The Wilmingtonian., 1824-01-22
From Mrs. Balderness' Travels in Russia.
CATACOMBS OF kIEV.

CATACOMBS OF klEN. 81
At the monastery of Kiev, are the fa- h
nous Catacombs, burial places) which son
oany thousand of infatuated people in the |
russian Empire go on foot to visit every n
,ear. The preparation for descendingh h
nto this repository of the dead, was more f
olemn than the scene itself; for the monk n
accompanying US related such indescr'- \
Fable and ridiculous stories of the saints 6
whose relics lay there, that we must have
,ad common share of credulity to have
believed them. Every person going down
into these vaults purchases wax taper,
and having lighted it, in solemn silence
follow the monk. who as he conducts the
visitors through these vaulted sepulchres
of the dead, opens the coffin lid, unfolds
the shroud, and tells the name OF the saint
enshrned in that repository: no part OIL
the body is to be seen, OF course the flesh
is all wasted, and the bones only remain
perfect, from having been completely kept
from the air, the face and hands are COM
monty covered with gold or silver tissue,
Ior some kind of silk !; cap is placed on
the head, of the same material. The cot
fins are generally Of cypress wood, but
some of massive silver very richly orna-
lmented. There are two or three hand
some little chapels in these subterraneous
passages. built by some OF their saints,
and consecrated for their hours of private
Jeyotions Several cells are shown, where
They say monks, in vow of penance, have
had themselves walled up, and only lit.
lie window left, at which they received
daily their bread and water. and there re-
|mained until their deaths. In one OF tht
lcels are the twelve masons who built the
church, and then entered as monks init
the monastery.
i In another place you are sh"wn the DO
Il ", or rather the he Il and shoulders OF
Imam stuck in the ground; in vow OF pc
ance he dug hole, in which he placee
nimself, standing with his hands by hi
Iside; and then had the hole filled, SO tha
|only his head, and little below his shoul
lrrs, could be seen here he lived (the.
sav) fifteen gears, having food and drlnl
brought to him, and lamp constantl
! burning by his side; they still allow hin
d lamp, which hurns day and night con
Itnually, though he has been dead SIX or
!. seven hundred years; this, however, the,
;. AN we'll afford to do, as he brings con
i siderable share of the riches of the con
vent. The cap he wears is supposed T
work miracles, and restore the sick; ac
! olco.dngiy. hundreds come I, visit St. Al
i tonic, and wear his cap, which is frequent
"A y the undoubted means of restoring healt'
though not in the way that enthusiast
;, and credulity imagine, but by the simp
d process of being the cause of their takin
I Unusual exercise in the open air, and e.
'. 4rcising also temperance not habltual
d them. / should not omit to mention tn
i lst. Antonio is said to sink little lowe
k. in the ground every year, and that tn
ID world is to be at an end by the time !
I'd entirely disappears. Amongst the wol
S. lers which they relate, this can scarcel
,dlbe classed as the greatest; and IT time
ur IS mighty changes does not annihllate II
ou monastery of Petchersky, St. Antonio wi
probably not disappear. while he contll
oul ues 80 instrumental to the we'll doing
e' his brethren.
# Having so particularly mentioned Il
u merits of this saint, let me do justice
ne the others also and state, that all ha'
ou their votaries, and that money lay seattle
IT, ed in every coffin, as if the golden age hs
'g- returned, and man no longer continued
OF reap sordid gold. or required its aid
RS, help him to the comforts of life. 1t
no feckoned that from sixty to a hundrt
'r' II, thousand pilgrims, from all parts OF tt
p' Russian empire, visit the monastery
Kiev in one year; and the revenue q
monks derive from the sale of wax candle
is alone sufficient to furnish food for Il
IN. establishment.
aa ae' ALLAN MACPHERSON.
nj, In the expedition against Fort du Qu
IRE sne, now Pittsburg. in 1853, under
tci command of General Forbes. several 81
ar' 'ar liers belonging to Montgomery's hlghlan
,ro' |ars and other regiments, fell into the nan
,gs.l lof the Indians, being taken IN ambus