1851-06-25_Letter-A_Alvord-to-MyDearMyrtilla

am glad the house is taken by Mr. Ruard—It doubtless will now be well taken care of—^30th We are to day becalmed just at the lower end of the Baltic—Our passage has been that only seven days & very pleasant & if the wind breezes up, we ex-pect to be in Elsinore this evening—Ezra is quite well & is enjoying his journey very much—He & the mate & myself have been bathing to day in the sea & I feel very much refreshed by it—so you may know how quietly our ship is lying—about 150 vessels are all about us floating as lazily as ourselves on a sea as smooth almost as glass—Although our ship stayd in put longer than was expected—yet I found I had hardly time enough at last—I was to have spent the three following days at the Prince of Oldenburg's, where a nice room had been fitted up for me, & where I should have seen much that would have been interesting—I shall not soon forget the disin-terested kindness of these good people, nor the pains they look it make my visit to St Petersburg pleasant—Every day they would send a man & a carriage to take me out to see some industry locality—& when I came to leave, the Princess gave me a letter of introduction to her brother the Duke of Nassau on the Rhine—I shall use it of course ^{if we go that way}—The minute particulars of all the things you will find in my note book—written down from day to day—but only or your private eye—You will there see how much I have to be thankful for—mainly to him in whose hands are the hearts of all—and now my dear wife & precious little ones I commend you to God & to his grace praying that he will keep you from all evil & confer upon you every blessing—We will not forget each other as the Throne of Grace Julia will be a good girl & Charley a good boy—From their dear father & your loving husband J. W. Alvord. P. S. Love to all. & write them on [unclear] of this at Winsted—giving them also much love July 4. at Copenhagen. Have been here 4 days & go this P.M. to Hamburg. Feel better than usual.

new & novel scenes have passed before me, interesting & instructual, es-pecially since I have I have been in St Petersburg, All is so unlike every thing we see in America—Strange in language in featurs, in customs—^in their religion^—in their form of government, I have had from morning to night subjects of study passing be-fore my mind—You wish me to say how I like Russia?—I like it, & I dont like it—, There are no "people" here. All are nobles & serfs—If there be an intermediate class it is the soldier—of course the few foreigns in the country (mostly germans) are excepted, the Emperor is everybody—It is as-tonishing how so many millions can be so obsequious to one man—He is rich, & all others (with the exception of those nearly related to him & a few merchants) are poor—The nobility are simple in manners, & social in feel-ing, but gay & extravagant—They all speak four languages, Russ, German, French & English, ^They have^ a good deal of education that is theoretical, & but little ^which they^ can reduce to practice—The soldiers are brave, religiously so—but they seem to know nothing else but the art of war, The serfs are a jolly set of well fed, dirty slaves—& yet by no means so low in servitude as our blacks at the South—The whole country is making progress; but ^how^ can this be helped, with its vast resources—its intercourse on all sides with other nations—& its interprizing earnest Emperor, who is undoubtedly the most wonderful man now living—In a re -ligious point of view there is every thing here to draw out the heart of the Christian—The people are religiously disposed ^(I am struck with this fact,)^ but their faith is a wretched one—The priests mostly are ignorant, & the people ^of course are^ superstitious—unwilling to worship images ^but^ worshipping pictures the more sincerely—and yet, the gospel can have access here by means of Bibles Tracts—& the living preacher, to an extent unknown by those who have not been ^on the ground^, Nicholas 1^st tolerates, but one political faith but all religions—& were it not for his ruling passion (despotism) which fears some upsetting of the govt by disturbing the priests he might be a good man ^or at least permit good to be done more freely^—I never saw good & evil so mixed as they are in him, & ^indeed^ in all his high nobility, It is confounding to hear them talk as they do, & then actas they do—O how I have thought they need an earnest gospel & the Holy Ghost to move upon their hearts—The press is under a strict censorship & the Greek Church have the Churches, but I am sure the ear-nest living preacher here, would find a hearing—my heart is strongly enlisted for the evangelization of Russia—It must be a work of prudence & faith but ^the gospel^ will find its way (& I think soon) into this immense country,

But I can say but little of what I have to say on paper. We shall soon meet I trust, & then I ^will^ talk, perhaps more than I ever did before. The note book is pretty well filled all scratched over & blurred amidst tossings at Sea. Sea Sickness & often written on my knee in much weariness. but it contains the incidents to which I thought might be in-teresting to you & will for me to remember, ^(you will get tired doubtless of its minute description of [sewgares?], & little things^ It will be in the trunk which Capt Howes has promised to see is forwarded to you—I charge you not to let any one see it, (unless it is copied)—Dont forget this charge, as you value my reputation with those who cannot appreciate the difficulties with which I struggle while writing—The trunks (there will be three of them) will contain my old clothing—dirty clothes &c in admirable disorder (characteristic) you will say—& a few useful articles for our little fam-ily, which could be put in as well as not & which ^appeared^ to be cheap in Russia—It seemed to be the wrong season for the purchase of furs, as the stock is not in yet for the coming ^winter^, Sable, is very dear & I thought you would not wish me to pay one hundred roubles, or more, for a sett of ^this kind of^ furs—So, I only purchased one skin of the best Siberian [martis?] I could find—When stretched sideways ^by wetting, & cut:^ it makes, I am told, a pair of wristlets ^The cut being lengthwise of the skin^—It cost 6 roubles, I hope you will not feel disappointed, Some towel bed & table linen ^& [Hagan?] soap^ you will find—a Tea urn which I suppose you will know how to put together & use. They are manufactured at Moscow, & are an article of indispensable necessity in Russia—Perhaps you had better not use it until my return, & then I will explain the Quo Modo—a pair of slippers, the plainst I could find—(They are worn by ladies in the morning, & in the nursery)—Two bottles of Cherry Cordial—for Sickness very strengthening it is said—& a few other little ar-ticles of curiosity or use as the case may be,—You will also find a nice swing which I made with my own hands on the voyage out—tell Julia father made this for her & Charley & mother—You will want a high place to hang it, The books, [keep?] carefully, and ^the^ pamphlets: as many of them are borrowed— Capt Howes will see that all these things are delivered to your order, If father is in N. York (a George) ^&^ could call ^soon after the arrival of the ship^ at "Howes &Co^s" 26 South St where they will be sent ^it would be well^—Capt H. has promised to come up & see you, at Greenwich—If Mrs H meets him in N. York, they will both come & spend a night—He will tell you a multitude of things—& I hope you will take pains to make their visit pleasant—He hopes to arrive in N. Yk about the first of Aug't perhaps not until the 15^th—I have written to Dea [Sinewals?] also by this mail, but remember me to all in S. Boston when you write. I

am glad the house is taken by Mr. Ruard—It doubtless will now be well taken care of—^30th We are to day becalmed just at the lower end of the Baltic—Our passage has been that only seven days & very pleasant & if the wind breezes up, we ex-pect to be in Elsinore this evening—Ezra is quite well & is enjoying his journey very much—He & the mate & myself have been bathing to day in the sea & I feel very much refreshed by it—so you may know how quietly our ship is lying—about 150 vessels are all about us floating as lazily as ourselves on a sea as smooth almost as glass—Although our ship stayd in put longer than was expected—yet I found I had hardly time enough at last—I was to have spent the three following days at the Prince of Oldenburg's, where a nice room had been fitted up for me, & where I should have seen much that would have been interesting—I shall not soon forget the disin-terested kindness of these good people, nor the pains they look it make my visit to St Petersburg pleasant—Every day they would send a man & a carriage to take me out to see some industry locality—& when I came to leave, the Princess gave me a letter of introduction to her brother the Duke of Nassau on the Rhine—I shall use it of course ^{if we go that way}—The minute particulars of all the things you will find in my note book—written down from day to day—but only or your private eye—You will there see how much I have to be thankful for—mainly to him in whose hands are the hearts of all—and now my dear wife & precious little ones I commend you to God & to his grace praying that he will keep you from all evil & confer upon you every blessing—We will not forget each other as the Throne of Grace Julia will be a good girl & Charley a good boy—From their dear father & your loving husband J. W. Alvord. P. S. Love to all. & write them on [unclear] of this at Winsted—giving them also much love July 4. at Copenhagen. Have been here 4 days & go this P.M. to Hamburg. Feel better than usual.