409 Fragment of a Day-book. very charming, the more so as it is increased on one side by a wood, which had been planted on purpose.' "6th May.-To-day the king gave a grand dinner. The Grand Duke Alexander was prevented from assisting by tooth-ache, and his spouse likewise refrained, to keep him company. The emperor and all the rest of the family arrived soon after two o'clock. Prince Stanislaus and lady Muiszeck received the guests at the coach-door, and the king at the top of the stairs. After the table was served, the king expected that their imperial majesties would advance by themselves; but the emperor wished him to present his arm to the empress, and to take his place betwixt them, as was always the case when he dined at court. But as soon as their majesties were seated, the king placed himself opposite, and served the soup: the plates were presented by the chamberlains Trembocki and Walski; but the emperor would not allow them to continue, and desired them to get their own dinners; the king's stewards handed therefore the dishes over to the imperial pages, &c. There were 36 persons at table. Towards the middle of the dinner their majesties drank to the king's health, and this was soon after returned. After dinner, the emperor conversed yet for some time with the king in private, and invited him then for the next day. (Added with sympathetic ink,) “I do not wish to have my bulletins published in the Warsaw Gazette, because, by the disposition which I observe here, I must desire to be mentioned as little as possible in that quarter. One treats me personally very well, but I have it often repeated to me, that one would not like me to interest myself for others. Our countrymen, hearing of the marks of friendship which the emperor bestows upon me, trouble me with letters and requests, to which I can give no satisfactory answer, however painful my refusals may be." "1st June. The king went with his suite at seven in the evening to Ostaukina,a country seat of count Scheremetoff, 3 wersts from town, and he found there more than 200 guests of the first quality. The house had in the month of November only one story; but a second has since been erected upon it, entirely of wood, but so well decorated that one would never guess it. Amongst No. 27.-VOL. III. 410 a few hundred labourers and artists, who have so nicely completed the whole, there were no more than four or five strangers; all the others were not only Russians, but even bonsdmen of the count. After the king had admired the rooms, the frontispiece, and the garden, he was led into the theatre, where the Marriages of the Samnites were represented by more than 300 bondsmen and women of the count:declamation and pantomine were borrowed from the French, The very exact costume was uncommonly rich, particularly that of the female performers, who were covered with the count's jewels, to the value of at least 100,000 rubles. In the ballet, two of the females showed themselves to great advantage as dancers. After the play, the king had hardly stopped in the rooms, when he was led down again the same stairs, now covered with scarlet cloth, and he found the saloon changed into a large bathroom. Towards eleven o'clock, one showed him from the balcony the tastefully-illuminated garden, and on one of the pillars he saw his own name. Upon this followed a very splendid supper. The count accompanied him afterwards to the carriage door, and mentioned his hereditary gratitude, as his father as well as himself had received the Polish orders from the king. The whole road from Ostaukina to Moscow was illuminated on both sides by means of burning pitch-barrels. On the journey back to Petersburg, the king saw a remarkable curiosity at Bronika. This was a round hill in the midst of a large plain, about thirty fathoms high, and covered with turf: nearly on the top are two wells, whose water is on a level with the soil. There is no other hill of a greater, or even of the same, height within several miles' distance, and it becomes therefore difficult to account for the wells. Tradition says, that oracles were once delivered on the spot. Catharine II. has had a church erected there." 411 Fragment of a Day-Book. 412 The rooms of the upper story contain "Pleasure-Seat, Peterhof, 10th June. the pictures of the then living princes-The king has assisted at the celeand princesses, and amongst them, in bration of the Peter-and-Paul Feast bas relief, the ancient czaars. A round in the large chapel near his habitation. saloon is filled with the portraits of the He made here the acquaintance of now reigning family. Under a canopy, senator Von Pushkin, till hitherto which is spread over the portrait of director of the Academy of Arts; from Catharine II. stands upon a table a him he learned that one was now busy golden inkstand, with many enamel with a plan of Peking, which had been paintings, which represent the deeds drawn on the spot, and would have of the Russians on the water. On the that advantage over the original, that first floor of this singular palace there the names of the streets are to be is a table-service of English earthen- added in European language. The ware, painted gray upon gray, and original has been brought to Russia representing the finest country seats by one of the pupils, whom the count in England, and a green frog on the still maintains in China, partly to border of the plates. The palace is educate them for interpreters, and not only called Tchesme, in remem- partly to serve a Russian chapel in brance of the burning of the Turkish Peking: the above institution still fleet, but also Kirkiriki, on account exists, notwithstanding the frequent of the great number of frogs in the disputes and interruptions of trade beneighbourhood. twixt the Chinese and the Russians." "After dinner count Stollberg was introduced to the king; he has been sent hither by the prince bishop of Lubeck, and is a very learned and estimable man; count Bernstoff, prime minister of Danemark, is his brotherin-law." 66 'Petersburg, 16th June, 1797.-The king called to-day on senator Soimonoff, whose collection of pictures is not very numerous, but very well chosen. It contains some valuable pieces; amongst others, the combat of the Amazons against the Centaurs, by Luca Giordano, in which one admires the great fidelity with which the artist has followed Ovid's descriptions: one remarks also two figures, of which one is found in the battle of Constantine by Giulio Romano, and the other in the battle near Arbela by Le Brun; with this difference, however, that in the latter cases they represent men, whilst Giardano introduces them as women. There is also a dessert-service of marble and precious stones, such as jasper, crystal, &c. which is very costly, and excellently finished. A similar one, which the king had at Warsaw, is far below it. Most of the stones, which one uses here as ornaments, are furnished at Ekatarinaburg in Siberia, where artists are established to whom one needs only to send the drawings, with the certainty of being well served. The bronzes and golden ornaments are nearly as well done here as in France. Senator Soimonofi distinguishes himself as advantageously by his manners as by his talents." "3d July.-The king is lodged here in the lower garden, quite near to the sea, and in the building called Monplaisir, which exists, in part, exactly so as Peter the First built it; but Catharine the Second, whose own rooms were got ready for the king, has enlarged it very much. After the parade, at which the emperor always assists, and after the christening of a child of the prince Tscheslatoff, over which their majesties stood as sponsors, one gave notice to the king, that the emperor was waiting for him, and he was, as usual, received in the most cordial manner. As it was Friday, the dishes were all of the meagre kind, yet not prepared with oil. After dinner, the emperor himself showed all the rooms, and particularly his study or working-cabinet, with a brown wainscoting, exactly as in the time of Peter the First. Towards evening, the king took an airing with their majesties in the extensive gardens. The emperor seems to have a great predilection for this finely-situated place, in which one does yet meet with so many antiquated buildings. The water-works in Peterhof surpass the celebrated ones in Versailles. Supper was served on the shore of the sea, in the thick shade of the trees." "15th July.-The king has seen, not far from this place, the mechanical institution of Catharine the Second, where, by means of a waterfall, marble and stones are cut and polished. One has found of late in the immediate vicinity of Peterhof, stones of two feet 413 New-Zealandman's Head.-Answer to a Query. 414 in diameter, which have great simi- | head is high, and has apparently been larity with the so-named Labrador stripped of the hair for the purpose of stones. On the evening of this day scarification; but from the hinder the emperor conducted the king to part of the head, the hair hangs luxOrange-tree, of which he had just uriantly in easy curls. It is black made a present to his eldest son, whilst and soft, and in a perfectly natural he had given to the second the seat state, not having been in the least of Strelna. The latter is half way injured by whatever process the head between Petersburg and Peterhof, and has been subjected to. This head has was intended for days of ceremony, been recognized by the chiefs who but remained unfinished. Orange-tree, were in this country, as that of a perseven wersts farther, opposite Cron- son of the most exalted rank, which stadt, was erected by prince Menczi- is also shown by the tatooing. As koft, but after his disgrace the crown every step in dignity is marked by a confiscated it. After the return from fresh scratch on the face, the owner of this excursion, one supped in the this head must have arrived at the saloon of Monplaisir, which is still the ne plus ultra of elevation." same as it had been under Peter the Great: in a side-room stands also yct Answer to a Query on Burying in his bed; and all that one sees here and in Marly, reminds one of the habitations in Holland, which belong to the Orange family." (To be concluded in our next. ) NEW-ZEALANDMAN'S HEAD. An Extract from a Paper concerning the Customs of the New-Zealanders. "IT is well known, that the NewZealanders practice a mode of drying and preserving the heads of their chiefs who have fallen in battle. Some of these singular memorials have been brought to this country by the traders who touch on that island, the sailors being anxious to get them in exchange for baubles which might attract the cupidity of the natives. One of these is in the possession of a gentleman in the city (London :) it is the head of a chief, who was killed in battle about twelve months ago, about thirty years of age. It is certainly much less disgusting than such a preparation might be conceived to be. It is perfectly dry, and has not the least offensive smell. The whole of the substance within the skull is taken out, and the skin is fastened within to a small hoop. The skin has a yellowish tanned appearance, and there is not an eighth of an inch that is free from tatooing. The teeth are perfect, but small and much worn. The place in the cheek where the fatal ball entered, and where the skin was consequently broken, is supplied by a piece of wood, on which the lines of the tatooing are continued. The fore Churches. TO THE EDITOR OF THE IMPERIAL SIR, My attention was arrested by I am, Sir, your's, PORCUS ET CLERICUS. "ALL nations whatsoever, Jews, Heathens, and Christians, have ever had solemn places set apart for their use; but in permitting their dead to be buried either in or near their places of worship, the Christians differ from both the former. For the Jews being forbid to touch or come near any dead body, and it being declared, that they who did so were defiled, had always their sepulchres without the city. And from them it is probable the Greeks and Romans derived, not only the notion of being polluted by a dead corpse, but the law also of burying without the walls. For this reason, the Christians, so long as the law was in force throughout the Roman empire, were obliged, in com 415 Answer to a Query.-Anecdote of Curran. pliance with it, to bury their dead without the gates of the city. A custom which prevailed here in England, till about the middle of the eighth century, when Archbishop Cuthbert, of Canterbury obtained a dispensation from the Pope for making churchyards within the walls. However, that the Christians did not do this, out of any belief that the body of a dead Christian defiled the place or persons near it, may be inferred from their consecrating their old places of burial into places of divine worship, and by building their churches, as soon as they had liberty, over some or other of the martyrs' graves. "After churches were built, indeed, they suffered nobody to be buried in them, but had distinct places contiguous to them, appropriated to this use, which, from the metaphor of sleep, by which death in scripture is often described, were called Koimeteria, i. e. Cameteries or Sleeping-places. The first that we read of, as buried any where else, was Constantine the Great, to whom it was indulged, as a singular honour, to be buried in the church-porch. Nor were any of the Eastern emperors, for several centuries afterwards, admitted to be buried any nearer to the church; for several canons had been made against the allowing of this to any person of what dignity soever. And even in our own church we find, that in the end of the seventh century, an Archbishop of Canterbury had not been buried within the church, but that the porch was full with six of his predecessors, that had been buried there before. “By a canon made in king Edgar's reign, about the middle of the tenth century, no man was allowed to be buried in the church, unless it were known that he had so pleased God in his lifetime, as to be worthy of such a burying place; though, above an hundred years afterwards, we meet with another canon, made at a council at Winchester, that seems again to prohibit all corpses whatsoever, without any exception, from being buried in churches. But in later times, every one that could pay for the honour, has been generally allowed it."-A short quotation might be made to the same purpose from Milner's Ecclesiast. Hist. But it is expressed at large in Vol. I. Imp. Mag. col. 728. 416 What has been already advanced has sufficiently, exhibited the origin of burying in churches, and that such a practice has been contrary to the usage of nations. That interment within the shrines of our sanctuaries is detrimental to the health of mankind, or at least to that of societies of them who live in their immediate vicinity, there can be no doubt; and it has been noticed in a masterly way, by the gentleman who terms himself, A Friend to Decency,' in Vol. I. col 455. of Imp. Mag. How far such a practice may be offensive to Almighty God, I will not take upon me to assert: but surely it will be more pleasing to him who had rather save than destroy men's lives, to adopt those methods which will be salutary, and not detrimental, to the health of the human species. If I mistake not, the pious bishop Hale, and the great Sir Matthew Hale, manifested their disapprobation to burying in churches, by directing that their remains should be respectively deposited in the church-yard; the latter of these illustrious characters pertinently observing, that " churches are for the living, and church-yards for the dead." An answer similar to the above has been received from J. M. of Torquay, Devon. To the preceding communication and extract, the following Epitaph deserves to be added. It stands on a headstone, erected over the grave of a Clergyman's daughter, in the churchyard of Lanivet, in the county of Cornwall:-"Her father chose this spot, when he had resolved to put an end to a bad custom, that of burying in the church, and he wills himself and family to be here disposed of after death; disclaiming all superstition in his choice, and professing to rely alone for salvation on the merits of a crucified Saviour." ANECDOTE OF CURRAN. A BARRISTER entered the hall with his wig very much awry, and, of which not at all apprised, he was obliged to endure from almost every observer some remark on its appearance, till at last, addressing himself to Mr. CUR 417 The Moralizer.-No. 8. 418 RAN, he asked him, “Do you see any | endeared himself to the soldiers of the thing ridiculous in this wig?" The answer instantly was, "Nothing but the head." Emperor. To the wealth and dignity of his father he now succeeded; and at the expiration of a few months returned to his martial office. But what enjoyment can either wealth or dignity afford to him, who feels at once the pangs of grief and the torments of apprehension? To the mind of Pootala, there was nothing triumphant in victory, and nothing consoling in caresses. He had contemplated the virtues of his father, and he lamented the unmerited infelicity of his exit. "The lamp of his existence," said he, "and of his reputation, were extinguished together. The lesser evil precluded the greater, and death alone prevented disgrace. And shall I not avoid a snare which I cannot but see? Will the stag of the forest designedly entangle himself in the net? or will the eagle of the mountain deliberately encounter the hunter? I will fly the malignance which I cannot dissipate: I will shun the stroke which I cannot avert. Envy may cloke itself with acclamation, but the son of Honyan has heard its murmurs, and will avoid its attack." DURING the administration of Kaunghi, emperor of China, there lived in the city of Canton, a mandarin, of ancient family, extensive connections, and acknowledged merit. His youth had been employed in the service of his sovereign, and in the defence of his country. All that could add dignity to counsel, or success to enterprise, centered in the son of Otkay. His tongue was the oracle of wisdom; and his arm the security of innocence. In his presence integrity defied slander; and oppression deprecated punishment. The deserts of Tartary echoed his name, and the islands of the ocean listened to his praise. At his appearance, youth shrunk into retirement, and age rose in respect. Such was the soliloquy of Pootala :His merit was encouraged, and the satisfaction soothed his soul; and the throne was established: his virtues project which he contemplated with were rewarded, and the nation was delight, he delayed not to prosecute secure. But the eye of envy beheld with ardour, He obtained access to his exaltation, and the artifices of his Sovereign. "Great Emperor," falsehood meditated his ruin. The said he, " your slave acknowledges enemies of Honyan were the slaves of your bounty. But he has suffered an infamy. They maliciously hastened irreparable loss, and is overwhelmed to obscure the days of declining life; with sorrow. Suffer him to relinquish and whilst age was whitening his his station, and forego his honours; locks, he heard the hailstones of per- since he is neither capable of acting secution clattering against his dwell-with resolution, nor of suffering with ing. Yet the angel of death disappointed the designs of malevolence; and the eyes of Honyan were for ever closed, ere the quiver of defamation was exhausted. constancy; and can neither discharge the obligations of office, nor enjoy the splendour of distinction." The emperor, though unwilling to deprive himself of the services of one His son, who was engaged in a dis- who so justly merited his favour, and tant province of the empire, on the so completely possessed his confidence, news of his father's illness, hurried, was pleased with his candour, and with pious precipitance, to the scene granted his request. The resignation of sorrow; but the groan of departing of Pootala was accepted, and the gelife had already escaped, and the lips neral retired, oppressed with sentiof instruction were eternally sealed. ments of gratitude and joy. He imThe storm of slander, though its vio-mediately repaired to his paternal lence had ceased, had not yet wholly estate, and found sufficient satisfacsubsided. The son of Honyan heard tion in recalling filial recollections, its fury, and trembled for his safety. and in retracing juvenile scenes. He had for some time successfully public curiosity was not content to headed the Chinese army: he had de- allow him that repose, which was the feated the troops of the Khan, and object of his search. The novelty of But |