daughter, and she is now living in reduced circumstances at Petersburg.

My sister-in-law added, "Such is my instance of a presentiment realised. With respect to the marvellous part of the story, I but say the tale as 'twas said to me;' but my authority is Madame R- herself, who is by nature a particularly gay and happy-minded person, without a tinge of romance or enthusiasm in her character. I can answer for it that the letter I received from her in the heyday of her prosperity expressing her presentiments was genuine, and that her subsequent misfortunes are well-established and notorious matters of fact."

L

LETTER XVII.

Severity of frost Frost-bites - Snow-storms in the Steppes - PanicDestruction of the Winter Palace by fire-Conduct of the Emperor and Empress Anecdote Washerwomen in winter Sentinels Christmas gaieties - Mode of issuing invitations - Morning callsLadies' dress Evening parties - Room for improvement - Separation of the sexes in society - Secret police-Count Benkendorf - National reserve - Remarkable occurrence at a masquerade.

Tamboff, January 16th, 1837. THE frost has now lasted for two months without interruption, and the winter is considered very severe even for Russia. We have frequently had by Reaumur's thermometer * twenty-four or twenty-five, and sometimes even thirty, degrees of frost. And the intensity of this cold has been often increased by wind; for twenty degrees of frost on a still day are more supportable than ten with a wind. The difficulty in going out is to preserve the face, especially the nose and forehead, from being frost-bitten or rather frozen. When this misfortune occurs no pain is felt, but the part affected becomes hard and white.† It is easily cured at first by rubbing the skin with snow till the circulation is restored; but if it is neglected the effects of the frost are very painful, and sometimes a wound ensues which may end in mortification. If the skin be blistered the application of goose-oil is considered an excellent remedy. Four years ago upwards of five hundred persons were frozen to death in the course of the winter in this Government, which, it must be remembered, consists chiefly of open steppes, where the effects of a high wind are most formidable. The snow is blown into enormous drifts, burying man and horse, while it entirely obliterates the tracks ; and the traveller who loses his way must almost inevitably perish on these unsheltered plains. From the scarcity of wood on the steppes the inhabitants have little fuel, except straw and

* One degree of Reaumur's scale equals two and a quarter of Fahrenheit's, nearly.

† A stranger will often stop a person in the street to tell him that his nose or his cheek is frozen.

dried cow-dung; the latter, it is said, making a very hot fire, and, if properly managed, being entirely free from any unpleasant smell when burning. In the severe winter which I have mentioned, viz. that of 1833-4, a complete panic was excited. A gloomy foreboding of evil seized men's imaginations, and not only many among the common people, but even some of a higher class, were terrified by a prophecy which announced that on the first day of the new year then ensuing there would be no less than one hundred and ninety degrees of frost, when man and beast must necessarily perish.

The English papers have, no doubt, made you acquainted with a great calamity which has lately occurred at Petersburg, in the destruction of the magnificent Winter Palace by fire, on the night of the 29th of December. Various reports have been spread as to the cause of this misfortune. It has been hinted that it was not altogether accidental, and that the authors of the calamity are conspirators against the government. All such rumours, however, appear to be utterly groundless, and it seems that the fire undoubtedly originated in want of precaution on the part of those who were charged with the care of the stoves; some of which were out of order, so as to ignite the adjoining wood-work. This it is supposed had been smouldering for a day or two; and it is even said that a smell of burning had been noticed, and yet that no precautions were taken. Be this as it may, the fire broke out on the night which I have mentioned, while the Emperor and Empress with their grown-up children were at the theatre where Taglioni was dancing. A messenger was immediately sent to the Emperor, who came away without alarming the Empress, under the pretence that a courier had arrived with despatches for his own hand.

He found that the young Grand Dukes had been already taken out of the Palace and placed in a carriage to await his directions; and that the valuable Crown jewels had also been removed to a place of security. His Majesty therefore proceeded at once to his own private apartments in the burning palace, and, with the assistance of his valet-de-chambre, packed up and secured his private papers. Having completed this important task, he sent to inform the Empress of the disaster.

She immediately came to the palace, and directed the removal from her own apartments of those articles which she prized most, first personally ascertaining the safety of all the ladies attached to the court, some of whom were rescued not without difficulty. She then went to the house of Count Nesselrode, on the opposite side of the Imperial Place or Square, and established herself at one of the windows, where she remained for two hours watching the progress of the fire, which gained ground rapidly. Owing to the intense frost (twenty-six or twenty-seven degrees of Reaumur), the engines were useless for want of water. The flames continued to rage all night, and the loss is estimated at more than a million of pounds sterling. A considerable part of the magnificent furniture was saved, together with most of the pictures and valuable curiosities. More might have been rescued from the fire, but, as it spread, the Emperor forbade all further exertions, on account of the danger. The soldiers, however, who were engaged in removing the furniture, were so eager, that it was difficult to restrain them, and even the Emperer himself, as it is said, had some trouble in enforcing obedience when he commanded them to desist. The following anecdote* is told of his Majesty's presence of mind on the occasion. Some soldiers were busily employed in taking down a magnificent mirror which stood opposite to the door, when the Emperor, who was in the adjoining room, saw that the ceiling was cracking over the heads of the men. He called to them to desist and come away instantly, but they were so eagerly engaged in their work that they did not immediately obey, and the Emperor, perceiving that no time was to be lost, threw his opera-glass, with all his force, at the mirror, and broke it in the middle. The soldiers, perceiving it to be spoiled, though they scarcely knew how, gave themselves no further trouble about it, and left the room, and the ceiling fell in a few minutes afterwards. I, myself, think his Majesty is quite as likely to have aimed at the men's heads as at the mirror, by way of effectually exciting their attention. Whether I am right in my conjecture,

I find that this anecdote is given by Lord Londonderry in his account of his visit to Petersburg and Moscow; I have, however, not thought it worth while to expunge it from my letter, since I heard it at the time, and on authority which I could not doubt.

or whether the more courtly version of the story is true, the Emperor undoubtedly appears to have saved the lives of the party by the expedient which he adopted. The palace was inhabited by fifteen or sixteen hundred souls, but I believe no lives were lost in the fire excepting those of four or five soldiers, who perished in the White Hall, from the roof falling in upon them.

Of those who are exposed to the severity of a Russian winter, the washerwomen always appear to me the most deserving of pity. They may be seen daily in numbers washing clothes, notwithstanding the bitter cold, at holes cut in the ice of the river, rinsing the linen in the water, and then laying it on the ice and striking it with a wooden beetle instead of wringing it. The linen is taken down to the river and conveyed home again on small sledges, which the women draw after them. These women, and indeed the female peasants in general, are dressed in the winter almost like the men, in sheepskin coats and high boots reaching to the knee, with their heads wrapped up in handkerchiefs. The hands of the washerwomen are necessarily undefended, and it surprises me that they can preserve the use of them, when they are wet and then exposed to the intense frost. The sentinels at this season, in addition to their great-coats, are provided with large sheepskin pelisses or wrappers, which cover them completely. They have also warm gloves and goloshes lined with fur; and they wear under the shako cloth skull-caps, protecting the ears and the back of the head and neck.

Since Christmas we have had a rapid succession of assemblies, balls, and parties of various kinds; and coachmen and horses have been forced to remain out of doors in the cold, while their masters and mistresses were amusing themselves in warm rooms within. The horses, however, are secured from harm by their own hardy nature and by their long rough coats; while the drivers are so well wrapped up in furs and sheepskins, as almost to bid defiance to the frost. Nevertheless in Petersburg and Moscow all places of public amusement

In these capitals during the winter large fires are lighted at night in the public places near the theatres and palaces, with screens from the wind, for the benefit of the coachmen and servants waiting with carriages.