328

OPERA OF CATHERINE.

a tub filled with ice; by these means the Doctor, whilst every other person was languishing and panting with heat, enjoyed a cool and delightful atmosphere. His collection of Siberian minerals, gems, and precious stones (amongst which is a beautiful ribbond agate) from various parts of the Russian empire, and a variety of marine fowls from the Russian archipelago, are very curious and interesting. I here saw a fine specimen of the encoustic, or wax-painting, the art of which was discovered a few years since in Herculaneum, by a soldier accidentally holding a flambeau to an apparently naked wall, when the action of the heat created, to his astonishment, a beautiful landscape, by reviving the encoustic colour in which it had been painted. The Doctor also obligingly shewed me an opera which was composed by the late Empress, in which, with great poetical spirit and genius, she has described the founding of Moscow, and the habits and customs of the Russians. The words of many of the songs were adapted to old Russ tunes, and others were set to music by Sarti. Of this Imperial production only four copies were ever printed; as soon as they were struck off, the press, the types of which were made at Paris, was broken. Independent of his merited reputation, the Doctor has two other reasons sufficient to make any philosopher proud and happy: he is the father of two lovely daughters; the eldest is lady Gascoigne, who, to the charms of youth and beauty, unites the most elegant accomplishments and captivating manners. So high was report in

her favour, and so little can she be known with impunity, that I felt a sullen satisfaction in learning that she was upon a visit to her friends in Scotland whilst I was at Petersburg; the other daughter is a lovely girl, pursuing her studies in the Convent des Demoiselles.

On account of his long and faithful services, the Doctor was ennobled by Paul, who always retained a great partiality for him, even during the temporary disgust which he felt against his countrymen: he is honoured with a hat and feathers, and the rank of a general. It is scarcely necessary for me to observe that, in a military government like Russia, military rank precedes every other.

From Doctor Guthrie's cool philosophic shade, we proceeded to the Taurida palace, built by Catherine II., and given by her to her distinguished favourite Prince Potemkin, upon whom she lavished unprecedented dignities and treasure. She bestowed upon him the name of the Taurian, in honour of his conquest of the Crimea, and called this building after him. Upon the death of the Prince, the Empress purchased it of his family for a vast sum. The grand front of this building, which is of brick, stuccoed white, is towards the street leading to the Convent des Demoiselles, in the east end of the city, consisting of a centre, adorned with a portico supported by columns, and a large cupola of copper painted

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green, and extensive wings. A variety of out-offices, orangeries, and hot-houses, reach from the left wing to a prodigious distance: in the front is a court-yard, divided from the street by a handsome railing. The exterior of this building is very extensive, but low; and although it has a princely appearance, does not excite the astonishment that a stranger feels in entering it. Through the civility of our countryman, Mr. Gould, the Emperor's gardener, who enjoys a munificent salary, and a handsome house on the west side of the gardens, I was frequently enabled to visit this delightful place. The kitchen, fruit, and pleasure-gardens, and hot-houses, occupy a vast space of ground, which are watered by several canals; over one of them is thrown the celebrated model of a flying covered bridge of one arch, which an obscure illiterate Russian constructed, for the purpose of embracing the two sides of the Neva, opposite to the statue of Peter the Great: it is about seventy feet long, and is a wonderful display of mechanical ingenuity. This extraordinary peasant has clearly elucidated the practicability of such a measure: the model is capable of bearing more comparative weight than could ever press upon the bridge itself. The enormous expence which must attend such an undertaking will, in all probability, reserve it for a distant period. The ingenious artist received a handsome pension from the late Empress, and the satisfaction of having displayed with what extent of capacity, unassisted Nature has gifted the Russian mind. In this part of the

grounds, Catherine II. was in the habit of taking her morning promenade with a male friend; and in the evening attended by her court.

The pleasure-grounds are small, but beautifully laid out by Mr. Gould, who was a pupil of the celebrated Browne; and who, at the advanced age of seventy-two years, beholds this little paradise, which he created from a mephitic bog, flourishing and exciting the admiration of foreigners, and in the shade of which Potemkin, Catherine the Great, and two succeeding emperors of Russia, have sought tranquillity and repose from the oppressive weight of public duty.

This respectable Englishman, who has realized a handsome fortune, the fruit of imperial munificence, for long services, keeps an elegant and hospitable table, and is visited by persons of the first respectability. The late unfortunate king of Poland, during his residence, or rather incarceration, in Petersburg, felt a melancholy pleasure in quitting the phantom of royalty, which mocked rather than consoled him, in the palace of Siberian marble, to pour the sufferings of his afflicted mind into the breast of the frank, cordial, and ingenious Englishman, in this abode of privacy.

The pleasure-grounds are very elegantly disposed, and, as we passed the little green palisade which separates them from

the kitchen garden, we contemplated, with pleasure, the favourite seat of Catherine the Great that here presented itself: it was a long, tasteful garden sopha of iron, interlaced, painted green, and stood under the branches of an oak. Here she used to take her coffee; and, upon this very seat, she gave private and unrestrained audience to the late King of Sweden. I am enabled, from indubitable authority, to state, that the age of Catherine when she expired was seventy-five, although three years are taken from it in the calendar.

As we descended a little slope from Catherine's seat, we passed by two birch trees, revered by the superstitious Russians, on account of their having been, with a third of the same species, preserved, when the morass in which they grew was first converted into a garden, and the vegetable patriarchs of the place: we were gravely told that, when Paul died, the one which is missing perished from excessive sensibility. I never knew before, that nature had endued the birch with acute feelings: I remember, at school, it was admitted, nem. con. that it had the power of exciting them.

The first room we entered from the garden, was the celebrated hall in which Prince Potemkin gave the most gorgeous and costly entertainment ever recorded since the days of Roman voluptuousness: I am not able to communicate to my readers the ideas which this enormous room excited. If a