me, pointing to a little, round, fat, oily man of God, "will get very
drunk when he has the opportunity. Watch him to-night and see how he
leaves the dinner party."

Priests of the Greek Church wear their hair very long, frequently
below the shoulders, and parted in the middle, and do not shave the
beard. Unlike those of the Catholic Church, they marry and have homes
and families, engaging in secular occupations which do not interfere
with their religious duties. During the evening after the wedding, I
was introduced to "the pope's wife;" and learned that Russian priests
are called popes. As the only pope then familiar to my thoughts is
considered very much a bachelor, I was rather taken aback at this bit
of information. The drink-loving priest was head of a goodly sized
family, and resided in a comfortable and well furnished dwelling.

[Illustration: RUSSIAN MARRIAGE.]

At the wedding there was much recitation by the priests, reading from
the ritual of the Church, swinging of censers, singing by the chorus
of male voices, chanting and intonation, and responses by the victims.
There were frequent signs of the cross with bowing or kneeling. A ring
was used, and afterwards two crowns were held over the heads of the
bride and bridegroom. The fatigue of holding these crowns was
considerable, and required that those who performed the service should
be relieved once by other bridesmen. After a time the crowns were
placed on the heads they had been held over. Wearing these crowns and
preceded by the priests, the pair walked three times round the altar
in memory of the Holy Trinity, while a portion of the service was
chanted. Then the crowns were removed and kissed by each of the
marrying pair, the bridegroom first performing the osculation. A cup