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

+THE CHURCHES.163

mighty fabrics. The church not being finished, I cannot form an idea of the effect that it will have as a whole. From the summit is seen St. Petersburg, its flat monotonous environs, and its dull though pompous wonders of art, which disgust me with human miracles, and which will serve, I hope, as a lesson to princes who may again take it into their heads to despise nature in their choice of sites on which to raise their capitals. Nations would scarcely commit such errors ; they are ordinarily the fruit of the pride of sovereigns, who interpret flattery to the letter, and view themselves as endowed with real creative power. What princes least fear, is becoming dupes of their own vanity. They distrust every body except themselves.

I have visited several churches: that of the Trinity is beautiful, but naked, as is the interior of nearly all the Greek churches that I have seen here. To make up for this, the exterior of the domes is clothed with azure and strewn with brilliant gold stars. The cathedral of Kasan, built by Alexander, is vast and beautiful; but its entrance is in a corner of the building. This is out of respect to the religious law which obliges the Greek altar to be inva-riably turned towards the east. The street not running in such direction as to allow of the rule being obeyed except by placing the church awry, this has been done ; the men of taste have had the worst of it; the faithful have carried the day, and one of the most beautiful buildings in Russia has been spoiled by superstition.

The church of Smolna is the largest and most magnificent in Petersburg. It belongs to a religious