ars an aspect
of quiet prosperity. The place is venerable in years, having a record
reaching back for over seven centuries. Here the Russian flag--red,
blue, and white--first begins to greet us from all appropriate points.
The most prominent building to catch the stranger's eye on entering the
harbor is the long barrack-like prison upon a hillside. In front of us
looms up the famous old castle of Abo, awkward and irregular in its
shape, and snow-white in texture. Here, in the olden time, Gustavus
Vasa, Eric XIV. and John III. held royal court. The streets are few but
very broad, causing the town to cover an area quite out of proportion to
the number of its inhabitants.

Helsingfors is situated still further up the Gulf, facing the ancient
town of Revel on the Esthonian coast, and is reached from Abo in about
twelve hours' sail, also through a labyrinth of islands so numerous as
to be quite confusing, but whose picturesque beauty will not easily be
forgotten. This is the present capital of Finland, and it contains a
little over fifty thousand inhabitants; it has been several times
partially destroyed by plague, famine, and fire. It was founded by
Gustavus Vasa of Sweden, in the sixteenth century. The university is
represented to be of a high standard of excellence, and contains a
library of about two hundred thousand volumes. The most striking
feature of Helsingfors, as one approaches it from the sea, is the large
Greek church, with its fifteen domes and minarets, each capped by a
glittering cross and crescent, with pendant chains in gilt metal; and as
it is built upon high ground, the whole is very effective. The Lutheran
church is also picturesque and notable, with its five domes sparkling
with gilded stars upon a dark green ground.

Though Finland is a dependency of Russia, still it is nearly as
independent as is Norway of Sweden. It is ruled by a governor-general
assisted by the Imperial Senate, over which a representative of the
Emperor of Russia presides. The country pays no pecuniary tribute to
Russia, but imposes its own taxes, and frames its own code of laws. When
the country was joined to Russia, Alexander I. assured the people that
the integrity of their constitution and religion should be protected,
and this promise has thus far been honestly kept by the dominant power.

The port of Helsingfors is defended by the large and remarkable fortress
of Sweaborg, which repelled the English and French fleets during