Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

they constitute its hfe : what would they do then for this ungrateful world if they were universaUy received with faith ? The morals of the gospel applied to the policy of nations — this is the problem for the future ! Europe, with its ancient, thoroughly civilised people, is the sanctuary whence religious light will spread over the universe.

The thick walls of the Nijni Kremlin wind around a hill much loftier and steeper than the hill of Moscow. The ramparts, rising in steps above each other, the terraces, arches, and battlements of this fortress, produce a striking effect: but, notwithstanding the beauty of the site, he would be deceived who should expect, in beholding it, to be seized with the astonishment produced by the Kremlin of Moscow— that religious fortress in which history is written on rock. The Kremlin of Moscow is an object that has not its like, either in Russia or in the world.

I may here insert a fact which I neglected to mention at the time of noticing the ancient palace of the Czars in that fortress; a palace which, as the reader may recollect, produces, with its retreating stories, its ornaments in relief, and its Asiatic paintings, the effect of an Indian pyramid. The furniture of this palace was old and decayed: skilful workmen were sent to Moscow, who made exactly similar copies of each article; so that the same movables, although renewed from top to bottom, constitute the ornament of the restored palace. The authentic remains of the ancient furniture were sold by auction, in Moscow itself, and before the eyes of all the world ; and yet not one person in this country, where respect for sovereignty is a religion, was found willing to