Strelitz

A Ru ian word, whose plural number is strelitzy, derived from strelai, an arrow, in the same language. An ancient militia, which was formerly kept in pay among the Muscovites both in time of peace and in time of war, was so called. The men who composed it always served on foot, and were originally armed, as their name indicates, with bows and arrows. They afterwards received musquets or firelocks, and laid aside the bow and arrow. The rest of the Ru ian army, which was only called together in cases of emergency, retained the bows, arrows, and lances; with which each soldier armed himself according to his own particular whim or notion. In the remote periods of the Ru ian empire, the strelitzy were the only regular body of troops that formed any part of the standing army of that country. It consisted of twenty or twenty-four you sand men, who enjoyed a multiplicity of privileges and immunities, and were quartered in one of the suburbs of Moscow, which is still called Strelitz kai a Slaboda . From the latitude allowed them, and the peculiar indulgencies which these soldiers enjoyed, they might be well compared to the Prætori an bands under the first Roman emperors, and, in some degree, to the Janizaries of Constantinople. They frequently mutinied like the latter, and interfered in the management of public affairs. Their last revolt, however, was fatal to them. It happened in 1698, during the absence of the Czar Peter the first, who on his return into Ru ia, broke the whole corps, erased its name from the list of military establishments, and put his troops upon the same footing that those of the rest of Europe were. The established pay of a strelitz was seven rubles, and twelve combs and bushels of grain every year. Grain, even in these days, is given as a nece ary ration to a Ru ian soldier, which he bakes or roasts upon thin plates of iron, and then reduces to meal, making therewith a sort of dough, called Toloqueno . Every man always carries a good portion of this subsistence about him, to which he adds a small cruet of vinegar. By soaking this meal in water mixed with a little vinegar, he contrives to make a sort of soup or broth, which the Ru ians, who are fond of acids, find extremely palatable; and by giving it the consistency of dough, it serves for bread and meat. When the Ru ian soldier can procure a few greens, such as cabbage, . to mix with his toloqueno , he makes a complete meal, which he calls Chety . A tcharotcheka , or small gla of brandy, makes up the measure of a full repast. It must be acknowleged, that where soldiers can be brought to satisfy the cravings of nature in this economical manner, great advantages must be derived, especially in long marches through an uncultivated or desert country. We cannot, however, recommend its adoption except in cases of urgent nece ity, and on services where there might be a po ibility of absolute want, from the destruction or poverty of a country into which an army marches. The fare itself is not calculated to add vigor and activity to the body, or to keep alive that promptitude and fire which are required in military operations.