In such a palace Poetry might place
The armory of Winter, where his troops,
The gloomy Clouds, find weapons; arrowy sleet,
Skin-piercing volley, blossom-bruising hail,
And snow that often blinds the traveller's course,
And wraps him in an unexpected tomb.
Silently as a dream the fabric rose;

No sound of hammer or of saw was there;
Ice upon ice, the well adjusted parts
Were soon conjoin'd, nor other cement ask'd
Than water interfused to make them one.
Lamps, gracefully disposed, and of all hues,
Illumin'd every side; a wat'ry light

Another moon new risen, or meteor fallen From heaven to earth, of lambent flame serene. So stood the brittle prodigy; though smooth And slippery the materials, yet, frost-bound, Firm as a rock. Nor wanted aught within, That royal residence might well befit,

For grandeur or for use. Long wavy wreaths
Of flowers, that feared no enemy but warmth,
Blush'd on the panels. Mirror needed none,
Where all was vitreous; but in order due,
Convivial table and commodious seat
(What seem'd at least commodious seat) were
there;

Sofa and couch and high-built throne august.
The same lubricity was found in all.

And all was moist to the warm touch; a scene
Of evanescent glory, once a stream,
And soon to slide into a stream again."

THE above beautiful lines from Cowper's 53

exact, are descriptive of that "most magni ficent and mighty freak," the Ice Palace of the Empress Annc, which was erected at St. Petersburg in January, 1740. The following account with the engravings is taken from a detailed description of the edifice published at St. Petersburg in the year 1741, when all the circumstances relating to this extraordinary building were fresh in the memory of the writer.

After a pretty lengthy dissertation on the effects of frost and the qualities of ice, which has little to do with the matter in hand, the writer proceeds to panegyrise the noble Alexis Danilovitch Tatishchev, who originated the design of the Ice Palace, the Empress Anne who furnished the funds, and the Palace itself, which merited he says to be placed among the stars, to be transported to Saturn, the temperature of which distant planet would have been fitted, the writer thinks, to give it permanency.

The intention of the projectors of the Ice Palace was to build it upon the river Neva itself, in order to be as near as possible to the source from which the ice was to be procured. It was accordingly begun upon that river towards the end of the year 1739; but, says the author, "the ice of this river which sustains the weight of many thousand armed men; which supports great cannons and mortars, frequently discharged; which did not break under the immense weight of a fortress of ice and snow, attacked and defended according to all the rules of war, and taken at last sword in hand; this ice, I say, began to give way under the walls of the palace as soon as they were raised to some considerable height; whence it was easily concluded that it could not support the weight of the whole when completed." In consequence of this failure, it was resolved to begin again, and to build the palace on land: a site was accordingly selected between the Fortress of the Admiralty and the new winter residence of the Empress, and the work was begun with the advantage of the experience in ice building gained by the attempt on the river.

The manner of building was very simple; the purest and most transparent ice was selected it was cut from the Neva in large blocks, which were then squared with rule and compass, and carved out with all the regular architectural embellishments. When each block was ready, it was raised to its destined place by cranes and pulleys, and an instant before letting it down upon the block which was to support it, a little water was thrown between the two, the upper block was immediately lowered, the water froze, and the two became literally one. The whole building in fact appeared to be and really was of one

single piece, "producing without contradiction an effect infinitely more beautiful than if it had been built of the most costly marble, its transparency and bluish tint giving it rather the appearance of a precious stone."

The dimensions of the building were in English measure, length 56 feet, depth 18 feet, and height, including the roof, 21 feet. This is the body of the house; the palisading was 87 feet in length and 36 in width, and the actual length of the front view, including the pyramids at the corners, was 114 feet.

When the work was completed, the public were allowed an unrestricted passage through every part of the building. This at first caused a good deal of confusion, which was however obviated by surrounding the entrance with a wooden railing, and stationing police officers who allowed only a certain number of persons to pass in at one time.

The façade was plain, being nearly divided into compartments by pilasters. In each division there was a window, the frame-work of which was painted to represent green marble: it was remarked that the ice at the low temperature which prevailed took the paint perfectly well. The panes were formed of slabs of ice, as transparent and smooth as plate glass: at night these windows were generally lighted up, and most commonly grotesque transparencies painted on canvass were placed in the windows. The effect of the illumination is said to have been peculiarly fine, as the light appeared not only at the windows, but from the transparency of the material, the whole palace was filled with a delicate pearly light. The centre division projected, and appeared to be a door; but it was in fact a large window, and was illuminated like the others. An ornamental balustrade surmounted the façade of the building, and behind was the sloping roof with chimneys, in the usual style of Russian architecture. A handsome balustrade, all of ice, ran round the outside of the building. A large space was left for a promenade between the balustrade and the palace. There were also two entrances behind, with gates handsomely ornamented with orange trees in leaf and Hower, with birds perched on the branches, all of ice.

Six cannons regularly bored and turned, with their wheels and carriages, stood before the balustrade, three on each side; these were of the calibre of such as usually receive three pounds of powder, but being of so fragile a material it was not considered safe to put in more than a quarter of a pound: the ball was of hard tow, well rammed in. Two or three times iron balls were fired from these cannons without bursting them. The experiment was tried in the presence of the court, and the ball pierced a strong plank

two inches thick, at a distance of sixty paces. Two mortars stood on each side of the entrance; these were of the size of those which carry a shell of eighty pounds: when fired the charge of powder was the same as that for the cannons. On the same line stood two dolphins, which were made to throw a stream of inflamed naphtha out of their mouths, at night, by means of concealed tubes.

At the extremities of the rows of cannons, in advance of the balustrade, stood two pyramids surmounted with globes. They were raised on handsome pedestals, and had a circular window, around which a dial was

painted on each of the four sides. They were hollow within, and could be entered by a door-way placed in the rear. A strong paper lantern of eight sides, with monstrous figures painted upon them, was hung up in the middle of each pyramid and illuminated at night; a man was stationed withinside to turn about the lantern, and each of the figures on it presented itself in succession at the windows of the pyramid, to the great amusement of the multitude.

An elephant of the natural size was placed on the left side of the building, and on his back was a Persian, holding a battle axe in

his hand; two other Persians, one of whom held a spear, were placed in front of him. The elephant was hollow, and was made to throw water through his trunk to the height of twenty-four feet. This was done by means of tubes leading from the foss of the Admiralty near which it stood. At night, burning naphtha was substituted for water, and the effect is said to have been very singular, the appearance being that of a stream of fire. To make this part of the exhibition more remarkable, a man was placed within the figure, who from time to time blew through certain pipes so as to make a noise like the roaring of an elephant. On the right of the house, at about the same distance as the elephant, a bath was built, made of round logs of ice, like the log baths used in Russia: "this bath," says our author, "was more than once actually heated and used."

After describing the outside we come to the inside of this "great plaything." The entrance was behind, and the spectator was introduced into a spacious and handsome vestibule with one room on each side. There were no other rooms than these, so that they were sufficiently spacious, and as there was no ceiling under the roof they were also very lofty.

In one of these rooms, which was the bedroom, there was a dressing-table fully set out with a looking-glass, and all sorts of powder and essence boxes, jars, bottles, a watch, and a pair of candlesticks and candles, all of ice; the candles were sometimes smeared with naphtha and set in a blaze without melting. Before the table two little figures were placed as supporters, and against the wall a mirror was hung. In the other half of the room was the bedstead, with bed, pillows, and counterpane, finely-wrought curtains, and other furniture. There was a fire-place on the right, elegantly carved, and within were logs of ice, which were occasionally smeared with naphtha and set fire to. All the other parts of the room were fitted up in a corresponding manner.

The other principal room may be called either the dining or drawing-room: here was a table with a handsome time-piece, all provided with wheels of ice, which were visible through the transparent case. On each side were settees or sofas handsomely carved, and two large statues were placed in the corners of the room, besides other furniture.

Here ends the description of this immense toy, which was indeed