THE SPANISH GRANDEE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

"A stranger cannot fail to be amused with the external marks of respect still shewn to this high-born race. When 'his excellency' condescends to honour a ball or soirée with his presence, three strokes of the porter's bell announces that a grandee is coming up stairs. The lacqueys bandy the name from one to the other, until it reaches the drawing-room, mangled, doubtless, by the mouths through which it has passed, but still historic. Its owner is heard rustling along the carpet in the next room; the eye of expectation directs its range some six feet above the floor, so as to fall full upon the face of this man of history; but it fails to encounter the desired object. There is, however, a bowing, and scraping, and muttering of words of compliment, half pronounced and hurried over, going on about eighteen inches below the proposed mark. Positively the lion must be in the room. Can it be that fattish, jolly little figure, with large unmeaning eyes, and crisped and awkward manner, which is shuffling about the room, and grinning and bowing to different persons in the circle? Alas! too surely this is one of the heirlooms of his country. With the difference of greater or less embonpoint in each individual, this portrait represents, pretty fairly, the external physical endowments of the great majority of the grandees, with, probably, not more than five or six favoured exceptions. Their intellectual powers and acquirements are pretty much on the same scale. The very few who possess superficial knowledge, a smattering on some commonplace subject, affix enormous pretensions to superior instruction. Madrid in 1835.

BOOK FAIR AT LEIPSIC.

IN the commerce of Leipsic, there is nothing so extraordinary as its trade in books. The fact is, this city is the grand and sole emporium of the literature of Germany. At one period, Frankfort could boast of possessing some portion of the book trade; but it may now be justly said, that Leipsic has got the entire monopoly of it. At the two great fairs, the booksellers congregate from every quarter of Germany, each bringing along with him the books he purposes to publish to the world. Here the publications of one publisher are exchanged or bartered for those of another; and at the close of every fair, each returns to

his own particular town or city, with a selected stock of all that is new throughout the empire.

To give you some idea of the extent of this trade, I may mention, that besides music and maps, there are rarely fewer than three thousand new works brought out at each fair. The wagons of printed paper, which enter and leave this mart of the brain, exceed in number an Indian caravan. Only think of the statement by Dr. Menzel, that there are at least ten millions of new volumes printed annually in Germany! Of the extent of authorship in this country, you may also form some notion when I tell you, that each half year's Leipsic catalogue, numbers at least a thousand new writers; hence it may fairly be inferred, that at the present moment there cannot be fewer than fifty thousand persons living in Germany who have written a book! If authorship goes on in a similarly progressive ratio to that which it has lately done, it may be fairly assumed, that in a few years the names of German authors will exceed the number of living German readers. The mass of books, which increases every day, already baffles all calculation; and when we think of its extent, we are lost in astonishment at this new wonder of the world, which has been conjured into existence by the pen and the printing-press. The German booksellers, when they do not repair to the two fairs themselves, invariably transmit their works for subscrip tion through their agents in this city. The books thus sent for sale, remain here a twelvemonth and a day, after which the remainders, which means the unsold, are sent back to their respective publishers.

AN ARMENIAN WEDDING.

"WE went about eight o'clock in the evening, and found the house lighted up, and full of the lady's friends, among whom were the priest who was to perform the service, and his wife, both very plain and simple looking persons. We passed through several ante-rooms full of people, and were finally ushered into an inner and secluded chamber round which was a divan. On this sat cross-legged a number of Armenian ladies, two or three deep, and at the far corner was a motionless figure, like a bust in a niche, covered with a rich veil, glittering with gold, which hung down on all sides, so as entirely to conceal her figure beneath it. The bust was the bride. Across the room was a line of men, two or three

deep, who stood gazing on her in silence. In compliment to our Frank customs, chairs were procured for us in the neighbourhood, on which we sat, and continued gazing on her in silence in the same way. To gratify us, the bride permitted her veil to be raised a little; it was instantly dropped again; but the glimpse we had, shewed us a slight figure and pale face, with a countenance exceedingly pensive and joyless. Her companions, however, were of a different character. They were all unveiled, and displayed faces radiant with beauty and cheerfulness. Some of them were exceedingly lovely, crowned with coronets of gold, and their long hair floated about them in extraordinary profusion down to the divan, like the veil of the bride. Though seemingly in high spirits, they spoke in whispers, and all their motions were tempered by gentleness and modesty.

"After some refreshments and music, an open space was cleared before the bride, on which two embroidered mats were laid. On them were placed two enormous candlesticks, containing wax tapers of a proportionable size, and between them was a third, of still greater magnitude, without a stand, but bound upright to the other two by ribbons. This mysterious emblem was called 'the nuptial taper.' It represented the maiden state of the girl, and was to burn till that state expired. It was then extinguished, and kept as a relic by the family. The snuff of the wick became the perquisite of the priest, who attributed to it many conjugal virtues.

"The priest was now called on to perform another important ceremony. A low table was placed near the nuptial taper, covered with a white cloth. The priest took from his bosom a small crucifix, and waving it several times in the air over the table, he uttered a benediction, and concluded with a psalm.

"We were curious to see what mystery was under this cloth. It was slowly lifted up, and there appeared a rich shawl, which was taken up and wrapped about the bride. This ceremony was deemed one of the most important parts of the marriage service, and is called Bless ing the nuptial shawl.'

"When these and other rites were over, we expected to see the bridegroom, but he never appeared. He was down in Galata, enjoying himself with his friends; nor was it till the end of three days that the bride was carried to him wrapped up in a shawl, like a child in

swaddling clothes, when the husband saw her for the first time, and the final ceremony was performed."

VON RAUMER IS THUS DESCRIBED BY A TOURIST.

"Or the many literary men who reside in Berlin, and of the few justly entitled to a European reputation, I cannot resist mentioning with respect, the learned and able historian of the Family of the Hohenstauffen,' Frederick Von Raumer. ** The unwearied industry and indefatigable perseverance which Von Raumer bestowed in collecting materials, and in examining documents to enable him to write this truly Ghibeline history, have won for him the highest esteem and applause from all who can value such pursuits; and they afford another proof, among many, of the peculiarly characteristic qualities of the German mind for the investigation and elucidation of truth. Von Raumer is about forty-five years of age, of short stature, with a countenance which bespeaks thoughtfulness rather than genius. There is a soberness of demeanour about him indicating a philosophical rather than an imaginative disposition, though his clear grey eye at once marks the sharp and inquisitive turn of his intellect. The acute, industrious qualities of Von Raumer's mind, having early attracted the attention of Von Hardenberg, he was employed by that well-known Prussian minister in his own private cabinet, and had the honour of assisting the reforming statesman in working out the details of some of his most important and ameliorating measures. There, he became acquainted with the practical working of courts, a circumstance which no doubt proved most useful to him in his after historical researches. Von Raumer ultimately left Berlin, but has again returned to it, and is now one of the Board of Censors, a situation which, from his liberal opinions, and from the present unpopular nature of the office, I should think can be no great pleasure to him. It is in fact slyly hinted, that he himself is secretly opposed to the censorship, and though strictly a conservatist, is not blind to the folly of first training a people by education for free discussion, and poisoning or damming back the sources from which they are to derive the materials for thought and study.” * *

Count Zawadowsky, on the gardens of the grand forester Narischkin, or the beautiful villa of Count Sckeremetief, who among his serfs numbers some of the richest men in the country, and possesses himself 60,000l. per annum'; for we may here remark, that in Russia many of the slaves are richer than their masters.

We advanced towards Peterhof in the midst of the coachmen's and postilions' cries of Padi! and Paschol! which they make use of to disperse the crowds of Finland peasants who are slowly traveling towards the city, lying on their carts of pine wood. You soon reach Strellna, the beautiful but now deserted house of the Grand Duke Constantine; then the convent of Saint Jerga with its towers; and then the sea, which bathes a plain so verdant that you might almost fancy you saw the Adriatic washing the shores of the Gulf of Venice. And the whole length of the road, upon terraces overshadowed with trees, you will perceive the most elegant women, with a short light cloak of ermine thrown over their shoulders because the evening is closing in, their black hair carefully tressed, and the forehead crossed by a gold chain from which hangs a diamond or pearl; and beneath the terrace are the servants, their heads enveloped in a long Moscow shawl, listening to the sweet but sorrowful lays of the moujiks, with their long hair, like females, light beards, and perfectly regular features of so singular an expression. At length we arrive, I can hardly tell whether, at Peterhof, Aleppo, or Bagdad -the clock is striking eleven, and the heavens have become perfectly brilliant, for at this season of the year in Russia there is no night. The sky becomes clearer still, shade above disappears, and the objects appear detached in a sort of mezzotinto which is formed generally between them and the back-ground of the atmosphere. This light streams over the cupolas and gilded minarets of Peterhof: the Tscherkasses' horsemen, girded with their oriental arms, their neck and shoulders covered with a coat of mail, moving in all directions the camp of the young and noble cadets surrounds the Slobode; another camp, a complete Tartar one, formed of coaches and wagons, covers the other part of the plain; and the illusion would be complete if the joyous west did not betray itself, by airs from the Muette de Portici, and Musard's quadrilles, which are heard resounding through the château, where the emperor gives a small family ball, while waiting

for the grand one, which does not take place till the next day.

In the castle of Peterhof the French and Russian style of architecture mingle; the façade, in the already corrupted style of Louis XIV.'s reign, is surmounted with gilded cupolas. The waters of the Lake Ladoga have been turned into showers, bouquets, stars, and wheatsheaves; the bronze Tritons and marble Nereides of the grand siècle, have taken possession of the banks of the Gulf of Finland.

Versailles has, like two rings on its fingers, the great and little Trianon; Peterhof has Monplaisir and Alexandria. Monplaisir is a small brick house on the sea-shore; it is the hôtel de Lesdiguières, which Peter reserved, in order there to eat in peace his black bread and to drink his beer, like an old soldier as he was, when he was tired of the Louvre which he had built for himself.

They preserve here with religious care some of Peter the Great's clothes, the Vidercomes in Dutch crockery ware, the pewter plates which he used, and the rough wooden chairs and narrow hard bedstead on which he rested; but what gave him the greatest pleasure was, that from this spot he had a full view of his fleet without even the trouble of moving off his seat.

A fête at the court of Russia can only begin by a military solemnity. This commenced by a review of the horse guards, who acknowledge the empress as their chief, who, with the grand duchesses her daughters dressed in the most elegant Parisian style, in a superb catèche harnessed in all the perfection of English taste, herself reviewed her guards. The emperor stood at the carriage door with his hand respectfully raised to his cap, performing the office of lieutenant-colonel to the empress, and proposing some promotions to her, which you may easily believe were granted most readily.

After witnessing the curious evolutions of the cavalry composed of the mountaineers of Caucasus, the emperor and empress received in their palace the foreigners who had not yet been presented. I am afraid I shall find it rather difficult to describe how this evening was spent in the palace. Imagine the whole population of Petersburg transported to Peterhof; the long avenues, and green lawns of the Russian Versailles covered with merchants, their wives and children; and among the trees and the immense trellis- work raised for this vast illumination, the largest in the world, you may per

ceive thousands of black and light beards, sparkling eyes, faces from every climate, and costumes of all the jurisdiction of Russia, that is to say of Europe, Asia, and America; and the truth must be told, a vast multitude also from Finland, who rival the Laplanders and Kamschat, dale's in that filth, which is now almost exploded by civilization from the rest of the empire.

It is for such guests that the Emperor and his court are clothed in their richest dresses. Etiquette regulates the cos tumes, the sword was rigorously forbidden, and every one wore a short cloak of black lace called a Venetian, over the shoulder. The ladies sparkling with diamonds, the ministers and ambassadors superbly dressed, the chamberlain and gentlemen of the bed chamber all in uniform, are assembled in the saloon of Bronze Portraits, which precedes the Emperor's private apartment, when suddenly the guards, stationed at each door, open at the same time that of the Emperor's apartment, and the opposite one, and the Emperor courageously enters the neighbouring saloons: I think I might say the neighbouring streets, for 10,000 moujiks, peasants, &c., dirty, banded, and in rags, exhaling the odours of oil and garlic, enveloped in spite of the overwhelming heat in their sheepskins, and booted to the knee in greasy boots, await, in these saloons, the brilliant, the elegant, the refined court of Russia. Happy he who finds himself in the midst of a group of grave merchants in their long caftans, and with their beards carefully combed; but, alas! you are often forced to take your place between two iswoschniks, filthy drivers, always intoxicated, although silent; or near a dwornick, the unfortunate porter, who passes the night beneath the threshold of the door, wrapped in his oily cloak, which he incessantly rubs against you; and while you are groaning, and trying to get away, the Emperor, calm, free, and as much at his ease as if he were in the midst of his court, passes through at the head of the Polonaise dance, this multitude, whom he overtops considerably, neither appear ing to perceive the heat, nor the vapour which rises in the midst of his guests.

The ball commenced at eight, at eleven the Emperor was still in the saloon.

At Peterhof there is but one piece of tapestry. It is of the manufacture of the Gobelins, and a present from France. It is Steuben's picture, in which he has represented Peter the Great in a boat beaten by the storm.

At length, heaven be praised! the

ball is over, and then commences the drive: every one enters their carriage, which is composed of two long seats placed on four wheels, back to back, and drawn by two gigantic horses; four seat themselves on one side, and four on the other. The Emperor opens the procession in his caliche. All the rest, ambassadors, ministers, ladies of honour, and generals, place themselves pêle-mêle in these carriages, called lignes, which dart like arrows through hedges formed of the people, sailors, lamps, and elm trees, across the immense gardens of Peterhof..

I dare not essay to paint the effect of the illuminations, some seeming to touch the clouds, others placed on the surface of the basins, and even under the very cascades; some like liquid fire, dazzling and sparkling; the variety of handsome uniforms covered with gold and silver, passing beneath these brilliant lights, the crowds of sailors assembled to the number of five thousand to light these gardens, numbers of Tartars, Finlanders, Mussulmen and Russians collected by this fête; women most elegantly dressed; and above all, the order and reserve, perhaps rather too respectful, adds also to the singularity of the scene. On one side the palace resplendent with light, whose gilded domes reflect all the fires of the park ;-the palace, the crowd, and the merry music; on the other in the distance, the sea in all its sombre majesty ; its profound silence and its undisturbed darkness!

This short night was in fact the first they had had at Petersburg for two months, and it seemed, like the warm and lovely day which had preceded it, to have been made on purpose for this fête. At this season, night like day appears instantaneously; in a moment the morning light completely inundated us, extinguished the illuminations, and shewed us the sun, just as we were returning before the colonnade of the palace, surrounded by a picturesque cortège of horsemen from every regiment of the guards, and the Tscherkasses with their shining armour and coats of mail of the eleventh century. The fête was over. And what a fête !

The following day every thing had disappeared, and the Emperor, who does not inhabit the palace, but a simple cottage on the sea shore, had returned home with his wife. I cannot find a better expression to give you an idea of the citizen-like life that the Emperor leads at Alexandria.

M. A. W.