powered by the din of the chorus, he was obliged to let them make a natural finale. When they had stopped, Captain Elphinstone said, "Now, ladies, will you have a "little more?" "Not for the world, my dear Captain, not "for the world, we are quite content," was the universal cry.

Whilst I was upon a visit at the house of my much respected and hospitable friend John Venning, Esq., I used generally to be awakened by a cow-keeper, collecting, Orpheus-like, his cows together, by a very long pipe, from which he produced some strains by no means unpleasing. The dress and attitude of this fellow, with his instrument in his mouth, resembled very much some of the figures which I have seen upon Etruscan vases. For two or three days, whilst the wind was northerly, we were much annoyed in the city by a dense smoky atmosphere, arising from a large forest, which had been burning for several days, about thirty versts from Petersburg to prevent the spreading of this terrible conflagration, two regiments were marched to the spot, who, after great exertion, by felling trees and digging trenches, succeeded in impeding its progress. Accidents of this kind are attributed to the reaction of intense heat from the rock, upon the dry moss which is fre quently found upon it.

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CHAPTER XVII.

Court clock Winter palace, hermitage-Players aud gov», ernment carriages Convent des Demoiselles-Instability of fortune-Generosity in a child—The foundling hos» pital.

́N order to observe engagements with punctuality, it is

clock of the winter palace, which is the sun's vice-regent in Petersburg, and is certainly more sovereign than that of the Horse-Guards in London. I learned this piece of important information, as I proceeded with a party of friends to the Hermitage; not the matted cell of an anchorite, but a magnificent modern palace built by the late Empress, and connected by a light elegant gallery with an enormous mass of building, called the winter palace, built of brick stuccoed, and consisting of a basement floor, a grand and lesser story, supported with Doric columns, and adorned with balustrades, and an immense number of statues, many of which are said to be excellent, but as they are associated with the chimnies, their beauties are not discernible to gazers on the ground. This pile was built by the Empress Elizabeth, is grand from its magnitude, but very heavy; within its walls are many courts, galleries, and passages, and stair-cases without number. In the winter it requires fifteen hundred stoves, or as the Russians call them pitchkas, and the resident English, peeches, to warm it.

What could induce Catherine to call one of the most costly and elegant palaces in Europe by the name of the Hermitage I cannot imagine; not more preposterous would it be to hear Windsor Castle denominated the Nutshell. Its situation on the banks of the Neva is very beautiful; the apartments are still magnificent, although much of their rich furniture has been removed, and are embellished with the Houghton and other choice collections, to which artists have free access to copy. One room was entirely filled with some of the finest productions of Vernet; there is also a great number by Teni

ers. Upon the same floor with the picture galleries, which, with the state-rooms, occupy the second story, is a spacious covered winter garden, filled with orange trees, and foreign singing birds, opening into a summer garden upon the top of the palace, in which there is a beautiful long gravelled walk, lined with shrubs and large graceful birch trees, whose roots I should think must have for some time threatened to make their way through the ceiling of the drawing-rooms below. The whole is adorned with statues, elegant garden sophas, and temples, and on each side are magnificent galleries. In the cabinet of curiosities I was much pleased with a faithful and exquisite model of a Russian boor's farm-house in wax. In the music-room adjoining to this are some large and admirable pictures, by Sneyder, representing fish, fowl, and fruit. In the cabinet of jewels there is a rich display of all sorts of jewelry; and amongst others, un'der a great glass case, are the celebrated mechanical peacock, owl, cock, and grasshopper, of the size of life, which was made in England, at a vast expense, and pre'sented by Potemkin to the late Empress. The machinery is damaged: the cock, mounted on a tree of gold, no longer crows, nor hoots the owl, nor does the peacock spread his tail, at the expiration of the hour, but the grasshopper still skips round to denote the moments. "This animal is nearly the size of his more animated brethren in Russian Finland, which are said to be an inch and a half long. There were also several ivory cups, the fruits of the ingenuity of Peter the Great, whose versatility was such, that apparently with equal ease, he could bend from the founding of cities, leading armies into the field, and fighting battles, to building boats, turning wooden spoons and platters, and carving in ivory. Raphael's hall, one of the galleries running paralled with the garden, is superbly painted and decorated, and has a fine collection of minerals: its inlaid floor is uncommonly rich and exquisite.

I searched in vain for Sir Joshua Reynolds's celebrated Infant Hercules, purchased by the late Empress for the Hermitage. Upon enquiry I found that it had been removed into a private apartment below, and was seldom

shewn; the reason assigned-was, that the Russians have a superstitious horror of death, and that as the subject was the strangling of the serpent by the infant god, it was on that account unpopular. Upon our return through the rooms, we went to the court theatre, connected with the Hermitage by a gallery over an arch, which crosses a cut of water from the Neva to the Moika canal. The space before the curtain is filled with seats rising amphitheatrically, and the whole, without being large, is elegant. The performers were rehearsing at the time afterwards as we were quitting the palace, my curiosity was excited by a number of Imperial coaches, presenting a gradation of qualities; some were tolerably good, some shabby and others very old and crazy, to which must be added a very long vehicle, such as is used in England for conveying wild beasts, having four horses abreast, all drawn up before that part of the palace where the theatre is situated. Upon the conclusion of the rehearsal, the players descended: the tragedians and genteel comedians occupied the better carriages, the low comedians the more ancient and defective ones, and the chorus-singers, to the amount of about thirty, skipped into the long coach, and were all driven to their respective homes. These machines are kept for the sole service of the players.

Not far from the Hermitage, and upon a line with it, is the magnificent palace raised by Catherine II. for Gregory Orloff, and afterwards allotted, by the late Emperor, to the last of the Kings of Poland: it is built of grey Siberian marble, and adorned with columns and pilastres of the same stone, of a brown and reddish color. The balustrades of the balconies, and the frames of the windows, are of brass richly gilded. All the splendid furniture and moveable decorations have been removed, and the whole is now occupied by persons belonging to the court.

In consequence of the gracious orders of the Empress Dowager to that effect, we visited a very interesting institution under her immediate protection, the Convent des Demoiselles. This Imperial seminary, which has no equal in Europe, contains three hundred and

seventy-two young ladies of nobility; and two hundred and forty daughters of citizens. There is also another institution under the same roof, called that of Saint Catherine, in which there are one hundred and eighty eight children, of the inferior orders of nobility. The age of admission is six years. The noble young ladies are taught German, French, Italian, drawing, music, dancing, geography, embroidery, and every other elegant pursuit. The daughters of the bourgeois are instructed in what is useful alone, and can conduce to their making good tradesmen's wives. Their genius, or bias of mind, whenever it can be ascertained, is always consulted in their pursuits. The building is like a great town; it was formerly occupied by the monks of Smolnoi, who have been removed to accommodate much more useful and lovely members of society. In the centre is a vast neglected church, surmounted with a dome in the centre of four small cupolas, all of copper gilded. This edifice forms a venerable and prominent feature in the city. We were received at the grand entrance by some of the officers attached to the establishment, in full uniform, a dress which is worn by all male persons belonging to Imperial institutions, on account of the government being military. We were first conducted to the kitchen, where we saw and tasted a sample of the day's dinner, consisting of excellent soup, boiled beef, vegetables, and pastry. The young ladies are divided into classes of age, and distinguished by brown, blue, and green and white dresses. In the first school we were presented to her Excellency Madame Adlerberg, the directress of the convent, who appeared, decorated with the order of Saint Catherine, a lady of great beauty and elegance of deportment; her mind and character were explained by the smiles and looks of affection which every where attended her, as we proceeded through the schools. In the sick room there were only three patients, who were most tenderly attended by the proper nurses: the name, age,disorder, and treatment of the invalid, is inscribed upon a little tablet fixed over her head to the back of the bed. The dormitories were remarkably neat, and even elegant. Some of the little girls surprised us by the.