YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

The
EDWIN J. BEINECKE, '07
FREDERICK W. BEINECKE, '09 S
WALTER BEINECKE, '10
FUND

c

'I C T I

A j

_ From the 'German
¦f^ 

r//r//

Y'/Y'//

c

z o.^ 'u> o;\

.7" , ,P)

.,;,jl„l,l ,r Flm .to,

YALE

1 cl X 5

TO HER
IMPERIAL MAJESTY.
CATHARINE II.
AUTOCRATRIX OF ALL RUSSIA,

Mojl gracious Emprefs,
1 HAVE prefumed to fketch the pidhire of a Refidence which
owes to your Majefty its feoond exiftence greatly embellifhed,
and its civil happinefs much enhanced. - I have had the de
licious pleafure of arranging facls which would add glory to
the mild mftre of a Marcus Aurelius, furpafs the fplendour of
an Auguftus. and fuinilh materials foT the hiftory of an agji.
My reward is the confcioufnefs of having exhibited fome
features from the portrait of a great and benign princefs for
the admiration of my contemporaries and of handing them
down for the imitation of pofterky.
In all humility I lay at your, Majefty's feet thefe firfl-
fruits of a patriotic mufe, happy if % may prefume on this
occafiori publicly to .teftify the profound veneration ,,with
which I am ^
Your imperial Majefty's
Moll obedient.
HENRY STORCH,
College-afleffoi of the cabinet, in the chancery oi
his excellency count Bdborodko.

Nichols and Son, Printers,
fied-lton Pajage, Fleet-Street.

C v ]

ADVERTISEMENT.

IT feems a hazardous undertaking to write the
moral hiftory of the people amongft whom we
live. Though light and fhade be abfolutely in-
feparable in every picture, yet there is no par
ticular body of men that does not as peremp-*
torily require that there fhould be no fhade in
(heir picture.
The author forefaw this difficulty, and — boldly
yefolved to encounter it. The determined purpofe
not to be guilty of any mifreprefentation, how
ever venial ; the original of his fubjectj which is
fo fertile in beautiful, light and brilliant features ;
in fhort, a certain obfcure fentiment of the equity
of the public, infpired him with fortitude to un
dertake fo difficult, but at the fame time, fo. gra
tifying a work.
Facts and reafonings form the matter of this
picture. It is incumbent on the author to give
the reader fome account of both.
Jf amidft fuch a great number of facts com-
preffed. into fo few fheets fome miftakes fhould
be found, it is humbly hoped they may be im
puted not fo much to the negligence or credulity
pf the author as to the common fatality of human
A z xindertakings.

VI PREFACE.
undertakings? A great part of the facts related
are founded on perfonal obfervation, and for thefe
no other authority can be required than historical
credibility, or the confidence which the com
piler is able, in a greater or lefs degree, to infpire
into iiis readers. Several of the ftatements are
taken from notices, fchedules and loofe fheets
printed here, not likely to be known beyond the
fphere of their deftination, and therefore any re
ference to them would be ufelefs to the foreign
reader. The principal fource, in fine, to which
the author has generally adhered, where the affilt-
anqes arifing from his own enquiries failed him,
the Defcription of St. Peterlburg by the acade
mician Georgi *, is fo feldom named only becaufe
it muft otherwife have been fo frequently named,
and moreover becaufe it was naturally to be ex
pected that' the critics would compare together
two performances in fome refpects fo fimilar. In
molt of tht numerical ftatements the author has
followed this his predeceffor without deviation,
partly too becaufe wherever he had an, opportunity
to compare and try him he found an exactitude
and agreement that greatly enhanced his conri-
* Verfuch einerbefchreibung der Rufiifch-kaiferlicheu reft-
dentzftadt St. Peterlburg und der merkwurdigkeiten, der
gegend, von J. G. Georgi, St. Peterlburg, 1790. — The title
promifes nothing more than a topographical account-; but in
the work are found feveral chapters on'mode of living, man
ners, and the like. dence

PREFACE- Vll
dence in that author. Several of the chapters have
gained greatly in point of accuracy and perfec
tion by the criticifm of. fagacious perfons, whofe
offices and profeffions procured them a more
intimate acquaintance with : the fubjects they
treat of.
All the reafoning in the book belongs to the
author; the worth or the worthleffnefs of this
part can therefore only be fet down to his ac
count. His care not to fiyffer himfelf to be
biaffed by the opinion of foreigners, made , him
refolve to read none of them ; a refolution which
lie endeavoured to atone for by an attention con
tinued through feveral years, and perhaps by fome
fmall talent at obfervation. Such was the origin of
a former attempt, which he happened to lofe on
his journey to the place where he intended to
print it ; the author was however enabled to leave
it to its unknown fate with the greater refigaation,
by the acquisition of more correct perceptions in
conjunction with the riling defire to prefent fome-
thing better to the public. Three years of un
interrupted obfervation had been devoted to the
firft attempt ; an equal fpace has now elapfed ovar
the completion of the fecond ; and if the Horatian
precept is not yet complied with at the appear
ance of this work, the misfortune arifes not fo
much from the want of good-will in the author,
as from the irkfomenefs naturally proceeding from
fo uniform an occupation.
a 3 The

Tilt PREFACE.
The author might here lay down his pen and
^eave the fortune of his book to all-jiidgipg time,
which fooner or later never fails to pafs a righte
ous judgment. But among' all the reproached
thrown out againft book-makers, without giving
them any caufe of uneafinefs or neceffarily putting
them to the blufh, there is however one at which
the fenli'bility of every honeft man muff, rife in
indigriatibn. This reproach, which the author
expects from a certain clafs of readers immediately
'ion beholding the title-page, is no lefs than that of— -
%avifig kept the f acrid truth in his clofed hand.
Truth and falfehood all the world knows ftarid
very wide afunder. Purpofely to diffeminate falfe
hood, is the mofr. infamous and to mankind the
'moft pernicious bufinefs to which an author can
addict himfelf . but to withhold the truth where
it is neceffary (and that it is fometimes neceffary,
needs not furely here be proved,) is a meritorious
fervice, though generally repaid with ingratitude,
and can only hope for its reward from very en
lightened minds imbued with a practical know
ledge 6f the world and of mankind, and very
fentimental hearts acutely alive to human happi-
nefs and human mifery. Without prefuming to
difcufs peremptorily this category, the author
fubmits it entirely to the literary world, or rather
to the optimates of it, to determine how far, in
refpect to his civil and moral relations, he has
kept the hair-breadth-line between the too-much
5 and

PREFACE. ix
^nd the tat) little, or tranfgreflled on this fide or
i?ther. . Among the gre^t variety of facts related in this
book, a confiderabje part belong to the clafs of
thofe which posterity will felect, and which hiftory1
will hereafter weave into a wreath for the brows
of Catharine's ftatue in the temple of immortality.
Being a citizen of her ftate, a contemporary of
thefe trahfactions, it may have happened that the
author .has here and there been carried beyond the
path of the c.old obferver into the magic circle of
furprife and admiration ; but never has he know
ingly indulged in his enthufiafm at the expenfe of
truth. A man who lays a book of this fort at the
foot of this throne, has no need to apprehend
the reproach of flattery, and would defpife it if
he had. St. Peterlburg,
Nevernber 1793.
g> This book beitig calculated for general pe-
rufal, the following explanations feem neceffary.
.Wherever .weights and rneafures are mentioned,
thofe of the country are meant, unlefs expreisly
remarked to the contrary. The ruffian foot ijS
precifely the fame with the.englifh, A fathom,
or fajene, is feven feet, and a verft five hundred
fajenes. To a geographical (gerrnan) mile there
fore go about fix verlts and four hundred and
feventy*five fajenes. The arfhine is twenty- eight
A 4 englifh

X PREFACE.
englifh inches. A chetverik (corn-meafure) holds
one pood of dried rye. The pood contains forty
ruffian pounds or thirty-fix englifh, forty-five
rufijan pounds are likewife equal to thirty-eight
of Hamburgh. — It perhaps -fcarcely needs to be
noticed, that a ruble c'onfifts of a hundred ko
pecks, and that throughout' the whole ruffian
empire the Julian computation of time or the old
~ftyle is in ufe.'
As to the orthography of the ruffian words
the greateft attention has been' paiid to' fender
them as accurately as poffible by correfponding
letters in our alphabet.
The engravings with which the publifher has
decorated the. work are explanatory enough of
themfel\«es. * Only the fubject of the title-vig
nette feems to demand a flight elucidation. It
reprefents the founder of the imperial city, frill
occupied with the plan of its construction. It
was on the 1 6th of May, 1703, that the foun
dation of the caftle was laid ; in the very fame
year the firft fhip, conducted thither by accident,
landed in the Neva. Peter had at firft defigned
this place for the erection of a fortrefs, for co
vering the mputh of the river ; fortune feemed to
give him a fuggeftion concerning the future fu^
perior deftlnation of it ; and the monarch was
wife 'enough to take the hint. He haftened to"
meet the commander of the fhip, ar Dutchman,
gave him a friendly greeting, purchafed his whole
cargo,

PREFACE. XI
cargo, and encouraged him to return once a year
to fetch a reward, which was afterwards regu
larly paid him to the very laft voyage he lived
to make.
It is natural that many changes muft have hap
pened in the living fcenes of this picture during
the delays neceffarily attending the compiling,
printing, tranflating and reprinting a work of this
nature. Imperfections arifing hence lie in the
very nature of things : happy the author, whom,
criticifm can reproach with no others.

CONTENTS.

( *"' )

CONTENTS

Chap. Page
J. Locality of the City  1
II. The cir.cumjace.mt Country .... 60
III. Inhabitants  83
IV. Confumption  112
V. Public Security  125
VI. Public Convenience  167
VII. Provisions for the Sick and Poor . 194?
VIII. Seminaries for Education .... 214
IX. Induftry  247
X, Arts and Science  293
XL Diverjions and Entertainments . . 408
XII. Life and Manners  468
XIII. Characteristic Lineaments .... 559

EXPLA-

( Aiii )
EXPLANATION
OF THE
PLAN OF ST. PETERSBURG.

A. The Neva. G. The Katarina canal.
B. The little Neva. H. The Nikolai canal,
C. The Nevka. I. The Ligova canal.
D. The little Nevka. K. The Town-ditch.
E. The Fontanka. L. . The Petrovka.
F. TheMoika. M. The Karpovka.
N. Tfchernaia retchka. (The little black river.)
O. Tfchernaia retchka, on the Vafflly-oftrof.
P. Galley-haven.
Q. Boundary of the city-jurisdiftion.
I. In the First ADMiRALTY-auARTER.
i. Imperial Winter-palace.
1. Imperial Chief-apotheke.
3. Foundling-hofpital, with the Lombard.
4. Marble- palace. '
5. Little Wooden-theatre.
6. Firft Summer-garden.
7. Summer-palate of Peter the. great.
8. Fire-work-place. [Tzaritzinyi Lug.]
9. Market for this quarter.
jo. Admiralty.
1 1. Statue of Peter the Great.
12. Directing -Senate.
13. College of Foreign affairs.
14. Poft-ofHce. •
15'. Quartermafter, commonly called the Bauer-corpaj
16. Provifion-Magazine.
I '7. Admiralty-ftore-houfe.
18. Old Rope- walk for the Admiralty.
19. New Holland.
.20. Marble church of St. Ifaac.
21. Englifh church.
II. The Second ADMiRAXTT-auATttTSR.
22. Imperial Stables-
^3. The former Police ; now the city-jail. 24.

SlV EXPLANATION OF THIS
44. The courts of Juftice.
25. Imperial Loan-bank.
26. The great brick Theatre.
27. The new city Prifon.
28. Market for this quarter.
29. Church of the mother of God, of Kazan.
30. Nikolai, or Sailor's church.
31. The Lutheran church of St. Peter.
32. The Finns church.
33. The Swedifh church.
34. The German and French reformed church.
III. The Third Admiralty-suarter.
3.$. Palace of St. Michael built by Paul I.
36. Second imperial Summer-garden.
37. Annitikoi palace.
38. Imperial Affignations-bank.
39. The former palace of the Vorontzofs.
40. The chief Normal fchool.
41. Goftinnoi-dvor, or great neft of Shops.
42. Town-houfe.
43. Viftual-market for this quarter.
44. Church of the Redeemer. [ pafitelae or Spas.]-
45. Church of the Afcenfion. LVofnefeniye.]
46. The Roman-catholic church.
47. The Armenian church.
IV. The Stuckhof-q.uab.ter.
48. Fonndery.
49. Arfenal.
__o. Artillery-yard.
51. Brandy and Salt magazine.
52. Navigation-School.
3 3. Barracks of the Preobajenflri regiment of Guards.
54. Horfe-guards.
5 _. Monafterv for the Education of Young Ladies.
56. Building-comptoir.
57. Imperial Tapeftry-manufaftory.
58. The two Italian Gardens.
59. Viftual market for this quarter.
Co. Church of St. Panteleimon.
61. Church of St. Simeon.
62. Church of St. Sergius.
63. Church of the Yager-court. [Snameniya.]
64. Church of the Transfiguration, [Preobrajeniye,] belong
ing to the Preobrajenfkoi guards..
6j . Church of the Annunciation of St. Mary, [Blagovefcht-
fcheniye,] belonging to the Horfe-guards.
tf6. The Lutheran church of St. Anne. V.

PLAN OP ST. PETERSBURG. SV
V. The RoSCHESTVENSKOI-aUARTER.
6y. Monaftery of St. Alexander Nevlkoi.
68. Market for Common neceffaries. country-produ&s and
manufactures.
69. Market for Proyifions.
70. Glafs-houfe.
7 1 . Church of the Refurre&ion. [Votkrefenikaia.]
VI. The MoSKOFSKOI ttUARTER.
72. Imperial Yasger-court.
73. Barracks of the Simeonof Regiment of Guards.
74. Barracks of the Ifmailof Regiment of Guards.
7j. Botanical garden of the academy of Sciences and the.
Kultian academy.
76. City-hoipital or Lazaret.
77. Surgical inftitute.
78. Obfervatory. [Podfornoi dvoretz.]
79. ViSual-market for this quarter.
80. The ftone City-gate to the Livonian road.
81. Katarinenhof.
82. Church of God's mother, of Vladimir. £Vladimirlkaia.]
83. Church of St. Catharine.
84. Church of the Purification of Mary. [Vvedeniye.J
8$. Trinity church. [Troitzi.]
VII. Yamskoi, or Carrier's auARTEB.
86. The Yaegerhof.
87. The cart Market. [Telejeniye lavki.] .
88. The coach-market. [Novaia Karetnaia.]
89. Garden-houles and places.
90. Cattle-market.
'91. The Yamlkaia or Carter's flobode.
92. The Yamlkaia church, to the elevation of the crols.
[Vofdvifcheniye.]
93. Cemetery, adjoining to the church.
94. Cemetery for Foreigners.
95. Cemetery for Raikolniki, or heretics.
96. Volkof flobode, with the church.
VIII. The VASSlLI-OSTROF-ftUARTEK.
97. Cuftom-houfe. ,
98. The Colleges.
99. Imperial Academy of Sciences.
100. The Gottorp Globe.
10 1. Warehoufes or Ambars.
102. Noble Land-cadet-corps, with the Garden.
103. Imperial Academy of Arts.
104. Shops and Yi&ual-market. "" io_.

_yi EXPLANATION OF THS
105. Imperial Mineral Academy.
106. Tanneries.
107'. Slobode of the Galley-haven,
108. Church of St. Andrew. - .
100 Church of the Annunciation. [Blagovefchtfcheme.]
no. The Regiment's church. [Polkovaiya]
j 1 1. Church of the Smolenfko Mother of God, with the,
cemetery.
j 13. The Lutheran church of St. Catharine.
113. The Cemetery for Foreigners.
IX- The PETERSBURG-aUARTER.
j 14. The firft house qf Peter the Great.
115. Artillery and Engineer Cadet corps, with the GyrnnaijuH|.
116. Small-pox Hofpital.
117. Hemp-Warehoufes.
118. Viaual-market for this quarter, k€. [Sytnoi Rynok.]
119. Pefrofujoi-oftrof, with the Wax-bleachery.
120 Grand-ducal Summer- houfe, on that ifland,
12 1. Apothecary ifland.
122. Apothecary garden.
12-5. .Surgery School.
124. ICreftofikoi-oftrof, or Crofs-ifland.
125. Kamennoi-oftrof, or Rock-illand.
12b. Grand ducal palace, with the Garden.
127. Invalid hoipital for Sailors.
j 28. Yelagin's ifland.
¦I 29. Summer-palace, with the Garden.
130. The Cattle.
13 1 . The church in the Caftle, to St. Peter and St. Paul,
T32. Trinity cathedral. [Troitzkaia.]
133. Church of St. Nikolai.
134. Church of the Apoftle Matthew. [Matveia Apoftola.^
135. Church of the Oblation of Mary. [Vvederiye.]
130. Church of St Nikolai and 'the Afcenfion ofMjry.
137. 'Church of the Rcfurizedtion of Chrift, or the Cadet's
church.
138. Church of the Transfiguration. [Preobrajeniye.]
X. Hie VyBORG-fiUARTER.
139. Artillery place of Exercife.
740. Laboratory of the Artillery.
141. City- wharf.
J42. Crown brewery.
143. Marine and Army-Hofpital.
144. Church of St. Sampfon, [Samfoniefskaia,] and the
former cemetery.
145. Church of the Invention of the Crofs. [Proifchofch-.
deniye Tfcheftnich Drev.]
j-46, Hofpital church, to the Redeemer. [Spafitqlse.]

PEAfJ OF ST. ETERSBURG.

jtvn

147. Count Stroganof 's garden, with the fummer-houfe.
148. Count Belborodko's Gardr.s, with the fummer palace ;
and leyeral other garSns and pleafure-houfr.s.
149. Slobode, or fuburb, Gret Ochta, with a church,
1,1,0. Slobode, Little Ochta, \ith_a church.
,ji. Ruins of Neynfchantz. '

?¦ 4-
I: 7.
9-
JO,
ii
J5-
-1-4. i5-
16. 17.18.19.
20.
ai. 22.
"?3- *4.
*l6.
'27.
"28. 29.
3°-
3i- 3».

References to the Street*.
[Ulitza ty a ftreet ; Pereulok, a lane or crofs-ftfect/J
Dvortzovaia Nabjrefch- 33.
naia ulitza.
Krafnaia. 34.
Mi-llion-naya. Lugovaya Milfioniiaya. 3$.
Bdftu'cnef pereulok. 36.
Aptekarfkoi pereulok. 37.
Mofchkof pereulok.
Potfchtovaya. 38.
Vodaenoi pereulok.
.Gretfchelkaya po Moik£ 39.
Ledok'olnaya. 40.
Bolfchaya Morfcaya. [The 41 ,

great Molkoi.] 42.
Nevfkaya. 43 .
Kirpitfchnaya. 44.
Novaya Ifa-kieffkaya. 43.
Bolfchaya. 46
Admiralteifkaya. 47.
Vofnefenfkaya. 48.
Petrdflkaya.
Vygrufhpi pereulok. 49.
Proviaritfkoi pereulok.
Nikolikaya. __o.
GalerhayaNaberefchnaya, 51.
Staraya Ifakieffkaya. 52.
Grafikay pereulok. $3.
Objefchai pereulok. 54.
Kriukof pereulok. 55.
Golovin pfereulok. ^6.
Hollandlkaya Naberefch- -57,
naya. , 58.
KonufchennayapoMoike. 59.
BolfchayaKouufchennaya. 60.
Menfchaya Konufchen- 61.
naya. , 62.

Kazgnfkaya -Nabes-efch-
naya-.
Ekatarinfkaya Naberefcli--
#naya.
Italianlkaya. Menfchaya Zadovaya.
Karavannaya Naberefch-
naya.
Bolfchaya (great) Mefcht-
fchan&aya.
Goftinnaya.Zaddvaya Bolfchaya.
Annitfch kof pereulok.
Rynofchnoi peretilok.
Tfchernifchef pereulok.
Mufchnaya.
Spalkaya.
Konnaya. Obuchoflkaya. Srednaya (middle) Mef*
chtfchanlkaya.
Menfchaya little) Me£-
chtfchanlkaya.
Stolarnaya. E katarinhoffkaya .
Krivaya.Offitzerfkaya.Bolfchaya Podiatfchefkaya.
Malaya Podiatfchefkaya. -
Materialnaya. Praffchefnoi pereulok
Bolfchaya Polkovaya.
Torgovaya.Bolichaya Poperefchnaya.
Perevofnaya.
Menfchaya Mafterfkaya. 63.

xviii EXPLANATION OF Tie plan of -Petersburg.

63. ( Bolfchaya Mafterfkaya.
64. ' Dro van naya.
Sojedinitelnaya.
Metalloffkaya. Poflednaya.
Bolfchaya Mafnaya.
Menfchaya Mafnaya.
Prafchka.
Bolfchaya Rybnaya.
Menfchaya Rybnaya.
Menfchaya.
74. Armenfkaya.
75. Forfchtatfkaya po Fon-
tanke.
76. Lieflandfkaya.
J7- Gagarinfkaya.Voikrefenfkaya. Preobrajenfkaya.
Pervaya (firft) Artille
rifkaya.
Vtoraya (fecond) Artille
rifkaya.
Tretiya (third) Artillerif-
kaya.
Tfchetv'ertaya (fourth)
Artillerifkaya.
Chamovaya. -
Liteinaya.
80. Artillerifkaya Poperefch
naya.
87. Pantdeimonoffkaia.
88. Simeonoffkaya.
89. Sadovaya Italianfkaya.
90. Stremennaya.
c»i. Golovin pereulok.
92. Troitzkoi pereulok.

6.566
67.68.697°71-
?*•
73

78
79
80. 81.82. S3-84-85-

93. Chlebnaya.
94. Povarfkaya.
95. Pefchtfchanriaya.
96. Bafmannaya.
p. Malaya Offitzerfkaya.
|8. Schvetfchnaya.
9. Grebetzkayaj
10. Bolotnaya.
ia. Bolfchaya Sagorodnaya.
101. Rafyefkaya.
iot. Gneufchef pereulok.
104. Kabinetlkaya.
io«. Bolfchaya Offitzerfkaya..
106. Iranoffkaya.
107. Ssmeonoffkaya.
108. Iteailoffkaya.
109 Kadetfkaya Naberefch-
aaya.
no. Kollejekaya Plotfchad.
(Race before theColleges.)
111. Akademitfchefkaya.
112. Goftianaya.
113. Kollejekaya.
114. Kade.fkaya.
115. Bolfcnaya (great) Per-
fpektiva.
116. Srednaya (middle) Per-
fpektiva.
117. Menfchaya (little) Per-
fpektiva.
118. Bolfchaya Garnifonnaya.
119. Malays Garnifpnnaya.
120. Drovahnaya.
121. Samfoniefikaya.
122. Kompaneilkaya.
123. Botfcharnaya.

The ftreets on Vaffily-oftrof which crofs the Perfpe&ivps
from the great to the little Neva, being divided by canals,-
cvery two rows of houfes, or lines, make one ftreet, running
from the Cadet corps, according to the courfe p? the Neva,
and are numbered from one to twenty-five : of thefe the next
that runs parallel with the Cadet corps is called the Firft
Line, and fo on in regjilar fucceffion.

THE

THE
PICTUR E
OF
PETERSBURG.

CHAP. I.
Locality of the City.

Political Jituation of St. Peter/burg. — Natural. Climate. Pecie
'liarities of the federal feafons of the year. — Phyfzognomy of the
city. Circumference. Scite., Boundaries. Riga gate. — The
Neva, its embankation, its bridges and its •winter-covering of
tee. Canals. —Number and cotiftru&ion of the houfes. Streets.
Quarters of the town. Locality and peculiarities of it. Firft
admiralty- quarter. Winter palace. Hermitage. Court theatre.
Marble palace. Amphitheatre. Admiralty. Marble church
of St. Ifaak. Summer-gardens. Public fquares. The Ncvjky-
perffeBive. Charafteriftics of this quarter. — Second admi-
ralty-divifion. Opera-houfe. Churches of our lady of Kazan
and St. Nicholas. — Third admiralty-quarter, The Bank. — The
Stickhf. Arfenal. Tauridan palace. Rojeftven/koi quarter..
Vofkrefenfkoi nunnery. Monaflery of St. Alexander Nev/iy. —
Mofcof/koi quarter. Yagerhof. — Vajjilly qftrof. Academy of
arts. Land-cadet -corps. Academy of Sciences, The new and
the old exchange. — Peterfburgjkoi quarter. Rural ijlands and
fummer palaces. Fortrefs. — Vyborgfkoi quarter. Country-
feats. — Paufe, and retro/peel of the -whole.
1 HE two-fold purpofe which Peter the Great
had in view in the conftru&ion of his new city,
that of rendering it the emporium of his com
merce and the imperial refidence, naturally invites
Vol. I. B us

$ POLITICAL SITUATION
us to confider it in both thefe fefpc&s. That the
emperor's choice in regard to the former was
judicious, has, to the beft of my knowledge,
never been queftioned by any author ;. though
many obje&ions have been made to the political
fituation of St. Peterlburg, as the refidence or
feat of empire.
Peter had doubtlefs many reafons for pitching
his refidence here. Befides that his wars with
Sweden obliged him to chufe a petition whence he
could eafily overlook, diredt, and provide for the
execution of his plans; it was effentially neceffary
for him as much as poffible to incorporate his
new acquifitions with the reft of the empire, by
giving the nation a certain intereft in behalf of
the conquered provinces. The former of thef?
was attained by the various well-known regu
lations he adopted, and by the perfonal prefence
of the monarch : the latter could not more con
veniently be done than by diftributing poffeflions
in thefe parts among the great men of the country,
and inducing them to build upon the grounds
afligned them.
Another reafon, of no lefs importance, was this.
The defign of Peter the Great, to attract foreigners
into his dominions for the purpofe of accelerating
the civilization of his people, was uncommonly
favoured by procuring for foreigners an immediate
accefs by a lhort and not very expenfive voyage
into hisf efidence, where they might naturally expect

OF ST. PETERSBURG. 3
Fair greater opportunity to fucceed than elfewhere.
Had Mbfcocontinued to be the refidence, out of ahun-
dred ftrangers that fhould fettle there, not five per
haps would have had fufficient inclination or moneyto
undertake the longjourney by land; and the advantage
to be reaped from fo many hew and induftrious citi
zens would have been entirely loft to the country.
Confequently, the objection that, the number of
ftrangers flocking in from the interior parts of
the empire would have been the means of dif-
feminating civilization more rapidly and more
generally, falls thus in part to the ground of it-
felf. Moreover, we are taught by experience, that
the foreigners difperfe themfelves very eafily in the
country, whereby the advantage juft mentioned is
as well and probably more adequately obtained.
The emperor had it likewife much at heart to
form a clofer connection, to eftablifh a political
correfpondence, and to facilitate the courfe of
exchange with the other countries of Europe. It
may indeed be replied, that in the prefent circum-
ftances, the communication of edicts and intel
ligence throughout the empire mutt proceed the
more flowly ; but on one hand the difference of the
dittance amounts to only a fmall matter in pro
portion to the magnitude of the empire; and on
the other the accommodations for travelling are
fo excellent in the country itfelf, and the extraor
dinary fpeed in which it is performed fo very ufual,
that no part of the body politic can fuffer by it.
2 2 The

"4- Natural situation.
The fucceffors of Peter the Great have pro
bably been fwayed by thefe and other reafons in
not abandoning his plan. If we confider what
immenfe fums of money have been expended in
beautifying this place, and in femedyingthe natural
inconveniencies of its fituation ; if we take a view
of the water communication, which connects Peterf-
burg with the molt inland and diftant provinces of
the empire; of the commerce which renders this
refidence the general mart for ruffian products ; or
the advantages arifing from its fituation at the
mouth of a many-armed river, which fupplies the
whole city even in its remoteft quarters with pure
and wholefome water — -we fhall find the refolution
to retain it as the refidence not lefs wife than the
original idea of its conftruction.
It is to be lamented, that the natural situ
ation and the climate of St. Peterlburg do not
correfpond with thefe great advantages. The
fituation of the refidence at the mouth and on the
iflands of the Neva is low and fwampy; and the
country round it is a morafs and foreft, excepting
where human induflry and art, in fpite of the par-
fimony of nature, have converted it into charming
fcenes. How different from the happy fituation
of Mofco ! where ages have concurred by domeftic
culture with beautiful nature, where the bleffing
of the hufbandman fmiles before the citizen from
the window of his houfe. According

, climate. 5
According to the calculation of the academician
Krafft, St. Peterlburg, on an average of ten years,
has annually 07 bright days, 104 of rain, 72 of
fnow, and 93 unfettled. There are every year
from twelve to fixty-feven ftorms; which fome*
times, when they proceed from the weft, occafion
inundations. From an experience of more than
fixty years, the ice of the Neva never breaks up
before, the 25th of March, and never later than
the 27th of April; the earlieft time of its freezing
is the 20th of October, and the lateft the firft of
December. Since the year 1741 the greateft de
gree of heat has been 27, and the greateft degree
of cold 33, by Reaumur's thermometer,
We fee from this furvey, how few days in the
year can be enjoyed out of doors in thefe climates,
and how limited are the pleafures of our fummer.
The Winter is our beft feafon, and poffeffes
great advantages over his wet and foggy brethren
in more fouthern countries. An equal permanent
cold ftrengthens and recruits the body. The ex
cellent fledge-roads render travelling commodious
and agreeable, a winter journey in a moderate
froft on moonlight nights is an enjoyment only
to be known in thefe climes. The Ruffians, ec-
cuftomed to hardfhips, feem to revive at the en
trance of winter; and even foreigners are here
more infenfible to cold than in their native country.
However, it mutt be confeffcd that none know
better how to defend themfelves againft its.effecls
b 3 than

6 peculiarities of the seasons.
than the people here. Qn the approach of winte?
the double windows are put up in all the houfes,
having the joints and interfaces caulked and neatly
pafted with the border of the paper with which
the room is hung. This precaution not only proT
tects againft cold and wind, but fecures a free
profpect even in the depth of winter, as the panes,
pf glafs are thus never incrufted with ice. The
puter doors and frequently the floors under the
carpets are covered with felt. Our ftoves, which
from their fize and conftructiqn, confume indeed
a great , quantity of wood, produce a temperature
in the moft fpacious apartments 'and public halls
which annihilates aU thoughts of winter.
On leaving the room we arm ourfelves ftill
niore ferioufly -againft the feverity pf the, cold. -
Caps, furs, boots fined with flannel and a muff
make up the winter drefs. It is diverting to fee
the coloffal cafes in the antichamber, out of
which in a few minutes the moft elegant beaux
are unfolded. The common Ruffian cares only
about warm wrappers for his legs" and feet. Pro
vided with a plain fheep-lkin fhube, the drivers
and itinerant fradefmen frequent the ftreets aU
day, with their bare necks and frozen beards. In,
a froft of five and twenty degrees it is common to.
fee' women Handing for hours together rincing
their linen- through hojes in the ice of the.
canals. The

peculiarities or the seasons. 7
The winter increafes the neceffaries of life,
and they are multiplied by luxury. To thefe
belong the winter cloathing, fuel and candles.
That people here run into great expences in the
article of furs may be well imagined ; and the
fafhion varies fo often that a man muft be in more
than moderate circumftances to be able to follow
it. The confumption of wood is enormous. In
the kitchens, bagnios, and fervants'-rooms, which
are heated like bagnios, there is an incredible wafte
of this prime neceffary of life in our climates.
Upon a moderate computation here are annually
confumed upwards of two hundred thoufand fa^
thorns, amounting in fpecie to about half a mil
lion of rubles. This formidable confumption and
the rifing price of wood, are highly deferving of
patriotic attention. The expence in tallow and
wax candles is proportionately as large. Through^-
out the long winter we live in an almoft everlafting
night, as our fhorteft day is only five hours and a
half. In houfes conducted on a fafhionable ftyle
the wax-candles, as in England, are lighted long
before dinner.
The spring is fo fhort, that it fcarcely need
be reckoned among the feafons. March and
April are generally pleafant months- on account of
the number of bright days in them, but the air
is ftill keen, and the Neva frequently ftill covered
with ice. In May the fcene fuddenly changes:
fhe winter drefs entirely vanifhes, but cold nor-
b 4 therty

8 peculiarities of the seasons.
therly winds keep off the balmy fpripg. We are,
npw, by a fudden tranfition, thrown at once into
fummer; the exiftence whereof is likewife of fhort
duration ; fcarcely come qn, fcarcely enjoyed,, ere
it flits away — et mox bruma recurrit iners.
Short, however, as our summer is, it is not
without its pleafures; and perhaps it is here the
more fatisfadtorily enjoyed for the very reafon of
its being fo lhort. On meeting the firft fmiles of
the returning fun, all hie to the adjacent villas,
where the genial feafon glides away too foon in
hofpitality and focial amufements. Among the
peculiar charms of the fummer here are to be
reckoned the bright and generally warm nights.
The faint rays of the fcarcely fetting fun tinge
the horizon with a ruddy hue and beautify the
furrounding objects; the noify buftle of the ftreets
is departed, though not into a death-like filence,
but converted into that idle occupation, which is
even more voluptuous than repofe: walking par
ties are met every where, frequently attended by
mufic: on the fmooth furface of the Neva, and on
all the canals, boats are gliding, from which re-
founds the fimple melody of the popular bailads,
as fung by the watermen — beguiled by the novelty
and delightfulnefs of the fcene and in the expec
tation of the coming night, by an agreeable fur-
prife we find ourfelves cheated of our fleep, when
the firft beams of the fun are gilding the tops of
the

general aspect qf the CITY/. q
jkp houfes. I have never yet known a fingle fo
reigner, who was infenfible to the firft enjoyment
pf thefe fummer nights.
But, ah! to what fcenes do thefe voluptuous
moments lead ! to the fhort fummer fucceeds an
autumn, which by its numberlefs unpleafant
concomitants effaces all remembrance of its few
fine days. About this feafon of the year Peters
burg becomes one of the moft hideous corners of
fhe earth. The horizon for feveral weeks is over-
fpread with dark heavy clouds, impervious to the
folar rays, reducing the already fhortened days to
a mere difmal twilight; while the inceflant rains,
in fpite of the newly conftructed fewers, render
the ftreets fo dirty, that it is impoffible for well-
dreffed perfons to walk them comfortably; and,
to complete the picture of an autumnal evening,
ftorms and tempefts frequently come on.
Such is the ground on which Peterlburg is
built, and the fky beneath which it ftands. We
will now turn Our eyes to the city itfelf ; though
only to take a hafty view : for by endeavouring to
fee all at once we may probably fee nothing.
The aspect of the refidence is gay and chear-
ful. Straight, broad and generally long ftreets,
frequently interfedting each other in abrupt and
fharp corners — fpacious open fquaresi — variety in
the architecture of the houfes — in fliort, the nu
merous canals and the beautiful river Neva, with
their fubftantial and elegant embankations, render the

IO general aspect of the city.
the general view brilliant and inchanting. In
regard to regularity and capacity for embelliihment
but few capital cities in Europe can be compared
with Peterlburg. Paris, notwithftanding the mul
titude of its palaces and the perpetual attention
that is paid to the correction of its defective corrv
ftrudtion, can never become an elegant city, and
London can only apply that epithet to fome of
its modern annexations. Berlin may vie with any
other capital in regard to its beautiful fymmetry,
but Peterlburg has more grand capabilities. In
the former the eye is lefs frequently hurt with
large vacant fpaces or mean wooden buildings;
but here it is recreated with more palaces and
grand private ftrudtures, wider ftreets and a num^
ber of fine canals. The view of Peterlburg de
lights us lefs by what it is, than by the idea of
what it will be when compleated by its vaft and
grand difpofitions ; an idea which is very naturally
excited by the buildings conftantly going on with
furprifing rapidity. Large wafte fpots are in a
fhort time feen covered with houfes; and who
ever for two or three years has not vifited par
ticular parts, as in large capitajs is often the cafe,
is frequently furprifed to find himfelf in ftreets
with which he is totally unacquainted. The
admiralty-quarter, which is at prefent the fineft
diftrict of the town, was only a few years ago fuch
a wafte, that numbers of the inhabitants can point
out magnificent ftrudtures in places where they
formerly

GENERAL ASPECT OF THE CITY. _ II
formerly faw moraffes or cow-lares. The Fonr
tanka-canal 'was only ten or twelve, years fince
nothing more than a bog-ftreamlet, rendering vm-
wholefome the circumjacent diftrict, and having
its fides built with miferable wooden huts, is now
with its fine granate walls and quays one of the
greateft ornaments of the refidence, as the rows of
edifices on both its fides will in lefs than twenty
years form one of the grandeft ftreets in Europe,,
if the prefent tafte for building is profecuted in
the fame rapid manner. — At the fame time, it is
not to be denied that the places either badly built
upon or left entirely empty, even in the better
parts of the town, frequently produce a difgufting
effect; a circumftance, which from the monftrous
extent of the city, even by the rage for building
with which the public is infected, cannot eafily be
remedied. To the general afpect of a city belong the life,
activity, and the buftle that reign in its ftreets.
St. Peterlburg, in thefe refpefts," may rank with
capitals pf the fecond order. The main ftreets
excepted, which generally fwarm with carriages
and foot paffengers, the others are almoft lifelefs.
This proceeds from the fpacioufnefs and extent of
the city, as well as from the inclemency of the
plimate. Early in the evening the ftreets are void
pf people ; the lower claffes commonly leave off
work at the approach of darknefs, and the filence of

12 SCITE OF PETERSBURG,
of the night is . only at times difturbed by the
rumbling of a folitary carriage.
For acquiring a perfpicuous notion of the scite
of a city, no better means occur than to get tip to
the top of fome elevated building which enables
one to furvey the whole. But, as thefe means are
wanting, we will endeavour to fupply that defect
by as clear a reprefewtation as poffible.
St. Peterfburg i§ built on the fhores and on the
iflands of the Neva, which here forms an angle,
as its courfe runs firft northward asd then weft-
ward. In this angle, and therefore on the left
fide of the Neva, lies, in a form approaching to
a triangle, the moft considerable, the moft built,
and moft inhabited part1 of the refidence. The
monaftery of St. Alexander Neviky forms the com
mencement of the city at the northern direction
of the river : following this direction, we come to
the Vofkrefenfkoi monaftery, at which the Neva
alters its courfe, which from this place to its exit
into the gulf of Cronftadt, in a weflern direction,
forms the fecond fide of the triangle, whereby the
third fide, or the lpace from the exit of the Neva
to the Neviky monaftery, is conftituted partly by
itfelf and partly by a town-ditch and by the Ligova
canal. It muft not be forgot that we here only
follow the left bank of the Neva, which is not in
terrupted by any arm.
We now begin our journey along the right bank
of the river. Here we find at the bow of it, over
againft

CIRCUMFERENCE OF PETERSBURG. Ij
againft the Vofkrefenfkoi monaftery, the flobode
Ochta, which takes its name from the rivulet
Ochta here falling irito the Neva. The river now
turns weftward. In this courfe it fends out two
broad arms on the right ftiore; the former being
called the Nevka, and the next more weftward
the Little Neva. The fpace between the right
fhore of the Neva and the eaft fide of the Nevka
is denominated the Vyborg-side. Accordingly
two great iflands now remain. The former, which
is furrounded by the Neva, the Nevka, and the
Little Neva, is ftyled the Peter's-island; and,
with feveral fmall iflands which are formed by the
farther feparations of the Nevka, compofes the
Petersburg-quarter. The fecond ifland, which
arifes from the Little Neva and the main ftream, is
called the Vassilly-ostrof, and is a diftindt quar
ter of the town.
From this reprefentation it refults that the cir
cuit of the refidence muft be very large. It
amounts, according to the ftatement of the aca
demician Georgi, to four and twenty verfts or near
twenty englifh miles. According to the fame
ftatement, the part properly built upon occupies
only about one fourth of this fpace.
This prodigious extent is the reafon why it can
not be expected that St. Peterlburg cannot foon be
brought to a completion. We ftill, even in the
moft eligible parts of the town, meet with empty
places; becaufe thofe in the remoter diftridts are
more

»4 THE RIVER NEVAi
more eafily purchafed and therefore fooher built
upon. Though Peterfburg, on the land fide, has
now a boundary formed by the town-ditch, yet
that is dug fo far beyond the built parts, that the
ample interftice would be quite fufficient for a new
city. Befides this ditch, the refidence has as yet no
boundary, and only one gate, through which the
road leads to Riga. It is built in the form of a
cube, entirely of granite, and at each corner de
corated with a marble urn. The coloffal mag^
nitude, the fimplicity and the beauty of the ftone,
render this erection worthy of its deftination, and
harmonifes in the mind of the traveller with the
fenfation which the fight of fo much grandeur and
magnificence in the interior of the refidence muft
naturally excite.
Ere I can conduct the reader into the ftreets
and fuperb edifices which are the principal objects
of , this fection, we muft once more return to the
ground plot. The Neva and its canals compofe
fo remarkable a part of the locale, that he will
obtain but a very imperfect idea of the whole;,
unlefs he be completely informed of the nature and
connexions of it.
Firft therefore of the Neva. This river, the
advantages whereof alone would make the fituation
of St. Peterlburg ineftimable, flows in the direction
above defcribed through the town into the gulf of
Cronftadt, forming, by two arms thrown out from its

EMBANKMENT OF THE NEVA. 1$
its right fhore and their ramifications, the feveral
iflands before mentioned. The main ftream, which
for diftiriction fake is called the Great Neva, is
in breadth from a hundred and fifty to two hun
dred fathoms and bears {hips of moderate bulk.
*The left fhore of it, which, as the reader will
recollect, runs uninterrupted, is, from the Foun-
dery to the corner of the Galeerenhofe (the fpace ex
cepted which comprifes the Admiralty-wharf ) an
extent of about one thoufand fix hundred and
fifty fathoms, furnifhed with a quay of granite.
This grand work, which, in regard to utility and
magnificence, cannot be paralleled except per
haps among the ruins of antient Rome, owes its
production to the late emprefs Catherine II. The
height of the bank, which is raifed on piles, is
ten feet above the water-level, having a foot pave
ment a fathom broad, and a parapet to the river
two feet and a half in height and a foot and a
quarter thick. At ftated diftances are double
flights of flairs for landing and taking up water,
having femi-circular feats at top for the repofe of
paffengers. Every thing here named and defcribed
is entirely of hewn granite.
It may be eafily imagined that the left bank of
the Neva, by this facing, muft be one of the moft
fumptuous ornaments of the city. And indeed if
the comprehenfive mind of Catharine erected here
a monument of ufeful magnificence, wealthy in
dividuals have vied with each other in rendering
i the

i6 bridges across the neva;
the vicinity of it a monument of expenfive taffe
The row of houfes along the quay, inhabited
moftly by englifh merchants, would not fuffer by
a comparifon with any ftreet in the world. — I fhould
anticipate my defign were I to call the reader's at
tention to the picturefque and beautiful fcenes
which are prefented to the view by a walk on this
quay. Let it fuffice, that he knows the ftafion
whither I ftiall by and by attend him, not merely
as a dry topographer.
We will now crofs over to the right fhore of the
Neva, which_. from the quarters on that fide be
ing fo badly built, has nothing peculiarly remark
able. Along the Vyborg-fide, the river has no
embankment; but on the coaft of the Peter's-
ifland the waves of the Neva lave the granite baf-
tions of the noble fortrefs; The ihores of Vaffilly-
oftrof are partly encafed with timber, which is
probably to be exchanged for a granite quay, as
this diftrict, being generally fpeaking well built, is
mature for fuch an embellifhment.
The great Neva is traverfed by two bridges
of pontons ; one whereof connects the Stikhof
with the Vyborg-fide, and the other the firft ad
miralty-quarter with Vaffilly-oftrof. All the
bridges that are thrown over the Neva and its
arms being of the fame kind and conftrudtion, I fhall
only defcribe the latter, which from its fituation
is the moft remarkable, as forming the principal
connection between the moft populous and beft
diftrias

/ VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. If-.
diflridts of the town. This bridge is in length a
hundred and thirty fathoms, and refts on one and
twenty barges, built exprefsly for this purpofe,
each being held in its place by a couple of anchors.
To let ftiips through, two drawbridges are made,
which are opened only in the night. The mecha-
nifm of thefe bridges is fo fimple, that, on the
coming down of the floating! ice in autumn, they1
can be taken to pieces in lefs than two hours, and
the public is deprived of the ufe of them only a
very fhort time before the freezing of the Neva.
As foon as the ice is fixed, they are again put up,
and remain till the fpring for the fafety and con
venience of the inhabitants. On the breaking up
of the ice of the Neva at that feafon of the year,
they are a fecond time taken afunder, and only re-:
inflated when the ice of the Ladoga has floated
by, which frequently takes between four and fix
weeks in paffing.
The point of view from this bridge affords as
interefting a profpect as can any where be feen.
The confidejrable breadth of the river, the.-mag-
nificent quay extending along the left bank of it,
the elegant row of houfes on either fide, the
view of the fortrefs, the golden fpires of the
churches, the grand ftatue of Peter the great, boats
rowing to and fro, ftiips lying feveral together
at anchor or paffing with full-fpread fails — then
the noife of the carriages rolling by, the heavy
loaded carts, and the numerous pedeftrians who
c are

l8 ICE OF THE NEVA.
are walking for bufinefs or pleafure — all thefe par
ticulars here meet in one whole, that may indeed1
be feen and felt, but can neither be painted nor
defcribed. While we are fpeaking of the communications
of the Neva, we muft not omit the vaft covering
of ice, which nature fpreads in winter over this
river, and whereby the bridges may be difpenfed
with for a considerable part of the year. The
time of this remarkable change has been already
obferved : here I fhall only fpeak a few words of
the phenomena that attend it. The congelation
of the Neva is announced by the appearance of
fmall flakes of ice, driving about on the-furface
for feveral days, which gradually increafe, then
ftop and freeze together. Thefe revolutions fre
quently fucceed each other fo rapidly, that a man
may go over the river by water in a boat, and in a
few hours afterwards come back on foot dry-fhod.
When once the ice is fixed, foot-paths and carri
age-roads are fmoothed upon it, and marked out by
leafy branches .of fir ftuck upright along the fides
refembling a row of trees. Thefe curious roads,
which can only in thefe climes be fo fafe that in
driving along them we even lofe all idea of the
great navigable river beneath us, are extremely be
neficial to the public in fhorteningthe way between
places. By the number of vehicles and tra
vellers that pafs over them they acquire fuch a
degree of condenfity, that they may ftill be tra
velled

ROADS ON THE ICE* If)
veiled without danger when the ice all about is
full of holes. Not only in town or on fmall tracts
are fuch winter ways in ufe, but the common Car
riage road from Peterlburg to Cronftadt runs down
the Neva in a direct line over the gulf; it is like-
wife marked out with fir-branches_ arid by the
fide of it are feveral guard-houfes and a bating-
booth. — In fpring, when the fun difplays its ef
fects, the fnow-water accumulates on the ice ; and
fo long as this remains apparent there is no dan
ger : but when the water difappears and the furface
becomes grey, the breaking up is at hand, which
ufually comes on with a wefterly wind. The roads
hold faft the longeft; fo that it is by no means
uncommon to fee people walking over, at the
fame time that boats are parting and repaffing only
a few paces from them. The common people are
entirely heedlefs of this danger, frequently en
countering it on the moft trifling occafions. The
police officers endeavour to cool their wanton cou
rage by threats and ftrokes of the cane, while
fome young Englifhmen, perhaps, on the quay are
encouraging them by wagers and rewards.
The arms of the Neva' are no otherwife re
markable, than by having floating-bridges which
ferve to keep up a free communication with the
feveral quarters of the town, even the moft re
mote. We will now return therefore to the left
bank of the Neva, where objects of a fuperior or
der will attract our attention. c % , The

20 PRINCIPAL CANALS.
The great triangle of edifices situate on this
fide of the river is interfeited by three principal
canals, forming the fame number of, indeed
not very regular, femicircles, one within another.
If we take our ftation fo that we have pur back to
the Neva, and then proceed up one of the large
ftreets called perfpedtives, we come firft upon the
moika, which forms the leaft femicircle, then
upon the katarina-canal, which embraces the
Moika, and at laft on the fontanka, which with
fts more regular femicircle includes them both.
The Fontanka is properly inclofed by a larger arch,
formed by the town-ditch and the Ligova-canal,
but thefe latter are of little confequence.
An accurate defcription of the turns and con
nections of thefe canals would be tirefome and ufe-
lefs to the generality of readers. I lhall therefore
confine myfelf to fome general account of what
they have peculiarly remarkable.
The moika was formerly a morafs-ftream, and
was dug out in one of the late reigns. Its bed is
fhallow, and in fome places choaked up with mud :
its fides are lined with timber, and in its courfe
it makes many windings. The ftreets. on either
hand of the canal are confequently narrow; an
inconvenience here the more fenfibly felt as we are
accuftomed to broad ftrait ftreets furnifhed with
good trottoirs. But what, places this defect in the
very worft light, is the circurrftance that this
canaj runs directly through the heart of the town
among

THE MOIKA. THE FONTANKA. 21
among the moft built and moft frequented dif-
tricts. Yet perhaps the foundation of this com
plaint no longer fubfifts, fince fo many of the
foreigners chufe to fettle upon it. The Moika
has feveral wooden bridges, which are named after
the coldur with which they were orginally painted.
The katarina-canal was likewife a fwamp-
rivulet; to which Catharine the fecond gave its
prefent form. It is four verfts long, feven or
eight fathoms over, and one fathom deep. Its
banks are faced with granite, forming an elegant
foot pavement, which is furnifhed with a hand-
fome railing running between granite pillars; at
ftated diftances are flopes and ltairs alternately. —
The nikolai-canal, which connects the Kata
rina-canal with the Neva, is likewife finiihed on
the fame plan. — The bridges either confift of folid
arches, or have valves ingenioufly contrived to
draw up for letting loaded barges pafs.
The fontanka is one of the greateft curiosities
of Peterfburg. This canal alio, which formerly
was no more than a ftagnant pool peftiferous to
the circumjacent district, is indebted for its fplendid
and falubrious regeneration to the late emprefs.
Its length amounts to three thoufand fathoms or
about fix verfts, its breadth to ten or twelve, and
the dtpth of its water is upwards of a fathom. ' It
is embanked, with a railing and footway like the
Katarina-canal, only that ihr. latrer is broader
here. Thefe pre-eminences, the excellent water,
c 3 and

%% THE KRUCOVA-CANAL.
and the breadth of the ftreets on both fides, prove
a powerful incitement to the fpirit of building in
the wealthy inhabitants. Already princely man
sions range themfelves by the fide of elegant houfes
belonging to merchants and others: whole districts
have been occupied with buildings within thefe
few years, and materials are continually bringing
on all hands for new erections. Thefe ftreets are
certainly as peculiar of their kind, as the idea of
their difpofition is bold, and the execution of it
noble*. — The Fontanka has five bridges, all of
granite. One excepted, they confift of ' two
arches, having between them a draw-bridge. Each
of them has four granite towers, containing the
wheels and weights for raiting the valves, and the
fame number of cylindric columns of granite, each"
bearing on iron arms two globular lamps.
The fmall krucova-canal, lined with timber,
is remarkable for a beautiful drawbridge, juft at
Its junction with the. Neva at the Galeerenhofe,
which has a plain column of granite at each of its
four corners, two fathom and a half in height and
four feet in diameter, refting on a bafe of four
* In order to give fome ftandard for judging of this idea
find its execution, I fliall only obferve here with M. Georgi;
that every fathom of this embankment with granite, betides
ftie excavation of the river, befides the foundation of piles,
find befides the expenfive bridges, coft at firft 1 83 rubles ; which
fam went on mcreafing till latterly 300 rubles were paid for
each fathom, cubic.

NUMBER OF HOUSES. 2,3
cubic feet. The pillars and their bafes are hol
lowed out for containing the machinery by which
the draw-bridge is wound up and down as by
clock-work. We are now acquainted with the ground plot of
St. Peterlburg. If I have fucceeded in my attempt
to hold up to the reader's imagination a fenfible
picture of thefe dry objects, he will have a com
petent idea of the advantages and peculiarities
of it.
About and between thefe feveral rivers and
canals, ftands the great mass of houses, in the
clofer contemplation whereof we are now to be
employed. According to the enumeration made
in 1787, there were found to be 3431 houfes, of
which 1291 were of brick, and the remainder of
timber. This number is only apparently fmall, as
the fpace they occupy op the whole is uncom
monly large, and almoft every brick houfe is of
four ftories. The proportion of the brick build
ings to the timber feems likewife fmall; bur, as
the former are all much larger and loftier, it may
be taken for granted that more than half of the
population of Petersburg live in brick houfes : at
leaft they might if fo much room were not fcri-
ficed in them to convenience and oftentation.
The difproportion is however leffened from year
to year, partly by the devaftatiohs occafioned by
fires, to which the wooden buildings are always
moft liable, partly by the fpirit for building which
c 4 here

24 WOODEN HOtfSES.
here prevails, and partly by the orders and regu
lations of the magistracy. No wooden houfe is
allowed to be repaired, or if burnt down to be
rebuilt; only in the out-lying quarters of the
town an exception to this rule1 is now and then"
made. The good effect of this practice to the
embellifhment of the town is manifeft from a com-
parifoh of two periods during the late reign. In
the year 1762 the brick houfes were^6o, and thofe
of wood 4094; in 17S7 the former had increafed
to 1291, and the latter diminifhed to 2140. This
truly furprifing fact occafioned it to be faid, that
Catharine II. received Peterlburg of wood, and
would leave it of brick.
The timber-houses are generally built of,
round balks laid one on another, and morticed
together at the angles, having the interstices
crammed with m'ofs and junk. To give them
a fomewbat better appearance, the outfide is often
cafed with boards and painted according to the
fancy of the owner. A wooden houfe ufually con-
lifts of cellaring from four to feven feet high, and
is feldom of more than one floor. Thefe dwellings
eafily conftrufled and peculiar to the northern na
tions have feveral advantages by no means trifling.
They are extremely warm and comfortable in win
ter; the building of them cofts but little; on brick
foundations they will laft threefcore years and more;
from the fimplicity of their conflruciion they admit
of any conceivable alteration in point of form and
convenience -3

BRICK HOUSES. 25
convenience; and, in fhort, they are even tranfport-
able. In Mofco there are certain markets having
houfes for fale, requiring only to be put together;
or an additional room or two may be bought and
carried home for annexing to the prefent houfe. A
houfekeeper who thinks of moving to another part
of the, town, not only takes his furniture but his
houfe along with him; and fets it up on the fpot he
has'chofen for his new place of abode. Theie and
feveral other advantages juftify the preference
given by the natives to wooden houfes; which in
deed is carried fo far, that people of good fortunes,
efpecially at Mofco, frequently build a wooden
dwelling- houfe for their particular ufe adjoining to
their brick manfion.
The brick-houses in St. Peterlburg are gene
rally built with great tafte and a proper regard to
convenience, but not with equal folidity. They
- are entirely of brick, not of brick and timber
together, ufually confifting of only t»o ftories,
feldom lefs, and ftill feldomer more. There are in
deed houfes of an extraordinary height, but, as in
regard to habitation luxury is here more ftudied
than in any other place that I know, fo the fame
elevation which at Paris, for example, is fufiicient
for five ftories, is here employed only for two.
Moft of the houfes being built on the italian plan
of architecture, have a bafement ftory, rifing but
little above the level of the pavement, and is fitted up

26 BRICK houses. '
up as apartments for the upper fervants, or let out
as lavkas, or fliops for petty wares. This bafe
ment ftory is now generally built of granite, and
produces a very noble and fubftantial effect. The
fronts of the houfes are in an excellent ftyle and dif-
play uncommon tafte, only at times overloaded
with ornaments, being no lefs fubjeft to the do
minion of fafhion than the forms of drefs. The,
tafte at prefent runs upon columns, and as long as
that lafts it will be carried to excefs like every
other reigning mode. Thefe structures being al
ways of brick, covered with ftucco, the outfide is
wafhed with fome particular colour: formerly the
favourite colour was yellow or pink . at prefent it
feems to be green and cafe au lait. The coverings
are fometimes of fheetiron, fometimes of caft iron,
occasionally of iheet copper, which, befides their
duration and fecurity, prefent an agreeable view,
when, as is now frequently done, they are painted
green or red. Tiles are only ufed for out-houfes
and the meaner fort of buildings. The roofs,
according to the beft rules of architecture, are
nearly flat. That gables are no where to be fecn,
will be naturally fuppofed of a city fo recently
built. In the internal construction and accommodation
of the houfes (I fpeak not of the palaces) con
venience and luxury are as much confulted as in
any city of Europe; a concern which the feverity of

Number of streets. 27
of the climate here indeed renders more neceffary
than elfewhere. Almoft all the capital private houfes
have a vaulted gateway, under which, protected
from every kind of weather, the family or their
vifitants get into or alight from their carriages ;
fpacious court-yards, able to contain feveral hun
dred fathoms of fire-wood, and yet leaving room
enough, for the waiting equipages of the company ;
broad ftone ftair-cafes, antiehambers for the fer
vants of the guefts, large dining-hails, balconies,
&c. A more circumstantial defcription of the
interior eftablilhment of the houfes will be found
in one of the fubfequent fections.
The number of streets amounts certainly to
upwards of a hundred and fifty, if we reckon
with them all the connecting lanes [pereulki*] and
the lines on Vaffilly-oftrof. Their primary ad
vantages are regularity and width, They run ab-
moft all in direct lines interfering each other at
right, obtufe, and acute angles. Thefe inter
changes and the diversity of the architecture are
far more agreeable to the fight than the monotonia
fymmetry of the ftreets at Mannheim, and fuch
as_are built on that plan. Vaffilly-oftrof forms an
* Every ftreet connecting two or more of the principal
ftreets together is called a pereulok. However, we are not to
fuppofe them narrow, crooked, or obfcure lanes and allies,
fince they all run in Straight lines as well as the other ftreets.
and many of them are as broad as the fineft ftreets of London
PF Paris, ( exception

28 PRECINCTS OF THE TOWN.
exception to this general remark; three long per-',
fpectiv'e ftreets are there interfered at right angles1,
by twelve ftreets, which are called lines, and num
bered according to the rows of houfes, fo that
every ftreet has two lines. The breadth of the
Peterfburo ftreets is from fix to fifteen fathoms ;
but the broadeft of all is the great perfpedtive on
Vaffilly-oftrof, which is thirty fathom wide.
Several ftreets are likewife remarkable for their
length; as for example the Nevfki-perfpedtive,
which begins at the admiralty, and. after a courfe
of more than four verfts, terminates at the mo
naftery of St. Alexander Neviky.
With all my apprehenfions left this fection
ftiould infenfibly become a mere dry piece of to
pography, yet I would fain make the reader ac
quainted with the civil diftribution of the refidence.
By the police ordinance of the year 1782, it is
divided into ten precincts, each containing
feveral quarters, which are here, according to the
ruffian denomination, called quartals. Thefitu-:
ation of thefe primary divisions is generally deter
mined by the natural boundaries formed by the
river and the canals ; confequently it will not be
difficult for me to give the reader a fenfible notion
of it, even without the neceffity of referring to a
plan. It may be recollected that the town forms
an irregular triangle to the lefc of the Neva, bor
dered by that river and the city-foffes, which
triangle is interfected by three principal canals.
The

DIVISIONS OF THE TOWN. 2<)
The fpace between this fhore of the Neva and the
Moika is called, the first admiralty-quartal —
between the Moika and the Katarina-canal, the
second — and between the Katarina-canal and the
Fontanka, the third admiralty quartal.-*— The
part lying beyond' the Fontanka, on the Neva, is
called the stickhof; below the Stickhof, along
the Fontanka, lies the moskofskoi ; and along
the Ligova-canal, the roshestvenskoi, to which
the Yffimfkpi-quarter adjoins. The vassillio-
strofskoi, the petersburgskoi and vyborg-
skoi, are already known to the reader from what
has been faid above. Each of thefe precincts con-
tains,onan average, above twenty thoufand perfons;
and may therefore be considered as a feparate town
as well in regard, to its population as to its fcite and
other particulars.
The first admiralty-quarter is in the centre
of the refidence. It is the fmalleft, but likewife
the moft elegant and completer! of all. What the
Quartier du palais royal is to Paris, this quarter is
to St. Peterlburg: the heart of the city, in which
luxury and wealth have eftablifhed their feat, dif
fusing themfelves around with increafing energy
to the remotest borders of -the town; the centre of
amufement and bufineis, the brilliant refort of
pleafure and fafhion. Within its circuit are three
and twenty structures of the firft magnitude, of
which the imperial winter palace is the moft
confpicuous. The

30 ' IMPERIAL WINTER-PALACES
The coloffal fize of this edifice, being 450 englifh
feet in length, and 350 in breadth, the magnifi
cence which reigns within and around it, thetreafures;
of coftly works and curiofities of every kind that are
here collected, render it the moft striking object of
the refidence.
The outfide of this palace, which, including
the Hermitage, occupies the fpace of a fmall town,\
is impofing by its huge mafs, but is not remark
able for any elegance of architecture. The ftyle
"and the exuberance of decoration fufficiently betray
the period in which it came into being. The
whole height, amounting to feventy feet, com-
prifes only a bafement floor, with one grand ftory
and an entrefol. The fituation of this palace
is truly majestic. In front of it ftands a mag
nificent crefcent of fuperb buildings, forming
a larger fpan than is to be feen in any other capital,
and behind it flows the beautiful Neva within its
granite banks. The left wing, to which the Her
mitage adjoins, has,, by means of a projection, the
profpect of the great MilHone, one of the finest
streets of the city ; and on the right ftands the
admiralty. The lower ftory, from the multitude of inter-
fecting arches and colonades, refembles what we
read of the palace of Dsdalus. and a man must
have wandered feveral times among thefe laby
rinths, ere he can learn his way out without a
guide. Several of thefe paffages are entirely dark, and

HERMITAGE IN THE~PALACE. 3 1
and almoft all of them, for want of an adequate
number of lamps, have a melancholy appearance.
Ot the numerous ftaircafes that lead from this
bafement into the main ftory, the grand flight of
marble is remarkable for its magnificence and the
grandeur of its architecture.
The: fecond floor contains the imperial chapel,
the hall of audience, the jewel chamber, feveral
fuites of rooms for mafquerades and affemblies,
with the apartments of the fovereign and the im
perial family. As the former are diftinguifhed by
the moft exquisite magnificence and fplendour, we
were not lefs furprifed at the noble simplicity that
prevailed in the peculiar apartments of the late
emprefs. Setting afide the value of the paintings
and other works of art, placed there for the grati
fication of intellectual luxury, Catharine the fecond
was no better provided in point of furniture than
numbers of her opulent and wealthy fubjects.
_To the left or eastern fide of the winter palace
is annexed the hermitage, an edifice consisting
of two diftinct and fuperb buildings, both connected
by covered galleries with the winter palace. This
temple, which Catharine raifed to focial recreation
and unconftrained amufement, is perhaps the only
one that has. ever been devoted by a crowned head
to this purpofe. Every fentimental enjoyment
found here its altar, whereon the exalted prieftefs
of the temple maintained the facred fife with nice
difcernment and moderation, round which the
6 elect

3a court theatre.
elect of her confidential circle affembled. Though
the treafures of art and induftry belong not properly
to the prefent chapter, yet it is hardly poffible here ;
to omit a fliort fpecification of the curiofities of
this palace. Here is- the private library, the pic
ture gallery, Raphael's gallery (a faithful copy of
that in the Vatican) a grand collection of prints,
a cabinet of medals and coins, collections in mine
ralogy and natural history, a variety of ingenious
models and other performances, of art; with a
cabinet of antique and modern gems, not to men
tion the elegant works that every where falute the
eye. Difperfed around are placed the bulls of
great men, as in a temple of merit. Some of the
apartments are devoted to mufical entertainments,
fome to billiards and other games. One of the
courts is formed into a pleafure-garden, which,
being raifed on vaults, is heated during the winter,.
A fine wire net being drawn over the whole, beau
tiful and rare birds of various kinds were feen
continually flying among the trees and bullies,
which Catharine ufed frequently to feed with her
own hand. — A covered way leads from this magic
temple into the court theatre, in which, like-
wife, at the reprefentations only a felect company
appeared. The exterior of this fumptuous edifice
is ornamented with columns and coloflal ftatues of
the grecian, rornan and ruffian dramatists : in the
inner difpofition an elegant simplicity prevails. The
ftage being not remarkably fpacious, fuch grand
* operas

the marble palace."1 33
operas as require much machinery cannot be well
reprefented here. The hall for the fpedtators is
not partitioned into boxes, but forms a feries of
femicircular fteps, gradually growing narrower,
covered with cloth, and every other of them fur-
nifhed with cufhions, on which • the fpectators are
feated. It was in this large palace, raifed by the emprefs
Elizabeth, though firft inhabited by Catherine II.
that the latter monarch difplayed through her long
reign that magnificence and liberality which made
her court the admiration of foreigners and obtained
for her the just eulogiums of all literary travellers.
It was here likewife that flie ended her days on the
4th of November, 1796.
The fecond thing worthy of? attention in this
quarter of the town is the marble palace. This
ftrudture, perhaps the only one of its kind ' for
magnificence, forms an oblong quadrangle, at the
narrower end whereof a court yard is compofed by
two projecting wings, one ftanding on the fide
towards the Neva, and the other towards the Mil-
lipne; the back front being feparated by a pereulok
or crofs ftreet, from the adjacent houfes. The
main front has another fpacious court, inclofed on
the wing-fide by an iron railing, partly gilt, and
bounded in front by the manege of the palace.
Placed in fo excellent a fituation, it is greatly to be
lamented that the principal facjade is not turned
towards the river, where it would have an incom-
b parably

34 the marble palace.
parably grander effedt. ,. As the wings, which in
breadth are not perfectly equal, are raifed at the
narrower fide of the edifice, the fpace contained
fjy the court yard is but fmall, and on account of
the bluifh colour of the marble, is not fo light
as could be wifhed for the effect of the view. Yet
the folid magnificence which every where fhines
and aftonifhes in this palace, leaves the fpedtator
no time for attending to this defect. The gigantic
pile towers aloft in three ftories, the lowermost
whereof is of granite, the fuperftructure being of
grey marble decorated with colums and pilafters of
a reddifh marble. All that the eye furveys is either
ftone or metal. The window-frames are of caft
brafs highly gilt, and the large panes of looking-
glafs. The balconies on the two grand fides to the
Neva and to the ftreet, are provided with baluf-
trades of brafs gilt. Even the roof rests on iron
bars, and is covered with fheet-copper. — A de-
fcription of the infide cannot furely be here ex
pected. The prodigies of inchantment which we
read of in the tales of the genii are here called
forth into reality, and the temples raifed by the
luxuriant fancy of our poets may be considered as
a picture of the marble- palace, which Jupiter,
when the burden of cares drives him from heaven,
might make his delightful abode.
This palace, built originally for Gregory Orlof,
at his death devolved back to the empress, arid
during her life it remained uninhabited; but her
6 fucceflbr

STANISLAUS PONIATOFSKY. '_$
fucceffor Paul, having invited Staniflaus Ponia*
toffky king of Poland to St. Peterlburg, gave
him this palace for his refidence ; and here, by a
lingular turn of fortune, he terminated his trouble-
fome and inglorious life.
Staniflaus Poniatoflky began his political career
by being envoy at Peterlburg from the court of
Warfaw. Endowed with a fine figure, gallant
and witty, no wonder that he pleafed the youthful
Catharine, who admitted him to a participation
in all her amufements. Peter III. would fome
times disturb them in their pleafures, though he
was little inclined to jealoufy, and preferred his
pipe, his bottle, his foldiers and his miftrefs, to
his amiable wife. It is well known, that Catha<-
rine, on becoming emprefs, proeured the crown
of Poland for her lover. His difaftrous reign is a
proof, that when love beftows a crown it is as blind
as favour in distributing pofts and authority. Sta
niflaus was the moft amiable of men, and the mean-
eft of kings. It is aftonifhing how a man fo pufil-
lanimous' as he could captivate for a moment the
esteem of Europe; and yet how often has he been
made the subject of admiration ! What eternal
contradiction between his fentiments, his fpeeches
and his conduct ! At the laft diet he convened, the
generous nuncio Kamar faid to him publicly, on
feeing him hefitate : " How, fir ! are you not the
fame perfon, who, at figning the conftitution pf
the third of May, made this declaration to us :
D % May

36 STANISLAUS PONIATOFSKY.
May my hand wither ere I fubfcribe any aB in oppo-
fition to this ! All Europe accufes you of being
Catharine's king: juftify her at Jeaft for having
crbwned you, by fhewing her that you know how
to reign !" And yet the unworthy Staniflaus, a
few days afterwards, figned the agreement that
difmembered Poland for the fecond time, and by
which he formally avowed that he had been
merely the head of a faction and a rebel, by
eftablifhing an equitable conftitution, which gave
htm, as king, greater authority, and promifed his
country more liberty and happinefs. If at that
period he had at leaft abdicated a dignity:which he
v/as dilhonouring, he would have excited- the con
cern of mankind . but, acting as he did, he only
raifed their contempt. He was neither fit to be a
king nor capable; of making a manly furrender of
the regal office ; he had not even the fenfe and
fpirit of the clown in the farce, who, when his
hat is on the point of being taken from him by
force, and he can no longer defend' ir, throws it
on the ground, faying : There; take it! He rather
cho'fe to drag out his old age in fcorn and con
tempt, and come to Peterlburg to end his days in
humiliation. Of all the favourites of Catharine, Staniflaus
was the only one whom fhe took pleafure in
humbling after having exalted him. The honour
and the patriotifm which feetmed for a moment to
ftruggle in' the heart. of the king with gratitude and

GREGORY ORLOF. 37
and fubnjiffion, were a crime in the eyes of the
haughty tzaritza. She was indulgent in love, but
implacable in politics, as pride was her ftrongeft
paffion, and as in her the lover was always kept in
,fubjedtion by the emprefs.
Gregory Orlof, whofe career of favour was fo
long and fo brilliant, and whofe history is fo
materially connected with that of Catharine, feemed
to fhare in the throne on which he had. placed her.
In him were combined all the powers and all the
honours which have fince been feen to decorate
Potemkin and to burden Zubof. He had much of
the haughtinefs and the temper difplayed by the
former. Though young and athletic, his brother
Alexius, of herculean force, and in ftature like
Goliath, was affociated with him in his particular
attachment to Catharine, at that time in the full
vigour of youth. She had by Gregory one fon,
acknowledged, named Vaffilly Gregorievitch Bo-
brinfky, whom fhe caufed to be brought up in the
corps des cadets, where admiral Ribas, then a
teacher in that corps, was appointed his tutor.
Two handfome maids of honour, whom madame
Protaffof, firft lady of the bed-chamber, brought
up as her nieces, pafs likewife for daughters of
Catharine and Orlof; it was for th$t celebrated
favourite that fhe built this gloomy marble-palace
in the front of which towards the river fhe had the
confidence to caufe this infcription to be cut : From
grateful friendfhip. She had alfo a large medal
d 3 ftruck

38 THE SENATE, THE ADMIRALTY, &C
ftruck to his honour, onoccafion of his journey to
Mofco for quelling the disturbances and expelling
the plague. He. is reprefented on it in the cha
racter of Curtius leaping into the gulf, with'this
infcription: Ruffiatoo produces fuch children.
The] COLLEGE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, the POST
offices, the senate, and the loan-bank are
among the public buildings, which either from
their magnificence or their architecture deferve
to be reckoned among the moft remarkable objects'
of this quarter of the town, and the number
whereof is augmented by thirteen palaces of noble
men and a multitude of other beautiful and large
houfes. Among thefe the moft confpicuous is the
crefcent confifting of three fuch palaces built by
the late emprefs facing her winter palace. The
particular excellencies of thefe are their coloffal
magnitude, the noble fimplicity in their ftyle of
architecture, which is relieved only by a couple of
enormous marble columns at each of the three
entrances, and lastly the fituation of thefe ftruc*
tures which reciprocally adorn and are adorned by
the imperial palace.
A very important rank in the topography of this
quarter of the town is alfo maintained by the
admiralty; though, to judge by its exteriot, it
feems unworthy of the neighbourhood in which it
ftands. Surrounded by palaces and temples, Ihine;-
ing with inarble and gold, it would be difgraced by

CHURCH OF ST. ISAAK. 39
by its earthern ramparts, were not the trained eye
of the fpedtator compenfated for this defect by its
fine lofty tower from which it fnrveys the ftreets
diverging from it as radii from their centre, and
efpecially that called the Great Perfpedtive of at
leaft five miles in length. The building itfelf is
an oblong fquare, remarkable for nothing but its
ugly appearance. The fide of the admiralty next
the Neva occasionally prefents the inhabitants of
the refidence with a magnificent fpectacle; here
being the wharf and dockyard from whence fhips
of war of fixty to a hundred guns are built, and
every launch is a great holliday. The land fides
are furrounded by an earthern rampart, mounted
with a hundred cannons, which are fired on court
and church feftivals, and announce to the public
remarkable events.
The only grand church of this quarter of the
town, that dedicated to St. Isaak, which was
intended by the late emprefs to be the moft fuperb
of all the refidence, was not completed in her
life-time. It is erected, like the marble-palace on
a bafement of granite, the fuperftructure being
formed both within and without, of marble,
jafper, and porphyry. The building of it, which
at the deceafe of Catharine, had been upwards of
fix and twenty years in hand, was completed to
the top of the walls, and a beginning had been
made with the dome. Her fucceffor, impatient
d 4 to

AO THE SUMMER-GARDENS.
to fee the edifice complete, has, to the admiration
of all who are not acquainted with his imperial
tafte, caufed it to be finilhed of hick.
The summer-gardens likewife*, or the prin
cipal public walks, lie within the bounds of this
admiralty-quarter. By their primary deftination
they belonged to the imperial fummer-palace,
which was a large wooden building, lately pulled
down by the prefent emperor, for the purpofe
of erecting on its fcite a magnificent church in
honour of the archangel ^Michael, in confe-
quence of a vifion in which that celestial champion
appeared, as mentioned in an imperial ukafe, to
the wife and magnanimous monarch. The gardens
which are now entirely devoted to the public, will
be defcribed in one of the following fections; only
we cannot here omit to mention the balluftrade,
which has for fome years been one of the principal
ornaments of the town. This fumptuous work of
art forms the boundary of the fummer- garden,
running in a line with the houfes on the bank of
the Neva, and confifts of fix and thirty maffy
columns of granite, connected together by an iron
palifade of exquifite workmanfhip, defigned and
* According to Mr. Georgi they had this curious appel
lation from their fhady walks, or in contradifhn&ion to
the winter-garden at the other palace: but it is more i pro
bable that they were originally called, the gardens of the
fummer-palace, whence arofe the above corrupted denomi
nation. executed

four public squares. 41
executed by a Swede. The colutfms are two
fathoms in height, and their diameter exceeds
three feet. They reft on granite pedeftals of fix
cubic feet, and are ornamented at top by a regular
interchange of urns and vafes. The huge maffes
of ftone, the wonderful ingenuity difplayed in the
iron work, the ornaments whereof are highly gilt,
the connection of the whole with the fuperb edifices
ranging at eithei end, and the view of the Neva
with its granite quay, confer advantages on this
part of the refidence, which perhaps cannot be
matched by any of the magnificent capitals in
Europe. The first admiralty-quarter has four public
squares, which, though they poffefs great ex
cellencies in" various particulars, yet are in want of
more beauties to render them worthy of their
ftation. An exception to this remark is the
palace-square, which on the whole is well
built, though very unequally. Its prodigious
magnitude is however the moft material as well as
its moft neceffary advantage, as on court-days and
on public occasions feveral thoufand equipages are
here affembled. The form of this public place is a
fomewhat irregular femicircle, having for its ground
line the winter-palace. To the right of this palace
ftands the admiralty, opposite the crefcent, and to
the left a row of houfes running straight to the
crefcent, all together agreeably meeting the eye,
but by the inequality of their height forming a
contrail:

*_ PUBLIC SQUARES.
contrast with the before mentioned ftructures. —
The PLACE ADJACENT TO THE SUMMER-GARDENS
is remarkable for nothing except the heavy monu
ment lately erected to the memory of field-marlhal
Romantzof. Its rural afpedt, as it is all covered
with and partly planted with trees, is relieved by
the vicinity of the marble and other palaces.—
The Isaak-place, on which the church of that
name is built, is in the form of an obtufe triangle ;
it is inclofed by handfome houfes, and promifes to
be one of the foremoft of its kind when the wooden
erections, that are tun up for the ufe of the work
men employed in the building of the church of
St. Ifaac, no longer disfigure it. — The PeterV
PLAce, in fhort, is, both from its beauty and
its deformity, the moft remarkable of all. Its
form is not to be defcribed, for in truth it is with
out form, and void ; it has for boundaries the Ifaac-
place, the admiralty, the Neva, and the fenate.
On going from the Ifaac-place, we come directly
to a fmall morafs canal, the wooden bridges where
of, da not exactly correfpond with the grand view
we are prefently to meet : here begins the Peter's-
place, which gradually widens till its larger fide
abuts upon the Neva. In this pofition, to the
right we have the admiralty, to the left the fenate.
Difagreeable as the impreffion is which thefe ugly,
partly ruinous, and in many places unbuilt boun
daries, make on our approach, we almoft imme
diately forget them, when the eye with furprife is
ftruck

THE NEVSKI PERSPECTIVE. 4*
ftruck and tarries with delight on the grand living
picture formed by the noble river, the paffing
fliips and boats, the thronged bridge and the
oppofite fhore of Vaffilly-oftrof bordered by pa
laces and fumptuous houfes. On this place ftands
thejuftly famous monument of peter the great,
concerning which I have the lefs occafion here to
dilate, as fo much has already been faid of it*.
The concburfe of people, horfes, and carriages,
here never ceafes, as the bridge is the central point
at which feveral quarters of the town concur. It
may be confidently affirmed, that this place would
be abfolutely the only thing of the fort if the
improvements that are talked of were once brought
to effect: that is, if the admiralty was transferred
to Cronftadt, and in its place a large palace built
for the government colleges . if the fenate were to
be enlarged, the little wooden bridge^ converted
into a marble one, and connected with the fenate
by a colonade of granite.
In this quarter of the town originate three
straight, long and beautiful streets, called Per-
fpectives, becaufe from all points of view, they affprd
^a profpedt of the admiralty's gilded fpire. Of thefe
the nevski perspective is the principal. It pro
ceeds in a direct line, one little turn excepted,
from the admiralty to the monaftery of St. Alex
ander Nevfkij and in breadth it may vie with the
* See Life of Catharine II, vol, iii. p. 14, 1 j, 16. fineft

44 NEVSKI PERSPECTIVE.
fined 'ftreets of Europe*. The numerous hotels
and the Ihops, which are moftly placed together
in this ftreetj occafionfuch a confluence of people,
and fuch a conftant buftle, that give it a confe-
quence which is wanting to moft parts of St.
Peterlburg, But, though the Nevfki-perfpective
be fo remarkable for all thefe 'advantages, it be
comes infinitely more fo in the light of the phi
losophical fpedtator as the monument of a wife
and enlightened toleration. One church here is
concatenated with another: protectants, catholics,
lutherans, armenians and greeks, have in this street
their feveral churches befide and facing each other.
That this quarter of the town is chiefly inhabited
by the great and the opulent, will be eafily ima
gined from what has now been faid. The quay of
the Galerenhof and that of the winter-palace are
among the beft and choiceft districts, and are
accordingly occupied by magnificent houfes be
longing to the great men of the court, or wealthy
merchants. Rents in this part of the town are
higher by one half than in any other, and even
the price of provisions and other neceffaries are
much enhanced by the readinefs wherewith the
luxury of the inhabitants complies with the moft
exorbitant demands.
* It is atleaft half as wide again asQxford-itreet in London.
See the plate. In

SECOND ADMIRALTY^QUARTER. 45
In proportion as we remove from this central
point, the city acquires a more calm and civic
afpedt, the longeft and brbadeft ftreets excepted,
in which the hurry and tumult extends to the
extremeft confines of the town. — The principal
public edifices of the second admirAlty-quar-
ter are the new court^stables, the college of
medicine, and the opera-house. This laft is a
large maffy structure in a noble fimplicity of ftyle,
in the conftruction of which regard was had to all
the requisites of its deftination. It ftands in a
fpacious open place, furrounded with good build
ings, and from its regularity pleating to the view,
and traverfed'by the Nicolai-canal. As this the
atre is peculiarly designed for great operas, the
internal accommodations are adapted to that end,
and it is competestly furnifhed with all the proper
kinds of machinery. The room for the fpedtators
contains lour tier of boxes, which however are not
in general advantageoufly difpofed. In the centre
of the lower tier is the imperial box, projecting far
beyond the reft, under a canopy furmounted by
the ruffian eagle. The houfe is capable of con
taining upwards of three thoufand perfons. As a
precaution againft the dangers that may arife from
any accident by fire, here are eight feveral ftair-
cafes having fixteen doors opening outwards, and
under the roof are four large refervoirs of water,
with feveral engines and an ample provision of
buckets. Within

46 tfHIRD ADMIRALTY-QUARTER^
Within the precincts of this quarter of the
town ftand two of the moft considerable greek
churches. In the church of The mother of god
of kaZan, containing her figure which is held in
the higheft honour, the folemn thankfgivings for
the fuccefs of public tranfadlions are ufualty cele
brated, at which the fovereign is occasionally
prefent in perfon. The church of nicolai, till the
church of St. Ifaac was finilhed, was reckoned to
be the fineft in all the refidence. It confifts of two
ftories, whereof' the lower may be heated in winter.
Its five cupolas are richly gilded.
The greateft curiosity of the third admiralty-
quarter is the new bank, perhaps the moft
elegant building in all Peterfburg. It confifts of
three diftindt compartments: the middle edifice, as
the main body of the whole structure, ftands back,
by which means a courtyard is formed, and this
being inclofed to the ftreet by a handfome iron
railing, produces an elegant effect. Two covered
corridores connect the main building with the fide
edifices, the former as well as the latter having
two ftories over the bafement and magnificent
periftyles. The noble fimplicity of the architecture
and the impofing mafs of the whole are of the moft
exquifite workmanlhip.
Of the churches in this quarter, only the
catholic and the Armenian are deferving of our
notice ; both are more confpicuous for the tafte
difplayed

the styckhof. 4y
difplayed in their structure than for their grandeur
and magnificence.
The fecond and third admiralty-quarters contain
eight moftly very considerable private mansions.
On the whole, the inhabitants of this diftridt belon"g
chiefly to the trading- claffes. Here are the greatest
number of mercantile houfes and Ihops, the banks,
and the government tribunals. If therefore we
here meet with fewer palaces and brilliant equi
pages, on the other hand the crowd of bufy people
is fo much the greater.
The styckhof is more extenfively built, and
more folitary. Calmer industry, more moderate
eftablifhment and military llobodes, people this
part of the town principally with laborious arti
ficers, peaceful confumers and foldiers. Two or
three of the great ftreets form an exception to
this, in which beautiful houfes and noble manfions
range befide each other, and the bufy fwarms are
as great as any where. Here belongs the great
Styckhof-ftreet, which by its vicinity to the guards
is extremely cheerful. This likewife is highly cha
racteristic, that in the above-mentioned and feveral
other quarters of the town we hardly meet with a
military uniform that is not d?sly to be feen in the
Styckhof. — Among the public buildings of it, ths
arsenal is the moft remarkable. It forms in
three ftreets an open quadrangle of three ftories,
k built in a grand ftyle, and has an appearance
of dignity, correfponding with its defign. To the-
Styckhof-

48 v THE TAURIDAN PALACE.
Styckhof-road it has a magnificent portico, and
the roof is ornamented with trophies and alle
gorical figures of excellent fculpture. Oppofite the
main front on the other fide of the street is a large
fquare court, filled with piles of cannon balls and
bombs. Remarkable of itfelf and from the viciffitudes
k has undergone is the edifice that was formerly
the pantheon, of prince Potemkin, which the
emprefs Catharine II, afterwards purchafed and
destined for her autumnal palace, and is now by_
her fon and fucceffor converted into barracks.
This fuperb edifice, which has fince been called
the tauridan palace confifts properly of no
more than one ftory; but the body of the building
having wings extending to the ftreet, has, over
the grand portal fupported on columns, two fh>
ries, covered at top with a large cupola. The left
wing was greatly lengthened by the late emprefs
by a feries of additional buildings, taking in one
entire ftreet, fitted up as dwelling-houfes, oran
geries, and the like. She likewife changed the
whole interior of the principal structure, and aug
mented it by a theatre. Above fifteen hundred
men were employed in this work, which was even
profecuted during the night by the light of torches,;
as the emprefs had refolved to make it her refi
dence the enfuing autumn. Not having feen
thefe alterations, we lhall only deliver here what it
contained. upon its former difpofition. On

the tauridan palace. 49
On entering the main edifice we come into a
ibacious hall, to which on both fides adjoin the
feveral apartrhents. In front is a paffage fur-
rounded by pillars leading to a quadrangular vesti
bule of extraordinary magnitude, and enlightened
by the windows of the fecond ftory. Round it at
a confiderable height runs a gallery defigned for
the orcheftra, and provided wi£h an organ. From
this veftibule we proceed between a double row
of pillars into the principal faloon. If it be pof
fible to excite in the imagination by any verbal
defcription the fame impreflipn which the fight of
this gigantic architectural temple produces, it can
only be done by the moft fimple and artlefs phra-
fcology. Let the reader then figure to himfelf a
hall upwards of a hundred paces in length, pro
portionately broad, having a double colonade of
colofial pillars. At about the middle height, boxes
for the company are constructed between thefe
columns, decorated with filk curtains and feftoons.
In the paffage formed by the double row of co
lumns, hang at ftated distances luftres of cut-glafs,
the lights whereof are reflected by two mirrors of
extraordinary magnitude, one at each extremity.
The hall itfelf has otherwife neither ornaments
nor furniture, as being intended for grand fefti-
vities; but in the two femicircles inclofed by walls,
in which the colonades at each end terminate,
stand two vafes of carrara marble, which by their
uncommon dimensions, and the excellence of their
e workmanlhip,

5© THE W*INTE'R-G"ARDEtf.
workmanfhip, correfpond with the grandeur and
magnificence of the whole. — Along one fide of
the veftibule is the winter-garden, an enormous
structure difpofed into a garden, only feparated
from the grand hall by the colonade above de
fcribed. As from the fize of the roof it could
not be fupported without pillars, they are dif-
guifed under the, form of palm trees. The heat
is maintained by concealed flues pradtifed in the
walls and pillars, and even under the earth leaden
pipes are conveyed, inceffantly filled with boiling
water. The walks of this garden meander amidft
flowery hedges and fruit-bearing Ihrubs, winding
over little hills, and producing at every ftep frelh
occasions for furprife. The eye of the beholder,
when weary of the luxuriant variety of the vege
table world, finds recreation in contemplating fome
exquifite production of art : here a head from the
chifiel of a grecian fculptor invites to admiration;
there a motley collection of curious filh in cryftal
vafes fuddenly fixes our attention. We prefently
quit thefe objects in order to go into a grotto of
looking-glafs, which gives a multiplied reflection
of all thefe wonders, or to indulge our aftonifli-
ment at the moft extraordinary mixture of colours
in the faces of an obelilk of mirrors. The genial
warmth; the fragrant odours of the nobler plants,
the voluptuous ftillnefs that prevails in this in-
chanted fpot, lull the fancy into fweet romantic
dreams; we imagine ourfelves in the blooming groves

THE VOSKRESENSKOI CONVENT. 51
groves of Italy ; while nature funk into a deathlike
torpor announces the feverity of a northern winter
through, the windows of the pavillion.— In the
centre of this bold creation, on a lofty pedestal,
flood the ftatue of Catharine II. furrounded by
the emblems of legiflatrix, cut in carrara marble.—
It has been thrown Out of the building, on its beipg
made into barracks.
Of the churches in the Stykhof that of sf . anne
belonging to the lutherarts, is confpicuous for
its excellent architecture. — On the Fontanka,
one fide whereof belongs to the third admiralty-
quarter, and the other to the Stykhof, houfes and
palaces are yearly fpringing up in increasing mag
nificence. As the Ruffians no\v build with more
tafte and elegance than formerly, it is eafy to
forefee that the row of houfes on this canal will
in a fliort time be one of the moft fplendid parts
of the city.
Small and inconfiderable as the roJestveuskoi
quarter is., it however contains two great curiofi
ties* a monaftery and a convent ; the only ones in
the refidence, and both celebrated for their valuable
contents. The voskresenskoi convent was originally'
a palace belonging to the emprefs Elizabeth, and
formerly inhabited by her. It at prefent goes
under the name of the inftitute for the education
of young ladies, and the buildings have been
greatly enlarged to anfwer that purpofe. They
e 2 all

J2 THE NEVSKY MONASTERY..
all together form a large quadrangle, farrourtded
by a lofty wall, and in the centre ftands the great
church belonging to it.
The MONASTERY OF ST. ALEXANDER NEVSKY
contains in its fpacious circuit the mansion of the
metropolitan,, a monaftery for fixty monks, five
churches, a feminary, &c. The famous fhrine of
St. Alexander, confifting entirely of wrought maffy
filver has been lately put up in the extremely
elegant church conftructed exprefsly for that
purpofe. Among the public buildings of the moskofsky
quarter the imperial yAgerhoE or huntfman*s
lodge, deferves particular notice. It ftands in the
open country, without the buildings of the town;
it was jufl finilhed by the late emprefs, and was a
krge and noble edifice. The prefent monarch has
converted it into barracks. Its outward form is
quadrangular, fo conftructed as to make a half
circle within fide, and relieved by ornamental
columns. — The town-hospital is likewife
worthy of remark from the grandeur of its
architecture. Thefe two quarters are not yet completely built
over, containing a considerable number of garden
grounds, with here and there ftreets that are not yet
paved, nor are they much inhabited by foreigners.
The fame may alfo be faid of the yjemskoi
quarter, which comprifes nothing fufncietoly re
markable to merit a particular defcription here.
Vassilly-

the academy of arts. 53
Vassilly-ostrof is the feat of commerce and
©f learning. The exchange and the academy of
fciences Hand on this ifland. The better diftricts
are inhabited by merchants and literary men, the
latter only in part; and the land-eadet-corps, with
its numerous population, holds a principal rank in
the eharaeteriftics of Vaifilly-osbof. The remoter
lines* are moftly built with wooden houfes, gradu
ally becoming worfe and meaner in their appearance
the nearer we approach to the confines of the part
of the ille already built on. Here people live as in
the country; in the view of the fpacious gardens
and the rural profpects we fhould be apt to forget
that we were in a large and magnificent capital,
were we not rouzed from the agreeable deception
by the diftant rattling of carriages and the found
of the bells. Indeed this ifland affords us the moft
lively image of the rapid growth of the city Here
at once is foreft and morafs, village and hamlet,
town and refidence. Of the laft fpecies is Vaffilly-
oftrof, efpecially on the fhore of the Neva over
againft the admiralty-quarter.
Here ftands the academy of arts, one of the
moft elegant structures in all Petersburg. Farther
up, the coaft is lined with the fpacious edifices
of the land-cadet-corps ; and the eastern pro
montory of the ifland is adorned with the three
* Rows of houfes fo called. Qn the -Vaffilly-oftrof, every
firee): forms two lines, which are all numbered, the firft line,
the fecond line, &c. e 3 large

54 THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
large houfes which form the academy of sci?
ences, fumptuoully built and partly decorated
with columns, at the extremity of which appears
the new exchange. This latter, if it ever be
finifhed, promifes, from the situation and the
model, to be one of the fineft buildings of the
kind. At prefent the merchants meet in the old
wooden exchange, which is remarkable for nothing
but the meannefs of its appearance. In this
district is alfo the cuftom-houfe, that immenfe
magazine of the Peterlburg commerce. Along
the lhore, which is furnilhed with a wharf of
timber, a part of the fhips that arrive from
abroad lie at anphor, whereby this fpot is rendered
uncommonly lively, and is therefore frequented
as an agreeable promenade.:: — Among the numer
ous churches fituate on Vaffilly-oftrof, the lutheran
church of st. Catharine is principally con
fpicuous for its architecture, defigned partly from
the model of the temple of concord.
The Petersburg quarter of' the town confifts
of feveral iflands, which can only in part be
reckoned as belonging to the city, as fome of
them are but little built upon and are covered
with foreft. — The petersburg-island has indeed
no fumptuous edifices to boaft of, but it contains
the mother of all that exift in the refidence, the
FIRST WOODDEN COTTAGE OF PETER THE GREAT,
over which is erected a brick building on arches
to preferve it from the weather, as a facred relic 'of

ISLANDS OF THE NEVA. , $$
of that monarch. This ifland is moftly built
upon, though only with timber; and its ftreets
are not all paved. — Petrofskoy-ostrof, befides
a fmall wooden fummer houfe belonging to the
prefent emperor when grand duke, has nothing
worth mentioning, and is partly covered with
trees. — Of the fame dfefcription is the apqthe-
cary-isl and, which has its name from the garden
upon it belonging to the medical college. On
ihis ifland are feveral fmall country houfes, ferving
the inhabitants of the town for their fummer
refidence. — Another petty ifland, without a name,
is built upon with hemp warehoufes, on which
account there is conftantly in fummer a fleet of
barks and veffels collected about it. — Kammenoi-
ostrof, belonging to the grand duke, has upon
it an elegant villa, an hofpital for invalids, and a
number of charming country feats. — The ifland
yelagin, fo called from the name of its owner,
is embellilhed by art, and made to referable a
large englifh garden. Here is a country feat, a
fmall neat temple, a winter garden, &c. — Krestof-
skoy-ostrof, the largest of thefe iflands, belongs
to count Razumof Iky ; and, though lefs transformed
by art, is,however,on account of its beautiful prof-
petts, procured by the noble viftas; and walks,
and the fhores of the fuirounding ifles, very much
frequented by the inhabitants of the city. — The
laft and greateft curiofity of this quarter is the
citadel, which ftands on an ifland in the Neva
_ 4 four

_6, THE CASTLE OR FORTRESS.
four hundred fathom long and half as much ia,
breadth, near the Peterfburg-ifle, and a little above
Vaffilly-oftrof, therefore about oppofite to the
marble palace. The date of its construction is,
memorable in the hiftory of the refidence, as
marking at the fame time the hirth of the city
itfelf. In the year 1703, when Peter the Great
caufed an earthen rampart to be thrown up here,
could he forefee that this hamlet, confifting of a
few filhermen's huts, would, within the courfe
of a century, be garnilhed witb temples of marble
and gorgeous palaces? Even his rampart of mud
has met with a brilliant lot, being by the late
emprefs cafed on the Neva fide with blocks of;
granite. The fortrefs has two gates: one towards the
Peterfburg-iiland, to which it is connected by a,
drawbridge, and another towards the Admiralty
fide, to which the only accefs is hy water. The
regularity of the structure, the walks., and the
folitary fituation of it, give the infide of the for
trefs a great similarity to a monaftery. The moft
ftriking edifice within the walls is the church of
St. Peter and St. Paul, which owes its origin like-
wife to the famous tzar. It ftands in an open
place nearly in the centre of the whole enclofurej;
the church, contrary to the general cuftom, has
only one lofty cupola, and a tower fifty fathora,
in height:, furnilhed with a chiming clock, for
which torty-fiye thoufand ruhles were paid hy Peter the

THE VYBORG QtTARTER. _J
fhe Great. The fpire is twelve fathom high, gilt
with ducat gold, affording a beautiful object from
feveral points of view. This church contains th?
bones of its celebrated founder, and feveral of his
fueeeiTors. — Ampng the other curiofities of the
paftle we muft note the imperial gold and filver
affay offices and the mint.
Laftly, the vyborg quarter has the most rural
appearance of all ; as, befides the ftreet along the
bank of the Neva, it is only occupied by cottages
of the peafantry, and its fmall population is chiefly
employed in rural industry. Notwithftanding this
characteristic, it numbers two grand manfions
among its buildings. One of them belonging to
the late count Befborodkoj, ftands on the 'Neva, is
furrounded on both fides by colonades, which form
an amphitheatre, andhas a beautiful englifh garden.
The other of thefe villas, remarkable for its curious
ftyle of architecture, is fhe property of count
Stroganof, and has likewife extensive gardens. —
One place in this quarter of the town, which
Jhould at leaft be mentioned;, is the wharf for
merchant lhips.
Thus have we completed our hafty furvey.- We
have run through the feparate parts of this enor
mous whole upqn a very limited plan of obfer-
yation . the remarkable objects we have met with on
our way, are only the prominent flowers of a vaft
garden, which may be plucked without trouble
and taken away. _The greater and more ufeful
•' parts

gg ORIGIN OF PETERSBURG.
parts of it yield an immenfe flore of fruits, the
blooming excellencies whereof we muft be content
to admire at a diftance, as our barns are too little
to bold them, A new field, not lefs delightful,
now invites our view; but, fatigued by the journey
we have juft performed, we will reft for a moment
among the marble columns where we ftand.
The wonders of art, which are colledted'around
us, cannot efface the features of infancy from the
physiognomy of the whole. — Thefe prodigious
piles of ftones, thefe temples and palaces, thefe
canals, thefe bridges are the work of our times,
of our generation, and are a fpeaking testimony of,
the omnipotence of human abilities.
On the marfhy fhores of the gulf of Finland,
under an inhofpitable fky, buried in fogs and
fnow, flood a miferable village, inhabited by fifh-
ermen, gaining their fcanty sustenance from the
produce of the fea. At the command of a prince
this rude and favage fpot, abandoned by nature,
and deferted by mankind, is converted into a
receptacle of the arts, the refidence of his majefty,
the cradle of the nurture of his civilizing nation.
Human powers and human induftry extort from
nature what fhe had refufed to beftow, noxious
fwamps now fwell into beneficent canals, the rocks
of the adjacent wilderneffes are piled into ftately
monuments and gorgeous palaces; fhips from the
remotest countries visit the untried feas, the colony
of the frozen north becomes the feat 'of luxury, the

CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS. J0
]the fource of light, the mart of commerce for the
world-like ruffian empire; and — the period of
one human life was fufiicient for accomplilhing
this miraculous production. JVJore than one for
tunate old man was the contemporary of Peter's
bold defign and Catharine's greater execution.
Indeed this cololfal monument of human energy
is not without example. Adrianople, Palmyra,
and Stambul immortalize the names of their
founders, and are the records of the ages in which
*
they lived. But, favoured by nature, and under
the benign influence of a generally dilfeminated
civilization, it was lefs aftonifhing that thefe proud
princely feats attained to that magnificence and
grandeur which renders the memorial of them im
mortal in hiftqry, and ftill allures the admirers of
the beautiful to their ruins.
Alas, to their ruins ! They are departed; thefe
haughty monuments of antiquity: ought we to
hope for a better fate? — After ten centuries are
elapfed perhaps fome Iroquois may write a treatife
on the ruins of the northern Palmyra, and quote
authorities from the fragments of my book ! _

CHAP.

( #a >

-CHAP. II.

the circumjacent country-
The Petethof road. Its conftruH'ton. Charming profpefts front
it. — Strelna. Ruins. — Peterhof. Situation. Artificial vja-
ter?iuorks. Bath. Elegant cottages, — Oranienbaum,. Her
mitage. Coach-hill. Artificial lake. Little fort. — Crqnftadt,
JFiew qf the harbour. Granite piers. Peters canal. Docks,
-Jfev canal. Magazine. Inhabitants, — Yhp Ts^axftqe-fih
rqai. — Qquri-hunt, -- Tfcktfmh^ Gaflevy qf princes. — Tzar-r
fkpe-felo, Iti territory and circuit. View of it: Thefquare,
The palace, The gardens. Monuments. — Pavhvjk. —Ma*
rknihal. — Gatcbina. — Tfy Schtuffelburg road. -- Afexan*
4rofJk,—PelIa,
IF the curiofities of the city have excited. and
kept up our attention and admiration in -no ordi
nary degree, we may promife ourfelves not lefs
gratification in travelling over the circumjacent
country. Ever the fame groupes but always on a
varied fcene ; juft the fame triumph over natural
obftacles, but to a different aim ; always the fame
aftonifhing expence of human labour, but with
different refults. Here our view is fixed on the
victory of art over the difficulties of her province,
there at the ftubborn refinances of nature. In fo
unequal a conteft the iffue cannot always be alike: all

THE PETERHGtf ROADv 6t
all that can be required is fulfilled, if art, un-
conquered by more potent nature, equally with
her maintains the field.
With this standard in our hand, we Ihall do
juftice to the objects which are now to be fub-
rnitted to our furvey. What art could furmount
file has furmounted ; where nature could be affifted,
flie is affifted: it muft however be confelfed, that
amidft thefe artificial miracles, we mifs that fuli-
nefs, that prefling and crouding of the organized
creation, which only a benignerfun can cherilh into
being. There is always wanting to this parsimo
nious distribution of gifts, that frelhnefs of co
lour, that life, that bloom, the genuine marks of
the indigenous : confined by art beneath a foreign
iky and to a foreign foil, they only feem to lament
the happier place of their nativity.
The plan of our travels about the region of St.
Peterfburg is extremely fimple. The curiofities
of it range themfelves to our accommodation in
three main roads ; which, departing from the
refidence, we will continue to follow, fo long as
they shall prefeat us with objects that merit our
attention. We will firft take the peterhof road, or the
great road to Riga ; but ere we caft a look at the
furrounding objects, we will juft take a fhort
view of its competition and straetute. This road
is eight fathoms wide; on each fide runs an ele*
vated caufeway with a dfeep ditch lined with stone,
connected

$£ THE Pfcf ERH0# ROAD*
connected with the road by crofs gutters arched
with bricks Wherever it is interrupted by canals
or water courfes, ftone bridges are thrown over
them, with parapets of granite^ The number of
verfts is marked by elegant columns of granite oh
high marble pedeftals* The construction of this
excellent road was conducted by general Bauer in
the following manner. The ground being properly
leveled and raifed, three layers of materials were
laid on: the firft of gravely then fragments of
broken granite, and lastly bricks. This was again
overftrewn with gravel, and on that was fuperadded
a pavement of field ftones. For making the road
fmoother and eafier for draught, this pavement
had a covering of gravel and pounded ftones.-^
The colt of this extraordinary undertaking muft
naturally have been very great : every' verft, with
out reckoning columns and bridges, came to twenty
five thoufand rubles.
This lingular road commences at the elegant
Riga-gate, with which we are already acquainted
from the foregoing chapter. Hence, till we come
to the feventh verft, it is more like a pleafure-
ground than a highway. An uninterrupted feries
of country feats and villas ornamenting both its
fides. Magnificence and tafte, expence and art,
have here concurred to convert a wildernefs into
a paradife, the charms whereof are heightened by
the ftriking diversity of difpofitions and ideas.
Magnificent villas, dutch villages, hermitages, ponds,

THE PALACE OF STRELNA. 6$
ponds, iflands, rural profpects, in ceafelefs vreif-
litudes. The traveller, furprifed at feeing himfelf
fuddenly tranfported from the fenny forefts of
Ingria into this highway, thinks himfelf in the
regions of fairy land, where nature and art dance
in magical mazes about his carriage.
From the feventh verft we retain this concate
nation of country houfes. only on the left, as the"
road here approaches the fea-coaft, and thereby
prefehts on the right hand the view of the gulf of
Finland. Thus we arrive, amidst the greateft
variety of profpects, by an extremely entertaining
journey of feventeen verfts, at the imperial country
palace of strelna, and the firft pott station from
Peterlburg. Wilhing the travellers who take this
way to Riga, and with whom the road fwarms, a
fufiicient warmth of imagination for fweetening
the toils of their journey that await them, by the
recollection of thefe inchanting fcenes — we lhall
tarry here a little longer for making ourfelves
acquainted with the magnificent ruins which we
perceive before us in a very romantic region.
Strelna owes its origin to the founder of the
refidence; what it was under him, it ftill is at this
hour, abating the dilapidations that it has fuf-
fered by time. Remarkable for nothing but its
having never been finifhed, we will not expofe
ourfelves to the danger of being buried under its
ruins, probable as it even is, that from the pin
nacle of this decayed palace a glorious profpect
4 would

64 PALACE OF PETERHOF;
would reward our pilgrimage. Its fituation 6f3
the fteep Ihore pf the gulf, in a patt of the country
rendered highly romantic by hills and dales and
woods, the neighbourhood of a large well built
village., and the animation of the main road run
ning near it, would be always fufRcient reafons
for reftoring this country .palace, now verging
rapidly to oblivion, to a part at leaft of its former
fplendour. Hence to Peterhof the road continues for eight
¦verfts rich in variegated profpects. This imperial
villa has the fame origin and a limilar fituation
with Strelna ; but the fates of thefe two creations
of Peter the Great have hitherto been very dif*
ferent. Under every fucceflive reign enriched
with new embellilhments, Peterhof, from its na
tural advantages, ftill maintains the foremost, and,
by its artificial improvements, the fecond rank
among the imperial rural refidences.
The fituation of Peterhof is perhaps unrivaled.
About five hundred fathoms from the lea fliore
this region has a fecond cliff, almoft perpendicular^
near twelve fathoms high. Bordering on this pre
cipice ftands the palace, thereby acquiring a cer
tain peculiar profpedt over the gardens' and the
gulf, to the ihores of Carelia, to St. Peterlburg*
and to Cronftadt. It was built in the reign of
¦Peter the Great by the architect le Blond; but has
received under the fucceeding monarchs fuch a
variety of improvements, that it is become a fort of

PEJTERHOF GARDENS. 6$
of fpecimen of the feveral taftes that prevailed in'
each of thefe asras, the influence whereof is vifible
in the numerous architectural ornaments, which
are all highly gilt. The infide is correfpondent
with the deftination of this palace; throughout
are perceptible the remains of antiquated fplen
dour, to which is contrafted the better tafte of
modern times.
The gardens are more interesting by their pe
culiar beauties. The upper part of them, before
the land fide of the palace, is difpofed into walks,
plantations and flower beds, which acquire addi
tional elegance by a large bafon and canal, plen
tifully furnifhed with fountains of various defigns
and forms. The declivity before the back-front
of the palace, towards the fea, has two magnifi
cent cafcades, rolling their ftreams over the ter
races into large bafons, and beneath which vast
fheets of water we walk, as under *a vault, without
receiving any wet, into a beautiful grotto. The
Whole fpace in front of this declivity down to the
fea fhore is one large ftately garden in the old-
fafhioned ftyle, and famous for its jet-d'eaux and
artificial water-works. Some of them throw up
columns of water a foot and a half in diameter to
a height of two and a half or three fathoms. A
pellucid ganal, lined with ftone, ten fathoms wide,
running from the centre of the palace- faqade into
the gulf of Finland, divides thefe gardens in two.
In a folitary wood here ftands the neat fummer houfe
F called

66 PETERHOF GARDENS.
f ' ' '
called Monplaifir, which, among other things, is
remarkable for its elegant kitchen, wherein the
emprefs Elizabeth occasionally amufed herfelf in
drefling her own dinner. In another portion of
the gardens, clofe on the fhore of the gulf Hands
a neat wooden, building, formerly a favourite re,
treat of Peter the Great, as he could here,havera
view of Cronftadt and the fleet. The bath
is ,_. likewife- worthy of obfervation, fituated; in
the mid.ft of, a thicket. We enter a lar-gq
oval fpace inclofed by a wooden wall, without
covering at top, but open to the Iky and , lhad-.
ed by the furrounding treess. In this wall are
chambers and receffes, furnilhed with all that
conveniency, or luxury can require to that end..
In the.. centre of this area is a large bafon, fur-
rounded by a gallery and provided with steps,
rafts, and gondolas. The water is conducted
hither by pipes, which fill the bafon only to a cer-
tainheight. The menagerie of this country feat
contains nothing deferving notice-, but fo much.
the more interesting is the englifh garden,, in-,
genioufly laid put by our countryman Mr. Meader
in the belt ftyle of modern improvement, which
being well known to moft readers any farther,
defcription of it would feem tedious. That there.
is no want of pavilions and temples may be eafily,
imagined; a little cottage in. one part of it is fo.
contrived as to have a f furprifing effect, on the
outfide announcing the abode of poverty andr
want,

PALACE OF ORANIENBAUM. 67
want, and within is fitted up in the utmoft mag
nificence and tafte. The aftonilhment produced
at this unexpected fight is augmented by the
apparent magnitude and dimenfions of the cabinet,
whiqh are doubled by looking- glaffes artfully
concealed. — In the neighbourhood of Peterhof
is a flobode or village of wooden but well builc
houfes, refembling a neat little town.
We now pUrfue our journey eight verfts further,
which brings us to the palace of oranienbaum.
This part of the road is very agreeably diversified
with profpects. The fituation of Oranienbaum is
upon the whole like that of Strelna and Peterhof,
but the firft muft be allowed the pre-eminence for
the richnefs of its picturefqtie views, and the
pleafant rural afpedt of the country round. The
ground, which as far as Strelna was flat, and
thence to Peterhof undulated, here rifes and falls
in little romantic hills and vallies.
The country palace of Oranienbaum ftands like-
wife on a high declivity, formed into terraces, of
the above mentioned coaft, and is compofed of
three diftindt buildings, whereof the centre is
connected with that on each fide by colonades. I
pafs over the inward difpofition, not very magnifi
cent though convenient and handfome, for the fake /
of avoiding repetitions. It was built by prince
Mentchikof, and has acquired a fort of melancholy
celebrity- as having been the favourite refidence of
the unfortunate Peter III, whofe misfortunes and
S 2 final

68 GARDENS OF ORANIENBAUM.
final catastrophe are fuffickntly known. The lata
emprefs towards the latter end of her reign, trans
ferred the rnarine-eadethporps from Cranltadt
hither: this feminary is now removed to Vaffilly*
oftrof, and the prefent emperor has granted the
palace of Oranienbaum to the grand duke Alex
ander. The garden here, as at Peterhof, is divided into
the upper and the lower. The latter is only
confpicuous for its fuperb- canal upwards ofia.verft
in length, along which there is a navigation into-
the gulf and to Cronftadt. The upper garden is
laid out in the dutch manner. What is here moft
worth feeing is the folitude, built by Catharine th©
fecond while grand duchefs,. It ftands in the.
midft of a gloomy foreft, and confifts of abont
twelve apamrients, fitted up and furnished in the;
moft exquifit-e tafte. One of them is inlaid with
mofaic of paftes and artificial ftones, in anorhe*
the walls'Tire covered with enamel and. corals, fome
are decorated in the greciahy per-fian, and the chi-?'
nefe manner, and feveral of thefe ornaments were
executed by- the hand of the. late emprefs. — The
fecond object that attra&s our notice in thefe
gardens, is what is called in rufs the coach-
hill, probably upon the largest- fcale of any
in the country. It confifts of fteep declivities.-
built of timber, the higheft end being ten fathoms
above the ground, and borne upon an arch; The
impetus acquired by rapidly defceading the firft
forces

ANNIVERSARY OF PETER AND PAUL. 69
forces the carriage lip the fecond, which having
turned it is carried up a third, and fo ' proceeds
in diminilhing altitudes, with amazing velocity.
The carriages are made to contain one perfdn, or
two feated facing each other, the wheels running
in grooves to which they are fitted by the length
of the axeltree, and thus the company proceed,
not without great alarm to novices in the fport;
topping one hill after the other till the carriages
naturally flop in an elegant alcove on the hori
zontal plain. Aldng this courfe, on either fide,
is a covered colohade of a hundred pillars, whiehj
taken all together, produce an effect wonderfblly
magnificent; — Adjoining to the gardens is an
artificial lake-, on which float feveral veffels, built _,
as men of war, yachts, and gallies, contributing!"
much to the beauty of the profpedt from the
windows of the palace. Near this lake is a fmall
fortj containing within its inclofure a regular fuite
of houfes and apartments. — The village bf Ora
nienbaum, which for fome years has been elevated
to a government town, gives an animation to the
furrounding region, that greatly enhances its na
tural charms. Peterhof, as well as Oranienbaum,
notwithstanding .the incomparable advantages of
their situation, are feldom visited by the court,
though they are kept up with care and eKpence.
In the former of thefe palaces, the fovereign
ufually celebrates the feaft of St. Peter and Paul
by a grand mafquerade and illuminations, in
f 3 which

^O JSLANtf OF CRONSTADT.
which the whole public participate. A defcription ,
of this curious and uncommon feftivity we lhall
give under the head of public entertainments and
diverfions. The vicinity of cromstadt, which we fee'
lying before us, is too tempting an object for us
to omit a little fea voyage to that ifland. A
number of boats and other veffels are always ply
ing in the canal at the foot of the palace for that
purpofe. Along this canal we glide to the fea,
our boat being drawn by the failors. Here they
come to us on board, and either take to their oars
or fet up the fails, as the weather permits. The
trip from Oranienbaum to Cronftadt is feven
verfts, which in ftill weather is made in one hour's
rowing. The ifland on which Cronftadt is built bore
formerly another name, but is now called after the
town. It is about feven verfts long, and one verft
over; it is only remarkable for the town, which
ftands at the eastern extremity, Near to it lie two
fmaller iflands, known by their fortifications under
the name of cronstadt.
The nearer we approach to the harbour of Cron
ftadt, the more grand is its appearance. The
ftiips of war, frigates, and merchantmen, lie there
in fuch numbers that their malts exhibit a huge
impervious foreft — the fortifications, of gra
nite, which in bold maffes project into the term
peftuous gulf — the fpacious magazines and lofty
buildings,

HARBOUR, DOCKS, AND CANALS. 7 1
buildings, which encircle the more diftant coaft —
form a grand and pidturefque fcenery, which ; is
enlivened by 'the tumult of the bufy mariners
and the perpetual action of the coming and de
parting veffels.
The entrance' into the town is by no means
anfwerable to the expectations which this appear
ance had excited. The prodigious magazines and
works, and the few good looking hoUfes stand
amidft the rubbifh of unfinifhed undertakings as
fo many' monuments of a gigantic race among the
ruins of an earthquake. In fact, all the re mark-
able s of this lingular town are of the coloffal clafs.
Thefe baftions and buttreffes rifing out of the fea,
With their ' laborioUfly polifhed furface bidding
defiance to the furious waves, thefe ftupendous
Canals, thefe enormous machines, feem not to be
the work of our nervelefs generations.
The Peter's canal, which derives its name and
its origin from the immortal founder of Cronftadt,
is in length one thoufand and fifty fathoms, pro
jecting three hundred and fifty-eight fathoms into
the fea. Its breadth at top is a hundred fathoms,
below fixty, and is four and twenty fathoms in
depth. Adjacent to this canal, the undertaking'
and execution whereof is denoted by tWo obelisks,
are the docks, in which ten or more ftiips can at
one time be refitted. They are let in by fluices,
and the docks then emptied of water, which is
conveyed into a vaft walled bafon, from whence it
F 4 is

ya POPULATION OP CRONSTADT.
is pumped out by a large fleam engine put up by
the Charron company in the year 1772.
For obtaining a perfpicuous idea of the harbour
for veffels of war, neither the actual view nor thq
fulleft defcription would be found fufiicient: an
accurate furvey of fo extenfive a plan can only fur-
nilh a proper conception of it.
Another grand undertaking which was begun and
brought to fome degree of forwardnefs by the late
emprefs, and was only interrupted by her death,
was a canal, by means of which fhips of all mag
nitudes are enabled to take in their stores for the
fleet immediately at the gates of the magazines.
This canal, which is nearly completed, is like all
the reft lined with mafonry; and4 in proportion as
the work proceeds, enormous ftore-houfes rife on
both its fides. It might be poffible to ftate the
ienfible particulars of this uncommon undertaking,
but the impreffion made by the refult of human
powers under this destination can only pafs into
the mind by fight.
The population of Cronftadt cannot exactly
be afcertained by reafon of the continual arrivals
and departures ; on an average, however, it is
estimated at thirty thoufand perfons, of whom a
Very considerable part belongs to the fleet. The
peculiar fituation of the town, which, infulatedin
the gulf, has during the whole of the fummer
only a communication by water with the circum*
jacent country; the dependence thence arifing for
6 its

THE TZARSK0E-SEL0 ROAD. 73
its fupply of provisions; the mixture of fuch a
variety of nations and claflfes of people ; of which
the rudeft is the moft numerous, the prevailing
fashion, which is, generally at least, modified by
thefe particularities — all thefe circumstances to
gether are fufiicient to explain the phenomenon
that fo few people are apt of their own accord
to chufe this insular town for the place of their
abode; We haften back to the refidence, in order from
thence to fet out upon a fecond journey. This
we do straight up by water, without crofting over
to Oranienbaum; and the delightful profpects of
the fhores, with their thick forefts and the view
pf the palaces we have been defcribing, with the
variety of noble manfions and villas at every inftant
burfting on our fight, render it a very pleafant
voyage of about thirty miles. The route we now
take is along the tzarskoe-selo road. In its
formation it is exactly like that to Peterhof, having
likewife the verfts marked by columns of marble,
jafper, and granite. On the fides of this road are
eleven hundred globular lamps, which are lighted
on public occafions, when the court is at Tzarfkoe-
felo. Here alfo we have the profpedt of feveral
gardens belonging to private perfons ; though
neither in number nor beauty and variety are to
be compared with thofe on the Peterhof road.
The firft object of notice that prefents itfelf on
our prefent tour* is the imperial yjjsgerhof, which

74 -'palace OF TSCHESME. >
which though ftill in the mofco quarter, yet ftands
in the open plain to the left of the main road,
and which we already know from the foregoing
chapter. — Somewhat farther on, between the fixth
and feventh verfts, rife the turrets of tschesme,
from a marlhy plain covered with oziers. The
palace, which has the form of a triangle, is built
entirely in the gothic ftyle, with old gothic or
naments, lofty windows, painted glafs, fmall tur
rets. The infide of it is remarkable for a Very
excellent collection of portraits of all the reignihg
families of Europe about the year 1775, the greatet
part of them prefented by the illustrious perfon-
ages themfelves, and among them are mafter-
pieces of the firft rank. The court yard is fur-
rounded by the apartments of the officers belonging
to the palace, and likewife contains a fmall gothic
church. The country round, as far as it belongs
to the domain, is mostly laid out into an englifh
garden. Pursuing our journey, we come through a
German village, which, from the number of
its houfes, is called the colony of the two and
twenty ; and hence we continue our route, with-
¦. out meeting with any remarkably interesting ob
jects, for two and twenty verfts, when we reach the
chief of alf the imperial country feats.
Tzarskoe-selo, the famous fummer refidence^
of Catharine the fecond, is fituate in an open,
pleafant reg'ion, diversified by little hills, meads and
woodlands.

APPROACH TO TZARSKOE-SELO. f_
woodlands. The fpace of the whole domain
contains four hundred and twenty thoufand fquare
fathoms. This princely feat owes its origin5 to
Catharine the firft, and its enlargement and em-
bellifhment to Elizabeth; but it is indebted for its
completion in elegance and tafte, and the greater
part of its prefent magnificence to the creative
reign of Catharine the fecond.
We are now in a fmall wood within fight of the
palace. On the left we have the park wall, and
before us the entrance on the Peterlburg fide. It
confifts of two portals compofed of blocks of fand-
ftone in the form of rocky fragments, over one of
which is a chinefe watch-houfe. ¦ By this paffage
we enter the fore-grounds of the palace, having
the gardens to the right and a ehinefe village to
the left, through which the way leads, over a
chinefe bridge, to the park. Before us lies the
road to the little neighbouring town Sophia, which
goes through a coloflal gate of caft iron. The
-court of the palace forms an amphitheatre of
buildings oppofite the grand facade, clofed on
each fide by an iron palifade. Along the eaft fide
of the garden ftands a flobode of two rows of Well
built houfes, as apartments for lodging and erW
tertainment. The outfide of the palace is extremely ftriking
from its magnitude, and its numerous gilded or
naments in a manner dazzle the> eye.' It confifts
of three .ftories, and has On each fide a wing Hand ing

76* PALACE OF TZARSKOE-SELO.
ing back, one being the imperial chapel, and the
other bath-rooms. The centre is the habitation
of the monarch. A ma'rble ftair-cafe here con-
dudts us to the fecond ftory, in which are the ftate
rooms to the fide of the palace court, and the
fovereign's apartments towards the garden. Moft
of the former are fo fat fuperior, by their richnefs
in valuables of every kind, and by their tafte
and magnificence, to every thing that 1 have feen of
the kind in other countries, that I am abfolutely
without the means of comparifon. A catalogue of
thefe objects will not here be expected, fince, if it
were fully to anfwer its end, it would take up a
peculiar work of feveral volumes. Only it cannot
in this place be paffed over, that Catharine the
fecond, amidft the creations of her great mindj
devoted to folitude and calm reflection a fmall
neat temple, in which, furrounded by books and
the beauties of nature, at times retired from the
imtnenfe fphere of her activity, fhe might indulge
in the filerit joys of humanity.
Adjoining to the fouth wing of the palace runs
an arcade fifty fathoms long* over which is a
covered colonade of marble columns. —The gar
dens are laid out in the englifh manner; and the
excellence of them may be eafily coneeived from
their large extent, and by the flandard afforded in
this and the former chapter.
Among the curiosities of thefe gardens, that
admit of a defcription, the following objects may
principally

GARDENS OF TZARSKOE-SELO. 77
principally be reckoned. A fmall temple con
taining an exquifite collection of antique and mo
dern ftatues; a folitude for dinner-parties, like
that in the hermitage; a magnificent bath; a
coach-hill, fimilar to that at Oranienbaum ; pic-
turefqye ruins ; a fmall town to commemorate the
taking posTeffion of Taurida, &c. Two artificial
lakes are connected by a running stream, croflfed
by an arched bridge, covered at top by a roof
refting on two rows of marble columns, on the
model of the bridge at Stowe. On one of the
iflands in thefe lakes ftands a turkifh mofque, on
another a fpacious hall for mufieal entertainments.
In a thick fhrubbery we come upon a pyramid
in the segyptian form, in the vicinity whereof are
two obelifks.
Tzarlkoe-felo, the majestic fanctuary of art and
nature, is at the fame time a magnificent temple
of merit. Formed of the rocky foundations of
the earth, here the monuments of great achieve
ments tower towards the Ikies, fearlefs of the de-
ftrudtive viciffitudes of time. A marble obelilk
reminds us of the vidtory near Kagul and of the
victor Romantzof Zadunaifky. To the day of
Tfchefme" and the hero Orlof Tfchefmenfkoy- a
marble column on a pedeftal of granite is devoted".
A grand triumphal arch proclaims the patriotic
.ardour of prince Orlof with which he faced rebel
lion and the plague in the capital, and quellec$
them both. The victory in the Morea and t-hfr
name

78 GARDENS OF TZARSKOE-SELO.
name of Feodor Orlof are handed down to pof-
terity by a roftral column. — Plain and gigantic
as the fentiments of -the heroes whofe memory is
perpetuated in thefe maffes of rocks, they stand,
fur-rounded by the charms, of nature, who foftens
her majefty through the veil of artlefs graces.'
The awful filenoe which reigns within the inclb-
fure-of this temple of. Fame, fets ".our imagination
on -the wing, which foars from the fenfible re
cords of moral grandeur to the fublime idea of
perfection. .
Such is the imprefliQa with which we quit the
fummer refidence of Catharine..' — Whichever way
we turn, the utmost exertions of art are visible,'
to which hard-hearted nature feems to have only
yielded after the moft obftinate contention. The'
./Egyptians, who fet their captives to labour, and
the Romans who defpoiled all nations to embellilh
Rome, executed works of immenfe defign.! The
free Greeks diftinguifhed themfelves more by the
tafte and elegance of their edifices than by their.
dimenfions. ; Ruffia not; long fince was the Onlyt
country capable of undertaking and executing
fuch aftonilhing constructions as we admire in the-
antients, becaufe the people there are Haves and
coft nothing more than black bread, and garlic as ¦
among the ^Egyptians: thence it is that we fee in
Mofco and St. Petersburg fuch gigantic edifices.
Yet there is not even a proper highway to unite*
thefe tvyo capitals of the empire, the, moderate '
:, diftance

PALACE OF PAVLOFSK, 79
distance of two hundred leagues: this was one of
the abortive projects of Catharine; and the part
which is already begun ferves no other purpofe
than to render that tirefome road ftill more tin-
cornfortable. Her fucceffor Paul, fo far from
finilhing the moft ufeful works begun by. his
mother, as the quays, the canals, and the high
ways, raifes, in his turn, churches and -palaces;
though there are already more than fufiicient for
all the imperial highneffes in the world, and all the
faints, in paradife. But the edifices he erects in
greateft number are houfes for exercifing his fol-"
diers in, barracks,* guard-houfes, and above all
things fentry-boxes. Happily all thefe buildings
are of wood, and will fcarcely laft longer than
their builder.
From. Tzarfkoe-felo to Pavloffk, a palace be
longing to the prefent emperor when grand duke,
is five verfts acrofs a livelyand pleasant landfcape.
To a traveller of fentiment, the quick tranfition
from the region of magnificence and grandeur into
the fphere of chearful tafte and apparently artlefs
fimplicity. muft be very ftriking. If the fancy-
there teemed to be accompanied by beings of a
fuperidr. order, it conceives itfelf here to be among
the laughing deities who inhabit the neighbouring
lawns and groves. Nought difturbs the fweet'
illufion, not even the fight of the palace. Amidst
the taoft charming productions of Flora, in one
of the moft captivating points of view in this
charming'

8© PALACE OF GATCHINA.
charming wildernefs, it ftands in majeftic fimpli
city, a monument of correct tafte, not For disturb
ing the effect of the whole, but for inhancing it
by the fentiment that nature and art have con
curred to one fole end in this elyfium. The'farnfc
conformity is manifest in the interior of the pa
lace. — The gardens, the bold irregularity where
of is. affifted by the greater diverfifications" of
nature, contain, befides the folitary cell of a her
mit and a dilapidated temple, no artificial difpo-
fition, which could here be any hindrance to the
fine effedt. — In the vicinity of Pavloflk the grand
dudhefs had built her a folitude, where the affecting
fimplicity of nature is offufcated by no intrusion
of art. The neat habitation is furrounded by
a farm, in which that amiable princefs delights
herfelf in the fuperintendance of rural occu
pations. Marien"thal is the name of this little.
romantic fpot.
/Twenty verfts • from Tzarfkoe?felo ftands gat-,
china, formerly the autumnal refidence of the
grand duke, of late the favourite abode of the,
emperor. The palace, a beautiful edifice in a
fimple ftyle, is connected with a wing on each fide
by an arcade of marble columns. Round about"
are feveral elegant houfes, which give a more focial
appearance to the whole. The characteristic here
b^pth within and without is the moft exquifite tafte.
The charming region is every where embellilhed
with new improvements, gradually raifing this
country

THE SCHLUSSELBURG ROAD. 8r
country palace to the rank of one of the moft
fuperb in Europe. The marvels of Chantilly,
which by the destructive influence of time are
running to decay in the fouth, will here be renewed
in the north.
We have now terminated the roll of remarkable
objects, to be feen on the two great outlets. It
remains for us to make a little excurfion on the
schlusselburg-road, where new and fplendid
improvements are rifing into exiftence.
The main road that leads to Schluffelburg be
gins at the monaftery of St. Alexander Neviky,
running upwards along the left bank of the Neva.
If in point of durability and magnificence it be
greatly behind the two roads we have already beeq
defcribing in the pTefent chapter-, yet in the diver-
fity and beauty of the profpects it affords, it yields
in nothing at leaft to the latter. A feries of well-
built handfome houfes, with fome little interrup
tions, adjoin this road, which give it an agreeable
vivacity, and a certain city-like appearance. Here
are fome of the moft celebrated manufactories and
workfhops of the refidence. Farther on, in a very
romantic piece of fcenery, ftands alexandrofsk,
the country feat of prince Vasfemfkoy. A hand
fome village of brick houfes here borders the high
way on both fides; and, as we proceed, we come
to fome fpacious manufactories and a church, which
ftrike the eye agreeably from the elegance of their
eonftrudtion. The view of thefe ftrudtures, the
g palace,

82 THE PALACE OF PELLA.
palace, the gardens, and a fmall farm prefent us
with a very pleafing and pidturefque fcene. We
haften over the inferior particularities of this roady
in order to reach the principal objedtof our journey,-
the imperial country feat of pella, fituate five and
thirty verfts from town, between the left bank of
the Neva and the mouth of the little fiver. Tofhau
Nothing can be more furprifing than the appearance
of this huge mafs of houfes, which by the effect of
architecture, at a distance looks like one great whole.
Several palaces and pavillions here are ranged in s
ftudied irregularity, and are connedted together by
arcades and corridores. The gardens and the in
ternal arrangement had, at the time of the deceafe
Of the late emprefs, nearly attained their comple
tion; a period, which would have placed this new
production on a level with the other imperial
palaces.

CHAP.

( «3 )

CHAP. III.

INHABT t ants.
Population. — Primitive inhabitants, Ingrians and Finns. Prin
cipal flock of the population, Ruffians. Foreign inhabitants. — -
Fertility, mortality, and falubrity. Progrefs qf the popula
tion. — Phyfical charaller of the inhabitants. — Civil con-
Jlitution. Court and city, Regijlry qf citizens. Guilds. Cor
poration. — Ecclefiaftical conftitution.
IT has hitherto been my endeavour to give the
reader a reprefentation of the exterior of St. Pe
terfburg. We have followed the plan of a tra
veller, who on his firft arrival in a city, with which
he is unacquainted, begins by gaining a knowledge
of the outlines of objedts, and during the firft days
of his flay only walks the ftreets for the purpofe-
of feeing houfes. For being. acquainted with this
city, as far as we are got at. prefent, nothing more
was neceffary than good eyes; we now proceed
to the higher, objects of our contemplation, the
people. The modifications of;their existence,
their wants, their way of life, their character, and
their peculiarities are the abundant features of
which we are to compofe the .picture -of their
race. — If the poet's obfervation be. true, that the
proper ftudy of mankind is man, it may likewife
g a fafely

84 POPULATION OF PETERSBURG. ,
fafely be affirmed that none is attended with greater
.difficulties. Happy he, who has the gift of dis
cernment to diftinguifh the true from the falfe, to
mark general features, to feize peculiarities, and
from a variety of fingle obfervations to compofe
one grand, faithful, and pleafing portrait !
The great aggregate of houfes on which we
have hitherto been employing our view, is in
habited by (o numerous, and, in a religious as
well as in a political: fen fe, fo diversified a mul
titude of people, that without a nearer infpedtion
of thefe particulars, moft of the following inqui
ries and delineations would be ineffectual and un
intelligible. Ere we take into consideration the
intellectual ftate of the people living here, we
lhould acquire a knowledge of their personal
condition; a$ the facts- that we fiialf here and in
the fequel- collect on the civil relations of them
will fmooth the way to the reprefentation of their
moral affinities.
The population of St. Peterfburg has only
of ; late been competently underftocKh- The public
is indebted for the knowledge of this matter to
the libenl views of the laft reign," during-which
proper lifts and enumerations were ordered7 to be
ma-de. The refults, which have been partly com
mented upon by pcrfons of learning - and fagacity,
will ferve as a guide to the inveftigation of this
-inlportant matter; >.'U ¦'•'
6 According

POPULATION OF PETERSBURG. 85
According to the calculations and inferences
of the academician Krafft*, in the fpace of time
from 1764 to 1780, the average of all the living
amounted to 164,000. The laft five years, from
1775 to 1780, taken alone, allows us to eftimate
the number of people at 174,778. According to
the laft cenfus it amounted in the year 1784
to 192,846, and in the year 178910 217,948-f-,
¦viz. Men. Women. Together.
Guards, artillery, &c. 30,635 5792 36,427
Fleet - 10,160 3717 135877

Military in general - 40,795 9509 50,304
Other registered in
habitants - - 107,725 59,919 167,644

Together - 148,520 69,428 217,948
As, however, there is a deficiency in thefe ftate
ments of the perfons belonging to the court, the
academies, the foldiers quartered here in time of
peace (confifting of two regiments of infantry and
one of cavalry), moreover, of all foreigners, tra
vellers, fhipmafters, and periodical workmen; as,
in short, the increafe of the population, which,
* Nova a&a Acad, icient. imp. Petropol, p. 2. 1782, pars
prior. f Georgi, p. i. p. 135. c 3 judging

86 POPULATION OF PETERSBURG.
judging by analogy from the foregoing ftatement,
muft be very confiderable, fhould be brought into
the account*, we fhould probably come neareft
the truth, if we admit the prefent [1800] popu
lation of st. Petersburg at 230,000 perfons.
This refidence, confequently, by the amount of its
population, holds the fixth rank among the capital
cities of Europe ; fince in this refpedt flie ftands
only below Constantinople, London, Paris, Naples,
and Vienna; next to her comes Amsterdam, which,
according to Peltel and others, computes about
2 1 2,000 inhabitants; then follow, in proportion to
the greatnefs of their population, Rome, Venice,
, Berlin, Madrid, and Lisbon.
The main ftock of this population, which on
the whole is compofed of the moft motley mixture
of all nations, are the Russians, who at prefent
form by far the preponderant portion Of the peo
ple, though' they are not the original inhabitants
of the region which the fovereigns of the ruffian
empire have now fixed their abode. St. Peterfburg
is therefore a colonial city; and the whole popu
lation of it fplits naturally into the following,
* St. Peterfburg,, according to thefe ftatements, from 1774
to 1789 has increafed in population about 53,948 perfons,
therefore annually about 3 596. If we allow the fame pro
portion for the three years from 1789 to 1792 we have an in-
creafe of 10,788 perfons, which, with the numeration of 1789
and excluding all the non-regiftered inhabitants, already pro
duces a total of '228^736 perfons.
6 partly

• ORIGINAL- INHABITANTS. 87
partly, again compounded parts :i original in
habitants, main ftock of the population, and
foreigners. :
' The original inhabitants of -the region, and
even of the territory on which the refidence now
ftands, are ingrians and finns. .Prefled by thejr
conquerors, and confined in the progrefs of their
civilization by national character- and conftitution,
Ahe fcanty 'posterity >of the antient inhabitants of
this country, form only one of the moft inconsi
derable portions of the prefent population. They
live either in fome connection in what are called
•the finnilh villages in and about.Peterlburg, or are,
as : fervants, difperfed and confounded in the
-great mafs of people. The number of- all the
.perfons of thefe nations in the refidence amounts
to about four thoufand.
.The Russians form the main stock of the
prefent population. By the calculation of the
academician Krafft, who takes the proportion of
this nation to the foreign inhabitants, as feven to
one, the number of the Ruffians, according to
the enumeration of 1789 would be 190,700*. But
as I have reafon tor thinking this proportion at
prefent too great, and would rather reckon it a't
six sevenths of the whole population ; I there
fore, .with :the greateft probability, and Recording
to the.-: fore- mentioned statement, fet down the
• -*"Georgi even calculates it at only four fifths or fivefixths.
Befchreibung von St, 'Petersburg, part i. p. ,133.
g 4 , number

88 FOREIGNERS AT PETERSBURG.
number of the Ruflians in St. Peterlburg at
193,000. The amount of the foreigners fettled here for
a time or in perpetuity, arifes of itlelf from this
ftatement. They compofe the seventh part of
the population, and accordingly are in number
32,000. Accurately to determine the relative pro*
portion of the feveral nations, is impoflible ; ne*
verthelefs it is manifeft from the flighted furvey,
that the' Germans are beyond all comparifon
the moft numerous; and that, next to them, the
French and swedes have the largeft lhare in the
exotic population. In order, however, to come
at a clearer knowledge of this proportion, fo inte-
refting to the foreign reader, I have, by the church-
lifts of the communions not of the greek religion,
multiplied the mean total of the baptifms by 31 as
the general proportion of the fertility of the place.
The refults of this calculation are as follow. Ther*
are living at St. Peterlburg :
17,660 Germans.
3720 Finns.
2290 French.
i860 Swedes.
930 Englilh.
50 Dutch, and
2490 Catholics, who are neither French nor
Germans, and therefore Poles, Ita-
 lians, Spaniards, Portuguefe, &©.
29,000 Here

FOREIGNERS AT PETERSBURG. 89
Here is a deficit then of 3000 perfons, of whom
the Lettes and Efthonians may form the moft con
fiderable part. The Armenians are about a hun
dred, and at juft as many may be computed the
.Georgians and tartars. The remainder is ac
counted for by the increafe of the population, by
the periodic foreigners and travellers, and by the
religious communities fettled here who have pro
perly no ecclefiaftical conftitution ; fuch as the
Mohammedans, Moravians, &c.
It is not fufEcient for the literary reader to be
informed of the actually fubfilting population: he
wants likewife to know its tendency to augmen
tation or diminution, and the caufes whence the
growth of it is promoted or impeded. This
knowledge, which is attained by the application of
the principles of political arithmetic, 'is founded
on the investigation of the fertility, the mortality,
and the falutary condition of the people. That we
may render thefe relations, fo neceffary and inte-
refting in regard to the perfons dwelling in St.
Peterlburg, apparent by a flight survey, we will
infert the following extract from the above men
tioned excellent differtation of the academician
Krafft, as amply fufEcient*.

* All the amounts here quoted are average numbers from
the comparifon of a period of fourteen years between 1 764 to
1 780. In fpeaking of periods, by the firft is to be underftood
the fpace of time from 1764 to 1770, by the fecond that from
1770 to 1775, and by the third that from 177,5 to 1780. In

90 calculations on't'hE FERTILITY
In order to difcover the fertility of the- in
habitants of this refidence, we muft learn-: how
many marriages are contracted '¦ — how many chil
dren fpring from each marriage — - and how many
perfons are born in proportion to all the living.
The amounts of the church-regifters during our
period of time demonftrate,* that' here annually of
126 perfons one marriage is contracted ; or, that
of fixty-three perfons one marries. This pro
portion, which in comparifon with other great
cities is but moderate, 'proves that here muft be a
great. number who voluntarily chufe a ftate of
celibacy. It is a Curious circumftance, that,
-'to feven widows only five' widowers enter into
fecond marriages.
From a hundred marriages it is computed that
four hundred and eight children are produced.
This proportion, which, generally fpeaking, is
very advantageous, was in the third period ftill
more favourable, as in this, a hundred marriages
produced four hundred and twenty children, which
is a great many ; as in large cities elfewhere, cal
culators commonly venture to compute only from
three hundred and thirty to three hundred and
eighty. Here likewife we find the fame propor
tion, confirmed by obfervation in all countries,
between the male fex and the female. A hundred
and five boys are born' to a hundred girls.
Now, in order to 6nd all the relations of fer
tility, it. remains only to know how many perfons are

AND MORTALITY OF PETERSBURG. 91
are bom annually in comparifon with the whole
number of the living. From the remits of our
period it appears, that we may affirm onq to be
born of thirty-one perfons. The fame proportion
likewife holds good in almoft all great cities.
We will now inquire into the mortality. —
In general, of thirty-five perfons one dies annually ;
if therefore the population of the refidence every
year obtains an increafe of a one-and-thirtieth part
of its number of people, it alfo lofes yearly a
five-and -thirtieth part of it. This mortality is,
however, extremely fmall ;. in large cities there
ufually die of a thoufand perfons forty-two, in
moderate cities thirty-fix, in fmaller thirty-one ;
whereas here only twenty--eight.
The proportion of the births to the deaths,
.hence arifes of itfelf; it being as a hundred and
fourteen to a hundred. In the laft period it was
as a hundred and thirty to a hundred. Confe
quently, the population in that period was gainer
by the exchange between the living and the dead.
At the fame time, we have here a singular phe
nomenon. Thefurplus of t,he births to the deaths
almoft entirely proceeds from the female fex; a
.circumftance very prejudicial in any cafe, which
however was confiderably diminifhed in the laft
period. From the whole fpace of time it ap
pears that the number of males who died were
- to the females as a hundred, and eighty-four to a
hundred. It

92 CALCULATIONS ON THE FERTILITY
It is of still more importance to fuch as inquire
into thefe matters to learn the mortality of each of
the feveral ages. Here we lhall And a deviation
from the ordinary rules of nature, which have
their fource either in the firmer organization, or to
ufe a technical expreffion, in the ftronger vitality,
or in the way of life and manners.
The population of all towns and countries fuffers
a great damage by this, that numbers of human
creatures defigned for exiftence are loft at their
very birth to this end and to the country. It is
proved by the refults of our whole fpace of time,
that here of a thoufand births feven are brought
dead into the world. This number, which in
comparifon with other countries is extremely
fmall, (even among the foreign inhabitants of
St. Peterlburg, of a thoufand children twenty-
five are ftill-born) has yet been gradually de
clining in the fucceflive periods. In the firft we
have, of a thoufand births ten, in the fecond
feven, and in the'third three ftill-born. This un
exampled fmall proportion is owing to the strong
and robuft bodily structure of the ruffian matrons.
Of a thoufand ruffian women no more than feven
die in child-bed ; among the fame number of fo
reign females fifteen. — Of a thoufand new-born
boys there were nine, and of an equal number of
girls five brought dead into the world.
In the firft year of life of a thoufand children
two hundred and feventy-nine die. This propor- , tion

AND MORTALITY OF PETERSBURG. 93
tion is indeed greater than it ought to be in the
general and undifturbed courfe of nature; it is still,
however, lefs than in other large cities, and even
among the foreign inhabitants of St. Peterfburg,
with whom three hundred and nine children die,
out of a thoufand, in the firft year. In this period
of life more boys than girls are loft. Out of a
thoufand, of the former three hundred and feventy
die, and of the latter only two hundred and twenty-
feven. From the firft to the fifteenth year, of a thou
fand children two hundred and fifteen die. The
mortality in this period, therefore, is lower than
that in the firft year alone. This proportion like-
wife lhews, with what maternal care nature has
provided for the natives of Ruffia. Of a thoufand
children, there die before the fifteenth year in
Sweden 279, in Stockholm 258, in London 435,
and among the foreigners in St. Peterlburg 346. — -
The mortality, which in the firft year of life was
greater with the girls than with the boys, is like-
wife fo in the prefent inftance. Of a thoufand
hoys at that age 174 die, whereas of a like number
of girls 305. Hence it follows, that of a thoufand
children of the age of fifteen, living in St. Peterf
burg, there muft be 602 boys and 398 girls.
In fliort, from the twentieth to the Gxtieth year,
of a-thoufand perfons 813 die. Till the twentieth
year the mortality in Peterlburg is lefs than in
other great cities ; but after that period it increafes in

94 MORTALITY AT PETERSBURG?.
in fo extraordinary a degree, that this lamentable
circumftance can only be attributed to fome caufe
militating* againft the benevolent intentions of'
nature. Neither by the bodily frame nor the cli
mate is this great mortality to be explained: fince
both are favourable to the duration of life, as the
periods till the fifteenth year fufficiently prove.
Nothing but the mode of life can therefore be to
blame for this political calamity; and as likewife
here the common difadva'ntages of it are peculiar
to all great cities, no other caufe remains that we
can accufe of this terrible effect, than — brandy.
The following remarks on the prevailing difeafes
will fupply us with clearer arguments in fupport
of this conjecture. For evincing the magnitude
of the lbfs fuftained by the population of the refi
dence in this period^ we will only fubjoin, that
of a thoufand perfons at the fame time of life, in
Sweden, only 516, in Stockholm 712, in London
720, and in Peterlburg even among the foreigners,
no more than 764 are carried off. ' — The mortality,
which till the twentieth year has- coriftantly fallen
more heavily on the female than the^male fex, here
fuddenly takes adiffere-nt courfe. Of a thoufand
men 856 die, of the fame number of women
only 702. ;-; ' . -. j
According to this calculation it follows, that
there can be but few*. aged people in Peteifburg.
Of 332 births only one attains the ninetieth year,
whereas by the ordinary courfe of nature upwards of

&EN_E.R_AL-STyA.TE OFnHE.AL.TH_. 9JJ
of three fhould arrive -at .that ,pene.f able age. In
the fpace of f0srente$n ,_ye|irs'^:which our calcula
tion comprehends,-, tbe-ye. are h6.wever,.thirty-nine
perfons who are above a hundred ; three of thefe.
had proceeded, to, an age, of -1,2.0. tor,ijQ. - .
. -Still we- have an inquiry to tn,a}|£ concerning the
PUBLIC STATE OF- HEALTH and, the VIRULENCE
of ?HE diseases. A long lift of the feveral fpe-
cies: of them would not be neceffary to --our; pur,-
pofe,;- yet it is an obfervation of great importance
that more than three fifths of all that die are car-
ried off entirely by the following difternpers. The
average number of all the deaths was. 461 6, and
there died annually ,1.348 perfons qf, the pleurisy,
1007 of confumption, ,and 67 ij of fever. — ; The
natural frnalbpox, which generally kills , one out
of every.fourteentha.tjare.born, takes off here only
one out of . thirty-one; and, . fince, the .introduction
of inoculatipn, only,orfe out of thirty-five.
The flandard for the progress of population
is the final refult of thefe, feveph. proportions. • It
appears from the furplus:of , the births, to the
deaths, which, -ajS>an..pxarnple, amounted in the
firft period ; of our, given fpace of time to 445,
in the fecond,,to 194, and. in.ithe third; to 1327.,
The population had , probably within this laft
period augmented onl,y, .about a tenth, but its
force, 4ts- tendency, to, increafe,,' was in the third
period, mpre than three times greater, than in the
firft, and nearly feven times greater than in. the
fecond.

96 CHARACTER of the- people.
fecond. Befides, how greatly the population of
St. Peterfburg has actually increafed fince the year
1775, is manifeft from a comparifon of the cal
culations and numberings above adduced. This
increment having gone on irr the fame proportion
fince, we may affirm that the refidence in the year
1800 Contained upwards of 250,000 inhabitants.
The physical character of this mafs of
people is not lefs various than the mixture of its
component parts. From the bodily frame of the
Russian to that of the afiatic stranger — and again
from the conftitution of the common Ruffian har-
dened by his national manners, to the corporeal
ftrlidture of the great and opulent', enfeebled by
foreign refinements, how great the diftance! Yet,
notwithftanding the diverfityof fhades, hereocca'-
fioned by education, by mode of life and manners-,
ir can never be fo very great as entirely to efface
the grand outlines and principal features which
produce the individuality of a numerous body of
people collected and preffed together into one
fpot. Hereditary differences are more material.,
However the ftamp of the mental character may
occafionally be obliterated, yet the distinctive pe
culiarities of the bodily temperament are perma
nent; and the Gerrnans of this place, for inftance,
may be like the Ruffians in language, way of
thinking and manners, yet they cannot difown the
lineage which nature has interwoven in their bodily
formation.
The

FIGURE AND COMPLECTION. 97
- The Peterfburgers are on the whole (as far as
$0 general a characterise can be true,) a large,
Compact, ftrong, lufty call of people. The in
fluence of climate on the form and organization,
which, as accurate obfervers have already remark
ed, appears to be the cafe throughout the north,
is here likewife visible, without pretending to the
gift of phyfiognOmical divination. However
beautiful the moulds may be in which the hUmari
figures here are call; they ,are rieverthelefs de
ficient in that lharp determinate cOntour, which
plaftic nature feems to draw with fo firm a hand
beneath a milder and more genial fky. Even the
nobleft ground-lines but faintly rife from the lux
uriant mafTes of flelh, in the elaftic turhiditv
whereof the finer fketches and the gentle play of
the mufcles are overpowered and loft. If thofe
advantages could compensate for thefe defects^
they are compenfated : for finer flefh, more beau
tiful fkin, and mdre charming compledtion, no
where can perhaps be feen. The general tafte,
which alfo here, as every where elfe, derives the
laws of the beautiful from the models' of elegant
nature, feems to infift On thefe properties as effen-
tial requisites to beauty, and it is probable that the
moft perfect grecian figure would not be admired
in our circlesj if unfortunately without ruddy
cheeks, and would not abfolutely prefume, on ac
count of certain advantages, to fet up a rivalfhip
with the Hebes of antiquity. This tafte is fo fixed
h , and

Xj$ ROUGE IN GENERAL USE.
and fo general, that in the ruffian langtrage the
ideas of red, beautiful, and paint, have only one
term by which they are expreffed; and it is ther'ei ,
fore highly pardonable if our ladies here, both of
high and low Condition, endeavour tO heighten
the charms of nature where Ihe has acted parfi-
monioufly towards them in the distribution of this1
prefent. In all great cities that I know, paint is'
in ufe among the ladles of fafhion ; but. here it
is carried farther, as every p'eafant's wife and
daughter paints her cheeks as Well as the countefs,
not for the fake of being in the faihibn, but in
Order to be handfome. What ladies can lay on
more paint than the wives of the ruffian merchants;
as they waddle along uhdef the burden of their
pampered, fleek, and mining collops of fat, be
dizened with all the magnificence that pearls and,
lace^can beftow !
The men are not only on the whole mote hand
fome than the wotrien, but the former approaches
nearer to the abftradt idea of the fine human fhape.
Among the officers of the guards, and more fre
quently among the country-folks that come hither
froth the provinces, are feen many bufts, that might
without difparagement be put in competition with
the Antinous. In Germany, where the general
judgment concerning perfonal beauty is not very
different from that which here prevails,, we may
often be witnefs to the approbation which the
ladies beftow on the travelling Ruffians in this
refpedt.

MUNICIPAL CONSTITUTION. 99
refpedt. They commonly, however, foon lofe the
beautiful outline here, fince the men as well as the
women, are, from various caufes, much inclined
to grow fat. — Obfervations on the physiognomy
will fcarcely be expected here ; fince, though
there fhould be peculiar lineaments prominent in
the human countenance, yet the general agree
ments of them are perhaps only to be fought
amongft entire nations, and it would at leaft be
pedantic to pretend to trace out a local phyfiog-
nomy among a fociety fo fmall and fo extremely
miscellaneous. Here then we conclude the account of the phy-
fical exiftence of this motley community. We
now proceed to the delineation of their moral re
lations, among"which the political and religious
lie neareft in the path of our refearches.
In order to form a juft conception of the civil
constitution of the refidence, we fhould never
forget, that St. Peterlburg, as being a large com
mercial city and as the feat of the court, confifts
of two distinct parts. Confidered as a city it is
fubjedt to the fame regulation as are at prefent all
the towns of the empire; as the refidence it is on
one hand the abode of the' monarch and the court,
and on the other the periodical fojourhof the qua
lity and a multitude of rich and poor, fortunate
and fortune- feeking, bufy and idle perfons, whirl
ed about in the general vortex of this numerous
hive, moftly without connection, without deter-
h 2 tninate

160 COURTIERS AND BURGHERS* ¦
minate action, frequently even without object as fo
their political being. If we add to this fecond
moiety the military, it is' then by far the. greateft
in number, as it is befides in weight and influ
ence. The court, or that numerous, and in regard to
their civil precedence, that infinitely diverfe clafs
of perfons which this term comprifes, projects
indeed in the compound idea which we connect
with the notion of the refidence, fo as in reality to
Compofe a material part of the population ; but
its conftitution is too common, and likewife too
well known and defcribed to render it an object
for this difquifition. The organization of the
military lies totally beyond its limits, and the
great multitude of inhabitants, who properly fall
under no diftindt heads, accommodate themfelves
to the public conftitution where they muft and
willingly difpenfe, with it whenever they can. It
only remains for us then to fpeak of the trading
clafs which forms the fole permanent population,
independently on the refidence, yet intimately con
nected with the civil conftitution.
The point of union of all, the inhabitants that
belong to the trading claffes is the condition of
burgher, and the oftenfible document of it is the
buRgher's-book or the regifter of all the citizens,
fet forth by public authority, who poffefs landed
property or carry on trade. The privileges of
burgherfhip (befides feveral others of lefs note,
fpecified

THE SEVERAL GUILDS. JQI
Specified in the imperial civil ordinance,) confift
in an entirely unlimited freedom of trade ; its
6BL1GAT10NS in fubmiffion to the laws of the
country, the payment of particular taxes, and
farnilhing recruits, and laftly, its organization
depends in effentials on the following institutions.
All perfons enrolled in the burgher's-book are
either fimply townsmen, who are infcribed merely
on account of their poffeffions in the city-domains,
Or MEMBERS OF A GUILD, Or laftly, FREE OF A
COMPANY. There are three guilds. To the first belong
all perfons of every age and ftation, or either fex,
who declare themfelves to poffefs a capital of ten
thoufand to fifty thoufand rubles. They of this
clafe have a right to follow maritime commerce,
to erect forges for working mines and to eftablifh
manufactories, may be owners of Ibips, are not
fubjedt to corporal punifhment, and may drive
about town in a carriage drawn by two horfes. — ?
To the second guild fuch are joined who own a
capital of five to ten thoufand rubles. They are
confined to inland traffic, may work mines, and
fet up manufactories, poffefs veffels and barks for
navigating the rivers and canals, may drive in town
a chariot and pair, and are exempt from corporal
punilhment. — The capital for admiffion into the
third guild is a thoufand to five thoufand rubles.
It is defigned for lhopkeepers and petty dealers,
can only fet up counters and worklhops, keep
H 3 public-

102 RATES PAID BY THE GUILDS.
pilblic-houfes and bagnios, and may drive in towrt
with no more than one horfe.
The rates paid by thefe guilds confift in one
percent, on the capital delivered in. The ftate
ment of it, "is left to the confcience of every
" individual; wherefore no where and on no pre-
" tehee whatever fhall any profecution be infti-
" tuted, nor any examination entered into, con-
u cernirig concealment of any capital*." The
delivery of recruits is not required in nature,
but this fervice may be performed by a fum of
money according to the fcale in a Schedule pub-
lifhed by authority for that purpofe. If, however,
a burgher, or the fon of a burgher, makes a volun
tary offer to enter into the army, he is at liberty
fo to do, and his enlisting will be put to his account
by the "corporation at the next enfuing levy.
To the guild fellowfhips alfo belong the emi
nent burghers and the guests. — Among the
former are reckoned all thofe who affirm to a
capital exceeding fifty thoufand rubles, or bankers
who ftate their turns and returns at two hundred
thoufand rubles; likewife fuch of the learned pro-
feffions and artists as are provided with diplomas;
burghers who have feveral times ferved the city
offices, &c. The privileges of thefe claffes are
nearly fimilar to thofe of fhe firft- guild; over and
above which, they are allowed to drive with foiir
* Chii regulation, art. xcvii. horfes.

COMPANIES AND CORPORATION. 1 03
horfes. — By the term Guefts, are underftood fuch
perfons from other towns and provinces, or from
foreign countries, who caufe. themfelves to be en-
Tolled in the city- register on account of their com
mercial affairs.
To the city-companies belong handicraftsmen
who are registered in the burgher's-book. — The
reft pf the inhabitants of the city, who are not
ranged in any of thefe claffifications, are com
prehended under the denomination fignifying ac
cessaries. The aggregate of all thefe claffes forms the city
corporation, a fubftantial and refpedtable body,
endowed with imperial ordinances and privileges.
They meet together once every third year in
winter in their public capacities to fill up the
offices and polls to which the burghers are liable,
by election. In thefe aflemblies every burgher has
a feat and voice, and all are eligible, thofe ex
cepted who have not yet attained the age of five
and twenty, or pay lefs than fifty rubles on their
capital. The principal offices held by burghers
are thefe: the president of the corporation, the
burgomaster and members of the council are
elected every three years, the aldermen and judges
; of the oral court- annually. As the, refidence is at
,the fame time the. capital of the Peterfburg-go-
vernment, the choice of magistrates is made from
the corporation, and the members of the court of
confcience are furnilhed from it. They likewife
H 4 chufe

J04 REVENUE ARISING FROM TRADE.
chufe two council-men for police-office, and the
court of wards is filled from, their body. — On
ordinary emergencies or exigencies they apply ta
the governor, and in juridical cafes they are affifted
by a folicitor*.
The regifter for the year 1789 exhibits only
1747 members of guilds, of whom twelve were
eminent, apd a hundred and fixty-nine burgeffes
and guefts of the firft clafs. In the fame year are
inferted 3583 mafter workmen among the brethren
pf the companies. Thefe fmall ftatements fhew,
that by far the greater part of the trading in
habitants lived without the pafe of thefe aflb-
piations, and afford a ftriking instance of the ex
traordinary political toleration qf the government
under the reign of Catharine II.
Moderate and even trifling as the taxes are in
comparifon with the capital towns of other coun
tries, the revenue however which the ftate draws
from the traffic of the refidence is of confiderable
importance. In the year 1790 the tax on capital
*, If to fome Readers thefe details fhould appear tedious,
they are intreated to confider, that by them the focfal com
forts and welfare of a clafs of inhabitants amounting in 1784
to upwards of a hundred thoufand perfons are unraveled ; and
to exert their patience till they come to the following chapter,
jn which the more proximate characteristics of thefe feveral
courts may repay them, by a greater degree of intereft, for
'the drynefs of this account, which is but fhort, and was necef
fary for the completion of the whole. of

ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITUTION. i©|
of the guilds amounted to 43,104 rubles — In
1787, the receipts at the cuftotn-houfe were
3,910,006 rubles. — The total of the per centage
for the fchools, and the penalties for defrauding
the cuftoms was in the fame year 84,955 rubles.
— Thefe three branches of public revenue alone
therefore yield a fum of 4,038,065 rubles. If
to thefe we add the tax on the fale of houfes,
the contracts, &c only at the loweft probable
amount, the fum will perhaps be increafed by
about one half. — So great are the refources of
this powerful country, that the trade of its refi
dence alone, without the fmalleft oppreffion and
with a financial lenity, which in other countries is
without example, produces an income fuperior to
what feveral kingdoms in Europe enjoy *.
Having feen the civil conftitution of St. Peterf
burg to be calculated, by a wifdom and liberality
conformable to the times, for the welfare of its
inhabitants, we Shall now acknowledge that the
ecclesiastical constitution may equally pre
tend to thofe advantages. The general fpirit Of
it is — Toleration. A fyftem built on So good
a Soundation, needs no pompous encomium; a
fimple representation of it is it's greateft pane
gyric. * Poland, from 1782 to 1784, on an average had no more
than fomewhat above three millions of dollars. Naples has
between four and five, and the ftates of the church in Itajy
about two millions.
" " " . The

|o6 THE TOLERATED COMMUNIONS.
The head of the greek church is the holy
directing synod, which has its feat in St. Peterf
burg. To this body is committed the exercife
of the fupreme ecclefiaftical authority, but with a
mitigation of the hierarchal fyftem, by which the
disadvantages arifing from it are avoided, without
detriment to its benefits. Accordingly, the pro
tocols of this venerable tribunal breathe the fpirit
of forbearance, which, here;, emanating from the
throne, pervades all the branches of the national
administration. Much has been faid of the ecclefiaftical liberty
•of the members of the communities not of the
.greek religion, while the clearer cafe has been
vforgotten, that the greek fedt of rafkolniki enjoy a
freedom no leSs unlimited; a circumstance which
till of late would have been fought for in vain in
-.the.annals of all religious Sects. — The refidence
„has within its confines fix and fifty greek churches^
befides one monaftery and one convent of nuns.
¦Of all the tolerated communions thepROTEs-
tants are the, molt numerous, ,and among thefe
the Lutherans. They eompofe eight .congre-
rgations, whereof five are german, one fwedifh,
.one finnifli, and one lettith; having in the. feveral
quarters of the town feven moftly handfome
..churches, of which two, belong to the, crown.
The calvinists are divided into german,- french,
< englifh, and -dutch- congregations, of -whom the
two former have one church in common, though
Supplied

I

THE ENGLISH CONGREGATION. I07

fupplied by two distinct preachers, and the two
latter their own peculiar place of worfhip. The
MORAVIAN EVANGELICAL BRETHREN are but few
in number; they meet however on Sundays for the
purpofes of devotion. — The proteftants congre
gations defray their expences from the revenues of
their feveral churches, by collections and by a tax
of five rubles on every fhip addreffed to a foreign
merchant. From this, however, the two lutheran
congregations are excepted, which, being ap
pendages to the land and artillery cadet-corps are
maintained at the expence of the crown. The
economical affairs of each congregation are regu
lated by a veftry, but the preacher is chofen and
inducted by the congregation at large. Their
outward concerns are under the fuperintendance of
the college of juftice, which, Since the institution
of the vice-royalties, is confined to this charge ;
but an alteration is now talked of, and it is
thought they are to be regulated by their Separate
confi ftories.
The hiftory of the English congregation is
briefly this. At a meeting held by the britifh
factory at Mofco, the 30th of April, in the year
1 7 16, their treafurer was directed to provides
proper perfon for the administration of the church
offices. The rev. Mr. Thomas Confett was ac
cordingly invited over, and his falary fixed by
a regulation made the iathiiaf November, 17 17,
-t Archangel, whitehr the factory had lately re-
6 1 moved,

I08 CHAPLAINS TO THE BRITISH FACTORY,
moved. In 1723, on the removal of the trade
from Archangel to the ne^wly erected city of St.
Peterfburg, their chaplain accompanied the mer
chants thither; and the factory now confirmed their
former eftab'lilhment of an exprefs fund for defray
ing all expences requisite for the purpofes of re?
ligious worlhip. Some differences arifing between
the factory and their chaplain, he was difmiffed
from their fervice by a refolution of the ipth of
July*. To fupply the vacancy hence arifing,
their treafurer was diredted tp write to Robert
Nettleton, efq.-f~ to fend out a fucceffor : few per
fons however being willing to abandon their hopes
of preferment at home, by an abfence in foreign
pans, no eligible application feems to have been
made, and the factory weary of delay, fome years
afterwards requested the court of affiftarits of the
Ruffia company in London to ftep in to their relief,
by nominating a clergyman duly qualified for
their fervice. The choice of the court fell on the
rev. Mr. Philip Lernoult; who, being approved of,
continued in the place for Several years. A va
cancy again happening in 1742, the fadtory apr
pointed Mr. John Forfter. On this gentleman's
resignation, which happened a few years after-
* In 1729 he published a book entitled "The prefent ftate
jjtfid regulations of the church of Ruffia.'' 2 vols. 8vo.
-j- Governour of the Rufiia-company. wardSj

CHAPLAINS TO THE BRITISH FACTORY. I09
wards*, .the Ruffia company Sent out Dr. Daniel
Dumarefq-f. 'He, retiring to England in 1762,
it occafioned a frelh vacancy, which was Supplied
for a fhort fpace by the voluntary offer of the
rev. Mr. Erfkine, who happened to be on the
fpot in quality of private chaplaip to the earl of
Buckinghamlhire, his majefty's minister at the
court of Ruffia. The chaplainfhip, with all its
emoluments, being offered to him, in perpetuity,
he was obliged to decline, its acceptance as in
compatible with his engagements with the earl.
In 1763 Dr. John Glen King was appointed, who
filled the office eleven years; when, in 1774 fig-
nifying his intentions to refign, the fadtory, de-
firous of advancing the rev. Mr. William Tooke,
at that time resident in Cronftadt, in the capacity
of minifter of the Englifh church in that ifland, to
the church at St. Peterlburg, communicated this
defire to the court of affiftants of the Ruffia com
pany, who unanimoufly concurred in the appoint-
* At the distance of thirty years frcm his resignation pf
the chaplainfhip, Mr. Forfter revifited St. Peterlburg in 1777,
- in the fuite of the Duchefs of Kingfton, as chaplain to her
grace, where he died in the year 1780; He affirmed himfelf
to be the real author of " Reflections on the rife and fall of
the antient republics, &c." from which work Jidw. Wortley
Montague derived all the reputation and profit.
f This worthy veteran is ftill ljving at Bath, in full pof-
feffion of all his faculties, at the age of 88. ment*

IIO THE CATHOLIC CONGREGATION.
i
ment. He held the office for about eighteen
years, and refigned in 1792. The lluffia com
pany now elected the rev. Mr. Percival, to whom
all the emoluments enjoyed by his predeceflot
were continued. In the year 1796 he being
ordered a change of. climate by the physicians,
on account of his bad ftate of health, the factory
intimated their defire to one of their body to
requeft the rev. Mr. Tooke, their former chaplain,
to ^provide them a Substitute. The rev. Mr.
Londori King Pitt was, in purSuance of th»
application, fent oler by Mr. Tooke, and con
tinued to officiate, fill Mr. Percival's return. The
diforder of the latter gentleman unfortunately
foon after terminating in his death, the factory
fo highly approved of his fubftitute, that they
appointed him to the office, which he continues
to fill.
The great religious liberty enjoyed by thefe
congregations is only limited by the prohibition
of having bells to call their votaries together,
and alfo of making profelytes from the greek
church, — "The catholic congregation is com
pofed of the greateft number of nations; it has
however only one church, which is extremely
elegant. It enjoys the fivme legal liberty as thofe
of the proteftants, and in ecclefiaftical matters.
is placed' under the archbifhop of Mohilef, who
.is the head of the catholic clergy in Ruffia, —
The

EldHT SEVERAL FORMS OF WORSHIP. Ill
The Armenian congregation is fmall, but is
in pofleffioa of a handfome church. — The Mo
hammedans have priefts among the tradefmen of
their perfuafion. -^Public worlhip is performed in
St. Petersburg under eight distinct forms, and in
fourteen languages.

CHAP*.

( its }

CHAP. IV.

CONSUMPT IO&.
ib'tmieflic fupplies of the refideiicSi —- Bread; public flour-niagti*
nines. Water. , Salt. Meat. Fijh. Vegetables. Liquors. —
Fuel ; •vuood-magazin'es. — Mode of living and necejfaries of
life among the laiuer clafs of people ¦» — Markets for provifionsi
Rafnofchtfchiki.
-fvLL great and populous towns procure the
neceffaries of life from a greater or lefs diftance j
and the richeft and moft fertile province is not
competent to fupply produdts in fuch quantities
and variety as to fatisfy the demands of the popu
lation and the luxury of thofe enormous piles of
buildings: the ordinary articles of confumption,
however, they ufually draw from the parts ad
jacent; The diftridt in which St. Peterfburg ftands
is fo greatly behind in agriculture and gardening*
as to be obliged to fetch its fupply of provisions
entirely from a diftance. Not only the objects of
extravagance, but even the fimpleft neceffaries of
life, for upwards of two hundred thoufand perfons
are produced in foreign, and in part very diftanf
Climes. Were it not for the large and invaluable1
communications by water, it would be impoflible' to

SUPPLY OF BREAD. it?
?>
provide for the fuftenance of St. Peterfburg; at
prefent it is a fource of induftry to a numerous
clafs of people who make it their peculiar bufinefs;
and the exchange of the products for money and
wrought commodities, is the means of diftributing
the collective wealth of the refidence, by thoufands
of petty channels into the remotest provinces.
Bread, that prime and moft general neceffaryj
is brought to St. Peterlburg from the countries
bordering on the Volga., Both rye and wheateri
bread are eaten here: the latter is the common
food of even the loweft and pooreft claffes. The
goodnefs of it naturally in part depends on the-
manner of its preparation, and accordingly varies
Very much. On the whole, the baking here is
goodj and often excellent, it being impoffible arty
where, even in Paris, to eat better bread than here.
At the tables of the great, and in what are called
good houfes, only wheat-bread is eaten ; and what
a confiderable article this at tirties may be, is appa
rent from the houfekeeping of count Razumoffky;
where, in far cheaper times, the confumption of
the feveral kinds of bread alone, came annually
to upwards of a thoufand rubles. The rye-bread
is well-tafted and yields more nourilhment. Jt is
univerfally eaten, and even in families of good
condition, where they haVe the means of chufing
between this and the other. The poorer fort ufe
what is called black bread, prepared of rye-meal
uribolted, and is uncommonly nutritious. The
common

114 SUPPLY OF WATER.
common Ruffian, with this black bread, likewife
frequently eats rolls made of coarfe wheat-flour,
called kalatfches, and are fold cheap about the
ItreetSi The confumption of this neceffary may be
tolerably well afcertained by the number and
burden of the barks that bring the flour. Of
meal, barley, &c. upwards of four millions eight
hundred thoufand poods are annually brought
hither. The price of the bolted wheat-flour is
now at two rubles twenty kopeeks the pood. A
pound of rye-bread cofls now at the baker's
four kopeeks ; a pound of black bread one kopeek
and a half.
As the price of flour, by various accidental cir
cumstances, and the greater or lefs quantity im
ported, was liable to frequent fludtuations and
fometimes was kept very high for a long time
together, the emprefs Catharine took the matter
into consideration ; and, in order to free the inferior
orders of the community frcm the extortions of
the corn-chandlers, in the:' year 1780 erected a
capacious flour-magazine, from which any one
Jnay provide himfelf with this indifpenfable article
of fife, at a moderate price, but only in fmall
quantities. Hardly any capital, except London, is fo well
Supplied with water as this city. The Neva,
with its numerous arms and canals, distributes
this moft efiential of all neceffaries through every part

QUALITY OF THE WATER. Jl_
part of the town; fo that no houfe need be with
out it, or is obliged to fetch from afar. The
houfes built along the canals fupply themfelves
by their carriers ; thofe farther off bring it by a
horfe in a large cafk fixed upon a fmall four-
wheeled cart for that purpofe ; in fome of them
the landlord undertakes to fupply his tenants.
The quality of this river-water is excellent; it will
feldom be found fo clear and pure as here.
According to Mr. Georgi's chemical analyfis, fifty
pound of it, taken up within the town, contained
only forty grains of calcareous earth and five grains
of vegetable extract. The trifling inconveniencies
which foreigners experience on their firft coming
hither, and which are ufually afcribed to the
water, feem rather to arife from their change of
living or fome other caufe. The water of the
Neva is not every where, however, equally good ;
clofe to the fhores, where they are not lined with
granite, it is lutulent and mixed with heteroge
neous particles, for which reafon feveral of the
inhabitants fend out a boat to take it up from the
middle of the current. The water of the Fon
tanka is not quite fo good as that of the Neva, it
is ftill worfe in the Catharine-canal, and in the
Moika is nearly not potable. For this and fome
other reafons it is much to be wifhed that the laft-
mentioned river were alfo embanked with ftone and
confiderably deepened.
i 2. Salt

IIO SUPPLY OF SALT AND BREAD.
Salt is here not fo dear an article of confump
tion as in other large towns. It is brought from
Solikamfk and from the Elton lake: the former is
boiled culinary fait. Of both kinds the refidence
obtains annually about fix hundred thoufand poods,
nearly all of which is here consumed. The pood'
of fait is fold all over the empire at thirty-five
kopeeks; the pound therefore cofts not quite a
kopeek. Meat every where forms a material article
among the neceffaries of life. No where, per
haps, London excepted, is more butcher's meat
eaten, out of the fafting-times, than here. At the
diftance of -more than two thoufand verfts, the
Ukrainer and the Kalmuk are providing this ne-
eeffary for the Peterfburg tables; but thefe pains
and this long journey are amply repaid. Beef
was, till very lately, a dear commodity ; the best
pieces fetching from ten to twelve kopeeks a
pound. At prefent the price is lower, fo that very
good meat is bought for four kopeeks a pound.
The quality of it in general, is naturally very dif
ferent, but we fhould not exaggerate in affirming
that it is to be had here of the moft excellent kind
and in the greatest perfection. — Calves are alfo
brought hither from Some diftridts of the Volga,
but the larg;eft'and belt flavoured veal comes from
Archangel. Sheep, hogs, tame and wild fowl and
game, are ufually brought frozen in winter. The
quality,

SUPPLY OF FISH. II7
quality, conveyance, and price of thefe feveral arti
cles is commonly regulated by the weather and the
hardnefs or foftnefs of the fledge-roads.
Fish, on account of the numerous fafts, are to
be reckoned among the neceffaries, in regard to
their variety and to the excellent flavour of fome
kinds, are to be considered as delicacies; and, from
the cheapnefs of feveral forts, as the moft common
articles of confumption. One of the moft efteemed
and dearest kinds of fifh is the fterler, of which
every year about five and twenty thoufand are
brought alive to St. Peterfburg from the Volga;
which river fends, moreover, upwards of a mil
lion of filh of other fpecles. The Ladoga-lake
Supplies the refidence with the ordinary kinds of
live filh; among the Salted the beluga and the
fturgeon are the belt tailed and the deateft. Frozen
filh and fifh dried in the air are moftly the food of
the poorer claffes ; to a difh, Sufficient to Satisfy
one man, are taken thoufand s of the little dried
filh which are here called fnetki*. The Neva
is rich in Salmon, which however are inferior in
flavour to thofe of Riga. Cray-fifh are alfo caught
in the Neva; befides which the Volga Sends an
nually about a million.
* They are very like the little fifli called white-bait, which
people go from London to eat at Blackwall. They may pof-
fibly be the fame fpecies.
1 3 Vegetables

Il8 VEGETABLES AND FRUIT.
Vegetables are the Sole article of confumption
which the city obtains for the moft part from its
environs. The culture of the kitchen-garden is
here brought to. fuch perfection, that the moft
delicate exotic products of this kind are to be had
at every feafon of the year and of oncommon ex
cellence. Several of them, fuch as, cauliflowers,
afparagus, &c. were thirty years ago here fo en
tirely unknown, that they were only procured by
fea from abroad, whereas now they are extremely
common and not dear. Among the culinary
vegetables, cabbages and cucumbers are fo par
ticularly efteemed and fo univerfally eaten, as to
merit fome farther mention. Sour cabbage, which
, the Ruffians call fchtSchi, the Salutary antiScorbutie
virtues whereof have procured it a welcome re
ception even in other countries, is the daily dilh
of the common people. The ruffian method of
preparing it, differs, however; in fome few re-r
fpedts from that pradtifed abroad; it is even ferved
up at great tables as a national and dainty difh.
Cucumbers are eaten in equal abundance ; they
are expofed for fale in every ftreet and in all the
public places, extremely cheap. The vulgar eat
them raw; in houfes they undergo a flight prer
paration, and are taken as a relifhing fort of
fallad. The fruit which is reared in the orchards and
forcing-houfes in and about Peterfburg, is not
nearly

LIQUORS IN COMMON USE. II9
nearly fufficient for fatisfying the demands of tafte
and luxury. Fruit of the country conies from
the Ukraine and from the regions of the Volga and
the Okka; foreign fruit, especially apples, from
Roftock and Stettin, to the amount of about a
hundred thoufand rubles annually. The firft Ships
that arrive here in the Spring, import oranges of
both kinds, and lemons in fuch abundance, that
the fale of thefe goods often fcarcely pays the
freight. A cheft, containing four hundred lemons,
is ufually to be had, at that feafon, for, two or
three rubles. Thefe delicious and wholefome
fruits may therefore be enjoyed on the banks of
the Neva in greater profusion and much cheaper
than they can on the borders of the Seine : thanks
to navigation and commerce, which connect the
moft diftant quarters of the world together, and
collect the products, of the moft dissimilar climes,
wherever there are conSumers to purchaSe them.
Of the ordinary liquors, we Shall firft notice
quas, becaufe its confumption is the greateft and
the invention of it entirely national. It is an
acidulous, cooling and wholefome drink, the pre
paration whereof may be found in feveral late pub
lications, and is offered for faje at the corners of
all the ftreets. In fummer it is customary to cool
it with ice. The juice of the cranberry yields an
excellent liquor, in very frequent ufe under the
name of klukva, and is a capital fubftitute for
lemon-juice. By a mixture of klukva it is by no
1 4 means

120 SUPPLY OF FIREWOOD,!
means uncommon not only to improve the quas and
Other drinks, but it is ufed, even in good houfes,
for making punch, when lemons are at a high
price or not to be had, Sbiten is made of honey
and pepper boiled in water, and fold about the
town by people who maintain themfelves by it, and
are called fbitenfchickas. In the public-houfes may
be had beer, mead and brandy.
Among the more delicious forts of national li
quors the vifhnefca and malinofca muft not be
forgotten, a fruit-wine.._made from , cherry-juice
put into fermentation by fugar and wine; kiflifcht-,
fchi, a fort of quas of a fuperior quality, and
feveral others. Their confumption falls however
greatly Short in comparifon with that of foreign
liqUors. Wine, porter and ale are in general ufe,
Of the firft, Upwards of two hundred and fifty
thoufand hpgfheads are imported every year from
beyond fea, and of the two laft to more than the
amount of two hundred and fixty thoufand rubles,
the major part Whereof is here confumed. For
twenty or thirty years paft they have brewed an
excellent and cheap fmall-beer; at leaft equal, and
generally thought fuperior to the englifh. A great
part of the porter which is fold under that name is
likewife brewed here.
I fhall clofe this fhort lift with a neceffary of life
of the utmoft CQafequence in this climate. The
Firewood produced in the diftridt round St. Pe*
terfburg i? not fufficient for the prodigious demand j
about

SUSTENANCE OF THE COMMON PEOPLE.
about a hundred and fifty thoufand fathom, moftly
of birch, being annually brought in from other
parts of the country. No other kind of fuel is as
yet known; and yet qf this, notwithftanding its
mcreafing advancement in price, (a fathom of
birch-wood cofting at prefent two, two and a half,
and in extremely cqld winters as much as five and
fix rubles,) there is an incredible wafte. The
ceconomical fociety has, indeed, publifhed Various
papers, that have obtained premiums, on the im»
proved ftrudture of the ftoves and the means of
faving fuel ; but it is found almoft impradticable
to bring the people in general to leave their old
cuftoms. The barks which come down the rivers
and canals from the interior of the country, never
go back again; but are here fold and ufed partly
in building wooden houfes, and partly as firing for
the poorer fort of people. — For this article there
is likewife a public ftore, from Which the necessitous
part of the public may provide themfelves "with
billets on the fame terms, as were Stated above con-
cerning the flour-magazines.
The prefent chapter being entirely devoted to
the neceffaries of life, it will not be going out of
our way to infert a brief delineation of the suste
nance of the common people, as it in no re-
fpedt whatever exceeds the firft article of neceffity,
Jvven the fpirituous liquor they ufe is only a luxury
whjen indulged in to excefs ; as the numerous and
ftridt fafts and the quality of their aliment render ftrong

122 NATIONAL MESSES.
Strong cordials indifpenfable: The clafs of people
here meant, confifts entirely of Ruffians, as even
the pooreft of the Germans and French living in
this town have a much better provifion: but even
among the common Ruffians it is only the very
lowest who confine themfelves to this fort of fare,
as workmen that come hither periodically, .day-
labourers, carriers, &c.
Their daily fare is feh'tfcbi, or the cabbage-foup
already mentioned ; kafcha, a thick porridge of
millet and other grain; botvinya, a cold mug of
quas, with fifh or flelh and cucumbers; fnetki,
the little dried fifh above noticed ; piroghi, cakes
or fmall pies filled with meat or eggs and red tur-
neps, and baked in butter or linfeed-oil and hemp -
oil ; tvarok, turned milk, broiled muthrooms,
and the like. All thefe difhes are of ruffian inven
tion, and have been for ages in general ufe through^
out the country. They are likewife fet on table
in the greateft ruffian and numbers of foreign
houfes, fomewhat better dreffed perhaps and in a
rather different lhape, and feveral of them even '
gain the approbation of the moft dainty palates.
On the whole, the fuftenance of the populace
in Peterlburg is not near fo miferable as that of the
populace of Paris. They can at moft only come
at bread, fait and cheefe; whereas the common
Ruffian has the choice of feveral kinds of victuals,
which from habit and attachment to the manners of
his country, are highly grateful to him. Theloweft wages

markets for provisions. 123
wages of a workman in St. Peterfburg is from fif
teen to twenty kopeeks a day*. To be full-fed
of the meaneft kind of food will coft him only fix
or feven kopeeks ; fo that he has a furplus, which
the parifian journeyman has not. — Befides it is
only the loweft, not very numerous clafs of the
vulgar, that earn fo little: all journeymen, whofe
bufinefs requires fome fort of Skill and ingenuity,
as bricklayers, mafons, carpenters, fervants, hair-
drelfers, and the like, are better and often extra
vagantly paid. Thefe people generally here accu
mulate a fmall capital, and after fome years go back
with it to their birth-place.
Almoft every quarter of the town has one
market for provifions, if not more : they are
generally built of brick in large quadrangles, with
arcades. But Peterlburg, like London, has one
great advantage, that all the neceffaries of life may.
be bought at the ftreet door, being hawked
about by perfons who make it their particular
bufinefs. Thefe people are called rasnoscht-
csiiki ; and come cuftomarily to the houfes, bring
ing daily what they judge will be wanted, both as
to quality and quantity. They fettle their accounts
either monthly or half-yearly with perfons whom
they once know: though with all their caution
they are often lofers, as when the mafter of the
houfe dies, or the family become poor and delti-
* On an average a good workman may earn between fe-
venty-five and eighty kopeeks. tute,

124 SIGNAL INSTANCE OF GENEROSITY.
tute. — On this occallon I recollect an inftance of
Extraordinary generofity: in a man of this defcrip
tion, who had ferved a family with filh in the days
of their profperity, and who by a train of misfor
tunes were utterly incapacitated to pay what they
owed him, yet he, ftill continued to fupply them
with the fame articles of his trade, and abfolutely
would not accept of any money, till he learnt that
the mafter of 'the houfe was in a way of recovering
his circumstances by being appointed to a profit
able poft. — Acts of fuch a nature, among this
clafs of people, well deferve a place in a picture
of manners,

CHAP.

( «5 )

CHAP. V.

PUBLIC SECURITY.
Police. Importance of that objecl. Perfonal faf ety, eftablijhed by
lain under Catharine II. Court of confcience, a tribunal creeled
for the public faf ety. — Public fecurity arifing in fome degree out
of the national character. Anecdote thereupon. Organization of
the police.. Good look out in regard to perfons that arrive, that
take their departure, and that fall under fu/picion. In/lances qf
vigilance and moderation in the government towards flate-crimi-
nals and adventurers. Notice taken of fecretfocieties. Gaming
houfes. Regulations concerning turbulent and intriguing perfons.
The oral court. Beggars. Regifler -offices for fervants. Work-
houfe. The houfe of correclion. The tovjn-prifon, conftituted
according to Howard's plan. The police -prif on; defcription of it.
Magnanimous facrlfice of a girl in behalf qf her imprifoned
lover. — Artifice and deceit in matters of trade. Some occur
rences of thatfort. — lnftitulions againjl natural and moral in-
fraHions of public faf ety. Diminution of dangers from fire and
•water. Snick travelling, rendered faf e by the popular manners.
Vigilance of the police on occafion qf numerous affemblies qf the
vulgar, at popular rejoicings, at the breaking up qf the ice qfthe
Ntva. Precautions in regard to the fending out qf medicines. —
Remarkable formality at the promulgation of laws.
OF all political institutions and eftablifhments,
nothing has a nearer relation to the comfort and
fatisfadtion of each individual, than the police/
The refpectable aim of this part of the adminiftra-
6 tion

126 NECESSITY OF A POLICE.
tion of government, fecurity and conveniency, are
affociated in the grand idea of civil happinefs,
without which no political happinefs is to be con
ceived. The relations with foreign powers, the
riches of the ftate, nay, even political liberty,
are far more remotely related to the happinefs of
the individual, as they rather concern the whole
body of the nation ; whereas the functions of the
police relate exadtly to thofe duties which affect
a man in his more delicate and tender connections,
as a citizen, as a man of bufinefs, husband and
father. There are countries in which the citizen,
notwithftanding the great weaknefs and infignifi-
cancy of the body politic to which he belongs,
or amid the moft ftriking infringements of politi
cal liberty, is happy, becaufe his civil Security
and liberty are guarded; as there are governments
in which the greateft national Sorce and the com
pletes! political organization cannot compenSate
the individual citizen for the defect or the lofs of a
well-regulated police.
Civil fecurity muft prefuppofe civil liberty;
otherwife it would produce tranquillity indeed:
but it would be like the tranquillity of ,.the grave,
the confequences of which are foulnefs and cor
ruption. The former is the refult of combined
and artfully-connedted aims; whereas the latter
is the effect of one fimple maxim. In a word,
fecurity is forced from the executive power, liberty
may be granted.
The

PERCEIVED BY PETER I. I27
The ftate of civil Security in every government
is an explained problem; the laws, and the means
of obtaining it, are objects of public notoriety.
The ftate oS civil liberty, in Such countries as have
not a peculiar conftitution, can only be known
Srom the combination of a great many particular
fadts, from the fpirit of the government, from the
temper of the people. The former is a permanent
article of Statistics, the latter fluctuates with the
popular temper, opinions and manners.
In a country which has not the least lhadow of
a conftitution, in which all the complicate rela
tions of a great civil fociety are afcertained by
particular, explicable, frequently contradictory
ordinances, and thefe left to the arbitrary inter
pretation of particular courts; in fuch a country,
perfonal and civil fecurity can neither be enjoyed
as having a legal foundation, nor a fixed and de
terminate exiftence. In this Situation was Ruffia,
previous to the reign of Peter the great. The
variety of the ordinances of this monarch, far
fuperior to his contemporaries, fhew that he was
fenfible of the want of a civil conftitution, and
the neceffity of a perfonal fecurity, fettled and
fixed by law. Much however as he did towards
the attainment of this grand object, much ftill
remained for him to do. " A premature death
" obliged him to abandon this falutary inftitute,
" while yet in its commencement.' The frequent
" revolutions' which Succeeded, the diversity of
si principles

1±§ A CONSTITUTION FRAMED;
" principles and opinions, the nurnerous wars
" that happened, though they by no means weak*
" ened the power and authority of the empire,,
" yet Subjected the regulations of this great
" emperor either to alterations, or to a difference
" in the profecution of the idea of the work
" he had begun, or to the introduction of other
" rules, which partly took their direction by
" particular notions of the matter, partly by the
" alteration of circumftances and the natural courfe
" of things*."
At length the genius of Ruffia threw the
-fate of this great empire into the hands of Ca
tharine II. The comprehenfive mind of this
monarch, which had already been occupied in
the extenfion and eftablifhment of its external
force, in laying the foundations of a philofophical
fyftem of legiflation, in the improvement of edu
cation, in the diffusion of information and taste,
and in the reformation of numberlefs abufes, and
which had not yet exhaufted its energy on thefe'
grand objects, now formed a conftitution for
Ruffia -f. The
* The words of Catharine II. See the ukafe of the :ath
of November 1775, which ferves as an introduction to the
regulation of the administration of government.
-j- The fucceifive constitutions by which Ruffia obtained art
equal and regular distribution into vice-royalties, a like civil
form, like courts and tribunals, a police, a municipality, fpej
cific rights and relations of the middle r&nk and the nobility )
in a word, a conftitution, are the following :— Ordinances for
the

PERSONAL SECURITY. 1 29
The collection of ordinances out of which this
constitution arofe, breathe throughout that liberal
philofophical Spirit, that reverence for mankind
and their rights, and that mild, benign temper,
equally removed from feverity and compliance,
which mark the cbaradter of the lawgiver, and is
its moft venerable fandtion.
The prefervatiou and advancement of personal
security cannot be the laft object in a law-book
of this nature. It provides a peculiar tribunal in
the court of conscience or the court of equity,
which is established in every government of the
empire, and which has for its aim, according to
the proper words of the ordinance, the preferv-
ation of perforial fecurity* the mitigation of the
lot of unhappy criminals, and the equitable ter
mination of all civil difputes. The conftitution of
this highly remarkable institute is too novel, too.
beneficial, and too little known, to render the
orniflion of a brief account of it pardonable in the
prefent ¦ undertaking.
The court of confcience confifts of a judge, who
presides, and of fix members, of whom, every
three years., two are elected from the clafs of
burghers, and an equal number from the clafs
the administration of government throughout. the ruffian em
pire. — Imperial regulation for the mercantile navigation on
rivers, lakes, and feas. — Of nobility: — Municipality.—
Regulations of police. They are tranflated collectively into
german by the court-counfellor Arndt,
K of

130 COURT of conscience.
of boors. Each rank has only to do with the
accufer and the accufed of his rank. The court
of confcience prdnounces, in general, according
to the, laws ; but, as it is ordained to be a guard
to particular or perfonal fecurity, the rule pre
scribed in all cafes is — general philanthropy,
refpedt ^br man as fuch, and aversion from all
oppression and injury of mankind. For thefe
reafons the court of confcience muft never add to
the burthens of any man, but rather make it a
duty confcientioufly to difcufs, and to decide with
humanity, the caufe before it. It muft never
meddle, of its own motion, in any matter, but
take it up only from an order of the government,
from the communication of another court of juf-
tice, or from petition and complaint. The cafes
of fuch criminals as, by fome unhappy accident,'
or by the concurrence of various 'circumstances,
have fallen into guilt, whofe fufferings far out
weigh their demerit, the crimes of thoughtleffnefs
or early age, and all ftories of witchcraft and
conjuration, arifing from flupidity, imposture,
and ignorance, belong to this tribunal. The duty
of it, in civil caufes, is to adjuft the differences of
contending parties who^ appeal to it for that pur
pofe. The. adjuftment is to be made, either by the
court alone, or in conjunction with arbitrators,.
chofen by the two parties. If the arbitrators
cannot agree together, then the court lays before
6 them

COURT Of conscience" . l_t
them its opinion how the accufer and the accuSed
may be reconciled, without injury, without pro-
cefs, controverfy, reciprocal reproach, and chi
cane. IS the arbitrators cannot yet be brought
to agreement, then the court orders the accuSer
and the accuSed to appear, and lays before them
the means of accommodation. If they affent to
them, the court confirms their agreement with
its feal of office : in the contrary cafe, it informs
them that it has nothing farther to do with their
difpute, and that they may apply to the court ap
pointed by law for that purpofe.
The moft important province of the court of
confcience, and by which it is, in fome meafure,
the moft venerable, tribunal of "the, nation, and, in
the ftricteft fenfe, the palladium of perfonal fecu
rity, confifts in this: When any one delivers a pe
tition to the court of confcience, fpecifying that
he has been detained in prifon upwards of three
days, and that in thefe three days it has not been
fliewn him why he is thus kept in prifon, or that
in. thefe three.days he has not been interrogated,
then the court of confcience is bound, on receiving
fuch petition, and before the court breaks up, to
iffue an order, that the prifoner (if he be not im-
prifoned for offences againft the perfon of the
fovereign, nor for treafon, murder, theft, or rob
bery) be brought into the court of confcience,
and be fliewn, adding the reafons, why he is de-
K z tained

X$l PUBLIC SECURITY
tained in arreft, or why he has not been inters
rogated. The order of the Court of confcience in
this Cafe muft be executed in the place at which it
arrives, without lofing an hour ; but if the order
is not fulfilled within the fpace of twenty-four
hours? the president of the court fliall be fined in
the penalty of five hundred rubles, and each of
the affeffors fliall pay a fine of a hundred. In re
gard to local diftance, twenty-five verfts are reck
oned to a day. - — If the court of confcience finds
that the prifoner has not been detained for any
of the crimes above fpecified, it ifiues an order to
fet him at liberty, on the receipt of that voucher,
as well for his being brought forth as alfo for his
prefentation before that court of the province
which he fliall choofe, and where his caufe fliall
,be adjudged. No one may pretend to put again
in prifon him who has been liberated by authority
of the court of confcience, for their decifion on
the fame matter : but his caufe fharl be determined
by courfe of law. If, however, the petitioner be in
confinement on account of any of the before-men
tioned crimes, or has impofed upon the court of
confcience, or can bring no proof, the court of
confcieiace fliall remand him to prifon, there to be
kept more ftridtly than before.
Public security differs from perfonal, in
its having a more general aim. The former
is properly the object of the police ; the latter is,

PROPERLY MAINTAINED. I33
is, in moft countries, committed to the admi
nistration of juftice.
In proportion to the bulk, extent, and popu
lation of Peterlburg, the public Security is as great
as any where. Robberies and murder are fo Sel
dom heard of, that all thought of danger is en
tirely banifhed. Accordingly, people walk alone,
without any weapon or attendance, at all hours of
the night, along the ftreets, and even in the re-
moteft, moft unfrequented, and even uninhabited
parts of the town. This fact, extraordinary in
fuch circumftances, is, however, not fo much the.
confequence of a well-organized and vigilant po
lice, as the effect of the good-tempered national
character. The common Ruffian, if not corrupted
by a long Stay in the refidence, feduced by the
propensity to drink, or preffed by extreme want,
is feldom difpofed to exceffes of this nature. To
this may be added a certain reverence towards the
Superior ranks, which, from the fentiment of their
vaflalage, and from the way in which they are
brought up, is peculiar to this people. This is
fo well-known, that it is no uncommon thing to
put a" officer's cockade in the hat as a fure pre
servative againft any attack a man might other-
wife be liable to at times when the populace are
accuftomed to think they have the privilege of
being, intoxicated, and confequently are more
prone to commit adts of extravagance. An au
thoritative word, fpoken in a commanding tone,
k 3 has

J34 ANECDOTE OF A TRAVELLER
has frequently more effedt than the stoutest oaken
Staff. In order to employ this method with im-
preffion, it is neceffary indeed to be able to fpeak
the language with fluency; but anyone who has
that advantage, and is familiar with the manners
and the character of the nation, may at all times, in
c ifes qf extremity, excite the good-nature of the
populace, and Save his purfe or his life from any
hoftile attack. Among feveral inftancestrfforded by
, experience of this, one may fuffice.
A lady of my acquaintance was travelling up the
Country. Her road led through a village which
had lately got an ill name for robberies and mur
ders, and indeed was become formidable to the
whole diftridt. By fome unforefeen circumftances,
her arrival at this place was delayed till the night
was fomewhat advanced; and, as the poft-boors
abfolutely refufed to drive her any further, fhe
was obliged to put up at a cottage. A conver-.
fation between her driver and fome people of the
village, which by favour of the darknefs flie hap
pened to overhear, juftly filled her with ferious
alarm. On entering the cottage, fhe perceived
feveral fellows, according to the cuftom of the
country, lying on the ftove. An old woman,
whofe phyfiognomy was not exadtly adapted to
infpire confidence, accofted her with the queftion
why flie had hefitated to pafs the night in that
village, whether it was becaufe She fufpedted that
(he might not be fafe in her houfe ? and fwore, at
the

>

FALLEN AMONG ROBBERS. I35
the fame, time, that there was not a man in it.
The traveller, from long experience being well
acquainted with the character of the nation, took
care not to confute this lie; on the contrary, fhe
difplayed the moft perfect confidence, fat down
with the utmoft compofure to take Some refrefh-
ment, brought out a bottle of brandy from her
cafe in the fledge, called down the fellows that
were lying on the ftove, and divided its contents
among them. This behaviour, the bottle of
brandy, and the friendly looks of the donor, had
their due effedt: the flumbering tsut not ftifled
fentiment of humanity awoke ; and the good-
natured, carelefs, and joyful humour, which is fo
peculiar to the common Ruffians, foon broke out
in noify fongs. The traveller, feeing that ihe
had attained her aim, laid herSelf down to fleep
in. an adjacent room, in all appearance without
any diftruft, forbad her fervants to bring the bag
gage and arms into the houfe, and even put out
the light. At break of day flie found a ruffian
breakfast prepared, and her carriage ready for her
farther progrefs. Her departure from this band
of robbers was a moral caricature of a moft Angular
nature. With the confeffion of their criminal
way of life, flie at the fame time received from
thefe people the affurance, that She and all paf-
fengers that fhould make ufe of her name, Should
be well received, and be lodged in Safety ; a promife
K 4 which

l_6 POLICE OF ST. PETERSBURG.
which was accompanied with the rude but undif-
guifed teftimony of a hearty affection.
The police of St. Peterlburg has a very fimple
and conlpetent organization. Excepting the go-,
yernor, whofe office naturally extends to all objedts
of public welfare, the head police-matter is the
proper chief of the whole fyftem of police. His
office takes in the great compafs of this depart
ment, but is confined to the general objects Of
public fecurity and order. He is not here, as in
fome large towns, the formidable co-partner of fa
mily fecrets, and the invisible witnefs of the adtions,
of the private man. Here are no Spies, nor ought
there to be, if Montefquieu be in the right*.
Under the head police-matter is the police-
office, where fit a police-mafter, two presidents,
theone for criminal, the other for civil cafes, and
two confulters chofen from the burgher clafs. Tq
this is committed the care to maintain decorum,
good order, and morals; alfo it is its bufinefs tq
fee to the obfervance of the laws, that theorderslf-
fued by government, and thedecifions of the courts
of justice, are put in force. The attainment of thefe
purpofes is effedted by the following mechanifm:
The refidence is divided into ten depart
ments. Each of thefe has a president, appointed
" f " Faut-il des efpions dans la monarchic ? Ce n'eft pas
" la pratique des bons princes." — Efprit des Loix, I. *u,
chap. 2$. tQ

nightly watch. 137
to watch over the due execution of the laws, the
fecurity, and the order of his diftridt. The'duties
and authority of this office are not lefs extenfive
than important. A prefident muft have exact
knowledge of the inhabitants of his department,
over which a fort of parental authority is com
mitted to him. he is the cenfor morum of his de
partment; his houfe muft not be bolted or barred
by night or day, but muft be a place of refuge
continually open to all that are in danger or dif-
trefs; he himfelf may not quit the town for the
fpace of two hours, without committing the dif-
charge of his office to fome other perfon. The
police-commando (cOnftables), and the watchmen
of his department, are under his orders; and he is
attended on all affairs of his office by two Serjeants.
Complaints againft unjuft behaviour in the prefident
flsay be brought to the police office.
Each department is again divided into three,
four, or five Subdivisions, called quarters, of
which, in the whole refidence, are two and forty.
Each of thefe has a quarter-infpector, in Subordi
nation to Whom is a quarter-lieutenant. The duty
of thefe police-officers is in harmony with that of
the prefident, only that their activity is confined
to a fmaller circle. They fettle low affairs and
flight altercations on the fpot, and keep a watchful
eye on all that paffes.
The number of the nightly watch in the
eity amounts to five hundred. They have their
Stations

138 town-guard of kozaks/
ftations affigned them in watch-houfes at the
corners of ftreets ; and, befides their proper defti-
nation, are to affift in the taking up of offenders,
and in any fervice by day or night, as their com
manders fliall require. Befides thefe, for the ex
ecution of the police orders, and to adt as patroles,
there is alfo a commando of one hundred and
twenty men, who, in cafes of emergency, are fup-
ported by a pulk or company of kozaks, or a regi
ment of hbflars. ,
This machine, confifting of fo many fubordinate
parts, preferves in its orderly courfe that fecurity
and peace which excite the admiration of all fo
reigners. The adtivity of every individual mem
ber is unobferved in the operation of the whole ;
and by fuch a distribution alone is the attainment
of fo complicated an aim practicable. — All the
quarter infpedtors of a department repair every
morning, at feven o'clock, to their infpector's
houfe, to lay before him" the report of all that has
happened in their quarters during the laft four and
twenty hours; and at eight o'clock all theinfpectors
bring together thefe feveral reports into the police-
office, whereupon they firft and immediately take in
to examination the cafes of perfons taken into cuf-
tody during the night. On urgent occafions the
police office alfembles at all hours.
This organization, and the extraordinary vigi
lance of the police, which would be competent
even for a more numerous and more reftlefs people,
render all Secret inquifitions unneceflary. The
police

REGULATION CONCERNING TRAVELLERS. 139
-police takes cognizance of all perfons in the resi
dence; travellers who come and go are fubjedt to
certain formalities, which render it extremely dif
ficult to conceal their place of abode, or their de
parture from the city. To this end, every houfe-
holder and innkeeper is obliged to declare to the
police who lodges with him, or what ftrangers
have put up at his houfe. If a Stranger or lodger
flays out all night, the landlord muft inform
the police of it at latest on the third day of his
abfence from his houfe. The cautionary rules,
in regard to travellers quitting the town, are ftill
more strict. Thefe muft publilh in the news
paper their name, their quality, and their place
of abode, three feveral times, and produce the
news-papers containing the advercifement, as a
teftimonial, in the government Srom which they
then receive their paffport, without which it is
next to impoffible to get out of the empire. This
"regulation not only Secures the creditor of the
perfon about to depart, but alfo enables the
police to keep a clofer infpection over aU fufpected
inhabitants. The great mixture of foreign inhabitants of all
nations renders this infpection at all times, but
efpecially at certain critical periods, highly necef
fary. There are always, in large populous towns,
diforderly people, adventurers and impoltors, who,
by bold projedts, by an infamous induftry, or hy
. criminal Stratagems and tricks, feek occafion to
difturb the quiet of civil fociety, or to rifle the
purfes

140 INSTANCE OF' INGRATITUDE.
purfes of the public. The lenity of the govern
ment, the hofpitable reception every honeft ftranger
here enjoys, the eafy and various means of gaining
a livelihood, and (he unlimited permission, at
tended with fo many difficulties in other coun
tries, of purfuing them in a lawful way, without
diftindtion of nation or religious profeffion; — all
thefe and other advantages are, however, not always.
fufficient to restrain fuch people within the bounds
of propriety and decorum.
There have not been wanting, even among thofe
who were thrown by good fortune into the coun
try, fuch as have Ihewn themfelves extremely un
grateful for the benefits they were admitted to
fliare. — During the laft fwedifh war fome examples
of this lamentable truth appeared. Among the
numerous Swedes that were fettled in this town,
in" a quiet/ habitation, and having a comfortable
provifion, either as tradefmen or in the fervice of
government, fome were, reduced by a mistaken
patriotifm, by a fpirit of intrigue, or by the hopes
of making their fortune, engaged in fcandalous
practices againft the country that gave them
bread, raifed them to confequence, and protected
them, at the, breaking-out and during the whole
continuance of a war profecuted with fo much
bitternefs and rancour, in the full and undisturbed
enjoyment of the civil advantages they had here
obtained. The vigilance, the fpeedy detection,
and above all, the moderation and magnanimity,
with which the government proceeded againft theft

INTERESTING OCCURRENCE. Ity I
thefe traitors, afford too ftriking and memorable
a refutation of foreign prejudices and the partial
judgment of fome writers, to permit me to grudge
a few lines to an unvarnished and true relation of an
interesting incident of this nature.
The fuddennefs of the departure of the fwedilh
arnbaffador at the breaking out of the war, obliged
him to leave behind him in fafe cuftody a part of
, his papers. A bold and refolute man, who had
been valet-de-chambre to the fecretary of legation,
undertook, fome time afterwards, the dangerous
commiffion, not only of conveying thefe papers to
Sweden, but alfo of fending intelligence of certain
matters which in all countries are considered as
Secrets of ftate, and fhould be fo, in many refpects,
during a time of war. Being fufficiently furnilhed
with money and every other requifite for fuch an
enterprife, he appeared at Petersburg in the bor
rowed, character of a merchant dealing in corn,
and had the luck, not only to attain a part of his
ends, but likewife to get as far as Riga with the
papers and difpatches which were the chief pur
pofe of bis errand. Here, on the borders of the
empire the vigilance of the Peterlburg police
overtook him; he was taken into cuftody, brought
back to town, and put under a guard in the houfe
of the general procureur. His trial was lhort, as
the proofs of his guilt were fo clear as to admit
of no prevarication; he therefore thought it moft
advifeable, under thefe circurnftances, to make a
voluntary

JAfc REMARKABLE SENTENCE*
voluntary confeffion of the fact. Upon this, hhr
fentence was pronounced in the following words :
" You have committed a crime for which in any
<l other country you would becjjunifhed with
" death; this punifhment the emprefs gracioufly,
" cbndefcends to remit, in consideration of the
" frank confeffion you have made: and, as a far-:
" ther mark of her grace, mitigates whatever
" other heavy doom you deferve, to a removal to
" adiftant frontier, where you are to remain till
*' the end of the war. At which time you are at
" liberty to quit the country." The culprit was
ftruck dumb with amazement, and had not time
to recover from his agreeable tranfport, when he
was prefented with a bank-note of a hundred
rubles, and told that it was fent him by a very
exalted benefactor, desirous of alleviating his af
fliction by that trifling donation. The place of
his banifhment lay in the extremity of Siberia.
Here he was ordered to be paid daily a Hated fum
for his fupport; which, by fome accident, never
came to his hands : however among the inhabitants
of thefe j»arts he met with fome kind-hearted
perfons, who felt for his diftrefs, and Supplied him^
with neceffaries. — No fooner was the treaty of
peace concluded, than with the account of it came
an order to fet him at liberty. He returned to St.
Peterfburg, made his appearance in the court of
juftice, received the whole amount of his daily
• allowance paid up to the very day of his libera tion,

LENITY OF CAf HARINE II. I43
tion, fet up in trade on this little capital, married
a young woman of Peterlburg, and was lately
living there, contented and happy, a memorable
inftance of the political toleration of Catharine
the fecond.
This example, ftriking as it is, is not the only
one of the kind. All fuch as had fallen under
fufpicion, during the fwedilh war, or were con
victed of criminal acts, were treated with fimilar
lenity; moft of them were fent into the provinces,
where they either received a flight annual allow
ance in money, or were placed in offices where
they might be uSeful. One of them, who had
been tutor in the land-cadet-corps, was appointed
School-director in the country, with the refervation
of his whole falary. The ordinary punifhrnent of
foreign adventurers who have recourfe to unlawful
methods, is by fending them quickly over the
frontiers; on which occafion a fmall fum of mo
ney is given them. One inftance of this nature
was the pretended count Palatin, who publifhed
the history of his own adventures*. This pre-'
tended count thought proper to fend by poft to the
emprefs, a proposal for the improvement
of russia, requefting a perfonal interview with
that monarch, at which nobody except the grand
duke was to be prefent. On receiving no anfwer
he wrote a fcurrilous letter to the counfellor of
* Scblcetzer's Staatfanzeigen,. torn. i. p. 109. State

144' CURIOUS PROPOSAL.
ftate Kufmin, and even had the impudence to telj
field-marlhal prince Gallitzin, in a converfation
with him, that his intention was to teach the
emprefs the art of knowing her courtiers. Such
behaviour as this leaving no doubt concerning the
character and defigns of the man, he was conveyed
acrofs the borders, after being afforded a fhort
imprifonment that he might digest his plan for the
improvement of the empire, received a hundreds
rubles and a pelice, and was obliged to give a
promife in writing, that he would never again
enter the ruffian territory ; " A promife," adds
the adventurer, " which I gladly made, as I had
" got exactly what I wanted."
If individuals may be fufpected by the govern*
ment, becauSe their means of Support, the com
pany they keep, and their whole courfe of action,
are clofely wrapped up in mystery, fo likewife may
whole societies be lefs indifferent to it, if they
carefully conceal the object of their connection,
or their very exiftence, from the eye of the public.
The police watches here, with laudable attention,
over fecret focieties of all kinds; and frequently
as the fanatical fpirit of religious or political fecta-
ries, or the enthufia(mof pretended myftagogues,
have attempted to neftle here, they have never
-been able to proceed, or only for a very fliort time.
Animal magnetifm., Martinifm, Rofycrutiaoifm,
and by whatever other name the conceits of dif-
tempered imaginations may be called, havealways
5 been

GAMIND, OJLARRELLINGj && 14J
heen attended with the fame bad fuceefs on this
ftage. With equal diligence the police ranfacs the blind
purlieus of fuch as have an averfion to honeft in
duftry, and are attracted by the thirft of gain. If
the ramparts of civil liberty prevent the police
from having recourfe to extreme meafures for
quelling the rage of gaming, yet great difficult-
ties and obftacles are oppofed to the propagation
and extenfion of this dreadful political evil. By
the police regulation only fuch games are allowed
as require bodily exertion and dexterity, or con*
fill of a due proportion of hazard and Ikill. The
nicer explanations on thefe latter are referved for
the laws. . Concerning prohibited games, the police
muft have regard to the motives of the gamesters.
AH complaints and demands relative to play-debts,
and the payment of them, are declared null. That
no lotteries are permitted throughout the whoh?
tuflian empire w well known.
From this Sketch it will be readily imagined,
that the number of impostors and disturbers
of the public peace can be but fmall. Quar
rels and affrays in the ftreet or in the cabaks but
Seldom happen. The perfon attacked calls the
neareft watchman; and in a moment both the
aggreflbr and the aggrieved are taken into cuftody,
and led to the next fieja, (police watch-houfe,)
Where the caufe of their quarrel is inquired into,
and the aggreflbr is punifhed. — For matters of
l fbme

I46 THE ORAL COURT".
fomedefcriptions, there is a peculiar tribunal, under
the denomination of the oral court, which,
on account of its Angularity, defer ves to be briefly
noticed. In each quarter of the town are one or more
judges of the oral court, who are chofen from the
clafs of burghers, and with whom are affociated a
few jurats. This court fits daily in the forenoon,
and proceeds orally in adjudging the differences
that come before it : it, however, keeps a day-book,
in which are entered all the caufes and decisions
of the court, and which muft be every week laid
before the magistrate. When a charge is brought,
the court declares it orally to the prefident of the
quarter ; whereupon the accufed muft not delay
his appearance longer than one day after he has
received the fummons from the police. Every
caufe muft be determined in one day, or if the
examinations require more time in collecting, in
three days. The oral court communicates the
decifion to the prefident of the quarter by means
of his day-book, in order to its ratification. If
either party is not fatisfied with the fentence, he
may appeal to the court as appointed in the regu
lations. The immenfe circulation occafioned by the ne
ceffaries and luxuries of the refidence might pro
vide a greater number of people with the means
of fubfiftence. The growing increafeof the town,
and the great undertakings of' the governrpent, which

beggars; register-offices. 147
which here Unite as in one large central point,
employ as many hands as are to be had, and
would employ more; the facility, therefore, with
which work is to be found, and the high price of
labour, leave idlenefs and indigence without ex-
eufe; And indeed no beggars are feen here,
unlets one fhould give that name to a few chil
dren who here and there run about, and afk for a
polufhka. Old, infirm, distempered people, and
(Similar objects of difguft, are absolutely not per
mitted to follow begging. For the really poor,
and perfons incapable of earning their bread, a
poOr-houfe is provided, and maintained upon
an excellent plan ; but for the industrious who
look out for work, and the idlers that are able
to work, the following ufeful and- falutary regu
lations are made :
In purfuance of the police ordinance of the
year 1782, servant-brokers (or, as we fhould
fay, register- offices) are appointed, where every
day, at certain hours, people who Seek Service
or work, as well as matters who want Servants,
may apply. The broker is bound to enter in
his book the name, the time, and the requifites
or propofals of the feveral perfons who apply, as
alfo the terms of the contract; which book is
taken as evidence in cafe difputes fhould afterwards
arife. In order to induce the public to benefit by
this institution of fuch general utility, it is at the
fame time ordained, that the oral court and the
l 2 ' police-

14& '- THE CITY WORK-HOUSE*
pdlice-office Shall admit of no complaint between
, mafter and fervant, if the contradt cannot be pro
duced in the broker-book* but fervants and workr
men who riegledt to apply to the broker, are
driven out of the town and diftridt.
The work-hoUse of the refidence takes in
not only fuch people as would willingly work, and
find nO employment, but is chiefly filled with
idlers, vagrants, diforderly perfons, Sturdy beg
gars, and thieves who have not ftolen above the
value of twenty rubles. As fuch a conjunction of
crirries with helplefs induftry is contrary to the
maxims of an enlightened police, So this institu
tion, according to its original .destination, was
dedicated only to the latter. But becauSe, either
from prejudices formed againft the inftitution, or
becaufe, as it is moft reafonable to think, there is
a fuperffuity of means of livelihood, but very few
fuch perfons are found, this inftitution is almoft
entirely confined to forced workmen. The fuper
intendance of it belongs to the college of general
provifion, who, therefore, fettle the mode and
meafure of employment according to the fex*
the age, and the bodily frame of each* It is
likewife permitted to private perfons to Send their
fervants hither Sor punifhment; in this caSe, how
ever, they muft pay three kopeeks a day Sor each
perSon's board, in addition to the profit on their
labour, to the inftitution. On an average about
eight hundred perSons are kept here annually. A fmall

house of correction. 149
A Small hofpital connected with this inftitution
had, on the lftof January 1790, one hundred and
feven patients of both fexes.
For criminals condemned to labour by the laws,
(there is a house Of correction. This is like -
wife under the management of the college of ge
neral provifion, which endeavours to make the
penal labour of thefe people, particularly in re
gard to manufactures, ufeful to the ftate. In pur
suance of an ordinance of government the houfe
of correction is deftined for the following defcrip-
tions of civil and moral offenders; for children
who are difobedient to their parents, or habitually
purfue bad courfes; for people who having run
out their circumftances, have contradted twice as
many debts as they have the means to pay, or are
guilty of fcandalous breaches of decorum; for
perfons who publicly follow a courfe of life which
is contrary to found morals and the regulations of
a good police ; for worthlefs and lazy rogues and
vagabonds; for flout and obftinate vagrants and
beggars; laftly, for women who lead a fcandalous,
impudent, and profligate life. — Offenders of thefe
kinds are put into the houfe of correction, either
in purfuance of the fentence of a court of judi
cature, or at the request of parents, ftipenors,
or matters, though not without evidence where
fore. Here alfo private perfons muft pay a flight
allowance, as in the work-houfe. The men are
feparated from the women ; and all the people con- "
l 3 fined

150 the town jail.
fined muft be called only by their christian natnesj
The obftinate and refradtory may be chaftifed, by
order of the head overSeer, by beating, or punifhed
by being fhut up and kept on bread and water.
The annual number of perfons under correction
here is between' 7 and 900.
TheSe inftkutions, into which the refidence dis
charges all its fluggifh, Soul, and infectious parts,
as into a receiver, ftand in So cloSe a connection
with the priSons oS the courts of judicature, that
it would render this account incomplete, to omit
the' mention of them here.
The new town-jail, which, as far as prac
ticable, is conftructed and difpofed upon Mr. John
Howard's plan, confifts of a large, ftrong-builr,
pentagon edifice, of two Stories. Outwardly it
has no windows, and only one gate, which is of
iron; each of the five angles is terminated by a
tower, which rifes above the roof, and Serves as
a magazine. Each ftory has only one fuite of
chambers, all opening into a covered gallery.
The rooms are diffimilar, in fize, but are fitted up
in exactly the Sanie , manner. The windows are
all placed high; each cell is provided with a cubic
ftove, a fmall table and feat of mafonry, an iron
outer door, and in the wall a water-clofet. In the
open place which forms the area of the building,
js a Smaller prifon of the fame Shape with the
larger, which, with cells of a like construction with
the others, contains a chapel, a comptoir, a guard- houSe,

JAIL OF THE POLICE. I5T
houfe>; and a chamber of correction. The remain
ing fpace, in breadth about fix fathpm, is left for
indulging the; . prifoners in the benefit of taking
the air. The whole building has hitherto conti
nued quite empty. -_
Of the other jails, which are. only three, -that
of the police is the moft remarkable. This houfe,
which is commonly called the politzey, becaufe
-here the chancery of it was formerly held, is at
prefent the principal place of detention for all de
linquents that come within the cognizance of the
police. Accordingly, here are kept, previous to
their trial, fraudulent infolvents and bankrupts,
Swindlers, gamesters, bullies, cheats, thieves, and
fanatics of all christian fedts, and qS all nations in
motley mixture. This ftrarige collection of beings
is productive of no lefs Angular effects. The rich
purchafe accommodations of the poor, and the
cunning overreach the fimple; Separated frorji all
human fociety, a fort of petty republic is formed
within thefe walls, in which the two grand levers
of human activity, indigence and paffion, play
their part as well as without them. Thus, a few
years ago, an inhabitant of this manfion picked
up money by the myfleries of an order of which
he was a member, by admitting, for a fmall re
ception-fee, a confiderable number of worthy pro-
felytes. Another had been favoured with the
.permission to Separate his fleeping-place by a Screen,
where he lived in company with his SerSs, who,

'•%.__ PRISON ANECDOTES.
by the duties of their vaffalage, were obliged to
follow himrinto this abode. Here he gave a
friendly reception to all comers, whofe looks and
dreSs Seemed promising, and drew from theth
what money they had, either at cards or by giving
them a goblet or two of ftrong punch, with fuch
artifice that never any got out of his clutches with
out leaving behind them, in his lurking corner,
whatever they had* and fometimes even a past of
their clothes. — This houfe, which feerns to har
bour within its walls only vice ahd criminality, at
times alfo exhibits Some noble instance of human
action, as a fewfeattered rays are feen to mingle
in the fombre tints of a painted night-piece. Not
for the. purpofe of relieving the fliades, but as
a fmall memorial of an unknown geherous action,
the following anecdote may here be permitted to
find a place.
A young german nobleman, who had for a
long time indulged himfelf- in the uSual Sollies of
his age with the utmoft thoughtleffnefs and extra
vagance, was put into the politzey by his credi
tors. Tn this deplorable fituation, abandoned by
sll his former acquaintance, a damSel of the com
mon olafs, who. had fhared his purfein better days,
remained true to him. She followed him to prifofly
Waited on him with unwearied care during a viOw
lent illnefs with which he was attacked. Supplied -
him with all kinds of neceffaries, fold, when
all her money was gone,' what furniture and clothes flic

FRAUDS OF SHOPKEEPERS. 153
flie had, and at length went about begging for her
unfortunate friend. At the end of eleven months,
on his being releafed by death from this unhappy
condition, fhe caufed him to be decently interred
with the remainder of the alms fhe had procured,
and then — con-fented to the offer of marriage long
ago made her by a man in good circumftances, with
whom flie might have enjoyed the conveniencies
and pleafures of life, and which flie had hitherto
refufed only becaufe (he thought it difbonourable
to forfake her firft lover in his diftrefs. This cir
cumstance flie mentioned to her hulband previous
to their marriage.
Great as the fecurity of the city is in regard to
acts of open violence, yet it is neceffary for every
one to be upon his guard againft artful impostures
and deep-laid ftratagems. The frequent inftances
of this kind make every Ruffian wary, and there
fore they are not fo eafily made the dupes of their
countrymen; but fo much the more do rhey make
up for this at the expence of Strangers and fo
reigners, particularly when they are not acquaint
ed with the language of the country. , The Shop
keepers and merchants commonly alk three times,
and frequently even five times as much as the
commodity is worth ; the unknowing offer the
half, and think they have made a good bargain,
till they find, when too late, that they have been
miferably cheated. To give damaged goods a
fair appearance, to defraud in measure and weight in

I £4 STORY OF A CHEAT.
in an imperceptible manner, to flip bad goods
among the better that have been bought and
ordered home; all thefe, and a multitude oS other
tricks,' no dealers in the world understand better
'than the ruffian. As the Ruffians in general are
furprifingly cunning and oS quick parts, they are
eminently addicted to this Species of induftry ; and
the pickpockets of St. Peterlburg and MoSco may
faSely lay wagers on their dexterity with thoSe of
London and Paris.
Some time fince the following affair happened
at Mofco, which excited great curiofity both
there and at the refidence ; and,- on account of its
originality, deferves to be noticed while we are on
this fubjedt. A wealthy nobleman, well known
as a fancier of precious ftones, fell accidentally
in company with a perfon unknown to him, who
wore on his finger a ring of great beauty and
value. After a long difcourfe on its real worth,
fhe nobleman offered him a confiderable price for
it; which the Stranger at firft refufed, on the rea
sonable ground that he had no. defire to part with
it. At length, however, to evade the repeated
importunities of the nobleman, he declared that he
could not fell it, becaufe — the ftones were not
genuine. This declaration filled all the company,
among whom were connoiffeurs, with amaze
ment. The nobleman, in order to be fure of the
matter, defired to have -the ring for a few days
againft fufficient fecurity, received it, and ran
from

AN ARTFUL IMPOSITION. - 1$§
from one jeweller to another, who all unanimoufly
pronounced the ftones to be genuine, and of great
value. With this atfurance, and the hope of a
good bargain, he broaght back the ring to its
pwner, who, on receiving it, put it, with great
indifference, inro his waiftcoat pocket. The nego
tiation now began afrefh : the Stranger persisted in
his refolution, till at length the nobleman offered
a fum which was pretty near the true value of it.
f* This ring," returned the stranger, " is a token
" of friendfhip; but I am not rich enough to re-
*' jedt fo large a fum as you offer for it. Yet
f this high offer is the very reafon of my not
'-' complying. How can you, if you are tho-
*f roughly confcious of what you are doing, offer
f fo much money for a ring, which the owner
ff himfelf confelfes to be made up of falfe ftones ?"
?' If your determination , depends only on that,"
replied the buyer, " here take at once the fum,"
(laying it in bank-notes upon the table,) " and I
f* call the gentlemen here prefent to witnefs, that
" I voluntarily, and after due confideration, pay
'f it." The feljer took the money, and gave' the
nobleman the ring, repeating the declaration, that
the ftones were falfe, and that it was ftill time to
make the bargain void. The latter obftinately
refufed to hearken to his advice, haftened joyfully
home, and found — what the reader has already
gueffed — - that the Stranger had faid what was too
true. Inftead of the genuine ring, he had a falfe one

Ji;6 FRAUDULENT ARTIFICES.
one made exactly like the other. The affair was
brtmght into a court oS juftice; but, as the Seller
proved, that during the whole bufineSs there was
no queftion at all about genuine ftones ; that the
purchaSer expreSsly treated only for a falfp ring,
and he on the other hand fold him only a falfe
ring; the judge was accordingly obliged to pro
nounce in favour of the latter.
The arts of cheating in the articles of provifioas
are no where better underftood than here. Ordinary
deceptions of this nature happe : :.«.* every plare ;
but when one looks at afr,"4, which to ail appv:ar-
ance is finely fattened, and finds it only n' d with
wind; or afparagus, deprived ot th^r ca: able part,
pointed again and coloured wkh a tempting ver
dure; no man will call thefe ordinary tricks.
A lady, who had not been long core out of
Germany, and had heard much from her acquaint
ance at Peterlburg of the many artifices of this
nature pradtifed in that city, took the resolution
to life the utmoft caution in all her dealings, in
order to refute the common opinion, that every
Stranger muft buy his wifdom. Several days
paffed on : one morning, however, a rafnofchtfchik*
entered her apartment, and offered her a pound of
tea, the laft remains of what he had to fell. ' She
'weighed the parcel, and found it juft : She made a

* Rafnofchtfchi'ks are venders of fmall articles about the
ftreets.

trial;

A KNAVISH TRICK. 257
trial; the tea was unadulterated, and well fla
voured : flie Ihook it all out into a bafon ; no deceit
was difcoverable. She inquired the price, and
offered a third part of what he afked : the vender
was naturally not fatisfied with this offer; turned
his tea back again into the box, wrapped a cloth
about it, and crammed it into his bofom. At
length the bargain was Struck, and the commodity
delivered ; however, prudence does no harm ; the
lady opened the box, and faw the tea She had
bought. She lhut it up, to the great joy oS the
Seller, who in the mean time had alked her, Smiling,
why flie was So extremely cautious, and why flie
had So very bad an opinion of his honefty. The
money was paid ; the rafnofchtfchik went his way ;
and fome days after the box was found full of
Sand and grains, excepting the furface, which was
really good tea.
Matters of this kind are frequent in all great
towns, where the numerous population renders
every detection more difficult, and the diftance and
difference between fhe circumftances of fortune
rouze the paffions, and urge the human intellect
to every fpecies of induftry. The height of civi
lization and refinement, as well as the extreme
of immorality and corruption, are only to be
looked for in towns of the firft magnitude. The
means to prevent thefe evils are not in the hands of
the police; no human invention can hinder an
effect where the caufe is nacural ; and to remove this,

tjjS OCCASIONAL INUNDATIONS.
this, we muft follow the plan of the philofOphers/
who banifh the human race into forefts and moun
tains, where the greateft integrity refides with the
greateft brutality.
The public fecurity is not only brought into
jeopardy by human attacks of fraud and violence:'
nature alfo feems at times to have confpired
againft it. The refults of the grand, eternal,
and beneficent laws, by which flie acts upon the
whole, are neverthelefs very frequently deftrudtive
to the parts; and man, by an inexplicable decree,
is obliged to arm himfelf, as againft an alfalEriy
even againft Nature, from whofe hand he receives
his being, his fupport, and his enjoyments. The
NATURAL AND ACCIDENTAL VIOLATIONS) OF
public security are therefore not lefs an- im
portant object of police. An accurate detail of
all the particular institutions to this end would run
beyond the limits of this book. The following
inftance, drawn from the whole, will fuffice as a
charadteriftic of this department of the police of
St. Peterfburg.
That city, from its fituation at the mouth of
a large navigable river, is very often expofed to
inundations. On a continuance of westerly
winds the water rifes to the height of ten feet
above its ordinary level. At five feet it overflows
only the western parts of the town, in places where
the Neva has no rampart; but on a fwell of the
water to ten feet, only the eafternmoft parts efcape
S a general

PRECAUTIONS AGAINST THEM. l_Cf
a general inundation. , In the year 1777, on Sunday
the iothof September, at ten o'clock in the fore
noon, the water rofe to the height of ten feet feven
inches above its ufiial level; and though in two
hours afterwards it had again retired within its
banks, yet this fliort inundation produced very
extraordinary effects. A fhip from Lubeck was
carried into the wood on Vaffilli-oftrof : the ducheSs
of Kingston's famous yacht, which fhe had quitted
a few days before, was caftupon the bar, and greatly
damaged ; many wooden houfes were wafhed away,
and feveral perfons had loft their lives during the
obfcurity of the night.
Since this remarkable inundation proper mea-.
fures oS prudence and caution have been adopted.
For Several years the height of the water had been
regularly marked at the cattle. Now, at all rifings
of the river, Signals were appointed at the admi
ralty, as a warning to the inhabitants. Whenever
it rifes above its banks at the mouth of the great
Neva, notice is given to the town by three diltindt
firing of cannon, which are repeated at intervals,
as the danger increafes. Within the town, in this
cafe, five cannons are fired from the admiralty-
battery, and on the fteeple of it by day four white
flags are difplayed, and by night four lanterns are
hung out; and at the fame time the church-bells are
Slowly tolled. In places moft expofed to the inun
dation, veffels are kept in readineSs Sor Saving the
people. Thefe regulations, the increafing build ings,

1(jO CALAMITIES BY FtRE.
ings, the embanking, and the magnificent ftofig
quay of the Neva, together with the extenfion of
the water-furface by the various canals, render
thefe weftern gales lefs alarming to the inhabitants
of St. Peterfburg ; So that a Swell of five feet
above the level now excites but little or even no
attention. Alfo the danger of depredations by fires
is no longer fo great as formerly, as the number
of wooden houfes vifibly diminilhes ; and the
regulations for extinguilhing the fires and the
faving of property are better and more complete.
For this purpofe the police keeps in its pay ten
firemafters and one thoufand fix hundred and
twenty-two men, who are employed folely to
this object. Calamities of this nature are at pre*
Sent but feldom heard of; and when they happen,
it is commonly in the out-lying parts of the
town, where the houfes are moftly of timber, and
very old. During the laft ten or twelve years, in
the better ftreets, never more than one houfe is
burnt down, and even this is generally of wood.
The people of the police are beeome fo dexter
ous, that at one of the laft accidents to which
the author of this account was a witnefs, a fmall
wooden houfe that ftood coatiguous to the one
on fire, was fo extremely well preferved, that it re
ceived not the flight-eft damage. At the impe
rial loan bank, is an infurance-office, where one
and a half per cent, is paid on three fourth? of
6 the

QITICK DRIVING IN THE STREETS. l6i
ihe annual rate at which the houfe or fabrick is
taxed. . Though quick, driving along the ftreets is
forbidden, yet from various caufes it is impossible
entirely to prevent it ; and, for the following
reafons, it is no where attended with lefs dang-er
than at St. Petersburg. All the ftreets are broad
and Spacious ; and as they run in Straight lines it
enables. the driver to See a long way before him :
in many of the ftreets is a-raifed footway, which
fecures the pedestrian from danger. Befides, the
Ruffians are excellent coachmen; and, as they
are anfwerable for every accident occasioned by
their negligence or want of fkill, they not ohly
call out to the foot-paffengers, while at fome
distance, but even turn off in cafes of neceffity.
The manner of their calling too is almoft always
appropriate : for example, " Old gentleman !
" Good mother ! Soldier ! Filh-cryer 1 &c
Not only here, but throughout all the empire,
it is the univerfal cuftom, in driving, to keep the
right fide of the way; hence the perpetual cry
in the ftreets : "'Na prava ! " i. e. " To the right. !/*
Whoever goes contrary to this cuftom, is in danger
of being chaftiied on the fpot, or at leaft of re
ceiving a volley of abufe.
On all occafions when a great number of people
or equipages are collected together, the police-
officers muft be prefent ; and they, by the affiftance
of foldiers or kozaks on horfeback, keep fuch
M gooc

>>'

l62 GREAT NUMBER OF CARRIAGES, .
good order, that one Seldom or never hearsjof
an accident. At the theatres, at court, at the
elubs, eSpecially at the entertainments given in the
palaces, and at the promenades on certain festivals,
there are frequently feveral thoufands of carriages
and an immenfe multitude of people on foot :
the former obferve exactly certain rules prefcribed,
and the latter may be prefent without the leaft
danger, even from the tumultuous rabble. He
muft indeed be a very partial obfervery who does
not take notice of this extraordinary vigilance
and caution, which is always admired by fo
reigners. At every entertainment, every public
.dinner in the town, on. every occasion where the
number of carriages is fomewhat confiderable,
the police-officers are immediately there, for
the prefervation of order and the prevention of
accidents. On the bridges acrofs the Neva fome
of them are conftantly prefent, as there the,
throng of paffengers is uncommonly great. The
fame care is taken concerning dangerous Scaffolds
at buildings, and at the diverfions. of the popu
lace. The ice-hills and other national fports
would certainly coft many people their lives,
were it not for thefe good regulations, by which,-
however, accidents cannot at all times be pre
vented; and therefore the government is gradu
ally endeavouring to abolifh them by limiting
the period of their duration. The freezing anil
breaking-up of the ice of the Neva may be dan
gerous.

THE RUSSIANS VENTURESOME.' l6_
perous to the public Security; therefore, on thefe
oecafions too, the proper cautionary regulations
are nbt forgotten. £:As foon as the ice begins
to be porous and unfafe, care is taken to break
it hear the Ihores, to prevent paSSengers Srorii
getting upon, it; and notices are ftuck upon posts
for the fame purpoSe. Befides theSe precautions,
the Soldiers of the police are at thefe times con
tinually prefent, who are frequently obliged to
restrain by force the fool-hardy populace from
Venturing their lives for a trifling wager. The
writer of this account was himfelf an eye-witnefs
of fuch a man, at the moft imminent hazard of
his life, walking over the porous, deep-grey
coloured ice of the river, which is as broad as
the Thames at London bridge,' by means of a
couple of^iGards which he took with him, laying
the one at the end of the other alternately as he
paffed over them, oSten Sparing himfelf this
trouble, on feeling that a part of the ice would
juft bear his weight without it. In this manner,
in the prefeilce of hundreds of fpectators, he was
got, near the oppofite fhore, when a police-officer
'Standing there, and feeing him coming, held up his
Stick, threatening to give him a hearty welcome
With it on his reaching the land. The apprehen
sion of this-flight chaftifement outweighed the con
cern for his life : he forgot the precaution he be
fore obferved, his boards and his danger ; ran
m a, back

164 MEDICINES ALWAYS SEALED".
back asfaft as he 'could,', and fafely arrived on the
other fhore. . .
, The making up -and the fending out of medi
cines from the Ihops of the apothecaries by care-
lefs'or wicked fervants may fo eafily give occa-
fion to dreadful misfortunes or crimes, that par
ticular prudential regulations are here thought
neceffary in this refpedt. Every recipe muft not
only -be figned with the name of the phyfician
who prefcribes if, but muft alfo mention the pa
tient for whorri it is prefcribed, with the day of
the month and the year. To the medicine a label
is affixed, mentioning, befides this date, the price
of the medicine, and the nanie of the apothecary
and his fhop. But the belt regulation is, that each,
even the moft fimple medicine, muft be feaied.
All phyficians, surgeons, and midwives, who intend
to pradtife in the ruffian empire, muft undergo an
examination at the college of medicine, which
then grants them a licence; and this licence must
be publifhed in the gazette.
Her majefty's care for the public Security
extended, alfo to the paffing of laws and regula
tions for the prevention of dangerous and conta
gious difeafes, to the infpection of damaged pro
visions, and a multitude of ordinances of like na-
.ture; but moft of them fo -much refemble what
are met with in other countries, that it would here
be needlefs to give a particular account of them. This

PROMULGATION OF LAWS. 165
This Subject then may properly be concluded by
noticing one of the moft important and interest
ing of all the regulations that belong to the general
System of police.
The reader will recollect, that the publication
and enforcement of the decrees of the fovereign,
according to the before-mentioned inftrudlion, is
.one of the primary duties of the police-office.
For the exercife of it the following remarkable
form was prefcribed by, Catharine II. Whenever
a law, promulgated by the autocratic authority,
and fubfcribed by ber imperial majefty's own
hand, or an ordinance from the places conftituted
for that purpofe, is fent to the police-office, it
must be entered in the proper books, when,
whence, and how it received this law. If it be fent
thither for publication, then the crown advocate
of the police-office is to be called, and his legal
opinion taken: if there appear then any doubtful
point, it niuft be reprefenred in the proper place;
but if no doubt at all arife, then a reSolutiqn
muft be made concerning its publication. This
done, the law niuft firft be read in the affembly
of the members of the police office, then with
open doors at the prefident of the quarter's houfe,
and at the quarter-infpedtor's ; and hereupon the
promulgation is performed.
The foregoing fadts will probably be fuffi
cient for giving Some adequate notion of the
M 3 State

l66 CONCLUDING REMARKS,
State of the police in the refidence, which, for
the form and method, is the fame in all the
towns throughout the empire ; and, at the Same
time, will Serve to Ihew the fpirit that actuated
the inftitutions Sor which tfre empire is indebted to,
Catharine II.

CHAP.

< i«7 )

CHAP. VI.

PUBLIC CONVENIENCE.
Pavement. Sewers. Footways. Lamps.- Fire-hearths in the
ftreets. Drojekcts and fledges for hire. Water-communications.
Diligences for the environs. — Accommodations for firangers.
Want of taverns compel fated by the hofpitality of the place. Ne-
cejfaries and expences qf lodgings for fir angers. Ready-furnijhed
apartments. — Chop-houfes. — Traiteurs. Khartfchevni . Ta
bles fet out in the ftreets for the populate. — Markets for necef
faries and luxuries. Goftinnoi dvor. Englijli, french and other
viarehoufes. Market in the Y&mjkoi for ready-made carriages.
Market at Nevfki for common neceffaries. Shops or Lavkj. —
Private inftitutians for public convenience. Podriatfchiki or
ctntraSors. Artels, or fellow/hips of labourers. Dvoruiki, er
houfe porters.
l ETERSBURG, all local circumftances consi
dered, is fo well furnilhed with the general objedts
of public convenience, that in this refpect it
would rather gain than lofe by a comparifon with
the generality of chief towns in Europe. The
Science of police, and this rubric in particular, is
as yet fo new, and the execution of its maxims fo
dependent on the experience and on the local and
individual qualities of a place, that generally
Speaking, Sew great matters and nothing "tho-
' m 4 roughly

1 68 STREET PAVEMENTS.
roughly complete in this departmeut of human,
exertion has hitherto been effected. The thought
ful obferver, who is aware of the full extent of
this matter, and fcans the execution of it not only
by the greatneSs of its abstract idea, but alfo by
the difficulties with which the reality is attended,
will find, on the whole, an! in particulars, more
perSormed, than he had a right to expedt in judging
by that Standard.
Thei pavement of the city, from various caufes,
is not fo good as could be wifhed Sor the fame of
a magnificent imperial refidence and the accom
modation, of the public. If it belonged to the
generajplan of this work to inquire into the why
and wherefore of each particular object, I Should
attribute to the SoSt marShy Soil one principal
caUSe of this inconvenience. The inceffant and
the quick driving of carriages in the better diftriits,
and the negligence of the paviours muft indeed
likewife \>e%r pan of the blame; the former cir
cumftance, however, cannot properly be remedied;
and the difadvantage of the latter reverts on the
proprietors of houfes, as they are obliged fo much
the oftener to have their bad pavement repaired.
The method of paving here is this: the larger
ftones are ufually laid fo as to form a quadrangle,
which is filled up with the fmaller ftones, and then
rammed" Slightly into the ground. The interfaces
are filled with brickbats, and the whole fo thickly
Strewn with coarfe Sand, that it is more like a
country-.

COMMON SEWERS. ISO.
tcountry-road than a ftreet pavement. As long as
}t is new, carriages run pleafantly enough upon it;
but the rains and the ceaSeleSs rolling oS coaches
and carts very Soon break it up. The quantity of
Sand. renders the ftreets in Spring and autumn So
dirty, that it is absolutely impossible for foot paf-
jTengers to walk neatly drelfed, and in fummer oc-r
pafions an inSupportable duft pernicious to the
eyes, particularly Srom its mixture with particles
pf brick. The ftreets are feldom cleanfed; as
only iii fpring while the fnow is diffolving, the mud
is Swept into great heaps ; which, however, are
not always carried away, and, thereSore help to
jncreaSe the duft in dry weather. — The public
Squares are an exception to this 'account, which in
general are extremely well paved.
In Catharine's reign a great and expensive under
taking was begun for more eafily cleanfing the
ways. The ftreets in the belt parts of the town
are provided with sewers arched with brick,
running at the depth of about two feet below
the pavement with an eafy deicent into the Neva,
having grates at top, at certain diftances, like thofe
jn London, for the mud and water to pafs through.
On account of the gentle declivity of thete Sewers
the mud lodges in them to fuch a degree that they
are obliged to be cleanfed every other year. In
the banks of the Neva grates are fattened to pre
vent the coarfer filth from paffing through. Thefe
channels

E7<3 LIGHTING THE STREETS.
channels are alfo of great fervice in inundationsby
letting the water more quickly ruft off.
Many of the ftreets are provided with foot-
pavements; few of them, however, are adequate
to the purpofe for which they were intended of
keeping the pedestrian paffenger Safe and dry.
Almoft every houfe has a carriage gateway, where
by the footpath is interrupted, as it alfo is by the
Steps leading down to the cellar-Shops or lavki's.
In the Nevfkoi perfpedtive this inconvenience is
obviated by making the trottoirs on each 'fide at
fome diftance from the houfes, which was here
extremely practicable by reafon of the extraordi
nary width of the ftreet; but the Sootway is So
little raiSed above the other pavement, that in dirty
weather it is of little or no benefit. Along the
Neva and the feveral canals, however, thefe acr
commodauons are So laid as completely to anfwer
their pnrpoSe ; as may be Seen in the account of
them given in the firft chapter. — Notwithstanding
all thefe advantages the pedeftsian is generally but
badly provided for; a defect, which, thofe of Eng
land excepted, is common to all great cities.
The lighting of the ftreets is well managed
in the genteeler parts of the town, but in the cutr
lying districts only to a very moderate degree.
This is immediately evinced by the fmall number
of lamps, which does not exceed three thoufand
five hundred in all They are globular, and fixed on

hearths in the streets. 171
on wooden pofts. The annual expence of lighting
them comes to feventeen thoufand rubles, and is
defrayed out of the city-fund.
A peculiarity obfervable here are the street-
hearths ; which, both on ^hat account and from
their humane defign in providing a comfortable
place of refort to the poor drivers and others of
the loWer clafs who are obliged to wait in the
ftreets in the winter feafon, deferve a Short descrip
tion. One ov thefe hearths confifts of a circular
fpot furrounded by a parapet of granite, havinga
bench within of the fame material, covered with
an iron roof Supported on pillars of that metal, and
in the middle is kindled a large fire, round which
twenty or thirty perfons may conveniently Sit and
enjoy the warmths Iron Shutters areiikewiSe placed
pn the ftone parapet reaching up to within a couple
of feet from the roof, which, Hiding in grooves are
eafily moved fo as to keep off the force of the
chilling blafts. On all the principal fquares, near
the ^ilay-houfes, and wherever a number of equi
pages are ufually collected, and the coachmen and
fervants are obliged to wait feveral hours in the
cold, thefe fire-hearths are constructed. From be
ing all made of granite with painted iron roofs and
fcreens, they likewife add to the embellishment of
the places where they Hand.
In all the capitals of Europe carriages, under
one form or another", ply for hire in the ftreets,
and are taken far certain fares to different distances. Here,

Ifz ' isvoschtschiki or drivers,
Here, where the great circuit 'of the town, the
climate and the pavement render fuch an acconir
rnodation doubly neceffary, coaches of this descrip
tion are not yet in uSe. Instead oS hackney-coaches,
isvoschtschikj, [the general denomination Sor all
.drivers^coachmen, poftillibns, carmen, &c] have
their ftands in the ftreets, ready to drive where
they are ordered, in Summer with drojekas and in
¦winter with Sledges. The drojeka confifts oS a
bench with Springs under it and cushions upon it,
on Sour wheels, at one end oS which is the horSe,
and juft behind him fits the iivofchtfchik; they are
otherwife conftructed in various methods according
to the fancy of the owner. Thus, for example,
we See Some with elbows, either only on one fide
or on both, contrived in Such manner that one
perfon fitting on it looks to the right and the other
to the left; fome have rests for the feet and leathern
flaps to guard the legs from the dirt; others again,
though very few, have a teller, which is an ex-
' tremel'y ineffectual preservative from the rain; fe
veral have only backs, and fome are quite plain.
Thofe at the fervice of the public are in the laft
and fimpleft form; in general- very neat, exceed
ingly light, and always gaudily painted. Two
perfons at moft can fit on them, befides the ifvofcht-
fchik, with tolerable eafe. Their greateft advan
tage is the uncommon light neSs of the vehicle;
but this by no means makes up for their incon-.
yeiiiences and defects. Having no covering, and
' frequently

sledges for hire. 17I"
frequently affording no protection from the dirt,
the rider is entirely expofed to the weather and to
be fplafhed all over. The want of fides and
back, and the jolting experienced in driving,
whence they obtained the name of drojeka, may
render an excurfion on them extremely beneficial
to the health; but Sor people, who ufe this car
riage otherwife than as phytic, the motion is ab
solutely tormenting. To all thefe difagreeable
circumftances muft be added the horrid vicinity of
the .iSvoSchtSchik', which, particularly during the
church-fafts, is exceedingly offenfive to the nofe. —
The sledges for hire are not much more en
titled to commendation; but the velocity with
which we can go a long way in them, and the low
price of this conveyance are preponderant advan
tages. At the firft beginning of the fledge- roads
a great number of boors, appear from the fur-
rounding diftridts, who continue earning money
all the winter through as ifvofchtfchiks, and from
the wretched condition of their horfes and Sledges,
are known by the name oS Ivanufchky [jackyj.
The number of all the hackney Sledges that are
run about the ftreets is computed at upwards of
-three thoufand.- — In the beft frequented parts of
the town are handfome fledges with fine running
horfes, of which are fome that are .worth from'
fourteen to fifteen hundred rubles. Driving at
full fpeed is one of the favourite winter diversions
of the Ruffians. In the long and broad ftreets are
frequently

174 ferries across the neva;
frequently feen races between two, four, fix of
more fledges. One -who has not been an eye-wit-
neSs, can Scarcely Sorm ari idea of the rapidity
with which they glide along the plains Of frozen
fnow. The dexterity likewife of the ifvoScht-
Schiks ftrikes every foreigner with aftonilhment.
In the bufieft ftreets a prodigious number oS fledges
are running acroSs each other in every direction, al
moft all oS them driving very Saft, and yet it is
extremely feldom that any accident happens. The
rule is, for every one to keep to the right; and,
as moft of the ftreets are very broad, none are pre
vented from driving as faft as they chufe. The
fares of thefe hired fledges are very different, as
they are fubjedt. to official regulation; the fame
diftance for which an Ivanufchka is content to take
five kopeeks, cofts a ruble and 3 half or two rubles
in a racing fledge. Every ifvofchtSchik wears a
plate oS. tin at his back, on which is painted his
number and the quarter in which the ftand is to
which he belongs.
As the bridges acrofs the Neva and the canals
are not fufficient for the communication between
the various parts of the town, ferries are appointed
in feveral places, at which boats are constantly
lying in readinefs, which take in a fingle perfon
for a kopeek or two. In lpring and autumn, when
the floating bridges are parted and drawn alhore,
the Neva Swarms with boats of all forts and Sizes.
To take your paffage with Some degree of gen
tility,

YARI0US MODE'S OF CONVEYANCE. 1 75.
tility, you hire a boat for yourfelf or company;
but any one who goes for the fake of making ob
fervations on the manners and Sentiments of dif
ferent forts of people, .efpeeially the lower, may
at times pick up plenty of" materials for forming
his judgment in the miscellaneous and numerous
company of a great barge.
The extraordinary extent of the city renders all
thefe communications abfolutely neceffary. As it
would be difficult to point out a place in Europe
comprehending more grand fquares, wider ftreets,
and more numerous vacuities, it is natural to ima
gine that- people live more difperfed than elfewhere.
It occurs every day that a perfon goes to vifit an
acquaintance, whoSe houSe is more *than fix miles
off; and it thereSore not unfrequently happens
that he makes this journey in a very different me
thod. Thus, he- fometimes walks part of the
way, till he comes to the river; here he may
greatly Ihorten his road by taking a boat, and the
reft of the journey it is likely he may perform on
.a drojeka. All of thefe means, however, as may
eafily be Suppofed, are not compatible with high
pretentions to gentility; perSons of fashion keep
their own carriages, and therefore may difpenfe
"with the public accommodations here mentioned.
For going in a cheap manner about the environs,
Several methods are at hand. To Cronftadt there.
are packet-boats; to Peterhof, T|arfkoe-felo xand
Gatchina

typ taverns and hotels.
, Gatchina post -carriages and diligences Set oul
daily, when the court is at either of thofe palaces.
Befides, the waht Of ftage coaches is not here
much felt, as horfe-hire is very low, (each horfe
cofting no more thari two kopeeks a verft) and as
it is not ufual to travel otherwife than by paffports
for relays, or by extra-poft.
The fituation of St. Peterfburg, .in a northern
corner of Europe, is one natural caufe why there
is not here fuch a confluence of travellers; as in
the capitals of Germany, France, an'd other coun
tries. People paffing through are feldotp or never
Seen; whoever comes hither has almoft always
reached the place of his deftinatiom Merely for
the Sake of gratifying curiofity, Peterlburg, with
all its remarkable objects, lies too Sar frum the
centre of polifhed Europe. The generality of tra
vellers defign to make Some flay here, and there-
Sore tarry at an inn only Sor a Short Space. It is
uSual Sor foreigners to bring letters of recom
mendation to the mercantile houfes or to fome
family, who engage houfes or lodgings for them
of private owners. Hence it is that-the taverns
here are ftill fo far behind thofe of other capitals in
point of accommodations and elegance;
In the genteeler pa>rts of the town are, how
ever, two large hotels with roomy apartments
tolerably furnilhed, an ordinary, and other con
veniences, fuch as an equipage for hire, valets de
place,-

general hospitality. 177
place, and the like; but they bear no comparifon
with even hotels of the fecond rank in London,
Paris, Berlin and Frankfort. The apartments and
the furniture are, to fay the beft of them, but
moderately handfome, the larder is very plain, and
at the "ordinary not always provifion enough; wai
ters for the fervice of the guefts are no where
found; every one is obliged immediately to hire a
valet de place, or he will not be able to get a glafs
of water, and will be under the neceffity of clean
ing his own fhoes.
To be candid, befides the above-mentioned apo«
logies for the poornefs of the tables at public hotels,
it fhould be obferved, that here it is not the prac
tice with the natives to frequent them as eating-
houfes. Almoft every Peterlburgher, who keeps
no kitchen of his own, is a member of one or
feveral of the clubs, where he finds a choice table
at a very reafonable rate, and" dines in a company
of his own Selection. Even foreigners rarely dine
at taverns; their letters of addrefs, or their bufi
nefs, or even accident foon procure them acquaint
ances, by whom, according to the ftyle and rules
of the Signal hoSpitality that here prevails, they are
invited to dinner and Supper, So that in a very few
days after their arrival, they are relieved Srom all
concern about Such matters. In order to be^able
with propriety to profit by this engaging, and in
Peterlburg, this innate virtue, the having a car-
N riage

178 CARD-PLAYING.
riage is almoft indifpenfably neceffary; at leaft, the
Stranger who fhould come on foot, efpecially in
dirty weather, would expofe himfelf to the impu
tation of parfimony, or want of good breeding,
or, what is worft of all — of poverty. That this
laft is even more difgraceful than the firft impu
tation there is no need of proving to fuch readers
as move in the polite and falhionable world.
Foreigners have therefore the alternative either
to take a folitary meal at their inn, or in a mixed
company of ftrangers, and on wretched fare ; or
to participate in affable, familiar, agreeable and
brilliant circles at the plentiful tables of perfons
of condition. But an equipage is by no means
the fole requifite for gaining admittance and being
greeted with a hearty welcome here. If the fo
reigner be emulous of the latter, he muft play,
and not be alarmed if he perceive a little tricking.
Luck may indeed be for and. againft him, but the
advantage will moft probably be againft him ; for
all foreigners agree, that they play exceedingly
well at Peterlburg.
By way of general conclufion to the feveral ar
ticles noticed in this chapter, we will calculate
by the above ftatements, the expences attend
ing a month's stay to a foreigner, who would
appear with propriety in good company, and not
neglect the matters of curiofity prefented to him in
this refidence.
An

expences for a month. 179
rubles .
Ah apartment in one of the beft inns of the ad- t
miralty-quarter, about - - 10
A valet de place, about - -18
Carriage and pair, including drink-money - 75
Hair-dreffer, powder and pomatum - 5
Barber - - 1
Coffee, with rolls, or the like, for breakfaft - 8
Dinner (with the cuftomary glafs of brandy
before, a pint of wine or porter, and a cup
of coffee), colts at Demuth's one ruble.
Admitting that the foreigner dines once a
week at home, with two breakfasts and
two Suppers - - - 8
PreSents Sor Seeing the curiofities of the town 1 5
Theatre. A place in the parterre coding one
ruble. About - - 4
CaSual expences; buying trifling articles of
drefs . parties that cannot be avoided ; loffes
at play - - _o
Total - 194
Let it not be thought that this eftimate is ex
travagant; on the contrary every thing is fet down
at the lowed fums and with the utmost frugality,
as will appear from the following remarks. — If
you hire only one room, you muft either put up
with the company of your fervant, or fubmit to
the inconvenience of going to fetch him acrofsthe
N 2 yar<j

I#o equipage ANDLACQUAY.
yard in the common room appointed for all the fer
vants of the comers and goers. The price above
Stated is that charged only in fome of the german
inns; in the french ones it is higher. -—The valet
de place has every day a ruble; when agreed with
by the month it is fomewhat cheaper. -— The
charge for the equipage is various according to the
feafon of the year and other circumftances, amount
ing fometimes to 8q or 85 rubles. This article
is abfolutely neceffary to the foreigner, fince, over
and above the beSore-mentioned reafons, from the
great extent of the town and the viciffitudes of the
weather, he can neither have the benefit of vifit-
ing his Sriends nor purfue the defign of his jour
ney, whether it be bufinefs or \merely the gratifi
cation of his curiofity. — The whole flatement is
formed on the moft faving plan, and yet there is
ftill wanting a heavy article or two which a foreigner
of any .degree of education and culture cannot en
tirely leave out of his defign; an occafional vifit
to Some part or other oS the circumjacent country
and the imperial palaces. If he chufe to go on
thefe little excurfions in his job carriage, he muft
enter into a frefh contract with his ifvofchtfchik
for the time of his abfence, and hire a horfe or two
more; the expence of provender, drink-money,
&c. cannot be precisely 'ascertained as depending
on a yariety of circumftances. The more nume
rous the party on fuch a tour, of courfe the con
tribution of each individual will be lefs.
Ready

Ready-furnished lodgings. iBl
Ready furnished lodgings, to be met with
In almoft every large town, are a great convent
ence to ftrangers that cannot determine the period
of their ftay and with to avoid the expences of an
inn. Till within a very few years this public ac
commodation was entirely wanting here. Every
Stranger who hired apartments is a private houfe,
was obliged to furnifh them at his own charges.'
Lately, however, feveral houfes haVe been fitted
up for this purpofe ; as, for inftancej the houfe be
longing to the widow of general Borofdin, in the
Neviky perfpective, facing the Shops, in which
apartments are kept very neatly Surnifhed ; and, at
an adjoining coffee-houfe, the customary liquors
may be had.
The cooK'Shops, of which there are great
numbers in the city and the fuburbs, are of two
kinds. The moft decent, which are almoft all
kept by Germans or other foreigners, are called
tracteurs. At thefe houfes dinners are ferved
frequently at a Very moderate price, or fingle por
tions, together with liquors, may be Setched away.
The company, however, and the manners of them
are fo mixed, that they are fcarcely at all frequent
ed by people of condition, who prefer meeting in
the clubs or the large hotels, where the higher
reckonings frighten away the inferior fort. Bil
liard tables are found at almoft all the tracteurs.—
The other kind of eating-houfes are the khart-
schevmi or ruffian cook-fhops, where the table is
n 3 Spread

1 82 OPPORTUNITIES FOR EATING.
fpread the whole day long for the common people.
Here are to be had all the national dilhes and fuch
kinds of food as are taken during the fafts, gene
rally dreffed in a favoury manner, and in fuch por
tions that even the pooreft perfon may be ferved
according to his means.
However, the common Ruffian ha&no need of
going in queft of a khartfchevna for getting a meal ;
as, in every part of the town, and at all feafons
of the year, he may take his repaft in the open
air. ' At the corners of the ftreets bulks or flails
with tables are fet up, in which quas and fbiten
are Sold ; and cloSe befide them women are gene
rally fitting to Supply their customers with bread,
kalatSches, and the like. The piroghis, or little
pies, are carried about the ftreets by Setlows, who
on being applied to, immediately put down the
camp-treSfel from under their arm, fet the peal of
pies upon it, and thus a table is prepared at once. —
This kind of accommodation is found extremely
neceffary, as, on account of the great diftances, it
is ufual to keep the carriage and fervants waiting, on
going any where from home.
The enormous demands of fo populous and lux
urious a city, require enormous fupplies. Hence
the great number of magazines, ftiops and ware-
houfes of all forts, principally crouded together
about the middle of therefidence. Accordingtothe
ruffian practice the Ihops are all adjoining to each
other in one large building; each of thefe nefts of
Ihops,

GOSTINN0I-DV0R, OR SHOPS. l8j
ihops, which are feen in every town throughout
the empire, is called gostinnoi dvor. This
cuftom, which the modern police is endeavouring
to introduce in other countries, is productive of
one advantage, that the buyer not only knows di
rectly where he may find what he wants, /but that
too in the greateft variety, and by the competition
and rivalfhip of the dealers, may hope to get it
(cheap. — One of the greateft hives of Ihops of this
kind that in the Nevfky perfpedtive, feen in the
plate to this work', is the moft frequented and the
moft remarkable both on account of its excellent
fituation and the rich diverfity of its stores. The
whole building is in length a hundred and fifty
fathoms; the fide to the grand perfpedtive is a
hundred, and the oppofite fide fifty fathoms. It is
in the form of an irregular triangle, and fkirted on
all fides by large ftreets. The Shops, in number
three hundred and forty, are difpofed in two feries
one above the other, and before them run arcades,
for the conveniency of walking dry in all weathers.
The Ihops that deal in the fame kind of commodi
ties are all together. Its great extent and the fwarms
of people and carriages about it give this market the
appearance of a little town. It would be extremely
difficult to think of an article in the whole province
of neceffaries and conveniences, and generally
even of luxuries, that would be afked for here in
vain. Not to tire the reader with an accurate
enumeration of all the things he may have here
N4 for

184 SHOPS OF VARIOUS TRADES.
for his money, we will juft briefly run over the
principal and moft ftriking. — - The Shops Sor
cloathing and adorning "both Sexes are the firft in
confequence. To thefe fucceed the cabinet and
upholstery fhops, where all the endlefs variety of
articles in thefe departments are found in the moft
variable and fafhionable forms. Then the linen-
fliops; then a row of Ihops furnifhed with earthen
ware and china; then the iron-fhops, one part of
which fell only kitchen utenfils, another part alfo
deal in tin, copper and brafs goods, and another
in workmen's tools, &c. fur-fhops ; Ihops where
ready-made cloaths of all kinds are fold; others
confined to the fale of Shoes, or buckles and but
tons, or hats — leaving it to the reader's, imagina
tion to complete this enumeration, I conclude with
the rag-Shops, as. the laft and moft trifling object of
this motley pidture.
The region of the Goftinnoi D vor Seems to be the
peculiar Seat of traffic. Round about it are arifen by
infenfible degrees fo many new but fmaller nefts of
Ihops, that the whole precinct is become one
great market.
In the great garden-ftreet, on the western fide
of the Goftinnoi Dvor, Ihops with arcades are like-
wife eredted. In the bafement ftories of the houfes
in this ftreet are the fhops for old cloaths and
trimmings. Over againft the narrowest fide are
wooden Shops for hofiery and other trifling articles.
Oppofite the third fide ftands a row confuting of %
hundred

ENGLISH AND FRENCH WAREHOUSES. 185
hundred vaulted warehoufes containing goods of
various kinds. Here may be had feather beds,
coverlets, matraffes, and all that relates to bedding.
Contiguous to the Goftinnoi Dvor, in the perspec
tive, are fourteen filver-fliops ; and facing thefe a
few Nuremburgers and Swifs have their vaults
with arcades in the houfes belonging to the catholic
church. The bird market and the rag fair are
alf® clofe by, increafingthe vivacity and throng of
this diftridt. Whoever is defirous of ftudying the
characters of the lowed: clafs of people, may fee
them here upon their proper ftage.
In fumming up the feveral accommodations
adapted to the public tafte we muft not forget
what are called the English, french, and other
magazines. — It is well known that here, as well
as throughout the ruffian empire, trade is not
confined. Every foreigner, who chufes to become
a burgher of St. Peterfburg, by caufing himfelf to
be enrolled, according to the amount of his
property, in one or other of the: guilds, is free
to follow any branch of induftry; and confequently
fet up Ihops and Sell goods by retail. Numbers
have availed themSelves of this indulgence, par
ticularly Englilhmen and Frenchmen; and accord
ingly a great many Ihops carry on trade in foreign
articles of luxury, under the name of magazines.
Thefe warehoufes are generally furnilhed with the
artificial products of thofe nations from which they
are denominated : thus, for inftance, in an englifh
magazine

l8t> FAMOUS ENGLISH MAGAZINES.
magazine are found in general only englifh goods,
but of the greateft variety and ufe. The moft emi
nent warehoufes of this kind are the two kept by Mr.
Hoy and Mr. Hawksford, who in quantity, variety
and value, have few to equal them even in London.
Whatever is curious, elegant and coftly in the
infinite varieties of furniture among the wealthieft,
moft luxurious and moft inventive people of the
globe may here be admired in fpecimens of every
kind difpofed in the moft fafcinating order. Glafs,
cryftal, fteel, plated goods, cabinet works of the
moft delicate fpecies of wood, mufical inftruments,
broad cloths, manchefter ftuffs, &c. are arranged
. and difplayed to view in twelve large faloons, in
the greateft diverfity and the moft captivating
profufion. A purchace to the amount of twenty
or thirty thoufand rubles leaves no great chafm in
this coftly Store, as I myfelf have often whmeffed. — •
In the other englifh magazines are partly the fame
and other goods; as, englilh cloths, ftuffs, linens,
hats, boots and flioes, carpets, oiled floor cloths,
mathematical and surgical inftruments, regifter-
ftoves oS the fined wrought fteel and highly polilhed,
horSe caparizons, riding gear, &c. all in the moft
exquifite tafte, oS the moft finished workmanfhip
and in the lateft fafhion.
The french magazines are not quite fo well
flocked, as the tafte for engliflvgoods is univerfally
predominant. However, there are feveral fhop3
of eminence, in which Silks, hats, ftockings, and
6 embroidered

UPHOLSTERY WAREHOUSE. 187
embroidered waiftcoats are to be bought ; others
confined entirely to paper-hangings; but, it muft
be owned that they are moft Superb, both as to
pattern and texture. The Srench fhops Sor mil
linery and haberdaffiery, which are likewiSe called
magazines, are the moft frequented and the moft
profitable. Their numbers have So greatly in-
creaSed within thefe Sew years, that in the Neviky
perSpedtive and Some other ftreets it is hardly
poffible to go twenty paces without coming to a
magazin de modes, or de nouveautes. Here is alSo a
german magazine Sor houfehold furniture, not
indeed fet out with goods equal in value with the
englilh before mentioned, yet in great abundance,
of excellent workmanfhip and after the newest
devices. This warehoufe is the leaft prejudicial
of all to the wealth of the nation, as every thing
here offered to fale is made in Peterlburg.
Thefe ftorehoufes for the fupply of neceffaries
and the gratification of luxury are by no means
the leaft advantages belonging to the refidence. It
is a neceffary charadteriftic of a fpacious and mag
nificent city, that every one in it fhould be able
to indulge his fancy and have any thing he pleafes
for his money without much trouble and running
about. By means of the fore-mentioned accom
modations a foreigner is enabled immediately on
his arriving to fupply himfelf with cloaths and
furniture in a fafhionable ftyle, and provide his
houfe and kitchen with all forts of neceffaries. Nothing

188 Ready-made coaches.
Nothing would be wanting to his complete efta«-
blilhment except an equipage. For this then
likewife here is a peculiar market. In the Ya^mfkoi
quarter is a large fpace covered with coach-
houfes, in which ready-made coaches, chariots,
drojekas and fledges of every defcription Hand
for fale.
Having now gone through the warehoufes and
markets of the city, according to the feveral ftages
and degrees of neceffity a«d prodigality ; we may
conclude the defcription of this rich and variegated
gallery with the account of a mean-looking but
for the neceffities oS the greater part oS the inha
bitants, highly neceffary market.
Not far from the monaftery of St. Alexander
Neviky, and therefore near upon the borders of
the town, in the ftreet called the Nevlky-perfpec-
tive is a lingular market, where goods of divers
kinds are expofed to Sale. In twenty large detached
houfes are fold all forts of wooden ware, culinary
and hpufehold veflels and utenfils of every kind,
made of that, material in ufe among the inferior
Ruffians, together with rofpufkies or carts, talegas
or country-carts, Sledges, harneSs, ropes, pitchers,
pans, &c. of glazed earthen-ware, and an infinity
of petty commodities, the names whereof one
does not always know, and the ufes whereof we
cannot always imagine. In fi-.ort, as I laid before,
there is no one thing neceffary to housekeeping
which may not immediately be had ready-made in
Peterlburg.

dealers in small wares. 189
Peterlburg. Here needs no long lift of numberlefs
little utenfils Sor the kitchen and the houfe; a man
vhas only to flop at a ffiop door, and in a few minutes
half the ftreet is occupied with all forts of necef
faries from the greateft to the leaft, among which
he may make his choice. — This market too is a
common rendezvous for the populace, with whom
at certain hours of the day it iwarms.
Notwithftanding all the great markets and ware
houfes, the review whereof we have juft finifhed,
the public, and particularly the poorer part of it,
would yet feel the want of a material accommo
dation, were there no retailers by whom the moft
neceffary and common wants of life may be fup-
plied in the fmalleft quantities. Such retailers
there are in St. Peterfburg in extraordinary num
bers: they are called la^uschniks*, and ufually
live in the cellars of great houfes. In any of thefe
lavkas every thing is to be procured ; coffee, tea,
fugar, vinegar, packthread, fealingwax, nails, paper,
candles, and all in the leaft quantities. This cir
cumftance, which attracts the poorer fort to the
lavkas, the great profits taken by the feller, the
frauds committed in weights and meafures, and
the agio on changing paper-money, render thefe
lavufchniks, who are generally of the loW'eft clafs,
in a Short time rich.
* From lavka, the general name of a thop, Though

190 PODRIADSCHIKI, OR CONTRACTORS.
Though the providing for the public accom
modation be here a branch of the administration
by no means neglected, yet certain it is, that even
the wifed and moft active government could not
fucceed in bringing it to any great degree of
perfection without the co-operation of the people.
Very many inftitutions, can neither by command
nor compulfion, but merely by the proper energy
of the nation, fucceed in refining and improving
the Social condition of the community. The in
ventive genius of polifhed and enlightened coun
tries will foon difcover the means to that end ;
and when thefe are once known, felf-intereft will
always impel perfons to put them in practice. —
The following inftitutions, which I feledt from
many of the fame nature, for the plan of this work,
properly fall under the prefent head.
There are people here whoengage to executeevery
public or private undertaking of any confiderable
extent or labour, for an adequate fum of money.
Thefe people are called podriadschiki, and fuch
a contract a podriad. If a perfon defigns to
build a houfe, but does not chufe to take upon
himfelf the trouble and care of attending to the
erection, which are here particularly great and
vexatious, and more efpecially if he be not mafter
of the language, he fends for feveral of thefe
podriadfchiki, lays before them his plan, and
explains to them his idea of its execution. Having agreed

ARTELS, OR GANGS OF LABOURERS. IQI
agreed with the podriadfchik that offers the moft
reafonable terms, he has no farther care or concern
about the matter, than to abide by the conditions
Of the contract; as the-undertaker provides himfelf
with all the materials in proper time, buys them
in the grofs and knows how to avail himfelf. of
every advantage, he is able to build cheaper and
falter than any other man could do. That the
work is not fo fubftantial and well finifhed as it
would be under the conftant infpection of the
employer, may naturally be fuppofed. — In this
or fome other fuch manner all great and laborious
undertakings are carried on in Ruffia, as the dif-
tant tranSport of goods, great and expenfive con
tracts and deliveries, public buildings, repairing
the pavements and bridges, occasionally even Ship
building, and the like.
Another inftitution, which though only beneficial
to merchants, yet muft not be here omitted, arc
the artels, or Separate companies of labourers
and porters, hired for the purpofe of working on the
exchange, in the warehoufes, fhops and cellars.
An artel is compofed of two or three fcore of ftout,
dexterous and trufty fellows, who chufe an alder
man from their body, after whom the company
is ufually named. Every artelfchtfchik, in order
to admiffibn muft be propofed and elected by the
reft, and then give fufficient fecurity for five, fix
or feven hundred rubles, in consideration whereof the

192 DVORNIKI, OR DOOR-KEEPERS.
the artel is refponfible for all damages and breaches'
of trull committed by its members. By this
regulation merchants are enabled;, not only to em
ploy thefe people in bufineffes that require Strength
and lkill alone, but can truft them in money-
matters and other affairs of confequence. I have
many times feen artelfchtfchiki, carrying feveral
thoufand. rubles in bank notes in the bofom of
their kaftan, where they commonly keep things of
value; and they are no lefs to be praifed for their
dexterity than for their honefty ; being able to Vie
at any time with'the celebrated porte-faix in Paris
fpoken of by Mercierin his interesting Picture, in
the handling oS the moft delicate, brittle and
valuable commodities.
Every houfe in St. Peterlburg (excepting only
the mean habitations in the extremities of the
town,) keeps a dvornikv or porter, who is a
being between the german haufknecht and the
french portier, but perfectly diftindt from the
fwifs, of whom here are likewife in all houfes of
quality. The dvornik is the general fervant of
the houfe; his bufinefs is to keep the court-yard
clean, to fetch water, to open the ftreet-door at
any hour of the night, when fomebody rings;
every orderly houfe having a pull at the door
which reaches to a bell in the dvornik's room.,
This toilfome office, which allows no fecurity
for one hour of undifturbed repofe during the
night,

DOOR-KEEPERS. I93
night, has neverthelefs a number of candidates,
as it is fometimes very lucrative, from the many
fmall prefents given by perfons who are in the
habit of coming home late; and yet, for fome
reafon or other, are defirous that it Should not
be known.

CHAP.

( '94 )

CHAP. VII.

PROVISIONS FOR THE SICK AND POOR..
General benefit and detriment of them, arifing from local circum-
fiances. The college of general concern, a tribunal for the miti
gation of human mifery. Remarkable participation of the public
in the ereclion of it. — Public infirmaries. Hofp'tials for the
army and navy. City hofpital. Mad-houfe. Private inftitute
for the venereal difeafe. Clinical hofpital and lying-in-houfe ef
the medico-chirurgical inftitute. Small-pox hofpital. Lying-
in houfe belonging to thefoundling hofpital. Charitable infirmary,
a private undertaking. — Poor-houfes. Foundling hofpital.
Seminary qf education for orphans and illegitimate children.
Inftitute for paupers. Invalids qf the grand dukes. Widows'
cheft. Benefit fubfeription. — Infiitutes for ajifting the public,
Lombard. Loan bank for the nobles and the towns.
r ROM the objects of elegance and convenience I
fliall now conduct thereader to theinftitutionsfor lick
and Suffering humanity. We need not be Surprised
at this transition, if we confider the connection
fubfifting between extremes and the intricate
mixture of light and Shades in the moral world.
There is not a more inSallible token*' of poverty
than — luxury, they are both connected byindif-
Soluble bands. The refinement and increafing
civilization of the prefent age, powerfully impel all

OCCASIONAL OBSERVATIONS. ig_
all nations to the two extremes; and the golden
mean is that problem in political ceconomy which
the quadrature of the circle is in mathematics:
both of them will be ever fought for and never
found. As fure as that without a rational theory, no
adequate practice can exift, fo true it is that the
ories are abstract ideas, and that no abstract idea,
as Such, can be reduced to practice. The out
line oS the idea is the border oS perfection; in
real life it is the line at which defects and perfec
tions meet together in equipoize, and the refult
of the moft perfect of thefe combinations is — a
tolerable condition.
In order to find the flandard of perfection for
civil conftitutions, and to guard ourfelves againft
paffing a too rigid or too fuperficial a judgment,
it is indifpenfably neceffary to have a thorough
knowledge of the peculiar and local relations of a
country, becaufe all thefe give a determinate and
proper direction to the whole. One and the fame
political object, purfued upon the fame principle
and by the fame means, will, in two different
countries produce confequences extremely diffimi-
lar; and the Scientific obServer will be enabled to
calculate the modifications of the fuccefs with the
higheft probability. — The following fliort intro
duction may conduce to place the reader in the
proper point of view forjudging aright of the facts
to be mentioned under this head.
o a The

IQ6 OCCASIONAL OBSERVATIONS.
The unlimited will of a wife and patriotic prince
may here render poffible things which in other
countries would be utterly impracticable. The'
will of the fovereign is the law; his command pal-
fies every resistance that prejudice, fuperftition or
felf-intereft may make to his public fpirited de
signs. This advantage, the importance whereof
in a country where light and darknefs are ftill
contending for the mattery, where attachment to
antient ufages and averfion to innovations are ftill
prevalent, at leaft among the vulgar — is incon
ceivably great, juftly deferves the firft place on the
good fide. The diflike or the frigidity with which
almoft every great and public fpirited undertaking
is received at firft, is a fubftantial proof, that
without this beneficial defpotifm, it would never be
brought to effect. Under Catharine prejudice was
beginning to difappear, the people did juftice to
the wifdom of their fovereigii, and posterity will
reverence her memory.
But how circumfcribed would this power be in
its effects, if the means employed to the execution
of its projects were hot adequate to their magni
tude and extent. The refources afforded by a
quarter of the world fo liberally endowed by na
ture, with a population of thirty millions, give
poffibility to the boldeft and moft extraordinary
plans. The deSponding queftion: Whence are
the funds to be obtained ? which in all 'other
countries, England excepted, begets difficulties in
realizing

OCCASIONAL OBSERVATIONS. I97
realizing the moft ufefuf ^enterprizes, is here
totally unknown.
With this fortunate circumftance is united the
general confent of the higher and opulent part of
the nation to partake in grand and ftriking under
takings. This acquiefcence, which, with fome
proceeds from patriotifm and public fpirit, with
numbers from the propensity to liberality peculi
arly national, and with the generality from the
habits of imitation and ambition, becomes, from
fuch various fources, the parent of one grand and
beneficial effedt. The indancesof this, exhibited
in the reign of Catharine, will not be omitted in
the annalsof ruffian history.
The reflecting obferver, who fees the matter on
this good fide, will deem that country happy, in
which So many important advantages combine in
favour of public inftitutions; but his expectations
from it will be fo much the higher. We know,
however, that every thing under the fun has two
fides. Exclufively of the natural, unavoidable
difficulties and impediments fubfifting in the very
effetfce oS Such inftitutions, it is principally the
practical detail which here forms the dark fide*
If the beautiful ideal reprefentation which floats
in the imagination of the inventor, lofes already
fo much of its original perfection in its Scheme of
execution, how infinitely more muft it fuffer in
the execution itfelf, if that be only, in part com
mitted to, the care of inexperienced perfons, or
o 3 eveq

I98 COLLEGE OF GENERAL PROVISION.
even of perfons adverfe to it. The fate of a fmall
fimple inftitution is foon decided : the head and
the heart of the man who has the management of
it, , enfure its fuccefs. In great and complicated
machines the fuccefs depends on the total amount
of the powers and exertions of the feveral parts.
Thefe defects, influencing in a greater or lefs de-r
gree, did not efcape the vigilance of the govern
ment, and are therefore mitigated by a variety of
appropriate regulations, publicly declared to have
that object in view. — It would be ridiculous to
refolve. on having only perfection throughout in
civil inftitutions, as even Nature herfelf is not free
from anomalies. The queftion is only this, whe?
ther the good fide has the preponderance. This,
as every impartial Spectator will and muft allow,
is fo certainly the cafe in the inftitutions here men^
tioned, that the nation, without them, would be
deprived of a great portion of its political happi
nefs. — Independently, however,' of the defects of
execution, the defign of the founder remains; and
that, for ages to come, will be a lafting memorial
of the great and enlightened genius as well as of
the maternal affection which gave birth to thefe
patriotic and beneficent ideas.
In every province of the ruffian empire is a
tribunal, under the name of the college, of
general provision, to which is entrusted the
care of all eftablifliments which are intended for
the alleviation of human mifery, thofe excepted that

imperial donations. 199
that have particular privileges Or charters, or are
put under a peculiar advantage. To thefe belong
--public fchools, orphan-houfes, hofpitals and infir
maries, receptacles for the poorj houfes for in
curables, mad-houfes, work-houfes, and houfes of
corredtion. The college of each government re
ceived of the emprefs Catharine at its endowment
fifteen thoufand rubles, which fum, with the
revenues affigned to it and the contributions of
charitable individuals, was put out at intereft, in
order to obtain a permanent fund and to provide
for fuch improvements as might afterwards be
found neceffary. The readinefs with which the
public cooperated to the, promotion of this bene
ficent and ufeful defign, was fo general, and the
liberality of feveral perfons fo confiderable, that
it would be no eafy matter to point out a country
in which private individuals have fuch fums to the
like purpofes. Befides the fiSteen thoufand rubles
given by the empreSs to each government Sor the
eredtion of a college of general provifion, flie
made a donation to that of St. Peterlburg in par
ticular of 52,659 rubles, which the nobility and
the corporation of burghers of that city had affigned
for the eredtion of a ftatueto Catharine the fecond.
The noble thought of erecting the monument of
her adtions in the hearts of her indigent and fuffer-
ing Subjects rather than on the pavement of Pe
tersburg, prevented indeed the existence oS a grand
work of art ; but in its ftead begot a ufeful infti-
0 4 tution ;

200 hospitals for the army and navy.
tution •, and, on the fpot where probably the ad
miration of connoiffeurs would have been expreffed
in all the pomp of words, at prefent the gratitude
of thoufands of unfortunate beings, refcued from
diftrefs, flows a filent tribute to the memory oS a
monarch, who made the relieS oS the afflicted the
grandest and fweeteft duty oS her exalted ftation.
This great example was the Signal to the emu
lation of the public. The ftate counfellor Demidof
gave twenty thoufand rubles, the affeffor Tver-
difchef fourteen thoufand, the privy counfellor
Betzko'i five thoufand, the alTeffor Saiva Yakovlef
the like Sum, the merchant Vladimerof four thou
fand; a great number of private perfons, nobles,
merchants, and Several anonymous benefactors
made donations of different amount, and the total
of the fubfcri prions, including the revenue affigned
it, came in the firft two years to 303,173 rubles.
We will now make ourfelves acquainted with
the principal inftitutions here fubfifting. All of
thofe to be mentioned in this chapter are not under
the infpedtion of the college of general provifion,
and but few of them owe their origin to it, the
generality having a better conftitution apd more
adequate to their defign.
Let us begin with the public infirmaries.—
The two great hosritals for the army and
navy need only juft be mentioned, as not being
eftabbfhed for the benefit of the public at large,
but for the relief of particular descriptions. Th?
hofpital

THE TOWN-HOSPITAL. 201
hoSpital for fick and wounded Soldiers ufually
makes up a thoufand, but at times even as far as
twice that number of beds. The expences' of it,
exclufively of the maintenance of the patients,
amounts, on an average, to about ten thoufand
rubles per annum. The marine hoSpital, likewiSe,
without reckoning the diet and the medicines of
the patients, colts about feven thoufand rubles. In
the years 1788 and 1789 it had 16,733 patients,
of whom 13,998 went out cured.
The town hospital, both on 'account of its
general aim as on that of its excellent eftablifh-
ment, is deferving of more particular notice.
The fituation of it, on the Fontanka, in a district
not much built upon, is properly chofen. The
edifice ftands alone and confifts of two ftories ;
from fhe centre of the back-front projects a build
ing which is occupied by lunatics. On each fide
of the main ftrudture are dwelling-houfes for the
phyficians and attendants on the inftitute, and
were to be farther enlarged by three wings. The
facade of the body of the building is ornamented
with columns; which, with the plain and neat
architecture and the amplitude of the whole, en
titles this Salutary institution to be ranked among
the elegant buildings' oS the refidence. In the
court-yard which forms a very fpacious area, fix
wooden houfes are eredted on Soundations oS brick
fpr the patients to be in during the Summer; and ia

aoa , attention to cleanliness.
in the plan is a garden Sor the ufe of the cpn-
valefcents. The lower ftory of this large and handfome
ftrudture is fitted up Sor houSehold purpoSes, and
the upper Sor the patients, one half being allotted
to the men and the other to the women. The
wards are high and roomy ; and the warmth in
winter muft never be more than ten or twelve
degrees of Reaumur. The prefervation of clean-
linefs and wholefome air is here more attended to,.
than in the inftitutions of this nature in Germany,
fome few perhaps excepted. Even in the apart
ments ' of the .lick whofe exhalations taint the
atmofphere, the alteration is fcarcely obfervable.
The beds have curtains to draw round them, but
no tetter, and ftand at a good diftance apart. In
the vapour-baths, kitchens, antechambers and paf-
fages, every where the Same regard to cleanlineSs
prevails that we So much admired in the lick wards.
The convaleScent have a large hall, properly fitted
up Sor exerciSe and recreation.
This hoSpital contains three hundred beds,
which number, as occasion may require, is capable
of being augmented to four hundred. Patients of
all kinds are admitted, venereal only excepted, the
poor gratis, but perfons of any fubftance, artizans,
tradefmen, and the like pay four rublesper month.
The Sick at their reception are Shaved and bathed,
and are put into a clean and tidy drefs. A profeffor

THE HOUSE FOR LUNATICS. 203
A profeflbr of electricity is fettled in this in
ftitute, for the relief of thofe difeafes in which
it may be of fervice.
In the five years from 1785 to 1789, here were
9895 patients admitted ; of whom 2075 died, and
237 at the end of the laft year were ftill in the
hofpital. The reafon that the mortality is fo great
in fpite of all the care for which this place is
remarkable, is, that a vaft proportion of the lick
apply for relief only when reduced to the laft ne
ceffity, and often too late for receiving any effectual
relief. The houfe for lunatics confifts of four and
forty chambers in two oppofite rows; one of which
is appropriated to the men and the other to the
women vifited with this dreadful malady. Here
likewife the utmost attention is paid to cleanlinefs ;
by which means and by the gentle treatment of the
patients numbers are restored to the community.
The raving are not chained, but held by thongs to
their bed, and in general only lenient methods are
tried, a ftridt diet, &c. The proportion of Ruf^
fians here to foreigners is but fmall ; and the
number of men is about one fourth greater than
that of the female fex; grief, love and pride are
here, as every where elfe, the ordinary fources
of frenzy, but in this place drunkenness is the moft
prolific. Of 229 patients admitted into this houfe
in three years, 161 recovered, eleven were fent to
the poor-houfe as incurable, and forty-feven died.
• The

£04 MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SCHOOL.
The city hofpital is under the controul of the col
lege for general provifion^
Not lefs general in its tendency is the venereal
hospital, which has thirty beds for men and juft
the fame number for women ; and all that apply
are gratuitoufly admitted, but not discharged till
they are completely cured. It is not permitted to
alk the name of any perfon that applies Sor admiS-
fion, who at the time of. reception receives a
cleanly drefs with a cap, on which is infcribed the
word SECRESY.
The medico-chirurgical school* is of be
nefit to the indigent and infirm, by its clinical
regulations. In the little hofpital confiding of
twenty beds, which is destined to the' practical
improvement oS young Surgeons, more than a
hundred necessitous patients are nurSed and cured
free of all expences. — The lyingtIn house,
connected with this inftitute, which is capable of
admitting eight or ten pregnant women at the
fame time, nurfes and provides for its inmates
with the profoundeft fecrefy and without any re
muneration. It is entirely at the option of the
young mothers, either to take their children away
with them, or to leave them behind for the founcf-
ling-hofpital. The female pupils in the art of
midwifery are at the fame time nurfes,. and may be
.hired for that purpofe by people in the town that
want them. * See the following chapter. The

the charitable dispensary. 205
The small-pox-hospital, which the emprefs
Catharine endowed in 1768 for the more effedtual
diffemination of inoculation, is under the infpec
tion of the college of general provifion, and. twice
in the year admits children without fee or reward.
In the year 1789 a hundred and thirty-five boys
and fifty-five girls were inoculated. The fupporC
of this inftitution fo beneficial to the public, cofts
annually about fix thoufand rubles.
The lying-in house connected with the
foundling-hospital, admits all pregnant women
that apply without exception, without enquiry,
and without pay. To this inftitute an accoucheur
is appointed, who is at the fame time tutor in
midwifery. Befides thefe public eftablifhments, in the year
1788 arofe a private inftitution for attending and
healing the necessitous Sick at their homes, under
the name of the charitable dispensary. The
expences of it are defrayed by public contributions :
the phyficians and furgeons who have concurred in
the inftitution, administer their affiftance gratis to
the patients who live in their feveral districts, and
the.apothecaries furnifh them with medicines at a
deduction of twenty per cent, from the ordinary,
charges. Such as are entirely deftitute, in addition
to this, receive out of the funds of the inftitution
fmall fums of money from time to time, for their
prefent relief; and, where it is neceffary even
nurSes are appointed. The whole being under the

ao6 THE FOUNDLING-HOSTITAL.
the management of the rev. Mr. Lampe, preacher
at the, lutheran church of St. Peter, he having
the merit of bringing this public- fpirited inftitution
ihto effedt. >'.,
Of the public inftitutions for the benefit of the
poor, the foundling-hospital justly ftands fore
most. It was endowed in the year 1770 as a
division of the great one at Mofco ; and, befides
its peculiar deftination, is at the fame time a lyings
in hofpital and a feminary of education, being in
rufs defignated only by the latter appellation. It
being defighed for univerfal benefit, any perfon
that applies has only to ring at the door; when,
on being admitted, a bafket is immediately let
down, into which the child being put it is drawn
up. If no ticket be affixed to the child, the perfon
is alked no other queftions than whether it is bap
tized, and what is its name. The children are
committed to wet-nurfes and the wives of boors
out of town. Their education is conducted ac
cording to the feveral vocations they afterwards
"make choice of ; fuch as difcover particular talents
or difpofitions are fent to be brought up in the
academy of arts, the theatrical School, the gym
nasium of the academy of fciences, &c. but the
greater part are educated for tradefmen and me
chanics. Cleanlinefs and regularity are every
where confpicuous in this inftitution ; every perfon
being allowed to vifit it at any time. The boys
are discharged at Sour and twenty and the girls at

THE ORPHAN SCHOOL. &97
at twenty, free of all obligations to tfte charity.
Of the mortality no lifts are publifhed: in the
year 1788 the children in it amounted to three
hundred. The public school for orphans and ille
gitimate children is under the authority of
the college of general concern, belonging not to
the refidence alone, but extending to the whole
circle. It admits about a hundred children of
both fexes, who, after having finilhed their edu
cation, are difcharged as free and independent
perfons. — An . orphan-houfe, on a fmall fcale, for
eight boys, founded by a wealthy citizen* fome
years ago, is annexed to thefchool of the lutheran
church of St. Anne in the Styckhof. The children
are found in all neceffaries, are brought up to
handicraft-trades, and afterwards put out to mat
ters with whom they are maintained by the charity
during their apprenticelh'tp.
Since the year 1781 the refidence has had a
poor-house on a very extensive plan, placed under
the infpection of the college of general concern,
admitting all paupers of both fexes, and finding
them in all the neceffaries oS liSe. They are
divided into three claffes. The first comprehends
Such as are afflicted with incurable difeafes or in
firmities; oS whom in the year 1789 were a hun
dred and forty-nine males and three hundred and
* A German named Keftrter., ,-, . twenty

ao8 the widow's chest.
twenty-eig_nt females. To the fecond clafs belong
the totally impotent; and to the third fuch as are
able to do fome work : 'thefe laft are obliged to
affift thofe of the fecond clafs ; receiving, however,
a compensation for their trouble. In the year
1789 there Were oS theSe two claffes two hundred
and' twenty-Seven males and Seven hundred and
fifty-nine females, in the Whole poor houfe therefore
1463 perfons of both fexes. — In this houfe aft
poffible attention is paid to cleanlinefs, nurfing
and the proper application of medical affiftance :
all the inhabitants are dreffed in a uniSorm of white
cloth, wearing on the fleeve the initials of the
rufs words : Penfioner of the St. Peterfburg in
firmary. More confined in its views, though not lefs
remarkable Sor its adequate endowment is the
hospital for invalids, which the late empe
ror Paul, while grand duke, eftablifhed near his
Summer palace on the Kammenoi-oftroS, for eighty
Superannuated failors, where they are taken care of
for the remainder of their lives. The idea was
certainly benevolent and cOrrefponded with his fitu
ation at the head of the admiralty.
In mentioning the inftitutions for the benefit of
the poor, we muft not omit the widow's chest,
which is connected with the foundling-hofpitali
and in 1772 received the imperial Sanction. It
comprehends Sour claffes, in which certain Sums
are paid annually, in proportion to the feniority of
^ the

THE LOMBARD. 20Q,
the widows from the deceafe of their hufbands.
In the contrary event, the hufband receives back
three fourths of the fum he has contributed. —
Among the feveral private inftitutions of this
nature, we muft diftinguilh that fet up by paftor
Grot at the lutheran church of St. Catharine on
the Vaffilly-oftrof. It is compofed of five hundred
and fifty members, each paying a contribution
of ten rubles, and on the demife of a member
two rubles ; whence the heirs receive a fum of a
thoufand rubles.
I fliall conclude this chapter with noticing two
important inftitutions for the convenience and
accommodation of the public. Thefe are, the
LOMBARD and the LOAN-BANK FOR THE NOBILITY
AND THE CORPORATIONS.
The Lombard is an eftablifhment connected
with the foundling- hofpital, and in effentials re
fembles thofe in many other countries. It lends
on gold and silver three fourths of the value, on
other metals one half, and on jewels, cloaths, furs,
&c. fuch proportions as according to circumftances
are thought reafonable, yet never below ten and
never above a thoufand rubles. The value of the
property brought is appraifed by Sworn taxators.
The money is lent out Sor three, fix or nine months,
at moft Sor a year, being never granted Sor a
longer period. The pledgers are allowed Sor
repayment only three weeks grace after the expi
ration of the term, with intereft for a whole month.
p After

4lO THE LOAN-BANK.
After this time the pawns are fold by public
auction, from the proceeds whereof the proprietor
faithfully receives back all that exceeds the loan,
intereft and expences. The intereft on every
ticket running for three months is half a kopeek
per ruble, but a kopeek if the pledges be diamonds
or other jewels. — The lombard is of farther
fervice to the public, inafmuch as that money
may be depofited there for an indefinite time, or
be placed there at yearly intereft. In the latter
cafe the. lawfql intereft is paid in the coin of the
capital. On a more extenfive plan and of greater Im
portance is the loan bank for the nobility and
the corporations. This extremely remarkable^
inftitution owes its origin to a no lefs remarkable
ukafe ; from which, on account of the great quan
tity of Statistical facts it contains, the manner
in which they are difcuffed, and the convincing
inferences that are drawn from them, copious
extracts would, I have no doubt, be acceptable
to the majority of readers, if the object and the
plan of thefe fheets would admit of a deviation
from the prefcribed extent. In order therefore
to adhere to our defign, we Shall confine ourfelves
to the Specification of the moft material qualities of
the loan bank.
Catharine the fecond, in the year 1786, made a
deposit of two and twenty millions of rubles for the
nobility, eleven millions for the corporate towns, and

EVALUATION OF BOORS. 211
and three millions for the province of Taurida, to
be lent out for the improvement of rural oeconomy,
of focial induftry and the benefit of civilization in
general. The condition under which all this was
to be executed were effentially as Sollows*.
The bank lends only on real eftates. The value
of a landed eftate in Ruffia being eftimated ac
cording to the number of boors upon it, the bank
adopts the laft revifion as the rule of its proceed
ings in this refpect, faking the boors at forty
rubles per head ; fo that the proprietor of an
eftate, requiring the loan of a thoufand rubles,
muft give five and twenty boors as his pledge.
The loan is made for twenty years ; the mortgager
paying annually five per cent intereft and three
per cent on the capital, fo that aSter twenty years
he has paid back the whole oS his loan.
The loans are Subject to no other limitations than
what ariSe Sro.n the value and the Security of the
pledge ; every one being allowed to apply for and
to receive as much money as he is capable of laying
down a lawful pledge for. The bank, however, lends
no fum under a thoufand rubles, and only by thou-
fands, for the fake of avoiding the perplexities of
extenfive and intricate accounts. Confequently
only twenty-fife, or feventy-five, or a hundred, &c.
boors can be pledged.
The mortgaged property is fubjedt to no fuit, to
* Ukaie of the ad of July, 1786.
pa no

212 THE DEPOSITO-FUND.
no confiscation, or to any demands from the crown
or private individuals. — Every four years, one
part of the pawn is difcharged, equal in value to
the part of the capital already paid. — The bank
can redeem eftates elfewhere mortgaged or appro
priated to the payment of -debts: and mortgaged
eftates may be fold ; but in that cafe the purchafef
takes upon him all the obligations which the Seller
was under to the bank.
The municipal magistracy of the government
vouches Sor the worth oS the pledge, and muft be
reSponfible Sor it. The intereft is paid annually.
The bank gives ten days grace; whoever exceeds
one month pays a Stated penalty per cent, and this
likewiSe holds good oS the Second and third month.
IS payment be delayed beyond three months, the
mortgaged eftate is taken into charge by the noble
court of wards. The intereft and fines are paid
from the incomings of the eftate and the remainder
is paid to the proprietor.
The inhabitants of towns obtain loans on their
real eftates, paying yearly four per cent intereft and
three per cent capital; and are confequently freed
from their debt in two and twenty years.
With the bank is connected a deposito-fund,
which accepts money at four and a half per cent.
The fums depofited may at any time be withdrawn.
In regard to fums of very large amount a previous
notification is neceffary. The

INSURANCE-OFFICE. 213
The insurance-office for brick buildings,
belonging to this bank, we are already acquainted
with from the fifth chapter.
AU thefe inftitutions and thofe under the fore
going heads are fo many ftriking proofs of the
fagacity as well as patriotifm of the emprefs Ca
tharine, who, in the preamble to the ukafe insti
tuting the loan-bank, fays : " The welfare of man-
" kind, and particularly that of our fubjects, is
" ever the rule of our fentimepts, and a law to the
" feelings of our heart."

p 3 C H A P.

( 2H )

CHAP. VIII.

seminaries for education.
Military fchools. Corps of land-cadets. Piyfical, moral, fcient'fic
and military infiruclion th,ere. Marine cadftrcorps. Engineer
find artillery cadet-corps. Grecian-corps. Page corps. — hi
ftitutions for thefciences. Medico-chirurgical fchool. Schools at
the hofpitals qf the army and navy. Mineral cadet-corps. Cle
rical feminary. Gymnafium qf the academy offciences. — Infti
tutions for bringing up artifts. School of th,e academy qf arts.
Dramatic fchool. — Navigation fchool, Inftitutions for the
education of females. The Vofkrefenfkoi convent. — Normal and
public fchools. — Generalfurvey. Number qffcholars and reve-r
fines qf all thefe inftitutions. — Private education. Boarding-
fchools. Utfchitels,
ST. PETERSBURG being the centre of the natio
nal induftry and civilization, we may naturally expedt
it to be the principal feat of the great inditutions
for the formation of the national manners. Though
their influences are not confined Solely to the refi
dence, yet by being no where more perceptible
than there, they have unquestionably a right to a
place in this picture.
Since the memorable regeneration which Peter
the Great fet about with his people, national cul?
tivatioti had occafionally been a matter of public
concern.

OCCASIONAL REMARKS. 2.1$
concern. To that great prince the academical
gymnafium and the marine cadet corps owe their
origin. Among hisfucceffors the empreffes Anne
and Elizabeth diltinguiftied themSelves by the
proSecution of thefe important plans. During
the reign of the former were laid the foundations
of the greateft feminary of education in the ruffian
empire, the land-cadet corps ; and Elizabeth gave
birth to the academy of arts, while flie enlarged
the inftitution of that of the marine, which had
been founded by Peter.
¦ But refplendent as thefe beneficial Works appear
in the annals of the age, yet are they eclipfed by
the later provifions, if we purfue the hiftory of
ruffian civilization and improvement through the
times of Catharine II. This monarch, immortal
in the chronicles of the world by numberlefs adts
of her life, but peculiarly memorable in the
minds of philanthropists and philofophers, by
legislation and the erection of fchools, completed
the plan of her predeceffor Sor the education and
improvement oS the nation, upon Such principles
and to Such an extent, as he himSelS, with his
prodigious mind, could never have imagined pof
fible in a period So near to his own. Guided by
her hand, the maSs oS ufeSul knowledge which had
beSorebeen confined to the city oS Peterlburg, and
kept more for oftentation than Sor public benefit,
was diftributed in thouSands oS Smaller channels,
diffusing itSelf over all the country, every where
p 4 enriching

2l6 MILITARY EDUCATION.'
enriching the foil, and rendering it fufceptible of a
higher cultivation.
The public inftitutions for national' improve
ment, now flourishing, owe their origin, Sor the
greater part, but all 'of them without exception
their enlargement and amelioration, to the emprefs
Ekatarina Alexievna. For a more regular Survey
of thefe important objects, it may not be amifs to
reduce them to a certain order, according to their
principal aims ; and this will beft be done by diftri
buting them into fix claffes.
The firft compriSes five inftitutions, chiefly de
voted to military education; and of thefe the
land-cadet corps, on account of its more ge
neral purpofe, and its magnitude and importance,
is the firft in rank. For this reafon, and becaufe
the method practifed in this inftitution is the ground
work of that followed in all the other military
education corps, it will be neceffary to be a little
circumstantial in the account of ^t.
To begin then with the locality of this remark
able establishment. The circuit of its premifes,
which amounts to the fpace of two verfts and an
half, is partly occupied by the neceffary buildings,
and partly converted into a largegarden, with fpa
cious grounds for corporeal exercife. The main
body of the edifice was formerly the palace oS
prince MentlhikBf, in which it was firft inftituted,
confiding of only two dories above the bafement,
and, with the continuation of the building by the
emprefs,

THE LAND-CADET CORPS. 217
emprefs, forms a line of 366 fathoms. Both the
. outward and inward conftrudtion are, fuitably to
its defign, extremely fimple ; all is adapted to
convenience, and nothing made for lhow. It
contains, besides the neceffary lodging- rooms, dor
mitories, School-rooms, and apartments for the
fick, three fpacious halls for recreation, fufficiently
well fitted up for the place. In the part which
was the palace are Saloons more ornamented, for
balls and affemblies. This and the reft of the
building contain, befides, the chancery, a manege,
a letter-foundery, and a printing-office, a cabinet
of natural hiftory, a library, a theatre for dra
matical reprefentations, a ruffian church, and a
lutheran and a roman catholic chapel. — So much
for the topography of this large and capacious in
ftitution, which in many refpedts is the only one of
its kind : and now a few lineaments for charadteriz.
ing the organization of it.
The land-cadet corps, at leaft according fo its
main extent, is a military fchool : the fyftem of
education, and of courfe the conduct and manage
ment of it, are military. The direction of the
whole inftitution was, on its renewed eftablifhment
in 1766, committed to a general director, to
whom was given a council of administration, con-
fifting of four perfons named by the emprefs.
The council, however, no longer fubfifts ; for,
on the appointment of count .Anhalt to the poft of
ghief infpedtor without any limitation, it naturally became

Il8 NUMBER OF THE CADETS.
became extinct. In the general management of
the whole the lieutenant-colonel of the corps
is his affiftant; all the, other perfons of the efta-
bliShment have their peculiar functions in due
Subordination. About every third year the corps admits a hun
dred and twenty boys, from five to fix years old.
Among the requisites for admiffion are, that the
father be noble, that is, have the rank of a Staff
officer in the civil or military Service, and that the
child be perSedtly healthy, confequently he is Sub
mitted to the examination of the phyfician. Ap
plications for admittance in behalf of children
whofe fathers are poor, or have loft their lives in
fighting for their country, or are fent hither from
very remote provinces, are to be preferred. Such
as are once received cannot, under any pretence
whatever, be taken away ; but muft continue in
the inftitute till they have completed their edu
cation. Befides thefe hundred and twenty boys,
five others are admitted on the fame conditions,
on exhibitions founded by the privy-counfellor
Betzko'i; and in the year 1772 the emprefs de-
pofsted the Sum of a hundred thouSand rubles,
devoting the intereft oS it to the purpoSe of extend
ing every reception to fifteen or more boys, whofe
fathers were not of the rank of a ftaff officer. The
number admitted at each reception is, therefore, a
hundred and forty and upwards, and that of all the
cadets exceeds feven hundred.
On

OFFICERS OF THE INSTITUTION. ait)
On their reception the cadets enter the first
age or clafs, wear a brown failor's jacket, with a
blue fafh, and are put under the care of women ;
to which end a diredtrefs, with ten gouvernantes,
and feveral nurfes, are appointed. After three
years they are advanced into the second age,
where they are put into a drefe like the former,
but of blue colour, and are committed to the care
of eight governors headed by an infpedtor. The
attendants here are much fewer than in the firft
age. After a like period of three years, the pupils
pafs on to the third age, which wears a grey
drefs, and the care of which is in the hands of
field-officers. When the cadets have here likewife
paffed three years, which is alSo the ftated period
with the following ages, they enter the fourth,
or first military age, in which they change
their Sormer dreSs Sor a fimple and proper uniform. .
In this and the fifth age they are under the care
of the officers of the corps, who have one degree
of precedence in rank above the marching regi
ments. The ftaff confifts, befides the lieutenant-
colonel, of two majors, fix captains, twelve lieu
tenants, and fix enfigns, — The other officers of
the eftabliffiment are, a police mafter, a mafter of
the horfe, (at prefent) Sixty five tutors, of whom
fome have the title of profeffors, feveral matters
for drawing, fencing, and dancing, a phyfician,
a ftaff-furgeon, and two affiftants, an apothecary,
an upper and two inferior Stewards j and, befides the

£30 THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION.
the officers' of th? * hancery and all the people
belonging to the intei lor ceconomy of the corps,
a greek, a lutheran, and a roman catholic clergy
man. The general end of the eftabliffiment naturally
branches out n i> the following fub;> dinate aims :
phyfical, moral_, fcientific, and military education.
The importance of an inftitution in which a great
and mighty empire Striving after improvement
endeavours to attain an object of fo much confe-
quence to the wel an of the whole, by fuch a num
ber of young citizens from the foremost claffes of
the nation, is too remarkable an object of invefti
gation for admitting a fuppofition, that an impartial
account of it here can be thought out of place.
If fome particular parts of this grand foundation
may here and there be justly liable to cenSure, (and
what human inftitution is not ?) yet it can leaft of
all be call on he physical education. The
fyftem of it is calculated for hardening the con
ftitution, but without degenerating into barbarity,
or endangering the life of the young pupils by
pedagogical experiments. The great fundamental
maxim of phyfical education in great inftitutions,
cleanlineSs, is here carried to a higher degree than
uSual in Such places. The clothing is Sufficient
and convenient ; but even in the greateft Severity
of the winter, neither pelice nor cloak is allowed.
The food of the cadets is fimple and well pre
pared ; at noon they have butcher's meat,- in the
evening

DIVISION OF THE DAY. 221
evening "only boiled fruits, vegetables, and the
like. Their breakfast is a roll, their afternoon
luncheon a flice of black bread, and their drink
water. To each age a fpacious dormitory is ap
propriated, which in winter is but very little
heated, and every cadet has his own neat bed.
The ordering of the day, in regard to bodily edur
cation, is this : In the morning everybody is up at
five ; the time till feven is devoted to cleanlinefs,
b'reakfaft, &c. From feven to eleven, they are
employed at their leffons in the fchool ; in this
period, however, a Short paufe intervenes, in which
they may leave the fchool room. * The laft hour
of the forenoon is deftined to bodily exercifes.
About twelve, dinner is ferved ; till two is play
time. From two till fix are hours of- inftrudtion ;
- then again an interval for recreation. About feven
o'clock the bell rings to fupper : the reft of the
day is devoted to preparation for the morning,
repetitions, &c. By the time the clock has
Struck nine, all are in bed. — The fpace from
one day to the other is therefore divided into three
equal-parts; eight hours Sleep, eight hours feden-
tary; employment, and eight hours exercife and
recreation ; a proportion the belt adapted to the
human frame, The manner in which this laft
period is filled up is not lefs adequate to its proper
end. Three large Saloons are principally deftined
to the purpoSes of recreation. Here the cadets
may exercife themfelves in fencing, vaulting, and
other

22Z THE MORAL EDUCATION.
other arts of corporeal agility ; and for amufe-
ments of a higher order ample provifion is made.
Books, news-papers, journals, globes, orreries, and
fpheres, offer them a variety of entertainment:
even the decorations with which the walls of thefe
faloons are furnilhed, invite them'to learning under
the form of amufement. In the faloon of the
fourth and fifth ages are placed the bufts of the
great men of antiquity, and the figures of remark
able perfons of our own times : the recreation-halls
of the other ages, instead of hangings, are painted
with reprefentations of the feveral nations of the
ruffian empire in their proper dreffes. In fummer,
during which feafon the military ages remain en
camped for feveral weeks fucceffively, the garden
belonging to the corps becomes a fource of various
entertainment to the young pupils. Here little
fields and gardens are laid out and cultivated with
their own hands, by which means they learn the
labours of agriculture in fmall practical effays.
In all thefe recreations and paftimes they are con
stantly attended by the inSpectors, who are obliged
to Superintend both their bodily and mental occu
pations. The fyftem of phyfical education is audere:
that of the moral is mild and benign. The
grand object is to prevent immorality, in order not
to be forced to punifh it. The firft and moft im
portant means made ufe of to this end, is uninter
rupted infpedtion. This, and confequently the
2 whole

REWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS. 223
whole moral nurture, is entrusted to the governors
and officers. Each of them has a Stated number
of cadets under his particular infpedtion, for whofe
conduct he muft be refponfible. Even in the hours
of ftudy fome of them are conftantly prefent, as
the teachers have nothing to do but with the lef-
fons •, the fame practice is obferved in the recre
ation-halls and the Sleeping-rooms. As in this
refpedt all depends on the moral charadter of the
infpedtor, it naturally follows that extreme caution
is ufed in the choice of perfons to fill thefe fta
tions ; and never perhaps has the cadet corps
fliewn greater attention in this refpedt than while
under the diredtion of count Anhalt. Honour
and Shame are the only motives which the plan
prefcribed for this inftitution allows. Corporal
punishments are abfolutely prohibited; on all
occafions of momentous faults Slight military cha-
ftiSements and marks of difgrace are employed ;
fuch cadets as are put upon bread and water, are
refufed permiffion to vifit their parents, relations,
&c. The fentiment of honour is awakened and
kept up by distinctions and rewards, which confift
in little prefents and the distribution of prizes, as,
books, inftruments, or in gold and Silver medals,
marks affixed to the coat, and the like. This
gentle mode of education, which with children of
good difpofitions is productive of excellent effects,
Seems, however, to be rather too generally calcu
lated ; for, according to this maxim, which is
very

2,24 RECREATIONS AND EXERCISES.
very Strictly followed, there are fcarcely any me
thods of correcting the lazy, the perverfe, and
infenfible, of which fort we may fuppofe not a
few among fo large a number. The inSpedtors, as
already obServed, being all people of good moral
character and of decent behaviour, the cadets
have little or no opportunity of Seduction. They
are but feldom, by efpecial permiffion of the chief,
never without an attendant, and only for a few
hours of the Sunday, allowed to go out of the
houfe, to vifit their parents and relations, who
have, however, frequent opportunities ®f feeing
and talking with them in the corps. Throughout
the winter a public affembly is held once a month
on a Sunday, to which all well-dreffed people are
admitted. The cadets, difpoSed according to their
ages}| two and two, and accompanied by martial
mufic, enter the Saloon, where they are Separated
from the Spectators only by a cordon, with whom
they may converSe, but not accept of either money
or prefents from any one. To infpire them with a
becoming boldnefs, they are here exercifed in
dancing; and in the fame view are allowed once
a year to act plays in their own theatre, a handfome
building, and very elegantly fitted up. At times,
but very rarely, a public ball is given ; at which
the children of the feminary for young ladies are
prefent. So long as the cadets are profecuting
their ftudies in the cadet corps, they may not
poffeSs either money or any thing that is not al
lowed

EFFECTS OF THIS EDUCATION; JL<2$
lowed them by the plan of the inftitution ; accord
ingly, the fon of the wealthieft prince is not per
mitted to wear finer linen or handfomer clothes
,than the pooreft of his School-fellows.
The refult of this mode of education is, in the
prefent ftate of things, extremely beneficial. Mis
chief, intrigue, immorality, and all the vices which
commonly harbour in great fchools, are here not
to be found : on the contrary, a certain good hu
mour and amiable docility prevail, at leaft among
the far greater number. If we may judge from
the young men who have been lately let out of the
corps, no prominent call of character is vifible,
that may reafonably be attributed to its particular
method of education j on the contrary, from the
obfervations that have been made, a great variety
appears, according to the various dispositions and
the diverfity oS interior frame. It may always Suf
fice, and more than fuffice, if the accidental com
binations of an education of fifteen years, very
complicated, applied to feven hundred heads and
hearts, and calculated on one plan, enable the
feminary to return the materials it had to work
upon not worSe in Subftance and better in form,
than it received them from the hand of creative
nature. As the moral department is entrufted to the
infpectors alone, the tutors have only to do with
what relates to science ; it is therefore clearly
feen, that theSe two objedts are completely diftindt.
0, , The

226* BRANCHES OE LEARNING".
The instruction is divided into military and civil,
the former is only appointed f6r the fourth and
fifth ages,- arid for fuch of the noble youths as
devote themSelves to the military fervice. The
branches of learning that are at prefent taught,
are, befides the general elements of grammar and
religion — the ruffian, german, and french lan
guages, geography, ftatiftics, hiftory, natural hif
tory, natural philofophy, belles lettres, logic, civil
and military architecture, geometry, and algebra.
Moreover, the pupils of the corps, according to
their age, are instructed in drawing, dancing, rid
ing, Sencing, vaulting, turning in wood and ivory,
recitation and declamation, admeasurement and
Surveying oS land, &c. Each age is divided into
'five claffes in regard to instruction, So that on an
average not more than twenty-eight are together
in any one. The branches of knowledge taught
in every clafs are perfectly adapted to its particular
age; and in general this method is not blameable.
But the method of inftrudlion itfelf is here liable
to very Severe cenfure ; for Certainly all is not done,
which, considering all things, might reafonably be
^required. It is not to be denied that, with the
exception of fome very accomplished and well-in
formed young men, which the corps has given to the
country, the greater part do not fully come up to the
expectations which the public have a right to form
from the magnitude and extent of the means em
ployed. The fault lies neither in the negligence of

.*¦ .

bEFEfct-S OF THE INSTITUTION. 2-2^
of the direftion — Sor who that knows arty thing
Of Peterfburg Is Unacquainted with the unwearied
activity and honest zeal of the late count Anhalt ? —
nor in the want of expert tutors, for the corps
pays falaries to fixty-five of them, among whom
are men of talents, reputation, and ptedagogical
experience ; but in the plan and the method of
instruction. In ;the firft place, the total Separation
Offcientific and moral education, and 1 the conse
quent want of all authority in the tutors, 4s one
of Its principal defects. If the tutor has not the
power to punifh inattention, idlenefs, and difobe-
dience, "€t his own difcretion and on the fpot, bat
muft, in every particular cafe that happens, apply
to the governor' or officer, who may not always be
.prefent juft at the moment, and who, befides, has
not the power to punilh any more than the former,
but muft report it to his fuperior, and fo upwards
to the chief; it is infallibly certain, that out of a
"hundred cafes Scarcely one will be complained of,
and therefore that the obftinate offender has every
probability in his favour, that he will come off
^W-ith impunity in ninety-nine. Now, when the
chief, on every fingle inftance of this nature that
occurs, cortfiders his instructions and the fpirit of
the Statutes, and, deceived by the apparent rarity
of fuch cafes, is always willing to proceed with as
Tnuch lenity as poffible, it is eafy to imagine how
•much the fpirit of infubordination muft be continu
ally gaining ground, and how little the tutor, even
0.a with

428 THE LITERARY EDUCATION*
with the belt intentions, is able to perform. A
fecond defect is in the want oS a regular and con
fident plan for the instruction; The corps has a
great many, and, for the moft part, very excel
lent books of inftrudlion ; but they are deficient
in fyftematic arrangement. The tutors have no
regular plan to go by, no fixed ftatement by which
to regulate their procedure. It is therefore very
poffible, that, to give but one inftance, in three or
four fucceffive claffes, the fame thing Shall be
taught over again ; or that it fliall bo delivered
circumstantially and at large in the lower claffes,
but very curforily in the higher. — The moft im*
portant obstacle is, laftly, that but Very few of
the leffons are delivered in the ruffian language.
The conSeqUences of this defect are fo manifest,
that it would be fuperfluous to fay any thing far
ther upon it ; efpecially as a very fuitable remark
on this defect in the method purfued was made by
the emprefs in a general plan Signed by herfelf. -—
Several other flight defedts are paffed over in Si
lence, as having but little influence, and might be
easily removed, if the more confiderable ones were
remedied. The refult of the fcientific education may be
eafily calculated Srom the fqregoing Sketch. Ta
lents will burft through the greateft obftacles;
and for the well-difpofed and inquifitive youth the
fources of inftrudlion are amply fufficient. If now
and then a cadet is fent out, who, after fifteen years

THE MILITARY EDUCATION. 229
years of inftrudlion can but juft fpeak french, in
which moft of his knowledge has been conveyed :
yet, on the other hand, there are many who,
while yet pupils, have enriched their mother-
tongue with good translations from foreign lan
guages, and fpeak and write both the one and the
other to a degree of perfection that confers honour
on their underftanding and diligence, and Shields
the tutors from a cenfure that does not belong to
them, but to the accidental connection of things,
under the influence whereof they act.
The military education is faid, by fuch as
profefs to understand the fubjedt, to be adequate
to the defign of the inftitution. The more effen-
tial part of it, theoretical instruction in the Several
departments of military knowledge, is provided
for by Skilful teachers and experienced officers. In
Summer, for fix or eight weeks, the cadets live
entirely in camp, where they dudy the practical
part of the fervice, and are taught the manoeuvres
and evolutions. Before they quit the camp, a public
review is held, at which naturally a great part of the
public attend as fpectators.
After a period of fifteen years, during which
the government has fed, clothed, and prepared
for their general and particular destination, two
hundred and forty young citizens ; they are fent out
as lieutenants, (as they receive good or bad cre
dentials, as captains orenfigns,) or if they choofe
to devote themfelves to civil functions, in the fame
Q,_ 3 civil

£30 THE MARINE CADET-CORPS.
civil ranks, without any obligation whatever to
wards the inftitute, Great as the benefit is, which
the ftate bellows by this education on the poorer
part of its citizens, great js likewife the advantage
which it receives from it in return ; for if even the
balance might be more favourable for the ftate, yet
it is undoubtedly true, that it is favourable. — The
whole education of a cadet, from his reception to
his difmiffion, cofts 4410 rubles.
It is hoped this defcription needs no apology for
its prolixity, as its enables us to treat more briefly
the following objects; which are all oS them Sounds
ed on the Same principles.
The marine-cadet- corps admits Six hundred
pupils, on the fame condition with the land-cadet-
cprps, which are divided into five companies of
j 20 each, and are entirely brought up to the Sea
fervice. The instruction comprehends, befides the
general branches of knowledge, principally the
particular requisites of this destination ; thefe are,
nautical geography, astronomy, the arts of the
pilot and the Ship-builder, and the englifh Ian-*
guage ; as alfo, among other bodily exercifes,
climbing, fwimming, and the like. The cadets
of the firft company, who w(ear a uniform, and
are called marines, are Shewn the practical fea-
fervice ; and go upon a cruife once a-year in the
Baltic. They mud have made at leaft three of
thefe voyages, ere they are difmiffcd from the
cprps,' and then they enter as mjidfliipmen in the
6 fleet,

THE ENGINEER CADET-CORPS. Q,$t
fleet. This inftitution, which was Sormerly at
Cronftadt, was afterwards removed to Oranienbaum,
the palace that had been the uSual refidence of
Peter III. but is now transferred to Vaffilly-oftrof,
where it fubfifts under the direction of an admiral,
the infpectors being officers of the, fleet.
The engineer and artillery-cadet-corps
admits three hundred and Sixty of noble families,
and eighty-five fons of Soldiers. The denomi
nation of this inftitution Shews its destination.
The cadets are divided into companies, whereof
the younger wear the drefs of the light-horfe, aad
the elder the artillery uniform. The foldjer-boys
form a Separate company. The direction of the
whole is committed to a general of the artillery ;
and the places of infpector are filled by artillery-
officers. Inftrudlion and education are here chiefly
military. The former, befides the three ufual lan
guages, extends principally to natural hiftory,
mathematics, artillery, fortification, tadties, and
military drawing; and is administered by fifty-eight
tutors, over whom a director of, ftudies is placed.
This corps has the reputation of being excellently
conducted in all the branches of the art of war
which belong to the defign of it. The military
exercifes in camp during the fummer, draw to
gether a great multitude of fpedtators, who are
particularly delighted with the agility of the young
engineers, and the dexterity of their performances.—
At their difmiffion the cadets are appointed can-
q^4 * noneers

iyi THE GRECIAN CORPS*
noneers in the artillery, or conductors in the engi
neer corps ; and the foldier-boys are made fubal-
tern officers.
The grecian corps is for the education and
training up of native Greeks, Albanians, &c. and
is endowed for two hundred pupils ; of Whom,
however, a great part are Ruffians. The boys are
admitted from the age of twelve to fixteen, and
can only be received through the ruffian confuls,
who fend them to St. Peterfburg at the expence
of the fovereign. The aim of this inftitution is
lefs military than that of the foregoing; yet the
direction and infpection are managed by officers,.
and the cadets wear uniforms. The inftrudlion,
for which twenty-five tutors are appointed, is fuit-
able to that general destination ; the italian and
other languages are alfo taught here. When the
education is completed, the cadets have the choice
whether they will be officers or interpreters in
the ruffian fervice, or be fent back to their own
country. In the page- corps, from Sixty to feventy young
nobles, who at the fame time perform the ufual
fervice at court, are trained to civil and military
Stations. At their difmiffion they receive the rank
of lieutenants or captains.
To the fecond clafs of public establishments Sor
education, may be reckoned Suchas have the sci
ences for their principal object.
To

MINERAL CADET-CORPS. 233
} To medicine and furgery three of them are
devoted.^The medical and chirurgical aca
demy admits thirty pupils, who, according to
age and previous knowledge, are made capable of
higher instruction. Befides this number, who are
maintained entirely at the imperial expence, the
inftitution is open to fifty more youths, in con
sideration of a moderate payment. Seven pro-
feflbrs here diffeminate the neceffary instruction,
which extends to the principal branches of medi
cinal Science. In the clinic hofpital the Senior
pupils are. introduced to practice. With this in
ftitute is connected a practical School for the art of
midwifery. — Similar fchools are added to the
two great hofpitals for foldiers and failors ; in each
of which fifty pupils are boarded and taught out
of the imperial purfe. Thefe two inftitutions are
at prefent united and constituted upon an enlarged
and improved plan.
The mine-cadet-corps admits fixty pupils,
who are instructed in all the knowledge neceffary
for the working of mines, and are afterwards ap
pointed officers at the mines. Ten boys of the
lower orders, after they have gone through their
courfe of education, are fent, with a yearly allow
ance of fifty rubles, into foreign countries, where
they muft ferve through the feveral gradations of
employments in the mines, in order to their being
made upper afiay-mafter son theirreturn home. This
institution,

234 THE CLERICAL ACADEMY.
institution, which is of great and acknowledged
general utility, admits alfo boarders.
In the SEMINARY OF ST. ALEXANDER NEVSKY,
which is under the infpection of the metropolitan,
the fons of priefts are brought up to the prieft*
hood, Laftly, the gymnasium of the academy of
sciences prepares fixty or Seventy boys for ufeful
callings of various kinds. They have free main
tenance ; and the moft capable and expert of them
are fent, at the imperial expence, to. foreign uni
versities. This institution, which alfo admits
young men as boarders at their own charges,
has prefented to the ftate feveral ufeful and learned
perfons. The fine arts likewife have two inftitutions de
voted to their propagation and extenfion. The
moft important and comprehenfive is the academy
of arts, which ferves the twofold purpofe of an
academy and a fchool. To defcribe it in the
former of thefe regards, would be to fwelt our
work beyond its proper limits ; but as a fchool, it
is thus eonftituted : The number of fcholars, who
are the fons of free parents of the lower clafles of
people, and are admitted at the age of fix, is 325;
of whom twenty-five are maintained on a foundation
of the late privy counfellor Betzkoy. Befides
thefe, the inftitution takes alfo boys in eonfidcration
of a yearly payment. The pupils ape divided- into
five cl'affes, and are instructed, till their fourteenth year,

THE ACADEMY OF ARTS.~ 335
year, in all the branches of knowledge neceffary
for a young artift ; at which period they muft fix
upon one of the departments of practice taught in ,
the academy. Thefe are : painting,' engraving,
feujpture, mu.fic, architecture, and the making of
a variety of artificial and mechanical works. Ex
aminations and public exhibitions are. annually
held ; and. are frequented by a great concourfe of
people. Such of the youths as Shew moft talent
and induftry, and have four times obtained the
prize, are fent, for fix years, at the expence of the
academy, to travel in England, Italy, and France :
and when they have finifhed their ftudies, they are
difcharged of all obligation to the Institution. — -
The academy has already brought many great
talents to eminence, and rouzed many a Sleeping
genius which would otherwise have been loft to the
arts ; that this is at all times the cafe, would not
certainly be expected. But it is much to be la
mented, that even among the pupils of this School
who Succeed, but" Sew make their Sortune in their
own country. In the chieS towns, where the arts
are prized and rewarded, tafte and prejudice for
foreign products opprefs the couiage and defeat
the induftry. of the ruffian artists; and in the pro
vinces, talents of this clafs would in vain ftrive
to gain a livelihood. It is, theretore, the ufual
fate of young artifts to be obliged to abandon the
firft object of their education, to which perhaps
they had. addidted themfelves with the greatest ardour,

236 THE DRAMATICAL SCHOOL.
ardour, and take to any other trade by which they
may earn their bread — happy, if the want of
other knowledge does not oblige them to fall hick
into that low ftate of dependence to which, for the
molt part, they feemed deftined at their birth, *and
from which the munificence of Catharine had re-
deemed them.
A fecond fchool of this clafs is confined tp the
theatrical art alone. The pupils are of both
fexes, and are likewife taken from the lower claffes
of the people, out of the foundling-hofpital, &c.
The instruction comprifes all the objects of the
theatre : declamation, mufic, dancing, gesticula
tion, and mimickry, which find here a very fuf
ceptible foil, as the great natural turn of the nation
co-operates to the attainment of a very early per
fection. Several pupils of this School have already
performed at the theatre of the refidence, and won
for ever the applaufe of the public.
The navigation-school is alfo a foundation
of the emprefs Catharine. Here are taught the
englilh language, naval architecture, aftronorny,
navigation, &c. This eftabliffiment takes fixty»
five pupils, who are maintained and educated at the
expence of the fovereign, and admits other Scholars"
for a trifling pay,
The education of the female fex is not forgotten
in this_ grand plan of national improvement, the
particular parts of which we have now been fur-
veying. One of the moft valuable and important
inftitutions

SEMINARY OF FEMALE EDUCATION. %_f
inftitutions is devoted to this object: the SEMI
NARY FOR THE EDUCATION OF YOUNG LADIES in
the Volkrefenfko'i* convent. This denomination
it retains from the defign in which it was built by
the emprefs Elizabeth, and which Catharine II.
converted, to the prefent more beneficial and gene
rally ufeful purpofe.
The whole internal ceconomy of this foundation
is conducted, with the requisite modifications, on
the Same principles as the land-cadet-corps is orga
nized upon. The number of the pupils, which are
admitted at the age of fix years, is 480, of whom
one half are noble and the other of the burgher
clafs. The direction is veiled in a convent ; but
the immediate care of it is affigned to a directreSs ;
the tuition being conducted by eight infpedtreffes
and forty clafs-ladies. The perfons appointed
for the feveral functions of the inftitution are, in a
certain degree,, correfpondent to thofe in the land-
cadet-corps. The noble as well as plebeian young ladies are
distributed into four claffes, distinguished by the
colour of their drefs. In each of which they re
main three years ; and, after this education of
twelve years, they are difmiffed at the age of
eighteen or nineteen. — The principles of the
phyfical education are in general the fame as thofe
obferved in the land-cadet-corps. The competency
•f them is feen by the fmall number of deaths in
* Conrent of the Refurre&ion. the

23$ SEMINAR.^ OF EEMALfi' EDUCATION.
the mft-ute itfelf, and by fhe healthy1 blooming
compledtibn of the ladies Who ate difmiffed. For
feveral years confecutively not one perfon has died
in the convent, and the mortality Of the moft un
favourable year never amounted to atxrve feven.
The recreations and amufements allowed to the
pupils confift alfo here in fuitable exerciSes, fuch
as affemblies, dancing, artd at times theatrical per
formances. The fpirit of the fyftem of education
Is likewife in this place gentlenefs, and here too
rewards are employed as the moft effectual means
of promoting diligence. They confift chiefly in
public marks' of distinction, by ribbons and me
dallions worn within the walls : on their difmiSlion
'fix of the ladles, who liave credentials from the
diredtrefs of their good conduct: and improvement,
wear for life at their bread: the cypher Of the
emprefs in gold. In this circumftance likewife
a diftindtion is obferved, the two more efpecially
commended obtain a cypher much larger than the
others. For the twelve next in fucceffioh in re
gard 'to merit, fix gold and as many Silver medals
are allotted. — The branches of knowledge, ^to
Which the pupils are brought up, are adapted to
their future Station in life. They are taught feveral
languages, particularly the french, the elements of
religion, geography, hiftory, epistolary writing,
music, dancing, declamation, and acting. Thofe
Of the burgher order who partake in this instruc
tion are alfo brought up to various kinds of work. The

THE NORMAL SCHOOLS* 239
The pupils difmiffed from this clafs are of great
benefit to the country, in diffufing a tafte for a
more refined mode of life in the inferior ranks of
' Society; they even here and there fupplant the fo
reign females who are taken into great families for
the purpofes of education ; but their lot is not al
ways favourable to them. Accuftomed to a deli
cate way of life, and raifed by their improvements
far ''above their relatives, they cannot always feel
themfelves, happy in their circle of acquaintance :
a circumftance which however is much alleviated
by this, that on account of this very education,
they are more eafily married. In which cafe they
receive from the beneficent inftit-ute. to which they
are indebted for their moral existence, a portion
of a hundred rubles.
The Sixth and laft clafs of public eftablifh ments
founded by Catharine in the refidence alone, for in
all the provinces of the empire She instituted others
of the fame nature, comprehends the normal and
popular schools, for all forts of young perfons.
Peterfburg acquired in the year 1790 an upper
fchool, in which natural hiftory and philoSophy,
geometry, languages, See. were taught; and in all
the quarters of the town thirteen middle and inferior
Schools, in which the children of the common peo-
pleare taught reading, writing, arithmetic, ruffian
hiftory, and geography, &c. and which all toge
ther have upwards -of 3200 fcholars, whereof
550 are girls, by far the greater part at the ex-
pence

44® tIST OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS*
pence of the monarch, including even the necel*
fary books.
What reader, after taking this flight Survey of
fuch a variety of public- fpirited inftitutions, and . . .
which form but a very fmall part of the number
-erected throughout the empire, is not aftoniSbed at
what, has been done by a princefs, who, in the pro
digious plan She concerted for the new-creation of
her immenfe dominions, applied fo maternal and
appropriate a care to a particular, and, in the eyes
of but too many princes, fo infignificant a part of
it ? The money which She beftowed with a liberal
hand on the foundation of thefe institutions, the
fums which She diShurfed for the fupport of them,
form indeed but one head of the grand meritorious
undertakings by which Catharine the Second con
tributed to eftabliSh for ever the proSperity of her
people; but this one head is a rule by which the
whole may be computed. The following lift Shews
the revenues of the publicplaces of education, and
the number of pupils boarded, clothed, and taught
at the imperial expence :

The land-cadet-corps has —
Sea-cadet-corps -
Artillery-cadet-corps -
Grecian cadet-corps .—
Page cadet-corps -
Medicine and furgery fchool
Land and fea hofpital fchool

pupils.

rubles.

700

and

200,009

600

-

120,000

445

-

121,722

200

-

4I,6l3

65

3°

100
*»
l6,000 Mine-
boarding-schools. 24-1

pupils.

rubles.

Mirte-cadet-corps -=¦

70 ¦

15,000

Clerical feminary

Gymnasium of the academy

65

Academy of arts >-
3*5 *
60,000
Dramatical fchoof
Navigation fchool -
65
Young ladies fchool -¦
480
• 180,000
Popular and normal fchools
3200
Education-houfe -
3OO
Orphan-houfe - ->
IOO
According to this imperfect furvey, therefore,
in the thirty-one places of education here named,
about 6800 children of both fexes in the refidence
are brought up at the. expenee of government.
The fums here fet down amount to 754,335 rubles
per annum.
Notwithstanding this great number of public
Seminaries a multitude of boarding-schools like
wiSe flourish here. They are all under the infpec*
tion of the college of general provifion, which in
quires into the ftate of them every half year, and
deputes one of its members to be prefent at their
public examinations. Every tutor previous to his
admiflion as fuch in a boarding-School muft under
go an examination by the directors of the upper
german fchool. The internal establishment and
the excellency pf thefe institutes are, as elfewhere,
various : in moft of them are taught the german,
r french
242 utschiTels, or tutors.
french and ruffian languages, religion, hiftory,
geography, mufie, drawing and dancing. r
Even this great variety of institutions, however,
is not competent to the, exigencies of the public.
There is ftill a numerous clafs of perfons employed
in the inftrudtioh and education qf youth as .tutors
in families and private teachers. The majority of
thefe, 'being foreigners, efpecially from- Germany,
whence many young Students come to St. Petersburg
in the Sole defign of gaining a livelihood that way:,
and as thefe importations were becoming, towards
the clofe of Catharine's reign, more confiderablefrom
year1 to year : I think, in a -book which is intended
,fbr foreign readers, a brief account of the ftate
and condition of that defcription of perfons .cannot
with propriety be omitted.
>:.. The. generality of the foreigners- that annually
arrive in the refidence, come in the firm conviction
that fortunes are .no where in the world fo eafily
made as here. Aftayof a few weeks never, fails
to. open their eyes on this fubjedt, and that fre
quently in ..a very lamentable way ; as, ' without
money and without recommendation they generally
fall, a prey-jo want, and wretchednefs. Thei me-
phanic makes acquaintance with his fellow-tradef-
men*. and finds means to earn his bread: the.man
of- letters, the. broken merchant, i the ichemer —
turns .ut.sChI.tel. ........ \ . '.,.,..:: ,i..i -
Utfchitel is fynonimous..with:.pEedagog»e ->dr
jtutor, butthe, foreign jp^4agogue.ox.fc,utor is by ho
means an utfchitel ; the Ruffian affociating with this

HOW DEGSADEJ). *? "-4$.
this term a degrading idea that is not eafy to be
defcribed. n The poverty of the greater part of the
foreigners ^fho announce themfelves as tutors ;
the ignorance, the ill condudt and the total in
capacity of fuch numbers oS them ; the circum
ftance of its being the ultimate reSort to which
every ont has recourSe to Save himfelf from Starv
ing, have rendered contemptible in the eyes of
the nation, an office which in itfelf is, one of the
nobleft, and in regard to humanity ohe of the moft
beneficial and incompenfable of any. •
The blame of this is moftly to be .attributed to
the , French. Cooks, hair- dreffers and: valet-de^-
chambres come hither to be ,j-- tutors ; and, if
inftances of this kind are no longer fo frequent, it
is. owing in a great meafure to the Germans. — A
Frenchman who offers himfelf for an utfchitel,- is
the Compendium of all arts and fcienees. Juris
prudence, mathematics, hiftory, heraldry, mufic,
fencing and every accomplishment befitting a
nobleman is in his department and he is mafter of
all : in addition to thefe he not unfrequently pof-
Seffes the neceffary qualifications Sor filling the
office of Secretary or houSe-.fteward j and if, more
over, he finds opportunity to insinuate- himSelf
with the lady of the houfe as her reader, the ut
fchitel rarely fails oS having laid the foundation of
Kis future fortune.
The neceffity of education becoming every day
more general, and the want of people of talents
r a and

244 TUTORS AMPLY REWARDED.
/ and good breeding who can bring themfelves under
the prefent circumftances to take 'on them the
office of domeftic tutors, occafion a great number
of unqualified perfons to apply to that bufinefs.
The wealthier and more enlightened part of the
nobility therefore find themSelves necessitated to
make extraordinary offers in order to induce per
fons of merit to undertake the education of their
children ; and no where perhaps are well- qualified
tutors more liberally rewarded than in Ruffiar: a
thoufand or twelve hundred rubles being a. very
common falary ; with the addition of board and
lodging, attendance, the ufe of the equipage, and
all this on a fumptuous footing. A tour through
the principal countries of Europe is generally
comprehended in the plan of education; and
whenever this requires an abfehceof feveral' years,
the tutor receives, on their return, either a Stipu
lated fum of money or a penfion for life. The
frequent instances of this kind may probably be an
inducement with many foreigners to travel to
Ruffia in hopes of a Similar fuccefs* ; but, as only
perfons of acknowledged abilities, experience of
the world and genteel manners can meet with fuch
appointments, and as with fuch accomplishments
.* I know two perfons both in great families as tutors, of
whom the one has received twenty-five thoufand and the
other thirty thoufand rubles tor education. Thefe ex
amples are gerurrally known, and though rare, are not the
only ones. a man

PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION. 245
a man may fucceed in any part of the world, this
apparent fuperiority difappears on the Slighted: ex
amination : for, to procure people of little or no
intrinfic merit a confiderable degree of fuccefs re
quires here, as well as every where elfe, the peculiar
aid of fome friendly dsemon.
To fum up the matter ; the Ruffians, in imi
tation of the example fet them by their later fove-
reigns, had for fome time been making perpetual
exertions to raife themfelves from barbarifm, and,
among their other efforts, by addicting themfelves
with the utmost care to the education of their chil
dren; juftly conceiving, that by cultivating their
talents and infpiring them with ufeful and elegant
knowledge they furnilhed them with the happy
means of producing themfelves to the world with
advantage and of advancing their fortunes. They
Spared neither pains nor expences in cultivating the
arts and fciences in a country to which they were.
foreign, as well as thofe fruits which they forcibly
bring to maturity in their hot-houfes and winter
gardens. Elizabeth and Catharine erected and
endowed feveral inftitutes for the benefit of youth ;
fome whereof, as the normal Schools and particu
larly the three different corps des cadets, prefent
mankind with the interesting Spectacle of many
thoufands of young perfons brought up at the
public expence, and inftructed in morals, the lan
guages, the Sciences and the arts. The emperor
Paul abolifhed all the public Schools, and the corps
r 3 des

?4^ CONVENT OF YOUNG tADIES,
des cadets were, under him, nothing but guard*
N houfes and places of military exercife. - -
The convent of young ladies, an cftablsfhmenf
worthy of the generofity of a great princefs from
the Sentiment that led her to endow it, now Shares.
the fate of moft of theother inftitutes by failing
entirely of its object. After two or three hundred
poor young girls have enjoyed the benefits of the
moft careful education,- at.the age of eighteen they
are turned out upon the wor-ld ; a world from which
they have lived totally fequeftered fxom their in*
fancy ; and where, frequently, meeting again with
neither friends nor relations, they know not what
courfe to take. — The conSequence is, that they be-?
come a prey to the officers of the guards, with whofe
barracks the convent is Surrounded, and who are on
the watcb at every diSmiffion to pick up the band-
fomeft of theSe young women. It would he- better
to Spare Something Srom the immenfe expences of
their education in order to portion them out, or at
leaft to maintain them till they Should fettle theo>
Selves in life.

CHAP,

( 247 )

CHAP. IX.

INDUSTRY..

General obfervations on the expdnfion and progfcfs of civilization)'
^.particularly in Ruffia. — Conimerce.-. -Number 'of -the fiiips, of
different nations, annually arriving. Number, of the ruffian..
meffels. (Concerning the ruffian afii-ve commerce.) Nature andL
quantity qf the exports. Purchafe and tranfport of the commodities
•from the interior qf the country to St. Peterfburg. Number of
. barks and amount of the produils conveyed hither by the , Ladoga-
canal. Nature and quantity of the imports. Authenticity of thti
cuftom-houfe lifts. Value in money qf fhe exports and imports^
Balance. Increafe of the commerce. Mercantile rank of Sf.
" Peter/burg. Procefs and occupations of the Peterfburg commerce.
Merchants. Commercial fpirit of the Ruffians. — MdnifatlureP
find fabrics. Imperial manufaHories of tapeftry, qf porcelain,
qf earfhen ix)arer.qf bronze, for pplijhingfiones. Private many-*
failories. Materials and the methods of working them up. -7-
Mechanical trades and bufinejfes only carried on by Germans and
Ruffians'. T'he great numbers and continual influx of Germans.
' Ruffian trades. German mechanics. ^ Arts ahd'frades in articles*
,ef luxury. -Workmen in gold and filver, and embroiderers^.)- Mifi-
ners,, , Coachmakers. , Joiners and cabinet-makers j Roentgen V
uncommonly curious performances in the latter fpecies of tuork.
^Artificial gardeners.
X HE commerce, the navigation and the tradeoff
St.. Petersburg are, fuch pr9minenfrfea6ur.es; jn. the
(fjiarajSteriftics of this refidence, that the pidture
R 4 of

248 ,_"¦ REMARKS ON CIVILIZATION.
of it would be rendered deficient in truth, accu
racy and intereft by the omiffion of a brief defcrip
tion of thefe objedts. But, however great the im.
propriety of paffing them over in a book which
can only obtain any value by thoSe qualities ; yet
the difficulty is not leSs of treating them properly
in a work fo peculiarly modified as the prefent. The
. man who profeffedly writes on theSe Subjects pro
duces all his data ; accuracy is the Supreme law to him,
and it frequently happens that in a colledtion of the
moft trifling and dry particulars confifts the worth Of
his labours. Here, to excite intereft being the
ultimate aim, the author is content with arranging
productive refults together, from which the actual
ftateof thingsmuft arife of itfelf before the reader's
mind, and urge him on to considerations and in
ferences in which he forgets the peculiar drynefs
of the fubjedt.
The fight of human activity is highly gratifying
to the obferver ; a review of the works of induftry,
of ingenuity and diligence affords a fort of gene^
rous and refined enjoyment which has often be
come the fource of. ufeful and grand attempts.
The toilfome induftry which forces the earth to
yield her treafures ; the artful and inventive affidu-
ity which in an infinite variety of ways works up
thefe raw productions to the manifold purpofes of
neceffity, convenience and luxury ; the bold fpirit
of commerce which barters the products of the
remoteft

REMARKS ON CIVILIZATION. 249
remoteft parts of the world againft each other,
rendering the whole earth the country of
each individual ; the very thirft of gain, that
ftores up the neceffaries of life in barns and
warehoufes, and reduces nations to its depend-
ance— -this animation, this tumultuous bufinefs,
thefe prodigious combinations compofe a pidture
that fixes the attention even of the moft unimpaf-
fioned beholder and raiSes his feelings to a benign
participation. The producing claSs is the moft material and
effential Station of the human race; all others are
the decorations which . after a period vanifh and
difappear. Political constitutions, laws and ar
mies are the creatures of neceffity ; arts and Sci
ences the effects of civilization and luxury ; but
both of them prefuppofe exiftence, and this is
effected by the producing clafs. We work that:
we may live, and live that we may enjoy : in thefe
words are comprifed the whole fyftem of human
relations and the aim of all human efforts. The
fatisfying of the mere wants of nature is the firft
Step on the fcale of man : having extorted thefe,
his appetite for enjoyment begins to expand, A
neceffity dignified to a greater or lefs degree be
comes conveniency, and from the infatiable pro
pensity to better his condition he prefently changes
cOnveniency for luxury. Thefe three periods are
the path by which all nations have uniformly pur-
fUed their courfe to maturity; by the laft of them
nature

2j|o PROGRESS OF CIVIL.IZATIO&5.
nature feems to have placed a boundarptOithc-
perfectibility of man ;- fince from this point- they
all-return by the fame Tound to theii»>6riginal bar
barity,' hiftory not. prefenting*! us i with- a fingle-in-f
Stance that can be admitted as an exception to this

rule. ¦¦* ;"¦:•-.' >¦ - j--
The tranfit from the primary grofs neceffaries to
the'minuteft and imoft trifling convenience is the
decifive moment -for the progreSs of a cnation.
When once it has rifen above the mere neceffaries;
of life, the path to fuperior culture is opened.
But a people may frequently remain for entitle'
ages on the bounding line, without finding the-,
means of tranfition ; that means, the only means,
as we are taught by experience, is  distribution.
of labour. As long as the uncivilized man is his
own tailor, Shoe-maker, cook and carpenter, fo
long he works only for- his neceffaries and. is-frc-
quently not fufficient even to the attainment of
thefe; the diverfity of his occupations is an,ob-«
ftacle to their perfection: his work, extorted-by
the neceffity of the moment, bears the Stamp of
that coercion, ...
But as foon as the- occupations are di-ftribjited,
the rude work is elevated into art > the inceflant
practice that follows begets dexterity and profit,
fmoothes the way to new- inventions and brings
thofe that are already in ufe to maturity and per
fection. If any one would know, fays a ejelebrated
author, whether a; people., i he civilized, lefci him* afk

ORIGIN OF COMMERCE. 2gl
alk whether they have coin :• I would rather' afk
whether they have Shoe-makers, tailors and car
penters among them. • t ?.- .
When -ja nation has once Surmounted this dini-*
culty, no doubt can be any longer entertained that
it is capable of making confiderable advances in its
civilization: but thefe very advances will make
them preSently fenfible -that they have a Second
boundaryto- break through, in order to purSue
iinimpede'd the grand career to finite perfection.
With the distribution of work the quantify of their
products increafes. Each diftindt bufinefs comy-
prizes Several others ; and thefe are ever farther
and farther distributed, till at length the higheft
refinement of artificial induftry is attained ; for in
ftance, feventeen perfons employed in feventeen
feveral occupations fucceffively following each
Other, in the making of a pin. By this union of
labour the mechanifm is brought to the higheft
perfection, and confequently the production aug
mented in an incalculable proportion. The little
market which the neighbourhood affords the artist
is foon overstocked with his products : the price
of them falls, and he has no other alternative than
either to Starve, or — to find out a larger market.
Thus arifes commerce, without which no distri
bution of labour, and therefore no perfecting it ;
confequently no convenience, no luxury can have
place. Thefe

252 PROGRESS OF COMMERCE.
Thefe and the like considerations which occupy
the mind of the obferver at the Sight of human
adtivity, are the moft edifying commentary on the
accounts we receive of the actual ftate of particular
nations at this or the other period of their civiliza
tion. At one time we are Struck with aftonifh-
ment at the grandeur of the object and the bold
enterprifing fpirit of mankind ; at another our
wonder is fixed on the difficulty of the defign and
theobftinacy with which it is purfued ; then, from
particular matters of fact we form a picture of the
whole, and calculate with certainty the degree of
maturity and the quicker or flower, advancing or
retrogressive courfe of the nations.
The magnitude of the ruffian empire, com
prizing a furface of more than three hundred
thoufand Square geographical miles and an extent
of thirty-two degrees of latitude, and a hundred
and Sixty-five degrees of longitude ; the extraor
dinary diversity oS climate, oS foil, of people, and
confequcntlyof the neceffaries, of the produdts,
of the characters — would have been fufficient
alone to have expanded the bud of civilization
amidft this vaft Society oS men, and to bring it to a
certain degree of maturity without connection or
intercourse with any other country. But the in
sufficient population of the northernmost regions
and the whole of the afiatic division, the wide dif
tance between the inhabited places, and, not-
6 withstanding

PROGRESS OF COMMERCE. 253
.withstanding its excellent fyftem of rivers, the in
competency of the water-communications, would
have impeded and retarded the courfe of domeftic
culture, and the independence of the nation would
have been purchafed at the expence of its more
rapid progrefs. Peter the great, therefore, in pro
curing to his empire a long feries of coaft on the
Baltic and completing the inland water-communi
cation by canals, had no other end in view than to
enlarge the market for the ruffian products ; or,
which is the fame thing, to advance the progrefs
of culture and induftry. For, though they had
here and there already Struck root in the inland
parts of the empire, in having obtained a vent for
their productions in earlier times through the
H'anfe and afterwards through the EngliSh ; yet the
tardy prOgreSs of this commerce, the difficulties
attending the navigation of the white fea and the
want of inland communication were fo many
Shackles to the diffemination of culture, which
Peter had the merit of breaking* In the laft de ¦>
cennium of the feventeenth century the exports
from Archangel amounted to about nine hundred
thoufand rubles at the prefent valuation ; whereas
they now amount to above two millions.- At that
time this port was almoft the only mart for ruffian
commodities; at prefent it is rivaled by all the
-ports of the Baltic and the Cafpian. 1 know of
no fadt that prefents a more ftriking proof of the
increafe

«54 COMMEROjE-OF PETERSBURG AND RIGA*
injcrgafe >of the production and the extenfiOn of th«
-Culture of the ruffian empire.
The plan fo fuccefsfufly begun by Peter the
great .was completed by Catharine the fecond.
The new coafts acquired to Ruffia, the restoration
of decayed channels of commerce, the extenfion
of the inland trade have fo exceedingly enlarged
the market for the ruffian products, that even the
greateft produce of them cannot exceed the de
mands of the purchafer ; and thus human adtivity
has a fphere of operation which heightens its ener
gies. It would fcarcely be believed by our con
temporaries, if it were not .notorious from the
cuftom-houfe regifters and by fadts unquestionable
either at home or abroad, that the commerce of
Peterlburg and Riga alone at prefent amounts to
as much as that of the whole empire did no longer
ago than the year 1762, that this is now as much
again as it was at that epocha,> and that the Share
of St. Peterlburg amounts to more than, one
moiety of the whole. What a prodigious differ
ence in the totals of the productions and confe
quently in the degrees of energy and induftry !
In nothing is this difproportion mpre ftriking
than in the comparifon of the former state of
the COMMERCE OF ST. Petersburg and the prer
fent. In the year 1 703 this refidence was confed
erated to its new deftination by the arrival of the
firft Ship from Holland. The Slow progrefs made by

COMMERCE OF PETERSBURG. 255
by commerce in the two; g* three- following years
is fufficiently accounted for from the inadequate
diffemination of cultureTsand the want of a due
communication. But no feoner was this laft im
pediment removed, the market, opened, and the
diligence in acquiring excited andfet forward by the
competition of the purchafers, than fuch a profufion
of products appeared as. had never yet been feen
in any of the ruffian feaports. So early as the year
1742 the exports amounted to about two millions
and a half of rubles.— From that period to the year.
1763 they got up to five millions. The following
reprefentation of its fubfequent ftate affords the
plaineft and fureft Standard for the extraordinary
increafe which the commerce of St. Petersburg
acquired under the wife and enlightened admini
stration of Catharine the fecond.
By an average of fourteen years- (from 1775 to
1790) Peterfburg was annually vifited by feven
hundred and feventy Ships. This ftatement, which,
as -all that here follow it, is drawn from the com
parifon Of feveral years to avoid tiring the reader
With whole pages of figures, is" too low for the
latter years, in which a thoufand or more veffels
have arrived here and: at: Cronftadt. The feveral
fliares.which the .commercial nations have had in
this, number appears from the following eftimate,
being the refult of the above-mentioned period of
fourteen years. During that period there arrived,
every, yea jf on an average?
4 35° Engl'*"

256 NUMBER OF ANNUAL ARRIVALS.
350 English
73 Dutch
63 Pruffian
50 DaniSh
46 Lubeck
42 SwediSh
41 French
31 Roftock
16 Spanilh
15 Italian
13 Portugueze
8 Hamburgh
7 Oftend
6 American
5 Dantzick, and
2 Bremen; in all
768 ftiips.
The mean number of the arrrvals and depar
tures of ruffian velfels during this period was 33.
The ruffian active commerce therefore of St. Peterf
burg amounts only to a four-and-twentieth part ;
or, of twenty-four that here arrive only one is
ruffian. This proportion feems at firft glance
to be as difadvantageous as it is fmall ; the follow
ing cgnfideration, which, from its eccentricity
requires fome little apology, will refute this pre-"
judice. Not only the commerce of St. Petersburg, but the

FOREIGN COMMERCE OF RUSSIA.

257

the whole foreign commerce of Ruffia, is almoft
entirely a paffive commerce; that is, She fends
away her products and receives her fuppiies moftly
by foreign Ships. This circumftance has frequently
incited well-meaning but uninformed patriots to
make fuch loud complaints, that it would well be
worth foirie pains to fet them right on this matter.
Firft then, a paffive trade is not always a lofing
trade any more than every active trade is a gaining
trade. The commerce oS Great Britain with Ruffia
affords the beft proof of this. Notwithstand
ing all the importance of it, notwithstanding all the
advantages enjoyed by the Englifh in virtue of com
mercial treaties, and in fpite of the great Sale of
their manufactured goods, that commerce which
on the part of England was entirely active, was
constantly in disfavour of that country, and in pro
portion to its increafe was perpetually becoming
more disadvantageous, as is clearly feen by the fol
lowing ftatement taken from an englifh author :
England annually on an average
Brought from Carried out
Ruffia to the to Ruffia to Lofs.
value of the value of
£ 124,000,/" 76,000 ^48,000
305,000 775ooo 228,000
62 2,000 49,000 573,000
1,110,000 145,000 965,000

From 1 700 to 1702
1740 to 1742
1 760 to 1762
1770 to 1772

But more important ftill than this example is
the confideration that the lofs of the active com

merce

2$S A RETROACTIVE COMMERCE.
merce lies in the very effence of it. Every in
dividual merchant, fays Bufch*, reaps no profit
himfelf from the furplus balance of it, as it
obliges him to draw his commiffions, not in goods
but in fpecie. He will therefore Strive to fet for
ward a retroactive trade, by which to make a
fecond profit; without reckoning the back-freight,
which in commodities brings in far more than in
fpecie. The merchant who fends his goods to a
diftance, is fometimes under the necessity of dif-
pofing of them to a lofs ; in ready-money pay
ments his lofs would be certain ; he therefore pre
fers taking goods in return, in the hope of re
pairing his loffes. The long credit he muft give
on fo many occasions, obliges him to think of
means for covering himfelf; accordingly he writes
for goods which he otherwife would never have
ordered. He is frequently compelled to take
goods in payment, which otherwife he would
never have imported into his country. But we are
taught by general experience that a nation which
in a brifk active commerce fells much of its own
products, takes likewife much in return, and fre
quently things for which it has the leaft occafion.
This -is the cafe, for inftance, with England in
regard to portugueze diamonds. In Short, the
active commerce has this difadvantage, that the
merchant muft fend his commodities to the factor
• * Schriften uber ftaatfwirthfchaft und handlung, torn, iir.
p. 58. ia

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE COMMERCE. 259
in the paffive-trading country on commiffiori of
fale, or give up to him the buying-commiffion for
the goods fent in return, and thus, at the clofing
of every account muft relinquish So large and So
Certain a profit. — From theSe and other reafons it
is manifest, that the paffive-commerce is by no
means fo detrimental as it is Suppofed to be by
thofe that argue from a Wrong theory. — They
have indeed two inftances oS Some conSequence to
Urge in their behalS: firft, that the active-com
merce preSuppoSes a Sar greater advantage both
natural and political, than the paffive-commerce ;
and Secondly, that in the merchandize of products
there are many more examples of a paffive-com
merce than of an active commerce being beneficial.'
In favour of the latter affertion Ruffia affords a
proof as well as Norway, Poland, Spain, the Le
vant, China; fhe Eaft Indies and other countries,
therefore it needs not be farther difcuffed ; and all
that can be faid for the former, in regard to Ruffia,
can only be grounded on the following well-known
matters of fact*
Let the political advantages exciting Ruffia to
active commerce be ever fo great under a wife and
powerful administration, yet they can never fully
fcounterpoife the natural obftacles it has to en
counter. The fituation of this empire, which in
proportion to its dimenfions and to that end, has
too little -exte.ir of coaft ; the climate of the
northern regions, where navigation is practicable
s 2 , only

260 RUSSIAN ACTIVE COMMERCE^
only for a few months in the year ; the political
relation in which Ruffia ftands with her neighbours
concerning the navigation of the larger feas; in
Short, the natural courfe of her induftry, which,
from the peculiar circumftances of that country
feems to incline more profitably to domeftic occu
pations — thefe feveral caufes and their effects to
gether are in my mind decisive as to the fate of
the ruffian active commerce.
From this little digreffion I now return to the
object I have principally in view. The whole of
the great and complicated bufineSs comprehended
under this head, is naturally reducible to the
following branches : Export, import, and the
way of bargain and fale. We will briefly touch
on each of them apart.
It is hardly poffible to give a true ftatement of'
the value, quality, and nature of the exports, with
out entering into a dry detail of cuftom-houfe lifts.
The publicity given to thefe matters here faves a
great deal of trouble to the collectors of Statistical
accounts, in their relations concerning this branch
of national affairs. The following ftatements are
the refult of a period of ten years, from 1780 to:
1 790. During that fpace were annually exported,.
2,655,038 poods of iron
19,528 - - falt-petre
2,498,950 - - hemp
792,932 - - flax
2,907,876 arlhinesof napkins and linen 214,704

EXPORTS OF TEN YEARS.' -6l
$14,704 pieces of faif-cloth and flems
106,763 poods of cordage

^67,432

- -

hemp-oil and linfeed-oil

192,328

r- —

linfeed

52>645

r- r-

tobacco

129

 

rhubarb

105,136

 

wheat

271,976

— - 

rye

35,864

 

barley

200,000

 

oats

1,456

malts

*>i93>125

planks

85,647

boards

7,487 poods of

rofin

9,720

— —

pitch

37>336

- ¦*-

tar

81,386

_ —

train-oil

10,467

— —

wax

943,618

— —

tallow and tallow-candles

3i,7ia

— —

pot-affies

S>5*6

— —

ifinglafs

8,958

— —

caviar

5>635

— —

horfeThair

69,72a

horfe-tails

29,110
poods of
hog's-briftles
106,045
ruffia mat!
292,016
goat Skins
,
144,876 poods of ;
yrufts and fole-leather
621,327
furs
s 3 9,98a
-62 TRADE IN RAW PRODUCTS.
9,982 ox-tongues
73>35°-ox-bone?
This lift, which is complete to the exception of
a few articles of inferior confequence, contains,
befides napkins, linen, fail-cloth, cordage, tallow-
Candles, pot-aShes, ifinglafs, caviar, furs and lea
ther, no wrought goods ; and even fome of thefe
have only fuch a preparation as is neceffary Sor the
tranfport and prefervation of the produdt. The
employment of the nation, confiderably as it has
increafed fince the time oS Peter the great, is Still
always more directed to production than to manu
facture. This is the natural progreSs of every
human fociety advancing to civilization ; and Ruffia
will continue to confine itfelf to the mere produc
tion and the commerce in products, till the quantity
of its population and employment be fufficient tq
the manufacturing of its raw materials.
The buying up of the foregoing articles, and
their conveyance from the midland, and partly
from the remote ft regions of the empire, form an
important branch of the internal commerce. The
majority of thefe products are raifed on the fertile
fliores of the Volga ; this invaluable river, which,
in its courfe, connects the, moft diftant provinces,
is at the fame time the channel of bufinefs and in
duftry. Wherever its water laves the rich and
fruitful coafts, induftry and diligence have fixed
their abode : its courfe marks the progrefs of in
ternal

INTERNAL COMMERCE QF RUSSIA. 263
ternal culture. ' But even from a diftance of be
tween five and fix thoufand verfts, from the heart
of Siberia, rich in metals, St. Peterlburg receives
the ftores of its enormous magazines. The greater
part of them, at leaft the hardwares, are brought
.hither from the eafternmoft districts oS Siberia,
almoft entirely by water. The Selenga receives
and transfers them to the Baikal, from which they
proceed by the Angara to the Yenifey, and pafs
from that along the Oby into the Tobol ; from it
they are tranfported over a tract of about four
hundred verfts by land to the Tchuffovaiya, out of
this into the Kamma, and then into the Volga;
from which they go, through the Sluices at ViSh-
ney-Volqtffiok, into the Volkhof, and out of that
into the Ladoga lake; from which they laftly,
after having completed a journey through two
quarters of the globe, arrive in the Neva at the
place of their destination. This aftonifhing tranf
port becomes ftill more interesting by the reflec
tion that theSe products conveyed hither from the
neighbourhood of the north-eaftern ocean, tarry
here but a few weeks, in order then to fet out on
a fecond, perhaps greater voyage : or after being
- unffiipped in distant countries, return hither under
an altered form ; and, by a tedious and difficult
navigation, come back to their native land. How
many fcythes of the fiberian boors may have gOne
this circuit. ' s 4 The

264 VALUE IN SPECIE OF PRODUCTS'.
The number of theveffels which, according to a
ten years' average, from 1774 to 1784, came by
the Ladoga canal to St. Peterfburg, was 2861 barks^
797 half barks, 308 one mafted veffels, 1 1 18 cha-
loups — in all, 5339. Add to thefe 6739 floatsof
balks. Sum total, 12,078.
The prodigious value in money oS theSe pro
ducts is, by the want which Ruffia has of wrought
commodities, and by the ever-increafing luxury, fo.
much leffened, that the advantage on the balance
is propoBtionably but very Small. A lift of the ar
ticles of trade with which Sr. Peterfburg annually
furnifhes a part of the empire affords matter for
the moft interesting ceconomical commentary..-
The annual imports at St. Peterfburg for the
ipac.e of ten years, from 1780 to ,1790, were

Silken Stuffs, to the value of
Woollen ftuffs —
Cloth —
Cotton ftuffs —

Rubles.
2,500,000
2,000,000
2,000,000 534,000

Silk and cotton ftockings, 10,000 dozen pair
Trinkets — — 700,000
Watches, 2, poo .
Hardware — . —
Looking-glaffes — —
Engliffi ftone-ware —
English horfes, 250
Coff e, 26,300 poods
Sugar, 372j°00 poods Tobacco,,

50,009, 50,000
43,800

ANNUAL IMPORTS FOR TEN YEARS. 265
Rubles.

Tobacco, 5,000 poods

Granges and lemons -—

101,500

Frelh fruit . — - —

65,000

Herrings, 14,250 tons

Sweet-oil — - —

2O,O0Q

Porter and englifh beer —

262,009

French brandy, 50,000 ankers

Champagne and Burgundy, 4,000

pipes

Other wines, 250,000 hogfheads

Mineral water — —
12,000
Paper of different forts —
4*»75°
Books — —
50,150
Copper-plate engravings < —
60,200
Alum, 25,000 poods
Indigo, 3,830 poods
Cochenille, 1,335 poods
Glafs and glafs wares -*-
64,000
Scythes — —
325,000
A very great part of thefe commodities remains
for the confumption of St. Peterlburg. The reft is
Conveyed by land-carriage to various parts of the
empire, becaufe to go up the navigable rivers againft
the ftream -would be tedious and expenfive. The
carts or fledges made ufe of in this conveyance are
moftly drawn by only one horfe, each having a dri
ver; who all together make up a caravan of from 25
to 100 carts : fometimes, on long journies, there is
but one driver to every three carts. The
&66 PRACTICE OF UNDERWRITING.
The ftatements of the exports and imports above
given are taken from the cuftom-houfe registers.
In order to judge of the worth and validity of them,
it is neceffary to obServe, that all veffels, on their
arrival, undergo a ftridt examination both at Cron
ftadt and at St. Peterlburg, and are obliged to un
load at the cuftom-houfe. The proper officers ex
amine the commodities according to the ftatement
of the' merchants, who are obliged to particularize
not only the nature pf them, but, when the duty
is to be paid ad valorem, muft alfo fix that value.
If upon examination it appears, or affords caufe to
SuSpedt, that the articles are rated below their
proper value, the officer has a right to detain them,
at the price thus Set upon them, with an additional
allowance oS twenty per cent, for the profit. This
method, which is called underwriting, obliges the
trader to mark thefe articles of importation at a
value rather too high than too low : and this prac
tice therefore Stamps a great authenticity on the cuf-
tom-houfe lifts. Whether, however, no fraud can
be pradtifed in the ftatement is a queftion extreme
ly difficult of folution, fince it is only to be had
from fuch as have the greateft intereft in denying
it. For the reft, it is the general opinion that the
prudent precautions are no where in the whole em
pire fo gOod as at Peterfburg; and that confequently
any frauds in the customs are no where So difficult.
That this cannot be Said of all cuftom-houfe officers is

AVERAGE EXPORTS AND IMPORTS, 267
is proved from the experience of late years, when
thofe on the borders of Poland were difplaced. Yet
thefe matters do not come properly qualified to the
Statistic till feveral years after, as the facts are too re
cent for obtaining fure data and refults.
It remains to be mentioned, that the importation
of diamonds, books, instruments, and the like, is
totally exempt from duty; and that therefore thefe
confiderable articles either have no place in the en
tries, or are fet down at pleafure.
According to what has been feen, we are now
enabled to ftate the value of the imports and ex
ports, and thebalanceof the trade of St. Peterlburg.
By the moft probable eftimatioa, on an average
pf ten years, from 1780 to 1790, the account, is
as follows : — Exports 13,261,942 rubles
Imports 12,238,319

Profit 1,023,623 rubles
In coined and un
coined gold and Sil
ver, in the three laft
years, were annually
imported - - 337,064 rubles

This, added to the
foregoing, makes - 1,360,687 rubles

Th©

a68 AUGMENTING STATE OF COMMERCE,
The amount of the whole commerce was there*
fore, in the faid period, from" 1780 to 1790, annu*
ally 25,837,325 rubles.
The increafe of the commerce appears in a
ftriking progreffion from the following ftate
ments : — IMPORTS. EXPORTS.
1780. 8,600,000 rubles ' 10,900,000 rubles.
1785. 10,000,000 13,400,000
1789. 15,300,000 18,700,009
If we admit, upon the moft probable compuT
tation, that the whole commerce of the empire
amounts to about 50,000,000 of rubles, it will
follow, that St. Petersburg has more than the half
for its Share. The next place in the commercial
fcale, after the refidence*, is held" by Riga; the
commerce of which collectively may be eftimated
at about 6,000,000. This proportion alfo may
ferve to Shew the rank on this fcale that may be
allowed to the qther trading towns that come after
Riga. The commerce of St. Peterfburg, being almoft
entirely paffive, is chiefly carried on by commif-
Sion in the hands of factors. This clafs of mer
chants, which confifts almoft entirely of foreigners,
* So St. Peterfburg is ftyled, as before obferved, from being
the ufual refidence of the later fovereigns. Mofco is the ca
pital of Ruffia, as every reader knows. forms

MANSER OF CARRYING ON TRADE. 269
forms the moft refpedtable and confiderable part
of the perfons on the exchange. In the year 1 790$
of the foreign counting-houfes, not belonging to
the guilds, were eight artd twenty englifh, feven
german, two fwifs, four danifh, feveral pruffian,
Six dutch, Sour Srench, two portugueze, one Spa
nish, and one italian. Befides theSe, were twelve
denominated burghers, .and of the firft guild io69
with 46 foreign merchants and 17 belonging to
other towns, though feveral caufe themfelves to
be enrolled in thefe guilds who are not properly
merchants. In order to form an idea of the exchange and
the courfe of trade, the following brief account
will fuffice. The ruffian merchants from the in-'
terior of the empire repair, at a Stated time, to
St. Petersburg, where they bargain with the factors
for the fale of their commodities. This done, they
enter into contracts to deliver the goods according
to the particulars therein Specified, at which time
they commonly receive the half or the v/hole of
the purchafe-money, though the goods are not to
be delivered till the following Spring or Summer
by the barks then to come down the Ladoga canal.
The quality of the goods is then pronounced on by
fworn brackers or Sorters, according to the kinds-
mentioned in the contradt. The articles of impor
tation are either diSpofed of by ruffian merchants
through the refident factors,, or the latter deliver
them for Sale at foreign markets ; in both cafes the
Ruffian,

270 Business at cronstaijt.
Ruffian, to whofe order they came, receives them
on condition of paying for them by inftalments of
fix, twelve, and more months. The ruffian mer
chant, therefore, is paid for his exports before-hand,
and buys fuch as are imported on credit ; he rifks
no damages by fea, and is exempted from the
tedious tranfadtions of the cuftom-houfe^ and of
loading and unloading.
The clearance of the Ships, the tranfport of the
goods into the government warehoufes, the pack-*
ing and unpacking, unloading and difpatching of
them, — in a word, the whole of the great buftle
attendant on the commerce of a maritime town is
principally at Cronftadt and that part of the refi*
dence called Vaffilioftrof *. Here are the exchange,.
the cuftom-houSe, and in the vicinity oS this ifland,
namely on a Small ifland between that and the
Peterfburg-ifland, the hemp warehouSes and ma
gazines, in which the riches oS So many countries
are bartered and kept. In all the other parts of
the city, the tumult of bufinefs is fo rare and im
perceptible, that a Stranger who Should be fud
denly conveyed hither would never imagine that
he was in the chief commercial town of the ruffian
* The Peterfburg-ifland was formerly called Berefovoi-
oftrof ; the Vaffilioftrof, while Ingria was in poffeffion of
the Swedes, bore the name of Givifaari ; the Apothecary's-
ifland was called Korpofaari ; Kammenoioftrof was then
Kitzifaari 5 and the parifli where Peterhof ftands was calle*
Tirief. empire.

Russians much addicted to traffic 2711
empire.^ The opulent merchants have their dwel
lings and compting-houfes in the moft elegant
parts of the city. Their houfes, gate-ways, and
court-yards, are not, as in Hamburgh and Riga,
blocked up and barricadoed with bales of goods
and heaps of timber ; here, befides the compting-
houfe, no trace is Seen oS mercantile affairs. The
bufinefs at the cuftom-houfe is tranfadted by one
of the clerks, and people that are hired for that
purpofe, called expeditors ; and the labour is per
formed by artelfchiki, or porters belonging t® a
kind of guild.
The factor delivers the imported goods to the
ruffian merchant, who fends them off, in the above-
mentioned manner, or retails them on the fpot, in
the markets, warehoufes, and Shops.
There is no exaggeration in affirming, that it
would be difficult to point out a people having
more of the fpirit of trade and mercantile induftry
than the R.uffians. Traffic is their darling purfuit :
every common Ruffian, if he can but by any means
fave up a trifling fum of money, as it is very pof
fible for him to do, by his frugal and poor way of
living, tries to become a merchant. This career
he ufually begins as a rafnofchtfchik or feller of
things about the ftreets ; the profits arifing Srom
this ambulatory trade and his parfimony foon
enable him to hire a lavka or Shop : where," by
lending of fmall fums at large intereft, by taking
advantage of the courfe of exchange, and by em
ploying

2^2 RISE AND PROGRESS OF A TRADESMANi
ploying little artifices of trade, he in a Short time
becomes a pretty fubftantial man. He now buys
and builds houfes and IhopSj which he either lets
to others, or furnilhes with goods himfelf, putting
in perfons to manage them for fmall wages; begins
to launch out into an extenfive trade, undertakes
podriads, contracts with the crown for deliveries of
merchandize, &c. The numerous inftances of
the rapid fuccefs of fuch people almoft exceed de-t
fcription. By thefe methods, a ruffian merchant,
named Yakovlef, who died not many years ago,
from a hawker of fifh about the ftreets became a
capitalist of feveral millions. Many of thefe fa
vourites of fortune are at firft vaffalsj who obtain
paffes from their landlords, and with thefe Stroll
about the towns, in order to Seek a better con
dition in life, as labourers, bricklayers, and car
penters, than they could hope to find at the plough-
tail in the country. Some of them continue, after
fortune has raifed them, and even with great
property, ftill Slaves ; paying their lord, in propor
tion to their circumftances, an obrok or yearly tri
bute. Among the people of this clafs at Peterfburg
are many who belong to count SheremetoS, the
richeft private man in Ruffia, and pay him annually
for their pafs a thoufand and more rubles. It often
happens that theSe merchants, when even in Splen
did circumftances, Still retain their national habit
and their long beard'; and it is by no means rare
to See them driving along the ftreets of the refi
dence,

TRADES AND MANUFACTURES. 273
ri .
dence, m this drefs, in the moft elegant carriages.
From all which it is very remarkable, that'extremely
few ruffian houfes have fucceeded in getting the fo
reign commiffion trade ; a ftriking proof that there
is fomething befides induftry and parfimony requi
site ,to mercantile credit, in which the Ruffians muft
hitherto have been deficient.
The Several ways of gaining a livelihood among
the working clafs have an intimate connection.
The raifing the produdts,their manufacture, and the
difpoSal oS them, are equally the capital oS the na
tion, and the Source oS its proSperity and wealth.
The firft of thefe objects, however, is beyond the
limits of our defign, and the account of the two
latter can only confift of detachedparticulars. What
has been faid of the commerce of the refidence is
not to be understood in the fame extent of the par
ticular trades there carried on :.. St. Peterfburg is
the firft commercial town oSthe ruffian empire, but
it is by no means the principal feat of improving
induftry. This naturally prefers the. interior of the
country ; where the low price of provifions, a larger
population lefs employed, and the advantage of
Situation /or procuring the raw materials are fa
vourable to its rapid progrefs. On the other
hand, the refidence is the receptacle for all works
fubfervient to luxury, or that want aid from the
imitative arts, or cannot fubfift without the pa
tronage and fupport of government. — Prepared
by thefe remarks, we fliall here neither expect any
t great

274 TAPESTRY AND PORCELAIN. "
great establishments for the working up Of ruffian
products, nor be furprifed at the difproportion
fubfifting between the claffes of ufeful manufac
ture and the frivolous fabrications for the purpofes
of pomp and luxury *.
Among the manufactories devoted to thefe
objects, the imperial establishments are fo distin
guishable for the magnitude of their plan, and the
richnefs and excellence of their productions, that
they may enter into competition with the moft
celebrated inftitutions of the fame kind in any
other country. The tapestry manufactory,
vyhich weaves both hangings and carpeting, pro
duces fuch excellent work, that better is not to be
feen from the Globelines at Paris. The circum
ftance that at preSent only native Ruffians are em
ployed, enhances the value and the curiofity of
the eftabliffiment. No where, perhaps, is the pro
gress of the nation in civilization more ftriking to
the Soreigner than in the Spacious and extenfive
work-rooms of this manufadtory. The porcelain
Manufactory likewife entertains, excepting the -
modellers and arcanifts, none but ruffian work
men, amounting in all to the number oHbur hun
dred, and produces ware that for tafte and finenefs
of execution approaches near to their beft patterns.
* For full and particular ftatements relative to commerce,
manufactures and trade the reader is referred to Tooke's view
sf the Ruffian Empire, vol. iii. p. 470, &c.
The

EARTHEN WARE AND BRONZE. 275
The clay was formerly got from the Ural, but>at
prefent is brought from the Ukraine, and the quartz
from the mountains of Olonetz. It is carried oh
entirely at the expence of government, to which it
annually cofts fifteen thoufand rubles in wages, and
takes orders. But the price of the porcelain is
high ; and the general prejudice is not in favour of
its durability. The fayence manufactory has
hitherto made only ineffectual attempts to drive
out the queen's ware of England ; but the neat
and elegant chamber-ftoves made there, give it
the confequence of a very ufeful eftabliffiment.
Almoft all the new-built houfes are provided with
the excellent work of this manufadtory ; and con
fiderable orders are executed for the provinces. —
A bronze manufactory, which was fet up for
the ufe of the construction of the St. Ifaac's church,
but works now for the court and private perfons,
merits honourable mention, on account of the
neatnefs and tafte of its executions. — More re
markable by the mechanifm of their construction
are the stone-polishing works at Peterhof. All
the inftruments, faws, turning-lathes, cutting and.
¦polifhing engines, are worked by water under the
floor oS the building. Fifty workmen are here
employed in working foreign, and especially ruffian
Sorts of Stone into flabs, vaSes, urns, boxes, co
lumns, and other ornaments oS various kinds and
dimenfions. — Many other imperial fabrics for
t 2 the

*76 LEATHER,, paper, sugar, glass, &c.
the ufe of the array, the mint, &c. are carried on
in various^places; but the defcription of them would
lead us beyond our limits.
The number of private manufactories at
prefent fubfifting in St. Peterfburg amounts to about
a hundred. The principal materials on which they
are employed, Some on a larger and others on a
Smaller Scale, are leather, paper, 'gold and Silver,
Sugar, Silk, tobacco, diftilled waters, wool, glaSs,
clay, wax, cotton, and chintz. Leather, as is
well known, is among the moft important of their
manufactures for the export trade ; accordingly
here are fixteen tanneries. The paper manufac
tories amount to the like number, Sor hangings and
general uSe. Twelve gold and silver manufac
tories feU threads, laces, edgings, fringes, epaulets,
&c. arid, befides thefe, are feveral particular Shops
for making all kinds of ufeful and ornamental plate.
Eight sugar -works. . Seven for silk goods,
gauze, cloths, hofe, and ftuffs, and a few fmall ones
for preparing fnuff and tobacco. Here muft not be
forgotten the great glass houses Set up bv. prince
Potemkin, where all the various articles for ufe and
ornament, of that material, are made; but par
ticularly that for looking- glaffes, where they are
manufadtured of fuch extraordinary magnitude and
beauty, as to exceed any thing of the kind produced
by the famous glafs houfes at Murano and Paris.
Among many others which we have not room to

WORKSHOPS OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS. 277
to particularize, are no lefs than five letter-
founderies, one manufadtory for clocks- and
WATCHES, &C.
That in. fo large and opulent a city, the refi
dence of a brilliant court, the neceffary and ufeSul
trades Should find employment, may be eafily
imagined ; but perhaps it is not generally known,
that, in a city oS So modern a date, Sor the Supply
of not only the moft neceffary, but alfo of the moft
frivolous demands, for the Simplest not more thaii
for the moft artificial conveniencies, for the moft
curious as well as the moft ordinary liixuries, here
are artifts and work-Shops of all defcriptions. Al
lured by the numerous wants of a great city, and
the profusion of a court, many thoufands of in
dustrious and ingenious foreigners have been in
duced to fettle here ; by the continual influx of
whom, and the communication of their talents,
this refidence is become not only the feat of all
ingenious trades, but likewife a fource of induftry,
which flows from hence in beneficial Streams through
all the adjacent provinces. No country has con
tributed in fo great a degree to effect this falutary
change as Germany ; all ufeful trades, arid a great
part of thofe for the accommodations of luxury,
are carried on by Germans and Ruffians alone.
Next to the Germans in this refpedt come the
Swedes : fome few French live here in the capacity
of reftaurateurs, cooks, frifeurs, clock-makers, and
fome others. Two or three breweries and fome
t 3 handicrafts

278 GERMANS NUMEROUS IN RUSSIA.
handicrafts are profecuted with fuccefs by English
men. The fame proportion, if we may believe fome
perfons who have had an opportunity to make the
remark, holds good with regard to London and
Paris. In thofe two capitals likewife the Germans
are the moft ufeful of all the foreigners ; and, if
other countries, by emigration disburden them
felves of the fuperfluous part of their population,
Germany certainly lofes its moft valuable citizens.
Though this imperceptible emigration excites not
fo much notice in the hiftorians of the times, as
the famous expulfion of the french proteftants
under Lewis the fourteenth ; it is, however, of no
lefs importance to the countries that experience
its advantageous and its pernicious effects. In all
appearance, for as to calculation it cannot here
be made, in the late population of Paris there
could not be fewer than fifty thoufand Germans
exercifing their various trades; London contains
perhaps ftill more ; and even in Holland, Italy and
Poland, thefe industrious people are diSperSed lend
ing their ingenuity and Strength to foreign coun
tries to the detriment of their own. The moft
refpedt'able and ufeful part of thefe emigrants have
been adopted in Ruffia Since the time of Peter the
great. Germans are difperfed all over the empire : up
wards of twenty thoufand families dwell in the
Krimea and on the Shores of the Volga j in Mofco,
Archangel,

BRICKLAYERS AND CARPENTERS. 279
Archangel, and feveral of the inland provinces,
many families, fome of them confiderable, have
been domefticated from the beginning of the laft
century and earlier ; and this importation is daily
increafing. In the year 1794 upon inquiry I find
that in one veffel Srom Lubeck came. 86 german
mechanics ..nd artifts; oS whom in all probability
not fix will ever return to their country. Thus is
the-culture oS the human race communicated from
one nation to another : it was the French, who, by
their emigrations excited the Germans to induftry,
and it is the Germans who have kindled its bene
ficent ardour in the north, whence it imparts its
genial influence to the eaftern regions of the neigh
bouring Afia.
Moft of the trades for the fupply of common
neceffaries are divided among the Russians and
Germans ; fome of them, however, are followed
indifferently by either. Among the trades carried
on almoft exclufively by the Ruffians, are thofe of
the bricklayer and carpenter. Befides the
bricklayers and mafons that live conftantly at-
Petersburg, above fix thoufand of them come an
nually Srom the provinces to work during the Short
Summer. Spacious and handSome buildings are
uSually conftructed after the plans of an architect,
of whom the court has fome of the firft eminence
in its fervice, and under the infpection of a fur-
veyor; but all the reft is performed by ruffian
builders. Thefe and the mafons are for the moft
t 4 part

s8o POTTERIES AND GLAZED-TILE-WORKS.
part boors, impowered by their paffport to work
for the ufe and embellishment of the city. It is
impossible to refrain from fdrprife at the talent for
imitation that forms the prominent feature in the
character of this nation, on feeing how quickly
thefe clowniffi people, deftitute of all idea of art,
attain to. the utmoft dexterity and the niceft judg
ment in the execution oS fuch works. The plotniki,
or carpenters, are equally expert in the uSe oS their
axe, which, though So fimple in its conflrudtion,
Supplies with them the place of the hammer, the
plane, the faw, and the chifel. With this com
pendium of all tools they build houfes, make ta
bles, chairs, carts — in Short, all the common ne
ceffaries oS life that can be made of wood. On ac
count of their dexterity and the cheapnefs of their
labour, they are employed in the construction even
of brick and Stone houfes, for executing the coarfer
carpentry. The potteries and glazed tile works are al
moft exclufively in the hands of Ruffians. In both
they have brought their work to great excellence.
The construction of the ftoves for heating the
-rooms is fo well contrived that attempts have been
made to introduce it into Germany. A merchant
of Lubeck, fome time ago, for this purpofe fent
for workmen to erect fome in his houfe. But thofe
of the town protefting againft this innovation, he
propofed that the work fhould be done in their
prefehce; that the ftoves fliould be immediately pulled

BUTCHERS, GARDENERS., &C. 28l
pulled down and then put up by themfelves under
the direction of the Ruffians. But, on their not
agreeing to this propofal, the merchant was obliged
to'giveuphis defign; and thus the benefit that
would have accrued to the north of Germany was
loft by the jealoufy and obftinacy of fome members
of this fraternity.
Befides thefe, the Ruffians are the only butchers
and gardeners. The latter produce every thing
that cancome up in their foil and climate. As
the greateft advantage of this profession is to pro
duce vegetables at extraordinary feafons, the ut-
moft endeavours of thefe people are exerted to that
end ; and perhaps no where under the fame parallel
are all the vegetables of the kitchen-garden pro
duced fo early as here. This trade is moftly fol
lowed by boors from Roftof and the adjacent coun
try, who, after a few years ftay, return home with
confiderable property, the fruit of their induftry.
How profitable this profeffion muft be from the
prevailing luxury of the table, may be eafily con
ceived. — Prince Potemkin, during his laft fojourn
in the refidence, dining one day with count Cher-
nichef, an experimental felentfchik (green-feller)
announced himfelf with five uncommonly fine cu
cumbers, which juft at that time of the year were
extremely rare, and of which the prince was
known to be particularly fond. The houfe-fteward
took them of the man, and prefented them to his
mafter, who was fitting at table with the prince. The

2,8a substantial and wealthy tradesmen.
The cucumbers were devoured in a trice ; and the
count ordered a hundredrubles to be given to the
green-feller, as a prefeBt for the agreeable furprife :
but the latter, who had already learnt that his
goods were irrecoverably gone, rejected the pre
fent, and demanded the payment of five hundred
rubles ; till at length he was with great difficulty
perfuaded to be content with a Smaller Sum.
TheSe and-a few other lefs important trades are
confined Solely to the Ruffians. In all the reft
the Germans are as numerous, and often more
fo than the Ruffians. This is principally the cafe
in all handicrafts that depend on faffiion, as the
prejudices here are greatly in favour of fo
reigners. Thus, for example, there are more
german taylors than flioe-makers, in proportion
to Ruffians. Among the former are many fub
ftantial and even wealthy perfons, who, befides
their houfe in town, 'have another in the country,
keep, an equipage, and whofe wives wear diamonds.
Nay, feveral of them give weekly concerts and
routs, and on each of the family feftivals fpend a
hundred or a hundred and fifty rubles on the table.
People of this fort rife above their trade ; they be
come artifts ; it is not fo much for the work as for
the faffiion that they are paid. One of thefe artifts
in drefs, whofe good fortune and reputation have
raifed him to opulence, now undertakes nothing
more than the cutting out of the clothes, and then
gives them to other taylors to few them together j
a for

MERCHANT-TAYT.ORS, SMITHS, 8cC. 283
for this trouble, under the article pour lafacon, he
charges five and twenty rubles. Many of thefe
people too are! not merely taylors, but belong to
the clafs called in France marchands-tailleurs.
Their greateft profit is in buying ; making ad
vances,, and giving credit to people of faffiion, of
whom they have frequently feveral thoufands of ,
rubles to demand.
Befides the trades already mentioned, that of the
smith is one of the moft profitable ; as the matters
can employ boors in the coarfe work, and who,
on firft coming from the country, are to be had
at very low wages. The generality of german
fmiths fucceed very well, build themfelves good
houfes, and leave their children wherewith to be
gin the world. — But in general the german me-,
chanic, all things considered, lives no where fo
well as here, as he can no where earn fo much,
with fuch facility. The bufineSs of the mafter
confifts in looking after his workmen, in regulat
ing the day's work, in taking of orders, and get
ting in his debts. At noon he fits down to a well-
furniffied table, and the evening he paffes in one
or other of the numerous clubs in various parts of
the town. Far worfe fares it with the ruffian artizan.
His work is in fome cafes (though certainly not in
all, for the german mafter has often only ruffian
journeymen and apprentices) indeed not quite fo
good ; but the price of his workmanShip is always
far inferior to the value of his labour. In very
many

284 GOLDSMITHS, EMBROIDERERS, &C
rnany of the mechanical trades the Ruffians already
perform all that can reafonably be expected ; and
from this, and from the infolence of the german
masters, their customers increafe from year to year.
Moft of the trades that relate to luxuries are
here carried on to fuch an extent, and in fo great
perfection, as to render it, at leaft for the refidence,
unneceSSary to import thofe articles from abroad.
The chief of thefe are works in the nobler metals.
Here are forty-four ruffian and one hundred and
thirty-nine foreign, confequently in all one hun
dred and eighty-three workers in gold, Silver, and
trinkets, as, matters ; and befides them feveral
gilders and filverers ; — a monftrous disproportion,
when compared with thoSe employed in the ufeful
and indifpenfable bufineffes. The pomp of the
court, and the luxury of the rich and great, have
rendered a tafte in works of this kind fo common,
and carried the art itfelf to fuch a pitch, that the
moft extraordinary objedts of it are here to be met
with. Several of them are wrought in a fort of
manufadtory: in one fet of premifes are all the
various workmen and Shops for completing the
moft elegant devices, ornamental and ufeful, from
the rough bullion. Even the embroiderers in
gold and Silver, though they are not formed into a
company, are yet pretty numerous. The works
they produce are finiffied in fo high a tafte, that
quantities of them are fold in the fhops' that deal
in englifh or french good?, and to which they are
not

M1LLENERS AND COACHMAKERS. 285
not inferior. This bufinefs, which is a perpetual
lburce of profit to a great number of widows and
young women of flender incomes, forms a Strong
objection to the declamations againft luxury. Per
haps the remark is not unneceffary, that Sham
laces and embroidery cannot here be ufed, even on
the Stage. — Next to thefe may be ranged the hoft
of milleners, who are moftly of french defcent ;
and here, as in Paris, together with their induftry
' are endowed with a variety of agreeable and pro
fitable talents. Their numbers are daily increa
sing; and, furprifing! the greater their multitude,
the better they feem to thrive. Their work is
neat, elegant, and modifh ; but they certainly bear
an enormous price : a marchande des modes, if fhe
understand her bufinefs, is fure to make a fortune.
The generality of them, after completing this aim,
return to their native country. A lady of this
bufinefs, formerly celebrated here, now living In
Paris, has placed a public memorial of the libe
rality of the ruffian nobleffe and her gratitude in
the ruffian language over the portal of her hotel.
The coachmaker's trade is likewife here in
a flourishing ftate. The great workshops in which
this bufinefs is carried on in all its parts, from the
fimple Screw to the fineft varniffi ; the Solidity and
durability, the elegance and the tafte of the car
riages they turn out, the multitude of people, and,
in fliort, the large Sums of money that are em
ployed in them, which would otherwife be fent
abroad

286 CARRIAGES WELt MADE BY RUSSIANS.
abroad for thefe vehicles, render this bufinefs one
of the moft confequential of the refidence. In the
judgment of connoiffeurs, and by the experience
of fuch as ufe them, the carriages made here yield
in nothing to thofe of Pasis or London ; and in
the making of varniffi the Ruffians have improved
even upon the Engliffi ; only in point of durability
the carriages are faid to fall Short of thole built by
the famous workmen of the laft-mentioned nation ;
and the want of dry timber is given as the caufe of
this failure. With all thefe advantages, and not
withstanding the vaft difference in price of thofe
that come from abroad, which is greatly enhanced
by the high duties, yet they are yearly imported
to a great amount ; the blame of which practice is
generally laid by the Ruffians on the prejudices of
the englifh merchants, (who lead the faffiions in
moft inftances,) in favour of the carriages of their
own country. The Ruffians have fucceeded in
appropriating the far greater part of this bufinefs
to themSelves ; the Shape oS their carriages is in
the height of the mode, the varniffi is excellent,
and the outward appearance elegant and graceful ;
but for durability their reputation is Still inferior to
thofe even of the german workmen. This cenfure
applies to all the ruffian manufactures : their ex
terior is often not to be found fault with ; but
they are deficient in the folidity, which fo much
recommends the work of other countries. In ex-
cufe for the Ruffians, one thing ought not to be
forgot,

joiners and cabinet-makers. 287
forgot, that they have to contend with an obstacle
that renders it impoffible for them to employ fo
much time, labour, and expence, on their work,
as are neceffary for bringing it to the utmoft in-
trinfic perfedtion ; and which, as long as it con
tinues, will confine and impede the progrefs of
national induftry. This obstacle is the general pre
judice in favour of foreign commodities, which
indeed is the cafe, more or lefs, in all countries;
but no where in fo high a degree, and with fuch
exclusive effects, as here. The ruffian manufac
turer, therefore, naturally Strives to impofe his
work on the cuftomer for foreign, and to prefs it
upon him under "foreign names: where this is not
practicable, (as with the carriages in the Yamfkoi,
which every body knows to be ruffian,) he is
forced to facrifice folidity to outward appearance,
as he can only expedt to be paid for that. A cha -
riot made by a german coachmaker is not to be
had under fix or Seven hundred rubles ; whereas a
ruffian chariot can be bought Sor halS the money ;
and it Sometimes happens that the latter is even
more lafting than the former.
Joinery is pradtiSed as well by the Ruffians as
the Germans; but the cabinet-maker's art, in
which the price oS the ingenuity Sar exceeds the
value of the materials, is at prefent folely confined
to Some foreigners, amongft whom the Germans
distinguish themfelves totheir honour. The artifts
of that nation occafionally execute mafter-pieces, made

288 CURIOUS WORKS OP ART.
made at intervals of leifure under the influence of
.genius and taSte* for which they find a ready fale
in the refidence of a great and magnificent court.
Thus not long Since one of thefe made a cabinet,
which for invention, tafte, and excellency of work-
manffiip, exceeded every thing that had ever been
feen in that way. The price of this piece of art
was feven thoufandrubles ; and the artist declared,
that with this fum he Should not be paid for the
years of application he had beftowed upon it. Ano
ther monument of german ingenuity is preferved
in the academy of fciences, in the model of a
bridge after a defign of the ftate-counfellor Von
Gerhard. This bridge, the moft magnificent work
of the kind, if the poffibility of its construction
could be proved, confifts of eleven arches, a draw
bridge for letting veffels pafs, distinct raifed foot
ways and landing-places, &c. The beauty of the
model, and the excellency of its execution, leave
every thing of the fore very far behind. The em
prefs Catharine rewarded the artificer with a prefent
of four thoufand rubles, and he has ever fince been
employed by the court. — Among the more capital
undertakers of this clafs are people who keep ware
houfes of ready-made goods for fale; one in par
ticular, who has by him to the amount of many
thoufand rubles, in inlaid or paiquetted floors of
all kinds of wood, patterns and colours, that only
require to be put together, which may be done in
a few days. Another confines himfelf to the
making

ingenious works of art* 289
making of coffins, of which he keeps a great,
quantity, Of every form and Size* and at all prices.
Several of thefe dealers on a large fcale have neither
Shop nor tools, nor journeymen, but engage only
in podriads ; for example, to execute all the timber
and wood work in a new-built houfe, and then
take on the neceffary workmen, ,over whom they
adt as futveyors. -~* Before we difmifs this fubjedt,
a man and his work muft be mentioned, who does
honour to his country, Germany ; and in bis line
has excelled any thing that the moft refined in
genuity Of England and France has ever produced.
The name of this man is Roentgen ; he is a native
of Neuwied, and belongs to the feet of Moravian
brethren. He has lived many years, at feverat
times, in St. Peterfburg, and has. embellished and
enriched the palaces of the monarch and the great
perfonages qf the court with the aftonifhing pro
ductions of his art. In the imperial hermitage are
a great many pieces of furniture, cabinets, clocks,
and other works, of his invention and execution.
They are compofed of the greateft variety of
woods, to which the artift, by a certain prepa
ration, has given a peculiar hardnefs and durability ;
and which, by the moft laborious and extraordinary
mode of polifhing, have received a glofs which
,needs no rubbing for its prefervation. The work-
nianfhip of thefe pieces is not lefs wonderful than
their invention ; not a joint is vifible ; all is fitted
fo exactly together as though it were molten at
u one

ago cv/rious piece of mechanism,
one caft : fome are inlaid with bronze-work of the
moft beautiful and diverfified gilding ; others with
sbas-reliefs, gems, and antiques. But the moft
fuperlative production of this artift is a bureau or
writing-defk, which the emprefs prefented to the
mufeum of the academy of fciences about eighteen
years ago. Here the genius of the inventor has
lavished its riches and its fertility in the greatest
variety of compositions : all feems the work of
enchantment. On opening this amazing defk, in
front appears a beautiful group of bas-reliefs in
bronze fuperbly gilt ; which, by the flighteft pref-
fure ,on a fpring, vanishes away, giving place to a
magnificent writing-flat inlaid with gems. The
fpace above this flat is devoted to the keeping of
valuable papers or money. The bold hand that
fhould dare to invade this fpot would immediately
be its own betrayer : for, at tne leaft touch of the
table-part, the moft charming Strains of foft and
plaintive mufic inftantly begin to play upon the
ear ; the organ from whence it proceeds occupying
the lower part of the deSk behind. Several Small
drawers for holding the materials for writing, &c-
likewtfe Start /forward by the preffure of their
fprings, and Shut again as quickly, without leaving
behind a trace of their exiftence. If one would
change the table-part of the bureau into a reading- \
deSk,from the upper part a board fprings forward,
from which, with incredible velocity, all the parts
of a commodious and well-contrived reading-delk
4 expand,

artificial gardening. 291
expand, and take the?r proper places. But the
mechanifm of this performance of art, as well as
its outward ornaments, Should be feen, as nothing
can be more difficult to defcribe. The inventor
offered this rare and aftoniffiing piece to the em
prefs Catharine II. for twenty thoufand rubles ;
but She generoufly thought that this fum would be
barely fufficient to pay for the workmanffiip : She
therefore recompenfed his talent with a farther pre
fent of five thoufand rubles.
Laftly, among the trades preffed into the Service
of luxury we muft not omit the artificial gar
dening, which is here carried on by a few foreigners
efpecially Dutchmen. The coftly fruits and deli
cate flowers which they rear for the enjoyment of
the rich are purchafed at an enormous price; con
fequently this profeffion is proportionately one of
the moft lucrative. A vifit to the forcing-houfes of
thefe gardeners, the workshops of a mild, peace
able and induftrious clafs of people, is an edifying
and interesting leffon to the Spectator. What a
diftance in the occupations of focial life, from the
ufeful and neceffary butcher, who, for the fupply
of our wants rummages in the entrails of the beafts
he has Slain — to the nice but unneceflkry gardener,
who, for our dainty appetites, Steals nature's me
chanifm in creating life and propagating it around !
As the former, by waging eternal war with nature,
gradually finks into an unfeeling ftate, regarding
himfelf as the natural foe to all living creatures, (o
u 2 the

29* ARTIFICIAL GARDENING.'
the occupation of the latter imperceptibly heightens
his fenfibility to the benign participations of be
nevolence, which in tender accents whifpers in his
ear that he is the friend and preferver of her orga
nized creatures. I have never feen a man of this
calling whofe manners were rude, or who did not
love the plants of his hand with a fort of parental
affection. I even know a perSon who would not
part with a roSe-bulh, becaufe he considered it as
the moft amiable child of his family and the moft
thriving production of his nurture ; and abfolutely
refufed a large fum rather than be deprived of this
idol of his heart.

CHAP.

( *93 )

CHAP. X.

ARTS AND SCIENCES.

Comparifon draiun between the ftate qf the refidence in regard to
fcientific improvement and that qfthe capital . — Learned focieties.
Academy of fciences. Idea of Peter the great in the inftitution
of it. Its prefent ftate. Members. AHivity. Situation of the
academicians. — Ruffian academy. Its conftitution and aim.
Anecdotes concerning the philological knowledge of the late emprefs.
Parallel in this refpeft ixiith Frederic If. — (Economical fociety.
Inftitution and defign of it. Activity. Its merits in the dijfemi-
nation of agricultural knowledge. Its literary produclions. Ufe
ful prize-ejfays . — Libraries. Library qf the Academy of fci
ences. Short hiftory of it. Prefent ftate , Defecls and riches.
Original ntanufciipts qf Peter the great and qf Catharine the fe
cond. Ruffian library. Slavonian and ruffian manufcripts. Chi'
nefe books. Valuable original paintings in natural hiftory. Topo
graphy and infitution. — Library at the monaftery qf St. Alex
ander Nevfiky and at the land-cadet corps. Imperial library in the ,
hermitage. — Grand duke's libraries. Libraries belonging to
private perfons. Collefiions of natural curiofities and works of art.
Mufeum of the academy of fciences. Hiftory of that inftitute.
CollecJions from the three kingdoms qf nature. Ruyfch's anatomical
preparations. Antiquities andjevjeh. Relics found in the fiberian
tombs. Model. Mechanical pieces qf ingenuity. Gallery qf
the ^oriental nations. Cabinet qf Peter the great. Celeftial and
terreftrial globes. Phyfical and aftronomical apparatus. Cabinet
qf coins and medals. Outward conftruflion. — Lieberkuhn's col
li 3 leclim

294 PETERSBURG THE SEAT OF TASTE.
leflion in the cabinet of the medicinal college. — Collection qf
minerals and an artificial mine in the mine-cadet corps. — Cabinet
of large models. — Imperial mufeum in the hermitage. — Private
collections. — Botanical gardens. — Helps to literature. Printing
offices. Licenfer. Bookfelling. Reading focieties. — Survey of
the ftate of literature during the reign of Catharine the fecond.
Davon of civilization among the Ruffians. — Theology. — furif-
prudence. — Medicine. — Philofophy, politics, political and rural
aconomy. — Phyfics and natural hiftory. -—-Mathematical fciences.
— Hiftory. Manufcripts of antient and modern annalijls pub-
lijhed. — Geography. Maps and charts. The Atlas of Kaluga
an extraordinary undertaking. — • Pedagogics, Hiftory and
eflablifhment qfthe ruffian fchools. School books. — Philology. — .
Antient literature. Tranfilations of the greek and roman authors.
—~ Poetry. Sumaroiof. Kniajhnin, Derfhavin. Kherajkif
Petrqf. —— Profe authors. Romances. — Periodical publications,
. — German literature. — Arts. Academy of arts. — Artifts,
Painters. Engravers. Statuaries, ArcfiiteBs. Mupcians,
&c. — Mechanical arts. Inftrument-makers of all kinds. Kuli-
bin, a great mechanical genius. Schnoor's typographical ex-,
ertions.
IN all monarchical ftates the refidence is the proper
focus of literary and fcientific, culture. Allured by
the patronage of the prinGe, by the approbation
of an extenfive and well-informed public and by
the flattering profpedt of profit and renown, the
beft heads of the nation affemble together in one
central point, which the emulation of genius and
the competition of induftry, supported by public
inftitutions, foon raife to the dignity of a national
depot of refinement and tafte. This is the cafe in
France, England, Denmark, Sweden, and above
all in Ruffia. Here, where no universities nor
learned

THE STANDARD OF NATIONAL CULTURE. 295
learned focieties are flourishing in the interior oS
the country ; where the trade oS bookSelling and
the circulation oS literary knowledge are ftill in
their infancy, the refidence may justly be reckoned
the Standard of the extent and ftate of the na
tional culture :^a prerogative which, however, She
Shares in equal proportion with the antient capital
of the empire. This latter circumftance may ferve
to admonish the reader that the pidture we are now
to prefent of the ftate of the arts and fciences at St.
Petersburg is by no means to be taken as a finiffied
drawing oS that oS the whole nation in regard
to Science. No where throughout the empire are
So many foreigners living in the government fervice
and in literary ftations as here ; no where therefore
are the various branches of foreign literature more
cultivated than here. But, though the refidence
has produced many refpectable_.and feveral distin
guished authors, yet Mofco can Shew ftill more,
and the moft numerous as well as the belt works in
the national language have been brought into
exiftence there. The more enlightened and po
lished part of the ruffian nobility living in that
capital in that eafy indolence which is more invit
ing to the mufes, than the tumultuous dissipation
and the attractive circle of a court. Statefmen
and men of bufinefs, after paffing the better half
of their lives in public affairs, generally retire to
fpend the reft of their days at their fumptuous
villas in the vicinity of the capital, in that ex-
u 4 eruption

296 LANGUAGE PUREST AT M0SCQ.
emption from care which is frequently fo favour^
able to the fciences and literature. Even the lan
guage which is faid to be no where fpoken in fo,
much purity and elegance as at Mofco, gives the
author an advantage there, which he' muft often
difpenfe with elfewhere. — But even theother part
of the country is by no means to be considered
nniverfally as a barren field in point of knowledge.
In feveral of the governments a generous emulation
for the encouragement and profecution of domeftic
literature prevails, the effects whereof begin to be.
apparent particularly in the hiftory and the Statistics
oSthe empire. A paffion Sor the arts and Sciences,
the tafte Sor a more elegant and intellectual enjoy
ment oS HSe, Sprung up on all fides under the wiSe
and benign government of Catharine. We now fee
books with the imprint of places, whofe names
were before unknown to the world; and, not long
previous to the end of her reign, the library of the
academy of fciences received the firft number of a
monthly publication from Irkutfk. If that reign
had continued a little longer it might perhaps have
received one from Kamtlhatka.
In no town of the, empire are there fo many
learned associations as in the refidence; and
this advantage, if it be. one, it has even in prer
ference to Mofco. It is a common remark that
public inftitutions of this nature testify but very
little in behalf of the general ftate of a nation in
matters of Science. The validity of it is ftill farther
exemplified

LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS. 2.gf
exemplified here by the circumftance that the ma-,
jority of the members of fuch focieties confifts of
foreigners ; neverthelefs it ought not to prevent us
from affigning them a place here, as by their ope
ration they communicate an influence more or lefs
confiderable, on the culture of the nation. And
this is at the fame time the ftation from which we
Shall fubmit the following objedts to an impartial
review. Of all the learned eftablifhments in the refidence
no one is of fo indefinite and fo extenfive a fphere
of operation as the academy of sciences. The
proper aim of all foundations of this clafs, the
enlargement of the boundaries of literary know
ledge, Should be here at the Same time connected
with the popular destination oS diffeminating uSeSul
knowledge throughout the country. Peter the
great has often been cenfured for having, when he
had conceived the defign of civilizing his people,
instituted an academy rather than fchoojs : but
this cenfure is unfounded. His plan was much
deeper laid and much more adequately arranged
than thofe who blame him feem to imagine. It
appears from the regulation which he defigned for
the academy founded after his death, that his idea
was to make it the mother of all the eftablifhments
for education that Should be hereafter erected in
Ruffia. From it teachers were to be fent out to
inculcate the feveral branches of ufeful knowledge
in the language of the country, and by that means to

298 THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.'
to procure them an eafy and fecure accefs,to the
nation at large. To that end he annexed to the
academy a gymnafium and a University, ordaining
that only native pupils Should be admitted into
thefe inftitutions, and after due preparation ad
vanced to be adjuncts of the academy. Had this
plan been Strictly followed, the academy and its
two dependent inftitutes would foon have been
filled Solely by Ruffians ; feveral illustrious names
might perhaps not have appeared in their lifts,
but that unSubftantial ornament would have been
amply compenfated by an exterifive, ufeful and
permanent effedt. At prefent it is only at the
gymnafium where the youth oS Ruffia and of other
nations are brought up for the learned profeffion?,
and fometimes fent to finiffi their ftudies in the
universities abroad.
Thus the academy is now confined to the general
purpoSes of its Sifter-Societies ; an inftitute Sor im
proving and extending natural knowledge. What
it has perSormed in this its Sphere of operation is fo
well known as to allow me to fay nothing farther on.
that fubjedt, but pafs on to a brief account of its
prefent conftitution.
The academy is divided into four claffes accord
ing to their feveral departments : the mathemati
cal, the phyfico-mathematical, the aftronomical,
and the phyfical, which alfo comprehends natural
hiftory, chemiftry and anatomy. In each of them
She can Shew men of confiderable eftimation and
feveral

DUTIES OF THE PROFESSORS. 299
Several of extenfive celebrity. The number oS its
members is at preSent eighteen, of whom eight
are native Ruffians. To the- firft clafs belong
Meffrs. iEpinu_s, Kotelnikof, Fufs, and Schubert, >
the laft of whom has likewife the department of
geography. To the fecond Meffrs. Euler and
Kraft; to the third Meffrs. Rumoffky and Ino-
khodzof, and to the fourth, according to their
feveral fciences, the following gentlemen : anato
my, Protaffof and Wolff; zoology, Pallas; bo
tany, Lepekhin ; mineralogy, Herrmann ; natural
hiftory in general, Ozeretzkoffky and Suyef ; che
miftry, Georgi and Sokolof. — For the depart
ment of hiftory, M. Stritter of Mofco. Befides
thefe,' who are actual members and commonly
called profeffors, the academy has three adjuncts,
twelve correspondents and Several honorary mem
bers at home and abroad.!
Every actual member, befides the profecution
of his own ftudies, is obliged to Srequent the aca
demical conferences, to affift in compiling the
treatifes which appear in the Acta academic, and
to contribute an original paper every half-year.
Thefe duties, however, are not Strictly demanded
of him ; and yet, though thefe literary fervices are
not very laborious, examples are not wanting of
particular members absenting themSelves Sor a con
fiderable time or even altogether, as is apparent
from the register oS the conferences and the adta.-
The general reproach to which all learned focieties are

_QQ USEFULNESS OF THE ACADEMY.
are fubjedt, that, on the whole, they perform lefs
than might reafonably be expedted from the foli-,
tary exertions of the fame number of literary
men, is applicable with great juftice likewife to
this famous institution. It is only fome individuals
who endeavour by toilfome efforts to fupport the
honour of the academy and to enlarge the Sphere
of human knowledge ; the majority thinking~they
fufficiently difcharge their important duties by the
fame lukewarm zeal that an ordinary labourer earns
his bread.
Notwithstanding all this, the academy is of con
fiderable utility to the country in various ways.
Their learned differtations, it muft be owned, here
fall on an Ungrateful foil, as they find perhap's not
ten readers in the whole empire ; but they are of
general fervice by their illustrations of the hiftory
and the natural quality of this immenfe country,
not by Sar fufficiently explored. The travels of the
academicians are a lafting record, alike honourable
to the academy and to the fagacity of the monarch,
by whofe orders they were begun and by whofe
bounty they were performed. — Alfo by composing
the calendars and the gazettes, by the publication
of periodical writings calculated for the natives,
and by the delivery of public lectures in the ver
nacular tongue on the ufeful arts and Sciences*, the
academy acquires a merit with the nation. The
* For fome years paft, by the appointment of princefs
Daihkof, every year throughout the fummer lectures are held
gratis .

its officers and revenues. 361
The academy, even in a political refpedt, forms
a very confiderable body. Befides the patron, who
is always the monarch, it has a prefident, and in
certain cafes likewife a diredtor, which poft, at the
demife of the emprefs, was filled by the learned
princefs Daihkof, well-known abroad; The dig
nity of prefident is, fince 1767 when it was occu-*
pied by count Vladimir Orlof, become an empty
title, borne by count Razumoffky. The ceconomn
cal affairs are managed by a chancery. Few learned
focieties in Europe are fo well endowed as this of
Peterlburg ; its ftated income amounting to fifty-
three thoufand rubles, and this is augmented by
the profits arifing from its printing-office, its fale of
books, almanacs, court calendars, and gazettes, to
about feventyor eighty thoufand rubles. The falary
of an actual academician varies, from eight hun
dred to fifteen hundred rubles a year. The ad
juncts receive three hundred and fixty rubles.
Befides, the academy pays fome of its members
and correfpondents abroad a hundred oi two hun
dred rubles each.
The civil appointments of the academicians,
among whom, as the learned well know, are per-
forts of Ihining talents and profound erudition,
gratis on the moft generally ufeful principles of the mathe
matics, chemiftry and natural hiftory in the ruflian language
by fome of the profeflbrs of the academy, who are allowed a
" particular gratuity for their trouble. are

J[02 THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY,
are various; fome of them having, befides their'
academical ftations, important and lucrative offices
at court or in the colleges, and thefe, both in regard
to their rank and to their incomes are very well
provided for. Such, however, as live entirely on
their places in the academy, which is the cafe with
the greater part, are able to make only a bare Sub
sistence, the price of all things being fo greatly
raiSed, that Stipends which were Sormerly thought
tolerably handSome, are now Scarcely fufEcient for
the maintenance of a family. The majority of
thefe gentlemen are therefore obliged to accept
the office of uffiers in the public feminaries, by
which the trifling degree of refpedt which they
acquired from their learned ftations is farther
diminished. A Second learned Society, the Russian academy,
is devoted to the cultivation and fixation of the
mother-tongue. It arofe in the year 1783, at the
inftance of princefs Daffikof, and by the munifi
cence of the emprefsi who took the infant inftitu
tion under her patronage, elevated it to the rank
of the imperial academy, and prefented it with a
donation of thirteen thoufand rubles for the pur-
chafe of a houfe and five thoufand rubles as its
annual revenue. This Society is compoSed of fixty
members, elected from the higher orders of per
fons, as the beft adapted to promote its views ; it
being generally SuppoSed that among them a lan
guage is brought to elegance, ductility and pre
cision ;

FOR SETTLING THE LANGUAGE. 30$
cifion ; where thefe negledt the vernacular tongue,
though it may perhaps, by the efforts of fcholars,
be moulded tofuit the Studied phrafeologyof books,
yet it will never be rendered a graceful vehicle of
refined and familiar converfation. Hence it is
that the german language, otherwife fo very much
cultivated, is destitute of that eafe, thofe delicate
turns, that capacity for the engaging Style of po
lite converfation, which is univerfally admired in
the French and which the Germans have fo fre
quently in vain attempted to imitate. The.ruffian
language very narrowly efcaped, from a Similar dif-
pofition to the gallomania, being baniffied Srom
the circles of the polite world ; but the patriotic
example of the emprefs refcued it from that cata
strophe. Equally familiar with the languages of the
moft cultivated nations, by birth a German, and a
Parisian when She wrote to Voltaire, that extraor
dinary princefs, in her writings and converfations,
gave the preference to the ruffian tongue, as She
well knew that her example alone was able to
check the infatuated neglect of it among the great.
That She knew how to employ the idiom of her
adopted country in all its copioufnefs and with the
fluency and eafe of a Skilful artift, was every day
experienced by thofe about her, and may yet be
feen in her written compofitions : but that She had
mattered it to its utmost extent, pursued it into
jts .moft recondite fources by making the language
her peculiar ftudy, is perhaps not fo generally known,

<J64 PHILOLOGICAL AfoECDOfE*
known, and therefore defefveS to be particularly
Shewn by the following anecdote which 1 relate from
the mouth Of a credible witriefs. '
The ruflian academy, Onfetting about the com-*,
pilation of their dictionary, adopted the method
of having each letter of the alphabet printed on
Very large paper, in order that the members and
other adepts in the language might write in the
margjn their additions or remarks, ere the im
pression was taken off for -the public. One of
thefe proof-Sheets was likewife fent to the emprefs,
after all the infertions were made and the letter
might be regarded as complete. The proof on
coming back to the academy, was obferved to
have three words written in the margin as having
been omitted in the Series. Of two of them the
Signification was prefently known, but the third
feemed exotic tq all the members that were pre
fent. The moft learned of the body applied them
felves With all poffible pains to decypher the my-
fterious word : but none of them being able to
fucceed, they had no alternative except that of re
questing an explanation from the great perfonage at
whofe fuggeftion the difficulty had occurred. To
this they had no other anfwer than a reference to
an antient chronicle, indicating exadtly the paffage
where the word, which was deemed highly worthy
of being retained, was to be found.
On this occafion let me be allowed to draw a
fliort parallel between the two greateft fovereigns
5 *

Parallel between two monarchs. 30^
of the laft century, who in fo many other refpedt*
afford materials for an interesting comparifon.
Frederic the fecond, like his exalted friend Catha
rine, was fond of the fciences 5 like her he pa
tronized and cheriffied the Mufes ; like her, he
brought many an offering to their altars. Like
that princefs he ftrove to diffeminate knowledge
and tafte among his people, uShering in the bright
beams of philofophy to difpel the gloom of preju
dice and pedantry, and to dedicate temples to the
arts. — But Frederic, a german prince, who was ig
norant of the language of his german nation, con-'
ceitedly refolved never to understand it, even when
it was become worthy of his efteem, even when
his intimates called his attention to the progrefs of
his people. Though fo great a man he fuffered
himfelf here to be conquered by a prejudice oftea
refuted and now grown obfolete; a prejudice
which unhappily deprived the german nation of
his foftering approbation, and robbed it of the
incompenSable honour of being able to appropri
ate to itfelf the greateft of all royal authors.—
Catharine the fecond, by birth and education fa
miliar with two languages, learnt the third;, the
moft difficult of all, amidft the tumultuous throng
of a brilliant court, amidft the cares of an im-
menfe dominion, amidft the ftiouts of triumph
after repeated victories — from a fenfe of duty
and from a,patriotic concern in the improvement of
her people. :•: Honourable

30.6 THE free ceconomical society.
Honourable as the exertions of the ruffian aca
demy are in benefiting the literature of the country,
norlefs adequate to its defign ^nd to the fupply of
a primary want of the nation is the activity of the;
free ceconomical society, which owes its origin
¦and fubfiftence entirely to the public fpirit of pri
vate individuals. It was instituted in 1765 at the
inftance of prince Orlof and with the concurrence
of a few officers of ftate and literary perfons, and
in the fame year received the patent of eftabliffi
ment from the emprefs, accompanied with ado-
nation of fix thoufand rubles and the declaration
that the imperial cabinet would defray in perpetuity
the expences of printing the works to be published
by them. At the fame time the fociety was empow
ered to employ the private fignet of the emprefs,
that being a bee-hive, with the infcription in rufs :
useful. By the imperial donation and voluntary
contributions it was foon in a condition to build a
houfe, the rent of which, with the profit arifing
from the fale of its works, compofe its Stated in
come. '{ The fittings are once a week, and on the
anniverfary of its foundation, a premium is offer
ed of twenty-five or thirty ducats for the beft anfwer
to a queftion, or as a reward for the beft perform
ance on a particular fubjedt of husbandry; but it
generally happens that fome members of distinction
or land-owners offer prizes which they either pay
themfelves or through the fociety. The number
of members amounts at prefent to upwards of two
hundred,

BENEFITS ARISING FROM IT. 307
hundred, of whom about the half are Ruffians,
having feveral honorary members refiding in foreign
countries. They have of late years formed a clafs
for correfpondents. The direction of the infti
tution is in a prefident, elected on the anniverSary;
an eledtion which Sor Several years Successively Sell
on count Anhalt, who distinguished himSelf greatly
by his laudable zeal in promoting the welfare of
the fociety. They have likewife two> perpetual
fecretaries, one for the ruffian and the other for
the german affairs ; the former at prefent is the
privy-counfellor Nartof, the latter the academi
cian Euler. The care of the archives and the
library is committed to brigadier Rudinger ; and
the colledtion of models is in the cuftody of M.
Gerhardt. — At the fittings, eledtions and all the
tranfadtions of the fociety the comple-teft equality
prevails, as it is fitting it Should in conformity to
the fpirit and defign of a free literary fociety.
Since its origin this ufeful inftitution has at
times fufpended its fundtions, yet its activity has
never been totally interrupted ; but never and in no'
periodof itsexiftence was it ever fo fuccefsfully em
ployed as at the clofe of Catharine's reign. With
out precifely advancing by practical improvements
the agriculture of the country at large, an end
which no learned fociety can attain, it has not,
however, confined itfelf entirely to the fphere of
fpeculation, Thequeftion what it has effected ?
comprizes in it the destination of its relative ufes :
x 2 a brief

308 TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY.'
a brief reply to the former particular will there
fore be fufficient for the other.
The differtations and prize-effays which the So
ciety lias published in the ruffian language, are at
preSent grown to a collection oS near fiSty volumes.
However excellent the treatiSes and how numerous
Soever the new difcoveries and improvementswhich
it contains, yet this is not its moft meritorious fide.
It is of infinitely greater importance that the na
tion has now in this collection a copious treafure
of practical principles, moftly adapted to local
circumftances, of themoft material branch of in
duftry, in the vulgar tongue. The question here
turns not fo much on the novelty of the matters
treated of, for to the ignorant all things are new ;
as on the merit of Spreading ufeful information
among a clafs of people to whom it is highly ne-
- ceffary and who have been hitherto destitute oS it.
This great and noble aim has been attained, if not
in its utmoft extent, by the ceconomical fociety,
yet in feveral parts, at various times, and in nu
merous ways. Noblemen in the interior of the
empire are, by perufing the papers on hufbandry,
incited to beftow their attention' on the fources of
their revenues ; wealthy land-owners who are
members of the fociety are induced to make prac
tical experiments of the theoretical propofals for
the diffemination of agricultural knowledge ; and
even the loweft clafs of people, the boors feel the
influence of thefe patriotic exertions. When the
lieutenant

TRANSLATED INTO GERMAN. 309
lieutenant-general Konofnitzin, governour of St.
Peterfburg, in 1790 founded libraries, for the ufe
of the public, in all the public fchools -in the
diftridt of that city, he prefented each of them
with a copy of the tranfadlions of the fociety ; and
I am informed by very credible perfons, that feveral
of the country-noblemen caufe particular parts or
treatifes to be circulated and read among their
boors. But neither is this general utility abfolutely de
void of literary merit. The works of the ceco
nomical fociety contain a multitude of very elabo
rate and likewife many new propofals and plans
greatly contributing to enlarge and complete the
dominion of Science. In proof of this I need
only refer to the german translation of them, and
to the Selection that has been made for the benefit
of german readers, of which three volumes have
already appeared. The good reception this per
formance has found, the efteem, in which the fo
ciety is held abroad by focieties of a Similar nature
even in very diftant countries, ever desirous of
forming a correfpondence -with it, are fpeaking
arguments in favour of the importance of its
exertions. The prize-cpieftions are remarkable in general
for their exact propriety and the confiderable pre
miums by which fome patriotic members ftrive to
excite the talents and induftry of the public to
anfwer them. In proof of this we will extract
x 3 only

310 PRIZE-QUESTIONS PROPOSED
only a few of the moft ftriking from the long lift
of propofals. _An anonym us prefented the fociety
with a thoufand ducats to fet a due portion of that
fum on the queftion : " Would it be more for the
" public good that the boor Should poffefs land,
*' or that he Should be only allowed to have move-
," able property ? And how Sar Should his right to
" either extend ? " A queftion of fuch manifest
importance to the rdffian empire and to all man
kind muft naturally have called forth a great
number of candidates ; of a hundred and Sixty-four
anSwers that were fent in, M. Bearde de Labry, of
Aix-la-chapelle obtained the prize of a hundred
docats. — Five and thirty ducats for the beft Short
composition, which, under the title of the'Mirror
for Boors, Should furnifh the country-people with
found and eafy leffohs for bringing up their chil
dren fo as to render them healthy and good through
life and Skilful in hulbandry, with fliort directions
in agriculture and the breeding oS cattle. — A
holiday dreSs, Srom five and twenty to thirty rubles
in value, to the female boor in the province of
Ingria, who, in a ftated fpace of time fliall have
made the greateft quantity of houfehold linen. —
Three hundred ducats for the beft plan for the
expenditure and the houfekeeping of a perfon in
St. Peterfburg or Mofco, who has an income from
three to twelve thoufand, or thirteen to thirty
thoufand rubles per annum, wherein regard muft
be had to the decent fupply of his proportionate wants.

BY THE CECONOMICAL SOCIETY. 3H
wants, ~- Five and'twenty ducats to him who in
one year, in the circle of Kymmenegorod, (in
Finland,) fliall have drained the moft acres of
morals- and converted them into arable land. —
" How may the inhabitants, of the middling fta-
" tion, Supply themfelves with what they want,
" according to the prefent mode oS life, not only
" in regard to neceffaries, but alfo to propriety, co
" amufements and to the prefervation of health,
" entirely with the raw or wrought products of
" Ruffia?" The premium of five and thirty ducats
was adjudged to the academician Georgi. — What
are the fitteft extraordinary employments for the
ruffian country-folks ? was likewife anfwered by
M.v Georgi. — "Is the early inhabitation of our
" new brick houfes lefs prejudicial to health than
" the early occupation of new homes abroad ? or
" are we only lefs attentive to the confequences ?
" And what are the Sureft means of counteracting
" the injuries arifing from this practice?" Dr.
Born, of Cronftadt, received the premium of five
and twenty ducats for his anfwer. —A hundred
ducats from an anonymus for the beft direction,
where and how the culture of the vine and the
olive may moft fuccefsfully be undertaken in the
ruffian empire. — In the year 1792 the fociety pub
lished a Standing refolution that on every, anniver
sary premiums Should be given to whoever Should
moft accurately and properly deScribe in agricul
tural reSpedts any one of the provinces, at h s o.vn
x 4 option.

3£2 LITERARY HELPS.
option. To this end the Society printed a Schedule
by which they expedted to fee the observations
conducted : an idea well calculated for advancing
the knowledge of the interior of Ruffia. — I pafs
over a multitude oS interefting acts in behalf of
the theory of farming, bounties on exportations
and rewards to artifts, mechanics and peafants,
as, from the few inftances here given the fpirit of
the fociety and its mode of proceeding are fuffi
ciently exemplified. I may perhaps be thought,
by fome of my readers to have dwelt already too
long on this fubjedt, as all perfons do not take an
equal intereft in it; but J considered it as incum
bent upon me Somewhat particularly to charac
terise an inftitute, So different Srom moft others.
under the Same appellation ; that in its Silent ope
ration, without the Support of government, merely
by the voluntary participation of uofalaried mem
bers, is of more real utility and produces greater
benefit to the nation and to mankind than many of
the grand and fumptuous corporations which by
their ingenious productions may flatter the vanity
of fome and promote the luxury of others, but ,
neither heighten the enjoyments nor leffen the m\-.
fery of the human race by a fingle atom.
We now proceed to defcribe the literary,
aids of which fo many are found in the refidence
and Some oS them oS Such a distinguished order
that we may venture to promife ourfelves Some,
entertainment in running them over. Among the
objects

PUBLIC LIBRARIES. 313
objedts of moft confequence under this head ai-e
the public libraries. Of this defcription Pe
tersburg can produce only one, but the number of
large collections in the poffeffion of private perfons,
the eafy accefs to which in fome meafure fupplies"
that defedt, amounts to above twenty. Following
our ufual method, we Shall begin with the former,
which is, the library of the academy of sci
ences.
. So remarkable an inftitute in fo juvenile a city,
fome contemporaries with the origin of it being
ftill among the living, feems to demand a Short
Survey of its hiftory. War, that common dif-
turber, the foe to all the arts of peace, occasioned
the firft rife of it. A collection of books consist
ing of about, two thoufand five hundred volumes,
which Peter the great had made fpoil of in Cour-
land and ordered to be brought to his new refi
dence, was its original flock •, foon indeed con
siderably increafed chiefly by the incorporation of
the library lately belonging to the deceafed archi-
ater Arefkine. Hitherto the library was confined
to the fole ufe oS the emperor ; but, aSter his death,
on the opening oS the academy by his Succeffor in
the year 1725, She preSented the whole collection
to the new institute ; and from this period it dates
its commencement as a public library, acceSs to it
being open to all two days in the week. The first
accefiion to it, under its, new form, was by the
books, plans, charts and maps that had been ufed by

314 LIBRARY OF THE ACADEMY.
by the great founder himfelf; a prefent that might
rather be considered as a venerable relic than an
actual augmentation. The increafe which the li
brary afterwards received, partly by the purchafe
of important works in Holland, partly by acci
dental acquifitions, rendered it neceffary to have a
catalogue, which accordingly appeared in 1742 in
three octavo volumes ; but So inadequately com
piled, that it was of little or no benefit to the
man of ..letters. The library of the ftate-counfellor
Sanchez and other additions were juft beginning
to give fome degree of lustre to the infant insti
tution, when it was Stopped in its carreer for a
time by a fudden calamity. Fire, that destructive
element, which has either threatened or deftroyed
almoft all the famous collections that have been
made, was likewife here the caufe of a devastation,
which in its confequences was lefs injurious by the
lofs fuftained, than by the confufion into which the
library was thrown by this misfortune, and which
could not be remedied till the building was re-
erected, wherein it is at prefent kept. During the
reign of Catharine war was again a benefactor to
this collection; it acquiring in the year 1772 the
famous Radzivilian library, which till then had
been preferved at Nefvitch in Lithuania. This was
the lafl grand acceffionit obtained ; for its later ad
ditions it is indebted to the bounty of that great
monarch and the beneficence of particular well-
wifhers to learning, as the funds appointed for its
augmentation,

A VALUABLE COLLECTION. 315
*
augmentation, amounting annually to five thoufand
rubles, are frequently applied to other purpofes.
It contains, according to the laft enumeration,
30,200 works, probably making upwards of fixty
thoufand volumes.
From this ftatement it is immediately feen that
She is not to be compared with her great and emi
nent fifters in other parts of Europe, and her in
ternal condition by no means increafes her pre
tentions. As its effential parts have been brought
together without Selection, without any regard to
a formal plan and moftly by chance, as no extra
ordinary Sums have ever been bellowed on its com
pletion ; So, considering the rivalfhip that Subfifts
in all polifhed nations Sor the honour of their col
lections and the high antiquity of moft of them,
the rank that may be affigned it in the lift of grand
libraries is eafily afcertained. This candid acknow-
legement, which exempts the bibliographers of
the country from all fufpicion of partiality, is
no disparagement, however, to the real worth
in many refpedts of this valuable and copious
collection. Of the neceffary and important parts of a public
library, the department of the fine arts is com
paratively the worft fupplied, and even that of
northern hiftory is by far not fo complete as might
be wiffied •, an experience which is fo much the
more furprifing to every Sriend oS literature as he
muft naturally have expected an ample collection in

'316 RUSSIAN BOOKS, AND MSS.
in the latter claSs .particularly in the capital of a
northern empire.
The next articles form an agreeable contrast with
this deficiency ; being remarkably full of valuable
and curious ftores ; hiftory, antiquities, numif-
matics, natural-hiftory, mathematical fciences and
literary hiftory. — - The departments reckoned
among the luxuries of a library, nianufcripts and
antient or Scarce editions, are not here the moft
confpicuous part. Of antient manufcripts there
are few or none ; and the modern ones are in
general of Slight importance, excepting three,
which from their high defcent and peculiar cha-.
radter, are regarded as national relics, and as fuch
deferve a Short notice. The first is a thankfgiving
prayer by Peter the great after the battle of Pul-
tava; the fecond, a marine dictionary entirely in
the hand-writing of that prince. The third is the
manufcript of the famous instruction for making a
code of laws, written throughout, with the excep
tion of two or three diftinct paffages, by the hand
of Catharine the fecond, rpoftly in french, here
and there fome paragraphs of rufs, in a light run
ning hand and in various places Struck through
and altered. It is preferved in a cafket of filver
gilt, decorated with emblematical devices.
The Russian books are kept apart ; amounting
in 1 umber to about two thoufand. As one copy
of every book printed in Ruffia muft be fent to
the academy ; and as moreover it has the beft
5 means

TANGUTAN AND MONGOLIAN MSS. 317
means of procuring the productions of domeftic
literature, it is highly probable that the fuitt total
of all the printed books in the ruffian tongue does
not much exceed that number. More interefting
than this collection, which is almoft entirely Very
modern, are the Russian manuscripts, of which
the library contains a great and ufeful ftore. Of
the Slavonian manuscripts the oldeft are of
the thirteenth century. Here is likewife a numer
ous fucceffion of Russian annalists, and of the
moft important of them, nestor, one copy
esteemed the moft antient of any now extant.1
Among the literary curiofities we muft not forget
to mention the oldeft printed book in the Slavonian
language, a Pentateuch of 15 19.
Another, as yet unexplored, treafure, exclu
fively poffeffed by this library, confifts in a con
fiderable collection oS tangutan and mongolian
manuscripts. They were discovered in Siberia
in the year 1 720 and tranfmitted to St. Petersburg.
Peter the great transmitted a few quires of them
to the academy of fciences at Paris, in order to
learn what they contained ; and the academicians
acquitted themfelves of this commiffion like true
Frenchmen. A certain abbe Bignon was deputed
to fend the emperor a translation in the latin lan
guage, accompanied with a letter expreffive of
fome modeft doubts as to his translation Srom a
language in which So few helps were to be obtained.
It was afterwards found that there was not one
word

318 TRANSLATIONS FROM THE MONGOLIAN.
word of it in the original. — The academy at pre
fent maintains a perfon among thefe tribes, for the
purpofe of ftudying their language. He is a
German, named Ja?brig ; I was perfonally ac
quainted with him during his laft ftay at St. Pe
tersburg. At that time he had been fixteen years
amo'ig the Mongoles, was fo familiar with their
manners, and had taken fuch a liking to them,
that our european accommodations were utterly dif- ,
agreeable to him. He had even formed fuch high
notions of their wifdom, as to be fully perfuaded
that we of Europe might acquire information in
numberlefs refpedts from thefe regions. However,
notwithstanding that he was perfectly mafter of
the mongolian language, it was impoffible to per
ceive any confiftence in his tranflations though he
exerted himSelS to the utmoft in the compofition
of the fentences. For reaching the force and pe
culiarities of the original, he had coined a great
number of new words ; which, notwithftanding
the Singularity of their Stamp were fometimes
generally characteristic,, but often totally unintelli
gible. A learned friend of mine at Peterfburg
has at prefent one of his manufcripts in hand, be
ing the translation of a mongolian writing, which
may perhaps one day appear in public, if the
attempts of my friend to decypher the frequent
ambiguous Significations, ffiould at laft fucceed.
After making a Short ftay in the refidence, during
which Jaehrig had married, he went back to his
beloved

CHINESE BOOKS. 319
beloved Mongoles, to pafs the remainder of his
life among them. At his departure he co ;c,,ved
a defign which may turn out very beneficial to ihe
improvement of that people. He took with him a
choice collection of good books in various depart
ments of fcience, in order to tranflate them there
and difperfe them among the Mongoles. Among
thefe were feveral in natural hiftory and geography,
with other elementary books, but no philofophical
works, confidently maintaining that in that branch
of human knowledge, his Mongoles were far be
yond any thing that the Europeans had tq offer.
Lefs curious than the Mongolian manufcripts,
though always remarkable enough to compofe>the
ornament of a library, are the Chinese books,
whereof the academy poffeffes a collection of two
thoufand eight hundred volumes or bundles. The
firft acquisition of this literary curiofity was obtain
ed in the year 1 730 through the means of a ruffian
refident at the court of the khan, who had them
from the miffiqnary jefuits at Pekin. The volumes
are very thin, fomewhat like a couple of our
quires of paper with cut edges, fewed, and writ
ten on Silk paper or polifhed bark oS the bamboo.
Their contents are not So entirely unknown as thoSe
of the mongolian manufcripts, Ruffia having con
stantly commiffaries or refidents either in China or
on its borders. We have not only an index of the
titles of the feveral books but even ruffian tranila-
tions of fome particular works. This colledtion
comprehends

_iO DRAWINGS IN NATURAL HISTORY.
Comprehends philofophical, political, historical arid
geographical, mathematical, medical and philo
logical tracts and writings.
The laft remarkable particular we fhall here
mention, is at once both ufeful and curious. It
confifts of two choice colledtions of coloured
drawings in natural history. The former
contains papillios, plants, flowers and other Sub
jects of the kingdom of nature, and is the work
of the celebrated Mifs Merian, who paffed two
years in Surinam, in painting on the fpot inftdts
in all their various transformations, together with
the flowers, fruits and plants which they prefer for
their pasture and abode. The other, which came
to the academy in 178a, is the grand collection
of the late Dr. Fothergill in England ; a feries of
drawings from the realm of animals and plants,
executed by the moft famous britifh artifts. The
emprefs bought it for five thoufand pounds Sterling
and prefented it to the academy, where it is now
kept for the amufement and inftrudlion of the
public. All thefe literary treafures and curiofities occupy
two large Saloons, each -of about feventy-feven
feet by forty-nine. One of them is provided with
a gallery, in which is contained the ruffian, tangutan
and chinefe colledtion of books. The preffes are
of oak, pannelled with brafs wire. In the distri
bution of the claffes the uSual order is obServed ;
and at the top of each prefs is a Shield denoting the

THE LIBRARY AT NEVSKY. 32I
the clafs therein contained. The officers are a
librarian and a fub-librarian ; the former poft is
filled by the academician Kotelnikof and the latter
by M. Buffe, a German. Though no particular
time is fet apart for the admittance of the public,
yet frequent opportunities offer for making ufe of
the library. Strangers can only have that benefit
on vifiting the academy ; but every member of
this learned body is at liberty to take home and to-
keep for a month, fuch books as he is in want of,
on leaving a ticket in their refpective places.
Among ,the libraries belonging to public esta
blishments, and therefore in fome fort devoted to
the fervice of the community, the firft place is due
tq the collection of books at the monastery, of
st. Alexander nevsky. In the feledtion and
number of its volumes it is fuperior to the other
ruffian libraries ; its treafures extending, not only to
Slavonian manufcripts and the theological writings
of the greek fathers, but with an exemplary fpirit
of toleration to the principal compofitions oS other
cbnfeffions of faith, particularly the proteftant.
Next to the theological department, the philofophi
cal and historical are the beft furnifhed.
The LIBRARY OF THE NOBLE LAND-CADET CORPS
originated in the excellent collection of general
von Eggers ; which, on his death at Dantzick, was
purchafed by Catharine the fecond and prefented
to this inftitution. It contains a rich feledtion of
the beft military authors in feven thoufand volumes,
y which

322 LIBRARY AT THE PALACE.
which have been increafed from time to time by
antient and modern works of hiftbry, philofophy,
geography and belles lettres, in the french, ger
man and ruffian languages. The number oS its
volumes at preSent amounts to ten thouSand.
The other public Seminaries have alfo collections
of books appropriate to the particular defign of
the foundation. Though moft of them are ftill in
their infancy, yet they cannot properly be here
paffed over in Silence, as the friends of literature
find eaSy accefs to them.
The PRIVATE LIBRARY OF CATHARINE II. is in
the Hermitage, and is compoSed oS three Several
collections, of which I can only ftate the perfons
by whom they were made without entering into
farther particulars of their contents and value.
The firft is that of M. de Voltaire, which the em
prefs bought, together with all his papers, of his
heirs at the public auction. The fecond, the liS-
brary of the philofopher Diderot, purchafed and
paid for- in the life-time of its collector. The
third belonged to the famous abbe Gafliani. In
addition to thefe are fuch as her majefty collected
herfelf, which, from Some circumftances within my
knowledge, muft be very confiderable.
Wtiat is' called the grand-ducal library was
founded by the learned M. von Korff, formerly
prefident of the academy. It extends to moft of
the Scientific departments, and is particularly rich
in works of hiftory. The number of volumes amounts

LIBRARIES OF NOELEM'Efc. 32 _
amounts to twenty-eight thoufand. — The prefent
emperor's library owes its being to -the judgment
and tafte of its owner, and contains rabft of the
modern foreign publications, chiefly german.
Among the private libraries of the great,
many are of fuch extent and value as to merit the
attention of literary perfons in a high degree. It
is greatly to be wiffied that the owners of thefe
valuable collections, to the liberality with which
they ftrive to render therri of general utility would
add one favour more, by printing well-arranged
catalogues of them ; fince numbers of Scarce and
excellent books may be contained in theSe reposi
tories unknown to Scholars who would be glad to
find them. — The moft remarkable collections of
this kind are the libraries of counts Chernichef,
Stroganof, Schuvalof, princefs Daffikof, the late
privy-counfellor Betzko'i, princes Yufupof, Kura->
kin, and many others. Likewife among private
perfons of various defcriptions, good colledtions
are frequently feen, principally as making part of
a fafhionable eftabliffiment. One, however, at
least, deferves particular . notice, as perhaps the
only one of its kind ¦: containing a pretty complete'
colledtiort of the beft german, englifh, french and
Italian productions, in the departments of hiftory,
philofophy and belles lettres, together with the
greek and roman claffics, all of the beft editions.
But that whereby it is peculiarly diftinguiffied is
the fingular circumftance, that it contains not
Y 2 ONE

jfZ4 MUS-EUM OF THE ACADEMY.
ONE SINGLE WORTHLESS OP even but INDIFFERENT
book. Whence it naturally ariSesithat the number
oS volumes, cannot be very large, The collector
and owner of this curious library is lieutenant-
colonel Klinger, who has acquired celebrity by his
dramatical pieces and philofophical' romances.
We muft here conclude this lift, in order to
get fome acquaintance with the moft remarkable
COLLECTIONS OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL CU
RIOSITIES, the treafures of which deferve our at
tention in a ftill higher degree, as the refidence in
this refpedt may vie with fome of the moft. eminent
repositories in Europe.
• The MUSEUM OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES,
the foremoft of all the inftitutes of this nature,
dates its origin, in common with its collateral li
brary, from the reign of Peter I. During his firft
journey that monarch purchafed fome natural pro
ductions in Holland, which were firft fent to
Mofco,> and afterwards, enriched by the prepa
rations of the chief apothecary there, tranfmitted
to St. Peterlburg. A few fubfequent augmenta-*
tions received by this novel collection Sprmed the
bafis oS its Suture aggrandisement ; the cabinet
which the emperor bought at the auction of the
apothecary Seba at Amsterdam for fifteen thoufand
dutch guilders, procured the new northern mufeum
a high reputation in foreign countries. Shortly
afterwards it made an acquisition of ftill greater
confequence in the excellent and in feveral refpeSs unique

RUYSCH's ANATOMICAL PREPARATIONS. 325
-unique collection of the celebrated Ruyfch, which
was bought f .r thirty thoufand guilders, and con
tained two diftindt parts. In the former were up
wards of a thoufand articles confifting of quadru
peds, birds and amphibious animals, befides an
innumerable quantity of infects, and an herbarium
of Some thoufands of dried herbs; the other con-
. Sifted of the famous anatomical preparations which
the nameof Ruyfch and his amazing induftry have
' brought down to posterity. To thefe muft be added
. feveral other lefs confiderable acquifitions made in
the country itSelf, where the example of the em?
peror and his orders excited a general attention to
the inland curiofities of nature and art. The laft
acceffion which the cabinet received under its
founder, confifts principally in coins and the col
lection of mathematical and phyfical inftruments,
which" had belonged to MuSchenbrcek. Even the
. death of the tzar, prejudicial as it was in another
refpedt to the infant inftitute, was attended with
this benefit that his models and inftruments fell to
the mufeum. Among the moft memorable incre
ments in that and the Succeeding years muft be
reckoned the colledtion of minerals, Shells and
afiatic curiofities of the archiater Arefkine; a great
number of golden veffels that had been found in
the tombs of the Tartars in Siberia, weighing in
all Seventy-Sour pounds and upwards; laftly, a
very rich mifcellaneous colledtion of curiofities,
which Dr. MeSferfchmidt had got together on his
Y 3 eight

326 ARRANGEMENT OF THE CURIOSITIES?.
eight years travels in Siberia." — With the yeap
1728 commenced a new epocha for the mufeum,
The completion of, the academical buildings and
the arrangement within elevated it to the rank of
a public inftitution. The fame year was marked
by feveral important acquisitions ; among which
a collection of a thoufand tartarian coins, another
Of two' hundred and feventy-fix medals in bronze
Struck on occafion ef the feveral Signal events in
the reign of Lewis the fourteenth, and a third of
fwediffi coins of Karlftein and Hedlinger, are wor
thy of notice. Between that period and the year
1742 the cabinet obtained the wax-figure and the
cloaths of Peter the great, the colledtion of natural
and artificial curiofities of field marlhal count
^ 1
Bruce, afiatic rarities fent by the academicians
Muller and Gmelin during the kamtfhadale expe
dition, and fome others. • — So great a treafure of
extraordinary productions feemed to tender a well-
claffified catalogue neceffary ; the academy there
fore to this end drew up a plan, intended to com
prize in two parts all thefe remarkable objects,
Du Vernoy and Wilde arranged the anatomical •
preparations ; Gmelin, Amman and Steller the
animal and vegetable kingdom. The defcription
of the minerals was begun by Gmelin, and finished
by Lomonofof. Krafft difpofed in order the phy-,
fical and mathematical inftruments, arid Crufius
the medals and antiquities. In the laft mentioned
year appeared a catalogue in two parts, under the
title

CATALOGUE OF THE MUSEUM. 327
title of Mufeum Petropolitanum : according to which
the anatomical preparations were 2144 in number,
the quadrupeds 212, the birds 755, the amphi
bious animals 900, the fiffi 470, cruftaceous and
marine animals 218, befides infects and Shells
amounting to fome thoufands. The remaining
parts of the catalogue appeared in the year 1745.
A defign was formed to tranflate this catalogue into
rufs with engravings of the moft remarkable ar
ticles, when the fire broke out which we have had
occafion before to mention in the hiftory of the
library, whereby the mufeum fuffered a lofs in
fome refpects irreparable ; the additions it after
wards received can never be considered as a com-
penfation for fo injurious a misfortune. A col
ledtion of chinefe and tartarian curiofities and the
remainder of Seba's collection excepted, the other
acquisitions were very inconfiderable. Under the
administration of Catharine the fecond the mufeum
recovered its loSs in a Signal manner. Among the
moft material acquifitions oS that period muft be
reckoned : a collection of american curiofities,
brought by colonel Dahlberg, a Swede, from Su
rinam which the emprefs purchafed for the aca
demical cabinet ; containing, among other par
ticulars, feven hundred animals preferved in Spi
rits. Befides theSe, antiquities obtained from the
tombs on the weftern Shore of the Dnieper; the
mineral collection of the celebrated Henkel, con
taining above two thoufand Specimens : ruffian cu-
Y 4 riofities

328 CURIOSITIES OF VARIOUS KINDS.
riofities of various kinds,. collected by the acade
micians while on their travels ; natural productions,
weapons, dreffes and utenfils from the Kurilly
iflands ; the mineral cabinet of the ftate-counfellor
Nartof, for which eight thoufand rubles were
paid j and a great, number of fingle curiofities,
the fpecification whereof would carry us beyond
our limits.
Thefe leading particulars concerning fo remark
able an inftitute will enable us to form fome idea
of its value and extent. So many feparate col
lections on which the moft furprifing induftry, large
fortunes and whole lives have been employed, are
here brought together into one repository, where
they lie difpofed in vaft grbupes Sor the admira-
tipn and inftrudlion both of contemporaries and
posterity. Though it be highly interefting and
improving to Stand amidft thefe wonders of the
creation and to behold around us the moft beau
tiful as well as the moft hideous organizations and
forms, the productions of burning climes as well
as of the coldeft regions ; yet a circumftantial
account of only the moft remarkable objedts would
prove dry and tedious. A book like this, -not
written merely for naturalists, Should touch therefore
only on what is of general concern, and endeavour
by Summary views tO render comprehenfible the
relative excellence of the 'whole.
The contents of the cabinet extend through the
objedls of nature and art; our defcription begins ,
with

COLLECTION OF MINERALS! 329
with the former, in order, by an eafy transition. to
pafs on from the Simplest to the moft artificial.
The mineral collection, according to the
moft recent lifts, contains upwards of ten thoufand
Specimens, among which are 210 gold, 935 Silver
ores, &c. but the number muft be Since consider
ably increafed, as the pieces Sent by the travelling
academicians are not comprized in thoSe Statements.
The whole collection is arranged according to
Wallerius, and laid up in two departments, one
containing the ruffian and the other the foreign
minerals. Among the former the moft remarkable
are reckoned to be : two pieces of pure native gold
weighing about Sixty-nine ducats ; a large and
heavy piece of Silver ore from Behring's island ; a
piece of malleable copper of extraordinary magni
tude, from the Copper- ifland lying to the eaft of
Kamtlhatka, and a lump of iron, forty pood or
twelve hundred pounds in weight, which is of
material confequence to natural hiftory, by re
moving the doubt whether there be in general
fuch a mineral as native iron, or at leaft weakens
it . extremely. Among the remarkable national
products are alfo Several great and powerSul mag
nets, large, and beautiful malachites, fiberian lapis
lazuli, a collection of precious ftones, &c. — A
pyramid compofed of precious ftones found in the
country, exhibits the variety and the abundance
of thefe fpecies of ftones as on a pattern-card.
Neither is there any want of ftriking ruffian pe
trifactions ;,

gjO VEGETABLE COLLECTIONS.
trifadlions ; for inftance, a huge worm-eaten log
changed into white fand-ftone ; two completely
mineralized trunks of oak-trees eight or nine -feet
in the girt, &c. — ¦ Among the foreign minerals is
a mafs of native malleable gold of China, weighing
upwards of a hundred ducats ; fomewhat above a
pound of bukharian gold-duft, in fmall, round,
malleable grains ; a mafs of pure malleable Silver,
in the ffiape of a horn, feven pounds in weight ;
a piece of native Silver oS Such -finenefs, that coins
have been Struck from it without its having paffed
through the crucible, of which one is kept with
this rare production ; a petrified Medufa's head ;
the Skeleton of a fifh two feet and a half in length
impreffed in a Slate, &c.
The great Stores Srom the vegetable kingdom
preServed in the mufeurn, are from the collections
of feveral famous botanifts, as Buxbaum, Ruyfch,
Sloane, Gmelin, Steller, Mefierfchmidt, Heinzel-
mann, and what were fent by the travelling aca
demicians from all parts of the ruffian empire.
Notwithstanding the deftrudtive fire which chiefly
raged in this part of the mufeum, the number of
plants already in 177-- amounted to fixteen thou
fand. The multitude of indigenous produdts of
this genus, that, With prodigious labour, have
been got together from the fteppes and the moun
tain-ridges on the ffiores of the Fflezen-ocean and
from the frontier-chains of Siberia, are an advan
tage to this collection beyond any other, and which in

animal preparations. 331
in value may rival the principal and choiceft cabi
nets in Europe. The greater, however, this ad
vantage, fo much the more neceffary is it to have
them in better order and a new catalogue of
their names, which the public has long been
expecting, The collections from the animal kingdom con
tain almoft whatever is efteemed rare and remark
able in cabinets of this nature, with many that
would no where elfe be found. Among thefe laft
is, the only collection of its kind, the anatomical
preparations of Ruyfch, filling eighteen glazed
preffes as arranged by that great naturalift himSelf.
Though Subjedts oS this nature may be but little
entertaining in general, yet it would be unpardon
able to paSs over in perfect filence a treafure oS Sci
ence of fuch uncommon value. One part of this
extraordinary collection is compofed of preparations
ferving to elucidate the generation-of man. It con
fifts of a feries of a hundred and ten embryos from
the Size of a grain of anife to the full-formed foetus.
Not lefs curious and peculiar in their kind are the
preparations of the eye, of the pia mater, of the
cortical and medullary fubftances in which Ruyfch
had brought the art of injedtion to an amazing
degree of perfection*. The colledtion of preter natural
* For preferring his real or imaginary difcoveries in ana
tomy, Ruyfch was obliged to employ the utmost Skill in his
preparations. Thefe exertions carried him fartlier and farther till

332 COLLECTION OF Q.UADRUPEDS.
natural phajnomena in the human body, as worms,
polypes, hairs, &c. comprehends two hundred
articles. The Series of monstrous births is not left
copious, in the defcription' and illustration whereof
the learned academician Wolff, of acknowledged
merit in the department of anatomy,has been feveral
years employed.
The number poffeffed by the muSeum of qua
drupeds, either Stuffed or preferved in fpirits, ex
ceeds five hundred. Among the feveral fpecies of
foreign animals are the moft fingular kinds of the
ape and monkey races, the javelin bat, the flying
cat of Ternate, the mufk-rat, panthers, with an
ant-eater, or armadillo with feven and ivne coats of
till at laft he difcpvered a new and more complete method pf
embalming dead bodies. The facrifices which thefe urs-
fpeakably laborious and dangerous works cofts him, he him
felf defcribes in a letter that he wrote, concerning the fale of
his collection, to Ruffia. "Think not," fays he, ''that all
" thefe difcoveries were made with eafe. I was up every .
" morning at four o'clock, I expended the whole of my in-
" come in the purfuit, and frequently defpaired of fuceefs.
" I have differed fome thoufands of bodies, and not only
" frefh, ones, but likewife fuch as were already a prey to
" worms, by which I brought on myfelf dangerous difeafes.
" Almoft the whole df my life has been devoted lo thefe in-
" veftigatipns, having taken no part in the pleafures and
" amufements of the world, and am ftill working in the
" fame occupation day and night." — The example of this
perfon fli.ews what facrifices the, thirft of knowledge can in
duce mankind to make ; in confirmation whereof we ftill from
day ,to day, continue to fee fome instances." mail,

marine animals. 333
mail, moft of the large beafts of prey, an ele
phant twenty-eight and a half feet' in length and
Sixteen and a half feet high, a foetus of that ani
mal in fpirits of wine, about a foot in height, with
a multitude of other animals no lefs remarkable that
could not here be named without giving this fkecch
the refemblance of a fyftematical nomenclature.
But particularly interefting are the animals from
afiatic Ruffia and the adjacent countries, as be
ing for the greater part to be no where met with
excepting in this cabinet. To this head belongs
the dfchiggetei, a wild and fleet animal refembling
the mule; the thibetan buffalo with horfe-hair,
of which the Turks make their horfe-tail standards ;,
the fiberian rock-goat; the white bear of the Frozen-
ocean, and many others. — Of the marine animals
we fhall only mention the white fea-dog of the
Frozen-ocean and two fcetufes of the morfe, pre
served in Spirits, one of them about three inches
and the other a foot in length. — While noticing
the rarities of this compartment we ought not to
omit the bones and Skeletons of rare or non-defcript
animals. The moft important oS theSe are what
paSs under the denomination of mammoht's-bones,
or the Spoils of huge animals found underground in
Siberia and other parts of Ruffia, the exiftence
whereof profeffor Pallas, with no leSs Sagacity than
erudition, deduces from an univerfal deluge, t he
mufeum poffefles the head oS a rhinoceros, thirty-
three inches long and eleven, indie's nine lines in
breadth _;

334 BIRDS 'AND AMPHIBIOUS ANIMALSir
breadth ; the head of an enormous buffalo, it
prefent unknown in every quarter of the world ; ,
twenty-one inches in length and thirteen inches two
lines broad.
Of fluffed birds here are upwards of twelve
hundred.'' The oftrich, the caffiovary, birds of
paradife, cofibris, the golden-beak of Surinam
arid many others, remarkable either for their mag
nitude, their beauty or their fcarcity. The quan
tity qf native birds is much greater. Among the
birds of prey is the mongolian yelloo or bearded
fiberian falcon, which meafures nine feet between
the extremities of its extended wings. The col
lection of water-fowl, among which are many arctic
and kamtlhadale, feveral albatros of the^cean, the
white fiberian crane, and fome others, are peculiar
to the cabinet.
The amphibious animals are preferved in 686
bottles of fpirits ; to which we muft add 437 fer-
pents. From the holt of curious and valuable
objects of this nature we will feledt only the fol
lowing : the cartilaginous or Skinned tortoife ; the
piya well-known for its remarkable method of pro
creation fo different from the ordinary courfe of
nature ; a crocodile half out of the egg ; the Safe
guard, of the lizard genus, which is reported by
its Cry to give notice to the traveller of the ap
proach of the crocodile ; the camelion, which,
is-it is faid, has the faculty of changing its colour.
Among

PISH, INSECTS, &C. 22$
Among the ferpents are the boa, the naya, the
rattle- Snake, &c.
Of the fish, which in number amount to up
wards of four hundred, we Shall only notice the
torpedo, which by its electrical power benumbs
the bodies that touch it ; the fea-wolf; the mola,
which feems to be all head ; various fpecies of
flying-fifh. Among the insects, which occupy 332 bottles,,
is a feries of thirty-feven fcorpions, another of
forty fcorpion- Spiders and fpiders and a number of
tarantulas. — The reptiles and zoophytes are nei
ther very numerous nor well arranged.
The fecond division of the mufeum compre-
, hends works of art, antiquities, instru
ments and models, among which many are cu
rious and valuable, a particular account whereof,
if this were the place for ir, would not be destitute
of intereft to moft of our readers; but, that we
may not protract this fection to a disproportionate
length, we muft content ourfelves with Submitting
only a few of them to a transient review.
Among the decorations with which this Saloon
is ornamented, the original paintings of Rembrandt,
Huchtenboug, Lingelbach.and the miniature paint
ings of the famous Merian, merit obfervation. —
Here are feen feveral coftly beakers and drinking
vessels. One of them, which was a prefent from
•the king of Denmark to Catharine the firft, is en
tirely of gold and of exquisite workmanlhip. The
5 cover

33<» WORKS OF ART AND ANTIQUITIES. !
cover of it rests on three dolphins, enameled-bluey
and round about are inferted a number of antique
and modern gems cut by the ableft artifts*. —
The model of a fountain in one of the public
places at Romej is likewife very remarkable. It
is of Silver, weighing Seven pounds, and in point
of workmanfhip paffes Sor one of the greateft fnaf-
ter-pieces of the kind. It reprefents a large rock
excavated through in four places, on which are
placed the Statues of the four principal rivers in
the world. On the Summit of the rock rifes an
obelifk of red granite covered with hieroglyphics,
which the emperor Caracalla caufed to be brought
to Rome, and pope Innocent the tenth erected over
the Sountain. — • -Among a great variety of poig-
nards is one, confidered as a relict of antient
Greece on account of its excellent antique fculp
ture. The hilt is of oriental agate, the pommel
reprefents the judgement of Paris, the Sheath
combatants engaged, and the end of it the Sports
of Cupid.
Superior to all thefe precious articles, on ac
count of their historical data, are the antient
RELICS FROM THE SIBERIAN SEPULCHRES, which
may be ftyled the ruffian Herculaneum. Thefe
remains of a powerful nation are moftly of Solid
gold, confiding of beakers, utenfils, diadems, mU
* This curiofity was exchanged for the ingenious writing-
defk made by Roentgen, already defcribed, and is now pre- -
ferved in the Hermitage. litary

MODELS. AND CURIOUS MECHANISMS. 337
litary trophies, coats of mail, jewels, idols and
figures of various animals. The tafte and beauty
that prevail in fome of thefe articles, lead to
the conjecture that they were made by foreign
artifts in the fervice of Tfchinghis-khan and his
Succeffor. Among the numerous models preferved in the
muSeum, thoSe from the cabinet of Peter the great
• are particularly remarkable. Here is feen the
model of a Ship of war of. 120 guns and another
of a galley of five and twenty banks of rowers. —
Of the remaining works of art difperSed in various
places, I Shall only mention that Stupendous piece
of mechaniSm, the writing-deSk already deScribed
in the foregoing chapter, and the mechanical per-
forrrfance of a ruffian artift. This latter is a re-
peating-watch, of the form and Size of an egg.
The infide reprefents the fepulchre of Chrift, which
is clofed by a Hone and guarded by two foldiers.
On opening the watch, the angels appear, the
guards fall down, the ftone vanifhes, the holy
women are feen, and the melody of a well-known
ruffian hymn fung at the vefpers of Eafter-day, is
heard. This mafter-piece of mechanifm was
executed by its inventor, under no direction what
ever, and without the ufe of the proper tools, within
the fpace of four years.
A long gallery furrounding one of the grand
Saloons, contains a large quantity of oriental
dresses, ornaments and utenfils. Here are feen
% Chinefe^

338 GALLERY of oriental figures.
Chinefe, Persians, Morduanes, Samoyedes, Oftiaks,
Kirghifes, Buryaetes.Tungufes, Yakutans, Tartars,
Mongoles, Tfchuktfches, Kurilians, Aleutans, Si
berian magicians, as large as life, with their na
tional phyfiognomies, and in their particular habits.
" The eye," fays Bacmeifter, Speaking on this Subject,
" is delighted in Surveying the variety of taftes that
" prevails among thefe feveral tribes, fome of them
" adopted by neceffity and others apparently from the .
" mere didtates of fancy. The Chinefe and Perfians
" drefs in Silks and golden tiffue, the Samoyedes
" wrap themfelves in the Skins of wild beads, the
" Tartars adorn their perfons with pearls and
" cloaths, the Kamtffiadale's wear pelices made of
ec the Skins and plumage of water-fowls, the Scha-
" manes or magicians are hung round with pieces
" of iron Strung together with thongs, the Shoes
" of the chinefe ladies are only fix inches in length,
" and the female Kiro-hifes wear boots iron-fhod
" at the heels and Stuck round with horfe-nails.
" Nothing can be finer than the Silks and femp-
" ftref's-works of the Chinefe ; yet we cannot,
" refufe cur admiration to the induftry of fuch
" nations as, inftead of Silk and needles, employ
" the Sinews of beafts and the bones of fifli, and
" yvith thefe implements execute works which in
" no refpedt yield to embroidery." — And then
the vaft diverfity of phyfiognomies ! From the
extreme confines of a beautiful form according to
our ideas, through all the gradations of ugly,
haggard,

CABINET OF PETER THE GREAT. 339
haggard, ftupid, ghaftly, brutiffi, up to the pin
nacle of hideous, the human countenance is here
feen modified. Long and round heads, flat and
Snub nofes, hogs-eyesand calves-eyes, bearded and
unbearded chins Succeed in grotefque viciflitude.
In one of the arches are drelfes, ftuffs and uten
fils from Otaheite and the South-fea-iflands ; a
kamtfliadale fledge with complete harneSs for fix
dogs, and Similar curiofities Srom remote or hitherto
unknown countries.
One of the moft interefting apartments of the
mufeum to every clals of beholders is unqueftion-
ably the cabinet of peter the great. The
perfect likenefs, by count Raftrelli, in wax, of the
emperor is here feen Sitting under an imperial ca
nopy. The feveral objects with which he is fur-
rounded have a fort of historical confequence.
The peruke is made of the tzar's own hair, the
cloaths of blue gros-de-TourS is the very Same
which he had on at the coronation oS his SpouSe,
and the embroidery on it was worked by the hands
of that princefs. The chair is the identical one in
which he ufed to be Seated on Solemn occafions. —
In the Same room is alfo his complete tiniform of
the preobajenfkoi regiment of guards, his gorget,
his fcarf, his fword, his hat Shot through with a
mufket-ball at the battle of Pultava, and various
other articles of drefs, which by their faffiion and
Simplicity Speak the emperor's turn of mind. In
z 2 the

34° THE famous GOTTORP globe.
the adjoining room are kept a lathe for turning arid
a variety of inftruments and mechanical tools
which Peter was wont to ufe in his hours of re
creation. Among a number of productions of his
own work is a large luftre of ivory pendent from
the cieling. An iron bar forged by himfelf, in
order to encourage the trade in that metal, was in
no need of the admonition contained in the in
fcription to the fpedlator to reflect on the adtivity of
mind poffeffed by that monarch.
Among the great Stock of instruments and
helps to fcience, what deferves to be touched on
firft is. the gottorp globe. This remarkable per
formance of art, whereof at prefent little more
than the name exifts, was begun in the year 1654
at the command of the duke of Holftein, by John
BuSch, under the directions of Olearius, and com
pleted in ten years. At the commencement of
the laft century it was prefented to Peter the great,
by whom it was afterwards given to the academy.
In the great fire that happened there it fuffered fo
much that fcarcely any thing was left of it but
the iron Skeleton. The academy caufed it to be re
paired and1 all the later discoveries marked upon it.
It is now fourteen feet in diameter, on the outer
Surface representing a terreftrial globe and the im.
fide a planetarium : it is entered by flairs and within
are feats round a table. Beneath this is an endlefs
Screw by means whereof the globe is turned- and
thus

copper terrestrial globe. 341
thus Shews the rifing, culminating and fetting of
the Stars, It is placed in a houfe built for the pur
pofe in a fquare formed by the buildings of the
academy. In order to compenfate the loSs oS the gottorp
globe, the academy, Shortly aSter the unfortunate
fire, received a copper terrestrial globe Seven
Seet in diameter, Srom MoSco, made by the heirs
of the famous geographer Bleau, and which the
States-general had prefented to tzar AlexeyMikhai-
lovitch. It is kept in the central vault under the
obServatory. — Among the principal articles of
this kind are likewife an excellent orrery made in
London of a mechanifm as complete as poffible ;
a celeftial globe of gilt copper, having within a
repeating time-piece; a terrestrial globe of filver,
and another which is preferved as the oldeft per
formance of the fort in Ruffia.
The physical apparatus contains, befides the
ordinary and indifpenfable particulars, a chern-
haufian burning lens, the heat whereof in the focus
exceeds the fun-beams in open air 1384 times.
At the experiments made with it in the prefence
of the emprefs Anna, large pieces of pewter and
lead were melted in an inftant on being brought
into the focus, fmall filver coins became fluid in
the Space oS a minute, pieces of Slate were vitrified
in two or three minutes, &c. Here is alio Seen a
metallic lens remarkable for its magnitude and
effedts ; a very large electrical machine, adapted
z3 to

34a THE physical apparatus.
to the greateft variety of experiments ; an oval
eledtrophore upon Volta's plan, the lower plate
whereof being nine feet long and four and a half
broad, is perhaps the largeftnow extant. — Among
the apparatus of the obfervatory is a telefcope by
Dollond fifteen feet in length, an excellent wall-
quadrant and a variety of valuable instruments.
The laft compartment of the mufeum compre
hends the cabinet of coins and medals. The
number of the confular or antient roman medals
amounts, duplicates included, to nine hundred.
There exift no more than a hundred and feventy-
eight with the names of noble roman families in
fcribed on them, and of thofe the mufeum poffeffes
a hundred and twenty-four. The grecian me
dals are about two hundred. The colledtion of
imperators or imperial medals, with the duplicates,
are above fix thoufand in number. Among thefe
is a hrge medal in bronze of Otho, the exiftence
of which has been frequently difputed ; and the
value whereof in thejudgement of all connoifleurs
is beyond all price: a Pertinax and a Pefcenius
Niger, in Silver and copper, both extremely Scarce,
&c. The modern medals, which begin only with
the fifteenth century, amount to 1934.
The Russian coins and medals form a diftinct
part in this collection. They are diftributed into
nine claffes •, eight of them confift of coins without
any legend, having either only tartarian, or tar-
tarian and ruffian, or fimply ruffian infcriptions, till

CABINET OF COINS AND MEDALS. 343
till Peter the great ; amounting in number to about
nine thoufand. The ninth clafs comprehends the
coins and medals from that sera to the prefent
time, and contains about two hundred gold and
filver medals*. — To the ruffian coins fucceed the
punic, gothic, chinefe, japanefe and indian, among
which are many that are extremely rare. But a
peculiar advantage belonging to this cabinet are
the arabian and tartarian coins of the kalits of
Samarkand, Anderabe, Schafch ; of the bolgarian,
krimean and azofean khans, of the golden horde,
&c. All thefe coins together amount to upwards
of eight thoufand.
Such a dry catalogue of curiofities of all thefe
feveral kinds will perhaps prove rather tirefome
than entertaining to the greater part of readers ;
but it was my duty to give the fmaller a brief Spe
cification of the matters of moft importance to
fcience contained in this repofitory, even at the
expence of the general amufement. A few re
marks on the outward ftrudture of the mufeum
Shall conclude this head.
* A few days after writing the above, I faw in the mufeum
qf the academy ninety-four medals in bronze, the beginning
of a collection which the late emprefs had caufed to be ftruck
for the benefit of ruflian hiftory. Thefe ninety-four comprize
only the period from Rurik to Yaropolk the fecond. The'
remainder, however, followed in due time. The die is by
Gafs, and the execution is worthy in all refpefts of fo great
an artift.
z 4 The

344- ANATOMICAL CABINET.
The edifice is fpacious and well lighted ; a fuite
of magnificent halls, in the main body of the
academical Structures, is devoted to the preserva
tion of thefe valuable treafures. In the difpofition
more attention has beera paid to, the fuitablenefs
of the room and a ftriking appearance than to a
Systematical arrangement. The librarian oS the
academy, who has at the Same time the care oSthe
mufeum, is reSponfible Sor the proper preservation
of its contents. At the firft opening of it, it was
found neceffary to allure the public by refresh
ments; but at prefent the concourfe of perfons
eager to gratify their curiofity is fo great as to
¦ render it expedient to limit the means of accefs to
a particular permission of the director. As this
however may be obtained without much difficulty
it can rarely happen that any one, whether foreigner
or native, Should have juft reaSon to complain of
this regulation.
After the account of this great and pre-eminent
inftitution, a furvey of the public colledtions of
the fecond rank cannot excite much intereft ; and
yet among thefe are treafures and curiofities which
might be often fought for in vain in fuperb col
lections. Under this category may be reckoned
the instructive collection of the celebrated Lieber^
kuhn, now preferved in the anatomical cabinet
of the medical college. It contains a feries
of excellent anatomical preparations preferved in
Spirits of wine, with the complete apparatus of
chirurgical

MINERAL CABINET. 34c
chirurgical and microfcopical inftruments, belong
ing to that collection. — Not lefs remarkable in its
way is the mineral-cabinet of the mine-cadet
corps, reckoned by connoiffeurs the firft and com-
pleteft in the ruffian empire. It contains above
thirty-fix thouSand Specimens oS minerals, befides
thoSe colledted in the country, brought together
by the purchafe of very eminent foreign cabinets.
This inftitution likewife poffeffes a confiderable
colledtion of phyfical and mathematical inftru
ments for fubterranean furveys and admeafure-
ments, models of machines, an affay-office, a Small
obServatory, and, what is more attractive to the in
quisitive Stranger than all the reft, an artificial
mine, with ShaSts, layers, veins, trenches, &c. of
fufficient magnitude for the fpedlator to enter
and obtain a vifible and fatisfactory idea of the
art of mining.
I pafs over feveral inferior collections belonging
to public inftitutions that I may juft mention the
great cabinet of models in a houfe built for that
purpofe contiguous to the marblechurch of St. Ifaac.
Here are feen not only the neatly finiffied models
of the fuperb edifices already fubfifting in the city
or that are ftill in embryo, but alfo a colledtion of
the various kinds of ruffian ftone in polifhed fpe
cimens. — The model-cabinet of the oeconomical
fociety is likewife worthy of obfervation, as con
taining many new inventions, foreign and domeftic,
for the benefit of agriculture and husbandry. One

346 THE IMPERIAL MUSEUM.
One of the richeft and choiceft colledtions, the
imperial museum, in the Hermitage, I have not
yet mentioned, becaufe it cannot be comprehended
either among the public or private inftitutions.
Concerning the curiofities contained in this, as
may well be imagined, grand cabinet, few data are
in poffeffion of the public. The transient furvey
which may be eafily obtained in the fummer-
months, affords but a very general and imperfect
knowledge of a multitude of rare objedts of various
kinds, even if thefe vifits be frequently repeated."
The colledtion of natural-hiftory had its principal
foundation in the well-furniftied cabinet of the
famous Pallas, which Catharine the fecond bought
for twenty thoufand rubles. The collection of
•antiques, works of art and jewels fills a large hall
lined with preffes ; and the fight oS them is only
allowed through glaSs doors. Dazzled by the
idea oS the immenfe value and the luftre of thefe
maffes oS gold and precious ftones, the beholder
uSually returns without obtaining the end of his
-vifit. The collection of copper-plate engravings
contains upwards of thirty-thoufand prints by the 
greateft and moft eminent matters. Among the
colledtions of the emprefs were likewife a cabinet
of coins and medals and another of gems a'nd
paftes, in the enriching where.of Catharine em
ployed herfelf, with the zeal of a real amateur and
with imperial profusion. Among

the botanical gardens. 347
Among the moft remarkable cabinets of this
kind at prefent fubfifting in St, Peterfburg, per
haps the following may be reckoned. The mu
feum of the late count Ivan Chernichef. It con
fifts of paintings, engravings, works of fculpture;
antiques, gems, performances of art and ingenuity;
inftruments, charts, maps, models of Ships, Sec. —
Not lefs known is that of count Stroganof ; besides
a rich collection of minerals, it contains a fuite of
anatomical preparations worthy of notice : works
of art, paintings, engravings, as' the ordinary ob
jects of vertu, are not here forgotten. — In the
cabinets of count Alexey Razumoffky and of prince
Galitzin are principally feen minerals ; the latter
fome years ago added to his collection that of
general Soimonof, for which he paid twenty
thoufand rubles. Olfufief's collection of prints
was reckoned the moft numerous and exquifite
after that of the emprefs.
To conclude, among the helps to Science we
have ftill to notice the. botanical gardens. In
St. Petersburg are two of them for the ufe of the
public, that of the academy of fciences and that
under the care of the medical college. The ceco
nomical Society had formed the project of having
one; whether it has been executed I cannot afcer-
tain. Among thofe belonging to private perfons
that of profeffor Pallas was particularly eminent,
as well for exotic as indigenous plants ; fince his
departure

348 PRINTING AND BOOKSELLING.
departure from the residence, however, to fettle in
Taurida, that has fallen to other proprietors.
For completing the tafk prefcribed to us in the
head of the prefent chapter, it remains to Shew, the
State of the peculiar and proximate means to all
kinds of literature, the art of printing, to which
muft be added that of bookselling. If the former
may be juftly denominated the midwife of thought
and reflection, the latter is not lefs a benefadtor to
them, by promoting their circulation. Both, in
the prefent ftate of things, are fo neceffiry, that
without them a nation can have no pretence to li
terature, and literature without them can have no
hopes of making any general progrefs.
While Catharine the fecond reigned there were
fourteen printing-offices in the refidence; which
for more conveniently viewing them- we will di
stribute into three clafies. To the firft then be
long thoSe connected with the great departments of
administration and are employed only in theiv fer
vice. Thefe are three in number : that of the
holy Synod, that of the fenate, and that of the col
lege of war. The firft is confined to theological
works, moftly in the Slavonian language. — To the
fecond clafs we Shall reckon thofe belonging to the
public feminaries of learning and that work for
the public. The greateft of thefe is the printing-
office of the academy of fciences, which keeps
eighteen preffes at work and a letter-foundery.
The

IMPROVEMENT IN TYPOGRAPHY. 349
The printing-offices of the land and fea-cadet corps
and of the grecian corps have in general neat types
and were constantly increafing their bufinefs. —
Of the private printing-offices that of Weitbrecht
and Schnoor may vie with the moft eminent in fo
reign parts. The latter has a tartarian compofing-
room, which, befides ukaSes and School-books, has
Sent out a Koran printed with great elegance. Al
moft all theSe establishments have their own letter-
founderies ; the printing-office of Breitkopf prints
likewife mufic. By the exertions and induftry of
thefe Germans the art has been fo greatly improved
in this country that the ruffian character has now
almoft entirely loft its ugly wooden look ; and, in
regard to its pleafing appearance and tafte may
rank with the latin or at leaft above the german.
Among the later productions of thefe preffes are
feveral that in point of typographical excellence
may be put in competition with the moft fuccefsful
attempts of other countries in this department, of
which I Shall only mention the latin and ruSs edi
tion oS Pallas's Flora Roffica, as a work well
known abroad. Engraved title-pages, copper
plates and vignettes are indeed not very common to
ruffian books •, but, on the other hand, nothing is
Seen here of that wretched finking paper, on which
in Germany the very beft works of the nation con
tinue to be tranfmitted to immortality. The high
price of all kinds of neceffaries in the refidence and
the proportionate TiSe of wages, naturally occafion the

gjJO LICENSER OP THE PRESS.
the expence of printing a book to be greater here
than in Smaller towns ; but on the whole it is not
fo high as the dearnefs of all ruffian books would
lead one to imagine. ' Five, hundred copies of a
flieet in medium odlavo, including the paper, come
to about fifteen rubles in the printing-houfes here;
confequently three kopeeks per Sheet Seems to be
the mean price. — We cannot difiniSs this Subjedt
without adding a word or two on one of its near
relations, the licenser.
The great confequences that may enfue from
the diffemination of pernicious or what are deemed
pernicious principles by the art of printing, have
excited in almoft all countries a particular vigi
lance over this branch of human activity, which
very often degenerates into a feverity hoftile to
the civil liberty and the fpirit of the times. On
the other hand,. the intimate concern which man
kind take and ever muft take in a matter of Such
importance, has called forth a multitude of the
moft enlightened perfons of all nations to the in
vestigation of it, and to purify the arguments for
and againft it by fubmitting them to a moral or
deal. At prefent the grand queftion feems to be
anfwered, and the value or worthleffneSs of the
liberty of the prefs and the office of alicenSer. fully
afcertained. The Share taken byr Ruffia during Ca
tharine's wi^e and lenient administration in the pro-
greffive improvement oS the reft oS Europe cannot
be denied to its beneficial influence even in this
important

LIBERTY OF, THE PRESS. 35 I
important part of government ; a princefs from
whofe pen fo many excellent compofitions flowed
and who kept a literary correfpondence with the
greateft philofophers of her time, could never
throw obstacles in the way of the farther improve
ment of the human mind. She granted the nation
a full liberty of the prefs*; but the generous con
fidence in mankind from whence it proceeded, was,
as on other occafions, abufed, and the confequence
proved, that the different courSe purSued by na
tions to their maturity demands different rules for
its condudt. A nation, which, juft rouzed to the
perception of its faculties and in its firft efforts to
. employ them, may eafily err, cannot difpenfe with
a fenfible direction, by the .assistance whereof it
may make rapid Strides and reach its aim without
violent convulsions.
Latterly all printed works were fubmitted to a
licenfer provided by the office of police. The
precept, as far as it is known, by which he was to
be' guided, extended only to the general principle,
* Though this fact may perhaps never have got abroad
either by ukaies or by the accounts of contemporaries, it is
not, however, the lefs certain. The fubjedt was brought for
ward on occafion of the opening the firft" private printing-
office in St. Peterlburg (for thofe belonging to the govern
ment-departments or the public feminaries have cenfors ap -
pointed from their own body) and it was then determined
that there was no need of a licenfor ; but that authors ar„d
printers, as was highly proper, fhould be anfwerable fox any
tranfgreflions againft the laws of the country. that

352 BOOKS IMPORTED. f
that nothing fhould appear contrary to religion, to
the government and to good manners. This in
determinate mode of expression, when left to the
expofition of a liberal minded man, maybe as ad
vantageous to the caufe of propriety, as, in the
oppofite cafe, by a mistaken zeal of office or the
extreme of caution, it might be prejudicial to
literature. The vigilance of this licenfing officer of police
was confined to the refidence or rather to the books
coming from the private printing-offices; all lite
rary productions imported from abroad were Strictly
both in the proper and figurative SenSe, Sree oS all
taxation. The duty enjoined to the officers of
the cuftoms in this refpedt could not, in the nature
of the cafe, be completely executed, as few of
them have leifure and inclination, fagacity and
knowledge of languages enough for the proper
difcharge of fo difficult an office if it were exadted
in its full extent. Accordingly, in the bookfeller's
Shops and reading focieties were feen literary pro
ductions in the greateft variety, and even fuch as
in many famous and enlightened countries would
have been prohibited, but here, in confcious virtue
bold, under the zegis of a vigilant police, and
with refpedt to the reading part of the public,
might be very fafely tolerated. Even at the time
when, in moft other countries, apprehensions were
entertained of violent explosions, when in Stock
holm and even in Amftcrdam the importation of
french

trAde of bookselling. 353
french gazettes and journfals was Strictly forbidden,
at that very time there Jay open in a refpedtable
bookseller's ffiop at St. Peterfburg a complete ca
talogue of all the french publications that had ap
peared concerning the revolution. This indulgence
was continued till the beginning of 1793, when it
of courfe became greatly contracted by the general
prohibition of french commodities, as in that edict
the importation of all french journals and periodical
publications is likewife forbidden.
The bookselling trade of St. Peterlburg,
which, only a Sew years Since, was a very trifling
bufineSs, and in regard to foreign literature was
confined to the academical book-Shops alone ; had
extended So Sar in the year 1793 that there were
ten foreign and' about twice as many ruffian book-
fellers in the city. This rapid increaSe, which may
be considered as the Surest criterion of progreffive
improvement, diffufed its effects, not only over
the refidence but even through the remoteft parts
of the country, which are fupplied with almoft all
their books from this city and from Mofco. To
wards the clofe of the emprefs 's reign book-Shops, a
thing unheard of before, were feen in the markets
and at the fairs of the provincial towns, which
found in this new commodity a thriving trade. In
the great market-places of the refidence, under the
arcades of the Goftinnoi Dvor, where formerly pro
vifions of all forts were to be had except thofe
for the mind, fpaoious warehoufes of books arofe
a a which

354 foreign booksellers.
which were feldom void of cuftomers. In all the
ruffian Shops the books were fold either bound or
at leaft fewed ; but this convenience, which I am
' inclined to fet aigreat value on, by no means
compenfated for the extraordinary dearnefs of all
printed works.
Of the foreign bookfellers Weitbrecht had the
largest catalogue of claffical productions Srom
abroad, particularly of the french. But neither
"this nor the other german and french Shops could
rarely SatisSy Sudden demands for the novelties of
the day, though fo numeroufly furniffied with
works of long Standing. The difficulty of the
tranfport, the maritime commerce which was at
a ftand during the long winter, the uncertainty of
a demand and the indifference of the Shopkeepers,
who with very little induftry had the art of becom
ing rich, were fo many hindrances in the way of
the friends of literature, which were not to be fur
mounted or weakened without great, lofs of time
and money. It was therefore not unufual for
readers or collectors to agree together and order
their books from Riga or direct from'Germany ;
whereby, befides the faving of time, they found
themfelves better off than by tamely fubmitting to
the arbitrary practices of thefe unmerciful mono
polists. But, as there is no evil in the world that
has not its good confequences, it was to thefe very
difficulties that the reading societies owed their
existence. Thefe ufeful inftitutions, which, with out

reading societies. 5J55
OUt wishing to afcribe to them more merit than they
deferve, at leaft awakened and nourifhed an incli
nation for intellectual fatisfadtions and fedate and
folitary entertainment, met in a Short time with
fuch general approbation, that even the violent
enthufiafm with which they were entered into,
formed but a bad prognoftic of the durability of
this diredtion of tafte. Moft of them, however,
were well conducted and their books properly
chofen, making fome trifling abatements for the
influence of fine ladies and idle young fops. Tra
vels, hiftories and anecdotes of the times, and
belles-lettres, are here, as in Germany, the fa>-
vourite reading ; only with this difference, that
the tafte here is not fubjedt to fuch rapid viciffi*.
tudes of humour as in the latter country, where
the catalogue of every Leipfick fair prefents the
pattern-card of the faffiion of the moment* The
various declinations of the german readers to fen-
timentals, to fenfibilities, to myftification, to pure
reafon, to cryptocatholicifm, to the tragical, to
the heroical, to the horrid, to the tales of hob
goblins and knight-errantry — all thefe revolutions
in faffiion, which, within a period of ten or fifteen
years, have alternately' fucceeded on the theatre of
german literature, have not been able to produce
any effedt on the fettled tafte or the infenfibility
oS the people of Peterfburg. Too remote from.
the bufy fcene of contending opinions and parties
for being greatly interested by the charm of novelty,
a a a and

3^6 PRODUCTIONS OF RUSSIAN AUTHORS,,
' and too immerfed in Sensualities to engage ferioulfy
under the banners of either one or the other in a
conflict where thofe can have nothing to gain ; they
contemplate the ftruggle and the collision, till the
reSult arifing Srom the fermenting maSs Shortly in
forms them which has got the better ; a method
extremely judicious, as their eyes, not dazzled by
the fpirit of /party, the more readily open to vic
torious truth.
It would be next to impossible to give a complete
view of all the new and remarkable productions in
the republic of ruffian literature, as critical jour
nals, literary advertifements,, and even copious
catalogues are at this place extremely rare. There
is here no other way of acquiring any information
of this nature, than by inquiring at the different
book-Shops after recent publications ; and therefore
it is late before even important and interefting
works come to the knowledge of the public. How
ever, by the affiftance and communications of
feveral literary acquaintance, in addition to the
reSult oS my own inquiries, I can venture to give
the reader a view of the most considerable pro
ductions of Russian authors, confining my
felf, however, to the literature of the refidence,
and in point of time to the reign of Catharine II.
Defective and dry as fuch an account muft be for
want of room for critical and analytical difquifi-
tions on the feveral authors, and the fubjedts of
their publications, yet it will be found not entirely
deftitute

RUSSIANS IN THE MIDDLE-AGES 357
destitute of refults that may enable us to form
fome judgement of the ftate of national literature.
Deceived by the obfcurity that overfpreads the
hiftory ot the middle ages, we are apt to fee in
the Ruffians of that period only a warlike, but
rude and uncivilized people, entirely Strangers to
arts and fciences. The traces of a fuperior cul
tivation which appear in the annalists*,' and which
the induftry of modern hiftorians have drawn forth
to light, are fufficient refutations of this inveterate
prejudice, and eftablifh the probability, that pre
vious to the well-known fubjugation by the Tar
tars, there was a period when the ruffian nation
merited the appellation of a civilized people. The
knowledge and the ufe of the cyrillifh characters,
and the Slavonian tfanflation oS the bible in the
ninth century ;, the Schools which aSterwards the
grand duke Vladimir founded-; the inclination of
that prince to the •fine arts; the poetical para-
phraSe of the pfalms, which about that time be
gan to be fung in the churches ; the code of civil
law which YaroflaLVladimirovitch gave to the
Novogradians about the year 1019 ; the Splendor
of his court, which even foreign contemporary
hiftorians mention with aftoniffiment; laftly, the
monuments of painting, an art which revived in
jluffia earlier by a whole century than in Italy : all
* For a more particular account of Nestor and the other
anhali-fts, fee profelfor Schlcetzer'spiece's in the Selections from
Foreign Journals, published by Debrett, vol, ii. p. 293.
A A 3 thefe,

358 EP0CHA OF PETER THE GREAT.
thefe, and numberlefs other evidences of a confi
derable degree of culture, leave no room to doubt
that the Ruffians of thofe times had attained to a
pitch of improvement, which the other nations of
Europe did not reach till a much later a?ra. Under
the domination of the Tartars, this fair dawn of a
glorious day was entirely clouded ; and, during
that difmal epocha, the diftanced nations of our
quarter of the globe fo far outstripped the Ruffians,,
that to this moment, notwithftanding the great
exertions they have made, they have riot been
able to recover their ground. Rouzed by the fen
timent oS their oppression to an unintermitted re-
fiftance, the diSpofition to the arts oS peace, for
which they had been fo honourably diftinguiffied,
was loft in that martial furywhich rendered their
name fo formidable in later ages: till at length
it required the fucceffive exertions of two great
princes to revive the dormant faculties, and to
connect the name of a brave and fpirited, with
the more amiable epithet of a humane and en
lightened nation.
With the reign of Peter the great, began a frefh
epocha in the civilization of Ruffia. A new and
vaft territory was conquered for the fciences ; ufe
ful branches of knowledge, like exotic plants,"
were tranfplanted and throve in this foil ; the na
tional genius expanded itfelf under the genial
breath of a more mild and profperous age : the
language was depurated, enriched, and formed; authors

EPOCHA OF CATHARINE II. _59
authors of talents appeared and produced works
which excited the enthufiafm of the nation, and
the efteem of foreigners. A Short llumber fuc
ceeded to this Shining period, apparently not
fo much the effedt of a premature effort, as of
the neglect under which the capacities of the coun
try languifhed.
Catharine the fecond arofe, and diffuSed around
her a renovated and increaSed animation. Encou
raged by the example of this great monarch, who
held it not beneath her dignity to carry the torch
before the national genius, it once more ventured,
with ftill bolder efforts, to engage in the nobleft
Strife of mortals, the contention for excellence in
intellectual and moral improvement. The pro
grefs She made in emulating her more cultivated
neighbours, is worthy the attention of the reft of
Europe. A philofophical Sketch of ruffian litera
ture previous to the days of Peter the. great, as it
was through his means, and as it now is, muft be
an interefting fragment for the hiftory of mankind.
— All that we can here pretend to communicate
are fingle Strokes, which, however complete they
may be in themfelves, without combination with
the whole, muft ever afford only partial conclufions,
and can lead to no certain judgment.
Theology, or what fometimes bears that name,
was no where entirely negledted in the barbarous
times of the middle ages . and, on the revival of
the fciences, was one of the firft departments in
a a 4 ' which

36Q THEOLOGY,
which ingenious men endeavoured to excel. Ac
cordingly in Ruffia this field did not lie totally un-.
cultivated, as is proved by the contents of the1
moriaftic libraries : but it was refer ved for the age
of Catharine to give birth to a plainer fyftem and
a popular christian morality"*. Who can be igno
rant of the name and the merit of the venerable-
Plato ? His compendium of chriftian theology,
translated into Several languages, has gained him,
even among the members oS foreign communions,
the reputation of an enlightened divine and a ufe-f
ful author. It is well known that in the fervice of
the greek church, pulpit difcourfes .were extremely
rare; the late emprefs, who clearly perceived their
utility, and knew the effect which the public de
livery of leffons of a fuperior morality, fubftan-
fciated by the example of the divine author of our
religion, muft have upon the hearts of men, gave
great encouragement to facred eloquence with the
utmost energy and the happieft effects. Among
the prelates who diftinguiffied themfelves by their
homiletical talents and as authors, are principally
to be noticed, Gabriel metropolitan of Novgorod.,
«
* Theophane Prokopovitch was the firft ruflian divine..
who reduced the dogma, and the charadteriftic dotlrines of
his phurch, to a confiftent fyftem. His principal work is
compofed in latin, under the title of Chriftidna ortjiodoxa
theologia. His , fpiritual difcourfes, which are deemed claf-
lical performances, are fometimes read in the churches during.
divme fervice. He died archbifliop of Novgorod in the;
year 1736. and

LAW. 36I
and St. Petersburg, Innocentius archbifliop of
Pfcove and Riga, and Irenasus bifhop of Kafchin
and Tver. The fermons of thefe worthy divines
are profitable, not alone to the reading clafs of the
nation, but from being delivered occafionally in
the churches by imperial command. — Her ma
jefty's inftitutions for inftrudlion in the elements of
religion, and for diffeminating among the common
people a rational perSuafion, inftead of "a blind at
tachment to outward ceremonies, are univerfally
known and approved.
Law has been hitherto the pooreft department
pf ruffian literature. Excepting the lectures which
are given at the univerfity of Mofco, there are no
public leffons in this fcience ; a general know
ledge of the laws of the country, and a moderate
Share of natural or acquired logic, are fufficient
for forming a tolerable practitioner. The whole
produce therefore of this field of literature is con
fined to feveral colleftions, which have been made
from the old law-books, and of the ukafes of Peter
the great and his fucceffors. The ana which Ca
tharine's legislation Sorms in -the hiftory of the
ruffian conftitution, will probably be favourable to
the advancement of this ftudy, as in the new in
ftitutions for the administration of juftice, and in
all the ordinances relating to it, a more confiftent
plan prevails, which renders the Scientific culture
of this fyftem, and the reduction of it to general
principles, not only practicable, but even in fome
degree

/

36a MEDICINE AND SURGERT.
degree neceffary * . A Angularly remarkable
phaenomenon in this department muft not be
here unnoticed : the ruffian translation of Black-
ftohe's commentaries on the laws of England,
which was fome years fince brought out by im
perial command.
Even medicine was but lately in fo unculti
vated a ftate, that in the year 1770 perhaps there
were not three books on medical fubjedts. The
progrefs of ruffian literature in this department is
the more remarkable, as a great part of the treatifes
and works relating to it were compofed in the
latin tongue, and therefore cannot here be quoted.
Among the phyficians who have deferved well of
their country in this art, the following have .come
to our knowledge :^ Ambodik, privy-counfellor
and profefSbr of midwifery, who has eminently
contributed to the enriching of ruffian medical
literature. He is the author of a plain and prac
tical Manual of the art of midwifery, a Phyfiology,
a Materia medica, and an Anatomical physiologi
cal dictionary, in rufs, latin, and french. An en
larged and reformed translation of Saucerotte's ce
lebrated Examen, under the title of, A brief ex-?
aminationof inveterate prejudices and notions con
cerning pregnant women, lying-in women, and
new-born children; a book that has already gone
* A fyftem of ruffian legiflation appeared about ten or
twelve years ago at Mofco. , through

MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 363
through feveral editions, is alfo from his pen. He
is likewife the translator of Schreiber's guide to
the knowledge and cure of outward and inward
difeafes, and of Home's Principia medicina?. Tif-
Sot's writings : Avis au peuple, and oS the dis
orders incident to the learned are alSo translated
into ruSs ; the Sormer by the academician Ozeretz-
kofSky, and the latter by Dr. Schumlianlky ; who
is likewiSe the author of a treatife on the Perfec
tion of the moft ufeSul Science5*. Various Small
medical pieces of M. Tichorfky can only be gene
rally mentioned here, as we have no distinct and
accurate knowledge of them. The ravages made
feveral years ago by the plague in fome districts of
the ruffian empire occasioned a multitude of writ
ings on this dreadful fcourge of the human race,
whereof feveral are become honourably known
abroad *\~; on this occafion too Dr. Richard Mead's
differtation on the plague was translated into ruSs.
Von Swieten's description oS camp SickneSSes has
found a tranflator in Dr. Terekhofiky : and baron
Dimfdale's Method of inoculating the fmall-pox,
in an anonymous admirer.- — With the fame laud
able zeal as the foregoing ruffian phyficians, feve
ral Germans, who were fufficiently matters of the
language, employed their talents and induftry in
* Medicine.
t For example, Dr. Samoilovitch's diflertation on the
plague, of which a german translation has appeared. adding

364 PHILOSOPHICAL LITERATURE.
adding to the riches of this department. Dr.
Bacheracht published a popular book on Several
diSeaSes; another on intemperance in Senfual en
joyments ; a propoSal for preferving the health of
Seamen ; a treatife on the Scurvy, and Some others,
M. Vien, Secretary oS the college of medicine,
published a very complete Loimology^ The privy
counfellor Pekin is the author of a Phyfiology and
Pyrethology, for ufe at lectures; and the translator
of Richter's Elements of furgery. Spedikati wrote
a controversial piece on the fcurvy againft Bacheracht.
A translation of Gaubii Inftitutiones pathologic
medicinae, was published by profeffor Hoffmann.
An entirely new appearance, the firft of its kind,
is a medical Weekly publication in rufs, conducted
by two phyficians of St. Peterfburg, Dr. Uhden
and Dr. Ellifen.
Whatever 'pleafure we feel in contemplating this
rapid progrefs of medical, we can find none in the
furvey of philosophical literature, which, be-,
fides an elementary book of natural law by Solotr
nitzky, has no original work, and, except the
translations of detached articles of the french En
cyclopedic, has no verfion to produce, if we ex
cept the petty brochures which may be claffed in
the diftridt of morals*. The field of political
osconomy,
* It muft be remembered that we fpeak only of Peterf
burg. Mofco has in this, as well as in many other de
partments of literature, produced good original works and
tranflations.

POLITICAL AND RURAL CEC0NOMY. _6$
qsConomy, is not altogether So barren, though the
whole produce oS it confifts in translations. The
moft important oS them is undoubtedly Montef-
quieu's ESprit des loix by KramarenkoS. The
Same author's tract Sur les cauSes de la grandeur et
de la decadence de 1' empire romain ; St. Pierre's
philoSophical dream oS an everlasting peace ; Cal-
liere's work De la maniere de negocier avec les
Souverains ; &c. have likewife Sound tranflators.
Jufti's Foundation of the authority of governments
is put into rufs by the affeffor Bogajeflky, and that
well-known book, Les interets des nations de
l'Europe relativement au commerce, by Bafchilof.
We fliall only mention farther the translation of
Neckar's book De l'adminiftration des finances de
la France j and the adaptation of Bechmann's
Foreft-calendar to the exigencies of the ruffian
empire, as thefe publications are the moft import
ant of their fpecies. On rural ceconomt a
great number of particular tracts have appeared,
indebted moftly for their existence to the ceconomi
cal fociety. The colledtion already published by the
fociety forms a confiderable agricultural library,
amounting now to upwards of forty volumes.
tranflations. A periodical publication, the Mofco journal,
fet up not long fince, is endeavouring to fupply this defecl .
One objeft of this magazine fedms to be to call the attention
¦of the public to the great revolution which Kant has brought
: about in philofophy. In

366 PHYSICS AND NATURAL HISTORY. ,
In physics artd natural history, which tefl
or fifteen years ago could fcarcely ffiew a fingle
book, and for which a new language was to be
framed, much has lately been produced. The
original inveftigations with which the academicians
Lepekhin, Ozeretzkoffky, Sokolof, Suyef,.' &c.
have enriched thefe fciences, are known to the
learned abroad through the works of the academy.
The french tract of count Gregory Razumoflky on
mineralogy, and various papers of the fame author
inferted in the adts of the helvetic fociety, are a
proof how much the ftudy of nature is prized and
profecuted even among the great. But flill greater
notice is due to the attempts to extend the culture
of phyfics and natural hiftory in the national
tongue. Among the greateft and moft brilliant
undertakings of this kind muft be reckoned the
complete, as far as poffible, Flora Roffica, or bo
tanical and ceconomical defcription of all the
plants growing wild in Ruffia, with plates drawn
and coloured from nature, by the academician
Pallas at the command of the emprefs. To fay
any thing of the execution of this work would be
Superfluous, as the public oS all Europe is in pof-
feffionoS Specimens of it, and withal as fomething
extraordinary was to be expected from the plan of
Such a princefs as Catharine the Second, Srom the
means afforded by fuch a country as Ruffia, and
from the abilities of fuch a man as Pallas. The
engravings

PHYSICS AND NATURAL HISTORY. 367
engravings amount to upwards of fix hundred.
The magnificence with which this work appears is
worthy of fuch an undertaking : it is printed at
the imperial expence, and is, in all refpedls, a
noble prefent to the fciences and the country, as
the copies are only diftributed gratis. — Among
the original works, belonging to the department,
of natural hiftory, Suyef 's elements of this fci
ence, for the ufe of the higher fchools, and Le-
pekhin's tract on the neceffity of examining into
the medicinal virtues of the indigenous plants,
deferve to be mentioned on account of the utility
of their defign. The tranflations, made with a
view to facilitate the ftudy of natural knowledge,
may be difpofed in the following order : Locke's
Elements of phyfics, anonymus : Euler's Letters
to a german princefs, by the academician Rumof-
fky : Krafft's Plan of a courfe of phyficaf experi
ments, from the french manufcript of Schirokoy :
Macquer's Elements of theoretical and practical
chemiftry, by FlorinSky : Erxieben's chemiftry,
bySokolof: Lefke> natural hiftory, by Ozeretz-
koffky: Cronftedt's mineralogy, after Brunnich's
edition, by Kurduman : Valch's lapidarium, and
Lehmann's mineralogy, by Nartof : Kirwan's mi
neralogy and Renovantz rnineralogical defcription
of the mines of the Altay mountains, by the aca
demician Severgin : Cancrin's elements of mine
ralogy and falt-works, &c.
& The

'_&& MATHEMATICS AND HISTORY;
The attempts of the natives in the mathemA^
tical fciences are not merely confined to the
papers which the academicians Kotelnikof, Ru-
moffky, Inokhodzof, &c. have published in the
Acta Petropolitana. An effay by the former on the
doctrine of equipoize and the motion of bodies ;
Siretufchkin's plan for the improvement of land-
furveying; the elementary books of mathematics
by Kofelfky, Anitfchkof, and RumofSky ; a manual
for voyages by fea, &c. are among the later ori
ginal performances. Among the translations we
are to distinguish thofe of Wolff's compend. eiem.
Mathefeos, Euler's theory of the construction, &e.
of Ships by Golovin, and Veidler's guide, to the
knowledge of mines. A translation of the algebra
of the academician Fufs has lately appeared.
We pafs by the department of the mIlstary
art, which has been latterly enriched by feveral
original works and translations, in order to rtiake
the reader acquainted with the moft remarkable
productions in history, which >the imperial refi
dence produced towards the clofe of the late reign...
On no field of literature has fo much labour been
beftowed, and none has fuch excellent fruits to
fliew. By the example and encouragement of the
emprefs great pains were taken to difpel the ob-
fcurity in which the early accounts of the country
had been involved. In 1779 Catharine gave or
ders to the college of foreign affairs to employ
perfons>

OLD RUSSIAN MANUSCRIPTS. 369
perfons, for the ruffian hiftory, in making a col
lection of public treaties, ancient and modern, after
the model of the corps diplomatique of Dumont,
tinder the direction of the celebrated profeffor
Muller of Mofco, keeper of the archives of that
college. She afterwards iffued a command to the
fynod to make diligent Search for old ruffian manu
fcripts in the two libraries belonging to that Sacred
body ; and then, under the care and infpedtion of
perfons competent to the undertaking, to cauSe,
firft, the moft antient and moft difficult to be un-
derftood, and afterwards the reft to be faithfully
tranfcribed and printed. This order was prefently
after followed by another, to ranfack the libraries
of all the monafteries throughout the empire for
chronicles and other manufcripts relative to the
country. Thefe commands, the fatisfaction which
the perfons employed experienced in the perufal
of thefe manufcripts, and the rewards with which
feveral of them were further encouraged, Soon
had the wifhed-for effects •, effects of fuch import
ance to the elucidation of ruffian hiftory, that a
great number of curious writings, for the moft
part entirely unknown before, and the reft ex
tremely rare, were laid before the public. The
following, which have come to our knowledge, we
can mention by name :
The Book of the tzars, or annals of the reign.
of tzar Ivan Vaffillievitch, from September 1533 to
March 1553. From a manufcrif t written on loofe
b b Sheets

37° JOURNALS, ANNALS, UKASES.'
Sheets in the patriarchal library of Mofco, pub-
•lifhed by prince SchtScherbatof. The reft, moft pro
bably, had been confumed for wafte paper.
Journal of Peter the great, from the year 1698
to the peace of Nyftadt (October 1721)) printed
from that in the imperial cabinet, written with
the emperor's own hand. The editor is prince
Schtfcherbatof, who had permission Srom the em
prefs to examine the archives there oS Peter the
great, and to put them in order.
An'nalsof the empire, reach Srom 1414101472.
The editor is prince SchtScherbatof. The MS. was
found in the library of prince Gallitzin.
;- Year-book of .the intestine diftufbances and de
vastations of the mofcovite empire, from 15.84 to
1655. This was taken by M. Muller as his guide
in his effay towards a modern hiftory of Ruffia.
The editor is unknown.
. Fidler's panegyric on the tzar Borice Godunof.
From the latin MS. by Voronof.
Campaign of the boyar and commander Schein,
(1696,) from a MS. by Ruban.
The old annalift, from 125410 1379, by order,
of the emprefs', from a MS. in the academy. of
Sciences.- Letters and ukafes of Peter the great to vice-
admiral Sinievin. The originals are in the hands of
his fon admiral Sinaevin, who published them.
Life of the patriarch Nicon. From feveral
inanufcripts.
An

historical publications* 371
An historical journal, under the title of The old
ruffian library, by NovikoS, containing accounts of
embaffies, curious letters, defcription of antient
uSages, hiftorical and geographical particulars,
works of the old ruffian bards, &c.
Not content, by her wiSe inftitutions;, with hav
ing opened an acceSs to hiftorical Sadts, Catharine
the Second gave a model, in her Pieces relating to
ruffian hiftory_, well known throughout Europe,
in what manner the hiftory oS the country ffiould
be explored and treated. A challenge of this fort,
from fo high a quarter, could not long be void of
effect. Without reverting to the times of Suma-
rokof, of Tatifchtfchef, and Lomonofof, the firft
ruffian hiftorians who had the art of combining
hiftorical criticifm and reprefentation together, we
fliall content ourfelves with barely noticing the
moft remarkable original productions of the laft
twenty years. The moft honourable place in this
feries, is held by the Ruffian hiftory of prince
Schtfcherbatof, who employed his indefatigable
activity for the greater part of his life in becoming
the historian of his country. Of the fuccefs of his
endeavours, the lefs heed here be faid, as the book
is known abroad by a german tranflation. The
critique on le Clerc's hiftory of antient and modern
Ruffia, by. major-general Boltin, lately deceafed*
is efteemed by all judges of ruffian literature as an
excellent performance, in which doubtful facts
and antiquated errors a/re corrected with penetra-
_& % tion

MZ HISTORICAL PUBLICATIONS.
tk>n and accuracy. Tfchulkof 's Hiftory of the
ruffian commerce, is a work Such as few nations
have to Shew. Supported by the bounty of the
emprefs, and furnilhed with all the fources which
manufcripts and archival accounts could commu
nicate to the author, he has produced a complete
fyftem of the Sormer and preSent ftate of ruffian
commerce, which, both on account of its extent
and the abundance of its facts, ftands alone in
ruffian literature. The hiftory of Peter the great,
has been treated by feveral authors. Among the
better attempts, Golikof 's hiftory of that monarch,
and the colledtion of various writings concerning
the life and adts of Peter the great, by Tumanfky,
muft be diftinguiffied. Yelaghin, an author who
had already acquired a reputation by feveral literary
productions, was ftill employed at the time of
Catharine's deceafe, in compiling a ruffian hiftory,
from* which great expectations were formed. The
hiftorical picture of Ruffia, by Bogdanovitch ;
;Ruban's chronicle of little Ruffia ; Kreftinin's
people on the Dvina ; TumanSky's Sketch of a life
of the grand duke Alexander NevSky, &c. are
among the known works in the hiftorical depart
ment. A hiftory of the armenian empire, by Va-
ganof, is deferving a place here, as it is drawn
from writers of that nation, and may therefore be
regarded as a primitive fource. The following
may ferve as inftances of the translations, as re
markable either for the felettion of authorities, or
6 for

geography of the empire. 373
for their acknowledged merit. Hiftory of John
Sobiefky, by Bogayeffky : St. Real's confpiracy
of the Spaniards againft Venice : Vertot's .revo
lutions of the roman republic : Mably's grecian
hiftory : Stritter's account of the byzantine hif
torians : D'Alembert's memoirs and reflections
concerning Christina, queen of Sweden : Fiffier's
Siberian hiftory : Muller's treatife on the antient
inhabitants of Ruffia : , Robertfon's hiftory of
Charles V, Genealogical hiftory of the Tartars^
by Abulgafi baatur khan : Hiftory of Denmark,
by Mallet : Puffendorf 's introduction to the hiftory
of the principal nations of Europe, &c.
Geography alfo, which is fo intimately con
nected with hiftory, made fuch aftoniffiing pro
grefs under Catharine's reign, that the ruffian em
pire, which for the greater portion of it, but
thirty years before, belonged to the terra incog
nita, now forms a more accurate and Slated rubric
in the knowledge of the globe, than many other
european countries. So early as the year 1765,
the emprefs fet on foot an expedition of able men
for furveying the country and the frontiers, who
began their labours the following year in the go
vernment of Mofco, and profecuted them with fo
much diligence, that now greatly above the half
of the inhabited parts of Ruffia is as exactly fur*
'veyed as the private poffeffion of a careful land
owner can poffibly be. This wife and Deneficial
undertaking, befides the infinitely great advantage,
B b 3 it

374 CHARTS AND MAPS-OF THE EMPIRE.
it has been of to the fecurity of property, and in
eafiug the adminiftration of government, has alfo
been of fervice to the improvement of the country.
About this time the emprefs ordered the acade
micians to travel, whereby the phyfical, Statistical,
ceconomical and moral condition of this huge and
hitherto unknown country, was properly inveftU
gated and defcribed. The voyages of difcovery
which Catharine appointed for the promotion of
the geographical knowledge of the eastern and
northern oceans ; the orders and instructions which
ftie difpatched to her governors, for inquiring into
the ftatiftical condition of the provinces ; the re*
iterated cenfus of the people which She ordained ;
the tables which She caufed to be made out and
fent to the academy of fciences, of the relative
proportion of births and deaths, of the prices of
provifions, of customs and duties, of imports and
exports ; the publicity which She gave to the re
mits of her political regulations : all thefe, and
many other inftitutions, are fo many great Services
performed in behalf of geography and Statistics,
and awakened a general zeal for thefe fciences.
Hence the numerous and invaluable charts and
maps of the whole empire, Among the literary
jSrodudtions which owe their origin to thefe ex»
ertions, the foremost place belongs of right to the
Journals of the academical travels. Original works
on the fubjedt of ruffian Statistics have multiplied
So very much for Some time paft, that we can her?
only

GEOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS. 375
only notice the titles of a few of the earlier writings
of this kind. For inftance, major-general Plefchtf-
cheyef 's Statistical Survey of the ruffian empire ; a
¦work, which in a few Sheets contains fuch a quan
tity of .important fadts and ftatements, partly new
and partly rectified, that the article of the ruffian
empire, in all books of geography, muft hence
forth affume an afpedt entirely new. Geography
has likewiSe been a great gainer by the academician
Suyef 's journey from St. Peterfburg to Kherfon,
Taurida, and Constantinople, which german in
duftry will probably render ufeful to foreigners, if
it be not already done. Admiral Tfchitfchagof's
voyage to the Frozen-ocean is known by a transla
tion in Germany. Ruban's geographical, politi
cal, and hiftorical accounts of Little Ruffia; ano
nymous Topographical remarks on the provinces
of White Ruffia ; the prieft IrodionoPs hiftorical
and geographical account of the city of Toropetz
and its diftridt, &c. belong to this clafs. GeorgPs
hiftorical and geographical defcription of St. Pe
tersburg. A great number of fingle tracts on
geographical and Statistical Subjects of the ruffian
empire, are Sound diSperSed in calendars and pe
riodical publications. In this reSpedt the calendar
of the academy of fciences is particularly abun
dant, to which Pallas, Guldenftjedt, Oferetzkoffky,
&c. contributed, and continue to contribute,
important and interefting memoirs. — Accounts
too of foreign countries, and travels in them, at
. b b 4 times

376 VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.
times appeared, though but rarely ; fuch as,
Plefchtfcheyef 's travels from Paros to Syria ; the
defcription of the Archipelago and the barbarian
coaft, by brigadier Kotoffzof, published by Tu«
manfky, &c Affeffor Hackmann's two books,
of general and of ruffian geography, Sor the uSe
of the fuperior fchools, are introductions of great
utility, and the more valuable, as there was no
thing of the kind before. — ; Among the number
of geographical translations, Bufching's body of
geography Should be mentioned as that of the-i
moft importance.
The numerous collections of geographical maps
which Ruffia has of late years produced, are fa
mous abroad, not lefs for their intrinfic worth, as
they are moftly formed on new difcoveries, than
for their beauty and neatnefs. Bachmeifter's ruffian
bibliotheque mentions by name above fixty of
thefe collections, many of which confift of feveral,
and fome of from twenty to foity Sheets. Under
this head fall the two fpecial maps of the Mofco
circle, which were prepared from the furveying
expedition ; one of them is fifty arffiines in di
mension ; the other is printed on two Sheets im.
perial, by the imperial academy of fciences : the
general map of the ruffian empire, according to
the new divifion, by prince Vgefemfky ; eight
Sheets, in length three and three-quarters a.fbines,
and one and three-quarters in height: the aca
demy's Adas of the ruffian empire, begun in 1767, every

MAPS AND PLANS OF TOWNS. 377
every province forming a distinct map. — The
grand Atlas of the government of Kaluga is tho
moft excellent of this kind, an undertaking which,
out of France, has not perhaps its equal in any
country. This atlas is likev ife one of the fruits
of the furveying expedition, and confifts of three
parts : i. The general map of the Kaluga govern
ment. 2. Twelve plans of the twelve capital
towns of the circles ; illuminated plot of each
town, with their flobodes, gardens &c. 3. Eight-
and-twenty plans of the twelve circles. On thefe
plans are marked arable land and foreft, roads, and
bridges. Every poffeffion, fubjoined either to a
corporation or a private 'perfon, is inclofed and
marked with letters or numbers referring to the
defcription fubjoined to the atlas. Where the
limits are ftill litigable they are noted by a jagged '
line. When the poffefiions are So Small as not
distinctly to give room Sor a number, they are
drawn larger on a piece oS cartridge paper annexed.
On the general map eight verfts go to an engliffi
inch, in moll of the plans of towns fifty, in the
reft a hundred fathoms, in the plans of the circles
two verfts, in the enlarged pieces two hundred
fathoms. The magnificence with which this ex~
traordinary undertaking is executed is detrimental
to its utility. The defcription that accompanies
it, in eleven columns, which refer by correfpond-
ing numbers to the atlas, contains : 1. The num
ber on the plan of the diftridt. 2. The^name of
the

378 INSTITUTION OF NORMAL SCHOOLS.
the property and that of its poffeffor. 3. The
¦number oS dwellings. 4. The/number of perfon^
of both fexes. 5. The areal dimenfions of the
dwellings. 6. Of the arable land. 7. Of the
meadow land. 8. Of the woodland. 9. Of the
wafte land. 10. The total amount of the ftate
ments one to nine. 1 1. BrieS ceconomical remarks.
Whenever litigations concerning boundaries are
fettled, a particular appendix explains to whorti
the boundary was decreed. — The proSecution oS
this work, which is one of the grandeft monu-
.ments of Catharine's reign, was continued to the
time of her death with great fpirit.
Her inftitution of the. noi"iV:.il fchools in all the
provinces of the empire, occasioned the compo
sition of a great number of elementary books for
the lower orders of them, rmd others for the fu
perior. It would be impoffible to enlarge upon
'all thefe, and to enumerate them would be tedious :
but, as a fpecimen of the religious inftrudlion or
dained to be taught in thefe Schools, we wilkjuft
mention the contents of the Short catechifm ; with
-questions under the text, to which the Scholar is to
make his own anfwers. 1. Of the being of God,
of his effcnce, and oS the veneration which we
owe him. 2. OS evangelical Saith. " Faith is a
*' Sincere acceptation of the gofpel. The doctrine
" oS Saith is contained in the holy Scriptures, but
" abridged in the creed oS the firft council of
" Nice." This creed is inferted at length. Then
follow

RELIGIOUS CATECHISM, 379
follow explanations of each of the twelve articles
into which it is divided. 3. Of the divine law.
Contains the decalogue*, with an explanation*
4. The Lord's prayer, with illustrations. This,
-the ten commandments, and the Nicene creed,
are in flavonian*, but the book itfelf is in rufs,
though printed in flavonian charadlers. At the
end is, " revifed by the holy Synod." — A Short
religious hiftory of the church of the old and new
Teftaments. The hiftory of the latter relates par
ticularly to the eaftern, and afterwards to the greek-
ruffian church. — The fpirit of this book may be
judged of from the following paffage : " To the
misfortune of the human race, thefe divisions -j-
were of lopg duration ; but by the arrival of en
lightened times, when reigning princes applied
themfelves to promote the general welfare of the
people, and the teachers of the church began
from the holy Scriptures (inftead oS ufing them as
heretofore had been done, to the oppreffion of
Other religious parties) to preach the pure doctrine
of Chrift, namely, genuine chriftian love, Con
cord, and gentlenefs towards all mankind, with
thofe generous dutit-s by which the virtuous chris
tian and the good moral citizen are diftinguiffied :
the chriftian church has been enabled to Survive
to the preSent her calm and profperous age, in
* The church language.
f In the 9 th and 16th centuries. which -

380 CULTIVATION OF THE LANGUAGE.
which we may especially See the Subjects of the
wife Catharine, and we cannot fee it without plea-
fure, living together in fuch union as if they were
all adherents, not only to the fole chriftian religion,
but even to one fole party of it, and praifing the
only God in various tongues."
Such a great number of proper School-books on
the neceffary and uSeSul Subjects of focial and civil
life, might fuffice the nation for a long time.
Neverthelefs, translations of foreign pedagogical
works afterwards met with confiderable fuccefs*
We now read in the ruffian language, befides
many other compendiums, the excellent Effai
d'education nationale, by Chalotais, Rollin's ma-
niere d'enfeigner les belles-lettres, the magazin
des en fans, and others.
The CULTURE OF THE NATIONAL LANGUAGE
has, fince Lomonofof 's time, taken a quite new
molition, giving room to hope for its attaining a
great degree of excellence. It is not only reduced
to principles and rules, Securing it from the de
molition of its proper Structure ; but, by the ex
ample of good authors, has received fuch abun
dant materials for its enrichment and elevation,
from its Source the Slavonian, that it has no need
to borrow Srom any other terms and expreffions
for any conceivable idea. That fo many foreign
words, particularly in fafhionable converfation,
are in circulation in tbe ruffian language, proceeds
from that heteromania, which' adheres to every
nation,

TRANSLATIONS FROM THE CHINESE. 38!
nation, that receives a part of its culture from
foreign countries. Excepting the Germans, there
is certainly no people which employs itfelf fo much
in the literature and the languages of foreign na
tions. The proofs of this are fo common, that it
would be needlefs to adduce examples. But it
is worth while juft to take notice that the Ruffians
even cultivated languages that are not known to
the reft of Europe. The translator Ya^rig was
maintained by the academy of fciences to ftudy
the mongolian language among that people. An
author lately deceafed, Leontief, of the college of
foreign affairs, is the translator of a great number
Of philofophical, political, and hiftorical writings
from the Chinefe. As a proof how important the
culture of this language may be to the increafe
of the knowledge we have of the Chinefe, we
fliall only mention a couple of thefe translations.
Su-fchu-ghyei, i.e. four books, with expositions.
The firft book of the philofopher Confucius. —
Account of the war of the Chinefes with the Sen-
gorians, from 1677 to 1698; with a preface by
the emperor Kang-fi. — Defcription of the towns,
revenues, &c. of the Chinefe empire, from the
geography of the empire., printed at Pekin under
the prefent khan Kyan-Lun. An authentic piece
of Chinefe Statistics ! &c. Attempts have been
alfo made gradually to bring under certain rules
the languages and dialedts., hitherto only fpoken
in the vaft circuit of the ruffian empire, as may be
feen

382 DICTIONARIES AND f RANSLAtiotfS;
feen by what was done by a grammar of the votiafe
and tfcheremiffian languages. There is no want of
books in rufs for L-arning moft of the europeart
tongues., efpecially fuch as are fpoken in the
vicinity of the empire. Dictionaries likewife mul
tiplied with progreffive accuracy ; among the later
undertakings of this kind, the great french and
rufs lexicon, compiled by Norftedt and published
by Schnoor, is coniidered as the beft.
Antient literature indeed does hot, upon
the whole, meet with fo good a reception as iii
many other countries ; but it was by no means
neglected. Several pieces were annually published
not only in the latin but in the greek language 5
the learning of them was held to be ufeful and
neceffary, and people of high distinction caufed
their Sons to be taught at leaft one of them. Of
the principal writers of antiquity tranflations al
ready exift ; and for this too the country is in
debted to the late emprefs. She appointed, iii
the year 1768, the yearly fum, of five thoufand
rybles for rufs tranflations of -books, and commiS-
lioncd the counts Shuvalof and Orlof, and the
privy-counfellor Kofitzky, to difpofe of it properly.
It was at the beginning declared that preference
Would be given to versions of greek and romart
authors ; and it was attended with this good ef
fect, that ruffian literature obtained an advantage
in this branch which it muft otherwife have beert
long without., A Short view of thofe that were
done

TRANSLATIONS FROM THE ANTIENTS. 383
done under this encouragement will not be dif-
pleafing to the reader.
Greek. Plato's works, translated by SidoroSSky
and Pakhomof. Hefiod's works, by FryaSinoSfky*
Homer's Batrachomyomachia, by Ruban, in profe,
with Some explanatory mythological remarks *.
Homer's Iliad, by Yekimof, in proSe bordering
on the flavonian. Lucian's dialogues oS the dead,
by SidoroSSky and PakhomoS. Diodorus Siculus,
by Alexeyef : reckoned a very good one. Cha
racters of Theophraftus, aSter the latin of Cafau-
bon and the french of Bruyere. Roman : Tacitus
on the antient Germans, by Svyetof. Ovid's me-
tamorphofes, by the late Kofitzky, member of
the academy of fciences, in profe ; much efteemed.
Terence, by Kvoftof, Golovin, Richmann, Flo-
rinSky, Moijenkof, and Sinfky ; after Le Mon
ger's edition, becaufe, amongft other advantages,
it is commendable for a very probably juft distri
bution of the fcenes. Horace's odes, by Popofaky,
Cicero de finibus, by Pofnikof. Confolatio ; de
natura deorum, by Komof. The poetical paf-
fages are turned into ruffian verfe. Julius Csefar.
Velleius Paterculus. Valerius Maximus. Sueto
nius. Virgil's Georgics and Virgil's ./Eneis, by
Yekimof, and by the college- counfellor Petrof,
(a famous poet, as we Shall fee farther On,) in
* It had been already translated in the time of Peter die
great, by a certain Kopieffky, and publilhed with .Efop's
-fables at Amsterdam. alexandrines

384 FLOURISHING STATE OF POETRY.
alexandrines. The latter is held to be of the first
excellence ; with this obiedlion, however, that
it becomes, at tim^s sninteiiigble by too copious
an intermixture of flavonian turns and phrafes :
the author has therefore lately brought out a fecond
edition, in which he has corredted much of this
exuberance of erudition.
The age of Catharine, which we have feen fo
favourable to the mufes in general, was accord
ingly a Shining epocha Sor poetry. On the death
of Lomonofof and Sumarokof ruffian literature
feemed reduced to an orphan ftate; thefe two
happy geniufes, who announced the day-fpring of
a refined, tafte, appeared likewife to carry it with
them, together with their fame, into the grave. The
path which they had purfued remained for a time
untrod ; but this dark interval was of no long du
ration. Never, in any period of ruffian literature,
was there fuch a lift of fuccefsful, and for the moft
part eminent poets.
The faireft epocha of SumarokoPs poetical
career happened in the reign of Catharine the fe
cond*. For this reafon, and becaufe with him
the firft jera of ruffian poetry clofed, we cannot
absolutely pafs him by without fome farther no
tice. Happy in every walk in which his venturous
* He died in the year 1777, at Mofco, a knight of the
order of St. Anne. The late emprefs, befides many other
testimonies of her favour, fettled' upon him a yearly penffioa
of two theufand rubles. genius

SUMAROKOF's POETRY. 3&_5
genius chofe to roam, but happier nowhere than
in the dramatic fphere, Sumarokof feemed ordained
to leave behind him a model in every clafs of his
country literature. A lively but controlled fancy,
a refined tafte formed by the ftudy of antient and
modern writers, and a language purely claffical,
are the charadteriftic properties of his productions.
Example;? would be more in proof than this general
judgment ; but if it were even poffible to transfer
the peculiar beauties of the original into a language
fo totally different in its conformation: yet [the
plan and defign of this work would by no means
admit of our giving fpecimens of the feveral great
mafter-fttokes oS this poet, extracted Srom his dra
matic performances. In order, however, to enable
thev reader to Sorm Some notion of his lighter
pieces I Shall here inSert a mere verbal translation
of one or two of them.
ENONA, AN ECLOGUE.
Alphesibceus wooed a maid,
Enona's heart his fuit approved ;
Each br-eaft an equal flame obeyed :
No words can pidture how they loved.
Fondly She eyed ber thepherd dear,
With him would toy the live-long day ;
To him more lovely to appear,
She deck'd her charms with flow' rets gay.
Laurel and myrtle-fprigs She joined
In varied wreaths each day that paffed ;
The youth oft' gave her kiffes kind,
And long'd ftill fonder joys to tafte,
c c For*

386- ENONA, AN ECLOGUE.
For, "bnce, as he embraced her charms,
No foft rebuke his ardour ftay'd ;
But when, more bold, he waked alarms,.
With anger frowned th' offended maid-.
So genial heats the vales mature,
When lo ! on fome effulgent day,
Sol's brightest rays thick clouds obfcure,
Then, burfting, give a deluge way.
Yet not for ever frowns the maid ;
Her coynefs fometimes yields to love r
But then the bafhful youth *s afraid
Again his fair-one's wrath to move.
And thus expires Enona's flame
Ere rapture gives her to his arms,
While (love's foft joys repulfed by fliame)
Sick'nrng he mourns untafted charms.
Yet beauty ftill his bofom fires ;
He loves the path Enona treads,
The ftream that laves her limbs admires :
Her footftep to Olympus leads.
Each fruit fhe gathers feems more fweet,
The liquid wave She taftes, more clear?
He fcorns poor Tray's far nimbler feet :
The dog She pats, alone is dear.
To him no eyes fo fweetly shine,
His love no earthly bounds reftrain ;
Few hearts admit the shaft divine
So deep. Love's arrows oft are vainv
It chanced, one Summer's eventide,
At rural fports the Shepherds playing..
Enona ftrove her charms to hide,
Beneath a Spreading linden Straying.

Quick,,

GREATNESS OF THE DEITY. 387
Quick, by th' impafEoned youth embraced,
Enona caught the glowing flame,
And, though no fondnefs She expreffed,
. No cold rebuke his love o'ercame.
Love glow'd in each with mutual fway,
While Philomel the triumph fung :
But neither liften'd to her lay ;
For tranfport on their fenfes hung.
The following ode on the infinite greatnefs of
the Deity contains fome lofty fenriments that bear a
ftriking refemblance with thofe to be found in one
of the beft german poets.
Heav'n's azure opens, and my mind afcends,
Searching how far eternal fpace extends :
Loft in the void, no certain bound fhe meets,
Repuls'd by darknefs, awe-ftruck fhe retreats;
With trembling pinions finks on earth below,
Convinc'd our Maker's greatnefs none can know.
Unnumber'd funs their genial rays difpenfe
To blefs furrounding worlds with light and fenfe :
Myriads adore on every peopled ball j
And thou, o Lord eternal, ruleft all.
Yet fpace unbounded through thy wide domain,
But faintly fhews a portion of thy reign.
As when a furious whirlwind's wild career
Awakens chaos in the-raging air,
Thick clouds of fand in hideous ruin toft;
So thought in wild difordered thought is loft,
When we would think on that almighty pow'r
Which knew no firft nor dreads a final hour.
« c 2 Again

388 DESCRIPTION OF THE ODE.
Again I foar, again I feek heaven's throne,
Add million worlds unfeen to millions known,
Striving with boundlefs number ftill to rife,
And dare new voids beyond thought's utmoft skies J
Yet the whole fum we mortals can explore
Is but a grain of fand to God's creative pow'r.

The laft Specimen Shall be a paffage from a di
dactic poem on the Art oS Poetry, in which the de
fcription oS the ode runs thus :
The thund'ring ode, refounding in the ear,
Rifes like ftorms to Atlas' utmoft height ;
It bids the lightning rend the atmofphere,
And raging ocean whelm huge fhips in night.
Enormous Hydra dies,
Subdued by giant Hercules it ties ;
Bold Phaeton afcends to heaven ;
On Xanfhus' banks the gods fierce combat join,
From vaffal'd Perfia tribute-treafure 's given
To mighty Alexander's force almoft divine ;
Great Peter thunders from the Baltic fhore ;
And Catharine's fword fliall fill the Hellefpont with gore.
But however honourable the niche poffeffed by
Sumarokof 's mufe in the temple of Fame, great
is likewife the number of thofe who emulate the
neareft Station befide his buft. Among the poets
of this clafs, on whom pofterity can already Np'afs
their Sentence, muft be reckoned the lately deceaSed
KniaMhnin, who proved himSelf in feveral kinds of
poetry a fuccefsful follower of his excellent pre-
decefibr. The dramatical works with which he
has

TRANSLATION-OF THE HENRIADE. 389
has enriched the theatre, unite great beauties of
composition with a light harmonious verfification,
and a profound knowledge of the riches and
ftrength of the language. To the moft famous
productions of this clafs are to be reckoned his
tragedy of Dido and his comedy of the Boafter.
A great number of mifcellaneous poems, among
which are Several very well, imagined epiftles and
fa-tires; the translation oS the Henriade in blank
verfe, and a variety of effays in proSe, Secure to
him the renown of one of the beft writers of his
nation. — Among the poets now living none feem
to have ajufter claim to immortality than the
chevalier Derfchavin, not lefs refpedtable as a
•itatefrnan, patriot, and philanthropist, than as an
amiable author. The moft unwearied diligence in
his great and important Sphere oS action leaves him
ftill Sufficient leiSure to beftow fome moments in
Sporting with the virgins oS -Helicon, and in em-
bellilhing the literature of his country with the
productions of his original and highly-cultivated
talents. Propriety, delicacy, and elegance, form
the charadleriftics of this author : the harmony of
his diction, and the melody of his flowing numbers
are inimitable; he has difcovered the means of
combining the moft luxuriant imagination with the
purest tafte.
Willingly would we indulge our readers with
fome proofs of what we advance ; for translations
of almoft all his works are in being : but how
cc 3 coarfe

3QO THE DREAM OF MYRZA.
coarfe and corporeal is theihell through which the
fine fpirit of the original ffiould appear ! No lan
guage that we know is fo full of infuperable dif
ficulties to the tranflator as the ruffian. It, is its
peculiar charadteriftic throughout to render a free
imitation almoft impoffible; and as to a faithful
verbal tranflation, it muft frequently happen that
the moft elegant turn or the moft Sublime expression
becomes flat and vulgar, not to mention the great
lofs of the verfification. A beautiful little piece
of his, called the Dream of Myrza, has been at
tempted in german by M. Kotzebue* ; but the
difficulties we Speak of are not fo Succefsfully Sur
mounted as could be wiffied. We Shall, however,
make an attempt to convey Some idea of it in
engliffi, that the reader may not be leSt altogether
unacquainted with the moft excellent poet of the
nation.
MYRZA's DREAM.
FROM DERSCHAVIN.
Mid dark -blue aether's borrowed light
Serenely glides the orb of night,
A garb of filver-purple flowing,
And round her fhining beauties glowing.
She foftly cafts her pallid ray
And through my window mimics day ;
Darting her light upon the floor,
With forms diftorted pictured o'er,
* Of late well known in England by the translations that
have appeared of fome of his plays. While

MYRZAS DREAM. 39I
While Slumber's lazy-ftrewing hand
Difpenfes dreams with waving wand,
And while heaven's dews defcend on earth
T' oblivion's gloomy reign gives birth,
My train of fervants funk in fleep,
And all the town in filence deep.
Neva's full ftream was heard no more,
Nor Balta foamed along her Shore,
But dark repofe, encamp'd around,
Had banifhed every ruder found.
Above, below, to eye and ear.
All nature's offspring dead appear.
Or Zephyr to the languid fenfes
His cool refreshing air difpenfes.
I feemed to wake — then feized my lyre,
And gently Struck each vocal wire ;
Then foftly fung, with tender voice,
" Happy the man whofe thoughts rejoice,
Contented with his prefent lot,
In crowded t >wn or lonely cot,
Enjoying freedom, peace and health,
A tranquil mind, fufiicient wealth,
Bleffed by his virtues, confcience clear,
True charity, and heart fincere ;
Ambitious but for humble fame,
A worthy friend his proudeft name ;
Nor boafts of form or giant-fize,
Nor would above his neighbours rife ;
Who, neither prodigy nor fool,
Pifdains of fuch to be the tool ;
But, finding all his blifs at home,
Without a wifh abroad to roana,
The tender partner of his joys
And friends, not numerous but choice,
Partaking of his frugal ftore,
Divide his lone or Social hour ;
c- c 4. JSweeteh

39* MYfiZA's DREAM.
Sweeten the labours of the day,
Or jocund chafe dull care away !
Thrice happy, if with gracious mien,
Of diftant hoards the heaven-born queen,
From amber-palaces and halls
With lofty alabafter walls, ,
Concealed from jealous courtiers' eyes,
For highly-favoured minftrelfies,
For fables and for polifhed verfe
Infpired, thy praife when they rehearfc,
Contrives fome coftly gift to fend,
As though it came from diftant friend,
And fhining ducats, neatly placed
In fnuff-box rich, and rich enchafed !
Thrice happy J " ; — but what ftern command
Thus fuddenly arrefts my hand ?
The manfion totters to its bafe,
The walls almoft deferttheir place,
More fudden than the lightning's glare,
A burfting radiance fills the air,
A dazzling heaven-defcended light ;
The filver moon is veiled in night,
1 faw (with pallid terror wild)
A female form, of afpedt mild
Defcending on a mantling cloud,
That with its god-like burden glowed
For goddefs fhe, or prieftefs feemed,
And from her eye foft luftre beamed,
A heavenly robe of ,dazzling white
In filver undulations bright
Enfolds her form, her brow divine
A maiden-chaplet's leaves entwine,
While round her bofom'-s charms below
A golden ceftus feemed to glow ;
A fcarf acrofs her fhoulder flung,
Graceful and negligently hung,

And

myrza's dream. 393

And all the tints of Iris' bow
Appear'd heaven's meffenger to fhew :
Then, ftretching fortli her hand divine,
She fired the incenfe round the lhrine,
Which filled with perfume all the air,
Wafting to heaven each mortal prayer ;
Above the. North's great eagle flood,
(With joy the glorious fign I viewed)
Companion of the triumph's train>
Or thundering terror of the plain,
Rich herald of each hero's fame,
Now founding high the trophied name,
Now bearing in his giant claws
The fcroll of wifdom's milder laws ;
With thunder on the foe to launch,
Laurel he bore and olive-branch.
With angry eye of heavenly blue
The goddefs bent on me her view ;
That glance within my lab'ring bread
Will ever, ever be impreffed :
Myrza, flie cried with angry voice,
In vain felf-bleft you thus -rejoice,
Refounding ftill by night, by day,
Songs your tzar's praifes to difplay,
Ah, trembling learn the awful truth,
Unknown to poets and uncouth ;
'Tis kind regard alone for thee
Shall force th' unwilling truth from me.
If Poefy firft fprung from heaven
And to adore the gods was given,
Profane not what to heaven is due
Or might fair virtue's charms renew.
By wafting thy celeftial fire,
And all the tranfports of thy lyre
In fervile praife on man beftowed
The gilded drofs of venal ode.

The

394 myrza's dream;
The kings and rulers of the earth
Are children but of mortal binh ;
Themfelves by jarring paffions rul'd,
And, fpite of diadems, befool'd; v
While flattery's fyren-fong imparts
Sweet poifon to their captive hearts.
What poet ever ftruck the lyre,
But tuned to flattery every wire ?
O breathe not forth fuch fulfome lays,
While virtue's charms demand thy praife.
What praife does folid worth command
From venal poet's poifoned hand ?
The man refigned to heaven's high will,
Zealous his duty to fulfill,
Confers more honour on his king
Than all the praifes jpoets fing.
Then eaft away the nedtar'd bowl
That brings fweet poifon to the foul.
" Who boldly thus, incens'd I cried,
Corredts with words fevere my pride?
. What goddefs, prieftefs, thus defcends,
And to her fuppliant bard attends ?''
" Felicia is my name,'' fhe faid,
When lo ! a fudden cloud o'erfpread
My aching eyes (with liaht fubdued)
Which thus no more the goddefs view'd,
With all her train of heavenly charms,
Too high, too pure for mortal arms.
The air was filled with rich perfume,
And fpring's fweet flow'rets feemed to bloom
Upon the fpot I late had feen
Graced by the angel — goddefs — queen.
My eager foul, with ardour fired
To follow fwift the form afpired
In vain — my ftrength forfakes each limb
Wild and confufed my fenfes Swim, As

myrza's dream. 395
As though fwift thunder's filence dread
Had fallen on my devoted head,
Till tears relieved my panting breaft
While thus my forrows I expreft : '
" Canft thou, Tzarina, great, benign,
The envied glory of thy line,
Againft thy awe-ftruck bard fin cere
Thus frown, enraged, with glance auftere, •
Canft thou thyfelf thus ftrike the dart
Deep in his idolizing heart ?
Or with faftidious umbrage blame
The pure ethereal heavenly flame
That burns within his lab'ring breaft
For thee its cherilhed heavenly gueft ?
Many there are who every verfe
That fame-purfuing bards rehearfe
Scan with censorious eye fevere,
And bid him ftinging fatire fear.
Many there are, with riches fraught,
Who without reafon juft, or thought,
The poet wantonly abufe,
And fcorn the off'ring of his mufe.
Many fakirs and cadis too
Declare my verfes flatter you,
Becaufe they know their hearts depraved
By greatnefs ever were enflaved ;
Although without thus adding more,
I 'd enemies enough before
Some, full of fierce muftachio pride.,
For bafe poetic praife have tried ;
While fome, abfurdly vain, afpired
To flattery Catharine ne'er defired ;
Another thought thy honeft bard
T' addrefs thee far too boldly dared ;
Others believed high vengeance due,
Becaufe, as infpiration grew, Thee

396 myrza's 'DREAM.
Thee meflenger of heaven he named,
While tears of joy his love proclaimed ;
In Short,, one loved whate'er was fweet,
Another fours alone could eat *.
But thou, o heavenly mufe, declare,
That he' who ftill is all thy care,
Ne'er joined falfe Flattery's venal train
Nor e'er shall fell his heart for gain.
No borrowed jewels have I given
To her, who were a gem in heaven :
My crime I willingly will own ;
I 've virtues fung that graced a throne,
And only chanted to my lyre
Deeds thou haft done and worlds admire 5
For worlds, admiring worlds, have feen
How great and good thy adts have been.
Yes, I have fung thy praife with joy,
Thy praife fliall e'er my tongue employ.
Or grave or gay, I'll truth declare,
From Time's deftroying hand I'll tear
The tartar fongs that fpeak thy worth,
And thank the fkies for Catharine's birth ;
Send forth thy deeds, as heavenly light,
To wake pofterity from night,
And point, amid congenial Ikies,
Some fpot where late thy form Shall rife ;
Thus, in eternal praife to thee,
E'en Myrza Shall immortal be."
Among the poets who have acquired a great
and lafting reputation, the chevalier KheraSkof
muft not be forgotten. His heroic poems, the
Roffiad and the Battle of Tfchefme, are the firft
* Literally: one was fond of arboofes [water-melons] while
another would have nothing but falt-cucumbers.
v a productions

THE POET KHERASKOF. 397
productions of the nation in the epic clafs that
have been attended with fuccefs; but this poet
has been not lefs fortunate in other departments
of literature. He has written tragedies and come
dies which ftill, long after their firft appearance,
keep their place upon the flage, and are always
feen with pleafure. In his later years he alfo pub-
liffied Odes, fables, and eclogues. His laft per
formances are Numa Pompilius, an hiftorical ro
mance, in the manner of Telemachus; Cadmus
and Harmonia, a poetic tale, &c. All thefe. works
are in high efteem in Ruffia. — His fpoufe Eliza
beth KherafkoS has likewiSe acquired a name as a
poeteSs, by heroic elegies and anacreontic odes.
M. Petrof, librarian to the emprefs, began his
career in 1775, as a narrative poet; but his very
firft attempts were crowned with an applaufe
which none, fince Lomonofof, have ever enjoyed
to an equal degree. A bold and tumid fancy, a
figurative ftyle, and a composition which diScovers
cultivation and tafte, advantageoufly diftinguiffi
his mufe. Familiar with the great models of an
tiquity, he not only made them his ftudy, but even
the aim of his literary purfuit. His poetical tran
flation of the iEneis, already mentioned, is by
judges accounted a mafter-piece.; but the author,
not fatisfied with it, has fubmitted it to a reform
entirely new. A long refidence in England in-
Spired him with a fondnefs for britifh literature,
which animated him to the difficult undertaking of

398 .DRAMATIC WRITERS.
of tranflating the Paradife Loft Of Milton into his
mother tongue; and this, though in profe, has juftly
addedtohisreputation. Afew years agohecolledled
and published a volume of his lyric poems.
The ruffian drama has lately fuffered a Signal
lofs in the death of M. van Viefin*. In this poet,
who promifed to become the Moliere of the ruffian
theatre, were combined all the qualities requisite
to that end. In his beft pieces, the Brigadier,
and the Spoilt child, a well-fupported intereft pre
vails, an animated dialogue and a regularity which
feldom meet together in performances of a fimilar
nature. He laffies prevailing prejudices and bril
liant vices with admirable keennefs : his Subjects
being national, have for that reafon the greater
effect. He is likewife the elegant translator of
the Marcus Aurelius of Thomas, and the Jofeph
of Bitaube. — The fenator Yelaghin, while em
ployed on the ruffian hiftory, occafionally added
to his literary reputation as a poet. Befides feveral
poems and fatires, he is principally remarkable as
the translator of fome plays from de la Touche. —
Kofadavlef, an agreeable writer, whofe pieces are
remarkable for an eminent degree of delicacy and
elegance, has tranfplanted the Wilhelmina of
Thummel, with fuch uncommon fuccefs, into the
'ruffian foil, that it were much to be wiffied that he
* The name is dutch, but the family has been ruflian fat
Several generations. would

POPE S ESSAY ON MAN. 399
would make a like preSent to his country of the
travels through the Southern provinces oS France. —
The privy -counsellor Krapovirzky, the Senator
Alexey Narifhkin, lieutenant-general Potemkin,
the chamberlain Muravyef, the Senator Rjeffky,
lieutenant-general Sviftunof, the privy-counfellor
Lukin, and Several perfons of high ftation, have
done honour to their country as poets in various
branches. — Among the tranfhtors of poetical
works, Bogd-anovitch has greatly Signalized him
felf by his Pfyche of la Fontaine ; Karabanof, by
his Alzire of Voltaire; Dmitrief, by his fables
from la Fontaine; Sakharof, by his Telemachus
and the Death of Abel ; Popof, by his Jerufalerrs
delivered, the ESfay on Man *, and Several others.
Kapnift and Krilof have acquired fime in the
excurfions of fatire; Oflipof has published an
^Eneas travefty, in the manner of Blumauer, and
nationalized all the foreign allufions. - — But we
muft here break off, as this lift, which might be
greatly enlarged, without fome acquaintance with
the poetry itfelf, can have no intereft for foreign
readers. Good profe-writers of the various claffes have
been already mentioned in fuch numbers, that it
is needlefs to fay any thing more of. them. No
department of ruffian literature is fo richly fur-
* It is a fingular incident, that this moft excellent tranflation
•f Pope's effay, fhould be made by a Popof. niffied

400 PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS.
niffied as that of romance. The greater part of
them confifts of translations, which cannot always,
either in regard to felection or language, be deemed
models of perfection. The dulleft productions
of the german prefs, which have long been for
gotten at home, here often receive a fecond ex-
iftence, and help to corrupt the national tafte.
That very excellent exceptions are here to be
made, is naturally understood. To thefe belong
the translations of Humphrey Clinker by Sakharol;
of Gil Bias, by Tieplof ; of Jofeph Andrews, of
Tom Jones, of Robinfon Crufoe, the Sorrows of
Werter, Florian's Numa Pompilius, Diable Boi-
teux, Nouvelles, and feveral others.
Periodical publications have hitherto made
no progrefs with the public, Of all that have
been fet up, few have been continued for more
than three or four years. The Peterfourg maga
zine, begun in 1778, was the firft undertaking of
the kind ; but foon dropped for want of encou
ragement. A fimilar fate befel the monthly aca
demical accounts, begun by the academy of fci
ences in 1779, and was to contain extracts from
new publications, new inventions, &c. ; it lafted
only to 1 78 1. "The affiftant to the lovers of the
ruffian language," a journal conducted by very
celebrated writers, fell to the ground at the con»
clufion of the firft year. Among thofe that ftill
proceed, are the "Monthly tradts" commenced
by the academy in 1786, and the " Ruffian
mercury"

literary foreigners. 401
mercury" by KluSchin and KriloS, are the moft
known. We here clofe our view of ruffian literature,
during a period of about twenty years. Incom
plete as the materials were from which it is drawn
up, we have, however, been obliged to leave
fome of them unufed, to avoid falling into a tire
fome detail, which, even with the greateft pro
lixity could not be rendered very inftrudtive to the
reader. The conclusion from this flight Sketch
ariSes So naturally of itfelS, as to ftand in need of
no Sarther illustration.
The Soreigners at St. Peterlburg, eSpecially the
Germans, Sorm a literary public of themfelves,
among whom are authors of great reputation and
merit. The academicians iEpiiius, Pallas, Georgi,
Fufs, Herrmann, &c. have acquired fuch a cele
brity abroad by ufeful writings, difcoveries, and
the like, beyond their academical fphere ; that it
is fufficient to have cited their names. Schrceter
in agriculture, the chemift Lovitz, the mineralogist
Renovantz, the phyficians Mohrenheim,,. Uhden,
and others, are certainly not unknown to any
readers of the learned world, any more than the
names of NikoLi, Klinger, Soltau, (the translator
of Hudibras.) and madam von Krook, are to the
lovers of the belies lettres.
Of the ftate of the arts in St. Petersburg no
circumftantial account can be expected in a book
D d of

402 celebrated painters.
of this kind. A general outline will be quite
fufficient. The gallery of the academy of arts is open to
the public once a year for a fortnight, in the
fummer, and contains a good collection of antiques,
works of art, and paintings. Among the moft
valuable are fix grand hunting-pieces by Rubens,
a prefent from the late duchefs of Kingfton. It
would be to no purpofe to attempt giving a com
plete lift of the artifts here : the principal of them
in each clafs are : ,
Painters. Groth, a German ; one of the beft
painters of animals now living. — Hune, a Ger
man ; hiftory-painter, a difciple of Tifchbeinj
Torelli, Mengs*. — Knappe, a German ; plants
and animals : by this artift, whofe works are in
high eftimation, are the drawings in the Flora Rof-
fica.. — Meys, from Hennegau ; hiftory ¦jp. —
Tifchbein, a German ; court-architeet, Scene-pain
ter, and inventor of decorations : he painted the
curtain at the opera-houfe. — Mayr, a German;
in the fervice of the academy of fciences : defigner
and painter. — - Stahn, a German ; arcanift to the
imperial porcelain manufactory, and an eminent
porcelain painter. — Mettenleither, aSwifs; fa-
* The taking poffefllon of Taurida, a large allegorical
pidture. f The journey of the emprefs to Taurida; which is alfa
engraved. mous

ENGRAVERS, STAT.UARIES, ARCHITECTS. 403
mous in landfcapes. — Gonzago, an excellent
painter in decorations. — Levitzky, a Ruffian, pro
feffor of the academy ; a very celebrated portrait-
painter. — Koflof, a Ruffian, fome years firtce de
ceaSed, of the academy, director of the tapeftry
manufadtory ; a hiftory painter of fingular merit.
Engravers. Skorodumof, a Ruffian ; formerly
a pupil of the academy : his works are as well
known as his name. — James Walker, an English
man, in the fervice of the court : among his ex
cellent performances are, the emprefs in her tra
velling drefs, prince Potemkin, general LanSkoi",
admiral Greig, and others. — Schlepper, a native
of St. Petersburg. — Pellerini, an Italian.
Statuaries. Rachette, a Frenchman : pro
feffor of the academy, modeller to the porcelain
manufadtory *. — Schubin, a Ruffian -f-. — Mofchalof,
a Ruffian; artift in calling of metals;};. — Ivanof, a
Ruffian §. — Gardeyef, a Ruffian. — Frediani, an
Italian. — Khailof, a Ruffian |j.
Architects. Kofelof, a Ruffian S. — Gua-
renghi, an Italian, and one of the firft artifts in his
* The Cybele in count Bezborodko's gardens ; bufts of
Leonard Euler, &c.
| Bufts of the imperial family.
I The Farnefe Hercules, and the Flora at Zarfkoe-felo..
§ The baptifm of Olga.
|| Had a fhare in catling the ftatue of Peter the great.
$ The palace of Pella, belonging to the grand duke Alex
ander Pavlovitch, now emperor. d d 2 department.

404 musicians and gardeners.
department*; — Feldterj, of St. Petersburg -f-. —
Starof, a Ruffian; architect to the court J. —
Trombara, an Italian §. — ¦ Chirks Cameron, an
Englishman -, court-architect for Zarfkoe feToff.
Musicians. The leaders of the chapel choir,
Aftarita, Cimarofa, Martini. — Violins : Tietz, a
Peterfbur.ger ; Cannobi, Mafener, Chandofchkin. —
Harpfichord : Palfcho, a Dane; Hefsler and Bau-
erfchmidt. two admired performers, efpecially on
the organ. — Behr, famous on the clarinet. —
Marefch, a Bohemian, one of the inventors of prince
Potemkin's famous hunting-mufic. — Pratfche had
the greateft Share in fetting the ruffian popular
ballads to notes.
Gardening. Jofeph Buffi, an Englishman ;,
court- gardener at ZarSkoe-felo. — Gould, an
Englifhman ; the imperial gardens at Peterhof,
thofe of the Tauridan palace, and chief-gardener
to prince Potemkin. — Gem-cutters, medallith?,
&c. are Gafs, Zollner, Konig, Lamoni, Radi,
Judin, &c.
* The new exchange, the court theatre, and a number of
other grand edifices.
f St. Catharine's, St. Anne's, and the armenian churches,
the Lombard, and feveral other iimdtures.
, X The Pantheon, the new church in the Nevfky mo
naftery. § The new Yarger-eorps, the new court- ftables.
|| The imperial baths in thofe gardens, fuperior to anything
of the kind in Europe; the hanging gardens, the chinefe
town, and many others. It

¦instrument, makers. 405
It appears from this Short view, in which it is
probable that Several famous names may be
omitted, that St. Petersburg has a confiderable
number cf excellent artifts to produce. The lift
of the mechanical arts would not be lefs copious if
it were poffible for us to give it complete. The
following account however muft Suffice.
Mufical inftruments of all kinds are made here
in the greateft perfection. The moft famous
artifts in this way are Kirfchnek, Gabram, Vach-
ter, for violins ; Jackfon, &c. — i\'!athematical
and phyfical inftruments, are, indeed, imported
from England ; but likewife Keffaref a Ruffian,
Morgan an Englishman, make them in great
numbers. — KoSchenkoS a Ruflian, makes excel
lent Surgical inftruments. — As a mechanic we
fliall only notice Kulibin the Ruffian, the greatest
genius in this particular that the nation has eyer
produced : a boor by birth, and by profeffion
a meal-chandler ; withosu direction, without Sci
entific attainments, he unfolded his talents of
himfelf, and the firft performance by which he
endeavoured to attract notice was a curious piece
of clock-work. Catharine the fecond refcued
him from his miferable condition, placed him in
the ftate for which he was fo confpicuoufly in
tended by nature, and honoured hirri with a
golden medal which he wears Sufpended to a blue
ribbon about his neck. He is at prefent mecha-
d d 3 nician

4o5 curious model of a bridge.
nician fo the academy of fciences. In this Situ
ation he formed the bold defign of constructing
a bridge of timber acrofs the Neva ; and to this
end prepared a model, in length the fifteenth
part of the breadth of the river : it confifts of
horizontal balks, of which the upper one always
projects fomewhat beyond that beneath, till they
meet together at the middle of the bridge, and
thus form only one great arch : the model, in
deed, in point of ftrength remained firm under
every kinds of trial ; but in the execution the
bridge would have the height of a tower, and
fhe reparation of it would be attended with great
difficulties. Asa printer, Schnoor, among many others,
is a very remarkable perfon. By talents and in
duftry, this artift, through numberlefs difficulties
has made fuch progrefs in his profession, that his
ruffian types are ufed in many other printirtg-
houfes, and imitated by other founders. He was
appointed by the emprefs to eftablifh a tartarian
prefs, and Succeeded So well in his commiffion,
that the learned oS that nation give the pre
ference to his letters beyond all the fpecimens
that have been produced in England, Holland,
Venice, Rome, and Vienna, as moft refembling
the. common written character. Schnoor pro
cured them to be drawn by a mullah, or tartar
prieft, and two expert punch-cutters were em
ployed

TARTARIAN TYPOGRAPHY. . 407
ployed about the punches till they were pro
nounced by the mullah to be properly finiffied.
In this manner were formed the punches for
three Sorts of characters, the krim-tartar, the
kazan-tartar, and the arabic. In the year 1785,
this printing-office confifted oS Sour preSfes, and
the firft produce of them were the tranflations of
the ordinances for the administration of the govern
ment, and a Koran.

ED4 CHAP.

( 408 >

GHAP. XI.

DIVERSIONS and entertainments.
Diverfions of the common people. Their difpqfition to gaiety.
National fongs and dances. Kahaks. Bathingihoufes.
Games. Feftivities. Sports at Eajier. Ice-hills in the car
nival. — Amufements of the higher claffes. General charac-
teriftics of them. Clubs. The mufical, the englijli, the
nolle, the tradefmen's, the american, the two dancing clubs.
The old and new theatre of amateurs. Spirit and ftyle of
thefe focieties. — Public walks. The fummer gardens. The
quays of the Neva. The Fontanka. The Italian gardens.
The grounds of the tauridan palace. The gardens of the
land-cadet corps. The arcades of the Goftinnoi-dvor. Bjiral
promenades without the walls. Liberality of the ruffian
noblejfe. — Public parties of pleqfure. Sledge parties.
Sledge races. Water parties. — Coffee- houfes, Houfes of
entertainment, Vetfchurinki, Affemllies of ladies. -~
Anecdotes, &c. — Theatres. Ruffian dramas. Operas and
operettas. Oleg, a grand heroical opera idith fcenes of ex
traordinary magnificence. French plays. — Mufical enter
tainments, — Dancing affemllies and mqfquerades. — Court
fefiivals. Mafquerade and illuminations at Peterhof, an
entertainment of a peculiar kind. Launch of a man of
war from the admiralty-dock. Grand entertainment given
by prince Potemkin.
1 HE diverfions and amufements of the politer
part of mankind, are, by the extent of civilization and

RUSSIANS DISPOSED TO MIRTH. 409
and the regular intercourfe of nations, now become
fo much alike in all countries, that, the account
of them taken from one capital would nearly fuit
all others : the popular diverfions, however, (till
almoft every where bear the Stamp of a certain
peculiarity which may not unfrequently be re
garded as a remarkable addition to the hiftory of
its manners. Befides, if it be true that the moft
delicate features and properties of the national
character are principally difplayed in the methods
adopted Sor indulging in mirth, it will be well
worth our while to quit Sor a few moments the
elegant circles where joy is circulated, Hke money,
under the ftamp of conventional decorum, in order
to mix among the great multitude where every
perfon may rejoice in the way moft agreeable to
himfelf. The Ruffian, on the whole, is a chearful being.
A happy volatility and a thoughtleffnefs peculiar
to himSelS accompany him through life. The
moft penurious condition and the moft toilfome
labour leave him always Some Sensibility Sor the
enjoyment of his existence. The former gives
him no concern, as his circle of ideas feldom ex
tends to the representation of a nobler and more
refined ftate of being ; and the latter he mitigates
by Singing his country ballads and taking a drop
of brandy. The verge at which this excellent
ground-colour in the national character gradually
fades away, is the line of partition between the
populace

41 0 NATIONAL SONGS AND DANCES.
populace and the citizen. The higher the claffes
of mankind, the lefs natural is their mirth. In the
boxes of the opera and the brilliant circles the
countenances here are as gloomy as in any capital
of Europe; A convincing proof, that content
and fatisfadtion are not confined to the foil of polite-
nefs and wealth !
The chearful difpofition of the common Ruffians
being chiefly manifefted by singing, that may
well deferve to be mentioned as the moft general
amufement. Every employment, even the moft
laborious, the Ruffian alleviates by Singing, tmd
every fatisfadtion, every amufement is by the fame
means heightened and improved. There is cer
tainly not a nation in Europe in which the pro
pensity to this amufement is fo prevalent as in
this. In France the people Sing likewife ; but only
opera-airs and vaudevilles which are admired by
the genteel part of the public ; whereas in Ruffia
are heard the true popular ditties compoSed and
fet to mufic by the inSerior claSfes of the populace,
and are fung in the very fame manner in every
town and village from Petersburg to Irkutsk. The
national intereft contained in the fubjedts of thefe
ballads, their extremely fimple but melodious
tunes, the mufical difpofitions and generally well-
formed organs of the Ruffians, produce a very
agreeable and furprifing effect even on unmufical
ftrangers and foreigners. It is therefore a very
cuftonjary recreation of the higher ranks- in St.
Peterfburg

NATIONAL SONGS AND DANCES. 411
Petersburg to take with them in the boat on their
parties of pleafure on the water a band of expert
fingers to fing to them the popular ruffian ballads,.
a practice likewife often ufed at their tables at
home. In fummer the Neva is covered with boats
from which thefe fongs refound, and particularly
©n fine evenings delight the ears of the folitary
walkers on the guays, lulling them into fweet
reveries or awakening in them mild fenfations by
their foft and plaintive tones.
When the ruffian populace are difpofed to be
merry in company, the dance cannot be omitted.
Without dancing and tinging there can benojun-
keting. Certainly no popular dance in any coun
try can be more expreffive aud diverting than the
national dance commonly called the dove-dance*,
and it is well-danced, not only in the politer cir
cles of the higher ranks but even by the populace.
It is generally performed by one couple who Hand
facing one another at fome diftance, Seemingly
make love together, and by very energetic pantomi-
mical gefturesby turns fue, reject, importune, difdain
and comply : in all which the perfonal talents of
the dancers, the modeft folicitations of the lover,
and the affected coynefs of the fair one, form the
greater or lefs variety of Shades. The dancers
approach and retreat in certain meafured Steps,
* Golubetz. The mufic of which is given at the end of the
third .volume of the Life of the emprefs Catharine II. which

412 KABAKS, OR DRINK-HOUSES.
which however are not Strictly connected with the
mufic. As this dance is throughout a natural
Strongly expreffive pantomime, art can add little
or nothing to its improvement : I have feen it
more frequently well danced among the common
people than in genteel companies, but only once
to perfection by experienced popular dancers. —
The mufic to which it is danced, is extremely
Simple; often no instrument at all is ufed, but the
bye-ftanders ling in chorus Some vulgar ballad to
the tune.
The public-houSes Srequented by the populace
are called kabaks. In thefe they aSfemble at idle
hours in merry companies to ling and to carouze.
The wafte made here occafionally by the rude un
educated vulgar of their hard-earned money in the
indulgence of their fenfual appetites, excites our
pity when we happen accidentally to be the fpec-
tators of it ; but it never could induce me to con
demn thefe places of refuge to the moft oppreffed
and harraffed clafs of people. What mortal
could have the heart to deprive thefe poor crea
tures of the only means they know of compensating
the innumerable troubles of their lives and to ob
tain by brandy a momentary oblivion of their
cares ; who could have the heart to rob them of
that fole relief, without fubftiruting a better for it ?
Not to infift here on the arguments that might be
drawn Srom the climate, the hard manner of life,
the wretched fare and the Strict falls of the ruffian
people,

Common vapOur^bAths. 413
people, as an apology for the ufe of this nepenthe,
I Shall only appeal to the humanity of the reader,
in hopes of obtaining a favourable judgment of the
fombre tints of this characteristic. Far from
wishing to palliate or excufe the generally perni
cious and often dreadful conSequences of the pro
pensity to intoxication, it is the utmoft defire of
my heart that the ruffian nation Should Soon learn,
by a farther moral improvement of their ftill very
rude condition, to difpenfe with fo deplorable a re
fuge from care : but I cannot Condemn them ac-
coiding to their preSent circumftances.
Among the places of public refort for the lower
claffes, the bathing houses muft be included.;
which here, as in Greece and Rome, adminifter
not only to neceffity but to recreation, aSter having
loft their original destination in moft of the court-
tries of Europe. The common Ruffians frequent
them at leaft once a week ; and the day on which
this cuftom is adopted is a holiday for them. In
the refidence are a great number of thefe bagnios
ufually Situated by the fide of the rivers and canals,
and the internal conftruction of them deferves here
to be briefly mentioned. They are all throughout
the country vapour-baths; the bath-room having
a large vaulted oven, which is fo Strongly heated,
,that the field ftones which form the upper part of
it, become glowing hot. For augmenting the
heat, water is Sprinkled on thefe ftones, by which
procefs the room is immediately filled with vapour. Round

414 GAMES AND DIVERSIONS.
Round the walls are benches or Scaffolds, affording
eyery perfon the choice of taking an atmofphere
more or lefs hot as the bench is higher or lower
from the ground. The bathers fit or lie in this
hot vapour, which is fometimes fo high as 45 de
grees of Reaumur, and produces fuch a perfpi-
ration, as without actual experiment cannot well
be conceived. To promote this ftill more, it is
the common practice for the bathers to be gently
flogged by the bathing-woman with dry bunches
of the leafy twigs of birch, and then rubbed down
with woollen cioths. From time to time they de
fcend from their heights to ftand in a tub and have
hot or cold watet poured from buckets on their
heads and over the whole body. Numbers of
them in fummer run out of the bagnio and plunge
in the rivulet flowing by ; or, if it be winter, roll
themfelves in the Snow. The public baths of the
refidence have fpacious court-yards belonging to
them furniffied with benches, where the bathers in
fummer drefs and undrefs. Almoft all the hof-
pitals and public inftitutions oS every kind are pro
vided with Such baths ; and even among the higher
clalfes oS the inhabitants of the city the vapour-
bath is ufed as a neceffary and a luxury.
The games in practice with the common people,
for recreation and amufement, are all extremely
fimple ; generally requiring only exertion and
agility. In their invention they are entirely na
tional i the populace of the town, notwithftanding their

WRESTLING AND BOXING. 415
their long acquaintance with foreigners having
never yet learnt to mingle any foreign manners
with their paftimes. The more diverfified thefe
are, the lefs do they belong to the plan. of this
book, the aim of which cannot be to defcribe the
nation at large. I fhall therefore only take notice
of fome of their moft ufual games which muft
ftrike every foreigner during his ftay in the re
sidence. In all the ftreets, eSpecially in winter, nothing is
more common than to See men or boys wrest
ling or boxing. This is merely a diversion, be
ing Seldom or never the effect of anger or quarrels,
but uSually engaged in Srom a good-humoured
challenge, probably likewiSe, in winter, Sor the
Sake of warming themSelves, and therefore is totally
different from this practice in England. The
combatants Handing clofe together, each Strikes
his adverSary either with the flat of his hand or
double fill, at the fame time Striving to trip up his
heels and give him a fall. When this is done the
victory is decided, and the battle terminates amidft
Shouts of laughter from the bye-ftanders.
Not lefs general is the game of foot-ball,
particularly among the ifvofchtfchiks plying with
their Sledges at their ftands in the ftreets during
the winter. A large ball Stuffed with feathers is
kicked about ; and he who fucceeds in catching it
or picking it up with his hands, in Spite of the
kicks and cuffs of his play- mates, carries off the
prize

416 various amusements.
prize'of nuts or money. — - Chess and drafts are
likewife very common with the ruffian populace;
In the large fquares, or under the arcades of the
fhops, people of the loweft claffes are every day feen
amufing themfelves at thefe games, and many of
them in a mafterly way. — Not So general is the
throwing at the ring, which confifts in the art
of throwing a Sharp pointed iron fpike with an
enormoufly heavy head, holding it by the Spike,
with a jerk in Such manner as to ftick it in the
ground through a Small iron ring.
I paSs over the other kinds of leSs uSual games
in order to give a Short account of the great popular
entertainments which are- fometimes here to be
feen in their higheft perfection. The moft com
mon and the greateft favourite is the swing, which
every where and at all times is ufed as an amufe
ment by perfons of every rank and condition ; but
at Eafter is the grand diverfion of the holidays.
For getting an idea of this diverfion we muft firft
understand the mechanifm of the Swings here ufed.
They may be divided into three forts : fome have
a vibrating motion, and thefe are the moft com
mon, well-known in Germany and England ; others
are turned round in a perpendicular, and others
again in a horizontal direction. The firft of thefe
latter fpecies confifts of two high pofts, on the
top of which refts an axle having two pair of poles
fixed in its centre. Each of thefe pair oS poles
has at its two extremities a feat fuSpended to a
moveable

POPULAR DIVERSIONS. 417
moveable axis. The proprietor, by turning the
axis that refts on the two pofts, makes all the eight
feats go round in a perpendicular circle, fo that
they alternately almoft touch the ground and then
are mounted aloft in the air. The laft kind is
compofed of chairs, chariots, fledges, wooden
horfes, Swans, goats', &c. fattened at the ex
tremities of long poles and forced rapidly round
in a horizontal circle. In the Easier holidays all
kinds of machines are fet up in the public fquares,
and, as the yulgar are remarkably fond of this
diverfion, this is a joyful feafon to the populace,
who then devote themfelves without restraint to
their national propensity to mirth. Nor do the
fuperior claffes difdain to affemble here as fpec-
tators, whereby a fecond highly interefting fcene
is created. The numerous concourfe of perfons
of all ranks and descriptions who parade in a circle
with their elegant and fumptuous equipages, the
honeft merriment of the crowd, the hearty partici-r
pation with which they enter into thefe amufe
ments, the ftriking and fingular appearances of
the exhibition itSelS, give this popular feftivity a
character fo peculiar, that the man of obfervation
who will take the pains to ftudy the nation even
on this humourous Stage, may catch very power
ful Strokes of the pencil for his delineation. He
will not fail to discern the general gaiety with
which old and young, children and grey-beards
srepoffeffed, and which is here not kindled for
e e a tran-

418 NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
a transitory moment, but is fupported by a pleafant
occafion and placed in its moft agreeable light.
He will remark the fpirit of urbanity and gallantry
appearing in a thoufand little fallies, as by no
means an indifferent feature in the national cha
racter. Here a< couple of beggars with their
cloaths all in tatters, Saluting one another in the
moft decent and refpedtful manner ; a long String
of queftions about their welSare opens the dialogue,
which likewiSe concludes with a polite embrace.
Yonder a young fellow is offering to hand his girl,
whofe cheeks are glowing with paint and brandy,
into the feat in whigh they are both preSently to be
canted up in the air ; and even in thofe lofty re
gions his tendernefs never forfakes him. At every
anxious Start of his lady he throws one arm about
her waift, while with the other he displays his
complaifance by z\, very expreffive pantomime. -*-
Only one Step farther, and the eye is attracted by
quite different fcenes; The very fame people who
were but now greeting each other in fuch friendly
terms, are engaged in a violent quarrel in which
they exhauft the enormous ftore of abufive epithets
in which the ruffian tongue abounds. All that
can degrade and. exafperate a human being finds
its expreffion in this energetic language ; yet with
all this vehemence of fpeech they never lofe their
temper. While they are making the moft furious
gestures, Straining their throats to the utmoft pitch,
bearding one another with the moft liberal pro
fusion

DIVERSION OF THE TCE-HILLS. 419
fufion of infuhs — there is not the leaft danger
that they Should proceed to blows. The police,
well-knowing that with all this noiSe no lives
will be loft, cools the heated parties by a plenriSul
fliower Srom the fire-engine kept on the Spot for
that purpofe; and which is Sound to be oS Such
excellent Service that one of them is always at hand
wherever a concourfe of people is expected. Now
all at once the Strife is over; the two vagabonds
are running arm in arm to the neareft pot-houfe
to ratify their renovated friendship over a glafs of
brandy. In the vicinity of the fwings booths are uSually
run up of boards, in which low comedies are per
formed. Each representation lafts about half an
hour, and the price of admittance is five kopeeks.
As the confluence of the people is extremely great,
and the acting goes on the whole day, the profits
are always confiderable both to the managers and
to the performers, who Share the amount between
them. The actors, as may readily be fuppofed,
are not fuch by profeffion, but mere dilettanti
from the loweft claffes of the vulgar ; who never-
thelefs, in the character of the Durak*, utter a
number of witty and truly comical fpeeches.
Another kind of holiday - diverfion is the
ice-hills, which are erected in the maflanitza,
* Durak properly means, fool; but likewife maybe ex
plained by Harlequin, merry Andrew, clown, Jack Pud^
ding, &c. e E 2 the

420 DIVERSION OF THE ICE-HILLS.
the ruffian carnaval, generally on the Neva. Every
ice-hill is compofed of a Scaffold of large timbers
about fix fathoms in height, having fteps on one
fide for afcending it, and on the oppofite Side a
fteep inclined plane covered with large blocks of
ice, confolidated together by pouring water re
peatedly from the top to the bottom. Men as
well1 as women (the latter however only of the
lower orders) in little low fledges defcend with
amazing velocity this fteep hill ; and by the mo
mentum- acquired by this defcent are impelled to a
great diftance along a large field of ice carefully
fwept clear of fnow for that purpofe, Which brings
them to a fecond hill : by the fide of which they
alight, take their fledge on their back and mount
it by the fteps behind, as they had done the former.
The danger attending this diverfion and other con
comitant circumftancesyindeed exclude the fuperior
claffes of the public from participating in it ; but
the mere enjoyment of the fight of fuch a multi
tude of frolicfome people, the national intereft
excited by the whole Spectacle, the dexterity of
the young people who in great numbers venture
the dangerous precipice upright on fcates, never
fail to attract a vaft crowd of fpedtators. On thefe
days the Neva is covered with carriages, fledges
and foot-walkers, houfes and booths being eredted
pn it, in which Spirituous liquors are fold, ludicrous
farces acted, and dancing bears exhibited. All
thefe people, horfes, carriages, fledges and build ings

AMUSEMENTS OF THE HIGHER CLASSES. 42!
ings ftand on the winter-covering of a great river,
in a place where within only a few weeks after
wards large Ships' will be beating the billows. If
it happen, however, to be a mild winter fo as to
.raife apprehenfions that the ice may not be Strong
enough to fuftain this prodigious preffure, pre
cautions are taken by the police to prevent acci
dents. The PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS OF THE HIGHER
ci-Asses of St. Petersburg by no means afford fuch
abundant matter for, defcription, as, from the
general propenfity to pleafure and the opulence of
the inhabitants,, we might be led to fuppofe.. The
eftablifhments for public recreation are here nei
ther fo numerous nor fo fumptuous, as I have fre
quently found them in towns of far lefs pretentions.
The reafon of this lingular phenomenon is neither
intheindifpofition of the public nor in the want of
undertakers; but in the prevailing faffiion which
is averfe to a public and unlimited participation.
In all the capital towns that I have vifited, the
contrary is fo much the cafe, that it is. by this very
peculiarity that they differ from places of inferior
confequence. At Paris, London, Berlin and Vienna
thofe entertainments are particularly preferred in
which every perfon, without exception, may par
ticipate. Almoft all kinds. of entertainment are
public, that is, under certain conditions, are open
to all. The enjoyment of them may be had at a
comparatively very fmall expence, and is even
ee 3 much

42Z A VARIETY OF CLUBS.
much enhanced by the participation of a great
concourfe oS perfons. The company of ladies is
indiSpenSably neceffary at all entertaihrnentSj Sof
tening by their prefence the harfh or rude manners
into which even the beft feledled companies of men
are liable to fall. In St. Peterfburg we See almoft
entirely the reverSe of this. What is called good
company contracts itfelf into family-parties, cir
cles of acquaintance, clubs, &c. to which a Stran
ger, without efpecial recommendation can with
difficulty gain accefs, and whofe manners, for want
of a proper mixture with a variety of characters
and conditions are apt to acquire a dull and formal
Stamp. It is held unbecoming to frequent public
houfes ; people of any confequence, heads of fa
milies, placemen, wealthy merchants never enter
a coffee-houfe. Ladies can pnly vifit public places,
at any tirne, under extremely fevere reftrietions ;
from moft of them they are abfolutely excluded by
the laws and cuftoms of fociety. Hence it arifes
that, houfes opened for public entertainment here
fcarcely ever fucceed., even though fitted up with
great expence and tafte and countenanced by the pa
tronage of fome perfon of rank and faffiion.
To make up for this deficiency, the Peterfburgetr
have inftituted a variety of qlubs, which are in
more or lefs repute according to the number and
quality Of their members. Even thefe, however,
are not Only clofe but feledt circles, where every
member meets people of his own rank, his own way

THE MUSICAL CLUB. 423
way of thinking and his own acquaintance ; or
table-companies where there is tolerably gopd eat
ing and drinking at a moderate price. The enter
tainment is generally confined to cards and the bil
liard-table. The politer part of the public profit
little by thefe inftitutions notwithstanding the great
expence at which they are fupported. The man
of tafte very willingly does without them ; the great
multitude indeed flock to them : but thefeare never
able to fet the faffiion of a company. — One advan
tageous exception to this defcription is formed by
the musical club; which, though it has departed
from its original conftitution, yet is at prefent in a.
very flourishing ftate. Its appellation fufficiently
declares what it is in general. A great number of
members, moftly people of condition (in the latter
times of the old club they amounted to about eight
hundred) meet here in autumn, winter and Spring
once a week Sor the purpoSe of attending to an ele
gant concert. The performers are of the firft abi
lities and are paid with fuitable liberality. The
female finger Pozzi, the great performer on the
violin Giornovichi and feveral famous artifts, na
tives and foreigners were long the ornament of this
fplendid mufical entertainment; the two artifts
above named received for every evening on which
they charmed the public by their talents, upwards
of a hundred rubles each. — During the time of
its meetings the club gives monthly a ball or a maf
querade, to which only members are admiffible,
E e 4 but

424 THE ENGLISH CLUB.
but who, by their great numbers, by the eafy man
ners and decent freedom that prevail in this affem-
bly and by the elegance and tafte vifibly prevailing
in every part, may very (properly be reckoned
among the moft agreeable oS the winter-amuSe-
ments. Except at thisfeaSon Of the year and the
days allotted to concerts and balls, the club is but
little frequented ; though at all times affording the
fame entertainment as is to be found at the other
clubs. Here are taken in the Ruffian, French,
German and Englifh newfpapers ; cards and bil
liards, the ordinary paftimes, are likewiSe much in
ufe, and a table is regularly fet out at which mem
bers at a moderate price may take their dinner or
fupper. The receipts of the old mufical club were
very confiderable j the entrance-money of thirty Tu
ples each raifed a fum of twenty -four thoufand ru
bles, and the- annual fubfcription of twenty-five
rubles amounted to about twenty thoufand rubles.
Notwithstanding thefe great refources the fociety
fell fliort in its expences, which at length proved
the caufe of its diffolution. The Subscription to
the new club is Settled at fifty rubles, and time will
fliew whether this high price will Secure it from the
fate of its predeceffor.
The English club is distinguished by the pro
per Selection of its members, and in regard to its
defign, is the next in rank to the mufical. Though
play is likewife here the principal fource of amufe
ment, yet it does not fo abfolutely exclude all fe-
rious

THE CLUB FOR THE NOBILITY. 425
rious andrational converfation as at the other clubs.
How it^obtained its denomination is uncertain,
fince it was neither eftablifhed folely by the English
nor is it exclufively frequented by them. Of this
fociety are people of moft of the nations fettled
here, the number of whom is confined to three
hundred, paying forty rubles on admiffion and an
annual Subscription of twenty rubles. The newf
papers and Some monthly journals are taken in ;
and a commencement is made of a fmall but choice
collection of books.
The club for the nobility instituted about
ten years Since, in its effential points bears a Strong
refemblance with the laft mentioned. However,
if> judging by lis appellation, we Should fuppofe
that this Sbeiety denies entrance to all commoners,
we Should be in an error. The Syftem of calls.,
which in Germany and fome other countries Sepa
rates-mankind according to the difference of their
birth, is entirely unknown in Ruffia and particu
larly in Petersburg. Every honeft man who is
either noble from fervice, or -is enrolled in one of
the guilds has a right of admiffion. Cards, billiards,
dancing and converfation are alfo the occupations
of this institution.
One of the moft remarkable of tthe kind is the
burghers' club, .becaufe a great number of our
reputable and wealthy burghers meet at it, and
becaufe it is of great confequence by the influence
ithas on the Sentiments, the manners and the purfes of

426 THE CLUB OF THE BURGHERS',
of that clafs of people. The majority of the membefs
who are about fix hundred, confifts of mechanics
and artifts, principally german. It would not be
faying too much, were we to affirm that this club
has given a peculiar, decided turn to the general be
haviour and mode of living. The refreshment and
recreation naturally required by every man after the
labours of the day, have been fo heightened and re
fined among the generality of this fort of people
by the attractions of this inftitute that they would
rather fubmit to a privation of neceffaries at home
than refufe themfelves the fatisfadtion of attending
here. Reafonable as it is that every industrious
man fhould be allowed his hours of recreation, yet
it is certainly detrimental to the general welfare
that the moft ufeful and neceffary clafs of people
fhould wafte a great part of the day in idle dissipa
tion. That luxury which has pervaded all ranks,
has likewife got Such faft hold here, by the unavoid
able emulation of this numerous and partly opu
lent clafs, and has arrived at fuch a height, that
impartial foteigners cannot behold the effects of it
without expressing their aftonilhment. It is by no
means uncommon here to play whift at ten rubles
the rubber, or to See a handicraftfman drink a
bottle of rhenifh at his Supper. The expenfive
dreffes in which the wives and daughters of thefe
people appear on ball-days is fo much beyond all
rule of propriety, that certainly a foreigner would
not be able to guefs into what company he had got.
Yet,

THE CLUB OF THE BURGHERS. 4±J
Yet, of all the effects produced by the paffion for
clubs, none are more harmlefs and ridiculous than
the curious pride that is here produced and kept
up by the intermixture with people of higher fta
tions, by the neatnefs of the rooms, the elegance
of the furniture, by the punctilious and prompt at
tendance of the waiters, and by the expence which
the members are imperceptibly drawn into. No
thing, however, is more natural than that the mafter
Shoe- maker, who here fmokes tobacco and plays at
cards in the company of placemen, officers, lite
rary men and merchants, and is refpedtfully waited
on by footmen in handfome liveries, Should feel
himfelf degraded on being fent for by the court-
counfellor, his fellow-member of the club, to take
his meafure for a pair of Shoes; Hence ariSes the
inSolence of this fort of people, which proceeds to
fuch lengths that it is only by the utmoft polite-
nefs and compliance with their humour that they
can be prevailed on to ferve their cuftomers at a
high price for their work. — Though nothing can
be better founded than this cenfure in general, yet
it will eafily be understood that it is not applicable
to all. The club, considered in itSelf, may proba
bly have its ufes, ,and thefe confequences can only
proceed from its abufe. It preferves, Sor inftance,
the urbanity oS the citizens, polishes their manners,
Sorms their tafte, and even renders ithem, iS their
good luck will have it So, profound politicians. ,A fecond,

4fc8 DANCING-CLUB, AND THEATRE.
A fecond, compofed of nearly the Same clafles,
and formed from a divifion in the burghers' Club,
and therefore generally called the- American club,
is conftituted on the fame principles, for fimilar.
-purpofes, and is attended by the fame effects.
For the amufement of dancing here are like-
wife two clubs. In both of them the members
meet to dance on Sundays and Mondays ; on which
occasions there is always a fupper. The moft anr
tien.t of thefe is very much mixed ; that of later
jdate confifts Solely of mechanics, who have ;in-
troduced the reafonable law, that the ladies may
appear in their houfhold attire.
The SondneSs for dramatical performances has
alfo given rife to affociations of the fame nature.
For fome years palt a german theatre of ama
teurs has fubfifted for the purpofe of Supplying
the want of a german play-houfe. AH the ex
pences are defrayed by thermembers, and tickets of
admiffion are distributed gratis. Whatever merit
this undertaking may have in a public view, it is
nevertheless not to be denied that it only vegetates
wichin the fphere of mediocrity, from which it
may perhaps be hereafter delivered by a greater
degree of encouragement from the public at large
arifir g from a higher relilh for german arts and
manners. — A second amateur theatre has
lately been fet up, as it Should appear, under more
favourable auSpices. This

failure of literary clubs. 429
This lhort view of the Peterlburg clubs is at the
fame time extremely characteristic of the tafte and
civilization, of the town. Of the nine focieties of
this kind fubfifting here, not one is peculiarly de
voted to literature or the arts, or has merely im
proving converfation for its aim. In all of them,
' the two amateur theatres excepted, cards are the
main bufinefs, at leaft with the far greater part of
the members. Every attempt that has hitherto
been made at the inftitution of literary or conver
fation clubs, has failed from want of encourage
ment. About fifteen years ago a club of phyficians
and another of military men forced themfelves into
fome fort of exiftence ; but their objects excited
too little intierett to be of any long continuance.
They both fell to the ground ; and fince that time
no farther attempt has been made to revive the
plan, though the vifible refinement in tafte feemed
to promife greater fuccefs to a fimilar undertaking.
During the reign of Paul, however, no hopes could
be entertained of that nature.
There are perhaps no marks more infallible
whereby to judge of the fpirit and genius of a
people, than the inftitution and aim of fuch liberal
affociations. The greater the defire of converfation
or the inclination for interchanging and communi
cating ideasy the more furely may we pronounce
upon the ftate of culture and improvement. This
obfervation is confirmed by daily experience in all
ingenious and polifhed nations. ' In England, where they

430 PUBLIC PROMENADES.
they are not indifferent either to the amufement of
cards or to the indulgences of the table, yet de
bating focieties fprung up, in which there was nei
ther play nor eating, and where feveral hundred
perfons were drawn together folely by the defire of
enjoying an animated converfation Subjected to cer
tain neceffary rules ; and in thefe meetings even
ladies were to be feen. In Paris there is no place
of public entertainment where reading and con
verfation are not the primary and moft general
amufement. Even the Circus in the Palais- royal,
the centre of all enjoyment in that voluptuous ca
pital, could never accomplish its end without of
fering the Parifians fome gratification for their in
tellectual appetites. Amidft the moft tumultuous
concourfe of the votaries of refined fenfuality, wif-
dom Spoke with an audible voice and Sound atten
tive hearers ; So Sar from being banifhed their So
ciety, She had her place affigned her as the presid
ing deity.
In all great cities are public walks, which
may be considered as places of general amufement.
In St. Peterfburg are likewife feveral, not wanting
in attractions ; but, in comparifon with thofe of the
fame nature in other capital cities, they are but
little fPequented. The Short fummer, the dirty or
dufty ftreets and the wide extent of the town, ren
der the keeping of a carriage almoft indifpenfably
neceffary to the enjoyment of this recreation ; and
the opulent part of the inhabitants ufually pafs the
fine

THE IMPERIAL SUMMER-GARDEN. 43 1
fine feafon of the year at their country- feats. The
principal promenade within the city is the imperial
summer-garden, the fcite whereof the reader is
already acquainted with from the firft chapter. Its
extent is indeed but moderate*, and little care is
taken to keep it in order ; yet, when -the above-
mentioned reafons do not prevent, it is vifited
with much fatisfadtion. Notwithstanding the uni-
formity of the Dutch tafte in which it is laid
out, it is not deficient in interefting objects.
Its neat walks, Shaded by lime-trees, venerable for
their age, afford an agreeable refuge from the op-
preffive heats of our long fummer days, and the
charming profpedt towards the Neva prefents a
view that perhaps would be vainly fought for in
the moft fplendid capitals -of Europe. Neither is
the eye of theoonnoiffeur leSt without gratification.
Several of the principal walks are furnilhed with
flatues of marble and alabafter brought from Italy
under fome of the preceding reigns. The fineft
pieces of artj however, are contained in a grotto
which ftill declares its former magnificence by its
ruins. Here are two flatues by Conradini : Re
ligion and Faith, to .which all good judges affign
an honourable place among the curiofities of the
refidence. They are female figures veiled, whofe
noble ideal form is difcernible through the marble
drapery, captivating the Spectator with a magical
* It is about two hundred and fifty fathoms long and a
hundred broad. furprife

432 I-T'ALIAN STATUES-. '
furprife, as his imagination completes- the Shapes-,
fey a Standard' not attainable in reality, which the
images before him merely fuggeft. TheSe excel
lent morfels and Several Small but choice products1
of the italian ehiffel, together with the grottothat
contains them, Seem here to be abandoned to oh-
livion and to the grateful admiration of fome foli
tary eonnohTeur, as well a9 to the injuries of the
weather and the diffolute populace. — Not only
the keeper of the gardens, but even Nature herSelf
feems to have withdrawn her maternal hand from
theSe fequeftered fcenes. Traces of a great inunda
tion are Still Seen, by whieh they have loft a great
part of their natural charms*.
Notwithftstnding thefe adverfe circumftances,
the Summer-garden, however, deferves to be fre- „
quented, even were it not the only promenade
exprefsly allotted to the public : and it is actually
a place of refort with numbers of perfons who
either by inclination or bufinefs remain continually
in town. But likewife it has its brilliant days.
On the two Whitfun holidays, all elegant and fa-
fliionable people parade its walks in ftate. How
much or how little of this honour may be afcribed
to an affection for the beauties of nature, it is not
my duty to inquire ; but certain it is, that many
* For the effects of this inundation which happened on the
lothof September, 1777, fee Tooke's View of the Ruflian
empire, vol. i. p. 52 . and Life, of Catharine II. vol. ri. p.
260, 357- ladies

THE QUAY OF THE GALEERENHOF. 433
Jadies of great quality leave their beautiful villas,
in order, on thefe days, to, Shove about among the
crowd of well-drelfed citizens, and that, except
in the grand walk, where all appear to fee and be
feen, only a few unfashionable walkers are found.
Not fo rural as the fummer-gardens, but richer
in the beauty and variety of its profpects, is the
promenade on the quay of the neva, the mag
nificence and fingular construction whereof maybe
recollected from the firft chapter. To that I refer
in order to avoid unneceffary sepetitions, and Shall
only here Supply what is wanting to complete the
defcription. — The granite embankment of the
Neva being interrupted by the docks of the ad
miralty, it properly forms two diftinct promenades,
whereof one is called the qu-ay of the Galeerenhof
and the other the quay of the Millione. Both are
alike in their form and construction ; but, from the
various points of view they afford, differ confider
ably. From the quay of the Galeerenhof we
have the view of a long feries of elegant edifices
that decorate the Shores of Vaffilly-oftrof. The
light of the Neva, which feparates that ifland from
our ftation, is not the leaft of its advantages. The
veffels wafted to and fro or cutting the waves at
full fail, the buftle of the failors and boatmen,
create an agreeable contrast with the lively fcenes
of bufineSs on the Shore. Wherever the eye turns,
it meets fome ftriking exhibition of human art or
human induftry. Such fine ftreets as are formed-
f f by

434 TKE <ltrAY OF THE MILLIONS.
by the rows of houfes here on both fides the Neva,
are perhaps nowhere elfe to be feen. But ftill more
inviting^h. the point of ftation at the end of the
quay, where it is broke off by the admiralty. Here ,
the view takes in at once the Shore of Vaffilly-
oftrof, the great bridge leading to it, the Square
in which ftands the Statue of Peter the great,
thence called Peter's place, and the admiralty : the
whole filled with numerous' uncommon monuments
of art, and the great hurry occafioned by luxury
and diligence. But I am fenfible how inadequate
every defcription muft necelfarily be that turns on
objects' of this nature, fince even the fine drawings
that have been taken by Skilful painters from this
point of view are no better than flight Sketches,
their Strongest ftrokes of the pencil requiring to be
filled up by the imagination from the recollection
of what has been actually feen.
Not lefs pleafant and perhaps ftill more divert]-'
fied is the promenade on the quay of the Millione.
I Shall only juft obferve that we here pafs the whole
length of the imperial palace, the hermitage, the
marble palace and a long fucceffion of magnificent
houfes and other elegant Structures, that I may
immediately make the reader acquainted with the
interchanging proSpects on the oppofite Shore. On
account of its being cut into iflands, and from this
being the broadest part of the Neva, the eye tra-
verfes a much more open and extenfive circle thai*
on the quay of the Gale'erenhof. Chufing our Sta
tion

AGREEABLE PROMENADES. 43J
tion at the palace, we have in view the eastern
point of Vaffilly-oftrof, and on it the buildings of
the academy of fciences, and the new exchange.
In this diftridt a great number of Ships are con
tinually lying at anchor the whole fummer through.
Overagainft the marble palace ftands the caftle,
having its ramparts of granite immediately waffied
by the waves, and which, with the gilded fpire of
its church, prefents a brilliant object to the fight.
Proceeding farther up, the profpedt takes a rural
afpedt ; and, oppofite the Stykhof, lies a fpaciou*
¦quarter refembling a village. Thefe feveral objedts
are fo far afunder and replenished with animated
interftices, that, as we continue walking, our views
are incelfantly changing.
Thefe fine promenades* which, even from the
faint defcription that I have given, will excite no
ordinary ideas, are particularlyjnterefting in the
fummer evenings, when the noife of diligence has
ceafed for the mild enjoyment of chearful life. No
longer plagued with the Stifling clouds of duft and
the inceffant rattling oS carriages, combining all
the day long with the Scorching Sun-beams to vex
the lungs and ears of the pedeftrians, the forlorn
inhabitant of town Seeks now to compenfate his
privation of the folace of rural life. The furround-
ing objects that appeared fo brilliant in the fplen
dour of the meridian fun, pleafingly fall into
groupes of figures ever varying and intricate with
fh^le in the elear-obfeure of our fummer-nights.
ff« The

43$ SLEDGE-ROADS UPON THE NEVA.
The fplaffiing oars of the paffing pleaSure-bargeSS,
regularly keeping time with the popular Songs of
the rowers, the audible fteps oS the foot-walkers,
occafionally likewife the majestic founds of french-
horns and clarinets, are the only interruptions of the
filence in which all nature feems to be plunged. -~
Befides this feafon of the year, which, alas, is as
Short as it is agreeable, the quay is particularly
frequented on the fine days of winter and Spring,
when the rich and fafhionable part of the inhabit
ants are all in town. For the better accommoda
tion of fuch as are fond of this amufementj the
footway is during the whole winter carefully fwept
of the fnow and Strewed with fine fand. Beneath the
veil of winter, indeed, the profpedt affumes a very
different form; but, the peculiar beauties of it
excepted, which even then are not entirely loft,
the incidental ones are fupplied by others, perhaps
more entertaining ftill to the eye of the Stranger.
The icy covering of the Neva is at this feafon
marked with numberlefs interfering roads and
paths, the former whereof are ufually ftuck out on
either fide with .verdant fks. The fight of the daz
zling fields of fnow contrafted with thefe green al-
lees ; the perpetual throng of Sledges and other
vehicles, paffing and repassing on thefe fingular
highways, is by no means So diSagreeable a varia
tion as to make us haftily wiffi to change it for the
noify adtivity oS the Summer-Scene. This winter
promenade, however, is ftill more interefting when
5 the

THE IMPERIAL ITALIAN GARDENS.. 437
the multitude is engaged by the ice-hills and the
race-ground. The quay fwarms with the, qua
lity of both fexes, and the eye of the fpedlator
'wanders from one fcene to another, uncertain on
which to fix, as likely to afford the moft ample
matter for a philofophical foliloquy.
Though far lefs interefting, yet by elegant Struc
tures and diverfified objedts, the walk on either
fide of the fontanka prefents an entertaining pro
menade uninterruptedly extending nearly fix verfts
in length. This wajk is in a particular manner
agreeable to me Srom the view of the frefh embel
lishments it daily receives and the effects of that un
common rage for building which no where appears
to have attained to fuch a pitch as here. Every
fucceffive vifit that I make to this part of the town,
after a Short interval, fills me with frefh furprife and
extorts a greater admiration, One fuperb manfiori
creeps up after another, whole fields are covered
with houfes within the Short fpace of a few fumr
mer months ; and aft of them finiffied in the higheft .
ftyle of architecture, and laid out in the beft
manner for conveniency and eafe. What city in our
quarter of the globe will venture to vie with St.
Peterfburg when this Street Shall be completed ?
Among the lefs frequented promenades within
the refidence are the imperial Italian gardens
in the Stykhof. Confined as to extent, uniform
in difpofition and neglected as they are, they can
by no means lay rlaim to any great consideration,
i- F 3 - iis

438 the gardens of the pantheon.
Jn a city where the objects of curiofity are fo nu
merous. The GARDENS OF THE PANTHEON, Or the TAU-
ridan palace, in the fame quarter of the town,
are much more worthy of a vifit. The extent of
this plot of ground and the charming fimplicity of
its plan, entirely in the engliffi tafte, form its pe
culiar excellence. Hills and lakes, Shrubberies,
and water-falls render it extremely romantic. Its
great diftance from the heart of the city is the
reafon of its not being fo much frequented as it
deferves. Of the many other gardens within the borders of
the town, belonging to the palaces of the great,
and therefore not to be reckoned among the pub
lic places, the gardens of the land-cadet
corps ffiould be mentioned however, becaufe, under
the direction of the late count Anhalt,- they were
open on Sundays for the ufe of the public. They
are not very remarkable ; and are only interefting
by the motley throng of a numerous and decent
part of the public.
In fliort, even the great neft of fhops, the gos-
tinnoi-dvor, may have a brief notice here. Since
its covered arcades afford an agreeable promenade,
which is exceedingly entertaining from theper-
petual concourfeof induftrious and buSy people.
In addition to theSe walks lying within the city,
in the diftant quarters and on the iflands of the v
Neva are very pleafant and delightful gardens,
"* which,

THE ISLANDS OF THE NEVA. 439,
which, with exemplary liberality, are ufuallyopen
to the recreation of the public. — The grand-ducal
ifland, kammennoi-ostrof, has not only a gre_at
many fine private gardens, but all people are al
lowed the liberty of amufing themfelves here in a
becoming manner. The romantic wildnefs of this
ifland, its fituation between other rural places of
amufement, the fishery and a well-furnillied houfe
of entertainment draw a great number of people
hither on fine fummer days. — Another ifland,
K.RESTOFSKY-03TROF, belonging to count Razu-
moSSky, is one continued forest, cut through in
various places into large and noble viftas. Here
likewiSe every one is permitted to enjoy the beauties
oS nature. On Sundays and holidays are Seen a
great confluence of citizens of the lower claffes,
taking their pleafure unmolefted. LikewiSe yela-
gin's island, the moft charming of them all, is
free to the ufe of the public, as alfo are the gardens
of counts Stroganof and Befborodko, in the vy-
borgSkoj quarter. The two former have for many
years kept open a Vauxhall, much reforted to by
the public of all claffes. The company amufe
themfelves in-walking and dancing, for which pur
pofe the proprietors keep a well-conducted turkiffi
band of mufic, in fiffiing, Swinging and playing at
bowls ; and in the evening a firework is generally
exhibited. M. Yelaghin himfelf uSually takes part
in the amuSements heSoliberallydifpenfes toothers,
and his daughters at times open the ball with Some
f F 4 gentleman

440 THE PETERHOF-ROAD.
gentleman prefent. That the enjoyment of all
thefe amufements is free of expence to the vifitants
fcarcely needs to be mentioned.
Among the pleafanteft walks without the town
the peterhof-road would indifpUtably deferve
the foremost place, were its advantages not fo di
minished by the fuffocating clouds of duft, raifed
by the carriages inceffantly paffing along. This
inconvenience, however, great as it is, by no means
prevents the principal and moft faffiionable part of
the inhabitants from making this diftridt the chief
place of their refort for pleafure. From the de
fcription oS this excellent highway the reader al
ready knows that it is bordered on both fides with
elegant and fplendid villas. Moft of them belong
to private perfons and are ufed to the entertains
ment of themfelves and their friends in a very hof-
pjtable manner. But with Still greater liberality
feveral perfons of sank convert their gardens into
places of public entertainment, to which all people
of decent appearance are at liberty to come. The
country- feats of the two brothers Narifhkin, defervq
here particular notice as being frequented on Sun
days by great numbers of the higher claffes. A
friendly invitation, in Sour different languages, in
fcribed oyer, the entrance to the grounds, autho
rizes every one of decent appearance and behaviour,
to, amufe himfelf there in whatever way he pleafes
without Sear of moleftation. In Several pavilions
are. musicians for the benefit of thofe who chufe to
dance;

narishklin's villa. 441
dance; in others are chairs and Sophas, ready Sor
the reception of any party who wifh to recreate
themfelves by fedate converfation after roamingabout
with the great throng ; fomepartiestaketothefwings,
the bowling-green and other diverfions ; on the ca
nals and lakes are gondolas, fome conftructed forrow-r
ing, others for failing; and, if all this be not enough,
refreshments are fpread on tables in particular
alcoves, or are handed about by fervants in livery.
This noble hofpitality is by no means unenjoyed ;
the concourfe of perfons of all defcriptions, from
the ftar and ribband to the plain well-dreffed
burgher, Sorms Such a party-coloured colledtion
and Sometimes groupes are So humourously con
trafted, that Sor this reaSon alone it is well worth
the pains oS partaking once in the amuSement.
The number of thefe Sauntering places, in and
about the refidence, is So great that we are not yet
come near the end ef our lift. Theretore, to Spare
mySelf and the reader the trouble oS repetitions,
we will take our leave of this branch of public
paflime, in order to entertain ourfelves with another
elafs very nearly allied to it.
Walking has fome admirers at St. Peterfburg,
but driving incomparably more. A convenience,
which in this extensive, dirty town is fo much a
neceffary, will naturally foon degenerate into a
luxury. The neceffity of keeping horfes for ufe
is puffied to the utmoft extravagance ; no where is
driving So much a diverfion as here. It

44* PROMENADE ON MAY-DAY.
It has long been the cuftom to keep a general
promenade on certain holidays. On the firft
of May all the people of fafliion affemble in the
moft fplendid equipages in the woods of Katha-
rinenhof, as it Should Seem, to hail the arrival of
Spring. All that the tafte and expence of the
wealthy part of the public has to exhibit in thefe
particulars, is here to be Seen, as numbers of new
carriages have been kept Shut up in the coach-
houSes till this day ; and this train actually deter
mines the faffiion in the Shape and colour of car
riages till the next grand parade. Magnificent as
the proceffion is of feveral thoufand equipages
moftly in the higheft ftyle of richnefs and elegance,
not lefs, and perhaps ftill more curious is the end
and aim of this choice diverfion. The carriages
proceed in three or four rows, clofe befide and
behind each other ; the pleafure confifts in feeing
and being feen, and, after fome hours Spent in this
manner, every one haftens home fatisfied and de
lighted. The populace who, on this occafion,
affemble in great multitudes, have here, as ufual,
drawn the better lot : jovial and gay, they take
their glafs of brandy, looking from under their
tents at the gaudy holts of vanity; and to them it
is a real comedy. The philofopher entertains
himfelf in contemplating the fingular contrails of
this prodigious mafs of mortals compounded of
fuch heterogenous parts; and every one thinks
himfelf

SLEDGE-PARTIES. 443
himfelf well repaid for coming. — Similar car
riage promenades are held at Eafter round the
Swings. More appropriate and more .general than theSe
amufements, is the driving in sledges ; a di
verfion, of which, even in Germany, nothing more
than a very faint idea can be formed. Indeed it
is not here the cuftom, as there, to have Solemn
proceffions in Sledges ; but the nature oS our winter
and the SleetneSs of our horfes confer peculiar
charms on this amufement in Ruffia. The fledges
here in ufe are extremely fimple, as the Shapes of
Shells, gondolas, fwans, eagles, &c. are thought
abfurd and taftelefs ornaments. Thofe for two
perfons are drawn by a pair of horfes, one being
harneffed in the Shafts and the other by his fide
without them to a SuSpended croSsbar*. 'The
rule is to keep the Sormer in a trot and the other
in a gallop. The great intereft in this winter-
Sport confifts in the extraordinary fpeed of driving :
to what lengths our ifvofchtSchiki and horSes have
attained in this matter, I Shall forbear to mention,
for fear of lofing all my credit with the reader. —
The fledges for a fingle perfon made ufe of by our
beaux for their morning recreation are generally
* The ruffian harnefs has feveral peculiarities extremely
difficult to be defcribed ; it is faid, however, to be excellently-
calculated for the benefit of the horfe. Perhaps it may not be
improper to remark, that the Ruffians are univerfally well-
Skilled ia the treatment of horfe*. very

444 -SLEDGE- RACES.
very elegant and their horfes excellent runners 3
the gentleman guides himfelf, and betide the horfe;
rides a huffar, finely dreffed, to hold the reins. — >.
On pleaSant winter-days public sledge-races are
held on the Neva. The courSe is about three hun
dred Sathoms long and inclofed with railing. The
lovers of the fport and the ifvofchtfchiki lay bets
on the fleetnefs of their horfes, or ufe the courfe!
merely for their own diverfion. The great con-
courfe of people affembled as Spectators, Sor whofe
accommodation likewife feveral Scaffolds are erect
ed, is a confiderable addition to the livelineSs of
the Show. — Driving for jsleafure is not merely
confined to one Sex, the ladies are warranted by
cuftom to enjoy this amuSement confiftently with
the rules of propriety, The principal rendezvous
for it is the Peterhof road.
The Neva and the canals by which St. Peters
burg is interSedled afford the inhabitants the con
venience of going, for bufinefs Or pleafure, on the
water, in Such perfedtion as can only be enjoyed
in very few towns in Europe. We may not only
go on pleafant excursions to a diftance from the city
and to the iflands, but even take Short paffages to
moft of the ftreets. On the Shores of the Neva
plenty of boats are ever in readinefs to take a fare,
fome of them belonging to the public offices, others
kept by private perfons. They are of various Sizes,
of two, four, fix, eight and twelve oars ; but their
conftruction is in general the fame. The after-, part,

PARTIES ON THE WATER. 44$
part, juft before the fleerfman, is ufually covered
with an awning provided with curtains, :as a pro
tection from rain. Their appearance is always ele
gant, but thofe belonging to the gentry magnifi
cent. The rowers are all failors and dreffed in uni
form, having caps with high plumes of feathers.
Their dexterity in rowing is fuch that even the
englifh failors acknowledge their fuperiority. All
the motions are directed with the ftridreft punctilio
by the fteerSman's orders. At his firft word of
•command all the oars are raifed in the air, at the
Second they fall at once into the water, and at the
, third the rowing begins, fo exactly in time and
with fuch equal ex.rtions as if the motion was
effedted by the fpring of a machine. When going
with the current, and the paffengers require it,
the failors ftrike up a Song, which the fteerSman,
with a pipe made of birch-bark [rojoke] directs
and accompanies. — All things considered, thefe
water-parties are to be reckoned among the moft
engaging amufements of the place.
It has already been mentioned in this chapter
that the general tafte is by no means favourable to
public affemblies. However copious this article
may be in other capitals, not much is to be Said
upon it here. Excepting the kabaks, which are
only Srequented by the vulgar, here are no taverns ;
and the coffee-houses, which in all the capitals
of Europe are the point of union for foreigners
and the idle part of the public, here play but a
very

44*> HOUSES OF ENTERT1ANMENT.
very inferior part. They are not numerous, theif
eftabliffiment is univerfally without tafte, or ex-
pence, and the company that meet in them ex
tremely mixt. Some few coffee-houfes are partly
an exception to this account ; but thefe better fort/
are only frequented, and that very fparingly, by
unconnected Strangers or foreigners. The conver
fation is feldom lively and general ; when the cuf-
tomary berufal of the newfpaper is over, they com
monly fit down to chefs or draughts. I have never
feen cards in any of thefe houfes, and therefore
conclude that they are forbidden. The prices of
the ordinary refreshments are enormoufly high.
At any rate it is hardly to be expedted that this
fpecies pf public refort will ever be put upon a
fuperior footing fo long as the prefent rage for
clubs fliall laft.
Public-houfes, a little way out of town, may
be faid in fome degree to thrive, as being ufually
the term of the walks and promenades, and be
caufe the Petropolitans prefer what they afford to
moft other modes of fecial gratification — card''
playing and dinner parties. Wherever thefe fub
lime branches of entertainment flourish, there we
may be fure to find numerous companies made up
from all defcriptions of people. A landlord who
vinderftands how to drefs only fome one difh in a
fuperior manner, or takes care to keep an excellent
cellar, Soon obtains an extenfive reputation and a
constant Succeffion of cuftomers. One of thefe
houfes,.

COMMON BALLS, OR HOPS. 447
houfes, called Krafna-kabak, on the Peterhof-road,
where they bake Special good waffels, has for
many years been famous on that account, and is
univerfally frequented by the polite world. A
Frenchman who more recently fettled on the fame
road, fomewhat nearer town, got fuch extraordi
nary cuftom by the goodnefs of his table, that it
became neceffary to befpcak feveral days before
hand what would be wanted, or run the rifk of be
ing difappointed and turned back.
Gaming-houses, merely kept for that purpofe,
may perhaps lie concealed in fome obfcure corners,
but no public ones are either licenfed or tolerated.
In moft of the public-houfes both within and
without the refidence, are billiards and an oppor
tunity for playing at cards, excepting, however,
games of chance. — In fome of them balls are fre
quently given, which,' on account of the low price
of admiffion, are frequented by extremely mixt com
pany, and at which the higher clafs of frolickfome
ladies play the principal parts. TheSe balls are
called vetschurinki. It is well worth while Sor
the obServer of human nature to facrifice one
evening in contemplating the manners of this clafs
of people ; to fee the difference in the behaviour
here from the french gallantry or the fulfome ger
man infipidity. At the vetfchurinki all deli
cate approaches are entirely difpenfed with, and the

448 FOUR PUBLIC THEATRES}
the fports are carried on with great vivacity and
without restraint*.
We now proceed to one of the principal and
grandest of the public amufements, the theatre.
From the general accounts given by all travellers of
the magnificence of the ruffian court, fomething
extraordinary will naturally be expected under this
head; and, indeed, this expedtation is ftill juftified,
though the play-houfes in this cit,y are not fo nu
merous as formerly. About the year 1780 there
were four public theatres in St. Peterfburg : the
Ruffian, French, German, and the Italian opera.
The two laft no longer fubfift ; but, on the other
hand, the firft has attained to a greater degree of
excellence. Even to this as well as to all other
intelledtual enjoyments it was heretofore neceffary
to allure the public by every poffible means ; the
late emprefs defrayed the whole of the expence,
and the admittance to the performance gratis. At
prefent this kind of public entertainment is put
under the direction of particular perfons ; the re
presentations for the public are now given either in
the great opera-houfe or in the wooden theatre,
and admittance is paid for. But, though the re
ceipts are very confiderable, they are infufficient
to the fupport of the houfes, and therefore the
* Here I chufe to omit feveral pages of the german original.
Indeed it would be needlefs to infertthem, as vulgar manners
:are nearly the fame in all countries. Tr. court

THE RUSSIAN THEATRE. 449
Court makes an annual addition of upwards of
1 74,000 rubles.
The Russian theatre prefents tragedies, co
medies, and ferious and comic operas. DmitrefSky,
the foremoft tragedian of this Stage, an actor, who,
with firft-rate talents combines an- uncommon de
gree of cultivation, and, having ftudied under the
greateft performers of London* and Paris, has be
come the Rofcius of his country, on account of
his advanced age, but feldom appears before the
grateful public. From among a number of very
good perfomers I only name this one, becaufe his
adting is famed for being classical, and becaufe
with a knowledge of the national tafte and lan
guage in many refpedls incomplete, it is extremely
difficult to pafs a rational and equitablejudgement
on the talents of the others. On the whole, it is
certain that fcarcely any nation poffeffes more na
tural dispositions Sor bodily attitudes and repre
sentation than the Ruffian. Whoever would con
vince himfelf of the truth of this remark, need
only look on during any lively converfation among
the populace : without underftanding one word of
the language, he will prefently guefs the fubjedt of
it. from the impaffioned and expreffive gestures of
the fpeakers. The visible refinement of tafte, the
pattern fet them by other nations, the inftrudlion
* For a whole winter he attended regularly at Drury-lane
theatre whenever Garrick adted. g q appointed

4$- THAGEDY AND COMEDY.
appointed, for noviciates in the proper fchools, the*
improvement they acquire by foreign travel : all
thefe means meet ] here together to unfold and
bring to maturity thefe happy difpofitions. From-
the concurrence of fuch favourable circumstances
it is reafonable to expedt, that the ruffian theatre
will rife above mediocrity and not fail of attaining
its objedt of becoming an attradtive and gratifying.
entertainment for the fuperior and politer claffes of
the nation.
The ruffian tragedy, both in its form and matter,
has adopted a french eaft. The well-founded re
putation of that theatre, and the period of time in
which the ruflian Stage was in Search of a model,
may juftify an imitation which in Germany would,
certainly not withput reafon, though perhaps
fdmewhat too haftily, be reprobated. The manner
of the poet as well as of the actor, is french : the
former confining himfelf religioufly to the unities
and other rules of the drama and forcing his dia
logue into the rhythmus of verfe ; the latter re
quires the fame pathos, the fame meafured move
ments and fteps that fo Singularly characterize the'
french performance. — Comedy, here as well as
there, has a more extenfive range. Profe and
verfe are a convenient drefs, and the manner is
not So decidedly french, as that it does not tole»,
rate likewife imitations of acting in other coun
tries. In this fpecies the national taSte is more
Strongly marked ; ruffian manners are brought' upon

COMIC OPERAS.' 45I
Upon the Stage and pleafe according to the degree
of originality they exhibit. The adtor, who has
here free fcope for difplaying his natural talents,
more eafily foars beyond the Sphere of mediocrity,
arid is a good original where he would have been
but a wretched copy.
Still more interefting and charadteriftic are the
COMIC OPERAS Or PIECES EN VAUDEVILLES, which
here, as formerly in Paris, are the grand favourites
of the public at large. In this fpecies, where the
genius both of the poet and player is leaft of all
confined, it accordingly appears in its greateft pecu
liarity and vigour. The neat produdtions in this
department of the drama, have attained, in the
judgment of connoiffeurs, to a proportionable ex
cellence, which in other branches is rarely to be
found. AmOng the pieces that have, met with
the greateft applaufe, and which are ftill, Jong
after their firft appearance, feen always with frefti
pleafureyf Shall only name the Miller and the Sbi-
tenfchtichik * as having flood out the quarantine
of their reputation, and are numbered among the
daffical works of this nature. The moft faithful
reprefentation of national manners,a peculiar veinof
humour, and the charming mufic of their airs give
thefe little irregular dramatical pieces an intereft,
which by a fpirited and captivating performance
* An itinerant vender of fbiten, a liquor with which the
leader is already acquainted from what has been faid of it in
the firft chapter of this book. O G 2 IS

4.J2 THE RUSSIAN OPF.RA*
is greatly enhanced, and leaves the admiring Spec*
tator no time Sor thinking about the critical rules
of poetry. The comic opera is exceedingly well
filled, and no where do the performers appear to
play more con amore. The capital talents, the
delightful voice and the engaging figure of ma-
dame Sandunof place her at the head of this com-,
pany. Martini, the Italian, who has rendered
his name fufficiently famous by the operas Cofa
rara and Arbore di Diana, is the componift for
this theatre. He has perSormed the difficult tafk
of dignifying the national mufic to the fatisSadtion
of connoiffeurs. His manner is fo ductile, that he
adapts it to the popular chant without depriving
the latter of its peculiarity and the former of its
dignity and delicacy.
The moft magnificent fpedtacle of the refidence!
during the emprefs's reign was the Russian opera.
From the concurrence of the moft unbounded ex-
penfe with themoftexquifite talents, doubtlefsfome-
thing uncommon was to be expected; but where
the participation of the fovereign fo immediately
co-operated with the art, as it did in this cafe, there
the general Standard ceafes. By the common re
port Catharine the fecond was every where named
as the author of feveral pieces of this kind, where
in the dignity of the fubjedt and the propriety
of the execution united with all the graces of art
and all the pomp of reprefentation tq "Sxcite an
extraordinary impreSfion. Among the later pro-
5 duct ions

THE OPERA OF OLEG. 453
dudtions from that exalted fource, I Shall only take
notice of oleg, a grand ferious opera, having for
its hero the fucceffor qS Rurik, who Subjected
Kief and made Constantinople tremble. The
grandeur of fhe hero and the obfcurity of the age
in which he lived offered a noble fubjedt for genius
and fancy to compofe an affecting picture for pa
triotic minds, and which received an additional
intereft from various allufions to occurrences of a
more recent date. The. magnificence of the per
formance far exceeded every thing I had ever
beheld of this kind in Paris and other capital cities.
The fumptuoufnefs of the dreffes, all in the antient
ruffian coftume and ail the jewelry genuine, the daz
zling luftre of the pearls and diamonds, the armorial
decorations, implements of war and other proper
ties, the ingenuity difpiayed in the ever-varying
Scenery, went far beyond even the boldest expec
tation. Here were feen romantic regions, Sailing
Sleets, towns and the proud battlements of antique
palaces. The audience were prefent at the deli
berations of the chiefs and at the domeftic enter
tainments of the princes, in which the ufages and
the tafte of the days of yore were reprefented in a
furprifing and delightful manner. Choirs of bards
celebrated in lofty Strains the exploits of the heros.
At the court of the grecian emperor Oleg h re
ceived wuffi magnificent Solemnities; at the opening
of the laft act, on the rifing of the curtain, a fpaci
ous circus appeared, and on the tribunes around it
g g 3 the

454 MAGNIFICENT BALLETS.
the grecian court and a vaft concourfe of the pee*
pie as fpedtators. Here were held games Of every
. fpecies ; gladiators contending in Single combat ;
others running at the ring ; till at Jength, a fecond
curtain vanished, and a Stage appeared on which
a dramatical piece was reprefented.
The ballets correfponded with the brilliancy of
the opera. Without attempting here an account
of the grand pantomimical performances, which
are always better calculated for being feen than de
fcribed, it will fuffice to mention the names of the
artifts for giving an idea of this department of our
drama. The misfic31 composition for the operas
and ballets was in the hands of the Italians Cima-.
rofa and Sarti, names that cannot be unknown to,
the dilettanti of the . art. Canziani and le Picq
undertook the corapofition of the ballets and the
dances ; the former with a falary of five thoufand
rubles, and the latter, who was at the fame time
the firft folo dancer, fix thoufand. Of the female
performers, the firft fola dancer fignora di Roffi,
and mademoiSelle Grekof, a Ruffian, were the
moft eminent ; the farmer is an artift in the Strictest
fenfe. The number of fauteurs, figure-dancers, 8cc,
were competent to the grandest exhibitions. The,
decoration-painter Gonzago is one of the principal
artifts in his way.v
Even though the peculiar advantages of the
french dramatic poets did not render the reprefenT"
tation of their productions fo high an enjoyment fbV

THE FRENCH THEATRE. 455
for all cultivated and fufceptible minds, yet to be
deprived of a French theatre would be a great
lofs to St. Peterlburg. For the great number of
its foreign inhabitants, among whom are the di
plomatic body, who, from their ignorance of the
national language, have but an extremely imper
fect gratification from the ruffian Stage, the french
•play is a definable and pleafing refource. This
probably may be one caufe why the managers be-
itow fuch particular care and attention on this
theatre, fo that even in the great provincial towns
of France, you will frequently not meet with near
fo good a company of performers, nor fee the
parts fowell filled. Among the moft diftinguiffied
adtors here are Aufrefne and Floridor ; the former
for the chief charadters in tragedy, fathers and
grave perfonages in comedy: the latter for the
lover, the fon, &c. Of the adtreSfes, of whom
feveral are excellent, madam Hufs is the capital,
by her uncommon talents and captivating manner.
Her department lies in the principal characters of
tragedy and wherever elegance and grace are re
quired in comedy.
The continuance of the german theatre,
now no longer in being_l was not to be wiffied for
by the admirers of the german drama, from the
weaknefs and infignificance into which it had fallen.
The far more general tafte for the french theatre
prevented it from ever rifing into confequence, and
the inconceivable, if it were not confirmed by
g g 4 univerfal

45^ MUSICAL ENTESTAINMjtEtfTg.
Wfliverfal experience, indifference of the Germans
•for their national manners and arts, contributed
not 3 little to this decline. It would be marvellous
indeed if other nations Should have a high efteeai
for the literature of a country, while it is negledt-
ed and fcorne-d by thofe with whom the language
is vernacular *.
.All the above-mentioned companies of come
dians were wont to adt feveral evenings in the
Week. The court frequented them but rarely,
as one or other of the companies played alternately
to them at the theatre of the* Hermitage, where
the fpedtators were particularly invited by name.
The MUSICAL entertainments of the resi
dence belong not fo much to the clafs of public as
private amufements. In a city where fenfible
enjoyments find fo many admirers and encouragers
and wfiere a fumptuous temple is devoted to
almoft every art, it feems fwrprifing, that there
fhould not be one little chapel to the Sweete-ft, and
moft charming oS therri all. The concerts that
are given in the mufical club, are only apceffible
to the members oS that Society ; and, if they fome
times admit travellers among them, it is ftill only
* About the year 1770, the emprefs had over a company
of englifh adtors, under the management of a Mr. and Mrs.
iFifher ; and for three or four years they adted the principal
englifh plays in fuch a manner as to give general fatisfadtion :
hut quarrelling among themfelves, they feparated and went
home : except a few who remained and got employment as
tochers of the englifh language, a private

concerts and danctng. 45^
-a private -undertaking, . However, if, from thefe
circumftances any were to infer that no fondnefs
for mufic prevails in this town, they would be
.greatly miftaken. Here are dilettantis of all the
arts, in the higher as well as in the middling
Stations, fome whp in many places would even pafs
for virtuosi ; and for fuch there is no want of op
portunities for gratifying their inclination. In
Several of the great houfes concerts are held weekly
to which admittance is eafily obtained by perfons
>of real tafte. Performers of reputation frequently
¦undertake to give concerts at public houfes, of
which the town is informed by an advertifement
in the newfpapers, and where the price oS admiffion
is uSually about two or three rubles. Sometimes
Several virtuofi join together in this view, and are
fupported by friends and admirers of the art* -
Dancing is the favourite diverfion of all ranks;
no where perhaps is there fo much and fuch fine
dancing as here. In proof of the former we may
refer to the numerous dancing focieties, fome i»f
which have been noticed in this chapter. All the
clubs, the engliSh, alone excepted,. give balls, or
rhafquerades throughout the winter ; and two of
them, which are only frequented by the lower
claffes, are exclufively devoted to this amuSement.
Here one and the Same company affembles on two
Succeffive days in the week ; which may ferve as
an inftance that the inclination Sor dancing is with
many a real paffion. In one of thefe clubs, not
long

8ALLS A»D MASQUERADES*
long Since, an old man made himfelf remarkable
by his mania for this diverfion, and which was the
more Striking in him, it being fo Singularly in con
trast with his trade, as he was a coffin-maker. Car
rying on his bufinefs in the wholefale way, he earned
a great deal of money ; which he not only fpent in
frequenting every place where he heard of a dance,
but even wrote to foreign parts for all the new
dances that came out, with their mufic, which
were fent him by the poft, that he might be fure
to have them earlier than any other perfons. — But
befides the clubs there are numerous opportunities
for dancing. The public balls and- mafquerades
at the opera-houfe, in the gallery of the Anitfchkoi
palace and out of town in the tea-houfes, are
many of them very elegant and attended bya nu
merous and brilliant company. None of thefe
< private concerns, however, are fo .worthy of a
great and Splendid capital as the aSfemblies and
maSquerades in the magnificent manfion of prince
Gallitziri, conducted by a Frenchman named Lion.
The extraordinary magnitude of the grand faloon,
the numerous lamps and luftres with which it is
illuminated, the various kinds of amufement found
in the different apartments of this extenfive build
ing, the confluence of feveral thoufand perfons in
fumptuous. dreffes and fantastical difguifes — form
ing in the aggregate fuch a fpedtacle as can only be
feen. in the greateft capitals of Europe, and even
not commonly in thofe. — Thefe numerous oppor
tunities

ENTERTAINMENTS AT COURT, 4591
(unities for dancing, however, are not fufficient fof
fatisfying the defires of the public: an englifh
ball is ufually fet up every winter by Subscription^
and another called the german ball, but to this latter
members are admitted of other countries,
Among the public entertainments of the refi«
dencemuft likewife be included, laftly,' thofe given
at court on particular occafions, and by great and
wealthy individuals. The brilliancj of the rufiin
court has been fo repeatedly defcribed by travellers,
that I may here be allowed to confine myfelf to a
brief, though perhaps not altogether unprofitable
fupplement to their accounts. >
In the early periods of Catharine's reign, no
court was more fplendid and feftive than that of St,
Peterfburg. The numberlefs expenfive and mag*
nificent entertainments that were given on the mar
riage of the heir apparent, on the birth of the
grand-duke Alexander, in honour of prince Henry^
of the late king of Prussia, of the emperor Jo*
feph II. and the late king of Sweden ; the festivi
ties at Peterhof, the grand carouzal, and on many
pther particular occafions, have fcarcely ever had
their equal in the opinion of all prefent, foreigners
as well as natives. It is true, this tumultuous
pomp became lefs frequent latterly ; yet, to the
laft, the court of Catharine the fecond ever main
tained the foremost rank among the princely feats
of our quarter of the globe. What I here advance
WiU readily be confinned by all who had the fatis*
faction

4^0 MASQUERADES AT PETERHor.
faction of attending it on the court-feftivals, wheri
the emprefs dined in public and was ferved by her
officers of ftate. On thofe days all perfons of gen
teel appearance were admitted, and for the Spec
tators a gallery was allotted in the grand dining-
hall, where they remained unmolefted, enjoying
the fight of the magnificence and the pleasure of
moft excellent mufic. ' Even from the mafquerades
at court the public were not excluded. USually
feveral thouSand tickets were diftributed, and the
throng of company is not to be defcribed. On
fome of the grand fefiivals it not unfrequently
happened that the balls lafted two or three days
fucceffively, to which firft the nobility, then the
merchants, &c. were invited.
The masquerades at peterhqf were likewife
grand and gay beyond example. The anniverfary
of this feftival falls in the fineft feafon of the year
towards the end of June, the name-day of the em
peror Peter and of the fucoeffbr Paul. Every being
fufceptible of pleafure left the town on. that day,
in order to partake in an entertainment that might
truly be Styled unique. The highway thither was
fo covered with equipages, horfemen and pedef-t
trians, that it refembled one continued caravan.
At a Short diftance on this fide the palace the car
riages follow fo thick on one another, that they can
only proceed Slowly and with repeated interruptions.
The whole diftridt looks as if it were barricaded; about

Illumination of the gardens. 461
about the parks and gardens particular groupes are
diftributed; numerous parties take their dinners
under the open Sky, and every hedge and avenue
fwarms with people. Towards evening, when twi
light comes on, an extrordinary and captivating
fcene prefents itfelf to the eye i in a few minutes
the whole gardens are illuminated ; the branches
of the trees, and the water of the fountains feem
to be converted into fire. The excellent fituation
of Peterhof and its variety of water-works here
combine with the effects of pyrotechnics, to faf-
cinate the fight by a grand picture, produced as it
were by magic, and which, once beheld, can never
be forgotten. From the fecond chapter the reader
^s already acquainted with the local difpofition of
the fcene ; let him now figure to himfelf the view
down from the terrace on a landfcape all glowing
in a profusion .of blaze, where the moft oppofite ele
ments are ever in conjunction ; the canal, covered
with yachts lighted up to their Streamers ; on the
Shore an enormous pyramid pf fire, and behind it
the black fea, with a fleet oS men oS war floating
on its Surface. The Streams and cafcades rolling
over various coloured lamps, the leaves of the
trees trembling in the glitter of millions of broken
rays of light, and the very fand feemingto imitate
the bLizing motron of the elements, with which it
might be faid to be impregnated.
Amidft thefe miracles of fairy art, thoufandsof
perfonsare wandering about, with footfteps fcarcely
audible,

%H GRArff) StlffE*.
audible, and in their black filk garb look like fpirir.1
from the Subterranean world. From the woods at
Various diftances reSounds the inexpreflibly Soft
snd majeftic harmony of the ruflian hunting mufic,
rhe notes whereof re-echo in the pure evening
breeze; With a very moderate Share of fancy it
is eafy here to tranSpbrt oneSelf to the Shores that
border the elyfian fields, efpecially when having be-"-
fore us the grand bafon, in the centre of which
Stands an illuminated pavillion.
In the apartments of the palace, in the mean
time, the motley-coloured multitude of maSks
prefs round the well-furniflied tables or join hands
in the mazy dance. Pomp and plenty, the ufual
attendants on royal banquets, here unite in the
moft unconftrained conviviality, which generally/
feems at Other times to be baniffied Srom the regions
oS theSe terreftrial deities. Solicited on all hands
to enjoyment, the' guefts willingly refign them
felves to the inchanting tumult till the rifing Sun
diSpels the SaScinating illufion, and the fiery fea of
the over-night is fuddenly metamorphofed into a
piiferable fhow of fmoky lamps.
A fight not lefs grand andl extraordinary, though
of another kind, is afforded by the launch of a
$ian of war from the docks of the admiralty.
This tranfadtion, which, by the perfonal prefence
of the emprefs was rendered very folemn, may be
regarded as a public feftivity, and was previoufly
notified to e very houfe by the officers of police. The
tremendous

launch of a man of war. 46 j
tremendous machine that is the object of it ftands
as if walled in between maffy Stays and timbers j
en each fide of Its flip, cloSe to the Shore, pavilions
are erected for the courr; the Soldiers of the ad
miralty parade about the fquare -, the Shores are
covered with fpedtators; on the river pleafure*
barges, with all their decorations, Ships and impe
rial yachts, moving to and fro ; the bridge is drawn
afunder to fave it from being Strained and injured
by the approaching revulfion oS the waters. — The
ceremony begins with the Sacerdotal benediction of
the Ship, during which it receives its name. The
empreSs appears, Surrounded by all the grandees of
her court j the Signal is given that declares the
moment when the artificial resistance is removed j
and, amid the thunder oS cannon, martial mufic
and the acclamations of the populace, the coloffai
engine Slowly and folemnly glides into the river,
The flips fmoke, the Neva foams, and in agi
tated waters and fwelling waves fports with the
dancing pleafure-boats. The Ships and yachts
lying off the admiralty Salute the launch by waving
flags and Streamers. The new floating-caftle fol
lows for a time the courfe of the Stream, then
brings to and lies at anchor facing the bridge.
, I Shall conclude this chapter with a fliort ae*
count of the memorable feftivity given by prince
Potemkin the Taurian, during his laft return to
the refidence in honour of the Sovereign of the
ruffian

464 PRINCE P0TEM-KTN*S BANQUET.
ruffian empire, in his Pantheon*. Crowned with
laurels and wearywith conquefts, the commander
haftened back to the refidence, to enjoy his tri
umphs in the fun-Shine of ihajefty ; and, in the
round of rejoicings that awaited his arrival, to for
get for a moment the. horrors of the enfanguined
plain. Some dark forebodings feemed tb whifpet
in his ear that theSe would be the laft hours he
fhould ever pafs on the brilliant theatre of his
greatnefs; and to enjoy them was now his grand
object. He Sormed the plan of an entertainment,
which fhould afford him Sn opportunity of testi
fying his gratitude to the exalted avithorefs of his
profperity, in his own houfe, inprefence of the af-
fembled court; It was grand and extraordinary,
like all his other plans. A whole month elapfed
in preparations ; artifts of all denominations were
eonftantly employed ; whole Shops and warehoufes-
were emptied of their goods for furnifhing what
was wanted j fome hundreds of perfons affembled
daily to work in preparing for the banquet ; and
each of thefe days was a brilliant holiday. At
length the moment arrived which had kept the
whole town on the Stretch of expectation from the
preparatives they had feen. The promife of the
emprefs and the imperial family to grace this day.
* The defcription of this palace, without which the fol
lowing account will be defective, may be feen by turning
back tp _p. 49. by

POTEMKIN's GRAND ENTERTAINMENT. 465
by their prefence, was given; the court, the fo
reign minifters, the nobility and. a great number of
refpedtable perfons of both fexes were invited.
About fix in the evening the company affembled
in mafquerade habits, A Signal being given as the
empreSs ftepped into her carriage, the treat pre
pared Sor the populace in the Square beSore the
palace, was uncovered to the greedy multitude
who were affembled on the occafion in prodigious
numbers. Great heaps of all the feveral articles
of cloaths, lofty pyramids of eatables, two oxen
roafted whole, and an ample Store of liquors, be
fides a couple of fountains fpouting wine, were here
delivered as a prey to the rapacious mob.
The inftant the empreSs. Set her foot in the vef
tibule, a folemn Symphony began, the Swelling;
notes refounding Srom the loSty gallery through
the grand Saloon. The orcheftra confifted of three
hundred performers, vocal and inftrumental in en
chanting viciffitudes. — In a few minutes the em
prefs advanced into the grand hall, followed by the
whole company. Here, having taken her feat on
an elevated platform, decorated with tranfparent
paintings, the company difperfed among the co
lonades and into the boxes •, on which began the
fecond act of this extraordinary Spectacle. Four-
and-twenty couple of beautiful young ladies and
handfome youths of noble families, among whom
were the grand -dukes Alexander and Conftan-
tine, opened the dances. AU were dreffed in.
h h white,

466 potemkin's grand entertainment.
white, and only distinguished by the colour of their
girdles and fcarves. The value of their ornaments
was estimated at ten millions of rubles. The mu
fic to, which they danced, was accompanied with
Singing ; and the famous artift le Picq concluded
the fcene with a folo.
The company now proceeded to another apart-.
ment hung with coftly tapeftry. Here Stood an
artificial elephant, his eaparifons being ornamented
with emeralds, rubies and other precious ftones.
The Perfian who attended him Struck on a bell, and
this was the Signal Sor another change.
A curtain Sprung up and a Stage magnificently
decorated appeared. Two ballets and a dramati
cal reprefentation here charmed the furprifed au
dience in a moft extraordinary manner. Full and
harmonious mufic, interrupted by choirs of fingers,
moft delightful dancing, an exceffive profusion of
pomp, and a display oS all the various national
dreffes of the empire, in their moft agreeable cof-
turne, here fafcinated all the fenfes at once. The
play being ended the company feparated and drew
off into all the apartments of the palace. A bril
liant illumination now Struck the amazed eye
wherever it turned. The walls and columns feemed
to be all on fire ; large mirrors fixed in various
parts, or placed as pyramids and grottos, multi
plied the effect of this unufual fight, and even
the whole park feemed to be ftrewn with fparkling
Stones. A table

potemkin's grand entertainment. 467
A table fpread in a manner correfpond ing with
the fplendour of the feftivity now awaited the
company. Six hundred perfons fat down to it,
and the reft were ferved af the fides and among the
pillars of the hall. No other veffels or implements
were ufed but of gold or filver : in lieu of the ufual
tapers, the table was lighted by eoloured vafes
having lamps within. - A prodigious number of
fervants in fumptuous liveries, with the domeftic
officers, were employed in waiting, and in all parts
whatever was wanted was had at a nod. Any thing
in the whole province of epicurifm might be afked
fop without danger of difappointment.
The emprefs, on that day, made an exception,
certainly the firft for many years, to her ordinary
mode of living ; by remaining till midnight, that
Ihe might not difturb the fatisfadtion of her holt
and his company. On her entering again the vef
tibule, a choir oS human voices began a hymn; the
Subject of which was, Catharine's glory., The
emprefs, furprifed and affected, was turning to the
prince, when he, fuddenly overpowered with his
feelings, fell on his knee, feized her hand, and
moistened it with his tears. A gloomy prefenti-
ment feemed to dart acrofs" his mind, as with a faul-
tering voice he for the laft time expreffed _his gra
titude to his generous patronefs.

h h 2 CHAP.

( 468 X
CHAP. XII.
LIFE AND MANNERS.
Clarification of the inhabitants, according to the gradations of
moral improvement andoutward circumftances. ~ Firft clafs,
the populace. Component parts of this mafs, Thevaffals,
, a four ce of the population of towns. National drefs. Dwel
lings and domeftic condition. Food. Manner of living
among the Fins. Lot and condition of the lower claffes of
people. Light preffure on the vaffals. Their phyfical ex-
iftence tolerable. Protection of the laws. — - Second clafs',
the foreign h'andicraftfmen. Advantages of their fituation.-
L uxurious way of living. Education andfettlement of their
children. Arrogant behaviour. Moral improvement. Pe
culiar Jlamp. Daily courfe of life. — Third clafs, the higher
part of the middling ranks. Habitations. Houfehold fur
niture. Table. Attendants. Equipage. Cloaths. Ne
ceffaries and expenfes of houfekeeping. General mode of
Hving. Signal fociablenifs- and hofpitality. Style of the
focieties and companies. Recreations . Indulgences of the
table. Card-play. Converfation. Plurality of current lan
guages. Peterfiburg-german. Baptifmal names, ufed in
common addrefs. Greetings. Family fefiivals. Pleq/ure
' afforded by genteel company, and the requifites for it. Mo
ney and rank. neceffary conditions. Hardfate offootwalkers*
¦ Balance. Curious characters jnet with here. Domeftic
life. Family comforts. Frugality with a proper care fdr '
outward appearance. Education of children. Early in
troduction of young perfons into the world. Turn of Ike
¦female fex. Friendfhip and felfifhnefi. — Fourth clafs,
the quality. Wealth and profit derived from the vaffals.
Manner of life. Liberality and popularity. Courl-ftyle.
F OR completing the picture, towards which we
have hitherto been giving particular Strokes, no
thing

INHABITANTS OF PETERSBURG. 469
thing remains but to delineate the prevailing man
ner of life ; an object having fo many Shades, that,
in order not to be miftaken, it will be neceffary to
prefix a brieS introduction concerning the plan of
this Sketch.
None of my readers will fail of remarking, that
fo great and numerous a mafs of people as the in
habitants of St. Peterfburg*, compoSed, in regard
to origin, and conSormation of fuch diffimilarparts,
muft have, together with many general features, an
extraordinary variety bothinexternalsand internals,
in their way of life and in their character. Though
this ftatement be Sufficiently clear ; yet its appli
cation to the fubjedt we are now about to delineate
is attended with confiderable difficulties. Theanor
difications of them, caufed by the various degrees,
of cultivation and the gifts of fortune defcribe them
only in a very loofe outline ; by numberlefs gra
dations the neceffaries of one clafs of perfons fo
imperceptibly lofe themfelves in the luxuries of
another that we are perpetually in danger, of con
necting either a very inadequate idea or even none
at all with thofe terms. — In order to avoid, as
* The amount of all the male inhabitants of the whole go
vernment, at the beginning of the year 1790, was 315,200.
The female inhabitants, whofe number is only known to me
for St. Peterfburg, may be probably fet down at 300,000 ;
therefore the inhabitants of the government all together may
be reckoned at 600,000 fouls. Now the areal furface of the
whole government being 34,786 fquare verfts or near 717
geographical fquare miles, the population of the country is by
no means inconfiderable.
h h 3 muc^

47O. CLASSIFICATION OF INHABITANTS.
much as poffible this inconvenience, we will divide
the great aggregate of people with whom we are
now to get more intimately acquainted into the fol
lowing claffes, according to the discriminations/
before given, among whom the differences muft
be extremely ftriking, fince in no other country are
the variations in the outward mode of exiftence of
the fevferal rank's greater than in Ruffia.
In the firft elafs we Shall comprife the great per-
fonages of the court and the rich land-owners ;
their manner of life is the fame as that generally
prevalent in Europe, more or, lefs mixt with na
tional manners. To the fecond belong the more
pol'iffied part of the middle ranks, comprehending
the inhabitants that arc in e-afy or wealthy circum
ftances, the Superior officers in the civil and military
departments, merchants, the learned profeffions,
artifts and in general all foreigners of thefe defcrip-
tions. 1 place all thefe ranks in one clafs, becaufe
their manner of living, allowing for the feveral
Shades which the difference of income may occa
sion, is nearly alike, as they Sorm a distinct part of
the public body, form acquaintance together, have
reciprocal intercourfes and enter into family con
nections together. The foreign, particularly the
german artificers, compofe the third clafs. Their
mode of life borders on the Son going, diverfified,
however, by various peculiarities. The fourth and
laft claSs begins with the retail ruffian dealer, and
includes the working people of that nation and the
whole

THE COMMON PEOPLE. 471
whole of that order commonly called the vulgar or
populace. As they are the moft numerous, the
moft necelfary and the moft hungry, we will begin
with the defcription of them.
Among a great majority of Ruffians and Finns,
of which this clafs is properly compofed, there
are likewife Efthbnians, Lettes, Tartars, Kalmuks,
and even Germans, Swedes and people of other
nations, whofe lot in this fituation is commonly
harder than that of the natives generally is. Thefe
latter being Sor the moft part vaffals, who are
either taken home as menial Servants by their
Owners, or obtain pafsports licensing them to earn
a livelihood by whatever industrious occupation
they are qualified to take op. Here, perhaps, it
may be neceffary to ObServe, that it is customary
with the ruffian landlords, when they do not farm
their own eftates, to take only a perSonal tax of
their boors, which in general is very moderate,
being frequently leSs, but Seldom more than five
rubles Sor each male head. In order to render
this Source of income more productive they grant
paffes to the boors giving them permission to quit
the glebe and- go into the towns in quell of Some
more lucrative employment. This explains, what
otherwise muft be a mystery to Soreigners, how the
populate and the lower orders could be So numerous
in towns, while there was no third ftate or yeomanry
in Ruffia. Rouzed by the fight oS the wealth
with which their brethren return, the countrymen
h H 4 flock

472 TWO CLASSES OF COMMON PEOPLE.
flock yearly to the refidence In great numbers ;
where many oS them acquire Such fortunes as raiSe
them infinitely above their proper Sphere. The
natural vivacity of the ruffian people, their ductility
and cxtenfive capacity, render it eafy for, thefe
ruftics to engage in any bufinefs, even fuch as re
quire ingenuity and addrefs : a practice, of a few
weeks turns the firnpleft boor into a handy fer
vant, an able mafon, an industrious rafnofchtfehjk,
who Soon quits his trade to enter upon one more
profitable, iS his good luck prefents him with an
opening. Every fucceffive improvement of his
condition increafes the income of his mafter*, and
even agriculture is a gainer in fome refpedls, as
moft of thefe people, after having accumulated a
certain pecuniary property, return to the village
they came from ; carrying home, however, with
their money, their ingenuity and their refined ideas,
likewife the luxury and the vkes common to great
cities. We divided theSe people into two claffes ; and
this distinction is of confequence. All vaffals who
live as domestic fervants with their lords, are ab-
folutely dependent on them in regard to their na
tural condition, and therefore fare better or worle,
* Often by a hundred or two hundred rubles a year. For
inftance, the, monthly wages of a fervant is now eight, or, if
he can drefs hair, ten or twelve rubles. Of this he gets two
or perhaps four to live upon; the reft goes to his lord. Shop
keepers and merchants gain and pay far more. juft

DRESS OF THE COMMON RUSSIANS. 473
juft as it pleafes their proprietor. To the honour
of humanity and of the ruffian nobility, inftances
of cruelty and feverity are daily becoming lefs
.frequent ; and, it is devoutly to be hoped, may foon
be only heard of as the reports of former times. It
is true, the humane adminiftration of the late em
prefs laid reftraints on the tyrannical difpofition
too apt to combine with power; and the. fpirit of
a liberal and mild education was preparing the
fuperior ranks for a beneficial revolution in prin
ciples and manners. On the whole the fervants in
the noble manfions fare fo well, and are even fo
pampered that they often grow infupportably in-
folent ; which, however^ is a Strong proof that they
live well and are treated with lenity.
The petty ruffian dealer, the artificer, the better
fort of the vulgar ; in Short, all the people of this
clafs that are free or provided with paffes are So
much alike in their mode of living and general
conduct, that one account rriay ferve for all.
The cloathing of the common Ruffians is Hill
completely the old national drefs, which it was
highly rational to preferve as adapted to exigencies
of the climate, convenient and advantageous to the
bodily frame. It confifts of a long coat reaching
to the calves of the legs, fetting clofe to the body,
with a great number of gathers at the bottom of
the waift, and lapping over the bofom like our
double -breasted coats. About the middle the
Ruffian ties a fafh, in which he tucks his gloves, his

474 DRESS OF THE COMMON RUSSIANS.
his whip or his ax. Inftead of a Shirt he wears a
veft uSually of coloured Striped linen. His heck
is entirely bare, and his lower garment confifts of
wide linen trowfers*. With the uSe of (lockings
he is totally unacquainted ; wrapping his feet in
linen rags, he draws on his boots, which at times
he exchanges for Slides of matted linden bark or
leather, without buckles or tye? ; and in that cafe he
continues the rag-wrapper up to his knees binding
it round with croifed packthread. The covering,
of his head is a very deep hat, with a narrow brim,
exadtly in the form of thofe at prefent worn by the
beaux in England. In winter he exchanges this for
a cap, and his coat for a Sheep-Skin peliffe, which he
likewife girds about him with a kufchak.
This defcription Suits only the fimpleft and poor
eft fort of cloathing. People of condition, who
retain the national habit, wear Shirts, breeches,
boots and Stockings; their coats are of fine cloth,
lined in winter with coftly furs ; bur all, whether
rich or poor, wear their lank hair combed Straight
without powder, and let their beards grow. —
The appearance of a well-made man in this drefs
has Something pleafing and noble in it, forming a
* We fee therefore that the Ruffians have already reached
that ftate to which the famous doctor Fauftus wanted to bring
all mankind. How things are changed ! A hundred years ago
the Ruflians were reproached with having then only learnt to
wear breeches of die Germans ; now the german philanthropes
learn of the ruflian boors to go without them. Strong

DRESS OF THE RUSSIAN WOMEN. 475
Strong contraft with the tight Short-cut garments
of our modiffi attire. But what ftill greatly en
hances , this very advantageous drefs, is the eafy
air and gait and flexibility of the Ruffian him
felf. No people in this refpedt more refemble
the French. The manner in which the Ruffian
puts on his hat or cap, his light firm Step, the
agility of his motions; all his postures and attir
tudes, even among the country-people, have a
certain artlefs grace, not indeed of that kind which'
appear on the opera Stage, but which neverthelefs
pleafes and captivates at firft fight.
The women are not fo well protected by their
drefs againft the inclemency of the climate ; but
their fedentary domeftic habit of life renders this
advantage not So absolutely neceffary. They wear
the ordinary femalegown and a veft without Sleeves,
through the arm-holes of which appear the Sleeves
of a neat purfied Shift. Women of condition go
in a long habit, adjufted to the Shape and covering
the whole body. Their head-drefs confifts either
of a large piece of filk, wound round the head in
a peculiar manner, or of a fmall coif adorned with
laces and pearls. The toilette of a woman in only
moderate circumftances is compofed of an extra
ordinary number of articles, gold chains, ear
rings, firings of. pearls, bracelets* rings and the
like. On going out they generally throw a large
filk handkerchief over their coif, which hangs over
their Shoulders and down their back. This

476 NUMBER OF PEOPLE VARIES.
This drefs, which is very expenfive, when the
feveral articles are of tolerable' good quality, fets
off the natural charms of a handfome woman ; and.
therefore is frequently chofen by ladies of faffiion,
who are confcious of Some beauty, as a mafque
rade habit; but an ugly face or a deformed perfon
are only the more hideous under this covering*
That paint forms a moft material article on the
toilette of every ruffian female has been already
mentioned in a former chapter. From their feden-
tary life, their warm temperament and the- habit
of pampering their appetite, if in tolerably good
circumftances, they are apt to grow lufty even
while yet in the bloom of life, which gives them a
very matron-like appearance.
A great part of the lower clafs of people can
fcarcely be reckoned among the inhabitants of the
refidence, from the conftant flux and reflux of
them. Throughout the fummer many thoufands
are employed as carpenters, bricklayers, mafons,
paviburs, houfe-painters, &c. who return home at
the approach of winter, , and whofe numbers are -
fupplied by other thoufands who gain their bread
as ifvofchtSchlki, ice-cutters, &c. Moft of them
therefore have no abiding city and no property
except the implements of their induftry. They
dwell chiefly in the out-lying districts of the town,
or in the furrounding villages, where they enter
into artels or companies differently compofed as to
numbers, and defray the expenfcs of living out
' of

MANNER OF LIVING. 477
pf a common cheft. Many of them who have un
dertaken to erect a building or other job as brick
layers, carpenters or the like, never leave the
place of their employment, but Sleep in the open
air among heaps of rubbiffi, or under gateways,
in order to be the earlier at work in the morning.
Great numbers live entirely all the fummer on board
the barks and floats of timber that come to Peterf
burg under their condudt.
The ruffian^rnechanic, whofe trade obliges hisp,
to a fedentary life commonly lives in the cellar of
fome brick-houfe, or hires a mean wooden hut :
for frugality is a prominent feature of the lower
orders of people. Almoft all the houfes of the re
sidence having, according to the italian faffiion, a
habitable range of cellars, thefe people find quar
ters even in the beft parts of the town ; and which
are in fuch requeft that the cellars are often filled
with lodgers, while the workmen are ftill employed
in building the firft and fecond ftories of the houfe.
Here numerous families live crouded together in
one room ; and not unfrequently the populationof
the whole edifice is in the fame proportion with
that of the bafement. The low fituation, the nar
row Space, the Short height of the room and the
exhalations from the damp walls muft doubtlefs
occafion great havoc among the multitudes that
inhabit theSe fouterains, Sor which the bills of
mortality have probably no Specific column. — It is
the fame with the lavkas or cellar- Shops, Srom which the

478 MANNER OF. LIVING.
the moist' cold air that rifes may be perceived even
by the paffengers in the ftreet. Sometimes the
Shopkeeper has not a room to live in, but eats and
drinks and Sleeps in his Shop, which he is not
allowed to warm for fear of accidents by fire. The
petty ruffian merchant is not much better lodged ;
and whenever the contrary may occafionally happen,
yet there is then a great want of that cleanlinefs,
withput which even the moft fumptuous apartments
are unhealthy.
The accounts given by travellers df the cleanli
nefs of the Ruffians are frequently contradidtory ;
fome calling fhem a cleanly others an uncleanly
people ; and both may be in the right. Their ha
bitual bathing, for instance, 'is- an argument in
their Savour; whereas their Smoky rooms, theun-
favoury Smell perceived generally in the habitations
of the common people, are proofs in behalf of the
contrary extreme. The truth is, that the Ruffian
has no care at all about cleanlinefs ; but fortunately
a few old national cuftoms, which, from long habit
he cannot get rid of, keep him in a tolerably de
cent middle way. Thus, for example, in all the
scottages the tables are always fcowered white ; but
the boor gives himfelf no concern about vermin, or
rather fpares them, from hereditary refpedt. Though
he waffi his body twice or perhaps thrice a week,
yet his linen, be it never fo font, he only takes off
in the bathing-room, where it is waffied at the
fame time with himfelf. — Even better circiim- ftances

MANNER OF LIVING." 479
Stances and politer manners do not always bring
him to adopt better Sentiments in this reSpedt, the
want of which Srequently forms ^ curious contraft
with the luxury and Splendor oS his elevated
condition. The food of the common people has been de
fcribed in the Second chapter. The victuals there
mentioned form the daily meal of all the people
belonging to our fourth clafs, on which the various
gradations of outward circumftances have very
little influence. The wealthieft merchant or po-
driadfchik, if he live in the old ruffian ftyle, fets
no foreign diffi on his table; and generally dreffes
his lenten-meats with no greater delicacy than. the
meanest peaSant. The table oS the more opulent
perSons of this clafs is only diftinguiffied by the
extraordinary variety of the liquors upon it ; for,
though the common Ruffian is by no means ad
dicted to gluttony, and will readily content himfelf
with the pooreft country fare, yet toVfermented
liquors he is by no means indifferent, and in thefe
he often acquires fuch a tafte as would do honour
to the niceft epicures of the higheft ranks. The
poor indeed can only cultivate this good talent by
means of corn-fpirits : but fuch as have any thing
of an income, apply themfelves to"1 the Study of
foreign beers and wines. The confumption of
thefe liquors, in the public-houfes frequented by
the loweft claffes, is extremely great ; and, on a
public occafion where great numbers of people were

480 AMBULATORY VICTUALLERS.
were affembled, I myfelf have feen a parcel of
ifvofchtfchiki empty feveral dozen bottles of porter
between them.
Though the common people are prone to marry
early, yet few have their wives with them while
they five in the residence. The greater part of
them having properly no habitation, and numbers,
on account of their bufinefs, being obliged to pafs
the whole day in the ftreets or far from their homes,
the industry of their brethren has provided, that
they may every where fatisfy their hunger, in all
the public fquares and at the corners Of every
ftreet. Almoft all the Several meats and drinks
that were Specified in the chapter above reSerred
to, are ., Sold about the ftreets by hawkers who Set
np their little camp-table wherever they expedt to
find cuftqmers. This practice is a great accom
modation not only to the populace but likewiSe to
all people who keep Servants. You may employ
your Servant at any hour of the day, as the com
mon Ruffian never confines himSelS to any Stated
time for taking his repaft, and a few kopeeks daily
are fufficient for him to fill his Stomach in this mari
ner, Whereas he is feldom fatisfied when fed from
his matter's kitchen.
Hitherto I have not mentioned the Finns ; who,
next to the Ruffians, compofe the greater part of
the loweft clafs. Their manner oS liSe is nearly
the Same, differing only by the conSequences of
their moral individuality . and principally their
uncleanlineSs,

DESCRIPTION OF THE FINNS. 481
uncleanlineSs, which, with a diSpofition the moft
extraordinarily phlegmatic, are the'charadterifticsi
of -this people, The male drefs of the Finns is
entirely in the ruffian manner ; but no foreign obr
ferver, wbo has lived here only a few days, will
be milled by this Similarity to conSound them with
the Ruffians. The- tattered coat and their general
dirtineSs fo distinctly point them out, that it is un*
neceffary to remark their Sluggiffi gait and national
phyfiognomy Sor being Sure oS knowing them.
The women and girls dreSs more in the german
Safhion ; and, even amidft this forlorn race of be
ings, manifeft that nicer fenfe of cleanlinefs and
decency which feems peculiarly eminent in the
fairer, and gentler fex. In the manner of pre
paring their victuals the Finns differ from the
Ruffiahs ; but, where they live in common with
them, they are fatisfied with the Ruffian fare.
The fondnefs for inflammatory liquors is juft as
common with them, though without that luxury
of which I above took notice, as their poverty
confines them to the fimpleft gratification of their
appetites., , ,-,
In the prefent and inTeveral of the foregoing
chapters we have delineated the neceSSaries, the
trades, the amuSemerits and the way oS life of the
inferior orders of fociety in the refidence; their
phyfical ftate and condition are the reSult of this
reprefentation which is grounded on certain and
1 i notorious

48l BENEFITS FROM VARIETY OF RANKS.
notorious facts and not embellished by an inge
nious pencil.
In all the capitals of Europe there is one clafs
of inhabitant's who poffefs much and another that
has little or nothing. This difference, the pri
mary caufe whereof is in the ftate of civilization,
is fo far from oppofing the end and aim of human
fociety that it rather tends to accelerate the attain
ment of it : a truth' that can only be denied by
fenfelefs declaimers and demagogues, or by fana
tical fovereign fans culottes. The real or imagi
nary wants on the one part, and the means of pay
ing on the other are the lever of human induftry,
and in fome meafure alfo its means of improve
ment, which at the fame that they help to promote
the culture of civil fociety likewife tend to leffen
the diftance between the poor labouring and the
rich enjoying clafs. In proportion as civilization
is diffufed throughout Europe the rents of the
land-owners pafs into the iron-chefts of the mer
cantile and trading part of the community. The
common people, of whom the great bulk of every
nation always confifts, have indeed the leaft Share
in this circulation ; but money would foon ceafe
to be money if every one had enough of it.
Where all were rich all would be poor ; a com
plete equalization of real and reprefentative
wealth, impoffible as it would be for it to laft
only four-and-twenty hours, would, if it could
fubfift

INCITEMENT TO INDUSTRY. 483
fubfift, reduce human fociety to a ftate of favage
rudenefs. Incontrovertible as thefe premifes are, yet it by
no means follows that too great an inequality of the
goods of fortune would be beneficial or even
harmlefs. Without confulting the calculations of
political oeconomifts, our feelings rife againft a
maxim which only the moft rapacious tyranny of
depraved and distorted reafon can enforce. The
ratio of property among the feveral claffes of
people cannot be adjusted by any fyftematical
fcale; but if the queftion be of abstract ideas,
then perhaps that ftate would receive the plurality
of voices in the invincible Areopagus of the wife
and good, in which the people, with a humanely
apportioned Share of the comforts of life, would
ftill have incitement enough to progreffive adtivity.
This incitement, the neceffity whereof every man
acquainted with human nature will readily admit,
is produced by want and property.
This naturally brings me back to my fubjedt.
But I feem to hear it faid, it is curious to talk of
fupplying wants, where property is wanting ! —
It is true, the lower clafs of Ruffians poffeSs nc*
property Secured by the laws and conftitution from
the attacks of arbitrary power ; yet I will venture
to affert, that they cannot therefore be deemed
more unhappy than the great bulk oS the people
in moft other countries of Europe. In proof of
this I might here refer to the condition of the
112 pdnodvortzi

484 CQNTENTEDNESS OF THE PEOPLE.
odnodvortzi and the crown-boors, who, as is well*
known, form a very .confiderable exception to this
account; or appeal to the various regulations
adopted in modern times for checking the arbi
trary power Of the nobles, if Ihad not a far more
powerful authority for my affertion in the ex
perience of every impartial obferver that is upon
the fpot and may fatisfy himfelf of its veracity.
No people with, whom* I am acquainted either
from perfonal intercourfe or from the records of
hiftory, is on the whole fo contented with his Situ
ation as the ruffian : in no country is there a greater
proportion of national chearfulnefs and resignation,
a greater participation in public festivities ; and
few nations in Similar circumftances have to Shew
an equal number oS thriving and rioh boors, and
rich in an equal degree*. Even the Selfdenial,
the induftry, and the exertion with which the li-
cenfed boor Strives to earn fomething, is a proof
that he has confidence in the fecurity of his pro
perty. Were it not fo, he would Sacrifice. the
* This is not intended merely of the boors who rife to
opulence by engaging in traffic ; even among them that live
in the country are people of fubftance. lt happened once
within my knowledge, that one fingle village raifed a voluTir
tary fubfcription of thirty thoufand rubles to refcue the owner
of it, who was a kind mafter to his people, out of fome great
pecuniary difficulties. Among the boors belonging to count
Scheremetof feveral are faid to poffefs from fifty thoufand to
a hundred thoufand rubles ; and, according to report, eat off
of filver and Drefden porcelain. hope

PARSIMONY OF THE PEOPLE. 485
hope of becoming rich to the gratification of the
moment; but experience inconteftibly proves to us
the contrary. No common Ruffian confumes all
that he earns; frequently he continues his ex
tremely parsimonious way of life even after he has
by his diligence fecured himfelf from all danger
of future want. — Though from thefe evident
facts we fhould not and cannot infer that the con
dition of the ruffian boor is not fufceptible of any
amelioration ; yet it may and ffiould be alledged
as a proof that the lower claffes of people in Ruffia
are not thofe miferable Slaves on whom foreigners,
mifled by fome Splenetic obfervers and Superficial
philanthropists, are ever lavishing their unavailing
compaffion. What is here Said concerning the good, or, if
the reader will have it fo, the tolerable fide oS the
State oS the vulgar claSs, holds good oS the refi-
.dence in a ftill higher degree. The lenient Spirit
of the empreSs's reign, the effects whereof were
doubled at its Source ; the improved urbanity oSthe
nobles ; the circumftance that the major part of
the commonalty confifts of emancipated boors or
fuch as are provided with paffes ; in Short, the
pitch of improvement to which this clafs itfelf has
attained; here fo much veil the exiftence of pro
perty in human beings, that the foreign fpedlator,
to whom it has not been betrayed by report, might
long retain his ignorance in this matter.
1 1 3 All

486 CHANNELS OFTRADE OPtN TO ALL.
All the channels of trade are open to the people
at large. How they benefit by them, fuch a va
riety of examples have been already adduced under
the feveral heads of the foregoing chapters, that
any thing further on the fubjedt might be thought
fuperfluous. The earnings of the loweft day-la
bourer are greater than we need allow him for bis
daily neceffaries, without calculating theSe with
the feelings of a jailer. Though his table may be
not very tempting to dainty palates, yet certain it
is, that the common Ruffian, unlefs brought up
in the great mansions oS the refidence, would reject
the moft delicate diffies to go and feed on his
fchtfchi and his kafcha. To SatisSy his moft vio
lent craving, his thirft for Strong liquors, he wants
only a few kopeeks ; he muft be very poor indeed,
or very lazy, which is the fame thing, if he can
not at leaft once a week procure himfelS this enjoy
ment. His raiment is always Sufficient, and never,
except among absolute beggars, who are rarely
feen in the ftreets, deficient in any effential par
ticular oS this kind of neceffaries. "Every Ruffian,
without exception, has his Sheep-Skin peliffe ; and
never are the poorer Sort Seen Shiveringv with cold,
as in other countries. A warm lodging is a ma
terial neceffary with the common people; this
likewiSe he is Sure oS never wanting. What is
called the black room is in all houSes heated to an
immoderate degree, and frequently occafions a
greater

COMFORTS OF THE COMMON PEOPLE. 487
greater expenfe in fuel than even the apartments of
the mafter of the houfe.
All claffes of people are under the protection of
the laws. If this be of little benefit to the feudal
fervant, as the right of fevere domeftic corredtion
is only limited by the verge of penal juftice, yet
the reft of the commonalty are in full enjoyment of
the rights afcertained to them by Catharine's phi
lofophical legiflation. All arbitrary corporal pu<-
niffiments by that are strictly forbidden ; no one,
not even the loweft boor, may be beaten except
by a legal fentence. If individuals fuffer them
felves to be thus unlawfully treated it is from pu
sillanimity, habitual fervility or ignorance of their
rights : but by far the moft numerous part of the
commonalty of the refidence know their protection
and howto enforce it. In fuchacafe it would beoften
difficultfor the accufed if in the wrong tojuftify him
felf, or 'to obtain fatisfadtion though he thought
he had a right to demand it. The police, the or
dinary tribunal in fuch matters, is, according to
the fituation of things, naturally difpofed to lean
rather to the fide of the oppreffed, party : befides
feveral difagreeable occurrences of this nature have
rendered the higher orders cautious in their ber
haviour, and many a haughty defpot among them
has been taught fome reverence for humanity by
the chaftifement of the laws.
In no other country is the diftance between the
loweft clafs of people and the inferior part of the
1 1 4 midd!e

488 DIFFERENCE OF STATIONS.
middle ftation fo great as in Ruffia. If the former
Still live entirely in the old national manner, in
part very poorly and more or lefs urider a Sort of
phyfical and moral oppreffion ; yet among the
latter are feen foreign manners, a high degree of
luxury with a civil confequence and liberty perhaps
no where elfe enjoyed in the fame proportion.
The clafs here meant, comprifes the inferior
middle state and- efpecially the foreign arti
ficers and artists. ConSeious of the prero
gative of his free birth, proud of the Superiority
oS his ingenuity and other attainments, and be
come arrogant Srom the comparison oS his better
condition and his eaSy and large profits — he con-
fiders himSelS only as an independent Soreigner, as
the teacher oS his ruffian Sellow-citizens, in Short
as a being of a higher order. .This conceit, which
certainly is affumed on Some real grounds and is
nourished by the indulgence oS the Superior as well
as by the SubmiffiveneSs of the lower ranks, has a
decided influence on the behaviour and fentiments
of thefe people.
The condition of the foreign mechanics and
artifts is on the whole So advantageous, their pro
fessions are fo lucrative and the temptations to gra
tification and expence fo Strong, that it may be
affirmed, without exaggeration, that they enjoy
the comforts of life, England excepted, no where
better than here. In the moft lucrative trades,
. Such as taylors, bakers, joiners, Smiths, and Sad-
lers,

FOREIGN MECHANICS AND ARTISTS. 489
lers, and thoSe who work in filver and gold, there
are many matters that have houSes of their own ;
and even thofe whofe bufineSs- does not lead So
rapidly to opulence, or who Settle only for a Short
time, moftly live decently, comfortably, and, Sor
getting more cuftom, in the beft quarters of the
town. A family is rarely feen living together in
the workfhop ; they are uSually in a detached part
oS the houSe or the premiSes, and in the fitting-
rooms not a Sign of the bufinefs is visible. The
furniture is generally plain and fubftantial ; in this
branch of lu>urv prodigality has made but little
way. So much the greater expenfe is bellowed
on the kitchen. Several good and often highly
feafoned difhes at dinner, a proportionate Supper,
breakfaft, luncheon with a dram, coffee twice and
tea once a day, not feldom in the afternoon a glafs
of punch, are all in the ordinary train of life with
the tradefman, to which, with very many muft be
added, wine and porter as an effential rubric.
That fuch houfekeeping, efpecially where the fa
mily is numerous and feveral workmen are kept,
requires a good number of Servants, is naturally
to be expected ; but men Servants Sor menial pur
poSes 2re not common. Numbers of mechanics
keep their carriage and horSes, and, in order fo
have a right So to do, enter themlelves in one of
the guilds as burghers to which this privilege is
annexed. Such as cannot afford this expenSe, keep
at leaft a _cabt,iolet or a droffika with one horfe, for

490 LUXURY OF MECHANICS.
for as to going on foot, that eafily gets into dif-
ufe with any tolerable degree of fuccefs in trade*
Even the luxury in cloaths is here and there ex
tremely great, particularly among the wives and
daughters, who at public places fometimes cannot
be diftinguiffied from the ladies of quality either
by the faffiion or the quality and coftlinefs of
their drefs.
What hasherebeen Said relates only to the flou?
riShing tradeSmen or mechanics, but that term in
cludes by far the greater part ; for, if there be
fome few, who live in a meaner ftyle, there are
feveral who in Shew and expenfe may vie with the
beft families of the middle ftation. — Living then
in this manner, the artizan or tradefman lays by
' not unfrequently fo much as to enable him to give
his children a good or even a genteel education and
leave them at his death a very decent inheritance;
a cafe that doubtlefs might more frequently hap
pen than it does if the generality did not expend
their whole profits on momentary gratifications.
The opulent tradefman feldom or never brings up
his fon to the ufeful bufinefs to which he owes his
fortune; but, Spurred on by a miftaken ambition,
wiffies to raiSe himSelf at leaft in his children to
fome apparently more honourable clafs of the
community : and the young man, who might have
become a wealthy taylor or joiner, and carried on
the trade on a larger fcale, fquanders away, as an
officer or a writer in the chanceries, what was ac
cumulated

EDUCATION IN RICH FAMILIES. 4<)t
cumulated by the induftry and diligence of his
father. This fort of ambition is quite a paffion
with the women, and is encouraged by the pre
vailing opinion, which fets no great value on the
rank derived by birth. The daughter of a me
chanic, with whom a good portion is to be had,
finds always a party among the higher ranks ; the
fons, by talents or patronage puffi forward into the
civil or military departments ; even the father, on
growing tired of handling the (hears or the faw,
writes himfelf merchant.
The education in wealthy familes of this kind
is adapted to the views the parents have for their
children. The fons get a fmattering of two or
three languages, the daughters addict themfelves
to mufic and the other graceful and pleafing arts.
Sometimes a faddle-horfe is kept for the former
and a gouvernante for the latter. Young people
of this clafs are introduced early into the dubs
and all places of public refort to which admiffion
is allowed them, in order to Sorm them to the
manners oS the Saffiionable world.
CEconomy, frugality and a plain domeftic edu
cation are leSs commonly Seen in theSe than in fa
milies of higher ftation, where a proportionably
fmall income render theSe yirtues neceffary in order
to tave appearances. Many that have offices under
the government go on foot' to their tradefmen, who
throw themfelves into their chariot or phaeton to
pay a morning vifit to their illuftrious debtors. Every

492 INSOLENCE OF TRADESMEN.
Every where politely received, becaufe they have
every where demands to make, they are too apt to
confound their perfonal confequence with the
balances of their ledger, aferibing thofe effects
to the Sormer which derive their origin from the
latter. Hence the infolence of this fort of people to
wards thofe, whom, according to their notions,
they deem not Substantial. This character, which,
Sor want oS proper breeding and decorum, is ab
solutely ridiculous, has Surnifhed the Ruffians',
who, by the way, have an uncommon acuteneSs
in knowing mankind, with an occafion Sor giving
it a peculiar denomination. They call the fo-
reigners, particularly the Ge/fnans, who difcover
great arrogance in conjunction with Stupidity or a
clumSy deportment, Schmertz : a term concerning
the origin whereoS various conjectures have been
made, which, however, by general uSe is become
perfectly charadteriftic.
' With all this knowledge in the art of good-
living, which the better part of tradefmen and
mechanics poffefs in an eminent degree, yet it is
next to impossible for them to eaft the Slough ad
hering to them from their apprenticeship. The
wives, though, for the moft part, brought up 'n
town, are, from their old-fafliioned education, not
totally free from the gait and exterior peculiar to
their ftation ; this, however, becomes gradually
effaced if they are diligent to form themfelves on
good

AMUSEMENTS OF TRADESMEN. 493
good models ; whereas the men ufually retain the
.charadteriftic Stamp, by which a nice obferver can
not fail to know them, in the moft brilliant com
pany, and under the moft elegant difguife.
._ The ordinary occupations of tradefmen artd me
chanics in general have been already noticed under
another head.. The forenoon, and at moft a few
-hours after dinner are devoted to work ; the even
ing glides jovially away in companies and clubs, at
the; card-table or , billiards. The church, court,
and family holidays are Solemnized by junketing
at home or in parties out of town : fome of the
¦ more opulent tradefmen have invited companies
to dinner or fupper on particular days, give con
certs and balls, and pafs the Summer at their
eountry-houfes. This mode of life imperceptibly glides into that
Of the SUPERIOR PART OF THE MIDDLING STATION.
No clafs of inhabitants, the vulgar excepted, is
more- numerous, and in none are fuch great di
versities as in this. The defcription of their
manner of living, therefore, can only apply to
the generality.
On the whole, perfons of the middling ftation
at StvPeterfburg are at greater expenfe, with more
. accommodations and elegance, than in moft other
capitals in Europe. This luxury, which every
foreigner fees with furprife at his firft coming
hither, is manifefted not merely in one or other.
particular in the way of living, but runs through
a11

494 OCCUPY LARGE PREMISES.
all the branches of it. Houfe, table, drefs, at
tendants, equipage; every thing here is feen in a
higher colouring than elSewhere.
Among the clafs of people of whom we are now
fpeaking, in the capitals of other countries, there
are only particular families, who, befide the apart
ments they inhabit, have a certain number of
rooms kept merely for Show ; in St. Peterlburg
this description is univerSal. A family of the
middling ftation wants, befides the apartments it
occupies, a drawing-room (Salle de compagnie),
a room Sor receiving visitors, a dining-room and
an anti-chamber for the fervants belonging to the
company. Such as have not their eftabliffiment
on this footing, live very retired and can hardly
pretend to conSort with the people of faffiion.
But even the fpace neceffary for houfekeeping is
here calculated on a great fcale. The mafter of
the houfe is feldom without his work-room and
the miftrefs of the houfe muft have her dreffing-
room. A nurfery is considered - as indifpenfably
neceffary. For the fervants there is in every houfe
what is called the black-room ; but the female
domeftics have moreover a particular apartment
affigned them. All thefe neceffaries, with the room
required for the carriage, the cellars*, lofts, places
* Here are univerfally two kinds of cellars : warm (not
heated, as we might be led to fuppofe) for the winter ; and
cold, filled with huge blocks of ice, for keeping provifions
in during the fummer. for

ELEGANT UNIFORMITY IN BUILDINGS. 495
for fuel, &c. take up So much room, that in a
moderately large houSe only one, or at moft two
families can find fufficient accommodation : and
this is the very reaSon why the houSes that are
built, not for the man himfelf to occupy, but to
let out, are ufually fo extravagantly large. Moft
of them form a quadrangle, the front containing
the beft apartments ; the fides being generally
laid out in coach-houfes, Stables and Store-rooms,
over which are apartments let at a cheaper rent.
I know but few great towns, where the houfes
are uniformly conftrudted with fo much care as to
convenience and elegance as here. Handfome
broad Stone fteps and ftaircafes; lofty fpacious
apartments : balconies to the grand faloons ; . noble
windows with large panes of plate-glafs ; orna
mental ftoves and chimney-pieces ; inlaid floors,
&c. are among the very common requifites of a
dwelling-houfe. — The luxury with which the
houfes of people in the middle ftation are furnilhed,
approaches near to that of the englifh, whoSe
tafte in all things is generally predominant in this
country. Mahogany Surniture is every where in
uSe, and the consumption oS that wood is now
become So general, that even in the market Sor
Wooden goods in Nevfki, where only the lower
orders oS people go to buy what they want, ma
hogany tables and cupboards are Set out Sor Sale.
Lacquered Settees, cuffiions covered with ruffia'
leather or chintz, large looking-glaffes', marble- flabs,'

4$6 SUMPTUOUS FURNITURE.
flabs*, cut-glafs girandoles -and luftres, table-clocks,
carpets, the walls painted in, SreSco or hung with
paper, &c. are, So common as to attract no notice.
This, description Suits not only the houSes of peo
ple of the higher ranks, but thofe belonging to
merchants and officers of the crown, in fome mea
fure likewife thofe of artifts and phyficians ; nay
even particular tradefmen furniffi. their houfes in
no mean way. The turn for the conveniences of
life and for a certain outward elegance is fo general,
ahd the affluence of moft of the claffes fo great,
that a man is thought either poor or devoid of tafte
who falls behind in this fpecies of luxury. It
muft be owned that fuch well-furniffied apartments
as are found in almoft every houfe are very gra
tifying to the fight ; but it is ftill more pleafing to
See the great cleanlinefs that is affociated with this
elegance in almoft all houSes, eSpecially thoSe of
foreigners. The Shining poliSh given to all the
furniture, the white floors and Stairs, the colour
of newnefs and freffinefs fo carefully preferved,
here recreate the eye the more agreeably, as it is
not unfrequently offended by difgufting fcenes
among the lower claffes.
The Peterfburgers, expenfive as they are in
lodging and domeftic eftabliffiment, , are ftill more
fo in the luxury oS the table, which, in the judg
ment oS all travellers, is here carried to a greater
height than even at Vienna or Ham-burgh. Regu
lar entertainments are here not So Srequent, and
even

VARIOUS MODES OF COOKERY. 497
even on days when guefts appear by invitation, the
fumptuoufiiefs of our tables is not to be compared
with the fuperfluity that on Similar occafions is
Served up more for Show than Sor enjoyment : but
the PeterSburgher has every day a well-Suiniihed
table and is daily Set out in Such manner as to
enable him to receive and to entertain Such of his
Sriends as may happen to come in; whereas the
Hamburgher, except when he gives his Seaft an
nounced three weeks beSore-hand, puts Up with
Very homely fare, and Seldom or never expfects
visitors at dinner-time without a formal invitation.
The luxury in theSe'articles of living is therefore not
fo confpicuous, but certainly much greater.
In drefling the victuals a fingular mixture in
general prevails, of german, Srench, engliffi, and
ruffian cookery. On the Same table are feen
roaft-beef half raw, poignant fauces, meat boiled
to pieces and fifh baked in paltry. The feveral
articles, however, of this miscellaneous repast are
pfeparedin the higheft tafte; and the judgment of
the Peterfburgher. in thefe matters, is univerfally
So juft;, th&t even the nieeft epicure is in no-danger
of rifing hungry from fo motley a table.
In moft hobfeS dinner begins with a cold diffi,
to which fucceeds th'e foup, generally in the french
taflt. By thefe are ranged a number of fidd-dilhe§,
dreffed in various ways ; always a great deal of
butcher's meat, which is here excellent oS all
kinds ; vegetables according to the SeaSon of the
k s year j

49$ VARIETY OF FISH AND FRUITS.
year,; that is, almoft always a few weeks earlier
than they could attain to maturity in the open air,'
for as foon as this is the cafe, in many houfes they
no longer appear on the table at all : fifli of the
moft exquifite fpecies and in the greateft variety,
the abundant products of our rivers and lakes in
all parts of the country -— materials enough for the
moft delicious combinations ! — The fondnefs for
Solid nutritious meats may perhaps originate from
the climate, and among the Ruflians probably
from their long fafts, which gives them a Sharper
appetite for flefh. Foreign delicacies, even in
moderate families, are by no means rare, as Pe
tersburg can be fupplied with them by fea ; and
the markets are often fo glutted with them, that
they are frequently fold for lefs than they coft at
home. The culture of orchard fruits has of late
years been brought to filch a pitch, that at all
times of the year the defert may be fet out with
fine-flavoured fruit if a man is able to pay the price,
which indeed is enormous : fubftantial people pro
vide themfelves with thefe articles from their own
forcing-houfes Somewhat cheaper. — The number
of diffies is according to the tafte of the individual,
without being bound by any laws of etiquette. In
ruffian houfes much ftrefs is laid on this matter;
at the table of foreigners they are fewer, but
greater care is taken in the Selection. The cuftom
of being prepared to receive at any time uninvited
guefts obliges the miftrefs of the houfe to have a
few

GREAT NUMBER OF SERVANTS. 499
few difpoSable covers on the table.— A little while
before dinner is Served, what is called the fchsl-
khen* is always handed round ; in many, particu
larly ruffian houfes, a kind of luncheon is taken,
confifting of cold, falted, fmoked and pickled
articles; they are placed on a fide-board, and
every one takes of them as he faunters about the
room before dinner, to whet the appetite and fill
up the interval till fummoned to table. — The
Ordinary liquor at dinner is wine; without which
no company : and the excefs in it is as common
here as in the countries where it.grows. In many
good houfes only one fort is put on table; here
and there, where the faffiionable ftyle is adopted,
towards the end of the repaft fome finer wines are
ferved. Porter and englifh ale are likewife in al
moft general ufe ; mead and home-made wines
are lefs common, and only to be Seen at the ruf
fian tables.
One of the moft expenfive neceffaries Sor all
perSons that are not proprietors of eftates is at
tendance. Cuftom arifing from neceffity has ren
dered the keeping of a number of domeftics gene
ral. In houSes of quality, where aU the fervants
are vaffals, their numbers frequently exceed all
belief; this on one hand has excited the middling
* A dram of brandy or a glafs of liqueur, or bitters, which
when very good is called a doctor 3 when better ftill, a bifhop.
In french here, la challe. K k 2 Station

„ JOO HIGH WAGES OF SERVANTS.
Station to imitate their Superiors, and on fhe other
encouraged lazinefs among the vulgar. The very
Sam? menial employments Sor which in Germany
one maid would be Sufficient, here require at leaft
three perfons to perform. Female Servants are
never employed in any Service obliging them to
appear in the company-rooms or to go out of
dOorS; their place is the kitchen, waShiag and
waiting on the children. AH other offices are
performed by the male domeftics. For almoft
every particular function, a peculiar fervant muft
bfe kfept ; and yet the demands of thefe people are
unconfcionably high. A footman who can Shave
and drefs hair cannot be had for lefs wages than
from twelve to fiSteen rubles a month ; and a cook-
maid gets five, fix or more, with free lodging
and board. All agreements with fervants are
made by the month ; which circumstance, with
the great facility of finding places and the negli
gence about inquiring after charadters are thechief
caufes of the bad condudt of fervants here, of
which there is a general complaint. — Thefe in
conveniences are lefs felt by thofe who poffefs
vaffals or have a Tight to buy thenij a privilege
granted only to the nobles, officers in the army
and, perfons holding places under government with
the rank of a ftaff-officer. < The average price
Of a young fellow is three hundred and of a ghla
hundred rubles. The

CARRIAGES EXTREMELY- NUMEROUS, 50I.
The numerous deSedts in the feveral kinds of
vehicles in this city, eSpecially the drojekas, render
them only a relief to the lower orders of people,
it being held rather unbecoming to have recourfe
to them on all occafipns. Hence ariSes the neceS-
fity of keeping a carriage; and, certainly, there is^
no city in the world where So many in proportion
are kept as here. Even unmarried perSons of
figure keep horfes and chariots ; and, in the efta-
blilhment of a houffiold this is a moft . effential
article : nothing being more indiSpenSable for
all who are obliged to go much out of doors on
bufinefs, ,> -
For fetting up an equipage it is not neceffary to
buy horfes, and expOfe onefelf to the vexations
attending the care of them. It is ufual for un
married perfons and even many families of diftine-
tion, to hire them by the month of the ifvofcht-
fcbiks; a practice, which, befides Several other ad
vantages, has alfo this, that it is thought lefs ne
ceffary to Spare them. The hire oSa pair of horfes
has now rifen to forty and generally five and forty
rubles a month ; and whoever has hot a carriage
of bis own muft pay Seventy or eighty rubles
for both.
As it is even more common to drivewith hired
horfes than to keep them, but few,, really handfome
equipages are to be feen, except on partisular gal4
days'. Even the great and opulent generally
Wavel with hired horfes in order to Spare their own
k k 3 better

502 INCONGRUITIES ITSf APPEARANCE.
better and dearer horfes, in going long journies in
bad weather and on account of the extraordinary
fpeed with which it is common to drive in this
country. Accordingly, nothing is more frequent
than to fee an elegant or fuperb coach tlrawn by
four or Six wretched mares, oSren of different co
lours, and inftead of harnefs fattened to the car
riage by ropes. From under the C6ach-box pro
jects a monstrous bundle of hay, as the hired
horSes are Seldom taken off, but are Srequently
forced to ftand the whole day and Sometimes half
the night in the ftreet and before a houfe. Occa»>
iionally the torn dirty jerkin of the ifvofchtfchik
forms a curious contraft with the grand bedizened
liveries behind the carriage. On high days, how
ever, the multitude of fine and elegant equipages
is very confpicuous.^ The great perfonages then
frequently drive with german harnefs; but even
the ruffian method of putting to, looks extremely
well when the traees and reins are good and
kept neat.
The number of horfes with which a perfon is
allowed tp drive in town, being fixed according
to his rank and quality, the oftentation of going-
with more than a pair is become customary among
people of the higher ftations. Coaches and fix
are no where more frequently feen than here,
Each pair of horfes has a jockey, a boy of eight
or twelve years old ; who, contrary to the cuftom
in other countries, rides the off-horfe, and by in-
ceffantly

QUICK DRIVING CUSTOMARY. 50J
eeffantly bawling with all his might, remind8
paffengers to keep out of the way. The lot of
thefe little fellows is extremely hard ; often not
getting off the horfe's back the whole day long,
and all that time obliged to face the rain and fleet
of the autumnal weather. The coachman, in the
ruffian mode, wears along bufhy beard; this at
firft catches the eye of the Stranger : but a little
cuftom foon familiarizes him to the appearance.-—
Probably there is not fuch quick driving in any
town in Europe as here : it is by no means unufual
to be hunted through the ftreets by a coach and
fix in full gallop*
After fo many testimonies concerning the luxury
that prevails at St. Peterfburg in all the articles of
living, it will be naturally expedted, that the in
habitants of the refidence are not lefs expenfive
in their attire. With the gentlemen, during the em.
prefs's reign, the englifh faffiions in drefs were pre
dominant. A man might appear in any company
in a frock and waiftcoat, fome particular occafions
excepted, where' the etiquette required a full
drefs. This mode of drefs is light and commo
dious; but more extravagant than at firft fight
appears, from the frequent viciffitudes of faffiion,
when a perfon has the vanity to follow them faith
fully. Nowhere, however, is this folly fo little
imperative as here, fince every one may drefs him
felf as he pleafes without being ridiculous. New
faffiions that border on the extravagant rarely be-
k k 4 come

£04 DRESS OF BOTH SBXBS.
eome general, the ladies as, well as the gentlemen.
obferving on the. whole a certain decorum in this
refpedt tha.t redounds very much to their honour-
in the judgement of all fenfible obfervers. The
grotefque finery in which the fops of Spme pf the
german capital cities think fit to decorate their
perfons, has been long finqe ba.nifhed from, all
companies of the middling ftation here ; and is
only retained by the great people at court as a,
troublefome but conventional pradtice, which they
with to change for a better ftyle.
The ordinary drefs in which Subordinates appear
before their chiefs, or inferiors make their court
to foperiors is the uniform of the Peterfburg go
vernment ; a light blue coat .turned up with black,
yellow buttons and white upder-clpaths. , For
merly they were likewife often feen in companies;
but in the late years of the emprefs's reign, officer^
as well as others preferred the frock, as in thi.sthey
were feSs diftinguiffied and lefs confined.
'In the drefs and ornaments of the ladies., a.
greater expenfe, as is fitting it Should, prevails.
The englifh Simplicity has indeed exploded th§
wear of coftly Silks ; but without any Saving to, the
purfes of fathers and hufhands, as the white engliSh^
muffins and indian ftuffs require frequent waffiing
aud foon wear out. The greateft luxury of th®
ladies Seems to be in their head -drefs. The tribe
of milleners, before whofe doors are often feen
ten or twelve carriages ftaoding a» a time, the,
extravagant

SIMPLICITY IN ATTIRE. 5©$
extravagant prices they charge for their flight fa
brics, the rapidly, acquired fortunes of fome and
the bankruptcies of others authorize us to fup-
pofe that by this branch of female requifites pro
digious fums are brought in circulation.
As the general tendency of faffiion is towards
Simplification, the mode of decorating the perfon
with brilliants and jewels is gradually on the der
pline with all people of middling ftation. The
good tafte of the Petersburg ladies and their nice
fenfe of elegance and grace furnifh them with
ample means for Supplying the place of thefe pre
cious ornaments by more artlefs and pleafing con
trivances. ¦»
This brief and compreffed account of the marv
ner of living amongft the middle ranks muft na
turally be very incomplete : but even in thefe
flight touches it is eafy to perceive the luxury and
opulence which forms the main character of it.
The articles of living are here extremely numer
ous; the local fituation and the climate of the
place creating a hoft of wants, little known io;
other countries: but our great difpofition. to eafe
and convenience, being favoured by a pretty
general affluence and encouraged by the example
pf the great and wealthy, multiplies the neceffa
ries of life to fuch a degree,, that even foreigners
ate apt to lay afide the rule by which they were
accuftomed to meafure the extent of what was in-
.^fpenfabie at home. The luxury that prevails here

5©6 LUXURIOUS MANNER OF LIVING.
here in every branch of living, fo far from having
reached its fall, long fince repeatedly prophefied,
is, from many concurrent caufes, continually in
creafing ; and it cannot be denied, that, in many
claffes, on the whole, it greatly exceeds the abili
ties of the individual. Only a few fteps farther,
and the better part of the lefs affluent will be
obliged to accommodate themfelves to an open
felf denial, for which they are already preparing
in filence, but to which, without the utmoft ne
ceffity, they can fcarcely bring themfelves to
adopt. In the mean time, the State of things in a
manner forces a great part, perhaps the greater
part, of the middling ftation to a courfe of living
which in France is called fauver les apparences :
ftridt parfimony in the interior and a decent pro
fusion in all that meets the eye.
Some readers may probably be defirous to know
how much is fufficient for the decent fuppoft of a
family in this city. Similar calculations in regard
to London, Paris and Vienna, which are in the
hands of the public, may ferve to form a com
parifon between the proportionate expenfes requi
site in thefe places for a houfehold eftabliffiment
equally removed from the two extremes of fuper-
fluity and indigence. — A Samily of four or five
perfons, living decently, though not in the beft, yet
neither in the very out-parts of the town ; keeping
a good plain table open to a friend that may chance
to drop in ; dreffing neatly according to the general
faihion ;

EXPENSES OF A FAMILY. 507
fttihion ; and keeping about five fervants, with a
carriage and pair ; would require, in the year 1 794,
upon a careful and accurate calculation, and admit
ting the Strictest ceconomy, about the following
fums Spr their principal neceffaries :

Rubier.

Table and liquors —

— 1000

Rent

- 400

Fuel and candles ~

- 150

Servants — —

- 300

Equipage —

-r 4OO

Wearing apparel —

~ 300

Education of two children

r- 4.OO

2950
Here it is immediately Seen that much muft be
added for incidental expenfes and amuSements;
and that it will be Scarcely poffible for a family to
live decently and free from care on a lefs ipcome
than three thoufand five hundred rubles. This
calculation will perhaps furprife many, on recol
lecting from his Statistics the pay of the ruffian
officers, civil and military, and Srom the accounts
of the travellers he has read and even from this
very book about the mode of living of the gene
rality of them. For folving this problem it muft
be remarked, that the perquifites and refources of
Civil officers and the higher military ranks, are in
no country fo great as in Ruffia, Great talents, no

508" WAYS OP IMPROVING INCOME,
Tio doubt, are neceffary for underftanding thefe
advantages and for improving them with dexterity ;
but whoever is excluded by his incapacity from''
this way to a fortune, never fails to find fome'
other path more or lefs trodden, to the fameob-;
jedt. AH great cities are favourable to extraor
dinary undertakings and bold adventurers, and no
where perhaps does a lively inventive genius pros
per So much as here. Sudden and fingular vicif
fitudes of fortune are ordinary events, and Peterf
burg fwarms with upftart,s, at whofe birth no astro
loger was called in to mark out the horofcope of
their deftiny. — There is yet another clafs of peo
ple, who deftitute of the goods of fortune, and
with very flender Salaries, without taking the broad
highway of making perquifites, yet maintain a
decent appearance and often live in a fafliionable
ftyle. With thefe people a great parfimony and"
the art of keeping up an outfide Show, Supply
the place of that fuperfluity which is fquandered"
away on an imprudent houfekeeping without en
joyment and without being perceived. The great
advantage poffeffed by Some of them in being fur
nished by the government with quarters, fire, and
candle, leflens the irexpenditure greatly; with Sorrier
places likewiSe Servants are allowed. The edu
cation oS their children, iS they find it burdenSome,
they can eafily relieve themSelves Srom ; as the
children of all placemen having the rank of a Staff-
officer have a claim to reception into the imperial
inftitute.

Alteration in manner of living^ .509
inftitute. Thefe and other conveniences enable
the Samilies oS Such as have pofts under govern-.
jnent to employ more on the exterior ; and accord
ingly the majority oS them appear in a more advan
tageous view than a nearer inSpedtion into their real
Condition would warrant us to expedt.
The exceptions to the Soregoing account formed
by the poorer Sort of the middling Station are
fcarcely So numerous as thoSe oS the richer. Were
we, in company, to throw out the queftion : how
much is requifite to deSray the expenfes of a nar
row bur decent houfekeeping ? we Should hear a
much greater fum than I have computed unani
moufly mentioned. A proof that the neceffaries
and expenditure of .the generality exceed that
ftatement. Among the inferior nobility, the opu*
lent placemen and merchants, are few families
that do not expend five or fix thouSand rubles ;
report States the houffiold establishment of fome at
upwards of twenty thoufand rubles.
. It is extremely interefting to hear the accounts
given by old people of the fudden alteration that
has taken place in the ftyle and manner of living
among the middle ranks. — But thofe days are
paft; the good golden times when the prime mi
nister of the ruffian empire dwelt in a fmall wooden
houfe, which at prefent is tenanted by a merchant
as his rural cot ! when a placeman thought him*
felf happy if his Salary amounted to five hundred
rubles, and when this was quite Sufficient Sor
maintaining

5IO . REFINEMENT AND INDULGENCES
maintaining a family ! when the richeft banker1
drove to 'change in his one-horfe cabriole, and
our ladies paid their vifits on foot ! — Nowhere;,
perhaps, has luxury kept fo equal a pace with re*
finement of manners ; never did a people fo rapidly
pafs on Srom the utmoft Simplicity to the higheft
pitch oS poliffied life.
Enjoyment is the grand Concern, the main ob
ject of all activity, the great fpur to competition1,
the pivot on which our daily courfe of life turns
round. One part of the public indeed muft workj
that they may enjoy ; but likewife a very great
proportion enjoy without working. Even the
labouring PeterSburgher would be Startled if he
could compare his day's work with the burden that
in other countries bows the backs of the labouring
part of the community.
The day begins with the polite world at different
periods. It is Still early, fays the merchant;
ftretching himfelf on his downy couch at nine or
ten o'clock in the forenoon ; whereas the dangler
at court or the client has been waiting ever fince
fix in the guard-room of the palace or the anti-
chamber of his patron. The buftle in the Streets.,
the bufineSs of the common people, is regulated
in winter by the break of day ; in fummer the fine
mornings and the fcarcely fetting fun draw many a
lazy citizen from his bed at an early hour, and the
Smoke is rifing Srom the chimnie's,- whereas in
winter at the Same time all are ftill buried in pro*
found

MANNER OF SPENDING THE DAY. $l_
found repofe. When the breakfaft and the affairs
of the toilette are over, the forenoon begins, the
time ufually devoted to bufinefs. All tranfadlions
of this nature muft be done in the fpace between
that and dinner : the tumult of the ftreets and the
ftillnels of the houfe are never greater than during
thefe hours. While the male part of the inha
bitants are engaged in their affairs, and the wives
of the citizens are looking after houfhold concerns
and preparing for the table, the higher claffes of
ladies are lolling in their carriages through the
ftreets to the confectioners and milleners or to
make their morning vifits. The fop, that hetero-
clite being, not excluded from either fex and be
longing to none, promenades in the mean time
through the book-Shops and warehoufes for all
forts of goods, to pick up new-falhioned toys and
fentiments for the company of the day. In fum
mer the quays and the public gardens are the
places of general refort for people of the higher
ftations. Amid thefe various occupations the hour of
noon comes on •, and then every aim and every
intereft is abforbed in the cofmopolitical fentiment,
of feafting and being feafted. Now the numerous
tribe of dineurs en ville are all in motion and the
company-rooms fill apace. In moft houfes it is
the cuftom to fit down to dinner at, about two
o'clock ; fome merchants dine before 'change but
the generality after ; that is, between three and
four

j.11 •MAN'-NER bF SPENDIG THE DAY.
four o'clock. The Englifh arid fuch as wotlld pafs
for Englifh, take their principal meal about five;
fo that a man might very commodioufly dine at
three feveral houSes in one day. — The length of
the meal is naturally regulated by the number of
cOurfes, the fertility of the converfation and occa
sional ufage :" it feldom terminates, however, under
three Or four hours, as the converfation is con
tinued for fome time over the coffee. ¦ — The after
noon, or, which is here the fame thing, the evert
ing, is feldom, except on urgent occafions, de-.
Voted to bufinefs. , Where the company flays, the
c^rd-tables are immediately fet out, at which they
are engaged till the late fupper. It is customary,
however, for the dinner-guefts to depart, prefentiy
after rifing from table, and afterwards a frefh com
pany comes in to tea and fupper. During thefe
hours at leaft nine tenths of all the people above
the loweft vulgar arp employed at cards. About
midnight, or, in families where greater regularity
prevails, at ten o'clock, fupper is ferved up, con-
fiftirtg of futh a profusion of difhes as would Suf
ficiently compenfate for having gone without a
dinner. The inftant that fupper is over is the
Signal for the company to break up. About this
time the carriages are heard rolling through the
Streets,, disturbing the profound filence, in which,
particularly in the dark evenings of winter, the town
had been for fome hours buried.
5 Such

GENERAL HOSPITALITY. 5x3
Such is the diurnal round of life with thofe who
reckon themSelves oS the more poliffied and Superior
Stations. Many houSes are daily open to vifits ;
in others certain days of the week are allotted to
company. In jtheSe a Select circle oS friends and
acquaintance meet together, where every gueft is
welcomed that is introduced by one of the former;
The perSon who had company at home yeflerday
goes to company abroad today; one continued
vortex oS diffiparion attradls every one into its
eddy that can and is inclined to Submit to it : liSe
paffes on in a perpetual intoxication, Srom which
iS a perSon wakes Sor a moment, it is only to Seize
the inchanted cup aSreffi,. and none but he who is
contented to paSs Sor an oddity or the man of fevere
morals, keeps without the magic circle, and views
the general giddinefs with pity or furprife.
Much having been already Said in this book
concerning the hoSpitality that here prevails ; it
will be proper now to add Somewhat of the manner
in which it is practifed and the fource whence it
originates. It may be boldly affirmed, that this
noble virtue of the days of yore is not carried to
fuch an unlimited extent in any capital of Europe
as here ; an affertion to which the concurrent
voices oS all travellers who have Staid here a longer
or a Shorter time bear grateful testimony. The
origin of this beneficent cuftom is doubtlefs na
tional ; but the Peterfburghers have emancipated
themfelves from fo many of their native euftoms and
ll ufages,

£14 VARIOUS SOURCES OF HOSPITALITY.
ufages, that we "may reafonably admit fome ftrpnger
motive than a reverence for antiquity for their
having retained fo expenfive a national virtue.
This motive is no other than the difpofition to
fociety which prevails in every Peterfburgher almoft
without exception ; a charadteriftic which likewife
redounds very much to their honour, it being
" frequently the fourpe of humane fenriments and.
generous actions. It would, however, be requiring
too much that this motive fhould fubfift in all its
purity in the great multitude as well as in the
politer and more refined part of the community.
Emptinefsof head and heart, unacquaintance with
Silent mental recreations, thirft of amufement, the
pleafure of feeing and being feen, the defire of
forming connections, the propenfity to play, and
a hundred other views of various kinds, here, as
in other places, impel mankind together, becaufe in
all. places human nature is the fame. Strong and
cogent, however, as the call to fociability may
be, without the means of correfponding with it,
the internal impulfe and the outward conduct
would operate in vain to its advantage. An afflu
ence generally diffufed, at leaft among moft of the
claffes, facilitates to theFeterfburghers the ultimate
aim of their exiftence and exertions, Social enjoy
ment. Without this fortunate circumftance, the
virtue of fociability would be like an inanimate
beauty, whofe charms might excite admiration
without infpiring Senfibility and participation. Fa
voured

SbCiABLENESS UNIVERSAL, £1$
VOured as we are She is elevated to a deity, on
Whofe altar every one facrifices, and who in return,
With a liberal hand, imparts enjoyment to every
mortal. The rich and poor have equal Shares ; the
former give, the latter receive, and all enjoy.
Sociability is here of a quite different character
from that of the other countries of Europe with
the manners and ufages whereof we are acquainted.
It infinuates itfelf not merely among friends and
intimate acquaintances, as in England, where there
is properly no general fociability at all, though
friendfhip feems to be far more common. It is not
merely confined to converfation, as in Germany,
where it is the cuftom to part about dinner-time,
with fatiated minds and hungry ftomachs, or where
a whole company meets for taking a cup of coffee.
Our fociability confifts in the' fecial enjoyment of
all the comforts of life. A man referves nothing
but his bufinefs and his cares to himfelf and his
confidants : all the reft is common property, which
feems to belong lefs to the principal than to his
companions. Not only fome of thofe vacant hours
which a man would otherwife pass between Sleeping
and waking ; not Some Sew particular holidays on
which avarice decorates herSelf with the mantle of
decent profufion ; not the remains of Selfifh epi-
curiSm, are here the offerings made to Social enjoy
ment : no; every moment of exemption from
bufinefs and care, every feftive day and every dainty
morfel are devoted to liberal participation.
l l z The

5 IC» CONVENIENCES OF HOSPITALITY.
The particular time when the affluent Peterf-
burgher wiffies moft to be vifited is exactly that
which in Germany, for inftance, is moft feduloufly
avoided: dinner-time and fupper-time. Every
man here is then eafy in mind and open of heart,
freed from all bufinefs and difpofed to conversation.
Whoever has been once introduced to a family,
has ever after free accefs if he be foUnd agreeable.
This is ufually determined at the firft vifit ; for,
if at taking leave no farther invitation enSues, it
is then advifable not to think of cultivating that ac
quaintance. If the gueft be agreeable to the he ft,
the latter informs him, at the end of the firft vifit,
of his day for receiving company, if he has one, or
preffes him to Srequent his houSe as oSten as he
fliall find it convenient. A young man poffeffing
any tolerable talents Sor Society, at Peterfburg is
entirely relieved from the trouble of houfekeeping;
when once he is acquainted with fix or eight good
families, he may every day eat and drink with his
friends in very agreeable company. This manner
of life, which is extremely common with fingle
men pf all ranks, has nothing difreputable in it.
The e'xpenSe in cloaths that it renders neceffary,
and the play in which it involves them, counter
balance to the purSe any advantage that this para
sitical life may occafion. To this muft be added
the want of company which the generality of Pe-
terfburgers fo Senfibly Seel. IS all fingle men were
to keep their own kitchens or to dine at the taverns the

STYLE OF SOCIETIES. 517
the majority of the good houSes would be deSerted
and empty. No fituation could be more dreadful
for our elegant circles than folitude.
Whatever eaSe and hoSpitality prevail in regard
to the above-mentioned clafs oS people, yet they
are under great limitations among family-acquaint-
ances and married perSons. Every houSe having
its peculiar circle meeting at it, but few families
have time or neceffity for going in queft of com
pany abroad. The difference in the way of living
and expenfe raifes, as it were, a party-wall, which
frequently feparates perfons who have long been
living in the moft intimate familiarity. Many,
who, while bachelors were daily guefts in great
and opulent families, find themfelves obliged, on
marrying, to drop thefe acquaintances from not
being able to keep pace in expenfe with them.
Thefe little particulars may feem trifling in the
relation, but they have a marked influence on the
ftyle of fociety, giving it a charadteriftic Stamp
peculiar to itSelf. The major part of all circles
naturally confift of men, as unmarried ladies never
vifit, and the married company expect vifits at
home.: the miftrefs of the houfe is frequently the
only lady at a table of ten or twenty perfons.
This great fuperiority in numbers occafions the
converfation to take a graver turn in moft com
panies. Politics and bufinefs being the grand fub-
jedts of all table-talk, the ladies are reduced to the
alternative either of taking part in this difcourfe or
L L 3 Of

5l8 AGREEABLE MANNERS.
of being totally filent. The little attentions that
the men vouchfafe to pay the ladies in other coun
tries, are here often entirely neglected ; the natu-i
rai confequence of which is, that the ladies, where-
ever they are not absolutely fequeftered, -Seek their
revenge by an impreffive opposition to the ma
jority. 'At table they fit cloSe together, and in
company they divide off; iS they happen to be in-*
volved in a conversation or in a party at cards, .
they are dryneSs itfelf, and deter by their cold
anfwers and their repulfive manners even thoSe
whom they might gain over to them by Some
little encouragement.^- None will be SounreaSon,
able as to generalize this description too much, as
though it admitted of no exceptions,.: fuch ex
ceptions, however, are rare, and they are in no
peculiar credit among the fex to which they
belong. Abating for this defedt, the ftyle of the Peterf
burg companies has little to dread from the ani
madversions of the fevereft man of the world,
That amiable eafe, which is juft as remote from
the Stiff, formal etiquette of the Germans as from
the exceffive liberties oS the French, is here the,
foul of all falhionable Society. The little cere
monial laws, obServed elfewhere with Such unre
mitted ftridtneSs, are here entirely unknown ; in
the ftead whereof is Substituted a tacit agreement
to appear as pleafing and affable and to Sacrifice to
the company as much of their due as they poffibly can,

STUDIED COMPL'ACENCY. £ I 9
can. Thefe engaging endeavours to be to others
what they could with them to be, fmoothen the
ordinary character in proportion as they render that
oS the individual more prominent; but it would
be difficult to point out the method of making,
in a numerous and mixed company, the Social
manners harmonife with the particular humour
oS each individual. The Sacrifice that every one
makes to Society, is no lefs voluntary than the
refolution by which the duration of it is fixed.
Here no intreaties,no preffing Solicitations are ufed;
whoever is agreeable to the Samily, goes thither
as oSten as he finds it convenient, without having
to apprehend in one caSe any croSs-looks for re
peating his vifits too often, or in the other, thofe
country-town reproaches for his long abfence, un-
lefs in either cafe he exceed the proportion fettled
by prevailing cuftom, or by particular considera
tions which are eafy to be perceived. No rule of
etiquette prefcribes the duration of the vifit or the
mode oS taking leave. The perSon comes as an
uninvited, but as an expected gueft ; he flays as
long as he pleafes, and uSually retires in silence,
without disturbing the company by a noify and
verbofe ceremonial.
It may naturally be afked here how this people
fo fond of fociety employ themfelves in company.
Certainly the ufual means of entertainment would
here be insufficient, if they had not the art of giv
ing them a fuperior charm which renders them
l L 4 attractive

_ZO HIGH PLAY AT CARDS.
attractive even to cold and phlegmatic tempers, and
prevents the irkfomenefs of perpetual uniformity.
The pleafures of the table,' cards and converfation,
here as elfe where, fupply the materials from which
every one fpins out his amufement, according to
the diverfity of gifts of fufceptibility and commu
nication ; but the manner in which thefe fources
of focial pleafure are employed, is fo peculiar as
to afford Some ftriking Seatures characteristic oS the
Peterfburghers. Though it is the cuftom all over the world to fit
down to table Sor the purpofe oS Satisfying a na
tural appetite and of indulging more or lefs in fen-
Suality ; yet in Sew places is the latter So much the
object of all companies as here. The moft agree
able circle and a frugal table will be fure to find
fewer amateurs, than a well-furniffied exquifite
table and a dearth of converfation. — Card-play,
is the rnoft ordinary kind of paftime in all the cities
of Europe ; but here people play, not fo mucb
for paffing away the time, as to fet the paffions in
1 motion by a powerful intereft. A fmall game, the
event whereof in the moft unfortunate cafe
would be attended with no considerable lofs, would
feem to the Peterfburghers time entirely thrown
away. Games of forfeits, riddles, charades, bout-
rimes, and other trifling amufements under what
ever other names they paSs, which in the family-
parties of Germany produce fuch fallies of mirth
and wit, here find no admittance, as they neither tickle

GAMES OF HAZARD. £_l
tickle the palate, nor gratify the mind, nor give
fcope to the paffions. Thofe games at cards where
luck or chance has greateft Share in the decifion
are the moft efteemed ; in families where games
of hazard are not permitted, they pitch on thofe
that come neareft to them. For this reafon Whift
was forced to give way to Bolton, becaufe in the
latter chance had a Sreer Scope, and becauSe the
PeterSburghers had found out the method, by a re
finement of luxury, to multiply the combinations
of this adventurous game.
Converfation is generally the laft refource, a
means for filling up the vacant moments left by
play and the pleafures of the table. This branch
of the entertainment, however, has fuch interefting
and charadteriftic fides as to render it well worth
while to examine it a little nearer. One peculiar
advantage of our circles, fince few great cities have
it in fo great a proportion, is the mixture of perfons
of all ranks and countries, of all religious denomi
nations, and of the moft diverfified manners, habits
and humours. No where is this confluence fo great,
and no where does mutual toleration extend to
fuch lengths as here. It is by no means unufual to
fee generals, chief officers of ftate, decorated per-
fonages, merchants, fcholars and artifts together
in one company, at the fame table, or to meet in
a company of ten or twelve perfons, Ruffians,
Germans, Englishmen, Frenchmen, Spaniards, and
Swedes. The firft great benefit arifing from this
amalgamation

£22 GENERAL POLITENESS.
amalgamation of mankind is — Toleration. The
reciprocal neceffity of bearing in order to be borne
with; the fentiment of propriety, by which thofe
of the ftronger party are moved to lay afide their
Superiority that they may not render thofe of the
weaker Shy of their company ; in ffiort, cuftom
which familiarifes Us to the ftrangeft objedts, and
deprives manners and opinions of all that at firft
feemed alarming; all thefe caufes together have
effected fuch a harmony in the ftyle of good com
pany, that we Should think ourfelves in a meeting
of intimate acquaintances, where in fadl they are
all people of the greateft difference in national ha
bits and profeffional notions. The primary requi
site in a good companion is naturally thisx: not to
touch on any topic which might excite an unplea-
fing SenSation in the mind oS any perSon prefent,
in regard to himSelf or his particular fituation ;
but it requires, we muft own, a great degree of
circumfpection arid a certain nice tadt in order not
to offend, in very mixt and unknown companies,
againft this rule of refined accommodation. ¦ Great
pretenfions, a decifive tone, dictatorial judgments,
are therefore juft as abfurd and ridiculous, as an
inconfiderate choice Of fubjedt may be dangerous
and detrimental.
Nowhere perhaps is it more difficult to excite
attention by extraordinary occurrences, diftant tra
vels, marvellous adventures and great' acquaint
ances than here. Moft young Ruffians of rank and

KNOWLEDGE OP-THE WORLD. 533
and education have made the grand tour; many
of them are as well and better acquainted with th$
cuftoms and curiofities of Paris, Rome and Lon
don, than with thofe of their own country ; a great
number of perfons^ hy embaffies and deputations,
are familiar with remote nations ; adventurers who
have tried their luck in more' than one quarter of'
the world, flock hither in confiderable numbers.
Each brings his fhare oS experiences into company 5
the Slock of knowledge thus brought into circu
lation among the more poliffied circles renders
them the more interefting. The horizon of each
individual being enlarged, we lofe fight of the
ordinary and microfcopic point oS view in which
pbjects are' uSually contemplated among thoSe oS a
more confined knowledge of the world and of man
kind. The great play of the paffions and of in
trigues which is generally excited, on fobrilliantand
extenfive a Stage, by ftronger impulfes, gives us a
.knowledge of mankind very different from that
which is acquired merely from books and the ob-,
"fervations made in an uniform courfe of life. The
motives of remarkable tranfadlions, nhe true con
catenation of apparently remote caufes and effects,
are here more eafily unravelled to the eye of the
attentive obferverf If, on the one hand, mistrust
and a belief in the deceitfulnefs of the human
heart be the refult of thefe experiences, on the other
hand they teach us caution and the practice of the
little gulden fentence: nil admirari. Froth

524 GENERAL TOPICS OF CONVERSATION. f
From thefe preliminaries it may naturally be ex
pected, that in the higher circles and among po-
liffied people, it is not likely there ffiould be any
want of matter for interefting difcourfe. The hif
tory of the day, indeed, as ufual, forms the ground-
plot of the converfation ; but even this is here
more productive than it can poffibly be in fmaller
towns and on a narrower Stage of human action.
In the order of the day ftand foremost the political
news and the tranfadlions at court, which, trifling
as they may be fometimes thought, are, however,
much lefs tirefome than the dull commentaries on
the weather that generally form the prelude to
converfation. The fpacious theatre of a great and
powerful court, playing its brilliant part with fuch
a decided influence on the political relations of
Europe and Alia, daily affords matter more than
fufficient for a variety of difcuffion. Even the
petty events of the moment, the fcandalous chroni
cle and the anti-chamber anecdotes, have here on
the Spot a certain intereft that even relaxes the
brow of the grave philofopher and charms his at
tention. The court and city compoSe a grand
living pidture in which the flight ftrokes and
Shades are inceffantly changing ; one occurrence
preffes on the other ; the hero Qf to-day is in ob-
Scurity to morrow ; no Sooner diScernible to our
view, than hedifappears among the undiftinguifhed
crowd, and we ourSelves are aftoniffied at being
wafted by the ftream of time and the viciffitude of

LITERARY CONVERSATIONS. 525
of things into new fpheres and unknown relations.
A retirement of a few dap reduces to folitude the
man of the world accuftomed to live in public; and
he feems aftranger in the place where he thought
himfelf at home.
When the grand fubjedts of converfation fail,
recourfe is had to literature. In the mixture of
ranks that here prevails in all companies, it is
"natural to imagine that men of letters no where
preponderate ; but perfons of practical knowledge
of the world and reading, intelligent and well-in
formed people of all conditions, are feen difperfed in
creditable families, and here and there give the colour
to the converfation. The benefit arising hence is of
no fmall confequence ; one difputacious voice is
feldom or never heard much louder than the reft to
engrofs the whole difcourfe ; that affuming tone
which generally infects the learned by profession,
is foftened down info a reciprocal deference ; and
inftead of that vociferous difquifition of a contro
verted point of fcience, friendly debates proceed iii
the ufual ftyle of converfation, in which good
humour Strives to mingle entertainment with So
lidity. Societies of this nature, which it muft be
confelfed are rare, afford a truly gratifying relaxation
to the man of fenfe and difcernmen't, who weary of
the ferious bufineSs of the day, Seeks his recreation
in gaining Something Sor his mind.
Having Said thus much on the matter of our
converfation, we will add a word or two on the
form

$%6 DIVERSITY OF TONGUES.
form of it. If the former be various from fhfc
mixture of ranks and characters, the latter appears
not lefs checkered by the diverfity of languages
that are heard in companies. In all great cities
foreigners are found ; but no where fo many in
proportion as here : elfewhere the ftrangers are
generally foreign travellers ; here the greater part
of them are Settlers. Accordingly nobody in other
places finds it neceffary to impofe on himfelf that
restraint on their account which is here Submitted to,
becaufe otherwise a great part of the focial gratifi
cation would be loft. Add to this, that the ruffian
language is little underftpod abroad, and the,
learning of it is attended with numerous diffi
culties ; whereas foreign languages are very current
among the politer claffes of fociety, even in ordi
nary converfation. At the fame time the rufs is
moft ufual in the companies of the natives, and
it is only out of complaifance to foreigners that
they exchange it for the generally known french,
which is the point of union in mixed afiembles.
The Peterfburghers are reproached with cor
rupting the national language by foreign idioms
and constructions, and as being far behind the Mof-
covites in delicacy of exprefison. This reproach,
as Sar as one that is not a Ruffian may be allowed to
judge, Seems in general to be well Sounded. The
conftant mixture in which the Ruffians live with
foreigners and the circumftance that the children
commonly hear and learn two or three languages at

French Much spoken. 527
at once, are the grounds of this corruption, which
has extended itfelf fo far, that in certain circles it
is become the faffiion to carry on the converfation
partly in one language and partly in another, or
to Shove in Some french words between every three
or Souf words of rufs. Whether this accufation
be juft or not, there can be no doubt of the truth
of the teftimony of all mankind in behalf of the
perfection with which the Peterfburghers fpeak the
french tongue. It is univerfally allowed by all
that are competent judges, that not every where in
France and no where out of it is that language
fpoken with fuch fluency, propriety, delicacy and
elegance, as here among the Superior claffes. The
german language on the other hand, ftands rather
in the back ground; the difficulties attending the
learning of it, the preference given to the french
at court, in public companies, and in the politer
circles, put great obstacles in the way of its general
introduction; nevertheless it is in greater eftima
tion with the nation at large than any other lart-
guage, the french excepted : people of the highest
rank apply to the ftudy of it ; and, that it is not
more frequently fpoken is owing chiefly to the
difficulty of its pronunciation, which cofts the
Ruffians particularly great labour to acquire. It is
rare to meet with a PeterSburgher oS any tolerable
cultivation, who is not acquainted, more or lefs,
with theSe three languages : the englifh is con
sidered

528 CONFUSION OF TONGUES.
fidered rather as an elegant accomplishment and is
learnt by particular perSons as Such.
The general cuftom of fpeaking french, enables-
the people of that republic eafily to difpenfe with
learning the language of the country ; but it is
ablblutely neceffary to the Germans, unlefs they
Speak french with fome degree oS fluency. Some
of thefe attain to fuch proficiency in the latter
tongue that they might be thought to have paffed
a confiderable portion oS their lives in France ;
others, and indeed by Sar the major part, apply
themSelves to the ftudy of the national language
with all the patience and perfeverance peculiar to
the Germans, and at length mafter it to fuch a
degree as to excite the admiration even of the
natives. It were to be wiffied that this laudable
exertion did not lead to, that affedtation, fome-
times manifeft in german families, of generally
and without occafion mingling Scraps oS ruSs in
their difcourfe. One part of this cenSure indeed
loSes its Sorce, as it is Srequently impoffible to ex-
preSs particular ruffian denominations with the
Same accuracy in a Soreign language, without being
mifunderftood or falling into a ridiculous pedantry.
Inftances oSfuch caSes maybe obServed in abun
dance, and even in this book. Who, Sor inftance,
would ever think of putting into englifh or german
the terms : iSvoScht Schick, podriadSchik, droffika,
artel, &c. ? A number of domeftic directions that
tnuft

BARBAROUS PHRASEOLOGY; $2$
irsuft daily be given and names of things that conie
in ordinary ufe are likewife not to be translated ;
yet it cannot be denied that the german language *
by this means acquires in the mouths of our ladies
and gentlemen, a very motley appearance. We
every moment hear the phrafes: " Is the lejanka
heated f ? The kalitka % is open. The plotnik §
is come. Has the pogrebfchik \\ been paid F'
with numberlefs others, which muft be tolerated as
they cannot be translated in ordinary difcourfe
without affectation. Though this therefore be un
avoidable, yet it is not to be pardoned, when, with
out any neceffity, ruffian words are employed which
may Very aptly be fupplied by german terms in
general ufe. But we almoft every .where hear :
tfchulah inftead of ftore room, krifchka inftead of
Cover, lutzkoi inftead of the people's room,
agarodnik inftead of the greens feller, liteina in
ftead of the foundery ; or even " Do you chufe
your coffee with or without flifki [cream] ? Here
is a pribore wanting ; i, e. a cover for the table.
* The farhe may be faid of the englifh likewife.
f A stove, with a bench on which the Ruffians ufually
Sleep. i A fmall door for foot paffengers cut in the carriage-gate.
§ Carpenter. But., as the german and the ruffian carpenter
carry on their bufinefs in a very different method, it is ne
ceffary to retain this denomination for the latter.
|| "Wine-cellaf -fellow founds pedantic in german, god is
ho where adopted in the language of converfation.
mm If e

53° PATRONYMICS.
He made his poklone [bow or Salutation], and a
thoufand other exprelfions of like nature. Tha^
the Germans and Englifh born here Should have
interwoven a number of ruthenifms in their Speech,
is however naturally to be expedted. German
provincialisms are Seldom heard, and the accent is
rendered peculiarly SoSt and harmonious by the
melting together of fo many dialects.
This feems no improper place for mentioning an
amiable national cuftom which has ever been
adopted among the Germans and Englifh, and has
much contributed to render the ftyle of converfa
tion eafy and familiar by reducing nearer to a level,
at leaft in appearance, perfons of diftant ranks and
ages. The Ruffians very rarely call one another
by their family names, or in addreffing any one to
give him the predicate of his quality ; the bap-
tifmal name being generally ufed * with the addi
tion of that of the father. When, for inftance,
the perfon addreffed is called Feodor, Theodore,
and his Sather Ivan, then the Sormer is termed
Feodor Ivanovitch, Theodore Johnfon. A lady
named Maria and her Sather Ivan, is called Maria
Ivanovna, &c. The only exceptions to this rule are
* The Ruflians commonly have no more than one baptif-
mal name. Women are not called after the mother, but after
the father. In the pronunciation the third or fourth fyllable is
dropped. Though we write Ivan Vaffilievitch, it is proounced
Ivane Vaffilitch; Kuprian Prokopovitch, pron. Kupriane
Prokopitch j Leot Alexandrovitch, pron. Leof Alexandritch.
among

FORMS OF SALUTATION. 53 1
among perfons totally unacquainted with each,
other 01 people of high distinction ; in all other
cafes it holds good even in the politest circles.
This cuftom has likewife crept into very many
german and englifh families ; at leaft it has been
adopted by them to, facilitate the manner of addrefs
ro the common Ruffians who are not Accuftomed
to foreign family names. Such as have chriftian
names not known to the Ruffians change it for one
Something fimilar in Sound, for inftance, Henry- for
Andrey, Edward for Dmitri, William for Vaffilly
or Bafil ; or Sometimes retain it, as in the appella
tives Karl, Chriftoph, &c. There are Some other
national cuftoms of a like nature that introduce a
certain familiarity into fociety ; but they are loft in
proportion as foreign manners and cuftoms glide
into ufe. Thus, for example, it was formerly
ufual, among all orders of people, and is Still
among the lower, to kifs the cheek on coming into
company and at leaving it, or on meeting an ac
quaintance in the ftreets. This ufage, which in the
higher claffes only fubfsfts among the ladies, or is
continued by the gentlemen to them by way of
homage to the Sair Sex, is now gradually giving
way to the mode of greeting generally ufed
throughout Europe. Ruffian and even many. fo
reign ladies have no other method of falutation
than that of the gentlemen, that is, by merely
bowing the head, without bending the knee.
A people fo fecial and fond of amufement as
M M 2 thofe

$$Z FAMILY FESTIVALS.
thoSe of this city are not apt to let flip any oppor*
twisty for feafting and junketing. Name-days and
birthdays are particularly Solemnized in ruffian
families with grand entertainments or balls, at
which the friends and acquaintance customarily
affemble without formal invitation. The birth of
a child, the appointment to an office, the purchafe
of a houfe, in Short every fortunate occurrence fur
nishes an occafion for a domeftic feftivity. At
thefe times likewife the fame eafe and fredom pre
vail that fo agreeably heighten the charadter of
the general manners of the people of this place.
Nov cuftom is of fuch univerfal obligation as not to
admit of an exception without impropriety ; no
where are fewer formalities, and no where is the
neglect of them attended with fewer expoftulations
and remarks. Weddings, christenings and fune
rals are conducted in various ways ; there being no
rule of etiquette prefcribing the pomp, nor any
form to regulate the ceremonies.
From -thefe ftrokes lightly thrown together fome
judgement may be formed concerning the agree-,
able fojourn this city affords. In fact, of all the
capitals in Europe that I have vifited Iknow of
none wherein fuch a variety of enjoyments are to
be had at fo cheap a rate as here. The uncommon
hoSpitality, the good-humoured behaviour, the
paffion Sor Society, the freedom from all formality
and conftraint, are every where feen in particular
inftances but no where in To great a degree to
gether.

VARIETY OF AMUSEMENT. 533
gether. Neither is Peterfburg devoid of attractbns
for the lover of intellectual gratifications. In the
higher ranks, it is common enough to meet with
perfons of extenfive cultivation in'mind and heart,
who to Sound learning and Shining talents unite a
mature judgement and a profound knowledge of
mankind. People of this fort, if they are not
found in fuch numbers as in fome other cities of
the firft magnitude, keep fo much the clofer to
gether, and by the fentiment of their wants are ex
cited to mutual toleration and indulgence. The
works of tafte and Science with which the refidence
is Slocked and adorned, prefent to the curious in
beauty and art as ample nourishment as to the
diligent explorer oS Science.— *r With a moderate
Share of content a man may gain fufficient amufe
ment in our point of ftation ; and inftances are by
no means wanting of people of unbounded preten
sions and of an appetite for enjoyment not eafily
Satisfied, after repeatedly changing their place of
abode, have amufed themfelves no where better
than here.
After what has been faid the reader is curious to
know, what are the accomplishments that a perfon
muft bring into company for enabling him to claim
his Share in the Slock of Social enjoyments. Exclu*
lively of the general requisites in a man of culti
vated knowledge, which are every where prefup-
pofed nearly by the fame flandard, each country
has ftill a particular demand on him who devotes
m m 3 himfelf

534 REQUISITES FOR POLITE COMPANY.
himfelf to company and expedts to be well re
ceived in it. In France to this purpofe he muft
make himfelf agreeable ; in England the grand re-
quifitc is wealth; in Holland a letter of recom
mendation to fome great mercantile houfe, and in
Germany a celebrated name or a patent of nobility.
In Ruffia money and rank are the key to good
company. Without thefe conditions, though
having all the reft, a man finds himSelS diSmiffed
into that populous and obScure Sojourn which in
all large cities is" So widely cut off Srom all commu
nication with the brilliant circles of faffiion.
Money therefore is the prime requifite in the
man of breeding. Not that fund of property
which in England makes the man of confequence,
but a competence for fupporting a decent expenfe
in drefs, and equipage and playing for the ufual
flakes at the clubs and in genteel companies.
Riches on their own account are here no recom
mendation ; no one gives himfelf the leaft concern
about the fources of income : if a certain eafe is dis
coverable in his deportment, and he betrays no
marks of poverty that offend the common rules of
decorum, it is all that is required ; and it muft be
reafonably allowed that the Peterfburgers Shew no
undue feverity in requiring thus much. Play is
after all their grand refource ; and who can blame
them for fubmitting the particular humour of in
dividuals to the predominant inclination of all >
In cities and countries where play is not fo univer- fal

NEATNESS IN DRESS OBSERVED. 535
fa), even thefe conditions are not known ; but then
others are adopted in their ftead. — It is not lefs
pardonable that a decent and neat attire Should be
made the fine qua non of admiffion into good com
pany. In truth great moderation is Shewn in ex
acting this requifite. The value and cut oS the
clpaths are more indifferent matters than would N
perhaps be thought ; as to what concerns the point
oS decorum that muft be every where obServed.
In France it is held pardonable in great geniuSes,
witty perSons and fingular characters, iS they violate
the rules of propriety in their drefs ; with us, nei
ther the firft nor the laft being very current com
modities, it is not neceffary to make exceptions on
their account. Cleanlinefs and neatnefs being in
no country, except in England, So general as here,
a Slovenly dreSs there attradts lets notice. — An
equipage, in Short, is not'Sp much an article of
convention as a neceffary accommodation arifing
from local circumftances, fince the want of it will
be fenfibly felt by every one who is fond of good
company and would not be deprived of the fatis-
fadtions to be found in the politer circles. To ap
pear in thefe after walking through the fleets at
certain feafons of the year is utterly impoffible.
In all parts of the world to go on foot is by no
means held a very Shining condition, but no where
is it thought worfe of than here.
The winter is the golden time for the pedeftrian ;
he therefore hails the falling fnow which levels and
M M 4 facilitates

536 *IN-E WINTER-WEATHER."
facilitates to him the toilfome path of his pilgri-
ffiages^ He now brings out his heft cloaths, ap
pears again for the firft time after a long period i©
Shoes, and hurries to renew his intimacy with balf-
forgotten acquaintances which had been inter
rupted by the bad weather. If he have a long way
to go, an Ivanfiufchka conveys him, indeed not
very rapidly, to the place of his destination. In.
every houfe he enters he is Sure to beaccofted with,
looks of great furpriSe accompanying the queftion,
where he can have been Sq long; and a falfe deli
cacy will frequently deprive him of fufficient con-.
fidenee for declaring the true caufe of his abferace^
and giving yent to his fpleen againft the odious.
autumn. So much the more grateful is he to the
beneficent froft, and he is infallibly the greateft pa-»
negyrift of winter. When the wagers are propofed
about the time when the ice of the Neva will break
up, he is fure to bet on the lateft. — But, alas ! the
courfe of nature is riot to be determined by wagers.
The Spring arrive?, and with it all the plagues of
the pad autumn. The brighter the heavens Smile,
¦ fo much the more clouded is the brpw of the un-*
happy footwalker. The melting fpow owerflaw^
the Sheets, forming Stagnant lakes and dirty chan7
nels. It is now absolutely impracticable to go on,
foot ; but eyen in the little low fledges, which.
glide in ferpentine diredtions between tbe paffina
carriages, the poor pedestrian is every moment in
dar.gu of being overturned, or fplaflied alt oves with

TROUBLES OF THE PEDESTRIAN. 53?
with mud. In the mean time the warmer fun-
beams dry the ftreets; the fummer approaches — ¦
is the fate of the foot-walker improved } Alas,
no ! Another element is now preparing to tor
ment him. The vehement gufts of wind drive up
the dried ftreet-dirt in thick clouds of duft ; and,
while perfecuted by thefe, the ardent fun is fcorch-
ing his fcull. One part of his acquaintance are
leaving the town, and with thefe he muft deny
himfelf all intercourfe duripg the fine feafon :
even in his town visits, after walking a verft or
more, he arrives, covered with durft and fweat, and
exhaufted by thirft and fatigue. Should he, on
thefe excursions, unfortunately be overtaken by a
fudden Shower of tain., he muft run for Shelter to
the neareft gateway ; and, frequently after waiting
there upwards of an hour, is obliged to make the
beft of his way home ; where at length ha arrives
wet through to the Skin and chagrined at his dis
appointment. Lamentable as thefe misfortunes
are, dear reader, yet referve thy compaffion for the
enfuing autumn; for, in comparifon of them, the
grievances of the fummer are an eafy yoke and a
fight burden. At its entrance the horizon is
covered with thick grey clouds ; damp fogs ob
fcure the morning and the evening atmofphere;
rains, almoft without intermiffion, deluge the
ftreets, causing Such mud as neither the patience of
the pedeftrian' nor the beft englifh fole leather are
able to refstt. If he quit his comfortable apart ment,

5j8 NECESSITY OF KEEPING A CARRIAGE.
ment, it is only when Sorced to it by Some urgent
occafion : and then, having beneath him a moraSs
and a black and angry Sky over his head, he be
gins his peregrination ; piercing winds and fleet
foon penetrate his covering, which is preSently
likewife decorated by a broad edging of dirt.
Perfecuted'by furious equipages, he is forced from
the ftepping-ftones he was painfully picking out,
and driven jnto horrid puddles ; fometimes obliged
to ftudy the laws -of equilibrium along a narrow
board or a Slippery balk, not unfrequently paying
for his leffons in the art by a Sail ; on which occa
sions, however, he may probably have the fatisfacT
tion oS furniffiing the furrounding populace with
matter for a Slight momentary recreation of their
Spirits. This ludicrous representation, though drawn
after nature, oS the Sorrows and difafters to which
a Petersburg Sootwalker is expoSed, juftifies the
general ufe of carriages, which is no where greater,
but likewife no where rhoie neceffary than here. A
milder Sky and better accommodations render an
equipage in other capitals a luxury confined to
wealthy perSons delicately brought up ; here it is
an article indiSpenSable to every one, and whoever
is obliged to do without ir, Sacrifices to dire ne
ceffity a great part oS the enjoyments oS liSe.
Much, however, as may be advanced in behalf
of this and the beforementioned requisites for
keeping good company, it is by no means my de
fign

STANDARD OF PERSONAL WORTH. 539
Sign to be the panegyrift of the great Standard by
which the worth and qualifications of a man is al
moft univerfally appreciated. Here the firft quef-r
tion is, What rank has he? In England, How1
much can he fpend a year ? — There cannot be a
'fitter parallel than this.
A man without rank, if he be not rich, is a per
fectly infignificant creature in the idea of the great
multitude. The origin of this curious classification
is owing to a political regulation, in other reSpedts
very laudable and proper. A climax of rank is
appointed for the civil department, which is exadtly
adapted to the military. Thus, the titulary-coun-
fellor has the rank and bears the ftyle of captain ;
the college-affeffor is major ; the court-counfellor
is lieutenant-colonel •, the ftate-counfellor is colo
nel, &c. TheSe degrees oS rank are entirely dif-
tindt from the polls, they being Sometimes con
nected together and Sometimes not. A perSon
may continue a number of years in one and the
Same office, and yet during that time rife feveral
degrees in rank. Hence it is, that a man is gene-
tally announced not by the place he fills, but al
ways first according to his rank, that his quality
may be properly afcertained. Though the influ
ence that this -regulation has on the general way of
thinking is very great, yet it occafions no remark
ably harffi tints in the affociations of company, and
the Saffiionable ftyle that prevails among people of
education and breeding. It is a curious circum ftance

|4Q NO WANT OF AMUSEMENT,
fiance that juft here, where a man is nothing withi
out rank, the advantages of birth Should pafs Sor So
extremely little.
I have attempted to Set againft one another, the
fatisfadtions offered by good company to the
faffiionable man, and the pretentions it makes upon
him ; and, aSter weighing them Sairly together,
the fcale always finks in Savour of the buyer.
Whoever' comes to this market with his pocket not
quite empty, can never fail to find commodities,
But if he be fo, ppor as to have neither money, nor
money's worth to offer in exchange — only for him
there is nothing in the world to be bought. Many
a one, indeed, goes thither with a full purfe,
looking' for things that are not to be found there;
others again find fault with every thing withous
buying any thing, and numbers think the market-
price too high. Now, I am not of their opinion.
Whoever has any Skill in bargain and fale need
never here complain of famine.
There is one dafs of people who view their per-.
fonal confequence greatly magnified in the even
characters of ordinary mortals, as from the reflec
tion of a concave mirror. TheSe are not Sor Peterf
burg, and Peterfburg is not Sor them. However,
they are under the protedtion of the general tolera
tion, which Sees with indulgence their Several pecu
liarities So long as they are not offenfive to good
manners. If they chufe to live alone they are
very eafily forgotten ; if they think fit to appear again

FREQUENT CHANGES OF SCENE. 541
again on the Stage, nobody ever afks them, where
they have been So long.
PerSons who affect to be difgufted with the ordi
nary train of life of the great multitude, who meet
no refource for their nobler capacities of enjoyment
in the ufual dissipations and amufements, find
themfelves here in a place where the fcene is
changing every moment, where new reprefenta-
tions daily appear on the ftage, Where the moral
caricatures are fo quickly effaced, that the eye of
the fpedtator can fcarcely purfue them. The. great
book of experience there lies open ; no farther
trouble is neceffary than to turn over the leaves,
and take notice of what we read. What a
Source of instructive information Sor thoSe who
know how to uSe it !
Even thoSeunSettled charadters who attach them
felves to every thing and adhere to nothing; who
deteft to day what filled them with tranfports yeS-
terday, who are pleaSed every where and no
where — even theSe find their proper Station here.
With juft the Same eafe as acquaintances, are
formed, they are again diffolved. Nothiag is
more common than to See people of this fort fud
denly vaniffi from the companies in which they
ufed to live. They have fought and found new ones,
of which they will as Soon be weary. Nobody
will perSecute them with reproaches for their ab-
fence, or make them fenfible of their ficklenefs,
c when

§4% Amusement general.
when they appear again among their old acquaint
ance.
Thus every one here finds his Share in the enjoy
ment of life from whatever point he fets out, and
whatever pretentions he may raife. The man of
faffiion and the humourift, the fop and the philoso
pher, the Social and the Selfiffi, the Sycophant and
the Stoic- — each finds beings oS his own Species to
whom he may attach himfelf, a Spot where he may
ftrike root and fructify benea'h the Shade of focial.
toleration. Only the difcontented can pleafe them
felves no where.
Having now reviewed the prominent particulars
of social life, we may conclude this moral
painting with a drawing of domestic life. Uni
form as the charadler of the former may be, the
Shades that infinuate themSelves into the latter are
extremely diverfified. From the propenfity to imi
tation and accommodation all has an equal appear
ance to the eye oS the world ; but in the interior of
families this apparent monotony is loft, and the
real depositions of mankind more forcibly fpring
forward from the obfcure back ground.
To calculate the fum total of domeftic happinefs
and its particular distribution would-be an attempt
no lefs hazardous than unprofitable ; but it is
poffible and interes] ing, to view in a long and ex
tensive intercourse the particular qualities of man
kind, and to compare the modifications of them with

FOftDNESS FOR DISSIPATION. 5,13
%ith our own experience and our own fentiments.
This I have made my bufinefs for feveral years, and
the refult I have drawn from it is, that domeftic
felicity, if not feldomer than in other great cities,
is however here but feldom found. This judg
ment, which, I repeat it, is only the refult of my
own conviction, may perhaps be refuted by a
more extenfive experience, and a deeper insight
into the nicer combinations of family profperity ;
but fo much the more neceffary I find it here to
Subjoin the grounds oS my conviction on this head,
as it otherwise would have the appearance oS a raffi
and ridiculous affertion.
Capital cities, where extravagance and luxury
prevail, are in general not the Soil on which the
tender plant oS tranquil domeftic felicity will thrive
and flourish. The frequent and alluring oppor
tunities of public amufement and tumultuous dissi
pation, by rendering the tafte for them predomi
nant, weaken the foft impreflions made by the
fimple SatisSadtions procured in the family-circle.
To this unfavourable circumftance, at St. Peters
burg is combined another, the propenfion to com
pany, the oppofite extreme to the inclination to
wards home. Involved in an inceffant round of
bufineffes, diverfions and companies, but Sew mo
ments are leSt for the hufband to .beftow on his
wife, the father on his children. Even in unions
where the bond was knit by mutual love, the man
and wife are not unfrequently the more eflranged to

§44 -A1!> EFFECTS OF biSStPATICJNi
to each o£her the longer they have lived together j
how much more in thofe parties, where conve
nience or coercion brought two difcbrdant beingd
into clofe conjunction ! If compulsion here occa
fions but few marriages, convenience is fo much
the more fuccefsful as a match-maker. Our girlsj
habituated from their very infancy to artificial
wants, to all kinds of dainties and luxury, are un
acquainted with the filent virtues and the ferene
Satisfactions of a plain domeftic life, and naturally
long for a fettlement that promifes them the gratifi
cation of their wiffies. The wealthy man is there
fore ufually the rnoft amiable in their eyes ; and,
not he that has the moft engaging manners, but his
rival with more money, leads home the bride.
? None furely can be fo Short fighted or fo captious
as to render it neceffary for me to obServe thai I
am here only fpeaking of the majority ; and that
there are happy families, tender hufbands, good
wives, careSul Sathers, excellent mothers, and dif*
interested connections, forming worthy exceptions
to this defcription. But of this I am fore, thafy
let thefe exceptions be as numerous as they may —
in cities of the fame rank, where lefs luxury and a
more humble education have place, they are much
more fo.
Notwithstanding this general defect of domeftl-
city, the ladies of the middling ftation are by no
means deficient in that parfimony which is Saving
In the interior and in the detail of houfe-keeping, in

PARTICULAR FRUGALITY. 545
in order to enable them to be more lavish in the
exterior and more public occafions. Any one that
Should judge Srom the furniture, the dreSs and the
plentiSul board on company-days, of the daily way
of living and the affluence of the family, would in
very many inftances, to his great aftoniffiment, find
himfelf deceived. The defire to live in the faffiion
able ftyle obliges the miftrefs of a Samily in the
leSs opulent claSs of the middling ftation to adopt
an artful and ingenious frugality, and no where
perhaps is the female genius more fuccefsful iii
thefe refinements than here. It is not unufual for
thefe fine-fpun plans to fail, and then neceffity com
pels them to a cruel ftate of public mortification.
Increafing luxury and advancing prices here pro
ceed in equal pace ; on which account many fami
lies voluntarily accommodate themSelves to a more
circumfcribed manner of living, in the pradlice of
which they are greatly facilitated by the concur
rence of feveral 'circumftances. A perSon- may live
here as retiredly as he pleaSes ; removing the place
of abode Srom one quarter of the town into another
more remote, favours a retreat from the circle of
former acquaintance; the diffipated mode of life
during the fummer months furnifhes a reafonable
pretext for altering the customary way of living
and for quitting the focieties we were wont to fre
quent. Such catastrophes indeed do not pafs over
without exciting Some notice ; but the tattle about
them never extends beyond the conversation of a
n n very

JJ4& EARLY EDUCATION.
very fmall circle of acquaintance, and the fuc-
ceffive concerns and events of the day make them,
forgotten by the morrow.
From the lineaments of the peterfburg manner of
living, thrown together in this chapter, it will natu
rally be inferred, that a careful domeftic education
of the children can only be perceived in a few?
families, who live more to themfelves than to the
world, more on the plan of a calm and filent ex
istence than devoted to the occupations and amuSe-
ments that abound in the refidence of a brilliant
imperial court. People here are by no means defi
cient in a tender concern for the welfare of their
children, or fparing in money for their education ;
yet it rarely happens that the parents take upon
them any clofe infpedtion into the management of
it, or that the mothers employ themfelves in the
firft phyfical education. The Style of living is in
direct opposition to fuch concerns. For admi
nistering to their fucklings the firft nutriment, the
mother muft give up her parties, and the natural
inconveniences attendant on nurfing cannot be
made to. comport with the neatnefs and elegance of.
the drawing-rooms. — As foon as the firft toilfome
period of life is over, the children are fent to a
boarding-fchool, where large fums are paid for
them ; and then it is imagined all is done. The
intervals at which they vifit the paternal houfe, are
rendered fo precious to them, by dissipations, pre
fents, amuSements, indulgences, and a miftaken
tenderneSs

Knowledge of the world. 547
tenderneSs, that it is with great reluctance they re
turn to their tutors. The boarding-Schools here
are cenSured for aiming leSs at making good houfe-
wives of the girls than at forming them into ladies
of faffiion. In fact this cenfure is well-founded 5
but who can blame the fchool-miftreffes for not
providing themfelves with a commodity that they
are fore would find no purchafers ? The defign of
cultivating at once both the mind and the exterior,
is uSually very well accomplifhed by this method
of education, as example and emulation here co
operate in an eminent degree.
The daughters on quitting the boarding-fchool,
and the fons, on coming home from the public
feminaries, find themfelves fuddenly in the theatre
of the great world. This quick transition and this
early appearance in a ftation where good principles
and experience are frequently ineffectual preserva
tives Srom errors and Sollies, if it be prejudicial to
the morals on one hand, on the other it accelerates
the maturity of the underftanding and conduces to
the practical knowledge of the world and of man
kind. Accordingly we here fee very young perfons
furniffied with all the neceffary talents for conver
fation, with the manners of perSons in high life, and
with that nice tadt for discriminating characters,
which generally in other places only falls to the
lot of perfons more advanced in age. Boys are
brought very early into bufinefs, whereby they
naturally acquire more of the routine of their
n n 2 future

54§ COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE.
future condudt, than they can bring with them
principles and knowledge for it. The defire of
making a fortune and attaining a diftinguiffied emi
nence, which in other countries is encumbered with
fuch innumerable difficulties, is here fo greatly en
couraged by a manifest possibility and daily ex
amples of fuccefs, as to induce parents to put their
children in a fuitable training before their entrance
into public life; and all perceive themfelves obliged
to follow this practice, in order to prevent, at leaft,
others from getting the Start of them. Girls on re
turning home from the board ing- fchool, exchange
their Strait lank hair for an elegant head-drefs, their
Simple apparel for the modifh attire, their former
fecluded ftate for the circles of the gay world, and
the dull employment of reading for the more de-
lightful occupation of adjufting triemSelves at the
toilette and making tea for the company. Prefently
a fwarm of admirers croud about them, if they
be either handfome or rich. All the arts of allure
ment and foppery are now put in pradlice to befiege
a young inexperienced heart ; but all their plans of
conqueft are generally fruftrated, unlefs they can
open the batteries of rank or money. Of all the re
proaches that might be levelled at the young folks,
nothing could be more cruel and unjuft than to
charge them with a difpofition to romantic attach
ments 'in love. Not one trace of that fenfibility
and Cordiality, that truth and fidelity, with which
the german Emilies and Anna Marias are devoted at

RESERVE AND INDIFFERENCY. 549
at about ten years of age to fome darling youth ;
no Sweet Sentimental conversations in the moon
light Shade, by means of the trufty confidant; and — ¦
heaven be praifed ! — no Werters are met with
here. All the anecdotes of a courtfhip for a whole
year taken together would Scarcely SumiSh matter
enough Sor a meagre novel oS one volume in duo
decimo ; but — So much the more voluminous are
the marriage anecdotes.
With all this turn for fociety, folid, lafting
friendships are rarely formed. People frequent
houfes for feveral years, where they are extremely
well received, without ever coming to the know
ledge of the family-relatives. Referve on one fide
and indifferency on theother are commonly carried
fo far, that a man may be an old acquaintance of
the family without knowing precifely the number '
of the children, or being informed of the exiftence
of fome abfent perfon nearly allied in blood. In
the ordinary circles the only topics of converfation
are matters of public notoriety : and perfons are
exhaufting their folicitude on common and fre
quently uninterefting occurrences, while theirjoys
and their -forrows are locked up in their breafts.
The fame referve that a man impofes on himfelf
is likewife obferved towards others. The leaft cu
riofity to find out Srom themfelves, the relatives
and the Situation of acquaintances would be indif-
creet and a tranSgreffion oS the laws of good breed
ing. Hence we may account for the extreme in-
hn 3 difference

5^0 STRONG FRIENDLY ATTACHMENTS.
difference and infenfibility, fo univerfally obferv-
able at the viciffitudes of fortune among friends
and acquaintance. Uninformed of the tiffue of
adverfe events in which they feem fuddenly en
tangled, their fate can excite only that kind of par
ticipation which arifes from general benevolence
or from the intereft that the perfon under misfor
tune can infpire as a man and a companion. Some
times even confanguinity affords no Sufficient claims
on a fuperior and active participation ; a cafe which,
however, far more rarely happens among the Ruf
fians than it is wont to do among foreigners. —
But, as extremes are every where met with in the
moral world, fo likewife are they here. Where
friendship bas once Struck root it frequently dis
plays itSelf in unufual exertions and Singularly
ftriking effects. The middle courfe is not, gene
rally (peaking, the track of mankind in this cli
mate ; heat and cold do not more contraft and fet
off each other, than the moft unbounded generofity
and the moft forbidding felfiffinefs.
We will now drop the curtain on thefe intereft
ing fcenes, and proceed to the laft object that re
mains to occupy our attention in the region of
manners. In order to form a competent idea of the man
ners of the great, it will be neceffary to recollect
the relation in which this clafs of people ftand to
wards the reft. Whoever Should compare the
State of a rich german nobleman with the fituation of

EXCEEDING GREAT REVENUES. 55I
of a ruffian great man would find a Similarity in two
circumftances extremely heterogeneous. Not only
the extraordinary wealth that is divided amongst
this clafs, but alfo the' dependance of a number,
greater or lefs, of perfons, whofe bodily and men
tal faculties are entirely at the difpofal of the pro
prietor, muft alfo be taken into the account, for
obtaining a proper Standard by which to meafure
the Sphere of adlion and the greatnefs of the means
for the fpirit of enterprise.
Of this clafs only fuch are called rich who can
launch out into expenfes beyond the customary
bounds of living here. -From the. foregoing ob
fervations we are acquainted with the requifitesof
the middle ftation; and it would be no difficult
matter, from thofe premifes, to gain forne idea of
the way of life among the higher ftations. A
land-owner who gets yearly of his boors twenty or
five-andtwenty thoufand rubles, cannot in his ex
penditure go greatly beyond the wealthy part of
the: trading clafs. An income twice as large only
places its poffeffor in eaSy circumftances, if he
lives in the refidence and goes to court ; nothing
ffiort of a revenue three or four times as large will
warrant him to be deemed rich : and here begins a
new Scale of.afcent, which can.be brought into
comparifon only with the demefne revenues of the
petty fovereigns of Europe.
Yet this property is only ope refource for the
expenditure of the great lord. Another very con-
N n 4 fiderable

_$z many livery-servants' kept.
flderable fupply arifes from the arbitrary profits
drawn from the boors. The livery fervants, that
prominent feature of the luxury that prevails here,
are univerfally taken from the vaffals ; and the
leaft advantage derived . from it is the faving of
the wages. This hoft of fervants, (fome families
keeping above two hundred of them*) would cer
tainly by their idlenefs become too burdeniome,
if there were no other way of rendering them ufe
ful. Therefore, according to their phyfical and
moral qualities, they are taught various kinds of
bulineffes and trades, proper for the fupply of the
demands of a great houfe. They are brought up
to be taylors, Shoe-makers, joiners, floor-cloth-
painters, cooks, gardeners, tinkers, plafterers,
SriSeurs, and the like; and, when any one of them
has attained to fome excellence in his way, he is
appointed^ tutor to his rude brethren. Some clever
fellows will readily turn their hands to more than
one occupation, and dexteroufly exert their talents
in feveral departments. Female fervants are, fur*-
niffied with directions in the finer works of the
needle, or are put out for a time to milleners, in
order to enable them afterwards to give leffons in
thofe arts to others. Great lords who are fond of
mufic, form a band of their own people, of whom
only the leader has any need of being a consider-
* In the houfe of count Stroganof are fix hundred of
them. The old count Razumoffky kept conftantly in town
' nine hundred and twenty.feven perfons in his fervice. able

extreme ductility of vassals. 553
able proficient in the fcience. The lord fometimes
fends fuch of his vaffals as diScover confiderable
acUteneSs and Sagacity into foreign countries, for
the purpofe of qualifying them for fome particular
ftation. I knew an inftance oS a ruffian boor being
Sent to a german univerfity, to ftudy natural phi
lofophy and astronomy, and at his return wrote a
book which he dedicated to his proprietor. The
nobleman likewiSe Settles mechanics and manufac-
turers on his eftates, under whofe directions the
boprs often produce manufactures that yield in no
refpedt to thofe executed abroad. That great aptif
t.ude at imitation fo confpicuous in the Ruffians, -
much facilitates this practice ; there being no me
chanical ability for which, the moft uncultivated
ruftic has not fome difpofitions, and the cudgel,
operating like a magic-wand, is fuch an excellent
means of developing thefe talents, that in an in
credibly Short time the clumfieft looby is made into
whatever you pleafe. — To all theSe advantages if
we add the profit on the country products which
the nobleman conveys to the refidence Sor his con-
Sumption, we Shall be able to form a concep
tion of the means whereby the ruffian nobles main
tain their ftate in many refpedls partaking of an
afiatic luxury.
Families of this clafs that are entirely fettled in
the refidence, commonly dwell in their own man
sions and palaces, fitted up in an exquifite tafte and
with princely magnificence ; and, when, they pafs a
portion

554 GRAND STYLE OF LIVING.
portion of their time at Mofco or on their eftates,
their houfes at thofe places, are as well and often
better furnilhed. The great concourfe of cele
brated artifts and expert workmen at St. Petersburg
enables the wealthy nobles to execute their fre
quently gigantic plans. In emulation of the engliSh
lords the ruffian fatraps travel over the polilhed
countries of Europe, every where collecting curi
ofities of art and nature to decorate their-family
feats. In confirmation of this we may refer to
fome of the foregoing chapters. Sometimes, how
ever, there is a remarkable contraft between the
grand ftyle of architecture in which the houfe is
built and the particular fantaftical ideas by which
it is disfigured, or - the greateft magnificence in
the interior eftabliffiment and a Striking neglect in
little ordinaryTnatters. ; This incoherence is appa
rent in almoft every branch of the manner of liv
ing, as we may have obferved already from the
feveral inftances adduced in other parts of our
work. Great perfonages who have a fancy for fine
horfes and keep a ftud worthy of a fovereign prince,
not unfrequently have wretched hacks harneffed to
their fumptuous carriages; huffars in rich and
fplendid dreffes are oSten mixed with footmen in
old dirty liveriest Only on gala days or Seftival
occafions is Seen that regularity and propriety
which is frequently more pleafingthan magnificence
itfelf, but which here, by general confent, is fo
extremely apt to be neglected. Concerning

EXPENSIVE TABLES. £55
Concerning the prevailing tafte in equipages,
fervants and drefs, all that is neceffary has been
occafionally already faid. The tables of the great
are ufually ferved by french cooks •, at times a na
tional difh appears, recommended by being well
dreffed, and in many houfes french, german and
ruffian cooks are kept, that the palate of every gueft
may be gratified. They are not in general very
ftridt obfervers of the fafts ; but where this happens
to be the cafe, it is cuftomary to have double
courfes, in order that the foreigners may not be
under any reftridlion in' their choice. The table
makes a very confiderable rubric among the ex-
penfes of the great. There are houSes in which
daily a hundred and more rubles are devoted to
this article alone, without reckoning the grofs pur-
chafe, the liquors and the defert. Delicacies from
far diftant countries are fometimes even procured
by couriers and meffengers fent ex prefs, and it has
happened that a fifh Soup alone has coft between
five and fix hundred rubles. In numbers of houfes
the table is <*very day and at all feafons of the year
fupplied with the moft coftly and exquifite fruits;
and there are grandees who confume annually about
twenty thoufand fathoms of fire-wood in their
forcing-houfes, and pay a thoufand rubles a year to
their gardener.
The fame hoSpitality by which the people of
fiddling ftation are fo peculiarly distinguished,
prevails likewife among the great and in a more
eminent

5_6 ANECDOTE OF AN OFFICER.
eminent degree. Whoever is once prefented in a
family and makes a decent appearance, may at any
, time go there to dinner, without being invited and
without tranfgreffing the rules of propriety. The
liberality of the great in this refpedt goes fo far,
that it is by no means an uncommon cafe for the
mafter of the houfe fcarcely to know fome one or
other of his guefts any farther than by name. The
old count Razumoffky faw daily a great number of
people at his table, moft of whom, having been
opce introduced to him, had free accefs ever after,
without his troubling himfelf any farther about
them. A foreign officer, applying for admiffion
into the ruffian fervice, appeared every day at the
count's table; and, being very poor, enabled him
felf by this means to live two whole years in Pe
terfburg. The count, who not only faw him at
his table, but likewife occafionally met him in his
library, finding him to be a man of great military
Skill and experience, took a liking to him, without
ever once alking him about his fituation and con-
nedtions, and to make a fpontaneous declaration
of them the officer could not fummon up fufficient
refolution. Suddenly the man was milled at the
table of the count; and, upon inquiry, it was found
that nobody, not even the fervants of the houfe,
knew either his name or his place of abode. The
count, who was unwilling to lofe fo good a com
panion, caufed diligent inquiries to be made about
the tpwn; at length the Stranger was found in the
fuburbs,

UNBOUNDED HOSPITALITY. t^tf
fuburbs, on the point of taking his departure.
Without farther explanation than that count Ra-
zumofSky wanted to fee him, he was condudted to
that nobleman's houfe ; where, inftead of the ca
tastrophe he anxioufly apprehended, he found, a
well-fpread table, at which he was defired to take
his feat at the count's right hand. An amicable
converfation folved the whole myftery; and, what
two years fpent in affiduous attendances were unable
to effedt, chance procured him at once, a Very con
fiderable poft in the army.
Concerning the noble liberality with which the
perfons of great diftindtion devote their feats and
villas to the entertainment of the public fo much
has been already mentioned and fo many examples
quoted, in fome of the former chapters, that it
feems needlefs to add any thing here upon it. Cer
tainly this popular expenfe is not carried farther in
any other country.
With the fame affability with which perfons of
the higheft ftations are accuftomed to receive every
body at their houfes, they likewife accept invita
tions from inferiors. It is very common to fee
minifters and generals of the firft rank at dinner
with their fubordinates, with merchants and
burghers. The quality, who understand the pri
vileges pf their ftation here as well as anywhere,
and how to affert them, never think they lofe any
thing by this popularity ; their dignity is no Suf
ferer by it, and nobody prefurhes upon it to neglect the

55$ GREAT MIXTURE OF RANKS.
the deference that is their due; but the great gulf
which in Germany divides the higher ranks from
the lower, is here filled up by manners and cuftoms.
Not only in the houfes of particular private per
fons, but even in the places of public entertain-*
ment appropriated to the middling fort of people,
nobles of all claffes are Seen diSperSed among them ;
where, as formerly in Paris, they not only appear
as fpedtators, but even take part and Shew their
attention to the company by numberleSs acts of
officious kindnefs.
By education and travel acquainted with Soreign
languages and manners, Sew traces of attachment
to old national cuftoms, are perceptible among ,
the great. The ftyle that prevails in moft houSes
is the Same with that generally Seen in the reft of
Europe, which the higher claffes have adopted to
fuch an extent, and practice with fuch elegance and
grace, that thefe circles, next to thofe formerly of
Verfailles, may be pronounced the very beft fchool
for a man of the world.

C FI A P.

( 559 )

CHAP. XIII.

CHARACTERISTIC LINEAMENTS.
Great mixture of nations, manners and languages. Striking
effeB produced by it : the defect ofaftrongly prominent gene
ral turn of mind. — Peterfburg, german and englifh. Signal
inftance of german honefiy, exhibited by a woman of that
country. French. Englifh. People of other countries.
Orientals. Aflatics. — General chara&eriftics. Religious,
political andfocial toleration. Deference fliewn to rank and
Jlation. Good humour and jollity. Avidity for money and
rank. Liberality. Levity, lnconfifiency.
W HAT the reader has to expedt under this
concluding head is feen from the above fummary
of contents. A characteristic pidture not regularly
compofed — for, if that were yet wanting, the
whole defign of the book would have failed, and
both the author and the reader would have loft
their' time, the former in writing and the latter in
reading it — but particular lineaments, a little
fupplement of obfervations, which in general could
have no proper place allotted them in the body of
the work.
In delineating the way of life and manners we
divided the people into ftations, as forming the
ground-plot by which thofe objects are modified ;
here

560 FOREIGNERS AT PETERSBURG.
here it is the pedigree which occafions the
difference and the peculiarities that appear in
the general character of fo very mixed a mafs of
people. The foreigners living in St. Peterfburg compofe
about a Seventh part of the whole population. It
is very poffible that the fame proportion may like
wiSe hold good in other capitals, but Surely it is
nowhere So ftriking as here. This is partly be
caufe by Sar the greater portion of the foreigners
belong to the politer claffes, and therefore in
them are very confpicuous ; partly too becaufe
nowhere are fo many languages in ufe, and becaufe
the foreigners fpeak their own among themSelves
and with the Ruffians. The Soreigners Settled at
London, Paris, Rome, &c. being only of the
lower orders of people, abfolutely cannot fubfift
without knowing the language of the country,
and accommodating themfelves to the prevailing
manners and cuftoms. Hence it arifes, that their
number, even where it is very great, is not only
not ftriking, but remains entirely unobferved.
Here the cafe is exadtly the reverfe. A German,
for example, who arrives here as a foreigner, can
live at a german hotel, fupply himfelf with ne
ceffaries from german tradefmen, hire german fer
vants, read german newfpapers and other periodi
cal publications, frequent german churches, fend
his children to german fchools, contract german
acquaintances of all ranks and conditions up to
the

WANT OF NATIONAL CHARACTER. 561
the very throne, and partake in all the enjoyments
of fociety, without underftanding the language of
the country. He may all his life long carry on
bufinefs or exercife his profefiion, keep houfe, nay,
even hold public offices and be employed in the
weighty affairs of government, without fpeaking
any other than his mother tongue. All this is fo
unexampled that it forms a peculiar feature in the
general charadteriftic ot Peterfburg.
The firft ftriking effect of it is the want of a
STRONG PROMINENT GENERAL WAY OF THINKING.
The national charadter^of the Ruffians, as by far
the moft numerous part of the community, cer
tainly has the preponderance ; but by their mix
ture with foreigners, whom they imitate and by
whom their children are frequently educated, are
not fo much Ruffians as to render their peculiar
way of thinking prominent. The other natibns,
efpecially the Germans and. French, have indeed
likewife fome influence on the general mode of
thinking and acting ; but the trivial effects of it
are loft among the great mafs of principles and
opinions in continual collifion together. — Thus,
therefore, the German, the Frenchman, the Eng
lishman, though adopting more or lefs of the
Ruffian, ftill remains at bottom a German, a
Frenchman, an Englishman — and the Ruffian,
though fluctuating between the peculiar characters
of his foreign fellow-citizens, retains always fo
much of the Ruffian as not to be miftaken, not-
o o withstanding

5&.Z CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES."
withstanding that he has loft very much of hi*
individuality. But, in fpite of this difference and
distinction in the mode of thinking, there are yet
certain marked features in it, which by their uni-
verfaiity are charadteriftic and afcertain the public
mind. Ere I prefume to defcribe it, I muft pre
viously attempt to ftate the variations whereby the
national character of each people glides into the
local definitions.
'Nothing is, more vagUe and indeterminate than
the notion entertained in almoft all countries con
cerning the peculiar moral character of the Ruf
fians. Even the generality of modern obfervers,
who have fet out upon pfychological difcoveries
among this people, having from their ignorance
pf the language been forced to rely on the un
authentic and extravagant relations of former tra
vellers, have brought again into circulation, with
the Stamp of additional credibility, a heap of crude
and ridiculous accounts. This important and
decifive remark has efcaped almoft all of them,
that the national charadter, in by far the major
part of the feveral claffes, has been in a ftate of
fermentation ever fince the regenerating reign of
Peter the great, fo as to render any general judg
ment for the prefent moment impoffible, but
extremely interefting to the philofophical obServer,
from its highly promifing confequences. No
where is this fermentation more apparent than
in the refidence, where it is promoted by the great
mixture

bE^BIANS OF ALL CLASSES. 565
mtxture of all nations and the operative guidance
from the throne downwards. To quote examples
in illustration of this fact is not allowed by the plan
of the prefent delineation, our bufinefs here being
not So much with the Ruffians at large as with
the inhabitants of St. Peterfburg alone ; and what
particularly charadterifes them will be more ex-
prefsly the fubjedt of what remains for us to treat of.
Among the foreigners, the Germans are the
moft obfervable, not lefs from their great numbers,
which would do honour to the population of a
confiderable town, than by the connedlion irt which
they live with the Ruffians, and the influence they
have upon them. Here are Germans of all claffes,
and . in each oS them, the mercantile excepted,
they Sar exceed the other Soreigners. As they
are more attached to the nation than the latter,
and acquire the language Srequently in great per
fection, they, of all the eftablifhed foreign in
habitants, have the greateft pretenfions to civil
offices and military ftations. In fact, there is
fcarcely a fingle department of importance in
which there are not Germans filling fome very con
siderable and honourable polls-: a proof of" their
utility, which is the lefs ambiguous, as they have
likewife here the ill-hap, which purfues the Ger
mans through almost all the european countries —
that of not enjoying any national refpedt. Whe
ther it be from the want of a fplendid outfide, or
from a trifling propenfity to formality and pedantry,
002 or

564 GERMANS NOT DUELY ESTIMATED.
or from any other caufe, it is fingular enough,
that the German, in fpite of his acknowledged
good qualities, is, in all parts of Europe, in Paris
as well as in London, in Rome as well as in Pe
terfburg, not only as a German held in no par
ticular reSpedt, uhleSs he has been able to extort
it by perSonal consideration and merit, but even
is an object oS flight ridicule to the great body
of the public. This, naturally with Some ex
ceptions, is alfo the cafe here; and the ruffian
term Niemetz perfectly correfponds to the englifh
appellative German and the french Allemand.
The principal caufes of this phjenomenon, fo-
offenfive to our national honour feem here to be
the following. But few of the Germans that cpme
hither are in fuch circumftances as either not to need
an addrefs to the purfes of the public in fome ufual
or unufual way, or immediately to make applica
tion for being engaged as a tutor, a trade, which
on a variety of accounts is. here looked upon with
particular difdain. The newfpapers are filled with
the advertisements of Such people as are here
upon their good behaviour, or perhaps have been
driven to Peterfburg by misSortunes of various
kinds, as the laft harbour of adventurers. There
are often found among them perfons of talents
and cultivation, and they fcarcely ever fail by af-
fiduity oS getting into a comSortable fituation ;
but, as the daily new-comers revive the Sorgotten
image oS their former condition, and the refidence being

LITTLE ATTACHED TO THEIR COUNTRY. 565
being almoft the only channel of communication
by which thefe foreign fettlers overflow all Ruffia,
it is natural that the Germans Should here be
held in lefs account than in any other parts of
the empire.
I pafs over feveral other caufes in order juft to
touch upon the laft and moft efficient, the want
OF SELF-CONSEQJ/ENCE AND NATIONAL PRIDE.
Of thefe two qualities, by which all, even the
wretchedeft tribes on the face of the earth, are
diftinguiffied, the Germans alone feem totally
deftitute. No other people assimilate fo readily
and eafily with foreign manners, no other people
fo foon forget their native country as the Ger
mans. The Englishman lives at Naples, LiSbon,
and Petersburg, as an Englishman ; he considers
his temporary Sojourn, even though it were a
paradiSe, only as a place of exile, and profits by
the fmiles of fortune there to enable him to return
with the firft opportunity to his beloved country.
The Germans, in foreign parts, particularly if
they meet with fuccefs, in a few years forget even
the recollection of their natal foil, whatever their
poets may Sing and fay. I have known perfons
who had come hither from the fined and happieft
districts of Germany at the age of difcretion, and
have heard me fpeak with rapture of the advan
tages of their country, without once expreffing a
defire to return to it. Several Substantial and in
dependent Germans, whom I interrogated on the
003 Subject^

566 MANNERS OF FOREIGNERS.
Subject, gave me to underftand, with the cpldefl
inSenfibility, that they Selt perfectly at their eafe
wherever — roaft-meat and punch were to be had.
But with extremely few of them can this fenti
ment fpring from gratitude towards the country
to which they are indebted for their affluence.; as.
fuch remarkably fine feelings fall not to the portion
of the great bulk of mankind.
There being no predominant feature at St. Pe
tersburg, pp national furn of mind, the Germans
are naturally here far lefs Ruffians, than they are
Frenchmen at Paris or Englishmen at London ;
yet they assimilate with the Ruffians more than
any other foreigners refiding here. The german
lady oS Saffiion talks rufs preferably to german ;
there are Germans who are afhamed of that appel
lation, as dreading to be reckoned among a people
againft whom a prejudice obtains.
The foreign inhabitants from each country form
into a narrow circle of their own; So likewiSe do
the Germans. But each of thefe colonies has at the
fame time a common intereft, more or leSs ftrong;
this the Germans have npt. Inftead of this public
fpirir, you only See among them that concern and
inquiry about ihe affairs and events of their Sellow
citizens So common in country towns, and confined
Solely to the gratification of an idle curiofity.
What was obferved in the preceding chapter on
the fubjedt of Social toleration, admits of' very
Striking exceptiops among the Germans. No
where

VIRTUES OF THE GERMANS. 567
where is the German more Strictly watched and
more feverely judged than among, the Germans.
Inftead of being all for one -and one for all, as is
the cafe with Some of the colonies here, the Ger
mans are too apt to fall foul of one another.
- Is it extremely natural now that they Should not
enjoy on the whole, under thefe circumftances, that
efteem and refpedt, which their various good
qualities and the perfonal merit of So many eftima-
ble perfons among them ought otherwife to en-
fure ? — It Seems to be the unhappy lot of the Ger
mans, that their national failings and infirmities
ffiould be ever prominent, and their good and ex
cellent qualities kept continually in the Shade !
Yet even theSe will not unfrequently here force
themfelves forward in a pleafing light, and I am
extremely happy in being able to record' this ob
fervation. The great national virtues of the Gerr
mans, diligence and honefty, are difplayed by thofe
of that country at St. Petersburg, in a very honour
able manner. There is no bufinefs oS So toilfome a
nature, in which the, Germans here have not per
formed Something; in moft of the trades, fciences
and arts, they have been and ftill are in a great de
gree the teachers of the Ruffians. — Their honefty
indeed being here fo often led into temptation by
example and intereft, it is np great wonder if it
fometimes yield ; neverthelefs the reputation for
this old german virtue is not quite extinct among
us, and even inftances are not yet rare by which
004 they

568 AN INTERESTING ANECDOTE.
they confirm this reputation in a very Signal man
ner. The following anecdote literally true even in
its minuteft circumftances, is in .this as well as in
feveral other refpedls, fo charadteriftic, that I can
by no means confider it as a deviation from my
plan, if I allow it to occupy a- page or two in this
place. In the little town of Oranienbaum lives a wo
man, bordering on ninety, by name Chrifto-
phorevna, a native of Holftein. A little cottagers
her fole poffeffion, and the vifits of a few Ship
masters coming over from Cronftadt to go to
Petersburg by land, when the wind does not ferve
for failing up, her only livelihood.
Several dutch Skippers having one evening
fupped at her houfe, on their departure She found
a fealed bag of money under the table. Her fur*
prife at this unexpected difcovery was naturally
very great; fome one of the company juft gone
muft certainly have forgotten it : but they were
failed over to Cronftadt and perhaps at fea, the
wind being fair, and therefore no hope of the
guefts returning. The good woman put up the
bag in her cupboard to keep it till called for.
However, nobody called for it. Full seven
YEAas did fhe carefully keep this depofit, often
tempted by opportunities, ftill oftener preifed by
want to employ this gift of chance. Her honefty,
however, overcame every allurement of oppor
tunity and every command of want. Seven years had

REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF HONESTY. tfi^
had elapfed when fome Shipmafters again Stopped
at her houfe, to take what refreshment they could
find. Three of them were Englishmen, the fourth
a Dutchman. Converfing of various matters, one
of the former aSked the Dutchman whether he had,
ever before been at Oranienbaum. — " Yes, fore
I have," returned he, " I know the curfed place
but too well : my being here once coft me feven
hundred rubles." — " How fo?" — Why, in one
thefe wretched hovels here I once got rather tipfy
and left behind me a bag of rubles." — " Was the
bag fealed ?" afked old Chriftophorevna, who was
fitting in" one corner of the room, and had been
rouzed to attention by what She had heard. —
" Yes, yes, it was fealed, and with this very feal
here at my watch-chain." — The woman looked at
the feal and knew it directly. — ,e Well then,"
faid fhe, " by that you may be able to recover
what you loft." — " Recover is, mother! no; I
am rather too old to expect that. The world is
not quite fo honeft as that comes to. Befides, con
fider it is now feven years fince. — I wiffi I had not
mentioned it ; it always makes me melancholy.
Let us have no more of it. Give me another tum
bler of punch, mother."
While the four gentlemen were engaged in
drowning the remembrance of the doleful accident
in punch, the good woman had flipt out, and was
now waddling in with her bag. — " See here, per
haps you may be convinced that honefty is not fo
rare

57O DUTCH GENEROSITY.
rare as you^ imagined," faid She, putting the bag
upon the table.
The guefts were dumb' with aftoiiifliment; and,
on recollecting themfelves, the reader may reprefenc
to -himfelf their feveral expreffions of commenda
tion and gratitude. The four captains were all
rather Stricken in years, and had navigated the
Seas Srom Japan to NewSoundland and Srom the
cape of Good Hope to Archangel; had had
dealings with black and brown faces, with woolly-
haired and powdered heads — therefore that their
amazement was fo great, is certainly no panegyric
on our times.
Never were Such Strong emotions excited in any
human mind, as in that of the Dutchman. From
the firmest perfuafion of his lofs to the completefl
certainty of its recovery— - the transition was too
Sudden and too great not to fet every fibre of his
phlegmatic body in vibration. One look at the
honest woman to whom he was indebted for this
tranfport of joy, brought him to himfelf. A fud-
den impulfe of magnanimity overpowered him, to
which 'all other fenfations reverently gave way. He
Seized the bag, tore open the Seal, took — one
ruble out, and laid it on the table, with a civil
thankfgiving for the trouble his hofteSs had had.
If the aftonifhment of the other three was great
before, it was now effaced by a greater. They
Stood looking at one another Sor a minute, as filent
as the grave.
ft Dammee,'1

WARM ALTERCATION. _>]!
ff Dammee," at laft exclaimed one of the
Englishmen, ftriking his Sift upon the table ; " that
bag there, my lad, you Shall not carry off So. Devil
fetch me, but the old woman Shall have it!" —
His two countrymen, who had been mute till now,
added their hearty concurrence to his propoSal.
The Dutchman turned pale, but endeavoured to
conSole himSelf by the reiterated proteftations of
Chtiftophorevna that flie required nothing at all,
that She thought She had done no more than her
duty, and infifted that the Dutchman Should even
take back his ruble. However the Britons could
not fo eafily be brought to ftrike fail. The con
verfation grew warm ; the oaths followed rapidly
on each other, and the Sifts of the Englishmen
were doubling fpontaneoufly, and attitudes forming
for putting an end to the difpute via fadti : during
all which the Dutchman was striving to get the
corpus delidli into his cuftody.
After long debate, conducted with various de
grees of heat, perceiving no poffibility of fuccefs
againft. the Sturdy arguments likely to be advanced,
the Skipper agreed to part with fifty rubles. The
Englishmen infifted on a hundred. This propofal
Seemed to the Dutchman So unreafonable, that he
declared he would fooner encounter the whole
weight of their fifts than comply with it.
" A vaft my lads!" cried the captain who had
made the firft attack upon the Dutch nan's gene
rofity. *' I have fomewhat to fay. The bag does not

572 BRITISH GENEROSITY.
not belong to us. That is true; but a Briton will
never ftand by and not fee juftice done : and by hea
ven the woman here has acted nobly and ought
to be rewarded. Give me hold of the bag. I will
count out the hundred rubles."
No fooner faid than done. The Dutchman,
thunderstruck at this fummary way of proceeding,
had not time to recover himfelf before the hundred
rubles were fairly counted upon the table.
This brought on a truce. Where humanity,
gratitude, generofity and englifh Sifts had made
the attack in vain, there conquered — national
pride. The Dutchman infifted upon it, that the
Britons Should let him treat them ; and in per
fect Stoical refignation parted with a hundred of
his beloved, long-lamented and lately recovered
rubles. Next to the Germans the french are the moft
numerous body of foreigners. The language, the
manners, the faffiions, the literature and the drama
of that country are generally liked, imitated and
admired : though the nation itfelf has but a very
moderate Share in that efteem ; and it is pretended
that even that has been lately diminished. Few
Frenchmen live here in the fuperior ftations, as
flate-officers, in the military or as merchants. The
majority of them confifts in adventurers of every
fpecies, many of whom have not tried their Skill for
the firft time on this ftage. Valets de chambres,
frifeurs, cook-Shop-keepers, haberdaffiers, milliners, and,

FRENCHMEN NUMEROUS. 573
and, if none of thefe trades will Succeed — • domeftic
tutors and Schoolmasters. Extremely Sew oS Such
as come hither are perSons of education, fraught
with ufeful and literary knowledge and a fettled
character. Taught by various experiments the
ruffian nobles are become more cautious in the
choice of people to whom they commit the educa
tion of their children; and, for fome time paft,
they have Shewn a decided preference for Swifs and
Germans. Where he is defedtive,however, in real utility, the
Frenchmen of this clafs makes up for in agreeable
talents of various kinds, which not unfrequently
are the means of making his fortune. Being 63
happy as to fpeak a language understood all over
Europe, and here held in particular eftimation,
which, if he fpeak it well, is already imputed to
him as a merit, he has one great difficulty lefs and
one great advantage more than any other fo
reigner. The talent of insinuation, fo peculiar to
that nation, a certain inftantaneous fentiment of
propriety, in conjunction with a fufficient dofe of
affurance, put the Frenchman in capacity to exe
cute projects at the boldnefs whereof the 'heavy,
cold German is furprifed and intimidated. One
example out of a hundred, may Suffice.
A Frenchman once announced himSelf to a
ruffian nobleman, defirous of the honour of a few
words with him. He is admitted : the ftranget
humbly requeits his patronage, and enforces his
petition

5*4 ENGLISH IN ST. PETERSBURG.
petition with fo many arts of perfuafion that art
intereft is excited in his behalf. To the queftion^
in what defign he is come hither, he replies : Pour
eclairer la Ruffie. The great man, incenSed at this
infolence, is on the point oS Shewing the Frenchman
the door, when the latter, in an air and manner thai;
Secure him a happy conSequence to his conceit, de
clares that he is by trade — a tallow-chandler.
The English Stationary in St. Peterfburg are
moftly merchants, acquire and expend a great deal
oS money, live like their countrymen at home ; and
oS all the foreigners, enjoy the moft consideration
and refpedt.
They learn the language of the country, their
bufinefs rendering it neceffary to them, and accom
modate themfelves to the cuftoms of the place as
far as they are compatible with their native^ man
ners. Their national confequence, which they
juftly value'themfelves upon at home on their own
ifland, never SorSakes them abroad, and likewiSe, raiSes
them here, not only in their own opinion, but in that
of all mankind, above either Ruffians or foreigners.
In the houfes of the Britons fettled here a com-'
petent idea may be formed of the englifh manner
of living. Furniture, meals, establishment ; every
thing is englifh — even to the chimney-fire, Flere
where wood is in fuch plenty, the Englishman
fetches his coals from home.
For many years here has been an englifh fub-
fcription ball, to which none*are admitted except Such

PUBLIC SPIRIT OF THE ENGLISH. 575
fuch as belong to the Britiffi nation.^ The Germans
fay their ball is too tolerant to return like for like.
The Galeerenhof, one of the fineft diftridts of
the city, was formerly almoft entirely occupied by
the Englifh, and it was therefore commonly called
the Englifh Line. At the fame time that thefe noble
manfions are fuitable to the honour in which their
inhabitants were held, their Situation on the quay
oS the Neva, renders the Situation oS the Englifh here
the moft enviable of any capital in Europe. They
have fince been fupplanted by the principal ruffian
noblemen, and fome german merchants have got in.
The Englifh in all public transactions act by one
common Spirit, very much to their honour. IS it
be poffible at, any time to Save the credit oS a mer
cantile houSe it is done. Some years ago the
wooden houSe oS an Englishman in moderate cir
cumftances, was accidentally burnt down : the day
following he received a prefent of feveral thoufand
rubles raifed among his countrymen by voluntary
contribution. What fums they lately raifed for the
relief of their countrymen the failors and com
manders fent up the country by the order of the
emperor Paul, is frefh in every one's memory.
Among the reft of the foreign inhabitants thofe
of no particular nation are distinguishable, by their
numbers or their peculiarities from the others.
The dutch are almoft all either merchants or
gardeners, live retiredly and affociate pretty well
with the Germans.
The

576 SWEDES INDUSTRIOUS TRADESMEN.
The few poles, Danes, Spaniards, portu-
gueze and Italians that are fettled here are no^
very remarkable from among the great multitude,
and are partly regarded in no other light than as
periodical inhabitants. The swedes are more
numerous ; they carry on trades and manufactures,
are industrious and diligent : and are in various
ways of great benefit to the country.
The man of obfervation feels an intereft even in
the orientals who are met with here from time
to time, as affording him an opportunity for be
coming better acquainted with their peculiarities.
During the laft war turkilh prifoners of both fexes
were frequently feen : thefe perfons, who, by the
fortune of war, were brought from the Southern
most provinces of Europe and from the volup
tuous climate of Afia to the Sixteenth degree of
north latitude, here uniformly met with a treat
ment that does honour to the humanity and the
intellectual improvement of our times. They
lived in peace and comfort among their generous
conquerors, learnt fo much of the country-lan
guage as was fufficient for making themSelves un
derstood, and were allowed to take part in all pub
lic entertainments. The principal of them had
attendants appointed them for providing them with
what they wanted, for helping them out of any
difficulties they might chance to fall into, and for
making them acquainted with whatever was worthy
of notice in the city. They were particularly pleafed

PHYSIOGNOMICAL REMARKS. 577
pleafed with the military exercifes in the corps de
cadets, which excited their wonder and admiration
in an eminent degree. The young uneducated
Turks who were brought hither were for the
moft part taken into noble families where their
education was attended to with uncommon libe
rality. Laftly, among the interefting objedts of this
nature muft be reckbned likewife the various in
habitants of this earth with tawney, brown and
copper-coloured faces, with flat and broad nofes,
with and without pig's eyes, with thick and thin
beards, &c. here almoft always to be feen. — -
However fingular the form in which the uncon-
trouled hand of nature has call her materials, the
humane fpedlator acknowledges the beings of his
fpecies, even under thefe extraordinary Shapes
and complections. The frank and open temper
of the Kalmuks, the fidelity and attachment of
the Tartars — are mirrors reflecting himfelf.
With eafe and alacrity he accofts the creature
to whom he is connected by a ftronjg though
invisible tye, and attempts to draw forth the
Sparks of fentiment that lie dormant in the breaft
of his unpoliffied kinfman.
Where Nature has fown there alfo does She
reap. Is the Suture civilization of thefe people ,
ftill a problem to you ? Then you have no con
ception of the great harmonious plan of maternal
p f Nature,

57^ general: toleration.
Nature, to whom no particle of the animated cre
ation is indifferent.

FJaving attempted to point out the individual
marks that arife from the various extradtions of
this miscellaneous population ; I will now venture
to delineate the moft prominent characteristics
which this motly maSs of people have in common
as petersbur'ghe-rs.
The moft appropriate and general charadteriftic
is toleration; a virtue which in Some Senfe has
long (truck root in the nation, but here, by the
Confluence oS So many perfons of diverfe ways of
thinking, of different fyftems of faith, of hetero
geneous manners, cuftoms, opinions and p>eju-
dices — has acquired fo univerfal and extenfive a
prevalence, that certainly it would be a difficult
matter to find a fpot of earth where people live
more quietly and agreeably, in this refpedt, than
in St Pfeterfburg. It is eafily Seen that I here uSe
the word toleration, not in that narrow Sen Se to
which it is uSually restricted in Speaking oS a
forced and commanded Sorbearance, or of the ex
iftence of the weaker fedt permitted by law. The
idea here connected with the term, comprehends
a voluntary indulgence affimilated with the whole
way of thinking and acting, uniformly fliewn in
all matters and towards every one who thinks and
ads

RELIGIOUS TOLERATION. 579
acts differently. It therefore comprifes not only
religious but likewife civil and Social toleration ;
and it is remarkable, not as the character of the
fyftem of government, but as the character of the
public at large.
That religious toleration prevails through
out the country, is evident from hence, that the
great and extenfive liberties enjoyed by the tole
rated Sects of religion under the protedtion of the
fovereign, never raifed the flighteft diffatisfaction
nor jealoufy either in the vulgar or in the higher
ftations, or even among the clergy. Prelates of the
greek church live in friendly intercourfe with the
religious teachers of foreign communions, and in
vite them to their tables on fefiivals : ruffian eccle-
fiaftics attend the worffiip of the prpteftants, pro-
fecute their ftudies in Holland, England and Ger
many, and there occasionally frequent theological
lectures. It has even happened that a refpedtable
ruffian divine placed his daughter for her edu
cation with a lutheran preacher. — Among the
¦laity of the greek fedt of rebgibn this compati
bility, as may naturally be fuppofed, is carried
ftill Sarther. They appear, not only as invited
witneffes on Solemn occafions, but Srequently enter
the churches oS foreigners, readily contribute to
the fupport of their churches and fchools, give
their children to be educated by foreigners, and
intermarry with them without fcruple, whatever
their religious opinions may be. In focial inter-
fFa courfe

580 RELIGIOUS TOLERATION,
courfe there is absolutely notrace of ¦ a religious
party-fpirit to be feen. Converfations about mat-
ters of religion are extremely feldom heard ; and
debates on thofe fubjedts never.
The amiable example of this toleration would
turn extremely to the difgrace of the foreigners if
they neglected to follow it. But among them like-
wife a mutual forbearance and indulgence prevails,
fuch as is rarely to be feen even in the moft po-
lifhed countries., Eeclefiaftics of all religions live
together in the moft perfect" harmony, and partly
in frequent intereourfe. Some years fince the pro-
teftant divines were wont to hold weekly meetings
for the purpofe of communing on religious topics
and the duties, of their office, and to confirm their
concord by familiar converfe. Thefe laudable cir
cles were even occasionally vifited by the catholic
and ruffian clergy. Not long ago, the place of
preacher to the german reformed congregation
being vacant, Mr. Buffe, the librarian at the aca
demy of fciences, who is a lutheran and not in
holy orders, for a long time delivered pulpit-dif-
courfes in that church. Lutheran minifters have
often administered the communion to the reformed,
and reformed minifters delivered funeraj Sermons
in the lutheran churches. An inftance has hap
pened of a lutheran preacher being fponfor at a
catholic baptifm ; nor was there any impropriety
in it, as the catholic prieft omitted the queftions
to which the other, according to the doctrinal for
mulary

POLITICAL TOLERATION. 581
mulary of his church, could not have anfwered iii
the affirmative. — Foreigners of all religious fedts
intermarry with each other and with Ruflians
without exciting the fmalleft animadverfion. On
account of his religious fentiments, let them be as
Singular as they may, no one has any danger or
difadvantage to apprehend, much lefs of being
perfecuted or Shunned, if he do not endeavour to
inculcate them on others, or in any unfeemly
manner to make them of confequence. It is cer
tain that a very great proportion of the foreigners
fettled here live entirely without any ecclefiaftical
connection, yet no one ever thinks of fetting him
felf up for an inquisitor into the faith of thefe in
dependents, or troubles himfelf about them. In
very few places are heard fuch free remarks on the
objects and forms of religion, and nowhere do bold
maxims and affertions excite leSs fenfation than
here. Not leSs general nor lefs extenfive is the politi
cal toleration, which no where in Europe has
its equal. It is notorious that foreigners oS what
soever nation and of whatever Syftem of faith, are
promoted in Ruffia, without discrimination, to all
dignities and offices, even to the foremoft and
moft important; that the feveral channels of in
dustry and profit are open to them as completely
as to the natives. Thefe matters of fact are proofs
not only in behalf of the tolerant fyftem of govern
ment ; for without a confentaneous temper in the
p p 3 public

58a LIBERAL SENTIMENTS.
public and eSpecially in the, nobles, it muft in
general be , fubjedt to many restrictions. In no
country, poffeffing fo confiderable a portion of na
tional pride, is the jealoufy towards foreigners lefs
than in Ruffia, and in no place throughout the
empire are the traces of it fainter than at St. Pe
tersburg. Numerous examples might here be
quoted of ruffian nobles taking foreigners under
their patronage, fetting them forward in a fuitable
courfe, and generoufly accompanying them~init
for the whole of their lives. I have known feveral
inftances of foreigners being taken into families of.
opulent and refpedtable perfons, living in their
houfes as members of them all their life -time, and
receiving fuch. liberal prefents from them, that at
the death of their benefactor they have been inde
pendent ever after. It is extremely common for
foreigners, fometimes. even without any great pre- .
tenfions, to connedt themfelves by marriage with
rich eminent ruffian families. In the colleges and
departments where Ruffians and foreigners have
equally appointments, there is feldom any trace of
partiality or jealoufy vifible ; the latter enjoying
generally equal privileges with the former ; and if
it fhould by chance happen that an exception is
made in favouring one party or the other, no in
jurious complaints are heard about it. Agreeable .
as it is to the Ruffians- to hear a foreigner fpeak
their language, no lefs complaifant are they to one
who does not understand it, not lefs officious to
help

SOCIAL TOLERATION. 583
help him out, and to make themfelves intelligible
to him, even in cafes where their own intereft or
the duty of the Stranger might justify a feverer
demand. The social toleration has been fufficiently
characterized in the foregoing chapter for enabling
us to form fome notion of its extent. The fame
great mixture of perfons which prevents the public
here from having any marked or peculiar temper,
is likewife the beneficial caufe of our having no
general rule, no model, as it were, for, our moral
demeanour. Every one is at liberty to appear ex
adtly as he is ; very eccentric perfons indeed excite
fome obfervation : of thefe, however, but few ap
pear, and people are foon accuftomed to them.
Whoever is not exactly of this clafs, may reft af-
fured that nobody will give himfelf any concern
about his peculiarities. Faffiion is by no means
that auftere tyrant to whofe fcepter all muft bow,
in order to efcape the laffiof ridicule ; nothing be
ing more indifferent than the Qu'en dira-t on,
which formerly reduced all mankind, to one call at
Paris. It may perhaps, at firft fight, feem rather ex
traordinary, how this focial toleration can comport
with that reverence for rank and ftation which
forms fo Striking a feature in the Peterfburghers.
It certainly excites a ftrange fenSation at being
obliged to accuSea people. So reasonable and tole-
p p 4 rant

584 GENERAL INCONSISTENCY.
rant in manyrefpedts,of the harSheft intolerance in
this particular y, however, this moral contradiction
may very well be explained from the inconsistency-
fo ufual among mankind in general. There is
doubtlefs no capital in Europe where high birth
and noble defcent is lefs considered. I have now
lived fix years in Peterfburg, frequenting various
and mixed circles, but never yet have I once
heard any fuch questions as thefe : " Is the gen*
" tleman of a good family ? Is he a perfon of
*' good quality ? Who was his father? What
" was he previous to his obtaining this poft ?." —
No where has perfonal — real or affumed — merit
a greater claim to refpedt ; no where is it more
difficult to Shine by the talents and virtues of one's
ancestors, than here. Yet this very public that is
So diftinguiffied Sor its enlightened and liberal way
of thinking — is the Slave of another prejudice,
the trammels whereof it would be fo much eafier
to Shake off! To criminate the Peterfburgers,
would be to call human nature to account. Man
kind act and think generally in conformity with
certain designs, though they are not always con-
fciOus of it. We frequently fee the effedt without
the caufe, when perhaps it lies rather deeper than
ordinary, and then we call it a contradiction only
becaufe we fail of feeing the concatenation. If it
were poffible to furvey all the leading clues of
phenomena in the moral world and to detect their
hidden

AGREEABLE MANNERS. 585
hidden combinations we Should on Various occa
sions perceive a greater confiftency in the actions
of mankind.
Without bringing then an exceffive charge of
inconsistency againft the Petropolitan?, or citing
them for it to the tribunal of philofophy, the en
lightened and reafonable obServer will eafily over
look theSe lhades in an otherwife So lively and ami
able a pidture. InSadt, if the failings of mankind
were generally overbalanced by fuch engaging
qualities, we might hope to convert even the
gloomieft mifanthropes and the moft Splenetic fa-
tsrifts. Who indeed could find in his heart to be
Surly at a claSs of people with whom good humour
and jollity are prevailing characteristics, Softening
every colour laid on by paffion and humour in the
motly pidture of their manners? It is thefe two
qualities that render a Sojourn in the refidence fp
agreeable to ftrangers, and reconcile every inha
bitant, who may occafionally feel nettled at cer
tain peculiarities and follies, with his fellow-citi
zens. Certainly nothing can be more pleafing
than the way in which the Peterfburghers display
their complaifance. Alike diftant from the dry
folidity of the Englifhman and the empty pro-
feffions of the former Frenchman, they underftand
and perform the duties of focial life, without
conceiving that in fo doing there is any thing me
ritorious. Travellers rarely find any where a greater
readinefs to inform them of the curiofities and to
make

586 "- REMARKABLE CONTRASTS.
make them acquainted with the pleafures and
amufements of their place of Sojourn, than here.
Nothing is more difagreeable to the Peterfburghers'
than to be obliged to give an abrupt anSwer; in-
genioufly finding excufes Sor .the foibles, peculiari
ties and humours of others, that they may prefume
on the like indulgence on fimilar occafions.
Avarice and ambition here likewife reign in the .
breasts of numbers, but thefe failings can by no
means be considered as peculiar characteristics,
they being generally predominant in capital cities,
where the accommodations of life are fo alluring
and fo multiplied, where poverty difgraces and
wealth ennobles, where ambition has fo wide a
field of action and where fo brilliant a mark is
placed before it. It would be more difficult to
vindicate the indifference with which the means
and way to wealth and honours, are here pretty
generally regarded. Perhaps, however, even this
phenomenon might be explained by the effects of
the general toleration which is allowed to every
h'oneft mortal in all matters for which he himfelf
muft anfwer as he can.
As the tontraft is great between the eagernefs
for rank and the indifference towards noble birth,
not lefs and even ftill more prominent is that be
tween the love and the contempt of money. It
has been more than once remarked, that this
country is the country of extremes. The very
fame perfons who have made the acquisition of a
great

DISPOSITION TO LIBERALITY. 587
great* fortune the ultimate aim of their wiffies,
and have purfued that aim with the moft extra
ordinary exertions of all their faculties, with the
moft ardent activity, frequently even with the de
pravation of their morals — thefe very perfons are
not unfrequently feen after the attainment of their
object, to behave with the utmoft indifference to
wards the late idol of their hearts. Though the
thirft of lucre is So predominant, few mifers
are feen here. No vice is more rare than avarice.
The manner of living is a fufficient proof of this,
which abfolutely admits of no parfimony, much
lefs of avarice. Nothing therefore is more ridicu
lous to the Peterfburghers than the particular in
ftance of this folly, which one or other individual
may happen to exhibit. Ordinary traits of this
kind, which in other places excite no fenfation at
all, here raife general astonishment ; and if the
good-natured humour of the Peterfburghers ever
takes a farcaftic turn, it is on Such occafions. — <
One confequence of this temper is the disposition
to liberality, which deferves to be mentioned
as a very general feature in their character. This
diSpofition is eminently peculiar to the Ruffians,
among whom it is alSo nourished by the maxims
oS religion, by education, and example. OS its
univerSality even the moSt inattentive obServer can
bear witneSs. A common Ruffian Seldom paffes a
beggar in the ftreets, without, though unsolicited,
putting his hand in his pocket. People in good'
circumftances

588 LIBERALITY AND GENEROSITY.
circumftances make it a rule to beftow, at Stated
times, money, cloaths and victuals on the poor,
and particularly on prifoners : the provifions that
are weeklv, and efpecially on certain holidays fent
to the prifons, ofren amount in quantity to more
than fufficient for their immediate neceffities. It
may be affirmed, thaf in but few capitals it is fo
eafy to make colledtions. and raife contributions
for beneficent purpofes : uncotnmbn inftances of
this nature have been already frequently noticed
in this book. Strangers coining hither without
a fufficient flock of money, perfons in want of the
means for fetting on foot ufeful undertakings, of
for devoting their abilities to certain beneficial
purpofes, always find among their fet of acquaint
ance, however fmall, fome perfons who intereft
themfelves in their behalf, and frequently fupply
their wants in a way that far exceeds their expec
tations. Similar cafes, of which I myfelf have
been an eye-witnefs, would fufficiently. confirm
what is here advanced, were it poffible to quote
them without bringing both the giver and the re
ceiver into an unwelcome publicity.
To thefe in part highly amiable qualities, the
PeterSburghers unite, on many occafions, a very
apparent levity, and an inconsistency that
threatens their beft plans and enterprises with a
total defeat, when once they have loft their no
velty. — The refidence being the central point
of all political connections, the emporium of
trade

LEVITY AND EQUANIMITY. 589
trade and commerce ; every man finds here the
fphere oS his adtivity, the aim of his exertions :
accordingly nowhere in the empire is it eafier to
make a fortune than here. The frequent. ex
periences of this, baniffi all cares forMhe future,
all Solicitude about poffible, if not probable difaf-
ters. Moft people live juft for the moment, and
leave their good genius to take care of the reft.
Perfons of very dependent means or with large
families, are quite at their eafe if they can but
SatisSy the demands oS the day. Numbers when
in embarraSfments have recourSe to critical and
extraordinary methods ; but, loaded with debts
and perSecuted by creditors, they bring into com
pany a bright countenance and a chearSul hu
mour. Some Sudden turn of fortune, on which
indeed they had no reafon to rely, but which here,
like a true deus ex machina unties fo many fatal
knots, faves them from ruin, and they retain
the fame temper of mind on all occafions, without
Suffering themSelves to be disturbed in their com
forts by either adverSe or favourable occurrences.
Children occafion no concern or anxiety to people
of this Sort. The great public inftitutions re
lieve them from the expenSes oS education, and
young perfons, at firft entering the world, begin
their courSe of life, in which, even without fup
port, they know how to help themfelves forward.
That this way of thinking is common only with
one part of the community, and admits of great
exceptions

59° VERSATILITY OF CHARACTER.
exceptions among certain claffes, probably it may
not be neceffary to mention. — More general
and charadteriftic is the inconfiftency of the peo
ple here. No where Shall we perceive fo many
enterprifes begun with enthufiafm and then Sud
denly abandoned, as in this place. Edifices, gar
dens, collections of rarities, libraries, all bear the
marks of this inconfiftency. The violent zeal with
which they fometimes intereft themfelves in be
half of an amiable Stranger, or an ingenious artift,
or a patriotic project, Subsides into coldneSs as
foon as the object oS it has loft the charm of no
velty. Even the places of public entertainment,
let them be as elegant and delightful as they may,
have no better deftiny to look for. No where
does a man change his habitation with fo much
facility as here ; there are people who chufe their
place of abode every year in a different quarter
of the town. Almoft all agreements for the hire
of houfes are made only for a month ; and even
the domeftics adopt this pradlice, that they may
change their places as often as poffible. — With
this inconftancy which likewife extends to man
ners, customs and faffiions, the attachment of the
common Ruffians to their national mode of living,
forms a very curious contraft. But this contraft
will not much longer fubfift.

The

CONC.E-UD1NG REMARKS. 591

The great objects being now exhaufted, T lay
afide my pencil. I have attempted to trade out
the moft prominent charadteriftic lines with im
partiality and candour ; leaving it to fome m6re
able painter, to form the groupes and finiffi the com-
pofition. Even the picture when complete, com
pofed upon theSe outlines, can never be deemed a
copy of an ugly original. Where light and Shade
are So well diftributed the painter may boldly ad
here to nature, without apprehending no better
.return Sor the fidelity of his representation than
.that which an ill-favoured coquette is apt to beftow
on her looking-glafs.

END.

Books printedf or LONGMAN and REES.
I. T/IEW of the RUSSIAN EMPIRE during the Reign
V 0f CATHARINE the SECOND, and to the Clofe
of the Eighteenth Century, &c. &c. Containing an accurate
Defcription of the Government, Manners, Cuftoms, Religion,
Extent, Boundaries, Soil, Climate, Produce, Revenue, Trade,
Manufactures, &c. &c. of the feveral Nations that compofe that
extenfive Empire. By WI LLI \ M TOOKE, F. R. S . Member.
of the Imperial Academy of Sciences ; and of the Free ^cono-
xnical Society of St. Peterfburg. In Three large Volumes 8vo.
Second Edition. Price il. lis. 6d. in boards.
The Montlily Review i' lavifh in its commendations in regard to the
importance of the fubjeft ; the authenticity of the fources fr >m which
It appears to be drawn, the ability which it difpUys in arranging a vaft
variety of matter, and the circumftances which united to paitcularh/
qualify the Author for undeYtiking and executing fuch a performance ;
and only lament that it is difficult to give, wif in ihe limits of a miscel
laneous public don, an adequate idea of a woik abounding with fuch in
terefting and venous information.
a. AHISTORYof RUSSIA, from the Eftablifhment of the.
Monarchy under Rurik to the Acceffion of Catharine II.
In Two Volumes 8vo. With 60 Portraits, engraved from a
feries of Medals. Price il. is. in boards.
3. The LIFE of CATHARINE II. Empress of Russia.
The Fourth Edition, with confiderable Improvements. In
Three Volumes 8vo. Price il. 7s in boards. Embellished
with Seven 'elegant Portraits, and a correft Map of Ruffia.
The Authors of the Monthly Review beftow great encomiums on this
Work. : in confirmation of which they give ample extracts, and conclude
their account by faying: " Did our limited fpace permit, we could tran-
" fcribe with nleafure many other extraordinary palfages from this •
" curious Work." The Bririfb Critic alfo, after bellowing an uniform
commendation on this Work, fir .ugh no fewer than eight pages, concludes
with faying : " Upon an attentive perufal of thefe Volumes, we cannot do
" otherwife than. acknowledge their merit, and recommend them as fully
" adequate to repay th« time ihat may be bellowed upon them, by the en-
" tertainment and information which they afford."
4. SECRET MEMOIRS of the COURT of PETERS
BURG ; particularly towards the End of the Reign of CA
THARINE II. and the Commencement 0/ that of PAUL I.
ferving as a Supplement to the LIFE of CATHARINE II.
Translated from the French. The Second Edition, complete,
in One Volume 8vo. Price 7s. in boards.
Vrintidby Nichols W Sot>, Rid Lit* Pajfag; F/ttt Strrtr.

3 9002 00833 6712