nually to upwards of a thousand rubles. The rye bread is well tafted, and yields more nourishment. It is univerfally eaten, and even in families of good condition, where they have the means of choofing between this and the other. The poorer fort ufe what is called black bread, prepared of rye meal unbolted, and is uncommonly nutritious. The common Ruffian, with this black bread, likewife frequently eats rolls made of coarse wheat flour, called kalatfches, and are fold cheap about the ftreets. "The consumption of this neceffary may be tolerably well afcertained by the number and burden of the barks that bring the flour. Of meal, barley, &c. upwards of four millions eight hundred thousand poods are annually brought hither. The price of the bolted wheat flour is now at two rubles ↑ twenty kopeeks the pood. A pound of rye bread cofts now at the baker's four kopeeks; a pound of black bread one kopeek and a half. "As the price of flour, by various accidental circumftances, and the greater or lefs quantity imported, was liable to frequent fluctuations, and fometimes was kept very high for a long time together, the Emprefs Catharine took the matter into confideration; and, in order to free the inferior or ders of the community from the extortions of the corn-chandlers, in the year 780 erected a capacious flour magazine, from which any one may provide himself with this indifpenfable article of life, at a moderate price, but only in fmall quantities." P. 112. FRAUDS OF SHOPKEEPERS STORIES "GREAT as the fecurity of the city is in regard to acts of open violence, yet it is necefiary for every one to be upon his guard against artful impoftors and deep-laid fratagems. The frequent inftances of this kind make every Ruffian wary, and therefore they are not fo eafily made the dupes of their countrymen; but fo much the more do they make up for this at the expenfe of ftrangers and foreigners, particularly when they are not acquainted with the language of the country. The fhop keepers and merchants commonly afk three times, and frequently even five times as much as the commodity is worth; the unknowing offer the half, and think they have made a good bargain, till they find, when too late, that they have been miferably cheated. To give damaged goods a fair appearance, to defraud in measure and weight in arr imperceptible manner, to flip bad goods among the better that have been bought and ordered home; all these, and a multitude of other tricks, no dealers in the world understand better than the Ruffian. As the Ruffians in general are surprisingly cunning and of quick parts, they are eminently addicted to this fpecies of induftry; and the pickpockets of St. Petersburg and Mofco may fafely lay wagers on their dexterity with thofe of London and Paris. "Some time fince the following affair happened at Mofco, which ex cited great curiofity both there and at the refidence; and, on account of its originality, deferves to be noticed while we are on this fubject. A wealthy nobleman, well known as a fancier of precious ftones, fell accidentally in company with a perfon unknown to him, who wore on his finger a ring of great beauty and value. After a long difcourfe on its real worth, the noble man offered him a confiderable price for it; which the stranger at first re fufed, on the reasonable ground that he had no defire to part with it. At length, however, to evade the repeated importunities of the nobleman, he de clared that he could not fell it, because -the ftones were not genuine. This declaration filled all the company, among whom were connoiffeurs, with amazement. The nobleman, in order to be fure of the matter, defired to have the ring for a few days against fufficient fecurity, received it, and ran from one jeweller to another, who all unanimoully pronounced the ftones to be genuine, and of great value. With this affurance, and the hope of a good bargain, he brought back the ring to its owner, who, on receiving it, put it, with great indifference, into hi waistcoat pocket. The negotiation now began afresh: the ftranger perfift ed in his refolution, till at length the A pood is thirty-fix English pounds. #oblemas nobleman offered a fum which was pretty near the true value of it. This ring,' returned the ftranger, is a token of friendship; but I am not rich enough to reject fo large a fum as you offer for it. Yet this high 'offer is the very reafon of my not complying. How can you, if you are thoroughly confcious of what you are doing, offer fo much money for a ring, which the owner himself eon'feffes to be made up of falfe ftones? -If your determination depends only on that,' replied the buyer, here take at once the fum,' (laying it in bank notes upon the table,) and I call the gentlemen here prefent to avitnefs, that I voluntarily, and after due confideration, pay it.' The felder took the money, and gave the nobleman the ring, repeating the declaration, that the ftones were falfe, and that it was ftill time to make the bargain void. The latter obftinately refused to hearken to his advice, haftened joyfully home, and found-what the reader has already guaffed-that the ftranger had faid what was too true. Inftead of the genuine ring, he had a falfe one made exactly like the other. The affair was brought into a court of juftice; but as the feller proved, that during the whole bufinefs there was no question at all about genuine ftones; that the purchaser exprefsly treated only for a falfe ring, and he on the other hand fold him only a falfe ring; the judge was accordingly obliged to pronounce in favour of the latter. "The arts of cheating in the articles of provisions are no where better understood than here. Ordinary deceptions of this nature happen in every place; but when one looks at a fowl, which to all appearance is finely fattened, and finds it only filled with wind; or afparagus, deprived of their catable part, pointed again and coloured with a tempting verdure; no man will call thefe ordinary tricks. "A lady, who had not been long come out of Germany, and had heard much from her acquaintance at Petersburg of the many artifices of this nature practifed in that city, took the refolution to use the utmoft caution in all her dealings, in order to refute the common opinion, that every stranger uft buy his wisdom. Several days paffed on: one morning, however, a rafnofchtschik *entered her apartment, and offered her a pound of tea, the laft remains of what he had to fell. She weighed the parcel, and found it just he made a trial; the tea was unadulterated, and well flavoured; fhe fhook it all out into a bafin; no deceit was difcoverable. She inquired the price, and offered a third part of what he afked: the vender was naturally not fatisfied with this offer; turned his tea back again into the box, wrapped a cloth about it, and crammed it into his bofom. At length the bargain was ftruck, and the commodity delivered; however, prudence does no harm; the lady opened the box, and faw the tea he had bought. She fhut it up, to the great joy of the feller, who in the mean time had asked her, fmiling, why the was fo extremely cautious, and why the had fo very bad an opinion of his honefty. The money was paid; the rasnoschtschik went his way; and fome days after the box was found full of fand and grains, excepting the furface, which was really good tea." P. 15.3. OCCASIONAL INUNDATION ST-PRE- "THIS city, from its fituation at the mouth of a large navigable river, is very often exposed to inundations. On a continuance of wefterly winds the water rifes to the height of ten feet above its ordinary level. At five feet it overflows only the weftern parts of the town, in places where the Neva has no rampart; but on a fwell of the water to ten feet, only the easternmost parts efcape a general inundation. In the year 1777, on Sunday, the 10th of September, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, the water rofe to the height of ten feet fever inches above its ufual level; and though in two hours afterwards it had again retired within its banks, yet this fhort inundation produced very extraordinary effects. A fhip from Lubeck was carried into the wood on Vaffilli-oftref: the Dutchefs of Kingston's famous yacht, which the had quitted a few days before, was caft upon the bar, and greatly damaged; many wooden houfes were washed away, and feveral perfons had loft their lives during the obscurity of the night. "Rafnofchtfchiks are venders of small articles about the streets." 30 a Since "Since this remarkable inundation, proper measures of prudence and caution have been adopted. For feveral years the height of the water had been regularly marked at the caftle. Now, at all rifings of the river, fignals were appointed at the admiralty, as a warn ing to the inhabitants. Whenever it rifes above its banks at the mouth of the Great Neva, notice is given to the town by three diftinct firings of cannon, which are repeated at intervals, as the danger increafes. Within the town, in this cafe, five cannons are fired from the admiralty battery, and on the fteeple of it by day four white flags are difplayed, and by night four lanterns are hung out; and at the fame time the church bells are flowly tolled. In places moft expofed to the inundation, vefiels are kept in readiness for saving the people. These regulations, the increafing buildings, the embanking, and the magnificent ftone quay of the Neva, together with the extenfion of the water-furface by the various canals, render thefe weftern gales lefs alarming to the inhabitants of St. Petersburg; fo that a fwell of five feet above the level now excites but little or even no attention." P. 158. HEARTHS IN THE STREETS. "A PECULIARITY obfervable here are the street hearths; which, both on that account and from their humane defign in providing a comfortable place of refort to the poor drivers and others of the lower clafs who are obliged to wait in the streets in the winter feafon, deferve a fhort defcription. One of thefe hearths confifts of a circular fpot furrounded by a parapet of granite, having a bench within of the fame material, covered with an iron roof, fupported on pillars of that metal; and in the middle is kindled a large fire, round which twenty or thirty perfons may conveniently fit and enjoy the warmth. Iron fhutters are likewife placed on the ftone parapet reaching up to within a couple of feet from the roof, which, fliding in grooves, are eafily moved fo as to keep off the force of the chilling blafts. On all the principal fquares, near the playhouses, and wherever a number of equipages are ufually collected, and the coachmen and fervants are obliged to wait feveral hours in the cold, thefe fire-hearths are conftructed. From being all made of granite with painted iron roofs and fcreens, they likewise add to the em bellishment of the places where they ftand." P. 171. INGENIOUS WORKS OF ARTA CU. RIOUS PIECE OF MECHANISM. "MOST of the trades that relate to luxuries are here carried on to fuch an extent, and in fo great perfection, as to render it, at least for the refidence, unneceffary to import thofe articles from abroad. The chief of these are works in the nobler metals. Here are forty-four Ruffian and one hundred and thirty-nine foreign, confequently in all one hundred and eighty-three workers in gold, filver, and trinkets, as mafters; and befides them feveral gilders and filverers;-a monftrous difproportion, when compared with thofe employed in the ufeful and indifpenfable bufineffes. The pomp of the court, and the luxury of the rich and great, have rendered a taste in works of this kind fo common, and carried the art itself to fuch a pitch, that the most extraordinary objects of it are here to be met with. Several of them are wrought in a fort of manufactory: in one set of premifes are all the variou workmen and fhops for completing the moft elegant devices, ornamental and useful, from the rough bullion. Even the embroiderers in gold and filver, though they are not formed into a company, are yet pretty numerous. The works they produce are finished in so high a tafte, that quantities of them are fold in the fhops that deal in English or French goods, and to which they are not inferior. This bufinefs, which is a perpetual fource of profit to a great number of widows and young women of flender incomes, forms a ftrong objection to the declamations againft luxury. Perhaps the remark is not unneceffary, that fham laces and embroidery cannot here be used, even on the ftage." P. 284. "Joinery is practifed as well by the Ruffians as the Germans; but the cabinet-maker's art, in which the price of the ingenuity far exceeds the value of the materials, is at prefent folely confined to fome foreigners, amongst whom the Germans diftinguish themfelves to their honour. The artifts of that nation occafionally execute mafter pieces, pieces, made at the intervals of leifure under the influence of genius and tafte, for which they find a ready fale in the refidence of a great and magnificent court. Thus not long fince one of these made a cabinet, which for invention, tafte, and excellency of workmanship, exceeded every thing that had ever been seen in that way. The price of this piece of art was feven thousand rubles; and the artift declared, that with this fum he should not be paid for the years of application he had beftowed upon it. Another monument of German ingenuity is preferved in the Academy of Sciences, in the model of a bridge after a defign of the ftate-counfellor Von Gerhard. This bridge, the moft magnificent work of the kind, if the poffibility of its conftruction could be proved, confifts of eleven arches, a drawbridge for letting veffels pafs, diftinct raised foot-ways and landingplaces, &c. The beauty of the model, and the excellency of its execution, leave every thing of the fort very far behind. The Emprefs Catharine re- warded the artificer with a present of four thousand rubles, and he has ever fince been employed by the court. Among the more capital undertakers of this clafs are people who keep warehoufes of ready-made goods for fale; one in particular, who has by him to the amount of feveral thousand rubles, in inlaid or parquetted floors of all kinds of wood, patterns, and colours, that only require to be put together, which may be done in a few days. Another confines himself to the making of coffins, of which he keeps a great quantity, of every form and fize, and at all prices. Several of thefe dealers on a large fcale have neither shop nor tools, nor journeymen, but engage only in podriads; for example, to execute all the timber and wood work in a new-built house, and then take on the neceffary workmen, over whom they act as furveyors. Before we difmifs this fubject, a man and his work must be mentioned, who does honour to his country, Germany; and in his line has excelled any thing that the moft refined ingenuity of England and France has ever produced. The name of this man is Roentgen; he is a native of Neuwied, and belongs to the fect of Moravian Brethren. He has lived many years, at feveral times, in St. Petersburg, and has embellished and enriched the palaces of the monarch and the great perfonages of the court with the aftonishing productions of his art. In the Imperial hermitage are a great many pieces of furniture, cabinets, clocks, and other works, of his invention and execution. They are compofed of the greateft variety of woods, to which the artift, by a certain preparation, has given a peculiar hardness and durability; and which, by the most laborious and extraordinary mode of polishing, have received a glofs which needs no rubbing for its prefervation. The workmanship of thefe pieces is not lefs wonderful than their invention; not a joint is vifible; all is fitted fo exactly together as though it were molten at one caft: some are inlaid with bronzework of the most beautiful and diverfified gilding; others with bas-reliefs, gems, and antiques. But the most fuperlative production of this artift is a bureau or writing-defk, which the Emprefs prefented to the mufeum of the Academy of Sciences about eighteen years ago. Here the genius of the inventor has lavifhed its riches and its fertility in the greatest variety of compositions: all feems the work of enchantment. On opening this amazing desk, in front appears a beautiful group of bas-reliefs in bronze, fuperbly gilt; which, by the flighteft preffure on a fpring, vanifhes away, giving place to a magnificent writing-flat, inlaid with gems. The space above this flat is devoted to the keeping of valuable papers or money. The bold hand that should dare to invade this fpot would immediately be its own betrayer: for, at the leaft touch of the table part, the moft charming ftrains of foft and plaintive mufic inftantly begin to play upon the ear; the organ from whence it proceeds occupying the lower part of the desk behind. Several fmall drawers for holding the materials for writing, &c. likewife ftart forward by the preffure of their fprings, and fhut again as quickly, without leaving behind a trace of their existence. If one would change the table part of the bureau into a reading-defk, from the upper part a board fprings forward, from which, with incredible velocity, all the parts of a commodious and well-contrived reading-defk expand, and take their proper places. But the mechanism of this performance of art, as well as its outward ornaments, should be feen, as nothing LXXXII. A Tour through Germany; particularly along the Banks of the Rhine, Mayne, &c. and that Part of the Palatinate, Rhingaw, &c. ufually termed the Garden of Germany. To which is added, a concife Vocabulary of familiar Phrafes, &c. in German and English; for the Ufe of Travellers. By the Rev. Dr. RENDER, Native of Germany. 2 vols. 8vo. pp. 775. 165. Long man and Rees. CONTENTS. VOL. I. A all these stand immediately under the protection of the Emperor; on which account he has a great influence in their government. This power in fome de gree extends, likewife, over all the German princes; and the Emperor's commands are in general ftrictly obeyed; particularly where they concern the intereft of the whole Empire. "The old cuftom of indulging ex travagantly in the expenfe of funeral pomp and coftly mourning, by which many families had nearly ruined them felves, has been altogether abolished in Francfort, and almoft throughout the Empire. "A burial, including the mourning for the whole household and relations, formerly often amounted (according to the rank and nobility of a family) to feveral thousand guilders, and thofe of lefs rank to feveral hundreds. At been conducted with an uncommon Francfort, in particular, funerals have degree of expenfive folemnity. Several men, clothed in black cloaks, with an appendage of a black veil of about three yards long, forming a train behind and fweeping the ground, were employed for the space of three days to invite about one hundred and fifty, or two hundred mourners, to walk in proceffion after the coffin. All the family, relations, and friends of the deceased in the fame drefs, with each a lemon in his hand, accompanied the corpfe in fo many mourning coaches. The bier was carried by twelve perfons, COLOGNE-Weftphalia-The according to the diftance, stopped at who in their way to the churchyard, Dutchies of Berg, Cleves, Guilders, intervals in the open ftreet, and unceand Juliers-Munfter-Ofnaburg-vered the coffin, to expofe the face of Paderborn-Minden--Techlenburg the deceafed. A band of fingers, three -Account of the Secret Tribunals in days preceding the burial, affembled in Weftphalia-Hamburg-Bremen- the ftreets before the house, chanting Embden-Hanover-Gottingen Hartz, or the Hercenian Mountain -A concife View of the prefent State of the whole German Empire--A German and English Vocabulary of eafy Words. VOL. II. EXTRACTS. FRANCFORT-ABOLITION OF FUNERAL POMP. "DURING the reign of the late Emperor Jofeph II. many falutary laws were eftablished in this and other Imperial cities. It ought to be remarked, that for an hour a folemn dirge. When the corpfe was carried to the ground, the fingers followed in a coach, and chantat all funerals carried before the corpfe, ed round the grave. The crucifix was without any regard to the particular religion of the deceased. That of a nobleman was conducted in the fame manner, but with far greater pomp. It commenced in the night-time at eleven o'clock, and all the mourners and chorifters, amounting to several hundreds, with each a double torchin his hands, preceded the corpfe. This ftrange and ruinous custom was at once abolished by law. At present a funeral |