book, the fpot where it now ftands. When landed at Peterfburgh
v- - . ' . it was 42 feet long at the bafe, 36 at the top, 21 thick, and
17 high ; a bulk greatly furpaflihg in weight the molt
boafted monuments of Roman grandeur, which, according.,
to the fond admirers of antiquity, would have baffled
the Ikill o f modern mechanicks, and were alone fufficierit
to render confpicuons the reign of. the. moft degenerate ernperors.
The pedeftal, however,, though itili of prodigious magnitude,
‘is far from retaining, its original dimenfions, as, in
order to form a proper Ration for the ftatue, and to repre-
fent an afcent, the fummit whereof the horfe is endeavouring
to attain, its bulk has been' neceffarily diminiihed. But
1 could not obferve, without regret, that the artift has been
deiirous to improve upon nature ;■ and in order to produce
a refemblance of an abrupt broken precipice, has been too
lavifh of the chiffel. Near it was a model in plaifter, to the
ihape of which the workmen were falhioning the pedeftal.
It appeared to me, that in this model the art was too con-
fpicuous ; and that the effect would have been far more
fublime, i f the ftone had been left as much as poffible in its
rude ftate, a vaft unwieldy ftupendous mafs. And indeed,
unle’fs I am greatly miftaken, the pedeftal, when finiffled
according to this plan, will have fcarcely breadth fufficient
’ to afford a proper bafe for a ftatue of fuch Coloffal fize * .
* T h e ftatue was ere£ted on the pedeftal
on the 27th o f Auguft, 1782. The ceremony
was performed with great folemnity,
.and was accompanied with a folemn inauguration.
A t the fame time the emprefs
iffued a proclamation, in which, among other
inftances o f her clemency, ihe pardons all
criminals under fentence o f death ; all de»
ferters, who ihould return to their refpe&ive
corps within a limited time ; and releafes
all criminals condemned to hard labour,
provided they had not been guilty o f murder.
Having
P E T E R S B U R G H . 477
Having paffed feveral months in Ruffia, I fhall here throw c^ p'
together fuch fa<5ts and obfervations as occurred to me con->— j
cerning the ftate of the weather, and the effects of the cold
in this fevere climate.
During our journey from Mofcow to Peterfburgh in the
.month of September, we found the weather very changeable,
the autmnal rains, being extremely frequent and heavy*.
The mornings and evenings were extremely cold, and, when- -
ever it did not rain, we generally obferved that the grafs
and trees were covered with a white froft. Upon our arrival
at Peterfburgh on the 1 9th of September N. S. the winter
was not yet fet in : in Oftober the weather, for the firft
twenty days, was the moft part rainy ; and the mercury, in
Fahrenheit’s thermometer, was feldom below freezing point,
and moftly flu&uated between 32 and 44. The firft fnow
made its appearance in fleet on the 9th, and the following
day it came down in flakes and in large quantities : on the
24th the mercury fuddenly funk to 25 ; hut in the enfuing
morning, it r'ofe above freezing point, there came a fudden
* In 30 days it rained 24 ; and the quantity
o f water which fell at-Sf. Peterlburgh
in the month o f September O. S. was equal
to 2$ Engliih inches in depth.
From accurate obfervations during fourteen
years to afcertain the quantity o f rain
and fnow which fell at St. Peteriburgh, the
refult was, that the average annual duration
o f fnowy and rainy weather was equal to
42 times 24 hours, or lomething lefs than
the ninth part o f the year. From a courfe
o f ten years obfervations it appeared, that
reign fell during feme part o f 103 days, and
fnow during fome part o f 72, and that if
the year was divided into twelve parts, a
fourth was fine weather, a third rain, and a
fifth fnow.
T h e whole quantity o f rain and fnow
water, taken together, which fell in the
courfe o f a year, was in the following proportion
:
Inches,*
January 0,979”
F eb ruary . 0.979
March 0^801
April 1,246
May *>335
June- 3,116
July 2,760
Auguft - 2,671
September jj 3,#3
Odtober *>493
November I>513
December °>979
“ .345.
T h e average quantity o f rain which falls ini
London in the courfe o f a year is equal to
19,241.
thaw.