MOSCOW. 
195 
as the Patriarchs of the Greek Church have c ^ p ‘ 
always worn : the shepherdesses of the Alps ' . — 
now wear the same kind of hat. In the hat-band 
he had placed a bunch of withered flowers. His 
white beard, added to the mildness of his ani- 
mated countenance, gave to his features a most 
pleasing expression. He desired to know who 
we were ; and being answered, Englishmen ; 
“ What !” said he, “ all Englishmen P I wonder 
what your countrymen can find sufficiently 
interesting in Russia, to bring you so far from 
home ; and in such times as these P” But having 
made this observation in the French language, 
he looked cautiously around him, and began to 
ask the monks, severally, whether they under- 
stood French. Finding them perfectly ignorant 
of that language, he bade us to sit by him; 
while, the rest forming a circle near him, he 
entertained us with a conversation, in which 
there was enough of science, of wit, and of free- 
dom, to astonish any traveller, in such a country, 
and at such a period. Memory has scarcely 
retained even that part of it which concerned 
the manners of his countrymen. 
“Well,” said he, “you thought me perhaps a 
curiosity; and you find me as naturally disposed 
for observation as you could wish” (pointing to 
his woollen stockings and his strange dress), 
o 2 
