Page:LA2-NSRW-4-0172.jpg





Admiralty rises the huge and magnificent mass of the Winter Palace. On the island of Vasilievski are the stock-exchange, the University, the Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Arts. On Petersburgski Island stands the old fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul, containing the mint, the cathedral, in which the members of the imperial family are buried, and a political prison. Many islands are joined by bridges and covered by beautiful parks and summer houses. The chief manufactures are cottons, metals, leather, sugar and guns. But St. Petersburg owes its growth chiefly to foreign trade. Thousands of boats and rafts bring 3,000,000 tons of freight down the Neva yearly, while the railroads bring 1,260,000 tons. St. Petersburg University and the many medical, technical, engineering, naval, military and other schools, as well as the Ladies’ University, number many thousands of students. There are fine picture-galleries in the Academy of Arts and the Hermitage. The imperial public library has 1,200,000 volumes and 40,000 manuscripts. Population 1,870,000.

Saint-Pierre (săn′-pyȧr′), Jacques Henri Bernardin de, was born at Havre, France, Jan. 19, 1737. As a boy he made a voyage to Martinique and studied at Caen and Rouen. He worked for a while as an engineer, made voyages and journeys, was a disciple of Rousseau, and wished to found an ideal state on the shores of the Sea of Aral. It was not till 1771 that his first book appeared, Voyage to the Isle of France, which at first was hardly noticed. He is remembered chiefly as the author of the beautiful story of Paul and Virginia, which was quickly scattered over Europe in English, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Polish and Russian translations. Napoleon took it with him on his Italian campaign, re-read it at St. Helena and heaped many favors on St. Pierre, which enabled him to spend his old age comfortably among his flowers at his country house at Éragny, where he died on Jan. 21, 1814.

St. Quentin (săn-kän′ tăn′), a French city on the Somme, 95 miles northeast of. The church of St. Quentin and the town-hall are fine Gothic buildings. There are large cotton and other mills, and vast quantities of embroidery are made. Two important battles were fought here. Spanish and English troops won a victory over the French under Montmorenci in 1557, followed by the surrender of the city to the Spaniards, though bravely defended by Coligni. On Jan. 19, 1871, the Germans under Von Goeben defeated the French under Faidherbe, capturing nearly 10,000 prisoners. Population 58,571.

Saint-Saens (săn′-sȧn′), Charles Camille, a distinguished French musician, was born in in 1835. He showed musical talent even as an infant; and at 16 wrote a symphony. For many years he was organist at the Madeleine Church in Paris. His earlier operas were unsuccessful; but his Henry VIII, Ascanius and The Barbarians have been well-received. Saint-Saens, however, is more famous as a composer of instrumental symphonies than of opera. He was an admirable performer as well as critic. He was made a commander of the Legion of Honor in 1894. No modern French composer has done more to maintain the classical tradition in instrumental music. He died in 1908.

Saint-Simon (sā́nt-sī′ mŭn), Claude Henri, Count of, the founder of French socialism, was born at, Oct. 17, 1760. Like other French nobles he showed his love for liberty by serving as a volunteer in the American Revolutionary War. However, he took very

Image: