| Citation |
BEP(F.738.021
22 May 1738:12 (145)
London, February 2. Extract of a letter from Petersburgh.
Nothing could be more magnificent than the celebration of
our Empress's birth day, which was kept here the 28th. Her
Czarian Majesty having received in the morning the
compliments of the nobility, foreign ministers and gentry,
dined afterwards in publick under a rich canopy in the great
hall of the palace with the two Imperial Princesses; and at
another table, which represented a spread eagle, were
entertain'd a number of lords and ladies. The Italian musick
play'd the whole time of dinner; and at every health, the
cannon of the palace were fired, the drums beating, and the
trumpets sounding thro'out the whole entertainment. About
four in the afternoon the ball began, which continued 'till
eight. In the mean time the theatre was illuminated by an
infinite number of lights, and at nine in the evening the
fireworks were lighted by a rocket from one of the galleries
of the great hall. The illumination at the theatre
represented a large garden with this inscription. . . [2
more paras. describing the fireworks]
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