After this introduction, the mighty bass before mentioned stepped forward and called down anathemas upon a number of people ; on the false Demetrius, on Boris Goduuoff, Mazeppa, Senka Rasin, and Pugatsheff; and after these political heretics followed the religious ones, but they were only mentioned in general terms. Each person or class was first characterized by a few introductory words, their names pronounced, and then followed two or three times, like thunder after lightning, the word, " anafema, anafema.^^ Immediately a beautiful choir of pretty boys took it up after a melody so sweet and graceful, that it would much better have suited the words, " See the heavens how smiling," or some other pretty lay. It is seldom that a melody is heard so singularly in contrast with the words it accompanies. The bass then began the cursing anew. With Boris Godunoff, who though an illegitimate, was a good ruler, and well incHned to the priests, there was a distinction made. " For the good he wrought may he enjoy the heaveidy blessing. For the evil, antlfema, anafema." The people manifested much interest in the ceremony, and every time a name was pronounced that those at a distance could not hear, there arose a murmur " Who was it? who was it?" "Mazeppa, Mazeppa." Directly after the last anathema, followed a prayer for the whole house of Romanoff, and all the princes issuing from it from the time of Michael and Alexis ; a blessing was called down upon them, and, in the same way as after the anathema, the amen was repeated by the choir. It may be e;isily imagined that the whole lasted a pretty long time, as there was a regular enumeration made of all the good and evil that have appeared in Russian history for the last 250 years. I could not learn whether tlie religious heretics were distinguished, in kind, whether the CathoUcs, Lutlierans, and others were named separately or not, or whether the commination had reference only to those condemned as heretics by the Nicene Synod. In the latter case, the ceremony is not of much importance, as those heretics are turned to dust and ashes, and have been forgotten long ago, and therefore the matter can only be considered as a dead and unmeaning form descended to us from ancient times. I say " dead," in a religious point of view, for as a political act it has life and influence. If the cursing have really reference to the Catholics and Reformers, as many maintain it has, it is not easily reconcileable to the apparent toleration of the Russians ; if it has been transmitted, as others again say, " from the time of the image-breaking," it becomes more and more intelligible why the political rebels came to be mingled with the others.
This is the only occasion on which any thing like general cursing is to be heard in Russia, where, it must be confessed, the people are on the whole much more inclined to bless. Merciful heaven, what in Russia is not blessed, consecrated, crossed, and sprinkled ? The houses, the stables, the branches in spring, the fruit in autunm, the Easter food, the flocks, the water, the air, in short all the elements, and every thing that lives and moves, or wh se wellbelng at all concerns man. The Russians consider us to be heathens, living as we do in unconsecrated houses, even as we are apt to look on those who neglect to have their children christened. No Russian would hold it possible that his flock could thrive, if it had not received the priestly blessing in spring, and in autumn to eat apples before
258 THE BLESSING OF THE FRUIT.
they had received the like blessing", would be held by every one as a deadly sin. On that ground whereon the priest with his holy water has not passed, the devil has his special dweUing- ; in short it is the fixed belief of a Russian, that what the cross, the saints' pictures, and the formula of benediction have not appropriated to Christianity, is of an unchristian nature, and in possession of evil spirits.