Russia in 1839 -Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia

middle fingers only shall be eharged with the task of dispensing blessings upon the faithful.

Such are the questions now agitated in the Greco-Russian church; and let it not be supposed that they are considered puerile : they inflame passions, provoke heresy, and decide the fate of men in this world and in the next. To return to my entertainers :

The great Russian nobles appear to me more amiable in the provinces than at court.

The wife of the governor of Yaroslaf has, at this moment, all her family united around her; several of her sisters, with their husbands and children, are lodged in her house : she admits also to her table the principal employes of her husband, who are inhabitants of the city; her son also is still attended by a tutor; so that at dinner there were twenty persons to sit down to table.

It is the custom of the north to precede the principal repast by a smaller refection, which is served in the saloon, a quarter of an hour before entering the dining-room. This preliminary, which is destined to sharpen the appetite, is called in Russian, if my ear has not deceived me, zacuska. The servants bring upon trays small plates filled with fresh caviare, such as is only eaten in this country, dried fish, cheese, salt meats, sea biscuits, and pastry; with these, bitter liqueurs, French brandy, London porter, Hungarian wine, &c, are also brought in; and these things are eaten and drunk standing. A stranger, ignorant of the usages of the country, or an appetite easily satisfied, might very soon here make a meal, and remain afterwards a spectator only of the real dinner. The Russians eat plentifully, and keep a liberal table :