The students walked on the quay to the vast Admiralty building, and went into the Naval Museum, in which there are models of all kinds of boats and vessels, which were full of interest to the nautical young gentlemen. This completed the labors of the day, and the company returned to Cronstadt in the steamer.
At the usual hour on the following morning they embarked again, and were soon landed at Peterhoff, which is sometimes called the Versailles of Russia, on account of the number and variety of the fountains in the palace grounds. The place is on the south side of the broad bay inside of Cronstadt, and about ten miles distant from it. It is a favorite summer resort of the people from the capital, steamers plying frequently between the two places. It has a great many attractions, the principal of which is the palace, erected in 1720, under the direction of Peter the Great, on an elevation of sixty feet,—a considerable hill in Russia,—and the magnificent grounds, laid off in parks, lawns, terraces, groves, and gardens. The buildings are extensive, but not very elegant outside. The apartments contain a great many paintings, including portraits of three hundred and sixty-eight beautiful young girls, from fifty different provinces. The rooms for use contain the usual gilded chairs, sofas, tables, and other furniture, which soon become very tiresome to the traveller in Europe, for they are about the same thing in all the palaces, and, to a republican, would have a cheap look, if it were not for the silks, velvets, and brocade with which they are upholstered.
The palace faces the sea, and the slope of the hill is cut into terraces, which are adorned with fountains, waterfalls, and basins with Neptunes, swans, nymphs, tritons, and other aquatic ornaments. Beneath a fountain, which throws a jet eighty feet high, is a kind of canal, extending five hundred yards down the slope to the bay, in which there is a succession of cataracts. The fountains play at five o'clock every Sunday afternoon in the summer, but on this occasion the water was let on as a special favor, which can perhaps be obtained at any time by paying a ruble or two. The effect was very fine, and compared favorably with the water works at Versailles. On fête days, lamps are placed under the sheets of water in the evening, and the appearance is said to be both unique and brilliant. In the garden below, near the sea-shore, are the small structures called Marly and Montplaisir. In the former Peter used to look out upon his fleet at Cronstadt. In the latter the great Czar died, and his bed is still preserved, as he used it, with his night clothes and dressing gown on the pillow. It is a small, Dutch-built house, and the interior looks very much like that of a country farm-house. Peter's boots, slippers, writing-desk, sedan-chair, and other articles belonging to him, are to be seen in the several apartments. The Hermitage is the cottage of Catharine. A table in the dining-room is provided with a contrivance by which dishes are sent down through the floor, or sent up, without the servants coming into the apartment. The same thing is shown in one of the palaces at Potsdam, where Frederick the Great used to carouse, without any menials to witness his revels. In an oblong pond a vast number of tame fish are kept, and regularly fed. The man in charge of the straw cottage goes to the edge of the water and rings a bell, with some parade, when visitors are present, and the fish are supposed to come at his call; but Scott protested that it was all a humbug, for not a fish was seen until the man had thrown the food into the water. Then they scrambled for the bits of black bread, piling themselves up in stacks, to the intense amusement of the boys. There are several other palaces near Peterhoff, one of which was occupied by Nicholas as his summer residence; and Stretna, the palace of the Grand Duke Constantine, is about half way to St. Petersburg by railroad. At ten the company took the train, and stopped at Krasnoé Sélo, where there is an immense camp, containing forty thousand troops or more, during the summer season. The soldiers were drilling, marching, and manœuvring in large bodies. In every Russian camp there is a quantity of simple gymnastic apparatus, on which the men are required to exercise regularly. Near the end of August the emperor reviews the troops, when sham fights and other kinds of mimic warfare are exhibited. Taking the next train, the party reached St. Petersburg in season for dinner.
In the afternoon, omnibuses were again in demand and the students rode to the Monastery of St. Alexander Nevski, on the river at the end of the Nevski Prospect. This establishment is the seat of the Metropolitan, or Patriarch of St. Petersburg, and is therefore of a higher order than the ordinary monastery. It is called a Lavra, and only ranks below two others in the empire—the one at Moscow, and the other at Kief. It was founded by Peter the Great in honor of the Grand Duke Alexander, who defeated the Swedes on the Neva in 1241, which battle gave him his surname. His remains were brought to this monastery with the most solemn pomp, and he was canonized. He is the patron saint of the present emperor, who takes his name. The shrine of St. Alexander Nevski in the principal church, beneath which his remains repose, is of solid silver, and weighs thirty-two hundred and fifty pounds. Over it hang the keys of Adrianople. The establishment encloses a considerable tract of land, and includes several churches, buildings for the monks, cells, refectories, towers, gardens, and a cemetery. It is endowed with immense wealth, and contains many costly gifts of the Persians, as well as valuable works of art. In one of the chapels is the tomb of Suwaroff—which is only a plain marble tablet—and many other noted men. The cemetery is regarded as peculiarly holy ground, and wealthy families pay large sums for the privilege of burying their dead in its consecrated earth. The party walked through the churches, visited the dining-room of the monks, whose fare is certainly very plain, looked into one of their cells, and inspected some of the curious monuments in the cemetery.
The omnibuses then conveyed the company to some of the public gardens of the city, several of which are situated on the islands. Kamannoi, or Stone Island, situated on the Great Nevka, a drive of three miles from the Nevski Prospect over a broad avenue, is covered with the villas of the nobles and other wealthy people of the city. Upon it there is an extensive public garden, with an immense refreshment establishment and a summer theatre, while the grounds are filled with towers, temples, kiosks, and almost every appliance for the amusement of the visitors. In the theatre the plays and songs are generally in French, and one will observe that a large proportion of the people who frequent this place of resort speak the "polite language" in their conversation, as they walk about the grounds, listening to the concert. Up the Neva, three miles from Trinity Bridge, are the Tivoli Gardens, which may be reached by small steamers that ply on the river. In the winter there is a skating rink at this place, where this amusement may be had under cover. The visit to the gardens finished the excursion for the day, and the tourists returned to the squadron at Cronstadt. The next day was Sunday, and in the forenoon the students attended service at the British Chapel in the town; in the afternoon, in the steerage of the ship. As in most of the countries of Europe, Sunday is a holiday in Russia. The people attend church in the morning, and devote the afternoon to recreation and amusement.
On Monday the company went up to St. Petersburg again, and walked from the English Quay to the station of the Czarskoé Sélo Railroad. On the way they halted in the square upon which the Great Theatre and the Marie Theatre are situated. As in Paris, the government pays large sums for the support of the theatre, and for the Great Theatre, which accommodates three thousand people, the best operatic talent of Europe is engaged. Dancing is an especial attraction to the people, and a school for the training of actresses and dancers is maintained. The finest performances are given on Sunday. Masked balls are also given in this theatre in the winter, which are attended by the emperor and other members of the imperial family. The Marie Theatre is more especially for the representation of Russian dramas and the opera.
There are four railway stations on the south side of St. Petersburg, the Peterhoff, the Warsaw, the Czarskoé Sélo, and the Moscow, though the latter is at the bend of the Nevski Prospect. Czarskoé Sélo, fifteen miles from the city, is the principal summer residence of the emperor. The railway to this place was the first one built in Russia. A ride of forty minutes brought the party to their destination. The grounds of the palace, which are entered by a gateway with two towers, covered with Egyptian figures and hieroglyphics, are eighteen miles in circumference. They are kept in the nicest order by six hundred old soldiers, who are pensioned off in this way. Not a dry leaf, a cigar stump, or any unclean thing is permitted to remain in the walks, for the veterans capture it as an invader, and put it out of sight. The front of the palace is seven hundred and eighty feet long. Peter the Great erected a building here, but the present edifice was built during the reign of Elizabeth, and was embellished by Catharine II. Originally, every statue, pedestal, capital of a column, and all the ornaments, were gilded, the gold for which was worth over two millions of dollars. In a short time the gilding was badly injured by the weather. The contractors employed in repairing the building offered Catharine half a million silver rubles for the gold leaf which remained on the ornaments, to whom she replied, "I am not accustomed to sell my old clothes." The front of the palace is now gaudily painted with white, green, and yellow, the only gilding being on the dome and cupolas of the church. Parts of the interior, however, are very lavishly gilded, as the chapel, the ceiling of which is one sheet of gold. One small apartment has strips of lapis lazuli inlaid upon the walls, and the floor is of ebony, ornamented with mother-of-pearl. In another room the walls are panelled with amber, wrought into a variety of designs. The amber was presented to Catharine by Frederick the Great, and their initials and arms are blended in the panels; that of the Czarina being an E, for her Russian name was Ekaterina. There seems to be enough of this costly material to make mouth-pieces for all the pipes in Christendom. Catharine's sleeping apartment has pillars of purple glass, and the walls are decorated with porcelain. The bed-clothes are those under which she slept the last time she dwelt in the palace. The banqueting-rooms and the ball-rooms are profusely gilded, and, as may be seen in several of the palaces of Europe, especially those of Poland, Russia, and Sweden, there is a Chinese room, in which everything is fitted up in "Celestial" style. The rooms of Alexander I. are kept just as he left them when he started for Taganrog, where he died. In his cabinet is his writing-desk, all in confusion, with blotted paper, and quill pens, stained with ink, as though he had but just used them. Next to this is his bed-room, which is plain enough for an ordinary farmer. In an alcove is a camp bedstead on which the Czar slept. His toilet articles are on the table, and on a chair is his well-worn overcoat under which are his boots.
The party walked through the Alexander Palace built by Catharine for her grandson, and occupied by Nicholas, whose military tastes are apparent in the pictures, models, and other ornaments. From this they went to the Arsenal, in which there is a vast collection of ancient armor, arms, and Oriental trappings. In a glass case are a miniature drum and trumpet of silver, given by Catharine to Paul in his childhood. The grounds were very attractive to the students, for they are filled with towers, kiosks, Chinese pagodas and other odd structures. The mast of a frigate, full rigged, afforded the present High Admiral, the Grand Duke Constantine, the means of obtaining some experience aloft without going to sea. On one of the ponds there is a fleet of miniature vessels, which was used for the amusement of the same young gentleman. A Chinese village, an aerial flower garden, supported on an Ionic pillar, a marble bridge, columns erected by Catharine to her favorites, hermitages, ruins, Roman tombs, grottoes, and waterfalls add to the wonders of the place. On a small lake is a pavilion, in which the daughter of Nicholas, who died in 1844, used to feed her swims. Since her death, black swans have been kept in the pond. In the pavilion are a picture and a marble statue of the youthful Grand Duchess.
"I think I could pass a summer here very comfortably," said Lincoln, as he gazed with admiration upon the beautiful grounds and the many curious structures it contains.
"Perhaps you would alter your mind before the season closed," replied the doctor. "I was in Russia one year in August, and I think I wore an overcoat every day for a fortnight, not at night merely, but in the middle of the day. Still the weather is sometimes very warm here. On the whole, I think I should prefer to be here in the winter. St. Petersburg is very lively then, the court is in town, and there is a variety of amusements."