New-York daily tribune., 1858-11-03

and welcomed her as cordially as If her ancestry
dated from julius Caesar. In visiting the palace
wac particularly struck with the cheerful PLAIN
ness Of the private apartments, which contrl'ied
remarkably with the PomP add dazzle oi nose Iof
state occasions.
To describe mirutely all that I saw in the Win
ter Palace would take up several chapters. We
were between two and three hours in walking slowly
through the principal balls and chambers. large
number Of these are devoted to pictures primer
nauv portraits and battle scenes. large room
contains several hundred portraits OF the oLicefs
who served against Napoleon in lol3-ii Inen
follows tie Hall Of the Marshals, with lew and
fIllength figures, some Of which arc OF great his
toricsl interest. Potemkin is here represented N
full arnor tall, Apollonian figure over SIX feet in
hight, with fne oval head, regular and handsome
features, soft blue eyes, and curly golden hair.
Suwarrow is short man, With a large benevolent
head, very broad iu the temples, where Phrenolo'
giss place the organ OF constructiveness. lie wears
plain leather Jacket and breeches, and resembles
nothing 20 much az an old Quaker preacher. Bar
clay de Toly is tall slender, stern and thoughtful,
with a prematurely bald head: Kutusot short,
thick, coarse and heavy-featuaed. In striking con-
trast with these personages is Wellington with his
cold. prim English face and small head.
The battle-pieces represent al the noted fields in
which Russian arms have been engaged, from Narva
10 Inkermann-not merely an ostentstcus display
of yictores, but important defeats ss well, so that
the series presents true historical interest. NarVa
receives ss prominent place as Pultava, BorodIno
as Leipzig, Silistria as Isinall Many of the later
pictures are fine works of art: the Illustrations of
the Persian and Circassian wars, especially, ore
full Of rich dramatic effect Altogether, this gal
lery will compare very well with that of Versailles.
One Of the most interesting halls is that devoted to
the coronation gifts received by Alexander, Nicho-
las and the present Emperor. The ancient custom
is still preserved, Of each province throughout the
Fmpire sending bread and salt as token Of well
come. But the loaf is carried upon a massive
salver Of gold and silver, of the rarest workman
ship ard the salt in box or cup Of the same ma
terial, studded with jewels The sslvers presented
to the two former Emperors rise in dazzling pyra-
mids from the floor nearly TO the ceiling, but they
are far outshone by those of Alexander H., who re-
ceiyed Just as much as his father and uncle to-
gether. If the wealth avished upon these offerings
is an index to the popular feeling, 1t is a happy
omen for his reign. The taste, richness and va
rety Of the ornaments bestowed upon the mighty
golden salyers exceeds anything of the kind ever
saw. Their value can only be estimated by mil-
lions. 1t is significant, perhaps, that the largest
and most superb, which occupies the place of
honor in the center of the glorious pile is the Of
fering of the serfs of the Imperial domains.
We were admitted into the room containing the
crown jewels, which are arranged in glass cases,
according to their character and value. In the CEN
ter is The crown of Alexander, Hemisphere OF the
purest diamonds: beside is the scepter, containing
the famous brilliant purchased by Cathsrine III.
from a Greek slave, and for Il time supposed to be
the largest in the world. II turns out to be smaller
than the Koh-i-nr, though (to my eyes, at least)
of purer water. There is not II quarter so many
Jewels here as in the Treasury at Moscow yet their
value far exceeds that Of the latter. The stones
are of the largest and rarest kind and the spendor
Of their tints is delicious ntoxication to the eye.
The soul of all the fiery of Persia lives in
these rlbies; the freshness of all velvet sward,
whether in Alpine valley or English lawn, in these
emeralds the bloom of southern seas in these sap
phres, and the essence of thousand harvest moons
in these necklaces of pearl.
Before leaving the Palace we were conducted to
small room in the first story, in the northwestern
corner Two Imperial gusrdsmen stood at the
door, and two oh servants in livery were in little
anteroom one of whom accompanied us INTO the
narrow chamber where Nicholas lived and died.
Nothing has been changed since his body was car
ried out Of it, The hard campbell ~ small and
narrow that / should not wish to sleep upon it)
stands there, beside his writing table. On stool
at the foot lies his dresslng-gOwn. His comb,
brushes, gloves, pocket-hsndkerchief, knife and
pencil are carelessy laid upon small toIet-table,
under very moderste-sized looking-glas plain
green carpet covers the floor, and the hali-dozen
chairs are lined with green leather. The walls are
almost concealed by pictures, either landscapes or
battle pieces, and few Of them of any value. Just
over his pillow is picture Of very pretty young
girl. dressed as soldier 1t is scarcely possible to
believe that the occupant of this room has been
dead for more than three years Every object sug-
cests life, and while we are examining them we
half expect 10 see that colossal figure, which all
Europe knew so well, appear at the door. The
only thing which has been added is very beautiful
drawing of the Emperor's head, after death. The
expression upon the face is that OF pain and trouble,
not the serene, impenetrable calm which It wore
during life.
The Hermitage, adjoining the Winter Palace,
was built by Catharine, as place of escape from
the fatigue of Court ceremonals and of quiet con-