There is great uncertainty (he says in a letter written during the voyage), how we shall find things at Petersburg, and whether they will permit us to proceed to the South; but this I must leave. Whatever way it may please Providence to turn the matter, as it regards myself I believe I shall be relieved from Russia in having made this last attempt. They arrived at Petersburg on the 9th of the Seventh Month, after a safe and agreeable passage of seven days. Before we reached Cronstadt, to quote from J.Y.'s Diary, we encountered a strong gale, so that the officers from the guardship, who came to see that all was in order, had hard work to get on board. There were eighteen Russian sailors with oars, yet they could not draw the boat, and our steamer was obliged to throw ropes and haul her in. The sight of Cronstadt was formidable; for more than two miles in and near the harbor there was a line of ships of war. At Cronstadt we had to be put on board a smaller steamer, which caused us much detention. At the custom-house all passed off well; they were more civil and less strict in their examination than in England. The Russian sailors look very unbright; they are not active in managing a boat. They not unfrequently received a few strokes from the fist of the helmsman, or a rope's-end, either of which they took with that unconcerned composure which showed they were accustomed to it. We are located at the hotel of H. Spink, an intelligent Yorkshireman; his wife is very kind and attentive. 13_th_.--Spent this day at Peterhoff, with W.C. Gillibrand and wife, with two of their friends. It is the first opportunity we have had for serious conversation in this place, and I hope it was to mutual comfort. They took us a drive after dinner to see several of the Emperor's pavilions, mostly surrounded by beautiful pieces of water. There was an intelligent man present, who had spent some time in India, ---- Watson; he now has charge of the British school in Petersburg. We find the Scripture Lessons are no more in use in the school; nor is the New Testament in the Russian language allowed to be circulated in the country. The Bible Society is just alive, but can hardly breathe; other institutions languish for want of support; party spirit has crept in to their great injury. The law is still very stringent in not allowing a member of one religious body to join another; but the different sects are allowed their own worship and schools. 20_th_.--Left Petersburg by the train at 11 o'clock yesterday, and arrived at Moscow about nine this morning. The road, with but little exception, is flat and uninteresting. The forests are immense, mostly of firs and birch, which being thickly set grow small. Many of the stations are superb. The line of railway did not conduct us near any towns or villages that I could observe, but by some of the poorest scattered huts I ever saw in any country.