PUJiLIC LIBRARY AND TEMPLE OF THE WINDS. 201
PLATE LXX.
PUBLIC LIBEARY AND TEMPLE OF THE WINDS.
The public library, erected by the Emperor Nicholas for the use of naval and military officers, was a handsome edifice of Grecian architecture, elegantly fitted up internally, and well furnished with valuable works, principally on military and naval subjects, and with scientific instruments. In niches in the walls were several marble figures; these were interspersed with bas-reliefs, for the most part representing ships; and the inner rooms were reached by a broad flight of marble steps, oi'namented on either side with a sphynx. The library stood in the highest part of the town of Sebastopol, and from its position was a prominent object in every direction.
The view from its windows must indeed have been unrivalled for beauty. Beneath them lay Sebastopol, with its chalky cliffs, white houses picked out with green verandahs and blinds, its cathedral, its green-domed churches, its docks, arsenals, and barracks, its casemated forts, its grand and smaller harbours, on whose waters rested tranquilly the mighty ships of war which were to sweep the Euxine of the detested Turk; and further off, the bright blue expanse of that sea itself, so lovely in calm, so terrible in storm. Turning now inland, the gaze would seek the picturesque gorge at Inkermann or the bold form of Cape Aiya, dwelling with delight on the surpassing beauty of the intervening valleys, or plunge deeper into the interior of this lovely land, where the south-eastern mountains rise chain after chain, blending their colours in exquisite harmony, till in the far distance they sink at the feet of the majestic Tchatir Dagh.
What wonder that, beholding the magnificence of the august city whose greatness he had fostered, and the romantic region by which it is surrounded, the late Czar in a moment of paternal pride should have pronounced it " the brightest jewel in his crown," little deeming that, while the unfading beauty of the setting should remain for ages the same, the precious gem would, ere a few short years had passed away, be crushed to atoms beneath the iron heel of ruthless war.
The library was set on fire by the liussians when they abandoned the town, and this is the moment the artist has chosen for illustration in this sketch, in which a portion of the defeated army are seen retreating by the light of the flames they had kindled.
The front shown is that towards the sea. All the objects of art collected here which were not destroyed by the fire were removed by the French, and the library is now, like the city on which it once looked down, nothing but a desolate ruin.
THE EAST.
PLATE LXXI.
QUAEANTINE CEMETERY AND CHUECH, With French Battery No. 50.
This was the scene of the two nights' desperate contest which took place between the French and Russians on the 22nd and 23rd of May. The Quarantine Batter}', hke the Central and Flagstaff Bastions, lost much of its importance from the period when the French concentrated all their energies on the Eussian defences opposed to their extreme right attack. In May, however, all their efforts were directed to advancing towards this part of the town, and after they gained the position, and had driven the Russians completely out of the Cemetery, they established themselves on the rising ground to the right, where they immediately constructed a work which they called the Battery No. 50, at a very short distance from the Eussian works, but divided from them by a narrow valley.
The old church, which is quite outside the precincts of the town, had some pretensions to architectural beauty, which were marred by the gaudiness of its decorations. There was also a handsome gateway, which, as well as the church itself, and even the tombstones of the Cemetery, did not escape severe damage from the several bombardments.
PLATE LXXII.
THE ADMIRALTY, SEBASTOPOL.
Of the Admiralty nothing now remains but the tower which served for a gateway, and which is censured by Prince Demidoff as " displaying somewhat too ostentatiously a number of pillars out of proportion with the remainder of the building." The tower contained a clock and probably a bell: the remainder of the building consists of roofless walls, containing only the refuse which has been rejected by fastidious Zouaves, blue-jackets, and camp-followers.
Two building-sheds which were also visible at the early part of the siege have disappeared; and this scene of utter destruction forms an apt counterpart to the last traces of the Eussian navy in these waters, the " final limitation " of the Black Sea fleet — the masts which project above the surface of the harbour, in monumental mockery of the ships which lie at its bottom.