these par- 
ticulars. In a paper of yesterday, it was 
mentioned, thata battalion of the 52d 
regiment was embarking for Portugal. 
If so; it does not appear as if they were 
very much reduced. 
‘The Moniteur, 
gazettes, contradicts General Hope, by 
asserting that we did not take one French 
prisoner in the battle of Corunna; the 
falsehood of which is capable of proof, 
I presume, by our soldiers. {fn short, 
I wonder that the accounts of the nuimn- 
bers of the army returned from Spain 
has not been produced, although moved 
for in parliament, and promised by the’ 
ministry at least two months since. Gen- 
eral Stewart declared that our whole loss 
in Spain did not amount to 5000 men, 
and the Freneh assert,.our loss to be 
14,000; surely it would be wise in our 
munistry to disprove their latter state- 
ment, iit be in theit power. I sincerely 
hope it is. Your's, &c. 
April 8, 1809 E.N. 
eee 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
PROGRES Of the RUSSIAN EMPIRE, during 
the REIGNS Of the EMPERORS PAUL and 
ALEXANDER, 77 ARTS, MANNERS, and’ 
POLITICAL ECONOMY. 
"hae public curiosity is not so capri- 
cious asitis usually represented. It 
usually follows in the direct line of public 
utility, and of the proportion of that uti- 
lity. Whatever is generally useful, what- 
ever adds to our stock of practical ‘know- 
ledge, will always-be interesting, and will 
always interest us, in the exact propor- 
tion in ‘which it 1s, or, may be useful, 
Hence, indeed, originates the superior 
pleasure which has always been assigned 
to history. isteria, says Quinctilian, 
quoquo nodo scripta éelectut.” But it his- 
tory can thus delight us, by the represen- 
tation of manners and events long passed, 
and therefore seen through the fog of 
time, how much greater must be our 
pleasure in the perusal of cotempcrary 
events, in having those scenes and mane 
ners . SGU GRE as it were to our eyes, 
which are only severed from us by the 
yiere circumstance of localit re 
Progress of the Arts, &c. in the Russian Empire. 
-vels a 
in its comments on our” 
deft much to do. 
344 
These thongtts’ hate been suggested 
by the course of my late reading. Being 
desirous of forming a comparative esti’ 
mate of the progress of different nations 
within the Jast twenty years, | have natu- 
rally teen led to consult the recent tra. 
nd tours, mto those several coun- 
tries. By the comparison of the accounts 
of each, by searching the one to supply 
what is omitted in the other, I think £ 
have heen enabled to'form a toler rable es= 
timate of the present state and condition 
of the principal kingdomsin Europe. The 
Trench writers, who havea name and sys- 
tem for every thing, denominated these 
species of outline, Tiblewa Lwill not, 
however, say, that in two or three pages I 
shall exhibit a picture of the progress 
of the Russian. empire, for the lase 
Sa years, because the word will ex- 
ceed the ching; but by @ collation and 
comparison, L have drawn an outline, 
which way be useful to others, as, in same 
points of reference, it has been to me. 
That I may confine myself within 
some certain limits, I shall follow the me- 
thod introduced in the French Tableau, 
But to relieve the dryness of mere state- 
ment, I shall not be so much a French- 
man, to be’so perfectly enslaved by my 
method, as to pursue it, at whatever cose 
of disgust and weariness to the readers. 
Where the method assists ine, I shall keep 
to ite Where it would destroy all varie 
ety without promoting perspicuity, T 
shall conceive myself at liberty to depart 
from it, : 
Arts—It is well known that the em- 
press Catherine was the protectress of | 
all the arts properly so calied, If Peter 
the Great mtroduced into Russia what- 
ever was necessary to the substance 
of an empire; Catherine superadded 
whatever was wanting to its ornament. 
The Emperor Peter drew a bold outline, 
~amasterly sketch; and then, passing as it 
were bis canvas and his pencil to the Em- 
press Catherine, she filled it up, she ad- 
ded all the colour, tie shade, and the dra- 
pery. 
The Empress Catherine, however, 
stood in the @ime relation to the fiie 
arts, as the Tzar Peter to the arts of ne« 
cessity and common use. She was the 
founder of them, she found noching, and 
Jeft much: but, like all founders, she stall 
Even her fone rein 
was not sufficient totally to erase ¢ and €X~ 
tmeuish wh the relics of barbarian taste, 
or rather of barbarian wantof taste. The 
painters and poets had still something of 
their ancient barbarism. The nobility, 
ignorant. 
