472 ^ VOYA 
Hours after Sim-rifiiig, are called Obedni , thofe . that are 
made after Sun-fetting are called Vackerny-y and thofe an 
Hour after Midnight, Zaoutrinys. 
Their Obedni, or Morning Prayer is : Have Mercy upon 
me, 0 hord>, according to thy loving Kindnefs, and blot out 
my 1branfgre[[ion, according to thy Greatnefs, and Multitude 
of thy Bounties. 
Their Vackerny, or Evening Prayer is : 0 Lord ! hear 
my Prayer when I call upon thee^ and let my Cry come 
unto thee. 
Thdr Zaoutrinys, or Prayer anPIour after Midnight is : 
We put ourPrufi in Chrifi, our Saviour and all our 
Hope is in him. 
They repeat the Miferere, which they call Hofpody 
Pomelee^ a hundred times over, and the Prieft who can 
repeat it ofteneft in a Breath is reckoned the beft Man •, 
five or fix of them will read aloud together ; one a 
Chapter, the other a Pfaim, the third a Prayer, and the 
reft fo many other different Things, with Noife and Con- 
fufion inexpreffible. Every Prieft is called Pepe, or Father-, 
as Pope John, or Pope Pe4er every Bifhop is ftiled a 
Metropolitan, and the Chief-Prieft, Proto-Pope : the 
Parifh-Priefts are commonly cloathed in red Veftments, 
fome wear green and others blue, according to their 
feveral Fancies ^ the Form of their Garments is diftin- 
guifhed from that of Laymen, by two little Pieces of 
Stuff fewed on each Bfeaft. 
They wear a red Leather Cap on their bald Pates, and 
that is all the Difference between their Drefs and the Laity 
the Hair of their Heads and Beards is never fhaved, 
only C-he Crown of their Heads, which is always lliorn -, 
they muft have Wives, but, according to the Apoftle 
St. Paul's, Rule, no Prieft is allowed to have any more 
than one during his whole Life : Thus their Priefthood ' 
depends on their W ives, and when they die it ceafes ; 
for which Reafon they marry young, that they may have 
a Benefice early, and ufe their Wives better than 'other 
Men. Their Wives Garments are diftinguifhe^ like the 
Hufbands, by two little Pieces of Stuff fewed on each 
Breaft. I'heir Manner of Baptifm is much like that of 
the Roman Catholics, except that they always dip the 
Children they baptize quite under the Water. The 
Cuftoni of buying Foreigners, on Purpofe to oblige 
them to turn Chriftians, which was very much praflifed 
by ihem formerly, is now out of Ufe. When any Man, 
either Proteftant or Papift, renounces his own Religion to 
embrace the Rujfian, he muft renounce his firft Baptifm, 
his Father and Mother, and fpit three times over his 
Shoulder. Some antient Inhabitants of the Country have 
obferved, that of two hundred E^tglijh, Scotch, and Butch, 
who have made Profeftion of the Rujfian Religion, hardly 
one died a natural Death. 
The greateft Part of the Marriages in Mufcovy are 
brought about by third Perfons, and without much So- 
lemnity. Five or fix of the young Woman’s Friends who 
is to be married, examine her ftark naked before fhe is 
further engaged, to fee if flie has any bodily Infirmity 
and if they find any, they do what they can to cure it : 
As for the young Man, he never fees her, perhaps till 
he meets her in the Chamber where the Marriage is to be 
confummated. The Nuptial Ceremonies are not very great, 
a few Perfons of both Sexes wait on the Bride about three 
o’clock in the Afternoon to Church. When the Prieft 
has done h'is Office, the Panama, or Sexton, throws Hops 
on her, and wiflies that fhe may be as fruitful as that 
Plant •, another Officer of the Church, cloathed in Goat- 
Skin, the Wool outwards, accompanies her Home, 
praying all the Way, diat fire may have as many Chil- 
dren as there are Hairs on his Habit. Young Men lead 
the Bridegroom home, and old Women the Bride, who 
is veiled fo that nothing of her Perfon is to be feen. The 
Parifh Prieft carries the Crofs before her to her Hufband’s 
Houfe. 
The new married Couple fit down at the Table toge- 
ther fometimes they have Bread and Salt laid before 
them ; but they don’t eat a Bit. In the mean time, a 
Chorus of Boys and Girls fing an Epithalamium, or 
Wedding Song, fo lewd and impudent, that it is a Shame 
to repeat it. When this Ceremony is over, an old 
G to the Book IL 
Woman and a Prieft conduds the Bride and Bridegroom 
to their Chamber, where the old Woman advifes the Bride 
to be loving and obedient to herHufband, and the Bride- 
groom to be kind to his Wife ^ the Bridegroom in one 
of his Bulkins has a Whip, and in the other a Jewel, or 
Purfe of Money ; he commands the Bride to pull them 
off, and if it happens fhe lights upon that Bufkin firft 
where the Jewel or Purfe of Money is, he gives it to her, 
which is looked on as a happy Omen for the Wife ; but 
it is reckoned unlucky for her to pull off that Bufkin firft 
in which the Whip is ; and the Bridegroom gives her a 
Laffi with it to punifh her for it, as a Token of the Treat-*- 
ment fiie is like to meet with. When this is done, they 
are fliut up in a Chamber for two Hours j then the old 
Woman goes in and examines if the Signs of Virginity" 
are apparent, and in fuch Cafe fhe ties up her Hair in 
Trefles that before hung loofe about her Shoulders, and 
goes to her Parents to demand the Albricia, or Marriage- 
Portion. 
13 . To keep the Chambers warm in they are 
covered with Earth two Feet deep but wffien a Couple is 
newly married the Earth is taken away from the Place 
wffiere the Marriage is confummated ; for Earth being an 
Image of Mortality the Mufeovites think it is not proper 
for the Man or Woman to have it in their Thoughts at 
that Time. The Children of the RuJJians, young Men 
or Maids, dare not refufe Hufbands or Wives propofed to 
them by their Parents ; nor thofe that depend on any great 
Man, thofe defigned for them by their Superiors. Boaris 
Juanowitz Morifo, the fecond Perfon in the Empire, 
having refolved to marry one of his Friends to a rich 
Widow, 2 .Butch Woman born, who had embraced the 
Rujfian Religion, the Widow went to Boaris' % Wife, 
Sifter to the Emprefs, threw herfelf at her Feet, and 
prayed her to prevail with her Hufband net to put fuch 
a Conftraint upon her Inclination, nor oblige her to break 
a Vow file had made never to marry again. All her 
Prayers and Tears were ineffectual. Boaris' s Wife repli- 
ed, What would you Befcheat j as much as to fay, dif- 
honour my Hufband fo far as to refufe one that he 
offers you, and make him worfe than his Word to his 
Friend. * 
The Manner of the Ruffians ufing their Wives is very 
fevere and inhumane, though it is much lefs fp now 
than formerly : Four or five Years after my Friend came 
to Mufcovy, aTradefman in Mofeow, after having beaten 
his W ife unmercifully, forced her to put on a Smock 
dipped in Brandy, to which he fet fire and burnt her to 
Death. What is more ftrange even than his Barbarity is, 
that no-body profecuted him for his Wife’s Murder. It 
feems there is no Law in Ruffia to punifh a Man for 
killing his Wife if it was in CorreCtion. Some of thefe 
Barbarians tie up their Wives by the Hair of the Head, • 
ftrip them ftark naked, and whip them till they are ai- 
moft dead : It is true, they never chaftife them fo fevere- 
ly unlefs it be for Adultery or Drunkennefs, and indeed it 
is very feldom now that they deal fo by them at all. The 
Fathers of young Women who are married, now take 
the neceffary Precautions to prevent their Daughters be- 
ing fo ill ufed j they oblige their Hufbands to Marriage 
Articles to treat them according to their Quality, to 
maintain them with good Victuals and good Drink ; not 
to whip them, nor fcratch, nor kick them. 
That Woman who. kills her Hufband is buried alive all 
but her Head, and fo left to expire in that miferable Con- 
dition. There is feldom any Marriage celebrated in 
Mufcovy, efpecially among Perfons of Rank, with- 
out fome conjuring, and ufing Charms : The Friars 
and Nuns are accufed as the moft guilty of this wicked 
Practice, which, it is faid, they ftudy in their Solitude, 
My Friend writes, that he has feen a Man com.e out of " 
the Wedding-chamber like a mad Man, tearing his Hair 
and crying,: he was undone and bewitched. The Cure in 
thefe Cafes is to apply to fome, commonly called, white 
Magicians, who for a. fmall Matter of Money diffolves 
the Charm, and unties the Knot that others had tied. 
This Man was fo ferved, fo diftempered, and fo cured, 
as my Papers report-, but Credulity perhaps infeCts even 
Strangers in Pyuffa^ The Mufeovite Canon forbids any 
Man i 
