My domestic arrangements are very comfortable. My house is excellent and very well furnished. It has the benefit of a fine view of the Neva, and a southern exposure, which in this land of frost and snow is a great advantage. We have not yet had one day which could be called summer. The weather has been cool, and indeed the season has been more remarkable than any which the oldest inhabitants have ever experienced. In common seasons they have about six weeks of very warm weather. It is healthy and my health is good. Mr. Clay and Mr. Barry are very agreeable young gentlemen. The latter desires to be remembered to you. The mulatto man I brought with me from the United States is a valuable servant. I know not what I should do without him. Give my kindest love to George. I have written to him since my arrival here. Give my love to mother, Jane, Maria, Harriet and all the family. I have not yet written to Maria; I shall do so soon. Should you be in New York on the receipt of this, remember me to my friends there. Praying to God that we may meet again in health and prosperity in our native land, I remain Your affectionate brother, JAMES BUCHANAN. [MR. BUCHANAN TO JOHN B. STERIGERE.] ST. PETERSBURG, August 2, N. S. 1832. MY DEAR SIR:— Here I am, pleasantly situated in my own house, which commands a delightful view of the Neva and all the vessels which enter this port. The city is magnificent and beautiful. The buildings, both public and private, have been constructed upon a grand scale; but the people are ignorant and barbarous. With the exception of the merchants and a few others in the commercial cities, there is no intermediate rank between the nobleman and the slave. The serfs, however, are not unkindly treated. They are attached to the soil, and in general are not bound to labor for their masters more than three days in the week. Besides they are furnished with land which they cultivate for themselves. No one can be here for a month without being fully convinced that these people are wholly unfit to take any share in the government, and it is doubtless the policy of the emperor and nobles to keep them in this state of ignorance. Throughout Germany the people have generally received the rudiments of education and are fit for free institutions; but here despotism must yet prevail for a long time. How happy ought we to be in America! Would that we knew our own happiness! Coming abroad can teach an American no other lesson but to love his country, its institutions and its laws better, much better than he did before. The emperor and the empress in their domestic relations are worthy of all praise. In this respect their example is excellent, and I am inclined to believe it has had a favorable effect upon the conduct of their nobles. Still that is far from being of the best character.