PETERSBURG.

CHAP. XV. Course of our visits to some of the churches; and the annual ceremony of the Benediction of the waters of the Neva. The last takes place on the sixth of January (O.S.), and was formerly celebrated, with great splendour and magnificence, on the river. At present, a small Temple, of an octagon form, made of wood, painted and adorned with crosses and pictures representing parts of the history of John the Baptist, is erected. on the Admiralty Canal: an inclosure is formed around it, and within is a hole cut in the ice. A platform, covered. with scarlet cloth, leads from the Palace to the Temple; along which the procession advances, consisting of the Archbishop, accompanied by Bishops and Dignitaries of the Church, the