Bf ° K Seft* If retains many traces of its antient Afiatick pomp,
—y—j Wended with European refinement. An immenfe retinue
of courtiers always preceded and followed the emprefs; the
coftlinefs and glare of their apparel, and a profufion of precious
ftones, created a fplendour, of which the magnificence
of other courts can give us only a faint idea. The court-
drefs of the men is in the French faihion : that of the ladies
is a gown and petticoat, with a fmall hoop; the gown has
long hangjng-fleeves and a ihort train, and is of a different
colour from the petticoat. The ladies wore, according to.
the faihion of the winter of 1 7 7 7 at Paris and London, very
lofty head-dreffes, and were not fparing in the ufe of rouge.
Amid the feveral articles of fumptuouihefs which diftinguiih
the Ruffian nobility, there is none perhaps more calculated?
to ftrike a foreigner than the profufion of diamonds and
other precious ftones, which fparkle in every part of their
drel's. In moft other European countries thefe coftly ornaments
are (excepting among a few of the richeft and principal
nobles) almoft entirely appropriated to the la d ie s b u t in
this the men vie with the fair fex in the ufe of them. Many
of the nobility were almoft covered with diamonds; their
buttons, buckles, hilts of fwords, and epaulets, were compofed
of this valuable m a te r ia lth eir hats were frequently embroidered,
if I may ufe the expreffion, with feveral rows o f
them ; and a diamond-ftar upon the coat was fcarcely a dif-
tindion. This paffion for jewels feems to pervade the
lower ranks of people, for even private families abound with
them ; and the wife of a common Ruffian burgher will appear
with a head-drefs or girdle of pearls, and other precious
ftones, to the value of two or three hundred pounds.
After this general and particular defcription of the court
of Ruffia, it would be tedious to enumerate every particular
time
time we attended the drawing room. I ihall therefore only c h a p .
dwell upon fome days when the folemnity of the occafion J ! L
added fome variety to the general famenefs which charac-
teriies a court.
The emprefs, in days of high ceremony,, generally wears
a crown of diamonds of immenfe value, and appears with
the ribbands of the order of St. Andrew and Merit, flung both
ever the fame ihoulder, with the collars of thofe orders ...
and the two ftars emblazoned one above the other upon
her veft. 1
On certain anniverfaries. the emprefs dines in, publick ; ;
two of thefe days occurred in the courfe of our ftay at Pe- -
teriburgh. The cd.of December being the feaft of the So- -
mohilof regiment of guards, her majefty, who as fovereign
is colonel of the corps, gave, according to annual cuftom, a
grand entertainment to the officers. Being defirous to be
Prefent, we repaired to court at twelve. Her majefty was •
t reffed in the uniform of the regiment, which is green -
trimmed with gold lace, made in the form of a lady’s riding
habit. As foon as all the officers of the regiment had kiifed
her hand, a falver of wine was brought in by one of the
lords in waiting, and the emprefs prefented a glafs to each
officer, who received it from her hands, and, after a low
obeiiance, drank it off. At the eonclufion of this ceremony r
her majefty led the way, about one o’clock, into an adjoining
apartment, in which a fumptuous dinner wasTpread : ihe
took her place in the middle of the table; and the officers
were ranged on each fide According to their refpedive ranks
The emprefs helped the foup herfelf, and paid the greateft
attention to her guefts during the whole repaft, which laftcdv
about an hour, when her majefty rofe from table and with-
drew. <
On