A sudden rush from the door of the church called us to the windows, whence we could distinguish, in the distance, the gorgeous procession which was conducting the Patriarch home after eight and forty hours of constant ceremonial. We had ample time to enjoy the spectacle, for the throng was so dense, that it was with the utmost difficulty that the beadles and _kavasses_ could force a passage through the excited and clamorous multitude, for the objects of their overweening and inconvenient enthusiasm. Nor was the difficulty likely to decrease, for the crowd were still pouring out from the church, clinging one to the other to secure their footing, and defying alike the many-thonged whips of the beadles, and the powerful elbows and staves of the police. The Patriarch, who had rigorously observed the fast throughout the whole of Lent; and who had, moreover, only partially recovered from a severe and lingering illness, was little able, after forty-eight consecutive hours of exertion, to contend with this unlooked-for and gratuitous demand upon his energies; and as he moved forward, supported by two of the Bishops, he continually implored the forbearance of the people, who, in their eagerness to kiss the hem of his garment, subjected him to no slight risk of suffocation. But he implored in vain; the crowd shouted and struggled—the beadles struck and shoved—and the priests threatened and expostulated—unheeded; while the Patriarch was ultimately lifted from his feet, and carried to the foot of the great stair leading to the palace, by half a dozen of his followers. The solemn chant of the approaching priests instantly re-echoed through the vast pile, and an avenue was formed from the portal of the building to the door of the apartment in which we stood. First entered the incense-bearer, who swung his censor twice or thrice at each extremity of the room, and then hastily withdrew; and he was almost immediately followed by the whole train of Bishops, sinking under the weight of jewels and embroidery in which they were attired, and who took their places in line along the edge of the divan, and there awaited in silence the arrival of the two Archbishops who preceded the Patriarch. The sight was dazzling! On all sides a mass of gold and precious stones, of tissue and embroidery, presented itself; and the eye actually ached with gazing. After the lapse of a few seconds, the Great Dignitaries also arrived: and as I advanced to kiss the hand of the Patriarch, I felt completely overawed by the magnificence of the spectacle. The ceremony of unrobing followed, during which the solemn chanting of the priests, who lined the gallery through which the train had passed, was never once interrupted; and as the Bishops cast off robe after robe of costly silk, gorgeous brocade, and glittering tissue, I only marvelled how they could have supported such a weight of dress amid the crowd that had so unmercifully pressed upon them below, without sinking under it!