of Christian worship; although, in the distant period of their introduction, the foundation of the Russian empire had scarce been laid. It is pleasing to bring scattered portions of history to bear upon any one point, particularly, when by so doing, the obscurity of some of them may be elucidated. The journey of Olga, wife of Igor, son of Rurick, to Constantinople, after avenging the death of her husband upon the Volga, occurred very early in the annals of that country. "She went," say the compilers of the Modern Universal History,* "for what reason we know not, to Costantinople." Yet when it is related, that she was baptised there ;t that, in consequence of her example, many of her subjects became converts to Christianity; that the Russians, to this day, rank her among their saints; and annually commemorate her festival; the cause of her journey will hardly admit a doubt. The result of it proves, incontestably, the introduction of Christianity, and the establishment of churches in Russia, at an earlier periodthan is generally admitted; namely, the baptism of Vladi. mir, A. D. 991.‡

The reader is requested to pardon any prolixity in the investigation of this subject. It is materially connected with the history of the fine arts; for, with Christianity, theart of painting was introduced into Russia. Some of the most chosen idols of their churches are, those curious Grecian pictures, which the first gospel missionaries brought with them from Constantinople. Their inscriptions often exhibit the Greek characters of those times; and they offer most interesting examples of the art, many centuries before it became known to the enlightened nations of Europe.. * Vol. XXXV. p. 182.

The emperour, John Zimisces, according to some historians, was her godfather upon this occasion. It has been related, that he became enamoured of the Scythian princess, and proposed marriage; which was refused. The old lady, notwithstanding, was at that time in her sixty sixth year; for she died at the age of eighty, which happened fourteen years after her baptism. Collateral annals, by discordant chronology, seem to prove, that the whole story, about the eastern emperour's amorous propensities, is founded in errour and absurdity. Zimisces was not crowned until Christmas day, A. D. 969. Ten years before this period, Helena (which was the name born by Olga, after her baptism) had sent ambassadours to Otho, emperour of the west, desiring missionaries to instruct her people. A mission was consequently undertaken by St. Adelbert, bishop of Magde-' bourg, A. D. 962.

Some authors place this event four years earlier. I have followed the chropology of Du Fresnoy.

Nor was the art of painting alone introduced with Christianity into Russia. All they knew of letters, or of any useful and liberal art, for many centuries afterwards, was derived from the same source. The inhabitants of the South Sea Islands can hardly be more savage than were the Russians, when the gospel was first preached to them. The full accomplishment of this great event certainly did not take place till Vladimir became converted. It was a condition of his marriage with the sister of the Greek emperour; and, it is said, that no less than twenty thousand of his subjects were christened on the same day. The change effected by this measure was nothing less than a complete revolution in manners and in morals. Vladimir led the way by his example. The pagan idols, and eight hundred concubines, were dismissed together; and the twelve sons, which his six wives had born him, were baptized; churches and monasteries drew around them towns and villages; and civilization seemed to dawn upon the plains and the forests of Scythia. A memorial of the blessed effects of Christianity, among a people who were scarce removed from the brute creation, seems preserved, even in the arms of the government of Novogorod, the district in which it was first established; and the ludicrous manner in which it is typified, is consistent with the barbarity of the people. Two bears, supporters, are represen ted at an altar, upon the ice, with crucifixes crossed before the bogh, on which is placed a candelabrum with a triple lustre, emblem of the trinity.

The fortress of Novogorod is large, but of wretched ap→ pearance. It was constructed after the plan of the Kremlin at Moscow, towards the end of the fifteenth century, and contains the cathedral. Upon the bridge, leading to this fortress, from the town, is a small chapel, where every peasant who passes, either deposits his candle or his penny. Before this place, which is filled with old pictures of the kind I have described, and which a stranger might really mistake for a picture stall, devotees, during the whole day, may be seen, bowing and crossing themselves. A Russian hardly commits any action without this previous ceremony. If he is to serve as a coachman, and drive your carriage, his crossing occupies two minutes before he is mounted. When he descends, the same motion is repeated. If a church is in view, you see him at work with his head and hand, as if seized with St. Vitus's dance. If he makes any earnest

protestation, or enters a room, or goes out, you are entertained with the same manual and capital exercise. When beggars return thanks for alms, the operation lasts a longer time; and then between, the crossing, by way of interlude, they generally touch their forehead to the earth.

The snow increased very fast in our way from Novogorod to Tver; but afterwards we had barely sufficient to pass on, and in some places the earth was bare. The traveller will be more interested in this information than readers at home; and he will of course compare the observation with the date of the journey [April 6, 7, and 8] as the weather in Russia is not subject to those irregular vicissitudes experienced in England. It may generally be ascertained by the calendar. I do not know what first gave rise to a notion very prevalent, that the road from Petersburgh to Moscow is a straight line through forests, except that it was the intention of Peter the Great to have it so made.* The country is generally open, a wide and fearful prospect of hopeless sterility, where the fir and the dwarf birch, which cover even Arctick regions, scarcely find existence. The soil is for the most part sandy, and apparently of a nature to set agriculture at defiance. Towards the latter part of the journey corn-fields appeared, of considerable extent. What the summer road may be, I am unable to say; but our progress was as devious as possible. In all the province or district of Valadi, the soil is hilly, not to say mountainous; so that what with the undulations of the road itself, from the heaps of drifted snow, and the rising and sinking of the country, our motion resembled that of a vessel rolling in an Atlantick calm. My good friend, professor Pallas, experienced as rough a journey along this route a few years before. He mentions the delay, and even the danger, to which he was exposed on the Heights of Valdai. So precisely similar were the circumstances of the seasons, that in both eases the snow failed in the moment of arrival at Mos

COW.

The female peasants of the Valdai have a costume which resembles one in Switzerland. It consists of a shift with

* When Jonas Hanway [Travels, Vol. I. p. 92.] passed in 1743, only one hundred miles had been completed according to the original plan, which was, to make a bridge of timber for the whole distance of four hun-dred and eighty seven miles. For that space of four hundred miles, accor ding to the calculation made by him, no less than two million one hundred thousand trees were required.

†Travels through the Southern Provinces, &c. Vol. I. P. 4.

full sleeves, and a short petticoat with coloured stockings. Over this, in winter, they wear a pelisse of lamb's wool, as white as the snow around them, lined with cloth, and adorned with gold buttons and lace. The hair of unmarried women, as in most parts of Russia, is braided, and hangs to a great length down their backs. On their heads they wear a handkerchief of coloured silk. When married, the hair is trussed up, and this constitutes the outward mark of a virgin, or a matron. Generally speaking, the traveller may pass over a vast extent of territory without noticing any change in the costume. How very different is the case in Italy; where the mere passage of a bridge, in the same city, as at Naples, leads to a different mode of dress. The male peasants of Russia are universally habited, in winter, in a jacket made of sheep's hide, with the wool inwards; a square crowned red сар, with a circular edge of black wool round the rim, which is very becoming, and appears shadowing the eyes. These, with a long, black beard, sandals made of the bark of the birch-tree, and legs bandaged in woollen, complete the dress.

Conical mounds of earth, or tumuli, occur very frequently on this road. The most remarkable may be observed in the stage between Yezolbisky and Valdai, on both sides of the road, but chiefly on the left; and they continue to appear from the latter place to Jedrova. Professor Pallas has given a representation of four of those tumuli, in a vignette, at the begining of the first volume of his late work.* They are common all over the Russian empire; and, indeed, it may be asked, where the country is, in which such sepulchral hillocks do not appear.

We had been pestered the whole way from Petersburgh by a bell, which the drivers carried, suspended to their belt; but were not aware that it passed as a mark of privilege, until we came to Jedrova. Here we saw a poor fellow endgelled by a police officer, because he had presumed to carry a bell without a Poderosnoi ;t which is the title to such a distinction.

The whole journey from Petersburgh to Moscow offers nothing that will strike a traveller more than the town or

* Travels through the Southern Provinces. &c.

†The imperial order for horses. Those who travel with post-horses carry a bell. It serves, as the horn in Germany, to give notice to persons on the road to turn out of the way; sach horses being in the service of the

crown.

village of Jedrova. It consists of one street, as broad as Piccadilly, formed by the gable ends of wooden huts, whose roofs project far over their bases, and terminated by its church. A view of one of these towns affords a correct idea of all the rest, as there is seldom any difference in the mode of constructing the poorer towns of Russia. A window in such places is a mark of distinction, and seldom noticed. The houses in general have only small holes, through which, as you drive by, you see a head stuck, as in a pillory.

Upon some of the women I observed such stockings as the Tyrolese wear, covering only the lower part of the leg, about the ancle, with a sort of cylinder, formed by spiral hoops of wool.

The forests, for the most part, consist of poor, stunted trees; and the road, in summer, is described as the most abominable that can be passed. It is then formed by whole trunks of trees, laid across, parallel to each other, which occasion such violent jolting, as the wheels move from one to the other, that it cannot be born without beds placed for the traveller to sit or lie upon.

We had a very interesting peep into the manners of the peasantry; for which we were indebted to the breaking of our sledge at Poschol. The woman of the house was preparing a dinner for her family, who were gone to church. It consisted of soup only. Presently her husband, a boor, came in, attended by his daughters, with some small loaves of white bread, not larger than a pidgeon's egg, which I suppose the priest had consecrated, for they placed them with great care before the BOGH. Then the bowing and crossing began,and they went to dinner, all eating out of the same bowl. Dinner ended, they went regularly to bed, as if to pass the night there, crossing and bowing as before. Having slept about an hour, one of the young women, according to an etiquette, constantly observed, called her father, and presented him with a pot of vinegar, or quass, the Russian beverage. The man then rose, and a complete fit of crossing and bowing seemed to seize him, with interludes so inexpressibly characteristick and ludicrous, that it was

* It is made by mixing flower and water together, and leaving it till it has fermented and turned sour. The flavour is like that of vinegar and water. It looks thick, and is very unpleasing to strangers; but, by use, we became fond of it; and in the houses of the nobles, where attention is paid to its brewing, it is esteemed a delicacy, particularly in summer.