If A Poore Man Happen To Grow In Debt, His Creditor Takes Him, And Maketh Him Pay The Debt, In Working Either To Himselfe, Or To Some Other Man, Whose Wages He Taketh Vp.

And there are some among them, that vse willingly to make themselues, their wiues, and children, bondslaues vnto rich men, to haue a little money at the first into their hands, and so for euer after content themselues with meate and drinke:

So little accompt doe they make of libertie.

Of punishments vpon theeues.

If any man be taken vpon committing of theft, he is imprisoned, and often beaten, but not hanged for the first offence, as the manner is with vs: and this they call the lawe of mercie. He that offendeth the second time hath his nose cut off, and is burnt in the forehead with a hot yron. The third time, he is hanged. There are many cutpurses among them, and if the rigour of the Prince did not cut them off they could not be auoyded.

Of their religion.

They maintaine the opinions of the Greeke Church: they suffer no grauen images of saints in their Churches, but their pictures painted in tables they haue in great abundance, which they do adore and offer vnto, and burne waxe candles before them, and cast holy water vpon them, without other honour. They say that our images which are set vp in Churches, and carued, haue no diuinitie in them. In their priuate houses they haue images for their household saints, and for the most part, they are put in the darkest place of the house: hee that comes into his neighbours house doth first salute his saints, although he see them not. If any foorme or stoole stand in his way, hee oftentimes beateth his browe vpon the same, and often ducking downe with his head, and body, worshippeth the chiefe Image. The habite, and attire of the Priests, and of the Lay men, doth nothing at all differ: as for marriage, it is forbidden to no man: onely this is receiued and held amongst them for a rule, and custome, that if a Priests wife doe die, he may not marry againe, nor take a second wife: and therefore they of secular Priests, as they call them, are made Monkes, to whom then chastitie for euer is commanded. Their diuine seruice is all done and said in their owne language, that euery man may vnderstand it: they receiue the Lords Supper with leauened bread, and after the consecration, they carry it about the Church in a saucer, and prohibite no man from receiuing and taking of it, that is willing so to doe. They vse both the Olde and the Newe Testament, and read both in their owne language, but so confusedly, that they themselues that doe reade, vnderstand not what themselues doe say: and while any part of either Testament is read, there is liberty giuen by custome to prattle, talke, and make a noise: but in the time of the rest of the seruice they vse very great silence and reuerence and behaue themselues very modestly, and in good sort. As touching the Lords praier, the tenth man amongst them knowes it not: and for the articles of our faith, and the ten commandements, no man, or at the least very fewe of them doe either know them or can say them: their opinion is, that such secrete and holy things as they are should not rashly and imprudently be communicated with the common people. They holde for a maxime amongst them, that the olde Lawe, and the commandements also are abolished by the death and blood of Christ: all studies and letters of humanitie they vtterly refuse: concerning the Latine, Greeke, and Hebrew tongues, they are altogether ignorant in them.

Euery yeere they celebrate foure seuerall fastes, which they call according to the names of the Saints: the first beginnes with them, at the time that our Lent beginnes. The second is called amongst them the fast of S. Peter. The third is taken from the day of the Virgin Marie. And the fourth and last begins vpon S. Philips day. But as we begin our Lent vpon Wednesday, so they begin theirs vpon the Sunday. Vpon the Saturday they eate flesh: whensoeuer any of those fasting feastes doe drawe neere, looke what weeke doth immediately goe before them, the same weeke they liue altogether vpon white meates, and in their common language they call those weekes, the fast of Butter.

In the time of their fasts, the neighbours euery where goe from one to another, and visite one another, and kisse one another with kisses of peace, in token of their mutuall loue and Christian concord: and then also they doe more often then at any other time goe to the holy Communion. When seuen dayes are past, from the beginning of the fast, then they doe often either goe to their Churches, or keepe themselues at home, and vse often prayer: and for that seuennight they eate nothing but hearbes: but after that seuennights fast is once past, then they returne to their old intemperancie of drinking, for they are notable tospots. As for the keeping of their fasting dayes, they doe it very streightly, neither doe they eate any thing besides hearbes, and salt fish, as long as those fasting dayes doe endure: but vpon euery Wednesday and Friday, in euery weeke thoughout the yeere, they fast.

There are very many Monasteries of the order of S. Benedict, amongst them, to which many great liuings, for their maintenance, doe belong: for the Friers and the Monkes doe at the least possesse the third part of the liuings, throughout the whole Moscouite Empire. To those Monkes that are of this Order, there is amongst them a perpetuall prohibition, that they may eate no flesh: and therefore their meate is onely salt fish, milke, and butter: neither is it permitted them by the lawes, and customes of their religion, to eate any fresh fish at all:

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