Page:Russian Church and Russian Dissent.djvu/107

92 all were silent and attentive as if each were a pauper or a slave before his master. But what most excited our admiration was to see the emperor standing with his head uncovered while the patriarch wore his crown before him; the one with his hands crossed in humility, the other displaying them with the action and boldness of an orator addressing his auditors; the one bowing his bare head in silence to the ground, the other bending his towards him with the crown upon it, speaking to him; the one guarding his senses and breathing low, the other making his voice to ring like a loud bell; the one as if he were a slave, the other as his lord! What a sight for us! God knows our hearts ached for the emperor; was not this singular humility?" And upon another occasion Paul relates: "We returned to our monastery astonished and wonder-struck at the constancy and firmness of this nation, from the emperor to their very infants. We entered the church as the clock struck three, and did not leave it till ten; having stood there, with them about seven hours, on our legs, on the cold iron pavement, enduring the most severe cold and piercing frost. But we were consoled for all this by witnessing the admirable devotion of this people. Nor was the patriarch satisfied with the ritual and the long service, but he must crown all with an admonition and a copious sermon. God grant him moderation! His heart did not ache for the emperor nor for the tender infants! What should we say to this in our country? Would to God we were thus patient I Without doubt the great Creator has granted to this nation to be His peculiar people, and it becomes them to be so because all their actions are according to the spirit, and not to the flesh, and they are all of this disposition."

Of Nikon's influence, and of the trust reposed in him by the tsar, and of the dignity and state he assumed,