Page:Notes upon Russia (volume 2, 1851).djvu/167

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NOTES UPON RUSSIA.

139

of Muscovy in signing the articles of truce. When, therefore, the truce with Sigismund, king of Poland, was agreed upon, and the articles drawn up, we were summoned to the prince's palace, and being conducted into a certain apartment, found the Lithuanian ambassadors already there. Those councillors of the prince also who had concluded the treaty with us came into the room, and turning to the Lithuanian ambassadors, addressed them to the following effect: — "Our prince was willing, out of especial regard to the request of certain great princes, to enter into a lasting peace with your King Sigismund, but though it was impossible on any terms to do that at present, he has willingly consented, at the instance of the said princes, to enter into a truce. Which truce being arranged and lawfully signed, the prince has ordered you to be sent for, and requested your presence." Moreover, they held letters made out by the prince to be given to the King of Poland, sealed with a small red seal, which was attached to them. On the obverse was the figure of a naked man, sitting on a horse without a saddle, and transfixing a dragon with a spear.^[1] On the reverse, an eagle with two heads, with a crown on each head. They had also the letters of truce drawn up in a certain form, with corresponding letters, only with the names and titles changed, which were to be sent back to the prince in return, in which there was no difference of expression, except in this clause, which was added at the end of the letters: "We, Peter Giska, palatine of Polotsk, and captain of Drogieczin, and Michael

↑ The St. George on the seal attached to the letter sent by the Grand Duke of Muscovy to Edward VI. by the hands of Richard Chancelor, is described by Hakluyt (vol. i, fo. 255, ed. 1598-9), as "the image of a man on horseback, in complete harnesse, fighting with a dragon." The Greeks, from whom the Russians in all probability derived their reverence for this saint, always represented St. George clad in armour. The naked figure, as above described, is represented in the corner of the frontispiece to the present volume, and shows a coarseness of design, betraying more of the uncultivated Tartar than the civilized Greek.

[1] The St. George on the seal attached to the letter sent by the Grand Duke of Muscovy to Edward VI. by the hands of Richard Chancelor, is described by Hakluyt (vol. i, fo. 255, ed. 1598-9), as "the image of a man on horseback, in complete harnesse, fighting with a dragon." The Greeks, from whom the Russians in all probability derived their reverence for this saint, always represented St. George clad in armour. The naked figure, as above described, is represented in the corner of the frontispiece to the present volume, and shows a coarseness of design, betraying more of the uncultivated Tartar than the civilized Greek.

[1]