| Citation |
VGW(PA.738.037
26 May-2 Jun 1738:11, 12 (96)
Extract of a letter from Petersburg, dated Feb. 10. Nothing
could be more magnificent than the celebration of our
empress's birth day, which was kept here the 28th ult.
Her czarian majesty having received in the morning the
compliments of the nobility, foreign ministers, and gentry,
dined afterwards in public, 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
entertained a number of lords and ladies. The Italian
musick played the whole time of dinner; and at every health,
the cannon of the palace were fired; the drums beating, and
trumpets sounding throughout the whole entertainment. About
4 in the afternoon the ball began, which continued 'til 8 at
night. In the mean time, the theatre was illuminated by an
infinite number of lights, and at 9 in the evening the fire-
works were lighted by a rocket from one of the galleries of
the great hall. The illuminations at the theatre
represented a large garden, with this inscription, The Happy
Peace.
The fire-work formed, in a manner, the entrance into the
garden, in the midst of which, Russia appeared kneeling
before an alter, and by her, Christian Europe, seconding her
prayer; over them was seen in the heavens part of the
ecliptick, with the sign under which her majesty was born,
and this inscription, Ut augeat Annos.
On the right hand of the alter was represented the taking
of Oczakow, and on the left the defence of that place; the
former with this motto in high Dutch, Mit Tapferkeit
erobert, that is, Taken by Bravery; and the latter with this
inscription in the same language, Mit Helden Mutch
Vertheriget, that is, Defended with Courage. The whole
performance was conducted with the utmost art and order.
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