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Which, then, we would ask, is the most fair and reasonable, or which the most truly patriotic?-We, who, admitting our own manifold faults and corruptions, testifying loudly against them, and feeling grateful to any foreign auxiliary who will help us to reason, to rail, or to shame our countrymen out of them, are willing occasionally to lend a similar assistance to others, and speak freely and fairly of what appear to us to be the faults and errors, as well as the virtues and merits, of all who may be in any way affected by our observations;—or Mr. Walsh, who will admit no faults in his own country, and no good qualities in ours-sets down the more extensive of our domestic crimes to their corresponding objects abroad, to the score of national rancour and partiality; and can find no better use for their mutual admonitions, which should lead to mutual amendment or generous emulation, than to improve them into occasions of mutual animosity and deliberate hatred?

This extreme impatience, even of merited blame from the mouth of a stranger-this still more extraordinary abstinence from any hint or acknowledgment of error on the part of her intelligent defender, is a trait too remarkable not to call for some observation;—and we think we can see in it one of the worst and most unfortunate consequences of a republican government. It is the misfortune of sovereigns in general, that they are fed with flattery till they loathe the wholesome truth, and come to resent, as the bitterest of all offences, any insinuation of their errors, or intimation of their dangers. But of all sovereigns, the sovereign people is most obnoxious to this corruption, and most fatally injured by its prevalence. In America, every thing depends on their suffrages, and their favour and support; and accordingly it would appear, that they are pampered with constant adulation, from the rival suitors for their favour-so that no one will venture to tell them of their faults: and moralists, even of the austere character of Mr. W., dare not venture to whisper a syllable to their pre

judice. It is thus, and thus only, that we can account for the strange sensitiveness which seems to prevail among them on the lightest sound of disapprobation, and for the acrimony with which, what would pass any where else for very mild admonitions, are repelled and resented. It is obvious, however, that nothing can be so injurious to the character either of an individual or a nation, as this constant cockering of praise; and that the want of any native censor, makes it more a duty for the moralists of other countries to take them under their charge, and let them know now and then what other people say of them.

We are anxious to part with Mr. W. in good humour;but we must say that we rather wish he would not go on with the work he has begun-at least if it is to be pursued in the spirit which breathes in this. Nor is it so much to his polemic and vindictive tone that we object, as this tendency to adulation, this passionate vapouring rhetorical style of amplifying and exaggerating the felicities of his country. In point of talent and knowledge and industry, we have no doubt that he is eminently qualified for the task-(though we must tell him that he does not write so well now as when he left England)—but no man will ever write a book of authority on the institutions and resources of his country, who does not add some of the virtues of a censor to those of a patriotor rather, who does not feel, that the noblest, as well as the most difficult part of patriotism, is that which prefers his country's good to its favour, and is more directed to reform its vices, than to cherish the pride of its virtues. With foreign nations, too, this tone of fondness and self-admiration is always suspected, aud most commonly ridiculous-while the calm and steady claims of merit that are interspersed with acknowledgments of faults, are sure to obtain credit, and to raise the estimation both of the writer and of his country.

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And now we must at length close this very long articlethe very length and earnestness of which, we hope, will go some way to satisfy our American brethren of the importance we attach to their good opinion, and the anxiety we feel to prevent any national repulsion from being aggravated by a misapprehension of our sentiments, or rather of those of that great body of the English nation of which we are here the organ. In what we have now written, there may be much that requires explanation-and much, we fear, that is liable to misconstruction.-The spirit in which it is written, however, cannot, we think, be misunderstood. We cannot descend to little cavils and altercations; and have no leisure to maintain a controversy about words and phrases. We have an unfeigned respect and affection for the free people of America; and we mean honestly to pledge ourselves for that of the better part of our own country. We are very proud of the extensive circulation of our Journal in that great country, and the importance that is there attached to it. But we should be undeserving of this favour, if we could submit to seek it by any mean practices, either of flattery or of dissimulation; and feel persuaded that we shall not only best deserve, but most surely obtain, the confidence and respect of Mr. W. and his countrymen, by speeking freely what we sincerely think of them-and treating them exactly as we treat that nation, to which we are here accused of being too favourable.

ART. II.-Description of Odessa.

[From the German of Dr. Meissner, lately published at Halle.] THOSE who visit Odessa for commercial purposes, usually travel by sea, while those who visit it for the sake of the baths, generally go by land. The latter mode of travelling is attended by many inconveniences: in the Steppes, it is very difficult to obtain a sufficient number of horses. If a *The Russian Deserts.

party choose to travel in the Polish fashion, that is to say, in the form of a small caravan, they employ hired horses, and take along with them every thing that may be requisite for the space of four or five days: this supply includes not only provisions, but also water and wood. The latter articles are greatly needed by the colonists, with whom the Russian government has endeavoured to people the Steppes; though they have, it is true, in some measure supplied the want of water by means of cisterns, and have substituted dry dung for fuel. I know of nothing more tedious than travelling across the Steppes, those immeasurable levels, bounded only by the horizon. At sea, the element itself, the activity of the ship's crew, and in calm weather, the anxiety for a favourable gale, contribute to keep the mind unceasingly employed. But the monotony of immense plains, covered only with grass and gigantic thistles, is in the highest degree oppressive to the senses. It is seldom that even a solitary, mishapen tree, marks the spot where the colonist has constructed his hut, half buried under ground. Troops, and the Bands of the Steppes, as they are called, are the only occupants of this soil, which is fertile, though the present, as well as the next generation, must labour hard for its cultivation ere their posterity can -hope to derive from it the means of subsisting with comfort. To the above wants, may be added that of materials for building, which are only to be procured at Severinowka, a place belonging to count Severin Potocki; it furnishes a light calcareous kind of stone, of which Odessa is principally built.

When it is recollected that thirty years ago, the inhabitants of this place lived beneath tents, and that from the village and the little Tartar fort of the inlet of Kadjabey, a town has risen whose population is calculated at 28,000; the rapidity of the improvement naturally excites astonishment. Odessa is most advantageously situated for trade; it lies

between the mouths of two important rivers, the Dnieper and the Dniester, about six miles distant from each, and vessels readily seek shelter in the bay against the storms which render navigation so dangerous in the Black Sea. In the year 1796, the town received its present name from the empress Catharine; but it owes its prosperity to the emperor Alexander, who appointed the duke de Richelieu to be governor of Bessarabia and the Crimea. 'The duke watched over the welfare of Odessa with paternal tenderness; the population continued to increase every year, and it was not until he had insured the happiness of thousands that he left the place, accompanied by the prayers and blessings of both rich and poor.

The situation of Odessa is by no means picturesque, the houses of the town extend as far as the Steppes, and the sea-shore is flat and without vegetation. In dry weather the dust is unbearable, and in the rainy season the unpaved streets are covered with deep mud. The mixture of oriental dresses, manners, and languages, however, presents a most lively and novel picture. A stranger might imagine himself transported into one of the trading towns of the Levant; for though the majority of the population are Russians, yet the Greeks and Karails (a Jewish sect from some of the eastern countries) are exceedingly numerous. Their bazaars contain all the produce of the East, from shawls down to rose-pastilles; and the Italian language is universally understood. On festival days the liberal minded merchants here permit a species of amusement, which the oppressors of the Greeks do not suffer them to enjoy in their native country, namely, a dramatic performance in the modern Greek language. The piece which I saw represented, certainly bore even less resemblance to the ancient Greek drama, than the performers did to their glorious ancestors; it was a translation from a Russian play. I was, however, much pleased to hear, in the recitation of the actors, those

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