As not unconnected with this subject, the celebrated equestrian statue of Peter the Great must not be passed over in silence. This monument, which is the work of Falconet, the famous French statuary, and forms one of the noblest specimens of art which the last century produced, represents that illustrious monarch on horseback, in the attitude of mounting a precipice, the summit of which he has nearly gained. " He appears," says a sensible travel ler, " crowned with laurel, in a loose Asiatic veil, and sit ting on a housing of bearskin; his right hand is stretched out as in the act of giving benediction to his subjects ; and his left holds the reins. The design is masterly, and the attitude is bold and spirited." The pedestal, a stone weigh ing 1500 tons—a weight not surpassed in the annals of the art to which it belongs, was brought to Petersburg from a distance of several miles. The simplicity of the inscrip tion. (" Catharine II. to Peter I.") expressed in the Latin and Russian languages, on opposite sides of the monument, corresponds well with the stern and manly character of the extraordinary person whom it commemorates, and is infi nitely more striking than a pompous detail of exalted merit.
The places for religious worship in Petersburg arc con siderably numerous, and comprise churches belonging to almost every denomination of Christians. The native Rus sians are, for the most part, of the Greek church ; though not a few of them are Roman catholics, while some of them are Protestants ; but the vast number of foreigners, resident in this capital, account for the variety of creeds and of places of worship by which this city is distinguished. The cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, the metropolitan church, is a building of considerable extent and grandeur: its tower and spire, the latter of which is composed of copper, gilt with gold, are elevated to the height of 240 feet ; the inte rior decorations and paintings are extremely chaste and elegant ; but, with all its beauty, this edifice is chiefly re markable from its containing the bones of Peter the Great, by whom it was founded,—of Catherine, his wife and suc cessor, and of several others of the imperial family. The tombs are of marble, and are decorated with inscriptions, which, with one exception, arc all written in the Russian language. The church of St. Alexander Newski, connect ed with the monastery of the same name, is also distin guished as a roy'al cemetery, Catherine II. having formed a vault underneath it to contain her own ashes and those of her imperial successors. The church, dedicated to St. Isaac, which is built of marble, jasper, and porphyry, on a basement of granite, would probably have been regarded as the most costly and superb sacred edifice belonging to this capital, had not the late emperor, in utter contempt of taste and propriety, caused the dome, which was not com pleted till his time, to be constructed of brick. The Lu theran churches of St. Anne and St. Catherine are conspi cuous, merely for the neatness and simplicity of their ar chitecture.
In the department of manufactures, Petersburg, though it has attained to eminence in various other respects, is a city of very inferior importance. The inhabitants, though not devoid of enterprise, have not hitherto enjoyed the ad vantages of capital. , The Russian nobility are abundantly opulent ; but the great body of the citizens are, to a degree unknown in other towns of the same extent, remarkable for poverty and indigence. Hence the government has
found it necessary to step forward to afford an example ; and thus the chief manufactories of this city are national establishments. Of these, the most important arc, a cele brated tapestry work, a bronze work, foundries of metal and of cannon, powder-mills, Etc. Notwithstanding this general poverty of the inhabitants, however, there are not wanting manufacturing, establishments, the property of private individuals,—of whom no small proportion, it must not he denied, consist of enterprising foreigners, attracted by the many facilities and advantages of the Russian me tropolis. These establishments, some of which are of great extent, and the number of which is rapidly increas ing, are of various kinds, such manufactures of silk, cot ton, woollen, paper and cards, wax-cloth, snuff, tobacco, leather, watches, mathematical and musical instruments, and soap. Notwithstanding this enumeration, however, there is no species of manufactures in which Petersburg excels ; so much, indeed, is the contrary the truth, that many of the simplest articles of manufacture, such as cot tons, hardware, and pottery, arc annually imported.
But, in compensation for this inferiority in manufactures, this capital is, in a commercial point of view, one of the most important cities of Europe. Its eminence in this re spect is chiefly to its being the only great maritime outlet in the Gulf of Finland, and to an extensive and al most unrivalled communication with the interior of the empire. From 1000 to 1700 ships annually enter the Ne va; and a canal having been constructed between this river and the Volga, a communication is thus opened between the Russian capital and the Caspian Sea, a distance of no less than 1400 miles. The foreign trade of Petersburg is, it must not be concealed, almost entirely in the hands of foreigners, (of whom nearly one-half are British,) as the poverty of the Russians have, in a great degree, incapaci tated them hitherto from engaging in any extensive specu lation. The trade of the interior, however, is by law se cured to the natives, who, from want of money, can with difficulty avail themselves of this privilege, as, on the de livery of goods, they require part at least, if not all, of the price to he paid, while yet they expect very long credit from those from whom they purchase. But this disability is now beginning to be removed ; and the Russians will, it is hoped, ere long be in a condition to profit by the com mercial advantages by which their country is distinguish ed. The exports of Petersburg consist chiefly of the sim plest produce of the soil, such as hemp, flax, leather, tal low, bees-wax, iron, the skins of hares and foxes, &c. To these, however, may be added canvas, and all kinds of coarse linen—articles easily manufactured, and in which, from the cheapness of the raw material, the Russians can afford to undersell most other nations. The imports, on the contrary, consist of every species of colonial produce, of all the luxuries, and not a few of the necessaries and comforts of life. The total amount of the annual imports is about six millions—nearly a third more than that of the exports ; and the foreign trade of Petersburg is equal to one-half of that of all the other ports of the Russian em pire.