the Great. The palace, recently restored and fitted up as a residence for the present King, but without altering its original plan, stands on the highest terrace, and is a low and unpretending building. At the extremities of the terrace are the graves of Frederic's favorite dogs, and of his horse that carried him through many of his battles. Like Byron, he desired to be buried with his dogs, but neither of their wishes were complied with. "This spot was the favorite resort of the old warrior; here he was brought out in his arm-chair, surrounded by his dogs, a short time before his decease, to bask in the sun." “Je serai bientôt plus près de lui," were nearly his last words. Within the building we saw his bed-room where he breathed his last; a clock, which he always wound up himself, and which stopped at the moment of his death, and still points to the hour of his decease, 20 minutes past 2. Our guide also pointed out Voltaire's room, the walls of which are covered with figures, said to be epigrams on his character and habits, viz.: a monkey, meant as a portrait; parrots, from his volubility; stork, from his migrations, coming in summer, quitting in winter.

Just in the rear of the palace is the famous Wind Mill of Sans Souci, which still belongs to the descendants of the miller who refused to sell it to Frederic, who desired to appropriate its site for his garden. Some years ago adverse circumstances compelled the owner of the mill to part with it, but the King generously paid off his debts and allowed him to retain his property, saying that it belonged to the history of Prussia.

The gardens of Sans Souci are very extensive, and laid out in the French style. A broad avenue runs through them, at the extremity of which is the New Palace, a vast brick building, erected at an enormous expense by Frederic, by way of bravado, at the end of the seven years' war, to convince his enemies that his finances were in good condition. This mammoth structure contains upwards of seventy apartments; it was completed in six years, and built on a spot previously a morass. The interior is fitted up in the most elaborate and extravagant manner, and the ceiling and walls of the large room in the centre of the building are lined completely with shells and minerals in very bad taste.

In the garden of this palace is a small building called the Antique Temple, containing a beautiful recumbent statue of Queen Louisa, by

Rauch. It is no larger than life, and represents her asleep. The features are regular, the figure excellent, and the entire piece superbly executed.

LETTER SIXTY-FOUR.

ST. PETERSBURG.

Voyage from Stettin to St. Petersburg-Our Vessel and Passengers-The Gulf of Finland -Cronstadt-First View of St. Petersburg-The Neva-New Bridge-English QuayPolice Regulations-Our Hotel--Dinner at the U. S. Ambassador's.

It is just four hours and a half from the capital of Prussia to Stettin on the Oder by the railroad. Stettin is a place of some commercial importance, and is the point from which the Russian steamers embark for this city. The banks of the Oder below Stettin are exceedingly low, and the country reminded me very much of the region below Londonderry, in Ireland. After getting out of the river, we passed between some low and barren islands and the main shore, for a great distance before entering the sea. Our vessel was a war-steamer, built in Liverpool, and very good, I should think, for such purposes, but wholly unsuited to convey passengers between such important points, as most of them have to sleep on the floor and on the seats in the cabin. There is one improvement in the structure of this vessel which I think might be adopted even on our river steamers, where accidents are more numerous than on the sea; and this is in the wheel-houses, the tops of which are made in the shape of boats, capable of holding eighty persons each, and can be unshipped at any moment in case of accident.

The following morning we descried in the distance the coast of Sweden, and met an English steamer bound for London. As nothing of particular interest occurred during the day, I will give a brief of our passenger list. The captain and second officer were Germans, the crew slaves, or souls, as they are called in Russia. Next comes Prince Trubitskoie, of Moscow, a sour-looking individual, who had been on a tour of pleasure with his wife and child. The Princess is a tall, dark-looking lady, with a very long, but pleasant face. The child is perfectly beautiful, but completely spoiled, having an English, French, and other attendants. Then comes a jolly old

Commodore of the London Yacht Club, on his way to St. Petersburg, to enter his craft in the Regatta for the prize awarded by the Emperor. I recognised him as a brother Mason, and gained considerable information from him relative to the structure of yachts in different countries. Next comes a very nice young Englishman, who is one of Victoria's messengers. The Russian Consul at Marseilles, a large fat personage, with a Greek wife and pretty daughter. Two Austrian and two Prussian Generals going to Russia to witness the grand annual review of the military, having been invited by the Emperor. One of the Austrian Generals was very particular in his attentions to a German opera singer, who seemed well inclined. Then comes a young Russian nobleman with a French mistress, another with a greyhound, and another very fond of champagne. But the richest character of all was an old French woman from Cologne, who was quite smutty in her conversation, and kept the passengers continually in a roar of laughter. One morning she made her appearance on deck in her petticoat, and assigned as the reason, that the ladies' cabin stunk so badly that she could not go into it, and that she would not allow any of the servants to finger her things. Most of the passengers spoke English, and all spoke French -consequently our voyage was very agreeable.

On the morning of the third day we entered the Gulf of Finland, which is two hundred miles long and very wide. During the day we saw one or two towns on the Finland shore, and a number of small barren islands; also numerous sails, mostly of small craft.

Early the next morning, being the fourth day from Stettin, we landed at Cronstadt, where we were boarded by a whole phalanx of policemen and searchers of luggage, passports, etc.

Cronstadt is a strongly fortified place, containing twelve ́ or fifteen thousand inhabitants, including the garrison. It is the water-gate of St. Petersburg, for here most ships coming from seaward anchor; the smaller vessels run up to the mouth of the Neva, carrying the freight and passengers over the shallow bars between the places. Here is also the chief station of the Russian fleet, the chief customhouse, and the harbor for vessels of war, which will contain about thirty ships, and is protected by a mole four hundred and fifty fathoms in length from the violence of the waves. After being detained here two or three hours, we got on a small steamer which

landed us safely at the examination office on the English quay. On the right shore of the gulf from Cronstadt we saw the town of Oranienbaum, and a little further on, the gilded towers and park of Peterhoff, which are situated on a slight acclivity; but after they are passed the banks again become low, and present from a distance the only feature of the Finnish shores, interminable flats. At length a golden spot, sparkling in the sunshine, and of dazzling splendor, together with a tall and taper spire, shooting like a needle to the sky, and rising apparently from the water, are seen, and these are the first indications that prove that the great city founded by Peter the Great is near at hand. This golden spot is the gilded dome of the Isak Church, which may, in fair weather, be seen from Cronstadt, a distance of sixteen miles. The spire is that of the Admiralty. Aside from these two objects, the approach to St. Petersburg is anything but prepossessing, being situated on a number of low islands, formed by the winding of the Neva, and built up on the side next to the sea with indifferent-looking houses. But when we reached the English quay the appearance of things began to improve, and the wonders of the European city opened upon our eyes. We landed near the new bridge, one of the greatest monuments of the city, and one of the finest structures in Europe. It was built by Americans; has seven stone arches, with an iron-railing of great beauty. The contractors lost $80,000 by the contract, but like honest men they completed the work in good faith. We were required to pass through a line of policemen into the examination. office, where we were detained more than two hours. The examination was more searching than we ever underwent before in other countries. They turned my little trunk upside down, and took all my books, even my Bible, away from me; then we were required to sign our names in several books before we were allowed to depart. Leaving this vexatious place, we endeavored to procure lodgings at Miss Benson's, an English boarding-house, but she was full, and we had to go to the Hotel Russe, or Klaie, where we succeeded in getting tolerable rooms.

The day after we arrived in this city we dined with Gov. Brown, our Ambassador, from Tennessee, and his Secretary, Mr. Wright, of New-Jersey. They live together in a well-furnished suite of rooms in the vicinity of the Winter Palace, and not far from the Newski

Perspective, the Broadway of St. Petersburg. We were received at the Legation, not by a Frenchman in kids or a Russian in furs, but by one of Afric's sons, who exhibited his ivory so invitingly and shook our hands so cordially that we almost forgot that we were in Petersburg, and imagined that we were entering the mansion of a Southern planter. In a few minutes after we arrived dinner was announced, and we had hardly taken our seats when the sweet strains of music greeted our ears from the court. The dinner could not have been better, and I must say that we passed the most agreeable evening here that we have spent in Europe. The Minister is a man full of the milk of human kindness; agreeable in conversation, and fully alive to the interests of his country. His Secretary is an accomplished gentleman, possessing all those high traits of character calculated to captivate in society or shine in official station. These gentlemen will ever have our best wishes; and if they should devote their lives to foreign missions, may they in future get into a more comfortable berth.

LETTER SIXTY-FIVE.

ST. PETERSBURG. Passport System-The Newski Perspective-Churches-Peter's Log Cabin-Corps des Mines-Admiralty-Palaces-Monuments-Excursion to Peterhoff-The Neva-Pick

pockets.

In my last letter I made allusion to the difficulties we encountered with the police when we landed in this city; but that was hardly a beginning to what we were afterwards subjected to. To save time we engaged the services of a well-known commissionaire, named Craft, to assist us in getting our passports properly arranged. After waiting impatiently at the police office for about two hours, we were ushered into the presence of a number of very dignified-looking men, dressed in full uniform, who eyed us from top to toe, asked various questions of an inquisitorial character, and required our signatures on several different sheets of paper. We were then marched off to another police office about four versts in the opposite direction, where we were again questioned and required to sign papers. After this operation was gone through with, they returned our old pass