THE CHURCH OF BASIL THE BLESSED, IN
Moscow.

FEW things strike the English traveller through Northern and Central Russia more strongly, than the total absence of picturesque ruins: he finds no trace of anything resembling those fine old remnants of feudal splendour, which are the boast of almost every county in England. Those ruins which do exist, are comparatively of modern date, and, appearing rather to have been destroyed by violence, than crumbled by time, are totally devoid of interest either to the antiquarian or the artist. Their sharplydefined outline is unbroken by the growth of the graceful ivy that flutters round the frowning battlements of our ancient baronial castles, or checking the devastating hand of time, and filling up the "rents of ruin," twines round these haughty struc

tures.

Nor does any object strike his eye, that recalls to mind those venerable remains of monastic power which are interspersed among the rich valleys of his own country, where once cloistered learning, nursing the lamp of science and of truth in his secluded cell, hid its light from the vulgar gaze, or flashed forth only to dazzle and bewilder, but where

VOL. VIII.

Amid their choirs, unroofed by selfish rage,
The warbling wren now finds a leafy cage;
The gadding bramble hangs her purple fruit,
And the green lizard and the gilded newt,
Lead unmolested lives, and die of age".

The ecclesiastical edifices of Russia which still

exist, though wanting the richly-finished tracery, and the imposing grandeur of our matchless cathedrals, are yet not destitute of that sort of interest which novelty can inspire. Of these, we shall present our readers with a succession of engravings, illustrating the peculiarities of the architecture of each age.

One of the oldest constructions of this kind in the

ancient city of Moscow is the church of "Vassili Blajennoi," or "Basil the Blessed," of which the annexed engraving is a tolerably faithful representation; we give it the popular name, although it is, in fact, a cathedral church dedicated to the "Protection of the Holy Virgin." It was built in 1554 under the reign of Ivan the Terrible, whose ferocious character giving rise to the cognomen he bears in history, would almost appear to sanction the currently-received tradition, that he ordered the eyes of the architect to be put out, saying, "I wish this edifice to remain the master-piece of his art."

Wordsworth

248

It is generally considered to have been the work of an Italian architect, long in the service of the Tzar, whose extraordinary talents and profound learning procured for him, from his adopted country, the name of Aristotle, by which he is still known in history.

Although graphically correct, the representation we have given is by no means calculated to convey an adequate conception of the grotesque appearance of this most singular structure, in which every possible style of architecture has its representative, the pagoda of China its cupola, the Kiosk its minarets, the Norman Gothic its semi-circular arch and its massy pillar, and the Saracenic Gothic its clustered columns, to all which Russia has added pictorial embellishments indisputably its own. The distinguishing characteristics of the barbarous age in which it was erected still exist intact, or have been renovated in the same fantastic taste that presided over the original construction; indeed, it would have been to be regretted, if its peculiar character had been lost by the substitution of more modern improve

ments.

The bulbous cupolas, one differing from another in size and form, are painted of the most gaudy colours, green, blue, purple, and orange, in alternate stripes or compartments, and are surmounted by highly-wrought gilded crosses of open-work; the centre cupola alone is richly gilt. The body of the building is plastered, and coloured green, over which are irregularly traced, lines of dirty yellow, intended. to give the appearance of rough stone-work. The towers are red, scored with lines of white; the roof of the main building, the spire of the belfry, and the pyramidical tops of the porches, are all covered with dark-green varnished tiles.

The imposts and mouldings of the arches, the pillars, the pilasters, and, in short, to avoid technicalities, all the prominent lines of the building, are white. In compartments upon the architraves, the pedestals of the columns, and upon the buttresses, are rudely painted groups of flowers of every agreeable form and colour, such as Linnæus himself would have despaired to class.

The interior is much in the same eccentric style; besides the principal church, the building contains nineteen distinct chapels, dedicated to different saints. During the occupation of Moscow by the French, they were appropriated as stables.

THERE are times when neither the delicacies which pamper appetite, nor the distinctions which flatter pride, can impart any gratification. The sensual turn in disgust from the feast, and the ambitious from the incense and applause with which they have been regarded. In this hard season," said Mr. Burke, "I would not give a peck of refuse wheat for all that is called fame and honour in the world. This is the appetite of but a few. It is a luxury; it is a privilege; it is an indulgence for those who are at their ease." The truly benevolent has an enjoyment which retains its relish to the last hour of life. He who feeds the poor, relieves and defends the oppressed, instructs the ignorant, and consoles the wretched, cannot lose his reward.

THE ECONOMY AND HARMONY OF
NATURE.
III.

THE ANIMAL KINGDOM (concluded.) WHILE insects are the most wonderful, and birds the most beautiful, parts of animated nature, quadrupeds may be said to be (with the exception of man) the most noble part of creation.

I intended at this stage of my remarks, to examine the composition of animals in general, which, in common with vegetables, are formed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen; I intended also to notice the action of animals, which is at once palpable to our senses, and forms so immediate a part of our whole perception of it, that it is from this motion that we derive our ideas of power in them. I likewise intended to make a few remarks on the variety of quadrupeds which inhabit the earth, and on the economy of quadrupeds in general; on the wonderful structure of the camel, which enables it to endure thirst for a length of time, in those parched and sandy deserts where it is destined to travel; on the construction of the elephant's trunk, by means of which the animal feeds, in consequence of the neck being short and stiff; on the beautiful mechanism of the horse, and its utility; on the sagacity of the dog, and its fidelity. I intended to notice these, and many others, as well as the instinct of animals in avoiding poisonous herbs, the covering of animals, and the reason, or mind, of animals; and further, I intended to show that all animals could not, if possessing their present economy and habits, have existed in the same part of the globe; but, having discussed other branches of my subject at so much length, I must, for the present, pass over the quadrupeds, and probably make the zoological part of creation form the subject of a future article. I proceed, therefore, to say a few words on the balance of life and food.

Nature has adjusted with much accuracy the various degrees of fecundity and sterility in the different classes of animals, and varied them both in proportion to the means of subsistence.

Animals live partly upon the vegetable kingdom,and this kingdom produces so abundantly, that we are enabled to lay up a Winter's store for those that are domesticated; while others provide a Winter's store for themselves. Some animals have the instinct to migrate, when vegetation passes into its annual repose; while many others are laid asleep, or enter the state of hybernation for the season;-all thus proving the provident care of Nature for their preservation.

however varied the different classes may be, the The perpetual system of migration shows that, season, the climate, and situation, is variously adapted to all. But the majority of animals feed upon other inferior animals, as well as upon vegetables. Some birds prey upon snails, which would destroy our orchards and pleasure-grounds; and others devour those insects which would destroy our fruit; while the swallows consume millions of them during the day, the bats and goatsuckers diminish their numbers at the twilight and dawn.

When we consider that the house-fly is the prey of the spider, while the latter is itself devoured by various kinds of birds, which, in their turn, become the prey of the hawk; and when we also consider that animalculæ, which prey on smaller animals, become

VIRTUE is the first quality to be considered, in the choice of a friend.-DR. JOHNSON.

the food of herrings, while the latter furnish food for the cod, which, in its turn, becom the prey of warm-blooded animals,—we are led to conclude that

time.

The component parts of an animal body are, sixteen solids and sixteen fluids. Some of those parts are many in number; for example,--there are two hundred and fifty-four bones, and two hundred and eightynine muscles in one animal body. The bones are arranged for strength and action; and on the various joints of these much of their effect depends. There are two principal sorts of joints, namely, the ball-andsocket-joint, which is used at the hip and shoulder; and the hinge-joint, such as that employed at the knee and elbow: these joints are used respectively, according to the extent of motion required. The spine, or back-bone, which is composed of twenty-four small bones, is a wonderful piece of mechanism; it is at once strong and flexible; and its use is (in addition to its connecting the ribs and supporting the muscles of the trunk), to prolong from the brain the spinal marrow, which is essential to animal life. It is the pillar which supports the head, that noble part of the body, which contains the seat of sensation, the light of understanding, the faculty of sight, &c. The skull, that beautiful structure, is the seat of the brain, where the mind takes up her residence, and where she holds communion with all material things around her; it is composed of eight bones, which not only lap over each other for facility, but it admits of the skull being of an arched form, which is the strongest of all possible forms, and therefore a tower of defence to that delicate vital organ, the brain.

All animal motion is effected by muscles, which are either voluntary, such as those of the arms and legs, or involuntary, as in the heart. The muscles and tendons have not only the power of generating and regulating motion, I at they are differently constructed, according to ne movement required. They also support the b nes, especially the head, by the different directions in which they are placed; and, indeed, the motion of every limb is chiefly regulated by their agency. Now, whether we consider the limbs of the body as levers,-the heart, and all the blood-vessels through which the vital fluid circulates, as a hydraulic machine, the lungs as a perfect pneumatic apparatus,-and the membranes and transparent humours of the eye as a

beautiful optical instrument,- -we find that all is constructed on the most perfect principles.

Let us add to the structure of man, the organs of the five senses; the principal animal functions; the voluntary or relative functions; the organic or nutritive functions; and the reproductive functions. In addition to these, let us think of all the animal propensities by which man is placed on a level with inferior animals; the moral sentiments or faculties, which are generally peculiar to man alone; the intellectual faculties, which are peculiar to man only; and, above all, the Soul, which affords such sublime ideas, and at once proves man's superiority, and its own immortality! When we consider these, and many other things peculiar to man, we are lost in wonder, and ready to exclaim with Dr. Young,

Oh! what a miracle to man is man !"

But I shall not extend my remarks further than to say, that the practical application of the foregoing observations is briefly this :-That there is no situation in which a man can be placed, but he may study some part of nature,—and we ought to study it, for the "hand which made it is Divine!"

The more we can understand of the works of nature, the more we must be convinced of the power and omnipotence, the goodness and justice, of that Supreme Being who first created, and now

tains it.

sus

Why were the organs of observation given us? To a certainty that we might use them, and learn to read the great volume of Nature, there to look and to admire,-to learn and to love. Our senses are precious gifts, if we could but appreciate their true value. Why was every tint and tone of colour mingled in the light of day, by which we can tell of space as well as substance? Why was the rainbow, the arch of Hope, with its sevenfold glory, made to span the heavens? Why does the rose, the mignonette, and the lavender, give forth its odour? Why does the nightingale sing so sweetly. Wherefore do the winds murmur through the forest? and why do the caverns and the dens of the earth give out their tones? Why? But to tempt us forth, in order that we may learn and admire; and that we may thence “look from nature up to nature's God!" That we may learn humility, when we consider the majesty and grandeur of this world, which is linked together by a chain, the end of which we cannot trace! That we may also admire the heavens and the earth,—not as the effects of chance, but as parts of one stupendous whole, formed by the Almighty, who is the life, spring, and soul of their action! And, lastly, that we may never consider any operation of nature without a final end; for, whether it is the death of a fly, or destruction by an earthquake,-the fall of a sparrow, or the revolution of worlds,-it is for some wise purpose, beyond the comprehension of human beings.

R.

"FORTITUDE," said Locke, "is the guard and support of all the other virtues." The assertion, if limited and properly applied, is just. But the question may be asked, can there be true constancy without devotion? If the suffrage of the best judges, and the fund of experience, be regarded, the answer must be in the negative. "A prayerless heart," says Dr. Watts, "may be considered as a defenceless citadel, lying open and exposed to the incursion of every foe; whereas, the heart of one truly devout, is like a castle in which the Lord dwells, and which is garrisoned with the Divine Presence." The righteous is bold as a lion. He dares do anything but offend God, and to dare to do that is world. From this fear have sprung the most generous the greatest folly, and baseness, and weakness in the resolutions and heroic achievements in times of persecution and suffering.-R.

JOURNAL OF THE VOYAGE OF A WHALE SHIP,

(concluded.)

ON the 23rd, the master, who was in the crow s nest, gave a signal to those on deck, that a fish was in sight. Two "crews" instantly leaped into their boats, which in less than a minute were lowered into the water, and were off in pursuit; and in consequence of several more whales being discovered, the first were speedily followed by two other boats to support and assist them. The boats first despatched rowed for a large field, near to which the animal had been seen, every man keeping an anxious look out for its re-appearance, which, fortunately for the success of the chase, took place about a quarter of a mile ahead. Great silence being preserved, the weather being so tranquil at the time that there was danger lest the noise of the oars, however skilfully and smoothly pulled, would alarm the whale, the steerer signalled to the crew to rest on them while he sculled the boat up to the animal by means of the oar always used, on these occasions, to steer with, instead of a rudder. But the distance had been under-estimated, and before the boat was near enough to justify the harpooner in casting his weapon, the short period of time which the whale remains at the surface elapsed, and the animal again disappeared; but from the direction in which it was lying, and from the eddy raised as it glided beneath, the crew were enabled to follow without losing much way. They rowed, however, full two miles, before the whale rose to the surface; and when it did so, it was found to be nearly at equal distances between three of the boats, two of which had now joined the first in the pursuit of this, the largest of those whales which had been seen from the nest. All, eager in the chase, approached with like caution; and when one of them succeeded in running close upon the creature, the two others were not thirty yards from it.

The harpooner threw his weapon with such strength, that it buried itself nearly to the stock in the blubber, and his crew, prepared for the event, backed water with their oars so simultaneously, as to put themselves out of danger; but one of the others was less fortunate. In the convulsive agony of the wound, the whale, which was a full-grown one, turning half round in a second before it dived, with a blow of its tail tossed the boat which was nearest, and

the crew with their oars and tackle were set floating. The third boat instantly proceeded to their assistance, and thus the first, or fast boat as it is termed, was left without that support so necessary on the occasion. The steersman hoisted the signal-flag, and the rowers raised one oar after another to indicate their want of more line: the whale had instantly dived, and the harpooner, though he had cast a voil or two of the line round the bollardt, to retard by its We need hardly remind our readers that though the terms fish, fishery, &c., are technically applied to the Whale, they are as inapplicable as when speaking of the Seal or the Walrus; the Whale being no more a fish than the latter.

A short stout post, set up near the stem of the boat for this purpose. Such is the friction of the line while running round this post,

friction the motion of the animai, was apprenensive that all the line in the boat would be run out before a new line could be brought up; and unless he cast it off to the great being dragged beneath the ice-field, towards which the risk of losing the whale, he would also incur the danger of animal was speeding with a velocity that, allowing the line ploughed into a furrow, rising on the gunwales on each to run out, dragged the boat through the water which it side nearly high enough to fill it.

The moment the signal of a fast boat was seen from the deck of the Endeavour, the watch raised the cry of "a fall, a fall," and the crews of the remaining boats, who were hands, and scrambling in, were lowered down, thus unpretaking their rest, rushed on deck with their clothes in their pared to encounter the severity of a frost which sank the thermometer to seven degrees. The rowers were content get up with the fast boat, exertions stimulated by the to keep up their animal heat by their vigorous exertions to increasing urgency of the signals from it for help; but as there was three miles to row; and a good deal of bay-ice which had formed in the night retarded their progress, they that his comrades could not come up in time, and finding were unsuccessful. The harpooner in the first boat seeing himself within a few yards of the field which he had allowed the boat to approach thus closely in his anxiety not to lose the fish, was compelled to yield to circumstances; and having from the same motive cast additional coils of line round the bollard, which precluded the possibility of getting them off again in time, he seized the axe, and cut impetus carried the boat against the ice, with a shock that the rope on the gunwale just in time, for even then the threw every one from their seats, and stove in the bows on the starboard side.

The crew scrambled out on the ice, and having secured their lances and other tools, succeeded in mooring the boat to the edge of the field, with her head raised high enough to prevent her from sinking, and then waited till other boats would come to their relief. With that perfect indifference to danger which characterizes persons accustomed to it, they employed themselves in killing with their lances a few seals which were reposing on the surface, and whose retreat to the water they intercepted.

they saw what had happened, namely, that the whale had The boats which had hastened to their help, as soon as for the time got off, and that the boat was damaged, though the men were safe, thought it more adviseable to leave them in their presen situation for a short time, to proceed to aid in the capture of another whale which had been struck by one of their companions in the remaining one of time that this boat had been engaged, and from the signals the two that first left the vessel. From the length of she had repeated for more line, it so happened that al: four of the boats which were not disabled, had hastened to the that it often envelops the harpooner in smoke, and the wood would burst into flame if water were not being constantly thrown on it and the rope.

scene. Three had succeeded in harpooning the whale before the last came up; and such had been the efforts of the fish to escape, and so long had it resisted the effects of the wounds inflicted on it, that all three boats had their lines nearly run out, and one had a double set expended. When the new aid came up, the Whale had just risen for the last time, and exhausted by its efforts allowed the boats to draw upon their lines and come up close to it. They then attacked it with their lances, and despatched it in less than ten minutes.

The prize was instantly secured by passing a rope through two holes cut in the tail, with the knife made for that purpose, and the rope was then made fast to the bow of a boat. The lines were then cut loose and drawn in, with the exception of one which could not be seen; this it would have been necessary to sweep for, but as that would occupy two boats, and it was desirable that they should proceed to assist in completing the capture of the first Whale, the line was abandoned for the time. Having, therefore, assisted in lashing the fins together across the belly of the fish, which always floats, when dead, with that part uppermost, the three boats left one to guard the prize, till they could return to help to tow it towards the ship, and hastened to the field of ice on which their companions had

saved themselves.

These persons no sooner saw that they were left to them selves, than they set about tracing, if possible, the course which their Whale had taken. For this purpose they traversed the field in various directions to search for holes, to which they knew the Whale must come to breathe, if he did not emerge again from under the ice into the open water. But the ice was too thick and too uniform to admit of the animal breaking it by elevating its head for the purpose of obtaining air; and no fractures or apertures had yet been produced by other causes; they consequently knew that it must ere this have returned to the open water. When the party re-assembled for the purpose of proceeding back to the spot they had quitted, they became aware that, during their active exertions, a change of wind had taken place, accompanied with a thick haze, which not only prevented their discerning such marks as might enable them to proceed in the right direction, but must inevitably drive the ship far from the ice-field, and probably prevent any boats from being able to come to relieve them.

Unprovided with any compass to guide them, and, indeed, not being very certain of their original bearing, their only resource was to remain together till the weather should clear, or till their vessel could regain her station, and send boats to the field to take them off. Their prospects were, at best, but miserable; they might have to remain without food, and unsheltered from the piercing wind, which increased in violence, for a day or two, and possibly might ultimately perish, if the field should drive too far before their situation could be ascertained. The increasing swell of the ocean, which they knew must be occasioned by the gale, would probably break up the ice on which they were stationed, in which case they might either be crushed by the concussion of the masses as they were forced over each other, or precipitated into the fissures.

Every one saw and felt these dangers, but was too much accustomed to peril to think of talking about them. They simply contented themselves with keeping in constant motion, to prevent the fatal effects of the intense cold, each therefore ran in turns to as great a distance as prudence would allow, and then returned, hoping, by doing so in various directions, they might catch some sound, or perceive some mark, that might accelerate their deliverance.

As soon as the gale arose, the boats which had left the captured fish to go to the ice-field, in the hope of securing the one first struck, and of bringing off their companions, perceiving that it would probably increase, and that at any event, at their distance from the ice, they could not hope to reach it with a strong wind against them, pulled for the ship which was just in sight on the horizon, and which they also knew must be carried far from her present position in a few hours; and in order to regain their prize, and to effect their principal object, it was absolutely necessary they should procure a compass to enable them to steer in the thick weather which had come on.

A Whale, when struck, will dive sometimes to a depth of 800 fathoms; and as the surface of a large animal may be estimated at 1500 square feet, at this great depth it will have to sustain a pressure equal to 211,000 tons. The transition from that which it is exposed to at the surface, and which may be taken at about 1300 tons, to so enormous an increase, must be productive of the utmost exhaustion.

The master and secona mate, with a picked crew, accordingly manned the best boat, provided with every necessary equipment for a day's absence, or even more. The vessel, under the command of the first mate, who knew the bearing of the fish, which he had been the first to strike, bore up as well as he could in that direction, to approach the boat left in charge of the prize, for the crew of which they were equally anxious as for that on the ice-field. Both the vessel and the master's boat kept firing guns occasionally, as signals to their comrades that they were near and hastening to their help. The vessel soon succeeded in her object by skilful navigation; the mate brought her within sight of the prize and its guard, and, notwithstanding the increasing swell, received the men on board, and took the fish in tow, which was all that could be done till the gale abated.

This fortunately happened in the course of six hours more, and the atmosphere cleared. The Whale was then towed to the larboard-side, and made fast to the ship by a combination of tackle which it would be vain to describe, but by which the body was raised as much out of the water as its enormous weight would admit of, and the process of flensing commenced. The men having fixed spurs on the soles of their shoes to enable them to stand on the slippery surface of the Whale, and two boats, managed by one or two boys in each, having taken the knives, spades, &c., necessary for the operation, the harpooners, under the direction of the specksioneer cut away the blubber in large oblong pieces of from half a ton to a fon in weight; these were hoisted on deck by means of speck-tackles. boat-steerers cut each mass into pieces of about a cubic foot, which were passed down into the hold, and packed away for the present.

The

When all the fat was removed from the belly, and the right fin cut off, the carcass was turned over by means of a powerful tackle attached to the mast-head, and worked by the capstan, and the operation renewed on the blubber of the upper part and the other fin; and subsequently, the lips, with the whalebone, were successively detached by means of bone-spades, spikes, and knives. These masses of whalebone, when got on the deck, were next split by bone-wedges into junks, containing from five to ten blades, or lamina, each, and were stowed away. Having removed all the rest, the long strip of blubber encircling the neck, and which was left on during the flensing to admit of the body being turned over, but which was detached from the flesh gradually, and therefore formed a long slip supporting the carcass, was finally cut loose, and the other tackles being cast off, the mutilated remains were left to sink by their weight, until the swelling of the body, attendant on putrefaction, should again bring it to the surface, where, for many days, it affords food to numbers of birds, sharks+, and bears, if they can get at it.

This operation, which had taken nearly five hours, owing to the great size of the fish, led to the momentary expectation of seeing the master returning with the men from the ice, and their damaged boat; but as nothing of the kind was in sight, the mate bore up to the north-east again, in hopes of meeting more fish, and of sooner reaching the commander. The former part of their expectations were speedily realized, and every boat that remained was in a few hours despatched in succession after the numerous Whales that appeared in the offing. Three more were struck, and two of these flensed before the return of the master. This delay had been occasioned by the necessity for remaining on the field, when they reached it, in order to repair the damaged boat sufficiently to bear the sea and receive its crew. Fortunately, the gale having been from the north, it had been sheltered by the ice, and was not much further injured. The men were well, and found at about three hundred yards from the edge, the ice having broken into several portions, to the largest of which they had retreated. The whole party returned to their vessel, after assisting in the capture of two Whales, which they met their companions from the ship in chase of.

"During the flensing of the Whales, there were generally a considerable number of Sharks in the vicinity of the vessel. One, more voracious than the rest, approached close to the side of the Whale's carcass, and seized a large piece of blubber which was ready to be hoisted on board. Before he could make his escape, he was struck by a harpoon, and attacked by spears,-a tackle was immediately fastened to his jaws, and being hoisted on deck, his belly was ripped open, and the blubber recovered. The carpenter, too, stripped a considerable quantity of skin from his tail. Notwithstanding this rude treatment, he was no sooner let down than he swam away with great agility," (Laing's Vouage, p. 104).