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 .VOYAGE 
 
 Li— 
 
 TO 
 
 St. PETERSBURG 
 
 IN 
 
 1814, 
 
 WITH REMARKS 
 
 ON 
 
 THE IMPERIAL RUSSIAN NAVY. 
 
 BY 
 
 A SURGEON IN THE BRITISH NAVY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS & Co. 
 
 BRIDE COURT, BRIDGE STREET. 
 
 1822. * 
 
-9 
 
 A 05 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 AS the subject of the power of Russia has lately 
 attracted considerable attention, as well as excited 
 some, perhaps, imaginary fears among us ^ ; and, 
 as this power can be directed against England, in 
 case of any misunderstanding, only by means of her 
 navy, it may not be uninteresting to give some idea 
 of what materials this mighty engine is composed, 
 and how far it is likely to be wielded against us, 
 with effect. 
 
 This information I was enabled to gain in the 
 very bosom of the supposed danger, — that is, on 
 board one of their eighty-gun ships, during a six 
 weeks* stay and voyage, not merely as a spectator, 
 but as an active officer, in discharge of my profes- 
 sional functions. The occasion it will be necessary 
 to mention. When the Russian fleet quitted Sheer- 
 ness, in 1814, the Commander-in-Chief Admiral 
 Tate, was directed to embark the Imperial Guards, 
 then in France, for conveyance home ; but the 
 Emperor, or some one about him, recollecting the 
 mortality frequently prevailing in their feet, and 
 that this might be increased by crowding together so 
 many additional men, requested, through the medium 
 of the Russian Ambassador, that a certain number 
 of the medical officers pf the -British Navy might 
 proceed in th]f'JquadvQn,:^(i'\Qrder, by their more 
 extensive experience . -io obviate* ' tjiis danger. 
 .' '.'. '. : ': ."•* i • . * *::..: /•'*. ♦ . •' 
 
 * Written in 1817, shortly after the appearance of Sir Robert 
 Wilson's Pamphlet on this subject. 
 
VOYAGE, 
 
 In the beginning of June I joined the S , a noble ship, 
 
 mounting nearly 90 guns, and bearing the flag of Rear Admi- 
 ral O , at Sheerness, or rather at the great Nore, where 
 
 seven or eight sail were at anchor. The Admiral, who was a 
 North Briton, received me very politely. He was decorated 
 with the cross of St George, if not the highest, as high as 
 any honorary distinction in the country, and granted, I am 
 told, to those only who have distinguished themselves by a 
 very eminent degree of personal bravery in battle. The occa- 
 sion, it seems, was against the Swedes, when being in command 
 of a small vessel as lieutenant, he resolutely attacked a ship of 
 that nation more than double his own force, and after a long 
 and desperate engagement, succeeded in carrying her into 
 Cronstadt, his own vessel sinking immediately after the battle. 
 
 He is married in Russia, and has been above twenty-five 
 years in the service. Like all the other English officers belong- 
 ing to it, he was ordered to reside at Moscow during the war 
 with England ; four or five of their ships were commanded on 
 this occasion by our countrymen. I know not whether profes- 
 sional views and long estrangement from his native land may 
 not, in some degree, have blunted the more delicate feelings of 
 national glory : for, on mentioning accidentally in conversation, 
 the attack and capture of some Russian gun-boats in the gulph 
 of Finland, a few years ago, by Captain (now Admiral) Sir Byam 
 Martin, he did not seem to recollect the circumstance ; he ex- 
 pressed a doubt whether English seamen could ever, on equal 
 torms, conquer those of Russia. This, however, is an excusable 
 feeling, naturally arising from regard to the honour of the service 
 to which he belongs. Let me add also, that he is a very correct 
 officer and a worthy man. 
 
 Captain R , second in command, was a Russian, and was 
 
 likewise attentive to me, so far as an irritable temper, added to a 
 nervous, anxious, hypochondriacal turn of mind, would permit. 
 He was one of the strangest characters I ever met with, being a 
 compound of extremes : sometimes very active and very indolent, 
 
 Voyages and Travels, Vol. VII. h 
 
 425733 
 
4 " Voyage to 'St ' Pkter'ftburg, in 1814. 
 
 very good-humoured and very peevish, very communicative, 
 and very reserved ; now quarrelling with his superior from 
 perverseness, now courting him with more than due obsequi- 
 ousness. He had lived in England for two or three years pre- 
 vious to the present time, and spoke our language nearly as well 
 as myself. All our peculiarities were familiar to him, but the 
 jFaults infinitely more so than the virtues. Sometimes he admired 
 us, and at others thought there was no just ground for admira- 
 tion : the most opposite opinions came out every moment. There 
 was no knowing what sentence would follow from what preceded 
 it, as keen invective always accompanied the warmest approval ; 
 his mind, like the vane at his ship's mast head, was never for an 
 instant steady, but wavering with inconceivable rapidity. With 
 all this, he was a man of considerable talents, much reading, and 
 extensive information. There was only one thing in which lie 
 was constant — an immoderate partiality for physic. He was 
 scarcely ever, according to his own account, well, though I could 
 not once discover his disease ; but this proved of no consequence, 
 so long as a constant supply of potions promised to attack it in 
 some way or other. For several minutes he would descant elo- 
 quently on the advantages to their service from the presence of 
 the British medical officers ; then turn round, Avith an expression 
 of wonder, how the Emperor, or the people about him, coxild so 
 grossly insult their own. In a moment more, he would say that 
 the latter knew nothing, being only fit to physic horses ; and in 
 the same breath add, that our services were by no means neces- 
 sary. He was, in short, quite a character for the stage — the 
 very essence of odd fellows, among whom he would have been 
 hailed as the prince of their craft. 
 
 The officers were, in general, very gentleman-like voung men, 
 nearly all of the first families, and most of whom, as well as Captain 
 
 R , spoke correct English. A much greater pleasure was, 
 
 to find in the ward-room mess a Mr. S , an English naval 
 
 officer, whose society proved not a little gratifying among so 
 many persons to whose language, manners, habits, and feelings, 
 I was an utter stranger. 
 
 In a few days we reached the Downs, and in another week 
 cast anchor in "the port of Cherburg, a harbour formed rather by 
 art than by nature, but to which France has always attached 
 much importance, from lying directly opposite to Portsmouth. 
 It is an open bay, exposea 1 to much of the violence of the ocean, 
 till an artificial barricade, similar to our breakwater at Plymouth, 
 was thrown across two-thirds of its mouth, to form a refuge for 
 their men of Avar. This stupendous undertaking Avas perhaps 
 the greatest public work ever undertaken by that country. The 
 idea Avas magnificent, but the execution has proved far inferior 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 5 
 
 to the conception ; for, after exercising the ingenuity of the 
 ablest men of the nation, and draining the country of enormous 
 sums, it in a great measure failed. In 1791, a new plan was 
 adopted of casing over the old dike formed of small stones, with 
 large blocks of stone for the distance of 1950 fathoms, intending 
 batteries to be erected on the summit. In 1803, the centre of 
 this embankment had been carried above high water mark, where 
 a fortification being built, soldiers were stationed : but in 1809, 
 a terrible storm carried away works, soldiers, artisans, and la- 
 bourers, to the bottom of the sea ; dashing two or three vessels, 
 lying in the roads, to pieces on the beach, and leaving scarcely a 
 trace of the breakwater to be seen at high water. Since tliat 
 time, nothing more has been attempted with it ; the dike, such 
 as it is, protecting the roads pretty well, but at low water, pre- 
 senting only a shapeless mass of ruins. Two or three works in- 
 sulated by the sea guard the entrance. These, it has been sup- 
 posed by some of our dashing naval characters, would not be 
 difficult to carry by assault, by a determined commander, who 
 should at once run alongside them. On the main, however, at 
 die bottom of the harbour, are one or two heavy works, mount- 
 ing two or three tier of guns, which would probably render the 
 possession of the others nugatory. 
 
 A canal from the bottom of the bay runs to a capacious wet 
 dorik in the heart of the town, where lay a great number of fine 
 merchant vessels, principally, I was informed, West Indiamen ; 
 which, on account of the war with England, had not been at sea 
 for many years. 
 
 Cherburg is a very ancient place ; the houses of all shapes, 
 proportions, and -sizes, from quite modern, to the reign, I should 
 conjecture, of Charlemagne. I never saw any thing more ruinous 
 than in some of the streets near the market. The style of build- 
 ing also is peculiar, consisting of bows projecting from the upper 
 stories, and jfearfklly overhanging the base in a line which has 
 •long forsaken the perpendicular, and many of which momentarily 
 threatened <to twaaMe to pieces. 
 
 The streets, which are commonly narrow, were crowded with 
 Russian soldiers, the companions of our intended voyage, loung- 
 ing leisurely along in great coats, offering, in the steadiness of 
 their gait, a striking contrast to the activity and bustle of the 
 French. All the shops were crowded, as well as the lower class 
 of wine-houses, retailing the " veritable eau de vie" to their 
 northern conquerors : while the better sort were nearly as weJI 
 filled by their officers, and not a few of our countrymen, eagerly 
 gulping champaign at six francs the bottle. The bargains be- 
 tween the natives and the soldiers were frequently amusing. 
 The Russian usually offered one-fourth of what was demanded, 
 
6 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 upon which the seller, commonly a female, fell into a rage, 
 abusing him and his country with great volubility, not a word of 
 which he understood, though the meaning was obviously intelli- 
 
 fible to him. Careless of this, he commonly seized the article, 
 alf jocularly, half seriously ; when, after another storm of words, 
 a little advance being made upon the first offer, he walked off in 
 triumph with the prize. So profitable has this intercourse been 
 to the natives, that though their national pride seemed sorely 
 galled by the presence of the Russians, I question whether many 
 more of them would not be very quietly received for the sake of 
 the pecuniary advantages. 
 
 The troops to be embarked in the fleet consist of some light 
 troops, artillery, and the three principal regiments of guards, 
 namely, the Paeobraginsky, Ismaeloffsky, and Semenowsky, ori- 
 ginally formed, by Peter the Great, of young noblemen, in lieu 
 of the turbulent Strelitzes. The former takes precedence of all 
 others in the service, being raised and particularly favoured for 
 its services in a trying situation, and of course forms an object of 
 ambition to all the young men of family. The Ismaeloffsky, at 
 the battle of Borodino, went into action 2,200 strong ; of whom, 
 one of the officers informed me, there came out no more than 130 
 alive and unhurt ! 
 
 To these regiments the Emperor, it seems, pays unremitting 
 attention ; all the official reports relative to them, whether from 
 the commanding officers, adjutants, surgeons, or others, being 
 made to him in person. He can, likewise, call nearly all the 
 privates by name. A gigantic Pole, a private, something exceed- 
 ing seven feet high, belonging to the Paeobraginsky, is said to be 
 a great favourite. He had served all the campaigns since the re- 
 giment quitted Petersburg, and had more than once been pub- 
 licly commended for his conduct by the Emperor himself. Judg- 
 ing from appearances, he had not forgotten more substantial 
 rewards ; for, in going on shore with me at Deal, some time 
 afterwards, he exhibited his pockets literally stuffed with gold 
 rings, seals, chains, and necklaces, to barter for English goods, 
 gleaned from a jeweller's shop, no doubt, during the campaign. 
 
 These regiments are fine looking men, — not only soldiers for 
 show, if this be any recommendation, but as effective in the field 
 as handsome on the parade. Being selected from a whole nation 
 on account of personal stature, they form a contrast to the other 
 soldiers and sailors of the country, who are commonly under 
 what we consider the middle size, though strong active men. On 
 the parade every evening in Cherburg, they extracted admiration 
 even from the French, who crowded in great numbers to hear 
 their bands, which were equal to the finest I ever heard. 
 
 On the fifth day after anchoring, 600 men of the Paeobraginsky 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 7 
 
 embarked with us, along with their band, which frequently 
 cheered many an hour of the subsequent voyage by " discoursing 
 most eloquent music." Along with them, likewise, came the 
 Commander-in-Chief, General Baron Rosen, an accomplished 
 and rather handsome man : and if honours be a proof of merit, 
 a brave and distinguished soldier, his breast being covered almost 
 two deep with stars and orders, Russian, Prussian, Austrian, and 
 Bavarian, gained in the field since the commencement of the war 
 with France. Pie was still but a young man, not more perhaps 
 than thirty-six, of such gentleman-like demeanour and prepos- 
 sessing manners, that both officers and men seemed not merely 
 to love but to idolize him. The regard too seemed mutual : an 
 instance of it may be mentioned. The officers of course, on em- 
 barking, joined the naval mess in the ward-room, preparations 
 being made at the admiral's table for the reception of the general, 
 who, however, politely declined the invitation, in order to con- 
 tinue with his old companions in arms — " I have marched and 
 lived with my officers from Petersburg to Paris ; and though 
 obliged by your kind offer, Admiral, I cannot think of separating 
 from them now." 
 
 We remarked the majority of the officers to be very young 
 men, several not more than twenty years old ; and, with three or 
 four exceptions, none exceeding six or eight and twenty. These 
 we could not consider the veterans who had worsted Napoleon ; 
 but soon heard an explanation of the reason, in the losses sus- 
 tained during the campaigns, which were necessarily supplied by 
 more inexperienced levies. They were, however, as well as most 
 of the naval officers, perfect gentlemen. Several were perfecting 
 themselves in French, and possessed a large stock of the literature 
 of that nation. Two only spoke English, and the only English 
 book I could find was Sir Robert Kerr Porter's account of the 
 campaign of 1812, which, however, belonged to one of the naval 
 officers. 
 
 From Deal, which we reached in about a week more, the General 
 and two or three others made a forty-eight hours' excursion to 
 London, the report of which was by no means so gratifying as a 
 sanguine Briton commonly expects. The charges were uncon- 
 scionable — the cookery not to their taste — the post-boys insolent 
 — the towns inferior to the French— and London dirty and 
 smoky. But then, some of the buildings were certainly fine — the 
 Horse-Guards seemed fine soldiers — and the English were, un- 
 questionably, an opulent and spirited people. The size, the 
 brilliant audience, and magnificence of Drury-lane Theatre, as- 
 tonished them. Above all, the frail and loquacious tenants of 
 the lobbies created the greatest surprise; for Paris, the devout 
 
8 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 object of all their affection, they willingly admitted, possessed no 
 sllch scene as this. 
 
 It is remarkable, however, how much higher every thing 
 French stands in their estimation than almost any thing English. 
 1 am at a loss to account for this, except it be that happy talent, 
 possessed by our lively neighbours in an eminent degree, of 
 raising admirers out of professed and conquering enemies. But 
 the praise of superiority was not awarded in their favour without 
 many long arguments on the side of our country by some of the 
 naval officers. A few of these, who had resided in England, 
 took a more favourable view of our manners, institutions, and 
 national character ; yet, even they, were strongly prejudiced in 
 favour of France. I more than once regretted to some of the 
 parties, that these debates being carried on in Russian, I had not 
 the opportunity of explaining or defending what might seem to 
 them peculiar in our habits. The reply was, that the circum- 
 stance was very fortunate, for I should be little pleased with the 
 opinions expressed of my country. 
 
 The difference of the esprit du corps between the army and 
 navy is obvious. The former know and feel the value, not only 
 of their !ate services, but of their usual weight in the country : 
 the latter appear to labour under a feeling of inferiority, as if 
 aware they were only a lower link in the chain of national power. 
 Several of the lieutenants regretted they had no means of ac- 
 quiring distinction, compared with the army ; and two even 
 thought of relinquishing the service of Neptune for that of Mars 
 — of surrendering the spy-glass and speaking-trumpet (the usual 
 insignia of their office) for the sash and feather. Yet their eon- 
 tests with the Turks and Swedes were often referred to with 
 pride, as a proof of what they could do when put to the trial. 
 Even the English navy, it was hinted, possessed no superiority 
 which might not be hazarded by a contest with that of Russia. 
 You will smile — but a little vanity on points of national distinc- 
 tion is excusable. Nay, Captain R once asked me, what 
 
 other motive Mas it, if not fear, which prevented Lord Colling- 
 wootl attacking the Russian fleet, going from Corfu to Venice, 
 in 1807? The only reply was, — how came their fleet, not 
 merely to run away, but to allow a seventy -four to be destroyed 
 before their eyes by two English ships of the same force, under 
 Sir Samuel Hood ? He was so enraged as not to speak to me 
 for two or three days after. 
 
 The " Guards, 1 ' I soon found, were every thing on board ; 
 the comforts of the seamen, the rules of the service, and all pre- 
 vious arrangements, being — nothing. Their name, their services, 
 their wishes, and the magical word " Emperor,"" was an excuse 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 9 
 
 for every thing; even Captain It forgot his usual per- 
 
 verseness when they were in question. — M We manage these 
 things better in England."" 
 
 On first joining the ship, a spacious cabin, the ward-room, was 
 assigned me ; but when the all-important " Guards' 1 made their 
 appearance, the Captain, after more than usual politeness, and a 
 , hundred apologies, said, that as the officers were of the first con- 
 sequence, being noblemen, and enjoying the particular favour of 
 the Emperor, it would be necessary for me to share my cabin 
 with two, as the other officers would be equally burthened. This 
 honour a novice in sea affairs must have submitted to. I, how- 
 ever, was too old a sailor, being well aware of the nuisance of 
 having a raw landsman or two so near me in case of boisterous 
 weather, added to another reason to be mentioned presently. I 
 therefore parried the blow, by requesting to have the honour of 
 resigning it to them altogether, on condition of having a screen 
 cabin fitted up for me on the main deck. This settled, Mr. 
 
 S , who had been hitherto indifferently accommodated, and 
 
 I, took possession of our new sleeping-room, living of course still 
 at the ward-room mess ; and during the passage, which lasted 
 about three weeks, from Deal to Cronstadt, enjoyed all the air, 
 comfort, and cleanliness, so necessary to Englishmen ; but which, 
 as I had conjectured, did not seem absolutely essential to my in- 
 tended messmates of the %< Guards. 11 
 
 The other circumstance to which I allude, is not merely the 
 general neglect of personal cleanliness common to most foreigners, 
 but a peculiar characteristic of it, namely, the presence of certain 
 creeping things, which with us are considered to be confined to 
 the lowest and idlest objects of the most squalid poverty. I had 
 suspected something of this kind before, when, one day at dinner, 
 my servant pointed out two large and thriving members, crawling 
 up the shoulder of a naval officer who sat next me. This, how- 
 ever, might have been supposed the effect of accident, had not a 
 similar occurrence taken place more than once afterwards ; and 
 matted and uncombed heads were obvious every morning in all 
 classes, from the highest to the lowest. Among the seamen this 
 nuisance prevails to an extent surprising and disgusting in the 
 extreme, arising from the utter disregard of the officers to their 
 comforts and cleanliness. I did not observe it to the same extent 
 among the troops, though, on board at least, they were not more 
 looked after than the seamen. Tt may be perhaps from their 
 servants, who necessarily mix with the crew, that the officers de- 
 rive their obnoxious live stock ; but even in this way the fact is 
 disgraceful to their system, or rather no system, of discipline. 
 
 Another occurrence, accidental indeed, but happening nearly 
 about the same time as the former, spoiled my dinner a second 
 
10 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 time, and would have given a stranger, though erroneously, a 
 very unfavourable impression of the decorum of the table. A 
 young military officer, adorned with several orders, as most of 
 them were, came on board at Deal from another ship, to see a be- 
 loved friend, when having taken rather large potations of cogniac, 
 his head and stomach both seemed to feel the effects ; for, on 
 rising before our repast was concluded, to take farewell of his 
 friend by kissing him, as is customary, in inclining his head over 
 his shoulder, the stomach dislodged its contents, which came 
 streaming over dishes, plates, and persons, for nearly a yard 
 in every direction. Fortunately, I was out of reach of this shot. 
 The poor offender, covered with confusion, quickly made his 
 escape ; the other officers were extremely annoyed by the effect 
 such an event would have in our eyes, and made numberless apo- 
 logies for it, which, however, were scarcely necessary, as it was 
 mere accident, and could not detract from their general manners, 
 which were not only decorous, but characterized by great free- 
 dom from the vice of drunkenness. 
 
 In justice also to their finer feelings I must confess I never 
 saw men possess stronger mutual regards or warmer friendships. 
 They always met with enthusiasm, and often parted with tears. 
 Sometimes it almost reminded me of a tragedy scene, except in 
 not being fictitious. Many of the striplings of the army had 
 their relations in the fleet whom they had not seen since the com- 
 mencement of the war, and among these the extravagance of joy 
 seemed so blended with the " luxury of woe,"" that it was difficult 
 to tell which predominated. The custom of kissing when meet- 
 ing or separating, is universal. It is the cheek however that is 
 saluted ; but nothing can reconcile it to an Englishman among 
 persons of the same sex. The Swedes, Danes, French, and 
 others, partially practice the same Gustom ; and it is another 
 proof of our dissimilarity from most other nations, in minute as 
 well as in great points, that this peculiarity has never existed 
 among us. 
 
 While lying in the Downs, I had a proof that the skill of their 
 
 medical men was not a great deal underrated by Captain R . 
 
 The Russian surgeon, I should premise, was by no means de- 
 ficient in intelligence, though young and inexperienced ; abound- 
 ing in theory, but utterly deficient in practical knowledge ; and 
 a favourite dogma strongly imbibed and retained was, that all eva- 
 cuations were hurtful. A seaman, during my temporary ab- 
 sence on shore, fell overboard into a boat, ana pitching on his 
 head, experienced concussion of the brain. On returning some 
 hours afterwards, the first insensibility had gone off, and inflam- 
 mation threatened rapid progress. I recommended him to be 
 bled, when, after much persuasion, a small quantity was taken 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 11 
 
 from the arm. This, however, was evidently of little use, and 
 the danger seeming- imminent, I insisted on the temporal artery 
 being- opened. Ke had already made sad work of the simple 
 operation of opening a vein ; but attempting an artery proved so 
 alarming, that after an effort or two he fairly gave it up to me; 
 and when the blood had issued a moment or two in its usual 
 jerking manner, actually went off to report to the captain that I 
 should inevitably kill the man, who sent down a lieutenant to 
 see whether I was not committing murder ! The man's life, 
 however, was saved by this measure ; but had he chanced to die, 
 I should unquestionably have been considered a homicide. The 
 circumstances attending this case are only one specimen of several 
 similar scenes. 
 
 A singular circumstance, characteristic of the hardy nature of 
 Russian seamen, occurred nearly about the same time. A 
 man complained, at nine o'clock in the morning, of being unwell, 
 and at three was dead — not from any sudden cause, as might be 
 supposed, but from the regular progress of disease. He was 
 affected with scurvy, and proved aiso in the last stage of inflam- 
 mation of the lungs, having, it was ascertained by inquiry, la- 
 boured under the latter ten days, without making his complaint 
 known to any one. During this time he continued doing his 
 duty, occasionally suffering taunts from his companions for being 
 lazy ; nor was it till almost the very instant in which life was 
 preparing to quit her tenement for ever, the unfortunate man 
 applied for medical assistance, — an instance perhaps of unex- 
 ampled fortitude under acute disease. 
 
 Besides my other duties I had a new office to perform, con- 
 nected, in their opinions probably, with my profession. It was 
 that of carver-general to the mess. For having on first coming on 
 board displayed some skill, unwittingly, in this respect, my 
 services were afterwards put in constant requisition. You will 
 judge this was no ordinary labour, when I state, that after the 
 military came on board, we sat down to table thirty-five persons, 
 not one of whom, singular as it may appear, could dissect poultry 
 secundum artem ; but, when accidentally before them, haggled it 
 most cruelly into quarters, or rather sixths, as some ancient 
 tyrants punished their victims, by tearing the unfortunate sub- 
 ject to pieces by main strength. But it was not poultry alone — 
 beef, mutton, hams, in short, every thing that came to table was 
 ordered under the operation of my knife. One day's work will 
 give you some idea of my labours. First came a huge round of 
 beef, which, in order to supply so many hungry mouths, I found 
 it necessary to slice from top to bottom ; next, a tremendous ham, 
 every cut of which excited regret that people made their pigs of 
 such a size ; afterwards, two couple of fowls, or ducks, the sight 
 Voyages and Travels, Vol. VII. i 
 
12 - Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 of which made my hand involuntarily tremble ; and lastly a 
 goose which, particularly when characterized by the honours of 
 age, fairly made me groan in spirit. 
 
 Without the least exaggeration I may say that the skin was 
 more than once grazed from my fingers (not very hard at any 
 time) by this more than due share of tabular dissection. Innu- 
 merable compliments were paid to my skill, though not one to 
 my patience, which, of the two, I fancied deserved it infinitely 
 the most. But even praise could no longer stimulate exertion. 
 My fame was established ; and in imitation of other great men, I 
 thought it no longer necessary to labour for superiority where 
 there was no rival. I therefore laid down quietly, what few 
 illustrious characters do, the sceptre of power, i. e. the carving- 
 knife much to the regret of my admiring subjects, content to 
 eat a lump of a fowl, for a joint was out of the question, rather 
 than that the announcement of dinner should any longer give me 
 a fit of the spleen. 
 
 It will naturally be asked, how it was possible to eat where 
 there was so much work. This is easily explained, in the 
 words of a certain Cornish parson, according to the story, who, 
 when a wreck on the coast was announced to his congregation 
 during divine service, and they were slyly moving off to secure 
 the prize, bolted out of the pulpit with — " no foul play, gentle- 
 men : let us all start fairly." In short, the meat being all cut 
 before any one sat down, according to the Russian fashion, " we 
 started fairly." The dishes being carried round by a servant, 
 beginning at the head of the table, each person helps himself to 
 what he likes best ; those at the bottom, of course, seldom get 
 the dainty bits, but the seats being commonly arranged according 
 to rank, this does not produce so much grumbling as it would in 
 an assembly of John Bulls. 
 
 The order of the dishes was likewise curious. First came the 
 boiled beef ; then a kind of salmagundi, formed of corned meat 
 cut small, with abundance of pepper, mustard, vinegar, and other 
 things, and served up cold. This, from making its appearance 
 every day, I concluded to be a national dish, but there was always 
 some admixture in it not at all to my taste. The third article 
 was soup, thus forming the middle, instead of, as with us, the 
 beginning of dinner. Afterwards came the poultry, followed by 
 the best pastry I ever ate any where, being light and extremely 
 
 t)leasant, instead of the heavy doughy masses of England, which 
 ie in the stomach like so many grape-shot. 
 
 On the 5th July, quitted the Downs attended by an English 
 hospital ship, with a physician to the fleet (Dr. Burnett) in order 
 to secure the squadrons against the effects of contagious diseases, 
 by removing the infected! These it appears were common on 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 13 
 
 board, even while the ships remained in the river Medway, re- 
 quiring the constant inspection of English naval surgeons to 
 guard against their spreading. What is more extraordinary, 
 many of the crew, though living constantly on fresh meat and 
 vegetables, were suffering from scurvy. This throws a new 
 light, or rather confirms an old one, on the origin of the disease ; 
 showing that the neglect of personal cleanliness, damp air, and 
 want of exercise, will produce it, totally independent of diet, 
 though this is doubtless the strongest exciting cause. 
 
 Favoured by the alarm created by the sudden death of the 
 poor man before mentioned, I succeeded in procuring permission 
 
 from Captain R to muster the ship's company. This in 
 
 their opinion seemed a novel and extraordinary proceeding, 
 though practised daily in the British fleet. As I expected thirty 
 men were found affected with symptoms of the scurvy; in 
 another ship more than double the number suffered under similar 
 complaints : others likewise experienced the disease in a greater 
 or less degree, which but for this examination might have gone 
 on to the last stage with impunity. Not one of the officers at- 
 tended this inspection ; such a thing in our navy would be con- 
 sidered the grossest neglect of duty, but in this is never thought 
 of. The captain complained of being unable to walk from a 
 pain in his knee, and no one else seemed to think it their con- 
 cern. A single week only had elapsed at sea when these cases 
 were discovered. What would become of such a fleet blockading 
 an enemy's fort for ten or twelve months, or even proceeding on 
 a moderate cruize ? 
 
 My success in this measure encouraged another attempt for 
 the twentieth time, to persuade the captain to a regular periodi- 
 cal examination of the crew twice or three times a Week, which 
 was followed as usual by a refusal, on account of its being con- 
 trary to the system of their service. A request to examine the 
 guards, made him tremble at my temerity, the regimental sur- 
 geon, or surgeon-major as he was called, being on board. A hint 
 of the propriety of the measure was however dropped to the 
 general, who settled the affair by saying at once the health of the 
 men was their affair alone and no other person's. Naval discipline 
 therefore, affecting the welfare of a whole service, soldiers as well 
 as sailors, was nothing against the will of a single military officer. 
 
 Hitherto I had tried by all my powers of argument and insi- 
 nuation to point out, according to the spirit and letter of my 
 instructions, a variety of minor measures, not merely of tempo- 
 rary but permanent benefit to the service in points connected 
 with its general health. These were not very well received ; on 
 the contrary considered almost impertinent ; and I began to be 
 looked upon with an eye of suspicion, if not dislike, when my 
 
14 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 wishes reaching the Admiral's ears, he sent for me, examined my 
 instructions, and observed that however good in themselves, they 
 were totally inapplicable to the Russian service. His advice was 
 extremely friendly. " The people here are averse to innova- 
 tion, 11 said he, " take my advice ; interfere as little as possible if 
 you wish to be comfortable ; give your assistance if requested 
 but not otherwise; — I myself should wish to introduce many 
 things, but I find it impossible. At the same time you are right 
 in endeavouring to comply with the orders you received, but 
 here they cannot be executed. 11 
 
 Our passage across the North Sea was perfectly tropical ; — 
 a fair gentle breeze, a glassy sea seldom ruffled, the ship with 
 little motion, the heavens cloudless, the nights clear, the men 
 basking in the sun during the day, the ports open for the ad- 
 mission of air day and night, and the band frequently sending 
 forth their " concord of sweet sounds. 1 ' — On the lltn of July 
 rounded the extreme point of Jutland called the Scaw, and en- 
 tered the Kattegat, or Scaggerac Sea, dividing the former from 
 the coast of Sweden, and near the latter coast abounding in 
 small islands. From the Scaw to Zealand it forms a remarkable 
 elbow and preserves the same appellation. Above that island it 
 takes the name of the Baltic, communicating together by the 
 famous passage of the Sound, and the Great and Little Belts, in 
 all of which channels our shipping were much damaged by the 
 Danes during the war. 
 
 The weather still continued fine, the wind veering' round in 
 our favour, in the various and almost opposite points necessary to 
 steer through this confined and dangerous sea, except once near 
 the island of Anholt, under which we anchored. This island is 
 the largest in the Kattegat, and belongs to Denmark, lying not 
 more than nine miles from the coast of Jutland. It is dangerous 
 to mariners, but contains a light house distinguishable fifteen miles 
 off. During the war the light was extinguished by the Danes, in 
 order to annoy our shipping, when it became necessary to reduce 
 the island, which was occupied by a small British garrison. A 
 desperate attempt to retake it was made from the coast of Jutland 
 in 1811. The invaders however, after a sanguinary contest, were 
 repulsed by a handful of men under Captain Maurice of the 
 Navy, taking prisoners more than their own numbers, and the 
 rest escaping with difficulty. Since that time, though often 
 threatened, it continued quietly in our hands till the cessation of 
 hostilities. It is however poor, not very populous, and only use- 
 ful for the time, from its light-house and position. 
 
 The day after quitting Anholt we passed through the channel 
 called the Greater Belt, Admiral Tate, the commander-in-chief, 
 leading the way in a three-decker ; Admiral Crown having pro- 
 
Voyage to Si. Petersburg, in 1814. 15 
 
 ceeded the same way with another division of the fleet a week or 
 two before Entering the Gulph of Finland a few days afterwards, 
 no event of consequence occurred till on the 29th of July the 
 squadron cast anchor in the outer road of Cronstadt. Nothing 
 unfavourable to health had occurred since the cases of scurvy. 
 The sick list, considering the number of men on board, was not per- 
 haps more than half what it would have been in an English ship 
 of the same force. This arises from the crew seldom applying for 
 medical assistance till seriously in want of it. Englishmen are 
 not only more careful of themselves, and very properly so, but 
 more tender in constitution. They could scarcely have existed at 
 all under the general neglect, and personal filth, characterising 
 these men, of which some idea may be formed when I state that, 
 during my six weeks stay on board, many, I felt satisfied, had 
 not once washed themselves, and not fifty out of the whole crew 
 had beds to lie in, but strewed themselves round the decks to 
 sleep, choosing, in the sea phrase, the softest plank they could 
 fincf. Yet the ship herself was by no means dirty ; the decks 
 were constantly well cleaned, scraped and ventilated. Of a Rus- 
 sian sailor, therefore, it may be said as of a Dutchman, that he is 
 the only dirty thing in his house. 
 
 Of the general nature of their service, and what probable dan- 
 ger we have to fear from it, a few words may not be unacceptable, 
 particularly as the subject in the detail is little known in England. 
 
 Russia has ever had a longing inclination to become a first rate 
 naval power, principally perhaps from considering herself too far 
 removed from the centre of European politics to become imposing 
 by land. It was this desire that actuated Peter in building St. 
 Petersburg, and in forming Cronstadt into an arsenal for his 
 navy, at a prodigious sacrifice of human life and treasure. The 
 same spirit continued to influence his successors till lately ; but 
 from all appearances it is rapidly declining, from finding that 
 by a series of extraordinary and unexpected events, Russa has 
 acquired a preponderance by land among her more southern 
 neighbours, never dreamt of even by the ambitious Catherine. 
 There is another reason, no doubt, in the derangement of her 
 finances, which will not admit of supporting a large naval as well 
 as a large military establishment. A third reason is, that nature 
 denies maritime pre-eminence by locking up her fleets nearly six 
 months of the year by the ice. A fourth, and the greatest of all, 
 is the difficulty of creating seamen, to which constant practice 
 and experience are indispensable ; for though a tolerable soldier 
 may be made when out of the actual presence of an enemy, yet a 
 sailor can learn his profession only by constantly grappling in 
 person with the elements of sea and wind. 
 
 For the construction of shipping no country possesses more re- 
 
16 Voyage to Si. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 sources within herself. Wood, workmen, hemp, iron, pitch, and 
 tar she possesses in abundance and of the best description ; while 
 the ports of Cronstadt, Revel, Riga, and Archangel offer every 
 facility for their equipment. The number of ships of the line 
 does not amount to more than thirty, not more than half of which 
 could proceed to sea for active service, and I saw several rotting 
 on the stocks at Cronstadt. Of frigates and smaller vessels, as 
 brigs and cutters, there are about the same number ; while of 
 gun-boats, carrying one or two twenty-four pounders and twenty 
 or twenty-five men, intended to act in shoal water, and particu- 
 larly useful against the Swedes, they can muster in the different 
 ports and inlets of the Gulf of Finland one hundred and fifty. 
 These vessels being either able to row or sail also become ex- 
 tremely annoying to the largest ships in a calm, where the latter 
 cannot manoeuvre. The Danes used them against us in the Belt, 
 with great effect ; and in the south of Europe, (viz. Algesiras) 
 the Spaniards used them, to the frequent obstruction of our men- 
 of-war, and loss of our merchant vessels. 
 
 But when all the materials which the country undoubtedly pos- 
 sesses are put together — when the wooden castle is constructed and 
 sent into her element, the soul by which this mass requires to be 
 animated is wanting. The want of clever seamen is a leading objec- 
 tion ; but a still more vital deficiency, and one which Russia never 
 can supply, whatever be her zeal or exertions, is the want of able 
 officers. This deprivation presents greater obstacles to her naval 
 greatness than even the other; for seamen by embarking in 
 merchant vessels may acquire skill and experience ; while young 
 men of a certain rank in life would not submit to this drudgery, 
 nor would their friends, for what they might deem a problema- 
 tical advantage, permit it at the hazard of certain hardship, and 
 probable loss of gentleman-like acquirements and manners. 
 
 At present the young aspirant after naval renown is plated in a 
 kind of college, appropriated to the reception of this class at Cron- 
 stadt, or in another at St. Petersburg, at the age of seven or eight. 
 Here he is taught the elements of navigation, and as the summer 
 opens, is sent out for a few weeks cruize in the Baltic. During 
 this time the weather is fine, no difficulty offers in the contention 
 of the elements to call forth the powers of his mind. He visits a 
 few ports for the purpose of amusement, and he returns again 
 scarcely recovered from sea sickness, to Cronstadt or Revel, to be 
 locked up by the ice for the winter, till the ensuing summer re- 
 quires the same routine, with his illness to reconquer, and all his 
 little knowledge to re-learn. In two or three years he becomes 
 garde-marine, and afterwards midshipman; pursuing the same 
 round of duty, gaining some insight into practical navigation, 
 but scarcely any into the more important science of seamanship ; 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 17 
 
 and while on shore in the winter, by a late regulation, officiating 
 alternately as soldier and sailor. 
 
 During the cruize he scarcely ever deigns to superintend the 
 immediate work of the seamen, or carry into effect the orders of 
 the lieutenant ; and seldom goes into a boat on duty, except 
 when proceeding to the ship of the commander-in-chief. He 
 simply walks the deck in his watch, and heaves the log to dis- 
 cover the rate of sailing. Below, he messes in the Ward Room 
 with the lieutenants on his table money which, while in England, 
 was £6 10s. per month, instead of fighting his way through the 
 hardships of a cock-pit, like the English midshipman ; and struts 
 to and fro with a segar in his mouth, till the routine of duty re- 
 turns. In due time the theory of a ship is learnt, the names 
 of the ropes acquired, along with the words of command for 
 setting and reefing and furling sails, but he understands little of 
 the practice of either. When a difficulty occurs therefore he can 
 rarely put the men right, though even exalted to the rank of 
 lieutenant ; for it is one thing to give orders, and another to know 
 how they should be executed. 
 
 It is impossible that men brought up in this manner can ever 
 command ships or fleets opposed to good seamen, without sus- 
 taining certain defeat. Personal courage, of which they undoubt- 
 edly possess their full share, can do little at sea, (less even than 
 on land,) against superior skill. The mode of educating the 
 officers of the British navy is, in every respect, different ; and 
 perhaps a stronger condemnation cannot be passed on the Russian. 
 We have indeed a naval college also, but few of the midshipmen 
 comparatively have been educated there ; — those who have, it is 
 remarkable, seldom make good seamen, on account of passing two 
 or three years, out of the six, which it is necessary to serve, in 
 the school, instead of being at sea fighting their way amid the 
 rough preceptorship of winds and waves. 
 
 The want of good officers has always been so far felt and acknow- 
 ledged, that allurements to foreigners, particularly the English, 
 have been constantly held out to enter into the Russian navy. 
 Two thirds of the admirals and captains sent to England in this 
 fleet, were Scotchmen. These are good officers, and clever seamen, 
 but the nature of the service, or the genius of the people is such, 
 they are unable, with their utmost exertions, to introduce a single 
 regulation of any kind, for its amelioration or improvement. 
 Several accepted Russian commissions, red-hot with purposes of 
 imparting to its navy all the advantages and new lights breaking 
 in upon us in England ; but to their mortification found they 
 had been all attempted by their predecessors in vain. The in- 
 tention indeed brings down such odium and abuse from the na- 
 tive officers, who consider any proposed alteration an insult to 
 
18 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 their discipline or talents, that none can persist in the design, 
 however nigh in rank, widiout being recalled from com- 
 mand, or receiving an order to conform to established usages 
 from the court, where, as in all arbitrary governments, intrigue 
 and favour often supersede the true interests of a country. 
 
 The jealousy entertained of the British officers is extremely 
 great; so that though they have mainly contributed to, if not 
 entirely gained, nearly all the sea victories of the country, they 
 do not find much favour in the eyes of their Russian brethren. On 
 
 inquiring the characters of some, Admiral T was represented 
 
 a tyrant, without a single good quality out of his profession ; 
 Admiral E a fool and dotard ; Admiral C a good sea- 
 man, but an arbitrary, vulgar man, lit only for a collier ; and all 
 the others with various deductions from their professional merits. 
 Admirl O , while I was on board, behaved to them with ex- 
 treme reserve, rarely exchanging a word with any one but the 
 Captain or Captain-Lieutenant. Neither did he ever ask them to 
 dine as is customary in the English service. On this account he 
 did not invite me, assigning as an apology to me for this seem- 
 ing neglect, the jealousy likely to be produced from paying that 
 attention to a countryman, which was not given to his own officers. 
 For the same reason, he did not often enter into conversation. 
 His situation seemed to be one where every action was 
 examined for the purposes of invidious misrepresentation, or he 
 thought so ; most of his countrymen have indeed found it so, 
 for it is but the natural result of exercising authority in a foreign 
 service. 
 
 However severe the junior officers abused the British, it must 
 be confessed they- never pretended to exalt the qualifications of 
 their own, all with the single exception of Admiral Siniavin, being 
 represented to my repeated enquiries as possessing little or no ac- 
 quaintance with their profession. Among these was Admiral 
 
 T , who commanded a division of the army on the retreat of 
 
 the French, where he did not retrieve in a military capacity that 
 credit which he "was believed to want in naval matters. He pos- 
 sesses however, great address, it is said, and what is of more con- 
 sequence, powerful interest ; but the people have not yet for- 
 given him the escape of Napoleon. 
 
 Were it not for the protection of the government which, in 
 this point, exercises a sound wisdom and discretion in opposition 
 to national prejudice, few Englishmen would enter their service, 
 and if the unpleasantness of the situation were fully known, per- 
 haps none. — Many repent it, but having given up their prospects 
 otherwise, find it too late to return. In 1805, proposals were 
 made to English medical men, to enter the llussian fleet then in 
 some of our ports. Several accepted the offer, but became so 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 19 
 
 disgusted with their situation, as to quit it after some years ser- 
 vice, and not one now remains. Others who have tried their 
 fortune, by settling in the country, even under the auspices and 
 protection of government, soon found their prospects by no 
 means equal to their expectations, and in general do not remain. 
 Russia is too poor for an Englishman. A moderate exercise of 
 talents and industry in his own country, will always gain him as 
 much as perhaps great labour and anxiety there ; a remark 
 which holds good with respect to adventurers of every class to 
 " All the Russias." 
 
 The Russian sailors possess all the requisites for becoming 
 the first among their profession — courage, fortitude, patience, 
 obedience, hardihood, and activity. A little experience makes 
 them very smart in doing duty aloft in fine weather, as I 
 witnessed ; but they dread beyond almost any other place (the 
 officers at least) the stormy and boisterous channel of England. 
 No men can be better behaved ; punishments are, strange to say ! 
 
 almost unknown, scarcely one having occurred in the S for 
 
 two years; while in an English ship of the same size, there 
 would probably have been, on a moderate computation, two hun- 
 dred. And this orderly conduct seems entirely spontaneous, as 
 they are in a great measure left to themselves, the officers seldom 
 or never looking after their condition or comforts. They are like- 
 wise, contrary to what might be expected, commonly sober; during 
 my stay on board, I saw only one man in a state of intoxication. 
 The fortitude of the Russian under privations and disease, is 
 extremely great ; of the latter, I have already given an instance, 
 but others were by no means uncommon. Of the former, num- 
 berless instances are on record, in serving for years without pay, 
 promotion, honours, comforts, and almost without clothing, or 
 wholesome food, and yet not uttering a murmur. The officers 
 particularly boasted of their sacrifices in these respects, on many 
 occasions during the wars of their country Avhich, they said, 
 Englishmen would never have submitted to. 
 
 The courage of the Russian seaman against an enemy is un- 
 questionable, being of that description which rarely thinks of 
 retreating or submitting, while able to act offensively ; and it is 
 this insensibility to danger, as we perhaps may term it, which 
 gave the contests at sea with the Swedes frequently the character 
 of the most desperate obstinacy. He will always fight while he can 
 stand ; the English system therefore of broadside and broadside 
 fighting, commonly adopted against the French, would not perhaps 
 answer so well against the Russians, though unquestionably our 
 superior discipline, experience at sea, greater quickness in the 
 management of the great guns, added to the entire interior ar- 
 rangements of British men of war for battle, would secure the 
 
 Voyages and Travels, Vol. VII. k 
 
20 Voyage to St. Petersburg, hi 1814. 
 
 victory even in this mode of engaging. It was however Lord 
 Nelson's opinion they should be out-manoeuvred. That great 
 man saw their weak point in a moment, aware apparently that 
 sheer hard blows would not be the speediest means of subduing 
 them. At the same time it may be observed, their courage 
 seems more of a passive than active character ; it wants that fire 
 and animal vivacity, capable of striking out new plans for de- 
 stroying an enemy, or meeting the chances and accidents of naval 
 warfare, which characterises the English, and even the French 
 sailor. He has not in fact sufficient resources within himself for 
 the exigencies of his situation, for much must often depend on 
 the men, independent of all the skill of the officer. Experience 
 alone, in situations of danger and difficulty, can at once point out 
 wants and the best mode of supplying them. 
 
 Many of those embarked lately in the men of war consisted of 
 raw levies, the national navy having declined much since the war 
 with England, and many seamen being drafted to serve with the 
 army in the late campaigns. Of marines, constituting so pow- 
 erful and effective a part of our navy, they have none. — A certain 
 number of seamen perform their duties, such as sentinels, guards, 
 &c. ; and in the winter the whole of the crews are lodged in bar- 
 racks, drilled, paraded, numbered into battalions, and in every 
 respect considered as soldiers, than which no more effectual plan 
 could be devised for stifling any feeling of the esprit du corps ; 
 yet without this spirit no military service ever did, or ever can 
 become distinguished. A thorough-bred English sailor is an 
 animal of quite another cast. He is, perhaps, the proudest of 
 men; for however laughable it may seem, he cannot believe 
 there is another profession in the world equal, in any point of 
 view, to his own ; and above all things detests being assimilated 
 to the situation of a soldier, so much so indeed, that it is utterly 
 impracticable to train a body to act together in that capacity, and 
 difficult even to teach them the manual exercise. The attempt 
 always produces dissatisfaction, and frequently desertion from 
 our ships, where it is much practised. 
 
 But the chief defect in Russian discipline is the want of proper 
 superintendence by the officers, who while they survey the decks 
 minutely, totally neglect the men. An English officer will be as- 
 tonished when told they are never mustered for examination; they 
 may shave or not shave, wash or not wash, change or not change 
 then linen, as they please ; and the shirt that goes on new, does in 
 fact occasionally never come off" till in rags ! What is no less extraor- 
 dinary, he is permitted to sleep about the decks, wet or dry, cold or 
 warm, naked if he pleases, or wrapped in a great coat, without 
 any other covering. Frequently lie has neither hammock nor 
 bedding, and, if he had, would probably not take the trouble of 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 21 
 
 suspending them; as all sailors' beds swing from the deck over- 
 head : but strewing both any where, will throw himself carelessly 
 down for the night ; while his superiors, seem to have no more 
 to do with him off duty, than if his existence was unknown. 
 
 The consequences of this singular neglect are the production of 
 filth and vermin, to a disgusting degree ; these added to cold, and 
 exposure in sleeping, soon generate typhus fever, scurvy, and 
 other disorders, which occasion great ravages, and in a long 
 cruize would unman the fleet. To these peculiarities, may be 
 added another destructive one, that of idleness when off' duty in 
 harbour, or during their watch below at sea. Instead of dancing, 
 or amusing themselves by the rough but manly sports of English 
 and French seamen, they are found squatting on the decks, 
 playing at cards, or tearing thousands of living inhabitants from 
 each others heads. Indolence is a well known exciting cause of 
 scurvy, and this inaction, added to personal filth, no doubt caused 
 the cases of that disease found in Sheerness harbour, though 
 living, as before remarked, on fresh meat and vegetables. Be- 
 sides these, there are a variety of other points, which require 
 amendment, such as a better supply of clothing, more shirts and 
 stockings, and stated days for washing them, when taken off ; in- 
 stead of which, there was not one appropriated to this purpose 
 during my stay on board ! Yet all seamen, if not naturally dirty, 
 are extremely careless, and therefore require looking after more than 
 most other men. Unfortunately, however, the Russian officer, 
 though extremely mild in deportment, believes he has nothing 
 more to do with those placed under him, than to issue the words 
 of command in nautical evolutions, leaving every thing else to 
 themselves. This is a fatal, but seemingly a fixed error, in their 
 system of discipline. He ought to be more among his men, more 
 identified with them ; he should not merely wish them to do 
 right, but shew them how to do it ; and if necessary compel 
 them to follow his directions ; for it is unquestionable that it re- 
 quires a stronger stimulus than his own inclination, to make a 
 sailor take proper care of himself ; and he is too valuable a de- 
 fender of his country, to be either slighted or neglected by his 
 superiors. The virtues of the Russian, are all his own ; his 
 faults those of his officers, or at least of their mode of discipline. 
 
 A stronger reflection upon the latter cannot, perhaps, be ad- 
 duced, than to hint at that adopted in our own service, which, 
 without any extraordinary vanity, may be considered among the 
 best, if not the very best, in Europe, and followed also in every 
 essential point, by the Americans. In the three great public du- 
 ties of watching, fighting, and working the ship, every man 
 knows his place with such precision, that though called up in the 
 dead of night, he finds his station and his arms, even in the 
 
22 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 largest ships in a moment. Bills, as they are called on board, or 
 plans drawn up expressly for this purpose, on a large sheet, 
 pasted on boards, and containing the names and duties of every 
 individual seaman, are hung up round the decks, continually in 
 view, so that the most stupid, or inattentive, can scarcely ever err 
 through mistake ; while the officers, for immediate reference, 
 must each possess a copy. General orders direct that the crew 
 shall be mustered for inspection, twice a week, in three or more 
 divisions, according to the size of the vessel, under a lieutenant 
 and several midshipmen. When the drum rolls therefore on 
 Sundays and Thursdays, each repairs to the place allotted for his 
 division, where drawn up in a line, he undergoes, not only a close 
 examination in person and dress, but is compelled to bring his 
 bag of spare clothing to be likewise inspected in detail, in order 
 that none may be put by, either dirty or damp, deficient in num- 
 ber, or in want of repairs, or of being replaced. Twice a-week, 
 consequently a sailor, in the Royal Navy must be clean, under pain 
 of certain punishment. Nor is it scarcely possible for him to be 
 otherwise at any time, so many eyes are upon him, such constant 
 vigilance exerted by all classes of the officers. His bedding also, 
 is subjected occasionally to a similar scrutiny ; he has washing and 
 airing as well as mustering days; he is never permitted to lie 
 about the decks ; the latter are cleaned and aired daily, with a 
 degree of minuteness and nicety almost excessive, and which it 
 may be safely affirmed, the most zealous housewife does not 
 bestow upon her parlour. And besides these, there are a 
 hundred other minute regulations tending to cleanliness, sobriety, 
 and good order ; while in the Russian Navy, scarcely one of 
 these essential particulars is deemed a point of convenience, 
 much less a necessary duty. 
 
 The grades in rank are principally taken from the French 
 service ; they are aspirant or volunteer, midshipman, lieutenant, 
 captain-lieutenant, acquired after twelve or thirteen years service 
 as lieutenant, but unknown in the British navy, captains of the 
 first and second classes, commodore, rear, vice, and full admiral. 
 
 The actual pay of a lieutenant is about £50 per annum ; but 
 when in active service, he receives a certain sum as table money 
 according to the station he is on ; in England it was £6 10s. ; on 
 the coast of Sweden about £4i 10s. per mensem, besides £4> 0*. 
 monthly for two servants; so that his income is considerably 
 more than that of the English lieutenant. When not at sea, 
 or actively employed, the table and servant's money ceases. A 
 midshipman, as he messes with the lieutenants, receives the same 
 sum for his table, but with smaller pay, and no allowance for ser- 
 vants. Captain-lieutenants have pay for three servants, captains 
 for four and six, according to rank, and admirals in the same 
 proportion. 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 23 
 
 The surgeons are very deficient in the essential qualifications 
 of their profession ; and some, it must be confessed, extremely ig- 
 norant, both of the powers and application of medicine, and of 
 the operations of surgery. In the former, they seldom venture 
 beyond the administration of simples, except upon extraordinary 
 occasions, and then in an unscientific manner ; in the latter case, 
 I was assured by the officers, that in all their great battles with 
 the Swedes, the greater part of the amputated, from the unskil- 
 ful manner in which they were performed, or from neglect, died ; 
 while slighter wounds, from the same causes, mortified and also 
 terminated fatally. In their army human life was equally disre- 
 garded, at least, in those who had unfortunately lost their limbs ; 
 for Sir Robert Wilson records, in one of his works, an observation 
 of a Russian general officer, " that the best doctor for a man 
 without his leg was a cannon ball !" Purgatives and blood-letting, 
 which constitute what may be termed the eyes of physic, are dis- 
 esteemed among them; and thus, a complaint often at first 
 simple and easily manageable, becomes in time, dangerous or in- 
 curable. There is not, however, sufficient encouragement in this 
 service for men of real talent. Inexperienced men come here for 
 a time, as probably they could not succeed in other situations ; but 
 when more mature in years, and improved in practice, they very 
 naturally seek a more profitable mart for their exertions. There 
 is no surer proof of a body of professional men wanting favour, 
 patronage, and emolument, than being generally deficient in 
 knowledge and skill. In the army, it is remarkable, they take 
 rank according to periods of services ; the surgeon of the guards, 
 on board, after twenty-five years service, bore the rank of a full 
 colonel. Most of the hospitals and public establishments are 
 supplied with physicians from Great Britain and Germany : the 
 Emperor's favorite and confidential surgeon, Sir James Wylie, is 
 a native of Scotland. 
 
 Masters, though commonly good theoretical navigators, are 
 seldom, as in the English service, expert sailors or tolerable pilots, 
 and therefore, bear little of the responsibility attached to the ship's 
 safety or course when at sea. The captain sustains nearly the 
 whole ; he is therefore timid in approaching a coast, or in explor- 
 ing the gulphs, even near their own shores, and necessarily would 
 be very inefficient in blockading or closely inspecting those of an 
 enemy. The boldness of the English, in this respect, has fre- 
 quently excited their surprise and admiration ; but clever seamen, 
 much experience, and accurate charts, are essential in this arduous 
 species of duty. 
 
 There is no officer answering to the name of Purser, the Cap- 
 tain taking charge of the provisions, clothing, and other stores of 
 a similar kind for the use of the crew, which are distributed when 
 
42 Voyage to St. Petersbwg, in 1814. 
 
 wanted, by a steward under the superintendence of a lieutenant, 
 who takes the name of Revisor, does little or no duty besides, 
 and receives a certain sum for his trouble, in addition to his other 
 emoluments. 
 
 The warrant officers, as they are termed in the English ser- 
 vice, or the Gunner, Boatswain, and Carpenter, are in the 
 Russian upon a different establishment, particularly the former, 
 who is scientifically acquainted with the practice of the artillery, 
 which is never the case with us, the office being commonly con- 
 ferred on an old deserving seaman, well acquainted, probably, 
 with every department in a ship, but the very one he is called 
 upon to fill. This, therefore, would seem an improvement upon 
 our system, if it was not found that nautical experience and 
 skill counterbalance science in English naval engagements, from 
 the practice of closing directly with the enemy. Where the 
 latter, from calms or other causes cannot be effected, or he is 
 enabled to keep at long-shot distance, it is unquestionable that 
 we are always worsted by superior precision of aim, particularly 
 by the French, who invariably employ artillery officers in their 
 ships. This was one cause why many of our battles with that 
 nation, previous to the last thirty years, Avere either indecisive 
 or disadvantageous from the distance at which the hostile fleets 
 often engaged, and the superior gunnery of the enemy. 
 
 The Ward-room Mess comprises all the principal officers and 
 midshipmen; while in an English ship the latter live by them- 
 selves. A tacit agreement seems to exist, to sit in some degree 
 according to rank, though without any formal arrangement on 
 the subject ; the mode of helping ana the order of the dishes 
 have been already mentioned. During the first ten days of my 
 residence on board, we had two public repasts daily, dinner and 
 supper, the former at twelve o'clock, the latter between four 
 and five in the evening ; a cup of coffee taken by each in his pri- 
 vate cabin, previous to the one, and after the other, served as 
 breakfast, and as a substitute for that sociable evening refresh- 
 ment, whether composed of tea or coffee, which commonly passes 
 by the former name. After the guards joined, there was only 
 dinner, but served up an hour later. In an English ship, on 
 the contrary, all the repasts are taken by the officers together, 
 with the regularity of a family. 
 
 None of their messes drink wine when by themselves; weak spi- 
 rits and water, or quass, a weak and somewhat sour liquor, made of 
 plain malt and water well shook together, form their only bever- 
 age. Along with a large stock of other things laid in to do 
 honour to the " Guards," was a plentiful supply of claret, 
 which, though no person sat at table according to the French 
 custom, after the cloth was removed, failed ere we reached 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg , in 1814. 25 
 
 Cronstadt. The evening was commonly devoted to cards, in 
 which betting went high. The crew likewise have two public 
 meals daily at the hours of twelve and four ; English seamen, in 
 addition to these, have breakfast at eight ; the rations were of 
 course the same as those supplied to the latter, from being pro- 
 cured in England, but their own, I understand, are much infe- 
 rior in quality, though not in quantity. A most execrable dish 
 often given them, and sometimes brought to the officers' table, 
 is salt beef soup. They all seem to relish it, though nauseating 
 to my palate in a high degree ; but a more serious objection is 
 its powerful tendency to produce scurvy, containing, as it does, 
 the very essence of that disease in its composition ; for I have no 
 doubt that this preparation will produce it in one half the time 
 required by the use of the meat itself, and perhaps the occa- 
 sional use of this article may account for what seemed otherwise 
 inexplicable, the presence of so much scurvy among the crews, 
 though lying for months together in the Med way, and of course 
 constantly supplied with fresh meat, vegetables, and all the usual 
 an ti- scorbutics. 
 
 Their opinions of England, as already hinted, were of a mixed 
 character; but so difficult is it for a foreigner to judge even tole- 
 rably of our manners, character, or institutions, that I had rea- 
 son to believe the unfavourable side prevailed. Nor is this sur- 
 prising. Strangers, even of acknowledged talents, assiduity and 
 impartiality, after residing for years in England, cannot, with 
 the exertion of all their industry, understand us. We do not, 
 perhaps, fully know ourselves. Our constitution, an admirable 
 and complicated machine in itself, re-acting on our national feel- 
 ings and independence, gives a tinge of singularity to many of 
 our habits, and almost all our opinions are unintelligible to others. 
 We are unquestionably a great, but perhaps not a pleasing peo- 
 ple. We are too proud to stoop to conciliate, because we think 
 our merits entitled to command admiration ; and conscious of 
 superior freedom and intelligence, treat with undisguised con- 
 tempt the want of them in others. We are, to other nations, 
 subjects more of wonder than of love. 
 
 The endless variety of our character seemed to amuse and 
 surprise my new companions. Some, in the course of their stay 
 in England, had met with great civility, and others with occa- 
 sional rudeness from people in the same condition of life, with- 
 out their giving any particular cause for either. No two of us 
 they said were alike ; while, on the contrary, in other countries, 
 a sample or two from one class of society formed a pretty good 
 criterion of the whole. The higher ranks, they observed, were 
 powerful in their influence in the country, and distant in their 
 manners: the middling class commonly rich, independent and 
 
26 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 spirited; the shop-keeepers either very supercilious, or on the 
 contrary obsequious ; the inn-keepers insolent and exorbitant in 
 their charges ; but more especially the lower orders insuffer- 
 ably rude and insulting to their superiors, whether natives 
 or foreigners. This spirit, they could not reconcile with 
 the existence of good government or of public tranquility ; and 
 could not be persuaded but that in time it would destroy both. 
 Pride, in all classes, it was observed, formed one of the chief 
 characteristics of our nation. It might be a right feeling, it 
 was by no means impolitic to promote it ; but to foreigners it 
 was often offensive and repulsive, depriving even our good qua- 
 lities of half their due value. 
 
 Conversing with some officers one evening, at the usual ward- 
 room lounging place, the rudder-head, I experienced a sudden 
 and most unexpected attack on the merits or rather demerits of my 
 
 country, from Captain 11 ~, who managed the business so 
 
 adroitly, that I had not an opportunity of uttering three words in 
 reply. The purport is, perhaps, scarcely worth repeating, ex- 
 cept as being a summary of the opinions, or prejudices, of a 
 man really of considerable reading and information ; but whose 
 ideas were squared solely by the practices of a despotic govern- 
 ment, and that jealousy which individually and collectively the 
 continental nations are so prone to feel of England. 
 
 Rushing out of his cabin, with symptoms of impatience, as if 
 primed and loaded with arguments from the perusal of a French 
 philippic against us, he began without preface or delay, by ob- 
 serving that it was extraordinary that England should claim so 
 much merit from recent events, when so little was really due to her. 
 She was a small state, and in herself unimportant ; but raised to 
 eminence by fortuitous circumstances. The jealousies of the powers 
 of the continent had given her a footing there some centuries ago, 
 and their quarrels and losses since had been the source of her gain. 
 By their own folly she had become, from being their inferior, their 
 equal ; and not contented with this, even aimed, with airs of arro- 
 gant superiority, at taking the lead as their master. It was, how- 
 ever, the pride of a dwarf straining to reach the magnitude of a 
 giant. This must soon cease ; she had overstrained herself by 
 attempting too much, and would soon discover her weakness, 
 and sink back into that insignificance from which she had only 
 emerged by some skill in commerce and a powerful navy raised 
 upon the wreck of that of the other maritime powers. But 
 ships could not last for ever. Commerce would in time change 
 its seat as it had always done since the world began, and then 
 what would become of her ? Could she exist afterwards as an 
 independent state ? Probably not. — At all events only a second- 
 rate power, who must receive the law from her stronger neigh- 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 27 
 
 bours. Her resources, even now, were exhausted. For some 
 years past they had in fact been more fictitious than real. Credit, 
 not capital, had been her support ; and like all desperate spend- 
 thrifts, who anticipate their revenues, she had gone on conti- 
 nually borrowing, till the mortgage exceeded the value of the 
 estate. Her public debt was a burthen which must drag her to 
 the earth. It could not be paid honestly ; and if otherwise got 
 rid of, would not only ruin her subjects, but blast her credit and 
 consequence irretrievably in the eyes of all foreigners. 
 
 The selfishness of England was disgusting ; — it was more — 
 it was both galling and insulting. Money seemed to be the god 
 of the country. Individuals, indeed, were both liberal and ho- 
 nourable in their transactions ; but the nation was at all times 
 ready to sacrifice either friend or foe for some paltry extension 
 of commerce. She had excluded from her shores half the pro- 
 duce of Europe, and taxed the other half by exorbitant duties. 
 Foreign enterprise seemed to her a crime, and foreign colonies, 
 standing eye-sores. Sooner than see a foot of ground subject to 
 another flag, she would gladly garrison, at an enormous expence, 
 and with no possible profit, all the barren rocks of Europe, and 
 of both Indies. Even her assistance was not disinterested. Her 
 money had been scattered throughout Europe, solely to annoy 
 France; and in fighting the battles of Spain and Portugal, 
 she merely defended herself. For Russia she had done nothing. 
 
 As to English liberty it was but a name, which, without in- 
 spiring the government, served merely to amuse the people. The 
 Ministers could carry any question they pleased. Parliament 
 was notoriously bought and sold, or, at least, half the seats in it 
 had a fixed price. All the liberty he had seen in England, more 
 than in other countries, was that of a lawless mob parading the 
 streets of Portsmouth, breaking the windows, and otherwise de- 
 stroying the property of the more respectable inhabitants — a 
 species of liberty which he was thankful Russia did not possess ; 
 for there a party of soldiers would have been ordered out to 
 
 Srotect the well-disposed. Scenes of this description, though 
 isgraceful to a savage, much more a civilized country, were 
 common in England, and often caused not merely terror and 
 anxiety, but absolute ruin to many peaceable individuals. In- 
 stances of this were numerous in London in the riots of 1780, 
 and in Birmingham in 1794, besides many occasional occur- 
 rences of a similar kind. Laws, indeed, might exist to punish 
 these excesses — and our punishments were certainly numerous 
 and severe — but there were seldom any precautions taken to 
 prevent them. 
 
 Our police was so miserable as to afford little or no protection, 
 even in the most public places, from thieves ; for a friend of hi* 
 Voyages and Travels, Vol. VII. l 
 
28 Voyage to St. Petersburg', in 1814. 
 
 had been robbed by violence at noon-day in the streets of London ; 
 and such instances he was wellinformed were not uncommon. In 
 no other streets of Europe were respectable persons so liable to be 
 aggrieved and insulted by the most despicable portion of the popu- 
 lation. And this too without redress. Was this system wise, or 
 likely to promote order in society, or general obedience to the 
 laws ? Was liberty inconsistent with adequate protection to person 
 and property ? If so, he for one gladly preferred what was called 
 slavery in Russia, to the licentious liberty of England. Our laws, 
 he understood, prevented oppression from the powerful or the 
 rich ; but left all classes at the mercy of the mob — the worst, 
 the basest, the most ignorant, and the most violent of mankind. 
 Of such vicious and ferocious characters there were more in 
 London than in any other capital of Europe. In Petersburg, 
 at least, the worst part of the population was civil ; but in Lon- 
 don a fellow detected in robbing, would, probably, add to his 
 insolence by also beating you. 
 
 In fine, England, though no doubt a rich country, possessed 
 so little liberality of spirit, as to aim at making the rest of Europe 
 subservient to her plans of draining the whole of its wealth into 
 her own coffers. Her system was selfish, her views contracted — 
 her principles of trade, those of a mere shopkeeper. Though 
 calling herself the benefactor of the continent, all the powers of 
 it disliked her ; — some were influenced by fear, some by interest, 
 but none by love. — Blessed as we were with an acknowledged 
 fine country, no foreigner, unconnected with business, would live 
 in it. Our habits were unlike those of any other people ; and 
 our society, though unquestionably not deficient in talent, cold, 
 formal and repulsive. Every thing, even the common necessa- 
 ries of life, were at an enormous price. And notwithstanding 
 the boasted equality of the laws, the avenues to public justice 
 were so impeded by heavy charges, as to be rarely accessible to a 
 poor man, when opposed to the rich. — The nation, however, 
 might eventually be good, and happy, and respectable, did it pos- 
 sess a wise or effective system of government; but he was convinced 
 — and he had heard many persons of rank and fortune in the 
 country say the same — that while the monarchy continued 
 limited, and an opposition existed in parliament to thwart all 
 the measures of the ministers, good or bad, it never could attain 
 permanent power or prosperity. 
 
 The earnestness and fluency, added to the rhetorical gestures, 
 with which the captain discharged his blunderbuss of censure 
 against poor England, had already drawn all the officers around 
 us, anxious to hear the discussion. Dreading a subject, how- 
 ever, which I had always carefully avoided, because it was 
 unlikely I could convince, and yet impossible to remain silent 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 29 
 
 if attacked, I tried in vain to get away. The zealous orator 
 had jammed me in a corner, whence, without rudeness, I could 
 not escape. Disappointed in this, I endeavoured, by interrup- 
 tion, more than once to break the thread of this red-hot phi- 
 lippic; but the captain only elevated his voice and gave still 
 more animation to his gestures ; replies of every kind, apology, 
 justification, or attack in return, were overpowered by his 
 breathless volubility. The peroration at length arriving, my 
 time seemed at hand. But the slippery orator again foiled me ; 
 for the last enlightened dictum was no sooner uttered, than turn- 
 ing quickly round, he fled from the scene of debate, running 
 out of the ward-room with still more precipitation than he en- 
 tered it, though not without receiving from me a volley of ex- 
 postulation in his rear, which had something of the effect, at 
 least, if not the reality of victory. For the officers, who en- 
 joyed the scene not a little — as indeed all the argument was 
 carried on in good humour — admitted that this ruse seemed as if 
 the speaker were in doubt whether his objections might not be 
 satisfactorily answered. 
 
 This tirade, a sprinkling of truth amid a mass of contradic- 
 tions, which, however, contained several straggling compliments 
 that I have not repeated, forms a pretty good abstract of the 
 general opinions of foreigners respecting England, the peculiari- 
 ties of which, because they cannot understand, they commonly 
 take care to misrepresent ; and it is astonishing with what 
 avidity these misrepresentations are received. All the eyes and 
 ears of the continent are open to any thing defamatory of us ; 
 because the people cannot possibly conceive by what fair and 
 honest means so small a country should have become so rich and 
 so formidable. England is to them literally a Terra Incognita. 
 Few comparatively visit it ; and these cannot look below the sur- 
 face of public affairs, where the ebullition of a little popular 
 spirit seems to indicate nothing but confusion and insubordina- 
 tion. They know nothing of a government of public opinion ; 
 physical force is their only substitute, ignorant, as it seems, of 
 the ten-fold powers of the former great moral machinery of a 
 free nation, for putting its resources and rulers into action. 
 
 The captain, therefore, who had resided two years in Eng- 
 land, besides several occasional visits, with the advantage of 
 speaking the language nearly as fluently as myself, could not 
 trace our peculiarities to their proper origin, no more than others 
 whose pursuits and studies have been exclusively directed to the 
 subject. But in censuring our commercial views, and depreci- 
 ating our manufactures, he forgot the preference shewn to the 
 latter by the officers of the fleet around us, many of whom, I 
 was informed, carried large assortments of hard- ware, black and 
 
30 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 freen woollen cloths, refined sugars, and other articles bearing a 
 igh price in Russia. Some of these were doubtless to oblige 
 their friends, and others, it was said, intended as commercial 
 adventures. For this I do not vouch. Some, however, omitted 
 to settle with the custom-house — which bears the character of 
 being excessively strict — and the ingenuity of one in evading it, 
 excited considerable laughter. His principal valuables were 
 packed together, something in the shape of a man, placed on a 
 small platform used for removing the sick, covered with a flag 
 as is customary, and in this way safely conveyed, on the shoul- 
 ders of a boats"' crew, through the midst of the revenue myrmi- 
 dons, as an invalid on his way to the hospital ! 
 
 Before concluding with the Russian officers, another opinion 
 of theirs may be mentioned. This was, that war would proba- 
 bly soon take place between England and their country. The 
 reason I did not learn, but such seemed the general belief. Should 
 this at any future time be unavoidable — and it never can be jus- 
 tifiable, except from the direst necessity — we shall have little to 
 fear. Even the captain admitted this, when on another occa- 
 sion, in a half-bitter spirit he exclaimed — " England is strong 
 by accident; — she is secure in spite of herself; — her empire is 
 insular. — But placed in the heart of Germany, how long would 
 she have retained her boasted freedom, wealth, or indepen- 
 dence P 11 
 
 Notwithstanding these little ebullitions of envy, I could plainly 
 perceive the speaker admired us much more than he was willing 
 to acknowledge. Strong hints of this kind slipped out conti- 
 nually. — " England was a most extraordinary country — quite 
 unintelligible to a plain understanding. Every thing he saw, 
 taken individually, was highly defective; but conjointly, their 
 effect was wonderful. 11 — We parted good friends. With a hearty 
 shake of the hand, he said, should the chances of service call 
 an English officer on board again, there was none he would 
 meet with so much pleasure as myself. 
 
 As we approached the harbour of Cronstadt, it presented a very 
 magnificent and imposing appearance, even to an English nautical 
 eye, accustomed as it is to ships, boats, docks, canals, moles, fortifi- 
 cations, commercial bustle, and all the other usual accompani- 
 ments of maritime life. It is, however, where the men of war 
 commonly lie, at least more of a roadstead than harbour, pre- 
 senting a great and open expanse of water, though sufficiently 
 protected from any extraordinary violence of wind or sea. The 
 general depth of water is not very considerable. Sand-banks 
 exist here and there, rising in some places nearly to the level of 
 the water, in others above it, on two of three of which, deno- 
 minated islands, are erected some very strong works, sufficient 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 31 
 
 to prevent the approach of a hostile fleet, their guns seeming 
 not more than two feet above the water-line. These were prin- 
 cipally thrown up under the influence of no small terror immedi- 
 ately on hearing of Lord Nelson's attack on Copenhagen, which 
 severed the Northern Confederacy. His approach subsequently 
 to this place, communicated a panic even to St. Petersburg, 
 which even now seems to be remembered by the shyness displayed 
 on trifling nautical points to English naval officers. In coming 
 in, they did not heave the lead in our ship, nor in any others 
 that we observed, in order, as it is supposed, that the soundings 
 should not be known. The channel of approach was repre- 
 sented, I know not how truly, as narrow ; the depth of water 
 in no place exceeding six fathoms, and commonly not more than 
 four and a half ; this is little more than sufficient to float a first 
 rate. 
 
 The town is situated on the eastern extremity of an island of 
 the same name, about five miles long, though very narrow. 
 The distance is between three andfour miles from where the men 
 of war, in readiness for sea, commonly anchor. The pull in 
 an open boat is tedious ; but the prospect, when you arrive, of 
 the mighty labours of man in shaping enormous masses of gra- 
 nite into facings of basins, canals, and docks, into fortifica- 
 tions and quays without number, amply compensate the trou- 
 ble. Every thing we see is on the grandest scale, and every 
 thing, be it remembered, is artificial ; nature has done almost 
 nothing, but labour and expence every thing ; and though many 
 projects are incomplete, or only little more than begun, yet the 
 scale on which they are planned, is at once a proof of the great 
 designs and the mighty means of this nation, though even now 
 almost in its infancy. 
 
 A particular description of the various works will not be ne- 
 cessary here, land indeed without ocular inspection, would be 
 scarcely intelligible. Nothing has been neglected which can 
 facilitate the instruction, equipment, and repairs of the Impe- 
 rial navy, with which great point nearly every thing we see is 
 more or less immediately connected. What is more surprising, 
 the credit of almost the whole is due to Peter the Great , the 
 idea, the execution, and nearly the completion are his. Born 
 at once an Emperor and an extraordinary genius, every thing 
 seems to have been not only within his reach, but within the 
 scope of his ambition, from the government of a kingdom to 
 the planing of a board or the manufacture of a nail. Not con- 
 tent with a theoretical knowledge of these among a hundred 
 other arts, he would execute them himself, and in general ex- 
 tremely well. He used to say, " he paid many thousands of 
 worse workmen. ,, It was also one of his occasional occupations 
 
82 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 to labour among the stone-cutters employed on the works of this 
 place. 
 
 The great basin or wet-dock for the reception of merchant- 
 men, is unequalled by anv thing of the kino: in Europe, except 
 our own docks at Blackwall, which are, however, of recent date 
 compared to that of Cronstadt. It affords infinite facility to 
 commerce, by carrying vessels nearly into the heart of the town, 
 and may contain, perhaps, three or four hundred sail. At this 
 time it was so well filled that I could scarcely discover a vacancy. 
 Never, even in the Thames, did I observe a more extensive or 
 denser forest of masts. It was gratifying to find that they were 
 nearly all belonging to our country, and of course so many 
 practical testimonies to our wealth, reputation and enterprise. 
 Besides the crews of these vessels, every second person we saw 
 was English ; the beach, quays, streets, and taverns (their 
 keepers and servants also of the same nation) were crowded with 
 them, bustling to and fro with the characteristic hurry of com- 
 mercial business, and occasionally, it must be confessed, deal- 
 ing out to each other, or to strangers unluckily in their way, 
 some of the choicest flowers of nautical eloquence. This is not 
 an occasional, but on the contrary, a constant scene all the 
 months in which, from the absence of the ice, the Gulph of 
 Finland is open to traders ; so that the place might be taken for 
 an English colony. For so exclusively is the trade of this port 
 in our hands, that of a thousand foreign vessels which enter, it 
 is calculated 930 are British. What a pity that two nations so 
 useful, and almost necessary, to each other, and whose real in- 
 terests in all ordinary conditions of the world, present so little 
 chance of interfering, should ever have been inconsiderate enough 
 to go to war ! 
 
 The Public buildings are not very numerous, with the excep- 
 tion of the government and mercantile storehouses, hospital for 
 the reception of seamen of the Imperial navy, the barracks, cus- 
 tom-house, and a few others of minor consequence, some in good 
 order, and others, it must be confessed, bearing evident testimony 
 that the attention of the people in power has been of late directed 
 more to other objects. The arsenal is in tolerably fine condition, its 
 interior regulations good, and as far as the finances of the country 
 have lately permitted, pretty well supplied with stores and work- 
 men. It is remarkable, however, how many ships there are here, 
 old, in want of repair, or from some other cause totally unser- 
 viceable; even two or three new ones have had their backs broke, 
 as the builders say, in launching, and are therefore, though still 
 perfect to the eye, unfit for service. Altogether, counted upon pa- 
 per, as sovereigns and statesmen most frequently reckon their 
 forces, the navy is strong, but the effective force is not considera- 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 88 
 
 ble. Even the majority of those in service are old and much in 
 want of repairs. 
 
 The town occupies a considerable extent of ground, the streets 
 irregular and often dirty, and the houses straggling. Many of the 
 latter seem much neglected and going to decay, the access to some 
 being quite ruinous or filthy ; others again are not merely of an 
 opposite description, but really elegant, among which may be 
 ranked all those owned or occupied by our countrymen, who 
 carry their characteristic comforts and neatness every where with 
 them, though they seldom make proselytes to their practice. 
 Besides two or three Russian Churches, is an English one with 
 a resident Clergyman, supported by contributions from the mer- 
 chants. There is another officiating minister also at St. Peters- 
 burg ; a situation which has been almost always filled by able 
 and pious men, from whom we have at different times derived no 
 little information respecting this extraordinary empire. 
 
 Two very tolerable inns, kept by Englishmen, afford pretty 
 good entertainment, when not crowded so much as they were at 
 this moment. Scarcely a vacant corner — nay not even, as they 
 say at the London theatres, " standing room," could be pro- 
 cured without some difficulty during the day, from the influx of 
 masters of merchantmen, full of bustle and business, cargoes, 
 freights, and insurances, profits and losses from their private ad- 
 ventures, quarrels with their seamen, and appointments to din- 
 ner with the merchants, interlarded with jokes and bantering 
 anecdotes, arguments and scolding, loud laughter and occasional 
 swearing, the whole washed down by copious libations of bottled 
 swipes (porter) and grog. Such a Babel I never saw before. 
 When the evening called these hardy sons of Neptune on board 
 their vessels, we found both room to breathe as well as very 
 good beds, and when not chusing to dine alone, a very tolerable 
 dinner at the table d'hote, for the moderate sum of two and a half 
 rubles, which at the then rate of exchange was about half a 
 crown. 
 
 Groups of unfortunate convicts are to be seen labouring on 
 the public works, and traversing the streets on various duties, 
 heavily ironed ; yet probably from the desperation characteristic 
 of such a condition, rather than indifference, singing their natio- 
 nal airs, and clanking their chains in " rude harmony." Their 
 allowance is little more than bread and water, with a very small 
 sum of money daily. Russia is very sparing, and rightly so, of 
 human life. She does not write her criminal laws in the blood of 
 the victims, as we do in humane and enlightened England. No 
 crimes, I believe, but murder and treason, and very frequently 
 not even these, are punished with death. The people, besides 
 a superstitious feeling on the subject, dislike such exhibitions ; 
 
34 Voyages m Petersburg?^ 1814. 
 
 and succeeding sovereigns find their account in substituting in 
 their place the knout and exile to Siberia. The barbarities for- 
 merly practised in cutting off hands, arms, and ears, and slitting 
 the nostrils, are now seldom executed except for atrocious 
 offences. Branding in the forehead is sometimes the substitute 
 for these. 
 
 The resident natives and population are commonly calculated 
 at 40,000, a number, I have some reason to think, exaggerated. 
 In summer the influx of strangers is reckoned at 10,000 ; but mi- 
 grations between this and Petersburg are frequent with all classes, 
 particularly servants, tradesmen, clerks, labourers and others. The 
 English form a numerous and important body, highly respected by 
 the natives and visitors of all nations, for their attention and 
 hospitality. Nearly the whole, are of course, mercantile men, 
 and several are reputed very rich. 
 
 But the most singular looking objects are the natives, distin- 
 guished by sallow, sun-burnt faces, long beards like Jews in 
 mourning, a loose outside garment something like a wide great 
 coat without cape or collar, large trowsers, each leg of which 
 may contain a man's body, and stuffed into boots which seem to 
 have been formed in the infancy of cordwaining. The face, 
 were it not for a certain expression of low cunning, sedate, and 
 plodding, not arch or vivacious, is not displeasing. The hair 
 hangs down to the shoulders, as strait as a pound of candles, and 
 is there cut off all round with great regularity, leaving little more 
 than the mere front of the face uncovered by greasy uncombed 
 locks, commonly tenanted by a numerous brood. When combed 
 and clean, this fashion, though rude, is not altogether displeasing. 
 It gives the wearer an air of vulgar simplicity, strongly remind- 
 ing us of one of our country bumpkins whose hair has been cut, 
 as the phrase is, round the rim of a trencher. 
 
 In the summer time amusements are few ; winter is the season for 
 shewing off, when each tries to excel his neighbour in the elegance 
 and richness of his sledge and the spirit and beauty of his horses. 
 The walks near the town are few, walking not being in fashion 
 in Russia. We strolled out about a mile to a kind of tea and 
 coffee house, surrounded by gardens poorly laid out. The house 
 was filled by some scores of the officers of the fleet, presenting a 
 scene of confusion worse, if possible, than the inn in town, and 
 therefore did not detain us long. The English are pretty socia- 
 ble among themselves. Hospitality is a leading virtue with the 
 Russians, and he who is respectably introduced has a general 
 invitation on the days on which they see company ; this he is ex- 
 pected to accept without the formality of further pressing. 
 
 Of all the national recreations of a people, that of the bath, as 
 used here, is the most singular. Men and women, totally, or 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 85 
 
 almost totally, denuded of clothing, mingle together without im- 
 proper motives or feelings of violated decency, and pass through 
 the ordeal of cleanliness, as if mankind were still in the state of 
 innocence of our first parents in the garden of Eden. Europe 
 has no similar exhibition ; and it is difficult to conceive how it 
 originated or was tolerated here. What seems no less extraordi- 
 nary is the mode in which this purgation of the person is effected ; 
 for the bather rushes from the hot or vapour bath streaming with 
 perspiration into a tank of cold water, or into the river, if at 
 hand, or in the winter rolls in the snow, by way of bracing up 
 after the previous relaxation. Some of our party strolling 
 through the town, intruded accidentally on this extraordinary 
 scene. Struck with astonishment thev merely looked round and 
 hastily retreated ; but the impression of wonder and disgust was 
 not soon eradicated. People here consider it as nothing out of 
 the way ; and the fact is a singular instance of the force of 
 custom. 
 
 It should be remarked, however, that it is confined to the 
 second, or lower class of people, as in this country there are only 
 masters and slaves, no middle class being yet formed, except a 
 few merchants in the large towns. Saturday is the principal day 
 for this recreation ; the admission is but three or four copecs, 
 about two-pence English ; and almost every village in the empire 
 possesses its bath. The inner, or vapour room, is prepared by 
 water being thrown on stones heated red-hot ; and perspira- 
 tion is promoted by washing and switching each other with birch 
 rods. When satisfied with this, they proceed to the cold bath, 
 or have pails of cold water poured over their heads. 
 
 Cronstadt, or Crown town, offering nothing more worthy of 
 notice, we prepared to set off for the Capital by water; but, English 
 like, had nearly forgotten that passports are necessary credentials for 
 travelling all over the Continent. These were procured without 
 much trouble. A few questions of name and profession served 
 to fill up the blanks in a sheet of substantial paper, and shew that 
 we were, " good men and true." A pretty large, and not un- 
 handsome boat, received our party ; and the master calling on 
 board a guard ship, stationed at a little distance from the shore, 
 in order to shew that the passports were " all right," no further 
 interruption occurred. 
 
 The passage, which commonly occupies four hours or more, 
 is by no means unpleasant. The boat has usually an awning, as a 
 defence from the sun, and the crew are clean, if not well dressed. 
 The Neva here is of considerable breadth, expanding as it ap- 
 proaches the gulph of Finland over a low tract of ground, which, 
 on the ebb-tide, becomes visible, shewing that the navigable line 
 of the river is far from considerable. At a distance its ranks do 
 
 Voyages and Travels, Vol. VII. m 
 
36 Voyage to Si. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 not shew to much advantage ; but when nearer, several of the 
 merchants' 1 country houses are seen to great advantage. 
 
 If the mind finds, at the first approach to St. Petersburg, but 
 little to admire, this feeling gradually gives way as we approach 
 the city. Buildings of solid granite, as extensive as they are ele- 
 gant, bridges, palaces, quays, churches with gilt domes, and 
 turrets glittering in the sun, the banks of the river faced with 
 the solid rock, and a succession, for a mile or two, of splendid 
 and costly mansions, which it requires some persuasion to believe 
 are the residences of private individuals, all strike upon the eye 
 with irresistible grandeur and a decided feeling in the mind that 
 there is nothing equal to it in Europe. Every thing we see has 
 an air of magnificence ; perhaps the size of some, the materials 
 of which they are constructed, and the idea of the labour necessary 
 to give them their present form, may almost impart sensations of 
 the sublime. The Imperial Academy of Arts, the Marine Cadet 
 Institution, and other noble edifices on the left, with the long line 
 of the Great and English Quays, on the right, added to the 
 gigantic facings of the Neva on both sides, are alone sufficient 
 to confer celebrity on any city. But when we disembark near 
 the bridge, rush into Isaac's Place, contemplate the admirable 
 statue of Peter the Great, run our eyes over the Admiralty, up 
 the grand Perspective street, along the Hermitage, Winter, and 
 Marble Palaces, examine the hundreds of other mansions equal 
 to palaces rising on every side, and enter the new Metropolitan 
 Church, dedicated to the mother of the God of Kazan, all other 
 faculties are absorbed in those of unfeigned admiration and 
 astonishment. Other capitals may be larger or richer, but in 
 beauty none for a moment can come in competition with this 
 Queen of the North. Hers is the triumph of Architecture.* In 
 this respect she not only is, but ever must be the first in Europe, 
 or indeed in the world, because the plan and much of the execu- 
 tion were the work of one extraordinary man, whom no future 
 sovereign, however superior in ability, can equal in the means of 
 •accomplishing his designs. Regularity pervades the whole ; 
 the parts are so well fitted and adapted to each other that we can 
 scarcely find any thing to condemn. It is a city of palaces 
 rising in the midst of marshes. 
 
 The site of the city lies in the Province of Ingria, on the 
 banks of the Neva, a rapid river issuing from the Lake of Ladoga, 
 sixtv miles distant. Expanding here in its way to the gulph of Fin- 
 land several islands are formed, on some of which portionsof thetown 
 
 * The style of building in the Russian Capital resembles that of Waterloo 
 Tiace; and throughout that city, very little inferior to it— in all the public 
 
 works much sup3r:or. 
 
Voyage to St. Fdersburgy in 1814. 37 
 
 are situated. One of these, named VassiliOstrof, isthemost remarka- 
 ble ; united to the south or Admiralty quarter of the city by along 
 and ingenious bridge of boats or barges, on which is raised a broad 
 and convenient thoroughfare for every description of vehicle. Peter 
 began his new city in 1703, and it is said to have cost the lives 
 of 100,000 men in building. It ought therefore to be a magnifi- 
 cent place, considering the magnitude of the sacrifice made to 
 found it. Formerly it was exposed to inundations from the 
 rising of the river during strong south-west winds, occas oning 
 much distress and many losses ; and though less frequent now, 
 are always dreaded. When it blows from this quarter the inha- 
 bitants are put on their guard by guns from the Fortress, and at 
 night by lights ; autumn is the season of danger ; the highest 
 flood which is remembered rose to ten feet six inches above the 
 usual level of the stream. The great height of the surrounding 
 ground, caused by continual building, is one reason of their pre- 
 sent security ; but the bridges over the smaller arms of the river 
 are sometimes destroyed by the accumulation of water. Those 
 formed of pontoons, being much elevated in the centre by the 
 rising flood, offer a considerable acclivity to horses and carriages. 
 These approach nearly at a gallop ; and by the impetus, aided 
 by the police stationed there to prevent accidents, commonly suc- 
 ceed in gaining the summit. The surrounding country is low 
 and damp ; formerly it was uninhabitable, but the presence of 
 man, united to his wants, have now rendered it pretty healthy. 
 
 Disembarking near the principal bridge, the first considera- 
 tion after the gaze of wonder and delight had subsided, was the 
 choice of a house of entertainment. One, whose name \ do not 
 recollect, could not accommodate our party. The hotel de 
 L 'Europe, as some of them had a week before experienced, possess- 
 ed very poor accommodations, though with charges as extrava- 
 gant as any house upon the continent from which its name is 
 taken. In this emergency a kind of boarding house, kept by 
 one of our countrymen, wno however had at this time no other 
 inmates, was recommended, and we had no reason to regret the 
 choice. The table was daily well covered, and the beds clean, 
 at a moderate charge. Besides, the house formed a kind of 
 human menagerie, fit for a philosopher to study national charac- 
 ter. Our host was an officious, good natured Hibernian, who 
 knew every thing and every body, and moreover somewhat partial 
 to strong waters ; his wife a German, his waiter a Frenchman, his 
 maid-servants Russ ; varied occasionally by the presence of some 
 of his friends: viz. Danes, Swedes, Dutch, Italians, Americans, and 
 two or three straggling Spaniards. Forty years ago there was 
 no such thing as an inn in this city. 
 
 The equestrian statue of Peter I. as being one of the greatest and 
 most conspicuous ornaments of the city, usually claims the first 
 
38 Voyage to St. Petersburg, hi 1814. 
 
 attention of travellers. It is indeed a magnificent object, vast 
 in its proportions, admirable in its execution, honorable to the 
 extraordinary personage represented, to the extraordinary woman 
 who ordered, and to the eminent artist who designed it, and not 
 less happy as a rare occurrence in works- of art— in its situation r 
 standing in St. Isaac's Place, one of the finest squares or open 
 areas in Europe, 
 
 It was opened to the public in its present situation the 27th 
 August, 1 782, by almost as solemn a ceremony as the proclamation 
 of a real Emperor. Catharine and all her court viewed the ceremony 
 from a platform ; a cordon of troops surrounded the scaffolding ; 
 without were all the population of the city, who rent the air with 
 acclamations, when, on a signal being given, the inclosure, which 
 had hitherto concealed it, disappeared. On this occasion all 
 criminals, condemned to death, were pardoned, all deserters for- 
 given, and all convicts sentenced to hard labour, except those 
 guilty of murder, released. 
 
 Walking, I have remarked, is an exercise not in fashion in 
 this country. The English have tried to introduce it in vain. 
 Few genteel people are seen on their feet in the streets ; and 
 some years ago it would have been reckoned the height of vul- 
 garity. Every body, even the barber who comes to shave you, 
 rides, or is expected to ride, however short the distance or unfur- 
 nished the pocket, though the charge it is true is not considera- 
 ble. The common medium of conveyance is a Drojeka, or, as it 
 is pronounced, Drosky ; a machine which, as well as many other 
 things here, is unlike any thing else of the kind I have seen in 
 the world, though it has been my fortune to have visited almost 
 all parts of it. 
 
 The plainest of those in the streets for hire may in a few 
 words be described, as a short, oblong, uncovered bench, 
 variously ornamented, hung on springs, and running on four low 
 wheels behind one horse, who goes at a pace something between a 
 hard trot and a gallop. Close to his tail sits the driver, or Ivats- 
 chic, bearing his number on his back. On each side, with their 
 backs to each other, and riding side-ways, may sit a passenger, 
 the seats cushioned, and the feet on a rest elevated only twelve or 
 fourteen inches from the ground. No covering defends the tra- 
 veller from the rain above, or mud beneath, sun and dust out 
 of the question. What purpose in nature, except swift loco- 
 motion, the Drosky is intended to answer, I cannot conjecture; 
 Comfort and cleanliness, should the weather be the least unfa- 
 vourable, are impossible ; and as to convenience, it is, as an honest 
 countryman of ours remarked, just no convenience at all. Yet, 
 these are the only substitutes for our hackney coaches. In 
 winter they give place to the sledge. 
 
 The sledge is a machine equally as singular as the drosky, by 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 39 
 
 means of which the communication is kept up in winter between all 
 parts of this vast empire, carrying commodities and persons from 
 Kamtschatka to Petersburg when no other mode of conveyance 
 would be practicable. It isformed of two longitudinal piecesof timber 
 about five feet long, shod with iron, and united by cross pieces, upon 
 which is erected accommodation according to the pocket or con- 
 dition of the owner, and yoked to the horse by a pair of shafts. 
 This is the general form, though in some portions of the Em- 
 pire slight variations are seen, adapted to local circumstances. 
 Those of the peasants are often merely logs of wood joined together, 
 to a sailor's eye simply forming what he would call a land-raft. 
 When owned by the nobility they are, on the contrary, very ele- 
 gant vehicles, highly and expensively decorated. Great pride in 
 their horses is a distinguishing feature among the young men of 
 fortune. Those kept for the sledge are peculiarly beautiful, high 
 spirited, and of the Arabian breed. One goes in the shafts ; the 
 other prances, curvets, and displays all his points of figure and 
 action by the side of his companion. Their manes and tails are 
 never cut, and some attain an enormous length. So essential is 
 this beauty to a Russian horse, that those who are deficient in' 
 either, from accident or the poverty of nature, are supplied by 
 their owners with false appendages of this kind cut off from the 
 dead. The harness is likewise gaudy ; ornaments of brass and 
 silver, party-coloured tassels and embossed leather, are thickly 
 spread over it, not always with taste or regard to effect. 
 
 Numbers of coaches in the English fashion are frequently seen 
 in the streets with four horses, driving nearly at a gallop ; this in 
 fact is the pace of every vehicle in the place ; pedestrians, how- 
 ever, are seldom endangered, because the streets are wide, and the 
 population, compared with the extent of the place, thin. In ad- 
 dition, the postillion, always a lad riding on the off horse, and 
 habited in a long brown coat tied round his middle by a red-sash, 
 is often bawling out to those in the way to take care. His skill 
 and care are remarkable ; and the leaders being widely traced 
 from the shaft horse, he must often in turning a corner exert 
 both. The coachman has the addition of a venerable beard to 
 his countenance ; the footman military boots, spurs, and some- 
 times shewy liveries. 
 
 A coach or chariot is an absolutely necessary appendage to 
 every stranger who would visit or be visited, or otherwise be con- 
 sidered a person of respectability. Without this he is nothing. 
 A walking Englishman, indeed, straying to the shores of the Neva 
 to dissipate his constitutional spleen, or indulge his curiosity, is 
 occasionally tolerated ; but any other foreigner so situated would 
 soon find himself in Coventry. The hire of one of these vehicles 
 for a month, at the present rate of exchange, would amount to 
 about £ 15 sterling; they remain in attendance the whole of the 
 
40 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 day, the men seeming to eat, drink and sleep, pertinaciously en 
 their respective posts. 
 
 The expences of living certainly are considerable, more so by a 
 great deal than in Stockholm, though perhaps not much more than 
 in Copenhagen. Yet the necessaries of life are cheap, though 
 the aggregate of expence is otherwise ; I mean comparatively, for 
 out of England no man would square his ideas of living by the heavy 
 claims upon his purse incident to London. The hotels certainly 
 are as dear ; but a single man can always manage at much less 
 comparative charges than a family. To the latter, house rent is 
 dear, education is dear, dress is dear, wine is dear, all other luxu- 
 ries are dear, while the equipage is not cheap. Men servants, 
 finding themselves with food, may be hired for £30 a year. 
 Exclusive of the Opera and other amusements, a small family, 
 I was told, with economy, may live pretty well on J?900 per 
 annum. This, though comparatively little in England, is high 
 for the Continent. 
 
 The streets are wide, straight, and some of great length, particu- 
 larly the Grand Perspective, which extends nearly to four miles. 
 They are all, with perhaps some exceptions, paved ; but few have 
 foot-paths for pedestrians. The Perspective, indeed, originally 
 possessed this distinction, till the unfortunate Paul substituted for 
 them a broad walk in the centre, planted with linden trees, which 
 has by no means an unpleasant effect. The English Quay, 
 with its splendid mansions and bank, and facings of hewn granite, 
 nearly two miles long, is a magnificent place. And it is almost 
 a source of pride to a true-born Briton, to know that, even in a 
 foreign land, his countrymen are sufficiently wealthy and impor- 
 tant to retain, in a great degree, this noble pile of buildings for 
 their residence. Except upon this, and one or two other 
 streets, walking is certainly more unpleasant and fatiguing than 
 any other place I have been in. These, being flagged or 
 gravelled, present a flat surface to the feet ; but in the others, 
 the prominent points of the pavement become so uneasy after an 
 hour or two^ walk, as to remind me frequently of the facetious 
 Peter Pindar's story of the " Pilgrims and the Peas. 11 Drosky- 
 riding is therefore, perhaps, more necessary to the ease of the in- 
 habitants than at first sight may appear. 
 
 The style of building houses is light, shewy, and agreeable; some- 
 thing between the Grecian and Italian. The houses are com- 
 monly large, three and four stories high, with frequently a gate-way 
 in the centre, leading sometimes to an inner open area, not always 
 very clean and characteristic of what we expect in the entrance 
 to a rich and powerful noblemans palace. Amid many edifices 
 of marbl eand other stone, the general materials for building are 
 brick, stuccoed, or stained, to imitate the former. The resem- 
 blance is sometimes perfect, for the Russian workmen are, pro- 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 41 
 
 bably, the most skilful in Europe ; and every house, when com- 
 pleted, is subject to the revision of persons in power. The shops 
 make but little external show ; but within are both elegant and 
 spacious. Many of these are kept by natives of France. The 
 number of Marchandes des modes particularly attract the notice of 
 a stranger. 
 
 Within these few years, the great majority of houses in the 
 outskirts of the city, and in the more private streets, were built of 
 wood. These, as they fall to pieces, or require considerable re- 
 pairs, must be replaced by the more substantial fabrics now in 
 use, pursuant to standing orders of the police, which, by order of 
 the Emperor, is furnished with plans for that purpose. Every 
 thing indeed is done which can contribute to the embellishment 
 or convenience of this City of Palaces. And if the means be 
 sometimes arbitrary, which an Englishman can scarcely forgive, 
 they may, in this instance be excused, on account of the superior 
 claims which the capital of a great nation always possesses, to the 
 improving hand, the taste, designs, liberality, and revision of her 
 sovereigns. London is miserably deficient in all the more noble 
 and striking features of architecture. 
 
 The fine river Neva, during the summer months, presents a noble 
 appearance ; the stream broad, deep, and rapid, being covered 
 with boats bearing gay pendants, and streamers floating in the 
 breeze. It is well known, that Peter, among other extraordinary- 
 projects to bend the minds of his people to his own mode of 
 thinking, interdicted the passage by bridges for some time, in 
 order to promote that by boats. The nautical mania, however, 
 never raged very strongly among the Russians. To a people so 
 -generally continental, as scarcely ever to see the ocean, it is, in 
 fact, unnatural. And in any country^ where a large standing 
 army admits of choice in the military profession, it is unques- 
 tionable, that the land-service will always be chosen, both by offi- 
 cers and privates, in preference to that of the sea. This is the 
 general feeling of the Russian nobility. 
 
 During the winter the surface of this river offers a singular 
 spectacle in the number of sledges and skaiters flying to-and-fro 
 with incredible swiftness. Towards the end of September the frost 
 commonly sets in, and breaks up in April or May. The bridges, 
 formed upon pontoons, and of course moveable, are opened to 
 admit the passage of large masses of floating ice, which would 
 otherwise destroy them. Bridges, such as ours, would not stand 
 here, from the pressure of the ice against the piers of the arches ; 
 and the width is much too considerable for the span of one arch. 
 Plans of this kind have frequently been proposed, and models 
 submitted for approval ; but the present structures are, perhaps, 
 the best suited to local circumstances. 
 
4& Voyage to St. Petersburg, m 1814. 
 
 Canals are another noble feature of this seat of the Czars ; faced 
 like the river with the solid rock. The principal are those of Moi- 
 ka, Fontanka, Katarina, and Nikolai, which variously intersect it, 
 crowned by various small bridges, and presenting a resemblance 
 to some of the cities of Holland. It cannot but be a matter of 
 surprise that London has nothing of this kind, so well supplied 
 as it is with the means. On the Surry side of the river it would 
 be easily practicable, and form a new, useful, and beautiful addi- 
 tion to our own metropolis. 
 
 One of the first things which meets the eye of the stranger in 
 approaching this city is the gilded cupolas and spires of the 
 churches. This is done, it is said, with ducat gold. The effect 
 under a fervid sun is singular; and were there not abundant 
 other uses for gold in Russia, though the expence was not, 
 perhaps, vast, it would be a proof of magnificence. Numbers of 
 these edifices rise in every quarter, monuments of the religious 
 devotion of the people, and not unworthy of the sacred cause to 
 which they are appropriated ; whose sublime truths, though they 
 cannot be improved by the pomp of the place in which they are 
 uttered, deserve, at least, as suitable a receptacle as things of little 
 or no moment. 
 
 Kazan Church, or the great metropolitan temple, situated on 
 the right hand in proceeding up the Grand Perspective, is the 
 most magnificent edifice of the kind in Europe, after St. Peter's 
 at Rome, and St. Paul's in London. It is on the site of an old 
 church of the same name, and held in high veneration, on account 
 of containing a sacred figure of the Virgin. Here the Emperor 
 and Imperial Family frequently bowed the knee, in humble sub- 
 mission to divine power. Here also, each passing native paid his 
 obeisance to the patron Saint within, by taking off his hat, bowing, 
 and crossing the hand on the breast. It was begun in 1802. At 
 present, it may be called all but finished ; after the expenditure 
 of an immense sum, though in some parts, I understand, con- 
 tracted from the original design, which was grounded upon that 
 of St. Peter's. 
 
 Within, the extent is amazing, presenting at least one source 
 of the sublime, — space. The decorations, it is almost needless to 
 say, are neat, handsome, and highly finished ; but what struck 
 me with considerable surprise and pleasure, they were also plain. 
 This I did not calculate upon ; for the Roman churches offend 
 so much in the contrary excess, that in the Greek, which in other 
 respects so much resemble them, no material difference could be 
 expected. 
 
 In the exclusion of frippery to the superior claims of chaste 
 and unassuming simplicity, there is, however, one object so truly 
 beautiful, and yet so splendidly grand, that neither St. Peter s 
 
Voyage to Si. Petersburg, in 1814 48 
 
 nor St. Paul's, nor any other building in the world, can produce 
 any thing similar. This is a wood of pillars of Finland granite, 
 each formed of only one solid, unbroken piece, about (perhaps) 
 forty feet high, and polished by extraordinary care and labour 
 to the smoothness of glass ! Compared with this, some of the 
 wonders of the fairy palaces are nothing. And though quarrying, 
 conveying, erecting, and polishing such mighty masses of matter 
 unbroken, might seem a labour fit only for their genii ; yet the 
 whole was performed by simple, uneducated, half-clothed, half- 
 civilized Russian boors, without assistance from foreign talent. 
 The diameter of each pillar may be about forty-eight or fifty-eight 
 inches ; and the total number is, or was intended to be, (for 
 I omitted at the moment to count) eighty-four. The effect of the 
 whole is no less handsome than magnificent; the granite is of a 
 greenish colour, and in some, shades of light sparkle brilliantly. 
 
 The architect of this imperial structure, which will immortalize 
 him as much as its patron and promoter, (the munificent Alexan- 
 der) was a slave ; or, in other words, born on the estate of a 
 powerful nobleman, Count Strogonoff, to whom his services for 
 life, according to the laws of this country, were thenceforth due. 
 His education was necessarily confined; but displaying, at an 
 early period, strong traits of superior genius, his noble owner had 
 him instructed first, and convinced of his talents, at length gave 
 him liberty. 
 
 I had almost forgotten to say that the remains of the celebrated 
 General Suwarroff' lie here. The inscription, in Russian, on 
 the tomb is short but pithy, and admirably suited to the character 
 of the man : — 
 
 HERE LIES SUWARROFF! 
 
 The removal of this warrior to his present abode is but recent, 
 having formerly lain in the church and monastery of St. Alexan- 
 der Newsky. 
 
 These, which are moated round, cover an extensive patch of 
 ground, at the very extremity of the Grand Perspective, and were 
 built by Peter the Great, over the shrine of a former Prince and 
 Saint of this name, who had been successful in defending his 
 country ; but like many other patriots, prematurely lost his life 
 by domestic treachery. An order of knighthood, if I mistake 
 not, has been likewise instituted to his memory. 
 
 The brethren of the monastery, sixty in number, are of the 
 order of St. Basil, a favorite saint in the Greek Church. Their 
 costume is truly dismal, being black from head to foot ; their 
 persons stout, their countenances sallow, disfigured by long 
 beards, which in men of the middle period of life always gives a 
 ferocious appearance. 
 
 Voyages and Travels, Vol. VII. n 
 
44 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 Within the walls of the establishment is a place of interment, 
 adorned by several monuments, pretty well executed ; a kind of 
 vaulted way is used for the same purpose, commonly occupied by 
 persons. of consequence. Round the cloisters are double windows 
 to obviate the piercing cold of winter, and during this season 
 stoves in every part disseminate an agreeable warmth, without 
 which the place would be scarcely habitable. 
 
 Returning through the Perspective from the monastery, we 
 stopped to examine the mart of industry, Gostinnoi Dvor, situate 
 on the left, not far from the Kazan Church. It is a vast building 
 of two stories, defended from the weather by piazzas, filled with 
 small shops and stores, provided with every native article of use 
 or ornament, for biped or quadruped. The solicitations for our 
 custom were equally incessant and innumerable, resembling the 
 teazing importunities of the Israelites of rag fair, London, whom 
 they resemble in more respects than one. 
 
 The Russian tradesmen are perhaps the keenest of their craft 
 in Europe. In skill, perseverance, assiduity, and due obsequi- 
 ousness, none can exceed them ; but strict regard to character 
 must not be reckoned among their merits, for few will cheat with 
 so little ceremony, heedless, as it seems, whether their future 
 interests may not suffer by their unfair dealings. It is remark- 
 able, however, that this characteristic is common to all people 
 unacquainted with the more extended principles of commerce, or 
 imperfectly civilized ; they only look to the present, leaving the 
 future to take care of itself. He commonly demands twice the 
 sum he will take for an article, and if he meets with a novice in 
 the art of dealing in his country, may make a good day's work 
 out of a single bargain. Not content with this, he will occa- 
 sionally take the liberty of substituting an inferior for a better 
 article, smiling all the time most good-naturedly in your face, 
 with the dexterity of a professor of legerdemain. 
 
 Several well-dressed women paraded this walk, though not in 
 such numbers as might be expected, or as the place of recreation 
 deserves, were the exercise more in fashion. Nor were they 
 handsome. Female beauty is not a flower of Russian growth, 
 yet exceptions, of course, occur ; generally speaking, however, 
 their features are not agreeable, partaking something of the Tar- 
 tar cast ; few have any colour, owing, perhaps, to indolence, to 
 diet, to over-heated rooms in the winter, and to seldom courting 
 the fresh air, at least so much as they ought in summer, ana 
 scarcely at all during the reign of the frost. Their dress, is 
 commonly in the French style, almost all the milliners and dress- 
 makers being of that nation. 
 
 A very favourite resort of the citizens in summer, is the 
 domains and gardens of the nobility, situate on some of the 
 islands of the Neva. A few of these display much care and 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg^ in 1814. 45 
 
 taste in the arrangement, as veil as in the works of art, with 
 which they are occasionally ornamented. To these they are per- 
 mitted to resort, to enjoy the fresh air, and the green and flowery 
 parterres, adding a zest to the rural repast which forms a feature 
 in the excursion. Alexander, as much, perhaps, from good 
 nature as policy, frequently treats the citizens with parties of 
 pleasure ; m the summer to fire-works, music, and dancing at 
 PeterhofF ; in the winter to a masquerade, in the spacious saloons 
 of the winter palace. The nobility, in degree, imitate the ex- 
 ample, by granting every indulgence in their power. 
 
 The summer gardens are a work of Catharine's, the walks 
 extensive, the parterres regularly laid out, the company fre- 
 quently fashionable, and the balustrade lining the banks of the 
 river tasteful and grand. 
 
 The fortress, raised by Peter for the defence of his new capital, 
 but for many years used only as a state prison, stands on one of 
 the islands, containing also several good streets, to reach which 
 we had to cross two bridges. The work itself is pretty exten- 
 sive, and formed or faced with granite. Within it is the church 
 of St. Peter and St. Paul, remarkable for its lofty spire, gilt with 
 ducat gold, and for being the earthly resting place of the sove- 
 reigns of Russia, since the days of Peter the Great. They are 
 entombed in stone, covered by richly embroidered velvet palls. 
 I could not look on that of Paul, standing alone, without some 
 feelings of pity, enemy as he was to our country at his death. 
 But midnight assassination is so horrible in itself, so treacherous 
 in principle, so revolting to every feeling of men, and to every 
 institution of society, that perpetrated on whom it may, it is sus- 
 ceptible of only one emotion — unqualified horror and detestation. 
 Even in Turkey, murder does not always accompany deposition 
 from the throne ; and for a madman, surely there is some other 
 treatment than strangling. 
 
 Within the fortress is likewise the mint. England, I under- 
 stand, for we were not permitted to enter, supplied the apparatus 
 for coining ; but there is little use for it, the precious metals 
 being scarce. Siberia, however, along with her furs, has fur- 
 nished a little both of gold and silver. 
 
 -The cells for state prisoners, situated mostly in the bastions, are 
 said to be numerous, but, happily for humanity, have been of late 
 years little tenanted. Few that once entered them ever emerged 
 again to the light of day. Siberia and the Knout were much less 
 terrible then perpetual enthralment here ; and accordingly, they 
 have been, with comparative humanity, substituted during the 
 last twenty-five years, even by the jealous Catharine. It was 
 in one of these cells that the beautiful and accomplished woman, 
 already alluded to, the reputed daughter of the Empress Eliza- 
 beth, entrapped by the matchless villainy of Orloff, terminated 
 
46 . Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 her existence; whether by the dagger, poison, strangling, or 
 drowning, is still matter of doubt ; though in the eye of the faith- 
 ful narrator of history, and of a still higher judge, the mode is 
 of little consequence. 
 
 From the summit of the church may be obtained the best 
 View, both in its principal parts and as a whole, that can be had 
 of a city, whose outline, if filled up in every part, would embrace 
 a circumference of twenty English miles. 
 
 Returning from this temple of durance, which had excited some 
 melancholy thoughts, ana which is regarded by the populace 
 with no little awe, our driver, who had fixed his eye with a 
 chuckle of welcome recognition, on a passing female of his ac- 
 quaintance, to the momentary neglect of his horse's head, ran so 
 close to a Cossack of the guard, as to disturb the economy of his 
 trappings. The latter, turning his horse round with a furious 
 expression of countenance, seemed as if he would strike him to 
 the ground ; from my position I was half afraid of coming in 
 for a share of his vengeance ; but curbing his passion with what 
 we afterwards understood to be uncommon forbearance, merely 
 Uttered a few maledictions, accompanied by very intelligible 
 threats, and permitted the offender to proceed. Had there been 
 any of the police at hand, and few streets are without them, Mr. 
 Jehu would, probably, have received several thwacks from their 
 batons over his shoulders, and perhaps mulcted into the bargain. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to describe these strange-looking troops, 
 the Cossacks, who have already gratified the eyes of the gazing 
 multitudes in London. If not soldiers for show, however, they 
 are at least admirable for service, in the light parts of an army, 
 as videttes, scouts, or foragers, and in a pursuit few can equal 
 them ; their natural love of enterprise, and capacity for enduring 
 fatigue, being quickened by the hope of plunder. I was fre- 
 quently assured by the officers of the guards that, but for this 
 uncouth looking force, the French retreating army would have 
 got off with much more ease, and perhaps a third less loss than 
 it actually experienced. The hardihood of their horses is per- 
 haps of equal value with the spirit of the men. What the latter 
 is able to endure the former seems always willing to second — 
 both in their way are unequalled; the horses require neither 
 groom, stable nor litter and the smallest portions of water and 
 food; the man, in emergencies, is, if possible, still more abstemious. 
 
 There are three distinct nations or tribes of these people, which 
 take the names of the Donsky, Uralsky, and Baschkir Cossacks, 
 differing only in minor points, and some, particularly the latter, 
 in variation of dialect, which is a corrupt Russian. Their qua- 
 lities, arms, equipments, regulations, and services are however 
 nearly the same. A considerable number are always on duty in 
 Petersburg, particularly about the palaces and the grand parade. 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 47 
 
 Somewhat in doubt respecting the professional skill of our Dros- 
 ky-driver, we discharged him, and proceeded on foot to view the 
 Academy of Arts, a large pile of building, situated in the Vas- 
 sili-Ostroff. In one of the principal rooms were a number of 
 casts from the antient statues, including all, I believe, " known 
 to fame," among artists and connoisseurs. The paintings were 
 few, some unexplained cause having occasioned their temporary 
 removal ; and native productions of merit are unknown in Rus- 
 sia. Several architectural models are to be seen here, both of 
 home and foreign erections. None of the students were at work 
 during our visit; and on the whole we felt somewhat disappointed. 
 
 The Academy of Sciences is a noble erection, situated in the 
 Vassili-Ostroff, but not so far down the bank of the river. It is 
 another testimony to the comprehensive capacity of Peter the Great, 
 who having done for his subjects all that was possible for man to 
 do in the more useful and necessary, but perhaps humbler arts of 
 life, finished his career by opening a door to native talent in the 
 higher departments of science. In fact it was one of the last acts 
 of his life, having himself drawn the plan, and signed it on the 
 10th of February, 1724. Catharine I. faithfully fulfilled the 
 design of her great predecessor and husband. On the 27th 
 December, 1725, the society, composed of some natives, and 
 many illustrious foreigners, assembled for the first time, and the 
 1st of August following, to give still greater eclat to the infant 
 seat of learning, she honoured it with her presence, when Bul- 
 finger, Professor of Natural History, delivered a suitable oration 
 on the occasion. 
 
 Since the first institution it has experienced some vicissitudes, 
 being neglected by some of the sovereigns, and encouraged by 
 others ; its members occasionally of greater or less character, its 
 transactions and publications displaying more or less activity and 
 talent. Among the professors are reckoned the illustrious names 
 of Wolff, Hermand, two Bernoullis, two De Lisles, Bulfinger, 
 Gmelin, Guldenstaedt, Lomonosof, Rumovsky, Pallas, and that 
 extraordinary prodigy of memory and mathematics, the celebrated 
 Euler, to whom the volumes of transactions were so frequently 
 indebted for their ablest and most ingenious articles. The first 
 volume appeared in 1728 ; for some years they came out pretty 
 regularly, but of late have diminished in frequency. Mathematics 
 constituted the favourite subject at first, as of our own Royal 
 Society ; like our own also, this study has been latterly neglected 
 for natural history, under the encouragement and example of the 
 famous Pallas. The total number of volumes published is 
 between seventy and eighty. Nothing can be more modest, 
 or truly characteristic of such a society, in such a country, 
 than the motto, Paulatim. v 
 
48 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 Besides a president and director, fifteen professors fill various 
 chairs, with salaries from =£150 to =£700, besides a residence and 
 some other advantages. The vacancies, however, I was told 
 were not always regularly filled up. The annual sum set apart 
 for its maintenance by Catharine was nearly i?14,000, and I 
 believe this has not been increased, her Jboundless expenditure 
 in every way, and on every object that gratified the whim of the 
 moment or promised applause from strangers, and from poste- 
 rity, having caused financial derangements, which the prudential 
 economy of the present amiable monarch has not yet been able 
 to remove. 
 
 The Museum forms a principal object of the curiosity of 
 strangers. Here, after two or three hours examination, we were 
 gratified with monsters of all kinds, biped, quadruped, bird, fish, 
 and reptile ; wonders, natural, and, I had almost said, super- 
 natural ; ingenious mechanical inventions, upon which the 
 inventors spent the best part of their lives, and Catharine some 
 of her money ; metals, minerals, and fossils ; specimens and 
 varieties in natural history ; and not only an abundance of the 
 manual works, models, and amusements in wood, of Peter the 
 Great, but the very hero himself, that is a wax-work figure of 
 him, said to be a great likeness, clothed in a full suit of his iden- 
 tical garments, in pretty good order, with the sword he usually 
 wore. Besides these, there are various other samples of his 
 common working dress, worn thread-bare, for every one knows 
 Peter was nothing of the beau, and a hat, shot" through, I think, 
 at the battle of Pultowa. 
 
 Several of the more distant parts of the empire contribute to 
 the collection of curiosities in various specimens of their produce, 
 animal and mineral, the dress, implements, and ornaments of the 
 natives ; among others are several sledges and the figure of a 
 Kamschatkan Soothsayer from the life. The South Sea Islands 
 and North West coast of America have likewise contributed to 
 the embellishment of the museum, some things being the gift of 
 English circumnavigators, and others of their own, Kruesenstern 
 and Lisiansky, who went out in 1803 and returned in 1806, 
 thus accomplishing, in the first days of Alexander, a feat of 
 science which Catharine during her long reign did not attempt. 
 There are likewise several models of bridges, some by men of 
 science, others by unlettered boors, which display wonderful 
 genius ; they are principally meant for the Neva, in lieu of the 
 present structures, and would certainly be more elegant, though 
 perhaps not more useful. 
 
 Remounting our droskies, and seizing fast hold of the sash of 
 the driver, which to a novice in this species of riding is almost 
 necessary to prevent measuring his length on the pavement 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 40 
 
 should a rough stone be in the way, we set off as usual at a 
 half-gallop to examine the exterior or the vast pile of building, 
 called the Winter-Palace. Strangers, at this time, were not ad- 
 mitted to view the apartments ; nor is there indeed much to see, 
 except large rooms, galleries, corridors, and stair-cases, presenting 
 nothing remarkable but their numbers and a few fine chandeliers. 
 Occasionally a favoured few find access to the private apartments, 
 which display some handsome and costly furniture, native and 
 foreign. 
 
 The architecture of this mighty edifice, which stands on the 
 bank of the Neva, is complained of as heavy, but there is never- 
 theless an air of grandeur and magnificence about it, arising per- 
 haps partly from its extent, which is not a little imposing. It is 
 built of brick stuccoed, and consists of a basement and two stories, 
 supported by columns, and set off with balustrades. Several 
 statues of merit ornament the exterior in many parts; some 
 however are so elevated, or placed in regard to position, as to be 
 little, if at-all, distinguishable from the ground. In this capa- 
 cious erection of the Empress Elizabeth reside the Imperial 
 family during that frigid season whence its name is derived ; and 
 here are given those splendid but suffocating entertainments to 
 the Bourgeois, whom all wise monarchs, restricted or despotic, 
 make it their business occasionally to court. Here, it was told us, 
 two thousand persons have been sometimes stuffed into these 
 apartments on such occasions. The sight of so many happy and 
 gratified faces, bedizened with finery, which we should think 
 adapted only to half-savage characters in theatrical representation, 
 must be no doubt pleasing to every lover of his species ; but on 
 account of the heat of the rooms, and the concatenation of unsa- 
 vory odours from the intermixture of so numerous an assemblage 
 not of the most delicate class, we were told it was much better to 
 be a spectator than partaker of the evening's amusement. The 
 number of stoves constantly in use here in winter is stated to 
 be enormous, — so many, ii I mistake not, as eleven or twelve 
 hundred, of all descriptions. 
 
 Pretty well satisfied with the exterior of this, we found little 
 difficulty in becoming better acquainted with the inside of the 
 Hermitage, an adjoining palace, as much adapted for show as 
 the other is for use, built by Catharine, and her favourite retreat, 
 when temporarily charmed, by a new swain, from the noise and 
 bustle of politics and the court. From this circumstance does 
 this splendid temple of luxury, as little appropriate in extent, 
 simplicity, and innocence to its name-sake, as can well be ima- 
 gined, take its title. It forms in fact a wing of the winter palace, 
 there being a communication between them over an archway, 
 which separates the bases of the two structures. Into the inmost 
 recesses of this enchanted mansion, few but the personal favourites 
 
50 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 of the Empress were permitted to penetrate, during much of 
 her time. It formed a kind of sanctuary to her privacies. All 
 that money could purchase, and ingenuity contrive, to render it 
 not only beautiful in itself, and admirable in the works of art, as 
 well as in some of the riches of nature, but the very first for con- 
 trivances, comforts, and conveniences, of every description, were 
 unsparingly procured. Several marvellous stories are told of it in 
 her reign. By stamping on the floors of some apartments, 
 couches of down would arise in a moment ; in others bouquets 
 of flowers in all seasons, and the most rare and costly perfumes. 
 Springs touched in certain places would produce the sweetest 
 music ; and when the presence of attendants was not agreeable, 
 sumptuous repasts were introduced by invisible means. In all 
 these mechanical contrivances she took particular delight, and 
 paid for them handsomely ; national taste had, perhaps, some- 
 thing to do with them, as the inventors were commonly Ger- 
 mans. Mere likewise she meditated some of her greatest pro- 
 jects ; and with Potemkin arranged the political machinery for 
 carrying them into execution, in which, perhaps, no sovereign 
 was ever more successful, as it is doubtful whether she gained 
 more by her intrigues or by her arms. 
 
 Ascending a capacious stair-case a minute carried us into an 
 immense suite of rooms, occupied by paintings of the first mas- 
 ters. Among these are works of Rembrandt, Teniers, Wou- 
 vermans, Berghem, Vandyke, Snyders, Rubens, Guido, Sal- 
 vator Rosa, two Poussins, Murillo, Claude Lorraine, Gior- 
 dano, and at least fifty others, many being from the Houghton 
 collection, purchased in England. Numbers of the best produc- 
 tions of those eminent men adorn these walls, and also, perhaps, 
 though I do not pretend to be a connoisseur, a few of the worst. 
 Each master has, as far as is practicable, a room to himself; 
 but three or four in the same style and subject may be seen 
 quietly together, where the rival and jealous painters, if alive, 
 woulcf scarcely let them inhabit the same city. 
 
 Taken altogether, notwithstanding many undoubted de- 
 ductions on account of bad taste, the assemblage at the Her- 
 mitage is superior in numbers, and, what is more, not in- 
 ferior in excellence to any other in Europe, not excepting even 
 that which the Louvre boasted, as the spoils of plundered 
 Europe. To an artist the contemplation of so much excellence 
 must be a great source of enjoyment. Admission is not diffi- 
 cult, and those who desire it have permission to copy what they 
 please. The art, however, has not yet taken root in the coun- 
 try, at least the fruits are not evident. Sculpture, architecture, 
 engraving and medaling have had better success, and seem more 
 adapted to the genius of the people. Painting, it may be as- 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 51 
 
 serted, is the last of the fine arts which attains perfection in all 
 countries. Two copiers, an elderly man and a youth, were 
 busily occupied during our visit upon a head — not of Guido 
 or Rembrandt — but an indifferent one of the Emperor ; one 
 of which, we understood, was by his own orders, and intended 
 for a present. 
 
 The collection of curiosities is not only extensive, but sub- 
 stantially valuable, embracing a variety of precious stones of 
 considerable size and the finest water, large pearls, masses of 
 silver and gold from various countries, numerous specimens of 
 mineral ores, all the coins of the world, cameos, intaglios, a large 
 assortment of medals, of which study, it is said, the Empress 
 Dowager is very fond, moon-stones, as they are called, fine spe- 
 cimens of the verd-antique, rare and valuable gems, rare sam- 
 ples of mechanical ingenuity, a few curious models in wax, 
 some works in ivory of Peter the Great, and a thousand other 
 things, the bare catalogue of which would fill a volume. 
 
 The garden, situated upon the same floor, and of course 
 elevated to a considerable height from the ground, probably be- 
 tween thirty and forty feet, is not one of the least curiosities of 
 the Hermitage. Here, suspended as it were in air, the visitor, 
 to his amazement, treads on gravel walks, sees the green turf 
 vivid around him, and finds shrubs, and even trees thicker 
 than his leg, growing in luxuriance, under the shelter of which 
 he may take refuge on a couch, and contemplate the execution 
 and proportions of some favourite statue, several of which are at 
 hand. Within a short distance he may distinguish an orangery 
 covered in ; and be treated by the vocal exertions of an aviary, 
 collected from other climates, the little choristers flying to and 
 fro without restraint, and resting upon what are considered 
 their favourite trees, which have been brought and planted in 
 this aerial situation expressly for their enjoyment. The novelty 
 of the whole scene, and the recollection where it was situated, 
 not on the ground, but on (or near) the top of a palace, added 
 to the overpowering influence of the boundless riches of na- 
 ture and art which we had just examined, produced an effect 
 that for some minutes kept me tongue-tied, and induced an 
 opinion that the wonders of " The Hermitage"" alone are 
 almost worth a voyage to St. Petersburg. 
 
 The theatre, to which we next proceeded, offers nothing re- 
 markable, and so far disappointed expectation. Magnificence 
 is so obvious in every thing else, that we likewise expected 
 a more than ordinary share here. It is, however, very small, 
 so much so as in my opinion nearly to destroy the illusion of the 
 acting; the seats are semi-circularly arranged before the cur- 
 tain, rising one above another, covered with crimson cushions 
 
 Voyages and Travels, Vol. VII. o 
 
52 I 
 
 r oyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 and without backs, as in England. But a private theatre 
 always appears to me a selfish, if not an unsociable place ; for 
 half the amusement arises from observing the uncontrolled plea- 
 sure and happy faces of those around us, which the decorum 
 necessary to be observed before Imperial Personages has a ten- 
 dency to restrain. 
 
 The scenery, which we did not see, is said to be very fine, 
 being the work of the best artists the country can boast, with 
 the addition of several Frenchmen and Italians. Balls and 
 court-suppers are frequently given here, the pit being then 
 boarded over level with the stage. The display, on these occasions, 
 is represented as gorgeous and magnificent in the extreme, far 
 beyond any thing else of the kind in Europe, representing 
 more the fabled scenes of fairy palaces than the actual abode 
 of mortals, no expence being spared, and all the taste and skill 
 of the empire put in requisition for the occasion. We stopped 
 some time to examine it ; w-hile the Catharines and Potemkins, 
 and Orloffs and Panins, and Bestucheffs, all the famous and 
 infamous characters, which at once distinguished and disgraced 
 this court, passed in review before the " mind's eye, 11 and com- 
 pelled us, in some measure, to acknowledge that, notwithstand- 
 ing the crimes of some, there was a brilliancy about others 
 admirably adapted to impose on the understandings of the great 
 mob of mankind. 
 
 The Marble Palace and Church are, perhaps, tw r o of the 
 most costly and least elegant edifices in Petersburg, both under- 
 taken by the orders of Catharine. The former stands in the vi- 
 cinity of the Hermitage, and was raised for her favourite, Grego- 
 ry OrlofF, some short time before she presented him with an im- 
 mense estate — not of so many thousand acres — but of 6000 pea- 
 sants. It is of Siberian marble, of grey, brown, and copper co- 
 lours, but neither within nor without offers any thing remarka- 
 ble, but splendid furniture and some remarkable fine tapestry. 
 For a short time it became the residence of the weak and unfor- 
 tunate Stanislaus, the last of the Polish Kings, the favourite, 
 lover, minion, and victim of Catharine, who pulled him down, 
 as she set him up, without sufficient reason ; but who, had he pos- 
 sessed the firmness of a patriot, or the independence of a man, 
 would have been popular with his subjects, and thus might have 
 retained the distinguished seat to which he had been exalted. 
 This palace, after having been some years in the occupation of 
 some attendants on the court, has been an occasional residence 
 for the Grand Duke Constantine. 
 
 The Church, standing on one side of the area, in which ap- 
 pears the statue of Peter, not being finished at Catharine's 
 death, was completed by Paul, his share of the work being 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 53 
 
 partly brick, his mother's, marble and porphyry ; but the aver- 
 sion to her crimes and favourites extended even to her works 
 of art. The interior is extensive, and the dome seemingly im- 
 mense. Flags of different nations, bearing evident tokens of 
 age or hard service, were suspended from the walls, as from 
 those of all other places of worship we saw. Among others, 
 was an English Union Jack, the only one of our nation, though 
 those of others were abundant, which, from its size and make, 
 had, probably, belonged to some boat of the Baltic fleet, driven 
 on shore, perhaps, by stress of weather ; for nothing larger of 
 ours ever fell into the hands of the Russians. Though a solitary 
 trophy, it excited some national feelings, so that we contem- 
 plated the practicability of its removal ; and had the least op- 
 portunity offered would certainly have made the attempt. The 
 exterior of the Church has a dull and heavy look, from which 
 the inside is not exempted. 
 
 St. Michael's Palace, the last, as well as favourite, residence of the 
 unfortunate Paul, stands near the summer garden. It is a vast 
 quadrangular fabric, built by an Italian architect, of red brick, 
 upon a basement of Finland rock, displaying little taste, but 
 many spacious apartments, and numberless windows. Only 
 two years and a half were occupied in the erection ; by dint of 
 incessant labour, and the almost daily superintendance of the 
 Emperor himself, who looked forward to its completion with 
 an eagerness, now considered by his superstitious subjects, omi- 
 nous of his own fate ; for here the unhappy monarch was soon 
 after put to death. What induced him to construct a new 
 palace, while so many were unoccupied, is difficult to say, ex- 
 cept it were whim, or an aversion to his mother's memory. The 
 latter is commonly believed ; and among his people, at least 
 his nobility, it constituted one of his deadly sins. She had prac- 
 tised that system of favouritism, of loose principles, and of osten- 
 tatious profusion, so congenial to minds only half enlightened ; 
 she had extended at once their fame and their arms, and grati- 
 fied their love of barbarous aggression abroad, and useless shew at 
 home. They in return believed all she did to be right, and that 
 any deviation from her system was improper. Even Alexander, 
 on his accession, had to assure the nation that he would tread 
 in her steps. None of the Imperial family have resided in this 
 palace since the horrible catastrophe alluded to. 
 
 Taurida Palace, was once the residence and property of Prince 
 Potemkin, though paid for, I believe, when erected, by the prodi- 
 gal munificence, seldom backward in rewarding services, of Ca- 
 tharine, with whom he was a long-cherished favourite; in the first 
 instance as a lover, and latterly as a general and minister. It 
 stands towards the east end of the city, and is of brick stuc- 
 
54 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 coed, the exterior much less striking, as well as lower than any 
 other of the palaces, but making up in extent what it is deficient in 
 height. A minute description of this celebrated place, so famous 
 throughout Europe for the Arabian-night-lxke entertainment, (for 
 nothing else ever approached it in boundless magnificence and 
 expence) given to Catharine and her court, would be needless. 
 It embraces every thing which the wealth of Potemkin could 
 purchase, and this is all that need be said. The celebrated 
 hall for which it is remarkable, and Avhere the entertainment 
 in question was given, is, in space at least, one of the architec- 
 tural wonders of Europe. Report says it was his own design ; 
 this is not improbable, as he was a man of much native talent 
 and ingenuity, little improved by education, and in many re- 
 spects, perhaps, an absolute barbarian, though certainly a mag- 
 nificent one. 
 
 A double range of handsome, though plain, columns, rising 
 to an amazing height, support the roof of this extraordinary 
 apartment, built to all appearance more for giants than for men, 
 but the execution of the whole is unquestionably tasteful in the 
 highest degree. To add to its interest several statues of an- 
 tiquity and merit stand between the columns. Opening from 
 it is the winter garden of the Emperor, an immense pavilion 
 filled with orange trees, flowers, and shrubs, blooming nearly 
 all the year round, interspersed with charming walks, and pre- 
 senting a scene of delightful recreation at all seasons, particu- 
 larly in the winter; when without all is frost and snow and 
 intense cold ; while within 
 
 Soft zephyrs move, eternal summers reign, 
 
 And show'rs proline bless the soil, 
 not indeed from the heavens, but from reservoirs abundantly 
 supplied for that purpose. At this time it must present a sin- 
 gular spectacle of the triumph of art over natural difficulties, 
 the climates of the pole and of the tropics separated only by a 
 few yards ! 
 
 On the other side of the hall, facing the winter-garden, is a 
 saloon occupied by a few works of art. The pleasure, fruit, 
 kitchen-gardens, and hot-houses, enjoy every advantage which 
 Imperial wealth and scientific taste can bestow. Their extent 
 is very great, laid out principally in the English style, and 
 well watered by small canals. Here, during the short summer 
 season of this country, the Imperial Catharine, in the last six 
 years of her life, when the hand of age began to press upon 
 her frame, though it could not damp her spirit, spent much 
 of her time. I did not see the Theatre.. The remaining apart- 
 ments in Potemkin's time were, I understand, remarkable for 
 their almost unjustifiaWe costliness ; at present they are plain, 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 55 
 
 displaying nothing paltry, but nothing very remarkable, except 
 immense quantities of glass, cut and plain, in chandeliers and 
 mirrors. 
 
 Returning from this quarter of the city, I remarked a number 
 of Russian workmen employed on a house of considerable mag- 
 nitude, which, on enquiry, was said to be raising for a merchant, 
 who, though born a slave, was now reputed worth £1 00,000. The 
 workmen seem the most rude and uncouth creatures imaginable ; 
 many with long beards, and wrapped in sheep-skins, looked 
 like so many Orsons just issued from the woods. They are, in 
 fact, all from the country. Brought up to an out-door trade, 
 they gain permission from their lord to seek out the best mar- 
 ket for its exercise, usually Petersburg, Novgorod, Moscow, 
 or some of the other largest cities, by paying him an extra sum 
 for the indulgence, but before their departure frequently marry, 
 and leave the wife behind, in the care of their father, who ex- 
 ercising all the marital rights, cohabits, without reproach, with 
 his charge, and, perhaps, rears a family of beings, at once bro- 
 thers and sisters or children to his absent son ! This detestable 
 custom, though checked of late years, still exists in a shameful 
 degree. It seems so unnatural, that it must have originated from 
 the recommendation of the lords, avIio count heads instead of acres, 
 rather than from any natural perversity of proper feelings in the 
 people : from whatever cause, however, it is an unquestionable 
 proof of barbarism ; scarcely any thing worse can be found among 
 the untutored natives of the South Sea islands. 
 
 The most remarkable thing in the common workman or pea- 
 sant, is his ingenuity. His powers of ivention are far from 
 despicable, and his capacity for imitation altogether extraor- 
 dinary. Whatever he sees in the mechanical arts he can al- 
 most to a certainty copy, though to a person in the same class 
 of life in any other country of Europe, it would offer insu- 
 perable obstacles; the faculty is, perhaps, Asiatic, for it also 
 belongs in an eminent degree to the Chinese. No other man 
 within our pale of civilization executes so much and so well 
 with such inadequate means. The Russian is ignorant, in a 
 great degree, of all those scientific inventions among us cal- 
 culated to supersede or to expedite human labour ; yet in the 
 most trying difficulties he is rarely at a loss, and ultimately 
 is sure to conquer them. The model of a flying-bridge of one 
 arch, intended to cross the Neva, and the conveyance of the 
 rock upon which the statue of Peter stands to the capital, be- 
 sides numberless other examples of ingenuity, are proud tro- 
 phies to the capacity of the most illiterate boors. The carpen- 
 ter's only implement is his axe, with which he performs, with 
 
56 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 admirable neatness and precision, all the delicate and compli- 
 cated operations of his trade. 
 
 The Stone Theatre is a spacious edifice; it stands in a large con- 
 venient open area, — where all theatres ought to stand, instead 
 of being screwed up in some obscure, intricate corner, requir- 
 ing a day's search to find out, as is commonly the case in Eng- 
 land — contiguous to the Nicolai Canal, over which is a bridge 
 nearly opposite. The entrance is under a grand portico, sup- 
 ported by eight or ten handsome columns; the length of the 
 sides of the building about 200 feet. Operas, French, Ger- 
 man, and Russian plays are occasionally performed here, parti- 
 cularly the first and last, for which there are regular com- 
 panies, under the direction, as is frequently the case on the 
 continent, of government. The others receive assistance from 
 amateurs and private performers belonging to the nobility, many 
 of whom residing at a distance from the capital, have their 
 own theatres and companies. In the area, the visitor's atten- 
 tion is attracted by four small circular iron structures, intended 
 for large wood fires, kept here during severe frost for the 
 warmth of the servants in waiting, who, previous to this hu- 
 mane measure, were sometimes frozen to death, and frequently 
 mutilated in their extremities by froft-bites and subsequent 
 mortification. 
 
 No performance taking place during our stay, I did not see 
 the interior, but some of my friends who had been more for- 
 tunate, represented it as equal in size to the Opera House in 
 London, somewhat elliptical in shape, containing four tiers of 
 boxes, and on the whole handsomely decorated. The Em- 
 peror's box, as in all foreign theatres, is in the centre. Part 
 of the pit is furnished with several rows of seats, offering the 
 luxury of backs, the want of which, both in the boxes and 
 pit of an English theatre, is a severe tax on the bodily com- 
 fort of the spectator, and has often induced a wish that I could 
 transport myself for the evening to some more accommodating 
 receptacle abroad. With us, where new comforts form a kind 
 of study to much of our population, it is surprising this con- 
 venient innovation has never been attempted. The reason, 
 doubtless, is that it would interfere with private avarice, by 
 reducing (a little) the number of seats. Even this would be 
 a trifling sacrifice; but I think it very practicable to be done 
 without. A striking peculiarity is the general gloom before the 
 curtain, from the want of sufficient lights, whether arising from 
 penury or taste I cannot say, but suspect the latter, as I re- 
 marked the same thing some years ago in the Swedish theatres. 
 The brilliancy thrown over the house by the contrary prac- 
 tice in England, was probably one reason why some of my late 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 57 
 
 companions li of the guards'" were so much struck with the 
 imposing splendour of Drury Lane. 
 
 The Carriage Mart is situated in the Grand Perspective, and 
 called by the natives Yemskay. It presents a very large and 
 varied assemblage of machines of all shapes, qualities, and sizes, 
 either for the resident or traveller. Much capital and inge- 
 nuity, as well as numbers of workmen, are employed in this 
 trade, from the prevailing rage for equipages : but the latter, 
 though highly finished and fashionably shaped, are extremely 
 deficient in durability. From this cause English carriages were 
 frequently imported by those who could afford the expence, 
 which was thrice that of the native article. At present the prac- 
 tice is less common, as a heavy duty protects the Petersburg 
 manufacturer. One of the best home-made chariots costs about 
 800 rubles. 
 
 The Foundling Hospital is a noble edifice, containing, proba- 
 bly, fifty or sixty wards, in which each of the little deserted crea- 
 tures has a bed to itself, with the name, supposed age, and time 
 of its admission appended. Here all that are brought are re- 
 ceived without enquiry, difficulty, or examination; the mother 
 sometimes leaves a name or no name, a trinket or token of re- 
 membrance, as she pleases, but they are scarcely ever publicly 
 reclaimed, though private recognitions, I was assured, were not 
 unfrequent. It will be seen, therefore, that the system is totally 
 at variance with ours. Whether it tends to immorality, is a very 
 doubtful point, in which, as Sir Roger de Coverley observes, 
 much may be said on both sides ; but the number of children 
 annually received, amounting sometimes to twelve or fifteen 
 hundred, argues little for general morals. On the other hand, 
 few instances of child-murder are known. Human nature also, 
 it must be observed, in the indulgence of its passions seldom 
 looks to remote consequences; and probably the last thing a 
 young woman thinks of, when overcome by criminal love, is the 
 resource of the foundling hospital for her probable offspring. 
 
 The boys are brought up to various trades, and are generally 
 remarked for industry and sobriety, many being the best work- 
 men in the city, in time acquiring wealth and respectability. 
 The same thing I believe is common in London, as if provi- 
 dence made up by its protection for the neglect of the unnatural 
 parents. For the girls it is more difficult to find employment. 
 All the usual resources, however, for female skill and talent are 
 put in requisition, zealously and effectually supported by their 
 " good mother," as she is continually termed, the Empress Dow- 
 ager, who bears the character of being one of the best women in 
 her son's dominions. 
 
 Another establishment of her's which may be termed a national 
 
58 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 blessing to the sex of her country, is the Convent for Young 
 Gentlewomen, situated towards the east end of the city, an old 
 (if any thing can be called old here which can count little more 
 than a century) and capacious building, or collection of build- 
 ings, once occupied by a monastic order. Into the interior of 
 this institution, of which the Empress herself occasionally con- 
 descends to become lady abbess in propria persona, I dad not 
 enter, application for this purpose being made too late to wait 
 for the necessary permission, consistent with other engagements. 
 A friend, however, who had been there ten days before, fur- 
 nished me with the following particulars. 
 
 The Convent des Demoiselles offers to young women the ad- 
 vantages of any other convent, without its unnatural restrictions; 
 that is, they are well educated, and may quit it and marry when 
 they please. About four hundred of the young female nobility 
 of the less opulent sort are received here, whose friends partly 
 contribute to their support, besides about half the number of 
 the daughters of citizens, both receiving that portion of instruc- 
 tion and accomplishments suited to their respective spheres. 
 
 The Admiralty begins at one end of Isaac's Place on the 
 bank of the river, and extends over a considerable space of 
 ground, the church facing the end of the Grand Perspective. 
 Formerly this front was somewhat neglected and mean ; at pre- 
 sent, though not quite finished, it is grand and imposing in the 
 extreme, fit for the first, instead of the fourth, maritime state 
 in Europe, and altogether worthy of a city of palaces and splen- 
 did public works. This whole division of Petersburg takes the 
 name of the Admiralty quarter. 
 
 Here are arranged houses of all kinds for the reception of 
 each species of stores. Here, likewise, ships are built nearly of 
 the largest size, excepting, I believe, three-deckers, which, the 
 Neva behig otherwise too shallow, are obliged to be floated down 
 to Cronstadt by means of enormous wooden machines named 
 camels. To do this successfully is the ne plus ultra of scientific 
 knowledge and practical maritime skill. We have nothing of 
 the kind in England. A Frenchman, I think, suggested the 
 scheme to Peter the Great. The camels being: brought to the 
 sides of the vessel intended to be removed, are by artificial 
 means depressed in the water, and placed under her bottom, 
 when the pressure being removed, their natural buoyancy acting 
 on the frame of the ship, raises her along with themselves suffi- 
 ciently high to pass over the shallows of the river. This opera- 
 tion is one of great labour in addition to its skill. 
 
 Crossing the water to the Vassili-OstrofF quarter, we plunged 
 at once into the region of traffic, the custom-house, exchange, and 
 hard by, the warehouses for receiving the principal native com- 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, m 1814. 59 
 
 modities previous to being shipped off for more southern shores. 
 On the other, or Admiralty side, scarcely any of the bustle of 
 commerce is observed; the merchants reside and have their 
 counting-houses there ; but a clerk, or two, transact the business 
 on the opposite shore, and whom they may almost overlook from 
 their parlour windows. 
 
 It is remarkable, that the trade of this city is one almost en- 
 tirely, of commission. Commercial men are more factors than 
 what we commonly call merchants; to whom the Russian traders 
 from all parts of the empire resort at stated seasons of the year, 
 purchasing principally on credit, and being often paid for their 
 own goods in advance, on some recommendation of established 
 character, or other security ; and this honorable compact is not 
 often violated. About seven-tenths of the principal foreign mer- 
 cantile houses, and the main trade, it must be observed, rests in 
 their hands, are English ; the others composed of all the nations 
 of Europe. The internal trade of the country is solely in the 
 hands of the native merchants, who, by means of sledges, water- 
 conveyance, and caravans, circulate our commodities to the fron- 
 tiers of China. 
 
 Some of the produce of the latter country, notwithstanding the 
 immense distance of land-carriage, is procured better and cheaper 
 in Petersburg than in any other capital of Europe. What will 
 particularly delight an Englishman is the luxury of good tea, 
 that article of supreme enjoyment to the softer sex, to the sober, 
 and to the studious man, who is often, in the words of Samuel 
 Johnson, " in that article a hardened sinner, who has for years 
 diluted his meals with the infusion of that fascinating plant 
 whose tea-kettle has had no time to cool ; who has with tea 
 solaced the midnight hour, and with tea welcomed the 
 morning." Foreigners universally remark, that in no part of 
 Europe do they drink such bad tea as in London, though the 
 great emporium and second birth-place of the article. The price 
 given for that which is commonly consumed in most families in 
 the Russian Capital is about twelve shillings, English, per 
 pound. 
 
 For the protection and encouragement of trade and its pro- 
 fessors there are several guilds here, or incorporations for the 
 enrolment of those who choose to become members, by paying a 
 certain sum, and who have, in return, some peculiar privileges. 
 There is likewise another regulation, rather more fettering to the 
 freedom of commercial intercourse, though no doubt easily sur- 
 mounted by that ingenuity which has so repeatedly overcome 
 obstacles of a much greater description. This is a species of 
 security, or obligation, required by the Government, that those 
 
 Voyages and Teavels, Vol. VII. r 
 
60 Voyag8 to St. Petersburg, m 1814. 
 
 who make fortunes in Russia, shall not remove to another coun- 
 try to spend them ; the particulars, however, I did not learn. 
 
 Provisions and some other articles of primary necessity, in the 
 markets, are moderate in price, though living is, on the whole, 
 as already observed, dear. The Vassili-Ostroff has some very 
 good markets; in the winter, I understand, these are often a 
 place of resort for all classes of people, desirous to observe all the 
 fresh arrivals, devoted to the table, which this season exhibits. 
 The meat is particularly remarkable ; a bullock, perhaps, being 
 killed a thousand miles off', and brought hither, frozen as hard as 
 the pavement, to be sold, displaying, when cut up with the 
 hatchet, the brittleness of glass. Off' the Perspective are like- 
 wise several depots for game, poultry, fruit, and a variety of 
 other things, fitted for the immediate consumption of the table. 
 Some of the finest southern fruits particularly attracted our 
 attention. 
 
 With respect to the police, I must confess there was some 
 
 room for Captain R -a remarks upon the superiority of this 
 
 department of internal government in this country to that of our 
 own. The city is divided into several quarters, each under 
 several chief officers, under whom again are from fifty to eighty 
 or ninety men, forming, in the whole, a nightly guard of about 
 COO armed men, supported by patrolling parties of Cossacks, in a 
 capital little more than a fourth part as populous as London. 
 Scarcely such a thing as a robbery by violence is known. The 
 presence of a stranger is soon public, for every house-keeper is 
 obliged to give an account of all new-comers who sleep at his 
 house ; while those who reside here for some time are obliged 
 to advertise their departure in the gazette ; thus forming an ad- 
 mirable security to the trading part of the community against 
 swindlers. 
 
 Whatever be the cause, whether from a naturally good dispo- 
 sition, from the fear of punishment, from an effective system of 
 prevention, or from being as yet ignorant of the baneful effects of 
 general luxury, the mass of people are remarkably free from 
 crime. 
 
 The Russians have a great aversion to the punishment of death ; 
 for which, the Empress Elizabeth (I believe) introduced more 
 generally the practice of knouting. Even the appearance of 
 blood in two boors fighting, stops the combat immediately, and 
 he who shews this mark of his adversary's prowess commonly 
 comes off victor before the police ; — a trait of character indicating 
 little of cruelty in their composition. The knout is a dreadful 
 instrument, with which any punishment, from simple abrasion 
 ef the skin to removing pieces of flesh, and death may be in- 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 61 
 
 flirted at the pleasure of the executioner. It is, in fact, severe 
 flogging ; the instrument being a thong of ox-hide, dry and hard, 
 made fast to a strong wooden handle more than a foot long ; it is 
 said, that the executioner, if skilful, can penetrate at one blow 
 to the bone ; but the chief of police is present at all inflictions by 
 this weapon ; of course, the degree of severity is always propor- 
 tioned to the sentence or magnitude of the offence. If any pu- 
 nishment can deter men from offences, it is this ; yet, with all its 
 severities, knouting is preferable to hanging. 
 
 A considerable number of minor offences are punished with fine, 
 some of which are in England death ; such as wounding and 
 maiming ; others, of a more aggravated character, by imprison- 
 ment and labour ; by branding in the forehead or hand, and by 
 banishment to Siberia. Coiners and forgers are sometimes con- 
 demned to the gold, silver, and iron-mines of the latter country 
 for a term of years, a singular and appropriate retributive judg- 
 ment for the offence. 
 
 Soon after our arrival, a grand entertainment was given at the 
 country palace of Peterhoff', to the nobility and public, in honour 
 of the Emperor's return. I had a ticket, but a temporary indis- 
 position prevented my witnessing this spectacle, of which a 
 friend, however, who was present, gave me an account. This 
 favorite residence, about twenty miles from the Capital, near the 
 gulph of Cronstadt, was built by a French architect for Peter the 
 Great, with whom, as with most of his successors, it has been an 
 admired retreat from the heat and dust of the city. Here Catha- 
 rine II. resided some time as the wife of Peter III. ; and from 
 hence, she set out to Petersburg, on the astonishing enterprise of 
 dethroning her husband. The road to it is pretty, presenting 
 many country houses and gardens of the English merchants, laid 
 out with taste, in the style of their country. 
 
 All the mercantile population of the Capital seemed to have 
 congregated at Peterhoff* for the evening, as well as the nobility, 
 officers, and all foreigners of distinction, who filled the rooms to 
 suffocation, while the populace, (who are here, as well as at 
 home, somebody,) crowded the gardens to witness the illumina- 
 tions, water-works, and fire-works. These were all extraordinary 
 in their way, with which our Vauxhall, or any other public exhi- 
 bition of the kind, admit of no possible comparison. The dress 
 of the females was splendid, but remarkable, displaying a costume 
 more nearly allied to the Asiatic than European ; in addition to 
 lofty head-dresses, many shewy colours, and abundance of rouge. 
 A ball and splendid supper, distinguished by more, if possible, 
 than Imperial magnificence, completed the amusements of the 
 evening ; the supper is always select. Several dwarfs, who form 
 a species of play-thing in the houses of the principal nobility , 
 
63 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 were in attendance upon their masters. The furniture of the 
 rooms, particularly the chandeliers and mirrors, for which Russia 
 is celebrated, was particularly rich and handsome, though not of 
 recent manufacture. 
 
 Besides Peterhoff, and the princely mansions of the " Re- 
 sidence, 1 " the other Imperial edifices are the country palaces of 
 Zarsko-Zelo, built by Catharine I., an immense edifice ; Gat- 
 china, erected by one of the Orloffs, but now vested in the 
 Crown ; Pauvoloffsky, the work of Paul, and where he spent the 
 principal part of his time while Grand Duke, slighted, zealously 
 watched, denied the smallest portion of power, and the usual 
 privileges of his rank, by his fierce and suspicious mother ; Ora- 
 nienbaum, built in the time of Peter the Great, and where his 
 grandson Peter III. weakly surrendered himself to the same 
 ambitious woman ; and Strelna, on the Peterhoff road, built by 
 a nobleman about forty years ago. 
 
 Of religion, it is scarcely necessary to say that the Greek Church 
 constitutes the "Establishment 11 of Russia, of which faith the 
 Imperial Family, and all who marry into it, must be members ; 
 but all other persons have full license to follow what mode of 
 worship they please. Like the Roman Catholics, all classes are 
 strict in the performance of the ceremonies of religion. Festivals 
 are common, and Saints 1 Days numerous. Easter is the grand 
 period of rejoicing, when all ranks quit their customary employ- 
 ments to unite in a kind of national gala, in which sports, feast- 
 ing, and drinking, form the sole business of the lower orders. 
 During this period the commonest boor enjoys a singular privi- 
 lege ; it is that of kissing any woman he meets, not excepting the 
 Empress herself, provided he first presents an egg, which she is 
 expected to return. The custom is religious, but of its particular 
 origin I am not aware. 
 
 We had a Papa, (the name of the secular priests,) on board 
 the ship I was in, and service was frequently performed ; but 
 excepting, at these times, he was so constantly buried in the re- 
 cesses of the cock-pit that I scarcely saw him twice. His beard 
 was of no common length, a black close cap covered his head, 
 and a cloak of the same colour and materials, resembling coarse 
 calico, enveloped him from the neck to the ancles. 
 
 The fervency of devotion in all is particularly striking to a 
 Briton, who remembers the cold, unimpassioned manner charac- 
 terising public worship in his own country ; if the heart, how- 
 ever, be right, the manner is nothing. The responses were loud, 
 frequent, and general, accompanied by bowing, or partial pros- 
 tration, towards where the Papa officiated, behind whom hung a 
 figure of the Virgin, against the partition of the ward-room, which 
 was never removed during the voyage. In making the sign of 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, m 1814. 63 
 
 the cross, they touch the forehead, breast, and right and left shoul- 
 ders. Unlike the Roman Catholics, though so much resembling 
 them in other points, the Papa is allowed to marry once, but not 
 oftener ; the monks, of course, never. 
 
 Unlike, also, the persecuting tenets and practice of the Roman 
 Catholics, all religions are tolerated, and permitted the free and 
 unmolested exercise of their rites. Many of the different chris- 
 tian sects have handsome places for public worship in some of the 
 Erincipal streets, instead of resorting to holes and corners, or 
 eing hunted like wild beasts, as in the bigoted countries of Spain, 
 Portugal, and Italy. A difference of religion forms no ground 
 here for exclusion from offices of trust and emolument. It is said, 
 that a Bishop, in the confidence of Peter the Great, once pro- 
 posed the contrary of this to his master, who, too wise to be 
 guilty of such an absurdity in an infant kingdom, only replied, 
 by the question, " Do you wish me to cut off' my right arm ?" 
 
 A traveller returning from another country to his own, is 
 commonly anxious to bring a witness of the course of his travels, 
 in a present to the " better sex" of his acquaintance, who are, 
 usually, not a little eager after any thing " from abroad. 1 ' Know- 
 ing this, from repeated experience, I bent my way to a repository 
 for furs, and was rather surprised to find in the chosen region of 
 this comfortable article of warm clothing they were compara- 
 tively high in price ; as dear indeed, in some respects, (as the 
 vender very honestly assured me,) as in London. The assortment, 
 however, was well worth looking at, for its beauty and variety, 
 nor could I quit it empty-handed. 
 
 The immense distance which this valuable commodity has to 
 travel over land, the increasing difficulty of procuring it, the 
 general taste for it as an article of dress, and the great demand 
 also by the Chinese, are the reasons assigned for the advance, in 
 some instances exorbitant, of value. Many of the young nobi- 
 lity, in winter, wear fur pelisses, valued at four and five hundred 
 pounds sterling. The famous Prince Potemkin is said to have 
 worn one worth £5000. This is what some of the anti-sumptua- 
 rists would term, " carrying a fortune on your back. 1 ' A few 
 species of furs are so scarce as to be reserved for the use of the 
 Imperial Family. 
 
 The skins, for which this country is famous, form a very 
 beautiful article ; I never saw any thing of the kind finer ; the 
 favorite colours are red, green, purple, yellow ; and ladies, who 
 delight in forming their own various little nick-nacks, prize them 
 highly. Down, for making tippets, is likewise plentiful and 
 cheap. A friend of mine, somewhat of an epicure in the article of 
 ease, was provident enough to purchase sufficient to stuff a couch 
 of this luxurious produce; but, on examining it in England, 
 
04 Voyage to St. Petersburg^ in 1814. 
 
 found his bargain bore the usual traces of Russian ingenuity, the 
 packages being half filled with heterogeneous matters. 
 
 The usual mode of salutation among the natives is kissing, 
 which immediately strikes a stranger's attention ; the men em- 
 brace, and salute the cheek, as before observed, a custom shock- 
 ing in our eyes, particularly between two fellows with beards 
 half as long as my arm. All ranks and ages go through this 
 ceremony whenever they meet, after a short absence. Between 
 the sexes the same mode of recognition prevails. The gentle- 
 man commonly kisses the lady's hand, where they are acquainted ; 
 the lady salutes, in return, the gentleman's cheek ; and as the 
 operation requires both grace and dexterity to be done with due 
 delicacy, kissing, in this country, may be said to be reduced to 
 an art. 
 
 Beards are another striking feature in which the low Russian 
 differs from all the peasantry of Europe. But what is, perhaps, 
 still more remarkable, the higher class abhor the appendage, 
 while the boor prizes it above almost any thing else he is per- 
 mitted to enjoy, and would almost refuse personal freedom, if 
 purchased by the amputation of the beard. Such an utter vari- 
 ance of feeling, in the same country, is difficult to explain. On 
 entering the army, however, the boor must submit this long- 
 loved and valued ornament of his countenance to the scythe of 
 the barber, which is said to be one reason why this class nave, in 
 general, an aversion to the army ; so that a levy for this purpose 
 upon the different estates is not always executed without some 
 confusion and ill-will. 
 
 Their pay, when compelled to desert their native village for 
 the life of a soldier, is extremely small, (about eighteen-pence, 
 English, per month,) besides rations and clothing ; and when 
 once drawn for this mode of life, they must serve twenty, or 
 twenty-five years, before being permitted to retire. Whether 
 their late advance towards the south of Europe, as it has made 
 them more knowing in the superior advantages enjoyed by most 
 other of the continental military, will better their condition, 
 I know not, but it is very probable. The pay of a colonel is about 
 £200 per annum ; of a captain, under £100, and the other 
 ranks in proportion. Foreigners, therefore, may enter this ser- 
 vice, for want of other employment, or for the sake of rank, but 
 it cannot be for the pecuniary advantages. Neither in the regi- 
 ments of the line, are the junior officers (lieutenants and ensigns) 
 always treated with that consideration they receive in other 
 services. 
 
 With respect to literature, Russia is a thorough Boeotia, being 
 far, very far behind her other European brethren, but it must 
 be confessed that the press is much restricted, and wherever 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg; in 1814. 65 
 
 this is the case, thought itself must unavoidably be controlled. 
 Under Paul the restrictions were most rigorous, indeed altogether 
 unjustifiable, and at present are still severe. All books written 
 or imported become subjected to licensers, who are commonly 
 very ignorant, and who to make certain of excluding every 
 thing dangerous, scarcely admit any thing ! A native Russian 
 book is in fact a kind of wonder in literature. Captain Krusen- 
 stern's voyage round the world, though I believe published in 
 German, is very respectably written. So is Captain Lisiansky's, 
 his companion, who on arriving near the North West coast of 
 America, took a different route. Nicholas Karamsin's travels have 
 amused the Russians, but not much instructed them. His 
 account of England is a mass of errors and prejudices, one of 
 which is, that we are a nation of cannibals, who devour raw 
 meat like dogs, and that from this source is derived much of our 
 constitutional ferocity and melancholy ! Some of the officers 
 told me they were at first considerably influenced by his repre- 
 sentations. 
 
 The principal native poets and dramatic writers are Suma- 
 rakoff and Lomonossoff, besides some others of more recent 
 date, whose names I take shame to myself for not recollecting ; 
 but really where a language is so much at variance with all the 
 other tongues of Europe, as to preclude the possibility of un- 
 derstanding a single word, written or spoken, curiosity is mate- 
 rially damped if not destroyed. Besides the transactions of the 
 Academy of Sciences, and some few others, the principal work 
 of a scientific nature published of late years, is the catalogue 
 and description of all the curiosities of nature and art in the 
 Museum of the Academy, in several volumes quarto. Many 
 Russian manuscripts, it appears, enrich its library, so many 
 indeed as rather more than 3000, of whose subjects or qualities 
 very little is known. There are, likewise, several in the Chinese, 
 and some in the Turkish character, collected principally on the 
 borders of the empire during the reign of Catharine II. She 
 likewise purchased the libraries and MSS. of Voltaire, Diderot, 
 La Harpe, Helvetius, and some others of the French literati, 
 whom affecting to admire while living, she thought it desirable 
 thus to honour when dead. But in securing their books, she wisely 
 took care to permit no importation of their principles, at least of 
 the political sort ; of their obscenity, blasphemy, and irreligion 
 it is to be feared she was somewhat careless. 
 
 Since the accession of Alexander, two universities, one at Khar- 
 koff in Lithuania, the other at Dorpat in Livonia, have been 
 established, besides a variety of schools, lectureships, and insti- 
 tutions civil and military, for the instruction of youth ; but 
 these unfortunately are frequently deficient in good masters, 
 
66 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 the small public salaries given in Russia forming little induce- 
 ment to intelligent foreigners to settle in that country. Even 
 in St. Petersburg tolerable tutors are difficult to be procured for 
 private families. Clerks acquainted only with writing and arith- 
 metic, and even cast-off travelling valets, French, German, 
 and English, are frequently seen in this situation. In an opu- 
 lent family about £150 sterling, with sometimes two or three 
 rubles per diem table money, constitute the customary annual 
 stipend. Many of the Courlanders, and those of other parts 
 of the empire, who understand or speak German, proceed for 
 education to Leipsic, Jena, and Gottingen. 
 
 Besides the blaze of palaces, mansions, churches, charitable 
 receptacles, and repositories for the labours of art and science, 
 there are two or three grand buildings appropriated to the 
 instruction of youth intended for the army and navy. These 
 are mostly of the inferior class of nobility, or in other words, 
 gentlemen's sons. They enter at an early age, eight or nine 
 vears, and remain till arrived at fifteen or sixteen. Here the 
 best masters in every department are provided. The round of 
 studies embrace mathematics, military exercises, and all the 
 modern languages. The boys do every thing by military rule ; 
 rise, parade, inarch to dinner, mount guard, and proceed again 
 to rest by word of command, the drum, or the bugle. Those 
 brought up here, however, necessarily form not a four hun- 
 dredth part of the officers of the vast Russian army, the great 
 majority of whom are extremely ignorant in every point but 
 their immediate duties, and even in the more scientific parts of 
 this. A friend well acquainted with both services, informs me 
 that the Prussian officers of all classes are exceedingly superior. 
 
 A Briton in looking round this city is involuntarily astonished 
 to find so much, in every way, done by the Sovereign and so 
 little by the people. If a monarch could at all exist without 
 subjects, it might well be supposed it was here, for he is ever in 
 the eye and in the ear, is the subject of all thoughts and the 
 theme of all tongues, while the community at large is never 
 heard of. Ask who projected this ? — the answer is, Peter. — ■ 
 Who founded that ? Catharine. Continue the interrogatory all 
 day and the replies are the same. Peter and Catharine, and 
 Catharine and Peter, occasionally intermingled with the names 
 of Elizabeth, Paul, and Alexander. But inquire for some 
 memorial of public exertion, some splendid trace of individual 
 spirit, some noble erection, the fruit of voluntary association 
 and public subscription, nothing, or next to nothing, of the kind 
 is known. A species of tacit agreement would seem to exist in 
 the country, that the sovereign alone should have the merit of 
 doing all that is done, and that no individual or body of men 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 67 
 
 might to think of wresting from him the honour and applause 
 of the measure. Or rather, perhaps, we may consider it merely 
 the effect of the want of that manly independence, enterprize, 
 liberality, and munificent public spirit, characteristic of countries 
 where constitutional freedom is enjoyed, and which exalting the 
 private man in his own estimation, persuades him that his in- 
 terest in his native land is as strong, and his attachment to it 
 as powerful, as that of the monarch to whom his devotion and 
 allegiance are due. 
 
 Petersburg is likewise singularly deficient in that animating 
 moral bustle belonging to some other capitals, forming in Paris 
 the pursuit of pleasure, in London of commerce and politics. No 
 public feelings are elicited, no public assemblages encouraged, 
 except on religious festivals, no public discussion permitted or 
 thought of, even for the most harmless purposes. The de- 
 thronement of a sovereign or the overturning of a drcsky are 
 equally matters on which a Russian is constitutionally silent, 
 well aware that silence is a virtue seldom injurious to him who 
 can practise it. An Englishman will very naturally think such 
 a place truly miserable; but a native has no such idea. He 
 contentedly follows his daily avocations, conceiving political 
 affairs to fall properly under other and higher cognizance, and 
 gives to the practice of the government the full weight of his 
 opinion ; for here, as in all other countries, the Sovereign rules 
 but by the general feeling, such as it is, from the controul of 
 which no despotism, however great, is exempted. In this point 
 we are continually liable to err; we habitually take our own as 
 the standard of other nations, and think them happy or otherwise 
 according as they come up to our guage, without remembering 
 that the throne of Constantinople itself is only supported by 
 the general approval of its subjects. 
 
 It would be presumption to judge of the several estimates of 
 the character of the people in minute and particular points from 
 the little time afforded me for observation. But there are general 
 outlines worth remarking, always more or less obvious in na- 
 tional peculiarities, which frequently convey considerable in- 
 formation. 
 
 The general polish of manners among the higher class, and a 
 certain attentive good breeding, not always common among our- 
 selves, immediately strike the notice of a stranger. It is true, 
 indeed, that people of rank are said to be the same in all coun- 
 tries ; and this may hold true in externals ; but in the essentials 
 of knowledge, in acquaintance with the world at large, in ex- 
 tended views, and sometimes even in common information, those 
 of Russia are very deficient. Like artificial diamonds the sur- 
 face is sufficiently brilliant, but there is a want of substance and 
 
 Voyages and Travels, Vol VII. o. 
 
6*8 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 of intrinsic value beneath. They bear many of the leading fea- 
 tures of the Asiatic ; — a certain courteousness of manners and 
 occasional ardour of attachment, blended with little stability of 
 temperament, a fondness for novelty, few fixed principles of 
 any kind, little decorum on the score of morals, and a want of 
 that strict and sensitive tie we denominate honour. Many illus- 
 trious exceptions of course occur among the travelled class ; but 
 nine-tenths of the order never emerge beyond the atmospheres of 
 Moscow and St. Petersburg. 
 
 The barbaric splendour displayed in their style of living, in- 
 habiting mansions superior to our palaces, filled with every 
 species of luxury, attended by hundreds of servants (or slaves), 
 amused by fools and dwarfs, administered to by dependants and 
 flatterers, and powerful almost as petty sovereigns, present other 
 Asiatic resemblances The younger and poorer branches deign 
 only to look up for employment to the army or the state ; and 
 the vast extent of both commonly offers them subsistence, but 
 seldom perhaps wealth. 
 
 The inferior orders are distinguished by a plodding industry 
 and acuteness in pecuniary matters, not exceeded by anv people 
 in the world ; the spirit of extortion and accumulation is in fact 
 so general, as to be almost a national peculiarity, for even Po- 
 temkin himself, Avith riches nearly boundless, was as often mean 
 as he was at other periods gorgeously magnificent. No people 
 seem better suited to the pursuits of commerce. Time, more 
 freedom of action, and greater general knowledge are necessary 
 to fit them for other callings. Patience, forbearance, and good- 
 nature are virtues belonging to the lower Russian, of which he 
 rarely loses the sense except from extreme injustice or oppression. 
 Want of cleanliness and an irresistible desire for " strong pota- 
 tions" are equally characteristic of his nature. Ability to sup- 
 port privations under which any other man would sink, added 
 to implicit obedience and fidelity to his leader, will ever render 
 him infinitely the best soldier in Europe for hard service ; nor is 
 his courage less constitutional than his hardihood. Female honour 
 is not such a virtue among them as it ought to be ; but this and 
 other faults arise doubtless from their slavery, which has always 
 a tendency to lower the standard of morals in this as well as in 
 other points. Escaped from barbarism, however, but one cen- 
 tury, and known to us only since the reign of our Elizabeth, a 
 proper national character can scarcely be said to be definitively 
 established ; but whenever the progress of knowledge, and sonic 
 alterations in the administration of the government and condition 
 of the people are permitted to take place, I have little doubt it 
 will be of the most favourable description. 
 
 On our return to Cronstadt, understanding the Emperor in- 
 tended to visit the fleet at that port, we did not wish to omit 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 69 
 
 seeing this ceremony, and therefore quitted Petersburg leaving 
 many objects of curiosity unvisited. — The Emperor, as the head 
 of a great military nation should be, having nothing of the slug- 
 gard in his composition, " took the field' 1 at an early hour. 
 A little before ten o'clock the guns of the batteries of Cron- 
 stadt and the fleet pouring peals through the deafened ear, and 
 a flotilla of boats being in motion, announced his approach. ^ In a 
 few minutes more, attended by several naval and military officers, 
 he came on board our frigate, previous to visiting his own ships, 
 a mark of distinction of which the Russian officers were not a 
 little jealous. — All the honours due to royalty were of course 
 duly paid; and the officers being drawn up in form on the quar- 
 ter-deck, we had the honour of being introduced to the magnani- 
 mous Autocrat of all the Russias, who had previously expressed 
 his satisfaction of the care and attention shewn to the health 
 and comforts of the crews of his fleet. He remained on board 
 about a quarter of an hour. 
 
 The person of Alexander is so well known from his stay 
 in London, that few in the metropolis at that time were ungrati- 
 fied with a view of the original. He is above the middle size, 
 of a somewhat plump and pleasing figure, his countenance rather 
 round and highly expressive of good nature, his manners of 
 course of the first polish, but with a winning natural affability 
 which mere polish, without a natural bias of mind, could never 
 give. He is between thirty -eight and thirty-nine years of age, 
 his complexion fair, his eyes to my ken, grey, or as some say, 
 blue, and though scarcely turned the corner of life, time has 
 somewhat " thinned his flowing hair, 1 ' as often happens to those 
 of light complexion, the crown being slightly bald, though the 
 sides are bushy and matted, projecting over the ears, something 
 in the form of what is called the yeoman crown. This fashion, 
 copying after the Emperor, is general throughout the army and 
 navy. Those whose vertex is well furnished by nature, press it 
 so flatly down that scarce any is perceived here, while the sides 
 are frizzed out immoderately. A prevailing characteristic of the 
 Russian officers, some short time ago, was tight-bound waists, the 
 abdomen being drawn in, in a most unmerciful and uncomfortable 
 manner, but experience has partly corrected this error. Among 
 the guards at least the practice was scarcely discernible. The 
 Emperor is no pattern for this fashion. 
 
 His mental characteristics are sufficiently intelligible to all 
 Europe. They consist not so much in extraordinary talents, 
 which indeed seldom make a nation happy, as in a sound, sober, 
 regular, well directed judgment, aiming at nothing striking 
 merely because it is new ; displaying no imperial tricks, no shew- 
 oiF, no stage-effect, no unbounded lust of conquest, no brutal 
 
70 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 domineering over his weaker neighbours, neither insulting his 
 friends, nor ever behaving treacherously towards his foes. Mean- 
 ing well, and wishing to see his people happy, he wisely distrusts 
 daring and dangerous innovations, without rejecting any practi- 
 cable amelioration in the laws or government of his empire. 
 
 Mild and moderate abroad, he is equally so at home, holding 
 " the even tenor of his way, 1 ' with a calmness, which would 
 seem indifference were not its wisdom evident in the daily in- 
 creasing influence and territory of Russia, without violence or 
 aggression, which though alarming to some of her neighbours, 
 vet gives them no just reason to quarrel with her. No sovereign 
 has done so much for extending the power of his country Avith 
 so little bustle, or so few enemies. His habits are those of 
 a man of business. He commonly rises early, takes coffee soon 
 afterwards, inspects public documents set apart for his signature 
 or approval, and about ten o'clock proceeds to the parade, which 
 often occupies considerable time from the minuteness with which 
 he examines the men. After this, when business is to be trans- 
 acted, he repairs to the council, where no affair of importance is 
 debated or determined upon without his being present. An 
 early dinner, characterized by temperance, succeeds, followed 
 sometimes by an hour or two's repose. The evening is devoted 
 to a drive, to occasional promenading, to games of amusement, 
 conversation, and the society of particular friends. 
 
 His partialities, as might be expected from the head of a 
 military nation, are strongly military. He has been from infancy 
 accustomed to the review and parade, to the sash, sword, and 
 feather ; the army is at once his pride, and, from the nature of 
 the government, his chief dependence and support in case of 
 emergency. Without being the champion of unjust or unneces- 
 sary war, he delights in the " pride, pomp and circumstance ,, of 
 the' camp, attending his large armies commonly in person, but 
 without the vanity of taking the command from more experienced 
 officers, though his talents in this way are unquestionably con- 
 siderable. Napoleon was once the idol of his admiration. He 
 confessed lately, that " he had been often deceived by his pro- 
 fessions, but seldom by his actions." " Had the man possessed 
 a little more honour or principle," said his Majesty lately, " he 
 would, in spite of us, always have possessed Europe. - " On 
 another occasion he remarked, with that point which frequently 
 characterizes his conversation, " that Bonaparte was unques- 
 tionably a most extraordinary character— but he would have 
 been a much greater man had he only been something less." 
 
 Among the other characteristics of the Emperor is a total 
 neglect of ceremony, except on state occasions, in proceeding 
 through his capital. Frequently he has been seen' driving about 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 71 
 
 in a plain English chariot, or curricle, sometimes on a drosky, 
 little distinguished from the common class, and not unfrequently 
 on foot, attended only by a servant or two, or perhaps an officer. 
 In this way he is often recognized where least expected ; and 
 though not desirous of being noticed, the affections of the people, 
 Avith whom he is literally an idol, are too powerful to restrain 
 themselves in the usual tokens of respect. Before his person 
 became so well known in the capital, several whimsical adventures 
 occurred, scarcely less singular than some of those which are re- 
 lated of the Caliphs of Bagdad, or the Viziers of Constantinople, 
 displaying in all, an inexhaustible fund of good nature. More 
 than once, towards the dusk of the evening he has been in cus- 
 tody of the police, for not giving an account of himself. On one 
 occasion it is said, he was stopped on a bridge, over one of the 
 canals, by a refractory Isvotschik, or drosky-driver, who half- 
 tipsey, had placed his vehicle in such a position, as to obstruct 
 the passage, and the Emperor sat with exemplary patience for 
 half an hour, using only the rhetoric of persuasion, before the 
 son of the whip would permit him to pass. At another time 
 while on foot, with a military companion, a drunken boor stum- 
 bled against them so violently, as almost to destroy the equili- 
 brium of both, and in framing some apology, had nearly repeated 
 the offence. The officer thinking the insult intentional, drew 
 his sword ; — " Let him alone," said the Emperor, with his usual 
 jocular humour, " You see that he is just sober enough to know 
 that he's drunk." — He frequently visits some of tile principal 
 merchants to breakfast, with little or no ceremony. The English 
 are thus frequently honoured. His kindness and condescension 
 make him so universally beloved, by foreigners as well as 
 natives, that were he not a monarch, attachments to whom are 
 always suspicious in the eyes of the world, few men would have 
 more personal friends. 
 
 The morals of the court were so indifferent during the late 
 reigns, that we can scarcely feel surprised, when accusations of 
 indiscriminate gallantry are laid to his charge. Some of his 
 favourites are publicly mentioned, while many others are conjec- 
 tured; and even scandal insinuates, that a few of his private 
 visits are not prompted by the purest motives, but these things 
 are always exaggerated. Whether this be or be not the case,* it 
 may be safely asserted, that few of his nobility preserve pub- 
 lic appearances, or are in fact so correct as himself. The 
 Empress is a charming woman, her features handsome and 
 
 * While in this country, the charms of English women had so powerful an 
 effect on His Imperial Majesty, that it is said an illustrious personage jocu- 
 larly termed him the " Cytherean Dandy." 
 
72 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 regular, her figure somewhat below the middle size, and her 
 manners, it is said, highly attractive. The attachment of her 
 august partner, is undoubted, and has been repeatedly ex- 
 pressed in the tenderest manner. Towards the Empress Dow- 
 ager, his regard is ardent, devoted, and respectful in the highest 
 degree, as the acknowledged virtues and exemplary conduct of 
 this illustrious female and mother deserve ; and a good son is 
 seldom a bad husband. 
 
 Towards England and Englishmen he has always displayed 
 much partiality, having been accustomed to the society of several 
 of our nation from his youth. The war scarcely interrupted this 
 feeling, hated heartily as it was by the nation, and little relished 
 by himself. It was, in fact, but a burst of spleen at first, and 
 hardly ever amounted to anger. His late visit, it is understood, 
 has much increased the kinder feelings towards us, mixed with 
 admiration at the beauty of the country, much surprise at our 
 political system and institutions, great wonder at the spirit and 
 apparent importance of the lower order of people, and astonish- 
 ment at the practical proofs of general wealth. A handsome 
 equipage and liveries passing one day, he asked whose it was, 
 and expressed no little amazement when informed there were 
 thousands such in the streets of London, whom nobody knew 
 beyond the immediate circle of their friends. The number of 
 public buildings, charities, and noble offices of trading companies, 
 formed another subject of great interest, — not for their architec- 
 ture, for this, compared with his own, is contemptible ; but for 
 the sums received and expended in their support, all proceeding, 
 not from the crown as in Russia, but from the purses of private 
 individuals. Much of this he already knew from description; 
 but the striking realities presented at once to the eye, made a 
 ten-fold impression ; and the contrast became greater on recol- 
 lecting, that in his own territories, the mercantile character was 
 utterly despised. Slaves, or the descendants of slaves, only 
 practised it ; and with such the nobility or their connections 
 would not associate, much less adopt any part of their calling. 
 Even the learned professions were nearly as despicable, while in 
 England they claimed wealth, honours, and precedence at court 
 over that military costume which alone gave the wearer a title 
 to the character of a gentleman in his own. War, he knew, 
 formed the sole destination of the higher class in his empire. In 
 England the pursuits of war, commerce, agriculture, manufac- 
 tures, science, and the arts, seemed so equally divided between 
 all, and each so superior in its way, as to be difficult to tell 
 which preponderates in importance. 
 
 Yet it was not in this visit he first became acquainted wtih the 
 fructuous qualities of commerce. Conscious of its tendency to 
 
Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 73 
 
 enrich and civilize every country where it takes root, it has occu- 
 pied much of his attention since the year 1805* and perhaps 
 few monarchs understand the subject better. Certainly no 
 Russian sovereign has done so much for its credit and increase ; 
 studying at the same time to throw the main branches from the 
 hands of foreigners into those of his own subjects, hitherto, 
 from the shackles imposed by the war, with indifferent success, 
 but eventually by skill and the continuance of peace, likely to 
 produce the fullest effect. With the same view he has tried to 
 remove the prejudices of the nobility against the trading charac- 
 ter, by associating with the merchants himself. So long ago 
 as the commencement of the war with England, it is said that 
 he used to give them special dinners, as a mark of his high consi- 
 deration. His friendly visits are intended for the same purpose. 
 His notice and invitations to them are marked and distinguished. 
 His approbation and encouragement sure to any new and pro- 
 mising branch of traffic or manufacture. England will no doubt 
 in time suffer from this uncommon activity ; but where his own 
 subjects gain, who else, even while they lose, shall presume to 
 condemn. 
 
 The interior administration of his vast Empire is characterized 
 by the same prudence and caution conspicuous elsewhere. Mild- 
 ness and firmness constitute the leading features. There is no 
 tyranny in the exercise of power, and no improper relaxation. 
 Suaviter in rnodo, sedjbrtiter in re, may be taken as the govern- 
 ment motto. If any thing could make us submit to arbitrary 
 authority, it would be when administered by such a man. Some 
 wild theorists, however, unacquainted with human nature and 
 with Russia, have presumed to condemn him, for not giving free- 
 dom to the people from the vassalage of their lords. The truth 
 however is, a decree to this effect would be in itself not only 
 arbitrary in the extreme, and dangerous to his own authority 
 and perhaps existence, but utterly subversive of those rights, of 
 which we are so justly tenacious in England, the rights of pro- 
 perty, in addition to throwing the whole country into inextricable 
 confusion. It is true, a pecuniary interest in human beings, is 
 unquestionably at variance with religion, propriety, and morals, 
 besides being sure to bring down vehement animadversion on 
 the head of the possessor. Here, however, the practice has 
 existed beyond the aera of record or of tradition ; its authority 
 has never been questioned ; successive ages have sanctified the 
 right ; and time alone can produce an amelioration by gradual 
 and quiet, not by sudden or violent means. Great and numer- 
 ous difficulties, in the opinions of the wisest people here, envi- 
 ron the subject, and of these the Emperor is fully aware. His 
 regrets that he cannot do more are well known ^ however all 
 
74 Voyage to St. Petersburg, in 1814. 
 
 the estates which he can either influence or purchase have their 
 peasantry immediately clothed with the enviable distinction of 
 freemen. Serious and leading defects also in the general code of 
 laws of the country are equally striking, though perhaps more 
 easy of remedy ; yet where a certain system has borne prescrip- 
 tive sway since before the origin of Christianity itself, total altera- 
 tions must not be lightly or quickly made. Neither is every man, 
 though gifted with superior talents, born to be a legislator for 
 his country. 
 
 In promoting the substantial interests and happiness of his 
 people, it is perfectly understood that the Emperor is no admirer 
 of those theoretical schemes of political perfectibility and unli- 
 mited extension of popular rights, which characterize the age. 
 A considerable change of opinion in this point is attributed to 
 this august personage. Nor is it to be wondered at. Men less 
 interested than him in the preservation of public order, have 
 both in our own country and other parts of Europe experienced 
 and confessed similar variations of sentiment. But in a sove- 
 reign who must naturally lose what his subjects gain in the arti- 
 cle of authority, such changes are sufficiently excuseable, par- 
 ticularly where he is conscious of never exerting it to their in- 
 jury, but always for their advantage. In Russia the nation at 
 large may be safely pronounced unfit to receive any material por- 
 tion of political power. It has not, and (unlike most other nations 
 of Europe) never had, any constitutional rights. Society itself is 
 there but in its infancy ; and the horn-book of political know- 
 ledge remains yet to be learnt. Conscious of the dangers attend- 
 ing popular innovation in such a community, the Emperor is in- 
 duced to dread them among others, who are, perhaps, more en- 
 lightened, and certainly better prepared for the measure. 
 
 Quitting Cronstadt, three days carried the ship out of the 
 Gulph of Finland and a few more brought us opposite Copenha- 
 gen. Passing the Sound, Cronenburg Castle appeared on the 
 left, once formidable in idea, but no sooner touched by the 
 I th uriel spear of a British man of war, than sinking into insig- 
 ficance. Nelson was an enchanter that broke all spells opposed 
 to him. Nothing particular occurred in the passage across the 
 North Sea ; and in about three weeks we again touched English 
 ground by disembarking at Deal. 
 
Syracuse N. Y. 
 
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