"One of the halls contains portraits of the rulers of Russia from Peter the Great down to the present time; another, the portraits of the generals who fought against the French in 1812; another, the portraits of all the field-marshals of the armies by which Napoleon was conquered; and others, the battle-scenes before mentioned. I observed that Russia was not unlike France, Germany, and other countries in representing very prominently the battles where she triumphed, and ignoring those where she was defeated. The guide told us that at the state balls in the palace sit-down suppers are provided for all the guests, even if there are two or three thousand of them. Sometimes the supper-hall is converted into a garden by means of trees brought from greenhouses. The guests sit at table beneath the foliage, and can easily forget that they are in the middle of a Russian winter.
"Doctor Bronson says the Russians are very fond of plants in their dwellings, the wealthy expending large sums on greenhouses and conservatories, and the poorer people indulging in flower-pots, which they place in all available spots. The wealthy frequently pay enormous prices for rare exotics. We have seen a good many flower-stores along the Nevski Prospect and in other streets, and are ready to believe that the Russians are great admirers of floral products. Their long, cold, and cheerless winters lead them to prize anything that can remind them of the summer season.
"At the entrance of one of the halls there is a tablet on which are the rules which Catherine II. established for the informal parties she used to have at the Hermitage. Catherine had literary aspirations, and her parties were in imitation of the salons of Paris, which have a wide celebrity. Here is a translation of the rules, which I take from Murray's 'Hand-book:'
"'1. Leave your rank outside, as well as your hat, and especially your sword.
"'2. Leave your right of precedence, your pride, and any similar feeling, outside the door.
"'3. Be gay, but do not spoil anything; do not break or gnaw anything.
"'4. Sit, stand, walk as you will, without reference to anybody.
"'5. Talk moderately and not very loud, so as not to make the ears and heads of others ache.
"'6. Argue without anger and without excitement.
"'7. Neither sigh nor yawn, nor make anybody dull or heavy.
"'8. In all innocent games, whatever one proposes, let all join.
"'9. Eat whatever is sweet and savory, but drink with moderation, so that each may find his legs on leaving the room.
"'10. Tell no tales out of school; whatever goes in at one ear must go out at the other before leaving the room.
"'A transgressor against these rules shall, on the testimony of two witnesses, for every offence drink a glass of cold water, not excepting the ladies, and further read a page of the "Telemachiade" aloud.
"'Whoever breaks any three of these rules during the same evening shall commit six lines of the "Telemachiade" to memory.
"'And whoever offends against the tenth rule shall not again be admitted.'
"The 'Telemachiade' which is prescribed as a penance was the work of a Russian poet of Catherine's time, who does not seem to have enjoyed the Imperial favor. It is said that invitations to these parties were much sought; but, in spite of all her efforts, the Empress could not induce her guests to forget entirely that she was their sovereign. However, she managed to make her parties much less formal than anything ever known before at the Imperial Palace, and this was a great deal to accomplish in such a time and in such a country.
RECEPTION OF JOHN PAUL JONES BY THE EMPRESS CATHERINE.
"I may remark, by-the-way, that the Empress Catherine was the first sovereign of Russia to invite an American officer into the Imperial service. That officer was the celebrated John Paul Jones, a Scotchman by birth but an American citizen at the time of the Revolutionary war. The havoc he wrought upon the British fleets attracted the attention of the Russian Government, and after our war was over he received an intimation that he could find employment with the armies of the Empress. He went to St. Petersburg, was received by Catherine at a special audience, and accorded the rank of admiral in the Imperial Navy. Russia was then at war with Turkey. Admiral Jones was sent to command the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, and operate against the Turkish fleet, which he did in his old way.