AS ATTACHE AT ST. PETERSBURG- 1854-1855 461 



"Is this the first time you have seen it?" "Yes," I an- 

 swered ; " we have never been in Russia at Easter before. ' ' 

 He then took very formal leave, and again the ceremony 

 was revived, again the clouds of incense rose, and again 

 came the dead stop. Presently the same gentleman came 

 up again, gently repeated very much the same questions 

 as before, and receiving the same answers, finally said, 

 with some embarrassment: "Might I ask you to kindly 

 move aside a little? A procession has been waiting for 

 some time back of this door, and we are very anxious to 

 have it come out into the church." At this Secretary 

 Erving and I started aside instantly, much chagrined to 

 think that we had caused such a stoppage in such a cere- 

 mony; the doors swung open, and out came a brilliant 

 procession of ecclesiastics with crosses, censers, lights, and 

 banners. 



Not all of our troubles were due to our compatriots. 

 Household matters sometimes gave serious annoyance. 

 The minister had embraced a chance very rare in Russia, 

 one which, in fact, almost never occurs, and had 

 secured a large house fully furnished, with the servants, 

 who, from the big chasseur who stood at the back of the 

 minister 's sledge to the boy who blew the organ on which 

 I practised, were serfs, and all, without exception, docile, 

 gentle, and kindly. But there was one standing enemy 

 vodka. The feeling of the Russian peasant toward the 

 rough corn-brandy of his own country is characteristic. 

 The Russian language is full of diminutives expressive 

 of affection. The peasant addresses his superior as Ba- 

 tushka, the affectionate diminutive of the word which 

 means father; he addresses the mistress of the house as 

 Matushka, which is the affectionate diminutive of the Rus- 

 sian word for mother. To his favorite drink, brandy, he 

 has given the name which is the affectionate diminutive 

 of the word voda, water namely, vodka, which really 

 means "dear little water." Vodka was indeed our most 

 insidious foe, and gave many evidences of its power ; but 

 one of them made an unwonted stir among us. 



