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682 COXE’s TRAVELS IN RUSSIA.
their time. After what manner we will have thofe aflemblies kept, may be learned from
what follows : ;
‘© }, The perfon at whofe houfe the aflembly is to be in the evening, isto hang outa
bill or other fign, to give notice to all perfons of either fex. — 2. The affembly fhall not
begin fooner than four or five in the afternoon, nor continue later than ten at night.—
3. The matter of the houfe is not obliged to go and meet his guelts, to conduct them
out, or to entertain them; but though himfelf is exempt from waiting on them, he
ought to find chairs, candles, drink, and all the neceffaries afked for, as alfo to provide
for all forts of gaming, and what belongs thereto. — 4. No certain hour is fixed for any
body’s coming or going; it is fuflicient if one makes his appearance in the aflembly.—
5. It is left to every one’s liberty to fit, walk, or play, juft as he likes; nor fhall any
body hinder him, or take exception at what he does, on pain of emptying the Great
Eagle (a bowl filled with wine or brandy). As for the reft, it is enough to falute at
coming and going. — 6. Perfons of rank, as for inftance, noblemen, {uperior officers,
likewife merchants of note, and head-mafters, (by which are underftood fhip-builders, )
perfons employed in the Chancery, and their wives and children, fhall have liberty of
frequenting the aflemblies. — 7. A particular place fhall be affigned to the footmen,
(thofe of the houfe excepted,) that there may be fufficient room in the apartments de-
figned for the affembly.”
The Englifh merchants live in a focial and even fplendid manner. Befides conftant
meetings at their refpective houfes, they have once a fortnight a regular aflembly to
which they obligingly invite all their countrymen who happen to be at Peterfburgh, and
occafionally fome Ruffian ladies. There is a ball, cards, and fupper; twelve or four-
teen couple ufually dance at thefe meetings, which are perfeCtly cheerful and agreeable.
A traveller who frequents the houfes of the Ruffian nobility will be ftruck with the
variety of complexions and faces which are obfervable among the retainers and fervants;
Ruflians, Fins, Laplanders, Georgians, Circaflians, Poles, Vartars, and Calmucs. He
will be no lefs furprifed on being informed, that many of the fervants, who belong to
the Englifh and other foreigners, are Mahometans, of whom numerous colonies are {till
refident in this vaft empire.
Fortre/s of Peterfourgh.—Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul.—Tomb of Peter the Great,
and the fucceeding Sovereigns. —Mint.—Hiftory of the Boat called The Little Grandfire,
which gave rife to the Ruffian Navy on the Black Sea.
THE origin of the fortrefs, which occafioned the foundation of this capital, has been
related in the general defcription of Peterfburgh. Maflive walls of brick, faced with
hewn granite; and {trengthened with five baftions, encircle a {mall ifland not more than
half a mile in circumference, formed by the Great and Little Neva. Within the Go-
vernor’s houfe are barracks for a fmall garrifon, feveral wards ufed as a common jail,
and dungeons for the confinement of ftate prifoners.
In the centre ftands the cathedral of St. Peter and Paul, in a different f{tyle of archi-
tecture from that ufually employed in the conftru@ion of churches for the fervice of the
Greek religion. _Inftead of domes, it is furmounted with a {pire of copper gilt, two
hundred and forty feet in height. The interior decorations are more elegant and lefs
gaudy-than thofe in the churches of Novogorod and Mofcow, and the paintings are
executed in the modern ftyle of the Italian fchool.
In
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