DON COSSACKS. 
The priest, in very rich robes, with his back 
towards the people, was elevated upon a kind 
of throne, placed beneath the chandelier, and 
raised three steps from the platform, facing the 
great doors of the sacristy, which were shut. 
Over these doors there was a picture of the 
Virgin; and before it, suspended by a string, 
were two wooden angels, joined back to back, 
like the figures of Janus, bearing candles in 
their hands. Whenever the doors of the . 
sacristy were thrown open, the wooden angels 
were lowered before the centre of the entrance : 
here they were whirled about in a most 
ludicrous manner. 
As soon as the ceremony commenced, the 
priest, standing upon the throne, loosened a 
girdle, bound across his breast and shoulders, 
whereon was an embroidered representation of 
the cross. This he held between his fore- 
finger mid thumb, repeating the service aloud, 
and touching his forehead with it; while the 
people chaunted responses, and were busied 
in crossing themselves. The vocal part of the 
ceremony was very solemn. The clear shrill 
voices of children placed among the choristers, 
reaching to the dome of the church, and seeming 
to die away in the air, had a most pleasing 
effect. It is the same in all the Russian churches ; 
