The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-05-05
BY REV. JOHN LEYBURN, D. d.
ST. PETERSBURG.

~ nav WYNN I'M hthNt ~ ~
ST. PETERSBURG.
Il was very late when / went on deck
ihe morning after leaving Helsinfors, aud
ihe first announcement was that such good
nfogress had been made that we would
f.ach St. Petersburg an hour or two in
vance of our time. The Gulf of Fin.
lxnd had certainly been behaving most
hahntifully, aud this morning was as serene
nd smiling us the most faStidious yoyagcr
teQld desire. Getting towards st. Pc.
isfsburg?' Certainly; don't you see
Elpnstadt, says one, And sure enough,
ihafe was the great fortress, guarding the
&ppFoach to the Imperial capital; and
asrding it so sternly that that enemy
&Qald be daring and reckless, indeed, who
Ntald provoke her thunders. England
and France are great nations, and when
Allied against Russia in the Crimean war,
Fafe able to storm and carry the appar.
4tliy impregnable fortress of Sebastopol
hat they deemed it prudent not to under.
take Cronstadt. Their fleets were up in
litee seas, i'rowning aud formidable, but
t||fg made no attempt to crack this hard
uuk They preferred rather to batter down
Ihe Qualifications of Helsinfors, although
nvt being on the way to any place in par
Iieplar, it was rather a poor substitute for
Altering down the gateway to the Capital
pf oil the Russias.
Yes, yonder is Cronstadt sitting quite
down in the waters, aud, from our present
p9int, looking like an islet covered with a
hoaTy frost. The fortress does stand on a
saeall island, which Peter the Great had
lhe sagacity to see held the key to his new
capital, Threatened as he was, by his
ueighbor, the King Of Sweden, he set to
tafk to defend himself, aud this he did
to efiectually that when the King of Swe.
ien came in high confidence that he would
ht'og to n speedy end Peters would-be
ef<At city, said King found he had run
into hornets nest, and was glad to run
Quk as quickly as might be; albeit, he
Ioond getting out grievously more difficult
,lian getting it. From that time to this
Ih0 great fortress has kept the world at
Hut Cronstadt is not fortress and
l0Hn only, here lies the Russian navy
41d Il is the masts of these numerous
esrships which made the forest we saw
nn 6{r first outlook from the steamer. On
Diving near, we see that there is much
fIIsshief laid up there, vast power sleep
In9 uhch il walked up, might do frightful
txae4iion upon intrusive enemies. Among
~ sIambering monsters, We observe sew
eIzl monitors, grim and gloomy-one oil
'1em aouble-turretted, apparently in com.
ln'4ion. '...
Aud yonder is st. Petersburg;-at least,
i||sfe radiant rises the gilded dome of the
Church Of st. Issacs, specially resplendent
under these clear July skies and cloudless
spa But the approach to st. Petersburg
rpon the whole, is not imposing. 1t is
az laN and fat, and lies too much on q
H<zI it'll the water. Nobody but Peter
Iht E5ent, indeed, would ever have thought
# <'<|h q site for great city;-a site not
anly IoN and fat, but wet and soft-ap.
paIHntH without any solid foundation, a
fpf'.zble, aud, as it proved for time,
F1.I'IsEbus marsh. But one Of the pecu.
,|e1|iI<4 of Peter was, that he had win Of
Hl p4n, and when that will said o thing
N''St BE-, neither man nor nature, nor both
fe'kalped, not even when backed up by
+e<fltlon aud disease, must dare say No.
7Efa Eight had the great Peter against
ftta iels, but he won the day. Not will
'AE y Necupy a capital so isolated as that
" 'l4aaow, four hundred miles inland,
Hfs H14ing that the worlds great powers
y NIz|led fleets as well as armies, and all
's<:'sa en commerce by sea, and having
n ri iDmaiu no convenient point for
asAlae water, except by the Neva, he
*R'4fHaieed, swamp or no swamp, that here
4id build the capital for that empire
<s|Ea b determined should hold its head
p I| D the other kiugly powers. And
Va tha Heva stands the city We are now
nHHfaAebing.
AAfN already described drosky, but
~ arosky driver; aud as it so happens
'4.< of the latter is the first man to
t'ze s. telcome to the Cars capital,
q<Foduce him to the reader; espec-
tAo as no tourist can leave St. Pc
.'zzsfs Without thinking of droskies and
'|'iYers as among the moss noticeable
o q the city, No sooner have we
ai0tgside the wharf than a drosky-
'*af Yards our craft But how unlike
HEptierhood Of Hibernian or African
- FA9 welcome strangers 10 our own
w This Russian wears pelisse, a
iEIfk Of blue cloth reaching from his
e his feet, plated heavily at the
alld girded witha purple belt, aud
AFaa adorned with black beaver hat,
ffpwn not over four inches high
szsS7e'g belled, and a tiny, narrow
<afned up tight at the sides. may
e4Y this hat has not its like in any
7E IAna. And this dress is the univer.
fA'pe Of coachmen in Russia, from
'aIiaieer Of the noble to that Of the
~ drosky. With the former the
''a' y tiner, but the cut and shape the
N'th the exception Of the Imperial
Sc QQt Remember that we saw livery
The drosky man who boarded
an4f, finding long skirts in his way
Allas up his frocks above his knees
M . very dirty petticoat Of coarse