IW^PW"~'^"" tmmmfmmmimmmmv^^mmmmmmta RUSSIA OR, MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS PAST AND PRESENT STATE OF THAT COUNTRY ITS INHABITANTS. COMPILED FROM NOTES MADE ON THE SPOT, DURING TRAVELS, AT DIFFERENT TIMES, IN THE SEilVICE OK THE BIBLE SOCIETV, AND A RESIDENCE OF MANY YEARS IN THAT COUNTRY. ROBERT PINKERTON, D.D. AUTHOR OF " THE PRESENT STATE OF THE GREEK CHURCH IN RUSSIA," AND FOREIGN AGENT TO THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. LONDON: SEELEY & SONS, 169, FLEET STREET. HATCHARD & SON, PICCADILLY. MDCCC XXXIII. I'RINTKI) nv n. WAITS, CKOWN (OURT, TTJIPI.E BAH. UK. O .J PREFACE. The Author of this volume deems it quite unneces- ^ sary to introduce it to the reader by any lengthened '- prefatory remarks, as the work itself is altogether of a miscellaneous character. It is compiled, principally, from his journal notes and observations, made during > his extensive tours in Russia, in the service of the Bri- tish and Foreign Bible Society : upon these he has en- grafted a considerable portion of information, derived from Russian authors and other authentic sources, illustrative of the character, and of the past and present condition of the Russian People, their ecclesiastical estabhshment, and the state of civilization among them. He has had peculiarly favourable opportunities for observing the usages and studying the character of the Russians, through his knowledge of their language, and his intimate relation, for many years, with the Clergy, Nobility, and other ranks. That portion of the volume which describes the condition of the Russian Serfs, the state of the Hospi- tals and Prisons, the labours of the Russian Bible Society, and the religious character of the late Em- peror Alexander, will, he trusts, prove acceptable to A PRErACE. the numerous friends of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Discourses in the Appendix afford a specimen of tlie style of preaching which prevails among the Russian Clergy. The Plates, illustrative of the dress and amuse- ments of the people, have been selected from a col- lection of lithographic costumes, which the Author brought with him from Russia. In conclusion, he offers this volume to his nume- rous friends and subscribers ; sensible of its imperfec- tions, yet not without a hope, that it will convey to them some instructive information, and enable them to form a just estimate of the character of this mighty people, concerning whom the most various and con- tradictory statements have been given to the British Public. TABLE (ji" CONTENTS. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. Boundaries of Russia, Ancient and Modern Increase of Territory and Population The Russian Army Navy Cities and Towns Agriculture Vineyards and Orchards Forests Manufactories Commerce, by sea and land Amount of Exports and Imports Mints, and Circulating Medium Revenue Concluding Obser- vations p. 1 18 CHAP. II. St. Petersburg: departure from it Description of Gatchina Huts of the Peasantry Tutelary Saints Pleskotf Visit to the Archbishop Eugenius PleskofF Bible Society Description of Pleskotf its former grandeur, and present ruinous state Religious Procession Ingenious method of preserving Fruit-trees in Winter Dif- ferent Classes of Russian Merchants their Privileges Manners Dress, &c. Promenade on the First of May State of the Provincial Prison of Pleskotf Hospital Countiy in the neigh- bourhood, &c 19 37 CHAP. HI. Journey from Pleskotf to Polotsk, the principal seat of the Jesuits Inroads of the Jesuits on the Russian Church Comparison of the Doctrines of the Eastern and Western Churches, l)y Philaret, pre- sent Metropolitan of Moscow Public Worship of the Russians on a Holiday Invocation of Saints Worship of Pictures Mission of the Jesuits in Russia their riches their final expulsion from the Empire Anti(juity of Polotsk its present state aad population 38 (13 a2 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAP. IV. Arrival at Witepsk Witepsk Bible Society State of the Protestants Provincial Prison Hospital and Poor-house The Jews of Witepsk Description of Witepsk Population of the Province Orsha Sklolf Koads in White Russia Condition of the Pea- santry their different kinds of food and drink ^ Drunkenness prevalent amonf>st them its causes Arrival in Mog'ileff upon the Dnieper Mojiileff Bible Society Circulation of the Scriptures in the Russian Army State of the Gaol, Poor-house, &c. The Arch- bishop Daniel The Catholic Uniats Inroads of the Catholics upon the Eastern Church Province of Mogiletf its productions Visit to the Military Hospital Departure from Mogiletf^ Remarks on the state of the Jews Arrival in Minsk Character of the Arch- bishop Anatolie Circulation of the Scriptures Visit to the Prison Hospitals Colony of Tartars in the Suburbs of Minsk Descrip- tion of Minsk Privations in travelling through White Russia Enmity between the Russians and Poles 64 93 CHAP. V. Itoute from Minsk to Wilna Wilna Bible Society Wilna and its In- ha1)itants described Roman-catholic Nuns State of the Jews under the Russian Sceptre Ditferent Sects amongst them Influence of the Rabbis Jewish Proselytes in Wilna Description of the Public Hospitals under the direction of the Sisters of Mercy Visit to the City Prison State of the Protestants in Lithuania Translation and Publication of the New Testament in the Samogitian Lan- guage Descripticm of the ancient City of Troki The Karaite Jeus their acceptance of the Sc-riptures 94 109 CHAP. VI. Covna Intolerance of the Roman Catholics Route from Covna to Ros- siena, the Capital of Samogitia Pierist Monks Dominican Monks their Schools, &c. State of the Jews Departure from Rossiena Fair of Tititian Intoxication of the Peasantry their condition tieneral Aspect of the Country The District Town of Shawel Frceiiuisonrj in Russia its suppression Arrival in the Samogi- tian 'J\)\\n of Tclsh Prejudices of the Roman Catholics ag-ainst the Reading of tlic Scrli)turcs WiHing-ncss of the Russians to receive them P()\crty of tlie Xoljility of Samon-itia The Jewish Synagogue The Bcrnardiue Monks State of Education among the Lithuanian TABLE OF CONTENTS. Roman Catholics Arrival at Polangen Interview with the Prince Bishop Gedroitz Arrangements made with him for distributing the Samogitian Scriptures 110 120 CHAP. VII. On board the Negropont, in the Black Sea, Nov. 10, 1819 Arrival at Odessa Confinement in the Quarantine Translation of the New Testament into the Modem Russ Testimonies of the Russian Bishops to the utility of the work Labours of the Russian Bible Society Description of the Quarantine Emancipation from it : 121134 CHAP. VIII. Description of Odessa, and its Inhabitants Climate Commerce &c. Instability of worldly riches Visit to the Prison and Hospital Opposition of the Jesuits to the Circulation of the Scriptures Destitute state of the Foreign Colonists in the South of Russia, for want of Pastors and Teachers Bulgarian Colonists Circulation of the Scriptures by the Odessa Bible Society. Account of a Ger- man Sect of Millenarians their Migration from Wurtemberg and Bavaria to the vicinity of Mount Ararat their sufferings on the journey, and in the late Persian War. Schools and Churches of Odessa Baptism of a Child in the Cathedral Usages of the Rus- sians in connexion with Births and Baptisms their Superstitions Baptism of a Mongolian Prince Amulets used by the Russians Russian Names 135 161 CHAP. IX. Departure from Odessa Danger of crossing the River Bugh upon the Ice An account of the Town of Nicholaief Arrival in Eliza- betograd Rapidity of Travelling in Winter, in Russia Raskolniks or Dissenters of Elizabetograd ^Visit to the Duchobortzi, on the Sea of AsofF, in 1816 their persecutions Rescript of the Emperor Alexander against persecution Examination of three of them by the Archimandrite Inokentie, in 1792 Conversation with one of them in Petersburg, in 1822 Singular opinion of the Molochani respecting the Kiss of Charity Departure from Elizabetograd a Russian Travelling-sledge Severity of the Winter Arrival in Xief on Christmas Eve 162192 TABLE or CONTENTS. CHAP. X. Antlijuity and Sanctity of Kief Introdxxction of Christianity amoncf the Russians in the tenth century Translation of the Scriptures into the Shivonic Present Extent of the Slavonic Tribes Account of the ancient System of Idolatry prevalent among' the Russians as Heathen Remaining Traces of this Idolatry, in their usages Fu- neral Ceremonies Church Music Visit to the Archimandrite An- tonie, of the Pestchersky Monastery its Printing-office Visit to the Prison, and City Hospital Description of the Cathedral Church of St. Sophia Interview with the Metropolitan, Serapion Visit to the Military Hospital Account of the Sacred Catacombs Shrine of Nestor, the Russian Chronologist Arsenie the Monk Legends of the Russians Visit to Vasan, a blind Monk Depot of the Kief Bible Society Distribution of the Scriptures Public Dinner to the Clergy, at the Metropolitan's 193^ 22 1 CHAP. XI. Government of the Russian Church in ancient times Power of the Patriarchs Patriotism of Hermogenus, Patriarch of all Russia Privileges and Rights of the Clergy their power and wealth Im- morality of the Monks and Nuns Abolition of the Patriarchate, and establishment of the Synodal Government Fall of the Clergy their Impoverishment Seraphim, present Metropolitan of Peters- burg and Novogorod Character of the Regular and Parochial Clergy their domestic habits, and stipends Education of the Clergy Spiritual Academy and Seminary of Kief Universities and Schools Narrow limits of Education among the Russians: 22.") 257 CHAP. XII. J)eparture from Kief Severity of the Frost Arrival at Nejln descrip- tion of It (Jireek Family of Zoslma Narrow escape from an accident The Town of IJaturln General appearance of the coun- try from Odessa to Orel Interview with the Hishop of Orel Visit to the Prison Account of the Sect of Eunuchs Domestic Festi- vals of the Name-day and the IJlrth-day of the Russians Popula- tion and Commerce ^Circulation of the Scriptures by the Orel Hible Soc-iety Jcnirney from Orel to Tula Great loss of lives from the severity r)f the frost and the drifting snows Town of Aletzensk Niirrow escajic from being burled lu tlic snow Arrival in Tula Circulation of the Scriptures Tula, the irirmlnghiim of Russia description of it Visit to the Spiritual Seminary Consistory l*rlson-- Funeral of a llusslau Slave 2.'')S 27.) TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAP. XIII. State of Bondage of the Russian Peasantry Historical sketch of its origin Present condition of the Slaves of the Crown, and of those of the Nobles Russian Slaves have no legal rights Anecdotes of the fidelity of Slaves General treatment of them Domes- tic Slaves Luxury of the Nobility Manners of the Peasantry Want of Bread little known in Russia Baths Kindness among the Lower Classes of the People Dress of the Female Peasantry Customs and Ceremonies attending Marriage, &c. . . 276 307 CHAP. XIV. Departure from Tula Arrival in Moscow Sketch of the present state of that city Formation of the Moscow Bible Society, in IS 13 its success in circulating the Scriptures State of society in Moscow Character of the Nobility State of Civilization in general Privileges of the Nobility State of general Knowledge and Edu- cation in Russia their Literature and Learning Catherine II.'s estimate of the natural abilities of the Russians Further remarks on their character Illustrative Anecdotes Ancient Legislation of the Tzars Present state of their Courts of Justice Russian Proverbs 308356 CHAP. XV. Departure from Moscow Arrival in Twer Interview with the Princess Sophia Mestchersky Her benevolent labours, and Religious and Moral Publications The Emperor Alexander Her account of his conversion and piety her estimate of his character, and account of his death Departure from Twer, and safe arrival in St. Peters- burg Concise statement of the labours of the Russian Bible Society 357393 CHAP. XVI. Route from Petersburg to Abo Description of Wyborg Friedricksham Waterfall The Village Church of PiJtles Luisa Borga Borga Bible Society Roads Agriculture Domestic state and character of the Finns State of Religion among them Abo Fair Account of Abo its University Bible Society Literature of the Finns Population and Government Different Tribes of Finns in tlie Russian Empire 394 110 TAHM'. or (ONTKNTS. APlMvN'DIX. SPKCI.MENS (iF THE STVLK CI' PllEACllING AMONG THE RUSSIAN CLERGY. Seiimon I. on Hev. xiv. 13. By Ambrosius, present Archbishop of Kazan. Proaclied in the Cathedral Church of Tula, August 15, 1811, on the Festival of the Death of the Virgin Mary. .413 426 Seiimon II. on 1 Cor. i. 23. By Ambrosius, present Archbishop of Kazan. Preached in the Cathedral Church of Tula, on Good- Friday, IS 11 427440 Sermon III. on Psalm \\\\i\. 27. By Innocentius, late Bishop of Perm. Preached in the Kazan Church, St. Petersburg, March 12, IS 14, on the Anniversary of the Accession of the Emperor Alex- ander to the Throne . 441 453 Seu:\ion IV. on Matthew xix. 16, By Ambrosius, late Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Novogorod 454 460 Sermon V. on Luke xv. 21. By Ambrosius late Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Novogorod 461 467 Sermon VI. on Ephesiatis iv. 5. By Michael, late ^Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Novogorod 468 478 Sermon VII. on Ephcsians ii. S, 9. By Michael, late Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Novoa^orod 479 486 RUSSIA. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. Boundaries of Russia, Ancient and Modern Increase of Terri- tory and Population The Russian Army IVavy Cities and Towns Agriculture Vineyards and Orchards Forests Manufactories Commerce, by sea and land Amount of Ex- ports and Imports Mints, and Circulating Medium Revenue Concluding Observations. The period in History is still very recent, at which the vast extent of country now composing the Russian Em- pire began to unfold its dimensions to the civilized nations of Western Europe. Since that time, the Go- vernment of Russia has laudably exerted its influence, not only to obtain a correct knowledge of the numerous tribes of mankind who roam over the wilds of Asiatic and the Northern parts of European Russia, but also to examine into the natural resources of those countries, and their applicability to the purposes of civilized life. This inquiry, carried on since the time of Peter I., has shewn, that this empire possesses internal resources, cal- culated to support its hundred tribes, even when their present population shall have reached a tenfold augmen- tation of number ; that its seas, lakes, na\igable rivers, forests, fisheries, minerals, vegetable products, and almost boundless extent of arable land, afford abundant stores, r n 'i ADVANCE IN CIVILIZATION. wliich, until now, have been but partially discovered or drawn forth. Indeed, the scantiness of population, and the want of civilization among most of these tribes, have ren- dered such a task impossible. But every year is making new discoveries in these rich fields of research; though it may truly be said, that the natural resources of this mighty em})ire are still but imperfectly known to its own inhabitants. On the other hand, it must be conceded that the exertions of the Government of Russia to intro- duce civihzation and the knowledge of the Arts and Sciences into the European parts of the empire have been distinguished not less by bold comprehensive plans than by great energy in execution ; and these have pro- duced, and are still every year producing, such changes, that no statistical account of this country can be given which will hold correct for any length of time. What one describes to-day may, by an edict, be entirely new- moulded to-morrow. No institutions remain stable for any length of time, in the present state of the empire : they are all liable to be thrown down, remodelled, or annihilated, by the power of the autocratic lever, called an '' Iminoc Ukaz." And though the constant progress of the nation towards a higher degree of culture, and of political and commercial influence, renders such changes in many respects indispensable, yet how often do the interests of individuals, or of a party, unite in misleading the mind of the sovereign, and inducing him to issue new edicts, by which the l)est and most wisely-laid plans of his predecessors are arrested in their progress or overturned, and the finest plants torn up by the root ere they have had time to bring fruit to maturity, in order to give place to new schemes, often far less adapted to promote the general good of his people ! Amidst these disadvantages, we shall here bring forward ORIGIN OF THE RUSSIANS. 8 a few statistical sketches, the materials of which we have chiefly taken from Russian publications ; and these will, in some measure, prepare the reader for the further details contained in the work itself. Some of the most intelligent native authors are now of opinion that the Russians* are originally of Scandinavian origin, springing from the same ancestors with the Swedes ; and that they inhabited the shores of the Gulf of Fin- land, until their union with the Slavonic tribes in the ninth century, at the foundation of the Russian monarchy under Rurick. At that period, the following tribes are recorded as inhabiting the extensive regions lying be- twixt Finland and the Ural Mountains, the White Sea, and the banks of the Dwina and frontier of Poland : I. The Krivitsi, near the sources of the Wolga, Dwina, and Dnieper. 2. Polotsi, near where the River Polot falls into the Dwina. 3. Dragovitsi, betwixt the Dwina and Prepita. 4. Poliani, on the Dnieper, near Kief. 5. Radimitsi, on the banks of the River Sodje. 6. Via- titsi, on the River Oka. 7. Sever iani, on the River Desna. 8. Budjiani, on the River Bugh. 9. Uglitzi, on the River Orel. 10. Dulebi, on the River Bugh, II. hiititzi; and, 12. Tivertsi, on the Dwina and Da- nube, towards the Black Sea. These, and many other tribes of Finnish, Hunnish, and Sarmatic origin, though united under one government, long retained their pe- culiar characteristics ; so that even at this day we find, in some of the provinces of Russia, traces of the * Until the time of loan Vasillivitch Groznoi, the country was called Rusia; but in the time of the Metropolitan Makario they beo-au to write the first syllable of the name sometimes with an o instead of an ii. This undetermined orthography continued till the time of Alexie Mi- chaelovitch, when the form Rossia was o'cnevally adopted, instead of Rusia. n2 1- INCREASE OK TERRITOllV. ancient distinctions of its inhabitants, in their character, dress, especially the head-dresses of the females, pecu- liar usages, and even in the dialects spoken by them. Thus the Mordvi, Tschuvashi, Tscheremisi, Ztriani, Ko- re/i, FifDis, and others, still continue to speak their own dialects; and it is to the benevolent labours of the Rus- sian Bible Society that the three first are now indebted for the New Testament, for the first time, in their native touG^es. In the 13th century, the irruptions of the Mongolians, who penetrated westward as far as Novogorod, re- duced the Tzars and their subjects under their sway, and kept them in bondage for nearly three hundred years ; until their great deliverer, loan Vasillivitch, roused the energies of the natives to cast off the Tartar yoke, and led the Russians on to subdue their powerful oppres- sors. Since their emancipation from the yoke of the successors of Jingis Khan, in the middle of the 15th century, the Russians have extended their dominions by conquest, in an almost unprecedented manner, until their empire now far surpasses in extent that of Rome in the meridian of her power. This extraordinary accession of territory and population has advanced, in steady progression, from the period above mentioned to the present day ; nor is it possible to affix any probable limits to its further advances, especially towards the south-east and south. Let us, however, glance at the growth of this mighty colossus of modern times, which alr(?ady tlu'ows into the scale of Eiu'opean affairs such a pri'ponderating infhience, and which ])robably is destined to act a still more [)rominent part among the nations. In 1 1(;2, when loan Vasillivitch ascended the throne of the Tzars of Muscovy, the whole extent of his dominions was estimated at about 18,200 square miles ; INCREASE OF POPULATION. but when loan Vasillivitch Grosnoi came to the throne, in 1533, it was already more than doubled ; and at his death, in 1584, it encompassed 144,000 square miles. When the present dynasty of Romanoff was elected by the assembled Boiars and Clergy, in 1613, and Michael Feodrovitch was raised to the throne, his dominions were nearly the same in extent as at the death of loan Vasilli- vitch ; but in 1645, when he left them to his son Alexie, they were enlarged to 258,000 square miles. Peter the Great extended considerably the limits of the empire ; and at the accession of his daughter Elizabeth, in 1 741, they included 325,000 square miles. Catherine the Second also added to the empire ; and at the death of Alexander, its surface was calculated to contain an area of 340,000 German square miles: so that in the course of 364 years, Russia has increased, in extent of territory, nearly twenty fold ! Nor is the increase of population in the last 100 years less remarkable, though more thinly scattered over its immense extent than in the thinnest inhabited parts of Europe. The first census taken by order of Peter the Great, in 1722, gave the number of males paying taxes at 5,794,928 ; and if we give an equal proportion of females, the whole of his subjects, exclusive of the clergy, nobihty, and army, amounted to 11,589,856 souls. But in the sixth revision, made in 1812, this population was found to have augmented to 37,700,000 souls, though the acces- sions by conquest were estimated only at fifteen milKons : and in the present day, according to the last statistical accounts, the population of the Russian empire is esti- mated at upw ards of fifty-four millions ; of whom about thirty-six millions are native Russians, speaking the same language, and belonging to the national or Oriental Church. The Poles and Lithuanians belonging to the () POPULATION. empire amount to about eight millions, and are mostly Roman Catholics. The Finns, Livonians, Esthonians, and Germans, are Protestants, and are estimated at three milhons. Jews, two millions. The Caucasian, Crimean, Kazan, Astrachan, Bashkeer, Kirgizian, and Siberian Tar- tars, are all Mohammedans, and probably do not amount to more than two millions. The Mongolian, Kalmuk, Manjur, and other heathen tribes of Siberia, whose num- bers do not exceed one million, belong to the Buddhist and Shaman systems of idolatry. The Georgian nation, with the recently-conquered provinces of Persia and the Armenians, amount to about one million and a half. In the above estimate of the Russians, the pri\ileged orders are included ; viz. 1. The nobility (males only) 225,000 2. The clergy 243,500 3. Officers and servants in the Civil department,750,000 The emancipated peasantry (males only) . 550,000 Free-born Russian peasantry (males only) 97,000 From these estimates it is manifest, that, within the last century, the population of Russia, irrespective of its accessions by conquest, and notwithstanding the bloody wars in which it has been almost constantly engaged, has more than doubled itself by natural causes. Nor can w^e be surprised at this rapid increase of the human race, if, in addition to the extraordinary longevity so common among the people, we attend to the statements given in the registers which are kept by the bishops, and annually transmitted to the Synod and published. From t]iese,the following extraordinary results are drawn ; that the proportion of males to females is as 44 to 40 ; of amuial l)irths, I in 25 ; of deaths, I in 40 ; of mar- nages, 1 in KIO; and that the proportion of birtlis to deaths is as 10 to 10 ! RUSSIAN ARMY AND NAVY. ^ The military forces of Russia have also increased nearly tenfold within the last hundred years : in 1724 they amounted to . 115,000 men, 1771 240,000 . . 1808 700,000 . . 1812 1,300,000 . . and at the present time they are estimated at about 900,000. This estimate includes the whole of the military force, regular and irregular. The regular army is composed of infantry, cavalry, artillery, and engineers. The Guards consist of ten regiments of foot, and eight regiments of horse, usually stationed in and around St. Petersburg, and amount to above 40,000 men. These compose the flower of the Russian army, than which a better disci- plined, better mounted, and finer body of men is not to be seen in Europe. The principal military force of the empire is divided into two armies, that occupy the whole extent of the western and southern frontier of European Russia, from the shores of the Baltic to the mouths of the Danube. The armies are divided into corps ; these latter into divisions ; and the divisions into brigades, each of which consists of two regiments. The armies of Finland, Georgia, Orenburg, and Siberia are not included in these two expanded wings of the Russian eagle. The expense of this extensive military establishment is small, in comparison to that of other European forces ; but still so gTeat, as at present, with the navy, to con- sume nearly one half of the revenues of the crown, viz. from 180 to 220 millions of roubles annually. In the present day, the Russian naval strength consists of about 50 ships of the line, 40 frigates, and 900 smaller 8 POPULATION OF CITIES AND TOWNS. vessels, galleys, &c. These carry G(X)0 guns of different calibre. The numl)er of men employed is about 8(),(M)() ; and the sup})()rt of this naval estabhshment costs the crown 30 millions of roubles annually. Cronstadt, on the Gulf of Finland ; Nicholaief, on the Bugh ; and Se- vastopol, on the Black Sea, are the principal stations for the Russian marine forces. There are 634 towns scattered throughout the empire ; which, in respect of population, may be divided into six classes, not including the capitals. The population of St. Petersburg is about . 330,000 of Moscow 250,000 Towns of the first class are, Kazan . . 50,000 Astrachan . . 37,000 Tula . . . 40,000 Riga . . . 30,0(K) Wilna . . 40,000 Kief . . . 30,000 Towns of the second class, of from 30 to 20,000 inha- bitants, are, Saratoff, Orel, laroslaff, Kursk, Kaluga, Voronge, Odessa, Twer, &c. From 20 to J 5,000 Revel, Tobolsk, Witepsk, Tam- boff, &c. Towns somewhat above 10,000 inhabitants, are, Pen- za, Eletz, Nijnia-Novogorod, Simbirsk, Nejin, Irkutsk, Smolensk, Kozloff, Ahtirka, Minsk, Archangel, Mittau, Grodna, Harkoff, Tor j ok, Poltava, Kostroma, PleskofF. Of the third class, there are 85 towns of from 10 to 5(MK) inhabitants. Of tlie fourth class, there are 214 towns having from 2 to 5()()0 inhabitants. Of the fifth class, there are 129 towns with from 1000 to 20(Ml inhabitants each. Of tlie sixth class, there are 113 towns having some- wJKit be-low 10-lish. 14 COMMERCK. half a million of roubles. The state of other branches of manufticture will be considered in the course of the work itself. The commerce of the Russian empire has also ad- vanced steadily with the other branches of national industry and aggrandisement. Archangel, though the oldest, is not the least important mart of commerce, even in the present day. The English have traded to this port since the year 1553; and of late years, the Americans strive to divide the trade with them. Arch- angel is most conveniently situated for receiving, by water communication, the articles of exportation from the eastern and middle parts of European Russia ; and for transporting, by the same easy communication, the vast quantities of coffee, cotton, sugar, &c. con- sumed in the interior of the empire. The number of ships which annually visit this most northern port is about 250. The imports consist of coffee, cotton and cotton-yarn, indigo, cochineal, &c. : the exports are, flax, hemp, tallow, sheetings, and wood. The ports on the Baltic are, Wyburg, Cronstadt, St. Peters])urg, Narva, Revel, Baltic-Port, Pcrnau, Riga, Arnsburg, and Libau. The chief exports are, wood, corn, hemp, flax, tallow, linens, potashes, &c. ; and the imports include nearly all kinds of colonial produce, and European manufactured goods. Tlie connnerce with Persia by the Caspian Sea has of late years considerably hicreased. Astrachan is tlie princi])al mart for this traffic. The imports consist of raw cotton and silk, shawls, pearls, cSrc; and the exports are cast-iron and copper articles, cloth, manufactnred silks, Sec. Of the connnerce of the Black Sea we shall speak in the work itself Tlie land trade with China and the nations of Middle Asia is every year rising into greater EXPORTS AND IMPORTS. MINTS. 15 importance. Kiachta is the place of barter betwixt the Russians and the Chinese. The latter bring tea, manu- factured silks, nankeens, and cottons, to the market ; and receive in return, furs, ticking, cloth, and leather. The trade of Russia with China is considered very lucrative. Orenburg and UfFa are the two marts on the Oren- burg frontier for trade with the Bucharians, Hi\dntsi, Kir- gizi, &c. The exports and imports are said to amount to upwards of eight millions of roubles annually; and, through recent exploratory embassies to those countries from the Russian Government, commerce with the tribes of Middle Asia has been greatly extended. The land traffic with the nations of Western Europe is principally carried on through the frontier towns of Polangen on the Prussian, Redzivilof on the Austrian, and Doubassar on the Turkish frontier. In 1823, the whole imports by sea and land were valued at 158 millions of roubles, and the exports at 195 millions ; on which the Government levied 40,586,743 roubles, in duties. But in 1830, the imports had risen to 192 mil- lions, and the exports to 258 millions; on which 65,708,646 roubles of duties were paid. Official documents give the number of ships that had arrived in all the ports of Russia that year at 6128, and state the exports to have been the following : Grain, 3,628,210 tschetverts ; Iron, 1,014,842 poods; Wax, 52,264 poods ; Potash, 722,108 poods; Oil, 643,625 poods ; Hemp, 2,196,721 poods; Flax, 2,309,302 poods ; Soap, 4,088,932 poods ; Tobacco, 49,342 poods ; Wood, exported for 8,263,553 roubles ; Cattle, 8914 head ; Hides, 304,404. In 1832, the exports ex- ceeded the imports only about fifty millions of roubles, or two millions sterling. The principal mint of the empire is in the Fortress of St. Petersburg, where gold and silver are coined. 16 REVENUE. There are also four mints in Siberia for copper. The issues of gold, silver, and copper money, from these five mints, during the last century, are estimated at 300 miUions of roubles, of which there is reckoned still to be about 100 millions in circulation. They have also recently begun to use platina as a circulating medium, and in 1830 coined 337,000 roubles of this metal. Since the introduction of the paper currency, in 1768, the Government have issued above 600 millions of roubles in paper notes : but this paper, since it was first issued, has lost nearly 75 per cent, of its original value ; so that four roubles in paper or copper are given for one silver rouble in common currency. The quantity of paper in circulation is immense : probably its amount is not known ; because forgery is carried on to a considerable extent in the interior, where the peasantry cannot so easily distinguish betwixt the forged notes and the real ones issued by the Government. The revenue of the empire is small, in comparison to its extent and population. This arises from various causes ; such as, the want of freedom, the low state of civilization, the small number of their manufactories, the unstable principles of the Government, the frequent changes in the tariffs, &c. The revenue is })rincipally drawn from the following sources : l.The ohroh, or capitation-tax, of three roubles upon every male peasant, which produces about seventy five millions. 2. The profits of the monopoly of l)randy, which gives upwards of 100 millicms. 3. The duties on imports and exi)()rts amounted in 1830 to about sixty- six millions, 4. The merchants pay about two per cent, upon their declared capital. 5. Foreign artisans pay for permission to exercise their trades: masters, 100 rou- bles ; their assistants, forty ; and each of their work- REVENUE. 17 men, twenty roubles per annum. 6. A tax of forty kopecks (four-pence) per pood is laid upon salt, at the salt lakes, which produces a considerable sum. 7. A duty of six per cent, is paid to Government on all moveable and immoveable property which is disposed of by legal contract. 8. The Post-office produces a con- siderable revenue. 9. Artisans and citizens pay a tax of five roubles per head. 10. A tax upon passports, and Government orders for post-horses. 11. Stamp duties, &c. &c. These are the principal sources of the revenue of the Russian empire, which amounts in the present day to upwards of 450 millions of roubles, paper currency, or 18,000,000/. sterling. The expenditure is generally in proportion to the income. When less, they endeavour, with the overplus, to pay off the foreign debts, or lessen the quantity of the paper currency : when more, they contract new debts, lay on new taxes, or add to the paper currency. To these few observations and statistical sketches much might be added, by way of comment : for the pre- sent state of the Russian empire affords rich materials for those who study the reciprocal interests of the Euro- pean States. Russia has not yet reached the maturity of her strength : remain stationary she cannot : and who is able to predict her future greatness, or to tell how faj- her limits may yet extend ? Had Russia a revenue equal to that of England, her armies, under an enterprising spirit like Peter the Great, might soon overrun a great part of Europe. How desirable is it, therefore, that education and the pure principles of the Gospel should extend their influence among the nations of that mighty empire ; so that this colossal power, raised up by the Almighty in these latter days to fulfil c 18 OBSERVATIONS. His inscrutable decrees raised up from the descendants of tliose very tribes that once overturned the Roman empire in the meridian of its civilization, and which has now assumed such a commanding position on the fron- tiers of the nations of Europe and Asia may become the minister of peace and happiness, and not of desola- tion and thraldom, to the human race ! ST. PETERSBURG. 19 CHAP. 11. St. Petersburg : departure from it Description of Gatchina Huts of the Peasantry Tutelary Saints Pkskof Visit to the Archbishop Eugenius Pleskof Bible Society Description of Pleskofits former grandeur, and present ruinous state Religious Procession Ingenious method of preserving Fruit- trees in Winter Dijferent Classes of Russian Merchants their Privileges Manners Dress, 8fc. Promenade on the First of May State of the Provincial Prison of Pleskof Hospital Country in the neighbourhood, Sfc. When a foreigner arrives in St. Petersburg for the first time, he is forcibly struck with two things the magni- ficence of the city, and the high degree of civihzation of its inhabitants, contrasted with the wild natural state in which the greater part of the country around it still lies, and the rude uncultivated appearance of the natives. He is astonished at the high state of discipline of the troops ; the extensive marine establishments of Cron- stadt and Petersburg ; the vigour and despatch which seem to characterize the movements of every one that passes by in the uniform of the Government ; the palaces of the Imperial family ; the public gardens and prome- nades ; the churches and public buildings ; the sumptuous dwellings of the nobles and foreign merchants ; the great bazaar in the midst of the city, filled with the products of European and Asiatic industry ; the beautiful canals, lined with granite, crowned with numerous bridges, and filled with barks laden with the produce of the interior ; c 2 20 ST. PETERSBURG. the branches of the river around the Exchange covered with vessels from foreign ports ; the villas and gardens on the small islands formed by the mouths of the Neva ; the splendid reviews, pubhc fetes, and the various national costumes of the inhabitants all combine to heighten his astonishment and delight : and it may truly be affirmed, that such extensive inroads on the rudeness of nature, by which the morasses and wilds of the banks of the Neva have been transformed in a single century into the most splendid city in Europe, could only have been produced by the resources of a great empire, at the command of an absolute monarch. No constitutional government, to which is entrusted the welfare of a free people, could reasonably have commanded means ad- equate to such an undertaking, in so short a time. The grandeur and luxury of ancient Babylon, on the Eu- phrates, compared with its present state of desolation, may afford a fit idea of the swamps and thickets on the Neva in 1703, and the splendid metropolis of Russia which now occupies their place in 1833 : and it is only with the disposable forces of a nation like that of the ancient Nebuchadnezzars that the Tzars of Russia have been able to call into existence such a noble city in so short a time. But St. Petersburg is not a fair specimen of Russia : its inhabitants are mostly foreigners, either in their origin or in their manners. No class of the Russians, except the very lowest, is to be viewed here in their native state. We shall not therefore take, as the basis of a description of the Russians, the incorrect specimen of them which Petersburg affords ; but examine the con- dition of the peasantry in the villages, and that of the other classes in the provincial towns. Before my (lei)arture from St. Petersburg, Prince MANNER OF TRAVELLING IN RUSSIA. 21 Galitzin very kindly supplied me with letters of recom- mendation to the most distinguished individuals, both ecclesiastical and civil, in the different provinces of the empire which I purposed visiting ; and the late Minister of the Interior, Kozadavleff, afforded me similar facilities for my journey, and especially a general order to all the postmasters to procure me horses without delay, that I might not be exposed to the disagreeable altercations which so frequently take place betwixt the traveller and the postmasters, or the postillions, at the stations in the interior. I travelled in an open calash, with a young Russian for a servant. The number of versts * from principal places are marked upon black-and-white painted wooden posts, about ten feet high, along all the principal roads ; and at every station, the jwdorojnia, or Government order for post-horses, is copied into a book. The pea- santry of the villages where there are post-stations fur- nish the horses, and each drives his own. They are called YamstchiJci ; and are paid a certain sum for each horse, and a remuneration by the traveller, according as he is satisfied with their services ; which is styled Na Vodka, "for brandy." The rate of fares paid for posting is very low, in comparison with that of other European States ; not above five-pence per English mile, for three horses. The horses and harness, with the driver, in his long beard, broad-brimmed hat, and long sheep-skin coat bound round the waist with a girdle, large gloves, and whip in hand, is a perfect contrast to English, French, or even German postillions. Persons of rank travel in their own carriages, of European construction ; but the Govern- ment couriers travel in telegas, or four-wheeled simply- constructed carts, with a bundle or two of hay or straw * A verst is something less than three-quarters of an English mile. 22 GATCHINA. thrown into them, to sit or he upon. When a semicircular head is put upon the hind part of this vehicle, it is then called a kibitha, and looks exactly like a large cradle placed upon four wheels. In inclement weather, two or three bass-mats sewed together, and bound fast to the fore-part of the head, are made to fall over the open part of the carriage, so as to protect the traveller. The Russian postillions always yoke their horses abreast of each other ; so that they drive some- times four, five, or six in hand, all running by the side of each other ; and, like the ancient Grecian charioteers, they are extremely skilful in managing them. Three post-horses are generally yoked to a light carriage with two persons in it : to heavy carriages they yoke six horses abreast, and then two in front of the middle horses, with a boy, as postillion, riding the right-hand horse. The first place of importance we passed through, on leaving the capital, was Gatchina, a small town about forty versts from Petersburg, famous as the residence of the Emperor Paul, when Grand-duke. It was originally built by Prince Gregory Orlof ; and after his death was purchased, with all the peasantry in the neighbourhood, by the Empress Catherine II. She appointed it for the usual residence of her son, Paul Petrovitch ; who passed the gi'eater part of his time there, in exercising a few- companies of soldiers, instead of preparing himself, in the political school of Catherine, in St. Petersburg, for the government of this mighty empire. Many inchviduals of penetration in Russia attribute the disasters of his reign to this total neglect of his education by his mother, and the mortifications he had to endure, under her jealousy, for forty-two years before he came to the throne. When emperor, Gatchina still remained one HUTS OF THE PEASANTRY. 23 of his favourite places of resort. The palace is of a moderate size ; the gardens, laid out in the Enghsh style, are extensive and beautiful ; and it was long the summer residence of his widow, the Dowager Empress Maria Federovna*. The Emperor Paul erected Gatchina into a town, by an ukaz, in 1797. There are about 3000 inhabitants, who principally subsist by agriculture, and the employment afforded them from the palace. In the church of Gatchina the emperor deposited the rehques of the Order of the Knights of Malta, presented by Baron Hompech, on his becoming Grand Master of the Order, in 1799 ; consisting of a bit of the true Cross, the right hand of John the Baptist, and the wonder-working image of Notre Dame de Filerme, which are said to have been transported from Rhodes to Malta in 1523, and were brought from Malta to Petersburg in 1798 ! The country from Gatchina to Pleskof is level, and presents no scenery to interest the traveller : a great part of it is still covered with extensive forests of fir and birch, quite in a state of nature ; the rest is devoted to agriculture and grazing. The villages of the peasantry, as in other parts of the empire, are all built of block- wood, and covered with shingles or straw : they are nearly in the same style in every part of Russia, the gable end always turned to the road. Each hut has its own gate ; leading into a court, from which is the * This excellent woman died in 1S28, and was universally lamented. Since the untimely death of her husband, she had devoted her time, in- fluence, and income, to works of charity and benevolence. Her schools for the education of the daughters of poor nobles are distinguished among the seminaries of the empire ; and the extensive and important concerns of the Foundling Hospitals of Petersburg and Moscow were also committed to her maternal charge : that of Petersburg she usually visited every week, and entered into the most minute concerns of the establishment. 24f HUTS OF THE PEASANTRY. entrance into the dwelling. The stables, sheds, and other out-houses, compose the remaining sides of the court ; so that the gate being generally shut, each family lives undisturbed within its own enclosures. But in conse- quence of the whole establishment being built of wood and other inflammable materials, and the excessive heat in summer, burnt-down villages, alas ! meet the eye of the traveller too frequently in the interior. In such circumstances, should the proprietor of the serfs be unable or unwilling to aid them in procuring materials for new huts, they divide into parties, and go about the towns and villages to collect money for this purpose by begging. On entering the cottage, a large oven, built of brick, from six to eight feet square, five feet high, and level on the top, is always seen occupying a prominent part in the dwelling. Part of the family always sleep upon the top of it in the winter season ; for regular bedsteads are not yet in general use among them. They spread down their mats and sheep-skin coats in any place that best suits them, in summer very fre([uently in an outhouse or in the open air. A common fir table, near to the small glazed or unglazed window ; benches placed along the sides of the apart- ment ; a few earthen pots, in which the food is cooked in the oven (for they have no other fire-place for cooking); some w^oodcn trenchers; a salt-box, and spoons made of the same material ; a wooden vessel or two, for holding water ; a trough cut out of the trunk of a tree, in which to wash their linen ; with a chest to hold their clothes these sini])le articles compose the whole amount of the furniture of a Russian izba or cottage. The poorest hut, however, is always su])})lied with one or more small })ictures of their tutelary saints: sometimes, also, among the more wealthy, one observes the pictures of the TUTELARY SAINTS. 25 Saviour and the Virgin ; and not a few possess a repre- sentation of the Holy Trinity the Father appearing seated on a throne as the Ancient of Days, the Son on the one side, and the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, on the other. These small pictures are hung up in the comer of the hut, facing the door; so that they catch the eye of every one who enters, and remind him of his duty. The stranger having passed the threshold, and shut the door behind him, stands mute, bows before them, crosses himself several times, repeats a few words of ejaculation, and then, and not till then, turns to the inhabitants of the hut, with the salutation of " Peace be with you!" ^' Jesus Christ be with you!" and after this, he states the en-and on which he comes. / To supply the peasantry wdth sacred pictures, that are generally painted upon wooden boards, and crosses, old men travel about the country bare- headed, and barter or exchange them ; for, according to their ideas of their sanctity, no price can be put upon them, and therefore they are never sold. Nor are they ever burnt or destroyed : when too old for use, the sacred picture is given in charge to a running stream, which carries it away fi'om the view of its former pos- sessor ; and whosoever finds it, returns it again to the waters, until it is seen no more. In the huts of the common people, the sacred corner, which is considered the family altar, and where, on a small shelf before the pictures, the Bible, in many of them, of late years, has found a place, is the only part of the dwelling in which any symptoms of the arts of civi- lization are to be discovered ; namely, in the pictures of the saints, neatly framed, and sometimes plated with silver and gilt : for there is scarcely another article to be observed in the hut, but such as belong to the manufac- 26 PLESKOF BIBLE SOCIETY. ture of the very rudest state of human society : and how lamentable it is to find that this sacred corner, this family altar, should so often, to the rude and ignorant peasantry, few of whom are able to read, be little better than a temple of idols ! Alas ! they know no better. But when I had the gratification of beholding the Bible on the wooden support in the presence of the grou}) of painted figures, and found the inmates anx- iously inquiring after its contents, with one in their number who could read, I considered that the true anti- dote to the evil was provided. On arriving in Pleskof, anciently called Plescovia, we had to wind through the streets, among extensive ruins of houses and churches, till w^e procured a lodging at an inn kept by an Italian. After a little repose, I called upon the Civil Governor of the province. Von Aderkass, an active clever little German, who, on reading my cre- dentials, afforded me every facility in his power to attain the object of my visit to Pleskof. In the afternoon, I drove, with the governor, to the residence of the Arch- bishop Eugenius, at about five versts distance from the city, w^ho expressed his happiness at seeing me again. His eminence was then about fifty-six years of age, a man of very considerable literary attainments, and fond of dis- cussions of that kind. In regard to the proper object of my mission, he informed me, that, since my previous visit, a Bi})le Society had been formed for the diocese of Pleskof that they had still been unable to obtain co})ies of the Scriptures in proportion to the demands made for them ; for that the gi*eater part of the clergy, behjuging to the 150 parishes of his diocese, were still destitute of the Bible that tlie 5(K) Bibles and 2GI Testaments which they liad received from St. Petersburg were already disposed of; and even a second sup})ly of ARCHBISHOP EUGENIUS. 27 500 Bibles and 700 Testaments, ordered, were nearly all bespoken. The population of the diocese he stated at about 650,000 ; among whom they had collected 13,000 roubles (520/.) the first year, in support of the society. His eminence shewed me a few. sheets of a work he is publishing in St. Petersburg, on the Lives, and more especially the Writings, of the most eminent Authors among the Russian Clergy, from the earliest ages ; treating not merely of such of their writings as have been published, but of the numerous manuscripts still preserved in monasteries and libraries throughout the empire. I have since obtained a copy of this work ; and find in it much that is new ; and not without value, as bearing upon the state of Christianity in Russia from the time of its introduction in the tenth century, till the civilized nations of Europe became more intimately acquainted with that country and its inhabitants in the last century. The archbishop also mentioned to me, that he was employed in writing the History of Pleskof : but he com- plained much of a want of materials, notwithstanding that he had made dihgent search after them in the ecclesiastical hbraries of Novogorod, and other places where records of ancient times are preserved. The monastery in which his eminence resides is quite re- tired, near the banks of the River Velikaia. The furniture of his apartments is of the plainest kind ; and, seemingly, he is attended only by a few monks and servants of the church. After partaking of tea a general beverage among the Russian clergy, which is usually of the best kind, and served up without milk, but with lemon-juice or brandy we drove in company to the top of a neighbouring hill, where we had a charming view of the ancient city and 28 PLESKOFF. environs of Plescovia, and of the extensive lake of the same name ; and it was both instructive and agreeable to listen to the remarks of the aged prelate upon the sur- rounding scene, with the history of which, since the earliest ages, his pen was then occupied. Pleskoff is situated on the banks of the Velikaia and Plescova ; and was built by the famous Russian princess Olga, who was born in a village about eight miles distant from it, named Sibout, whence the young prince Igor espoused her for his wife. But her love to her native place was so strong, that after she had become a Christian, about the year 965, she came from Kief to propagate the Christian Religion among its heathen inhabitants ; and at that time, as the legend goes, founded the city, on the spot indicated to her by a supernatural light from Heaven, which descended upon a certain place on the banks of the two above-mentioned streams. She began by erecting a church in honour of the Holy Trinity ; and the city arose around it, and became distinguished for its power and commercial importance, through many succeeding ages. When the famous Vladimir the First divided his king- dom among his ten children, whom he had by an equal number of wives, Pleskoff fell to the lot of Soudislav, who became in consequence its first sovereign, about the year 1030. But the fate and even government of Pleskoff was in general intimately connected with that of its rival and elder sister, Novogorod, until its union with the Hanse- atic towns, about the beginning of the fifteenth cen- tury, at wliich time they began to coin silver money at Pleskoff. This coin had the head of an ox, with a crown below it ; and on the reverse, the value marked. Repub- lican principles prevailed in Pleskoff till it was subdued by the Grand-duke loan Vasilhvitch, 1509. The Russian PLESKOFF. 29 chronologer, Nestor, says, that the Christian Rehgion was propagated as early in the regions of Pleskoff as in Novogorod, by St. Joachim the Chersonite. The present city is in a most dilapidated and ruined condition, with about 10,000 inhabitants. It is still divided into three parts the Kremlin, the central city, and the great city. The towers and fortifications of the outer wall occupy a circle of about seven versts : these are all of limestone ; and are so reduced by the effects of the frosts in winter and heats in summer, that certainly a few ages more will cover the mouldering heaps with green turf. The governor is breaking down the massive inner walls which divided the three quarters of the city, and improving the streets with the stone and rubbish : he is also using great exertions to repair the public buildings, which are mostly in a neglected and decayed state. How frequently is the traveller in Russia surprised at the appearance of groups of once splendid public buildings, now deserted and crumbling under the effects of the seasons monuments of the despotic will of the sovereign or of some territorial lord, who commanded a city to rise here and a palace yonder ! The walls arose ; but the minds of men move not always in unison with the royal will, where commercial interests are at stake. This remark, however, does not apply to Pleskoff; because these massive buildings were produced in former ages, by the necessities of a crowded city of enterprising merchants, enriched by the gains of an extensive and successful trade. The governor has also laid a floating bridge over the Velikaia, and is erecting an arched wooden bridge over the Plescova. Provided these im- provements are carried on a few years longer, the city will assume a more inviting appearance, especially if a 30 UELIGIOUS PROCESSIOX. canal is dug betwixt the Peipus Lake and Pernau on the Baltic, as now contemplated. The churches were formerly very numerous : they are now reduced to thirty ; but many of them are still in such a state, that the governor informs me he intends to pull down at least one third of them, in which divine service is no longer performed. The number of arched caves and vaults within the walls is quite extraordi- nary. The ancient inhabitants seem to have had every part of this extensive city connected by secret subter- ranean passages. I went to see the Cathedral Church of St. Sophia, in the Kremlin ; where I found the archbishop officiating, amidst a crowd of worshippers, on occasion of the an- nual procession of one of their sacred pictures, denomi- nated '' TheVirgin of Pestschera" (the Virgin of the Cave). The cathedral is rich, in sacerdotal garments, sacred vases, &c. &c., and possesses the reliques of several of their saints, especially of St.Timothy, who, as a heathen prince, was named Domant, and was the most famous of the ancient Plescovian warriors. The archbishop now occupies the palace of the Princes of Pleskof ; in which also is the Consistory, where the ecclesiastical business of the diocese is transacted. The public edifices are of brick ; but most of the private dwellings are of block- wood. After the mass was over, the whole clergy, except the archbishop, with a great concourse of the inhabitants dressed in their best clothes, carried the sacred picture above mentioned, in solenm procession, amidst loud psalmody and the ringing of bells, around the outer wall of the city. It was a truly humbling spectacle, to behold thousands oi" tlie ignorant and superstitious inhabitants of this city and neighbourhood crossing and prostrating METHOD OF PRESERVING FRUIT-TREES. 31 themselves before a black ugly female portrait, as it passed by, decked out with gold and gems! What but the hght of divine revelation can dispel this heathenish darkness, and point out to the inhabitants of modern Plescovia the only object of worship, and the only Mediator betwixt God and man ! This image of the Virgin is very old ; and is here *' on a visit for a few days," as they express it, col- lecting money for the monastery to which she belongs. The lower orders of the clergy were seen among the crowd, pleading for " alms to the Queen of Heaven " ! ! Of what vast importance is it, then, to put the Bible into the hands of a people like this ! for where it is unknown, or little known, spectacles like these must prevail : such has been the tendency of human nature, in all nations, and in all ages. I have visited several of the principal merchants in the place, who take considerable interest in the cause of our society. In a terrace-garden belonging to one of them, within the walls, I observed a very ingenious method of preserving fruit-trees of a dehcate kind from the severity of the winter in this northern region. The trees were growing freely in the ground, and bearing a fair appearance for a good crop ; but ob- serving them all supported with stakes, I inquired the cause, and was informed that the roots of the trees were permitted to grow only on one side, which enabled the gardener, in autumn, to lay the trees down and cover them with straw and earth until spring, when they were again raised and staked, as I saw ; that otherwise, these fruit-trees could not live in this severe climate. The Company of Russian Merchants in Pleskof is still respectable ; and they carry on a considerable trade in hemp, flax, tallow, hides, &c., with Narva, and other sea- ports on the Gulf of Finland. 32 RUSSIAN MERCHANTS. In ancient times, the chief marts of commerce in Rus- sia were Moscow, Vladimir, Kief, Novogorod, and PleskofF. But the merchants did not then compose a distinct class of the inhabitants, as at the present day. In 1785, Catherine erected them into a separate body, divided them into three classes or guilds, and granted to them certain immunities and regulations calculated to facili- tate commerce. Merchants of the first class engage in general trade, both domestic and foreign ; and have the privi- lege of erecting manufactories, building ships, and send- ing them to foreign countries with their merchandise. Merchants of the second guild may also carry on wholesale trade, but only within the limits of the em- pire. They likewise may establish manufactories ; and convey their produce, by land or water, to the cities and fairs in different parts of the country, for sale. But merchants of the third guild have a right to trade only in the towns where they reside, and in the districts belonging to these towns ; and to sell their wares exclu- sively in these, and in the villages and public markets belonging to the district. They are also permitted to carry on weaving, keep taverns, eating-houses, baths, and inns. The body of merchants in the principal towns have a court of their own, the members and officers of which are chosen from among themselves. They bear the taxes and other burthens appointed by the monarch; but they are exempt from corporal punishment, and from furnishinjTj recruits. In 1807, the Emperor Alexander bestowed some sig- nal marks of honour vipon those of the first guild, called Pervostateinoi, from which class the city magistrates are chosen. These are permitted to drive with four horses. RUSSIAN VEHICLES. 33 wear a sword by their side, and appear at court ; but the two other guilds cannot drive with more than two horses in towns. For the merchants of the first guild there is a book of honour, named " The Velvet Book of distinguished Families of Merchants," in which the names of those who distinguish themselves are enrolled. The domestic economy and dress of the merchants, especially of the second and third class, are generally still regulated by the customs of their forefathers ; and it is among the Russian merchants of Moscow, Novogo- rod, Pleskoff, and Kief, that we are still enabled to judge of the ancient Russians in these respects. Many of the merchants are good-looking men, of middle stature, healthy, and inclined to be stout when past the prime of life. Among their wives and daughters, we not unfrequently meet with very handsome women, who, in advanced age, are also much disposed to become corpu- lent. Those of them who are in opulence lead a hfe of idleness and luxury, more in the style and manner of the Orientals than of society in Western Europe. On days of public festivity, the merchants, and indeed the Russians of all classes, make great display in their wheeled carriages of different kinds. Riding on horse- back is little practised among the nobility, and very sel- dom by the merchant or peasant. When the latter has merely to pass from village to village, at a few versts distance, the teleshJai or four-wheeled car must be yoked for the purpose, in summer, and the sanka or sledge in winter; for not one in fifty, who possess these conve- niences, would ever think of performing the journey on horseback or on foot, unless necessity compelled him to it. Both sledges and cars are of the very simplest work- manship ; in the construction of which, in general, not a single nail is employed. Wooden pegs and withies bind D 34 PROMENADE ON MAY-DAY. the different parts together ; and the whole equipage is quite in accordance with the harness of their horses and their own dress -all the production of that natural power of invention, which applies itself to all trades, and over which the corporations and guilds of cities have no controul. Indeed, every peasant is cai'penter, car- maker, saddler, shoemaker, &c. &c. to his own family ; and his wife supplies the place of weaver (both of linen and woollen clothes), dyer, and tailor, in her depart- ment of the household labour. In former times, the nobles also rode in equipages little differing from those now in use among the lower orders ; and it is only since the middle of the last century that coaches, chariots, calashes, gigs, droshkas, &c., w^ere in- troduced among the nobles of Russia. But in the pre- sent day, sumptuous carriages abound in the streets of the two capitals. On the First of May 1811, on the festival which introduces the spring, I witnessed upwards of 3000 coaches and chariots, most of them with four, and many of them with six horses, on the great pro- menade between the Sakolnik and the city of Moscow. The nobility endeavour to outshine each other, on these occasions, in the splendor of their equipages, in the beauty of their horses, and sumptuousness of their liveries ; and as the gi'eat festival-days in the Russian Kalendar are still numerous, notwithstanding the deduc- tions which have been made from them within the last century, tliere is no want of opportunities for display. Rut very few, comparatively, appear on horseback on such days : they prefer to be seated in an open landau or chariot, and to view at their ease the extensive line of equij)agcs moving on, at a gentle pace, alongside of them. On the First of May the ladies of rank lay aside their SPLENDOR OF THE MERCHANTS. 35 winter ftirs ; and appear in the newest fashions, imported from the capital of France for the summer months : for Paris is the regulator of dress, in the higher circles, on the banks of the Neva and Moskva, as well as on those of the Danube and Thames. The wives of the Russian merchants are Kkewise seen in their calashes, and on their droshkas, at all such public festivals. But their dresses still remain quite national, and peculiarly interest the stranger ; and though, hke the leaves upon the trees, they are of the same shape and colour one May- day with another, yet the richness of their hues, and costliness of the silk stuffs and brocades, of which they are made, render them even more sumptuous than those worn by the nobles. The grand points of competition among the Russian merchants, on such days of display, consist in the beauty of their horses, and the rich attire of their wives. An incredible value in pearls and pre- cious stones is worn on the head and neck dresses of the females belonging to the higher class of the Russian merchants : the wives of those whose circumstances are not affluent adorn themselves in mock jems, in a similar way. To see an aged, grey-bearded Russian merchant dressed in a plain flowing robe of fine broad cloth, with- out a collar to his shirt or a cravat about his neck ; with a silken girdle around his loins, and a rich fur cap on his head ; seated beside his wife, dressed in substan- tial and gaudy-coloured silks and jewels as above de- scribed, with her cheeks and eyebrows, though by nature ever so fair, loaded with paint, red, white, and black ; one is compelled to smile at the contrast. But on such days, even the poorest hawker of pies and pan- cakes, with his wife and daughters, endeavours to appear respectable at the Goulenia ; for such is the name by which these popular festivals are known. d2 30 PRISON AT PLESKOFF, I was accompanied l)y the governor on a visit to the ostrog or principal gaol. It is situated in a retired part of the city ; and is an oblong square building of stone, only one story high. The number of wards is eleven, five on one side of the house, and six on the other, having a connnon passage between them. The cells were well aired and clean, the walls having been recently white-washed. In these eleven cells we found fifty-eight criminals, classified according to the nature of their crimes. Of this number, eight were murderers ; and most of the others were thieves, })articularly horse- stealers : some were deserters ; but there were no debtors. Their clothing is their own, or is given them by the benevolent inhabitants of the place, who frequently supply them with food also, especially on holidays. Their allowance from Government is fifteen kopicks, l^rf. per day for each individual : the money, however, is not given to the prisoners, but laid out in the purchase of food by the keeper. Each receives two pounds of brown bread daily, and one half pound of meat twice a week. In some of the cells, the criminals had chains on their legs, with which they were secured at night ; but so light, as not to prevent their walking about in the court with little difficulty. The floors being of stone or earth, and there being no bedding, but wooden benches only for them to lie upon, I spoke to the gover- nor on the desirableness of leaving the cells floored ; which he not only adnn'tted, but assured me it was his intention to have it done before winter. I found no Billies or religious books of any kind among them ; but they were afterwards furnislied with a few co})ies of the Scrip- tures. Tliis prison is surrounded with a high stone wall, enclosing a spacious court, which was very clean ; in one part of which tliere is a draw-well, and in another AND HOSPITAL. 37 a bath-house, with other conveniences calculated to pro- mote cleanliness among the prisoners. They are obliged to use the bath once every week. The governor says that divine service is performed among them regularly every Sunday. He also informed me, that, in the eight district prisons of the province, the number of criminals at present is from twenty to thirty in each ; that, in the whole of these prisons, there are at present no fewer than twenty-nine persons convicted of murder, an un- usual proportion among a population of 650,000 souls. We next visited the City Hospital, which occupies an airy spot on the banks of the Plescova. Cleanli- ness characterized the different wards ; and even the sick criminals brought from the prison had a place appro- priated to them, and seemed to be treated with great humanity. After dining with the governor, we went and spent the evening with the archbishop, who is cer- tainly much fonder of antiquarian and historical re- searches than of theological discussion. The country around Pleskoff is level, but far from being fruitful. Extensive clayey and sandy plains abound, where nothing seems to thrive but the common fir. In winter they have a most dreary aspect, and even in summer there is little that is inviting in the prospect : nevertheless, the province not only raises sufficient grain for the support of its own population, but also ex- ports upwards of one million of tschetverts annually. The flax and hemp are of a superior quality ; and there is abundance of wood and pasturage. A great quantity of leather is manufactured in this province, which finds a ready market at Petersburg, Narva, and other places. 2i*'76?'0 I'OLOTSK. CHAP. III. Journey from Pleslcoff to Polotsk, the principal seat of the Jesuits Inroads of the Jesuits on the Russian Church Comparison of the Doctrines of the Eastern and Western Churches, by Philaret, present Metropolitan of Moscow Public Worship of the Rus- sians on a Holiday Invocation of Saints Worship of Pictures Mission of the Jesuits in Russia their riches their final expulsion from the Empire Antiquity of Polotsk its present state and population. After making the necessary preparations for continuing my jom'ney, I went and dined at the archbishop's : and left Pleskoff in the afternoon, taking the road for Polotsk ; which town I reached the following morning, having travelled all night. Polotsk was then the principal seat of the Jesuits. I happened to enter their elegant church in the morning ; and found upwards of 200 young boys, chiefly sons of the nobility in the surrounding country, upon their knees, on the stone-pavement of the church, at their devotions. By a late order of the Emperor, they had been prohibited from admitting any into their schools, except the children belonging to their own Church. This order was not issued, however, before the Russian Government had had sad proofs of the influence they had gained over the minds of many, both young and old, belonging to the Greek Communion. Among others, a nc})hew of Prince A. Galitzin, who was a boarder in their seminary in St. Petersburg, became a Catholic ; and occasioned no small uneasiness both to his ])arents and uncle, by the fanatical opinions the Jesuits had succeeded in instilling into hini. At this DOCTRINES OF FAITH. 39 time, 181 5, it was found, on examination, that a consi- derable number of ladies of rank had also imbibed from them sentiments equally unfavourable to the Greek Church. In order, in some degree, to counteract these opinions, and bring back the stray sheep to the fold of the Mother Church, the present metropolitan of Moscow, Philaret, who was then Archimandrite, and Professor of Divinity in the Nevskoy Spiritual Aca- demy, wrote a Comparison between the Doctrines of the Greek and Romish Churches, with Remarks ; a copy of which he gave me in manuscript, with permission to publish it at any time I might think proper : and, as it certainly throws very considerable light on a subject which is but imperfectly understood in my native country, and comes from the pen of such a distinguished dignitary of the Russian Church, I feel a pleasure in introducing it. I have endeavoured to give a faithful version of the original, which I still possess. COMPARISON OF THE DIFFERENCES IN THE DOCTRINES OF FAITH BETWIXT THE EASTERN AND WESTERN CHURCHES. The spirit of the doctrines of Christianity is contained in the following words of Jesus Christ : " This is hfe " eternal, to know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus " Christ, whom thou hast sent." John xvii. 3. In the composition of this saving knowledge, we find, I. The knowledge of the source from which we are to draw true faith ; as it is only out of a pure source that we can derive pure doctrine. II. The knowledge of God in Trinity ; His eternal at- tributes ; and His relation to this world. 40 COMPARISON OF THE DOCTRINES HI. The doctrine of the corrupt state of human na- ture, without which it is impossible to feel our need of Jesus Christ as a Redeemer. IV. The doctrine of Jesus Christ as the Mediator be- twixt God and man. V. The doctrine of the grace of the Holy Spirit and His influences, through which the redemption completed by Jesus Christ for all is hnparted to every one who believes. VI. The doctrine of the Sacraments, by which grace is communicated and sealed. VII. The doctrine respecting the Church, as a society which should preserve the principles of faith and practice in reference to Christ. VIII. The doct^'ine of a future state, in which the promises given us in Jesus Christ shall be fulfilled. In these principal points, we must examine the doc- trines of faith as held by different Churches : and the differences found regarding them ought to be deemed the more important, when any one, by contrary doctrines, attempts to darken the true and saving knowledge of God in Jesus Christ. Opinions respecting Ceremonies may, on this occasion, be set aside ; because, in Christianity, there are various opinions which may be received or rejected without either supporting or destroying the conmion faith : such, for instance, is the opinion respecting the existence of angels before tlie present world ; supported by Chryso- stom, and rejected by Tlieodorite. There are also ceremo- nies which may l)e different, not only in different Churches, but even in the same Church ; such as that of the Greeko-Russian Church preferring immersion in baptism, OF THE EASTERN AND WESTERN CHURCHES. 41 in accordance with the most ancient practice ; but also tolerating sprinkhng, as a ceremony which by no means destroys the power of this sacrament. And therefore, in order to shew the difference between the Eastern and Western Churches in the doctrine of faith, it will be necessary, 1st, to present the principal points in which they do not agree, according to the foregoing order; 2dly, to shew, to a certain extent, the grounds on which these positions rest ; and, 3dly, to make such observations on the differences of opinion as may seem requisite. SOURCE OF THE DOCTRINES OF FAITH. DOCTRINE OF THE EASTERN CHURCH. DOCTRINE OF THE WESTERN CHURCH. I. I. The only pure and all-sufficient Holy Scripture is not an ad- source of the doctrines of faith is equate source of sa\ing doctrine ; the revealed word of God, con- for in Christianity there is much tained now in the Holy Scriptures. necessary to be known which is not " All Scripture is g-iven by inspira- in the Scriptures ; as, for instance, " tion of God ; and is profitable for that the Feast of Easter should b " doctrine, for reproof, for correc- kept on a Sunday, &c. " tion, for instruction in righteous- " ness, that the man of God may " be perfect, thoroughly furnished " unto aU good works." 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. Remark. This doctrine respecting the insufficiency of tlie Holy Scriptures is evidently intended to give greater import- ance to human traditions. But as there is no article of faith which is not revealed in " the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make us wise unto salvation," 2 Tim. iii. 1 5, therefore its silence respecting any tradition proves that it is no article of faith. 42 COMPARISON OF THE DOCTRINES II. The Books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, Baruch, and two Books of Maccabees, like the other Books contained in the Bible, are Canonical ; because the Church acknowledffes them to be such. II. The Holy Scriptures are con- tained in the 39 Canonical Books of the Old, and 27 of the New Testament, which serve as a rule of faith ; but the Third and Fourth * Books of Esdras, the Books of Tobit, Judith, the Wisdom of So- lomon, the Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach, Baruch, and the three Books of Maccabees, toge- ther with certain other additions to several of the Books of the Old Testament, though respected by the Church for their antiquity and the sound doctrine found in them, are only esteemed by her to be Apo- cryphal ; that is, Books, the divine origin of which is hid from our faith, or is subject to doubt : be- cause the Old- Testament Church and Christian Churches never ac- knowledged them to be Canonical. Remark. And even the ancient Romish Church, according to the testimony of Jerome, made a distinction betwixt the Canonical and the Uncanonical Books : therefore the undoubted testimony now-a-days, respecting their divinity, is a partial and novel opinion. III. P^very thing necessary to salva- tion is stated in the Holy Scriptures with such clearness, that every one, III. Holy Scripture is so unintelli- gible, that it is impossible to under- stand it without an interpreter ; 'In the Slavonian Bible, the Books of K/.ra and Neheniiah are called the 1. and II. Books of Esdras. OF THE EASTERN AND WESTERN CHURCHES. 43 reading it with a sincere desire to for many passages of it admit of be enlightened, can understand it. various interpretations, &c. " Thy word is a lamp unto my " feet, and a light unto my path :" Psalm cxix. 105. " But if our Go- " spel be hid, it is hid to them that "are lost:" 2 Cor.iv. 3. Remark. An enlightened interpreter of Holy Scripture is doubtless very desirable for Christians less instructed ; but the idea, that, in order to draw from it the articles of faith, a cer- tain kind of despotic interpreter is necessary, lowers the dignity of the word of God, and subjects faith to the will of man. IV. The most authentic texts of the Holy Scripture are contained prin- cipally t in the Hebrew and Greek Originals ; for all translations re- ceive their credibility from the ori- ginals. TV. Sacred Scripture, in its original tongues, is adulterated; and the Latin translation of it, known by the name of the Vulgate, is the most authentic ; because from an- cient times it has been received by the Romish Church, and established by the Council of Trent. Remark. The text of the Vulgate was acknowledged by the Council of Trent as the most authentic ; for this, among other reasons, that the Clergy might not have need to learn the Hebrew and Greek languages. Sarp. Hist. Cone. Trid. 1.11. But this decision of the Council ought not to be received, be- cause it hinders the needful and useful searching of the Scrip- tures : John V. 39. Every one has not only a right, but it is his bounden duty to read The Laity ought not to read the Holy Scriptures in their native t The Metropolitan seems here to refer to those parts of tiie Books of Ezra and Daniel which are in Chaldee. 44 COMPARISON OF THE DOCTRINES the Holy Scriptures in a lanf!;na?e tone^iies ; because, in reading', they which he understands, and edify may fall into error. himself thereby. " Blessed is the " man who meditates in the law of " the Lord day and nif>ht:" Ps. i. 2. " Let the word of Christ dwell in " you richly in all wisdom, teaching " and admonishing one another : " Col. iii. 16. And the most of the Apostolical Epistles were written to the people, and not to the Clerical order alone. Remark. Tliis principle of the Romish Church, under tlie pretence of precaution against error, shuts up the most hope- ful way to soundness in the faith. However, in the present day, many of the Romanists do not strictly attend to this rule. VL Holy Scripture being the word of God Himself, is the only su- preme judj^e of controversies, and the decider of misunderstandings in matters of faith. " For the w ord " of (rod is quick and powerful, " and sharper than any two edged " sword, piercing even to tlie di- " viding asunder of soul and spirit, " and of the joints and marrow, " and is a dlscerner of the thoughts " and intents of the heart:" lleb. iv. 12. Rkmark. As an infallible judge in matters of faith would rend(M' the Holy Scriptures unnecessary, so tiiis infallibility, even if granted to any one, would be rendered unnecessary by the Holy Scriptures. However, even in the Romish Church itself, this infallibility is a matter of dispute. VL The Pope of Rome is the su- preme and infallible judg-e of con- troversies and decider of misun- derstandings in matters of faith : because he inherits all the privi- leges of the Fligh Priest of the Old Testament, and of the Apostle Pe- ter, for whom Jesus Christ liimself prays, t/iat /lis faith might not fail. Luke xxii. 32. OF THE EASTERN AND WESTERN CHURCHES. 45 VII. The decisions of Councils are to be tried by the Holy Scriptures; so that no Council whatever can set up an article of faith which cannot be proved from the Holy Scrip- tures. This rule was always held by the ancient Church. VII. Councils have an equal degree of exemption from error with the Holy Scriptures; for in them Jesus Christ is present. " Where two or " three are gathered together in My " name, there am I in the midst of "them:" Matt. xviii. 20. Remark. Jesus Christ only, as the searcher of hearts, knows which assembly is truly met in His name; for we can only judge of them by the revealed word of God. Without this precaution, we might be subjected to the decisions of such Councils as, under the name of Christianity, might impose upon us will- worship and absolute rule. VIII. The traditions of the Church are to be tried by the Holy Scriptures ; and traditions respecting articles of faith, which are not to be found in them, ought not to be received : for the Holy Scriptures, in many places, forbid the adding of any thing whatsoever to the doctrines contained in them. Prov. xxx. 56. Gal. 1. 8, 9. Acts xxii. 18. VIII. Unwritten traditions ought to be received with the same reverence as the written word of God ; and may contain articles of faith ne- cessary to salvation. " Hold the tra- " ditions which ye have been taught, " whether by word or our epistle : " 2 Thess. ii. 15. Rp:mark. The doctrines of Christianity were propagated at first by tradition and the written word unitedly, so long as the Apostles were upon the earth ; and the writings necessary for preserving them, viz. the Books of tlie New Testament, were gradually completed. But were the Church, which has received a general and adequate rule of faith, Phil. iii. 16, to admit this unwritten word of God as of equal power in the 40 COMPARISON OF THE DOCTRINES government of the Church with the written word, this would be to run the risk of setting aside tlie conmiandments of God for the traditions of men. Matth. xx. 6. OF GOD. IX. IX. The Holy Spirit proceedeth from The Holy Spirit proceedeth from the Father. " But when the Com- the Father and the Son. " All " forter is come, whom I will send " things that the Father hath are " unto you from the Father, even the "mine: therefore said I, that He " Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth " shall take of mine, and shall shew " from the Father, He shall testify " it unto you:" John xvi. 15. " of me : " John xv. 26. Remark. The words of Jesus Christ, " All things that the Father hath are mine," are of the same import with the fol- lowing : " All mine are thine, and thine are mine : " .John xvii. 10. Most evidently they refer to the general attributes and ope- rations of the Godhead ; but not to the special attributes of each hypostasis of the Holy Trinity. The words, " He shall take of mine," when compared with the following, " And shall shew it unto you," signify that the Holy Spirit would instruct believers in the same truths that had been revealed to them in .Tesus Christ : therefore these words do not prove tlie proces- sion of the Holy Ghost. The words, "I wall send," also do not belong to the eternal procession of the Holy Ghost ; be- cause "to send" cannot signify "to give beginning of being." But, in contrast with this, the inserted words, " whicli proceed- eth from the Father," so clearly point out the eternal beginning of the hypostasis of the Holy Ghost, that no doubt is left upon it. And by tlie Second General Council, held in Constantinople in 3S1, against Macedonius, these very words are used in the symbol of faith, in order to express the article respecting the Holy Spirit ; viz. "And in the Holy Ghost, the life-gix-ing Lord, which proceedeth from the Father." And thus also we read in the Creed of the Roinisli Church, up to the ninth century : OF THE EASTERN AND WESTERN CHURCHES. 47 and when it was proposed to Pope Leo III. to insert in the Creed the new opinion respecting the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son, he not only refused to agree to it, but he commanded the Creed to be engraven, in Greek and Latin, on two silver tables, without the additional words " and the Son ;" and he put the following superscription upon them : Leo FOUNDED THESE, OUT OF LOVE TO, AND FOR THE PRESERVATION OF, THE ORTHODOX FAITH. But Still, notwithstanding this precau- tion, that addition, without any lawful examination in a Gene- ral Council, has been propagated in the Western Church. Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, exposed the same, in a Circular Epistle to the Patriarchs and Bishops in 866 ; and in the year 880, the Council of Constantinople, in which the Pope's Legates were present, in opposition to this same opinion, de- creed, "that nothing should be changed in the Creed." A similar decree had also before that been passed by the Third General Council at Ephesus. Nevertheless, the Popes of this time took the new dogma under their protection ; and thus it became a principal barrier, even until now, or division betwixt the Western and Eastern Churches. ON THE CORRUPTION OF HUMAN NATURE. X. X. Man, in his natural corrupt state, Man, after the Fall, still retains has liberty in the choice of natural, so much natural power, that he can civil, and moral good ; but for spi- perform sa\'ing' works, co-operate ritual and sa\-ing operations, he with grace, and in a certain sense has no free-will and power. " The merit it. For when God gives to " imagination of man's heart is evil us His Commandments, this natu- " from his youth:" Gen. \iii. 21. rally supposes that we are able to " Whosoever committeth sin, is the fulfil them. " servant of sin : " John viii. 34. Remark. The Law is proclaimed to man in order that he might know through it his own weakness, and unconditionally give himself up to grace. " The Law was our schoolmaster, to brino: us to CJirist :" Gal. iii. 21-. 48 COMPARISON OF THE DOCTRINKS XL Evil desire is not sin : it only beijets sin: James i. 15. XI. Evil desires, or the first efforts of the will to sin, is a sin meriting' God's wrath. In the 8th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, the whole of which refers to this subject, evil desires are repeatedly denomi- nated sin ; and among other things, it is proved, that it is forbid by the Law : " Thou shalt not covet." Remark. Evil desires beget actual sin, they being the very source of sin. An opposite opinion does not promote the purity of Christian morality. CONCERNING A MEDIATOR. XIL Though Jesus Christ has satis- fied the justice of God, for our sins, yet we ought to merit an Interest in this satisfaction, by making sa- tisfaction ourselves : because we ought to be conformed to his image : Rom. viii. 29. XIL The sufferings and death of Jesus Christ are an abundant satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. " Christ loved the Church, and gave " Himself for it, tluit he might sanc- " tify and cleanse it ; that he might " jiresent it to himself a glorious " Church, not having spot or w rln- " kle, or any such thing : " Eph. V. 25, 26, 27. Rkm.vrk. We oujjht to be conformed to the ima^e of Christ, ii love, nuH^knoss, benevolence, and patience; but we cannot imitate Him in liis personal acts of redemption, sucli as making atonenuMit for sin. To speak of our making satisfaction, is to lessen tiie value of His merits. OF THE EASTERN AND WESTERN CHURCHES. 49 CONCERNING GRACE. XIII. Grace and faith only lay the be- ginning of the work of justifica- tion: a man acquires perfect justi- fication, and eternal life, by his own merits, which are his good works. " Was not Abraham our father "justified by works, when he had "offered Isaac his son upon the " altar? See, then, how faith " wrought with his works, and by " works was faith made perfect :" James ii. 21, 22. XIII. Grace justifies through the power of the merits of Jesus Christ, which a man receives by living faith: good works are the fruits of faith and grace, and therefore they do not constitute in man any kind of personal merit: "For all have " sinned, and come short of the glory " of God : being justified freely by " his grace, through the redemption " that is in Christ Jesus ; whom God " hath set forth to be a propitiation, " through faith in his blood " Therefore we conclude that a man " is justified by faith, without the " deeds of the Law :" Rom. iii. 23 28. " When ye shall have done " all those things which are com- " manded you, say. We are unpro- " fitable servants :" Luke xvii. 10. To this subject also belong the whole Epistles to the Romans and Galatians. Remark. Justification by faith, being a mystery of grace, was perversely understood by certain fleshly- minded men, even in the days of the Apostles. They wished to remain satisfied with a cold abstract kind of faith ; and thought, that as it redeems them from condemnation on account of their iniquities, so also it frees them from the necessity of walking according to the Law of God. It is this barren, dead, false faith which the Apostle James condemns ; and, by the example of Abraham, shews that the true faith that justifieth, " by works is made perfect." Otherwise, he shews justification in faith and works like the life in the root and fruit of the tree: so faith represents the root of justification. This idea is very clearly traced in E 50 COMPARISON OF THE DOCTRINES his words immediately following those above quoted ; " Abra- ham believed God, and it was accounted to him fur righteous- ness." The present difference of opinion between the Eastern and Western Churches on this subject refers more to the abstract principle than to active Christianity; because they are both afrreed as to the obliiration to irood works : but those who find merit in their good works stand on Pharisaical ground. CONCERNING THE SACRAMENTS. XIV. XIV. All Christians ought to commu- The priests only ought to com- nicate in the body and blood of municate in the eucharist in the Jesus Christ, under the symbols of two symbols of bread and wine; bread and wine. " The cup of and the people in the one symbol " blessing which we bless, is it not of bread, because the strength of " the communion of the blood of the sacrament is as well to be "Christ? the bread which we break, found in the one symbol as in " is it not the communion of the both : and in order the more conve- " body of Christ?" 1 Cor. x. 16. niently to partake of it, the Church " Drink ye all of it :" Matt. xvi. 27. abridges it into one symbol. Remark. If one symbol in this sacrament had been suffi- cient, and the other unnecessary, the Saviour would not have instituted it in two kinds. The first inventors of the com- munion in one kind were the Manicheans, whom Pope Gela- sius, in the end of the fifth century, condemned by an interdict. But in the beginning of the fifteenth, the Council of Florence, which the Roman Church reckons the Seventeenth General Council, interdicted the communion in both kinds. XV. XV. The clerical office is consistent Priests ought to be unmarried with the married state; that is, he "For a bishop must be tem- who has entered honourably into " perate :" Titus i. 8. the married state may be a priest Thus Paul writes to Titus : " Ordain " elders in every city, as I had " appointed thee ; if any be blame- " less, the husband of one wife." OF THE EASTERN AND WESTERN CHURCHES. 51 Remark. Though the Eastern Church has made it a rule that those who are entrusted with the higher degrees of spiritual power should be unencumbered with the duties of the married state and of a family, in order that they might completely and unreservedly devote themselves to the service of the Church because " he that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord ; but he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife," 1 Cor. vii. 32, 33 never- theless, she does not reckon celibacy absolutely necessary for all the ministers of the Church ; because Christ himself has placed the restriction as only belonging to some : " He that is able to receive it, let him receive it:" Matt. xix. 11, 12. To separate the clergy from the married state, under the penalties of law, is to exalt one sacrament at the expense of another. CONCERNING THE CHURCH. XVI. XVI. Jesus Christ is the only Head of Jesus Christ is the invisible, and the Church. " And gave him to the Pope of Rome the visible Head " be the Head over all things to the of the Church. " Thou art Peter, " Church ; which is his body, the " and upon this rock I will build " fulness of Him that filleth all in " my Church :" Matt. xvi. 18. " all :" Eph. i. 22, 23. These words refer to the bishop of Rome, as the successor of St. Peter. Remark. The stone on which the Church is founded is not Peter himself, but the confession of faith boldly made by Peter " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God :" Matt, xvi. 16. Because another stable foundation of the Church " can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ :" 1 Col. iii. 11. If we are to call the instruments which the Lord is pleased (so to speak) to make use of in his own hand for the establishment and extension of his Church, the foundation of it, then, in tliis sense, it is built not merely upon Peter, but " upon the foimdation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Clu-ist him- E 2 52 COMPARISON OF THE DOCTRINES self being the chief corner-stone:" Eph. ii. 20, and not upon the foundation of the bisliops of Rome, who cannot stand in the same rank with the Apostles and Prophets. But the claim of the Romish bisliop to be the successor of St. Peter is not so worthy of credit as the following, that the Antiochian apostle Paul, the Jerusalem apostle James, and even Peter himself, were all of them notliin,:; more than "servants of Jesus Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God :" 1 Cor. iv. I. Christ has no need of assistants ; and tlie Cliurch cannot have two heads : and {IS in no sense whatever is it ever termed the body of the bishop of Rome, but the body of Christ ; therefore in no sense whatever can the bishop of Rome have any right to call himself its head. XVII. XVII. The spiritual power has under The Pope of Rome has the su- its charij'e matters relative to faith; preme power in all matters, spiri- tual and temporal, as the vicegerent of Jesus Christ and is subject to the ff'enuine law of God's word, and the united Coun- cils of the Church. For the spi- ritual power has in its hands the keys of the kinijdom of heaven, and the rig^ht to bind and to loose on earth what ought to be bound or loosed in heaven : Matt. xvi. 19. xviiL 18. Those who use the keys of the spiritual power are subject to the decisions of the Church, which is bound to " try the spirits, whether they be of God ; " 1 John iv. 1. Rkmark. At tlie end of the sixth century, Pope Gregory the Great wrote to tiie Emperor Maurice, " That he wJio calls himself, or sulfcrs himself to be called, iMiiversal Bisho]), he, by his j)ride, becomes the Forerunner f)f Anticlirist." But, in tlic ninth century, Pope Xiciiol :s the Great wrote to the Emperor Michael, " That the civil power can neitlier justify nor condemn OF THE EASTERN AND WESTERN CHURCHES, 53 the Pope ; because he has been called God by the pious empe- ror Constantine ; and no man can take upon himself to judge God ! " These contradictions shew sufficiently how one ought to judge of this supreme judge. The succeeding ages did shew, that in proportion as the Romish Cliurch gained in worldly power, she lost in spirituality. CONCERNING A FUTURE STATE. XVIII. XVIII. The condition of a man's soul Betwixt heaven and hell there after death is fixed by his internal is purgatory, into which those who state ; and there is no such thing die in pardonable sins fall, and in as purgatory, in which souls have which they are purified by fire, in to pass through fiery torments, in order, afterwards, to enter bliss, order to prepare them for blessed- " The day shall declare it ; because ness. " He that heareth my word, " it shall be revealed by fire, and the " and believeth on Him that sent " fire shall try every man's work, " me, hath everlasting life, and shall " of what sort it is. If any man's " not come into condemnation ; but " work shall be burned, he shall " is passed from death uiito life:" " suffer loss; but he himself shall John v. 24. There is no need " be saved, yet so as by fire : " of any other kind of purification, 1 Cor. iii. 15. when " the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from aU sin." Remark. The above words of truth, addressed to the Co- rinthians, have not a reference to sinners, but to the preachers of the Gospel, of whom the Apostle speaks in this place. The sense they contain is the following : The qualities of all doc- trines shall at last be made manifest : time will reveal them in the fire of temptation and suffering. True and stable doctrine is distinguished from that wliich is unfounded and false : if any one's doctrine does not endure this trial, his labour will prove to have been in vain; yet he himself, if he lose not the faitli, may be saved in the same trial, like a brand plucked from the burning. Here, as in the whole Word of God, there is not a word about purgatory. 54 COMPARISON OF THE DOCTRINES OF FAITH. XIX. The di^itaries of the Church have power to redeem people from the torments of purgatory, by means of Indulgences or dispensations ; which are a deliverance of sinners from merited punishment, by the application to them of the works of supererogation of Jesus Christ and his favourites. XIX. Though the spiritual power has a right to absolve from sin, on re- pentance being manifested; though such absolution may and ought to be asked for the dead as well as the living, because God can hear prayers equally for the living and the dead, being " not the God of the dead, but of the living," Matt. xxii. 32 ; nevertheless, no one has the power to deliver sinners from torments by the application of the works of supererogation of Jesus Christ and of the saints ; because the merits of Jesus Christ are not under the controul of man; and works of supererogation in the saints are impossible, as they them- '> selves are only saved by grace. Remark The doctrines of purgatory and of indulgences make tlie narrow path of salvation too broad. It is not difficult for sinners to give gold and receive heaven, and for the pastor to give heaven and get gold. But it is not so easy to get to the real kingdom of God : it is taken by force : Matt. xi. 12. In giving this interesting document to the public, from the pen of one of the most distinguished pupils of the late Metropolitan of Moscow, Platon whose System of Divinity I translated from the Slavonic, and published in 1814, and whose principles are still taught in the spi- ritual schools, and propagated in the writings of the modern Russian clergy I have no intention whatever thereby to insinuate that the body of the Russian people. PUBLIC WORSHIP OF THE RUSSlAiNS. 55 or even many of the lower clergy, possess such distinct views as are here exhibited of the leading doctrines of the Gospel. The people in general are still illiterate, and sunk in ignorance and superstition to a degree which would scarcely be credited. Let any one, on his first arrival in Petersburg, enter the Church of St. Nicholas, for in- stance', on a holiday, in the time of service, and, placing himself in a corner, calmly contemplate the scene before him : he might easily be led to the conclusion, that the Russians are to be counted among the most ignorant and superstitious of nations. The splendor of the building, with its gaudy decorations ; the sumptuous dresses of the clergy, composed of bright-coloured brocades, covered with embroidery and bespangled with gems ; the vocal music ; the odours of incense ascending before the sa- cred pictures, from the golden censer waving in the hand of the officiating priest ; the great number of pictures covering the walls, overlaid with gold and silver plates in the form of robes, studded with pearls and precious stones, before which some hundreds of wax-lights and lamps of different sizes are burning ; the people of all classes standing and worshipping (for none sit there) ; some turning to their respective tutelary saints, and pro- strating themselves before them in various acts of hu- miliation ; others bargaining for tapers at the stalls where they are sold in the church, then lighting them, and with many crossings and ceremonies placing them before their favourite pictures, as an offering, and a symbol of the sincerity of their devotion having beheld these, let him turn his attention from the almost confounding splendor and stupefying effects of this crowded scene, more minutely to contemplate its parts, and mark the peculiar dresses, and looks, and attitudes of individuals. 56 PUBLIC WORSHIP OF THE RUSSIANS. He will see much to excite his feelings of compassion and sympathy : Here the aged sire of fourscore, devoutly crossing and slowly prostrating himself before the picture of his tutelary saint, his legs and arms trembhng beneath him, ere his forehead and hoary locks reach the pave- ment: what must it cost such a feeble old man to perform this most fatiguing act of his devotion, perhaps forty or fifty times in a morning ! There the devout mother, with her babe in her arms, teaching its infant hand to make the figure of the cross, by touching, with the thumb and first two fingers united, first its forehead, then its breast, next the right shoulder, and afterwards the left ; and to lisp the Gospodi Pomilui : and when the priest brings out the crucifix, at the end of the service, to bestow the benediction, behold she presses forward in the crowd, and devoutly embraces the feet of the image of the suffering Saviour, and the infant follows her example! More enlightened mothers may here take a salutary lesson. Let them unite the tender solicitude of the Russian parent with the practice of Timothy's mother ; and then shall their children be protected from the evils of super- stition and infidelity, and become wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus. On beholding this and similar scenes I shall never forget the impression made on my own mind, when I first viewed them, on entering Russia in 1805 ! without any further knowledge of the service, people, and prin- ciples of the Greek Church, the traveller must at once come to the conclusion that the Eastern Church is, in all respects, as corrupt in doctrine, and as superstitious in practice, as the Church of Rome. On obtaining better infoniiation, however, he finds this a hasty conclusion, as it regards doctrine, and not borne out by facts ; for the Church tliat i)ermits every one of its members to ANTICIPATED REFORMATION OF THEIR CLERGY. 57 read the Holy Scriptures in a language which he under- stands, and acknowledges this Word as the highest tri- bunal in matters of faith on earth, is still possessed of the best reformer of all superstition ; a reformation which will no doubt take place with the increase of learning and Scriptural knowledge, both in Russia and Greece. And surely it is matter of joyful hope to the lovers of truth, that a system, in so many respects evangelical as the above presented to us by the present Metropolitan of Moscow, is still professed by the most enlightened of the prelates and clergy in Russia, and is taught in the spiritual academies and seminaries of that great empire to upwards of 30,000 young men preparing for the sacred profession, that they, in their turn, may preach the same to the people. It is much to be regretted that those young men have so little time and opportunity, after finishing their aca- demical course, for making further progress in studies suited to their profession. The cares of a family (for marriage must indispensably precede ordination in the Russian Church), their labours among their flocks, the scanty support which most of them receive, together with their isolated situation in country villages, where few traces of education and civilized life have yet entered, render this almost impracticable. Among the obligations bishops come under at ordi- nation, are the following : " I will diligently endeavour to prohibit all frauds under pretences of piety, whether committed by ecclesiastics or laymen. I will take care that the homage due to God shall not be transferred to holy pictures, nor false miracles ascribed to them, whereby the true worship is perverted, and a handle given to adversaries to reproach the orthodox : on the contrary, I will study that pictures be respected only in 58 PLATON ON THE INVOCATION OF SAINTS. the sense of the holy orthodox Church, as set forth in the Second General Council of Nice." And Platon, in his System of Divinity, thus expounds the practice of the Oriental Church in reference to the above subject. " We do not, " says he, ** transgress against this Commandment (the First) v^hen we invoke departed saints ; for this invocation, as understood by our Holy Church, is very different from the invocation of God. We call on the name of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, as the Supreme Lord and Almighty Upholder of all things ; and we address the saints as His servants, but who with Him inhabit a blessed eternity. The in- vocation of God consists in the most humble subjection of spirit to the Divine Majesty, and in founding all our hopes upon Him ; but the invocation of saints consists in the uniting our prayers with theirs. In support of this, it is sufficient to observe, that the saints, while still upon the earth, prayed for others, and required others to pray for them, as we clearly see from Rom. xv. 30. 2 Cor. i. il. Phil. i. 4. Acts xii. 5. And now that they are drawn near, or rather united unto God, and con- tinually behold His face in glory, it is impossible that they should not have the most sincere desire for the sal- vation of all believers ; and if so, what inconsistency is there in joining our prayers and desires to those which such saints as Paul, for instance, presents or feels ? In this the invocation of the saints consists. But this invo- cation does not set aside the all-powerful mediation of Jesus Christ ; for His mediation is the continual and alisolutely necessary foundation both of our prayers and of the intercession of the saints. However, we ought not foolishly to imagine that this respect, given by us to the saints, will be of any advantage to us, if we live in sin and impenitence ; for there can be no honour shewn AND WORSHIP OF PICTURES. 59 to the saints equal to that of imitating their Hves, and trusting in God alone, according to their example. Those, therefore, are inexcusable, and grievously trans- gress against this Commandment, who render unto the favourites of God, divine, or nearly divine, honours, and who trust in them almost as much as in God himself ; who offer up prayers to them more frequently than to Him ; who respect their memory and keep their holidays with a greater degree of devotion than the holidays of the Lord, and reverence their pictures more than those of our Saviour himself. For the favourites of God are by no means so great ; they are the servants of God, and the work of His hands ; consequently, betwixt them and God there is an infinite difference. It is necessary, therefore, for every one to be very watchful that he be not infected with such errors. " In another place, when explaining the Second Com- mandment, he says : " But, notwithstanding all that has been said, this lawful and holy reverencing of the pictures may be turned into the most abominable sin of idolatry. This is the case when any one hopes in or attaches all his respect to the holy pictures, and trusts in their material substance ; when, for instance, any one finds greater sanctity in one picture than in another, or places in them any hope of salvation. They, too, are chargeable with this guilt, who bring their own particular picture into the church along with them, and worship only before it ; or who respect those pictures more which are adorned than the unadorned, the old more than the new, or decline prayer altogether when they have not a picture before them. All these, and such hke, are great transgressors, and prove a great disgrace to the real profession of the Christian faith. In order to avoid the above-mentioned errors, it is necessary to remember. 60 INVOCATION OF SAINTS AND PICTURE WORSHIP. 1st, That the worship of God can never be sincere, unless it proceed from a contrite and unfeigned spirit. For all external rites of worship are only indications in testimony of our internal piety and sincerity towards God, without which they signify nothing. And therefore the Gospel requires, that the worshippers of God should worship Him in spirit (not externally alone) and in truth, or not in hypocrisy. 2dly, We must hold to the divine word alone, and rest assured that it only contains the true rules by which we ought to please God ; and there- fore Christ said, concerning the Holy Scriptures, that in them is contained eternal life," In the above extracts the late Metropolitan of Moscow, Platon, has distinctly acknowledged and condemned the various ways in which his ignorant and superstitious countrymen grossly transgress the First and Second Commandments. In fact, he has in these passages enu- merated the prevailing sins of the Russians of all classes, connected with the invocation of saints and the use of pictures in their worship. And how manifest is it in the above passages, that the metropolitan felt deeply, as many other dignitaries of the Russian Church, with whom I am acquainted, do feel the degrading and unscriptural character of these practices ! How lame is his defence of the invocation of saints ! He finds himself at a loss to preserve even a shadow of consistency with the declared will of God in the sacred writings : for he was well aware of the mere impossibility that illiterate peasants should mark the nice distinction which he himself has drawn betwixt the homage paid to the Saviour and that given to the saints : and having had innumerable occa- sions of observing the idolatrous ideas which they in general actually entertain respecting the pictures and powers of departed saints, and their idolatrous practices MISSION OF THE JESUITS. 61 connected with their veneration for their withered re- mains preserved in caves, monasteries, and churches, he at last brings forth the grand antidote against all these errors in principles and practice : " We must hold to the divine word alone ; and rest assured that it only contains the true rules by which we ought to please God. " That such a principle is unhesitatingly admitted by Platon, Philaret, and many thousands of the clergy who have been trained in the spiritual academies and semi- naries under them, opens a door of hope for the gradual advancement of purer religious worship among the Rus- sians : and how far this desirable object has been pro- moted by the labours of Bible Societies in that empire, future generations will be more able thoroughly to estimate than the present. Philaret's Comparative View did not, I believe, suc- ceed in producing a change in the mind of the young prince Galitzin, for whom and for others it was at that time written; but there is no doubt that the discovery, made at this period, of the depredations committed by the Jesuits upon the National Church, the fanatical Popish sentiments instilled into the nephew of the Minister for Spiritual Affairs, and the opposition which they made to the dissemination of the Holy Scriptures, hastened their final expulsion from the empire, in the year 1820. At that time, their number, in different parts of Russia, amounted to 674 ; and according to their " Catalogus So- ciorum et Officiorum Societatis Jesu, in Imperio liossiaco, in annum 1816," their bands were skilfully stationed, in the following order, throughout the empire. In their academy at Polotsk they had 112 ; in their two houses at Puza, 37 ; at their residence in Uswaldenses, 11 ; in their college at Mogileff, 14 ; in the college at Orsha, 19; 62 EXPULSION OF THi: JESUITS. in their establishment in St. Petersburg, 26 ; at their college in Witepsk, IG ; in the INIission at Astrachan, 5 ; in the Mission at IVIosdok, 2 ; in the Mission at Odessa, It; in the Mission at Saratoff', IS; in the Irkutsk Mis- sion, 3 ; in the Tomsk Mission, 3 ; and the rest were scattered abroad in every part of the country, as domestic teachers, and residents in families. Here, in Polotsk, their estabhshment was splendid; and attached to it, they possessed 11,000 slaves, with extensive territories. The ukaz, which expelled them from the empire, "never more to return, under any name or character,'' was dated March 13, 1820; and by it, their whole property, in lands, houses, money, books, papers, kc. was confiscated, and ordered to be applied to the benefit of the Roman-catholic Church in Russia. On their reaching the frontier of the empire, the Emperor Alexander ordered them to be supplied with from thirty to fifty ducats each, to bear their expenses to some other place of residence. But though this mighty force of papal agency was removed from the Russian territories by one stroke of the Autocratic pen, yet the influence which they had acquired was not so easily to be annihilated ; and there is no doubt, that in the succeeding intrigues, which were played off so successfully against the Russian Rible So- ciety, their powerful friends in the capital took a })art. Polotsk was formerly the provincial town of a district of the same name; which, in 179(5, was united to that of Witepsk. It is beautifully situated on the right banks of the Dwina and Polotka, and is one of the oldest towns mentioned in Russian history. It was known to the an- cients undc>r the name ofPeltiscum; and in the time of Rurick, tlie Russian Egbert, it had its own princes, who reiL::ned there until the time of Vladimir the Great. ANTIQUITY AND PRESENT STATE OF POLOTSK. 63 This prince, irritated at the refusal of the princess Rogneda, daughter of the reigning prince Rogvalde, to marry him, laid siege to the city, took it, killed the prince and his two sons, married the daughter against her will, and added the principality of Polotsk to his dominions. After this, the son of Rogneda obtained this principality from his father, Vladimir ; and his de- scendants continued to reign there for several centuries, until 1305, when Guedemin built Wilna, which became the capital of those parts of Lithuania. But even to the time of Peter the Great, the Russian Tzars continued to take the title of Prince of Polotsk. In the intervening ages, it was repeatedly taken and retaken by the Rus- sians and Poles ; but generally remained in the hands of the latter, until 1772, when Catherine II. united it to her empire. At present, though the Jesuits are expelled, it is still the residence of different orders of popish monks. The Dominicans, Bernardines, Trinitarians, Piarists, Ba- sillians, Franciscans, and Greek Uniats, have all their respective monasteries and churches in Polotsk, many of which are richly endowed. These splendid public build- ings contribute greatly to give the town an imposing appearance, especially on approaching it. There are comparatively few Protestants and Greco-Russians in the place. Its present inhabitants are not above 6000, among whom there are a very considerable proportion of Jews. 64 WITEPSK. CHAP. IV. Arrival at WifepskWitepsk Bible Society State of the Pro- testantsProvincial Prison Hospital and Poor-house The Jews of Witepsk Description of Witepsk Population of the Province Orsha Skloff Roads in White Russia Condition of the Peasantry their different kinds of food and drink Drunkenness prevalent amongst them its causes Arrival in Moyileff upon the Dnieper Mo gileff Bible Society Circulation of the Scriptures in the Russian Army State of the Gaol, Poor-house, 8fC. The Archbishop Daniel The Catholic Uniats Inroads of the Catholics upon the Eastern Church Province of Mogileff its productions Visit to the Military Hospital Departure from Mogileff Remarks on the state of the Jews Arrival in Minsk Character of the Archbishop Anafolie Circulation of the Scriptures Visit to the Prison Hospitals Colony of Tartars in the Suburbs of Minsk De- scription of Minsk Privations in travelling through White Russia Enmity between the Russians and Poles. Leaving Polotsk, I continued my route up the right bank of the River Dwina ; and, travelhng all night, reached Witepsk early in the morning of the 2d of June. I obtained lodgings in the Riga Inn, where, as in all inns in the interior of Poland and Russia, accommoda- tions are very bad. In 1816, 1 had formed the White-Russian Bible Society in this place; of which the Governor-general, Alexander, duke of Wurtemberg, became President. On this occa- sion, as formerly, I met with a most kind reception from WITEPSK BIBLE SOCIETY. 65 his highness; and also from the duchess, a most intelH- gent and amiable lady, sister of Prince Leopold of Saxe Cobm'g, now king of Belgium. My letters of intro- duction to the Civil-governor, TormazofF, secured me a seat at his table, and every attention and facility for visit- ing the prisons, hospitals, &c. during my stay. On Sun- day I attended worship, in a private house ; where Mr. Wenzel, the Lutheran pastor of Polotsk, preached, and confirmed four young persons. There were about 50 in- dividuals present. The discourse was a singular mixture of truth and error. The doctrines of the Fall and Atone- ment were not touched upon in the catechetical instruc- tions given to the young. The pastor called upon me in the evening ; when I had an opportunity of stating to him freely my views of Christian doctrine, and the defi- ciencies of his sermon and instructions in the morning. He took my observations calmly. The Secretaries of the Society told me, that the cause here had to struggle, from its very commencement, against the determined opposition of the Jesuits, who endea- voured to mar its progress in every possible way, and threatened with severe spiritual censures every one in whose possession a Testament should be found ; that what had been done in the work had been accomplished principally by the sixty congregations of Russians of the Greek communion scattered throughout the province ; so that their income and distributions could not be com- pared with those of other Auxiliaries in the interior of Russia, where all were of one mind as to the duty of every one's possessing and reading the Holy Scriptures. They had distributed 68 Bibles and 128 Testaments. In addition to these, the Roman-catholic priest, Polonsky, had himself disposed of about 150 Polish Testaments. Their income had been 4538 roubles (180/.). f)6 PRISON. HOSPITAL. POOR-HOUSE. I visited the Provincial Prison, Hospital, and Poor- house ; all three built on a rising ground near the south gate of the city, in an airy situation. But this is almost the only commendation I can bestow upon them ; for they were miserable-looking decayed wooden buildings, and their inmates destitute of every thing requisite to make their lot tolerable. In three rooms in the prison, each of them about twenty-four feet square, we found ninety-seven criminals, of whom thirteen were females, separated from the men by a wooden partition. No debtors. Among the criminals were eight convicted of murder. The prisoners daily received their fifteen ko- picks, in money, and not in food, as in PleskofF. The Poor-house was nothing better than a decayed cottage, filled with aged and blind, about fifty in num- ber, miserably lodged and clad ; but they expressed themselves satisfied with the food provided for them. The Hospital is likewise a wooden hut : there were only eighteen sick in it, and even those badly accom- modated. On inquiry, I found that twenty-four copies of the Holy Scriptures had been sent to these institu- tions by the Society here ; but the Director, a Baron von Sacken, had judged it proper to lock them all up, except a single Slavonic Testament, which was in the hands of an aged man in the Poor-house. The reason he gave for so doing was, that he was afraid they might be lost or destroyed ! I removed his fears in regard to the consequences, even should this happen ; and he pro- mised to supply with copies such as could read, in ac- cordance with the object for which they had been sent. On conversing with the governor, at dinner, on the very wretched state of the public institutions of this ])ro- vince, he told me that Government had granted a sum for the erection of a new ]:)rison and poor-house ; that JEWS OF WITEPSK. 07 the plans for the buildings were already approved of; but the money had not been remitted. In the evening, I paid a visit to the Russian priest, Okolovitch, who was one of the most zealous friends of the Society, and who gave a distressing account of the exertions made by the Jesuits to prevent the Word of God from reaching the hands of the people. The Jews also had claimed the attention of the Com- mittee here ; and General Tschorba seemed to take an active part in distributing the Hebrew Testament among them. I paid a visit to two of their schools, in the suburbs ; and conversed with several of their teachers on the prophecies respecting the Messiah. Though all the Polish Jews speak a sort of broken German, yet none of them were able to read the German characters : their own books are either in Hebrew or in Jewish German, with Rabbinical characters. At a subsequent visit, I put into their hands two copies of the Hebrew New Testament, which they willingly accepted. I also visited several of their families ; but was disgusted at the indi- cations of filth in their dwellings, and want of cleanliness about their persons. Many of them had cutaneous affections of a most offensive nature. In reasoning with those among them who have any degree of knowledge, one frequently meets with such a manifestation of contempt for the pecuhar doctrines of the Christian Religion, that they seem encompassed as with adamantine walls, resting securely, without inquiry, in the vain imaginations of their own conceits. In speaking with Mohammedans and Jews on these myste- rious subjects, the greatest care and acuteness of reason- ing are necessary, in order to place before them the pure doctrines of Scripture, as free as possible from human definitions. F 2 68 DESCRIPTION OF WITEPSK. " The town of Witepsk stands on the banks of the Dwina and Witepa, which run through it. It is very ancient, and is said to have been known to the Slavonians and Greeks as early as the tenth century. The different religious orders mentioned under the article Polotsk abound here also, with several others ; each in its own monastery, and living in mutual jealousies, and not unfrequently open warfare. The Russians have only one church, which belongs to the garrison : there are, however, 8 mona- steries for Roman-catholic monks and nuns, 3 Roman- catholic churches, 11 Uniat Roman-catholic churches, 2 Seminaries, a Gymnasium, and 3 synagogues, with about 14,00') inhabitants. The country around is level, and abounds in extensive forests; and the land produces abundance of grain and excellent hemp. But civilization is still in its infancy among the people; and in the towns, though efforts are made at improvement, yet it proceeds very slowly, under the influence of such spiritual guides as the troops of popish monks and friars above men- tioned. The population of the province is estimated at 672,000, chiefly Poles, among whom the Russians are but thinly scattered ; but the Jews are very numerous. I left ^^'itepsk about six in the eveniixg ; and directed my course for Orsha, which I readied the following morning about ten. INIy reasons for travelling in tlie night are, first, because one can seldom find a place to lodge in comfortably betwixt towns ; and secondly, be- cause the nights being light and cool in summer, it is far more })leasant to travel by night than by day. In winter, the first reason, united with the shortness of the days, induce travellers with post-horses generally to travel niglit and day. In tlie ])ost-house at Orslia, I fell into conversation with a number of Jews, on tlie signs of the times. ORSHA. SKLOrF. 69 and their expected deliverance through the Messiah. They told me that the Rev. L. Way had visited them, and had left them some Testaments. They refused to accept more ; but, afterwards, one of the number came to me privately, and earnestly begged for a copy, which I gave him. The Russian priest, principal director of the Orsha Bible Association, had collected a considerable sum, and circulated a number of Slavonian copies of the Scriptures; but he said that the members of the Jesuit college of the place were indefatigable in opposing the distribution of the Polish Testament among the Roman Catholics. We crossed the field of the battle of Krasnoy. The mounds or tumuli raised over the heaps of slain were numerous ; and so fresh, as not yet to be covered over with sod. The post-road passes through this field of death ; and the recollection of the slaughter of so many thousands of French and Russians, on that occasion, fills the reflecting mind with melancholy. We reached SklofF in the afternoon, where the Jews were very anxious to obtain copies of the Hebrew Testa- ment. Having very carefully tried the abilities of such as applied, by making them read and translate passages to me, I distributed ten copies among them, counselling them to make a good use of them. JNIost of the roads in White Russia run in straight lines, being ditched, and planted with rows of birch-trees. The clay cast up from each side forms the road. In dry weather they are pleasant to travel on, but after rains they become almost impassable. The peasantry here seem to be in better circumstances than those around Pleskoff. The food of the Russian peasant differs much from that of the lower classes in any other country in Europe. The great number of what they call postnie dni, fast-days, throughout the 70 FOOD OF THE PEASANTRY. year, have no doubt been the means of rendering their taste somewhat pecuhar. They eat more fish, when they can procure it, than flesh ; and are very fond of mushrooms (which they dry and preserve in great quan- tities for use during the winter fasts), cucumbers, cab- bages, &c. ; but they do not discover any great partiahty for vegetables in general. Until the beginning of the eighteenth century they were strangers to almost every kind of esculent, except cabbages, onions, garlic, cucum- bers, radishes, gourds, and melons. They seem to be fonder of smoked and salted meat than of fresh. Cold dishes are much relished, especially in summer, when the potvlnia (a cold soup made of herbs, fish, and quass) is counted a delicacy, even at the tables of the great. Much of their food is highly seasoned. I shall here, once for all, descend to a few particulars. Rye-bread is in common use throughout the whole empire. It is daily upon the table of the peasant and the prince ; and every family bakes it for their own con- sumption. It is usually well leavened ; and possesses a degree of acidity, which, to the stranger, is not at first agreeable, but is considered indispensable to suit the peculiar taste of the Russian. The loaves are round, from eighteen to twenty-four inches in diameter, and six or seven inches thick. This rye-bread, commonly called tschernoi hlcb (black bread), is the staple support of the common people. With three pounds of this bread, an ounce of salt to strew on it, and a can of quass, the labouring man performs the hardest work, and the soldier goes through the greatest fatigue, without mur- nun-ing. In general, they prefer rye to wheaten bread, because tliey affirm the former to be more nourishing. Very little white bread is yet in use among the people or in the army. EXTENSIVE USE OF ARDENT SPIRITS. 75 meeting of friends in town, on all holidays, at marriages, baptisms, and bmials, the company, of whatever rank, never broke up till many of them were thus deprived of their senses. Sometimes these revels lasted for weeks together. But as European manners began to take effect, in transforming the language, dress, habitations, tables, equipages, occupations, and pastimes of the higher circles, especially during the reign of Catherine II., ex- cessive drinking by degrees became less fashionable : and I am happy to say, that this salutary reform still pre- dominates, so that I have rarely met with intemperance in the better classes of society. The merchants, how- ever, the lower orders of the clergy, and the people, are still too much addicted to this ruinous vice. But it may be necessary here to inquire how far the Go- vernment itself is accessary to this national sin. The sale of every kind of spirituous liquors, though now in the hands of Government, was formerly free : but in conse- quence of the miseries which flowed from this source of corruption, and the multitudes of families which were en- tirely ruined by the intemperate use of ardent spirits, the Tzars first laid restrictions on the distillation and sale of it, and afterwards took the management of the whole con- cern into their own hands. This reason, which is given by the Russian writers as the origin of the sale of brandy becoming a monopoly of the Government, is, no doubt, plausible at first sight ; but how has it been abused ! Instead of restraining the use of brandy, the Government, even of the present day, affords every facility to the people to obtain it, in order to enhance the gain derived from this iniquitous source ; w^hich amounts to nearly one-fourth of the whole revenue of the empire ! Their own authors say, that the first spirit-shop, called kahak, was erected in Moscow by order of Tzar loan 76 EXTENSIVE USE OF ARDENT SPIRITS. Vasillivitch, for the use of his guards. Tzar Feodor ordered it to be pulled down ; but Tzar Boris GudonofF, perceiving that this tax would become a source of im- mense income, established it again, and had it regularly licensed to sell brandy and other inebriating liquors, /or the benefit of the crown. The door to intemperance w as now thrown wide open, under the outspread wings of the Russian Eagle*; and gin-shops sprang up in every town and villafi-e throudiout the dominions of the Tzar; DO ' which Oliarius found to be the case in 1G33. Even so early as WAT, the kabaks were extended to Siberia, and the means of intoxication, to which they were formerly strangers, introduced among the wandering heathen tribes of that extensive country. Tzar Michael Feodro- vitch, perceiving this vice increasing to a ruinous extent among his subjects, and the incalculable miseries which it had introduced into almost every villasfc in his domi- nions, shut up the kabaks, and allowed the brandy to be sold only in certain places, and under restrictions. But, in the succeeding reign, Alexie .Nlichaelovitch farmed out the sale of brandy, as in former times, to the highest bidder; and ordered a kabak to be opened in every town, and three in Moscow. In the course of time they be- came innumerable ; and they abound in the present day as much as ever, under the name of lahaki and piteinoi domi in Great Russia, and of shenks in Little Russia. These places are scenes of perpetual drunkenness and riot throughout the day, and the haunts of the very scum of the population during the night : they are never shut. Instead, however, of the Government farming out the sale of spirituous liquors to a numljer of })rivate indivi- duals called olluplcliiki, in the year IS 10 they took the * Till' Anns of tilt' onipiie arc over the doors of all ii-in-.-ihops, to the present day. CONDITION OF THE PEASANTRY. 77 management of it into their own hands. The Minister of Finance is at the head of it, and the deputy-governors in the provinces are his chief agents. This new regula- tion was the w^ork of GuriefF, Minister of Finance, in . order, it is said, to encourage the more general use of brandy in the villages, and thereby increase the revenues of the crown. The number of distilleries throughout the empire is great, and the quantity of spirits which they prepare annually immense. Those of them which belong to the nobles and merchants issue about twenty- five millions of vedros ; those of the crown two millions ; which, calculating three gallons to a vedro, gives the enormous quantity of eighty-one millions of gallons of brandy alone, drunk every year by the peasantry of this empire ! It is astonishing, indeed, that such a system should have been carried on, even under the government of such a pious, benevolent, and humane prince as the late t^mperor Alexander, whose exertions have been so dis- tinguished in promoting every thing that is good among* his people ; but the fact is, that the evil has become a pillar on which the Government, in its present form, rests; and the removal of it would require more energetic measures than it is thought safe as yet to resort to. The time of the year in which the peasantry are en- gaged in the severest bodily labour is during the hay and harvest months, from June to October. Now this is the time of one of their longest fasts, in which for six- weeks they eat no flesh, but subsist on black bread, quass, buck-wheat, cucumbers, radishes, onions, and mushrooms. The peasantry are of a sound constitution, stout and firmly built, but generally of a middle stature ; and still 78 CONDITION or THE PEASANTRY. strangers to many enervating diseases which accompany civilization, wealth, and luxury, and which cause so great a proportion of the inhahitants of such cities as London and Paris to drag out a miserable existence. They are fond of manly exercises ; and in summer, the evenings are often spent in the open air, in singing in chorus, dancing to the bagpipes or ballalaili, and amusing them- selves with their national games. Yet the custom of early marriage, and, above all, of choosing the finest- looking young men in the villages, in point of stature and features, for the ranks of the military, from genera- tion to generation, has already had a deteriorating effect upon them. Almost all the finest-looking men are thus taken from the village circles, and the dwarfish and diminutive in stature are left to marry and propagate their kind *. If this practice continue, they must, accord- ing to the operation of natural causes, become a still more diminutive race ; for the great mass of the Russian military are doomed to a life of celibacy ; so that when the soldier falls in the field, root and branch are cut off. And as the difficulty is becoming every day greater to find a sufficient number of young men in all respects agreeing with the military standard, the senate has ordered, in a decree sanctioned by the emperor in February 1831, that such young men as may happen to be blind of one eye, or destitute of their fore teeth, sliall l)e admitted into the ranks. ^lany of the youths in the villages maim themselves, in order to escape the * The military colonies of ag-rlcultural soldiers, now so extensively forinlnjji; out of the villages belonging to the crown, In which the soldiers are privileged to become fathers of families, together with the recent nkaz hy Nicholas against early marriages, have probably had their origin in the attention of Government having been called to this point. At the beginning of 1S30, there were IS9,S70 peasants belonging to the crown turned into military colonists. LONGEVITY. USE OF TOBACCO. 79 ballot; but this is severely punished, whenever it is proved against them. Instances of extraordinary longevity are frequent among the common people : the causes are doubtless the natural vigour of their constitutions, the simpli- city of their mode of living, abstemiousness in food, and generally good climate. Many of them reach the age of 90 or 100, and some individuals live even to the age of 125 or 130. I remember, in the year 1808, seeing a female, in a Kozack village on the Don, who was in her 125th year, and who from the time she was 100 years of age had been confined to her bed ; or rather to her board, which she preferred to a bed. Her sons and her sons' sons were around her, both generations grey-headed with age : they seemed to nurse her with great care. About the middle of the sixteenth century tobacco was introduced into Russia, and was passionately welcomed by the common people ; so much so, that a prohibition from the patriarch came out against it, strengthened by an ukaz in 1634, forbidding its use, under pain of the knout, slitting the nostrils, cutting off the nose, and exile f. This severity, however, was found inadequate to deter the people from using it. At last, some monks from Mount Athos spread about legends of a terrifying nature concerning its origin and use, saying that it sprung originally from the excrements of Satan, and that t Fourteen years after the publication of this extraordinary ukaz, it was introduced into the Code. But on the 11th of July, 169S, Peter the Great f^ave permission to his subjects to trade in tobacco throughout his dominions, except in the towns and villages of the Kozacks, where the opposition to it among the Raskolniks had been fanatical. In the pre- sent time it is cultivated to a great extent in the southern provinces ; but it is not generally used among the peasantry. It forms an important article of trade with the Mohammedan and Heathen tribes, who are very fond of it, and buy it from the Russian peasantry. 80 MOGILKFF BIBLE SOCIETY. the person who used it would perish for ever! The Raskohiiks of the present day hold strictly to these opinions ; and have even pressed some texts of Scripture into their service, in condemnation of this execrated herb. Probably it was to meet these prejudices that the Empress Elizabeth, by ukaz, forbad the taking of snuff in the churches. The domestics of the palace were, by her, set to watch in the time of divine service in the Court chapel ; and commanded to take by force the boxes from the nobles, should they observe them taking- snuff! On my arri^'al in jNIogileff, I was admitted into com- fortable lodgings in the palace of the aged archbishop Daniel, of whose great kindness I had partaken so largely in 1816, at the formation of the Bible Society for this province. His eminence, and the archimandrite, gave me the details of their transactions since that period, which proved both gratifying and encouraging. They had collected upw^ards of 30,000 roubles (1200/.); had formed five Associations in the district towns ; and distri- buted 3200 Bibles and Testaments in different languages, of which number ISOO copies had been put into the hands of the military. These were disposed of in the army, in accordance with the regulation of the late much-lamented Field-marshal Barclay de Tolly. Each regiment was furnished with a Bible and 12 Testaments; viz. one for every company, and the Bible for the chaj^lain and church service of the re2;iment. The officers alone con- tributed 10,000 roubles, to promote the good cause. -Much ()p])()sition to the distribution of the Polisli Testa- ment was made here, also, by the Jesuits, who seem to possess rJmost unl)ounded confidence among the ])e()ple. Tlie Bull of Pius VIl., issued against the Bible Society in 1816, has become a powerful wea])()n in the GAOL AND POOR-HOUSE AT MOGILEFF. 81 hands of these agents of Rome, for defending their strongholds against the zeal of their Russian neighbours, in propagating the word of God. During my stay, I paid a visit to the provincial Prison, a large brick building one story high, forming three sides of a square : the fourth side is a wall, with the gate in the centre of it. The apartments were large, and capable of being well ventilated : but they were all crowded to excess; the first with thieves, the second with deserters, and the third with a number of fine young recruits, confined there until they were clothed, and the back part of their head shaved, which is the usual mark put upon all new-levied men for the army, in order to prevent their escaping detection, should they attempt to run away. As there were several other apartments, the walls of which had been newly white- washed, I inquired, of the oflScer, why the prisoners were not divided, and part put into them. The answer was, '' Because it would require too many soldiers to guard them." Their allowance is the same as at Witepsk, 15 kopicks a day. The Committee had sent to them some copies of the Bible and Testament ; but I did not observe any in use. The Roman-catholic priests visit the prisoners twice a week; and there is a room appropri- ated to a chapel. Neither debtors nor murderers were among them ; but there were several Jews, imprisoned for having tried to evade the late census. I next visited the Poor-house several wooden build- ings hastening to decay, and affording a temporary shelter to seventy-six aged poor of both sexes. They seemed to be clean in their apartments, and looked rather com- fortable and satisfied. I found a New Testament among them ; which I was told one of their number daily read to the rest, who assembled to hear it. The situation 82 ARCHBISHOP DANIEL. is rather high and airy, and the house has a large gar- den attached to it for the people to walk in. There are seven other small almshouses in MogilefF, attached to an equal number of parish churches : these are principally supported by the parishioners. According to a late revision, the number of Jews in Mogileff is about 9000 : they have two synagogues. There is no general hospital, as yet, for the citizens ; but the Governor told me it was in contemplation to erect one. I spoke to him freely on the state of things in the prison ; and recommended classification, less-crowded cells, the use of the bath at least once a-week, and that the brick floors should be changed for wood. The \'iew of the country from the windows of the archbishop's palace is extensive and beautiful. The windings of the Dnieper can be traced through a most fruitful range of country ; but there is nothing picturesque in the view, on account of the equality of the surface. The archbishop, Daniel, is since deceased. He was up- wards of seventy, his head " silvered o'er with age ; " and, in his course through life, he had seen a great deal of the bloody contests betwixt the Russians and the Poles, in the ineffectual struggles of the latter for in- dependence during the last half century. He had also been particularly zealous and successful in his opposi- tion to the inroads of the Uniats among the members of the Greek Church in these provinces, which formerly belonged to Poland. Under the denomination of Uniats is understood, in Russia, Poland, and the l^ast, proselytes from the Greek to the Romish Church. At the rupture betwixt the Eastern and Western communions, in the beginning of the ninth century, this system of proselytism to the acknowledgment of the supremacy of the Pope l^egan, ROMAN-CATHOLIC UNIATS. S\ 83 \ and has ever since been carried on with more or less vigour by the disciples of Rome, according as they were able to throw the several ingredients of royal favour, worldly interest, compulsion, and persecution into the scale, in the long and bloody contests which have so often spread devastation and ruin in these dis- puted provinces, lying betwixt the Roman-catholic king- dom of Poland and the orthodox dominions of the Tzars. In this work of proselyting from the Greek to the Ro- mish Church, the Jesuits have been particularly zealous and successful among the Slavonic tribes belonging to the Eastern Church in the Austrian dominions. Of two millions of Servians, all originally Greek Christians, one half have, by various means, since they fell under the dominions of Austria, been brought over to the Church of Rome. Nor have these attacks been confined to middle Europe : they have been carried on, for nearly 800 years, in the East also, especially in Syria, under the dominion of the Turks : and not only the Greek, but the Armenian Church, has likewise shared the same unwearied annoy- ance from the agents of Rome, whose success of late years among this nation has been incredibly great. In Constantinople, the proselytes from the Armenian to the Roman-catholic Church are called Schismatic Armenians. After sustaining great persecution from the old Armenian clergy and the Turks, they have at last (1831) obtained, through the influence of the ambassa- dors of Austria and France, in the present troubled state of Turkey, an act of toleration of their worship, and permission for their Patriarch to reside in Constantinople. On one or two occasions the Jesuits had nearly suc- ceeded in producing an acknowledgment of the supre- macy of the Pope, even at the court of Moscow itself. In the time of Pope Clement VIII. the severity of G 2 81 INROADS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLICS. Jeremiah, patriarch of Constantinople, towards Onesi- phorus, metropolitan of Kief, seems to have given gi'eat scope to this schism. Jeremiah, on retm'ning from Moscow, where he had been consecrating the first Rus- sian patriarcli. Job, discovered, during his stay at Kief, that the said metropoHtan had been married a second time ; and, on account of this breach of the discipline of the Eastern Church, he expelled him from the see, and put another in his place. This act of severity against a man of excellent character so exasperated the prelates of Little Russia, some of whom, it is said, feared similar treatment for like offences, that the bishops of Vladimir, the exarch of Lutsk, the archbishop of Polotsk, the bishop of Helm, the bishop of Pinsk, the metropolitan of Kief, and others, united in Council in that city in 1595, agreed to join the Church of Rome; and the same year they put their design in execution, notwithstanding all the exertions of the Muscovite clergy to prevent it ; and these dioceses, even to the present day, retain their Uniat prelates. The only conditions they made for themselves and their people were, " that the sacra- ment of the Holy Eucharist should remain as they had been accustomed to administer it, in two kinds, bread and wine ; likewise, that the sacrament of Baptism, with all its ceremonies, should continue as formerly ; that they sliould be allowed to practise all the rites and ceremonies of the Greek Church ; that marriage should be permitted to the clergy ; and that they should not be required to repair to Rome for the confirmation of their episcopacy." As soon as the Pope agreed to tliese conditions, tliey seem willingly, says Kamensky, to have sworn to the other Roman-catholic tenets; viz. that of the Procession of the Holy (xhost I'rom the Father and the Son, the supremacy of tlie P()])e, the doctrine of Purgatory, tlie doctrine of PRODUCTIONS OF MOGILEFF. 85 Transubstantiation, the doctrine of Works of Superero- gation, the decisions of the Councils of Florence and Trent, the Traditions of the Roman Church and her decision respecting the meaning of Scripture, the Romish opinion in regard to the use of images, the power of the Pope to pardon sins, &c.&;c. When the people and nobles heard of what their bishops had done, they complained to the Polish king, and requested that they might be expelled from their dioceses'; but the Roman-catholic king not only approved of what their bishops had done, but interdicted all connexion with the Patriarch of Constantinople, and gave every support to the spread of the Uniat principles among his Russian subjects. The province of MogilefF is about 350 versts long and 300 broad, with a population of upwards of 900,000 souls ; all Russians, except a few Lithuanians, and a numerous tribe of Jews, who found a settlement here during the period of the Russian ci\il wars, when White Russia was in the hands of the Poles. It abounds in extensive forests of fir and hard-wood : those in the district of TscherikofF are considered the finest. Numbers of the peasantry are employed in felling and floating timber to Riga by the Dwina, and to the Black Sea by the Dnieper, and to those parts of Little Russia which are but scantily supplied with this necessary article. The principal commodity of trade in MogileflP is leather; there are upwards of twenty tanneries : but its merchants carry on a considerable commerce also with the ports of Danzig, Memel, and Riga, in potashes, hemp, leather, and grain. There are twenty churches in this city ; two Greco-Russian monasteries, one of which is for nuns ; a seminary for the clergy ; two Roman-catholic monasteries ; with five Roman-cathohc churches. 8() STATE OF THE JEWS. I drove four versts out of town, to pay a visit to the Military Hospital, a large wooden building of one story. The number of sick and wounded was 220. The wards were remarkably clean, but crowded ; there was only space sufficient to pass betwixt the beds. I found no more than two Testaments among them. Those who could read, and had sufficiently recovered to engage in it, were said to be making a good use of them. With the General in command, I was enabled, before leaving Mogileff, to make arrangements for sending 750 copies more of the Holy Scriptures to the army, five copies to each regiment. The archbishop seemed gTatified with this arrangement. Accompanied ten versts on my journey by this vene- rable prelate, who has shewn me so much kindness during my stay, I retraced my way back to Orsha. Here I again had a long discussion with the postmaster of the place, a Jew, on the subjects in dispute between them and us. He seemed to be well versed in the Talmudic comments on the prophecies relating to the Messiah. But there w^ere a number of other considera- tions which bore upon the subject, and for which he seemed little prepared; such as, their having no divine sanction for their present mode of worship ; how, on moral principles, the Deity can pardon the sinner without an atonement, and still remain unchangeable and just ; the insufficiency of their confessions and ceremonies for this purpose; the Scriptural reasons for their long di- spersion and unparalleled national sufferings ; See. S:c. From tlicir spiritual state, he turned the conversation, as soon as he conveniently could, to tlieir temporal condi- tion; spoke of the poverty and misery in which so many thousands of tliem now were in the surrounding coun- try ; and seemed particularly desirous that permission MINSK. 87 should be granted to the Pohsh Jews to spread into Russia Proper. This I assured him would, I thought, never be permitted by the Government ; which, from past experience of the many evils resulting to the Christian population of Poland from the multitudes of Jews who now overrun that country, would not allow them to spread further into the interior of the empire*. From Orsha I continued to travel all night; and passed the fatal bridge of the Berezino in the morning ; dined at Borisof ; and arrived in Minsk about midday, where I obtained a decent room in an inn kept by a German. On my journey, I distributed several Testaments among such of the Jews as I found could understand them. I also learned that the copies the Rev. L. Way had dis- posed of Avere passing from hand to hand, and were read. One of those who had received a copy, said to me, " that neither he nor his father had ever read those things before." I waited on the archbishop of Minsk, Anatolie, who gave me some accounts of the progress of the Bible cause in his extensive diocese. He kindly invited me to dine with him ; during which time we discoursed upon several important points of divinity ; from which I learned that his eminence had read the works of Junsr-Stillino: and Ekartshausen, and seemed fond of several of then- peculiar opinions, similar to those of Jacob Boehm. In the evening, we spent nearly five hours in like conversa- tion. Anatolie is about fifty years of age, of good natural * During the latter years of the reign of Alexander, the severity of Government had relaxed in this respect, on account of the deep interest which that monarch shewed for the spiritual as well as temporal welfare of the Jews : but a short time after the accession of Nicholas to the throne, all Jews were again expelled from Great Russia by an ukaz, and driven back within their ancient limits of residence. 88 PRISON AT MINSK. abilities, and possessing a very considerable share of learning hospitable, frank, and simple in his manners. The Minsk Society, he told me, had obtained about 6000 roubles in subscriptions, and distributed 424 copies of the Scriptures. The Minsk Jews liad contributed 153 roubles and 40 kopicks, to aid the cause. His eminence told me, that since my last visit to Minsk, two years ago, he had baptized fifteen Jews : one of the Roman-catholic priests had also lately baptized four. Having obtained the permission of the Authorities, I visited the Prison; which consisted of a large wooden hut, divided into three apartments. In the first we found sixty criminals, among whom were four females and six murderers, without any classification of crime or sex. The place was much crowded ; and I wondered that it was possible for them to exist together. But, as it is summer, they are the most of the day in the court, which is spacious, dry, and part of it overgrown with grass. Here, also, they cook their victuals. In the second division we found thirty deserters, less crowded; and in the third, about twenty abandoned females, most of them soldiers' wives and widows, confined for a short time, for misdemeanours *. * On the younfT peasant being drafted for the army, It not unfre- (juently happens that he is already married. In this case, his wife, on his entering the military ser\ice, is emancipated with himself; but the children born before this period remain in slavery. Yet, as few of these young wives are permitted to follow their husbands in the campaign, or even to live with them when in quarters, they generally remove from the villages, and take service in the towns. When, however, the soldiers live in barracks, as is the case with the Guards in Petersburg, their wives are allowed to live with them; but then, alas! too frequently they berome tlie victims of seduction. Intemperance, quarrels, and separation usually follow, and they fall into contirmcd habits of prostitution ; so that PUBLIC HOSPITALS. 89 In the two first wards, I found them supplied with Slavonian, Polish, and Hebrew Testaments, which seemed to have been read. They had no Divine Service ; except once a year, when the priest comes to give them the Communion. No bath. Sixteen kopicks per day are allowed each for food ; but, in lieu of this, they re- ceive 2^ pounds of bread per day, and meat once a week. A considerable number of the prisoners were Jews. At a small distance from this gaol we visited the Mili- tary Hospital, which contained about fifty sick and wounded. The building is of wood, and temporary ; but the wards and beds were not so clean and neat as those of the hospital near Mogileff. In what they style the Town Hospital there were about twenty-five of both sexes, some of them in most loathsome diseases, and manifesting a great want of cleanliness. Both here and in the Military Hospital we found Testaments ; but as in the latter there are seven apartments, and only two copies among them, we purpose supplying five copies more, so that they may have one in each ward. The two they have, had made the round of the wards once in seven days, each possessing them a day ; and we were told that this was usually a day of joy and comfort to the poor sick and wounded warriors, one of whom read to those who could not. that from these causes of frustrated marriage, in which the branches of the famUy are torn from each other, and peculiar exposure to temptation, many of these are found, in the provincial and great towns, reduced to a level with the most degraded of the population. Hence, when able, the poor peasant is known to call into requisition the little property which he and his relatives may possess, to provide a substitute. This, however, is not to be construed into a proof of his loving slavery on the one hand, nor of his dread of a military life on the other; but is to be attributed to the dread of separation from those he loves most, and of the dismember- ment of his family as here described. 90 TARTAR FAMILIES AT MINSK. We went next to see about twenty-five miserable patients, lodged in an old hovel, under the care of a monk of the order of Boni Fratrum. We found this physician to body and soul dividing a kind of meal soup among them ; most of whom seemed to be in miserable circumstances, in rags, dirt, and disease ; and two were insane. In the Jewish Hospital we saw forty-five young and old, of both sexes, seemingly without any classification of disease, placed in several small rooms : they certainly presented one of the most appalling scenes of wretched- ness I ever witnessed : filth, rags, and pestilential effluvia pervaded the whole place. A small apothecary's shop, with a kind of chapel, occupied one end of the building. The Government contributes 16/. per annum towards its support ; and the rest of the miserable pittance allowed to this lazar-house is derived from the Jewish kahal, and from private charity. In one of the suburbs of Minsk I found twenty-five families of Tartars, whose ancestors have been residents here (they say) for several centuries. No doubt they are a remnant of prisoners taken in some former wars betwixt the Poles and the Tartars. They still retain the Mohammedan religion and dress, and have their own mosque and mollali. We found the latter at their place of worship ; but what was my surprise, on interrogating him in Tartar, at finding that he did not understand this language at all, though he spoke both Russ and Polish ! He said, that their ancestors having espoused Polish women, tlie succeeding generations soon lost all knowledge of the language of their fathers. This little Tartar colony, in the heart of Russian Poland, su})ports itself principally by gardening. They raise great quanti- ties of vegetables, which they daily dispose of in the city DESCRIPTION OF MINSK. 91 market : and on farther inquiry, I find that they have the character of being a peaceable well-behaved people. The moUah seemed to be but little versed in the doc- trines of the Prophet of Mecca. He begged me to furnish him with a Polish Testament, as he could make no use of the Tartar one which had been sent to him. I accordingly complied with his request. Minsk is an ancient Lithuanian town, situated on the River Swistoche ; sometimes subjected to the Principahty of Polotsk, and at others to that of Smolensk. So early as 1066, the two sons of the Grand-duke laroslafF be- sieged it, took it, massacred all the males, and distri- buted the women and children as slaves to the warriors who accompanied them. In 1104, a Russian prince, named Gleb Vseslavitch, reigned here, who afterwards became Prince of Polotsk. Its fortunes were for many ages united with those of Poland, of which kingdom it formed the capital of a Palatinate ; but was taken by the Russians in 1656. It is now the seat of Government for the province of the same name, and of a Russian arch- bishop, who takes the title of Archbishop of Minsk and Lithuania. There is also a Roman-catholic Bishop of Minsk. The Jews form two-thirds of the population. At the last census there proved to be 8000 Jews, and only 4000 Christians of all denominations, in the town of Minsk. Many of the public buildings are of brick ; but the houses of the inhabitants are chiefly of wood. There are a number of manufactories of hats in this place, which are thence exported to every part of the interior of Russia. The country round Minsk is fertile in grain and pasturage. Extensive forests of pine still cover a great part of the province, the felling and transporting of which down the rivers, to Cherson in the east, and Ko- nigsberg in the north, form a principal branch of the 92 ANATOLIE ON PICTURE WORSHIP. industry of its inhabitants. They are reckoned at up- wards of two niilhons of souls ; and consist of Lithuanians, Poles, Jews, and Russians. I dined at the President Leipsky's, with a number of Russian and Polish nobles ; where we had much conversation on the state of the Jews, circulation of the Scriptures, condition of the people, &c. ; after w^hich w^e attended a Committee of the Bible Society, and I spent the evening with the archbishop. Our points of discussion were, the invocation of saints, use of pictures in worship, and several others of a similar nature ; against all of which I gave his eminence my strongest reasons, backed by the declarations of the inspired volume. Anatolie, like several other Russian and Greek prelates whom I have conversed with on these subjects, did not allow that a belief in such points was absolutely necessary to salvation ; yet he contended that they were useful institutions of the Church; and, by way of apology for them, brought forth a number of ingenious reasons to prove that it was impossible to believe, for instance, that such a saint as the apostle Paul in heaven should now no longer take any interest in the prosperity of the Church on earth ; and that if his prayers availed for it w^hile upon the earth, in heaven also they must equally avail; that as to the unlawful- ness of using pictures in worshij), which he styled *' the books of the ignorant," he maintained that such was the constitution of the human mind, that w^e could not understand what, for instance, we read in the Gospels before we had formed to ourselves mental pictures of the narrated acts of Christ and His Apostles. But, like the Metropolitan Platon, he fully acknowledged the abuses which were daily made of these by the people ; and that many of them, from ignorance, verily worship not only the saints, but also the boards and colours. ENMITY BETWEEN RUSSIANS AND POLES. 93 In most of the towns I have visited in White Russia, a comfortable inn is not to be found. The traveller there, as in Poland and in the interior of Russia, must make up his mind to encounter every privation in this respect, and be glad if, on the road between provincial towns, he can procure any thing better than black bread, milk, eggs, beer, and common brandy. On this account the country nobility generally carry their provisions with them when on a journey, together with a cooking ap- paratus, and even bedding; but in the Government towns they provide a sufficient quantity of w^hite bread, poultry, wine, &c. to supply them till they reach the next town. In Minsk, I found every thing very dear. I had to pay six roubles (five shilHngs) per day for a single room at the inn, and for every article at a proportionate rate. I had another opportunity of meeting a number of the distinguished Poles of the town, at the table of one of the nobles. They shewed me much attention and civility, and promised to help forward our cause ; but there was not a man amongst them of whom I could say that I believed him to be truly interested in it. They have it in their power, however, either to impart the Scriptures to the vast population of this province, or withhold them ; and, for the sake of others, I felt desirous of making use of their influence as far as possible, in aid of the best of works. The spirit of national rivalr}- and enmity betwixt the Poles and the Russians is still strongly cherished in secret, and manifests itself in a variety of ways : the Polish ladies, for instance, I was told, refuse to dance with Poles who have become officers in the Russian regiments : and this deep-rooted national enmity against the Russians is daily nourished in the family circles and private associations of the Poles. 94 WILNA. CHAP. V. Route from Minsk to JVilna Wilna Bible Society -Wilna and its Inhabitants described Roman-catholic Nuns State of the Jews under the Russian Sceptre Different Sects amongst them Influence of the Rabbis Jewish Proselytes in Wilna Descrip- tion of the Public Hospitals under the direction of the Sisters of Mercy Visit to the City Prison State of the Protestants in Lithuania Translation and Publication of the New Testa- ment in the Samogitian Language Description of tlie ancient City of Troki The Karaite Jews their acceptance of the Scriptures. After a fatiguing day's labour, I left Minsk about half- past six in the evening, though the weather was very unfavourable, and took the road for Wilna. But at midnight I was compelled to stop a few hours at a post station, on account of the severity of the storm : so boisterous were the winds and rains, that I was in the gi'eatest danger of being overturned in my calash. To- wards morning it somewhat abated. The hurricane tore up by the roots and broke down numbers of trees in the woods, many of which we found lying across our path the next day. We travelled the whole day amidst tor- rents of rain, and arrived in Wilna about midniglit. After a few hours sleep, I prepared to visit the promoters of the Bible cause in Wilna, with wliom I had formed the Society two years ago. Count Plater Sieberg, one of the Vice-Presidents, gave me the details WILNA BIBLE SOCIETY. 95 of the unceasing efforts of the Jesuits against it; and the hurtful effects produced by the Pope's bull, zealously pro- pagated by them. The Countess, his lady, a good Roman Catholic no doubt, observed, in conclusion, " that, in her opinion, it was their duty to obey the will of the Holy Father." Both from the pulpit and the press the Society is furiously attacked by the agents of Rome. One of them, a Professor at the University here, named Galianski, had published a pamphlet in reply to the query, " May every person read the Bible?" which is said to have done harm. The Governor-general, Rimskoy Korsakoff, I found still very favourable to the cause ; and, as far as his influence extends, it is applied to help forward the work. However, in reply to the pam- phlet of Galianski, Mr. Martinofsky has translated Dr. Van Ess's work into Polish, proving, by extracts from the Writings of the Fathers of the Church, that every one ought to read the Holy Scriptures. An edition of 1000 copies of this valuable pamphlet is in the press, and will certainly do good. By these discussions, many, I trust, will be led to examine for themselves ; and the cause of Truth, instead of suffering loss, will ultimately gain by them. The Committee had, during the two years of their existence, collected about 6000 roubles, and circulated 800 copies of the Scriptures ; of which, 300 were Polish Testaments, which the University took for their schools. The town of Wilna is built among sand-hills, at the confluence of the two streams Villia and Vilika. It was founded in 1305, by Guedemin, grand-duke of Lithuania ; of which it afterwards became the capital. Many remains of ancient public buildings, both in and near the town, bear ample testimony to its former grandeur. In 1748 it was burnt down ; and at that time. 9G ROMAN-CATHOLIC NUNS. it is recorded that 13 churches, 1 synagogue, about 140 shops, 25 palaces, and 4()9 stone houses, &c. &c., were re- duced to ashes. Still there are, at the present time, many fine clunxhes, and public and private buildings in Wilna, and daily improvements are still making. The present number of inhabitants is about 40,000 ; of whom one-half are Jews. The Roman-catholics of diffe- rent orders here are diligent in attempting to convert the Jews. One morning, two decent-looking nuns, dressed in grey, called upon me, and most earnestly begged that I would assist them in a case of extreme difficulty. A Jewish maid, about fourteen years of age, had left the house of her parents, and taken refuge in their convent, requesting to be instructed and baptized. The parents, finding out the place of her retreat, had made application to the police, to oblige her to return ; contending, against the nuns, that she was not yet of age, and therefore incapable of judging for herself. The girl threatened to destroy herself, if again delivered up to her parents ; and the request of the nuns was, that I should in- tercede with the governor-general in their behalf On conversing afterwards 'with his excellency on this occurrence, he was inclined to think, with me, that until the girl was of age she was obliged to be subject to her parents : but he knew of no law applicable to this sin- gidar case ; and he promised to investigate further into the circumstance. The Jewish population seem all engaged in buying and selling ; the men hawking their goods about the public places, and the women, seated before their shop- doors, knitting stockings, and loquaciously inviting the passers-by to purchase of their wares. They all dress in the iashion of the Polish Jews ; the men, with black silk or stuff long robes, in eastern style, girt upon them. STATE OF THE JEWS. and round caps turned up with fur, with bushy beards and long hair, shining with oil and curled ; the females, somewhat more European in their attire, with rich head- dresses, ornamented with mock or real gems, according to their ability. The great majority of them look dirty and ragged. In no country are the Jews so numerous and national as in Poland. Wherever I have found this unhappy people, whether among the civilized nations of Europe or the uncivilized tribes of the Turks and Tartars, their religious state seems to be marked by the grossest ignorance and superstition, or by systematic infidelity. Among the poor, the Oracles of God delivered to their fathers have long since been superseded by the incohe- rent fables of the Talmud ; while a cold-hearted Deism has overrun the higher classes of the Jewish nation: the former, hearkening to the commandments of men who have set aside the Law of God, " are turned unto fables ;" while the latter have joined the self-named phi- losophers of modern times, in rejecting not only Christ and his Apostles, but in denying the Divine legation of Moses also. A time, however, is predicted in the Word of God, in which the vail shall be taken from off the eyes of this forlorn people, and more Scriptural and conciliatory means used to bring them into the fold of Christ than have ever yet been employed : for, not- withstanding the inauspicious facts which I have stated relative to the religious and moral state of the Jews in general, there are, even at the present time, various intimations of a more favourable state of mind towards Christianity existing in many of them. The great change which is now working in the moral and reli- gious state of all nations, by means of the translation and general dissemination of the Word of God the H 98 STATK OF THE JEWS : success attending the preaching of the Gospel among the Heathen, particularly of late years the falling-off of numbers of the Jews from their rigid attachment to their former superstitions, and founding new temples for a refoiTUcd worship in the modern tongues the lessening of their prejudices against Christianity the lessening of the hatred and prejudices of Christians against the Jews the circulation of the New Tes- tament in the Hebrew tongue among them and the gi'eat desire which many Jews shew to obtain and read the Holy Scriptures the state of despair respecting their ever receiving a Messiah, such as ihcy desire, wliich I have everywhere observed to prevail, less or more, among the reflecting part of them the fact, that many Jews of late, from conviction, have embraced the Chris- tian Religion all these unusual signs conspire to prove that an important crisis in the religious state of the Jews is fost approaching; for the Apostle assures us, that '' they also, if they abide not in unbelief, shall be grafted into the Church." In the present contracted kingdom of Poland, they are reckoned at about half a million ; and in all the southern provinces of Russia, viz. Wilna, Grodna, Bialastock, Minsk, Witepsk, Mogileff", Jitomir, Tschernigeff, Kief, Podolia, Cherson, Kkateri- noslaff, Bessarabia, Moldavia, and Tauridia, at a mo- derate calculation, their numbers amount to upwards of one million and a half more ; so that under tlie Prussian sceptre there are at least two millions of Jews. The exact time of their first settlement in these countries is not known ; but they all speak a corrupt German, ex- cept tlie Caraim in the Crimea, who si)eak Tartar. It is believed that they originally came from Germany ; and that the principal emigration took place in the time of the Crusades, when they were often exposed to THEIR DIFFERENT SECTS. 99 great persecution, especially in the cities on the Rhine, from the fanatical armies on their passage to the Holy Land. Boleslaus, prince of Kahsh, bestowed on them their first privileges, in 1268 ; which were greatly aug- mented by Casimir the Great, in 1338. At present, the Jews here and in Poland possess great influence ; which they have partly acquired through their riches and partly through their numbers, and the unhappy changes to which these countries have been subject during the last century. In one sense, therefore, the Jews are more powerful in Poland than the Chris- tians; for though the landed property is still in the hands of the nobility, yet the gold, silver, and commerce, are chiefly in the possession of the Jews : they farm the taxes of every kind, keep the public inns, distill and sell brandy, and monopolize the sale of salt, corn, and other products of the country ; and are unanimous in their efforts to bring down their Christian neighbours ; in dealing with whom, when they have it in their power, they pay little regard to justice and truth. They also rent many of the estates belonging to the Polish nobles ; which gives them an opportunity, too often, to oppress the poor peasantry. The Polish and Russian Jews are divided into different sects ; the chief of which are : First, The Karaites, or Caraim, who are of very ancient origin. Their distinguishing principle is, that they reject all traditions and oral laws, and hold strictly to the literal sense of the Five Books of Moses. On this ac- count there reigns an implacable hatred between them and the Rabbis. The second sect is called Chosidim, Zealots, peculiar to Poland. This sect took its rise about fifty years ago, in Podolia, from a fanatical Rabbi, who gave himself h2 100 DIFFERENT SECTS OF JEWS. out for a prophet. Tliey reject the study of the Mo- saic Law altogether, and resolve all matters of faith and practice by Kabala. Their property is common, and at the disposal of tlieir chiefs, whom they dignify with the name of infallible ; and who, in return, taking ad- vantage of their ignorance and superstition, govern them by the mystical decrees of the Kabala. This sect is said to be spreading among the Jews in these provinces ; but in Austria and Prussian Poland it is strictly prohibited. A third sect are the Frenkists, a kind of Judaico- Christians. They originated from one Frcnk, a Rabbi, who came from Constantinople into Podolia about the year 1740, and gave himself out for the Messiah; but on his being called to give an account of himself before an assembly of Christian bishops and priests, in the cathedral church at Lemberg, he lowered his preten- sions, embraced the Christian Religion, confessing that Christ was the Messiah, and saying that he was His Messenger. The Empress Maria Theresa is said to have looked upon him as an apostle, destined to bring his brethren over to Christianity; and therefore granted him her protection in ]\Ioravia, where he made a number of proselytes. Joseph II. however considered him more as a deceiver than a Christian, and at last, in compliance with the petitions of the Jews in Briinn, drove him out of his dominions. Frenk then took up his residence at Offenbach, near Frankfort on the Elaine ; whither many of his Polish converts followed him, with all their riches. Here he continued to rule over them to extreme old age; but after his death, tlie greater part of his followers returned again to Poland. From all I have been able to learn about this singular character, it appears that he gained over numbers of superstitious Jews to follow him- self; but few, if any, to follow Jesus Christ. The most JEWISH PROSELYTES AT WILNA. 101 of the Frenkists of the present day are, properly speak- ing, neither Jews nor Christians ; and the more ignorant of them still expect the resurrection of their deceased apostle ! Exclusive of these three chief sects, the great body of the Jews in Poland are under the government of their Rabbis and Scribes, who exercise an aristocratical authority over them. These Scribes and Rabbis are a distinct body : they are instructed from their infancy in their religious and civil laws, of which they afterwards become the interpreters. Their office differs but little from that of the Scribes and Pharisees of ancient times. They are held in great respect among the people ; being not only their supreme judges in civil and religious matters, but also their physicians, exorcists, and public teachers : hence they know the secrets of every family, influence all that is going forward, and unite in themselves a despotic temporal and spiritual power over the people. All their prayers and religious services are performed in Hebrew. They learn to read and understand the Old Testament, by the assistance of a translation made into Jewish German by Ben Athius, written in the Rabbinical character, and printed at Amsterdam. The senior pastor of the Lutheran Church at Wilna, Nicholai, informed me that he had baptized several Jews, whose conduct since has given him great satisfaction ; but that, after their baptism, they were so severely per- secuted by the other Jews, that they were forced, at last, to leave the country. The fear of this persecution has made many of the Jews apply to him, at different times, for secret baptism; and has occasioned still more of them to stifle their in- ternal convictions in favour of Christianity. He told me, however, that he had always refused to comply with their 102 PUBLIC HOSPITALS AT VVILNA. desire of secret baptism, judging it inconsistent with the commands of Jesus Christ. Indeed, such is the awful persecution to which a Jewish convert to the Christian faith is exposed from his brethren in Poland, that it is almost impossible for him to live longer among them. The enmity of the Rabbis extends so far, that the young convert, particularly if poor, is not only deprived of every means of gaining a livelihood among his Hebrew kins- men, but is in the greatest danger of his life. I was much gratified with my visit to the institutions for public charity in Wilna, which I found in a better condition than those of any other place visited during my tour. We began with the Workhouse and Alms- house, under the direction of the Wilna Philanthropic Society ; a very large oblong square brick-building, two stories high. In this institution we found 360 persons, young and old ; of whom, all who could work were em- ployed, as weavers, hatters, joiners, locksmiths, and in other trades. The produce of the workshops is brought into one common magazine, and sold to the public for the benefit of the institution. Neatness and order seemed to prevail throughout this large establishment. It is supported principally by the contributions of the inhabitants ; and I was informed that the ladies of Wilna have divided the city into districts, and go from house to house collecting, once a year, for this institution. Our next visit was to the Hospital of St. Jacob, under the direction of twelve of the Roman-catholic nuns, called " Sisters of Mercy." These twelve middle-aged females have upwards of 150 sick to attend to, night and day, in this hospital. They dress the wounds of both men and women, and administer medicine and every other help to tlie sick and dying. The order and cleanliness which })revailed in the wards was truly delightful to behold. SISTERS OF MERCY. 108 The beds of the invalids, their dress, the furniture, floors, walls, the purity of air, all bore ample testimony to their indefatigable labours. The Hospital for the Jews, which we next saw, formed a perfect contrast, in all these particulars. There were 116 patients in it. It is supported by their own society; but its funds, amounting to upwards of 10,000 silver roubles annually, are said to be ill administered. The Foundling Hospital is also under the care of the Sisters of Mercy. They had 100 girls and 40 boys in it. The latter we found in school, learning reading and writing from a master; but the girls were in a large room, and engaged in different kinds of needle-work. In another apartment, called the nursery, were about fifteen wet-nurses, and double the number of babes. However, the nuns are said not to pay the same degi'ee of attention to the children as to the aged and sick poor. The City Hospital, which w^e next \dsited, contained 150 sick, of both sexes, classified according to their dis- eases, and under the direction of fifteen of the Sisters of Mercy, The abbess, an aged respectable-looking matron, conducted us through the wards. Every thing con- nected with the sick seemed, if any thing, in a still better condition than that of the St. Jacob Hospital. This, together with the other two hospitals described, under the care of these humane Roman-catholic nuns, are said to possess extensive revenues from lands and other property, by which they are principally supported. In a lunatic asylum, under the care of a monk of the order of Boni Fratrum, we found ten patients. None of them were in chains, or confined in any other way ; save an aged Jew, who was in a solitary cell. Possibly, information had been given to most of these institutions that a stranger would visit them, and conse- ICH CITY PRISON AT WILNA. quently every thing might have its best side turned towards him : but, even making full allowance for this, and judging not merely from what I saw, but also from general report, these institutions are admirably con- ducted, are a blessing to the city, and do great honour to those who superintend them. The City Prison consists of three upper and two lower apartments, in an old monastery. In these five small rooms I found 140 prisoners ; of whom fourteen were females, occupying the fifth room. The male prisoners seemed the most daring villains I ever set my eyes upon, even in such receptacles of criminals. Here was no classification, and no occupation for the prisoners ; but I found a Slavonian Bible and a Polish Testament among them, which bore marks of having been much used. On entering one of the upper rooms there was a great stir among the prisoners, a theft having just been detected among themselves. How different the looks of these men from those of most of the prisoners in the interior of Russia ! and what a striking confirmation of what I have often had opportunities of remarking, that in proportion to the degree of civilization among a people, their criminals appear to be more audacious, and hardened in their evil propensities ! A bad heart, joined with a cultivated intellect, becomes, by that very culti- vation, more fruitful of crime than that of the savage or demi-barbarian. How important therefore, when instruc- tion is given, that not merely the enlightening of the intellect, but the amelioration of the heart, through the Gospel, sliould be constantly aimed at ! I sent them an additional supply of Polish Testaments; and also a Hebrew one for the Jews, some of whom, before my leaving the prison, fell at my feet and earnestly begged lor it. For the sixteen kopicks allowed each of PROTESTANTS IN LITHUANIA. 105 them per day, they have two-and-a-half pounds of bread. In point of order and cleanliness, the hospitals and prison form a perfect contrast. My conductor, the police-master, told me that a plan for erecting a new prison had already been made out, and sent to Petersburg for the sanction of Government. I made particular inquiry of the Protestant clergy here respecting the number and state of their congrega- tions. Subject to the Lutheran General Consistory of Wilna, there are Congregation of Wilna, consisting of Germans 1000 Covna Congregation, Germans, .... 700 Keydan ditto . . . ditto 2314 Birsen, Lithuanians and Germans, . . . 2344 Schaul, Germans 440 Grodiia, ditto 475 Slavalyz, Germans and Poles 776 Sluck . . ditto . . ditto 50 Minsk . . ditto . . ditto 460 Tauroggen, Lithuanians 3000 Krottingen, ditto 302 Total . . 11,861 The Rev. Mr. Renshinsky, senior, of the Reformed or Calvinistic Churches in Lithuania, a venerable old man, gave me the number of their churches at twenty-one ; but several of them are shut up for want of attendance, and most of their congregations are greatly reduced. The number of the ministers is about twenty, who meet in synod annually in Wilna, to regulate the affairs of their congregations. But he stated, that most of the latter were so poor, they could do very little for the support of their ministers. This was derived principally from the rents of lands left to the Reformed Churches U)(> SAMOGITIAN NEW TESTAMENT. by the family of Radzevil, which afforded to each a stipend of about 25/. per annum. Two years ago, an edition of 5000 Testaments in the Samogitian language was prepared for the Roman Catholics who speak that tongue. The translation was made by Prince Gedroitz, bishop of Samogitia ; and it was printed here, in the Monastery of St. Cazemir, by the monks. The distribution of this Testament forms a principal object of my visit to Samogitia. The Samogitian language is spoken in three districts of Lithuania, by a population of 112,000 souls, mostly Ro- man Catholics, for whom the above version has been made. Twenty copies of this work I procured, to take with me as samples, and for occasional distribution. Taking leave of my AVllna friends, who have shewn me much hospitality and kindness, especially the governor- general, at whose table I have been a daily guest, I directed my course towards Troki, the ancient residence of the grand-dukes of Lithuania, which lies about twenty miles to the north-west of Wilna. We reached this district town, which is beautifully situated on the Lake Bressal, in the evening. This lake has a communication with the River Villia, by a canal. The ruins of an ancient ducal palace are still prominent on one of the little islands which spot the bosom of this extensive lake, whose waters are clear as crystal. Troki is said to have been founded bv the ijrrand-duke Gundemin, in 1321. It was })urnt down in I31M), and ruined by the Russians in l()55. The present town is divided into three parishes. Lii one of the churches is an image of the Virgin, which annually attracts a number of pilgrims from the sur- rounding country. The houses of the inhabitants are built of wood. The scenery around the lake is remark- ably line, in a country like this, where the eye is so seldom relieved from the sameness of prospect, of exten- KARAITE JEWS. 107 sive plains and woods; and the evening being fine, I greatly enjoyed it. In the suburbs of the ancient town of Troki I paid a visit to a colony of Karaite Jews, who have inhabited this delightful spot for several centuries. On entering the house of the chief Rabbi, I saluted him in Tartar, and, to my astonishment, was answered in the same language. None of them could speak Jewish German, the common language of all the Polish Jews. I inquired whence they originally were : the answer was, " From the Crimea;" that they and their ancestors have resided in Troki for nearly four hundred years; and that they possess very distinguished privileges from the ancient dukes of Lithuania and kings of Poland. I asked them whether they still had intercourse with their brethren in Dschoufait Kale. They replied, that they not only visited them, but also were visited by them. The Tartar language is still the only one spoken in their families, though most of the men could speak both the Russian and Polish. They are neither dressed like their brethren in the Crimea, who have retained the Tartar costume; nor like the Polish Jews, but like the common Poles and Russians. The number of the Ka- raites in Troki is about 160 souls. Before I had finished my inquiries relative to these particulars, the house of the middle-aged Rabbi was filled with his brethren, who were all anxious to know who the stranger was, and what his errand. Our con- versation then turned upon the signs of the times, and the coming of the Messiah, which lasted upwards of an hour and a half. I stated the truth to them as clearly and as forcibly as possible. The Rabbi defended his position, with the Old Testament in his hand, that the Messiah was still to come ; but having no Talmudic interpretations to screen himself behind, he was sooa 108 KARAITE jews: greatly at a loss. The people, in the mean time, were all attention : they had never heard such discourse before. The Rabbi was at last so much affected with what was said, that he changed colour, and turned aside. Another of his brethren, a merchant, then came forward, and, w^itli considerable shrewdness, attempted to defend the cause, in the view of the people ; who were now muttering to each other, and anxious to know how all this would end. Haiing proved to him, also, that the Messiah must needs have come, I spoke of the purity and spirituality of the Gospel, and of that eternal life which is revealed in the doctrines which Christ taught. The merchant, I found, had read the Polish Testament with considerable attention. The Rabbi stood like one confounded : I never saw an individual in such a state before. I asked them, whether they had ever read the doctrines of Christ and his Apostles in Hebrew. The question seemed to rouse their curiosity to the extreme. They replied, that they had heard that such a transla- tion existed, but that they had never seen the Hebrew Testament. I then inquired, whether they desired to see it. They all replied, that they should be very happy to get a copy of it. By this time, my calash and servant, with fresh horses, were before the door. I took out five copies of the Hebrew Testament, and presented the Rabbi with the first. He seemed to gain new animation at the sight of it, and accepted it most willingly, embracing and thanking me for it. I then gave a copy to the mer- chant, who seemed no less overjoyed, and was warm in h:"s expressions of gratitude. Now the difficulty was, how to distribute the remaining three. All hands were stretched out ; and every one cried, " O ! let me have one also ! " I was greatly embarrassed. An interesting young man stood near me : several times he stretched out his hand, as if eagerly desiring to grasp the third THEIR ACCEPTANCE OF THE SCRIPTURES. 109 copy, which I held in my hand ; and as often he abruptly drew it back again. I read in his countenance a strong combat between civility and desire. To him I gave the third. His countenance now shone with gratification and joy, and all present loudly approved the act. A fourth and a fifth I bestowed on two other of these interesting people. They all commenced reading with great avidity, and, before I left them, gave me proofs of their understanding well what they read. I told them that I hoped in a short time to hear of their having formed themselves into a community of believers in the Lord Jesus, founded on the glorious truths of that blessed volume which I had just put into their hands. Amid loud expressions of gratitude and wonder, I left the house of the Rabbi, bade farewell to this truly interest- ing little people, and proceeded on my journey. The merchant did not part with me, however, so soon : he walked with me upwards of a verst, up the border of the beautiful lake, whose surface, with the charming sur- rounding scenery, was gilded with the rays of the evening sun. He put many questions to me respecting the signs of the times, and the spread of the Gospel ; and left me with these words : " I believe that some important crisis with our people is at hand : what it is, I cannot say : God will direct all." After parting with this intelligent man, I crossed the hilly country to the north of the Lake Bressal, by a very narrow and difficult track ; and about ten in the evening happily regained the post-road to Covna. To the keeper of the post-horses I gave a Hebrew Tract : he also was one of the Karaites. These people have a fair moral character in the country around : most of them are em- ployed in trades and merchandise. We continued to travel the whole niiijht, and reached Covna to breakfast. no (OYW. CHAP. VI. Cnvna Intolerance of the Roman Catholics Route from Covna to Rossiena, the Capital of Samogitia Pierist Monies Dominican Monks their Schools, Sfc State of the Jews Departure from Rossiena Fair of Titifian Intoxication of the Peasantry their condition General Aspect of the Country The District Town of Shawel Freemasonry in Russia its suppression Arrival in the Samogitian Town of Telsh Prejudices of the Ro- man Catholics against the Reading of the Scriptures ifilling- ness of the Russians to receive them Poverty of tJie^Nohility of Samogitia The Jewish Synagogue The Bernardine Monks State of Education among the Lithuanian Roman Catholics Arrival at Polangen Interview with the Prince Bishop Gedroitz Arrangements made with him for distributing the Samogitian Scriptures. CovNA. This ancient town, finely situated for com- merce at the confluence of the VilHa and Niemen, bears numerous marks of depopulation, poverty, and decay. The pavement of the market-place is nearly overgrown with grass, and many of the public buildings seem hast- etiing to ruin. The population does not exceed -lOOO, of whom a great proportion are Jews, and the rest Ro- man Catholics. The pastor of the few hundred Germans still remaining in the place told me that he should be obliged to leave his people, because they could not sup- port him. He complained of the Roman Catholics, as being excessively intolerant, and great enemies to the diffusion of (it)spel light among their peo])le. A decree ROSSIENA. PIERIST MONKS. 1 1 I of the Russian Government, prohibiting all traffic betwixt Germany and Russia through this city, has depopulated and ruined it, notwithstanding its many advantages as a frontier mart. From Covna we continued to travel down the banks of the Niemen for about twelve versts ; when we changed horses at a village swarming with Jews, with whom I left a Testament and a few Tracts. At Srednik, another populous Jewish town, I conversed with the people for an hour, and gave them two Hebrew Testaments and a Hebrew Tract. We prosecuted our journey all night, northward, till about four in the morning, when we arrived at the district town of Rossiena. With some difficulty I obtained a room in the house of a Jew, where I attempted to get a few hours rest ; but the place was so cold and uncomfortable, that I felt not at all refreshed by it. On inquiry after those persons in authority to whom I was recommended, I found some of them absent ; and those with whom I had an oppor- tunity of conversing seemed exceedingly shy and indif- ferent to the cause : they spoke of the circulation and reading of the Holy Scriptures as things forbidden and sinful ; and they acted accordingly. Rossiena is chiefly inhabited by Jews ; and is now but an insignificant-looking place, though formerly the resi- dence of a Voivod under the Poles. It looks more like a village than a town : the houses are mere wooden huts, and most of the streets not even paved. The Samogitian population of the district of Rossiena amounts to about 90,000. The Pierist Monks have a College here. I called upon them ; and was civilly received by one of their Teachers, who spoke French, They have 220 boys in their school, the sons of the surrounding Schleachti or nobihty. It was Sunday evening when I paid this visit. 112 DOMINICAN MONKS. Hearing music and dancing in a house opposite, I inquired what that meant: ''O!" said they, ''these are our scholars, preparing to pass their school examination to-morrow." The Pierists knew nothing of the Samo- gitian Testament, nor of its translation. I called, next, on the Dominican Monks, whose monastery is rather a fine building indeed, the only one in the town. The abbot was shy, and cold : he assured me that they stood in no need of Bibles ; and that as to the peasants, they had no time to read them. He even smiled at the idea of a poor peasant attempting to read the Bible, as a thing quite out of character with his situation in life ! " Again," objected he, '' our peasantry have no money to buy them." I replied, that the Samogitian Testament only cost fifty kopicks (2.$). *' No, no," said he; *' give me a number, gratis, and I will dispose of them as I think proper." While thus conversing with the superior, several of the monks entered, dressed in their white camlet robes, sleek, and pufiing with the exertion of ascending the stairs. All of them looked very suspiciously at me ; and seemed to say, " What has this heretic to do among us?" I left them without gaining my object; for though the superior promised to send to me for a copy of the Samogitian Testament to examine, and then to order a number from Wilna, yet, as he did not keep his word in the first instance, I had no reason for believing that he would in the second. The bishop of Samogitia has his residence here ; but he was absent at Polangen, where I hope to meet with him. In the evening, I had a long conversation with a Jew, who is rich, has travelled much, and boasts of being a free-thinker. He puts the Old and New Testament, Moses and Christ, upon a level : " Both of them were STATE OF THK JEWS. 1 1 3 distinguished for their wisdom: they were wise men, but/' in his estimation, " nothing more." The state of the Jews, in the provinces which I have visited formerly- belonging to Poland, is much the same everywhere. They abound in every town and village : great ignorance, poverty, and vice, prevail among them. Bound together by deep-rooted prejudices and common sufferings, it is difficult for them to look upon the interests of the people, among whom they dwell, in any other light than as opposed to their own. No doubt their debased state in society, with their national and proverbial vices of low cunning, imposture, and every species of circumvention, are the natural effects of the treatment they have for so many ages experienced, from men of all nations and religions. Nor does the contemplation of their religious state amend this unfavourable moral picture : while the lights of Christianity and of science have daily been dis- pelling the general gloom which brooded over the most favoured nations of antiquity, the Children of Israel, with the followers of the Prophet of Mecca, have remained nearly stationary as to religious and scientific improve- ment. There have been some few exceptions; but these have generally been on the side of inlidehty. Even at the present day, there are many learned Jews who have no faith in the divine origin either of the Old or New Testament. The Jews are not even permitted to know the purity of the Old-Testament doctrine; for the people are studiously kept in ignorance of it by their Rabbis ; and the foolish fables and traditions of the Talmud have long since supplanted the doctrines of Moses and the Prophets, while infidelity and cold-hearted Deism have overrun the more-refined and civihzed ranks. I never remember to have met with a true INIohammedan, or a strict Jew, living under a Christian Government, who I 1 14 FAIR AT ROSSI KN A. considered himself otherwise than in a state of bondacje a stranger in a foreign land. The few examples which probably might be adduced, of Mahomedans and Jews who have distinguished themselves in the service of Christian princes, prove nothing against the general fact here stated ; for most of such characters, on examination, will be found to have been quite indifferent to the sub- ject, or destitute of all religion. On returning from the Pierists in the evening, I found a party of rope-dancers performing, before a crowd, in a yard opposite my lodgings ; and I understand, that betwixt the hours of eight and eleven there was a play acted by four Jews, at which the most notable of the Hebrew public were present. 24,th, St. John's Dai/. -A great holiday, and also a fair in this place. The peasantry are flocking towards it from all quarters, many of them respectably dressed ; and civilization seems to exceed, by some few degrees, that among the lower ranks in the interior of Russia. No doubt the proximity of Germany is the cause of this; though the language of the Samogitians is very different from that of either the Russians or Germans. In my intercourse with the Jews here, I gave them five copies of the Hebrew Testament, w^iich I hope will be read by some. I also left copies of the Samogitian and Hebrew Testament with the Sheriff', who promised to circulate them, and to recommend the cause to the Marshal of the district, on his return. Leaving Rossiena about mid-day, I took the road for the district town of Shawel. At a village called Titifian there was a fair similar to what we had left at Rossiena. In the evening, we found the roads filled with the country people retnining from it, among whom I was pained to t)bst'rve a great number intoxicated. I even SAMOGITIAN SCRIPTURES. I 1 J became doubtful of my safety in travelling by night through extensive and little-frequented woods : yet we continued our course in the rain, along very bad roads, for about fifteen miles ; and then halted, about midnight, at a Samogitian village, where I proposed resting a few hours : but the heat and vermin in the hut were so annoying, even though I merely stretched myself on a bare bench by the side of the wall, that I could not sleep. The rain continued till morning. Since leaving Minsk, we had had but few days of fair weather. About three in the morning I got up, as much fatigued as when I lay down. One of the females who belonged to the family being able to read Samogitian, I gave her a Testament ; which was received with great joy, and I doubt not will be read and listened to with profit. How delighted they seemed to be, when they heard her read in the Gospel the words of Jesus Christ ! At last the mother of the family came, and kissed and blessed the hand which had bestowed the invaluable gift. I had only brought twenty copies with me, to give to such as engaged to promote the cause in the chief towns ; but I could not resist the artless eloquence of the poor peasant who had brought me so far in the rain, to give him a copy also : *' For," said he, " though I am unable to read, yet my wife is a good reader, and reads her prayer-book fluently ; and how happy she will be to get the Gospel added to it !" The general aspect of the country from Covna to Rossiena is level ; the soil, sandy and clayey by turns ; and extensive districts are covered with fir. The crops of rye and wheat look but indifferent, for the advanced season of the year. We arrived in the district town of Shawel about eight the next morning. It consists of 280 dwellings : mostly wooden huts, of different dimensions ; the rest 1 2 IK) FREEMASONRY IN RUSSIA. of brick. I found the Jews, who form the majority of the inhabitants, extremely shy, and averse to conversation on rehgious subjects. They seemed poor and wretched ; and complained of their temporal wants being so pressing, as to leave them no time to think on spiritual subjects. They are not even able to support a Rabbi ; and one of them told me, that it was customary with them for the father to circumcise his own sons. The German Protestant Minister of the place was absent at Mittau. The number of the Protestants is very small : they have no church, but assemble in the house of their pastor, seldom more than twenty-five in number. To the Mayor of the town, M. MinietofF, I had an introduction from Count Sieberg. I explained to him the object of my journey ; and gave him copies of the Samogitian, German, and Hebrew Testaments, together wdth our last Report in German. He seemed to be well-disposed, and promised to co-operate. He com- plained much of the prevalence of Freemasonry in the country, and said that it was spreading rapidly in all the Polish provinces united to Russia ; that most of the nobility belonged to these lodges ; and that in Rossiena a new one had been opened very recently. The Arch- bishop of Minsk informed me that a lodge had been opened in that town also. Roth he and the Mayor of Shawel deeply suspected the object of these secret com- binations.* Tn Shawel I visited the district prison two small * Tlic Emperor Alexander, well informed no doubt of the political tendency of these h)d QUARANTINE AT ODESSA. 131 roubles and 2 kopicks; and their expenditure, 1,244,362 roubles and 29 kopicks. Nov. 29 This is the seventeenth day of my con- finement ; yet, such was my need of rest, after the dan- gers through which I had passed in Turkey, and the many months of great mental and bodily exertion during my travels in Greece, Italy, &c., that the time has not hung heavy upon me. This is the fourth time I have been subject to quarantine imprisonment; yet, though in many respects I am miserably circumstanced, I never before passed through a quarantine with so little weari- ness : so much more does our comfort depend on the state of the mind, than on external things ! My heart has been so filled with gratitude for past mercies, that I could have been happy any where : so that my prison, with its humidity, bare walls, confined air, iron bars, and many privations, has been a place in which I have en- joyed great peace and tranquillity of mind; for which I most sincerely bless God. Among the books which I read during that period, was Dr. Marheinecke's " Geschichte der Deutschen Re- formation,'" in 2 vols. This work principally consists of extracts from the numerous writings which appeared during the time of the Reformation ; and also from Luther's own correspondence, and those of his friends, in regard to that great event. I was sometimes not less struck with the passionate, raihng language of Luther against his opponents, as I read it in all the unseemly nakedness of the original, than with the strength of his mind and arguments against a system of debasing de- ception, corruption, and error, which he and his co- adjutors so successfully combated and overthrew. After undergoing an examination by the physician belonging to the establishment as to the state of my K 2 \f^'2 QUARANTINE AT ODESSA. health, I was informed that I should be set free the next day. But it may })erhaps be useful to give a few more particulars respecting the manner in which matters are conducted in the Quarantine of Odessa. The goods which require purification are exposed in four large stone warehouses, each one story high, and situated at some distance from the Lazaretto, upon the shore ; and the apparel, &c. of individuals, in several packhouses, not far from the house in which we are confined. A few days after I had given up my books and clothes for purifica- tion, I desired the Commissioner to allow me to see them; and, to my no small annoyance, I found my clothes hanging upon the same wooden spar with the apparel of a Greek merchant newly arrived from Smyrna. I remonstrated with the Commissary ; and represented to him the danger to which he was exposing me, by mixing my clothes with those of individuals who had come from a place where the plague was rife. He excused himself by saying, that they had too little room in the packhouses, and but few people to tiu^n the clothes. Their custom is, to take in the wearing-apparel and effects of passengers from different ships and places, until the warehouse is full ; and then the term of forty- two days' cleansing begins. A condemned criminal is employed to hang them up on long spars that run the breadth of the houses, about fourteen inches apart : he also turns them several times a week : and at the ex- piration of forty-two days they are pronounced clean, provided the said criminal remains free from infection. Passengers are only admitted twice a week on Tues- days and Saturdays ; and they are discharged from (quarantine on the same days. Sliips arriving with car- goes from any port of the jNIeditcrranean, or from the f>p])osito sliorcs of Asia Minor, nnist ride eiglit days' QUARANTINE AT ODESSA. 133 quarantine in the roads before they are admitted into port, or the passengers into quarantine. In the port or harbour there is free intercourse among the ships, but no intercourse with persons on shore. Every day, at noon, they come to the Parlatoria, and converse with the merchants to whom their cargoes are consigned, or from whom they are to receive cargoes, transact their busi- ness, purchase provisions, &;c. &c., so far as all this can be done without coming in contact with each other. Articles of food, such as flesh, bread, cheese, butter, vegetables, fruits, with all hquids, are not deemed to be infectious. Those persons who enter the Lazaretto on the same day, though from different ports and arriving in different ships, are permitted to have intercourse with each other. The Greek merchant and his servant from Smyrna, as also an Armenian priest and his servant from Constantinople, having entered at the same time with myself, I was told that I might have intercourse with them if I chose, for that we should be liberated on the same day : I refused, however, to make use of this per- mission, expressing to the officer my surprise at such a regulation. Every ship in the roads and port has a soldier placed on board, from the day of its arrival till it sails. These poor men are thus exposed to the disease ; but when they and their officers are relieved, they only stand twenty-one days' quarantine, and are then allowed to pass, with every article they may happen to have got on board of the ships. I strongly remonstrated with the principal officers against this great breach of consis- tency. They allowed it to be inconsistent ; but excused the practice by saying, that there were but few men granted them, in comparison to the duty required ; and that, for this and other reasons, they were obliged to liberate them 134 EMANCIPATION FROM QUARANTINE. at the expiration of half the number of days appointed for passengers and sailors. About eleven in the forenoon, I was conducted from my cell down to the Quarantine Council ; where I re- ceived my discharge, and removed, with several friends who came to welcome me, to lodgings in the town. I felt grateful to God for my preservation during such a trial of my health ; being not yet quite recovered, when I entered the quarantine, from a severe indisposition which I had suffered at Constantinople. ODESSA. 135 CHAP. VIII. Description of Odessa, and its inhabitants Climate Commerce Sfc. Instability of worldly riches Visit to the Prison and Hospital Opposition of the Jesuits to the Circulation of the Scriptures Destitute state of the Foreign Colonists in the South of Russia, for want of Pastors and Teachers Bulgarian Colo- nists Circulation of the Scriptures by the Odessa Bible Society. Account of a German Sect of Millenarians their migration from Wurtemherg and Bavaria to the vicinity of Mount Ararat their sufferings on the journey, and in the late Persian War. Schools and Churches of Odessa Baptism of a Child in the Cathedral Usages of the Russians in connexion ivith Births and Baptisms their Superstitions Baptism of a Mongolian Prince Amulets used by the Russians Russian Names. Dec. 2. Odessa is a rising city : not fewer than 400 houses are now being erected. It is here called the " Refuge of Nations," on account of its singularly mixed population, consisting of emigrants from all countries Russians, French, Italians, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Germans, Poles, Turks, Tartars, Americans, English, &:c. all eagerly prosecuting their commercial concerns in this free city, where they enjoy many distinguished privileges. The number of inhabitants is about 24,000 within the gates, and 16,000 in the vicinity. A public garden, laid out in the English style, is a favourite resort of the citizens in fair weather. This is an excellent place for seeing the singular and interesting variety of Asiatic and European countenances and fashions ; but the European costume seems to predominate. 136 ODESSA. As this city is much indebted to its late patron, the Due de Richelieu, who enjoyed the full confidence of the Emperor Alexander, and in the course of a few years adopted very comprehensive and judicious plans for the enlargement and improvement of the city as well as for the extension of its commerce, the French have acquired considerable influence here. The town consists chiefly of stone buildings two stories high, the streets and pubhc places being laid out in modem style, broad, and flanked with rows of trees, which prove a most agreeable shade from the scorching rays of the sun in summer : many of them have gardens and orchards attached. But the stone with which the houses are built is far from being durable ; it is a con- glomeration of shells, and so porous, that the air blows through walls two feet thick, unless they be plastered. On this account they retain the frost in the winter, and become moist, and liable soon to decay. Want of good water is another great inconvenience in Odessa. There are draw-wells in different streets, but they are very deep, and the water is hard and brackish ; and to obtain good sweet water, the inhabitants are obliged to fetch it from two springs, one seven and the other twelve versts distant from the town. The streets are still unpaved ; and are so spacious, that I was informed it would take more money to pave them, and the public market-place, than all that has yet been expended on the buildings of the town*. The inhabitants speak of their climate as being good, but very trying to delicate constitutions, in consequence of the purity and keenness of the air. The weather also, in winter, is changeal)le : a few days ago we had ten * Since this period, I learn that some of the streets have been Mac- adamized, and that a new prison has been erected. COMMERCE OF ODESSA. 137 degrees of frost (Reaum. 8 F.); and to-day we have floods of rain, and the streets ahnost impassable with mud. The dust of the streets is annoying beyond conception, through the whole summer. I experienced this when I was first here, in June 1816 : and as the town stands rather high upon the shore, every breath of wind from sea or land raises the dust in clouds, and sifts it into every apartment, through the chinks of the doors and windows. The inhaling of this calcareous earth must be very prejudicial to health. As this town has been declared a free port, it will naturally become a principal mart for European and Asiatic wares, both raw and manufactured, for the South of Russia. In 1803, the customs received are said not to have amounted to more than 30,000 roubles ; and now they are upwards of one million. The principal article of export is corn ; varying in quantity, according to the produce of the crops in Egypt, and in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean. From 300 to 400 ships can lie in the harbour, and load and unload at once. But so long as the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus re- main in the possession of the Turks, the commerce of Odessa must be subject to great fluctuations. This has already been sufficiently experienced by its merchants, since its foundation in 1796. For instance : when I was here two years ago, the price of wheat was from 40 to 45 roubles the tschetvert ; but it has been seUing this year for 9 and 10 roubles ! The corn to be exported is brought on four-wheeled carriages, each drawn by a pair of oxen : they come in large caravans, from the provinces of Podolia, Volhinia, Kief, Cherson, and Ekaterinoslaff". In summer, every street and open place is filled with these caravans. This \'AS COMMERCK OF ODESSA. extensive inland carriage is almost exclusively in the hands of the peasantry of Little Russia. Fuel is a very scarce and dear article in Odessa, as the country around, to the distance of some days' jour- ney, is quite destitute of wood of every kind ; hence fire- wood and charcoal are very expensive, being brought down the rivers from the interior, and then by sea to Odessa. As a substitute, the poor use dried dung, and the larger stalks of vegetables and herbs that grow wild in the open steppes. But bread, and butchers' meat of all kinds, are excellent, and at a very reasonable price ; and as the German, Bulgarian, and Russian colonists, settled in the neighbouring steppes to the number of from 50,000 to 60,000 souls, succeed in their horticultural and agricul- tural labours, vegetables and fruits will become more abundant for the supply of the city, and of the ships which visit the port ; for the climate and soil are well adapted to such purposes. But every thing here is new; and though, as a whole, it bears the features of compre- hensive plan and great energy of execution, yet at the same time the marks of imperfection and of the failure of anticipated success are also apparent in different parts. The other ports on the Black Sea belonging to Russia are Ovidiopol and Otchakoff on the Danube ; Nicholaief and Cherson on the Bug ; Eupatoria, Kerch, l^nical, and Theodosia, in the Crimea. But Taganrog, on the Sea of AsofF, is, after Odessa, the most considerable port for commerce on these two southern seas. The principal articles of import are cloth, cotton- stuffs, Turkish shawls, wines, oil, tobacco, fruits, and a kind of incense called ludon, whicli is much used in the churches. In addition to grain, tlie ex})orts consist of iron and PRISON AT ODESSA. 139 copper, ropes, tallow and candles, linen, furs, butter, and caviare. But in proportion as the commerce of Odessa increases, that of the other ports above mentioned seems to decrease. Several great mercantile houses here have of late failed; among others, that of C . This was one of the richest houses in Odessa, when I was here in 1816. At that time I called on Mr. C, and invited him to take an interest in the Bible cause, and to assist at the formation of the Odessa Society, with which I was then occupied. Mr. C. turned round upon me, and, with that infidel freedom in his manner and address which one some- times meets with, in those who suppose that the tower of their fortune and their philosophy stands strong, said ''Indeed, Mr. Pinkerton, I have so much to do with the present world, that I have no time to think of a future one ! " Poor man ! a few months after these words were uttered, misfortune followed misfortune, in the midst of which he was taken ill and died ; and his house has since gone to WTeck. How insecure is the tenure of all earthly things, and even of hfe itself! This remarkable instance of reverse of fortune, and of sudden removal from the world, (the more striking when taken in connexion with the conversation above recorded,) has repeatedly been alluded to in my presence, by gen- tlemen who knew the circumstances at the time when they took place. Having obtained the permission of Count Langeron to examine the state of the prison, I went thither, with an officer as my conductor, and a Greek gentleman of my acquaintance. A common building, situated near the Pohce-office, is used as a prison, there being no estabhshment of the kind yet prepared by Government. The Count was not very willing that I should go near it : 140 ODESSA PRISON AND HOSPITAL. and no wonder; for I found it one of the most wretched places of the kind that I ever visited. There were 131 criminals and dehtors in three apartments on the ground floor ; but so confined was the space, that, as the captain infomied me, during the night there was absolutely not room for them to lie down, however close to each other, on the wooden benches placed around the walls ! In a fourth room we found fourteen criminals, with irons on their legs ; the air was very noxious. In the apartment for females we found only three, and a boy ; the rest were out at work. The floors and walls were dirty, the prisoners ragged and unhealthy. We next entered the debtors' room : about twelve were in it, several of them Jews ; but the place was so confined, and the air so offensive even here, that it was with diflfi- culty I could stay in it, even for a few minutes. I strongly remonstrated with the Count on the abuses I had observed in the quarantine, and still more on the wretched state of the poor prisoners. He promised to do something for their relief; and assured me that the foundation of a new prison was to be laid next spring the plan being made out and approved, the site chosen, and fimds already allowed for the purpose. The Town Hospital is situated on high airy ground, near the Cherson-gate. It is one of the best buildings of the kind, that I have yet met with in any of the provincial towns. It is divided into wards, each of which we entered : pure air and cleanliness prevailed throughout. The number of sick and superannuated was eighty-six : the inmates of tlie sixth ward were exclu- sively of the latter class. The bath, kitchen, bed-clothes, &c., were not indeed so clean and neat as those of the Hospitals in Wilna under the Sisters of mercy ; yet the establishment, taken as a whole, was in a very respectable ODESSA BIBLE SOCIETY. 141 condition. I made arrangements for supplying the pri- soners and the sick with the Holy Scriptures, and strongly recommended the lamentable condition of the former to the benevolence and compassion of several of the clergy, and other gentlemen belonging to the Bible Society. The Odessa branch of the Russian Bible Society, which I had the pleasure of seeing planted on the shore of the Euxine in 1816, has brought forth fruit ; though the Jesuits here have exerted themselves in no ordinary degree, with a view to root up this tender plant : they succeeded in drawing away many of its first supporters, of their own creed, during the first year, and expected to see it soon wither and die ; but they have been dis- appointed, for the Lord has raised -up other labourers, of a better creed; who, with a degree of zeal and perse- verance which does them no small honour, have dug around and watered it. The Society has turned its attention to the spiritual wants of the poor German colonists : of whom there are 4572 in the neighbourhood of Odessa, divided among four parishes, and settled in ten villages, mostly without pastors ; in Bessarabia nearly 10,000, settled in fourteen villages, had only one pastor, instead of three, among them : three villages in the Crimea were without any spiritual guide at all. Their superintendant, last week, examined into the state of the Holy Scriptures in two villages of the vicinity ; and among 275 families he found seventy without a Bible ! There are also several vil- lages of German Protestants on the River Malochina, in Little Tartary, without a pastor. It is not easy to conceive what a blessing is conferred on these families, when they and their schools are supplied with the word of God; for they are literally as sheep scattered in the wilderness, without a shepherd. 14*2 ODESSA BIBLE SOCIETY. The number of Roman Catholics, chiefly Germans, who are colonized in the vicinity of Odessa, is reckoned at about 6()00 souls. The Jesuits had the spiritual charge of them. A settlement of GOO of the same profession in Bessarabia had a Capuchin monk over them. Another class of colonists in the vicinity are Bulgarians, about 5500 in number, who are described as industrious and prosperous : they belong to the Greek Church, and are all of Slavonic origin. Several hundred Bibles and Testa- ments have already been circulated among these fo- reigners, in the immediate neighbourhood of Odessa, by the Society ; but these are few, when compared with the wants both of their families and of their schools.* All these foreign colonists enjoy special privileges, granted to them by the Government. In the year 1721, Peter I., byukaz, gi'anted to the Swedish prisoners their freedom, in order that they might settle in Russia, pur- chase lands, erect manufactories, and engage in every other kind of trade. In an ukaz of Catherine II., in the year 17G3, the rights of foreign colonists are more particularly defined. They enjoy rehgious toleration, are free from all taxes during from ten to fifteen years, and they and their children are exempt from civil and military services. The German colonists in the neigh- bourhood of Saratoff, upon the Wolga, amount to about 00,000 souls. The jMoravian colony of Sarepta, which is also on the Wolga, near Tzaritzen, has existed for upwards of fifty years : it consists of about 500 members. On the shores of the Sea of AsofF there is a large colony of Armenians, who have erected the flourishing town of Naktschivan, which, with five villages in the vicinity, * The Odessa Bible Society has contributed about 12,000 roubles to the funds of the Parent Society ; and brouii'ht Into circulation l.")7() copies of IJibles and Testaments, in different lauii-uai^'es. GERMAN MILLENARIANS. MS contains a population of about 15,000 souls: a large colony of Greeks also is found on the same sea, at and near the town of Mariapol ; of whom 3000 Hve in the town, and 20,000 in twenty-two villages in the vicinity. These co- lonies of Armenians and Greeks were brought out of the Crimea by Catherine II., on that peninsula's falling under her sceptre. The late emperor, moreover, has granted permission to foreigners to settle on the lands of the nobility, with ten years' exemption from taxes, and with the liberty of removing when they please. Among the above-mentioned German colonists in the neighbourhood of Odessa, there are a few families of the Wurtemberg peasantry, who arrived here in the autumn of 1817, on their way to the neighbourhood of Mount Ararat, where they believe that the personal reign of Christ will soon commence, A few particulars of the history of this extraordinary migration may prove useful, as a warning to those in our own day who listen to the cry, " Lo ! here is Christ ; or, Lo ! He is there :" I therefore scruple not to insert them. In the month of January 1818, I met with the two leaders of this sect, in Moscow, where the Imperial family was then on a visit. They had come as a deputa- tion from their brethren in Odessa to the Emperor Alex- ander, petitioning for help. Their names were Koch and Frick; uneducated men yet they seemed, in a cer- tain sense, to be well versed in their Bibles, and gifted with lively imaginations and considerable argumenta- tive abilities ; so that I was not unfrequently touched with their remarks, and delighted with the rich and natural imagery which they blended with their conver- sation. The account which I obtained, partly from themselves, and partly from others, of this enthusiastic religious 14?4 GEIIMAN MILLENARIANS. movement, was as follows. The meaning of the prophe- cies touching the Millennium had, during the last twenty years, been much discussed by several pious writers among the German Protestants. Of these, the late Pro- fessor Jung-Stilling, of Baden, seemed peculiarly gifted, by his natural and acquired abilities, by a poetic ima- gination, genuine piety, and highly popular style of writing, to become a leader. His Exposition of the Book of Revelation, " Siegs Geschichte;" his periodical work, called " Der Graue Mann;" his " lleim-Wehe" with several other religious and mystical works, were for many years in the hands of every one who retained any regard for evangelical truth ; for, though they were the channels through which he disseminated, in connex- ion with the leading doctrines of the Gospel, many wild opinions respecting Universal restitution, the non-eternity of Hell-torments, the applicability of Christ's merits to the salvation of heathens and unbelievers in another world, animal magnetism, &c. &c., yet they also con- tained most powerful and popular arguments, in defence of the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures against the attacks of the Neologian literati and clergy of Ger- many. This man fixed the time for the appearance of Christ, and the introduction of His millennial reign upon earth, sometimes at one period, and then, as events seemed favourable or adverse, at another. Among these dates, 1816, or J 836, were considered peculiarly weighty : and as the first is already past, his numerous friends at the present day, scattered throughout Germany, Switzer- land, and Russia, are looking forward to the second with excited anticipations. The latter date, however, is the period fixed u])on, not so much by Jung, as by Bengel of Wurtemberg ; one of the most learned, pious, and successful expounders of the Apocalypse that has GERMAN MILLENARIANS. 145 ever written on the subject. He was born 1687, and died 1752. * But Professor Jung fixed not merely the year, but also the place where the Saviour should commence his personal reign ; viz. beyond the Caucasus, between the Caspian and the Black Sea, near the original cradle of the human race. And the whole subject, and the pro- spects connected with it, laid such hold upon the minds of multitudes of religious people in different parts of Germany, especially in Wurtemberg and Bavaria, that nothing could prevent them from selling their lands and houses, and migrating towards the place appointed for the New Jerusalem, and the personal reign of the Saviour upon the earth. The protection which the Emperor Alexander gave to the Bible and Missionary Societies, and his known Christian benevolence and piety, pointed him out to these people as the forerunner of the Saviour, who was to prepare His kingdom and gather together His people. As such, they celebrate his praise in their hymns or tri- umphant songs, under a variety of adulatory names and allusions. Numbers of these Millenarians have settled in dif- ferent parts of the south of Russia, within the last ten years ; but the last swarm was by far the most nu- merous, consisting of upwards of 7000 souls. Having dis- posed of their immoveable property in their native land, they placed their families and effects on rafts upon the Danube, and sailed down that river, past Ratisbon, Vienna, Presburg,and Belgrade, with flying colours, sing- ing Millennial hymns, until they reached the Black Sea. But such were the difficulties which they had to encounter in their passage, that before they reached this city and * In 183:2, a most interestins- Life of Beiii^el was published in Stuttgard. 116 GERMAN MILLENARIANS. had passed the quarantine, the greater part of then- pro- perty was consumed, and nearly 3000 of their numbers had fallen victims to this wild project, through disease, privation, and fatigue ! For the preservation of the re- mainder, the two elders above mentioned came to Mos- cow, and laid their distressing case before the Emperor ; who generously granted them money, and a guide to conduct them across the steppes in the south, and through the mountains of Caucasus, into Georgia, where he gave orders to the Governor-general to allow them to choose a district to settle in, out of the extensive lands belonging to the crown. Koch and Frick styled themselves and their fol- lowers " Zionites." They professed their belief in the universal restoration to God of all rational beings that have ever fallen even of the devil and his angels ; " otherwise," said they, "the evil principle must be stronger than the good Satan stronger than God." They believed that this world will at last become the habitation of the saints for ever. All the beautiful simi- litudes and figurative language used in Scripture, and more particularly in Isaiah and the Revelation, respecting the glory of the latter days, the Heavenly Jerusalem, the reign of the saints, &c., they believe will be Ulcralli/ accompHshed, during the personal reign of Christ in that earthly kingdom which they are going to establish. They affirmed, that in the parts of Germany which they had left there were upwards of 50,000 families ready to follow them ! They put into my hands a small Collection of Hymns, written by Koch, in which the fervour of their imagination and the nature of their expectations are clearly marked. This Collection is entitled " Geisflir/ic Gedichte undGesdnge fur die nachOslcn eilcndcu Xioiiidcfi, " Spiritual Poems and Songs for the Zionites hastening GERMAN MILLENARIANS. 117 towards the East." Koch assured me that he had been inspired to write these poems and hymns; that God had put the thoughts into his mind, and that he felt himself compelled to write. Hereupon I turned to his companion Frick, and asked him gravely whether he believed this : he as gravely answered, that he did really believe them to be inspired ! * As to the Jews, they beUeve that they must first be restored to their own land, and Jerusalem rebuilt, before Jesus appear among them, " to turn away ungodliness * In these religious rhapsodies, the most sublime and spiritual lan- guage of Scripture is adopted as the vehicle for conveying their peculiar opinions. Alexander is announced as " The protector of the believing flocks in the new kingdom of Jesus on earth." " God has chosen Alex- ander to be the defender of Zion, to prepare a place of security for the Bride, the Church." "Yonder, great grace and a foretaste of the Sabbath is promised when Jesus' reign begins; for now is the time when God will assemble His people." " Hasten all, and flee away to the appointed place of rest in yonder foreign land, where God Himself is ready to begin the 1000 years of joy ! " " How many thousand brethren have looked for this Second Coming ! They lived not to see it : this joy is bestowed upon us." " Hasten towards the East, to the New Jerusalem ! This call is from the Lord Himself: hence we follow willingly : not for a thousand worlds would I remain behind ! " " Amen ! Lord Jesus, King of Glory, come ! come! we wait for Thee ! Come with the reward ! The set time is near for Thee to live upon the earth." " The greatest promises in the word command us to flee towards the East." " Now is accomplished the second petition" (in the Lord's Prayer). " The wise prepare and flee out of this Babylon : this Babylon shall be destroyed, according to Scripture" (Ezek. chap. 7). " From the East the sun shines: yonder is the place of refuge : yonder, joy and gladness await us ; there- fore the Christian hastens." " Now the rose-bud opens : the times are fulfilled ; and, as the two angels predicted, behold ! Jesus comes in glory ! Triumph ! Triumph ! Victory ! And eternal, eternal Alleluia ! Alleluia ! " These extracts, to which many more might be added of a similar kind, sufficiently shew that their minds were more occupied with a temporal than a spiritxial kingdom. L 2 148 GERMAN MILLEXARIANS. from Jacob ; " that the time of their restoration is at hand, but their conversion not so near. The death of such numbers of their brethren, in a few montlis' time, seemed not at all to have damped their ardour. I used every possible argument to per- suade them not to go into Georgia, but to settle in Bessarabia or Little Tartary, where they could live at peace, in a healthy climate, and enjoy distinguished privileges from Government. I described to them the prosperous state in which I found the 483 families of Me- nonites, near the Sea of AsofF, in 1816. I related to them my own sufferings among the tribes of Caucasus ; pointed out the insalubrious nature of the climate ; and assured them they were going to settle in a den of thieves and robbers, among tribes that live by plunder, stealing, selling of children, and bloodshed. But all this reason- ing was to no purpose. They both exclaimed, when I spoke thus to them, " You roll a heavy stone upon our breast, when you attempt to dissuade us from our pur- pose." They were admitted to an audience with the Emperor, the reigning Empress, and the Dowager Em- press : they also visited many of the nobility, during their stay. Having attained the object of their visit to Moscow, Koch and Frick returned to Odessa, with relief to their suffering brethren ; and early in the spring of 1818 they crossed the Caucasus, and settled down in seven villages on the banks of the Kur, at some distance from Tiflis. They had not been long in Georgia, before they began to discover that they had not found that paradisiacal region which they had fondly anticipated : such were the labours, privations, and sickness which they had to encounter in the establishment of their colony, that a vast number of them soon awoke from their fanatical GERMAN MILLENARIANS. 149 dream, and not a few made shipwreck of Religion alto- gether. The Governor-general sent to the Authorities of St. Petersburg the most distressing accounts of the disorders which had broken out among them. Mean- while, Frick died ; and Koch was glad to flee from their reproaches, and take refuge in Sarepta on the Wolga ; where, among the more sohd religious opinions and practices of the Moravians, he is said to have bitterly lamented the part he had acted. But the members of the colony being thus settled among unciviKzed tribes, with whose language they were unacquainted, and left destitute of spiritual guides, ran great risk of becoming Heathens and Mohammedans, had not the Basle Missionary Society taken compassion upon them, and settled some of their Missionaries as pastors among them. Their sufferings, however, were not yet at an end ; for in the late war between the Persians and the Russians, they were attacked by the enemy, treated in the most cruel manner, and their villages pillaged and devastated. On the 26th of August, 1826, early in the morning, 1000 Turkish and Curdish horsemen surrounded the Colony of Catherinenfeld, broke in at the gates, and commenced a scene of unprecedented violence and cruelty. Mr. Saltete, the missionary, describes it in these words : " Infants they tore from the arms of their mothers, and spiked them with their lances : wives and maid- ens they ravished : old men they tied to the tails of their horses, and dragged after them. Upwards of thirty young and old they butchered. The houses, corn-fields, and gardens, they burnt down ; and de- priving 250 famihes of house and home, turned the whole district into a desert ; carrying away every article 150 GERMAN MILLEXAIIIANS. of value. But worst of all, they dragged 140 men, wo- men and children, into slavery." Another communication on the same subject gives the following details : " No human tongue can describe the misery which, in the course of a few hours, overwhelmed the settlement. Some of the colonists, in attempting to escape, were caught with long cords, in the same manner as wild cattle. Whoever was thus taken was immediately stripped of his clothing, and either killed on the spot, or suffered to run naked away. Little children were bound together in couples, and then slung across the horses' backs, like articles of baggage. If any of them disturbed their persecutors by their cries, they were instantly dispatched, before the face of their parents. Every sense of shame, and every feeling of humanity, was extinguished in these barbarians : the brutal herds set no limits to their licentious passions. A young wo- man of acknowledged piety, in endeavouring to escape from the robbers, was fired at and shot in the spine ; so that she instantly fell, and slowly expired, in the most excruciating agonies, on the ground. A man, whilst endeavouring to intercede for the lives of his wife and children, was murdered at the foot of a tree to which his wife had fled for shelter. The latter, with an infant at the breast, was spared ; but with a bleeding heart she saw her two little ones carried away into slavery. Three girls, about fifteen years of age, thought themselves happy in having reached the river, at a di- stance of about seven or eight versts ; when two Tartars overtook them, and cruelly wreaked their vengeance on two of them. Among the wounded wlio were afterwards taken up and attended to, was one who^ had his scull laid open, and was wounded in the back with no less than twenty-two thrusts of a lance. A Curd ordered GERMAN MILLENARIANS. 151 another of the colonists to throw himself on the ground ; in which situation he pierced him twice with a lance, in the same manner as fishes are caught by spearing in the water: another Curd hurled a large stone at him, so that he was eventually left half dead. " The most deplorable situation was that of the poor captives, who were treated like brutes, and inhumanly butchered if they did not immediately obey the cruel orders of their plunderers. A part of them have been carried away and sold in Turkey, and the remainder are in slavery in Persia. The almighty hand of the Lord, however, preserved the lives of 240 persons ; but up- wards of thirty were put to death, and about 140 were canied away into slavery." The sufferings of these poor creatures, and of those that have since been ransomed, as detailed in the jour- nals and letters of the Missionaries, would add a volume to the known misfortunes and cruel treat- ment of Christian slaves, in the hands of Moors and Turks. These few details are given, not with any view to expose or throw ridicule upon any class of men on ac- count of their religious opinions, but merely to caution professed Christians in our day against following the dictates of a heated imagination, respecting times and seasons, and the mode of accomplishing unfulfilled pro- phecy, which it hath not pleased God to reveal : for if the imagination be once heated on these points, it is im- possible to predict to what extravagances even good men will go, both in opinion and practice, before they learn, by bitter experience, a more sober way of treating these my- sterious and important subjects. To reap spiritual advan- tage from the announcement of God's future judgments or mercies, as contained in unfulfilled prophecy, we need not 152 SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES OF ODESSA. fictions and dreams of fanaticism ; and he who gives the rein to fancy in such matters, dehvers his soul into the hands of an unfaithful guide, which, leading him into the mazes of enthusiastic error, may, if Grace prevent not, conduct him to everlasting disappointment and remorse. This has been the voice of experience, in all ages of the Christian Church ; and such things are permitted to take place for our instruction, on whom the ends of the world are come. But to return from this digression : The principal School in the town of Odessa is the Richelieu Lyceum, where there are several able teachers, both foreigners and Russians, at annual salaries of about 60/. each, and where 250 youths receive a classical and literary edu- cation. One half of them live in the Institution, and pay about 48/. each annually for board and instruc- tion : the other half are day-scholars. Part of the pupils are prepared for becoming teachers. The build- ing is large and commodious, and the order observed in the classes is exemplary. There is also a respectable Pension or Boarding-school for Young Ladies, and a Commercial School ; not to speak of several other pri- vate schools for the children of the inhabitants. The number of Churches belonging to the Russians is six. The Russians of the National Church, the Raskolniks or Dissenters from it, and the Native Greeks, have each a Protopope or Dean, at the head of their clergy here ; and, judging from the assistance they have all three rendered the Bible Cause, and from tlie intercourse I have had with them, they seem to be well-disposed men, and to live on terms of mutual forbearance and friendship. The (jerman place of worship is in a corn-magazine. The Roman Catholics have a church, and tlie Jews a synagogue. The number of stone houses in the town is RUSSIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 153 estimated at 2200 : the corn-magazines at 300. The Cathedral Chm-ch is a noble building, in the Grecian style, with domes and crosses. One day, I entered it when the protopope was baptizing an infant. The day was excessively cold, there being upwards of ten degrees of frost, and the water in the font almost freezing. After the ceremony was over, I expressed to the priest my surprise that they did not use tepid water, seeing the infant had to be three times immersed over head and ears in the icy bath. He smiled at my com- passion, and exclaimed '* Ah, there is no danger ! the child is a Russian." Indeed, such are the superstitious opinions of the people, that were the chill taken off the water, they would probably doubt the validity of the ordinance. I shall here descend to a few of the customs and cere- monies attending the birth and baptism of infants, hoping they may prove interesting to the reader. From an- cient times it has been a custom among the Russians, which is strictly adhered to by all classes even in the present day, never to disclose the secret of a woman's being in labour, except to those who have to w^ait upon her, till the labour is past; from a superstitious behef that when her state is known, especially to strangers, her suf- ferings and danger are thereby increased. Old experienced women were their only assistants until about the middle of the last century, when schools were established for preparing regularly-trained mid- wives. In addition to these legally-authorised midwives, now existing in every town of the empire, the College of Physicians, by an ukaz of 1796, are commanded to have an accoucheur in every provincial town, which is generally done. But the peasantry have a strong aver- sion to the help of a medical man on any occasion, and 154 PURIFICATION AFTER CHILD-BIRTH. especially on these occasions : his assistance is therefore rarely sought for, even in cases of the greatest extre- mity : they rely most on the skill of their own self- taught practitioners, who have been known by the name of babki, even from the introduction of Christianity : and where these cannot afford help, whatever consequences follow, life or death, it is acknowledged by all that it was '' volia Bqjie," " the will of God," it should be so : and here the matter ends ; no one thinks of accusing himself, either of having employed improper means, or for not having called in superior skill. Special prayers are appointed by the Church to be read over women after delivery : and it is the opinion of the people, that if they have been in the apartment where a female has been confined, though they should not have come in contact with her, they are thereby defiled ; and nothing will satisfy them, until the priest has read prayers over them for their purification. In consequence of the general idea of impurity attached to a lying-in woman, it is very common (as the huts of the peasantry seldom consist of more than one habitable apartment) to resort to the stable or bath-house : the latter is usually at a small distance from the dwelling : even some of the middle classes still use the bath-liouse, in these circumstances. It is scarcely to be credited what instances of strength they display on such occasions. Immediately after being delivered in the bath, the mother washes and dresses herself and her infant, and walks home to her dwelling, the habka carrying the child : or, if de- livered in her own hut or stable, she immediately pro- ceeds to the bath with the child, bathes herself and it, and returns again to her family ! In conse([uence of tliis strong attachment to the Mosaic law of purilication, RUSSIAN SUPERSTITIONS. 155 a very strange custom is to be found among the more ignorant of the peasantry ; which not even the arm of the ecclesiastical power, during the last hundred years, has been sufficiently strong to extirpate. In districts of the country where a priest is not readily obtained, to read the prayers of purification, a mes- senger is sent to him at a distance ; and he reads them in his own house, over the bonnet of the messenger, naming the persons who are to be purified. On the conclusion of the ceremony, the messenger carefully closes his bonnet, returns with its imaginary sacred con- tents, and shakes them over the woman, her infant, and attendants ! Another singular superstition is still prevalent among them that of not addressing children by their Chris- tian names, especially in the hearing of strangers ; from a fear that advantage might be taken of the discovery, for purposes of enchantment. Even in the present day, nothing exasperates a Russian mother or nurse more, than to praise a fine-looking child, whom you may hap- pen to meet in the street in their hand or arms, or to inquire whether the child be a boy or a girl. The danger is considered to be less, if you mistake the one sex for the other; and if they condescend to give jou an answer, it is sure to be with a view to mislead you : but at all events, after such an inauspicious encounter, they spit several times on the gTound, repeating, at the same time, prayers against the effects of the evil-eye and all Satanic influences. If, after this, the child should seem restless, the nurse and mother take it for granted that the child is zaglasen, under the influence of the evil-eye. To remove this, various methods are resorted to : one of which is, to take a pot of water, and drop a piece of cold charcoal into it ; the child is then washed 150 MODE OF BAPTISM. with this water over the threshold, the nurse all the while praying for its deliverance from the charm. It is still the custom to present gifts to the mother and to the new-born child ; in imitation, they say, of what took place at Bethlehem on the birth of Christ, when the wise men from the East presented the new-born Saviour with "gifts gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.'' In Little Russia, on the contrary, the parents send gifts to their friends on such occasions : for on the third day after the birth, the midwife is despatched, with presents of wine, bread, and dried fruits, to inform the relations and acquaintances of ** shto Bogdall," " what God has given," and to invite them to the baptism. But on visiting the mother and infant, no presents are given in return. In Great Russia, the child is baptized usually in the church or in a private house ; and the prayers, exor- cisms, and ceremonies attending this ordinance are long and complicated. The Greeks and Russians always use the trine immersion ; the first in the name of the Father, the second in that of the Son, and the third in that of the Holy Ghost. When a priest cannot be obtained, they permit lay-baptism ; and they never re-baptize, on any account whatever. The number of sponsors is not fixed : if the child be a boy, he usually has two god- fathers and one godmother : if a girl, they provide two godmothers and one godfather : but there may ])e either fewer or more. It is forbidden to the spon- sors ever to marry their godchildren ; the sponsors even consider themselves as related to each other, in conse- quence of the conjoint obhgations they came under on the ])art of the child. In tlie Ukraine, or Little Russia, it is customary also to baptize by sprinkhng or ])()unng water u})on the body. HOLY OINTMENT. 157 This change the Little Russians, many of whom are Uniats, adopted from the Roman Cathohcs, when they were under the power of the Pohsh Government. However, in cases of necessity, even in Great Russia, baptism by sprinkhng or pouring water on the body is practised, and held to be valid*. The Chrism, though a distinct mystery, is always ad- ministered immediately after baptism, and is the Confir- mation of the Greek Church. This rite is performed by the priest, anointing the baptized person with holy oint- ment, with which he makes the sign of the cross on his forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, breast, hands, and feet, repeating these words at each sign "The seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost." This ointment is composed of upwards of twenty different ingredients, and is prepared * I had an opportunity of seeing baptism administered to an adult, in the case of the Mongolian Chief Badma, who had been employed in the Translation of the New Testament for his own people, and who died in St. Petersburg on the 10th of November 1S22. About nine in the morning of the 7th of November I called on Badma. The baptismal service was already begun. He was lying in bed, in a very weak state. Prince Galitzin was standing at the bed-side, as godfather ; and the priest read the service, in the middle of the room, at a moveable altar, on which was a small font with water. Dr. Schmidt, and his Mongolian companion, with the physician, were the principal persons present. Instead of im- mersion, water was poured on his head, three times, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. He abandoned his own name, and his father's family name, on account of their both having an idola- trous meaning : his name was Badma Marshun, which he changed for John AlexandrofF. During the ceremony, which lasted upwards of half an hour after I came in, and had continued as long before, he seemed to be much affected ; but was able to repeat the responses. Immediately after baptism he received the other sacrament bread and wine, soaked together in a cup, and given with a spoon. The pious Prince evidently felt much during the whole ceremony ; and when the dying man partook of the Holy Communion, he shed many tears. He died on the third day after his baptism. 158 AMULETS. and consecrated with great ceremony, once a year, at Moscow, by a bishop, on Thursday in Passion Week. After baptism, the priest hangs a small cross of about an inch long, of gold or silver or some other metal, upon the neck of the child, which is worn through life on the naked breast. The origin of this custom is traced by TatischefF to the very first dawn of Christianity among the Russians, when, in the time of Vladimir I., they were baptized in multitudes in the River Wolhoff, by Joachim, bishop of Novogorod, who ordered crosses to be suspended from the necks of those who had been baptized, in order to distinguish them from such as had not been baptized. But the common people are not satisfied alone with the cross, as a means of protection from the effects of the evil-eye, witchcraft, and other supposed supernatural influences : they also attach to the string which suspends the cross, amulets made of incense. These amulets are applied to the child almost as soon as it is born, and are generally worn to the last moment of life. They are called, in Slavonic, Ilzanil- naia, ^* preservative." Another very singular custom, which forms a part of the baptismal ceremony, is cutting off, in the form of the cross, part of the hair of the infant ; enveloping it in wax, and throwing it into the font, or sticking it up in a corner of the church. This is called Postrigania, " the shearing of the child," and is the same as the custom tliey had of cutting off the hair of the child when it received its name, in its seventh year. A godfather and godmother, called /T/wt and Jaima, or Vozpricnuiiki, "^Re- ceivers," are absolutely necessary to Ixiptism. During tlie ten persecutions, in the first ages of the Christian Church, these Receivers, say the Russian bisho})s, were first employed at l)aptisms, in order tliat tliey might ORIGIN OF RUSSIAN NAMES. 1.59 undertake to discharge the duty of Christian instruction on hehalf of the child, in case the parents should be called upon to suffer martyrdom for their faith, and the child remain a helpless orphan : the frequency of such instances is said to have given rise to the usage. In ancient times, the Russian princes usually bestowed upon their children two names, the one Slavonian and the other Greek; the first at the birth of the child, and the second at its baptism. This custom continued until the fourteenth century, when the Slavonian name was dropt, and the child began to be called after the Saint marked in the Kalendar on the eighth day after its birth. Until the time of Peter I. it was the custom of the Russians, when addressing a petition to their superiors and their nobles, to sign their names in diminutives: thus, instead of Peter, Petrushka ; Ivan, Ivashka; &c. These diminutives are much used even in the present day, by superiors when speaking to their inferiors, lords to their slaves, and parents to their children ; but the above-mentioned emperor, by an ukaz of the 30th of December 1701, forbad the use of them in signatures. The ancient Russians had, properly speaking, no family names ; they used only the appellatives given to the child at its birth, joined to the designation which the father had received on his coming into the world. After- wards they began to add various terms of distinction, taken from peculiar properties either of the mind or body; and these became the distinguishing marks of individuals of the same family, who retained at the same time the ancient form of the double appellation : thus, Feodor Tvanovitch, i. e. " Theodore the son of John;" Dolgoruki, " Longhanded." Dolgoruki thenceforth be- came the family designation ibr the whole race springing from the individual to whom it was first applied. 100 ORIGIN OF RUSSIAN NAMES. The family names of their ancient races of princes are taken either from the principalities which they governed ; thus, the Prince Viazemski, from the town and country of Viazem ; from the rivers or places where they had distinguished themselves in defence of their country ; thus, Donskie, from the Don; Nevskie, from the Neva; or fi'om peculiar traits in their character ; as, Grosnoi, " severe ;" Gordie, " proud ;" Heabrie, "brave ;" Bogoluhshiy "God-loving;"' Vdikie, "great;" or from some bodily imperfection ; as, Kosie, " squinting ; " Krasnie, " red ; " Tcmnic, "dark," &c. &c. But the names of their reigning princes seem usually compounded with the word glory ; thus, Sviatoslav, "Holy glory;" Vladislav, "Ruler of glory;" Stanislav, "Establisher of glory;" and, among the females, Vozmislava, "Receiver of glory;" Podim- jislava, " Imitatress of glory." The nobles followed the same fashion ; and hence the numerous branches of the same root ; as, from Godun sprung the numerous families of GodunofFs : thus arose SoburofFs, PeshkofFs,ZernofFs,BeliaminofFs, PelemofFs,&c. Prince Tscherbatoff, an eminent Russian historian, is of opinion, that the practice of naming all the branches of the same race by one family name was little known among the Russians till about the end of the fourteenth century. At last it became so general, that many adopted the surname of their father for their family name ; as, Ivan Ivanovitch Ivanoff : or they took their family name from their profession or situation in life ; hence the PapofFs, Patersons ; Diakonoffs, Deacons ; Kuznitzoffs, Smiths ; Hlebnikoffs, Bakers, &c. According to the present ideas of civility in conver- sation, among all classes of the Russians, it is necessary to address each other by the individual's own and his father's name ; but never by the name of tlieir family. RUSSIAN TITLES. 161 adding Mr. to it, as is customary among us. This usage is difficult for a foreigner, even after he has attained to a considerable degree of readiness in the language ; because it requires no ordinary exertion of memory to recollect, and properly apply, the name and the father's name to every one, especially in a large company. I have sometimes been surprised at the ease with which the Russians acquire and retain these distinctions. To address a man by his own and his father's name, is the most civil and respectful manner in which you can speak to him, or of him : and even in speaking of the Emperor himself, with the highest veneration, both nobles and peasants denominate him simply ' Alexander the son of Paul' (Alexander Paulovitch). His ministers, in speaking of him, generally use the title Gosudar, ' Sovereign' ; or Gosudar Imperator, ' Sovereign Emperor' : but in speak- ing to him, ' Your Imperial Majesty'. The same simpli- city of address is customary towards the Empress and the Royal Dukes. M 16*2 DHPARTURK FROM ODESSA. CHAP. IX. Departure from Odessa Danger of crossing the River Bugh upon the Ice An account of the Town of Nicholaief Arrival in Elizahetogr ad Rapidity of travelling in If inter, in Russia Raskolniks or Dissenters of Elizabetograd J isit to the Ducho- bortzi, on the Sea of Asoff, in 1816 //ie;r persecutions- Rescript of the Emperor Alexander against persecution Era- mination of three of them by the Archimandrite Inokentie, in 1792 Conversation with one of them in Petersburg, in 1822 Singular opinion of the Moloch uni respecting the Kiss of Charity Departure from Elizabetograd a Russian Travelling-sledge Severity of the Winter Arrival in Kief on Christmas Eve. After taking leave of the friends who had shewn me so much disinterested kindness during my stay, I left Odessa in a common Russian kibitka, with post-horses, accom- panied by my servant Vasilie. The Archimandrite Theophil, and three other members of the Bible Society, drove three versts with me ; and, having seen me clear of the Custom-house, wished me a good journey, and returned. After traveUing all night over the wood- less steppes extending from Odessa northw^ards, we reached the banks of the Bugh, opposite Nicholaief, early the following morning. Here the river is nearly a mile broad ; and the ice was so thin and thawing, that horses could not pass. I went into an ale-house kept by a Jew, and lay down upon a bench for an hour, until day- break. Tlie danger of attempting the passage of tlie ice during the thaw was considered so great, that I was not NICHOLAIEF. 163 able for some time to prevail on any one to under- take the transporting of my kibitka across it. At last, fifteen sailors offered their services, on condition of being well paid. They tied twelve long ropes to the kibitka; and, with a man to each rope, they separated in the form of a fan, and dragged my carriage and baggage carefully, between the holes and pools upon the ice, across to the opposite bank. In a similar manner the other three conveyed me across, seated on a small sledge about two feet and a half long and two feet broad. The three ropes attached to my little sledge were about twenty yards long ; and the men separated to a good distance from each other, so as to divide their weight equally upon a large surface. Though several accidents had taken place on the preceding days, we got over in safety, yet not without many fears. Soon after, we arrived in Nicholaief, where we breakfasted, and remained for some time. Nicholaief, situated at the confluence of the Bugh and Ingul, was, next to Cronstadt, the greatest naval station of the Russians ; but since the occupation of the admi- rable coves of Sevastopol, on the south shore of the Crimea, which resemble those of La Valetta in Malta, the Black-Sea fleet has been divided between these two ports. The commanding admiral, however, still resides in Nicholaief The wharfs, store-houses, admiralty- offices, markets, church, and some fine streets and pri- vate buildings, are all of brick, and built in modern style ; in accordance with the hopes entertained, at its founda- tion in 1791, of its becoming a great city. But the vici- nity of the newly-created port of Odessa, with far greater advantages for the commerce of the Black Sea, seems to have taken away all hope that Nicholaief will ever be more than a national depot for vessels of war and naval M 2 ICii RAPIDITY OF TRAVKLLING. stores. The situation is destitute of wood and good water ; the rivers being generally brackish, from their vicinity to the Euxine. It is therefore necessary to bring water from a mile and a half distance ; and wood of every kind must be brought down the rivers from the interior. The number of the inhabitants is about 8000; they are mostly connected with the Admiralty and the fleet. Admiral Mordwinoff, a native Russian, who is well acquainted with England, and with the modern improve- ments in our British naval stations, contributed much, during the time he was commander-in-chief in the Black Sea, to perfect the Government works of Nicholaief, and to enlarge and beautify the town. Leaving Nicholaief, we continued our course up the right bank of the Ingul for two stages, and reached Gromoklia about 9 o'clock in the evening. Every stage northward brought us nearer to the usual features of a Russian winter. Observing that my kibitka was giving way, and that it would cost too much to repair it, we sold it for one-third of what it cost in Odessa ; and on 2()th December, continued our course, on two common open sledges, towards Elizabetograd. It rained and snowed alternately the whole day ; and the roads were in a terrible condition, from the dissolving of the snow ; yet we travelled with great speed, the horses almost con- tinually galloping. The rapidity with which the Russian couriers travel in winter is wonderful. The distance between Odessa and St. Petersburg is 187(5 versts, or about 1400 English miles; which they travel in IJO hours, or five nights and five days. During the last stage before reaching Elizabetograd, the frost set in; and being drenched from travelling the whole day exjiosed to the rain, we were in a pitiable SECT OF RASKOLNIKS. \6o condition on entering that town. It was a great favour that we obtained a warm room, in an inn kept by a German ; where we lost no time in exchanging our frozen wet clothes for dry ones. Elizabetograd has a considerable fortress attached to it ; and, independent of the military, the inhabitants are about 3000, most of them Ra,skoIniks, or Dissenters from the National Church. The severe persecutions to which the different sects of Raskolniks have been subjected, have caused them, like the Protestants of France, to take refuge in the most southern provinces and borders of the empire, and especially among the Poles, Little Russians, and Don Kozacks ; where they enjoy greater freedom than in the interior ; and whence, in the time of persecution, they can more easily escape to a fo- reign land. Yet, notwithstanding all the severities of the civil and ecclesiastical powers which however, so far as I have been able to learn, never amounted to capital punishment, (though exile, stripes, confiscation of property, imprisonment, &c. &c. have all been em- ployed,) they still abound in almost every province. Their morality is generally of a higher standard than that of the common Russians ; and many of the most wealthy and eminent merchants of Moscow and St. Petersburg belong to the Dissenters. But, ha\ing spoken of these different sects in a former publication, I shall not here repeat what was there stated : only in regard to one sect, who in many points resemble the Society of Friends, and are known under the different names of Duchohortzi, Molochuii, and Duchovnie Christ iani,* I shall add such additional information as I have since obtained. * Duchohortzi, '' Wrestlers with the Spirit." Molockani, " Eaters of milk in the time of the Fants." Duc/iop?ilt Chrisiiani, " Spiritual Christians." H)0 THE DUCHOBORTZI. In 1816, after having visited the tribe of Nogay Tartars that wander with their flocks and herds about the ex- tensive steppes -of Little Tartary, on the Sea of Asoff, and having made preparations for supplying the villages of German colonists, recently settled there, with the Holy Scriptures, 1 purposed, on my way towards the Crimea, to see the Duchobortzi who live on the River Molochnia and on the Sea of Asoff. On approaching the first of their villages, on the Molochnia, I met with a female, and inquired of her where the chief person of the place resided. The an- swer she gave me was, " Among us, no one is greater than another." The next person I met was a shepherd attending his flock, an old man with grey hair. I made my driver stop, and beckoned to the man to draw near. This he did ; and uncovering his head, he leaned over his staff and replied to my inquiries. I asked him if he could read : he rephed, " Yes ; I can read the word of life." From this I naturally thought that he was able to read the Bible, and offered him a Tract on the Bible Society. He refused, however, to accept it ; saying, that he could not read our books, but only the book of life which he had learnt by heart ; in other _ words, that he could repeat the principal doctrinal and moral Ar- ticles of the sect. And when I touched upon some of the Articles, as given in my work on the Greek Church, he repeated them distinctly : in others of them his memory failed him. 1 stopped in a second village, and without ceremony entered one of the best-looking houses, recpiesting a glass of water: this a young man readily handed to me. After a little talk with him, I discovered that I was in the Chancery, or place where the civil affairs of the sect are transacted. I told him distinctly what my object was THE DUCHOBORTZI. 167 ill visiting them, and begged him to introduce me to some of their seniors. All this seemed rather suspicious to him ; yet he sent for one of the Elders, who had been in Petersburg as a deputy to the Government, and who soon after, with several of his brethren, made his appear- ance. After a little talk about Senator Hoblitz, and other gentlemen who had shewn them kindness during their stay in Petersburg, they seemed in some degree to lay aside their reserve, and replied more freely to my inquiries. I took out my volume on the Greek Church, and read to the assembly the passages which I had written concerning the Duchobortzi; and I had the satis- faction of hearing them distinctly state their principles in the very terms there given. As soon as I began any paragraph by translating a few words, they generally gave the remainder exactly as stated in the book. The two Prayers they repeated verbatim. One passage only was found to require explanation that of their having all things in common (page 312). This was their prac- tice when they came to the Molochnia ; but now every family has its own private property, cattle, fields, &c. &c. Still they have fields of corn, gardens, and flocks which belong to the whole community, and the revenues of which are applied for the common benefit of the society. This is also the custom of the jVIennonites, who live near them, and of other German colonists ; a custom, in their case, independent of religious considerations. This extraordinary sect (the Duchobortzi) is settled in eight villages, and consists of about 2500 souls. I saw an individual of them who had been sixteen years exiled to Siberia, for conscience sake. He spoke with great feel- ing, when contrasting his former sufferings with his pre- sent prosperous circumstances. He was a fine-looking, middle-aged man, and was returning on horseback from 168 THE UUCHOBORTZI. viewing his corn-fields and flocks, country like, without his coat. They have been collected from every part of the empire, and are entirely separated from the Greek Church : indeed it was the object of Government, in colonizing them here, to i)ut it out of their power to make any more proselytes to their pecuhar opinions. Their neat and clean dress, comfortable-looking huts, and industrious habits, their numerous flocks, and ex- tensive and well-cultivated fields, widely distinguish them from the common Russian peasantry. Their neighbours the Mennonites, and other German colonists, speak well of their morals ; but all complain of the reserve and shyness of their character. No doubt they have been taught this by the severe persecutions to which they have for ages been exposed, and out of which they can scarcely yet believe themselves dehvered. Their neighbours seem to know but little of their reli- gious tenets. The Mennonites say they are a peaceable and industrious people, but accuse them of hypocrisy : hence, say they, when some of their members were con- victed of drunkenness, they denied the fact, and main- tained that their members were all holy. Very few among them appear to be capable of reading ; yet their members seem to have had the doctrines of the sect instilled into them by oral instruction. These lessons are committed to memory. They have no schools for their children ; nor did I see a book of any kind among them. I recommended to them the Bil)le, and offered to supply them with it ; but they refused to accept any copies, saying, " That what was in the Bible was in them also ! " I told them that some of their neighbours susj)ected them of immoral habits, because in speaking of females and children they did not use the common ('\])ressions of " My wife," " My child," ^'c, but " My THE DUCHOBORTZI. lf)9 sister/' " Our child/' &c. This insinuation they indig- nantly repelled, exclaiming ** Are we then beasts?" " But/' continued they, "we are accustomed to every kind of false accusation." Their whole aspect, and manner of intercourse with strangers, indicate a degree of shyness and distrust which is quite extraordinary; hence, also, their evasive answers to all direct inquiries respecting their sect. Some of them, however, ventured to speak with me freely, and with warmth, against the use of images in worship. Their assembhes for rehgious purposes are held in the open air, or in private dwellings, according as the weather suits. They say their doctrines are as old as the world ; and they either would not, or could not, give me any particulars of the rise of the sect in Russia. It was, doubtless, the heavy burden of super- stitious ceremonies in the services of the Greek Church which drove the founders of this sect to reject all cere- mony, and external ordinances of every kind. Many, of this sect, I fear, are Deists. But we need not wonder at these indications of fear and distrust ; for at the very time I visited them, as I afterwards learned, intrigues were on foot in order to ruin them, under the twofold accusation of their har- bouring deserters, and making proselytes. This attempt gave rise to the following Rescript from the late Emperor Alexander, to the Governor-general of Cherson ; which, on account of the principles it contains, I willingly insert, in an English translation. 170 THE DUCHOBORTZl. " TO THE MllJTARY GOVERNOR OF CHERSON. *' From two Reports which you have sent to the Minister of Pohce, respecting the settlers in the district of Mehtopol usually denominated Duchobortzi, I observe that you desire to have them removed from their pre- sent situation, and settled in another. You are led to make this proposition by certain rumours which have reached you respecting their alleged wicked lives and anti-social principles, and their efforts to propagate the same. " In consequence of this, and also of petitions sent in from the Duchobortzi themselves, praying for protection from oppression, I have already ordered the JNIinister of Police to correspond with you, about procuring the most specific information respecting the Duchobortzi. " At the same time, I judge it necessary to call your attention, in a particular manner, to the original occa- sion of removing these people from the Ukraine and other governments, and settling them in the Melitopol district of the Taurian government, on the stream Mo- lochnia. This removal and colonizing took place, as you may learn, expressly by mi/ orders, given to the then Governor of New Russia, Miklashefskoy, on the 2()th of January 1802 ; partly on account of the miseries which they had suffered, and partly with the view of protecting them from the im})r()per and fruitless severi- ties used against them on account of their peculiar reli- gious opinions. They are now sufficiently separated from intercourse with the rest of the nation, and thereby a stop is put to the further extension of this sect. THE DUCHOBORTZI. 171 For several years past the Government has received no complaints, from any quarter, respecting disorders among them ; and, on this account, it has sufficient reason to believe the measures already adopted adequate. " The secession of this people from the orthodox Graeco-Russian Church is certainly, on their side, an error, grounded on certain false opinions respecting real worship and the spirit of Christianity. This proceeds from a want of cultivation ; for they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. " But, is it proper for an enlightened Christian Go- vernment to attempt to bring back the strayed sheep into the bosom of the Church by severe and oppressive means ? The doctrine of the Saviour of the world, who appeared on earth to seek and to save that which was lost, can never be instilled into men by force and op- pression can never justify the infliction of temporal ruin on him whom it seeks to bring into the way of truth. True faith is produced by the grace of God, through conviction ; and cometh through instruction, meekness, and, above all, good example. Severity, on the con- trary, convinceth not ; but hardeneth more and more. All the measures of severity exhausted upon the Ducho- bortzi, during the thirty years preceding 1801, not only did not root out this sect, but more and more increased the number of its adherents. " The rulers of several provinces have repeatedly given very favourable reports of the behaviour of the Du- chobortzi ; though, at the same time, they complained of them for separating from the orthodox Church. The senators Lapuhin and Neledinskoy Meletski, at their revision of the government of Ukraine in 1801, having found them there, gave them, in many respects, though they did not defend their errors, a good character ; 172 THE DUCHOBORTZI. because they judged of them impartially, and according to Christian charity. " All these circumstances clearly prove, that it is not a removal of these people to new settlements which demands my consideration, but the granting to them speedy protection from all superfluous severities on ac- count of their peculiar opinions in the affairs of salvation and conscience ; matters, in which force and oppression ought never to have any part. *' The removal and re-settling of them, for such a cause, would bring upon them new troubles ; and they would thus be punished on account of a mere report, without having the truth of the accusation inquired into and proved. Government never acts thus, on any occa- sion, or with any person whatever ; nor can the ortho- dox Church, however desirous of bringing back those children who have abandoned her communion, approve of persecution in this matter ; which is so contrary to the spirit of her Head, Christ the Saviour, that He has left to His followers this memorable saying : ' But if ye had known what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless :' Matt. xii. 7. " It is only by acting according to this spirit, the spirit of true Christianity, that the desired object is ever likely to be attained. " This colony I therefore commit to your own parti- cular and immediate inspection and care. Not trusting to the reports of any one, you will not fail impartially to examine into all the circumstances of the case your- self: learn, in particular, their manner of life and conver- sation, viewing them with the eye of an ini])irtial and watchful ruler, who seeks the prosperity of Govern- ment in piomoting tlie good of tlie different classes of THE DUCHOBORTZI. 173 its subjects committed to his care. It is necessary that all should feel, that they live under the security and pro- tection of the laws : then it may be expected that they will love and feel attachment to the Government, and look for justice consistent with the laws, which are so beneficent to them. Should you even discover that there are amongst the colonists those who conceal de- serters or that they try to seduce others from the National Church, into their own way of thinking about Religion then turn the force of the law against such acts only as are contrary to it, and thereby put a stop to the evil. But, even then, it must not be allowed, that for the sake of one, or even several offenders convicted of these crimes, the whole society of the settlers, who have had no part in them, should be involved, or suffer persecution. " On occasions of this kind, when reports and accu- sations are sent in, an attentive inquiry is necessary, to ascertain by whom such accusations are made, and what may be their probable motive for making them. Thus the two Duchobortzi mentioned in your Reports, who, after their return to the orthodox Church, accused this society of various crimes, and gave information respecting the wicked lives which its members led, may have done all this out of anger or revenge ; for it may very easily have happened, that they themselves were excluded from the society because of their bad conduct, or left it on account of some quarrel or enmity. The mere accusa- tions of such persons hardly deserve any attention at all, and ought never to serve as the foundation of an imme- diate and severe censure, apprehension, imprisonment, and persecution, of people not yet convicted of any evil intentions or actions. " Even the very examination into a suspected offence 174 THE DUCHOBORTZI. ought to be conducted in such a way, that the innocent may on no occasion suffer in consequence of it. " You will therefore not fail to conform punctually to these my sentiments here expressed ; and from fol- lowing this course I anticipate every possible success. " In the mean time, you will report to me fully con- cerning the measures you adopt, and the discoveries you make, after taking this colony under your own im- mediate protection. [The Original is signed by his Imperial Majesty's hand ; thus,] "ALEXANDER." " St. Petersburg, Dec. 9, IS 16." I shall here insert a document, which will furnish a clearer view of their principles, and also a specimen of the manner in which they used to be treated by their spiritual judges. It was transmitted to the Governor- general of HarkofF, by Gabriel, metropolitan of Novo- gorod and St. Petersburg ; accompanied by the following Letter, dated May 12, 1792 : " Sir "Michael Stschireff, Anikie and Timothy Suhareiff, sent by your Excellency from the vicinity of Harkoff, have been admonished by Innokentie, rector of the Nevskoy Seminary, and Archimandrite. The conversa- tion which took place between them I forward to you, along with this Letter. " I knew this sect as early as llOS. I then admo- nished them, and succeeded in turning several to the Church ; but on their returning home, they again fell into their former errors. Since I became Archbishop of St. Petersl)urg, I have also spoken to some of the Don THE DUCHOBORTZI. 175 Kozacks ; but they remained obstinate. Their obstinacy is founded on enthusiasm : all the demonstration which is presented to them they despise, saying that ' God is present in their souls, and He instructs them : how then shall they hearken to a man ? ' They have such exalted ideas of their own holiness, that they respect that man only in whom they see the image of God ; that is, per- fect holiness. They say that every one of them may be a prophet or an apostle ; and therefore they are zealous propagators of their own sect. They make the Sacra- ments consist only in a spiritual reception of them, and therefore reject Infant Baptism. The opinions held by them not only establish equality, but also exclude the distinction of ruler and subject: such opinions are therefore the more dangerous, because they may be- come attractive to the peasantry. The truth of this Germany has experienced. Their origin is to be sought for among the Anabaptists or Quakers. I know the course of their opinions ; and we can have no hope that they will desist from spreading abroad this evil. " These are my thoughts, which I have considered it my duty to communicate to your Excellency. " With sincere respect, " I am, &c. " GABRIEL, " Metropolitan of Novogorod and St. Petersburg." ''May 12, 1792." 176 THE DUCnOBORTZI. A CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE RECTOR OF THE NEVSKOY SEMINARY OK ST. PETERSBURG, ARCHIMANDRITE INNOKENTIE, AND THREE OF THE SECT CALLED DLCHOBORTZI, MICHAEL STSCHIREFF, ANIKIE AND TIMOTHY SLHAREIFF, IN MAY 1792. Archimandrite. By what means are you come into this state, that people confine you as men dangerous to society ? Duchoh()7izi. By the mahce of our persecutors. A. What is the cause of their persecuting you ? D. Because it is said that all who will hve godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. A. Whom do you call your persecutors ? D. Those who threw me into prison, and bound me in fetters. A. How dare you, in this way, speak evil of the esta- blished Government, founded and acting on principles of Christian piety ? which deprives none of their liberty, except such as are disturbers of the public peace and prosperity. D. There is no higher Governor than God, who rules over the hearts of kings and men : but God docs not bind in fetters ; neither does he command those to be persecuted who will not give His glory to another, and who live in peace, and in perfect love and mutual service to each other. A. What does that signify, " Who will not give his glory unto another"? to whom other? D. Read the Second Commandment, and you will know. A. I perceive, then, that you mean to throw censure on those who bow before the images of the Saviour and of His holv ones ? THE DUCHOBORTZI. 177 D. He has placed his image in our souls. Again, it is said that those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. A. From this it is evident, that you have brought yourself into your present condition, by falling into error ; by misunderstanding the nature of piety, and entertaining opinions hurtful to the common faith and to your countiy. D. It is not true. A. How, then ? Do you not err, when you think that there are ' powers that be ' which exist in opposition to the will of God ; whereas there is no power but of God? or that Government, which is appointed to restrain and correct the disobedient and unruly, persecutes piety ; *' whereas he is the minister of God, a revenger to exe- cute wTath upon him that doeth evil"? D. What evil do we do ? None. A. Do you not hurt the faith by your false reasoning concerning her holy ordinances, and by your blind zeal against God ; like the Jews of old, whose zeal was not according to knowledge ? D. Let knowledge remain with you ! Only do not molest us, who hve in peace, pay the taxes, do harm to no one, and respect and obey earthly governments. A. But perhaps your paying the taxes, harming no one, and obeying earthly governments, is only the ef- fect of necessity, and of the weakness of your power ; while your peace and love respect those only who are of your own opinion. D. Construe our words as you choose. A. At least, it is far from being disagreeable to you, I suppose, to behold your society increasing ! D. We desire good unto all men, and that all may be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. A. Leave off your studied secresy, and evasive and N 178 THE DUCHOBORTZI. dubious answers. Explain and reveal to me your opi- nions candidly, like men who have nothing in view but to discover truth. D. I understand you ; for that same Spirit of Truth, which enlightens us in things respecting ftiith and life, assists us also to discern affectation and deceit in every man. Nevertheless, in order to get rid of your impor- tunity, and with boldness to preach the true faith, I shall answer your questions as I am able. A. By w^hat way by the assistance of others, or by the use of your own reasoning powers only, did you obtain this Spirit of Truth ? D. He is near our heart, and therefore no assistance is necessary. A sincere desire and ardent prayers are alone requisite. A. At least, you ground your opinions on the word of God, do you not ? D. I do ground myself on it. A. But the word of God teaches us, that God has committed the true faith, and the dispensing of his ordi- nances, and of instruction in piety, to certain persons, chosen and ordained for this purpose : " According to the gi*ace of God given unto me," says St. Paul, " as a wise master-builder I have laid the foundation." D. True : and such were our deputies who were sent hither in 1767 and 1769. But what did the spirit of per- secution and of wrath do to them ? Some were taken for soldiers ; others were sent into exile. A. You doubtless intend, by these deputies, some well-meaning people like yourself ] D. Yes. A. But you, and people like you, though well- meaning, cannot be either ministers or teachers of the holy faith. THE DUCHOBORTZI. 179 D. Why not ? A. Because a Church cannot be estabhshed by in- dividual authority ; as is manifest from 1 Cor. iii. 5. Secondly, because special talents and gifts from above are requisite, to " make us able ministers of the New Testa- ment :" 2 Cor. iii. 6. And, thirdly, it is absolutely ne- cessary to this lawful and gracious calling, that we possess that ordination which hath remained in the holy Church from the times of the Apostles ; as it is said : "^ And he gave some Apostles, and some Prophets, and some Evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ :" Ephes. iv. 2. D. There is no other calling to this office required, than that which crieth in our hearts : neither doth our learning consist in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but in " demonstration of the Spirit and of power." Are the gifts which you require such as to be able to gabble Latin ? A. You do not understand the Holy Scriptures; and this is the source of all your errors. The Apostle, in the words quoted by you, does not reject the talents and gifts of acquired knowledge, but contrasts the doctrines of Jesus Christ with the wisdom of the heathen, which was in repute at that time. And that the calling of pastors and teachers always depended on the Church by which they were chosen, is manifest from the very hi- story of those pastors and teachers of the Church who are eternally glorified. D. \Miat Holy Scriptures ? What Chm'ch ? What do you mean by Holy Scriptures ? A. Did not you yourself say that you founded your opinions on the word of God ? That is what I mean by the Holy Scriptures. N 2 180 THK DUCHOBORTZI. D. The word of God is spiritual, and immaterial; it can be written on nothing but on the heart and spirit. A. Yet when the Saviour saith, " Search the Scrip- tures/' and gives us the reason of this command " for in them ye think ye have eternal life," can He really understand thereby any thing else than the written word of God? This is the treasure which He himself hath en- trusted to his holy Church, as the unalterable rule of faith and life. D. And what do you call a church ? A. An assembly of believers in Jesus Christ, governed by pastors according to regulations founded on the word of God, and partakers of the ordinances of faith. D. Not so : there is but one Pastor, Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for the sheep : and one Church, holy, apostolical, spiritual, invisible, of which it is said, " Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them ;" in which no worship is paid to any material object ; where those only are teachers who live virtuous lives ; where the word of God is obeyed in the heart, on which it descends like dew upon the fleece, and out of which it flows as from a spring in the midst of the mountains ; wliere there are no such noisy, ostentatious, offensive, and idolatrous meetings and vain ceremonies as with you ; no drunken and insulting pastors and teacliers like yours ; nor such evil dispositions and corruptions as among you. A. You have here mixed up many things together : let us consider them one by one. 1st, That the Saviour Christ is the only chief Pastor and Head of the Church, is a trutli: for He hath founded it by His own merits; under His Almighty providence it exists, is guarded and protected ; and " tlie gates of hell shall never ])re- vail against it." Spiritually, Clnnst is united to it ; for. THE DUCHOBORTZI. 181 " behold! I am with you, even to the end of the world :" and by the power of His grace He helpeth the prayers and petitions of believers. But it does not seem good to the wisdom and majesty of God, that all, without distinc- tion, should be engaged in the external state and service of the Church, which is so closely united to the internal ; and therefore, from the very first ages, this has been committed unto worthy pastors and teachers, " as stew- ards of the mysteries of God." 2dly, I said that the external state of the Church is very closely united to the internal. Certainly it is so. Who does not know how powerfully the passions and the flesh work in us, both to good and evil, according to the nature of the object presented to them ? We have need to recruit the efforts of our minds by such salutary aids ; and to stir up the expiring flame of piety within us, by memorials of the goodness of God, and of the example of holy men. Here is the whole of what you so improperly style mate- rial and idolatrous worship. So long as we are united to matter, that is, to the body, we can never reach that pure and inward spiritual worship of God which the holy angels present unto Him, or such as that of the eternally-glorifled saints; and on this account, when God requires that we should worship Him in spirit and in truth, it is to warn us against shameful hypocrisy, or other dispositions of mind not corresponding with our external worship. 3dly, With respect to the scan- dalous lives of some pastors, they can never harm the essence of faith ; for that is not the cause of their bad conduct. And that their irregularities can never excuse those who on this account leave the Church and despise her doctrine, is witnessed by the Saviour Himself, in his discourse with the Pharisees : " The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat," saith he : " all therefore. 182 THE DUCHOBORTZI. whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works ; for they say, and do not." Moreover, Christian humihty should have de- terred you from judging so rashly concerning general corruption and evil dispositions. But I have purposely not yet answered several of your expressions, such as " idolatrous meetings and vain ceremonies," that I might first ask you what you mean by them ? D. You may conjecture that yourself. A. Well : do not even you shew becoming respect for the characters of those, who have been distinguished for holiness, and after death glorified by God, as patterns of faith and virtue ? Z). Where and whom hath God thus glorified ? A. Are the names of Chrysostom, Gregory the Great, and such like, unknown to you ? D. I know them. A. What do you think of them ? D. What do I think ? Why, they were men ! A. But holy men, whose faith and lives were agreeable to God ; and on this account they are miraculously glo- rified from above. D. Well, let us suppose so. A. Now it is to them that the Church is indebted for all those offices and ceremonies, which you denominate idolatrous and vain ; and the worship of images has been declared not to l)e sinful by tlie Council of the Holy Fathers ; liow then will you make this agree with your views ? D. I know not. I only know, tliat hell will be filled with priests and deacons, and unjust judges. As for me, I will worship God as he instructs me. A. But can you, without danger, depend upon your- self? Are you not afraid, that sometimes you may THE DUCHOBORTZI. 183 mistake your own opinions, and even foolish imagina- tions, for Drv ine inspiration ? D. How ? To prevent this, reason is given unto us. I know what is good, and what is bad. J. A poor dependence! With the best reason, some- times, good appears to be evil, and evil to be good. Z). I will pray to God: He will send His word: and God never deceives. A. True, God never deceives : but you deceive your- self, assuring yourself of that, on His part, which never took place. D. God does not reject the prayers of believers. A. Believers true : those requests which are agree- able to the law of faith. Divine Wisdom will not reject : but ''' ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss." For this purpose hath He given us the Book of his divine word, that in it we may behold His will, and that our petitions may be directed according to it. But it is vain to expect in the present day miraculous and immediate inspirations, without sufficient cause, particularly such as are unworthy of Him : and to pretend to such inspi- rations and revelations, is very hurtful to society, and therefore ought to be checked. D. But to me they appear to be very useful, salutary, and worthy of acceptation. J. What? to break off from the society of your coun- trymen, though united with you by the same laws and the same articles of faith, and to introduce strange doc- trines, and laws of your own making? to begin to expound the doctrines of the Gospel without the aid of an enlightened education, disregarding the advice of such men as are most versed and experienced in those things ; and out of your own head to found upon all this a sepa- rate society ? Is it not also to rise against your country. 184 THE DUCHOBORTZI. when you refiise to serve it where the sanctity of an oath is required ? Should not the simple command of the higher powers be sufficient to unite you with others to defend your country, your fellow-citizens, and your faith ? D. A, Why do you make no answer to this ? D. There is nothing to say. I am not so loquacious as you ; neither have I need of it. A. But do you not see, at least, whither your bhnd zeal is leading you, and that you deserve to suffer much more than all that has yet befallen you ? We look for your repentance and amendment. D. Do what you choose with us : we are happy to suffer for the faith : this is no new thing. Did you ever hear the old story ? A. Tell me, I pray you, what story ? D. '' A certain man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And at the season he sent to the husband- men a servant, that he might receive from the husband- men of the fruit of the vineyard. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. . . . And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto tliem, saying. They will reverence my son. But those husbandmen said among themselves. This is the heir ; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. What sliall therefore the Lord of the vineyard do ? he will come and destroy the husbajid- men, and will give the vineyard unto others :" Mark xii. . THE DUCHOBORTZI. 185 1 9. Now I have done with you. A. At least, answer me this : How can it be recon- ciled, that you reject the Holy Scriptures, and at the same time endeavour to support yourself upon them 1 D. Argue as you will. I have spoken what was ne- cessary, and shall not say another word. Other documents of the same kind might be given. I shall only add, that the sect of the Duchobortzi, Molo- chani, or Spiritual Christians, is numerous in Russia; and that though in many things they agree, in essential points also they are found to differ. In March 1822, 1 met with a most interesting Spiritual Christian, the minister of one of their assemblies, in St. Petersburg, and had a long conversation with him in the house of a Russian noble. His name was Isaiah. He was a man about sixty years of age in appearance, a simple bearded peasant, dressed in coarse wide russet garments. I conversed with him for nearly three hours on the essential doctrines of the Gospel, and found him, in general, very sound. His knowledge was taken solely from the word of God, of which he was one of the most powerful quoters I ever conversed with. His views of the faith and practice of a Christian, drawn from this source, were beautifully simple and harmonious. But, like the Duchobortzi, he rejected the external ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. He seemed to insist much upon the evidences of a living faith ; and that nothing could entitle a person to the name of a Chris- tian but Christianity in practice. As he had no acquaint- ance with scholastic theology, nor any systematic form 86 KISS OF CHARITY. of faith, I was astonished at his skill in illustrating one part of Scripture by another, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, and the wonderful facility with which he applied the whole force of truth to the regulation of the heart and life. In this poor peasant I saw an illustrious example of the power of the divine word, under the bless- ing of God, to make even the simple, and those who in respect of human learning are babes, truly wise. His congregation, he told me, consisted of about 500 souls, who formed a village near Mosdok. They had five elders to labour among them in spiritual things, who are chosen from among themselves, and ordained to their office by the laying on of the hands of the whole Church, and prayer. He spoke of their brethren as being very numerous, and scattered over all the provinces of the empire ; they were also known under the iiameofMolo- chani ; but were not all equally pure in doctrine and practice. He said that he had been sent forth by his Church for the express purpose of visiting the brethren, and ministering to their spiritual wants by doctrine and conversation : many of them, he added, were becoming purer in faith and practice. He stated tliat the great body of Molochani entertain superstitious ideas respecting '' the kiss of charity," or form of salutation used among them ; that, on saluting each other, they pay a kind of nuitual devotional respect, by bowing themselves to the ground, as before " the image of God," and the " temple in which the Holy Ghost dwells;" that they therefore look upon the kiss of cliarity as one of the most sacred acts. In some pro- vinces, he said, he had found them denying the Last Judgment, saying that it was already come, and the Se- cond Advent of Christ already past : it was one object of his travels to purify tliem of these errors ; but he RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE AMONG THE RUSSIANS. 187 regretted that some of their congregations had unworthy teachers. In his views of the invocation of saints, the use of images, prayers for the dead, &c., he held pure Protes- tant principles. He said that in public worship they use no books but the Bible. They practise no vow^s of celi- bacy; he himself had a wdfe and children at home. Their ritual, he said, consists chiefly of extemporary prayer, and exposition of the Scriptures in a familiar and easy manner by their ministers. He said that many of the Duchobortzi are now become Nationalists, and reject the written word of God, saying that they have the word of God in themselves. This seems to be a natural con- sequence of the singular error of the jMolochani above mentioned that of paying a kind of worship to each other. It is very difficult to form an estimate of the actual extent of Scripture knowledge, or maintenance of the vital doctrines of Christianity, among the Russian people generally. Their acquaintance with these things is very contracted through ignorance, and sadly mixed with superstition. Yet I think there are few of them, that are of age, who have not learnt to repeat the Lord's Prayer, and many also the Creed ; and who, on being questioned, would not reply that they are sinners that sin is a transgression of the Law of God that Christ Jesus, the Son of God, came into the world to save sinners ^that He died on the cross to redeem us that we must pray for the pardon of our sins, for His sake that at death the soul goes to heaven or hell ^and that Christ will come again to judge the world at the Resurrection. This know- ledge is principally obtained by attendance on the public ordinances of Religion, where most of these doctrines are made prominent in the daily service ; which, though 188 RELIGIOUS SECTS. in the ancient language, is, for the greater part, still in- telligible to the people. A portion of the Gospels is also read every day in the service; and not unfrequently a sermon on holidays, from a com*se of Homilies for every Sunday in the year, published by the Synod; or the priest preaches one of his own. But, in general, the real religious knowledge of the multitude does not go far beyond these general principles oftentimes, alas ! but vaguely conceived, and vaguely expressed when they are questioned concerning them. A second class, including merchants, mechanics, and even peasantry, who are able to read, and have applied themselves to the subject of Religion, can go into more extensive Scripture details, and in their opinions are principally guided by the works of the Ancient Greek Fathers (most of which are translated into the Slavonic language) and the writings of their own clergy. One of the most remarkable distinctions betwixt the Eastern and the Western Churches is the tolerant spi- rit of the former. And to no other adequate cause can be attributed the existence, under a despotic Go- vernment, of such numbers of different sects as we find in Russia, who, for various causes, have left the communion of the National Church. These are divided into two classes : the Popoftschini, or such as have priests ; and the Bezpopoftschini, such as have no priests. To the former division belong the Starobredsi, or Old Ceremonialists ; the Diaconoftschini, Perimaza- noftscliini, or Re-anointers ; tlie Epefanoftscliini ; the Tscliernaboltsi, &c. &c. To the second division be- long tlie Duchobortzi, Molochani, Pomoryani, Theodo- siani, Phihpoftschini, Netovtschini, Pastushkoltoglasia, Novojentzi, Samskrestsclientsi or Sclf-baptizers, Tscluiv- stviniki, Ikonobortsi or rejecters of images and pic- RELIGIOUS SECTS. 189 tures in worship, Seleznevtschini, &c. &c. In addi- tion to these, there are probably thirty smaller sects in Russia, whose peculiar sentiments and usages have never been thoroughly inquired into : but of the prin- cipal opinions of the above-named sects an account will be found in my volume on the Greek Church in Russia. The difference between the National Church and the most of these sects does not properly relate to the grand articles of faith ; for they, like the Mother Church, hold the Nicene Creed to be the symbol of their belief; but they refuse to join the established Church, because they say, that, in the time of the Patri- arch Nikon (1654), the Church books and ceremonies were in many places altered, and heretical practices and opinions introduced. The contest, accordingly, between the greater part of the Raskolniks and the Church is not whether pictures should be used in divine worship, but whether old or new ones should be used ; not whe- ther upwards of twenty volumes foho, containing their Church service, teach doctrines agreeable to the word of God, but whether they should hold the old manu- script copies of them to be genuine, or receive those which have been corrected according to the Greek origi- nal, and printed by order of Tzar Alexie Michaelovitch, in pursuance of the decision of the Council of Moscow, held in 1654, at which the Tzar presided, and which was attended by Nikon, five metropolitans, five arch- bishops, eleven archimandrites, and thirteen priests. It was to no purpose that these Russian Fathers attempted to convince the Old Ceremonialists that the Slavonic copies which they possessed were not originals, and consequently could not be standards by which to try other translations. All arguments were answered by one position ^According to these books, our fathers lUO RELIGIOUS SECTS. believed, and are saved ; and through the same belief we hope to be where they now are.' Thus the great schism which took place in the Rus- sian Church, in the end of the seventeenth century, was founded on ignorance and misunderstanding, and arose, in a great measure, from the incautious way in wliich the ecclesiastical reform at that time was made. But the Raskolniks of the present day have laid aside many of the absurd and ignorant opinions which distinguished their ancestors ; and indeed the greater part of the Old Ceremonialists are better versed in the Holy Scriptures than their neighbours belonging to the National Church. I have met with many of them who could, with great readiness, quote Scripture, in support of their opinions ; and though their forefathers were such enemies to printed copies of the Scriptures, yet I have more than once found a printed foho Bible in the hut of a Raskolnik ; and the translation of the New Testament into the jNIodern Russ has also been well received by them. The Raskolniks are distinguished for their exemplary morals. An Old Ceremonialist has rarely been known to have a suit at law against a brother. Tliey strive to settle all their disputes by arbitration among tlicm- selves. A great proportion of the most opulent Rus- sian merchants in Moscow, Petersburg, \'ladimir, and other towns of the empire, are Raskolniks ; and not only foreigners, but even the Russians themselves, de- pend more upon tlieir integrity in dealings tlian upon others. But the persecutions to which they have at different times been subjected have made them shy and cautious in declaring tlieir opinions ; and as they are not allowed to publish any thing in their own defence, it is very diflicult to obtain correct information, respecting either the ])('cuhar sentiments, or probable numbers, of RELIGIOUS SECTS. 191 the different sects which have separated from the Russian Church ; for all that has been pubhshed on these subjects comes from their opponents. Many of them also con- ceal their opinions, and the party to which they belong, on account of the general odium which is still attached to the name of Raskolnik. Some of the sects included in this general name have renounced both the old and the new books and pictures, and have formed a creed for themselves from the word of God. After the va- rious unsuccessful attempts which had been made by Government to bring the Raskolniks again into the bosom of the Church, Catherine II., in 1785, published an ukaz, granting them permission to use the old ma- nuscript books, and inviting them to receive regularly- ordained priests from the Mother Church. This pro- position has been embraced by many of them ; and all open persecution of them, since that time, has been in- terdicted by the Government : so that the Old Ceremo- nialists have now their own churches and priests ; but most of the other sects meet in private, not being coun- tenanced by the Government. The above causes make it almost impossible to ascer- tain the number of Dissenters of different names in Rus- sia, scattered as they are over every province, and parti- cularly numerous in the principal commercial towns and in the southern parts of the empire ; but, on a moderate calculation, they amount to more than two millions. On the 23d of December we left Elizabetograd, in a covered travelling-sledge, which in form much resem- bles a cradle ; the upper part covered with felt and mats, the inside lined with the same : our baggage was packed in it, with plenty of hay, and a mattress and pillows over all. It cost about eighty roubles (3/. 4^.) The frost and drifting of the snow rendered travelling difficult. We 192 SEVERITY OF THE WINTER. entered Novomirgorod about one o'clock. This place also has a fortress of some importance ; and contains two churches, and about 3000 inhabitants, consisting of Rus-, sians and Servians. They cultivate the soil with con- siderable success on the banks of the streams Visa and Sinianka. We did not stop at Novomirgorod ; but tra- velled all night, and reached the small district town of Boguslaff, in the government of Kief, on the morning of the 2ith. Terrible weather to-day, from frost and drift- ing snows ; great difficulty in keeping on the road ; frequently plunging into pools of melted snow, not yet bound up by the frost. We arrived at Vasilikoff in the evening, and obtained a cup of tea and some cold fowl, in an inn or schen/c kept by a Jew : this was very acceptable, for we had had nothing the whole day, excepting tea in the morning. We had again to contend with bad roads and the inclemency of the elements, and arrived in the ancient city of Kief a little past midnight ; where, after many objections, a Jew took us in, on condition of my engaging to pay him five roubles a day for two miserable cold rooms, in a small wooden house. There was no possibility of sleeping, on account of the cold. My poor servant was still more to be pitied than myself, having been more exposed to sleet and frost. KIEF. 193 CHAP. X. Antiquity and sanctity of Kief Introduction of Christianity among the Russians in the tenth century Translation of the Scriptures into the Slavonic Present extent of the Slavonic Tribes Account of the ancient system of Idolatry prevalent among the Russiayis as Heathen Remaining traces of this Idolatry, in their usages Funeral Ceremonies Church Music Visit to the Archimandrite Antonie, of the Pestchersky Mona- steryits Printing-office Visit to the Prison, and City Ho' spifal Description of the Cathedral Church of St. Sophia- Interview icith the Metropolitan, Serapiun Visit to the Military Hospital Account of the sacred Catacombs Shrine (f Nestor, the Russian Chronologist Arsenic the Monk Legends of the Russians J isit to Vasan, a blind Monk Depot of the Kief Bible Society Distribution of tJie Scriptures Public Dinner to the Clergy, at the Metropolitans. Kief, the most ancient capital of Russia, has much in its history, and even in its preserved antiquities, to in- terest the traveller. It is still looked upon as a kind of Mount Zion by the Russians, whither many thousands of them, from all parts of the empire, annually go up, to worship at the shrines of their renowned saints of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. It was here that Chris- tianity first dawned upon the nation ; and though her light was already clouded by the traditions and com- mandments of men, yet how precious and salutary has it proved, since the tenth century, to the Slavonic tribes ! What a contrast between the religion of Christ and the 191 KARI.Y TRANSLATION Ol' THJl S( HIFTIRES. cruel system of idolatry which overspread all these regions, until the days of Vladimir, who erected the first church here, in 989. Before that period, there seems to have been no trace of civilization or letters among the Russians. The alphabet of St. Cyril appears to have been the first which was ever adopted for writing their uncultivated language : it was first em- ployed by that renowned Greek Missionary, and his companion Methodius, for a truly noble purpose the translation of the Bible, from the Greek, into the Slavo- nian tongue. This version has remained in use among them for 800 years; and though in the present age but imperfectly understood, it is still daily read in their churches and famihes.* * Had it not been for the schism between the Eastern and W^estein Churches, which introduced a difference of Church ritual, and the use of three dittiireut alphabets in writing their common languat^e, the Slavonic tribes would have been able still to read each other's writings in the Cyrillian alphabet. The first edition of the Slavonic Bible was printed in Pra<]^ue, in 1519 ; and the second in Ostrog-, in 1581. A copy of this latter edition I met with in the library of the Lyceum at Warsaw, in IS 16. I was curious to see whether it contained 1 John V. 7 ; and, on examination, found that it ditl not. Tliis verse is found in the \ersion now used in Russia, which follows the edition of Ostrog ; but it has undergone four different revisions, in the time of Nikon, and during- the reign of the Empress Elizabeth. It was first printed at Moscow, in 1663. The Russian Bible Society stereotyped this version in 4to. and Svo., and printed not fewer than 133, 78S copies of it, with 91,783 copies of the New Testa- ment. The Ostrog edition is said to have been corrected from an ancient manuscript written in the time of the Grand Prince Vladimir, who may be denominated the Constantine of the Russian Church. Of the Slavonic New Testament, which is a verbal translation from the (Ireek, there are still preserved, in the library belonging to the Holy Synod in Moscow, copies which were written in the eleventh and twclftii centuries. This valuable collection of Slavonic and (ireek Manuscripts was not destroyed at the burning of the city in 1812. EXTENT OF THE SLAVONIC TRIBES. 195 Of the character of that idolatry which prevailed among the Russians before they embraced Christianity, I have endeavoured to collect some information from native authors, which, with my own observations on many traces of it still preserved in the songs and usages of the people, I shall here subjoin. That this powerful branch of the human family, the Slavonic, is very ancient, must appear from this fact alone, that for upwards of 1500 years they have occu- pied nearly the same countries ; yet though at no great distance from the most civilized nations, they have, in general, partaken but little of superior culture. They are spread over the eastern countries of Europe, and extend, in some parts, to the very centre of it. This family of tribes, at the present day, contains upwards of 60,000,000 souls.f Like most heathen nations, they formerly worshipped idols of stone, wood, and metal, in groves and on high places. This is to be seen in their earliest records ; but whether they had temples, and a regular class of priests, like their neighbours the Greeks, seems doubtful. The Metropolitan Platon, and other writers, think they had not. 1. Their chief idol was named Perun, " the Destroyer." He was considered the god of thunder and lightning. His image was composed of different materials : his body, of wood ; his head, of silver ; his ears and musta- chios, of gold ; his legs, of iron ; and in his hand he grasped a thunderbolt adorned with jaspers. A fire was kept perpetually burning in his presence ; and if at any time, through the negligence of the priests, it was t One is astonished to hear nearly the same language spoken by this mighty people on the shores of the Adriatic, the Baltic, and the Black Sea. () 2 10() SYSTEM OF IDOLATRY suffered to go out, they were punished by death for the crime. At his altar were sacrificed oxen, and prisoners of war ; and also, occasionally, free people. Judging by his image and reputed attributes, authors are almost unanimous in comparing him to the Zeus of the Greeks, and Jupiter of the Romans. The chronologer Nestor speaks of a secondary class of deities worshipped by the Slavonians ; such as, Kors, Dajbog, Striboff, Semarglo, Moksha, &c. ; but he gives no further details concerning them. It is worthy of remark, however, that in two of these names we find the word " bogh," which is the word still universally used by the Russians to designate the Supreme Being. It is a silly notion which some authors have entertained, that this appellation is derived from the river Bugh, or Bori- sthenes ; for the Slavonians had given this name to gods and idols which they worshipped, before ever they were acquainted with this river, as the above designations of some of their deities shew. The most probable deriva- tion of the word is either from Boi, " to destroy," or from Bogat, " rich." I am inchned to think it proceeds from the latter ; though the first word certainly has a meaning nearly corresponding to that of Perun. According to Mr. Strikofski, a Polish author, Pcruii was the chief deity. After him came 2. Moliosh thought to have been the god of strength and of battles, answering to the Mars of the Romans. The Novogorodians worshipped an idol of this deity, whose head was like that of an ox. 3. Voloss the Anubis of the Egyptians, and the Pan of the Greeks. The name is evidently derived from the word Vol, which signifies " an ox :" he was the guar- dian deity of cattle. It is supposed that his head was that of a dog. AMONG THE ANCIENT SLAVONIANS. 197 Even in some of the churches there is still to be found the picture of a mighty warrior with a head like that of a hound ; and this is supposed to be a relique of the ancient favourite deity of the Russian peasantry, Voloss. Also, in the present Russian Kalendar, there is a saint named Vlasik, the guardian of the flocks and herds, and to whose protection the common people still recommend them ; and on their first going out to graze, in spring, the picture of this saint is carried in grand procession. There is not the smallest doubt but this saint took the station of the ancient heathen deity ; for his very name is derived from the same root, and his peculiar charge is the same. 4. Pozvizd, or Polwist the god of the winds, rains, and storms, was worshipped by the Kiovians : he is sup- posed to have ranked with the Grecian tEoIus, but no information remains respecting the worship paid to him. His name signifies the " whistler," or " blower." 5. Hors which seems to answer to the Bacchus of the Romans : others again hold him to have been the iEsculapius of the Greeks. 6. Kiipalo supposed to be the god of the seas, Nep- tune. He was represented by the image of an old man with a white beard and a crown of rushes. Horses were offered on his altar. 7. hada the Venus of the Greeks. Lada was the mother of 8. heli the Cupid of the Greeks ; and of 9. Poh'Ii the god of matrimony, Hymen. To these three latter deities not only prayers were offered, but virgins, children, youths, and old men, were devoted in sacrifice. The attachment of the Russians to these three imaginary beings was so rooted and general, that even to the present day their names are daily heard 198 SYSTEM OF lUOLATRV' in the amorous and bridal songs of every village. 10. Dajbog,Dashuba, OYDajbo,wsiS the god of riches The Plutus of the Greeks. 11. Striba, or Stribog the god of the winds ; and seems to be the same as Pozvizd. In an ancient war- song, the winds are called the cousins of Striba. 12. Pogoda the Zephyrus of the Greeks. 13. Koliada. Some take him to have been the Janus of the Romans, or god of peace ; and others, the god of festivity. His image stood here in Kief; and the inhabitants used to worship him, with great feastings, on the 24th of December. 14. Oslad, or Uslad, was another deity worshipped by the people of this city. He was the god of mirth and enjoyment, as his very name intimates. Among the images of their deities overthrown by Vladimir I. was that of Uslad. In addition to these deities, the heathen Slavonians had their Nymphs, called jRw^a//?; Satyrs, Leshie; Genii, Domovoi; and Centaurs, Po//i-a/. The stories of each family circle respecting the recent exploits of the Domovoi are endless ; and symptoms of the powerful influence which superstitious ideas have over their minds and actions are to be seen and heard almost every hour of the day. Seldom a night passes but the Domovoi has been playing his pranks in some hut of the village : nor are the domestics of the nobles, especially the female part of them, less assured of his power over the horses and cows of their master's stall. They style him the "landlord" of the house ; and use many strange ceremonies in order to court his favour and remain on good terms with him. Every occurrence which is not easily to be accounted for is attributed to the Domovoi. AMONG THE ANCIENT SLAVONIANS. 199 The traditionary tale, which has evidently passed through a Christian channel, concerning the origin of these different classes of familiar spirits runs thus : " When Satan, for his pride, was cast down from heaven with all his associates, some of them fell into the rivers, some into woods, others into the fields ; and some, by the Divine permission, remained in the clouds. Those who inhabit the dreary forests are the Leshie, who seek to mislead weary wanderers, by changing the position of objects which they had chosen as marks to point out their way. The Vodianiki are the Nymphs of the streams ; the Rusalki are the Nymphs of the groves ; and the Domovois are inmates in the habitations of mankind." The bugbear or hobgoblin of the Russian nurse is called Buka. There is not a child who is able to dis- tinguish his right hand from his left but is acquainted with some fearful and strange story concerning him. He is represented with a large mouth, and a very long tongue, which he uses as the elephant does his proboscis. He catches children with it, and throws them into his mouth. He walks about the doors of the huts, and in churchyards, in the night-time; and hence the fearful warning of the matron of the cottage to the young, " Ne hodi ! tarn Buka : Buka isest " " Go not there ! the Buka is there : he will eat you." 15. Svetovid, or Sviatovid, was a chief deity among the Slavonians, Wends, and Bohemians. He was the god of glory and war. His name signifies " holy light," "all- seeing." Some have supposed that the sun was repre- sented by this idol. 16. Triglava the Diana of the Slavonians, or the Trimurti of the Brahmins. Her image had three heads, which is the signification of the word Triglava. At 200 ANCIENT SYSTEM OF IDOLATRY, Kief, she had a temple in an adjoining field ; and was also worshipped by the Bulgarians and Vandals, or Wends. The Slavonians called her Zevan, and suppli- cated her for success in hunting. 17. Martzana the goddess of harvest. 18. Seva, Siva, or Siba the Pomona of the Slavo- nians. She was represented as a virgin, whose hair was her only covering. She had a wreath upon her head, held an apple in her right hand, and in her left a bvmch of grapes. This seems to be the same deity as the In- dian Schiva, and possesses the same attributes. 19. Bel-bog was considered as a good deity, for the word signifies " white god ;" and 20. Cherno-bog, an evil god ; as the name signifies a " black god." That sacrifices were offered to Perun and other gods, is certain ; but what particular kinds of animals or fruits of the earth, and with what ceremonies, and by whom, and how frequently, is not known. But that human sacrifices were offered, is left on record ; for Tatischeff has stated that Vladimir I. with his men, on returning victorious to Kief from a war against the Tatregs, in 983, sacrificed many of the prisoners and many cattle to the idols. The remains of this heathenism are still numerous among the people ; some of which we have elsewhere instanced; and shall here bring forward a few more usages, which are evidently of pagan origin, though now united to what are called Christian festivals. In spring, the Russians have their Bacchanalia, which they call Sainila a remnant of the worship of Torn, the god of lasciviousness. Formerly tlie females of Kief used to assemble, and proceed in company to an adjoin- ing grove where the idol stood, dancing and singing TRACED IN PRESENT USAGES. 201 lewd songs, and carrying branches decorated with strips of cloth of different colours; and then a scene of shame- less wantonness was exhibited, in every respect similar to what takes place in Hindostan at the present day. After these lewd ceremonies were ended, the young females threw their branches into the river ; and if they swam, it was taken as an omen that they were to be married during the year ; but if they sank, it was consi- dered as an omen to the contrary. Nor are these rites yet abohshed : they continue in full force at the present day : only the idol is wanting, and a little more modesty is observed by the performers. In every town and vil- lage in Russia proper, from the first day of Pentecost till the Sunday following, a whole week, the walls and floors of the churches and houses are adorned with branches and flowers, and the maidens dance in companies, with a decorated branch carried in the midst of the groupe ; and perform a variety of gesticulations, accompanied with songs usual on such occasions. Even in the streets of Petersburg these ancient Saturnalian rites are performed by companies of young females, who are gazed at with delight and wonder by the surrounding mob, without perhaps one in a hundred, either of the actors or spec- tators, knowing any thing of their origin. Again : about midsummer, before the cutting of the hay, they had a great festival in honour of Vesta or the " unquenchable fire." A remnant of this heathen feast is still attached to the Festival of the Birth of John the Baptist, which is celebrated on the 24th of June, o. s. In the night preceding St. John's Day, the youth of both sexes assemble in the streets of the towns and villages, and make large fires, which they designate Kupalnitzi (baths). Around these they dance and play, singing songs, and springing through the fire, which they call 202 ANCIENT IDOLATROUS CUSTOMS, bathing. In Little Russia the same ceremonies are ob- served ; and the actresses sing, while springing around and through the fire, " Kapala na Ivana, da kupavsa Ivan, da iv vodu upav" &c. " I have bathed on St. John's Day, and fallen into the waters." On this ominous night the calves are allowed to spend the night with the cows, for fear that witches might dry up their milk ; and the win- dows of the huts are all carefully garnished with nettles. The heathen Russians had a distinguished feast-day at the end of harvest, in honour of all the gods, and in gratitude for the fruits of the earth. On this occasion, Lada and her son Leii (Venus and Cupid) were spe- cially honoured ; for most marriages took place at that time. Now it is evident that the present custom among the peasantry, of almost universally celebrating their marriages at this season of the year, before St. Philip's Fast, must be a remnant of this ancient heathen usage. The great heathen festival called Kaliada, which took place among their ancestors on the last days of Decem- ber, answered exactly to the Roman Saturnalia. At present, it is united to the Feast of the Nativity, and is called Sviatki. On the eve of this festival, before the appearing of the moon and stars, the women, young and old, fasting, used to assemble in the streets, and invoked Kaliada in hymns. This heathen rite of invoking the powers of heaven, like the ancient Egyptians on the same festival, is, in substance, still continued among the people, especially in Little Russia. On the eve of the festival of Christmas, they fast till the stars are seen ; and on the luminaries of the night making their appear- ance, they call upon Kaliada in songs. This continues for three nights, and then the Saturnalia or Sviatki begin ; during which the youths of all ranks, in almost every house, are masked, and unite in dancing and play. TRACED IN PRESENT USAGES. 203 or in evening parties ; at which enigmatical songs are sung, and many youthful tricks and gambols played off. They go and hearken at the windows of their neighbours ; they pour melted wax or lead into water, and divine, from the figure it assumes, what their future fortune is to be; &c. &c. In almost every hut in Little Russia, on Christmas Eve, they place a large earthern pot, filled with boiled wheat or barley, before the domestic altar or pictures of the saints : this mess they call Kut ; and in another earthen pot they put dried apples, pears, plums, cher- ries, and raisins : these are properly stoned, and then placed before the images : this mess is called Uzvar. During the whole week of the festivity, the family, after dinner and supper, partake of part of this prepared food. In the evening of Christmas-day, companies of both sexes go from house to house, and chaunt their rural songs under the windows, serenading the inmates of the cottage, who usually give them a small gratuity in return. This is called Eoliadavat : and all the days of this festivity are still known among the common people by the name of Koliadi. The Russians are accustomed to bathe themselves after the Sviatki or the Feast of Epiphany (the 6th of January), notwithstanding the frost and snow, even at the risk of their lives. Though now styled " the Bene- diction of the Water," this is, no doubt, a kind of puri- fying rite, in imitation of the offerings of purification customary among the Egyptians after the impurities of the Saturnaha.* In addition to the above, there are still many other superstitious practices resorted to during * There are two occasions, on which they " sanctify the w aters." First, the great sanctification, usually performed in a river or stream, is done in remembrance of Our Lord's baptism : hence the place where it is performed *204' ANCIENT TUMULI. the Sviatki, in universal repute among the villagers. For instance : they take a sitting hen from her eggs, and bring her into the midst of the cottage circle, and, laying a certain number of gi'ains of wheat or some other corn before her, divine their fortunes thereby. What is this, but the alectoromancy of the ancient Greeks ? Dropping the white of an egg into pure spring water, they also divine from its colour and the form it takes : this is the hi/dromancy of the Greeks. Many heathenish usages are also still preserved in the numerous ceremonies attending the burial of the dead. Nestor, the father of all the Russian historians, says that it was the custom of the ancient Slavonians to burn their dead : this therefore was a practice which they had in common with their neighbours the ancient Greeks, and with the far-distant Brahmins. But the Sar- matians committed the bodies of their dead to the earth ; and raised over the graves of their chiefs. Tumuli, or, as they are styled by the Russians, Kurgani, of different sizes, according to the rank and merits of the deceased. This practice was found prevalent among the Russians on their becoming Christians, and accounts for the great number of tumuli which I have observed in every part of European Russia, but especially in the extensive plains and steppes of the southern provinces. Tatisclieff says, that in 1710 he himself saw the Kurgan or sepulchre of the Grand Prince Igor, who was killed by the Drevliens in 945, and buried near the ancient city of Corosten, the capital of the Drevliens, which was situated in the present province of Volhinia, upon the performed is called " Jordan : " in most churehes it takes place once a year. The lesser sanctijicalion is performed when the priests are in need of water for baptism or any other sacred purpose ; but, -ed to wear lonji^ beards, and their hair lloatinf>; upon their shoulders. Their <>-ariiients are usually made of li^ht- coloured silks or stuffs: they wear a broad-brimmed hat, and carry a stall" in their hand. This attire i>,'ives them a reverend appearance, which tends not a little to impress the vulii;ar witli false ideas of sanctity, and also becomes a bar to their haviui;' free intercourse with persons in every condition. To chanii'c the dress of the cler^-y, however, would prove very dillicult ; for the people look upon it as holy, as bcini;; the man iicr in which Christ and his Ajiostles were arrayed, and therefore the only liabit in vvhicli his ambassadors should aj)pear. EDUCATION OF THE CLERGY. 251 manners. Occasionally, however, the sons of the clergy are even permitted to enter the civil service of their country ; and in past ages, and especially in the pre- sent, such have not unfrequently been distinguished for a sound education, united to superior abilities. Some of the most eminent Russian statesmen, poets, histo- rians, mathematicians, and artists, have been sons of the clergy, educated in the spiritual schools ; which, even to the present day, seem to be the most pro- ductive seminaries for talent and learning in the empire : and the late re-organization of these schools, under the superintendence of Philaret, by which the course of stu- dies is extended to almost every department of philo- logical, philosophical, and theological learning, bids fair to preserve their pre-eminence. The spiritual schools, as they are called, belong to the most ancient institutions for learning in Russia; for during the Tartar yoke and the dark ages, any degree of literary knowledge which existed among the Russians was confined, as in other countries of Europe, solely to the clergy; hence, till the establishment of the public schools in the beginning of the last century, these were the only seminaries of instruction in the country. In the earliest of the spiritual schools that were founded, at the introduction of Christianity, the Greek and Slavonian lan- guages, and the writings of the Greek Fathers, were the principal subjects of study ; but on the founding of an Academy at Kief, after the manner of the Polish Schools, Latin became the classical language, and the scho- lars were taught Grammar, Rhetoric, Philosophy, and Divinity. The same course of instruction was also adopted in the Spiritual Academy of Moscow, and con- tinued till the end of the sixteenth century. The state of these schools was much improved by Peter I., and 25'2 EDUCATION OF THE CLERGY. a degree of learning introduced into them unknown in the preceding ages. His successors also have paid con- siderable attention to the education of the priesthood an object of the very first importance for promoting the civilization and happiness of their subjects ; and hence, since his time, various improvements have been made in these seminaries. Thus, in 1788, the two seminaries of Novogorod and Alexandroff were united, and students of talent were ordered to be sent hither from the other clerical schools, to be prepared for the office of teachers. In 1797, the spiritual seminaries of Alexandroff and Kazan were denominated Academies ; and, together with the former two of Kief and Moscow, were fur- nished with teachers answerable to their designation, as the first spiritual schools of the empire. The following year the same course of liberal education which had been adopted in the Academy of Alexandroff ^vas intro- duced into the other three academies, and into all the seminaries. It was also ordered, that these four acade- mies should be particularly appropriated for training up the most hopeful young men to the office of teachers in the spiritual schools. The course of instruction in these schools was again extended ; and, by a ukaz in 1802, a medical class was ordered to be instituted at each of the academies and diocesan seminaries of the clergy. This latter arrangement, however, was not of long continu- ence, and was afterwards abolished. In the four acade- mies, and in some of the seminaries, the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, and German languages are taught, toge- ther with Natural and Moral Philosophy, Mathematics, History, Rhetoric, Divinity, Sec. Sec. Of these schools, four are academies, as above specified ; and thirty-six are seminaries, one in every diocese, under the special superintendency of the bishop. There are EDUCATION OF THE CLERGY. 253 also a number of district and parochial schools for the children of the clergy, in which they are prepared for the above seminaries : these are specified in the metro- politan's letter, already given. The children are usually sent to them when about eight or ten years of age. They begin with the Latin and Slavonic tongues ; and according to their progress in these, are advanced into the higher classes. The students in the academies and seminaries are taught by means of public lectures, de- livered by the preceptors, now styled Professors. For- merly these teachers were all monks and priests ; but this is not now required ; so that many of the professors and teachers are laymen. The four academies confer the degrees of M.A. and D.D. The district schools for elementary instruction in all the dioceses amount to 360, and the parochial to 1080; and the number of scholars in these four degrees of spiritual schools, established exclusively for the sons of the clergy, is upwards of 30,000. The Professoi-s who issued from the Nevskoy aca- demy, when it was under Philaret, are fond of biblical criticism, and are well acquainted with the best authors of that class. I have often warned them against the works of the modern German Neologists, with which some are already acquainted. What a pity would it be to see those seminaries, which have to provide pastors and deacons for upwards of 26,000 churches and which are now, we trust, shaking off the ignorance and supersti- tions which have enveloped them for so many ages falling into the opposite extreme of rationalism and infidelity ! I here visited, at the invitation of Moses the Rector, the academy founded by Peter Mogila, metropolitan of Kief, in 1631 : it is known under the name of Academia 254 EDUCATION OF THE CLERGY. Orlhodoxa Kiova-MohUwna. It is situated in the Podol, a part of the city upon the low ground on the side of the river : it is a very large edifice, built of brick, and plastered ; and was, when I visited it, undergoing exten- sive repairs. The rooms for the students, and the class rooms, are large and commodious. The chapel is small, but neat. In the library they have a good collection of the writings of the Greek Fathers, but comparatively few works on modern science, literature, or divinity. Moses pointed out to me the Charters of the Tzars, containing the immunities granted to the institution ; but none of them are very ancient. The number of students was about fifty. These, together with those of the three other academies of Petersburg, Moscow, and Kazan, are prepared for be- coming professors in the diocesan seminaries ; one of which, as we have elsewhere stated, is usually attached to every bishopric. The spiritual seminary of Kief has about 3() students. The metropolitan is at the head of both these institutions for training young men for the church. I took tea with Moses and two of the profes- sors of the academy, and was much pleased with their enlightened conversation. We discoursed for upwards of two hours on the essential doctrines of Christianity ; and I found that their studies, under Philaret in the Nevskoy Academy of St. Petersburg, had been profound and Hberal, tracing effects to their causes, and making the word of God the only arbiter in matters of faith. All the public schools of every description, yet esta- blished for the laity throughout the empire, are under the inspection of the six universities of Moscow, Peters- burg, l)()r])ot, Vilna, Kazan, and Harkoff. When, how- ever, we turn from the promising aspect of instruction and learning that is seen among the Ilussian clergy, to UNIVERSITIES AND SCHOOLS. 255 take a view of the small provision hitherto made for the instruction of the other classes of the inhabitants, the contrast is so striking, that the disproportion will hardly be credited : yet every year is gradually adding to the number both of schools and scholars, and the Govern- ment seems anxious to extend the blessings of education, especially to the middle ranks. Each of the universities has the provincial gymnasiums, and the district and other smaller schools, under its super- intendence. About a hundred students at each univer- sity are supported by the crown : they are prepared for becoming professors and teachers in the gymnasiums, in which also a certain number of the scholars are edu- cated at the cost of the Government. From these semi- naries are obtained young men to fill the various laborious offices under Government, and also the dif- ferent departments of medicine. The number of semi- naries and inferior schools under the seven universities, at the present day, is probably not more than 2500, in which there may be about 125,000 scholars. Few of the children of the nobles attend these schools : they are generally educated at home, by fo- reigners ; or in private boarding-schools, also kept by foreigners. Few of them choose the study of letters : hence a fashionable education suits their taste better than a classical one. The civil and military services are those which they invariably prosecute ; and the learned professions, like the church, are supplied principally from the lower orders of the people. Nevertheless, these universities are placed under a Curator, who is generally a nobleman by birth ; and the Presidencies of the academies of arts and sciences, and of benevolent and other institutions, are also occupied by men of rank and fortune. The professors and teachers of the 256 UNIVERSITIES AND SCHOOLS. universities and seminaries also obtain rank, and rise according to merit or seniority ; and when no longer fit for active service, they receive a small pension. But even their regular salaries are altogether inadequate to support their rank and station in society. A pro- fessor has only about 80/. per annum, and his assistant 32/. ; a professor of languages 24/. ; and each of the students supported by the crown about 8/. per annum. Under the universities there are also a few establish- ments for the education of the sons of the nobility. Those of Moscow and Tzarskoi-Selo are the most dis- tinguished. In the former, the number of boarders is about 300, for whom the parents pay ; and the rest attend only as day-scholars, but are obliged to dine at the table of the institution. The first class pay 32/. per annum ; and the second class 24/. The first school ever established in the country was founded here, by Vladimir the Great ; and was put under the care of the metropolitan. The directions given by the latter to the masters are still preserved, of which the following is not an unfavourable specimen : " Instruct the children," said the metropolitan, " in truth and virtue, in book science, good manners, and charity ; in the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom ; and in purity and humihty. Instruct them not with anger and severity, but with joy and trembling, and affectionate treatment with sweet precepts and gentle consolation, that they may neither become weary nor weak. Teach them diligently and frequently ; and give them tasks according to their powers, so that they may not faint and droop : but above all things, instruct them assiduously out of the Law of the Lord, for the advantage of both soul and body ; and restrain them from foolish and improper language," NARROW LIMITS OF EDUCATION. 257 In the year 1031, the Grand-duke, Jaroslaff I., son of Vladimir, following the example of his father, esta- blished a school at Novogorod for the education of 300 sons of the clergy and nobles ; for whom also he ordered several works to be translated from the Greek into the Slavonian. Of some of these translations, the originals are still preserved here, in the Church of St. Sophia. But from this period, viz. 1017, till the time of Peter the Great, education seems to have made no progress whatever, but to have remained, where it began, among the clergy and a few of the nobles ; and how very limited still is the knowledge of letters in this country ! If we except the clergy, the nobihty, and the two first guilds of the merchants, not one in 500 of all the rest of the population of native Russians can yet read. 258 NEJIN. CHAP. XII. Departure from Kief Severity of the Frost Arrival at Nejin description of it Greek Family of Zosima Narrow escape from an accident The Town of Baturin General appearance of the country from Odessa to Orel Intervieiv with the Bishop of Orel Visit to the Prison Account of the Sect of Eunuchs Domestic Festivals of the Name-day and the Birth-day of the Russians Population and Commerce Circulation of the Scrip- tures by the Orel Bible Society Journey from Orel to Tula Great loss of lives from the severity of the frost and the drifting snows Town of Metxensk Narroic escape from being buried in the snow Arrival in Tida Circulation of the Scriptures Tula, the Birmingham of Russia description of it J isit to the Spiritual Seminary Consistory Prison Funeral of a Russian Slave. We left Kief at nine in the morning of the asth of December, and reached Brovari about midday. The frost was most intense, being more than twenty degi'ees of Reaumur, and we had great difficuUy in preserving the extremities and the face from becoming frost-bitten. In the evening we arrived at the prosperous little town of Nejin, situated on the right bank of the Oster. This is one of the finest towns in Little Russia, containing about 10,000 inhabitants. It has a fortress, and is en- compassed with an earthen rampart. IVIany of the houses are of brick, and well built. Here are fifteen churches, and two monasteries. The population is com- posed of Greeks, Armenians, Cossacks, and Russians : GREEK FAMILY OF ZOSIMA. 250 the two former carry on a considerable commerce with Turkey and Poland. They have also three fairs in the year, which attract strangers from a distance, and give scope to the enterprising spirit of the inhabitants. Among the Greek merchants of Nejin, the family of Zosima are distinguished, not merely for their opulence, but for their public spirit and extraordinary exertions, during the last forty years, to revive learning among their countrymen in Greece. Many years before the Greek Revolution, they established schools in different parts of Greece, and printed large editions of the principal Greek classics for these schools and for the nation at large : they also published, in connexion with the Moscow Bible Society, but at their own sole expense, 3000 copies, in quarto, of the Septuagint, with the Greek New Tes- tament annexed, for distribution in different parts of the Levant. Their sacrifices in money and otherwise, in aid of the independence of Greece, have also been proportionally gi'eat. One cannot sufficiently admire the high patriotic character of these three brethren (with one of whom, who resides in Moscow, I have long been acquainted), who, though not learned men themselves, have taken so distinguished a part in the revival of liberty and learning among the Greeks. After stopping a short time at Nejin, we continued our course through the night, at a great rate, over bound- less plains of snow and ice : but at the village of Ko- morofka, the first station from Nejin, we had nearly met with a serious accident. The frost was excessive, and the snow our only luminary, as the moon was far gone in the wane. The postillion had just yoked abreast three fine spirited horses to my sledge, and was muf- fling himself up in his furs to take his seat in the front, when the horses took fright, and darted off furiously s 2 ^60 BATURIN. through the village. We had nothing to expect but that the sledge would be dashed to pieces, and the bag- gage and other articles scattered in the snow, there probably to remain till the returning Spring should bring them to light. Several of the postillions set out on horseback in search, but returned without discovering any traces of them. Other persons were despatched in pursuit : at last, by the tinkling of the bell attached to the neck of the middle horse, they were discovered half buried in a snow-wreath, from which they could not extricate themselves, not above a hundred yards from the outer fences. On clearing the village, they had turned off into the fields, and soon plunged into this avalanche, from which they had struggled in vain to get fi'ee. They had sufficient time to cool themselves in this snow -bath, before they were discovered : every thing, however, was safe, and nothing broken. We con- tinued our course through the night, skimming along at a swift rate, and reached Baturin to breakfast. This beautifully-situated and well-built little town stands on the stream Segma, and is named after its founder, Etienne Batori, king of Poland : it was formerly the residence of the Hetman of the Ukraine. In 1708, it was the rendezvous of the famous rebel jVIazepa, by w^hose overthrow it suffered greatly, until, with the sur- rounding villages, containing with the town a population of 20,000 souls, it was given by the Empress Elizabeth to the last Hetman of the Ukraine, Count Cyril Razumofsky, who rebuilt it, and in whose family it still continues. Baturin has four parochial churches and a monastery : it carries on a considerable trade. We prosecuted our route through the government of Tschernigeff, and entered that of Orel at Tolstodubova. We reached Sevsk to dinner. Our sufferings, from cold MONOTONOUS SCENERY OF WINTER. 261 in the night, were intense : the mercury was as low as 24 degrees. Sevsk is a district town on the right bank of the Seve. The bishop of Orel usually resides here. It has ten churches, and about 6000 inhabitants, most of them em- ployed in agriculture. We continued our course through the night ; and after having performed a most fatiguing journey of four days and three nights from Kief, we arrived in the provincial town of Orel about noon the next day. The appearance of the country from Odessa to Ni- cholaief is flat and woodless. Near Elizabetgrad several ravines produce some little variety on the surface, but few trees of any kind are to be seen ; and this bald uninteresting scene continues as far as Kief, though with rather more undulations on the face of the country as we approach the banks of the Dnieper. Those about Kief may be styled hills ; and are formed by the torrents that flow into the above-mentioned river, creating, in their course, a number of ravines. After crossing the Dnieper at Kief, the country continues level the whole way to Orel, except here and there a few gently-rising slopes ; but there is extremely little wood, though the scene is not quite so bare as that south of the Dnieper. Here is little variety of prospect, there- fore, to amuse the traveller, excepting the common appearances of a rigorous Russian winter the blue ex- panse of heaven above, with the boundless snow-clad earth beneath, and the pale powerless lunar-like rays of the sun shed over it; spotted with hamlets and villages, often at many miles distance from each other, and nearly concealed from view by Winter's universal robe : now and then a chain of sledges traverses the scene, and at twilight seems to be moving in the air, so singularly does the 262 OREL. united line of snow and sky deceive the eye of the beholder; or perhaps the sound of a fellow-traveller's bell is heard tinkling, as he draws near. This precaution is adopted to prevent accidents in the night, as the move- ment of the sledge upon the snow, like that of a ship on the sea, gives no intimation of its approach. Such is the monotonous scenery which presents itself to the tra- veller in Russia, during winter. But the intensity of the cold, and its invigorating effects on animal life, seem to make every living creature move with greater celerity ; and, in general, I have observed the Russians give gi'eater demonstrations of joy at the commencement of winter than at the opening of spring. After breakfast, I took a sledge and drove to the mo- nastery, where I was very kindly welcomed by Jon, bishop of Orel. He seemed to be about fifty-five years of age : he conversed with me for some time on the affairs of the Orel Society ; and, as he was just preparing to go and officiate in the cathedral, we agi'eed to meet at the house of the Procurator of the Government, Mr. Abaza, at dinner. I next waited upon General KorfF, one of the Vice- Presidents, who was remarkably civil, and, at my request, sent a soldier with me to the ostrog or prison, to beg the captain on guard to shew me that institution. It is a square fortress-looking place, flanked with towers; but, internally, the buildings are miserable decayed wooden huts. In the first, which consists of two apartments, we found eighteen sick : it is styled the Hospital. How wretched seemed to be the condition of these poor sick criminals! The second hut was divided into tln*ee rooms; one containing forty prisoners, another fifty-two, and a third with thirty-six men convicted of various crimes, some of them oftlic deepest dye. The fioor was PRISON AT OREL. 263 damp earth, and the walls and windows were dripping from the effect of the frost and the internal warmth of the stove ; but so little room was there, that, as they informed us, some were forced to He under the benches, on the ground, as the benches would not contain them all. In the second division of the fortress, separated from the first by a high brick wall, we found, in the first hut, forty-eight prisoners, lodged in a crowded dirty wet hole, and in the second room twenty-one females, in the most pitiable circumstances imaginable; the floors very wet, and the walls and ceiling running with water, from the seve- rity of the cold without and the heat of the atmosphere within! And what deepened the shades of this picture of human wretchedness was, that four of these females were seated upon the flat top of the stove, playing at cards. In a third room of this hut were twenty- seven prisoners ; and in a fourth, forty-five, belonging to the military, all in similar circumstances of misery, for want of proper lodging. In two of the eight places of confinement they had copies of the Scriptures ; but in the rest there were none. I promised that they should be supplied. They are allowed seven kopicks a day for food. Among the prisoners, my attention was particularly arrested by a man of middle age, belonging to the sect of Scoptzi or Eunuchs. This most extraordinary sect, in imitation of Origen, adopt the literal meaning of Matthew xix. 12. It will hardly be beheved that such a sect could ever become numerous ; yet, in Petersburg alone, their Society contains upwards of two hundred members. They are chiefly money-changers and jewel- lers, and are rich. They reside in the quarter of the city called Peski ; and have their own private meetings. 264 SECT OF EUNUCHS. and worship, which consists of singing, prayer, and exposition of the Scriptures. They are said to be sound in essential points of doctrine, and versed in the Scrip- tures, and they partake of the ordinances in the National Church : but they are excessively reserved; and hence it is most difficult to gain correct information concerning their opinions and practices. These few particulars respecting them I received principally from a friend, the late Senator Hablitz, who Hved for many years next door to some of them. In general, it is easy to distinguish them from other men : they become sallow and sickly- looking, their beards and hair begin to fall off and look parched, and in all respects they resemble a drooping, withering plant. And such also was the appearance of the poor infatuated Scopetz whom I saw in the prison of Orel. I remember that, a short time before I left Petersburg in 1823, the metropohtan. Seraphim, informed me, that in one of the regiments which had received copies of the Russ Testament, seventeen of the soldiers had mutilated themselves, alleging, as the reason. Matt. xix. 12 ; and that the General, in his report to the Emperor on the case, had proposed to take all the copies out of their hands. His Majesty had referred the matter to the metropolitan ; and his Eminence stated to me, that much as he lamented what had taken place from the ignorance of the men, and the leaven, probably, of the sect of Scoptzi, or from the desire of the soldiers to get freed from the service by maiming themselves (a prac- tice not uncommon among them), yet he could on no account agree with the proposal of the General. " If they have misunderstood the mind of the Saviour," said he, " tliey now need the Testament more than ever, to bring them to a better understanding : and, in general. DOMESTIC FESTIVALS. 265 our duty is to do what is right, leading consequences to God ; for these we are not answerable." On leaving the ostrog, I drove to the Procurator's, where I found the bishop, three archimandrites, and a number of the nobility, already assembled to celebrate New- Year's-day, and the Name's-day of a member of the family ; to which feast I also was kindly invited. A plentiful repast was served up, in the European style, with good wines ; and we had much agi'eeable conver- sation, in which the operations of the Bible Society formed a prominent subject. The two great domestic festivals among the Russians are the name's-day and birth-day. These are scrupu- lously observed by all classes, and never fail to bring together the relatives and friends of the family to par- take of the feast, which is the necessary attendant on such an occasion. Thus every individual in a family, young and old, has his two days in the year, which bring a festivity along with them into the domestic circle. Of the two fetes, the name's-day, or anniversary of the saint after whom the person is named, is considered the most important. On both occasions, it is the custom to make presents to the individual, to drink his health at table, to shew him marked attention, and to use every possible means of gratifying him. Among the Russian mer- chants in the interior, it is still common, before the commencement of the feast, in the presence of the guests, to take a large pie made of buck-wheat and eggs, and break it in pieces over the head of the imieninnik ; and if its contents remain richly upon his head and shoulders, this is taken as a sign that he is to be blessed with health and plenty during the succeeding year. On these occasions, even the Tzars and Patriarchs of former times used to present each other with large 266 OREL BIBLE SOCIETY. patties ; for it is recorded that, in 1671, Tzar Alexie Michaelovitch went to the Patriarch on his name's-day, to congratulate him, and presented him with a large pie ; which example was also followed by the Boiars who attended him. The servants and slaves, on the morning of their own name's-day or birth-day, are accustomed to approach their master, in their best attire, and offer him a present of a pie, a dozen of apples, or some dried fruits, with the view of recei\'ing in return a handsome present in mo- ney, with which to treat their friends and companions. These claims are regularly preferred by each domestic, in the houses not only of the Russians, but of foreigners also, and are universally and punctually complied with : the return to the female servants is made, if not in money, in some article of dress,with which they are equally pleased. Orel is an extensive town, built along the hilly banks of the Oka and Orlik. It has about 22,000 inhabitants, almost all Russians. Here are several fine rows of brick houses ; but the rest are of wood. In front of one of the best rows, where the governor and the nobles reside, a fine promenade has been lately formed. They count eighteen churches, and two monasteries. The principal commerce of the inhabitants is in hemp and grain ; the latter for the supply of Moscow, the former for exportation. I passed the evening with the bishop and arcliiman- drites, in the monastery. His Eminence informed me that the Orel Bible Society had collected 9611 roubles, and brought into circulation 1000 copies of the sacred writings ; that his diocese consisted of 860 churches, oi' which not 100 had Bibles, and that even the priests belong- ing to them are still, for the most part, without the Bible. When 1 was about to take leave, one of the archiniaii- MORTALITY FROM DRIFTING SNOW. 267 drites, with a cordial embrace and shake of the hand, gave me a sealed paper, which he requested me to take with me. On returning to the inn, I observed that the letter was addressed to myself; and, on opening it, what was my surprise, at ifinding that it contained two Bank- bills of 25 roubles each, with these words, " To the zealous promulgator of the word of God Be pleased to accept of these two mites (2/.), in aid of your travelling expenses, from your sincere brother Peter, archimandrite of the monastery of St. Nicholas " ! This I considered a pleasing demonstration of a heart warmed with love to the Bible cause, of which he had heard so much during the day. They promised me, at parting, to furnish the prisons and hospitals with the Scriptures. Left Orel, and took the track for Tula. The frost was more than 27 degrees. Many of the peasantry, coming to market, had their cheeks and noses frost-bitten. In every part of the country from Kief, as we came along, we heard great lamentations over the loss of lives on the 16th of last month ; when great numbers had perished in the storm, from wind, cold, and drifting snow. In one village they had lost four lives ; in another, six ; in another, ten ; and so on. Almost every town and village we passed had its melancholy tale of woe respecting that day, on which so many of their sires and sons were buried beneath the shapeless drift, and the deadly frost suddenly shut up the springs of hfe. In the district of Sevsk alone they reckoned upwards of one hundred who had perished on that day. As the corpses are disco- vered, they are brought to the district towns, whither the friendless, the fatherless, and the widow, repair, to claim the stiffened remains of their nearest and dearest relatives, and to attend their funeral obsequies ; one solemn ceremony for all ! 268 ELEGANCE OF RUSSIAN CHURCHES. In the afternoon we arrived at the town of Metzensk, which seems well built, and is beautified with several fine churches. Indeed no country in Europe possesses such a number of fine churches as Russia ! The meanest village is generally furnished with a magnificent temple, with gilt domes and spires, which would grace any city. These edifices are nearly all in the Grecian style of architecture, substantially built of brick, plastered and painted with much taste, and form a striking contrast to the humble wooden huts or izbas of the people en- circling them. Throughout the empire there are not fewer than 483 cathedrals, and 26,598 churches. For- merly many of them were of wood ; but these are gra- dually being replaced by brick edifices, having the roofs covered with sheet-iron, and painted green ; and most of them are built in the form of a cross. Every church is divided into three parts : first, the sanctum sanctorum, called the altar, into which females are not allowed to enter. This is separated from the body of the church by the eiKov6cna(Tig,ikonostas, or screen. In the midst of this holy place stands the holy table, upon which are always laid a golden or silver cross or crucifix, and a richly ornamented copy of the Gospels or a Bible. This part of the church is at the cast end ; so the congregation always worship with their faces towards the rising sun. On the ikonostas are hung the sacred pictures of the Saviour and the Virgin, with the apostles and saints, on the side next the body of the church. In the midst of this screen are the Bvpa ayia, or *' holy doors," which are opened at different times during tlie service. Upon a platform before the ikonostasis, raised several steps, the readers and singers stand, beliind a low railing, which separates tliem from the congregation ; and in the METZENSK TO TULA. 2()9 middle, before the holy doors, the priests and deacons perform most of the services, and deliver their discourses to the people. The second compartment of the church is the nave, which may properly be styled the inner court, where the congregation stand and worship ; for there are no seats in the Russian churches, neither do the congre- gation make any use of books during the service. The third division is the trapeza, which is the west end of the building, and may be denominated the outer court. This is usually as large as the inner court ; and on Sundays and holidays both divisions are usually well filled. The inner walls and domes of the churches are covered with Scriptural paintings, re- presenting the most interesting scenes of our Saviour's life. The ikonostasis is always richly ornamented and gilded ; and the sacred pictures are covered, except the face and hands, with plates of gold or silver, studded with pearls and other gems. Adjoining to each church, or near it, there is always a kolokolnia or belfry, commonly of great height, and pro- vided with large bells, which are tolled several times during every service, and on holidays kept ringing the whole day. The Russians are passionately fond of the sound of bells, and in no country in Europe are larger and finer sounding ones to be found : every church has in its steeple four or five, of different sizes ; and in many this number is doubled and even tripled. We continued our course from Metzensk, intending to travel all night, having no other light than the snow and the spangled vault of heaven. It is wonderful to ob- serve with what skill the horses keep upon the beaten track, during the night, in these boundless plains of snow, even where there is not, for many miles together, a single 270 METZENSK TO TULA. bush or object of any kind to direct their course. We reached the village of Skaratova about midnight. A few versts before we came to it, the postilHon pointed out the place where two merchants had been attacked in the night of the 15th of last month, by four robbers, who took from them 18,000 roubles and all their clothes, after wounding and treating them most cruelly. The horses we got at Skaratova, having been too much driven the preceding day, became quite unable to proceed. Afraid of being obliged to stop in the middle of the stage, at a distance from any dwelling, I resolved on returning to the last village we had passed, and remaining till morning. A peasant received us into his hut. Both apartments of it were full of travelling pea- santry, sleeping on straw, in rows, upon the floor. I also had no alternative but to lie down on a narrow bench at the side of the wall, where I slept about two hours in my cloak, notwithstanding the heat and confined air of the apartment. Not being able to proceed with the jaded post-horses, I engaged three from our landlord, to carry us to Ser- geifskoy, the next post station, a distance of seventeen versts, where we arrived to breakfast. The remainder of our journey to Tula was extremely dangerous, on account of the wdnds and drifting snows. We were compelled to re- main four hours at the village of Solova, until the weather should become more moderate, as the postmaster judged it hazardous to proceed. At last we ventured out again ; and, during the last two stages to Tula, had several narrow escapes from being buried in the drifts. When the horses were unable to drag us through the wreaths, and stood still but for a few minutes, the winds sifted the snow around us so quickly, that in a very short time, had we been unable to get on, we must have found our TULA BIBLE SOCIETY. 271 graves in it, like the thousands who perished in similar circumstances on the 16th of last month. Happily, guided by a gracious Providence, we reached Tula about ten o'clock in the evening ; but I was compelled to promise eight roubles (65. 8d.) for a warm room in an inn, before they would admit us. On approaching, we observed some houses on fire in the eastern suburbs : the stream of light reflected on the frozen atmosphere produced a remarkably beautiful effect. I waited upon Abraham the bishop, a different man in all respects from his predecessor Simeon, with whom I established the Bible Society, in 1816. Abraham com- plained of the indifference manifested by the nobles towards the society ; and stated, that he had made it a rule to oblige every priest, at his ordination, to furnish himself with a Bible, and every deacon to procure a Tes- tament. Their income during the year had been 3883 roubles in subscriptions, and they had sold copies for 1070 roubles. When here at the formation of the So- ciety, I had time more conveniently to see this interest- ing manufacturing town, which in many respects might be styled the Birmingham of Russia ; for there are upwards of 15,000 men employed in making weapons of war and cutlery. Of these, I found 8000 engaged in the manufactories belonging to the Government, who annu- ally prepare 120,000 stand of arms. On the machinery and improvements in these works the Government spares no expense. A steam-engine drives forty lathes, for turning the barrels of muskets. The pistols and guns made here are generally substantial, but not so finely WTOught as those of British manufacture ; and the same observation still applies to every species of cutlery yet fabricated here, or in any other part of the country : they are all inferior, both in the quality of the steel and 272 TULA. in the workmanship. The rich mines of iron ore in the vicinity supply abundance of materials. Another ex- tensive foundry belonging to Government is that of Peterozavodsk, in the government of Olonetz, erected by Peter the Great, where the cannon used in the army and navy are cast. Tula covers a great extent of ground on both sides of the rivers Oussa and Tultza. The number of inhabitants is about 40,000. The public buildings are mostly of brick. The cathedral is one of the finest edifices of the kind in Russia ; massive and well proportioned, but not elegant. The ikonostas is very rich ; most of the pictures being overlaid with plates of gold and silver, through which the face and hands only of the figures are seen. There are twenty-five other churches in the town, many of them beautiful buildings ; also a monastery, and a nunnery. Four bridges of stone, and five of wood, unite the dif- ferent parts of the city. The streets are broad, but ill paved, as the stone used is calcareous, and lasts but a short time. The bazaar of merchants' shops is stored with every kind of luxury. The inhabitants in general are wealthy; and their manufactories of silk-stufFs, leather, ropes, hats, &c. are extensive. I paid a visit to the Spiritual Seminary, where I found 450 students of divinity, and upwards of 600 younger scholars preparing to become such : many of them were fine-looking youths. Their library seemed principally stored with philological, philosophical, and critical works, in Latin, Slavonian, and Greek. I likewise entered the Consistory, during its session : it consisted of the bishop, the archimandrite, and several of the senior secular clergy, as assessors. They were occupied with the spiritual and temporal affairs of the dio- cese, which, they said, contains 847 churches, with 5000 PRISON. 273 priests and deacons, and about 8000 readers and singers. Here is also a provincial gymnasium for the sons of the laity, with several hundred students. Accompanied by the secretary of the society, I went to see the prison, situated on a high ground without the gate. It was in much better order than when I was here before, having been rebuilt last year. The inclo- sure was much hke that of the Kief ostrog, which seems to be taken as a model for the outer walls of many of the provincial prisons now undergoing repair. The prison itself consists of two long wooden parallel build- ings, at the end of one of which is a neat chapel. We found 168 male criminals, in seven rooms: these were clean and comfortable, when compared with those of Orel and other places already described. There were a few sick in the hospital ; and we found seven females confined in a room above the gateway. The prisoners earnestly entreated for copies of the Scriptures, which we promised to send to them. One day, when here on a former occasion, the wea- ther being fine, I took a turn to the extensive burial- ground on the top of the hill above the prison ; where I mused for some time, in solemn delight, amidst thou- sands of tombs, on death and immortality, and the quiet rest of the Christian's grave. Afterwards I entered the magnificent church called All Saints, erected in the middle of this garden of the Resurrection ; and, going up to the second floor, had a charming view of the city, and of the surrounding country. In this second story, a rudely-carved wooden image of the Saviour on the cross, at full length, took my attention ; being the first, to my recollection, which I had ever seen in a church of the Greek confession, where only a superficial painting, on canvas or wood, is permitted. I afterwards inquired T 271^ TULA. of the bishop the reason of this singular exception to the usage of the Church. He referred its origin to the time of the Poles, into whose hands Tula had repeatedly fallen, in the bloody struggles between the two nations in past ages. Coming out of this splendid temple, I again took a turn among the gi'ave-stones ; and had not been long engaged in reading some of the inscriptions, when, unexpectedly, the gentle breeze from the west con- veyed to my ear the sounds of funeral psalmody. I turned towards the sound ; and perceived a funeral at a distance, slowly approaching. A single priest, with a censer in his hand, w^as preceded by a boy who carried before him a sacred obraz or picture whether of the Saviour or one of the saints, I did not observe. The coffin was made of fir-boards, nailed together in their natural colour : it was open, and the body of the deceased was covered with a black mortcloth : four persons carried it, shoulder high : there were only two or three other attendants, all poor people. I followed them slowly to the opened ground. They set down the coffin at a small distance from the grave : it contained the body of a female slave, seventy years of age. Those who accom- panied the corpse to the place of interment seemed to be her fellow-servants. The priest perfumed the grave (or at least feigned to do so) with his censer, in which the live coal seemed already extinguished; chaunting, at the same time, prayers for the peace and happiness of the de- parted soul. This lasted a few minutes only. The cover of the coffin was then brought : it had a rent down the middle ; this gave rise to some pointed re- marks on the part of several lookers-on, who, by this time, had assembled in considerable number. One said, " Sec what kind of a master she has had ! Poor creature ! FUNERAL OF A RUSSIAN SLAVE. 27o though she has served him seventy years, he has not, at last, bestowed upon her a decent coffin." Another man- servant stepped forward, and rephed : " Yes ; God knows how such masters will answer at last, for the manner in which they treat us ! " In the mean time the cover of the coffin, rent as it was, was put on, and the body let down into the grave, at least five feet deep : the priest then came forward and joined earth to earth, and went his way. The conversation continued among the spectators ; and their remarks did little honour to the master of the deceased. At last two young fellows came running with shovels ; and each one present having taken up a hand- ful of clay and thrown it in upon the coffin, the youths began to fill up the grave. At the same time, the ser- vant who seemed to have the oversight of the funeral related to the company some circumstances, concerning the age, sickness, and death of the deceased ; and then taking a piece of silver money from his pocket, he gave it to a boy and sent him to the kabak for half a bottle of brandy, to drink to the memory of the dead. The boy being gone, several beggar-women drew near, among whom he distributed some small coin : they asked the name of the deceased, and, on receiving the alms, each crossed herself, and, repeating the name, prayed that her soul might be admitted into the kingdom of heaven. Having thus far observed the proceedings at the interment, I became chilly ; and therefore walked off, without hearing the sentiments expressed at the drinking of the brandy. But on returning to the inn, I reflected for some time on what had passed before me in the burial-ground of Tula, and on the condition of the Russian peasantry in general ; to which subject I shall devote the next chapter. T 2 2/6 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE CHAP. XIII. State of bondage of the Russian Peasantry Historical sketch of its origin Present condition of the Slaves of the Crown, and of those of the Nobles Russian Slaves have no legal rights Anecdotes of the fidelity of Slaves General treatment of them Domestic Slaves Luxury of the Nobility Manners of the Peasantry Want of bread Utile known in Russia Baths Kindness among the Lower Classes of the People Dress of the Female Peasantry Customs and Ceremonies attending Marriage, Sfc. As the majority of the Russian peasantry are in a state of bondage, and, in every sense of the word, slaves to the proprietors of the lands on which they dwell, I have endeavoured to trace the origin of this vassalage in tlie Russian annals : the result of my inquiry I shall con- cisely lay before the reader, together with such infor- mation as my limits will permit on the present state of this interesting class of the inhabitants. " The ancient Slavonians and Russians," says Ka- ramzin, " suffered neither despotism nor slavery to exist among them, and considered unfettered liberty the chief happiness of man. The landlord was the head of the family ' the father ruled over his children, the husband over his wife, the brother over his sisters ; every family built its hut apart from all others, in order that they might live peaceably and in security ; hence each family formed a kind of miniature republic, in which ancient usages had the force of a code of laws." bo:ndage of the Russian peasantry. 217 But as their acquaintance with the civihzed and luxii- rious Greeks increased, and they learned something of the advantages of social life, they gradually became willing to forego part of their savage liberty, in order to secure new sources of gratification. The Russian population, from the earliest ages, appears to have been divided into three classes Boiars or nobles, similar in rank to our ancient Scottish Barons*; hudi, consisting of warriors and freemen, and classified ac- cording to their occupation and service ; and lastly, Rabi or slaves. The latter were prisoners taken in war, their descendants, and persons who had forfeited their freedom by breaking the laws : but such as had conditionally sold themselves or their children into slavery were called Halops: for, according to their usages, fathers, in their free condition, had power, by a deed called kabala, to sell their own offspring into slavery, either for a certain number of years, or during the life of the purchaser. Debtors also, who could not satisfy their creditors, became their slaves until their debts should be discharged by their labour. Others again, being unable to support their families, and desirous of living under the protection of a |boiar, enrolled them- selves among his vassals f. These conditional slaves were also styled zakupnie, '^^ purchased," or kabalnie ludi, * The Boiars were bound to follow the standard of their prince; and the Ludi, or warriors, those of their Boiars. Of the booty taken in war, the prince received one half, and the other moiety was divided between the chiefs and their followers. In addition to this, the prince sometimes rewarded such as had distinguished themselves, out of his own share of the spoil. Thus the Boiars held the tenure of their lands of the prince, and the warriors of the Boiars. The power of each was in proportion to the number of men he could bring into the field. t A similar practice exists among the Tartars and Circassians of the present day ; and such dependants are by them called Nogars. 278 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ** vassals by contract;" and they differed from the Rabi in this, that they could not be sold or otherwise disposed of; for they, like bondmen for a limited time among the Jews, had the prospect of again returning to freedom ; whereas the Rabi possessed no rights whatever, and were, in all respects, the property of their masters, who I had over them the power of life and death. The Russian historians say, that this distinction be- tween partial and complete slavery continued to be respected until the beginning of the eighteenth century, and that, with the exceptions above specified, the great body of the Russian peasantry were free ; the proprie- tors of the lands on which they were settled had no power either to sell them, pawn them, leave them by will to their posterity, or give them in dowry, as is done at the present day. They were at full liberty to remove from the lands of one lord, and settle on those of ano- ther, after having paid their rents agreeably to law and usage*. The time, however, of this change of residence was restricted, by a ukaz of Ivan Vasillivitch in 1550, to tlie week before and the week after St. George's-day, in the autumn. In consequence of this liberty of mi- gration, the peasantry were registered every year ; by which means the exact number inhabiting each district was ascertained, and the proportion of recruits, taxes, &:c. levied accordingly. But in the year 1597, Tzar Theodor Ivanovitch issued * In those parts where wood was scarce, the rent of the hut was fixed at a rouble and two alteens per annum ; but in a woody country, at lift\-si\ kopiks. Tliose who occupied the hut one year had to pay one- fourth of its value; two years, the half; three years, tliree-fourths ; and four years, the value of it. The removinir peasant was also oblifi,"ed to tjive timely warnini;- of liis intention to chancre, and to settle his accounts in tile presence of witnesses. BONDAGE OF THE RUSSIAN PEASANTRY. 279 a ukaz, prohibiting the free migration of the peasantry, and commanding them to be registered and kept upon the lands which they then occupied. With this edict the poorer class of the nobles were greatly pleased; because the rich boiars and bishops used to give the peasantry gi'eater encouragement, than they could offer, to settle on their lands, and thereby had a great ad- vantage. But the boiars, for the same reason, were dis- satisfied with the arrangement ; and hence the successor of Theodor, Boris GudonofP, wishing to conciliate the boiars, revoked this statute in 1602, and the peasantry regained their former freedom. This deliverance, however, was not of long duration ; for the power and turbulence of the minor nobles was such, as to oblige Gudonoff to renew the enslaving act, by which a gi'eat body of the people were deprived of the right of free migi'ation ; and in 1607 this act was confirmed by Tzar Vasilli Ivanovitch Shinski, and sanc- tioned by both the civil and ecclesiastical courts. In the said ukaz, the following reason was given for this measure " That the migi'ation of the peasantry occa- sioned great confusion ; and that insults and violence were endured by the weak from the strong." In the year 1622, Tzar Michael Feodrovitch, by ukaz, commanded all the peasantry to be registered on the lands belonging to the crown and nobles ; and the latter were strictly forbidden to receive such as had already been inscribed on the rolls of their neighbours. And in the Code of Tzar Alexie Michaelovitch, father of Peter the Great, chap. 11, it is enacted, ^' That the peasantry shall be judged according to the register-books ; and in case any man be found to have removed from the place where he has been enrolled, he shall be compelled to return." From this same chapter it is also evident, 280 HISTORICAL SKKTCH OF THE says Uspenskoy, that the peasantry were already sold with the lands which they cultivated; yet still these edicts, which gradually reduced the poor peasants of Russia into bondage, did not prescribe the extent of the landholder's power over his vassals, until, in the suc- ceeding reign of Peter the Great, the following enact- ments were made. In the census taken in 1718, by order of this emperor, all the existing degrees of vassalage were set aside ; and the people were reduced to one common rubric, that of rahi (slaves). By two other edicts, he commanded the lord of the manor to pay the capitation-tax for the peasantry living on his lands, and to furnish the re- quired levies of recruits : in executing these decrees, the lord of the soil necessarily assumed unlimited power over his tenants : and at this time it became tolerated, to sell them not only in families, but also individually. " From this period," says the Russian historian Boltin, " the nobles began to exercise the same power over the lives and property of their halops and peasants as had been exercised, in ancient times, only over pri- soners taken in war." " There is indeed no law," con- tinues he, " by which the ])easant, as an individual, is made the slave of his landlord. Custom introduced them by degrees to serve in the palaces of the nobles, in direct opposition to the laws on this sul)ject ; and under the denomination of domestics they came to be sold individually ; and this, being tolerated at the com- mencement, has, by length of time and usage, obtained tlie ])()wer of law." Such, briefly, is tlie history of the enslavement of the great body of the })easantry of Rus- sia, by tlie conjoint efforts of their Tzars and nobles. Ouv cainiot calmly reflect on the part which Peter the First took in tliis transaction, without its diminislung BONDAGE OF THE RUSSIAN PEASANTRY. 281 our opinion of his greatness. With the one hand, he did much to exalt and civihze Russia ; but with the other he counterbalanced this benefit, by riveting the chains of slavery and oppression upon the great body of his unfortunate subjects. The emperor Alexander felt deeply for the degraded state of the common Russians, and, by various edicts, sought to ameliorate their condition, and to ease the weight of their chains ; but such is the power and in- fluence of the nobles, that, in a case like this, even the autocratic power of the ruler becomes comparatively powerless. We shall now endeavour to lay before the reader a view of the present condition of the Russian slaves, who '''p- compose the most numerous class of subjects. They may properly be divided into two orders slaves belonging to the crown, and slaves belonging to the nobles. In the former division are included, first, the peasants who are settled on crown lands, and therefore considered national property : next, the slaves who formerly belonged to the bishops, monasteries, and churches, but were appropriated to the use of the Go- vernment in 1764. These enjoy greater privileges than those belonging to the nobles ; because they have full power over the fruits of their own fields and labour, and can dispose of their moveable property as they please. By an edict of the emperor Alexander in 1801, they are permitted to hold lands, but not slaves ; and, with the consent of their stewards, to carry on trade of any kind, to become merchants, manufacturers, &c. &c. They generally live in large villages, and are governed by their own elders or s'arosti, who collect the taxes, ballot for recruits, and regidate the connnon affairs of 282 BONDAGE OF THE RUSSIAN PEASANTRY. the village community. But though, in this division, the great body are possessed of superior privileges, yet the lot of vast numbers is singularly severe ; for of the pea- santry belonging to the empire, many thousands are employed in the mines, others in manufactories be- longing to the Government, many even in those of private individuals. All the various establishments in Russia known under the names of fabrics and zavods are worked by slaves. For instance ; two or three hun- dred are sent to some cloth manufactory, to become weavers and dyers ; an equal number to some foundry, to become engineers, smiths, carpenters, &c. &c. ; though totally unacquainted with these trades. Nor is it un- common to make grants of the labour of the crown pea- santry to foreign speculators in different branches of foreign manufactures, which the Government are de- sirous of encouraging among their subjects : and, alas ! it is too frequently the lot of the poor peasantry to ex- perience harsh and severe treatment in these institu- tions ; where, for a sorry subsistence, they and their offspring are condemned to labour during the remainder of their lives, to enrich some needy foreigner whom Government (with a view, nevertheless, of promoting the public good) thinks proper thus to favour. The greater number of the manufactories belonging to the crown are likewise under the direction of foreiij;ners, each oi' whom has for workmen, his troop of slaves ; varying in number, from a hundred to many thousands, according to the extent of the works*. '' The niercliants who huve numufactories are i^-enerally supplied witli workmen from tlie slaves of the nobility; as few of them are permitted to liold slaves on any condition themselves, and free workmen are not to he obtained. A reiiulation was however made some years ap,-o, per- mittinii' merchunt-manufacturers to purchase slaves to be employed in tlicir BONDAGE OF THE RUSSIAN PEASANTRY. 283 This class of the slaves, attached to the mines, manu- factories, and public works of Government, or of indi- viduals, are greatly to be pitied, on account of the scanty means of subsistence usually allowed them, the hard labour they have to endure, and the almost total neg- lect of their moral and rehgious improvement. But the desire of the ruling powers to advance civilization, com- merce, the revenues of the crown, and the political in- fluence of the nation, closes both eyes and ears to the miseries endured by more than 250,000 slaves thus employed throughout the empire. I know that a Rus- sian, well acquainted with the state of our manufacturing poor in England, might reply, that some of the above disadvantages are equally manifest among them ; but, in all such comparisons, we must never lose sight of the great and essential difference between lawless bond- age, and liberty secured by law. The English opera- tive is a fi-eeman, and has his choice both of labour and master, and a full power over his earnings : the Russian workman is a slave, deprived of these invaluable blessings. The emperor Alexander, during the whole period of his reign, did in no instance, I believe, transfer crown slaves in grants to his ministers and generals, for ser- vices rendered to the state, as had been the custom of preceding sovereigns. How many tens of thousands of these poor creatures were given by Catherine II., not only as rewards to the able men who had served in her armies and in her councils, but to enrich her favourites ! The usual method adopted by Alexander was, to limit their fabrics, on condition of granting' them their freedom at the end of eighteen years' service. It was further provided by this edict, that for the first twelve years they shall labour without any remuneration what- e\ er, except food and clothing ; for the remaining six years, vv ages are allowed them. 28i RUSSIAN SLAVES. his grants from the crown lands and peasantry, in re- ward of services rendered to the country, to twelve years. This kind of benefice is called Arende. The person receiving such grant has the revenues of the villages for the period specified ; after which, they re- vert to the crown, though sometimes the time is pro- longed by a renewal of the grant. In writing to a nobleman, to whom he had granted an Arende, the emperor says*, "The peasants of Russia are for the greater part slaves : it is unnecessary for me to enlarge upon the degradation and misery of such a state. I have sworn, therefore, not to increase the number of these wretched beings ; and have laid it down as a principle, not to dispose of peasants as of property. The estate is granted to yourself, and your posterity, as a tenure for life ; which is a tenure differ- ing from those generally granted, in this point alone, that the peasants cannot be sold or alienated, as beasts of burden. You know my motives : I am convinced you would act in the same manner, were you in my place." We come next to speak of the condition of the slaves belonging to the nobility, who are estimated at up- wards of twenty-one millions, male and female ; whereas those belonging to the crown are not above fourteen millions. The property of a Russian nobleman, in modern times, is not estimated in proportion to the extent of territory he possesses ; but by the number of the resi- dent peasantry, or, in the idiom of tlie country, " the lunnber of souls he possesses." According to the ukazes of the late emperor of IH()8 and 1S12, tliey are not *^ liloyd's I^iff of" AU'xanticr I. p. 27 \. RUSSIAN SLAVES. '28^ in future to be individually sold, or separated from the lands they cultivate; yet there are many ways, still in practice, of frustrating the object of these benevolent edicts. By a ukaz of 1782, the slaves may be removed, with their families, fi'om one part of the empire to ano- ther ; which kind of colonization has been much prac- tised since the conquest of the peninsula of the Crimea, Besarabia, and the northern parts of the Caucasus, where numerous villages of peasantry, from the interior of Russia, are now settled. Uspenskoy further affirms, that, according to the 2d and 22d chapters of the Ilussian code, and the ukazes of 1767 and 1797, the slaves have no right in law against their masters ; for every complaint of the slave against him is considered an act of rebellion. Consequently, such of the nobles as employ their own slaves in their manufac- tories, &c., work them as they please, being under no restrictions. Until 1811, the nobles had power to send their refractory slaves into exile to Siberia; but this power was taken from them by the late benevolent sovereign ; and at present they can only be exiled after judgment has been regularly passed upon them in the common courts of justice. Up to the present day, properly speaking, the Russian slave has no rights, and can possess no property : him- self, his wife, his children, and all that he possesses, are the property of his lord. He is not allowed to purchase any moveable effects, to become surety for any one, to contract debts, to enter into trade of any kind, without the express permission of his lord ; on whose will, also, his entry into the matrimonial state entirely depends. And though the laws of the Church do not allow the marriage-knot to be tied unless with the willing consent of both parties, yet it but too commonly happens, that 2SC) RUSSIAN SLAVES. this most important of all unions is brought about by the interest of the lord, or the caprice of his stewards, and not by the mutual affection of the parties chiefly concerned. How can agriculture or any other national interest prosper, where the labourer has, in law, no per- sonal possession, no personal freedom, no excitement to industry ? But I need not enlarge : he who has been born and nursed in the lap of a freedom, regulated by just laws, can at once appreciate all the miseries natu- rally resulting from such a system of thraldom. Those who have read and heard the arguments often used, in a British Parliament, in favour of a much more inhuman system of slavery in the West Indies, will scarcely be surprised at the apologies made by the nobility of Russia for the lordship which they exercise over their vassals. They say : " Our people are still in a state of infancy, and our laws and usages treat them as such. The system itself is most humane and mer- ciful, when the Noble acts in the spirit of it. He is not to consider himself as the despotic tyrant, but as the father of his peasantry ; and they are to be regarded as his children, for whom he is answerable in all cases, and for whom also he has to provide : it is merely the abuses of the system which make it so abhorrent to free foreigners. Put laws and usages out of the question lay aside all your fine-sounding theories about freedom and the happiness of liberty and then look into our villages, and compare the natural condition of the Russian boor with that of the same class of men in Ireland, in some parts of England, and upon the Con- tinent ; and you will come to the just conclusion, that our ])eople suffer less, and enjoy more, than the most of their brethren in those countries. And after all, they are as frc^e as we are ; for the Tzar has as imich FIDELITY OF RUSSIAN SLAVES. 287 power over us as we have over them : we, our chil- dren, and our property, are as entirely at his disposal as the persons and property of our vassals are at ours." * Apologies in this strain are in the mouth of every con- siderate, patriotic, loyal Russian noble. But there are others of them still more patriotic, and not less loyal, who earnestly wish to see the peasantry restored to their ancient freedom, and to have an equitable system of law introduced for all classes. Justice, however, compels me to state, that I am acquainted with many noblemen who govern their pea- santry upon truly paternal principles, and take great pains to promote the prosperity, health, and comfort of their slaves. To such masters the slaves not unfre- quently shew great attachment, of which the following anecdote is an instance : On the 15th of October 1808 died, in Moscow, Prince Paul Michaelovitch Volhonsky, aged 46. Hearing of the event, two hundred of his slaves came, with their senior at their head, from the village belonging to the prince, near that city, and entreated to be permitted to carry his body to the grave ; saying, " We are come to take farewell of our father we will carry his corpse in our arms to its grave." The relations of the prince were greatly touched by this proof of affection to the de- ceased ; but informed the peasantry, that he would not be interred in Moscow, but in the monastery of Barofsk, where his ancestors lay, upwards of ninety versts from that city. The information seemed only to augment * Hence the ancient practice among them, of subscribing' themselves, when addressing the Tzar, " Halop." By a ukaz of Peter the Great this was changed into Rab, "slave." But, in 1786, Catherine softened down this humiliating epithet into Vscjwddaneiscfiee Slugd, " Most obedient servant ;" which form of signature still continues. 288 RUSSIAN SLAVES. their ardour to shew their affection for the deceased. Their number soon increased to three hundred. In the midst of all the severities of a Russian winter, they divided themselves into companies, and, reHeving eacli other every two versts, performed this last service to one whom they considered not so much their lord as their tender father ; regarding it as a privilege to be permitted thus to shew their attachment to his memory. The following is an instance of fidelity in the slave, from religious principle, to the interests of his master, even at a time when a foreign enemy was in vain en- treating him and ten thousands of his brethren to cast the yoke from their necks. In the year 1812, while the country was overrun by the French, Alexander FrolofF w^as senior in the village of Smerdina, belonging to Mr. Bulgakoff. All the pea- santry in the neighbourhood were already flying for safety in different directions ; and they advised him to sell off the corn in the magazine ])elonging to his lord, and to fly also. Alexander refused this advice : " The will of God be done," said he: "my duty is to take care of the corn : 1 have no orders to sell it :" and he continued to labour in his master's service. Already the enemy was within nine versts of the village, and had laid a bridge over the river Cleazma; yet the senior continued his work. He carted home all the corn which was still in the fields belonging to his lord, and took proper care of what was in the house. And after the retreat of the enemy, when he first saw his master again, he ex- claimed : " I fear not now to die I have been faithful to my charge God has enabled me to save all your property." His example and advice were the means also of kee])ing many from abandoning the neighbouring villages : and when thanked for it by their proprietors. RUSSIAN SLAVES. 289 he usually replied '' God has had mercy upon us all !" And though the obrok or capitation-tax, laid upon the peasant at the discretion of his lord, differs in amount according to the circumstances of the master and the slave, yet the sum usually levied by wealthy nobles is very moderate, and not by any means an equi- valent for the privileges they enjoy, from his lands, and protection. We do not deny, then, that certain advan- tages are connected with this system of government : what we complain of, is, that an irresponsible power should be lodged in the hands of so many, over the great body of the subjects. The actual state of the great mass of the Russian vassals, in point of enjoyment, may perhaps be, in some respects, better than that of many of the free poor in some other countries ; yet in point of law and privilege there is an infinite distance between them. A plentiftil supply of what is required to mere animal existence is not to prejudice us in favour of bondage : a man may be kept in bondage in chains of gold, as well as in fetters of iron ; and it may even be said, that the very opulence of many of the peasantry belonging to the OrlofFs, Demidoffs, and Sheremetoffs of Russia is calculated, like the golden chain, not to ease, but increase the weight of their burthen. Some of the slaves beloncjins; to these and other rich no])les have purchased estates, have built and furnislied splendid houses in the capitals, and carry on extensive commerce in the name of their lords. And it is the pride of these nobles to possess such wealthy vas- sals, and no money will induce them to emancipate them. The yoke of vassalage, therefore, is kept upon their shoulders, even when Fortune has showered upon them her golden treasure. That the cliildren of such slaves must feel deeply mortiiied, with all the light which L 290 RUSSIAN SLAVES. modern education and manners throw around them, is not difficult to be conceived. The late emperor had a great desire to see the poor Russian mujlk raised from his low and servile vassalage, into the rank of a free man ; but his plans for bringing this about met with determined opposition on the part of the principal boiars of the empire ; and since his decease, I know of no effectual effort that has been made, on the part of the Government, to accelerate this most desirable event. No method, I am persuaded, could be so safely fol- lowed by the Government, for restoring the Russian slaves to their ancient freedom of migi^ation, and to a participation in the rights of free citizens, as that of causing, by legislation, the capitation-taxes, and other value now placed upon the head of the slave, to fall upon the land which he cultivates. Such a measure, while it delivered the serf from the power of the noble and his steward, would immediately place him under the controul and protection of an equitable system of law in the hands of magistrates. It would secure to the Government and nobles their usual revenues, in the shape of rent from their estates, without risking the tranquillity of the empire during so important a change. The late emperor, Alexander, restored liberty of mi- gration to the serfs of Esthonia and Courland, and placed them, with the consent of their nobles, in the condition of free men : and surely the Russian Government, and the nobles also, will soon be convinced of this great truth, that their own interest depends upon their follow- ing that example ! for the Russians, as a people, can never attain to tlie privileges and to the high character of other civilized, enlightened, and free nations of Europe, until tlie great mass of the inhabitants of the RUSSIAN SLAVES. 291 empire shall have been raised up from this equally unjust and unchristian state of vassalage. The slaves of rich nobles generally enjoy a much greater degree of freedom than those of the poorer class. They are left to cultivate their own land, to engage in traffic, and follow trades in the towns, being supphed with a passport from their lord ; but they pay at the rate of from ten to thirty roubles, ohrok, for every male in their families*. Those are in a much worse condition who are obhged to work for their masters three days in the week, and have only the remaining days to cultivate their own fields and gain support for their families. But the pea- santry belonging to poor nobles are circumstanced worst of all, because the necessities of their masters demand of them the most of their time. It is to this class that acts of oppression and inhumanity most frequently hap- pen. In consequence of these petty lords possessing little property, or hving above their income, their agri- cultural peasants are burthened, while their domestic slaves drag out a life of idleness, scanty subsistence, and misery. And the number of such petty nobles is daily increasing, from two causes : First, from the subdivision of property in every successive generation ; as, according to the Russian law, the estates of the father are divided among his children : secondly, from the constant aug- mentation of the nobility, through rank obtained in the military and civil services ; as every one, on attaining the rank of captain, is thereby ennobled. An attempt, however, in some measure to remedy this evil, was made by a ukaz of 1822, which restricted the liberty of pur- chasing slaves to nobles of a higher grade. * A rouble is worth about ten-pence, being of the same value in the present day as a Frenth//-r//;c. u2 292 KL'SSIAN SLAVES. Many of the nobles pass a great part of the year on their estates, and themselves direct the agricultural and other rural employments of their vassals ; visiting Mos- cow, with their families, only for a few months or weeks in winter, according as their circumstances allow. But a far greater portion of them entrust the government of their villages to stewards ; who live among the peasantry, superintend the cultivation of that part of the estate, the produce of which is exclusively for the lord, sell the corn at the neighbouring markets, and remit the revenue to the family, resident in Moscow or in some other town. Another method adopted by many is, to let out their estate for a certain number of years to farmers, who are, alas ! too often left at full liberty to work the })easantry and land as they please. But it is the interest of the noble to care for the well- being of his peasantry ; for on this depends his own revenues. And here we find the counteracting jn'inciple to much that is bad ; for in case of famine or other mis- fortunes, he is bound to provide for his people, to supply them with seed to sow their fields, and with food till the; new crop appears. And when the slave grows old, and cannot any longer work, the lord is l)ound, by law, to take care of him. I have re})eatedly heard the peasant refer to this, as an anchor of hope in old age ; though few, comparatively, of those who belong to })Oor nobles, ever enjoy ease and competency in advanced age. I knew a female servant, vvln^ at the age of sixty, after havhig borne thirteen children, had not only to work for her own bread, but annually to pay to the young lady ^vh()se property she was, sixty roubles (2/. IS.5.) capita- tion-tax. The general intercourse between a Russian noble and his vassal is marked, nevertheless, by a certain degree of DOMESTIC SLAVES. M)3 humanity and Christian sympathy. In common conver- sation, the slave always addresses him by the name of '' Father ;" and the lord designates his slave, " Brother ;" and when speaking to more than one, he calls them '' Children." Harsh treatment, and even cruel usage or chastisement, do occasionally take place ; but this is not so often at the instigation of the lord as of the steward. The greater part of the domestic slaves, male and female, are unmarried, and form a distinct class of them- selves. Their numbers are so great, that free scope is given to idleness, and to habits which ruin their consti- tution and vitiate their morals. It is not unusual to find, in a single family of the nobility, thirty or forty females, from sixteen to thirty years of age, all unmarried, most of them employed the whole year in embroidery and other needle-work; with as many, or more, men-ser- vants, under the denomination of coachmen, gTooms, lacqueys, &c., spending a life of sloth, three-fourths of whom might be more advantageously employed as arti- sans, or cultivators of the soil. But the pride and as- sumed dignity of the family would, in their estimation, suffer, were they to retrench their numbers, even though many find it difficult to support them. And this kind of courtly display increases in proportion to the means of the noble; so that it is no uncommon thing to find from 200 to 500 of these domestics attached to the residence of the principal boiars, forming bands of musicians, actors, singers, and dancers; and others of them trained to mechanic arts of all kinds, from the painter and watch- maker to the smith and chimney-sweeper. When read- ing the account given by Gibbon, in his '' Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," of the manner of life, travelling, domestic fetes, luxury, ar.d splendor, in which the patricians of Rome lived under the emperors, with 291- LUXURY OF THE NOBILITY. troops of slaves ministering to their pride and pleasure, I have frequently said to myself *' What is this, but a description, in every leading feature, of the characters and lives of the modern Russian boiars !" 1 remember seeing a chivalric carousal, or tournament, prepared and acted by the nobles of Moscow, the year before the French entered Russia, at which there were upwards of 100,000 spectators ; and which, for the beauty of the horses, the richness of their trappings, and the splendid dresses of the riders, probably surpassed in brilliancy even the public fetes of Ancient Rome. There is a remarkable trait of domestic character in the advice given to his children by the Tzar Vladimir II., son of Sviatopolk, who began to reign in 1113. The words are contained in his will. ''Be not careless," says he, "of the state of your house ; but look into every thing your- selves, so that strangers may not laugh at your house and your table. What belonged to my slave to do, while in the field or a hunting, I myself have performed ; and the whole order of my household affairs is of my own an-anging." It were well if the modern Russian nobles possessed domestic virtues similar to what is here recommended; but many of them are little acquainted with the state of their own affairs, and are entirely in the power of mercenary agents, whom they employ to superintend their estates, to collect the obrok (taxes) from the peasantry, and for- ward it to tliem in Petersburg and Moscow, to be ex- pended in the gay and dissipated circles of those capitals. Hospitality is still an eminent virtue among the Rus- sians. In proportion as civilization increases, indeed, taverns and hotels become more general, and the enter- tainment of strangers in })nvate families less common ; })ut in the interior, the stranger is welcomed at almost MANNERS OF THE PEASANTRY. 295 every hut, and kindly offered a part of the frugal fare possessed by its inmates. Brown bread, eggs, milk, salted cucumbers, radishes, &c. &c., are readily produced by the mujik and his wife, in their humble izba ; and it is seldom that they will consent to accept any compensation. In fact, they have a bye-word which strictly forbids this ; for they say, " To take payment for the bread and salt which a passing stranger consumes in thy dwelling is a great sin." No one has experienced more of this national virtue than myself; for though I have probably visited Moscow upwards of ten different times, each time re- maining from three to six weeks, yet I never spent a night or dined at an inn in that city ; and I remember to have lodged at an inn only once in St. Peters- burg, and that was on my first arrival in the country, in 1805. The peasantry have generally robust and vigorous con- stitutions, capable of enduring the hardest labour and the severest privations. They think nothing of working fourteen hours out of the twenty-four, day after day, in the severest heat of summer, with only bread and salt for food, and a can of quass to drink ; and they will tra- vel on similar fare, with their sledges laden with frozen provisions and other produce, to the great marts in the two capitals, for a thousand miles successively, resting five hours and journeying five alternately, night and day, at the rate of from fifty to sixty versts in the twenty-four hours, and frequently in frost from 15 to 25" Reaumur. In 1809, I made a tour, in company with such a caravan of sledges, for 800 miles; and, as the frost w^as for a few days excessive, being more than 30, and commonly from 15 to 25, frost-bitten ears, noses, cheeks, hands, and feet, were very common. The only remedies applied, were immersion of the part in cold water, and rubbing 290 MANNERS OF THE I'EASANTIIY. with snow. But, notwithstanding all their precaution, it is customary every spring, after a severe winter, to see hundreds of the peasantry with excoriated cheeks and noses, which, in appearance, very much resemble the marks left by scalds and burns. In the above-mentioned winter of i80i), the severest frost took place in January; and about 2.)U miles on this side of Astrachan, I had an opportunity, one day, during its continuance, of seeing the phaenomenon of two suns ; the natural sun being reflected in the frozen moisture of the atmosphere, as in a mirror : but the face of nature looked dreary beyond conception ; the birds fell frozen to the ground in their flight; and multitudes of cattle, sheep, and especially camels, belonging to the poor Kalmucks in those parts, for which no shelter is provided in winter, shared no better fate. Want of bread is rarely known among the Russian people. There is everywhere, except on occasion of a failure in the crops, a plentiful supply of it. Their natural wants are but few, and those soon provided for. There is an abundance of uncultivated land in the pro- vinces, suflicient to support three or four times the popu- lation now upon it. Their steppes support countless numbers of horned cattle, sheep, and horses ; their woods abound in game, and their rivers in flsh. They are there- fore in no want of the first necessaries of life ; and with its luxuries, brandy and beer excepted, they are still pretty generally unacquainted. They are much addicted to the warm bath ; which, if too frequently used, is cer- tainly hurtful to the constitution, even of the strongest ; but as used once a week l)y the peasantry, it is a salutary auxiliary to cleanliness, and is seldom found detrimental to health. The bath used by them is properly a vapour-bath. MANNERS OF THE PEASANTUY. 297 It consists of an oven, over which is erected a small square building of block wood, well caulked, and made close in every part. This oven is half filled with loose stones ; and when these are made red-hot by heating the oven, water is cast on them, until the house is filled with hot vapour, in which the individual stretches himself, upon a high or a low bench, according as he wishes to be in a great or moderate heat: here he continues for fifteen or twenty minutes, and is beaten and rubbed with a birch-broom with the leaves on it; he then washes his whole body in water heated in pots in the oven, dresses, and returns home. Every village has several of these baths for the use of its inhabitants. The Russian peasant is careful of taking cold : even in the middle of summer, after a hot day, should the wind veer towards the north or east, he instantly resorts to his winter shouh or sheep-skin coat ; and at no season would he think of undertaking a journey without having his shoub along with him. A remarkable flow of civihty and kindness is observa- ble among the lower classes of the people. They seem to pay a high regard to each other's good wishes, and are courteous and even pious in their common mode of inter- course. On entering the hut where the family are at meal, it is necessary, after salutation, to say, " Hleb da sol," " Bread and salt :" on hearing this, the father of the family, or eldest of the company, replies, "Dohro pojalovat hleba solikushat," " You are welcome to eat of the bread and the salt." From this manner of salutation, hospita- lity is frequently styled hlebosolstuo ; {rom. hleb, ''bread," and sol, " salt." On passing by while others are at work, the stranger exclaims, " Bogh iv pomotch/" " ^lay God be your help! " The labourers reply, " SpasibaJ' " Salvation to thee !" 298 RUSSIAN iMANNERS. To those who undertake a journey, the usual parting wish is, '* Svami Bogh" which answers to our " Adieu ! " to which the party leaving, rephes, "Prosti," " Forgive," viz. " if in any thing I have offended." This is a very general mode of expression ; and prohably arose, at first, from the great stress laid upon this word in the Lord's Prayer, where we are so emphatically taught the importance of mutual forgiveness. In general, the Russian, of whatever class, never un- dertakes any work of importance until he has crossed himself, and sought the Divine protection. And before undertaking a journey, it is customary for the rich mer- chants, and many among the nobles, to go to church, and to have a special service for imploring that the Divine blessing may go with them : the emperor does the same. Others again invite the priest, with his deacon and psalmodists, to their own houses, where prayers are offered up, in the midst of the domestic circle, before the image of the tutelary saint of the family ; domestics, children, and friends, attending. I do not mean to say that prayers are directly offered to the saints on this occasion, any more than on any other ; but that, as it is the general custom of the Russians never to pray unless they have a crucifix, or the picture of the Saviour, of the Virgin, or of some saint of the Kalendar before them, so, on this occasion also, the prayers are offered up before the family ohraz (sacred })icture). At the commencement of a battle, it is tlie custom of tlie Russian soldiers not merely to offer uj) l)rayers for mercy and deliverance, but also, whenever circumstances admit, to receive absolution and the holy sacrament. The peculiar usages of this people, however, have undergone great changes since the time of Peter the SECLUSION OF FEMALES. 29i) First ; among others, the famiharity of intercourse be- tween the sexes has, within the last fifty years, approxi- mated much nearer to European manners than could have been expected. Before the time of the great Russian innovator, the female sex, among the nobles and mer- chants, were kept in a state of seclusion, nearly in the same manner as in other eastern countries shut up from the view of strangers, and allowed no familiar so- ciety with the other sex. They were to be seen, indeed, by none of either sex, with the exception of their nearest relations ; and in the sixteenth century, this Mohamme- dan custom had obtained so firm a hold among the nobles, that they never allowed their wives and their daughters to see their nearest male relatives. They were restrained from visiting the churches, except on great holidays; and even then they went muffled up, and veiled, under proper escort. I call this rigorous law of seclusion a Mohammedan custom ; because I have observed, that whenever their power has been exercised over Christian nations for any length of time, as, for instance, in the case of the Greeks, they leave behind them many of their pe- culiarities and usages, and especially their jealous treat- ment of the female sex. The first step towards the emancipation of the Rus- sian females from this severe yoke consisted in its be- coming fashionable for the ladies of Moscow to make a short visit to the dining-room after dinner, and to hand to each of the husband's guests a glass of nalivki or liquor : having performed this, they again retired into their own apartments. It is said, moreover, that on certain occasions, when the landlord wished to shew a peculiar mark of regard for his guests, he would request them in his presence to salute his wife and daughters. Probably this took place in imitation of the German mode 300 SECLUSION OF' FEMAI.KS. of salutation, (which, even to the present day, is not con- sidered as complete, without a mutual salute on both cheeks ;) for at that time numbers of Germans resided in Moscow, to whom a particular district of the city was allotted, and called the German slohoda or " settlement." But their historians say, that the first time that even the wife of the Tzar made her appearance in public, was when Alexie Michaelovitch performed a pilgrimage to the monastery of Holy Sergie, about sixty-four versts north of Moscow, accompanied by his Tzaritza, in an open carriage. But so unaccustomed, were the Rus- sians to such a scene, that, it is said, most of the spectators either hung down their heads as the Tzaritza passed by, or turned their faces away from her. Sophia, however, the aspiring sister of Peter, followed the ex- ample set her by this princess; and used to converse openly, not merely with the ministers of state, and with foreign ambassadors, but even with the officers and com- mon soldiers of the Strelitzi. Peter, when he came to the throne, endeavoured, by the introduction of theatrical and other amusements among the people, to produce that amalgamation and free intercourse between the sexes, which he had ob- served to be productive of so many benefits and comforts in other Christian countries: and at last, in 1700, he issued a ukaz, encouraging females of all ranks to a modest and free intercourse with the other sex ; and forbidding both the married and unmarried to wear the veil at weddings, funerals, feasts, and other public occasions. He, further, began to invite the boiars, with their wives and daughters, to entertainments at court, which he liave in the l^uro- pean style ; and commanded them to a})})ear and par- take of them, dressed in the European fasliion. Tliese efforts bavin*' Ijeen carried on durinu" the succeedinij: DRESS OF RUSSIAN FEMALES. 301 reign, have proved completely successful in emancipating the female sex, among the nobles in Russia, from the harems* in which their fair ancestors used to be con- fined. But a remnant of this ancient custom is still observed in the domestic circle of the merchants in the interior, whose wives and daughters seldom see strangers; and, when they do, appear to feel a very considerable degree of shyness, agitation, and constraint. Every year, however, is both reducing the number of beards and long garments among this class of the Russian subjects, and bringing their sons and daughters more and more under the power of European fashions. ^ The Russian maidens have their hair plaited, hanging down behind, and bound at the end with a ribbon, which reaches to the hem of their sarafan or upper robe. In addition to this, a band frequently encircles the brow, made of gold or silver, hair, or silk. In braiding their hair they shew much taste, and in summer the country girls decorate it with flowers. But as soon as the marriage ceremony is over, their tresses are no more exposed to view. Wives cover their heads with hand- kerchiefs of richly-embroidered silk, cotton, or linen, according to their ability to procure them. It is looked upon by ihe peasantry as a great shame for a married woman to appear anywhere bareheaded, but especially in the church ; and it is only occasionally among the great that the apostolic regulation, in this respect, is dispensed with : the common people and merchants' wives pay the strictest attention to it. The wives of the lower order are careful not to expose their bare * The apartment of the Russian Princesses, in the ancient records, is called horom ; a word evidently borrowed from the Arabic harem, and introduced among thim by the Mohammedan Tartars. 302 DRESS or RUSSIAN FEMALES. lieads in the presence even of their own husbands, or to dress their hair before them. On one occasion, the late metropohtan, Platon, is said to have reproved a noble lady sharply in the presence of the congi'egation, when she approached the altar bareheaded, after the service, to receive his benediction. The head-dresses of the married females in the pro- vinces differ very much : in some parts, they are modest and very becoming; in others, again, they are exceed- ingly fanciful and unwieldy, as may be seen in the Rus- sian costumes which have been given by Kerr Porter and others. These head-dresses are called /.o/io.v/z^///: they are made of pasteboard, and covered with silk bro- cades of lively colours, or embroidered with gold and silver. The kokoshniki (which, with the sarafan, a pair of ear-rings, and a small band around the waist, form the chief articles of a Russian female's upper dress a dress, at once simple, elegant, and becoming) is the general costume of the ladies at court. Polygamy was customary among the heathen Russians. When Vladimir the Great embraced the Christian faith, he had five wives, and a great number of concubines : the former were all divorced before he was wedded to the Grecian princess, Anne. What were the peculiar customs of the Russians before they became Christians, in regard to the rites of marriage, is not knownt That this ceremony W71S usually celebrated in their temples before their idols, seems probable, from mention made in the Russian annals of the marriage of Olga with Igor, in the year i)0;j, as having been performed with great ceremony and feast- ing ill the temple of Perun at Pleskoff. To the present day, there still remain a number of su])erstitious customs connected with marriage, whicli can only be traced to ancient lieatlien usages. Tlie ap])lication of the whij), for MARRIAGE CUSTOMS. 803 instance, to the back of the bride, by the bridegroom, on the wedding-night, at the side of the bridal bed, while she is employed in taking off his boots, as a mark of her complete subjection to her husband, is probably of this kind. This custom is no longer to be found among the higher classes of the Russians, in the present day ; but is still practised among the common people, in certain parts of the interior. The great fears entertained of the influence of witchcraft over the new-married pair ; the employing of exorcists, called znatoki, to counteract this influence ; the putting them to sleep upon straw, in a room which has never been heated and never inhabited, and other usages of a like kind, which in many parts remain to this day, evidently originated in superstition. At the solemnization of marriage, there must be the svaha (pronuba), drushko (paranymphus), devochnik (pro- telea), and the ring persten (arrha) ; all of which usages are borrowed from the Greeks. The marriage cere- mony is always performed before the altar, and con- sists of three parts : First, the betrothing, in which the parties exchange rings, in pledge of their mutual love and fidelity. The second is the matrimonial coro- nation, and is properly the rite of marriage : in this, the priest, having pointed out the duties of the matrimonial state, and interrogated the parties in respect to their mutual consent, crowns the bridegroom first; saying, " The servant of God, M., is crowned for the handmaid of God N., in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Then taking the second crown, he puts it on the head of the bride, saying, " The hand- maid of God, N., is crowned for the servant of God, M., in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." The third part of the ceremony is the dissolving of the crowns, in which the priest concludes 304 .MARRIAGH fTSTOMS. with this prayer : " We thy servants, O Lord, liaving rati- fied the contract and performed the office of marriage, as in Cana of Gahlee, and laid up the symbols of it, give glory to Thee, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages." In former times, the crowns used were garlands of flowers ; but at present every church has two crowns, either of gold or of silver, which are used in this cere- mony. All these offices belonging to marriage are now united in one service ; but they were formerly performed at different times. No marriages are solemnized in the time of Lent : and a fourth marriage is altogether un- lawful in the Greek Church. Before the influx of luu'opean customs, tlie contract for marriages was formed by the parents and relatives ; and the bridegroom was never permitted to see his bride until the ceremony of betrothing took place. This cus- tom was strictly observed, even in regard to the daughters of the Tzars; for when the emperor Frederick IIL sent an ambassador to loanna Vasilhvitch, in 1498, demanding one of the daughters of the Tzar in marriage to a mem- ber of the Imperial family, and the ambassador recjuestcd permission to see the grand-duchess, he received for answer, '^that the Prhicesses of Russia could i^.ot be seen before their betrothing." Peter the (ireat tliought proper, however, to do away with this remnant of eastern severity ; and ordained, by a ukaz in the year 1700, that in future the bride and bridegroom should have an opportunity of seeing each other, several times, before their union ; and that a mutual recpiest should be made by the parties themselves to enter into wedlock; and until this sliould have taken place, tlie priest was connnandcd not to solenniize the ceremony. The exaninle set by \']adimir, of marrying a fore ign MARRIAGE CUSTOMS AND CEREMONIES. 305 princess, was followed by several of his successors. When, however, Russia became divided into principalities, the reigning princes usually chose their consorts from among the princesses of their own nation ; and after the union of these principalities into one state, they chose them from among their own subjects a practice which con- tinued until the days of Peter I. The ceremony of selecting a consort for the Tzar, of which so much has been said in various books of travels, took place, ac- cording to the Russian writers, in the following manner. The virgins most distinguished for beauty and accom- plishments in the dominions of the Tzar were assembled in Moscow, and privately examined by persons appointed, before they were admitted as candidates for the hand of the Tzar. This examination, and indeed the whole business, was confided to the care of certain boiars of the first rank, and their wives. Those who were con- sidered suitable persons were admitted into the palace of the Tzar, and apartments were assigned to each of them. They were entertained at one table during their stay, and passed their time in social amusements befitting their years and station. In the mean time, the Tzar frequently paid them a visit incognito, overheard their conversa- tion, and made his own remarks upon them. After a very mature examination, carried on in this secret manner (no doubt on account of the national usage, that no in- tercourse could take place between the parties before marriage), and when the Tzar had fixed upon the virgin he intended to raise to his throne, he paid them a pubhc visit at their table, and gave to the lady of his choice a handkerchief and a ring. On each of the rest, also, he bestowed a handkerchief, and they returned to their re- spective homes. The chosen maiden was then publicly proclaimed as the intended of the Tzar, under the name x 3()() CUSTOIVIS AND CEREMONIES of Grand Princess ; and in the prayers of the church, until the marriage ceremony took place, she was re- membered as the chosen bride of the Tzar. The exact number of young females for such an occasion was not fixed. When Natalia (the mother of Peter the Great) was chosen by Alexie Michaelovitch, their number was sixty. It is recorded, that when Va- silli Joanovitch had to make his choice, no fewer than 1500 damsels were assembled. It was the custom of the Russians of all ranks to marry their children very early, even before the age of puberty: but Peter, by a ukaz of 23d March 1714, strictly prohibited the nobles from entering the married state before the age of twenty for the bridegroom, and seventeen for the bride, Catherine II., by a ukaz in 1775, reduced the legal age of marriage, to seventeen for the male, and thirteen for the female. This custom of early marriage still prevails ; and in innumerable instances, especially among the common people, it is fraught with very pernicious consequences, both to the physical and moral state of the parties. Many shocking instances have been known among the peasantry, of a breach of the laws of consanguinity in consequence of these premature marriages. By a recent ukaz of the present emperor, Nicholas, ( 1831 ,)the priests are forbidden to solemnize marriage unless the man be eighteen, and the bride sixteen years old : and this edict ex- tends also to the Uniats and Protestants in tlie empire. From the time that Christian marriage was introduced among the Russians, it was made a regulation, that the parties intending to unite should procure a written per- mission from the ecclesiastical authorities, certifying that no legal obstacle stood in the way of the union. These certificates were called nenetchnik pawiafae/i, " memorials ATTENDING MARRIAGE, &C. 307 of marriage;" and the tax raised from them always belonged to the bishop of the diocese. But Peter the Great, by a ukaz of the 25th of January 1709, ordered the revenue arising from these certificates to be em- ployed in supporting hospitals : and Catherine II., by a ukaz of the 20th of June, and 14th of July, 1765, set aside this very ancient usage altogether, and ordered marriage to be solemnized, without certificate, on the testimony of two witnesses. x2 308 JOURNEY FROM TULA TO MOSCOW CHAP. XIV. Departure from Tula Arrival in Moscow Sketch of the present state of that city Formation of the Moscow Bible Society, in 1813 its success in circulating the Scriptures State of society in Moscow Character of the Nobility State of Civiliz- ation in general Privileges of the Nobility State of general Knowledge and Education in Russia their Literature and Learning Catherine II. 's estimate of the natural alnhties of the Russians Further remarks on their character Illustrative Anecdotes Ancient Legislation of the Tzars Present state of their Courts of Justice Russian Proverbs. Leaving Tula, we took the road for Sarpuha and Mos- cow. We still found the cold intense, and the snows deep, and sometimes drifting, which made our way pecu- liarly dangerous. About the middle of the second stage we fell in with a poor peasant, lying across his sledge weeping : his jaded horse could proceed no further, liis companions had left him, and he was afraid of perishing by the frost. I gave him some assistance in money; and advised him to return to a village about two versts distant. We continued to travel through the night, though often in imminent danger of losing the track from the drifting snows. However, under the guidance of a gracious Providence, we reached Sarpuha two hours past midnight ; and, continuing our course, arn\'ed safely in Moscow about two in the afternoon of the 5th of Janu- ary, (). S. ; and took up our lodgings in the house of the Moscow Pible Society. What a change is observable in the appearance of Moscow, since I was last here, PRESENT STATE OF MOSCOW. 809 in 1817 ! The city seems to have put on a new dress of unprecedented splendor : the vast number of new buildings, the elegance with which the old brick palaces and houses have been replaced since the conflagration, the new painting and gilding of the churches and steeples, the regularity of the new streets, &c. &c., seem far to outstrip the pristine grandeur of this ancient metropolis. Still greater is the contrast which the city now presents to the state of devastation in which I found it in 1813, when I came here to establish the Moscow Bible Society; and when, for fourteen days successively, I drove among the ruins, covering an area of nearly twenty miles in cir- cumference, in search of such of the nobihty and clergy as had returned from their flight, and were likely to join me in laying the foundation of the institution ! And when we met in an upper room of the College for Fo- reign Affairs, situated on a hill near the centre of the city, from whence we had an extensive view on all sides of the boundless scene of desolation and destruction, how did some of the aged Russians, most of whom are now no more, weep over it, especially when the late arch- bishop Augustine, in his address, called their attention to the waste state of the virgin daughter of Russia, empha- tically known among the people by the name " Our Mother Moskva/' and proposed to them to commence the restoration of the city, by founding a society to the glory of God and the spiritual benefit of her scattered sons and daughters ! But I shall not attempt a particular description of this ancient capital, even in its present state ; because this would require a volume, and would not accord with the object of this publication. A few remarks must suffice. INIoscow exercises great influence on the other cities of the empire. It is, properly speaking, the centre of its com- 310 MOSCOW. merce and power; being situated in a fertile and healthy plain, surrounded by a country which produces abun- dantly for the support of its numerous population, and having extensive water communication with many of the provinces, by the river Moscow, which flows at the foot of its ancient citadel, the Kremlin, and divides the city into two parts. It is the rendezvous of the nobihty and merchants of Russia. The former have filled it with pa- laces ; the latter with wooden huts. Every noble family of distinction has its dvor or family residence in Moscow, placed in the centre of a large plot of ground ; and attached to it, a court-yard, gardens, stables, and dwell- ings for their troops of domestics. Here they usually pass their long winters. And as every nobleman builds according to his own fancy, and the numerous tribes of merchants and mechanics follow this example, and erect brick, or more commonly wooden houses of every size and figure in the spaces between these stately palaces, the reader may picture to himself the grotesque assem- blage of edifices, mean and majestic, of all descriptions, of which Moscow was composed, and which still cha- racterizes the city in- its renovated state : for although the Government has endeavoured to superintend the erection of the new buildings, so as to preserve gi*eatcr regularity in the streets, and has laid out pubHc market- places, and new promenades around the high w^alls and upon the elevated bulwarks of the ancient Kremlin, and removed much that was formerly offensive to the in- habitants, yet the ancient characteristics of this extra- ordinary metropolis, })oth in the city and in the suburbs, still remain, and continue to surprise every stranger who visits it. Certainly, when viewed at day-break from the Sparrow Mount, the extent of its limits, the number and conspicuousness of its elegant churches, with their PRESENT STATE OF THE CITY. ^1 1 towering domes and gilded spires topped with brilliant crosses (many of them placed in the centre of the Mahomedan crescent), the intermixture of gardens, palaces, and other edifices whose roofs are covered with plate-iron and painted with gay colours, upon which the morning sun casts his golden rays all these present a scene at once unique and captivating, and I think only to be equalled by the view of Constantinople and the shores of the Bosphorus. The population, though fast increasing, cannot be considered much to exceed 250,000 in winter ; and it is considerably less in summer, when the nobility and their numerous attendants retire to their country-seats. The present metropolitan, Philaret, informed me, in 1822, that in the city of Moscow there were then 240 churches used. In 1830, the number of churches in use is stated to be 263 ; with about 20 convents, 50 hospitals, 30 public baths, and 260 manufactories. The marks of the conflagration are still prominent in the German quarter, called the Nemetskoy Sloboda, where, compa- ratively, few houses have been rebuilt : and in other parts within the circle of the ancient city are found many extensive spaces empty, which formerly were oc- cupied with buildings. The walls of the Kremlin, with its interior edifices, are nearly all restored. I was much interested in viewing upwards of 800 pieces of cannon, taken from the French in 1812, lying, in rows, upon the ground in front of the arsenal in the Kremlin, classified according to the nations to which they originally be- longed ; and which are intended for a monument, to commemorate their deliverance from the twelve invading nations whom Napoleon led against them. I spent three days in visiting my friends among the nobility and clergy of Moscow; by w^hom I was most 'M2 MOSCOW BIBLE SOCIETY. kindly welcomed, after my long absence. The metro- politan. Seraphim, who now presides over the see of Petersburg and Novogorod, was particularly glad to see me, and to inquire after the state of the poor Greeks. I found the Moscow Bible Society actively prosecuting the object of its association. During the year, they had sold out of the depot, 727 Bibles and 2272 Testaments ; and they had sent 173S Bibles and 3445 Testaments into the provinces. They had printed within the year 5000 Slavonian Bibles in quarto, and 5000 Polish Testaments ; and had lately undertaken to print 7000 Polish Bibles of the Catholic Version, and 2000 Slavonian Bibles, both in octavo. There have been many satisfactory proofs of the good produced by the labours of the Society; and many affecting instances of the avidity with which those of the lower ranks, who can read, seek for and peruse the word of God. Having lived in Moscow the greater part of the years 1810 and 1811, and left that city only forty-eight hours before the French entered it in 1812 and having visited it frequently for several weeks at a time since its confla- gration, and at all times had an uninterrupted inter- course with the nobles and other ranks of the inhabitants I shall here lay before my readers such observations as I have made, at different periods, on the character, privileges, and manners of the Russian nobility ; and upon the laws, courts of justice, &c. Peter the Great laid a stable foundation for those mighty changes which have taken place, within the last century, in every department of political and domestic economy in Russia. It is since his time that the Russian nobles have pulled down the humble wooden mansions in which their forefathers used to reside, and liave erected, in their stead, splendid palaces, richly furnished, and surrounded PROGRESS IN CIVILIZATION. 813 with extensive pleasure-grounds, gardens, and green- ^ houses. Until the beginning of the last century, the houses of the nobility, their furniture, kitchen utensils, cookery, the service of their tables, dress of their domes- tics, &c. &c. were all in unison with the condition of the nation at large, and with the ancient manners and customs of its princes and nobles, from time immemorial. But what a contrast between these humble dwellings, and the present stately palaces which strike the view of the tra- veller in almost every part of European Russia, which, in point of magnitude and beauty of architecture, come nearer to the country-houses of our English nobility, than the seats of the nobles in any other country in Europe ! The humble huts of the fishermen on the banks of the Neva, when first visited by the creative genius of Peter in 1703, contrasted with the present city of palaces which occupies their place, can alone afford a proper conception of the change. But such was the general attachment of the Russian boiars and nobles to their long beards, flowing robes, and Asiatic costume, that Peter, with all the plenitude of autocratic power, and the resources of a great mind, was able to make but very partial inroads upon them. The example of the Tzar was suflficient to prevail upon the interested cour- tiers around him to comply with his wishes in these matters of dress ; but in 1699, a ukaz was found neces- sary to urge the nobles in the provinces to conform ; and after six years' unsuccessful efforts to produce this change, he was obliged to issue another ukaz, ))y which those, who would not conform, were compelled to purchase the privilege of suffering the hair to grow upon their chins. From these rather severe measures the clergy and peasantry were exempted. Such, however, is the inconstancy of man, and such '311 PROGRESS IN CIVILIZATION. liis predilection for extremes, that, in the present age, the rage for European languages, manners, and fashions, and an antipathy to every thing that is truly Russian, seems to have no bounds. " It was not wise in that great man," as Philaret has well observed, '* to excite disaffection in the minds of his subjects towards the cus- toms and habits of their ancestors ; because this was to destroy the national character, and to break down one of the greatest bulwarks of the state." And though it must be acknowledged that wonderful changes have been pro- duced, and that the energies of the people have been drawn forth to the astonishment, and even terror, of the nations of Western Europe, yet so rapid has been the growth of civilization throughout this mighty hot-house, where plants of a less genial clime have been forced into flower, as if to imitate the native beauties of warmer regions, that, on almost every side, one observes marks of the superficial nature of the whole process. Genuine civilization is a gradual advance of the minds and man- ners of a people, from a state of ignorance and indolence, to a state of knowledge and industry, in all their various ramifications. It is inconsistent with the very nature of this change to suppose that legislative enactments, how- ever wise, or the efforts of the civil power, however energetic, should of themselves be able to produce it ; nay, I will even venture to hazard the assertion, that it is impossible for one class of subjects to be truly civil- ized, while another is left in slavery and ignorance. Nor can such a general transformation be the Avork of a single age, any more than an acorn can be forced into an oak in the space of a few years: moreover, if tlie change is to be thorough and universal, its foundation must be laid in just and equal laws for all, in personal freedom, security of property, liberty of conscience, and iiistitu- PROGRESS IN CIVILIZATION. 315 tions for the gradual cultivation of all ranks. We see in Russia, that, where one class is civihzed while the great mass of the middle and lower classes are left in ignorance, even the civilization of the few is, at best, but partial, unsatisfactory, and destitute of that harmony which ought to pervade the whole. The dwellings, dress, equipage, manners, language, and learning of the nobility of Russia have, it is true, undergone a complete change, in many respects for the better : but one yet finds a too prevalent deficiency of harmonious and uni- form mental refinement in the higher classes, and a total want of correspondent culture in the various ranks of people below them an absence of order and consis- tency in the whole social picture. Nor can this ever be remedied, until the lower orders are made free, and educated and raised in the scale of society ; and until changes take place in Russia, which are reasonably ex- pected, and which, in the progress of society, are steadily making their approach. Nevertheless, let us admire the advances which civilization has already made in this vast empire ; and let us do justice to the talents and sacrifices by which it has been promoted. ' It has often appeared to me a great error in foreigners, that they judge the Russians by the scale of culture and civilization found in other European nations ; and an equal error in the civilized class in Russia, when they demand, perhaps not unfrequently out of vanity, to be tried according to this standard. As soon might the inexperienced youth of twenty lay claim to the maturity of wisdom which belongs to the philosopher of threescore, as Russia, in justice, be put into the scale with England, France, or Germany. But is it therefore derogatory to the youth of twenty, that he is not as wise as his sire, provided he have knowledge and experience propor- 316 NATIONAL CHARACTER. tionate to his years ? Neither is it derogatory to the Russians, that they are still so low in the scale of civilized nations. They are fast rising ; and have shewn such vigour and application in youth, as to promise great things in mature years. They are capable of rivalling in talent, and in the arts and sciences, the most distin- guished nations, whether of ancient or modern times. The Russians are a lively people, but not frivolous ; happy in their natural temperament, and not easily de- pressed in their spirits. The better classes have, with great advantage, adopted the polish of European manners. The ladies are handsome some of them beautiful ; polite, affable, and social ; and, by their accomplishments and wit, assiduously yet gracefully exert themselves to diffuse happiness in their evening circles. The tone of hospitality and politeness, so characteristic of the better circles in Russia, surprises the stranger ; and the frater- nal ease and familiarity, expressed in their language and intercourse with each other, strongly evince their kind- ness of disposition. In the lower ranks of the nobles, where this ease is imitated without refinement, it often degenerates into vulgarity and rudeness. As a people, V they are true to their national proverb " Tschin tschina potschitat i menschai sadis na krai" " Let rank obey rank, and the least sit lowest." This, not unfrequently, produces obsequiousness in the presence of superiors, and imperiousness towards inferiors. All classes of the nobles are too fond of tlie idle and corrupting pursuits, to which men of fortune and pleasure in other European countries are addicted plays, balls, masquerades, parties of pleasure, and gam- bling ; for tliey take little pleasure in useful employment ; and to judge from thfeir acts, one would believe that many of them consider life granted for no other })urpose than the NATIONAL CHARACTER. 317 giving and receiving of entertainments. There are, how- ever, many honourable exceptions to these general ob- servations nobles, who are the very reverse of what is here censured, with some of whom I have had the honour of an intimate acquaintance, and in some instances of sincere friendship ; men of character, talent, activity, and refined gentlemanly manners. But in many of the Russian nobility the predilection for superficial orna- ment and display, so characteristic of their Galilean instructors, is very observable. In this respect, the pupils seem to have imbibed the very sentiments and feelings, and too much of the fi'ivolity of their tutors ; and hence we frequently find comfort and sobriety sacrificed to grandeur and ostentation in the families of the higher ranks. It may truly be said of many of the boiars, that they have, in one trait of their cha- racter, Roman minds ; for their mansions, number of domestics, pleasure-gardens, churches, equipages, and pubhc buildings, all bear the marks of grand concep- tion : but, then, they too frequently bear also the marks of a want of due calculation between plans and means. The general feature of the national Government, and of the character of the nobles, indicates an aspiring mind a mind that will be great, and is bent upon doing great things. Their progress in this career, during the last century, has been truly astonishing; and we need no stronger proof that there is something essentially noble and great in the Russian people, than the volumes of contradictory estimates which are daily given to the pubhc, respecting their character and natural abilities. Had these been so despicable as some have represented them to be, the contest would long ago have been settled : had they l^een so superlative as others would have the public believe, their deeds would have made this more '318 NATIONAL CHARACTER. manifest. Their sterling natural abilities, their form of government, their rapid strides from barbarism to civiliza- tion, their youthful vigour as a nation, and their daily augmenting political and commercial influence, suffici- ently account for all these contradictory statements. i/ The nobility speak French with fluency and elegance of accent ; and the variety of sounds in their native tongue enables them to pronounce the English language also with ease : the latter is now very generally studied among them. ^The tables of the nobility, on ordinary occasions, are richly supplied with wholesome viands and pastry in the French style ; yet they are now and then set off with national dishes, many of which are well prepared, and not likely soon to lose their place, even at the tables of the great. Foreign wines are served up in gi'eat variety, together with the native drinks a superior kind of effervescent quass, called kisla tschee; mead, nalhld, (liquors made of the juice of fruits) : they have also varanie, preserves, &c. 8:c. In general, they are temperate, both in eating and drinking. Adultery, unchastity, gambling, and other vices, are, alas! but too prevalent among them. The sins of drunk- enness and swearing are become unfashionable among the nobles of Russia, as well as amons; those of Enc^land. Oh that they were so among the lower classes of both countries also!-^Many of the nobility spend a large part of their property and of their time, in the winter season, in Moscow, in balls, feasts, and parties of pleasure : in these they endeavour to outshine each other much to the astonishment of strangers from the more civilized countries of Western Europe, where the influence of equal liberty, the more general diff'usion of property, the progress of science and of the arts, and a matured state of society, have long since put it out of the power oi' CLASSES OF THE NOBILITY. 319 the higher classes, with very few exceptions, to give such displays of Oriental and Roman magnificence and luxury. But these, and other characteristics of the state of society in Moscow, which strike the eye of the travel- ler, have been abundantly described by other writers, and therefore I shall not enlarge upon them. I cannot, however, but add this general observation, that even now, notwithstanding her recent severe chastisement, Moscow is a city devoted to sensuahty, luxury, and worldly pleasure, in their thousand captivating and destructive forms. In 1785, Catherine II., by a ukaz, ordained that the nobility should be divided into six classes, according to their seniority ; and that they should, in each Govern- ment, compose one corporate body, under the direction of their own marshal, counsellors, judges, and officers, chosen from among and by themselves, once every three years; possessing also their own archives, seal, secretary, and treasurer. These six classes are as follows : 1. Such as can prove their nobihty for more than one hundred years styled stolbovoe dvoriane (pillar nobility). 2. Military nobles those who, though not descended of noble families, have, by military service, obtained the rank of nobility for themselves and their posterity, ac- cording to the regulations of Peter I. in 1721. 3. The eighth class of nobility, or such as have, in the civil service, risen to the eighth degree. They are con- sidered equal to the first class in precedency. 4. Foreign noble families, who have settled in Russia, and entered the service of Government. 5. Russian princes, counts, and barons. 6. The most ancient class of the nobility ; or such as 3*20 PRIVILEGES OF THE NOBILITY. can trace back the antiquity of their famihes for centuries, though the commencement of it be unknown to them. The whole number of male and female nobility in- cluded in these six classes is estimated, in the present day, at 450,000 : and they are daily augmenting; be- cause no one who possesses merit, whether he be native or foreigner, and whatever religion he may profess, is ex- cluded from treading the path to distinction, nobility, and honour ; except the bond slaves, who, whatever their talents may be, cannot rise in the scale of society, until they are emancipated. The nobility of Russia may well be styled " a privi- leged order." Their charter of rights was confirmed to them by Peter the Great, in 1721 : it was revised and enlarged by Catherine II. in 1785 ; and was again con- firmed in 1801, by the late emperor, Alexander. These rights are principally the following: The provincial body of nobles, when assembled, has the right of making representations to the legislative senate, and to the em- peror, by deputation. They have the power of expelling from their society such members as have committed offences, before they are tried by the civil courts. Every nobleman of age has the right of entry to their assem- blies ; but unless he be possessed of landed property, and has risen to the rank of an officer, he cannot vote. The husband communicates his rank to his wife and children, but not reciprocally. The nobility are ex- empt from every kind of taxes. They can be judged only by their peers : they cannot be condemned till tried : they are exempt from corporal punishment : in case of trial for capital crimes, the case must be finally judged by the senate, or by the emperor himself, wjio alone has the right to deprive the individual of liis nobility, estates, and life. PRIVILEGES OF THE NOBILITY. 321 The nobleman has a right to purchase lands and pea- santry in his own name, and to govern them as he judges proper. On his estates he may erect manufac- tories, and dispose of their produce in or out of the empire : he may likewise establish fairs and markets on his estates. But in case he erect a manufactory in a town, he must pay the taxes for it, on the same scale with the merchant. :- The nobleman enjoys unlimited power over his own property : to him belongs every thing on his grounds, on the surface and in the bowels of the earth, in the waters, and in the forests. His peasantry, with all they possess, are, in every sense of the term, his property. The nobleman may become a merchant, without losing his nobihty ; but in this case he must bear the usual burthens of the merchant. The nobleman is ft'ee to enter the military or civil service of his country, and to take his discharge when he pleases. Nobility, as has been shewn, is obtained by birth, by the rank of an officer in the army, and by the eighth degree of rank in the civil service : it is also conferred by the emperor on whomsoever he will. The great majority of the nobihty enter the military and civil ser- vice in early life ; because precedency is not counted according to the hereditary rank of nobility, but ac- cording to the personal rank to which the individual has risen in the service of his country ; and hence one fre- quently sees the son of a commoner taking his place above princes and counts of the empire, who have not attained to the same degree of rank by their personal service. The civilization hitherto diffused among the nobility of Russia has been principally derived from two nations : y 322 GENERAL KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION, manners, fashions, polite literature, and amusements, have been taken from the French, whose language is that of all the family circles and public parties of the first ranks ; but solid learning, and the knowledge of the arts and sciences, have been communicated to them by the Germans, many of whose supernumerary literati, ever since the time of Alexie Michaelovitch, have found honourable and most useful employment in Russia. The universities, gymnasiums, schools, academies of science and arts, and, in short, almost every thing con- nected with philosophy and learning in Russia, except the spiritual schools, have been established and super- intended by learned Germans in the service of Govern- ment. Even at the present day, these foreigners still occupy many of the principal chairs in the six univer- sities of the empire, and in other places of education : to them, also, the Russians are principally indebted for the best dictionaries and grammars of their own lan- guage ; together with such courses of the arts, sciences, and literature, as continue to be taught in the universi- ties and schools. In this choice the Government has, I think, shewn great judgment ; because, of all Euro- pean nations, the Germans, on account of the extent and solidity of their learning, and the indefatigable steady perseverance of their character, were best quali- fied for the task of introducing the arts and sciences among the Russians. Other foreigners, also, have had a share in this laudable work of civilization, but it has been comparatively small ; the Italians assisting in architecture, brass-foundries, and music ; and the En- glish in ship-building and other naval arts, in iron-foun- dries, manufactories, medicine, horticulture, and agri- culture. The German language is studied by the nobles and LITERATURE AND LEARNING. 323 literary characters in Russia, but it is seldom spoken in polite circles ; there the language, manners, amusements, dress, and luxuries of Paris still predominate : on this account the education of the children of the nobility, especially since the commencement of the French Re- volution, which drove so many of their nobles and eccle- siastics to take refuge in foreign countries, has been principally in the hands of French tutors and gover- nesses. But since the French invasion in 1812, there seems to be springing up, among the learned native Russians, a patriotic spirit in favour of the cultivation of their own language and literature, in preference to that of strangers, and a desire to fill all the offices of public and private instruction with native tutors. This, to a certain extent, is much to be commended ; because it will encourage education, will elicit the latent talents of the natives, will be the means of settling and improving their language, and will counteract that absorbing attach- ment to foreign usages, languages, and productions of every kind, which is not less opposed to their progress in true science than in all the arts of civilized life *. These circumstances have drawn forth that which has been considered in the Russians as a peculiar gift, viz. their extraordinary talent for imitation ; but which, in * Such is the strength of this disposition in the Russians to depreciate every thing which issues from their own manufactories or workshops, that it is a common practice among the merchants to ascribe a foreifoi origin to their wares of all kinds : for as soon as they declare them to be of Russian workmanship, they are despised ; whereas, if they give them out for English or German, they are sure to obtain a fairer price for them. It is also true, that, in general, foreign artificers work better than the natives ; but then the principal reason of tliis superiority lies in the high price given to the former (whose workmen, after all, are Russians), and the want of this encouragement to the latter, even when they do excel. Y 2 324" EXTRAORDINARY TALENT FOR IMITATION. my opinion, is nothing more than what was naturally to be expected from a people with good natm^al abihties, circmnstanced as they have been. When the civilized world was laid open to them, and the acquisition of the French, German, and English languages introduced the Russian students into the temple of the arts and sciences of the eighteenth century, they soon found they had every thing to learn : they beheld models placed before them in every department of knowledge ; models, which they must first be content to imitate, before they could think of improving upon them. It is the general rule, that the scholar imitates, the master invents ; and this is applicable to the exercise of talent in nations as well as individuals. New inventions in the arts, and useful discoveries in the sciences, generally proceed from na- tions that have cultivated both through many successive ages, and where the body of the people have been edu- cated, by which the door is opened to the exercise of talent in all classes. It is painful to be obliged to state, however, that where remarkable instances of a talent for imitation have appeared among the lower classes of the Russians, the individuals have generally, sooner or later, fallen into drunkenness, and have lived and died in misery : probably their total want of moral cultiva- tion, of pohshed society, and of freedom, have driven some of them to this ; for the faculty of imitation does not confer upon its possessor culture, either moral or religious, nor does it secure him from seeking gratifi- cation in the lowest vices. Few instances can be shewn in which mere genius has raised a Russian peasant to honour and opulence : but how frequently is this the case in other countries, where the peoj)le are free ! In Russia, however, as has been stated, education is still confined within very narrow limits ; and those wlio LITERATURE AND LEARNING. 325 have received it, have still found, that before they can excel in any department, they have to accomplish the arduous task of overtaking those who have preceded them. There are, in fact, but few native authors dis- tinguished for deep research or discovery in the sciences and arts. The only exception, perhaps, is in poetry ; because to excel in this is not so much the result of deep study as of innate genius, which has often shewn itself in its gi'eatest perfection where learning was in its infancy. Some eminent poets have sprung up among the Russians ; such as, Derjavin, Lomonosoff, Soumaro- koff, Dmitrieff, Labanoff, Ismailoff, KrilofF, Kozloff, loukofsky, and others ; but principally since the begin- ning of the last century. From the same causes it also happens, that four fifths of the books printed in Russ are translations from the different languages of Europe, especially from the French, German, and English. There is no want of works, in every branch of know- ledge, in the native dialect. I have a catalogue, printed in 1820, and systematically arranged, of the library of Plaviltschikoff, one of the principal Russian booksellers of Petersburg, which contains 7657 works of different sizes, all in Russ. The hbraries of the great are chiefly filled with works in French and other foreign languages ; and it is the practice of the Russian censors strictly to examine all works imported, and to suppress or mutilate such of them as contain matter obnoxious to the supposed interests of Government. Sometimes fo- reigners of respectability, who are desirous of possess- ing, for their own personal studies, any prohibited work, are permitted to import a copy, on giving a written declaration that they will make no improper use of it. This permission, however, is only granted by mere favour, and is not so common of late years as 326 LITERATURE AND LEARNING. formerly. Within the last few years, indeed, the regu- lations of the censorship have become very strict, in every department of literature, whether moral, political, scientific, or religious : no work whatever is suffered to go to press until severely scrutinized by the censors, and few pass without being mutilated and altered in many passages. At the present day, the following periodical works are published in the two capitals. In Moscow 1. The Mos- cow Gazette. 2. The Moscow Courier. 3. The Telegraph. 4. The European Courier. 5. The Agricultural Journal ; and, 6. The Journal of Physics. In St. Petersburg 1. The St. Petersburg Gazette. 2. The Gazette of the Senate. 3. The Journal of Commerce. 4. The St. Petersburg Journal. 5. The Invalid. 6. The Northern Bee. 7. The Archives of the North. 8. The Patriot. 9. The Slavonians. 10. The National Miscellany. 11. The Journal of Commerce and Manufactories. 12. The Gazette of Commerce. 13. The Journal of the Mines ; and, 14. The Journal of the Minister for Public In- struction. One great hindrance to the progress of learning in Russia has been the regulation of Peter the Great respecting military rank. Whatever may be a man's talents and learning, without rank he is little thought of, and has little influence. Without rank a man is nothing in Russia : hence most of the sons of the nobility are enrolled in active service before they reach their eigh- teenth or twentieth year ; for unless they enter early in life, they can have no prospect whatever of rising to distinguished rank before old age. Tluis are tlieir studies broken off, at the very time when the human mind l)cgins to move independently of its tutors, and to teacli itself. Nor can this great evil be remedied, until IMPEDIMENTS TO MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 327 learning, talents, moral worth, &c. shall give that pre- cedency and influence in society which are now con- ferred by military and civil rank ; and until men be allowed to devote their lives to private study, without forfeiting thereby every prospect of attaining to in- fluence and consideration among their fellow-men. Men's characters are formed by their education, and by the circumstances in which they are placed : and where a nation is distinguished by civil freedom, and a steady government according to equitable laws, combined with genuine Christian principle and general knowledge, the characteristics of the people will be more or less in harmony with these advantages ; they will be found candid in their statements, honourable in their trans- actions, polite in their manners, and humane in their treatment of enemies. But the history of all nations teaches, that where despotism, oppression, intrigue, and injustice, either sit upon or surround the throne, and occupy the seats of rule in all offices below it, the cha- racter of the people is equally moulded according to these evil qualities : cunning and deception take the place of candour and justice ; haughtiness and meanness are found to exist in the same individual, according to circumstances ; and the man who has often suffered unjust and cruel treatment at the hand of others, be- comes unjust and cruel in his turn. Nothing but vital Christian principle will enable a man to return good for evil. If this, then, be a just view of human nature, we are not to look for high principles of honour where ra- tional freedom is not enjoyed, where national laws and institutions do not guarantee equal justice to all, where despotic power descends from the throne to every one who occupies a place below it, and where the weight of ^28 ESTIMATE OF THE RUSSIAN CHARACTER, oppression, under which the injured suffer, is too often augmented by the very attempt to obtain redress. Many of the darker shades in the character of the lower orders in Russia are such as might naturally be expected fi'om the disadvantageous circumstances in which they are placed. To expect from an ignorant slave the deportment and the conduct of a freeman, is to look for figs from thorns and grapes of thistles. Slavery cuts the nerves of industry, and paralyses every noble feeling. The slave cannot even think like a man born free : his unnatural bondage is interwoven with his earliest associations, of which he can never divest him- self so long as he remains in ignorance and a slave. Catherine II. was once asked, by a lady, what she thought of the Russian character and natural abilities. Her majesty replied : " The Russian people are the most singular people in the world." " What does this mean, your majesty?" said the lady: "has not God made all nations of the same materials ?" " The Russian people," continued Catherine, " are distinguished for shrewdness, sense, and energy, I know this from twenty years experience in reigning over them. God has given to the Russians peculiar abilities." In this short esti- mate of Russian character I find great truth. They are the most shrewd and cunning people I have ever had to do with ; neither Jew nor Greek is capable of out- witting them. Neither do these qualities shew them- selves merely in the cultivated classes of society ; they are equally prominent in the bearded peasant as in the polished prince. There is no language, with which I am acquainted, that has such a variety of most expres- sive terms for circumvention and cunning as the Russ ; ami on no occasion is it more indispensable for a man to l)c; upon his guard against being taken in, than in ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES. 329 going to the Moscow or Petersburg bazaars. The general principles on which the merchants in the riadi or bazaar act is this " The article is worth what it will bring :" hence, according to the idea which they, at first sight, form of the character of the purchaser and his probable knowledge of the value of the thing asked for, they de- mand not only double, but three and four times what it is worth, confirming their statements with imprecations and oaths : and, after all, they will think nothing of letting you have the article for one half or one third of the sum which they asked and swore to ! And yet, many of these men would not, for the world, leave their fami- nes in the morning without first crossing and prostrating themselves and repeating their prayers before their sacred picture, and many of them will not open their shop-doors until they have first bought a few small loaves of bread and divided them among the poor ! I remem- ber to have once reasoned with a merchant on the sin and folly of such a practice. I represented to him, that the gains he took home in the evening were the fruits of false oaths and innumerable lies ; and urged, how horrible it was to think that his wife and children were supported at the expense of such an accumulation of sin upon his own head. He heard me silently ; and then, with a smile, replied : '" Sir, you seem to have been reading sacred history." But I must also observe, that there are shops in both capitals, where, if you are one of their regular customers, they state to you at once the real price of the article. As to the second quality mentioned by the Empress, "sense" her observation is equally correct. They are certainly, for the most part, gifted with a sound judg- ment. Their language is enriched with stores of na- A^ tional proverbs, containing concise sunmiaries of wisdom 330 CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIANS. applicable to almost every affair within the circle of their knowledge and experience ; and these proverbs, forming a perpetual light for them to walk by, are continually in the mouths of the people*. In their observation of the conduct of men, as well as of the appearances of nature, they manifest deep penetration and a correct judgment. They are quick of apprehension, even of abstract ideas : and the degree of ingenuity manifested by the peasant, in the performance of his usual labours, is truly astonishing ; he is a complete artisan, practised in all trades, his fruitful invention seldom leaving him without an expedient, in cases of difficulty. They are also distinguished for energy of character, and are patient and persevering in the prosecution of their object. The Ptussian soldier is cool in the hour of danger : he will endure hunger and thirst, the extremes of heat and cold, and every possible privation in a cam- paign, without murmuring ; and in the day of battle, he is not only brave, but regardless and almost prodigal of life, devoting it at the command of his superior, with- out inquiring for a moment the reason or the object of the sacrifice. In the government of Varonge, two brothers were presented for the militia ; one twenty-three years of age, the other fifteen. The elder was chosen : the younger, much giieved at this, entreated to be accepted instead of his elder brother, saying, " Notwithstanding my youth, my brother is witness that I have often over- come him, and tlie other young men of the village, in wrestling." The elder brother confirmed what he had * I have before me a volume, published in St. Petersburc; in IS:^:^, containing 53(i.j llussian proverbs and savinn^s, manv of them taken from Scripture, and some from Greek and Latin autlinrs. A specimen of them is suljjoined to this chapter. ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES. 331 said. " See," continued the younger, **I have spoken the truth : my brother, too, is married and has children : our mother is aged, and requires our help ; yea, she gave us her blessing, on our taking leave for the service of the emperor." "No, no," cried the elder, '^she gave me her blessing. You shall take care of our mother, and of my wife and children, and I will go and serve the Tzar." During the whole of the examination the younger never left his elder brother ; and when he saw him enrolled, he took his leave, saying, " If they kill thee, I also will go against the enemy, and will be avenged for thee, or fall by thy side." The Russians are a truly loyal people : not only has this been historically proved, but it manifests itself in a striking way to strangers among them, on innu- merable occasions. In their current conversation, the dictates of religion and the edicts of the Tzar seem to be considered by them as proceeding from the same source. Implicit obedience to God to and the Emperor is deemed one and the same thing among the Russian people. During the time of the French invasion we had many extraordinary proofs of genuine patriotism and loyalty. In one of the villages where they were en- rolling volunteers en masse, a peasant of fifty-eight came forward with his three married sons, and, presenting them, said, " We are all able and ready to serve God and our great sovereign : if one of us only is wanted, pray enrol me : my sons have cared for all my wants, I shall be happy to take their place." Being informed that he could not be accepted on account of his age, he exclaimed bitterly " Oh old age ! old age ! why didst thou not linger behind ten years longer ?" He was then asked to make choice of one of his sons to serve. He chose the middle-aged one, a tall healthy youth : 332 CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIANS. then taking off the cross from his own neck, he put it on the neck of his son, and with a steady voice said : " Re- ceive my blessing. Serve, faithfully and truly, God and thy Sovereign. I have worn this cross fifty-eight years: it has protected me from all dangers : may it also protect thee from evil and from the enemy ! And if it be the will of the Creator of Heaven that thou shouldst lay down thy hfe in the field of battle, then look on this cross in thy last moments, and remember thy brethren remember me ! Go; and may God go with thee !" He then blessed him a second time, clasped him in his arms, kissed him, and they separated. On another occasion, when the aid of the disbanded military was required in the government of Vorosge, a fresh-looking veteran presented himself; and, taking out of his bosom a small wooden case, and giving it to the officer, requested him to examine its contents : it con- tained the testimonials of his service, according to which he proved to be in his ninety-third year. He was con- sidered incapable of service ; but in order not to hurt his feelings, the officer told him his petition would be attended to. The next day, on hearing that he had been rejected, he came to the officer; and holding the resolu- tion in his hand, said, " Your Honour ! it is evident that there is little truth left among you you do not fear God. You told me that I was received into the service ; but in this ukaz it is written, ' Liberated on account of age !' Consider I need not to learn the service. Under the Empress Elizabeth, of blessed memory, we marclied into Austria, suffering day and night from heat and thirst, and it never entered our heads to think of getting our discharge. Only let us old men get into the field of battle, we shall not flinch ; we will lead on the youth ! When our fathers gave us tlieir blessing, at entering the ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES. 833 service, they said, * Serve faithfully, to the boards of your coffin, God and the emperor.' " It was the custom of the Tzars, after war, to pay their respects to the memory of Holy Sergie, whose rehcs, deposited in the great monastery which bears his name in Troitza, are considered to have the power of working miracles. The Emperor Alexander undertook this duty, on the 22d of August, O. S. 1817. While he was per- forming his devotions at the shrine, a great multitude of the peasantry assembled around his equipage ; and they were heard to say, " Now God will surely give us His blessing, for the emperor himself is praying for us !" At the same time, observing that the sides and wheels of his carriage were exceedingly bespattered from the dirt of the roads, one of them proposed to clean it : no sooner was the hint given, than they threw off their upper garments, flew for water, and soon restored to the carriage of the emperor its original colour and cleanness. This gives us a fine instance of the devotion and fihal affection of the Russian mujiks for their sovereign. The Russian character is also marked by a strong sense of religion, though united, through ignorance, with much superstition. Such of the people as can read are exceedingly attached to the Scriptures and other religious books ; and I know not to what other cause than to a zeal for God, (not indeed according to knowledge,) we can attribute the great variety of sects found among them, some of which are far more superstitious than the Mother Church. Their religion and their language are the two bonds of union, which bid fair to preserve the Russians, for ages to come, a united and powerful peo- ple : for whatever changes may take place in their in- ternal political state, or may be brought about by the progress of civiHzation and knowledge, yet such is the 334 CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIANS. strength of these ties, (to which we may add a strong natural attachment to each other, and a great share of patriotic principle,) that every invader, who shall attempt to impose a foreign yoke upon them, will find himself repulsed, as in the case of Buonaparte, hy the united strength of thirty-six millions of native Russians, who compose the real power of this great nation. The spirit which is now (June 1831) struggling for freedom in their Slavonic brethren, the Poles, is also that of the Russians ; and I cannot refrain from expressing here my conviction, that so powerful is the spirit of fraternal union among the Slavonic tribes belonging to the Eastern Church, that in a few years they will all be united under the Russian sceptre a consummation to which they have long been looking forward, and to the accomplishment of which the present distracted state of the Turkish empire offers many facilities. In illustra- tion of these remarks, I subjoin a striking anecdote. After the French had been expelled from Moscow, the Kozack Attaman, Count Platoff, in the following address to his troops, called upon them to restore the silver which they had retaken, and which bore marks of having belonged to the churches : " I am fully persuaded that every one of us feels a due sense of the mercy of God and of his saints towards us, made so evident by the protection which they have afforded us, together with the means of driving the fo- reign enemy beyond our borders. By the power of the Omniscient, we have completed his ruin. ]\Iay tliis proof of the Divine mercy never be erased from our hearts ! We ought therefore, in justice, to gi\e a proof, before all men, of our heartfeh gratitude to God. Let us then, as an acknowledgment to the Creator of the Universe, collect the silver taken from our churches ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES. 335 by the inhuman enemy, and form therewith statues of the four Evangehsts, to be set up in the cathedral church of St. Petersburg. This sacred monument will convey, not only to the present, but also to future generations, the knowledge of our memorable deeds, and of our zeal towards God ; may it excite in them the same heroism to overcome the enemy ! and by this example may our troops be animated for ever ! " Scarcely had this proposal of the Attaman been made known to the Polks or Kozacks, when they began to flock towards the quarters of their general, with their gifts : the result was, that in about fourteen days, 60 poods (2400 pounds) of silver was sent to Prince Kutu- zoff, the commander-in-chief, for the above object. One of the Kozacks, named Gabriel Tschernishnikoff, brought and presented about eighty pounds of silver, melted down into a mass. When told that his silver evidently did not belong to the silver taken from the churches, the generous Kozack replied : " How can we know ? God only can know that! Is it not probable that the infidel enemy melted down many of the articles taken from our temples ? I will not take the sin upon my soul. If it remain with me, I shall only have an un- easy conscience with it. The merciful God has pre- served my life, and to Him I consecrate this small offering. God bless our Attaman ! he has given us a good idea how to shew our affection towards the most High Creator, and towards the holy religion of our fathers." I would again state, that the Russians are eminent for their acts of charity to the distressed. Hardly ever is the beggar turned away from the door, whether of poor or rich, without receiving something. When not able to give, they say to the beggar, " Bogh dast ne 336 CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIANS. gnevitsa" " God will give to thee : be not angi-y." The nobles and merchants give large sums, annually, in support of alms-houses and hospitals, for the relief of orphans and families in distress, and especially to relieve debtors from prison. To this cause, principally, it is to be attributed, that, in all the prisons I have visited in Russia, so very few debtors were to be found. It was from this principle, also, that we received such large sums from the native Russians, in support of the Bible Society, Philanthropic Society, Prison Society, &c. On all principal holidays, moreover, the merchants send large supplies of provisions, without discrimination, to the inmates of the several prisons. It is astonishing what sums are given away at the conclusion of divine service to the poor who crowd the portals of their temples ! This again is a strong evi- dence of the fraternal spirit which binds together this powerful Slavonic tribe among themselves : they sel- dom forget that every " Riiskoe Tschelovek" every Rus- sian man, poor or rich, is a brother; and in the hour of distress their hand is extended for his relief. Often are the orphan children of deceased foreigners, English, French, or German, divided among the chari- table families of the nobles, educated with their own children, and thus introduced into life with advantages far superior to what they would probably have enjoyed, had the lives of their parents been spared. It is not to be supposed that the Russians were in possession of historical records and written laws before the erection of the monarchy, or even before the intro- duction of Christianity : but they were, no doubt, then governed by their own peculiar usages ; which, though not contained in folio tomes, were nevertlieless natio- nally acknowledged, and formed the bands of thnt political ANCIENT LAWS AND USAGES. 337 union which the Slavonian conqueror, Rurik, estabhshed among them, in 862 : to these he probably added many of the laws and usages of the conquerors. In 912, the Grand-duke Oleg, and in 945 the Grand-duke Igor, entered into treaties with the Greek Emperors ; in which treaties, says Urspenskoy, frequent mention is made of the laws or usages of the Russians. He specifies, by w^ay of example, the following particulars. 1. The sanc- tity of an oath was acknowledged. 2. The punishment of death was awarded for murder. 3. The wife inherited part of the property of her husband. 4. The wife did not suffer for the offences of her husband. 5. For maiming, the punishment was not member for member, but a fine. 6. For stealing, a two-fold or three-fold restitution, according to the circumstances of the case, was enjoined. 7. The life of a thief caught in the act of stealing might be taken, provided there were no means of securing him. 8. The property of a foreigner de- ceased was to be transmitted to his own country and relations. How far the Christianity of the Greeks was instru- mental in producing these and some other acknowledg- ments of the natural rights of man, among their hea- then Russian neighbours, it is impossible to say ; but thus much is known, that the Christian religion had entered among the Russians, partially and by degrees, a hundred years before it was publicly confessed by Vla- dimir and his subjects ; and it is more than probable that the opinions and usages of the people must have been already influenced by those principles of justice, which that rehgion so powerfully and simply inculcates upon all its professors. One of the laws of Vladimir exhibits a conside- rable maturity of political and commercial knowledge. 338 ANCIENT LAWS AND USAGES. By this law, foreign merchants are forbidden to travel in his dominions for the purpose of buying and seUing among the people and nobles ; they are permitted to trade with the Russian merchants in the towns only. In the year 1035, the Grand-duke Jaroslaff, son of Vladimir, collected together all the acknowledged laws and usages of the tribes under his government, whether of Russian or Slavonian origin ; and this collection formed the basis of what is called the Rushoi Prava, or " Rus- sian Rights," first printed in 1799. These have been abrogated, modified, and augmented in number, &c. &c., according to the circumstances of the times, the neces- sities of the people, and the will of the reigning Sove- reign, from the days of Jaroslaff to the present time. But the division of the empire into principalities, by this first Russian Legislator, among his five sons, gave rise to many separate laws and usages in the different states ; and the Tartars soon after subduing them, and ruling for nearly three centuries, introduced so many Mohammedan maxims and laws into the Russian legisla- tion, that it became a matter of great diflficulty for Tzar loan Vasillivitch Grosnoi, after their emancipation, to produce some degree of uniformity in this code of jus- tice. For this end, he had recourse to an old co])y of the Code of Jaroslaff; which, with the assistance and benediction of the clergy, was revised, and again pro- claimed on the 1st of May 1550, under the title of Sudeb- nik, "The Code of Justice." This contained the general laws of the state ; and though a very imperfect system of polity, it was deemed superior to that of Jaroslaff. To these Tzar loan added a system of Criminal Law, under the title of Guhnich Grammat, which was long sup- posed to be lost ; but it has been discovered and pub- lished, by Eugenius, the present archbishoj) of Pleskoff. ANCIENT LEGISLATION. 339 The Russian code of Siidebnik consists of ninety-seven chapters. A great part of the laws contained in it are directed against bribery, as practised towards judges and administrators of justice. They require, among other things, that the complainant shall, in every case, pay the expenses, in whatever way the cause may be decided ; whether by regular course of law, by arbitration, or by duel. These trials by duel are particularly described, from the ninth to the nineteenth chapter. The weapons to be used were cudgels. None were permitted to fight but freemen ; and such as were themselves unable, might choose a substitute. The judges and officers were com- manded to be present, in order to preserve order, and to see the contest lawfully decided. The term for trying cases of disputed claims to estates was limited to three years ; but where the interest of the Tzar might be involved, to six years. On the sub- ject of inheritance there is but one law; viz. that in case a father die without making his will, and he have no sons, then his daughters, and after them the next in relationship, shall inherit all his property. In every case of bargain, a guarantee was requisite. Horses were to be paid for on their being sold, and the tax to Government at the time of registration.* The Sudebnik defines also the diiferent degrees of slavery, and the way in which a freeman might be re- duced to temporary or perpetual bondage ; which we have before described. The same Grand-duke, loan Vasillivitch IV., by a ukaz, made it death for any person to attempt to deprive a freeman of his liberty, by forging a kabala or deed * Urspenskoy. / 2 3k) ANCIENT LEGISLATION. a singular proof of the value which was still placed on personal freedom, even in his time ! Yet so in- consistent and changeable are the laws of despotic princes, that while, by one ukaz, he made it death to attempt to deprive a man of his personal liberty, by an- other he ordered the free peasantry to be restored to the landlords whom they had left five years before, in order thereby to put a final stop to their freedom of mi- gration ; and the consequence of this, and of similar re- strictions made by his predecessors and successors, was, as we have already shewn, the reduction of this nume- rous class of freemen, the peasantry and their posterity, to unlimited and absolute slavery. Nearly at the same time, loan promulgated an ecclesi- astical code, called the Stroglov?iik, in 10() chapters. The father of Peter the Great, Alexie Michaelovitch, finding the existing laws inadequate to the changed cir- cumstances of the nation, collected, revised, and en- larged them : this revision he pubhshed in 1649, under the name of Sobornae Ulojenie, " The Assembled Code." Among the new edicts inserted in the Code of Alexie, there are several of a most singular nature : for instance (chap. XXI. par. 71), in addition to the punishment of death for murder, the debts of the person killed are com- manded to be paid out of the estates or property of the murderer. The debts of foreigners (chap. x. par. 260) are to be paid first, and afterwards the Russians are permitted to come in with their claims. No doubt the design of this latter enactment was to encourage fo- reigners to settle in his dominions, and to preserve the good name of his merchants in foreign parts ; but it was certainly at variance with the strict principles of equity. The liberal use of torture, in the examination of all accused persons, was sanctioned by this code and its ANCIENT LEGISLATION. 341 commentator : this is justly condemned by the Russian historian, Boltin, as cruel and unjust. Moreover, such was its severity, that even a confession of the crime, of which the person was accused, was not deemed sufficient : when this was obtained, the torture was continued, with a view to extort the confession of other offences previously committed. But the scene of all this secret inquisition and cruelty has undergone a blessed change : it is the house in which I am now lodged : I still behold in its walls the niches where so many of my fellow-crea- tures were confined ; and this star-chamber of Moscow is now the depot of the Moscow Bible Society ! In this code, for the murder of a son or daughter nothing more is awarded than such penance as the clergy might appoint, and imprisonment for one year ; but those who should take snufF, or sell or have in their possession tobacco, are condemned to be knouted, to have their nostrils torn open, or their noses cut off, and to be sent into exile ! A ukaz to this effect was issued even so late as 1634. Thus slow has been the progress of justice, humanity, and civilization in Russia, even under the immediate predecessor of her great reformer, Peter I. ! In 1652-3 was published the Kormshia kniga, or Collection of the Canon Law of the Greek Church, translated, as some suppose, from the Greek ; but it is supposed by TatischefF to be the work of the Patriarch Nikon. Though this book chiefly refers to ecclesiastical matters, yet these and the state affairs were so much blended together in the days of the Tzars, that it is frequently quoted even in their civil edicts. It is remarkable, that the ancient Russian legislators required seven witnesses of their own nation to prove an accusation ; and only two, provided the witnesses were 342 ANCIENT LEGISLATION. foreigners ! Nor is this merely another instance of the condescension and kindness of their rulers towards foreigners, in order to induce them to settle in their dominions ; it involves, perhaps, a tacit acknowledgment that they were actuated by stricter principles of moral rectitude than themselves. This latter supposition alone can account for the seeming injustice of this law. Trials by red-hot iron, and by boiling water, were for- merly in great use among the Russians, in intricate and important cases, both in the time of heathenism and after their reception of Christianity. Decision by any of these methods was called by them Sudojn Bogie, *' The judgment of God."* They were also accustomed to decide minor cases by oath, or by kissing the cross. This last, in course of time, became a ceremony of great importance ; for, in the Sudehnik, it is enacted as follows : " If an ambas- sador, or merchant, or prisoner of war, be detained in a foreign country, and the ambassador, merchant, or prisoner give his oath, by kissing the cross, that he will not run away, and if after this he abscond and escape to his own country ; such person shall, throughout the remainder of his life, on every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, take his food alone, which during these days shall consist solely of bread and water ; on every Tues- day and Thursday he shall have the same fare twice ; and on Saturday and Sunday, water-soup twice :" more- over, to such a man the sacrament might only be administered at the hour of death ; " that it might be known unto all, that it were better to die and not kiss the cross, than, after kissing the cross, to be subject to penance for such a mortal sin." ' Similar usages, not less absurd and criu.'l, were only abolished in our own land, by a;t of Parliament, in 1257. ANCIENT LEGISLATION. 343 An oath by kissing the cross couH only be taken before mid-day, for the cross was not to be kissed in the afternoon ; and no one, in any affair, could be permitted to swear by kissing the cross more than thrice. Affairs not exceeding a rouble in value, which could not at once be determined, were settled by lot. The suspected person, in every case, was subjected to the torture. They employed rods, racks, the knout, and other horrible instruments of cruelty. This mode of trying criminals seems to have been coeval with Rus- sian courts of justice. Olearius, Herberstine, and others, have fully described the awful scenes of torture which were common in their times, at the trial of criminal cases in Moscow ; and though Peter the Great made some efforts to diminish their frequency, yet they con- tinued in full force throughout the empire, until Cathe- rine II. put an end to them. Alexander afterwards, in a ukaz of the 27th of September 1801, interdicted, in the strongest terms, every kind of torture in the administra- tion of justice ; and, by a subsequent ukaz, forbad the slitting of the nostrils and the branding of such as were condemned to be knouted and sent to Siberia. The children of Jaroslaff changed the capital punish- ment for murder into a fine. For striking with a stick, the fine was twelve grkans {Is.) ; for putting out an eye, maiming a leg or an arm, twenty grivans ; and if the person were old, only ten ! All these fines flowed into the treasury of the prince, and formed a conside- rable part of his revenue. The punishment of capital crimes by death was again restored in after ages, though it is not exactly known by whom. The Empress Elizabeth again aboHshed it ; and the present Emperor Nicholas revived it, in one 34 1 ANCIENT LKGISLATION. instance at least the punishment of the leaders of the sedition in 1826 ; they were hanged. The Grand-duke Vasilli loanovitch, who reigned in the year 1606, usually punished those murderers only with death, who committed the act for the purpose of robbing : they were hanged. No execution could take place until information had been given to the sovereign. The Code of Alexie awarded death, not only to the murderer, but to him also who had instigated him to the crime : they were broken on the wheel, hanged, deca- pitated, or knocked on the head with a club, and thrown into the river. If a woman had murdered her husband, she was interred alive up to her neck, and left to the mercy of the hungry dogs : the terms of the enactment are, "A)id hold her in the earth until she die in the place" Robbers and thieves also, according to the Ulojenie, were punished by death ; but they had six weeks granted for repentance, after their sentence was passed and be- fore execution, and were kept in a warm room ; whereas other great criminals were kept in a cold room, even in the severest winter weather. Forgers had melted metal poured down their throats. The debtor was delivered to his creditor, to be his slave, until he should pay his debts. Catherine II., hke Peter the Great before her, made a great shew, at one period of her reign, of be- coming the Legislatrix of Russia; but though she founded a Commission in 176(5 for this purpose, and wrote in- structions to them herself, yet they never seem to have l)roduced any thing of lasting importance to the empire. The true state of the matter a})pears to be simply this tliat a settled system of equitable law cannot well exist under a completely despotic government ; hence, though most of the modern sovereigns of Russia have PRESENT STATE OF THEIR COURTS OF JUSTICE. 3t5 made a stir, at some one period of their reign, to give to their subjects a well-digested civil and criminal code, yet the attempt has usually come to nothing. But, as has already been stated, the Russian laws of all kinds are every day added to, moulded, and rem.oulded, by the reigning sovereign, at his pleasure : it may therefore be said, that the unabrogated ukazes of these sovereigns, especially from the days of Peter I. to the present time, contain, strictly speaking, the laws of the Russians. It is gratifying to learn, that, through the vigilance of Nicholas, a full Collection of all these ancient and modern laws, or ukazes of the empire has already been printed, with the presses and types formerly used for printing the Scriptures by the suspended Russian Bible Society ; and that a Commission is now engaged in di- gesting these materials, with the view of presenting to the Russians a consistent body of equitable law, both civil and criminal, suited to the present improved state of the nation. In the government of the empire, the sovereign has the aid of a Council of thirty-six members, composed generally of the principal boiars, together with the mi- nisters for the several departments of Justice, the Inte- rior, Foreign Affairs, War, Marine, Finances, and Public Instruction. At the head of this Council is a President : this honourable station is now filled by Count Kotchubey, a nobleman of excellent character, of extensive know- ledge and experience, and a friend to every thing that is good. When he is unwiUing to decide on any matter pre- sented to him by his ministers, the sovereign sends it to be examined by this privy-council, which reports to him thereupon ; thus proving a valuable assistant to himself, and a salutary check upon the ministers, who 346 PRESENT STATE OF are the more cautious what they submit for the appro- bation of the Emperor, not knowing but it may be can- vassed in this assembly. The pecuhar state of jurisprudence in Russia, by which all matters belonging to the administration of justice are in the hands of the servants of the crown, will account for the fact, that there are but few persons in that country in the profession of the law. There is indeed little scope for the practice of private individuals in matters of right and wrong : hence, the only class of private individuals who may be styled free practitioners in legal matters are the Straeptschi, or men of business ; a humble class of persons, who are employed by con- tending parties to watch the progress of their affairs in going through the com*ts, to arrange for the payment of fees, &c. The complaints which have often been made by tra- vellers, and that in no very measured terms, respecting this and other courts and public offices viz. that the administration of justice in Russia is little better than a system of cheating and bribery have, alas ! but too much foundation in truth. For when the inexperienced private individual comes in contact with these functio- naries, how often is he obliged to offer gifts, in one form or other, as an inducement to them to do their duty ! indeed, without this, it is nearly impossible for him to obtain a decision in any matter. But while this is con- fessed, and has been justly censured, exposed, and condemned, few have attempted to lay open the prin- cipal causes of these abuses. The following, I believe, are two of the chief sources of this crying evil : 1st, The want of publicity in all legal matters ; every thing being kept secret, and the state of the case never being known till decided upon : Catherine II. ordered all the doors THEIR COURTS OF JUSTICE. 34^7 of the courts of justice to be made of transparent glass, as an emblem of the system she wished to introduce ; but, since her time, the glass doors have been removed, and closed doors and Egyptian darkness again envelope the course of legal matters. 2dly, There are very few offices under Government that have such salaries at- tached to them as the functionaries can comfortably live upon. The salaries indeed of the civil servants of the crown, in all departments, are so low, and so disproportioned to their rank and manner of life, that no man without a private fortune can support a family upon them. Few officers in the civil, judicial, and com- mercial offices receive from the crown one-third of what is requisite for their maintenance, in the station of so- ciety which they occupy ; and the constant progi-ess of civilization and refinement in these classes is daily aug- menting the disproportion : hence they are, in some sense, compelled to make those who need their services pay for them, in the shape of podarki, " presents," or in some other way. And as the laborious and active de- partments of Government, such as those of Justice, Commerce, and Police, are seldom filled by nobles of independent fortune, but by individuals who have risen by their education and talents, we need not wonder if, under these circumstances, venality and corruption are found to prevail among them The Russian Government, though well knowing this fertile root of mal-administration, cannot, without mighty changes, put an effectual stop to it. To do this, the civil and criminal code must be fixed upon an unalterable basis, and the revenues of the empire be doubled, in order to enable them to increase the salaries of the civil servants of the crown, to at least threefold of what they now are. Still, even as matters stand, much might be 318 EXCESSIVE ESTABLISHMENTS. effected by a reduction of the number of the civil ser- vants. It is with the Government of Russia as with many of the nobles their domestic establishments are upon a scale too extensive for their revenue : and it were well for both to consider, whether their affairs would not be better managed, and become far more pro- sperous, were they to disband one-half of their Asiatic retinue ; for the public establishment, like the families of the nobility, generally contain more than double the number of persons absolutely required to carry on the business. This overstocking of every office under Government is another fruit of that pernicious principle, now become so prevalent in Russia that without rank, a man is nothing in society. Hence, as w^as formerly stated, the youth press into office, civil or military, at a premature age : for unless they do this, they have no prospect of arriving at distinction in their native land, whatever be their hereditary titles, or the acquired or natural abilities which they may possess. Here, then, is an extensive field for reformation. Let us hope that the present wise, energetic, and humane monarch who sits upon the throne of the Tzars, who has already begun a reform of the courts of Justice, will adopt such comprehensive measures as shall ultimately realize this most desirable object, and give to the nation a code of equitable and stable laws : for, from what we have stated, it must I think ap})ear evident, that most of the abuses here depicted have their foundation in tlie system itself, and in the circumstances of those to whom the administration of justice is confided. ( a4^9 ) RUSSIAN PROVERBS, ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIANS. ' For an evil tongue, the head flies off. They who hunt the bear do not sleep over the sport. He ran from the wolf, and fell in with the bear. To steal is not to trade ; the risk is too great for the profit. Trust a skittish horse before a hasty tongue. Once we were wise now we are merry, Sin requires no teaching. When thy neighbour's cheek begins to flush, leave off drinking. ^ Quarrel with none, and men will be at peace with thee. Good words dry up no man's tongue. Thieves are not abroad every night ; yet every night make fast. He gets drunk, and beats his people because they are not sober. Praise not thyself, nor dispraise. Thou wilt not see all the world by looking out at thy own window. Shun not to do good; avoid the evil. Silence is better than to speak amiss. Fools dispute, while the wise share the booty. ' A fool can cast a stone where seven wise men cannot find it. Good deeds speak the truth without fear. The good are silent, where the evil-disposed murmur. Never two bears in one den. If thou love me, beat not my dog. Two hares at once, and you catch neither. Go to law for a small matter, and lose a greater. The fleetest horse gets not away from his tail. Economy surpasses gain. A mouse in the pantry is the voivod of a city. Misfortmie is next neighbour to stupidity. Liglit is the pack on another's back. An unseasonable guest is as bad as a Tartar. 350 RUSSIAN PROVERBS. To be a g-uest abroad, jrood to feast at home, better. Dear, but good cheap, but rotten. Neither for too much, nor for nothing. Cut down the sound tree the rotten will fall of itself. Once wet throu":li, and vou fear the rain no lonjjer. Yes, they will give thee bread and work with it. To live without debt is lordly to live in debt is slavery. She fried a pancake, and it ran out of the door. God loves industry. That day is a dull one, which brings nothing to do. His wealth is not on the barn-floor ; it is in his brains. The rich, in a scuffle, will save his face the poor man, his coat. At home, as 1 like it in company, as others will have it. Bread is dear indeed, if thou hast no money. They gave a naked man a shirt, and he says, " How^ coarse it is'/' Give of thy own, and not out of another's store. To preserve thy friend, spare not thyself. He could not live like a prince, and would not like a peasant. A sot will not leave the house for thy giving him beer. Throw bread and salt (hospitality) behind thee, and thou shalt find them before thee. Hast thou a pie ? thou wilt soon have a friend at table. Feed a wolf never so w^ell, he wall still away to the wood. Poverty steals necessity lies. Poverty is no crime, yet it brings condemnation. Poverty teaches riches corrupt. Tlie rich man is glad of a cliild tlie poor, of a calf. ' Money says nothing, but does much. Fear more the tears of the poor than the threats of the rich. The blind cannot see the proud will not. If gifts l)lind tlie wise, they destroy the unwise. All is of God and the Sovereio-n. RUSSIAN PROVERBS. 351 The pike is in the pond, to keep the perch moving. Not every great man sits with the Saints hereafter. To fill a great place, put in a large mind. The cause is decided when the judge has taken a present. A bad cause takes a long time to plead it. The shepherd shears the sheep, but does not flay them. The law has a long tongue, but they silence it. God gives honour to the man who knows how to wear it. Give to the judge, lest thou get into prison. Gifts blind the wise, and propitiate the wicked. Money may do much ; but truth must triumph at last. In teaching fools, spare not the fists. The boiar would like a joke ; but we are not fit play-fellows for him. The rod of the judge is heavier than thy ploughshare, A corrupt judge feels for the right side in his pocket. Unmerciful laws make criminals. Fire into the thicket God will find out the guilty. A small key opens the large lock. Whom God protects, none can harm. An oath, which the wise man dreads, is the jest of fools. Whom we respect, we praise. You may teach a bear manners. Throw down money in the dirt, they will pick it up. It will all make meal, when 'tis ground. They who have nothing to put in their own mouth can tell others' fortunes. Loiter not heaven is high, and the Emperor is at a distance. The largest ass will not make an elephant. Taken from the mud, to be made a prince. / Correct thy child with shame, not with scolding or the rod. ^ It is bad nurses that spoil children, not their playthings. To the child its doll to old age its cushions. His beard shews itself, but not his reason. 852 RUSSIAN PROVERBS. Kind words do more than a beating. One elder is wiser than seven greenhorns. He went througli tlie forest, and saw no firewood. As the falcon by his flight, so a brave youth is known by his deeds. Make not the cunning man thy friend. Good counsel serves every body. The soap is grey ; but it washes the linen white. Take not a jester into tliy confidence : how should his lips keep thy secrets ? Be courteous to thy friends not rude to others. Do good to thy friend, and shew thy enemy the way to it. A friend avails more than money. A friend cares for his friend ; and God, for us all. Friends are about the rich, as the chaff about tlie grain. Seek friends that will not shame thee. Thou hast helped thy friend ; expect help in thy turn. Many counsellors few helpers. The earth craves tillage ; the horse, corn ; a woman, jiresents. A poor quiet wife, before a quarrelsome lady. If the couple love indeed, it will come to a marriage. In thy bride, seek goodness of disposition before beauty. Choose a good tree, and tlien sit down in its sliade. To a good wife it is no punishment to sit at home. A ringf has no end to it. They drive the bear from the wood, and tlie stepmother from the house. A wife is not a boot, to be pulled off and tin-own aside. A happy marriage, good housekeeping ; a bad one, misery and the husband from home. Marriage is a new existence. A woman's praise is in her household. Dirty work gains clean money. Set a mujik at your table, he will soon lay uj) his legs on it. RUSSIAN PROVERBS. 353 The mujik has but one thing to mind how to get his work done. A mujik drunk will fight with a turnip. A mujik may be sober a year ; he may refrain two ; the third, he sets to drinking, and spends all. The mujik in the yard with the dog his wife in the house with the cat. A good mujik will work on a holiday. The master s will is, that the slave have none of his own. Obey, and then reason. A faithful servant, a glad master. Where the slave rules, the master is a slave. There is no work which is not afraid of the master. Evil doth Honours robe put on, And, thus arrayed, cheats many a one. A lord at home a barber's block in company. They were gaping at others in danger, when the ice broke under them. When the son is wiser than his father, there is joy : when the brother excels the brother, there is envy. "Titus, come and thrash !" "Oh! my back aches!" "Well; shall we go drink ?" " Here ! give me my coat !" Our eyes are our enemies. The foolish seek notice : the wise are sought in a corner. I love thee but myself better. A mothers blows break no bones. The wolf changes his coat, but not his nature. The wolf is a wolf by nature man, from avarice. "Freedom!" says the bird, "though the cage be a golden one." Sorrow slays no one ; yet it is the death of many. Merry Tom became miserable when they put him at the head of the table. All will stoop to pick up jewels. Every soldier would be General every sailor Admiral. The heart has no window. A A 854 RUSSIAN PROVERBS. He fawned on me, and then bit my heel. In travelling, and at their sports, men shew what they are. Pride, in rags dight, Is the devil's delight. What the young man boasts of, the old will repent of. Brotherly love does more for a family than riches. Praise will succeed better than gifts, with the proud. Even the hen will stand up for her chickens. Death, like the sun, cannot be steadfastly looked on. We cast thought beyond the mountains; and death, behind our backs. Stint not thy prayer : God will not withhold grace. The enemy w^ants his head : God will not give him a hair of it. I am not now at confession ; nor art thou my ghostly father. A good conscience needs no gold. With a peaceful conscience, fear not evil re})ort. Virtue conquers mere force. Deeds not words. The good teach good : the evil, evil. Good is good, everywhere. To the pious, every day is a holiday. The good shall overcome the evil. A father is good to his children : so is God, to us. Without God, go not so far as to the thresliold. God will not save without faith ; nor, wit}K)ut rightoousne^ss, justify. Without faith and works, prayer avails notliiiicj-. Prayer to God service to the Tzar. Go God-ward: thou wilt find a good road. Set a fool to worship, and he will break his head on the flooi-. Better be too humble, tlian proud. Why, man ! the idol was made of the very same wood with tliy malt-shovel. Easy paying, out of otliers' pockets. RUSSIAN PROVERBS. 355 The coat is as warm without the lace as with it. They set the saints'' pictures in gold ; and rob saints to do it. The Devil said, he liad all the kingdoms of the world but God refused him even the rule of the swine. He that hides good thoughts, is modest to a fault. Fear not death : fear evil-doing. Be not listless, when thy friend is to be praised. It is a shame to tell it ; and a sin to conceal it. The old propliets are dead; the new are liars. In danger, pray to God, and row towards the shore. Pray; but strive also. Fear God ; and let thy words be few. A Greek speaks truth once in the year. "It is a sin to steal," he says; yet he cannot get past the gap. You may write his words in water. God only is sinless. God knows the right of every cause, Yet, ere He speak, sees meet to pause. If the thunder roll not, the mujik will not cross himself. The earthern pot cannot contend with the brass pan. The wife does not beat her husband; but, still, her temper rules him. They live tolerably, like the dog and the cat. Avarice was born before us. What is written with a pen cannot be cut out with an axe. Cease not to lie, provided they believe. A word too much brings sorrow. He, that is to be hanged, will not drown. Pride is the nobles sense the peasant's. V y A right judgment will not make a bad cause a good one. Virtue is most precious. A good slave is glad to die for his master. -. , The cow has a long tongue, but she is not allowed to speak. A A 2 l]5C) IIUSSIAN PROVERBS. The fool praises the fool. We sin, like David; but we do not, like him, repent. There are not two summers in one year. No need to go beyond sea for fools; at home there are enough. A golden bed will not relieve the siek. He is my brother ; but still, he has his own mind. PRINCESS MESTCHERSKY. So7 CHAP. XV. Departure from Moscow Arrival in Twer Interview with the Princess Sophia Mestchersky Her benevolent labours, and Religious and Moral Publications The Emperor Alexander Her account of his conversion, and piety her estimate of his character and account of his death Departure from Twer, and safe arrival in St. Petersburg Concise statement of the labours of the Russian Bible Society, After spending several agreeable days among my Mos- cow friends, I began my journey towards Petersburg, about five o'clock in the evening; and continuing, as usual, to travel all night, reached Twer in the afternoon of the following day. Here I had the great pleasure of meeting with my noble friend, the Princess Sophia Mestchersky, on a visit to her aged father. General Vsevolojsky. She was staying with her brother, who is the Civil Governor of the province, and is known as the author of a valuable work in two volumes, viz. a Historical and Biographical Dictionary of the Empire of Russia, in the French language ; printed at Moscow in the year 1813. This princess, ever since the year 1811, has been most zealously and indefatigably engaged in promoting works of piety and benevolence among her countrymen. She was among the first who encouraged me to attempt, in 1811, the formation of a Bible Society in Moscow ; which, as has been related, was realized in the year 1813. She even went with me herself to Moscow, and exerted all her influence, among the returning nobility, to bring t^j8 PRINCESS MESTCHERSHY : about the formation of tliis institution. She became a most valuable and active member of the Prison Society, which was afterwards established in St. Petersburg ; fol- lowing the example of Mrs. Fry, in reading and ex- pounding the Holy Scriptures to the prisoners several times a week. The hospitals, also, and poor-houses of Petersburg partook largely of her bounty and of her visits of mercy. But her most important work for Russia has been the translation, composition, and publi- cation of a number of Religious and Moral Treatises in the Modern Russ, written in such a style of ease and simplicity, as to adapt them to all classes. The first of her publications of this kind appeared in 1813, just as the French abandoned Moscow an "Address to the Af- flicted." Nothing could have been more appropriate to the state of the ruined and scattered inhabitants of Moscow, than this Tract ; it was received and read with profit and delight. From this commencement, in 1813, till my leaving Russia, the princess had published ninety- three different pieces, amounting to upwards of 400,000 copies, on religious and moral subjects, which together form eight volumes 8vo., and which were gratuitously distributed, or sold at low prices. The largest among these are, a volume of Sermons by Walker of Truro, called "^ The Christian, or the Believer a New Creature ;" " Buchanan's Researches in India," " Conversations between a Mother and her Children on Spiritual sub- jects," written by herself, and a volume on Protestant Missions to the Heathen, of her own compiling. The rest consist of Legh Richmond's three valuable Tracts, " Addison on Christianity," a Selection from Hannah More's Tracts, the principal pubhcations of the Lon- don Religious Tract Society, several pieces from the German, two written by myself, and a Selection of HER PUBLICATIONS AND BENEVOLENCE. .*?59 Tracts from the writings of the late Archbishop Tikon, of Zadonsk, and from those of the late Metropolitan Michael of St. Petersburg. In the preparation and publication of these most useful works, I gave her my constant assistance. The expenses of printing and binding were borne for many years by the Princess herself ; for, although many of the bishops, most of whom encouraged their circulation, remitted money for the copies which they sold, yet she at different times sunk upwards of 10,000 roubles in the undertaking. At last, the Emperor privately stept forward, and desired to take a part in this useful and pious labour, so well calculated to enlighten his subjects ; and, at four dif- ferent times, he contributed 12,000 roubles in aid of it. Most of these publications were sanctioned by the spiri- tual censors; a singular proof of the degree of pure Christian doctrine which still remains in the Russian Church. Indeed, provided you keep clear of the dis- pute respecting the procession of the Holy Ghost, the number of the sacraments, the invocation of saints, prayers for the dead, &c., you may state all the vital doctrines of the Gospel, without fear of having the work rejected by the spiritual authorities. Since I left Peters- burgthe princess having retired to her estates at Lattoshino, in the interior, where she now principally resides the re-publication of these useful Tracts has been taken up by other pious friends in Petersburg ; so that their circulation is still going forward, with pleasing tokens of usefulness. In 1832, these friends printed 120,000 copies. Indeed, their pubhcation formed a new era in Russia with regard to religious books ; for the standard dogmatical or religious works of the Russians are all in the Slavonian character and tongue ; so that when these Tracts made their appearance in the modern 3G0 THE ExMPEUOR ALEXANDER : character and language, and written in a style of sim- plicity and elegance, instead of the stiff scholastic manner of the ecclesiastical writings. Religion, seeming to have put on a more attractive dress, was brought nearer and made more intelligible to readers of all classes. And it is only since these works appeared, that the New Testament has cast off its ancient Slavonic dense veil of the tenth century, and Christ and his Apostles have been permitted to address the Russian nation in their modern tongue. But the main spring of all these Christian and bene- volent exertions was certainly the Emperor ; for, in a country like Russia, nothing of the kind could go on without the approbation of the ruling powers. And as this noble protector of Bible Societies is now no more, and as the Russian Bible Society was suspended, not by him, but by the present sovereign, I shall here subjoin a few particulars respecting the late Emperor. The question is frequently asked, " What has Alex- ander I. done for Russia?" This is a question which will be better understood and appreciated a hundred years hence, than at the present day. But it is not dif- ficult even now to furnish a satisfactory reply. He extended the boundaries of the empire, by adding to it Finland, Georgia, and Bessarabia. He drew forth the resources of the country ; and raised the political, com- mercial, and national influence of Russia to a heiiiht far superior to what had been attained by any of his predecessors. He invited into his dominions many thousands of German colonists, and settled them in Georgia, the Crimea, Bessarabia, on the \\'olga, around Odessa, and in the steppes of Little Tartary ; thus, at the same time, peophng and civilizing these distant parts of his empire. HIS PATRONAGE OF THE ARTS &C. 361 He introduced, as we have elsewhere shewn, into the spiritual schools for the clergy, a system of solid education by which, in the present day, the state of learning among the Russian clergy is greatly improved ; and is become as far superior to that of their brethren in Greece, as it is inferior to that of the clergy of Western Europe. He reformed and extended the course of education in the Universities of the empire, augmenting the number of seminaries, gymnasiums, and schools. And though education, notwithstanding all his efforts to promote it, is but partially diffused, yet a foundation has been laid by him for Scriptural education on the Lancasterian system, by the introduction of Scripture Lessons into the schools ; and he has, moreover, enjoined upon all a religious education. He was a liberal patron of the arts and sciences, not merely by renovating the institutions founded by his predecessors for the promotion of these objects, but by sending many young artists to Rome, to study painting and sculpture, at his own expense. Others he sent out to England, France, and Germany, to study the arts of agriculture, mechanics, manufactures, medicine, &c. &c., with the view of promoting the improvement of his people. He encouraged navigation among his maritime sub- jects; and it was in his reign that the Russian navigators first undertook to sail round the world, under the con- duct of Kotzebue, Krusenstern, and Golovnin. He enriched the cabinets of Natural History with valu- able additions ; such as, Forster's Mineralogical Collec- tions, Loder's Anatomical Museum, and a Collection ol' Paintings which formerly belonged to Mr. Kozwelt of Amsterdam, for which 200,1)00 roubles were given ; he also paid 960,000 francs for the Gallery of Malmaison. He encouraged the study of the Oriental languages. 3()2 THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER : by sending jnen of ability to Pekin to acquire the Chinese and Mandjur languages, in the monastery belonging to the Greek Church in that capital ; by founding a school for Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Mongolian, and Kalmuck, in connexion with the University of St. Petersburg ; and by aiding with liberal donations the publication of Oriental works such as Dr. Schmidt's History of the Mongols.* He encouraged scientific research in every part of his vast dominions ; by which the invaluable natural re- sources of the empire are becoming more and more known to its inhabitants, and made available to the good of the community. He reformed, to a certain extent, the jurisprudence of the country : though, notwithstanding his efforts, such w^as the power, extent, and inveteracy of the mal-practices in this department, that the administration of justice was still left at a low ebb at the time of his decease. He emancipated the serfs of Esthonia and Courland from the bondage in w^hich they had been held, and placed them in the rank of free men. He abolished torture, and the branding of the face and slitting of the nostrils of criminals condemned to the knout and Siberia. He deprived the nobles of the pow^er of sending their refractory serfs to Siberia, until tried and found guilty in a court of justice ; he also took from them the power of selling their slaves individually. In 1823, he divided the empire into twelve General (Governments ; and placed every three or four provinces under a Military Governor, who stood in innnediate relation with himself. This w^as done, princi})ally, with * The present Emperor is also encourati,'in^' lil)erally the same re- searches, by addini^ vahial)le eoUeetions of Persic and Arabic nuiniiseripts to the stores aheadv possessed by the I niversities. HIS NATIONAL BENEFITS. 363 the view of concentrating the administration of justice in the provinces, and of checking the numerous abuses of power practised by Civil Governors, Vice-governors, and those under them. For the same purpose, and to counteract the same evils, he divided Siberia into two General Governments ; for it was found that the distance of places was so immense in that country, as enor- mously to retard every legal process, and occasion a proportionate additional expense. He travelled frequently into different parts of his do- minions, in order personally to inspect the public insti- tutions, to ascertain the condition of the people, and to relieve their grievances and distress, whenever they were so fortunate as to be able to bring them before him. He also encouraged the amelioration of the native breed of sheep, horses, and cattle : and the manufac- tories of Russia, with all the disadvantages against which they have had to contend, certainly made greater pro- gress under Alexander than in any preceding reign. He liberally encouraged, by grants of money, the translation of many valuable scientific, moral, and re- ligious works from European languages into Russ ; and he richly rewarded Karamzin, for his extensive labours in writing the best history that we possess of Russia, from the earhest ages till the accession of the present dynasty of Romanoff to the throne. Being most passionately fon-d of architecture, and possessing an uncommonly good taste in this art, he beautified Petersburg, Moscow, and many other cities and towns throughout his empire, by the erection of a great number of splendid public edifices. He encouraged the formation of a Philanthropic So- ciety in Petersburg and Moscow, which has been libe- rally supported in both capitals, and has done much to relieve the destitute and sick. 364- THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER : He readily entered into the benevolent plans of Walter Venning, Esq., for the improvement of prison discipline ; and a society was formed in Petersburg, in 1819, for this express purpose, which has contributed greatly to the amelioration of the prisons of Petersburg, and has also extended its beneficial effects into several of the provin- cial prisons. He estabhshed an Asylum for Jewish Converts, by ap- pointing to them extensive lands on the Sea of Azoff, to which he annexed distinguished civil privileges, under the direction of a Dutch Committee in St. Petersburg. And on signing the ukaz for this institution, he said to Prince Galitzin : " Now, should we see no good results from this institution for fifteen years to come, I shall not complain ; for this is a work which entirely depends on the Divine blessing." And though last, not least he encouraged the foundation and the labours of Bible Societies in his dominions, and the translation and distribution of the New Testament and of the Psalms in the Modern Russ; and it may truly be afifirmed, that by the publication of 876,10(j copies of the Scriptures, in nearly thirty different lan- guages and dialects, he has laid a foundation for the civil, religious, and moral improvement of his country- men, superior, in its nature and probable results, to all that has been effected by his other unwearied exertions for their welfare. That the character of the late Em})eror of Russia should be still an enigma with many who formei'ly tliougbt very highly of liim, is the less to be wondered at, when the peculiar circumstances in which he was placed, taken in connexion with his enlightened Clnistian principles and experience, are duly considered. The voice of truth and time, however, will gradually remove all (!oui)ts re- specting the Christian sincerity of a monarch who, during HIS PHILANTHROPY. S6o the latter part of his reign, was, in many respects, an or- nament to the Christian name, and an invaluable blessing to the nation over which Providence had placed him. Condescension of manners, genuine kindness of heart, a natural fear of acting or deciding wrong, a strong sense of his responsibiUty, as a sovereign, to God, a consciousness of his own imperfections as a man, united, nevertheless, with a capacious mind, well cultivated, and possessing a strong turn for mathematical accuracy to which may be added, a boundless desire to pro- mote the temporal and spiritual good of his subjects, a constant readiness to encourage every plan which had this object in view, and a sincere joy at every oppor- tunity afforded him of relieving the distressed, the unfortunate, the poor, the suffering sincere and strong religious impressions extensive knowledge of mankind, and a proneness, as the result of this knowledge, to distrust them these seem to have been the leading features of this noble character. It may truly be affirmed of Alexander I., that he never inflicted a wound, even upon the guilty, with the one hand, without pouring into it oil and wine with the other. He ruled the Russians with unprecedented mildness, which made many worthless characters presume on his lenity. Such was the genuine kindness of his heart, that some of his principal defects in the government of his subjects may be traced to this very source. On his political career, however, and the distinguished events of his reign, during the French invasion of Russia, the overthrow of Buonaparte, the taking of Paris, &c., it is not my intention to enter ; the object of these, and the following remarks from one of his own friends, is simply to endeavour to throw some further light on his character as a man and a Christian. 3G() THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER : The Princess Mestchersky enjoyed the intimate ac- quaintance and friendship of the late Emperor Alexander, for many years previous to his decease. He valued her superior talents and acquirements, and derived pleasure and edification from her intimate knowledge both of doctrinal and experimental Christianity. His death proved a severe stroke to her ; it was a topic which she dwelt upon, in several of her letters written to me at the time. And as the religious character of Alexander 1. has been much suspected even by some who formerly used to think favourably of it, and as it is but partially known to the world at large, I take the liberty of here introducing some extracts of a communication from the princess on this interesting subject, written at the time of his death, which will no doubt be read with pleasure. It is the lively effusion of a fervent and energetic mind, and bears the marks of a friendly partiality ; yet there are matters of fact stated, and just views of the real reli- gious character of the late Emperor given, which few except herself had sufficient opportunities of knowing, or abihty to appreciate. " St. Petersburg, June 1, 1S26. " . . . . View the Emperor Alexander, sovereign of an immense empire, at the head of a formidable army, proud of his powder, full of the fire of youth, and aml)itious of the glory of this world ! He neglects, he misunderstands the source of all his blessings ; and, trusting to an arm of flesh, he beholds victory and triumph before him, for- getting that ' no king is saved by the multitude of a host a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.' He is still totally destitute of true faith. Ijuonapartc, like a thunderbolt, smites his troops in all quarters they llee before this genius of evil, this messenger of HIS RELIGIOUS CHARACTER. 307 wrath ; and, in a short time, the Emperor beholds a part of his empire devastated, the ancient capital of his dominions delivered to the flames, his people flying from city to city, his troops scattered in disorder, and without supplies : all around reigns desolation, and blood flows on every side. " In this state of distress, the Lord yet supports him, but without revealing Himself to him : He inspires him with courage and firmness : then He approaches nearer, and darts on his soul a ray of His gi'ace, by the follow- ing means. " About the middle of the year 1812, the Emperor, about to quit St. Petersburg, and having already taken leave of his august family, had retired into his cabinet, and, quite alone, was employed in arranging some affairs before his departure. All at once he beheld a female enter, whom, at first, he did not recognise, there being little light in the room. Astonished at this apparition for never was a woman peiTnitted to enter his cabinet without leave, not even of his own family, and above all at this unseasonable hour he, however, arose, went to meet her, and perceived it to be the Countess Tolstoi ; who, excusing herself for the liberty she had taken from a desire to wish him a happy journey, presented him at the same time with a paper. The Emperor, at all times condescending, and sensible of the least proof of attach- ment, thanked her, and bade her adieu. The paper he supposed to contain a petition for something, and there- fore put it in his pocket ; and, when she was gone, re- sumed his former employment. Soon after, he took his departure, without thinking more about it. " At the first night's quarters, fatigued with cares, and alone, he wished to ease his thoughts by turning them to some specific object : he took out the paper 3()8 THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER '. from his pocket, opened it, and saw \nth surprise that it contained the Ninety-first Psahn. He read it with plea- sure, and its divine contents cahned his troubled spirit ; and his heart said in secret- ' Oh ! that these words were addressed to me !' As this thought passed through his mind, some one entered the room and interrupted him : he again set off, and all was forgotten. " X considerable time after this, he found himself in Moscow, in one of the most critical periods of his life (who can be ignorant of the terrible events of the memorable year 1812 ?) Alone in his cabinet, he was arranging some books on a table, one of which caused a volume of the Bible to fall down (it was De Sacy's ver- sion, in 4to.) : in falling, it opened, and the Emperor, on taking it up, happened to cast his eye upon the page, and beheld again the Psalm which had once comforted him ! At this time he recognised the voice which called him ; and he replied and said : " Here I am, Lord ! speak to thy servant!" He read, he applied what he read, and he found every word suitable to himself; and ever after, until his last breath, he carried this Psalm about his person, learned it by heart, and evening and morning recited it at his devotions*. " Now the bruised heart of the monarch received this beam of light with joy ; and from the moment that the * After the death of his majesty, his valct-de-chambre stated, that the Emperor had always a certain paper in his pocket, which he prohi- bited them from touchinij^, otlierwise than to remove it from one coat-pocket to another, according" as he changed his uniform. No person had any knowk'dge of its contents, or beUeved that it coukl be any other tlian a paper of importance which the Emperor liad received in some mysterious way ; it was only when they opened it, at his decease, that they recog- nised the soul and the sentiments of him whom they deplored. They sent this precious paper to the Empress Dowager, at St. Petersburg ; and it was put into his cofliu along with him. HIS RELIGIOUS CHARACTER. 369 new creature was born, he applied himself incessantly to the study of the Divine word, which he never put from him. He now came to know his weakness; he cried unto God ; and, without compulsion, or the instrumen- tality of any one, he fell at the feet of the Lord : and the Lord armed him, like Da\dd, with faith and expe- rience ; whereupon, behold ! a new Goliath falls beneath the strokes of him, whom, but a short time before, he expected to vanquish. " We will not, however, attempt to follow this Chris- tian hero in the brilliant career of his victories ; but merely remark, that he himself spoke of them in the following terms : * I felt myself,' said he, ' like a child ; experience had taught me my insufficiency ; faith made me commit myself entirely to Him, who had spoken to me in the Psalm, and had inspired me with a security and a force altogether new to me. At every fresh difficulty to be overcome, at every decision to be taken, or question to be solved, I went, if I had an opportunity, and threw myself at the feet of my Father who is in heaven or, recollecting myself for a few moments, I cried to Him from the bottom of my heart and all was smoothed, decided, and executed marvel- lously ; all difficulties fled before the Lord, who marched before me. Without ceasing, I read His word. I re- member, that one day, on entering a small town on the fi'ontier of France, the name of which town I have forgotten, sitting in my calash, I was reading in the New Testament about the eunuch of Queen Candace reading the Prophet Isaiah, and desiring some one to explain to him what he read. I then thought within myself ' Oh ! that God w^ould also send me some one, to help me rightly to understand His holy will.' And at the very time I was desiring this in my heart, Madam Krudner 370 THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER : sent, asking permission to see me. For a short time I believed that it was she whom God intended to employ for this purpose ; but very soon I perceived that this light was nothing more than an ignis fatuusJ These are his own words. "And, truly, it was the will of God that none but Himself should instruct and guide this soul of His own choice this heart open to His love. And I must say, that I have often been astonished and not only I, but other persons also, even the most instructed and ad- vanced Christians, have been compelled to admire his enlightened faith, and his deep knowledge, drawn purely from the sacred scriptures his true humility, and how he gave himself up to that simplicity which the Lord requires, when He promiseth, ' Verily I say unto you. Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.' " Whence had he this Divine knowledge ? We know all those who surrounded him all with whom he spoke on the subject of religion ; but I am bold to say that there was not one among them who had reached his stature. His noble and tender spirit soon felt the chilling atmosphere of his court ; and he spoke no more of religion, or of the state of his soul, or of his pious sentiments, except to the very few whom he knew to be of the same mind with himself. " The two last years of his life were years of suffering. Sometimes sick himself, and not willing to shew it, lest he should alarm his relatives and friends, he allowed his health to be silently undermined by evils which he did not oppose, until he was forced to do so in order not to fall an immediate sacrifice to them : at other times, he suffered exceedingly on account of the incurable disease of his august spouse the Empress, whom he HIS RELIGIOUS CHARACTER. 371 seldom quitted in her sickness. He attended her during that period, as if she had been a favourite child : night and day he watched her himself, and administered the medicine to her, first tasting whatever was given : he marked with anxiety the least change, the slightest alteration in her case a case which presented nothing but symptoms of despair. " At length, fatigued with the cares and endless la- bours connected with the government of an immense empire in a word, ripe for eternity, his existence was no more for this world. The change in his health was such, and so sudden, for one formerly so active and laborious, as to render him sedentary and languid : his lively and communicative temper became sad, and frequently melancholy, notwithstanding all the efforts which he made to vanquish it, and notwithstanding the extreme kindness of his heart, which feared to afflict others by shewing its own sufferings. " His fine figure seemed now to be covered, as it were, with a cloud : his kind looks, and smile of benevolence, were become like the gentle severity of the setting sun. Exercises of piety and beneficence remained the only refuge of his noble mind the only occupation which still afforded him pleasure. And did the enemy seek to poison this last source of his pleasure ? Yes, this ex- ercise, which had little calculated to tempt, was mixed with bitterness and pain towards his latter end. The liOrd permitted the enemy severely to try His faithful servant, even in all the recesses of his heart : he was tried here below by the sharpest fiery trials ; and when it was made manifest that he had kept the faith, then he finished his course, and went to receive that crown which is reserved for all them who love His appearance. " ' Blessed are the poor in spirit ; for theirs is the BB 2 372 THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER : kingdom of heaven!' And who, more than Alexander, re- nounced that spirit which the world admires ? Who, more than he, in their respective stations, endeavoured to pre- serve that simplicity which Christianity requires ? Who has given us a better proof than he has, that ' God resist- eth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble' ? Was it not his gentleness which captivated all hearts which gained the confidence even of those whom he had van- quished ? During his twenty-five years' reign, no person was ever punished in his anger. Even those who had merited his resentment, he punished only by withdraw- ing his countenance from them ; and even then, when he found that he was afflicting them, how did it pain his heart ! how much did it cost him ! He strove, like his Divine Master, to be meek and humble of heart ; and into His rest he has now entered. " ' Blessed are they that mourn ; for they shall be comforted !' How often have I been witness to the tears of Alexander I., when speaking of the errors of his youth, and admiring the mercy of God towards himself when enumerating the things he had to reproach himself with on the review of his past life when ren- dering thanks to our Saviour, who had manifested Himself to his wandering heart or when he spoke of that future life of eternal happiness and repose, which is promised to the Children of God, and towards which his soul aspired! And how often have I seen the pro- mise of consolation verified in his experience! a heavenly smile of hope always beamed through his tears, like the rays of the sun piercing the thin cloud which in its passage had obstructed for a moment his shining.* * In illustration of the above statement, J f;-ive the following' anecdote, received from undoubted authority. "After the death of his beloved natural HIS RELIGIOUS CHARACTER. 373 " * Blessed are the merciful ; for they shall obtain mercy.' He was a lover of justice, and sought for it everywhere : he studied the justice of God, with the view of regulating his own by it : he always yielded with firm- ness and resignation to truth, and required it of all who approached him. Who was ever punished for having told the truth to Alexander I. ? He hungered after it. Yet, O God of justice and mercy ! Thou hast beheld, and we all have seen and can testify, that mercy was the soul of all his actions. What examples, what deeds of mercy, might not be instanced here ? His enemies and strangers, no less than his own subjects, were witnesses thereof, and equally partook of it. During the war, and at the taking of Paris, during his journeys in the interior of his dominions, and especially at the time of the inun- dation of his capital then we beheld our sovereign mingling his tears with the unfortunate, who de- plored the loss of wives, of children, of parents, and of property then we saw him mixing in the crowd, encompassed by weeping mothers and widows, shaking them by the hand, assuaging their griefs, munificently relieving their wants, and pronouncing to them these memorable words of a humble Christian : ' My Child- ren ! it is on my account that you suffer it is 1 it is my sins which God is visiting upon you !' And the poor sufferers seemed to forget their misfortunes for a while, in beholding his affliction on their account : they were astonished at the sight of such a compassionate being, accusing himself in their presence : and they natural daughter, Sophia, he was one day accosted publicly, in condolence on the event, by a foreign ambassador. The Emperor looked down for some time, and mused in silence: then, raising his head, he replied, ' I thank you. Sir, for thus reminding me of the sins of my youth :' and^ as he spoke these words, he seemed much affected." 374 THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER I exclaimed : ' Blessed is the man who resembles thee ! he shall be called beloved, for he shall obtain mercy.'* " Who is able to enmiierate his acts of benevolence, the returns of love from his regenerated soul to its Saviour? I shall give you merely one instance, A foreigner in the Russian service, accused of misconduct, had been convicted, and condemned to be sent to Siberia ; and his sentence had been forwarded to the Emperor for confirmation. The wife of this unhappy man, the mother of six young children, and pregnant with the seventh, happened to overhear an old woman speaking of the Emperor with admiration, and exclaiming ' And who art thou, so young and so beautiful who art thou, that accusest thyself as the cause of our suffer- ings ? Thou resemblest an angel, and art so merciful ! canst thou, then, compare thy sins with ours ? ' The poor woman, after frequently hearing the goodness of the sovereign thus spoken of, at last formed the resolution to go to him and implore his mercy. She told her plan to no one, but went to Tzarskoi-Selo, accompanied by all her little children : there she waylaid the Emperor, in one of the walks of the palace-garden, saying to herself, ' If he be alone, I will stop him ; but if there be any one with him, I will say nothing.' In a short time, she saw him arrive in his calash, quite alone : she held up her white handkerchief above her head, and * As another interesting' proof of his humanity I give the foUosving. At the fearful moment, when he perceived that the waters were rising to an unusual height, and that the sentinels stationed at the Govern- ment stores on the Island of Vasilli Ostrotf would be in danger, the Emperor, well knowing that they would sooner perish than quit their posts, ordered his droshka, and drove to the different places on tlie island ; liberating all the sentinels, some of whom he found already uj) to their waists in water. HIS RELIGIOUS CHARACTER. 375 waved it, as a signal to attract his notice. The Emperor, seeing her, stopped short, and asked what she wanted: ' O Sire ! ' said she, * I ask nothing but mercy mercy and pardon only ! ' The Emperor questioned her, re- membered the case of her husband, and spoke of justice. She interrupted him at that word, and exclaimed, ' I ask not for justice. Sire, but for mercy. Sire ! if you say that God will pardon you your sins, pardon, then, to us our transgressions!' She spoke English with him. The Emperor, covering his eyes with his hand, retired a little, and then replied : ' Well, 1 will do it.' ' Will you ?' continued the woman. ' Yes, I will.' ' But will you, indeed V ' Yes, I give you my word.' ' Then give me your hand !' said the poor wo- man, in a transport of gratitude ; and the Emperor went and took her by the hand, and pressed it kindly. He accordingly arrested the execution of justice ; the case remained undecided in his own hands ; and he con- tinued to give her the salary which her husband had received. " ' Blessed are the pure in heart ; for they shall see God.' O Lord ! is it not a heart purified by Thy Holy Spirit, which is meant here a heart which receives His light, and which of His word makes a lamp to enlighten its steps, and a law to point out the path in which to walk ? Is it not the man that seeks to be justified, not of himself, but through the sacrifice of Thy Divine Son and the merits of His death who, to the last, strives to purify his heart in that blood which was shed upon the cross to cleanse us from our iniquities ? Is not this the heart, O my Lord ! which our Divine Saviour invites to enter into the joy of His heavenly Father ? " ' Blessed are the peace-makers ; for they shall be called the Children of God.' That Alexander was a 376 THE EMPEROR ALEXANDER I peace-maker, the whole of Europe, or rather the whole world, can bear testimony. He was one of God's chosen, sent to keep peace in Europe, for more than ten years : he acquired the confidence of the nations, though divided in their interests and eager for conquest. He reconciled them, and united them by the cords of his own love : his word, founded on the word of God, was equivalent to trea- ties and guarantees. He pacified all hearts, because his own heart was at peace with God. He had received that peace which our Saviour left as the heritage of his dis- ciples and his faithful ones. And the whole of Europe still enjoys peace, through the instrumentality of this peace-maker. " ' Blessed are they which are persecuted for righte- ousness' sake ; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' ^This last beatitude may seem inapplicable to our late great and powerful monarch. But the inner man the true Christian in him did suffer persecution ; the malice of the ^^icked has frequently calumniated this faithful ser- vant of God. They accused him of hypocrisy : not being able to understand his heart, they judged of it from their own. Oh! read the details he always pardoned his enemies. Did not his love pity them, saying merely that 'he knew them?' and frequently, too frequently, his noble soul giieved over them. *' Happy art thou, august monarch ! It was on ac- count of thy Saviour on account of thy love to Him on account of thy faith, that they spake evil of thee. But now thy soul is perfect in happiness ; for thine is the kingdom of heaven. Great, great is the recompence which thou hast received ! " He died in peace, after having passed two of the hap- piest months which he had spent in this world ; and his last words, after liaving received the communion, were HIS RELIGIOUS CHARACTER. 377 * I have never felt so happy !' He was tired of his crown, he was tired of his throne, for he had taken up his cross to follow the Lord ; and often, very often, had he longed for the moment when he should be called to lay it down, with his life, at the feet of his Saviour." The following Imperial Ukaz, or Proclamation for a General Thanksgiving throughout Russia, issued by Alexander from his head-quarters at Carlsruhe, Dec. 6, 1813, O. S. bears characteristic marks of the devout and humble state of his mind, after his great victories ; and it is here given as a further illustration of his character. " Beloved Subjects ! A year is elapsed since we were called upon to return thanks to God, for delivering our realms from the hands of cruel and powerful enemies. Scarcely is the present year expired, and already our \'ictorious banners are erected on the banks of the Rhine. Europe, which was armed against us, is now voluntarily marching with us. All the nations which lie between Russia and France follow our example, and, having united their arms with ours, turn them against the oppressor of the nations. ^^ So great a change upon earth could only have been effected by the special power of God. The destiny of nations and of states rises and falls by the power of His Almighty arm. Who is powerful without Him ? Who is strong and stable, unless by His will ? Let us turn to Him, with our whole heart and mind. Let us not be proud of our own deeds. Let us never imagine that we are more than weak mortals. What are we ? So long as the hand of God is with us, we may possess wisdom and might : but without Him, we are nothing. Let all praise of man, therefore, be silenced before Him. Let each of us present the sacrifice of praise to Him, to 378 RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY I whom it is due. Our true glory, and honour, is humiHty before Him. We are convinced that each of our faith- ful subjects always feels this, and especially after so much Divine goodness has been poured out upon us. Animated, therefore, by these sentiments of humility and zeal, we ordain, on the present occasion, that, throughout our whole empire, every temple of God be opened ; that in every church solemn thanksgivings be offered, on bended knees, to the Maker and Disposer of all things ; and that all men present tears of the warmest gratitude to Him, for the unspeakable mercy shewn unto us. By the power of his Almighty arm. He hath drawn us out of great deeps, and placed us on the pinnacle of glory. What can we render unto Him but tears of gratitude and joy ! (Signed) " Alexander. " Given at the Head Quarters, Carlsruhe, Dec. 6, IS 13, O. S." Twer. Having got my sledge repaired, and spent part of two agreeable days in the family circle of the Vsevolodjkys, and especially with my excellent friend the Princess, I started for St. Petersburg in the evening ; and, after encountering some very rough and stormy weather, bad roads, and severe frosts, I entered Peters- burg in safety, about mid-day. The joy of my beloved wife and children at seeing me again, after an absence of one year and eight months, is not to be described. Our hearts were melted, in gratitude and praise towards Him who had so graciously preserved us during so long and painful a separation ; in which, nevertheless, good- ness and mercy were our constant theme. As the la})ours of Bible Societies in Russia, during the last twelve years of the reign of Alexander, are ITS OBJECTS AND LABOURS. 379 calculated to produce important effects on the religious and moral condition of the people, and as the writer of these pages took a prominent part in all their proceed- ings, he deems it necessary to give to the reader a concise statement of the transactions of the Rvissian Bible Society, and its Auxiliaries, before the operations of these institutions were suspended, in 1826, by a ukaz of the Emperor Nicholas. The Russian Bible Society was founded in St. Peters- burg on the 23d of January 1813, by permission of the late Emperor Alexander. No sooner had the Com- mittee been constituted, than the earnest attention of their first meeting was directed to an examination of the most judicious measures for attaining their object ; and, as a preliminary step, it was resolved to apprize the whole empire of their views. This was attempted. First, by means of the publication of a small Treatise on Bible Societies in general, and on the establishment of one in St. Petersburg ; 2dly, By circulars, addressed to all the Civil and Ecclesiastical Authorities, for the purpose of securing their co-operation ; 3dly, By en- couraging and opening subscriptions for purchasing and printing Bibles in different languages. The members of the Committee led the way, by subscribing, at their very first meeting, 5750 roubles, for immediate purposes ; and the further sum of 4800 roubles annually. In addi- tion to this, the British and Foreign Bible Society remitted 500/. sterling (or about 7000 roubles) in aid of the cause : and, on its being made known to the Em- peror that the Committee had been formed, and had actually commenced their operations, his majesty became a member of the Russian Bible Society, and gave a donation of 25,000 roubles, besides an annual subscrip- tion of 10,000. 380 RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY : The promising auspices under which the Committee at St. Petersburg commenced their operations were at- tended by the happiest results : from all sides, contri- butions in aid of the cause flowed in ; in various parts of the empire Auxiliary Bible Societies were formed ; an extensive correspondence was opened; and Moscow, as we have already stated, speedily witnessed the esta- bhshment of its own Bible Society ; so that, with the first steps taken towards the restoration of that imperial city, after the devastations of the war, a society also appeared, scattering blessings around, whose avowed object was, to supply those who had been deprived of their all, with the word of eternal life. In the course of a year, the provinces on the Baltic Sea also joined this union formed for disseminating the Bible, and established Branch Societies in Dorpat, INIitau, Riga, and Reval. Towards the close of the same year (1813), one was also established in Jarosslawl ; and in the following years. Auxiliaries were formed in almost every town of importance throughout the empire, until they reached the number of 289. As one of the principal objects of the Society was to augment the number of copies of the Holy Scriptures, already existing in different languages, the Committee lost no time in taking efficient measures for its accom- plishment. Accordingly, they made it publicly known, as the design of their operations, " To furnish every family, throughout the extensive domains of the Russian empire, with a Bible, or at least a New Testament ; and, ultimately, to afford to every individual the means of becoming possessed of that invaluable treasure, in his own vernacular tongue." A beginning was soon made, to print the Holy Scrip- tures in those languages which are more generally ITS OBJECTS AND LABOURS. 381 current in Russia ; and the Bible Society also opened a depot for the sale of such Bibles as were either printed in the country, or received from abroad. For the greater convenience of printing the Holy Scriptures at St. Petersburg, a stereotype printing-office was established ; to which were added, in the sequel, the necessary accommodations and apparatus for book- binding ; and both departments were placed under the direction of English masters. The Committee were enabled to effect these arrangements, so essentially requisite for the furtherance of the objects of the Bible Society, chiefly by means of the continued, powerful, and benevolent aid of his Imperial Majesty himself; who was graciously pleased to grant to the Society, for the purposes above alluded to, not only a spacious stone building, but also a sum of money sufficient to answer the expenses of making various necessary alterations in it. From the numerous letters addressed to the Com- mittee by persons of various ranks, and inserted in its Reports, it appears that, in proportion as the Holy Scriptures were more widely diffused, by sale or gra- tuitous distribution, the number of testimonies, corro- borative of the incalculable blessings flowing therefrom, were augmented. In order to give the reader a better idea of the number of Bibles, Testaments, and portions of the Holy Scriptures, which have been either pur- chased by the Russian Bible Society, or printed at its expense and under its inspection, from its first esta- bhshment in 1813 to the year 1826, I subjoin the follow- ing details. During the twelve years of its activity, this institution, with its 289 filial Associations, printed 208,068 Bibles, up- wards of 400, 00 New Testaments, and 267,772 copies of the 382 RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY : Psalms, the Four Gospels, and other separate parts of the Holy Scriptures ; making together a total of 876,106 copies, in whole or in part, of the word of God. Of these, upwards of 118,000 copies of the Bible were in the old Slavonic, 5000 in Armenian, 5000 in Ancient Greek, 5000 in Moldavian, 15,000 in German, 7000 in Polish, 5000 in Finnish, 7000 in French, and 5000 in Esthonian. Of the New Testament, 140,000 copies were in Slavonian, 117,000 in Modern Russ, 8000 in Armenian, 11,000 in Modern Greek, 7000 in Georgian, 30,000 in Lettish, 10,000 in Moldavian, 22,000 in German, 5000 in Persian, 16,000 in Polish, 5000 in Samogitian, 5000 in Turkish with Armenian characters, 5000 in Tartar-Turkish, 5000 in Tartar, 3000 in Tscheremissian, 5000 in Tschuvoshian, 3000 in Mordwinian, 2000 in Kalmuck, 2000 in Mongolian, 10,000 in the Esthonian of Reval, 5000 in the Esthonian of Dorpat, and 2000 in the Servian. And of the parts of the Scriptures translated and printed by the Society, the most numerous were 145,000 copies of the Psalms in Modern Russ ; and 10,000 copies of the eight first Books of the Old Testament, in the same dialect. This latter work, however, has never been suffered to see the light, having been finished about the time that the intrigues of powerful indi\iduals among the clergy, the nobles, and the friends of the expelled Jesuits were most successful against the Society, Various excuses were made by the Synod for not giving their sanction to its publication, even when urged by the late Em- peror ; and, since the suppression of the Society, nothing more has been heard of it. Among the portions of the Scri})tures printed, were 2000 copies of the Gospel of St. Matthew in the Kare- lian; 1400 of the same Gospel, for circulation among the Zirians, l)y the Wologda Society ; 1000 of the Book ITS OBJECTS AND LABOURS. 383 of Genesis, in Tartar ; and 1000 copies of St. Matthew in the Bulgarian. In addition to these, the Four Gospels were translated into the Ossitinian, by Mr. Talgusidse ; as also into the Watjakian, by the clergy of the Wiatka Committee : but I never heard of any part of these two versions having been printed. It may be proper to add, that, of these extensive edi- tions of the Holy Scriptures, 518,486 copies were printed at St. Petersburg ; 22,000 at Astrachan ; 5000 at Kazan ; 79,500 at Moscow, by the Society there ; 48,000 at Mitau, Riga, and Reval. And about 50,000 copies, in various European and Asiatic languages, were obtained from foreign parts. At the suppression of the Society in 1826, it was cal- culated that upwards of 500,000 copies of these different versions of the Holy Scriptures had been brought into circulation, among the tribes of the Russian empire ; and the remainder were left in the depots of the So- ciety, especially in those of Petersburg and Moscow, \^dth permission to be sold at the same price as during the time of the Society's existence. In taking a review of the period during which all this has been achieved, and bearing in mind the great ex- pense and difficulties attendant on such undertakings, it may be necessary to state more particularly whence the means for their accomplishment arose. The patro- nage of the Emperor and of the Government, so warmly manifested, in a variety of ways, towards the institution, drew forth a great degree of zeal and liberality among the clergy and nobles ; so that the receipts of the So- ciety, during the first ten years, amounted to 1,995,168 roubles 99 kopicks in contributions, and 821,124 roubles 21 kopicks for copies of the Scriptures sold ; in sterling money, 113,052/. The amount of contributions from the 384 RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY : British and Foreign Bible Society to the Russian Bible Society and its Branches, during that period, was 16,833/. 145. 9d. or about 354,200 roubles. From these details, it cannot fail to strike the reader, how important were the latter years of the reign of Alexander to the temporal and eternal interests of the Russian people. No such effort was ever made, at any former period of the history of that nation no, nor by all the sovereigns of Russia put together to disseminate among their subjects the seed of truth and piety. Among these numerous versions of the Sacred Scriptures, that of the New Testament and Psalms, translated for the first time into the vernacular tongue, and widely di- spersed among thirty-five millions who speak it, is unquestionably the greatest : nor is it possible to anti- cipate the blessed results which may spring up, to the latest generations, from the introduction of so much Evangelical light into the churches, families, and schools of the empire. " The question respecting the moral benefits," says the Metropolitan Philaret*, (in his Address at the anniversary of the Moscow Bible Society in 1824,) " derived from a circulation of the Holy Scriptures, may be met by the observation, that it is reserved for posterity fully to answer it. The produce of that seed which is sown in early spring can only be ascertained in autumn ; and whoever plants the kernel of a fruit- tree must be content for years to go on hoping that liis labour and expense will ultimately produce appropriate * Philaret was one of the most indefatii^able Labourers in the cause of the Bible Society generally, and especially in the translation of the Scriptures into Modern Russ ; and no one would more sincerely re- joice to see that institution raised up again to its former activity and usefulness. RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY. 385 fruit. He that scatters abroad the word of God sows for eternity ; and who can think it late, if the seed which is thus disseminated, and which falls on the soft and more genial soil of youth under the advantages of a better education, shall yield a richer harvest in the second than in the first generation ? " Should any one, however, after what has been said, still insist upon his right to be satisfied as to the actual effects produced by the exertions of the Moscow Bible Society, on those whose previous education and acquire- ments may have rendered them more susceptible of reli- gious instruction, we have a right to ask, in return, that he will consider calmly and impartially, on whom the obligation to furnish the required information really lies. The question at issue is. Whether it is the duty of a Bible Society to give an account to those, for whose benefit its exertions are made, of their salutary conse- quences ? or whether it is fit that such as profit by these exertions should detail the effects produced by them ? The case appears to be analogous with that of a society established in a country visited by famine, for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants with provi- sions ; the members of which, accordingly, exert them- selves in collecting money, and in forming depots, where such as are able to pay may receive bread at a moderate price, and where the poor are even furnished gratis. Such voluntary exertions of benevolent indivi- duals in behalf of a famished country would (and with great reason) be hailed as a proof of more than ordi- nary philanthropy; and surely the most fastidious would never dream of blamhig the society, if some of the natives should prefer living upon roots, rather than accept the bread offered to them ; or even if a few, reduced by famine and disease, should, from absolute c c 386 RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY. loss of appetite, loathe the wholesome food administered to them. It appears far more reasonable that the Bible Society, after having made its report for ten successive years, might at length be permitted, for once, to demand of those for whom it labours, the rendering of some account, if not to the society, at least to their own con- sciences, of the benefits which they have derived from exertions made in their behalf. Observe the mode adopted by one of the most active distributors of the Holy Scriptures, in calling to account those among whom he laboured. In an address to the Christians of his time, St. Chrysostom asks : ' Who is there, in this assembly, that is able to give a satisfactory answer to any question respecting the contents of a particular Psalm, or indeed any other portion of the Holy Scrip- tures? I must confess, I know of none. Nor yet is your ignorance in this respect so reprehensible, as your indifference to every thing that is spiritually good, and your predilection for whatever is evil and proceeds from the wicked one. If the question regarded some diabo- lical, carnal, seductive song, there would be found many among you perfectly acquainted with it, and even ready to repeat it with zest. But in what manner, I pray, can you justify such wickedness ? Perhaps you may endeavour to do it, by alleging that you are no monks, but have the business of your families, your wives, and your children to attend to. This very excuse, however, serves only to condemn you the more ; for it evidently proves that you imagine the reading of the Holy Scriptures to be useful only for monks, whereas I assert that it is far more necessary for you tlian lor them; since, by your living in the midst of tlie world, and being exposed to its contamination by your intercourse with it, you more particularly stand in need of the RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY. 387 means of salvation. It is truly a grievous thing not to read the Holy Scriptures ; but it is still more so, to re- gard them as wholly superfluous ; for that is a doctrine truly satanical. Do you not remember, that, according to the apostle Paul, Svhatsoever things were written afore- time, were written for our learning ? ' The same writer continues, in another place : ' It is disgraceful for per- sons, on quitting the church of God, to give themselves up to things wholly reprobated by it : far more becoming would it be for them, on their return home, to call together their wives and children, and direct their atten- tion to the Holy Scriptures ; so that, though absent, they also might profit by what had been read at church.' In this manner did this zealous father of the Church call those Christians to a strict account who neglected to read the Bible ; although, perhaps, for them at least when compared with Christians of our days some shadow of excuse might be found in the difficulty of procuring manuscript Bibles, many centuries before the art of printing was invented. But how would his holy indignation have been roused, had he lived at a period when, notwithstanding the general dissemination of the word of God, there are many Christians who will not even give themselves the trouble to take up the Bible and examine into its contents ! " O Thou Divine, enlivening, and creating Word, who judgest the thoughts and intentions of the human heart ! we will receive Thee gladly into our hearts, and, to the best of our power, distribute Thy revealed word amongst our brethren. Do Thou instruct us ! Do Thou live and work in us all ! Direct and sanctify our thoughts and feelings ! and when, at the last Great Day, Thou shalt pronounce the final judgment, condemn us not, for Thy mercy's sake !" cc2 388 RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY. As the lovers of the cause of Divine truth in Great Britain, and especially the friends of the British and Foreign Bible Society, have often anxiously inquired what were the real causes of the suppression of this noble institution in Russia, in the midst of its unprece- dented course of prosperity and usefulness and as an opinion very generally prevails among these friends, that the Emperor Alexander, in the latter years of his reign, turned his back upon that sacred work which he had formerly supported with such zeal and liberality, and that he even at last put down the Russian Bible Society with the view of throwing some light on this interest- ing and somewhat mysterious subject, I subjoin the following facts. In the latter part of the reign of the Emperor Alex- ander, a strong party was formed among the principal nobihty and clergy in Petersburg against the Bible Society. Its principles and labours were too sacred, too much calculated to promote the spiritual happiness of the numerous tribes of Russia, not to meet with op- position : and the conspirators, who were at that time forming diabolical plans against the peace of the empire, took also the greatest pains to misrepresent to the Go- vernment the character and labours of the friends of Rehgion, and of Bible Institutions ; and this, for the purpose of turning its attention from themselves and their own wicked revolutionary designs. The opposition, then, with which the Russian Bible Society had to struggle, during the last three years of the reign of Alexander, was principally from these dif- ferent sources ; and not, as has l)een supposed, from any change in his own mind respecting the truly Christian character and designs of Bible Institutions. 1 lis mind was peq)etually harassed l)y the abominable falsehoods, the RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY. 389 wicked insinuations, and the base intrigues of this powerful though heterogeneous party ; which at last obliged the noble, indefatigable, benevolent, and pious President of the society. Prince Galitzin, to lay down the Presidency. This was then conferred upon the aged metropolitan. Seraphim ; under whose guidance some hoped that the institution would be permitted to prosecute its usual labours. But Seraphim himself, with several other pre- lates, and one or two fanatical monks, had for some years entertained unfriendly feelings towards the institution ; and the latter had zealously spread their insinuations against the society, even among the better-disposed classes of the Russian nobility. The circulation of the Scriptures so extensively throughout the empire for nearly half a million had already been sent forth from the depots of the society had produced among the people, in different provinces, effects that seemed suspi- cious to the lovers of ignorance, error, and superstition ; and these gave rise to numerous communications to the Committee in Petersburg, and to the Government, from the enemies of the cause in the provinces, filled with surmises, exaggerations, and falsehoods ; until, by these combined influences, the Russian Bible Society was gradually crushed, notwithstanding the protection of its Imperial friend. When the Emperor Nicholas came to the throne, the detestable and wicked designs of the revolutionary part of the society's enemies came to light, and, by the blessing of Providence on the determined courage and wise management of the young Emperor, were happily overthrown ; and then also the innocence of the Bible Society was made evident; and, as the Emperor renewed his annual subscription, which he had been accustomed 390 RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY. to give as Grand-duke, tlie friends of the society began to hope that it had weathered the storm. In this, how- ever, they were deceived ; for Seraphim, Eugeniiis of PleskofF, Photiiis tlie monk, and others, never rested until they had procured from the Emperor Nicholas the following suspension act ; by which the noblest of insti- tutions was overthrown by an " imenoi ukaz." *' To THE MOST REVEREND jMeTROPOLITAN OF St. PETERS- BURG AND NOVOGOROD, SeRAPHLM " Having taken into consideration the representations of your Eminence, and of the Metropolitan Eugenius, respecting the difficulties which present themselves to the progress of the cause of the Russian Bible Society, and the disadvantageous consequences arising there- from for the averting of which, considerable leisnre is requisite, in order maturely and judiciously to examine into all the circumstances and considering your opi- nions to be well founded, I order you, as President of the said Society, to suspend its activity in all its operations, without exception, until my further permission. " You are here])y empowered to extend this my order to all the Committees, Branches, and Associations con- nected with the society, througliout lUissia ; and at tlie same time to oljtain a particular account of all pro- perty, moveal)le and innnoveal)le, in liouses, lands, books, materials, and money, belonging to the society, wherever they are to l)e found ; and to furnish me with the most accurate statement and the most circumstantial information possible thereupon, "Tlie sale of the Holy Scriptures already printed in Slavonian and lluss, as also in the other languages RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY. 391 used among the inhabitants of the Russian Empire, I permit to be continued at the fixed prices. '' Recommending myself to your prayers &c. (Signed) Nicholas." Thus empowered, the Metropohtan not only suspended the operations of the 289 societies in the different pro- vinces of the empire, but also put a stop to the printing of all the different versions of the Scriptures then in progress ; and the editions of the New Testament already printed in the Servian, Mongolian, Kalmuck, and other languages, though permitted by the above ukaz to be circulated, have never yet been issued. An edition also of 10,000 copies of the first eight Books of the Old Testament in Modern Russ has never been allowed to see the light. Large supplies, however, of the Bible in Slavonian and other languages, with the New^ Testament and Psalms in the Modern Russ, con- tinue to be sold at the fixed prices. And on the 14th of March 1831, a new Bible Society, exclusively for the Protestants in the Russian Empire, was formed at St. Petersburg, with the sanction of the present Emperor. This society has received a portion of the funds and of the stock of Bibles, and other property, which be- longed to the old Society ; and at their first annual meeting, held on the 12th of April 1832, it was reported that they had issued 11,072 copies of the sacred volume. It is peculiarly gratifying to me to be able to report this partial resurrection, under a new form, of the suspended energies of the late Russian Bible Society ; and to add, that Prince Lieven, the Minister for Public Instruction, is its President a protestant nobleman of true piety, who laboured in the cause with indefatisjable zeal during" the whole period of the existence of the national institution. 392 RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIKTY. But is nothing more to be done for the thirty-six milhons of native Russians, to supply them with the Scriptures in the vernacular tongue ? The terms of the ukaz led the friends of the cause to suppose that this suspension was only temporary ; but nearly seven years have rolled away, and there is no appearance of the restoration of ''the Russian" Bible Society. Is it Christian is it humane is it politic is it pa- ternal, to allow the 10,()(K) copies of the first part of the Bible in the Modern Russ to moulder and rot in dark- ness, and the rest of the translation to lie neglected ? Surely the present sovereign, who is a man of penetrji- tion, energy, and benevolence who has already given many pleasing proofs of his sincere desire to advance the spiritual interests of the Russian people will, for the good of his subjects, put an end to this most painful suspension of a work of such infinite importance ; and, as he has shewn an excellent discernment, in choosing the worthy priest, Pavsky, the translator of the said Old Testament from the Hebrew into Russ, to be the spiri- tual instructor of his own children, on account of the admirable acquaintance with the Divine ^\Titings he has therein displayed, doubtless this paternal anxiety will soon shew that it is not confined to the Im})erial sons and daughters within the walls of the palace at St. Pe- tersburg, but extends to the youthful inmates of every hut throughout his dominions ; and that he will soon withdraw his interdict to the accomplishment of this most cherished. Christian, and noble plan, which liis deceased brother had formed, to l)less the nation of tlie Russians with the whole code of Divine trutli in their native tongue^ with that volume, which teaches to the subject, with such simplicity and sacred authority, tine lovaltv and obedience to the I'owers tliat l)e ; and wliicli RUSSIAN BIBLE SOCIETY. 393 is SO indispensably necessary to every one, whether prince or peasant, as enabhng him to discharge the relative duties of this life, and fully to understand the only way to eternal life in the world to come that volume, which alone can secure to the Russians all the advantages of that civilization, towards which they are making such rapid progress, and protect them from the innumerable evils resulting from intellectual cultivation, when separated from genuine Scriptural principles that volume, which lies at the foundation of the great- ness of Britain ; its principles being infused, directly or indirectly, into her laws, her public institutiouF, and the various relations of private life ; and which secures to all these a stabihty, even in the midst of agitations and storms arising from principles heterogeneous to this sacred Book, and by which so many other States in modern times have been overturned ! It is because the late Emperor has been so long un- justly censured for putting down the Bible Society, that I have found myself here bound to state the real cause and progress of this most lamentable event. I feel myself the more called upon thus openly to state the truth on these weighty subjects, believing that my past services to advance the best interests of the Rus- sians services continued for the gi'eatest part of eigh- teen years, and for which, except thanks, I never received from the Government of Russia or its Bible Society the smallest remuneration fully justify this boldness. This latter fact I would not have mentioned, had it not borne so directly upon the principle of im- partiality which it has been my object to observe in writing this volume. I have endeavoured to '' speak the truth in love." How far 1 have succeeded, I must leave to mv reader, whether British or Russian, to decide. 39 t FROM PETERSBURG TO FINLAND. CHAP. XVI. Route from Prtrrshiirfj to Aho Description of JT yhorg Fried- ricksluim if (iferfollTlie ] ilhuje Churclt of Potles Liiisu Borija Bor(ja Jiihle Society Roach yhjricidture Domestic state and character of the Finna -State of Relifjion among them yibo Fair Account of ylbo its University J^jJAe Society Literature