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decay; and it is likely that, in the course of a short time, the three outer divisions will entirely coalesce, and leave the Krem'l, with its massy walls and turrets, to perpetuate the memory of the far-famed residence of the Patriarchs and Tzars.

The population varies according to the season of the year. In summer, the usual number of inhabitants does not exceed 260,000; but in winter, when the nobility and landed proprietors repair to town, with their numerous train of servants and dependents, it falls little short of 300,000.

The provision made for the intellectual improvement of the Russian and foreign youth residing in Moscow and the adjacent country, is worthy of the imperial munificence from which it emanates. At the university not fewer than forty professors and lecturers are supported, who are divided into four faculties, and deliver lectures on moral philosophy, political economy, natural history, mathematics, medicine, and the liberal arts. To the university is attached a library, which was entirely consumed in the fire of 1812, but again contains upwards of 8000 volumes, anatomical and veterinary lecture-rooms, an interesting cabinet of natural curiosities, a chemical laboratory, and a botanical garden. In connection with the direction of these institutions, are also an academy for the children of the nobility, a gymnasium, and a seminary for preparing teachers of schools. There exist, besides, several learned societies, an excellent medico-surgical academy, a spiritual academy, and a seminary for the sons of the clergy. The hospitals are of the first order; that founded by the late Princess Galitzin cost not less than 800,000 rubles, or about £32,000.

Speaking of the prospects spread before them at one of the places they visited, Dr. Henderson observes :

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From Ivan Veliki we commanded a view of the city the most extensive and picturesque imaginable. Beneath our feet lay the Krem'l, with its two-and-thirty churches; the magnicent edifices before described, and the ancient palace of the tzars, with its numerous domes and spires, which, together with

those of the cathedral, shone with the most dazzling splendour. From the west flowed the Moskva, forming a beautiful curve in front of the Krem'l, and again pursuing its course amidst innumerable churches and spires, till lost in the distance; while all around us lay scattered a prodigious number of edifices, in all the various styles of Asiatic and European architecture.”

The gate leading from the Krem'l to Kitai-gorod, is called "The Holy Gate," and is singular from the custom, that every person going in or out must pass with his head uncovered. It is reported to have originated in a vow made by Ivan Vasilievitch, on the subjugation of the Tartar kingdom of Kajan.

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The edifice, of which a representation is given at the head of the present notice, is the cathedral church of Vasili Blagennoi (St. Basil the Blessed). It is described by a traveller who visited it during the past year, as I standing at the eastern end of the principal square in Moscow, called by the Russians, the Krasnoi Plostchud, between the walls of the Kremlin and the Kitai-Gorod. It was built by the tzar Ivan Vasilivitch, surnamed the Terrible, in commemoration of a victory over the prince of Kazan, and the taking of Kazan itself. It dates from 1550, was repaired and ornamented by Fedor Ivanovitch in 1684, and again by Katherine II. in 1784. The design was copied from the buildings of the Tartars, and when finished was esteemed as unrivalled by the Russians; but the architect was dissatisfied with his reward, and boasted that he would, in another country, build one that should eclipse it in splendour; at this the tzar was so enraged, that he ordered him to be thrown into prison, and his eyes put out-which was done. The towers, of which there are seven, are unequal in height, and contain each a separate church; these are united by a number of galleries of different characters and extent, there being scarcely any two parts of the building which agree in point of architecture. The pile is of brick and stone mixed, and painted over all.

The effect in some of the churches is very peculiar. The masses of gold, silver, and jewels which surround them, enriched

and enhanced in value by the sombre light of the very small windows, with the priests splendidly habited, and often very noble-looking men, engaged in the service of their church, form a very interesting picture. The interior of the centre, or principal church, the highest tower in the building, and dedicated to the protection of the Holy Virgin, is more singular, though not so richly ornamented as the others; it is, below, an octagon of about thirty feet, decreasing to the top in height of above a hundred; the only light, a few small windows in the spire, so that the lower portion is enveloped in gloom, faintly illuminated here and there by candles burning before the holy pictures service is performed here only on high festivals. The bell-tower is detached from the main body, as in the Italian churches, and indeed often in Russia. This church, or rather assemblage of churches, presents an interesting though extravagant whole, and is, for the quaint and grotesque variety of the architecture and ornaments, equalled by few, if any, in Europe.

In the plate already noticed, to the right of centre is the cathedral of Vasili Blagennoi; the tower farthest to the right being the bell-tower, the highest that of the principal church, surmounted by a cross, which some say is of pure gold; the domes are of wood covered with copper. In the centre, at a distance, is a part of the Gustini Dvor, or Bugaun; the buildings to the left are towers of the Kremlin wall, that nearest the eye being the north-east angle; the farthest and highest is the Holy Gate, or Gate of the Saviour, which is held in great reverence, and in passing before or through which, every one, whether Russian or foreigner, must be uncovered, or in default of which their hats are confiscated by the sentinel. In front, on a raft, are two of the prutchki, or washerwomen, at work, and a market boat, with peasants eating stchee, or cabbage soup, which, with black bread, forms a common dinner for the Moojcks.

CHRIST IN THE GARDEN.

BY AN IRISH CLERGYMAN.

ALONE, in that still midnight hour,

When gloom involved the mountain round him, And hell's dark spirits given the power,

As they had long the will, to wound him. The strength which heaven supplied withdrawn, What wonder that his frame should languish,

Aware that morn's approaching dawn

Must rise on its commencing anguish?

Deserted by the world he came

To save, which o'er his woes exulted. Ordained to die the death of shame,

By those for whom he died insulted, His Father's smile withdrawn from him, And his few heedless followers sleeping, What marvel if his eyes grew dim

And his lorn soul went wild with weeping.

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