zeal
for the religious war in which they were going to take part, and after
having blessed them with the image of St Sergius, the same to which I
alluded above, gave it them as a companion of their expedition. The allied
troops must therefore be prepared to encounter that _bellicose_ saint
somewhere on the Danube, unless he has been ordered to the shores of the
Baltic for the defence of the capital. The custom of taking with them
images considered as miraculous, during a campaign, was followed by the
generals of the Greek empire on many occasions. Thus it is related by a
Byzantine writer,(113) that in 590 Philippicus, a general of the Emperor
Mauritius, when going to engage the Persians in battle, took an _image
which was not made by the hands of man_, and carried it about the ranks of
his army, in order to purify his soldiers, and that he gained, after this
ceremony, a complete victory. It must, however, be remarked that when
Philippicus was replaced by another general, called Priscus, the latter,
relying too much on the protection of the image which _was not made by the
hands of man_, diminished the rations of the soldiers, and gave them other
causes of offence; they revolted, and when Priscus, in order to subdue the
riot, paraded the image in question, the mutineers threw stones at it. I
don't know exactly how this business ended, but it is said that the Greek
generals usually liked to have an image of the kind alluded to, in order
to appease their troops in cases of mutiny and discontent; and I believe
that, considering the gross ignorance and superstition of the Russian
soldiers, the image of St Sergius may do good service in similar cases,
and for which these soldiers have but too many reasons. The Greek emperors
also sometimes provided with miraculous images the ambassadors who were
sent on important missions. I don't know whether the Russian diplomacy,
which has performed so many wonders, has ever had recourse to the
assistance of such images, or to that of any supernatural agency.

The miraculous images of the Graeco-Russian Church are generally considered
as _not made by the hands of man_, whilst those of the Roman Catholic
Church are usually believed to be painted by St Luke. The most celebrated
Madonnas of Russia, as those of Kazan, Korennaya, Akhtyrka, &c., are
believed to have dropt from heaven, in the same manner as the Diana of
Ephesus, and other Greek idols of repute. They are called _yavlenneeye
icony_