صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

from whence they proceeded to Genoa; | was short; and, at the beginning of and, after traversing the plain of Lom- January, 1794, he again embarked for bardy, they crossed the Apennines Italy, proceeding up the Rhine as far into Tuscany, and thence to Rome, as Basle, and then passing through where lord Berwick employed about part of Switzerland, entered the Tyrol, a month in collecting antiques and from whence he bent his course to pictures, in which he was materially Venice, next to Rome, and lastly to assisted by Mr. Clarke. Naples. Here he rejoined lord BerHaving spent a month in this illus-wick, who was on the point of returntrious seat of art, the party went to Naples, where lord Berwick continued about two years, during which, his enterprising companion made several visits to the summit of Vesuvius, and generally at those periods when the mountain was raging in convulsions. On one of these occasions, he approached so near the yawning gulf, then boiling with liquid sulphur, that he was in imminent danger of suffoeation; and, at another time, he had the boldness to leave his party, and run through a stream of burning lava, at the expense of some scorching of his feet and hands.

Lord Berwick having prolonged his stay, for the purpose of enriching his collections, projected a voyage to the Asiatic coast, and taking a view of the Holy Land and Egypt; than which it was impossible for any scheme to be more gratifying to his friend Mr. Clarke, who began to set about the necessary preparations with the utmost alacrity. But when all things were in readiness, and part of the baggage on board, his lordship recollected an important family affair in England, that required an immediate settlement, either by himself or an agent. Mr. Clarke offered to proceed home for the purpose, engaging to make all haste back, to put the original design in execution. Accordingly, at the beginning of November, he set out, with a single servant, for the Tyrol, and made such a rapid progress, that on the last day of the month he landed at Dover, from whence he proceeded without delay to Shropshire; and, having discharged his commission, returned to London, with a view to cross the channel again for the continent. But, on arriving at the hotel, he received a letter from lord Berwick, signifying that he had altered his mind for the present, in regard to the Oriental tour.

This disappointment afforded Mr. Clarke an opportunity of visiting his family in Sussex, and his college friends at Cambridge. But his stay

ing to England; and, at the end of three weeks, they set out for Rome, where they staid about a month, in which time Mr. Clarke greatly enlarged his stock of curiosities, by the treasures then discovered in consequence of the excavations carrying on for the defence of the city.

From Rome our travellers took a circuitous route into Piedmont, crossed the Great St. Bernard into Switzerland, and arrived on the 23d of May at Geneva; from whence, as it was now a time of war, they turned off by the way of Basle to Rastadt, and thence to Mayence, where they embarked on the Rhine for Cologne; and pursuing their course to Holland, took the packet at Helvoetsluys, and landed at Harwich on the eighth of June.

Mr. Clarke's engagement with lord Berwick being now brought to a close, he went to Cambridge, and took his master's degree, with the prospect of a fellowship, which he obtained shortly afterwards. Something, however, was still wanting, to secure him a competency; and in the mean time, at the desire of his valuable friend Dr. Bagot, bishop of St. Asaph, he accepted the tutorship of the eldest son of Sir Roger Mostyn, of North Wales. Thither he went, and resided some time; but something occurred that dissolved the connexion; and in 1796 Mr. Clarke removed to the seat of his friend lord Berwick, in Shropshire.

It was now the time of a general election, and a fierce contest was car. ried on for the borough of Shrewsbury, between two kindred families,-the Hills of Attingham, and the Hills of Hawkstone. At the head of the former was lord Berwick; and of the latter, sir Richard Hill, whose religious profession made it the more extraordinary that he should display such animosity in an electioneering concern against his own relatives. The baronet, not content with setting up, and supporting at an enormous expense, a rival candidate, in oppo

sition to his cousin, actually published a pamphlet, entitled "Hard Measure," in which he poured out so much gall, that it was deemed necessary to silence him by the retort courteous. This task was executed in a style of happy humour by Mr. Clarke, who gave to his tract the very appropriate title of "Measure for Measure."

The following autumn, lord Berwick and his friend went to Brighton, where the latter wrote a periodical paper, which was published in detached numbers, with the title of "Le Reveur, or the Waking Visions of an Absent Man." This work ended with the twenty-ninth essay; but though the whole series was then collected into a small volume, it would be difficult now to meet with a single copy.

Soon after this, the author was invited to undertake the education of the youngest son of the earl of Uxbridge; a youth of such delicate health, that it was not deemed advisable to place him in a public school. This trust Mr. Clarke accepted, and discharged it with the most diligent attention, at Beaudesert, his lordship's seat in Staffordshire. However painful it might be, at first, to engage in imparting the rudiments of knowledge to a child, the task soon became agreeable, from the docility of the pupil, and the benefit produced to the tutor by a recurrence to elementary principles. The whole family were delighted with Mr. Clarke's behaviour, and lady Uxbridge in particular was so pleased with his conversation, that she corresponded with him during her occasional absence from the mansion.

his miseries; and thus apparently the connexion of the tutor with the noble family was over. Lord Uxbridge, however, was loath to part with him, and therefore pressed his stay, to assist in the education of his son, the honourable Berkeley Paget, who had just left Westminster school, with the intention of going to Oxford. This offer was the more acceptable, because a tour through Scotland formed a principal part of the plan.

In

On this excursion Mr. Clarke and his young friend set out from London, June 22, 1797; and, after spending about a week at Edinburgh, went to Lanark, and thence, by the falls of the Clyde, to Glasgow and Greenock, at which place they embarked on board a cutter, to visit the Hebrides. this cruise, Mr. Clarke landed, without his companion, but at great personal risk, in the midst of a storm, on the remote isle of St. Kilda, where he remained a day or two, while the cutter lay at a distance. Here he had an opportunity of making several observations on the natural history of this curious and little known region, which may be considered as the advanced post of Britain. After exploring that romantic spot, and the adjacent islands of the western archipelago, Mr. Clarke landed with his fellow-traveller on the main, and went through a great part of the mountainous districts, quite across the country from Fort William to Fort Augustus; thence to Inverness, and through Elgin to Aberdeen; then to Dundee, Perth, and Stirling,

[ocr errors]

After a short stay at Edinburgh, they returned home, taking the lakes of As the countess was very much with Cumberland by the way, which, in the royal family, she used to shew the their estimation, suffered in a comletters of Mr. Clarke to her late ma-parison with the more stupendous jesty queen Charlotte, who was so wonders and varied scenery they had charmed with them, that she desired just left. On the 26th of September, to have her sentiments conveyed to the two travellers reached the seat of bim in the most flattering terms. What lord Uxbridge in the isle of Anglesea, chiefly endeared Mr. Clarke to lord where the connexion, but not the and lady Uxbridge, was, his assidu- friendship, terminated; Mr. Paget ous attention to their favourite child, being soon after entered at Oxford, who suffered dreadfully under an incur- and Mr. Clarke taking his route to able hydrocephalus internus. When Uckfield. all other remedies had failed, Dr. Darwin prescribed mercurial inunction, the application of which Mr. Clarke undertook himself, and thereby induced a severe salivation, that had like to have proved very injurious to his constitution. In a few months the young patient was released from all

Here he amused himself in preparing his late journal for the press, and actually announced its publication; but, unfortunately, a doubt arose, on revising his manuscript, respecting the correctness of some opinions hazarded in it respecting geology and mineralogy. Not being willing to send

.

into the world a vague hypothesis, that might possibly incur critical animadversion, he suspended the work; till at length the design of printing it was laid totally aside. Some delightful extracts, however, have been given from it, in the memoirs of the author by Mr. Otter; and much is it to be desired that the entire journal should be laid before the public, as furnishing a rich fund of entertainment, and an admirable commentary on the tour of Johnson.

At Easter, 1798, Mr. Clarke went to reside at Jesus College; where Mr. Cripps, a young gentleman of considerable fortune, whose education had been greatly neglected, entered himself as a fellow commoner, and became his pupil. This employment was of equal advantage to both parties, for hitherto the studies of the tutor had been desultory; and though his stock of knowledge was continually on the increase, his ideas wanted arrangement. He, therefore, devoted twelve months to that diligent application, which was necessary for his own improvement, as well as that of his scholar. Still, such was the elasticity of his mind, that the tedium of an academical life was rather irksome than agreeable. His pupil was no less desirous of a change; and at length it was settled between them, to spend a few months on the continent during the long vacation. But a difficulty now arose as to the quarter they should choose, for a great part of Europe was at this time the seat of war, so that travelling became extremely hazardous in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Thus circumscribed in choice, Mr. Clarke directed his attention to the north, and it was agreed to make a tour through the great Scandinavian peninsula. This design was no sooner formed, than two gentlemen, members of the same college, Mr. Otter and Mr. Malthus, engaged in the party.

On the 20th of May, 1799, the four friends left Cambridge, and on the 25th landed at Hamburgh, from whence they proceeded to Copenhagen. After staying there some days, they went to Elsineur, and there embarked for Gotheborg, in Sweden; but part of the route was performed on foot, and the remainder in waggons, over a wild and rugged country, chiefly characterized by extensive heaths, uncultivated commons, or barren rocks.

After taking a view of the great lake of Wener, which is one hundred miles in length, and fifty in breadth, Messrs. Otter and Malthus parted from their companions, to return to England; but our adventurers, being determined to set foot within the Arctic, set out for Stockholm, where they stayed a few days, to procure necessaries, and purchase a light waggon, for their journey to the gulf of Bothnia and Lapland. On leaving the Swedish capital, they took their way through Upsal, to Tornea, where they arrived on the eighth of July; and, in a letter to a college friend, Mr. Clarke says, "It is now eleven at night, and the sun shines upon this paper. We hope to see him all night above the horizon, when we get further to the north; but I fear we are too late. He sinks for about an hour and a half below the horizon; but we have no other difference between noon and midnight, than that the thermometer during the former is at 75, and during the latter at 45.-The joy I feel in the prospect of visiting the countries within the Arctic, is not to be expressed. It is my intention to go from hence to Enontakis, in Tornea Lapmark, and thence to the North Cape, to visit the coast of the Icy Sea. If I find it impracticable to pass to Drontheim from hence by water, I shall return, and cross to Pitea Lapmark; from whence I can proceed into the north of Norway, visiting various interesting scenes. If we do not meet Otter and Malthus in the north of Norway, we shall find them afterward at Stockholm. been lads of sufficient enterprise, I still think they might have undertaken a journey full as extensive as ours, with very little addition of time or expense. It is not certain that I shall not be at Drontheim, even now, before they arrive. I intend to launch a balloon at the capital of Tornea Lapmark, in order to attract the natives. The north of Sweden is the finest country in Europe. Italy and Switzerland may boast of higher mountains and bolder scenes; but the magnificence of its forests, the beauty ofits lakes and islands, and the honesty and hospitality of its inhabitants, are unequalled."

Had they

From Tornea they advanced to the north principally by water, with an intention of penetrating to the North Cape; but this design was relinquish

ed, owing principally to a severe fit of illness with which Mr. Clarke was attacked, and from which he recovered slowly. At Enontakis, in Lapland, on the 28th of July, he launched his promised balloon, of eighteen feet in height, much to the astonishment of the natives.

From thence the travellers returned to Tornea; on leaving which, they made the circuit of the upper part of the Gulf of Bothnia, and then descended on the eastern side of it, through Ulea, to Wasa, from which place they crossed in a vessel to Umea, on the western side. Thence they went to Sundsvald, and passed over the mountains of Malmagen into Norway, near the copper mines of Roraas. Here they devoted much of their attention to the collecting of rare and undescribed plants, many specimens of which they sent to England. This alpine country delighted Mr. Clarke so much, that he says, "Surely nothing can equal Norway! I have never seen such sublime scenery any where in Europe. Sweden is far inferior."

On the 8th of December he thus writes from Stockholm: "I am in a fever from morning till night. Could any one expect to find such a field of antiquity in Lapland? A view of mankind in their origin, opens before me, so extensive and so glorious, that human vision cannot bear it. It comprehends all the descendants of Japheth, spreading their colonies and language over the north-western world. In the Swedish, I behold the origin of my native language, somewhat corrupted in Norway, and almost obliterated in England. I can speak it feebly; but the little I have acquired will soon be forgotten. What intellectual darkness covers us all! I seek after wisdom, and the result of my inquiry is only a conviction of my own gross ignorance. Every day I perceive I know less and less, and should give it up in despair, were it not for the reflection, that I am more contented, more happy, more acquiescent, than when I thought I was wiser. What is to become of us? Are we ever to know any thing of the earth on which we live, and of primitive causes? Two-thirds of the race of men vegetate, and lift not up their eyes to the light: the inquisitive few Jabour in vain."

[ocr errors]

It being now resolved to extend their journey to Petersburgh, our travellers left Stockholm on the 14th of the same month, and crossed the gulf of Bothnia for Abo in Finland; and in the passage encountered such a tempest, that they had a narrow escape for their lives. At Abo they were detained several days; but there being a university at this place, the delay was endured with more patience, especially as Mr. Clarke formed some agreeable acquaintance with the professors. On the 26th of January, 1800, they reached Petersburgh, and continued there till Easter, when they went to Moscow, of which Mr. Clarke gives this lively description in one of his letters:

"I want to conduct you with me to the gates of the town, and thence through the streets. You see its numerous spires glittering with gold, amidst domes and painted palaces, in the midst of an open plain, for several versts before you reach it. Having passed the gates, you look about, and wonder what is become of the town, or where you are, and are ready to ask,' When shall we get to Moscow?? They will tell you, 'This is Moscow !' and you see nothing but wide and scattered suburbs, huts, and pigsties, and brick walls, and churches, and dunghills, and timber yards, and warehouses, and the refuse of materials sufficient to supply an empire, with miserable towns and miserable villages. One might imagine that every town of Europe and Asia had sent a building, by way of representative, to Moscow. You see deputies from all countries holding congress. Timber huts from the north of the Gulf of Bothnia, plastered palaces from Stockholm and Copenhagen, (not whitewashed since their arrival,) painted walls from the Tyrol, mosques from Constantinople, Tartar temples, pagodas and pavilions from Pekin, cabarets from Spain; dungeons, prisons, and public offices, from France; ruins and fragments of architecture from Rome, terraces from Naples, and warehouses from Wapping. Then you hear accounts of its immense population; and wander through deserted streets. Passing suddenly towards the quarter where the shops are situated, you would think you could walk upon the heads of thousands. The daily throng is there so immense, that,

unable to squeeze a passage through it, you ask, ' What has convened such a multitude?' and are told, 'It is always so!' Such a variety of dressesGreeks, Turks, Tartars, Cossacks, Muscovites, English, French, Italians, Germans, and Poles.-We are in a Russian inn. The next room to ours is filled by the ambassadors from Persia. Beyond these, lodge a party of Kirghicians, a people yet unknown. Beyond these, a party of Bucharians; and all of them are ambassadors, sent from their respective districts, to treat of commerce, peace, and war, at Petersburgh. The Kirghicians and Bucharians I keep at arm's length; but our good old friend the Persian visits us, and we visit him. His name is Orazai, and I am so great a favourite with him, that he admits me to be present at his devotions, and I see him stand for hours on a carpet, with bis face to Mecca, in silent meditation. It is then, he says, he holds intellectual converse with Mahomet. Yesterday he gave me a pair of Persian slippers as a memorial; and I gave him a knife to shave his head with."

From Moscow our travellers set out, at the end of May, for the Crimea; and on the last day of June Mr. Clarke writes thus to his friend Otter, from Taganrok, on the sea of Azov, the place where the emperor Alexander breathed his last: "Who would have thought, that, on the very day twelvemonth in which we were bathing in the Wener lake, one of us would bathe in the ancient Tanais? On that very day I entered Tscherchaski, the capital of the Cossacks of the Don, and threw myself into the river to solemnize the anniversary.

"What a tract have we traversed in a single year! The whole extent of Europe, from its remotest angle at the pole, to the burning deserts of the Calmucs and Cossacks; from the Icy Sea to the Palus Meotis, and the whole diameter of the Russian empire, from the frontiers of Finland and the Baltic, to its utmost limits in the south. What have we been taught by all this? One important fact that there does not exist in Europe a settled savage people. It is ignorance to talk of dangers from this or that nation; all Europe is civilized, that is to say, humane. I do not include the Nogaik Tartar, whom we have here, nor the Calmuc,

6

because they are wandering tribes, like the Segankas or Gipsies, and the roving Laplanders; yet even these are not less humane, though more wild, than our smugglers and the Irish peasants. I should like to know what would have been the result, if a party of collegians, bound for Tscherchaski, had heard what they told us at Moscow, of the danger of traversing the deserts of the Don Cossacks.—When we got among the Cossacks, and found them the best fellows upon earth, we asked, 'Where are the banditti ?' they referred us to the Calmucs. Presently came along the Calmucs, mounted on their camels; and again we asked, Where are the banditti?' They referred us to the Nogaik Tartars. Now, we have visited them, and they answer the same question by a reference to the Circassians and the Kuban Tartars. As we are determined to hunt down all these bugbears, that future travellers may sleep in peace, and not move from place to place with armed convoys, as we have done, we shall again cross the sea of Azov, and travel through part of Asia to the south of the Crimea, and cross the Taman straits to Kaffa, the ancient Theodosia, visiting Kuban, the capital of the Zaporochi, on the river of that name, which falls from the highest of the mountains of Caucasus, into the sea of Azov."

The firm constitution and lively spirits of Mr. Clarke, however, could not ward off disease. While exploring this interesting country, the fatigue threw him into a tertian fever, in which state he reached the house of professor Pallas, the celebrated naturalist, by whose attentions he was restored to health. During his residence here, he added considerably to his stock of curiosities, as plants, minerals, and antiquities; besides which, he cleared up many interesting geographical questions.

On the first of November our travellers arrived at Constantinople. Here they remained above two months, during which Mr. Clarke suffered severely by another attack of the ague; but on his recovery he hastened to the Troade, to determine, by local observation, the great question at that time agitated respecting the reality of Homer's story; the result of which was a decided conviction in the existence of the Trojan expedition. After visiting Rhodes,

« السابقةمتابعة »