Of the other members of the Imperial Family usually resident in St. Petersburgh, I have had no opportunity of personally judging during my stay. The Grand-duke Michael, who is extremely attached to his profession, and who is at the head of the artillery and of the engineer corps, was absent a great part of the time, and no presentation took place to him. Captain Jones, however, who visited St. Petersburgh only four or five years before, has represented him as a Prince of the most condescending and unaffected manners, and highly popular. In visiting with His Imperial Highness the military hospitals, Captain Jones was a witness to the general burst of “ you are welcome!" which broke from the patients as the Duke entered the establishment; and in order to silence, as it were, the incredulous, who, whenever any thing of this kind is related as having taken place abroad, immediately cry out, "Oh, it was all settled beforehand!" the Captain thinks it necessary to adduce proofs that upon the occasion alluded to by him, the occurrence could not have been prepared, but must have been spontaneous..

The Grand-duchess Helena Paulowna, formerly Frederica Charlotte Maria, daughter of Prince Paul of Würtemberg, who upon her marriage with the Grand-duke Michael embraced the Greek religion, was extremely ill during the whole period of my stay; and by the universal sympathy which her perilous situation excited among the superior classes, as well as from the reports of her character which were current on that occasion, I concluded that she must be an amiable and popular Princess. I confess I was somewhat surprised at finding that the practice of announcing the state of health of a person so intimately allied to the family of the Sovereign, which obtains in other great capitals in Europe, under similar circumstances, was not followed in the case of the Grand-duchess Michael. One of the con

sequences of such an omission seemed to be, that the most alarming, and, at times, even absurd reports were at every moment put in circulation among the families of the great. The practice of issuing bulletins is an excellent one, and has been introduced, I have no doubt, among the families of Sovereigns, not from ostentation, but from reasonable motives. It keeps in check the medical attendants, by making them feel daily the weight of their responsibility, and satisfies the mind and the natural anxiety of the public.

The constitution and arrangement of the Imperial household and the court are, I believe, pretty much the same at St. Petersburgh as in other great capitals; but as in Russia particular ideas are entertained of and importance attached to rank, it may not be unacceptable to those who are fond of thumbing Debrett's and the Imperial Calendar, to know how these things are managed at the Imperial Court of St. Petersburgh. The divisions of the different charges and office-bearers are as follows.

HOUSEHOLD OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY, with a "Ministre de la Maison de l'Empereur." The minister at present is Prince Volkonsky. This great office of the Court, which stands alone, was created by the present Emperor in September 1826, in virtue of an ukase addressed to the directing Senate; on which occasion, the nobleman already mentioned was appointed to it by his Majesty. From the regulations of that officer, issued at the same time, it appears that his duties are to superintend all the different establishments of the Court; to have the control of the Imperial theatres, and to be director of the Emperor's private cabinet and privy purse. He is under the immediate orders of the Emperor, is alone responsible to his Majesty for his accounts, and can receive orders from no other authority. A Board of Scrutiny and Control, for examining and auditing this officer's accounts, was after

wards established by his Majesty, which seems to preclude, by the wise regulations framed to that effect, the possibility of the least peculation or irregularity in the management of the enormous sums of money that pass through his hands, even were not the high integrity of the present minister so proverbially established.

Next come what are styled GRANDES CHARGES DE LA COUR" or the grand officers of the Court, having rank of the second class of nobility, consisting of the Grand Chamberlain, two Lord Stewards, the Principal Cupbearer, the Master of the Horse, and three Masters of the Hounds.

en function

The other charges are called "SECONDES CHARGES DE LA COUR," and the officers filling them have the rank of the third class of nobility. There are five Maîtres and two Marechaux de la Cour. The two latter posts are filled by M. Cyrille Naryschkine, a descendant of the mother of Peter the Great, and by Prince Nicholas Dolgorouky, one of the few noblemen who keep open house in St. PetersFour burgh; he is particularly affable to strangers. Ecuyers, and some who are said to be d'Ecuyers," by which, I suppose is meant honorary Ecuyers; three Veneurs and three others" en function de Veneurs." The Grand Master of Ceremonies, Comte Stanislas Potocki, brother-in-law to the lady at whose house I was staying, fills this office. This nobleman is well and advantageously known by most of the people of rank in England. Attached to him there are five Masters of Ceremonies, who do not, however, enjoy the rank of the third class of nobility, but of the fourth or fifth only. There are nine Chamberlains, who wear the golden key fastened to one of the buttons of their coat, near the pocket, and a very large number of nominal Chamberlains, to whom the title is granted with a view of giving them rank. Count Tatistcheff is the "Gentilhomme de la Chambre;" and

after him, there are a great many honorary gentlemen of the bedchamber, several of the younger branches of the high nobility being, by special favour of the Emperor, included in this list for the reason above mentioned-that of affording them rank and precedency in society, by being thus attached to the Court.

The household of the two Empresses is thus constituted: a Grande Maîtresse, Maîtresse de la Cour, Dames d'Honneur à portrait, Demoiselles d'Honneur à portrait, Demoiselles d'Honneur. The list of the two latter charges is very numerous, and contains, as may be supposed, what the fair sex in Russia can boast of most illustrious for birth. The denomination of "à portrait," arises from the circumstance of their wearing on the breast or shoulder, the portrait of the Empress, encircled with brilliants. A few of them are also members of the order of St. Catherine, founded especially for ladies, and kept exceedingly select.

Another section of the Court establishment, enjoying great consideration, is that which is called the Chapter of the Imperial Orders of Knighthood of Russia. In this department there is a Chancellor, a post which was filled, up to the time of his death in 1826, by M. Naryschkine, of whom I shall have to say a word or two hereafter; a Grand Master of Ceremonies, who in the present instance is the same that fills a similar office about the person of the Emperor; a Treasurer and a Director of the Chancelleries. The remaining subdivisions of the Imperial establishment have a reference to objects of domestic business, and do not enter into the classification of merely honorary distinction.

Of the medical and clerical departments of the Court, the latter of which, in point of precedency, is placed second of the two, contrary to the custom of other courts, I shall speak in another place.

It appears evident even from this short account, that

the Imperial Court of St. Petersburgh must on gala-days, when the different officers wear their appropriate dresses, present a spectacle of great magnificence; and such it is in fact represented to be by all those who have had an opportunity of seeing it, and by whom it is considered as superior to any other in Europe for splendour as well as number.

The Constitution of the Imperial Government of Russia is not easily defined. The principles on which it is founded, are those of absolute monarchy. Peter the Great was the first who assumed the title of Emperor, and was recognised as such by the other European nations. The head of the Government being himself the only law-giver, it follows that the rest of its machinery must be executive, and no part of it deliberative. This executive machinery is very extensive, and has, from time to time, undergone some changes and modifications, particularly with regard to the different ministers, who were, before the introduction of that title by Alexander, directors of colleges or departments for the transaction of public business. Constituted as it is at present, the form of the supreme Government is this:

FIRST DIVISION.

HIGH TRIBUNALS.

A. The Imperial Council of State.

Divided into four departments, each having a chairman, namely,

1. Law.

2. War.

3. Civil and Ecclesiastical Affairs.

4 Political (State) Economy.

These are placed under a President, who is, at this moment, Count Kotchoubey, a nobleman who has travelled a great deal, was a distinguished favourite with the late, and is much esteemed by the present Emperor.-He was appointed President in May 1827.