TULA. 
237 
exhibited a considerable appearance. A very chap. 
handsome church, with white columns, appeared < — ' 
above the town, which occupies an extensive 
vale, and is filled with spires and domes. The 
entrance, both on its northern and southern 
side, is through triumphal arches, made of 
wood, painted to imitate marble. In former 
times, Tula was a dangerous place to visit ; the 
inhabitants frequently pillaging travellers in the 
public streets. Now, it is the great mart of j^ a " u ^ c - 
hardware for the whole empire; containing a Tula - 
manufactory of arms, all sorts of cutlery, and 
other works in polished steel. As soon as you 
arrive at the inn, a number of persons crowd 
the room, each bearing a sack filled with trin- 
kets, knives, inkstands, incense-pots, silk-reels, » 
scissars, and corkscrews. Their work is showy, 
but very bad, and will not bear the smallest 
comparison with our English wares: it is a 
sufficient proof of the superiority of English 
workmanship, that they stamp all their goods 
with the names of English towns and English 
artificers, imitating even the marks of the 
Sheffield manufacturers, and adopting all their 
models. The wares hawked about are made 
during holidays and hours of leisure ; these the 
workmen are permitted to sell to strangers, as 
their own perquisites. They are able to fabri- 
cate any thing, but they finish nothing. Some 
