[24] Common people in Russia, even now, use no socks or stockings; but strips of linen, in which they wrap their feet.
[25] A proverbial expression still used by Russians.
[26] Voevoda—governor of a city or province.
[27] A dish somewhat like starch, much used in Russia by the common people.
[28] The catacombs of the Peckerskoï (i.e., of the caverns) cloister at Kieff, were, like those of Rome, the places of worship and of burial of cenobites, whose relics are still preserved there by the Russians.
[29] The Polish Jewesses, when married, follow very strictly the prescription of their law to hide their hair and their ears; but, as a compensation for not showing their beautiful hair, and wearing no earrings, they wear wigs on their head, and pieces of cloth adorned with jewels over their ears.
[30] The Ssiem was one of the most incongruous phenomena of the Polish administration. Every landed proprietor had a voice in this assembly, which was convoked on every important occasion: such as the election of a king, the declaration of war, the conclusion of peace, &c., &c. The veto of a single member was, de jure, sufficient to put a stop to any political or administrative measure proposed to these assemblies; de facto, however, the king availed himself of the support of some powerful magnates to enforce the execution of his will; but as this was only an infringement of the law, so it never failed to excite the opposition (very often, armed) of the malcontents. No wonder, then, if the Ssiems, forming the supreme constituent power in the state, brought upon Poland the miseries of which the history of that country is one long and uninterrupted story.
[31] Polish cuirassiers wore brass helmets adorned on each side with small wings, like those allotted by mythology to the travelling cap of the Greek Hermes. Some of them, also, wore large wings fastened to their cuirass behind their shoulders.
[32] The ancient fashioned Polish overcoats were put on over a sleeve coat, from Which they were distinguished by their colour, and had sleeves hanging behind the shoulders, and sometimes hooked together on the back for convenience' sake.
[33] A very frequent practice of the Turks with their Zaporoghian prisoners was, to cover them with tar and then burn them alive.