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It is now a part of courtesy to thank the author of the work before us, for offering, at once, an apology and occasion for what has been said. The views supported in the work itself are not, indeed, such as we would subscribe to, nor can we admit the numerous analyses of English metres which it contains to be correct; yet, as it is as complete in design and execution as anything that has yet appeared on the subject, and well calculated to excite the attention, and direct the inquiries, of English scholars, to the study of our own metres, we shall even pass it by without a word of criticism. The book is a small, well printed volume, cheap enough, and well worth its price, if it were only for the numerous beautiful specimens of verse which it contains. J. D. W.

RUSSIA .*

THIS volume contains a great many new and interesting facts about Russia, communicated in a very sensible manner. It will be doing it a courtesy, and at the same time convey the best idea of its character, and make, we hope, an entertaining article, to skim it over and give the cream of it. The first hundred pages are occupied with the author's journey from Copenhagen to Christiana, and thence overland in Norway and Sweden to Stockholm: these we will pass by. At Stockholm he takes steamer for St. Petersburg, and readers who will take the slight trouble to transport themselves to the gulf of Finland, may join him there without difficulty.

The eastern extremity of the gulf is the bay of Cronstadt and the mouth of the Neva. The bay is not navigable for vessels drawing over eight feet water, and hence the large merchantmen are obliged to discharge at Cronstadt and send their cargoes up to St. Petersburg in lighters. Immense granite fortifications guard the mouth of the Neva, there about eight hundred yards wide, and with the natural difficulties of navigation render the approach of a hostile fleet impossible. No traveller is permitted to enter the empire without a passport, and the delay and inconvenience to those who arrive at Cronstadt unprovided are very great. Not long ago a young Boston lady, a relative of some of the first merchants in St. Petersburg, was detained here alone under guard until one could be procured through the American minister: she bore it very bravely, however, and paid visits, attended by a file of soldiers, to the principal ladies of the city, till she became quite a heroine.

Arrived in St. Petersburg, the traveller's first business after taking lodgings in some hotel, of which the only decently clean ones are a few kept by foreigners, is to go to the police office in Pantelemonskaia street, give his name, occupation, etc.,

This

and obtain a permit of residence. permit is good only for the city and vicinity, and if he wishes to proceed further there are new forms to be gone through. The exactness with which all this is managed is perfect. It is said there has probably not a foreigner visited Russia in time of peace, in this century, whose name and movements were not perfectly known to the police. Mr. Maxwell states that an American gentleman was at St. Petersburg in 1820 and afterwards in 1843; the last time he was surprised to hear the officer remind him that he had been in Russia twenty-three years before. On departing, every foreigner must publish his intention in three consecutive numbers of the Gazette of the Academy, a proceeding which takes a week or ten days; the object of this is to protect creditors. With Russian subjects, the difficulties are very much greater, and, wherever he may be, every Russian subject must return at the citation of the police, or his property is confiscated.

The

At a first view St. Petersburg appears the most magnificent of all the great European capitals. It is built on a marsh on the southern side of the Neva, and extends over several islands in its channel. windings of the stream intersect it, and it is also divided by various canals originally made for drainage. The banks of the river and canals are faced with hewn granite, and form delightful promenades.

Ascending the river, the first object on the southern side is the great naval dockyard, where ships of war are built and floated down to Cronstadt at a great expense upon canals. Then appear the rich houses of wealthy bankers and merchants, extending along the Quai Anglais to the palace of the Senate, near which is the great cathedral of St. Isaac, with domes of burnished gilt and columns of porphyry and jasper. Beyond this are the Admiralty

The Czar, his Court and People: including a Tour in Norway and Sweden. By JOHN S. MAXWELL. New York: Baker & Scribner. 1848.

buildings reaching nearly half a mile along | the river's bank; then the lofty winter palace, the Hermitage, the marble palace built by Catherine for Gregory Orloff, the monument of Souwaroff, the Summer Gardens, the beautiful bridge over the Fontanka canal, the hotels of the foreign embassies, the long line of palaces upon the Russian Quai, and finally the eastern suburbs abounding in arsenals, churches, and monasteries.

The islands in the river are covered with piles and parapets of granite and sumptuous buildings. On that of Vassili Ostroff are the immense buildings of the mining corps, the barracks of cadets, Academy of the Fine Arts, ornamented in front with sphinxes brought from Egypt, Academy of Sciences, and the Exchange and Customhouse. On another rises the gilded spire of St. Peter's, and close by it is the Aptekarskoi island on which were laid the first foundations of the city. There are also others: Petrosky, the delight of Peter; Krestovsky, the summer residence of the Princess Belosselsky Belozersky; the Cammenoi Ostroff, the domain of the Grand Duke Michael; and Yelaguine, belonging to the Empress. These are all connected with bridges, and are laid out like gardens and covered with chateaux and palaces; in summer they are the resort of all the refined society of the city.

The great square of the Admiralty, for the extent and magnitude of the buildings surrounding it, is probably unequalled by any other in the world. A linden walk extends around it, and between the Winter Palace and the Etat Major stands the column of Alexander-a single block of polished red granite measuring one hundred and fifty-four feet from the base to the cap. The Nevsky perspective, which branches off from the Admiralty, is the Broadway of the capital, and one of the grandest avenues in Europe. It is bordered with handsome houses, fashionable stores, palaces, and churches, and generally filled with carriages of all descriptions, and its broad walks thronged with ladies, lackeys, officers in all uniforms, Circassians and Cossacks, civilians, Russian merchants and serfs-a strange mixture of tongues and costumes.

The history of St. Petersburg, as schoolbooks teach, presents a more miraculous

example of growth than any of our western cities. Peter the Great, like Mammon in Milton, led the way, and the huge fabric rose "like an exhalation.' In 1700 he wrested from Charles the Twelfth, of Sweden, the province of Ingria, which comprises the low swampy country between Lake Ladoga and the Gulf of Finland; and, to secure his possession and establish a naval dépót, he determined to found a city on the islands of the Neva. In 1703 he laid there in the midst of the forest the foundation of a fortress; and such was his energy, that though for want of implements the immense crowd he had collected to the work were obliged to dig the soil with their hands and carry it away in bags made of their clothing, and a pestilence swept off a hundred thousand of them, yet the work was finished within five months. He then began to build the city. At the end of 1703 the capital consisted of his own house, a small wooden building containing two chambers and a kitchen, one or two others like it, and the miserable hovels of thousands of serfs. In 1714 three hundred and fifty noble families were ordered to establish themselves there; the use of stone was for a while prohibited in every other city in the empire, and every ship arriving in the harbor was obliged to bring a certain quantity of stone, according to her tonnage. Artisans and engineers were invited from every quarter. In 1724, thirty-two ships arrived from various countries. In 1750, the population was eighty thousand, and in 1840, four hundred and fifty thousand.

The first humble residence of Peter and Catherine still stands where it was erected, in the dreary morass, now covered with stately palaces. The soil of the city is so wet and yielding that all foundations are obliged to be laid on piles. The government has officers to see that this is done with care, and to inspect the plans of all buildings. Brick is generally used for the walls. They are usually covered with plaster painted in gaudy colors, and frequently ornamented with stucco, which makes them very sensitive to the ravages of the long winter, and gives employment to seventy or eighty thousand serfs who come from the interior every summer to repaint and repair them.

Our author glances rapidly over the va

rious objects in the capital interesting to sight-seers. The Hermitage contains a gallery of two thousand pictures, and abounds in the best productions of the Flemish school. It also possesses the private libraries of Voltaire and many other distinguished writers. Within its limits are the winter gardens, the scenes of the banquets of Catherine. The Imperial Library has five hundred thousand volumes and manuscripts, most of which are a part of the spoils of Poland. The museum of the Academy of Sciences has a vast collection of Japanese, Mongol, and Thibetian manuscripts. In the academy of the naval cadets there is a large model of the old American frigate President, which is annually taken apart and rebuilt by the students. There are Imperial lyceums, gymnasiums, universities, schools of law, medicine, pharmacy, schools for the education of young ladies the daughters of nobles, others for the daughters of officers of rank, foundling hospitals that receive six thousand infants per annum, institutions for the deaf, dumb, and blind, etc.—all which depend on the munificence of the Emperor and rich persons who feel disposed to imitate his example. There are two hundred churches and chapels in St. Petersburg, most of which sustain several golden cupolas, and are within profusely ornamented. In the vicinity of the city are many splendid palaces and residences. Tsarskoe-celo, the village of the Czar, is reached in half an hour by railroad--the first ever built in Russia. An accident by which several lives were lost rendered this road soon after it went into operation so much dreaded | that none would venture to travel on it. Nothing shocks the Russian people more than accidents attended with loss of life: when Carter went to St. Petersburg with his lions, he was on this account not permitted to enter the cages. To bring the railroad again into use the Emperor was obliged to send for the engineer and make the first trip with him himself. This proceeding at once restored confidence.

In the vicinity of the capital is the Imperial farming institution, where two hundred peasants selected from the different provinces are instructed in agriculture. It has under cultivation a model farm of seven hundred acres, and its school has a museum of all sorts of farming implements.

Mr. Maxwell found there an American, who could speak only English, and was therefore obliged to converse with those about him by signs. He was a tall, thin, thoughtful looking Yankee, who had brought over some contrivances for the market. He found the natives reaping only with the old sickle, mowing with a short scythe having a long handle, and ploughing "in every way but the right one.' The advantages of his long straight furrows, his light scythe and crooked snath and his wonderful cradle were at once perceived. But his winnowing machine was irresistible, and procured him, it was said, through the Minister of the Interior, the offer of a professorship. Not wishing to remain in the country, however, he could only be made an honorary member of the Imperial Society for the Improvement of Agriculture.

The accounts of the railway to Moscow, commenced under the superintendence of an American engineer, Mr. George W. Whistler, in 1840, have reached us from time to time through the newspapers. It was completed when Mr. Maxwell was there, as far as Colperno, and is to be finished in 1849. The contract for the locomotives, cars, wagons and carts, was given to Messrs. Harrison and Eastwick of Philadelphia, and Mr. Winants of Baltimore; and it shows the estimation in which American workmanship is held that the proposals of these young mechanics were accepted over those of many from England, France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, offering to take the job at lower rates. Many other American artisans have been employed by the Russian government in preference to those of other nations, and it began to be reported here that the Emperor was particularly partial to our enterprising countrymen. Accordingly the Imperial court soon began to be deluged with all sorts of presents. Persons in the far west wrote to his Majesty for employment in the Army or Navy. The American minister received with every arrival packages marked, "This side up with care," to be delivered with all haste to the Emperor. "There were daguerreotype views, models of bridges and floating docks, and plans and specifications for building ships and steamers. One person was ready to supply any demand for excellent clocks; an

other sent a set of mineral teeth as à sample of his workmanship; another sent his Majesty a work on the treatment of diseases of the spine; another sent to each member of the Imperial Family a barrel of Newtown pippins; and some member of the temperance society, an awful looking picture of the human stomach diseased by the use of brandy." The Emperor was obliged to publish a ukase setting forth that in future no presents from unknown persons would be received.

seldom occurs; for if any one is injured by accident or design, no matter which, the horses and equipage causing the injury are instantly seized by the police and confiscated." The side-walks are always kept clean on all the principal streets and quays, and covered with gravel. The Emperor is often seen on the Nevsky either walking or in an old forlorn sleigh, and carriages stop and hats fly off before him as though he were preceded by a courier.

The

But these fine days are very few. sun rises at a quarter past nine and sets at half past two, and frequently in bad weather artificial light is necessary the whole day. The mean maximum of cold is twenty-two degrees below zero, though sometimes it is down to thirty and thirtyfive.

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Winter at St. Petersburg comes on about the middle of September. The days then grow dull and gray; the air is keen, and clouds of dust fill the streets; housekeepers are engaged putting in double windows and lining doors with felt; colds prevail; everything grows gloomy, and all strangers who can do so prepare to leave. About Balls, parties, the theatre, the opera, the first of October the white flag on the coasting down the artificial ice-hills, are the winter palace announces the presence of principal winter amusements of the inhabthe Emperor, and the aristocracy then itants. The learned societies meet in Ocmove to town. Furs are needed out of tober. At the theatres plays are performed doors and additional fires within. Fierce in German, French and Russian; the west winds at this time of the year, with French is the most fashionable, being patwhirling flurries of snow, sometimes bring ronized by the Emperor. Russian plays up the water from the Gulf of Finland are mostly translations from German and and submerge half the city. In 1824 the English. In 1824 the English. Schiller and Shakspeare are whole city was covered, and the basement given in Russian, and Hamlet is transformof every house and palace under water for ed into a very diverting character. two days; a great amount of property was sini and Donizetti are also given in Russian, lost and eight thousand persons perished. though the genuine modern Italian opera Towards the latter part of November is the most admired and generally well the Neva is covered with solid ice, and supplied with first rate performers. Ruthronged with sleighs, iceboats, and occa- bini, Tamburini, Castellan and Viadot Garsionally skaters, when the weather is clear. cia were very successful when Mr. MaxThe stranger then breakfasts at about ten well was there. and dines at four, by candlelight. Except the play or the opera after dinner there is little to relieve the daily monotony. The ride on the Nevsky is the chief business out of doors, as this noble street is then in its glory, and on fine days from ten to two is crowded with the most singular assembly in the world. "Every description of face and figure," says our traveller, "from almost every country in Europe and of Asia, all wrapped in furs of the most common or the most costly kind, occupy the side-walks; while the carriage way is completely filled with sleighs, from the dashing turnout of the noble to the humble sledge of the Finnish woman, who sits upon a large block of ice. They all drive with great rapidity, and yet an accident

At the balls and parties gaming is constantly practiced by all classes, and carried to the greatest excess--always with cards, all other species being prohibited. St. Petersburg can probably furnish the best card-players in the world. The game is also carried on at the club-houses, of which there are several, and the English club, originally founded by English merchants, but now mostly composed of Russians, is celebrated for the immense sums lost and won upon its tables.

The brilliance of the winter festivities of the wealthy nobles is said to surpass all description. The furniture and decorations of their halls are the most costly that Paris can furnish. "The guests ascend the broad stair-case of Carrara marble, lined

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