the Twelfth of Sweden. It is
like a litter, somewhat rudely constructed, or rather can be used as a
chair or litter by turns, having poles at the side by which it is
carried. There are some battered-looking kettle-drums, one belonging to
the same monarch. They were part of the spoils taken by Peter the Great
at the celebrated battle of Pultova, when the Russians at length gained
a victory over the Swedes, and Charles himself, hitherto victorious, was
obliged to seek safety in flight. The most curious articles in the
Museum are, however, the carriages, specimens of which are preserved
from the earliest times in which they were used. They are, as may be
supposed, huge, lumbering, gingerbread, lord-mayor-looking affairs. In
some the coach-box is several yards from the body, and the hind seat is
as many from it at the other end. There is a patriarch's carriage, like
a huge square trunk, and the travelling carriage of Catherine, which has
a table in the centre, and is very like a modern saloon railway
carriage. It is placed on runners instead of wheels, and could only
have been used in winter. Probably in her day the roads would not have
encouraged summer travelling.

From thence the friends went to the Uspensky Sabor, the cathedral church
in which the Emperors are crowned. The lofty roof is supported by four
round pillars, covered from capital to base with sheets of gold and
paintings. There is not a particle of the church which is not thus
ornamented. The effect is rich in the extreme, at the same time bizarre
and barbaric. There are five cupolas, with the faces of saints looking
down from each. An artist was making a drawing of the interior,
introducing the coronation--as it was to be. The picture was for the
Emperor. The outside of this church is ornamented with subjects totally
at variance with anything like a pure taste. There are several other
churches near it, all of which were being enclosed so as to form a
spacious court, where the ceremony of the Emperor's coronation was to
take place. Every available space was being filled with galleries to
hold spectators. Through this court he was to walk from the cathedral
to the palace.

The party then visited all the churches in the Kremlin in succession.
The interior walls are mostly covered with gilding and pictures of
saints, from base to cupola. In some of them, which are dimly lighted
with tapers, priests, in their gorgeous vestments, were chanting