MOSCOW. 
09 
with their appearance during Lent. A stranger, chap. 
who arrives with his head full of notions of v——*' 
Asiatic pomp and Eastern magnificence, would 
be surprised to find narrow streets, execrably 
paved, covered with mud or dust; wretched- 
looking houses on each side ; carriages drawn, 
it is true, by six horses, but such cattle ! blind, 
lame, old, out of condition, of all sizes and all 
colours, connected by rotten ropes and old 
cords, full of knots and splices; on the leaders, 
and on the box, figures that seem to have 
escaped the galleys; behind, a lousy, ragged 
lackey, or perhaps two, with countenances ex- 
citing more pity than derision; and the cairiage 
itself like the worst of the night-coaches in 
London. But this external wretchedness, as 
far as it concerns the equipages of the nobles, 
admits of some explanation. The tact is, that 
a dirty tattered livery, a rotten harness, bad 
horses, and a shabby vehicle, constitute one 
part of the privation of the season. On Easter 
Monday the most gaudy but fantastic splendour 
fills every street in the city. 
The second grand ceremony of this season Maunday 
takes place on Thursday before Easter, at noon, 
when the archbishop is said to wash the feet 
of the Apostles. This we also witnessed. The 
priests appeared in their most gorgeous apparel. 
