fare or the tenants of the lower end of the table; and nothing would so much distress a Russian Prince, as sending for a portion of the soup or the viands which are there placed. That which he intends for the gratification of the favoured few around him, is generally carried to them; nor is it usual to ask for any thing. The wealth of the nobles is really enormous. We have not in England individuals possessing equal property, whatever their rank or situation may be. Some of them have seventy, and even an hundred thousand peasants. Their fortunes are estimated by the number of their peasants, as West-India merchants reckon their income by the number of their hogsheads. These peasants pay them, upon the average, ten roubles annually, in specie. If the peasant has been required by his lord to give him three days of labour in the week, the annual tax is said to be proportionally diminished. But, in despite of all the pretended regulations made in favour of the peasant, the tax he is called upon to pay, or the labour he is compelled to bestow, depends wholly on the caprice or the wants of his tyrant. Labour is not exacted from males only. Women and ch ldren, from the age of ten and upwards, are obliged to perform their equal share. Tithes are moreover demanded of whatever may remain in their hands; of linen, poultry, eggs, butter, pigs, sheep, lambs, and every product of the land, or of domestic manual labour. Should a peasant by any misfortune be deprived of the tribute expected by his lord, he must beg, borrow, or steal, to make up the deficiency.

The Russians profess the religion of the Greek church, which was first embraced by the Great Duchess Olga in the year of Christ 955, and afterwards by her grandson the Great Duke Wladimir,

in 988, whose example was followed by his subjects. Instead of entering into a detail of the doctrine of the Russian church, we shall only give an account of the ceremonies, or external part of their religion. Their private devotion consists in fasting and prayer; and in the number and severity of their fasts, they far exceed the papists. Their usual weekly fasts are Wednesdays and Fridays. In Lent they neither eat flesh, milk, eggs, nor butter; but confine themselves to vegetables, bread, and fish fried in oil. The butter-week, as it is called, when eating of flesh is forbidden and butter is allowed, is the week immediately preceding the great fast of Lent; and the latter is regulated by the moveable feast of Easter, and lasts till that fetival. St Peter's fast, as it is called, always begins the first Monday after Whitsunday, and lasts sometimes six weeks, and sometimes but eight days, as Easter happens to fall out early or late. The fast of the Blessed Virgin begins annually on the 1st day of August, and continues to the 15th of the same month. St Philip's fast is likewise immoveable; for it begins on the 15th of November, and lasts till the 25th of December. The 8th week before Easter, which, as I observed before, is called the butter-week, may be looked upon as the Russian carnival, and is spent in all kinds of entertainments and licentiousness. Among the diversions exhibited during the carnival, one of the most singular is that of riding in sledges down a steep declivity of twenty ells in height, which is made with boards, and covered with ice, by throwing water to freeze on it. At this time of public diversions their slender diet is made up with the liberal use of spirits or brandy; and on Easter-day most of them eat to such excess, as to throw themselves into a tit of sickness by

overcharging their stomachs. On that joyful festival the Russians kiss one another in the most friendly manner, presenting an egg coloured over, or sometimes curiously painted, with the following salutation,Christ is risen,' to which the answer is, He is risen indeed.' The Russians in their private devotions kneel before a picture of our Saviour, the Virgin Mary, St Nicholas, or some other saint; which is an indispensible piece of furniture in their closet. To this they bow several times, making the sign of the cross with their thumb, fore-finger, and third-finger, on the breast, forehead, and shoulders; at the same time repeating, in a low voice, the Lord's Prayer, and some other short ejaculations, particularly the words Ghospodi Pomilui, i. e. Lord be merciful to me.' They seldom pass by a church but they utter these words, bowing and crossing themselves without paying regard to any person who may happen to be present. They also look towards a church when they are at a distance from it, and practise the same howlings and crossings as above. Many, and even some persons of distinction, by way of penance, or from other motives of humiliation, prostrate themselves on their faces at the entrance of the churches; and those who are conscious of having contracted any impurity, forbear going into the church, but stand at the door. The church bells are often rung; and as ringing is accounted a branch of devotion, the towns are provided with a vast number of bells, which make, as it were, a continual chiming. Their divine service, which is all performed in the Sclavonian language, consists of abundance of trifling ceremonies, long masses, singing, and prayers; all which are performed by the priests, the congregation in the mean time saying Ghospodi Pomilui. A lec

ture from one of the ancient fathers is sometimes added. Sermons are delivered but in few churches; and there they preach but very seldom.— There are neither seats nor forms in the Russian churches; but the whole congregation perform their devotions standing. On festival days the clergy appear in very rich vestments, not unlike those of the Levitical priests described in the Old Testament. But the common people can reap little benefit from the public worship; as the service is performed in the Sclavonian tongue. The word of God is but little known among them; and even a Sclavonian Bible costs at least between twenty-five and thirty roubles. A new edition of the Sclavonic Bible was published by the Holy Synod in 1751, from the Moscow edition of 1663, with annotations, which is sold for five roubles; the New Testament and Psalter in the Sclavonic language, in quarto, is sold at a moderate price. in Russia. The Russians never sing hymns, nor keep any hymn-books in their houses; and none but the choristers sing psalms in the churches; that office being looked upon as their peculiar province, for which they are held in some esteem. As for instrumental music, it is not allowed in the Russian churches. No proper measures have as yet been taken here, for the instruction of young people among the vulgar in the principles of religion. The Russian separatists are, by way of contempt, termed Roskolniki or Roskolshtshicken, i. e. Schismatics;' but they call themselves Starowierzi, or Ancient believers.' Their chief peculiarities consist in having their own books, on which they ground their doctrines. From the authority of these books they make the usual sign of the cross only with the fore and middle finger, like the clergy of the orthodox Russians when

they give the benediction; and consequently they differ in this point from the Russians of the national church, who make it with the thumb and the fore and middle fingers. They also let their beards grow to their full length, though this is a privilege which they procure at an extravagant rate. They totally abstain from spirituous liquors; never go into a Russian church; and will neither eat nor drink out of any vessel which has been used by an orthodox Russian. This sect is not very numerous in Russia properly so called; but it has spread over all Siberia, and prevails very much among the inhabitants of Tomsk and Tara.

Having now given the reader some account of what Moscow was prior to the invasion by Bonaparte, we shall proceed to the operations of that destructive war.