' I IN I~ Ij \ \ I \ (aI YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD. BY OLIVER OPTIC. A Library of Travel and Adventure in Foreign Lands. First and Second Series; six volumes in each Series. i6mo. Illustrated. First Series. I. OUTWARD BOUND; OR,YOUNG AMERICA AFLOAT. II. SHAIROCK AND THISTLE; OR,YOUNG AMERICA IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND. III. RED CROSS; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN ENGLAND AND WALES. IV. DIKES AND DITCHES; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN HOLLAND AND BELGIUM. V. PALACE AND COTTAGE; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN FRANCE AND SWITZERLAND. VI. DOWN THE RHINE; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN GERMANY. Second Series. I. UP THE BALTIC; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN NORWAY, SWEDEN, AND DENMARK. II. NORTHERN LANDS; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. III. CROSS AND CRESCENT; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN TURKEY AND GREECE. In preparation. IV. SUNNT SHORES; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN ITALY AND AUSTRIA. In preparation. V. YVINE AND OLIVE; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL. In preparation. VI. ISLES OF THE SEA; OR, YOUNG AMERICA HOMEWARD BOUND. In preparation. Efl Tzl3 SI:COND Dw ~aRw:. Page 129..'THE~ SECOND DGR~E. Page 129. _L ~f"~~- vi Irr~ ~ iOt D - ~~2~go NO - MM- 7 __ ii ~Yr~d,~iliti rOUNG AMERICA ABROAD-SECOND SERIES. NORTHERN LANDS; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. A STORY OF TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE. BY WILLIAM T. ADAMS (OLI ER OPTIC), AUTHOR OF "OUTWARD BOUND," "SHAMROCK AND THISTLE,'. RED CROSS," "DIKES AND DITCHES,"" PALACE AND COTTAGES" i DOWN THE RHINE," "UP THE BALTICq" ETC. BOSTON: LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS. NEW YORK: LEE, SHEPARD AND DILLINGHAM. 1874. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, BY WILLIAM T. ADAMS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Electrotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry, I9 Spring Lane. TO MY EXCELLENT FRIEND THE HON. DAVIS DIVINE, OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, WHOSE ACQUAINTANCE I HAD THE PLEASURE OF MAKING IN ST. PETERSBURG, AND WITH WHOM I -TRAVELLED THROUGH RUSSIA, AUSTRIA, TURKEY, ITALY, SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL, IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. P REFA CE. NORTHERN LANDS, the second volume of the second series. of "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD," describes the varied expe: rience of the juvenile tourists of the Academy Squadron in, the Baltic, and during their journeys in Russia and Prussia, and their voyages between the different ports in these countries. Compared with most other countries of Europe, but little has been written about Russia, and the greater portion of this volume relates to that interesting nation. The author writes from his own notes and recollection, so far as scenery, manners and customs are concerned, but he has made diligent study and use of all the material within his reach, including much that was gathered abroad. Perhaps the young people will vote that this is the dryest book the author has ever presented to them, because it contains the most useful information; but he hopes they will not neglect the historical part, which is sometimes stranger than any fiction. But the volume is not without its story, which may'be regarded as a reflection, on a small scale, of the political experience of the American citizen. Doubtless our young friends will sympathize with Scott the Joker in his devotion to fair play; and well will it be for our country when this (7) 8 PREFACE. spirit shall pervade the caucus and the voting places, and those who are selfishly striving for-office are as effectually rebuked and ignored as they were in the Academy Squadron. The next volume of the series, from the nature of the circumstances, rather than from any fixed intention on the part of the writer, will contain much more of stirring incident than the present. The author, who has so long been before the public as a writer of juvenile books, and who has so often " launched a volume," has felt that his welcome must be nearly worn out, and that he had no right to expect the continued favor of his -army of young friends. He was therefore very agreeably surprised at the kind reception given to "UP THE BALTIC,'? the sale of which was fully equal to the most fortunate of its predecessors in the first series. The author is very grateful for this new exhibition of kindness on the part of his young friends, and he hopes that the present volume will not only interest, but instruct and benefit them. HARRISON SQUARE, BOSTON, December z8, I871. CONTENTS. PAGE I. AT THE PICNIC ON THE ISLAND...... I II. AN EXCITED MEETING OF OFFICERS AND SEAMEN.................. 29 III. FINLAND AND THE AGITATORS. 49 IV. Two HOURS IN ABO, AND THE BANGWHANGERS................... 68 V. AN EXCITING ELECTION. 86 VI. A CALL AT HELSINGFORS.......... 105 VII. WYBORG AND THE SECOND DEGREE.... I122 VIII. THE LECTURE ON RUSSIA..... 14I IX. SIGHTS IN ST. PETERSBURG. 171 X. BILLY BOBSTAY AND FRIENDS........ I9I XI. PALACES AND GARDENS............ 209 XII. THE JOURNEY TO MOSCOW.......... 226 XIII. IN THE KREMLIN OF MOSCOW......... 244 XIV. DOWN THE VOLGA......... 261 9 IO CONTENTS. XV. THE MOVEMENTS OF THE RUNAWAYS..... 279 XVI. SOMETHING ABOUT PRUSSIA AND GERMANY.. 295 XVII. FROM K6NIGSBERG TO DANZIG........ 309 XVIII. THE STRANDED STEAMER IN. THE BALTIC.. 323 XIX. BERLIN, PIOTSDAM, AND DRESDEN....... 336 XX. GREAT CHANGES IN THE SQUADRON...... 353 NORTHERN LANDS; OR, YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA- AND PRUSSIA. CHAPTER I. AT THE PICNIC ON THE ISLAND. " T DON'T believe in it! " exclaimed De Forrest, the third lieutenant of the Young America. " I can't say I like the idea very much," replied Beckwith, the first master. "Tom Cantwell is a great scholar, without a particle of doubt, but he is no more of a seaman than that English fellow, Clyde Blacklock, and ought not to be captain." " But under the rule of the ship, it can't be helped," added De Forrest.' Then the rule ought to be changed. There are not half a dozen fellows in the squadron who believe that Cantwell ought to be captain." "He hasn't been three months in the squadron. He served his first month in the steerage, and then jumped up to fourth master. Next month he will be the captain of the ship. He doesn't know enough to set a topsail, and couldn't get the ship under way to save his life." I I2 NORTHERN LANDS, OR "I shouldn't care so much about his seamanship, if he were only a decent fellow," continued Beckwith.'" I don't want a fellow over me who don't know anything. I can't respect him." "' Well, what are you going to do about it? We can't help ourselves."' I don't know that we can," replied De Forrest. " Cantwell is a great scholar, and seems to know everything without studying it; but he is mean, conceited, overbearing, and tyrannical. I don't believe the principal likes the idea of his being captain." " But he can get along better as captain than he could as first lieutenant; for he has only to say,' Get under way,'' Come to anchor,'' Take in the maintopsail,' and the executive officer gives all the orders in detail." " That's true. Yet the captain is expected to know all these things, and to see that they are properly done. But, after all, we are not sure that Cantwell will be captain," suggested De Forrest. " He has had a perfect mark in every lesson during the month; and I know that Captain Lincoln slipped up on his geometry two or three times." "But the captain has beaten him in his seamanship, I know." " There's the difficulty. We have been in port, or lying at anchor among these islands, nearly all the time, and there has been no chance to make anything in seamanship. We have hardly had an exercise in which marks were given out since we made the coast of Norway." "Perhaps we shall; yet." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 13 "If we do, Cantwell won't be captain, but he may be a lieutenant; and that is almost as bad." " We won't cry till we are hurt, then," said De Forrest; " though I think something ought to be done to keep us out of such a scrape in the future. I have a plan in my head, which, I think, would work first rate, and be a fair thing for all." "' What is it? " asked Beckwith. " I'll tell you. As the matter now stands, a fellow may jump from the steerage into the captain's cabin without any experience at all in commanding, especially, as during the last month, when we are running about on shore, and we don't do much in seamanship." " But you know that this struggle for rank puts the fellows on their good behavior; and the principal would lose his sheet anchor if the present system were abandoned." " I don't propose to abandon it entirely. I would like to have the first five officers made elective." "-You would have the captain and the, four lieutenants chosen by ballot? " asked Beckwith, interested in the plan. "Precisely so." "But the fellows in the steerage could have it all their own way under such a plan. They could make Clyde Blacklock, Sandford, or any such fellow captain." " No, you haven't heard me out. The captain and the four lieutenants shall be chosen from the cabin officers only."'I rather like that." " Any fellow will see that it is a fair thing." 14 NORTHERN LANDS, OR "And who would be candidates for masters, pursers, and lieutenants?" asked Beckwith.' They must obtain their rank by their merit. By my plan, ten of the fifteen cabin officers of the ship must get their positions by their scholarship, conduct, and seamanship, just as they do now; but the captain or lieutenant must first have served as master, purser, or midshipman. Then a fellow can't be captain till'he has served at least one month as a cabin officer." " The plan pleases me; but of course we can't tell how it would work without a trial." "It would work first rate. As the matter now stands, no pfficer has any inducement to please anybody but the principal and the instructors, who give him his marks. By my plan he would have to keep on the right side of his inferiors in rank, or they would throw him over at the next election." " And there would be lots of electioneering for office," laughed Beckwith. " Well, that would give us a little excitement. Besides, we are all to be American citizens, and we ought to learn how these things are done. Under this plan Cantwell wouldn't behave as he does now in the cabin. He is nothing but a lump of selfishness. He wouldn't take all the breast of the chicken, or drown his coffee with the last gill of milk on board. I have been thinking of this thing for a week, and have talked -it over with some of the fellows. All that I have spoken with like it first rate." " I do." " I am going to get up a petition to the principal, asking him to make this change in the system, and I want to get every fellow's name upon it." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 15 "I will sign, for one," replied Beckwith. "But you haven't said a word about the commodore, De Forrest." "That's only a kind of ornamental office, and I don't care much about it any way; but I think that only the captains should be eligible to the position." Precisely as men do such things on a larger scale, De Forrest, satisfied that he had added one adherent to the " cause " he was advocating, passed on to " buzz" another officer on the same subject. The students connected with the squadron were enjoying a picnic on one of the uninhabited Aland Islands. It was a lovely spot, for the island was nearly covered by a beautiful grove of pines, and one slope of it had a green carpet of verdure. The sixteen boats of the squadron and of the yachts were moored at the shore, and there was not a ripple on the sea to disturb them. The ship's band had played all the pieces they knew; and a great variety of games had been tried, with but indifferent:success. The boys declared that it could be no picnic at all without the ladies. Possibly the attendance of Mrs. Kendall and Mrs. Shuffles suggested this idea to them; and, though these ladies were young, lively, and agreeable, the meagreness of the female representation on the occasion seemed to be only an aggravation. Doubtless all of them had attended picnics and other social gatherings, where the gentler sex is the charm of the occasion, and they could not help feeling the loneliness of the situation. Besides, the locality itself was suggestive of utter isolation from the rest of the world. All around them was a multitude of islands, but i6 NORTHERN LANDS, OR not a habitation of any kind could be seen; not a human being, not a quadruped, not even a bird enlivened the scene. The water was as calm as the repose of a mountain lake, with not a single white sail to relieve the gaze of the beholder. The squadron'was anchored behind an island, where it could not be seen. And the boys knew that they were north of the sixtieth parallel of latitude, —nearer to the north pole than any of them had ever been before; and the consciousness of this fact seemed to add to the lonesomeness of the place. The days were very long and the nights very short, and it was quite impossible to feel at home in such a region. They were not the first to feel in this locality that the great, busy world was far to the south of them, and to be impressed by the silence and quiet of the place under such circumstances. A distinguished lady, in narrating her voyage among these islands, says, " We never lost sight of the shore, and sometimes were so near it that it seemed as though we could leap to it from the boat. Yet I have never seen anything so desolate as the voyage during this first day. On the open sea we should not complain; but here, so near the land, and not a boat upon the water, not a living creature on the shore, not a garden, not a human being, not a dog, not even a fishing net, to show that man had been there, - there was something awful in it." And yet there is no lack of the beautiful in nature to charm the eye, for the islands present an endless variety of forms, with green slopes, with rocky steeps, and with forest-crowned heights. But one may be lonely even in Paradise; and silence is sometimes more YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 17 oppressive than the roar of the tempest, or the din of the crowded city. The students had resorted to all the games in the catalogue of dignified sports available to young men; but the most exhilarating under ordinary circumstances were dull and heavy on the present occasion. In the middle of the afternoon they had abandoned in despair all attempts to have " a good time;" and now they were seated on the rocks, or stretched at full length upon the grass, engaged in discussion and conversation.'Possibly De Forrest was forced by the quiet'of the scene to agitate reform in the affairs of.the squadron, which, to some extent, occupied his thoughts during the stay of the vessels among the islands. With the zeal of youth and inexperience, he believed that he had originated a new idea, that lie had discovered a fatal flaw in the working of the system on which the squadron was organized. But his' original idea" had long before engaged the attention of the principal. Years before he had foreseen that the very difficulty which now appeared might arise. It is true that he had provided no remedy, except the general rule that an incompetent officer might be removed when his unfitness was apparent; but he had very carefully considered the question and the consequences which it involved. The third lieutenant of the Young America was not the only student who had observed and noted the remarkable scholarship of Cantwell. In the midst of such a lively competition for the honors of the squadton, which were not meaningless laurels, - for a stateroom in the cabin was a substantial luxury, independent 2. NORTHERN LANDS, OR of the desire to command rather than obey, - the students did not fail to notice the character of the recitations, and many kept a record of the value of them; so that the standing of Cantwell was well understood in the cabin and in the steerage.; The obnoxious student was a thorough bookworm; but he was cold, stiff, selfish, and haughty. He never did anything or said anything that rendered him liable to discipline; but there was not a boy in the squadron who had so few-friends, if he had any at all. His father was a very wealthy man, who supplied him liberally with money. It was said that he had been expelled from an academy where he was fitting for college on account of a difficulty into which his unpopularity had driven him. His fellow-students hated him so cordially that they were unable to conceal their real feelings. He was attacked in such an ingenious way that he seemed to be the aggressor instead of the person assailed, and the whole blame of the riot was cast upon him.- When Prince Bismarck decided that German unification required a war with France, he'was skilful enough to make the latter take the initiative, and France was foolish enough to' accept the issue. In like manner Cantwell, Vrhile really the objective force in the quarrel with his fellow-students, was weak enough to assume the subjective attitude; and, as France was almost annihilated for her folly, which deprived her of the sympathy and support of any other respectable power, he was ignominiously expelled for his conduct. Like scores of others under the ban of expulsion on shore, he drifted into the Academy Squadron. He was not a thorough seaman, as Captain Lin YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 19 coin and most of the officers were, neither was he so utterly ignorant and entirely incompetent as De Forrest and others declared him to be. But he was not qualified for either of the high positions which the officers feared he would obtain. De Forrest opened his theory to another officer of the squadron. He had already spoken to half a dozen of them, and created as many advocates of his plan, each of whom, interested in the scheme, went to work upon as many more of the -unconverted. In another half hour there were a dozen who were entirely satisfied that the Academy Squadron would be utterly ruined if Cantwell was elevated to the rank of captain. This dozen were in turn soon at work upon another dozen, and the converts increased as a continued proportional. This process, so often repeated, soon stirred up a lively agitation among the crowd of students on the island. The principal, the instructors, and the party from the yachts, with Captain Lincoln and two other officers, were seated on a rock apart from the others, engaged in conversation. They did not observe anything unusual among the students, who seemed to be remarkably quiet, considering that they were at liberty to follow their own inclinations. The agitators had an excellent opportunity to carry on their operations without attracting the attention of the principal and his assistants. The subject under discussion concerned the young officers even more than the seamen, and De Forrest's plan seemed to be so fair and so practical that most of them gave in their adherence without much hesitation. The crew, who were farther removed from the 20 NORTHERN LANDS, OR glittering prizes, which were tot be limited to the inferior officers of the cabin, were not so readily converted. " I don't see it," said Scott, the joker, when Beckwith approached him on the subject. " You want to make a little one-horse aristocracy in the cabin, and shut out us fellows in the steerage from any chance at the big things." "i Not at all," replied the first master. " Yes, you do. Take my own case, if you please. I'm a genius of the first water. I got a pile of merit marks' for getting tight on finkel, and making an excursion to Stockholm. During all this time, of course I was marked high on all studies. I used to talk Greek when I was a baby, and nobody could understand me. And of course I am marked high in that branch now. In Latin I always could decline faster than any other fellow. French and German I learned of my nurse, who was brought up in an Irish Canadian family, and married a Dutchman. None of these things ever give me any trouble, you see, and I am marked high. In seamanship I got a hundred and fifty for topping up the spanker boom in a seaman-like manner. Now, I expect to be captain on the first of next month, and you cabin nobs are getting up a conspiracy to deprive me of my rights. I won't stand it, Mr. Beckwith. I am an American citizen in embryo. My fathers and mothers all fought, bled, and died for the dearest rights of man. My grandfather was killed in battle six months before he was married; and I should be a degenerate son of a glorious sire if I permitted you to pull wool over my optical members in this horrible manl ner.". YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 21 "Be serious, will you, for a moment?" interposed the earnest officer. "I am serious. You ask me to sign a petition to change the solid principles on which the eternal order of events is founded; and I respectfully decline to do so, Mr. Beckwith. In other words, not for Joseph." "But you don't understand the matter, Scott." "You cast an imputation upon my perceptive faculties." "Nothing of the sort. You talk so fast that you won't hear what I have to say." "You say that the captain of this noble ship must either be selected or be chosen from the cabin officers. Am I right?" " You are." "I am not the captain of the ship this month; neither have I the honor to be one of the cabin officers; ergo I cannot be elected captain for the month ofJune, next ensuing." "You: are certainly right; but -" " Then I understand the matter perfectly; and this movement is a conspiracy to prevent me from being captain next month. I deserve to be captain, and I respectfully submit that this is my inalienable right, inherent in the contract under which I was sent to school'. I object, I protest, I denounce the vile scheme as a compact with infamy. By the way, Beckwith, I didn't think you would treat me in this unhandsome manner. We were always good friends, and I never did anything to injure you. And I was always willing to help you spend your money when I hadn't too much of my own to dispose of." 22 NORTHERN LANDS, OR "Come, Scott, be reasonable."' That's the very thing I ask of you - be reasonable, and don't try to cut me out of my chance -of being captain next month." " Of course you haven't any more chance of being captain than you have of being Czar of Russia next month." " Don't you think I should make a good czar?" "' No doubt of it," laughed Beckwith. " Are you quite sure the Russians won't get up a revolution after they have seen me? " " If they only knew what a jolly good fellow you were, they would be likely to do so." " That's sensible; and I may go into the czar business, after all. And I may be captain next month, if you nobs don't cut me out of my rights." " But it is no worse for you than for any other fellow in the steerage. I may be where you are next month; then it will hit me as hard as it does you." " Ah! then you are sawing off your own nose - are you?" " For the general good, I am." " Noble, self-sacrificing creature! Receive the homage-of a humble admirer." "' You, or any other fellow in the steerage, may become a master, purser, or midshipman, by your merit, and then you may be captain, or a lieutenant, the next month." " But I shall have to wait a whole month before I can reach the summit of my lofty ambition. That's too long to wait." "I ask you to go with us for the public good." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 23 " Pro bono pubico! There you touch me where I am weak. For the public good I would sacrifice this poor body to gout and dyspepsia. I would eat grand dinners, as the aldermen do, at the public expense; I would accept any fat office in which I had nothing to do but draw my salary; I would be governor or president, and receive the homage of the people, for the public good. There's my weak point." " You know Cantwell?" "Do I know him! Do I not know him? Am I unacquainted with the blooming youth who thinks he must wind up the universe every morning, or something will break before night? Ought not the deck to be carpeted when he walks upon it? Ought we not. to have a guard of marines to present arms to him when he appears in the waist? Haven't I worn out three caps in saluting him?" " You understand him, then?" " Mr. Cantwell is a great man; Mr. Cantwell is a profound scholar; Mr. Cantwell knows what's what. Why, he is so much above us common, humdrum sort of fellows, that we ought to get down on our knees when he condescends to show himself." " Exactly so, Scott. And, unless we can get this change in the tenure of office " " Hold on! Will you oblige me by translating that high-flown expression? " " Of course you know what the expression means," replied Beckwith, impatiently. " Perhaps I do; but I want to know what you mean by it." " I mean a change in the manner in which the offices are obtained and held." 24 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " You mean right, as you always do." "Well, unless we get this change at once, Cantwell will be the next captain." " He can't well be captain, and he can't well be otherwise." That's so." "And you` intend to put a stopper on him?" " He isn't fit to be captain, and he can't well be, as you say. In one word, are you with us? Yes or no." "Yes or no. I must have time to think about it. Whein you attack a fellow's inalienable rights, and all that sort of thing, I'm rather inclined to go in for thebottom dog. The captaincy for next month lies between Ctwe well: and me. For the public good, I am willing to waive my own right, but I am not quite so clear that I ought to waive the right of Mr. Cantwell, who is, by all odds, the greatest man in the ship." "' You will do the right thing, Scott; I know you will," said Beckwith, moving off. "- Of course I will. I can't possibly do otherwise." Beckwith walked away, for he saw Cantwell approaching him. By this time the fourth master was conscious that something which concerned him was in progress among his shipmates, for, as he came near the little groups which were discussing the proposed change in the " tenure of office," he observed that they either separated or suddenly changed the conversation. His approach, wherever he went, invariably produced a sensation. All hands watched him, and avoided him with even more care than usual. Possibly his self-conceit prevented him from knowing that he was very unpopular among his companions; but YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 25 they did not avoid him generally, as at the present time. He had no suspicion of the nature of the agitation among the students; but his observation of their conduct led him to the conclusion that they intended to play off some practical joke or trick upon himl. He was on his guard from that moment; but he was fully resolved to be the victim rather than the assailant on this occasion. Scott stood just where Beckwith had left him. Instead of walking away, as the others had done, when Cantwell approached, he looked at him, and his expression was remarkably good-natured, and rather inviting for an interview. He was almost the first one he met who did not avoid him. The fourth master walked towards thejoker, who, though not required by the regulations to do so when off duty, promptly raised his cap, and manifested a rather extravagant deference towards his superior. Cantwell was a tall, slender young man of seventeen. Like many other great students, he was somewhat near-sighted, and wore eye-glasses. He was an exceedingly well-formed person, and was scrupulously nice in regard to his dress. He had captured one of the new uniforms served out when he was promoted to his present rank, and it was a much better fit than the officers usually obtained. " Do you happen to know the drift of all these private conferences which I observe, Scott? " asked Cantwell, raising his head so that he could see through the eye-glass, which had slipped down upon his nose. "Yes, sir, I happen to know; and, as the matter concerns me more nearly than any other fellow in the. 26 NORTHERN LANDS, OR squadron, I don't object to telling you; and I hope you will give me your sympathy and support," replied Scott, putting on a most lugubrious face. " Indeed! I don't know that I quite comprehend you. I notice that all the students carefully avoid me this afternoon. If I approach any two or more of themi engaged in conversation, they stop talking, or separate, and look very mysterious. I had come to the conclusion that I was to be the subject of some practical joke." " O, no. It is no joke, I assure you. It is a conspiracy, and I am to be the first victim. Beckwith, the first master, was even impudent enough to invite me to take a part in the amputation of my own nose! Did you ever hear anything so absurd?" " Perhaps I should be better able to judge if I were informed-in regard to the nature of the conspiracy," suggested Cantwell, as he readjusted his eye-glasses. " I shall be happy to inform you. They intend to apply to the principal to have the tenure of office in the ship changed," replied Scott, in a very impressive manner, as though he were revealing a startling fact. " The tenure of office! " repeated Cantwell, with a puzzled look. " Yes. Beckwith was kind enough to explain to me what it meant. I dare say you know, without any.explanation, Mr. Cantwell." "'Of course I know the meaning of the phrase, but I don't understand its application to the affairs of the squadron." " Then you will excuse me for telling you." And Scott explained in full the nature of the proposed YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 27 changes. " This is a plan, you will perceive, to cut me off."' Indeed!" " I have been a good boy, and learned my lessons this month; and, under the present regulation, I should be the captain of the ship next month. I think that is clear enough." Cantwell arranged his glasses again, and looked earnestly into the face of the joker; but he was as serious as though he had been at a funeral. "I was not aware that you stood so high on the record," added the fourth master, more puzzled than before. " Of course you are aware that you stand very high yourself," said Scott. " I know that I have not had a single imperfect lesson, or been marked down on any exercise." "Just so. Then the highest office lies between you and me," replied Scott, rubbing his chin. " The conspiracy is against us. If you should get in ahead of me, I never have any hard feelings. I am willing to abide by the regulations, and take whatever place belongs to me, even if it should be that of captain or first lieutenant. I never complain of my lot when there is fair play." " And so the students are trying to have the highest officers chosen by ballot," mused Cantwell. " That's so; and it's a plot against you and me - a conspiracy against our rights; and we must oppose it with all our might." " It seems to me a very strange movement, just before the first of the month." :28 NORTHERN LANDS, OR "You are right; and we must go to work. T'he conspirators have had it all their own way so far. We can make it lively for them. -Well, Laybold, what is it?" said Scott, as the student addressed approached them. " I am sent to notify you both of a meeting of all the students of the squadron, at that flat rock on the top of the island," said the messenger. " The fellows are going to appoint a committee to wait on the principal, and ask for a change in the manner of giving out the offices." " We shall be there to vindicate our rights, and protest against this conspiracy. How do you stand, Laybold?" " I don't care much about it, any way,"- replied the messenger, glancing at Cantwell. " Then go against the change. This thing is got up to keep me from being captain next month." "You!" shouted Laybold. "You won't even be captain of a top! You won't come within fifty of the cabin.";" So you say. But the highest office lies between Cantwell and me." " That may be; but it's a long way from your side of the house," replied Laybold, as the party moved towards the highest part of the island. Cantwell was vexed and troubled,- and he could not decide what course to pursue. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 29 CHAPTER II. AN EXCITED MEETING OF OFFICERS AND SEAMEN. SCOTT was one of the most popular students in the squadron. And itis a lamentable fact, that mere "jokers " obtain a power and influence in society which is denied to persons of infinitely greater dignity and higher character. As Laybold declared, Scott had no personal interest in the question under agitation, for, though he was a good seaman, his scholarship was not above mediocrity. He lacked industry and application; and it was not probable that he would ever win even the lowest rank on the quarter-deck. But he had initiated what he regarded as a stupendous joke, and he was determined to carry it through. While the students were gathering at the flat rock, he electioneered against the De Forrest plan, as it soon came to be called. He declared over and over again, to the intense amusement of the seamen, that the plan was a conspiracy against his individual rights, and was intended to'prevent him from being captain the next month. Before the meeting at the rock was called to order he had rallied quite a respectable party under his banner. Every officer and every seaman of the fleet was 30 NORTHERN LANDS, OR present at the meeting. The captain and the other officers sitting with the principal had been summoned to the gathering; and those who were most interested in the success of the effort were confident that the measure would be adopted with little if any opposition. The meeting was called to order by Lieutenant Ryder, the oldest officer of the squadron. " The first business of this meeting is the choice of a chairman," said Ryder, taking position on the flat rock, around which the students had collected. " Please to nominate." As in assemblages of older people, the arrangements had been " cut and dried " beforehand, and Beckwith had been appointed by the " ring" to nominate De Forrest as chairman; but Scott, more intent upon carrying out his joke than anything else, had stationed himself close to the rock, and disturbed the arrangements of the ring. " Cantwell! " shouted he, at the top of his lungs, before Beckwith, who certainly was not a dexterous representative of the ring, could open his mouth. " Cantwell!" repeated Laybold. "Cantwell!" cried a dozen others, almost choking with laughter. " I nominate Lieutenant De Forrest as chairman of this meeting," said the tardy Beckwith.' Lieutenant De Forrest is nominated," continued the chairman, anxious only to carry out the programme which had been arranged by the officers.' Mr. Chairman, I respectfully suggest that you are a little deaf in one eye. Mr. Cantwell was nominated first." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 31 "Cantwell! Cantwell!" shouted the supporters of Scott. Ryder was perplexed. Common fairness required him to put the question first upon the name of Cantwell; but he hesitated to do so. It seemed absurd to make the student whom they desired to throw out of the line of promotion the chairman of a meeting called for that purpose. While he was in doubt, the opposition shouted, indulging in hideous yells, cat-calls, and other demonstrations. It was fun to them. " Lieutenant De Forrest has been nominated for chairman," repeated Ryder, when there was a lull in the confusion. "Mr. Chairman, we go in for a fair thing," said Scott, in a loud but good-natured tone. "Mr. Cantwell was nominated first." "Mr. Chairman, I don't know of any rule which requires the presiding officer to put any name first," interposed Beckwith. " If the meeting is not satisfied with the one named by the chairman, it can be voted down." " But it looks more like a fair thing if the chairman puts the first name mentioned," replied Scott. " If the meeting don't like it, it can be voted down. If this thing is all cut and dried, I don't want anything to do with it; and I invite all the fellows that are not in the ring to step out and hold another meeting, where we can have fair play." "Another meeting!" shouted at least twenty seamen, who, with many others, seemed to regard the affair as a capital joke because it was under the leadership of Scott, r ather than because they could see the point of it. 32 NORTHERN I,ANDS, OR " No, no! " responded the officers. "~ Put Cantwell's name, Ryder." "Mr. Cantwell is nominated," said the chairman; and the jokers were delighted when they found they had carried their point; but Ryder paused, and looked uneasily at the members of the ring. "Vote for him," said Norwood. " Make him chairman, and that will take the wind out of his sails. In the chair he can't oppose the plan, and we can tell the principal, when we go to him, that Cantwell presided over the meeting." " Question! " shouted the officers. " If it is your pleasure that Mr. Cantwell serve you as chairman of this meeting, you will manifest it by saying,' Ay.'" " Ay! " yelled nearly the whole crowd. " Those opposed,' No,'" continued the chairman. " No! " replied a few, who did not understand the tactics of the ring. " It is a vote," said Ryder, " and Mr. Cantwell is elected chairman of this meeting." " I move you that a committee of two, consisting of Lieutenant De Forrest and Mr. Beckwith, be appointed to conduct him to the chair," shouted Scott. "You hear the motion of Mr. Scott; those in favor will say,' Ay;' those opposed,'No.' It is a vote," said the temporary chairman, disgusted with the proceedings. De Forrest and Beckwith conducted the obnoxious fourth master to the chair, which was the flat rock. As Cantwell mounted the natural rostrum, the jokers applauded lustily, and the ring felt that the proceed YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 33 ings were already turned into a farce. Of course Cantwell was more astonished than any one else to find his merits so highly appreciated. "Gentlemen, I thank you most heartily for the honor, unsought and unexpected on my part, which you have conferred upon me," said he, removing his cap. " I shall endeavor to preside impartially over the deliberations of this meeting. The chair awaits any motion." "Mr. Chairman," said De Forrest, who, after his defeat, had been delegated by the officers to present the business to the meeting.' Lieutenant De Forrest," replied Cantwell. The originator of the plan for changing the " tenure of office " made quite a lengthy speech, in which he set forth the advantages to be derived from the adoption of the new method of filling the offices of the highest grade. Of course he carefully abstained from any allusion to the real objection to the present system, and would have done so even if Cantwell had not been chosen chairman. His statement of the plan was certainly a very clear one, and the subject was fully understood by every student. " And now, Mr. Chairman, having fully explained the plan, which has been approved by a large number of the officers and seamen of the squadron," continued De Forrest, "'I move'that a committee of three be raised, to wait on the principal, and request him to make this change in the manner of filling the office of commodore of the squadron, and of captain, first, second, third, and fourth lieutenant of each vessel." "Mr. Chairman," said Beckwith, who had been selected to second the motion, " I rise - " 3 34 NORTHEiRN LANDS, OR'' No, you don't,'" interposed Scott; "' you haven't got utp yet." "I rise-" "V; ou Were iup beb&rei," pefsisted Scott and a round af dapplause folloWed the interruption.," Mr. Chairrman, I s-coCndhd e motion," said tleckWith, who, hoWever', W asi' unable to miake the little speedh he had Atriahed in his mind favoring the proposed change, for the laugh and the applause which foiiowed Sott's sally had sadly disconcerted him. The chairman stated the mnotion, and the question upon its ad6ptilfi WAas fairly before tho meeting. Sevt/a'ofh' the offlcerj spoke ih: I'avor of it, and even the oifimodore, the -captaiin, and the first lieutenant gave it the weight tf their poWWeffil infiience. hTwo of the''short jackets" also briefly addressed the tmeeting in F;avor do the plan; and thutis fat the agitators had it all tneit own way. "Oquestion fi' cailled someit of the ring. "'Mri Chairiman!'" houted Scott, in a tone lo'ud hiiugh to be heard at the farther side of tlihe island, where the adults of the squadron were enjoying the qutiet beauty of the scene. "i Mr. Scott," replied the chairman, recognizing and:bowing to the joker. "' Question! question! "shouted some of the officers, who were inclined to retaliate upon the joker by using his iown tactics. iMr. Scott has the floor," interposed the chairman. "Thank you, Mr. Chairman; but I'm not to be floored so easily. Every fellow that knows me knows that I go in for haii play." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 35 " That's so," cried the crowd of his supporters, with a round of applause. " And what I give to others I ask for myself," continued Scott. " I'm a modest fellow." (Tumultuous applause.) " I'm a modest fellow, Mr. Chairman, and it gores my soul to feel compelled to speak of my own merit; but this whole thing is a conspiracy against my rights." (" Hear, hear.")' I have belonged to the ship about a year; I haven't the purser's books in my trousers' pocket, and can't say to a day how long, but about a year. I have faithfully discharged every duty, and even done a great many things that were not required of me. I have eaten my grub with untiring fidelity, except when I was seasick at the beginning." (Applause.) " I have slept my eight hours out of the twenty-four with exemplary diligence and punctuality; and even done more than this, when the emergency seemed to require its without grumbling." (Applause.) "I have kept my watch below without flinching." (Applause.) "I have worn my pea-jacket in cold and heavy weather without deeming it a hardship." (Applause.) " I have never objected to going on shore to see a city, or to take a tramp in the country, or to go' on a time' of any sort." (Applause.) " Indeed, I have always been willing to make myself as comfortable as the circumstances would permit. And I have tried to use every fellow about right, the officers as well as the seamen. I have helped the fellows spend their money, when they needed my assistance" (applause), " for I don't like to be selfish about these things. When a fellow had any cake, fruit, or other good thing, I have taken hold like a man, and helped 36 NORTHERN LANDS, OR him eat it." (" That's so," shouted several.) I have always been willing to let any fellow get my lessons for me, or do my share in holy-stoning the deck. When any petty officer, having a soft thing in the way of duty, such as coxswain of a boat, on a long pull, was sick, I have always been willing to take his place, and not charge him anything, either." (Applause.) "It's my nature to be unselfish; and I would do as much for the captain, or any other officer, as for a seaman." " Mr. Chairman, I rise to a point of order," interposed Beckwith. " Will the gentleman state his point?" " That the gentleman is not speaking to the question," snapped the first master, who was determined, if possible, to get even with Scott. " The speaker stated in the beginning that the- proposed measure, and the action of. this meeting in connection therewith, were a conspiracy against his rights; and the chair decides that he is in order," said the chairman, with dignity. "But, sir, must we listen to his biography?" demanded Beckwith. " Mr. Chairman, it is as painful for me to rehearse my own virtues before this large audience as it is for him to hear me; and the sacrifice which I make in doing so ought to be appreciated by the gentleman on the other side." (Applause.) "I appeal from the decision, of the chair;" said Beckwith. " First Master Beckwith appeals from the decision of the chair," continued Cantwell, who proceeded to YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 37 state the point at issue, and, taking advantage of the privilege of his position, gave his reasons at length for ruling that Scott was in order. Most of the seamen of the ship and of the consorts enjoyed the fun, and wished Scott to go on. When the question of order was put, a large majority sustained the decision of the chair. Cantwell began to feel that he had a host of friends, and that the plot of the officers would be defeated. " Mr. Scott has the floor, and may proceed with his remarks," said he, when the vote was declared. " I trust I have shown conclusively that I am a good fellow," continued Scott. (Hearty applause.) " Now, to apply what I had said when I was so ungenerously interrupted, if I am a good fellow, I deserve to be the captain, -or at least one of the lieutenants, of the ship" (rapturous applause), " provided I get a greater number of merit marks than any other fellow; of course I don't expect to wink the marks out of sight. Not long since I made a little excursion through Sweden with some friends of mine, without exactly running away. The fact was, we couldn't find the ship, though we searched diligently for her." (Applause, and cries of " Finkel.") " I hear' Finkel.' Finkel was there, and had a finger in the pie. Now, no one can tell how many merits I got for that excursion, and for my struggles to find the ship; nor how many I got for the glass of finkel I drank, which, I grant, deranged my ideas. Then I was caught asleep on the anchor watch, and neither you nor I know how many merit marks I had for that. We are not permitted to examine the record books of the instructors, and therefore we cannot know 38 NORTHERN LANDS, OR how high we are marked for any recitation or exercise; but, Mr. Chairman, I got hig/z this month" (violent applause), " and therefore I ought to have a high office. At any rate, Mr. Chairman, the highest office lies between you and me; and I think all present, who have considered the matter, will agree that it belongs to one of us" (" Hear, hear"), "and my modesty does not permit me to indicate which one. And now, Mr. Chairman, within three days of the end of the month, when the prize of a noble ambition is almost within my grasp, comes this cruel conspiracy to rob me of reward!" Scott was trying to imitate Forrest, or some other great tragic actor whom he had seen, in the last clause of his speech, and the students were convulsed with laughter at his deep tones and wild gestures. He continued a few moments longer in the same strain, being frequently interrupted by applause and other demonstrations. "And now, Mr. Chairman, I have done. If my shipmates will thus sting me to death when I am almost at the pinnacle of a noble ambition, I can only yield, as the noble Coesar did when he declared that Brutus ate two slapjacks for his breakfast. I shall fall, not by my own fault, but, like Cmsar, by the madness of ambitious office-seekers. But I shall fall free from the taint of dishonor -scot-free." The orator wiped his brow with his coat sleeve, having left his handkerchief in the pocket of his pea-jacket, while the applause of the seamen rang through the island groves and over the silent sea. De Forrest was angry when he saw that the proceed YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 39 ings of the meeting were turned into a farce, and he made haste to reply to Scott's effective speech, The only point he made was, that the last speaker had no expectation of obtaining the lowvest cabin office, or even of being the coxswain of the fourth cutter, and therefore his argument was simply ridiculous. "I should like to ask the third lieutenant if I did not say that the highest office lay between the chairman of the meeting and myself," demanded Scott. "Yes, yes," shouted a score. "He did; but he spoke of a conspiracy against his own rights," replied De Forrest.' What is the right of one student, Mr. Chairman, is the right of every one," said Scott —a sentiment which was warmly applauded. " Question! " shouted the jokers. The ring, trusting that the impression produced before the meeting by personal appeal had not been destroyed by the orator of the opposition, permitted the vote to be taken on the main question; and, indeed, Scott's party would not permit anything else to be done. The chairman stated the motion again, which was the appointment of a committee of three to request the principal to adopt the plan of De Forrest. "Those in favor of the motion will manifest it by saying,'Ay,"' said Cantwell. "Ay!" replied the affirmative members of the meeting. "Those opposed,' No.'" "No! " yelled the jokers, with all the power of their lungs. It was impossible to determine which side had the 40 NORTHERN LANDS, OR majority; but as the " noes" made the most noise, the chairman decided that it was not a vote. " I doubt the vote," shouted De Forrest, much excited. " The vote is doubted," said the chairman. " Those in favor of the motion will muster on the right of the chair; those opposed, on the left." Cantwell then appointed four tellers, two from each side. Two of them, one for, and one against, the measure, were then directed to count the number on each side. " Form a line, and march between the tellers to be counted," added the chairman. The business was done fairly, for each party was watching the other. The tellers on each side, after comparing their results, and finding that they agreed, were ready to report. " How many in the affirmative?" asked the chairman. " Eighty-eight," replied one of the tellers. " In the negative?" "Eighty-one," replied one of the tellers for that side. " Eighty-eight having voted in the affirmative, and eighty-one in the negative, the motion is carried," said the chairman. " The next business in order is the appointment of the committee. How shall they be chosen?" " By the chair," shouted Scott. "Second the motion," added a student. "It is moved and seconded that the committee be nominated by the chair." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 41 " Mr. Chairman, it does not seem to me to be exactly right that the committee should be nominated by the chairman, who is opposed to-the plan," suggested Beckwith. " The chairman has not yet indicated whether he is in favor or opposed to the plan," said Cantwell, with a contemptuous curl of his lips and nose. " He intends to be entirely impartial in the discharge of his duty." A shout of applause from the opposition followed this remark. " The student who spoke against the plan mentioned the chairman in the same category with himself." "The chairman did not authorize him to do so," answered Cantwell. "Question!" shouted the jokers. " The question is called for, which is, that the chairman nominate the committee." The vote was taken and doubted. The count, by tellers, as before, resulted in a tie; for several who had voted for the plan, moved by the apparent impartiality of the chairman, broke loose from party discipline, and voted with the other side. " The chair votes in the affirmative, and the motion is carried," said Cantwell, as soon as the tellers had reported. " The chair nominates Lieutenants Judson and Norwood, and Mr. Scott. The question is upon the confirming of the nomination of the chair." " Mr. Chairman, Scott is opposed to the plan which this meeting has voted to recommend," interposed De Forrest. " The chair is aware of the fact, and for that reason 42 NORTHERN LANDS, OR nominated him," replied Cantwell. " The committee stand two in favor to one opposed to the plan." " How can one opposed to the plan, as Scott is, ask the principal to adopt it? " demanded De Forrest. " As I understood the matter, this committee is to represent this meeting. Is it right that a committee unanimously in favor of the plan should represent a meeting in which the plan was adopted by a majority of only seven in a vote of one hundred and sixty-nine? Is it intended the committee shall represent to the principal that this meeting is unanimously in favor of the proposed change?" " Certainly not." "I have nominated a committee the majority of whom are in favor of the measure. In my view this is all that parliamentary rule requires of me. The question is upon confirming the nomination." The question was taken, and the vote doubted again; but the nomination was confirmed by a majority of two. "Is there any further business to come before this meeting?" asked the chairman. " I move that the meeting be dissolved," said Scott. The motion was put and carried. The students separated into little squads, and of course nothing else was talked about the rest of the day but the meeting. Scott, from a humble joker, found himself suddenly transformed into a hero, and a person of no little influence among the students. The ring were astonished and disconcerted at the result of the meeting; and the victory they had gained was so nearly a defeat that there were no rejoicings over it. De Forrest could YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 43 hardly tell whether his party was triumphant or not. "What do you mean, Scott?" demanded Beckwith, when the commodore had ordered all hands to be piped into the boats, and the students were walking down to the shore. " I told you I would do the right thing, and I've done it. Wasn't it a fair thing —square and aboveboard? " (" It wasn't a fair thing to nominate Cantwell for chairman." "' If you didn't like him, why didn't you vote him down?" asked Scott. "I think everything has been fairly done.'" "Perhaps it was. Allow that it was. Why did you get up an opposition to the plan?" demanded Beckwith, rather warmly. "What do I care for the plan? You nobs in the cabin got up a ring, and all you wanted of the steerage fellows was to give up their rights. I have just as good a right to be a lieutenant next month as you have, if my marks give me the place. It- is only a game of the ring to keep the best places among yourselves; that's all." "Do you want Cantwell for your captain?" demanded Beckwith. 1" I had just as lief have him captain as fourth master. He is over me just the same. But I am not sure he is half so bad a fellow as you make him out to be." "I don't say he is bad, only that he is a conceited and disagreeable fellow, and no seaman. We don't want a fellow of that sort over us." "We in the steerage have him over us now, and 44 NORTHERN LANDS, OR shall have him, any way you can fix it. He thinks pretty well of No. I, I know, and so do some of the rest of the cabin nobs. I'm not clear yet that he is no seaman. I go for giving him the same chance that the rest of the fellows have. Then, if he don't do his duty, and behave like a gentleman, it will be time enough to do something." " Then I'm to understand, Scott, that you have sold out to Cantwell." " Did any of you cabin swells think you owned me?" laughed Scott. " I saw you talking with Cantwell." "Very likely Cantwell saw me talking with you. What does that prove?" retorted Scott. " But he's a very unpopular fellow. There isn't a fellow in the ship that likes him." "'I don't, for one," added Scott, with refreshing candor. "And yet you have got up this opposition, and nearly, if not quite, defeated our plan. He ought to be very grateful to you."' I don't think he ought to be thrown overboard, or deprived of his rights, because he is not popular. When I saw that his brother officers were down upon him, I was rather inclined to stand by him, for, as I told you, I generally go in for the bottom dog. I believe in fair play for every fellow, whether he is popular or not. I wouldn't kick a dog because he didn't belong to anybody."." You are on the committee, Scott." "I have the honor; and I shall see that Cantwell has fair play before the principal." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 45 " You have done enough, Scott; why can't you keep still now, and let the thing take its course?" added Beckwith, in an insinuating tone. " And let Cantwell slip up, you mean?" " What do you care for Cantwell? You don't like him any better than any other fellow. If you will only keep still, the chairman of the committee will simply represent to the principal that a majority of the students desire the change," persisted Beckwith. " And the next question he will ask will be, how the vote stood. If he don't ask it, he isn't the fair man I have always taken him to be. Besides, the chairman put me on that committee to- represent the opinions of the minority; and I'm going to do it." " The opinions of the minority! " sneered Beckwith. " That is all bosh. They haven't' any opinions about it. You made your ridiculous speech as a joke, and the minority took it up as a joke. They don't want Cantwell to be captain any more than we do." " That may be; but if they cut his nose off now, they may cut off their own next month, just to make a soft thing for you nobs in the cabin. Now, I want to tell-you one thing, Becky - " " Don't call me Becky; I'm not a girl," interposed the first master. " I beg your pardon: Mr. Beckwith." " I don't ask you to call me mister when off' duty, either. You wanted to tell me one thing." " I'm not anxious to tell you anything; but, if I were Cantwell, I should rather hope that the principal would grant the request, and make the change." "Do you think he could ever be elected. to any office?" 46 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " Perhaps not under ordinary circumstances; but if you cabin nobs will only persecute him a little, only try to keep him out of his rights by De Forrest's plan, he can be elected captain the very next month. You see we fellows throw seventy-two votes in the steerage, and forty-five is a majority of the whole ship's company. If any fourth-rate politician on shore can only get himself persecuted, he can be elected to Congress, for sympathy will do more than merit." " You needn't tell me that the fellows in the steerage are going to elect Cantwell to any office. He couldn't be chosen fourth lieutenant, to say nothing of captain," protested Beckwith. " I believe you have lost your wits, Scott." " Perhaps I have; but you haven't found them. If you get the plan adopted, we will try it on a little."' What do you mean by that? " "If De Forrest's plan is adopted, either Cantwell or I will be elected captain." "' You! You would not even be a candidate under the new rule." " Say Cantwell, then."' It is absurd! There is hardly a fellow in the ship that does not hate him, except you." "I don't hate him, or any other fellow. But go ahead; there will be fiun and a lively time," said Scott, as they separated to take their places in the boats. The students and others embarked, and, as the instructors were now with them, nothing more was said about the proposed changes. The squadron of sixteen boats pulled out from the island, and, forming in order, rowed to the several vessels which were anchored a YOUNG AMERICA IN- RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 47 couple of miles distant, As soon as the boys were on board, the excitirg topic was renewed. After supper Scott was notified of a meeting of the committee in the after cabin; but the regulations of the ship did not permit him to go there, being only a sealnan. Scott, of course, did not appear, though, attempting to enter the cabin, he was ordered by the principal to go forward. He obeyed, and was satisfied that the rest of the committee intended to ignore him, or they would not appoint a meeting where he could not attend. In the cabin, at eight bells, the majority of the corhmittee met. Norwood was not in favor of acting without Scott; but De Forrest and Beckwith advised them to do so. It was not proper for officers to meet in the steerage; and they had accommodated the majority. It was decided to wait upon tile principal forthwith, and Scott was duly notified of the intention. The joker, when the messenger gave him the second notice, was engaged at an impromptu indignation,meeting, in which he was informing his audience that a meeting of the committee had been called in the cabin, where he could not attend. He considered it an indignity to him, and to the cause of which he was the representative and the champion. After consulting Cantwell, he decided not to wait upon the principal with the rest of the committee, After certain explanations which Scott made, and certain schemes of future action which he suggested, the fourth master was entirely satisfiedw with the proposition. The majority of the committee waited upon the principal in the main cabin, and fully stated the proposed changes in the " tenure of office," in the ship and in the two consorts. 48 NORTHERN LANDS,. OR You represent a meeting of all the officers and seamen of the squadron - do you? " asked Mr. Lowington.'" Yes, sir; all the officers and all the seamen of each vessel were present," replied Judson, the chairman of the committee. " Was the vote by which you were appointed unanimous?" "No, sir; it was not." "What was the vote?" Eighty-eight to eighty-one." "A majority of only seven." But the minority were really in favor of the plan, as we ascertained before the meeting," explained Judson, who then related the particulars of the gathering, giving the details of Scott's speech, at which the principal was much amused. " The students voted-against the plan just to carry out the joke," added Norwood. "Scott was appointed on this committee, and was notified, but he does not appear." " I think I understand the matter," replied Mr. Lowington. " I will consider the plan on its own merits, though substantially the same system has occupied my attention several times before, and I am not wholly unprepared for it. I will give you my decision on the firstday of the month." The committee retired, satisfied with the result of the interview, and hopeful that the plan would be adopted. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 49 CHAPTER III. FINLAND AND THE AGITATORS. THE day which followed the excited meeting of officers and seamen on the island was Sunday, and the agitation of the subject which disturbed the ship's company in a measure ceased. The religious services were held on shore, in the shade of a pleasant grove, and the Bible classes gathered in favored spots chosen by the teachers. After these exercises were finished in the afternoon, a couple of hours were spent upon the island. Little groups gathered together to walk, or to engage in conversation, while single ones, here and there, enjoyed -their own thoughts. Cantwell and Scott seated themselves on a rock near the water, and seemed to be talking together very earnestly. On such occasions tlie brilliant student usually remained alone, not because he was brilliant, but because his shipmates were- inclined to shun his companionship. He was really grateful to Scott for the signal service he had rendered him the day before, not in defeating the new plan, for that had not yet been accomplished, but in preventing him from being wholly ignored, and for making him chairman of the meeting. He had sought the present interview himself. 4 50 NORTHERN LANDS, OR "Of course these proceedings were all directed against me," said Cantwell, after the subject had been introduced. "No doubt of it," replied Scott, candidly. "I don't know why my shipmates should be so prejudiced against me." " Don't you?" asked the joker, rather incredulously. "I do not; I certainly have not injured them." " You won't get mad if I tell you - will you?" " No; surely not," protested Cantwell. " I'll tell you, then." " I shall be much obliged to you, if you will." "I don't know; I'm afraid you won't be," laughed Scott. A" I am sincere; and whatever you say, I shall believe you intend to do me a kindness." " That's so. The fellows are prejudiced against you because you are selfish, conceited, overbearing, and tyrannical," said Scott, squarely. "You don't mean all that; you only repeat what you have heard others say." "I do repeat what I have heard others say, and I'm bound to add that I believe it myself. When you give an order, you do it just as though you were a superior being; as though you were everybody, and I were nobody- that's so." " I was not aware of it." " Then you put on airs; even in the cabin, and with your superior. You go in for the breast of the chickens, and drown your coffee with the last gill of milk in the ship." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 5I Cantwell bit his lips, and seemed to be very much annoyed. "Then you think you know everything, and other fellows nothing. You are willing to give your own opinion, but you won't hear that of others," continued Soott, as bluntly as the case seemed to require. "Go on; but of course you don't expect me to acknowledge all these charges," replied Cantwell, with one of his most savage sneers. " Do as you like about that; I was only telling you why the fellows are prejudiced against you. You talk and act superciliously to your shipmates, and they don't like that sort of thing. I don't, for one." "' I am sorry you don't." "Do you like a fellow that treats you with contempt? " "Of course not; but that's what my shipmates do to me." " In self-defence, perhaps, they do. I suppose every fellow has his faults, except me. I don't know that I have any," replied Scott, with one of his telling smiles. " You don't?" "No; do you suppose you have any, Mr. Cantwell?" "' I suppose so; but not so many as most of my shipmates, I know." "Exactly so; you admit the little things, so as to deny the big ones." " I know I am a better scholar than any other student in the cabin. They all know this, or they would not have raised this breeze." 52 NORTHERN LANDS, OR "Better let others find that out before you discover it yourself. One thing more: the officers say you are no seaman, and they don't want a fellow in command of the ship who don't know his duty. No officer likes to have one above him who knows less than he does about seamanship." "I don't suppose I know as much about a ship as those students who have been on board two or three years; but I think I am competent to perform my duty, at least with the advice of the principal, in any position." " I have told you all I know about it." "And some things that you don't know," added Cantwell, who could not believe that he was such a person as the joker had described. "Just as you please about that." "But I wish you to understand that I think you have been very fair and candid; and I am very much obliged to you for your plain speech, however disagreeable it may be to me." " You are welcome to it," laughed Scott. "Now, do you think the principal will make the change asked for by the committee?"' I don't know; but I hope he will." " You hope so i " " Yes; and if he does, we will show those cabin nobs that' fair play is a jewel,'" answered Scott; significantly. The conversation continued until the students were piped into the boats. The next morning exercises in seamanship were in order throughout the squadron, for the principal YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 53 was aware that this element of the course had received but little attention during the month. Every officer and seaman in each vessel was required to perform his duty in getting under way, in making and furling sail, and coming to anchor. Evolutions in reefing, tacking, wearing, scudding, laying to, bending sails, and sending down topmasts, were performed, and each student marked according to his merit. In addition to this, each student was separately examined in problems in seamanship; and his knowledge of the standing and running rigging of a ship, bark, brig, hermaphrodite brig, schooner, and sloop, was tested. This examination was very carefully conducted, and the same questions were put to every boy. The crew were all sent below at the beginning, and four were called up at a time, so that no one could know in advance what the questions were to be. Only the simpler problems were required to be answered at this trial. The principal, the boatswain, carpenter, and sailmaker, all'of whom were thorough practical seamen, were the examiners. Mr. Lowington and Peaks, the boatswain, were on each side of the mainmast, the carpenter at the foremast, and the sail-maker at the mizzenmast, though each was obliged to take his pupil to the different parts of the ship in the course of the examination. The questions were such as these: " Point out the main-topmast stay, the main-topmast back-stay, the weather main clew-garnet, the fore-sheet and fore-tack, with the wind on the port beam. " What is a pendant, a lift, a horse, a gasket, a jewel block. 54 NORTHERN LANDS, OR'" How would you take in a topsail, wind fresh? " How would you furl a royal?'" How would you reef a topsail? "How would you turn out the reefs of a topsail? " If two vessels are approaching each other, one by the wind, the other going free, what is the rule for each? - "Make a square knot, a timber hitch, a bowling knot, a clove hitch, a short splice." For the last requirement two bits of rope were given to each student, who was directed to bring in his work to the examiner, with a card on which his name was written attached to it. The knots and hitches were made with a whale line on a handspike. The other questions were answered orally, or by pointing out the part of the rigging indicated. There were twenty questions in the list, and the promptness, as well as the accuracy, of the answers or the work was to be considered in marking the value of them. If a student was obliged to try two or three times before- he could make a square knot, or a clove hitch, he was marked lower. If he did what he was required without hesitation, he had five for each question; if not, he was marked lower, for seamen have no time to deliberate. Though the examination was a very simple and easy one, no student obtained above ninety, and several were below fifty. Most of the officers had over seventy. Captain Lincoln had ninety, and Cantwell only fifty-two, though none of them knew the results till the first of the next month. The addition of these marks to the merit roll for the month made some important changes in the relative standing of the students. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 55 "What do you say now?" inquired Scott, when he met Beckwith, after supper. "I say just the same that I have always said," replied the first master. "Do you still desire to have the higher officers chosen by ballot?" "Certainly I do." "But the fellows all say that Cantwell can't well be captain or first lieutenant when to-day's marks are added in." " No matter for that; I still think that it is better to vote for the captain and lieutenants." "Just as you like; but I think you miss it." "I don't believe I do," answered the first master, walking away. The results of the examination were not known to the students; but they were speculated over and guessed at very freely. It was generally admitted that Cantwell's chances for either of the first two offices, were lost for the next month; but it was certain that, if he were not thrown off the track, he would be captain in two or three months, when he had brought up his seamanship to the proper standard. Indeed, the agitation had already roused the obnoxious officer to a realizing sense of his own deficiency, and stimulated him to make an earnest effort to acquire the needed knowledge. From that time he used all his spare hours in studying the nautical books in the library. For hours he pored over the large diagrams of a ship, in which the spars, sails, and rigging were explained. The old boatswain appeared to be his best friend, so much were they together; for Peaks delighted to instruct a willing pupil. 56 NORTHERN LANDS, OR On the last day of the month the squadron sailed for Abo, in Finland. During the week the vessels had remained among the islands; they had been working gradually to the eastward, till it was only a short run to this port. The town is on the Aurajoki River, about three miles from the Gulf of Bothnia. The squadron came to anchor off the mouth of'the river, near the village of Boxholm. The steamers and small vessels go up to the town, but large craft are obliged to discharge their cargoes at this place. On a hill which commands the entrance to the river there is a fort, which is also a prison - an ancient structure with the ruins of a watch-tower, which has stood for centuries. Many of the houses on the shore were painted red, - as in the country towns of New England fifty years ago, - and were occupied by fishermen and laborers. The students, who had been in the solitudes of nature for a week, and had hardly seen a living creature, or anything connected with civilized life, were interested in observing every indication of civilization in the vicinity. For the time, even the exciting topic of the change in the " tenure of office" was dropped. Scott, who had been quietly at work ever since the meeting at the picnic, suspended his labors, and made queer comments upon the old castle, the boats, and the people around the ship. Though there was actually a village in sight, it did not entirely remove the impression from the minds of many of the students that they were almost " out of the world," for the oppressive fact that they were in sixty and a half degrees of north latitude was not entirely- removed by the fort, the village, and the people. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 57 " All hands, attend lecture! " shouted the boatswain, as his shrill pipe rang through the ship, and was repeated in the two consorts. "Lecture!" exclaimed Scott. " That's too bad.! What does the professor think we are made of? We have been patient and long-suffering in the matter of lectures, and I didn't suppose we were to be dosed with any more till we got to Russia." " We are in Russia now," replied Laybold. "Not much, if my soundings are correct. Finland isn't Russia, any more than the Dominion of Canada is Great Britain. It is subject to Russia, but the people here make their own laws, or at least have a finger in the pie, which they don't under the nose of the Czar. Do you see that big fish, Laybold? " "What fish?' asked the other. "Why, that one near the shore. He is over five feet long." Scott pointed at a man who had just taken a small boy on his back, and was wading out to a boat, with a man on each side of him. "I don't see any fish," added Laybold, straining his eyes as he gazed earnestly in the direction indicated by his companion. " Don't you? Then you are a little blind in one of your ears. There he goes towards the boat."'" What is it? " asked several others. " A big fish," replied Scott, demurely. "I see some men, but no fish," said Laybold. "There, he has stopped by the boat." " That isn't a fish; it's a man." "I tell you it is a fish. Do you think I don't know a fish when I see one." 58 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " Nonsense! " shouted the others. " It's a man." "I say he is a fish. Don't you see that he has a Finn on his back, and Finns each side of him?" returned Scott. " You get out! " shouted Jones. " A fellow that will deliberately make a pun isn't fit to live in polite society." " Then I'm finished for polite society," added Scott; "though I don't see how you know anything about it, for you never were there, or your manners belie you. By the way, did you know that our government had sent over to this country for a fortune-teller, or seer - one of those fellows they used to have in Scotland?" " What for?." asked Laybold. " They want to make him secretary of the treasury." "Why so?" inquired Jones. " Because they need a financier; for the fellow would certainly be one. There, do you see that French conjunction on the shore? Hear him bark." " That is a dog," protested Laybold. "What of it? Isn't it afin aque? Well, those are strange people," continued Scott, shaking his head. " What's the matter with them?" " Matter? Did you ever see the'finny tribe' walking about on shore before?" " You are a monster, Scott," laughed Jones.' Yes, a sea-monster; and if I were monarch of all I surveyed, I should have plenty of Finns. Do you suppose those women have any nephews and nieces? " asked Scott, still gazing at the group of men, women, YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 59 and children, who had gathered on the beach to see the squadron. " Of course they have." " Then we must go on shore and be introduced to them." " But we can't speak Finnish." "In that case we shall be obliged to finish speaking." "But why should we be introduced to the' women with nephews and nieces?'" "Because it is eminently proper and right that American young gentlemen should be acquainted with finance. The boats are coming, and I am like that shed on the beach." "I don't see it." " Yes - Finnish shed. Come, tumble down the hatchway," said Scott, as he led the way to the steerage. Mr. Mapps, the instructor in geography and history, was already at his post, which post was the foremast of the ship, whereon was hung a large map of Finland, drawn by himself on the back side of another map, with black paint and a marking brush; for he had not been able to find a printed one on a -large scale. The students from the consorts soon appeared, and a few raps with the professor's pointer procured silence. " Where are we now, young gentlemen?" he began. "Here, sir," responded Scott. " A little more definitely, if you please." " Eastern hemisphere, sir," added Scott. "Excellent; but couldn't you venture to come a little nearer to the point." 60 NOTHERN LANDS, OR " Near Abo, in Finland," said another student. " Right; but the little ring which you see over the A in the printed name of the town makes the pronunciation as though it were written O-bo. The proper style of the country is the Grand Duchy of Finland; and in his relations to it, the Czar of Russia has been called the Emperor Grand Duke. The Finnish name of the country is Suomema, which means'the region of lakes.' You see, by a glance at the map, — which is rather rudely drawn, — that this is the character of the country, even to a greater degree than in Norway and Sweden. It has the Gulf of Bothnia on the west, and the Gulf of Finland on the south, with Finmark, a province of Norway, on the north, and Russia proper on the east." "But where is Lapland?" asked a student. " Lapland is a region which belongs to Russia and Norway, and part of it is included in Finland. The name is not applied to a political division, but to thie country of a particular people. Finland has about one hundred and forty thousand square miles of territory; about the size of Montana Territory, more than half as large as Texas, or eighteen times as large as Massachusetts. Its population is about the same as this last state — in round numbers, one million four hundred thousand. A large portion of the country is a desolate region. In the southern part; the soil is good, and in former times Finland was the granary of Sweden; but its agriculture has since declined. Vast forests cover a considerable portion of its territory, and the lumber fiom them is the principal source of wealth to the people, who are also largely engaged in YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 6I the fisheries. There are some extensive cotton and iron manufactures. All the principal towns are on the coast, except Tavastehus; but the largest place, Helsingfor, has only sixteen thousand inhabitants. " Not much is known of the early history of Finland; but the country was governed in tribes by chiefs, or kings. They took to the water very naturally, and became pirates, harassing the Swedes to such a degree, that Eric, their king, sent an expedition to Finland in the twelfth century, where he established Swedish colonies, and introduced Christianity. One of the colonies was planted here in Abo, where the first Christian church in the country was built. From this time the Swedes and Finns blended, and the history of Finland was merged in that of Sweden. Birger Jarl built Tavastehus, and confirmed the conquest. But Russia coveted this desolate region, and first conquered Wyborg, its most eastern province, and the Finns fought with Sweden in the various wars with her powerful neighbor. The people suffered terribly from these wars, and firom famine. From I692 to I696, sixty thousand perished from famine in the province of Abo alone. In the wars of Charles XII., thousands of Finns were sacrificed, and five regiments of them were killed or captured during the march into the Ukraine, and in the battle of Pultowa. After this battle, in I7o9, in which Charles XII. was totally defeated, the Russians invaded the whole of Finland, and held it until I72I, when, with the exception of Wyborg, it was restored to Sweden. " In I741 the Swedes made an attempt to recover what they had lost, but utterly failed. Again, in I 788, Gus 6 2 NORTHERN LANDS, OR tavus III., commanding the Swedish army in person, tried to regain the ancient province of Wyborg; but a conspiracy at home compelled him to return, and: the favorable opportunity was lost. In I790 the king renewed the attack by sea, and his fleet of thirty-eight vessels was blockaded at Wyborg by a Russian squadron of fifty-one ships. The Swedes cut their way out of the trap, but with the loss of fifteen ships. The fleet, reduced by these heavy losses, was again attacked by the Russians in overwhelming force; but the result was a glorious victory for the Swedes, in which their enemy lost fifty-three vessels and four thousand men. This event ended the war for the time, and a treaty honorable to the Swedes was signed. In ISo8 Finland was again invaded by the Russians, without even the formality of a declaration of war. The Swedes were unprepared for the contest, and slowly retired to the north, fighting several battles, and gaining some unimportant victories, but were completely overwhelmed in the battle of Orawais. By the treaty which followed, all of Finland and the Aland Islands were ceded to Russia. "By a special grant of Alexander I., graciously renewed by his successors, Finland retains her ancient constitution, which provides for a national parliament. The right to legislate and impose taxes upon the people is nominally in this body, but is really exercised by a senate appointed by the Emperor Grand Duke. The executive power is in the hands of a governor general, who represents the sovereign. The people still retain their national customs and language, and when you go on shore this afternoon, you will find very YOUNG -AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 63 little that is Russian. The money is in marks and pennies, with the decimal system; and Russian paper is not current in Finland. A mark is worth about twenty cents of our money, and four of them make one ruble, the gold value of which is eighty cents. The currency of Russia in actual circulation is all paper, so that the value of the ruble is reduced about twenty per cent. Finland also has a paper currency, which is of depreciated value, as is the case in all countries where gold and silver are not in actual use." The professor finished his lecture, and the students were about to separate, when the stroke of the bell called them t6 order again, and Mr. Lowington stepped upon the platform. The officers and seamen were all attention in an instant, for it was expected that he would say something upon the exciting subject which had been so thoroughly discussed in all the vessels of the squadron. "Young gentlemen," the principal began, " I have something to say to you concerning the application which has been made to me to make certain of the offices of the squadron elective. I have not the slightest objection to the plan, if the elections can be fairly and honorably conducted. I have considered the plan in substance, which has been presented to me several times, and I like it, though in its practical workings I think that grave objections will be developed. By the present plan, one with very little experience and very little seamanship may reach the highest offices, especially, as will sometimes happen, when the nautical branch of the institution receives less attention in any 64 NORTHERN LANDS, OR one month than the scholastic. By the plan you propose, you may elect the least worthy of the officers to the rank of captain. Votes may be bought and sold, and electioneering excitements carried to excess. The plan in use has worked very well, and I am not aware that any injustice has ever been worked by it. It has always happened that the best and most reliable students have attained the highest places; though I must acknowledge that it may not always happen so. For a change, I am willing to try your plan." A demonstration of applause greeted this announcement, but it came mainly from the officers. " But I wish to say, that though I have considered substantially the same plan several times, I should not now introduce it if you had not asked for it. The present is certainly the fairest plan, for it places all upon an absolute equality, and under it every officer is indebted entirely to his own merit for his position, and not at all to the favor of his instructors or his friends among the ship's company. A change, therefore, is more properly inaugurated by you than by me. " I am informed by the committee that the vote was not unamimous, and one member of the committee did not choose to appear with the delegation." " He was notified of the meeting of the committee," said De Forrest. " I was notified," replied Scott; "but the meeting of the committee was held in the after cabin, which I am not permitted to enter." The opposition applauded till the snap of the bell silenced them. " This does not look exactly like fair play, especially YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 65 as Scott is supposed to represent the opposition to the change." " He was notified of the time when the committee would wait upon you, sir, in the main cabin, but he declined to attend," answered De Forrest. " If there was a preliminary meeting of the committee, he ought not to have been excluded from it," added Mr. Lowington. "Your proceedings must be revised, and the opposition must be heard." " Mr. Lowington, as a member of the committee, I withdraw all opposition," interposed Scott. I do not know that you are authorized to do so," replied the principal;' but I am very glad to see this spirit of accommodation on your part." " I don't think the new plan is so fair as the old one; but I wish to have a fair trial of it. The new method was got up by the nobs in the cabin - " " The what?" inquired the principal, with a smile. " The nobs, sir." " If by an accident, or by any extra exertion on your part, you were elected to an office in the cabin, would you be a nob?" " Yes, sir." " Though you do not seem to use the word in an offensive sense, I prefer some other form of expression. You say that the plan was devised by the cabin officers."'" Yes, sir." " But we consulted the seamen, and they agreed to the plan before the meeting. It would have been a unanimous vote if Scott had not got up an opposition just for the sake of a joke," said De Forrest, rather bitterly. 5 66 NORTHERN.- LANDS, OR "I opposed the thing in my own way, and I never agreed to it; but we all consent to it now." " Does any one object to it? " asked Mr. Lowington. Cantwell looked at Scott, but the latter shook his head. " If there is any objection, I desire to hear it now." No one offered any objection. " There being no opposition, with the understanding on my part that unanimous consent is given to the plan, I will adopt it- " Violent applause on the part of the officers and otlhers interrupted the principal, which was silenced by a stroke of the bell. "I will adopt it with an amendment," added Mr. Lowington. "I will explain the amendment. By the new plan, the offices of commodore, captain, and lientenant are made elective within certain limits. The commodore must be elected frym the three captains; the captain must be chosen from the cabin officers of the vessel to which he belongs. Now suppose, for example, that one of the lieutenants for next month, relying upon his popularity among his shipmates for his position the following month, neglects his studies; what check have we upon him?" There was no answer, for this case has not occurred to the agitators.' Suppose the captain of this ship - but I grant in the beginning that this is not a supposable case - should utterly fail in his duty so far as study is concerned; you elect him captain or commodore, while the present rule would send him back into the steerage. The amendment I propose will correct this defect in YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 67 your plan. " It consists of two sections," continued the principal, as he proceeded to read from a paper in his hand. I. No captain shall be eligible to the office of commodore whose merit-rank is below No. 6 in the Young America, or below No. 5 in the Josephine, or Tritonia. 2. No officer shall be eligible to the office of captain or lieutenant whose merit-rank is below No. I6 in the ship, or below No. 9 in the other vessels. Are you satisfied with the amendment?" " We are," replied the students. "Then the merit-roll will be read and the elections take place to-morrow, on the first day of the month,'" continued the principal. "We will now go up to Abo." The students applauded, and left the steerage. The boatswains piped all hands into the boats, and in half an hour the squadron of barges and cutters were pulling in single file up tl narrow river. 68 gNORTHERN LANDS, OR CHAPTER IV. TWO HOURS IN ABO, AND THE BANGWrHANGERS. IN the captain's gig was Dr. Winstock, with whom Captain Lincoln always delighted to walk or ride on shore, and whom he always invited to take a seat in the stern-sheets of his boat. The doctor had inherited a considerable fortune, which placed him above the necessity of practising in his profession, and he had travelled all over Europe. He had not been an idle wanderer abroail, going from place to place in search of mere amusement; but he had been a diligent inquirer into the system of government, the history, the agricultural and manufacturing interest, and the manners and customs of the countries he visited. He was, therefore, as he was often called, a walking encyclopedia of information; and for this reason Lincoln sought his company. "Of course you have been in Finland before, Dr. Winstock," said Lincoln, as soon as the gig took her place in the line. " I have," replied the surgeon. " Several years ago I went from Copenhagen to Christiania, rode across the country in a cariole to Bergen, and from there made the trip by steamer to the North Cape, where I YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 69 saw the sun at midnight. I came by steamer along the coast to Frederiksvaern, and from there to Gottenburg, and through Sweden. At Stockholm I embarked in the steamer Aura, which starts at two o'clock in the morning now, as she did then." " I went on board of a steamer of the same line in Stockholm — I forget her name." " Perhaps the Grefve Berg, which is the best one. The other two are the Dagmar and the Wyborg. The trip in one of these vessels to St. Petersburg is a very delightful one. She arrives at this place the first day, and spends the night here; the second day she goes to Helsingfors, and the third to Wyborg, arriving at St. Petersburg in the forenoon of the fourth day. Nearly the whole voyage is made among the islands, which, almost without an exception, are as silent and still as those we have visited. She stays long enough at these Finnish towns to enable,,one to see them. The steamers are Finnish, the captains of them speak English, and the table on board is very good. The fare is twenty rubles - meals extra." " Did you go into the interior?" "Yes; I went as far as the group of lakes in the centre of the country, and had some capital fishing there. I rode in a cariole, like those in use in Norway. But some people use a kabilka, which is a cart, very long and narrow, with a leather covering over about one half of its length. In the bottom of the vehicle, which has no springs, there is a quantity of hay or straw, or a feather bed, on which the traveller stretches himself; but it is very hard riding, for the roads are rough, and the hills are full of sharp pitches. All expenses are about six cents a versi." 70 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " How much is a verst?" asked the captain. " Two thirds of a mile; or, more exactly,.6626 of a mile. Three versts are two miles. Travelling in Finland is rather exciting at times, for the horses rush at full gallop down the hills and over sharp pitches.'But the roads are pretty good, and an average speed of ten miles an hour may be attained." " How could you get along without the language?" " I picked up a few words, which I have forgotten, and had no trouble at all. I went to Tavastehus, which is on one of the vast chain of lakes in the interior of Finland. Small steamers ply upon them; and a trip by water in this region is very pleasant. There is now a railroad from this town to Helsingfors." "' There seems to be some business even in this outof-the-way part of the world," said Lincoln, as the sqladron of boats passed a series of buildings. "Those are government works - founderies and machine shops." The river rapidly diminished in size, until at the town it was a small stream, over which was a bridge, connecting the two parts of the place. The boats went up to the quay just below this bridge, and the students landed. Dividing into parties, they went where they pleased. Some crossed the bridge, and others went in the direction of the cathedral, which is on the left bank of the river. Dr. Winstock and Lincoln were of the latter. " They have wide streets here," said the young captain. "Yes; land is cheap, and they can have them as wide as they please. In all modern-built Russian cities you will find broad avenues." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 7I' The buildings are all but one story high." "Nearly all; and the houses are very much scattered, so that the people do not appear to be very neighborly. Large as the town seems to be, it contains only thirteen thousand inhabitants." "The houses look very neat and nice." "Only a few of them can be very old, for in I827 nearly the whole city-was destroyed by fire, including the university with its library, and many other public edifices. When the town was rebuilt, the people placed the houses at a considerable distance from each other, and built them but one story, because they had not the means to erect larger ones." Passing along the street next to the river, the tourists reached an extensive square, in which there was a statue of Professor Porthan, a learned Finlander. Just beyond it was the cathedral, which is of brick, and far from elegant or imposing in its external appearance. " This is the cradle of Christianity in Finland," said the doctor. 1' As Mr. Mapps told you, this town was founded by Eric of Sweden, who introduced Christianity into this region. The first bishop was located here; and in this church, for centuries, the first families were buried; and you will not only see their tombs, but also some of their bodies, if you desire." " I should not think that would be permitted," replied Lincoln. "Nor I; but it is. The great fire burned out the interior of this church, destroying the altar and organ, and even melting the bells. The building was repaired by subscription. A baker, who had accumulated about twelve thousand dollars in his business, having no near 72 NORTHERN LANDS, OR relatives, gave his little fortune for the purchase of another organ, and his wishes were carried out after his: death." A man with a bundle of keys presented himself at this time, bowed, and solemnly opened the door of the cathedral. As the visitors ascended the steps, the man pointed to a rusty ring. "What's that?" asked Lincoln. " In ancient times offenders used to be fastened to that ring, and were compelled to do penance there," replied the doctor. " There's nothing very fine about this," said the captain, as they entered the church. " Certainly not. I hope you did not expect to find a cathedral like St. Peter's, or those at Antwerp and Cologne. This structure has been built upon, increased in size, and improved, several times. There is the organ which the baker gave. It has five thousand pipes - for a dollar would buy more organ pipes years ago than now. Whatever there is here in the way of ornament, including the frescoes, is the work of native artists," continued the doctor, as they walked up to the altar. "In the crypt under this altar lie the remains of Queen Christina of Sweden." " Mr. Mapps said she was buried in St. Peter's, at Rome," interposed the captain.' Not the celebrated Queen Christina, but the wife of St. Eric, whose remains are intombed in the cathedral of Upsala. Here is an epitaph to Katrina Minsdotter," said the doctor, as they passed to the side of the church. "I never heard of her before, which is not very strange," replied Lincoln. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 73 " Do you remember who was the son and successor of Gustavus Vasa? " "Eric XIV. He was deposed by the Swedish parliament, kept a prisoner nine years, and then poisoned." " Good! That is more than I could have told about him. Eric's father proposed to marry him to Queen Elizabeth of England; and Eric, while the negotiations were still pending, proposed to Mary, Queen of Scots, and to two other princesses. He was actually flirting with four ladies of royal blood at the same time. The accepting of either, he felt, would make trouble; and he relieved himself of any difficulty by marrying Miss Mainsdotter. She was a very pretty girl, the daughter of a petty officer of the Guards, who had attracted his attention while she was selling fruit in the market of Stockholm. She was sincerely attached to him, tyrant and oppressor as he was, and clung to him through his misfortnnes. After his imprisonment she retired to Finland, and passed the remainder of her days in obscurity." " That's a good story for a novelist to work upon," suggested Lincoln. " Very likely the incidents of the career of Katrina have been used by the Swedish novelists; but I am not as familiar as I intend to be with them. I see that the works of Madame Schwartz, a celebrated Swedish writer, are now in process of translation in the United States. Several volumes have been published, and they are having a large circulation. This lady locates some of her stories, or parts of them, in Finland." Many of the tombs in which the Finland worthies were buried are half above and half below the pave 74 NORTHERN LANDS, OR ment of the church. The conductor of the little party opened the door of one of them, and the captain looked into the gloomy space. Within it several coffins were crumbling to decay. The man raised one of them, exhibiting the body of the occupant. The features of the face were well preserved, though the person had been dead three hundred years. They were of a brownish color, not unlike guano. Following the example of the conductor, the visitors touched the face, which was hard and rather spongy. " I should think this body would decay," said the captain. " No; there is something in the atmosphere which has changed it to adipocere Sometimes bodies buried in the ground are petrified, or turned into stone. In Italy, and in some other countries, you will see the bodies of saints in the churches, though I remember none as perfect as this, for they are very black, and much shrivelled. In the vaults at Palermo vast numbers of the dead are preserved by the conditions of the vault in which they are buried." Other monuments were examined, and the party left the church, giving the solemn man - who had not yet spoken a single word — a mark for his services, at which he solemnly bowed as he put the money in his pocket. Crossing the river, Dr. Winstock and Lincoln walked over the rest of the town,- which, however, contained nothing worthy of note. There was nothing in the costume of the people to distinguish them, and the shops and houses were hardly different from those in England or America. The streets are paved with cobble stones, and a few droskies may be seen; but the YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 75 people, who are more intensely Swedish than in the eastern provinces of Finland, do not take kindly to Russian customs and institutions. After the destruction of the university by fire, it was removed to Helsingfors, and the hostility of the province to their new ruler caused the transtfer of the seat of government to the same place. The town wears an aspect of desolation in its streets, for very few people are seen in themn; and, except on the wharf at the arrival of a steamer there, nothing of the bustle of business is seen. The place has lost much of its former importance. The students wandered idly through the deserted streets, and it was noticeable that but few of them paid any attention to their surroundings. A group of the seamen sat oil the quay above the bridge, apparently engaged in an animated discussion. Though the Finnish women were pulling about in boats on the narrow river, the boys were not interested in their movements. Their conversation did not relate to Finland or the Finns. Scott, the joker, was in the centre of the ring, and did the greater part of the talking, and of course the subject was that which had been introduced at the picnic on the island. Without having any distinct plan in the beginning, Scott had become a leader among the democraticelement of the ship. His crude ideas, which had formed themselves into objections to the De Forrest scheme, were now seeking recognition as a plan. He had been laboring very earnestly to defeat the wishes of the cabin " nobs," as he persisted in calling them. " We can't go for such a fellow as Cantwell," said one of the students. " He is a conceited and overbearing fellow." 76 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " I don't care a fig for Cantwell, personally," replied Scott. "' It is the principle of the thing that I'm looking after. I know that Cantwell is unpopular in the steerage as well as in the cabin. But there's a conspiracy against him. Just as soon as he had earned his rank, the fellows in the cabin put their heads together to cheat him out of it. I was appointed on the committee, and they called a meeting in the cabin, where I was not allowed to go, to prevent me from attending. Was that fair?" " No, no! " responded the seamen. "Right! Besides, I want those swells in the cabin to know that we are a power." "But they came to us before the meeting on the island," suggested one of the group. " Yes; just so. But what did they come for? To know if we approved the plan? Not a bit of it. The plan was cooked up in the cabin. They came to us just as the politicians go to the dear people —for votes. They argued, talked, and begged for our votes at the meeting. By and by they will get up a plan by which no fellow shall be promoted from the steerage to the cabin. Cantwell and Victory! That's my motto." " I say, Scott, don't you think it is absurd for us to vote for the most unpopular fellow in the ship? " asked Wainwright. " No, I don't. He's the only fellow in the cabin that is not in the ring, and therefore the only one we can vote for. Don't you see it?" "I don't want to vote against Captain Lincoln," another objected. "He is a first-rate fellow, and a good sailor." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 77 " But Lincoln went in for this plan, was present at the meeting, and voted in favor of it," replied Scott.'6 I like Lincoln as well as any fellow, but I don't like this trying to keep any one out of the place he has fairly earned." " That's so," said a dozen of the boys. This was only a specimen of the electioneering which was going on in a dozen different places in Abo at the same time. Only a few of the students entered the cathedral, and not many of them could tell, when they returned to the squadron, whether the streets of the town were broad or narrow, or whether the houses were one or two stories high. While the seamen were at work for Cantwell, the officers were speaking a good word for Captain Lincoln, whom they desired to reelect to his present position. At six o'clock most of the students were in the vicinity of the bridge, ready to repair to the boats when the boatswains gave the signal. Dr. Winstock and Lincoln were at the hotel on the quay called the Society's House, which is said to be the most northern one in the world. Students were arriving in the droskies, which many of them had employed for the sake of a ride; and when they came to pay their fare there were many amusing scenes, for neither party understood a word of the language of the other. Most of the students, too, had changed their Swedish money into Russian in Stockholm, and were unprovided with Finnish currency, for they supposed that Russian money was current in Finland. The drivers would not take the rubles and copecks, and some very cheerful rows ensued. But the principal, with Professor 78 NORTHERN LANDS, OR Badois - who spoke Swedish - at his elbow, interfered, and paid the fares. The students embarked, the line of boats was formed', and the squadron moved down the river, with half of Abo on the quay, gazing in solemn silence at the departure of the strange visitors, for as such they certainly regarded them. In less than an hour the boats were alongside the vessels to which they belonged, and were soon hoisted up to the davits. The signal for sailing was shown on board of the Young America, and a lively scene followed. Anchors were hove short, sails shaken out, and the Finnish pilots were at their stations. As the breeze was fresh and fair, the principal desired to take advantage of it; and, after a stay of only five hours at Abo, the squadron was under way again, threading its course through the channels among the numerous islands. In the watch on deck, and that below, the business of electioneering was continued with the utmost vigor. Scott and his friends were busy everywhere, and even the stale expedient of a secret society among the " antiDe Forresters" was proposed, and enthusiastically adopted. Scott and Jones were intrusted with the task of furnishing a constitution, and inventing the necessary dark-lantern machinery for the organization. Boys have a decided taste for secret associations, though, as the experience of the present time shows, not more than adults, male and female. The number of these "orders" among full-grown men is on the increase, and the boys, in all parts of the United States, have manifested a strong desire to keep up with the times, and follow the example of their elders. Secret YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 79 societies had several times been formed on board of the Young America, but generally for purposes of mischief, such as running away, or capturing one of the vessels. The present association appeared to be for political purposes - to influence the election of officers. Scott was, in the main, a very sensible fellow; and his only idea of a secret society was to make some fun out of it, though he was quite willing to have it used for accomplishing his purpose, which, in its turn, was little more than a gigantic joke, so far as he was concer'ned. The wind, which had been fresh all day, diminished in force after the squadron sailed, and at half past eight, while the sun was still above the horizoni, there was a dead calm, and the vessels were obliged to anchor for the night, for the pilots declined to run during the darkness in the intricate navigation of these seas. The squadron anchored near a rocky island, the top of which was covered with trees. The same " eternal silence" seemed to pervade the region as among the Aland Islands. When everything was made snug onboard, a portion of the students asked permission to go on shore, which was readily granted to all who (lesired to'do so. This number was found to include the entire crew of the ship. " The Bangwhangers will meet at the farther side of the island," whispered Scott. " Pass it along." " The what? " asked Laybold.' The Bangwhangers. Don't you belong to the night-bloomers?"' I don't understand you," replied Laybold. "You don't? Well, your head is thicker than a So NORTHERN LANDS, OR quart of molasses. Didn't you fellows ask me to get up a secret society?" "' Yes." " Well, I have done it; but you popsquizzles don't seem to know your own chickens. The new institution is to be called the Bangwhangers, of whom you are which. Now, don't tell any one who isn't a Bangwhanger anything at all about it." "' I see." " I should think you might, if your ears were only half as long as a donkey's." The students tumbled into the boats; and, as most of the officers were busy preparing ballots for the election on the following day, none of them went on shore, the boats being in charge of the several coxswains. Ordinarily the seamen would not have been permitted to visit the shore without at least one officer in each boat; but as it did not seem possible that any mischief could be done on this uninhabited island, the rule was waived. The students landed; and in a few moments several boats from the Josephine and Tritonia brought a majority of the crews of these vessels. Scott and several of his most intimate friends went to the highest part of the island. "' Every Cantwell man may join our society; no one else," said Scott, after he had told them the name. " All right." " And we will give them the first degree at once." " What's that?" " The first degree is next to nothing; only to get the fellows together to organize," said Scott, as he leaped upon a rock.' Come up here, Jones; I'll give you the first degree." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 81 Jones joined the joker on the rock. " Do you agree to vote for Cantwell, to say nothing to nobody, and never to eat soup with a darning-needle? " asked Scott, in a low tone. "Of course I do," laughed Jones. "Answer in these words:"To all these three I do agree." Jones repeated the words in due form. " All right. I appoint you R. P. F. pro tern." " R. P. F.! What does that mean? " " I can't tell you till you have taken your second degree; only remember the letters. Now, bring the fellows to me, one at a time." Wainwright was the next one, who was obligated in the same manner, and Jones was instructed to tell the candidates what to say in token of their assent. "To all these three, I do agree," replied Wainwright. " I declare you a Bangwhanger, and appoint you L. P. F." " What does that mean?" demanded the initiate. " We can't tell you till you take your second degree," replied Jones. In half an hour fifty had joined the association. The third one was appointed I. L. M., and the fourth, O. L. M. Thus far only those who were known to be ready to vote for Cantwell were invited to join; and those who were admitted formed a ring to keep the outsiders at a reasonable distance. But there were plenty of applicants, and the number 6 Sz NORTHERN LANDS, OR increased as those outside of the circle heard the laughter of those on the rock. If Scott was at the bottom of the affair, it was fun. One after another tlie R. P. F. and the L. P. F. continued to bring in the candidates. " Do you agree to vote for Cantwell, to - " "No; I don't agree to that," interposed one of them. " Turn him out! " added Scott. " R. P. F., do your duty." This duty was a very simple one, and consisted only in leading the refractory applicant outside of the ring. A dozen more that followed, and had before refused to commit themselves, promptly agreed to all the conditions. All on the island had joined except about twenty, who had been turned out; but so great was the curiosity of some of these, that they promised to accept the conditions, if admitted. " Bangwhangers, I congratulate you on your admission to this honorable and most respectable order," said Scott, when all who wished to join had been admitted. "But there may be some black sheep among you, and the obligation will be repeated;" and he repeated again, loud enough for all to hear him, "All that agree will repeat the couplet in due form, and sit down on the ground. Officers, turn out every fellow that don't sit down." "' All down! " shouted the students, and all of them suited the action to the word. " All good men and true; but you must prove yourselves to be such. Do as I do;" and the joker put the forefinger of his right hand on the end of his nose. All the members did the same. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 83 "When I. meet a Bangwhanger, I put my finger to my nose, and say,' Bang.' In reply, he puts his finger to his nose, and answers,' Whang.' Now I will do it with the R. P. F. Bang!" " Whang! " replied Jones, putting his finger to his nose. " Right. You can try it on with the brother nearest to you." While the fraternity were practising this important part of the work, Scott instructed Jones still further in the mysterious art. When the R. P. F. fully understood his part, the joker called the members to order again, and told them to learn the dialogue which he would rehearse with Jones, for it was the form by which a Bangwhanger was to know a brother of the order. " Bang! " said Scott, putting his finger to his nose. " Whang! " replied Jones, doing the same. " Who knows? " " Eye, nose," answered Jones, drawing his finger over his right eye, and then placing it on the end of his nose, as he mentioned the name of each organ. " Who knows?"' Eighty noes." " Right, Brother Bangwhanger; come to my arms," added Scott. " But the number is to be modified so as always to show the exact strength of this honorable and most respectable order." The joker and his companion went through the dialogue several times, till every member was familiar with it, and then they practised it among themselves, amid peals of laughter. 84 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " Now, Brother Bangwhangers, we are to elect officers. The first and highest is the C. B.," continued Scott. " What does it mean?" asked half a dozen or more. " I can't tell you till you take the second degree," replied the joker. " Please to nominate." " Scott!" shouted the members. "Brother R. P. F., spare my modesty, and put the question," said the joker. Jones put the question, and of course Scott was unanimously elected. " The next office, is the D. C. B. Please to nominate." " Wainwright." He was elected. "Now for the Q. D. "Hobbs." And he was chosen. "The Y. D. K." "Edson." And no one objected.' The I. L. M." "Merrill." And the vote was unanimous. "The 0. L. M." "Hall." And he went in. "The R. P. F." "Jones." And the nomination was confirmed. " The L. P. F." " Brown." And he was the choice of the members. " Eight officers, and they are all chosen. They will constitute the original second degree men, and, after they have been instructed, we shall be ready to admit you all to that enviable distinction. Now, the Q D. and the Y. D. K. will count the members." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 85 The number reported was eighty-two, which was nearly a majority of the students in the squadron. " Who knows?" called the C. B. " Eighty-two knows," replied -several. " That's enough to put a veto on the De Forresters. Now, remember the solemn pledge you have taken, to vote for Cantwell, to say nothing to nobody, and never to eat soup with a darning-needle." " To all these three I do agree," responded the members, laughing. " Although the last is the most important, the first is not to be neglected; and any member who knows, and don't do, shall be headed up in a mackerel kit and thrown overboard by the R. P. F., before he takes the second degree, in which the sublime mysteries of the order will be fully elucidated. Who knows? " Scott coined jokes and puns for a few moments, to the intense enjoyment of the members; and by this time four of the outsiders desired to become members. They were immediately admitted. "' Who knows?" " Eighty-six noes." " Good! All hands to the boats." The coxswains called their crews, and the students returned to their vessels. 86 NORTHERN LANDS, OR CHAPTER V. AN EXCITING ELECTION. IT was the last day of the month, and the instructors in the three vessels of the squadron were very busy in adding the merit-rolls on the record books. It was necessary that all this work should be very carefully done, for a mistake of a single mark might send a cabin officer into the steerage, or a seaman fiom the steerage into the cabin. Every addition was verified, therefore, by a second person. The students had abundant opportunities to canvass and electioneer, as all the instructors were at work in the main cabin. While the seamen were on shore, the officers had been using the Novelty presses and the types in printing the ballots for the next day. And they had just as much difficulty in " making up the slate " as a ring of older politicians. While few of the officers were willing to stan'd as candidates for positions lower in rank than those they held at the time, some desired to go a little higher. There were no little compromising and " logrolling;" but it ought to be said that Commodore Cumberland and Captain Lincoln, while they were willing to- place themselves " in the hands of their friends," refrained entirely firom pressing their claims. On the YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 87 other hand, De Forrest and Beckwith had used their influence to better their own condition. The former was afraid his merit-rank would be lower than his present position, and he agreed with the latter to make him second lieutenant, if Beckwith would work to nominate and elect him as first. The nominations were full of difficulty. De Forrest, as the originator of the plan which had been adopted, felt that he had sorhe claims to consideration. Of course, as Judson and Norwood were to be displaced if De Forrest and Beckwith were advanced, it was necessary for the latter aspirants to work privately and carefully. But the secret could not long be kept, and when the first and second lieutenants learned that there was a movement on foot to displace them, they were very angry and indignant, and protested with all their might against the injustice. The De Forrest plan was already at a discount with a considerable portion of the cabin officers. The discussion in the after cabin was becoming violent and noisy; and at the suggestion of Captain Lincoln, it was voted to appoint a committee, who should retire to a state-room and prepare a ticket. The commodore, the captain, and Sheridan, the first midshipman, constituted this committee; and after an absence of an hour, they reported that the several'Oicers should be nominated in the order of their present rank. This report, if accepted, would defeat the aspirations of Beckwith, and he refused to assent to it. De Forrest, who felt that his claims were not recognized by the report, was not satisfied with it. As each of these aspirants had several friends, the compromise was not 88 NORTNHERN LANDS, OR agreeable. The name of Cantwell' had not been mentioned for any position. He sat in a corner of the cabin, a silent but interested listener, until the vote on the report of the committee was about to be taken. " Mr. Chairman," said he, addressing Ryder, the fourth lieutenant, who had been chosen to this position, "it strikes me that these proceedings are slightly irregular. Who are expected to vote this ticket when it is made up?" "All who are willing to do so, of course," answered Ryder. " Then you are selecting candidates for the crew to vote for, as well as the officers?" " Certainly.": It seems to me, then, that the seamen ought to be represented in a meeting of this kind. They are to cast four fifths of the votes, but are not permitted to say a word in iegard to the nominations," continued Cantwell, in a very quiet tone, in strong contrast with the one he had usually adopted, showing that Scott's lesson on Sunday had done him some good. " How can we hold a caucus of the whole ship's company? " inquired De Forrest. "It can be done on deck without the least difficulty." " It don't seem practicable to me," added Beckwith. " I suppose the ticket nominated here is not binding upon any one," suggested Captain Lincoln. " For my part, I quite agree that the crew ought to be consulted. Mr. Chairman, I move that this report be laid upon the table. If my motion prevails, I shall offer another, looking to a caucus of the whole ship's company." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 89 "I second the motion," added Cantwell. " Mr. Chairman, I don't see the use - " " The motion to lay on the table is not debatable," interposed Ryder. " It is moved and seconded that the report of the committee be laid on the table." The motion was rejected, only half a dozen of the officers voting in favor of it. The report of the committee was accepted by a bare majority. " As I said before, I suppose the action of this meeting is not binding upon any one," continued Lincoln, " but is simply an arrangement among ourselves." "' I think it is binding upon all who are present at this meeting," replied the chairman, who was decidedly in favor of the report, for be foresaw that, if De Forrest and Beckwith were advanced, Judson and Norwood would be crowded down, and he would not be a candidate for either of the five highest places in the ship. "' I certainly do not consider myself bound by it," said Cantwell.' Nor I," added De Forrest. "Nor I," repeated Beckwith. But the business was finished, though nothing had really been done. One Novelty press was immediately set at work in printing what Ryder, Judson, and Norwood called the regular ticket, while De Forrest and Beckwith seized upon the other to print their own ticket, in which Ryder was utterly ignored. By the time the seamen returned from the island, three hundred of each of these tickets had been printed. Scott had carefully instructed the members of the new order to " say nothing to nobody" in regard to 90 NORTHERN LANDS, OR the strength of the organization, or anything else relating to it. Of course those who had been to the island, but refiused to join the order, knew something about the matter. They were aware that the members were all pledged to vote for Cantwell; but they had not estimated the number who had accepted the obligation. As soon as the boats had been hoisted up, the friends of the two tickets which had been made up in the cabin went to work upon the seamen. De Forrest and Beckwith had made all sorts of promises to various officers to support them at the election following that of the next day, if they would go for the " independent ticket," as they styled their own, at the present time. When the advocates of the " regular ticket" understood what the " bolters" were doing, they crossed out De Forrest's and Beckwith's names, and substituted that of Ryder for third lieutenant, and that of Murray, the second master, for fourth. The young gentlemen were having a foretaste of the complications of politics, and a great deal of ill feeling was aroused. It was evident enough to the fair-minded, unselfish ones in the cabin, that the new plan was not working well, and they were very much disgusted at the conduct of De Forrest and Beckwith in particular. It was nothing but a scramble for office, without much regard for fitness among the candidates. The only redeeming feature of the business was the fact that Lincoln's name was on both of the cabin tickets; but then he was so popular, and so thoroughly competent for the captaincy, that neither of the factions dared to think of displacing him. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 9I "I say, Longwood, I want you to go for the independent ticket," said De Forrest, addressing one of the students who had declined to join the Bangwhangers. "The opposition have just formed a secret society, and all its members are pledged to vote for Cantwell," replied Longwood. " Cantwell! nonsense! He can't be elected to any office." "But I tell you there is a strong movement in his favor." " No use; the fellows know him too well. We had a meeting in the cabin, and there will be two tickets. This will be the winning one; " and the third lieutenant handed Longwood one of the printed ballots. " What's the other ticket? " "'The present officers; but I have just found out that they are taking my name off the ticket, and putting on Murray's. What do you think of that? Is it fair play?" "Well, I don't know; but if you are working against the regular ticket, you can't expect its friends to go for you," replied Longwood. " But they want to shove me down, and I hope my friends won't let them do it. I got up this plan, you know, but the fellows don't seem to give me any credit for it. Vote this ticket-won't you?"'"I'll see," answered the voter, as the candidate passed on to another. The first lieutenant, Judson, knowing the influence of Scott among the crew, went to him the moment he came on board, to present the claims of the regular ticket. 92 NORTHERN LANDS, OR "I'm a Cantwell man," replied Scott. " It's no use to go for him; he can't be elected," said Judson. "' Who knows? " added Scott. " We have had a meeting in- the cabin, and have regularly nominated a ticket.' " Probably it didn't occur to you that the crew had any right to meddle with the matter." "Yes; we considered the subject; but we hadn't time to call a meeting of the whole ship's company." "Time is short," laughed Scott. A" If the fellows in the steerage wish it, perhaps we can put Cantwell on the regular ticket as fourth lieutenant, instead of Murray." " I am not authorized to speak for our fellows; and I don't know that they would vote your ticket even if you put Cantwell's name on it." "Cantwell's name wouldn't strengthen our ticket at all." " Perhaps not." Scott took one of the ballots, but would not even promise to consider it. " The officers have had a caucus in the cabin, Scott," said Cantwell. " So Mr. Judson informs me; and they haven't put your name on the ticket?" "No; of course I didn't expect them to do it. I told them the crew ought to be consulted, and Captain Lincoln tried to make a motion to that effect,'but they wouldn't do it." " Never mind what they do; none of their tickets will be elected." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 93 " I don't know about that. They have two tickets, and every fellow in the cabin except me, is at work for one or the other of them. Whichever one is elected, I shall be thrown overboard." "Perhaps not —who knows?" said Scott. "You may be elected captain, after all - who knows? " "Impossible! I should be satisfied if I were fourth lieutenant, and I am sure my merit-rank would give me that place. But it's no use; I'm counted out." "Not yet; wait till after election before you give it up. The fellows like fair play; and if you hadn't put on airs before this plan came up, they would make you commodore, just because the cabin nobs are trying to count you out. That's what's the matter. They like your cause a good deal better than they like you. As it is, they mean to see that you have fair play tomorrow. If you should happen to be elected to any office to-morrow, I hope you will try to be a good fellow."'" I certainly shall," replied Cantwell. De Forrest was waiting for a chance to speak to Scott, and the C. B. passed on, leaving Cantwell in a very desponding state of mind. The situation had taken the conceit out of him. Conscious of his ability to win even the highest position, he had taken no pains to conciliate his associates, and he was reaping the legitimate harvest of his selfish conduct and his overbearing manner. Certainly the De Forrest plan had already done him a great good. His manners were changed, for he had learned that he was not of half so much consequence as he supposed; and his present depression of spirits did not permit him to 94 NORTHERN LANDS, OR put on airs. He had learned that, in all communities, every individual owes something of respect, kindness, and consideration to every other individual, even the superior to the inferior. It was a lesson which he would have been compelled to learn a few years later, if the circumstances had not obliged him to accept it at the present time. It is certainly true that young. men are older and wiser at eighteen than at any subsequent period of their lives, and in Cantwell's case this self-importance was considerably exaggerated above the average. Most young men have to be " taken down," and the rough circumstances of life generally do-it in the course of a few years, without any earthquake or other violent commotion. Scott's party did no electioneering. Knowing what the next day was to bring forth, they were particularly jolly, and listened good-naturedly to all the cabin politicians had to say. They were remarkably cautious and prudent, and though the fact of the secret organization was known throughout the ship, the officers did not suspect that it numbered members enough to control the election. The canvass was lively till the anchor watch was stationed on deck, and all hands were compelled to turn in. The next morning a dense fog hid even the nearest island from view. The Finnish pilots declined to take the vessels through the intricate channels among the islands, except under the most favorable circumstances. After breakfast the principal sent a note to each of the vice-principals. Scott pulled an oar in the boat which delivered them. While the messenger was in the cabin, he went on the deck of the Josephine, and walking YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 95 about among the crew with the forefinger of his right hand on his nose, he soon discovered half a dozen making the sign. "Bang!" said he, selecting one of them. "Whang," laughed the seaman. "Who knows?" "Eye, nose," answered the other, making the proper signs. 1" Who knows?" "Eighty-six noses." "Right, Brother Bangwhanger; come to my arms. Vote for Lincoln for commodore," said Scott; " and pass it along to every member." After repeating this direction in due form to several others, the C. B. returned to the boat, and did the same thing on board of the Tritonia. In each of the two consorts, the members of the order were to nominate a ticket to suit themselves; and so far as they were concerned, the pledge to vote for Cantwell was meaningless. When the boat returned, all hands were piped to muster, and the principal, with the merit-roll in his hand, mounted the rostrum over the main hatch. " Young gentlemen, in accordance with the change in the method of appointing the officers, announced at Abo yesterday, the election of commodore of the squadron will take place at ten o'clock to-day," said Mr. Lowington. " The result of the balloting in the consorts will be transmitted without delay to the ship. The election of captain will immediately follow, and then of the four lieutenants, each in the order of rank, and on separate ballots." "We have printed ballots containing the names of all the candidates," said De Forrest. 96 NORTHERN LANDS, OR "I think it best to elect only one officer at a ballot." " I hope the election will be postponed till eleven o'clock then, in order to give us time to prepare the separate ballots." "Very well; I consent to the change of time; and the consorts shall be notified at once," replied the principal, who went to the cabin, wrote two notes, and sent them to the vice-principals by the adult forward officers. " Now, let us understand the method of proceeding thoroughly," continued Mr. Lowington, as he returned to his position on the hatch. " Only a captain is eligible to the office of commodore, or the present incumbent may be rexilecteA1. Only the present cabin officers can be candidates for the five highest offices in the ship; and agreeably to the proviso relating to the ship, no officer who falls below the rank of No. I6 is eligible to any office, but must return to the steerage. Are these rules fully understood?" " Yes, sir," responded the crowd. " Further, if any student who is now the commodore, the captain, or a lieutenant, should not be elected to one of these positions, what would his rank be for next month?" "Just the same as it would have been, if the new plan had not been adopted," replied De Forrest. " I am glad you understand it," added the principal, with a significant look at the third lieutenant. " I will now read the merit-roll, in order that you may know who are, and who are not, eligible to the elective offices. Lincoln is number I; Cumberland, z; Norwood, 3; Judson, 4; Murray, 5; Cantwell, 6; Sheridan, 7; Ry YOUNG AMERICA'IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 97 der, 8; Vroome, 9; Beckwith, Io; De Forrest, I I; Wainwright, 12; Jones, I3; Orlof, 14; Messenger, 15; Brown, I6. All but three of these may be candidates for the first six offices; and those not elected to higher positions will take their rank by the merit-roll." Three of the cabin officers had dropped into the steerage, and three in the steerage had risen to the cabin; and when the names of the latter were read, they were greeted with earnest applause. The rest of the names on the roll were read, and the ship's company dismissed. The Novelty printing presses were again in demand. Scott obtained one, and De Forrest the other; and so rapidly was the printing of the ballots accomplished, that by ten o'clock the required number were printed. Promptly at six bells, or eleven o'clock, the ship's company were piped to muster again. The principal made careful arrangements for a fair vote. The box was placed on a water cask, and on each side of it one of the instructors, to see that no one put in more than one ballot. The students were then formed in a single line, on the starboard side, and required to march around the box, deposit their votes, and then to come round upon the port side, the forward officers standing amidships to prevent any from passing over and voting a second time. The principal was aware that the most intense excitement pervaded the crew, and he deemed it proper, even for the appearances' sake, to guard against "repeaters" and "ballot stuffers." One officer and two seamen were appointed to count the votes, and when all had deposited their ballots, the committee, attended by the two instructors, retired to the main cabin to perform their 7 98 NORTHERN LANDS, OR duty. While they were thus engaged, a boat from the Josephine, and another from the Tritonia, brought the result of the voting in these vessels to the ship. The returns were in sealed envelopes, and were sent down to the committee. In a short time the votes were counted, the returns from the consorts added, and the whole verified by the instructors present. Murray, the officer on the committee who had been named first was to make the report. When he came on deck, the ship's company gathered around the rostrum, from which the result was to be announced, and there was intense anxiety manifested by both parties. "' Give your attention to the report -of the committee," said Mr. Lowington.' Whole number of votes, I70," said Murray, reading from the paper in his hand. "Necessary for a choice, 86. Captain Wolff has 5; Captain Langdon has g; Commodore Cumberland has 64; Captain Lincoln has 92, and is elected." The De Forresters looked at each other in blank amazement, for this result was wholly unexpected by them. It had never occurred to them that Cumberland could be defeated, and all the anxiety they had in relation to the vote for commodore was to ascertain the strength of the opposition, who were understood to be running another candidate. " Captain Lincoln, I congratulate you on your election," said Cumberland, as soon as he could in some measure recover from his astonishment.'"I thank you, commodore; but this is none of my doings. I am more astonished than you can be, and don't propose to stand it," replied Lincoln. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 99 "' Three cheers for Commodore Lincoln," called one of the opposition, and they were given on the instant; and Cumberland joined heartily in the tribute. "Mr. Lowington, I wish to decline 1" shouted Lincoln. " I was not a candidate for this position; I did not, and do not, desire the position." " All the captains were candidates," replied the principal. " If you had given notice before the vote that you did not desire the position, and would not accept, it would have been another thing." " But I had no suspicion, till the ballot was taken, that any one intended to vote for me," pleaded Lincoln. " I do not like to accept the place for several reasons." "I hope he will accept it, sir," said Commodore Cumberland; " and I wish to say that, if another ballot is taken, I must decline to be a candidate." The opposition applauded violently. It was understood that Lincoln declined out of regard to his friend and superior; but the noble conduct of the commodore put to the blush some of the smaller aspirants for office. " I do not think that Captain Lincoln can decline, under the circumstances," said the principal. " Such a step does not seem- to be in order. Besides, young gentlemen, you desired to vote, and I shall not interfere with the freedom of the elections. I hope you will have voting enough to-day fully to satisfy you. We will now proceed to the election of the captain of the ship." The boats from the Josephine and the Tritonia returned with the result of the vote for commodore, and I00 NORTHERN LANDS:, OR the balloting proceeded -as before. This was really the exciting contest of the day, and the De Forresters were somewhat demoralized by the result of the ballot for commodore. Under the arrangement made by the principal, the most perfect order prevailed. Every student on board had been provided with all the ballots in circulation, and the time for electioneering had gone by. But the unexpected election of Lincoln as commodore had deranged the plans of all but the opposition. All others, however, voted for Cumberland for captain, for the ballots had nothing upon them but the name of the candidate, and " Regular," " Independent," or " Equal Rights" ticket, the last being the rallying cry of the opposition. The votes were deposited in silence, and it was a very anxious period for the cabin officers, for the present ballot would effectually prove where the strength lay. The committee retired, and all hands nervously awaited-the result. In ten minutes Murray appeared with the paper on which the state of the vote was written. As this ballot decided the great question of all the elective offices, the hearts of the officers were in their mouths, and the agitation of some of them was even ludicrous.' Give your attention to the report of the committee," said the principal; but this was an unnecessary request, for every student was all attention the moment Murray showed his head above the companionway. " Whole number of votes, 88," said the chairman. " Necessary for a choice, 45; Lieutenant Judson has x; Commodore Cumberland has 39; Fourth Master Cantwell has 48, and is elected." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 1OI The opposition cheered lustily, and laughed their satisfaction, as they beheld the blank dismay of the agitators. " I'll quit the ship.!" cried De Forrest, his face red from the violence of his wrath. "I'll run away the first chance I get." "':So Will I," replied Beckwith. "We are sold out." "Mr. De Forrest," said the principal, in a loud tone, which immediately produced the silence of curiosity. "Sir," replied the malcontent. " Did I understand you to say you would leave the ship?" " I did say so, sir," replied the third lieutenant, who, however, did not intend to be overheard by the principal. "I didn't mean anything by it." "- It is well you did not. I see that you are not satisfied with this result." "No, sir, I am not; and I don't think any one else i's. We have been cheated." "Do you mean to say that the ballot was not perfectly fair." "That was fair enough, but there is cheating somewhere." " I don't think there is. The result is not much different from what I expected," replied the principal, with a pleasant smile on his face. "' When I learned that the officers had held a, caucus for the nomination of candidates in the after cabin, and refused to consult the seamen on the subject, it seemed quite probable that the regular ticket would be defeated. I heard 102 NORTHERN LANDS, OR that Captain Lincoln attempted to have a meeting of all hands to consider the subject, but was overruled. I am not astonished that he is elected commodore. Young gentlemen, you wished to vote, and you have voted." The opposition cheered and applauded furiously. They cheered Lincoln and the principal, and had begun to give three groans for De Forrest, when they were checked by Mr. Lowington. " It is weak and foolish now to say there has been cheating, when the result does not please you," continued the principal. "It appears now that Cantwell, who is No. 6 on the merit-roll, has been elected captain by a majority of the votes. Captain Cantwell, I congratulate you on your election, and you shall have every facility for discharging your duty." " Thank you, sir. I am very much obliged to those who voted for me; and I will endeavor to do my duty faithfully, courteously, and kindly," replied the new captain. There were two or three attempts to hiss but the demonstration was promptly checked, even before it was drowned out by the vociferous applause of the opposition. Commodores Lincoln and Cumberland manfully congratulated Cantwell, and promised to support him fairly and honorably in the discharge of his duty. "Young gentlemen, the fog is lifting, and we must proceed with the elections," -resumed the principal. "You will now bring in your ballots for first lieutenant." Cumberland was the nominee of the opposition for YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. IO this office, and as the regulars voted for him also, he was elected over the independent ticket of De Forrest, who had put himself in nomination, and who obtained but thirteen votes. Of course he was more disgusted than before. He declared that his friends had deserted him, and served him a mean trick. Judson was chosen second lieutenants and Norwood third, by about the same vote. Sheridan, who was the candidate of the opposition, received just the number necessary for a choice, which seemed to be the exact strength of the Bangwhangers in the ship, the rest of them being in the consorts. The elective offices being filled, it was necessary to fix the rank of the remaining officers by the merit-roll. Murray was the new first master; Beckwith's rank was the same as before; and De Forrest was first purser- an office of trust, but generally disliked by the students, who did not wish to be mere clerks. By the changes of the month, three of the Bangwhangers became officers. The students were dismissed from muster, and the new officers ordered to put on the uniform of their rank. Very exciting conversations in the after cabin and steerage followed. Lincoln and Cumberland treated the new captain kindly, for which he was very grateful. Wainwright, Jones, and Brown, who had been promoted from the steerage, congratulated him, but no other officer said a word to him. He was captain, but the position promised to have its thorns as well as its roses. However, his first lieutenant, the late commodore, who was one of the ablest seamen on board, and was above any jealousy or meanness, had treated him handsomely, and promised to support him. i04 NORTHERN LANDS, OR At dinner, after he liad put on his captain's uniform, Cantwell seated himself at one end of the table, while Lincoln sat at the other, and the first lieutenant at the captain's right. Most of the officers looked ugly, and it was not a cheerful meal. YOUNG AMERICA IN- RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 1I05 CHAPTER VI. A CALL AT HELSINGFORS. CANTWELL, since the examination in seamanship, had used every moment of his spare time in studying the books on this subject, and in conversation with Peaks and the other adult- forward officers. When his shipmates went on shore, he remained on board, because the veteran boatswain was less engaged at these times. He was thoroughly in earnest, but of course it was not possible for any one to master a profession of so many details in a few days, or even a few weeks. The new captain was conscious of his deficiency in this respect, and even willing to acknowledge his unfitness for the position to which he had been elected. Under the former rule it would have been hardly possible for him to reach either of the first two offices of the ship until he had learned all the details of his business, for even a single examination, such as that which had so greatly changed his relative rank a few days before, would have prevented his improper elevation. Ordinarily, there was such an: exercise- every week, and every day instruction was given in knotting, splicing, and other. work on, rigging; in sea-terms and: the names and uses of ropes, blocks, Io6 NORTHERN LANDS, OR spars, sails, and other parts of a ship; while navigation and the practical working of a vessel were a daily lesson conducted by the principal. Probably there was not a boy in the squadron who had not some taste for nautical matters, and, with hardly an exception, every one had entered the Academy Ship or her consorts at his own request, or at least with his own consent. Though some found their sailor life quite different from what they expected, all were more or less ambitious to learn their duty as seamen. It was always the case that a large majority of the ship's company had been connected with the institution one or more years, and were thoroughly familiar with all the minor details of seamanship; could hand, reef, and steer, set and furl a sail, and knew with more or less certainty what should be done in nearly every emergency liable to occur to a vessel. In other words, a large majority of the officers and seamen were old sailors. These young men were not ignorant, stupid persons, into whose heads it was necessary to hammer an idea; but nearly all of them had a tolerable education when they entered the institution. The fact that a large portion of them were wild and wayward did not detract from their natural ability, for the wildest and the most wayward are often the most brilliant and quick-witted. With such a proportion of well-trained seamen on board, the new comers learned more from them incidentally, than from the set exercises in seamanship. They were interested and anxious to become familiar with the details of their profession, for he was a dull and stupid fellow who did not expect, some time or other, to be an officer. But Cantwell had not been YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I07 long enough in the ship to master the details; besides, his manner was cold and repulsive, and the veterans were not disposed to make much talk with him. He realized now that he had made a mistake in not cultivating the good will of his shipmates. Captain Cantwell expected trouble among the officers. He knew that, with half a dozen exceptions, they disliked him exceedingly. Cumberland treated him very handsomely. Sheridan, the fourth lieutenant, had been elected to a position higher than his meritranlk by the opposition, and therefore the captain counted upon his influence and support; and the second purser and first and fourth midshipmen had come into the cabin from the crew by their own merit. But at least nine of the officers were hostile to him; some of them bitterly hostile, as Beckwith and De Forrest. He was confident that a few of them would do all they could to expose his deficiencies, and to make his position uncomfortable. When he appeared in the cabin, in the uniform of his rank, he could not fail to see the sneer which was on the faces of several of the officers. But he maintained his dignity, resolved not to notice any demonstration unless it was an open and palpable insult. After dinner most of the officers went on deck, and in a short time the principal sent for the captain. " The fog has lifted, and the pilots say they can go to sea now. You will get under way immediately," said the principal. Captain Cantwell touched his cap, and called to Brown, the fourth midshipman, who approached him with the proper salute. "You will ask the first lieutenant to come on deck," said the captain. I08 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " On deck, sir," reported Cumberland, touching his cap to the new captain; and it seemed very strange to Cantwell to see the late commodore paying this mark of respect to him. "You will get under. way immediately." "Under way, sir," replied the executive officer, saluting his superior again. It is rather doubtful whether Cantwell could have given all the orders in detail which were necessary to execute this manoeuvre, and certainly his position as captain was much less trying than it would have been as first lieutenant. If a majority of the officers were surly and dissatisfied, a majority of the crew were delighted when they saw the new captain on the quarter-deck; not that they had any particular respect or regard for him personally, but because he represented their cause, and was the evidence of their triumph. All hands were called, and never were orders more promptly obeyed. In a few moments the Young America was standing off before the wind, followed by the rest of the squadron. The vessels threaded their way through the channels among the islands, and passed out into the broad bay, for it was not deemed prudent to take the steamer's course, nearer the main shore. The usual routine of study was pursued during the afternoon, as the squadron, with a light breeze, rolled lazily along towards her next port. "Your plan does not seem to work very well, De Forrest," said the principal to the new first purser, whose duties required his presence in the main cabin, when he had finished his recitations. ".No, sir; we didn't have fair play. Scott got up a YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. IO9 secret society, and dragged more than half the seamen into it," replied De Forrest, bitterly. "I hope such things will be prevented." "What things? " asked Mr. Lowington, mildly. "Secret societies, sir." "I am not in favor of such associations for political purposes; but I think the crew had a perfect right to organize for this election." "But the students who joined the society had to pledge themselves to vote for Cantwell." "That is virtually done at all caucuses and political conventions. You think such societies ought to be suppressed - do you?" " I certainly do, sir." "Then I suppose we must begin in the cabin," laughed the principal. "We had no secret society in the cabin, sir."' No?" " Certainly not, Mr. Lowington." " Inasmuch as no seaman is allowed to enter the after cabin, your meetings there were, to all intents and purposes, secret. You proposed to keep the offices among yourselves,'and you nominated the candidates, without consulting the crew, who were to find most of the votes to elect them, if they were elected. I think Scott was perfectly justified in taking the course he did. The secret society, I suspect, is rather for amusement than for anything else. You knew of its existence, and it is only a fair counterbalance for your meetings in the after cabin." "We have come to the conclusion, sir, that our plan does not work very well," added De Forrest, rather sheepishly. I IO NORTHERN LANDS, OR " It has not been tried under favorable circumstances. I have a higher opinion of it than you seem. to have," replied Mr. Lowington. "It was brought forward, I am told, by yourself and others, to prevent Cantwell from becoming captain or first lieutenant. This was an unworthy purpose, and in the eyes of the crew it amounted to persecution." " We did not think he was fit for either of these places." " Perhaps he was not; and if your plan had not been adopted, he would only have been fourth lieutenant. As the matter stands now, you have actually made an unpopular officer your captain by your attempt to persecute him. However odd and ridiculous Scott's tactics may have been to defeat your intentions, they were based upon a genuine love of fair play. You have been caught in your own trap." " I confess that we have, sir; and we would like to get out of the trap," replied De Forrest. " That is quite impossible. Cantwell has been fairly elected, and he shall serve out his month."' But after that, sir?"' I adopted the new plan to please you, and I purpose to give it a full and fair trial. It has some very manifest advantages, the principal one of which is, that it makes the officers in some measure responsible to the crew for their conduct. It encourages courtesy and kindness in the superior. But I am aware that it has some disadvantages, not the least of which is this electioneering, though this is inseparable from republican institutions." "I think we shall ask to have the old plan restored," added De Forrest. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I I I "After two or three months' trial of the present plan, if a large majority of the squadron desire it, I shall be willing to make the change; but I hope to see one election which shall be fairly conducted, and in which no false issues shall be introduced. In the last, the main question was whether the officers should deprive Cantwell of his merit-rank; and every other issue was in some manner related to this."," But Cumberland, whose rank by merit was No. I, was displaced from his office, though all the students like him very well; perhaps not so well as Lincoln, but very well," suggested De Forrest. " It was known to the crew that Lincoln wished to have a caucus of the whole ship's company -a spirit of fairness to which he owes his election. If Cumberland desired the same thing, it was not known in the steerage." " The fellows say that three of the new cabin officers are members of Scott's secret society," added De Forrest. " Then they will be likely to interfere with the secret proceedings of the after cabin."' Brown, the fourth midshipman, is one of them. He may be the next captain;" and there was an expression akin to horror on De Forrest's face. " He may be; and he is a better seaman than Cantwell, for he has been in the ship two years." " But it will be too bad to jump him over the heads of all of us." "That is one of the difficulties incident to your plan. Even politicians will acknowledge that the ablest and best statesmen in our country are very seldom elected I I2 NORTHERN LANDS, OR to the highest offices; but in the army and navy, in time of war, the ablest men are almost certain to find their proper sphere." "I hope the old plan will be restored, sir; for I don't like the idea of a secret society jumping the lowest officer over all our heads, simply because he is a member. It doesn't look right to me." " It isn't right; but I expect to see the same spirit of fairness at the next election which was displayed at the last one. If the cabin officers give the crew fair play, I have no doubt the seamen will exhibit the same spirit. If you wish to do the business just right, have a fair caucus, and you will nullify all the influence of the secret society." The principal went on deck then, but in the evening he had a long talk with Scott, who declared that all he wanted was fair play, and that the secret society would not, and could not, be used in the interest of anything but fair play. The next morning the squadron was approaching Helsingfors, The town is protected by the extensive fortifications of Sveaborg, planted on seven islands, and from its great strength the fortress has been called the " Gibraltar of the North." The scenery in the vicinity, consisting of vast numbers of islands, is quite picturesque. The works were bombarded by the combined English and French squadrons during the Crib mean war, in I855; but though the attack was a very fierce one, it was entirely unsuccessful. It was the last stronghold of the Swedes in Finland, and when- it was besieged by the Russians, in I8o8, it was surrendered to them by Admiral Cronstedti while he had YOUNG AMERICA- I RUSSIA' AND' PRUSSIA. I13 still sufficient means of defence; and he is charged with treachery, though it has never been proved, for he did not enter the Russian service, and left no fortune at his death. The Finns were indignant at his conduct, and their patriot poet, Runeberg, has written some indignant verses, which have the ring of Scot's minstrel poem: t' Conceal his lineage, hide his race; The crime be his alone: That none may blush for his disgrace, Let it be all his own I! He who his country brings to shame, Nor race, nor sire, nor son may claim."' The appearance of Helsingfors, approaching from the sea, is very imposing, for its public buildings are large, elegant structures, the principal ones being on elevated ground. The inner harbor is nearly in the shape of a square, and vessels go up to the wharves on the left. " What is that large building, Dr. Winstock?" asked Commodore, Lincoln, as the ship stood up the harbor. "That is the Russian church." "It is a magnificent building," added the young officer, as he gazed with admiration upon the lofty building with its gilded dome. ".All the Russian churches are beautiful buildings; and you will find that those in St. Petersburg and Moscow far excel this one. The large structures in front of us are the Lutheran church, the University, - which was moved from Abo to this place, — and the Senate House." 8 14 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " I did not expect to-find any such place as this away up here. Why, it is one of the finest cities I ever looked upon!" exclaimed the commodore. "I was as much astonished as you are when I first came here," added the doctor. The squadron anchored quite near the shore, and after the sails had been furled, the yards carefully squared, and everything hauled taut; the recitations in the steerage proceeded as usual. They were continued. without interruption, except for dinner, -though of course all the classes were not occupied at the same time, - till three o'clock in the afternoon, when the. boats were manned, and all hands were allowed to go on shore. " The gig is ready, sir," reported the officer to whom the charge of this boat had been given, to the captain. "' I shall not go on shore," replied Cantwell. "Not go on shore, Captain Cantwell?" said Mr. Lowington, who stood near him. "No, sir; not unless it is necessary that I should do so." " It is not necessary that you should go, but I should think you would desire to see the town." " I cannot spare the time, Mr. Lowington," an*swered the captain, with a smile. " As you are aware, sir, I am deficient in seamanship; and Mr. Peaks, who has kindly consented to help me, has more leisure when the ship's company are on shore than at any other time." "I commend your zeal, and I will not interfere with your purpose," replied the principal, as he went over the side, and took his seat in the professor's barge. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND-PRUSSIA. I 15 On the shore, the doctor, the commodore, Paul Kendall, Shuffles, and the ladies, made up a party, and went to the Society's House, which is the name of the principal hotel here, as well as in Abo and Wyborg, where they endeavored to procure a commzissionaire who spoke English; but none was to be had. The elegant Greek church was the first object of interest, and they walked over to the hill on which it is located. As if to follow literally with the words of Christ to Peter, this church " is founded upon a rock." It is built of brick, and, like nearly all Russian churches, is in the form of a Greek cross. At a little distance from the main structure, but connected with it, is the bell tower. As the party approached, the bell began to ring for a service. Its tones were quite different from those heard in other countries, but more melodious, and lacking the sharp qualities. Instead of a wheel and rope to ring it, as most bells are rung, two men were stationed in the belfry, and, by a rope attached to the tongue, were swaying it back and forthb till it struck the metal on each side. As the tourists entered the building, they were passed by a man with a long, heavy, red beard, clothed in a kind of brown gown, or robe, who, the doctor said, was a priest. The interior of the church was different from any other which most of the party had seen. Opposite the entrance was a screen, or partition, extending to the ceiling, which was covered with pictures of the saints, or other holy persons, of the Greek church. Only the face, and sometimes the hands, of the person represented are shown, the rest of the picture being covered with gold. In the mid II6 NORTHERN LANDS,. OR dle of this partition is a lofty archway closed by two doors of gold, or gilt. In front there is a platform, on which the priests stand in performing the service. In various parts. of the church are pictures of the Russian saints, before each of which is a candle, or other light. In one corner there was a cenotaph, covered with gold, which represents the tomb of Christ, used at Easter and Christmas, in the service. There was no seat, bench, or other convenience for sitting, for no one is allowed to sit in a Russian church.. Men were lighting the candles and lamps before the pictures of the holy persons, reverently bowing and crossing themselves as they approached them. The party were deeply interested, but they obtained a better idea of the religion of the Russians in St. Petersburg. Tlie travellers next obtained admission to the Senate House, in which the hall intended for the meeting of the senate on state occasions is the principal attraction. It contains a magnificent throne for the emperor, who has twice presided in person at the sessions of this body; but whether he is there or not, his gaudy seat seemed to be the representative of his power. This building contains the remains of the library saved from the great fire at Abo, which has been increased to one hundred thousand volumes. After a walk through the University, founded by Queen Christina, which has usually about five hundred students, and a walk up the long flight of steps leading to the Lutheran church, the party returned to the great square. " There's a costume!,' exclaimed Lincoln, when, in turning a corner, they came suddenly upon a Russian drosky, the driver of which was dressed in the long pelisse and bell-crowned hat of his class. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AMLO PRUSSIA. II7 "Yes; and that's just what you will see in every Russian city," replied the doctor. "All the drivers are dressed just alike, and this garb is worn only by'them."The pelisse was a long green garment, reaching down to the ankles, with bright globular buttons. The hat was similar to a European fashion which had its day at least fifty years ago, and an occasional one was seen even forty years ago. The diameter of the body at the top was about twice that at the brim.. Tile drosky was a narrow vehicle sitting low on four small wheels. The seat for the passengers was narrow, though two -persons can crowd into it. In front, and higher up, is'a seat for the driver. At the end of the shafts was -a wooden bow, or arch., over the horse's'shoulders. "' What in the world is that bow for? " -asked Lincoln.' That's a question which is more easily asked than answered," replied the -doctor. " I have looked at it a hundred times, but I have never been able to see that it is of the slightest use, though I have seen a check -rein attached to it. For this purpose it is worse than useless; and if there is a'society for the prevention of cruelty to animals in Russia, I hope it will take hold of the matter, for it is infinitely worse for the poor beast than when the.check is hooked -at the saddle."' " If it is useless always, a'nd sometimes -cruel, I hope all the bows in Russia will be banished," laughed Mrs. Kendall. "Sent to Siberia," suggested Mrs. Shuffles. " Beaux are very well in their places," added Dr, I I8 NORTHERN LANDS, OR Winstock; "' and marriage seems to be a better remedy than banishment." The driver of the drosky gathered up his petticoats and jumped off his box, when the party paused before his vehicle. He looked vastly more pleasant and amiable than a New York hackman, touched his hat, bowed, and smiled blandly, as he pointed insinuatingly at the carriage. At the same moment three more droskies rushed to the spot, the drivers intent upon obtaining a job. They talked, but of course none of the Americans could understand a word they said. The party intended to ride, and three of them were taken; but it was no easy matter for either of the ladies and her husband to crowd. into the seat. Paul Kendall solved the difficulty in his own case by taking half of the driver's place. Lincoln and the doctor were better accommodated, and led the way, the latter pointing in the direction he wished to go. They went up a very broad street, with a green in the middle, like the Champs Elysees in Paris, in which there were wellkept avenues. On the walks were several neat stands for the sale of soda, which were attended by pretty girls, who seemed to be doing a good business. A ride up this street, and down another, with what they had seen before, nearly exhausted the town, which contains twenty-four thousand inhabitants, but is spread out over a large extent of country. All the streets were wide, some of them disagreeably wide, when any one wishes to cross to the opposite side. Returning to the square, Dr. Winstock pointed down a street by the steamboat landing, which extended along the west shore of the bay. The driver under YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I I9 stood him promptly, for this street led to the Botanical Gardens, which is a popular place of resort for the people. It was about a mile from the town, and on the arrival of the party a band was playing in front of a large building which contained a very handsome restaurant, sometimes used as a ball-room. The tourists entered this place, and seated themselves at one of the tables. 1" What's the use of coming in here, when we can't speak a word of the lingo? " laughed Paul. " I never go hungry for the want of language," replied the doctor,- as a very polite waiter presented himself. "Do you speak English? " he added to this man. The waiter shook his head. "Do you speak French?" asked the doctor in this language. The attendant shook his head again. " Sprecken sie ZDeutsch?" " a; ein wenig; nicAitfe," replied the man, a gleam of sunshine lighting up his face, when the difficulty seemed to be solved. But his knowledge of German was exceedingly limited, though after several blunders he brought the lunch and coffee which the surgeon ordered. Tile feast consisted of the same " snack" which is served in Sweden -little fishes, thin slices of sausage, and of salmon, and the inevitable sandwich of caviar, or fish spawn. As in Sweden, the coffee was excellent; but none of the party had yet conquered their repugnance to the slimy caviar. When they had about finished the lunch, the attentive waiter appeared with half a dozen dishes of veal cutlets. Ib:O N-ORT-HERN LANDS, OR " Whait have you there?" asked the surgeon. " Kafieisch," — which means veal, - replied the waiter. " I did not order it." " i, me/n herr." " No; I said -kalt Feisch," added the doctor; and Paul laughed heartily, though this was only a specimen of the blunders the man made. T-he surgeon had called for kalt Fleisch, or cold meat, and the,first word is not unlike Kalb. "'Rechkung," said Dr. Winstock, which means, "-Bring'me the bill; "as the French say,'Addition,'" for the same thing, and the Austrians, " Bezahien." The bill, which doubtless included the veal cutlets, was three marks, or sixty cents, for each person - a foretaste of Russian prices, dearer than in any other part of Europe. It was paid, and the party took a walk through the gardens, extending down to the sea-shore. It is simply a pleasant place, Without being very attractive. A hill -near the point of the peninsula commands a fihe view of Sveaborg and the Gulf. There is an extensive bathing-house.near the rocky shore. A trip among the islands in the Vicinity is very agreeable, and little steamers may be chartered for such excursions at -three rubles an hour. The party returned to the ton;, and drove to the landing-place, where they were fortunate enough to find Professor Badois, to act as interpreter in paying the drosky fares; for however bland the drivers were in their manners, they were evidently familiar with the tricks of their craft. The several ship's companies wen-t on board at once. The next morning the squadron sailed for Wyborg, YOUNG AMER-ICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 1 2I where she arrived after a day and a night at sea, though the steamers make the trip in twelve hours. Twelve versts from the town, the vessels passed into the harbor, which is an extensive bay, through a narrow passage, on both sides of which were vast piles of lumber, from which craft of all sizes and kinds were loading. Off the town the squadron came to anchor, but no one was permitted to go on shore until after the recitations in the afternoon. I22 - NORTHERN LANDS, OR CHAPTER VII. WYBORG AND THE SECOND DEGREE. " SHOULD like to know what the name of this place is," said Lincoln to.Dr. Winstock, who was seated near him in the commodore's barge, which was leading the line to the shore. "In one book it is Viborg; in another, Wiborg; in a third, Wyborg." " The different spellings of the same word simply indicate the attempts of authors to render the foreign sounds into English," replied the surgeon. " We have the same variety in many other words. On the English maps of Russia, you will find the names of rivers, provinces, and towns given in many different ways; as, Kief, Kiev, and Kiew, the latter being the German rendering of the word; Nyzni, Nysni, Nezhnii, and a dozen other forms. Of course you can take your choice. As for Wyborg, I think it will hardly pay to land, for there is really nothing to be seen here. Like Constantinople, the best view of the town is from the outside." " It certainly looks well from the bay." The students landed at the town, which is built on uneven ground. Most of the streets are narrow and crooked, and the travellers soon realized the truth of YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 123 the surgeon's view. At the east side of the place is an old castle in ruins. On a rock, rising from an arm of the sea, is a lofty old tower, which has played its part in many a battle and siege, for Wyborg was long a bone of contention between Sweden and Russia, before the latter obtained possession of it. Looking to the eastward of the town, vast sheets of water may be seen, on which small steamers ply, as at Stockholm, and a few miles distant are a garden and summer resort for the people. A series of rivers and lakes connects Lakes Ladoga and Saima, and a canal at Wyborg joins both of these great sheets of water to the Gulf of Finland. Lakes Onega and Ladoga are united by the River Svir, upon which plies a small steamer. The waters of Lake Onega also mingle with those of the Volga. The Volkof River flows from Lake Ilmen into Ladoga, and is navigable for barges; and Lake Ilmen, by the help of a canal, is also connected with the Volga. A boat may, therefore, start from the upper waters of the Finnish lakes, and go through to the Caspian Sea. A couple of hours in Wyborg fully satisfied the party, and they returned to the boats for an excursion by water around the town. The scenery in the vicinity is very pleasant, and at seven o'clock the students landed at a green island. " Now, fellows, we can attend to the second degree," said Scott, when he had gathered some of the Ban-gwhangers around him, and found a retired place. The members of the fraternity knew each other so well, that there was no difficulty in separating themselves from the rest of the ship's company. The eight 124 NORTHERN LANDS, OR officers assembled near the shore, on a point of land where there was a wooden shanty, that had evidently been used for cleaning and curing fish, for a villanous smell came from it, which was very trying to the olfactories of the members. "How will this do? " asked Jones, as he opened the door of the shanty. " First rate. We shall initiate the candidates into the mysteries of a horrible odor at the same time," replied Scott, as the officers entered the rude building. " A fellow that has been to sea three months needn't mind this," laughed Jones. " All right; place the O. L. M. outside of the building, the I. L. M. inside, near the door," said Scott, as he turned over a fish-tub for his own throne as C. B., and placed it at one end of the building, while Wainwright, the D. C. B., located himself at the other end. " Officers, to your stations; proceed to open a lodge of Bangwhangers. Y. D. K., on my right; Q. D., on my left; R. P. F. and L. P. F., on my left. Brother D. C. B., are you a Bangwhanger?" " Of course I am." "Bang!' "Whang!" " Who knows?" " Eye, nose." " Who knows? " " Eighty-six noes." " Right; come to my arms. How many officers in a lodge of Bangwhangers?" "" Eight; and nothing can be done with a less num YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 125 ber," replied the D. C. B., who answered all these questions, and named all the officers. "' Brother 0. L. M., what are you?" " I am the Outside Lookout Man," replied Hall, who had been called in to answer. "What do you do?" "Keep a sharp lookout on the outside of the lodge." " If any outsider approaches, what do you do?" " Give him fits." "Right; keep your weather eye open. Brother I. L. M., what are you?": " The Inside Lookout Man." "What do you do?" "Keep a sharp lookout inside."' If any outsider comes in, what do you do? " " Kick him out." " Suppose he is bigger than you are?" " Give him a stick of candy, and tell him his grandmother is waiting for him round the corner." " Right; keep a stiff upper lip. Brother R. P. F., what are you? " "The Right Pilot Fish." " What do you do?"' Stand on the starboard side of the candidate, and tow him round." ", Right; heave ahead, my hearty. Brother L. P. F., what are you?" "The Left Pilot Fish." "What do you do?" "Stand on the port side of the candidate, and help tow him round." " Right; stand by the hawser. Brother Q D., what are you? " 126 NORTHERN LANDS, OR "The Quill Driver." "What do you do?" " When anything is done, make a note of it." " Right; mind your eye, my hearty. BrotherY. D. K., what are you?" " The Yellow Dirt Keeper." " What do you do?" "Keep the money." " Will you keep it?" " I'll bet I will." "Right; stand by the locker. Brother D. C. B., what are you?" "The Deputy Chief Bangwhanger." "What do you do?" " Make faces at the C. B. when he is present, and take his place when he is absent." " Your duties are important - where do you sit?" " Opposite the C. B." " What for?" " To help him keep up his dignity." " How?" " By making faces at him." "What is the C. B.?" "The Chief Bangwhanger." "What does he do?" "Bosses the job, and is the biggest toad in the puddle." "Why is he like strong drink?" "Because he goes to the head," replied the D. C. B., with a hideous grimace, which made all the officers laugh. "Right; you have said enough; clap a stopper on YOUNG AMERICA IN -RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I27 your jaw tackle," said Scott. " The ship is under way, and the officers are at their stations." Scott added that they had no time to spare, and the business must proceed at once. "Sail ho!" shouted the lookout, outside of the door. "Sail ho!" repeated the one on the inside. " Where away?" asked the C. B. "Alongside now," replied the I. L. M. " The name?" "Clyde Blacklock; and he wants to come on board."'" Has he been instructed in the Rule of Three?" which meant the three clauses of the obligation. " Ay, ay, sir." " Let him in." The R. P. F. and the L. P. F. went out, and soon returned with Clyde Blacklock between them. On his head, and drawn entirely over it, was a white cap. A yard of cotton cloth had been purchased at Helsingfors, which had been sewed up like a meal bag. This was pulled down over the candidate's face, and the square end of it hung down in front of him, having upon it, in letters cut out of black cloth, and sewed upon the cotton, the mysterious device AT-VI., which, however, did not relate to'" Plantation Bitters." "Hah! You have caught him! " exclaimed the C. B., in the most savage of tones. "Ay, ay, sir! We captured' him outside, and in spite of his frantic struggles, have brought him before you to be examined," replied the R. P. F. "What is he? " demanded Scott, in gruff notes. r28 NORTHERN, LANDS, OR 4, A vile Indian." "Hah!" -A'ticklarly vile Indian." " When was he caught? " "At six." "Has he been searched?" "Not yet." "Does he confess? " "Not yet." "Clyde Blacklock, answer me truly," said Scott, solemnly. "' Did you steal it? " "Answer him," said the candidate's conductor, in a low voice. "Steal what?" asked Clyde. "The bag out of which a faithless Brother of the Most Respectable Order of Bangwhangers let the cat," added the C. B., tragically. "No, I didn't." Let him be searched " continued Scott, in a sepulchral tone. Whereupon the officers, who had silently gathered around the candidate, began to punch him in the ribs, and under the ears, not to hurt, but only to tickle him. As Clyde was sensitive in this direction,, as almost anybody would be when taken by surprise, the effect was very decided, and the candidate wriggled, and squirmed,, and roared. "He has it! We have found it upon him!" said the R. P. F., suddenly. "Hah! " cried Scott. "The vile Indian is guilty." "Guilty! " responded all the other officers. " Does he see it?" demanded the C. B. YOUNG AMERICA -IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 129 "He don't see it." "Let him see it!" Then the R. P. F. and the L. P. F. seized the white cap by the corners, and jerked it violently from Clyde's head, and laid it on the floor before him, with the letters right side up to him. All the officers pointed at the cap, with the most extravagant expressions of surprise and indignation upon their faces. "Behold the bag!" exclaimed the group, in concert. "And it has our mark upon it," replied Scott, with indignation in his looks and tones. Then suddenly changing his voice and manner, lie continued, very gently, "Brother Blacklock, this degree is founded upon the story of a vile Indian in the wilds of America. Some emigrants were travelling over the prairies of the great west, intending to settle in Nevada. One of them had a favorite Maltese cat, of which the whole party were very fond. They were very much afraid of losing the creature, and for greater security they carried her in a bag, - precisely like that just found upon you, - bearing upon it the initials of the owner's name, which was, in full, Andrew Thomas Vincent Iverson. For a guide they had a vile Indian, who, like all vile Indians, was very fond of whiskey. One night this vile Indian was particularly'dry,' and wanted to'wet, his whistle' with fire-water. After the emigrants had gone to sleep, he searched the camp for some of his favorite beverage. He came across the bag containing the Maltese cat. As the contents thereof seemed to be lively, he thought it contained a bottle of whiskey. He opened the bag, and the cat leaped out, notwhiskey; 9 130 NORTHERN LANDS, OR in other words, he let the cat out of the bag - at all times a very grave and terrible offence. When he saw what he had done, he was alarmed, and concealed the bag within his clothes, intending to make the emigrants believe that the cat had run away, carrying the bag with her. But, vile Indian that he was, his employers suspected him, and punching him in the ribs, they discovered the bag. Then they knew that he had let the cat out of the bag, and as the penalty of his crime, they compelled him to eat Bologna sausage until he couldn't help barking. Brother Blacklock, this solemn ceremony is intended to convince you that, should you ever let the cat out of the bag, you will be subjected to the same penalty as the vile Indian, who was A'Ticklarly Vile Indian. This bag bears our mark, - AT-VI., - which' relates to the hour you were caught - at six. It also means A'Ticklarly Vile Indian, and alludes, besides, to the rallying number of our order- AT., eighty; VI., six. Brother Blacklock, it is your next move. Take a seat where you can find one." "This will never do," interposed the D. C. B. "Some of the members will die of old age before we can give them the second degree at this rate. " I was thinking of that myself," replied Scott; "and I have the remedy. We will go through the first part with the candidates singly, and explain the meaning of it to the crowd all together. Then it won't take two minutes apiece." " Right, Most Respectable C. B.," replied the D.C. B. Another " vile Indian" was easily captured outside YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 131 of the fish-house, and was passed through the same ceremony. He was duly tickled till he rolled on the ground, pronounced guilty of stealing the bag, allowed to see it; and when the mark upon it was indignantly identified, the candidate was sent to a seat. About twenty went through this part of the performance, and then, when all of them were placed in front of the C. B., he told them the story of " A'Ticklarly Vile Indian." All of them were solemnly warned not to let the cat out of the bag; and in closing the lodge, those who had just been "'elevated" to the second degree, were permitted to learn the meaning of the mysterious initials. All who had participated in the ceremonies, either as active or passive agents, were delighted with the fun, and those who were patiently waiting their turn to be elevated, were very much disappointed when obliged to go on board their respective vessels without their second degree, especially as those who had taken it looked wise and mysterious, and would not even hint at anything which had transpired in the lodge. " How's that for high?" asked Scott, as they left the fish-house. " Tip-top," replied Wainwright, the D. C. B., who was now the second purser of the ship; "'but we may not get a chance to do anything more for weeks." "I think we can find some place to do it in the ship. The mess-rooms are rather small, but we can make one of them answer on a pinch," replied Scott. "By the way, Wainwright, I don't know that you want to belong any longer." "' Vhy not? " 1 32 NORTHERN LANDS, OR'" Because you are an officer now." " That won't make any difference. The seamen can't go into the cabin; but the officers can go into the steerage. I think the lodge makes rare fun, and I, for one, enjoy it hugely. I would rather go back into the steerage than lose the sport." " You'll do," laughed Scott. "I was thinking it was about time for you to begin to put on airs." "You will begin about the time I do. You are my superior officer in the Bangwhangers." " But I will give up my office to a bigger fellow." " No fellow that belongs would be willing to have you give it up." " You are very kind." " Now, can't we get up another degree? " asked the second purser. " When we have given all the fellows the second degree, it will be time enough to talk about the third. How does Cantwell get along in the cabin?" " First rate. What you said to him did him a heap of good, for he don't put on airs, and don't exhibit so much selfishness as the officers say he did. I suppose you know that the De Forresters are sick of their bargain?" " I concluded that they were. It was a hard nut to have Cantwell elected over them." "' De Forrest has already got up a petition to the principal to restore the old way of electing the officers; but the fellows in the cabin don't like the idea of signing it yet. It looks too much like backing down." "I rather like the present plan," laughed Scott; " and I want it to have a fair trial." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I3'' That's just what the principal says," added Wainwright. The students embarked, and were soon on board of their vessels. " What were you fellows up to in that old shanty? " said De Forrest to Wainwright, as they met in the cabin. " That's telling," replied the second purser. " It was that secret society." " Well, what if it was?" " What are you up to now? Are you getting ready for the next election." " That's our affair." " I don't believe in a secret society to control the elections." "You are entitled to your own belief." " It isn't right." " But it's just what you fellows in the cabin did before Cantwell was elected," answered Wainwright. " We hadn't any secret society: we only met in the cabin to talk over the matter." " In the cabin, where no one but yourselves could come."' We are going to do away with this thing, anyhow, and go back to the old plan," added De Forrest. " And confess that your famous plan was good for nothing?" "The plan was a good one, but the fellows won't be fair." "Which means that they wouldn't make you first lieutenant." "It don't mean that. It means that a majority of 134 NORTHERN LANDS, OR the fellows - all of them in the steerage - voted for a fellow for captain whom they did not like, and who, they knew, was not fit for the place, out of spite to the officers. If they had voted on their own judgment, instead of following Scott's lead- "' They would have elected you," laughed Wainwright. " No; they would have chosen Lincoln captain." " But they did choose him commodore." "' And shoved Cumberland down to first lieutenant."'- And you down to first purser - the ship's chief clerk." " I think I ought to have had a better position than the one I got." " But you have your merit-rank; and it looks now as though your plan was intended to save yourself from a bad fall, rather than to keep Cantwell from being captain." " I wasn't thinking of myself at all." " All the fellows say that you nominated yourself for.first lieutenant." " I suppose all the officers wanted to get as good places as they could." " If that was what they were driving at, they needn't blame the fellows in the steerage for taking things into their own hands." " I say, Wainwright, can't a fellow join the secret society?" " That depends upon who the fellow is." " One about my size." " Yes, if the society will take him in." " Will they take me in?" YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 135 " I don't know." " I want to join." "Because you want to be captain, or something of that sort," laughed the second purser. "I don't believe it would do you any good. Are you willing to vote for Cantwell for commodore next month?" "No! I am not. Is that your game?" "I didn't say it was." " If it is, I won't join." " No one has asked you to do so." " Cantwell for commodore! " exclaimed De Forrest, in disgust, as he walked away from his companion. In ten minutes he had told half of the officers that the secret society intended to make Cantwell commodore next month, and when his duties as first purser required him to visit the main cabin soon after, he revealed the momentous secret to Mr. Lowington. "If this is a secret society, how do you know?" asked the principal.' Wainwright, who is a member, said as much to me," replied the purser. The second purser was called. " I have heard a great deal about your secret society, Wainwright," continued the principal. " You have just had a meeting on the island?" " Yes, sir." " I do not believe in secret societies for political purposes. Do you intend to make Cantwell commodore next month? " " We have no such plan at present." " Didn't you ask me, when I spoke of joining, if I I3-6 NORTHERN LANDS, OR would vote for Cantwell for commodore?" asked De Forrest.' I did." " I think that's enough, sir," added the first purser. " If Cantwell is using this society to make himself commodore, it is time to suppress the society." " Cantwell is not a member of it, sir," replied Wainwright. " It was got up simply to defeat the plan of the officers to control the election. At the meeting on the island to-day, not a word was said about the elections in any way. If the nominations are fairly made next time, I don't believe the society will meddle with them." "I hope not," added Mr. Lowington. " If the officers nominate in the cabin, without consulting the seamen, very likely the society will do something." " In that case, I should not object; for a secret society in the steerage is no worse than one in the cabin." " But what is the society for? " asked De Forrest, dissatisfied with the situation.' Simply for fun, for amusement — nothing else." replied Wainwright. "Where do you meet?" asked the principal, curiously. " We met in that old fish-house on the island. We have no place in the ship. I was going to ask you, sir, if we might fit up a place in the hold," added Wainwright. "The hold is not a fit place for any meeting. I can do better, if assured that your society is a proper one." " Ithink it is, sir. There is nothing in it contrary YOUNG AMERICA IN RUJSSIA AND- PRUSSIA. I37 to the rules of the ship. In all the colleges there are secret societies, such as the ~. B. B.." "You may have the main cabin one evening in a week." "Thank you, sir. We shall be very grateful to you," replied Wainwright, utterly confounded by the generosity of the principal. De Forrest was disgusted, and went away with " a flea in his ear." Of course the action of the principal was immediately khown among all the officers. Cumberland only laughed, while others looked grave, and proposed that they should get up a society among the officers. The proposition was hailed with a shout of satisfaction, and a committee appointed tp prepare a plan. Wainwright hastened to Scott with the pleasant news he had to tell, and the main cabin was obtained for that evening. As the instructors spent most of their unoccupied time on deck, this was no hardship to them. The'lodge opened again, with those present who had taken the second degree. In order to make the thing more ludicrous than before, the officers enveloped themselves in blankets, sheets, and such other fantastic apparel as they could lay hands upon, and each one placed his small tin wash-bowl on his head, the handle of which stuck out like a queue behind. The curtain over the skylight was drawn so that no one'on deck could see into the cabin. The pantry was built out from the bulkhead, which separated it from the main cabin, into the steerage, forming a space, or gangway, four feet wide, between the pantry and the mess-rooms, from which one of the doors opened into the cabin. A blanket was extended across 138 NORTHERN LANDS, OR from the front of the pantry, before the starboard door, making an apartment four feet square, in which the 0. L. M. was stationed. The candidate was admitted to this place, and when the bag was drawn over his head, he was conducted into the lodge. The ceremonies were performed with even more spirit than in the old fish-house, and the roars of laughter that went up from the main cabin assured those within hearing that the members were having a good time. All the rest in the ship who had taken their first degree were " elevated" to the second on this occasion. At the close of the initiation, a vote of thanks to the principal was unanimously passed, for his kindness in granting the society the use of the cabin; and after some debate, he was also elected an honorary member of the order, with the privilege of attending any and all its meetings — a privilege of which, however, he magnanimously declined to avail himself. The next morning the squadron sailed for Cronstadt, and, as the weather was beautiful, the trip was a very pleasant one. The gulf was lively with steamers, and sailing vessels of all kinds, from the smallest Russian fishing shallop up to the largest man-of-war. There were iron-clads and steamers of all sizes belonging to the Russian navy, and the students gazed with interest at half a dozen monitors. These war vessels were all engaged in various manceuvres and evolutions for practice. " What flag is that, Mr. Lowington?" asked Captain Cantwell, as a vessel passed them. " The Russian flag," replied the principal, surprised that the captain of the ship should ask such a question. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 139 " But I thought that on the men-of-war was the Russian flag." " Both of them." " I saw this white flag, crossed with a stripe of blue from the corners, on the Russian fleet which came to America several years ago, and I supposed that was the Russian flag." "It is the Russian man-of-war flag. The Russian merchant flag consists, as you see, of three equal strips of bunting, extending lengthwise - the top one white, the bottom red, and the middle one blue. The Russian royal standard is a yellow flag, with the double eagle in the middle. Most of the European nations have several flags. You will find diagrams of all these flags, standards, and jacks, in several volumes in the library." " Thank you, sir. I will study them," replied Cantwell, touching his cap. In the afternoon, as seven bells struck, the squadron was approaching Cronstadt. The channel was indicated by a light-house on the port side, and a light-ship on the starboard. The water in the vicinity was covered with fishing boats, from which men were engaged with lines, seines, and hoop-nets. Around the town are several islands, all of them fortified, some of them having three-story forts, and others extensive earthworks. In I854 the Baltic squadron, under Sir Charles Napier, visited this locality, but made no attack, though the British vessels found a channel by which it was possible to pass the fortifications; but it has since been closed. The town, which contains a population of thirty-seven thousand (two thirds of it x40 NORTHERN LANDS, OR constituting the garrison), is built on an island, and is cit up by two canals, one leading to the " Merchants' Harbor," and the other to the naval repairing dock. South of the town is an immense harbor, capable of holding thousands of vessels. Cronstadt is Russia's principal naval station, and contains vast manufactories and storehouses belonging to the government. Scores of old seventy-four gun ships, built of wood, and now practically useless for modern warfare, are laid up here. The town is the port of St. Petersburg, seventeen miles distant, and all large vessels are obliged to discharge and load here, though most of the steamers from foreign countries run up to the city. The bar of the River Neva has only from eight to ten feet of water. The squadron ran into Merchants' Harbor, and came to anchor there. Within it, vessels were loading and unloading at the very doors of the warehouses. The students were allowed to land at once, but there was little to be seen in the town, which is simply a commercial place, though the government buildings are loftv and substantial structures. A better idea of the fortifications was, however, obtained, and the boys realized that St. Petersburg was safe from capture by sea, until something even more terrible than ironclads should be invented. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I4 I CHAPTER VIII. THE LECTURE ON RUSSIA. ON the day after the arrival of the squ/adron at Cronstadt, when the usual recitations of the day had been completed, all hands were summoned to the steerage of the ship to listen to the preliminary lecture on Russia. As the students knew less of this vast country than of most of the others of Europe, they were more interested in the exercise than usual. Mr. Mapps had a large map of Russia in Europe suspended to the foremast, upon which he had drawn the railroads completed up to that time, and made such other additions as the recent changes in the country demanded. "Russia is probably the largest empire, territorially, that exists now, or ever has existed," the professor began. "Can you tell us how to pronounce the name?" asked Commodore Lincoln. "' 1 do not speak Russian, but Professor Badois does, and I have asked him to give us the name in Russian characters or letters," replied Mr. Mapps, pointing to a large sheet of printing paper, upon which this name and certain statistics were written. "Here it is POCCIaI." "That R is bacliward," suggested the commodore. I4 NO NORTHERN LANDS, OR " No," interposed the professor of languages; " that letter has the value of ya in English. The first letter is the same as the'English R; the C's have the value of S, and the I sounds like long E. In Russian the name is pronounced as though it were spelled Ro-see'-ya." "It looks like poke ear," laughed Scott. "You, will not be able to read even a word of Russian, the letters are so different from ours," added Mr. Badois. "' Like other countries, it has different names in different languages," continued Mr. Mapps. "In German, it is Russland; in French, Russie; in Italian, Russia, but pronounced Roo'-see-ah; in Spanish, Rusia. The best English authorities pronounce it Rushi'ee-a, though it is often given with the u like oo. It was formerly called Muscovy. It has an area, in Europe and Asia, of about seven and one quarter millions of square miles, or one seventh of all the land on the globe. The United States, including Alaska, has about one half as much territory; but Russia in Europe contains only one third of this vast area. It has a population of seventy-four millions, - I give you the figures in round numbers, - of whom four millions only are in Asia. It has about double the population of the United States, which would give the same number of people to the square mile, on the average. Russia consists mostly of two great plains, rather indefinitely separated by the water-shed between the rivers that flow south into the Black and Caspian Seas, and those which flow north and west into the Baltic and the Arctic Ocean. The Valdai Hills, in the west-central part, which are not over a thousand YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 143 feet above the level of the sea, are the only elevations or any consequence, except on or near the frontiers, where we find the Ural and Caucasus ranges. Some portions of the country are uneven, as Russian Poland and the Crimea; but there is very little variety of scenery in the greater part of this vast region. In such a country you would, of course, expect to find large rivers. The largest of these is the Volga, twenty-two hundred miles long, and navigable to within fifty miles of its source. The Don and the Dnieper are about a thousand miles long. The Ural, the Dwina, the Petchora, and the Vistula are important rivers. Russia contains thousands of lakes, most of them in the northern and north-western part. Lake Ladoga, the largest in Europe, is about the size of Lake Ontario; Onega is half as large; Lake Peipus is twice as large as Lake Champlain; and Lake Ilmen is a little larger than Moosehead, in Maine. Nearly all these rivers and lakes are navigable for steamers and barges. You may take a boat, -the commodore's barge, if you please, - go up to St. Petersburg, through the Neva to Lake Ladoga, by the Volkof to Lake Ilmen, by canals, lakes, and rivers, into the Volga, which becomes navigable for steamers at Tver, a town on the railroad from Petersburg to Moscow. Continuing on your voyage down the river to Nijni Novgorod, where the traveller by steamer takes a larger boat, fiftythree miles below Kazan, or eight hundred and fifty from Tver, you will reach the Kama River, the longest tributary of the Volga. Pursuing your voyage up this river, you would arrive at Perm, - if you went by steamer, - in about a week; and this town is within 144 NORTHERN LANDS, OR two hundred miles of Asia. This is the usual route to Siberia below Nijni, and the one by which convicts are sent. Instead of going up the Kama, you could continue down the Volga, passing the large towns of Simbirsk, Saratoff, to Tsaritsin, from which there is a railroad to Kalatch, on the River Don, down which steamers descend to the Crimea. From Tsaritsin you may proceed down the river to Astrakhan, on the Caspian Sea, on which steamers ply to ports in Persia and elsewhere. The Volga is the Mississippi of Russia, and of quite as much importance to that country as the Father of Waters to us. The Baltic and the Black Seas are also connected by a canal which unites the Beresina, a branch of the Diina, or Western Dwina, to the Dnieper. There are several other canals which connect the great natural water-ways, so that boats may go from either of the seas on the border of Russia to either of the others. ~" A grand system of railroads has also been projected, as you may see on the map. The first important one built was that from St. Petersburg to Moscow, which was constructed by Americans at a vast expense, considering the nature of the country through which it passes. An English gentleman waited upon the Russian minister of finance with a letter of introduction. "' Then you have come to see Russia,' said his excellency. "' Hardly the whole of it; I only desire to see what is most curious in the country,' replied the tourist. "' Ah! then I will first show you the contract with the Americans to build the railway to Moscow,' added the minister. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 145 " Doubtless it was a very curious document, especially in the price which his imperial majesty agreed to pay for the work. When he was asked where he would have the road located, he took a ruler, and drew a straight line on the map between the two cities; and except one deviation to avoid the erection of an expensive bridge, this line was followed, and consequently very few towns are upon the road. A line extends south from Moscow to Kief, over six hundred miles, and the communication of St. Petersburg with Odessa will soon be completed. Lines from Cracow and Warsaw to Odessa are also in course of construction. One may now go all the way by express train from Paris, Ostend, or Calais, to St. Petersburg, in three days. Russia has now forty-seven hundred miles of railway open for traffic; and nearly ten thousand miles more are to be completed in four years.* "The principal productions of Russia are grain, hemp, flax, linseed, tallow, and lumber. Wheat is by far the most improtant crop, and is raised in vast quantities on the plains of Central Russia, and the stefjpes of the south. It exported, in I867, nearly one hundred millions of rubles' worth of this grain. Next in value is the flax crop, of which the exports amounted in the same year to about twenty million rubles." "How much is a ruble?" asked Captain Cantwell. " That is rather a difficult question to answer," replied the professor. "Harper's Hand-book says in one place, a ruble is * The United States had, January I, I870, 48,860 miles of railroad in operation, and 27,507 miles projected and in progress. IO0 146 NORTHERN LANDS, OR eighty cents;. in another, that it. is seventy;l in another eighty-three," suggested one of the students. " Nearly all the money in circulation is paper, sub, ject to varying discounts, from ten to twenty per cent. Our money is also paper, and at a discount of twelve ot fifteen per cent. I have made a careful comparison of the values of a dollar and a ruble, using the weight of pure silver in each as a basis, and I find that a ruble is 74.88+ cents; call it seventy-five cents. When gold bears a premium of twenty per cent. in Russia, - which I understand is the usual rate at the present time, a ruble is worth sixty-four cents; but with our gold at a premium of twelve and a half per cent.,. its value would be raised to: seventy-two cents."'" Of course these figures are useful. only in comparing values as they exist in the two countries," interposed Dr. Winstock, "Precisely so. I make no account of exchange;"' With your permission, I will make an actual statement of a case," added the surgeon; and the boyswere interested in the discussion. "Being in St. Petersburg, I want money, and go to Asmus, Simonsen, & Co., bankers. My letter of credit is payable in pounds sterling, and the bankers draw on Bowles Brothers & Co., London, for the amount which they pay me, - say twenty pounds, - and Bowles Brothers & Co. draw on New York or Boston. My twenty pounds, with gold at sixteen and two thirds, and exchange at ten per cent., costs me in New York $I r4.o7. With exchange between St.- Petersburg and London at twenty-nine and a half pence to the ruble, twenty pounds produces R, I.62.7i, copecks. Deducting one YOUNG AMERICA, IN RUSSIA- AND PRUSSIA. 1x47 half per cent. commission, SI copecks, and 40o copecks for postage, my net return is R I6I.50 copecks. Now, comparing what I pay in New York with what I receive in St. Petersburg, I find that my paper ruble has cost me seventy and one tenth cents in currency, which reduced to gold, at twenty per cent. premium, is sixty one and two thirds cents." "And in England, France, North Germany, With the exchange at the same rate, that would be the real value of the money you receive," added Mr. Mapps. "' On account of the depreciation of the money in Russia, the prices are higher. I was speaking of the value of the exports, and when I speak of twenty million rubles, it means three fourths- as many dollars. Flaxseed, or linseed, brings in almost as much money as the flax itself." " What is it for? " asked a student. " For making painters' oil. The exports of tallow and lumber are each about twelve million rubles. The chief imports are raw cotton, metals, machinery, tea,. and manufactured goods. The soil of Russia varies greatly, and. large- portions of it consist of sandy plains and vast morasses. The condition of agriculture- is improving under the encouragement of the government, but does not yet compare favorably with most of the western countries of Europe. Nearly half the land is unimproved, and one fourth is forest land, which, however, is so badly managed that-it produces but a- small fraction of what it might yield. Iron, copper, gold, silver, and platinum are mined in the Ural Mountain region and in Siberia. Iron is pro-, duced in- excess of the wants: of the empire, and al 148 NORTHERN LANDS, OR most all the platinum in use in the world comes from Russia. Vast quantities of salt are mined, and manufactured from the brine springs. Peter the Great and all his successors have encouraged manufactures, and the empire has made great progress in this direction. Raw cotton, to the value of about forty million rubles, is imported for the use of the mills. Woollen and silk goods are also manufactured in considerable quantities. " Nearly the whole of Russia is in higher latitude than the United States, the Crimea, or southern portion, being in the latitude of Maine, and St. Petersburg on about the same parallel as the northern point of Labrador and the southern point of Greenland. About the middle of November the Neva freezes, and is not open again till the last of April. In December and January the thermometer sometimes indicates twenty-five degrees below zero; but the average temperature at St. Petersburg in winter is eighteen degrees above zero; in Moscow, fifteen degrees; in Archangel, nine degrees. The average in summer is sixty degrees in St. Petersburg, sixty-five degrees in Moscow, and fifty-eight degrees in Archangel. The climate is generally healthy, though there are various maladies peculiar to different regions, as scrofula and scurvy. " The government of Russia is an absolute hereditary monarchy; in other words, the Czar or Emperor, is the legislative, executive, and judicial power of the empire, which is the same thing as saying that his will is the law of the land. But it ought to be added, that certain traditions and rules are considered of binding YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I49 force by the sovereigns; as the law of succession to the crown, established by the Emperor Paul; other. wise the Czar might select the next ruler; every sovy ereign, his wife and children, must be of the Greek church. The heir apparent is deemed to be of age at sixteen, which proves that a boy of this age may be good for something. The members of the imperial family cannot marry without the consent of the Emperor; and the children of any union without his permission cannot inherit the throne. The present Emperor is Alexander II., son of Nicholas I. and the Princess Charlotte, of Prussia, who was the daughter of King Frederick William III., and sister of the present king of that country. The Empress, his wife, is the daughter of the late Grand Duke Ludwig II., of Hesse Darmstadt. They have six children, of whom the oldest is the Grand Duke Alexander, heir apparent to the throne. He was born in I845, and is, therefore, twenty-five years old. At the age of twentyone he was married to Maria Dagmar, daughter of the King of Denmark. The style of the emperor is Autocrat of all the Russias, Czar of Poland, Grand Duke of Finland, &c. His sons are called Grand Dukes. The hereditary Grand Duke is often called the Czarowitz. The term Czar, which evidently conies front Cesar, is variously spelled. In the Slavonic, which is the church language of Russia, it-is Tsar. "The government of Russia, under the Emperor, is in the hands of four great councils, the principal of whichis the council of the empire, consisting of the Ministers, the Grand Dukes, and such other members as the sovereign may appoint. Though this board has 150 - NORTHERN LANDS, OR a president, the -emperor often presides'at its sessions. Its general duties are to propose new laws, or alterations in old ones, and to attend to the execution of the laws. The second council is called the Directinrg Sen-. ate, and it is also the high court of justice, controlling all the inferior tribunals. It is resolved into eight committees, five of which sit at St. Petersburg, and three at Moscow, each of which has its peculiar function. Appeals from the lower courts go to this council, either in committee or as a whole, though the former may decide certain cases. This body examines into and reports upon the revenues and expenditures of the empire, appoints many public officers, and advises the,sovereign in matters within its jurisdiction. The third council is the Holy Synod, having charge of all matters pertaining to religion. It is composed of the chief dignitaries of the church, of which the emperor is the head,:and its decisions have no force without his approval. The fourth board is the Council of Ministers, consisting of eleven -members, whose functions are substantially the samte as in other countries. Of course the emperor has absolute control over these councils, to the extent he pleases to exercise it. "You have already-noticed that this map is cut lip into small divisions. These are governments, corresponding to departments in France, and counties in America. Besides these, the country is divided, into vice-royalties, or general governments, at the head of each of which is a viceroy, or general governor, who represents. the emperor, commands the troops, and has,the supreme control of all affairs, civil and military. In each government, or province, a civil -governor is YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 15-I appointed'to represent -the general governor, who -is advised by a council. Governments are divided -into districts, which are again subdivided into smaller ones.'The officers ofthese smaller districts are elected by the people. Every five houses in a place may choose one delegate to the assembly of the commune, who elect delegates to the district assembly, one for every ten -houses. There are certain village courts, presided over by two members elected by the commune, called':conscience men,' who try cases relating to property in which no more than five rubles is involved. You see that.the Russians vote under their absolute monarchy. " The Russian nation is composed of more than a hundred different races, speaking forty languages. The Russians - properly'so called - are the inhabitants of'Great and Little Russia, who are from the Slavic races. Besides these, there -are Tartars, Poles, Germans, Jews, Finns, Mongols, Persians, and others, who have been united in one nation. -The government has permitted these people, as their territory was conquered and -annexed to the empire, to retain their own laws and customs, so far as;they were not inconsistent with the general code of Russia. "'The original nobility of the country were the boyars; but Peter the Great established a new order, and there are now in the empire over half a million whose titles are hereditary, and a quarter of a million who have only personal rank. The citizens of towns are ranked in six classes, the first owning real estate; the second, having a certain amount of taxable property; the third, mechanics; thl. -fourth, resident for 152 NORTHERN LANDS, OR eigners in business; the fifth, artisans, soldiers, and scholars; and the sixth, all others. There are fortyseven million peasants, of whom twenty-two millions were serfs, emancipated in I863, though indirectly they are obliged to pay for their freedom, for the government compensated the owners of the land to which they were attached, and collects the amount paid by an annual assessment on the emancipated for the succeeding forty-nine years. " The state religion, which is professed by a great majority of the people, is the Greco-Russian, officially styled'Orthodox-Catholic Faith.' When the Roman empire was divided into two portions, the Eastern, or Byzantine, empire retained the Catholic religion, and the bishop, or patriarch of Constantinople, was officially recognized as second only to the Pope at Rome. But there was a schism in the Eastern division, which resulted in a total separation in IO54. Then the Patriarch of Constantinople became the head of the Eastern church, of which the Russian church was a part. In I588 a separate patriarchate was established in Russia, and the Greek church is now made up of ten independent organizations. The Russian church is governed by the Holy Synod, at the head of which is the emperor, who has greater power than the Pope of Rome in the external affairs of the church, but cannot render a decision himself on theological questions. In critical doctrinal cases, the patriarchs of Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioclh, and Alexandria are consulted, and when a decision is reached, the emperor is as much bound by it as the prelates; and he does not officially style himself the Head, but the Protector and Defender of the Church. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 153 " The Greco-Russian church differs from the Roman Catholic in denying the supremacy of the Pope, and in not prohibiting the marriage of the clergy. No priest can perform his spiritual functions before he is married, and he is incompetent to do so at the death of his wife. As he is forbidden to marry a second time, his occupation as a priest is gone, though he may go into a monastery, and be eligible to office in the church. There are important differences of doctrine also. Russia has five hundred cathedrals and twentynine thousand churches of the established religion, with two hundred and fifty-four thousand -clergymen of all ranks. There are four hundred and eighty monasteries for men, and seventy convents for women. Peter the Great and Catharine II. confiscated the immense wealth of the church not required for the actual service, and the salaries of the clergy are very small, hardly sufficient to support them. Jews are not allowed to settle in Russia proper, but there is no other restraint on the non-Russian sects. The Russian cannot renounce his creed. The subject of education among the common people is receiving considerable attention at the present time, and there are over one million pupils in the schools. " There are in Russia fifteen cities having over fifty thousand inhabitants, four of which have over a hundred thousand - St. Petersburg, five hundred and forty thousand; Moscow, three hundred and fifty-two thousand; Warsaw, one hundred and sixty-three thousand; and Odessa, one hundred and ninety-two thousand. " The army of Russia is raised by conscription, by the adoption of the sons of soldiers, and by voluntary 1 54 NORTHERN LANDS, OR enlistment. The period of service is from twenty-two to twenty-five years; but of late years the soldiers are sent home after ten or fifteen years' service, to be recalled in case of war. The Cossacks of the Don are not taxed, but do military duty in payment for their exemption; and in case of necessity, every man among them between the ages of fifteen and sixty is obliged to serve. These are all in the cavalry service, and every Cossack is obliged to keep his own horse, and to arm, equip, and clothe himself, except when sent out of the country. The number in the service is fifty. six thousand, and more than double this number are available. On a peace footing the army has eight hundred thousand men, on a war footing over one million. "The navy of Russia contains two hundred and ninety steamers and twenty-nine sailing vessels, with sixty thousand seamen. "We are now prepared to sketch very briefly the his. tory of Russia. It contains a great many exciting inci, dents; but the time does not permit me to give many of them. The Scythians and Sarmatians of the Greek and Roman historians inhabited Russia in classic times. The Slavonians are believed to be the same people, and they founded the towns of Novgorod and Kief, which were the capitals of separate empires. These people were savage and warlike races, and were at war with similar tribes around them. The Varangians of the north attacked them, and wvere nearly ovelwhelmed, when they invited the Russian prince Rurik to Novgorod; and he came with his two brothers. From that time the different tribes were united, and YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I55 called Russians, but the Slavic language and customs were retained. This was:the foundation of the Rus*sian empire. Rurik died in 879, and left the regency of the empire to his cousin, Oleg, his son Igor being only four years old. He conquered Kief, and annexed it to his realm. He then got up an expedition against Constantinople, and secured an advantageous treaty. He also subdued all the tribes within reach of his armies. He had a favorite horse, which the soothsayers declared would be the death of him; whereupon he sent the animal away, and heard no more of him for years. Recalling the prediction, he asked what had become of the horse, and' was told that he had long been dead. Exulting over the defeat of the seers, he wished to see the bones, and was conducted to the place where the skeleton lay.'So this is the creature that was destined to be my death,' said he, putting his foot on the skull. At that moment, a serpent, coiled up within the skull, darted out and gave Oleg a bite, from the effects of which he died. This is the story. "The son of Rurik, Igor, came to the throne at the age of forty, and after much fighting was killed. His son, Sviatoslaf, was too young to reign, and Olga, Igor's widow, was the regent. She was a bold and cruel woman, and her adventures were very curious and romantic. After severely chastising the Drevlians, - who had killed her husband,'- they offered her a tribute of honey and fur, which she declined, saying she would -be satisfied with a dove and three sparrows fromn each house, which were promptly supplied. Having tied lighted matches to their tails, she let them all loose in the evening, and flying back to the nests, they set all 156 NORTHERN LANDS, OR the houses on fire, and the whole town was consumed. The inhabitants escaped only to fall upon the swords of Olga's army. You need not believe any more of these stories than you please, young gentlemen," said the instructor, with a smile. " Olga went to Constantinople to be baptized and instructed in the Christian religion. When she exhorted her son to follow her example on her return, he wanted to know if she wished him to be the laughing-stock of his friends. Her son was a great warrior, won many victories, and was killed in battle. His empire was divided among his three sons, Yaropolk, Oleg, and Vladimir. They soon quarrelled; Oleg was slain, and Vladimir fled, leaving the entire realm to Yaropolk. But Vladimir returned, and with the aid of the Varingians, conquered Novgorod and Kief, and put his brother to death. He was a pagan at first, and gave honors to his heathen deities. The neighboring nations, recognizing his power and rude greatness desired to convert him to their own faith, and he was induced to examine the religion of the Greeks, the Roman Catholics, and the Jews. Olga, his ancestress, had been a Greek Christian, and he was inclined to follow her example. When he had decided to embrace it, his pride would not permit him to be baptized in his own capital in the ordinary way, and he insisted that only bishops from the parent church were worthy of so great an achievement as the conversion of himself and his people. He resorted to a remarkable expedient to accomplish his purpose: he made war upon Greece, marched into the Crimea, and laid siege to Cherson, near Sevastopol, intending to extort the rite of baptism. He demanded its surrender, YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 157 saying he was prepared to stay before its walls for three years. For six months he made no progress, and was on the point of abandoning the conquest, when a priest sent an arrow to which was tied a letter, informing him that the city was supplied with water from a certain spring outside the walls. Removing the pipes by which the water was conducted to the town, Vladimir subjected the inhabitants to the pangs of thirst, and thus compelled them to surrender. Everything was now favorable for his baptism; but he had other views also. He demanded the sister of the Greek emperors, Basilius and Constantine, in marriage, and threatened to take Constantinople if his demand was refused. He was too powerful to be denied, and the lady was sent to him. Vladimir received his instructions, and was baptized with the name of Basil on the day of his marriage to the princess, in 988. Returning to Kief, he destroyed the wooden gods, and built churches and towns. His nature was changed, and he became gentle and humane. He established seminaries of learning, labored to extend Christianity in his dominions, and is now enrolled among the Russian saints. At Moscow, if you go there, you will see the remarkable cathedral of St. Basil. In history he is called Vladimir the Great. "This powerful prince divided his empire among his twelve sons, who, as usual in such cases, went to war, and Sviatopolk I., after murdering three of his brothers, obtained the throne. In IOI9, Yaroslaf, the brother who had received Novgorod as his portion, procuring the assistance of Henry II. of Germany and of the King of Poland, after a battle on the Alma which I58 NORTHERN, LANDS, OR lasted three days, wrested the crown from Sviotopolk, who died while fleeing into Poland. Another brother compelled Yaroslaf to divide the empire with him; but at the death of the former it was united again, in 1036. Ile was a powerful prince, and greatly enlarged his territory. He built many churches, encouraged learning, and caused the first code of Russian laws to be compiled. At his death he gave the empire to his four sons, requiring the three younger to be subject to the eldest; but his will was disregarded, and Russia became a confederacy, instead of an empire, with four rulers. The division and anarchy in the country enabled the Poles, Lithuanians, Danes, and others to wrest large territories in the west from- the Russians. The progress in civilization which had continued during the two preceding reigns was barred; famrine and pestilence raged in the land, and Genghis Khan, with vast hordes of Asiatics, invaded and conquered' the country. From the year IO54, when the civil wars commenced, to- I462, when the Tartar power and influence were finally broken, Russia was torn with dissensions, overrun by her powerful neighbors, often visited by fammine and pestilence; yet within this period are recorded many great events. Moscow was founded in II47; Alexander, Grand Prince of Novgorod, won a great victory over the Swedes and others on the Neva, which gives him the name of Alexander Nevski. " With Ivan III., or Ivan the Great, in I462, begins a more glorious period of Russian history. He was the Grand Prince of Moscow, and conquered Novgorod,r Kazan't Perm,. Tver, and; other principalities. He married Sophia, niece of the Greek emperor YOUNG AMERICA- IN RUSSIA- AND PRUSSIA. 159 Constantine XIII., on which occasion he adopted the double-headed black eagle as his standard, and was the first prince who claimed the title of' Autocrat of all the Russias.' He was succeeded by his son Basil IV., in whose reign the empire was still further united, and the Tartars completely subjugated at Kazan. Basil was followed, in I533, by his son Ivan IV., only three years old at his accession. During his minority the empire was torn by anarchy and civil war; but when Ivan was only fourteen years old, lhe seized the reins of- power, and commenced the career of cruelty and tyranny, which gave him the name of the'Terrible.' But he did more for Russia than any of his predecessors. He conquered Kazan again, which had asserted its independence during his minority, added Astrakhan, the Crimea, Siberia, and the country of the Don, td his empire. He encouraged commerce, and established a printing office in MoscoW. He was a cruel tyrant, and caused the massacre of sixty thousand people in Novgorod, and thousands in Moscow and Tver. Finally he murdered his eldest son, and the-l only one who had the capacity to: succeed him,, with his. own hand. His son Fedor, who came to the throne at his death, was weak in body and- mind. His brother-in-law, Boris Godunoff, was an ambitious man, and sought to obtain the crown. He put out of the way several rivals and members of the imperial family, and finally accomplished his purpose in I605; but his cruelty caused great dissatisfaction, and the people were ripe for revolt. At tlhis time appeared in Poland a very remarkable impostor, claiming to, be the Czarovitz of Russia, whov was more successful than the pre I6o NORTHERN LANDS, OR tenders that sought the crown of England. In carrying out his ambitious project, Boris Godunoff had procured the assassination of Dimitri, the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, a lad only ten years old. A Polish prince, irritated by the negligence of a young man who had been in his employ but a short time, gave him a blow on the side of the head, which was accompanied by a very opprobrious epithet. "' If you knew who I am, prince,' replied the young man, with tears in his eyes,' you would not treat me so, nor call me by that name.' "' Who are you, and where do you come from?' asked the prince. "' I am the Czarovitz Dimitri, son of Ivan IV.'' He then detailed the manner of his escape from Boris's assassin, and exhibited a Russian seal, bearing the names and arms of the Czarovitz, and a gold cross adorned with jewels, which he declared was the baptismal gift of his godfather. The prince believed his story, and rendered him efficient help. He was presented to the Palatine of Sandoinir, whose daughter was plighted to him in marriage. He procured the favor of Sigismond, King of Poland, by promising to bring Russia over to the church of Rome. With a considerable army, including many Polish knights, he marched into Russia, and after-some discouragements, took the city of Novgorod, and finally, by the treachery of some of Boris's dependants, entered Moscow, and was duly crowned. Though he had renounced the Greek Church; he concealed the fact. The widow of Ivan IV. was brought from a convent to see him, and after a private interview between them, she ac YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I61 knowledged that he was her son. His affianced wife came to him in Moscow, attended by a numerous retinue of Polish knights. The marriage was solemnized according to the rites of the Russian church. But Dimitri was not skilful in concealing his religion, and excited the suspicion of the priests and others. While he was generous even to his foes, his heterodoxy was the ruin of him. A conspiracy was organized, and he was murdered in cold blood, with many of his followers, and his corpse exposed to great indignities. " After his death the boyar Shuiska was crowned as Czar, under the title Basil VI. Encouraged by the example of the false Dimitri, another appeared, and many Polish knights supported his claim with arms. The Czar appealed to Sweden for aid, which compelled the King of Poland to espouse the cause of the pretender. The Swedes soon went over to the Poles, Moscow was captured, and Basil VI. died in a Polish prison. The Poles compelled the boyars to elect Vladislas, son of Sigismond, their Czar. The new power treated Russia as a subdued province, which caused an insurrection, and the Poles were driven from the country. " The throne was now vacant, and in I6I3 Michael Romanoff, the first sovereign of the present royal family, was chosen emperor. He made peace with the Swedes, and restored the commercial ties which had been broken by the wars. In I645 he was succeeded by his son Alexis, who won the allegiance of the Cossacks of the Don, and regained the western part of Russia, which had been held by the Poles. iIa I6z NORTHERN LANDS, OR In this reign a third false Dimitri appeared; but he obtained few adherents, and was executed by Alexis. This Czar was followed by his son Fedor, in I676, who lived but six years after his accession, leaving no children; but he had a brother and several sisters, children of his own mother, and a half brother and half sister, children of his father's second wife. The heir apparent was his own brother Ivan, who was weak in body and in mind, while the half brother, Peter, was a brilliant youth often. An attempt was made to set Ivan aside; but his sister, the Princess Sophia, fiustrated the plan so far as to cause both to be declared sovereigns of Russia, and she was proclaimed the regent, who was practically to rule the country. It is alleged that Sophia and Prince Galitzin, her minister, organized a conspiracy to take the life of Peter, when he was about seventeen, in order that she might continue in the regency-during the reign of his imbecile brother. Peter fled to a monastery, followed by a portion of his party, and there organized a counter movement. He managed his case so well that it was entirely successful. " The conspirators were severely punished; some-of them were cruelly tortured. Prince Galitzin escaped with his life, but forfeited his immense property, and was banished to the northern regions of Russia, while Sophia was shut up in a convent during the rest of her life. Ivan declined to take any share in the government, and Peter was the sole ruler in fact, if not in name. He is the Peter the Great of history, and the, founder of Russian greatness. In a brief period he made his country one of the most powerful in Europe. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I 63 In I703 he founded St. Petersburg, in a very unfortunate location, it must be confessed, for at times the city has hard work to keep itself above water. His ruling passion was to extend his empire, as well as to build it up, by developing its resources. Though he suffered great defeats, he finally carried all his plans. He made war on Sweden, and crushed Charles XII. in the battle of Pultowa. He conquered the Ukraine, and carried his conquests to the Caspian. He was a wonderful man; but he was a drunkard and a brute in his manners. He was a genius in mechanics, and possessed remarkable energy in the execution of his purposes; but he was passionate, cold-blooded, and cruel. It is no wonder that his country venerates his name, for no single man ever did so much for a nation as he for Russia. " Peter hated his first wife, who was the mother of the Czarovitz Alexis, and he extended his hatred to his son, whom he first disinherited, and afterwards poisoned with his own hands, in the fortress of St. Petersburg. Though the fierce Czar had quarrelled with Catharine, his wife, and had some doubts in regard to her character, she was his successor. She was almost as remarkable a person as he was, and had a powerful influence over him. She was born in Sweden, but spent her earlier years as a servant in Livonia, one of the Baltic provinces of Russia, which formerly belonged to Sweden. At the age of sixteen she was married to a Swedish dragoon, who was ordered away two days after the marriage. The town in which she lived was captured by the Russians, and she was employed as a servant in the family of the Princess I64 NORTHERN LANDS, OR Mentchikof, where Peter first saw her. He carried her away with him, and perceiving that she had a large capacity for assisting in the mission of his life, he privately married her in I707, and repeated the ceremony publicly four years later. " From a common servant girl of the humblest parentage, she became the empress of a mighty nation. After her husband's death, she endeavored to carry out his progressive measures, during the two years of her reign; but she softened the rule of the Czar by lowering the taxes, and recalling the exiles from Siberia. Mentchikof was perhaps the real ruler, though her gentleness and humanity are apparent in public measures. Peter II., the son of the unfortunate Alexis, succeeded her, according to the will of the empress. He was only twelve years old, and a council of regency was appointed to rule during his minority; but Prince Mentchikof soon seized the supreme control, and the young emperor was betrothed to his daughter. He was so arrogant and brutal, that he finally disgusted his imperial master, and with his whole family, including the affianced of Peter, was banished to Siberia, and his wealth confiscated. He had nine million rubles in notes and securities, one million in cash, one hundred and five pounds of gold utensils, four hundred and twenty pounds of silver plate, and a million rubles' worth of precious stones, besides his palaces, and numerous landed estates, all over Russia. His property was not less than forty millions, or thirty millions of our money, most of which he had stolen from the public treasury. Prince Dolgoruki took his place at the head of the government. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I65 " Peter died of small-pox, three years after his accession. He was the last male member of the Romanof family. Instead of following the line of succession indicated in the will of Catharine I., who had daughters still living, the nobles elected, as their empress, Anna, Duchess of Courland, daughter of Ivan V., half brother of Peter I., who had nominally reigned with him. It was intended that the boyars should be the real rulers, and they induced Anna, before she was crowned, to sign an instrument which placed all power in their hands; but when she became empress, she repudiated the compact, and retained the absolute power of her predecessors. In a civil war for the throne of Poland, Anna sided with Augustus III., whose success gave Russia a controlling influence in the affairs of this unhappy kingdom. Her favorite, Duke Biren, her prime minister, and the actual ruler, was an arrogant and cruel man, whose influence over the empress was all-powerful. By_ his advice, she named, as her successor, the son of her niece Anne, — a child in the cradle,- with Biren as the regent. He was Ivan VI. " The unpopularity'of the regent soon caused his overthrow, and Anne was appointed in his place; but in a year after the death of the Empress Anna, Elizabeth Petrovna, the daughter of Peter the Great and Catharine,- a woman of no character, - -usurped the throne. In a single night her adherents captured the palace, and completed the revolution. She reigned twenty-one years, and founded several universities, and other literary and scientific institutions. She abolished the death penalty and the rack, but the i66 NORTHERN LANDS, OR knout and other tortures took their place, and the exiles to Siberia were numerous. In the Seven Years' War, Russia was on the side of Austria. Elizabeth was a vain and extravagant woman. She impoverished her treasury, and left a bad reputation behind her. " By her will she made her nephew Peter, late Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, emperor; and from him, the present royal family is called the House of Holstein-Gottorp. He attempted many reforms, and closely allied himself to Frederick the Great, of Prussia; but many of his measures were imprudent and impolitic. His wife Catharine was the daughter of a princess of Holstein-Gottorp. Peter neglected her, and incurred her hatred. She got up a conspi.racy against him, which resulted in the dethronement of her husband, only a few months after his accession, and she was proclaimed empress as Catharine II. Peter was thrown into prison, and there strangled. Her reign of thirty-four years was brilliant for Russia, which became one of the Great Powers, without dispute. She greatly enlarged its territory by the infamous partition of Poland, the conquest of the Crimea, and the addition of Courland, on the Baltic. Her most noted ministers and favorites were Orlof and Potemkin. "Her son Paul I. succeeded her in i796. His mother had neglected him in early years, and hated him when he became a man, keeping spies near him, compelling him to live away from the court, and depriving him of all power and influence. She had caused the murder of his father, and the hatred was reciprocal. After his accession, he gave funeral hon YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 167 ors to his father, disinterred his mother's last favorite, Potemkin, and threw his remains into a ditch. His temper had been soured by his mother's treatment, and he took a malicious pleasure in undoing what she had done. The revolution in France was in progress when he came to the throne, and Paul joined the coalition against her, sending his armies into Switzerland, Italy, and Holland, to fight against the French republic. Suvarof, in these campaigns, proved himself to be one of the greatest generals of his age, and is still held in the highest veneration by the Russians. But the emperor, dissatisfied with his allies, withdrew his armies from the coalition, and, with Denmark and Sweden, joined in the armed neutrality, of which I have spoken to you before. "Paul was capricious, despotic, and subject to fits of partial insanity, which aggravated his ill temper, and caused him to commit the most atrocious deeds. By his second wife he had tell children, the oldest of whom was Alexander, the Czarovitz; the second, Constantine; and the youngest but one, Nicholas. Paul's humors were unendurable, and Alexander consented to his dethronement, to avoid greater evils to the empire. He signed a proclamation, announcing his assumption of the crown. The conspirators found the emperor in his palace. Breaking into his chamber, they required him to sign his abdication, and his refusal brought on a struggle, in which, after a desperate resistance, he was strangled with a sash. Alexander had not consented to the assassination of his father, and the event filled him with passionate grief. This was in iSion, nd~ the new emperor was twenty-five I68 NORTHERN LANDS, OR years old, and a. man of decided ability. He was in favor of peace; but it was impossible for him not to take part in the general war against Napoleon, though he first entered into an alliance with him. "The Russians and Austrians were defeated at Austerlitz in I805. Alexander joined his army to that of Prussia, and both were disastrously defeated at Friedland in I807, and the emperor was obliged to conclude a peace with Napoleon at Tilsit, in which he was arrayed against England and Sweden. The French stirred up a war in Turkey. in which the Russians obtained Moldavia and Wallachia. A war with Sweden resulted in the conquest of Finland. In ISIo Alexander, finding that he had nothing more to gain by an alliance with France, - that his commerce was suffering under the provisions of the treaty of Tilsit, and that the marriage of Napoleon with Maria Louise would prevent him from obtaining any more territory from Austria, - broke the treaty, and prepared for war. In I8I2' Napoleon marched into Russia late in the season, with half a million soldiers, intending to crush Russia. The Russians lost the terrible battle of Borodino, near Moscow, and even this city fell into the hands of the French; but those who could not defend it burned it. The winter suddenly set in, and the army of Napoleon, robbed of their expected supplies and shelter in Moscow, commenced that disastrous retreat which ended only in the total destruction of the Grand Army. Prussia and Austria joined Russia the nekt year-; in the battle of Leipsic, the power of the French was effectually broken, and in I8I4 the allies entered Paris, and Napoleon was sent to Elba. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I69 He returned, and was finally defeated in the battle of Waterloo, and sent to St. Helena. The war ended,and Alexander turned his attention to the internal affairs of the nation. He labored earnestly to promote the civilization of his people, and to develop the immense resources of his vast empire. In 1825 he set out on a tour through his dominions, and died at Taganrag, near the mouth bof the Don, of the Crimean fever.. He had been the champion of absolute power, and had welded more closely the chains of Poland; yet, judged by the Russian standard, he was an amiable and good man. " At his death his brother Constantine was the Czarovitz; but this prince had voluntarily renounced his right to the throne in favor of his younger and only surviving brother Nicholas, who was proclaimed Czar. A conspiracy, fomented before his accession, was sternly and severely suppressed. Nicholas, like his brother, was despotic in his ideas, and remorselessly crushed the insurrection in Poland in I83o, making the kingdom a province of Russia. He enlarged his dominions,'and carried on the war in Circassia, which lasted fifty years. In 1853 Nicholas demanded of the Turkish government certain guarantees of the rights of Greek Christians in Turkey, which the latter could not give without yielding its sovereign rights, and a war ensued, in which England, France, and Sardinia took pait with the Turks. It was the evident design of the Czar to conquer Turkey, and extend his dominions to the Mediterranean. " Nicholas did not live to see the end of this war, and was succeeded by his son, Alexander II., in I856. :I170 NORTHERN LANDS, OR Sebastopol was captured after a siege of about a year, and a treaty of peace was signed, by which Russia lost her naval superiority in the Black Sea.* The war in the Caucasus was continued, and ended by Alexander II., who is still the reigning emperor." The professor closed his lecture, which, though longer than usual, was listened to with interest to the end by the students. 6" Young gentlemen," said the principal, " I desire to give you an opportunity to see as much as possible of Russia, and, for this purpose you will all have an opportunity to visit Moscow; but I do not purpose to go there in a body. There will be no ship's duty done at present. We will divide you into four squads; the ship's companies of the consorts forming two of them, the starboard watch of the ship the third, and the port the fourth squad. A fifth party will make a more extended trip to Nijni Novgorod and Kazan, down the Volga. The captain of each vessel may.appoint one to go on this journey, and four more will be elected by ballot to-morrow night, two for the ship, and one for each of the consorts, after your return from St. Petersburg." Mr. Lowington retired amid the applause of the students. * This provision of the treaty was abrogated by Russia In 1870. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I 7I CHAPTER IX. SIGHTS IN ST. PETERSBURG. " PPOINTED by the captain!" sneered De.L\..Forrest, as the students left the steerage.' I wonder what that's for," added Beckwith. " I don't know; it's a puzzler to me. But the principal seems to be trying to make Cantwell as big a man-as he can." " Well, I don't think you ought to find any fault about it. You worked this thing up, and made him captain," interposed Sheridan, the new fourth lieutenant, who had been raised to his present rank from first midshipman, by the votes of the Bangwhangers. " I made him captain!" exclaimed De Forrest. "Certainly you did; his merit-rank would only have made him fourth lieutenant. We don't always do just what we intend," laughed Sheridan. "'It was your idea to make the captain dependent upon the crew -for his office." "I think it's a good thing to do so," replied De Forrest. " Then it's a good thing also to make the crew dependent upon the captain. If he can appoint one of the party for the Volga excursion, his favor is worth something," added Sheridan, good-naturedly. I72 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " I would give fifty dollars out of my spending money for the privilege of going," said De Forrest. " Suppose you make the captain the offer?" " I! Humph! Do you think I would go down on my knees to Cantwell? " sneered De Forrest. " Don't you do it! There's no law to compel you to do so," laughed Sheridan. " Of course the captain will reward some one of his friends," said Beckwith. " Yes, I suppose he will." "Would you appoint a fellow that had worked against you?" asked Sheridan. " I should try to'be fair," answered the first purser, with a struggle to look dignified. "Precisely so! Just as you nominated yourself over the heads of Judson and Norwood, and tried to cut them out." " They worked for themselves, and I only did the same.'" 1" If every fellow works for himself, we shall not come out anywhere." "You needn't say anything, Sheridan. You went from first middy up to fourth lieutenant by the voting," said De Forrest. " I went just one place higher than my merit-rank, while you were No. r, and tried to get into No. 3." " Never mind that now," interposed Beckwith. " Whom shall we elect? That's the question." "I don't- think we need trouble ourselves much about that matter," replied De Forrest, gloomily. " The fellows in the steerage will attend to all that, and neither of the two will be taken from the cabin." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 173 "I will venture to say that one of the two will be elected from the cabin," said Sheridan. " Do you belong to that secret society, Sheridan?" asked Beckwith. " I do not; but I think that the fellows that manage it mean to be fair." " Humph! They lifted you up." " That's so. They did; but I never asked them to do it, or electioneered with any of them," responded Sheridan. " But can't we do something?" suggested Beckwith. " The vote for captain stood forty-eight to forty; and Cantwell's vote was the strength of the opposition. If we can change five votes, we can elect our men." "Very true; but can you unite your forty votes on two candidates." " Yes; why not?" asked De Forrest, encouraged by this presentation of the subject. " Who shall the candidates be?" inquired Sheridan, with a twinkle of the eye. " You want the two most popular fellows in the ship."' Lincoln for one," said Beckwith. "Good!' He runs well with both parties. You can elect him. Who next? " continued Sheridan. " I should like to go for the other," said De Forrest. " I thought so," laughed Sheridan. "Why shouldn't I go, as well as any other fellow?" demanded the first purser. "And why should you in preference to any other fellow? If you want to carry your ticket, you must nominate the other candidate from the steerage. That's fair." I74 NORTHERN LANDS,- OR " I don't believe in it," protested De Forrest. " I won't vote for a fellow in the steerage." " Precisely so. Then you, and such fellows as you, will throw the election into the hands of the secret society. That's the whole of it. Be fair, and the steerage will go with you."'"WThom do you say in the steerage?" asked Beckwith. "Any good fellow; say Scott." "No, sir!" exclaimed De Forrest, decidedly. " I would jump overboard before I would vote for him." " Suppose the captain should select Lincoln," continued Sheridan, his eye still twinkling merrily. "' Then we should have to take some other fellow from the cabin," replied Beckwith. " There your chance comes in, De Forrest," winked the fourth lieutenant. " I think I have just as good a right to go as any other fellow."' Say De Forrest and Scott; and Scott's name on the ticket will carry the other name," chuckled Sheridan, though he spoke as soberly as he could. " That alters the case," added De Forrest, musing. " If Lincoln is not to be on the ticket, it makes it altogether a different affair." "But if you are going to scratch Scott's'name, and jump overboard, rather than vote for him, it's no use of talking." " I should like to have all these differences healed up, so that my plan may have a fair trial," said the first purser. "Well, think of it," continued Sheridan; " and if the YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I75 fellows conclude to nominate the ticket I suggested, I have no doubt it can be elected." " I think, under the-circumstances, I should conclude to vote for Scott." "Well, that would be a great concession on your part," laughed'Sheridan, as he went forward to talk with others about the matter which so deeply interested all hands. Of course he spoke with Scott first on the subject, and suggested a general caucus of officers and seamen, to which the joker readily assented, and promised, if the business was fairly conducted, to keep it out of the secret society. The matter was talked over till the lights were put out. The next morning, after the decks had been washed down, and breakfast disposed of, a small steamer, which had been engaged by the principal, came alongside, and all hands went on board of her. All the students from the confsorts, with their instructors, joined them, and the steamer started. Though she was Russian, she was not very different from any other of her class. After passing out of the harbor, the boat entered the broad estuary which forms the mouth of the Neva. It was shoal water, and the channel was narrow and very crooked, and the craft twisted about almost as much as on one of our western rivers. As the distance from Cronstadt to the capital is only seventeen miles, the expectant excursionists were soon in sight of St. Petersburg. Though the city is built on low, level ground, the aspect of it, seen from the sea, is very striking. It was different from any other city the students had seen. I 76 NORTHERN LANDS, -OR " There's a gilded dome," said Commodore Lincoln. "That's St. Isaac's Cathedral," replied Dr. Winstock. " And you see blue, green, and white domes." " There is one with stars on it." " A very common decoration," added the doctor, as the steamer entered the Great Neva. At the city the river divides into several branches, and forms half a dozen large islands, and some forty smaller ones, on which a portion of the town is built. The southern branch is called the Great Neva, on which are most of the landing-places of the steamers. Another branch is called the Little Neva, and the two on the north are the Great and Little Nevka. "This is the English Quay," continued the surgeon, pointing to the right as the steamer approached the long iron bridge, which takes the name of Nicholas, in whose reign it was built, and is eleven hundred feet long. "This seems to be about the end of this cruise," added Lincoln, as he glanced at the bridge. " The steamer stops at this floating stage on the left; but there is a draw in the bridge, by which vesvels may go up into Lake Ladoga." The boat came up to the stage, on which was a house. Mr. Fluxion, the first vice-principal, was there, for he had been sent up the day before to make the arrangements for the visit. A dozen omnibuses stood in the broad street, in and on which the students bestowed themselves. The surgeon and the commodore took places with a driver. The two horses at the pole were harnessed as in America; but on the nigh side was a third horse attached to the carriage YOUNG AME;RICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I77 by an extra whiffletree. Some of the omhnibuses'had four horses, but they were all abreast. The two wheel horses were driven by four reins, while'the outsiders had only a single rein. Half a dozen commissionaires, who spoke very indifferent English, had been engaged, and one of them was with the surgeon. The procession started, and crossed the Nicholas Bridge, near which is the English Cliurch. At the north end of it is the Academy of Arts, an immense structure, which conveys a good idea of the general size and splendor of the public buildings of the city. Turning to the left, after crossing the bridge, passing Nicholas Palace, the Senate, and Synod, the line entered St. Isaac's Square, in the middle of which stands the church, one of the most imposing in the world. Admiralty Square is opposite, in which is the equestrian statue of Peter the Great. The great Czar is represented as reining in his horse at the verge of a precipice. The artist modelled his design from a bold Russian officer, who rode a spirited Arabian steed up an artificial slope. The horse is gracefully poised on his hind feet, beneath which is a serpent, emblematic of the difficulties that Peter overcame. The tail of the animal appears to rest lightly on the serpent, but is in reality part of the support of the figure. The rock upon which the statue is elevated was brought from a Finnish village, four miles from the city, and weighs fifteen hundred tons. It is forty-three feet long, fourteen feet high, and twenty feet wide. Passing the immense Admiralty building, the procession paused for a few moments in front of the vast edifice called Hotel de l'Etat Major, which is the head12 I 78 ~ NORTHERN LANDS, OR quarters of the army. The front is semicircular, and -in the centre of the building is a triumphal arch, over which is the chariot of Victory, the horses of which are-headed towards at least half the points of the comnpass, though the team is only a pardonable exaggeration of those which draw the omnibuses. In the vast square in front of the structure is the Column Alexander I. Opposite this monument are the Hermitage and the Winter Palace, which are on the river. Looking across the Great Neva, where the Little Neva branches off, the Exchange may be seen on the point of land between the two streams. It is an imposing structure, with lofty columns around it, and flights of steps leading down to the river. On each side of it is a lofty pillar, one hundred feet high, adorned with the prows of ships, which project from the sides, and give it a very singular appearance when seen from a distance. The omnibuses turned, and went back to the Admiralty, some of whose windows command a view down the Nevski Prospect, which is the principal street of the city. As the procession passed down this avenue, which is wider than Pennsylvania Avenue, at Washington, in places, the students had to keep their eyes wide open, in order that nothing should escape them. The droskies were as thick as snow-flakes at Christmas, and rattled at great speed through the streets. Every driver wore the long pelisse and the bell-crowned hat. A horse railroad extended through this street. There were plenty of omnibuses, drawn by three or four horses abreast, the driver having a whole handfill of reins. The wagons, on which mer YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I79 chandise is conveyed from one part of the city to another, were really ludicrous to the students, and seemed to be constructed so as to give the horses the greatest possible amount of work. The wheels were quite small, and ran on wooden axletrees, with at least six inches' "play" between the hub and linchpins, so that, in rough places, the body slid on the wheels from right to left. From the end of each forward axletree, a rope, or a wooden bar, extended to the shafts. The vehicle was very heavy and clumsy, and evidently ran hard. The bow or arch over the ends of the shafts was very large and heavy, adding a useless burden to the labor of the poor horses. " That's a singular-looking building," said Lincoin. " That is the Cathedral of Kazan," replied the doctor,'" or the Church of Our Lady of Kazan. It is a poor imitation, on the outside, of St. Peter's. There is a Don Cossack." The surgeon pointed to " a solitary horseman," who was riding slowly along the street. He wore a short jacket, with stripes across the front, and secured by globular buttons. He had on a Tartar cap, and carried in his hand a lance. " He don't look like the terrible being we have read about," laughed Lincoln. "No; the Cossacks are a well-disciplined body; but perhaps, in their wild condition, they are all you imagine." A canal crossed the Nevski Prospect, under a stone bridge near the church. At one side of it was moored a vast flat-boat, as it would be called on the Missis. I80 NORTHERN LANDS, OR sippi, loaded with firewood, sawed and split ready for use. Several canals like this one extend quite through the city, so that the merchandise from the Caspian Sea, the White Sea, and almost every part of the interior of Russia, may be delivered at the very doors of the warehouses. Opposite the Great Market, which is the business centre of the city, the conductor stopped the omnibuses, to enable his charge to see the several objects of interest which were presented at this point. The Gostinnoi Dvor is an institution in every Russian city, but is more like the.Bazaar of Constantinople than anything to which other Europeans apply the name of market. In St. Petersburg it is a vast structure, occupying an immense square, in which every article of commerce is exposed for sale. It consists of little shops and stalls, in front of which the merchant stands, ready for a trade. He importunes the passers-by to purchase, and it is not always prudent to stop and examine the goods, unless one wishes to be dragged into the shop. The bazaar itself has outgrown the building, large as it is, and extends into the neighboring streets; indeed, the whole territory in the rear, and to the eastward of it for a considerable distance, is appropriated to its uses. The Nevski Prospect, in front of the great market, is.very wide, and a large portion of it is used for booths and stands, at which every conceivable article is offered for sale, such as provisions, fruit, fancy goods, furs, clothing, boots and shoes. " You can see here the national costume of the Russians, commodore," said the doctor. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. ISI "I don't seea anything very peculiar," replied Lincoln. "You observe that every man here has his pants stuffed into the tops of his boots. I don't know of anything that is more national than this, though in the interior you will see something more peculiar. Look at that fellow," added the surgeon, pointing to a fruitseller. 1" He doesn't indulge in the luxury of a shirt, but has under his coat- a calico tunic, which he wears outside of his pants." ", They don't look particularly clean." "The common people are not; but the higher classes are as neat and refined as any people in Europe." " What is this tower? " asked Lincoln.' That is on the Town Hall, in which the business of the city is transacted. It is a watch-tower, and those poles upon it are for the purpose of hoisting signals, to indicate the location of a fire. Men are on the watch on that tower at all times of day and night. The street opposite is St. Michael Place, in which the HoItel de Russie, commonly called Klee's Hotel, is situated. Next to the tower is one of the street chapels, which you will see in every Russian city. It is a church in miniature, erected by the contributions of the people in the bazaar. You see within it pictures of the saints, with lights burning before them. There is generally a priest on duty there, and you perceive that many people.enter, or pause in front of the door, and salute the representatives of the holy persons." " Yes, and even on the other side of the street," added I82 NORTHERN LANDS, OR Lincoln, who had been observing the devotions of the Russians. Men paused on the sidewalk of the crowded avenue, knelt, crossed themselves many times, and bowed low, with their faces towards the chapel. The poorer and the more humble the individual, the lower he bowed, and the more earnest were his devotions. The drive in the omnibuses was continued for a couple of hours longer, until the students had seen the principal streets of the city and the public buildings. Finally, the line stopped at the Taurida Palace, a long, low building, near the Neva, at the eastern extremity of the city. It was built by Catharine II., and presented to her favorite Potemkin, who conquered the Crimea, the Russian name of which is Taurida. The party entered the great ball-room, which is about all that is shown of the palace, for it is occupied by the superannuated ladies of honor of the court. It is an enormous apartment, the ceiling supported by columns covered with plaster. In this hall Potemkin gave balls in honor of his imperial mistress, when it was lighted by twenty thousand wax candles. On the columns were hoops to contain candles, for the room is occasionally used at the present time for balls and feasts. At one end was a full-rigged brig, of miniature proportions, formerly in the water, but now set in the floor, and used for the amusement of the royal children. The party had entered this room, which certainly had the appearance of " some banquet hall deserted," for a purpose, and the students were collected around the little brig, upon the deck of which, as a rostrum, Mr. Mapps took his place. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I83 "'The region in which St. Petersburg is situated was formerly Ingria, and belonged first to Novgorod, and then to Moscow," said the professor. "The Swedes obtained it in 6 I7; but it was reconquered by Peter the Great, who laid the foundations of this city in I703, in order, as he expressed it, to have'a window looking out into Europe;' or, in other words, to obtain a seaport by which he could carry on commerce with other parts of the world. He gathered together a vast number of Russian and Finnish peasants, and went to work, drafting forty thousand men annually, some of them from the most distant parts of his vast empire, to perform the labor. Peter superintended the laying out of the city himself, living in a small cottage, which exists at the present time, and which we shall soon visit. " As I have said before, the location is most unfortunate. The Neva is the outlet of Lake Ladoga, and when the ice breaks up in the spring, the city is peculiarly liable to an inundation, if a westerly storm forces in this direction the waters of the Gulf of Finland; and at other seasons there is great danger from these storms. It is said that Peter was warned of this peril. After he had laid the foundation of a portion of the city in the marshes, he happened to see a tree with a ring cut around the trunk. He asked a Finn what the mark meant, and was told that it indicated the height to which the water rose in the inundation of I68o. He angrily told the man that he lied, for what he said was quite impossible, and with his own hand he felled the tree. It was practically saying,'So much the worse for your facts,' when they conflicted I84 NORTHERN LANDS, OR with his theory. There have been seven terrific floods in the city, the last of which was in November, IS24. A driving westerly storm heaped up the waters in the Neva till they overflowed the low banks, and swept in floods through the streets. Wooden houses were lifted from their foundations, and floated about still occupied. Carriages had to be abandoned in the streets, and the horses were drowned. The Emperor Alexander I. gathered together a few resolute men in a large boat, and went himself to the relief of the sufferers,'exposing his own life, and saving many from destruction. "After the water subsided, many buildings fell, and much sickness followed from the dampness in the houses. The damage was estimated at a hundred million rubles. A gardener, surprised by the storm, sought a place of safety on the roof of a summer-house, to which also an army of rats was driven, and he was fearful that they would devour him; but a cat and a dog swam to the roof, and neutralized his dangerous enemies, so that all of them passed the night in safety. A Protestant merchant hauled in at his second story window, from a fragment of a bridge, an Orthodox Greek, a Jew, and a Mohammedan Tartar, supplying them with food, raiment, and shelter." The professor finished his remarks, and the party, after a glance at the handsome gardens of the palace, resumed their places in and on the omnibuses. Looking down the street, the students could see the Smolni Church, on the bank of the river, which here makes a sharp turn to. the south. The structure is of white marble, with fines blue domes, spangled with golden YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I85 stars. At one side of it is a large building, in which the daughters of citizens are educated; at the other, one in which those of the nobles are educated. The procession moved through several streets, and passed between the Michael and the Summer Palace, attached to the latter of which are the gardens of the same name, forming the park most used by the people of the city. The middle one of the three openings at the grand gateway is now occupied by a small chapel, dedicated to St. Alexander Nevski, for on this spot an assassin attempted to take the life of the present emperor in I866. Over the principal entrance is placed, in gold letters, the text, "' Touch not mine anointed." The chapel was built by subscription, as a token of the love of the people for their sovereign. The omnibuses crossed the river on the Troitsa, or Trinity Bridge, which is built of boats, and removed in winter, when the people cross on the ice, and stopped at the cottage of Peter the Great, where the students alighted. The original house is contained within another, built by Alexander I. to preserve it from decay. It is fifty-five feet long by twenty in breadth, and has three rooms. One of these is now used as a chapel, and contains the miraculous image of the Saviour which Peter carried with him in his battles, and to which he ascribed his victory at Pultowa. In front of it is a circular board, full of holes of all sizes, in which the faithful place their lighted candles, as a votive offering to the picture. Near the door is a stand for the sale of these candles, which are in size from twice the thickness of a pipe stem, up to double the ordinary size. They are sold at from five to twenty-five co IxS6 NORTHERN LANDS, OR pecks apiece. Near the picture are some glass cases, in which are a great many small legs and arms of silver, and other valuable articles, presented by people who had recovered from various maladies, in token of their gratitude. These cases were robbed by a soldier in I863, who murdered the two keepers of the house. The building contains many relics of the great Czar. A short ride brought the tourists to the fortress and Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul. The fortress is separated from Petrofski Island, on which Peter's cottage is situated, by a moat crossed by two bridges. It is completely walled in, and has been used as a state prison. In one of its gloomy dungeons, Alexis, the son of the great Czar, perished by the hand of his father, and the rebels of I825, who conspired against Nicholas, were confined, tried, and some of them executed in this castle. In the centre of the enclosure rises the cathedral, the spire of which is tall, slender, and tapering, so that it looks like a needle in the air, and is really one of the curiosities of the city. The spire itself is one hundred and twenty-eight feet high. It is crowned with a globe, five feet in diameter, on which is an angel sup-, porting a cross, twenty-one feet high, though no one would suspect them to be of these dimensions, for they look like toys in the air. The summit of the cross is three hundred and eighty-seven feet from the ground. The spire is covered with copper, and gilded, and twenty-two pounds of pure gold were used upon it. The students gazed with wonder and admiration at the shadowy spire, and listened eagerly to the explanations given by Mr. Mapps. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I87 "What do you think of climbing that spire, as you would go aloft?" asked Mr. Mapps, with a smile. " I don't aspire to do it," replied Scott. "It has been done," added the instructor. "'In I830 the angel on the ball was out of repair, and it was found that the stage for the purpose would cost an immense sum of money."'" Did the man who did it think of going up in a stage?" asked Scott, demurely. " No; he intended to go up on -the outside of the stage," replied the professor. " He might have leaped up, if he could only have taken a spiral spring," said Scott. " Among those who looked at the spire was a Russian workman, a roofer of houses, by the name of Telotuchkine." " I should think he would have'gone up,' if he had such a name." " This man offered to make the repairs without staging or assistance, on condition that he should be well paid, and his offer was accepted. Provided with a quantity of strong cord, he went as high 6as he could go in the interior, and then stepped out at the highest window. He had cut off two lengths of his cord, and made loops in the ends. The heads of the nails which secured the sheets of gilded copper projected enough to enable him to fasten a loop of each cord upon them. In these stirrups he placed his feet. Clinging to the edges of the copper, where the joints were made, with one hand, he raised one of the stirrups with the other hand, until he passed the loop over a nail head higher up. Repeating the process for the other foot, he slowly 3SS NORTHERN LANDS, OR ascended till he could clasp the spire in his embrace, and finally reached the ball, where his troubles seemed to begin. Passing the cord around his waist, he made it fast to the spire, with a considerable spare line between it and his body. Planting his feet against the needle, he dropped back, and straightened out, with nothing but the cord to support him. In this position, his body at right angles with the spire, he thiew a coil of line over the ball, and with it hauled- himself up to the summit of the globe. Then Telouchkine stood by the side of the angel, and listened to the applause of the vast crowd which had gathered below to witness the feat. Fastening the cord securely above the ball, he descended with comparative ease. The next day he carried up a rope ladder, by the aid of which he was able to make the needed repairs at his leisure." " Bully:for Telouchkine! " said Scott. " I shouldn't think any cord he could carry up that height was strong enough to bear him." " But it seems it was." " It must have had some of the Russian bear in it, else it wouldn't have held him." "' I hope your bear will eat up your bully," added the professor. " Now we will go into the church." Several soldiers offered their services as guides, and conducted the. students to the interior. The walls are nearly hidden by the standards, flags, shields, battleaxes, and other trophies taken from the French, Poles, Turks, Persians, and Swedes. All the sovereigns of Russia, since the foundation of the city, with the single exception of Peter II., have been intombed in this YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I89 church. Their remains are placed in the vaults beneath the pavement, but the situations of their several resting-places are indicated by white marble sarcophagi, with gilded corners, crosses, and other ornaments. The tomb of Peter the Great is near the south door, opposite an image of St. Peter, which is just the size of the Czar at his birth. Next to him is Catharine I. Near the tomb of Paul is an image of St. Paul, of this Czar's size at his birth. The diamond wedding-ring of Alexander I. is affixed to'an image by his tomb. On that of the Grand Duke Constantine, who waived his right to the throne in favor of Nicholas, are placed the keys of the Polish fortresses he captured. On the tomb of Nicholas there was a quantity of flowers, and also upon that of his daughter, who died in 1844. " This is the tomb of the present emperor's oldest son, Nicholas, who died at Nice in I865," said Dr. Winstock. "It has been erected since my last visit, and you see it is covered with fresh flowers. He was only twenty-two, and had just been betrothed to the Princess Dagmdr, of Denmark." "I thought Mr. Mapps said she was married to the present heir of the throne," added Lincoln.' That was quite true also. She was only engaged to Nicholas, and was married to his brother two years after the death of the former. It is said that the Czarovitz, on his death-bed, expressed a wish that his brother Alexander might succeed him in all things, including his intended wife." The party were then conducted to a building where the, boat of Peter the Great is kept. As he built it with his own hands,. it is a great curiosity, and the Igo90 NORTHERN LANDS, OR students were willing to believe that the Czar had done his work well. The excursionists returned to the omnibuses, and were driven to the Hotel Klee, where dinner had been prepared for them. The meal was not at all Russian, for the people in the hotel are German in their tendencies. It was at this hotel that Mr. Burlingame, of the Chinese mission, died; and several of the students visited the room in which he breathed his last. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 19I CHAPTER X. BILLY BOBSTAY AND FRIENDS. THE omnibuses had been dismissed for the day, for the afternoon was to be used in visiting two of the principal churches, which were within walking distance of the hotel, and on the way to the English Quay, where the party were to embark at six o'clock for Cronstadt. The students separated into small squads, the more studious and thoughtful ones clinging to the guides and others who knew something about the city, in order to obtain proper explanations of what they saw. All of them walked through the bazaar, and most of them looked into the little chapel near it, and studied the signals on the watch-tower above the Town Hall. Some amused themselves by trying to read the signs; but they could make nothing of them, though there was occasionally one in French. All the educated Russians speak French fluently, and in the larger stores there is generally one or more who converse in this language. A short walk on the Nevski Prospect brought the tourists to the Kazan Cathedral. This church was founded in I802, and consecrated in 1811, and cost about three million dollars. The 192 NORTHERN LANDS, OR cross above the dome is two hundred and thirty feet from the ground. In the semicircle formed by the -colonnade in front are statues of Kutuzoff and Barclay de Tolly, two generals who distinguished themselves in the Moscow campaign against Napoleon. The interior of the church contains fifty-six columns of Finland granite, each being a single stone, thirty-five feet high, which support the dome and roof. The screen, or partition, - in Russian, ikonostas, - that separates the altar from the body of the church, is of silver, the material for which was captured from friend and foe by the Cossacks in the Moscow campaign, and became an offering to the Madonna of this church. In the centre of the middle doors of the screen is inscribed, in precious stones, the name of God. In a conspicuous place in the partition is plafced the miraculous picture of the Virgin, found unharmed-in the ashes of the convent in which it was kept, after the burning of Kazan, carried to Moscow by Ivan the Terrible, and removed to St. Petersburg in I82I. It is loaded with gold and precidus stones to the value of seventy-five thousand dollars, enough to build half a dozen churches in the country in America. This is the church of the imperial family, which the emperor attends on special occasions. After his escape from the assassin at the gate of the Summer Garden, he came twice to give thanks; and when the Princess Dagmar was escorted through the streets, as the betrothed of the present Grand Duke Alexander, the procession paused in the street while the royal party entered the church to return thanks for her safe arrival. Opposite the ikonos(as is a chair for the Czar, who is the head of the church, YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I93 and the only one to whom the privilege of being seated is allowed. The walls and columns of the interior are hung with flags, banners, keys, and other military trophies. In a glass case is the baton of Davoust, one of Napoleon's generals. A great many keys of towns and fortresses are exhibited, and the church has somewhat the appearance of an arsenal. From this church the students walked to St. Isaac's, in the square of the same name, a large, open space, flanked by some of the finest public buildings and monuments in the city. On this spot Peter the Great built a wooden church, in I7IO, which gave place to another, built by Catharine I. The present edifice was commenced in I8I9, and consecrated in I858. The ground is swampy, and the piles which were driven to support the foundation cost a million dollars - enough to build a dozen substantial churches in any city in America. It is in the form of the Greek cross, with four grand fronts, which are similar to that of the Pantheon at Paris, with columns sixty feet high and seven in diameter, of highly-polished Finland granite, of a reddish hue. The dome is nearly like that of the Capitol at Washington, and is gilded, so that it is a s' hining mark" for a great distance. On the four corners are smaller bell-towers, each containing several bells, though such a thing as a chime is unknown in Russia. Externally, this church is one of the grandest and most beautiful in the world. The walls of the interior are covered with marble, and are adorned with pictures of the saints, decked with gold and precious stones, before which are the circular stands for the offerings of candles. Near the 13 I94 NORTHERN LANDS, OR door is an official, who is authorized to sell these candles to worshippers. As in all the Russian churches, the ikonostas, or altar-screen, is the most prominent object, which is almost covered with the gilded plates which form the raiment of the holy persons, with spaces cut out to exhibit the faces, hands, and feet of the painting. Before the principal saints elaborate lamps are suspended, which are lighted during service. In the screen are three doors, the double ones, in the middle, being " the royal gates," so called because the emperor passes through them at his coronation. On each side of them is a pillar of lapis lazuli, set on iron coluams, the two costing sixty thousand dollars. The doors are of bronze, of very elaborate construction. The space behind the screen, which occupies about one eighth of the interior of the church, is the altar, in which stands a small round temple, with eight columns of malachite, eight feet high, the material for which cost a hundred thousand dollars. This temple is really the altar, the shrine of the church, in which are placed a richly-bound volume, called the "' Gospels," a gold cross used in the service, the vessel for the sacred elements, and the silk in which they are placed when consecrated. Behind the altar, on the window, is an immense painting of Christ. Services are held three times every day in most of the churches; and when the students entered the edifice, the preparations were in progress, and they remained to witness the worship. All who entered crossed the mselves, and many purchased candles and made offerings of them to'the saints, St. Isaac of Dalmatia being- the principal one, and women and chil YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. I9Z dren kissed the hands of the Virgin, and other holy persons represented by pictures. The church gives a literal interpretation of the commandment,' Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image," and no part of the person - only the raiment - of the saints can be sculptured for purposes of worship. The service consisted of intoned readings by the priests and deacons, the former being within the royal doors a portion of the time, and is interspersed with singing, generally in recitative style, by the choir, at the end of the platform in front of the screen. The singers seem to break in upon the priests' prayers at times, often with a short phrase or single word. No female voices are allowed in the choir, and no organ or other musical instrument is permifted. During the service the worshippers in front frequently cross themselves, the more devoted kneeling and bowing till their foreheads touch the pavement. Only a few, however, bend thus lowly, and it is noticeable that these are of the lower order. WVell-dressed ladies and gentlemen are not seen to do anything more than cross themselves, though all appear to be devout and solemnly engaged in the exercises. Outside of the doors there are always a number of beggars, who stand with hand extended, as the people come out of the church. Besides the chance alms-giving of the worshippers, wrung from them by importunity, one is occasionally seen evidently roused by the service to a keener sense of duty, who makes a systematic business of it, bestowing upon each of the beggars a smaller or larger sum, according to his means. After the service some of the students were permitted to enter the I9o NORTHERN LANDS, OR altar, which is the Holy of Holies, as in King Solomon's Temple. Paul Kendall and his wife were about to- follow them, when the uniformed official interposed, and shook his head earnestly. Paul did not understand him, and one of the guides was called. "No female is allowed to enter the sanctuary," the man explained. "Woman's rights haven't been attended to here," replied Paul, as he retired with Grace. But there was nothing particular to be seen in the altar space, except the consecrated articles used in the service. Lincoln was on the point of passing between the altar itself and the royal doors, when the church official stopped him, saying that none but the priest and the emperor were allowed to pass in that direction. "I wish I could understand more of it," said Lincoln, as he walked with his friend, the doctor, towards the quay. " The language of the Russian church is the ancient Sclavonic," replied the surgeon, " as Latin is of the Roman Catholic; and probably not many of the people understand it. But they are very devout." "I have seen that about the streets. Did any one ever hear such bass voices as some of these singers have? Why, they sounded like the rumbling of an earthquake." " That is one of the great peculiarities of the churches in Russia; and these deep, heavy bass voices are considered very desirable. You will find that the wealthier the church, and the more popular the service, the deeper and heavier are the tones of the bass singers. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA ANb PRUSSIA. I97 Doubtless those in St. Isaac's are among the most celebrated; but in the Kazan Cathedral, and the Church of St. Alexander Nevski, you will hear those of about the same volume and power. Of course it requires much cultivation to develop such a voice; but these singers are so much in demand that they are amply compensated for their labor." " I suppose this religion is very much like the Roman Catholic," added Lincoln.'Yes, it is quite similar; but there are important differences. The Russian church'rejects purgatory, predestination, indulgences, and dispensations. In baptism, the body must be completely submerged, and anointed with consecrated oil. The people have not the same respect for the clergy which you will find in Catholic countries, for though they venerate the office, they often despise the priests, who are a peculiar class; and the office is, in a measure, hereditary among them, though not closed to others. The nobility do not take the priestly office. A clergyman's sons generally follow him in the choice of a profession, and his daughters are oftener than otherwise married to priests. Sometimes the candidate for a position as priest gets his office by marrying the daughter of a deceased incumbent. The consistory, which has the giving of these places, knows the affairs of the whole diocese. If a priest dies, leaving a marriageable daughter, the council often provides for her and the church at the same time, by giving the vacant place to one who will take the maiden. The priests are not very well educated, though in this respect they are improving. An ecclesiastic cannot marry a widow, and when his wife I98 NORTHERN LANDS, OR dies he cannot perform the service, but may be a monk, and be eligible to the highest offices in the church. The scriptural injunction that a bishop must be the husband of one wife, does not mean, to the Russian, at least one, as with the Mormon, but only one, not even one at a time, as other Christians interpret it. Any one who marries a second time cannot partake of the communion for one year; and a third time, for four years." " The priests take good care of their wives, I suppose, since their office depends upon them." "Yes, such is the fact," added the doctor, as they went on board of the steamer. The students were on the quay promptly at the hour appointed, and the steamer departed for Cronstadt. Although the sights in St. Petersburg had been unusually. interesting, the boys could not entirely forget the subject of the delegates who were to go down the Volga, and some electioneering was done. De Forrest had been at work upon what he called the compromise ticket. He had even made some advances to Scott, but had not found a favorable opportunity to discuss the subject with him. On board of the steamer he made the occasion. " I want to talk with you, Scott," said he. " Right; say on," replied the joker. " I suppose you feel some interest in the question of going that journey." " You are a wizard! Who told you I did? " " No one; I suppose every fellow wants to go. I do, for one." "And I, for another; and there will be a great many fellowys disappointed." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 199 " The ship's company are to vote for two, you know," added the first purser, feeling his way to the question. "That's so; if you want to say anything about it, speak right out; you needn't beat about the bush any more.":' I think the other one ought to have been elected, instead of being appointed by the captain." " Perhaps Captain Cantwell will'select you," suggested Scott. " Of course he will not; and if he did, I could not accept the privilege from him," said De Forrest, stiffly.' On your dignity - eh? " laughed Scott. " I was opposed to him in the election, and I have no doubt he dislikes me as much as I do him. I neither ask nor will take any favors from him. But there is a chance for me to go by the election." " There is a chance for any of us." " It has been suggested that you and I may be voted for on the same ticket. What do you say to that?" " If any of the fellows want to vote for me, tell them to fire away; I can stand it as long as they can. If they want to vote for you, I have no doubt they will do it." "But won't you do something to help the ticket along?" " No, sir! " replied Scott, decidedly. " I won't nominate myself or any other fellow. Let the crowd do that." " They will do it, of course; but every fellow has some influence, you know. It will be a fair thing to take one from the cabin, and one from the steerage." 200 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " Yes; but whom from the cabin, and whom from the steerage?" " You and me. I don't see why we haven't just as good a right to it as any one." " I made up my mind that I should go for Commodore Lincoln for one," added Scott, to bring the matter to a head, for he did not like to see any student working for himself.'" I think the fellows did enough for him when they made him commodore," growled De Forrest, disgusted at the want of appreciation on the part of the joker. " Perhaps the commodore will go for me, if I do for him," laughed Scott. " Then you won't go in for the arrangement which the fellows are talking about? " "Who were talking about it?" asked Scott, who had his doubts whether any one had spoken to De Forrest on the subject. " Sheridan, for one. If you won't do anything for this ticket, I will say no more about it." "' Don't say any more, then," replied' Scott; and De Forrest left him, angry and disgusted. " What's up now, Scott?" asked Sheridan, stepping up to the joker at this point. " The first purser's dander," answered Scott. " I hear that you proposed my name with his for the journey." " I did mention it, certainly; but he had told me in the beginning that he would not vote for you; he would jump overboard first. I suggested the names, then, by way of jest, and he snapped at the idea as a codfish at a clam." " I see," laughed Scott. " I couldn't give him any YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA ANln PRUSSIA. 20t comfort,-and declined to vote for the ticket. I won't vote for any fellow that goes around electioneering for himself." "Ay sentiment exactly," replied Sheridan. "But we ought to agree on some fellows to vote for." " I go for Lincoln, for one."." I'm with you!" exclaimed the lieutenant. " I am sure that he has not asked anybody to vote for him. Now, we want another real good fellow, from the steerage. Who shall it be?" " I don't know; we have so many good fellows it is hard to fix upon any one. I will look them over and let you know."'But do you know whom Cantwell will select?" asked Sheridan. " I don't. I'm not in the way of seeing much of him since he went into the captain's cabin. He don't go on shore at all now, and I suppose he has been studying rigging, and making knots and splices, all day with Peaks." " Perhaps he will select himself," suggested Sheridan. " If he does I will never vote for him again for anything. But he won't do it." " I don't see that we can agree on anything till we know whom he chooses. He may pick out the very one we decide to vote for." " I go in for a caucus of all hands." "So do I; that is the fairest way," replied Sheridan, as'the steamer stopped at the side of the ship, and the students, without waiting for planks and steps, leaped to her deck. 202 NORTHERN LANDS, OR After supper all hands were called, and Captain Cantwell was requested to appoint the student for the journey to the interior. The ship's crew were all silent, curious and anxious to know who the favored one was to be. The -captain mounted the rostrum with ele principal, and took off his cap. " I appoint Thomas Scott," said he. The announcement was greeted with the most emphatic applause on the part of the seamen, in which a few of the officers joined. " Of course Scott knew he was to be appointed before," sneered De Forrest. " He did not know it," replied Sheridan; " and if he did, I don't know that it alters anything." " Scott made him captain, and this is his reward." ". You made Cantwell captain," retorted Sheridan. " Scott worked for him, and I am glad to see that he remembers his friends." "' I supposed the captain would appoint himself." "' You judged him by yourself. I can tell you one thing, De Forrest: these fellows that work for themselves don't accomplish much." " The ballot for the other two will be taken in half an hour," said the principal, who had been studying the effect of the captain's choice upon the students. " I congratulate you, Scott," said Sheridan. " You are sure of going, for one."'" Thank you. I am sure, and I hope I shall have good fellows to go with me," replied Scott. " How about the caucus?" " I have talked with some of the fellows forward, and they prefer to have every fellow vote as he likes." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 203 " All right. I am satisfied." Scott went to the captain, and thanked him heartily for the favor he had bestowed upon him. " I am glad to serve you," replied Cantwell. "We are not even yet. I owe my position to you, and I am grateful for your interest." " Not at all; you may thank De Forrest more than me for your election, for if those fellows in the cabin had not got up a conspiracy against you, we could not have carried you in." "' I am trying hard to make myself worthy of the place; and I want to add, that what you said to me that Sunday did me a great deal of good. I shall try to make my shipmates like me," added the captain, as he went aft. " He's a good fellow, after all," said Scott to himself. Certainly he had improved wonderfully since his election, for he was gentlemanly and kind to all, and used no offensive condescension to his inferiors, as all were to him now except the commodore. He had found his weak points with the help of Scott, and was doing his best to correct them. In half an hour the balloting was commenced, and was conducted in the same manner as that for the officers had been. The two persons to be selected were voted for separately. No one had a majority; and a great many had a single vote, leading to the suspicion that a considerable number had voted for themselves. Among the latter was De Forrest, who had done more electioneering on his own account than any other student in the ship. Lincoln had the largest number, and it lacked only a few votes of the required 204 NORTHERN LANDS, OR majority. The balloting was repeated, and this time Lincoln was elected by a very handsome majority. De Forrest had one vote again. The indications of the first two ballotings were a guide for the next one. A little fellow, who had been nicknamed Billy Bobstay, had thirty-one votes, which was next to the commodore's vote. His real name was Bradshaw, and he was an orphan. He had lived in Brockway with his uncle, who did not use him well, and the boy had attempted to run away to sea, but had been returned to his guardian, who was a poor man, and perhaps would have been glad to get rid of him, though he gave him an unmerciful flogging. He compelled the boy to work beyond his strength, thus exciting the sympathy of the neighbors. Mr. Lowington was at home at this time, and heard about the case. He examined the matter himself, and having satisfied himself that the little fellow was abused, he offered to take him on board of the ship, feed, clothe, and educate him. The uncle did not object, since he was thus wholly relieved of the support of the boy, whose labor, hard as it was for the youth, was not worth much to him, and Billy went on board of the Young America, delighted both with the idea of going to sea, and of getting away from his cruel and exacting uncle. Though Billy had a great deal of spirit and energy, he was very kind and obliging to all his shipmates, and soon became a great favorite among them. As his education had been neglected, he could not compete with his fellow-students yet, though he was making rapid progress in his studies. His story was well known in the ship, and it excited the sympathy of all YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 205 the good-hearted boys on board, and these included many of the wild and rude ones. If any one wanted to " pick" upon Billy, he had a dozen champions always at hand to take his part. He was very active and daring, and seemed to have been bornfor a sailor. His station in making and furling sail was on the main royal, for though he was nearly sixteen, he was one of the " lightest weights" on board. Though he never had any money, except the small sums given him by the principal, who was not a strong advocate of pocket-money for boys, he shared the luxuries of the steerage as fairly as though he had purchased his portion. Perhaps it was a freak on the part of a few of the boys to vote for him, which had become contagious. At any rate, on the next ballot, Billy Bobstay had a clean majority of all the votes, and the result was hailed with lusty cheers by the crew. "' I can't go," said Billy, when his shipmates began to congratulate him. " Why not?" asked one. "I haven't any money," replied Billy, frankly and innocently. " Besides, I don't want to take this chance when so many of the others wish to go." "You shall have the money, my dear Billy," said Scott. "But who pays the bills for this little excursion?" No one knew; nothing had been said on this subject; and a messenger was sent to the principal to ascertain his purpose in this important particular.' The expenses of all will be paid to Moscow; beyond that the party will pay their own expenses," replied Mr. Lowington. " If, however, when they zo6 NORTHERN LANDS, OR return, I think it proper to reimburse them, I shall do so. Of course any one may decline the privilege extended to him. It is not forced upon him." " Of course I can't go, then," said Billy Bobstay, decidedly. " I haven't a dollar, nor a ruble, nor a copeck." " Don't you decline yet, Bubby," interposed Scott. "Yes, I shall. It wouldn't be fair for me not to do so." "Don't you do it. We'll raise the money for you," persisted Scott. " But I don't want to take any other fellow's chance. I am much obliged to those that voted for me, but I can't go." "Steady, now, my darling baby," continued Scott. " I want you to go, so as to help me, for I have a big job on my hands." " I tell you I can't go. It's no use to think of it." "Then you won't help me?" added Scott, in sad tones. " I shall be glad to help you. What can I do?" " You can do a big thing for me - the greatest kindness that one good fellow ever did for another. You are generally very obliging, William Bobstay." " What can I do for you?" asked Billy, much troubled at the thought of disobliging any one. " You can help me spend my money," pleaded Scott.' I have always been willing to help any fellow in this way, even when he didn't have half as much in his trousers pocket as I have." " 0, nonsense, Tom Scott. You are making game of me! " laughed Billy. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA ANt; PR-USSIA. 207 "Making game of you, my beloved infant! I should like to see the fellow that would do it! I would make him up into Bologna sausages, and then make him eat them. You are going, my child, and I'm going to take care of you. Not another word; if you do it will choke you;" and Scott ran off to execute a little scheme of his own, no less than to take up a collection for the favorite. "What's the matter?" asked Captain Cantwell, as Scott rushed by him. The joker explained the situation, and said he was going to get up a subscription. " Don't do it, Scott. I shall not go on shore this month, and you shall take my allowance for Billy. He shall go, and I will pay all his expenses." " That's handsome, captain," replied Scott, heartily; " but the fellows that like Billy can give him a small sum each." " They will all want their money on shore; I shall not. Wait a moment till I go below for my rubles;" and the captain hastened down into the cabin.' Billy Bobstay, I will give you twenty rubles for your chance," said De Forrest to the little favorite. " I can't sell it." "Yes, you can; just go to the principal, and tell him you would like to have me go in your place. Don't say a word about the rubles, and he will let you do it." "I can't; the students elected me to go, and it wouldn't be right for me to sell my chance," replied Billy, very respectfully, but firmly. "' Nonsense!' Say quick, and run to the principal. I'll go with you." zo8 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " I can't do it." "Do what? " asked Scott, coming up at this instant. "It doesn't concern you. I didn't speak to you," said the purser, sourly. " I order you to go forward." Scott touched his cap, and obeyed; but De Forrest dared not say anything more to Billy about the bribe, except to tell him not to mention what he had offered. "Here, my darling Billy! " exclaimed Scott, as the little fellow wvent forward.'" Here is a hundred rubles to pay your bills on the journey. It is the free gift of Captain Cantwell, who insists upon paying all your expenses, and declares that you must go. You see, my darling, he has so much money he can't possibly get rid of it without your aid, and you must do him the favor you refused me." Scott repeated the story of the captain's generous gift so that all the students on deck could hear it. "Three cheers for Captain Cantwell! " roared one of the big fellows; and they were given with a will. The principal wanted to know what it meant, and Scott told him. He smiled, and approved the act; and Billy Bobstay was actually crying, he was so overcome by the kindness of his friends. Then Scott hugged him, and made him laugh; and with the tears dropping down his cheeks, he went to Cantwell and thanked him for his liberal gift. With but few exceptions, the ship's company were pleased with the result. The growing popularity of the captain troubled De Forrest, Beckwith, and a few others, and they were thinking how they could safely turn the tide against him. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 209 CHAPTER XI. PALACES AND GARDENS. AT half past seven the next morning, breakfast 1A, had been disposed of, and the little steamer came alongside the ship to convey the students to St. Petersburg again. At nine o'clock she landed them on the English Quay, near the Nicholas Bridge. A procession was formed, which was but the work of a moment, for every student knew his place in the line. The column moved along the quay to the Winter Palace, under the guidance of an officer of the emperor's household, who had been detailed for the purpose, when Mr. Fluxion applied for permission to see the palace. Every courtesy had been extended to the tourists, and not a word was said about passports. At the Hotel Klee, Kendall and Shuffles had sent their passports to the police office. They had been vise at the Russian consulate in Stockholm, and permission was indorsed upon them for the owners to abide in the city. K The people at the hotel attend to all this business, and ask for the traveller's passport as soon as he arrives, charging the fees, which are quite small, in the bill. In every additional city or town in which the tourist remains over night, his passport 14 210 - NORTHERN LANDS, OR must be sent to the police, who indorse upon it the permission to remain. Letters from abroad are delivered to travellers, but newspapers, unless they are on the permitted list, are detained. A few New York papers are on this list, and it is useless to send any others into Russia, for they will not be forwarded to their address. The custom-house officers were formerly very strict in regard to the admission of books, and are so still where there is any suspicion of revolutionary works, or of those directed against the Orthodox Greek church. Such books as ordinary travellers desire to carry, as the, Bible, Prayer-books, and Guidebooks, are permitted to pass. The students had seen the Winter Palace and Hermitage, which are connected by galleries, when they rode through the streets the day before. The grand entrance is on the Neva, but there is another opening into the square in front of the Etat Major. The exterior, except in size, is hardly as imposing as many other European palaces, though the building has the reputation of being one of the most elegant on the continent. It is four hundred and fifty-five feet long by three hundred and fifty wide, and eighty feet high. In winter it accommodates six thousand persons, forming the emperor's household. On the site of the palace was the estate of the high admiral of Peter the Great, who bequeathed it to Peter II. The Empress Anne commenced a palace on the spot, which was completed in the reign of Catharine II., but it was destroyed by fire in I837. In two years more the present vast structure was completed. The entrance from the Neva side is by a magnificent staircase of YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. X2II marble. The students went in at the entrance on the square, and walked through all the apartments which visitors are permitted to enter, and all of them were magnificent. The White Hall, as its name indicates, is of clear white, adorned with gold, and is the room in which the court balls and other festivities are held. St. George's Hall, which is one hundred and forty feet long by sixty wide, is the apartment in which the ambassadors are received; and there is another throne room, in which the emperor meets the diplomats on New Year's Day. There were hundreds of other rooms, all of them hung with pictures, which are mostly portraits of persons noted in Russian history, and battle-pieces in which the armies of the czars have been victorious. In the Romanoff Gallery are the pictures of all the sovereigns of this line, from Michael down to the present time. In this hall is a tablet, covered with a curtain, on which are inscribed the ten rules that Catharine II. enforced at the meetings of her friends. The visitor was enjoined to leave his rank, and his right of precedence, outside the door; to be gay, and sit, stand, or walk, as he pleased, without regard to any one; to talk gently, and argue without excitement; to eat what was good, and drink moderately, so that each might find his legs when he wanted to use them; that all should join in any innocent game when one proposed it, and tell no tales out of school. The penalty of a violation of these' rules was the drinking of a glass of cold water, and the reading of a page of a poet who appears to have been the Martin Farquhar Tupper of Russia. If any one broke three of the rules in the same evening, he was 212 NORTHERN LANDS, OR condemned to commit six lines of this poet to memory; and the one who told tales out of school was not again admitted. The students were conducted to a room on the second floor, which-is guarded day and night by officers of the household, where the crown jewels are kept. On the sceptre is the great Orlof diamond, the largest in Europe, presented to Catharine II. by her favorite, whose name it takes. It is said that it once formed the eye of an idol in India, and was stolen by a French soldier. After passing through various hands, it was purchased by Count Orlof, who paid four hundred and fifty thousand rubles for it, besides conferring a patent of nobility, and an annuity of two thousand rubles upon the seller. The crown of the emperor is shaped something like a bishop's mitre, and is covered with diamonds and pearls. On the top is an immense ruby, which supports a cross formed of five beautiful diamonds. The crown of the empress is a mass-of diamonds of the'most perfect hue and lustre. There are many other treasures, such as the plume of Suvaroff, presented by the Sultan of Turkey; the " Shah," a diamond from Persia; and necklaces, bracelets, brooches, and other articles, glittering with diamonds, and studded with immense pearls. Millions upon millions of rubles in value lie idle and useless in this apartment, which would plant a common school in nearly every town of the vast empire. On the lower floor is the room in which the Emperor Nicholas died, in 1855, with everything just as it was on the day he breathed his last. It is one of the smallest and plainest apartments of the palace, YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 213 and a grenadier of the guard is always on duty within it to protect the sacred relics of the czar. It is furnished with a narrow iron camp bedstead, on which he expired. On it lies his military cloak, and his sword and helmet are just as he left them. On the table is a quartermaster's report, given to -him on the day he died. Everything in the room is of the simplest manufacture, with nothing of the luxuriousness of the other parts of the palace. From the palace the students passed into the Hermitage, which is a museum and gallery of paintings, and is hardly equalled in all Europe.. It is somewhat larger than the palace, enclosing two large courts. It is a perfect labyrinth of apartments, and all of them filled with paintings, works of art, and historical relics. All the old masters are represented in the picture gialleries, and rooms or suits of rooms are devoted to each school of painting. Not many of the students were able to appreciate the treasures of art, and most of them preferred the military and naval pictures in the Winter Palace. In the vast numismatic collection are many very rare Greek coins. In the gem room is a mechanical clock, which a poor woman drew in a lottery, and sold for fifteen thousand dollars. It played overtures with all the effects of the modern orchestrion, and was wound up for the gratification of the visitors. In the gallery of Peter the Great, the party were disposed to linger for a long time. It contains works of art and industry in the time of the Czar whose name it bears, and the turning lathes and carving tools he used himself. His spy-glasses, mathematical instruments, books, canes, and other articles 214 NORTHERN LANDS', OR are exhibited. The gilded chariot in which he occasionally rode, his dogs, and his war horse, stuffed, and various casts and portraits of him, taken after death, were examined with interest. A broken clock, with wonderful mechanical movements, excited the attention of the boys. It consists of a peacock, which, at the striking of the hour, expands his tail, while a rooster flaps his wings, an owl rolls his eyes, and a grasshopper feeds on a mushroom. Near it is a collection of snuff-boxes, which belonged to various sovereigns of Europe. In this room, enclosed in cases, was a great variety of curiosities, including articles which had belonged to the members of the royal family. On the lower floor are the galleries of ancient sculpture. In the Kertch collection are medals and other articles; proving the existence of a Greek colony on the northern shores of the Black Sea six hundred years before Christ. In 1820 a tomb was found at Kertch, which is at the entrance to the Sea of Azof, containing a chamber of hewn stone, in which were the remains of a Scythian prince, with his wife, his horse, and his chief groom. His crown, weapons, ornaments, and golden robes, with vases of bronze and other material containing the remains of provisions, were found where they had lain for two thousand years, and were conveyed to this museum. The tomb of a priestess of Ceres, buried with her ornaments, and with four horses, was found in I866. The Scythian collection is equally rich in the treasures of a former race. The students wandered during the forenoon through YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 2I15 these numerous apartments till most of them were very tired; for there is no harder work for the human frame than that of exploring museums and galleries. The party dined again at the Hotel Klee, and in the afternoon walked to the Arsenal Museum, which contains specimens of arms and accoutrements of many periods, and a vast quantity of historical curiosities. Among the former are some curious guns, pistols, revolvers, and warlike machines; and among the latter are many relics of Peter the Great, as the hat and sword he wore at Pultowa; the leather coat in which he worked at Saardam; the uniforms in which he passed through the several military grades of private, captain, and colonel; and a cabriolet in which he measured distances on the road by means of machinery like that of a clock connected with the wheels. At the head of the staircase is a Russian eagle, the body, neck, and legs made of gun-flints fixed on the wall, the wings of sword blades, and the eyes formed by the muzzles of a pair of pistols, in the same manner as the several objects in the Tower of London are composed. The Museum of Imperial Carriages was next visited. After passing through several rooms in which some beautiful Gobelin tapestries are exhibited, the students entered the large hall which contains the vehicles. The first was the carriage presented by Frederick the Great, of Prussia, to the Empress Elizabeth, in 1746, and in which the Princess Dagmar rode into St. Petersburg with the empress. It is gilded, with paintings on the panels and doors. There are a dozen of these large, clumsy state car 216 NORTHERN LANDS, OR riages, glittering with gold, and rich with silk, satin,,and embroidery. Some of them are over a hundred years old, and have been "restored" several times. Those used by the various sovereigns, from Peter I. to the present time, were pointed out. After the party had critically examined. one of them, the only interest the others had was the fact that Catharine II. had spread herself in one, and Nicholas had sternly looked out from the windows of another. Besides these state coaches, there were many modern vehicles from different parts of Europe, and a number of sleighs, used by the court in carnival time, some of which are very ingeniously constructed. By all odds, the greatest curiosity. in this collection is the sledge of Peter the Great, in which he travelled, in winter, on his long journeys to the distant parts of his vast empire. It is a kind of coach on runners, and was entirely constructed by the Czar's own hands. Behind it is a trunk in which he carried his clothes and provisions. Peter made a journey in this sledge to Archangel, on the White Sea, and there came a thaw which compelled him to return to his capital on wheels. Alexander I. caused the sleigh to be brought to St. Petersburg. It is placed in a large glass case, to protect it from injury. A sleigh in the form of St. George and the Dragon is unique. A mechanical drosky, invented by a Siberian peasant, has an apparatus which records the time and distance travelled, besides playing several tunes. Near Peter's sledge stand two or three diminutive carriages for the use of the royal children. In another room are kept the harnesses and trap YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 2I7 pings used for the imperial state carriages, with liveries for eight hundred men. In one set, each horse has to carry about one hundred and twenty pounds. The carriages are all in the second story of the building, and there is a kind of platform elevator, by which they are hoisted up. The state coaches are used at the coronation of the emperors, and this ceremonial always takes place at Moscow, whither they have to be transported, though, since the railroad was completed, this is not so difficult a matter as formerly. The students walked on the quay to the vast Admiralty building, and went into the Naval Museum, in which there are models of all kinds of boats and vessels, which were full of interest to the nautical young gentlemen. This'completed the labors of the day, and the company returned to Cronstadt in the steamer. At the.usual hour on the following morning they embarked again, and were soon landed at Peterhoff, which is sometimes called the' Versailles of Russia, on account of the number and variety of the fountains in the palace grounds. The place is on the south side of the broad bay inside of Cronstadt, and about ten miles distant from it. It is a favorite summer resort of the people from the capital, steamers plying frequently between the two places. It has a great many attractions, the principal of which is the palace, erected in I720, under the direction of Peter the Great, on an elevation of sixty feet, - a considerable hill in Russia, -and the magnificent grounds, laid off in parks, lawns, terraces, groves, and gardens. The buildings are extensive, but not very elegant outside. The apartments contain a great many paintings, in 218 NORTHERN LANDS, OR cluding portraits of three hundred and sixty-eight beautiful young girls, from fifty different provinces. The rooms for use contain the usual gilded chairs, sofas, tables, and other furniture, which soon become very tiresome to the traveller in Europe, for they are about the same thing in all the palaces, and, to a republican, would have a cheap look, if it were not for the silks, velvets, and brocade with which they are upholstered. The palace faces the sea, and the slope of the hill is cut into terraces, which are adorned with, fountains, waterfalls, and basins with Neptunes, swans, nymphs, tritons, and other aquatic ornaments. Beneath a fountain, which throws a jet eighty feet high, is a kind of canal, extending five hundred yards down the slope to the bay, in which there is a succession of cataracts. The fountains play at five o'clock every Sunday-afternoon in the summer, but on this occasion the water was let on as a special favor, which can perhaps be obtained at any time by paying a ruble or two. The effect was very fine, and compared favorably with the water works at Versailles. On fete days, lamps are placed under the sheets of water in the evening, and the appearance is said to be both unique and brilliant. In the garden below, near the sea-shore, are the small structures called Marly and Montplaisir. In the former Peter used to look out upon his fleet at Cronstadt. In the latter the great Czar died, and his bed is still preserved, as he used it, with his night clothes and dressing gown on the pillow. It is a small, Dutch-built house, and the interior looks very much like that of a country farm-house. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 219 Peter's boots, slippers, writing-desk, sedan-chair, and. other articles belonging to him, are to be seen in the several apartments. The Hermitage is the cottage of Catharine. A table in the dining-room is provided with a contrivance by which dishes are sent down through the floor, or sent up, without the servants coming into the apartment. The same thing is shown in one of the palaces at Potsdam, where Frederick the Great used to carouse, without any menials to witness his revels. In an oblong pond a vast number of tame fish are kept, and regularly fed. The man in charge of the straw cottage goes to the edge of the water and rings a bell, with some parade, when visitors are present, and the fish are supposed to come at this call; but Scott protested that it was all a humbug, for not a fish was seen until the man had thrown the food into the water. Then they scrambled for the bits of black bread, piling themselves up in stacks, to the intense amusement of the boys.- There are several other palaces near Peterhoff, one of which was occupied by Nicholas as his summer residence; and Stretna, the palace of the Grand Duke Constantine, is about half way to St. Petersburg by railroad. At ten the company took the train, and stopped at Krasnoe Seao, where there is an immense camp, containing forty thousand troops or more,- during the summer season. The soldiers were drilling, marching, and manceuvring in large bodies. In every Russian caimp there is -a quantity of simple gymnastic apparatus, on which the men are required to exercise regularly. Near the end of August the emperor reviews the troops, when sham fights and other kinds of mimic 220 NORTHERN LANDS, OR warfare are exhibited. Taking the next train, the party reached St. Petersburg in season for dinner. In the afternoon, omnibuses were again in demand, and the students rode to the Monastery of St. Alexallder Nevski, on the river at the end of the Nevski Prospect. This establishment is the seat of the Metropolitan, or Patriarch of St. Petersburg, and is therefore of a higher order than the ordinary monastery. It is called a Lavra, and only ranks below two others in the empire —the one at Moscow, and the other at Kief. It was founded by Peter the Great in honor of the Grand Duke Alexander, who defeated the Swedes on the Neva in I24I, which'battle gave him his surname. His remains were brought to this monastery with the most solemn pomp, and he was canonized. He is the patron saint of the present emperor, who takes his name. The shrine of St. Alexander.Nevski, in the principal church, beneath which his remains repose, is of solid silver, and weighs thirty-two hundred and fifty pounds. Over it hang the keys of Adrianople. The establishment encloses a considerable tract of land, and includes several churches, buildings for the monks, cells, refectories, towers, gardens, and a cemetery. It is endowed with immense wealth, and contains many costly gifts of the Persians, as well as valuable works of art. In one of the chapels is the tomb of Suwaroff- which is only a plain marble tablet — and many other noted men. The cemetery is regarded as peculiarly holy ground, and wealthy families pay large sums for the privilege of burying their dead.in its consecrated earth. The party walked through the churches, visited the dining-room of the YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND- PRUSSIA. 221 monks, whose fare is certainly very plain, looked into one of their cells, and inspected some of the curious monuments in the cemetery. The omnibuses then conveyed the company to some of the public gardens of the city, several of which are situated on the islands. Kamannoi, or Stone Island, situated on the Great Nevka, a drive of three miles from the Nevski Prospect over a broad avenue, is covered with the villas of the nobles and other wealthy people of the city. Upon it there is an extensive public garden, with an immense refreshment establishment and a summer theatre, while the grounds are filled with towers, temples, kiosks, and almost every appliance for the amusement of the visitors. In the theatre the plays and songs are generally in French, and one will observe that a large proportion of the people who frequent this place of resort speak the 1" polite language" in their conversation, as they walk about the grounds, listening to the concert. Up the Neva, three miles from Trinity Bridge, are the Tivoli Gardens, which may be reached by small steamers that ply on the river. In the winter there is a skating rink at this place, where this amusement may be had under cover. The visit to the gardens finished the excursion for the day, and the tourists returned to the squadron at Cronstadt. The next day was Sunday, and in the forenoon the students attended service at the British Chapel in the town; in the afternoon, in the steerage of the ship. As in most of the countries of Europe, Sunday is a holiday in Russia. The people attend church in the morning, and devote the afternoon to recreation and amusement. 222 NORTHERN LANDS, OR On Monday the company went up to St. Petersburg again, and walked from the English Quay to the station of the Czarskoe S61lo Railroad. On the way they halted in the square upon which the Great Theatre and the Marie Theatre are situated. As in Paris, the government pays large sums for the support of the theatre, and for the Great Theatre, which accommodates three thousand people, the best operatic talent of Europe is engaged. Dancing is an especial attraction to the people, and a school for the training of actresses and dancers is maintained. The finest performances are given on Sunday. Masked balls are also given in this theatre in the winter, which are attended by the emperor and other members of the imperial family. The Marie Theatre is more especially for the representation of Russian dramas and the opera. There are four railway stations on the south side of St. Petersburg, the Peterhoff, the Warsaw, the Czarsko6 Slo, and the Moscow, though the latter is at the bend of the Nevski Prospect. Czarsko6 Sl1o, fifteen miles from the city, is the principal summer residence of the emperor. The railway to this place was the first one built in Russia. A ride of forty minutes brought the party to their destination. The grounds of the palace, which are entered by a gateway with two towers, covered with Egyptian figures and'hieroglyphics, are eighteen miles in circumference. They are kept in the nicest order by six hundred old soldiers, who are pensioned off in this way. Not a dry leaf, a cigar stump, or any unclean thing is permiitted to remain in the walks, for the veterans capture it as YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 223 an invader, and put it out of sight. The front of the palace is seven hundred and eighty feet long. Peter the Great erected a building here, but the present edifice was built during the reign of Elizabeth, and was embellished by Catharine II. Originally, every statue, pedestal, capital of a column, and all the ornaments, were gilded, the gold for which was worth over two millions of dollars. In a short time the gilding was badly injured by the weather. The contractors employed in repairing the building offered Catharine half a million silver rubles for the gold leaf which remained on the ornaments., to whom she replied, " I am not accustomed to sell my old clothes." The front of the palace is now gaudily painted with white, green, and yellow, the only gilding being on the dome and cupolas of the }church. Parts of the interior, however, are very lavishly gilded., as the chapel, the ceiling of which is one sheet of gold. One small apartment has strips of lapis lazuli inlaid upon the walls, and the floor is of ebony, ornamented with mother-of-pearl. In another room the walls are panelled with amber, wrought into a variety of designs. The amber was presented to Catharine by Frederick the Great, and their initials and arms are blended in the panels; that of the Czarina being an E, for her Russian name was Ekaterina. There seems to be enough of this costly material to make mouthpieces for all the pipes in Christendom. Catharine's sleeping apartment has pillars of purple glass, and the walls are decorated with porcelain. The bedclothes are those under which she slept the last time she dwelt in the palace. The banqueting-rooms and 224 NORTHERN LANDS, OR the.ball-rooms are profusely gilded, and, as may be seen in several of the palaces of Europe, especially those of Poland, Russia, and.Sweden, there is a Chinese room, in which everything is fitted up in " Celestial " style. The rooms of Alexander I. are kept just as he left them when he started for Taganrog, where he died. In his cabinet is his writing-desk, all in confusion, with blotted paper, and quill pens, stained with ink, as though he had but just used them. Next to this is his bed-room, which is plain enough for an ordinary farmer. In an alcove is a camp bedstead, on which the Czar slept. His toilet articles are on the table, and on a chair is his well-worn overcoat, under which are his boots. The party walked through the Alexander Palace, built by Catharine for her grandson, and occupied by Nicholas, whose military tastes are apparent in the pictures, models, and other ornaments. From this they went to the Arsenal, in which there is a vast collection of ancient armor, arms, and Oriental trappings. In a glass case are a miniature drum and trumpet of silver, given by Catharine to Paul in his childhood. The grounds were very attractive to the students, for they are -filled with towers, kiosks, Chinese pagodas, and other odd structures. The mast of a frigate, full rigged, afforded the present High Admiral, the Grand Duke Constantine, the means of obtaining some experience aloft without going to sea. On one of the ponds there is a fleet of miniature vessels, which was used for the amusement of the same young gentleman. A Chinese village, an aerial flower garden, supported on an Ionic pillar, a marble bridge, columns erected by Catharine to her favorites, hermitages, ruins, Ro YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 225 man tombs, grottoes, and waterfalls add to the wonders of the place. On a small lake is a pavilion, in which the daughter of Nicholas, who died in i844, used to feed her swans. Since her death, black swans have been kept in the pond. In the pavilion are a picture and a marble statue of the youthful Grand Duchess. " I think I could pass a summer here very comfortably," said Lincoln, as he gazed with admiration upon the beautiful grounds and the many curious structures it contains. "Perhaps you would alter your mind before the season closed," replied the doctor. " I was in Russia one year in August, and I think I wore an overcoat every day for a fortnight, not at night merely, but in the middle of the day. Still the weather is sometimes very warm here. On the whole, I think I should prefer to be here in the winter. St. Petersburg is very lively then, the court is in town, and there is a variety of amusements." 1" I should like to see the fun for a while, and the strange sights which are to be seen only in winter, such as the sleigh-riding, skating, and frolics on the ice," added Lincoln.' I think the want of ventilation in the houses must be one of the greatest evils of a residence here," continued Dr. Winstock, as the party left the palace gardens. The company returned to St. Petersburg, and spent the rest of the day in visiting palaces and other places of interest. At the usual hour they embarked on the steamer, and returned to the squadron. 15 226 NORTHERN LANDS, OR CHAPTER XII. THE JOURNEY TO MOSCOW. " T THINK it is absolutely villanous to let that little i pauper go down the Volga, when there are so many of us who pay our bills, that wish to go," said De Forrest, angrily, when it was rumored that the first division of the students, with the Volga paity, would start that day for Moscow. " Well, he was fairly elected, I suppose," replied Beckwith. " Elected!" sneered De Forrest.' Scott elected him. When he takes snuff, all the fellows in the steerage sneeze." " I thought you were going to get up a petition to the principal to have the old method of giving out the offices restored, and have this voting business done with." " I talked with some of the fellows about it, but most of them said they wouldn't sign." " Why not? " "Some of them said they rather liked the fun and excitement of the election; others said they had gone in for the thing, and didn't like to take the back track. I shouldn't wonder if they had joined the Bangwhang: YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 227 ers. Between you and me, Beckwith, I am getting a little tired of the ship." " Tired of it? I thought you considered it the biggest thing in the world." " Well, I did; but it is about played out. I worked hard to be captain, but never got higher than third lieutenant; now I'm only a purser." " You didn't work very hard last month," suggested Beckwith. " I didn't think it was any use when I saw such fellows as Cantwell, Sheridan, and Murray getting in ahead of me, in spite of all I could do. No matter for that; Russia is a big country." " That's so." "A fellow could easily get lost in it, for none of us speak a word of Russian, aril most of us not much French or German," added De Forrest, dropping his voice down to a whisper. Beckwith looked at him, and tried to comprehend his meaning. " Those fellows that ran away in Sweden, pretending they couldn't find the ship, got off easy," added the purser. " Not one of them.has been punished, except Stockwell, who was only deprived of his position as coxswain of the second cutter," replied Beckwith, beginning to understand his friend. " All of them have been allowed to go on shore with the rest." " I should like to take just such an excursion on the same terms," continued De Forrest. "But those fellows owned up, made a clean breast of it, and promised to be good boys. The penalty 228 NORTHERN LANDS, OR hung over them for a week, and only their good behavior saved them."' Do you want to go down the Volga, Beck?" " Of course I do. I would buy out any fellow's chance if I could." " Perhaps we may go yet," replied De Forrest, with a wink.' How?" " Never mind it now. We are both in the first division, and shall go to Moscow with the others. We.will talk about it when we get there. I expect to drop into the steerage next month, and I had as lief be hanged for an old sheep as a lamb. Don't say anything." "' Of course not; but you don't mean to run away — do you?" " Dry up!" " Nobody is near us." " I never was so disgusted with anything in my life as I am with this election business. If I say anything, the fellows tell me it is a chicken of my own hatching. Now, Cantwell pretends to be one of the chaplain's lambs, affects a gentlemanly bearing, and studies seamanship when all of us are on shore. Then he gave that Billy Bobstay a hundred rubles, and the fellows all cheered him for it. I am so mad, I can hardly hold in. I would rather be in a slave ship than here. I'm nobody now." De Forrest's schemes for his personal advancement had been utterly defeated, and this fact was the key to his disgust. Though he had been a wild boy on shore, he had done very well on board of the ship, YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 229 stimulated by the hope of promotion, and by the enjoyment of his position in the cabin. His fall fi-om the rank of lieutenant had a bad effect upon him, for instead of working to recover his lost position, he permitted evil thoughts to take possession of his mind, and chose to regard himself as an abused individual. Like many men in public life, he had frittered away whatever influence he had by laboring for self, instead of the general good. The students of the Academy " saw through him," and realized that he acted only from selfish considerations, just as the sensible people penetrate the motives of the politicians. If he was 4" nobody" now, it was clearly his own fault. " What are you going to do, De Forrest?" asked Beckwith. " We won't talk about it now, for there will be plenty of time to consider that matter when we get to Moscow. Do you know who will have charge of our party?"' I heard some one mention the chaplain." " Good!" exclaimed De Forrest. " He is not particularly sharp." " But Dr. Winstock will go to Moscow with us, and accompany the Volga party to Kazan." ", All right; he will leave us in a day or two," replied the purser, with a significant smile, as though the arrangement just suited him. " How much money have you, Beckwith?" "I drew twenty pounds in St. Petersburg the other day, and I changed my money in Stockholm into Russian paper. I have nearly two hundred rubles." " Is that all you have?" 230 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " I thought that was a pretty big pile." " I have a letter of credit for a hundred pounds, upon which I can draw in any city of Europe," added the purser. " Well, I can get more when I write for it." " You had better write, then, for you haven't enough left to last you three weeks." " I don't know where we are going next," said Beckwith. " The squadron is going to Hamburg, I believe, and from there on a long cruise, which inay use up five or six weeks." " You mean up the Mediterranean." " Yes; and if I were you, I would have a letter of credit sent to me at Constantinople." " Perhaps I will; but what's up, De Forrest?" " Don't say a word now. All our chances for a soft thing are gone in this ship, and if you want to enjoy yourself for the rest of the season, keep your weather eye open, and follow my lead — that's all for the present." At ten o'clock in the forenoon, the first division of the tourists, with the Volga' party, embarked in the steamer for St. Petersburg. Each of the students had his pea-jacket and small bag. Mr. Agneau, the chaplain, was in charge of the division, and the surgeon, of the Volga party. On their arrival they took omnibuses for the Moscow station. Tickets for the party were procured, with places in the voiture au lit, or sleeping car. The distance to Moscow is six hundred and four versts, or four hundred miles. The fare is nineteen rubles, first class, and thirteen rubles, second YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSttSIA ANMD PRUSSIA. -23I class. The time is twenty hours by the:express train, and four or five more by ordinary trains. Twenty miles an hour is rather slow for a fast train, but it is about the usual rate in Russia."' That's it; this is a Yankee invention," said Scott, as Dr. Winstock handed -him his ticket, which was precisely like those of the patented system used on most of the American railroads. "This looks like home. It is stamped with the date, and I suppose they have the machine for doing it. Here, doctor; the date is wrong." " Wrong?" replied the surgeon, glancing at his ticket. "'June 2; that's right." "To-day is the I4th, sir." " The 2d in Russia, my boy," laughed the doctor, hastening away to distribute his tickets. "I suppose you know what Old Style means, Scott - don't you? "said Lincoln. " Well, I have heard of such a thing, but I didn't suppose any nation was insane enough to use it." " The Russians are, and consequently are just twelve days behind the times." " More than that." " Pope Gregory reformed the calendar, and for this reason the Russians will not adopt the Gregorian system, but use the Julian, or Greek calendar." " I says commodore, don't your head ache?" No; why should it?" "Because it is so full. I couldn't carry so much useful knowledge around with me, unless I had a basket to tote it in." "I have looked the matter up since I came here. Hava e ou drawn anLy money in St. Petersburg." 232 NORTHERN LANDS, OR "Unfortunately, I have before me the melancholy duty of spending nearly two hundred of these yellow paper rubles. Sad - isn't it? " " Have you your bordereau. " asked the commodore. "My what?" " Your bordereau." " No, no; I haven't that. I ate it instead of pickled onions for my difiner yesterday," replied Scott, gravely. " Indeed!" "Yes; and if you have one you had better eat it, for they are first rate."'Here is mine,".added Lincoln, taking from his pocket the memorandum, which the banker had given him, of the rate of exchange and amount of money paid him. " You see the date is back in May, for I drew on the Ioth of June." "Just so; and that is a bordereau —is it? " "Yes." "Well, it looks like one." " Would you like to eat it instead of pickled onions?" "No; instead of caviar. But suppose we look into the cars," added Scott, as they passed into the room from which passengers step upon the trains. They entered the second-class sleeping-car. It was altogether a different affair from that used in the United States; but only two rubles extra are charged for this accommodation, though that is all it is worth. It was a large, clumsily-built carriage, with a door in the middle of each side, and one at each end opening upon a platform. On the top was a second story, which, however, was only about half the size of the YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 233 lower part. The side doors open into an apartment in the middle of the car, furnished with one large arm-chair in a corner, and seats on the sides. From this room a flight of steps ascends to the second-story apartment. From this central corridor two long passage-ways, on opposite sides of the car, lead to the ends. From each of these passage-ways three or four compartments are entered, each with two seats facing each other. The passengers lie upon these seats at night, being provided with a pillow, but with no covering of any kind. Each compartment has one or two swinging shelves, or berths, besides, which are placed above the windows. Of course only three or four passengers can be accommodated in each compartment. There is no ventilation except at the windows; and if a Russian cannot sleep, he lights a paper cigar every half hour, while a dozen others may be smoking in their seats. There are conveniences at each end of the car, which are hardly to be found on the trains of any other country in Europe. The first-class sleeping-car is precisely like the second, except that it is fitted up in a little better style. The train also includes other carriages, some like those in common use on the continent, and one or two quite different. In one first-class there were two apartments, one at each end, with seats at the sides, and containing a table for card-playing. These rooms are sold at one hundred rubles the trip, whether occupied by one or a dozen persons, for they will seat sixteen. Between these apartments is one for general use, fitted up with stuffed arm-chairs. When the private apartments'are not taken by parties, a ruble or 234 NORTHERN LANDS, OR two, given to the conductor, will procure admission to them after the train has passed a certain station. The conductors generally speak German, and some of them French. The doctor, Lincoln, Billy Bobstay, and Scott took one of the compartments in the second-class sleepingcar. They made some comparisons between the vehicle and those in use at home, and wondered why the people of Europe insist upon making night travel by railroad as uncomfortable as,possible. i At half past two the train started, and the students were fully occupied for a time in observing the suburbs of the city; but in half an hour there was nothing to be seen but the low, level, marshy country, which is the same thing all the way to Moscow, with hardly anything to vary its monotony." We haven't seen any of the triumphal arches of St. Petersburg," said Dr. Winstock. "The Moscow Gate is one of them, and is a very elaborate work of art." " Where is it?" asked Lincoln. " On the road to Moscow, just outside of the chty. It was erected in honor of the Russian armies that fought in Persia, Turkey, and Poland. The Trium. phal Arch of Narva, on the road to the Baltic prove inces, is also a beautiful work, and commemorates the victories of the Russian troops, who returned in I815." " There's a village," said Lincoln.' I should think it was a collection of pigsties,", added Scott. The houses were of the rudest construction, and looked more like shanties than the abodes of human YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 235 beings. They are built of logs generally, some hewn and others just as they fell, with roofs of boards, the ends in many instances not squared. There was nothing like order in their location. After running over two hours the train stopped at a station. Like all the others on the road, it was a large and substantial brick structure, with everything about it kept in good condition. The trains stop from ten minutes to half an hour at these stations, and most of the students got out of the cars, anxious to see what they could of the place and the people. The principal room was a large hall, in which was a table set for meals. At one end was a bar, and in other places were minor stands for other refreshments. One was for dispensing tea, which may be said to be the national beverage of the Russians, though they drink vodka - a strong liquor, not unlike the finkel of the Swedes - to excess. A woman usually serves the tea in the station. In front of her is an array of tumblers, in which the people drink their tea, with a bowl filled with square lumps of sugar. Little pitchers of milk are available, but the Russians seldom use this article. There is also a plate of thinly sliced lemons. The traveller takes one of the glasses, puts about three lumps of sugar in it, and the woman fills it with the beverage, upon which is placed a slice of lemon. The tea is quite yellow, and its flavor is excellent. It is brought from China over land, and without doubt is the best to be had in Europe. The Russians drink their tea very hot, and in enormous quantities. In the course of his journey to Moscow, a passenger often drinks half a dozen glasses of strong 236 NORTHERN LANDS, OR tea before he goes to sleep, and then the mystery is, how he can go to sleep at all. The lemon is not squeezed in the beverage, but is simply stirred about with the spoon. One not skilled in the art of teadrinking would hardly know that the lemon had been added. Coffee may be obtained at the same stand, but not one in twenty calls for it. The tables are well supplied, and excellent roast beef is served, with a variety of other simple dishes. At another station, similar to the first, the students had their supper, or more properly their dinner. "Can we eat Russian provender? " asked Scott. "'Why not? It doesn't seem to be at all different from the diet of other Europeans. Here is roast beef, and there are veal cutlets. The bread, you perceive, is most excellent," replied Dr. Winstock. "' Indeed, I think the whitest and best bread in Europe is to be had in Russia." "- But I had an idea that the Russians ate strange messes," added Scott. " There are peculiarly Russian dishes, but you do not find them to any great extent in the restaurants on the railroads. Kvas is a beverage of fermented rye. From this they make an iced soup, into which they put meat, chopped herring, and cucumbers." " Whew! " whistled Scott, as the party seated themselves at the table. "' They have cabbage soups and fish soups, which we should call chowder. The finest fish in Russia is the sterlet, which is very expensive. Tlie poor people live on buckwheat and other coarse grains, and YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 237 among them the common dish is cabbage soup thickened with buckwheat or barley meal, with meat or fish when it can be afforded, which is not often among the, poorest." "I shouldn't like that kind of grub." "Probably not; but you need not starve while you can get roast beef as good as this, though it is a little tough." " No, sir; but I should starve on another article I see here; that is, caviar -the abominable fish spawn. I tried it in Sweden, and didn't get the taste of it out of my mouth for three weeks." " Yet it is esteemed a great delicacy in this country, and many foreigners so regard it." " Their mouths and stomachs must be lined with cast-iron," laughed Scott. The party returned to the train, and the journey was continued. The country was still level, with hardly anything like a hill to be seen. Much of it was covered with pine and birch wood. A village of shanties was occasionally passed, and around it were fields of grain, but there were no fences. The view from the windows of the cars was ever the same, and the travellers were soon weary of it. Scott wandered through the carriage to see the passengers, for a few Russians had taken places in it. He made a study of the conductor, who was certainly a fine-looking fellow. He wore a Cossack cap, a short frock coat with h belt, and large trousers stuffed into the top of his boots. At dark, which was late in the evening in this high latitude, nearly ten, the students tried to go to sleep, and most of them succeeded. 238 NORTHERN LANDS, OR At five o'clock in the morning, nearly all of them were awake when the train stopped at Tver, which is the head of steamboat navigation on the Volga. Those who had their eyes open went into the station for a cup of coffee and a roll. " Now's our time," said De Forrest, in a low tone, as he finished his coffee, and paid for it. " What do you mean?" asked Beckwith, as he followed the purser to the rear of the station, where no one observed them. " Have you pluck enough to go with me?" replied De Forrest. " Go where?"' Down the Volga." "Run away?" " Yes." " I don't know about that. It is played out." "'No, it isn't. We can have a good time, and not be under the nose of any one. While the rest of them go to Moscow, we will go down to Nijni and Kazan."' But I want to see Moscow." " We will see that by and by. We will go down the river, and keep out of the way till all hands have returned to the ship. Then we will go it to Berlin or Warsaw." " I haven't money enough to go such a trip." " I will lend you some when you are short." De F4orrest argued the matter until Beckwith yielded the point, but rather reluctantly. They wore their pea-jackets, and had their bags in their hands, for the purser said they would change their seats when they returned to the train. Retreating from the station, YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 239 they kept out of sight till the cars had started, and then hastened to find the steamer on the river. The captain was a Finn, and spoke a little English, so that they had no difficulty in obtaining tickets and places. As De Forrest had declared that they intended to change their places, the two students with whom they had occupied a compartment in the car, did not suspect that they had been left behind when the train moved off, and they were not missed till the party arrived at Moscow, at ten o'clock. The students piled into the droskies, -two on the seat, and one with the driver, —-and were driven to the Hotel d'Hambourg, which is kept by Madame Billet, an English lady, in the Rue Lubianka, near the centre of the city. The lady proprietor is a most excellent woman, very attentive to her guests, able and willing to give all needed information in regard to the city. Either she or her charming sister presides at the table, and to an American or an Englishman there is no more home-like establishment on the- continent. When the roll of the first division was called, in assigning rooms to the party, the absence of De Forrest and Beckwith was discovered; but it was not supposed that they had absconded, and a servant was sent back to the station to find them. The chaplain was very much troubled; but the surgeon assured him that no possible harm could have come to the absentees. Lincoln, Scott, and Billy Bobstay were assigned to one room. It, was in no respect different from a chamber in an English hotel, except that a large stove or furnace was set in the wall, the fire-door opening into the hall. Every room was provided with this heating 240 NORTHERN LANDS, OR apparatus. Having arranged their toilets, the party gathered again in the coffee-room for breakfast. The meal was in English style, consisting of cold tongue, cold chicken, and capital coffee. When it was finished, Dr. Winstock gave a brief description and historical account of Moscow. "Moscow was until I72o the capital of the Russian empire," said he. "This part of it was called Muscovy, and came to include Novgorod and Tver, the two provinces, or governments, through which we passed in coining from St. Petersburg. What is called Great Russia comprises sixteen governments, among which are nearly all the ancient grand dukedoms. It was founded in the middle of the twelfth century, and was taken and plundered by Tamerlane in the fourteenth century; nearly consumed by fire in I536, and again in 1572, when it was fired by the Tartars, and one hundred thousand people perished in the flames and by the sword; the Poles fired it in i6II, and in Sr2 it was burned by the Russians to prevent the French from wintering in it. Moscow is the Holy City of the Russians. It is a place of great commercial importance, having a vast trade, extending into Asia, and it is also a large manufacturing place. The emperors are cirowned here, and on account of its holy character and sacred associations, no Czar would dare to neglect at least a semiannual visit; and custom requires that he should present his oldest son and heir in this city soon after he becomes of age. "Moscow is one of the most irregularly built cities in the world. The Kremlin is in the centre. Half a mile from it there is a series of streets nearly encircling YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 241 it, on the site of which was formerly the moat of the castle. A mile and a half distant there is another series of avenues, which form a complete circle. Within this line the map of the city looks very much like a well-constructed cobweb; but the town extends far beyond this line, and has a circumference of twenty miles. The Moscow river, a branch of the Oka, runs through the city, with a great bend extending up to the Kremlin."'" What is the Kremlin, sir?" asked a student. " It was originally the citadel or fortress of the city. It was first enclosed with oak walls, and afterwards with stone. It is in the form of a triangle, with a perimeter of about a mile, and contains the palace, the holiest churches, and many other public buildings. Moscow has between three and four hundred churches, the number being variously estimated, for some writers include several in one establishment, while others count all as one. A monastery may have two or three churches within its walls. Now we will walk to the Kremlin, and ascend the Tower of Ivan Veliki, or John the Great, from which you will obtain a fine view of the whole city." In Moscow it is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain a guide who speaks English; but a German was procured, and the students left the hotel under his direction. The walk through the streets was full of interest, and there was no lack of variety. There is not a straight avenue in the city, and there seems to be no fixed line upon which the houses are erected. Now the street is narrow, and then it suddenly doubles its width for a short distance, and some of them are nearly i6 242 NORTHERN LANDS, OR in the shape of a wedge. They twist about even worse than in Boston, where the tradition is that the early fathers followed the cow-paths when they laid out the streets. They are paved with irregular stones, and there seem to be no particular localities in which the wealthier class erect their elegant residences, for next to a lofty and beautiful mansion may be the humble, low'house of the poor man. The buildings are painted or colored in nearly all the hues of the rainbow. One cannot walk far without coming to a church, either small or large, and at least a dozen domes are always in sight -gold, green, and blue. The signs in the streets, too, are peculiar, and more intelligible than in most Russian cities, for pictorial effects seem to be the fashion, and the butcher, baker, grocer, and other merchants cover all the available space in front of their shops with representations of their various wares. In many of the open spaces there are drosky stands, and several new varieties of carriages were presented to the'students. Most of the droskies have hoods, or covers, like a chaise, and are wider than those of St. Petersburg. One kind of vehicle consists of a board, covered and stuffed, extending from the forward to the hind axletree. The drivers are dressed as in other Russian cities, and carry their white gloves, while waiting for a job, in their belt. These men are very polite, and take off their hats when they solicit employment. "There is the Kremlin," said the doctor, as he pointed to the high walls, upon which, at intervals, are several elaborate towers. " You will enter by the'Sacred Gate,' or' Porta Triumphalis.' Be sure and YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 243 take off your caps, and d6 not put them on till you have passed entirely through the archway." This opening was under a Gothic tower, and is sometimes called the "~ Redeemer's Gate," from the picture of the Redeemer, of Smolensk, which is placed above it. It is held in the highest reverence by the Russians, who believe that the Tartars were driven back by it, and that miraculous clouds concealed the defenders of the fortress, who sought its protection from the eyes of the enemy. It is in a glass case, and a huge lamp, raised and lowered by a large chain over a pulley, is always burning before it. It is said that the French, supposing the frame to be of gold, wished to plunder it, but every ladder planted beneath instantly broke in twain. The invaders then loaded a cannon to batter down the wall, but the powder would not burn till they made a great fire of coals over the vent, and then it went off the wrong way, blowing out the breech of the gun, and killing some of the artillerists. The Frenchmen then acknowledged the miraculous character of the picture, and retired, leaving it unharmed. It was borne in the battle-field by the armies of Pojarski, and the Poles fled before it. On account of the signal service it has thus rendered, every one must bare his head as he passes through the gate, be he Czar or peasant, Greek or Christian. At the entrance stood a soldier with a drawn sabre in his hand, who enforced this behest of custom. Umbrellas must be closed, and care is taken to prevent dogs from entering the enclosure by this gate. The students uncovered, and passed through. The Russians bowed, knelt, and crossed themselves repeatedly, as they did so. 244 NORTHERN LANDS, OR CHAPTER XIII. IN THE KREMLIN OF MOSCOW. T HE guide led his party directly to the Tower of Ivan Veliki, though the students saw the great bell and a dozen other objects which challenged their attention at the same moment. The curious spires, domes, and cupolas, so different from anything they had seen before, were full of interest. They were covered with gold, and glittered in the sunshine. These domes are not such as are seen in the United States, but are purely Oriental. They are somewhat in the shape of an inverted onion. But there are also cupolas of almost every other shape — round, square, and octagonal, and even all three in the same one. The doctor hurried the boys into the tower, wishing them to obtain a general view before they attended to the details. This tower is a very singular structure. It was built in I6oo, by Boris Godunoff. It is three hundred and twenty-five feet from the ground to the top of the cross, and contains five stories, the first four of which are square, and the last circular, with a dome. In the lower story is a chapel, and the next three contain thirty-four bells of all sizes, the largest of which weighs sixty-four YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 245 tons. Though it is a pygmy compared with the great bell at the foot of the tower, it is a monster beside those in ordinary use, for our church bells rarely exceed one sixth of its weight. There are forty or fifty bells in the entire tower, all of which are rung at Easter, to proclaim anew that "' Christ is risen." The great bell thunders forth the glad tidings, which are also gently chanted in the sweet tones of the small silver bells. From each story of the tower a view of the city is obtained, but in the highest beneath the dome, the most sublime panorama is presented. There is no such city as Moscow in the world, and the sight is therefore as unique as it is beautiful. For half an hour the students gazed with wonder and admiration upon the beautiful picture. The party descended, and hastened to the Great Bell, called the Czar Kolokol, or Czar of Bells. Some say that it was never hung, though a Polish traveller, in I6II, speaks of a bell he saw that required twentyfour men to swing the clapper in ringing it. The present bell was recast by order of the Empress Anne, in I733, its predecessors having fallen in the several fires, and been broken. This one also had a fall in a fire in 1737, which knocked a piece out of the side. It lay buried in the ground where it fell till Nicholas caused it to be placed on a stone platform in I836. The bell weighs about two hundred and twenty tons. The piece broken out weighs eleven tons. The interioris twenty feet high, with a diameter of twenty-one feet. It is two feet thick, and has figures in relief of Alexis and Anne, and of some sacred subjects, with an inscription relating to its origin and size. On the 246 NORTHERN LANDS, OR summit is a cross, and the interior has been consecrated as a chapel. The bell is regarded as holy by the people. At five cents a pound, thie material would be worth over twenty thousand dollars. As the thing is utterly useless either for service or as a work of art, and perpetuates no historical event, this dead capital would be' better employed in planting school-houses in the villages, the influence of which would soon transform the shanties into houses, and add wealth to the nation by the more intelligent and rapid development of its vast resources. The party next visited the palace occupied by the members of the royal family when they visit Moscow. On this locality stood the palaces of the ancient sovereigns, which were partially destroyed by fire, and rebuilt. The present structure was built in the reign of Nicholas, and all that was left of the old palaces was incorporated in it. A porter was detailed to accompany the students, and they passed through the private apartments of the emperor and empress, which are very elegant, and the boys looked with no little curiosity into bed-tooms, cabinets, bath-rooms, where royalty slept, wrote, and took its bath in marble tubs. The guide was very particular to show an elevator in which the empress is raised to her apartments above; but it was hardly a curiosity to the young Americans, who had seen vastly superior machines of this kind in the hotels of their own country. In the palace are three magnificent halls, which are not surpassed by anything in Europe. The one devoted to the order of St. George is two hundred feet long. The old parts of the palace, which have been YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 247 restored in the ancient style are as curious as they are interesting. Connected with the main building are the throne-room and banqueting-hall, where the emperor, after his coronation in the church, sits in state, wearing for the first time the imperial insignia; and here also he dines with the nobles. Near this is the Terema, a most singular edifice, four stories high, but each of them diminishing in size till the upper one contains but a single room. In ancient times it was occupied by the Czarina and her children. Above the first, each story opens upon a balcony on which the inmates could walk. The affair looks more like a pyramid than a house. It contains many relics of the ancient sovereigns. Near the palace is the treasury, in which are kept the venerable relics of Russian history. It contains vast quantities of armor, weapons, banners, and other military trophies, In one room are original portraits of the Romanoff family, and the coronation chairs of several sovereigns. In the next room is the throne of Poland, brought from' Warsaw; an ivory throne brought by Sophia from Constantinople on her marriage with Ivan III. Another throne came from Persia, and is studded with diamonds and rubies, nearly a thousand of the former. An orb sent by the Greek emperor to Vladimir is covered with precious stones. In a wardrobe are the masquerade dress of Catharine I., her coronation robes, and articles of dress which belonged to Peter the Great, Peter II., and Paul I. There are also in this room the crown of the Kingdom of Kazan, and several others, all of them glittering with jewels; trhat of Anne, containing over twenty 248 NORTHERN LANDS, OR five hundred diamonds; with more thrones and coronation robes. Millions upon millions of dead capital lie here, which, however, would make diamonds and rubies a drug, if thrown upon the market. The walking-stick of Ivan the Terrible, having a sharp point, with which the fiery Czar used to punch the feet of those who vexed him, may be seen. Another room, up stairs, is filled with curious plate, cups, jugs, jars, candlesticks, and other articles of silver - most of it presented to the Czars. But the students were tired of curiosities, and hardly glanced at the old carriages of the court in the last apartment. Opposite the great bell is the little palace, in which Nicholas sometimes lived, and in which the present emperor was born. One of the rooms contains a number of loaves of bread presented to the emperor on his visits to the city. When the sovereign arrives at Moscow, it is the custom for the chief magistrate to present to him a silver salver, on which are a gold vessel filled with salt, and a loaf of bread, requesting him to taste the bread of Moscow. The emperor nibbles the loaf, and invites the official to dine with him in the palace. By this time the Cathedral of the Assumption was open, and the party entered. It does not conform to the idea of a cathedral in other countries, for it is rather contracted in its dimensions. It is crowded with pictures and shrines. On the screen is a picture of the HolyVirgin of Vladimir, which the visitor is informed was painted by St. Luke, adorned with jewels to the value of over two hundred thousand dollars. On the other side is the shrine of St. Philip, the patriarch of the church, who had the courage to _____ i V tROYAL PALACE', Moscow. 11jg! _-I THE TEMPLE OF THE SAVIOUR, MOSCOW. MOSCOW PHOTOGRAPHS. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 249 say to Ivan the Terrible, "As the image of the Divinity, I reverence thee; as a man, thou art but dutst and ashes," and who was finally murdered at a monastery in Tver by Ivan's order. His tomb is in this church, which also contains the remains of other holy men. Behind the altar-screen there is a gold model of Mount Sinai, in which is a gold coffer to contain the Host, the whole worth about a quarter of a million dollars. Under it are deposited some of the most important state papers, including the Act of Succession, decreed by Paul I., the abdication of Constantine, and similar documents. Belonging to the cathedral is a Bible, presented by the mother of Peter the Great, weighing a hundred and twenty pounds, the cover of which is studded with precious stones, worth nearly a million dollars. In front of the platform is a throne for the empress, another for the Patriarch, and a third is the ancient throne of Vladimir. Behind the screen are several chapels, one of which contains tombs of the patriarchs; in another are some sacred relics, as a nail of the true cross, a robe of the Saviour, and part of one worn by the Blessed Virgin, with a picture of the latter, said to have been painted by one of the apostles. The Assumption is the holiest and most highly venerated church in Russia. The coronation of the emperor, which takes place here, is a most solemn ceremonial, for it is the consecration of the sovereign. It is preceded by fasting and seclusion for preparation. The Czar recites aloud the confession of faith, and on his knees offers the prayer for the empire. He places the crown upon his own head, and walking through 250 NORTHERN LANDS, OR the royal gates, takes the bread and wine- from the altar without the aid of the priest, as in ordinary cases, the recipient is not permitted to touch the elements himself. Close by the Assumption is the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, which is the mausoleum of the sovereigns of the Rurik and Romanoff families from an early period down to the time of Peter the Great, and of Peter II. since that time. The cenotaphs are covered with faded crimson palls, badly spotted with grease firom the candles above them. The tomb of young Dimitri, son of Ivan the Terrible, murdered by Boris Godunoff, is venerated by the faithful, because, after the anarchy and bloodshed produced by the false Dimitris, the coffin and body of the true one were discovered by a miracle. The tomb of Ivan the Terrible is next to the altar, though he often broke the canons of the church. His cross, set with very large pearls and an emerald a third of an inch in diameter, is preserved here. The churches of the Annunciation and of the Redeemer are close by; but the students declared that they had seen churches enough for one day, and they entered the House of the Holy Synod, containing the wardrobe and treasury of the church, where robes, mitres, and crosiers, decked with precious stones, are exhibited. In this house is prepared the holy oil used in baptism, in consecrating churches, and in anointing the emperor at his coronation. The Vessels used in compounding it are of solid silver, weighing thirteen hundred pounds. It is composed of thirty different ingredients, the principal of which is pure Florence YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND: PRUSSIA. 25 oil, with.wine, fragrant gums, balsam, and spices. It is made according to the ancient rule, and a few drops of the chrism brought from Constantinople is mingled with it. Some say this is a part of the ointment used by Mary Magdalen in anointing the feet* of the Saviour; and a portion of the new chrism is returned to the " Alabaster," which contains it, each time any is used. All the children of Orthodox parents are anointed with this oil at their baptism. The baptism of the child consists of four ceremonials. By its sponsors it first makes the confession of faith. The priest, after crossing the child and saying prayers, blows upon it, to drive away evil and unclean spirits. After the prayer the parents leave the room, thereby symbolizing the entire giving up of the child to the sponsors; and this custom is followed even in the imperial family. The second step is the immersion; and the priest, in full canonicals, blesses the water, and anoints the infant, for the first time, on the breast for " the healing of body and soul; " on the ears for "the hearing of the Word; " on the hands, because " Thy hands have made and fashioned me;" on the feet, that they " may walk in the way of thycommandments." He then rolls up his sleeves, takes the child in his hands, stopping the ears with his thumb and little finger, the eyes with two other fingers, and the mouth and nose with the palm of his right hand, and holding up its body with the left, he skilfully plunges it into a font three times, in the name of the three persons of the Trinity. The next step is the sacrament of unction, in which the child is again anointed with the -holy oil, the brow, 25 2 NORTHERN LANDS, OR eyes, nose, ears, lips, breast, handsj and feet being touched With the chrism, by means of a pencil or feather: it is " the seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost." The last step is the washing of the child, and the cutting off its hair in four places, forming a cross; which is regarded as a sacrifice, its hair being the only gift the infant has to offer to its Maker. As it is cut, the priest says, " The servant of God, Nicholas, is shorn in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." The service is accompanied by prayers and litanies. Near the Redeemer Gate of the Kremlin are the Miracle Monastery and the Ascension Convent, in which are the tombs of many Czarinas, including the mother of Ivan the Terrible, and four of his six wives, the wife of Michael, the first wife of Peter the.Great, and others. The arsenal contains the cannon lost by the French in the disastrous campaign of I812, represented by three hundred and sixty-five guns. The huge piece at the corner of the building weighs forty tons. Outside of the original Kremlin, in the part added by Helena, the mother of Ivan the Terrible, and the regent during his minority, and called the Kitai Gorod, or Chinese Town, is the most remarkable building in Moscow, the Cathedral of St. Basil. It has no less than eleven domes, each different in shape and color from the others, over as many chapels, with other spires and cupolas. It looks like a little forest of grotesque temples. One dome is gilded; another is checkered with green over a ground of yellow; another is bright red, with white stripes; another looks like a honeycomb, and another like a coat of mail. Some forty years ago a mechanical diorama was ex YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 253 hibited in the United States, called "' Maelzel's Burning of Moscow," in which the French troops marched into the place, the Russians fired the city, the show ending with the " terrific explosion of the Kremlin." The prominent object was a building like the church of St. Basil, which was popularly understood to be the Kremlin, and which was blown sky high at the conclusion. Happily it is still safe, though other buildings in the Kremlin fared worse. The visitor winds about in the little circular chapels inside, open to the roof of the domes, and perhaps thinks he has fallen into a nest of chimneys. They are dedicated to different saints, and are half filled with relics and holy vessels. On the site of it stood an ancient church and cemetery, where St. Basil, a prophet and miracleworker, was buried in the middle of the sixteenth century. He was said to be " idiotic for Christ's sake." Ivan the Terrible ordered a church to be built over him, and this was erected by an Italian architect. The cruel tyrant was so delighted with the curious edifice, that he ordered the eyes of the architect to be put out, so that he could not see to build another to equal or surpass it. The view of St. Basil closed the labors of the day, and the tired party walked back to the hotel, where dinner was served. Mr. Agneau's first inquiry was for De Forrest and Beckwith, but nothing had been seen or heard of them. " Can anything have happened to them? " asked the troubled chaplain. " I think not," replied the surgeon. " Probably they have done as others have - run away for a time." "Impossible!" exclaimed Mr. Agneau. " They were officers, and well-behaved young gentlemen." 254 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " Very likely; but they have been much dissatisfied since the election. I have feared that De Forrest would make trouble." " But in a strange land, like Russia, unable to speak a word of the language, they would not be likely to run away." " We have the fact, which is better than theory." " Who saw them last? " asked the chaplain, turning to the students. "They were in the compartment with me," said Vroome, the third master. "Early this morning, when we crossed the river, - I forget the name of the place -" " Tver," suggested the surgeon. " Yes, sir; that was it. They took their bags and said they were going to change their seats," added Vroome. "That makes it all plain. They have taken the steamer down to Nijni Novgorod, and very likely we shall find them there. Give yourself no uneasiness about them, Mr. Agneau. I will warrant that they are safe enough, and will return when their money is gone, if not before. I will look out for them." Dr. Winstock, who had been in the ship since she was launched, understood the boys better than the meek, gentle-hearted clergyman, and had seen too much running away to be alarmed for the safety of the absentees. The party were somewhat rested in the evening, and, taking carriages, drove to the Petrofski Park and Gardens, where a band played, and where the people of the city in -large numbers were to be seen. On the return they visited an immense restau YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 255 rant, in order to see more of the people. In this place there was a large orchestrion, a musical instrument, which, being wound up, plays a variety of airs with all the effects of a full orchestra, with drums, cymbals, and trumpets. It executed the Russian National Hymn nearly as effectively as a band could do it. -The waiters in this establishment were all Tartars, dressed in loose white pants and tunics. The visitors were drinking tea generally, but a few indulged in beer and stronger drinks. The students slept soundly that night, for they were generally very tired, and even Scott's jokes were of the most sickly character. But at eight o'clock in the morning they were on their feet again, exploring the,city on their own hook, in the vicinity of the hotel. Lincoln and Scott ventured to enter a shop to pur. chase some photographs. One of the salesmen spoke French very well, and the business was made easy to them. After breakfast, the party started together again, and their first point was the Romanoff House, the birthplace of Michael, the first sovereign of the present dynasty. The original was built in the sixteenth century, but it has been carefully restored after suffering much from fire and the sack of the invading French. It is filled with relics of the ancient time, and in the nursery are a cradle, and the toys and playthings of the Czar. The flurniture of the bedroom is rather curious, and in a box are the slippers of the monarch, and the night-dress of his wife. The walls are covered with stamped leather. From this house the party went to the Bazaar in the Kitai Gorod. Its stalls contain everything that 256 NORTHERN LANDS, OR can possibly be wanted by a Russian or anybody else, from old clothes up to paintings and statuary. Second-hand articles of every description form a considerable portion of the trade. Siberian and Circassian wares, and specialities from other remote regions of the empire, are on view and sale here. The Bazaar is a perfect labyrinth of stalls, and the scene is sometimes quite exciting. Opposite the principal entrance are the statues of Minin and Pojarski; the former, a peasant, urging the latter, a boyar, to deliver Moscow from the dominion of the Poles, which was accomplished by their inspiration and labor. Outside of the walls of the Ki/ai Gorod is the Winter Market. As soon as the cold weather comes, the farmers slaughter their live stock in vast numbers, and the carcasses are immediately exposed till they are frozen, and then sent to market. Housekeepers then lay in a large supply of frozen provision, which is always ready for use, the quantity required for cooking at any time being first thawed in cold water. Frozen oxen, sheep, calves, and other animals stand up in the market, ready to be chopped and sawed into pieces. Fish from the White Sea, the northern lakes, and the great rivers, are brought to the market in this condition. Sometimes, but very rarely, a sudden thaw produces sad havoc among the frozen provisions. Between the two gateways which form the principal entrance to the Chinese Tower is the chapel of the "Iberian Mother of God." It is a picture brought from Mount Athos, a holy mount of the Greeks, where four thousand monks dwelt, during the reign of Alexis, who is said to have invited the saint to take up her YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 257 abode in Moscow. The picture, placed in a sanctuary at the end of the chapel, is believed to have the power of working miracles, and is regarded with the deepest veneration by the Russians. All who pass bow and cross themselves, and many kneel and prostrate themselves on the ground. On a holiday several hundred may be seen at their devotions. Elegantly dressed ladies leave their carriages, and bow down with the beggars. The emperors frequently visit it, and Nicholas, when he could not sleep at night, is said to have roused the monks at midnight to enable him to attend to his devotions in this chapel. The religious zeal of the people in Moscow even exceeds that of St. Petersburg. Donations for the church are received at this chapel to the amount of about fifty thousand dollars a year, of which thirty-five thousand is appropriated to the salary of the Metropolitan of Moscow, who need not starve on this sum, though it is not the whole of his income. The party next walked to the Manege, or Great Riding School, which is believed to be the largest apartment in the world with the roof unsupported by columns. It is five hundred and sixty feet long, one hundred and fifty-eight feet wide, and forty-two feet high. Two regiments of cavalry can go through their evolutions at the same time in this vast space. It is heated by twenty immense stoves, so that it can be used in the' coldest weather. At this point carriages were taken for a ride to Sparrow Hills. On the way, not far from the Kremlin, the tourists stopped at the new Temple of the Saviour, in process of erection. It is the noblest church in.Russia, and was built to commemorate the expulsion of the French. It was to'7 258 NORTHERN LANDS, OR have been erected at Sparrow Hills, from which Napoleon had his first view of the city, and doubtless his last; but a good foundation could not be obtained, and it was commenced on the present site; more than fifty years ago. Like other Russian churches, it is in the form of a Greek cross. Though sculpture is not often seen on Greek churches, this one is ornamented on the outside with scenes from Scripture and the national history in high relief, the figures being of colossal size. As these " human and divine forms" are not for purposes of worship, they do not seem to be inconsistent even with the Russian belief. The stone is of a light color, and the structure is crowned with a magnificent golden dome, which surpasses everything else in beauty in the country. The interior was filled with stagings, though a glimpse of the rich and beautiful paintings on the inside of the dome could be obtained. The walls are covered with variegated marble. The building has already cost ten million rubles, and it is said that the entire cost will be fifteen millions. Crossing thle Moskva River, the carriages proceeded, by a very broad, straight avenue, through a gate, into the suburbs. The ascent of the hill is by a soft, oozy road, so trying for the horses that most of the students preferred towalk. The summit was gained. On it is a villa of the empress, and an estate of Prince Galitzin; but the'party went to a cottage, where tea, coffee, and other refreshments are furnished. In the rear of it is a spacious veranda, with tables, where the students seated themselves, and from which a splendid view of Moscow is obtained. Beneath them flowed the Moskva, which could be seen for miles, winding YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 259 through the level plain. The party drank coffee, enjoyed the view for an hour, and then returned to the city, visiting one of the monasteries on the way. Near the Kremlin they encountered a funeral on a grand scale, and the drivers of the carriages stopped at once. The aspect of the street was suddenly changed, for all business was suspended, all heads uncovered, and every passer-by halted. The procession was headed by a body of priests, clothed in black robes, and bearing lighted tapers and various religious emblems in their hands. The hearse was drawn by four horses, caparisoned in black, which covered their legs, with plumes at their heads. The vehicle was an open platform on wheels, upojl which lay the coffin, covered with a pall. It had steps at the sides, on which stood priests, holding images over the body, while others followed it. The bells were tolling, and a strange chant rose from the procession. The spectators uttered prayers for the repose of the dead, which they always do on meeting a funeral, though the deceased be an entire stranger to them. The students took off their caps, and this custom, not entirely unknown in our own country, is worthy of respect. " In Russia, it is believed that a person cannot die easily, if at all, when there is a pigeon feather in his pillow," said Dr. Winstock, as the carriages continued on their way. "' When the sufferer seems to die hard, they think there must be a pigeon feather in the pillow under his head, and they often change it, so as to be sure on this point." "What.harm does the pigeon feather do?" asked Lincoln, curiously. 260 NORTHERN LANDS,.OR "The dove, or pigeon, is the emblem of the Holy Ghost, and the bird is never eaten by the most rigid believers; and on no account would they use its feathers to make a pillow, for the bird is held in the highest respect." The party arrived at the hotel, where an early dinner was ready for them, after which the Volga party took droskies for the Nijni Novgorod Railroad. The first division, visited the Troitsad Monastery, forty miles distant, the next day. It was founded by St. Sergius, in the fourteenth century. He was the most holy of all the monks, and the monastery is the most sacred shrine. Russian tradition says that he was visited in his cell by the Virgin, attended by the apostles Peter andJohn. It is a fortress, in fact, and has withstood many sieges. Neither plague nor cholera has ever entered its walls. It includes ten churches, is endowed with immense riches, and at one time held over a hundred thousand serfs. The monks in Russia are called the Black Clergy, to distinguish them from the White Clergy, who are the priests that officiate in the churches. When the wife of one of the latter dies, he must either secularize himself or enter a monastery. The highest officers in the church and the members of the Holy Synod, however, are taken from the monks. The division returned to Moscow in the afternoon, and on the following day took the train for St. Petersburg. The second division arrived on the -forenoon of the same day, and proceeded to see the sights already described. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 26r CHAPTER XIV. DOWN THE VOLGA. A DIFFERENCE of three rubles in the fare does not compensate the traveller for the discomforts of the second-class cars from Moscow to Nijni Novgorod, and Dr. Winstock took first-class tickets for his little party; indeed, it does not pay to go there at all, except during the great fair. The cars were very good, in one of which was the innovation of a door connecting two compartments, and our party took possession of it, though one gentleman had already seated himself there. He was very polite, and spoke.French, so that the doctor was not at all. anxious to get rid of him. The train started. The landscape was about the same as on the road from St. Petersburg; eonsequently there was little to be: seen from the windows. The train was late, and did not arrive at its destination till nine o'clock in the morning. Most of the students, by doubling up on the seats, had slept very well, and were tolerably fresh. They entered the fine brick station, and seated themselves in the restaurant. The Tartar waiters were all attention. " Breakfast - Dej'eener -- Friihstiick," said Lin 262: NORTHERN LANDS, OR coin who had seated himself with Scott and Billy Bobstay. The waiter smiled blandly, and shook his head. " Cafe," added the commodore. D Da," which is the Russian for " yes." " Bifsek." " DaY." " Will you have the same, Scott?" added Lincoln. "No; I think not. Please to ask him for muttonchops, boiled eggs, and fried potatoes," replied Scott.' Suppose you ask him yourself," laughed the commodore. "I don't speak any Russian. I'm afraid to learn it; think it would knock my teeth out." " What will you have, Billy? " added Lincoln.' The same that you do." "I don't see that I can get anything else. Where is Mr. Blownynozeoff? " continued- Scott.:" Who is he?" " Why, the Russian that rode with us." This gentleman now appeared with the,doctor, whom he had been assisting to procure tickets for the steamer, and he was kind enough to order breakfast for the whole party. It was good, and well served, with nothing peculiar about it, except that the butter was in glass jars, the inside of metal, and very dirty and cheesy. There were plenty of droskies at the door, and three of them were taken for the ride to the steamer. " Go ahead, Switchemoff," said Scott, as he seated himself with Billy Bobstay. The Russian gentleman directed the drivers where YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 263 to go, and they started. Descending a gentle slope, the party came to the fair grounds; but they were not to examine these till their return from Kazan. The road was very dusty,- and in wet weather the mud is very deep. Crossing the Oka River on a bridge of boats, the travellers entered what is properly the town, and soon reached the point on the river where the steamers lay. There were several of them at the quay, and it was difficult to determine which was the right one, since neither the doctor nor the students could read her name on the ticket or on the boat. But the card was shown to a man, who pointed to the right steamer, and they went on board of her. As in other parts of Europe, porters always stand ready - too ready, sometimes — to carry the travellers' baggage, and one who cannot speak the language has only to show his ticket to one of them, and he will be conducted to the right place. The party, having first-class tickets, hastened aft to where the best cabin is usually located, and went below. The accommodations were not elegant, certain-~ ly. There were' no berths, only divans around the apartment, which thed students made haste to secure, by placing their bags upon them. Having performed this necessary duity, they returned to the deck to examine the steamer, and see the strange sights. The craft was rather odd in shape, her bow and stern being depressed more than the part amidships, so that the deck sloped down, going forward or aft. The " bridge" is a platform between the paddle-boxes, of considerable size, which only first-class passengers are permitted to occupy. Upon it is the steering-wheel, which is about six feet high. 264 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " See here! How's this? " said Scott, as he led the way forward. "What is this coop for?" It was a house on deck, containing a stairway, and a small room with a table in it. The apartment was handsomely furnished, and was even luxurious compared with the after cabin. "Let us go in, and see," replied Billy Bobstay; and they entered. Descending the stairs, they came to a cabin in the forward part of the vessel, with a broad divan around it, like the other, but covered with drab cloth. It was very neatly furnished, and provided with every convenience except berths. " We are first-class, and we have got into the wrong coop," said Scott. " That's so," added Lincoln. "We will change our baggage." "- Perhaps we may be mistaken. This may be the Czar's cabin," suggested Scott. At this moment a short man, wearing a very long black frock coat, entered. When he saw the passengers, he promptly removed his cap, and bowed, so that the students concluded he was one of the stewards. " I say, Knockmyheadoff, is this the first-class cabin? " demanded Scott. The man smiled sweetly, and shook his head. " He don't speak English," said Lincoln, producing his ticket, and showing it to the steward. The man glanced at it, bowed, smiled, and swung his hands about to indicate that it was all right. " Do we belong in here, or not.?," asked Scott. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 265 " What's the matter?" said a short, stout man, entering the cabin at this moment.' Do we belong here, sir?" added Lincoln, showing him the ticket. "Yes, sir; this is the first-class cabin." " Do you belong to the boat, sir? " " I do. I am the captain." " Good! and you speak English like an American," added Scott. " I can speak it some. I have been in New York." "Have you? Give me your hand!" shouted the joker. " I am glad to see a man who has been in the United States." The captain took the joker's offered hand. " I have been in New York and San Francisco," he added. " You are my friend for life. My name is Scott." " And you are a seaman? " " Salt as the inside of a pickle barrel. Allow me to introduce you to Commodore Lincoln, in command of our squadron at Cronstadt." The captain took off his cap to Lincoln, and accepted his offered hand; but he seemed to be a little puzzled at his title. " What steamer is this, captain?" " The Stafel, Captain Ekovetz." The conversation was continued for some time. The steward was sent for the bags in the other cabin, and orders given to make the Americans as comfortable as possible. The captain was very zealous to serve his passengers, and they all went on deck together. " Can you tell me, captain, when a steamer, which 266 NORTHERN LANDS, OR - left Tver on Wednesday, arrives at this place?" asked the doctor, who had joined the students below. " She should be here now, sir," replied the captain; " but I think she has not come yet." " Two of our young men ran away from us at Tver, and must have taken this steamer." " Ran away —did they?" laughed the captain. " This is a bad country for them, then, for we don't have any habeas corp5us, or anything of that sort. The police will stop them, if you wish it." " I do wish it." The obliging commander of the steamer went on shore with the doctor to the police office, attended by Vroome, the third master. A description of the fugitives was given through the captain, and the police officer made a note of Vroome's uniform, as like those worn by De Forrest and Beckwith. The party returned to the steamer, and as the hour for starting had arrived, the fasts were cast off, and the Stafet was soon making her way down the mighty Volga. Her deck was crowded with third-class passengers, who were the peasants and laboring men of the country. They were abominably dirty and miserably dressed, several of them wearing the long sheepskin coats, the wool inside. Others wore long, light-colored coats, very ragged. Not a few of them, instead of boots, had coarse cloths wound around their feet and ankles, bound on with strings nearly as large as a bed-cord. Some of them were eating their dinners, which they carried with them, consisting of the blackest of bread and dried fish. These men were the serfs who had been liberated by the noble policy of the present emperor. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 267 The Volga, at Nijni, is about two thirds of a mile wide, and is covered with boats of all sorts and sizes. The depth of water between this point and Kazan does not admit of the passage of the largest passenger steamers. The voyager from Tver to the Caspian would change steamers for larger ones at Nijni and at Kazan. Merchandise is transported on the river in. boats, the largest of which are about a hundred and fifty feet long, with a single mast, well forward, and appear to be very substantially built. In the middle there is a house on deck, generally with an Oriental dome, painted green, which is possibly a chapel. There are other smaller boats, and a tug steamer tows from four to eight of the different sizes. These boats are owned by corporations, such as the Volga Transportation Company. Vast quantities of wheat are conveyed from'Saratoff, and other places, to the head of navigation. The students gathered on the bridge, or hurricane deck would be a' more proper name for it. Two Russian pilots were at the tall wheel, and they looked as little like sailors as it is possible to conceive. They wore the long sheepskin pelisse, with pants stuffed into their boots, and Cossack or Tartar caps. They looked particularly solemn; but they are said to know their business perfectly. The navigation of the river is very difficult in some places, and it requires not a little skill and experience to keep the boat in the channel. In shoal places, dikes have been built to turn the course of the current, or to keep it within certain limits. Large sums of money have been spent by the government in dredging 2.68 NORTHERN LANDS, OR and otherwise improving the navigation. In August the river is generally low, and there is an extensive prospect of sand-bars between the banks of the stream. The Volga flows through a flat country, but there is a ridge on the right bank, which, in places, causes the formation of a considerable bluff. The regulations for steamers passing each other appear to be excellent, and collisions to be impossible. The boat going down stream has the right of way. She whistles, and the officer of the deck waves a flag in the daytime, a lantern at night, on the side which the other boat is to pass him. The steamer going up stream whistles in reply, and a flag is waved in the direction the down boat is to take. If they are to pass on the starboard hand, both officers go to the starboard side, on the paddle-boxes, raise the flag, and drop it over on this side, repeating the movement several times; if on the port side, the signals are made accordingly. There is nothing like variety of scenery on the river, and in a short time the view becomes very monotonous. There are occasional villages to be seen on the shore, but they are composed only of log-houses. The larger towns have one or more fine churches. Late in the afternoon the Stafet made a landing at one of these places, and the greater part of the deck passengers left the boat. On the bluff was a church with a green dome, and the Russian cross at the summit. As soon as they landed, all the peasants turned their faces towards the church, crossed themselves, and bowed reverently. A few dropped upon their knees, and bent to the ground. In this manner they thank God for YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 269 bringing them in safety to their journey's end. No one seems to notice them, or to regard their conduct as at all singular. The boat stopped long enough at this place to " wood up," the work of which was done by women, while scores of stout men stood by, looking on. These women were of all ages; but none of them were handsome enough to excite the sympathy of cold-blooded foreigners. They wore calico dresses, with the belt or waist directly under the arms. The wood was carried on two poles, forming a hand-barrow, and the women bbre loads which would have strained the backs of ordinary men. " That's mean," said Scott. " I don't see how those' men can stand by, and not lend a helping hand." " You are in Russia," replied Lincoln. "Don't men have souls in Russia?" " Yes; and customs too. This seems to be one of them," laughed the commodore. "See that little one. She is not more than sixteen. She isn't bad looking, either; at least, not so bad looking as the rest of them." " If you feel bad about it, Scott, you can take a hand in the job yourself." " I will," said the joker, as the girl passed him, laughing merrily, with the pole in her hand. " Let me carry it for you;" and Scott attempted to take the pole. She stoutly resented this interference, till Captain Ekovetz spoke to her, for he had heard the conversation. The girl laughed, and so did the old woman 270 NORTHERN LANDS, OR who worked with her. The poles were laid down and loaded, and Scott picked up his end. His share of the weight was all he could stagger under, and the solemn Russians laughed heartily at his gallantry. " That's enough for me," said the joker, when he had dumped the load. " Here, Miss Maidenoff, I'm off." The girl tittered, and Scott gave her a twenty-copeck piece, which she accepted with surprise and pleasure.' Don't back out, Scott," said Lincoln. " I thought I would back out while I had a back to back out with. The idea of that girl carrying such a load is cruel. It is enough for a pack mule." " But the old woman sold you," laughed Billy Bobstay. " Sold me?" " She evidently understands the mechanical powers in practice, if not in theory, for she loaded the poles so that you carried two thirds of the weight. Probably she takes the other end with the girl."' These women claim this work as their privilege," said the captain. "If the men should attempt to bring the wood on board, the women would think it was mean in them." "Their education has been neglected," replied Scott. " This is going in for women's rights with a vengeance." "_At every railroad station where I have bought tickets, they were sold by ladies, and all of them spoke French,' added the doctor. " Women have a sphere in Russia, and some of them are well educated. You will find the women at work in the fields YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 27I in every country of Europe, and in some of them they do all the worst drudgery. In Holland we saw women dragging boats on the canals, while a man stood at the tiller, with a pipe in his mouth, smoking." The steamer started again, and the party went into the cabin to order their dinner; but with the Russian steward this was no easy matter, though he knew half a dozen words of German. He set the table, and brought on the dinner, which, however, was anything but what was ordered. The first dish after the soup was meat, chopped fine, made into cutlets, breaded, and fried. It was followed by a course of small birds with jelly, and ended with a dessert of dried fruit. It was a very good dinner, and the party were well satisfied with it. On the bridge Scott got acquainted with the mate, a short nman, and about as thick as he was long. Though he could not speak a word of English, and the joker not a word of Russian, they had some long talks, to the great amusement of the other students. The mate laughed prodigiously when he spoke, and permitted Scott to make his speeches, the joker being equally indulgent to him. "I say, Mr. Fatmanoffsky, don't you think that wheel is twice as big as it need be? " said Scott. The mate laughed, and talked Russian, but, as he pointed at the wheel, he was evidently talking about it. Even the solemn pilots were amused, either at what the Russian said, or at the absurdity of two persons talking together when neither could understand the other. The party retired early. There was a pillow to 272 NORTHERN LANDS, OR each divan, but no bed-clothes — none are furnished on any of the Volga steamers, and travellers usually carry a robe or two. They slept very well, for all of them were accustomed to "turning in" with their clothes on. In the morning the country appeared to be about the same, though the bluff on the right was higher, and a range of hills was seen in the distance, on the same side. At eleven o'clock, the steamer arrived at Kazan, in just twenty-four hours from Nijni. The city is seven versts from the river, though there is a small village on the bluff: The shore is lined with steamers and boats, loading and unloading. There was nothing attractive in the locality, and nothing interesting except the Tartar teamsters, on shore, who wore white felt hats, and sheep-skin coats; some of them with their feet and legs tied up in rags, others in boots or straw sandals. Four droskies were hired at three rubles apiece for the day, to go up to the city and return. Dr. Winstock wished to find the Professor of English of the University of Kazan, to whomn he had a letter of introduction. It would be impossible for the party to speak a word to anybody, and the captain kindly sent the steward with them to the university. The ride is a dreary one, over a region which is covered with water when the Volga floods its banks. On the left of the road is a curious pyramidal monument to the memory of the Russians who fell in the capture of the city from the Tartars. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Kazan, founded in the thirteenth century by the Golden Horde, a/ tribe of Tartars who invaded Russia. They were continually at YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 273 war with the people of Muscovy, and after repeated expeditions on the part of the Russians against the city, it was finally subdued by Ivan the Terrible, and the kingdom incorporated in his dominions. 1" I suppose we shall not go any farther east than we are now," said Lincoln, who was riding with the doctor. "No; we are within three hundred and twenty miles of Asia now, the nearest part of which lies a little east of south of us." 1" What do you suppose the people of New York and Boston are doing just now, doctor?" " They are asleep, I hope." "It is quarter past twelve now," added Lincoln, looking at his watch, which he had set by Kazan time. " In Boston it is two minutes of four o'clock in the morning, and- in New York fourteen minutes of four. It seems very odd." "I don't know that it does." " My father and mother haven't begun to think of getting out of bed yet! " laughed Lincoln. " I shall remember this place as the farthest easting I have made." After a ride of an hour the vehicles entered the city, and turned into a wide street, with fine buildings. Presently they stopped at the university, which is a very large establishment, with four hundred and fifty students. The steward led the way into the vestibule, and spoke to the porter. Then there was a difficulty which the man could not explain. He talked, made signs, and gesticulated; and it was clear that the professor was not in. The doctor spoke English, French, IS 274 NORTHERN LANDS, OR and German to the porter, who could not comprehend a word of either. But suddenly his face lighted up with a smile, and beckoning to the party to follow him, he led them up three flights of stairs, unlocked a door, and entered. Conducting the surgeon to a glass case, he triumphantly pointed to a small Egyptian mummy! The visitors courteously examined it, and other curiosities in the room, which was the museum of the university. While the party were thus engaged, an elderly Russian entered the apartment, and looked curiously at the strangers. The doctor attacked him in all the languages he could speak, but without avail. " Professor Anglisky!" shouted Dr. Winstock. "That ought to fetch him," said Scott; but it did not. " Anglisky,"&repeated the surgeon. "Da I " replied the old man, at last, his face beaming with smiles, as though he had solved the problem. Making a gesture to indicate that the party were to follow him, he led them down one flight of stairs, through a hall a hundred feet long, up another flight, through another long hall, and opened a door. The travellers entered, and he led them to a case of minerals, to which he pointed with an expression of the utmost satisfaction on his wrinkled face. " No, no, no! " exclaimed the doctor, impatiently; and the party retreated, without taking a second look at the case. The porter led them back to the entrance hall, where Lincoln and the surgeon began to ask the people who passed if they could speak English, French, YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 275 or'German. No one could; but at last the puzzled steward seemed to have obtained an idea, and made signs for the party to return to the droskies. They did so, and were driven away again; but the doctor expected to be taken to a church or a cemetery. He was mistaken, for the steward's idea was really a brilliant one, and he set his party down at the residence of the professor. He rang the bell, and sent in a message by the servant, who in a moment retur/ned and conducted the tourists to the second floor, where Professor Beresford received them. The letter was delivered, and the professor extended a cordial welcome to the party. For an hour he entertained them with his accounts of the Russians, and then volunteered to show them some of the sights of the city. They went to the Kremlin, which contains a cathedral; a tower in the form of a pyramid, nearly two hundred and fifty feet high; the convent built for the miraculous picture of Our Lady of Kazan, now in St. Petersburg, though it has a copy of the original, on which glitters a crown of diamonds, presented by Catharine II. The city of Kazan has a population of sixty thousand, of whom more than half are Tartars. They live by themselves, in their own quarter of the town, and retain their own manners and customs. They are Mohammedans, and have twelve mosques. Under the guidance of the professor the party drove to this section. The houses were generally of two stories, but the lower one among the poorer classes is devoted to the horses and other stock, or used as a store-room, while the family occupy the second story. The Tar 2176 NORTHERN LANDS, OR tars were easily distinguished from the Russians by their Asiatic faces and their costume. The men of the better class wear a calico tunic, and trousers of the same material. Over these they wear a long coat. The trousers are stuffed into the boots, which are generally of colored morocco, fancifully ornamented; and most of them wear overshoes, doubtless for convenience in entering the mosque. The head is close shaved, and they wear a skull-cap, often richly embroidetred, but on the street they have a fur cap over it. "It's easy enough to catch a Tartar here," said Scott. "Don't try," replied Billy Bobstay. " High O! What's that? A Tartar carriage, with two ladies! That's the kind we read of." It was an odd vehicle. The fore and hind wheels were at least twelve feet apart, and connected by two strips of board, on which rested the body of an ordinary wagon. Seated in this carriage were two Tartar ladies, in the full costume of Mohammedan countries, including the robes, and the bandages over the face, which concealed all but the nose and the eyes. Both of them were young, and they looked mischievous, as they glanced at the Americans; but they were not pretty. Scott had the presumption to touch his cap and bow as they passed. The droskies stopped at this moment. " You will catch a Tartar if you do that, young gentleman," laughed the professor. "You mustn't take any notice of the ladies here." " Can't one be civil and polite to them?" " No; give them the cold shoulder." YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 277 "They smiled, and looked roguish," persisted Scott. Their faces are painted, too."' All the Tartar women paint. Here is a mosque; we will go in, if you please. But you must scrape your feet, and use the mat vigorously. The Tartar gentlemen take off their overshoes before they enter, and in most Mohammedan countries they compel strangers to remove their shoes; but they are not so particular here." The party complied with these directions, and a man admitted them. The interior of the mosque was very plain, with a gallery on one side. On the floor were dirty and ragged carpets for the faithful to kneel upon. There were no seats, and the only furniture was a stand some eight feet high, on which the Koran is read and expounded. This was one of the plainest and simplest mosques, and a few months later the students had an opportunity of seeing them in all their glory in Constantinople. The party now drove to Commonens's restaurant for dinner; after which they took another drive through the streets. Most of the students were again astonished, as they had been before, to find that a city in the eastern part of Russia is so much like one in America, though they did not cherish this view when they stood before such a quaint structure as the Cathedral Nicolski. Thanking Professor Beresford for his kindness, the party started for the steamer again, which was to leave at eight o'clock the next morning, and they had decided to sleep on:board. At an early hour they were awaked by the advent of a number of passengers coming into the cabin. 278 NORTHERN LANDS, OR Several of them were Tartars of the highest class, and Scott called them " Cream Tartars," for they were very richly dressed. The boat started, and the students in the cabin continued to gaze at their singular companions. They called for tea, and produced their own provisions, consisting of bread and caviar, upon which they made their breakfast. It would be considered rather shabby for first-class passengers in America to carry their own provisions, but it is all right on the Volga. At noon these Tartars attended to their devotions on the bridge without any regard to the bystanders. They spread a robe on the top of the paddle-box, and taking off their overshoes, knelt upon it. Then they put their hands behind their ears, and over their eyes, bowing their heads to the floor, and repeating their prayers. In the afternoon the steamer passed a large boat, going down the river, towed by a steamer. It had a cabin, extending nearly the whole length of it, with small, grated windows. The captain said this was a convict boat, in which prisoners were conveyed down the Volga, and up the Kama to Perm, from which they have to march to Siberia. When they reach their destination, they are compelled to work in the mines. The captain said that many of them returned, and made good citizens. At three o'clock on the afternoon of the next day, the Stafet arrived at Nijni Novgorod. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 279 CHAPTER XV. THE MOVEMENTS OF THE RUNAWAYS. W' HILE the voyagers were taking leave of Captain Ekovetz, who had been so attentive to them, an officer spoke to him in Russian. "The police have your runaways," added the captain. "Indeed! Where are they? " asked the doctor. "At the police office. They came down in the boat from Tver, and were about to take the steamer for -Kazan," said the captain, after some further conversation with the officer. " This man will conduct you to the police office." The party followed him, and in a short time came to the place where De Forrest and Beckwith were held, not exactly "' in durance vile," but in the office of the police. The runaways looked decidedly crestfallen. "'This is rather unexpected. I thought you were going only to Moscow; but it appears that you have not even been there at all," said Dr. Winstock. "' No, sir, we have not," replied De Forrest. " I suppose you will think we ran away; but we did not." " I must acknowledge that the course you have taken is open to that interpretation," added the doctor. 280 NORTHERN LANDS, OR " I knew you would think so," said Beckwith, trying to look honest and innocent. "Nothing of the sort, sir," continued De Forrest. " We took a cup of coffee at Tver, and then stepped out in the rear of the station to get a sight of the town and the river. The conductor told me the train would not start for fifteen minutes, or I didn't understand him. I don't know which." "Did he tell you in Russian? " " No, sir; in German." " Do you remember what he said?" "' iinfzehn minuen.' " " What question did you ask him?" "' Wie lange b6eiben sie hierP'" " You asked him how long he remained at the station, after he had been there ten minutes?" " Yes, sir." "Your German was better than your logic." " I supposed he meant fifteen minutes more." "You had no right to suppose so, if you did suppose any such thing. However, it is not for me to decide on this case." " The train went off in less than five minutes. We ran after it, and yelled with all our might; Didn't you hear us, sir?" " I confess that I did not," replied the doctor, with a smile; "' but that doesen't prove that I am hard of hearing. You came down the Volga?" " Yes, sir. I thought Moscow was on the Volga, but Beckwith said it was not," replied De Forrest. "I knew it was not, and told him so," protested Beckwith. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 281 " But still you went with him?" " The captain spoke English a little, and told us we could take the train to Moscow. We didn't like to wait in that station till five o'clock the next morning." " A train left Tver at about eleven that forenoon, and I supposed, if you were left, that you would come down in that."' We didn't know it." At this moment Captain Ekovetz came into the office, and through him it was ascertained that the runaways were captured while they were going on board of a steamer about to start for Kazan, and had their tickets, for which the police compelled the seller to refund the money. De Forrest attempted to explain, but his statement was rather improbable — quite as much so as the rest of his story. "How long have you been here?" inquired the doctor. "Three days, sir." "As prisoners?" We staid at the Hotel Odessa, but the police and the servants watched us all the time." " This isn't a good country to- run away in," laughed the doctor. " We had no idea of running away, sir." " Getting left is about the same thing. But we will move on, for we have not much time to spare." Droskies were taken, and the captain directed them to drive to Minin's Tower. It is on a bluff, where the old town stood, including a part of the Kremlin, and commands a fine view of the river and the fair grounds, on the tongue of land between the Volga and the Oka. 282 NORTHERN LANDS, OR The party entered the Cathedral of the Transformation, where Minin is buried. "Who was Minin?" asked Lincoln, as they stood by the obelisk erected to his memory. "You remember Mr. Mapps told you about the false Dimitris, and that, in the confusion and anarchy brought about by them, the'crown was offered to Vladislas, son of the King of Poland, for the Poles were really the masters of the country. The Russians had been beaten by them in many battles, for the former had no suitable leader. When everything seemed to be lost, Kosma Minin, a butcher of this town, obscure and uneducated, but possessed of good judgment, brave, honest, and unselfish, roused his fellow-citizens to a sense of their peril. His words and his example induced the people to take up arms, and appropriate all their fortunes for the deliverance of the nation from its oppressors. This spirit of patriotic devotion extended to other places, and Prince Pojarski, was soon able to take the field at the head of a large force. Minin seconded all the efforts of the prince, and by this sudden uprising the Poles were driven from the country. The movement was followed by the election to the throne of Michael Romanoff. The bronze statues which you saw in Moscow, opposite the bazaar, represents Minin urging Pojarski to deliver Moscow from the Poles." The tourists returned to the droskies, and the doctor directed his driver by pointing in the direction of the Lair grounds. "This does not look much as it does during the fair," said the surgeon, as they drove across the bridge YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 283 of boats. " The rivers are crowded with boats of every description, from all parts of the vast empire. The Oka here is literally filled with them, so that there is hardly a channel for the passage of others. These craft are quite a study, for they comprise an immense variety, and it is said that the floating population of this vicinity during the fair is about fifty thousand. This bridge is quite as crowded as London Bridge during business hours, and mounted Cossacks are stationed upon it to keep it from being obstructed. These soldiers are also on duty in the crowded streets, to preserve order. The mud here is sometimes a foot deep - at least it was when I visited the fair several years ago. Even the paved streets are ploughed and furrowed by the wheels of heavily-loaded vehicles."' It is a hard road to travel now," added Lincoln; for the vehicle jolted so that it was not easy for the passengers to keep their seats. " Most of the goods for the fair come in boats, and have to be hauled to the shops in wagons, making bad work of the roads. When not muddy, it is very dusty." The party entered the grounds of the fair, the doctor instructing his driver by signs. The entire space between the Volga and the Oka is laid out in streets and squares. There are ten miles of wharf on the two rivers. There are about four hundred steamers on the Volga, many of which were built in England, Belgium, and other countries, and have been brought to the river through the various canals, or in pieces, and put together again; but Russia can build her own steamers now. The streets are lined with shops, most of the buildings being of brick, a few of stone. Some 284 NORTHERN LANDS, OR of the open spaces are covered with booths and tents. The stores are generally quite'small, not more than twenty by fifteen feet. In the rear of them are livingapartments for the merchants and their employees, In the centre of the fair are the headquarters of the governor; but the ground floor of the building is devoted to a bazaar for the sale of fancy articles and manufactured goods, and a band of music usually plays here. Concerts are also given in the square by a military band. Near the official residence are theatres and exhibitions of every description. The Great Fair is the harvest time of beggars, and thousands of them visit it, some of them coming from great distances. The lame, the halt, and the blind come, and very many of them are impostors, who pretend to have bodily ailments, or who have produced sores on their persons by artificial means, to excite the sympathies of the benevolent. The number of persons in attendance on the fair is estimated by the amount of bread consumed, and the bakers are required to make daily returns to the governor'of the quantity sold. By this means it is ascertained that the fair is visited, during the season of eight weeks, by from one hundred and fifty thousand to three hundred thousand persons. The amount of business transacted by sale and purchase is about one hundred million dollars. There is as much variety in the shops as in diflerent parts of a large city. Certain sections are devoted to the wholesale trade, and others to the retail. Many of the shops are filled with large bundles and bales, while others glisten with ornamental articles. Some YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 285 of the avenues hardly differ in appearance from Broadway in New York, except in the uniformity of the buildings. The windows are filled with displays of jewelry, fancy goods, toys, dry goods, clocks, and watches, furs, silks, and, indeed, everything that one would see in a great city. Some shops are devoted exclusively to furs, and the assortment is large and fine. Dried fish is a great article of commerce liere. The value of the sturgeon fisheries on the Volga is estimated at two and a half million rubles, while thirty thousand casks of caviar have been sent up from Astrakhan in one year. The productions of Asia are largely represented at the fair, the most important of which is the tea of China. The Chinese quarter is fitted up in Celestial style, with verandas and pagodas; but very few Chinese attend the fait of late years. Fifteen million pounds of the finest tea are brought into Russia, most of it to this bazaar. It is transported to Perm by boats, sledges, and camels, and thence by the Kama and Volga to Nijni. Along the rivers are the coarser articles of merchandise -iron in bars and sheets, and manufactured into kettles and household utensils, millstones, vast quantities of wheat, rolls of leather from Kazan, boxes of candles from Asia, copper and platinum from the Ural Mountains, and bells of all sizes, hung so that their tone can be tested. Perhaps the most interesting feature of the fair to an American or Englishman is the people that gather there, especially the Asiatics. But the variety is by no means as great as the visitor will expect to find after reading the descriptions of them which have been published. There are plenty of Persians and Tartars 286 NORTHERN LANDS, OR in full costume, the former with knives and pistols in their belts, placed there for ornament rather than use. A few grave Chinamen may also be seen; but the great majority of the people are Russians. Unless one wishes to make a study of it, a few hours are enough to enable the stranger to see the fair. A canal extends through the ground, as a protection against fire, and no smoking is allowed in the streets, on penalty of twenty-five rubles, and the rule is enforced by the Cossacks on duty. Under the streets there is a system of sewers for the draining of the land and the carrying off of refuse matter. A stream of water is made to flow through them several times a day, to remove the deposits there. In the streets there are, at regular intervals, small white towers over staircases to descend into the sewers, where are small apartments for men, in which alone they are allowed to smoke. These improvements have cost large sums of money, and the merchants are taxed to the amount of forty thousand dollars a year to pay the expenses. The tourists drove through the principal avenues of the deserted grounds, and the doctor told them what he had seen there during his former visit when the fair was held. During the ride De Forrest and- Beckwith were not much interested in the sights to be seen, or in the descriptions of the surgeon. They realized that the explanation of their absence was not accepted by the surgeon, and probably would not be better received by the principal. "We have made a mess of it," said Beckwith. " I didn't believe in the scrape at all." "You wouldn't have come with me, if you had not," replied the purser. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 287 "We haven't been to Kazan, or down the Volga, and we haven't even seen Moscow, as the rest of the fellows have." "We are going there to-night." "Yes; but we leave in two or three hours after we arrive. We shall go on board at Cronstadt, and not be allowed any liberty again. That's all we shall make by running away." " Perhaps not. You may go back to the ship, but I shall not," replied De Forrest, doggedly. ", What will you do?" "I told you what I wouldn't do, and that is just the same as telling you what I will do. As you seem to be dissatisfied with what you have done, you can do as you please," growled the purser. " I don't think we have made anything so far by the course we have taken," added Beckwith. "Of course we haven't; we were tripped up." -" We may be tripped up again. These Russian policemen don't make anything of stopping a fellow." " We ran right into a trap here in Nijni. The doctor and his party got here before we did, and were looking for us. We shall do well enough if we take another track." " But where do you mean to go?" " If you are going to back out, I won't say anything about it."' I'm not going to back out. I will go with you to the end of the earth." " All right. That sounds like something. We will go right through from Moscow to Warsaw. You know that German Cours-Buch we found at the hotel yesterday?" 288 NORTHERN LANDS, OR "Yes; but I couldn't make anything of it." " I laid out a route, and wrote it down on a piece of paper." "But how will you get away? The doctor will keep watch of us all the time now," suggested Beckwith. "Besides, the other divisions, of the squadron are coming to Moscow, and the principal may be there by the time we arrive." "No matter. if he is; we can easily manage it. You follow my lead, and I will bring you out all right.' By this time the droskies arrived at the railroad station, where the travellers dined, and obtained their tickets for Moscow. As the students paid their own fare, they were permitted to take first or second class cars, as they preferred. Following the example of the surgeon, most of them went first class, and when they came to take their seats it was found that only Scott and Beckwith had elected to go by the second class. There were very few passengers, and as the doctor gave the conductor a ruble, he disposed of the party so that there were only two or three in a compartment, which afforded them plenty of room to lie down and sleep. As a specimen of the Russian letter, we give a copy of the surgeon's ticket:HMAKEH- 4 HOBFOPOAB. MOCKBA. 1KAACC.IsP. 30K. MOSCOW PHOTOGRAPHS, 1. DnosKY DRIvER. 3. TOWR OF IVAN VILLKOF. 2. TIE METROPOLITAN OF MOSCOW. 4. CATIEIRAL OF ST. BASIL. 2.'VI MlL1IETRO1'OLITAN OF MOSCOW. 4. (HA15IEIDAL OF~ ST. BASIL. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 289 It is translated: Nijni Novgorod. Moscow. ISt Class 12 R. 30 C. The train arrived at Moscow at nine the next morning, and the tourists went to the Hotel de Hambourg. The third division of the squadron had come, and the second was to leave that day. Mr. Lowington and Mr. Fluxion were both at the hotel, and as soon as De Forrest saw the doctor shaking hands with the principal, he decided that he would not wait to be introduced to him. Nodding to Beckwith, he led the way through one of the long halls of the hotel, and found a staircase which led down to an arch under the house. On the other side of it was the dining room, which they entered. This room was on the ground floor, and the windows were open. No one was in sight, and they stepped out through one of them into the street. " Where are you going, De Forrest?" asked Beckwith, nervously. " I thought we had better keep out of the principal's sight," replied the purser, as he led the way up the Rue Lubianka. "Here is another hotel," he added, as they came to the corner on which is the house kept by Mr. Billot. "But we can't do anything here, without a word of the language." " We will go into the hotel; " and De Forrest entered, followed by his companion. "Good morning, young gentlemen," said the proprietor, in good English. I9 290 NORTHERN LANDS, OR "Good morning, sir," replied De Forrest; "can you give us a room?" "0 yes." "And send breakfast to the room?"' Certainly."' That suits our case," said De Forrest; and a servant was sent up stairs with them. The apartment to which they were shown was on the second floor, with windows opening into the Rue Lubianka, so that the runaways could observe the movements of the party. Presently the landlord called to see them, and asked if the room suited them. Then he inquired who and what all the young men in uniform were whom he had seen during the past week, and De Forrest explained the whole matter to his satisfaction. " But why don't they come to my hotel?" asked Mr. Billot. "I don't know, sir; it must have been a mistake on the part of the principal." " A very great mistake," added the landlord, laughing. " We preferred to come here, but very likely the principal will blame us for it; so, if you please, don't mention to any one that we are here." " I will not." " Thank you." The landlord was vexed to have his house passed by, and, afraid that he should lose his two customers if he mentioned them, he was content to keep still. Breakfast was sent up to the runaways, at an extra charge. They staid in their room all day, not daring YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 291 to leave it lest they should be seen by some of their shipmates. If they had been condemned to such an imprisonment on board of the ship, even for running away, they would have called it tyranny. They looked through the apertures at the sides of the curtains, and saw the second division depart for St. Petersburg, and the third starting for the Kremlin. They dined in their room at five, and at half past eight in the evening, when the party at the other hotel had gone to the Petrofski Gardens, they paid their bill, and took a drosky for the Kief Railway station. The lady who sold the tickets spoke French, so that they had no difficulty there. At noon the next day they arrived at Orel, from which they departed at half past one for Dunaburg, on the line from St. Petersburg to Warsaw. They reached this town at six o'clock on the evening of the next day, and were obliged to wait till two o'clock the next morning for a train, by which they proceeded to Warsaw. They had been three days on the road, and had slept three nights on the train, travelling eleven hundred miles, and paying fifty rubles each for the fares, besides six more for meals. They were tired out, and utterly disgusted with railroad travelling. Taking a carriage at Praga, a suburb of Warsaw, where the station is located, they crossed the high bridge over the Vistula, and were left at the Hotel de l'Europe. They were shown to a room twenty feet square, for which the charge was two rubles a day. In the restaurant on the lower floor, where the waiters spoke German- as well as Polish, they found themselves seated near a party who were conversing 292 NORTHERN LANDS, OR in English. It consisted of a gentleman and two ladies, one of the latter being but about seventeen years old. They were dressed in black, and the younger was very pretty, - so pretty that De Forrest could not help looking at her, as opportunity favored him. But the young lady seemed as much inclined to look at the runaways, and their eyes often met. The party spoke in a low tone, and were evidently talking about the young officers. Presently the gentleman rose from his chair and approached them. "I beg your pardon," said he; "but I think we have met before." " Indeed! I was not aware of it; though I am very glad to see any one who speaks the English language," replied De Forrest. " You belong to the school ship, if I mistake not. We went on board of her at Christiansand; you had just arrived from America, and we had come in the Orlando from Hull."'" Yes, sir; I remember that steamer, and the party that came on board the ship." "- My name is Kinnaird." "I am happy to see you, Mr. Kinnaird. My name is De Forrest, and my friend is Mr. Beckwith." " Now permit me to present you to the ladies, who were much interested in your ship, and especially in her young officers," added the polite gentleman, as he conducted them to the table his party had taken. " Mrs. Kinnaird, my wife." De Forrest and Beckwith made their best bows. "Miss Julia Gurney, my wife's sister," added Mr. Kinnaird. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 293 c" I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Miss Gurney," answered De Forrest, as he bowed to the pretty young lady. "I was so pleased with the ship in which you sail, and the nice-looking young officers, that I have been wishing I might meet them again," said Miss Gurney. For half an hour they talked about the ship and the other vessels, and each party told where they had been. " And you are one of those fine young officers," said the young lady, suddenly, laughing her satisfaction as she spoke.' I am," replied De Forrest, though he had some doubts on this point. " And where is your ship now?" " At Cronstadt. The squadron will go to K6inigs-; berg or Danzig next; then to Stettin or Swinemiinde. The students will make a trip to Berlin and Dresden." " O, then I shall see them again," exclaimed Miss Gurney. " But don't you sail with the others?" " Yes, yes; but you see we make journeys on shore. We all went to Moscow, and some of us down the Volga to Kazan."' How delightful! I wish I was a boy! If I were I would be a sailor, and join your ship. It must be elegant?"' O yes- yes; very," replied De Forrest, glancing at his shipmate, who could hardly keep from laughing. " I think I should like it so well, that I wouldn't go on shore. It is so stupid to be dragged through all these old palaces, and churches, and tombs, though I like to look at the pictures." 294 NORTHERN LANDS, OR De Forrest was fascinated by the -beauty and sprightliness of Miss Gurney. Her innocence and simplicity imparted a candor to her speech which pleased him, and,'fatigued as he was, he was sorry to lose sight of her when the party retired to their rooms. Then her image went with him, and followed himl into his dreams. He met her again in the morning, and the runaways were invited' to accompany the party to Villenoy, and to see the sights of the capital of Poland. In a few days they left for Bromberg, and though Beckwith protested, De Forrest insisted upon accompanying them. Then he could not resist his inclination to go with the party to Kinigsberg, where Mr. Kinnaird desired to see a friend; but he hoped the squadron would not come there. It did not go to Kiinigsberg, because the water was not deep enough, but it anchored at Pillau, the port of the city, twenty-six miles distant. While the runaways were dining with their new friends at the Ho-tel de Prusse, feeling perfectly secure because they had heard nothing of the squadron, the officers and students marched through the room to another, where dinner had been prepared for them. "O, I am so delighted to see them!" exclaimed Julia. " How glad you must be, Mr. De Forrest!" "'Yes-yes-very glad," stammered the purser. " Will you excuse us for a few moments? I want to speak to some of them." " O, certainly! How delighted you must be!" chattered the pretty Miss Gurney. Before they had time to retire, the principal confronted them, and prevented their escape. DE FOREST AND JULIA. Page 294. YOUNG AMERICA IN RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA. 295 CHAPTER XVI. SOMETHING ABOUT PRUSSIA AND GERMANY. DR. WINSTOCK grasped the hand of the principal when they met in Moscow, and briefly reported the incidents of his trip down the Volga, with the little party. " Of course you knew that De Forrest and Beckwith left us at Tver? " added the doctor. "Yes; Mr. Agneau informed me, and, poor man, he was very much worried about the absentees," replied Mr. Lowington. "I concluded they had gone down the Volga to Nijni. I asked the police to detain them, and they did so. On my return from Kazan, I found them in custody, and not at all satisfied with the results of their runaway excursion. I brought them up with me, so that they are all right now. They claimed to have been left by the train at Tver by accident." "I suppose they tried that plan because they thought it succeeded in Norway and Sweden; but I did not punish those because they made a full confession, and seemed to be sorry for what they had done. Where. are the runaways?" "They are here, sir. I saw them come into the hotel with the others." 296 NORTHERN LANDS, OR The word was passed along for De Forrest and Beckwith, but they were not there to answer. A dozen had seen them come into the house, and a party who were standing at the door were sure they had not gone out. They could not be found, and the doctor was even more chagrined than the chaplain had been. ".Never mind, doctor; I shall not run after them. Running away has been so common that I have ceased to worry about it," said the principal. " They will-come back when their money is all gone, if not before." "