serted in June, are now crowded with foot passengers, handsome carriages, and sledges; some of the principal thoroughfares are indeed so crowded, that it requires caution to avoid being knocked down in crossing from one side to the other, and the shouts of the coachmen, pádi, padi, "get out of the way," are incessant. They drive excessively fast, but they will avoid hurting you, if possible, for fear of the punishment, which is, to be made a soldier.

I will now conclude this long letter, by assuring you that we are very happy to find ourselves at the end of our journey, and not at all inclined to set out upon another, until the weather is a little more genial, and carriages on wheels can be used, instead of sledges, as we have not yet quite forgotten the sensation of jolting in and out of an ouchaba. Bythe-bye, some friends who left Tamboff about the same time as ourselves, and who arrived here a few days before us, were upset twice in the course of the journey, so that we may consider ourselves fortunate in having escaped all accidents.

273

LETTER XXI.

Thaw-Cold in April-Alexandrovsky-General Wilson-The Imperial Manufactory-Foundlings-English artizans-Mr. Law.

St. Petersburg, April 11th, 1838.

WE are in hopes that the winter is now nearly over, as the frost yesterday began to give way, and the thaw is proceeding rapidly. Every body will rejoice heartily at the arrival of Spring, for such a winter as this has been, few persons can remember. Greater degrees of cold have been known; but the duration of frost, and its continued severity for nearly five months, is heretofore unprecedented even in Russia. This day week, (the 4th of April,) there were in Petersburg nineteen degrees of cold,* and in the country twenty. The ice on the Neva is from forty-two to forty-four inches thick, and the ground is frozen to the depth of six feet.

We went yesterday to see the Imperial manufactory at Alexandrovsky, about thirteen versts hence, in compliance with an invitation from General Wilson, who, for thirty years, has superintended the

* By Reaumur.

establishment, and who is a most excellent and popular person. The articles manufactured here are of various kinds; in one department cotton is spun; in another, sheets, table-linen, &c. are wove; and in a third, are made all the playing-cards which are used in Russia, as the Crown reserves the monopoly of this manufacture. About three thousand operatives are employed altogether; and of these, nearly one thousand are foundlings, boys and girls from twelve years old, at which time they are brought from the hospital where they have been reared, up to twenty-one, at which age the young men become. their own masters, may marry, and may quit the manufactory, or remain as paid workmen, according as they please; the girls are allowed to marry at eighteen.

From the moment of their arrival at the manufactory, these children, in addition to their food, clothing, and lodging, receive small monthly wages, half of which is given to them by way of pocketmoney, and the other half is placed at interest in a savings-bank, so that when they come of age, or marry, they have a little fund of three or four hundred roubles with which to begin the world. Immediately after our arrival at Alexandrovsky, we were taken to see the foundlings at dinner, which, as it was Lent, the only fast in the year which they are required to keep, consisted of soupe-maigre, fish, rye-bread, and quass-all served in pewter. The day

was an ordinary working-day, and there was no preparation for visitors, our arrival, owing to a misunderstanding, being quite unexpected; nothing, however, could exceed the neatness and perfect cleanliness of these young manufacturers, more especially the girls, whose hair, in particular, excited our admiration, every head being arranged alike, and with a degree of taste and neatness which many a lady might copy. Caps are never worn by the lower classes in this country, and certainly the well brushed hair, drawn smoothly over the forehead, and fastened at the back by a high comb, rendered the line of heads infinitely more agreeable to the eye, and at least as cleanly in appearance, as the row of mobcaps, which would have been ranged down the table had these been English charity-girls. A wooden screen, about six feet high, ran down the middle of the hall to separate the two sexes. Leaving them at their meal, we were shewn through the dormitories, which were beautifully clean and airy, almost deserving the name of elegant; and to each set was attached a convenient washing-room, well supplied with water.

When we returned to the hall, dinner was over, and at our appearance a bell was rung, on which the whole body, young men, boys, and girls, stood up and sung a hymn, at the conclusion of which, the bell gave the signal for departure, and the two sexes moved out of the hall at different ends, in

the most orderly manner. I was told by General Wilson's brother, that in the thirty years, during which he has had the management of this manufactory, there has never been more than one instance of a girl misconducting herself, a fact which strongly attests the excellence of the regulations which are observed.

This, like all the other public establishments, such as barracks and hospitals, which I have seen in this country, appears a perfect model of order and cleanliness; a fact which is the more striking in Russia, since there is often abundant room for improvement in these respects in private houses. Most branches of the work at Alexandrovsky are under English foremen, so that there is a colony here of our countrymen, amounting to seventy or eighty persons; and divine service is performed in the school-room, every Sunday evening, by the British chaplain,* Mr. Law, who most kindly goes over from Petersburg for this purpose.

I believe this excursion to Alexandrovsky is the only incident which I have to mention since we have been here; you must, therefore, be contented with a short letter, as you would not thank me if I filled it up with a description of Petersburg, or an

*It is but justice to my friend, Mr. Law, to add, that this duty, which is entirely voluntary and gratuitous on his part, is a laborious addition to two full services which he performs every Sunday in the British church at St. Petersburg.