has little to dread from the animadversions of the severest man of the world. That amiable ease, which is just as remote from the stiff formal etiquette of the Germans as the excessive liberties of the French, is here the soul of all fashionable society. The little ceremonial laws observed elsewhere with such unremitted strictness are here entirely unknown; in the stead whereof is substituted a tacit agreement to appear as pleasing and affable, and to sacrifice to the company as much of their due, as they possibly can. These engaging endeavours to be to others what they could wish them to be, smoothen the ordinary character in proportion as they render that of the individual more prominent; but it would be difficult to point out the method of making, in à numerous and mixed company, the social manners harmonise with the particular humour of each individual. The sacrifice that every one makes to society is no less voluntary than the resolution by which the duration of it is fixed. Here no entreaties, no pressing solicitations are used; whoever is agreeable to the family goes thither as often as he finds it convenient, without having to apprehend in one case any cross looks for repeating his visits too often, or, in the other, those country-town reproaches for his long absence, unless in either case he exceed the proportion settled by prevailing custom, or by particular considerations which are easy to be perceived. No rule of etiquette prescribes the duration of the visit or the mode of taking leave. The person comes as an uninvited, but as an expected guest; he stays as long as he pleases, and usually retires in silence, without disturb ing the company by a noisy and verbose ceremonial.

It may naturally be asked here, how this people, so fond of society, employ themselves in company. Certainly the usual means of entertainment would here be insufficient, if they had not the art of giving them a superior charm which renders them attractive, even to cold and phlegmatic tempers, and prevents the irksomeness of perpetual uniformity. The pleasures of the table, cards, and conversation, here as elsewhere, supply the materials from which every one spins out his amusement, according to the diversity of gifts, of susceptibility and communication; but the manner in which these sources of social pleasure are employed is so peculiar as to afford some striking features characteristic of the Petersburgers.

"Though it is the custom all over the world to sit down to table for the purpose of satisfying a natural appetite, and of indulging more or less in sensuality, yet in few places is the latter so much the object of all companies as here. The most agrecable circle, and a frugal table, will be sure to find fewer amateurs than a well-furnished exquisite table, and a dearth of conversation.

Card-play is the most ordinary kind of pastime in all the cities of Europe; but here people play not so much for passing away the time as to set the passions in motion by a powerful interest. A small game, the event whereof in the most unfortunate case would be attended with no considerable loss, would seem to the Petersburgers time entirely thrown away. Games of forfeits, riddles, charades, boutrimés, and other trifling amusements, under whatever other names they pass, which in the family par tics of Germany produce such sal lies of mirth and wit, here find no admittance,

admittance, as they neither tickle the palate, nor gratify the mind, nor give scope to the passions. Those games at cards where luck or chance has greatest share in the decision are the most esteemed. In families where games of hazard are not permitted, they pitch on those that come nearest to them. For this reason whist was forced to give way to boston, because in the latter chance had a freer scope, and because the Petersburgers had found out the method, by a refinement of luxury, to multiply the combinations of this adventurous

game.

"Conversation is generally the last resource, a means for filling up vacant moments left by play and the pleasures of the table. This branch of the entertainment, however, has such interesting and characteristic sides as to render it well worth while to examine it a little nearer. One peculiar advantage of our circles, since few great' cities have it in so great a proportion, is the mixture of persons of all ranks and countries, of all religious denominations, and of the most diversiñed manners, habits, and humours. No where is this confluence so great, and no where does mutual toleration extend to such lengths as here. It is by no means unusual to see generals, chief officers of state, decorated personages, merchants, scholars, and artists, together in one company, at the same table; or to meet in a company of ten or twelve persons, Russians, Germans, Englishmen, Frenchinen, Spaniards, and Swedes. The first great benefit arising from this amalgamation of mankind istoleration. The reciprocal necessity of bearing in order to be borne with; the sentiment of propriety, by which those of the stronger party

are moved to lay aside their superiority, that they may not render those of the weaker shy of their company; in short, custom, which familiarises us to the strangest objects, and deprives manners and opinions of all that at first seemed alarming; all these causes together have effected such a harmony in the style of good company, that we should think ourselves in a meeting of intimate acquaintances, where in fact they are all people of the greatest difference in national habits and professional notions. The primary requisites in a good companion is naturally this: not to touch on any topic which might excite an unpleasing sensation in the mind of any person present in regard to himself or his particular situation; but it requires, we must own, a great degree of circumspection, and a certain nice tact, in order not to offend, in very mixt and unknown companies, against this rule of refined accommodation. Great pretensions, a decisive tone, dictatorial judgments, are therefore just as absurd and ridiculous as ah inconsiderate choice of subject may be dangerous and detrimental.

"No where perhaps is it more difficult to excite attention by extraordinary occurrences, distant travels, marvellous adventures, and great acquaintances, than here. Most young Russians of rank and education have made the grand tour; many of them are as well and better acquainted with the customs and curiosities of Paris, Rome, and London, than with those of their own country; a great number of persons, by embassies and deputations, are familiar with remote nations; adventurers, who have tried their luck in more than one quarter of the world, flock hither in considerable numbers, Each

G3

brings

brings his share of experiences into company; the stock of knowledge thus brought into circulation among the more polished circles renders them the more interesting. The horizon of each individual being enlarged, we lose sight of the ordinary and microscopic point of view in which objects are usually contemplated among those of a more confined knowledge of the world and of mankind. The great play of the passions and of intrigues which is generally excited, on so brilliant and extensive a stage, by stronger impulses, gives us a knowledge of mankind very different from that which is acquired merely from books and the observations made in an uniform course of life. The motives of remarkable transactions, the true concatenation of apparently remote causes and effects, are here more easily unrivalled to the eye of the attentive observer. If, on the one hand, mistrust and a belief in the deceitfulness of the human heart be the result of these experiences, on the other hand they teach us caution and the practice of the little golden sentence:-nil admirari.

"From these preliminaries it may naturally be expected, that, in the higher circles and among polished people, it is not likely there should be any want of matter for interesting discourse. The history of the day, indeed, as usual, forms the ground-plot of the conversation; but even this is here more productive than it can possibly be in smaller towns and on a narrower stage of human action. In the order of the day stand foremost the political news and the transactions at court, which, trifling as they may be sometimes thought, are, however, much less tiresome than the dull com

mentaries on the weather that generally form the prelude to conversa.ion. The spacious theatre of a great and powerful court, playing its brilliant part with such a decided influence on the political relations of Europe and Asia, daily affords matter more than sufficient for a variety of discussion. Even the petty events of the moment, the scandalous chronicle and the antichamber anecdotes, have here on the spot a certain interest that even relaxes the brow of the grave philosopher and charms his attention. The court and city compose a grand living picture in which the slight strokes and shades are incessantly changing; one concurrence presses on the other; the hero of to-day is in obscurity to-morrow; no sooner discernible to our view, than he disappears among the undistinguished crowd, and we ourselves are astonished at being wafted by the stream of time and the vicissitude of things into new spheres and unknown relations. A retirement of a few days reduces to solitude the man of the world accustomed to live in public; and he seems a stranger in the place where he thought himself at home.

"When the grand subjects of conversation fail, recourse is had to literature. In the mixture of ranks that here prevails in all companies, it is natural to imagine that men of letters no where preponderate; but persons of practical knowledge of the world and reading, intelligent and well-informed people of all conditions, are seen dispersed in creditable families, and here and there give the colour to the conversation. The benefit arising hence is of no small consequence; one disputatious voice is seldom or never heard much louder than the rest to engross the whole dis

course;

course; that assuming tone which generally infects the learned by profession, is softened down into a reciprocal deference; and instead of that vociferous disquisition of a controverted point of science, friendly debates proceed in the usual style of conversation, in which good humour strives to mingle entertainment with solidity. Societies of this nature, which it must be confessed are rare, afford a truly gratifying relaxation to the man of sense and discernment, who, weary of the serious business of the day, seeks his recreation in gaining something for his mind.

"Having said thus much on the matter of our conversation, we will add a word or two on the form of it. If the former be various from the mixture of ranks and characters, the latter appears not less checkered by the diversity of languages that are heard in companies. In all great cities foreigners are found; but no where so many in proportion as here; elsewhere the strangers are generally foreign travellers; here the greater part of them are settlers. Accordingly, nobody in other places finds it necessary to impose on himself that restraint on their account which is here submitted to, because otherwise a great part of the social gratification would be lost. Add to this, that the Russian language is little understood abroad, and the learning of it is attended with numerous difficulties; whereas foreign languages are very current among the politer classes of society, even in ordinary conversation. At the same time the Russ is most usual in the companies of the natives, and it is only out of complaisance to foreigners that they exchange it for the generally

known French, which is the point of union in mixed assemblies.

"The Petersburgers are reproached with corrupting the national language by foreign idioms and constructions, and as being far behind the Moscovites in delicacy of expression. This reproach, as far as one that is not a Russian may be allowed to judge, seems in general to be well founded. The constant mixture in which the Russians live with foreigners, and the circumstance that the children commonly hear and learn two or three languages at once, are the grounds of this corruption, which has extended itself so far, that in certain circles it is become the fashion to carry on the conversation partly in one language and partly in another, or to shove in some French words between every three or four words of Russ. Whe ther this accusation be just or not, there can be no doubt of the truth of the testimony of all mankind in behalf of the perfection with which the Petersburgers speak the French tongue. It is universally allowed by all that are competent judges, that not every where in France, and no where out of it, is that language spoken with such fluency, propriety, delicacy, and elegance, as here among the superior classes. The German language, on the other hand, stands rather in the back ground; the difficulties attending the learning of it, the preference given to the French at court, in public companies, and in the politer circles, put great obstacles in the way of its general introduction; nevertheless it is in greater estimation with the nation at large than any other language, the French excepted: people of the highest rank apply to

the study of it: and that it is not more frequently spoken is owing chiefly to the difficulty of its pronunciation, which costs the Russians particularly great labour to acquire. It is rare to meet with a Petersburger of any tolerable cultivation who is not acquainted, more or less, with these three languages: the English is considered rather as an elegant accomplishment, and is learnt by particular persons as 'such.

"The general custom of speaking French enables the people of that republic easily to dispense with learning the language of the country; but it is absolutely necessary to the Germans, unless they speak French with some degree of fluency. Some of these attain to such proficiency in the latter tongue, that they might be thought to have passed a considerable portion of their lives in France; others, and indeed by far the major part, apply themselves to the study of the national language with all the patience and perseverance peculiar to the Germans, and at length master it to such a degree as to excite the admiration even of the natives. It were to be wished that this laudable exertion did not lead to that affectation, sometimes manifest in German families, of generally, and without occasion mingling scraps of Russ in their discourse. One part of this censure indeed loses its force, as it is frequently impossible to express

particular Russian denominations with the same accuracy in a foreign language, without being misunderstood or falling into a ridiculous pedantry. Instances of such cases may be observed in abundance, and even in this book. Who, for instance, would ever think of putting into English or German the terms: isvoschtschick, podriadschik, droshka, artel, &c. A number of domestic directions that must daily be given, and names of things that come in ordinary use, are likewise not to be translated: yet it cannot be denied that the German language* by this means acquires in the mouths of our ladies and gentlemen a very motley appearance. We every moment hear the phrases: Is the lejanka† heated? The kalitka is open. The plotnik § is come. Has the

pogrebschik | been paid?' with numberless others, which must be tolerated, as they cannot be translated in ordinary discourse without affectation.. Though this therefore be unavoidable, yet it is not to be pardoned, when, without any necessity, Russian words are employed which may very aptly be supplied by German terms in ge neral use. But we almost everywhere hear, tschulan instead of store-room, krischka instead of cover, lutzkoi instead of the peo. ple's room, agarodnik instead of the greens-seller, liteina instead of the foundery; or even Do you choose your coffee with or with

'out