o have rent to pay
and large establishments to keep up. Upon this conviction the poorer
classes especially throng hither to purchase such articles as they
require, making the scene one of great activity and general interest.
The tall tower of the water-supply was not originally intended for
the use to which it has at last been appropriated. It was first
erected by the Tzar Peter to mark the northeastern gate of the town,
which was held by one faithful regiment when the rest revolted. This
same regiment escorted him and his mother for safety to the Troitzkoi
Monastery, situated thirty miles from the city, and which is
considered to-day as the holy of holies so far as monasteries are
concerned in Russia. Hither the Empress Catherine II. made the
pilgrimage on foot to fulfil some conditional vow, accompanied by all
her court, only advancing, however, five miles each day, and not
forgetting to have every possible luxury conveyed in her train
wherewith to refresh herself. It will be remembered that Napoleon in
his usual rashness had planned to destroy this monastery, and had
issued orders to that effect, just as he had done in the instance of
St. Basil already referred to; but he was defeated in his purpose by
the haste with which the demoralized army retreated from the country.

The Troitzkoi is not merely a monastery, it is also a semi-fortress,
a palace, and a town containing eight churches, a bazaar, a hospital,
and many stately residences, altogether forming a confused though
picturesque group of towers, spires, belfries, and domes. It is
dominated by a famous bell-tower two hundred and fifty feet high,
containing one of the finest chimes of bells in all Russia,
thirty-five in number. In the Church of the Trinity is the shrine of
Saint Sergius, an elaborate piece of work of solid silver, weighing
nearly a thousand pounds; it is so constructed that the relics of the
saint are exposed. The whole of the monastery grounds are enclosed in
a high wall twenty feet in thickness, with heavy octagon towers
guarding the four principal corners. A deep moat surrounds the wall,
and against the attack of a hostile force in former times it was
thought to be remarkably protected, and is undoubtedly the strongest
fortified monastery in the East. The large prison within the walls
has been the scene of as great cruelty during the last two centuries
as any similar establishment in Europe or Asia. The name Troitzkoi
signifies the Trinity. T