that thou mayst receive forgiveness from our Lord Jesus Christ. Behold his image before us: I am only a witness to testify before him whatever thou shalt say to me: but if thou concealest any thing from me, thou shalt have double sin. Attend, therefore, since thou art come for medicine, that thou goest not away unhealed. Begin to amend thy life by God's help, and return not to thy former sins; for Christians ought to be true and just in all their dealings. To which end, may God grant you his grace! PRAYER. O God our Saviour, who by thy prophet Nathan didst declare thy forgiveness to David, when he repented of his sins; and didst receive the repenting prayer of Manasseh; accept with thy wonted compassion this thy servant, who repenteth him of his sins; and overlook whatsoever he hath committed, O thou whose property it is to forgive iniquities, and to pass over transgressions! For thou Lord hast said, I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live! And thou dost forgive offences even until seventy times seven. Thy mercy is infinite, as thy goodness is incomprehensible. If thou shouldest be extreme to mark what is done amiss, who could abide it? For thout art the God of penitents; and to thee we offer up our praise, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, now and for ever, even unto all eternity. ABSOLUTION. May Jesus Christ our Lord God, through his grace, bounty, and love to mankind, forgive thee, my child, all thy sins! Amen. At the end of the absolution, the priest signs him with the cross, and the penitent kissing the holy gospels and the crucifix, departs. Having brought you to confession, I will now leave you to reflect on so solemn a rite; promising that when you next see my hand it shall be to lead you to the altar; not to your own espousals, but to be a witness of the awful ceremony used in Russia to tie the Gordian knot of weal or woe. Meanwhile, farewel. LETTER IX. St. Petersburgh, September, 1805. THE establish in your mind the conviction of its antiquity. At every step you recognize a few of the Jewish rites, mingled with many ceremonies which the ancient Romans borrowed from Greece. The hymeneal torch, chaplets of roses, the sacred cup and veil, all are here. and veil, all are here. How long the service has borne its present form in Russia, deeper antiquarians than I am must determine; but certainly these are evident traces of its pagan origin. Nor was it unnatural, nor indeed blameable, in the early proselytes to Christianity, though they ceased to invoke Venus, Hymen, and Juno, at their nuptials, yet to retain the innocent emblems of the pure flame of connubial love; and of those joys, blooming like flowers; and which would leave a sweet remembrance, like the still balmy fragrance of their fading garlands. The ceremonies of the Greek marriage are three. They were formerly celebrated as distinct offices, at certain intervals of time; but now they. are usually passed through at once. The first office is called that of the espousals or betrothing. The parties pledge themselves to be true to each other by the interchange of rings. Anciently the man received a gold one, and the woman a silver; but now both rings are gold. The priest before whom the vows are made presents lighted tapers to the contracting pair; which answer to the nuptial torch of the heathens, and must mean the same. The ceremony takes place in the church, and usually in the evening. The liturgy being said, the priest standing within the nave (or as the Russians call it, the trapeza), places the parties who come to be betrothed before the door which leads into the sanctuary (or, as we denominate it, the choir). Two rings are laid on the holy table. The priest makes the sign of the cross three times upon the heads of the couple, and then touching their foreheads with the lighted tapers, presents one to each. The benediction immediately follows, and a few short prayers, ending with “O Lord our God, who from among the Gentiles didst espouse thy church as a chaste Virgin, bless these espousals, and join and preserve these thy servants in peace and concord-" The priest then takes the rings, and gives one to the man and the other to the woman, saying "The servant of God is betrothed to the handmaid of God, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, now and for ever; even unto ages of ages.". Repeating this to each of them thrice, he signs them on the forehead with the rings, and puts them on the fore-finger of the right hand of each. The espoused couple then exchange their rings; and the priest dismisses them with a long and beautiful prayer, wherein he remarks on the holy betrothment of Rebecca to Isaac, when the servant of Abraham, after travelling into a far country to seek a bride for his master's son, met with her, and as a pledge of her future nuptials put upon her hand a gold ring. The second rite, which is properly the marriage, is called the matrimonial coronation, from the circumstance of crowning the bride and bridegroom. This is done to denote their triumph over all irregular desires; and from an idea that all is not quite so regular with those who enter into a second marriage, it is usually omitted at such nuptials. A third marriage is deemed very scandalous; and a fourth, absolutely unlawful. Formerly the crowns were chaplets of flowers, but now they are generally of gold or silver, and often very elegantly embellished. 1 } 84 TRAVELLING SKETCHES IN RUSSIA. The parties having been betrothed, enter the sanctuary with lighted tapers in their hands; the priest preceding with the censer, and singing, along with the choiristers, the nuptial psalm, beginning with "Blessed are all they that fear the Lord." He then addresses the bridegroom. "Hast thou a good and unrestrained will and firm intention to take unto thee to wife this woman whom thou seest before thee?" The man replies in the affirmative; and the same question is asked of the bride. On a similar response, the priest enquires whether they have before pledged their faith to any others; and being answered in the negative, he gives them the holy benediction: and proceeds with many fine prayers for their future happiness in each other, and virtuous lives. At the end of the third invocation the priest takes the crowns, and places one on the bridegroom's head, saying— "The servant of God is crowned for the handmaid of God, in the name of the Father, and of the Són, and of the Holy Ghost." The other he puts on the bride's head with the same words; and repeats the benediction three times, saying "O Lord our God crown them with glory and honour. Thou hast put crowns of precious stones upon their heads! They asked of thee life, and thou gavest it to them; and thou wilt give them the blessing of eternal life: thou wilt make them glad with the joy of thy countenance." Then is read Saint Paul's famous epistle on the duties of marriage. Several more prayers are said, and portions of scripture. The cup is brought, and blessed by the priest, who gives it thrice; first to the man and then to the woman. After which he takes them by the hand, |