Versailles or St. Cloud will ever impress the beholder with those awful respects for royalty with which he is struck when entering the courts of Windsor? How do the shades of our renowned Edwards and Henries rise before him! Their mighty souls were framed to fill such a place ; and as we stand under a roof worthy to contain the monarch of the British Empire, all the inspiration of the scene animates our hearts ; with redoubled ardour we would repeat our vows of loyalty to our king, and rush into the field to defend his life and crown. Vaster palaces I have seen, and more gorgeous than Windsor, but never one so truly regal and sublime. It unites the beauty of romantic scenery with the grandeur of royalty, and the strength of military power. Some places honoured by the residence of kings, are too gay for their dignity; others are too mean; excepting the object of my eulogium, and perhaps Hampton Court, the palaces abroad are so far superior to the houses which bear the proud appellation in England, that, to a stranger, the very calling them by the name seems ridiculous. There is a harmony in rank, the disturbance of which injures even the greatest.

But to return to Jutchinna. The centre of the building is occupied by the Empress Dowager, during the summer. The wings are appropriated to the officers of the household and Her Majety's diurnal visitors. The suit of rooms formerly belonging to the Emperor Paul, like Voltaire's in the Sans Souci, are nearly in the state he left them. Not an article has been moved; papers and books, all lie just as they were when he quitted this place for St. Petersburgh. The contents of the chamber, in the Michaelofsky Palace, in which he slept and died, have been brought hither. The bed stands in a corner of the room, hidden from immediate sight by a low screen, It is iron, of the Tula: manufaċ

A

tory, without ornaments or curtains. This was the bed on which the unhappy monarch expired. Near it is his coat and boots, the last he wore. No wonder that it was difficult to obtain the Empress's permission to see these apartments. It is but lately she could bear to enter them herself; and when she does, the hour is devoted to the regrets which must ever fill the bosom of a virtuous wife and tender

woman.

Every step I passed over the palace, I listened to the praises of this admirable Princess. I listened with attention; for I know of few pleasures equal to that of hearing well-authenticated instances of goodness; it delights one with human nature, and consoles us for its miseries when we see power have the will to relieve them. The Dowager Empress claims from all who know her, a peculiar admiration, not only for general benevolence, but for the particular attention with which she treats all unfortunates recommended to her protection. Look around; and we see every where public proofs of her charity. How numerous are the institutions she has founded and endowed for all descriptions of the wretched! And, countless, as they seem to be, so sincere is her goodness, that she is not merely their benefactress; but the kind superintenddant, to see that every thing is conducted according to her generous design. In short, she expends almost the whole of her revenue in deeds of charity and as her time is also dedicated to the same heavenly purpose, thousands owe their health, comfort, and existence to her. Her life is, in all respects, worthy the imitation of the greatest Princesses; for it is consistent throughout: no lip opens to name her, but unfeigned blessings follow. She is not more revered as an Empress, than adored for her virtues: her's is the empire of the heart: and

the amiable qualities of her imperial son, places his on the same foundation.

Again I have travelled from my errand hither. But female excellence, who can resist? It would carry both thee and me from all the pictures in the universe; aye, from Indus to the Pole, or from the Pole to Indus! So, without further apology, I shall once more recur to the resemblance of the Great Peter

The portrait in question is said to have been painted from its illustrious original when he was at Paris. The artist is a Frenchman. He has placed the Tzar on horseback; and dressed him in a silk coat, decorated with the order of St. André. The character of the hero is lost, and the Parisian dancing-master is here à cheval. I came, I saw, and turned my back! for as nothing appeared amid this trumpery affectation, worthy either the monarch, or one who was to commemorate his greatness, I left the room. Though, as I retreated, my eye fell on two exquisite marble busts of Henri Quatre and Sully; personages more deserving the society in which they were placed, than the picture was of its original.

Amongst various specimens of art in this palace I was shewn two admirable Vernets, of the largest size, and finest style of his pencil; and finished with greater richness, than any other of his works that ever fell under my observation. Such being the result of my journey, I returned to St. Petersburgh, pleased with every part of my visit to the palace, but the very object which led me thither.

My drive homewards was as little pleasant as master Phaeton's, when

he whipped through the burning spheres. Cold we can elude, by warm involvements. But heat, marrow-piercing heat! who can escape its fiery darts? Cloaths, carriages, walls; nothing can exclude its scorching rays; they mingle with the very air we breathe and to shut our mouths against them, is to die by one sort of suffocation, because we will not endure the less mortal effects of the other. Besides the weather being so insufferably hot, the days are long even to painfulness. At midnight we may see to write by the light of the sky; and not from moon or stars, but by the beams of day still lingering in the heavens. Indeed, during what are called the longest days here, there is not more than two hours in the twenty-four without seeing the sun: and that privation does not produce darkness; as a something brighter than our twilight remains.

Were it not for the tremendous heat (not to be exceeded, I believe, in the West-Indies), and the myriads of musquitoes that swarm from the marshy grounds, this unvarying sunshine might have its charms; but as it is, we cannot but sigh for

"The grotto's cool retreat, the forest's fresh'ning shade!"

And as I rival the poor panting Cephalus every hour with exclamations of veni aura; I hasten, as often as may be possible to meet the courted breeze amidst the groves of Strelna or Peterhoff. Most of the British merchants possess beautiful villas on this road; as well as do the nobility who, having places in the government, constantly abide near the residence; as their duty never permits them to quit the vicinity of the court, unless by the especial leave of the Emperor, to visit for a short ́time in each year their estates at a distance. The romantic islands of

the Neva, being within the neighbourhood of St. Petersburgh, afford some of them very charming retreats: and as you row along the river, you see its banks embellished by numbers of these beautiful houses.

The Emperor has his favourite summer residence on the isle Kammenoiostroff. It is a pretty simple palace, fitted up with elegance and comfort; and opposite to it two yachts are always at anchor, ready to obey His Majesty's or the Empress's commands, whenever they wish to pass upon the river. This side of St. Petersburgh certainly possesses the most beautiful environs. The variety of wooded scenery, the numerous palaces and splendid mansions embosomed in trees; and myriads of boats of every description on the Neva, some filled with boors, and others decorated with the gaiety of Venetian gondolas; under an azure sky, produce a tout ensemble, not to be expected in regions of the iron North.

The gardens of the venerable Count Strogonoff are in this quarter: they are charmingly laid out; possessing every beauty which Nature assisted, not overpowered, by Art, can bestow. Here numbers of the fashionable world assemble most evenings at about five o'clock, and wandering from grove to grove, which hang with every fragrant and delicious production of the East; they amuse themselves with conversation and the scene, till musick recalls them to the lawns, where refreshments are prepared; and when night closes in, the finest fireworks terminate the pleasures of the evening.

In a picturesque and well chosen spot is placed a monument of antiquity, said to have been the tomb of Homer. It was brought from