MONTHLY MAGAZINE. No. 371.] AUGUST 1, 1822. [1 of Vol. 54. www PRIOR'S RESIDENCE AT DOWN-HALL. PRIOR, after filling the high employment of ambassador at the court of Louis the Fourteenth, and negotiating the Treaty of Utrecht, was, by the change of parties on the accession of the Guelphs, thrown out of his public employments, with their emoluments, and left to shift for himself, on the profits of a subscription for a folio edition of his Poems. This however was so liberal, and he was so generously aided by Harley earl of Orford, the last British statesman who supported men of letters, that he was enabled to purchase Down-Hall, near Harlow, to which place he retired, and there spent the evening of his active life. It is still standing, but has for some years been occupied merely as a farm-house, though some original portraits continue to decorate its walls. For the Monthly Magazine. LETTER from an ENGLISH OFFICER during a recent OVERLAND JOURNEY to INDIA. tance about 2,300 miles from the latter place. At Georgiefok, near Mosdok, Gen. Stahl gave us an order for a guard of MY route lay through Berlin, Bres- twenty-five infantry, ten cossacks, and lau in Silesia, Cracow, Lemberg in Gallicia, Odessa on the Black Sea, Taganroe on the sea of Asaph, Stawrapol and Mosdok. To the latter we travelled by post-horses, in a carriage, small but strongly built, purchased at Hamburg; the road-disMONTHLY MAG. No. 371. a six-pounder field-piece; to enable us to make our way through Circassia and over the Caucasus. This we effected in safety, and in seven days reached Teflis, the capital of Georgia. The country we traversed is beautifully romantic; the soil of the vallies B fertile fertile to a degree beyond any thing I have ever witnessed in a state of nature, and the mountains of Alpine height. Our road over the Caucasian range followed the course of the river Terek, a stream that precipitates itself from rock to rock, and rushes with the rapidity and roar of a mighty torrent, under the light, narrow, and tremulous bridges, over which the traveller has to pass on horseback: in any other situation I should have hesitated, and shrunk from the trial; but here there was no alternative, since to remain was worse than to go o'er." From Mosdok our journey was on horseback, and continued so through Armenia, Georgia, and Persia, a distance of about 1600 miles. Circassia is inhabited by tribes of mountaineers, more wild than the almost inaccessible hills which they possess; and at the same time they are brave and ferocious, and good horsemen. War, interminable war, they have declared against all mankind; and the Russians, with all their military power, can do no more than maintain a chain of posts, through the country from Mosdok onward to Vladi, Caucas, Dariel, and Kasbeg. No traveller dare venture onward without a guard similar to the one I have mentioned; and if he falls into the rear, even for a few minutes, he runs a risk of being carried off by the savage mountaineers. Nothing, on the other hand, can equal the kindness and friendly hospitality of the Russian general and field-officers in command of districts and forts, on our route. I was made welcome to their tables and houses, and introduced without reserve to their families; in short, there was nothing I could in reason ask that was not readily granted. What surprised them most, was to see a field-officer, after twenty years of actual service, and severely wounded, without the insignia of any military order. In the Russian service, every officer faithfully serving his country for twentyfive years, without ever being brought to trial, is entitled to claim the insignia of the order of St. George, exclusive of any other awarded for a particular service, such as the taking of a colour, the capture of a piece of cannon, &c. At Novo Tzerkask, I had the good fortune to be present at a fête given in honour of the anniversary of the Em peror's birth-day. At 8 A.M. I attended General Chernicheff's levee, at which were present all the Cossack officers of the Don. At 10 A.M. we attended the church service, at which from eighteen to twenty priests, dressed in robes of great cost and magnificence, officiated; from their reverend appearance, their long hair and beards, the veil (as it is called,) of the temple being drawn and undrawn, the crossings, prostrations, &c. the Greek service has a most dramatic appearance, beyond that of any Catholic church even of Italy. At Naon, on the same day, the Don Cossack officers and men all assembled in a circle outside the church, with the colours of their respective regiments unfurled; an officer then read aloud, from a book, their respective privileges, grants, and rights, with the edicts issued in their favour, as well as any new one, emanating from the present government. The soldiers then proceed to a long range of tables, where dinner was provided for them. The Emperor's health was drank by men and officers under a salute of guns, and then that of the Don Cossacks. At 1 P.M. there was a sumptuous dinner at the Attaman's, or, as he is called in England, the Hetman's of the Don Cossacks; to which I had the honour of being invited. There were two tables of thirty covers, a good dinner in the Russian style, and excellent wines of the Don and of France: about eight Cossack ladies were present. In the evening there was also an illumination, fireworks, and a ball and supper, given by Gen. Czernicheff to the Cossack officers and their ladies. Dancing commenced with a Polish dance; then English country-dances, quadrilles, waltzing, and another Polish dance, called Muzurka, made up of a quadrille, waltzing, and many other mingled figures; it is to me the most lively and pleasing dance I ever saw. This day altogether (the 11th of September,) was one of uncommon interest. General C. is a most gallant man, and was the life of the party, although of the highest rank, and possessing viceregal powers. The Cossack militia of the Don are estimated at 60,000; they were transplanted some considerable time ago, by an imperial order, from the banks of the Dnieper to those of the Don, and lands were assigned them on a military |