b o o k j e f t 0f his creation, it is of little confequence whether we
m~ , bow down to the productions of the painter, or to thofe of
the fculptor.
Over the door of each church is the portrait of the faint
to whom'it is dedicated, to which the common people pay
their homage as they pafs along, by taking off their hats,
croffing themfelves, and occafionally touching the ground
with their heads, a ceremony which I often faw them repeat
nine or ten times in fucceffion.
Before I clofe the general defcription of the Ruffian -
churches, I muft not forget their bells, which form, I may
almoft fay, no inconiiderable part of divine worihip in this
country, as the length or ihortnefs of their peals afcertains
the greater or letter fanClity of the day. They are hung in
belfreys detached from the church : they do not fwing like
our bells, but are fixed immoveably to the beams, are rung
by a rope tied to the clapper, and pulled fideways. Some of
thefe bells are of a ftupendous fize : one in the tower of St.
Ivan’s church weighs 3551 Ruffian poods,or 127,836 Eng-
lifh pounds. It has always been efteemed a meritorious a£t
of religion to prefent a church with bells; and the piety of
the donor has been meafured by their magnitude. According
to this mode of eftimation, Boris Godunof, who gave a
bell of 288,000 pounds to the cathedral of Mofcow, was the
moil pious fovereign of Ruffia, until he was furpaffed by
the emprefs Anne, at whofe expence a bell was caft weighing
432,000 pounds, and which exceeds in bignefs every
bell in the known-world. Its fize is fo enormous, that I
could fcarcely have given credit to the account of its magnitude
if I had not examined it myfelf, and afcertained its
dimenfions with great exadtnefs. Its height is nineteen
4 feet,
feet, its circumference at the bottom twenty-one yards eleven
inches, its greateft thicknefs' twenty-three inches *. ■
The beam to which this vaft machine was fattened being
accidentally burnt, the bell fell down, and a fragment was
broken off towards the bottom, which left an aperture large
enough to admit two perfons a-breaft without ttooping.
Our inn being clofe to the walls of Kremlin, I had frequent
opportunities of examining its principal buildings.
The palace, inhabited by the antient tzars, ftands at the
extremity of the Kremlin. Part of this palace is old, and
remains in the fame ftate in which it was built under Ivan
Vaffilievitch I. The remainder has been fucceffively added
at different intervals without any plan, and in various ftyles
of architedture ; which has produced a motley pile of building,
remarkable for nothing but the incongruity of the feve-
ral ftrudtures. The top is- thickly fet, with numerous little
gilded fpires and globes; and a large portion of the front
is decorated with the arms of all the provinces, which com-
pofe the Ruffian empire. The apartments are in general
exceedingly imall, excepting one fingle room, called the
council-chamber, in which the antient tzars ufed to give audience
to foreign embafladors ; and which has been repeatedly
defcribed by feveral Englilh travellers, who vifited Mofcow
before the Imperial refidence was transferred to Peterfi-
burgh. The room is large and vaulted, and has in the centre
an enormous pillar of ftone, which fupports the cieling f.
Mr. Hanway, in his travels, has given Embafiy, p. 149. In the feaft which Alexey
an accurate defcription and engraving o f Michaelovitch gave to the Earl o f Carlifle,
this bell. this great pillar was adorned with a won -
t “ The roof o f the audience-chamber derful variety o f gold and filver veffels,
“ was arched and fupported by a great p . 292.
** pillar in the middle.” Lord Carlifle’s