THE
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS,
PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH:
WRITTEN
BY HIS ATTENDANT ARCHDEACON, PAUL OF ALEPPO,
IN ARABIC.
VOLUME I.
TRANSLATED
BY F. C. BELFOUR, A.M. OXON. M.R.A.S.
LL.D. OF THE GREEK UNIVERSITY OK CORFU, &C. &C. &C.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR THE ORIENTAL TRANSLATION FUND
OF GREAT-BRITAIN AND IRELAND ; AND SOLD BY A. J. VALPY, RED-LION COURT.
M.DCCC. XXXVI.
P1UXTED 1JY RIC1I.UID WATTS, CROUX COU11T, TKMl'LK BAK.
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
SIR GORE OUSELEY, BART. FR.S F.A.S.
KMGIIT OF THE LION AND SUN,
VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY, CHAIRMAN OF THE ORIENTAL TRANSLATION COMMITTEE, &C. &C. &C.
SIR,
REJOICED in the opportunity, which your kind permission has allowed me, of dedicating- to you one of the earliest productions of the ORIENTAL COMMITTEE OF TRANSLATION, over which you so ably preside, I should feel perfect satisfaction in the performance of this pleasing- duty, bound to it by the obligations which your patronage has laid upon me, were the offering in any respect worthy of the approbation desired to be conferred by its benevo lent acceptor.
A Guest and Counsellor of Princes, whether ruling over the orient realms of sun-bright Persia, or Masters of the victorious lion of the British Empire, you would wish that the TRAVELS OF MACARIUS should present to you observations equal to your own, upon the interests of Kingdoms, and the manners of Kings. A diligent tra veller over remote and but slightly- explored regions, replete with the opposite varieties of East and West, you would look for details of novelty, such as yourself could
amply furnish. Familiar with the varied dictions, and accustomed to the chequered thoughts, ripened so di versely iu different climates, you would expect to regale vour siffht, and gratify your discriminating taste, with the
Jo J *
«*ayer flowers of Eastern eloquence, and the luxurious fruits of warmer fancies, successfully transplanted and cherished in the more oblique rays of the Western sun.
The pages here offered to your perusal will afford, I apprehend, scarcely any thing to satisfy your just ex pectations. How much-soever able to convey with fide lity and truth the strength and colour of the foreign text into his native idiom, a Translator, in the plain and
unadorned stvle of the Archdeacon Paul, would discover
j
but few traces of type for the ornament of his own. Edu cated in the seclusion of the convent, or the retirement of the sacerdotal cloister, the unworldly Author comes for ward devoid of the preparation which courts and camps bestow, for the keen intuition of human-nature, the com parison of distant objects, and the knowledge of the rela tions of parts and interests.
To your practised mind, however, the naivete of his remarks may afford some amusement ; and his accurate collection of facts, some various material for useful medi tation.
That the Institution under your auspices will con tinue to afford the encouragement so long and so much wanted to Oriental Literature — that rich mine of intellec-
( iii )
tual wealth, which, though so abundant in its treasures, has hitherto been so little and so poorly wrought — is my ardent and fondest hope. And should my humble endea vours to assist in the useful task be rewarded with your indulgent approbation, I shall esteem myself greatly for tunate.
I have the honour to remain,
Sir, Your most obliged,
and obedient humble Servant,
THE TRANSLATOR.
May the Wi, 1829.
P R E F A C E.
I HE Arabic Manuscript, of which the Translation, under the auspices and at the expense of the ORIENTAL TRANSLATION COMMITTEE, is here, in part, laid before the
Public, was purchased, many years ago, at Aleppo, by the late FREDERIC EARL OF GUILFORD ; and, in 1824, placed in my hands by his Lordship, to be translated into English. Meeting with those numerous errors of transcription which are found more or less in all Manuscripts, I became desirous to provide myself with other copies, for the purpose of collation ; and, in my progress through the Eastern Countries, sought for them, but without success, at Constantinople, Smyrna, and Cairo. Reduced, therefore, to the employment of my single copy,
I have had to contend with great difficulties, amidst the erroneous and diversified readings continually presenting themselves, both in the narrative and in the names of places ; but most of all in the Greek words, so defectively written in the Arabic Character, that some of them it has been impossible satisfactorily to decipher. With the obliging help of the Rev. H. D. LEEVES, late of Constan tinople, whose excellent knowledge of the Greek Language, and extensive acquaintance with the Uses and Ceremonies of the Greek Church, have enabled him to be of great assistance to me, I have, notwithstanding these difficulties, been able to render most of them, I believe correctly, in their proper form; and should have been glad to have had leisure fully to explain them. I have been surprised at the hallucination which their Arabic appearance has sometimes occasioned me, even where the reading might, upon a more leisurely view, seem perfectly easy: as in one instance, where Ancient Greek is mentioned, and a might naturally occur, I have been led to take the first syllable of for the Arabic article, and rendered the word " of Yenika."
Another and more serious difficulty, which has much retarded me in my prosecution of the work, is the perpetual recurrence of Church Ceremonies,
b
vi PREFACE.
repeated, nearly all, with little variation, and serving to mark the Calendar of the Archdeacon's Journal. To neglect them altogether, would have been to interrupt the thread of the narrative, and sometimes to lose sight of the Clerical travellers for periods of weeks together. I have, therefore, been compelled to give such as seemed absolutely necessary to the continuation of the history ; but much, I fear, to the weariness of those who shall undertake to read them, from the aversion, which our English habits and pure practices of religion produce in us, to the tedious forms of unmeaning and superstitious ceremonial. The Arch deacon himself often complains of the excessive length to which the ceremonies of the Greek Church are protracted, particularly amid the Cossacks and in Muscovy ; and yet, from his inbred love of Ecclesiastic rites, he omits no oppor tunity to dwell on the description of their lengthened splendors, as though detailing them to none, but such inveterate amateurs of them, as his own education had made him. These details, however, give him frequent opportunities for remarks on the morals and religious principles of the various Nations whom he visits, which it is hoped may be interesting to the Reader : and the Political and Statistical history of countries, so little known as Moldavia and Wallachia, may be simultaneously gathered from his Ecclesiastical records.
To the excellent Institution, which owes its origin mainly to the activity and influence of its inestimable Treasurer, LIEUTENANT-COLONEL FITZCLARENCE, who has himself set the example, in the Narrative of his Journey from India, through Egypt, to England, of collecting useful instruction, and communicating it, through the Press, for the benefit of his countrymen the English Public will soon be indebted for much novel information on the history of the Eastern World, over so great a part of which the British Empire is extended. Hitherto it must have been the frequent regret of every scholar, at all acquainted with the riches of Oriental Literature, that so little wealth has been extracted from it, for the practical purposes of Commerce and Government. While the valuable time of diligent investigators has been perpetually wasted on re-editing and re-translating, for times innumerable, the well-known pages of the Greek and Roman Authors, well-attested facts and solidly-grounded theories, which, if made known to the world, might powerfully promote its improvement and augment its general happiness, have lain buried in voluminous Manuscripts of intelligent and benevolent Authors, scarcely ever perused by even the few, whose attainments have qualified them for the task.
PREFACE. vii
To no class of Literati is mankind more indebted, at the present time, than to the persevering Writers of the German Nation. Their unwearied and indefatigable diligence has obtained for them the highest reputation in the World of Letters ; so extraordinary are the efforts which they make, up the arduous road of Science ! How lamentable, that the pains of so many of them should be wasted upon the vain attempt, to fix some unimportant writing upon the thousands-of-times printed Manuscript of Writers some thousands of years dead. Of this vain labour, such as Homer describes of Sisyphus—
HTOI o /J.EV, ffKtipiTTTOfj.evoi; ^epffiv re Troatv TS, Aoiav aw (advent TTOTI \ofyov «AA' ore ' \Kpov vKEp/BaAesiv, TOT' aT
ILppeev ex peXicoV) novitj 5' ex XjOaroj opupst
I will quote an instance, from the Oxford Literary Gazette :•— 'In a late Number of the Rheinisches Museum, (Vol. II. p. 125.) Professor Welcker has suggested a new and ingenious solution of a difficulty in a very beautiful passage of Sophocles. In the Philoctetes, v. 816, the Chorus sings thus :
YTTI'' obvvac; «&x*7$
T£T«T«< T« VVV.
The best, or rather the least bad, of the interpretations proposed, is that of Hermann : ' Oculis prcetendas earn, qua nunc expansa est, lucem : quae qucj- niam nulla est, sed caligo potius, haec est intelligenda.' Mr. Welcker, however, has collected several passages from the Grammarians, in which afyXq is explained to be a band, or properly a ligature, round the feet or arms (Bekker, Anecd. p. 354, Pollux, v. 100). The most important authority is Hesychius, whose article should (it appears) be read thus: AfyXfl, ;^X;&yV 2o<po«A^ T^e7. x,ou vtdri voigoi 'Eni'fcdgfAa Iv Rot.x'fcaiq . It seems, therefore, that Sophocles had, in a lost tragedy, used the word a<yX?? in nearly the sense required ; and accordingly, Mr. Welcker supposes the Chorus to invoke the God of Sleep ' To hold over Philoctetes' eyes the veil which then covers them.' "
viii P R E F A C E.
First the Professor, in order to force out something new, requires his autho rity to be read as it suits him ; differently, of course, from the accepted method : and then Sophocles is proved to have used the word he has fixed upon for his ingenious distortions, in nearly the sense required. And all this ingenuity and labour is employed to bring out the most ridiculous conception of the passage, that the forced fancy of a Commentator could perhaps give birth to. The only word that requires any comment, is a,vr&%oi$, which appears clearly to mean jtrohibe : Withhold from my eyes t/tis painful light. Hut the obvious meaning is too simple for the acceptance of the ostentatious Critic, whose famished appetite has long been confined to the close-cropped pasture of a thread-bare text. He would gain no name by following the direct passage, to which plain s<>nse is the guide; and prefers a noisy dash upon the rocks which bound it. These unfortunate toilers might have given occasion to some such proverb as the Arabic
.x~-Jki Jo. j^c. j^ Koseir wa Aoeir, wa kollo gheir-a kheir :
J n s " J J"J J J" *
•• Koseir and Aoeir (two banks on the coast of Arabia), and all but what is good."
To the industrious pursuit of more profitable labours, opening the road to fresh information, and unbounded communication of thought and language — to the display of feelings and propensities, as they are diversified by clime, and promoted by the suggestions of various education, so necessary to be contem plated in the happy government of the human race — the encouragement now given is the foundation of a new {era in the dynasty of Science, and venturous explorers may now strike out from the beaten track of the circulating shores of the Mediterranean.
I should have wished that it had been in my power to elucidate the text with more copious Notes from other Writers. Hut to the original remarks of Mr. Leeves, I have been able to add but few commentaries from the small number of Travellers who have visited Turkey. Dr. Neale, Wilkinson, and Walsh, have furnished me with a few; and I hereby acknowledge my obligations to their valuable Works.
In the Appendix, will be found some extracts from Sir Robert Ker Porter, Dr. King, Messrs. Hobhouse, Thornton, Madden, &c. ; which I thought it advisable
PREFACE. ix
to subjoin, especially as several of their Works are out of print, in order to explain the nature and Ceremonies of the Greek Church, mentioned in this book; to throw light upon some obscure passages in its narrative and historical details : and to corroborate some of the Archdeacon's most remarkable observations, by the corresponding testimony of other Travellers.
In transcribing the Arabic and Turkish words, 1 cannot say that I have strictly followed one unvaried orthography. The word Romeliu, for instance, I have indifferently written with the o, or the a, tlumelta. I have merely confined myself to the general Alphabet of Europe, whereof the Eastern Aliph stands for the a and c, the Waw for the o and ?/, and the Ya for the c and i ; avoiding, by this course, the laughable errors in spelling, into which our English and peculiar system of diphthongs has led more than one-half of our Anglo-Oriental Writers.
There is a Scholar, who takes the highest interest in every thing connected with Oriental Literature — whose vigilant superintendence of its welfare suffers no production, however small, from its Arabic, Persian, or Hebrew Cabinets, to circulate through the hands of its philologic negotiators, without affixing to it the respected signet of his paramount criticism — who will probably deign to honour also this slight Work with his official notice. To this Chief of the Literate Arabs, my once kind and helpful instructor, SILVKSTUE BARON DI: SACK whom my conversation among the Learned, both in England and on the Con tinent, in Turkey and in Christendom, whether Professors of high pretensions or unambitious Students, has ever taught me to regard as at a very long interval indeed from any second ; who, neglecting no iota of accurate knowledge in the various languages which he possesses better than the learned Natives, shines forth the great light, by whk'h the wandering and uncertain course of the inferior Ulema and Docti should ever be guided ; and
Micat inter omnes — ; velut inter ignes Luna minores.
To him I seize the opportunity of offering my joyful congratulations, that his unceasing efforts to exalt the refined science, whereof he has so long been the active minister, have, at length, met with such pow-erful patronage and support : and that the useful means he has so amply provided for the easier investigation of Eastern lore, are about to be employed by skilful and industrious Labourers.
x PREFACE.
Would that you too, ILLUSTRIOUS EARL OF GUILFORD ! whose premature departure from the sphere of your beneficence has left to your admiring friends, to your loving and numerous dependants, a loss incapable of repair, a grief that can never be consoled— would that you, too, could have prolonged your inestimable life for the advantage of those Institutions most beneficial to man kind, which it was your constant endeavour to establish and support ! You would have again deigned to peruse, with renewed attention, the printed sheets of the Archdeacon's Journal, which it was your delight so sedulously to read, as, at your command, they were produced in the Translated Manuscript. May your immortal spirit still shed its influence, from the realms above, upon t he- powerful body of your exalted rank, to follow the bright example which you have bequeathed them — of encouraging, to their utmost, the continual and rapid advancement of sound learning and practical information !
INDEX TO PART I.
Page
TRANSLATOR'S DEDICATION TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
AUTHOR'S PREFACE ..............
BOOK I. SECT. I. Aleppo. — Antioch ................ *
SECT. II.
rj
Iconium ......................
SECT. III. Broussa ......................
SECT. IV. Constantinople .................
SECT. V. Constantinople. — Condoscale ....... 20
SECT. VI. Constantinople. — At Maidan ........ 22
SECT. VII. Constantinople. — Seraglio .......... 24<
SECT. VIII. Constantinople. — Soleimanieh ....... 25
SECT. IX. Constantinople. — Galata ........... 27
SECT. X. Constantinople. — Conflagration ...... 28
SECT. XI. Constantinople. — Mahall Assamatah ... 30
SECT. XII. Constantinople. — Seven Towers ...... 31
SECT. XIII. Constantinople. — Bosphorus ......... 33
SECT. XIV. Constantinople. — Fanar ........... 35
SECT. XV. Constantinople. — Excommunication ... 37
SECT. XVI. Black Sea 40
SECT. XVII. Bulgaria 42
BOOK II. SECT. I.
Moldavia. — Galats 43
SECT. II. Moldavia. — Habitations 45
SECT. III. Moldavia. — Waslui 46
SECT. IV. Moldavia. — Skentai 47
SECT. V. Moldavia. — Yassi 48
SECT. VI. Yassi.— St. Saba 50
SECT. VII. Yassi. — Court 51
SECT. VIII. Yassi. — Presents 52
SECT. IX.
Yassi. — Banquet 54
SECT. X. Yassi. — Convents 58
SECT. XI. Yassi. — Products 64
SECT. XII. Yassi. — Funeral Service 68
SECT. XIII. Yassi. — Revolution 71
INDEX TO PART I.
SKCT. XIV. Yas.si. — Administration 77)
SKCT. XV. Yassi. — War 76 ;
SKCT. XVI. Yassi. — Restoration 78
SKCT. XVII.
Yassi. — Consecration 81
SECT. XVI II.
Yassi. — Gardens 82
SECT. XIX. Yassi. — Discomfiture 82
SECT. XX. Yassi. — Whitsuntide . 84
SECT. XXI. Yassi. — Final Overthrow .
86
SECT. XXII. Yassi. — Pillage - 89
SECT. XXIII. Moldavia. — Siege of Satjao 91
SECT. XXIV. Moldavia. — Satjao 93
SECT. XXV. Satjao. — Timotheus 94
SECT. XXVI. Vasili. — Tartars 97
SECT. XXVII. Moldavia. — Roman . 98
INDEX TO PART II.
BOOK 111. WALLACHIA.
SECT. 1. r*"°e
Raminko. — Bot/a. — Torghisht 1 17
SECT. II. Torirhisht. — The Corta 121
SECT. 111. Torghisht. — Feast of the Immersion 125
SEC1!'. IV. Torghisht.— Churches. — Episcopal Palaces, 12!)
SECT. XIII. Torghisht. — Departure. — Convent of Fil-
yeshti
SKCT. XIV. MOLDAVIA.— The River Truth ........ 161
BOOK IV. COSSACK COl.'NTRY.
SECT. 1. Cossack Country. — Rashkobao .......... lb'3
SECT. II. Cossack Countr. — Dimitrashikobo ........ !<>(>
Torghisht.— Climate.— Manners .......... 1:52 SECT. III.
History of the Poles and Cossacks ........ lb'!)
SECT. VI. Toro-hisht. — Funeral Rites. .
J33 SECT. IV.
Battle and War between the Poles & Cossacks, ! 71
SECT. VII.
SECT. V.
Torghisht.-Lent.-IlolyWeek 137 ; ^.^ Comltr>,_ Horajkoka, Liaskovska,
SECT. VIII. Jabokriz,&c 178
Torghisht.— Death of Matthi Beg 1 12 SECT. VI.
I Cossack Country. — Talalayoka, Horodoka, SK('T- 1X' llomano 1^*
Torghisht. — Election of Constantino ., 115
SECT. VII.
SKCT. X. Cossack Country. — Crasnobola, Sakoka, and
Torghisht.— Funeral of Matthi Beg 148 ji lJsllacc of Kalinoska. .
SECT. VIII. SECT. XI.
ij Cossack Country. — Bogi, Lisiuka, Madfad-
Torffhisht. — lnau»'ural Procession.. 150 i ici.j
kan, Isai
SECT. XII.
SECT. IX.
Wallachia.— Produce to Government. . 152 , Cossack Country.— Bogoslafi
19(5
NDEX TO PART II.
SECT. X.
Government of the Cossacks. — Fortress of Boi>-oslali ..........................
SKCT. xr.
Cossack Country. — Kokari, Tri polls ...... 202
SKCT. XII. Cossack Country. — Ohokhoya, Khamoka,Va-
SKCT. XV. Convent of Nuns, and Printing House .... ->lf>
SECT. XVI. Cossack Country. — Church Hells, and Ce
remonies
SKCT. XIII. C'ossack Country. — Convent of Vahariska, 206
SKCT. XIV.
SKCT. XVII. Cossack Country.— Ancient City of Kiev . . 221
SKCT. XVIII. Balm EHa, and the French Philosopher .... 22^
SKCT. XIX.
Grotto and Cells of the Cossack Saints *u Ancient City of Kiov.-Church of St. Sophia, 22^
INDEX TO PART ITT.
BOOK V. SECT. I.
The COSSACK COIN THY. — City of Kiov. — St. Sophia
SECT. II.
Brobari. — 1 lokhola. — Yadloka. — Ba- sani. — Bakomi.— Brilmeloka .... 211
SECT. I If.
Brilmeloka. — The Troitsa Monastery . 21S
SECT. IV. Olsham. — Yolobivnitsa. — Krobivna. —
Krasna. — Karabota 255
SECT. V. Muscovy. — Potiblia. — Religious 1 labits
of the Muscovites 25S
SECT. VI. Potiblia. — Treatment of Foreigners. —
Posting 2(i(>
SECT. VII.
Potiblia. — Description of the City and Neighbourhood 270
SECT. VIII. Description of the Clergy, and Church
Service and Ceremonies 272
SECT. IX. Potiblia.— Tartar Slaves . 274
SECT. X.
Kyr Eremia. — Convent of the Mother of God
SECT. XI.
Muscovy. — Travelling. — Exchange. — Admission of Foreigners .
HOOK VI. SECT. I.
Mi scow. — Potiblia. — Imadikina. — Tartar Captives
SECT. II.
Karoba. — Babok. — Barotiki. — I/mini- kov. — Shifshka
SECT. III. Zakharobo. — Agriculture and Harvests,
SECT. IV.
Horodish. — Architecture and Manufac tures.— Janka. — Habits
SECT. V.
Samoh. — Crajava. — Bolkhofa. — Beh- lofi. — JLifin
SECT. VI. Kalokha. — Travelling by Land and
296
Water .
SECT. VII.
Navigation in Muscovy. — Aleksivka.— Tarosa. — Kashira. — History of Ibn 01 Arab
SECT. VIII.
Troitsa and Galotafoni Convents. — Castle of Kalomna
SECT. IX.
Description of the Bishopric and City of Kalomna
SECT. X.
The Plague. — Solemn Procession. — Origin of the Imperial Family . . . .
SECT. XL
Prayer for the Imperial House. — Church Music. — Dress of the Clergy
305
30 S
313
319
INDEX TO PART IV.
BOOK VII. SECT. I.
First Day of the Year.— The Plague. Funerals
SECT. II.
Siege of Smolensko. — Description of the Town.— History of Radxivil ........ 335
SECT. III. Russian Merchants. — War with the Poles, 337
SECT. IV.
Ceremonies of Ordination. — Winter Sea son, and Markets. — Treatment of Dogs, 340
SECT. V.
Effects of the Plague. — Regulations for Holy Orders and Matrimony. — Civility and Piety of the Muscovites ........ 346
SECT. VI.
Life of St. Peter of Kiov.— Christmas Fes tivities. — Mode of Petitioning ....... 349
SECT. VII.
Condition of the Clergy. — Festival of the Immersion ...................... 352
SECT. VIII.
City of Tola, and Iron Works. — Arch bishop of Razainov. — Conversion of Infidels ......................... 356
SECT. IX.
Secrecy of the Muscovites. — Removal to Moscow. — Kosakow. — Vishino ...... 359
SECT. X.
Entry into Moscow. — Description of the Fortress. — Ecclesiastical Habit and Con versation . , ..... 363
BOOK VIII. SECT. I.
Return of Nicon, Patriarch of Moscow. — Solemn Entry of the Emperor into Moscow. — Kremlin 366
SECT. II.
Winter Campaign of the Poles— their Defeat by the Cossacks. — Gathering of the Tartar Tribes 370
SECT. III.
Presents to the Emperor and Imperial Family. — Reception of the Patriarch at Court 373
SECT. IV.
Visit to the Patriarch of Moscow. — Enter tainment at the Emperor's Table 386
SECT. V.
Presents to the Patriarch of Moscow and the Russian Grandees. — Veneration of the Russians for Churches and Images — Their Buildings, Titles of Honour, Laws, and Customs 395
SECT. VI.
Grants of the Emperor to Foreign Ecclesi astics and Travellers 402
SECT. VII.
Devotion of the Emperor. — Solovoska Con vent. — History of the Patriarch Nicon, 405
SECT. VIII.
Admission to Holy Orders. — Commemora tion Service and Banquet 411
SECT. IX. Account of the Dog-faced Tribe 415
TRAVELS
M A C A R I U S
CFROM THE ARABIC/
ERRATA.
P. 10. 1.25. read Kwwv.
P. 11. 1. 13 Kablouja.
P. 20. 1. 10 The Rich Man and Lazarus.
P. 40. 1.28 in Hellenic Greek.
P. 56. 1. 28 wearing the sword in a scarf.
P. 63. 1.19 U; *U
P. 91. 1.21 Cogfeon.
tysAai viov passim
v anon ((_j^-}) f aul, son of the Canon Abd-al-Mesih-al-Protos, celebrated by the title of Beit-az-Zaaimi. I was brought up in the closest intimacy and union with my father, having no relish for any friendship but his, from the time that I was weaned from my mother's breast by her lamented death. Thereupon he took the pains to attend me; nor had I any but him to assuage my grief. My con stant food were his vivifying words ; and my drink were his sweet and invigorating instructions. I obeyed him in every command ; and wherever he was, there was I, at all times inseparable from his company. After various promotions, lie
" KyrKyr Macarius."] Kyr Kyr, a contraction of the Greek Kvptog KU/O/OS ; and answering to tin- French title, Monsieur Monsieur.
B
MACARIUS.
(FROM THE ARABIC.)
PREFACE.
IN THE NAME OF THE ONE ETERNAL GoD, WITHOUT BEGINNING AND WITHOUT END. IN HIM IS MY CONFIDENCE, AND UPON HIM MY RELIANCE.
1 RAISE to God, who formed the heaven, and raised it without pillars ; who spread the earth, and laid it as an habitation for His servants ; so that the sons of our father Adam have become nations exceeding all number, and have mul tiplied on it ; and built towns, and cities, and capitals in every climate and coun try, and on every side, south and north, east and west. To his Sovereignty and Divinity it is fitting that we offer praise ever and at all times, now and con tinually, throughout all ages.
I, the poor servant, and of all men the most necessitous of the mercy, of the Lord my God ; Paul by name, Archdeacon, or Shammas, of the Orthodox Religion, of Aleppo, was natural son to the Distinguished, Most Holy, Exalted, and Munificent Father, Kyr Kyr Macarius*, Patriarch of Antioch, son of the late Canon (^^-l) Paul, son of the Canon Abd-al-Mesih-al-Protos, celebrated by the title of Beit-az-Zaaimi. I was brought up in the closest intimacy and union with my father, having no relish for any friendship but his, from the time that I was weaned from my mother's breast by her lamented death. Thereupon he took the pains to attend me; nor had I any but him to assuage my grief. My con stant food were his vivifying words ; and my drink were his sweet and invigorating instructions. I obeyed him in every command ; and wherever he was, there was I, at all times inseparable from his company. After various promotions, he
" Kyr Kyr Macarius"} Kyr Kyr, a contraction of the Greek Kvpios Kvpios ; and answering to the French title, Monsieur Monsieur.
B
2 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
became Metropolitan of Aleppo, where he remained twelve years. He then ascended the throne of the Patriarchate of Antioch, the See of Peter (the Apo stle), the first in rank, which is at the present day established in Damascus of Syria. Here for a length of time he devoted his incessant labours to the regu lation of the affairs of his Province, and governed it with upright intention and the most clear-sighted prudence; till lie was led, by the hand of Providence, to the enterprise of a tour through the remotest of countries, of towns, and of islands : not for recreation, nor for the pleasure of travelling, nor to make visits; but forced to it by the straits and difficulties of the times, which left him no will to choose : for the debts of the above-mentioned See, incurred during the life time of the late Patriarch, Kyr Kphthimius, the Sciot, of well-known celebrity, were by this time doubled, and its revenues eaten up by usury ; so that the farmers of the tithes, however great the collection or abundant the harvests, could not make them suffice to the payment of the interest. Astounded and depressed with anguish at the sight of this distress, he sighed over the hope of a release. But in his own country he could find none to interpose between him and this increasing misery, nor any one to suggest a plan of escape.
No resource remained, but to stir the foot of activity, and to mount the patient horse of toil and travel. He determined upon turning his face and steps towards the high road of royalty, and, crossing the weary paths of the sandy desert, to make his way good to the fountains of sweet water, rather the vast and swelling lakes, the lords of high excellences and precious qualities, the refuge of the suppliant and contentment of the applicant, the powerful and victorious Monarchs, and the pious Princes and Begs, who are celebrated for their true religion and sincere faith, (may God continue their empire and perpetuate their dynasty ! may he confirm their existence, and eternize in the zenith of splendour the towers of their felicity!) to beg of their generosity and rare munificence, wherewithal to pay his debts ; and help, to stand up in the support of his religion. Upon this journey I resolved to be his companion, with a view to assist him in its fatigues and dangers ; and, with the Divine favour, we made our preparations for it, and fixed our minds upon the route.
Forthwith, one of my most respected and sincere friends, my reverend, learned and excellent Brother, the phoenix of his age and admiration of his contemporaries, Deacon Gabriel, son of the late Constantine, the goldsmith, a man superior in ability, eminent in learning, and of intuitive elegance of language and manners; this friend expressed to me his wish, that I would collect a Journal, that should contain every circumstance and incident of our way and deviations, from day to day, during the
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 3
whole time of our absence ; that 1 would describe with accuracy the whole of the affairs of those countries through which we should pass ; and so enable him to verify, in general and in particular, what he heard of them from the details of history, and its mysteries. I excused myself to him, that I was unequal to the undertaking, being deficient in the requisite means — in the art of composing and joining sentences, in the grammatical precision of words, and in the skill of form ing beautiful and appropriate phrases, after the manner of the masters of this queen of sciences : and I asked him to pardon my inability ; the more so, as we should travel with inconvenience and haste. But he refused to accept this ex- cusation for me ; and, insisting on his request, persevered in its repetition.
I now therefore roused my languid mind, and stretched towards the object mv recoiling hand: not that I may take rank in the troop of Chroniclers, but wishing to confirm a multitude of facts, which have hitherto been disbelieved to their reporters, and to which all men refuse their due credit ; being of opinion, that the writers have noted such matters merely in jest, and for their own amusement, or that of their readers. So thought we; until, in the progress of our journey to the country of the Christians, either by becoming a personal witness, or by hearing indubitable accounts, I verified to the utmost whatever met the glance of an ob serving eye, not only in part, but comprehensively. What we shall relate, there fore, will he upon the surest evidence ; and we will omit nothing, which, either along the road, or during our halts in various places, until our return to our own country, we were able to ascertain as matter of truth. Accustomed from my childhood to devote stated hours to the study of history, I have passed much time with my attention fixed upon its interesting pages. Whatever ability, therefore, I may have acquired by such pursuits, I have summoned to the performance of the present work : and having exerted my utmost efforts in collecting all the
V
information which came within my reach, I hope it will prove a delight to the reader, and a solace to his mind ; and that all who see or hear it, will bless Almighty God for this TREASURE OF DESCRIPTIONS AND ENTERTAINING NARRATIVES.
May the Christian community of our country derive a multitude of benefits from hearing of the noble customs of the true Believers in foreign parts; of their assiduity in divine worship with boundless perseverance; of their strict observance of the seasons of fast and hours of prayer; of their admirable religiousness, perfect faith, and sound morality ; and of the purity of their intentions, thoughts and Such will be our descriptions in the course of this work, elucidating and explaining what with our own eyes we have seen and witnessed.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
BOOK I.
SECT. I.
A L EPP O.—A N TI O CH.
OUR Father and Lord the Patriarch, with the fairest purpose and upright intent, having fixed his determination upon turning his face and travels towards the city of Constantinople, we prepared accordingly, and took what was necessary for presents and offerings, and provided ourselves with other requisites; confiding in Almighty God, and trusting to his protection.
On the evening of Thursday the ninth day of the month Tamouz, he (may God prolong his existence!) went up from Aleppo towards Ladikia and Gebileh, to collect his dues in those parts, and then return to Antioch. I, his poor historian, and the rest of his companions, went forth on the Tuesday morning, the Feast of the Prophet Elias, and came in the evening to a town called Maarethwan. The next morning we arose and came to Hadim and Gotrarin; which last is a town in the neighbourhood of the new bridge, Jisr al Jadid, on a bank of the Aasi, where we slept, We entered Antioch on Thursday the twenty-second of Tamouz ; and there assisted at mass, on Sunday, the seventh after Pentecost. We then set off on a visit to the Convent of Saint Simeon, the Worker of Miracles, the Sailor, by the straight old Roman road, which they have opened anew within these few years, after it had been entirely forgotten for a length of time. How often, in former years, when we started for a visit to this convent, were we taken along the Soucidieh road, by the Church of Saint Spiridion, built on the spot where his enemies cut off the heads of his asses ; and having passed a night in the town Zeitounieh, continued our pilgrimage to the convent on the following day, over a very difficult road, through an immense forest ! This road, on the contrary, is smooth, straight, and near ; and our Lord the Patriarch, from the information he drew of it from the history of the Saint, had frequently inquired about it. Till the present year, however, it was not discovered nor opened. But now, thanks to God ! we enjoyed it exceedingly: for on the evening of the same day we passed on to the Great Convent of the Saint, and performed 'A^u-rv/a (Vigils) and
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 5
in the Katholic Church there : for there are seven churches in all. The greatest part of the buildings are of stone ; and in the surrounding wall are four gates: the largest looks towards the Gulph of Soueidieh. This place is exceed ing strong; the river Aasi descending on its eastern sides, along the bottom of the valley. This stream appears to enter the sea close to the mountain Akra, and the ships are supplied from it with fresh water.
After having said mass here, we returned to Antakieh (Antioch) ; whither also, on Thursday the twenty-ninth of Tamouz, came our Lord the Patriarch. Here, during a residence of six days, he performed as many masses : after which we hired horses, and left the town on the evening of Thursday the fifth of the month Ab ; and passing the next morning through Bilan, arrived in the after noon at IskanderouneJi, It happened to be the eve of the Feast of the Transfigu ration, and we were received by the Kabarisa with the greatest honour. In their church we assisted at the 'Ay^im/a. At the time of the EiVo^oj, all the Clergy came in ; and taking a blessing, they changed their robes, and, according to custom, went round in the E/'Woj, chaunting, " O resplendent light !" In the morning, our Lord the Patriarch said mass. In the evening we left this place ; and arrived early the next day, which was Saturday, at Bayas, where the Patriarch performed mass on Sunday, the eighth after Pentecost; afterwards, on the Mon day and Wednesday. Towards evening we took our departure ; and, having halted the next morning at Jisr Albarnas, we passed on to Karn Capi. The road here is frightful, being a narrow defile, attended with every kind of danger.
On the morrow we arrived at Khan Kourd Koitlak, or Wolfs Ears ; for in the khan is a mosque with two cupolas, exactly resembling that animal's ears. Hence we departed at midnight, in company with eighteen carabiniers, Chris tians from Bayas ; and early in the morning entered Misscyisa. The Castle of Heyal was on our right hand. At midnight we resumed our march, and passed over a bridge of the River Gilion, called Elchihan. In the morning, which was Saturday the fourteenth of the month Ab, we arrived at Adana, and alighted in the gardens of our Greek Church or Community, which forms a town of great size, and has within it many gardens. In each of them are more than three or four hundred stocks of the orange-tree, equal in size to the largest mulberry- trees : the rent of each is four piastres. Sweet lemon-trees, and other kinds of orange-plants, are also very abundant. As to our Lord the Patriarch, he went to collect his revenues at Tarsus and the smaller towns of Trimor and JaJ'er Pasha. and the towns of the Kabarisa in that direction. Then he returned to Adana : and we departed thence in the night of the twenty-ninth of Ab, in the company of an
6
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
Aga of Turkomans from Damascus. Before noon we came to Khan B air am Pasha, and alighted on a bank of the river Jakut. In the evening we arose, and marched the whole night through woods and over stony ground. It was very- dark, and we suffered the greatest terrors. The morning brought us to the Fort Kolik; and we passed Kodook Khan, that is, " The Khan of Walnuts," for around it are walnut-trees in great numbers. Before noon we alighted at Takir, which is the celebrated Eilet of Ibn llama/an.
Early next morning we arose, and passed through Sultan Khan; the fort of Auasha remaining on our right hand. We then passed Ak Kupri, that is, i4 the White Bridge/' which was formerly the limit between the Emperors of the Circassians and the Othmans. Thence we crossed the River Kirk Ghctchi, or the Forty-Ford River; for we forded it forty times, well counted. Before noon we arrived at Cliifta Khan, that is, Coupled Khan. It is certain that these roads are impassable in winter, from their narrowness, and by reason of their overflowing waters and numerous rivers. We halted for the space of two hours; and then arose to march on to the Khan Mohammed Pasha, which is Yenghi Khan, or Oleti Kushliik ; and the evening came on before we had yet reached it : we therefore alighted at some houses of the Turkomans ; being, as I have mentioned, in the company of their Aga, and slept this night with them. Early in the morning of Wednesday the first of the month Iloul, the commence ment Of the YEAR OF THE WORLD SEVEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED and SIXTY-ONE, We
arose, to come to Bar; and began our march through its territory, which is pro perly named Bor (uncultivated). For a day's journey, either in length or breadth, there is not a green herb to be seen, but the earth is burnt black. Durino- this day we suffered extreme affliction, till we arrived in the evening at Bor, which is a beautiful village, of cheap supplies, abounding in streams of water, and multiplied in riches. Every thing here is cheap. The Ritl, Litre, or Pound, Aleppo weight, of flesh-meat is four Paras; and the Ritl of bread, three. A Ritl, or Litre, of the best old wine is five Paras: the new is sold at one. There is abundance of rob, or treacle, of grapes. Here is also a very wonderful manu factory of gunpowder, worked by wheels, similar to those of a water-mill for corn: they are very large; and, as the streams of water turn them, they raise and sink beams of wood placed in a row, to pound the powder, which only one man is employed to stir and move by day, and another by night. It is a great and effectual contrivance, attended with little fatigue. The Christians in this place are very religious, and their language is the Turkish. They made us alight with them, and gave us the handsomest reception.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 7
We performed mass in a church they have, in the name of the Five Moons or Lights, Eugenius and his Companions, on Sunday, the thirteenth after Pentecost. There is a very small cave under the altar of this church. We staid with these people eight days ; and on the eve of the Feast of the Nativity of our Lady, the eighth of Iloul, we departed with an escort of Turkomans, whom they hired to go with us, from that evening till the afternoon of the next day, a distance of twenty hours. It was a long and frightful stage, over a land burnt up with drought; in which we suffered, from the greatness of the heat and from thirst, sufficient to perish both ourselves and our beasts. We had indeed given our selves up to despair ; but, by the favour of the Creator, (blessed be his name!) and the intercession of the Virgin his Mother, we arrived in the afternoon at a village of the Turkomans, called Kincan. We were very near yielding up our souls ; and our cattle in particular were at the extremity of death : but they immediately conducted us all together to the water, and our breath returned to us. For sake of the abundant water in this town, we made a halt with them on Friday. In the evening we proceeded with them over dreadful roads, and the next day arrived at Kara Yenar. From Chifta Khan we had passed along the Imperial Road to Constantinople, whither it leads through Khan Mohammed Pasha Yenghi Khan ; and from this place through Erekli and Kara Yenar: whence we set out before midnight, and came to Esmil in the forenoon.
SECT. II. I C O N I U M.
HENCE we again started in the evening; and before noon on Sunday, the fourteenth after Pentecost, and the eleventh day of the month Iloul, we arrived at Ilwuielt (Iconium) ; where we attended the Feast of the Cross, in a church belonging to our Greek Community, and having a roof of wood. Afterwards we went to visit the Convent of Saint Chariton, whose Festival is on the twenty- sixth of Iloul. The convent is at a short distance of two hours from the city. The whole edifice, and also its churches and repositories, are of quarry-stone, from the mountain. The principal church is exceeding large and lofty, built also with its temples of quarry-stone. Behind the holy table is a cave, to which you descend by steps, where the Saint devoted himself to the worship of God ; and wherein is shewn you a long stone, in the shape of a pillow, which they informed us was his pillow. In this church is a Tomb, on which is written
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
in Greek, " Who begot the Son ?" on porphyry : and calculating its chronology, we found that it is five hundred years old at the present time. In like manner, upon the door of the church, its epoch is inscribed in Greek. All the rest of the churches arc small. At a short distance outside the convent is an ancient cave, into which you descend by steps : in it the robbers confined the Saint, as their prisoner. Here is a large spring, which he caused to burst forth for them, and of which the water is delicious. We slept in the convent the night preceding Wednesday the fifteenth of Iloul, and in the morning returned to the city. The walls of it are large, and it contains surprising edifices, and many paintings, and portraits of persons, who are as it were speaking. We went to see the Establishment of the Mollakhanah of the holy Molla Khandkar, in which are some remarkably handsome buildings : the chan deliers of silver and gold, and the lamps, which have been selected from the treasuries of Kings and Emperors, are very numerous. One chandelier, shaped into every kind of flower-stalk, weighs ninety okas of gold and silver. The steps of ascent to his tomb are of silver. Near to it is the tomb of the Monk, his companion; upon which is a black garment, and a large black turban. The pavement of the steps consists of entire slabs of marble, cut thin, as though they were plates of silver. At the sight of these wonders, every person who enters this place is perfectly astonished. The Chief, and the rest of the Dervishes, entertain great love for Christians and Monks. They had admitted us, and shewed us about, whilst we on our parts were full of dread and apprehension. As to the tribe of Turkomans, there is a curse upon them, should they not
admit them.
We now joined company with a Cadi of Aleppo, and the Caravan from that place; and setting out on Thursday, arrived the next morning at Lndak; which place, in the Swuafa^a (Martyrology), is named Litavernieh, and contains a magnificent church dedicated to Saint Michael, besides Roman edifices, and many other churches. We left it at the approach of evening; and arrived early the next day at a village called Algham, on the outside of which is a Hammam, or Bath, called Kibloujah, of hot water ; and near to it is also one of cold water. In the evening we again departed; and came in the morning of the next day, which was Saturday the eighteenth of Iloul, to a village called A k Shc/ir, cele brated for the tomb of Haja. After travelling again all night, the next day brought us to Sakla. It was the first Sunday after the Feast of the Cross. At midnight we again started, and in the morning reached Belaido7i. The whole road from Sakla to Belaidon is furnished with bridges, and paved with stone. Setting off in
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 9
the evening, and having passed the stage Khan Bayaz in the night, we came next day to Khan Khosrof Pasha, whence we departed again in the dusk of the evening ; and the next day, Wednesday, arrived at Seyyid Ghazi. This place we quitted at the approach of night; and on Thursday, the twenty-fourth of Iloul, came to Eski Shehr, the yellow water-melons of which are famous: they are very sweet; and from their firmness, being hung up, they keep till winter. Here, during Friday, we reposed : and setting forth on the eve of Saturday, arrived the next morning at Yeuz Hok.
Saturday evening we again departed, and arrived next day at Bazojih. It was the second Sunday after the Feast of the Cross. The road from beginning to end of the last day's journey was narrow. On the right of it is a mountain, and a forest; on the left, a river, to look down upon which is frightful.
We set out again in the evening; and on Monday morning arrived at Yengi Shchr. The next station, of Khan Ak Beyik, we entered in the night : and here we parted from the Stamboul Caravan, and slept in the khan. On the morning of Tuesday we left this place; and at noon came to a populous town, called Hazaveng, wrhich lies half-way between Yengi Shehr and Broussa. Here we ate Turkish milk of indescribable lusciousness, and equally delicious bread and melons. Here is a fountain (Jlusj') of sweet wrater, cold to a degree of wonder.
SECT. III. BROUSSA.
Now, we entered JBroussa on the evening of the aforesaid Tuesday, being the twenty-eighth of the month Iloul. We alighted at the Yengi Khan, among the natives of Aleppo ; the meeting with whom gave expansion to our hearts. With them we passed the night : and in the morning of Wednesday, there came to the Khan all the Clergy and all the Archons of Broussa; and they took us to the quarter Kaya JBas/ii, where their church is, dedicated to Our Lady. This church is as all their churches. They clothed our Lord the Patriarch in the Mantia (Mav^wa)* at the end of the street; where the priests and deacons met us with torches and thuribles; and the singers chaunted all the while, till we entered the church. Here was first mentioned the name of the Sovereign ; after wards, that of the Patriarch of Antioch and of All the East ; and then followed
a, the Pallium, or Pall.
c
10
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the whole of the proclamation. They lodged us in a house near the church : and in the mornin0' of Saturday, the second of Teshrin the first,, they took us, in company with our hosts from Aleppo, to the warm baths Eski Kablouja; in the hot and refreshing waters of which we bathed, and then went to the garden
of Kcsenta.
In the evening, on our return, we performed the 'Etrxegiyov (Vesper Service) of the Eve of Sunday, the third after the Feast of the Cross, in the aforesaid church. From this place, Broussa, to Constantinople, and thence as far as \Vallachia and Moldavia, including the adjacent countries, the Christians are not in the habit of performing the 'Ayfysru/a (Vigils) as we do in our country : but when it is a great festival, they perform it on the preceding eve, before the mid night prayer, and continually throw incense at the Kvote ixgce,%ct (O Lord, I have cried), till the time of the Ao'fa (Glory, or Doxology) : in the mean time the congregation is assembling. They mentioned in the proclamation the name of our Lord the Patriarch first ; afterwards the names of their Metropolitans. At the E<Vo$o£*,all the priests present took the Kogwq, and put on their copes after their custom, and walked round in the Ei'<rodo$, singing " () Divine Light :" and it is a sign, when a priest walks round in the Effotiog the evening before, that he is coming to perform mass the next day. Remark, that the Principal, or head of the priests, has the duty of repeating the Psalm for Sun-set, and " O Divine Light," and, " Now dismiss thy servant :" and so, in the Morning Prayer, he has to repeat the Morning Psalms, and then " Glory to the Sender of light," £c. On the morning of the before-mentioned Sunday, our Lord the Patriarch said mass in this church. Throughout all the country of Greece they begin with the Kaiwf first; and after the seventh 'Q^ (Hymn) and the 2vvu%oi§itt,l (Martyrology), they saylla<ra vvor, \\ and the Gospel, and " Save, O God, thy people;" and the officiating priest comes out carrying the Gospel to the
* " The EiffoSo?."] The Introit, the solemn entry of the priests into that division of the church where the altar stands, and which is separated from the body of the church by a lofty screen adorned with paintings of our Saviour, the Virgin, and the Saints. In this screen are three doors. Ihe priests and deacons, at certain periods of the service, come forth from one of the side doors, make the circuit of the church, and re-enter the sanctuary by the great middle door ; which entrance of theirs is called " Ihe EiVoSos."
7 " The K«v<wv" is a particular psalm, sung at this part of the service.
£ " The Zi/i/«£«pi«," a Compendium of the Lives of Saints and Martyrs, read in the church to the people.
|| <•' Ilaow itvon" Every breath; with which words a portion of the Greek Service just preceding the Gospel commences.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 1 \
head priest, that he may kiss it ; and then all that are present kiss it likewise. He goes out with it also to the women, that they may kiss it in like manner ; and then returns to the thurible. As to the hours, they are altogether neglected by the Greeks, except the first hour, or prime, at break of day ; and so they close their service : but the priest, as he says mass, repeats them all in secret. In the country of the Cossacks, however, and at Moscow, they say them loud and publicly, as with us. In the procession with the body, the deacons go out before, and the priests behind it. In all this country, except Moscow, the whole of the persons present in the church go into the sanctuary to take the 'Am'^a* (Remunerations) from the hand of the head priest or the officiating minister. He even goes out to the women and children, and imparts the Communion to them.
On Saturday the ninth of Teshrin the first, they took us to the warm baths Yengi Klabouja, which resemble Behram Basha and Mustafa Basha at Damascus and Aleppo. We visited the source of this water; which boils as it springs out of the rock, and throws up a smoke into the misty air. Its smell is sulphureous; and it is impossible for any one to hold in it his hand ; for it scalds fowls, and boils eggs, as we ourselves witnessed: on this account three or four cold waters are mixed with it, to bring it to a just temperature. The baths are an immense structure.
On the morning of Sunday, the fourth after the Festival of the Cross, our Lord the Patriarch was invited by the priests and principal inhabitants of the quarter called Balik Bazaar to say mass in their church, which is dedicated in the name of St. John the Evangelist. He went thither accordingly, and performed mass. This church is double (<&AU), as the others are. On the eve of Tuesday, he was again invited by the inhabitants of the quarter called Damir Gibi to their church, where he performed the ceremony of the ' ' Kyiatrpog,]* and slept there.
On Wednesday the twelfth of Teshrin the first, and the sixteenth day of our abode in Broussa, we departed, after taking leave of the principal inhabitants; who accompanied us as far as Modanir, from which place the whole population issued forth to meet the Patriarch, at a considerable distance. They took us directly to their High Church, called after the Assumption of Our Lady: and the deacon
15 The 'AVT^CWKX consist of holy bread, which is sanctified during the service of the mass, and at Un close of it is distributed to the people. This bread is however quite distinct from the consecrated, or as the Greeks consider it the transubstantiated, bread of the Eucharist. The Sacrament is administered to the laity four times a year, but this holy bread is distributed after every celebration of the mass.
1- 1 he 'AyiKffftos, the Purification, or Sanctification : but to what particular ceremony it alludes, I am not aware. — //. D, L.
-
ig TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
mentioned first the name of the Patriarch of Constantinople ; secondly, that of the Patriarch of Antioch: but they omitted any mention of their Metropolitan, Clementus, (God erase his name from the Book of Life!) for his haughtiness of mind, being hated by all the people; particularly at the present time., when he declined coming out to meet the Patriarch and welcome his arrival. For this reason we staid a very short time here, and performed no mass. But the people honoured us much; for they are exceedingly good Christians, and very religious. They lodged us in the house of the Archon Krishi Tourti, upon the sea-shore. In this place are about twenty churches. Within the Metropolitan's palace is a small church, in the name of the Divine Manifestation; and under it is a spring of water. The church is adorned with a painting of the Holy Mountain and all its Monasteries. Hence we went to visit the Church of St. Theodorus, which is very beautiful: and afterwards that of St. George. The rest of the churches we had not an opportunity of visiting, because we were in haste to embark upon the sea, and pass over to Constantinople before the tempestuous season of St. Demetrius.
They hired for us a boat, at eight hundred othmanis; and we left Modanir on Friday the 16th of Teshrin. Having rowed us about twelve miles, till the evening, they cast anchor; and at midnight they again started. We had scarcely got out into the middle of the sea, when, of a sudden, there sprung up a violent gale, and the waves were agitated. The storm increased to such a degree, that the boat was near sinking with us, from the attack of the huge foaming billows; and our sense fled from us, so that we cried and sobbed like children *. Giving ourselves up for lost, we bade adieu to each other, and openly confessed our sins; and our Lord the Patriarch read over us the Prayer of forgiveness, absolution, and re mission, whilst we were in momentary expectation of approaching death. But the Creator, exalted be his name ! who neglect eth not his servants, did not abandon us ; and by the intercession for us of the Virgin his Mother, the pre server and refuge of all who are in distress— of St. Nicholas — of St. Simeon the Wonder-worker, the seaman, the Aleppian— of St. George, the rider upon sea and land— and of St. Demetrius, whose festival was approaching (for both before and after it this storm is dreaded by navigators) — the waves subsided ; and after
* I can bear testimony to the uncertainty of the navigation of the Sea of Marmora ; having, in a similar passage from Moudania (in the Arabic text written Modanir") to Constantinople, in an open boat, experienced just such a storm as assailed the Patriarch. I never felt myself in greater peril. Boats are often lost in this passage ; as these gusts of wind come on in the Sea of Marmora with great violence, and often with scarcely any warning. — H.D.L.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 13
immense fatigue and mighty fear, our sailors succeeded in rowing us to land ; where they lowered the sail, after the mast had narrowly escaped being broken by the furious gale that blew. At first we could not believe that we were safe ; till the men leaped on shore, and we had leisure to contemplate our pitiable condition. In the morning they rowed us to the famous Khan Bouzbouronn, and here cast anchor. We found many ships at anchor in this place, from dread of the weather. We staid at Bouzbouroun from the morning Of the Saturday before mentioned, till midnight preceding Tuesday; when the weather having become favourable, they set sail with us, and arrived in the morning at a village called the Katerli. We landed for the purpose of visiting its church, which is dedi cated in the name of Saint Kyriaki. In the evening we came to a populous town on the beach of the island, cited in the Swcd^o, (Martyrology), and in History, by the name Hgturq, that is, the First. Its present name is J3irigi *. It contains the monuments of the Patriarchs of Constantinople up to this day. In it are three churches ; one dedicated to our Lady, another to St. Demetrius, and the third to St. George. At midnight we re-commenced our journey; and in the morning came to Escudar. We had passed by the city of C/ialcedonia, and aLo;}!] j,/ The Widow's Vineyard, which John the Chrysostom carried away. It is up to the present time (s^ *^) in semblance of an island. The city is now called Kadi Gun, that is, almost in sound, Chalcedonia,
SECT. IV. C 0 NS TA NT IN OPLE.
WE entered Constantinople in the forenoon of Wednesday the twentieth of Teshrin the first. Since our departure from Aleppo, it was just three months complete on this day. We alighted in the Monastery of the Resurrection, which is within the gate of the Kabr, and near to the Patriarch's palace. Our own Pa triarch had sent from Broussa a Letter to Kyr Paisius, the Patriarch of Constan tinople, and to his Metropolitans, to ask their permission to visit Constantinople.
c Birigl is merely the Turkish word for IJpwTij (Prote), or the First, The Turks call it by the former name ; the Greeks l.y the latter. There is a cluster of islands in the Sea of Marmora, about twelve miles from Constantinople ; of which the first you approach from the city is called Prote. From the description however of the island at which the Patriarch touched, it could riot have been Prote, which has no town on it. and no habitation but a monastery ; but was probably Prinkipo, the largest island of the cluster, and the first he would arrive at, on coming from Moudania.
i 1 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
as was the ancient custom. With this they were exceedingly pleased ; as, in con trariety to those who preceded him, he had done the civility required: and thev immediately sent him a "Svo-rurDCov (or Patriarchal Letter), witli permission, in the fullest magnificence. And now, in the evening, our Lord the Patriarch begged leave to visit them the following day. On Thursday morning, therefore, the Pa triarch of Constantinople sent to him, at the moment of his intended coming, the aforesaid Metropolitans; who repaired to his presence, and conducted him to the Patriarch's palace. As soon as he entered the gate, two priests met him; the one carrying the Gospel, the other an image; and also the deacons, with the thurible, dressed in their copes: and he kissed the Gospel and the image, according to custom; and the Deacons incensed him. Then one of the Metropolitans put into his hand a silver crosier ; and the singing chaplains ( joLa^) began to c haunt "A%iov lo-Ttv, till they entered with him into the1 Patriarchal church, which is dedi cated in the name of St. George. Whilst he was performing his devotions to the images which are upon the door of the tabernacle, behold the Patriarch of Constan tinople came down; and, entering the church in his [tuvdva (pall), stood before his throne. They placed our Lord the Patriarch at a throne opposite to him. And the deacon said, " Have mercy on us, O God, according to thy great mercy :" and he made mention of Alexis, Emperor of Moscow, and of the Empress Maria ; of Vasili Beg, of Moldavia, and his consort Katherina ; of Matthew Beg, of Wallachia, and his wife Helena ; then of Kyr Paisius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, and Kyr Macarius, Patriarch of Antioch ; and the chaplains chaunted at each name Kvgts tt^crov (" O Lord, have mercy upon us"), three times.
Upon the conclusion of the service by the officiating priest, the two Patri archs came down from their thrones ; and having granted pardon to each other for their faults, they walked together, two persons preceding them with large silver candlesticks holding a camphor-taper; and the Metropolitans following behind, till they mounted up to the Patriarch's divan. Here they sat down to table, whilst the chaplains continued to sing. The Constanti- nopolitan treated our Lord with all attention, and abundant kindness and good-will. They presented so many different kinds of food, and such varieties of wine, that their description is impossible. Towards the evening, the Patriarchs went down to perform the evening prayers ; and then took leave of each other. Our Lord the Patriarch returned to the Monastery, with the Metropolitans and clergy before and behind him; with the Kabi Kachia (Uitf 0
TRAVELS OF MACAR1US. \.-j
of Moldavia*, and the Kabi Kacliia of Wallachia, and others, following, till he dismissed them with a blessing. The grandees among the Christians continually came to pay their salutations to him.
On the eve of the Sunday of the (^^jos^l), our Lord the Patriarch went over to the Patriarchal church, at the invitation of the Constantinopolitan ; and they both entered in their pcwduas (palls) together, and performed at the same time their devotions to the images; and there was standing before each of them a man holding two silver candlesticks with camphor-tapers, from the beginning of the service to the end. The Ka^/o^ara of the Psalms f were recited by one of the deacons, standing between the two Patriarchs. At the Aofa (Doxology) the priests began to perform, two by two, their Msm^;as;|; to the Constantinopolitan, a first and second time; and as far as five couple, also to the Antiochian : then they went in, and put on their copes, and walked round the ~El'orodo$ ; and afterwards drew up near the Patriarch, in the form of ;\ half circle. After the deacon had incensed the doors of the tabernacle, throw ing the thurible at a distance ; and then the two Patriarchs, and the priests. and the rest of the assistants within the choir ; the priests began to chaunt " O Divine Light," in a very loud voice. Then the deacon returned to incense the Patriarchs; and the priests began to perform Koguvy to them, two and two, till they entered the tabernacle, and put off their copes: for such is their custom, on the eve of a Sunday or distinguished festival. These priests belong to the churches of the districts around the Patriarch's palace; and this is a sign that they are preparing overnight for mass, as we mentioned before. At the end of the prayer, after they had taken their blessing together, the two Patriarchs went outside the church, with two torch-bearers before them, and the whole congregation standing in rows. Then one of the torch-bearers shouted witli a loud voice, " Paisius, of all holiness, Archbishop of the City of Con stantinople, the New Rome, and Patriarch of the Inhabited World, rioXAcc TO, try" | (May your years be many!) — three times: whilst the Patriarch, raising
The Kabi Kacliia of Moldavia and the Kabi Kachia of Wallachia are the Agents of the Princi - of those two Provinces ; who reside at Constantinople, to transact the political and ecclesiastical busi ness of their Masters with the Porte and the Greek Patriarchate.
•f- " TItc I^a6iffp.ara of the Psalms.''] The Book of P.salms is, in the Greek Church, divided into twenty Katf/o^rxTa or portions (literally Sessions) ; which are read at certain times, according to the regulations of the Rubric.
I " Their Merctvo/ocs" — inclinations of the body, amounting almost to prostrations, which the priests make to the Patriarch, and Archbishops, proportioned to their respective dignities, at certain periods of the service.
II rioAA/x T« e-n; (" Many years to you. f ") is also, in common intercourse, the usual salutation.
16 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
his right hand, was blessing the people. In like manner, the hearer of the other torches cried out, " Macarius, of all goodness, Patriarch of the City of God, Antioch the Great, and of All the East:" and he said, IloXXa ra 'irq, three times ; whilst the Antiochian also raised his right hand, and blessed the people. Then they put off their fActi/ducts (palls) ; and the Constantinopolitan took the other up with him to his palace, where they dined together. Afterwards, he accompanied his guest to the gate at the lower part of the house, where In- parted with him; and the Antiochian returned to his monastery, in a very happy disposition of mind.
On the morning of the afore-mentioned Sunday, we repaired again to the same church; and the Metropolitans came out to the court-yard to meet our master: and having robed him in his fxMvtivt* (pall), they went before and behind him into the church, two silver candlesticks being carried before him. On his entry, he gave his blessing to the congregation, and went and stood at his throne. After the Hao-a wot] (Every breath), the Constantinopolitan descended from his throne to kiss the images and impart his blessing to the congregation; and after him the Antiochian : then the chief priests, two by two: afterwards the priests and the rest of the congregation paid their devotions to the images. For in all the country of Greece, in Moldavia and in Wallachia, there is not a single person who does not kiss the images at this time of the early morning; and afterwards at the end of the mass, when they have received tlie ' Avrftagct (the sanctified bread), even to the women and children. As in our country, they go out after the mass; but here the}' go out also after the "Qgfyov (Matins), and return in two hours' time. When the deacon has thrown incense at the Alleluia, he descends from the Tabernacle and incenses the Patriarch at his throne; and then receives from him a TLogtuvq, for the reading of the Gospel. Afterwards he incenses the doors of the Tabernacle and the images, and goes in to take the Gospel from the hand of the Minister : then coming out with it from the north door, he ascends the "Afi&uv (pulpit), which is on the north side of the church. The chaplains draw out to a great length the chaunt Eig voXXoi Irr, Aeovora (May the years of our Lord be many); whilst the deacon descends from the " \p,£uv (pulpit), and, coming to the Patriarch, presents him the Gospel to kiss. They repeat several times, at the end of the Prone, "O ye Catechumens (%otrri%ovfMyoh admonished}, go out.'" In the middle of the Prone is the ^vvsirsre; that is, when he says at the end of the prayer for peace, " We pray to the Lord," he joins to it, " For the salvation of his Highness," and, " For the salvation of the whole world," " For this con secrated house," " For the Patriarch," " For the Emperor and Empress," and
TRAVELS OF MAC ARIL'S. 17
•' Help," £c. and " 2ocp/a" (Wisdom), and the rest, whilst the Minister is reading the Evfflv. After the Proclamation, he repeats again, " For the salvation" &c. and " For this church," " For the moderation of the weather," " For those who are travelling by sea," and " For our salvation," and " Help," and " 2o<p/a," and so on, whilst the Minister is finishing the Ev^v. Their retinue and humility are very great; and their Msrcbo/as (prostrations) down to the ground are fre quent : — I am speaking of the Greek Clergy who assist at mass, and particularly of their behaviour at the moment of taking the holy mysteries. The deacon mentions the name of the Patriarch, whilst he carries the body. At the end of the mass the two Patriarchs distributed the 'Am'&w^a (sanctified bread), each on his own side. At their departure from the church, the torch-bearers repeated the same words as they had done the evening before; and the Patriarch's Janissaries constantly preceded them, walking on to clear the way before them, with their swords and staves. On this day there was also a banquet, from which we did not return home till the evening. On the eve of the Feast of St. Demetrius we assisted at vespers in the church of the Monastery, which is dedicated to St. George.
In the morning, the Patriarch sent to our master two of the Metropolitans, and the U^roffu'yy&Xog *, and the Chief of the Deacons, who conducted him to the Patriarchal church ; and, after mass, he took him again to dine with him. It may be observed, that our Christian brethren of the Greek nation, wherever they are, all fast the Lent of St. Demetrius, beginning with the first day of the month Teshrin the first, and abstaining entirely from (^1) fat till the day of his festival. In like manner they fast for Saint Michael, from the first of Teshrin the second, for the space of eight days. They have also many other Lents, besides these, for other Saints : which, please God, we will hereafter mention.
This is the description of the Patriarchal church in Constantinople, dedicated by name to St. George. Before it is a court-yard; and on the north side is a succession of pent-houses, where the Writers of the Patriarch have their dwelling. In front of the church is a large pent-house, from which you descend into it by steps. This church is of the usual form of Catholic churches, having three com partments, each with a cupola. It has a second door going out from the pent house on the north side. Over this compartment the women are stationed ; but they have an outward door into the street. The church contains three tabernacles, and is very spacious. The chairs of the choir are in two equal rows,
o<;.^ The Protosyngelos is the chief officer of the Patriarch, through whom the busi ness of the Patriarchate is for the most part conducted.
D
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
reaching from before the tabernacle to near the door of the church. Behind them are other rows of seats, and also all round the church. The Patriarch's throne is between the rows of seats on the right-hand side ; and is very lofty, with an ascent of steps. It is all dove-tailed, and is a noble piece of workmanship. Opposite to it is a similar throne, but inferior in height, intended for any Patriarch Visiter, in the row on the left-hand side. As to the Elxwofruffts * (^IL^yOf), it is very lofty; and the large images on the doors of the tabernacle are of very great dimensions, painted at Moscow. The picture of St. George is entirely ex ecuted by the hand of Our Lady. The candlesticks are large and magnificent. The UoXvthiov, to which they give the name of Xo^o?, is all of yellow brass. worked by the hammer, and made at Venice, resembling that which is in the Church of the Holy Ptesurrection. The tabernacles are spacious ; and behind that which is on the north side is a door admitting to the Book Treasury, whence you go out behind the church, into a court that opens into the street. This is so contrived, in order that when the priests are suddenly visited by any natural want, they may satisfy it, without going cut in face of the people. On the arch of the south tabernacle are painted the figures of Abraham and Melchisedec. The beard of the latter is white, and longer than the beard of Abraham. His head is bound with a red fillet, like Daniel the Prophet's, and his hair hangs loose. He is clothed in a vest resembling the Qtt.uviw (sacerdotal robe) of St. Gregory, bishop of Armenia, with an Armenian (^^Jiis) dress, and a brocade G>i') collar. He carries in his hands a kind of white boat, filled with something red, like wine ; and having upon it the figure of three white round loaves, with two red crosses on the top. These are the bread and wine which he offered to the Lord. Over is written 'O Mxuios MiXyja-tdcx (The righteous Melchizedek). Above the altar, or place of sacrifice, are two portraits ; the Patriarch of Alex andria, and the Messiah standing before him in the shape of a young man, under a cupola suported by two pillars. His garment is rent ; and the Patriarch says to him, "Lord, who rent thy garment?" The answer issuing from the mouth of our Lord is : " Indeed Arius, who fell upon me. Is the mouth of Hell lower?" than what he fell. Where the officiating priest washes his hands is a small marble pitcher C^) with a handle (ajJjo-), which empties into another standing upon a pillar under it. As to the two portraits above mentioned, there is an
* E/x<oi/o<n-«<rK;.] The Iconostasis is a stand placed near the entrance of the clmrcli, for the reception of the picture of the Saint of the festival or day. The people, on entering the church, prostrate them selves before this picture, and kiss it ; and light each a small wax taper before it, which they purchase. for the purpose, at the door of the church.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 19
imitation of them in all the churches of Constantinople and its territory, as there is also of the Lavacrum just described. The "ApEuv, or pulpit, is on the north side, as we mentioned before ; is very high ; and looks over the throne, occupied, on the present occasion by the Patriarch of Antioch.
In one corner of this church, on the right-hand side as you enter, is a reposi tory, with a grating of iron wire; containing the bodies of Saints, which we requested permission to kneel down to and to kiss. They therefore took us inside ; and the Archons came, bringing with them the keys of the bolts. First they broke the seals, and then opened the several chests, which are three ; the first containing the body of Saint Theophanu, the Empress, preserved entire, as she was in her clothes, with her (jLoyJS probably <u*?lj) spinning yarn at her feet. We took a blessing from her, and then from the body of Saint Ishmonita, mother of the Seven Macabites*. She is an old woman, remaining entire, with her clothes upon her, buttoned in the manner of the Franks. In the third chest is Saint Euphemia, the Martyr, entire, except that the head is wanting. In a corner of this repository is an iron cage, within which is seen one half of the pillar to which they tied our Lord the Messiah, when they scourged him. Its colour inclines to green. Above it is a lamp, which burns night and day. Whilst we were taking a blessing from it, one of the persons present informed us that the other half of it is at Home, and that he had paid his devotions to it. They now replaced the seals upon the relicmes, and we went out. It is to be observed, that the whole of the treasure belonging to the Patriarchal Church is in the hands of its Vakeels or Attorneys, and not entrusted to the Patriarch. It is they, also, who pay all the pensions and other expenses attending the Patriarch's Court.
The Palace and Divan of the Patriarch are built upon an eminence outside the church inclosure; and command a view of Galata, of Scutari, of the Sea of Marmora, &c. At the upper part is a secret door, giving admission to the Monastery of the Resurrection : for between the Patriarch's palace and this monastery is the city gate from the inner wall ; and whereas it is the custom, upon shutting up the gates of Constantinople in the evening, to take the keys to the Aga of the Janissaries, and, on account of the distance, not to open them again till morning, we occasionally came and knocked at this private gate, and, through it, went down into the church.
" Mother of (he Seven Macabites "~\ I suppose this to bo the mother of the seven Jews tortured and put to death by Antioclms, as related in the 7th chapter of the Second Book of Maccabees.
2Q TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
The station of the Chiefs of the Priesthood (Archbishops) within the church is from the left-hand of the Patriarch to the church door. On his other hand are stationed the KXjj£0£ (Clergy), and the singers or chaplains, as far as very near the door of the Tabernacle ; so that the northern side of the church is left entirely to the common priests and the deacons. There is, of course, upon the southern door of the Tabernacle, the figure of the Cherubim with the flaming sword.
SECT. V. CONSTANTINOPLE.— CONDOSCALE.
ON the eve of the Sunday of the Rich and Helper (^Ullj ^^O* tne Patriarch of Constantinople sent to take our master to church, to evening prayer. During the day, he had sent him a "SvarrKnxov, with his own signature and that of the chief clergy; bearing permission for him to go and perform mass on the morrow in the church of St. John the Baptist, in Kum Kapi, according to the custom of all the Patriarchs : and he had issued orders to the clergy of the other churches in that quarter to forego the performance of their own masses, and to assemble all together in the aforesaid church, to assist at the mass of our Lord the Patriarch. They came, in consequence, to visit us immediately, and invited the Patriarch overnight to the ceremony of the morrow ; which was the aforesaid Sunday, when we embarked in a boat, and, going round the Emperor's Seraglio, passed behind it. Here they shewed us the Gate of Romanus, mentioned in the 2vvafaf/a, which is now closed up. Near it is an 'Ay/ao^a (Holy Well), resorted to by the Christians on the day of the Divine Manifestation (^is^l). This side of the city walls was built by the Emperor Theophilus, and it is still inscribed with his name, in large Greek characters, thus :
QsofyXog Iv "X.gt<rrw vrurrog @curihev$ 'Papccituv net,} avroxgarag.
Near Kum Kapi, among the towers on the beach, they shewed us the Tower of the Emperor Leon (Ae'w, Leo) the Wise, wherein was the wonderful mirror which was broken by Michael the son of Theophilus. Close to it is an ancient Mosque or Cathedral (^U), which they say was formerly a Christian church, and the continual abode of St. John Chrysostom.
We pursued our way till we came to the Scala or landing-place of Kum Kapi, where we stepped out of the boat. The name of Kum Kapi was
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 9J
anciently, in the Greek language, KovTo<rzci?s/]. All the Christians, with their clergy, were waiting for us ; and advancing to meet our Lord the Patriarch, they conducted him, with torches and thuribles, and every token of honour and veneration, into the above-mentioned church, where a most solemn mass was performed.
They are accustomed, in all these countries, at the time of the prayer "A^iov ttrrlv, to bring to the Patriarch pieces of (t_aWy^!) biscuit, which he takes one by one in his hand, and, making a cross with each piece over the cup and over the paten, in the name of its offerer, he says, " Magnified be the name of the Holy Trinity ! " This is what they call Haw/ict,, which has great value among them ; and they carry it with them in their travels, to serve them in place of the communion of the holy mysteries, when any danger presents itself of drowning, or other kind of death.
After the Patriarch had distributed among them the 'Avritiuga (or Remune rations,) they all dropped pieces of money into the plate. Then they took us to their houses, and gave a banquet to the Patriarch ; and we slept two nights under their roof. We went to visit the rest of their churches ; the second of which is dedicated to Our Lady, and is all white. The third is named Saint Kyriaki : upon its door is painted the Creation of the Heaven and the Earth, that is, Ilao-a won (Every breath). The fourth is named after Saint Nicholas. In all of them are new HoXusAsa, and 2u^£oXa (ej'JjlxeJ). The fifth is also dedicated to Our Lady, and is contiguous to the church of the Armenians, who have two churches in Kum Kapi.
On Tuesday the second of Teslirin Essani, which was the festival of Korban Bairam, we went all in a body to the space before the gate of the Seraglio, and saw his Highness the Sultan Mahomet, (whom God preserve !) with his attendants and troops, at his going into Saint Sophia, and coming out. Afterwards we went in to see Saint Sophia, and all its apartments and recesses. We ascended to the second story; then to the third; and viewed its pillars, which are of yellow, green, grey, and variegated stone, and of marble of various beautiful and resplendent colours; also its marble tablets, reaching from pillar to pillar, with marks of crosses still to be traced upon them : as they are likewise upon its beautiful pavement, and all its stones and marbles ; upon the 'Ay/W^a or holy fountain within it, and upon its tables of transparent marble. Its chapels and recesses are admirably constructed ; nor is it possible for the most eloquent man adequately to praise the beauty of its white marble, the lofty suspension of its cupolas, the well-painted figure of Our Lord the Messiah giving his blessing at
22 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
the top of the arches and tabernacles ; the multitude of crosses upon its walls and entablatures ; the variety of figures and paintings of the festivals of Our Lord, which are on the ceiling of the cupolas ; the diversity of colours of the mosaic figures, gilt and painted upon it ; the number of its doors ; the size of the brazen crosses upon them ; the multitude of its windows ; and, what am I saying / — it is not possible for the human intellect to describe the detailed account of its beauties.
S E C T. VI. CONSTA NTINOPLE.—A T MA IDA X.
FROM St. Sophia we went to see the Mosque of the late Sultan Ahmed, who was so famous for his refractoriness. Its floor is formed of unpolished marble, as cut from the quarry. Afterwards we walked over the Esplanade, or Public- Walk of Constantinople, which is celebrated throughout the world. It is called the At Maidan ; that is, the Field of the Horse, or Race Ground, (iKTrodeopoc,) and is in front of the Mosque. We viewed, erected upon a stone pedestal, the admirable Pyramid, called the Nciu Teliclli Dash ; which is one entire piece of stone, squared, and of a grey colour, inclining to red. On the four sides, it has engraved certain scientific shapes or figures and likenesses of animals, which are all philosophic words (Hieroglyphics). The Pyramid is fixed upon four cubes of brass ; and has under it a cube of white marble, in one piece, the length and breadth and height of which is fourteen spans on each side square ; and, on each side, it is sculptured with personal forms, every side presenting a different group. Its height from the base to the summit, that is, the height of the pillar and its pedestal, is equal to that of the minarets of the Mosque of Sultan Ahmed.
At the distance of a stone's throwr from this Pyramid is a pillar of thick brass, twisted together in three rolls, as if it were three serpents or dragons entwined upon each other. Upon the top are three serpents' heads, stretched with open mouths towards the three sides of the city : the lower jaw of one of them is broken. It is pretended, that the deceased Sultan Othman broke it with his mace ; and also, that this pillar has been a protection, since the time of the Emperor Constantine, against the entrance of serpents into the city, one and all : and it is related, as an historical fact, that wiien, upon this occasion, this single head was broken, the side of the city to which it stretched was immediately invaded by serpents : but they do no injury.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 23
Distant another stone's throw hence, is a second Pillar (<x*^o), constructed of stone, called also Tckdli Dash.
We went next to view the Tombs of the deceased Sultans ; that is, of the Othmanlis, from the time they conquered Constantinople, till now ; together with the tomb of Sultan Murad and his nineteen children, who were strangled ; and afterwards the tomb of his mother, Kosa Cason. We made a circuit through all these tombs. Over them are lamps of gold ; and the rich offerings with which they are adorned surpass admiration. The officer in attendance admits visitors for sake of the good work.
The tombs of the Sultans Mustafa and Ibrahim are in another cemetery, near to the inclosure of Saint Sophia, on the way to the Divan. This is raised in solid white marble, both inside and out; and is of recent structure, giving delight to the beholder. Opposite to it is another cemetery of similar construction.
Here is the road to the Divan ; and here are stationed the Writers of Petitions and the Exchangers of Intimacies ; that is to say, of permissions to pass for interviews, and so forth, with their masters.
Hence we turned to visit the Asian Khanah, or House of Lions; which con sists of an ancient church of low structure, and another with a lofty cupola above it, wherein are still traces of the mosaic paintings, and of the portraits of Our Lord and the Four Evangelists, remaining until now7. In the former are the wild beasts; consisting of four lions, one from Algiers (or Africa); the others from our country (Asia) ; and four panthers from divers countries : a jackal, a fox, three wolves, a hyaena, a head of an ancient elephant, an antique skeleton of a camel-panther (^ ; Girafcf), together with an ancient crocodile. There are also traces in this lower church of the images and forms of Philosophy (Mytho logy) still left. It was dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, and is exceedingly revered. It is believed to have been the church of St. Chrysostom.
Near the Asian Khanah is the Jiba Khanah, or House of Armour; upon the door of which is suspended an exceeding large and singular Jazma, or battle-axe. Its companion is hung on the door of the Top Khanah. Besides this, there is a variety of costly rarities.
-24' TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
SECT. VII.
COXSTANTINOPLE.— SERAGLIO.
THEN we came and entered the Seraglio, guarded by the Almighty in perpe tuity. Glorified be its inhabitants! Within the court is a church, which is now called the Silah Khanah, or Armoury, and has escaped the smallest devasta tion ; its tabernacles and every thing within remaining as they formerly were : but the doors are closed. We went up to the famous arch or cupola, which is the Sublime Porte, where sit the Judges of the Army (Cadilesker) and the seven Vizirs ; and the Emperor looks over them from a window. It is here that they hold the Divan, or Court of Audience, for the whole world.
Between the Seraglio and Saint Sophia is a small church named after Saint John the Baptist, which the Emperor Justinianus built before he began Saint Sophia, and where he used to repose himself. It remains in its pristine state.
Then we went to see the third Tcketti Dash ; which is in the Taouk Bazaar, or Bird Market, near the Walidah Baths and the Khan of the Ambassadors. It rises so high into the air as to be painful to behold ; and, having been cracked by fire, is swathed in hoops of iron. It is pretended, that some Jew mentioned to a certain Sultan of the Othmanlis that the Greek Emperors had deposited riches within it. The Sultan therefore ordered it to be set fire to, and it cracked. Fearing it might foil in the night, they girt it with iron from top to bottom. We were informed by the Greeks, that this is the Tekelli Dash, or Pillar, which the Emperor Constantine the Great built ; and laid under its foundations the twelve sculls ; and also some of the reliques of Our Lord the Messiah.
Afterwards we proceeded to view the pillar in the Avrct Bazaar, or the Wo man Market ; which is the largest of all the pillars that have been mentioned : and is constructed of white marble, sculptured with crosses and angels and priests, from the summit to the base. It is hollow inside ; and the place of its fall is the Mahall Assamatah* (IL^JI 21s*).
We asked the Greeks for the site of the Temple of the Holy Apostles ; and they answered us, that it was within the Esld Serai, or Old Seraglio ; which is appropriated to the women. For we saw this holy temple when we were on the water near Galata, and from the environs of Scutari; as it is high, and re markable for its cupolas, which are twelve in number. It is near the Soleimanieh ;
• And the place of Us fall is the Mahall Assamatah:' There is some obscurity in the text here.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 25
so it had appeared to us ; and yet, when I came and sought for it near to that Mosque, I could not find it. The reason of this is, that the inclosure walls of the said Seraglio are exceedingly high ; and the Temple is in the middle of it, on the top of a hill — one of the seven hills which are within the walls of Con stantinople : on this account, the height of the Temple is conspicuous from Galata and Scutari, being considerably higher than the dome and cupola of Saint Sophia ; and so we thought, when we first saw it, on our entrance into Stamboul. Upon seeking for it anew, I obtained further information from a tailor of the aforementioned Eski Serai — that it is therein remaining in its pristine condition, and that the forms and images of Philosophy are also still existing on its walls; but no one is permitted to enter the said palace at all, without a proof of acquaintance.
We asked them again concerning the Temple XaXxo^arsa, where it was. They answered us, that it was in the place where is now the Mosque of Sultan Bajazet.
SECT. VIII. CONSTANTINOPLE.— SOLEIMANIEH.
THEN we passed on to see the vast and illustrious Mosque called the Solcimanieh, which is one of the wonders of the world, for the multitude of its columns, yellow, green and brown, and for its immense coloured pavement ; for its loftiness ; and for the soaring shoot of its minarets. In the court is a high cupola of marble, with pillars of the same material, from the roof of which water descends : for the said pillars are hollow, and the water issues from them in beautiful artifice. It is more delicious and sweeter than the water of Aleppo.
Next, we went to see the Mosque of Sultan Mahomet, which is above the house of the Patriarch, in the Fanar, on the top of a hill.
Afterwards, we descended from the Fanar, into a boat, and passed over to Kliass Kcui*, upon invitation. In this village are numerous houses of Jews and
15 In the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Jews of Spain were expelled that country. Setting out, to the amount of 800,000 persons, they turned their faces to the East, and were kindly received in different parts of the Ottoman Empire. The principal division of them came to Constantinople ; and were assigned this district, where they form a community of 50,000 persons. They are styled Mosafir, or Visitor, by the Turks, as having sought an asylum among them ; and are consequently treated with kindness and hospitality.
E
2(3 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
Christians. We visited the church which is dedicated to the 'Ayia, or Holy Friday ; and they took our Lord the Patriarch to pray over the tomb of the deceased Pavlaki, who was Kapi Kachia of Vasili Beg of Moldavia : for, being guilty of some treachery towards him, the Beg sent and had him put to death. They conducted us to his Hotel, or rather to his beautiful Palace, built over the water, upon huge piles of wood, after the practice of building the mansions of Constantinople. It contains an astonishing number of rooms and apartments, and a bath entirely of marble. Its gardens are a delight to the beholder, and are furnished with canals for irrigation, all of coloured cement. There is also a church upon the premises : all of which have a front command ing a viewr of the sea.
From this palace we went down into a boat belonging to it, and were taken to the further extremity of the sea, or port, of Galata, where we entered a lari><> river of fresh wrater ; and, ascending some distance, went to see a Manufactorv, or Kiar Khanah, of Gunpowder, similar to that which we had seen at Bor, and very surprising, with wheels turned by the waterf. This place is called Kiagliid Khanah.
Hence we came a\vay, by land, and mounted up to the Ok Maidan ; that is, the Field for the shooting of the Arrow ; for in it is a pillar erected for this purpose. It is a pleasant green spot, commanding a view over Constantinople, which is opposite ; and here the Christians celebrate the Festival of Easter, in mirth and gladness. They told us, on this occasion, that last year his Highness the Sultan Mahomet, God preserve him ! came and erected his tent previously to the Feast, and was a spectator of their festivities ; and that, in consequence of the great diversion they caused him, he made them a present of two purses, of a tliousand Turkish piastres each.
Then we entered the Convent of the Silah Dar, or Armour-bearer, of tin- deceased Sultan Murad, which he built entirely new.
* 'Ay<« ll«o«<7xei/f; is, I believe, the name of a female Saint.
•f This, and the Ali Bey Sou, which unite at the bridge lower down, and fall into the head of the harbour, are the rivulets that flow near the city, and are in summer nearly or altogether dry.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 27
S E C T. IX. CONST A NTINO PLE. — GA LA TA .
THENCE we descended to a suburb named Casini Pas/ia, and to Galata, and Top Khanak. Afterwards we went to Ters Kliuwth, where they build ships. At Top Khanah, we saw guns large enough for a man to creep in ; and others, that were each of them equal to three camel-loads. Then we returned to look at the wonderful ships of England and of France, and came away home. On the eve of Sunday we performed the 'Effiregivov (Vesper Service) in the Monastery at Galata : for the Constantinopolitan had sent to our Patriarch a 2v<rrot,nxov,\ike the former, that he should go and perform mass, on the morrow, in the Church of the Monastery. And we went over with the attendants in a boat to Galata, to the aforesaid church ; where they came to meet the Patriarch, according to custom; and a high mass was celebrated, according to the ritual of the season. After the ceremony, followed the banquet ; and I took the opportunity to wander out alone, and visit the remain ing churches of Galata.
The first is the Church of Our Lady ^vco^yr,, or, of the Golden Fountain. The fountain is within the church ; and is a well of water, such as they represent in the pictures of Our Lady sitting in a ^ ; and there flows from it water that cures the sick. This church is magnificent ; and has a couple of large yellow brass candlesticks. We were informed that the Patriarch Karamah made the candlesticks of the church of Aleppo after their model. The whole is the work of the Venetians. Here is a noble painting.
From it we went to the third Church, dedicated to the Merciful Mother of God (Virgo Clemens), and to John the ©20X070? or Divine; containing three large paintings (i^U^L^'l), wherein is described the Apocalypse of St. John, with the Seven Signs. Under the building is the place where his disciples buried him.
From this we passed on to a very large Church, which was one of the most magnificent churches belonging to the Orthodox Religion in the Grecian Empire, and is at present in the hands of the Frank Jesuits. It is very ancient and lofty, and is painted all over, in mosaic, with the festivals of Our Lord, explained in Greek characters. The belfry is high, and of ancient structure.
We then proceeded to the fourth Church, near to the former, and dedicated to Our Lord the Messiah. In it is an 'Ay/W^a, or Holy Well.
gft TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
We came now to the fifth Church, called after Saint Demetrius. Upon the wall, round the door, is painted ITaVa won ; that is, " Praise the Lord from the heavens, all ye creatures, beasts and firmament, cold and snow, &c."
The sixth Church we came to is dedicated to Our Lady, and is near the Walls. The seventh is Saint John the Baptist's, and contains an 'Ay/W^a. The eighth is the Church of Saint Nicholas. The ninth, of Saint John Chryso- stom. All are built of wood, and roofed over ; and are adorned with the 'SvpCohaict, and HoXu&X&og, in letters of gold, inside and out.
Then we viewed the Church of the Franks, which has been burnt ; which equalled Saint Sophia, in height and size, and form and structure : and was adorned, inside and out, with mosaic paintings and gildings of the Dominical Feasts. Over the door, on the wall, is a painting, in mosaic, of the Assumption of Our Lady. All the inscriptions are in the Frank language. Within it, and with its materials, how many a small church might be built ! But it is ruined and deserted, and altogether in the hands of the Franks,
SECT. X.
CONST A NTINOPLE.—CONFLA GRA TION.
ON the eve of Wednesday, the tenth of Teshrin the second, there happened a great fire in Constantinople, which lasted till the eve of Thursday, and burnt the very heart of the city ; I mean its Markets and Bezistans (Cloth Halls) : spreading on till it reached the District of Kum Capi, the extreme neighbour hood of the Odoun Charshi, or Wrood Market ; and the Maidan Catir Ghilman, or the Place of the Muleteers. There were burnt, as was computed, about forty, I do not know whether fifty, thousand shops, fifteen thousand large and small private houses, three hundred bakers1 ovens, a number of Hammams or Baths, and two-and-thirty Khans or Caravansaries. The Khan Elyusra, or Khan of Paradise, was destroyed, with every thing in it ; as was also the Khan Piri Pasha, The Baltajis (Pioneers) and the Bostanjis (Guards of the Seraglio) were unequal to the task of laying waste the places around, until they called out the populace to their aid. The fire whirled about, from spot to spot, like a bird on the wing. Cemeteries, and Fi-Sabil-Allah's, or Charitable Edifices, built of marble, were destroyed in great numbers ; and even the tops of the minarets were consumed. We knew where, yesterday, were market-houses and khans and populous mansions ; and in this morning's dawn it shewed a desert land,
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 20
drawing forth the tears of the beholder, and encompassed with a circle of mourners. God protect our country from such calamity !
But instantly they called out the builders to work ; and a month's time had not elapsed, when, behold ! every thing had returned to its place. The spot alone, nothing else of the conflagration, remained. How should it be otherwise, in this seat of Empire /
On this day I visited the celebrated Church of St. Nicholas, within the Agia Capi, or Gate of St. Kuphemia, which they have made into a Mosque; and afterwards the illustrious Church of Our Lady, above it, wherein is an ' Ayictrrpcx,, or Holy Well, which cures diseases.
On the Feast of St. Chrysostom, I went to Top Khanah, where I hired a boat, and passed over to Kiz Cullcsi, or the Girl's Tower, which is built on a small rock in the middle of the sea, opposite Scutari ; and we drank of the sweet water of the \vell there.
From this place we proceeded to Cadi Keui, that is, Chalcedonia ; and I visited its church, which is dedicated to Our Lord the Messiah. It is a dome with lofty cupolas, all of stone, and very ancient. Then I returned, by Scutari and Top Khanah, to our place in the Fanar.
On the eve of Sunday preceding the Fast of the Nativity, we said the Even ing Prayers in the Church of the Monastery. Three days before, the Clergy and grandees of the District Kum Capi had come to our Lord the Patriarch, and, bringing him a permission from their own Patriarch, invited him to perform mass a second time for them in their Church of Our Lady in the Desert : and this because they were exceedingly rejoiced that the fire we have mentioned, as having raged on all sides, and approached very near, did not injure them ; and believing that it w'as surely repelled from them by the merit of his prayers. We wrent with them therefore, early on the morning of the said Sunday, by water, in a boat. Every time we passed over the sea that wray, we endured many terrors, when we came to the place behind the Seraglio, called Bournou Serai, from the apparent hopelessness of our situation : for the sea is here very terrific, by reason of the black flood of water from the Boghaz, or Bosphorus, into the White Sea. And, indeed, what a number of even large ships have foundered here !
When we arrived at their quarters, they met us in great procession, and a most solemn mass was performed. We staid with them till Wednesday, the nineteenth of Teshrin the second, when we returned to our place.
We asked concerning the Church of the Motxagurrq, that is, of the Mother of
30 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
God, the Trine, the Good ; whereof an account is given in the Grecian History, which we have translated into Arabic — that they made it into a Patriarchal Pa lace, and afterwards into a Temple of the Holy Apostles. It is upon a hill, which is above the Fanar and the Patriarch's, and about midway between this district and the Mosque of Sultan Mahomet. It is now a handsome mosque, containing within it many ancient wells.
We had been informed by several persons, that behind the Odoun Charshi, or Wood Market, near the back of the Walidah Khan, was a small mosque, that had anciently been a church, with a high square cupola surmounted with a cross, which is sometimes seen, and at other times hidden from the Odoun Charshi. I did not cease, therefore, till I had found it out, and went to it. The church is still in its pristine state; and I saw the cross. There was with me a company of persons : and we returned much gratified.
SEC T. XI.
CONSTANTINOPLE.— MA HALL A SSAMA TAH.
Ox Thursday, the Priests and Archons of Mahall Assamatalt came to in vite our Lord the Patriarch, by permission of the Constantinopolitan, and to request him that he would go and perform mass in their district. We therefore- accompanied them,, in a boat, about sixteen miles over water : for the circuit of the walls of Constantinople is said to be twelve miles*. Mahall Assamatah is a neck of land stretching out into the sea, so that three-fourths of it are insular. The remaining fourth is contiguous to the gate of Adrianople, behind the Fanar. The whole of this territory is covered with vineyards and gardens, and grows a considerable number of pistachio-trees. The inhabitants met us in procession; and we arrived at their place at sun-set, on the eve of the first Sunday of tin- Fast of the Nativity. Early in the morning we celebrated mass in the Church of the Emperor Constantine the Great ; which is very ancient and venerable,
* " The City of Constantinople is built on a triangular promontory, projecting into the Sea of .Marmora : two sides are washed by the sea ; and the third is that which connects the triangle with the main land, and may be called its base. These sides are well fortified with walls ; which still remain, though in several places so dilapidated as to be incapable of any defence, without great repa ration. The whole circuit is estimated at more than twelve miles ; the side washed by the harbour, three ; that washed by the Sea of Marmora, more than four ; and the base nearly five, extending from .sea to sea, and terminating in the Seven Towers." — DR. WALSH.
TRAVELS OF MACAR1US. 31
lofty and magnificent, built with stone,, and adorned with cupolas. It contains pictures of Our Lord the Messiah, of Our Lady, of St. Nicholas, and of St. John the Baptist; all ancient and magnificently large, and supposed to he of the time of the Emperor Constantine. An immense congregation assisted at the mass, which was followed by a consecration of Deacons. We had the blessing to kiss the right-hand of the Emperor Constantine. It is a bone, as yellow as gold.
There is nothing I long for in the churches of Constantinople, and the sur rounding country, but the singing of the little boys, and their chaunting "Ayiog o Qsog at the Epistles, and Alleluia at the Gospel, and Kvgis lx^<rov during the whole of the Prone ; and the beauty of their sweet modulation.
The name of this Mahall Assamatah, in Greek, was anciently Hao-o^ar/a. In Turkish it is called Mahalleh Caraman ; for when the Sultan Mahomet became master of the city, he sent for inhabitants from Caramania, and, settling them here, gave them the church, and the place their name. In this Pasomatia it was that happened the procession of angels, at the time the heresies appeared, saying : " Blessed is he that is on our side !" and the young man was rapt up into the air, and came down, repeating, " Blessed be he who dieth not !" accord ing as he had heard the angels praising God.
After the mass and banquet, we went to visit the remaining Churches of Samatah. The second is dedicated to St. Nicholas, and is very handsome. The third is the Church of Our Lady : the fourth, of St. George : this last, is ancient, and has cupolas of stone, and an antique pavement. Within it is a picture of St. George, painted, in mosaic, upon the wall, and gilt ; very ancient, and of surprising art ; and an 'Ay/W^a : the latter is sure to be found in every church in Constantinople. We took a blessing from the body of St. Anastasia, who rescues from enchantment. Of all the churches in Constanti nople, including also the Patriarchal Church, there is not one so ancient as the times of the Christian Emperors, save this in the Mahalleh Caraman.
SECT. XII.
CONST A NTTNOPLE.— SE FEN TOWER 8.
ON Monday, the twenty-third of Teshrin the second, we rose to leave them at break of day ; and, going out with them, came to Yedi Kulleh, or the Seven Towers. In all the walls of Constantinople and its forts, there is not a handsomer nor stronger building than these Towers, and the walls that inclose
32 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
them, which are triple, one within the other. Then we went out by the 7V>/; Capi, or Canon-gate, to the Burial-ground of the Christians, where is an 'Ay/Wpz, or Holy Well, called, in the *2vva.%aeia (Martyrology), Z<yor0;eo/njy7), that is, the Fountain of Life, appropriated to the Mother of God, whose festival is kept on the Friday of the Aiazivrt<ripov. It is now called the Holy Fountain of the Kalikli, or of the Church of Fishes*. We went down the steps to it, and drank of its hlessed water, which cures diseases. Here the Christians keep the Monday of the Resurrection, with eating and drinking, and every kind of mirth. Then we passed through the Gate of Adrianople, and came to our lodgings in the Fanar. For myself, I went to see the Fountain of Velashirnas, which is now neglected and almost forgotten, situated in the district of Palati, opposite to Khass Keui, and higher up than the Fanar. I entered into an inclosed building inhabited by a tribe of Gipsies ; which was the church, but few signs of which are apparent ; and found the Well within, issuing from a cave, which was anciently in the treasury of the Tabernacle. Coming out thence, I visited the magnificent large Church of St. Demetrius, situated in the aforesaid district ; and, afterwards, the Church of Our Lady. We took a blessing from her image, which was pierced with a spear ; and the blood flows from it.
On the eve of Sunday, the second of the Fast of the Nativity, we attended the 'Ay^uTc/a (Vigils), and the mass next morning, in the Church of the Patriarch of Constantinople : for our Patriarch wished to take leave of him, to proceed on his travels. After mass, the Constantinopolitan took him up to his palace ; and they bade adieu to each other with tears ; and each prayed over the head of the other : and the Constantinopolitan gave to our Patriarch large and handsome letters to the Sovereigns f and his own subordinates.
" At the distance of a quarter of a mile from the walls, is Balukli, or the Church of Fishes. The church is so called from a legend that has rendered it very celebrated among the Greeks. There stood on this place a small Monastery of Greek Caloyers, when Mahomet laid siege to Constantinople ; who, it seems, were not molested by his army. On the day of the decisive attack, a Monk was frying some fish, when news was suddenly brought to the convent, that the Turks had entered the town, through the breach in the walls. ' I would as soon believe/ said he, ' that these fried fish would spring from the pan, and become again alive.' To reprove the incredulous Monk, the fish did spring from the pan into a vessel of water which stood near, and swam about as if they never had been taken out of it. In commemoration of this miracle, a church was erected over the spot, containing a reservoir of water, into which the fish, which still continued alive, were placed. The twenty-ninth of April was appointed, in the Greek Calendar, as a festival to commemorate the circumstance ; and a vast concourse of people used to assemble here on every anniversary-day, to see the miraculous and everlasting fishes swim about the reservoir." — DR. WALSH.
t " To the Sovereigns and his oivn subordinates."] The Princes of Wallachia and Moldavia are meant by the first, and the Metropolitans of the different Dioceses by the latter.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 33
SECT. XIII.
CONSTANTINOPLE.— BOSPHORUS.
ON Monday, the twenty-ninth of Teshrin the second, we left Constantinople on board a caik ; and came to Ngo^^/, or Yeni Keui, to hire a vessel, and proceed, by the Black Sea, to Moldavia : for the voyage by land to Adrianople was difficult for us, for two reasons : one was, that it would require for expenses and hire of carriages more than five hundred piastres ; the other arose from the cold, and abundance of snow and rain. This Boghaz, or throat, of the Black Sea was opened in ancient times, by Alexander ; and the passage along it is very difficult. From Galata to Neochori, both right and left, are farms and houses, and palaces and seraglios belonging to the Emperor ; and gardens and vineyards, walks and baths, and so forth. We alighted at Neochori, at the house of Dadyan Rai's, surnamed Kalokari, and Theodori ; and his son is called Yazgaki. May God perpetuate their existence, and prolong their lives ! for their generosity and kind actions to us, and to strangers in general, cannot be expressed by mortal tongue.
On Sunday, the third of the Fast of the Nativity, which was the fifth of the month Canon the first, fell the celebration of the Feast of St. Saba ; and our Lord the Patriarch performed mass in the Church of St. George and St. Saba, for the aforesaid village ; and again, on the Monday, he performed a second mass in the Church of St. Nicholas, it being the day of his festival.
In the afternoon of Monday, after the fourth Sunday in Advent, our Lord the Patriarch performed Funeral Service at Vigils, according to our Ritual, for the deceased Mira, wife of Hajji Abdallah, son of the Canon Mansor, in presence of her children, in the Church of Our Lady ; and said mass for her on the morn ing of Tuesday the fourteenth of Canon the first. They made a breakfast for her, of boiled meat, coloured with wine and bread, according to their custom.
Afterwards, we embarked our luggage on board the ship, upon the rising of a favourable wind, called Noro?, or the South Wind, which the vessels bound for the port of Galata, in the Black Sea, had been waiting for : and in the afternoon of the afore-mentioned Tuesday, they sailed with us in two boats, to take us to the ship, which was anchored in a place named Cara Dash, in Turkish ; and in Arabic, Sakhr Alaswad, or the Black Rock ; near to the entrance of the Black Sea, and the mouth of the Bosphorus, above the second of the forts which the Turks have erected in this channel : for before you come to Neochori, you
F
g.^ TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
see, on your right and left, two large forts. Here again are two other forts : and above them, on the top of the hill, are two ancient castles, of consi derable size, and now in ruins, which Alexander is said to have built. Higher up is a convent, dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady, and called, in Greek, Movao-rrigt rov MavgofAaXov, or Convent of the Black Rock, which I went to visit. It is upon the top of the hill, is inhabited by forty Monks, and contains a large and ancient church; outside of which is a holy well, with a copious spring of water, very sweet, and a cure for the sick. Over it, upon the wall, is a picture of Our Lady Panzanasa, which works miracles, and is famous for the cure of diseases. Inside the church is another 'AyiotffXM.
We had now mounted on board the ship. The sky was perfectly serene ; the stars glittered ; and the captain had determined to set sail at midnight : when, of a sudden, there arose a violent wind, and a dreadful storm came on, with a heavy fall of snow, which lasted from that night till the next. In this time four ships, which had ventured out of the Bosphorus, were wrecked ; and it was by the guidance of the Almighty, and dextrous manoeuvres,, that we returned back with our vessel, from the place where it was, to the village called Terapia* , above Yeni Keui, where we anchored. Here we found many ships at anchor; and alighted in a house belonging to the Christians, who have one hundred and twenty houses here, and have not a single Turk among them : for in the village is a church dedicated to Saint George, who is a present observer in his miracles ; and whenever any one of them departs from his faith, he destroys him. This is the reason no infidel dwells among them.
On Friday, the seventeenth of Canon the first, our Lord the Patriarch said mass in the above-mentioned church of Terapia, and prepared (JU) Mvgov, or Ointment, though it was excessively cold, and there was a severe frost. Also, on the eve of Sunday of the Relation, we assisted at Vigils there, and he per formed mass the next day, and made the holy oil. We read four Gospels, according to our custom, in Persian, Turkish, Arabic, and Greek; and there was a multitude of persons present, from the ships at anchor.
On the eve of Friday, and Ha^a^c^ (Vigil) of the Feast of the Nativity, Kyr Pa'isius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, sent to the Patriarch of Antioch,
" " The beautiful village of Therapia, on the Bosphorus, was no less distinguished for its healthy situation, as its name implies, than for the manners of its inhabitants. They were entirely Greeks; and the gay, festive, cheerful habits of the people, enlivened by music, dancing, and social intercourse, formed the strongest contrast with the dull and repulsive aspect of every other village in the vicinity.'
Du. WALSH'S Narrative.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 35
and invited him by address, in a ^,v<rrnn»ov from him, and for the most part from the heads of the Clergy — for they loved our Lord the Patriarch with great affec tion, and had little observance for their own Patriarchs, or for each other — that they, the two Patriarchs, might perform the mass together. For they said : " Fortunately for us, the Antiochian has been delayed, till he perform mass amongst us on the Feast of the Nativity, and we receive on that day the sacred mysteries from his hands."
SECT. XIV.
CONSTANTINOPLE.— FA NAR.
OUR Lord the Patriarch therefore departed in a boat, in company of the priests who had been sent to him; and we arrived at the Constantinopolitan's on the Friday morning.
We alighted in the apartments of Cyrillus the Alexandrian, afterwards Pa triarch of Constantinople; which are of singular beauty, and were built by him for his own use, and adorned with a variety of marble, and (^yliuju) coloured tiles, and crystal. They are, at the highest part of the buildings, comprised in the Pa triarchal palace. The Patriarch is not in the habit of assisting at the Hours during the night of the Hagapovri : they defer them till break of day ; and, at the first dawn of twilight, the two Patriarchs went down together to the church in their Ma^yas, and with their crosiers in their hands. Immediately the choristers began to chaunt the Hours and the Prophecies &c. After the Patriarchs had distributed the 'Avr/^a, they left the church : and having given their benedic tion to the assistants, while the bearer of the silver-candlestick cried out the UoXv^oviov, or Long Life, to each, they ascended to the Divan, the Janissaries going before them with their staves ; and sat upon two thrones, in their robes, surrounded by the Metropolitans, Priests, and Archons. Upon the table were placed two crystal cups of wine and spirits, and twelve dishes of Indian ware, heaped with meats, according to the number of the Apostles. The first that drank was the Constantinopolitan, whilst the singer chaunted for him the UoXv^ov(ov. Then he said a prayer for the Metropolitans and the rest of the assistants, and wished them a health to each in his place. Afterwards the Antiochian did in like manner ; and the heads of the Clergy, &c. Then the two Patriarchs distributed biscuit among the assembly ; and we ascended to the banquet, in a room above the Divan, wThich has many windows looking over the sea, and commanding a
36 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
magnificent prospect. Each Patriarch, during the repast, sat upon a separate chair close to each other, and the Metropolitans were placed on their ri^ht and left. Upon rising from table, we went to repose. When the clock of the palace struck the tenth division of the night, the Constantinopolitan came himself to our Patriarch, and they went down together to the church &c.
After a continual succession, for three days, of splendid ceremonies in the church, and solemn banquets in the Divan, such as I have here minutely described them *, on Tuesday following the Feast of the Nativity our Lord the
* As a specimen of the description of one of these ceremonies, a part of the Arabic Text is here given.
1 .*$ . Ltwj'jUl Jx .s-^ Juk lil
&_L«k». -jQaJ
&y!)] ^^j J'tiaj^l *j Juk
l ^^J i[;_5^«X*J] Mffr*]^ J
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 37
Patriarch took leave of the Constantinopolitan, who accompanied him to the church, where he said his parting prayer. Then he went with him to the outside of the court, and sent his Metropolitans before him, and the priests and deacons to hold his train; and Capijis, with staves, to precede him; till they con ducted him on board a caik, where they bade him farewell a second time, and returned.
For our parts, we proceeded to Yeni Keui ; where we staid till Friday morning, the last day of Canon the first, when we went to Terapia, to be near our ship ; and in the evening attended Vespers. On the morning of Saturday, agreeing with the Feast of the Circumcision, and the first of Canon the second, we celebrated mass in the church ; and, in the afternoon, the Vespers of the eve of Sunday preceding the Immersion. After dark there came, in a boat, to our Lord the Patriarch, the Protosyngelos of the Constantinopolitan, bearing a venerable Systatikon from him and from the Chiefs of the Clergy, wherein many encon- miums wrere lavished upon him ; and he was told, that the Almighty had detained him, that he might do them the honour of a third visit to them, and be present at their Synod. There happened to be with us Kyr Daoud, Metro politan of Ghadisha ; who was raised to that See on the day we first entered Constantinople, and was now intent upon the voyage to his Bishopric, but detained, like ourselves, by contrary winds.
SECT. XV.
CONST A NTINOPLE.—EXCOMMUNICA TION.
WE went therefore together, on the morning of the said Sunday, to the Patriarchal palace ; where we found them all waiting for us, and delaying the mass on our account. They arose to meet our Lord ; and conducted him, with his mandya, and crosier, and tapers, to the church, where he stood before his throne. The Constantinopolitan also was present. As soon as the prayers were over, the Didascalos Serigos, Curate of the Church of X^<ro^7^ in Galata, the learned man of his times, and the pre-eminent of his contemporaries, the champion of the True Faith, and defender of the Orthodox Religion, ascended the pulpit, and preached a great deal, and wept a little. " What is this agitation ? what is this commotion ? what is this disorder in the Church of God?" as the Chrysostom preached on his return from dispelling the adver saries of the Christian Church, comparing it to a ship in the midst of the sea,
vj8 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
with enemies attacking it on all sides. " And we, its children, within it, are going about to sink it also ! " In this style and similitude he prolonged his discourse much,, and then descended. Hereupon the Oonstantinopolitan opened his mouth, and, standing before his throne, preached a sermon to this effect : That, after the murder of the Patriarch Parthenius, Kyr Euanicius was appointed to succeed him, and enjoyed the Patriarchal dignity for some time. Then came Cyrillus, the Hispanus, or the Kosa, Metropolitan of Terlov*, and despoiled him. And when he presented himself at the Patriarchal palace, not a single person stood before him, neither bishop, priest, nor layman ; for every body hated him. There he remained three days ; and having nothing to give to the Vizir and the others, as he had promised them, he was deposed by them with great contempt; and they set up Athanasius, commonly called Patalaron, in his place. — This man was formerly Metropolitan of Thessaloniki ; then he became Patriarch, after the deposition of Cyrillus the Alexandrian, in the time of Sultan Murad. Afterwards lie was deposed, and went over to Vasili Beg of Moldavia, who gave him a church and convent in Ghass, together with all their feoffs ; likewise the pro perty and inhabitants of the towns called Hra'ilow and Ismail, with their revenues ; as many as six thousand houses. There he remained until lately, when lie came to Constantinople, without the permission of the Beg; and again became Patriarch, as we have before said, in opposition to Cyrillus the Kosa. Hut, not having with him what was worth the favour of the Governors, he stood his ground only fifteen days, and they deposed him. He fled therefore hack again to Moldavia, Then the Bishops and all the Clergy, by their own will and choice, raised Kyr Pa'isius, Metropolitan of Larissa, to the Patriarchate, after having made him sell his See of Larissa and its revenues for twelve thousand piastres or purses, to the person who took it from him. This was our friend ; in whose time we came to Constantinople ; a reverend, attentive, and polite man, beloved by great and small, and of placid disposition and ingenuous mind. As for Signer Cyrillus, the Hispanus, he was staying in the house of a great man, who protected him. So, also, was the deposed Euanicius staying in the house of another, in Galata. I, the poor historian, went to see him ; where he was living in concealment, with a white turban on his head.
Now, therefore, the Chief Priests and the Clergy held a Synod, and promoted against him anathema and malediction, for the many foul acts of which he had been guilty, whereof libels were lodged in the chancel of the Patriarchate ; and
' •• Tcrfor," perhaps Tcrnom.
TRAVELS OF MVCARIUS. 39
which, at this juncture, the Proto-actuarius, or Chief of the Scribes, ascended the pulpit and read, over the heads of the assembly, at the conclusion of the Patriarch's discourse. The libels were to this effect : That the aforesaid Cyrillus had formerly raised a schism against the Metropolitan of Carnathia, and encompassed his death, so as to usurp his See, firstly ; and Secondly, That he again usurped, or violently took possession of, the See of Philippopoli, the Chief Priest or head of that Diocese being still alive, without the permission o$' the Patriarch of that period, but by the power of the Governors. Thirdly, That he took the See of Chalcedonia, in like manner, by the power of the Civil Authorities. Fourthly, That he became Metropolitan of Tirnov by the same means. And, Fifthly, That he came and made himself Patriarch, being the person who caused the murder of Cyrillus the Alexandrian*, in the time of Sultan Murad. — For this cause they promoted his anathema and excommunication ; the Holy Church not approving him. For it is the custom with the Chief Priests of Constantinople, that any of them may become Metropolitan of a Diocese the first time ; and then the second time of another See, but no more : though latterly it has happened, that he takes a third See. When he is deposed, he remains the portion of decadency (is superannuated), with the title of Tlguroq ruv'lse&tuv/Agfcisgevg, or Chief Priest, without the power to take another See, by their new regulations : it being similar, in their opinion, to matrimony. From this condition it may happen that he is raised to the Patriarchate : but should he take a fourth See, he places himself in the predicament of a person who has taken a fourth wife, and is anathematized and excommunicated.
After the Reader had come down from the pulpit, the Constantinopolitan pronounced an anathema against him (Cyrillus), from a paper, which he read, saying : " I became not Patriarch by the power of wealth, or of Governors ; but by the will of all of you. This wretch is intriguing against us, and injuring us : let, therefore, every one who supports him be anathema."
Then they asked our Lord the Patriarch of Antioch to anathematize him in like manner : and he made a discourse in Arabic, which an interpreter explained,
* " Cyrillus the Alexandrian" Avell known in Europe under the name of Cyril Lucaris. lie wished to reform the Greek Church, and set forth a Confession of Faith very nearly agreeing with the Protestant doctrines. See Dr. Thomas Smith's " Narratio de Vita, Studiis, Gestis, et Martyrio Cyrilli Lucarii." Under his patronage, the New Testament was first translated into Modern Greek, by Maximus Calliopolites ; to the first Edition of which work Cyril Lucaris prefixed a Preface and recommendation. Through the intrigues of his enemies (among the chief of whom was the Cyril here mentioned as being excommunicated, commonly known in Europe by the name of Cyrillus Berrhseensis,) he was put to death by the Turks, June 27th, 1038.
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for the space of an hour ; and pronounced anathema against him, and all who assisted him, being robed in his 'E^r^a^'A/ov and his '£lpo(pogiov. Then I gave the paper to the Metropolitans present ; who read it, and pronounced the anathema, one by one, all around, in their 'Esnr^a^A/a and 'n/x,o<po£/a. They were twelve in number. When they had finished, they wrote the minutes of this second meeting in the Syngrapha of the Patriarch, which he signed and sealed, as did all the above-mentioned Chief Priests ; and they rose to the banquet. We staid in the palace till the morning of Wednesday, the Huoapovr), or Vigil, of the Immersion ; when the two Patriarchs descended to the church at the dawn of twilight, and the chaunters began the prayers &c. Afterwards they went forth to the Divan, and performed a ceremony similar to that of Christmas Eve ; with draughts of wine and healths &c. After the stroke of ten at night, they again descended to the church, and went through the Ritual of the Im mersion. Then they went to table till noon, and took leave of each other a third time : and the Constantinopolitan sent to attend our Lord, Capijis, and Deacons, and Bishops, to the edge of the water, where they bade us farewell, and returned. We proceeded in our boat ; and, passing by Ycni Keui, came to Terapia, in great haste, for the south wind wras blowing very favourably ; and we assisted at mass there on Friday, the second day of the Immersion.
SECT. XVI.
HLACK SEA,
AT noon the ship sailed with us ; and we came with the other vessels and anchored near the Oavc^/, or Light-House, which is a noted place. For here Alexander dug the opening for the Black Sea to enter the White ; and cut through a mountain, to the astonishment of the human intellect. We went out in the launch ( JjJu>) ; and climbed to the top of the hill, where is the pillar which Alexander set up, of beautiful white marble. Upon it is written an ancient inscription, in Greek, of Yenika (*£uu!l), which no one is able to read. The ascent to the top of it is extremely difficult. After we had descended, we went up to the village of the Fanar, which is near to it, and looked at the ancient and venerable tower there since the time of Alexander. Around its head are three lights ; the largest towards the north, which they burn at night, made of pitch, tar, and oil, &c. for the purpose of directing the ships to it : for the sea, God help us ! here is very difficult ; and its name is an evidence
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 41
thereof. The place, with its village, is named Fanar, from this tower ; and its inhabitants are Christians, who have a church dedicated to St. George, where we recited the Ninth Hour (Nones) and Vespers.
In the evening, our ship set sail with us; and we proceeded with a most- favourable south wind. Afterwards it increased to a heavy gale, so that we wrere near being sunk : but, by the guidance of the Almighty, at noon, on the Sunday after the Immersion, wre put into a port, called .Limania Costatira in Greek, and in Turkish Costanja; and examining our luggage, w^e perceived that it could with safety be rowred ashore. We therefore landed here ; though we had before intended to navigate three hundred miles further on, to the river Danube, and disembark in Moldavia. The whole of the distance we had come, from Constantinople hither, was more than three hundred miles.
We staid here a couple of days, to repose from our fright and terror at the rolling and tossing of the huge waves ; which even swelled into our vessel, and now sunk to vallies, nowr rose to mountains. It is attested, that the circum ference of this Black Sea is eight thousand miles ; so that, from wrhere vessels enter the river Danube, you have still to cross it about five hundred miles- — about the distance from Constantinople to the same place, or more. But the naviga tion upon it is exceedingly difficult ; all windings and turnings ; and frequently there is very little depth of water ; and it is moreover infested by numerous pirates. With all this, the wind was for us ; but how, God forbid ! would it have been, had the wind been against us ? They shewed us, near the port, about one hundred and twenty w recked vessels ; which were sunk, with all their crews and cargoes, in the night that the storm swept upon us off Yeuzbouroun, before the approaching Festival of St. Demetrius. For the description of this sea, from one end to the other, is, that it is in a vale, and its shores are high mountains. Its waves, therefore, are not ground small by continual agitation, but remain still within it ; so that we could see the shores on either side : they require, conse quently, but a little breeze to raise them. It is not like the White Sea (Mediter ranean), wide and spacious, with shores that tread the plain, and are broken by its dashing weaves.
On our right-hand was Trebizond, and Sinope, and Castamon, and the Bay of Mingrelia, which is the country of the Georgians. Before our face were the countries Kafa, Nazar, and Khan. On our left were Romelia, Silistria, and Barja, on which we had now landed, whereof all the inhabitants are Moslem Tartars. For the Sultan Mahomet, when he conquered this province, removed the Christians from it, and peopled it with these Tartars, a race detested by the
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1-2 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
Nazarites. Most of them are from Caramania and from our country. This he- did to fortify the hanks of the Danube against their enemies the Christians ; as it is a. frontier province, and the boundary of Romelia, which is opposite the Danube, and of Moldavia and Wallachia. All their habitations are upon the banks of the Danube,, and are built of wood and reeds.
We staid two days in the above-mentioned port ; and hired five wagons; and ten camels, all with bunches. For, in this country, all the camels are so, and go without saddles both summer and winter. We hired also a carossa, or carriage, with a horse for our Lord the Patriarch. The hire of each vehicle, as far ;is the river Danube, was four hundred Turkish piastres.
SECT. XI.
BULGARIA.
WE left Costanja (Chiustenza) on the morning of Wednesday the twelfth of Canon the second; and passed through a low flat country, in which you see no stones ; and at night slept on the wagons, near some village, or in the open fields ; until Saturday morning, when we arrived at a small town of Bulgarian Christians, called Iglitsa, in the middle of the river Danube. There is a road to it by land, and it is under the Mahometan Government ; but we saw crosses erected in it, by the sides of the roads and upon their tombs. There is a church in the town, and the hogs feed at large in the streets*.
From this place we came to a town called Majina {Matching upon the bank of the Danube, containing four hundred and twenty houses of Bulgarian Chris tians. It is the last under the Mahometan Government, and is in the Pashalik of Silistria. It has Turkish Commissioners, and a Cadi. We staid there the Sunday of the Canaanite. On Monday morning, we hired a boat ; and having embarked, rowed down the stream of the Danube. During the last week its ice had thawed, after they had been passing over it with carts, and diverting them selves with horse-races upon it.
^ Dr. Walsh has the following observations upon the first village of Bulgaria that he saw on his route. " It was the first I had seen by day-light ; and its appearance at once struck me that I had got into a Christian country. In the green, before the houses, was a large herd of swine, the first I had seen since my arrival in Turkey ; as a pig is one of the animals which the Turks, like the Jews, hold in abomination ; and they not only strictly prohibit its use, but its appearance in the streets or lands. Wild-boars abound in the woods near the Black Sea, within a short distance of Constantinople, and their flesh is excellent ; but it is a luxury difficult to procure, from this prohibition, by the Franks, who highly esteem it." — DR. WALSH'S Journey from Constantinople to England.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 43
O O K II.
SECT. I.
MOLD A VIA .—GALA TS.
IT was afternoon before we arrived at Galatsa, or Galas*, the first town in the Government of Moldavia. The Danube is an exceedingly large and deep river ; and so broad,, that in some places the banks are not seen from one side to the other, and are further apart than an arrow can be shot, or a sound heard. Be tween Matchin and Galats, on the left hand, is the Mahometan town and fortress, called Brailov, which was formerly in the Government of Wallachia, and was afterwards given up to the Moslems. It is the boundary of the Pashalik of Silistria on that side.
We landed at Galats on the afternoon of Monday, the seventeenth of Canon the second. From the first moment we entered the town, they sent to inform the Beg, by a Kalarash, or running messenger; and the Magistrates, and Priests, and the rest of the inhabitants, came to meet our Lord the Patriarch, and took him to the magnificent Church of St. Demetrius ; which Vasili, the Beg, had newly built, and given to Athanasius, the Patalaron, Patriarch of Constantinople, whom we have just now mentioned. Upon his going to Constantinople a second time, and becoming Patriarch, the Beg was incensed against him, and gave the
* Galats is in Moldavia, but nearly touches the frontier of Wallachia : it is situated at the beginning of the broadest and deepest part of the Danube, distant sixty miles from the Black Sea, sixty- live from Yassi, and seventy-two from Buchorest. The river is so far navigable for ships not exceeding- three hundred tons burden ; but its navigation closes in the month of November : and in severe winters, even this part of the river is completely frozen over for the space of five or six weeks. Galats is the great market for the produce of the two Principalities, and is chiefly inhabited by com mercial men. The town and its dependencies are governed by two Deputies of the Prince of Mol davia, called Percalabi (this word in the Archdeacon's manuscript is written Barcalam ,9'Ju). The number of fixed inhabitants does not exceed seven thousand ; but the great concourse of people, occasioned every year by commercial pursuits, gives the town the appearance of being very populous. Galats is a general depot for goods of all kinds ; but as furs of every quality form a part of the national costume, and are, besides, necessary, from the natural rigour of the climate, they are a main article of its vast importations.
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church to the Monks of the "Ayiov "O^oc, or Holy Mountain. This Patalaron, at our first arrival in Moldavia, went to Moscow, (for the Beg was very angry with him,) and staid there a year and a half. Then he returned to the country of the Cossacks ; and died there, on the third day of Easter.
At the entrance of our Lord the Patriarch into the church, and afterwards, on his coining out, they rang the brazen hells, according to custom. This was the first time of our hearing them. May God not he startled at the noisy pleasantness of their sounds ! After chaunting for the Patriarch the "A%iov la-riv, the Clergy went to receive him, in their robes, with torches and thuribles, and said, " Have mercy on us, O God ! " &c. ; mentioning his name, and afterwards that of the Beg and his consort. Then they concluded the service with a HoXv%Poviov for the Beg, his consort, and his son, as they always do. The Patriarch then went out before all, with torches preceding him, and stood at the door of the church ; where he gave his blessing to each of the congregation, as they came out, one by one ; such being their custom. We took up our abode in the apartments belonging to the same church ; whither we returned in the evening, after they had rung the whole of the bells, to commemorate the Feast of Saints Athanasius and Cyrillus, Patriarchs of Alexandria, and assisted at Vespers and Matins. Then we went out for some time, and returned to mass. We rose after four hours and a half.
In this town of Galats are eight churches, most of them built of stone ; two dedicated to Our Lady, two to St. Nicholas, two to St. Demetrius, one to St. Mi chael, and the eighth to the Hague Ktvr,* and St. George. The most magni ficent of them is one dedicated to Our Lady, all of heavy stone, with three lofty and graceful cupolas, surmounted with superb gilt crosses. Within it is the tower for the bells, of very large dimensions. The whole church is furnished with battlements and embrasures for war, and was built by a Christian Archon, a Greek, from the fortress of Brailov.
On Wednesday we set out from Galats, in carriages f drawn by horses, which they gave us. Our luggage and attendants they mounted on wagons drawn by oxen, and sent them on before us. There went forth with us, the Barkalam (in
* " The n«o«<rx£i/;7," Parascevc, a female Saint, honoured by the Greeks, who suffered martyrdom in the reign of Antoninus.
7 This mode of travelling is thus described by Dr. Walsh : " A small cart, formed of jointed staves, about three feet high, two feet wide, and not four feet long, is brought out. The inside is lined with wicker-work, and filled with hay ; and it rolls upon four small wheels resembling trenchers, each made of a thin block of wood, and about twelve inches in diameter. To the hind rail of this dog's-cart a portmanteau may be tied, to serve as a support to the back. Having got in with difficulty, and bedded himself in the hay, the traveller's knees will remain bent up to his chin ; unless he exposes
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 43
the Wallachian language) of Galats ; that is, the Soubashi or Governor, and the Magistrates, and the rest of the Grandees of the town, to take leave of us, at some distance, whence they returned. Then we proceeded about four hours, in company of the Kalarash, or Konakji, whom they had appointed to conduct us; and alighted in a small town. Early the next morning, Thursday, the Feast of St. Iphthimius the Great, we continued our journey; and in the evening came to a large market-town, called Bazaar Wastatakojo, on a large river, contain ing three churches, with the bells hung over the doors. The Barkalam of this place brought us carriages and horses belonging to the Beg, and appointed us a conductor, as before : the former conductor returning with the carriages and horses with which we had travelled hither. Thus they have posts of horses and carriages established in every town.
Hence we set out ; and very late in the evening came to another large market- town, called Birlad, containing three churches — the Church of Our Lady, newly built of stone by the Beg, St. Demetrius, and Kyriaki.
SECT. II.
MOLD A VIA .—HA BIT A TIONS.
THE description of the houses of this country, from where we entered Mol davia, and all over it ; also of Wallachia, and the country of the Cossacks, as far as Moscow ; is thus : They are all of wood and pannels, with high and sloping roofs like the camel's-back, that the snow may not rest upon them. Inside, arc- chairs all round ; and a table, as in the houses of the Franks, is laid out upon props in the middle. Their beds are all of rugs or counterpanes, and are per petually made up against the wall. In every house there is a furnace, stove, or chimney; outside of which is a kind of square inclosure of green or red clay, and, in the houses of the rich, of glazed tiles, to inclose the smoke ; resting upon two pillars, with a plate of iron on the top : it is called, in their language,
his legs to the hazard of being broken, by thrusting out his feet between the fore-wheels. To thi* little machine four large horses are attached, by traces of twine, not much thicker than whipcord ; and a post-boy, or Suruju, dressed in a white flannel-like coat, with trowsers and cap of the same colour, mounts the near-wheel horse. His only rein is a very thin single cord, tied to the head of the off- leader ; at the end of which is a loop, which he puts round his own neck : and then, leaning forward, and cracking his whip, he sets off at a furious gallop, shouting all the time with a very long and dismal cadence; and makes a progress of eight or ten miles an hour." — DR. WALSH'S Narrative,
].(-; TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
cabdour. These cabdours are very common; and you find their houses in winter warmer than our baths.
The women of Moldavia and Wallachia wear a kind of dress resembling that of the Frank women ; and carry their hair bound and rolled-up on the top of their head like a loaf, with a white covering or cap : the rich, with rose-coloured velvet. Above that they wear a veil, white also. They all carry on their shoulders a shawl of stuff of Aleppo, of an azure colour : the rich, a shawl of Barsal, of black silk.
The girls, in like manner, wear their hair bound and rolled-up on the top of the head, but without any covering whatsoever ; so that you may know the maid from the married woman. Their young children they put no clothing on at all, and every night and morning wash them in warm \vater. In snowy weather they roll them frequently in the snow. Every female goes with her face uncovered, though she were an Empress.
In Constantinople and the surrounding country, the widows wear head-dresses of a yellow-orange colour : but in Moldavia, Wallachia, and the country of the Cossacks, the entire dress of the widows, from head to foot, is black, like a nun's habit. In Muscovy, they wear black woollen caftans, very wide and long, with immense large sleeves.
The domain of the Beg of Moldavia comprises four and twenty jurisdictions. Every place similar to those which we have called market-towns is a Jurisdic tion, or the seat of a Judge.
SECT. III.
MOLDA riA.—WASLUI.
WE departed from Birlad, when they had again supplied us with carriages and horses, on Saturday morning, the twenty-second of Canon Essani; and came, after dark, to another large town, called Vasiloudi ( Waslui}, that is, proper to the king : for here was formerly the throne of Moldavia, in the time of the deceased Stephen the Voivode, since whose reign one hundred and sixty years have elapsed. This prince was an illustrious hero in the wars, and respected by every body. He was engaged in four and forty expeditions, or wars, against the Turks and Tartars ; and a number of times against the Poles and Hungarians. He defeated them all, so that his name became famous, and every body feared
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 17
liim. This he brought about by his craftiness and good sense. His foundations and charities are, four and forty convents and churches of stone. Here, in Waslui, the palaces and baths and pleasure-grounds are his ; as is also the magnificent lofty church, exalted with an elegant cupola., and exceeding high. All round it are vaults and arches, in which are pictures and images of all the Saints. Upon the gate, above the lowest wall, is a picture of the Last Judgment, in gold and azure, with Moses leading Hanna and Caiaphas, and the other Jews, towards Our Lord. They are depicted with woeful countenances. Behind them is another troop : they are Turkish figures, with their white shawls and turbans ; their large flowing green caftans, with long sleeves, hanging behind ; and their harims, or inner festive dresses, of yellow woollen. They are accompanied by their Dervishes. Behind them, and in the midst of them, are Devils driving them on, and mocking them. The Kashidbari is at the front of them, in his cap ; and one of the wicked Devils is climbing on his shoulder, and upsetting his cap from his head. The church, inside, is entirely covered with paintings : its architecture is very beautiful : and at the top of its cupola, or canopy, under which is the high throne of the Beg, is a picture of Our Lord the Messiah. Outside the gate is a large bell.
The churches in this country are divided into three parts. The first partition, near the door, is open, and appropriated to the women : the second is inclosed with a door for the common people : and the third, divided from the other by a wall and a door, is appropriated to the Beg and his Nobles. The choir is under arches, extending in a semicircle from north to south, with chairs.
In this town is a number of churches, besides the one we have mentioned : and there are Armenians, who have a church of their own. We staid here the Sunday of the Purification. Then they gave us carriages and post-horses, and we left on Monday morning.
SECT. IV.
MOLD A VIA .—SKENTA I.
IN the evening, we came to a small town called Skenlai. With all this, our travelling was more rapid than the flight of a bird. On our road we crossed, with our vehicles, a river frozen over : at other times it is passed by a large stone bridge. In the town is a magnificent new church, built by the Beg; who
(S TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
is devoted to good works, and would wish to build churches all over the world. It is dedicated to the Holy Parasceve ; and has two lofty and graceful cupolas, with crosses superbly gilt. The Eixcovoo-rafftg and Crucifixion are very splendid.
From this place we departed on Tuesday morning. During the preceding night a violent wind, with excessive cold, had circulated, and the ground and soft mud were frozen by it. All the slough which we sunk into before was now solid, and the earth was hardened. There fell also upon us a great quantity of snow. Moreover, the present stage was notorious for the difficulties of its road ; which, being narrow and single, is bordered by a forest, and is fearful in the extreme. In the afternoon, after we had been sinking in the snow, the air all at once became warm, and it thawed; and we sank into the mud up to the horses' bellies, in a yellow briny soil. This was our last stage, and the most toilsome of them all. The horses halted from fatigue ; and it was after immense labour that we arrived, towards the latter part of the afternoon, in the neigh bourhood of a large lake, which they call in their language K/ialistao, dug by the Voivodes and Begs, for collecting fish. It is a feoff attached to the Convent of Our Lady, known by the title of Bonoska.
At this moment certain Archons came to us, bringing horses for the Patriarch and for us. We mounted ; and they conducted us to a mill, belonging to the aforesaid convent. Here they seated our Lord the Patriarch in a royal coach, drawn by six white horses ; and I, the poor Historian, sat by the door, and held up the silver crozier. Now came forward the Wakil, or Minister, of the Beg, Ivvani Saljar ; that is, in their language, the Cassab Bashi of the Beg. This gentleman had accompanied us from Jerusalem ; where we met with him, when he was sent by the Beg to reckon up the debts of the Holy Resurrection, and the debts also of St. Michael. Afterwards he paid us a visit, on his passage through Aleppo with the said sums of money. His Lordship the Metropolitan also, with the rest of the Archons, and the troops, came to meet the Patriarch : for the Beg was absent from his capital, being gone to the province called Satjao, to make peace between Akhmil and his Cossacks, and the Poles. When the news came to him from Galats of our arrival, he sent to order them that they should assemble in great numbers to meet the Patriarch ; and, in consequence, the principal inhabitants of the whole country came out in their coaches to receive him. From this distance you might see the cupolas of the churches and the crosses over the convents shining afar off, and rejoicing the eye of the beholder. When we approached the Monastery of Galata, which is considerably
TRAVELS OF MACAIUUS.
distant from the city, they began ringing the great and small bells, all together; and continued ringing till we had left them for behind. So when we came opposite to the Convent of St. George, which is in the hands of the Monks of Mount Sina, they rang the bells in like manner. Afterwards the troops drew up before us.
SECT. V.
MOL DA VIA . — YA SSL
Ox Tuesday evening, the twenty-fifth of Canon the second, we entered the city of Yash, or Yassi*, the capital of Moldavia, amidst the ringing of the bells of all the churches and convents ; so that the applause was vast indeed. Then they led us before the door of the Church of the Convent of St. Saba and St. Michael; and causing our Lord the Patriarch to alight from the coach, they robed him in his Mandya ; and the Priests came out with the Gospel, and the Deacons with the thurible, preceded by torches. The Patriarch kissed the Gospel ; and whilst the Deacons incensed him, and the Singers chaunted "Af ;OK he advanced to the middle of the church, under the banners of the g, and made a cross upon his forehead: then he did so before the doors of the Tabernacle, and to the images of Our Lord and Lady; then to all tin- rest of the holy images upon the doors of the Sanctuaries ; lastly, to the image of St. Gregory the Divine (0goXo'yo?), whose festival it was : it was placed upon a high throne, covered with a veil, as is practised in all the churches of Greece. He then went up to his chair, and the Deacon said, " Have mercy, O God!" &c. ; mentioning the name, first of our Lord the Patriarch; then of
* Yassi, as described in its present state by Wilkinson, contains many elegant houses built in the modern style of European architecture, forty thousand inhabitants, and seventy churches. One part of it stands upon a fine hill, and the other is situated in a valley. The Prince's palace is a very extensive edifice, and is surrounded by spacious yards and gardens : it is furnished in a style, half Oriental, half European; and lias room enough to lodge conveniently more than a thousand persons. This capital occupies a great extent of ground, the houses being separate from each other, and surrounded, like the palace, with yards, gardens, and orchards. All the buildings are of brick ; and their walls, outside as well as within, are plastered and white-washed. Tiles are seldom used, and the roofs are generally covered with wood. The streets are paved with thick pieces of timber, thrown across, and made tight to each other. In some, the surface is made smooth and even; whilst in others, the logs of wood are almost left in their natural state. It is supposed impossible to pave the streets with stone, inasmuch as the ground consists of an extremely soft clay, into which heavy stones would be gradually swallowed up.
H
50 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
the illustrious Beg, Vasili Voivode ; of the Domina Catherina ; and of their son, Stephani Voivode : the choir repeating the Hohv%govtov for each. We left the church, after the Patriarch had given his blessing to the congregation, robed in his Mandya, and carrying his crosier : and having taken his abode in the apartments of the Abbot, he was visited with the salutations of all the Grandees.
On the eve of Thursday, they rang the bells for the Feast of the Translation of the Reliques of St. John the Chrysostom ; and we assisted at Vespers and Vigils. After the clock had struck the tenth hour of the night, they again rang the bells ; and we entered the church, which we did not leave till early in the morning, after the prayer of the "Ogdgov.
It is remarkable, that in Moldavia and Wallachia, and in all the country of the Cossacks, as far as Moscow, they stand in the church from the beginning of the service to the end, morning and evening, in all seasons, with their heads uncovered, particularly in presence of a Patriarch, or Chief Priest, or Abbot, or even an ordinary Priest : for in all these countries they wear calpacks of felt, with fur, even the Princes and Grandees. The ladies also, in Moldavia, wear calpacks of red velvet, with sables ; but in Wallachia, and among the Cossacks, with a white handkerchief; and the richest, with ornaments of pearls.
After the morning prayers, when the clock has struck the third hour of the day, they return to mass, from which they come out in about three hours' time, if it is the festival of a Saint, or the Assumption of Our Lady, or the Easter Holidays. But before they ring the bells for mass, they strike the bell of the Oblation (^jbyX when every person, who has the means to present any thing to the church, pays his dues for the season.
SECT. VI. YASSL—ST. SABA.
THE Church of St. Saba is entirely built of stone, inside and out. It has only one door, on the south side; over which is painted the image of the Saint, as is usual in all the churches of this country. The building is long and single, but raised upon strong double walls, with nine openings for the air on each side, and two large Turkish cupolas, built on the model of the largest in our country. They are the only ones of the kind in these parts. The artist who built them
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 51
was of Constantinopolitan origin, by name Yanaki, and held the situation of architect to the Begs of Moldavia. Around each cupola, inside, are thirteen arched vaults. The outside of the cupolas is perfectly round, and is covered with tin, which glitters afar off, in the sunshine. On the top of them are two large gilt crosses, very magnificent. The whole roof of the church is also covered with tin. One of the cupolas is over the choir ; the other is over the Na^^|*. There are hut two columns: behind that on the right hand is the throne of the Beg, placed on high, with a canopy and pillars of wood, and facing the east. Opposite, by the other column,, is another throne, but of meaner form, either for his son, or for the Domina. On the right of the Beg's is the chair for the Chief Priest, placed up against the wall, among the other chairs, which are set all round the inclosure.
The OoXusAsof, which they call Xo^o?, is exceedingly large, suspended within the cupola, over the choir, and consisting of four-and-twenty pieces, all gilt. Within it is another small one, resembling a canopy. In respect to the YJixuvo- (rrce.<ris, in all these countries it is divided into three rows: that which is immediately over the doors of the Sanctuary consists of the whole of the Domi nical Feasts. The next above it has the picture of Our Lord, in the middle, wearing a sako and a crown, and sitting on a throne. On his right and left are the Apostles, standing. Invariably, next to him, on the left, stands St. Paul; and, on the right, St. Peter. Around them are Our Lady and St. John, &c. Above this row is the picture of the Trinity, in the centre, with the Prophets on each side. Over all is the Crucifixion.
The Sanctuary is very spacious, with three arched windows, guarded by huge bars of iron. On the left is a descent by steps, leading through the choir to the pulpit. It is very high, and constructed of coloured stone, as is also the cupola, bearing the cross over it. It is supported by spiral pillars of stone. Within it is a spacious hiding-place for the church vessels, &c. in case of an alarm.
In the south wall of the church are three very large windows, with iron bars and arches, near the door, where is the tomb of Yanaki, the architect, inclosed within a grating, hung with pictures, and with a votive candle always burning. In the north wall are five similar windows. The pavement of this church is laid with tiles; and, in general, all the churches in these countries,' from Broussa to Moscow, are paved with tiles.
* " The N«p0ij£:" the lower end of the church, immediately within the entrance-door; beyond which, in ancient times, the Catechumens and Penitents were not allowed to advance.
•y) TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
The place for the women is at the top of the church, in a gallery, with a separate Eixwoa-raa-ic. They ascend to it through a passage in the wall, leading directly from the church door.
The tower for the bells is a large square structure., very strongly built of stone, with two vaults in the centre, intended as hiding-places for the church property, in case of alarm. The steps are very numerous, which lead to the top. There are two immense towering arches, to which the bells are hung, five in number. The largest of them is of vast size, and is the wrork of the Danes. All the tongues of these bells are of iron.
The convent, with all its appendages, is constructed of wood, as the convents generally are in this country.
SECT. VII.
YA SSL— COURT.
ON the afternoon of Sunday, the thirteenth of Canon the second, we went to see his Highness the Beg, as he entered the town, amid the ringing of all the bells. In the evening, he sent some bread to our Lord the Patriarch, to bless, that he might have it brought back to him the next morning. The following day came Yoani Boyar, the Saljdar, and all the Begs, who had met us on our arrival, accompanied by about fifty soldiers, or Janissaries, all clothed in red. With them came a royal coach, drawn by six grey horses; in which they placed the Patriarch, after they had robed him in his Mandya. I was seated at the door, and held up the crosier. The soldiers then marched before us, two and two, till we entered the Corta, in their language,, that is, the palace ; and approached the steps of the Divan, between rows of troops. Here the Patriarch alighted, and went up the staircase, whilst they held his train; and I, as usual, went before him. All the Grandees came forth to receive him in the outer hall, and in the second intermediate. The Beg came to meet him from the inner hall, appropriated to himself, and kissed his hand. The Patriarch kissed the Beg's forehead, according to custom, and gave him his benediction : and they sat down. The Beg, from the greatness of his love and friendship for him, wept more than once. We all of us made our obeisances to the ground before the Beg, and kissed, first his right hand, then the left ; as we did afterwards at going out. The Beg then remained conversing with the Patriarch, and expressing his
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 53
sentiments of veneration and love towards him for about an hour., and much delighted his grateful heart. Hereupon the Patriarch blessed him; and,, taking his leave, departed. They placed him again in the coach, as before, and we returned to the convent.
On Tuesday morning, being the first of the month Ishbat, we, his attendants, went to make an offering to the Beg of the presents brought for him by our Lord the Patriarch; the whole of which were in trays, covered with fringed napkins, according to the custom of these countries; though the offering be merely a present of bread. When we entered the large hall of the palace, the Beg's Minister, the Saljdar, came with a scribe, who wrote the names of the presents, one by one.
SECT. VIII.
YA SSL— PRESENTS.
THIS is the list of the offerings made to the illustrious Beg: — A pair of embroidered pillow-cases; a piece of rose-coloured chintz; two sugar-basins, of palm-wood ; a box of musk soap ; two boxes of scented soap ; a small quantity of Aleppo soap; two pots of preserved ginger; a box of dry preserved fruits of Italy; some oil of almonds; preserved apricots; pistachioes, preserved with salt and without salt, &c.
These he went in and presented to the Megas Logati, or Deftardar. Then they led us in before the Beg, who rose from his seat, out of respect to our Lord the Patriarch; and we bowed to him, both on entering and retiring. They now presented to him the offerings in the trays, whilst the scribe said : " The Patriarch of Antioch presents to your sovereignty" so and so, till all thc- offerings had been displayed ; and the prince repeated his thanks for each.
Then we returned, and brought similar presents for Stephani Voivode, who received us in an apartment by himself. Thirdly, we brought presents of the same kind for the Domina, consort of the Beg, to whom we made small obeisances on entering and retiring, and kissed her hand. She was sitting on a chair, with a calpack of red velvet, with sables on her head. Her Kachia first went in and announced us, and then we entered. She returned us many thanks, and rose from her chair at our entrance. It grieves me to reflect that all our gifts went to loss, when Vasili afterwards was broken in his fortunes.
51 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
On Thursday, the third of Ishbat, came Kozal Effendi, that is, Papa Theodosi, head of the Monastery of Kolia,
This is the allowance, in their language called Mertek, which the illustrious Beg settled upon us: four loaves of the best white bread for our Lord the Patriarch ; two others for his family ; two okkas of the best wine for him, and two for his family ; one okka of butter ; one okka of bread ; two okkas of flesh meat ; one okka of wax candles ; one of tallow ; every week two wagon-loads of wood; and money for our daily expenses. If we had had horses with us, we should have been allowed barley and grass.
We went in the coach to see the Convent of Our Lady, belonging to the Domina, the Beg's consort, who has built it new. The church is extremely beautiful. In it is a very ancient and miraculous image of Our Lady, encircled within four-and-twenty rosaries. Its hands and arms are of pure gold, the Domina having gone to the utmost expense in adorning it: for her son Stephani Voivode was afflicted with a grievous disorder, and being carried by her to the foot of this image, he was instantly restored to health. Before it are gilt-silver lamps, always burning. In front of the Sanctuary-doors are four candlesticks of brass, handsomer and brighter than gold, of Danish workmanship, which are said to have cost their weight in silver.
Behind the Beg's chair, upon a pillar, is the picture of Vasili Voivode, at full length, in a robe of fur and sables; holding in his hand a drawing of the church, which he is presenting to Our Lord, who blesses him, surrounded by angels. Behind him stands his Lady the Domina, a Circassian princess, in a similar dress, attended by her daughters, one of whom is now with the Poles : the other she has lately given in marriage to the son of Akhmil, the Cossack. Next to them is Stephani Voivode, with his third sister, who afterwards were taken into Russia ; both of them in beautiful dresses, and exact likenesses.
Leaving the church, we went to table; and then ascended to the bell-tower, which is very large and ancient, and has no superior throughout all these countries, in height and breadth and magnificence.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
SECT. IX.
Y A S SI.— DA NQ UE T.
ON the morning of Tuesday, the eighth of Ishbat, his Highness the Beg sent notice to our Lord the Patriarch to prepare for a meeting with him : and a little before noon, the Saljdar came with a kind of carriage, in their tongue called Sania, which is moved without wheels : for it was a frost, and a great deal of snow had fallen, so that the coach with wheels could not be used ; whereas this carriage may move on rapidly, without danger of upsetting. With the troops therefore preceding us as before, we entered the Court, where we found the Beg alone in the apartment. The Patriarch presented to him the Letters which he had brought from Paisius, the Patriarch of Constantinople ; and also from the deposed Euanicius ; likewise those with which he had been charged by the Patriarch of Jerusalem. Every time the Logati had finished reading a letter, the Beg rose from his seat and took off his calpack. Then the Patriarch made him a present of immense value : it was the lower jaw of St. Basil the Great, of a yellow colour, very hard and heavy, and shining like gold. Its smell was more delightful than amber ; and the small and large teeth were remaining in it, unmoved. It came into our hands at Constantinople; where it had been treasured up by the relatives of Kyr Gregorius, Metropolitan of the ancient Csesarea, and was bought for its price in gold. He gave him other presents of the like nature, from different places ; some of them invaluable reliques of Our Lord the Messiah, and of His holy Apostles ; all obtained in Constantinople, the Queen of Cities, where every thing is to be found. Among the holy trea sures which we purchased there with gold, were ; A piece of the horse of St. Demetrius ; a portion of the blood of St. George ; some of the hair of the Martyr Anastasia, which liberates from enchantment ; a finger of the Mother of St. Eustathius the Martyr ; some pieces of a stone on which is the blood of the Messiah, from the Holy Sepulchre ; some pieces of the wood of the Cross, of a dark colour, like ebony, and very heavy : we tried them in the fire, and they became like it ; on being taken out, they cooled, and returned to their former state : we tried them also in water, and they sunk to the bottom : they were placed in a round box of Indian workmanship, sculptured with great art : they lay on cotton, and were covered with a piece of brocade the size of the box.
56 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
which was kept in a purse of rose-coloured taffeta,, with strings of blue silk. When the Beg saw this last treasure, lie was filled with delight and admiration ; and could not contain his joy, when the Patriarch said to him, " This is for vou; and may it preserve you from all evil !" Then he gave him a cruet of Holy Oil : and the Beg conceived a great love and affection for our Lord the Patriarch, and told him of those who had come before him, and how much his heart had been afflicted at their conduct. He then went out with him to the Divan, or outer hall, where the royal table was spread with dishes of silver and gold, (^'U*]^ biUlj) and spoons and forks of the same material ; and there sat down at the upper end, on a chair covered with velvet, nailed on with gilt-silver nails. For our Lord the Patriarch they set another chair on his right hand ; and he blessed the table and the Beg. Then he took a piece of bread, and, dipping it in the meat, he stood up, and all the Archons who were present arose at the same time ; and he said a prayer for him, that is, wished him well, as is always done on such occasions, and they sat down. All the dishes were covered with others similar to them, till the time of eating, when the covers were lifted away : for it is the custom with them always to bring in every dish covered to table. The Ashji, or Mzyag KsXXaeioc, or Tabbakh Basin, that is, the head-cook, every time he came in with a dish carried by the servants, always presented it before the Beg, and took up the cover. If it pleased the Beg, he silently placed it before him; and taking a (kaU) spoon, he swept round the whole dish with it, and ate of the gathering: then he presented another; and if it did not please him, the Beg raised his eyes in token, and the cook took it and put it under the table. On the Beg's left hand stood a servant in a handsome dress, who took some of the dishes, and placed them ready before the Beg ; whilst another took away his silver plate (ii^lj), and set another in its place, wiping it as he brought it along. The Silahdar, or Megas Spatari, stood the whole time on his right, bearing a crown with jewels, (i_JuuJ!j Aliu) accompanied with the sword, and holding in his hand the royal sceptre. Near to him were the cup-bearer, and other servants, always standing. Before him was a wooden vessel, standing high upon three legs, with water ; and in it were placed glass-bottles of different-coloured wines, and spirits, and beer. There was also a chair near him, covered with a white cloth, with rows of glass cups upon it, and silver and china goblets. The officer served the Beg and the Patriarch with wine in the same cup ; and every time they drank, all the persons present stood up. The others drank out of other cups, and of different wine. Whenever the cup-bearer presented a goblet to the Beg, he
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 57
tasted it first, and then gave it to him. During the whole repast, the Grandees, or great officers, stood attending the commands of the Beg ; and the Ushers were standing close to him, with their silver wands. To every three or four glasses of wine that the Beg drank, he took one draught of beer, as it is cool and re freshing. After drinking, he always placed his glass in the water, or asked for another. Observe, that whenever the Beg sits, or his son, or Domina, or any of the Archons, or any of the great officers of the Court, whether in Moldavia, Wallachia, or the country of the Cossacks, there never fails to be over his head an image, with a veil, and with a torch perpetually burning before it. For my part, I stood opposite to them, holding the crosier, and surrounded by my com panions, and some of the Priests and Deacons of the Court, who are but few in number. His Highness the Beg shortly made a sign to the Bostanjik ; who came and conducted us to a place in the pantry, where we dined, whilst one of the clerks held the crosier. Afterwards I returned, and took it from him. The banquet proceeded ; and a quantity of fresh dishes were brought in, to replace those that were taken away, till it was evening, and they arose to say grace. Our Lord the Patriarch then blessed the Beg and the table, and, having taken leave, departed. We returned in the coach to the convent.
To describe the venerable dignity of the Beg, his knowledge and acquirements, the excellence of his good sense, his profound acquaintance with the writings of the Ancients and the Moderns, as well Pagans and Christians, as Turks, his bravery and warlike abilities, would exceed the powers of the human intellect. The truth is, that he has equalled the former Emperors of Greece, or, rather, sur passed them ; for his perfections are celebrated all over the world ; and his abundant generosity and illustrious actions are well known, not only with Patriarchs and Metropolitans, Priests, Monks, and Laymen ; in churches and in convents ; but even Agas and merchants, and others of the Turkish nation, even the Dervishes and tradesmen, have been in the practice of swearing by his head. Yet he has been for the most part, and still is, an object of their hatred; and it is impossible that he can defend and maintain himself in his sovereignty here. He is known, as we have said, to the whole world; but the Emperors and Grandees of Muscovy even palm themselves upon receiving a letter from him, and carry it about with them in the greatest veneration. This arises from the character they hear of him — that he bears great love for churches and monaste ries, and practises charity to all men. The King of Poland, and the Polish Grandees, esteem him equally : Akhmil and the Cossacks have taken his daughter :
I
j8 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
the Khan and the Tartars love him more than any of these : and the Emperor of the Germans, the King of Hungary, and the Venetians, are also well affected towards him. He has printed a great deal in his time — Church Books, Practices of Devotion, and Commentaries ; and, for his own people in Moldavia, works in the Wallachian language. Formerly the people read their Prayers only in the Servian tongue, which is akin to the Russian : for, from Bulgaria and Servia to Wallachia and Moldavia, thence to the country of the Cossacks and to Moscow, they all read in the Servian, in which all their books are written. But the language of the Wallachians and Moldavians is Wallachian ; and they do not understand what they read in Servian. For this reason, he has built for them, near his monastery, a large college, of stone ; and has printed for them books in their own language. The Servians, Bulgarians, Cossacks, and Muscovites speak all in one tongue, only differing as to age and local peculiarities ; but their books and writings are precisely the same.
SEC T. X.
YASSI.—C ONFENTS.
ON Wednesday morning, the ninth of Ishbat, the Beg, who directed his attention to every thing that concerned the happiness and comfort of our Lord the Patriarch, sent to him, by the Seljari before mentioned, a (<L^-/) Farjiyya of black woollen-cloth, lined with sables, and a Caftan of satin, with money for the expense of making up ; and gave him a promise to pay all his debts. These presents were brought, folded up, on the arms of servants, to our convent.
On Saturday, the Abbot of the Beg's monastery, which is named after the three Patriarchs, sent to invite our Lord ; and we went to him in the coach This monastery is singularly beautiful ; and appears like a castle, having, all around, stone walls. Over the gate is a tower for the bells, and for the town-clock, which is all of iron, with large wheels. The bells are suspended over it, on beams of wood. The clock-work fills up one-half of a small room. It has an iron wire which enters the roof, and passes up to the ridge of the large bell : to it is attached a heavy iron hammer (<xjyU-). When the time comes for it to strike, there is a long piece of wood, issuing from the arch of the tower, which has
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 59
springs that move the small hells hung at its head outside : the name of it is the (*xLc) Alarum,, to warn the people to listen, as it precedes the hour stroke : this wire is drawn down hy the wheels ; at the same time the hammer is raised, and falls upon the edge of the bell, which gives a sound that is heard by the whole town.
The church is in the middle of the convent*. The Refectory is under a stone cupola. At a little distance from this convent, near the Baths, and upon the border of the Great Lake, called the Khalistao, or Collection of Fish, is the magnificent college which the Beg has built.
On Sunday, we assisted at the church-service in our own convent ; and the Abbot of the celebrated monastery called Galata, which is dedicated to the Ascension of Christ, and was built by Peter the Voivode, came and invited our Lord the Patriarch to honour them with a visit : and the Patriarch rode thither in a Sania (sledge), with four black horses: for there had fallen a great quantity of snow, and the cold was excessive, (aJu 'Jilkl dlis) so that our finers were
The description of llie churches is much alike. That of the Three Patriarchs, in the above fonvent, is thus described in the Arabic text : —
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(»0 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
nearly bitten off. The monastery is distant from the town about an hour and a half. As soon as we approached it, they rang all the bells, until we entered the church ; where we assisted at mass, and afterwards went up to table. In the evening we returned to our convent. At our departure, they ceased not to ring the bells till we were distant from them. The tower in which the bells are hung is over the gate of this monastery.
On Thursday, in Shrovetide, the Abbot of the Monastery of the Assumption, known by the name of the Voivode Bonoska Convent, came to invite the Patriarch ; and we went thither in a Sania drawn by four black horses, which he sent for us. I never recollect without a sigh for past delights, the continual rides of the Patriarch, either in the coach or the sania, with the crosier held before him, and the Heads of the monasteries on his right and left ; whilst both his hands were employed in giving his blessing to the people in the streets and lanes, and the Turks were looking on.
In Yassi is an edifice for baths, built by Vasili the Voivode, on the plan of the Turkish baths, with cupolas and an abundance of marble, and parted into beau-
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TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
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tiful closets or recesses. We bathed there several times. He has also built, in one of his palaces near the apartments of the Domina, other superb baths, for his own private use and that of his consort, with a marble pavement and many fountains : its water is brought from the lake in carts. When he had been defeated the third time by his enemies, and his palaces were empty of his family, they heated this bath for the Aga of the Treasury, and we several times used it.
After we had visited the church of the convent, we went up to the Refectory. At every banquet that takes place here and elsewhere in this country, a cup is always drunk to the Beg first. On this occasion, the Patriarch stood up, with the cup in his hand, saying, " By the intercession of Our Lady, the perpetual and purest (Lkiyuo!) Virgin Mary ! " and all the company responded, " By her inter cession, have mercy on us, and save us, O Lord ! " Then he said, " By the power of the Cross!" and they responded, in like manner as before. ' By the prayers of the Angels, and the merits of the Saints and Martyrs!" as it is appointed in the Kovruxiov, at the time of the sacrifice. And every time he
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<v2 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
repeated by himself, they responded " By their intercession, &c." to the end. Then he said, ''• May God protect the Sovereign, the lover of Christ, Vasili Voi- vodc, in health and happiness; and his Domina and Son likewise!" Having further expatiated in his prayers for the Beg, he drank the cup, standing ; and then sat down.
This Convent of the Bonoska, and the other two of St. Saba and Galata, are feoffs to the Patriarch of Jerusalem ; and they drank a cup to him, with the cere monies we have detailed on the Beg's account ; our Patriarch standing till he finished his prayer for him. After the assembly had repeated the UoXvxgovtov, with all his titles for our Lord, we returned in the Arabah to our convent. In this country it is not the custom for the Patriarch to go out into the town at all without a mandya and a coach.
At break of day, on Friday, we went to see his Highness the Beg, as he went out with his attendants to pay a visit to the Metropolitan of the Town Brlam, who was ill.
Observe, that his Highness the Beg Vasili Voivode held a Divan every day : but the Divan of Saturday was set apart for the judgment of felonies ; to put to death those who had committed murders ; and restore to liberty those who are found not guilty. God Almighty has not created upon the face of the earth a more vicious people than the Moldavian ; for the men are all of them murderers and robbers. It is calculated, that since the time that Vasili became Beg, about twenty-three years, he has put to death more than fourteen thousand robbers, bv register of judgment. And yet he condemned not to death for the first crime : but used to flog and torture and pillory the criminal ; afterwards setting him at liberty. For the second perpetration he would cut off an ear; and for the third, the other : it was only for the fourth commission that he put to death. We ourselves saw a circumstance, in the conduct of these people, that strikes one with horror ; viz. that their priests are carried out to execution. Yet the Beg, with all this severity, is unable to reform them. '
As to their wives and daughters, they are utterly destitute of modesty and character : and though the Beg cuts off their noses, and puts them in the pillory, and drowns many of them, so as to have caused some thousands of them to perish, yet he proves too weak to correct their manners.
On the Saturday in Lent, when the abstinence from cheese begins, it is usual here to release all who are in prison ; as on the first Friday of the Fast they close the tribunals and litigations ; and the Beg shews himself to no one, except in the
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. <j;$
church, where he is constant in his fastings and devotions, as are also all his nobles and courtiers.
On the morning of the Monday (^Jujl) of the Purification, we went out to look at the Police-Superintendant of the rounds, who had with him the halberd and the staff, to inflict blows on any one who publicly got drunk, or committed any nuisance ; and he also weighs all the eatables, in reference to their price. It is to be observed, that all the eatables in the whole of these countries art retailed by the women.
The fast of Lent is strictly observed by the Court and the higher classes of the people. But the lower orders keep no fast, nor perform any prayer, nor appear to have any religion at all. They are Christians only in name; and their priests set them the example of passing whole nights in debauchery and intoxication. Such are the scenes we witnessed in this country. But in Wallachia, which God preserve ! it is very different; and the religiousness of its inhabitants, their mo deration, and good conduct, are pre-eminent.
After prayers, we sat down to table ; upon which nothing was laid but macerated beans, lentils cooked with oil, and some greens boiled in water with a little salt. Such is their fare throughout the year. As to wine, they never taste it; nor do they use oil, except on Saturdays and Sundays. Their drink is (^.UJ *U) cider. For us the Beg ordered, on Wednesdays and Fridays during the Fast, whereof this was the first week, both beer and mead. No person in all this country drinks pure water, except a very little. As to orgeat, and ^x*, and sesame, they are not at all acquainted with them. Even their oil and olives are imported for them by the merchants from Romelia; as are also melons and bjjJoi-, lemons, vetches, pearl-barley, &c. Every okka of oil we bought cost us half a piastre ; the okka of olives, a quarter; of melons, a piastre and a half; of isjjiai. fresh, a dollar; and every okka of ^^a**- vetches, or small peas, a quarter-dollar : for in this country no one grows them, and none are acquainted with them but the 7-ich.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS SECT. XL
YA S S L—P RODUC TS*.
GREENS, such as (jL*) beet, (^JjjJb) onions, scallions, and (.y) garlic, do not appear till after Easter. For during Lent it is all snow continually, both night and day ; and in the morning the ground is as hard as a marble-pavement, parti cularly in the roads and streets. Afterwards, when the sun rises and the day is warm, it thaws, and the mud loosens, and the mire becomes too deep for car riages to pass. In the convents and the houses of the rich there are caves or cellars, with vaults of stone, of great extent : they call them, in their language. Benimja, and Benisa : herein they lay their barrels of wine ; and there are also places within them for planting and sowing. Before winter conies on, and the snow falls, they store up here their ^.jjjJb and onions. Their (eL>,lT) leeks are very abundant, and very sweet : they sow them in the cellars we have men tioned, where they thrive, protected from the cold : when they wish, they take- them up green, throughout the winter, and eat them, particularly during Lent. In the convents, after their supper on the Wednesday evening, they serve up no meal till Friday evening.
After Vespers on Saturday, his Highness the Beg sent his Vakil, or Minister. the Seljari, to inquire concerning the health of our Lord the Patriarch ; and to say, that, with his permission, he intended to go to the Convent of Galata, for the purpose of attending mass there, on the following day. For his Lent provisions, he sent with him a barrel of oil, and one of lemon-water ; a bag of fresh isjjdasJ, a bag of rice, another of barley, another of lentils, one of vetches, one of beans. and one of millet, carried by the soldiers, on their backs.
'• The fertility of Moldavia is inexhaustible. The white wines of the mountains are delicious ; the wheat is excellent; and the season of harvest occurs as early as the month of June. Maize is much cultivated, yields abundant crops, and never disappoints the hopes of the husbandman. Excepting- the olive and fig tree, all fruit-trees common to England are found in abundance ; and melons, pumpkins, &c. are produced in great plenty. On breaking up the virgin soil, it is the common practice, first to plant cabbages, and in the intervals to sow pumpkins, which, twining their large leaves over the ground, choke the weeds, and prevent their flowering. The slopes of the hills are covered with vines, which produce wine in such abundance, that large quantities are exported into Russia and Transylvania. The severity of the winters is turned to good account in its manufacture. The wine is exposed, in immense butts, to the open air during the severe nights of December; and when its watery particles have become frozen by the cold, they perforate the cake of ice with a hot iron, and draw off the pure vinous part, highly concentrated. After this process, to which Ovid has made an allusion, the wine equals that of Hungary in strength and flavour."- — DR. NEAI.E'S Travels.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. ft5
At the conclusion of the early service on the Sunday, the Seljari again came with the Beg's coach, which was lined with red cloth and silver lace, drawn by six bay horses ; and we went in it, dressed in our robes, to the aforesaid convent. Upon entering the church, we found there all the Heads of the monasteries ; it being their custom, whenever the Beg assists at mass, to attend there in a body. As soon as the bells had ceased ringing, the Beg entered, with the Domina and his son Stephani ; and mass was celebrated with great solemnity. The singing was very beautiful : and I remarked, that, on the right side of the choir, the Prayers were chaunted in Greek; and on the left in Wallachian, at the same time. After mass, the Beg retired with the Patriarch to a private apartment, where they conversed together till the table was laid. The banquet was sumptuous, and furnished with such abundance, that, as it happens on all occasions when the Beg dines after public attendance at mass, the quantity of meat and wine served up was sufficient for the repast of more than a thousand men.
At the conclusion of the evening service, the Beg departed in his coach ; whilst the bells rang, and ceased not till he was far out of sight. This was truly a memorable day for us ; and I recur with pleasure to the splendor of the cere monies, and the delightful singing of the boys belonging to the Beg's household, who vied with each other to charm the ears of the listeners.
On our return to our own convent, we observed, by the road-side, the vast lake * behind the Beg's palace : it is called Khalistao, and is a preserve for the noble
* " The aspect of Moldavia is very singular ; perhaps, at this sera, unique. There are two other districts in Europe which probably once resembled it greatly ; but the progress of civilization and agriculture, during the course of a few centuries, has altered them ; whilst Moldavia remains in its primitive state. It is intersected with marshes and small lakes, in a degree curious beyond all description. Mecklenburg Strelitz, and La Vendee in France, were formerly in the same state. La Vendee is now nearly drained ; and the lakes of Mecklenburg are filling up. All these three countries were inhabited by the Venedic nations, or the people who dwelt on fens ; the same tribes who first inhabited that part of England now called Cambridgeshire. The ancient Venedi appear to have been, like the Dutch of the present day, the beavers of the human race — all their settlements were upon the banks of small lakes, or by the sides of fens. What instinct could have led them to choose such situations, it is difficult to conjecture : but it is probable that their diet was fish and the flesh of water-birds ; and finding, probably, that the noxious effluvia from the marshes were best obviated by covering them with water, they constructed dams across the narrows and rapids of the small rivers, and filled the marshy hollows with water ; around which they dwelt in security, and lived upon the salmon and wild-fowl which fattened in these artificial lakes. Most of the rivers in Moldavia are, at this hour, intersected with weirs, which dam the waters, and form ponds : mills are built on these weirs, and the villages are placed around them. The face of the country consists of undulating steppes, of vast extent, covered with the most luxuriant crops of grass. Their monotonous aspect is only interrupted, from time to time, by these small round lakes, fringed with villages of the most primeval character."
DR.NEALE'S Trarels.
K
£5 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
fish which, in their language, they name Effcndiko : this fish is very much esteemed, is very large, and contains the seed of the Caviari*. The lake on this day was frozen over; and the Nobles were promenading upon it on horseback, between the Court and the Convent of Galata, When the inhabitants wish to fill vessels from the lake, or to water their cattle, they dig, with mattocks, a kind of well through the ice, till the water rises, and the animals can drink : but it is very soon again frozen over. The fishermen dug holes in the same way to catch fish occasionally for the Beg. This day was presented to us a large apple, beau tiful in smell, colour, and in taste, which they call Vasiliko (that is, Royal), and preserve in their cellars in straw : it lasts till the time of the new spring apples. They presented us also ( >r«y>) peaches, (^j*-) yellow plums, and cherries, pre served in sugar, which you might suppose were newly gathered, so fresh and luscious were they.
Near the Convent of St. Saba is another convent, called St. Parasceve, with a handsome church : it is in the hands of the Monks of Mount Sina. On the wall, over the door of the church, is a painting of Sina, the mountain of God, where Moses conversed with the Creator ; and of the Monastery upon it.
In this town of Yassi, which is very extensive |, there are said to be thirty churches. The population is owing to the healthiness of the air and the sweet ness of the water, which give this place a superiority over all the rest of Moldavia.
On the eve of the fourth Sunday in Lent, the Beg sent the Patriarch word that he intended to assist at mass the next day, in the Bonoska Monastery. Early in the morning, after the matins, he sent his coach for him ; and we went to the monastery, and vested the Patriarch in his robes. Then the bells began to ring; and the Beg came with a handsomer suite than on the former occasion,
* Caviari is made of the roe of sturgeon and tunny-fish. A sturgeon furnishes from 10 to 30 pounds weight of caviar ; and a tunny-fish, 120 pounds. As five eggs of a tunny-fish and seven of a sturgeon only weigh a grain, a computation may thence be formed, how many millions of eggs these fish contain.
f Although now so considerable a town, Yassi was not the seat of Government until the year 1574, when Moldavia fell under the power of the Ottomans. The ancient Capital and Bishop's See was Suczava, a town in Upper Moldavia, situated in a valley, near the sources of the Pruth, at the foot or the Transylvanian Alps ; which place is now a heap of ruins, and included in the Austrian Bukovine. Yassi first became known, in modern history, during the wars of Charles the Twelfth of Sweden and Peter the Great of Russia ; when the Russian army, after having taken it, narrowly escaped being made prisoners of war by the Turks, under Baltaji. It was again occupied by the Russians in 1739, 1771, and 1788: on which last occupation it was held by them till 1792, when it was restored by the Treaty of Yassi, signed, in January 1792, by Prince Repnin and the Grand Vezir Yusuf.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. (ft
riding on a tall grey Turkish horse, adorned with much gold-lace and a quantity of jewels. It was I that read the Gospel this day. In all these countries, their surprise was great at the manner in which we read Greek ; for our name among them is contemptible.
There were present at this mass four Metropolitans — the Bishop, always residing at Court ; the Metropolitan of Sophia ; Velasius, Metropolitan of Naupactus in the Morea ; and a Bishop from Georgia, who was newly arrived from Moscow with an abundant collection of alms. He reported himself as a Bishop over a church in the country of Dadian ; in which church is preserved an inner garment of Our Lady the mother of God. On this account, the Emperor had given him, besides a bountiful contribution in money, the crown of Kalimetri, and all the paraphernalia of a Chief Priest. He openly wrore a shirt of hair and sackcloth.
They took the Patriarch with them in the coach to Court, to a princely ban quet, such as we have already described ; and in the evening we returned to our convent.
On the eve of Thursday of Repentance they performed solemn matins, and struck the bells at the second hour of the night. First, the sexton struck the wooden clapper three hundred times, stopping after each hundred : then they rang the brass bells all at once, for a long time. It was the sixth hour of the night before we left the church. In the forenoon we celebrated mass ; after which we went to table, and drank wine.
On Saturday, the Beg again sent to inform the Patriarch that he should attend mass the next day in the Church of St. Nicholas, adjoining the Court ; known by the name of the Beg's Church. He sent the coach accordingly for us ; and having entered the Church, we robed the Patriarch, and began the mass; such being the desire of the Beg. Then I said EvXiywov AztrvoTa, and the officiating Priest said EvXowpevoi. Beginning the Evening Prayer, they said, " Bless the Lord, O my soul!" then the twiners ; then the Megog pavegov ; then the El'trodo?: and at this moment the Beg entered, having walked on foot from the palace. We did not go to meet him as usual, because we had begun mass ; but as he placed himself before his chair, the Patriarch gave him his benediction, and also to his son, a second and a third time. Then we finished the mass, and ate of the Prince's boiled meat *, after the Patriarch had said the prayer for him : then we took some of the wine. When the Beg retired, the Patriarch walked with him to the palace. There was a very large banquet and assembly on this day; larger than usual, because of its being a Dominical Feast. When the dishes were brought
res elixa : pec. tale olus. GOL.
6$ TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
up from the kitchen, they beat the drums, and sounded the fifes and trumpets : and the festive joy was very great. The banquet and the Turkish music did not cease till the evening, when we returned home.
Observe, that in the middle of this month, Adar, they plant the peach-tree, and such like ; also the rose-bush, and similar plants ; and sow beans, onions, garlic, and so forth. At this season, they import lemons from Ilomelia, and store them in their cellars, each in a piece of parchment. The okka of pomegranates costs half a piastre ; for scarcely any thing is produced in these countries.
On Saturday, after mass, when we left the church, about noon, they preceded the Patriarch with torches to the burial-ground near the church. For a person had requested of the Patriarch, saying : " My father, before his death, ordained in his will, that for three years after his death his grave should be opened, and the Chief Priest, or the Patriarch, if any were found, should be invited to pray over him the Prayer of Absolution and Remission. We therefore vested the Pa triarch in his 'Evirga'fcfaiov and ' Clpotpogiov, and he began the prayers.
SEC T. XII.
YASfiL— FUNERAL SERVICE.
AFTER the singers had chaunted the verses of the dead, the Patriarch said the Prayer of Absolution, and the ^uy^ugere or Remission, and sprinkled holy water upon the body. Then we went to the Refectory of the convent ; and the family of the deceased performed a Mvyftcxrvvov for him, by bringing to the table a large tray of all kinds of meats, with boiled flesh, and wine. To all present they distributed a large taper. Then our Lord the Patriarch stood up with the assistants, and said 'EvXoyriTog o ©go? r,^uv, and " Holy is the Lord ; " and the singers chaunted some verses for the dead. The Deacon then, in his ^rot^ocgiov, threw incense from a silver thurible upon the assembly, and said, " Have mercy on us, O God, according to thy great mercy ; and on the soul of thy servant, who sleepeth in death ! " And the Patriarch said the Prayer for the Dead, " O God of our souls." Then, concluding the prayers, they extinguished the tapers, and served of the boiled meat to all ; whilst we prayed mercy for the soul of the departed. After we had finished supper, the son distributed presents among the assembly ; such being the custom in Moldavia and Wallachia, and the regulation of the Mvqpoffvvov. In the mean while we recited Matins, and Tierce, and Nones. As soon as we arose from table, they tolled the great bell, which
TRAVELS OF MACAR1US.
is a signal with them that sonic one is deceased. In whatever convent his family desire that he should be interred, they give orders to the sexton to toll the hell for the assembling of the Priests of the town to the funeral. This happens in the case of a rich man, or of one whose family is in affluence : but if it is a poor man,, they bury him without toll of bell, that none may know any thing of it.
At this signal, six Priests of the convent, in their OsXaW, and two Deacons, with thuribles, repair to the house of the deceased, to accompany him to the grave ; which, in this country, is not till two or three days after his death, as they are not accustomed to bury their dead at an earlier period. They inter without any coffin, and with the face of the corpse uncovered. During the wake, they burn tapers round the corpse, both night and day ; and any Priest that wishes, goes to the chamber and reads the Gospel over the body from beginning to end ; not only once or twice, hut many times, from the moment of the death till the burial : and sometimes there may be fifty Priests or Deacons who do so, for the sake of the abundant presents which are made them.
The person whose funeral-service we were now performing was an old man of respectability, whose origin was from Iconium, and whose father and grand fathers were Janissaries. He was himself also a Janissary ; and coming to this place, he embraced the Christian faith, was baptized, and married. The Khat- man, brother of the Beg, and his Vizir or Chief Minister, was his godfather. The piety he displayed, and his assiduity in prayer, surpassed very much the degree of them, seen in any of us. At the time of his death, he was indebted towards some Turkish merchants ; and the Khatman immediately sent and placed a seal upon his effects. From under the seal they obtained, however, about twenty pieces of gold to defray the funeral ceremonies ; leaving the assets to be divided among his heirs, after all his debts should be paid. Invitations were sent to all the merchants of the town to assemble and attend the procession, for the sake of reproving the Turks who should be within cognisance of the proceeding. As they advanced, therefore, with the corpse through the streets, preceded by Priests and torches, whenever they came to a Turkish habitation, they set down the bier, and prayed over it with a loud voice. Upon arriving at the church, they entered, and set it in the middle, as the bell was tolling. When the tolling had
O o
ceased, we robed the Patriarch in his Mandya, and entered the church. Then we put on him his 'Evirgufcfaiov and his'Qp,o<pogtov; and he stood at the head of the corpse, the face of which was bare : and upon the breast was an image laid.
7() TRAVELS' OF MACARIUS.
The Deacon then gave him the censer ; and he threw incense over the corpse, in the figure of a cross, and afterwards upon the door of the Sanctuary, saying TLl\oyr,ro$ ; the singers in the mean time beginning the Funeral Hymn. Then he incensed the choir, on each side, and the rest of the priesthood present, and the congregation of the laity. Then he incensed the corpse a second time ; and, turning towards the east, made the sign of the cross upon his forehead three times. He then went up to his chair; the singers all the while chaunting their Tauba, and " Have mercy onus, O God!" so that the singing and incensing corresponded. Afterwards they performed the Kuvuv in like manner. The first of the Declarations was recited by the Patriarch.
The assisting Bishop then took the thurible after the Patriarch, and threw incense round the body, a first and second time ; then towards the doors of the Sanctuary, and the rest of the persons present; and made a cross on his forehead, as the Patriarch had done. Then he twice made a Kogavri * to the Patriarch, and stood in his place. At the proper time, he recited the Second Declaration.
In like manner did all the Priests who attended, each in his turn, till the Kissing (J^uoii')- After all the Priests, the Ministering Deacon performed the same ceremony. He had before been advancing to each Priest, in his turn, with the thurible, and incensing him twice or thrice, till he came out and took the censer from him. At his return, the Priest incensed the Deacon two or three times, and gave him back the thurible. Each Priest that incensed said the Declaration that came at its proper time afterwards, till they were all recited. They never once neglected to incense the Beg's throne.
Then our Lord the Patriarch descended from his seat to near the head of the corpse, and read the Gospel. It is usual for the wife and children and family of the deceased to kneel down under the Book of the Gospel, as he reads it. Then he read over him the Prayer of Remission ; and advancing near the image which was lying on his breast, he made towards the east three Merawas, and then kissed it ; then three more, and went up to his seat.
Then came the Bishop and the Abbot, each from his own side, and made M&TUVOIUS towards the east, and kissed the image, as before. Afterwards the Priests came in like manner, and the Deacons, and Monks, two by two. Of the family or friends of the deceased, two were standing on each side of the church, and distributing, to their great contentment, an alms to the congregation, either folded up in paper, or in fringed handkerchiefs, to the poor. At the end of the
eJJ/> (J"*£- It may be rDoos, instead of Kopon'i; : eVo^o-e yvpov, he made a circle, or ambit.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 71
service, the principal persons in the function entered the church in procession, two hy two, according- to their rank; and taking the body out, committed it to the grave, without the convent. We did not go out with it, as it is not the custom. If the deceased was very rich, they take all the persons present in the church to his house to table. They then bring a large dish of boiled meat, and distribute tapers among the congregation : and the Minister says Ev/.o'y^rci , then the T^TTC^/CC for the dead : the Deacon, after the incense, " Have mercy on us, O God!" to the end; and commemorates the deceased: the Chief Priest recites the Ew^jv, or Prayer; and chaunting over it, they partake of the boiled meat.
SECT. XIII.
YA S S I.—RETOLUTIO X.
ON the fifth Sunday of Lent, we attended prayers in the church of the con vent ; and his Highness the Beg had signified to our Lord the Patriarch, that he should say mass in the Convent of Haroun the Voivode, outside the town. But on this morning he appeared very angry, we knew not why.
Observe, that the iron clock in the Effendi Convent, from the beginning of the month Adar till the tenth of the same month, struck twelve hours in the day, and twelve hours equally in the night ; but after the tenth, it altered, and struck fourteen hours in the day, and ten during night.
Now came on the untoward accidents which prevented the Beg from much appearing in public on this day. The immediate cause of his retirement was this : A paper was brought him by a Priest, a master of confession, shewing that the Grandees of his country had broken their allegiance towards him, and conspired, with the Megas Logothetes, or High Chancellor, to put him to death. About ten days before, the Logoth6tes, by a stratagem, had gone to the Krai of the Majars (that is, the King of Hungary), and to Matthi Beg of Wallachia, as taking refuge with them ; and there accused Vasili of an intention to conquer by his s\vord, and with the power of the Cossacks, both their countries, Hungary and Wallachia. The two princes were much enraged at hearing this; and gave the Megas Logothe'tes a large force, of about thirty thousand of their troops, to march against Vasili, and put him to death. The Logothetes had made a perfect submission to them, and agreed that he and they should be as one. Between him and the Chiefs of the army of Moldavia a compact had been
72 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
entered into, that the latter should suddenly overpower Vasili, on the Sunday of the Shaanin *, at mass-time, in his convent ; (it being his custom always to pass there the Feast of the Shaanin, in mirth and festivity ;) and dragging him down into a cellar, should put him to death. Almighty God, however, did not permit this, but made known to him the conspiracy by the aforesaid paper : for his charities and beneficence, exercised in every part of the world, repelled the mis fortune from him.
As soon as Vasili was informed of this, he instantly closed his court ; and removed his family, with all his wealth and effects, to the castle named Khotini, on the border of the Polish frontier ; and there collected his troops : but they were all perfidious, and rebellious against him. He retreated, therefore, to the castle ; and thence, on the Saturday of the Light, he crossed the river, and, entering the country of the Poles, repaired to the fort called Kamanitsa. From this place he sent letters to Constantinople, with an account of what had hap pened ; and sent to ask the assistance of Akhmil, the Khatman of the Cossacks, and of his son, Vasili's son-in-law, Timotheus the younger. He sent also to ask the assistance of the Khan of the Tartars.
Before Vasili set out from Yassi, he put to death three persons, chiefs of his former army. One of them was the Sirdar Elesker. Vasili had been his god father, and the Domina his godmother ; and they loved him exceedingly. The Beg concealed none of his secrets from him, and admitted him to his most intimate and tender familiarity. Once he sent him as Ambassador to the King of Hungary, Rakotus. His immediate efforts were, to form a treaty with the King, for removing the Beg from his throne ; pretending that he had sent to the Turks, and offered them money to establish his brother as King of Hungary. Rakotus fully believed him. A second time he sent him on an embassy to Matthi, Voivode of Wallachia : there again he falsely and maliciously asserted of him, that he had sent money to the Turks for permission to take the throne of Wallachia for his son Stephani. He was believed by him, as he was by the other ; and they entered into a correspondence with the King of Hungary, and made a compact with the Logothetes above mentioned, that he should become Beg of Moldavia by their means and power, being assisted by their forces.
The Logothetes ceased not, therefore, to send messages, and to intrigue, and use every endeavour, till he had gained over to his will the principal men of Moldavia ; who violently hated Vasili and his nobles, with his whole Greek nation.
Jo- 1 Palm Sunday.
TRAVELS OF MACA11IUS. 73
A particular motive of their hatred was, that Vasili had a nephew, whose name I do not remember, that atmsed four thousand girls : and when their families complained against him, they were unable to establish the evidence of his crimes ; for he used to break into their houses in the dark of the night, and ravish their daughters. Many other such tyrannies he was also guilty of.
For three years he ceased not secretly to carry on his machinations, till he had completed his purpose, by sending to Constantinople and obtaining the approval and consent of the Turks to his designs. Vasili had latterly called him to him, and given him ten thousand dinars to keep. Upon this he formed a scheme to send his wife to a distant village in the country ; and a few days after, he produced a letter to the Beg, purporting that his wife was very ill and unhappy. The Beg gave him leave to go to her. Previously he had been out witting and laughing at the Beg, by sending away from him all the foreign troops, whom he had kept for many years in his pay, from Greece and Servia and Bulgaria and other countries, under the pretence and assertion, that the Beg, as he told him, had no enemies to guard against. Spending, therefore, the money upon them which the Beg had entrusted to his care, he had been every Saturday morning, during this Lent, disbanding a number of their banners, until he had discharged them all, and his scheme was complete ; for the native troops of the country had all abandoned their allegiance to the Prince.
The departure of Vasili from Yassi was on the Thursday in the week of the Shaanin. Had he not sent his nephew, with the troops under his command, to cut down a large bridge on the route of his enemies, they would have seized him in the country. By this means he delayed them a couple of days, till they had restored the bridge ; and then they were too late to meet with him. You should have seen the dread and consternation which befell upon the departure of the lion from his range ; for all the population of the towns became robbers and outlaws. The merchants and principal citizens assembled in a body, and carried the substance of their effects into the convents ; where they fortified themselves, raising a circumvallation of carts and wagons round each convent. As much as they feared, so did we ; for in our lives we had never seen any thing of the like. Now ceased prayers and masses; for the churches and tabernacles were filled up to the ceiling with furniture and provisions.
On the eve of Sunday of the Shaanin, we performed the 'Ea-Trsgivov, or Vespers, in the Refectory of the Convent : in the morning, the "Ogfyov, without any mass. This day, about the middle of the afternoon, the aforesaid Megas
L
74 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
Logoth&es entered Yassi, with his vast army., and alighted at his own house. On the morning of Holy Monday he entered the Court ; and they rang all the hells for him, whilst he took his seat as Beg. lie had been three years contriving this success, before he obtained his desire ; and he now took the style and title of IVANOV GKORGITSA STEPHANOS VOIVODA. For it is the custom of the Begs of Moldavia and Wallachia to set before their names IVANOV, as being the Konyji or Metonymy of these countries. Their seal is always the head of a calf. Tin- new Beg's name was properly Girgis, and his fathers and ancestors had formerly enjoyed the princely dignity. Their common name was Stephanos. As well the Grandees as the troops and peasants, all bowed submission to him, because he was of their own race and nation.
The cause of their hatred of Vasili was, that he was a Greek by birth and origin, and made all his courtiers and officers of Greeks ; removing the native Moldavians, who were jeered and despised by him and his followers to such an extreme, that they were reduced to the greatest poverty and wretchedness. For this reason, the two nations hated each other to the utmost.
With regard to ourselves, his Lordship the Patriarch had begun to make the Divine Mugov, or Holy Oils ; for we had brought all the ingredients from Con stantinople, and he had promised Vasili that he would compound them in Passion week. Vasili was exceedingly pleased at this ; and we had been employed, from the beginning of Lent, in pounding the materials. Notwithstanding the events that had taken place, we began the composition, that the articles might not be spoiled; and commenced on Passion Monday. Every day we compounded a portion; till the fifth, which was on Holy Thursday. During the whole of the operation, the Patriarch, the Bishops, and the rest of the Priesthood, stood round the boiler, reading the Gospels of Purification. When we had finished on Holy Thursday, we put into the composition, oil of balsam, musk, amber, aloes, and other precious substances; and decanted it into vessels, which we carried to the church of the Convent of the Domina, where the Patriarch said mass.
On Easter Eve they rang all the bells, from nightfall till sun-rise ; when we arose and performed the Easter Matins, and X^/o-roc avwrri, in the Refectory, as before. It was a feast of melancholy, with fear and trembling; and as to the Greek nation, they were all, both priests and laity, in hourly expectation of death by the sword. For ourselves, as soon as the new Beg had seated himself on his throne, he sent to our Lord the Patriarch his daily expenses, and begged his prayers, promising him every good ; to the great comfort of the Patriarch's
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 75
heart. For the Beg knew us from the first ; and we had taken to him a present among the first we gave ; and now, upon his taking possession of the Govern ment, we made him a second offering. I went near to the Church of St. Nicholas, adjoining the Court, and was a spectator of the 'Ava<rra<n; , which the Bishops of the country and the Abhots of their Monasteries performed, according to custom, before the new Beg ; for which purpose they had set for him a chair outside the church.
SECT. XIV. YA SSI.—ADMINIS THAT ION.
THE degrees of the Great Officers* of State, who administer to the Beg of Moldavia, are as follow :—
The Megas Logothetes, who is the Great Defterdar, or High Chancellor : under him, the Second Logothetes; then the third.
The Great Vestiar, who is the Rizmanji and the Mahasibji, or the Lord- Treasurer : then the Second Vestiar ; and the third.
The Vornik, who is the Judge, and has a college of Judges under him.
The Baharnikos, who is the Cup-bearer or Butler, and waits upon the Beg- on feast-days : under him the Circulators of Drink, or Sakis, who serve the Beg on ordinary days throughout the year.
The Great Bostenik (Postelnik, Master of the Ceremonies), who always
* The corresponding List of Chief Dignitaries, and Officers of State, as lately existing in Moldavia, is thus given by Wilkinson : —
Logothet, or Chancellor and Keeper of the Great Seal.
Vestiar, or Treasurer of the Principality.
Vornik, or Judge, presiding over the Judges of the Divan.
Paharnik, or Cup-bearer. At State dinners, he stands behind the Prince's chair, and offers him to drink.
The First Postelnik is principal Minister, and Master of the Ceremonies at Court. His office is of the most confidential nature ; and only given to Greeks, near relations, or intimate friends of the Prince.
The Spat/tar. His office formerly corresponded to that of Minister at War : at present, he is Director-General of the Police throughout the Principality, and is more properly called Hetman.
Armash, or Judge of Criminal Causes relating to the Lower Orders. He has the superintendence- of the public prisons, and collects the tribute paid by the Gipsies to Government.
As every Boyar has some title or other, he is never addressed by his name in common intercourse, but by his title, preceded by the ancient Greek title of "Ap^wv ; such as, " Archon- Vestiar," " Archon- Annash," &c.
76 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
carries the silver mace before the Beg : under him the Second Bostenik, and the Third, who are also continually standing with their maces in the presence of the Beg.
In like manner the Great Spatar, or Commander-in-chief of the Army, con stantly carries the sword and club near the Beg : under him the First Spatar (that is, the Silahdar}, or Keeper of the Armour ; and also the Second Spatar.
Then the Grammatikos, or Beg's Secretary.
After him the Armash, (that is the Soubaji,') who puts to death and torture. The Silahdar is also the Commissioner of the Shambles.
After the ceremony, the Beg left the church, and walked, with an immense retinue, to the Corta. When three hours of the day were past, they rang the bells; and we went, with the Patriarch, to assist at the mass for Easter, in the church of the Domina's convent. At the time of reading the Gospel, when the minister had recited it first within the Sanctuary, the Deacon repeated it without, in Greek, by very short clauses, and slowly. On this day they brought to the church many trays full of eggs, dyed and painted with various figures and colours ; hog's flesh, bread with butter of (^Lt) the boar (hog's-lard), and sweet herbs, according to their custom ; and the Patriarch having said over them the Prayer for Eggs and Cheese, distributed them to the congregation.
SECT. XV.
YASSL— WAR.
ON Monday and Tuesday there was no mass, from the fear and dread which prevailed. The new Beg, however, sent a loaf to the Patriarch, to consecrate the Passover for him. He was himself wholly engaged in paying and lodging his troops. There was no mass either on Low Sunday; the news being come, that Timotheus, son of Akhmil, and son-in-law of Vasili, had passed the river Niestros (Niester), which is the boundary between Moldavia and the country of the Cossacks, with an army of his countrymen, to make war on the new Beg; and that they had defeated the troops of the new Beg which were guarding the frontier on the said river.
As soon as this news arrived, the new Beg prepared his troops for the encounter ; and having previously dismissed the Hungarian and Wallachian auxiliaries, he now sent to require their assistance. At this moment the
TRAVELS OF MACAIIIUS.
77
advanced guard of the Cossacks, called in their language the Salraja, marched forward, to the number only of three hundred men, and routed the troops which the Beg had sent in array against them. Around the Beg himself were now collected about forty thousand men, enlisted from the Moldavians, Hungarians, Germans, Wallachians, Servians, and other nations. It was the season of the holy festivals of that God, in whom is all the hope of this lower world ; and yet, through dread and consternation, an entire silence was kept, both of Him and of His sacred solemnities.
The Beg now marched forth from Yassi with all these tribes, on Wednesday after New, or Low, Sunday (Dominica in Albis) ; and all the Greek merchants were, willing or not, dragged along with them to the war. They soon met the army of the Cossacks, and engaged with them from noon on the aforesaid Wednesday till noon on the following Thursday ; when the Cossacks routed the Beg's army, and made a great slaughter of them.
The quality of their warfare was this: the Cossacks were within their palisades and mounds and fosses, within which and around them were their Arabas, or carriages of all kinds. The centre was occupied by themselves and their horses ; and they remained silent and still within their trenches, so that not a single man of them could be perceived at all. The Moldavians thought them dead ; and sent out a number of their Dharrabs (^l^jus), clothed in" red woollen, about eight hundred men, to reconnoitre. When Stephen the Voivode had discharged six guns upon them, and the Dharrabs had fired all their muskets In return, the Cossacks instantly arose, and, having discharged their eleven guns, sallied forth in person, and fired their muskets : then drawing their swords, they cut to pieces every one of the Dharrabs.
In the mean time, the heavy guns were firing in all directions round the main army, and no means of escape was left them, but by flight. Immediately, Timo- theus advanced against them, and their rout was complete : for the Cossacks are most active in war ; and never retreat nor take to flight, being possessed of immense courage ; as they had shewn within the course of the two preceding years, in their co-operation with the Poles, particularly in defence of a palisade or target-fence. This is formed with a mound and fosse dug in the earth, which the Turks call a Mataris, around their army, that none may fall upon them unawares. Each man has his target and portion of trench in the ground ; and after discharging his musket on foot, he lies down, and nothing can reach him. He shoots his enemy, but cannot be shot at.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
These Cossacks are exceedingly wretched in their way of life, and, on their expeditions, are satisfied with a very small quantity of food. Besides dry black bread and water, they know no other fare : they have no tents, nor fine clothes, nor any comfort or luxury ; and in this condition are very hardy and robust.
With this Timotheus, therefore, the Beg Vasili having formed a league and solemn compact, the Cossacks came together to the vicinity of Yassi, and there fought. We were spectators of the battle, from the bell-towers.
Suddenly, drums were heard to thunder, and trumpets to sound ; and it was said that Timotheus, the son of Akhmil, was approaching, having sent his troops before him, as usual. We soon perceived the traces of their march; and immediately the partisans of the new Beg took to flight, not one of them remaining behind. The Beg himself, and his favourite attendants, fled towards Hungary; and left the Corta, with every thing in it. All the property which, within these few days of his reign, he had plundered from the Boyars and mer chants, remained likewise in the palace, till it became the portion of AkhrmTs son.
You might have seen the new Beg's army broken into bands, their standards thrown away, and themselves fleeing, in tens and twenties and fifties, towards the mountains and deserts, before our eyes, and with the Cossacks at their backs. These pursued them to the foot of the hills, where they overtook and slaughtered vast numbers ; and made themselves masters of an immense booty.
SECT. XVI. YASSL—RESTORA TION.
AT this moment, Timotheus, Akhmil's son, entered Yassi, by the power of his Cossacks, and passed by the Convent of St. Saba, on his way to the Corta. Before the gate of the convent, our Lord the Patriarch went out to meet him. robed in his MavJwa, and decorated with his 'QpoQcigiov, 'Esnr^a^X/ov ( JxiUal !), and cross. He was accompanied by many thousands of men, who pressed forward to receive the blessing of the Patriarch, kneeling down before him and kissing his cross. Then they separated towards the glens of the mountains, and plun dered the inhabitants of the towns and villages with whom their enemies had taken refuge ; stripping even their women, and even pillaging their churches and convents, for having afforded a momentary escape to their adversaries : as they considered it an act of perfidy and treason against their Beg and sovereign Lord, Vasili Voivoda.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 79
The General now sent, without a moment's delay, a Sotinikon (that is, a Yeuzbashi, or Captain), with his company ; who came to the protection of our convent, and erected a standard, marked with the cross, at its gate.
In the mean time, there fell upon the Turks and Jews great dread and terror, and unexampled ill-treatment and spoliation on the part of the Cossacks; and so great was the cruelty practised towards them, that if our Lord the Patriarch had not been present, they would have been utterly annihilated. It was hardly to be expected that such inveterate enemies would meet with other treatment ; and the Moldavians themselves were perhaps handled even worse.
As for the Jews, they threw them into dungeons, and tortured them whole nights long, it was said, to make them confess their property. Our hearts sobbed with grief at the weeping of their families and infant children.
The Turks instantly fled to our Lord the Patriarch for protection ; and we lodged them in our apartments, sitting ourselves on the outside. Thus they escaped, with all their property. There was one indeed among them, who was a Janissary, and saved himself with the others ; but he had a young Cossack for a Mamlook, or purchased slave, who rendered abortive all that his master had previously done to save his goods and money : for he discovered them to the Cossacks, one after the other ; and they plundered the whole ; taking, at the same time, much money belonging to his companions. We saw at this con juncture many things that excited our utmost astonishment.
At night, they rang the bells of all the convents, and in each of them performed solemn Matins (ajl^u) for Khatman Akhmil, and for the Khatman, his son Timotheus ; which we also assisted at, on our part. The Deacon said, " Have mercy on us, O God, according to thy great mercy ! " &c. And again, " We pray for the sake of our Sovereign VASILI VOIVODA, and for the Khatman ZENOBIUS, and Prince TIMOTHKUS and his Wife." This is the lady who was a Nun in Constantinople. Her husband spent upon her treasures of wealth, till he brought her away, and married her. She was the daughter of Vasili and his Domina Roxana. " Peace to them for ever ; and health and safety ! May the Lord, our God, perpetually incline to the prosperous direction of all their affairs ; and humble under their feet all their enemies and opponents!" Then they chaunted the whole Kcww for Easter, and the Hagaxh'/iffig ; and we departed from the church before midnight.
On Saturday, which fell in with the Festival of St. George, and the following Sunday, there was no mass. On Monday evening, the Khatman Timotheus
80 TRAVELS OF MACAIUUS.
sent to our Lord the Patriarch advice, that on the next day it was his intention to assist at mass in the Beg's Convent. At day-break on Tuesday,, we went to the aforesaid convent, and attended at the "Qgfyov. At sun-rise, the Khatman came to the church, and went up and stood at the chair of his father-in-law the Beg, girt with his sword, from which he never parted. The Patriarch gave him his blessing, and we finished the mass. It was a great and solemn day.
When the Patriarch went out from the church, the Khatman held up his sleeves behind, till he had mounted him on his horse ; and then held his stirrup as far as the outside of the convent.
Now they came and made proclamation for public rejoicings. For imme diately upon the defeat of the new Beg, they had sent the news to Vasili, who was in Kamanitsa*, and he instantly mounted his horse. The report of his arrival was now spread, and the people rejoiced at his approach. He entered Yassi on Thursday, the eight-and-twentieth of Nisan. The Patriarch, attended by us, passed to the convent of the Beg, to await his arrival. As soon as he approached, we went to meet him outside the convent-gate, accompanied by the Heads of the Monasteries and the Priests, in their robes, and the Deacons, with their thuribles, two and two.
The Beg alighted from his horse; and he and the Patriarch, having made their excuses and compliments to each other, entered the church. When the Beg took possession of his chair, the Deacon came and incensed him ; and then said, ' Have mercy on us, O God, according to thy great mercy ! " &c. making mention of the Beg, of the Khatman Zenobius, of Timotheus, and of the Domina. Roxana. !e Peace to them for ever, and health, and safety ! " &c. Then they came down to kiss the images ; and our Lord the Patriarch gave them his benediction; and the Beg interchanged pardon with the Patriarch a second time, in tears, saying, " What has befallen me, was for my sins." We then went with him outside the convent ; when he mounted his horse, and passed on to the Corta. In the mean time, the bells rang, as usual.
As soon as he entered the palace and sat on his throne, the whole of the Cossack troops discharged their muskets ; and they fired the eleven great guns which they had brought with them, as well as the other six, which they had conquered from the new Beg : so that the town rose and fell with the explosion.
* Apparently, this is the strong frontier-town of Poland, Kamieneck on the Dniester.
See NE ALE'S Travels.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 81
SECT. XVII.
YASSI.—CONSECRA TION.
ON the Sunday of Divesture (.Is^l)* we went to tne Corta, to see the son of Akhmil, when he came to the Beg to take leave of him : for they had come to an agreement, that they should go together against the Beg of Wallachia. The Beg made him a present of a sable pelisse ; and having mounted his horse, with the drums and trumpets following him, he signed the cross upon his fore head, and departed.
On Monday morning, our Lord the Patriarch went to bid farewell to the Beg ; and requested his permission, that we might equip ourselves for our journey northward. He refused ; and told the Patriarch to have patience, till he should send him an answer. This he did out of fear on our account : for the whole country of the Cossacks was in disorder, from the march of their own troops, and of the army of the Tartars ; the Khan having this year agreed with Akhmil to make war with the Poles. This was the cause of our detention, till the roads should become safe.
On Tuesday, his son-in-law met the Moldavian troops ; which, since ancient times, have always been rebellious to their sovereigns.
On Wednesday before Ascension Thursday, the Abbot of the Convent of Galata invited our Lord the Patriarch to say mass there on the Festival of the Ascension, as the convent had been dedicated under that name. We went thither in consequence, and assisted at the ''Effiregivov, or Vespers ; and afterwards, at break of day, we attended the "Ogtigov, or Prayers for the Dawn. At sun-rise they rang the bells ; and our Lord the Patriarch said mass, and consecrated ( iyi Iffiigorovriffi) a Priest, in the presence of all the Heads of Convents, and of all that were desirous to witness the ceremony. After mass, they presented boiled meat, as usual ; and they all put their hands together over it ; and the Patriarch said over it the Ev^v, or Prayer for the Souls of the Departed, com memorating the first, Petrus Voivoda, who built the convent. It was noon before we left the altar ; and they took us to the Refectory.
Here they served up a princely banquet, furnishing an abundant meal to high and low. At the end of the feast, they drank a cup to the health of the Beg : then to the health of Akhmil and his son ; and of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, as
the convent belongs to him.
M
8-2 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
In the evening, we again attended Vespers ; and they presented a tray of boiled meat and a vessel of wine. The Minister prayed over them, as did also our Lord the Patriarch, in commemoration of those who built the convent : for it is the custom with them, that the mass and banquet of the festival are in memory of it ; but the second mass and banquet are in memory of the founders ; as their bequests are left on this condition.
On Friday morning, after the Prayers of the Dawn, they rang the bells for mass : and when we had entered the church, they set a tray of boiled meat, and a vessel of wine, with two large silver candlesticks, upon a reading-desk orna mented with a handsome fringed covering. The Patriarch took the thurible, and incensed round it ; then he threw incense towards the doors of the Sanctuary and the Beg's throne ; to the Chief Priests and Abbots, and the rest of the persons present. The Deacon then said EyXoy^frov Aurora ; and our Lord the Patriarch, ? &c. &c. &c.
SECT. XVIII.
YA SSL— GARDENS.
WE saw, in the gardens of the Convent of Galata, the apricot-tree, and ate of its fruit : also the almond-tree, entirely covered with fresh blossoms. The cherry-tree, damascene or bird's-heart (jjjoll <*-Jj'X the quince, and the (^U^t) plum, are very many in number in these countries, and particularly fine. In these gardens are abundance of pinks and carnations, jessamines and lilies.
The yellow lily, called the Frank, or European, is found in all these regions, as far as Moscow ; and is as common as grass, without any value. From Moldavia and Wallachia to Moscow, most of the grass in the open fields is wormwood.
SECT. XIX.
YA SSL—DISCOMFITURE.
ON this day, news came to us, that Vasili Beg and his son-in-law were both defeated, with their Cossack troops, and had fled. We had previously been in security; as reports were brought us every day that they had beaten the Hungarians and Wallachians four times, and made a great slaughter of them.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 83
Now, on the contrary, all the reports filled us with dread and consternation, and the people again sought refuge in the convents.
At this moment returned the Cossack troops — fugitives, and beaten. At the same time there appeared a report, that the Beg and his son-in-law were missing ; until Tuesday before Pentecost, when they came on a sudden, and entered the Corta, in the most wretched condition. They sent to inform Akhmil of what had happened; and the report was now verified, of their having beaten the Hungarians, and the troops of the Wallachians and Servians, four times.
None could stand before them ; till they approached within a day's march of the city of Dorga'isht (Tergovist), which is the capital, and sovereign residence of the Beg of Wallachia. Hereupon, Matthi Beg came out to meet them, with an immense army of Wallachians, Hungarians, Servians, and Greeks ; Arnaouts, Bulgarians, and Turks. Upon these fell the soldiers of Vasili the Greek, like lions, and made their way to the prince's pavilion, which they plundered. They shot Matthi Beg in the foot with a bullet, which also threw down the horse on which he rode.
In this situation he defended himself with his sword, till the approach of dark. He then took off1 his boot, which was sticking to his wound ; and instantly mounted another horse, still defending himself from the attacks made upon him. His whole army had now agreed to surrender themselves to the commands of Vasili Beg and the Cossacks.
But Our Lord the Almighty, who is the changer of times, sent, at this moment, a storm* of thunder and lightning, rain and large hail, which fell like stones upon Vasili's troops and the Cossacks ; the wind being against them. And the Moldavians again proved treacherous : for, having surrendered themselves, they brought the Cossacks to an agreement not to fire their muskets during the heavy rain. In the mean time, the Wallachians prepared their great guns, and, opening a severe fire of artillery and musketry, made a sudden rush upon them. The Moldavians were the first to run : the Cossacks followed, and were beaten in their turn. The enemy pursued them, sword in hand, and made of them an immense slaughter. It was an hour to be deplored. Nor did they cease to follow their foot-steps for the space of three days' march, taking many of them alive, as
* The proximity of the Black Sea and of Mount Hsemus, by the Turks named the Balkan, on one side, arid of the Carpathian Mountains on the other, render the climate of the Principalities variable, and subject to sudden changes. During the summer, a great quantity of rain falls; and in the months of June and July, it is always accompanied by storms of wind and thunder, which regularly return every day, towards the evening.
S4 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
prisoners. Those who escaped by flight, came to Yassi ; and threw away their arms, that they might not he observed.
Vasili Beg himself and his son-in-law made their escape, with a few followers; and falling into the Galats road, they thence passed on to Yassi, by unfrequented paths, in dread of a pursuit. Their defeat happened on the afternoon of Tuesday before the Ascension. The news of it came to Yassi in three days. The dis tance from the capital of Moldavia to that of Wallachia is, however, ten days' march ; and the entrance of the Beg, as we said before, was on Tuesday before the Ascension, in eight days.
The Cossack troops that survived the engagement, and escaped captivity, remained in Yassi three days, and then departed for their own country; com pelled by the great dearth of provisions which now took place : for they sold them every large loaf, which they bought, at a piastre. Timotheus, Akhmil's son, staid some time, and then went away to his father. He had been expect ing that he would send him succours ; but he sent none, for he was angry with him.
As for Vasili, he remained alone, without any person with him. Every hour they were saying that his enemies were coming against him with an army, to carry him off some night. His second error was worse than the first. Both he and ourselves were in constant fears and alarms, both night and day. His Domina, and son, and all his money and effects, he had sent for; and had them brought from Poland, from Kamanitsa ; and lodged them in a fortified castle, built of stone, in his own dominions, named Satjao. Therein he laid up a great quantity of victuals and liquors, fearing what might happen : and what he feared actually happened.
SECT. XX.
YA SSI.— WHITS UNTIDE.
FOR ourselves, we assisted at the mass of the Great Festival of the Pentecost, in our own convent. At the conclusion of the Prayer, they spread for our Lord the Patriarch a mat, within the Sanctuary, before the table ; and we vested him in his '£lfAo<f)ogiov and 'Ei/nr^a^jjX/ov. Here he said the Prayer of Adoration, with his face turned towards the people.
On Sunday of All Saints, our Lord the Patriarch received a visit and invita-
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 85
tion from the Abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Younger, commonly called the Girl's Convent. It is on the road to Yassi, and is an appendage and feoff of the Convent of St. Saba. We went therefore, and assisted at mass there; and afterwards were conducted to the Refectory. It is a very delightful place : on the outside of the building are balconies, which command a view of the whole town ; the situation being high. The church is handsome : over the balconies is the arch for the bells. With regard to this Confessor, John the Modern (jo>s>!), or the Younger, we were informed, that, a hundred years ago, or a little earlier, he died a martyr to the Christian Faith, in Trebizond. The Begs of Moldavia sent and employed every artifice, till they succeeded in bringing him to their capital ; and set him down in a part of the Convent of St. Saba, to see where he would wish to be placed. Of his own accord, he went in the Prince's carriage, where he lay, followed by the procession, to Satjao ; and there stopped. Thereupon they built him a convent and church within the fort, and placed him there, to be for ever preserved. The people of this country have entire faith in him ; and resort, in pilgrimage, to his festival, on the Thursday after Pentecost, from the remotest towns and villages. Afterwards, the daughter of one of the Grandees built this beautiful convent in his name.
On the eve of the Feast of the Apostles, they rang the large bell for a lono- time ; and decorated the churches, according to custom, witli flowers, sweet herbs, and images.
I observed, at this season, that the iron clock struck, from the first of Nisan onwards, fifteen hours by day, and nine by night. But in the months of Haziran and Tamouz, it used to strike sixteen hours in the day, and eight at night.
I observed, also, that it is the common practice in this country for the girls to have crowns twined for them of flowers and sweet herbs, which they place upon their heads. Further on, towards Moscow, the married women also deco rate themselves in this way.
About this time of the Feast of the Apostles, the new cucumbers come to per fection : they are small, without (jb) phlegm. The plum, which is the bird's- heart (^\ L^Jj'), resembles the nut in si/e ; is of various shapes and colours- white, yellow, red, and russet ; and very delicious. The red cherry is rough to the taste, but its flesh is plump and beautifully coloured.
We went to visit, in the Beg's palace, the church of the Beg ; which is very handsome, and dedicated to St. George ; and also the church of the Domina, dedicated to the same Saint. The apartments in which the Prince and his Lady
86 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
dwell are all built of bricks and tiles : their roofs are admirable, and were con structed by Vasili himself. Near them is a beautiful hammam, or warm bath, also erected by Vasili, all of marble : the water is carried to it. In the Beg's garden we saw the sweet mulberry-tree, many apricot and almond-trees, and small pomegranate-trees, growing in tubs ; also sweet-lemon-trees, growing in the same manner.
SECT. XXL
YASSL— FINAL OVERTHROW.
AT this time, the report was ascertained, that Vasili's enemy, the new Beg, was come to a village near the Hungarian frontier, in a very rugged country, near the tops of the mountains, and in the midst of the glens; accompanied by Hun garian and Wallachian troops. Here he employed himself in writing to the people ; all of whom, in these parts, were attached to him.
Now the rumours and tumults were renewed, and we were surrounded on all sides with confusion : to add to his distress, Vasili was wholly destitute of troops ; the Moldavians all proving faithless to him. He sent to ask assistance of the Tartars; but they would not help him. Driven to vexation, he began to enroll new troops among the people of the town and country, appointing Cap tains, or Yeuz-bashis, and lavishing upon them riches and pensions.
Shortly came the good news, that Akhmil had sent him some few thousand Cossack soldiers : they arrived, and he distributed among them money and clothing, and appointed them rations of meat and drink : for their quarters, he set up tents for them round the town.
In the mean time, there came to Vasili Beg three robes of honour, and a Letter of Confirmation, brought by Agas : the last of them came Cadiri Aga, one of the Agas of the Treasury, with a robe, carried in his hands, and a Letter of Con firmation. The Beg went out to meet him at the head of his Cossacks, and they entered together in great procession. Immediately afterwards, the Beg prepared to inarch on an expedition against his enemy.
As for us, and the convents, we were all employed, during this period, in repeatedly performing Ua^Xr^ig and Matins, from close of night till dawn of day, according to the Ritual of Matins for the Thursday of Penance, and the Saturday of Six Lauds : but all this obtained no utility for us.
TRAVELS OF MACAIUUS. 87
At last, the Beg marched forth from Yassi, on Tuesday the fifth of Tamouz : with him went out all the merchants and Greeks ; most of them out of their love for him : they and the Cossacks together formed a body of about four thousand men. Of the Moldavians, there were gathered to him about eleven thousand. With these he marched against his enemy ; of whom his spies had brought word, that he had not more than two or three thousand men with him.
During these nights came on thunder and lightning, and showers of hail and rain, in such floods and vehemence, that we said, " Surely the hour is arisen ! " A thunderbolt fell from the air upon the dome of the church belonging to the monastery of St. Parasceve, which is in possession of the Monks of Mount Sina, that immense dome of wood; and drove the top of it, with the cross, deep into the ground. Another fell upon the vast stables attached to the palace ; and a great many houses were burnt. The lightnings flashed like swords ; and there appeared in the sky signs from the clouds, resembling forts and battles : all this was an intimation of the second discomfiture of Vasili.
When the two armies were drawn up against each other in battle array ; and the troops of Vasili were ready to beat their enemies with sticks, so few were they in number, and not with the sword ; the latter braved them daringly, having been forewarned of the intended treachery of the Moldavians ; who immediately lowered their standards, and passed over to the new Beg, abandoning Vasili, and breaking their faith towards him. Having agreed with the Hungarian, Walla- chian, and Moldavian troops of the new Beg, they came and fell together upon the Cossacks and Greeks, who remained with Vasili ; and, as they were so few, instantly routed them, and cut them to pieces with the sword.
The £lite of Vasili's army were the Greek merchants, with their followers, posted in the right wing, under the Khatman, Vasili's brother, and his sons. When these saw, that, from being victorious, they were now changed into the discomfited party, and were suffering destruction from the swords of their enemies, they broke up their ranks, and took to flight. Their defeat happened on Wednesday, the sixth of Tamouz, at noon.
All this turned out to our mishap ; and all our hopes were finally lost, as depending upon Vasili and his Grandees. The presents which we had taken to them, and which had cost us some hundreds of piastres, were now thrown away to vanity and to no purpose. Vasili had promised our Lord the Patriarch to pay all his debts and expenses ; and had made him agree to go northward, after appointing an Ambassador to go with him to the Emperor of Moscow, and
88 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
engaging to furnish him with every thing requisite for the journey, as carriages, horses, and such like. This he had told him both publicly and privately. From the Grandees, also, we were in expectation of large sums : but now all was utterly lost.
As for Vasili, he immediately fled on his swift horses, attended by a few fol lowers ; leaving behind him his pavilion and tents, his stud, and riches, to the grasp of his enemy ; as he had before abandoned them at his defeat in Wal- lachia. He passed into the country of the Cossacks, and there reposed in freedom from all his enemies and opponents. He sent forthwith to the fortress called Satjao, where he had deposited his wife and son, his riches and treasures, in safety ; giving orders, that they should endure with perseverance, and support the war, till he came to their assistance with a large force.
The hapless merchants, and the rest of the Grecian army and Cossacks, took to flight, in a direction where no refuge was to be found. They ran into the very faces of their enemies ; and, blind with desperation, fell into a field sown with wheat, which in these countries is usually deeper in mud than a tall man's stature. Their horses' feet sunk herein ; and the enemy, at this moment falling upon them, hewed them to pieces with their swords and lances. The merchants had loaded their wealth, in specie of gold and silver, upon their horses ; thinking, that if they should be defeated, they could save themselves and their property by flight. But their precaution availed them not ; and they became a prey to the treacherous mire, and the lance ; their property falling into the hands of their relentless enemies. Their lot, indeed, was to be pitied and lamented. They were sunk and buried in the mud, and crying out, " Who will come, and take pity on us, and cut off our heads, that our souls may depart, and we may rest from the grief and torment we are in ? There is gold in plenty to take from our girdles." None however saved them, or assisted them.
The Khatman, brother of the Beg, who was an old man, sank, with his horse, into the field, with them. At this moment the Hungarians came up, and wounded him : his horse fell, and they laid hold of him, and made him prisoner. They afterwards sent him to their country ; and he who had been a Sovereign, now be came a captive slave. The same lot befell the remainder of Vasili's Grecian Nobles.
The sons of the Khatman, Stephanitsa and his companions, escaped, on their swift horses, out of the hands of their enemies ; and, flying over the hills, rushed down into a river, which they forded. On the other side, the road was open to them, and they effected their escape into the country of the Cossacks.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
89
As for the Cossack troops, those among them who were active and present in mind, and had good horses, fled to their own country, and were saved ; hut those on foot, or whose horses were weak or disabled, all became victims of the sword, and were slaughtered, to the mercy of God, by their enemies, the Hunga rians. What else could be expected from these enemies of their religion, these haters of the Cross and of the Gospel, whose name Calvin (^ju0i> Dogs, in Greek KaX/3?>oc), and Lutheran, so well suits them ?
The Moldavians, also, were become very much the enemies of the Cossacks ; and slew great numbers of them in their former defeat by the Wallachians, though they passed from their country in thousands. So did they now ; for the reason, that they had come to protect their enemy, Vasili ; against whom, even those who had adhered to him from the first of his misfortunes until the present, now turned adverse, and tempted him like Job, Eustathius, and their fellows.
At present he was cut off from all his kindred and friends ; even from his wife and children, and from all his riches, as we shall soon have occasion to shew. Soon after this, he was deprived also of his son-in-law, Akhmil's son, that brave cavalier. Where was now, O Vasili ! your artful policy ? where your fervent activity ? and where the abundance of your wealth ? You were now fallen off from all ! True was the word of him, who said, " When Fate descends, blind is the eye of caution :" and if Vasili had not been provided with excellent horses, he would not have saved his life from the hands of his enemies. He escaped, how ever, to the Cossacks; and took up his abode in the first town of their Govern ment, called Ras/tko ; whence he sent to inform Akhmil and his son-in-law of what had befallen him.
SECT. XXII.
YASSL— PILLAGE.
UPON us, all our sorrows and terrors were renewed : for the Hungarians came immediately to Yassi, and pillaged every thing they could see without the convents. We were seized with the utmost dread of them : at night we were unable to sleep ; and during the day, were watchful inhabitants of the towers above the domes.
As soon as Vasili's enemy, the new Beg, arrived at Yassi, he immediately turned off to the fortress of Satjao, which he encompassed and besieged. He
N
90 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
also sent immediately some letters to our Lord the Patriarch, to tranquillize his mind ; and appointed us a Mertek, or allowance of meat and drink, more abun dant than that which we had in the time of Vasili. He acted in like manner to the Aga of the Treasury. For the government of Yassi, and the other towns, he sent Magistrates from his own attendants ; who now arrived, and sought to take vengeance of their enemies, the Greeks.
These were reduced to the most deplorable condition ; for all their property was taken from them, and every day they were exposed to every kind of insult. They even stabbed them in the high streets and roads. Sometimes they cut off' their ears ; and some they whipped publicly through the town. Upon all of them fell the most intense dread ; and many of them were only rescued from the hand of the executioner by the intercession of our Lord the Patriarch. The Moslems and the Jews appeared in public, without any fear or apprehension ; but the Greeks dared not to move from their houses, in consequence of the great enmity between them and the natives.
For, as we before mentioned, the Greek Archons, who formed the Court of Vasili, used all means to remove from office, and to depress the native Molda vians to the lowest degree of abject wretchedness ; so that we had seen the greatest and noblest man among them dressed in the meanest clothes of flannel. In general, they were compelled to slave night and day, to have wherewithal to fee the Greeks, who seemed to have sworn a league against them with the Turks.
But the poor Merchants ; what was their crime ? In this country, but for them, there would be no means of subsistence.
As to the Aga of the Treasury ; he also was in great fear, and had sent to Constantinople information of what was passing.
On the eve of the Festival of St. Elias, they tolled the great bell, and we assisted at the mass. They adorned the church, as we mentioned on a former occasion, with flowers and sweet herbs, and brought in trays of fresh fruit- melons, cucumbers, peaches, apples, plums, and cherries ; which they distributed to the congregation, according to their practice in the fruit season.
Now came the Carnival preceding the Fast of Our Lady, on the eighth Sunday after Pentecost ; and after the Evening Service, the Sexton (!OAJ JJill) tolled the great bell, as before, for the Ua^x-^a-ig. This they did every night, from close of day, during the whole Lent.
TRAVELS OF MAOARIUS.
SECT. XXIII.
MOLDAVIA*— SIEGE OF SATJAO.
ON the morning of the first Monday of the Fast, the Cossacks, under Timo- theus, Akhmil's son, crossed the river Niestros, which is the boundary between their country and Moldavia; and made a great slaughter of the Hungarian and Moldavian troops, who were guarding the frontier. Then they marched on to the fortress of Satjao, to succour the garrison ; and formed an encampment round the walls of the castle ; introducing the river, which flows that way, into the entrenchment. They had with them twenty pieces of cannon.
When the new Beg heard of their approach, he retired from the castle, till they had entered ; and then returning, he beset the fort all round with his troops,
" In many respects, Moldavia may be regarded as one of the most interesting portions of Europe ; not only as the latest of the Roman conquests, but as the favourite abode of the Hippernulgi, the Patriarchal race celebrated by Homer for their length of days, purity of manners, and piety to the Gods.
a.'^cai' , x«< yavwv ' ifiicov re, 5<x«<or«Ta»t/ (*.v6pu>-nu>v,
" The circumstances in which the name of Moldavia originated, are very singular. The primaeval Scythian inhabitants, like the Hindoos, believed in the incarnation of the Divinity, in the person of a man named Xamolxis ; who, after having been a slave in Greece and Egypt, returned to his native land. and hid himself for three years in a cavern, in the side of Mount Cogoeon. He attempted the civili zation of his countrymen : and, as the most likely way to obtain their confidence in his supernatural powers, he made them believe that he possessed eternal life, and was just raised from the dead. It was the custom of the Scythian kings to retire to this holy mountain, to consult this eternal Priest or Molla: and from this Patriarch the country was called Molla-div-ia, or the territory of the Immortal Molla.
'' The doctrines of Xamolxis were similar to those inculcated by Pythagoras — respect to the Gods, abstinence from animal food, and a life devoted to the practice of deeds of virtue and patriotism. The effects of this system were displayed in happiness and peace of mind, healthiness of body, great length of days, and a virtuous fulfilment of the social duties. The Dacians, their successors, were, according to the Roman Historians, the bravest defenders of their country ; and the Moldavians of the present day possess greater virtues than fall to the lot of more-favoured nations. The fertility of their soil is still as great as during the ages of their forefathers ; and health and longevity are still to be found amongst the inhabitants of the Moldavian mountains.
" Travellers have been unanimous in extolling the beauties of this region. Baron de Tott compares Moldavia to Burgundy, the finest province in France. Carra says, ' I have visited almost every country in Europe, and have seen none, where the distribution of the plains, hills, and mountains, is so admirable, both for agriculture and picturesque effect, as in Moldavia and Wallachia.' "
DR. NEALE'S Travels.
92 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
which, at this time, amounted to upwards of forty thousand men : the Cossacks were only fourteen thousand.
On the afternoon of Sunday, the tenth after Pentecost, which was the eve of the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, they tolled the great bell, and we entered the church. At the time of chaunting the Ao'fa, or Glory, they sang, alternately, in the two choirs, each ffrifcos or verse, with its proper modulation. The next day, they presented, in the church, trays of fruit — grapes, peaches, damascenes or the bird's-heart, cherries, and so forth. Having prayed over them, the Priests distributed them among the assembly ; carrying about the trays with their decorations of sweet herbs and flowers. The images were likewise decorated with flowers and herbs.
On the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, our Lord the Patriarch went to per form mass in the church belonging to the convent of the Domina, by invitation of the new Beg's Bostaniks (Postelnik), who took him to his house, and set before him a most superb banquet ; for he loved us much : and in these days of his power, how many Greeks did not our Lord the Patriarch save from death, after they had communicated to them the holy mysteries, and taken them under the gallows, and placed the rope round their necks, to haul them up, after they had reviled them ! For in all the Christian countries, when they are about to put any criminal to death, the Armash, that is, the Soubashi, or Criminal Judge, with his attendants, bring him first to one of the churches ; whence a Priest comes out and, having confessed him, gives him the mysteries : then they take him and put him to death, at the place they have appointed; as we ourselves sa\v.
On the eve of Thursday, which fell on the first of the month Iloul, the opening of the year of the world, SEVEN THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-TWO, they tolled the great bell for the Feast of St. Simon, the Stylite, the Aleppian ; and on the morrow we did not go out from mass till noon, as usually happens on the great festivals, for which they toll the large bells. This they always do in Moldavia and Wallachia, on all the holidays, whereon is KaraXvtrig : and dine 0_j*-^*0 during the mass.
They observed the same ceremonies on the eighth of Iloul, the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady ; and, on the second day, the Feast of her parents. On these days, they resorted in great crowds to the churches, and presented a number of trays with fruit.
On the eve of the Festival of the Cross, they again tolled the great bell for
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 93
Matins. They did not draw up in a body round the cross, as we do ; but the whole of the Priests assisted in placing it upon a china plate ; and then laid it on a desk, and adored it, one after the other, after the same manner and ritual as are observed on the Sunday of Images.
Regarding what befell ourselves ; we were confined as prisoners, all this time, in Moldavia ; confused in mind, and straitened in spirit. These terrors, these dreads and horrors, which rushed upon us, and were such as might turn the hair of children gray, caused us grievous sicknesses and agues *, with hot and cold fits ; which I, the poor Historian, laboured under from the end of Tamouz (July) till the following Whitsuntide ; and suffered therefrom intense pains, during the severity of the winter cold and frost. We had no power to move on our travels, neither forwards to the country of the Cossacks, nor yet backwards ; for the people of the provinces were all turned robbers and assassins, and murdered every person on the road, whom they caught in his flight. Whole caravans of Greek merchants, who fled together for safety, were sallied forth upon, and murdered, and all their goods plundered.
Distress and doubt harassed us on all sides, and we knew not how long we might still endure these daily and nightly alarms. In Vasili's time, from the effect of his cruelty upon the inhabitants, the women carried gold about them, and walked where they pleased, without fear. But now, even in the very midst of the towns and cities was the scene of terror and apprehension.
SECT. XXIV.
MOLDAVIA.— SATJAO.
ON the side of the castle, the fights were continual between the Cossacks and the army of the new Beg, for a length of time. Timotheus, Akhmil's son, would sally forth upon them every day, and kill thousands of them. Not one had the power to stand against him, so brave was he, and so excellent a horseman. He was indeed and truly a valiant man, such as we have never seen recorded in history, which gives no instance of force and valour like his. Every day he
* " The exhalations from the numerous marshes around Yassi render the inhabitants very unhealthy, and cause, annually, a great mortality amongst them, from the severe intermittent and remittent fevers of which they are the cause." — DR. NEALE'S Travels.
94 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
sallied forth from his quarters, upon a white horse which he delighted in much, attended only by a few followers ; and killed and wounded the enemy, or put them to flight. One day he killed, with his own hand, thirteen hundred Germans, according to what was related of him by credible persons ; for before him they crouched together, one upon the other. Sometimes he shot from his bow with his right hand ; then he would turn it to his left : at one time he hewed and stabbed with his sword ; then he would fire his musket ; till he had turned his hands to all the instruments of war, with which he was accoutred even below his horse's belly, and had killed all the enemies before him.
When the Aga of the Treasury went to the new Beg, whilst he was besieging the castle, and took with him the Capiji Bashi, who was come from Constan tinople to adjust the affairs of the country on the part of the Sultan, they were vritnesses of these proceedings, and came away astonished at the skill in horse manship, and bravery, of Timotheus. They used to call him (<oUiJj) Welishbaba *. No one was able to hit him with his musket, or with any other weapon ; for he was so powerful in the art of riding, that he crossed like the forked lightning, on the back of his horse. What destruction he dealt among the Poles, both great and small ! With his own hand alone, he killed some thousands of the enemy, according to the statement made to us by his attendants ; who affirmed, that about seven thousand in all had fallen under his slaughterous sword.
Every day were brought to Yassi, to the hospitals and convents, numerous wagons filled with thousands of the wounded ; and round the castle the earth was heaped with the dead bodies of the slain. The guns from the fort above, and the artillery of the Cossacks below, cut off, at the same time, great numbers of the besieging army, and continually routed and dispersed them.
SECT. XXV.
SA TJA O.— TIMOTHEUS.
AT last, one day, when Timotheus was sitting in his tent within the rampart, drinking wine, he was struck on the leg by a cannon-ball, shot by his enemies
* I have not been able to discover the meaning of this Persian or Turkish word, of which I only at the pronunciation.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 95
the Poles, who were come to the assistance of Stephani the new Beg, out of hatred towards Akhmil and his son, and the nation of the Cossacks. Having got a sight of him, they took deliberate aim, and hit him. The wound gave him great pain; and, after some days, he died.
Henceforward the affairs of the Cossacks, both without and within the castle, went to ruin, in consequence of the death of their Prince, or rather their guardian lion ; and those of Vasili were become for ever irretrievable. His Domina, and all about her, were now assailed with sorrow upon sorrow, where none remained to assist or support her.
The interment of Timotheus took place, after they had taken out his entrails and embalmed his body; which they laid in a coffin, covered inside and out with velvet. The melancholy tidings were carried to his father, and to his father-in- law, Vasili. Before he expired, the joyful message was brought him, that his wife had given birth to twin boys. He did not, however, congratulate himself upon the event, not having as yet completed a year from his marriage.
Timotheus had destroyed a convent of Armenians in the fortress of Satjao, and killed the Priests and Monks belonging to it, and all the Armenians who had fled thither for refuge. They were exceeding rich ; and he seized their goods, and all their treasures, of gold and pearls and precious gems, to an immense amount. The gold alone filled two barrels. Alas upon him, and his valour; and his assurance to our Lord the Patriarch, when he came the first time into Moldavia, that he was not come to take the throne of his father-in-law, but to deliver the Great Church from the hands of its enemies ! so that the reader may understand his words.
In the castle, great famine came now upon the Cossacks, and the merchants and others who were collected there ; so that they were even reduced to feed upon the flesh of their horses. On every side, calamity environed them; and no succour reached them, either from Vasili or Akhmil.
Afterwards, from the severity of hunger, they sued to Stephani for peace ; which he granted them, on his solemn oath ; and permitted them to return to their own country in all safety and tranquillity, without interfering with them in any thing. They took with them the coffin of their deceased Prince, their treasures, and their cannon, and departed. Great mourning was made in the country of the Cossacks for their lamented chief.
We ascertained, from persons on whose word confidence could be placed, that, from the beginning of this revolution until now, there had perished by the sword,
QQ TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
of Moldavians, Wallachians, Greeks, Hungarians, Servians, Arabs, and Turks, about one hundred thousand men. The cause of all was this new Beg, who now accepted the surrender of the castle, with all that was in it, on terms of peace. He seized the whole property of Vasili, with all his hoards and treasures of gold and silver, to an incalculable amount ; his armour, wardrobe, trinkets, sables, pearls, and other valuables, more than have been collected by kings and emperors. For when Vasili first moved his property from the fort Khotini to Kamanitsa, there were with him some of our countrymen as his body-guards, who told us, that, from the river-side, he transported it in one hundred wagons, each drawn by twelve, or ten, or eight horses ; and that it was all gold and silver, and rarities. He had a number of hoards under ground, of twenty years' formation, which he now brought out ; and, among them, five-and-thirty sable dresses. Of one of these, some of his personal attendants informed us, that he had made it for the festival of Easter, all of gold brocade, adorned with pearls and gems of great price ; and that he had expended upon it five-and-thirty thousand dinars *, or ducats. All this was over and above the riches which he obtained, in various ways, from the Boyars. This wealth is not to be wondered at, seeing that Vasili had amassed it during four-and-twenty years, from collections which he made wheresoever he went. lie has, besides, still remaining to him, considerable treasures in Poland, Germany, Venice, and other places.
Stephani removed the Domina and her children, with all the Boyars and Archons, from the castle : and though he had taken an oath not to treat them ill, he behaved to them treacherously, and put most of them to death. The Domina and her children he consigned to captivity in a small town, and placed guards around her, to prevent any communication with her. Every thing that was in the castle, he transported into Hungary ; having purchased there a castle, with strong fortifications. To the troops he distributed their pay, and dismissed them.
* ,lx>J or UiJ, according to Golius, means a coiti, particularly of gold; and still more particularly, that which is commonly called a ducat. He derives it from the Arabic verb Jj, applied to express splendor of brightness. It may, however, be the Roman word Denarius, the name of the silver coin, which was at first equal in value to ten pounds of braes ; and at last used in the sense of com in general.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
SECT. XXVI. FA SILL — TARTARS.
Is regard to what passed on the side of Vasili and Akhmil :— As soon as they heard what had befallen Timotheus, and were apprised of the straits to which the Cossacks, with all that were besieged within the castle, were reduced, Akhmil equipped, for the support of Vasili, forty thousand men of his own Cossacks ; and obtained an addition of eight-and-twenty thousand from the Tartars. For the Sultan of Tartary, that is, the Vazir Alkhan, whose name is Sheriff? eg, was an ally of Vasili ; the Domina of the latter being a Circassian, and Sherif Beg having married her sister. He went also himself, in person, to the assistance of Vasili : for the Tartars this year had formed a league with Akhmil.
After they had marched in a body over a part of Moldavia, and had arrived at the river Pruth, which is about fourteen hours distant from Yassi, they met the army of the Cossacks which was returning from the castle, and were informed of its capture : immediately they turned their backs, and began to re trace their steps; " for," said they, " Vasili promised us our pay : his treasures are taken : whence remains to him the power now of giving it us .'" They returned therefore,, immediately, by the road they came.
In the mean time, the news was brought of their arrival, before they had begun their march back ; and all the people of the towns fled from fear of them, and retreated into the deserts and mountains. In Yassi, not an inhabitant remained ; but all set out on their way to Galats : and there prevailed, more and more,, such alarms and terrors, as to exceed all description. Even the convents were abandoned; and we were reduced to the necessity of taking to the road. with the rest of the people ; not knowing what might become of us, nor how long our distresses were likely to last.
Our Lord the Patriarch had sent, a first time, to solicit the Beg, that he would expedite his journey to the north : but the Beg would not suffer him to travel that way, for fear he should be ill used by the Hungarian troops, who were guarding the frontier of Moldavia, and be exposed to the temerity of the Cossacks and Tartars on that side. A second time, he requested to go to Wallachia : the Beg told him to have patience, till he could have a meeting with his Holiness, and had a mass performed for him by his offices. " I will
O
98 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
then," said lie, " dismiss you on your travels, in such a manner as becomes your Holiness; and, if it please God, will render you all the services which you were expecting at the hands of Vasili." Messages and letters to this effect were con tinually coming from him.
In the mean time, all the provisions which had been stored in the monasteries were entirely consumed; excepting only what had been laid up in our convent of St. Saba, on account of its being the dwelling-place of our Lord the Patriarch. For this reason, and under these circumstances, the whole of the merchants quitted all the other convents, and came to us ; until now, when the entire popu lation began to leave the town. To depart with them became necessary, also, for us ; and the Patriarch sent to request the Beg's permission. This he, at length, granted to us in writing, with much difficulty; and sent us, at the same time, a letter for Matthi Beg of Wallachia, whom he called his father. He fur nished us, also, our expenses for the road ; but in a manner suitable to the excessive avariciousness of his character.
The hire of every Arabah, or post-carriage, now came to a piastre or two piastres each stage ; and the posting to Galats, which is only half-way between Yassi and Wallachia, amounted to five-and-twenty piastres, after being only three or four. It was with great difficulty that we found three or four carriages to hire ; and set out from Yassi, on Thursday, the thirteenth of Teshrin the first.
SECT. XXVII.
MOLD A VIA.— ROMAN.
WK passed through Skentai, Vasiludi, and Birlal. Here we separated from the road to Galats ; and suffered fears and alarms, such as God only knows. We came to a market-town, the name of which is Tekoutsli ; and thence crossed the broad and navigable river Serclit, on which we saw some ships.
On Thursday, the twenty-first of Teshrin Alavval, we came to Fokshun (Fokshani). All these towns and villages were deserted, the population having fled to the mountains and deserts ; and the roads were exceeding1 dangerous.
O O
This Fokshan is a large town : in the midst of it is a small river : it is the last
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 90
place on the frontier of Moldavia. Across the river is the first of the Walhi- chian territory.
In Fokshan we staid one-and-thirty days, and there performed the Fast of the Nativity. The reason of our delay was this : the report reached the Beg, that Yassi was deserted, even hy the Monks and Presidents of the monasteries. In excessive anger, particularly against the latter, he instantly sent orders to the frontier, at Galats, and also at Fokshan, that when the Patriarch of Antioch came to them, they should permit him to pass with his attendants, and afford him every facility for his journey ; but not so the strangers who accompanied him.
In this posture of affairs, it became necessary for the Patriarch to go to him at the town of Romanus (Roma?i), which is also a residence of the Begs : for he had never met him, nor seen him yet ; and he wished to do so now, for the sake of the crowds of strangers who followed us.
We therefore repaired to his residence, and took to him, for our fourth pre sent, a pair of Jatma cloaks*; a vessel of myron, or aromatic oil ; and soap of two kinds.
After the mass on the Festival of St. Michael, the Beg gave an entertainment to the Patriarch. Here we attended, also, the Feast of the Chrysostom : on which day they met in large congregations, and the Bishop of the See robed himself in the <£>sXuviov of John the Chrysostom f, as it is his custom to do every year, on the day of his festival. This robe was sent by one of the Patriarchs of Constantinople as a present to Stephani Voivoda the Elder (^Jsi!!), who gave it {'or an inheritance to the said bishopric, to be preserved in the great Monastery of the Parasceve.
In Moldavia there is one Metropolitan, who has under him three Bishops only in that country. One is the Bishop of Romanus. The second is the Bishop of the district called Hosli ; and the third, the Bishop of Ozhnni and its district. He has under him, also, two other Bishops, in the country of the Hun garians, or Majars. Subject to these Bishops are eight hundred priests.
With reference to the Saint's name, John, I learnt, that in the countr of the
*The words are loLa^ J^s"0 ;^>- . If Jvs"° should be written Ls-55, it means a short garment ; tmt of what kind it is to he interpreted, I know not ; nor am I acquainted with the following article of the
Present, JuOu* M U*i.J. - J j
f Here follow the words ,_£ yLloo Jy, apparently intended for Greek. Their meaning I have not been able to conjecture.
100 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
Nemsahs, or Germans, there is a large town, called Ivunopotis, (that is, the City of John,) which is in possession of the identical body of John El Rahoum*.
The circumference of IVIoldavia is eight hundred miles, and its size equal to that of the island of Cyprus. Its population f is innumerable ; although the Tartars are continually making incursions into it, and carrying off its inha bitants. In the time of Vasili, but some five years before he assumed the government, they came on a sudden, and carried away about seventy-five thou sand souls.
W e returned, by an extremely difficult road, from Ilomanus to Fokshan : and departed hence, on Monday the twenty-second of Teshrin Essani, to enter the territory of Wallachia.
The text is pj*.J\ lx=*y_ . I do not recollect having seen any Saint designed by such a title, in any History or Martyrology.
| " The villages throughout the country are principally composed of peasants' huts, all built in the same style and of the same si/e. Tin: walls are of clay, and the roofs thatched with straw ; neither of which are calculated to protect the lodgers from the inclemency of the bad seasons. The irround-floors are, however, occupied as long as the weather will permit ; and in winter they retire to cells under ground, easily kept warm by means of a little fire made of dried dung and some branches of trees ; which at the same time serves for cooking their scanty food. Each family, however numerous, sleeps in one of these subterraneous habitations; men, women, and children, all heaped together; and their respective beds consist of one piece of coarse woollen cloth, which serves in the double capacity of matrass and covering. Notwithstanding their wretched mode of life, and the supposed influence of an ungenial climate, the generality of the peasants are a fine race of people. They have no peculiar turn of features which may be called characteristic : from long intercourse with foreign nations, their blood seems to iiave become a mixture; of many. The Eastern black eye and dark hair, the Russian blue; eye and light hair, the Greek and Roman nose, and those features which distinguish the Tartars, are equally common amongst all the orders of this nation.
" The miseries of famine in Transylvania sometimes cause considerable emigrations of peasants from that vast province, into Wallachia and Moldavia. All the best lands in Transylvania being in the hands of Hungarians, Szecklers, and Saxons, the others, who form the bulk of the population, are driven into hilly and barren situations, where, at all times, they subsist with difficulty; and of late years, the more than ordinary scarcity that prevailed has driven about twenty thousand peasants, subjects of the Emperor, into the dominions of the Hospodars, where the great disproportion between the number of agricultural hands and the extent of arable land renders such emigrations extremely useful."
WILKINSON'S Account of Wallachia and Moldavia.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
PART THE FIRST.
P. 5. " We assisted at the \\ypv-7rvla" or Vigils.]—" By the practice of the Greek Church, as observed in Russia at present, both in Monasteries and Parish Churches, they have service only three times a-day ; theVespers, the Matins, and the Liturgy or Communion. The service of every day, whether it has a Vigil or not, begins in the evening of the preceding day, as among the Jews, and for the same reason as they give ; because it is said, in the Mosaic account of the Creation, " The evening and the morning were the first day." — Dr. Kings Ceremonies of the Greek Church.
P. 5. " At the time of the EiVo5o? "] — E«roSos, Entrance, or Introit. There are two Introits ; the one, when the elements for the Communion are carried from the prothesis, or by-altar, into the church, and so into the altar, at the royal doors, to be set upon the holy table : this is called the Great Introit. The other, called the Little Introit, is when the Gospel is carried from the altar into the church, to be read.
P. 0. " The Patriarch in the Mandya (MavJua)" J — The Mandya is a sort of large cloak or gown, usually made of black stuff.
P. 10. " They mentioned in the proclamation" or Exclamation.] — Exclamation is a sort of doxology at the end of several prayers ; for the most part pronounced by the priest, who then raises his voice to be heard by the whole congregation.
•/ O O
P. 10. " They begin with the Kavcov first."] — A Canon is a series of nine Hymns; but the second Hymn is always omitted : it contains the denunciation of God's anger against the Israelites ; and of these second Hymns, the Canons for the Great Fast are composed.
P. 11. " Go into the sanctuary to take the 'Ai/r/Sajpa."] — The Antidora, or Remunerations, con sisted of the consecrated loaves which were presented at the Offertory : these were given to the people, instead of the holy gifts, i.e. the elements: probably also, in former times, other provisions which had been presented were there shared among and eaten by the people. The present practice is, to distribute the antidora after the dismission.
P. 11. "He performed the ceremony of the 'Ayiaa/moq," or sanctification of water.] — There are two offices for the Benediction or Sanctification of the Water, in the Greek Church.
Culled, in the EuchologlOn, 'AxoAoi/0/« rov pixpov dyiw.crfj.ov, and 'AxoAot/0/a TOV fj.eyu.hov dyiacr/j,ou, The office of the lesser sanctification, and, The office of the great sanctification. The first may be
P
102 ADDITIONAL NOTES.
performed at any time, when there is a want of holy water for baptism, or any other use of the church. The second, the great sanctification, is celebrated in memory of the baptism of Christ; by which the Greeks believe that the nature of all waters is sanctified; and that such virtue remains in them after this ceremony, that those taken in the night, when this service is performed in the church, will remain uncorrupted for years, and be as fresh as water immediately taken from the spring or river. — Dr. King.
P. 15. " The K«0<V/x«T« of the Psalms."] — The Booh of Psalms is divided into twenty portions, called cathisms or sessions : one of these is read at a service, so that the whole is read through in a week ; besides a great many others which arc constantly used as Hymns, in the same manner as the Venitc, exultemus Domino, the Jubilate Deo, &c., in the services of the Church of England. Every cathism is divided into three parts, called OT«<TE/S, stations; at which the Gloria Patri is said, and Allelujah three times, with the reverences. One would imagine from these words, that, according to their original meaning, it was the custom to sit while the cathisms were said, and to stand up when the doxology was suno-. There are also Hymns in the service, called scssoria, or scdilia, as well as the frequent exhortations of the Deacon, So^/«, '0,o0o/, Wisdom, Stand up ; all which seem to suppose the people to be seated at particular times, and not seated at others; though the congregation never sits at present.
P. 15. " Their hlerdvoias" (Inclinations).] — The congregation join in the service, by crossing themselves, and bowing, when the Kvpis iAivvov, that is, "Gospodi pomilui," or " Lord have mercy upon us," is repeated ; and at the beginning and end of each prayer. They cross themselves on the forehead first, then on the breast, then on the right shoulder, and then on the left, thereby making the sign of the cross ; and with the thumb, the first, and the middle finger bent together, by the three fingers signify the Trinity. These are called the inclinations or reverences : the great inclinations, or reverences, are made by prostrating them selves so low as to beat their forehead against the ground.
P. 15. " May your years be many!'"'] — UoAA« T« srn — Multi sint anni ! is a short concluding ejaculation, imploring many years of happiness for the Sovereign, the Imperial Family, &c.
P. 16. " After the "Optipov (Matins')."] — The several services, according to the Monkish in stitution, are, 1°. The Vespers, which used to be celebrated a little before sun-set. 2°. The After-vespers, which answer to the Complctorium or Complines of the Latin Church, and used to be celebrated before the Monks had supped, before they retired to bed. 3°. The Meso- nyction, or midnight-service, at midnight. 4°. The Matins, at break of day, or twilight : in the Latin Church there are also Lauds. 5°. The first hour of prayer, or Prima, at sun- rise. 6°. The third hour, or Tcrtia, at the third hour of the day. 7°. The sixth hour, or Sexta, at noon. 8°. The ninth hour, or Nona, in the afternoon, at the ninth hour of the day. These are called the Canonical Hours. The After-vespers were not added till a late period; before which, the reason for the number of services being seven, was because David says, " Seven
ADDITIONAL NOTES. 103
times a-day will I praise thee." However, not contented with even eight, the service was performed twelve times in the day and night : for there is a service called '^Isywotov, or the Mid-hour, which was celebrated between the canonical hours.
P. 17. " 2o0/« ( Wisdom)"] — Xo<^«, and Zo^<«, 6p0oi: Wisdom, and Wisdom, stand up; are exclamations very frequently used in the service; and are designed to excite the attention of the people to some important ceremony then to be performed, or to give ear to something- then to be read : for which reason it is always repeated before the Gospel, the Introits, &c.
P. 18. "As to the ElxcovoffraffK;."] — The Ikonostas is the screen which separates the altar, prothesis, and vestry, from the church, and on which the holy pictures are painted or hung. The idea of this separation seems to have come from the sanctum sanctorum of the Jewish Temple : it is considered as the most sacred part of the church, into which the priesthood only is permitted to enter : there are even express canons to prohibit women going into them. This screen has three doors, the middle one of which is called the royal door. On the north side of the royal door the picture of the Virgin is always placed, and that of Jesus on the south; next to which is that of the Saint to whom the church is dedicated: the situation of the rest is indifferent. Candles or lamps are usually suspended before the images of Jesus and the Virgin and several others, and sometimes kept perpetually burning.
P. 18. "A vest resembling the <bs\uvtov,"] — The Phclonion is said to have taken its name, and, some would have it, its fashion too, from St. Paul's cloak, which he calls ^>«<AOV»K, phacloncs, (alitcr <pai^6\^, penula;) though interpreters are not well agreed whether that word signifies a garment, or a kind of scrip or bag to put papers in. This vestment is made without sleeves, and falls round the body like a petticoat, except when the priest has occasion to use his hands : it is then gathered up before him, with buttons and loops. It is of the richest silk or velvet, embroidered with gold or silver.
P. 18. ''Above the altar, or place of sacrifice"] — The holy table has four small columns, to support a canopy over it; from which u peristcrion, or dove, is suspended, as a symbol of the Holy Ghost: upon the holy table the cross is always laid, and the Gospel, and the pyxis or box, in which a part of the consecrated elements is preserved, for visiting the sick or other purposes. The word altar is used to signify all that space within the ikonostas where the holy table stands, never for the holy table itself.
P. 19. "The "A/x/3cyi/, or pulpit."] — The Ambon is the place where the officiating Minister stands, at particular parts of the service : it is commonly elevated by two or three steps ; and any platform so raised is called an ambon, from a/i/3«<W, to ascend.
P. 22. " The Mosque of the late Sultan Ahmed."] — " The Mosque of Sultan Ahmet is of a magnificent exterior. The founder is said to have expended three aspers upon every
101 ADDITIONAL NOTES.
stone of the edifice, and to have employed his imperial hands upon the work for one hour every Friday. The court which ranges along one side of the At Meidan is shaded with trees, and provided with handsome fountains for the ablutions of the Moslems. The six minarets (a number with which no other mosque is furnished) are tall, for the building ; but their distant appearance is imposing and agreeable. You ascend, by a flight of thirteen marble steps, into a fine vestibule or ambulatory, paved also with marble, and surrounded with an arched cloister of granite colonnades. The interior is surmounted by a dome, much smaller than that of St. Sophia, supported by four gigantic piers. The windows of stained glass are a rich and suitable ornament to the building." — Hobhouses Journey to Constantinople.
P. #•!<. " Then we came and entered the Seraglio"] — " The Seraglio occupies the whole site of what was once Byzantium, and is built at the north-east point of the city. It is protected, on all sides, by strong walls and towers, while two of its sides are additionally defended by the waters of the Strait ; which here encircle, indeed, one of the most luxuriant and glittering gardens of pleasure imagination could paint ; golden palaces and variegated kiosks rising, as if in fairy-land, amidst rows of dark cypresses and bending willows." — Sir Robert Ker Porter's Travels.
P. 24. " The third Tchelli Dash.''} — Now called the Burnt Pillar. Its first appearance, says Sir Robert K. Porter, struck me with a disagreeable impression, from the shape of its pedestal, which looks like the bottom of a water-decanter ; a form very different from the usual grace and proportion of Grecian relics of the kind : and, on inquiry, I found this preposterous base to so noble a shaft had been the work of the Turks ; who had thus dis graced themselves, by deforming one of the finest monuments in their Capital, in the alteration they made of its original shape. The column, which rises from it, is of red porphyry, and divided into successive parts, now numbering six. The five lower ones are each of one solid piece, distinguished from each other by thick projecting wreaths of closely- woven ivy, the sculpture of which is admirable. The upper division is white, and raised in courses of marble ; round the second of which a Greek Inscription is visible ; but at so great a height it seemed scarcely possible to read it. According to Gibbon, this beautiful pillar does not now stand at half its original elevation : he describes its pedestal as twenty feet high. " The column," he adds, " was composed of pieces of porphyry, each ten feet in height, and thirty-three in circumference. On the summit of all stood a colossal statue of Apollo. It was of bronze, and attributed to Phidias." By this computation, its original elevation from the base of the pedestal must have been 120 feet. What at present remains of the porphyry shaft, rises to a height of fifty feet. Its white marble addition appears of more modern date; but at what period it may have replaced the last five stages of por phyry, I do not pretend to say ; though it is not improbable, that, after the terrible earth quake which occurred at Constantinople, A.D. 1150, when, we understand, that Manuel Comnenus repaired this column, he might apply the prodigious iron braces which
ADDITIONAL NOTES. JOo
strengthen it ; and also raise the marble superstructure from the point where it is likely the column may have broken off during the convulsion of the elements, overturning itself, with the famous statue of Apollo on its summit ; to which later ages had given the mortal name of Constantino. The situation of this magnificent relic of antiquity is said to mark the center of the ancient Forum, on one of the seven hills of the ancient city.
P. 21. " The Avrct Bazaar, or the Woman Market"^ — A district so called, from being the situation in which the Yesir Khan, or Slave Hall, formerly stood. The edifice now appro priated to the horrid trafh'e in slaves, " where the loveliest women are bought and sold like cattle," is in a different part of the city : and as it is permitted to be entered by no Frank travellers, but those of the Medical Profession, and rarely by any of them, T will subjoin the account of it, which my friend Mr. Madden, whom I had the pleasure to meet in Egypt, was enabled to give, by a professional visit.
:i The slave-bazaar is a large quadrangular court-yard; with a shed running along a range of narrow cells on the ground-floor; and a gallery overhead, which goes round the building: on the second stage there are chambers likewise, but these are reserved for the Greeks and Georgians. Below are the black women of Darfur and Sennaar, and the copper-coloured beauties of Abyssinia. The latter are remarkable for the symmetry of their forms as well as features: they commonly sell for one hundred and fifty dollars (301.), while the black women seldom fetch more than eighty dollars (161.) The poor Greek women are huddled together : I saw seven or eight in one dungeon, stretched on the floor, some dressed in the remnants of former finery, some half naked : some were from Scio, and others from Ipsara : they had nothing in common, but despair ; all of them looked pale and sickly ; and all appeared to be pining after the homes they were never to see again, and the friends they were never more to meet. Sickness and sorrow had impaired their looks ; but still they were spectres of beauty, and the melancholy stillness of their apartment was sadly contrasted with the roars of merriment which proceeded from the cells of the negro women. No scene of human wretchedness can equal this : the girl who might have adorned her native village— whose innocence, perhaps, had been the only care of a doating mother— whose playfulness, perhaps, had been the only solace of a fond father, and whose beauty might have been the theme of many a village rival— was here subjected to the caprice of every licentious purchaser, who chose to thrust his hand into her bosom to ascertain her condition, £c." — Maddens Letters from Turkey.
P. 31. " Yedi Kutlch, or the Seven Toivers."}—" The prison of the Seven Towers, an edifice where misery alone awaits its inmates. This gloomy castle is evidently a remnant of the original fortifications of the city. When I say original, I do not mean that the whole is of the age of Constantine ; but as the science of war underwent so few material changes,
O
until the invention of gunpowder, the style of fortifying places necessarily remained in much the same stationary state: therefore 1 do not conceive that the old mural defences of this city, so easily traceable round its whole extent, differ in scarcely any respect from
106 ADDITIONAL NOTES.
the plan of their first founder. This prison forms the south-west angle of the town ; and its walls and towers present a very distinguished object from a distance, being considerably higher than the general line of fortification.— Sir Robert Ker Porter.
P. S3. " JBosphorus."] — "The banks of this 'enchanted current' are still, as in the days of Europa, covered with flowers, and arc the resort of beautiful nymphs ; for the villas of all the richest inhabitants of Constantinople extend for miles along the water's edge, affording the most delicious retreats from the tainted atmosphere of those bazaars and bezestens, in which the jewellers and merchants carry on their daily traffic." — Dr. Ncale's Travels.
P. 33. " This BoghaZ) or throat of the Black Sea."} — In our progress up the Bosphorus, writes Sir R. K. Porter, the European side displayed an almost uninterrupted chain of buildings, stretching to within a few miles of the Black Sea. They were interspersed with palaces belonging to the Sultan, others the property of a sister of the late sovereign, and various costly mansions, the summer residences of opulent persons, both Turks and Christians. These country-houses of the monarch are usually white, gaily painted in arabesque, heightened with gold. Those of his Ottoman subjects are generally of a dusky red ; while the Armenians, however wealthy they may be, are obliged to live within gloomy walls, black as coffins. The fine verdant back-grounds, giving relief to these variegated edifices, present terraced gardens rising even to the very tops of the hills ; whose grace fully undulating line, thus clothed in fruits and flowers, breaks occasionally into beautiful little vales, then, swelling again, runs on till it joins the romantic wildness of the Cyanean rocks. Still, when you compare the European shore with the diversified beauty and grandeur of the Asiatic coast, it becomes tame and monotonous. There you see hills and forests, rocks and fortresses ; some near the water's edge, others at a distance, crowning the boldest heights. In some parts we descried groves and villages ; in others, palaces also of the Grand Signor, vineyards and gardens. Beyond, stretch the more mountainous hills ; and of the highest is pointed out, by name, the Giant's Bed ; no doubt the Bed of Hercules, of Classic writers. Lower down you see successive ancient sites of renown, mingled with other old, though comparatively modern, foundations. One, towards the mouth of the Canal, is very striking, being the ruins of a Genoese fortress ; the style of its military archi tecture shewing its date amongst the Greek Emperors. At that time it must have formed an impregnable defence ; but since the introduction of gunpowder, these walls and towers having proved of little use, works more suitable to the present system of warfare have been constructed near it. These two fortifications, ancient and modern, are answered, on the European side, by castles, supposed to stand on the same ground which had sustained the Temple of Jupiter Serapis ; while the Genoese fortress on the Asiatic bank is said to cover the remains of the corresponding Temple of Jupiter Urius.
P. 37. " On board a Ca'ik."] — "In all excursions around this city, the stranger can
ADDITIONAL NOTES. 107
avail himself of the beautiful pyramidias or wherries, which, to the number of 6000, cover the harbour of the Bosphorus, and ply for fares like the gondolas of Venice. These boats, which in form and lightness resemble the Indian canoes, being pointed at both extremities, are beautifully carved, and richly gilt : the keels are sharp; and they are so narrow in their beams, that you are obliged to recline in the 'stern sheets' to prevent their upsetting. The handles of the oars are shaped like skittles, and heavy enough to balance the other extremities: they ply upon a single thole with a grummet; and the boatmen use them so dexterously, that 1 have frequently been rowed from Pera to Terapia, a distance of ten miles, against the current, within the hour. The sailing-boats, called Kerlanyuishcs, or Swallows, flit along the surface of the water almost with the rapidity of the birds whose name they bear. It was in such boats that, formerly, the Cossacks of the Don and Dnieper used to cross the Black Sea, plundering the villages on the banks of the Bosphorus. and insulting even the Capital. One instance of this kind occurred in 1623, during the reign of Murad the Fourth; when these pirates arrived in a little fleet of one hundred and fifty boats ; and not meeting any effectual resistance, continued their depredations for several days. It was to prevent a repetition of such aggressions, that the Grand Signer first ordered two castles to be constructed at the mouth of the Black Sea, against which the Ambassador of Poland protested, as an act contrary to the capitulations of peace then concluded." — Dr. Neales Travels.
P. 40. " Robed in his 'E7r<T,o«^>yA<oi/."] — The Epitrachdion is a tippet, which the priest wears over his neck, whence it has its name. It is always joined together, having a place to put his head through. It is generally made of brocade, or rich silk: and the priest is obliged to wear it whenever he performs any office of the church.
P. 40. "And /«£ 'Q/xo^opioi/."]— .The Omophorion was formerly made of sheep's wool; and is mystical of the lost sheep, i. e. human-nature, which Christ the Good Shepherd sought and bore on his shoulders, for which reason it is so worn. Instead of being of sheep's wool, it is at present made of silk, or any other materials.
P. 44. " Monfts of the c'Av<ov "Opo?, or Holy Mountain:']— Mount Athos, a high mountain in Macedonia, near the Gulph of Contessa : there is a ridge of mountains, called "Ayiov "Opog, or Monte Santo, on which stand four-and-twenty Monasteries of Greek Monks, who are reckoned not less than four thousand in number. This is the mountain which the celebrated Mace donian architect, Dimocrates, proposed to Alexander the Great to cut into the figure of a man, holding in one hand a city, and in the other a basin to receive all its rivers in their course to the sea.
P. 44. " They rang the brazen bells."]— Bells are now always used in Russia, and the chiming them is looked upon as essential to the service : the length of the time of chiming signifies to the public the degree of sanctity in the day : every church, therefore, is furnished with
108 ADDITIONAL NOTES.
them. Thev are fastened immoveably to the beams that support them, and are rung by a rope tied to the clapper; which is, perhaps, a mark of their antiquity in that country; our method of ringing being more artificial. Bells are supposed to have been invented at Nola in Campania, whence they are called, in Latin, Nola-, and Company. They were not introduced into the Church till the ninth century. In the Russian Church there is a ceremony of consecrating and baptizing them ; which seems to have come from the West, having been first used by John XIII., who christened the great bell of the Lateran church by his own name. As the same custom of christening bells prevailed in England before the Reformation, so the Tom of Christ Church, Oxford, and the Tom of Lincoln, still retain their names. Before the invention and use of bells, there were many different methods of giving public signals for calling the people to church ; sometimes by the sound of a trumpet, which was used by the Egyptian Monks ; in other places, a Monk went round to give notice to the rest: but the most common way seems to have been by sounding instruments of wood, as they are called by Bona (De Reb. Liturg.j; which I take to have been no other than boards, against which a man struck with a mallet or hammer, as is still the custom in most churches in Greece: and in Russia, the watchmen use these boards to strike the hours of the night, instead of calling them. — Dr. Kings Ceremonies of the Greek Church.
P. 46. " The domain of the Beg of Moldavia"}— " The Principality of Moldavia, with that of Wallachia, commonly called the Two Principalities, composed the greatest part of the ancient Dacia. Bounded to the northward by the Austrian provinces of Temeswar, Tran sylvania, and Bukovina, and from the Russian empire by the river Pruth, they are separated by the Danube from the wholly Turkish government of Bulgaria. The Dacians, originally a Scythian people, were a simple and warlike race, living and fighting under their native Princes, till finally subdued to the Roman arms by the Emperor Trajan. That conqueror, instead of demolishing cities, enlarged and augmented them ; increasing the population of the country by colonies from the West, who brought the arts of Rome to the new dominions of its emperor. Towards the end of the fourth century, this province embraced the Christian religion, and almost ever since it has been the leading faith of its people. In the thirteenth century the then existing independent Princes of Wallachia and Moldavia assumed the Slavonic title of Voivode, which means Sovereign Prince ; but in the middle of the fifteenth century, the former submitted to the conquering arms of Mahomed II., and became tributary to the Turks ; and about a hundred years afterwards, Moldavia allowed the interference of the Porte in its concerns, under the reign of Soleiman I., to whom the Boyars made a merit of necessity, and sought his protection by way of avoiding his attacks. Both countries, however, continued generally to be governed by their native lords, till the close of the seventeenth century." — Sir Robert Ker Porter.
" La Moldavie a pour ses confins du coste d'Orient le Pont-Euxin, autrement dit la mer Majeur ou Noire ; du coste d'Occident elle est bornee de la Transsilvanie, et des nionts Carpetens ; au midy elle est separee de la Valachie par la riviere de Sirette : et du coste de Septentrion la Moldavie est distinguee de la Podolie, par le fleuve de Niestre. Et se
ADDITIONAL NOTES. 10!)
trouvc que tout ce pays conticnt environ six vingts lieue's Francoises de longueur, et cent dix lieues de largeur. II y a une autre riviere appellee la Prute, qui divise la Moldavie en deux parties presquc esgalles, dont le coste (jui tend vers le Septentrion s'appelle la haute, et celuy qui est plus Meridional, est dit la basse Moldavie, qui sont comme deux provinces, ausquelles le Prince a de coustume de mettre deux Gouverneurs particuliers, appellez en langue du pays Vuornices. La principale ville de la Principaute en laquelle le Prince, on Vayvode, tient ordinairement sa Cour, se nomine Yas, qui n'est distante de la riviere cle Prute que de demie lieue, elle n'est enceinte d'aucunes murailles, non plus que les autres citez, et villes du pais : de sorte que quiconque est maistre de la campagne, dispose facile- ment de tout 1'Estat a sa volonte. C'est en ceste ville d'Yas que le Metropolit Grec tient son siege, la religion et croyance duquel n'est beaucoup differente de la Catholique et Ro- maine, sinon en quelques ceremonies et aussi qu'il ne recognoist pour superieur nostre sainct Pere le Pape, ains le Patriarche de Constantinople, d'ou vient que ceux de la religion Grecque ne sont aucunement contraires et n'empeschent 1'exercice de la Religion Catholique en Moldavie, veu mesmes qu'en la Cite de Codnard il y a un Evesque, et des Religieux de 1'ordre Sainct Francois, qui administrent les sacrernents, an defaut d'autres Pasteurs,
Les campagnes de la Moldavie sont fort grasses, et en plusieurs endroits arrousees de belles fontaines et ruisseaux, qui les rendent tres-fertiles en bled, froment, orges, avoynes, millets et foings, qui est cause que les habitans du plat pays nourrissent grande quantite de bestail de toutes especes, et mesmes des buffles ou chevaux, a la culture de la terre, ce qui est vraysemblablement la cause pour laquelle il y aux armes du pays une teste de bufhV courronee, comme anciennement les Egyptiens s'approprierent du bceuf, qu'ils appelloient Atis, et qu'ils reveroient a cause de son utilite. On void aussi en ce mesme pays quantite de coustaux fort agreables, et si abondans en vins, que non seulement la Moldavie en est suffisamment fournie, mais encores ou en transporte en Podolie, et autres pays circonvoi- sins, et ne puis obmettre qu'il se recueille du vin pres de la ville de Vasseloye, qui est situee en la haute Moldavie, lequel s'enflame tout ainsi que de bonne eau de Vie; dont la raison est, a mon advis, qu'il se rencontre en cest endroit quelques veines de terres ensouffrees, et neantmoins les habitans du pays en usent aussi librement que d'autre, sans que leur san te en soit aucunement alteree. Entre les Moldaves, il ne se remarque principalement que trois sortes de professions, assavoir les Boers ou Boyars, qui sont les nobles, portant les armes, et dcmeurent ordinairement en la campagne : les autres sont ou laboureurs, ou Marchands. Quant aux Ecclesiastiques, il y en a fort peu, et point du tout d'Officiers de Justice, aussi n'y a-t'il point de procez, car ils ont ceste loiiable coustume de vuider leurs differends par 1'advis de leurs amis, ou par le jugement du Vayvode, auquel ils obeyssent. comme a un Oracle. Ce qui rendoit ce peuple infiniment heureux, et tranquile avant leurs derniers troubles.
" Pour ce qui concerne le gouvernement, avant que la Moldavie se fut sousmise a la domination du Turc, elle estoit paisiblement regie par un Due, ou Prince qui s'appelloit Hospodar, a present Vayvode, qui signifie Gouverneur, ou Baillif, lequel estoit prins et choisi d'entre les Boers ; Et au moyen de 1'estroitte alliance que les Moldaves avoient avec
Q
110 ADDITIONAL NOTES.
le Roy cle Pologne, ils se maintenoient centre toutes sortes d'ennemis ; Mais depuis que le Dragon insatiable, et ennemy jure de la Chrestiente a estendu ses grifFes et sa domination sur cux, il leur a donne tel Prince que bon luy a semble, ou plustost a ses avares Bachats, qui sont d'ordinaire pratiques par les dons immenses de ceux qui aspirent a ccste princi- paute, d'oii sont principalement procedez les troubles derniers de la Moldavia."— Histoire de* dcrniers Troubles de Moldavie : sur les Memoires de loppecourt. Paris, \6L20.
P. 47. " Our travelling was more rapid than the flight of a bird."'] — " Living, like the Tartars, as much on horseback as on foot, the Moldavians inherit the strongest affection for that admirable quadruped; talking, soothing, whistling, or hallooing to their horses, by starts, during their long and rapid journeys. The moment the postillions have vaulted on their backs, they wave their long whips, like slingers, around their heads, and giving a loud whoop, the animals set off at full speed, over hill and dale, through bog and mire, regardless of the weakness of the carriage-springs, the precipices on the sides of the roads, or the lack of courage in the devoted traveller. 'Ever and anon' the postillions turn round their faces with a grin, as if in quest of an applauding look; and again urge on their way with increased vigour. If one of their horses gives up, they turn him adrift from their long rope-harness, and drive on with the remainder ; for one can be easily spared out of six or eight, their common number. The discarded animal is left with his two fore-legs fettered, to prevent his straying; and on their return they pick him up from the fields. On stopping, they imitate the Tartars in wringing, in winter probably to prevent their being frost-bitten, and in summer to ascertain the vigour of the animal. When approaching the Post stations, those on the look-out give the word, and two or three men run off to the uplands, to collect the horses grazing on the steppes, which they drive down with the smack of their whips, like a pack of fox-hounds. The post-master selects the requisite number; and the rest are then permitted to gallop back, in liberty, to their extensive pastures." — Dr. Nccdes Travels.
P. 49. " The city of Yash, or Yassi."] — Yassi is a well-built city, intermingled with gardens and planted courts ; which, in the usual style of these Eastern towns, much extend its dimensions, and add greatly to its pleasantness and air of grandeur. It possesses between sixty and seventy churches; and the Metropolitan Cathedral is a very imposing structure. It is dedicated to St. Stephen. Within, all is gloom, and painted legends of Saints, male and female ; while it boasts one particular shrine of great notoriety — that of a holy virgin, called Parasceve, whose remains are inclosed in a silver coffin, and worshipped by trains of pilgrims, coming every year to invoke her influence.— Sir Robert Ker Porter.
P. 50. " The Church of St. Saba"} — " The word 'church' is used to signify either the society or congregation of Christians, or the buildings and places set apart for divine worship. It is a matter of great difficulty to ascertain at what time Christians first had buildings designated for their public worship, or in what places they were first permitted. The earliest accounts we have, especially those in the New Testament, intimate that they
ADDITIONAL NOTES.
only assembled in private houses, or from home to house. .- the natural progress was, that in some house a particular room was appropriated to this purpose ; and it is probable the persecutions, which so soon arose, obliged them to be very cautious of meeting even there : but when Christianity was received and encouraged by the rich, and protected by the State, public edifices arose for this purpose : it is, however, the opinion of many learned men, particularly of Suiccrus (in his Thesaur. Eccles. ad vocem N«o5,) that this did not happen during the three first centuries, as they have shewn from the authority of Origen, Minu- tius Felix, Arnobius, and Lactantius.
When places were appropriated to religious worship, they were distinguished by a variety of names, both in the East and West; and frequently authors expressed them by some peculiar paraphrase of their own. 'ExxA^/«, which, with a little variation, is the French Eghse, and ^xxA^/ocar^ov, are often used indiscriminately ; though sometimes the former signified the assembly of Christians, and the latter the place where they assembled. One of the earliest names is Oratory, or House of Prayer, -KpomvxTfaov, and oko? E£XT^»OS, which names were afterwards confined to chapels in private families. The Latins called the church Dominicum, or domus Del, God's House; which answers to the Greek TUvpta^v, whence the Saxons derived their name Kyrik, or Kyrch ; and the Scotch and English, Kyrk, and Church. Tertullian called it domus Columbte. The word Temple, which was not used during the three first ages, was brought in after the Heathen temples were converted into churches for the worship of the True God."— Dr. King.
P. 58. "Books in their own language"} — La Moldavia et la Valachie ctoicnt anciennement une Colonie Romaine. On y parlc encore aujourd'hui un latin corrumpu, et ce langage se nomme Roumie, larigue Romaine. Ces provinces malheureuses sous le joug altier des Remains, gemissent aujourd'hui sous le poids d'une oppression bien plus cruelle et bien plus humiliante, puisqu'elles sont ravagces par des subalternes revctus d'une autorite precaire et momentanee.—Memoires du Baron de Tolt.
P. 59. " The description of the churches"}— " The Greek churches of Russia at this time are, in general, stately edifices, usually of brick or wood ; and many of the former, especially in the capital and in chief towns, are handsome buildings, though commonly overloaded with decorations, according to the style of their architecture. Their forms are diverse ; some are built in the form of a cross, and some are nearly square : there is always a large dome, with a cross, at the top : some are of opinion that the most ancient fashion is with five domes with crosses, but 1 cannot think it probable. Some churches have a crescent under the cross; for when the Tartars, to whom Muscovy was subjected two hundred years, converted any of the churches into mosques for the use of their own religion, they fixed the crescent, the badge of Mahometanism, upon them : and when the Grand Duke I wan Basilowich had delivered his country from the Tartar yoke, and restored these edifices to the Christian worship, he left the crescent remaining, and planted the cross upon it as a mark of its victory over its enemy. The cupolas are generally covered with plates of iron,
HI, ADDITIONAL NOTES.
either white, or painted green, and the ornaments gilt ; and some churches have the whole domes entirely gilt on the outside, which has a fine effect. Over the door of the church, ind over the gates of the church-yard, are hung the picture of the Saint to whom the church is dedicated, and many others : to these the people bow, and cross themselves, before they enter ; and even in passing them on the road they seldom omit this mark of respect." — Dr. King.
P. 62. " By their intercession."]—" The Invocation of Saints, which is a doctrine alike received in the Greek and Roman Communion, is generally allowed to have arisen from the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, as established by the Councils of the Church: for men »eem to have had a difficulty to conceive that Jesus is the supreme, omnipotent, ever lasting God, and at the same time the Mediator between the Almighty Being and mankind, that is", between himself and mankind : and thence they fell into the notion of other inter cessors and mediators. It is in this view they pay a secondary adoration to the Virgin Mary, to the twelve Apostles, and to a vast number of Saints, with which the Greek Ka- lendar abounds ; but they deny that they adore these as believing them to be Gods. The primary object of all religious worship is, undoubtedly, the Supreme Being; and the homage paid the others is only a respect, as they define it, due to those who are cleansed from original sin, and admitted to minister to the Deity; thinking it more modest and more available to apply to them to intercede with God, than to address themselves imme diately to the Almighty. Thus, as to the object of worship, they assert, that they are clearly distinguished from idolaters, notwithstanding their offering prayers and burning incense to their Saints.
" The Greek Church admits the use of pictures, to instruct the ignorant, and to assist the devotion of others by those sensible representations ; nor do they herein think them selves guilty of any breach of the Second Commandment, as to the manner of worship : not only because they say these pictures are used merely as remembrances of the Saints, to whom their respect is directed ; but because the design of Moses, according to them, in prohibiting the making and worshipping graven images, was merely to prohibit worshipping the idols of the Gentiles, which the Gentiles believed to be gods ; whereas they admit no graven images, but pictures only, upon which the name of the Saint represented must always be inscribed. The doctors of this Church, indeed, would willingly allow no picture or representation whatever of God the Father : for the figure of the Ancient of Days, from Daniel's Vision, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure ivool, is by them interpreted to be the Second Person of the Trinity, who so appeared to the Prophet, Yet it must be confessed, that the common practice is so contrary to their opinions, that, in a great number of churches, as well ancient as modern, this figure and Jesus and the dove are painted together, to signify the Trinity: nay, there is now, in the church of St. Nicholas at Petersbourg, a picture of an old man holding a globe, and surrounded with angels, on which GOD THE FATHEK is inscribed." — Dr. King.
ADDITIONAL NOTES. 1 1,J
P. 65. " The Prayers were c/taunted."] — No musical instruments are admitted in the Greek Church, which were certainly unknown in the Christian Church for many ages. It is generally agreed by learned men, that the use of organs came into the church since the time of Thomas Aquinas, in the year 1^50; for he has these words: " Our Church does not use musical instruments, as harps and psalteries, to praise God withal, that she may not seem to judaize."
P. 65. " For the repast of more than a thousand men,"] — St. John Chrysostom, in one of his Homilies, gives the following description of this custom : " When all the faithful met together, and had heard the sermon and prayers, and received the communion, they did not immediately return home upon the breaking up of the assembly ; but the rich and wealthy brought meat and provisions from their own houses, and called the poor, and made a common table, a common dinner, a common banquet in the church. And so from this fellowship in eating, and the reverence of the place, they were all strictly united in charity one with another, and much pleasure and profit arose thence to them all ; for the poor were comforted, and the rich reaped the fruits of their benevolence, both from those whom they fed, and from God." — Dr. Kings Ceremonies of the Greek Church.
P. 66. " A large apple, ivhick they call Vasiliko."] — " The fruit-trees which are the most common in Moldavia and Wallachia are, the apple, one of which appears natural to the climate ; it bears, without culture, a fruit called domniasca, which is perhaps the finest in Europe, both for size, odour, and flavour : the pear, the plum, the cherry, the peach, the service, the walnut, and the hazel-nut, come to great perfection, with little culture. The climate is however unfavourable to the growth both of the olive and the fig-tree. The wood-strawberry is everywhere to be met with, and the air is perfumed with wild flowers and aromatic herbs. Asparagus is the natural produce of the soil: the mushrooms are plentiful, and of excellent quality : the cucumbers, the melons, and water-melons, form a chief article of food to the common people : the cabbage spreads to an enormous size ; and the Jerusalem artichoke, yer elmasi (pomme de terre) thrives and is propagated with little labour or attention." — Thorntons Ottoman Empire.
P. 67. " Then I said, Ev\6yti<roi> AtWora, Give a blessing, Sir."] — The Benediction is a cere mony very frequently repeated in the service : it can be given by no one of inferior order to a Priest, who waves his right hand in the sign of the cross, having the thumb and the fourth finger bent together; and the others so disposed, as is imagined to express the Greek letters of the name of Jesus Christ ; saying, EuAoyij-ro? o Oeos n^v, *• r. \. " Blessed be our God, always, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages !" or some other ejaculatory sentence, according to the occasion ; and often without any ejaculation at all. — Dr. King.
P. 71. " The iron clock in the Ejfendi Convent."] — The natural day was Canonically divided into twenty-four hours, and twelve of them were reckoned from sun-rise to sun-set ; the other twelve, from sun-set to sun-rise; consequently, they were of unequal lengths, according
Ill ADDITIONAL NOTES.
to the season of the year. The first hour, or Prima, was reckoned as soon as the sun was risen ; the third hour, mid-way between sun-rise and noon ; the sixth hour, always at noon ; and the ninth hour, mid- way between noon and sun-set. As the intervals from one Canonical hour to another were thought too long to be unemployed in prayer, the four services of the mid-hours were appointed, and take their names from the first, third, £e.
P. 85. " The (j'irl's Convent."] — " Yassi is surrounded by hills of the greatest beauty, which afford the finest situations for Country-seats, but which, in most instances, are occu pied by Monasteries." — Thorntons Ottoman Empire.
P. 92. " The opening of the year of the world"] — The Ecclesiastical Year in Russia begins, as it does throughout the jurisdiction of the Greek Church, on the first day of September, about the Autumnal Equinox ; as it is well known the Civil Year did also, till the alteration of the style by Peter the Great : the vulgar reason given for it being, that God most probably created the world at that season when the fruits of the earth were in perfection. So ignorant were they of Geography, says a French Writer, as not to be aware, when it is Mid summer in one part of the globe, it is the opposite season in another. The epoch they used to reckon from was the Creation of the World ; from which, to the Birth of Christ, they counted 5508 years. — Dr. King.
P. 9G. " With all the Boyars"] — Doyar is a Slavonian word, the comparative of Great, and is the general title of Nobleman ; but does not designate any order of nobility.
" Les Boyards representent avec beaucoup de morgue les Grands du pays ; mais ils ne sont en effet que des proprietaires assez riches, et des vexateurs tres cruels ; rarement ils vivent dans une bonne intelligence avec leur Prince ; leurs intrigues se tournent presque toujours centre lui ; Constantinople est le foyer de leurs manoeuvres. C'est la que chaque parti porte ses plaintes et son argent, et le Sultan Serasker de Bessarabie est toujours le refuge des Boyards que la Porte croit devoir sacrifier a sa tranquillite. La sauvc garde du Prince Tartare assure 1'impunite du Boyard, sa protection le retablit souvent, mais il faut toujours que cette protection soit payee." — Memoires du Baron de Tott.
P. 99. " In Moldavia there is one Metropolitan"] — " The Principalities have each their Metropolite. The preferment to that dignity in Wallachia is in the gift of the Prince, or Hospodar of the Province, as are also the other Bishoprics ; and he derives income from a share in the revenues of these clergy. But the Metropolite of Moldavia is elected by the native Nobility ; though he pays part of his receipts to the Prince, in the same manner with the sister-state. Both Principalities abound in Monasteries, founded, as in Catholic coun tries, by the donations of pious Boyars in former times." — Sir Robert Ker Porter.
END OF PART THE FIRST.
PART THE SECOND. WALLACHIA, MOLDAVIA,
AND THE
COUNTRY OF THE COSSACKS.
BOOK III. WALLACHIA.
SECT. I.
RAMINKO.—B 0 TZA .—TORGHISHT.
E NTERIXG Wallachia, we came to a large market-town, called Raminko : and thence we reached a considerable city, Botza by name, where a Bishop holds his residence, in an episcopal palace, containing a magnificent convent of stone, and a stone-built church, of great size and elevation, with a high tower and lofty cupolas. This church is adorned with a grand Crucifixion, and is dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady. We here assisted at the 'Ayg>yflWa, and afterwards at the mass of the Feast of St. Catherine. Their forms of service, and their singing, are admirable ; for the Christians of the province of Wallachia are truly good and religious. Whenever we were about to enter a village or a market- town, the Priesthood, Grandees, and common people came out to meet our Lord the Patriarch, and to receive his blessing : then they took us to the banquet, where we received their visits ; and after staying a little while, we resumed our march. This is indeed a populous country; and every farmer's station is as large as a village, supplying a reception to strangers. It is very different from Moldavia ; where, when the Patriarch entered the abode of any of the inhabitants, not one of them came to stand before him, nor treated him to a cake of bread ; than whom, even the Tartars are more religious. For this reason, so many thousands of them have been slain, and their crops and cattle carried off by the Tartars and Hungarians. How much tyranny did they not endure under the reign of Vasili ! to whom they so often proved treacherous ; inclining to their new Sovereign, who flattered them with smiles, and promised them that he would
R
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
<Tant them, for three years of his reign, an entire immunity from taxes and seizures : but as soon as he became master, and had subdued all the forts, his heart was hardened against them, and he immediately sent to them his tax- gatherers and governors, and took from them one-third of their rents : so that they came to sigh for Vasili again, and for Vasili's government.
To return : — As soon as we approached the City of TORGHISHT, which is the winter residence of the Beg of Wallachia, there came out to meet our Lord the Patriarch, Kyr Ignatius, the Metropolitan of the town, an old and venerable man, acquainted with the Turkish, Persian, Greek, and Wallachian Languages. Into his beautiful coach the Patriarch mounted ; and they both entered the city, which is surrounded by walls of wood, raised by Matthi, the new Beg. The town is very large ; and is washed, on all sides, by numerous streams of water. The Grandees also came out to meet him ; and conducted us to a convent, built of stone by Vasili Beg, at the time that peace was made between him and the aforesaid Matthi Beg the Wallachian, as a proof and confirmation of friend ship. It bears the name of the Divine Manifestation ; but, in their language, is known as the Convent of Stalia. It is large, and has a stone-wall inclosure. On our approach to it, they struck the bells in the tower; and entering the church, they formed a large congregation. There we alighted. The church is very magnificent and lofty, and has two elegant cupolas with many crosses ; for the gilding alone of which, it is said that seven hundred Venetian ducats were required. Its Iconostasis of Russian workmanship is very splendid ; and it has
three doors.
Our entry into Torghisht was on Tuesday the twenty-ninth of Teshrin the second. In the evening, they struck the bells on account of the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle ; and in this country of Wallachia they prolong the cere mony of the mass more than in Moldavia,
It is to be noted, that on the eve of every distinguished Festival, or KaraXtxns, they strike all the bells, and assemble in great numbers to mass. On these days it was always the custom of Matthi Beg to make a T^<«, or Banquet, for the Clergy and Monks, and the poor people of the town, and strangers; and after the repast, there was distributed to each of them an alms.
On the Festival of St. Nicholas they formed a large congregation ; and the Beg sent his coach for our Lord the Patriarch, and we went to the Church of the Corta, where the Patriarch performed mass, together with Kyr Ghafril, Chief of the Bishops of Servia, and with the Metropolitan of Wallachia ; with three crowns, and three ^kJ ; and all gave their blessing simultaneously. At the
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 1 19
"Af/ov iffriv, the Beg came down, and stood at his throne : and after they had presented to him the Brole*, and to all his Grandees,, as usual, and afterwards the royal Salika, or boiled meat, we ascended to the banquet, until evening ; when robes of honour were distributed to all of us, and we returned in the coach to our monastery.
In the same manner they do on the Eve of the Festival of St. Ignatius, preceding the Feast of the Nativity : and on the day of the festival it is their custom, in this country of Wallachia, to slaughter sacrifices of hogs, which they hang up for the holidays or U^aj , and their cries reached the firmament.
And now our Lord the Patriarch had a meeting with Matthi Beg, after he had sent for him to his palace in his coach ; and he welcomed him much. After we had offered him the acceptance of our gifts, our Lord the Patriarch presented to him a fine piece of the side of St. Philip the Apostle, and then a vessel of new ointment. But the Beg had taken to heart our having gone first to visit his enemy, Vasili Voivoda.
It should be noted, that the Beg appointed us, every week, two Guardsmen GJ^) °f the rank of Serjeants, for they wore red cloth; who came on Monday morning to wait on us, splitting our wood, lighting our fires, scaling our fish, washing the kitchen utensils, and fetching our rations of meat and drink, until Saturday evening ; when they departed, on being presented, by our Lord the Patriarch, with a douceur ; and others came, in the usual course.
The Beg soon began to love the Patriarch exceedingly. And on the day of the HagufAovr] of the Nativity he sent to arouse his troops, that were quartered in the city, by beat of drum round the town, which is the signal for their assembling ; and they collected round his palace, with their banners. Mounting his coach, he came out to them ; and they beat the large instruments before him, and behind him the drums, accompanied with the sound of flutes and fifes ; for such is the custom with the Begs of Moldavia and Wallachia, in imitation of the Turk : and they sallied forth to the hunt. For in the whole of this country, as far as the Country of the Cossacks, and to Moscow, in every house of a Chief Priest or Grandee, there is sure to be found a quantity of bears and other animals for sport. This hunt has been usual, from the most ancient time, on the TIctgafAov}] or Eve of the Nativity, and on the Saturday of Light ; and it has been customary on the festival, that the meats served up on the Sovereign's table, for the dinner, should be of his own chase. The military attendants were
12Q TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
more than ten thousand men,, all chosen from the most heroic and bravest youth of Servia and Bulgaria; from the Arnaouts, Greeks, Hungarians, Turks, and Wallachians. In the evening, they returned with an immense booty ; being followed, in due time, by wagons full of game ; consisting of wild-boars, hares, foxes, and sporting bears ; and wild fowls, such as cranes, woodcocks, doves, and so forth.
The Grandees of State in Moldavia and Wallachia have a custom of presenting to the Beg, three days before the festival, festive-offerings, each according to his rank ; and the Beg, on the morning of the solemnity, clothes them in robes of honour.
As to the order of Prayer on the Eve of the Nativity, they conducted it after the manner of the service at Constantinople. After they had struck the bells, they entered the church in the early part of the afternoon, and did not leave it till evening. All their Reading and Prayers were performed with a delightful chaunt.
It is to be observed, that it is their custom, in this country, on the Eve of Christmas, for all the Priests of the different towns, with the strangers among them, and the Reading-boys and Choristers, to assemble in bands, carrying the images ; and to circulate through the town, during the whole night, on a visit to the houses of the Government Officers, to wish them joy on the festival. Their first TloXwfcgoviov is to the Beg : their second was to our Lord the Patriarch, accompanied by a prayer of congratulation. First, they go to the house of the Chief of the Priesthood ; then to the Beg ; all for the sake of a gift : and in like manner they came to our Patriarch. Thus they went about the whole night, singing a Christmas Carol. Each person kissed the image which they presented, and made them a gift : and as soon as they were gone, others came, from the fall of evening till day-break. In like manner did the musical-instrument players, and the drummers, fluters, and fifers ; going round, in bands, the whole night of Christmas Eve, and the night after, with lanterns, to the houses of the great men of the State ; then to the house of the Chief Priest ; and to the Patriarch who may be present, as I said before. Most of the musicians are from the country of the Turks.
On the morning of Saturday, the Feast of the Nativity, we assisted at the "OgQgov, in the Church of the Monastery. At mass-time, the Beg sent his coach, and we went to the Cathedral.
We were much surprised at the multitude of the troops in Wallachia : they make tribes and tribes. At the same time, there are, in this country, thousands
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 121
of houses for the sale of wine and spirits, beer, &c. ; and all the military drink : hut we never saw, on any of the four days, either intoxication among them, or wounds, or murder, or any wicked act ; on the contrary, they were walking sober and upright, or sitting like persons in their full senses. What becomes, then, of the saying in our country, that the Christians expend in drunkenness, and making themselves mad, whatever bounty they receive from their Sove reigns,, who are ignorant how to govern their estates?
SECT. II.
TORGHISHT.— THE CORTA.
THE Corta of the Beg of Wallachia is large, and is surrounded by a stone wall. On one side of it flows a river of water ; and within it is a magnificent Church, of great dimensions, to which you ascend by steps. It consists of three divisions. The exterior part is an arcade, constituting the outer Na^f : then you enter a second gate, to the second apartment, where are the Tombs of the Begs : lastly, you enter the third gate, to the main level of the church, which is extensive, and has the appearance of great antiquity : its cupolas are lofty ; and it is furnished with seats, or stalls, all round. In the middle of this Corta is a huge tower of stone, very high, and used as the beacon for the town clock. Here is a numerous guard of soldiers ; who, in the evening, beat a drum, after the manner of the Khalilia with us, to forbid and put a stop to walking by night. They also burn there a large light ; and as long as the flame is kept up, no one dares to move about the streets. In the morning, they again beat the drum ; and, having extinguished the light, they discharge guns, so as to be heard by every person in the town, as a signal for the circulation of the people. Should they find any one going about during the night, the Lord have mercy on him ! for the guards are sure to put him to death. Where then is the truth of what we say in our country, that the Christians know not how to govern, or regu late their police ?
The Beg's throne in the church is high, and gilt with gold. Behind it art- steps, leading up to a secret place ; where the Domina takes her station, attended by her train of veiled domestics. Hence is a passage to the Council-chamber of the Beg ; and most of the ascents and descents have their landing here. From the enclosure, also, where are the Tombs of the Begs, is a passage leading up to this same spot. On the top of all is a balcony, which serves for an observa-
122 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
tory ; where, on the Dominical feasts, and other festivals of obligation, the Beg was used to stand and look down below on the soldiery and poor people, and to throw silver among them at different times, laughing at the strife and pressure with which they scrambled for the coin. This custom he never neglected : and when he went down to the church to pray, there were always stationed some guards at the doors, with arms ; and, except his Grandees, no persons were present, or allowed to stand near him.
It should be remarked, that, in Moldavia and Wallachia, no one is allowed, by established usage, nor would dare, to seal a letter with red wax ; as it is a privi lege reserved for the Beg alone. The rest all seal with green.
And now our Lord the Patriarch performed mass before a large congre gation : but the Beg, by reason of his old age, had not strength to stand from the beginning of the mass to the end. He used to come down at the "A£iov Iffriv, with the Bostenik walking before him with his silver stick. Behind his chair stood the Spatar, belt with his sword, and holding in one hand a massive club, in the other the Beg's calpac : for it is the custom of the Begs of Wallachia to stand from the beginning to the end of the Prayer with their heads uncovered ; as also before the Head of the Clergy, or the Patriarch. But Vasili Beg did not take off his calpac much. At the Kavovi&ov, he went down to kiss the images ; and, after the mass, our Lord the Patriarch presented to him the 'Avr$«f a, and to all his Grandees. Then we went forth, to pray at the tomb of the Domina, his wife, who was lately deceased, and buried in the Cemetery of the Begs, which we have before mentioned. Returning, we prayed over the dish of royal boiled meat; and all present partook of it, as also of a beautiful cake, which they distributed to them in like manner. Then our Lord the Patriarch gave his blessing to the Beg, who immediately ascended the stair case. In the mean time, the Patriarch went out in his Mav^y'a, accompanied by the Metropolitan of the town, and the rest of the Clergy and Grandees in attendance, to wait the appearance of the Beg on the high balcony : and when he threw the money, according to custom, to the soldiery and the poor, the Patriarch blessed him, as before. Then they took us up, by the staircase out of the church, to the Beg's apartments, to the banquet. On this occasion, the great men of the State vested themselves in their royal robes of honour, as is the princely custom on the great festivals, and on this day stood and served at the table from first to last. This they always do on the Feasts of the Nati vity and the Circumcision, and the Feast of the Immersion and of the Passover : but on the day after the feast they sit at table with him, and others wait
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
on them, as in the usual course of the year. And whenever a tray of dishes was carried from the kitchen to the eating-room above, the drums were beat, and the trumpets sounded, amid the shrill cry of the pipes and fifes : as also every time the Beg drank, the trumpets again sounded ; and they fired three guns, till the very earth trembled. In this way they continued until evening ; the Beg sitting with his head uncovered, and drinking frequent draughts out of large goblets which held an oka of wine. First, three bumpers were served to each, in honour of the Festival ; 2dly, three more, in honour of the Patriarch ; 3dly and 4thly, and more and more and more bumpers, in the name of the Beg. No one was excused from drinking, on any account ; as each was acquainted with the custom, that every person who sits down to table with the Beg must quaff his cups in this manner till the lights are placed, the appearance of which is a signal for departure : but usually, then, the Beg distributed robes of honour to the heads of the Clergy, and to the Abbots of the Beg's own Convents, who were in the habit of sitting at his table. And, first, to the Patriarch who may be present, he gives a robe of velvet : in like manner he gives, also, to the Metropo litan of the city, who attends at his table regularly throughout the year ; for no one but he says grace at the Prince's meals. To the rest of the Heads of Convents present he gave robes of satin of various prices. To the ordinary Priests, and to us the Deacons, he distributed vests of Scio silk. For the rest of the Clergy and the Monks, and the poor persons of the multitude, they set a large table apart ; and, at the end of their meal, they distributed to them silver pieces, wrapped in handkerchiefs. Such was the order of observance on every Dominical feast.
Under the Metropolitan of Wallachia are two Bishops: one is the Bishop of Botza, whom we have already mentioned ; the other of Kimniko the Larger. Wallachia contains about four hundred convents, magnificently built of stone ; all the Presidents of which, together with the Bishops, are in the practice of coming before the Festival of the Nativity, and of bringing a small present to the Beg, of victims, wine and fruit, £c., and wish him joy of the feast ; and they remain till after the Immersion, living at the tables he sets for them, and on his gifts : then they depart home. In like manner they wait on the Beg at Easter; and on Thursday of the Ascension ; the Metropolitan Church being dedicated under that title, as \ve shall soon have occasion to mention.
To resume our narrative : — In the evening we returned, in the coach, to our convent, with a file of Sakams and Dharrabs before and behind, armed with lances, swords, &c. Round the carriage were the Beg's pioneers ; and his
124 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
singers, with their pupils, the children of the household, who chaunted and sang from the palace to the convent. They all received a present,, according to custom ; and after the Sakams had discharged their muskets, they retired.
It may be remarked,, that in these two countries of Moldavia and Wallachia on the Eve of the Circumcision, all the Grandees of State, the Governors, and Barcalams or Sohashis, and all the Officers of the Divan of every decree, wait on the Beg, and throw down before him the ensigns of their dignity, whether it be a sword, a mace, a silver stick, a silver hanger, or any other weapon ; and retire. In the night, the Beg sends an appointment, or a dismissal : and he who is raised in rank has an ensign sent him, with a robe of honour; as he has, also, who retains his former station : but the person whom the Beg wishes to dismiss has nothing sent him ; and this is a sign of his dismissal. For from year to year there is no rise to office, or descent from it, except at the Feast of the Circum cision, on the first day of the year ; when all attend, early in the morning, at church, according to their daily custom of assisting at the "OgQgov : thence they go out to congratulate the Beg on the festival, and kiss his right-hand. After mass, they wait at table on this day, until the evening, clothed in their robes of honour : on the morrow they sit with him at the banquet ; and others wait, who are accustomed to perform that duty throughout the year. At this time, also, they send him presents, each in proportion to his rank. The Domina, also, the wife of the Beg, bestows robes of honour on their wives and daughters ; and they return presents, in like manner.
On this occasion of the Feast of the Circumcision, our Lord the Patriarch celebrated for the Beg the mass rov Bcurihiax; ; and they afterwards ascended together to the Banquetting-room, where was a greater assemblage than even on the Day of the Nativity. With the quaffing of the brimful goblets, the firing of the guns, and the shrill tuning of the musical wind-instruments, there was, towards evening, a distribution of robes. Afterwards, we returned to our convent in the coach, attended by the Sakams, the Dharrabs, the pioneers, and the singers ; who grasped their fee, as usual, and withdrew.
TRAVELS OF MACAIUUS. 125
SECT. III.
TORGHISHT. — FEAST OF THE IMMERSION.
ON the Eve of the Immersion,, they observed the same ceremonies as on the Mivti of the Nativity, and recited the usual prayers over the water,, in all the churches.
It may be noted, that, in all the Christian countries, the Priests, at the begin ning of every month, make an 'Ayiarpog in every church, and go round to sprinkle the houses, for the sake of the gratuity ; and in this country of Walla- chia, in particular, the number of the industrious Clericals is great.
On this Feast of the Immersion are assembled here, from all parts of Wal- lachia and the adjoining countries, thousands of Conventual Abbots, and Priests, and Monks, and Deacons ; with the Metropolitan of Tirnova, who is accustomed to attend, and other Metropolitans; wrho never fail on this service, attracted by the hope of the gratuity, and hasten from year to year to the ceremony. It is this : — After the prayer over the water in the evening, they fill their pitchers and buckets with it, and, clothing themselves in their <E>£Aov;a, they take crosses in their hands, and walk first to the palace of the Beg, whom they sprinkle, each in his turn and separately, and receive from him a liberal gift. Then they come to the Metropolitan of the town ; and go round to all the houses of the State Ministers and of the richest inhabitants, to asperge them. They came also to our Patriarch, through the whole night, singing and chaunting psalms ; and he took the hyssop, and sprinkled the house in the form of a cross, and himself and all present : then he kissed the cross, and threw them a gift into their vessels. In the same manner, the band of musicians, with their drums and fifes and pipes, and flaming torches, paraded through the town this whole night, and also the night following the festival, to serenade the Grandees of the State ; and came also to us, to compliment our Lord the Patriarch, who made them a present. They were all Turks, and considered it an honour to be admitted to our presence. The greatness of the assemblage here in Wallachia, and their exultation on this Feast of the Immersion, are not equalled, even at the Courts of the greatest Princes of Christendom, to judge by what we saw and heard.
On the morning of the Feast of the Immersion, we attended the "Ogtigov, in the Church of the Convent ; and, at mass time, the Beg sent his coach for
S
126 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
the Patriarch ; and set forward in great pomp, the troops being drawn up right and left from the convent to the palace, and displaying their crossed banners ; as also within the palace : and whenever they fired their muskets, the smoke did not roll along the ground, but rose above their heads. The whole number of the troops, as we afterwards heard, was about one hundred thousand ; for the Beg of Wallachia keeps in his pay about one hundred and fifty thousand ; as this territory is covered with an immense population ; and every fugitive from the country of the Turks comes to settle on his domain, where great gain is to be acquired. Nearly the whole of these troops are sure to assemble on this Feast of the Immersion, and at Easter.
Then we entered the church ; and our Lord the Patriarch vested his robes together with the Metropolitan, and with Kyr Ghafriyil the Head of the Bishops of Servia, the Chiefs of the Conventual Abbots, &c. Each of them held in his hand a veiled cross, and they came and stood by their chairs. And now they brought great loads of tapers, which they distributed among the congregation : afterwards they erected, in the middle of the church, a kind of large table, on which they placed the carpets (^UL), then the large cups, and, lastly, the silver basin filled with water, and a large box full of the reliques of the Saints, from which they took out the right-hand of St. Michael, Bishop of Sonada, with the right-hand of St. Marina, enchased in pure gold. At this moment the Beg came down, and stood at his throne ; and the Spatar took hold of a large taper covered with gilt ; and two others such they set in the candlesticks on each side. Immediately, the Patriarch descended, and prayed over the water* : and at the conclusion we went to the outside of the church, for the
* " I shall describe one more Religious Ceremony, named, The ' Blessing of the Waters ;' and which is observed, annually, on the morning of the 6th of January, O. S.
" On this occasion, after divine service in the Chapel of the Winter Palace, the Emperor, accompa nied by the various Members of the Imperial Family, the Clergy, and different Public Functionaries, repairs, in grand procession, to the Neva ; where a large and splendid Pavilion, decorated with paintings from subjects in Holy Writ, is erected over an opening cut through the ice.
" The order of procession is as follows : — First come the Choir, singing appropriate hymns, and fol lowed by the Archbishops, Bishops, and Inferior Clergy ; the former habited in richly-embroidered robes, with their episcopal mitres on their heads, beset with pearls and brilliants, and wearing also the splendid crosses of the Orders of St. Alexander Nefsky and St. Vladimir. This whole body of Priests, with their long white beards, makes a remarkably venerable appearance. Next in the procession is the Emperor, attended by his Officers of State ; and followed by the Grand Dukes, and a numerous train of the Nobility.
: " On entering the Pavilion, the Emperor and his Court uncover their heads ; and, notwithstanding the intense severity of the weather, remain in this state throughout the ceremony. The whole now
arrange
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Patriarch to dip the cross in the river. The procession was formed of the standard-bearers first, with their ensigns and banners surmounted with crosses, walking two and twro : then came the torch-bearers ; then the Priests in couples ; and after them our Lord the Patriarch, with the Metropolitan. As soon as the Patriarch was advanced to the bank of the river, with the cross in his hand, he found the water frozen ; for there was a severe frost that morning, sufficient to make the stones crack. It had been the custom, formerly, to pray over the water in the middle of the Corta : but as the Beg was an old man, and the cold so intense, they recited the Prayers inside. And now they broke the ice for the Patriarch ; and he plunged the cross in the water three times, whilst they chaimted a certain hymn. After this, all the people filled their pitchers from the river ; and the Priests dipped a great number of children in it, where the ice was broken. Some few of them were frozen to death ; and we were grieved to hear the crying of the infants, in consequence of their sufferings from the water, and the intensity of the frost. As for us, our eyes were blinded with standing bare-headed ; and for many days we were afflicted with pains in our ears, and deafness. Then they returned ; and we re-entered the church ; and the Patriarch sprinkled the four sides of the building, and the Tabernacle : then he approached the Beg, and sprinkled him. At the moment that the Beg kissed the cross, a signal was made to the troops ; and they discharged all their muskets, so that the air thundered, and we feared the church would fall down upon us ; and our ears were deafened. Then he sprinkled the rest of the
arrange themselves in their respective situations, and the Archbishop proceeds to bestow his benedic tion on the waters of the river. A cupfull is taken from it, with which he, in succession, sprinkles the Emperor, his Brothers, and the whole party ; each respectfully kissing his hand, on receiving the holy fluid.
" The procession now returns to the Palace, in the same order as before, amidst salutes of cannon from the Fortress ; after which, a splendid breakfast is partaken of.
" In Catherine the Second's time, the Ladies of the Court used to join in the ceremony: they now, however, in consequence of the severe cold, merely witness the procession from the windows of the Palace.
" The crowds which assemble on this occasion are immense : and such is the opinion entertained, by all classes, from the palace to the cottage, of the virtues of the blessed water, that thousands of vessels-full are taken from the river, to be reserved as a panacea against every disorder to which the human body is incidental. Nay, notwithstanding the rigour of the season, numberless mothers take their infants to be baptized in the river : and I have been informed, that, on such occasions, the hands of the officiating Priest have sometimes been so benumbed by cold, that the child has been known to slip through his fingers ; when the current has immediately, and irretrievably, carried it under the ice. In this case, the mother readily consoles herself, in the firm belief, that an infant thus drowned, in holy water, goes the shortest way to heaven." — HOLMAN'S Travels in Russia, Turkey, &c. Vol. I. p. 162.
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Grandees present. You might have seen them, like the flowers of the spring, in their bright-coloured clothes ; and all enveloped in furs, which they consider an indispensable mark of wealth. Afterwards, we went forth to the outside of the church ; where they set two chairs before the door, on the loftiest spot ; one of which the Beg occupied, the other our Lord the Patriarch. On each side, right and left, the Priests took their station. Then they brought the Beg's noblest and most valuable steeds, in their richest trappings of gold brocade, set with pearls and precious stones, a delight to the beholder ; and the Patriarch threw water on them, one by one, to the number of about twenty, and sprinkled them ; and these were the proper stud of the Beg, each of the value of one thousand dinars. At the end of all, came a groom, mounted on a small mule, and another riding an ass, for the sake of exciting the mirth and laughter of the spectators. And after he had sprinkled them, we went in to mass : whence we ascended to the banquet. On this day there was a larger assembly, and more splendid than on the preceding festivals ; and the repast was celebrated with drinking of bumpers, with the clang of the musical instruments, the beat of drums, the tuning of fifes and pipes, and the discharge of muskets and field- pieces ; and the joy and exultation were great. In the evening, robes were distributed to us, as usual ; and we returned in the coach, surrounded by the pioneers, and the Sakams and Dharrabs, who fired their muskets as they went along, whilst the singers chaunted until we arrived at the convent. Here they received their gratuity, and departed, leaving us deafened with their noise.
On the morning of Saturday, the second day of the festival, all the musicians and drummers and fifers, both Turks and Wallachians, went round to every house of the rich, and played and beat their instruments : and they came to wish the Patriarch joy of the solemnity, and prayed for his prosperity; and after we had made them a present, they departed. In like manner, the Sakams, and other Officers of the army, came to pay their compliments, and fired their muskets ; and receiving their fee, they departed. This went on, without inter mission, till evening.
It should be remarked, that all the Great Men of the Wallachian Government are extremely religious ; and every morning throughout the year they go to the Church of the Corta, and assist at the "OgOgov : afterwards, they go up to the Beg, and form a Divan for sentences and judgments : then they descend to mass ; and do not leave the church till near mid-day, to attend the Beg, and go to their dinners. This is their course of life, from one year's end to the other.
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SECT. IV.
TORGHISHT.— CHURCHES.— EPISCOPAL PA LACES.
IN this city of Torghisht are more than eighty churches and convents, mostly built of stone. It is a large town, of the class of Aleppo and Damascus. Matthi Beg had raised a wooden wall all round it ; and sunk a ditch, with vast labour. We were told, that under the Wallachian Government are six and twenty towns like Torghisht. Of the convents, that of Vasili Beg is the handsomest. The Metropolitan Palace of Wallachia is on one side of the town, just within the wall, and is very magnificent. It is surrounded by three enclosures of wood, and consists of three courts. The outer court is for the feeding of geese, ducks, and chickens ; the second, for the stabling of the horses, and the culinary offices : but the third court is a building entirely of stone, and a costly edifice, to which you enter by large gates ; having in front of you the magnificent church, which has no equal in this country, unless it be the Metro politan Church of the Cossacks resembling St. Sophia. So is this church lofty and wide,, raised on many pillars, and very imposing in appearance, on the plan of St. Sophia. It is divided into three parts : the first is the outer Na^f , very spacious, with many cupolas : then you enter, by the second door, to another spacious Na^f , and of some elegance : lastly, you enter, by a third door, to the middle of the church, which is of vast dimensions, with a large cupola spreading over the top, from which is suspended a Xo^o? of great size. It contains three tabernacles, or chapels, very lofty and magnificent. That in the centre is very spacious, and has high stalls around it. The Iconostasis, and the Symbolon, and the crosses, are very grand ; and the candlesticks, of gilt wood, are of the most elegant fashion. The windows around it are many ; and in the cupolas are also windows, all beautified with glazed sashes. The Beg's chair is on the right-hand, as you enter in, at the angle of the door-post. Near it is the chair of the Chief of the Priesthood, at which our Lord the Patriarch always stood : and opposite, in the corner of the other door-post, is another chair, at which stood the Metropolitan of the city. The whole circle of it was furnished with stalls or chairs, and the walls were covered with ancient paintings. The place where the Domina took her station was in the second Na^f, where were chairs for her and her attendants. All round this church are rose-gardens, and beautiful parterres of other flowers, in narrow beds, with latticed palings. In the neighbourhood of the northern Tabernacle is a watering-stone of
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wonderful beauty, of great height, size, and weight. The number of the cupolas of this church, both great and small, is twelve, with twelve gilt crosses. Before the gate is a beautiful fountain of water ; and, likewise, outside the gate of the enclosure is another fountain.
As to the apartments of the Metropolitan, they are towards the east, and very lofty ; and you enter them by a long staircase on the outer pent, raised on arches, and looking towards the church and the court, and over the large garden. All the walls are painted with the wonders of the Creation, both of land and sea ; with the description of Jerusalem and its convents ; with that of the Mountain of God, Tor Sinai, and all its appendages ; with the Holy Mount, and its four-and-twenty convents ; and the sea and all that, distinct and large. Then you enter the first Assembly-room belonging to the Metropolitan, which is long and wide, with an immense table in the middle, and a stove and chimney entirely covered with coloured tiles, and numerous arched windows looking into the large garden. Afterwards you come to a handsome Vestry, of superior elegance, and furnished also with a tiled stove : here are places to hang up the furs and sables, &c. The interior of these apartments is all newly painted with various forms and portraits of the Saints. From this place you enter the Treasury-rooms, where he keeps his vestments and copes, and his crowns called mitres, and his crosiers and silver vessels, &c. Here are hung up the lamps and candlesticks, dipped in gold and silver, and ornamented with gold wire ; bridles, swords, maces, and armoury tools. For when he goes out to meet a Patriarch or a Traveller, he is attended by guards, and his grooms, each of them a young man of high rank, clothed in beautiful garments, with furs and sables, &c. ; and they ride before and behind him. The same may be said of the Metropolitan of the Cossack country.
We remarked, that the women from Constantinople to Moldavia and Wal- lachia wear long robes of woollen cloth, divided down the middle, and reaching to the ground, lined with fur in proportion to their wealth.
To return : — From the Treasury you enter an Assembly-room which has an outer gallery, arched over, and looking into the garden, and in front a fountain of running water. Here the dinner-table is laid, in the summer season ; and from this place you descend into the large garden, which you are not able to see over from one end to the other : it is entirely shaded with large walnut-trees ; and one half is planted with vines and rose-bushes, the other with apple, plum, quince and cherry trees, damascenes, or birds'-hearts, and the like ; green plantations of peas, beans, artichokes, &c.
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The Tower of the Arches is outside the door of the church ; and every one is agreed, that the walls enclosing this palace, with its gardens, contain room suffi cient for a large town. Here all the affairs regarding the Bishoprics and Presi dencies of Convents are transacted : and it is the daily practice of the Metropo litan of this town to go in his coach to the presence of the Beg, and attend the Divan, where they lay the cross and the Gospel before him ; and when the Council breaks up, he goes down to the church, to hear mass ; afterwards he goes up to the Beg and reads prayers, and pronounces a blessing over the banquet. Every thing is in his hand, especially if he be generous and liberal.
Observe, that when the people of this country, whether male or female, come to demand judgment against each other, before the Beg or a Chief Priest, they fall on their knees, and in that posture give utterance to their dis course. The most respectful present which they make to the Beg is a cake of bread.
The Metropolitans of this province have no tax to collect upon the peasan try : but there is a certain sum of money appointed to be paid them annually, by the Clergy who are under their jurisdiction : this is over and above the offerings of Easter, and of other festivals ; the farms, vineyards, orchards, and such like, being possessed in fief by the occupant of this See. And this state of things we observed all the way home, as far as Moscow.
From the time of our entrance into Wallachia, to our departure, all the Grandees used to come to our Lord the Patriarch, to ask his blessing ; and never failed to make him a present, on a tray covered with a napkin, of every thing in season — lemons, oranges, apples, plums, grapes, figs, nuts ; and generally of a loaf of bread ; sometimes of fish, and always, without fail, of a quantity of wine. In the same manner, all their wives visited the Patriarch ; and even the young brides and unspoused maidens came, with their faces uncovered, attended by their maid-servants, in their coaches, and followed by numerous trains of grooms and outriders. They brought gifts of the quality I have just described, asking the Patriarch's blessing, and his absolution. Their ornaments of pearls, and furs and sables, and of the finest shawls, were manifold.
We found, that all the peasantry of this country of Wallachia are exceedingly religious and respectful, and much dread to commit any thing unlawful : this disposition is still more particular in the Lords of opulence ; for they used to come to our Lord the Patriarch, for him to sign with his hand and seal on the letters of the Begs to them in grant of their dignities and fiefs. So, also, writs
132
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of excommunication used to issue from him in decision of judgments, which were staid by no respect of persons. When the common people carried any oppressor before the Patriarch to be excommunicated, they used to run out, for fear ; thinking that excommunication was a burning fire, and dreading to be present at so terrible a punishment. Many of the shopkeepers in the market used to go out from him with tickets of penance imposed, and absolution
granted.
SECT. V.
TORGHISHT.—CLTMA TE.—MA NNERS.
THERE fell this year, from the beginning of the month Canon the Second to the end of the month Adar, a vast quantity of snow, which covered the o-round without intermission, until Easter. Such storms and frost, and cold
o
damps, we had never before seen : even the wine froze in the vessels, and the watery part of the oil (J^.^r As for lemons and eggs, they became like the hardest stones, and were entirely spoiled. You might see, growing down from the roofs of the houses, long sticks of crystal, that is to say, ice, all round; and this was, when, by lighting fire withinside, the snow melted without, and, by the activity of the frost, every drop, as it descended, was turned into ice, till there grew out large rods, which were an object of wonder to the spectators from our
country.
It is worth remark, that the greatest part of the grooms, who have the care of the horses belonging to the Beg and the Grandees of State, are from our country, and from Egypt — Mahometans and Christians. They have also a mul titude of purchased servants of the black slaves, whom they commonly call to by the name of " Arab ! Arab !" They, consequently, think that all the people of our country are black slaves, or stable-grooms; and for this reason we are looked upon with an eye of much contempt by them : so that when we arrived among them, and they beheld the Patriarch, and our style and ceremonies, and observed our eloquent reading of the Greek language, they were much astonished.
In the days of the Carnival, we saw their weddings ; for at this season they marry numerously. The night before the wedding, the bridegroom went about with his friends on horseback the whole night, with drums and pipes, and
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torches, through the streets of the city : the bride, with the girls her companions, sat at the same time in coaches, with musicians behind, and rode through the quarters of the town, without any covering on their heads, as is the fashion of unmarried women. On this day the girls go round, in a ring, about the court of the house, holding each other by the hands, and adorned with various kinds of ornaments. In their hair they wear crowns of gilt pewter and yellow brass ; besides artificial roses, manufactured by the Venetians and Germans, tulip- flowers, jessamin, &c. ; and they dance and sing, as they move around. As soon as the bride has been crowned with the bridegroom in the church, they place on her head a white handkerchief, in token of her having become a married woman. In the evening, the bridegroom goes about with his companions and the musicians, and the bride and the other married women in coaches after him ; and thus they ramble the whole night and day, in merriment, for two or three days. This is their marriage ceremony ; and no eye of envy or perfidy glances on them.
We remarked in this country of Wallachia, that at the season of the Great Carnival they leave off flesh-meat; and apply themselves to the purchase offish, which at this time is frozen, and looks like pieces of wood, but is much harder. They carry it under their arms, like any other dry goods, and made us stare at them with astonishment. The same thing may be seen in every Christian country.
The married women and the girls in Wallachia are spotless and pure, and strictly regular in their conduct. Whoever is known to have done any foul commission, is sent by her husband and banished to a mine of rock-salt, whence there is no escape ; and there the women remain sunk for life.
SECT. VI.
TORGHISHT.— FUNERAL RITES.
As for the ceremony of their funerals* and the interment of their dead, it is similar to what we have related of the funeral observances in Moldavia : but they go to a vast expense. They used to carry our Lord the Patriarch to the house
" As soon as the person has expired, men are hired to read prayers continually over the body, until the period of interment arrives ; and for this purpose, Priests are not necessary : cooks are also put into immediate requisition, to prepare the Funeral Feast. When the melancholy day arrives, the relatives and friends of the deceased, attended by numerous Priests, assemble in the room where the
T body
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of the deceased ; and the bell of the church, where they intended to bury him, was busy ringing from early in the morning to the time of the interment. A multitude of Priests and Deacons and Friars and paupers used to assemble on the occasion ; for in this country is settled an innumerable herd of foreign Priests and Deacons, who flock to such scenes as these. Each came with his Hsgir(>a%faioi> and his Book, and the Deacon with his Sr^a^ov. All the Dea cons present wear their 2r;^;a. Then they distribute tapers to all in attendance, whether Priests or paupers ; and the Archdeacon takes in his hand the censer, and they go out to the Patriarch, saying EuX^/^ov AsWora. The Patriarch takes the censer from him ; and he throws incense round the corpse, whilst he says EyXoy^rog : and the singers now begin to chaunt " Have mercy on us, O God," and the whole Beatitude, to accompany the throw of the incense, in a sweet tone. After incensing the Clergy and the rest of the congregation, and a second time round the body of the deceased, the Patriarch incenses the Deacon, and gives him the censer : then he steps— crossing himself on the forehead, towards the East, three times — near the corpse, and comes and stands in his place. At the time of the First Aofa of the Beatitude, the Archdeacon used to say, with the replenished censer in his hand, " Have mercy on us, () God," £c., and also, "We pray for the sake of such a one deceased, that the Lord God cherish his soul" &c. Then our Lord the Patriarch used to say the First Declaration. Afterwards, they began to sing the Second Ao'f a of their Beatitude, " Thy hands formed me, and created me." In the mean time, the Chief of the Clergy, if present, or the Senior Priest, is busy throwing incense round the dead body, then towards our Lord the Patriarch and the rest of the Assistants. Lastly, he incenses the Deacon, and gives him the censer ; and steps forward, crossing himself on the forehead : after which, he retires to his place, where he recites the Second Declaration, before the
body is laid; which is then, after a short prayer, accompanied by the burning of incense, carried in pro cession to the church, when the Funeral Service is performed ; after which, it is conveyed to its last earthly abode. The party now return to the residence of the deceased ; where, after a repetition of prayer and the burning of incense, they sit down to a sumptuous dinner, from which many of them frequently retire in a state of inebriation. This mournful festivity, how ever, is not confined to the higher depart ment of the family; the servants and poor are entertained, with dinner, spirits, tea, &c., in the kitchen and offices; and it is by no means unusual, on the succeeding morning, to find a variety of napkins, knives, spoons, or other articles, missing. On the fourteenth, twentieth, and fortieth days from the decease, a similar dinner is given, and also at the end of the sixth and twelfth month : and, if the friends are opulent, they are expected to send donations of money to the convent, and all the churches, prisons, hospitals, and alms-houses, together with provisions for the three latter ; and which are to be repeated on the various dinner-days above mentioned."— HOLMAN'S Travels, Vol. II. p. 61.
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prayer " Look upon me, and have mercy :" and after the second Deacon has said, " Have mercy on us, O God, according to thy great mercy," £c., the Deacons each said, once, " Have mercy on us, O God/' £c., all round the number pre sent ; and gave the censer to the Priests all round, to each in his station : and they recited Declaration after Declaration.
At the time of the Adoration, our Lord the Patriarch used to go to kiss the images, and cross himself once and twice, and give his blessing to the congrega tion : then he went to stand at his place, after he had read the Gospel over the heads of his people. Then the Priests entered, in their ranks, two and two ; the one on the right, the other on the left ; bowing together, once and twice, till they had all done. Next the Deacons came in ; then the Friars ; and lastly the paupers : and on both sides there were standing some of the relatives of the deceased ; and each time a Priest kissed the image, they gave him a present in a fringed handkerchief, to each according to his dignity ; and in like manner they did to the Deacons and Friars and paupers. After this came in the Grandees, and other persons attending ; and we walked before the corpse to the church : first the whole of the Priests, two and two ; then our Lord the Patriarch, with the bier following him, attended by the inheritors, and the singers, chaunting. And every time they had walked a small distance, they set down the body, and ranged themselves around it : and the Deacon said, holding in his hand the censer, " Have mercy on us, O God," &c. ; and the Patriarch recited the Prayer for the Dead. Then they raised the body, and moved forward; and ceased not to proceed in this manner till they had carried it into the church-yard, to the spot above the grave ; where they lowered it from the bier, and placed it in a coffin lined with red cloth, and buried it : after which they departed.
It deserves remark, that it is the custom with the relatives of the deceased, in this country, for the men to go about bare-headed, for the space of fifteen days ; but the women and girls only let loose their hair. There is no weeping aloud, nor crying : all is sedateness and modesty. At the moment that the Chief Priest or the Minister reads the Gospel over the dead body on the bier, the women come, with the girls, and kneel down under the book, till the Lesson is over : and thus, after all the rest of the attendants have kissed the dead body, and crossed themselves, they come also and perform the same ceremony, weeping modestly.
On the third, ninth, and fortieth day, till the end of the year, they perform for the deceased a Mvtipotrvvov ; and distribute tapers to the Priests who are robed in the church, and to the rest of the Assistants ; and they begin chaunting,
136 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
" Have mercy on me, O God," with the Beatitude, in responses, and the Canon. The first person who threw incense was our Lord the Patriarch : after him the thurible was used by the rest of the Clergy present: and after the Gospel had been read, and gifts had been distributed to the Assistants, every one departed.
A funeral like this will cost a hundred or two hundred gold pieces, more or less. Some, after the funeral, take the attendants to the house of the deceased, to dinner ; or after the MvyifMtrvvov.
On the Eves of the Saturdays of the Carnivals, there was no congregation in memory of the dead, as with us ; and the reason of it is, the multitude of their churches.
On the Monday preceding the Fast from Cheese, early in the morning, most of the wives of the State Grandees came to our Lord the Patriarch, to beg of him that he would read the Prayer of Absolution over them ; and they threw themselves on the ground before him, in their elegant dresses, till he had finished the recital. In like manner did their husbands, until late in the evening.
After the prayer at sun-set, on the eve of the fast, there were no prayers before sleep ; for it is not the custom with them in this country to say them, not even on the Monday nights : but they all attended in the church, from the highest Grandees of State down to the rich shopkeepers £c., with their wives and children : and our Lord the Patriarch descended from his throne, and stood between the candlesticks, in his Uegirguxfaiov and 'CLfM><pogiov : and they all threw themselves on the ground, and he read over them the Prayer of Absolu tion. Then they all received a blessing from him : first, the Chief Priests present; next, the Heads of Convents and the ordinary Clergy, and the Grandees and the rest of the Assistants : as also his Highness the Beg sent, by the Metropolitan of the city, to ask his absolution ; for they had conceived a great veneration for our Lord the Patriarch, as was clearly evident.
During this great Lent, there came to visit the Patriarch a President of a Monastery of the orthodox religion, who was said to be from the Islands of Bri^ tannia* mentioned by John the Chrysostom, from a city called Herwat (e-^yt). And it was said, that in this country there are about twenty-five thousand houses,
* The word in the text (U? W,) cannot, I apprehend, as it stands, be deciphered in any other way than that which I have taken ; and the Archdeacon would thus have erred in the name of the Islands to which he refers, situated on the coast of Illyria, in the Adriatic Sea : but should recourse I a change in the points, the word might then be read ftl^ Porfoitflte, or Porfunoto, the name of the principal of those Islands, now called Veglia.
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all orthodox, whose Governor is from among themselves, and whose language is Servian. The Chief of the Bishops of Servia informed me that they had fled from his country. They are to the south of the country of the Germans, and near to the northern part of the Venetian territory. This person asked to be made a Chief Priest over them, and had letters with him written in their hands : but he was proved to be a liar ; and Matthi Beg immediately sent him to the salt mines. His countrymen were said to have placed their faith in the crosier of the Patriarchs of Antioch, and to hold strongly to their authority.
SECT. VII. TORGHISHT.— LENT.— HOLY WEEK.
DURING this week*, they fasted, and did every thing according to the Ritual observed in Moldavia,, with great punctuality ; and even went beyond it. Thus they did not go out from mass, on the Lent Saturdays, till near noon. On the First Sunday of the Lent, our Lord the Patriarch said mass in the Convent Church ; as also on the Fourth Sunday. On the Eve of Thursday of Penance, which fell in with the Feast of the Forty Martyrs, they struck the bells, and per formed a Vigil throughout the night, after the manner and custom of Vigils in
* " The next morn ushered in Palm Sunday and Passion Week ; the whole of which is, by the Greek Church, devoted to the performance of religious duties ; and held as so rigid a fast, that no religious person will even eat fish, partaking only of sufficient farinaceous food, oil, and vegetables, to support the necessities of nature : nay, some, I am assured, will pass the entire week without eating. The sick and aged, however, are exempt from these observances.
" This season is known by the name of the ' Terrible Week ;' and, while it continues, no shops are allowed to be open, except a few, by express permission, for the sale of provisions. Visiting is gene rally interrupted. I had the honour, however, of dining with two families during the week ; in one of which, the lady of the house, without any apparent reason, begged my pardon. I afterwards learnt, that it is customary, at this time, for individuals to ask forgiveness of their friends for all previous offences, that might have been committed, or imagined to be committed.
" On Good Friday, the people assembled, at two in the afternoon, in the different churches, to wit ness a representation of the Burial of our Saviour.
" On Easter Morning, immediately after the midnight-hour had struck, all the bells in the city, including the great Ivan-Veleki, burst forth their summons to the inhabitants to repair to the different churches, to hear the service preparatory to the supposed Resurrection. Towards the con clusion of the service, the whole congregation, with the Priests at their head, bearing the Cross and incense, and each holding a wax-taper in his hand, march three times, in procession, round the church, as if they were looking for Our Saviour. While this is passing, the Image of Our Saviour is removed from the tomb, where it had been deposited on the Friday, to the front of the altar. After
the
138 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
Moldavia. So on the Eve of Saturday of the Six Lauds, and on the Saturday of Lazarus, they assembled in large congregations. On the day of the Feast of Palms, early in the morning, our Lord the Patriarch distributed to the Assistants twigs of the branches of trees which had shot their leaves, with wild white flowers which they had brought from the fields ; and performed mass on this day also. On Great Wednesday they made a torch for the Beg ; that is, the Me tropolitan of the city, and the Presidents of the Prince's convents, according to custom. On Great, or Holy, Thursday, the Beg sent his coach at break of day ; and we passed to the Church of the Corta, for the ceremonies of ablution and mass. Then we vested and robed our Lord the Patriarch,, as usual : and when they had struck the large bell, he came and stood at his throne, having in front of him the Metropolitan of the town. Then they began, first, to cleanse the vessel of ablution ; afterwards, they set a very long chair before the north choir, for the Priests to sit on. Then they set another small chair before the great candlestick, on the north side, for Judas : for they brought forward a reverend Friar of great age and extremely poor, whose poverty induced him to take on himself this despicable character, as he afterwards received a present from the Beg. His figure, face, and beard, and his filthy cap (<x*jj) falling down on his eyes, dissi pated the melancholy of those who looked on him, by the laughter they excited. Him alone they clothed in a tattered OsXc^oi/, and made him sit on the aforesaid chair. Then they set in the middle a kind of desk, a large table covered with baize ; and arranged on it a silver basin, and a silver ewer with its cover, re-
the lapse of a few minutes, the doors of the Sanctuary arc thrown open ; when the Priests come forth, exclaiming three times, ' Christ is risen !' The people now eagerly advance to kiss the Cross ; at which, each presents the Priest with an egg or a piece of money, whichever suits his means or inclination This concluded, the whole retire to their respective homes.
" At six o'clock, the morning service commences ; when each person brings with him a cake, and a quantity of curds ; the latter made into a pyramidal form, and marked with one or more figures of the Cross. These, at the end of the service, are blessed by the Priest; who either takes off a portion of the cake for himself, or receives a small piece of money in lieu of it. With the consecrated food, the pious Christian then returns home, and enjoys his breakfast: after which, he is at liberty to make any compensation to his stomach which he pleases, for the rigidity of his previous fasting. The lower orders avail themselves so freely of this permission, that the results not unfrequently prove fatal.
" The above is the only service of this happy day ; the remainder of which is devoted to pleasure, and enjoyment of visiting their friends, and driving about the city with every variety of equipage : even the tinker and the tailor sport their carriages on the occasion. The bells are ringing the whole of the day; while groups of people animate the streets, presenting eggs of various kinds and colours to their friends, and saluting them with the joyful tidings of ' Christos voskos ' — 'Christ is risen!' answered by the equally gratulatory response, ' Voustinno voskos ' — ' Truly He is risen !' '''
HOLMAN'S Travels, Vol. I. p. 251.
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sembling a cup, on one side; and others like them, on the other, containing water for ablution. Then came the Metropolitan of the town, with the two Fimaros of the church; and they received from our Lord the Patriarch his assent to go and select the Priests delegated to perform the ablution, who all put on the robes peculiar to the Priesthood ; and the Metropolitan came and stood at his chair, in the north choir. Then the two Fimaros went out from the Tabernacle, with two Priests between them, in their copes, all in a line, walking in one rank up to the Patriarch, to whom they made a respectful obeisance, and then to the Metropo litan. These two they placed, sitting on the long chair, near Judas ; and then they entered the Tabernacle. Afterwards they came with two others, and did in like manner ; seating them on the chair near the preceding, till they had completed five couples, that is, ten persons. The Heads of the Prince's con vents were seated last. Then they brought forward the Bishop of Botza, and made him Peter ; and seated him, last of all, by himself. Then the singers began to chaunt the service of ablution, according to the Ritual, from beginning to end. These singers belonging to the Beg always attended service, either in his church, or at home in his palace : and in the right-hand choir they chaunted in Greek ; on the left, in Wallachian.
Then I began the reading of the Gospel, without the door of the Taber nacle, where they had placed a desk for that purpose, before the candlestick. When I had done, the Patriarch stood up, and put off his vestments ; and they took from him his Sako and 'n^o^/o*. Then he provided himself with a towel; and they girt him with a cotton apron. Having come down from his throne, he began to wash the feet of Judas first; and went on, till he had ended with Peter, to whom he said what is written. When this part of the ceremony was finished, they brought the basin, and set it in its place on the table ; and when the Patriarch had resumed his Sako, he descended from his throne, and, approaching the basin, made the three customary Mtrwoias : then he put his fingers in the water, and signed between his eyes the form of the Cross. Afterwards, the Metropolitan of the city came and did likewise, and all the Priests in attendance, and all the Grandees, two and two, till all had finished. Then I took the basin, and, with the Minister, ascended the steps to the Beg, that he might cross himself from it : on doing which, he made a pre sent to the Minister. After all the Beg's attendants, also, had crossed them selves, we descended ; and they began the mass.
On this occasion, all the Grandees present in the church begged our Lord
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the Patriarch to read over them the Prayer of Absolution ; and they threw themselves on the ground before him, during the recital. It may be remarked, that not one of them ever came to the church without, in the first place, paying their visit to our Lord the Patriarch, and kneeling down to him, and kissing his hand : then each went to stand in his place.
At the "A%tov lo-riv, the Beg came down, and stood at his throne : and at the offering of the cup, he descended to kiss the images ; and entered the Tabernacle, whilst his attendants supported his arms, until he came near to the Patriarch, to receive his blessing. Then he passed to his chair : and all the Grandees came to kiss the images, and to approach the Patriarch for his blessing, in like manner. After this, the Patriarch distributed to them the 'Avr/&yf« ; and we partook of the boiled meat, and the service was concluded. The Beg and they still continued standing at their chairs, till our Lord the Pa triarch entered the Tabernacle, and put oft' his sacerdotal robes ; substituting for them the Ma^Ja, as is the constant practice here ; and then walked out before the Beg to his palace, when he imparted to him his blessing, and to his at tendants. Then we returned to our convent in the afternoon.
On the Eve of Great Friday (Good Friday) they performed great Vigils from the beginning of the evening until the sixth hour of the night, and all was done in a slow chaunt : so also on the Saturday of Lights, which this year fell in with the Feast of the Annunciation, they arose from then* beds whilst there was yet much of night ; and at dawn of day they went out in procession, and paraded the whole town, through all the streets. After we had gone forth from mass on this day, the children ceased not to make a noise with rattles and metal bells, which they continued throughout the night, according to custom : for the people slept not at all on this Eve of the Passover. The boys of every street and district assembled, at their convent, or the church within their parish, and lighted fires in the court-yard ; raising a merry tumult, and playing their rattles, until the sixth hour of the night, when the bells were rung in all the churches and convents, and they began prayers ; except only in the Church of the Corta. After they had performed the ' ' Avd<rra,ffi$ as usual, they left the church yet early in the morning, but returned quickly to perform and assist at mass. After we had attended this early 'Avatrrafftg, the Beg sent his coach, and we rode to the Corta. Then we vested the Patriarch in his sacerdotal robes ; and the Beg came down to the church and stood at his throne, and they blessed him. Then they went out before us to the esplanade of the palace, in
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front of the church ; and they set a chair for the Beg in the centre, with another on the left-hand for our Lord the Patriarch, and one near it for the Metropo litan. On this side stood all the Clergy and Monks in their ranks, and, in a large circle round, all the State Grandees : and you might see, at this moment, a variety of rich dresses of the brightest colours, all edged with sables to a great amount. Then they set a large reading-desk in the middle, covered with baize, with the Gospel laid on it. Afterwards they distributed large tapers to all pre sent : first, to the Beg a gilt taper, which the armour-bearer held ; then to the Patriarch and the Metropolitan. And now the Corta was filled with troops, all armed with cross-spears and muskets. Then I took the censer, and incensed the Patriarch, saying, EyAoy^ov AsWora ; and he took it, and threw incense round the desk and the Gospel, saying Xgitrrog aviffr'/i three times. Then he incensed the Beg, and the Metropolitan, and the Priests, and the rest of the persons present, and came and stood at his chair : and the singers began the appointed Psalms ; then the Canon ; one choir in Greek, the other in Walla- chian. And the Patriarch recited the first Declaration : then the Metropolitan threw incense, standing in his place, and recited the second Declaration. In like manner the Bishops and Great Heads of Convents, till the completion of the Canon, used each the thurible, and each of them recited a Declaration. There was no opening the door, as with us ; for a church cannot contain the forces of a whole nation ; and for this reason the service was performed out of doors. At the end of the Canon, our Lord the Patriarch advanced, and kissed the book of the Gospel ; and he carried it towards the Beg, who came into the middle and knelt down, and kissed the Gospel, with the Patriarch's right-hand : and the Patriarch said to him ILgurrog UVIITTTI, and kissed his forehead three times. At this moment all the troops fired their muskets, so that the ground shook and our ears were deafened. Then he finished the service ; and they brought him his chair, and placed it near the Beg on his right ; and he sat down, holding the Gospel in his hands. And now the Metropolitan came to take a blessing from the Gospel ; and he kissed the Patriarch's hand, saying Xgurrog avi<rrv : then he passed to the Beg, and kissed the Cross, on his right-hand, of pure gold set with pearls and precious stones, and said the same to him : and the Beg kissed his forehead, and he went to sit in his chair on the left of the Beg. Then first came the Bishops, then the Heads of Convents, and the rest of the Clergy and Monks, and kissed the Gospel in the hands of the Patriarch first, then his hand, saying Xgi<rro$ avwrq ; and passed to the Beg, to kiss his cross and breast, saying the like words. Afterwards they went to the Metropolitan, and arranged themselves
U
142 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
near him. And all the Grandees entered according to their rank, and all the rest of the persons present, and did in like manner. It was late in the morning before we finished, and then the Beg went up to his palace.
For our parts, we entered the church, to mass ; during which we read three Gospels : one was read by our Lord the Patriarch, within the Tabernacle, in Greek ; another by the Metropolitan, in Wallachian ; and I read the third, in Arabic. As soon as I had done, I was seized with a fit of the horrors, which continued upon me until evening, caused by the intense cold which prevailed. I went into the Tabernacle, and, taking off my ^ny^^iov, slept in it. Then we went forth to the banquet, I being in the most wretched condition : whilst all the rest were in festivity, I was in trouble and in an ague.
On this day there was a large meeting, and the world was illuminated ; the spring now coming forth with its verdure. The cannon were fired repeatedly, and the muskets were discharged : then was drinking of large bumpers ; then drums, and pipes and fifes, and other musical instruments, were played ; then was singing and masquerading &c. ; and last of all there was a distribution of robes : after which we returned, in the coach, to our convent, attended by the Sakams and the Darrabs who fired their muskets, and the pioneers and singers, who departed, when they had received their fee.
During this week they say mass early in the morning, at break of dawn ; and strike the large bells every morning and evening : and there is no buying or selling, nor opening shops, with the exception of those of the butter-sellers, the butchers, and other victuallers.
It is remarkable, that one of the customs of this country is, that on every Thursday after Easter they perform a Litany and Procession outside the town, round the walls, with the banners and images, and the Priests in their robes, ac companied by the Beg and his troops ; and they become an immense assemblage. This is in honour of the past Holy Thursday, and as an adieu to it; and at the same time an advancing to the reception of Ascension Thursday.
SECT. VIII.
TORGHISIIT.— DEATH OF MATTHI BEG.
FOR the last two years, Matthi Beg of Wallachia had become indolent, being now an old man, and having no strength to go forth at all from the city walls : but on the Thursday in Easter Week he sent to fetch the Patriarch, in his coach ; and we entered the church, and robed. After we had clothed the
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Patriarch in his sacerdotal vestments,, they set the vessel for the holy water on its stand ; and his Holiness made an ' Aytourpog ; with which we went up to the Beg, and sprinkled him. Then we disrobed, and ascended to the banquet : after which the Beg dismissed us with leave of absence, for we had formed the intention of a journey into the interior of the country. We returned therefore to the convent, and hastened to get ready the necessaries for the road. The Beg sent to our Patriarch only the usual present ; as he had become, at his latter end, extremely avaricious ; and loved the Turks and Tartars with vehement affection, so as to bestow all his wealth on them. Every person that came to him from them, he used to clothe in a robe of sables ; hating at the same time the Priests and Monks, and Heads of Convents, who came to him to solicit an alms according to the measure he had appointed them at first ; and sending them away disappointed.
This week the news came that the Emperor of Moscow had sent an Ambassador on his way to him with large presents ; and he immediately sent to turn him back, saying, " Do not let me see his face :" for he hated the whole race of the Cossacks and the Muscovites extremely ; and at the time of the defeat of Vasili and Timotheus the son of Akhmil, he slew of the Cossacks a great slaughter, and made a still greater number prisoners. And when the Aga of the Khazana was coming to him, and he went out to meet him, he cut off the heads of many Cossacks before him, telling him that it was out of hatred to them and love to their persecutors : he sent also by him a number of prisoners, in irons, to the Vazir, to be employed in the gallies. When the Vazir asked them what they were, and they answered " We are Cossacks of the army of Akhmil, and were defeated in Wallachia," he immediately gave them clothes of red woollen, and some money, and sent them awray to their own country, to Akhmil ; because between the Turks and him there existed great friendship, and the intercourse of negotiation had not been interrupted between them. Upon this there arose a great enmity between Akhmil and his Cossacks and Matthi Beg of Wallachia : and when the envoy from Moscow was turned back, it increased more and more ; for which reason the people of Wallachia were all in fear and dread of Akhmil and the Cossacks up to this time, and every day a report was spread, " The Cossacks are come ! they are setting fire to the country." At night they slept not : so that the Emperor's subjects who had been oppressed by him to the utmost and fled from his territory assembled, together with Matthi's troops and all his Grandees, for the purpose of killing him, saying : "How is this ? Since the most ancient times, until now, no Ambassador had ever come hither from our country, and you must needs take this first opportunity to
1 14 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
reject the person sent !" But the Almighty interfered with His providence, and took the Beg to himself; for this week he fell ill of the sickness of death, having become c]uite decrepit, and worn out.
On New, or Low Sunday, our Lord the Patriarch said mass in the Church of the Convent of the Merchants ; and in the morning of the Sunday of the Women (iipux!)*, Matthi Beg of Wallachia breathed his last, having governed three and twenty years. During the first period of his reign he was much devoted to charity and good works ; and his own bounties and foundations alone, in this province, amount to one-hundred-and-fifty convents and churches, magnificently built of stone ; one of which is the Episcopal or Cathedral Church of Botza. Before his breath was departed, Kyr Ignatius, the Metropolitan of the city, came ; and all the Grandees assembled in the first place, and held a council : then they elected, without delay, an Archon, who was called Constantine Efendi- kopulo, that is, of the race of the Efendis the Begs. He was the son of Shraban, who was formerly Voivoda of Wallachia. Then they went forth from the church, to the outside of the palace ; and the Metropolitan ascended to a high place, and said to the people : " Your Efendi is deceased : whom therefore do you wisli that we should raise in his place, to be Governor over you?" The cry of the Grandees, the army, and the whole people, with one voice, was, " We will have none but Constantine, son of Shraban, for Voivoda." And they arose with excited spirits to support their voice : for Constantine' s election to the sove reignty was from God ; many of the State Grandees having seen him, in their sleep, standing at the Beg's chair in the church. This man was previously second Commander of the army, in the time of Matthi Beg.
Matthi had a nephew by his sister, whom he made Mgyaj 2crara^?, or Commander-in-chief of all the troops ; and as long as Matthi lived, his nephew's greatness, and dignity, and pomp were much. We used constantly, whenever he came from his own house to the Corta, to see him attended, before and behind, by more than five or perhaps six hundred troopers ; and in like manner at his departure. This is the person who came with the Walla- chian and Hungarian bands, in company with Stephani Beg of Moldavia, the first time, at the Festival of Easter, when they wished to capture Vasili Voivoda ; for his uncle, Matthi Beg, sent him secretly, in such a manner that not one knew it of the whole body of his Grandees ; who would have put them both to death at once if they had perceived it, and would not have allowed them to move against the state a dwelling evil. At most times, Matthi Beg was desirous
* This is the second Sunday after Easter, called, iii the Greek Calendar, 'H Ki/p<«x»; T v understood.
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to make him Beg in his stead, and employed all kinds of artifices to effect it : but no one would consent to it, either of the Grandees or the peasants, because of the pride of his mind.
This Constantine, the son of Shraban, Voivoda, was under him as second Commander. It is the custom here among the Grandees, that when two of them meet who are of equal rank, they do not take off their calpacks ; but if one is higher in dignity than the other, the inferior personage uncovers. This Constantine used to stand before his Aga, the Commander-in-chief, always with his head covered. One day the Aga scolded him ; saying, " Why do you stand before me without uncovering your head?" He replied, " I am of the blood of the Begs ; but you are a common man, son of such a one : I do not uncover my head before you." The Aga was enraged at this speech, and went and threw down his sword before the Beg his uncle ; who, as soon as he was informed of the whole affair, deposed this Constantine from his rank. He immediately retired to his palaces and estates, which his fathers had built and planted for him in their life-time, in various parts of the province ; and dwelt there until now. When Matthi Beg fell sick, this person came, without any knowledge of the circumstance, to the city of Torghisht, on business ; and what we have described took place on his election to the sovereignty.
As to the aforesaid Chief Commander, the news came to him in the holiday- week that his son was in the agony of death, in a village distant from the city : and whilst he was gone to see him, his uncle died in his absence. This had been the course of events.
SECT. IX.
TORGHISHT.— ELECTION OF CONSTANTINE.
THEN the crier proclaimed through the city, and all the inhabitants assembled and came to the Corta, agreeing, with one voice, in the election of Constantine : who, on hearing the news, was afraid and hid himself : but they sought him out, and brought him forward in spite of his fears. Then they took him into the church ; and the Metropolitan put on the entire sacerdotal dress ; and they in troduced him into the Tabernacle of God ; saying thrice, Kihsvtrov, x&XzvtraTt, x&svo-ov AeWora. Then he bent his knees ; and the Metropolitan said over him the prayer H^^lil viz. " The Grace of God, which at all times cures the diseased and perfects the deficient, has raised our brother Kyr Constantine from the rank of Military Commander, to the exalted rank of Civil Governor of the State.
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Let us now therefore pray for him,, that the grace of the Spirit of all Holiness may come upon him." We exclaimed., three times, "A%iog\ and they chaunted it without the Tabernacle, and within. Then they took off his clothes ; and put on him the royal robes, consisting of an under-vestment of rich brocade, and a coat worn over it of the like stuff lined with furs and sables, and a calpack of the highest-priced sable, with a band of gold set with precious stones of great value and befitting kings. Then they took him up to the chair of the Begs, and seated him there : and they all came and kissed his hand ; first the Metro politan, then the Clergy, and the Heads of Convents present ; next came the Grandees of State one by one, and all the superior officers of the army. It was something wonderful, that, of so many thousands of persons, all were, with one voice, content with him ; and not one said, No. His session on the throne took place in the morning of the Sunday of the Women (s^Jo1), which was the ninth of the month Nisfm. He immediately sent fish, &c. to our Lord the Patriarch, and asked his prayers ; for he had been a friend of ours previously. And after all the rich men and the merchants had been fearing, lest, on the death of Matthi Beg, his troops would plunder the town, the Lord immediately granted to it tranquillity : and all with one voice said, " This blessing of peace is not come to us, but because of the presence of the Patriarch of Antioch among us, and the delay of his journeying away from us until now." We had indeed determined since the Monday after Low Sunday to set out on our travels ; and our deten tion was from God, that we might witness what occurred.
On the morning of Monday after the second Sunday of the Women, the new Beg, Kyr Constantine, sent his coach, and invited our Lord the Patriarch to his palace, with great honour, and a large party of soldiers walking before and behind him with their arms in their hands. Then we took the road of the Corta; and we found the avenues, and the streets, and all the space within the Corta, filled with the military and the people. Then we entered the church, and put on our vestments ; and we robed the Patriarch in his sacerdotal attire, together with the Metropolitan ; and they stood at their chairs. Then the Beg came down, and stood at his chair; and our Lord the Patriarch blessed him as he stood erect, and knelt down to him, and kissed his hand. Matthi Beg knew no language whatever except his own, the Wallachian ; but this man not only knew his own language, the Wallachian, but also the Greek and the Turkish, and also the Hungarian : there was no occasion for an interpreter between him and our Lord the Patriarch : — for during this length of time we had possessed ourselves to the utmost of the Greek Language, by our conversation with its people ; most
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 147
of the inhabitants of Wallachia and Moldavia, and all the merchants, being Greeks. Then all the Grandees assembled in the church,, and the Officers of the Army, the Captains, and the Majors and Colonels, and the other ranks of the Military, in the Corta. And now they set up two reading-desks in the church ; one before the candlestick on the right, the other before that on the left; and adorned them with covers. On each of them they placed the book of the Gospel, gilt and ornamented with a cross of gold. In front of the one on the right stood the Patriarch ; near the other, on the left, stood the Metropolitan.
And now they began to administer an oath to all the Grandees and Ministers of the Corta. Near to each desk stood a TguppuTixog or Writer, attending on the Prelate, and each holding in his hands a written paper. The first who came in were the principal Grandees. All laid their hands on the Gospel and the Cross, and the Scribe read his paper, thus : " You swear on this Holy Gospel and this Venerable Cross, that you will be with Kyr Constantine Voivoda, son of Shraban Voivoda, one heart and one counsel,, obeying him, acting sin cerely with him both in open and in secret, not concealing from him any thing- suitable to be known, as long as he lives, and as long as you live ; and that you will not be treacherous to him, nor act against him." At every word they answered " Yes." " And should you prove treacherous or conspire against him, or be insincere and unfriendly with him, you shall be excommunicated and separated, by the Holy Trinity and the Seven Holy Councils, and by the mouth of our Lord the Patriarch, Kyr Macarius of Antioch ; and what fell upon the Assyrians, and upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and upon Judas and upon Arius, shall fall on you; and your part shall be with Hanan and Cayafa, and the crucifiers of Christ." And they said, " Amen, Amen, Amen," to every clause. Then they all kissed the hand of our Lord the Patriarch ; and afterwards passed on to approach the Beg, who was standing at his chair ; and having kissed his hand and the lappet of his garment, they departed.
In the mean time the Metropolitan was carrying on the like ceremony, and the rest of the Grandees continued to come in ; afterwards the servants of the Beg and of the Corta, and all the children of the Treasury, in their ranks : they all took the oath, with their whole hearts, and with one voice. Then came in the Officers of the Army : first, the Commander-in-chief of the Forces ; then the Aga, that is, the Aga of the Sakams ; next, the Captain ; then the rest of the Captains and Yeuzbashis, and the troops, in their ranks : every Captain came in with his company, and every Yeuzbashi with his squad. At the end, all of them kissed the hand of our Lord the Patriarch, then that of the Beg and the
148 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
hem of his garment, and retired. In this way they continued until the approach of noon : and as yet one wing even of the army (God bless it!) had not come in, before we were overcome with fatigue, and lost our recollection. At last the Almighty granted us relief, and the rest of them were put off till the morrow and following days. For from the moment that the Beg had taken his seat on the throne, they immediately sent the Calarashes, or Messengers, to inform the whole Principality of his elevation ; and you might have seen thousands of persons hastening every day to the Corta, for the space of forty days : and all the Presidents of the Convents, and the Priests and Monks, even the Bishops, attended during these days, and made their congratulations to the new Beg.
As for the troops, they were a long time administering to them the oath : and at last they grew weary of the ceremony. The Beg, therefore, sent the new Commander of the Army, with his troops, round to all the burghs, to swear the people in ; for (the blessing of God be on the dominions of the Beg of Wal- lachia!) they consist of more than four hundred thousand houses.
SECT. X.
TORCH ISHT— FUNERAL OF MAT Til I BEG.
AFTERWARDS we went forth from the church to the funeral of the deceased Matthi Beg. And now they erected the great Pavilion on the esplanade of the Corta, and placed there a chair for the Beg ; next to which they set another chair for our Lord the Patriarch on the left, with another for the Metropolitan. On the same side stood all the rest of the Bishops present, together with the Heads of Convents, the Priests, the Deacons, and the Monks, to the number of about one thousand persons. Presently the Grandees formed a large circle round ; and the remaining space was filled up by the armed troops and the common people. Then they took our Lord the Patriarch, and us with him, and we went up to pray over the corpse of the deceased, accompanied by the new Beg.
We found Matthi in the apartment where he used to give his banquets on the most joyful occasions, laid out on the table, with his face uncovered, according to their custom ; and clothed in his royal robes of rich brocade, lined with high-priced sables, and set with buttons of gold and silver gilt. On his head was his sable calpack of great value : he was entirely covered with a kind of winding-sheet of white satin, with a cross of gold-leaf from the top of his
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head to his feet. Round him were candles, and all the wives of the Grandees weeping and lamenting over him. Then our Lord the Patriarch incensed him, and said over him the Prayer of the Winding-sheet, and the other supplications : and we went down before him ; and they now placed him in the bier in the court, and then in the middle under the Pavilion ; and the Beg stood at his chair. Next they distributed the large tapers ; first to the Beg ; then to our Lord the Patriarch and the Metropolitan, to the rest of the Heads of Convents, and the Priests and Monks, and poor people ; then to the Grandees, and all the rest of the assistants, till the world was in commotion with the smoke and vapour. Then I, the Archdeacon of Antioch, took the censer, and incensed towards our Lord the Patriarch, saying EyXoyjj<r0i> AsWora : then he incensed towards the bier, saying EuXoyriroc : and the singers began, " Have mercy on me, O God,0 and the Beatitude ; then the Canon of Easter, one choir chaunting in Greek, the other in Wallachian. Then he incensed the Beg and the Metropolitan and the Priests; afterwards the Grandees and the rest of the assistants, and a second time the bier. Then he made a cross on his forehead, as usual, and came and stood at his chair ; and at the end of the first Ao'fa of their Beatitude, I said, " Have mercy on us, O God ! according to thy great mercy : we pray thee, hear us and have mercy. Again we pray for the repose of the soul of the servant of God, the Prince, a lover of Christ, Matthi Voivoda, and for the remission of his sins, both voluntary and involuntary," &c. Then our Lord the Patriarch said the first Declaration, and threw the incense towards the Metropo litan as usual, then to the Bishops, and afterwards to the Heads of Convents : and every time the Deacon said " Have mercy on us, O God," the person who incensed recited the Declaration, until the time of the Gospel, when our Lord the Patriarch went up to the corpse, and then read it, the wives of the Grandees all kneeling round. Then he read for the deceased the Prayer of Absolution, TW 'Elfflv ^vyfcugeriKnv ; and the kissing was performed. First, the Patriarch kissed the corpse, then the Metropolitan, afterwards the Beg, who wept in the midst of joy ; and the Bishops and Priests, two and two : and to all were distributed abundant alms, in handkerchiefs. Then the Grandees entered, weeping, and the rest of the nobility, two and two. Afterwards they raised the body, and carried it all round the church ; the Priests following in couples, according to their rank. Then they carried it into the second Na^f of the church ; and buried it opposite to the deceased's wife, the Domina, and his son. Here the Patriarch read a second time over him the Prayers of Absolution ; and they placed him in a coffin made and ornamented in the manner befitting
X
150 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
kings. It was near the middle of the afternoon when we retired,, almost dead with fatigue and standing. Then they conducted us to the banquet of the Beg, and he and the Patriarch sat feasting till the evening. The Beg was very open-hearted and cheerful with his visitor, and distributed dresses among us. We returned home in great honour, more handsomely than before, in the Beg's coach ; attended by the troops, the pioneers, and the singers, to the convent.
SECT. XI.
TORGHISHT.—INA UGURAL PROCESSION.
AFTER we had already fully determined on resuming our journey, the new Beg intreated the Patriarch, as a favour, that he would stay with him the space of one month, and promised him a gratuity as before; for he loved him with great affection, as he had become Beg during his visit and under his eye, and his pre sents to him of all kinds of eatables were never interrupted on any single day, being over and above the fixed allowance we received during the time of the deceased Beg.
On the morning of the first Thursday since his accession, the new Beg began the performance of the Litany or Procession outside the town, according to the practice of Wallachian Princes ; and he sent to take us up in his coach, attended by a large body of troops ; and we entered the church, and vested, and robed our Lord the Patriarch in his sacerdotal vestments. Then he went into the Tabernacle, and incensed the table round about, saying X^/erro? avzo-ry : and then they began the service for Easter, the chaunters answering as usual from without, after he had incensed the Beg and the Congregation. Then followed the 'Ava(rra<rsw$ 'Hptga, till the time of the great 2 wafers, which I recited, mentioning the name of the new Beg. Then they began the Canon, in a pleasing chaunt on the NfaX-n^a; and we went forth from the church as the troops fired the great guns. The Beg and our Lord the Patriarch walked together, preceded by all the Clergy of the town, in their robes and with their crosses, two and two. The great bell had been sounding since the evening before until now, as a signal for the assembling of the Priests and the people for this affair. The banners of the churches, with their crosses, were moving in couples, at the head of all ; and the standards of war, crossed also, were there, without number. Thousands of armed men under their Commanders, and the State Grandees, walked before the Beg and the Patriarch ; and I, with the
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 1.31
^J&J in my hands, walked near them. Then we went forth from the Corta, and directed our course towards the streams of water running through the town, and passed over a very long bridge of wood. Then they proceeded on the march the length of Aleppo and Ain Attil, or about that of Damascus and the Cabon ; and we walked very slowly and leisurely, whilst the Greek and Walla- chian chaunters performed the Canon, &c. in the Psalter. Then we arrived at a spacious green meadow ; the grass having sprung up during this week, after the melting of the snow : and they set a chair for the Beg, at which he took his station ; and another for our Lord the Patriarch. In the middle they placed a kind of reading-desk, large, and covered with cloth ; on which they set cups, and a basin and ewer of silver, filled with water. Then I threw incense towards our Lord the Patriarch ; saying, EvXoyqtrov AsWora : and he incensed round the water, saying EvXoyqro; ; afterwards he incensed the Beg and the rest of the assistants, the Grandees having formed a large circle around. The banners and standards were ranged behind them ; and the Priests in front of them, all round the circle. Then the singers began the great Canon of the 'Ay^a^off, and our Lord the Patriarch recited the Gospel. I said the SyysTsre. Then they spread for our Lord the Patriarch a carpet before the water, and another before the chair of the Beg ; and the Patriarch knelt down on his knees, and all the people bent down to the ground, and first of all the Beg. Then the Patriarch said the Prayer for Rain, according to the custom with them, and afterwards the Prayers of the ' Ayiua-pog : and at the words, " Preserve, O Lord ! our Princes who believe in thee," he said, " And preserve, O Lord ! thy servant the Prince, a lover of Christ, Ivano Constantino Voivoda." Then they all rose ; and he dipped the cross in the water, whilst the singers chaunted. Then he sprinkled on the four sides : and when he sprinkled the Beg, and the latter kissed the cross, the troops fired their muskets. Afterwards, he sprinkled the Clergy and the Grandees : and we returned the way we came, with the singers chaunting, and amidst the discharge of musketry, until we entered the Corta and the church, and took off our robes. The Beg took our Lord the Patriarch to the banquet : and on this day there came on most precious rain ; and the Beg, both in going and returning, distributed silver coin of the Bannat, in great quantities, to the soldiers and the poor ; as he did also to those who brought him presents. For, from the moment of our departure from the Corta, until we returned to it, the women came first with cloths of cotton, and spread them before the Beg : then they poured over him grains of wheat and barley, &c. according to their custom,
152 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
as this was the beginning of the new year and of a new Beg : and the Cama- rashes, that is, the officers of the Treasury, stood near him to pour on the cloth silver coin of the Bannat, which the women collected, and retired. Others presented to him dried ears of wheat, others apples, others plums, others white flowers and green branches of trees, others lemons and oranges, others eggs, others fish, others fowls and ducks and geese, others small lambs (^UpO, others kids, and some slew before him heads of sheep. To all these the Camarash gave silver coin, in strips of fine linen ; and in the evening the Beg distri buted robes to the Priests, and to us dresses of satin (>*^). To the State Gran dees he gave brocaded silk and velvet, and embroidered cloth, &c. ; and we returned in great honour, in the coach, to our convent.
SECT. XIL
WALLACHIA.— PRODUCE TO GOVERNMENT.
IT should be known,, that in the provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia there are mines of salt, which they cut out, in large stones, from the mountain, and from caves under the ground. It is like the hard black stone of Aleppo ; but when pounded, it becomes like snow ; and in this state the women are constantly selling it in the streets. The work of mining it is very hard ; and any person with whom the sovereigns of these countries is offended, they send to hew the salt rock; as is a well-known fact.
In this province of Wallachia is a beautiful mine of copper, which they bring out, in the shape and appearance of black stone, from wells or shafts, very deep under ground : from this they manufacture a very fine copper. Here also are many mines of silver and gold : only they do not make them known, for fear of the Turks, and from the abundance of their wealth. The Domina, indeed, consort of the Beg, is accustomed every year to take a thousand pieces of gold from the people, by way of quit-rent, for the privilege of gathering that metal from the streams which flow by Torghisht ; and this is a thing well known.
To return : the Metropolitan of the town was not present at this time ; the Beg having sent him on an embassy to the Pasha of Silistria, Siyavish, who had been Vazir, and who put to death the Valida, and Bekdash Aga, and others. They deposed him, in consequence, from his dignity ; and gave him the Pashalik of Silistria, which is a very large government. He has the superintendence
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over the Begs of Moldavia and Wallachia ; and no application can be made to the Court of Istambol, but through him, and with his consent. Then the Beg sent to Constantinople a body of his Grandees of State, to bring him the throne and the banner, according to the mode of proceeding with the Begs. They went, therefore, and took with them a petition ; signed first by the hand of the Metropolitan ; then by the Bishops and all the Heads of Convents, and impressed with their seals ; then by the Grandees and the rest of the people ; saying, " We have willed Constantine the son of Shraban for Voivoda, and have raised him as Beg over us." As soon as they arrived at Constantinople, his Highness the Sultan (God preserve him !) gave his consent, as did also Dervish Mohammed Pasha the Vazir, and the other Ministers of State ; and they granted them the inheritance of Matthi the deceased Beg, and the accession of the new Beg, and the possession of the revenue, for one thousand five hundred purses, that is, seven hundred and fifty thousand piastres ; and for this sum they gave them the throne and the banner, and sent with them a Capigi, to collect the money, and to congratulate the Beg. Immediately they fired the guns, and made great rejoicings. The Beg had, moreover, to pay to the Pasha of Silistria and all his suite, and to the Khan of the Tartars and his suite, about two hundred and fifty thousand more ; in all, a million, or ten times repeated. To his troops he gave three times the amount of their pay ; and remitted to all his subjects six months' taxes and contributions. But the wealth left behind by the deceased Beg was very much, being stored in houses built of stone and mortar from the foundation to the roof. The expenditure however of Wallachia is very great ; as the deceased Beg used to tell us, in his life-time. " It exceeds/' said he, "every year, the whole quantity of treasure that is obtained from Egypt, and is equal to six hun dred thousand pieces of gold ; to be paid partly to the Turk, and partly to the Tartar, and for the maintenance of the army, and for presents, charities, &c."
On the Sunday of the Samaritan, which fell in with the Festival of St. Girgis (George), after the Beg had begun the performance of the Litany or Procession, according to custom, to the Church of St. Girgis, which is without the town, the news came to him that the Metropolitan had arrived, in company with a great Aga from the Pasha of Silistria. He hastened therefore the business he was engaged in, to go out and meet them with a long train of attendants.
On the Sunday of the Blind Man, our Lord the Patriarch went in the coach to the Beg, to bid him adieu : but the Beg would not give him permission to depart. Then we went down with him, and assisted at the mass in the church.
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At the conclusion of the service, the Beg commanded the Patriarch to read over all the Grandees and people present, and on behalf of all the rest of the inhabitants of Wallachia in their absence, the Prayers of Absolution : and he did so. Then they took us to the banquet, as on former occasions; and in the evening we returned to our convent.
In the night of Tuesday the twenty-fifth of Nisan died the pious Canon Soleiman Ibno Zzahr, our companion from Damascus, of the illness which we brought with us from Moldavia, the hot and cold fever. It used to come on us every two days twice or thrice ; and we were helpless of any remedy, particu larly in the season of the cold and ice, and during the nights. No physician, no surgeon, no drinks, no confection was there at hand to relieve us ; nothing, save God alone : and the worst wras, that all the water of this country is unpalatable. Our eating was cut off' altogether : one draught of water we were compelled to allow ourselves on the mornings after our fits, by the burning of our insides. We would have given our souls for a pomegranate : and at last we saw some brought from Romelia, at a quarter of a dollar the couple. Every oca of almonds cost us a piastre and a quarter, and the oca of sugar two dollars. For this wre endured severe pains. When my companion died, my alarm and terror were renewed. We buried him in the convent ; and a handsome funeral was performed for him,, handsomer than those of the Wallachians, with all their profusion of money.
On the Eve of Ascension Thursday,, the Metropolitan of the city sent to invite our Lord the Patriarch, early in the morning, to say mass in his church, which, as we mentioned, is named after the Ascension ; and a little later he sent his coach for him, and we went thither. We all robed ; and when the Beg came, our Lord the Patriarch went forth to meet him without the door of the church, and sprinkled him with the 'Ayiatr^og ; and the Domina also came. After mass we went out to the banquet, where the Beg seated himself, with our Lord the Patriarch near him, and all his Grandees in attendance ; namely, in the Summer Banquetting-room, which looks over the garden. The Domina seated herself, with the wives of the Grandees who attended her, in the inner room used for repasts ; and the soldiers and common people sat in the garden, in rows, under the almond-trees,, where they were served with wine in barrels. As to the musicians, the pipers and the drummers, and the Turkish singers, together with the buffoons, they sat under the awnings of the banquetting-room in the garden, within sight of the Beg. It
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 155
was a great day, and one that may reckon for an age. Towards evening they arose from the table ; and going down to the church, they assisted at Vespers. Then onr Lord the Patriarch went out before the Beg, to bless him at his departure, and to give a blessing also to the Grandees and to the Domina, and to the ladies who were with her in three coaches, each lull. Then we bade adieu to the Metropolitan, and returned in the coach to our convent. Neither on this day did the Beg grant permission to our Lord the Patriarch for his journey.
On the second Thursday of the Ascension, the banquet was laid for the Bishops and the rest of the Heads of Convents in Wallachia.
In respect to the former Spatar, or Commander of the Troops, of whom we made mention, he was, on his return from his country-house, treated by the Beg with great kindness, and renewed and confirmed in his dignity, receiving the honour of a formal investiture. Afterwards it came to the ears of the Beg, that he was in the practice of uttering unsuitable language, according to his habitual haughtiness, and vanity, and ambition. He therefore summoned him to his presence, and deposed him from his high office, appointing a new Spatar in his place. He then wished to put him to death ; but some persons interceded for him, and he contented himself with splitting his nose. In this manner he threw down the tower of his pride ; and verified the saying of the Holy Gospel, " For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to you again, and ye shall be increased : " for his uncle, that is, Matthi Beg, had slit the nose of this Constantine Beg when he was a little boy, because of his being a Beg's son. It is the usual understanding with them in this country, that the person whose nose is slit remains in a sort of infamy, and is incapable of becoming Beg : but this Constantine, after a length of time, had his nostrils re-united, and his nose became whole. In like manner did Stephani, the new Beg of Moldavia, when he made prisoners the son of Vasili Beg and his mother : he instantly slit the young man's nose, that he might never come to be Beg : yet who knows but he may ?
In this city of Torghisht are Turkish warm-baths, with handsome cupolas, on the bank of the river. Over it is a small circulating mill, on which the water is conducted round, to enter two closets; the one for men, containing a swimming basin, the other for the women. In the middle chamber both the men and the women together put off their clothes ; and then separate for their respective apartments, the doors of which are close to each other. The heater and manager of these baths is from Constantinople ; and he is allowed a provision of Lazbal wood. These baths are a fief belonging to the Monastery of St. Nicolas.
15(3 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
To return : on the Great Sunday of Pentecost the Beg was occupied with business : we therefore attended mass in our convent ; and at the conclusion of the service they went through the ritual of the Joint Prostration ; and our Lord the Patriarch recited the prayers in Arabic and Greek, according to custom.
SECT. XIII. TORGHISHT.— DEPARTURE.— CONVENT OF FILYESHT1.
ON the Friday after Pentecost, our Lord the Patriarch went to take leave of the Be"1, who received him with the Domina in a private apartment ; and he gave absolution both to him and her, after we had robed him in his negirgu%faiov and his '£lpo$o£u>v, and they had prostrated themselves on the ground for him to read it over them. At this time the Beg sent us the gratuity which he had promised us : and we had now prepared the requisites for our journey, having been en^a^ed since Easter in getting ready what is suitable for the travelling
c? £3
retinue of a Patriarch in these countries, which must necessarily be like that of the Bishops. We expended near six hundred piastres for the price of one-and- twenty horses and five wagons ; for four horses to each wagon, with their harness and other requisites, their saddles £c. and every thing that is wanted for a vehicle. As to the coach for our Lord the Patriarch, it cost seventy piastres, with its irons and leather coverings, and its linings of cloth &c. We now had with us fifteen servants ; most of whom were Cossacks and Muscovites, who had been captured in their flight by Mattlii Beg after their defeat, and were now redeemed and set at liberty by the Patriarch.
On the Sunday of All Saints (Kuf <a*J rSv 'Ay'tuv Uavrav) we paid our last salutations in the Church of the Convent ; and on Monday, which was the first day of the Fast of the Apostles, we went out early to sec the Beg, when he went forth with a vast retinue, and passed on his way to the summer residence of the Begs, the city of Bokoresht, attended by all the Grandees and their wives, there to meet the standard and throne brought him from the Sultan. As to ourselves, about noon on this day, which was the twenty-second of the month lyar, we set out from Torghisht, after we had bid our adieus to the Church, and the Patriarch had read for all the Monks of the convent, and all the merchants, the Prayer of Absolution. They bade us farewell outside the town : and we were now left to the company of seven Heads of Convents from different parts of Wallachia, who were bound for Moscow. We soon came to a mountain and
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rough forest road of difficult ascent, in consequence of the floods of rain which had fallen within a few days and had raised all the rivers and filled the moun tain-torrents to a great height.
On the morning of Tuesday we came to the Convent of St. Nicolas, known by the name of the Convent of the Bostanik, Kyr Constantine, our friend. This person is said to be of the blood of the Katakozinos, Emperors of Greece : he is a lover of good works and charities, and is partial to our countrymen and to our Arabic language : he used to delight very much in hearing us read : the present Beg, Kyr Constantine, was his kinsman. This Bostanik, as soon as the new Beg, his relative, was created, obtained for his only son the employment of Camarash, or Great Treasurer ; and resigning his own dignity, retired to his house. This was the effect of his greatness of mind and understanding : for the Bostanik is of himself merely an attendant, who stands in the presence of the Beg: but he had become, therewith, Jomlat Olmolk, or Prime Minister, the director of all the affairs of the province : and all the Grandees used to resort to his house, to hold consultations with him ; after which he used to walk before them to the Beg every morning in the week, and nothing was done but by his advice and direc tion. He was a great lover of good works, and was a particular friend of ours.
He it was that built this convent entirely new, and of such a construction as to excite the admiration of the beholder. The church has a high dome covered with tin ; and three tabernacles, over each of which is a handsome cupola. Before the gate is a round and wide cupola with many arches ; in the middle of which is a pond of water, with an elevated pipe, through which the water is conducted from a distance. There is no person in this country who has formed ponds and foun tains of water by leading to them distant streams, except this Bostanik. This cupola is entirely covered with paintings inside ; as, " Praise the Lord from the heavens ;" and all kinds of animals and beasts of the earth and sea are there : and, " Praise God in his saints ;" and the virgins are dancing, and the judges and the old men and youths, to the beating of the drum and the tune of pipes : and there are other similar paintings, all of which astonish you with surprise, and are the performance of an able master, the same who wras engaged on the painting of the convents of Vasili Beg of Moldavia. All his workmanship is in gold on the bare wall. When you behold his performance on tablets, you are in admiration at the lustre of the painting ; but on the wall it is incomparably more beautiful. On the ceiling of this cupola is our Lord the Messiah, with the nine ei;UAls (Aoy^ara ?) around him.
To the door of the church, on one side of which is the picture of Christ, and
Y
158 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
on the other the Virgin painted in leaf of pure gold, you ascend by a lofty flight of steps. The door itself is entirely gilt over. The whole interior of the church is newly painted, even to the highest part of the cupolas and of the ceiling. It has the painting of the Seven Holy Councils — of our Lord the Christ riding on a beast — of the man who fell among robbers, and the Samaritan brought him to the inn, where he is speaking to the host with the wounded man by his side ; and how he poured oil and wine into his wounds.
In respect to the Iconostasis of this church*, and the Symbolon, and the Images t, they are not resembled by any but those of Vasili's convents.
* It may not be improper to insert here an account of a Grrcco-Russian Church, from Dr. Clarke's Travels.
" The morning after our arrival, the General, who is Commander-in-chief over all the district, including the. town of Tscherchaskoy, the metropolis, came to Oxai. The day was celebrated as a festival, in honour of the recovery of one of the Emperor's children from the small-po\ inoculation. He sent us an invitation to dinner ; and in the forenoon we accompanied him, with all the officers of his staff, to a public ceremony in the church. On entering this building, we were much surprised by its internal magnificence. The screen of the altar (the Iconostasis) was of green and gold ; and before it was suspended a chandelier, filled with tapers of green wax. The screen, like the rest of the church, was covered with pictures, some of which were tolerably wrell executed ; and all of them very curious, from their singularity, and the extraordinary figures they served to represent. Here were no seats, as in other Russian churches. The General placed himself against a wall on the right-hand, facing the sacristy ; standing on a step covered with a carpet, and raised about four inches above the level of the floor. We were directed to place ourselves on his right-hand. The rest of the Cossacks, whether in their military uniform or national domestic habits, stood promiscuously in the body of the church. The Priest, in very rich robes, with his back to the people, was elevated on a kind of throne, placed beneath the chandelier, and raised three steps from the platform, facing the great doors of the sacristy, which were shut. Over these doors was a picture of the Virgin ; and before it hung, suspended by a string, two wooden angels, joined back to back, like the figures of Janus, with candles in their hands. Whenever the doors of the sacristy were thrown open, the wooden angels were lowered down into the middle of the entrance ; where they swung round and round, in a most ludicrous manner.
" As the ceremony began, the Priest, standing on the throne, loosened a girdle, bound across his breast and shoulders, on which was an embroidered representation of the Cross : this he held between his fore-finger and thumb, repeating the service aloud, and touching his forehead with it, while the people sang responses, and were busy crossing themselves. The vocal part of the cere mony was very solemn ; and the clear shrill notes of children placed among the choristers, which, rising to the dome of the church, seemed to swell and ultimately die away in the air, had a most pleasing and sublime effect. It is the same in almost all the Russian churches ; and I know not any thing to which I can now justly compare it, than the sounds produced by an ^Eolian harp. The words they use are Russian, and everywhere the same, ' Lord have mercy on us ! ' We did not find them altered even among the Cossacks; it was still ' Ghospodi pomilui ;' but trilled
' In notes with many a winding bout
Of linked sweetness long drawn out/
" At last there was an interval of silence : after which, other voices, uttering solemn airs, were
heard
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 159
The bell-tower is surprisingly handsome, with its various paintings on the out side, done in the mortar : you would suppose they were done with coloured and white marble, and with Mosaic stone of all shapes and hues. It is round in its construction ; and octagonal ; having eight arches at the top, where the bells are suspended.
There is also another new and handsome church here ; and in the row of the Convent cloisters there is a third.
The Refectory, or Banquetting-room, is near the church, on the highest ground, and ranges over the Monastery and the forest-glen. It is long and wide, with many windows vaulted over. It is painted all round with suitable pictures ; and at its further end the entire wall is covered with a description of the dread Judge ment. On the other three walls is the circuit of heaven and earth, and the Almighty (exalted be his name !) is on the work of the Creation : and Adam is there, with Eve rising from his side, as he sleeps ; and all the animals, and wild beasts, and birds, and the trees and fruits, and the products of the earth, are there ; and how Eve took of the fruit, and gave to Adam ; and how they covered them selves with fig-leaves ; and how, when they were banished to the earth, the Cheru bim stood with his flaming sword ; and how the angels taught Adam to dig the
heard within the sacristy. The doors were then thrown open ; and a Priest, bearing on his head a silver chalice, containing the consecrated bread, covered with a white napkin, made his appearance. He was preceded by others, who advanced with censers, scattering incense over the doors of the sacristy, the pictures, the Priests, the General, the officers, and the people. After some ceremonies, the bread was distributed among the congregation : and those who came out of the sacristy having retired, its doors were again closed, and prayers were read for all the Royal Family ; their names being enumerated in a tone of voice and manner exactly like that of a corporal or serjeant at a roll-call. Passages were also read from the Psalms ; but the method of reading, in all the Russian churches, is ridiculous beyond description. The young Priests, who officiate, pique themselves upon a talent of mouthing it over with all possible celerity, so as to be altogether unintelligible, even to the Russians ; striving to give a whole lesson the appearance of a single word of numberless syllables. Some notion may be formed of their delivery, by hearing the criers in our courts of justice administer the oath to the jury." — CLARKE'S Travels, Vol. I. p. 266.
f " In their worship, the Russians profess not to address any image that is carved or graven, but only such as are painted in oil-colours on wood ; the artist lying prostrate on his face while engaged in the divine occupation. There is something very ludicrous in the mode of obtaining a saint from the manufacturer : they do not purchase him, but call it making an exchange, or buying the sjold and silver with which it is ornamented : these holy personages, however, are regularly exposed, like other wares of trade. The manner in which the affair is conducted is as follows : The person who wants a saint, after making his selection, lays on the counter what he thinks an adequate sum, which, if the manufacturer does not consider it sufficient, is put back to him : he then from time to time makes additions, until the other is satisfied. Such is the requisition in which these images are held, tha* no apartment, not even a stable, is without its patron saint/'— HOLMAN'S Travels, Vol. I. p. 259.
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ground with an iron spade, &c. On one wall is painted, first, the Prodigal Son, when he received his property from his father, and journeyed into a far country ; secondly, when he is engaged in the love of harlots ; thirdly, when he is feeding swine, and drinking out of a pool of rain-water ; fourthly, when he came to his father in his mean garments, and how his father kissed him with joy, and they clothed him in princely rohes and put a ring on his hand; and the servants are killing the fatted calf; and his elder brother is standing without the gate, asking concerning him. There is painted also the picture of the Rich Man's Table and Lazarus. The Rich Man is eating and drinking in joy and gladness ; whilst Lazarus is laid at his gate, and the dogs are licking his sores. There is also the Rich Man in hell-fire, with his finger in his mouth, addressing himself to Abraham, who holds Lazarus in his bosom in Paradise. Besides this, there are other repre sentations of feasts and banquettings.
This convent is built in the middle of the mountain and forest, and all round it are numerous fish-ponds. After we had halted there an hour, we proceeded to the village of the said Bostanik, the name of which is Filyeshti: it is large and populous, and contains many streams of water, and gardens. We went into the church, which is dedicated to the Assumption of our Lady, and was built entirely new by the same Bostanik. It has a Na^^f, with outward porticoes, which are painted all over their walls by the own hand of the master whom we before mentioned. Here are represented, all the torments of Saint George the Martyr — the Seven Brothers, Companions of the Cave, sleeping in it — a brazen bull, filled with a number of Martyrs, and the soldiers lighting a fire under them— Saint Ignatius thrown to the lions — other Martyrs, whom they are covering with pieces of red-hot iron laid on with iron pincers &c. things that would be too long to describe.
Having left the church, we alighted at the palace of the Bostanik, which consists of princely buildings, that surprise the senses, and are handsomer than the city edifices. It has a delightful warm bath of beautiful marble, to which water is raised by wheels fixed on the river, which flows also into the orchards and gardens by innumerable channels. The apartments in it are in exact resemblance to the buildings of Constantinople : as, indeed, all the Wallachian Grandees have villas which are admirable specimens of architecture. Each of them is sure to possess, among his buildings, at least one large convent, with its many fiefs ; and they are each of them jealous of their fellows in regard to the beauty of their struc tures and establishments. All their ambition and pride centre here. When it happens that one of them is deposed from his office, he comes and settles in his
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villa and amidst his structures, with the convent in his neighbourhood,, for the rest of his life.
We departed from this place on the Wednesday; and came at noon to a large market-town, called Ploycshti. In the evening of Thursday we entered llotza, which is a bishopric ; and on Friday evening we came to Ruminko.
SECT. XIV.
MOLDAVIA.— THE RIVER PRUTH.
ON the eve of the second Sunday after Pentecost, we came to Fokshan, and passed over to the Moldavian side ; and in the afternoon of the same Sunday we came to the river Sireht, and passed it in boats. We slept in the neighbourhood, in a large farm-house or villa ; and on Monday we came, at noon, to Tikoj. Thence we passed on ; and slept that night in a village which had belonged to some Greeks, whom Vasili, during his sovereignty, had brought from Romelia. When that happened to him which happened, their enemies, the natives of Mol davia, plundered them and destroyed them. On Tuesday, at noon, we came to Brlat ; and on Wednesday noon we arrived at VasilocU. We used to sleep in the open country, for the sake of feeding the cattle ; for the summer, throughout the whole of these countries, is (blessed be the Creator !) all spring, in consequence of the great rains which Ml. On the morning of Thursday we came to Skcnta, : and having passed over the difficult mountain and rough forest, we slept in the evening near to Khalistao and the Convent of Barnoska, which is by the great lake in the neighbourhood of Ydsh. On Friday morning we entered Ydsh ; and alighted, as formerly, at the Convent of St. Saba. On Sunday, the third after Pentecost, after mass, our Lord the Patriarch prepared to visit the Beg Stephani ; and we rode in his coach to the palace, to sit at the banquet with him. We carried to him a third present, such as we had formerly offered him ; and also to the Domina, his consort. He then bade us adieu; and appointed eleven men of his Calarashes, or runners, to attend us, and to carry us over the frightful roads between this place and the confines.
On the morning of Tuesday, the sixth of Haziran, we left Yash, with the troops preceding us : and in a couple of hours we passed the river Zayazai, which is of great breadth, on a long wooden bridge. Then we marched on, a couple of hours more, and crossed over the great river Pruth in boats. It is a very deep
162 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
stream, and its banks are high. Here are villages, one on each bank, the inhabitants of which are employed in the passage of the river : their name is Titzaviroa. We here dismissed the Calarashes who had accompanied us ; and some others of their body went on before us. We now advanced over a long and wide heath, uninhabited, and without water, until the evening, when we slept near a well. Rising early the next day, we came to the top of a high mountain and a vast forest, whence we had a view of the city of Yash. We alighted at a village called Yajashti. From this place a different troop of Calarashes preceded us ; and in the evening we arrived at a village, near the forest, the name of which is Braicha : it is used as a military-hospital depot : its air is delightful, and we slept there. In the morning we arose early ; and passed along a vast lake, called Khalistao, long and wide. We rode on its bank the distance of four hours ; and came, at noon, to a town, which is the market for the lake, and is large and pleasantly situated on one side of it, named Or/ia'L It is a Bishop's See. We passed on to the further end of the town, over a wooden mound formed on the lake. There are streets made of branches of trees, planted upright ; under which run streams of water, which turn their mill- wheels. The situations of the abodes as well as the occupations of the inhabitants are surprising. This is one of the many mounds constructed by Vasili Beg in his time, on the ten lakes which are found in Moldavia. They were in the practice of drawing from this lake, every year, fish that sold for three thousand pieces of gold. Here also is a convent, built by Vasili. From this place we departed in the morning of Friday, and came at noon to a town called Trifeshti. This part of the country we passed over in great dread and trepida tion and haste, for they kept saying, " The Cossacks ! the Cossacks are come to plunder us !" and were in continual fear. Thence we came to another town, called Sarko, where we slept. All the people of this district, from Moldavia Proper to this place, were subdued and burnt by the Tartars, when they came suddenly in the time of Vasili, as we before mentioned ; for the frontier of their country, (which God devastate !) is not far hence.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 153
BOOK IV.
SECT. I.
CO SSA CK CO UNTRY. — RASHKOBA O.
WE departed early the next morning, which was Saturday the tenth of the month Haziran ; and came to the bank of the great river Istrus, which is the extreme frontier of Moldavia, and the first of the COSSACK COUNTRY. We passed the stream in boats ; and our Lord the Patriarch put on his MavrJa, and in his right-hand was his cross : for in this country of the Cossacks, and in Muscovy, it is not usual for the blessing to be given otherwise : and in his left was his silver crosier. He had sent them a letter the preceding evening, to inform them of his arrival : and, as soon as we stepped out of the boat on the ground, we raised a gilt wooden cross, which we had made in Moldavia, on the top of a red spear of great height, for one of the Priests to carry it ; according to the practice of this country, where no person raises the cross upon a spear except the Patriarch. There were present to meet him some thousands of people, beyond computation of number, on whom be the blessing of God! I am speaking of the inhabitants of the town, the name of which is Rashkobao, which is a very large place, entirely built on the bank of the said river. It contains a castle and wooden fort, lined with cannon.
The first of the procession were the seven Priests, with their OgXowas and crosses, there being seven churches in the town : then came the Deacons, with their numerous banners and torches : after them the Sotniks or keeper of the castle and town, and the Commander of the forces with his troops, and the people of the choir, singing beautiful prayers with one voice. They all threw them selves on the ground before the Patriarch, kneeling until he was conducted into the church. There remained not one in the city, not even a little child or infant that did not come out to meet him. We alighted at the house of an Arch on.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
On the eve of Sunday the fourth after Pentecost, we attended the Vespers with them, as we did also the "Ogflgov the next morning, and the Mass at noon. And now we entered on our travail and labour and sweat and fatigue ; for all their churches, as far as the country of the Muscovites, are void of chairs*. There is not even a chair for the head of the Clergy. You might see them, from the beginning of the service to the end, standing like rocks, without motion, or unceasingly bending in their Mzravoias, whilst all sang with one voice ; even the little children joining in the chaunt. We beheld in them acts of religion which excited our astonishment : and God help us, for the length of their prayers and chaunts and masses ! But nothing surprised us so much as the sweet voices of the little boys, as they sang in company with the men, with all their heart and might.
We observed in this people an excellent custom, which exists all over these regions of the Russians or Cossacks ; and we were inclined to admire any good practice that we discovered among them. All, except a very few of them, know the prayers by heart, and the order of the service, and the chaunting,
* " No seats, pews, organs, or other vocal instruments, are ever allowed in a Greek church ; and con sequently the whole presents one open space, with the exception of the altar, called the Sanctum Sanctorum, into which females are never permitted to enter. In the middle of the altar stands the Holy Table, upon which a golden or silver cross and a richly-ornamented copy of the Gospels are always laid ; as no use of a complete copy of the Bible is ever made in their churches. They have only extracts from the Old Testament and the Epistles ; and even many of the Clergy in the country do not possess an entire copy of the Scriptures. The congregation do not make use of books.
" The altar is separated from the nave, or body of the church, by a screen, upon which pictures of Our Saviour, the Virgin, the Apostles, and Saints, are always painted. This screen is called Ikonostas (E/Kft)vo<7T«(7is) ; in the middle of which are the royal doors, which are opened and shut with great pomp and solemnity, whenever the bishop retires or comes forth to bless the people ; which, at the conclu sion of the service, he does, with a chandelier in each hand, one containing three, and the other two lighted candles, which he repeatedly crosses over each other in different directions ; and, waving them towards the congregation, he concludes a final benediction. These chandeliers are symbolical : one alludes to the Trinity, and the other to the two natures of Christ. The vocal part of the service is very fine, and appears to be almost a constant repetition of " Ghoapodi pomilui," " Lord have mercy on us ! " If the Metropolitan performs the service, he leaves the church with much, and even mili tary, state ; while rich and poor crowd round him, in order to kiss his hand.
" The inner walls and domes of the churches are covered with scriptural paintings ; which, in general, represent the most interesting scenes of our Saviour's History. They are also ornamented with pic tures of saints, adorned with pearls, gold, silver, and precious-stones. The glories are of the shape of horse-shoes, and produce a singular effect : before these the people are continually crossing and bowing, and even sometimes prostrating themselves. There are more saints in the Greek Calendar than there are days in the year."
CAPTAIN JONES'S Travels in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Turkey, Vol.1, p. 441.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 1(55
even to the greatest part of the women and girls. Beside this, the Priests give instruction even to the orphan children, and do not suffer them to go about without knowledge.
In this country of the Cossacks, to judge by what we saw, the orphans and the widows are without number, since the time of the first appearance of the Khatman Akhmil and his entering into dreadful wars. On every eve of a festival throughout the year they go round, from sun-set, to all the houses to beg, singing with one voice, in a delightful tune that goes to the heart, the praises of the Virgin; so that their loud song is heard to a great distance. When they have finished, the people of the house give them an alms of monev or bread, or other victuals, &c., so as to satisfy them. Thus they live by what they know : and for this reason most of them have learnt the prayers, particu larly since the long-lived Akhmil has made his appearance, and taken possession of these countries, and freed these millions of orthodox believers from the powder of the enemies of their faith, the accursed Poles. And why do I pronounce them accursed ? Because they have shewn themselves more debased and wicked than the corrupt worshippers of idols, by their cruel conduct to Chris tians, thinking to abolish the very name of Orthodox. God perpetuate the Empire of the Turks for ever and ever ! for they take their impost, and enter into no account of religion, be their subjects Christians or Nazarines, Jews or Samarians : whereas these accursed Poles were not content with taxes and tithes from the brethren of Christ, though willing to serve them ; but, according to the true relation we shall afterwards give of their history, they subjected them to the authority of the enemies of Christ, the tyrannical Jews, who did not even permit them to build churches, nor leave them any Priests that knew^ the mysteries of their faith ; but, on the contrary, violated their wives and daughters, if they at all appeared abroad in the public exercise of their religion. When the Almighty had seen their tyranny, he made them the laughing-stock of then- enemies, and laid them low and contemptible, as we shall truly relate of them in the sequel, until he had taken vengeance of their haughtiness.
To return : — On measuring the steps we had yet to take, they computed, that from this town of Rashkobao, which is the first of the Cossack State, to Potiblia*, the first frontier town of Muscovy, there is about the distance of
* This town, the name of which is always thus written, (UJoxv) Potiblia or BotibHa, by the Arch deacon, appears to be that which, in our English histories of Russia and Poland, we find, with consi derable diversity, denominated Putivol,
166 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
eighty great Cossack miles : for in this country they reckon the roads only by a computation of miles ; and the mile with them is something above the distance of three hours' journey,, at the rate of the horse's trot when drawing their car riages,, which is quicker than the pace of our couriers,, and is that at which we always travelled, according to their practice. The measured, or Cossack, mile is about five of the small miles of our country. These eighty miles are the whole length of the Cossack State, from south to north, as we shall shew clearly hereafter.
SECT. II.
COSSACK COUNTRY.— DIMITRASHIKOBO.
Wi; left Rashkobao in the afternoon of the afore-mentioned Sunday, attended by ten Cossacks who were appointed to accompany us ; and, proceeding about two great miles, we arrived in the evening at another town, called Dimitrashikobo. We stopped at the end of a large valley ; where we were met by a great number of the men from the town, who guided and supported our carriages till we had ascended the mountain on which the town is built. Here we were received by thousands and tens of thousands of people : God's blessing be upon them ! First came the seven Priests of the seven churches of the town, with banners and torches ; then the principal citizens and the troops. As soon as they came up to us, our Lord the Patriarch descended from his coach in reverence to the crosses and images ; and we clothed him, as usual, in his mantle ; and gathered all of us around him,, to hold up his train. When he had paid his devotions to the images and crosses, and had given his blessing to the assistants, they proceeded before him, singing with one voice, so that the mountain and valley thundered with the sound, the shrillest and loudest of which was the tone of the children. Having reached the summit, we entered the gate in the walls of the town ; and passing through the streets, we were gazed on by thousands of men, women, and children, whose vast numbers astonished us. They all threw themselves on their knees as the Patriarch passed by ; and then, having received his blessing, they retired. Our eyes were amazed at the multitude and overflow of the boys and girls, who poured forth like the sand ; and we observed in this blessed people a degree of reli giousness, and abstinence, and faith, that surprised us. This scene lasted until we entered the church named after St. Demetrius ; and the Protopapas went into
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the Tabernacle, and said " Have mercy on us, O God, &c." and mentioned the names of the Prince, the lover of Christ, Alexius the Muscovite, and the Princess Maria, and their children. Afterwards he mentioned the name of the Patriarch of Antioch, and the name of their Metropolitan, Silvcstris ; and all the persons in the church chaunted with one voice, thrice at each versct, K«f« g?J^. Then he finished the prayer : and they brought forward to our' Lord the Patriarch the 'Ay/ao^o?, to sprinkle the church and the congregation. When he had scattered it over all, they went out before us with torches, singing ; and took us down to the house of the Protopapas.
In the manner we mentioned before, the orphan children went round this night from house to house, singing lauds with one voice, in a tune which enlivened and cheered the heart, so sweet was their melody. We were truly surprised and delighted with their charming music.
The reason why they now commemorated, in all these countries of the Russians, that is the Cossacks, the name of Alexius, Prince of Muscovy, was that in the present year they had conformed their opinions and counsels with' the Khatman Akhmil, and had bowed in submission to him, and surrendered to him their territory : and this, because for the present year the Khan and the Tartars had agreed with the Khatman Akhmil to make war upon the Poles with one heart.
During the days of the last Immersion, the troops of the Poles had assembled to the amount of about two hundred thousand men: and there were with the Khatman Akhmil more than three hundred thousand ; under the Khan more than a hundred and twenty thousand. With these forces they marched to fight against the Poles ; and, by the assistance of God, they prevailed over them : then, forming a yazak, or line of bivouacs, round their camp, and hcmmin- the Poles m the middle, they cut off from them all supply of provisions ; and it was that of hunger alone there perished about forty thousand. Afterwards the Cossacks and Tartars closed in upon them, and assaulted them, and stormed their camp, and struck the sword into them, until they were no longer able :hrough fatigue. The Tartars took of them, alive, an immense number of pri soners ; and the Cossacks gained possession of an invaluable booty. None escaped of the Poles, but a few predestined to long life, headed by their Cral or Prince, to the city of his throne, called Crakov, the stone-built, the girt with .even walls, where they shut up and fortified themselves. Presently, Akhmil and the Khan came and laid siege to them.
lf)8 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
When the Cral and his Grandees, as the history goes on to relate, saw that their situation was evanescent, and that they had now been eighty years fighting with Akhmil, and had no power against him, nor any resource, they came to a determination to send to the Khan of the Tartars ; and promised him two hundred thousand dinars, if he would merely separate himself from Akhmil, and, instead of being with him, as before, be against him. When the Khan was informed of their offer, he met it with acceptance ; and the Tartars, separating themselves from Akhmil, departed for their own country. On their way, they took out of the Cossack territory about ten thousand captives along with them.
When the Khatman had ascertained these occurrences, he became violently enraged ; and not finding any resource but in the Prince of Moscow, he sent a deputation of his Grandees to him, to ask his succour, and to supplicate him, for the sake of the orthodox faith, to take him by the hand, and not to allow his enemies to exult over him. For the Khatman*, in the early part of his time, had been a Brave by profession, and held the rank of Soteniks or Colonel ; holding, at the same time, an estate which had passed into his possession from
* This celebrated Chief, whom the Archdeacon, in the Arabic manner, writes Akhmil for Chmiel, commonly called Chmielniski, was originally a Lithuanian, who had acquired great influ ence and credit among the Cossacks. In his youth, he had been carried off' by the Tartars : but redeemed by his mother, he returned to the Ukraine, and cultivated an estate bequeathed to him by his father, in the neighbourhood of the Polish fortress of C/erin. He added a piece of waste ground to his patrimony, which lay contiguous to the fort; but after he had cleared and cultivated it, the Polish Governor claimed it as his right, and enforced his pretensions by a violent seizure of the ground. The Cossack appealed to Uladislaus; and he was determined to be in the wrong, the land being adjudged to the Polish Governor, whose interest prevailed at Court; nor was any acknowledg ment made for the expense with which he had cultivated a piece of waste ground. Fired with the injury, the Cossack complained to his countrymen, exclaimed against the partiality of the Court, and behaved with great haughtiness to the Governor, whom he treated as a tyrant. The dispute rose higher; and the Governor, in contempt of Chmielniski, carried off his wife by violence, ravished, and then put her to death. Not contented with this piece of barbarity, he set fire to the house of the Cossack, in which perished his infant son in the cradle. Some writers, such as Heidenstein, Fontaines, &c. vin dicate the Pole, by assertin»- that he committed these cruelties in revenue of Chmielniski's having
•/ O
him publicly and ignominiously whipped. Be this as it may, certain it is, that these transactions, together with a number of other violences, gave birth to the revolt which now suddenly broke out. The Cossack Chief deserted his habitation in a rage, took sanctviary in the islands of the Boristhenes or Nieper, where he stirred up the whole nation to a resolution of renouncing the sovereignty of the Republic of Poland, revenging the injuries they had sustained, assembling an army, and either con quering or perishing in the cause of liberty. Chmielniski was elected Chief; and the most vigorous measures were pursued for executing the dictates of the most signal vengeance.
See History of Poland, p. 521, in the Universal History.
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his ancestors. The former Cral of the Poles loved him with great affection ; and it was he who had given him the name of Akhmil, or Bold, in their lan guage, over and above his original name,, Zenobius.
SECT. III.
HISTORY OF THE POLES AND COSSACKS.
To all this country,, which is called the Lesser Russia, there were, in ancient times, its own Rulers : and it is related in the histories which treat of them, that, during the reign of Basil the Macedonian, king of Greece, they received the faith at his hands. The Prince who governed them at that time was called Vladimiros ; and the seat of their government was the city of Kiov, which bore the crown of empire on its head.
But as it is not possible that any nation or kingdom be established for ever, the Almighty having sealed and predestined that He will give authority over every nation to a nation different from it, to root it out, as it has happened from the most ancient times until now : this nation therefore, I mean of the Poles, issued from the country of the Franks, and prevailed over all these regions. And the proof of this is manifest ; for the meaning of the word Lah (Leo), in the Latin language, is Lion ; and the name of the country of the Lahs, or Poles, in the Latin language, is Polonia. For this reason, their hieroglyphic, and the sign of their seal and country, is the figure of a lion, and also that of an eagle. On this account they stamp the Dog piastres (v^JiXJI ^/) with the figure of a lion, in reference to their name.
Their sequins (e^typl) they stamp with the figure of an eagle with two wings ; and they glory in this, saying, " We are the sons of Alexander, and of his race :" and until the present time they gird both themselves and horses with the wings of large birds.
All this is the effect and proof of their insolence, and tyranny, and haughti ness. For there is no nation found, on the whole face of the earth, to resemble this in pride and glory and greatness ; as we shall relate hereafter, if it please God, from their history.
As soon as they had effected the conquest of these regions, they determined, in compliance with their unbounded pride, not to make themselves a king, who
170 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
should rule with absolute authority over them ; but each of them, who had conquered and obtained possession of any country, became sovereign ruler there : and this power has descended from father to son until now. Over their whole body they set a stranger, not of their own nation ; and called him Cral, that is, Great Beg, appointing him a district of territory for his support, where he remained quiet, and transacted no business, either great or small, but by their counsel and command. Whenever they pleased, they deposed him ; and trans ferred the crown, by their own authority, to another person, not from among themselves, but a stranger to their nation, in order that he might not take root among them. Thus they have continued, from the beginning of their history until now.
Afterwards they extended their conquests over many countries, and increased by them their empire ; for all their frontier provinces are conquered from Foreign States. This has been, because, in consequence of their great magni ficence and bravery, they subdued all the Princes who were round them, and held them in fear ; and conquered by their forces one side of the territory of the German Empire, which is in possession of the Nemsa, who is styled Caesar, taking a number of towns and fortresses ; fifteen, it is said, from the kingdom of Sweden, which is near the kingdoms of France and Germany : and having possessed themselves of a part of the territory of Hungary, they have also in vaded the State of Moldavia, Thus also, since a period of thirty years, they have been in possession of a large city belonging to the State of Muscovy, called Smolensko, which, with its territory, is celebrated for its fortifications. But they did not conquer it by the sword : they took it by fraud.
The case was, that an ancestor of the Emperor, wrho was afterwards conse crated Patriarch of Moscow by Theophani Patriarch of Jerusalem, whose name was Theodorus, on that occasion changed to Philaretus, went to them, for the first time, as a Nuncio of friendship from his father the Emperor Michael ; and as the Poles were ever treacherous, and an oath has no obligation for them, they seized and kept him as a pledge, until it was settled between them that this city should be surrendered to the Poles, who by this stratagem gained possession of it.
In short, they were at enmity with all the Princes around them ; not one of whom was ever able to invade them, or to gain any advantage over them in war.
After they had extended their power over the whole country of the Cossacks,
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they did not content themselves with receiving taxes from them, nor yet tithes, but began to give authority to the Jews and Armenians over them,, till these went to such extremities as to debauch their wives and daughters ; so that the Cossacks, after having been Princes to rule, became slaves, to yield obedience to the accursed Jews. This was the first grievance.
The second was, that it had been customary with them to make forty thousand of the Cossacks into regular troops with pay, in order to ward them from the Tartars ; but, latterly, they had reduced their condition so far as to do away with this establishment, with a design to leave them weak and helpless.
Afterwards they increased in tyranny, until the Priests of Christ, that is, of God, were compelled to listen to the most odious language from them. They even thought of annihilating them altogether ; or of making them Franks, to obey the Pope, as they do. Within these forty years they have gone so far as to throw down all their churches, and to take their Clergy from them ; and so excessive has been their cruelty and impiety, as to burn to death the Metro politan of the Cossacks, together with eleven of his bishops and chaplains ; roasting them on the fire with iron tongs, and thinking thus to terrify and subdue them. Such impious atrocities were not perpetrated even by the wor shippers of idols, in their time.
During all this period there was great distress over our brethren the Cos sacks ; and the boldest among them fled from their country and government, to an island at the mouth of the great river, Niepros, which falls into the Black Sea ; where they built a large and strong castle ; and settling there, added so many brave young foreigners to their number, that, at the present time, without reckoning the women, they amount to upwards of fifty thousand souls. They are called Cossacks of the Dona, and, in the Turkish language, TonongCozaghi ; and they made it their business and occupation to practise piracy and plunder in the Black Sea.
In the mean while, the great body of the Cossacks patiently endured the violence and tyranny of the Poles ; and bore agonies from them, like the agonies of the Martyrs in their time, without complaint or rebellion ; looking to their Heavenly Father, and submitting with resignation to the decrees of the Almighty.
About thirty years ago, three brothers made their appearance, at one time, among the Cossacks ; and, raising their heads against the Poles, made war on them, and completely defeated them, though they assembled many bodies of troops against them. Having established themselves in the city of Kiov,
1 72 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
they adopted their own banners and magistrates : and when Theophani, the late Patriarch of Jerusalem, wished to come to this country, they sent five thousand Cossacks to carry him away from Moldavia, and received him with great reve rence and ceremony among them. On that occasion, he consecrated for them a Metropolitan and Bishops, and a number of Clergy : afterwards they conveyed him to Moscow.
The Poles, seeing they had no power against these three brothers, made friendship with them, to deceive and betray them ; and contrived to send and poison all three, so that they died. Then they came and took possession of what the brothers had conquered from them, and annihilated their troops by the most cruel and shameful murders. Towards the peasantry they increased in tyranny and violence to the utmost degree ; and shewed no bounds to their indignation against Theophani, who at that time was in Moscow. As soon as he was informed of their hostility, he took the road to the country of the Tar tars, and escaped.
Immediately thereon came the Sultan Osman, with more than seven hundred thousand men, to make war upon them, at the Fort Khoenti, which is on the side of Moldavia ; and at the Fort Kamenitza, of so much celebrity, directly opposite. The Poles, in consequence, addressed themselves to the Cossacks, and intreated them to enter their pay as auxiliaries, and assist in repelling him. The Cossacks yielded to their prayers ; and making war on the Turk in their fiercest manner, and with their whole hearts, they speedily drove him back, as is well known for a fact in every coffee-house. His own troops afterwards put him to death : and a peace was concluded between the Turks and the Poles, on surrender, by the latter to the former, of the Fort Khoenti, to be under the government of the Beg of Moldavia, and on their agreeing to pay them every year a contribution of seventy thousand piastres and thirty thousand head of sheep and oxen.
For the kindness which the Cossacks had done them, the Poles returned the greatest cruelties ; thus hoping to break their union and disperse their nation. But God, beholding the tyranny and pride of the Poles, and incensed at their perfidy, raised up his faithful servant Akhmil, to take vengeance on them, and to release his peculiar people from their slavery and captivity; giving him strength, and assisting him to destroy their armies by the edge of the sword and the grasp of the emprisoner : as it has been said, " Whenever a nation becomes exorbitant, God gives power to some other nation over it, to root it out,"
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 17;>
When Zenobius, surnamed, by their Cral, Akhmil, appeared, and fought in the cause of religion ; but not having force enough, nor any helper nor supporters, was induced to send first to Vasili, the Beg of Moldavia, to ask his assistance, and next to Matthi Beg of Wallachia, intreating them to stand by him in liberating the orthodox Cossacks from the slavery of the Jews and Armenians and the accursed Poles ; instead of assisting him, and fighting for the true faith in conjunction with him, these two Princes requited him with evil : for Vasili sent his very letter to his friends the Poles, to make known to them his own constancy in their favour, and the growing enmity of Akhmil : and Matthi sent it to the Turks, his allies, to give them immediate information of the whole affair. Akhmil, therefore, being disappointed, and hopeless of them both, sent to solicit Alexius, Prince of Moscow, many times ; but the latter refused him anv favourable answer, because of his being a rebel and an upstart ; as is the usual conduct of Princes. When the hopes of Akhmil were thus blasted on all sides, the Almighty guided him to the adoption of an admirable scheme. This was, that between him and his friend the Cral a secret agreement was planned, that Akhmil should raise his head in rebellion, and that the Cral should assist him with troops ; in order to eradicate the Polish Grandees one and all, and to allow him to become king in his own right, who should rule, and not be ruled by them. For, as we mentioned before, there were many Grandees, in the hand of each of whom was a large country inherited from his ancestors ; and there were some of them who maintained a hundred thousand soldiers ; the lowest, ten thousand. But their counsels were not unanimous, and each was disposed to follow his own head : one after another, therefore, they all perished.
But what did Akhmil do ? He took with him his son Timotheus, who was only eight years old, and went over to the Cossacks inhabiting the island. Having, to their great delight, made an amicable compact with them, he went, at their instigation, to the Khan of the Tartars, to make an alliance with him also. On his arrival among the Tartars, it was in vain that he held out to them the promise of great booty : they would give him no credit, and feared his inter course, until he set his son before them as a pledge : on which the two parties interchanged oaths ; and the Tartars, becoming as one with Akhmil, immediately equipped, in conjunction with him, about forty thousand men; and, with the assistance of God, they attacked the Poles, and routed them, making a great number of them prisoners. Every thing that could be carried away they plun dered ; and the Tartars, on beholding this success, were exceedingly rejoiced. Having sent the captives to their own places in Tartary, they marched forward,
AA
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and attacked the Governor himself; and were not long before, by the help of God, they gained the superiority over him, and put the Cossacks in possession of all his territory ; as it had been agreed between them, namely, that " the country and the booty shall be for us (the Cossacks), and the captives for you (the Tartars)."
As the peasantry were all Cossacks, that were violently depressed under the most cruel tyranny and slavery, they all rose on the side of Akhmil, and assisted to conquer much territory. He had with him about five thousand men ; and many thousands of the Tartars joined him, when they saw the abundant booty that was gathered. Thus they ceased not to pursue their conquests over many districts, and to put to death their various Governors ; until Akhmil rode para mount over them, as Great Khatman or Vazir, called in their language " Com- missari," that is, Amir Akhor to the Cral, having command over more than two hundred thousand men ; and began to live in the greatest pomp, grandeur, and magnificence.
SECT. IV.
BATTLE AND WAR BETWEEN THE POLES AND COSSACKS.
IT is related, that the Polish Grandees broke up their establishments at home, for the purpose of marching out and devoting themselves to warfare against Akhmil. When they had thrown up their intrenchments and fixed their tents, they were as though they had come out to a merry-making party : and they sent to tell Akhmil, saying, " Lo, we are come out to meet thee, with our wives and children, and all that we possess ; with our gold and silver, our coaches and our horses ; all our treasures, and the contents of our houses." And this was really the truth ; for they were sitting in their tents, eating and drinking, and carousing to intoxication, and smiling and scoffing at the poor troops of Akhmil, and saying to him, " We are all come to place ourselves in thy hands : make haste, then, to plunder, and carry away all our chests of gold, for they are all here before thee." Now, when God saw their pride and vanity, he inspired Akhmil with a stratagem, which he practised upon them. This was, that the Cossacks went one night to the place where the Polish horses were feeding ; and having slain the grooms, they took possession of the whole troop. Then they retired, and made banners to the amount of the number of the horses ; giving to each rider a banner in his hand, so that there were five thousand banners in all,
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and five thousand small drums. Thus equipped, they marched towards the enemy, so as to reach their cam]) with dawn of day ; and found them asleep, and void of care. Raising a shout against them, they struck all their drums at once • and the Poles, on springing to their feet, met the banners around them on every As they endeavoured to find their horses, they were informed by the fugitive grooms of what had happened : and despairing of all escape, they fell into a blind rage, and began to sheath their swords in each other's bodies ; when the Cossacks ended the business by a general massacre, from which none escaped. Of booty they made an immense collection.
The Commander of the Polish army hid himself under a wagon, and was covered up by his servants in the straw. But he did not remain concealed from the Cossacks, who speedily detected him, and gave him a blow with a sword scoffing at him in their rhymes, and saying, " Yesterday you laughed at us and jeeringly mvited us to take your wealth and booty ; and now you are buried in the straw, you wretch ! Arise, and sit on your throne, that we may worship you J sovereign Lord ! and be not sad."
In this manner the Cossacks became masters of the whole of the country and reduced it to their own government, rooting out every stock and race of the oles, and Armenians, and Jews, from among them : and Akhmil performed with his brave followers, such feats of valour, and such stratagems of war as no one ever did before him. God gave him strength, and assisted his endeavours from the beginning of his career till the end ; and hurled destruction, by his sword, on the vanity and discord of his enemies: for each of them, as we men tioned before, was given up to the guidance of his own head ; and made war from his own territory by himself, refusing to be assisted by any one, or to be joined by Ins neighbour's troops. The great evil among them was this haughtiness of mind and excessive love of independence, whereby they were subjected to every kind of fraud and treachery. Had they united all in a body with their Cral, according to the practice of other kingdoms, and as they had done formerly at the time of the war with the Turks at Kamenitza, joining all their
*, there would have been none to equal them in power, save God alone
Moreover their Cral, who was in secret a friend to Akhmil, used to send to
strengthen him, and enforce his designs, in order to ruin and destroy all his
When these were at length made acquainted with his conduct, they
led a conspiracy against him ; and, giving him poison to drink, put a speedy
termination to his existence. In his place they set his brother: and finding,
eventually, that they were unable to cope with Akhmil, they made a treaty of
176 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
friendship with him, for the purpose of deceiving and poisoning him ; but they were unable to accomplish their design. Every scheme was attempted that they could devise to assassinate him ; but in vain, for God was with him.
In this manner he has continued to bear himself towards them until now : and when the Tartars gave way to their love of gold, and separated themselves from him, he sent to make his obeisances to the Prince of Moscow. At length the affair was settled, by means of the Patriarch, and through the zeal of the Muscovites for the orthodox faith. The Prince sent to Akhmil some royal caftans, and also to his Grandees ; and named him Knazi, in the rank of his empire. Then he sent two Voivodas or Ministers, and with them sixty thousand of his troops, to the city of Kiov, the castle of which they built and fortified ; and quartered themselves there, in order to repel their enemies the Poles : moreover, he inscribed forty thousand of the Cossack troops on his muster-rolls, with an allowance to them of yearly pay from his treasury, to be united with his own forces at Kiov. As there existed a great friendship between the Emperor and the Poles and their Cral, he sent to them an Ambas sador, to tell them, saying : " Be it known to you, that I seek three things from you, if you wish our ancient friendship to continue : the first is, that whereas the country of the Niepros, that is, of the Cossacks, is become my property, you are not to invade them any more, nor to injure them : and whereas among you there are Tartars, and they have their mosques ; Jews, and they have their synagogues ; Armenians, and they have their churches ; in like manner you are to hold in account the brothers of Christ, the Cossacks, who are, like me, of the orthodox faith : the second is, that you are to style me Emperor of the Russias, Great and Small : the third, that you restore to me the city of my ancestors, Smolensko, with all that it contained of cannon, musketry, and other armour and ammunition. If you give me a suitable answer, and in compliance with my commands, our ancient friendship shall continue to exist between me and you: if not, be it known to you, that I shall invade your possessions."
When the Poles heard this, they refused to consent, particularly the person named Radzivil, son-in-law of Vasili, Beg of Moldavia, who was a great Khatman, and an independent governor in that country, among many others. The Cral himself was for a favourable answer : but the rest would not agree.
In the mean time, behold what the impure wretches did! — without any ostensible leader, they came this very year, at Easter, that is, on the Eve of Holy Thursday, and the Eve of Saturday of Light, and the Eve of Easter Sunday, and suddenly invaded some seventy or eighty market-towns, in the Cossack
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country; knowing that the people were busy in their churches and at their prayers, and that it is the custom of the Cossacks not to take up arms at all during the Great Lent*. But the misfortune was chiefly owing to the confi dence of the Cossacks in the Emperor,, to whose protection they had recom mended themselves. Coming therefore on them unawares, the Poles put to the sword all whom they encountered, even the sucking-babes, and ripped up the bellies of the pregnant women ; after which they fled. When Akhmil heard of this, he sent some troops to pursue them ; but they failed of reaching the main body. The rear, however, they put to rout, and cut them all to pieces, together with one of the Jesuits who accompanied them to urge the enterprise. Afterwards they took I know not how many towns belonging to the Poles ; and put to the sword all whom they found in them, at the same time that they set fire to the houses, in retaliation of what had been done to their country.
When, afterwards, the Emperor heard of this, he was exceeding angry, and prepared for an expedition against the Poles : for the blood of the martyrs whom they had killed, and whose blood they had mixed with the blood of Christ their Lord on the Festival of his Holy Crucifixion, cried to God on their behalf ; and he inspired the Emperor, the lover of Christ, to march out against them, with more than six hundred thousand men.
He went forth from the city of Moscow on Monday the first of the Lent of the Apostles (which was the same day we set out from Wallachia, as we after wards ascertained) ; and passing on to the city of Smolensko, he thereto laid siege. To Akhmil he sent ninety thousand armed men : and one of his Vazirs, with one hundred thousand horse, he despatched to the frontier of Tartary, to keep a watch over the Tartars, and hinder them from marching to
* " In the Greek Church there are, in the year, four great Fasts or Lents. During these Fasts the Russians are not permitted to swallow flesh, milk, eggs, or butter; but confine themselves to vegetables, bread, and fish fried in oil. The Fast before Easter is regulated by that moveable feast : it continues eight weeks, and is called the Quadragesimal. In the first week they live upon butter, eggs, milk, &c., and abstain only from meat: it is called Maslonitza, that is, ' Butter-week/ and may be looked upon as their Carnival, it being spent in public diversions. The next is called St. Peter's Fast, and lasts from the Monday after Whitsunday, to the 29th of June ; and, consequently, is sometimes longer and some times shorter. The Fast of the Blessed Virgin is immoveable: it begins always on the 1st, and con tinues till the 15th day of August. St. Philip's is also immoveable; beginning on the 15th of November, and continuing to the 26th of December. Besides these, the usual Fast-days are the Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year. These institutions were originally intended for Monasteries ; but the second and seventh precept of the Church impose them upon all members alike, except that Monastics are never allowed to eat flesh. All the Fasts are, in general, strictly kept by the common people ; but few of the Nobility observe any of them, except, the first or last week of the Great Lent before Easter, when they are about to take the Communion." — CAPTAIN JONES'S Travels in Russia, Turkey, eye. Vol. I. p. 452.
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the aid of the Poles. But the Khan of the Tartars had consumed a great por tion of the money of the Poles ; and now he sent to excuse himself to them, savin0", that he had no power to march out to their assistance, nor to leave his own territory, on account of the great number of Muscovite troops who were on the watch. After a short time, he died ; and another became Khan in his stead. This is what had been passing of late.
I will remark in this place, that in all these countries there always is a Proto- papas, who takes the lead of the Clergy in preaching &c.
SECT. V.
COSSACK COUNTRY— HORAJKOKA, LIASKOVSKA, JADOKRIZ, #c.
To return to the subject of our travels :— We set out from Dimitrashikobo, the place before mentioned ; and passed its celebrated fort, which is of wood, and its bridges : and having proceeded a mile and a half, we arrived at another town, called Horajkoka. Here also, on our approach, they came out to meet our Lord the Patriarch, with an assemblage of the whole male population, both great and small, and all the women, without the town, where they ranged them selves in a double row ; and as soon as the Patriarch came near to them, they bowed to the ground, to receive his blessing : nor did they rise until he had passed on. I remarked that every man in this country continually carried a staff in
his hand.
After the Patriarch had kissed the Images and the Cross, they walked before us, chaunting, till they had led us into their church, which bears the name of St. Michael ; and all the while the bells were ringing. Afterwards they took us to the banquet, and gave grass to our cattle : and after we had tarried a little while, they went with us, to take farewell at the outside of the town.
Having proceeded a couple of miles, we came to another burgh, called Liaskovska ; which has walls of wood, and a castle. They were actually at work on the fortifications round these two towns, when we passed, in consequence of their alarm at what the Poles had done in Holy Week. The entire popula tion came out to meet us, as before, preceded by the Priests in their robes, and carrying banners and torches; and the children chaunted as the procession advanced. They were accompanied by the Prokovnikos Michael, who was stationed without the town, at the head of twelve thousand troops, to observe
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the Polish frontier, and those of Moldavia and Tartary. They conducted us into a church bearing the name of Our Lady.
There is another church in the town, called after St. Nicolas. In this place we slept ; and in the morning they all went out with us, to take farewell : and they gave us a large military escort.
After we had proceeded two miles, we came to another town, surrounded by ramparts, and containing a citadel within, constructed of wood. Its name was Jabokriz. All the inhabitants here, also, came out to meet us. It was the custom with them to chaunt before the Patriarch this piece - - ; and when he entered the church, they sang "A.%iov la-riv, whilst he ^was paying his devotions to the Images : and the Protopapas recited, "Have mercy on us, O God, &c." Nothing had so much effect on our hearts, which leaped from their places, as the chaunting of the children ; who sang the "Af;ov \ff7\v with all the fervour of their youthful souls.
In this town are two churches, bearing the titles of The Nativity of Our Lady, and St. Michael.
Our road this day, and afterwards, was all through a forest of J^U ^ &c. The Poles, during their domination here, were spread over the forest, in felling timber for the construction of their forts and towns and houses : but as soon as the Cossacks came into possession of it, they made a division among themselves of the lands ; and they are now very active in cutting down the trees and burning the roots, and then sowing the ground with seed.
Every town and village in the country of the Cossacks is full of people, and particularly of small children ; and each place can pour forth probably some forty or fifty thousand souls, and more. As to the children, they are more numerous than the blades of grass ; and they all know how to read : even the orphans are so instructed ; who, as well as the widows, are very many here, their fathers and husbands having been killed in the successive wars. But they have a salutary practice of marrying their children when young ; and for this reason they exceed in number the stars of heaven and the sands of the ocean.
Near every town or village there is sure to be a large lake, collected from rain water or from the running streams ; and it is called Khalistao, or place for col lecting fish. In the middle of it is a wooden mound or lock, on which is a heap of twigs covered with hay and straw. Under it are wheels which turn a mill ; so that they have water and fish and a mill altogether, and are in want of nothing. These things are found, without fail, in every town or small village.
180 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
The machinery which they have for the turning of their mills is admirable ; for we saw a mill turning by means of a mere handful of water.
It is remarkable,, that throughout Wallachia and Moldavia, and the country of the Cossacks, as far as Moscow, all the roads lead through the middle of the cities and small towns, carrying the traveller in through one gate, and conducting him out by another ; and private or by-roads, on the outside of the towns, do not exist at all. This is a very wise regulation.
We took our departure from Jabokriz, after the Priests, in their robes and carrying their banners, had bid us adieu outside the town, according to their constant practice : and we passed on our road over a large river, on which all the contrivance and work was to make locks or dams for the collection of fish, and for turning mills ; so that we were astonished and confounded : for the Druzes in our country we call mounders of earth, whereas these Cossacks are dammers of water.
After we had proceeded two miles, we came to a town, or rather city, larger and handsomer than any we had passed ; the name of which was Obodoka. It had large high ramparts ; and we entered it in the manner we mentioned of our entry into all their towns, over a bridge on a lake in the middle of the city : and the Priests came out to meet us, in their robes, and carrying their crosses and banners, accompanied by the Magistrates, and all the population, including both women and children as usual.
This town contains two churches, under the titles of The Assumption of Our Lady, and of Saint Michael, built of wood, very grand and lofty, with cupolas, and broad and high towers for the bells, which we saw from a great distance. We went into some churches, of a large size, which were used only in the summer ; and others which were used only in the winter ; all pierced with a multiplicity of windows, which delighted the view. All have been newly built since the beginning of the reign of the Khatman (to whom God give long life!), Zenobius Akhmil.
As to the names of the Cossacks, they are all taken from the finest and greatest of those of the Saints, both for men and women.
The Priests have a distinguishing mark ; which is, that their calpack is of black cloth, with black fur lining, and is hardly different from velvet : the rich among them have it made of velvet, with sable fur. Before their Chief they stand with their heads uncovered, as they do also in the churches.
We departed hence on the morning of Wednesday the fourteenth of Haziran; and passed in the midst of orchards without number, and rivers of water on the
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right and on the left. The different kinds of corn were to be seen of the height of a man's stature, and spread like an immense sea in length and breadth.
Having advanced one mile, we came to a large town with a wooden fort of great dimensions, surrounded by walls and trenches and cannon, called Balanoka. Round the whole town, that is, without the extremest houses, is a wooden wall, with another inside. On the gate of the fort is a tall piece of timber, with the Messiah figured on it crucified, and with the appendages of the instruments of the crucifixion, that is, the hammer and the pincers, and the nails and the ladder, &c. ; which has been standing since the time of the Poles. Here also they came out to meet us. We remained an hour ; and then proceeded another mile ; and came to three other burghs, in a row on the bank of the river, with three wooden ramparts and three dikes, called Samoka. They conducted us to the church, which is dedicated to the Holy Parasceve.
We remarked, that over the door of every church in the Cossack country is an iron collar, similar to those which are placed on the necks of captives. On asking about it, we were told, that every person who came not to church to the morning service, after the tolling of the bell, had this collar placed on his neck for the whole day, and was fixed on the fold of the door so as not to be able to move ; and that this was his constant treatment.
After an hour's rest, we set out from this place ; and crossed over the river above mentioned, near to the reach upon it called Bokho, where the ships are anchored. Then we advanced two miles further ; and came, in the evening, to two other towns, both with ramparts and moats, and lofty castles within. Their names were Sovolozka. In the citadel of one was a church dedicated to our Lord the Messiah : in the other were two magnificent churches, by the names of Saint Nicolas and Saint Michael. Like other towns, they had each a large lake in the vicinity : and they made a grand procession for us, with flags and banners.
On the morning of Thursday, we arose early; and having advanced something less than a mile, we came to another burgh, with high ramparts and lakes of water round it, called Mojoka, containing two churches of lofty structure, dedicated to The Assumption of Our Lady, and St. Michael. Proceeding another mile, we arrived at three burghs of considerable size, with fortifications, each apart, called Steianoka ; with a handsome church in each, one dedicated to Our Lady, the others to Saints Michael and Nicolas : but they were injured with fire : and these were of the number of those towns which had been taken by the Poles in the nights of the week preceding Easter, when they murdered the inhabitants, and set fire to the houses. We immediately afterwards came to
BB
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another town near the preceding ; which has beautiful fortifications, and is called Fajna. Round all these towns are lakes, with their mills : and in the last is a handsome church, named after St. Nicolas. Having advanced another mile, we arrived at another fortified town, Yayinarva, which has a church dedicated to St. Nicolas : here we slept. All these towns are near to each other ; and it is so throughout all the country of the Cossacks. What blessed places it contains! You cannot go the distance of Khan Toman from Aleppo, but you must pass, on your road, through ten cities, or eight, or five at least. The towns I speak of are those immediately on the high roads ; but as to others on the right and left, they are without number ; and there is not one that has not its three wooden walls, in proper repair ; the outermost of which is made with stakes crossed, to oppose the attack of cavalry. The other two, with a trench between them, are within the town : and there is sure also to be a citadel mounted with cannon ; so that in case of the inhabitants being overcome by the enemy, and being invaded over the three walls, they may retire, and defend themselves within the castle. The large lake of water is close to the walls, serving as a great moat ; and the road lies over a narrow bridge above. Upon any alarm, they break down the bridge, and are in no fear of their enemies.
The greatest part of these fortresses were erected out of apprehension of the Tartars alone, whose inarch into these countries is sudden and unawares ; as their custom is, when they sally forth from their own territory, not to give any notice to their troops of the spot whither their march is directed, that they may not divulge it. In a single day they perform five or six days' journey, in troops of cavalry ; each trooper having with him four or five led horses ; so that when one is tired, which he has been riding, he mounts another. Having advanced in this manner a month's march, they hide themselves in the mountains and thickets ; and having made a sudden attack in the night-time, they take to flight, as they have no courage for war. Such were their proceedings in this country : to guard against which, when the government was in the hands of the Poles, and every twenty or thirty towns, or perhaps forty or fifty, were subordinate to one Beg, whose subjects the Cossacks were, or rather his slaves, they used to employ them day and night in the construction of these ramparts, in excavating the dikes, in the formation of the lakes of water, in clearing the lands, &c. But when the Khatman, Zenobius Akhmil, (to whom God grant length of life !) gained possession of the country, those who had laboured and endured all the hardships of the work came into their rightful possession of it, and by their occupation of their own ramparts defeated the hopes of their enemies.
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SECT. VI.
COSSACK COUNTRY— TALALAYOKA, HORODOKA, HOMANO.
ON the morning of Friday, we advanced a mile ; and came to a burgh or market-town, called Talalayoka, surrounded by lakes and water-mills. It con tains a handsome church ; but its citadel and ramparts were all burnt, it being one of the places which the infidel Poles set fire to, in Holy Week. The inha bitants were unassisted by their neighbours ; and being unable to resist the attack of the Poles, they were overcome, and were all put to the sword ; being thus made companions to their Lord the Messiah in his sorrows, to the number of many thousands. Round this town were four others, that were treated in the same way.
We immediately proceeded another short mile ; and came to another market- town, called Talalayoka, which had been dealt with in the same manner.
Shortly afterwards we reached another town in the same neighbourhood, called Horodoka, the fortifications of which were burnt : but there remained in it a few of the inhabitants, for whom our hearts were pierced with grief, at the contempla tion of what had befallen them : nevertheless, they came out to meet us, in the usual way ; and took us to the great church, which they are proud to possess, bearing the name of Saint Michael. From that time to this, we never saw one equal to it in the country of the Cossacks, for height, and the elevation of its five cupolas. The colonnade that is carried round the building consists entirely of rounded pillars : and also over the gate is a tower for the bells, with similar columns. It had all been newly built : but the inhabitants were soon interrupted in the pleasure of beholding it ; and we all wept much over the thousands of martyrs who were killed by those impious wretches, the enemies of the faith, in these forty or fifty towns. The number,, probably, amounted to seventy or or eighty thousand souls. — (O you infidels ! O you monsters of impurity ! O you hearts of stone ! What had the nuns and women done ? What the girls and boys and infant children, that you should murder them ? If you had courage, you would have gone to fight with the venerable old man who has set you as a laughing-stock to the world ; who has slain your Princes and Grandees, and annihilated your heroes and valiant men : this person, who has made you the sport of the beholder, is named Akhmil. And well is he named " The Brave"
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— a name given to him by your Cral.) For it was the Poles who had conferred on him this appellation of Akhmil, after the name of a plant which grows in their gardens., resembling the French bean (*juj!), both in blossom and leaf : but it winds round trees, like the a^li!. This kind of telsA they sow throughout all this country, in their orchards and gardens ; where it winds upon long poles which they set up for the purpose. Its fruit they gather after the blossom,, which is spotted green ; and they put it into the boiling liquor which they make into a spirituous beverage, that is, into the decoction of oats (a grain resembling wheat), from which a strong spirit is distilled. In the winter it withers away, and is burnt like straw ; and when the spring shines forth at Easter, it shoots, and rises to a great height. To this, therefore, they have likened Akhmil : for during the days of Lent he lays aside war and battle and the sword, and reposes at home ; and those who have neither judgment nor faith come and burn and murder and carry on war up to Easter, whilst he speaks not a word. But when the glorious Easter is come with its flowers, he then starts up ; and then are gathered to him five hundred thousand warriors, to fight for the orthodox faith ; who are ready to hazard their lives for the love of their lord : who seek no pay, nor any thing of the kind. For Akhmil now boasts, and towers over the kings of the earth in this particular, that he has under him more than five hundred thousand troops, wrho receive no pay whatever, but are prompt to stand by him whenever he calls them, bringing with them their provisions and ammunition, and every thing they want. Both they and he, from the Festival of Easter until the Great Lent, are inhabitants of the deserts, and. away from their wives and children, leading a life of chastity and abstinence, which they have now persevered in from year to year, for the last eight years that he has reigned. — What a blessed nation is this ! and how copious its numbers ! What an orthodox people! and how abundant in faith! — After the loss of so many thousands of them slain in battle or sudden attack, and of so many more that the Tartars have carried away into captivity, they are still able to muster this immense quantity of armed men, to whom God give His blessing !
On the other hand, what have the Cossacks themselves done ? They have slain of their enemies, that is, the Poles, with their wives and children, more than can be reckoned up, and have sometimes not even left a remnant of them. We used to look with admiration at the palaces of the Polish Grandees and Gover nors, which we beheld within the forts, at a long distance ; so great was their elevation, with their cupolas and colonnades. When you entered them, you were
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 185
equally surprised at their beautiful architecture and elegance ; and at their lofty stoves, taller and more graceful than the cypress,, where they made their fires in the winter. But now they are in ruins, without an inhabitant ; and are become the resort of dogs and swine. As to the tribe of Jews and Armenians, they have utterly destroyed their whole race. The beautiful houses and shops and magazines which they possessed are now a refuge for wild beasts ; for the long-lived Akhmil, on gaining possession of this country, swept away from the face of it the whole progeny of foreigners ; and its inhabitants are now pure orthodox Cossacks.
To return : — The people of the above-mentioned town requested our Lord the Patriarch to consecrate their church for them ; as the accursed Poles had gone into it, and broken the images, and denied it ; and since Easter no mass had been said in it, until now. They had been waiting for a chief Priest to pass their way, to have it consecrated by him. In compliance with their entreaty, our Lord the Patriarch made for them an 'Ay/ao^oj, and sprinkled their church with it.
Immediately on leaving it, we proceeded two long miles; and came to a large town, divided into three fortressess, each apart. The third is an immense castle of wood, on an eminence, which they are now building anew : they are digging trenches around it, and fortifying it with square towers furnished with cannon. The name of the place is Homano. The inhabitants came all out to meet us, according to custom, with banners and torches, preceded by the Priests and Deacons in their robes ; and accompanied by the Proconicos and his troops, who were stationed without the town, in great numbers, to watch the frontiers of the Tartars and Poles.
It was remarked by us, that on the necks of the horses of the Grandees, in the country of the Cossacks, is suspended a cross of silver : but on the necks of the horses of the Voivodas in Muscovy, and between their eyes and along the bridles, the whole space is covered with gilt crosses.
Here they took us to a magnificent lofty church ; the cupolas of which are of green iron Q-as.-) <%^)> of extraordinary beauty. It is very wide and spacious, and painted all over. It is built of wood ; and its silver candlesticks are nume rous, furnished with handsome green torches. Above the Na'^f are suspended its fine-toned bells. In this church are lofty pillars ; with galleries looking over the choir, in which the musicians stand, and sing from their musical books to the organ, making with it a noise that emulates the thunder. For this is the first large city of the country of the Cossacks, and its houses are high and beautiful. Most of them were the houses of the Poles, and Jews, and Armenians ; and have
186 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
many windows glazed with coloured glass, with pictures hanging over them. The people of the town are sumptuously and elegantly dressed. Here are nine churches of magnificent structure, with lofty cupolas, under the titles of The Resurrection, Ascension Thursday, The Holy Trinity, The Nativity of the Virgin, The Assumption, St. Michael, St. Nicolas, the Festival of the Cross, and Easter. For this city was the central residence of the Polish Governors, and their capital ; and they had many princely palaces here, which still exist.
On the Saturday, we attended mass in their cathedral ; and,, before we left it, were deprived nearly of the use of our legs, from long standing : for, as we before mentioned, all their churches are entirely destitute of seats ; and they are very tedious in their prayers and chaunting, and in their celebration of the mass ; particularly when the ministering Priest or Deacon recites the Prone, and the chaunters who stand in the gallery respond, in their language, " llospodi, pomilui" that is, K^;s, gXgjjflrof ; each of which responses they chaunt to music for the space of a quarter of an hour. At the "HLKoptv Kuvreg, that is " We all say," we counted that, in the country of the Cossacks and Muscovites, the Priest recites it in fifteen verses, and that at every verse they chaunt Kvets, sXiqarov, many times ; so that we reckoned that during this prayer they chaunt Kvgiz, IXsqtrov about one hundred times ; and in like proportion during the rest of the Prone.
They never neglect to read the Epistles and Gospels ; and the Reader pro nounces the Epistles with a modulation much more beautiful than ours in reading the Gospel, and that on every word : nor do they ever omit to say the Psalms of David and the Hgozztpzvov, verse for verse, every day throughout the year, with the proper chaunt. In like manner, after reciting the Gospel, they chaunt with the organ the words Aofa ffo}, Kvgis, $ofa <roi, both the first and second time : and at the time of their saying "A%iov to-riv, all the Priests in attendance, with the children of the choir, assemble in the middle, and all chaunt it with one voice and from the bottom of their hearts. At the comme moration of the Bohoroditsa, or Divine Nativity, they all kneel on the ground, at the same time having their heads uncovered, even the Priests officiating. At other times you might see them standing in the churches like rocks, without motion. As for us, we suffered great pain ; so that our very souls were harassed with fatigue and anguish : but, as we mentioned before of them, we observed in them all a perfect spirit of religion, and abstinence and humility, to the utmost. They used to press forward in crowds to kneel and kiss the Cross in the hand of our Lord the Patriarch : and when we passed along the
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roads, and they saw the Cross raised on a staff, though they were extremely busy with their harvest, they would turn towards the east, with the women and children, and cross themselves on the forehead ; and the men and boys would throw aside their sickles and their work, and run as fast as they could to receive a blessing from our Lord the Patriarch. Travellers, especially, used to descend from their horses and carriages at a distance, and, gathering from the different parts of the road, would stand in a line, with their heads uncovered, till the Patriarch passed ; and then, kneeling on the ground, would creep for ward to kiss the Cross and the Patriarch's hand, and so depart.
To return: — We went out from mass near mid-day; and the Proconicos Simeon, before mentioned, with his Lieutenant, held up the arms of the Pa triarch, according to their custom,, till he had conducted him into his house, where we made for him an 'A-yiourfAog ; and the Patriarch prayed over him, and over his spouse, the prayers of Absolution ; and we sat down to table : on rising from which, he accompanied us to our lodgings, to take leave of us.
SECT. VII.
COSSACK COUNTRY— CRASNOBOLA, SAKOKA, AND PALACE OF KALINOSKA.
Wi; then set out from Homano, and parted from the General on the outside of the town. He, also, appointed some troops to attend us : and we proceeded one mile, and came to another town with fortifications and a castle, named Crasnobola, whence the inhabitants poured forth to meet us, as usual. For at the moment of our departure from any place, one of the troopers attending us went in advance, with a Letter from the Proconicos, addressed to all his depen dents, informing them of our approach ; that they might get ready a provision of meat and drink, sufficient for all our train. With our servants, and the Heads of Convents who accompanied us with their servants, we were about forty per sons. In like manner they sent to prepare horses for our carriages, and cut green, grass for our cattle : for, as we mentioned before, the summer of these countries is a perpetual spring, and the flowers bloom to the month of Teshrin ; so that we were astonished at the vernal appearance of the fields. At the gates of every town they used to meet us with loads of bread, to have it blessed ; and when we sat down to table, the first thing they placed before us was always bread.
188 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
In this way the people of the above-mentioned town came out to meet us at their gates, as they had been recommended to do : and when our Lord the Patriarch paid his devotions to the banners and the crosses, he always alighted from his carriage, out of respect to them ; and walked in his mantle some distance,, until they had led us into the church ; which we quitted for our lodg ings, where the Cross, raised on a staff, was arboured at our door.
After they had taken us into their church, which bears the name of Saint Michael, we set out instantly : and proceeding another mile, came, in the evening of the fifth Sunday after Pentecost, to a very large town, with three forts and three lines of defence, called Sakoka ; which has four large lakes of water in its vicinity ; and, amongst its buildings, some magnificent handsome houses, which formerly belonged to the Jews and Armenians. It contains four churches, which bear the titles of The Divine Manifestation, Our Lady, St. Michael, and St. Nicolas : they are magnificent and lofty. Outside the town is a convent dedicated to St. George, which they are now building anew.
We were met by the Priests and Deacons, as usual, without the gates, with their banners and torches, in great numbers : they conducted us into the church, chaunting until the Protopapas began the Prone ; in which he mentioned the name of our Lord the Patriarch of Antioch, and the name of their Metropo litan Silvestris, and the Khatman Zenobius, and the Emperor Alexius, as is always done. Then they led us out, walking before us in their robes, and with torches in their hands, and chaunting, until they deposited us in our lodgings. Here the Patriarch gave them his blessing ; and they departed.
It may be remarked, that in these countries of the Cossacks there is no wine : their beverage is barley-water, boiled and sweet, which is very good. We drank it instead of wine. How could we help ourselves ? This sweet barley-water, however, has the advantage of being cool on the stomach, particularly in the summer season. There is also a beverage made with boiled honey : this is intoxicating. As to the spirit made from oats *, which is like the grain of wheat, and is boiled for the purpose, there is a great abundance of it, and it is very cheap.
* The Arabic word which I have rendered ' oats ' is } M j . It may, however, be intended for ' rye.' No Dictionary, that I have been able to consult, has contained it. Holman says, " at a Russian banquet a variety of drinks are carried about ; as the Zboten, prepared from honey, or treacle and water, with herbs added, to give it a flavour : this, when cold, is presented in glass vessels ; and when hot, in metal ones. Occasionally, a better kind of Zboten is prepared, from the juice of cran berries, pears, prunes, or other fruits, sweetened with honey. Another beverage is the Kvass, which
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We rose early in the morning of the afore-mentioned Sunday ; and attended the "QgQjov with them, and afterwards Mass. Then I went to see the palace of the Governor of this city, whose name was Kalinoska. This was one of the greatest of the Polish Governors, the chief or principal of whom were four. One of them was named Botoska; the second Commissari, the same person the manner of whose death we mentioned as having occurred in the beginning of the reign of the Cossacks. He had two hundred thousand men under his command. The third was this Kalinoska. Homano, as far as the borders of Raskho, together with this town and other places, a very large district, was his domain. His own stud of horses were forty valuable Turkish chargers ; and his body guards were twelve thousand fine soldiers, all clothed in rich uniforms. Besides them he had thousands of other troops. When Akhmil marched to fight against him, he was defeated, and carried off by the Tartars, as a prisoner, into their country, in the company of Botoska. Vasili, Beg of Moldavia,, afterwards sent to redeem them, paying eighty thousand gold pieces for each. The fourth was called Vishnovaska, one of the three Governors on this side the river Niepros. The intention of Vasili in liberating them was, that for the good he did them he might be remunerated by them in a handsome manner in the sequel. And this recompence he obtained : for the Poles sent assistance to his enemy, Stephani Voivoda,, whilst he was engaged in his attack on the fortress of Satjao ; and there struck Timotheus, son of Akhmil, and his son-in-law, with a cannon-ball, and killed him, as we before described : so that his requital was evil for good, and his hope was reversed. On this account, Akhmil was angry with him to an extreme degree : for these two, on returning to their country, renewed and would have continued the war against Akhmil and the Cossacks, but that the brave Timotheus marched to meet them, and defeated them, and, slaying them with his own sword, blotted their remembrance from the face of the earth.
The palace of Kalinoska is at the further side of the city ; and is seen from a great distance, by its height. Between it and the houses of the town is a large river, and an immense lake ; over both of which is a bridge. The palace is a
is brewed with rye-flour, and sometimes flavoured with aromatic herbs ; and whieh is carried, in the preparation, to a slight acetous fermentation : this may be considered the substitute for English Small- Beer. There is, however, a superior Kvass, named Buza, prepared from sifted flour and malt ; and a third, named Kisloy-stahee, from the finest wheat-flour, which is deliciously effervescent. Mead is also much used." — HOLMAN'S Travels in Russia, Siberia, Poland, &c. Vol.1, p. 135.
Cc
190 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
castle, on the top of a high eminence; and all around it is a moat of great width and depth ; with a wooden palisade, on the outside, of cross poles, to resist the attack of cavalry ; and another within, of joint timber. In front of the gate are large guns ; and on the flanks, on both sides, are smaller guns. The whole circuit of the castle is fortified with square wooden towers. In the centre of the inclosure is a large open space; at the upper end of 'which is the magnificent dwelling- house of the palace, all built of wood hardened in the fire, which is incom bustible; and is planed and polished on the four sides, and joined in such a manner that no glue appears, so that you would suppose the whole house, or each wall of it, one entire piece in length and breadth. The length of each timber, or square piece of wood, is fifty spans and more, as we measured it ; and its breadth is four spans. Throughout the whole circumference of the palace are four of these timbers, raised lengthwise,, one upon the other, to the roof. This place contains a great number of cellars and magazines ; over which are other houses and floors, one above another. As to the stoves and furnaces, where they make their fires in the winter, they are very large, and taller than the cypress, with many pipes that pass along the cielings, and are of great width. Near these apartments are very extensive stables for the horses.
Next, we ascended to the upper rooms of the other palace, which is for the summer season ; and is above the gate of the castle, up many steps. It consists of apartments raised over each other, with windows all round. It is a building- similar to that called The Mount of St. Simeon, in our country ; and like the town Moarra. It is much ornamented and painted ; and it opens to the view of the person sitting in the upper story a circumference of a day's journey or more, with the sight of all the objects in motion in the different places and on the roads. It still remains desolate, with not a single inhabitant ; and appears to moan for its former possessors.
On descending to the town, we went to the great church, which is opposite the castle, and bears the name of St. Nicolas, the Cossacks having lately so christened it. They are now employed on the repair of the cupolas. This church is one of the most magnificent in existence, as well in architecture and ornament, as in loftiness and height and size. Inside of it are inclosures in the form of a cross, namely, the two choirs, and the magnificent large tabernacle, within which, where the Ka&dga. is, are four pillars of wood, very large, adorned with sculpture and painting, and entirely covered with gilt, so as to have the appearance of solid gold. Over them is a kind of cupola. The
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they are now making new. In the choirs are places for the Priests to stand ; and the choristers are continued the same as in the time of the Poles. All their pillars, and all the wood, and the desks on which they place the books, are painted and gilt. Above the great Na^f are galleries; with balustrades, looking over the choir, in which the singers stand and chaunt to the organ. The height of the steps ascending to this place is very great. Outside the door of the church is the tower for the bells ; and round the whole circuit of the court are wooden walls, inclosing gardens.
In like manner the houses of the whole of this city are large, and built of handsome polished wood ; for, as we mentioned, they were the houses of the Armenians and Jews, whose race the Cossacks cut off from the land, and gathered to themselves their wealth and plunder, with their houses and furni ture, their gardens and their fields. And this they well merited ; for during the reign of the Poles they were the magistrates and deputies and collectors of the taxes, and they enslaved the Cossacks to the utmost. When, therefore, the Almighty granted the kingdom to the latter, they blotted their memory from the land. And what a blessed nation it is ! What a happy country ! This is its greatest merit, that it contains not one inhabitant of any other sect whatever, but is pure, and peopled only with the orthodox, the faithful, and the truly reli gious. How great is its zeal for purity and holiness of spirit ! how clear its principles in the truth of orthodoxy ! Blessed be our eyes for what we saw, and our ears for what we heard, and our hearts for the joy and exultation which we experienced! For this people, from being in captivity and slavery, are now living in mirth and cheerfulness and liberty ; and have built up their Catholic churches, and brought forth their glorious images, and their pure and godly Iconostases, their banners, their crosses, their insignia. Every church we saw was handsomer, and more vast and elegant, and loftier and larger than the other ; and every Iconostasis and Symbolon and image was more beautiful and noble than those we had previously seen : even the village churches exceeded each other in beauty. The people had entered into a religious emulation, with new love and zeal ; and were applying themselves to learning and reading, and singing with vehement affection and the sweetest chaunt. And they are truly deserving of happiness ; for they endeavour to provide themselves, in extreme simplicity of contentment, with such food as is sufficient for their wants, and with the clothing that peculiarly becomes them.
192 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
SECT. VIII.
COSSACK COUNTRY.— BOGI, LISINKA, MADFADKAN, ISAI.
WE arose in the morning of Monday the nineteenth of Haziran ; and, pro ceeding a couple of miles, came to another large town, between two mountains, with fortifications, and a castle on the side of the hill, and a large body of water flowing in the vale below. On the dike were four mills, with admirable machinery, such as is found in all the mills of this country : for the stream of water drives down and turns round the outer wheels, the cogs of which turn round the mill for the grinding of the wheat ; and for the bruising of the oats and barley there are beams, that pound by rising and falling on a circulating stone. The oats, when pounded and broken, they take to make spirits of; and the barley to boil and make water of, or beer. There are other beams for beating the flax, which they sow for the manufacture of linen. Between the two wheels on the outside are large wooden rollers, with which, in the time of the Poles, they used to full the cloth, after it had been steeped in the current for many days.
To return : — The name of the above-mentioned town is Bogi. It contains three churches, by the titles of The Assumption of Our Lady, Saint Michael, and Saint Elias. After they had given us a meeting, as usual, with banners and the procession of the Clergy, and we had gone into the church and out again, they requested our Lord the Patriarch to consecrate for them a fourth church, entirely new, which they had just finished ; and they conducted us to it in procession.
As soon as we had entered, our Lord the Patriarch made an 'Ay/ao^o?, and sprinkled all over the church and tabernacle, and fixed the table and altar, and smeared them with the divine myron, and read over them the well-known prayers, and gave to the church the name of The Holy Nativity. Then he sprinkled all present with the holy wrater : for whenever we entered a village or town, the Priests used to meet us with a vessel of 'Ay/ao^o? : and when the Patriarch alighted from his coach and kissed the crosses and the images which they held in their hands, and they had kissed his cross and his right-hand like wise, they used to present to him a vessel of 'Ay/ao^o?, and he sprinkled all the assistants with the hyssop, in the form of a cross. Also, when we entered the
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church, and after the Prone and the conclusion of the prayer,, they used to place for him a chair, that he might sit down and cross them all, one by one, with the 'AyioLfffAog. Afterwards, as he went out, he threw the water over the whole population of the town, on the right and the left,, till we arrived at our lodgings.
From the time of our arrival in the country of the Cossacks till our departure thence, we wrere furnished by the Government with carriages and horses, which were supplied to us for the conveyance of our baggage from town to town, according to their custom ; for our horses had halted with the fatigue of this long journey.
We immediately left this place, and proceeded four miles. The whole of this day's travelling was through an immense forest of J^Lo trees, which they were employed in cutting down and burning their roots ; and after ploughing the ground, they were sowing it with corn. This operation they were carrying on throughout the whole country: for, as we were informed, during the time of the Poles, the traveller could not view the sun for the depth and thickness of the woods, in consequence of the great care the Poles bestowed on them, planting them, like orchards, for the use of the timber in building their walls and forts and houses. But as soon as the Cossacks obtained the sovereignty, they divided the lands, and made hedges and boundaries ; and are now clearing them night and day.
In the evening we came to a large town, fortified as usual, and with waters and gardens : for this blessed country is like a pomegranate orchard, so great is its beauty and cultivation. The name of the town was Lisinka : and it contained four churches ; one dedicated to The Divine Manifestation, or Epiphany, which was that into which they conducted us. Over its gate was a new brazen bell, of very large size, the sound of which we heard at the distance of an hour's ride. Its cupola is covered with plates of tin. The largest church they have is called The Catholic : the other three churches are dedicated to the Virgin, Saint Michael, and Saint Nicolas. There is, moreover, another large church, by the name of The Holy Trinity ; in which we saw an image of Our Lady, wherein she was figured as a crowned spouse ; whereas we constantly see her portrait drawn as a pure virgin, with blushing cheeks. In this church, also, were hung up crowns of thorns stained with gore ; in imitation of that wherein Christ appeared to Eustathius, and spoke to him.
From this town we sent to the Preserved of God, the Khatman Zenobius
194. TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
Akhmil, a Letter, to inform him of our coming, according to the usual form; for he was stationed, with his army, at the distance of four great miles from this place.
On Tuesday we arose, and advanced one great mile ; and came to another town with ramparts and a moat, newly made, and a lake, called Madfadkan, containing three churches, dedicated to Our Lady, Saint Nicolas, and Saint George. Here a Hawyvgi, or fair, is held, for buying and selling, on the Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist,, the twenty-fourth of this month Haziran.
Departing hence, we proceeded two other great miles, through a vast forest between two mountains, by a narrow and difficult road in a valley. At every short distance the passes were stopped with connected beams of wood, to with stand the assault of cavalry, on the right hand and on the left : above were dwelling-houses,, to the number of three hundred. At the bottom of the valley were about ten different fish-ponds, one below the other, the overflowings of each falling into the next lower down. On these are the mills, on the dams of which are planted willow-trees in great abundance.
It may be remarked, that on the lakes throughout this whole country is the usual yellow flower of the Nenuphar, or Nymphaea ; and also the double white, in very great quantities.
Nothing surprised us so much as the abundance of their live stock, chiefly their poultry,, that is, their fowls and ducks and geese and turkies, which were wandering about the fields and woods, to feed, at a distance from the towns and villages ; and laying their eggs in the copses and thickets, where none take the trouble to seek them, so abundant are they everywhere : for there exists not in this country, nor is known, such a thing as a vulture or an eagle or a lion, at all. It is rare even for a snake to make its appearance ; and over the whole road from Wallachia to the capital of Muscovy we saw but one, which we killed. Besides, they have no poachers among them, nor thieves, nor plunderers.
It may be noted, that we saw in the dwelling-houses of this country not only men, but animals and birds ; and we were greatly surprised at the prosperity that shewed itself among them. In the house of each of the married men you might count ten children ; and most of them had white hair on their heads, so that we used to call them Sheikhs, from their grey appearance. But what increased our surprise the most, was to behold them piled, as it were, with heads above each other, when they came out of their houses to look at us. But we
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 19.3
had more to do to look at them ; for we used to see the tallest standing on one side with the next in height immediately below him, and so on till the lowest stood last ; — blessed be their Creator ! What can we say more characteristic of this happy nation, than that during the last two years there have been killed of them in the wars some tens of thousands ; captured by the Tartars some thousands ; destroyed by the plague more multitudes than have been counted, amidst its ravages among them, and its quick removal of such crowds of them to the heavenly abodes : and yet, with all this, they are like grains of sand, and more numerous than the stars. It must be, that their women conceive and bring forth three or four times a year, and bear each time three or four at a burden. But the real truth is, as we were informed, that this country allows no woman to be barren ; and this is a circumstance perfectly evident, and true, and in every man's experience.
As to their cattle and quadrupeds, you may see in each man's house, by the blessing of God, ten kinds of animals : first, horses ; secondly, cows ; thirdly, sheep ; fourthly, goats, resembling wild deer ; fifthly, hogs ; sixthly, fowls ; seventhly, ducks ; eighthly, geese ; ninthly, turkies, in great abundance. Some have pigeons, for the tenth kind, in places above the roofs of the houses : others have dogs.
What surprised us most were the various kinds of hogs, of different colours and shapes. There were black, white, red, brown, yellow, and blue ; besides black spotted with white, blue with red, red with yellow, white spotted with brown, some white spotted with black, and some streaked in various forms. What amusement and laughter we used to have at their young litter ! But we never were able to hold one of them at all ; for most undoubtedly they have devils in their bellies, and they slip through your hands like quicksilver. The sound of their voice is heard to a great distance. The sow bears thrice in the year : and the first time of her life that she litters, she brings forth eleven pigs ; the second time, nine ; the third, seven ; the fourth, five ; the fifth, three ; the sixth time of her life, one, singly; and after that she bears no more, but becomes steril, and is doomed to slaughter. In general, they kill the male, and preserve the female. There is a herd for the swine apart : and the fowls, the ducks, and geese, and every kind, are kept distinct.
As to the various kinds of grain and plants which they sow and cultivate, they are wonderful and numerous; and mention will be made of them in their proper place.
To return to the description of the three hundred houses in the valley : they
196 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
have two churches among them, and the name of the place is Isai. Every house here has a garden round it, the hedge of which is formed of cherry-trees and plum-trees, &c. The ground is sown with herbs, and parsnips, radishes, turnips, lettuces, &c.
SECT. IX.
COSSACK COUNTRY.— BOGOSLAFI.
THROUGH the whole of the forest we mentioned, they are making hedges, and dividing each side among the people. As soon as we got clear of this forest, and out of the narrow road, we proceeded another mile, making four in all, for this day's journey ; and we came upon a large town with fortifications and a castle, named Bogoslafi ; and crossed, in boats, over a large river near to it, called Rosh. At this moment the Clergy of the six above-mentioned towns, in their robes and with their banners and the children of the choir, attended by their congregations, and the troops under the standard of the warlike Khatman, the beloved of Christ, Zenobius, which was of black and yellow cloth with cross streaks, were all wraiting for us on the banks of the river ; and when our Lord the Patriarch stepped up from the boat, they all knelt down before him ; and he kissed their crosses and images, as usual, and they kissed his cross and his right-hand.
Then they took us, in great honour and reverence, to the church of Our Lady : for of the three churches in the town this is one. The second bears the name of The Trinity; the third is Saint Parasceve. There is hanging up in this church of Our Lady, in guise of a chandelier, a large beast with many heads, each of which is contrived to hold candles.
As for the Khatman Akhmil, he was encamped with his army outside the town ; and information was sent to him of our arrival. On the forenoon of Wednesday, notice was given us, that he was coming to make his salutations to our Lord the Patriarch ; and we went out from our lodgings to meet him ; for by them was the road to the castle, where they had prepared him an apartment. At this moment he approached from the gate of the city with a numerous troop, in the midst of whom it was impossible for any one to distinguish him, otherwise than by observing that they were all clothed in handsome garments, and
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 197
accoutred with valuable arms ; whereas he wore mean and scanty clothing, and was provided with armour of no price. As soon as he beheld our Lord the Patriarch at a distance, he alighted from his horse, with all his attendants ; and came and knelt down, and kissed the hem of the Patriarch's train, a first and a second time ; then the cross, and his right-hand. And our Lord the Patriarch kissed the Khatman's forehead.
Where are your eyes, ye Begs of Moldavia and Wallachia ? and where is now your grandeur, wrhere your haughtiness ? Each of you is inferior in value to any Prokonikos of the Khatman's suite, and in justice and moderation infinitely below him. Kings and Emperors are unequal to the contest of magnanimity with him ; for he immediately laid hold of the arms of our Lord the Patriarch, and walked with him, step for step, till they entered the castle ; weeping as he went. There they sat down to table ; and the several officers called by the title of Prokonikos sat with them. It was delightful to witness the beauty of the Khatman's language, his placid demeanour, his humility and condescension, and his tears of joy ; for he was exceedingly pleased to see our Lord the Patriarch, and loved him to an extreme, and said, " Praise be to God ! who has granted me before my death to have a meeting with your Holiness." He conversed much with the Patriarch on matters of climate and the winter season, and granted him every thing he asked him : for the Beg of Wallachia, Kyr Constantine, and the Grandees of that country, were in much fear of the Khatman, and in apprehen sion of his coming upon them suddenly with his army, on account of what Matthi Beg had done to him at the time of his discomfiture, and to his Cossack troops, when Matthi slaughtered and made them prisoners, &c. They much therefore entreated our Lord the Patriarch to intercede for them, that he would forgive them ; and to beg him to write them a letter, which might tranquillize their minds. The Khatman granted the Patriarch his request, and sent them what they asked for. In like manner, Stephani, the new Beg of Moldavia, was in great fear of the Khatman, for having caused the death of his son Timotheus, and for other enormities which the Moldavians had been guilty of towards the Cossacks, as far even as wilful murder of them; and he pardoned them also, and sent to Constantine a letter in answer to theirs, in which he made many inquiries as to their circumstances.
Then we presented to him our offering, on trays covered with napkins, according to their custom. It consisted of a piece of stone, with the blood of our Lord the Christ from the Holy Galgala ; a vessel of holy ointment ; a case
DD
1 98 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
of scented soap, another of purified soap, and one of soap of Aleppo ; a case of refined sugar, of lada and fruit, apricots and grapes ; a case of beans of coffee, which he is very fond of ; some cassia fistularis ; and a valuable Persian carpet. He was sitting, with his Vazir in front of him ; and his chief courtiers in attendance, viz. his Grammatikos or secretary, and ten of his officers called Prokoniki. All of them wore, as they are accustomed, their chins shaven : and the meaning of the word Cazak, or Cossack, is this, viz. ' beard-shorn,' but nourishing the whiskers.
This Akhmil is an old man, of those who have been most prospered by the blessing of God : in possession of every quality to be a leader — and of the most important of all, secrecy — he is the spontaneously chosen of his fellow-men. There is no affair in which he is engaged to which he does not himself attend ; and he is moderate in his eating and drinking and clothing. His mode of conduct is conformable to that of the greatest of kings, Basil the Macedonian, according as it is described in history. Every person who sees him is in admiration of him, and says, " Is this that Akhmil, whose fame is spread over the whole world ?" In the country of the Franks, as we were informed, they have composed poems in his praise, and in celebration of his wars and conquests ; so great is the blessing of God upon him, and so entirely overlooked is the meanness of his person. Now Vasili Beg of Moldavia was perfect in the majesty of his stature, and in the fierce command of his counte nance, and was renowned throughout the universe for his wealth and treasures ; and yet all this availed him nothing ; but in his first battle, and in his second and third, and many times more, he was defeated, and put to flight. Where is thy name, O Akhmil ! Where is thy personal appearance, and where are thy actions ? Truly God is with thee ; and it is He who has raised thee to deliver his peculiar people from their bondage to the nations ; as Moses formerly delivered the Israelites from the servitude of Pharaoh, whom, with his followers, he over whelmed in the Red Sea : but thou hast destroyed them, the filthy Poles, with thy depopulating sword — glory to God, who has done in thee all these great works !
When any person came to complain to him at table, or to address any discourse to him, he used to talk with him in secret, in such a situation as that none could hear what he said : and this was his constant practice. In respect to his manner of sitting at table, let it be observed, that he placed himself in a lower seat, and our Lord the Patriarch in the seat of eminence, according to the reverence due to
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 199
him in every assembly. He was not like the Begs of Moldavia and Wallachia, who seated themselves in the centre,, and placed the Head of the Clergy below them.
Then they brought upon the table some bowls of spirits, which they drank out of noggins ; and the liquor was hot : but for Akhmil they set a silver cup of a particular kind of spirit. Having first made the Patriarch drink, the Khatman was the second to drink himself ; and then he sent down the cup to each of us, for we were standing before him. How admirable this humility of a soul, which may the Almighty preserve still long on earth ! He had no cup-bearers, nor any officers to cover up and guard the vessels of his meat or drink, as is the fashion of Princes, and even of subordinate Governors. Next they served up earthen ware dishes of salt-fish boiled, and other eatables, in a plain way. There were no silver plates, nor forks, nor spoons, nor any thing of the kind : and yet every one of the servants of his servants had numerous chests full of bowls and cups and spoons of silver and gold, with other treasure, gained from the Poles ; which none of them desired or cared for here, being out on a military expedition : but when they are at home, in their own native places, it is a different thing.
At even-tide he dismissed the Patriarch, sending him home in a carriage drawn by one horse only, and accompanying him to the outside of the castle- gate. Here were no princely coaches to be seen, covered with high-priced cloths ; nor harnessed with a number of beautiful horses, though the Khatman had thousands of the latter at his command : and though, at the moment, there was a heavy fall of rain, he set out for his camp, with a white cloak thrown over him ; and left us, after he had sent us our expenses for the road, with many excuses. He furnished us also with a billet for meat and drink over the whole extent of his territory, and for the use of horses and carriages ; and gave us letters to the Emperor of Moscow and the Voivoda of Potiblia. This is what passed on the present occasion.
SECT. X.
GOVERNMENT OF THE COSSACKS.— FORTRESS. OF BOGOSLAFL
IT should be noted, that the Government of the Polish Territory was for merly divided into three portions ; one of which was this, now taken from the Poles, and made his own by the Khatman Zenobius Akhmil, to the extent of a month's journey in length, and of the same in breadth, all intersected with
200 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
forts and fortifications, like a pomegranate : the second portion is that which remains at present in their possession : and the third is in the middle, which has been utterly ravaged by the Khatman, who has burnt its towns and villages, and slaughtered its inhabitants; saving the better part of them only for slavery among the Tartars, and laying it a waste and empty desert, so as to form a border between the two nations, of some days' journey.
The Khatman has now with him eighteen Polkonios (^^GjjCo) or Pashas, each of whom governs many towns and forts of immense population ; some four or five of them having the command each of fifty or sixty market-places. Their force in regular troops is sixty, fifty, or at least forty thousand fighting men ; and the smallest of them has under him twenty market-towns and post- stations. In all, they have twenty thousand stations for their troops ; the whole of which are gathered to Akhmil at the season of his expeditions, to the amount of more than five hundred thousand, practised and instructed to the utmost in the various arts and stratagems of war. At present, there appeared under his command about one hundred thousand valiant warriors, all in the prime of life and vigour, and expert horsemen and tacticians. Formerly, their armies were composed of peasants, without any experience whatever in warfare, who gained instruction as occasion led ; but the youths just mentioned had all learnt horsemanship and bravery, and to throw the spear and fire the musket, from their infancy.
It is proper to remark, that all these troops are destitute of pay ; but they sow their fields to whatever extent they please, and in due season reap their harvests and gather them into their barns ; and no person takes from them one in ten, or any other portion, but they are entirely exempt from all such exac tions : and this is the condition of the whole agricultural population of the Cos sack country. They know nothing of imposts, or taxes, or tithes. But Akhmil gathers into his coffers all the receipts of custom taken on the frontier of his territory, from the merchants, and the excise on mead and beer and spirits, to the sum of one hundred thousand dinars yearly ; and this suffices for his annual expenditure ; for in addition to it he receives not an item.
Now these accounts of Akhmil and the Cossacks, which we have so distinctly commemorated, were collected with the utmost care ; and noted by me on the instant, after many questions to investigate their accuracy, and much labour to ascertain their truth. How many sleepless nights have I passed in writing them, neglectful of repose, in the prosecution of my task !
The fortress of Bogoslufi, before mentioned, is strongly fortified with a
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 201
double wall and moat, one within the other. Its towers are numerous ; and its south side rests wholly on the top of the hill. Under it is the river, which coasts the town, and is banked by huge rocks. It contains a lofty and magnificent palace, which belonged to the Poles ; and also a church of theirs, which our Lord the Patriarch gave the Cossacks permission to consecrate and use for prayer. In general, the Cossacks had made ruins of all the churches of the Poles, and rased them to the ground, thinking to root out the memory of their founders ; and for this reason they abandoned their public buildings and princely palaces to desolation, (for, as the Poet says, there is no true enmity but that which springs from religion,) and devoted them to be receptacles of filth and nastiness.
After this we left Bogoslafi, on Thursday the twenty-third of Haziran : and our way fell through the camp of the Cossack army and Akhmil, where all the troops were at their quarters, in readiness for their march ; and the Khatman sent to invite our Lord the Patriarch to come to him, intimating that for the sake of this visit he had delayed the commencement of the expedition. We entered, therefore, into the midst of the squadrons : and you might have seen the men, by thousands and tens of thousands, hastening and pressing forward to kiss the hand of the Patriarch, and his cross, on their knees ; so that the horses of the coach \vere unable to proceed for them, and we were alarmed and incommoded by their multitude.
At length we arrived at the tent of the Khatman Akhmil, a small and mean apartment, from which he came forth to meet the Patriarch; who, as the Khatman knelt at his feet, read over him the Prayer for War and Victory, and invoked a blessing upon him and his army. Then the Khatman took him by the shoulder, and led him into his tent ; which was spread with no costly woollen carpets, but only with mats of the meanest quality : there he had been sitting at his dinner, with the table spread before him, and no other dish laid on it but a mess of boiled fennel. At the same time we observed the servants of the army fishing in the lakes around, for their own sustenance. What frugality and con tentment ! — After the Khatman had made us drink some spirits, we rose up ; and he went out with the Patriarch, who gave him his blessing ; and we departed.
As for the army in general, they have no tents : they plant the trunks or branches of trees round them, in the form of a tent, throwing their ^^coo or cloaks over the inclosure, to keep off the rain ; and with this they are perfectly satisfied. God's blessing be upon them !
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SECT. XL
COSSACK COUNTRY.— KOKARI, TRIPOLIS.
THIS day we travelled four great miles, over a verdant plain of equal breadth and length ; till we came, in the evening, to a town called Kokari, which was formerly protected by a fort, since destroyed in the late wars.
From this place we arose on Friday ; and passing by two large villages, and over the distance of three miles, we came to a large town, called Tripolis, by reason of its being three towns, with their forts, united. Before you come close to it, you seem to be looking towards a Tabor, or pitched camp, formed by many large mounds of earth ; having an entrance to it, between two mountains of mould, so very narrow, that only one person at a time can pass in. The inhabitants came out to meet us.
On the top of one of the hills is a large and strongly fortified castle, with a double wall and moat ; but most of the houses are empty, this place having been formerly the central abode of the Jews ; and now their handsome dwell ings and shops and bazars are deserted, and without a single inhabitant. We were then taken to a church there, which is dedicated to The Divine Manifesta tion, or Epiphany : it is magnificent and large, and very roomy and beautiful, excelling, in its size and embellishments, and in the number of its cupolas, every other church of the Cossack country ; so that we were overpowered with wonder as we entered it. The dome is very lofty ; and has two rows of windows with glass, &c. This church was built by an Archon named Bano, about eight years ago, soon after the conquest of this place by the Khatman. We performed there, in the evening, the service of The Nativity of St. John the Baptist ; and the next morning the "OgQgov.
Near it is the second castle ; which is magnificently built, is most handsome in appearance, and is exceeding strong ; containing within it a princely palace, the exterior view alone of which astonishes the beholder: its main cupola, which is over the gate of the castle, is very beautiful, and of great height ; and has above it another, designed for ornament and extent of prospect, and sur rounded with an admirable parapet, from which a person may discover to the distance of a day's journey. It is a much handsomer edifice than Kalinoska. In front of the castle are the houses of the Poles and Jews, and their shops and beautiful magazines, now entirely abandoned.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
When in Moldavia, we asked Yanaki the Jew, who had taken refuge there, what the Khatman Akhmil had done to the Jews in Poland : he answered, ' He has done to them more injury, and made greater slaughter of them, than ever Aspasianus (Vespasian) did of old :" — at which we laughed.
Here, in this country, we have been informed, that when Akhmil made his appearance, and purified the earth of a number of thousands of Jews, and in the progress of his enterprise came to this district, the whole that remained of that people, including their greatest and richest individuals, repaired to a fort called Dzoljini, with all their substance and wealth ; and strengthened it with cannon, and stores of gunpowder, to protect themselves and their property. Presently the Cossacks came up, and laid siege to them in the fort : and having taken it by storm, they put to death all that were in it, by blows of sticks or staves, not by the sword, to the number of twenty thousand souls : even the children in the bellies of the pregnant women they ripped out with their spears, and slaughtered them. After this sort, they destroyed the whole progeny : and we were told that they killed in one town, called - — , seventy thousand Jews ! for these infidels were not content to tyrannize over the Cossacks, as men, but they were in the habit of abusing their wives and daughters. The wrath of God, therefore, was excited against them ; and against the Poles, who had placed them in authority : and the Cossacks collected together and made a prey of their wealth and treasures ; and divided among themselves, by the bushel, the gold which was in barrels ; afterwards selling, for a vile consideration, the most high-priced articles, such as silver dishes, for a piastre ; or a silver cup, or can dlestick, or a thurible, &c., as they were ignorant of their value.
On the last-mentioned occasion, when the infidel Jews saw that they were about to be taken by storm., they had the malice to throw, by night, into the lake which flows round the castle, all their gold and silver, and their trinkets and jewels : but the Cossacks, by their ingenious contrivances, and the quickness of their sight, drew all out again, and the hopes and designs of the infidels were disappointed.
Opposite to the above-mentioned church, in the other fort, is another church, dedicated to St. Nicolas. The great river Niepros runs near this city ; and on its banks here are built the ships which navigate the Black Sea.
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SECT. XII.
COSSACK COUNTRY:— OBOKHOYA, KHAMOKA, VASILICO.
ON the morning of Saturday the twenty-fourth of Haziran we left this place : and having travelled one mile, we came to another town, called Obokhoya, sur rounded also with high ramparts. It contains two churches ; and in one of them we assisted at the Mass of the Baptist. Afterwards we took a turn in the FLamyvgt, or Fair, for buying and selling, which is every year held on his festival.
Then we resumed our journey : and after another mile of road we came to a ruined fort, in which was a church named in honour of St. Nicolas. After three miles more we came to another village, called Kkamoka, in the neighbourhood of a deep and broad river. During this day's journey we saw, on our road, great numbers of the pine-tree. The hedges of the gardens and fields were all formed of willow-trees, which are very abundant here (besides the common sort, there was also the Grecian willow), and the smaller twigs of other plants close up the hedge around them. Having performed a fourth mile, we were met by a Sotenik, accompanied by fifty horsemen ; and arrived with his escort at the town called Vasiliko: — and truly this place bears a name suited to its quality, for it is a very large and magnificent city ; not single and alone, but consisting of three large cities with castles and ramparts, one within the other, situated on the top of a steep hill. They were all destitute of inhabitants ; for the plague had come amongst them, and destroyed the whole population, about two years ago. We were received by the Clergy, and the small remnant of their flock ; who met us, with their banners, at the outside of the town ; and, having led us to the highest part of it, introduced us into a magnificent church within the third citadel, dedicated to the Saints Anthonius and Theodosius of illustrious memory, patrons of the Cossack country. These were the first to display before its inha bitants the method of a devout and angelic life, in cells and caves, as anchorets, and to establish among them foundations of monks and monasteries ; and they are therefore highly venerated by them.
This church is handsomely built, and lofty ; and its Iconostasis is of large dimensions, like those of the Greeks. The picture of Our Lady, which is upon it, is large and magnificent, and worthy of admiration : it was such as we had never before seen, nor did we ever afterwards see any equal to it. So beautifully
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was it painted, that it appeared to be endowed with speech. The drapery was red velvet, exhibiting the usual mixture of light and shade, in a manner that we had never before seen executed ; for, like the natural folds of velvet, the sunk cavity was dull and shaded, whilst the upper ridge shone brightly pellucid. The "-olden border which passed over her forehead, and descended on each side,
O 1
you would suppose was a stream of gold in a perpetual current ; and her cheeks and mouth were so beautiful, that they astounded the beholder with admiration, and appeared to be deficient in nothing but the activity of speech. (May the peace of God be upon her!) As to Our Lord, he was in her bosom; and was painted to perfection, having all the appearance of one that speaks. I had seen, as before mentioned, a great number of pictures in the countries inhabited by the Greeks, and in those I passed through coming to this place ; and I after wards saw many, going hence to Moscow ; but I never beheld any like or equal to this picture of the Virgin : for the Cossack painters, having borrowed the beauties of form and face, and the colours of drapery, from the Frank artists of Poland, now employ their acquirements in producing orthodox portraits of equal merit, and prove themselves skilful masters of the limner's art. They possess every invention, that is useful in pourtraying the human face, to insure a perfect likeness ; and we had a proof of it, in the pictures of Theophani, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and others of our acquaintance.
We were informed by the Archimandrite of the Great Convent here, that it is in the present possession of thirty market towns, or large and populous boroughs, such as we have described, and four hundred flourishing villages ; some of which are in Poland, but still adhere to the convent, out of their love and confi dence towards the Khatman Akhmil.
Afterwards they made us go down to the apartments belonging to the convent called Yahariska, that which is dedicated to The Assumption of Our Lady, out side the city of Kiov, and is known by report all over the world — that glory of the Cossack nation, which we afterwards visited. For this town, and a hundred others like it, are an ancient fief of the above-mentioned convent ; for the sake of which so much calamity has occurred to the Poles, in consequence of the malice of the priests of Jesus, or rather of the Devil, who wished to take it away from the orthodox believers ; and it thus became the cause of their ruin and utter destruction.
In this city are two other churches, dedicated to The Entrance of Our Lady into the Temple, and to Saint Nicolas.
Afterwards we attended, in the first-mentioned church, at the Vespers of the
EE
206 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
Eve of the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, and early in the morning at the "Ogfyov; then at Mass : and on leaving the church, we visited the garden belonging to it, in the vicinity. It contained many cherry-trees, and bird's-heart and almond trees ; and vine bushes, which we had not seen since we left Moldavia. There wTas rue, and the double European dark violet.
SECT. XIII.
COSSACK COUNTRY.— CONVENT OF YAHARISKA.
ON Monday we set out, at break of day ; and having proceeded five miles, accompanied by the Sotcniks and his troop, with their banners, we were there saluted with their farewell; and advanced alone, over rough and narrow roads, and through a large forest, till we approached a lake of water with dams and mills, dependent on the afore-mentioned convent, the principal dome of which, before our arrival at this spot, we perceived shining at a distance, together with the cupolas of its church, called Saint Sophia. When we issued out to the face of the hill, our Lord the Patriarch was met by the President of the convent, whom they style Archimandrite ; as it is the practice in regard to all the Heads of Convents in this country, as far as Moscow, to call them Archimandrites. He was attended by a Bishop, who was on a visit at the convent, and by his Monks. Having placed the Patriarch in the coach belonging to the establishment, which was of princely appearance, and was covered all over with gold outside and inwardly with red velvet, they proceeded with us to the convent. On our passage were innumerable gardens, extending to a great width on each hand, and planted with almond-trees and mulberries and vines. Every garden had its buildings within it ; and the whole number of houses amounted to four or five thousand, all forming part of the property of the said convent.
Then we came to a large city with walls and trenches ; and entered into a princely wide street ; where we passed, first of all, by a convent of Nuns of rank and family. Next we came to a large high tower of stone, cemented with mortar, and white-washed ; which was the gate of the convent, and hung over a church furnished with a great number of windows and a lofty cupola, named after the Trinity ; for within it was a picture of the Banquet of Abraham and the Angels*.
' The Author seems to contemplate some connexion between this picture and the doctrine of the Trinity.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 207
Here they caused the Patriarch to alight from the coach, out of respect for the holy monastery ; as even an Emperor, should he come, alights here, and walks on foot : and here are strong iron gates, and posted sentinels. From this spot they walked before us ; and we entered the Great Convent of the Assumption of Our Lady, known in their tongue by the name of Yahariska ; meaning The Monastery of the Caves, because the Saints Anthonius and Theodosius, who built it, used to live in dens and caves under ground, called retreats of anchorets and cells of hermits. On the left-hand side, as you enter these gates, is the afore mentioned Church of the Trinity, above a flight of high steps. On one of the gates is the picture of Saint John El Rahom, Patriarch of Alexandria, standing erect, and clothed in a mantya ; with a barnita or cap on his head, which it is the custom in this country for a Patriarch to wear : and we carried one with us, made of black velvet ; but our Patriarch refused to wear it, though there was no harm in it, and it was perhaps the most suitable dress. Round the saint were groups of the poor and the sick, to whom he was throwing pieces of silver with his right-hand, whilst he held in his left an open purse.
On the second gate was painted the representation of the Rich Man and Lazarus ; the former sitting at his table, and attended by his friends and relatives in elegant dresses, drinking wine ; Lazarus standing at the door and begging alms, and repulsed and rejected by the banquettcrs. Then Lazarus comes and sits down at the door opposite to them; and the dogs are around him, licking his sores. Standing near to them is the Angel of Death, of a most disagreeable form.
Between these two gates stood a wooden box, with a hole in the lid, and fastened with iron rods and a padlock; that every person who entered, however hard-hearted he might be, should, by looking at the picture, be induced to throw into it an alms for the poor and destitute.
From this place there is a broad street to where the church stands ; and on the right and left are the apartments of the Monks, which are handsome and neat, with beautiful windows of large dimensions on their four sides, looking into the street, and into the gardens and orchards of the inner courts. Each apartment has three closets and three doors, which are closed with admirable iron latchets ; and each room is painted in oil colours, and ornamented with all kinds of pretty figures and landscapes ; and furnished with tables and sofas, and with stoves and chimnies inlaid with handsome coloured tiles. There are also beautiful rooms for libraries of esteemed and valuable books. In short, each apartment is adorned with all sorts of ornaments ; and is comfortable, neat, and pleasant, so as to
208 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
dilate the heart of the persons entering it, and to prolong the life of its inhabitant.
We were informed by the two Heads of Convents who were with us from the Holy Mountain, that the Saints Anthonius and Theodosius built this monastery on the model of the holy convents there ; whither, in the beginning of their career, they had repaired, and where they had passed several years of devout retirement.
On the side of the convent towards the street, are two beautiful gardens, full of flowers and shrubs and the most delicate plants and herbs, and fenced with handsome palings. About two years ago, there were near five hundred Monks in this convent ; but in the plague we have mentioned there died of them about three hundred, and there now only remain two hundred. They appear very kind and modest in their demeanour, and cheerful in countenance. They are always girt round the waist with a girdle, and robed in mantyas of woollen : they are extremely clean in their persons, and gentle in their movements ; and none of them are ever seen without beads in their hands.
Their eating is only once in the twenty-four hours ; and their whole life is divided between retirement in their cells and public service in the church. They all wear calpacks of black cloth, and a sort of fur of the same colour made of wool resembling velvet ; with large flaps, that hang down over their eyes and button under their chins : and when they uncover their heads in prayer, or in the presence of a Chief Priest or their President, these caps fall back behind their necks, like the cowls of the Capuchins: but they are more agreeable in appearance than the latter, and better looking than the Jesuits ; only their dress and robes are similar.
In like manner is arranged the costume of their Archimandrite and their Metropolitan and the rest of their Bishops ; except that these have golden crosses always hanging, by chains, at their necks ; and their gowns have blue ornaments reaching over the breast down to the feet, and white straps, like those of the Chiefs of the regular Clergy, with which they are always girt during their whole lives.
The Elders of the Monks, and their Presidents and Bishops, always hold in their hands heavy sticks of rattan, with silver handles at the top, and spikes at the bottom.
When we approached the Great Church, there came out from it eight couples of Priests, each couple robed in uniform ephlonias ; next to them four Deacons,
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 201)
every two in uniform sticharias, and carrying censers in their hands ; but the Priests held in theirs the Gospel, and the pictures and valuable gold crosses. Thus they led us to the steps of the church : and our Lord the Patriarch entered the choir, whilst they chaunted, &c.*
Afterwards they took us to the banquetting-room, in the admirable apartments of the President ; where they set before us, first, sweets and confections ; that is, confection of sweet green walnuts entire in their shells, and confection of cherries and other fruits, with many sweet herbs which we never saw in our own country ; bread kneaded with honey and the said herbs ; and spirits. After they had removed these, they laid the table with various kinds of Lent-meat, drest with saffron and sweet herbs ; and pans of fritters of oil-paste, called Zangal (JXi>;), and Catriyabis (^4^' Dry Drops), and so forth. For drink, they first presented mead ; then beer ; then an excellent red wine, from their own grapes.
Their manner of serving the dishes was, to place a certain number on the table, and after a short time to remove them and bring others, and so to con tinue till their supply was exhausted; according to the practice of the Turks; and not as is the custom in Moldavia and Wallachia, where they leave them one upon another, to the end of the repast. Each kind of meat was brought and placed before our Lord the Patriarch first, until he had eaten a little of it ; then they passed it down the table, and to the other tables ; and finally removed it. After the meats were disposed of, they presented a dessert of fruits of various kinds ; such as, the royal cherry, both sweet and acid ; grapes ; a sort of sweet fox's grape, looking like red coral, with sweet golden berries t ; and another sort resembling green sour grapes, the name of which is Akrist J, Sic.
Such is the order of their bancmets ; and all the table furniture, whether
b IA
. < JSA^ i tbla
+>
t The Archdeacon apparently means the Red-currant; a fruit with which, for the first time, he no\\ becomes acquainted.
£ This is, probably, intended as the description of the White-currant.
210 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
dishes or plates or spoons, which they set before us in this place, or elsewhere in this country, was all of silver.
On rising from table, we retired to our lodgings : and as around this monastery there are three and twenty churches, wherein the Monks say their prayers, those which are between the gardens being open to the public, we visited all that were on our path, and paid our devotions to their images. Their names are &c.
This is the description of the Great Church [here follow its dimensions, de corations, and other peculiarities, but little different from the samples of eccle siastical edifices already given in this worl^: and we may add to what we have mentioned, that it is entirely supported by pillars and columns of magnificent
and lofty forms, and that it is furnished, throughout the whole circuit of the
interior, with stalls for seats.
The apartments of the Archimandrite are in a large court, the top of which
they form, having a very high cupola in the centre, with a handsome parapet all
round, looking over the vast river Niepros, which flows beneath the gardens of
this convent.
And now they conducted us to the Archimandrite's garden ; to which we descended by a flight of steps. The entrance is by a gate under a lofty arch ; over which is a dome entirely formed of the small twigs of branches, interlaced] trained upwards, both inside and out, and terminating in a roof of the thick- ess of an ell. The inside of the texture looks like grass, as all the stems are This plant has abundance of thorns, like the yellow jessamine, or that . of jessamine called Hamavi (^ Jl), and springs up from the ground in this surprising manner, so as by the'intertexture of its branches to form a close Whenever a shoot springs out of the line, they crop it with a pair of scissors. Thus all the hedges forming the divisions of this garden are made of it ; and you see it shooting up to the breadth of an ell, and the height of two. Its width is so equal, that it resembles a wall ; and whatever twig shoots beyond esigned surface is immediately clipped off. This plant bears a fruit, of which we ate, resembling unripe grapes, except that it is sweet; and they call it *
In this manner, by constant planting and clipping, they make admirable fences to their gardens.
Among the trees here are the apricot and the mulberry, of which latter there s great abundance ; and we were informed that the late Metropolitan of the
» There appears to be confusion in this passage. It might be supposed that the hedges were i of some plant very different from the White-currant bush, to which the latter part of this description should seem to be referred.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 21 1
Cossacks fed on them the silk-worm, and produced some excellent silk : but the most abundant tree of all is the walnut : and of their grapes, which they have plentifully, they make a deep red wine, which is distributed hence to all the churches of the Cossack country.
It should be noted, that in every large convent, and in the palaces of the Metropolitan and the other Bishops, some of the great Archons attend as retinue, each having the dignity of Proconicos. They are called Servants of the Convent ; and when the Metropolitan, or Bishop, or Archimandrite, rides in his coach, they go before and behind, on beautiful high-priced horses, in rich dresses, and accoutred with the finest armour. In every apartment of the dignitaries mentioned, and even in the cells of the Priests and Monks, there arc-
o
valuable arms in great number and of various kinds, such as muskets, cross bows, daggers, swords, bows and arrows, &c.
The bell-towers outside the doors of the Great Church are two, opposite each other, on the west. They are square, and raised in wood to a great height. One of them is very high indeed ; and the ascent to it is similar to that of the Moazsinato Isa, at Damascus. It is very large ; and has a number of rooms within it, on a winding staircase. At the top are hung, on beams, five large and small bells. It also contains the great iron clock, the sound of which is heard to a wide circuit. The works are closed up in a small room. Every quarter of an hour it strikes once, on a fine-toned bell ; and when the hour is complete, it strikes four times with a low chime, then it gives the number of the hour on a large bell. At this time, on this twenty-seventh day of the month Haziran, it struck, in the evening, four and twenty complete ; the day being seventeen hours and a half, and the night six and a half. It has also, on the outside of the wall, a sun-dial : and on the wall of the stone tower belonging to the Church of the Trinity there is another clock suspended, which, when the great clock has struck twenty-four in the evening, instantly beats, with a huge noise, on a plate of iron, and repeats the sound a number of times, that it may be heard by all who are without the convent, and they may enter and bolt the1
gates.
The second tower is opposite to the first, and is lower than it, containing a vast large bell, to which we had seen none equal : it resembles a small tent in size, and weighed about fifty Aleppo quintals.
21-2 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
SECT. XIV.
GROTTO AND CELLS OF THE COSSACK SAINTS.
Ox the Tuesday before the Feast of the Apostles, we went to visit the church dedicated to The Adoration of the Cross ; in which are thousands of bodies of the Saints who passed their lives in religious solitude ; whose fame is spread over the whole world.
It is situated below the great church at the foot of the mountain ; and has two cupolas, covered with tin, and surmounted with crosses. Its Iconostasis is new and handsome ; and the fashion and gilding of the royal door are such, that it looks as if made of solid gold. After we had assisted at mass here, they led us down into a grotto excavated to a great length in the mountain ; and conducted us to the cave wherein had been passed the devout life of the Saints Anthonius and Theodosius, wrho wrere the first in this country to display this angelic method of religious solitude. We had with us an abundance of wax torches ; and we beheld the bodies, still enveloped in their devotional garments, and begirt with narrow iron girdles; all of which have remained in their original state from the time of the saints' death until now : as it has been said of them, that '' The wonders of God are in his Saints, and all his will is in them." This we verified with our own eyes ; and evidently witnessed and saw such miracles as astonished our senses : for by what but a miracle could their bodies, like to ours, be preserved entire until now in their natural state, without preparation or artifice ; the bright red hair of their heads remaining perfect, to the surprise of the beholder ? True to their devout purpose, they terminated their lives in this dark abode, or rather this bright cavern, as illuminated by their presence. The whole grotto is lined with very small cells, hardly wide enough for young children to occupy ; in which, though there was not room for them to turn themselves, they nevertheless spent years of their lives, without bread, supported only by herbs. Some made themselves close prisoners in their cells, and were supplied with meat and drink through a niche above. One dug for himself a hole in the ground, so as to admit one half of his body ; and there spent years of his life and died, where he is yet standing, as though alive,, with his face turned to the east.
Another devoted himself to God in this cavern ; and having passed his life, and died there, was buried in a grave. He had a brother, who was a hermit on
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 213
the Holy Mountain. This brother came to visit him ; and finding that he was dead, he immediately took possession of his cell, and there passed his time in devotion till his deeease. He was taken to be interred by the side of his brother ; but the grave, as he lay, being too narrow,, the brother who had been dead some years turned on his side to make room for him ; and remains to this day with his knees drawn close up, to the wonder of the beholder, and the glory of God !
As to the Saints Anthonius and Theodosius, the two great Patriarchs of the Cossacks, their cells are together ; and near them is a table of stone, cut in the rock. Over the cells is a place in the rock from which water dropped, supplying the two saints with drink, and affording a sufficiency also for the rest of the her mits. Close by is a neat church, with an Iconostasis, looking quite new, though it is now some hundreds of years since they first said mass in it : and this service is still continued there, by the Priests of the convent.
There are three other churches in this cavern, intended for the use of the other hermits ; each with its Iconostasis, where mass is still celebrated.
Near to the cell of the two saints before mentioned stands a wooden post ; to which insane persons are tied, and they instantly recover their health.
We knelt down before the heads of these saints, and kissed them and their cheeks,, from which virtue transpires ; and they are yellow like gold. They are placed in glass vessels, apart : but of the other holy hermits twelve together are heaped one upon another, in one grave.
We were informed that the Saints Anthonius and Theodosius came to this country, from Romelia, in the time of the Emperor Basil the Macedonian, at his command, and converted the inhabitants to Christianity. These were the pastors who built this magnificent church, with many others. After them a great number of persons devoted themselves to God, in this cavern ; where they breathed their last. To enumerate them all would be impossible for me, as they approached to near a thousand. One half of them are exposed to view : the rest are covered up in their cells, which are closed on them. Their two chiefs are known to fame throughout the universe ; and may the blessing of God be upon us, from their prayers !
We then left the grotto ; and passed along the foot of the mountain (below which flows the vast stream of the River Niepros, at a small distance from the place we had been visiting), to another church, containing the bodies of the two ancient saints of the same name. For the Saints Theodosius and Anthonius,
FF
214. TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
the chiefs of their names, that is to say, Anthonius the Great and Theodosius the Great, were, the one the light of the deserts of Askit (LjyLjQ, the other of the wilderness of Palestine. These arc well known : but the others of the same name, whose appearance was in later times, were the first persons who displayed the Angelic Institute in these regions, and became a light to the country of the Cossacks and the Muscovites. On their arrival here, they excavated this church, and the grotto at the foot of the mountain ; and here passed a length of time, in the practices of devotion, attended by numerous disciples. Having a great desire for the establishment of coenobites and convents, they built a church for the congregation of the Hermits : for in the base of this mountain, which hangs over the River Niepros flowing below, are many cells, inhabited to the present day by a multitude of anchorites.
The spot where the great church now stands was the highest point of a vast forest sloping to the top of the mountain, where Our Lady the Virgin appeared to them, in the midst of the bush and thicket, in flames of fire ; and the bush was as though it burned ; in the same manner as was seen by Moses formerly on Mount Horeb. She said to them distinctly, " Build here, in my name, a large convent and church." They went forth, therefore, abandoning their cavern ; and began to build the church, until it was finished by the aid of the pious monarch of that time. Afterwards they formed this cavern, and there died. For this cause, until the present time, pictures are continually painted, in great numbers, representing The Virgin in the Burning Bush, and the Saints Anthonius and Theodosius standing in the attitude of listeners to her oracle. The foun dation of this great convent is referred to them by the token of placing between them, in the middle of the picture, a plan of the edifice as it now stands ; and up to the present day, whenever the Priests in this country arrive at the conclusion of their prayers, they always subjoin, " By the intercession of Saints Anthonius and Theodosius of the Convent of Yahariska-"
In the said cavern are many vaults, and three churches, with their Iconostases and images ; near to which are the cells and the tables still existing, of an uniform appearance, similar to those of the other cavern : and here are also many dead bodies ; but they are much decayed, being, as we have mentioned, of greater antiquity than the others, and having remained all this length of time, under ground, in damp and corruption. Most of them are covered up from view. Among them are the bodies of two youths, in wonderful preservation : their heads are of a yellow colour, and virtue still exudes from them. There is
TRAVELS OP MACARIUS. 215
also the body of a Bishop, which they translated from Moscow, in a coffin hol lowed out of a single piece of wood.
We left this cavern filled with astonishment and delight ; and may the Almighty grant us the benefit of the intercession of all these holy devotees !
Amen !
At this moment the Archimandrite sent his coach for us ; and we rode in it till we came to the convent among the gardens, which it was necessary to reach by a Ion" and difficult ascent : and we immediately sat down to table.
SECT. XV.
CONVENT OF NUNS, AND PRINTING-HOUSE.
ON the Wednesday preceding the Feast of the Apostles, came the Abbess of the Convent of Nuns, entitled after The Divine Ascension, and intreated our Lord the Patriarch to attend mass in their convent, and to read over them the Prayer of Absolution and give his blessing to the reverend virgins.
We proceeded thither accordingly ; and they all came out to meet us. It is a very flourishing establishment, and consists of more than fifty or even sixty Nuns, all women of rank and family, with faces bright as the sun, and gowns of black woollen, reaching below their feet. No man is ever permitted to go in among them. For their supply of water, they have, in the interior of the cloister, an immense well ; which is drawn by the hand, with a windlass and two chains ; one with the rising, the other with the sinking bucket.
Most of these Nuns are of rich and ancient Polish Houses : the Abbess is of the family of the King of Poland himself. Induced by their love of this convent, wherein most of them were educated, they come and profess, and remain here as Nuns. The edifice stands in the midst of gardens, with the beautiful church in the centre, built of wood, and adorned with pillars, domes, and crosses.
As soon as we had entered it, the Nuns began to sing *AJ«v e<rm &c. and all the Prayers and Responses of the Mass. In this church is a large T^/a of silver ; of which metal are also the two candlesticks on the table. Both on it, and on the pictures of Our Lord and Lady, and on the picture of Ascension Thursday, and the portraits of the Virgin Martyrs, are crowns and crosses, and miniatures and pendants, and chains of gold and silver, with pearls and precious-stones
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
to a great amount in value. On the walls are the images of the Ten Vir gins with their lamps, and portraits of noble Saints and Martyrs of the female sex.
They placed us in the north choir ; and standing by themselves in the south choir, they attended to the mass, now begun by their Chaplain, who was sur rounded by his Candalifa (^Joif). Presently they commenced singing and chaunting, with a sweet voice and tune which affected the heart and drew tears from the eyes : it was a soothing searching melody, greatly to be admired above the chaunting of men. There was a softness in their intonation quite new to us ; and we were particularly delighted with the voices of the young girls, both great and small. In reading and writing they were all well in structed, and were also acquainted with the sciences and belles lettres. The " Ayiog, and 'AXXjjXoyia, and Kvgie, IXzqtrov, they chaunted as with one voice ; and one of them read the Epistles very clearly and distinctly. They chaunted the Psalms also, and the Tlgoxslpevov, with a peculiar melody.
At the time of the "A?iov itrriv, they struck the great bell ; and all the Nuns walked from their seats to the middle of the choir, where they knelt on the ground, and chaunted it in a delightful manner.
After they had received the mysteries, and the 'Avritiuga, had been distributed among them, they intreated our Lord the Patriarch to read over them the Prayer of Absolution ; and they bent themselves to the ground, and he prayed over them, and afterwards crossed them with the 'Ay/ao^oj.
Under the care of these Nuns are many girls of all ages, wearing fur caps on their heads ; whom they bring up to the religious habit ; most of them being orphans.
When we had gone forth from the church, the Abbess took us to her apartments ; where we breakfasted on sweetmeats and confections of an admirable quality, and on bread kneaded with honey, upon which we drank spirits. Then, with the permission of the Patriarch, they wrote on a large sheet of paper the 2yy£a>^r;xof, or Prayer of Forgiveness, for all the Nuns; and the Patriarch signed it with his hand, according to their faith : — and we returned to our
lodgings.
In the vicinity of the great church is the excellent Printing-House, which is known by repute all over this country ; where all their church books are beau tifully printed, in various forms and sizes ; as also fine large maps of the towns and provinces, pictures of the Saints, intellectual disquisitions, &c. Here we
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 217
printed, as other Patriarchs had done before us, a complete set of with the signature of our Lord the Patriarch in red ink, exhibiting his name as written in their language, and adorned with the picture of St. Peter the Apostle. We had them of three kinds and sizes. The full size was for the Grandees, the middle for common men, and the smallest for the women.
On this day there came to our Lord the Patriarch, on a visit, the Kyr Silvestris, Metropolitan of Kiov, and of all the Cossack country, that is, Little Russia. He came in a coach adorned with red cloth, attended by two Bishops and two Heads of Convents, all wearing golden crosses appended to their bosoms by gold chains, and their gowns of ordinary habit. He was escorted by servants, mounted on fine horses, and riding in their rich clothes and armour in front and in rear. On saluting our Lord the Patriarch, they placed their crosses on his neck, according to their custom.
SECT. XVI.
COSSACK COUNTRY .-—CHURCH BELLS, AND CEREMONIES.
Ox the Eve of the Feast of the Holy Apostles, they first struck the bell of the great church a few tolls, merely as a signal to the churches around ; and these immediately began to ring their bells : and the people all assembled in the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, which is within the apartment of the Abbot ; and there went through the service of the Great Vespers. After their departure, the officiating Minister, and the Deacon, and the Candilafkt, came to our Lord the Patriarch, and took his permission ; and then they went and set all the bells in motion, including the great bell of vast size, which requires the whole force of eight men to move it, as they stand, four on each side, with the thick bell-ropes m their hands. The voice of this bell is like thunder, and it is frequently heard to the distance of three hours' journey ; for its ring is clear, and its iron tongue is about fifteen pounds of the Aleppo standard in weight. The vault and beams from which it was suspended, and indeed the whole huge tower, moved and bent and quivered with its ponderous vibration.
Then we entered the church ; and they performed the Small Vespers : after which we withdrew. But two hours of the night had scarcely elapsed before they a^ain sounded all the bells, including the large bell ; and we returned to the
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
&c.» It was near break of day when we retired to our
church for the '
lodgings.
In the evening of the preceding day they had solicited our Lord the Patriarch
to say mass for them ; and before the time of the service they gave a signal first
by stnkmg the great bell several times, and then all the other bells be^an to
sound for mass in the great church belonging to the Monks ; and the laity both
men and women, and the Abbess with her Nnns, attended. Then the officiating
came with his Deacons, and they took each a torch ; afterwards the
Candahfat did the same ; whilst the bells continued ringing all toother Then
we moved forward in like manner, and robed, in company with a number of
Priests and Deacons : but they would not suffer us to put on our own
they gave us, instead, some of their richest vestments, thinking, as we
came from a holy land, that we should sanctify them.
Then we went forth, all in a body, to meet our Lord the Patriarch with the
liunble and wax-torches in our hands, to the outside of the church • and we
afterwards began to dress him in his pontifical robes above the circle in the
,r, round which all the Priests were ranged. Then we went out ,i( ^
J Jl Uj.il (^ ^ UK, . ^ Ujjis ^^} ^ -
^
JU. .
• . i
TRAVELS OF MACARTUS. 219
. On tliis day they displayed their several copies of the Gospel, covered with gold ; and their sumptuous thurible and crosses.
At the time of the Epistles, one of the Deacons stepped forth to read the Epistle of the day ; and I recited the Gospel for the Apostles in Arabic ; and, according to their custom here, that for Our Lady, in Greek.
After the Patriarch had thrown incense over the holy mysteries, the Grandees of the convent, that is, the superior officers, came and stood before the royal door ; one of them carrying a silver ewer, and another a silver basin ; whilst the rest held open a large fringed towel, which the Patriarch used to wipe his hands, after he had washed them : and this ceremony they repeated at the end of the mass.
At the Declaration, when mention is made of the Heads of the Clergy, we recited the name of our Patriarch ; whilst they commemorated Paisius the Patriarch of Constantinople, and their own Archimandrite.
After his Holiness had washed his hands, they brought him the 'Aw'^a, and he partook of them : then they presented him wine in a silver cup ; and he drank of it, to comply with their custom. In like manner, they presented bread and wine to us.
At the offering of the chalice, the Abbess came, with her Nuns and attendants, to communicate : a Deacon went out, therefore, from the Tabernacle ; and they opened the KaXw^a, or large veil, before the chalice, that nothing might be shed upon the ground (a reverence and pious caution that deserve to be noted) ; and as each approached, they gave her of the 'Avr/taga, and then made her drink a little of the wine. Afterwards the Patriarch came out, and distributed the 'Avrfietgu, to all, even to the little children.
We now left the mass for the banquet ; at which, after the sweetmeats and spirituous liquors, they served up some princely dishes, which we had never in our lives beheld ; such as, etuv6e of eggs, stuffed with spring-herbs, and 6tuvee of fish, au lait d'amandes : the sauces were all of pure saffron, though it is very dear with them ; and almonds are still dearer, the okka being frequently sold at ai dinar or more : and the fine herbs, which they used in such abundance, are also dear. In this luxurious diet they constantly indulge themselves in this country, having learnt it from the generous Poles.
On the Eve of Saturday, after Vespers, the Et<rodo$ was performed a second time, by four Priests in black copes, attended by the Deacons in black 2r;^a^a and sashes. Then one of them, who was the chief, took permission C^tf Jo-)), anc^ went round to make his bow to the reading-desk, on which was placed the dish
220 TRAVELS OF MACARTUS.
of boiled meat ; then to the images ; then to our Lord the Patriarch, twice : and to the Priests, and the rest of the assistants ; and came and stood in his place. In like manner did his three companions ; and, last of all, the Deacons ; whilst the singers cliaunted the Canon for the Dead. On even- Kve of Saturday
*/ " t
they perform this ceremony, in commemoration of the deceased, and of those who built the church : and on this occasion our Patriarch read the Prayer for the Souls of the Departed : after which they concluded the service. Hereupon they intreated our Lord the Patriarch to read over them the Prayer of Absolu tion ; and they threw themselves on the ground, and he prayed over them. Then they recited over them the Prayer for Sleep ; and we left the church.
On Saturday morning, when they had performed other similar ceremonies, we took leave of them, to proceed on our travels : and they led the Patriarch into the church again; and brought him holy water, to cross all their foreheads. After which we went forth from the convent, where we had stayed from Tues day till Saturday ; and the Patriarch was placed by the Archimandrite in his coach, preceded and followed by two servants of the convent ; in which he rode till we came to the Monastery of the Church of St. Sophia. This is the See of the Metropolitan of Kiov, and of all the country of the Cossacks, which is Little Russia. Here the Archimandrite bade us adieu, and returned.— Our journey had been only of about half-an-houf s duration ; for the two places are very near each other.
We were met by the brother of the Metropolitan, Silvestris, and his Bishops, and the Heads of his monasteries ; and we alighted at his palace. They had been in expectation of us, to attend mass with them : and at the time of the ringing of the great bell we went up to look at it ; and we saw, to our astonish ment, that it was larger, seven or eight times larger, than the bell of the Convent of Yahariska, having the appearance of a vast tent. The iron tongue or tapper was about a quintal and a half weight, of Aleppo ; and twelve stout youths had to exert all their strength to move the immense engine ; not one of them being able, singly, to stir even the clapper inside ; nor was it to be reached from the rim of the bell, so vast was the latter in its width. When it rang, our ears were deafened by its thundering sound ; and I spoke to my com panion with my loudest voice without being heard. The strong high tower of wood in which it was suspended, larger than any of the towers we had yet seen, bent and shook as it swung in motion. The sound, however, of the bell of the Convent of Yahariska is shriller and louder : this has a baser and more nasal tone, declaring it to be of the Emissa compound.
TRAVELS OF MACARIl S.
221
We went in to assist at mass in the venerable church, the second St. Sophia ; which truly bears a name suitable to its quality, as our own eyes testified. Its description we will give in its proper place.
From mass we went to table; and in the afternoon, which was the Eve of the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, we returned to Vespers. A^ was per formed in the outer Na^f ; and the Deacon said, " Save, O Lord, thy people," with the rest of the Vigils. The next day, mass followed in the usual course.
SECT. XVII.
COSSACK COUNTRY— ANCIENT CITY OF KIOV.
IT should be noted, that the ancient City of Kiov was situated here ; and till the present time its gates and earthen walls and moats are apparent. We observed the ruins of a huge gate and tower of stone, which they call the Gate of the Tabernacle : it was entirely covered with gilt ; and was burnt latterly by the Tartars, when they ravaged the city, and set fire to it. This town was as magnificent as it was large : and outside its walls stood the Convent of Yahariska: within it, in the centre, this Church of St. Sophia ; and the Monastery of St. Michael, which has a dome still shining with gold, opposite to the church. Round these buildings were other beautiful churches, in great numbers ; this city having been formerly the seat of Government for the whole country, according to the accounts which were given us.
When the light of the faith in Christ first shone forth from the East, in the time of the Emperor Basil the Macedonian, in the year six hundred and fifty- one from the present period, as it may be reckoned by the dates on the doors of these churches and monasteries ; and, in consequence of the marriage of Vladimiros King of Russia with the Emperor's sister Olikha, when she came to this country attended by Metropolitans and Bishops, who baptized the Russian monarch and all his people— a great nation, that, as historians relate, had no knowledge of the holy Law, nor professed any religion ; hereupon the Empress built a multitude of churches and convents, by the hands of masterly architects from Constantinople ; and for this cause all the inscriptions on them are in the Greek language.
At this time all the tribes of people dwelling round the territory of Kiov were Pagans, without faith; they were Poles, Muscovites, Tartars, &c., and maintained a continual war against the Empress : but she prevailed victoriously over them ;
GG
222 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
until the light of the Christian faith shone forth from her upon them, and they believed ; with the exception of the Tartars.
At this early epoch, the Metropolitan of Kiov had jurisdiction also over the whole extent of Muscovy : and this continued for sixty years, till the arrival of Kyr Eremia, Patriarch of Constantinople ; who immediately established, as the head of the Bishops of Moscow, a Patriarch in his own right, to rule and have none to rule over him. For all these countries are submissive to the Patriarch of Constantinople ; and the inhabitants are ever ready to extol his name, saying, " From Constantinople beamed forth to us the light of the faith in Christ, and thence we have derived our Ritual and our Ceremonies." Accordingly, the Con- stantmopolitan is continually sending to them Exarchs, that is, to the country of the Cossacks, and here gratuities are as constantly bestowed on them. This Patriarch has cognisance, we were informed, over their religious houses.
In the apartments of the Archimandrite of the Convent of Yahariska we saw ancient ^va-Tanzci, or Forms of Constitution, from the Patriarchs of Constan tinople who have preceded the present for about five hundred years, written on parchment, and purporting that this is an independent foundation. He shewed us also similar documents from the late Theophani, Patriarch of Jerusalem., and from the present Patriarch Paisius. He now had a like ^vtrraTiKov drawn up in their language ; and our Lord the Patriarch signed it with his hand and seal. Its purport was, the approval and confirmation of the Archimandrite, and that the monastery was independent.
These Heads of houses are, some of them, learned in general science and in the Law ; and are moreover skilled in Rhetoric, in Logic, and in the various branches of Philosophy. They have questions among them under discussion of great depth and research : but they are agreed not to style the Constantinopo- litan Patriarch, OiftovfAsvixog, that is, Patriarch of the Habitable World ; they give him merely the title of Archbishop : and for this they have much argument and abundant evidences, with which they produced in us the greatest amaze ment. The belief of all here, and of the whole country as far as Moscow, is, that the Patriarch of Antioch is the master of loosing and tying, and the Successor of Peter the Apostle, to whom alone Christ first committed the power of loosing and tying in heaven and on earth, who is the most ancient of the Patriarchs. From him, therefore, they received ^U^y^l j-y * or Papers of Forgiveness, out of their faith and entire confidence in him.
15 I have inserted these words in the text to shew how incorrectly the Archdeacon has written the the Forms which he borrows from the Greek.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 223
SECT. XVIII.
BAB A ELI A, AND THE FRENCH PHILOSOPHER.
ON this subject I will introduce here, as in its proper place, a story that may prove itself both amusing and instructive. It is, that in this City of Kiov, which we shall presently describe, there came to our Lord the Patriarch a distin guished Ecclesiastic, by birth a Greek, whose residence was in Paris, the capital of France. He was extremely eager to have an interview with us, having lately come as Envoy from the Virgin Queen of Sweden to the Khatman Akhmil ; to whom this Princess had sent, a considerable time ago, two Ambassadors besides this man : and as her territory is contiguous to that of the Poles, these had discovered the mission of her Envoys, and arrested them on their passage. She had now, therefore, sent this Priest to Constantinople : and thence he was come among the Cossacks, to the Khatman Akhmil; with a letter from her, addressed to him, in praise of his achievements ; and in thanksgiving for his exertions and for what he had done against her enemies the Poles ; who, as we formerly mentioned, had made the conquest of much of her dominions. She wrote to him : " You are to know, with all certainty, that I have been equipping for you, on this side of my frontier, sixty thousand auxiliary warriors, to enable you finally to vanquish my enemies." Accordingly, after this Eccclesiastic had had an interview with the Khatman, this chief despatched letters, in answer to her, by an Envoy of his own, who was to accompany him. With this Ambassador therefore of the Khatman's the said Ecclesiastic proceeded to the court of the Emperor of Moscow ; conveying also to him a letter of the like import : for the confines of the Queen's territory are bordering on those of Muscovy, and between them and the Emperor great friendship exists. In her kingdom, indeed, the multitude of sojourning Muscovite subjects is great.
Here I say, by way of commentary, " Who art thou, O Akhmil ! to have worn the peasant's clog (as thy enemies the Poles say of thee that thou didst) ; and yet to be such, that Kings and Queens send embassies to thee, and offer thee splendid gifts ? Glory be to God alone, who has raised thee up, and humbled thy adversaries under thy feet ! "
To return :— This Priest, who was named Baba Elia, told us, that there had appeared in these times, in the kingdom of France, a learned Philosopher, of the sect of Lutherus, to whom numerous followers had become attached. This man stepped forward openly to revile the Pope, by many demonstrations ; one
22 1 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
of which was, that he sent a letter to the Pontiff at Rome, propounding to him a question : — " There was a Prince of exalted dignity, who had five sons, all of whom he loved with equal affection ; to whom he equally divided the suc cession of his principality. So, however, it fell out, that one of them separated from the rest, and turned aside, and surrendered himself to the suggestions of his own mind ; whilst the other four remained true to their mutual friendship, and to the last will and mandate of their father. Which, then, is the obedient son ? he who singly went forth from his brethren to choose a path for himself, or each of the four brothers who persevered in their fidelity ? "- -To which he sub joined the answer, saying : " If the four Patriarchs, and the Pope, making the fifth, have been constituted since the time of Petrus the Apostle and the rest of the Apostles, and from the Holy Councils, and remained united, as is wrell known, for a great length of time in the orthodox faith ; if afterwards the Pope declined from them, and divided himself from the body of which he was a member,, or rather from the hand of five fingers, himself being one ; then obedience is due to the four consentients, not to the single dissentient." Baba Elia went on to say : When the Pope read this letter, and there was not one of his Council who could reply to it, out of the excess of his rage he sent to the reigning King of France and commanded him to put the said Philosopher to death, lest this discourse of his should be promulgated throughout the world, and the Church be defiled by his opinions. The King answered, saying : " I have it not in my power to do that which your Holiness enjoins me — to be active in detriment of my in-dweller ; for there are now within my dominions two hundred thousand families that trust in their religion to the guidance of this sectarian, and all love him ; whilst around my territory, besides those within it, are numerous and powerful enemies, such as the tribe of English and Flemish, the Swedish nation, &c. On the other hand, your Holiness is in Rome, and there are none around you nor within your estates but Romans. I have therefore no power to put him to death."
The aforesaid Philosopher gave also a second answer; that, " Whereas the Pope pretends to be the Successor of Petrus the Apostle; the first to lay this claim is the Patriarch of Antioch, because Petrus the Apostle was the first that became Patriarch in that city, where he sat in supreme honour : in Rome, on the contrary, he suffered an ignominious death on the cross."
We were informed by the same Priest, that in all the Frank countries much love is felt towards the Patriarch of Antioch ; and that they have entire credence in him, to the exception of all others but the Alexandrian. As for the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Jerusalem, they hate the one, by reason of their national
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 225
relations; the other they detest, on account of his malignancy towards the Franks who visit Jerusalem.
SECT. XIX.
ANCIENT CITY OF KIOV— CHURCH OF SAINT SOPHIA.
WE will now return to our description of Kiov, and of Saint Sophia. This church is built on the plan of the original Saint Sophia of well-known celebrity, and presents the same kind of arches, circumference, and ceiling : but its ornaments of marble of various colours and forms, its diversified symmetry of minute arrangement, the multitude of its pillars and their sublimity, the height and breadth of its cupolas, the multiplicity of its windows and recesses, give it a more peculiar and real title to so distinguished a name. Its form is square; and its domes, and the whole of its structure, both within and without, is of stone and tiles and mortar : but, unfortunately, one half of it, from the western nave, is in ruins. It is related, that the Tartars, at a remote period, ruined it, and set fire to it; and in that state of devastation it remained for one hundred years or more, a resort for cattle and wild beasts. Afterwards it was repaired ; and again destroyed by the Ghoniati (J^bo^l) or Russians in subjection to the Pope, who tore up all the pavement, and the mosaic from the walls, to place them in their own churches : for the whole of this edifice, we were told, was covered with mosaic paintings ; and every porch and recess was so ornamented, both above and below. It is said to have contained seventy tabernacles, or chapels, in its lower and upper compartments.
After it had been ravaged by the aforesaid Poles, it remained in that ruinous condition about seventy years, until the forth-coming of the late Petrus, called Mohilov; I mean the brother of Moses, Beg of Moldavia, who was created Metro politan over the country of the Russians : he laboured at its restoration to the utmost of his power, and brought it to the state in which it now is. — God have mercy on his soul !
At present, on the right-hand as you enter the western gate, are two ruined and abandoned tabernacles ; the one called by the name of the Divine Column, or the Pillar of Immersion, wherein is a Baptismal Font* of a hard red stone,
* Here follows a singular phrase U;l . ^U&J of, I suppose, the Modem Greek Theology. Bein«- unacquainted with its full meaning, I have left it untranslated.
226 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
resembling porphyry : the other is within that, and occupies the rest of the precinct.
Near to this great western gate are two other small gates on the rio-ht and left : and at each corner of this nave is a large round tower of lofty structure, with numerous battlements ; each having a door that opens to the west ; from which you ascend, by a spacious and long flight of steps, to the second and highest balcony on the roof of the church.
On the south side it had five gates in all ; and on the north it has now two, one of which is used for the admission and thoroughfare of the troops of work men : above it, on the ceiling, is the picture of Saint Sophia, and of Christ ; and the rays of the Holy Ghost are descending on the church, whilst the Cashidiari and the Persians in their turbans and with their long bows are shooting arrows, and the Franks with their guns and muskets are making war against it.
On the east side are seven wide and lofty arches ; four of which are of equal dimensions; but the other three are lower. On the upper gallery are two tabernacles, opposite each other ; and in all the vaults are many large windows, every one of which is filled with bright clear glass, even to the smallest arches, and including every chapel &c.*
* The remainder of the description of this church, unworthy perhaps of the labour of translation, yet possibly of some curiosity to certain readers, I here subjoin in the original Arabic:—
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
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ti U1. .
EXD OF FART THE SECOND.
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LONDON :
PRINTED BY R. WATTS, CROWN COURT, TEMPLE BAR.
1831.
PART THE THIRD. THE COSSACK COUNTRY
AND
MUSCOVY.
BOOK V. THE COSSACK COUNTRY.
SECT. I.
CITY OF KIOF.—ST. SOPHIA.
AROUND the holy arch of this Church of St. Sophia, a part of the description of which was given in the preceding section of this narrative, is written in Greek what we thus translated into Arabic : " God is in the midst of her, and she shall not he shaken : God helps her from day-break to day-break : "—as it is related of the building of St. Sophia, in Constantinople, that Justinian the Emperor wrote on all its tiles to the same effect.
The Holy Table is very large, being laid to the size of the Tabernacle ; and having in the centre a kind of bridge of boards, which rises step by step to a great height, and holds the candlesticks in rows with their green wax tapers : these, when lighted, form an arch of fire, which raises the admiration of the beholder for its beauty and ingenuity. On the right of the Tabernacle is a door, with a lofty window above it, through which you enter a chapel with a cupola and two windows in the centre furnished with panes of glass, dedicated by the title of " The Birth of Our Lady." Near this is another chapel like it, named after St. Michael. So also on the left are four chapels ; two with lofty cupolas, and dedicated to the Divine Burial and the Figured Handkerchief (of St. Veronica) : the fourth is by the name of St. Nicolas. The Iconostasis which is over the doors of these chapels or tabernacles is much to be admired, and is very magnificent : it is quite new, and astonishingly beautiful ; and so large, and divided into such a variety of compartments, and so much gilt and orna mented, that no man's pen is adequate to its description.
Hn
230 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
The height of the royal door is six cubits ; and it is surmounted by an arch resembling that of a city-gate. Its breadth is two cubits and a half: it is divided into two folds, as usual ; and the inside is formed into a kind of vault. It is all carved and gilt : and over one of the folds is the figure of a pelican, in silver, striking into her side with her bill, and the blood is flowing on her young ones beneath. This it is impossible for any person to distinguish from work in solid metal. The paintings of sacred images are twelve, all very large and magnifi cent : around the whole of them are thick solid pillars carved and gilt, and they are all sunk into a kind of vault. As for the pillars which inclose the images of Our Lord and Lady, they are exceeding large, being of full length, with frames carved and hollowed, and ornamented with flowers and vines, and green and red grapes that look transparent. Over this Iconostasis, and the Symbolon, the entire space is covered with a very wide screen, all carved and gilt, and stretching to the extent of the doors of the four tabernacles ; not entirely even, but with niches. On the top of it is the Crucifixion of Our Lord, very beautifully exe cuted. All round it, from the summit to the base, is a sort of carved drapery ; and in the middle are small circles, containing the images of the Saints and the Apostles, faced with glass. To the left of the picture of Our Lord is a painting of St. Sophia, the work of an able and ingenious master. The church is de picted with its pillars, in the midst of its court ; and under its foundations is a kind of vault. On the top is the Messiah; and the Holy Ghost is descending on it in rays of light. Under it is a picture of Hell ; at the mouth of which is the Cashi- dian, with a large nose, holding in his hand a bow and arrows. There are near him many Persians, in their turbans and peculiar dresses ; armed with bows anci arrows, which they are shooting at the holy edifice. There is also a body of Franks, in their caps and uniforms ; pointing their muskets and cannon against it, with all the art of war.
Next we ascended to the second floor of the church, by the steps of one of the outer towers, and found it a very delightful situation, commanding, from every part, a view of the choir and the tabernacles. It has two recesses ; one with five cupolas, and a tabernacle in the centre dedicated to St. Nicolas ; the other also with five, and a second tabernacle in the centre dedicated to St. Deme trius ; all looking down upon the tabernacles below. As to the rails in front of these alcoves, they are severally made of one piece of red stone, and extend from one foot of the arch to the other, being figured with crosses and inscrip tions, and exactly resembling the balustrades of St. Sophia. Over these two tabernacles are two cupolas with glazed windows. The whole number of the
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 2-31
arches of this wing of the building is thirty, and the cupolas are ten. The two other tabernacles are near the north door, on the right-hand as you go out of the church. They have wide arches ; and instead of the Symbolon, they are now making for them a high cage of iron, adorned with various figures, and painted with different colours ; as, the portraits of angels and saints, with their faces white as usual, and their garments shining with gold; crosses, and Greek inscriptions; flowers of various colours, yellow and red ; and such other things as astonish the beholder : all this is constructed of thin plates of iron, fastened with bolts. In one of the tabernacles is a fount of white marble, with its lid or cover of large dimensions and concave form, ornamented with crosses, and resembling the urn of St. Elian in Emessa. The wonder is, whence they brought this marble, and these huge pillars which are outside the church ; for there is no such thing in this whole country as a marble quarry. It would appear that they conveyed them in ships from Marmora, which is in the neighbourhood of Constantinople, by way of the Black Sea, and by ascending the great river Niepros (Dnieper), which flows into it ; and landed them at this city of Kiov : whence, and from all the vicinity of which, there is a traffic, by both hauling and sailing vessels, on the great river just mentioned ; and thence the navigation is continued on the Black Sea, All the alcoves or cupolas of this church are eighteen in number ; and the large gilt crosses, which are over the cupolas and balustrades and arches, are six and thirty. The great cupola or dome is in the centre ; and above it is another of great beauty and ingenuity, intended merely for ornament, and much admired. All these domes are covered with shining tin. This is the sum of the notes and calculations, made at the expense of much labour and vigilance and inquietude, which we have collected on the description of this noble edifice of St. Sophia, in the country of the Cossacks ; to which there is none like or equal, with the exception of its namesake and prototype in the city of Con stantinople.
Then Kyr Theodosius, the Archimandrite of the Monastery of St. Michael, which is opposite to this church and near to it, came and solicited the Patriarch to accompany him in his coach to his apartments in the convent. We went with him in consequence, as the distance was so very small ; and the Patriarch alighted from the coach outside the gate, and we entered. The entire building is of wood, except the magnificent, lofty, and elegant church, which is of stone and lime, and has a high cupola shining with gold. This church consists only of one nave. It is lighted all round with glazed windows. The three churches I have been describing are all of one style of architecture, and of OIK-
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
age. As to the throne of the Chief of the Clergy , it is very magnificent and beautiful ; and in the front of it, on the left, is the portrait of Theophani, Patri arch of Jerusalem, in his cap and cassock, and holding a cross. The large Tabernacle resembles that of St. Sophia,, and of the Convent of Petcherske *, and lias three large windows ; and, in like manner, it is painted in the centre with the portrait of Our Lady, standing upright in her gold ornaments, and having both her hands raised and open. Next to her is Our Lord, handing to his Disciples, on both sides, the divine bread and blood. Below them are the portraits of Chief Priests, in rows, and all with inscriptions. On the right of this tabernacle is a second, with a lofty cupola : and on the left is a third. This holy church has also three doors : the largest is to the west ; the other two give admission to the two choirs. At the back of the left choir is a handsome tabernacle, facing your left-hand as you enter. It has an iron folding-door reaching from the top to the bottom, and beautifully divided into compartments,, which are diversified with painted flowers and the figures of angels and saints, in the manner we described of St. Sophia. Within it is a handsome sarcophagus, containing the body of St. Barbara of Baalbec. So also on the right, as you enter the church, is another tabernacle in the western wing : and without the angle is a sixth. The floor of the church is all of large red tile. Near to this convent, and indeed contiguous, is one of Nuns.
I should have mentioned, that the image of St. Michael is very magnificent and venerable ; all its armour, its breast-plate, bracelets, visor and helmet, being of pure silver, coloured, and with the bosses gilt; the work of an ingenious master.
After we had assisted at mass here, and banquetted, we went to visit the Cata combs of the Monastery, and the tower between the cupolas above the gate ; and then returned to St. Sophia.
The walls and trenches of the fort pass close by the gates of this convent, and have been lately constructed by the Emperor Alexius, whom God preserve ! These walls, which are of wood, and are flanked by deep moats, have towers soaring above them of great strength, and exhibit in their fabric a happy ingenuity, resembling that of the Franks. In their own country of Muscovy we saw no such contrivances as have been produced in the plan of giving strength and im pregnability to these fortifications. For the whole circuit of the moat they have made large pieces of timber into the shape of an axle-tree of a wheel, of great length ; and have studded them with short stakes sharpened off in the form of
* This I find is the true name of the convent, which in this work has been hitherto called Yahariska ; such appearing to be the obvious way of deciphering
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
spears and daggers, which stick out from the beam on its four sides, in the shape f a cross, resembling the windlass of the wells in our country. These beams they have set in two rows, at the height and half of a man as he stretches his arms upwards from the ground; so that the enemy, when he assaults them finds no way to pass, either above or below; and should he lay hold to hano- by the spikes in the higher beam, it turns round with him ; and he falls on the spikes i the beam below, which enter his flesh and limbs, and point through his body to the grave. The bridges reaching to the gates of these towns and castles are drawn and lifted up by chains ; and the ground about the entrance is entirely hollowed mto caves and cellars for the stowage of vast quantities of gunpowder Over the highest part of the gate is a large bell ; which, when any thing happen, they rmg, to acquaint and alarm the garrison ; and this kind of bell is found in' the forts of Muscovy. In this fort are many large guns, planted one above ; and here reside two Voivodas, Lieutenants of the Emperor. The troops e garrison and neighbourhood amount to sixty thousand ; and some of them 1 on their two legs, by the river-side, carrying their muskets, durin» the whole day, to be succeeded by others for the night.
As far as this spot formerly reached the ancient City of Kiov ; which on its
Conquest by the enemy, after a long war, was finally laid in ruins; and iis habi-
tations were removed to the low grounds in the valley, on the banks of the o-reat
nver Niepros. The way to it is by the entrance of one gate of the castle,°and
out through the other; after which you descend by a long narrow passage ex-
ceedmgly rough, and of hardly sufficient width for a horse and a carriage to' the
modern town: for the fort, which they have now recently constructed^' on the
the lull, whence you look down over the whole city belowf.
t I, is a matter of ,he most agreeable curiosity to compare v,i,h the account of the City of Kiov , hafbeen f TIT *™ ">' "* ^^ """ wbfch «™* * fa" ^ viz since 4
" ri:^ibiriaericai G-a-- Dr- H:*L: - - ^ — — -
the middle of the ninth cen y, a, wh ch Ume i r d
The Slavonian,, tired of the ,rient,l T t "> "" n°"Ce as W»"g»'g «« *e Khazurs.
a reaue" which ™ instant,, ™ 'td Zt , r "' 7? -^ ^^ *""' ^"^"A' rate state • -md in the expulsion of thc.r oppressors, they formed a sepa-
"' " "g»
*""'
Jrofessor Knur conier-turnc tW n:*™n
nan, on whose authority that statement is given,
wrote
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
On this day one of the Voivodas came and paid his respects to our Lord the Patriarch, by kneeling down before him, and wishing him health.
To return to our description. At present, all the remains of the ancient city are the Church of St. Sophia and this convent, with their appurtenances ; and they have built walls round them, and fortified them, since the destruction of the rest : for all the towns in these countries are built of wood ; and when they
wrote quadraginta, and not quadritigentfc. In consequence of the devastations to which it has been repeatedly subject from the Plague, the Tatars, and other hostile visitors, Kief has lost much of its ancient li-raiideur, although it still continues to be one of the most remarkable places in the empire. Its present population is about 20,000.
" The eastern approach to Kief presents a view in a high degree picturesque and striking. Direct in front, on the lofty banks of the Borysthenes, stands the far-famed Petcherskoi Monastery, the churches and gilded spires of which reflect with da/xling splendour the rays of the sun ; the bold and commanding fortress and bastions, w ith which it is surrounded, convey the idea of strength and security ; the Cathedral of Saint Sophia, and other churches, occupying elevated situations in the ' Old Town/ some of which are from the earliest periods of the Russian Church, create in the mind a certain kind of rcligio loci; while at a distance to the right, close to the water's edge, stretches Podole, or the ' Town in the Vale ;' the busy scene of mercantile enterprise. The varied surface of the ground too, now rising into pointed heights, now indented by deep ravines, and in many parts covered with gardens and extended patches of copse, greatly tends to heighten the interest of the perspective.
" The town itself is divided into three parts : the southern takes its name from the Monastery of Petchersk, and, besides the fortress and convent, contains another celebrated monastery, dedicated to Saint Nicholas, and six churches, some of which stand near the margin of the river ; where is also a number of houses, chiefly occupied by the lower classes of inhabitants. Near to the fortress is a bazar; behind which the houses assume the appearance of a regular town, having one principal street, with several cross-streets terminating to the west in a deep gulley, the sides and brink of which are princi pally inhabited by Jews. Beyond this, in a northerly direction, is a subdivision, containing the houses of the Governor and other persons of distinction, delightfully shaded by lofty trees, some of which appear to be of great age.
" In this part of the town is a tolerably good inn, where we took up our abode : and after waiting upon the Metropolitan Serapion, the Governor, and several of the other inhabitants, with whom we made arrangements relative to the object of our journey, we repaired to the monastery, in order to view a place equally interesting to the historian, as the residence of Nestor, the invaluable annalist of Russia, and to the members of the Greek Church, as the repository of those relics and monuments which have been held in high religious veneration during many successive centuries. Having entered the gate of the fortress, which consists of regular ramparts and bastions, and is classed in the first rank of Russian fortifications, we passed the barracks and arsenal ; and had we not been previously apprised of the exist ence of the monastery, we should not have expected to meet with a reclusion in the midst of so much military apparatus and noise. As we advanced, however, we soon came within sight of a magnificent gate, ornamented with full-length representations of Anthony and Theodosius, the first two Abbots of the monastery, and other objects of popular veneration, before which a crowd of pilgrims were bowing and crossing themselves, according to the usual forms. We here gained admittance at a small wicket ; ;>.nd soon found, from the solitude and sombre appearance of every surrounding object, that we were now within the precincts of what the Russians call the ' Laureate Cloister.' Passing along a fine alley, on either side of which are the cells of the monks, we arrived at the cathedral dedicated to the
' Ascension
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. -^Ij
take fire,, they burn away till not a vestige of them is left, with the exception of some extraordinary stone edifice.
It may he remarked, that the Sheikh, or senior magistrate of the towns and villages in this country,, is called Istarosta.
We were informed, that beginning with the Convent of Petcherske and its
' Ascension of the Virgin +,' the exterior of which is greatly calculated to operate on the feeling's of the spectator, and produce sensations of a very solemn and contemplative nature. It is erected in a style of grand architectural elegance, and many parts of the walls are decorated with beautiful representations of the most interesting scenes of Scripture History. Its seven cupolated turrets are richly gilt; and, together with the belfry, which stands at some distance, and is upwards of 300 feet in height, greatly add to the magnificent appearance of the place.
" Towards the usual hour of Vespers, the court of the monastery began to fill with worshippers, who rushed forward with great eagerness, as the sound of the evening bell, and the opening of the grand western door of the cathedral, announced the commencement of the service. We now proceeded from the house of the Prior, by whom we had been courteously entertained, to survey the interior of the church, which we found indescribably splendid : the whole of the walls seemed covered with pictures of martyrs and saints, encased in richly gilded or silver-covered frames ; but the most prominent of all was one of the Virgin, above the doors which open into the ' Holy of Holies,' before \\hich burned an immense profusion of lights, whose effect, superadded to that produced by the tapers burning before the different shrines, was but just sufficient to light up to our view the highly ornamented ceiling of the edifice.
" As we were contemplating this curious assemblage of human inventions, our notice was attracted by one of the most unearthly sounds we ever recollected to have heard ; which, on inquiry, we ascer tained to proceed from a female pilgrim, who had been sei/ed with convulsions, but was regarded by the multitude as a demoniac. On coming out of the church, we found she had been carried out, and laid on the north side of the vestibule, precisely in the slatio dfemoniacorum, as represented by Ludolf. in the Ichnogr aphid Ecdesiec Grcccw, at p. 371 of his Commentary. At the south side of the church is a large Hospitium, or place of entertainment for the pilgrims who resort hither for puposes of devotion -. and close by wre \isited one of the cells which had recently been converted into a depository for the sale and distribution of the Holy Scriptures. Besides the cathedral, there are three other churches attached to the monastery, but none of them exhibiting any thing remarkable.
" The following morning, at eight o'clock, we again visited this place, according to appointment, in order to make the tour of the Catacombs, or the extensive domains of the dead, consisting of subter ranean labyrinths of great extent, which are excavated in the precipitous declivity of the hill forming the bank of the river. These remarkable dormitories are divided into two classes — the nearer, and the more remote ; the distance being reckoned from the principal church within the precincts of the
monastery.
t Dr. Henderson appears to have been too slightly acquainted with the Catholic Ritual to avoid a gross mistake here. He should have written the "Assumption of the Virgin," not the "Ascension." The Arabic expression, so frequently used by the Archdeacon Paul, as a member of the Syrian Catholic Church, for this mystery, is i'jJwjJ —.\JJ "The Lamentation" or "Wake of Our Lady;" during the performance of which ceremony, by the Apostles and other Disciples of Christ, the Virgin's corpse is believed to have been raised from her couch to heaven, by the ministration of Angels, before their astonished eyes. In the Greek it is styled 'H KtuVTjtm rfjs 060T««-ov, " The Sleep (or Trance) of the Mother of God."
•28() TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
appendages, and St. Sophia and the churches which are in ruins around it, and taking in the churches of stone which still remain in ruins in the castle, and the buildings as far as Kiov with their inclosures, you may reckon about one hundred churches and monasteries.
On Tuesday, the third of the month Tamoz, we took leave of the Metropolitan,
monastery, in the gallery to the south of which the two churches are situated, whence the descent into 'the nether parts of the earth ' is effected. Following a young; monk, who had been selected to conduct us, and who shewed every disposition to gratify our curiosity, we made our egress from the convent by a small wicket-gate in the massy stone \\all by which it is surrounded; and, proceeding down a small steep lane paved with stones, we came to a covered walk, or gallery of wood, about 500 feet in length, which led us to a magnificent chapel, with three gilded turrets, dedicated to ' The Elevation of the Holy Cross,' and designed to receive the devotions of those who descend into the gloomy abodes below. While our guide and the servants were lighting the candles which were to render in some measure visible to us the darkness of the caverns, we viewed a large painting on the wall of the vestibule, representing a motley group of good and evil spirits, abiding the departure of the dying, in order to convey their souls to the regions either of felicity or of woe. The latter were depicted in the midst of vivid flames ; and the arch-fiend, ha\ing been rendered more conspicuous than any of the other figures composing the scene, a boy, who was standing by, infuriated with rage, ran up and gave him some hard blows with the sharp leathern front of his cap. From the battered appearance of the head, and that of some of the fiends that were near him, it appeared that this was not a solitary instance of this kind of treatment.— Would that men (adds Dr. Henderson) were equally enraged at the cloven foot, when presented in the multiform shape of temptation !
" Our lights being provided, we descended into the passage leading to the Catacombs, known by the name of St. Anthony's, the founder of the monastery, whose relics are preserved in a cubitory at the extremity of the labyrinth. This passage is about six feet in height, but so extremely narrow that it is with difficulty two persons can pass each other. Like all the other apertures and subterraneous galleries to which it leads, it is dugout of the hill; which seems to consist of a mixture of sand and clay, possess ing a considerable degree of adhesion, but too soft to be entitled to the character of stone. The sides and roof are, for the most part, black from the smoke of the torches which are incessantly conveyed through the passage ; and, where there is any turn or winding in it, the projecting angle is partly smoothed and worn away by the friction occasioned by the numerous companies of visitors.
"We had not proceeded far, when we came to a niche on the right side of the passage, containing a coffin without the lid, in which lay the mummied body of one of the saints, wrapped in a silken shroud, with one of the stiffened hands placed in such a position as easily to receive the kisses of those who visit the cemetery for the purposes of devotion. This token of respect was paid by our guide, not only to this relic, but to all we passed; the number of which, in this dormitory, amounts to eighty-two. After advancing to the distance of about twenty yards, in a north-westerly direction, we turned round suddenly to the east, by a somewhat circuitous passage, and then proceeded again towards the north; observing, as we passed, the numerous niches on both sides, containing bodies or parts of the bodies of those who have acquired renown by the degree of austerity and mortification to which they attained in reducing to practice the rules of ascetic discipline. Resides these niches, we came every now and then to separate dormitories, in ' the sides of the pit;' little chambers having been dug in the sand, and, after the bodies had been deposited in them, again closed up by a thin wall parallel with the side of the gallery, in which, about four feet from the ground, a small glass window is inserted, discovering, on a candle being held to it, the funeral attire of its unghostly inhabitant. In one of these little chambers we were
shewn
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 237
and descended to the city of Kiov, after the Metropolitan had sent word to them first, and they had prepared for us a large apartment. To precede us, he despatched a body of Grandees and Archons, armed, and on horseback, as usual ; and on our descent we were met by a great number of Priests and Deacons, in their robes, and with banners and torches, who conducted us into a magnificent
shewn the remains of a vigorous ascetic of the name of John, who, as the leg-end goes, constructed his own dormitory, and, after building- himself in by a wall with a small window, as above described, he interred himself up to the waist, and in this posture performed his devotions, till death left him in possession of the grave he had made. A figure representing him is visible through the small aperture ; but whether his mummy, or merely his effigy, we could not determine. Another of these sepulchres is said to contain the relics of the twelve Friars who first addicted themselves to the severities of the monastic life in this place, one of the bones of the Protomartyr Stephen, and some of the Children of Bethlehem murdered by order of King Herod !
' After penetrating to the northern extremity of this ' region and shadow of death,' we came to the sepulchre of Nestor, the celebrated Father of Russian history ; who flourished in the Petcherskoi Mona stery from about the middle to the end of the eleventh century, and was contemporary with Ari Frode, the first Icelandic historiographer. This Monk appears to have been gifted with a large share of natural understanding; and, to judge from the style of his writings, he must have been familiar with the Scriptures ; for he not only quotes them frequently, but seems to have adopted their narrative style as the model of his own compositions. His intercourse with the reigning family, his perusal of the Byzantine Historians, the opportunities he enjoyed of collecting the current traditionary accounts from the mouth of his countrymen, and the numerous historical monuments which Kief and its immediate vicinity presented to his view, all furnished advantages of which he happily availed himself; and has thereby transmitted to us the knowledge of important historical facts, connected with the ancient history of Russia, which must otherwise have perished with the lapse of time. Of his Annals, a truly critical edition, in the original Slavonic, accompanied with various readings, a German translation, and valuable historical commentaries, was published by Professor Schluzer, of Gottingen, lSO:2-9.
" From the dormitory of Nestor, the dreary avenue turned round, by a gradual descent, tow ards the Boryxthenes; and after leading us past a number of dead bodies, brought us to two subterraneous chapels. The first, only at a short distance from the river, is dedicated to Anthony, who here lie* enshrined in a coffin covered with silver ; and the other, situated nearer to the entrance, is dedicated to ' The Purification of the Virgin.'* Both are richly ornamented ; and are used for the performance of mass, on such days in the Calendar as are appropriated to these festivals.
"We now returned to the spot whence we had descended; and were glad to exchange the confined air and melancholy gloom of this sepulchral labyrinth for the fresh breeze ascending from the river, and the exhilarating prospect supplied by the surrounding scenery.
" At a short distance to the south are situated the 'farther' Catacombs, or those of Theodosius ; but they are neither so sinuous, nor so extensive, as the former ; nor is the celebrity of the saints, whose relics they contain, equal to that of those entombed in the Caverns of Anthony. Besides the chapel and tomb of the founder, we visited two chapels dedicated to the Virgin, and ' The Elevation of the
Cross;'
* The contradiction involved in the terms of this festive title-as used by the Roman-Catholic Church, from which Dr. Henderson lias erroneously taken it, when he should have applied himself to the Greek-is avoided in the Arabic denomination of the same festival, which is J^:JJ *J,^J! Jy^ « The Entrance Of Our Lady into the Temple."
Il
-238 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
stone church in the centre of the market-place, with five cupolas in the shape of a cross, and dedicated by the title of " The Assumption of Our Lady." Then they walked before us to a large hotel, where we alighted.
In this district the Grandees are numerous, and their trains are great : and these Grandees of Kiov carry in their hands staves of the bamboo-cane, of
Cross;' but found nothing1 remarkable, after what we had seen in the others. The number of bodies, or parts of bodies, contained in the latter catacombs, and which are venerated as relics possessed of wonder-working powers, amounts to forty-five.
" Our visit to these ' dark places/ in ' the nether parts of the earth,' where we literally were ' among those that be dead of old,' tended, in no small degree, to furnish us with lively recollections of those passages of Scripture which represent the grave as a pit, or cavern, into which a descent is necessary, Psalm \\viii. 1. cxliii. 7. Prov. i. 12; where there are deep recesses, containing- dormitories, or separate burying-places, Isaiah xiv. 15. Ezek. x\\ii. 23 : so that each dead body may be said to 'lie in its oun house,' Isaiah xiv. 15; and "rest in its own bed," chap. Ivii. 2. The idea also of a vast subterraneous abode necessarily presented itself to our minds— an idea frequently to be met with in the Sacred and other Oriental writing's. Hence Solomon, when treating- of the end of man's mortal existence, calls the grave his ' long- home,' Eccles. xii. 5 ; to which, as the family residence, descendants are said to ' g-o' or ' be gathered' at death, Gen. xv. 15. 2 Kings xxii. 20. And on one of the ancient Phoenician Inscriptions found on the Island of Malta, the same idea of the grave, as a place of residence, is evidently conveyed, Db^nSlimap; which, if properly divided, is cb^ rQ Tin "Op 'The chamber of the long abode — the grave.'
" The origin of the Catacombs of Kief is to be traced to the introduction of the ascetic life into Russia. Uilarion, Presbyter of Berestof, a learned and devout man, abandoning his church, and the intercourse of the world, dug a cell two fathoms in depth, in a sequestered and woody part of the hill, close to the spot where the monastery now stands ; where he imposed upon himself numerous acts of mortification, till ('ailed by laroslav to be the Metropolitan of Russia. The cell, however, wras soon re-occupied by a native of Liubetch; who, after performing a pilgrimage to Mount Athos, where he received the tonsure, and assuming the name of Antonius, endeavoured to settle in some monastery ; but not finding any sufficiently strict in its rules of discipline, he repaired to the cave of Uilarion. Here he led a most retired and austere life, addicting himself to prayer and fasting ; and in a short time acquired such reputation for sanctity, that immense crowds of devotees, among whom the Grand Duke Iziaslav himself, came to his cell, in order to obtain his blessing. Other ascetics now associated themselves with him, and enlarged the subterraneous reclusion ; a regular monastery was at length formed ; churches and chapels wrere erected for the accommodation of those who visited the place; and, in the course of time, after miraculous powers were ascribed to the relics of the original founders and others who had rendered themselves famous for the rigour of their discipline, the spot obtained that celebrity which it still retains in the present day. What Jerusalem was to the Israelites, Kief is to the Russians; and the veneration in which the Grand Cathedral of the Petcherskoi Monastery, with its surrounding ' Holy Places' is held, is, at least, equal to that paid to the Temple on Mount Zion. On this account, it is the great resort of pilgrims from all parts of the Empire, not even excepting Kamstchatka, and other distant regions of Siberia ; who, as they proceed hither, collect money from those who are not able to come in person, with which they purchase candles to be placed before the images of the saints. The average number of those who annually perform this pilgrimage is estimated at 50,000.
''The second or middle division of Kief consists of the ' Old Town,' which is separated from that
already
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. •£$!)
considerable thickness,, and others of different kinds ; as do also the inferior Lords and rich men.
And now they began to bring us mead and beer, in large barrels, drawn in carts ; and an abundance of strong spirits. Bread they furnished us in loads : and fish in quintals, from the plentiful cheapness of it among them ; and its immense
already described by a deep ravine, intersecting the hills on which they are situated. It forms the site of the ancient Slavonic Pantheon, where Perun, Horsa, Ludo, Voloxa, Mokosha, Kupala, and other objects of idolatrous worship, had altars erected for the celebration of their respective rites, ft is sur rounded by immense earthen walls ; and contains, within a small compass, not fewer than five churches, of which the principal is the Cathedral of Saint Sophia, built by laroslav, in the year 1037, on the spot where he had chained a signal victory over the Petchenegi. In the magnitude and grandeur of its structure it exceeds the Petcherskoi Cathedral ; and is remarkable for a colossal mosaic representation of the Lord's Supper, according- to the mode of its administration in the Eastern Church, together with other representations on a grand scale. The whole of the walls and ceiling was covered with the same exquisite workmanship, interspersed with Greek Inscriptions ; but being in many parts richly gilt, many of these monuments of ancient art were destroyed by the Tatars under Batu Khan, by whom the town was taken and pillaged, in the year 1240. This church contains also the tomb of its founder ; which is built of white marble, and measures about seven feet in length by three in breadth, and three and a half in height.
"• Close to the Cathedral is the residence of the Metropolitan; a sombre building, shaded by venerable trees, and exhibiting, in the interior, the most striking vestiges of ancient art. On the identical spot where Perun, the Jupiter of Russia, had a fane consecrated to his worship, stands the Church of Saint Basil, built by Vladimir, on the introduction of Christianity into the Empire ; and near the northern termination of the elevated ground forming the site of the town is part of another church, erected by the same prince, in the year 996, and called Denaf.in/iaia, or the Tithe Church, from the circumstance that he not only endowed it with a tenth part of his own private property, but also with a tenth of the public revenues. In the cemetery belonging to this church were discovered, by the Metropolitan Peter, in the year 1636, two marble coffins ; which, according to the inscriptions upon them, contained the bones of Vladimir, and his spouse, the Greek Princess Ann. The scull of this monarch was taken the same year, and deposited in the Petcherskoi Cathedral, where it is still preserved.
" We next visited the Church of Saint Andrew, which is built at a short distance from that just men tioned ; and being situated on a projecting point of the hill, commands one of the most extensive pro spects of any place about Kief. It owes its name to a tradition that the Apostle Andrew, in the course of his Missionary excursions among the Scythians, planted the Cross on this hill, and predicted, that, at a future period, it would become the site of a city, and of numerous churches dedicated to the honour of his Divine Master.
" Almost directly below this church, where the high bank of the river gives way to a narrow plain, stands Podolc, ' the Low Town, 'or ' the Town of the Vale,' which is chiefly inhabited by merchants; but is also celebrated for its magnificent Academy, founded, in 1631, by the Metropolitan Peter Mohila, in which upwards of twelve hundred students are taught the sciences, according to the forms of the old German Universities. It is built of stone ; stands close to the Friars' Monastery, the Archimandrite of which is Rector of the Institution ; and is provided with an excellent library and hospital. This division of Kiff, consisting of streets and buildings laid down according to a regular plan, forms a perfect con trast to the other parts of the town, and, abounding in large and fruitful gardens, presents a very agreeable perspective to the view.
•2K) TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
variety of shape and colour astonished us : for, as we before mentioned,, the great River Niepros is near them, and many ships sail out of it. As to the quality of the vessels which navigate this river, they are generally large. In measuring some of them, we found the length of their single timbers to be about one hun dred and fifty spans ; and there are many hollowed out of one huge piece of wood, of which the length is ten cubits. On this river they pass to the Black Sea.
The houses in this country are grand and lofty, and present walls of polished wood, both inside and out. Attached to each mansion is a seraglio-garden, of great extent, planted with fruit-trees of all the kinds that grow here : among which are large mulberry-trees of the common sort (j^ eulul-J'j), and that kind originary of Hazzaz in the territory of Aleppo, both white and red, in thousands innumerable ; but they do not care to eat mulberries. There is also the walnut- tree ; and grape-vines in these gardens are abundant. Between their excellent cucumber-beds they sow a great deal of the saffron-flower, and of rue, and cloves of many colours. But from other countries is brought hither by the merchants a supply of oil, and olives, and almonds, and rice, and raisins, and figs, and tobacco. All these, with Morocco leather, and saffron, and cotton wool, and manufactured silks of Persia, and red silk in the thread, are imported in great quantities from Turkey, a distance of forty days' journey ; but they are exceeding dear. The women who are employed, in the handsome stalls and admirable shops, in selling these articles, and every thing else that is wanted of the silk manufacture,, and of sables, £c., are smartly drest, in their way: but no one looks on them with an eye of turpitude.
We were informed, that in this country of the Cossacks, whenever they find a man and woman in adultery, they immediately gather round them, and strip them, and set them as a mark for their guns. This is an invariable law with them ; and no one ever escapes its infliction.
In this city are found many excellent Cossack painters, skilful masters of their art, who have many ingenious inventions for taking exact portraits of the human face ; and are very clever at depicting the torments of Our Lord, in their several stages, as we shall hereafter have occasion more particularly to mention. And what grief is in the heart of every Pole, both great and small, and what regret, for the loss of this city of Kiov! which was formerly under their Cral, and was his chief residence ; and the whole city was inhabited by their Grandees, to whom and to the rich Jews, all these handsome palaces and magnificent houses and gardens belonged.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
The Poles had here two large stone churches, with lofty porticoes on pillars; one of them ancient, the other new, and handsomely decorated with all the beau ties of architecture ; but now left in an unfinished state, to weep for the loss of its worshippers, whom time and fate have dissipated. The beautiful paintings, begun from the very top of the ceiling, which are done in lime resembling a paste, and the historical drawings sketched by masterly artists, are also unfinished and abandoned to decay; and the building is become a receptacle for filth, and a refuge for the brute species ; propped on its pillars as the support of its decrepi tude, and covered with the dark grey verdure of thickening moss.
There used to be in these two churches, and in the streets of the town sur rounding them, some thousands of Jesuit Priests ; and when Akhmil (Chmiel- niski) began to make his conquests of these countries, their associates in the land were speedily removed, either by the sword or distress ; except a few who escaped to this place, saying, " Here, by the mercy of God, we are safe ! or if not, our only refuge is in Him !" — for the situation is difficult both to ascend and to surround, and on all sides of it are strong castles and steep mountains. But Akhmil and his Cossacks reached them, nevertheless ; and they were bound together by the cords of their girdles, and thrown into the river Niepros (Dnieper) to be drowned, after they had been made to suffer the direst torments : after wards, their bodies were exposed to be devoured by the dogs.
To return: — On the eve of Thursday, we attended Prayers in a large church, with three tabernacles ; one dedicated to the Glorious Passover ; another to the Saints Peter and Paul; and the third to Eustathius the Martyr, whose portrait is on the door of his chapel. He is descending from his horse; and the stag and Christ are in the corners of the picture, the latter speaking to him. In each of the churches in this city of Kiov, without exception, there is always a painting of the execrable convention held against Our Lord. The Jews are seated on chairs, holding in their hands the written depositions of the witnesses, and what Nicodemus wrote : and Pilate is also sitting in a chair, and washing his hands, at the same time that his wife is whispering in his ear. Our Lord is below, naked and bound ; and Caiaphas, without a beard, and drest in a kind of Armenian robe, with a corresponding head-dress, is standing on his legs above them, and rending his garments.
On Friday we heard mass in a large convent, called in their language Si las/mi, or the Monastery of the Three Brother Kings who built it. It is dedicated to the " Divine Immersion," and has an Abbot and Monks. Before its gate are wooden pillars, carved and fluted in an admirable manner ; and above is the
21>2 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
place for the clock. — In Kiov, the clock is in the great belfry.— Within the gate is a handsome church with cupolas and glazed windows, dedicated to The Annun ciation. But the principal church has also galleries round it, and has three doors with three cupolas : it is very spacious and lofty, and has an Ambelon, with steps to ascend it : and in the right-hand choir is a handsome chair for the Chief of the Priests, with verses of inscription at the back. Its cupolas are very large and magnificent.
After we had gone forth from the mass, they conducted us to the place of the banquet ; which is built on a single arch of stone and mortar, with a long door in front, the side-posts of which are of marble. In it were two tables ; and it has a number of glazed windows. At the higher part of the room is the screen of a chapel, entirely covered with paintings. On the lowest com partment of the screen is the figure of Our Lord, who is fasting on the moun tain : and Satan is standing before him, tempting him, with three stones in his hands, and saying, " If thou art the Son of God, say to these stones that they become bread." The second picture is, where in another place Christ says to him, " Get thee behind me, Satan." The third is, Our Lord dismounting from his beast, and lighting on the person who had fallen among robbers, and pouring into his wounds oil and wine. The fourth represents Our Lord carrying the lost lamb on his shoulders; the rest of the flock appearing at a distance, on the to]> of the hill, among the trees. Fifthly, on the arch of the said tabernacle are eight paintings : the first is the figure of Our Lord, and the two soldiers beating him on the head with a reed, whilst another presents him with a green reed covered with leaves and flowers. Above this is the second painting, in which Our Lord is bound, and the two soldiers are leading him; one of them dressed entirely as a soldier, the other having a large white shawl rolled upon his head. On the highest part of the arch is the third, representing Our Lord naked and wounded, and sitting on a stool ; and a vine issues from his belly, and arbours on his head ; and there is hanging down between his hands a bunch of grapes, which he presses into a cup, according to his blessed word in the Gospel, '' I will drink it new in the kingdom of my Father." Under this is the fourth painting of Our Lord, bound to a pillar ; and two persons are beating him with a ferula studded with iron, and a broom of thorns. Under it is the fifth picture, of Pilate, with a large white turban rolled on his head, like a Holla's, sitting in judgment on Our Lord, who stands before him; and around him are the soldiers. On the front of the arch is the sixth picture of Our Lord, carrying his cross, and fainting to the ground : then they load the cross on Simon the
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 243
Cyrenean; and the soldiers are round about Christ; and Mary, other than his parent, is wiping off his sweat with a handkerchief. On the top is the seventh : it is Our Lord crucified with the thieves ; and the Virgin is fainting, and Salome and Mary are raising her. On the lowest part of the arch, on the left, is the eighth painting of Our Lord, where they are binding him preparatorily to his crucifixion, and Pilate is washing his hands ; and on the head of the latter is the identical white turban as before mentioned : for the painter has drawn the Crucifixion on the highest front of the arch, that a person may see it as he enters; and on the right side they are going up with Our Lord carrying his cross to the top ; on the left, they are also ascending with him, to judge him in the court. In like manner is the whole of the bancmetting-room covered with paintings.
On Sunday, the eighth after Pentecost, Our Lord the Patriarch performed mass in the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady, at the proposal of the people of the town; and there was gathered together a great congregation: and they piled the holy table with all kinds of silver vessels, and filled them with sweet herbs and flowers. Then he distributed the B^or^ *, or bread, to all the persons present in the Church, even to the boys and girls. We remarked, that the daughters of the Grandees of Kiovf place round the hair of their heads a fillet of black velvet, laced with gold, and set with pearls and stones, resembling a crown, and of the value of two hundred pieces of gold, more or less : but the poor girls make for themselves tiaras of flowers of the various colours.
On the evening of this Vigil fell also the festival with them of Saint Anthonius the Younger, the glory of the country of the Cossacks, who is interred, together with his companion Theodosius, in the cave which is in the Convent of Petcherske, founded by them. And from the afternoon of this Vigil, till the second Monday, the tenth of the month Tamoz, at noon, they disturbed this lower world with their much ringing of the whole of their bells ; and during this night they slept not at all, from the multiplicity of their Matins which they prayed, and the continued noise of the bells which they tolled.
* This word, which is certainly not Arabic, but may be Greek, if one may judge from its form. 1 have given in the Greek character; though the Baron De Sacy is inclined to think it of German origin. " Je me tiens pour assure que ce qui est designe sous le nom de brote, mot dont 1'origine m'est tout-a- fait inconnue, a moins que ce ne soit 1'alleman brod, est la meme chose que ce qu'on nomme en grec avTutapw, et qui repond ;\ notre pain beni. — Journal dcs Savans, Dec. 1831. 743.
t The Archdeacon has constantly written the name of this town uJ^. In the modern Russian maps, it is KIEBL.
•2-44 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
SECT. II. BROBARL—HOKHOLA.—YADLOKA.—BASANL—BAKOML—BRILMELOKA.
DURING this same night, and afterwards, there came on a heavy rain, and a great inundation : and this was followed by a severe frost and thick fogs, till we were at the tenth of the month Canon the First; when we went forth from the city of Kiov, on the said day, being Monday, and came to the bank of the Brobari *, a river well known, and celebrated to the utmost extent of this country ; which we crossed in a large boat — ourselves, our carriages, and our horses, all at once. We were about two hours on our passage; for this river is larger than the Danube : and when we arrived at length, and landed on the other bank, we saw on our right the holy monasteries, and the churches, which are on the top of the mountain ; viz. the Convent of Saint Michael, the Convent of Saint Nicolas, and the Convent of Petcherske, with the churches around it ; and the other convent built here by Vasili Beg of Moldavia ; and also the cells of the Anchorites in the caves of the mountain; one after another. Then we proceeded two great miles, along narrow roads, and by many pools of water, over deep sands, and through an immense forest all of fir-trees resembling the cypress ; and came in the evening to a small town called Brobari, which has a handsome church dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, and also cloisters and Monks belonging to the Convent of Petcherske, being a dependency of that foundation.
On the Thursday we departed hence; and having travelled two great miles,
* This must bo a mistake for Dnieper. This magnificent ri\er (the- Borysthenes and Danapris of the Ancients), which has justly acquired a high degree of celebrity in Greek and Slavonic geography, takes its rise near the small village Gorodki, in the district of Bielsk, in the Government of Smolensk: and running in a southerly and south-easterly direction, till it reaches Tekaterinoslav, it turns towards the south-west, and falls into the Black Sea between the fortresses of Ofc/iakof and Kinburn, after having formed the Linia/i, or large estuary on the north side of the Dromon of Achilles. Its whole length is estimated at fifteen hundred versts. Owing to the sand, clay, and chalk, which compose its banks, its waters are whitish, and of a hard quality ; but abound in carp, sturgeon, pike, and other kinds of fish, affording a plentiful supply to those who live in the vicinity. It is considered as navigable as far as Smohwsk ; but its passage is greatly obstructed, partly by moveable sands, and partly by cataracts, to the number of thirteen, within the distance of sixty versts, which can only be passed during a few weeks in the spring, when the flood-water in a great measure destroys the falls. — During the summer, the passage across the Dnieper is effected by means of a floating-bridge ; but as it was yet too early for its re-establishment, we had to cross in a ferry-boat, and landed a little below the Peteherskoi Monastery. — See DR. HENDERSON'S Travels in Russia, p. 17-1.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 245
we came to a large market town, with fortifications and a castle, surrounded by a double moat and running water, called Ilokhola. Here are two churches ; one by the title of The Manifestation, or Epiphany ; the other dedicated to The Birth of Our Lady : also a church belonging to the Poles, which they had left unfinished. This our Lord the Patriarch commanded the Cossacks to purify with aspersion ; and having finished it, to use it for prayer : and he named it after Saint George the Martyr. Then we arose from this place, and proceeded another mile, and came to a village, containing a church, called llosano. Near it is an immense lake, and large mills and workshops, used in the manufacture of their woollen cloths.
Then we proceeded another half mile ; and came to a small market-town, containing a beautiful castle, called Yadlo/id. It has a handsome church, dedi cated by the title of The Birth of Our Lady. Here we slept.
On the morning of Wednesday, we arose; and advancing three miles, came to a large market-town, with fortifications, and three castles with three moats, one within the other, named Basani. In the centre of the place is the church, surmounted with cupolas, and dedicated to The Birth of Our Lady. Its Icono- stasis is minutely painted, and pretty ; the ground being azure mixed with gold, resembling brocade. In front of it is a new church, built and abandoned by the Poles : and in the third castle is a magnificent palace, of lofty dimensions and exquisite workmanship, also deserted.
From this place we arose ; and having proceeded another mile, came to another market-town in ruins, surrounded by three lines of fortification and flanked by a lake, named Bakomi. Its inhabitants were few, in consequence of the Plague. This town is very large, and resembles the ruins of Vasilikov. A most destructive plague fell upon it, and annihilated its inhabitants ; and it is now in ruins, with but few to dwell in its precincts, and those poor to an extreme. Within the second line is the church, dedicated to The Birth of Our Lady. As to its pictures; on the left side is the portrait of the dead body of Our Lord, so usual in this country : it is of large size, and beautifully painted ; and Anna Naima and the Virgin are washing it ; and all the attendant Angels are employed, the one by holding in his hand an ewer, the other a basin, another a towel, &c.; and Joachim is looking in, from the entrance of the house. On the right of the picture of Our Lady is that of the Trinity, of a large size : and there is the table of Abraham and the Angels; and before them is set a roast-pig, on a dish ; and Sarah and Hagar are bringing in jars of drink. Above the head of the Angels is a delineation of Sodom and Gomorra,
KK
246 TRAVELS OF MACAR1US.
a very noble performance ; the fire is descending from heaven upon them, and the Angels are destroying them ; their towers are upset and falling ; Lot and his children are fleeing; and Lot's wife is turning round, and changing into a pillar of salt. This painting is admirable ; and indeed throughout this country of the Cossacks, as far as Moscow, they are very attentive in drawing pictures of the Trinity, which are always to be found in their churches, without fail ; as is also a painting of the Handkerchief of the Face (the Napkin of Veronica) over the door of the Tabernacle. In like manner, on their hand somely-worked banners, is the figure of the Trinity (the Three Angels), and the table ; and Sarah is laughing behind the curtain.
We arose from this place on the morning of Thursday; and, having travelled other three great miles, came in the evening to a large and populous town, by name Brilmdoka, with strong fortifications. The castle is in the inner part of the city; and is much to be admired, for its height and strength, its towers, guns, battlements, and the depth of its moat, and for the abundance of water flowing from it : for it has under ground a hidden tank, for the collec tion of water to it from the running brooks and the immense lake in the neigh bourhood ; and to this reservoir there are grottoes sunk. Within the castle is also a magnificent, large, and lofty palace, of both a higher and lower range of buildings, admirable for their spaciousness and height, and the size of their jointed pannels and beams, both within and without ; and admirable, in the different apartments, are the huge high stoves, which are taller than the tallest cypress : but it was never thoroughly finished. Its era is written on the tops of the roofs, which resemble those of the Hanak building, and of the town of Maarah : these have their eras drawn and calculated in the Greek, and mark ninety-six years after the birth of Christ : but the palace is ascribed to the year of Our Lord 1645; and is consequently of only seven years standing, this being the year 1654 ; and it is now a year since it fell into the hands of the Cossacks, soon after their appearance. It was the residence of the fourth Polish Go vernor, called Vishnoviska ; the meaning of which name is thus explained : Vishna is a kind of cherry, and iska or aska is a termination attached to all the appellatives in the language of this country : this compound therefore signifies crimson or red-faced ; as they say Antiochiska, that is, of Antioch ; and Mosco- viska, i. e. of Moscow. This officer commanded from the boundary of the river Niepros to that of the river of Potiblia, which is the frontier of Muscovy. Under his command were troops to the amount of 60,000 warriors, all drawn from Moldavia, and Romelia, and Albania, and Germany, and from the various
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 2-17
tribes of this country. The Tartars gave him the name of Cochock Sheitan, or The Little Devil ; for he subdued much of their territory, and ravaged it with fire and sword ; their frontier being near to his. When Akhmil ap peared, and conquered the country which is over the river Niepros as far as Kiov, this Polish Governor sent to practise deceit upon him, by appearing to bear him good will, whilst treachery was lying in ambush in his heart. His design was, that when Akhmil should enter with his troops into the country of the Poles, and be incautiously enjoying his triumphs, he himself should sud denly march up to him, with his cavalry in the rear, and take him in the midst. But Akhmil, who was master of great sense and quick apprehension, perceived his design, and sent to him; saying, "If you wish for peace, arise and evacuate " your country, and deliver it into my hands without fighting ; for I will not " leave you for an enemy behind me." On receiving this message, he declared open war; and despatched his troops, which were very numerous, to the assist ance of the Khatman's enemies. The old man, Akhmil, rushed on them with his valorous thousands, and put them all to the sword. The news of this defeat was immediately carried to the Pole ; but there was not one near him who would give credit to what was told him ; and he sat drinking in his palace within this castle, attended by forty of his particular guests, when, behold, the standards of Akhmil approached ! Instantly the Pole started on his feet, and, recovering from his inebriety, mounted his horse, and fled with all his grandeur, after he had put off his princely robes, and clothed himself in meaner garments. His horse reared with him, and he fell, and his neck was broken ; and the Cossacks overtook him ; and cutting off his head, carried it as a present to Akhmil, who raised it upon a tall spear, and placed it on the threshold of the great hall of the palace : — and thus this magnificent building which he had begun was never finished, having eaten up, as it were, its own head ; and at present lies in a heap of ruins, a receptacle for filth and hogs and dogs. Then his Lieutenant also fled after him; and the Cossacks surrounded the place of his escape ; and he went down by a secret door, and made his way towards the lake, over the bridge. The Cossacks saw him, and overtook him. He had with him a couple of bags of money of gold and silver ; and when they came close up with him, he cut open the sacks, that the ducats might fall on the ground, and he might escape whilst they were busied in gathering them up. But they both gathered them, and after wards again overtook him with their horses ; and he, out of fear of them, drove his steed into the lake. Then they reached him, and killed him ; and, dragging
218 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
him out of the water with their spears, cut off his head, which they raised on a shaft, and placed near that of his master.
In this town were many Jews and Poles who were unable to make their escape. Those among them who conformed to the true faith preserved their lives and property ; but the recusants were put to death, and sent to the bosom of Satanayil (JjuUUsLo).
To return : — On the south side of this castle is an immense lake, resembling a sea ; and many are the rivers that flow into it. On its surface is abundance of the white and yellow Nenuphar ; and upon it is a large bridge of great length, on which many mills are built. At the head of this bridge is the hidden conduit for supplying the castle with water : and near to this spot is a wooden house, adapted as a hot-bath for the use of the public. On the outside of it is a long wooden canal, over which a man is stationed, to raise water into it, from the river, by a pump. From this canal it falls into a copper, where it is heated ; and there the men and women wash themselves all together, without any covering, except that each of them takes from the bath-keeper a kind of fan of brushwood, with which they hide their nakedness ; and what is wonderful, is, that the very instant of their coming forth from the hot-bath they plunge and swim in the cold river that flows by the side of it.
To return: — The inhabitants of the above-mentioned town, both Clergy and Laity, came out to meet us at some distance, according to custom ; and led us into a spacious and lofty church, newly built, and still unfinished in its cupolas, dedicated by the title of The Divine Manifestation, or Epiphany. Opposite to it is a second church, of The Nativity of Our Lady; and the bell-tower is very high and beautiful. Afterwards we were taken down to a large mansion, which has delightful balconies for pleasant recreation, impending over the great lake and the baths, where we staid till the morning of the following Monday.
SECT. III.
BRILMELOKA.— THE TROITSA MONASTERY.
THEN we set out on a visit to a convent in the neighbourhood, called Monastir Costini Troitsa, or the convent by the name of The Trinity, founded by Vasili Voivoda, of Moldavia ; the house where we were staying being a cloister depen dent on that monastery. The Protopapas now sent to inform the Prior of our purpose : and he immediately came in his carriage, and formally invited our Lord
TRAVELS OF MACAIUUS. ^i-9
the Patriarch, and thanked God, saying, " Praise he to the Almighty, who has vouchsafed to us to hehold the third true Patriarch !" (It should he understood, that they had seen the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pa'isius ; and the Constantinopo- litan Athanasius, the Patalaron, who was deposed, and who has heen mentioned by us as having, after his flight from Constantinople, come into Moldavia, and thence preceded us to Moscow, in which journey he passed by this convent : afterwards he died near the town of Akhmil's chief residence, called Checherini, on the third day of Easter of the present year :) — " and that we should look on thy holiness, whom all benediction attend! K.yr Macarius, Patriarch of Antioch." Then we left our baggage and horses, our servants and wagons, in the above- mentioned town ; and went with him on that day, which was Saturday, taking with us our sacerdotal robes, in the intention of performing mass in the convent, which is distant about a great mile from the town. Its shining cupolas are seen afar off; and before you arrive at it, you descend into a valley, and a narrow road, skirted by a thick wood, all of filbert-trees, and cherry and bird's-heart ; and near to it is a large lake, with mills ; and that part of the road which passes along the mound is formed of matted reeds, and is difficult to travel over.
On our way, we passed, on our right hand, by a handsome church, built near the lake, in the name of St. Nicolas ; where they say the convent formerly was situated ; but in consequence of its having suffered by fire, they removed it, and built it where it now is. On the outside, it has a double wall of wood, and a double trench ; and above the gate is a tower for the bells, very handsome, and furnished with a magnificent large clock of great price.
At this spot our Lord the Patriarch descended from the coach ; and he was met by the Archimandrite, and the Priests and Deacons, in their princely robes, carry ing torches, and banners, and crosses, and divine images : and we entered the Monastery of the Holy Trinity. Its area is wide and spacious; and the cupolas of the church are five, forming the shape of a cross ; they are of equal size, except the middle cupola, which is larger than the rest. All round the church is a gal lery, with a parapet of paling ; to which there are three doors, with three cupolas over them, in a parallel line. Then we entered the holy church, the Iconostasis of which is the amazement of the beholder.
On our entrance, the Patriarch asperged the attendants with the 'Ayiourpoc, as usual ; and we went out again full of astonishment : for neither the Iconostasis of St. Sophia, nor that of Petcherske, which rival each other in the perfection of their beauties, can at all compete with that which we had just seen. For when this convent was formerly consumed by fire, at that time the fame of Vasili Beg
2.30 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
of Moldavia was celebrating his love for building churches and convents, and his abundant bestowal of alms ; and the Prior and Monks of this establishment hastened to appear before him, to request his charity and beneficence, and to en treat that he would patronize them, and build up their monastery by his largesses. He did not disappoint their expectations, but gave them what they desired of gold for the reconstruction of their edifice ; and they came hither in consequence, and erected this convent of wood, being persuaded that this situation was better for them than the other. When the report of this affair reached the ears of the Prince (whom God preserve !) Alexius, Emperor of Moscow, and he was informed of what Vasili Voivoda had clone, he sent them also, on his part, one thousand five hundred pieces of gold for the configuration of their Iconostasis, and for gilding and painting its images in the magnificent and exquisite style that distinguishes them. This Iconostasis is consequently superior to every other : at least I must say thus much, that up to the present time we have not beheld any to compare with it, in the beauty and lustre of its gilt and painting.
As to the sacred edifice itself, I should mention, that its cupolas, being covered with tin, and surmounted by gilt crosses, are at once elevated and widely resplen dent ; their number is five, in the shape of a cross ; the middle cupola being, however, of a larger size and higher than the other four. In the body of the church are three doors to enter, corresponding with the three doors without the church : and when you pass in by the great western door, you behold in the compass of the building the exact shape of a cross, the narthex being included in it, with the tabernacle placed opposite, and on the sides the two choirs. All round this church are rows of contiguous seats : but the choirs are formed into a square shape, with separate chairs in rows, in the middle of which the singers stand, being accessible by passages on all sides. Near to the right-hand choir is the handsome chair of the Head of the Clergy : and also near the door of the church, in the narthex, is another chair similar to it. On the sides of the two choirs are likewise two elevated seats ; and in the centre is an octagonal circle spread with red cloth. The place of the organ, where the singers stand, is very high, and admirably inclosed with a balustrade : and the Iconostasis and Symbolon are an ornament and a delight to the eye of the beholder. We have never, till this moment, seen any thing to compare with the latter ; for the tongue is unable to express its beauty, its grandeur and height, the multitude of its ornaments in gold, the variety of its figures, and the dazzling brilliancy of its lustre. It is raised from the ground to the top of the great cupola ; and the holy images are of a large size, and framed in arched moulds, which reflect the brightness of the gold
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 2o 1
like mirrors. Above is an immense chandelier of admirable resplendency, in which they hang the lamps at Morning Service. To the magnificent portraits of Our Lord and Lady arc very large pillars, of great height and thickness,, furrowed and fluted as though they were sound and solid; and they are of the most subtle workmanship ; not like the pillars which are seen in Saint Sophia, which are hollow at the back. On these the vine is creeping in folds ; and its stem and leaves are of gold, with bunches of red transparent grapes and the unripe green, hanging down as though they were the creation of God. These pillars are about the height of a man from the ground. Under this image of Our Lord is another picture of Him, (blessed be His name!) and His disciples — a superior performance! He is carrying on His shoulders the lamb which was lost from the flock : the sheep are in great numbers behind Him; and the shepherd is before Him, entering in at the door of the sheepcot. On the left of this holy picture is the south door of the tabernacle, which is the highest ; and on it is the portrait of Saint Stephen, the Head of the Deacons : it is of large natural size. The saint's princely Sr^a*;, and his golden thurible, are in his right hand; near him, in the same row, is the picture of The Holy Trinity ; and there is the table, and Abraham and Sarah. Under this is the picture of The Annunciation : and near to it again the picture of The Assumption of Our Lady, which is new and large, and magnificently gilt. These three fine pictures are in the right-hand row. Under her (the Virgin) is a representation of the Apostles, who are assembled, and looking into her tomb, which is empty, to their great astonishment ; and nothing is to be seen but her shroud on the side of the marble coffin, into which they are looking, whilst their hands are raised to heaven in the attitude of saying, " She is gone up !" Under these pictures, in this row, are square plates of metal, gilt and burnished ; and on them are the portraits of the Heads of the Clergy, and the Patriarchs, and the Popes of Rome who remained true to the faith, painted in their robes. The image of Our Lady, in the left row, is large and handsome, displaying all the graces of her person : and under it is the represen tation of her entrance into the Temple, and her attendant virgins are carrying lighted torches. Near to this is the north door, with the picture of St. Michael : and near to him, in that row, is the image of the glorious St. Nicolas, of great size and magnificence ; and worthy of much admiration, being the performance of a very skilful master, who has painted the human face with so much truth of colouring, feature, and complexion, that you might suppose his work to have been executed by a Grecian artist of the first eminence among the Ancients. Near to this picture is that of the Saints Anthonius and Theodosius ; and between
2-32 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
them is the plan of the building of the Convent of Petcherskc : above is the figure of the Virgin, appearing in the midst of a wood, in flames of fire. Under the row of these images, which are all magnificent, there are also ten large separate plates, squared and gilt, containing the figures of the Martyrs and Deacons, in >1 lines : and the carved pillars, which divide the pictures, are ten in number. Over them is the second row of pillars and paintings, which consist of the Twelve Apostles, and Our Lady, and the Baptist : and to begin from the top of the royal door, first is the Napkin of the Figure (the Veronica) ; above it, Holy Thursday ; above that, Our Lord sitting on a throne, and wearing a crown of glory, with the Angels ministering around him, and the Virgin, the Baptist, and the Apostles, on his right and left : but Peter, with his keys, is close to his right hand ; and Paul, with his sword, to the left, The whole number of the carved and gilt pillars' which inclose the pictures is twelve, but they are finer than those under them. Above the arch of these are also other paintings ; and among them are the por traits of the Prophets. Above the picture of Our Lord is that of the Virgin, called Platinara, with her child in her bosom. They are inside a circle ; and around them are the rays of a sun of gold, made of gilt wood, and having all the appear ance of solid metal. On the right and left of the Virgin is a row of the twelve Prophets who prophesied concerning her : and above her is a picture of the Crucifixion. At the top of the cupola is the figure of Our Lord and the Trinity, and around are the Angels and Saints. Above the arch of the large pictures are the representations of the great dominical festivals. In regard to the royal door, I must observe, that its carving is most admirable, and its gilding princely, both being performed with the utmost skill ; insomuch, that what is gilt appears solid gold, and shines and glistens in the night like lightning. Round its border are the portraits of the Deacons, in their robes, and carrying in their hands their thuribles, and also those of the Priests in their OsAoW. The height of this door, with the two others, is seven cubits. The tabernacle, and the Holy Table, and the treasuries, are of the largest size and purest neatness ; and in the trea suries are laid up robes of princely magnificence, with presents of great value from the Emperor. The large windows, which are in this tabernacle, and in the church and dome, are twenty in number, and are furnished with clear glass.
This is what we have been able to give of a description of some of the beauties of this Iconostasis, for the astonishment of the ears of men, and of societies of men; and that they may pray for the writer, who, with much care and labour penned the description, not by way of amusement and pastime, but in the sweat of exertion and the weariness of action.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 953
The banquetting-room, which I am next to describe, is long and wide, and furnished with many glazed windows ; and on each side it has a table. Within is a large door, with folds that slide back into the wall on each side ; through which you enter a handsome church, with a great number of glazed windows, round at the top, dedicated in the name of Our Lady. The pictures in it are extremely beautiful, and of great value and estimation. This church also has its cupolas covered with tin; and its tabernacle is brilliant with lights and burnished metal.
Then they struck as well the wooden and the iron as the brass bells, on the eve of Sunday, the ninth after Pentecost ; and we entered the church. At the time of reading the Kadia-pa, of the Psalms, a young Monk came and placed a high stool, like a reading-desk, covered with silk cloth, in the middle of the church, and upon it set the Book of Psalms ; as it is the custom with them never to read any book, of any quality or size, but so placed : and he began to recite psalm after psalm in alternate verses, whilst they answered him in chaunt from the two choirs. At the time of the E<Vo^v, the Priests took each a wax taper, and went out in their copes, two and two : then they proceeded to the narthex, and performed A/r^v,, whilst each of the Deacons was throwing incense on one side or the other. Thus they said, " Save, O God, thy people !" alternately between two, without setting the five loaves.
Then we went forth from the church to the banquet ; and our Lord the Patri arch sat at the head of it ; we on his right and left, and the remainder of the com pany, the fathers of the convent, at the lower end. Hereupon they set goblets of beer and salt meats in coupled portions for each, in conformity with the custom of the convents of Jerusalem : and they laid the dishes before us for a little while ; and then took them up, either to set them lower down on the table, or to remove them altogether. Afterwards they brought others, and again others, till all had been served. As to the fathers of the convent, before each of them they set a dish of flummery with butter, and nothing else ; this being their usual fare, and no delicacy of food or variety of meats being ever allowed, except to strangers and visitors. They are undoubtedly men of sanctity, and in the strict observance of the rule of St. Saba. Then they placed upon the other table some flesh-meats, for the inferior visitors, and for our servants : and at this moment the reader stood up in the middle, and, having laid before him a large book, read a Lesson with a very fine pronunciation. When they said the prayer over the table, there was on the right hand of our Lord the Patriarch a small bell, which he rang three
L L
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
times, according to custom, for us to begin eating. Then we ate our fill and drank to our satisfaction of what was before us, whilst the poor reader was en gaged in reading from the UarsgMoy (^yo^txj). Then he rang the bell a second time for his first formal draught ; whilst we stood up on our legs, and each of us drank one of the goblets that were placed before us. Then he rang it a third time, for all of us to stand up from table : and they brought before him one small Host in a dish or tray, namely, the Ilai/ay/a, in the name of Our Lady ; and he raised it between his hands, according to the usage of the Holy Mountain, three times, saying, " Great is the name of the Blessed Trinity." Then came near him the Priests and officiating Ministers, and chaunted "A%tov tcrriv, with their heads uncovered, and, at the end, prostrating themselves on the ground. Then he received a small portion of it himself, and thus distributed it to the assistants : afterwards they brought a basket, to gather the fragments ; and each of us put into it some fragments, in imitation of Him who blessed the loaves ; and after wards they gathered them together.
Later in the day they tolled the bell for Prayers before Sleep ; and we passed into the church, and stood with them in the narthex, according to their constant practice ; and our Lord the Patriarch took his station by the chair fixed near the door. As soon as the reader had gone through the Canon, and the Prayers, and the Lessons, they all came, and, bowing two and two before our Lord the Patri arch, asked him forgiveness.
Then we went forth to sleep ; but, alas ! there was no sleep to be had at this season ; for the bugs and gnats were more numerous than the particles in the air, and allowed us not to know even the taste of sleep or of slumber ; there being a succession of lakes and pools of water from one end of this country to the other.
They had designed that our Lord the Patriarch should perform mass for them ; and yet without previous sleep how can mass be proper ? However, they sounded the bells at the fourth hour of the night, which now consisted of only eight hours ; and we arose at midnight. But in these holy and angelic mona steries they have an excellent custom, inasmuch as they ring the first bell a long time, merely for the purpose of arousing the inmates from their sleep, and con tinue ringing whilst they rise and put on their clothes at leisure : which is not like the practice in Moldavia and Wallachia, where immediately on their ringing the bells they begin to flock into their churches. Then we entered the church, though we had not so much as known the taste of sleep ; and they began to
TRAVELS OF MACARTUS. O5J
chaunt the Matins, consisting of the usual psalms and lessons, with a certain in flexion of voice. We did not quit the church until the light of day had broken forth ; but our eyes remained dark with somnolency.
Then they sounded the bells again at the time for mass ; and we went in and robed, and invested our Lord the Patriarch with his pontifical ornaments ; and finished the mass, at which most of the inhabitants of the township, forming a large body of men, were present. Afterwards we went out to the banquet, where they observed the same ceremonies as on the preceding evening : there was a like lecture, and changing of dishes ; and the order of drinking was the same. At the end of the repast, the ministering Deacon brought forward the vessel of consecration, covered with the veil of the cup ; and set it before our Lord the Patriarch, removing the cover. Within it was another vessel, covered with a lid like it, of silver, and with a silver lock, which he opened. Within it was painted the image of Our Lord (Lo'JUaJo) ; and there lay in it a piece of the Host UUjy) or n«i/«7/a. Under all was a large cup, containing some mead in stead of wine. And our Lord the Patriarch raised it up three times, as he had done the evening before, and received a morsel of it, after they had chaunted ''A.%(ov \ffr\v -. then he gave it to the rest, who imparted it to each other as they sat at table. In like manner he drank of the cup, as the others also did : and we rose from table, and took leave of them, and returned to the town Braloka*, where we had left our baggage .
SECT. IV.
ULmAM.—YOLOBIVNITSA.—KROBIVNA.—KRASNA.—KARABOTA.
FROM this place we arose on the morning of Monday the seventeenth of Tamoz ; and having proceeded a mile and a half, we passed a large village surrounded by cultivated lands and gardens and orchards, called Olsham, with a flowing lake like a river. Then we proceeded another mile ; and entered another populous village, situated also on a large lake. Again we advanced a mile ; and came to a small market-town, with handsome fortifications, and a very large lake, called
* In page 246, a few lines, containing a four-mile stage and the name of the town immediately pre ceding Brilmeloka, here written Braloka (tfjJj^), were by accident omitted. From the beginning of the paragraph, it should be : " We arose, &c. and, having travelled three great miles, through solitary deserts, came to a ruined borough, named Barfodi, containing a church dedicated to The Birth of Our Lady, jjjls JUiUU . Then we advanced four miles further, and came, &c."
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Yolobirnitsa, containing a beautiful church by the name of St. George. The inhabitants were at this time, and had been, busied in gathering their harvest, ever since the end of the month Haziran. Hence we arose on the morning of Tuesday ; and having proceeded two miles and a half, passed a large and popu lous town, surrounded with gardens, called Krobivnu, in which is a church dedicated to The Assumption of Our Lady. Then we advanced another mile ; and a Sotnicks came to meet us, with a banner and a large troop of soldiers, who marched before us about two miles further, through many windings, and over hills and dales, and narrow and rough roads, and over dikes of water and bridges, and passing through various gates. And what a number of these gates, and of the bars of timber that closed the roads, did we not break in this country of the Cossacks, by occasion of the breadth of our carriages ! and what trouble we had to pass over their bridges, which are as narrow as they are numerous, in consequence of the multitude of their watercourses, and the smallness of their wagons ! Now the mart, from which the Sotnicks had come out to meet us, was very near on our left : but in front of it is an immense lake, extending along its length and breadth ; and for this reason our road was a circuit of two miles or more. Then we entered the town, the name of which is Krasna. It has large ramparts ; and a castle hanging over the side of the higher of the two hills, on the top of the lower of which the body of the town is seated. To meet us came forth the Priests and other Clergy, and the rest of the people, as usual, and conducted us into a church dedicated to the Holy Nativity. During our entrance they fired three large guns. Here are also two other churches ; one named after the Holy Trinity, the other after St. Nicolas, which is newly built. Near this town is another mart, containing a church dedicated to the Pasch or Passover.
From this place we arose on the Wednesday ; and after proceeding three miles, came to a market-town called Karabota, round which are two large lakes. They conducted us into a large, lofty, and magnificent church, which they had newly built, but had not yet consecrated : they requested therefore our Lord the Patriarch that he would consecrate it for them ; and he made an 'Ay/cur^o?, and sprinkled the edifice both within and without the Tabernacle, and read over it the well-known Prayers ; and anointed the table and the altar with the holy ointment, and gave to it the name of St. Nicolas. Now for every church that the Patriarch consecrated, they obtained from him a writing, with his seal and signature, in testimony of the consecration, to satisfy their Metropolitan, and to prevent his censures from falling on them.
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It is remarkable, that over the whole country of the Cossacks, in every populous town and village, are houses set apart for the poor and orphans, at the extremity of the bridges, and also in the centre of the towns ; and on the out side of these houses are numerous images. They are much visited, and every person who enters bestows an alms. It is not as in the provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia, where the orphans go about with their books, and take up the people's time with the multiplicity of their prayers.
The Cossacks, it should be observed, are God knows how much overstocked with poor, the most of whom are orphan children, in such destitution as to soften the hardest heart to pity ; and whenever we approached them, they gathered round us in thousands, to beg an alms. The Patriarch felt much commiseration for them ; and we could not but wonder that such should be their condition, in this time of equity and justice under the government of Akhmil. What then must have been the state of their circumstances in the time of the Poles, who used to take from every human soul ten piastres a month in taxes ! Now, on the contrary, we poor foreigners, God bless us ! are induced to bestow gratuities on them.
It should be noted, that this town of Karabota is the last on the frontier of the Cossack country ; and that beyond it is no longer to be met with any culti vated land, but all is wild, desolate, and ruined. From it to Potiblia the distance is six great miles.
Whilst we were in Karabota, the Voivoda of Potiblia, named Kyi* Nikita, sent one of his servants hither, and to the neighbouring towns, to ask concerning our Lord the Patriarch ; and he had been three days on the inquiry, going round from place to place, because the people were inclined to detain us. By him the Patriarch now sent a Letter with his blessing to his master, informing him of his intention to come to him the next day : and in his company he despatched our baggage and heavy burdens ; for it was our practice, as we have before mentioned, to hire carriages and horses from one town to another. Any other method it would have been impossible to pursue ; for innumerable were the poor animals that halted with our weight, and dropped down on the road.
I will take occasion here to mention, that when we were heretofore on the point of entering Constantinople, a great number of merchants from Moscow presented themselves before our Lord the Patriarch, and communicated to us the intelligence, that the august Emperor and the newly-created Patriarch of that country were extremely impatient for the arrival of his Holiness, having been in formed of his intended visit from the moment of his departure from his See of
958 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
Antioch. ' They have great faith and confidence in your authority," said they to our master ; " and their loving affection for you is much." And when we were coining along our road in Moldavia, we were met by a Metropolitan, at tended by a numerous company of Monks ; who also said to us, " In Moscow they are expecting you (tcagrsgovv'), and are looking out for his Holiness with the utmost desire." Kagregovv is a Greek word betokening the same sense as ^j^axL^e They are expecting. Also, when we were staying in Moldavia, there came from this country some Heads of the Clergy and Heads of Monasteries, attended by numerous Friars and merchants ; and the language of all of them was in the same style. Afterwards, when, on the events which took place regarding Vasili Beg of Moldavia, the roads in this direction were obstructed, and we were forced to pass into Wallachia, but subsequently returned in the pursuit of our journey, on no occasion did we meet with any Monk or merchant in this country of the Cossacks who did not say to us, " What is the reason you have delayed till now ? The Emperor, whom God preserve ! has asked about his Holiness a number of times, and is in the height of expectation of you. Information has reached him of what befel his Holiness in Moldavia, and how affairs have termi nated ; and he had already sent, two years ago, to instruct the Voivodas of Potiblia, that, immediately on the arrival of his Holiness within their neighbour hood, they should conduct you over the frontier into the territory of Muscovy : and they have been waiting for you up to the present moment, that, as soon as you have made your entry into Potiblia, they may convey you forward into the interior, in obedience to the repeated commands made to them by the august Emperor, before he set out on his expedition."
Then we arose from Karabota, and proceeded on the road the distance of one great mile ; and in the evening we halted, to pass the night in the open country in perfect peace and security. The grass here is abundant ; and, under favour of the entire safety of the roads, every person, according to his convenience, travels alone, even though he should be carrying with him loads of gold.
SECT. V.
MUSCOVY.— POTIBLIA. RELIGIOUS HABITS OF THE MUSCOVITES.
ON the morning of Thursday the twentieth of Tamoz, which was the Festival of St. Elias the Prophet, and the completion of the two years since our departure from Aleppo, we arose ; and having travelled other five miles, over wild deserts
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 2«M)
and through extensive forests entirely destitute of water, in the course of which progress we had occasional glimpses of the city of Potiblia from a great distance, we passed the extreme boundary of the Cossack territory, and came to the bank of the river called Sat/inii the Deep; which is the first line of frontier of the Mus covite territory. At this instant the Lieutenant Voivoda, accompanied by a numerous body of Grandees, came forth to the hither side ; and, having made their prostrations to our Lord the Patriarch, they crossed us over to the further side of the river, where they seated his Holiness in a coach standing ready to receive him. Here we were quickly made sensible of the presence of thousands and thousands of armed troops and of multitudes of people, who gathered round to receive the Patriarch's blessing. After this ceremony, the troops struck up before us an immense halloo with their arms, the first of them being too distant to see the last ; and we began to mount the side of a large hill, the only steep road we had seen from Wallachia hither ; the intervening tract being all plain lands and valleys in innumerable succession. At length we reached the plateau, preceded and flanked by a broad line of troops on each side. In the mean time the Voivoda was waiting for us at a considerable distance from the town, between which and the river the interval is great ; and every hour he was sending one of his nobles to meet the Patriarch on the road, before whom the messenger always alighted from his horse, and actually knelt to the ground, saying, ''' The Voivoda, thy disciple, asks concerning thy Holiness, and thy attendants, and thy health, how thou art ? and how thou hast passed along the roads, as it appears, by the bless ing of God, in safety ? The Voivoda says his heart is with thee." Presently we approached the Voivoda himself; who, as soon as he perceived us at some distance, dismounted from his horse, and the Patriarch at the same time alighted from his coach ; and to him the Voivoda made a first and a second prostration, and at the third struck his head on the ground, as is always the custom with them. Upon this the Patriarch signed a blessing over him, in the form of a cross, after the usage of the benediction of the Muscovites ; that is, he raised his hand in the lines of a cross, and then formed it on his face and shoulders and breast ; and the Voivoda kissed his crosier, and afterwards his right hand. In like manner did the Patriarch with all the Voivoda's nobles and attendants, this being the ceremonial of the Benediction in this country ; and the more especially as they are unacquainted with that pontifical blessing which is used to be dis pensed to the people at a distance. Here the prelate must beat his fingers on them, that they may be certified of the reality.
Now observe the faith, humility, and piety of these men,, to whom it would be1
2(50 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
fitting and in the course of their duty to humble themselves so if they met the Emperor instead of us : but that they should in our respect throw themselves on the ground, and kneel down in the mud, was truly admirable, drest too as they were in high-prized robes, made of beautiful Angora fleeces or cloths, with broad collars of heavy gold lace of great value, and knobs 01 buttons of the same mate rial from the neck down to the skirt ; which latter kind of habit is also worn by the common people. The neck-buttons of the shirt of the Voivoda and his attendants were large pearls, of the size of a vetchling, round and white like beads cut from marble ; and there were also some in the crown of their calpacks, which are of red or rose-coloured cloth.
Then they granted each other condonation ; and after many salutations, and an abundant expression of mutual friendship, our Lord the Patriarch having re-entered his coach, and the Voivoda remounted his horse, they moved forward, with the attendants preceding and following them ; and the troops before men tioned, displaying the uniform elegance of their shapes and dresses, both led the van and closed the rear, until we came near the town. Here the Priests in their copes, and the Deacons in their ^r/^a^a, came out in great numbers to meet us, carrying in their hands their thuribles and banners, and their images adorned with pearls, and their crosses and large lanterns. The number of the Priests was six and thirty, and with them were four Deacons in copes. The Monks, in their large cowls and long cassocks, and girt with their belts, were still more numerous.
Then our Lord the Patriarch descended from his coach; and in like manner alighted the Voivoda, and his Grandees and Officers of State : and the Patriarch bowed, and took a blessing from the holy images, the sacred Gospels, and the pearl-adorned and richly-gilt crosses. Then advanced the Chiefs of the secular Priesthood, and the Heads of the regular monasteries, and, after making their prostrations to him, kissed his right hand, and congratulated him on his health and safe arrival, saying, " By his coming is descended a blessing on the whole of the land of Muscovy." Then they entered before us into the town ; and we followed them, according to custom, on foot ; and the Voivoda and his attend ants walked behind our Lord the Patriarch. In front of all were the troops, and in the middle were the Clergy, walking before us, two and two, in excellent order, without confusion. To have shewn that the vengeance of the Almighty had fallen upon any one, was for him to be met riding on horseback in any of these streets : they made no more to do, but instantly threw him from his horse on the ground, and, breaking his head with their clubs and staves, said, " How
TRAVELS OF MACAIUUS. 261
is this ? Our prince is walking, and you must be riding ! — Be off', sir !" Every time we came in sight of a church, its bells were rung by the young men and ecclesiastics belonging to it ; till at length we were conducted into one of towering height and pleasing architecture., with lofty cupolas of elegant propor tions ; its crosses differing from those used with us only by having spear-heads at the top and on each arm, richly gilded, as they always are here. This edifice is one of the most noble and excellent in the country, and is dedicated in the name of the Great St. George. Then they led us down to a large mansion in the occupation of the Protopapas; and we interchanged adieux with the Voivoda, who departed.
After a short interval, the Grandees of the town came and presented to our Lord the Patriarch a magnificent service from the sovereign ; which was carried by a number of Janissaries, and consisted of various kinds of bread and fish, and barrels of mead and beer, besides spirits, cherry-water, and a great quantity of wine. The principal personage of the deputation, stepping before the rest, struck his head on the ground in worship, and was immediately imitated by his companions. The Patriarch blessed them, in the form of the Muscovite bene diction. The principal then took in his hands, first the bread; and presenting it before the Patriarch, said, " The Emperor, preserved of God, the Kniaz Alexio Michaelovitz, presents to thee, of his goodness, this bread and salt." The Patri arch in the mean time was standing up, and returned his thanks and good prayers for each thing as it was presented, by the tongue of the Interpreter whom we had hired in Moldavia ; as had been done also by the Metropolitans and Monks, and even by each of the merchants, every one of whom brought with him an interpreter acquainted with the language of this country. To ours we used to speak in Greek or Turkish, and he rendered our address to them in Rus sian : for one and the same is the language of the Cossacks, and of the Servians, of the Bulgarians, and of the Muscovites.
To return : — Then he brought forward something else and something else, until he had finished the list of all that they had to present ; and they departed.
In like manner, the Voivoda also, whom we have before mentioned, sent, on his part, some of the chief of his attendants, and by them a princely banquet of some forty or fifty dishes, carried by Janissaries. There was fish of various kinds, boiled and roast ; and many kinds of it fried in paste with stuffing, so varied, that we never in all our lives saw any thing equal to it. There were also several sorts of fish pounded after the bones had been removed, and moulded into shapes of ducks and fowls, roast and fried : likewise various kinds of puddings
MM
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and dumplings, and so forth, made with eggs and cheese. The sauces were all com pounded of the choicest vegetables; and in them were saffron and the most deli cate of the sweet-scented herbs and spices; in short, the viands consisted of every tiling that might be looked for from a royal kitchen. Among the vessels were cups of silver gilt, filled with a variety of spirits, and different wines from Eng land. Then there was a liquor made from cherries, resembling syrup, of most delicious flavour and exquisite fragrance, served with candied lemon ; all imported from the country of the Franks. As for the barrels of beer and mead, they were many and large ; and were furnished to us as plentifully as though they had been rilled with plain water.
And now the chief of the deputation stepped forward, and, kneeling on the ground with his companions, said : " Nikita Alexio strikes his head on the earth before thy Holiness, begging thy prayers and blessing ; and presents to thy Holiness and Paternity this bread and salt." At the same time he presented, with both his hands, first the white bread, then the brown, and then the dishes and barrels, naming each by its name, till lie had gone through the list. To receive these presents, our Lord the Patriarch stood on his legs; and as each article was offered to him, he pronounced a benediction on it, and a prayer for the donor; and, at the end, expressed much gratitude for the Voivoda's generosity. After this, the deputation retired.
Now observe, Reader, this singular degree of humility and piety, in a dignitary whose rank was not merely that of an ordinary Voivoda, but who stood in the pre-eminence of a Vazir : for this city of Potiblia, being a frontier town, is the seat of a large jurisdiction ; and therefore they did not mention its Governor, before our Lord the Patriarch, by the appellation of Voivoda, but by his proper names, Nikita Alexio. The meaning of the second, or Alexio, is son of Alexius ; for it is the practice with the Muscovites to name a man or a woman, not singly by their own, but by the addition of their father's name also ; and this is done even among the lowest class of labourers. The meaning of ' Alexio' might perhaps also be rendered, A magistrate newly appointed by the Emperor Alexius : for this Voivoda was one of the servants of the Patriarch, who, conceiving an affection for him, obtained for him this government of Potiblia. Usually, the Voivodas in this country of Moscow are elderly men, taken from among the Emperor's Mini sters, and possessed of noble birth and reputation ; and each of them remains in office for three years, at the end of which he is dismissed.
The meaning of ' Alexio,' to explain it further, is relative to birth and family ; and this name accompanying the former is equivalent to ' Nikita son of Alexius.'
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Thus it is the custom., over the whole of this country of Moscow, not to name any person, whether king or subject, great or small, rich or poor, by his single bap tismal name; but the Emperor they call Alexius Micliaelovitzi ; and his chief minister,, Ivano Vasili, with the patronymic termination ; and Such-an-one Such- an-oue, with the patronymic termination : and after this manner they name every person, as we were distinctly informed from their own mouths.
And the meaning of the phrase, " Strikes his head on the earth before thy Holiness " is to the very letter ; for this act was really done by the Grandees. Whenever they bowed down before the Patriarch, which they always did a first and a second time, they invariably beat their heads on the ground, so that we heard the knock. Such humility should be regarded with admiration. For it is the custom in all this country of Moscow, when any person has a petition to present either to the Emperor or any Officer of State, or to the Patri arch or any Chief of the Clergy, that he bow down to him in a number of low obeisances to the earth, until he obtains his attention to his request, and the magistrate asks him concerning his need. If then he grants it, it is well ; but if otherwise, the petitioner ceases not to make his obeisances, and to knock his head on the ground, until the dignitary decides his affair. And this they call by a compound term, which signifies, " Knocking the head on the ground." We saw more of this afterwards, when the Priests and Grandees used to come to our Lord the Patriarch in quality of suppliants, and their heads ceased not to touch the ground until he satisfied their requests.
In regard to the sense of their saying, " Presents to thy Holiness this bread and salt," first ; and afterwards, " These several articles" according to their number ; this, I would assert, is originary with us, and must have been brought hither to them by some one from our country.
Then the Protopapas of the town came to our Lord the Patriarch, bringing an offering, and bearing his l~legirga,%r]Xioy, and some holy water, and a cross; and said, after he had performed his salutations, " This is part of the blessing of the Festival of St. Elias, celebrated on the present day :" and he proceeded to sprinkle the house with the holy water with his own hand, and we sprinkled our selves. After this he departed.
We have before mentioned, that it is the usage over all this country, at the be ginning of every month, and on every distinguished festival, that the clergy make an 'AyiKtriAos, or consecration of water, and go round with it to sprinkle the houses of the inhabitants.
And now, Reader, we entered into the second gate or stage of labour, sweat,
2G_j, TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
fatigue, and fasting ; for every person in this land of Muscovy, from the most secular of the common people to the strictest of the recluse, confines himself to one meal in the day, though it he even the longest in the summer season : and from mass they never go out till near the eighth hour, or perhaps half an hour later, seldom sooner ; and all their churches are entirely unfurnished with seats. Then after mass they recite the Nones ; and all this time the people stand on their legs without a moment's rest, silent as statues, turned all one way, and changing their posture only hy bending to the ground in frequent Metanoias. Custom has made them insensible to weariness, and rigid against the indulgence of the smallest relaxation. Our feeling, whilst in the midst of them, was of intense wonder : and for our parts we never left the church but tottering on our legs, which almost refused to carry us after so much fatigue and standing, continued without a moment's rest or the slightest intermission. At the Matins or Morning Prayer, they never fail to read each day three ' Amyv&fftig or Lessons in exposition of the Gospels, &c. taken from the writings of the suc cessive Fathers of the Church. So again in the evening, after Vespers or Evening Prayers, they are sure to have the Kavuv Kadnpsgivog, or daily regulated Lecture.
As to the Fast which we call **^ or " To the ninth hour," they are un acquainted with it as such; for every day, whether it be a great even, or whether it be a small Festival, they fast till after the ninth hour. We indeed had been counselled and instructed and cautioned by our friends, who had pre viously visited this country, and had been made acquainted with the temper and constitution of the inhabitants; and we maintained appearances before them, in spite of our inward rage and sufferings. Whatever they did, in us they found the most careful imitators. For we had been told, by well-informed persons, that any one really desirous of shortening his pilgrimage here on earth by a curtailment of five or ten years of his life, should pass his way into the country of the Muscovites, and walk among them as a religious man; holding forth the shew of perpetual abstemiousness and fasting, of continual reading and prayer, and of the constant and unremitted practice of rising at midnight to perform his nocturnal devotions. He must also banish all mirth and laughter and jokes, and renounce the eating of opium : for they set guards over the Heads of the Clergy, and over the convents here, and examine all persons going into them, whether by day or night ; and at all times they keep a strict watch, by looking through the crevices of the doors ; observing whether the inmates are in the practice of devotional humility and silence ; whether they persevere
TRAVELS OF MACAR1US.
ill fasting and prayer ; or whether they get drunk, and amuse themselves with play, or jest, or commit any indecent act, or use any obscene or unbecoming language. If such a Government, as exists among them, had existed likewise among the Greeks when an independent nation, they would have retained their em pire to the present moment: for the Russians, whenever they perceive any person guilty of either a great or a small offence, send him away instantly, with troops of other prisoners, to the land of darkness,, where there is no escape, whence no return is ever granted, and where emancipation from slavery is unknown : they banish him to the province of Siberia, to be there employed in collecting sable, gray-squirrel, black-fox, and ermine furs. The distance they have to travel is a journey of three years and a half, far away to the shores of the Great Ocean, where there is no fixed abode nor permanent cultivation. Thus we were informed by persons of veracity and strict inquiry ; who also told us, that the Muscovites no longer send back offending foreigners to their own country, and thus give them a chance of repeating their visit ; but — in the frequent case of rambling Greek Friars, who come among them and perpetrate all sorts of impurities and unheard-of crimes and enormities, getting drunk, and drawing daggers on each other to commit murder — they now, beholding the deformity of their actions, instead of placing faith and confidence in them as formerly, have taken to this method, which we have mentioned, of correcting them; that is, they send them into darkness : and for the special crime of drinking tobacco- smoke, they even put them to death. Now what shall we say, Brother, as to this rule of treating them, except that undoubtedly they deserve and require to be so used ? — and for this cause we were in great fear, on our own account.
But we pray continually to our God for help and patience unto the end, and for tranquil silence, and for the attainment of what, by His permission, we are in search of; and that the fatigues and hardships we have endured may not be lost, but that he will bestow on us, by His Providence, a fulfilment of our debts and obligations and interests, and not cast any of us into trouble and courts of justice ; having regard to these dreads and horrors, which we have looked in the face ; and that he will not estrange any one of us from his beloved city, and family, and kindred, sweeter than bread and water to the famished wanderer.
•266 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
SECT. VI.
POTIBLIA.— TREATMENT OF FOREIGNERS.— POSTING.
IT should be remarked, that this town of Potiblia * is the road into the country of Moscow,, from all parts of ours ; and that there is no other way whatso ever but this, which is an immense gulley between high rocks. And what labours and struggles of numbers of men, both Chief Priests and Monks, have been lost on reaching this pass, whence they have been turned back to lament the vanity of their wearisome pilgrimage ! As to merchants and traders of all kinds, the Muscovites refuse to know them ; and never, for any purpose of traffic, allow them to enter their territory. When the merchants do obtain admission, it is effected by much artifice ; and one of their contrivances is, to assemble in a body, and take out a Letter from the Syndicate of one of the Patriarchs, addressed to the Emperor, on business pleasing and agreeable to him, and likely to give him joy. With this, on arriving here at Potiblia, they affect the character of envoys from such and such a Patriarch, commissioned to carry his written message to the Emperor : and having appointed among themselves a chief, they in this capacity effect (heir entrance into the country, and present their Letters to his Majesty. In the mean time, they secretly transact their mercantile affairs ; and then return the way they came, after they have obtained their conge from the Emperor. But this method of proceeding there are but few that know how to manage ; those only who have tried it a number of times, and who are acquainted with every span of the road : almost all, such as the Heads of Convents, and ordinary Monks and merchants, wait for the passage of one of the Patriarchs, or some well-known Metropolitan, and by his permission unite themselves to his train. On his arrival at Potiblia, the prelate calls them his suite, and makes out a list and certificate of their several degrees. The Heads of Convents and the Monks are ranked with his noble attendants ; the merchants with his slaves or menials. Being admitted into the interior of the empire, each of them, on occasion, and particularly at the time of asking charity, exhibits his certificate as furnished him by the prelate : and the merchants, under this feigned character, sell and buy what they wish. Afterwards, they all leave the country together. Should any conventual chief or merchant, of
* The name of this town in the Russian maps is written IiyTIIBAb, corresponding as nearly as pos sible with the Archdeacon's Arabic UiuJ>)J • The river on which it is situated is the C6Mb.
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wliatcver respectability or celebrity, come alone,, it is quite impossible that they admit him ; and this every person interested well knows. All this is out of hatred to the men of our country andlanguage.
It should be observed, that on no part of the frontier of this whole empire of Muscovy is there any custom of taking toll on merchandize., even in the small est sum : but the sovereign, on the contrary, in return for the insignificant pre sent made to him by the merchants, gives them princely gifts of sables, and so forth ; and appoints them a regular pension, which lasts until the time of their departure for their own country. I am here speaking of the Greek merchants : but in the port of the Archangel they take toll from the Frank ships, at the rate of ten piastres in a hundred. Likewise from the Muscovite merchants, who pass from one province to another in the course of their traffic, they take a like toll : for the police established in this great empire is admirable. Its sovereign has no occasion for merchants to come to him from the side of Turkey to purchase his sables and other furs ; which they do, it, is supposed, to the extent of a million ducats yearly ; because he is continually receiving em bassies from the country of the Shah, that is, from the country of the Kizzilbash, which come to him in ships laden with rich presents and offerings worth thou sands of pieces of gold. These they give him; and he requites their generosity with his most valuable sables, rather exceeding than falling short of the price of their wares. In like manner come embassies to him from the country of the Nemsa, or Germans. But the richest (^wttc) of all the Franks, the English, come in thousands to the port called of the Archangel, with the valuable manu factures of their country ; and import also wine, oil, lemons, &c. ; taking furs, £c. in exchange, as we shall fully explain in the proper place.
It should be here mentioned, that the Voivoda of Potiblia, immediately on our arrival, sent Letters to the Emperor who was engaged in the war at Smolensko, and also to the Patriarch, to apprise them of our coming. Next, he sent to our Lord the Patriarch a Toa^uarixoc, or Writer, to take down the names of his suite, and of every person with him. And now he wrote our degrees, and names, one by one, as directed by our Lord the Patriarch, who had authority to write what he pleased : and we and our companions were about forty persons. Those merchants and poor men who had placed themselves under our protection we numbered and registered among our servants. As to the Chiefs of convents who had joined our company, they wrote themselves as seven Archimandrites, each attended by^ns Kellari or Butler, according to custom.
268 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
On Friday, after mass, the Voivoda presented himself at the door of our Lord the Patriarch's apartment. If the visitor had been of higher rank than a Voivoda, custom would not have permitted him to wait without until we went to give notice to the Patriarch to prepare himself and put on his cassock; and we should have been thrown into great confusion, and perhaps disgrace. Tor in this country of Moscow, no Chief Priest or Patriarch ever puts off his cassock, nor is it possible for any one ever to see him without it, even though he should be travelling, for fear he might he regarded with an eye of contempt. Nor do the Monks ever put off their cowls ( J^:), though retired to the pri vacy of their own cells ; and when they go out, they must necessarily wear a black cassock. Should any Friar of any religious order be seen going about without a cassock or a cowl, he is instantly sent to Siberia, to be employed in gathering furs.
Before we came to Potiblia,we were told that a Metropolitan from Servia was about to enter the Muscovite territory. We had known him in Wallachia; and lie had obtained a Letter from our Lord the Patriarch, by means of which he gained admission. This man, at a time when the Patriarch of Moscow was going round in Litany, that is, in procession, through the city, to beg the blessing of God on the Emperor, took it into his head to change his cassock of Chief Priest for a .Monk's of wool, and went forth to walk and view the streets and ceremony ; saying within himself; " Not a person knows me." Now it is against their regulations for any foreign Bishop or other ascetic of whatever habit or degree to go about the town, except by an express permission from the Emperor on the execution of necessary business : and they immediately recognised the Metropolitan, and reported him to the Patriarch, who, on the instant, sent him off in banishment to the land of darkness, where are establishments to a life in which death is much to be preferred : so that this unfortunate ecclesiastic, who had come hither for gain, lost not only his purpose, but his dear self moreover.
Thus, whenever they see any person, abandoned by his better fate, looking attentively at a cannon or examining a fort, they seize him on the spot, and carry him away to Siberia; saying, " You are surely a spy, Sir, introduced among us from the country of the Turks." The intent of all this is, that they regulate the police and government of their States with the utmost nicety and severity.
But to return to the visit from the Voivoda :— After we had prepared the Pa triarch for it, we went out and invited him to enter, which he did. The manner of their entering, whether they be Grandees or of the common people, into the apartment of a Chief Priest, is as follows ;— and how beautiful it is ! In perfect
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silence, at first, the Voivoda signed the cross on his forehead, and bowed to the images : for in every house there is sure to be an Iconostasis ; and in whatever place our Lord the Patriarch sat, there, in compliance with their usage, we fixed the Iconostasis over his head. Then the Voivoda stepped towards the Patriarch, to receive his benediction, after the fashion which we have already mentioned, of the Muscovite blessing : and having bowed down to him to the earth a first and a second time, he then made an inclination with his head towards the company on the four sides. After this, he began his salutations and discourse in audible language; and with much effort was forced by the Patriarch to take a seat. Still, whenever the Patriarch said any thing to him by the mouth of the Inter preter, he would stand up until he gave his answer. And now the Patriarch took occasion to address him on behalf of the conventual chiefs who had joined our company. He replied: " I have no orders, except that, on the arrival of •' your Holiness, I should immediately expedite your further journey into the ' interior ; and we have now been expecting you for nearly two years : but as 'e to any others besides your proper suite, I have no orders." The Patriarch, however, repeated his solicitations in favour of the Monks ; and the Voivoda at length wrote down their names for admission. With us was also come a great number of poor men, in regard to whom no other arrangement was practicable or attainable, but back they must return, after receiving an alms from the Voivoda : and thus the labour and expense of their wearisome journey, all the way from Wallachia, were entirely thrown away.
Then he assigned us a lodging in a large hotel ; where we had accommoda tions for our horses and carriages, and for our equipage and servants connected with them. Generally, they allow no person to introduce his own carriages and horses from abroad ; an exception was made only in favour of our Lord the Patri arch, whose coach and horses were permitted to pass the boundary. The Voivoda always furnishes each person with a carriage and horses ; that is, with a Government car, called in Turkish Olakluk ; which, in the Russian language, they call Vovods. This equipage is hired the distance from one town to an other, and is a means of conveyance excellently well contrived. Our own horses, or any other person's, could not possibly carry us over these roads in a continued journey: the ground of the provinces we were to pass through is too rough and difficult, as we shall have occasion to mention in the sequel. Of the rest of our company, some sold their horses for one-fourth of their value : others left them with their servants, to be taken care of, at their expense, until they returned : in the mean time, the beasts would eat twice, at least, if not
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270 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
three times, the price of their purchase. And now an agreement was made with the Voivoda, that he should furnish us with three and forty carriages, and horses for us and our companions : and he ordered them accordingly.0 After wards, he requested, at the close of the conference, that our Lord the Patriarch would say mass at his church in the fort, on the Sunday following: adding, that on the Monday he would be at liberty to pursue his journey, for which every thing would be prepared. This was assented to, and the Voivoda de parted.
It may be remarked, that this Voivode of Potiblia is the Lieutenant and Vicegerent of the Emperor, in the present circumstances of the times; and that whatever he does by way of kindness and help, is within and over above his written instructions : and blessed is the man with whom he is well pleased !
SECT. VII.
POTIDfJA.— DESCRIPTION OF Till: CITY AND NEIGHBOURHOOD.
Tins city of Potiblia is vast ; and well situated, on high ground overlooking the river which runs close by. Its orchards are numerous ; and its gardens, inclosed with the house walls, are rich and plentiful. The beautiful apple-trees growing here exceed in number the plants of the forest, and their burden of fruit vies with the abundance of the showering acorn. In equal exuberance is the cherry and the bird's-heart. The grape is also found here in great quantity; but it is high priced. The same may be said of the garden v^ and the plum- tree, and of the royal cherry.
The fort stands on the top of a high hill; and we had seen none to compare to it in the country of the Cossacks. It is such as might be expected to be found on the frontier of a great empire. Its fabric is of wood; and it is defended by strong towers, and walls surmounted with turrets and flanked by deep moats; which latter are also fortified with palisades. The bridges, which form at the same time the closure of the gates, are of wood, and are raised by chains and pulleys. This fort is indeed vast and magnificent; and is to be admired, not only for its essential strength and castle-grandeur, but also for the handsome dwelling- houses which fill its interior, and shew beautiful rows of pillars to the de lighted eye. The hill on which it is situated is perfectly round : and it has a sunk well, to which water runs, through a hidden passage, from the river; and is thence raised by wheel-work.
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Within this fort is a second castle, of much greater strength, surrounded with towers and walls and moats,, apparently impregnable; and furnished with a large number of guns,, of various sizes, mounted in rows above each other.
This citadel contains four churches ; named, of The Passover, of The Assump tion of Our Lady, of The Divine Manifestation, and of Saint Nicolas ; the last being quite new. In consequence of the natural strength of this place, and of the number of fortifications added to it by art, the Poles, who formerly came to besiege it with forty thousand men, and held on their siege for the space of fourteen months, were utterly unable to take it, and were forced to retire with great loss both of labour and troops.
The number of churches in the town amounts to twenty-four ; and there are four convents in their vicinity. The first church is in the name of The Trinity: the second, £c. Of the four convents, three are for Monks ; the fourth is for women.
The description of the churches is, that they are all built upon vaults rising above the ground, whether they be of wood, or stone, or burnt brick ; and from the ascent of a high flight of steps you are landed on an elevated gallery, which forms the circle and body of the edifice ; according to the saying of Our Lord the Messiah, in his holy Gospel : " Two men went up into the Temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, the other a Publican." Each church has three doors; one on the west, another on the south, and a third on the north : and on this plan are all the churches in this country, to the remotest districts northward. The images and Iconostases displayed in them arc of fine workmanship ; and the ma terials used for them arc silver, figured silks, and gold leaf or liquid gilding, all of the first quality. Many of the pictures are of great value, for their antiquity: and in this country they have great faith in old paintings of holy images. There is not a church, that ranks among the large churches of the empire, that has not a picture of Our Lady working great miracles ; as we witnessed with our own eyes, which beheld proofs and wonders.
The bells which are in the towers of their churches are all of brass, if they are large; and if small, of silver; and their sound is heard to a great distance. But they are not set in motion, as they are among the Wallachians and Cossacks, with ropes by men : here they have two slight cords tied to their iron clappers, which are thus beaten against their rims by young boys and children pulling the cords from below. By this method of ringing the bells, a beautiful chime, loud but sweet, is produced. The towers and belfries are rounded as octagons ; and are of pleasing architecture, being surmounted with lofty and elegant cupolas.
272 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
All the domes of their churches are of the same elegant and lofty structure ; unlike the cupolas in the country of the Cossacks, which resemble those of our own, and are too grossly broad as well as too plainly round.
SECT. VIII.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CLERGY, AND CHURCH SERVICE AND CEREMONIES.
IN regard to the dress of their Clergy, as well Priests as Deacons, it may be stated, that their surtout or upper garment is of drab or olive-coloured cloth of ordinary materials, and sometimes of the fine dyed wools of Angora, set with crystal or silver gilt buttons, reaching from the neck to the feet in front, and adorned with fringe or narrow raised edgings of silk. The capouche or collar is of the same materials, made of about a span in breadth, and carried entirely round the shoulders and breast, resembling a HzgiTga^Xiov in shape, only a little above the breast. By this dress the Priests and Deacons are known to be ecclesiastics; as it is so shaped, that it may easily be distinguished from the costume of the women. The dress of the Protopapas, for distinction's sake, is made up of heavy brocade, and they are immediately known from the ordinary Clergy. On their heads they all wear a long calpack of felt, which they take off at prayer, and in the presence of their chiefs; as it is the custom on those occasions to stand bareheaded.
The manner in which the laity enter the churches is as follows : first, each person makes a number of bows to the ground ; then he inclines his head to the people present, one after another; and if they are many, he bows to the east and west, to the south and north, for all. The bovs and children are well taught
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this ceremony; and perform their Metanoias, and inclinations to the company, in a prettier style than the grown-up persons. The sign of the cross they make in their own peculiar Muscovite fashion, striking their clustered fingers on the forehead and the shoulders. From the beginning of the Prayers to the end they cease not to make their Metanoias in constant succession ; and at the mention of Bogoroditsa, that is, the name of our Gracious Lady, the Mother of God, they strike their foreheads on the ground ; and no one, out of love and respect for the name of the Venerable Virgin, ever neglects to prostrate himself. So also on their entering any house, they first make the sign of the cross towards the Iconostasis, then they bow their heads to the persons present : and in this manner do also their young boys and girls, being suckled from their birth with
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the milk of faitli and devotion. For our parts, when we saw the Russians per forming these ceremonies, we were not astonished at the accuracy of the grown up people in any degree approaching to the surprise with which we beheld the children, as they bunched their fingers in due form and made their Muscovite cross. How can they, thought we, have learnt so precisely to cross themselves, small as they are ? and how can they have been taught to bend their heads to the company ? We poor Syrians knew not the manner of crossing ourselves as they did ; and they used to laugh at us for our ignorance and awkwardness. We were nevertheless rather agreeably amused, or rather we were delighted, when they used to say to us: " Why do you cross yourselves on the breast; and not strike your fingers on your foreheads and shoulders, as we do?" But what a blessed country is this, which is purely inhabited by Christians, without a single Jew, or Armenian, or Infidel of any other sect, or even the knowledge or acquaintance of them! Here all, both at the doors of their houses and of their shops, and also on the public streets and roads, set up holy images; to which every person, as he enters or goes out, turns his face and crosses him self. So, likewise, whenever they come within sight of a church-door, they bow to the images from a distance. Over the gates of their cities too, and of their castles and forts, they always have an image of Our Lady withinside, and an image of Our Lord without, inclosed within a latticed alcove, with lamps burn ing day and night : and to these the passengers bow, as they go in and out. They have likewise crosses erected on the tops of their towers. This is indeed a blessed country, and here the Christian faith is preserved in its undoubted purity! When the people used to come to our Lord the Patriarch to ask his blessing, and, after bowing to the images and making their obeisance to the company, approached near to receive his benediction in the Muscovite fashion, nothing appeared to me so surprising as the manner in which they rounded their shoulders as they stooped before him; all of them, as well men and women as children, having crosses of silver or other metal hanging at their necks. But they have been taught this by the tradition of their fathers and grandfathers, Blessings be upon them! and they are crowned with happiness; for all their days are numbered in joy. Free from taxes and imposts and debts, they have no urgent business, but that of hastening from their dwellings to the church ; and are very different from the foolish part of mankind, who seem to feel most delight in hurrying away in the contrary direction; I mean, from the church homewards. As for envy and the other vices, this people is entirely unacquainted with them.
274 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
SECT. IX.
PO TIB LI A.— TA R TA R SLA FES.
To return to our history.— On the tenth Sunday after Pentecost, the Voivode Nikita sent his principal officers to invite our Lord the Patriarch to the celebra tion of mass; and we accompanied them towards the castle; which we entered, after having made a number of inclinations to the images at the gate. Then we proceeded further into the inner fort, where the Patriarch was met by the Voivode Nikita, who bowed to his Holiness ; and we ascended to the High Church, which is dedicated to The Divine Manifestation. It has a gallery all round. Near the north door were standing the women in attendance on the wives of the Grandees, who were dressed in the most valuable stuffs and sable furs, having for their sur- tout garment a kind of wide riding cloak, with large buttons, lined with fur, and very long, mostly of a red or rose colour ; and wearing on their heads a calpack •f velvet, laced with gold, and set with pearls. Their maids were numerous, and of the Tartar nation ; as was evident by the shape of their faces and their small eyes, are slaves taken in Avar, and are used as concubines. We saw some thou- them in this country ; for their purchase-price is very low, and they are cheap. Every rich man here has also forty or fifty male Tartars in his esta- shment : they are remarkable for the same kind of black lanky hair as that of the Muscovites, but are distinguished by the smallncss of their eyes. Their names, in a perfect spirit of orthodoxy, are taken from the Christian Church; and their levotion and religious knowledge surprised us, on examination, to the utmost Their names are of the principal Saints, such as Theodosius and Eu- is, Vasilius and Eremius, Theodorus and Gregorius : these are the names of The girls and women in a state of slavery are named Thecla, or dora, Justina, Euphemia, Juliana, Barbara, Marianna, Cora, or Eupraxia- These and similar names, which arc selected among the noblest ever borne by Christians, are given to the Tartars ; who, from their original state of heathenism, are converted by baptism into members of the peculiar flock of God. When, in attendance on their masters, they used to approach our Lord the Patriarch with the Voivodes and rich men of the empire, we, out of the pleasure we felt in beholding them, used to address them in the Turkish language ; at which they blushed, and, smiling in their confusion, seemed distressed that we should perceive they were from Tartary, and had been baptized and converted to Christianity.-
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God knows, we did not converse with them out of idle curiosity, nor did we say any thing to them improper or impertinent 1 — This nation is continually carried into captivity by the armies of the Muscovites, which are in garrison on the fron tier in their neighbourhood; and by them their lands are conquered and laid waste, and their houses burnt, and their men women and children taken and sold at the meanest prices; not lor twenty or thirty pieces of gold, but, at the most, for ten — a valuation thus lowly established since ancient times. As soon as they are purchased, they are instantly baptized and made Christians.
To return :— We entered the church, and immediately proceeded to make an 'Ayiatrpog, according to the well-known custom : then our Lord the Patriarch performed mass, after he had chrismed the Voivode, and his women, and his principal officers. And now, at the time of Prone or Sermon we were in the practice of mentioning, first the name of the Patriarch Nikon ; then we men tioned the Emperor, the beloved of Christ, the source of orthodoxy, and the fountain of generosity, Kniaz Alexius Michaelovitzi ; and the Empress, the devout Princess, Kyria Maria Augusta, and their offspring, the Illustrious Alexius Efitzi. The meaning of Fitzi with them is son of the Imperial consorts. After them we mentioned the Voivode Nikita; who has not, however, any determined seat in the church to mark his dignity, as the Voivodes of Wallachia and Moldavia have. The Voivodes in this country all stand in the church among the people, having no pride or pomp like the others we have mentioned ; but being full of humility, wisdom, modesty, and reverence. The grandeur and pride which the former affect might indeed, with propriety, be assumed by the latter, who owe obedience only to their own sovereign ; whereas they, on the contrary, pay tribute and sub mission to foreigners.
Over the north door of the Tabernacle of this church is a picture of Saint Christophorus, the dog-faced, in the garb of a legionary martyr.
After we had left the church, at the end of the mass, the Voivode took leave of our Lord the Patriarch : and we returned to our mansion, with the whole body of troops inarching in two lines on each side of us, as before. Immediately after wards, the Voivode sent us a princely banquet, larger, finer, and more abundant than the first ; accompanied with flowing goblets of silver, and all served up by the military people.
27G TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
SECT. X.
KYR EREMI A— CONVENT OF THE MOTHER OF GOD.
IN this city of Potiblia died the late Kyr Eremia, Metropolitan of Akar, the Aleppian, who had been sent to this country by the late Patriarch Efthimius (Euthymius ?) the Sciot. When he came to this place, he found here, at that time, a tyrannical and cruel Voivode, whose inclinations were wholly to mischief and corruption : and innumerable were the acts of oppression which this Voivode exercised towards the Bishops and Priests; turning them back, without the know ledge of the Emperor, to whom none communicated what was passing. Him then, viz. the Metropolitan of Akar, the said Voivode would not permit to enter Muscovy; but made a show of sending to inform the Emperor of his coming : and as it was the winter season, and the messenger would necessarily be long on his journey, the Voivode took an opportunity, during his supposed absence, of asking the Metropolitan for a ( J^) bribe. Now, if the Metropolitan had known at first that there would have been such a demand, he might have given him a bribe, as others had done, and would have made his entry : but after this delay, having nothing else in his possession, through his poverty, capable of satisfying the Voivode's avarice, he made him a present of his silver-plated cross, which he had brought from home ; — for no person, who has not actually travelled to this country, can be acquainted with the expenses which are unavoidable from Mol davia hither ; and more especially were they great at that time, when the country of the Cossacks was still enslaved and governed by the Poles. No Monk or Metropolitan could pass among them, but they would take from him a deal of money and valuable presents, besides the ordinary dues. This extortion was more particularly exercised by the accursed Jewish Governors, who had controul over those entering or leaving these regions, and made them suffer by their mer ciless tyranny. Another peculiar circumstance which militated against our countryman was, that, as a simple Metropolitan, he had no name or estimation in this country ; to which hundreds,, nay thousands of his class, flee for support and alms, endeavouring, by begging there, to make good the expenses of their tedious journey.
The messenger had now been gone some forty days, and there were yet no tidings of him. The Metropolitan, having no means for his sustenance, nor any resource for a supply but the sale of all his effects, by which he made a last effort
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to maintain himself and his companions ; having to endure, at the same time, the severity of the cold, which during the twelve last days of his life, between Christ mas and the Immersion, was most bitter in frost and snow ; and having been for some time of a weak habit of body, yielded at length to the violence of ill-treat ment and starvation, and died a martyr, resigning his soul to the fruition of Paradise and the compassion of his merciful God. He was carried with all reve rence by a number of persons, and interred in a convent built of stone, which is called after the Mother of God, and is an imperial foundation of considerable extent ; where, on the second day afterwards, they buried, in like manner with him, another Metropolitan of a town in some part of Greece, called also Akar who died in similar circumstances of tyranny and oppression. This account of the affair is perfectly correct ; having been given to us on the spot by the Heads of Convents who were with the Metropolitan, waiting for the Emperor's answer; but who afterwards turned back, seeing it was the only advisable course. For the Voivodes, or military governors, in the reign of Michael, the father of the present monarch, were tyrannical and oppressive, and, in this town of Potiblia, abandoned to corruption, in consequence of that prince's being merciful and averse to severity, and avaricious in shedding blood. But when the present sovereign, whom God preserve ! a prince of the utmost personal courage and vigour, ascended the throne, he put to death all those iniquitous Voivodes and other tyrannical rulers, who in the time of his father were continually commit ting acts of treason against the State, and set other new officers in their places, who are in constant dread of him. For he loves to shed blood in execution of public justice, which he upholds to the utmost; and as soon as lie heard what had taken place in Potiblia, he immediately sent orders to displace the accursed wretch we have been speaking of, and had him, together with his followers and accomplices, brought before him in Moscow ; where, after inflicting on them various and successive tortures, he at length put them to the bitterest of deaths, as a warning to others not to act as they had done. Subsequently, he sent hither the present Voivode Nikita, who was of the suite of the Patriarch, and is gentle, merciful, and kind.
So much of the history of the Metropolitan ; to pray over whose sepulchre our Lord the Patriarch resolved to visit, on this same day, the Convent of the Mother of God, under the cupola of which edifice he was interred. We went thither accordingly, in the coach.
The convent is situated on a high hill hanging over one side of the town, with a very extensive prospect, and having below it, in front, the river we before
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278
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mentioned. The building is of stone ; and we entered it, accompanied by the persons who came out, as usual, to give his Holiness a meeting. I observed that this convent, like all others in the Russian empire, has an Iconostasis over the gate, both withinside and without. We ascended to the holy church by a high flight of steps ; and landed under a lofty cupola, which is surrounded by an immense gallery, most delightfully commanding a view of the river and of the adjoining country. Near to this church is another of small size, dedicated to the Handkerchief of The Figure, or The Veronica. The bell-tower is round, and handsomely built, close to the church. Besides the principal cupola we have men tioned, there are others of elegant structure all round the edifice. The Iconostasis is entirely of small ancient pictures, of exalted workmanship, exciting the admira tion of the beholder. This church possesses a picture of Our Lady, of very large dimensions, which performs miracles ; and upon it are hung chains and necklaces of gold and silver and fine pearls. Near it is another, resembling it, of great antiquity, which they informed us was in a dwelling-house that had been deserted and had become a heap of ruins. In these circumstances, the Divine Mother appeared and declared herself to a gentleman of high rank, three times in one night ; and he having dug for her where she shewed herself, brought her out, and placed her in this convent. A great assembly was gathered together on that occasion, and she performed then, and still performs, many miracles; and the people have great faith in her. Here is seen, as it ever is in all their churches, the picture of the Trinity, and the Table, and the Patriarch Abraham, such as we have heretofore described. Under this church are many vaults and places of sepulture ; and also the refectory of the convent,, witli a chapel again within that, dedicated to St. Anthony.
The description of their cemeteries in this country is as that of a handsome dwelling-house. They are built of stone, and have vaulted roofs. Within are niches ; in which are placed wax-lights, on the mornings of Sundays and Festivals.
In the above-mentioned church we performed the Vespers, and afterwards went down to where the tomb is situated of the late Metropolitan Eremia, ac companied by the Priests and Deacons in their robes, and carrying torches and thuribles in their hands. Here we performed a grand funeral service for the deceased ; and our Lord the Patriarch recited over him the Prayers of Absolution and Forgiveness ; after we had deluged the earth with our tears, with much weeping, principally in regard to our own condition ; all of us being strangers, and none knowing how it might happen to be with us hereafter ; for He who ruled for him had all the power of ruling for us ; and who could tell when our return
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would be, and where our travels would end. A stranger will ever be treated as a stranger, though he were even the Great Alexander. ' O God ! grant us pardon of our sins before death, and that we breathe forth our last in the true faith ! () God ! be indulgent and merciful to the stranger sojourning in a foreign land ! Thou art the most gracious of the bountiful ; and Thou hast all power to restore the traveller to his home."
Thus we offered up our prayers : and afterwards we ascended to the balcony aloft, whence we amused ourselves with viewing the passage of the peasantry over the river to this side. In the morning early they assemble their nocks; and sallying forth from their cottages, they ford the river with their cattle, to pasture them on the further side. The oxen, we remarked, in this country, from Potiblia to Moscow, are small. Here the herdsman tends the cows and sheep, the goats and swine and horses, all together; such being their custom; and an excellent method it is ! whereas in the country of the Cossacks each grazier is confined to one species of cattle. Nothing raised our wonder so much as to see the hogs driven in a herd to the pasture. Afterwards we returned to our mansion, having exchanged adieux with the Monks.
SP:CT. XT.
MUSCOVY.— TEA VELL IN(!.— EXCHANGE.— A OMISSION OF FOREIGNERS.
IT may be noted, that from this city of Potiblia to Moscow the capital the distance is seven hundred versts, as we were informed : the verst, in the Mus covite language, signifies a Turkish mile*, and measures three thousand ells, which is the length also of our miles in Syria. The same distance, viz. from this place to Mosco\v, is computed at one hundred and forty great Cossack miles, and is about equal to that between Wallachia and Potiblia, which is usually reckoned half way. In this country of Muscovy they everywhere
* " A verst is equal to about three-quarters of an English mile; and the stages in Russia are, in general, from twenty to thirty versts in length ; but in some more uncultivated parts of the empire, they are nearly forty. At each station is an agent of the Post-office, who registers the passports of travellers, and gives orders for the necessary supply of horses ; and a head person among the boors, called the Starost, or " PMer," who sees the orders executed. On the road from Petersburg/I to Moscow the horses are furnished by peasants, who, besides the allowance paid by travellers, enjoy certain privileges, such as freedom from taxes, &c. In other parts of the country, where fewer horses arc required, the Posting-establishment is farmed out to the lowest bidder, who is obliged to provide a guarantee that he will pay the rent to Government, and supply the necessary number of horses."
Dr. HENDERSON'S Travels in Russia, p. 11.
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travel by the verst ; and though a place be distant considerably more or less than one., they make no subdivision,, but always say such a place is a verst, or two, or twenty off', or fifty or a hundred, £c.: and this regulation, of having one uniform measure throughout the empire, appears to me to be truly admirable. In winter, during the frost, they travel in sledges drawn by horses, with great speed — about one hundred versts in a day.
The medium of commerce in this country of Moscow are the piastres, coined by the Emperor, which they call copecks, fifty of them being equal to the value of a Spanish dollar. From all the countries where the various kinds of dollars are current, they are brought hither, and are broken up at the mint and coined into copecks ; and no one is allowed to pass a whole dollar without changing it into copecks : though the transaction should be for a thousand dollars' worth, the payment must be made in copecks, for the sake of the immense profit which thence accrues to the imperial treasury. Thus all their plate and vases, and the silver ornaments of their arms, and of their images, are made from the Spanish dollar, and from the Lion or Venetian dollars; which are cheap, as it occasionally happens that three Venetian may be obtained for two Spanish. The Dog dollars they are not acquainted with, these being attended with loss. But the gold coins of every country are received among them, except the Turkish dinars, which they dislike. Their own dinars they call Roublies. All their sales and purchases are made in copecks ; and they speak of twenty altons, or a hundred, or a thousand ; meaning in their language, by the word alton, a sum or ideal coin of three copecks.
On the following Tuesday, the Voivode came to pay a farewell visit to our Lord the Patriarch; who, at the parting, gave to him, and for his wife and attendants, a 2vy%agr]Ttzov, or Paper of Absolution. The Voivode then ap pointed to go with us a Pristabos, Conakji, or Mehmandar, for the road, to lead the way, and prepare us lodgings. And now having departed, he sent us copecks of maintenance, for each of us by name, for fourteen days' journey,, on our road to Moscow, to be distributed among us day by day: for in this country they are accustomed to give money and not provisions ; and each person who receives their bounty is left to eat and drink as he pleases, from his pen sion. It is not here as in Moldavia and Wallachia, where they settle a daily allowance of meat and drink : so far from it, that along the whole road from Potiblia to Moscow not a single person gave us a cake of bread, either in the towns or villages, because such is not their custom. The pension, in lieu of provisions, was for our Lord the Patriarch twenty-five copecks daily; for the
TKAVKLS OF MACAIUL'S.
Archimandrite, ten ; for the Dikaios the Protosyngelos, seven, and for the Archdeacon, seven; for the Khazindar, or treasurer, six ; for the Kellarios, or butler, six ; for the second butler, five ; for the Dragoman, four ; and for the eleven Khidmatgars, or footmen, each three copecks a-day. The Voivode sent us, moreover, an immense quantity of provisions for the road, consisting of bread, fish dried and drest, barrels of spirits and beer and mead, etc.; and having all the vodvods or carriages brought together, we divided our hi'wa^e among them.
It may be recorded in this place, that in consequence of the many difficulties that are interposed here in Potiblia to the admission of the Heads of the Clergy and of Convents, and to that of ordinary Monks into the interior, which fre quently extinguish in them all hopes of success by the ordinary means, they often have recourse to the following method. They say to the Voivoda, " We enter in the name of the Sovereign ; " and he instantly expedites them into the interior without a word. The meaning of " entering in the name of the sovereign" is, that they shall stand in his name, and eat from his bounty, for the length of their lives, devoting themselves to the perpetual task of praying for him ; and they are called thenceforward by a name answering to Doaji, or Sup- plicator : but there is no longer any liberty allowed them of going out of the country ; this becomes impossible. The Emperor and his courtiers have much regard for those who use this form of words, and honour them to the utmost. This contrivance has been lately invented by the Greeks.
About two years ago, there came to this city of Potiblia the Chief of the Bishops of Cyprus, who, to promote his own greatness, gave out that he was a Patriarch. The Voivode detained him, until he had sent to give notice of his arrival to the Council of State ; from which an order was instantly returned, that he should be sent back. They said, " For the space of five hundred years, from the period that we became Christians until now, it never has been heard among us that there existed in the world more than four Patriarchs — the Antiochian, Alexan drian, Constantinopolitan, and Jerusalemian, to whom afterwards, by the per mission of all four, w<e added a fifth, by making a Patriarch of our own, to hold us stead of the Pope of Rome." On this, the reverend ecclesiastic sent to apo logise to them, and to confess his error, submitting to be regarded as even less than a Chief of Bishops ; and they changed their aversion into pity towards him, and gave him permission to enter. Afterwards, on quitting Moscow, he died on his journey, in some part of the empire1.
In like manner it happened when we were arriving in Moldavia. We were then
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preceded by the Chief of the Bishops of Ochrizon, (forte Euchariton), a city founded by the Emperor Justinianus, whose banner was green. He also made his way to Potiblia ; and putting forth the same pretensions as the other we have mentioned, was treated with like disdain, until he sent to make his excuses and to beg pardon for his error : after which he was suffered both to enter and to retire, to go in and out.
When we were in Wallachia, there appeared there a certain Kyr Gabriel, Chief of the Bishops of the province of Servia, whose see is a city, which is the resi dence of a Pasha, and is called Ibakio. This prelate was formerly under the jurisdiction of the chief Bishop of Ochrizon ; but having asserted his independence, lie now pays a yearly tribute to the Bostanji Bashi. He, too, pretended that he was a Patriarch, in all pomp and majesty ; and we wrangled much with him and his disciples on this score. We said to them : " At the time that the see of Antioch was instituted for Peter the Apostle, the see of Alexandria for Mark, that of Con stantinople for John the Evangelist and Andrew, and that of Jerusalem for James the brother of the Lord, for which of the Apostles was your Patriarchate insti tuted ?" They returned us no answer. They had been informing us that their country of Servia had been converted to Christianity about live hundred years ago, after having persevered so long in the worship of idols and false gods ; and that subsequently the Cossacks and Muscovites, and all of them, became Christians. This happened in the reign of Basil the Macedonian, on whom God be merciful ! Amen.
From some reliques in the possession of this prelate we received a blessing ; viz. from a leg of St. Marina, in admirable preservation, and of the size of a little girl's leg ; from a bone of St. Chrysostom, and another of St. Gregory Theologus; from a portion of St. George, a bone of St. Sophronia, some blood of Anastasius the Persian, and some of Flasius, bishop of Sebastia.
This same prelate wrent before us from Wallachia, and travelled in the direc tion of Moscow, about the middle of the Great Lent, in the season of frost and snow, and heavy cold rains of indescribable severity. In such weather, through deluging showers and deep mud, in the days of the ju.1^ which is the roughest time of the year in this climate,, he arrived at Potiblia in great glory and magnificence, with led horses, with splendid saddles, silver harness and armour, and flowing bridles : (God humbles the proud, and debases the haughty:) and now again he presumed to call himself a Patriarch ; and sent word of his arrival, as such, at Potiblia, to the Patriarch at Moscow and the Emperor's Lieutenant ; for the Emperor himself was absent on an expedition. In the mean time he bribed
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the Voivode, whom we formerly mentioned, with a sum of dircms, and entered into the interior before any answer came to his message. Not long afterwards he was met by the messenger on the road, bringing with him a rescript, in which it was ordered that the prelate should be made to leave the country ; for that a sixth Patriarch was an impossibility. He was accordingly forced to return, a distance of three days' journey. Then he had recourse to entreaties; and at length pre vailed on them to let him send a Letter to the Patriarch, in which he humbled himself, and craved pardon for his error, and declared that he came to enter in the name of the Sovereign : and on the receipt of this Letter they sent an order for his re-admission in this form. Now observe this elevation and grandeur, and the consequent fall and debasement. For the Muscovites are celebrated for their knowledge and philosophy, their subtlety, ingenuity, and perspicacity, and for the profound questions with which they puzzle the learned, and put them to the blush. God grant our Lord the Patriarch His assistance to compete with them, and to us also ; and to all of us understanding and wisdom, that we mav stand among them in honour and esteem ! Amen.
2S4 TRAVELS OF MACARIIS.
BOOK VI
MUSCOVY.
SECT. I. l>0 77 n L I A. —IMA DTK fXA.—TA Ji TA R C 'A PTIl ' KS.
WE took our departure from Potiblia on the morning of the aforesaid Monday the twenty-fourth day of Tamoz. The whole body of troops in garrison marched fore us, in grand procession ; and we were conducted by them and the prin- the Voivode to a considerable distance from the town, until our Lord the Patriarch stopped them ; then they came all of them, and kissed his r and his right hand, and returned. And now the Pristabos took the lead ; and i his carriage was placed the cross and spear, forming the crosier; for it is only in country of the Cossacks that it is the custom for the prelate always to carry it m his hand. We travelled about twenty versts, or four great miles, through an immense forest, very much on the ascent, and passed a number of villages and lakes ; until we came in the evening to a small town, by name Imadikina, having a church by the road-side, dedicated to St. Nicolas. Outside this town we passed the night.
I will here remark, that from Potiblia, to Moscow the capital, the ascent is very great; for we never ceased climbing, by night and by day, over large hills: at the same time our path was beset by a thick forest of trees, which, by its density, "concealed from us the sun and sky; and every day we came among a different kind of plantation. One day we saw nothing but the J^ ; another, we were surrounded by the (^) poplar, both of the wild and the Persian kind' all of an equal size and at equal distances, as though it were a grove formed by some noble artist. Another day we found ourselves in the midst of tall Q,!) pines; the next, our view was bounded on all sides by the ( £) fir, which Re sembles the pine, and of which they make the masts of ships : it is a singularly beautiful tree.
As to the steepness and narrowness of these roads, God Almighty alone
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knows what they are ! From our own country hitherward, we had certainly passed over a long line of road ; but any thing like the declivity and roughness of these we had never witnessed. To travel on them was a hardship sufficient to turn the hair of young men grey: and scarcely could the traveller have the guide of his own eye-sight to facilitate his progress ; for the forest trees were everywhere so thick, that the sun-heams were unable to penetrate through them to the surface of the ground. During the whole of these months ofTamoz and Al), also, we were never free from rain: the roads were consequently deluged with water, and, where not swept by mountain torrents or washed by over flowing rivers, presented a depth of mud that was almost impassable. Then, here and there a tree would be found fallen across these narrow defiles, which, from its bulk, no single man could cut through or remove; and when the cart or coach came to it, its wheels would be raised over it, and then would fall with such a shock that our entrails were lacerated within us : so that when, late in the evening, we arrived at length at our destined station, we were nearly dead with fatigue ; for there was no possibility of getting over the road with ordinary ease, whether the traveller was in a carriage, or on horseback, or on foot.
From Potiblia to Moscow we had the country of the Tartars on our right, at the distance of a month's journey. On our left was that part of their country which yet remains to the Poles, including the province of Smolensko : the distance I did not ascertain.
And now we were like persons winding their way through a narrow pass between hanging rocks ; for such is the nature of the passage on this side to the city of cities, the capital of the empire : but beyond it, innerward, the country is wide and open to a vast extent ; and the traveller may range on either hand for four years without meeting a boundary, as we shall distinctly shew hereafter.
Before the Emperor went forth on his expedition, he appointed a Voivoda, by name Vasili, but better known by that of Sharranmonz, to the command of the Tartar frontier, with an army of one hundred thousand men, to repress the move ments of the Tartars, and to hinder them from marching out, either to assist the Poles, or to make incursions into his territory. As soon as the Tartars caught the sound of the name of this Sharranmonz, they dispersed. On the frontier of the Tartar country, which we have mentioned as being on our right hand, this present Emperor, whom God preserve ! has lately built thirty castles or forts, be sides some thousands of towers ; and whereas formerly the Tartars used to come hither, which is a month's journey, in five or six days, on a sudden, in the season of the great cold and frost, and having made their capture of prisoners and
PP
286 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
booty used as suddenly to retreat, now the Muscovites, on the contrary, carry them into captivity. Stationed on the tops of their castles, they look down upon the paths in their vicinity, by which the Tartars must pass ; and no sooner have they descried any travellers, than some of them descend, and, mounting their horses, place themselves in ambuscade at some distance from the road : thence, on the approach of the Tartars, they rush upon them ; and having bound them in manacles, whether they be men or women, boys or girls, they take them off to Moscow, and sell them in the slave-market (^,^1 jy,) for ten piastres, or fifteen, and sometimes for twenty. Hence it is that every rich matron has fifty or sixty Tartar women or girls in her household ; and every gentleman of fortune owns seventy or eighty males. But they do not leave them in the state in which they buy them : they instantly make them Christians, whether willing to become so or not, and baptize them with or against their consent. Afterwards, if they see them well conducted, and favourably inclined to their new religion, they marry them to some of their relations, and on their children bestow the finest names. In many of them we remarked a degree of devotion and humility not to be found among the choicest native Christians ; and they had learnt the prin ciples and the observances of our religion with the utmost truth and accuracy.
SECT. II.
KA ROBA.—BABOK.— BAROTIKI.—IZMINIKOV.—HHIFSHKA.
To return to the narrative of our journey. — We arose early on Tuesday morning ; and arrived by dawn of day at a large village with handsome fortifica tions and a lake of water, called Karoba. Afterwards we entered an immense forest ; and passed another town, named Bdbok, containing a church dedicated to Saint Nicolas. Then we came to another town with a large lake, the name of which was Earotiki. Having passed a long wooden bridge built over the waters and sunk trenches, and having wound through an extensive copse, we arrived at a town, the name of which is Izmininikov ; where we slept, after a day's journey of eighty versts, or sixteen great miles. This speed was owing to the circumstance of our being drawn by the Government horses, the drivers of which used to fly with them, that they might quickly return to their homes : each day they fed them twice or thrice with barley, carrying with them as much provender as sufficed both for going and returning. Early next morning we arose, and came by day-break to two very large lakes ; the one confined within high mounds, like the Lake of
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Emessa, and overflowing into the other below. Thence we proceeded a distance of ten vcrsts, or two miles ; and came to a large town with a magnificent castle, near a large river and lake, called ti/iifshka. Here we alighted, in front of the houses which form the station for the Government horses ; and they instantly changed all our horses and carriages for others, and the former returned. Then Constantine Michaelovitz, the Voivode of the city, sent to our Lord the Patri arch,, by his servants,, a present of different kinds of bread, and fresh and dried fish of various kinds, and liquors, consisting of spirits, &c.; and thus said his delegate at the head of them : " The Voivode, £c., beats his head on the ground before thy Holiness, and makes thee an offering of this bread and salt." After wards the Voivode came in person, attended by a large body of troops, and, kneeling to our Lord the Patriarch, presented to him his best wishes with much cordiality. He was a man advanced in years, of a noble and venerable aspect ; as indeed were all the Voivodes. Then he sat down, and recited a number of histories relating to their country, to which it is not every one that would give credence. He added a detailed account of the war in which the Emperor was actively engaged.
I should remark concerning this officer, that as among the whole tribe of Frank religionists there is found a great love for the Pope and a great confidence in his authority, so we saw and heard, as well in him as in all the other Voivodas and in the rest of the Grandees, in the entire body of the Clergy, and in the whole laity of the Muscovite people, a continual manifestation of prayer for the pro sperity of their Patriarch — of praise of his good qualities — of much gratitude for his bounty — and of the most faithful reliance on his paternal conduct. The mention of him is always in their mouths,, so that one would be inclined to think they love him nearly as much as they do Christ himself. They all fear him ; and were ever entreating our Lord the Patriarch, that when he should come into his society at Court, he would be constant in laying before him their grateful duties. As for the Emperor,, it is impossible to conceive the love that is borne to him, both by great and small.
In addition to his preceding civilities, the Voivode now sent for a great quan tity of liquor, both of wine and spirits, &c., and forced our Lord the Patriarch to drink much, and us also, though we had not yet broken our fast : at length we were relieved by one of his servants coming round with a tray of cucumbers,, fol lowed by another with a tray of radishes, which they distributed to us IjU. The first health that was given was the Patriarch's ; which they drank standing, after a prayer had been uttered for his spiritual welfare. Then they drank to the
-288 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
Emperor and his Ministers : and after the Voivode had multiplied his demon strations of kindness in our regard, hedeparted.
We immediately arose, and passed along the road through the middle of the fort, which is an erection of extreme magnificence, with high octagonal towers mounted with large guns in rows above each other. It is well entrenched with wide and deep moats, closely lined with wooden piles, and surmounted with walls of wood with double bastions. We were struck with admiration at this method of building and fortifying castles,, which appear stronger than others we have seen built of stone ; but these are the creation of a mighty empire, and are con tinually in the progress of gradual improvement.
Then we entered a second fort, with walls, towers, and trenches as before : and then a third, larger and stronger by nature and art than either of the other two ; in which is a secret door, whence they descend to the great river below, to draw water : for this castle is situated on the top of a high hill.
Outside the gate, our Lord the Patriarch alighted from his coach, at the moment that there came forth to meet him all the Priests and Deacons, with their thuribles and splendid princely copes, and their ancient images adorned with pearls,, and their golden crosses. The Voivode walked with us until they had taken us up to their high church, which appears as it were hanging on a double foundation, and is dedicated to The Assumption of Our Lady. All round it is a gallery or large balcony, for the women to stand in ; and it has three doors, as all their churches usually have. Here we halted until our Lord the Patriarch had sprinkled the assembled multitude with the holy water ; and after that we went out again. All this time the bells of all the churches within these forts were ringing.
The names of the churches are these : within this third fort are two others, besides that already mentioned ; the one dedicated in the name of Our Lady, called nXarur^a, the other in the name of St. Nicolas. Within the other forts, and outside of them, are seven more churches, so that they are in all ten. Among them is one dedicated by the title of The Ascension ; another by that of The Resurrection ; one in commemoration of the Entry of Christ into the Temple ; another of the Entry of Our Lady into the Temple : the rest of the names are, St. Michael, St. Parasceve, and St. Nicolas.
Then the Voivode exchanged adieux with our Lord the Patriarch outside the gates of the castle ; but the Clergy continued to attend us to a considerable distance.
As we went forth on this side, we observed on the slopes of the trenches an
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 289
admirable contrivance for defence, consisting of sharp wooden pikes crossing one another, which have the effect of preventing even the approach of men. We observed also the high round towers ; and the large river, before mentioned, wind ing round the hill on which the castle stands. On arriving at the extreme outside of the city, we there found two wooden walls for a defence against the assault of cavalry. Thence we descended by a long and rough declivity, until we came to a wooden bridge, which we traversed for about the space of an hour's journey ; as it is carried over a large body of water, and over fortifications, and lastly over a great length of low swampy heath. Afterwards we proceeded a distance of thirty versts, or six miles, through a forest of pine and other trees ; and passed a number of villages, and many waters and bridges. In this forest we halted for the night.
SECT. III.
ZAKHAROBO.— AGRICULTURE AND HARVESTS.
EARLY on the morning of the next day, which was the festival of St. Pante- leemon, we arose, and passed a large town called Zakharobo ; where are five or six lakes banked up in such a manner, that the water flows down successively from the higher to the lower, till it reaches the lowest. At this season we saw them ploughing, an operation which they perform with a single horse ; for their oxen are too small for such labour ; so small indeed, that they scarcely equal the calves in our country, as we have already mentioned : and this is in consequence of the extreme coldness of the climate, which does not allow this animal to attain strength sufficient for the plough. It is here only useful in furnishing milk and cheese, which it does both winter and summer.
The plough used in this country is always provided with two wheels, which support the share that divides the mould ; and near to the share, and at right angles with it, is a blade of iron, that mines into the ground, and cuts asunder the roots of grass and other plants remaining in the ground. We saw other cul tivators, who had fastened behind the horse, in the same manner as the plough, a kind of trellis, or cage-like hurdle, square, having one side planted with a sort of long wooden nails ; and this they were using as an instrument to break the mould turned up by the plough ; and with so much effect, that the surface of the ground was made as smooth as the palm of one's hand. The contrivance of these machines is admirable, and very much lightens the labour of cultivation.
In Moldavia and Wallachia, and the country of the Cossacks, we saw them
290 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
ploughing with five or six yoke of oxen, attended by five or six men on foot ; and even with this force they were much distressed to accomplish their task. But the wheels are an indispensable improvement.
We saw them also, in this country of Moscow, cutting down the woods and after digging the ground, instantly sowing it, without further preparation, in con sequence of the abundance and depth of the soil.
As to the quality of their crops in this country, I may observe, that they have a multiplicity of different kinds ; but the most wonderful circumstance is, that they sow the seed at this season of the year, and it remains in the ground about nine months, until the snow is thawed, at the end of the month Adar. The first crop is wheat, which is of two kinds : the one has a bearded ear, the other is without a beard. On these lands the strength of this crop is pro digious, and it rises to the height of near four ells. They sow it to a great amount, and it is reckoned their summer crop ; but we were at the end of the month Tamoz, and it had not yet shot an ear, still remaining as green as emerald, in consequence of the abundant rains, which are not interrupted even in the summer season. Another crop is called (l^j) rye, a species of wheat, to which we give the name aJ'y/', which the ^^ weed out from the true wheat. It is wild wheat, and the bread which they make of it here is black. This they like better than the white ; and when the Voivodes used to send presents to our Lord the Patriarch, they always presented this black bread first, by reason of the esteem in which it is held among them; and afterwards the white. The crop of this grain is very tall, and approaches the height of the wheat crop, being of about three ells; so that animals no taller than the horse are com pletely hidden amongst it. In the country of the Cossacks blessed be the Creator for the abundance of this crop! There we walked in fields covered with it, to the extent of two or three hours' journey in length and breadth, like to a waving sea. This rye they malt and steep in water, and boil it into spirits, together with the flower which we call e^Ju!! ^, and they Ichmil or Chmiel, after the hero of that name, who plants it much. Hence it is that spirits are cheap in the country of the Cossacks, and as abundant as water : but here in Muscovy they are very dear; the madrah (s^'l) in their language, that is, a measure of ten okas, being sold for a ducat and more.
The third crop is barley: the fourth, ^Uy: ; this is a very large grain, which is given to the cattle, which it strengthens and fattens, without heating them
* The nearest interpretation which I find is in Johnson's Arabic and Persian Dictionary- :— ^ • " A kind of tare or darnel growing amongst wheat, having a black grain, which causes inebriety and madness."
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 291
as barley does. The fifth crop is ^IjU in their language : it resembles and they cook it in the place of (^j^) lentils. What a quantity of it we ate without oil, as a remedy for the cholic! The sixth crop is the ^4, which is very abundant ; and its fruit is in distinct grains, resembling pearls. The seventh is like the red hashishah, with many sprigs and a double white flower, called, in the Russian language, khrishka : its produce is similar to the grain of the ^=»-*>, but white and soft, and is employed for puddings, instead of rice, for which they have a dislike. The eighth is a yellow blossom, resembling the rape-flower : of this they boil the leaves, and eat them. The ninth is a blue flower; and its fruit a black grain, which they mix among the wheat, and grind them together : this gives a sweet taste to the bread, and improves its whiteness. The name given to it in the Wallachian language is lakina : in Greek it is called yoyyvXq (.^yoyO The tenth is hemp, which they have in great abundance: from the grain they make oil; from the stalk, wool for shirts and ropes. The eleventh is flax, which is also very plentiful, and bears a blue flower : the fibre of this plant they use for the manufacture of shirts and other garments, which are worked up by the women ; and in these parts of Muscovy this material is very fine, and extremely cheap : this crop rises to a great height. The twelfth crop is that ^ j which they sow in our country among the cucumber-beds, and is used in making boza, after parching ; it thus forms a beverage deliciously sweet like milk, particularly in the country of the Cossacks : they call it in Greek, 'A^a/3^0 <rir^i, or Arabian wheat.
And here, Reader, you might see, at the latter part of the harvest among this people, a resemblance of the days of spring, about the festival of the Annunciation with us : near you, a field of rye, ripe and yellow; further off, a crop of wheat still green : on one side, a field of the largest dimensions covered with white blossoms; on the other, a similar space blooming with yellow: beyond that, a field of blue flowers, &c., a delight to every beholder.
We remarked that the species of bean called Jy, the vetch called (ja^t and the lentils, are not at all known in this country : neither is straw any where known in these parts ; for they have no (j^) barns for threshing their corn, as we have in our country. Here they set up a long pole in the middle of a field, and throw down the corn-sheaves around it : to this pole they then tie a couple of horses, which at their several lengths go round, treading and stamping on thecorn. The horses are afterwards turned in the contrary direction, and all the grain is eventually trodden out. They never tread their corn till it is at least two years old.
292 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
We had an opportunity of witnessing their harvest this season ; and saw how they tied their corn in sheaves, which they afterwards set up across each other in heaps, and lastly carry home in wagons : then they place them one upon another ; and form them into regular piles, like houses, turning the ear inwards : the top they cover with planks of wood. In this manner their crops are laid up, to endure both the winter and the summer season.
The provender for their cattle consists entirely of dry grass, which they cut in summer ; preserving it on its own ground, as a provision for the winter.
As to the machinery and instruments which they employ in gathering their harvest — their scythes — and their rakes, which they use like fingers to gather up their corn and hay — I must express my utmost admiration of them. At the same time, the security for life and property in all these countries, except Moldavia, is extreme.
SECT. IV.
HORODISH.— ARCHITECTURE AND MANUFACTURES.— JANKA.— HABITS.
THEN we crossed a large river, by name Nadros, which in the spring season is passed in boats ; but we passed over it by an immense bridge of vast length, making a distant journey of itself. The number of planks and beams of timber on the back of it, reckoning only those of large size which are laid across and lengthwise from the beginning of the bridge to the end, are two thousand four hundred and forty-one, according to the computation we made of them ; and they are all fastened by wooden joints, without nails.
I will here remark, that in all the woods, from the further end of Wallachia, through Moldavia, and the Country of the Cossacks, to the inmost province of Muscovy, there is found a great quantity of a species of tree resembling the <j*ju* both in shape and leaf, only it is taller. We used to see it in blossom in the months of Haziran and Tamoz, with a beautiful flower of a fragrant smell which spreads to a great distance : it is all white LxJv^, and they call it the Tree of the jy&. From this tree they strip the thick outward bark, and make of it coverings for their wagons and cottages, to keep out the rain and snow, its breadth being more than three ells : so also they make of it hoops for their wagons, boxes,
The Mays is thus interpreted in Johnson's Arabic and Persian Dictionary : — "A large tree, of which they make pack-saddles. A large kind of vine, also of grapes."
TRAVELS OF MA CART US. 293
milk-pails, measures, and sieves ; and their wagon-wheels, £c. : and of its roots they twine pack-saddles for their horses, cart-chains, &c. Of the fine inner bark they manufacture here in Muscovy ropes for ships, and other cordage ; and all their twine is made of it, which they so combine as to frame milk-pails, &c. ; and with it they also manufacture sieves, fish-nets, horse-fetters, and beautiful mats resembling those of Egypt*. But in consequence of the almost exclusive use of this and other wood in the structure of their habitations, and the constant fires which are maintained in them, the population of these regions is always covered with soot towards the evening, and is a prey to the nightly visits of the most melancholy dread of firef, the ravages of which insidious element are never wholly suspended among them. In Wallachia and Moldavia, on the occurrence of a conflagration, a man used to strike the great bell on the one side only, drawing forth a most harsh and alarming sound ; and this was a signal for the assemblage of the people, to quench the fire, or to save themselves by flight : but here in Muscovy they are accustomed to ring a bell over the gate of the city, the sound of which, in itself, is not unpleasant. As for ourselves, we were in a continual tremble of apprehension.
Then we entered a forest of pine-trees, and of the • y, J of which they make ship masts : and of this tree we henceforward sawr no end, until we arrived close to Moscow. All the frames of their houses, and all their wood-works, are of this tree, in consequence of its great abundance. 'In regard to the Persian Qj±0 poplar-tree, you would suppose no other than that it had been sown in rows, with even regularity, to form groves and gardens, and all in one day ; and our praise and thanksgiving were offered to the Almighty, at the sight of His mag nificence in the height of the fir and the ^.y, and the straightness of their form, in the beauty of the; Persian poplar, and the exact symmetry of its sylvan growth. And now our road was in most parts narrower than we had yet found it ; being wide enough only for one horse, and presenting an immense gully or
* The Manuscript adds, c^Al
-J- " At length we procured admittance into one of the most wretched cabins we ever recollect to have visited ; the inmates of which had not tasted milk or animal food for upwards of a year, but subsisted entirely on Tchi, or soup made of sour cabbages ; a dish of which the Russians in general are exceedingly fond. In the same room, common both to the rational and irrational members of the family, we erected our portable beds with all possible dispatch, in order to relieve our minds from the alarming- apprehensions of fire unavoidably forced upon them by the seeming- indifference with which the peasant's wife every now and then made sparks fly from a flaming- brand of wood, the only sub stitute she had for a candle." — DR. HENDERSON'S Travels In Russia, p. 139.
+ In the Persian Dictionary, the interpretation of -.y. is, " A tree which, when one branch is lopped off, throws out several new ones."
TRAVELS OP MACARIUS.
ravine. At length we came into a town having near it a lake of water, and called llorodisli ; in the neighbourhood of which is a handsome and strong castle. By the side of the road is a church dedicated to the Saints Cosmas and Damian.
Here, reader,, stop, to observe the vast magnitude and impregnable strength of this country ; into which you can effect no entrance, but through the midst of cities and castles and boroughs ; wherein you are sure to be confined to some narrow pass over a bridge laid across a lake, no other path being suffered to exist. No spy can gain admittance here by any means or contrivance, not even should lie appear in the shape of a native of the country. This extreme vigi lance in the government of the nation is remarkable.
Then we proceeded the distance of thirty versts further, that is, six miles; and came in the afternoon to a small town, which they were building new, by name Jatika : but we slept far away from it, in the fields, for the sake of pasturing our cattle.
As to the nature of the building of the dwelling-houses in this country of Moscow, it may be observed, that they are all constructed of the wood of the ^£; the planks of which are bound or joisted together to a considerable height, and are then covered with a sloping roof; on which no expense is spared. All the houses of these northern countries, from Wallachia to Moscow, have sloping roofs made of boards ; and this is contrived in consequence of the great falls of snow, that it may not lodge on them. Every house is sure to be furnished with chimnies and ovens.
In the country of the Cossacks the Jews* used formerly, during the govern ment of the Poles, to build within their houses a kind of khans or hotels, of wood, consisting of wide and lofty apartments, which they designed for travellers in the winter-season ; that they might make their sordid gains by them, in selling them hay for their cattle, in providing them with meat and drink, and in letting to them their lodgings though but for the short space of an hour ; by dealing likewise in spirits and liquors of all kinds, and in every thing else that might be wanted. But in this country of Moscow there exists no institution of that kind. Here travellers put up in the private houses : and for this reason they appoint to a Patriarch, or any other stranger of rank, a Bristabos, Conakji, or Mehman- dar, to prepare his billet. When we travelled in the summer, we never used to
" At Kamenetz it was some time before we procured lodgings ; but at length succeeded, with the assistance of some Jews, who are always forward to offer their services on these occasions, and are generally hired by travellers under the honourable appellation of factors; which word, however, as thus applied, signifies agents capable of executing any commission, whatever may be its nature or demerit, provided they be remunerated for their trouble." — DR. HENDERSON'S Travels in Russia.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 295
alight but outside the towns, for the purpose of feeding our cattle : and dreadful were our sufferings, from the heavy falls of rain !
I will here remark, that the women in this country are handsomely shaped, and extremely beautiful : and their children are like those of the Franks, but of a still ruddier complexion. The head-dress of the peasant-women is a small cap, rolled up at the edges, and fringed with wool : but, in the large towns and cities, over this cap the females wear a calpack of beautiful black fur, under which they hide their hair entirely, leaving the neck bare without any covering. The young girls generally, throughout the country, wear on their heads a kind of fur-hat, with the rims rolled up and very high. The dress of the wives of the Grandees is a calpack of cloth of gold in folds, or velvet, or sable fur, &c. the hair of which is frequently a span long, and is exceeding beautiful. The dress of the men is of black or brown serge or woollen cloth, composed of several parts sewed together to the exact size of the person, neither more nor less ; and it is always set with buttons and raised straps, which are buttoned together from top to bottom. The same apparatus is also on their ey'-ioiu. Their hair they cut only once in the year ; but they keep it very neat, and exceedingly well combed, throughout its whole length. On the contrary, from the further end of Wallachia to the furthest boundary of the Cossack country, the inhabitants are in the constant habit of shaving their heads, leaving only above the eyes a kind of iJaJLS. of hair, which falls down over them. The Cossacks, moreover, all shave their beards, with the exception of a small part, and of the mustaches, which they wear long and thick ; and this is the meaning of their name. But in this country of Moscow there is no such custom at all as that of shaving the beard, either among the old or the young; nor at any stage of life, from boyhood to old age. In whatever way the beard presents itself in the course of nature, so it is left to grow : and even the foreign mer chants who come among them are prohibited from shaving their heads and beards in contravention of their custom, as it is a thing which they hold in the utmost abhorrence.
It may be here noted, that we saw not a single person, either in the country of the Cossacks or in Muscovy, afflicted with jcaU, or (1^1 JL*) blindness, or (jo^U) lumbago, or (,»<%•*) leprosy, or sick in any way ; unless there was here and there to be seen among the Grandees some one whose feet were aching with the pain of the gout. fAs long as we were in any part of these regions, no salt sweats
Xo! A^l jjc U*jU! -^ U Sty\ SAA J^ <UJ Itfj This sentence is unintelligible to me.
and is a sample of the incorrectness of the MS. : but 1 have ventured to translate it as in the text.
•296 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
ever came out in our fingers ; and our hair, which used to be crisp and harsh, here became soft, like the silk of Endor.
SECT. V.
SAMOH.—CRAJAVA.—nOLKHOFA.—BEHLOFI.— IJFIN.
WE arose early on the Friday morning ; and having proceeded ten versts, or two miles, came to the bank of a large river, by name Ndfld ; where is a small town, used as a station for the passage of the boats, called Sdmoh : and in these boats we crossed the river, which is indeed of great magnitude, and not ex ceeded by any we had ever seen. We were near an hour in stretching over its width, to which the length of its course is proportionate ; and in the middle of the stream we saw some islands, covered with wood, and fortified with towers. There was formerly a wooden bridge reaching from one bank to the other, but it is now destroyed. The horses all passed this river by swimming. Then we proceeded the distance of thirty versts, or six great miles ; and came to a large city with a strong castle, by name Crqjaca. In it are five churches, by the several titles of The Annunciation, The Assumption of Our Lady, Saint Michael, Saint Nicolas, and Saints Cosmas and Damian ; and in the centre arc two fountains of sweet water. The Voivode came out to meet the Patriarch on foot. We made no stay whatever in the town ; but immediately went forth into the open country, and there alighted. But before our arrival at this place, we visited a convent near to it, situated on the side of the road, and dedicated in the name of the Passover. In their tongue they call it Fdskarisania. Around it is a grove of pines, admirable for their height and straightness and for their even size — blessed be their Maker !
Here the Priests and Monks came out to meet the Patriarch, according to
' o
custom ; and we ascended to the church by a high flight of steps. It is a very beautiful edifice of pine-wood, strongly rivetted ; and has on the top three minarets, in a row, of light and elegant architecture, surmounted by as many crosses of Christ. So, also, over the tabernacle are some of the like kind. This church has a gallery all round it; and three doors, with ascents to it, on three sides.
As to the Iconostases of the churches in this country, I have not power to describe them as I should wish. Their images are small ; but painted with such
TRAVELS OF MACARLUS. 297
exalted skill as to ravish the senses ; and their ornaments are of beautifully- wrought silver.
The bell-tower of this church is very high,, and of an octangular shape ; and at the top of it is an elegant cupola, with a cross. Below are pillars of wood., round, and fluted. To this dome there is access from the gallery of the church ; and to its own gallery there are three doors.
Then we arose early on the morning of Saturday, and proceeded a distance of sixty versts, or twelve great miles, alighting twice for water and pasture. Our road lay through a low vale, where we met not even with a village. In the evening we came to the bank of a river called Nohari, where we halted ; after a day's journey performed with such speed, that the flight of an arrow could hardly exceed it'f\
Again we arose on the morning of Sunday, the eleventh after Pentecost, and proceeded ten versts, or two miles ; whereupon we came to a large market-town, on an elevated spot of ground, flanked by a strong castle built on the top of a hill close by. Its name is Bolkhofa ; and it contains twenty churches and two convents ; the one for Monks, the other for women. We assisted at mass in a church dedicated to Saint Nicolas ; and then went forth from the town, and halted for the night, after we had had a meeting with the Voivode.
Note, that we observed in this country an admirable contrivance for veterinary artists who shoe horses; and this is, that in front of every shop in this trade is fixed a kind of passage of the length of a horse, constructed with cross-beams of wood of such a size that there is just room for him to stand within. Here they inclose him; and having fastened him, as need may be, to the body of the frame, they shoe him from without ; and neither has he power to rear during the ope ration, nor yet to kick, but remains perfectly still and quiet.
From this Bolkhofa we began, and thence, as we proceeded onwards, con tinued to see wagons filled with captives, brought by the Muscovites from the country of the Poles : there were only women and children in them ; no men — these being all put to the sword on the scene of action. Our hearts were afflicted within us at this melancholy sight. God forgive us !
* " It had been remarked to me, before I visited Russia, that next to the velocity of a bird cutting the air is the speed with which a Russian Cabinet courier hastens to the place of his destination : but now 1 had a specimen of the quickness of travelling in this empire, having- gone over upwards of eighty English miles within the space of eight hours, including stoppages. It was such a specimen, however, as I should never choose to repeat ; the violence of the motion having nearly proved too much for my frame." — UR. HENDERSON'S Travels in Russia, p. 205.
•298 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
It may be here noted, that at the time when the Emperor Alexius, whom God preserve ! was on the point of setting oat on his expedition, he issued a Khatti Sherif or Ukase, that all the Clergy of his dominions should assemble in a body, in their several townships, within the church of the fort or citadel thereto belon<*- ing, at an early hour on the Sunday morning, before mass, or immediately after ; and perform for him a Hc(,ga,%.hr,trig and Supplication ; then a Airctviu, or Pro cession round the castle: — and we observed them always doing so on every Sunday morning.
We arose early on the Monday, which was the Carnival of the Fast of Our Lady, and proceeded five-and-twenty versts, or five great miles, in a vast forest of the ntalol-tree, thickly planted, and of the poplar (^), growing equally thick. In one part of this forest the trees present a square parallelogram, having the outward appearance of the walls of a large city. Into this we entered, by a narrow lane ; and journeyed for the space of a great mile under a vault of tree-branches, closely hemmed in by the thicket on each side. We were told con cerning this wood, that formerly, when the Tartars came and seized these lands on a sudden, the inhabitants of the towns bordering on it fled, and concealed themselves here ; and thus escaped the Tartars, who retired disappointed : for not even can a person on foot, much less can a horseman, thread his way through this wood, so thickly is it set. From that time they have made it penal, under heavy imprecations, to cut a single root in it ; and it remains to them a great and valuable refuge to this day. Then we entered a gully, and passed through gates and fortifications of timber, and amidst towers rising in the centre, and saw ourselves surrounded by wooden walls built in circles on our right and left : this scene lasted for a considerable space of our journey ; and these works were evidently planned to resist the attack of cavalry. The name of this place, in the Russian or Muscovite language, is Rusk. Then we passed out from these extremely difficult, narrow, and rough roads, through which the rain accompanied us, so that our cattle were ruined ; and proceeded on our way two more great miles, making in all forty versts, or eight great miles ; and came in the evening to a large town, with a fortified castle on the border of a hill, the name of which is Eehloji. Below this town is a large river, called Oka*\ on which are large boats
" We arrived, considerably after dark, at the bank of the Oka, which, after flowing nearly due east from Kaluga, turns towards the north, and runs past the town of Alexin, which here occupies a com manding situation on its eastern bank. According to the statements given us at the ferry, the river is at this place 1000 feet in breadth, by 72 in depth. It abounds in fish ; and is navigable almost to its source, in the government of Orel." — DR. HENDERSON'S Travels in Russia, p. 143.
TRAVELS OF MAC ARILS. 299
covered with the bark of trees. These boats are employed in the transport of provisions to Moscow : for this river communicates with that city ; so that it fell in as a portion of our route thither, and we passed along it for some distance, as mention will be made hereafter.
The Voivode of this place, named Job, came out to meet our Lord the Patriarch. In this town are twenty churches, and two convents ; the one for Monks, the other for women. We instantly went forth from it ; and having pro ceeded ten versts, or two great miles, arrived in the vicinity of a small town, in the evening of the Carnival preceding the Fast of Our Lady. Here we alighted, after a day's journey, wherein most of our road lay through towns and villages and churches built on the road-side, and amidst vast crops of corn : and here we met with some Greek merchants coming from Moscow, who told us that a great pestilence had manifested itself in that capital, such as had not been known for eighty years ; that they had suffered great hardships in consequence of it ; and that the Patriarch and the Empress, and the rest of the Grandees, had left the city.
Then we arose on the morning of Tuesday, the first of the month Ab, and proceeded the distance of twenty versts, or four great miles, through a vast forest, consisting chiefly of pine and „.£> trees, and over a road of extreme diffi culty, where we suffered fatigue and trouble beyond expression : for it was all ascending and descending, and roots of trees and straits, so that a coach could hardly pass ; and floods of water and deep mud. So profuse indeed were the rains, that they never ceased to pour down upon us from the moment we left Potiblia, till our arrival in the neighbourhood of the capital. The greatest part of this day's journey we performed on foot ; and nothing did we see but earth and trees, and, in the midst of the forest before mentioned, gates and towers, and forts difficult even to the passage of birds in the air : and besides all these, there were also walls on the right and on the left, built with cross-beams of wood for a considerable distance, for the purpose of repelling the attack of cavalry. At the end of all was a handsomely-constructed fortress. Afterwards we came out upon the lower grounds; and arrived at a town with a fine castle, called L(/i/i, containing six churches : one is the High Church, which is within the citadel, and is dedicated in the name of the Seven Maccabees, the patrons of this day's festival.
We immediately proceeded to travel ten versts further, that is, two great miles ; and came to the bank of the River Oka, before mentioned. We passed the river in boats; and saw near it a small town, which is a dependence on a large and magnificent monastery situated on the right of our road, and called by the name
300 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
of The Ascension. This monastery contains fifty Monks; and the hire of the boats and the village are its property. Here the river is much larger than we found it the day before. Then we proceeded other five versts, or one great mile; perform ing, in all, seven great miles during this day, through woods which they were cutting down ; and they were afterwards ploughing and sowing the ground. In the midst of the forest we passed this night : and how many of our nights did we not pass, throughout, with not a wink of sleep, by reason of the rains and the LJ and jj and (JLs-ji (various kinds of gnats) !
SECT. VI.
KALOKHA— TRAVELLING BY LAND AND WATER.
ON the morning of Wednesday, the second of Ab, we arose; and having advanced a distance of five-and-twenty versts, or five miles, we approached the great city named Kalokha or Kaluga*, and crossed the before-mentioned river Oka for the third time in boats. This river skirts the town, and is very broad and deep. The castle, or citadel of the town, is on the top of a high hill; and they are building another castle below it on the descent of the hill, entirely new, with foundations of stone and strong towers. The main purpose of this new construction is the inclosure of some fine springs of delicious water arising here. The first and principal of them is close to the walls of the old fort, on the side facing the river; and around it they have erected some admirable structures. The town itself is extremely large, much exceeding Potiblia in size, and is likewise built on the side of the before-mentioned hill. Of magnificent handsome churches it contains thirty. Their bell-towers are of a neat and elegant style, resembling the minarets of Turkish mosques ; and their domes and crosses are beautiful. In their vicinity are two convents ; one for Monks, the other for
" Kaluga is justly considered to be one of the most important towns in Russia. It is situated on the left bank of the Oka, is about eight versts in circumference, and contains 26,000 inhabitants. The streets are regular; and the houses, in general, wear a respectable appearance. The number of churches amounts to thirty. The exterior of the Cathedral presents an elegant specimen of modern architecture ; and the inside exhibits a display of magnificence, perhaps scarcely surpassed by any church in Russia. The donations made to it by merchants, who in general are very opulent, are said to have been immense. A little to the west is an excellent stone bridge, four hundred feet in length by sixty in height, which has been raised across a gully, the sides of which, being covered with gardens and huts, greatly enhance the romantic appearance of the scenery. The elevated situation of the town, the noble view of the river, and other diversities of prospect, combine to render Kaluga one of the most agreeable and healthy places in the empire." — DR. HENDERSON'S Travels in Russia, p. 142.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. ,301
Nuns. We went up into the town ; and having passed through the midst of it, halted in the open country, both for the sake of pasturing the cattle, and because of the impossibility of driving the coach through one of the gates. Then the Voivode came to our Lord the Patriarch, and made his salutations to him, after sending him a present as usual.
It may be here noted, that from Potiblia to Moscow they were in the practice of presenting to our Lord the Patriarch, before every thing else, bread; and this we have mentioned more than once : but it should be added, that each cake or loaf mostly came to about ten rotulas weight of Aleppo, and resembled a mill stone in its ponderous thickness; yet withal so thoroughly baked, that we admired it on this account, and wondered what oven had been large enough to hold it.
In this place we tarried until the morning of Friday, for the affair of pro curing a relay of horses : the first service being from Potiblia to Sifska (Sievsk) ; the second, thence to this city of Kalokha; about eight days each; and the third, hence to Moscow.
This town is extremely populous, well built, and spacious. Here we ate yellow melons, exactly like the Sultani of Aleppo both in colour and taste ; and we laid up a provision of them. Their growth is promoted by the heavy dews which fall at this season, during the night ; the extreme coolness engendered by which endures till late in the ensuing morning.
From this city of Kalokha the Voivode despatched along with our Lord the Patriarch certain Letters to the Emperor; to his Caimmacam or Lieutenant, to whom they give the title of Prince ; and also to the Patriarch, informing them of his coming. In this place we again met with some Greek merchants, fleeing from the plague, who apprised us of its countless and irresistible ravages. Our hearts were sorely distressed at this news ; for we were approaching the seat of the disease, and knew not what might happen to us. We had washed our fate of grief, but of grief it was not cleansed*: nor was all that we suffered in our first year in Moldavia to suffice us, but this year also we must meet in Muscovy with affliction, and that direst of all calamities, the plague. But Our Lord, glorified be his name ! is the guardian of strangers, and their guide. Until now, he has not neglected us, but has disposed of us handsomely.
It was calculated for us, that from this city of Kalokha, to the capital, Moscow,
* ^izJ U> A^) -oj sliLwji *$l -*>j This expression, which appears to be proverbial, I hope not to have translated amiss.
Ru
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are one hundred and eighty versts, or six and thirty great miles : but the road was said to be extremely rough ; and we afterwards saw that it truly was so, to our utter perplexity and almost perdition : for on the morning of the Friday before mentioned, we proceeded the distance of fifteen versts, or three great miles, in a forest, over hills, ascending and descending, through bogs and mud and streams of water just fallen in rain ; and in narrow roads so uneven, that God only knows what we suffered from the jolting of the carriages : their tosses were so violent and frequent, that our entrails were rent within us, and the backs of our poor horses all but broken with the strain. On this account it is, that most persons travelling into this country perform their journey about the time of the Immersion and the Great Carnival. At that season, the ground and the roads are smooth ; there are no lumps or holes ; but the surface of the earth is like a marble pavement, by the effect of the ice and deep snow. Then is the time for travelling, more especially in the carriages called Sanit, or sledges, which are carriages without wheels : these glide forward with great celerity, and stop to make no changes on the road. For example, when we were last year in Moldavia, there came some Monks in these carriages from Moscow to Yassi in four and twenty days, travelling over the snow as we have described. But who knows what may become of the extremities of his limbs or joints, in consequence of the intense severity of the cold ? Many have lost their feet and hands, and very many their fingers and noses ; and for our parts, we had no strength for such an enterprise, nor were we prepared with the requisites for such an ex posure. In the preceding year, in Wallachia, our attempts to perform this winter travelling proved abortive ; for though we made for ourselves fur cloaks and gloves, and all kinds of warm inner clothing, and boots lined with wool, &c., we failed in the endeavour to keep ourselves warm. This year, may God grant us His further assistance and protection !
Here we calculated, that from Antioch to the city of Moscow is one hundred and twenty days' journey, to travel it day by day without intermission.
We did not get over these fifteen versts till near evening ; and were cursing our souls from very fatigue, and saying, " This is but fifteen ; — what, in the name of Heaven ! is to be done with the hundred and sixty-five that remain ?" when relief and consolation came to us, by our meeting with an interpreter ac quainted with the Greek and Russian, a respectable elderly man, sent from the court of the Patriarch of Moscow and the Emperor's Lieutenant, to superintend the embarkation of our Lord the Patriarch in a state barge on the River Oka, near the afore-mentioned Kalokha ; thence to travel in tranquillity and comfort
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 303
to a stone-built fortress named Kalomna, well known as the see of the bishopric of that name, in the vicinity of Moscow, there to remain until the plague should cease. And this matter was so disposed, out of fear for our master's safety.
So we returned to Kalokha, where they deposited us in a large mansion : and they immediately set about preparing for our Lord the Patriarch a state barge, with decks, and cabins, and windows : and on the eve of Sunday, the twelfth after Pentecost, which fell in with the festival of The Divine Manifestation, we prayed in a new church, hung all round with curtains, as all their churches are, dedicated by the title of The Resurrection, and adorned with large and small gilt pictures without number. After the evening prayer, they recited the prayers for Lent ; and the KKVUV KaQypegivo? was also, according to their invariable practice, duly performed. Afterwards we assisted in the same church, at the "Ogflgov and the Mass ; during which they presented trays of beautiful apples and pears, over which our Lord the Patriarch recited the prayers for the blessing of grapes ; and the fruit was then distributed among the congregation. Then we performed a TlagaxXqa-ii;, and supplication for the Emperor, whom God preserve ! For, as we before mentioned, all the clergy of this country went regularly, either before mass or immediately after, into the fortresses of their respective towns, to per form a Litany and Procession for their sovereign.
In this town, all the principal inhabitants, from the Voivode to the lowest of the merchants, used to make to our Lord the Patriarch presents of fine yellow melons ; and of trays full of such apples, that we blessed the Creator at the sight of their beauty and size, and for their smell, and colour, and taste : they had cheeks that were some red and some white ; and there were some that were streaked with red and white, the latter colour being as pure as snow : their rind was of the thinnest ; and their colour and taste were both of them finer than those of the Syrian apples. In regard to the melons, as we have already said, they were admirable ; so we may add, that they are peculiar to this place, for, in the whole country of Russia, none are produced like them, either for size or taste, if we might credit the information we received.
After they had completed the task of building and preparing the vessel, the Voivode came to perform his last offices to the Patriarch, by conducting him to it : and we embarked ; and they appointed us a boatswain and rowers. Our companions embarked in a second boat. Then the Voivode sent us provisions for the road, of bread, spirits, &c. ; and these we had over and above what we usually bought ourselves, wherever we went.
And now he deposited our coach and harness in a proper place : and the
3Q4, TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
horses he gave to his officers, to have the use of them ; after he had taken a note of their ages and colour and price, that if any of them should hereafter be missing, the exact loss might be estimated and paid for.
Then they calculated in our presence, that from this city of Kalokha to Ka- lomna, the place whither we were about to pursue our voyage, are one hun- dred-and-ninety versts, by the course of the river.
It may be here remarked, that the Voivodas of this nation are men learned in general knowledge and in the law ; versed in philosophy and the art of reason ing ; and lovers of subtle questions and profound disputations. They gladly receive instruction from the teachers who come to them from the Patriarchs and Chiefs of the Priesthood; them they consult in their difficulties and doubts ; and to them, on obtaining their answers, they ever yield implicit sub mission. If one of these forbids them any thing, they abstain from it, and make no resistance ; and their constant endeavour is to increase in knowledge : for we used to see in the houses of each of them some thousands of large books, and in these they love to read much both by day and night. They are not aban doned to the desire of inebriation and of tumultuous joy. Even in the country of Kiov we saw loads of books in the houses of the Voivodas : and what is that country, compared with this of Moscow ! Their love of knowledge is the cause of this literary provision ; and they even know our country by the span, and all its history.
This Voivode of Kalokha asked us, saying, " Is it not true, that from Adam to the year in which Our Lord the Messiah became incarnate, there are five thousand and five hundred years complete, without increase or diminution, according to the computation of the sacred books : and from the incarnation, or rather incorpo ration, of the Messiah, until the present year, one thousand six hundred and fifty-four : and from Adam until now, seven thousand one hundred and sixty- two ? These eight years, then, of surplus beyond the computation of Christ's nativity, whence are they, and how is to be their arrangement ?" And there was not one of us who could return him an answer : for we had ourselves made much inquiry concerning this matter, both in Constantinople and these other countries, and found not one to answer us. At length we ascertained after wards, by reference to the ancient Greek books, that the incarnation of Christ took place in the year five thousand five hundred and eight.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
SECT. VII.
NAVIGATION IN MUSCOVY.— ALEKSIVKA.— TAR08A.— KASHIRA.- HISTORY OF
IBN OL ARAB.
THEN the crew of our boat moved us forward,, by plying their oars after sun rise, on Friday the eleventh of Ab, along a branch of the afore-mentioned river Oka, which they call Okarika. The meaning of Rika is " river ;" and it is so distinguished, because, as we said before, it communicates with Moscow.
In this town and port of Kalokha are many vessels used in the transport of provisions to the capital. They are all covered with broad sheets of bark of certain trees, which are better for the purpose, and look handsomer than boards. Thus our boats wrere covered to keep off the rain, and most effectually. They also, on this occasion, spread the floors with carpets ; and over the doors of the cabin in which our Lord the Patriarch sat, they placed the images. We then closed up the doors with mats, as curtains, inside ; and placed other images over the Patriarch's head, according to the custom with them. From a distance, as we went along, we had a view of Kalokha ; and it appeared to us a very exten sive and magnificent town.
And now, as the boat advanced, we became embosomed in a vast forest on both sides of the river ; and the course of the stream was doubled into manifold windings, the cause of which the sailors knew not. These had with them a kind of long thick marine spear, which they plunged to the bottom of the water, and thereby impelled the boat with the greatest rapidity. When it happened to approach too near the bank and got fast aground, they set it afloat again, by the greatest exertions, with these same poles : but in the case of a strong con trary wind, they landed, and drew the boat with ropes along the side, as they walked forward. And now the farm-houses and villages were without interrup tion on our way, lying close to each other by the river side. This day we went twenty versts : at night they anchored us in the middle of the stream.
The next morning they carried us forward about five-and-thirty versts ; and we came to a large market-town on the bank of the river, having a large wooden fort, on the top of a neighbouring hill, for its defence. Under that again it has another, contiguous to itself on the bank of the river ; and within this are springs of excellent water. Here they came to anchor with us. The name of the town is Alzksivka, after the name of its founder. It contains four churches.
The Grand Dragoman, or Interpreter, who accompanied us, always, whenever
306 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
we came to a place like this, used to go immediately to inform the Voivode. On this occasion, the deputy of the Voivode came to us, attended by the Clergy of the town, and the Grandees : and he brought with him a present of meats and liquors. Before you arrive at this town and all around it, you see a number of mountains and rocks ; and the road is encompassed by them.
Then they moved us forward five versts further ; and wre passed a convent on the bank of the river called Bombori, dedicated by the title of The Resurrection. Again they proceeded with us five versts, until the close of the eve of Sunday the thirteenth after Pentecost, when they came to an anchor.
On the morning of the aforesaid Sunday they started with us again ; and after proceeding a distance of twenty versts, wre came to a populous borough named Tarosa, containing four churches, in one of which we assisted at mass.
Then they floated us ten versts further; and we came in the evening to another market-town, with a castle and fortifications on the bank of the river, but on the ascent of a hill, called Kashira. Here we performed the 'Etfrif wor* or Evening Service, in a church dedicated to Saint George, as it was the eve of the Festival of the Assumption of Our Lady. On our way hither we had passed two magnifi cent convents of stone ; one called Feadijni, or the Entrance of Our Lady into the Temple ; the other Fisoski, meaning that it is dedicated by the title of the Birth of Our Lady.
This evening the Voivode came and made his salutations to our Lord the Patriarch : and it was agreed that the Clergy should come in the night, and take us to the church. Accordingly, at the fourth hour they came ; and we went with them to a church built of stone within the above-mentioned castle, dedicated by the title of The Assumption of Our Lady. Here we assisted at the ' Aygwrvta, and the "Ogdgov ; and did not leave until dawn of day.
On the outside of this castle is a fountain flowing from the side of the hill. On the stream here and there are placed couples of beams, with a small wheel between them ; and from the castle down to the river may be counted twelve of these mills, the well-contrived machinery of which excited our admiration.
As to the brooks and rivulets, swoln with water, which run from the summits of the banks of this river and flow into it, I should in vain attempt to give their number. The prosperity of this place, which is of ancient date, is due to the coolness and sweetness of its waters.
As we have described the face of the country here, so is its appearance all the way from Kalokha to Kalomna : the villages and corn-fields are innumerable, and the population of the towns is immense.
We happened afterwards to meet in Moscow with a Voivode who was the son
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. .'}()?
of an Arab of our country, and had become Voivode or Governor over this town, and Kalomna, and Sarbsaho the Rocky, and other places : and all the people of these parts were grateful to him for the justice of his administration, and constant in their prayers for his health and prosperity. He told us that his family was originally of Hirdain ; that his great grandfather's name was Khori Soleiman, his father's Basharah Bin Gabriel, and that the latter was at one time superintendant of the Mint. They were inhabitants of the Harat Aljadidah, or New Street, in Damascus. At the time that Ibno Jambalat came to Damascus, he was fifteen years of age. He knew the Patriarchs Ibno Ziadah and Ibno 'Lahmar, and the Sheikh Girgis Ibno Somor, and many others of the Damascans ; and Khori Atlah, and Khori Nasr Allah, in Aleppo. He told us further, that when his father died, the Pasha plundered his house, and carried him, yet a little boy, to Aleppo ; and thence to Istambol, where he made a present of him to the Sultan Mahomet, of whom he became one of the household slaves. He afterwards went with the Vazir Okoz Mahomet Pasha on the expedition into Persia, where he was made prisoner, and became one of the household slaves of the Shah. Then he fled, and returned to Istambol ; and was first made Sanjak of Hemah and Hemes (Emessa), tSjc. ; afterwards Aga of the Revenue ; then successively Pasha of Napoli, and Amiro '1 Hajj, or Commander of the Pilgrims. On his return from Mecca, he attended the Sultan Othman on his expedition into Poland, five and thirty years ago; and being defeated, he was made prisoner by the Poles, and became one of the household slaves of the Cral. Afterwards he fled, and came to Kiov: thence he repaired to Moscow, in the time of the Emperor (or Grand Duke) Michael, and entered the service of the present sovereign, who caused him to be baptized, and gave him rank and office. Having risen to other high commissions, he was appointed Voivode over the towns above mentioned ; and ruled them with such strict justice, that it was never heard of him that any person ever complained of the treatment he had received at his hands. Instigated by his religious zeal, which was great, he built this Sobor or high church, of stone, in this castle, with his own money, expending on it more than two thousand dinars. After a year or two they took this government from him, and gave him the city of Sarbsaho the Rocky. On the lapse of some time they again dismissed him, and he came subsequently to join us in Moscow. We frequently enjoyed his conversation ; and discovered in him perfections of generosity, of religiousness, and of assiduity in prayer, so as never to fail in his attendance at the masses, which were performed every morning in the Convent of the Jodabi : and withal, he was learned in the Arabic.
308 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
It should be observed, that the boundaries of the Tartar country are at a short distance on your right hand, as you ascend this river ; being no more than a hundred miles off, or between twenty and thirty days' journey. We passed many villages, and stone-built houses, laid in ruins by them in former times; and by the Poles, who are also near neighbours.
SECT. VIII.
TROITSA AND GALOTAFONJ CONTENTS.— CASTLE OF KALOMNA.
THEN we passed over in the boat to the other side of the river ; and landed to visit a stone-built convent opposite the aforesaid castle, called Troitsa; that is, dedi cated in the name of the Holy Trinity. We went up to it ; and there assisted at the Mass of the Festival, having given them previous notice of our intentions. It is a large building of stone and brick, all plastered and whitened ; and over the gate is a high church, built in the shape of a tower, with a lofty cupola and galleries round it, dedicated in the name of St. Nicolas. Near it is another tower for the bells and clock, of the same height ; having a like cupola and similar galleries, in each arch of which are three bells. As to the great church, to it you ascend by very high flights of steps on the three sides to each of its doors : it is very lofty : and has large galleries all round it, with three spacious domes. All its Dominical crosses, which are numerous, are gilt with gold.
Then we travelled in our boat from this Tuesday until the afternoon of Wednesday; and came to a large stone-built convent, which they call Galotafoni; meaning, that it is dedicated by the title of the Divine Immersion ; and we anchored near it.
All the people of the places we passed, as we ascended the river, wondered much at the sight of us ; for it had not happened from the most ancient times that any foreign bishop should travel by this stream ; and particularly a Patriarch of Antioch was a perfect novelty. They used to ask us, out of their ignorance of us poor people, and their astonishment at our appearance, whether in our country there existed any wromen ; and whether we had bread to eat : — and, to have our joke with them, we used to answer, No.
This river Oka, by the contributions of the great number of rivulets and springs that flow into it, sometimes becomes very broad, and more than equal to the Nile of Egypt in size, as we \vere informed by one of the persons who accompanied us. Occasionally, in consequence of this wide spread of its stream,
TRAVELS OF MAC ARILS. 309
we moved over two spans' depth of water only : and many a time the vessel settled on the ground, andwras unable to move in sueh places, so that the janissa ries were forced to strip and go down into the water to exert their strength in pushing, whilst their companions from above, with their cabihas, that is to say, their long marine spears, endeavoured to bear off into the deep. When it hap pened to blow a strong breeze at times, they then also got out of the boat, to draw it with ropes along the shore.
A few versts before our arrival at the afore-mentioned monastery, we parted with the river we have been describing, and entered the River of Moscow' ; properly so called, as coming direct from Moscow. This enters the former, and both together afterwards fall into the vast river called Volga, so celebrated for its greatness ; for its breadth, according to report, is about four miles : and these three rivers, with the rest that have joined them, fall into the Sea of Persia, commonly called the Caspian. Of this, a distinct account will come in the sequel : but from the time that we entered the River of Moscow until we left it, they constantly drew our boats with ropes from the shore, by reason of the rapidity and depth of the stream : and we saw many vessels on it, coming from Moscow, full of men and women and children fleeing from the plague : as we also saw numbers of these fugitives in the villages about, and in the midst of the woods.
To return to our history : — We then went up to the before-mentioned mona stery, where at present was the Voivode of the town of Kalomna, whither we were repairing, waiting to meet us : for the convent is within sight of the town, being distant from it only a couple of versts by land, and four by water, a diffe rence caused by the usual winding of a river. As soon as we approached the convent, they came forth, according to custom, to meet us ; and conducted us into the great church, which has the title of the Divine Immersion, the picture of which is placed in the situation usually occupied by the image of Our Lord ; such being their practice here. The ascent to this church is by a high flight of steps on the three sides ; and around it is a gallery with three doors. It is very ancient. After we had performed the 'E<rT£^oj> or Evening Service here, we went out to visit the second church, which is within the refectory of the fathers. It is handsome, and very ancient ; and consecrated in the name of one of their new saints, Sergius ; concerning whom we were told, that he was the first who came from the City of Kiov and preached Christ here, and that it was he who built this church. The convent is also of his age. Between these two churches
Ss
310 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
is the tower for the bells ; which is high, and crowned with an elegant and lofty cupola, similar to the domes of the churches.
Then we left the convent ; and passed the night outside, on the bank of the river. Early on the morning of Thursday the seventeenth of Ab, we arose, and proceeded in our boat to the celebrated Castle of Kalomna.
The Voivode had now anticipated our arrival; and came to meet us, at the head of the Grandees of the town, and the Clergy, and their whole flock. By them we were led into the fort, which is built of stone, and is visible at a great distance, in consequence of its height : the walls also which surround it are very high. We bowed before the images, which are over the gate, both withinside and without. In like manner, whenever we came to a church, we stood and bowed before its images, placed over its door, as the Muscovites did, and in imitation of them, until they had carried us up to the great church, whence the Clergy came forth to meet us, attended by the Deacons carrying the images and thuribles, as usual. There we assisted at mass, for they had waited for us to begin it. This is the church of the bishopric ; on leaving which, we went up to where are situated the Bishop's apartments. Here they caused us to alight, by order of the Emperor and his Vazirs : for the Bishop had been recently sent off into banishment, by the Patriarch and the Sovereign, into the province called Siberia, for a fault committed by him, which we shall speak of in the sequel. Neither did we find his Vakil or Deputy, I mean the Protopapas, present : for it is their custom in this country, when it falls out to be the festival of any large, distinguished, and well-known convent, or the festival of the cathedral church, they make on that day a consecration of water, or 'Ayiaa-pos, accompanied with a Supplication for the Emperor : this water they inclose in vessels of wax, and carry as a present to the Emperor and the whole Imperial household, to the Patriarch, and to the officers of State, together with the images of the Saint, or the Dominical Feast ; and then they return : such is their custom. If the Bishop had been here, he would have gone himself to make the distribution of the presents : for the title of this great cathedral church is taken from The Assumption of Our Lady ; and therefore the Protopapas acted in his room ; and having made the 'Ayicurpoc, went to distribute it, together with the images, to the place where the Emperor was carrying on the war against Smolensko : and thence he afterwards returned.
As for the description of this city, it is thus : its size is about that of the City of Emessa ; but its walls are comparatively vast, formidable, and raised to a great height, with large stones and fine hard red bricks. Its towers are of a
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 311
like quality with the towers of Antioch, but rather handsomer, and more closely built : they are wonderfully strong and solid,, and each of them differs from the other in shape ; some are perfectly round, some octagonal, some square ; but all are on a grand scale, all lofty, and of four stories, with numerous loop-holes and embrasures. Around each floor is a passage on the outside, in the nature of a fenced railing, with loop-holes commanding the ground below, like the parapets which are both inside and outside of the strong castles in our country : and truly this is a well-contrived structure, and deserving the admiration of the
*> o
beholder. The roofs are vaulted cupolas ; and the inclosing walls are of equal strength and solidity with the towers, resembling the walls of Antioch both in height and depth and breadth. The glacis of the fosse are of vast extent, and all constructed of stone ; the whole of their interior being empty vaults, like those which are inside the walls of Antioch, on the side of the Garden-gate (Jos'l L->b), where we have been told they used formerly to set ^ULJJ U^o*: and as the River Aasi flows on one side of the City of Antioch, so the River of Moscow runs on the outside of these walls to the north. Within the precinct are immense wide caves, vaulted under ground ; with passages for the rain-water from above, for a supply of water in times of siege and distress : and there is an entrance to them on one side of the fort, at the bottom of the wall, where there is a hidden door with iron grates. On the south side also flows another river, but smaller, having mills upon it, and named Kalomna, from which the city took its name. This abundance of streams is owing to the mountainous nature of the country in which the castle is situated. This castle has four large gates, and within each gate are four others : between them are iron portcullises, which are let down and drawn up by pulleys. At each gate is a number of cannon ; and over the tower, above each gate, is suspended a bell, which, on any alarm, they instantly ring, for a warning to all : at present, they are in the constant prac tice of ringing it when any fire breaks out ; and this is of frequent occurrence : for the houses of the city without the walls are more numerous than those within ; and each street is a kind of village by itself, because men always love to be near the green fields : now all these houses are of wood ; and therefore, when a fire happens, the persons who are continually on the watch, and looking out over the houses from the bell-tower, immediately ring an alarm ; and the people of the town, on hearing it, whether it be day or night, instantly hasten forth in a body, with their buckets, to extinguish it. As to the market-places, they are all outside the town. Over each gate of the castle is a large picture painted on
* This is probably meant for ^UJsJl ^Jr* plated mirrors. S S 2
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
the wall, within a lattice-window, and covered with a broad jutting arch all round, to keep off the rain and snow : before it are glass lamps, in which they burn wax tapers. Over the great gate, on the outside, is the picture of Our Lord the Messiah, standing ; and over the inside gate is the picture of Our Lady. Within this castle are five large stone churches, and a convent for Nuns, by the title of The Entrance of Our Lady into the Temple. The first church £c.
As to their Iconostasis of the higher row, it may be remarked, that it is not after the likeness of the regular form, such as is observed in the country of the Cossacks, and in Greece ; but the Messiah is in the middle, and John the Bap tist and the Virgin are on his right hand and on his left, and near to them art- two angels. Then the right-hand row is filled up with Peter, and John the Chrysostom, and Basilius, and two other Apostles ; and opposite to them are the Apostle Paul, and Saints Nicolas and Gregorius, and two other Apostles. Thus on each side are five large portraits of full size. Above this row is the picture of Our Lady, with those of the Prophets who prophesied concerning her, on each side.
They have not here, as we have, lamps with oil ; for it is too dear, and freezes moreover in the winter : nor have they those large brass chandeliers in use among us ; but their large thick wax torches they set in stone pillars, carved and fixed on the ground, and furnished at the top with rims of tin. In these they place both their large and small candles : for it is the custom, that every person who comes to church shall bring with him a wax taper, to light up with his own hand before the holy images.
Below the north door of the church is the bell-tower ; which is worthy of admiration, as well for its beautiful form as for the architectural ornaments which are lavished on it. It is a round octagon; and is handsomely carved, resembling the Tower of Emessa, but is neater and higher. It has many arches round it ; and over the first are others of a smaller size. Its dome, which is also octagonal, rises high and airily above it ; and in tins are hung twelve large and small bells, the sound of which murmurs like thunder. Within it is also a time piece of a new invention, in a separate compartment. When the index comes to the place which marks the half-hour, it strikes, with two small iron hammers, on two small bells, three times : when the hour is complete, the hammers strike six- and-twenty times on the bells, and this they call the Warning ; immediately after which the index strikes the number of the hour as regulated, with another large hammer on a large bell ; and the hours of the day and the hours of the night it strikes apart. At the end of this month, Ab, it struck fourteen hours to the
TRAVELS OF MACAK1US. $\:l
day, and ten to the night ; but in the month Ilol, the days and nights
are equal.
In regard to the roof of this church, and the roofs of all the churches we have mentioned, I may describe their quality to be that of a fir cone, or of an arti choke ; for they have none flat, nor yet such as we call " Camel-back roofs ;" but from side to side of the four walls are like three arches ; and over them are others, smaller and smaller, until the dome is completed around ; being a very beautiful artifice. The whole is covered with boards, to keep out the rain and snow from injuring the building.
Beneath this church are many vaults and sepulchres : and above the porcli is a second story, in which are the treasures of the bishopric, and its riches, which we saw displayed in numerous chests, filled with dollars and ducats. All this is in the hands of the Emperor, as we shall have occasion hereafter more distinctly to explain.
SECT. IX. DESCRIPTION OF THE BISHOPRIC AND CITY OF KALOMNA.
THE episcopal palace is very large ; and round it is a wrooden wall. The passage used by the bishop up to his apartments is by a high flight of steps, from the south door of the church, and a long corridor of wooden boards at a great height from the ground ; walking on which, we used to see the fields and villages to a great distance around, for it opened a wide prospect. The apartments of the bishop — or rather, I should say, his palaces, one set being for the summer and the other for the winter — are of fine stone and the best timber, and are suspended in the air in the manner we have been describing. The summer apartments have balconies jutting over gardens, that grow beautiiW apples, of the finest shape, colour, and flavour, and of a variety of kinds ; some red as the ruby, others yellow like gold, and some of the purest camphor-white. The rind of all of them is very thin. There is one kind which is very smalL but as sweet as sugar : and we now saw, to our astonishment, fresh buds and blossoms on the branches of the tree at this advanced season of the year, though its crop was heavy : this was not a healthy sign for the Muscovites, as we shall shortly explain.
The winter habitation is a large house built with planed jointed wood, apart ment within apartment, in an admirable manner ; having its doors closely fitted
;U4 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
and lined with cloth and leather over the hinges and sides, so that not a breath of air can pass through. As to the window arches, to them there are doors or shutters well fitted, which slide along. These, in the day-time, they open, and in their place set frames of the stone crystal of their country ; which they again remove in the night, and replace with the shutters, so bolted and closed in that no cold air can penetrate.
To each apartment is an Iconostasis, or stand of images ; not in the inside only, but over the door on the outside : and even over the door of the staircase and the kitchen-door is likewise an image-stand. For it is the custom of the Muscovites to hang up holy pictures over every door of their houses, their cel lars, their kitchens, and their shops ; and whenever they see an image, they stop and bow to it with all reverence : even should a person have to pass an hundred images in an hour, he will stop and bow to every one of them with the utmost composure. This custom is observed, not only by the men, but by the women and children.
The place where the bishop holds his court is an arched building, newly built of stone ; and therein is contained also his treasury. To this bishopric belongs the absolute property of many farms, with their cultivators ; and within the inclosure of this palace is a large prison, furnished with iron chains and heavy bolts, for the offenders. Whenever any one among the bishop's peasantry has committed any misdemeanour, or has been guilty of theft or manslaughter, they bring him and imprison him here, and punish him according to his sentence, as we witnessed more than once, by death and stripes. Over them the Voivode has no jurisdiction : the bishop's officers take their fines, and fix the mulct on the thief by doubling the value of what he stole : this is their method of admi nistering justice. So, if any of the bishop's servants was guilty of drunkenness, they put heavy chains on his neck and legs, and hung upon him a huge bolt or log, such as no beast of burden could drag. For many of these offenders our Lord the Patriarch used to intercede, and obtained their liberation from confinement.
It is not only in this bishopric that there exists a prison ; it is not only here that chains are in readiness for the coercion of the culprit ; but in every mona stery both a prison and chains are prepared for the chastisement of the servants and villagers of the establishment.
It was told us, that this bishopric always maintains on foot a corps of three hundred soldiers, in prime service, for its defence and protection, and for the guard of its property and out-posts. Their pay is collected from its various
TRAVELS OF MACAKILS. :$\;}
farms ; and one of their duties is, whenever the bishop mounts on horseback, to escort him as cavalry, whithersoever he goes.
At the end of the aforementioned passage is a new stone-church, built by this bishop first, for winter use. Its foundations he has placed over the kitchen and the bake-house ; so that the heat rises into it, and it becomes like unto a hot bath, when the frost and snow are without. It is dedicated to The Vision which appeared to Andreas Salos in the city of Constantinople, in the days of the Emperor Leo the Great ; for he saw the Mother of God in the clouds. The Muscovites name this festival Pokrobkin Bogoroditsa, and keep it on the first day of Teshrin Alavval. On this occasion they flock in great multitudes to the churches. The same festival was formerly celebrated among the Greeks : at present they are unacquainted with it in practice ; but give it the name of the ^%ZK(x.$ ryg Havix.'ytag , or Veil of the Mother of God ; for the drawing of the picture is this : — The Virgin is in the clouds ; and Andreas Salos, by pointing to her with his fingers, is shewing her to the Emperor and the whole population of the city. At the lower part of the picture is Romanus (Jj^liaJI uS^JU) the inventor of lamps, painted as a sleeping child, and the Virgin &c.* To return : The cupola of this church is built of green tiles, and is very handsome : outside of it is a large porch, which is used as a refectory by the bishop and his retinue.
As to the wooden churches within this castle and without, they are as many as five-and-twenty in number. In the midst of the streets is situated a convent of great antiquity, dedicated by the title of The Divine Manifestation. The church above mentioned, as serving for a refectory, is consecrated in the name of The Former Finding of the Head.f
Across the River of Moscow (the Moskwa), opposite to the town, is a large convent, made white all over, and adorned with high cupolas, dedicated by the title of The Nativity of Our Lady ; and the church of the refectory (l/j is in the name of Jol^Jl or The Procession of Palms.
c This whole passage is above my comprehension :
i jtj* <u£ _< j£ j^iiiJ jjjjwlj *j'J
^— '
f 1 conjecture that such is the meaning of ^jUdl <uta t> O-; • In the ~h\vvo\oyiov of the (ireek Church, I find marked for the 24th of February, 'H TrpcaTt] xai Sevrepa, evpscrts TJ/S r//x/«s I\po<$vofj.ou ; and for the 25th of May, 'H rp/rij svpscri^ TIJ<; Ke^)«A^s TOU Hpodpofj.ou.
3U> TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
This Kalomna is a well-known and celebrated town ; and herein are held large markets on the Mondays and Thursdays, to which the peasants resort with their provisions from a great distance : for it is a kind of Bender or sea-port ; and to it come vessels by the river from Moscow, which afterwards travel to the province called Cazania, and to that called Astrakhania, by other rivers, which become united with the former, to the number of about seventy, and fall together into the Persian Sea, that is, Bahro'lAjam, commonly called the Caspian; but in ancient books and chronicles, uniformly denominated Bahro Faris, or the Persian Sea. By this they continue their voyage to the country of the Kizzil Bash, and the province of Georgia ; whence they come, in the form of embassies, with numerous articles of merchandize, bringing with them assortments of brocade and dyed silks, indigo, cotton, wool, Morocco-leather, £c.* In return for these, they take sable-furs, fish-teeth, fine woollens, etc., from among the manufactures and valuables of Moscow ; and in this town the meeting of all the merchants is held. Here are continually found many vessels at anchor belonging to the Emperor : on them is built a kind of divan or chamber, with windows and recesses, and with balconies furnished with lattice-blinds all round them. Over this river is a wooden bridge, to pass under which the boats lower their masts.
From this town to Moscow, by the river, is a journey of a hundred versts ; by land, only ninety ; for it is well known that rivers always wind in their course.
To return to our account of the bishopric : All the estates of the churches and convents are in the hands of the Emperor ; so that the heads of the clergy have no power over such estates or their revenues ; but it is the Emperor who sends to every convent, and to every bishop, persons deputed and authorised by him as inspectors over all their funds and income. No head of the Clergy or of a convent has any command, except over what he has with him as his personal effects. Every bishopric has its bailiffs and stewards appointed on the part of the Emperor : every convent keeps a register of its income, and leaves the proceeds in the treasury, to supply the wants of the Emperor at the time that he marches out to war, as we shall distinctly shew hereafter : so that they neither build, nor throw down, nor carry any thing away, but with his knowledge and consent. All these matters, as we said before, they exactly register in books kept with the
* Two other articles are enumerated in the Text, ^UlLaJl ^.^ ^\ of the former of which I have not been able to discover any meaning but Buphthalmus. In Johnson's Edition of Richardson's Arabic and Persian Dictionary, mention is made of ^ai-l ^,1x1 Las- as Rosemary.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. ,317
greatest order and accuracy ; and we saw here some of the attorneys of the bishopric, who were elderly men of gentlemanly appearance.
The Chiefs of the Priesthood in this country have no claim to contributions from their flock, but only from the Clergy, each of whom contributes in propor tion to the number of his parishioners and the annual income of his church ; the poorest of the Priests paying a dinar, or gold ducat. All this is regulated by the Bishop's register. Every Chief of the Clergy acquires, during his ministry, more or less property; but generally to a considerable amount, which he holds entirely at his own disposal, except that at his decease it must revert to the Emperor, who is the heir of all.
Whilst we were here, they informed us that the Bishopric of Kalomna is the poorest of all the priestly chiefdoms in the Muscovite dominions ; and yet it has jurisdiction over more than fifteen towns that are the residence of Voivodes, such as Kalomna ; which latter Voivodate extends over more than two thousand large and small boroughs, and many villages, containing, some of them, more than ten thousand houses. Of these fifteen castles, or chief military residences, one is Kashira, the Voivode of which has under his command above a thousand villages; Sarbaskho, resembling the former; Tula, with its trade and manufac tures &c. These fifteen Sanjaks, or Governments, hold command, in all, over more than twenty thousand villages, the number of inhabitants in which may be more easily guessed than reckoned : they are all diocesans of this Bishopric ; and yet it is considered poor and weak, God help it ! Why the three Pa triarchates of Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem are not, all together, equal to it ! Throughout this vast diocese there is not a person who suffers grievance or molestation ; none seen reduced to beg for his subsistence ; nor one that com plains, or has any reason to complain, of tyranny and injustice ; all are secure, tranquil, and cheerful, and are constantly earning much money. The Bishop rules over these Voivodates with an all-pervading authority ; and here the sacer dotal chiefs are virtuous and happy : here you behold a godlike conduct and a religious life.
The cause of the banishment of the Bishop was this : — The present august Emperor and the new Patriarch, Nicon, are very partial to the rites of the Greek Church, and have an abundant love for argument and instruction ; particularly the Emperor, who favours the Clergy, and the Monks, and every order of Priest hood ; setting an example to the whole country of temperance, modesty, and humility, of piety and perseverance in prayer, and of the most generous liberality to the Bishops and other Ecclesiastics, as well as to the various institutions of
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318 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
Friars, his faith and confidence in whom are only exceeded by his beneficence towards them. For ourselves, until this present moment we have never seen him ; but we were informed on all sides of his virtues and perfections. These illustrious persons, in the time of the late Parthenios (.^jjJl^j) Patriarch of Constantinople, who was put to death a few years ago, sent, out of their great love and respect for him, to ask him some questions on the mysteries of our religion and the rites of the Christian Church. In answer he wrote them a Letter, replying distinctly to their several inquiries, which was received with great delight by the Emperor ; who, after having it translated and read to him, com plied provisionally with the sum of its recommendations, and then assembled a council of the Heads of the Clergy and Conventual Priors, to lay it before them. This august meeting confirmed it with their approbation ; and having signed it with their hands and testimonies, and registered it in the ecclesiastical court, they unanimously ordered it to be printed, as a valuable document for the cor rection of their errors ; with the exception only of this Bishop of Kalomna, who, being of an obstinate disposition, would not receive it nor approve of it, much less sign it with his hand-writing, or confirm it by his testimony. " Since the time we became Christians/' said he, " since the time that we inherited the faith from our fathers and grandfathers, who excelled so much in their observance of these our rites, and their steadfastness in this our religion, we also have strenuously held to the same, and will not now adopt a new religion." On hearing this, the Emperor and the Patriarch immediately sent him into banish ment, together with his Monks and servants, and all belonging to him, to the interior of Siberia, a journey of one thousand five hundred versts, on the shores of the sea called 'CLzsctvos, which encircles the globe. Here are convents, erected since ancient times, for the reception of such exiles ; in one of which the messengers of vengeance deposited him, to lead a life to which death would be preferable, so great is the gloominess of the situation and so execrable the tenor of living, amidst perpetual darkness and hunger ; for bread there is none. From this place all escape or release for him is impossible ; and this eternal banishment he well deserves. Such regulations, and such strict enforcement of them, are worthy of applause.
Afterwards they consecrated another in his place, as we shall relate hereafter in proper season. And here give attention, brother, to the excellence of this government : observe how corrective and orderly it is. For the present they vested all the authority of the Bishop in the hands of the Protopapas of the Clergy here and of the high church ; and to him all the peasants carried up their
TRAVELS OF MACARTUS. 319
dues, and the Clergy of the episcopal '£?«££/« their affairs, as he appeared in all the qualities of Governor or Chief of the Priesthood, exercising authority, by command of the Emperor and Patriarch, over them.
SECT. X.
THE PLAGUE.— SOLEMN PROCESSION.— ORIGIN OF THE IMPERIAL FAMILY.
To return : — On the eve of Friday, the eighteenth of Ah, they rang all the bells, and flocked in great multitudes to the churches, to commemorate the Festival of the Saints Florus and Laurus, martyrs, who, as is related of them in the 2uvafa£;a (Martyrology), were natives of this country, and were the first to believe in Christ. Being stone-masons, they built a church ; and for this were put to death, becoming martyrs to the faith. So also on the morrow they all assisted at mass, with lighted candles in their hands.
On Sunday, the fourteenth after Pentecost, before mass, they came to ask our Lord the Patriarch to make for them an 'AyictfrfAog, that their Priests might sprinkle it over the whole town, as the plague had already begun there to make its ravages ; hoping that by this blessing it might perhaps be repelled from the midst of them. All the bells, therefore, having been rung, and the whole of the Clergy being assembled, the Patriarch made for them the ' Ay/ao-^og ; and having crossed it with the bones of the Saints in their possession, and with the relics of Our Lord which we had with us, he distributed it to the Priests, who sprinkled with it the churches and the whole town ; after which they returned to perform the usual YlagaxXqfru; for the Emperor. Having again rung the bells, they took us down to mass : at its conclusion, the Voivode, with the Grandees of the town, and the Protopapas, accompanied by the whole Clergy, came and knelt before our master, weeping, wailing, and lamenting at the virulence of the plague among them, and begging him to give them permission to make all the inhabitants of the city fast for one whole week, in the hope that God would remove the pestilence from them. But he granted them permission for three days only ; which fast immediately took place : and he agreed with them again to make an ' Ayieor^o? for them on the Wednesday following, when he would go with them in procession round the castle. The Voivode thereupon issued an order, that, during these three days, no meat should be killed, nor any houses opened for drinking intoxicating liquors, such as brandy and mead : and all kept a strict
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and severe fast until the ninth hour each day, flocking together to attend the masses in all fear and humility, not even the little children being excepted.
On the Wednesday, which was the twenty-third of Ab, at the tolling of all the bells, the whole of the Clergy and people of the town, with their women and children, and the Grandees, assembled to conduct our Lord the Patriarch to the church, where all the Priests, including us and our companions, robed for service; and he made for them an 'Ayiucrpog, with the blessing of the holy relics, as before, and continued sprinkling and crossing them all in succession, until the fifth hour struck. Upon this the Priests of the town and the Deacons, with their censers, went out before us, two and two, carrying the picture of Our Lady, celebrated here for working miracles. Each of their Priests bore in his hand a box, or case, holding a cross ; for, in this country, they never touch the cross, nor hold it in the hand, but always in a case. Lastly came the other images, and the books of the Gospels.
Thus we proceeded towards the outside of the castle, our Lord the Patriarch wearing his Mavdva, 'E^r^a^'A/ov, and 'npxpo^ov, in his right-hand carrying his cross, and in the left his crosier ; ourselves, in our ^n^a^ia, holding up his train ; the Priests, our fellow-travellers, in their royal copes, preceding and following him ; the Voivode and grandees walking behind him ; and, in front of all, the troops clearing his way among the crowd. It was a procession to be recorded for ages. We then began to chaunt the H^anXritrig ; and every time we came in sight of a church we turned towards it, bowing, as they did. Then the Clergy belonging to it, (and I am speaking both of the churches in the interior of the castle, and of those on the outside,) came forth in their robes, in one hand bearing the cross on a stand, in the other an image, or picture. Walking near our Lord the Patriarch was a Deacon carrying a vessel of 'Ayicuruog, from which his Holiness sprinkled the church, and the street in which it was situated, and the parishioners ; and after he had given the officiating Priest his benediction, in the Muscovite form, on the forehead, shoulders, and breast, that parish ministry retired. Afterwards, on our return, the same ceremony was repeated.
In the mean time, all the bells were ringing without intermission. When we came near the city gate, and bowed towards the image of Our Lady over it, the Patriarch took some of the holy water, and, in conformity with their practice, threw it up to her in the air : then he sprinkled some on the inside of the gate, and on the guns. On going out, we turned our faces towards the picture of Our Lord, and bowed to it, whilst the Patriarch sprinkled it, as before. Here
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
all the Clergy stood round in a circle, carrying their images in front and facing his Holiness ; and I recited the Prone in supplication for the Emperor, after I had incensed the picture and the assistants. When all had resumed their ranks, we walked round the moats of the castle, with the ensigns, banners, and crosses before us, and the large tall cross, of gilt wood, at the head of all, surrounded with lamps on long poles. On arriving at the second gate of the city, we bowed to the image at a distance, they having previously lighted all the lamps before it and the other pictures ; and when the Clergy had taken their stations, as before, the Deacon recited the Prone in supplication for the Emperor and his son. It was thus :—" Have mercy on us, O God! according to Thy great mercy. We ask mercy, life, peace, health, safety, bounty, forgiveness, direction, guidance, and protection, for the Emperor, the lover of Christ, the crowned of God, the pious and well-disposed Kniazi ALEXIUS MICHAELOVITZI ; for the Empress Kyria MARIA AUGUSTA ; and for their illustrious son, Prince ALEXIUS ALEXIOVITZI. Prolong their race in safety ! Direct, O Lord God ! all their affairs by Thy gracious providence ; and humble all their enemies and assailers under their feet !" During this prayer we responded in chaunts of Kvgts 'EAeVov, and repeated our Metanoias.
In regard to the well-known title of " Kniazi," used by this imperial family, we were told that their origin is from Rome ; whence, about seven hundred years ago, an ancestor of theirs came by sea to the country of Moscow, and, being from the first a great Archon, became at length the Sovereign of the whole ter ritory ; so that every Prince who has succeeded in the line of these Monarchs is called" Kniazi." This title they gave also to Zenobius Chmiel.
Then the Protopapas read a Gospel, first for the plague, secondly for Our Lady, and came to the Patriarch to present him the book to kiss. His Holiness then gave his blessing to the congregation, recited the prayer for the Emperor in the wars, and a prayer for the plague, and again repeated his benediction. Having made the customary inclination to the image, we moved forward amidst the continued ringing of all the bells ; and crossing the small river by a bridge, came opposite the third gate, where we performed the like ceremony as before. We then made the entire circuit of the castle ; and entering by the same gate through which we had gone out, returned, and ascended to our church.
Here the Priests, carrying the holy images, halted in the porch, until the Pa triarch had incensed them, and, after profound inclinations, kissed them all successively ; when they set them in their places, and we laid aside our copes. Immediately they began the mass, which was attended by the whole population ; nor did we go out from service till the clock had struck the eighth hour.
322 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
SECT. XL
PRAYER FOR THE IMPERIAL HOUSE.— CHURCH MUSIC.— DRESS OF THE CLERGY.
AT the end of every church service here in Muscovy they perform a TloXv- Xgovtov, or prayer for long life, for the Emperor, chaunted by the whole of the attending Clergy and choristers ; and to their practice, from the time of our arrival in the country of the Cossacks, we strictly conformed ; commemorating his Majesty, like them, in every Prone, and at the end of the service performing for him the aforesaid HoXv%goviov} in which we included the Patriarch, as they do ; but in the latter prayer they name the Emperor before the Patriarchs, reversing their practice in the Prone. The tenor of the Hohv%goviov is thus : — ' May the Lord God grant many years, under His divine favour, protection, and guidance, to His crowned Emperor, the greatest of sovereign princes, the great Kniazi ; the master of the keys of the territory of Muscovy, and of all the lands of Russia, the Lord Lord Kyr ALEXIUS MICHAELOVITZI, the Empress &c., and to his all Holiness and Beatitude, the Patriarch of the great and guarded city of Moscow, the Lord Lord Kyr NICON ! The Lord preserve them all!" We added, in Greek, for his Lordship our own Patriarch, Tov Aso-Troryv xoti 'Ag^ugta, rifivv, Ku^s, (pvXarrs sig TO, TroAXa \rv\.
On the eve of the twenty-sixth of Ab, they rang all the bells, and there was a great attendance to commemorate the Entrance of the Picture of Our Lady, painted by Luke the Evangelist, into the City of Moscow. They read the Pro phecies, and performed a A<rJj in the porch, as usual, with two officiating Priests. The Deacon read the Prayer for Vigils, " Save, O God, thy people ! " after which they went through the Office for Sleep ; and theKavuv Kufypegtvos, as they do every evening. On the morrow there was an assemblage at mass.
Most of their days here., in this country of Moscow, are festivals : for on most days the great bells, appropriated to the Sundays and great festivals, are rung for some distinguished saint's day, and especially for their new saints, as we shall explain hereafter ; whereas, in Moldavia and Wallachia, and the country of the Cossacks, they are rung only on the eve of Sunday or of a great festival. Nothing used to affect me so much as the united clang of all the bells on these evenings, and in the middle of the subsequent nights. The earth shook with their vibrations, and the drone of their voice, like thunder, ascended to the skies. And what should hinder this great nation from observing these frequent solemnities, since, by the comfort of their circumstances, and the affluence of
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their wealth, all their days are fair-days and festivals ; and on no day in the whole year is the celebration of mass interrupted in any of their churches, but every person, whether man, woman, or child, regularly attends the church in his own parish, each bringing with him one candle or more, with a copeck, which is their piaster, stuck in it for the service of the altar. They never conclude the office in any of their churches, nor do any of the congregation retire, until the third hour is past ; and in the mean time they are all fasting. It is not true, as we had heard concerning them, that they have churches where mass is performed at midnight and the dawn of day, for the convenience of travellers ; since all the roads are full of churches ; and wherever any Russian is on his journey, he always stops at the nearest church to hear mass at the usual hour, in consequence of the universal desire of this nation daily to attend that ceremony. In every city throughout the empire there is also a great or high church, which they call Sobor, that is Catholic, or cathedral, where every day, on the departure of the people from the masses in the other churches, they ring the bells for high mass, at which all the Clergy of the town, and most of the laity, attend. This they look upon as their daily duty.
After the appearance of the great pestilence here, the Ministers of the parish churches, having recorded the names of their deceased parishioners buried round their respective churches, used to bring their registers to commemorate them one by one at the sacrifice ; and at the time of the Prone, when we had gone through all the usual forms, the Deacon used to add a new one, with which we were unacquainted, praying for rest to the souls of the departed brethren, each by name, to the amount, sometimes, of four or five thousand names ; so that by this they were detained a very long time at mass, and did not conclude it till the sixth or seventh hour was past. (Here follows a long detail of church ceremo nies and religious observances, some of which are very curious, as exhibiting the extraordinary piety and devotion of the Russians.^ For ourselves, we were jaded with the length of their masses and prayers ; and scarcely ever retired till we were ready to drop, from the weakness of our legs and backs, being literally cru cified with exertion. But it is for the Almighty to dispose of us as he thinks fit.
The Muscovites do not care to kiss the holy images, nor to kiss the Gospel, at Sunday Matins, as we do ; nor do they care to participate in the 'Avr/^a ; and this arises from their great reverence for these sacred objects. Once only in the year do they kiss the images ; namely, on the Sunday called " of the Images," when they wash themselves, and put on clean clothes. Should any impurity have happened to a Muscovite, he does not enter the church at all, but stands
#21 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
outside : and when a family have contracted any uncleanness, they make haste to wash themselves, and do not enter the church, nor kiss an image, nor touch it, a circumstance which we particularly observed in the picture-sellers at Moscow, until the Priest has recited over their heads a prayer, with which we are unac quainted, and has given them his blessing : then they enter the church. On some of these occasions, the whole body of the officiating Priests is required to come out to them, as we used to see, and blushed through shame at seeing ; particularly on the Saturday evenings, almost all the married people in the parish stopped outside the church, until the priests came to pray over them, that they might enter.
In regard to the church music of these countries, it may be observed, that the chaunting of the Cossacks dilates the breast and clears the heart of care. With a vehement love for psalmody, and a strict attention to the rules of music, they give forth, in a sweet high tone, from their very souls as it were, and from one mouth, the most delightful sounds ; whereas the chaunt of the Muscovites is without science, just as it happens : it is all one to them ; they find no fault ; and the finest in their estimation is the low, rough, broad voice, which it is far from being pleasant to hear*. As with us these gross tones are found fault with, so by them our high intonation is deemed vicious ; and they laugh at the Cossacks, and reproach them for their music, telling them that theirs is the music of the Franks and Poles.
As we remarked before, the dress of the Clergy consists of green or coloured cottons, or of Ancyra woollens, which, being much approved by them, are worn by most of them, with a broad collar, turned down over their breast and shoulders, of embroidered silk or flowered velvet, and with numerous buttons, either of silver gilt, crystal, red coral, blue turquoise, or other similar material, buttoned from the neck to the bottom of the skirt. Others wear wide gowns with large sleeves, plain, and not made to open in front. The young readers,, who are not yet in orders, imitate either the one dress or the other. In regard to their head dresses, the rich among them, and the Protopapases, wear calpacks of green, red, or black velvet ; the rest of cloth : under them they wear red cotton caps, with a fringe of yellow silk, bound round with rose-coloured lace. The Deacons dress in like manner, as do also the Wives of the Clergy, who are thus known to be married to a Papa or a Deacon ; but besides them no other person whatever uses this costume.
* The Russians have apparently reformed their system since the Archdeacon's visit, as recent Travellers speak with great admiration of their solemn music.
TRAVELS Of MACARir.S. 3'2,j
The ecclesiastics do not shave their heads, with the exception of a large circle in the middle : the rest of their hair they leave to grow its full length. They are continually dressing and comhing it ; and are very diligent in looking at themselves in their mirrors,, of which one, if not two, is always found in every chancel. Here they think no harm in consulting the glass, and combing and dressing themselves. By this unremitted attention to their exterior, they always look respectable, and neat to the extreme. Even the village; curates, who are under the jurisdiction of the Protopapas, and stand before him bareheaded to receive his blessing, are much revered by the people, wrho never present themselves before them but with their heads uncovered. They are equally respected by the Voivodes and other magistrates., whom we often saw taking off their calpacks to them. In the churches, every person stands bareheaded, from the beginning of the service to the end, whether Priest or layman. Whenever a Priest is seen passing through a street, the people hasten to kneel before him to receive his blessing, which he gives them in their peculiar form, riz. by touching their fore head and shoulders.
It is usual for every cathedral church, like this of Kalomna, to have seven Priests and seven Deacons, neither more nor less : and in this they shewed us, within the chancel, all the banners of the several dignitaries of the bishopric ; the OsXov/a of heavy embroidered silk, adorned on the shoulders with rich gold lace, worn by the Bishop ; his lour mitres, which are crowns without rolls ; his numerous copes for the various festivals ; silver vessels ; and OsXowa and 2r/^/a'p<a for the Priests and Deacons, made of princely materials ; as how should they not be, having been given to the church by the Emperors. Here we were blessed with the sight and touch of the relics of numerous Saints, deposited in silver and gold cases ; and we knelt to them, as our duty was. We were struck with admiration at the splendor in which they are kept. As in ancient times, during the reign of the Christian Emperors, they used to carry the rarities of the whole world, and particularly the holy remnants and relics of the Saints, each from its proper home, to the Imperial City of Constantinople, where they remained collected entire until the flight of its inhabitants began ; so, since that period till the present time, it has been the will of God and the care of the Patri archs, Bishops, Abbots, Priests, and Monks of 'every denomination, that those treasures should be transferred, those glorious relics removed thence, to the new Rome, the City of Moscow, a place deserving all praise and veneration. Here they have presented them successively to the various sovereigns, who knew so well their value ; and have been remunerated for them with riches and benefits.
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In consequence of their great zeal for religion, and their happy devotion, the Emperors have honoured these monuments of Our Saviour, and these relics of His Saints, with gold and silver shrines, making presents of them to the Cathedral Churches of the Bishops, and to the great Monasteries, which are built within the forts of the large towns.
At the beo-inning of every month they make an ' Ay;a<r^os, which they cross with these relics ; then they sprinkle it over all the churches and houses in every city of the empire, to drive away evil from them. If any affliction or distress makes its appearance, the priests carry these relics round in procession, entreating the Saints, of whom they are portions, to intercede with the Creator, that he may repel the calamity. This is the list of the principal relics : first, there is a large gilt cross, adorned with large pearls, and inlaid with a piece of the wood of the true cross : then among the cases is one covered with gold, containing a golden sun, on which is painted the figure of St. George : within it is a portion of his body, real, and shining like gold, and as hard and plump as a pebble. There is a tooth of John the Baptist; a finger of Andrew the Apostle; some bones of the first Deacon, Stephen, of Daniel the Prophet, of Panteleemon the Martyr, Artemius the Martyr, St. Theodorus, and St. James, Kuthemius the Great, John Chrysostom, Proclus, and Andrew the Military Officer *. All these relics have their edges gilt, and their names written on them.
To return : On the eve of the twenty-ninth of Ab there was a great attendance in the churches, to commemorate the beheading of John the Baptist. On this dav they are accustomed to abstain from all food cooked on the fire : they eat raw fruits only.
* Tin- Manuscript adds ^iv^wJI ^f tj-^ '
KM) OF PART THE THIRD.
A' B-THE COMMITTEE of the ORIENTAL TRANSLATION FUND of GREAT BRITAIN and IRELAND considers it necessary to inform the Subscribers, and the Public in general, that during the period proa-din- sheets were passing- through the press, the Translator had the advantage of comparing them with Mil. ABRAHAM SALAME'S Manuscript Translation of the same Part, now in the possession of the Committee.
PART THE FOURTH. MUSCOVY.
BOOK VII.
SECT. I.
FIRST DAY OF THE YEAR.— THE PLAGUE.— FUNERALS.
ON the first day of 1161, the opening of the year seven thousand one hundred and thirty-six of the world, being the first day of the new year, and the commemoration of Saint Simon the Stylite, of Aleppo, a great concourse, both on the eve and on the following morning, took place, amidst the ringing of all the bells ; for the Muscovites have a great love for this Saint. They placed his image on a reading-desk ; and from the earliest hour of the morning all the people hastened to the church, drest in their finest clothes ; the dignity of this day, as the first in the year, being greater with them than even Easter. The whole of the clergy of the town, having met and put on their copes, per formed, in the first place, a ILugaxXqo-ts for the Emperor, with the usual prayers, accompanied with a supplication that this might be the beginning of a year of blessings to him ; and afterwards they chaunted a HoXv%g6viov, for length of life to him, to his infant son Alexius, the Empress, and all the Imperial family. In like manner, they congratulated one another with wishes for the happiness of each in this new year. Then they made an 'Ay/ao-^o?, blessing it with the reliques of the Saints, and aspersed the whole congregation.
When the Emperor is present in the capital, they told us an immense assemblage takes place, and a great festivity, during which the Emperor, attended by all his court, and wearing his princely robes and crown, goes forth from the great church, with the Patriarch. In the inner area of the palace his Holiness performs for him a Supplication and a Hohvxgovtov ; and the Emperor, in like manner, offers up his prayers for the long life of the Patriarch. Upon this, all the Grandees step forward, to pay their gratulations
X x
3-28 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
to both,, and then salute each other. Such is their custom, and much is it to be commended.
On the festival of the Cross, their ceremony resembles ours ; except, that they mention the name of the Emperor Alexius in the usual TgoTragia, ; and fixing the cross on a stand, continue to pay their devotions to it until the day of its removal.
To return : — The great plague had by this time moved from the city of Moscow, and spread itself in the environs to a great distance, devastating many towns, and visiting, among others, this city of Kalomna, with its sur rounding villages. It was a most terrifying thing ; for it was not merely a plague, but a sudden mortality. Persons might be standing erect in full health, and in an instant they would drop down dead. A man riding on a horse, or sitting in a carriage, would roll back and expire, and, swelling like a bladder, would turn black, and assume the most hideous expression of countenance. The horses were wandering about the country without owners ; and persons were lying dead in their carriages, whilst none was found to bury them. The Voivode had sent to close the roads, to hinder persons from entering the town, and prevent, as it was hoped, the infection from being imported by any travel ler ; but it was found impossible. A like measure, however, was carried into effect by the Emperor, who was engaged in the siege of Smolensko, in regard to messengers bringing him letters. His troops were encamped on the bank of a large river, from the further side of which no person was allowed to pass over to them, that the mortality might not make its appearance amongst them. When letters came for the Emperor, men stationed on the opposite bank received them ; and having carried them over in their boats, and dipped them in the stream, delivered them to others, to be presented to the Emperor. Thus they were of opinion that the infection was communicated from hand to hand ; and for this reason they dipped the papers in water, after the manner of the Franks. The Muscovites had no knowledge whatever of the plague from former times., and used to be much surprised when they were told of it by the Greek merchants. Now that it had shewn itself among them, they were greatly disturbed and alarmed.
In the interim, the Voivode had despatched no less than sixteen messengers to the Emperor, and to his Lieutenants in the capital, one after another, to deliver letters on business and importance to us and to them ; and of these, we were assured, not one returned, all having died on the road. We were informed, by the old people, that a hundred years ago a plague had made its appearance
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among them ; but it was nothing like what was experienced at the present time, which far exceeded any thing that had ever been known. No sooner had this contagion entered a house, than it made a total clearance, not leaving a single inhabitant behind ; so that the dogs and swine roamed about the houses, encoun tering none to drive them away, or to shut the doors against them ; and the city, which before was crowded with inhabitants, became entirely desolate. As to the villages, they were emptied altogether, as were also the monasteries, of their inhabitants ; and the beasts, cattle, swine, fowls, &c., being destitute of owners, perished, for the greater part, of hunger and thirst, having none to look after them. It was a state of things dreadful to behold, a scene of woe and lamentation ! for the mortality spread its uninterrupted ravages through the whole capital, and through this and the surrounding countries, to the distance of seven hundred versts, from the end of the month of Ab (August) till near the Feast of the Nativity ; by which time it had completed the desolation of the towns by the annihilation of their inhabitants. The number registered by the Voivode, of the persons who died in this town, was, as he informed us, ten thousand families : but as most of the young men were with the Emperor, in the wars, the houses were carefully sealed up for them, to be preserved from plunder ; lest, otherwise, on their return, their vengeance might be incurred.
In these dreadful circumstances, it was proved how truly Christian this nation is, and how strong their religious feelings; for no sooner was a man or wroman taken ill, than they abandoned all worldly thoughts, and, calling in the Clergy, confessed and communicated with the utmost reverence : this they did equally, whether they were old, or middle-aged, or in the prime of youth. All their property they usually bequeathed to the convents, churches, public buildings, and the poor. The worst of all, and the greatest manifestation of God's wrath, was the death of most of the Clergy ; and their consequent scarcity, so that many persons died without confessing or receiving the sacred mysteries. Numbers also of the Clergy lost their wives by this mortality. Now, it is the practice of the Patriarch here, and of the Bishops of this country, not to allow any widowed Clergyman to say mass. After he has become a Monk in some con vent, and resided there for many years, in the expectation that his thoughts shall be entirely estranged from worldly concerns, they pray over him, and then give him permission to perform mass ; but not even so, till after much interces sion and entreaty. The new Patriarch, Nicon, has, however, altered this practice, because he has a great love for the regulations of the Greek Church ; yet he does not permit the widowed Clergyman to remain in the capital, or in
330 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
any town, but compels him to reside, as a Monk, in some convent, there to celebrate mass with full permission. This banishment of the widowed Curates is a great misfortune in such times as these, when the supply of secular Ministers is deficient.
As the season advanced, the plague increased in virulence and extent ; and the deaths multiplied exceedingly, so that no one was found to bury the dead. Great numbers of bodies were cast into a hole, one upon another : many were brought in carts driven by boys on horseback, unattended by any family or relatives, and thrown into the grave in their wearing-apparel. Of the Clergy, as we before said, a great multitude died ; and on this account they brought the sick in carriages to the churches, to confess themselves to the few Priests that sur vived, and to receive the mysteries. Thus the Ministers were unable to quit the church at all, being obliged to remain there the whole day, in their robes, to receive the visits of the dying. Even this consolation was unattainable to many of the sick ; and some were left to wait their turn in the open air, in the cold, for two or three days, with none to look to them, through the total extinction of their friends and families. Even the healthy , at these frightful sights, died through fear. The expenses of the funerals of the strangers who died were contributed by the merchants, according to their usual custom.
In Moldavia, Wallachia, and the Country of the Cossacks, all the Christians bury their dead, commonly, in coffins made up of boards ; but here they bury them in coffins hewn out of a single piece of wood, with a lid made of another, and sloping like a roof: these are used not only for grown persons, but also for children, though no more than a day old. On the present emergency, their scarcity became so great, there being no one to bring them from the villages, that, whereas formerly the price of them was less than a dinar, it now rose as high as seven dinars ; and at length none were to be had, so that they were compelled to bury the rich in coffins made of boards, and the poor in nothing but their clothes.
All the seven Ministers of the Cathedral Church here died, and six of the Deacons ; together with the Protopapas, his sons who were Clergymen, their children, and every person in his house. After the mass had successively ceased in most of the other churches, it had still continued to be celebrated in the Cathedral daily, without intermission ; but finally it was interrupted even here, as well as the other prayers and services : and this cessation of the Ministry endured a considerable time, until the Bailiffs sent one of the Village Priests, early on the Sunday mornings, to perform mass.
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One of the victims to the disease was the Barifojicos, or Imperial Dragoman, who had attended us from Kalokha. In consequence of his death, our Lord the Patriarch sent to represent our destitution to the Emperor's Lieutenant ; and, after a length of time, he sent us another. It is usual for one or two of them to he always residing at the Court of the Patriarch of Moscow, to be in readiness, in case they are wanted. The meaning of the name Barifojicos in the Russian language, is, in Greek, MeruQgourrK, that is, Translator of writings from the Greek into Russian. When this second interpreter came, he informed us, that the Lieutenant of the Emperor and the Ministers had kept a register of the persons who died in the capital from the beginning of the plague till its termination, and that their number amounted to four hundred and eighty thousand souls, so that most of the streets and houses were cleared of their inhabitants ; — that, whereas formerly the whole city swarmed with people, it was now become desolate ; and the dogs and pigs were devouring the dead bodies, having become ravenous to such a degree, that no person dared to walk alone ; for their hunger and rage were so violent, that if they encountered a lonely wanderer, they would attack him and tear him to pieces.
The Emperor's Lieutenant was himself taken ill and died ; and three of the Metropolitans with him, one after the other, whom the Patriarch had sent to the capital to supply his place. As to the inferior Clergy who died, it is im possible to compute their number. The churches generally were left destitute of Ministers : the few that survived acquired to themselves immense wealth ; for they did not confine themselves to the usual practice of burying the dead one by one, but performed the rite collectively for a great number together, taking for each whatever fees they chose to demand. A Priest's mass cost three dinars, and more ; and even at this price could not always be procured. So great a degree of God's vengeance, inflicted on his servants, in permitting the price of spiritual benefits to become so enormous, excited our utmost astonish ment. At length things came to such a pass, that the ordinary course of burial was impracticable ; and they dug large pits, into which they threw the bodies indiscriminately, without ceremony : for the town began to stink with their corruption, and the dogs and swine could not be prevented from devouring them, as they lay where they had fallen in the streets and open houses. Most of the gates of the city, he said, were shut, for want of troops to guard them : that the Emperor had sent, first,, six hundred janissaries, that is a beglik, with their Aga, and they all died : then he sent a second time as many more, and they likewise died : a third time he sent an equal number, and the same fate
332 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
attended them ; for every person who entered the capital instantly fell down in a mortal agony.
This state of things lasted from the month of Tamoz till near the Feast of the Nativity, when it had arrived at its height, and it pleased God that it should cease. Many of the inhabitants of the towns fled into the woods and the open country ; but few even of these escaped the mortality. All this time we were in great distress ; and our sorrow, tribulation, and terror were unspeakable. We were residing in the highest rooms of the Bishop's palace, eye-witnesses of all these calamities ; and the servants of the bishopric, who were living in the lower apartments, we used to see carried out, couple after couple, dead, not in consequence of a previous illness or the attacks of a violent fever, but they would drop down suddenly breathless, and immediately swell to a hideous size : we never, therefore, ventured to stir out of our apartments at all, but remained shut up day and night, in hourly expectation of a frightful death, weeping and lamenting at our condition. No comfort of any kind approached us ; no alle viation of our grief could reach us ; not even a drop of wine could be obtained, that we might assuage with it the bitterness of our affliction, and soothe the violence of our fears and alarms. Despair of our lives was ever before us, situated as we were in the very centre of the town, and beholding every moment the mortality around us. We were, in particular, most distressed for our fellow travellers who continued with us ; I mean, the Heads of Convents, natives of Greece. These, indeed, escaped death, but they were in continual dread of it, and, to the great distress of our hearts, were perpetually lamenting, and saying to us, " Arise, and flee with us into the deserts, away from these scenes of horror ! " We answered : " Whither shall we poor foreigners fly, amidst this strange people, who are unacquainted with our language ? Wo to you, for your trust in such a design ! To what place can we escape, from the face of an enemy in the grasp of whose hand are the lives of all ? Do you suppose he is not found, or imagine that he does not exist in the open fields as well as in the close towns ? Do you think he does not see the fugitives ? Assuredly you are of little understanding, ye silly men ! " With our Lord the Almighty we expostulated in our hearts ; saying, " What is this that has befallen us, O Lord ! and still befalls us, poor sinners ? Last year we encountered the alarms of war in Moldavia ; afterwards, our people and ourselves fell ill of colds and fevers in Wallachia ; this year, in this country of Moscow, we meet the plague ! " Thus we were in continual suffering, amidst never-ceasing dread and confusion, but, by the favour of God, in good health and safety ; by the favour of that God, who says, " I am the
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faithful guide of strangers." With those who accompanied our wanderings, I was ever thanking Him — exalted be His name !— and praising Him ; and we were continually kneeling, to adore Him.
Our only consolation and relief, in these melancholy circumstances, was the absence of all shouting and howling over the dead, so much used by the women of our country, who have learnt it from the Arabs. Raising their voices to the highest pitch, they cry and shriek in so awful a manner, as to break the hearts of the healthy, and turn their wholesome blood feverish. But the Christians of all the countries on this side of Constantinople are not in the habit of employing their women to mourn over the dead with loud shrieks, nor have they ever learnt such howlings as are practised amongst us. Here they weep over their deceased friends calmly and quietly ; and lament, in a suppressed tone, with accents that soften the hardest heart ; but their voices are not overheard by their neighbours. In Moldavia, during those melancholy times of distress, we used to see the wives of the JUJ, who had hidden themselves in the convents, when news came that their poor husbands and relatives were killed in the wars, gathering round them their daughters, and letting loose their hair which they usually wore rolled up ; and after weeping with mournful lamentation for the space of an hour, whilst the people were looking at them, immediately thereon becoming silent, and rising up to think no more about it, as though the report were false, and such things were not! Our astonishment at this poverty of feeling was great. Could thousands of men be slain in battle, and their families pay so little attention to their loss, be so little affected with the news of their death, that they seemed not to know how to bewail them duly, but were contented with calmly weeping for them so short a time, and moving their heads to and fro in sorrow, without black clothes or blackened countenances, without beating their faces or crying aloud, and without even changing their white garments for some of a soberer hue ! We used to say of them, that they set no more value by their husbands and brothers here, than they do on passing strangers. With us, on the contrary, in our country, the deceased are exceed ing precious, and their loss is heavily valued. When any person has died in the course of nature, his family disturb the whole place with their howlings and shrieks, at the very height of their voices, like the wild Arabs from whom we have learnt the custom ; and for this the people here used to mock us, and call us Arabs, out of ridicule. The name Arab is, in their estimation, the vilest that can be given, as they consider that not a single person of that nation is a Christian ; but that all are Turks and Hanafies, enemies of Christ's religion.
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For we found here, among the Russians, many prisoners who had escaped from our country ; and these have given accounts of it, and acquainted them with its deformities ; telling them, that to moan and weep publicly over the deceased Christians there is not permitted. We used here to see, daily, thousands of dead bodies carried forth for interment, without hearing a cry or a wail: all was silent, as though no plague existed among them. The women who attended the funerals, we observed, as they passed by us, were not satisfied with mourning ; but whenever they came to a church, they stopped, and turned towards the image suspended over the door, kneeling down, crossing their foreheads, and beating their breasts, with moans and tears. If the deceased was in posses sion of a shop, and his wife or relations wanted to open it, they waited till a certain period after his death ; and then, after paying their devotions to the image suspended over the door (not confining their adorations and prayers, as we do, to the regular ministry of the Priesthood and the service of the church), and having renewed their weepings and lamentations, they proceeded to the disclo sure. Happy are they in the plentiful blessings of their religious feelings, amidst such afflictions of providence ; and much were we consoled in the thought, that our native country has so long been screened from the calamity of this mortal pestilence. To the Almighty God be thanks ! and blessed be His name, for preserving us here harmless, in the midst of it ! Sufficient, indeed, was the hardship of our destitution, and our absence for the two last years from our homes, families, and friends, without the accumulation of the sorrows and diffi culties which we now moreover witnessed. O God ! grant to us the extinction of those debts which caused our journey hither ; and whatever other blessing we may seek from the ocean of thy bounty, graciously bestow it, O most Bountiful of the Bounteous ! None is lost who places his confidence in Thee, O tliou restorer of the broken-hearted ! thou feeder of the hungry wanderer ! Support us by Thy beneficence, O thou best of supporters ! for our souls are famished, and our pilgrimage has been drawn to a tedious length. How long, O Lord, shall it endure ? Permit not that any of us die before the payment of the debts we owe, Thou source of riches, and fountain of all affluence ! but have mercy on us, poor wretches !
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SECT. II.
SIKf.'K Or SMOLKXSKO.— DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN. JUS TORY OF RADZIVIL.
To return to the history of the Heaven-protected Emperor. — After lie had marched with his army to the siege of the city of Smolensko, he beset it on all sides with the strictest inclosure, for about seven days; during which, his troops ceased not to use every stratagem against it, until they had made a breach in its walls with a large battery of heavy guns, and thrown down two of its towers, with the ruins of which they filled the moat, and commenced raising a mound. Whilst they were engaged in carrying earth for the completion of the mound, and cutting trenches round it, the captain of the Polish garrison came, on the part of lladzivil, to beg for mercy; which was granted; and the town surrendered. Within the stone walls was a high earthen wall ; in the centre of which they had built a towering wooden fort of great strength. To this fort the Musco vites set fire, by means of bombs from without : for the Emperor has cannon resembling ^Uai', each an ell in length, and of equal calibre, which they charge with balls composed of pitch, sulphur, powder, £c. These, when discharged, mount, we were told, to the skies ; and then descending on the besieged town, set fire to it, and, throwing down every thing near them in ruins, root up the very ground by their explosion.
We were informed, by several of the military who had been at the city of Smolensko and assisted at its capture, that it is an extremely large and strong place, surrounded with walls so thick, that two carriages abreast can be driven along the top ; thus equalling the walls of Antioch. But the structure of the walls of Smolensko is very singular : they are built entirely of immense quarry- stones, laid together in such a manner that no division is perceptible between them. This fort was erected by the ancestors of the present Emperor. Its towers are seventy-three in number, all of vast dimensions, besides many which, we were told, are outside the walls. The guns of each tower are corresponding and on a level with those of the other towers ; so that no enemy can accost the flanks of the walls, nor approach near them. It was not until after the unremitting efforts of the Emperor's artillery, and a general cannonade all round the fort, that, finding a place of inferior strength on which, the guns had made some impression, the Muscovites at length threw down two towers with the bastion which they flanked, having in vain endeavoured to produce any effect on the remainder. This great conquest none had hoped to achieve, particularly
Y Y
336 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
as the great River Nieper flows under the most part of the walls. The surrender was made on the condition, sworn to by the Emperor, that whoever desired it should remain unmolested in the town, and that those who were unwilling to stay might depart freely to whatever place they chose.
On taking possession of the city, the Muscovites found in it a great number of Jews, disguised in the garb of Christians ; but they quickly detected them, by their ignorance in not knowing how to make the sign of the Cross on their foreheads. By command of the Emperor, they were all collected together ; and he required of them, if they wished to save their lives, that they should be baptized. Those who believed, and afterwards received baptism, he permitted to live : the recusants he ordered to be placed in houses built of wood, which were set fire to, and they were all burnt to death. Every church in the town belonging to the Poles he razed to the ground, and gave orders for others to be built on the spot.
The accursed Radzivil, son-in-law to Vasili Beg of Moldavia, and the origin of all this war with its attendant evils, as soon as he heard that the Emperor was marching out to the attack of this city, came at the head of thirty thousand troops, to reach and enter it for its protection ; but he was intercepted by a large detachment of the Emperor's forces, which surrounded him, and cut his whole army to pieces. He himself escaped, with only a few of his suite, by contriving to exchange his dress for that of a poor peasant. All his principal officers were taken prisoners, with a number of others ; and credible persons assert, that, being a great magician, he saved himself by the power of magic. Once they overtook him ; but still he eluded their grasp, by stealing away from them through the mud and reeds. This accursed wretch was, at the time I am speaking of, the greatest of all the Polish Grandees, a mighty Hetman, and governor of a large and well-known country which is called Molitfa, and also of this town and province of Smolensko, over which his ancestors had gained the sovereignty. Of all the countries belonging to the Poles, his was the finest, being covered with impregnable stone fortresses for the space of two months' journey, beginning from the vicinity of Danska or Dantzic, the celebrated town which is the sea-port of the whole Polish territory. The Cral feared him much ; and none besides him dared openly to oppose the will of the Emperor. He was exceedingly hated by the whole body of the orthodox, and was tyrannical and obstinate. His religion, we were informed, was the Lutheran ; that is, he fasted only one day in every year, with the intention thus to complete the Great Lent once in his whole life; and his prayer, performed secretly in his closet, was,
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''' Our Father, who art in heaven ;" in conformity, as he thought, with the saying of Our Lord the Messiah, in his Holy Gospel. Vasili Beg of Moldavia esteemed himself happy in marrying his daughter Mary to this Calvinist, hoping he would be a support and assistance to him ; and no other hut this accursed tyrant was the cause of the death of Timotheus, Chiniel's son. Great indeed was the enmity between these two chiefs, Chmiel and Radzivil : the latter, about three years ago, having passed, with a strong force, in a great number of boats on the River Nieper, and seized the city of Kiov, with its dependencies, by surprise ; burning, and destroying and slaughtering the inhabitants. Chmiel, on hearing this, came upon him on a sudden, and cut to pieces all who had accompanied him. Radzivil himself escaped by flight, with only a few attend ants; leaving all his captives, ships, and money, in the hands of the conqueror. Vasili used every exertion to make peace between the Poles and the Cossacks ; but his efforts were rendered unavailing, by the malice of this wretch, who, in presence of the ambassadors sent to the Cral by the Emperor, made sport of the latter ; saying, " He is no Emperor : he is merely the Cral of Moscow : and you may go and tell him, that I trample on him and his dignity." All this arose from the excess of his pride and haughtiness. The Polish Cral, for his part, had no inclination to encourage such behaviour. When the Emperor heard this message, and what had been said of him, he was exceedingly angry ; and sent to the Poles other ambassadors, a second and a third time, to propose an accommodation ; requiring that they should style him Emperor of the Great and Little Russia ; evacuate the territory of the Cossacks, leaving them unmo lested ; surrender Smolensko peaceably into his hands ; and move no evil against any of the inhabitants. But this accursed scoundrel refused to comply, until God humbled his pride, as we shall relate in the sequel.
SECT. III.
RUSSfAN MERCHANTS.— WAR WITH THE POLES.
ON this, the Emperor, as our informant went on to state, assembled the chief officers of his government, the grandees of the empire, the chief merchants, and the rich men of the capital ; and forming a great council, laid before them all these affairs, saying : " For my part, I am ready to stake my life for the love of oui- Holy Religion, for the protection of our Christian brethren the Cossacks,
338 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
and to effect the deliverance of the Petcherskoi Convent, and others, from the slavery of our enemies the Poles." With this speech all were greatly delighted, and in particular the Patriarch, who much incited him to march out against the Poles : and the principal of the merchants said, in answer to the Emperor : " We request your majesty not to expend your own treasures in the pay of the army, and by no means to take upon yourself the costs of this war. We, the merchants, will grant you a sufficiency of money to prosecute your designs, for the benefit of our Religion, and for the subjugation of our enemies, the accursed Poles." Immediately, therefore, a proclamation was issued by the Emperor, for the march of an expedition ; and the merchant above mentioned, from the abundance of his wealth, presented to his sovereign a sum of six hundred thousand roubles. The value of a rouble, which is the word in the Russian lan guage for a dinar, is two rials. On presenting this money to the Emperor, the merchant said to him : " This is an offering which I make to your majesty, from the stores which God has blessed me with, of his bounty, during the days of your glorious reign." This person was the greatest merchant in the capital : he was reported to pay, every year, into the imperial treasury one hundred thousand dinars in duties on the merchandise which he received from the country of the Franks, and from Persia and India, in return for the goods which he stored in his warehouses, which were beyond all computation. His celebrity was in pro portion to his immense wealth ; and, indeed, all the great merchants here are so vastly rich, that they count their riches by millions. The mansion and palaces of this merchant we afterwards viewed in Moscow, and found them larger and more magnificent than the palaces of our Vazirs. He had built for himself a beautiful church, of which we never saw the equal even in the Emperor's palace ; on which he was said to have expended more than fifty thousand dinars, so great was his love for Religion and good works. When the rest of the merchants, and the great men of the capital, and the chief officers of Government, saw that the said person had presented this sum of money, they became jealous of him ; and, endeavouring to rival him, they all made offerings to the Emperor of large sums, so that the money thus collected was sufficient for all the expenses of the army during the whole of the year, and for the entire expedition ; and the Emperor was in no need of opening his treasury at all. The Patriarch was said to have offered his majesty a present of about one hundred chests filled with money, as his own private contribution ; but the Emperor refused to accept it, saying: " The sums which my Christian brethren have presented to me are quite sufficient." The monasteries, also, made him offerings of immense wealth ;
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the Convent of the Trinity alone having contributed more than one hundred thousand dinars. The Heads of the Clergy, imitating this example, equipped for the war upwards of twenty thousand armed men, principally taken from the service of their Convents. At the head of these were the troops belonging to the Patriarch.
Having formed a large camp without the city, the Emperor made a Yakehna, or enumeration of his forces, a task which required a considerable time to effect ; and it was computed that the number of men who received rations amounted to upwards of seven hundred thousand, according to the account given by the Patriarch of Moscow, to Patalaron, the deposed Patriarch of Con stantinople, on being asked concerning this matter. Of this body of men, one hundred and forty-four thousand were infantry ; the rest were all cavalry. For his body guard the Emperor selected three hundred thousand to be about his person, forty thousand of whom were equipped from his own armoury. To Chmiel, Hetman of the Cossacks, he sent princely robes, with a sword and Turkish mace ; and on all his great officers he bestowed military uniforms. He also took into his pay forty thousand of the Cossack troops, bettering then- condition much, and fitting them out for war. At length, God granted him his favour ; so that he made the conquest of the great city of Smolensko, and defeated his chief enemy, Radzivil. In the mean time, his various officers sub dued upwards of ninety-four towns and castles, by storm and voluntary surrender ; killing God only knows how many Jews, Armenians, and Poles, and throwing their children, packed in barrels, into the great River Nieper, without mercy ; for nothing can exceed the hatred which the Muscovites bear to all classes of heretics and infidels. All the men, without exception, they cut to pieces, not sparing one : the women and children they carried into slavery, after destroying their habitations, so as to leave their towns entirely desolate. Thus the country of the Poles, which formerly was proverbially rich, and bore a comparison with the finest provinces of Greece, now became a vast scene of ruin, where not a village nor an inhabitant was to be found in a fifteen-days' journey in length and breadth. We were informed that more than one hundred thousand of the enemy were reduced to captivity, so that seven or eight boys and girls were sold for a dinar and less ; and many of them we ourselves saw. In the towns which they took by capitulation they spared all those inhabitants, and allowed them to remain, who embraced the Faith and were baptized : the rest were all expelled : but the towns which they captured at the point of the sword they totally cleared of their inhabitants, and levelled their houses and fortifications to the ground.
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One of the places captured was the city of Mohilov, so much celebrated, among the mercantile class, lor its riches, as all its inhabitants are extremely rich mer chants. And because the Governor, who commanded there on the part of Radzivil, surrendered by capitulation, after a long and severe siege, and, makin" his submission to the Emperor, embraced the faith and was baptized, the Em peror continued him in his post, confirming him as Voivode of the town, in conjunction with one of his own Vazirs. The whole of this conquered country was under the government of Radzivil, and his private domain. The Emperor gave orders forthwith for the repair of the towers which had been thrown down in the ramparts of the city of Smolensko, and for the restoration of its walls and fortifications ; and having appointed two Voivodes to reside there, with a garrison of thirty thousand troops, he stored it witli provisions and ammunition. After wards he moved away to a town called Fiazma, which was formerly the frontier between his territory and that of the Poles ; where he remained until the end of the Festival of the Immersion, waiting for the plague to cease. From the moment of his departure for this expedition till the present time, he had sent orders to guard all his frontier towns ; so that not a single person should be permitted to travel away from them, lest the report of the plague should be spread abroad. Afterwards they brought the principal officers of the accursed Radzivil, whom they had made prisoners, in a boat from Kalokha to this town of Kalomna, to conduct them hence to Cazan, to be deposited in the prisons there. They were about three hundred in number ; who, after having been commanders and rich men, were now reduced to poverty and disgrace, so that our hearts were distressed at the sight of their wretched condition.
SECT. IV.
CEREMONIES OF ORDINATION.— WINTER SEASON, AND MARKETS.—
TREATMENT OF DOGS.
To return to our description of this country and climate. — In the month of llol, the days and nights here are equal ; but towards the end of the month the nights begin to exceed the days in length, so that by the Feast of Saint Barbara the day is reduced to seven hours, whilst the night is lengthened to seventeen.
On the Festival of St. Demetrius, our Lord the Patriarch performed mass in the Cathedral Church ; and this was the first day of the cold season. Also, on the Sunday of the Carnival of the Nativity he performed mass there, and ordained
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Priests. It is the custom of the Bishop here, when he performs mass, to vest his robes, sitting on a throne with three high steps in front, which is placed in the porch. Under his feet, when lie stands up, they spread a round piece of woollen cloth, beautifully dyed of various colours, having in the centre the figure of not one eagle only, but several ; and these were placed, by the 'AvayvwVra/, under the feet of our master, whenever he stood up ; whilst we always held him by the shoulders, and the ' Avot,yva<rrct,t belonging to the church stood round him, one of them holding his crosier behind him. Before mass, we used to perform a FLuguxhriffis for the Emperor ; and after they had recited the Hours, according to custom, they then commenced the mass, during which the 'Avayt/<yVra< chaunted "Ayiog within the tabernacle £c.
It is to be observed, that it is the practice of all the Greeks, and here also, that at the ordination of a Priest or a Deacon they do not lead him forth to make a Proclamation over him, as we do ; but he is led out by two Deacons from the royal door, and in again, whilst they say K&evirov AsWora^Ayis, and bow witli their heads three times : then they lead him round the altar, and at each turn he receives the blessing of a Chief-priest on his head. After these circuits he makes three Merotvotai to the altar, and, kneeling down, is again blessed three times. On rising, he kisses the altar, and receives three other blessings, as before. Then, after being clothed in the clerical dress, if he is ordained Priest, he has given to him the Kovra*;, or Breviary, of the mass ; if Deacon, the fan, or otherwise jwXJl yLJJII .
The mass in this country is performed with all possible reverence, awe, and veneration; and the Priest does not recite the ^Jb! or any thing that he has to say, nor the Deacon the Prone, with a very loud voice, as we do, but with calmness, and a quiet sedate humility : as do also the chaunters, particularly when a Bishop is engaged in the ordination of a Priest ; then his voice is very gentle, and none hear it but those who are present with him in the tabernacle-. This mode of reading low we now learnt from them.
On the second Sunday of Advent, our Lord the Patriarch again performed mass, and ordained Priests and Deacons, in the upper church ; where they had heated the stove since the night before, on account of the severity of the cold which now came on. For this purpose the Bishop had built this church, and placed a stove in the cellar under it ; that when he said mass in it during the cold weather, they might on the preceding evening heat the stove with much wood, and in the morning, by opening the flues above, admit the warm air into the church, so that it became heated like a bath.
31.2 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
The course of the weather in this country of Moscow is,, that from the Festival of the Cross till the beginning of the Christmas Lent there are very high winds during the night, with heavy rains ; and from the beginning of the Lent commence huge falls of snow, which succeed each other, without a thaw, until the month of Nisan. This snow freezes in layer upon layer, till, from the thickness and universal spread of the ice, the roads become impassable on foot, presenting everywhere the appearance of a mass of polished marble ; and the fields, from the depth of the snow lying on them, here and there to several heights of man, are rendered altogether impervious. During this season, the santas, which are sliding carriages, traverse the country like the caiques or barm s in the waters of Constantinople ; and, whilst this frost continues, the markets everywhere are plentifully supplied with provisions, at the cheapest rate. In every sania we used to see six persons seated, with their goods in stowage, all drawn by a single horse. The immense loads of agricultural produce, and the huge stones transported by these carriages, excited our surprise ; for that which one horse draws here could not be drawn by twenty horses in our country. At these times they used to import into Kalomna all their large and finely chiselled tomb stones, which twenty horses in the ordinary way would not move, in sanias, by one or two at a draught, with their owners mounted upon them, with a single horse. It was really surprising to behold ; and the whole expense of a huge stone brought from a very great distance would be only three dinars. This facility of transport is the cause of the great prosperity of this country, and of the abundant comforts of life which its inhabitants enjoy; provisions of all kinds, and at the lowest price, being conveyed during the winter to Moscow, from the remotest parts of the empire. This traffic is principally carried on about Christ mas, at which time they buy and sell the whole of their yearly products. Sliding with the greatest swiftness over the ice, the sledges proceed at the rate of one hundred versts in a day through this country of palaces ; and we used to see the goods, which were bought in the markets, stowed by the purchasers, whether men, women, or children, in very small sledges, and drawn by the hand with a cord without difficulty or fatigue, but with the most gentle motion, by the person walking on before. In this way the women draw their children about in sledges.
Throughout the wrhole of this great empire no street dogs whatever are to be seen abroad. All their dogs are confined within their houses ; and there is not a house, either of a man in powrer or of a rich man, nor of the poorest labourer, without a dog or two. These are as vivid as fire ; are constantly tied
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 3J.3
ii]) nt home, with iron chains round their necks, and lying in wooden kennels built for them to stay in during the day ; at night are let loose, to roam about the inclosure ; being always fed with flesh, and having milk usually given them to drink. In consequence of this treatment, which we describe as we saw, every dog of them is equal to fight a trooper, and is too fierce to allow any person to approach him.
The first week of the Fast of the Nativity, the River of Moscow, with all the rivers, and even the lakes throughout the country, were frozen over, and so remained until the middle of the month Nisan ; so that after being accustomed to pass the former in large boats,, we now crossed it with dusty feet ; unable to distinguish it from the solid ground, and not knowing where it was situated, but from the wells which they dug in it, to draw up water with buckets made of wooden staves, or the bark of the jlamor-tYee, the pieces of which, in the same moment that they are soaked in water, unite closely, and become like one. These buckets, of such strange and wonderful construction, are in general use through out the country. On the rivers, thus frozen, they pass along in sledges -with great rapidity, far exceeding the speed of their progress over the frozen earth ; because the former are free from the ascents and descents which must be encoun tered on the latter, and are as smooth and even as polished marble. At the same time that the rivers froze^ all the moist provisions, in the houses, cellars, and shops, froze also ; and the oil which we bought during this weather was like manna or candied sugar. As for honey, it became as hard as a stone ; and so did every egg, too hard to be broken. The fish were no sooner caught from the river than they froze, and rattled against each other like pieces of dry wood ; and thus they continued frozen until the month of Adar, without experiencing the smallest damage. After laying the fish over the stove to thaw, we then washed and cooked it with a great deal of trouble. The manner of catching fish during this season is very curious. The fishermen walk over to the middle of the river, where they break the ice in the manner of a deep well : to this opening all the fish thereabouts come, for the purpose of inhaling the air : in the mean time, the nets are let down and drawn together, and there is brought up in them a very large quantity, much exceeding the draughts in the summer season. On this account, fish is extremely cheap here in winter. In the bellies of all the fish of this country are found bags of caviare, which is a very delicious meat. At the Festival of the Immersion, presents were made to our Lord the Patriarch of some beautiful live fish, in vessels full of water, resembling the fish which is caught in the river at Aleppo, and is called Abo Sharib : this appeared to us
Z z
34 1 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
a very great curiosity. At the same time they presented to him honey in the comb, frozen, and as white as snow, of which they have great abundance at this season. ; and also fine apples of admirable flavour.
The market-days in this city of Kalomna are Monday and Thursday ; on which the whole of the inhabitants of the town and country assemble in the market place ; each of the country people, with their various kinds of commodities, in a sledge. They used to bring with them large and small pigs ready killed and scalded, which, being frozen, stood erect in the sledges, as if they were alive : they were fine animals, and very cheap. They brought also geese, ducks, and turkeys, which they likewise sell ready plucked.
The strength and seventy of the cold were beyond expression ; for when they fetched water to the houses in barrels from the river, it used to freeze by the way, and would only thaw in a heated room. Even whilst the water-carrier was dipping his bucket in the river, the ice would form on it, in layer upon layer : and when they were washing the plates, they used to stick to each other, on being placed in piles ; and would become one solid mass, only to be loosened by the fire-side. The leaves even of the cabbages were frozen within them. This vegetable is remarkably fine in this country, and is sold washed and cleaned of its outward leaves. We used to buy a sledge-load of it, containing a hundred large cabbages, for five or six copecks only. Cabbages, carrots, radishes, &c. are pulled from the ground before the snow falls ; and are put into the cellars, whence they are brought out at this season of the year, to be sold as they are wanted.
Another consequence of the great cold was, that the breath issuing from the mouth and nostrils of a man froze upon his beard and mustaches, in flake upon flake ; so that, instead of black, they became perfectly white, and could not be cleared of the ice but by approaching the fire. Whenever we went out of the house, the moisture even withinside our noses used to freeze and block up the passage ; and the water which a man made on a wall, or on the ground, would instantly turn into ice. All the spouts and gutters on the tops of our chambers were blocked up. None of us could for a moment bear to take off the fur- coverings from his hands and nose. The frost and snow penetrated through the joints of the doors and windows, though they were covered with leather and woollen-cloths to exclude the air. No light could be seen through the panes of crystal in the windows ; for they became like pieces of opaque marble with the incrustation of the hoar-frost upon them, of which it was impossible to keep them clear. The houses here, being all built of wood, used to crack in the night-time
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 3-1-0
from the severity of the cold, and make a noise as loud as the report of a gun. Through the crevices, thus formed, the light would appear, after all the pains that had been taken to make an air-tight apartment. The sign of an approaching severity of frost was when, at the commencement of the evening, the nails of the doors inside began to be covered with shining crystals of white ice, notwith standing the quantity of wood-fire wre made up morning and evening in the stoves, raising the temperature of the rooms to that of a hot-bath. On this account we said our Matins and Vespers at home, when they were of indispensable necessity, as on the eve of a Sunday or festival ; and the mass only we performed in the church. But we were unable to stand upon both our legs during the performance : whilst we supported ourselves on one, we were obliged to lift up the other from the cold floor, though our feet were covered with three or four socks each, made of cloth, felt, and fur : yet all the doors of the church were care fully closed. As for the Muscovites, they intermitted not to perform the midnight service on any one occasion, so that we were astonished at their perseverance. But they are prepared to withstand the cold ; for they are all clothed, both men, women, and children, in long close dresses with sleeves, well lined, both inside and out, with black fur, fitted to the shapes of their bodies. From their hands they never take off a kind of large cuff made of knitted wool, fur, or leather, as warm as fire in winter, with which they do all their work, even to drawing water from the river, and every other species of menial employment. In summer, they wear them of leather only ; and work in them, that their hands may not be injured ; a remarkable delicacy in the poor people here : the rich have them of fine cloth fringed with sables ; for no Russian can endure to touch any common thing with his naked hand : even to hold the reins, when guiding their cattle, they use gloves.
At this season the entire surface of the lands and roads became like a slab of marble ; on which no person could walk without great difficulty, as he would instantly slip. On this account the nails of their boots were made to stick out like thorns, to penetrate the ice ; and their cattle were rough shod in the same way, to prevent them from slipping. But their movements are principally made in sledges, though only from their houses to the market-place ; and the expedi tions of the couriers are performed in these carriages. Their progress is speedier than that of a saddle-horse ; and, moreover, the rider of the latter is subject every moment to fall and break his bones on the slippery ground, or, if he can hold on long, to be frozen to death by the cold. The cattle and other animals are all tied up in the houses in winter, and are supplied with their usual fodder :
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they give them water to drink every morning and evening : but instead of being exercised and curried, they are allowed to roll themselves on the snow every clay ; and frequently they eat the snow, making it serve them instead of draughts of water.
SECT. V.
I-FFECTS OF THE PLAGUE.— REGULATIONS FOR HOLY ORDERS 8f MATRIMONY. CIVILITY AND PIETY OF THE MUSCOVITES.
To return. — On the third Sunday of the Fast of the Nativity, our Lord the Patriarch said mass in the upper church ; and ordained Priests and Deacons for the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady, the Cathedral of the city of Kashira. This ordination was occasioned by the fatal effects of the plague, in consequence of which most of the Clergy died. The cathedral church of this city of Kalomna, for instance, had formerly seven Priests and as many Deacons ; but they all fell victims to the pestilence, except two of the latter, who outlived it. After the celebration of mass had ceased in all the churches around it, here on no day had it been omitted until now ; when it ceased altogether here also, and the congre gations were dispersed for want of Priests. Afterwards, a Curate was brought, every Sunday only, from some village, to say mass in the cathedral. For these reasons they applied to our Lord the Patriarch to ordain Priests for them, in the place of the deceased. When the plague reached the town of Kashira also, and destroyed both the people and the Priests, there set forth thence a deputa tion to our Lord the Patriarch, driving, at the utmost speed, in sledges drawn by horses along the surface of the rivers Oka and Moskwa, (which we had passed in boats) accompanied by two Deacons ; in the hand of each of whom was a testi monial, from the Voivode, the Janissaries, the Cannoniers, and the Portaria, that is, the Gatekeepers guarding the Castle, that he was worthy of the proposed dignity. They bowed down therefore to the Patriarch, and threw themselves on the earth before him, beating their heads on the ground as usual, and saying : " Gosudari Pomilui ! and ordain for us these Deacons to the priesthood, that they may look to the care of our souls, and open for us our churches to mass." He complied with their request, by ordaining the two Deacons : and we had an opportunity to admire their humility, and the high degree of Christian faith which they displayed throughout this whole transaction.
It is the custom with the Bishops in this country, when they ordain a Priest or
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. .'U7
a Deacon, not to allow him to return to his home and church until he has said mass at least fifteen times in the cathedral, that the Priests may teach him the best method,, and that he may not depart without being perfectly well instructed, so that no one shall be able to scoff at him for his awkwardness ; — a laudable accuracy, well deserving of notice. After the ordination, they wrote for them a r^a^act 'Iffrotrixov in their language, translated from the tongue of our Lord the Patriarch, setting forth that he had ordained Priest such an one, from such a town, for the service of such a church, on testimonials of the inhabitants of the said place : for each of the candidates used to bring with him a written docu ment,, witnessing that he was a worthy person, and had been married to one wife and no more. After the Patriarch had set his signature and seal on this 'Iffrartxov, the newly-ordained Ministers received it, and departed. Furnished with this document, they were under no fear from any visit of a Bishop, in his rounds ; who, if he found any person exercising the Clerical functions without such a certificate from the prelate who ordained him, would immediately suspend and punish him.
The officers of the bishopric, from every Priest newly ordained, received a dinar, for the Episcopal Treasury : and so from every person desiring to be mar ried they took a piaster for the marriage-certificate, and for entering his name in their register. This is an excellent regulation ; for thus no one dares to take a wife, throughout the whole jurisdiction of the bishopric, but by their per mission. They exercise a very great severity in regard to the seven degrees of consanguinity ; not allowing that promiscuous intercourse prevalent among the Wallachians and Moldavians, who copulate like brute beasts : and in every part of Muscovy this discipline is observed.
On the eve of the Festival of St. Nicolas, we assisted at the short Vespers (Mixgov'EffTregivoi) in a church on the basement of the cathedral. Here were congregated all who survived, both of those who inhabited the city, and of the neighbouring villagers, whether men, women, or children, male or female. They have a regular custom, when they come to church, to bring with them a taper, in which a copeck is stuck ; which they set before the image of the Saint, patron of the church, and before all the images around.
It is a custom, also, when any Chief-priest among them gives any thing, of what kind soever, to a person of the common people, he bows his head to that person at the same time that he presents it, though it be only to a boy or to a woman. In like manner the Voivode bows his head to the poorest ; and the Priests do so even to the women and children. All ranks are in the habit of
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constantly bowing to each other ; and this bending of the head is their usual salutation in the streets, morning and evening. This is all a token of the fruit of humility ; for pride is entirely eradicated from the midst of them, and haughti ness is held by them in the greatest detestation. Thus we saw and witnessed : and God is witness to us, that we walked among them after the manner of the canonized Saints ; refraining from all mirth, conviviality, and jests, and observing the purest morality of the Gospel, by the necessity of our situation, not by choice.
At midnight, the bells were tolled for matins ; and we arose to attend the service. On entering the above-mentioned church, we found the young women and girls assembled before the men and boys, having hastened thither in crowds, with tapers in their hands. Out of love for St. Nicolas, the con gregation was immense ; and as the church was small, the greater part of them stood without, in the frosty air, with their heads uncovered, according to custom, from midnight until break of day. After they had read the Swafa^a for Nones, at the conclusion of the service, we left the church, exhausted with the fatigue of standing, and shivering with cold ; and after the fourth hour of the day, on the tolling of the bells, we re-entered the church to mass, which was performed by our Lord the Patriarch. But, previously, he made an 'AyiafffAog, with which he sprinkled the church and congregation. Through the severity of the cold, the water was frozen in the vessel, and we had to break the ice in order to dip the cross. Afterwards a Priest was ordained; and we did not go forth from mass until the evening.
We were told, that throughout the whole country of Moscow they perform the Matins so as to last through the night ; and that after the stroke of the fifth hour of the day they never go in to mass, nor go forth from it till the evening ; so that their dinner necessarily becomes a supper meal ; for the day in these months of Canon the First and Second consists of six hours and a half; the night, of seventeen and a half. During this season the sun rises between the east and the south, and sets between the south and the west ; and every day, for these whole two months, is dark and gloomy, so that the day-time can hardly be distinguished from the night-time.
On the Festival of St. Spiridion, the Wonder-worker, our Lord the Patriarch said mass in the upper church, and ordained Priests and Deacons. The occasion of this was, that the Prior of the convent called Sebasti, that is, the Convent of the Manifestation, situated amidst the streets of this city, had four sons Priests, who all died with their wives and children, leaving their houses empty, and their churches vacant ; and he asked our Lord the Patriarch
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. ,3 [9
to ordain him some Priests in their room. So also, on the Sunday ruv 'Ayiw ngovuroguv, he celebrated mass,, and ordained Priests and Deacons. On the Feast of St. Ignatius there was assembled a large congregation ; and on this day was the appointed time for the slaughter of hogs, and for making bacon, the provision of which, prepared at this season, lasts them from year to year. They likewise killed oxen and sheep for their eating during the festival of Christmas ; as on that day no slaughter takes place.
SECT. VI.
LIFE OF ST. PETER OF KIO V.— CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES. MODE OF PETITIONING.
THE next evening, also, there was a numerous assemblage, on the occasion of the Feast of St. Peter, Chief of the Bishops of Kiov, which is Little Russia, and of the whole of the country of Moscow or Great Russia. It is he whose image we made mention of before, as being executed in mosaic, in the chancel of St. Sophia. This Saint was the first metropolitan that sat in the city of Kiov, in the reign of the Emperor Basil the Macedonian, when the Cossacks, with their prince, embraced the faith. He was sent to them by that Emperor ; being by birth, as his history informs us, a Greek of Constantinople. On his arrival among the Cossacks, and preaching to them the Messiah, they put him to severe trials, and said to him : " We will light up a great fire ; and if you pass through it, in your sacerdotal robes, with the Gospel in your hand, unhurt, we will believe in your God." The fire was lighted ; he passed through it unhurt ; and they all embraced the faith. He baptized them in the River Nieper ; con firmed them in their belief ; and built for them some magnificent churches, such as St. Sophia and others. He then came into Muscovy, where he performed a like miracle : from that time forth, the Muscovites yielded their faith to Christ through his hands, and he built for them the splendid churches which remain until now. He sat as the first Metropolitan in the See of Moscow, with jurisdiction over the whole of the Greater Russia. They give him the title of Protosronos, that is, First of the Metropolitans. To the bishopric of Kiov he appointed another, as his successor. It was he who built the second walls of the city of Moscow, which are outside the palace-walls, and are called by his name. Here he died; and his body remains to the present day, inclosed in a silver coffin, surrounded by a high balustrade of beautiful silver rails. We afterwards paid
350 TRAVELS OF MACAIUUS.
our devotions to these reliques, which are placed in the third chapel, on the north side of the Great Church, which is the Patriarchal See. The Muscovites have great faith in him ; and are continually repairing, in crowds of men, women, and children, among whom are sometimes Princes and Princesses, to his tomb.
On the Friday, which was the Eve of the Nativity, the bells were tolled ; first for the Hours ; and afterwards for mass, from which none went forth until the evening. On the Sunday (^wxl) our Lord the Patriarch performed mass in the Great Church, and ordained Priests and Deacons. The frost was this day so severe, that we were shrivelled by it; and our hands were benumbed within our fur sleeves, from which we could not venture to put them forth for an instant. Our legs dropped under us, and we suffered most dreadful tortures. The lid of the silver ewer which held the water for the service was cemented by the frost, and the Deacon was unable to pour out any water at the time that it was wanted. Even the wine within its vessel became like a crust, or rather a solid piece of rock, and could be dissolved only by being placed on the fire. The most wonderful of all was, that the elements of the sacred mysteries froze in the cup, and were turned into stone ; though the Deacon, after pouring water from the jug into the cup, always with great care covers the latter with the xuXvpuu, and keeps it so. The Corpus Christi ( ^| j^Jl) also, and the 'Avrtiuou, froze, and became like stones, so as to be unlit for mastication. Notwithstanding all this, we assisted at the church services with our heads uncovered ; for it is the custom with the Greeks, and in this country equally, for the Priests and Deacons to be always bareheaded, from the beginning of the mass till the end ; but here they stand uncovered during all the rest of the service also ; and we were compelled, however unwilling, to follow their example ; so that on leaving the church, during this season, we were, God knows, nearly blind with cold, and for days together were deprived of hearing, our ears being shrivelled up with the frost. If we had not had the precaution to let our hair grow, as the Muscovites do, we should have gone blind altogether ; but the Almighty assisted us. The worst of all was, that we did not leave the church until evening ; and then scarcely had we seated ourselves at table, when the bells were again tolled for Vespers, at which we must rise to give our attendance. What is to be thought of this persevering assiduity, from which this pious nation never deviates in its attention to all the offices of Religion, amidst the most trying circum stances ? Are we to suppose them insensible to fatigue, and to believe that they can live without eating ; that they are never to be satiated with the most con stant succession of prayers and metanoias, standing up to them on their legs
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 351
during the whole time, with their heads uncovered in the coldest weather, without the smallest appearance of weariness or faintness from the length of the service, which is always so excessive ?
On the Eve of Christmas-day, the Priests and Deacons, after service, waited on our Lord the Patriarch, with the picture of the Nativity and the Crosses, chaunting the Christmas Hymn, £c., in like manner as wras done in Moldavia and Wallachia : then they performed the HoXv^goviov for the Emperor ; and another for the Antiochian Patriarch, who gave them a gratuity, and they departed. This they repeated on the morrow, which was the morning of Monday, the Festival of the Nativity.
On the day beginning the year One thousand six hundred and fifty-five from the Divine Incarnation, the bells were tolled at midnight, and the people arose to prayer. As for us, we had no strength to perform the prayers in the church, being rendered incapable of such a service by the intensity of the cold ; but we discharged this duty in our own apartments, after we had lighted up the tapers before all the images within them, and withoutside the doors. Such is the custom here : and should there be in any of their houses even a hundred images, they light a taper before each, both morning and evening ; every image being furnished with a branch candlestick fastened in the wall. At mass-time, the bells were tolled after the fourth hour of the day ; and our Lord the Patriarch went down to the celebration, out of love and respect for the name of the Emperor. He also ordained Priests and Deacons. We were again detained in the church until the evening, and were nearly dead with hunger and cold ; yet we had not sufficient time to eat our dinners before the bells recommenced tolling for Vespers, and we arose to the performance.
It may be noted, that from a week before Christmas, till the Feast of the Immersion, a great fair takes place in Moscow, for buying and selling goods of all kinds ; and this is the season when provisions are cheap, as they are brought from the remotest parts of the country.
On the second and third day of the festival, our Lord the Patriarch said mass in the upper church, after they had lighted up the stove from the preceding evening, and ordained Priests and Deacons : for when the report spread over the country, that the Patriarch of Antioch was conferring the sacerdotal dignity, persons began to flock to him from every hollow vale, bringing presents of fish, butter, honey, &c., accompanied with jolofitdt or petitions, praying that he would grant them this favour. These new Priests used very much to excite our admiration ; for without a moment's delay, they clothed themselves in the sacer-
AA
352 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
dotal dress, which is a cloth cassock with a broad-laced collar, and,, shaving a large circle on the top of the head, plaited the hair over their foreheads., and drew it behind their ears, as the women do. The only part of their hair which they shave, is on the crown of the head ; the rest they allow to grow : and by this slight change they appeared, suddenly, as though they were Priests of many years' standing : for the Muscovites are exceedingly quick in their apprehension of any thing that is taught them.
A remarkable custom in this country is, that when any person presents himself with a petition before the Emperor, or a Governor, Patriarch, Bishop, or Priest, and after humbling himself in supplication, finds that his prayer is not conceded to his many metanoias, he then beats his head on the ground, and thus perseveres ; refusing to raise it, until his petition is granted.
SECT. VII.
CONDITION OF THE CLERGY.— FESTIVAL OF THE IMMERSION.
A PRIEST in Muscovy is a personage of very great dignity, before whom Governors and other Magistrates stand in fear and awe, whilst he is seated. Every Clergyman, whether Priest or Deacon, has a permanent stipend ; and they have, moreover, an abundance of provisions at the cheapest rate, as they are all possessed of forms, which are worked by their serfs. We were told that the annual stipend allowed to the Protopapas, by the Emperor, is fifteen roubles, and a piece of fine cloth : the inferior Clergy have proportionate allowances* according to their degrees, and cloth of lower price : the Deacon has one half. Their articles of food are brought to their houses by their land-bailiffs; and besides their pension from the Emperor, they are privileged with an exemption from all duty upon their commodities. The Protopapas of Kalomna has a village bequeathed to him, consisting of a hundred houses or more, of which the entire produce is consigned into his hands. He has, besides, a large house for his mansion ; but neither this nor the village belongs to him as his private property : being held of the Emperor, they pass to the use of the Protopapas for the time being.
On the death of the Protopapas, one of the inferior Priests repairs to the Emperor, taking with him a certificate, from the town Magistracy, that he is worthy to succeed to the dignity. When it happens to be the Festival of the Cathedral Church, they make before mass an 'Ay^ao-^o?, of which the Protopapas Elect takes a portion in a vessel, and, accompanied by the Protodiaconos, waits on
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 353
the Emperor, to present it to him : the Emperor then invests them with robes of honour belonging to their office.
On Monday the Festival of the Circumcision, our Lord the Patriarch said mass in the Cathedral Church, and ordained Priests. Previously to the mass, he made an ' Ayicurpog ; but the severity of the cold was such, that the water froze in the vessel, though it had been poured in boiling ; as during this season, when they make an ' Ay i cur peg, they always boil the water first, that it may not suddenly freeze. After the cross had been dipped, and placed on the table cloth, it stuck to it ; and after they had finished the mass, we were unable to fold up our robes, for our fingers were benumbed and chapped ; yet, in the midst of all this cold, we had to remain with our heads uncovered, so that we suffered greatly.
On Friday the Ilotgupov?! of the Immersion, the bells rang from an early hour in the morning, till the time when they came out from church in the evening; and our Lord the Patriarch went down to pray over the water, accord ing to custom. The water had been boiled ; but still it froze ; and it was with difficulty that the ice was broken to dip the cross, for the cold increased in severity.
On the morning of Saturday the Feast of the Immersion, the bells were tolled at the third hour ; and all the Priests within the city, as well as those of the neighbouring villages, with their congregations, assembled, and came as usual to the great church, where they robed. Then they clothed our Lord the Patriarch in his vestments ; and went out before us in great procession, walking two and two, and carrying large and small images, the large being borne between two. After them walked the Deacons, with large crosses, fans, and lamps ; and they were followed by us, until we passed through the gate of the city, and came to the celebrated river of Moscow (the Moskwa). On the preceding day they had dug a deep hole, as large as a fish-pond, through ice five spans thick, round which they had set a fence of stakes and boards, as a precaution, lest, as had often happened, the ice should give way, by the pressure of the crowd. From the bank of the river, to this spot, a platform was laid of wooden planks, to walk on ; and across the middle of the pool, a broad gallery was constructed, having a pair of wooden steps w?ell secured to it, for the Patriarch to go down by to the water, when he should have to make the sign of the cross upon it, and for him to rest his knees upon. The people from the villages dug many other holes in the river, about which they stationed themselves, with their cattle. Round the inclosed fence were
354 TRAVELS OF MACAIIIUS.
arranged the Clergy ; whilst, withinside, our Lord the Patriarch stood on a carpet spread for him before a chair provided for his use. Then they began the Prayers &c. When the Patriarch came to that part of the service where he was to dip the cross in the water three times, several layers of ice had already been formed upon it, and it became necessary to break through them. This was done with brazen pitchers ; and after the third immersion, all the people took of the water in their vessels from the holes which they had dug, and gave to their horses to drink. Thousands and thousands of persons had assembled from the villages, having heard that it was the intention of the Patriarch of Antioch to bless the water. Then the Patriarch came out upon the platform ; and began to asperge the Grandees first, and afterwards the Clergy. In con sequence of the intense cold, it was wonderful to see the drops of water freeze on the bristles of the hogs, as he sprinkled them : and on the sleeves and collars of the people these drops became like glass spangles shining in the light. Even the beards and mustaches of the men were covered and whitened with hoar-frost, their breath instantly freezing as it issued from their nostrils ; nor could the icicles be removed without such violence as almost to draw the hairs along with them. The sun was risen ; but no hope arose to us that we should be able to go through the hardships of this day, and we abandoned ourselves to despair. God, however, was pleased to assist us and save us, though our hands and feet and noses were nearly bitten off by the frost, notwithstanding the tight fur gloves which were doubled on our hands, and the thick fur boots which inclosed our feet and legs, besides the many fur cloaks with which we were entirely enveloped. But the great wonder was, to behold all, wli ether Clergy or laity, standing bareheaded in this intense cold, from the earliest hour of the morning until we went forth from mass in the evening.
At the conclusion of the ceremony on the river, we returned the way we came ; our Lord the Patriarch sprinkling the men and women on the right and left, until we arrived at the great church. All this time the bells of all the churches were ringing, both as we went and returned ; and under the steps of the Cathedral, one of the Priests stood to incense the Clergy one by one, as they entered. Last of all, the Patriarch ascended the steps ; and having entered the church, we took our station in the porch &c. At the end of the service we were so much affected by the cold, that we were unable to perform mass in the Cathedral ; and therefore went up into the higher church, which they had warmed with stoves from the preceding evening. Here we celebrated the holy mysteries, and there was an ordination of Priests and Deacons. We were detained until
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 3,13.5
evening, cursing our very souls from weariness and starvation. We had scarcely afterwards sat down to table before they chimed the bells for Vespers.
In the country of Moscow, we were told, there are only two festivals on which the great assemblies take place ; namely, the Immersion, and the Procession of Palms ( jyU^,) : and this we afterwards found to be the case. At the former of these two, as celebrated in the capital, they construct a large inclosure of paling on this same river, for it flows near to the Imperial Palace ; and the Patriarch goes forth with the Heads of the Clergy and of the Convents, and the whole of the inferior Clergy, in their robes, two and two, in grand procession from the Great Church to Vodalivrata, or the Water-gate. The Emperor follows them with his Great Officers of State, on foot, and wearing his crown ; but at the moment they begin the Prayer, he uncovers his head, and remains until the conclusion, thus exposed to the dreadful severity of the cold. His predecessors on the throne, we were informed, used to have expanded over their heads a species of high cupola or pavilion, carried by thirty men, to protect them from the frost and snow : this august prince, out of the greatness of his piety, will not allow himself such an accommodation but stands bareheaded ; and says, that frost and snow are a blessed dispensation from God, to which none can hinder him from being subject. At the moment the Patriarch dips the cross for the third time, the crowd becomes immense ; and in the large holes previously made in the ice, upon the river, the Priests instantly baptize both children and grown-up persons, who are kept waiting for this occasion from year to year. As soon as the Patriarch has asperged the Emperor and his Grand Officers of State, his majesty returns to his palace in his royal sledge, which is covered inside with red velvet, and is studded on the outside with gold and silver nails. The caparison of the horses is made of sable furs. Then the Patriarch sprinkles the rest of the Clergy and Grandees present ; and they return in procession to church, for mass.
On the Sunday, which was the second day of the Festival of the Immersion, our Lord the Patriarch said mass as before, and ordained to be Priests and Deacons the sons of a Clergyman, who, having been formerly a secular Minister, had become a Monk in one of the convents of a city called Tola, of the 'T-ra^/a or jurisdiction of this Bishopric, dedicated by the title of Saint John the Baptist. This man presented himself before our Lord the Patriarch with a petition from the Prior and Monks of the convent, purporting that he had been a secular Minister, and at the death of his wife had taken the monastic habit. Now, as we have before mentioned, it is a rule with the Bishops of this country not to
356 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
grant permission to a person in his circumstances to perform mass until after a lapse of many years, that he may, in the interim, forget the world and all its pleasures. As soon,, however, as the news reached the convent of the proceed ings of our Lord the Patriarch, the Monks sent to entreat his Holiness that he would give1 this Priest permission to say mass ; for all the Priests they had in the convent to perform the sacred mysteries had lately died. In compliance with their request, the Patriarch granted him the permission : and the Secretary of the Bishopric wrote for him a certificate, translated into their language from the tongue of the Patriarch, to take with him. After we had signed this docu ment, and sealed it with our seals, he departed with it, full of joy.
SECT. VIII.
CITY OF TOLA, AND IHOX /t'ORKS.— ARCHBISHOP OF RAZAINOV.
CONFER S10X OF INFIDELS.
WE were informed, by this Clergyman and others, that the city of Tola is distant from Moscow one hundred and thirty versts ; from Kashira, one hundred and twenty ; and from the trench lately dug by the Emperor on the Tartar fron tier, and fenced with crossed piles of wood like a wall, with a continued line of castles and towers, guarded by thousands of troops, its distance is about five hundred versts. From this trench, the whole way to the Tartar Country is through a deserted and ruined territory, rendered impassable to an army,, by the spread of its waters, the frequency of its difficult defiles, and the narrowness of its mountain paths. This Tola is a city with a castle built of stone, larger and stronger than Kalomna ; and is the passage to the Tartar Country, as Potiblia is the passage to Turkey. Lately, within the reign of this Emperor, there has been discovered near the town an admirable mine of iron, extending under several hills. Formerly no native iron was seen in the country : all the iron they used was brought 'them by the Franks,, in their ships. The Nemsas or Germans were the first to discover these mines, and are now working them day and night ; having rented them from the Emperor, at the rate of keeping one portion in ten of the iron to themselves, and yielding the remaining nine to his majesty. They have admirably-constructed furnaces, into which the}' put the ore as it is dug from the earth : then lighting the fires, they raise the heat to such a degree, that the iron melts like water, and runs from the furnaces all round, through pipes, into trenches dug in the ground, in which moulds are hollowed to the shape of cannon, wheels, &c. In every trench are
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 3.37
forty or fifty moulds on each side ; from which, as soon as the iron masses have assumed the proper form,, they are extracted without trouble or labour, and without even the use of a spade : in this way, thousands of various articles are manufactured every day. The vast quantities of cannon which are founded here are carried away on sledges, in winter ; and are partly taken a distance of one thousand seven hundred versts, or about forty days' journey, to the port of Archangel, where the main ocean is, to be sold to the Franks, who export them to their own country. They are of the best and purest metal. This iron is very cheap ; and therefore all the gates of the stone houses, the gates of the palaces and churches, the trap-doors of the cellars and magazines., and the doors and windows of the shops in the city of Moscow, as well as the balustrades, are mostly made of pure iron. We used to wonder greatly at the vast size of the church and castle and palace gates. The floor of the Patriarchal Church was formerly laid with stone ; but as, after a lapse of time, it was worn to decay, the Emperor sent orders to this foundry at Tola, to make large square plates, polished so as to shine like silver ; and with these they paved the whole of the church floor, the tabernacle, and even the outside of the gates to the west part of the basement ; as we afterwards saw, and shall hereafter more particularly describe in the proper place.
It may be here remarked, that many of the persons who died of the plague, and had property to leave, bequeathed it for the construction of churches. Application was therefore made to our Lord the Patriarch, by the Heads of Con vents, and leave by him granted them, to set about building a great number of churches. After he had vested his Hsetrgotffl'h.ioy and 'Qpatpogiov, and read the Prayer designed for the Foundation of Churches, they received from him an *lorTu.Tizov, in their language, subscribed with his hand and stamped with his seal, to be a certificate to them of his permission.
Whilst we were residing in Kalomna, there came, on a visit to our Lord the Patriarch, a Kyr Misayil, Archbishop of Ilazainov, which in their language is called Razanska ; who, being on his way to Moscow, had turned aside, about the distance of forty versts, to come to Kalomna. He sent forward to announce his arrival ; and our Lord the Patriarch, in consequence, prepared to receive him, by putting on his Mai/^ya, according to custom. When the Archbishop entered, accompanied by a large train, one of his attendants took his crosier, and went to the outside ; and the Patriarch, turning his face towards the images, chaunted forth the "Af/ov wriv, as is usual on the entrance of the Heads of the Clergy, when they privately visit each other in this country. In the mean time we
3.38 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
responded Kvgts 'EXg^<rov and EyXoy^erov three times ; after which, the Pa triarch concluded the prayer. Then he turned to give his blessing to the Archbishop, who received it kneeling, and making many metanoias to the ground. At every question the Patriarch asked him concerning his health and circumstances, he made a low bow, and could with difficulty be prevailed upon to take a seat. After he had received the benediction, he kissed the Patriarch's head, and they shook hands with each other. Then the Patriarch questioned him on many subjects ; and among the rest, concerning his See and 'YKOLWIO,, He replied, that under his jurisdiction were more than a thousand churches ; and that his See was established at Razainov, a very large stone-built city, containing within it a castle of wood, and a cathedral church dedicated to the Assumption of our Lady. He informed us, that he had lately, in the sum mer, preached to a nation of those without God ; and that after having suffered from them many hardships, he had at length made an impression on them, and converted them to Christianity. He baptized four thousand four hundred of them in the following manner : — he stripped the men naked to their under clothes, and made them stand in the middle of the river, with the women in their shifts : after pouring upon them oil, and reciting the Prayers for Bap tism, he dipped them all together. Being thus rendered desirous of the fire of true religion, they entered the pale of the faith with vehement love ; and he built for them churches, to which they flocked to prayer, both day and night.
Having finished his narration, he arose to take leave of the Patriarch, with repeated metanoias ; and, as at first, the "A%iov la-riv was again chaunted. The Patriarch blessed him a second time ; and went forth to the outside, to bid him adieu. On coming to the gate of the great church, the Archbishop gave his crosier to one of his Deacons, and, stepping forward, knelt to the ground on the snow, in his Ma^ua, out of veneration to the image over the gate. In like manner he did at the second gate. Then he took his seat in his sania ; and surrounded by his great officers and servants, and preceded and followed by fifty men on horseback, he departed. His upper dress under his cassock was a robe of green figured damask, lined with sable fur, with long narrow sleeves, according to the fashion of their habit : on his head he wore a very large black latin, coming down over his eyes, with a cloth cap under it trimmed with sable fur.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 359
SECT. IX.
SECRECY OF THE MUSCOVITES.— REMOVAL TO MOSCOW.— KOSA KG IV.— VI SHI NO.
To return to our own history. — We were now in great affliction, at the length of our useless stay in this place. We had been led to hope that the Emperor would return from his expedition by the Festival of St. Nicolas, and such a report had been spread abroad ; but he came not : again, that he would come for the Christmas Holidays ; and again we were disappointed. Even for the great Festival of the Immersion, no news appeared of his arrival. We were therefore in great distress, perplexity, and doubt ; particularly as we were shut up in close confinement, without a single person to inform us what the Emperor was doing, or where he was, or what was passing in the world ; for the Muscovites are all, from the highest to the lowest, of a silent disposition ; and this is the only disagreeable part of their character. They will tell nothing to a foreigner whatever, either good or bad, of their own affairs : even to our Lord the Patriarch, when he condescended to ask the chief Officers and Priests,, or even the common people, concerning the circumstances of the Emperor, not one would give the smallest information : all their answer was, " We do not know." The very children were perfectly instructed in the like dissimulation. How surprising is the strictness of such discipline, and that in the mouths of all of them there should be but one tongue ! We were afterwards given to under stand, that every Muscovite is sworn upon the Cross and the Gospel, and bound, on pain of excommunication by the Patriarch, not to reveal their national affairs to foreigners ; but should they gain any intelligence from or concerning strangers, they are obliged to communicate it to the Emperor. In like manner the Greek Merchants, who are recognised as such, and established among them, take an oath not to disclose the affairs of the nation ; and to shun all treachery to the State, even in things of the smallest apparent import. At the time when the Prince succeeds to the sovereignty, and mounts the throne, he sends round to all the provinces, to exact this oath of secrecy and allegiance from all his sub jects ; as we saw done when the new Beg assumed the reins of government in Wallachia. Under these circumstances, we were in great distress and per plexity. Our Lord the Patriarch had sent twice or three times to the Ministers, Lieutenants of the Emperor, letters written to this purport, that we were wearied of expectation, and very desirous of arriving in the capital.
B B B
300 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
These letters they transmitted to the Emperor ; but wrote us no answer, being hindered by the multiplicity of their avocations. Afterwards, the Patriarch despatched to them an Archimandrite,, bearing letters, in which he supplicated them to send and take us to reside in the capital, until the Emperor should arrive. These letters they again transmitted to the Emperor ; and sent to comfort our hearts with the assurance that we should speedily receive an answer. The principal part of our delay here was by reason that the Patriarch of Moscow was not present at his See, and remained away from fear of the plague. If he had not been absent, he would not have delayed us until now, however much engaged in business the Emperor might have been; since the Patriarch is the person charged with the care of the Clergy. This was the worst feature of our neglected condition : this dependence on any but the sovereign made us weary of our lives, and sank us in despair. In the mean while, we received our allow ance every month of one hundred and fifty rials, and also the pensions assigned to our companions, from the commissioner of excise on spirits and mead and beer : our dragoman brought us the money at the beginning of each month.
On the Sunday of the Canaanite, our Lord the Patriarch said mass in the church above, and ordained Priests and Deacons, as he did also on the Monday. Likewise, on the Sunday of the Zaka (rov ' 'Ao-urov), he again said mass, and ordained Priests and Deacons in the same church. Whilst we were attending this mass, the joyful message we had so long expected was at length brought to us by two dragomans of gentlemanly appearance, who came with a large sledge belonging to the Emperor, designed for the travelling-carriage of our Lord the Patriarch. Our delight was too great to be described : it was manifold. These dragomans brought also with them some barrels of mead, and some of cherry-brandy, of various kinds ; caviare in great quantity, and many large fishes. They were accompanied by the Voivoda of the town, bearing in his hand the Emperor's order that he should expedite us quickly. As soon as our Lord the Patriarch had gone forth from the church, the two dragomans presented themselves before him, and, bowing to him with alacrity, said, prefacing their speech with the style of the Emperor, which is this ; ' ' The Great Prince and most glorious Kniazi, of supreme direction and vast dignity, King of Cazan, King of Astrachan, King of Siberia, King of Novogorod, greatest of Effendis in Biskop, greatest of Kniazis in Molantska." Then enumerating the names of all the countries and provinces which were formerly independent governments, but have been con quered by the sovereigns of Moscow — a practice which, on these occasions, they never omit, as will be hereafter explained at full length — they proceeded to
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 301
say, " AUTOXOKTU* M&ydXrtS %a} Mixgw 'Pou<r(riag" that is, " The Self-Ruler of all the lands of the Russians, both of Great and Little Russia, bows to thy Holiness of all Beatitude, and invites thee to the city of Moscow, that tliou mayest sanctify it by thy residence there, and mayest give thy blessing to his throne." At this moment the Patriarch rose upon his feet, according to the usual practice, that whenever a person receives a messenger from the Emperor, or hears the Emperor's name mentioned, he stands up out of veneration for his Majesty : and having offered up many prayers for him, he resumed his seat. Then the Patriarch asked them many questions concerning the Emperor, and his present circumstances. They answered : " His Majesty intends, for the sake of your Holiness, to draw near his throne, that he may meet you ; for he has long been expecting you : and on this account he sent to the Khatman Chmiel, that he should expedite your journey with all diligence." They then informed the Patriarch, that the Emperor had dismissed his troops for the present ; but had sent notice to all the provinces, that a great force must be collected for him at Smolensko, in the month of Adar, to march against the Cral of the Poles. The Voivoda now prepared for us some vovods or carriages, in which we packed our luggage ; and on Tuesday, the thirteenth of Canon Essani, our Lord the Patriarch entered the Great Church as usual, and performed there a UctgdxXria-ic, or Supplication for the Emperor ; and an 'Ayicurpo?. After assisting at mass, we went forth, accompanied by the Voivoda and the Archons of the Bishopric, who raised the Patriarch by his arms, and seated him in the royal sledge, which was harnessed with four horses mounted with postillions. The inside of the carriage was spread with cushions of black velvet, and the Patriarch was inclosed up to the breast with a cloth covering. The corners of the sledge behind were, out of respect, held by the Voivoda, and another Archon who was appointed to attend our journey : the rest of the Archons, to do us further honour, were placed around the carriage : the crosier was held by one of the outriders in front, where were also stationed the janissaries destined for our escort. In this form we proceeded to a considerable distance outside the town ; when the Voivoda and his suite, together with the Archons, bade us adieu. Hereupon the two dragomans, with the Archon, succeeded each other by turns, to stand at the corners of the sledge, both out of respect to the Patriarch, and lest the carriage should be overturned by the rises and falls in the road, until we arrived at the capital.
In this manner we ceased not to run forward with great speed : for at this season of the year the sledges glide along with a velocity equal to the flight of a
30-2 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
bird, over roads hardened by the frost, and lined with villages nearly contiguous to each other. As the road was narrow, the janissaries were busily employed in moving the travellers aside, to make way for us ; and in consequence of the depth of the snow which lay on the ground, their horses sank in it up to their bellies. We used to admire the snow on the branches of the beautiful forest- trees; where it remained concrete, and folded on the twigs on each side, resembling shirts and towels finely washed and spread to dry. We crossed the River of Moscow, with many other rivers, several times ; but we knew them not, nor should have discovered them, but by the wells which were dug in them, from which they were drawing water with ropes and buckets. Our eyes were blinded, for the fields and trees were all of a dazzling white.
We travelled this day, until the evening, a journey of about five and twenty versts ; and came to a town called Kosdkor, where we slept ; having been pre ceded by the Conakji, who prepared for us a lodging. On the Wednesday morning we arose and made a progress of about five and fifty versts. When ever we entered any town, we alighted and stopped at some house, to give some repose to ourselves and horses.
In the afternoon we came to a town called Vishino, distant only ten versts from the city of Moscow. Here we alighted, because the Ministers had so ordered ; and one of the dragomans went to inform them of our arrival. Great was the fatigue we suffered in our passage over these roads, which are extremely rough, and full of lumps and holes, causing our sledges, like vessels on the Black Sea, to jolt from side to side. For this reason, the dragomans kept hold of the Patriarch's sledge from morn till night, to prevent its overturning. All our other sledges turned over with us repeatedly ; nor had any one of us the smallest power to walk, for the ground was like soap.
We slept, then, in the town aforesaid, the night of Thursday, the first of Shabat ; and also the night of Friday, the Feast of the Entrance into the Temple.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 363
SECT. X.
ENTRY INTO MOSCOW.— DESCRIPTION OF THE FORTRESS.— ECCLESIASTICAL HABIT AND CONVERSATION.
ON the morning of the above-mentioned festival, we arose and entered the city of Moscow*. First we entered within the walls of earth and the great moat, which surround the whole place : then we entered within the second wall, which is of stone, and was built by the great-great-grandfather of the Emperor, the Grand Duke Theodoras, by whom also the earthen walls were thrown up ; the circuit of which is thirty versts, studded throughout with wooden towers, and opened by gates. The circumference of this second wall of stone is seven versts. We then entered upon the third wall of stone and brick ; and the fourth, called The Castle, as being very strong, and defended by a very deep moat, on the borders of which are two walls. Within are two other walls, with turrets and numerous embrasures. This castle,, which is the palace of the Emperor, has five gates ; and within each gateway are several wickets of bright iron. In the centre is an iron gate, like a cage, which they raise and lower by mechanism. All the embrasures in the walls of this city have their range extending downward, to the very ground beneath ; and are so contrived, that it may be impossible for any person to hide himself under the wall, or to approach it in any way : and they are very deep.
When we had entered by the Ptoyal Gate, they made us alight in a convent near to it, which had been used before as a lodging for the Patriarchs,, and is built of stone, in the name of the Saints Athanasius and Cyrillus ; the former of
* " Moscow is in the latitude of 55° 40' ; and is built, in some measure, after the Eastern manner, having not many regular streets, but a great number of houses with gardens. Its circumference is about 16 English miles. The River Moskwa, which runs through it, and joins the Occa, near Kolumna, makes many windings, which add a very striking beauty to the city ; but in the summer it is in several places shallow and unnavigable. The several eminences, groves of trees, gardens, and lawns, inter spersed, form the most pleasing prospects, and enliven the imagination." — Hanway's Travels,Vo\. I. p. 92.
" The City of Moscow, standing on an eminence, commands an extensive prospect of a fine plain country, adorned with woods and clumps of trees, monasteries, and gentlemen's seats. The River Moskwa runs almost through it ; which emptying itself into the Volga, preserves a communication with all the southern parts of Russia, and even with Persia. From these advantages in situation, this place is very conve nient for trade, which flourishes here to a considerable degree. The city is fortified with a strong brick wall, having embrasures and a ditch. Within this is another wall. This last incloses what is called the Gremlin ; in which is the old Imperial Palace, compounded of a number of buildings added to one another at different times. Here stands a lofty tower, wherein is hung the largest bell in the world. Beyond the brick walls there is an earthen one, of great circumference round the whole." — Bell's Travels, Vol. I. p. 12.
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Alexandria, the latter of Bielazarsko, and one of their new Saints. Our hearts were ready to burst as we entered the city ; and we wept much at seeing most of the houses emptied of their inhabitants, and the streets frightfully desolate, in consequence of the severity of the plague which had ravaged them. Our Lord the Patriarch gave his blessing to the people on his right and left ; whilst I the Archdeacon, and the Archimandrite, held the corners of the sledge behind, according to their custom. As soon as we arrived at our lodgings, we wor shipped God with thanksgiving, exalted and blessed be His Name ! who, in his mercy, granted us to behold this vast city, this new Grecian metropolis (sjo>Jl &j*cjj IflAjJjk**), a town of churches and convents, and celebrated throughout the world; the history and beauties of which we will hereafter commemorate, in the proper place. Much anxious care was now removed from our hearts; and we rejoiced greatly, as it was natural we should, that having been three years all but ten days journeying to reach this place, amidst terrors, privations, and hardships, beyond description, we were at length arrived within its precincts. Again we return thanks to the Almighty ; and offer up to Him our humble prayers, that whereas He has conducted us hither in health and safety, He will facilitate to us our return to the land of our birth, laden with riches, and to be blessed with the sight of our friends and homes.
To return : — At this moment, interpreters, apppointed by the Emperor, appeared before us, to hold conversation with us ; and others, for the purpose of supplying our necessities. From the Emperor's kitchen and table, daily, was brought for our master — first, bread ; then fish for four kinds of dishes ; caviare ; and plenty of beverages, consisting of deep-red cherry-brandy, and some of a bright yellow ; and large jars of mead. For us, besides mead, was furnished weekly, and also for the servants, a large barrel of /iTasw (koass — quass), that is, an intoxicating drink, made, by boiling, from rye or barley, and hops. It should be noted, that neither the Heads of the Clergy, nor the Monks, drink spirituous liquors at all ; and they are strictly enjoined by the Patriarch, whenever they find any one drunk, to throw him into prison, and scourge him, and expose him to shame ; for with them the drinking of spirituous liquors is a very disgraceful thing, and is considered as a greater sin even than fornication : but the tradespeople, and the servants of the Heads of the Clergy, with their relations, are allowed two cups a-day. The interpreters were employed in instructing us in the whole of the ceremonies to be observed; and besides them, not a single person came near us : for it is the custom with the Muscovites, that if a Head of the Clergy or an
is the Russian word for metropolis, ClIlOAJlLIA.
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Archimandrite shall not first have had an interview with the Emperor, and kissed his hand, he shall not go out at all, nor shall any person visit him ; and, accord- in^ly, we were unable to leave our apartments against this established rule. Our Lord the Patriarch was in the habit of constantly laying aside his mandya ; and, consequently, no Priest or Deacon, not even any of the interpreters, was permitted to visit him until he had been announced by the porter, and the Patriarch had put on his mandya, and had his crosier supported by his side, to receive the visit. This ceremony is observed, not only by the Heads of the Clergy, but also by the Heads of Convents here, with whom it is a rule never to be seen without their mandyas and latias, even at table, nor even by their servants.
We now entered upon the exertion of fatigue in standing up, marshalling our retinue, studying precision in our manners and address, and affecting the utmost sedateness and most awful reverence. As for jesting and laughter, we became entirely estranged to every thing of the kind, for we were strictly guarded and observed ; and whatever they remarked in us, whether of good or evil, they immediately reported to the Emperor and the Patriarch. For this reason we maintained great caution over ourselves ; not by choice, but of necessity ; and endeavoured to walk after the manner of the Saints, in spite of all our rebellious inclinations. God deliver us from this constraint in which they hold us, and restore us to our beloved freedom !
366 TRAVELS OF MACAHIUS.
BOOK VIII.
SECT. I.
RETURN OF NICON, PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW— SOLEMN ENTRY OF THE EMPEROR INTO MOSCOW.— KREMLIN.
ON the second Saturday after our entrance into the capital, and the third of Ishbat, Kyr Nicon, Patriarch of Moscow, returned to his palace, after an absence since the month of Ab, which he had passed in the fields and forests, through fear of the plague; until he went afterwards with the Empress to Viazma, where the Emperor was, having returned from the country of the Poles ; and where he stayed to keep the Festivals of the Nativity and Immersion, awaiting the disappearance of all traces of the plague from the capital, in which it continued its ravages until Christmas. We rejoiced much at the coming of the Patriarch : and this was the first piece of good news, and the first of our joys, after great solicitude, anguish, and anxiety. Soon afterwards a report was spread of the speedy arrival of the Emperor ; and in the afternoon of Friday, the ninth of Ishbat, the Empress re-entered her palace.
On the morning of Saturday, the tenth of Ishbat, the Grandees and troops arranged themselves in order to meet the Emperor, who had slept the pre ceding night in one of his imperial palaces distant only five versts from the city. Early in the morning of this day he arose, and came to a monastery dedicated to St. Andrew of Stratila, in the vicinity of the town, where he assisted at a TLu^ax^jja-ig ; on his going out from which, all the city bells began to ring, as the place was so near : and the Patriarch went forth in his cope and mitre, with the Deacons holding him by the arms according to their custom, and enclosing him with the banners, crosses, and numerous images, carried by the Priests in their copes before him ; and the Archbishop of Razainov, with four Archimandrites in their copes and mitres, behind him. The whole Clergy of the capital, and the great Cross carried in its stand by one of the Deacons, were near him. Advancing all together, they met the Emperor at the earthen
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walls. Our Lord the Patriarch was desirous of seeing the passage of the Em peror ; but it could not be, until he had sent to ask the Minister's permission. We sat in one of the apartments of the convent in which we lodged, to see the procession and the people from the windows looking over the royal or main street, in privacy. The trades-people of the city, the merchants, and artisans, came forth with their offerings to meet the Emperor, carrying loaves, according to their custom, silvered and gilt images, sable fur-skins, and gilt cups ; and the lords of state and the troops advanced at the head of the procession. This is the description of their banners : — First came a banner accompanied by two drums beating, followed by troops in three even ranks, in allusion to the name of the Trinity : if the banner was white, all the troops that followed it were dressed in white ; if blue, those who followed it were dressed in blue ; and so if it was red, or green, or pink, so as to include every possible colour. The order and arrangement appeared truly admirable, as they all moved forward, both infantry and cavalry, in three ranks, in the name of the Trinity. All the banners were new, having been recently made by the Emperor before he set forth on his expedition. They were large* and much to be admired, astonishing the beholder with their beauty, the execution of the figures painted on them, and the richness of their gilding. On the first of the aforementioned banners was depicted the Mourning of Our Lady ; because the Great Church of this city, the Patriarchal Church, is dedicated by that title. The painting is seen on both sides ; and this is the banner of the church, with the troops attached to it. The second was a painting of the Figured Handkerchief; that is, in the name of the Garment of Our Lord the Christ, which they possess. Of the remaining ban ners, some were painted with the figure of St. George or St. Demetrius, or the other valiant troopers who died martyrs to the faith ; or with the image of St. Michael the Archangel ; the Cherubim with the Flaming Sword ; the Imperial Seal or Arms, an eagle with two heads; Land and Sea* War-Horses, fancifully decorated ; Lions ; large and small Crosses, &c. Nothing pleased us so much as the dress and regular order of the troops marching behind the banners, who, whenever they came within sight of an image over the door of a church or
" The sea-horse (says Gerrit De Veer) is a wonderful strong monster of the sea, much bigger than an ox ; which keeps continually in the seas, having a skin like a sea-calf or seal, with very short hair, mouthed like a lion; and many times they lie upon the ice: they are hardly killed, unless you strike them just upon the forehead : it hath four feet, but no ears ; and commonly it hath two young- ones at a time. When the fishermen chance to find them upon a Hake of ice with their young ones, she casteth her young ones before her into the water, and then takes them in her arms, and so plungeth up and down with them ; and when she will revenge herself upon the boats, or make resistance against them,
C C C then
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monastery, or within sight of a cross, always took off their calpacks, notwith standing the excessive coldness of the weather on this day, and turned to bow their heads in that direction. Near each hanner were also the Sotniks, or Yeuzbashis, with their halberts in their hands. In this manner they continued moving forward until it was nearly evening.
On the approach of the Emperor, they drew up on each side, from the palace to the earthen walls of the town. In the mean time the bells throughout the city rang all together, so that the earth trembled with their vibration. The great officers of state now entered ; and the imperial led-horses, twenty-four in number, with saddles inlaid with gold and precious-stones, preceded the imperial sledges, which were lined with red cloth and covered with brocade, and the coaches, which were closed with pannels of crystal, ornamented with silver and gold. Then advanced the janissaries (Strelitzes) troop by troop, with besoms, sweeping the ice before the august Emperor ; who now entered, clothed in his imperial robes of red velvet, with ornaments of gold and jewels round the skirts, collar, edges of the sleeves, and seams on the breast, according to the usual fashion of his dress, walking with his head uncovered, and the Patriarch by his side, in conversation with him. Before and behind him were the images and banners : no body-guard ; nor drums, fifes, or musical instruments of any kind, as is the custom with the Begs of Moldavia and Wallachia, but only the chaunters singing hymns. Now observe, Brother, of all these circumstances which we witnessed, the most remarkable was, that when the Emperor came opposite to our monastery, he turned his face towards a convent of Nuns near us, dedicated by the title of the Divine Ascension, and containing the tombs of all the Empresses. The Abbess and the sisterhood were all standing forward. The Emperor bent, in three great metaiioia.s to the ground, on the snow, towards the images which were over the gate of the convent ; and bowed his head to the Nuns,, who all returned his salute, and, advancing, presented to him a picture of the Ascension,, and a large cake of black bread carried by two persons, which he accepted, and proceeded onwards with the Patriarch to the Great Church, where he assisted at the '^(rvzgivov, and then ascended to his palace.
The people were delighted at his arrival ; and both the nobility and corn- then she casts her young ones from her again, and with all her force goeth towards the boat (whereby our men were once in no small danger, for that the sea-horse had almost stricken her teeth into the stern of their boat), thinking to overthrow it ; but by means of the great cry that the men made, she was afraid, and swam away again, and took her young ones away in her arms. They have two teeth sticking out of their mouths, on each side one, each being about half an ell long, and are esteemed to be as good as any ivory or elephant's teeth."
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monalty throughout the empire received the tidings with joy. Above all, we poor wretches rejoiced with exceeding great joy ; for no one had hoped that he would at all return this year from his expedition, engaged as he was in a war with his most malignant enemy the Poles; and whilst his armies were subduing forts and provinces, fighting battles, and carrying away the plunder of the conquered,, none being able to stand before them. Of Radzivil and the Oral all tidings were lost. It was the wish and intention of the Emperor, that no terms should be offered them, nor any relaxation intervene in their pursuit, until he had completely reduced them ; and for this purpose, the greatest part of his troops wintered in the Polish territory. But, as we afterwards ascertained, the principal motive which brought back the Emperor to his capital was to gratify our Lord the Patriarch with a meeting : as he afterwards told him from his own mouth, when he met him : ''' For your sake, Father," said he, " I came to see you, and to ask your blessing and receive it. "--This we shall hereafter describe.
When the Emperor looked upon the city, in his passage through it, and saw- how the plague had shaken its pillars, thrown its inhabitants into confusion and distress, and devastated the greater part of its streets and market-places, he wept much, and sank into a profound sorrow. He had sent before him mes sengers, to inquire of the people concerning their condition, to console them amidst their funerals, and to soothe their hearts. When he approached the gate of the castle, the gate of the great palace (Kremlin), over which is a huge tower, high above its foundations,, and supported by vast pillars, in which was the wonderful town-clock of iron, celebrated throughout the world for its beauty and workmanship, and for the elevation of the sound of its great bell, which reached not only over the whole city, but also to the villages around, a distance of more than ten versts ; in the timber-work of which, a fire, lighted by the envy of the malignant, had broken out during the late Festival of the Nativity : the clock, bells, and all the appurtenances, had been enveloped in flames, and falling, had, by their weight, precipitated to the ground the roofs or vaults of brick and stone ; so that this wonderful rarity, the restoration of which to its former situation would require an expenditure of more than twenty -five thousand dinars on artists alone, was rendered useless. When the Emperor raised his eyes from afar, and beheld this wonderful tower burnt to ruins, its beauties and ensigns deformed, and its ingeniously-carved statues of marble fallen, he shed many tears ; — for all these calamitous events which had occurred were a trial from the Almighty, exalted be His name !
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SECT. II.
CAMPAIGN OF THE POLES.— THEIR DEFEAT KY THE COSSACKS.- FATHERING OF THE TARTAR TRIBES.
IMMEDIATELY upon the Emperor s arrival, he sent orders to the provinces, to his troops, that they should all speedily assemble, and go before him to Smolensko, with all their ammunition and heavy baggage ; taking advantage of the frost and of the ice upon the rivers, by which, at this season of the year, their travel ling in sledges was rendered easy. During the other seasons, of spring, summer, and autumn, all these countries are impassable, in consequence of the excessive rains which fall, and the depth of the mud and clay. On this account, the heat of their war is in the frosty season, when their operations are so much facilitated, particularly in the reduction of fortresses, by the freezing of the waters around them, and in their moats.
Great as was the power of the Poles, the Almighty had now brought it to a termination ; and had given to the Emperor victories and triumphs over them, in punishment for their exorbitant pride and insufferable arrogance. Having no strength to meet the Emperor in the field, observe what they now did, when they heard that he was returned to Moscow : they immediately sent to the Tartars, giving them of the gold which they held in abundance, and receiving from them an auxiliary force of near fifty thousand men, collected for them in the present month of Ishbat, on the borders of the Cossack Country. From the Germans they hired likewise about forty thousand; and of Poles, Hungarians, and Wallachians, allured by their riches, and the hope of plunder, they assem bled about forty thousand more. In all, their army amounted to near one hundred and thirty thousand men. With this force, they spread like an inundation over the land of the Cossacks, who were in a weak condition to repel them, particularly at this season of frost and snow, when, according to custom, they had retired with Chmiel, from the war, to their respective homes ; and, overpowering all resistance, they subdued many towns, burnt them to the ground, slaughtered the greater part of their inhabitants, and carried away the rest into captivity. How many of the towns did they not take (I mean the Poles), on capitulation ; and, after the surrender, entered and put to the sword every individual inhabitant, committing abomination and wickedness not to be described ! As their irruption was quite sudden and unexpected, they overtook the Hetman Chmiel, attended by scarcely three thousand of his troops, in one of
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the towns, where they besieged him during three days. He had sent to sum mon the Prokovniks and their soldiery to his aid ; but the enemy intercepted his letters, so that no person heard from him; and they pressed the siege, whilst his situation was unknown to any of his council or army. Being straightened to the utmost, he marched forth from the town ; and taking a position which he fortified with his cannon, he called on the help of his Maker, and practised stratagems on the enemy, until he drew them near him. On this lie cried to his people, " O, my brethren, this day is ours ! " and discharging his guns at the enemy, he shouted to them with a, loud shout, saying, " The Emperor Alexius is at hand;" which they no sooner heard, than they turned their backs to run away, blessed be the Almighty ! and Chmiel, with his weak band, pursued them with the sword, until not one of their infantry escaped : the cavalry only, with their swift horses, eluded his pursuit, which he continued to press on them for a distance of three days' march, until he had destroyed the greatest part of them. We were afterwards informed, by persons of credibility, that of all the forty thousand Germans, not even one escaped ; nor their wives and children, who accompanied them : for it is a custom with the Germans, as we had many opportunities of seeing, not to go out to war, but their wives and children are with them, saying, " If we are saved, we shall all be saved ; and if we are killed, we shall all be killed together :" for their enemies do not seek to make prisoners either of their wives or children. This corrupt and destructive principle of warfare should be noted with abhorrence.
Immediately Chmiel sent to inform the Emperor of what had taken place. The Emperor no sooner heard it, than, falling into a violent rage, he summoned his troops, to march out with him in all haste. We were told, that within this month he had assembled about him more than four hundred thousand men, from among his subjects, who own no God. Numbers of them passed before our eyes, and we observed their frightful hideous figures. They are of various tribes of Tartars, dwelling in the deserts around the province of Klazaina, in the interior of Siberia. Historians of veracity inform us, that under the government of this Emperor are about fifty different nations and tongues, ignorant of their Maker, and worshipping animals, the beasts of the field, the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars, and so forth. The Calmuck Tartars are said to worship fire, and to burn their dead in it, whilst they bow down and glorify, rejoicing at the separation and dissolution of the four quarters of their bodies into flames, water, earth, and air. Their countenances are hideous and disgusting, with broad thick noses : in their ears they wear rings, with pendants of coral. Some of these
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Tartars,, when a child is born to them, call in the Muscovite Clergy to pray over it ; and the Priest, after blessing it with incense, gives it the name of some Saint : but the parents afterwards call it by what name they please. Some fathers, it is said, give to their child the name of any animal they may happen to meet on going forth from the house the first time after the birth. At a suitable moment hereafter we will detail the history of these Tartar tribes, the appellations of some of which are, Cheramishidsan, Calmokidsan, Comoki, Bashkerdah, Mard- van, Moghol, Chirkas, £c. The wanderings and dwellings of all these nations are in the deserts, from the neighbourhood of Cazan and Astrachan to the remotest parts of the province of Siberia. The strangest of them is the tribe of St. Christophorus the Martyr, who eat human flesh, as we afterwards witnessed with our own eyes. The assemblage of all these tribes was at the city of Moscow, in the months of Ishbat and Adar, where we saw how vastly large an army of them the Emperor possessed. Now, all these nations are but scattered inhabitants of the deserts : what then are we to think of the multitude of troops he can collect from his towns thickly inhabited by Christians, the number of whom is incalculable ? By what persons of credit conjectured, there were now assembled to the Emperor, in this present year, more than a million ; that is, ten times a hundred thousand warriors.
The rude nations we have been speaking of are preached to by the Muscovite Bishops and their Clergy, and flock to be baptized, and to embrace the faith with all the eagerness of their hearts. We saw numbers of them baptized in the river in front of us : but the eagerness of most of these is occasioned by the presents of clothes, money, and provisions, made to them on their conversion by the Emperor.
We were told the custom is, that whoever was on the campaign of last year, is excused from marching on any expedition of the present year, as the military duty is taken by rotation. This year the turn came to these tribes to furnish their quota of four hundred thousand men, from each family a man, as we were assured. For the Patriarch of Moscow informed our master, saying, " The sources of the Emperor's army are exceedingly copious. Should he wish to carry on war for twenty years, so numerous are the districts of his empire, that to many of them even then the turn would not arrive." It may be, that no one will give credit to these accounts ; yet, Brother, they are not to be wondered at, of a country, the length and breadth of which it requires four years to traverse, though its population be but thin. We shall again have occasion to mention this subject hereafter.
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SECT. III.
PRESENTS TO THE EMPEROR AND IMPERIAL FA MILT.— RECEPTION OF THE PATRIARCH AT COURT.
To return. — Soon after the Emperor's arrival, the Minister sent to us the Perevodjik, or Emperor's Dragoman, to inquire of our Lord the Patriarch con cerning the nature of the presents which he had brought for his Majesty. We therefore shewed them all to him ; and he wrote them down, one by one, in a book, minutely describing each article, from the sacred things, to the eatables and otherwise, as they are accustomed to do, with rather superfluous accuracy. After he had gone, and presented his list to the Minister, the latter, on the morrow, which was Sunday, sent again to us his Secretary on the same business, and he wrote the presents with admirable punctuality in another book. Every article was set out by us in its proper condition and order; and for their presen tation, we took trays of beautifully-painted wood, which we adorned, after their manner, with leaves, and covered all over with red and pink velvet. My poor skill was charged with the care of all these matters ; and my brethren, fellow- travellers, and others, bear witness, how, during this night, till Monday morn ing, I prepared more than a hundred trays, containing all the presents, at the sight of which every one was astonished. Even the Emperor's courtiers afterwards remarked, that it had never happened that any of the Patriarchs had ever made to the Emperor a present like this, consisting of so many different objects. In the former presents, they had never seen any thing like our stadt and ladanuin, our manna and dates, or the branches of the palm-tree, which we had brought from Adnak, tied up and carefully preserved. When we arrived here, we steeped these branches, by laying them at full length in water flowing in wooden troughs, two days before their presentation ; and the twigs and leaves spread and opened, turning as green as though the branches had been newly cut from the tree, to the great astonishment of all who saw them. Then there were cinnabar pistachios of Aleppo, and the same dressed and salted ; turpentine, and cassia fistularis ; and fine high-priced mastich ; at the sight of which articles they shewed much surprise, having never known them, nor even their names : the cassia fistularis and mastich only had existence among them.
Now observe the surprising accuracy of the Russian Government, and how the writer above mentioned made out his description of the presents : it ran thus: — "When it was Sunday, the eleventh of Ishbat, in the year seven
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thousand three hundred and sixty from the Creation of the World, advanced the Patriarch, the most holy of the persons of his time, Kyr Kyr Macarius, of Antioch and of all the East, into the presence of the excellent Emperor, the kuroxgurug ; and these are the presents which he brought with him from his holy see, and from amongst the reliques of his blessed country." The first of them was a beautiful picture on paper, which we had carefully preserved, representing a vine growing out of the body of Our Lord the Messiah, and bearing his twelve Disciples : in the heavens above was the Father, with the Holy Ghost, giving his blessing. This painting was the admiration of the beholder. Next was a picture of St. Peter the Apostle, of very great anti quity ; a vessel of old pvgov, in a cover of brocade ; a vessel of new pvgov, some of that which we made in Moldavia ; a large beautiful box of ivory, from India. with a small silver lock, containing a vessel of clear crystal, like a porcelain-dish, (J^) covered with brocade, inside of which was, sealed up in wax, a piece of the wood of the true Cross, approved both in fire and water : in fire, it becomes like a red-hot cinder, and, when taken out and cooled, again returns to its state of blackness : in water, it sinks to the bottom, and does not float, as is the nature of wood : this is its true indication. With it was a piece of blessed stone from Golgotha, besprinkled with the blood of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, verified by signs and testimonies ; for when the blood tinged the stone, it changed its nature, and the stone became like a piece of silver, shining like gold : the divine blood has remained constantly bright, as a glowing coal, to the astonishment of the beholder. These treasures of inestimable value came into our possession from the holders of them at Constantinople, by the ministry of certain persons of pious and charitable dispositions, at the expense of large sums of money ; for in that imperial city are still found, up to the present time, numbers of sacred objects similar to these treasures.
Whilst we were there, a widow woman came to the Convent of the Resur rection, and presented to the Prior an image of Our Lady, known by the title of Vlashirnos* ; the same which was carried at the time, by the Patriarch, in procession round the walls of the city, and routed those who were besiegino* it, with great discomfiture. The lady said she had found it in the middle of a wall surrounding her house, with a lamp burning before it. We were then absent, on a visit to Yeni Keui. On our return to the convent, at the invitation of the
tjAij^la or ^jlyiic a Greek or Russian word, which I am unable to decipher so as to write it correctly.
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Patriarch, for the Festival of the Nativity, we were told of this holy image, and saw it, and blessed ourselves in its presence. It was not a simple painting with colours, but, as it were, an embodied figure, or figment of mastich, in high relief from the boards, striking awe into the beholder. Our Lord the Patriarch used every endeavour, and offered a large sum of money, to obtain it from the Prior ; but it was impossible. The Prior afterwards sent it, by one of the merchants, to the Emperor of Muscovy, who received it with the handsomest reception ; and having covered it all over with gold and silver and precious gems, and carried it with him to the wars, has now brought it back in triumph before him. We again saw it afterwards many times, and paid our devotions to it : but besides her face with its ornaments, and Our Lord's, nothing else of the figure is open to view, all the rest being covered with gold. When displayed to the eye, the whole appears a corporeal reality. In return for it, the Emperor sent to the Prior a sum of eight hundred dinars, over and above what he gave to the person who brought it. It was with the intention of thus disposing of the image, that the Prior refused it to us.
To return : — The Secretary next wrote down, after the piece of the Cross and the Divine Stone ; A Greek Gospel, an ancient parchment which we had brought with us from Antioch, to which See it was left as a bequest ; a sun of glory, with gold and silver rays, containing an image of the Prophet Zachariah, carved in a bone of his son, St. John the Baptist; a bundle of bright-burning candles of Jerusalem, perfumed with stacte or storax ; a case of imperial musk ; scented soap of Constantinople, with other plain soaps of admirable quality ; scented soap of Jerusalem ; cakes of soap of Aleppo, called of Antioch ; boiled and unboiled gum of dates ; a branch of a palm-tree in leaf ; cinnabar pistachio of Aleppo, which they call, as the Greeks do, K&gov ; the real pistachio in its shell, and the same pickled ; cassia fistularis ; fine white wool of Angora ; and four ^ia'o t^* of high price and admirable quality. This was the present for the Emperor, which the Secretary noted apart ; and added, " The Patriarch of Antioch kneels to your Majesty with this service."
Then he wrote in the same manner, lower down, " This present he offers in like manner to the Empress :" A beautiful ancient picture inclosed with doors ; a vessel of pvgov ; a piece of wood of the Cross ; a fragment of the venerable stone before mentioned, in a crystal vase covered with brocade, within a gold case; a piece of the veil of St. Anastasia the Martyr, which frees from enchantment, in a case of black bone, covered inside and out with brocade ; a bundle of bright-burning candles of stacte ; a case of soap, scented with musk
D D D
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and other perfumes ; soap of Aleppo, manna, dates, and ladanum ; cassia fistu- laris; pistachios; oil of jessamine, in a crystal vase; and a couple of high-priced Mahrama Balton (^^k'b <u,s-*).
Then he wrote, lower down, " And this is the present for the Vasilopolo, or Prince Alexius, son of the Emperor Alexius." This boy was born to him on this very day last year, that is, on the twelfth of Ishbat. The Muscovites and Cossacks have a wholesome practice, that when a child is born, whether male or female, they name it by the name of the Saint of that day. Now, at the same time that, in the Greek 'Clgagiov, commemoration is made of Meletius, Patriarch of Antioch, with them it is the commemoration of St. Alexius, who was the second Metropolitan that presided over the See of Moscow, and is surnamed "the Miraculous": after him, therefore, they named the young prince. This is the description of the present : A finger of Alexius the man of God, and a small quantity of his hair, in a box of silver gilt ; a vessel of ^ov, and a bundle of blest tapers ; incense of stacte ; scented soap ; manna, ladanum, pistachios, and almonds ; sugar confections ; and a Mahrama Balton.
Then he wrote lower down, " And this is the present for the three sisters of the Emperor :" Three limbs of holy women : for the eldest sister, named Irene, some of the reliques of St. Anastasia ; for the second, named Anna, some of the reliques of St. Marina (Ma£/^); and for the third, named Tatiane (Tartavq), some of the reliques of St. Phenronia (Osu^/a) the Martyr : to each also a vessel of pvgov, a Mahrama Balton, and a portion of the articles before men tioned, such as, incense of stacte, various kinds of soap, manna, ladanum, pistachios, turpentine fruit, almonds, and sugar confections, in their several cases ; the present for each being apart, before or after her sister's.
Then he wrote, lower down, " And this is the present for the three daughters of the Emperor;" the eldest, Eudocia; the second, Martha; and the youngest, only fifteen days old, Anna : for each was arranged a present apart, in the same manner as we had made a list of the various articles for the Emperor's sisters, omitting none, as such is the custom here. But the Secretary did not write them down briefly, as I have done : he noted each article at great length, calmly and quietly. We were therefore much astonished and struck with amazement at the expanse of our humble offerings, and the long row of trays, placed one by one ; until it pleased Almighty God to grant us relief from this tedious operation : and the Secretary having finished his writing, we covered them all up with their covers. The number of trays which we put in order amounted to one hundred and eight ; for even the pvgov, and the small boxes
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containing the reliqucs of the Saints, were placed in trays, for their greater respect and veneration. The Secretary wrote not a single article without examining it with his own eyes, and moving it from its place, as he came to each ; and he multiplied his study and description of every object, that none might be subject to loss, but be preserved, together with his register, to future ages ; so that posterity should mention them, saying, 'In the time of the Emperor Alexius, a Patriarch of Antioch came and presented to him this £c.' : for every Emperor has a separate treasury, in which are seen the glorious and sacred reliques obtained by him during his reign, that he may exult over his predecessors on the throne by their multiplicity. This is their great ambition ; and for this motive they take such exceeding care in their arrangement and description.
We were told, on this occasion, by the Interpreters, that within the course of the last year they were visited by a Prior of a Convent from the Holy Mount. After they had put questions to him concerning himself and his convent, he informed them that, some eighty years ago, his brethren had sent to such an Emperor such a Saint's relique. ' To be certain of the truth of what I tell you," said he, "open the treasury and registers, and you will see." Precisely as he had told them, they found the relique. Now, observe this amazing regularity ! The same, also, they observed at present with us.
They mentioned to us, that they had been looking into the chronicles of the empire, and found that ninety-five years past, in the time of Czar Ivan, that is, the Emperor John, so celebrated in our country, came Joachim, Patriarch of Antioch, to visit them ; and that from that time, till now, no other Patriarch of that See had come near them. They added, the Emperor, preserved of God, Alexius, has therefore commanded that all the civilities paid to the former shall be bestowed twofold on the Lord the present Patriarch, all out of his abundant love for him, and his unbounded confidence in his ecclesiastical authority. It is well known that the Alexandrian has been here many times, as the Patriarch of Jerusalem has also, as well as the Constantinopolitan ; but from that period to this, no Arabian Patriarch of Antioch had ever visited Muscovy.
To return : — After the Secretary had finished, and placed every thing in its situation, we made him a present, and he departed. Early on the eve of Monday, the Vazir sent the Perevodchik* (HepeBOANHKb), that is, the Grand Interpreter, to our master, saying : " The Vazir kneels to your Holiness, and, saluting you, wishes you joy of your arrival." On this, the Patriarch stood up,
* For the correct mode of writing this word, which I had heretofore given, as led by the Arabic, Barifqjikos, I am indebted to a marginal note added to my Translation by the late Earl of Guilford.
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according to custom, and prayed for his welfare. Then the Interpreter added : " He informs you,, that the Emperor, preserved of God, the A.vro%gu,rug, bows to your Holiness,, and asks after your health and welfare, begging that you will prepare to meet him to-morrow." Hereupon our master gave thanks to Almighty God, kneeling on his knees to the ground, and offering up many prayers for the well-being of the Emperor ; and the messenger departed.
The joy of all of us was extreme, at the pleasing tidings the interpreters gave us of the Emperor's love for our master, which was now indeed manifest : for it had been usual for the Patriarchs who have visited Moscow not to be admitted to the Emperor's presence until two weeks from the commencement of their residence ; as it happened to Kyr Paisius of Jerusalem, and Kyr Athanasius Patalaron, the deposed Patriarch of Constantinople : but to our master this honour was granted on the third day, thanks be to Almighty God ! who has healed our broken hearts, and, casting a look of mercy upon us, has inclined the heart of the Emperor to the love of our master, and to kindness towards us.
On the morning of Monday, the twelfth of the month Ishbat, on which day falls the commemoration of St. Meletius, Patriarch of Antioch, on this day — mark the coincidence ! — it was the mighty Emperor's will to grant an interview to Father Kyr Macarius, Lord Patriarch of Antioch ; and he sent for him an imperial sania, at an early hour. As with the Russians, conformably to what we before mentioned, on this day likewise falls the commemoration of St. Alexius, the second Metropolitan who presided over the See of Moscow, the worker of miracles, whose convent stood near to us, in the neighbourhood of the Patriarchal palace ; whose body, with the sight of which we were afterwards blessed, is in perfect preservation ; and the Russians celebrate the memory of these two great Saints together: and as the birth, to which we formerly alluded, of the prince, son of the Emperor, took place on this day last year, it became a festival of threefold solemnity : for, in consequence of the death, which happened a considerable time ago, of the Emperor's only son, named Demetrius, who was grown up to years of maturity, the Russians rejoiced on the birth-day of this infant prince with exceeding great joy ; and they have a custom, from the Emperor to the humblest plebeian, of registering the births of their children, and every year, on the anniversary days, of giving a great feast to their families and friends. With all this, fortunately, fell in the arrival of the Patriarch of Antioch ; and the Emperor sent him an invitation accordingly, to meet him on this day, that all might rejoice together. Most of all did WE rejoice, who had now been three full years and a day from the time of our departure from
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Damascus, eagerly pressing forward to the sight of the Emperor's illustrious countenance, and latterly also of his son's, whose beauties and excellencies be exalted to the Pleiades, and the heavens beyond ! We now at length felt some consolation for all our cares, labours, and griefs : but our fear and trepidation were great ; as how could it be otherwise with us, who formerly, when we were presented to Vasili Beg of Moldavia, experienced so much dread and awe, and now were to meet the eye of the mighty Emperor, whose fame is spread over the whole world, many of the slaves of whose slaves are higher in station than Vasili, and command more respect!
To return : — The bells of the Patriarchal church, together with the great bell, had been tolling since break of day ; and the Patriarch went to say mass before the Emperor, in the before-mentioned Convent of Saint Alexius. At this moment came the T^n^ctrixog or Secretary, who had already been with us, carrying his register in his hand, and bringing with him one hundred janissaries, in scarlet uniforms, to bear the trays. Calling them into the house by tens and tens, he read in his register, saying, "No. I, image so and so ;" and, taking it in his hand, gave it to be carried by one of them. Then he read, " The box containing the wood of the Cross :" then, "The pvgov," &c. — A vase of scented water, which we had brought with us, was found with its contents frozen within it to the hardness of a stone : the crystal vessel itself was broken in two, and there remained standing a solid piece of transparent rock, to the great amaze ment of our countrymen who beheld it. — Passing with great composure, and a regularity of order which surprised us, from one article to another, as he read them in his list, and carefully looking at each a second time, the Secretary at length completed the arrangement of all the trays in the court-yard.
As soon as the Emperor was come out from mass, and had taken his seat in the Palatium or Grand Divan, in front of the Patriarchal Church, he sent, to invite our Lord the Patriarch, a deputation of three great Archons, of the rank of Kniazes : one was the Prime Minister ; the second was the Great Sotnik, that is, the grandee who is charged with the superintendence of the imperial table ; the third was the Khiyamji Bashi, or the superintendant of the imperial pavilions. On their entrance into his apartment, our master turned towards the images, chaunting "A%iov \<r<r\v with a low voice, according to the practice of their superior Clergy when any person visits them ; and as they knelt before him, he blessed them with the true Muscovite benediction, on their forehead and shoulders. Then the first of them advanced, and said, whilst the dragoman standing by him interpreted : " The august Emperor, greatest among
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Princes, the Avroxguruo, or Independent Sovereign of all the Countries of Russia, both the Greater and the Less, Kniaz Alexius Michaelovitchov, bows to your Holiness, and invites you to visit him, O holy Father, Kyr Kyr Macarius, Patriarch of the great city of God, Antioch, and the provinces of Cilicia, Icaria* Syria, Arabia, and of all the East ! that you may bless him with your illustrious presence, and he may receive honour from you. He makes his dutiful inquiries concerning your health, happiness, and safety." On hearing this, our master raised his hands towards Heaven, and, whilst he knelt on the ground, offered up many suitable prayers for him. The custom is, that whenever an Archon comes to him from the Emperor, the prelate shall stand up to receive him : he stands up likewise when the Emperor sends him a banquet, and whenever the Emperor's name is mentioned. As the first had done, the other two Archons advanced also, and made a similar address. The Patriarch had been robed in his ftuvdvot,, in readiness, ever since the dawn of day : they took him then by the arms, and, descending with him to the court, seated him in a magnificent carpeted sania belonging to the Emperor, shewing him, at the same time, how to steady it. At the right corner of the carriage stood the Archimandrite ; at the left the Archdeacon, holding it : and one of the servants walked before with the crosier. Preceding the carriage were the janissaries with the presents, one behind the other, in a long straight line. As soon as we had gone forth from the gate of the convent, we found ourselves between two rows of janissaries, standing in close order, each with a large banner in his hand, on both sides of the way, from the convent-gate to the imperial palace, according to the form observed at the reception of a Patriarch or Ambassador from a crowned prince. As he passed along, our Lord the Patriarch gave them his blessing, which they received with bent bodies. When we came in front of the Great Church, the Patriarch bowed to the image of Our Lady, which is over the gate ; and on arriving at the Church of the Annunciation, which has nine cupolas shining with much gold, they made him alight from the carriage within sight of the Emperor, who was looking from a window of the divan, which commands a view of the whole of these buildings and area ; and ascended with him, whilst he held his crosier in his right hand and they supported him by the arms, up the steps, to the portico of this beautiful church, to which he made the usual adorations. Here he was met by three other Vazirs, who bowed to him, and addressed him in the same words as the first. These took him by the arms, and conducted him to the outer-door of the divan, where the Emperor sent three more great Ministers to meet him. Having performed the same ceremony as before, these
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led him to the inner-door, whence came forth three of the greatest officers to receive him, and conduct him within the palace ; and at the same time came forth to meet him all the Archons, and Vazirs, and nobles of the court. Here the porters relieved him of his crosier; and when he entered, with us following behind him, and approached the high imperial throne, he turned towards the image placed over it, and chaunting "A?iov \trr}v with a low voice, as he had been instructed by the dragomans, bowed to it, and then to the Emperor, who, descending from his throne, advanced to meet him, with his head uncovered, and bowing to the ground. As he raised himself, our Lord the Patriarch blessed him with the Muscovite benediction, on his forehead, breast, and shoulders, and kissed him on the shoulder, according to custom. The Emperor then kissed the Patriarch's forehead and right hand, and they stood before each other. The Emperor asked him, through the interpreter, saying, " Praise be to God, who has the care of your safety ! — how are you ? how did you pass the roads ? what is the state of your health ?" Our Lord the Patriarch replied cheerfully, with many suitable prayers and compliments ; and the Emperor commanded him to be seated. He sat down, therefore, on a chair near the throne; and the Emperor, ascending to his throne, sat down also, and began to converse with him by the interpreter, asking him of one thing and another. All the grandees, in the mean time, were standing round the hall, in dresses loaded with gold, pearls, and precious-stones, and with their heads uncovered; for the Emperor was uncovered, as we mentioned before; and it is the custom that, in the pre sence of the superior Clergy, he shall never appear, but always with his head uncovered. How then must it be with his courtiers ! As for us, there fell upon us, at this moment, exceeding great awe and dread. The Emperor's crown, resembling a high calpack, covered with large pearls and the most precious gems, was borne by one of his nobles ; together with the sceptre, a dark-coloured staff, having the appearance of a friar's crook : I should have said it was the Emperor's walking-stick. The upper garment which he wore, shaped like a sako (flc *) was of heavy yellow Venetian brocade, fringed and laced all round the skirts, seams, collar, breast, and sleeves, with gold lace and jewels, so as to dazzle the sight.
As soon as the Emperor had taken his seat on the throne, one of his nobles approached him, and raising up supported his right hand, and the Minister invited us to kneel down and kiss it. We therefore entered the circle one after
* CaKKocb is the upper dress of an Archbishop.
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another in rotation, and, bowing from afar, advanced, and kissed the Emperor's hand : then we retired backwards, bowing to the Emperor twice. This cere mony proceeded till all our servants had shared the same honour. The Greeks call it P/X^/EMB %tgwv, or " kissing of hands." Every person who kisses the Em peror's hand receives from his majesty a present, according to his degree : if he is a Conventual Prior, a sarak of sables, a piece of silk, and a sum of money : if he is a Priest or Friar, or one of their kindred, a sarak of marten furs, and a sum of money. For this reason, all the Archimandrites, our fellow-travellers, and their attendants, entered into the presence with us, and kissed the Emperor's hand after us. Whoever comes in the course of the year to be admitted before the Emperor, whether he be a poor man, or a Monk, or an Archimandrite, and even if he be one of the Heads of the Clergy, must wait for a day like this, when a Patriarch, or an Archbishop, or an Ambassador from some crowned prince comes, and is invited by the Emperor to his presence to kiss his hand ; then the whole body of them are ushered in after him.
We were told of the father of the present Emperor, the late sovereign Michael, son of Theodorus, that once, when an Ambassador came from the Grand Turk, and, being admitted to an interview, kissed the skirt of his robe, Michael, as a token of his favour, merely placed his hand on the Ambassador's head. No sooner was the Ambassador out of sight, than he called for soap and water, and washed his hand, thinking it defiled by the touch. How remarkable is this religious sincerity and faith !
We were told also, that formerly, when any Head of the Clergy from Greece, or any Patriarch, came into Russia, this nation did not permit them to perform mass in their churches, thinking them defiled from their intercourse with the Turks ; nor was any Greek merchant allowed even to enter their churches, for fear they should be defiled, as they considered him to be. If one of these merchants should happen to settle among them in the name of the Emperor, and marry a Russian woman, and become a dragoman, the Priests used to make him stand outside the church for forty days, in the order of catechumens (^fijCf*) ; then, anointing him with chrism, after many prayers, they led him into the church, regarding him as purified.
Since the time of their being visited by Jeremiah, Patriarch of Constantinople, Theophanes, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and others, and mixing in their society, they have become familiarised with strangers ; but up to the present time, if an Ambassador comes to them from the Turks or Franks, they do not permit him
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 383
to ascend by the steps of the Church of the Annunciation to the divan, but make him enter by an outer door in the middle of the palace-yard ; for they avoid strangers to their religion with the utmost abhorrence, of which we saw surprising instances.
To return : — After the Archimandrites had kissed hands, they brought out their papers with which they had been furnished by their convents, or any tes timonials they might have received from any Patriarch, addressed to the Em peror, and declaring them worthy persons. These were taken from them by the Ministers ; and given to the Perevodchik, to be translated into Russian, and read to the Emperor. Our master had letters from the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and from Kyr Paisius, the Constantinopolitan, in his recommendation and as testimonials to his true character. These he presented to his majesty, who stood up to receive them, and sealed them with a kiss. Immediately afterwards he said to the Patriarch, "O Bami-oniKa! (that is, O Father!) for your sake I came to Moscow, that I might behold you and receive your blessing. A long time ago I heard of your coming to sec me; and I was extremely anxious to meet your Holiness, and to become acquainted with you. I entreat you ever to remember me in your prayers, and to supplicate blessings for me." Our master said : " I am a sinful man ; but God will grant you your heart's desire, and protect you, and fulfil all your hopes. May He ever favour you with victory, as He favoured the Great Constantino; and make your name, as He made his, instead of Avrozgdrug, Movo- xgurag ! May He confer upon you the inheritance of his throne for ever ! " When the Emperor heard these words, he rejoiced with exceeding great joy, and, bowing to the Patriarch, kissed his hand a second time.
O *
As they were thus standing together, the janissaries entered, bearing the pre sents into the centre of the Hall. When they were all placed in order, the Va/ir began to take up tray after tray, and hand them to our Lord the Patriarch, who handed them to the Emperor ; who, as he received each tray, kissed the Patriarch's hand, and what was in it, and gave it to the Treasurer standing by his side ; and the Treasurer set it in its place in the window. In the mean time, the Great Registrar, with his register in his hand, read with a loud voice, saying : ' The Patriarch, Kyr Macarius of Antioch., presents to your Majesty so and so." Thus, whenever the Emperor received a tray into his hand, he was able to name what it contained, without asking our master to describe it. How admirable this ac curacy ! The Emperor questioned our master concerning the pistachios, lada- num, and manna only, with which the Russians, as we have already said, were
E E E
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entirely unacquainted. Smelling the pistachios, and admiring their fragrance, he said, " What a blessed country is that of Antioch ! How wonderful that it should produce such fruits as these !"
When the present to the Emperor was completed, and he had received tray after tray to the last, he turned to the Treasurer, and commanded him to place them one hy one in the window.
Then the Registrar began to read : " And he presents to the illustrious Em press, Kniazina Maria, so and so ;" whilst the Vazir handed the trays to our master, and he to the Emperor, till they were all presented. His Majesty then ordered the Treasurer to place them in a different window.
Then the Registrar said : " And he presents to the Prince Alexius, son of the Emperor Alexius (for they always name him so), such and such things ;" till the presentation of all was completed : and the Emperor commanded the Treasurer to dispose them in a separate place by themselves, that there might be no confusion.
Then the Registrar continued : " And he presents to the Princess, daughter of the Emperor Michael, Kniazina Irene, so and so : To the Princess Kniazina Anna Michaelovna, so and so: To the Princess Kniazina Tatiane Michaelovna so and so." These presents the Emperor commanded to be placed each apart. Then the Registrar proceeded :- "' And he presents to the Princess Kniazina Eudocia Alexiovna, the Princess Kniazina Martha Alcxiovna, and the Princess Kniazina Anna Alexiovna, so and so ;" till all the presents were gone through. The whole of this he read with a very loud voice.
Then the Emperor went to look over all the trays; and having seen that each present was placed apart from the rest, he came and thanked our master, bowing to him. Returning his humble obeisance, our master said, " Do not find fault with us, nor reprove us, O august Emperor ! for our country is far remote, and we have been full three years since we set forth from our See. Your Majesty is glorious, and your empire great : accept, then, this little for much !" When the Emperor heard his speech, that he had been absent from home three years, he marvelled greatly, and began to conceive great affection for him. Thanking him for his presents, he said, " They are worth many treasures to me."
It was in the Greek language that our master spoke to the interpreter ; for, as I mentioned before, we had learnt it well, by means of our intercourse with that nation. This was a great blessing from God to us : for in this country they are unable to speak a single word of Turkish ; nor will they endure the sound of it,
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lest their ears should be defiled, as they imagine. All the interpreters cautioned our master never to speak in it, on any occasion. But though we had learnt the Greek language, we had not the facility of speaking quick, which is the peculiarity of that language, and as the Greeks do, whose tongue is light. In his conversation, therefore, with the interpreter, our Lord the Patriarch hesitated a little in his speech ; and the Emperor asked, " Why does he not speak quick ?" The interpreter answered, " Because he has only recently learnt the language : but lie knows Turkish : if it is your Majesty's pleasure, he will converse in that." " God forbid," said the Emperor, " that so holy a person should defile his mouth with that filthy language!" for their abhorrence of the Turks is extreme. At the Emperor's gate are seventy interpreters who know languages, but with the Arabic tongue not one of them is conversant. God, in His mercy, vouchsafed to us the Greek language ; otherwise we should have been much confounded.
To return : — The interpreter then made a sign to our master ; and he arose and came before the image, and bowed to it first, and afterwards to the Emperor, who returned the salutation, and bade him adieu. After the Patriarch had given him his blessing a second time, the Emperor took him by the arm, and, having led him near the door, parted with him. Hereupon the whole body of Archons crowded round him, and attended him to the outside ; so that all present were astonished at the great respect which was shewn him. The interpreters after wards told us, that the honours done by the Emperor to the Patriarch of Antioch on this day he had never conferred on any Patriarch before. First, it was the custom, that, when a Patriarch came to Moscow, he should be delayed a week or two ere he had an audience of the Emperor : secondly, when Kyr Paisius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, was admitted to the presence, the Emperor only descended to the edge of the third step of his throne, and shook hands with him ; whereas, now, he had advanced to meet our master at a considerable distance : when, too, the former offered to him his presents, he received from him with his own hand only the sacred objects, and then went up and sat on his throne, whilst his officers received the rest : thirdly, when he dismissed the Jerusalemite, he did not walk with him, nor lead him by the arm, as he did our master, to the door : fourthly, in particular honour to our Patriarch, he sent all his Grandees to attend him to the outside of the hall-door, where, after he had given them his blessing, they took leave of him to return : fifthly, after they had mounted him in the sania, the Emperor sent some Archons with him, to conduct him to the palace of the Patriarch, that he might have an immediate interview with him ; but it used to be customary for the visiter to wait three
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days after his audience at court, and then present a cholqfita or petition to the Emperor, praying that he would grant him permission to go to the Patriarch ; whereupon the Emperor would send orders to the Patriarch to prepare for the visit : whereas, now, he sent our master to him immediately,, giving notice, at the same time, to the Patriarch of his approach. The Jerusalemite, indeed, had with him some five-and-thirty persons in his suite ; Archimandrites, many ; Priests, many ; and Friars, many ; grooms for his horses ; relations, who were sisters' sons, and brothers' sons, and brothers ; Archons, who had been Greek merchants, of whom he took as many as he pleased, and dignified them with the title of Archons, &c. ; for it is the nature of the Greeks to love grandeur and supe riority excessively. Taking promiscuously from the crowd, he formed companies whom he enlisted, some as Archimandrites, Priests, and Clericals from the Jaljala Convent ; others, as from Bethlehem, St. Michael's, St. Saba's, the Convent of the Crucifixion, &c. ; and this for the purpose of being attended by a numerous train, and still more for the great lucre which would accrue to him from them, first and last : for whenever there came to them a gratuity from the Emperor, either for themselves or their convents, he was to use it as he pleased. Tims, when the merchants whom he constituted Archons received the customary allow ance from the Emperor, of sables and sums of money, he took their portions from them, with their consent. In like manner did Patalaron, and most of the Greek Metropolitans ; and they never failed to write each of them down as a relation, for the benefit of themselves and him, calling him in Greek 'Avs-^iog, in Russian
SECT. IV.
VISIT TO THE PATRIARCH OF MOSCOW.— ENTERTAINMENT AT THE
EM PER OR' 8 TA BLE.
To return : — As soon as our Lord the Patriarch approached the first flight of steps leading to the Patriarchal palace, he was met by two great Archimandrites, who bowed to the earth, and thus recited, from the contents of a paper they had with them : " O holy father, of all felicity*, Lord Kyr Kyr Macarius, Patriarch of the great city of God, Antioch, and of the provinces of Cilicia, Icaria, Syria, Arabia, and of all the East ! your brother and associate in the divine mysteries, the Lord Kyr Nicon, Archbishop of the city of Moscow,, Patriarch of all the
* The expressions tbj^\ ^^glXll, 'o^l ciXJl which I may have translated too literally, mean "whom every felicity, every blessing, attend," or attends.
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provinces of Great and Little Russia, has sent us Archimandrites of the Convents— in the towns— to meet your Holiness; in conformity with the saying of our Lord the Messiah, in His holy Gospel, " He who receives you, receives me :" and they again bowed to him, to the ground. They read their address in Russian, whilst the interpreter translated it word for word into Greek. Our master returned his compliments in suitable terms, and gave them his blessin«-
o"
Then they took him by the arms, in the place of the Archons, and ascended the iirst flight of steps. When he came to the second, he was met by two other Archimandrites, who, having spoken and acted like the former, took the support of his arms in succession.
On our approaching the outer apartment, where the third flight of steps is, the Patriarch Nicon came forth, robed in a green-coloured velvet puvlvu,, deeply embroidered with figures in red velvet, in the centre of which were the Cherubim figured in gold and pearls. The straps were of white leather, with a red streak in the middle. On his head lie wore a white latia of Damask silk, surmounted with a gold arch, in which was a cross of pearls and precious-stones. Above his eyes, in front, were the Cherubim in pearls ; and the edges of the latia were laced with gold and set with precious-stones. Holding his crosier in his hand, he advanced towards our master with the utmost ceremony and respect, saying, " O holy father, of all benediction, Lord Kyr Macarius, Patriarch of the great city of God, Antioch, and of the provinces of Cilicia, Icaria, Syria, Arabia, and of all the East! your Holiness now resembles our Lord the Messiah ; and I am like that Zacchaeus, who was little of stature, and sought to see Jesus, and climbed up into a sycamore-tree to see him. Now, in like manner, I, a sinful man, am come out to behold your Holiness." As he spoke, the interpreter translated his speech into Greek, word for word. Then he took him by the hand, and led him into the palace, which they had on this occasion spread with large carpets ; and they two advanced, according to custom, to the stand of images always placed over the prelate's seat. The tapers were burning, and they recited "A?iov ia-riv, bowing to the ground and to each other. Then the Muscovite took off his lalia, and asked our Lord the Patriarch to give him his blessing. With great reluctance, and after much refusal, he at length blessed him on his forehead, breast, and shoulders, according to their practice ; and they sat down to converse together by means of the interpreter. Afterwards the Muscovite arose, and, going into an inner chamber, put off his green pavdva, and put on another of embroidered purple, which he usually wore, with a white latia, figured in front with the Cherubim in gold cloth, and no other ornament—
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his usual covering. He changed also his cassock of green velvet for one of red, according to the custom always observed when Archons or common persons are in the presence of Priests, or Priests in presence of a Patriarch or Archbishop ; and also in the church.
It happened, that after our master had gone out from the Emperor, they called in the Archbishop of Servia, the pretended Patriarch, whom we mentioned, in our account of Potiblia, as having come from Moldavia in great pomp and splendor, and as having been admitted by the Voivode of that place into the interior. His principal object was, to have an interview with the Emperor before he went on his expedition ; but he was unable to overtake him : and when he arrived at Kalokha, and was passing onwards, the Ministers, Lieutenants of the Emperor, turned him back, a distance of three days' journey, to his great ignominy and confusion, saying, " We never heard before that, in the habitable world, there were more than four Patriarchs ; those of the East ; and our own Patriarch, who was created by their permission. This is one reason : the second is, the Emperor is not present : when he comes, then come." On hearing this, and seeing the disgrace which was fallen upon him, he began to beat his fore head, and to weep and lament over his condition : but as the writing and language of the Servians, Bulgarians, Cossacks, and Muscovites are the same, or with little difference, he wrote a Letter to the Patriarch, in supplication and humility, saying, that he put himself on the name of the Emperor for the rest of his life ; and as it is the custom here that even a murderer escapes death if he makes this declaration, they sent to bring him back. At his first interview with the Patriarch, the latter chid him severely, and forbad him ever again to let the word Patriarch be heard from his mouth. Prostrating himself on the ground^ he begged pardon, and put himself on the name of the Emperor. Afterwards, his disciples abhorred to stay with him ; for life in Muscovy is very strict ; so much so, that no foreigner can endure its severity ; for a man feels himself as though he were always in prison. Subject to its discipline, if he commits a faux-pas, or gets drunk, he falls under every sort of ignominy, and is finally proscribed and sent into banishment. For this reason, all the merchants, however splendid their wealth and circumstances, and even those from Persia, conduct themselves with the utmost reverence and gravity.
To return : — After the aforesaid Archbishop had kissed the EmperorY hand, he came to the Patriarch's palace ; and kneeling to the two Patriarchs, received their blessing, as usual. At this moment the Emperor sent one of his uJ.ies to invite the two Patriarchs together to his imperial table; for (may Go.i
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perpetuate his empire for ever !) lie was pleased to fill up the measure of his great kindness to our master this day. It had been usual, after the Patriarch had kissed his hand, and departed to his mansion, that the Emperor should send him a banquet and wine from his table ; but now he invited him to sit with him at dinner ; and this was a great honour, and a splendid favour.
The two Patriarchs went therefore together to another very large hall, built of wood, with tables spread all round it, The august Emperor was sitting in the centre, at a large table entirely covered with silver. As soon as they entered, he stood up, and, taking off his crown, advanced towards them, bowino- : at the same time they both gave him their benediction, after they had recited "Af/ov Iffriv before the images, which were held over his head ; prostrating them selves on the ground with all present. Then the servants took from them their crosiers, and stood, holding them up, at a distance. The Patriarch of Moscow sat on the left of the Emperor, and the Antiochian next to him. The Sotniks, who are the waiters at table, now set silver dishes, with three silver cups, before the Emperor, and in like manner before the Patriarchs. The Emperor's Ministers and Nobles were seated at a long table ; but before each took his seat, he advanced and bowed to the earth before the Emperor, and then passed to his place : they were all to the left of our Lord the Patriarch. The Arch bishop of Servia, the Archbishop of Razainov, and the rest of the Archiman drites, were seated at a distant table on the right of the Emperor ; and we sat, with the rest of the Heads of Convents, the Priests, and the Monks, at tables placed in rows in the middle of the hall. All of us, before we sat down, bowed to the Emperor at a distance.
Then they all stood up; and the two Patriarchs said a prayer over the table, and gave their blessing to the Emperor and to the banquet. Afterwards the Sotniks all came forward with large long loaves, which the Emperor sent them to distribute to the whole of the persons present : first to the Patriarchs, who bowed their heads towards him ; then to all the grandees, each of whom stood up in his place, and bowed to him at a distance ; until he sent to us also ;— for this is the custom at the imperial table. The meaning of this is, as if the Emperor proclaimed, " He who eats of this, my bread, and abandons me, may God abandon him!" The first morsel they all tasted was this bread, with caviare.
Then the Emperor stood up, and presented to each of the Patriarchs three cups of wine together. They bowed their heads to him, and set the cups
390 TRAVELS OF MACAIIIUS.
before them. Thus he sent to all the grandees; whilst the Sotnik, who took the cup from him, cried out from afar the name of the person to whom the Emperor wished to give it, with a loud voice, saying, " Ya Boris, Ivonovitch!"* (who was the Grand Vazir,) calling him by his name, and the name of his father ; for it is the custom in this country never to call any person, whether man or woman, but by their own name conjointly with that of their father, saying, " Such an one, son of such an one," or " Such an one, daughter of such an one." The banquet-rooms in this country, that is, the rooms furnished with tables, to which they gave the name Palat, are square apartments, with one pillar in the centre, built of stone or planed boards. Around them are benches, with shelves one above another, covered with fine linen. On these shelves they set gilt silver-cups of various shapes and forms, large and small ; with octagonal and round bowls, or long, in the form of boats : and with changes of these they serve the wine to the company, each round.
The Sotniks, that is, the Chashnigirs or tasters, and the Matarjis or wine- bearers, were from two to three hundred persons, all Grandees and Agas, in splendid dresses, their breasts covered with braids of large pearls and precious- stones, gold brocade, and so forth, according to their well-known uniforms, the coats of which are of a light-blue colour, and the calpacks of a light-brown or mulberry. They all stood in readiness to serve the whole company, arranged in troops for each particular service. Some served the bread, some the plates of meat, some the cups of wine : every tiling they carried first to the Emperor, who sent them with it to the several grandees at table ; thus dispensing even the large loaves and the largest dishes of meat ; first to the Patriarch, then to the grandees ; next to the inferior Clergy and the Archimandrites; then to the rest of the company, who kept what was brought to them, and sent it home as a great blessing to their families, from the Emperor's table, and from his mercy : for as the Sotniks carried each dish to the person to whom the Emperor gave it, they cried aloud, saying, " O, such an one, son of such an one ! Gosudari Tsar Alexey/' that is, our Lord the Emperor Alexius, "gives you this, of his mercy:" then that person stood up, and, bowing to the Emperor from his place, and kissing the bread or meat, received it from the attendant. There never was more than one dish, or perhaps two, before the Emperor ; which they changed every moment. The kinds of meat brought up were extremely various, and all of fish ; for no
" Ya Baris, Ivanovitch !" " () Bar is, Son of John !"— Baris Ivanovitch Morrsof was Minister to Alcxey Michaelovitch, and Husband to the Empress's Sister.— EARL OF GUILFORD.
TRAVELS OF MACAKIUS. ;$()|
flesh-meat whatever was served to table on this day, to conform with the regu lations of the convents, or as though the Emperor himself were really and truly a Monk.
More remarkable still was what we saw next ; a circumstance which excited our utmost surprise : for, as to the food, this was the week of 'Airoxpiu,, or ' abstinence from flesh-meat,' and therefore its absence from the Emperor's table was not altogether so extraordinary. But mark what happened ! Immediately after the Patriarchs had blessed the table., came one of the little ' kvcvyvuffrou , who, placing a desk in the middle of the hall, with a large book, began to read, with a very loud voice, the Life of Saint Alexius, patron of the festival ; and thus con tinued from the beginning to the end of the repast, according to the regulation of monasteries ; so that we were exceedingly astonished, and looked upon our selves as though we were inmates of a convent. How wonderful are these things which we witnessed! What a blessed day was this, wherein we beheld this Prince of all sanctity, who surpasses the most religious devotees in the purity of his life and his strict humility ! O illustrious Emperor ! what is this which you have done this day ; which you do constantly ? when we saw that, out of respect for the Patriarchs, you allowed no flesh-meat to be served to your table during this week of abstinence ! What did you also do, which is scarcely done in the convents ? You had a reader to read from the Fathers, and chaunters, hour after hour, to sing before you ! God perpetuate your reign and empire, and humble your enemies under your feet, for this humility and purity which you shew forth in your life. How different the banquet of Vasili and Matthi, who were not worthy to be your menial servants, with their drums, and pipes, and horns, and trumpets, and Turkish songs ! and their sitting on high thrones in the centre of the apartment, whilst the Patriarch was seated below, on their right handf . For your uprightness and justice, God has given you the empire, and increased it, Wherever you go, victory marches before you and your armies. If Our Lord, glory to His Name ! gave not victory to you, who in purity of conduct and continual perseverance in prayer and watch- ings surpass the devout anchorets who inhabit the deserts, to whom should He grant it ? "
Nor was this all he did, but, out of veneration for the Patriarchs, he remained from the beginning to the end of the repast with his head uncovered, amidst
t The right-hand side at the banquet seems to be considered by the Archdeacon us the less honour able. He particularly mentioned before, that the Patriarchs vvero seated during dinner on the left hand of the Emperor.
F F F
392 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
that severe cold and rigid frost He ate little himself; being rather engaged in conversation with the Patriarch of Moscow,, and in paying great attention to our master, whom he served with meat and drink copiously ; for he loved him with sincere affection, by what we observed on the present occasion.
The first thing they gave us to drink was Cretan wine, of admirable quality,, both for strength and flavour : afterwards they gave us Kirschwasser, and diffe rent kinds of mead.
Now for the description of the meats. Dishes were brought in of fish, dressed with such art, that they appeared to contain stuffed lambs. From the abundant variety of the finny tribe in this country, they are enabled to cook them in a multiplicity of ways, as we had long heard. Throwing away all the rough and bony parts, they pound the remainder in mortars, till it becomes a paste : this they mix with a great quantity of onions and saffron, and put into moulds of the shape of lambs and geese : then they fry these artificial animals with oil, in very deep pans as deep as a draw-well, so that the frying penetrates them to the inmost ; and, serving them up, carve them as if they were cutting into solid muscles of white flesh : their taste is excellent, and an ignorant person might suppose them to be real lambs. In this manner they make various kinds of pastry, with the flour and with cheese fried in butter, long and round, as cakes, lozenges, &c. Then they have puddings, like those usually made of bread, composed of small fish, as small as worms, and baked or fried in the same way.
All these kinds were now served up by the Sotniks. Every forty or fifty of them came in troops, close behind each other, bringing dishes of various sorts ; which the Emperor sent them, unceasingly, to distribute to the guests all round the tables, from the beginning till the end of the repast; so that we were grieved to see the great fatigue they endured, standing on their legs or running about the whole time. But most of all were we distressed for the Emperor, who ate nothing at all. The Perevodchik and the other interpreters were also standing, during dinner-time, at a little distance in front of the Emperor ; who, whenever he wanted to ask our Lord the Patriarch any question, gave the word to them., and they returned with his answer. On that table were placed the most splen did cups : round it were standing Archons, each of whom was constantly employed in pouring liquor into goblets for the service of the guests.
Thus they continued carrying on the feast, from early in the afternoon to near midnight, until our very souls groaned within us. At length the Emperor stood up, and all the Sotniks in a body approached him with silver goblets, first of wine : of this he presented to the Patriarch, who offered a prayer for him,
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
and the singers chaunted the Uo^u^oviov. Afterwards he presented wine, with his own hand, to all the other guests, to eaeli his cup : for this is the Emperor's round of drink, which they quaff' out of love to him. During this ceremony, one of the Archons, of his especial service, stood by his side, holding his right arm. Each guest, as he came forward, bowed to him, first at a distance, down to the ground : then he advanced quickly, and, kissing the Emperor's hand, received the cup from him : then lie drew backwards, and drank it off' : after wards, bowing to the Emperor a second time, he retired. In this manner we also entered with the rest, until the whole company had gone through the ceremony.
Then the Patriarch prayed a second time, and the singers chaunted a HoXv^oviov for the Empress and her son Alexius. In like form the Emperor again gave drink to all the guests, in goblets and other vessels, with his own hand, till the second round was complete. Afterwards the singers performed a YIoXv^oviov for the Patriarch of Moscow, Kyr Nicon ; at the conclusion of which the Emperor first drank by himself, and then dispensed the wine to all the guests.
Then he commanded them to perform a UoXv^oviov for the Patriarch of Antioch, and for all the Archons ; which made the fourth round, and was distri buted by the Patriarch with his own hand, whilst the Archdeacon supported his arm.
To the Emperor, at the beginning of each round, they presented a beautiful gilt cup, from which he drank first : then he passed it to the Patriarchs. The whole of this time the Emperor never ceased standing, till he had given drink to all ; and when he wished to give orders to any of the servants, he went to them himself and talked to them, so that we were surprised at his exceeding conde scension. God preserve his empire for ever !
It was near upon midnight when, by the mercy of the Almighty, the Emperor rose from table, and the Patriarchs said grace. The Protopapas, with his attendant Priests, and the Archdeacon with his, then came into the middle of the hall, and brought us the ITai/ay/a in a beautiful gilt silver Pyx with angels all round it, supporting a handsome porcelain bowl in which the Ilavcty/cc was contained. After they had prayed over it as usual, all partook of it, the Arch deacons present having incensed all the guests with thuribles, which each held in his hand, in the shape of crowns.
At the conclusion of the prayers for grace, the servants brought panniers to collect the fragments from the tables, according to the practice of the convents,
31H TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
Then the Emperor bade adieu to our Lord the Patriarch, with a bow : and after the latter had given him his blessing, the Emperor appointed Archons to attend him, with large tapers, until we reached our convent door ; all the Ministers and Grandees having taken leave of him previously, on the outside of the palace.
The poor janissaries, who were placed in ranks along the road, had been standing all the while, with their banners in their hands, in all that cold and snow and intense frost, until now, when our Lord the Patriarch dismissed them, and they departed. As for ourselves, we could hardly believe that we had got back to our convent, so perished were we with the fatigue of standing and with the cold. What must have been the condition of the Emperor, who stood on his legs about four hours, with his head uncovered, whilst he gave drink to his guests for four rounds ! God preserve his life, and exalt his banners in honour and tran scendency ! This, however, did not suffice him ; but the moment we arrived at our lodgings, the bells tolled, and he entered, attended by his Archons, with the Patriarch, into the Great Church, where they assisted at Vespers and Lauds, and remained till dawn of day ; for it \vas the Great Lauds that were performed. What amazing strength, and constancy in the endurance of fatigue, under such circumstances, as were severe enough to confound our senses, and to turn the hair of a young man grey !
To the reader of this narrative which I have chronicled, my request is, that he will pray for me, a weak servant, Paul by name, Archdeacon — that God will forgive my sins, who was pleased to grant me facility and to open the powers of my mind, so that my intellects were expanded, and I penned this whole nar ration, to the composition and details of which many would be unequal. Straining my attention, my thoughts and senses, to the utmost,, I made vast exertion, and laboured severely to extract it from the rough draughts, a whole year after their notation. My entire ambition is, to create to myself a memorial in my lifetime, that among posterity may be found some one who will feel a sympathy towards me, in the same manner as we used to sympathize with the late Metropolitan Isa, who was taken as a companion by the Patriarch Hano, on his visit to this country, when we read his metrical composition : but, I say, poor and weak as I am, I have much surpassed him in my humble narrative : for he produced not sufficient for one hour's perusal ; whereas I have produced a large book, praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God ! whom we implore to open the eyes of our understandings, and to alleviate our misfortunes, that we may return to our native land, and sit down in it once more : for though we are
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. :}<).;>
here like princes, it is not to be compared with living among our families and friends, from whom our much-protracted absence has ulcered our hearts. Lighten, therefore, the way to us, O God ! that we may return to our beloved country ; and we will thank Thee, and praise Thee, our lives long !
This, then, is what I have written, with much labour, diligence, and exertion, and with many erasures and corrections, concerning the meeting of the Patriarch, Ivyr Macarius, the Antiochian, with Alexius, Emperor of Muscovy and of all the Countries of the Russians.
SECT. V.
/'/J/vS/^VYN TO THE PATRIARCH OP MOSCOW AND THE RUSSIAN GRAXDEES.- rEXEHATION OF THE RUSSIANS FOR CHURCHES AND IMAGES.— THE I R HUILDINGS, TITLES OF HONOUR, LAWS, AND CUSTOMS.
To return :— On the second day after our audience of the Emperor, we went with our present to the Patriarch, carried by our servants, the account of which is this :— An ancient painting, to represent the Descent of Our Lord from the Cross: for there is nothing more highly valued by them in this country than ancient Greek paintings, for which they have a very great religious veneration. Then a vessel of old pJgoj>, and another of new ; a Finger of St. Stephen, the first Deacon ; a portion of the Reliques of St. Anthony the Great; and a crosier, blessed with their virtues, dressed and looped with pearls*, which we made in Constantinople, according to what the Metropolitans with their Patriarch used to say to our master- ' Your Holiness is in the place of Peter the Apostle, and you have power to give crosiers for the guidance of tin- flock, to whom you please." Then a black branch of the palm-tree from Mount Sina, incense of stacte, a camphire taper, dates, ladanum, scented and Aleppo soap, pistachios, sugar-confections, saffron, mastich, pots of preserved ginger, purple-wool of Angora, and a black silk sash.
When, by the permission of his Archons and the door-keepers, we went into his apartment, he came to meet us ; and bowing to the picture, kissed it, and was much pleased with it. Afterwards he distributed amongst us silvered images of Our Lady, according to their practice in making presents ; and he gave us all his blessing, and we retired. Then we began to dispense our
* This I am far from being sure is the right interpretation of the toM
396 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
presents among the Ministers and great Officers of State, to whom we went round, attended by one of the interpreters. To them we presented, in trays covered with brocade, first, a portion of the reliques of some Saint ; then pvgov, consecrated candles, and earth from Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the banks of the Jordan ; fragments of the pillar of St. Simon of Aleppo ; incense of stacte, dates, ladanmn, five or six kinds of soap, scented, and of Aleppo ; and of every thing we had with us a very small quantity, which they receive in the light of a blessing : but they are chiefly delighted with sacred objects and ancient paintings ; nor did they take from us the Angora wools, or the silk handkerchiefs of Gaza, or the satin shawls of Ilasal, but with difficulty ; for they have abun dance of these articles at hand.
Except at the earliest hour of the morning, we were never able to have interviews with them ; for each has a handsome church in his palace, which he vies with others in beautifying and adorning inside and out ; and to it are attached three or four Priests for the private service of the Archon and his family, by whom they are fed and clothed. During the whole course of the year, not one of the Archons ever goes, on any day, to stand in the presence of the Emperor, until the Priests have recited before them the prayers appointed for the day, from the Midnight Prayer to the end of the Hours, including the Canons and the Nones; and have afterwards performed mass for him in the church. In each of their houses are an innumerable quantity of fine images, covered with gold, silver, and gems : and not only are they placed within the house, but outside, on all the doors, even the doors of the court.
Nor is it the Archons only who thus adorn their houses ; but in a similar way the peasants also in the villages ; for the love of all the Russians for images, and their faith in them, are exceeding great. Before each image they burn a taper, morning and evening : but the grandees are not content with burning one taper only; they have chandeliers, rising to the top of which are large brass vessels filled with wax, in which they fasten wicks, that burn day and night, for a length of time.
When we went to visit the Archons, we used to have to wait till they were at leisure from their prayers, which they say in their own apartments, before the images : mass they have performed in the church. On entering, \ve bowed to the images, according to their practice ; and the Archon advanced towards the Archimandrite, to receive his blessing. Then he bowed to us, and we to him ; and we said, through the interpreter : " The Father and Lord Patriarch, Kyr Macarius, Patriarch of the great city of God, Antioch, of the provinces of
TRAVELS OF MACAIULS. ;i97
Cilicia, Icaria, Syria, and Arabia, and of the whole East, lias sent us to pre sent to your Excellency a blessing, with salutation and prayer ; and we beg leave to ask concerning your health and welfare." On hearing this, he pro strated himself on the ground, and, striking it with his head, replied : " Cholom Beyat Liosodari Swiatishimo Patriarcha Makaria Antioshiskov ;" that is, " Our prostration on the earth to our Lord the holy father Macarius, Patriarcli of Antioch." Then he took every tray, and kissed it: and at the conclusion we bowed a second time to the images, and, after the Archimandrite had again given his blessing to the Archon, we bowed to him, and retired, accompanied by him to the outside : for it is the custom with them, that when an honoured stranger visits them, they meet him outside the door, and make him enter before them to their inner apartment, signifying by this that he is master of the house ; and so, on his going out, they follow him behind.
When they gave us a cup of wine, the Archon used to present it to us with both his hands, such is their custom : as for the brandy, it was with difficulty we were persuaded to drink it, as it is reprehensible for Monks to do so.
What most surprised us was, their humility and condescension to the poor, and their many prostrations and metanoias, from morning till evening, before any image they chanced to see. Whenever they came within sight of a church, however distant, and its crosses glittered in their eyes, if there were ten churches all round them, they turned to each, and bowed to it with three metanoias. Nor was it the men only who did this, but the women still more.
The palaces in this city are mostly new, of stone or brick ; and built on the European plan, lately taught the Muscovites by the Nemsas, or Germans. We gaped with astonishment at their beauty and decoration, their solidity and skilful arrangement, their elegance, the multitude of their windows, and of the sculptured pillars on every side of them ; the height of their stories, as though they were castles ; their immense towers ; and the manifold variety of the painting, in oil colours, both of their interior and exterior walls, which you might suppose were covered with slabs of real variegated marble, or with minute Mosaic ; for the bricks made in this country are very fine and smooth, and like the best bricks of Antioch, in hardness, weight, and redness. They use as much sand as possible in their composition, and are possessed of great skill in their manufacture. They are vastly cheap : a thousand of them may be bought for a piaster : on this account, most of the buildings here are of brick. The lapidaries, with their iron tools, execute in it admirable engravings, not to be distinguished from stone. Their lime also is very fine and strong, and holds
:*98 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
better than the lime of Aleppo : with this, when they have completed their brick building, they whiten it over ; and it adheres to it so firmly, that it will not fall off' in a hundred years. By this means the fabric has all the appearance of stone. The most surprising of it is, that after they have taken the bricks from the kiln, they set them out in piles in the open air, covering them only with boards; and there they stand exposed to the rain and snow for five or six years, as we saw, without being spoiled, or in the least altered.
All their structures here are done with mortar, in the same manner as the ancients built the ancient edifices in our country. Having slacked their lime, they mix it with sifted sand : then they sprinkle their bricks with water, and dip them in lime ; and having set them in a double layer along the Avail, they cram the insterstice with brickbats, and pour on mortar till it is filled up : in less than an hour's time the whole is firmly cemented, and becomes one solid mass.
Builders are able to do their work no more than six months in the year : from the time the frost thaws, about the middle of the month Nisan, until the end of Teshrin Alavval.
It is usual, in the structures of this city, for every house to be bound with huge iron bars, both inside and out ; and the doors and windows are all made of bright iron, beautifully wrought. For the staircase, they build a vaulted tower with four pillars and four arches : on the centre of each arch stands the foot of the next above, with admirable artifice ; for they cut a single stone in a hand some form, and, perforating it, pass through it an iron mace, with grooves in the knobs, which they rivet ; upon this they raise the structure, which presents a miracle of art, being detached in the middle, and standing with a gentle slope*. These fine edifices, which we beheld in this city, very much excited our admiration.
To return : — The title of most of the great men here is Kniazi ; the meaning of which is, 'Beg son of a Beg,' their titles being derived from their fathers and grandfathers : and the women are styled Kniayinia, in the same way. There is a regulation with regard to the grandees, that none, however superior his
* This passage, \\hich appears to be the description of what I believe is called a geometrical stair case, presents so many difficulties, that I beg leave to submit it to the revision of the learned.
. : ^*
TRAVELS OF MACARHS. 399
quality may be, shall have the command of more than three hundred men in his own house ; but when the Kmperor sends one of them on an expedition, he despatches with him thousands of troops, to the amount that he pleases ; for the whole direction of the army is in the hand of the Kmperor. Thus it is that no rebellious subject ever raises his head among them. Observe how admirable is this order of government ! Thus, when we visited the palace of any of the Ministers, we saw at his door but very few persons ; and when the Ministers came daily to wait on the Kmperor, they were followed by two or three servants at most. They never meet at each other's houses for consultation : every council is held at the Emperor's palace. Should the Kmperor hear that any were privately met to deliberate, he would disperse them at the point of the sword.
In this season of frost and snow, they went out only in large sledges. Their great pride is in bear-skins, of the white and black bears, which in this country are numerous, and exceeding large. We used to be astonished at their size, frequently larger than that of the buffalo. The white bear-skin is very beautiful, and is used only by the grandees in their sledges ; one half spread behind, the other under them. The pride of the women in winter consists in sledges, in which are placed coaches with glass windows, and hangings of scarlet or pink cloth reaching down to the ground : in the summer-time they drive out in large coaches, glorying in their white horses, and the number of their domestics and servants walking before and behind them. Thus, when we went with our presents to the houses of widows of high rank, we observed the number of their servants and domestics at their doors, besides their door-keepers and gardeners. The order of observance with rich widows in this city is, that on the death of their husbands they dress themselves entirely in black, even to their caps and handkerchiefs ; and not only so, but their tapestry and cushions are black, and their coaches are of the same colour, with linings and coverings of black cloth : even their horses are black. Such is their custom, which the widow maintains during the rest of her life, never laying aside her black garments, unless she gets some man to marry her. A woman of the rank of Kniayinia will not, if she can avoid it, marry any but a Kniazi ; but if no husband of that rank presents him self, and she marries another, she lays aside her title of Kniayinia: if she has children by her former marriage, she retains it.
We used to admire the management and conduct of the children, and their riding on small hor.ses proportionate to their own size ; the number of their attendants, children like themselves ; their surprising knowledge and intelli-
G G G
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gence ; their polite salutation of passengers, by taking off their caps ; and the pretty manner in which they made the sign of the Cross on their faces. It is usual for such childreii as these, sons of Kniazis, to go every day to the Emperor's Court, and sit in the same place with their parents, till they are grown up and take their rank. Such is the result of our remarks, after much inquiry and investigation.
It should be noted, that few are the poor who go about this city begging ; for the Emperor has shared them on the grandees in numbers, to receive their daily food by lists ; and every Arch on supports his troop of them. They have numerous houses provided for their lodging, and a daily allowance from the Emperor and Empress ; as have also the prisoners in confinement.
It is likewise worthy of notice, that the grandees of the empire do not reckon
their possessions after the manner of our country, by the number of their farms
and gardens and vineyards ; for indeed, in this country, there are no gardens or
vineyards : they reckon the houses on their estates with their families, and say,
such a Kniazi has three thousand Mojik (My>KiiKb) or peasants, or eight or ten
or twenty thousand ; calculating the value of their lands only by the capacity of
the houses upon them, and their actual inhabitants ; — and God knows what a
number there is in each ! From every man they have a return, year by year, of
two or three piasters, and take a tenth of the sheep, hogs, chickens, ducks,
geese, and such like. The peasants indeed have the appearance of slaves ; for
they sow the ground for their masters, ploughing it with his horses, and carrying
the produce in his wagons to whatever place he directs them, and whithersoever
he is pleased to call them, even to the transport of fire-wood, timber, stones, and
other materials, for the building and service of his mansions, and of every thing
else that he wants. Whenever a grandee is reduced to poverty, or dies, these
peasants are sold to any person who will purchase them with his money. Such
is the tenure of estates here, including also the endowments of churches and
monasteries*.
When the family of an Archon is extinct, and he has left no heir to his pro perty, it reverts wholly to the Emperor ; for he is the universal heir. Instances of this were seen during the time of the plague : all the mansions which were emptied of their inhabitants fell into the possession of the Emperor, together with every thing in them. Most of the rich, before their death, bequeathed all
' I may not have rightly conjectured the meaning of the Archdeacon's short expression.
TRAVELS OF MACAIUUS. 401
their property to the Emperor, out of the great love and veneration in which they hold their sovereign, whom they regard nearly in the same light as they do the Messiah : according to what was done by that great merchant who gave to the Emperor,, before he set out upon his late expedition, those valuable posses sions, comprising a palace which has few to be compared with it in this city ; and a church, to which, even in the Emperor's palace, there is none equal. We saw it, and appreciated its beauty ; which is such, that the heart is lightened of its cares on entering it. As for me, the poor historian of these Memoirs, I have no power to enumerate its various perfections ; its height, the elevation of its five cupolas, which are visible on all sides to persons looking in their direction, from the outside as well as the inside of the city ; the multitude of its paintings on the exterior, not to mention those in the interior; the glittering of its gilt windows ; its richly-gilt door ; the multiplicity and varieties of its images, and representations of what has passed fron the creation of the world until now ; the beautiful colours of its marble pavement, which he imported from Germany ; its two incomparable choirs, the most elegant and beautiful ornaments of which, brought also from Germany, no power of eloquence can describe ; and the number of its brass chandeliers,, bright as gold. It is not one church, but two churches : the larger for summer., with a marble floor ; the smaller for winter, the floor of which is formed of square blocks hewn from the roots of large trees, and is scarcely to be distinguished in appearance from the marble pavement, that the feet of persons praying there may not be chilled. The portico of this edifice, and its bell-tower, for their beautiful and lightsome architecture, surpass description. A building, indeed, on which, as we were informed, the merchant expended upwards of fifty-thousand dinars, might be expected to possess such perfections. God have mercy on its founder, and save him from the torments of everlasting fire, for the beautiful fruits of piety which he has produced in this world ! They told us that he paid every year into the imperial treasury one hundred thousand dinars of duty on the merchandise which he imported from Europe, Persia, and Siberia. At the times when sables were dearest, there used to be found in his magazines more than a thousand sorok (jyo)* of the highest price.
* CopoKb is ' une quarantaine,' or two score.
4-02 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
SECT. VI.
GRANTS OF THE EMPEROR TO FOREIGN ECCLESIASTICS AND TRAVELLERS.
To return : — Some time after we had been received by the Emperor, he sent to our Lord the Patriarch the presents, as they were all specified in the lists, of three sorok of the highest-priced sables, and three of an inferior quality ; a large silver cup ; a piece of purple, another of blue, and another of painted velvet ; two pieces of purple satin, and the like of damask ; and two hundred roubles, which were brought by the Grand Secretary and his attendants. For the Archi mandrite there was a sorok of sables, a piece of damask, and fifteen roubles ; for the Archdeacon and the Deacon, with the second Priest,, who was the Kha/indar or Treasurer, and the rest of the clericals, each a sorok of martens, a piece of damask, and ten roubles ; for the kinsmen, a sorok of martens only ; for the inter preter, four ells of plain linen, and two roubles ; and for each of the servants, two couples of sables, worth upwards of four roubles.
The Emperor did our master very great honour in regard to his table ; for whereas his allowance for it had been fixed at twenty-five copecks daily, he raised it to one hundred ; that is, to a rouble : whereas the Patriarch of Jeru salem had no more than fifteen a day.
To each of the Archimandrites, our companions, were given, for their ipihrifAO, %egwv, a sorok of sables, and twenty roubles, with twelve copecks for their table; and afterwards they received from the Emperor, as a gratuity for their monasteries, a sorok of sables worth forty roubles, or fifty, according to the size of the monastery. If any of them was in possession of a ^yo-o/3oyXXof, or golden seal, from the Emperor or his ancestors, importing that whoever brought it every three or six years to Potiblia should be admitted by the Voivode to repair to the Emperor's presence without advice, that person, upon having his audience, and kissing the Emperor's hand, received a gratuity for his convent as fixed in the %gv<ro(3ov*/^oy. Many monasteries, which have an established name, are greatly beloved by the Russians ; such as is the Convent of Mount Sinai, which has a •fcguffofiovhXov, which they bring at the end of every thirty years, and receive their gratuity. Such have also most of the convents of the Holy Mountain, and many others besides ; as, for instance, the Convent of the Holy Ascension ; to receive the alms granted to which, the Patriarch of Jerusalem sends an Archimandrite, a Deacon, and some clericals, every three years. So also the Patriarch of Alexandria, at certain periods, sends to them
TRAVELS OF MACAR1LS. 40'^
an Archimandrite, with his troop of attendants, to receive for him his gratuity. Again, whenever a new Patriarch is elected in Constantinople, he sends to them either one of the Metropolitans ^^^1, or an Archimandrite. For this reason their names are well known among the Russians ; with the exception of the Patriarch of Antioch, from whom, for a length of time, nearly one hundred years, no delegate has made his appearance here ; so that his memory was lost among them. To the other Patriarchs, at certain periods and on certain occa sions, they sent gratuities ; but not to him : for he who seeks not, finds not, as it is said in the Holy Gospel : and thus they looked upon us as great strangers.
To return : — The customary allowance to the Archimandrite clericals is a sorok of martens, with ten roubles, and five copecks for their table. To ordi nary foreign Priests, who came from a distant country to ask alms of the Emperor, they gave, for their (p/Xjj^a %sgwv, a sorok of martens, and five copecks daily, in the same proportion as to the clericals; and afterwards a gra tuity of a sorok of sables, worth thirty or forty roubles. This is what they obtain first and last, as we saw with our own eyes ; for every thing here is written down in registers kept for ages past, and in nothing is there any altera tion, nor any diminution or increase. Whenever they are visited by a Patriarch, or Metropolitan, or an Archimandrite, or by Priests and the poor, they enter an account of every thing they give them, noting the time ; and when others come after them, they look at their former register, and are thereby guided : as we, the disciples of the Antiochian, were allowed precisely what had been granted to the disciples of the Jerusalemian.
To the poor who came with us, or with those who travelled in our company, having with them a ^Lai or Letter-patent, addressed to the Emperor from the Patriarch of Constantinople or Jerusalem, in testimony that they were in debt to the amount of several thousand dinars on account of their religion, being Christians, to each were given twenty or five-and-twenty roubles, and no more. This is what we saw and ascertained ; and God is witness to the truth of what we assert.
On investigation and inquiry, we found that most of those who come to Moscow7 in quest of alms, whether Archimandrites or common persons, do not come in the hope merely of what shall be given to them ; but they bring money, to make purchases of sables, ermines, and such like, that they may realise a great profit on their sale in Turkey. It is upon this principle that most of them come. From the time of their admission at Potiblia, till the moment of their return and departure thence, they are at no expense whatever. If they have merchandise
KM- TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
with them,, they pay no duties, nor hire of horses ; and they spend nothing for eating and drinking ; for they have a pension, which they receive every month, eacli according to his rank : the very poorest has four copecks a day, with as much beer as he can drink. Thus they ensure to themselves great profits, if they bring with them a large stock of money or goods. Otherwise, if any person relies on his expectations from alms, his hope is far distant. God knows that some do not regain the expenses of their journey !
In regard to the Metropolitans, if he happens to be a Metropolitan of a large and well-known See, with difficulty will he obtain from the Emperor, first and last, and from the grandees, altogether a sum of two or three hundred roubles : it may be less, but never more. This we saw, and were told by several Metro politans. And know, Brother, that all I have written and enumerated is true and sincere, without falsehood, as God is witness ; for I refined my thoughts and purified my intellects, so as accurately and minutely to describe every thing I saw and heard, in answer to my scrutinising questions, from persons of the strictest veracity. These pains I have taken, in order that if God is gracious, and I return to my own country, I may not be under the necessity of repelling one single question which may be asked me concerning these matters ; but every thing may be found delineated in this collection, wherein nothing that has occurred to me has been omitted.
To return : — On the Sunday of the ' Avoxgta, they are accustomed to assemble in large congregations : in Greek it is called TJJ? devrzgai; Hugova-ictg, or ' Simi litude of the Day of the Second and terrible Coming :' so they tolled the bells from the earliest hour of the morning, and three hours afterwards began with the great bell. The Emperor sent to invite our Lord the Patriarch ; and he went in the sania to the Sobor, that is, the Great Church : for the meaning of Sobor, in their language, is n Ka$oA<;^, L^Ul ' the Universal Church :' and we all robed, together with the two Patriarchs, the Archbishop of Servia, and the rest of the Archimandrites, who put on their mitres ; the whole of the Priests, and the numerous Deacons, in their three orders ; that is, the ' Avuyvaarrai or Readers, the 'Ywodtaxovoi or Sub-deacons, and the 'J&vr&eig or Full Deacons ; of each order there are ten in number, and each has its chief or leader. The Anagnostai are children ; but the Sub-deacons have whiskers, and some of them beards ; for each of the Anagnostai, as he grows up to puberty, passes into the order of Sub-deacon. They are all in a-n^a^ia or surplices without girdles, and each is charged with a particular service. One of them always carries the crosier behind the Patriarch, who is not accustomed here ever to hold it in his
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own hand ; another carries the basin, another the ewer ; one holds the towel, others attend to the round carpets worked with the figure of an eagle, which they place under the feet of the Patriarchs, wherever they stand ; others carry a large silver box, into which they put the Patriarch's crown, whenever he takes it off; others are to hold the torches ; others to read the Epistles, and throw incense. The Protodiaconos of the church is constantly employed in holding the left arm of the Patriarch, the Archdeacon the right ; each supporting it in an extended posture.
After robing, the Priests and Deacons walked forth in procession, with banners, crosses, and images, among which was the great city image * ; and we went out with them from the south door of the church to a large open area behind the chancel, which the janissaries had spread with yellow sand. Here the Patriarch of Moscow took his station, together with his Deacons, on a high scaffold, on which was placed a chair, facing the East ; and he gave his blessing three times to the assembled multitude.
Immediately after the Patriarchs were robed, the Emperor repaired to the church, and the singers chaunted the TloXv^oviov, whilst he was paying his devotions to the images. His head was uncovered, and his crown and sceptre were carried by one of his attendant Archons. Then approaching the Patriarchs, he bowed to them ; and they blessed and sprinkled him and his crown with the 'Ay/ao-pK. When he had kissed their hands, they kissed his forehead, ac cording to custom : and when the Patriarch of Moscow took his station on the raised frame, spread with carpets to the lowest step, the Emperor occupied a similar scaffolding, covered with a double fold of sables ; and his officers of state placed themselves on his right, whilst the multitude formed a large circle around. Our master stood on the Emperor's right hand, on a carpet set with a chair and cushion, behind ; the Archbishop of Servia opposite him, on the other side. Then the superior Clergy came, two and two, and bowed their heads twice to the Emperor, and to the Patriarch in like manner, as they passed to their stations. Thus did also the Chiefs of the Convents and all the Priests, who then took their places on each side, with their banners and crosses in the centre. In the middle of the whole circle had been placed, by the 'E««A^T/a^^f and his assistants, three reading-desks ; on one of which w:as the Gospel, on another the Vlashirnos (^liyiiU) Image, on the third the silver vessels of the og ; the first of which was a very large vessel in shape like an octagonal
406 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
howl, mounted on a high heel, and resemhling the largest-sized baptismal font, which two persons carried by the rings with some difficulty. Round it were cups of various kinds, presenting a complete furniture of silver. Then there was the water vessel, resembling a large milk-pail, which four persons could hardly move. Before them they placed large gilt silver candlesticks. In the mean time the great bells were tolling, until the moment that the Archdeacon descended from his station,, and, taking the thurible, bowed his head to the Pa triarch ; then turning to the East, said, with much intonation, " Bogoslovstvi Vladiko," that is, EyXoy*j<roi' AeWora ; and the Patriarch answered EvXoyjjro?*. Then they all came out from the tabernacle ; and the Patriarch stood at the ' Apftuv, with the whole body of the Deacons around him, inclosing him and holding his arms. Our master stood below, on his left hand, on the round carpet with the eagle (jwj^\ iy'j J^): for, as we before observed, one of the Deacons was charged with it, to place it under his feet, wherever he should stand. The rest of the attendants were stationed on each side ; whilst the Emperor stood before the Patriarch's chair, with his head uncovered., and with his hand in his bosom, in consequence of the severe cold on that day.
Remark, Brother, what happened now — an occurrence which surprised and confused our understandings ! It was, that so far were they from being content with this lengthened service, extending even to the close of the day, that the Deacons brought to the Patriarch the Book of Lessons, which they opened before him ; and he began to read the Lesson for this day, on the subject of the Second Coming ; and not only did he read it, but he preached and expounded the meanings of the words to the standing and silent assembly, until our spirits were broken within us during the tedious while — God preserve us and save us ! Afterwards, they concluded the prayers, and, going into the tabernacle, put off their copes ; then taking their cassocks, they went forth to give their blessing to the Emperor, and wish him health during the 'A^ro^sa or this time of abstinence, and he departed.
After we had paid our devotions to the bodies of the Saints in this church, and to the image of the Mother of God painted by Luke the Evangelist, we went out. Our master mounted the sania, and we returned to our convent, it being now late in the evening. Before we had time to sit down to table, what should we hear, but the bells tolling for vespers ! Now, what can we say of these duties, severe enough to turn children's hair grey, so strictly observed by
* Here follows a minute description, in thirteen folio pages of the Manuscript, detailing- the whole of this pompous ceremony : which the Translator omits, as probably of no interest to the reader.
TRAVELS OF MACARTUS. 407
the Emperor., Patriarch, Grandees, Princesses, and Ladies, standing propped on their legs from morning till evening, during this whole day of 'Avoxgtu ? Who would believe that they should thus surpass the devout anchorets in the deserts ? And yet, to the truth of what I have related, God is witness.
SECT. VII.
DEVOTION OF THE EMPEROR.— SOLOFOSKA CONVENT. — HISTORY OF THE
PA TR I A R CH NICON.
ON the morning of the Tuesday rJJ? Ty£>o<payoy, which was the twentieth of Ishbat, the Emperor sent for our Lord the Patriarch in the sania, to say mass for him in one of the upper churches of the palace,, dedicated to the Nativity of Our Lady and St. Catharine, in order to commemorate the birthday of his eldest daughter, named Eudocia, who was born on the first of Adar, on \vhich day is the commemoration of St. Eudocia : but as it now fell in the first week of the Great Lent, he kept it on this day, as they are accustomed to keep it every year. We went therefore, and, ascending to the church, performed mass there, in company with the Patriarch of Moscow and the Archbishop of Servia, before the Emperor and some of his nobles. The Empress and his sisters were in the porch ; the door of which was closed, that none might intrude upon them ; and they looked over us from behind their veils and lattices.
This church is very small, of ancient structure, with a gilt cupola. On a request made by the Patriarch to our master, the latter held an ordination of Priests and Deacons. As this is the Emperor's private church for the winter, observe what he now did there. Descending from his seat, he went round, like a xa.vdqha'ffrns, or candlelighter, to light the tapers before the images, whilst we were looking on in astonishment. After he had made the tour of the Sacra ment Cws^X ne approached the two Patriarchs; who gave him the usual bene diction with the cross ; and then passed to the Empress and her attendants, to bless them in like manner. At the end of the mass, also, they imparted to them the 'Am&y^a.
On our departure from the church, the Emperor took the three prelates, by the hand, to the Empress's palace, to give their blessing to her and her daughters, to his sisters, and his illustrious son Alexius ; and when they came out, we went with them to the Patriarch's apartments for a short time, until the Emperor sent them an invitation to dine with him in the banquetting-room of the former
HH H
408 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
day, where similar proceedings took place as on that occasion : first was a distribution of bread, then of cups of wine and mead, to all the guests ; next of plates of meat,, which they sent home to their families. The Emperor did not forget a single individual. At the end, they stood up, and the Patriarch poured out the first round of wine to the health of the Emperor,, the second to the healths of the Empress and her daughter, the Princess Eudocia : the third round the Emperor presented with his own hand to the health of the Patriarch of Moscow, and the fourth to that of the Patriarch of Antloch. Then they all stood while the Hava'yiu, was exalted according to custom, and prayers were said over the table : and after the Patriarchs had taken leave of the Emperor, we returned to our convent.
The next day the Emperor, attended by his grandees, went to visit the monastery r^g 'Ayiag Tgiudog, that is, the celebrated Convent of the Holy Trinity, with the intention,, he said^ of keeping the 'Anoxia with the Monks. See what religiousness and virtue were displayed to us by this excellent monarch also in this !
On the morning of Thursday rijs TvgoQayov, the Patriarch invited our master, together with the Servian,, to join in celebrating mass in the great church,, to commemorate the deceased Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Moscow ; as it is the annual custom of the Patriarch on this day to perform the mass and the Mvyftoa-vvov, and on the following to give a great banquet in the palace to the Heads of the convents, the Priests of the seven churches, the Deacons, every Bishop and Archimandrite who may happen to be within the city, and the foreign Monks from Greece. We went therefore, in the imperial sania, to the church. When the Patriarch entered., and had bowed and given his blessing to the congregation, and the singers had chaunted "A%iov la-riv and the Tlohv%goiitovt he shook hands with our master, and they went together to pay their devotions to all the images in the church ; in particular to the body of St. Philip, Metro politan of Moscow, the worker of miracles, the Confessor, whom this Patriarch, at the time that he was Metropolitan over the city of Novogorod, brought hither, by command of the Emperor, from the Monastery of the Saints Sabbatius and Zosirna, commonly known by the name of the Solovoska Convent, by the Greeks pronounced Solovka, which is in an island in the midst of the ocean, called the Sea of Darkness ; for in this mona? _ry the day and night, in the months of lyar, Haziran, and Tamoz, are one, 4 iat is, all light without darkness, so that night is not distinguished from day but by a slight obscurity which prevails for less than an hour : on the other hand, in the winter reigns perpetual
TRAVELS OF MACAIUUS. 409
darkness, and they live only by lamplight both night and day : so we were told by this Patriarch from his own mouth, and by many others. The place is more than two thousand versts distant from Moscow : in winter, during the frost, a journey of two months ; in the summer,, six. To this monastery are banished trangressors from among the Greek Priests and Monks ; and thus we obtained from some of them an account of the living there.
This Patriarch Nicon was, at the commencement of his career, a secular Priest, who abandoned his wife and became a Friar. Afterwards he was made 'Hyoupzvog, that is, Prior of a Convent, for some time. The Emperor then appointed him Archimandrite over the Spas Convent, that is, the Convent rw ^vrqgos in Greek, and in our language ^1=^1 "the Saviour." It is dedicated to the Divine Manifestation, and was built by the father of the present Emperor, after his ascension to the throne, outside the city walls. It was in the natural disposition of Nicon to love the Greeks, and their ecclesiastical ordinations and ceremonies ; and here he remained three years. At the end of that time, the Emperor promoted him to the bishopric of the city of Novogorod, or the New City, which is the first Metropolitan See of Muscovy ; for it was to this city that the Apostle Andrew came and preached ; and it was the first in these countries, after the citv of Kiov, that believed in the faith : on this account it took the
*/
precedence of all the Metropolitan Sees. We shall hereafter give the history and description of this city, as by the will of Almighty God it subsequently fell to our lot to visit it. Immediately after his promotion, Nicon* was sent by the Emperor to fetch the body of St. Philip, the celebrated Metropolitan of Moscow : the reason of which was, that this Saint, from the time of his martyrdom and interment in the aforesaid monastery, had not worked a single miracle until now, when he performed many. They sent therefore to fetch his body to Moscow ; as he had appeared several times to the Emperor in his sleep, saying, " I have been long enough at a distance from the tombs of my brethren, the Metropolitans : send and fetch my body, and place me with them." Thus urged, the Emperor sent in company with this metropolitan, Nicon, a great number of Archons, who brought his body, having been, from the time of their departure to their return, two whole years on the journey. Just before the arrival of the Saint happened the death of the Patriarch Joseph, and it was the unanimous vote of the Assembly of the Clergy to make Nicon Patriarch : but he strongly refused to accept the dignity, until an order should be esta blished, that the Emperor should confer no ecclesiastical or sacerdotal offices * See Buchmeister Leben des Patriarch Nikon, ed. Riga, 1788. p. 34.— EARL OF GUILFORD.
410 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
whatsoever, as the preceding sovereigns had conferred them. Having obtained his will in this respect, he furthermore procured an imperial decree, that his sentence should be absolute,, without opposition or appeal : and he had no sooner been installed in the Patriarchate, than he banished three Protopapas, with their wives and children, to Siberia : one of them was Protopapas to the Emperor, and enjoyed such rank and power, in consequence of his office, that he persecuted the Clergy, imprisoning them and loading them with fetters, without permission from the Patriarchswho preceded Nicon.
This prelate, immediately on his elevation, entered upon the exercise of un controlled authority*: every person was filled with dread of him; and he is, up to the present time, a great tyrantf over the Heads of the Clergy, the Archimandrites, every order of the priesthood, and even over the men in power and in the offices of Government. No intercession, either from or for any one, has the slightest influence with him. It was he who banished the Bishop of Kolomna, and afterwards consecrated another in his place. Whenever he hears of any one transgressing, even by a fit of drunkenness, he sends him instantly into banish ment ; for his janissaries are perpetually going round the city, and whenever they find any Priest or Monk in a state of intoxication, they carry him to prison, and consign him to every sort of scorn and contempt. Thus we saw his prisons full of them, in the most wretched condition, galled with heavy chains and logs of wood on their necks and legs. It used to be the custom for the Archons to go in to the Patriarch without consulting the door-keepers : when their visit was formally announced, he used instantly to come out to meet them ; and afterwards, on their departure, he accompanied them to the outer door ; but Nicon keeps them a long time waiting before he sends them permission to enter ; then they walk into his presence with extreme fear and awe, and, having transacted their business before him standing, take their de parture whilst he continues sitting in his place. The love, however, of the Emperor and Empress for him is beyond expression.
What we have here related of the history of this Patriarch does not properly suit this place : we shall hereafter, at a suitable time, present a particular account of every incident of his life and circumstances.
To return : — On the arrival of the body of Saint Philip, the Emperor, the ' Patriarch, the great Officers of State, together with the Heads of the Clergy,
* The text is,
t The Arabic expression J\j»- is literally " a butcher," " a slaughterer/'
TRAVELS OF MACAIUUS. .[.} 1
all the Heads of Convents, the priesthood, and the whole population of the city, went out to meet it, with torches, banners, and images, and in their most splendid robes ; and, as we were told by every one, the Saint performed a number of miracles, opening the eyes of the blind, raising the sick from their chairs and couches, and curing the insane, until they carried him into the great church, and placed him in a coffin of silver and gold, with the greatest honour and reverence, near the fifth door on the south side of the tabernacle, where he still performs many miracles. They have, for this reason, appointed him a Commemoration with the new Saints, a festival and canons, and so forth. All the world here buys his portrait; and the painters are employed day and night in making highly-finished copies of it, the goldsmiths in preparing gilt- silver, and carved ornaments for its appendages ; so that treasures of wealth are laid out in his name. The women have great faith in him. We used to see them continually going about the picture market to buy his portrait, and then proceeding to the goldsmiths' shops to have it inlaid with silver. The expense on the smallest pictures of him amounts to ten dinars. The Archons and their ladies load theirs with gold and gems.
To return : — Afterwards, the two Patriarchs turned back, and crossed them selves before the row of images on the north door of the tabernacle : then they went into the sacristy, and paid their devotions to the body of Saint Peter, the first of the Metropolitans of Moscow, whose gilt coffin is placed in the wall between the two tabernacles. This is the Saint who came from the city of Kiov, after they had received the faith at the hands of the Emperor Basil the Macedonian* ; who sent his sister to be married to Vladimir king of Kiov, after he had baptized him in the River Nieper, him and all his nobles and his whole country, by the hands of this Saint Peter, who afterwards came to Moscow, and performed numerous miracles, until they became Christians. Having taken a blessing at his shrine, the Patriarchs passed on to the north corner of the church, where they worshipped the body of Saint Ivana ('JyJ), who was third Metropolitan after him ; for the second after Saint Peter was Saint Alexius, whose body is in the Chodaby Convent. Then, having next prayed before all the images around the four pillars of the church, they passed to the west corner ; where is a handsome recess with a lofty cupola of bright carved brass, within which is a crystal case containing a garment worn by Our Lord the Messiah, sent by the Kixilbash, or Persian Shah Abbas, to the
JjAjUJ'i LlXLJ! iJjUwtJ Is it not Basil the Macedonian, Emperor of Constantinople? — EAKL OF GUILFORD.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
Emperor Michael, father of the present Emperor, after he had made the ac quisition of it from the country of the Georgians. Suitably to receive it, they prepared this beautiful place, inside of which is a form or imitation of Our Lord's sepulchre : over that rests a handsome gilt silver chest, with another box, all of gold and gems, within it ; and in this is the crystal case, containing the aforesaid garment*, which we saw afterwards on Good Friday : here lamps and tapers are burning day and night, The door of this chapel is of bright carved brass, on the approach of the Patriarchs to which the 'Efypegtos brought out to them the above-mentioned chest. Having bowed to it and kissed it, they retired to the sacristy, accompanied by us : for all the Deacons robe before the Patriarchs come, that, when they enter, they may be ready to support their arms and attend their procession. Then they bowed before the altar, and kissed the Gospel and cross, according to the Russian custom ; and the Patri arch took the cross in his hand. At this moment advanced the Heads of the Clergy and the Archimandrites without their latias, accompanied by the Priests and Deacons, and, bowing to the Patriarch, kissed the cross and his hand, till all had finished : such is their custom, instead of the Kocvvq (^£1) with us and the Greeks, outside the sacristy. Afterwards the Patriarchs passed to the Tabernacle of Sacrifice, where they bowed and prayed before the chalice and plate, as usual ; and the former persons advanced as before, and, kneeling to the Patriarch, received his blessing : but, subsequently our Lord the Patriarch annulled this practice, and prohibited the Patriarch of Moscow from entering the sacristy, and there giving his blessing to the Heads of the Clergy and the priesthood, with the cross. He was enjoined to conform to our custom, and, sitting on his throne, to admit them to kiss his hand only. Then they went out to the Na^^| or Porch, and the Patriarch of Moscow ascended his throne, which is a very large and lofty form with three steps divided into four parts, covered with an immense carpet reaching down from the top to the furthest extremity of the porch. Here his Deacons began to robe him as usual ; not taking off the mandi/a from his back, lest any one should see him without it, until they had first clothed him in a HagupKv$v$ (^UU^) studded with pearls ; and then they put on his surplice. There were two Deacons standing on his right and left, holding in their hands the requisites for his dress, which they gracefully handed to him one by one ; and he, having blessed each, crossed his forehead, and put on the various articles of his attire, as he kissed the cross
^.ujil Kafjucra, chemise. — EARL OF GUILFORD.
TRAVELS OF MACA1UUS. \.\%
upon them. So also they put on him the y,u,x%og, open, and then buttoned it on the two sides. All his mM-ox have bells and flags, with strings of gold lace which they tie. Before he puts on his crown, he is accustomed to comb his hair and beard with an instrument made of hog's bristles. Then they crown him ; and when he is complete in his attire, and has given his blessing to the congregation, his Deacons descend, and, having bowed three times towards the East, go up to him again to receive his blessing. In like manner, after the Hours, when the Heads of the Clergy, Archimandrites, and Priests leave the sacristy, they advance two and two before him, and, making a graceful bow to him, pass on to station themselves in their places. This they all do to the very last; and from the greatness of their number, they used to reach nearly to the Sanctuary ; four of the Archimandrites wearing mitres, the rest latias.
SECT. VIII.
ADMISSION TO HOLY ORDERS— COMMEMORATION SERVICE AND BANQUET.
Ox this day there was also an ordination of Priests and Deacons. We found it was the rule with this Patriarch to perform mass most clays, and that none of his masses should be said without an ordination of Priests and Deacons, on account of the great multitude of their flocks, and of the Clergy required to attend them. We stayed with him more than a year; and at every mass we used to see him ordaining Priests and Deacons. Nor are these ordinations con fined to him alone ; but he sends to every prelate residing with him, permission to ordain in his particular church ; for the 'TVa^/a, or jurisdiction of the Patriarch, is vastly extensive ; and it would be impossible for him to ordain every person he wishes, as they apply to him. He sends them, therefore, as we said, to the other prelates : he even sent them to us afterwards, and we ordained a a great body of them, as we shall recount in the proper place. To the Arch bishop of Servia he addressed many : they were all persons who came from places especially under the Patriarch's charge, bringing with them testimonials from their relatives and friends, and from the people of the town, that they were deserving to be admitted to holy orders. We saw great numbers of them who had come a distance of more than two thousand versts with great hardship and fatigue. Every chief Priest or Bishop is, as usual, responsible for his laity and Clergy. The Patriarch of Moscow, when our master said mass with him, was
414 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
always very attentive at the ordination service, seeking, for his own advantage, to observe which form was best ; and was continually asking him questions on every point, in order to profit by his information. We shall hereafter make mention of the defects and irregularities we found amongst them, and of the great advantages they derived from our master's instructions : every thing he did for them shall be related in its proper place.
After the Archdeacon had said the Collect "Ero^ey ^ram?, he recited the Collect which they say for the dead, " Have mercy on us, O God ! £c." Again, ' We pray for the repose of the souls of the servants of God, all the deceased Metropolitans of Moscow and of the whole country of Russia." This he recited, according to their custom, in five verses or periods, reading their names from a register ; and the singers chaunted at each verse, " O Lord, have mercy ! " Then he concluded, saying, " Of the Lord we ask ; " and they responded, " O Lord;" and the Patriarch read the Declaration (^M), ' For Thou art the Resurrection, Thou art rest and consolation to thy servants our brethren, Metro politans of Moscow," mentioning each by name, as they are accustomed to do in masses for the dead, for the repose of their souls, by what we afterwards witnessed. Then the Archdeacon entered the sacristy ; and another came forth and said, " Pray, O ye admonished! to the Lord*."
To return : — After the mass, they came out from the sacristy, and concluded the prayers in the usual form. Then the Patriarch ascended his throne, where he had robed, having our master on his right, the Archbishop of Servia on his left, and the rest of the attendants, the heads of the Clergy, the Priests, and the Archimandrites, on each side. The 'E»»>.?jcr/a^jj? had set a reading-desk in the middle, on which were a silver dish containing boiled meat with honey, and a cup of wine, as a M.vrjfAo<rvvov, to commemorate the whole of the deceased Metropolitans and Patriarchs of Moscow. Then the Deacons began to bring forward triple-twined torches of wax to the Patriarch, who distributed them to the attendants : the Archdeacon took the thurible, saying, "' EyXoyjju'oi' Ag<T7rorct ; " the Patriarch, " EvXoyrtrog ; " and the Archdeacon recited the great " "Svvctvrtj" in which he mentioned, instead of the name of the Patriarch or of the Emperor, the names of the defunct : we know not whence this Collect of theirs was taken. Afterwards the Anagnostee began to throw incense in bene diction of the defunct, whilst the singers chaunted, until the completion of that
* LJ JJ ^jlsj^ycJl lyjj IjLj. This form of exhortation is similar to that in Virgil : " Discite justitiam moniti, et non temnere Divos." ./ENEID, B. vi. ver. 620.
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ceremony*. At the first Ka^^a, I entered and said, " Have mercy on us, O God! &c." with the thurible in my hand. This collect is of five verses, at each of which the singers chaunted Kugtz "EX&rt<rov. After it I said, Tu KVPIV fyirovpiv, and they the Response,, " O Lord !" and our master said the Prayer, " O God of our souls and of our bodies ! &c." in a low voice, according to their custom. Then he pronounced aloud the Declaration, " For Thou art the resurrection and the life ; Thou art rest and consolation to thy servants, our brethren the Metropolitans of Moscow, O Christ our God ! £c." After the Declaration, the Patriarch descended, to throw incense round the reading-desk, sacristy, table, and altar ; and turned to do the same to the Ka^g^a and the images. Then lie came forth to incense the royal door, and the whole range of images on the right and left ; and afterwards approached and incensed the image which was over the head of our master ; then him, and the whole line of his attendants ; then the singers. Thus also he did to the Servian, and those with him. Afterwards he went round to incense the images in the body of the church, one by one ; the Emperor's chair, the Empress's, and the whole con gregation. The Archdeacon, carrying in his hand a taper, preceded him wherever he went, until he came and stood in his place ; and two Deacons sup ported his arms till he had finished, after incensing the royal door a second time, then the desk all round, and our master ; on which he ascended to his throne, with the censer in his hand. Then all the Deacons went below to stand in a row before him, and he incensed them as they bowed their heads : he incensed the two choirs of singers in like manner, as they bowed to him ; then the Anagnostye, and the Archdeacon, to whom he delivered the censer. On that, he bowed three times towards the east, and gave his blessing to the two choirs. Then the Archdeacon incensed him, and delivered the censer to me : and I threw incense first on the Patriarch of Moscow, and then on our master, to whom I delivered the censer, taking the taper from his hand to carry before him ; and he went round to throw incense in the same manner as the other had done, and returned to his place. The like cere mony was then performed by the Archbishop of Servia. After the singers had finished chaunting the Benediction (*allo the incense-thrower bean to
throw it on the Kavuv, at the end of each portion as it was read, and was then responded to by the chaunt of the choirs f.
t "The pompous ceremonies of the Russian Church, the gorgeous apparel of the priests with their black and shining beards, the various positions in which different people are seen kneeling and bowing
T T T before
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At last the Patriarch descended from his throne to conclude the service, and recited the names of the defunct, one by one, from a register ; and they channted for them " Everlasting remembrance and perennial mourning : " after which the prelates entered the sacristy, to take off their robes ; and leaving the church., we passed with the Patriarch to his apartments, where the banquet was arranged. In the middle of the room, according to their custom, stood a table laid with gilt silver cups large and small, and round it were the Sotniks in attendance. For the Patriarch of Moscow they set a table by itself, at the head of the hall ; another was placed near it for our master ; another for the Servian ; and four for the heads of the Clergy, the Archimandrites, and ourselves. For the rest of the company, tables were set round the apartment. Then they prayed over the table, and brought forward the Tlawyia, in a beautiful gilt silver vase. When the prayers had been recited over it, we partook of it, and then sat down. Immediately one of the Anagnostai1 disposed his reading-desk in the centre of the room, and began to read from a large book in a loud voice, and continued his lecture from the beginning till the end of the repast. The Patriarch's crosier was held by another standing near him : the crosiers of our master and the Servian were erected in front of them. Then the Patriarch drank three cups of wine together, and made our master and us drink in like manner, before we had eaten a morsel. The Sotniks, in their elegant dresses, were standing to wait on us quickly ; some to serve the bread, some the dishes of meat, and some for the wine and other services. For every round there was a different shape of cup, and a different quality of beverage.
The first thing distributed by the Patriarch to all the guests were the usual long loaves. As the servants took them from him, they cried aloud, saying, " O such an one !" if he was a Bishop, naming him by his See ; if an Archi mandrite, by his Convent. Thus the servant named us, saying, " This is from the mercy of the Patriarch Nicon to you." The guests, advancing from their tables, bowed down to him to the ground in thanks. The first meat they set upon the table was black and red caviare. Removing it, they brought various kinds of fish and viands ; not setting together one sort with another, but first carrying away the presented dish, and then replacing it with a different one,
before the favourite Saints, in attitudes little less remarkable than the exhibitions of Mussulmans ; in short, the whole system of parade that characterizes their service very much exceeds that of the Roman Catholics. The choirs are extremely fine : they admit of no musical instruments ; human voices only are allowed ; and nothing can be more strikingly grand than the singing of the priests."
ALCOCK'S Travels in Russia, Persia, Turkey, and Greece.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. 417
according to the order and service of the imperial banquets. Tims he gave to his guests, one after another., from amongst the boasted dishes ; and to our Lord the Patriarch first, before all. Each guest sent his present by his servant to his own house, as a blessing : this is their usual practice. In the mean time, whenever the 'AvayvuffTqc became tired of reading, the singers came forward and chaunted : the Patriarch called upon us also to sing in Greek and Arabic. In this way the banquet lasted until the evening.
SECT. IX.
ACCOUNT OF THE DOG-FACED TRIBE.
AFTERWARDS it pleased Nicon to entertain our Lord the Patriarch with a full account of the following affair. The Emperor had sent to summon a party of the tribe of Saint Christophorus the Martyr, who are subjects of his empire, and are called Lobani*. In Turkish they are called ^*xjjl ^bo, in Greek "Ar/ow avfywroi, in Arabic £j&»-j Jb^ ^jJol. They eat human flesh, together with their dead : their tract of country is along the shore of the Ocean or main sea, which is the Sea of Darkness, one hundred and fifty vcrsts northward of the port of Archangel, and to the east of Moscow one thousand six hundred and fifty f. There were come of them on the present occasion, to the assistance of the Em peror, more than seventeen thousand: it wras even said, thirty thousand. This people in former times had been rebellious against Alexander, as we were told by them through the mediation of their interpreters ; for they have a language' peculiar to themselves, and are attended by dragomans who know both theirs and the Russian. They have no houses, nor are they at all acquainted with the use of bread, never eating it, but feeding entirely on raw fish, the carrion beasts of the desert, and dogs, without cooking, in their savage fashion. No
* AO&uiH "having a large forehead." — EARL OF GUILFORD.
t " The extent of the dominion of the Emperor of Russia is greater than that of the Roman Empire in its most flourishing days, and contains about fifty-three millions of inhabitants. The army is the prin cipal profession ; and although some trouble has been taken to form a correct estimate of its strength, it is impossible to pretend to great accuracy ; the difficulty being in the incomplete state of the regiments, which frequently are not effective beyond half of what is considered the due complement : as a round number, however, including Cossacks and every species of military, the best authorities suppose it to exceed a million, although perhaps not more than seven hundred thousand receive pay ; and the expense of maintaining it is calculated at about seven millions sterling."
ALCOCK'S Travels in Russia, Persia, Turkey, and Greece, p. 49.
418 TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
horses are to be met with in their country : they have only the wild animal, called, in Greek, gXa<po$, which is the JjJ or deer, and is very common and abundant among them. This they employ in various services, particularly in drawing their wagons : its flesh they eat, and with its skin they are clothed- From year to year they have to contribute to the Emperor's treasury a certain number of these skins, which are like parchment, and are in great request by the Muscovites. From the further bank of the Danube to the extremity of the north, deer (Jj.^0 are found in great abundance, particularly in the province of Wallachia. They hunt and eat them, as the deer has the hoof cloven. But the Muscovites strictly abstain from eating them, out of respect, as they think, to the Holy Ghost.
These savages have no houses, but range about the mountains and forests ; and wherever they arrive in the evening, there they stop. Snow and frost never cease in their country ; for this reason their faces, as well as the rest of their bodies, are extremely white. The pelisse, which covers them from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, they never change during their whole lives, unless, on its wearing out, they have to make themselves another. It consists of the skins of the said deer (Jj^)!), which resemble the camel's skin, with the same kind of hair. They sew them together in couples, so as to have the short fur both inside and out; and make trousers for their legs, and a covering folding over their heads, all comprised in one vest. This dress suffices them against the cold. Their worship, as they told us, is adoration to the heavens. Their provisions, which are the flesh of wild beasts, they carry between their clothes, behind their backs. As to their appearance, in shape and figure, it is frightful to the beholder ; and when we looked on them, God preserve us ! we shuddered with horror. They are all short, all of a size, and amidst the whole of them not one can be distinguished from another. All are hump-backed, with short necks, and heads close between their shoulders. Their faces are perfectly smooth, without beard ; nor is the male to be known from the female, but by the secret parts ; for the severity of the cold in their country hinders the growth of hair. When they marched in a body, you could hardly distinguish them from a herd of bears or other brute beasts, and it was sur prising to see them. Their faces are as round as a well, and very large, with broad low foreheads, flat noses, and long, small, inverted, fissured (Byi^U L^iiU) eyes. For this reason the beholder shudders at them. It was impossible for us to assume boldness enough to make acquaintance with them ; for humanity is far removed from them, and they are perfectly wild. The Greeks therefore call
TRAVELS OF MACAIUUS. \ \$
them 2*yXo?c£<paAo;, that is (c_>>Kil s^) " dog-faced." The old men among them cannot be discerned from the young.
The servants in the Convent of St. Cyrillus, of Bielozarsko, in the apart ments of which we were now residing, told us that the convent has a con siderable revenue from their dependants among this tribe, paid wholly in deer skins, as they have nothing else, and are not acquainted with bread, nor ever eat it*.
To return : — -Whilst we were yet sitting at table, the Patriarch Nicon sent for the chiefs of this party, that is, their commanders of thousands, about thirty persons in number ; and they came to speak with him through their interpreters. As soon as they entered, the whole assembly was struck with horror. They instantly bared their heads, by rolling back their caps ; and bowed to the Patriarch with great veneration, crouching to the ground, all in a lump, like pigs. He then began to ask them how they were, how they lived, and in what manner they had lately travelled in coming to Moscow. They told him of all, as we have just related ; and that they had come from their country on foot, with deer to draw their wagons. He inquired with what arms they fought : they replied, "With bows and arrows f." He said to them: " Is it really true, that you eat the flesh of men ?" They laughed, and answered : " We eat our dead, and we eat dogs ; how then should we not eat men ?" He said : " How do you eat men ?" They replied : " When we have conquered a man, we just cut away his nose,
* An interesting piece of natural history is here given of this wild tribe, which the Translator thinks will be more modestly presented to the curious reader under the veil of the Latin language : —
Certiores iios fecerunt de re, qua?, utpote foeda memoratu, in mentionem nobis minime adducenda esset, ni necessaria foret ad admirationem excitandam turn lectoris turn auditoris ; ea nempe, quod hujus gentis perpauci sint viri, quorum semen bonum reperiatur ; membra enim genitalia virorum abdita intusque delapsa, ipsorumque ideo mulieres multas esse in amore Muscovitarum, qui proximi commo- rantur. Si unus horum, fertur, hominum solus redierit in casam, quo inter silvas diversus tuerit, ibique otfenderit Muscovitam cum muliere sua concumbentem, multa laetitifi gaudet, eaque perfusus et incitatus exit properans ad venationem cervorum, quos Muscovite largiatur in gratiam pulchritudinis beneficii in se ab eo collati, qui gravidam suam fecerit mulierem. Quantum enim nobis memorarunt, nonnisi paucorum inter hos agrestes valet ad generationem semen : at optime scit Deus Creator.
t " The Khalmucks have the same form of visage as the Chinese, but more fierce and savage. These are dispersed tribes of those Mungholians whom the Chinese long since received as their con querors. They are armed with bows and arrows, and feed on the flesh of horses, camels, dromedaries, and other animals ; and eat the entrails of them, even when the beast dies of the foulest distemper. They throw their dead into open fields, to be devoured by dogs ; of which many run wild, and some are kept for this purpose. They worship images, which generally consist of a small bit of wood about a palm in length : the upper part of it, being rounded, is adorned with some rude marks to resemble human features : the figure being thus prepared, is dressed up with a few rags." — HANWAY s 7 ravels. Vol. I. p. 100.
4-2() TRAVELS OF MACARIUS.
and then carve him into pieces and eat him." He said: "I have a man here, who deserves death : I will send for him, and present him to you, that you may eat him." Hereupon they began earnestly to entreat, saying : " Good Lord, when ever you have any men deserving death, do not trouble yourself about their guiltiness nor with their punishment ; but give them to us to eat, and you will do us a great kindness.''
When the Metropolitan Mira came to Moscow, it happened, in consequence of his many odious deformities and those of his servants and companions, that his Archimandrites, with his pretended relatives and Deacons, were found smoking tobacco ; and they were all instantly sent into banishment. He himself only was liberated, by the intercession of the Patriarch Patalaron ; and was brought by the Deacons, afterwards, to a monastery near the capital. The Patriarch, however, was still in a great rage against him ; for no crime with him is ever forgiven : and now sent to have him brought to these savages, that they might devour him ; but he was not to be found, having hid himself.
Afterwards he asked them what their usual food was : they answered, " Raw fish is what we usually eat." Then he gave them from his table a dish of excellent fish, and bread to eat with it : and they bowed to him, begging to be excused, and entreated him, saying, " Our stomach will not admit of cooked meats, to which we are wholly unaccustomed ; but give us, if you please, some raw fish." Upon his ordering it to be given them, a large fish, called shtoka* ft^ki) was brought to them, frozen as hard as a board : for, as we mentioned formerly, the fish here remains frozen the whole of the winter season, from the moment it is taken out of the river. This was thrown before them : and when they saw it, they were much delighted, and returned many thanks. Then the Patriarch commanded them to be seated, and they sat down ; and the chief among them came forward, and asked for a U^^ or " knife." Then taking the fish, he made an incision round its head, and pulled off its skin, with such dexterity, from top to bottom, that we were in amazement at his handiwork. Afterwards he set about opening it, in the manner we have seen pigs opened (U^kfljJlO ; anc* cutting it into slices, threw them at his companions, who greedily snatched them, and ate them with more delight than human creatures eat the most delicious morsels of princely sweetmeats. When they had devoured the whole fish, skin, bowels, head and all, without throwing away a single particle, they asked for another ; which they used in the same way, snatching it from each other's hands with the most greedy contention. The smell of their belches
* UlVKa, " a pike." — EARL OF GUILFORD.
TRAVELS OF MACARIUS. \2\
now began to spread about the room; and our breath was almost taken away by the horrible stench arising from them, and their skinny clothes, in which they wiped their hands. We were pleased, however, that we had seen this strange sight; which we might not have hoped for, as these people come in a troop, only at intervals of many years, to attend the Emperor ; but now, to our great good luck, the whole tribe nearly was come for us to look at. We observed that they did not venture to walk in the town in small numbers, but always kept together in large parties, for fear of any injury from the Muscovites ; and, secondly, we remarked that they were not suffered to lodge either within the city or in tin- suburbs, but only in the fields remote from the public paths, lest they should hunt the men and eat them.
These circumstances, in relation to the Dog-faced tribe, we witnessed and beheld with our own eyes.
KM) OF PART IV. AND VOL. I.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY R. WATTS, CROWN COURT, TEMPLE BAR. 1833.
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