from Tamboff, she would be cured. Madame B., for so we will call her, of course followed the advice of her nocturnal counsellor, and the young lady having, after the pilgrimage to Veronish, in due time recovered her health, her restoration was of course attributed to the miraculous interference of the saint; and her mother, out of gratitude for the cure, made a vow to live for the rest of her life as a nun, that is to say, to eat only fish, vegetables, &c., and never to touch meat. She had a picture of the saint copied to serve as an image for her private room, and she declares that by putting a piece of the paper, in which this holy portrait was wrapped, under her pillow at night, she was lately cured of a violent head-ache. She is, however, a firm believer in charms of all kinds; the other day I saw her produce, out of a pile of recipes for the cure of colds, coughs, sore-throats, and so forth, a slip of paper, which she said contained an excellent remedy for the bite of a mad-dog, and that extraordinary as we might think it, she herself had witnessed its good effects. In one corner were written three short words, which she said must be copied on little bits of paper, and the latter then rolled up into the form of pills, three of which were to be swallowed daily for the space of nine days.

I might fill my letter with stories of this good lady's superstition and credulity: but without taking up more time or paper, I think I have said enough to

give you some idea of her character, which is not quite so uncommon here as it would be with us, though of course she must be rather remarkable in any part of the world. She spends large sums of money in presents to the church, aud especially to the Archbishop of Tamboff, a prelate extremely polite to the fair sex in general, and whom she professes to regard as a perfect saint. Among other testimonials of her esteem and respect, the Archbishop has four beautiful grey carriage horses, the gift of this devout lady, who is deservedly high in favour with his Eminence.

A few days ago Madame B. gave him a grand dinner to celebrate the consecration of a new altar in a church; she was kind enough to invite us to the party; and you will perhaps be amused by a short description of the entertainment.

As we were then in the middle of the six weeks' fast preceding Christmas, the dinner could not be otherwise than maigre in the presence of the Archbishop, and the invitation to us was accompanied by an explanation of this circumstance, which it is supposed would not be agreeable to foreigners. Independently, however, of the novelty of the whole thing, we deserved no commiseration for the fast; since had I not known the contrary, I should have supposed we were celebrating a feast.

We went to Madame B-'s house about halfpast two, and found the Archbishop, and a good many of the guests already assembled. Every body

on entering the room walked up to his Eminence, and kissed his hand, receiving his blessing; we of course avoided this ceremony. He is a strong, harsh-featured man of about forty, with no great expression of dignity in his countenance, which is, however, grave and calm. He was dressed in a long robe, or caftan of dark brown flowered satin, with large sleeves, displaying an under-dress of pale green silk. He was decorated with the red ribbon, cross, and star of St. Anne, and on his breast hung a miniature image, set in diamonds; in his hand he held a rosary of white beads; and on his head he wore the usual monk's cap of black velvet, made like a hat without a rim, and with a hood hanging down behind. The whole party amounted to twenty-nine, among them were several priests, and one monk, who of course were in attendance on their superior. When dinner was announced, the Archbishop led the procession into the dining-room, walking alone at the head of the guests: the choristers of his convent were placed in a gallery, and they sung a prayer before we sat down, and several hymns at intervals during dinner: they were, however, rather nearer to us than they should have been, and their voices, adapted to a church, were too loud for the room. The dinner, which consisted entirely of fish and vegetables under various forms, was most recherchè, and served in excellent style; but the number of dishes, between the sterlet soup which began the repast, and the ice

which ushered in the dessert, was so great, that although each was handed round in duplicate, we were nearly three hours at table, and I could not help asking my next neighbour, as the variety of good things appeared interminable, how many were necessary in Russia to constitute a fast dinner? he replied as many as possible. Wine of every kind appeared in turn, and in short the object seemed to be that of showing how luxuriously people might fare without the use of meat, and the whole thing amounted to a practical satire on the Russian system of fasting.

Towards the conclusion of dinner, while the servants were handing round champagne, a burly deacon, who was seated near the bottom of the table, rose from his seat, and placed himself before the image in the corner of the room. I could not at all understand what he was about, but I thought that he was appointed to say grace after dinner, and that he had rather mistaken his time. However, he kept looking over his shoulder, his back being turned to the table, and was evidently waiting for a signal, which at last he apparently received, for all of a sudden he opened his mouth, and thundered forth a chaunt, while in an instant the whole party, excepting the archbishop, rose to their feet, and I was utterly at a loss to comprehend the scene.

On the one side I saw the deacon singing with the voice of a stentor, and bowing and crossing

himself before the image; and I might have supposed myself in a church. If I looked the other way, there were the guests standing up on both sides of the table, each with a bumper of champagne in his right hand; it appeared a convivial party, where a popular toast was to be welcomed with three times three. This incongruous spectacle lasted for two or three minutes, when the chaunt ceased, and we all resumed our seats. I then asked my neighbour, who was somewhat amused at my surprise, what all this meant, and he told me we had only been drinking with the usual forms the health of the prelate at the top of the table.

I am very glad to have had an opportunity of witnessing an entertainment of this kind, as it is not an every-day occurrence; and much of it was both new to me and strongly characteristic of Russian manners and customs. In general, however, it must be owned that a set-dinner at three o'clock is not a thing to be desired, as it breaks up the day, and the whole affair is generally over, and the house clear of guests by five o'clock, just as the ice might otherwise begin to thaw and the society become animated. At dinner the two sexes are carefully separated, the ladies sitting on one side of the table and the gentlemen on the other, as if they were afraid of one another. In consequence of which gothic arrangement, the conversation at table is apt to be peculiarly dull and