Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-07-22

cspeSAonJ, shci0 A6 tcuS Illus U
streets without character and with
out beauty, which a man mus
| pass before the genuine imperial msgni.
| fcence OF the place bursts into full blaze
upon his view. At length, however, we
| come to that which Is to St. Petersburg
what Princes street is to Edinburgh, at
once the centre and the glory of the town
| that which, when a man has seen fol-
only a minute, he may gratefully shut his
eyes and thank Heaven for the momen-
tary enjoyment and the eternal memory
of so beautiful picture. That which
makes Edinburgh beautiful is the Castle
and the High street, and what used to be
| cslle1 the North Loeb; that which sup.
plies the place of the North Loeb in st.
Petersburg is the broad main line of the
NeVa, all in one visible sweep of at least
three miles to the eye, rolling along
grandly with an easy consciousness of
power, and wreathing its face in various
swirls and eddies to show that it is q real
living Titan, son of Father Ocean, snd
not merely broadened ditch. On the
south side of this magnificent stream is
long quay of three miles in length, lined
with succession of splendid palaces-the
Princes Street of St. Petersburg-behind
which towers the golden dome of st. Isaac,
and which expands at intervals into vast
open squares, adorned with monuments
of the most imperial and imposing char
acter. The opposite or north side of the
view is also not without its ornaments in
the shape of public buildings and monu-
ments; but the grandeur of st. Peters
burg is chiefly concentrated, as in Berlin,
in the one great line of palstial buildings
on the South side of the Neva, and the
great squares into which they open. l
have mentioned Berlin specially, because
those who know that city will find that
in many respects the two capitals suggest
one another, and were in fact projected on
the same plan. The likeness arises from
the two circumstances that they are both
built on perfectly level plain, and have
risen into their present architectural pomp
obedient to the conception of ambitious
military autocrsts-Berlin in great
measure (for old Berlin on the
Spree was certainly natural growth
and st. Petersburg altogether. AS con-
trssted with London, they are both made
cities; they have risen at the word of
command, and spread themselves forth in
rank and file, like rows of soldiery ia
mighty camp. From these two causes
b5th are grand this is their common vir-
tue, but they have common vice also.
Except at certain points, where promi-
nent public buildings and monuments
vary the lines, both Berlin and st. Peters,
burg are mOnotOnous; you are over
whelmed with regular masses rather than
gra,ified with various form; you long for
the lUxuriant incOherencies of many parts
of London, where the moss of ages MN
giles with the gliding of yesterday, and
where all that meets the eye, whether in
the shape of old sturdy growth or recent
ambitious enterprise, testiies rather to
the freedom and energy of individuals
than to the impenous power of great
central intellect. So far, therefore, Ber-
lin and st. Petersburg are perfect parsl-
lels: they are like and very like and
yet they have their points of difference.
Esthetically these points are almost all
il favor of the Russian capital. That it
is the grander and more imposing capital
of the two cannot be denied. Everything
in the city of the Gar is, as BELTS the
great empire of which it is the head, on
q more vast and Titanic scale; the eagle
pounces not on flies; the Car can,
not have small palace, smsll mu-
scum, small square, or small street.
His lanes are as large as the streets of
other cities; his streets are like broad,
open avenues in forest; his squares
look as if they were meant to contain
mighty parliament Of deputies, repre-
senting all chimes and classes, from the
AmOor to the N.emen. But what throws
Berlin altogether into the shade is the
riVer-thst river which | have already
described, and which, with its array of
boats and ships and steaming craft, adds
bit of London to St. Petersburg, and
saves it from the GOODNESS of mere i'm
perial residence, and congregation of
stately bureaucratic offices. In comparison
of which grand river, what can be said
of the Spree2-a little more, perhaps,
than what can be said of the
Water of Leith, az contrasted with the
Tweed. TIE Spree is useful little string
of water, forming, with the Havel, u
| valuable connection between the Elbe to
| the west of Berlin and the Oder to the
| east; but it has no pretensiOns to either
| beauty or grandeur; it is possible even to
be in Berlin considerable time without
knowing of its existence; and when you
do see it, perhaps crossing to the Ger
tTudep StrGsse, to replenish your purse
at Schickler Brothers, you may lightly
mistake 1t for 9 canal. No doubt some
evil things can be said against the Nevs;
it takes fit occasionally of swelling up
st the bidding of strong Southwestern
from the Baltic, and flooding the ground
| floors of the finest palaces in the town.
| This is certainly fault, but it is fault
of which only mighty Neva can be
| guilty; and as to the charge against
| it that its water is not drinkatle,
and yet that the people must drink it,
/ | have to make q threefOld answer
| first, that like other evil things habit
| makes it quite innocuous-it is like smOk-
| ing, which no one likes at frs, but is apt
to like too well afterward; secondly, that
! strangers not of an Over-irm habit Of
! body have no need TO drink it, as there is
/ plenty of French wines in the hotels,
( beer, efferVescent lemonade, and all sorts
of beverages; and thirdly. l have to re-
mark that students and other sedentary
persons whose internal machinery in
clines to stsgnation, may have their
wheels beautifully oiled from the water
of this glorious river without recourse to
an apOthecary.
So much for my first impressions of
Russia and its metropolis. Should your
readers find any pleasure ia these hasty
lettings, l will in another letter lead you
by the hand through some of the more
notable sights of st. Petersburg, and in
third and last letter may take you to
| Moscow, JOHN STUART BLACKIE.
BALLOON ADVENTURES.
Among the novelties of this season
have been several balloon ascensions by
female aeronauts. The Utica Herald
| &c hoIo0r