the reach of private vengeance; but now they were again returning to their favourite hunting-ground north of the Mohawk, and around the sources of the Hudson. Some even had ventured into Albany to dispose of their packs and skins, and carry back a supply of powder and other necessaries of the hunter of the wilderness. It was two of these that the orphan youth dogged from the settlements, on their way through the northern forests, to the spot where his oath of vengeance had been recorded. The sequel may best be told in the words of an old hunter, under whose guidance I made my first and only visit to the Dead Clearing. It was about two o'clock of a hot August afternoon, that Ben, after thus following up their trail for three days, came upon the two Injuns jist where the moose-runway makes an opening in the forest, and lets the light down upon yon willow that still flourishes beside the old hemlock. The Injuns were sitting beneath the willow, thinking themselves sheltered by the rocky bank opposite, and a mass of underwood which had shot up round the top of an oak, which had been twisted off in a tornado on some former day, and then lay imbedded in weeds beneath the knoll. But, a few yards from this bank, in that thicket round the roots of yon mossy old beech, Ben found a shelter, from which, at any moment, he could creep up and cover either with his fire from Dehind the knoll. But, as he had only a one-barrel piece, it required full as cool a hand as his to wait and take both the crecturs at one shot. Bloody Ben, though, was jist the chap to do it. Like enough he waited there or manoeuvred round for an hour to get his chance, which did come at last, howsumdever. The Injuns, who, in their own way, are mighty talkers, you must know,-that is, when they have really something to talk about,-got into some argerment, wherein figures, about which they know mighty little, were concerned. One took out his scalping-knife to make marks upon the earth to help him: while the other trying to make matters clearer by the aid of his fingers, their heads came near each other, jist as you may have seen those of white people when they get parroiching right in earnest. So they argufied and they counted, getting nearer and nearer as they became more eager, till their skulls, almost touching, came within the exact range of Ben's rifle: and then Ben, he ups and sends the ball so clean through both, that it buried itself in a sapling behind them. And that, I think, was pretty well for the first shot of a lad of eighteen; and Bloody Ben himself never confessed to making a better one afterwards.' "The Tourist, who should now seek the scene of this adventure, would, perhaps, look in vain for the graceful exotic that once marked the spot. The weeping willow, which was only a thrifty sapling when the Indians met their death beneath its fatal shade, was changed into an old decayed trunk, with but one living branch when I beheld it; and a ponderous vine was rapidly strangling the life from this decrepit limb. The hardy growth of the native forest had nearly obliterated the improvements of the pioneer. The wild animals, in drinking from the spring hard by, had dislodged the flat stones from its brink; tall weeds waved amid the spreading pool; and the fox had made his den in the rocky knoll upon whose side once stood the settler's cabin of THE DEAD CLEARING." EDUCATION OF THE RUSSIAN POOR. A THE process of education of the Russian poor is perhaps melan choly to relate, and difficult to believe, but it is efficacious. The cane and the whip perform the miracle in most instances. master will say to his slave, "You must be a musician; " to another, “You must be a tailor." If either murmurs, he is beat; and this method is continued, till the one produces a tolerable coat, or the other sings a national air in good tune, or can join in a chorus. It is with these crude materials that the Russians have found the secret of organising their great military force. The peasant, before he is completely formed to the profession of a soldier, undergoes privations and sufferings innumerable; but, this ordeal once passed, he acquires a constitution of iron. Like the cement which becomes more hard from exposure to the open air, the Russian soldier is hardy, indefatigable, proof against the inclemencies of the seasons, enduring hunger and thirst with patience, and fearing more the cane of his officer than the cannon of the enemy. The impassibility of the Muscovite under fire is almost proverbial; and if passive mechanical courage is the essence of a good soldier, it is certainly to be found in the Russian ranks.British and Foreign Review for Jan. 1839, LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS OF THE METROPOLIS. LONDON INSTITUTION. THIS establishment can scarcely be termed a public institution, as admittance to the library and reading-rooms is given only to proprietors, and those who are furnished with a proprietor's ticket. But it is of such a magnitude, and possesses such a valuable collection of books, as to deserve public attention. It originated with the merchants and bankers of the City, who held their first meeting at the London Tavern, 23d May, 1805. The original subscription of proprietors was fixed at seventy-five guineas, and of life-subscribers at twenty guineas. The list was quickly filled up, and by the 18th January, 1806, the institution was opened in a large mansion on the eastern side of the Old Jewry, nearly opposite to Frederick's-place; erected by Sir Robert Clayton for keeping his shrievalty in 1671, and mentioned by Evelyn in his Diary. The library at this time amounted to ten thousand volumes. The institution was subsequently removed to premises in King's-Arms yard, and from thence was removed to the fine building erected for the purpose in Moorfields, and now forming a very conspicuous object on the north side of Finsbury Circus. The front is 102 feet 6 inches wide, exclusive of the side doors, which are 15 feet each; the height is nearly 60 feet to the apex of the pediment. The house comprises a basement story within a sunken area, a ground floor, and two stories above, consisting of the library and gallery. The exterior of the building is embellished by a very beautiful double portico, the upper portion supported on Corinthian columns, resting on the ground-floor portico, which consists of two solid piers and as many Doric columns. The proportions of the various parts forming the façade are so true and exact, as to present a whole in which magnificence and elegance are admirably combined. There are few buildings in London which display better taste in the design, and perhaps none are so well situated, for the facility with which they can be advantageously contemplated. The inside fully corresponds with the elegance of the exterior. The hall, supported by two rows of fluted Doric columns, appears the realization of a Roman atrium on each side, doors lead to the pamphlet-room, newsroom, committee-room, and private apartments. Immediately facing the entrance are glass doors leading to the staircase, which is exceedingly beautiful. It is double, and leads to a wide stone platform, or landing-place, from which the library is entered by the outer door; the gallery by two side staircases, concealed within the walls. The library is a very noble room; it occupies the whole of the first floor. It is 97 feet in length by 42 in width, and 28 in height. The interior area is in shape an octagonal parallelogram, with four small apartments at the angles; the sides are divided by piers, faced with pilasters, into recesses elevated two steps above the floor, containing double bookcases. The piers also support a light but substantial gallery, extending completely round the apartment, and lined with bookcases. The books contained in the whole room amounted, in 1835, when the classed catalogue was prepared, to upwards of twenty-six thousand, and since then there has been a very considerable addition. Around the reading room six large tables are arranged, at one of which the librarian is seated; and at the western extremity there is a raised desk, at which the sub-librarian has his post. Immediately below his seat stands a magnificent sarcophagus of polished appropriated to the reception of a splendid work on Egypt, which oak, presented by Sir Thomas Baring, bart., the president, and accompanied the gift. This reading-room is one of the most agreeable places of study that exists. There is hardly any disturbance from external sounds, so that you can scarcely conceive you are in the heart of the City. A small part only of the Circus is paved, and, though the rolling of the distant omnibuses may be faintly heard, the passing of the few carriages that wander into the Circus gives but little annoyance. The books in the room are open to all the visitors, and access to them is rendered easy by their arrangement, which is very fully described in the catalogue; it is constructed on so excellent a plan as to deserve to be the model in all libraries. By a reference to it, you can at once discover what books the library contains on any subject, and in what part of the room the book you happen to want is to be found. If the book be in the gallery or cannot be readily discovered, the librarians are always ready to ~ive prompt attention, and both are particularly polite in pointing out the best or most advisable book to consult on any point to which you are directing your inquiries. The little apartments in the corners are snug retreats, where the occasional murmur of a whispered conversation may be avoided, if it should annoy the student. The only thing to be found fault with is, that these little closets are not lighted at night; and, if a work be then required from them, it must be obtained by the aid of the librarian's lantern. The collection has been very judiciously selected, and in every class is well provided, and in some, particularly English Antiquities, and Topography, and Philology, including Literary History and Criticism, the productions of Miscellaneous Latin Authors, and Grammars and Dictionaries, it is rich; and as new books of interest and information appear, they are constantly added to the stores already collected. It is also rich in parliamentary history, and this department is constantly increasing by the addition of all the Parliamentary Reports. The pamphlet-room and news-room are amply supplied and are very constantly attended, but the library is not much resorted to. It is rare to see more than twenty persons in the room at one time, except occasionally in the evening, when many gentlemen look in to spend an hour or two in turning over the newer publications; but the number of students, or literary men, who make use of this fine library is small. One peculiar feature of this institution is its Soirées, or Evening Conversazioni, which are held once a week during the Spring season. At such times, models, works of art, objects of natural history, &c. are occasionally exhibited for the entertainment of the visitors, and, in the course of the evening, a short lecture is delivered in the theatre. On such occasions the library may be seen filled with well-dressed ladies, who are accustomed to make a tour de promenade around the library, before and after the lecture, a process rather annoying to those who are occupied with their books. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES JOHN LEDYARD. JOHN LEDYARD was a remarkable instance of the power possessed by a mind confidently relying on its own resources, of attaining the object determined upon. When he had fixed his mind upon a thing, nothing turned him from his purpose; and we shall find him, when disappointed of promised assistance, setting out with an axe, two dogs, and a tobacco-pipe, as his sole companions in exploring the wilds of America. It is not our intention to hold his character up as an object of unlimited admiration; for, not to speak of other failings, such as his impatience of control or reproof, and his unsettled habits,-the very excess of the quality by which he attained such surprising results, his self-confidence, frequently led him to act with a wilfulness and want of caution little heed of the morrow, and thus was often obliged to encounter which did him much injury. Confident in himself, he took too difficulties which the exercise of a little prudence might have prevented. The result of these failings will be seen in the short narrative we are about to enter upon; they are to be lamented and avoided. But his determined perseverance, which enabled him to triumph over obstacles which would have daunted and disheartened almost any other man, is to be admired, and to be regarded as a worthy object of our imitation. John Ledyard was born at Groton, a small village in Connecti. cut: he was the eldest of four children, who, by the death of their father, were early thrown upon the sole care of their mother, who was left in very straitened circumstances. She was a woman The theatre of the institution is a separate building entered by possessing excellent qualities and a well-informed mind, and, above a door at the foot of the stairs. It is particularly excellent in its all, eminent for piety and the religious virtues. Her early instrucconstruction and arrangement, and the laboratory and apparatus tions were never forgotten by her son John, who was tenderly Some attached, are distinguished for their completeness. Here lectures attached to her. years after his father's death, John on various subjects are delivered during the season, to which pro- Ledyard was taken charge of by his grandfather, who sent him to prietors and subscribers to the course are admitted, but the holder the grammar-school at Hartford, and subsequently placed him in a of a proprietor's transferable ticket has no right of entrance. No lawyer's office. This situation by no means suited John Ledyard, subscription or separate tickets are issued for the lectures delivered who, after a few months' trial, gave up the law. His fondness for at the soirées; but every proprietor has, besides his own admission, the privilege of personally introducing a visitor, though he wandering and adventure was probably the cause of the choice he cannot introduce any person by his transferable ticket. now made of a pursuit. A college had shortly before been established at Hanover, then almost a wilderness, for the education of Indians and of young men designed as Indian missionaries. The principal, Dr. Wheelock, offered to receive Ledyard, who accordingly repaired to Dartmouth College, where, however, he continued scarcely a year. Three months of this time were occupied in a ramble among the Indians, which he undertook unaccompanied, and of which we possess no particulars, further than that the time was spent in wandering through the forests, sometimes alone, and sometimes in company with the various tribes with whom he fell in, and that his excursions extended as far as Canada. Such is a brief outline of this valuable institution. It is, perhaps, to be regretted that the proprietors do not extend the facility of admission, and permit the entrance of annual subscribers, but it is probable that they are deterred by the additional risk which their property would be exposed to, and which could not be obviated except by an additional outlay for extra librarians, &c. and a total change of the present system, under which the visitor feels almost as if he were sitting in his own private library, with a few friends in his company. They may also consider that among 940 proprietors, almost all residents in London or its immediate neighbourhood, it cannot be very difficult to discover one, willing to lend his ticket (a handsome bronze medal, by the way) to a student who is desirous of using the stores of the library. The institution is supported by the proceeds of its capital, and an annual subscription of two guineas paid by each proprietor. It is opened at ten o'clock in the morning; the library closes at ten in the evening, but the pamphlet and news-rooms are kept open till eleven, except on Saturdays, when all the doors are shut at three o'clock. A YANKEE PEDLAR. "I RECKON our folks don't want none of them fixings," said an Ohio housewife to a Connecticut pedlar, who produced a pair of beaded mocassins, a shooting pouch, and other hunting paraphernalia from his pack: "the boys have plenty of such trash of their own providing.' The patient pedestrian offered next some prettily woven basket-ware, and carved wooden bowls, to tempt a purchase from the settler's wife. "No! nor them nother!" cried the virago; "the Miami Injuns do our basketing, and the Buckeyes make better bowls than you can carve from your Yankee poplars. What does the fool mean by trying to sell us things we can make better nor him? Throw open your pack, my manny, and let me choose for myself among your knicknacks !"—Hoffman's Wild Scenes. The routine of the college duties was irksome to one for whom the forest had such charms; and, though he could study the Greek Testament in his solitary canoe, on the brink of a cataract, yet he could but ill brook the confinement of a class-room. His conduct, though strictly moral, was in other respects so irregular as to call down reproof, which Ledyard could not endure. He determined to leave college, and he effected his purpose in a manner the most characteristic. He felled a large tree on the banks of the Connecticut, and, with the aid of his companions, shaped it into a canoe, fifty feet long and three broad, in which he embarked, with a good stock of provisions, a bearskin, a paddle, a Greek Testament, and an Ovid, and trusted himself upon a river interrupted by rapids and falls, with which he was totally unacquainted. Fourteen years afterwards, he told Mr. Jefferson that he was deeply engaged in reading when his canoe approached Bellows's Falls, where he was suddenly roused by the noise of the waters rushing among the rocks through the narrow passage. The danger was imminent, as no boat could go down that Fall without being instantly dashed in pieces; and it was with difficulty that he gained the shore. He procured oxen, and having conveyed his canoe overland past the Falls, and continuing his solitary voyage without accident, surprised his friends at Hartford with his very unexpected appearance. Having totally abandoned the idea of the Indian mission, he now desired to devote himself to the ministry, in which he was (not very judiciously) encouraged by some of his friends, and several ministers to whom he applied. Their good-nature made them unwilling to discourage him in a pursuit in which his talents were fully equal to the labour, but for which his peculiar character rendered him very unfit. Some time, though not a long period, was spent in study, and he sought to obtain his object-immediate admission to the ministry-with his accustomed energy; but he was foiled in his efforts, and at length abandoned his design. He now fell in with an old friend of his father, a Captain Deshon, the master of a merchantinan; and on board his ship, about to sail from New London, bound to Gibraltar, the Barbary coast, and home by way of the West Indies, he entered as a common sailor, although he was treated by the captain rather as a friend and associate, than according to the rank he held on board the vessel. This was not an unnatural step on the part of an ardent young man disappointed in the schemes which he had wished to realise, and whose adventurous disposition made the sight of foreign lands desirable, even in the humble station of a common sailor. Nothing very remarkable occurred during the voyage, save at Gibraltar, where, during a short residence on shore, he took a fancy for the army, and actually enlisted in a British regiment, and was lost to his shipmates, until the captain accidentally discovered him on parade, going through the exercise with scrupulous accuracy. Captain Deshon remonstrated with him, and urged him to return to the ship. He said he enlisted because he was partial to the service, and thought the profession of a soldier well suited to a man of honour and enterprise. Eventually he was released, and returned to America with Captain Deshon. When once more in America, he found himself wholly without occupation, and saw no opening for pushing his fortune. The wandering mania appears to have already seized him, as, in a letter he wrote from Gibraltar, he told his friends that he had allotted to himself a further seven years' wandering. He had heard from his grandfather that he had relations in England who were rich, and in the hope of discovering these, and by their means obtaining assist. ance in prosecuting his favourite schemes of travel, he worked his passage to Plymouth, and literally begged his way to London, indulging all the time bright dreams of the future. He succeeded in discovering his relations, but, his claims being at first doubted, he indignantly left the house; and, although assistance was afterwards tendered, he refused to accept it. Captain Cook was now preparing to set out on the voyage from which he was never to return, and Ledyard determined to make one of the expedition. With this view he enlisted in the marines, and then, contriving to obtain an interview with Captain Cook, found no difficulty in persuading him to take him as one of the complement. Cook promoted him to the rank of corporal, and in that capacity he served during the voyage. He kept a journal during this period; but, on his return to England, it was, in common with all other journals and memoranda made by any one on board, taken possession of by the Admiralty, in order to prevent any mis-statements in the first public account of the expedition. Ledyard subsequently published an account of the voyage, in America; but as this, although curious in some respects, especially as regards the circumstances of Captain Cook's death, relates to matters already well known, we shall not advert to it, except in one affair in which he was personally engaged, and which much affected his future course of life. After exploring Nootka Sound, where Ledyard made many observations on the advantages to be obtained from a trade in furs with the natives, the vessels arrived at the island of Onalaska, where they were much surprised at meeting with many signs of European intercourse among the natives. This made Captain Cook very desirous of exploring the island, but he was in doubt as to the best means of accomplishing his object. Ledyard volunteered his services, which were gladly accepted by Cook, who appreciated his character. He set out, entirely unarmed, under the guidance of the natives, who, after a tedious journey on foot across the island, conducted him to a settlement made by the Russians, who had there established a station in communication with their establishment in Kamtschatka, for the purpose of carrying on the fur-trade. Ledyard succeeded in his mission, and an interview took place between Captain Cook and some of the Russians, who accompanied Ledyard back to the vessels. The observations he made here confirmed him in his views of the practicability of establishing a very profitable trade in furs; and which was still further strengthened when he became aware of the very high price that might be obtained for them in China. He made, and carefully recorded, very minute inquiries on this subject, which have since been appreciated, although the projector met nothing but discouragement. Ledyard returned to England with the expedition, and continued upwards of two years in the service, but, the American war having now broken out, he for some time declined engaging against his countrymen. He, however, at length embarked on board a vessel destined for America, but he took the earliest opportunity to desert. After visiting his friends, and suffering sufficient time to elapse to prevent the probability of a seizure from the English powers, he bent all the energies of his mind, and they were great, to the accomplishment of the scheme he had formed, of establishing a trade with the North-west of America. Everything he proposed has been since shown to be well founded, but the difficulties he encountered prevented him and his country from reaping the reward. Upwards of two years were consumed in attempts to effect this object. The scheme was repeatedly taken up and abandoned by different merchants. Ledyard's exertions were extreme. New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and New London, were again and again visited; and repeatedly the cup of hope was raised to his lips, but to be dashed away. At length, finding all hope of support in America, vain, he resolved to expend the slender stock of money he possessed, derived from the remuneration he received for his lost time, from the merchants who had withdrawn from the enterprise, in visiting France, with the intention of engaging some of the merchants of L'Orient in his design. At L'Orient he was detained a whole year; his scheme was at first entertained, and he appeared to be on the point of realizing all his expectations. But the season was unpropitious, and after delays most vexatious to his ardent mind, it was abandoned. Yet undaunted, he proceeded to Paris; he knew he was right, and that the timidity which made his supporters, one after another, draw back, was unreasonable. 'In Paris,' thought he, ' I shall surely find some who will duly value the plans I propose. Mr. Jefferson, who was at this time minister from the United States to the Court of France, at once perceived the advantages that would flow from such a voyage as Ledyard proposed, and approved highly of his design; but he took no steps in promoting it at present, although the expedition under Lewis and Clarke, which he projected twenty years afterwards, had its origin in the views suggested by Ledyard. He had not been many days in Paris when he met the celebrated adventurer, Paul Jones, at that time acting under a commission from the United States, and who had come to Paris for the purpose of recovering the value of several prizes he had taken and sent into French ports. Jones's ardent spirit eagerly caught at the schemes proposed by Ledyard. He joined heartily in forwarding them; proposed to engage two vessels, store them with a fitting cargo, proceed with Ledyard to the North-west coast, spend six months in building a fort and stockade, and collecting furs, and then, leaving Ledyard in charge of this establishment, proceed with a cargo of fur to China; barter them for Chinese produce, and then proceeding, by way of the Cape of Good Hope, either to Europe or the United States, sell his cargo, and taking on board articles fit for the Indian market, return to the fort.* Jones was so earnest in the business, that he advanced money to Ledyard for the purchase of cargo for the outfit; but just at this crisis he was called away to L'Orient, where he was detained some months. Either unexpected obstacles occurred, or his ardour cooled, for he abandoned the scheme he had been so earnest in, and Ledyard once more had the mortification to see his dearest hopes blighted at the very moment when his prospects seemed to be brightest. Ledyard next endeavoured to organise a company in Paris for the purpose of carrying out his darling scheme, and in the plan he proposed to them he designed to return himself over-land to the United States, after despatching a vessel to China. After months of unavailing efforts this scheme proved abortive, and Ledyard found himself once more cast loose on the world. Nothing daunted, he now proposed to apply to the Empress of Russia for permission to travel across her dominions to Behring's Straits. Mr. Jefferson approved his plan, and introduced him to Baron Grimm, the confidential agent of the Empress, by whom the application was forwarded.to Petersburgh; but five months elapsed without bringing an answer, during which time Ledyard subsisted on supplies levied on "vice-consuls, consuls, ministers, and plenipotentiaries." At length, just when he was thinking of setting off without the permission of the Empress, a proceeding from which * This was precisely the plan proposed by Mr. Astor, when he established his settlement at Colombia River. his friends dissuaded him, he received a letter from Sir James Hall, who had seen and befriended him at Paris, which induced him to go to London. He there found an English ship in complete readiness to sail for the Pacific Ocean. Sir James Hall introduced him to the owners, who immediately offered him a free passage in the vessel, with the promise that he should be set on shore at any place on the North-west coast which he might choose. The merchants, no doubt, hoped to profit somewhat by his knowledge and experience. One of Cook's officers was also going out in the same vessel. The day before he was to go on board, he thus wrote to Mr. Jefferson:"Sir James Hall presented me with twenty guineas, pro bono publico: I bought two great dogs, an Indian pipe, and a hatchet. My want of time, as well as of money, will prevent my going any otherwise than indifferently equipped for such an enterprise; but it is certain that I shall be much more in want before I see Virginia." Here we must leave this enterprising traveller. The remainder of his adventures shall be given in another Number. THE BLESSING OF THE WATERS. 66 A VISIT TO BARCLAY, PERKINS, AND CO. On the southern banks of the Thames, between Southwark and London bridges, lies the hugest brewery in the world-the chief of those establishments which have made this great city the headquarters of malt liquor as well as civilisation. Ask any of the fellowship porters" the way to BARCLAY, PERKINS, AND Co.'s, and there, from any one of these unaffected lovers of "heavy wet," you will get a direct direction. "There, Sir, right down afore ye!" and truly it would be difficult to miss a sight of the brewery, the buildings of which cover eleven acres of ground. But how to find out the entrance is the puzzle; you must thread your way through narrow lanes, thronged with drays, while a rumbling sound reminds one of barrels and hogsheads, and the olfactory organs testify that a brewery is not only near, but round about— for communication between the buildings is maintained by suspension bridges over the lanes. At last we arrive at the gateway; don't you see the ANCHOR, Sir, the symbol of Barclay, Perkins, and Co. ? All brewers have their sign-their symbol-their emblem; and the anchor of Barclay, Perkins, and Co., is stamped, twisted, and interwoven on or in everything appertaining to the Now, entering the gateway, we pass what may be termed the porter's lodge. An equivocal, or rather a very unequivocal sort of porter's lodge it is: porter-pots give intimation that beer is "drank on the premises," and though the court were clear of barrels and drays, one might have little hesitation in affirming as a verity, that we had entered a stronghold of the powerful spirit of inalt. By the way, what is the etymology of "porter?' A shrewd brewer of the olden time is said to have compounded a sort of half-and-half, which became very acceptable to those brawny fellows who, as the Dictionary says, carry goods for hire;" and hence porter, a drink for porters, became a drink for the million. But "beer" is the genuine cockney name for "heavy wet;' ""Be ah!" as the pot-boy bawls it, Sunday and Saturday, at eleven, at one, at eight, and at nine o'clock, in every narrow street, lane, or alley, where a hard-working and beer-loving population may be found. 66 On the 18th inst. (Jan.), which is the Russian Twelfth-day, a religious ceremony takes place on the Neva, which I believe has no parallel in any other country, unless we adduce the now obso-brewery-the very lamp-posts are propped up by the anchor. lete custom at Venice of the Doge espousing the sea. This ceremony is called the blessing of the waters: and the object is, that the river Neva may, by the prayers of the nation, be rendered propitious to the navigation, and all other purposes to which rivers may be applicable in the neighbourhood of a great and dirty capital. The whole population of St. Petersburgh and the environs is collected on the quays to witness this solemn invocation. An octagon temple, formed of wooden trellis-work, adorned with pictures, gilded cherubs, and other religious emblems, is erected on the ice opposite to the winter palace. There are four entrances to this pavilion, which is approached from the shore by a wooden communication built on massive piles; that which faces the palace is decorated with a picture representing the baptism of our Saviour in the river Jordan. In the centre of this building is dug a large hole in the ice, which, at this season of the year, generally four or five feet in depth; as, with some appearance of inconsistency, the nation has singled out this period for blessing Hilloa, stand aside-here is a troop of the "rank and file" the waters, when the climate has rendered them completely invisi- of the Brewery. Shoulder your-brooms; one looks almost ble. Over this aperture is suspended, from the dome above, the instinctively to see whether or not the brooms are shaped in the figure of a dove. In the morning, the emperor, empress, and form of an anchor. These men have just been cleansing out imperial family, with the court, assist at divine service in the some of the huge receptacles-for malt is a cleanly spirit, and will chapel, at which the metropolitan archbishop, with the principal rescut as an injury any attempt to brew it in dirty beds. For clergy, preside; this service lasts from 11 till 12 o'clock. At this purpose a copious supply of water is a grand essential in a that hour the procession issues from the palace; in front appears brewery. Water, did we say? Oh, do not mention the insipid a priest bearing a lantern; then others with a cross, banners, and word. Not a soul in all this establishment would admit it into holy images; the court choristers precede the archbishop and his mouth. "Liquor" is the word, Sir;-we dare say, in the clergy, who are arrayed in gorgeous vestments, with flowing rainy months of winter, draymen and broom-men, breweis, tapbeards; then come the pages and subalterns bearing the colours sters, smiths, farriers, and " sample" men, will all be heard of the different regiments of guards; last of all the emperor, fol- deploring the continuance of liquorish weather. lowed by the grand-dukes, and escorted by the great officers of state, his military staff, generals and courtiers, all bareheaded, and apparently impressed with the solemnity of the scene. As soon as the emperor has taken his position at one of the doors of the pavilion, the archimandrite recites the prayers, and the choristers sing the responses; the blessing is performed by plunging a silver cross in the waters, of which a vase is presented to his majesty. A signal rocket announces the conclusion of the ceremony, and the cannon from the fortress again announce to the cives the beatification of proverbially the most unwholesome waters in all Christendom. The empress and her court are seated at the windows of the palace; the foreign ministers, &c., view the procession from those of the Hermitage, which command the quays; but, as the ceremony itself lasts for nearly twenty-five minutes, it must be a severe trial for the emperor and his suite to remain so long uncovered in this piercing climate. As soon as the actors in this curious scene have retired, there is a general rush of the common people towards the temple;-mothers are seen plunging their infants into the sacred opening which has been made in the river, while various individuals fill their pitchers with the holy water and carry it home to their families, undaunted by the severe cold which freezes it during their walk. On the same day, at Constantinople, the Greek patriarch performs a like ceremony. He throws the cross into the sea; and it is asserted that skilful divers eagerly await the operation, and generally succeed in seizing it before it reaches the bottom.-(From The City of the Czar.) But let us proceed to the counting-house, a range of buildings which fronts us as we enter the gateway. Here are a host of clerks and collectors; we might fancy that we were not in a brewery but a bank. In one of the rooms, looking down upon the busy deskmen below, is a bust of as characteristic a head as one might meet in a day's walk. This is the head of an old servant of the firm, who saved his £20,000 while in his employment; and his bust is placed here, as a kind of presiding genius, a perpetual remembrancer and exemplar for his brethren of the quill who shall come after him. A sharp, shrewd old man, he must have been in his day; took care of number one, doubtless, yet had a corner in his heart for something more than himself. He probably eschewed water, dreading the stomach-ache; and kept his spirit bland and kindly by an occasionai draught of “twoyear old." Only think of a servant in a private establishment accumulating his £20,000! An old fellow died the other day, leaving upwards of £70,000, accumulated whilst he was a messenger; but he was a messenger of the House of Commons, and flourished during the "palmy days," when half-crowns and "something more" were freely given for seats in the gallery. Talking of old folks and old times, do you know to whom this brewery once belonged? It was the property of Thrale, the friend of Johnson, and whose house at Streatham was a home for the Doctor during its owner's life. Thrale's beautiful, clever, versatile, volatile wife, married a second time, and, under the Italian name of Piozzi, is not without her notability Dr. Johnson was one of Thrale's executors. "I could not," says Boswell, "but be somewhat diverted by hearing Johnson talk in a pompous manner of his new office, and particularly of the concerns of the brewery, which it was at last resolved should be sold. Lord Lucan tells a very good story, which, if not precisely exact, is certainly characteristical; that when the sale of Thrale's brewery was going forward, Johnson appeared bustling about, with an inkhorn and pen in his button-hole, like an exciseman; and on being asked what he really considered to be the value of the property which was to be disposed of, answered, 'We are not here to sell a parcel of boilers and vats, but the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams of avarice!'" The story is very likely an apocryphal one: but Dr. Johnson did certainly sell the "potentiality" of becoming rich-very rich, not certainly "beyond the dreams of avarice," but beyond what Thrale, at least, could ever have imagined. The brewery was sold to Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, and Co., for £135,000; the capital now invested in it is stated to be somewhat about a million and a half. From out of the counting-house issues a gentlemanly, affable man, under whose guidance we propose to walk over the concern. But our friendly guide might himself be unable to thread his way through all the mazes of this amazing manufactory of "liquor; at least there accompanies us a shrewd old man in a flannel jacket, whose office it is to act the "Cicerone" for visiting parties. An intelligent, sharp little man he is, not without a spice of humour; and though, of course, he has "expectations" at the conclusion of the visit, there is nothing in his manner indicative that his attention and quiet kind of garrulity are influenced by "considerations." But where shall we go first? Let us begin with the beginning, though it may not be in the exact order in which a visitor may be conducted over the establishment. Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, and Co. do not make any malt for themselves,-they buy it. When the malt arrives, it is all carried up to the stores by the laborious process of manual labour. Here the visitor will see the contrast between human labour and machinery. The malt, as it arrives, is carried up to the stores sack by sack; and at the same moment, and in the same neighbourhood, where this inartificial process is going on, the ground malt is carried from the grinding-mill, at the rate of 60 quarters an hour, up an enclosed box or shaft, called a "Jacob's ladder," and emptied into its proper receptacle. Lift a small door or opening in the shaft-there, you see the little baskets or boxes, full of ground malt, flying up, and, as they revolve, they empty themselves, and fill again. Now, why is it that the same machinery cannot be made to lift the sacks of malt as they arrive into the granary, instead of having two or three dozen stout fellows staggering up stairs, and along narrow passages, each with a sack on his shoulder? Oh! there is a reason for this; Southwark, where the brewery lies, is under the municipal jurisdiction of the "City," and within these municipal bounds the "fellowship porters" have a monopoly, and while sacks continue to be carried on men's shoulders "for hire," they contend that their shoulders should enjoy the privilege. They get two-pence for every sack of malt they carry from below up to the granary; but Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, and Co., "argufy" in this way :-These lads have a monopoly, or a privilege, call it what you will; twopence a sack is no trifle to us, seeing that, on an average, we use (stand aghast, ye members of a temperance society) two thousand quarters of malt weekly; but then the fellowship porters wo'n't drink a drop of any sort of beer but Barclay, Perkins, and Co.'s, and of that. they consume no inconsiderable quantity. This is, we presume, what is called "reasoning in a circle,' or an argument which returns into itself. Bestowing a passing glance on the huge bins for containing the malt (there is stowage for 36,000 quarters), we go down to look at the mill which is crushing the malt, and turning it into "grist." We may here remark the different kinds of malt used (Barclay, Perkins, and Co. now brew ale, as well as porter); the pale malt for the ale, the brown malt for the porter, and the roasted or black malt, which is employed to give the dark colouring. These different-coloured malts are produced by different processes in the drying or the making of the malt. Pshaw! but our nice black coats are becoming odious! Let no gentleman visit this part of the concern in full dress, and no lady in black silk or satin. What with the dust from the grindingmill, and a few "shoulders" from the fellowship porters, as they climb the narrow stairs with their twopenny sacks, one is made quite a figure. It is dry, choking work, too; one has no heart for conversation; we listen to all that is told us, but ask few questions. Relief, however, is at hand. Step this way-look at those goodly tuns; we shall have a drop of genuine "two-year old." Now, if ever you wish to enjoy a refreshing drop out of a pewterpot, come here; first get covered with dust, and nearly choked with it, and then step hither. Hum! but this is porter-let us have a bit of bread and cheese. Another draught;--why, this is admirable !-another-it is exquisite ! One begins to feel quite cheerful,-almost hearty; fine, wholesome, stuff that. Any more porter, gentlemen? Oh! certainly, we shall taste it again;-twoyear old, is it? Let us have another slice of bread and cheese, this porter quite gives one an appetite! We are now in a fine lively humour for visiting the rest of the establishment. Here then are the mashing-tuns, where the grist, or ground malt, is deposited, to undergo the first process in the whole art of converting it into liquor. Malt, in its conversion into beer, undergoes eight different specific operations; it is mashed, boiled, cooled, fermented, racked, or vatted, and fined, or cleansed. These operations are, in such an establishment as the one we are now visiting, carried on in a vast and magnificent style. The mashing-tuns, the coppers, and the fermenting-tuns, are all "inland" seas; there you look down on a dark brown ocean,-here you ascend steps to gaze on a surface of milk-white foam. But have a care of your head--beware of the carbonic acid gas! Our little guide in the flannel jacket told us of a French lady who would go up the steps to have a third peep; but her head became giddy; she staggered, she slipped; she would have fallen disastrously, but he, albeit a John Bull, and therefore by birth and breeding deficient in the promptitude of politeness, caught her in his arms and restored her to herself. Marvellously capacious are the vats, whose contents would float the biggest man-of-war in the navy. Thrale, when he had the brewery, thought it was something of a brag to say that he had four vats, each of which held 1,600 barrels, above a thousand hogsheads. There are now one hundred and thirty-six vats, varying in their contents from above 4,000 barrels down to 500. There are, on an average, a thousand barrels of beer sent out daily. One hundred and sixty-two fat sleek horses are employed in dragging drays to all parts of London. There are a smithy and a farriery, and a steam-engine, shining like polished silver, and water-tanks (we beg pardon, "liquor" tanks) pillared high in air, and a railroad for coals, and-a world within itself. Now, kind reader, it were impossible to go out of this lesser world into the larger world of London, without stepping into the "sample room, and tasting a drop of "genuvine" good ale. How tempting it looks, in those long funnel-shaped glasses! "Ha! dat ish goot!" "Another glass, sir?" "Aye, to be sure, with pleasure!" "There now, that will do-let moderation have the helm in the ship of pleasure." But we are all in excellent humour with one another. "Good bye, gentlemen-hope to have the pleasure of seeing you all again-good bye, good bye! AN AFRICAN SCENE. THE reports of four savages of the Batlapi tribe induced us to halt a day for the purpose of hunting. Leaving the waggons at day-break, attended by these men, we took a north-westerly direction through a park of magnificent camel-thorn trees, many of which were groaning under the huge nests of the social grosbeak; whilst others were decorated with green clusters of misletoe, the bright scarlet berries of which were highly ornamental. We soon perceived large herds of quaggas and brindled gnus, which continued to join each other until the whole plain seemed alive. The clatter of the hoofs was perfectly astounding, and I could compare it to nothing but to the din of a tremendous charge of cavalry, or the rushing of a mighty tempest. I could not estimate the accumulated numbers at less than fifteen thousand; a great extent of country being actually chequered black and white with their congregated masses. As the panic caused by the report of our rifles extended, clouds of dust hovered over them; and the long necks of troops of ostriches were also to be seen towering above the heads of their less gigantic neighbours, and sailing past with astonishing rapidity. Groups of purple sassaybys and brilliant red and yellow hartebeests likewise lent their aid to complete the picture, which must have been seen to be properly understood, and which beggars all attempt at description. The savages kept in our wake, dexterously despatching the wounded gnus by a touch on the spine with the point of an assagai, and instantly covering up the carcase with bushes, to save them from the voracity of the vultures, which hung about us like specks in the firmament, and descended with the velocity of lightning, as each discharge of our artillery gave token of prey.-Captain Harris's Expedition into Southern Africa. |