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- text-align: right; - font-weight: normal; - } - - /* style for page numbers */ - .pagenum { - position: absolute; - right: 1.5%; - font-size: small; - font-style: normal; - font-weight: normal; - text-align: right; - } - - /* styles for poetry */ - .poetry-container { - text-align: center; - } - .poetry { - display: inline-block; - text-align: left; - font-size: small; - } - .poetry .stanza { - margin: 1em auto; - } - .poetry .verse { - text-indent: -3em; - padding-left: 3em; - } - .poetry .quote { - text-indent: -3.4em; - } - .poetry .indent { - text-indent: -1em; - } - -/* style for Cyrillic */ - .cyrillic { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; - letter-spacing: 1em; - font-size: 175%; - } - - /* style for convent title */ - #convent { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; - font-weight: bold; - font-size: 110%; - } - - /* style for dissidents */ - #dissidents ol { - list-style-type: upper-roman; - padding-left: 3em; - margin-bottom: 0; - margin-top: 0; - font-size: 100%; - } - - /*style for end */ - #end p { - text-align: center; - text-indent: 0; - margin-top: 5em; - margin-bottom: 5em; - font-size: x-small; - } - - /* styles for book list */ - #booklist p { - margin-left: 1.5em; - text-indent: -1.5em; - margin-top: 0.6em; - margin-bottom: 0; - font-size: 90%; - } - #booklist p.hand { - margin-left: 2.5em; - text-indent: -2.5em; - } - #booklist p.bk2 { - margin-left: 3em; - text-indent: -1.5em; - margin-top: 0em; - } - #booklist ul { - list-style-type: none; - padding-left: 1.5em; - margin-bottom: 0; - margin-top: 0; - font-size: 90%; - } - - /* misc styles */ - .nodent { text-indent: 0; } - .center { text-indent: 0; text-align: center; } - .smcap { font-variant: small-caps; } - .small { font-size: small; } - .smaller { font-size: smaller; } - .x-small { font-size: x-small; } - .large { font-size: large; } - - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Free Russia, by William Hepworth Dixon - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Free Russia - -Author: William Hepworth Dixon - -Release Date: February 3, 2016 [EBook #51117] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREE RUSSIA *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards, Chris Pinfield and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<div id ="tnote"> - -<p>Transcriber's Note.</p> - -<p>Apparent typographical errors have been corrected. The inconsistent -use of hyphens has been retained.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 630px;"> - <img src="images/solovetsk.jpg" width="630" height="401" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>CONVENT OF SOLOVETSK IN THE FROZEN SEA.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<div class="image-center" style="max-width: 630px;"> - <img src="images/infantry.jpg" width="630" height="401" alt=""/> - <div class="caption"> - <p>RUSSIAN INFANTRY ON EASTERN STEPPE ESCORTED BY KOZAKS AND KIRGHIZ.</p> - </div> -</div> - -<div id="frontm"> - -<h1>FREE RUSSIA.</h1> - -<p><span class="x-small">BY</span><br /> - -WILLIAM HEPWORTH DIXON.</p> - -<p><span class="x-small">AUTHOR OF</span><br /> - -<span class="small">"FREE AMERICA." "HER MAJESTY'S TOWER." &c.</span></p> - -<div class="image-center"> - <img src="images/crest.jpg" width="150" height="104" alt=""/> -</div> - - <p><i>NEW YORK</i></p> - - <p><span class="small">HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS.</span><br /> - - <span class="x-small">FRANKLIN SQUARE.</span></p> - - <p>1870.</p> - -</div> - -<h2>PREFACE.</h2> - -<p><i>Svobodnaya</i> Rossia—<i>Free</i> Russia—is a word on every lip -in that great country; at once the Name and Hope of the -new empire born of the Crimean war. In past times Russia -was free, even as Germany and France were free. She -fell before Asiatic hordes; and the Tartar system lasted, in -spirit, if not in form, until the war; but since that conflict -ended, the old Russia has been born again. This new country—hoping -to be pacific, meaning to be Free—is what I -have tried to paint.</p> - -<p>My journeys, just completed, carried me from the Polar -Sea to the Ural Mountains, from the mouth of the Vistula -to the Straits of Yeni Kale, including visits to the four -holy shrines of Solovetsk, Pechersk, St. George, and Troitsa. -My object being to paint the Living People, I have much -to say about pilgrims, monks, and parish priests; about -village justice, and patriarchal life; about beggars, tramps, -and sectaries; about Kozaks, Kalmuks, and Kirghiz; about -workmen's artels, burgher rights, and the division of land; -about students' revolts and soldiers' grievances; in short, -about the Human Forces which underlie and shape the -external politics of our time.</p> - -<p>Two journeys made in previous years have helped me to -judge the reforms which are opening out the Japan-like -empire of Nicolas into the Free Russia of the reigning -prince.</p> - -<div class="foot"> - -<div class="left1"><i>February,</i> 1870.<br /> - 6 <i>St. James's Terrace.</i></div> -</div> - -<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> - -<table id="toc" summary="ToC"> - -<tr> - <th>CHAP.</th> - <th></th> - <th>PAGE</th> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="numb">I.</td> - <td>Up North</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="numb">II.</td> - <td>The Frozen Sea</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="numb">III.</td> - <td>The Dvina</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_20">20</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="numb">IV.</td> - <td>Archangel</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="numb">V.</td> - <td>Religious Life</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="numb">VI.</td> - <td>Pilgrims</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="numb">VII.</td> - <td>Father John</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> - <td class="numb">VIII.</td> - <td>The Vladika</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">IX.</td> - <td>A Pilgrim-boat</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">X.</td> - <td>The Holy Isles</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XI.</td> - <td>The Local Saints</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XII.</td> - <td>A Monastic Household</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XIII.</td> - <td>A Pilgrim's Day</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XIV.</td> - <td>Prayer and Labor</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_78">78</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XV.</td> - <td>Black Clergy</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XVI.</td> - <td>Sacrifice</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XVII.</td> - <td>Miracles</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XVIII.</td> - <td>The Great Miracle</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XIX.</td> - <td>A Convent Spectre</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XX.</td> - <td>Story of a Grand Duke</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_114">114</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXI.</td> - <td>Dungeons</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXII.</td> - <td>Nicolas Ilyin</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXIII.</td> - <td>Adrian Pushkin</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXIV.</td> - <td>Dissent</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXV.</td> - <td>New Sects</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXVI.</td> - <td>More New Sects</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_146">146</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXVII.</td> - <td>The Popular Church</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXVIII.</td> - <td>Old Believers</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_158">158</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXIX.</td> - <td>A Family of Old Believers</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXX.</td> - <td>Cemetery of the Transfiguration</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXXI.</td> - <td>Ragoski</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXXII.</td> - <td>Dissenting Politics</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_179">179</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXXIII.</td> - <td>Conciliation</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXXIV.</td> - <td>Roads</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXXV.</td> - <td>A Peasant Poet</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_192">192</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXXVI.</td> - <td>Forest Scenes</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_197">197</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXXVII.</td> - <td>Patriarchal Life</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_202">202</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXXVIII.</td> - <td>Village Republics</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XXXIX.</td> - <td>Communism</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XL.</td> - <td>Towns</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_218">218</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XLI.</td> - <td>Kief</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XLII.</td> - <td>Panslavonia</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_225">225</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XLIII.</td> - <td>Exile</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_229">229</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XLIV.</td> - <td>The Siberians</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_235">235</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XLV.</td> - <td>St. George</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_241">241</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XLVI.</td> - <td>Novgorod the Great</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_246">246</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XLVII.</td> - <td>Serfage</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_250">250</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XLVIII.</td> - <td>A Tartar Court</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">XLIX.</td> - <td>St. Philip</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_257">257</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">L.</td> - <td>Serfs</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_262">262</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LI.</td> - <td>Emancipation</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_267">267</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LII.</td> - <td>Freedom</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_272">272</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LIII.</td> - <td>Tsek and Artel</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_278">278</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LIV.</td> - <td>Masters and Men</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_284">284</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LV.</td> - <td>The Bible</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_289">289</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LVI.</td> - <td>Parish Priests</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_294">294</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LVII.</td> - <td>A Conservative Revolution</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_299">299</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LVIII.</td> - <td>Secret Police</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_306">306</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LIX.</td> - <td>Provincial Rulers</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_312">312</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LX.</td> - <td>Open Courts</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_318">318</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LXI.</td> - <td>Islam</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_324">324</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LXII.</td> - <td>The Volga</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_330">330</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LXIII.</td> - <td>Eastern Steppe</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_336">336</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LXIV.</td> - <td>Don Kozaks</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_341">341</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LXV.</td> - <td>Under Arms</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_346">346</a></td> -</tr> - -<tr> -<td class="numb">LXVI.</td> - <td>Alexander</td> - <td class="numb"><a href="#Page_351">351</a></td> -</tr> - -</table> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">{11}</a></div> - -<p class="center large">FREE RUSSIA.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER I.<br /> - -<span class="small">UP NORTH.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">"White Sea!"</span> -laughs the Danish skipper, curling his thin red lip; -"it is the color of English stout. The -bed may be white, being bleached with the bones of wrecked -and sunken men; but the waves are never white, except when -they are ribbed into ice and furred with snow. A better -name is that which the sailors and seal-fishers give it—the -Frozen Sea!"</p> - -<p>Rounding the North Cape, a weird and hoary mass of rock, -projecting far into the Arctic foam, we drive in a south-east -course, lashed by the wind and beaten by hail and rain, for -two long days, during which the sun never sets and never -rises, and in which, if there is dawn at the hour of midnight, -there is also dusk at the time of noon.</p> - -<p>Leaving the picturesque lines of fiord and alp behind, we -run along a dim, unbroken coast, not often to be seen through -the pall of mist, until, at the end of some fifty hours, we feel, -as it were, the land in our front; a stretch of low-lying shore -in the vague and far-off distance, trending away towards the -south, like the trail of an evening cloud. We bend in a southern -course, between Holy Point (Sviatoi Noss, called on our -charts, in rough salt slang, Sweet Nose) and Kanin Cape, towards -the Corridor; a strait some thirty miles wide, leading -down from the Polar Ocean into that vast irregular dent in -the northern shore of Great Russia known as the Frozen Sea.</p> - -<p>The land now lying on our right, as we run through the -Corridor, is that of the Lapps; a country of barren downs -and deep black lakes; over which a few trappers and fishermen -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">{12}</a></span> -roam; subjects of the Tsar and followers of the Orthodox -rite; but speaking a language of their own, not understood -in the Winter Palace, and following a custom of their -fathers, not yet recognized in St. Isaac's Church. Lapland is -a tangle of rocks and pools; the rocks very big and broken, -the pools very deep and black; with here and there a valley -winding through them, on the slopes of which grows a little -reindeer moss. Now and then you come upon a patch of -birch and pine. No grain will grow in these Arctic zones, -and the food of the natives is game and fish. Rye-bread, -their only luxury, must be fetched in boats from the towns -of Onega and Archangel, standing on the shores of the Frozen -Sea, and fed from the warmer provinces in the south. These -Lapps are still nomadic; cowering through the winter months -in shanties; sprawling through the summer months in tents. -Their shanty is a log pyramid thatched with moss to keep -out wind and sleet; their tent is of the Comanche type; a -roll of reindeer skins drawn slackly round a pole, and opened -at the top to let out smoke.</p> - -<p>A Lapp removes his dwelling from place to place, as the -seasons come and go; now herding game on the hill-sides, -now whipping the rivers and creeks for fish; in the warm -months, roving inland in search of moss and grass; in the -frozen months, drawing nearer to the shore in search of seal -and cod. The men are equally expert with the bow, their ancient -weapon of defense, and with the birding-piece, the arm -of settlers in their midst. The women, looking any thing but -lovely in their seal-skin tights and reindeer smocks, are infamous -for magic and second sight. In every district of the -North, a female Lapp is feared as a witch—an enchantress—who -keeps a devil at her side, bound by the powers of darkness -to obey her will. She can see into the coming day. She -can bring a man ill-luck. She can throw herself out into -space, and work upon ships that are sailing past her on the sea. -Far out in the Polar brine, in waters where her countrymen -fish for cod, stands a lump of rock, which the crews regard as -a Woman and her Child. Such fantasies are common in -these Arctic seas, where the waves wash in and out through -the cliffs, and rend and carve them into wondrous shapes. A -rock on the North Cape is called the Friar; a group of islets -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">{13}</a></span> -near that cape is known as the Mother and her Daughters. -Seen through the veil of Polar mist, a block of stone may take -a mysterious form; and that lump of rock in the Polar waste, -which the cod-fishers say is like a woman with her child, has -long been known to them as the Golden Hag. She is rarely -seen; for the clouds in summer, and the snows in winter, hide -her charms from the fishermen's eyes; but when she deigns to -show her face in the clear bright sun, her children hail her -with a song of joy, for on seeing her face they know that their -voyage will be blessed by a plentiful harvest of skins and -fish.</p> - -<p>Woe to the mariner tossed upon their coast!</p> - -<p>The land on our left is the Kanin peninsula; part of that -region of heath and sand over which the Samoyed roams; a -desert of ice and snow, still wilder than the countries hunted -by the Lapp. A land without a village, without a road, without -a field, without a name; for the Russians who own it have -no name for it save that of the Samoyeds' Land; this province -of the great empire trends away north and east from the walls -of Archangel and the waters of Kanin Cape to the summits of -the Ural chain and the Iron Gates of the Kara Sea. In her -clefts and ridges snow never melts; and her shore-lines, -stretching towards the sunrise upwards of two thousand miles, -are bound in icy chains for eight months in the twelve. In -June, when the winter goes away, suddenly the slopes of a -few favored valleys grow green with reindeer moss; slight -specks of verdure in a landscape which is even then dark with -rock and gray with rime. On this green moss the reindeer -feed, and on these camels of the Polar zone the wild men of -the country live.</p> - -<p>Samoyed means cannibal—man-eater; but whether the men -who roam over these sands and bogs deserve their evil fame -is one of the questions open to new lights. They use no fire -in cooking food; and perhaps it is because they eat the reindeer -raw that they have come to be accused of fondness for -human flesh. In chasing the game on which they feed, the -Samoyeds crept over the Ural Mountains from their far-off -home in the north of Asia, running it down in a tract too cold -and bare for any other race of men to dwell on. Here the -Zarayny found them, thrashed them, set them to work.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">{14}</a></span> -These Zarayny, a clever and hardy people, seem connected -in type and speech with the Finns; and they are thought to -be the remnant of an ancient colony of trappers. Fairer than -the Samoyeds, they live in log huts like other Russians, and -are rich in herds of reindeer, which they compel the Samoyeds -to tend like slaves. This service to the higher race is slowly -changing the savage Samoyed into a civilized man; since it -gives him a sense of property and a respect for life. A red -man kills the beast he hunts; kills it beyond his need, in the -animal wantonness of strength. A Samoyed would do the -same; but the Zarayny have taught him to rear and tend, as -well as to hunt and snare, his food. A savage, only one degree -above the Pawnee and the Ute, a Samoyed builds no -shed; plants no field; and owns no property in the soil. He -dwells, like the Lapp, in a tent—a roll of skins, sewn on to -each other with gut, and twisted round a shaft, left open at -the top, and furnished with skins to lie on like an Indian -lodge. No art is lavished on this roll of skin; not so much -as the totem which a Cheyenne daubs on his prairie tent. -Yet the Samoyed has notions of village life, and even of government. -A collection of tents he calls a Choom; his choom -is ruled by a medicine-man; the official name of whom in -Russian society is a pope.</p> - -<p>The reigning Emperor has sent some priests to live among -these tribes, just as in olden times Marfa of Novgorod sent -her popes and monks into Lapland and Karelia; hoping to divert -the natives from their Pagan habits and bring them over -to the church of Christ. Some good, it may be hoped, is done -by these Christian priests; but a Russ who knows the country -and the people smiles when you ask him about their doings -in the Gulf of Obi and around the Kara Sea. One of these -missionaries whom I chanced to meet had pretty well ceased -to be a civilized man. In name, he was a pope; but he lived -and dressed like a medicine-man; and he was growing into -the likeness of a Mongol in look and gait. Folk said he had -taken to his bosom a native witch.</p> - -<p>Through the gateway held by these tribes we enter into -Russia—Great Russia; that country of the old Russians, -whose plains and forests the Tartar horsemen never swept.</p> - -<p>Why enter Russia by these northern gates? If the Great -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">{15}</a></span> -Mogul had conquered England in the seventeenth century; if -Asiatic manners had been paramount in London for two hundred -years; if Britain had recovered her ancient freedom and -civil life, where would a foreign observer, anxious to see the -English as they are, begin his studies? Would he not begin -them in Massachusetts rather than in Middlesex, even though -he should have to complete his observations on the Mersey -and the Thames?</p> - -<p>A student of the Free Russia born of the Crimean War, -must open his work of observation in the northern zones; -since it is only within this region of lake and forest that he -can find a Slavonic race which has never been tainted by foreign -influence, never been broken by foreign yoke. The zone -from Onega to Perm—a country seven times larger than -France—was colonized from Novgorod the Great, while -Novgorod was yet a free city, rich in trade, in piety, in art; -a rival of Frankfort and Florence; and, like London and -Bruges, a station of the Hanseatic League. Her colonies -kept the charter of their freedom safe. They never bent to -the Tartar yoke, nor learned to walk in the German ways. -They knew no masters, and they held no serfs. "We never -had amongst us," said to me an Archangel farmer, "either a -noble or a slave." They clung, for good and evil, to their ancient -life; and when the Patriarch Nikon reformed the -Church in a Byzantine sense (1667), as the Tsar Godunof had -transformed the village in a Tartar sense (1601), they disowned -their patriarch just as they had denied their Tsar. -In spite of every force that could be brought against them by -a line of autocrats, these free colonists have not been driven -into accepting the reformed official liturgies in preference to -their ancient rites. They kept their native speech, when it -was ceasing to be spoken in the capital; and when the time -was ripe, they sent out into the world a boy of genius, peasant-born -and reared (the poet, Michael Lomonosof), to impose -that popular language on the college, on the senate, on the -court.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">{16}</a></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER II.<br /> - -<span class="small">THE FROZEN SEA</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">At</span> -Cape Intsi we pass from the narrow straits dividing the -Lapp country from the Samoyed country into this northern -gulf.</p> - -<p>About twice the size of Lake Superior in the United States, -this Frozen Sea has something of the shape of Como; one -narrow northern bay, extending to the town of Kandalax, in -Russian Lapland; and two southern bays, divided from each -other by a broad sandy peninsula, the home of a few villagers -employed in snaring cod and hunting seal. These southern -bays are known, from the rivers which fall into them, as Onega -Bay and Dvina Bay. At the mouths of these rivers stand -the two trading ports of Onega and Archangel.</p> - -<p>The open part of this inland gulf is deep—from sixty to -eighty fathoms; and in one place, off the entrance into Kandalax -Bay, the line goes down no less than a hundred and -sixty fathoms. Yet the shore is neither steep nor high. The -gulf of Onega is rich in rocks and islets; many of them only -banks of sand and mud, washed out into the sea from the uplands -of Kargopol; but in the wide entrance of Onega Bay, -between Orlof Point and the town of Kem, stands out a notable -group of islets—Solovetsk, Anzersk, Moksalma, Zaet and -others; islets which play a singular part in the history of -Russia, and connect themselves with curious legends of the -Imperial court.</p> - -<p>In Solovetsk, the largest of this group of islets, stands the -famous convent of that name; the house of Saints Savatie -and Zosima; the refuge of St. Philip; the shrine to which -emperors and peasants go on pilgrimage; the haunt of that -Convent Spectre which one hears described in the cod-fisher's -boat and in the Kozak's tent; the scene of many great events, -and of one event which Russians have agreed to sing and -paint as the most splendid miracle of these latter days.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">{17}</a></span> -Off the Dvina bar stands the new tower and lighthouse, -where the pilots live; a shaft some eighty feet high, not often -to be seen above the hanging drapery of fog. A pilot comes -on board; a man of soft and patient face, with gray-blue eyes, -and flow of brownish hair, who tells us in a bated tone—as -though he feared we might be vexed with him and beat him—that -the tide is ebbing on the bar, and we shall have to wait -for the flow. "Wait for the tide!" snaps our Danish jarl; -"stand by, we'll make our course." The sun has just peeped -out from behind his veil; but the clouds droop low and dark, -and every one feels that a gale is coming on. Two barks near -the bar—the "Thera" and the "Olga"—bob and reel like -tipsy men; yet our pale Russ pilot, urged by the stronger will, -gives way with a smile; and our speed being lowered by half, -we push on slowly towards the line of red and black signals -floating in our front.</p> - -<p>The "Thera" and the "Olga" are soon behind us, shivering -in all their sheets, like men in the clutch of ague—left in our -wake to a swift and terrible doom. In half an hour we pass -the line of buoys, and gain the outer port.</p> - -<p>Like all great rivers, the Dvina has thrown up a delta of isles -and islets near her mouth, through which she pours her flood -into the sea by a dozen arms. None of these dozen arms can -now be laid down as her main entrance; for the river is more -capricious than the sea; so that a skipper who leaves her by -one outlet in August, may have to enter by another when he -comes back to her in June. The main passage in the old charts -flowed past the Convent of St. Nicolas; then came the turn of -Rose Island; afterwards the course ran past the guns of Fort -Dvina: but the storms which swept the Polar seas two summers -since, destroyed that passage as an outlet for the larger -kinds of craft. The port police looked on in silence. What -were they to do? Archangel was cut off from the sea, until -a Danish blacksmith, who had set up forge and hammer in -the new port, proposed that the foreign traders should hire -a steamer and find a deliverance for their ships. "If the -water goes down," he said, "it must have made a way for itself. -Let us try to find it out." A hundred pounds were -lodged in the bank, a steamer was hired, and a channel, called -the Maimax arm, was found to be deep enough for ships to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">{18}</a></span> -pass. The work was done, the city opened to the sea; but -then came the question of port authorities and their rules. -No bark had ever left the city by this Maimax arm; no rules -had been made for such a course of trade; and the port police -could not permit a ship to sail unless her papers were drawn -up in the usual forms. In vain the merchants told them the -case was new, and must be governed by a rule to match. -They might as well have reasoned with a Turkish bey. Here -rode a fleet of vessels, laden with oats and deals for the Elbe, -the Maas, and the Thames; there ran the abundant Maimax -waters to the sea; but the printed rules of the port, unconscious -of the freaks of nature and of the needs of man, forbade -this fleet to sail.</p> - -<p>Appeal was made to Prince Gagarine, governor of Archangel: -but Gagarine, though he laughed at these port rules -and their forms, had no deals and grain of his own on board -the ships. Gospodin Sredine, a keen-witted master of the -customs, tried to open the ports and free the ships by offering -to put officers on the new channel; but the police were—the -police. In vain they heard that the goods might spoil, -that the money they cost was idle, and that every ruble wasted -would be so much loss to their town.</p> - -<p>To my question, "How was it arranged at last?" a skipper, -who was one of the prisoners in the port, replies, "I will tell -you in a word. We sent to Petersburg; the minister spoke -to the Emperor; and here is what we have heard they said. -'What's all this row in Archangel about?' asks the Emperor. -'It is all about a new mouth being found in the Dvina, sir, -and ships that want to sail down it, sir, because the old channel -is now shoaled up, sir.' 'In God's name,' replied the -Emperor, 'let the ships go out by any channel they can find.'"</p> - -<p>Whether the thing was done in this sailor-like way, or by -the more likely method of official report and order, the Maimax -mouth was opened to the world in spite of the port police and -their printed rules.</p> - -<p>A Hebrew of the olden time would have called this sea a -whited sepulchre. Even men of science, to whom wintry -storms may be summed up in a line of figures—so many ships -in the pack, so many corpses on the beach—can find in the records -of this frozen deep some show of an excuse for that old -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">{19}</a></span> -Lapland superstition of the Golden Hag. The year before -last was a tragic time, and the memory of one dark day of -wrack and death has not yet had time to fade away.</p> - -<p>At the end of June, a message, flashed from the English -consul at Archangel—a man to represent his country on these -shores—alarmed our board of trade by such a cry for help -as rarely reaches a public board. A hundred ships were perishing -in the ice. These ships were Swedes, Danes, Dutch, -and English; luggers, sloops, corvettes, and smacks; all built -of wood, and many of them English manned. Could any -thing be done to help them? "Help is coming," flashed the -wires from Charing Cross; and on the first day of July, two -steamers left the Thames to assist in rescuing those ships and -men from the Polar ice. On the fifteenth night from home -these English boats were off Cape Gorodetsk on the Lapland -coast, and when morning dawned they were striving to cross -the shallow Archangel bar. They could not pass; yet the -work of humanity was swiftly and safely done by the English -crews.</p> - -<p>That fleet of all nations, English, Swedish, Dutch, and Danish, -left the Dvina ports on news coming up the delta that the -pack was breaking up in the gulf; but on reaching that Corridor -through which we have just now come, they met the ice -swaying to and fro, and crashing from point to point, as the -changing wind veered round from north to south. By careful -steering they went on, until they reached the straits between -Kanin Cape and Holy Point. The ice in their front -was now thick and high; no passage through it could be -forced; and their vessels reeled and groaned under the blows -which they suffered from the floating drifts. A brisk north -wind arose, and blowing three days on without a pause, drove -blocks and bergs of ice from the Polar Ocean down into the -gut, forcing the squadrons to fall back, and closing up every -means of escape into the open sea. The ships rolled to and -fro, the helmsmen trying to steer them in mid-channel, but the -currents were now too strong to stem, and the helpless craft -were driven upon the Lapland reefs, where the crews soon -saw themselves folded and imprisoned in the pack of ice.</p> - -<p>Like shots from a fort, the crews on board the stronger -ships could hear in the grim waste around them hull after hull -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">{20}</a></span> -crashing up, in that fierce embrace, like fine glass trinkets in -a strong man's hand. When a ship broke up and sank, the -crew leaped out upon the ice and made for the nearest craft, -from which in a few hours more they might have to fly in -turn. One man was wrecked five times in a single day; each -of the boats to which he clung for safety parting beneath his -feet and gurgling down into the frozen deep.</p> - -<p>When the tale of loss was made up by the relieving steamers, -this account was sent home to the Board of Trade:</p> - -<p>The number of ships abandoned by their crews was sixty-four; -of this great fleet of ships, fourteen were saved and fifty -lost. Of the fifty ships lost in those midsummer days, -eighteen were English built and manned; and the master -mentions with a noble pride, that only one ship flying the -English flag was in a state to be recovered from the ice after -being abandoned by her crew.</p> - -<p>It would be well for our fame if the natives had no other -tales to tell of an English squadron in the Frozen Sea.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER III.<br /> - -<span class="small">THE DVINA.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">By</span> the Maimax arm we steam through the delta for some -twenty miles; past low, green banks and isles like those in -the Missouri bed; though the loam in the Dvina is not so -rich and black as that on the American stream. Yet these -small isles are bright with grass and scrub. Beyond them, on -the main-land, lies a fringe of pines, going back into space as -far as the eye can pierce.</p> - -<p>The low island lying on your right as you scrape the bar -is called St. Nicolas, after that sturdy priest, who is said to -have smitten the heretic Arius on his cheek. No one knows -where this Nicolas lived and died; for it is clear from the -Acta, that he had no part in the Council of Nice. The Book -of Saints describes him as born in Liki and living in Mira; -whence they call him the Saint of Mirliki; but not a line of -his writing is extant, and the virtues assigned to him are of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">{21}</a></span> -opposing kinds. He is a patron of nobles and of children, of -sailors, of cadgers, and of pilgrims. Yet, in spite of his doubtful -birth and genius, Nicolas is a popular saint. Poor people -like him as one who is good to the poor; a friend of beggars, -fishermen and tramps. A Russian turns to him as the hope -of starving and drowning men; so that his name is often -heard, his image often seen, in these northern wilds; more -than all else, on the banks of rivers and on the margins of the -Frozen Sea. A peasant learns with delight from his Book of -Saints (his Bible, Epos, Drama, Code, and History all in one) -that Nicolas is the most potent saint in heaven; sitting on the -right hand of God; and having a cohort of three hundred -angels, armed and ready to obey his nod. A mujik asked a -foreign friend to tell him who will be God when God dies? -"My good fellow," said he, smiling, "God will never die." At -first the peasant seemed perplexed. "Never die!" and then a -light fell on him. "Yes," he retorted, slowly; "I see it now. -You are an unbeliever; you have no religion. Look you; I -have been better taught. God will one day die; for He is -very old; and then St. Nicolas will get his place."</p> - -<p>Though he is common to all Russians—adored on the Dnieper, -on the Volkhof, on the Moskva, no less than on the Dvina—he -is worshipped with peculiar zeal in these northern zones. -Here he is the sailor's saint, the adventurer's help; and all the -paintings of him show that his watchful eyes are bent in eager -tenderness upon the swirl and passion of the Frozen Sea. -This delta might be called his province; for not only was the -island on your right called after him, but also the ancient -channel, and the bay itself. The oldest cloister in the district -bears his name.</p> - -<p>On passing into the Maimax arm, your eyes—long dimmed -by the sight of sombre rock, dark cloud, and sullen surf—are -charmed by soft, green grass and scrub; but the sight goes -vainly out, through reeds and copse, in search of some cheery -note of house and farm. One log hut you pass, and only one. -Two men are standing near a bank, in a little clearing of the -wood; a lad is idling in a frail canoe, which the wash of your -steamer lifts and laves; but no one lodges in the shed; the -men and boy have come from a village some miles away. -Dropping down the river in their boat to cut down grass for -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">{22}</a></span> -their cows, and gather up fuel for their winter fires, they will -jump into their canoe at vespers, and hie them home.</p> - -<p>On the banks of older channels the villages are thick; -slight groups of sheds and churches, with a cloister here and -there, and a scatter of windmills whirling against the sky; -each village and mill in its appointed place, without the freak -and medley of original thought. Here nothing is done by individual -force; a pope, an elder, an imperial officer, must have -his say in every case; and not a mouse can stir in a Russian -town, except by leave of some article in a printed code. -Fort Dvina was erected on a certain neck of land in the ancient -river-bed, and nature was expected to conform herself -forever to the order fixed by imperial rule.</p> - -<p>On all these banks you note a forest of memorial crosses. -When a sailor meets with bad weather, he goes on shore and -sets up a cross. At the foot of this symbol he kneels in prayer, -and when a fair wind rises, he leaves his offering on the lonely -coast. When the peril is sharp, the whole ship's crew will -land, cut down and carve tall trees, and set up a memorial -with names and dates. All round the margins of the Frozen -Sea these pious witnesses abound; and they are most of all -numerous on the rocks and banks of the Holy Isles. Each -cross erected is the record of a storm.</p> - -<p>Some of these memorial crosses are historic marks. One -tree, set up by Peter the Great when he escaped from the -wreck of his ship in the frozen deep, has been taken from the -spot where he planted it, and placed in the cathedral at Archangel. -"This cross was made by Captain Peter," says a tablet -cut in the log by the Emperor's own knife; and Peter -being a carver in wood and stone, the work is not without -touches of art and grace. Might not a word be urged in -favor of this custom of the sea, which leaves a picture and a -blessing on every shore? An English mariner is apt to quit -a coast on which he has been kept a prisoner by adverse -winds with a curse in his heart and a bad name on his tongue. -Jack is a very grand fellow in his way; but surely there is a -beauty, not less winning than the piety, in this habit of the -Russian tar.</p> - -<p>Climbing up the river, you come upon fleets of rafts and -praams, on which you may observe some part of the native -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">{23}</a></span> -life. The rafts are floats of timber—pine logs, lashed together -with twigs of willow, capped with a tent of planks, in -which the owner sleeps, while his woodmen lie about in the -open air when they are not paddling the raft and guiding it -down the stream. These rafts come down the Dvina and its -feeders for a thousand miles. Cut in the great forests of Vologda -and Nijni Konets, the pines are dragged to the waterside, -and knitted by rude hands into these broad, floating -masses. At the towns some sturdy helpers may be hired for -nothing; many of the poor peasants being anxious to get -down the river on their way to the shrines of Solovetsk. For -a passage on the raft these pilgrims take a turn at the oar, -and help the owners to guide her through the shoals.</p> - -<p>In the praams the life is a little less bleak and rough than -it is on board the rafts. In form the praam is like the toy -called a Noah's ark; a huge hull of coarse pine logs, riveted -and clamped with iron, covered by a peaked plank roof. A -big one will cost from six to seven hundred rubles (the ruble -may be reckoned for the moment as half a crown), and will -carry from six to eight hundred tons of oats and rye. A -small section of the praam is boarded off to be used as a -room. Some bits of pine are shaped into a stool, a table, and -a shelf. From the roof-beam swings an iron pot, in which -the boatmen cook their food while they are out in the open -stream; at other times—that is to say, when they are lying in -port—no fire is allowed on board, not even a pipe is lighted, -and the watermen's victuals must be cooked on shore. Four -or five logs lashed together serve them for a launch, by means -of which they can easily paddle to the bank.</p> - -<p>Like the rafts, these praams take on board a great many -pilgrims from the upper country; giving them a free passage -down, with a supply of tea and black bread as rations, in return -for their labor at the paddle and the oar. Not much labor -is required, for the praam floats down with the stream. -Arrived at Archangel, she empties her cargo of oats into the -foreign ships (most of them bound for the Forth, the Tyne, -and the Thames), and then she is moored to the bank, cut -up, and sold. Some of her logs may be used again for building -sheds, the rest is of little use, except for the kitchen and -the stove.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">{24}</a></span> -The new port of Archangel, called Solambola, is a scattered -handful of log houses, that would remind you of a Swiss hamlet -were it not for the cluster of green cupolas and spires, reminding -you still more strongly of a Bulgarian town. Each -belfry bears a crescent, crowned by a cross. Along the brink -of the river runs a strand, some six or eight feet above the -level plain; beyond this strand the fields fall off, so that the -country might be laid under water, while the actual strand -stood high and dry. The new port is a water-village; for in -the spring-time, when the ice is melting up stream, the flood -goes over all, and people have to pass from house to magazine -in boats.</p> - -<p>Not a grain of this strand in front of the sheds is Russ; -the whole line of road being built of ballast brought into -the Dvina by foreign ships, and chiefly from English ports. -This ridge of pebble, marl, and shells comes nearly all from -London, Liverpool, and Leith; the Russian trade with England -having this peculiarity, that it is wholly an export trade. -A Russian sends us every thing he has for sale; his oats, his -flax, his deals, his mats, his furs, his tar; he buys either nothing, -or next to nothing, in return. A little salt and wine, a -few saw-mills—chiefly for foreign account—are what come -back from England by way of barter with the North. The -payment is gold, the cargo ballast; and the balance of account -between the two countries is—a strand of English marl and -shells.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER IV.<br /> - -<span class="small">ARCHANGEL.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">On</span> passing up the Dvina from the Polar Sea, your first experience -shows that you are sailing from the West into the -East.</p> - -<p>When scraping the bar, you notice that the pilot refuses to -drop his lead. "Never mind," he says, "it is deep enough; -we shall take no harm; unless it be the will of God." A pilot -rarely throws out his line. The regulation height of water -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">{25}</a></span> -on the bar is so and so; and dropping a rope into the sea will -not, he urges, increase the depth.</p> - -<p>When climbing through the delta, you observe that every -peasant on the shore, both man and woman, wears a sheepskin -wrap—the garment of nomadic tribes; not worn as a -rule by any of the settled races on the earth.</p> - -<p>In catching a first glimpse of the city, you are struck by -the forest of domes and spires; the domes all color and the -spires all gold; a cluster of sacred buildings, you are apt to -fancy, out of all proportion to the number of people dwelling -in the town.</p> - -<p>On feeling for the river-side, a captain finds no quay, no -dock, no landing-pier, no stair. He brings-to as he can; and -drags his boat into position with a pole, as he would have to -do in the Turkish ports of Vidin and Rustchuk. No help is -given him from the shore. Except in some ports of Palestine, -you will nowhere find a wealthy trade conducted by -such simple means.</p> - -<p>When driving up that strand of English marl, towards the -city of which you see the golden lights, you hear that in -Archangel, as in Aleppo, there is no hotel; not even, as in -Aleppo, a public khan.</p> - -<p>Full of these signs, you turn to your maps, and notice that -Archangel lies a little to the east of Mecca and Trebizond.</p> - -<p>Yet these highways of the Dvina are not those of the genuine -East. Baksheesh is hardly known. Your pilot may -sidle up, and give your hand a squeeze (all Russians of the -lower ranks are fond of squeezing!) on your safe arrival in -the port; and if you fail to take his hint, as probably you -will, he whispers meekly in your ear, as though he were telling -you an important secret, that very few strangers come -into the Dvina, but those few never fail to reward with na-chai -(tea-money) the man who has brought them in from the -sea of storms. But from the port officials nothing can be -got by giving vails in the bad old way. Among the many -wise things which have been done in the present reign, is -that of reducing the number of men employed in the customs, -and of largely increasing the salaries paid to them by the -crown. No man is now underpaid for the service he has to -do, and no one in the Customs is allowed to accept a bribe. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">{26}</a></span> -Prince Obolenski, chief of this great department, is a man of -high courage as well as high principles, and under his eye the -service has been purged of those old abuses which caused it -to be branded with black and red in so many books. One -case came under my notice, in which a foreign skipper had -given to an officer in the port a dozen oranges; not as a -bribe, but as a treat; oranges being rarely seen in this northern -clime. Yet, when the fact was found out by his local -superior, the man was reduced from a high post in the service -to a low one. "If he will take an orange, he will take a -ruble," said his chief; and a year elapsed before the offender -was restored to his former grade.</p> - -<p>The new method is not so Asiatic as the old; but in time -it will lead the humblest officer in Russia to feel that he is a -man.</p> - -<p>Archangel is not a port and city in the sense in which -Hamburg and Hull are ports and cities; clusters of docks -and sheds, with shops, and wagons, and a busy private trade. -Archangel is a camp of shanties, heaped around groups of -belfries, cupolas and domes. Imagine a vast green marsh -along the bank of a broad brown river, with mounds of clay -cropping here and there out of the peat and bog; put buildings -on these mounds of clay; adorn the buildings with frescoes, -crown them with cupolas and crosses; fill in the space -between church and convent, convent and church, with piles -and planks, so as to make ground for gardens, streets, and -yards; cut two wide lanes, from the church called Smith's -Wife to the monastery of St. Michael, three or four miles in -length; connect these lanes and the stream by a dozen clearings; -paint the walls of church and convent white, the domes -green and blue; surround the log houses with open gardens; -stick a geranium, a fuschia, an oleander into every window; -leave the grass growing everywhere in street and clearing—and -you have Archangel.</p> - -<p>Half-way from Smith's Wife's quarter to the Monastery, -stand, in picturesque groups, the sites determined by the -mounds of clay, the public buildings; fire-tower, cathedral, -town-hall, court of justice, governor's house, museum; new -and rough, with a glow of bright new paint upon them all. -The collection in the museum is poor; the gilt on the cathedral -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">{27}</a></span> -rich. When seen from a distance, the domes and turrets -of Archangel give it the appearance of some sacred Eastern -city rather than a place of trade.</p> - -<p>This sea-port on the Dvina is the only port in Russia proper. -Astrachan is a Tartar port; Odessa an Italian port; -Riga a Livonian port; Helsingfors a Finnish port. None of -these outlets to the sea are in Russia proper, nor is the language -spoken in any of them Russ. Won by the sword, -they may be lost by the sword. As foreign conquests, they -must follow the fate of war; and in Russia proper their loss -might not be deeply felt; Great Russia being vast enough -for independence and rich enough for happiness, even if she -had to live without that belt of lesser Russias in which for -her pride and punishment she has lately been clasped and -strained. Archangel, on the other side, is her one highway -to the sea; the outlet of her northern waters; her old and -free communication with the world; an outlet given to her -by God, and not to be taken away from her by man.</p> - -<p>Such as they are, the port and city of Archangel owe -their birth to English adventure, their prosperity to English -trade.</p> - -<p>In the last year of King Edward the Sixth, an English ship, -in pressing her prow against the sand-banks of the Frozen -Sea, hoping to light on a passage to Cathay, met with a broad -sheet of water, flowing steadily and swiftly from the south. -That ship was the "Bonaventure;" her master was Richard -Challoner; who had parted from his chief, Sir Hugh Willoughby, -in a storm. The water coming down from the south -was fresh. A low green isle lay on his port, which he laid -down in his chart as Rose Island; afterwards to be famous -as the cradle of our northern trade. Pushing up the stream -in search of a town, he came upon a small cloister, from the -monks of which he learned that he was not in Cathay, but in -Great Russia.</p> - -<p>Great was a name given by old Russians, not only to the -capital of their country, but to the country itself. Their capital -was Great Novgorod; their country was Great Russia.</p> - -<p>Sir Hugh Willoughby was driven by storms into "the harbor -of death," in which he and his crews all perished in the -ice; while his luckier lieutenant pushed up the Dvina to Vologda, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">{28}</a></span> -whence he forced his way to Moscow, and saw the -Grand Duke, Ivan the Fourth. In that age Russia was known -to Europe as Moscovia, from the city of Moscow; a city -which had ravaged her old pre-eminence from Novgorod, and -made herself mistress of Great Russia.</p> - -<p>Challoner was wrecked and drowned on his second voyage; -but those who followed him built an English factory for trade -on Rose Island, near the cloister; while the Russians, on their -side, built a fort and town on the Dvina, some thirty miles -from its mouth; in which position they could watch the -strangers in their country, and exchange with them their wax -and skins for cotton shirts and pewter pans. The builder of -this fort and town was Ivan Vassilivitch, known to us as Ivan -the Terrible—Ivan the Fourth.</p> - -<p>Ivan called his town the New Castle of St. Michael the -Archangel; an unwieldy name, which his raftmen and sailors -soon cut down—as raftmen and sailors will—into the final -word. On English lips the name would have been St. Michael; -but a Russian shrinks from using the name of that -prince of heaven. To him Michael is not a saint, as Nicolas -and George are saints; but a power, a virtue, and a sanctity, -before whose lance the mightiest of rebel angels fell. No -Russian speaks of this celestial warrior as a saint. He is the -archangel; greatest of the host; selected champion of the -living God. Convents and churches are inscribed to him by -his celestial rank; but never by his personal name. The -great cathedral of Moscow is only known as the Archangel's -church. Michael is understood; for who but Michael could -be meant? Ivan Vassilivitch had such a liking for this fighting -power, that on his death-bed he gave orders for his body -to be laid, not in that splendid pile of St. Vassili, which he -had spent so much time and money in building near the Holy -Gate, but in a chapel of the Archangel's church; and there -the grim old tyrant lies, in a plain stone coffin, covered with -a velvet pall.</p> - -<p>Peter the Great rebuilt Archangel on a larger scale with -more enduring brick. Peter was fond of the Frozen Sea, and -twice, at least, he sailed over it to pray in the Convent of -Solovetsk; a place which he valued, not only as a holy shrine, -but as a frontier fortress, held by his brave old Russ against -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">{29}</a></span> -the Lapps and Swedes. Archangel was made by Peter his -peculiar care; and masons were fetched from Holland to erect -his lines of bastions, magazines, and quays. A castle rose -from the ground on the river bank; an island was reclaimed -from the river and trimmed with trees; a summer palace -was designed and built for the Tsar. A fleet of ships was -sent to command the Dvina mouth. In fact, Archangel was -one of the three sites—St. Petersburg and Taganrog being -the other two—on which the Emperor designed to build cities -that, unlike Novgorod and Moscow, should be at once fortresses -and ports.</p> - -<p>The city of Ivan and the city of Peter have each in turn -gone by. Not a stone of Ivan's town remains; for his new -castle and monastery, being built of logs, were duly rotted by -rain and consumed by fire. A fort and a monastery still protect -and adorn the place; but these have both been raised in -more recent years. Of Peter's city, though it seemed to be -solid as the earth itself, hardly a house is standing to show -the style. A heap of arches, riven by frost and blackened by -smoke, is seen on the Dvina bank; a pretty kiosk peeps out -from between the birches on Moses Isle; and these are all!</p> - -<p>In our western eyes Archangel may seem to be over-rich -in domes, as the delta may appear to be over-rich in crosses; -but then, in our western eyes, the city is a magazine of oats -and tar, of planks and skins; while in native eyes it is the -archangel's house, the port of Solovetsk, and the gate of God.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER V.<br /> - -<span class="small">RELIGIOUS LIFE.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">A friend</span> is one day driving me from house to house in -Archangel, making calls, when we observe from time to time -a smart officer going into courtyards.</p> - -<p>"This man appears to be dogging our steps."</p> - -<p>"Ha!" laughs my friend; "that fellow is an officer of police."</p> - -<p>"Why is he following us?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">{30}</a></span> -"He is not following us; he is going his rounds; he is -warning the owners of all good houses that four candles must -be lighted in each front window to-night at eight o'clock."</p> - -<p>"Four candles! For what?"</p> - -<p>"The Emperor. You know it is his angel's day; you will -see the streets all lighted—by police suggestion—at the proper -time."</p> - -<p>"Surely the police have no need to interfere. The Emperor -is popular; and who can forget that this is St. Alexander's -Day?"</p> - -<p>"There you are wrong; our people hardly know the court -at all. You see these shops are open, yon stalls are crowded, -that mill is working, as they would be on the commonest day -in all the year. A mujik cares but little for kings and -queens; he only knows his own angel—his peculiar saint. If -you would test his reverence, ask him to make a coat, repair -a tarantass, or fetch in wood, on his angel's day. He would -rather die at your feet than sully such a day with work. In -fact, a mujik is not a courtier—he is only a religious man."</p> - -<p>My friend is right in the main, though his illustration takes -me as a stranger by surprise.</p> - -<p>The first impulse in a Russian heart is duty to God. It is -an impulse of observance and respect; at once moral and ceremonial; -an impulse with an inner force and an outer form; -present in all ranks of society, and in all situations of life; in -an army on the march, in a crowd at a country fair, in a lecture-room -full of students; showing itself in a princess dancing -at a ball, in a huckster writing at his desk, in a peasant -tugging at his cart, in a burglar rioting on his spoil.</p> - -<p>This duty adorns the land with fane and altar, even as it -touches the individual man with penitential grace. Every -village must have its shrine, as every child must have his -guardian angel and baptismal cross. The towns are rich in -churches and convents, just as the citizens are rich in spiritual -gifts. I counted twenty spires in Kargopol, a city of two thousand -souls. Moscow is said to have four hundred and thirty -churches and chapels; Kief, in proportion to her people, is no -less rich. All public events are celebrated by the building -of a church. In Kief, St. Andrew's Church commemorates -the visit of an apostle; St. Mary's, the introduction of Christianity -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">{31}</a></span> -In Moscow, St. Vassili's commemorates the conquest -of Kazan; the Donskoi Convent, Fedor's victory over the -Crim Tartars; St. Saviour's, the expulsion of Napoleon. In -Petersburg, St. Alexander's commemorates the first victory -won by Russians over Swedes; St. Isaac's, the birth of Peter -the Great; Our Lady of Kazan's, the triumphs of Russian -arms against the Persian, Turk, and Frank. Where we -should build a bridge, the Russians raise a house of God: so -that their political and social history is brightly written in -their sacred piles.</p> - -<p>By night and day, from his cradle to his grave, a Russian -lives, as it were, with God; giving up to His service an -amount of time and money which no one ever dreams of giving -in the West. Like his Arabian brother, the Slavonian is -a religious being; and the gulf which separates such men -from the Saxon and the Gaul is broader than a reader who -has never seen an Eastern town will readily picture to his -mind.</p> - -<p>An Oriental is a man of prayer. He seems to live for -heaven and not for earth; and even in his commonest acts, -he pays respect to what he holds to be a celestial law. One -hand is clean, the other unclean. One cup is lawful, another -cup is unlawful. If he rises from his couch a prayer is on -his lips; if he sits down to rest a blessing is in his heart. -When he buys and when he sells, when he eats and when he -drinks, he remembers that the Holy One is nigh. If poor in -purse, he may be rich in grace; his cabin a sanctuary, his -craft a service, his daily life an act of prayer.</p> - -<p>Enter into a Russian shed—you find a chapel. Every -room in that shed is sanctified; for in every room there is a -sacred image, a domestic altar, and a household god. The -inmate steps into that room with reverence; standing for a -moment at the threshold, baring his head, crossing himself, -and uttering a saintly verse. Once in the house, he feels himself -in the Presence, and every act of his life is dedicated to -Him in whom we live and move. "Slava Bogu"—Glory to -God—is a phrase forever on his lips; not as a phrase only, -to be uttered in a light vein, as a formal act, but with an inward -bending and confession of the soul. He fasts very -much, and pays a respect beyond our measure to sacred -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">{32}</a></span> -places and to sacred things. He thinks day and night of his -angel; and payments are made by him at church for prayers -to be addressed in his name to that guardian spirit. He -finds a divine enjoyment in the sound of cloister-bells, a foretaste -of heaven in kneeling near the bones of saints. The -charm of his life is a profound conviction of his own unworthiness -in the sight of God, and no mere pride of rank ever -robs him of the hope that some one higher in virtue than -himself will prove his advocate at the throne of grace. He -feels a rapture, strange to a Frank, in the cadence of a psalm, -and the taste of consecrated bread is to him a fearful joy. -Such things are to him not only things of life and death, but -of the everlasting life and the ever-present death.</p> - -<p>The church is with a Russian early and late. A child is -hardly considered as born into the world, until he has been -blessed by the pope and made by him a "servant of God."</p> - -<p>As the child begins, so he goes on. The cross which he receives -in baptism—which he receives in his cradle, and carries -to his grave—is but a sign. Religion goes with him to -his school, his play-ground, and his workshop. Every act of -his life must begin with supplication and end with thanks. -A school has a set of prayers for daily use; with forms to be -used on commencing a term, on parting for holidays, on engaging -a new teacher, on opening a fresh course. It is the -same with boys who work in the mill and on the farm. Every -one has his office to recite and his fast to keep. The -fasting is severe; and more than half the days in a Russian -year are days of fasting and humiliation. During the seven -weeks before Easter, no flesh, no fish, no milk, no eggs, no -butter, can be touched. For five or six weeks before St. Peter's -Day, and for six weeks before Christmas Day, no flesh, -no milk, no eggs, no butter, can be used. For fifteen days in -August, a fast of great severity is held in honor of the Virgin's -death. A man must fast on every Wednesday and Friday -throughout the year, eating nothing save fish. Besides -keeping these public fasts, a man should fast the whole week -before making his confession and receiving his sacrament; -abstaining from every dainty, from sugar, cigarettes, and every -thing cooked with fire.</p> - -<p>On the eve of Epiphany—the day for blessing the water—no -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">{33}</a></span> -one is suffered to eat or drink until the blessing has been -given, about four o'clock, when the consecrated water may be -sipped and dinner must be eaten with a joyful heart. To -fetch away the water, people carry into church their pots and -pans, their jacks and urns; each peasant with a taper in his -hand, which he lights at the holy fire, and afterwards burns -before his angel until it dies.</p> - -<p>Every new house in which a man lives, every new shop -which he opens for trade, must be blessed. A man who -moves from one lodging to another must have his second -lodging purified by religious rites. Ten or twelve times a -year, the parish priest, attended by his reader and his deacon, -enters into every house in his district, sprinkles the rooms -with holy water, cleanses them with prayer, and signs them -with the cross.</p> - -<p>In his marriage, on his dying bed, the Church is with a -Russ even more than at his birth and baptism. Marriage, -held to be a sacrament, and poetically called a man's coronation, -is a long and intricate affair, consisting of many offices, -most of them perfect in symbolism as they are lovely in art. -Prayers are recited, rings exchanged, and blessings invoked; -after which the ceremony is performed; an actual circling of -the brows with a golden rim. "Ivan, servant of God," cries -the pope, as he puts the circlet on his brows, "is crowned -with Nadia, handmaid of God." The bride is crowned with -Ivan, servant of God.</p> - -<p>Some people wear their bridal crowns for a week, then put -them back into the sacristy, and obtain a blessing in exchange. -Religion touches the lowliest life with a passing ornament. -The bride is always a queen, the groom is always a -king, on their wedding-day.</p> - -<p>A man's angel is with him early and late; a spirit with -whom he dares not trifle; one whom he can never deceive. -He puts a picture of this angel in his bedroom, over the pillow -on which he sleeps. A light should burn before that picture -day and night. The angel has to be propitiated by -prayers, recited by a consecrated priest. His day must be -strictly kept, and no work done, except works of charity, -from dawn to dusk. A feast must be spread, the family and -kindred called under one roof, presents made to domestics, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">{34}</a></span> -and alms dispensed to the poor. On his angel's day a man -must not only go to church, but buy from the priests some -consecrated loaves, which he must give to servants, visitors, -and guests. On that day he should send for his parish -priest, who will bring his gospel and cross, and say a prayer -to the angel, for which he must be paid a fee according to -your means. A child receives his angel's name in baptism, -and this angelic name he can never change. A peasant who -was tried in the district court of Moscow on a charge of having -forged a passport and changed his name, in order to pass -for another man, replied that such a thing could not be done. -"How," he asked in wonder, "could I change my name? I -should lose my angel. I only forged my place of birth."</p> - -<p>So closely have religious passions passed into social life, -that civil rights are made to depend in no slight degree on -the performance of religious duties. Every man is supposed -to attend a weekly mass, and to confess his sins, and take a -sacrament once a year. A man who neglects these offices -forfeits his civil rights; unless, as sometimes happens in the -best of cities, he can persuade his pope to give him a certificate -of his exemplary attendance in the parish church!</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER VI.<br /> - -<span class="small">PILGRIMS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Next</span> to his religious energy, the mastering passion of a -Russ is the untamable craving of his heart for a wandering -life.</p> - -<p>All Slavonic tribes are more or less fond of roving to and -fro; of peddling, and tramping, and seeing the world; of living, -as it were, in tents, as the patriarchs lived; but the propensity -to ramble from place to place is keener in the Russ -than it is in the Bohemian and the Serb.</p> - -<p>A while ago the whole of these Slavonic tribes were still -nomadic; a people of herdsmen, driving their flocks from -plain to plain, in search of grass and water; camping either -in tents of skin, or in frames of wood not much more solid -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">{35}</a></span> -than tents of skin; carrying with them their wives and children, -their weapons of war, and their household gods. They -chased the wild game of their country, and when the wild -game failed them, they ate their flocks. Some few among -them tilled the soil, but only in a crude and fitful way—as an -Adonan tends his patch of desert, as a Pawnee trifles with -his stretch of plain; for the Slavonic husbandman was nearly -as wild a wanderer as the driver of kine and goats. His -fields were so vast, his kin so scattered, that the soil which he -cropped was of no more value to him than the water he crossed, -the air he breathed. He never dreamt of occupying his -piece of ground after it had ceased to yield him, in the unbought -bounty of nature, his easy harvest of oats and rye.</p> - -<p>Some trace of these wandering habits may still be found, -especially in the pilgrim bands.</p> - -<p>These pilgrim bands are not a rabble of children and women, -gay and empty folk, like those you meet when the vintage -is gathered in Sicily and the south of France; mummers who -take to the pilgrim's staff in wantonness of heart, and end a -week of devotion by a feast in the auberge and a dance under -the plaintain leaves. At best that French or Sicilian rabble -is but a spent tradition and a decaying force. But these -Northern pilgrims are grave and sad in their doings, even as -the North is grave and sad. You never hear them laugh; -you rarely see them smile; their movements are sedate; the -only radiance on their life is the light of prayer and praise. -Seeing these worshippers in many places and at many times—before -the tomb of Sergie near Moscow, and before the -manger at Bethlehem, I have everywhere found them the -same, in reverence, in humility, in steadfastness of soul. One -of these lowly Russ surprised me on the Jordan at Bethabara; -and only yesterday I helped his brother to cross the -Dvina on his march from Solovetsk. The first pilgrim had -visited the tombs of Palestine, from Nazareth to Marsaba; -the second, after toiling through a thousand miles of road -and river to Solovetsk, is now on his way to the shrines at -Kief. As my horses rattled down the Dvina bluffs I saw -this humble pilgrim on his knees, his little pack laid by, and -his forehead bent upon the ground in prayer. He was waiting -at the ford for some one to come by—some one who -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">{36}</a></span> -could pay the boatman, and would give him a passage on the -raft. The day had not yet dawned; the wind came up the -river in gusts and chills; yet the face of that lowly man was -good to see; a soft and tender countenance, shining with an -inward light, and glad with unearthly peace. The world was -not much with him, if one might judge from his sackcloth -garb, his broken jar, his crust of black bread; but one could -not help thinking, as he bowed in thanks, that it might be -well for some of us who wear fine linen and dine off dainty -food to be even as that poor pilgrim was.</p> - -<p>This pilgrimage to the tombs and shrines of Russian saints, -so far from being a holiday adventure, made when the year is -spent and the season of labor past, is to the pilgrim a thing -of life and death. He has degrees. A pilgrim perfect in his -calling will go from shrine to shrine for several years. If -God is good to him, he will strive, after making the round of -his native shrines, to reach the valley of Nazareth, and the -heights of Bethlehem and Zion. Some hundreds of these -Russian pilgrims annually achieve this highest effort of the -Christian life on earth; making their peace with heaven by -kissing the stones in front of the Redeemer's tomb. Of -course the poorer and weaker man can never expect to reach -this point of grace; but his native soil is holy. Russia is a -land of saints; and his map is dotted with sacred tombs, to -which it is better for him to toil than rest at home in his -sloth and sin.</p> - -<p>These pilgrims go on foot, in bands of fifty or sixty persons, -men, women, children, each with a staff in his hand, a -water-bottle hanging from his belt; edifying the country as -they march along, kneeling at the wayside chapel, and singing -their canticles by day and night. The children whine a plaintive -little song, of which the burden runs:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse quote">"Fatherkins and motherkins,</div> - <div class="verse">Give us bread to eat;"</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="nodent">and this appeal of the children is always heard, since all poor -people fancy that the knock of a pilgrim at their window may -be that of an angel, and will bring them luck.</p> - -<p>A part—a very large part—of these rovers are simple -tramps, who make a trade of piety; carrying about with them -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">{37}</a></span> -relics and rags which they vend at high rates to servant-girls -and superstitious crones.</p> - -<p>A man who in other days would have followed his sheep -and kine, now seeks a wild sort of freedom as a pilgrim, hugging -himself on his immunity from tax and rent, from wife and -brat; migrating from province to province; a beggar, an impostor, -and a tramp; tickled by the greeting of young and old -as he passes their door, "Whither, oh friend, is the Lord leading -thee?" Sooner or later such a man falls in with a band -of pilgrims, which he finds it his good to join. The Russian -Autolycus slings a water-bottle at his belt, and his female -companion limps along the forest road on her wooden staff. -You meet them on every track; you find them in the yard of -every house. They creep in at back-doors, and have an assortment -of articles for sale, which are often as precious in the -eyes of a mistress as in those of her maid; a bit of rock from -Nazareth, a drop of water from Jordan, a thread from the -seamless coat, a chip of the genuine cross. These are the -bolder spirits: but thousands of such vagrants roam about -the country, telling crowds of gapers what they have seen in -some holy place, where miracles are daily performed by the -bones of saints. They show you a cross from Troitsa; they -give you a morsel of consecrated bread from St. George. -They can describe to you the defense of Solovetsk, and tell -you of the incorruptible corpses of Pechersk.</p> - -<p>These are the impostors—rank and racy impostors—yet -some of these men and women who pass you on the roads are -pious and devoted souls, wandering about the earth in search -of what they fancy is a higher good. A few may be rich; -but riches are dust in the eyes of God; and in seeking after -His glory they dare not trust to an arm of flesh. Equally -with his meekest brother, the rich pilgrim must take his staff, -and march on foot, joining his brethren in their devotions and -confessions, in their matins and their evening song.</p> - -<p>Most of these pilgrim bands have to beg their crust of black -bread, their sup of sour quass, from people as poor as themselves -in money and almost as rich in the gifts of faith. Like -the hadji going to Mecca, a pilgrim coming to Archangel, on -his way to the shrines, is a holy man, with something of the -character of a pope. The peasant, who thinks the crossing of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">{38}</a></span> -his door-step by the stranger brings him blessings, not only -lodges him by night, but helps him on the road by day. A -pilgrim is a sacred being in rustic eyes. If his elder would -let him go, he would join the band; but if he may not wend -in person, he will go in spirit, to the shrine. A prayer shall -be said in his name by the monks, and he will send his last -kopeck in payment for that prayer by the hand of this ragged -pilgrim, confident that the fellow would rather die than abuse -his trust.</p> - -<p>The men who escape from Siberian mines put on the pilgrim -frock and seize the pilgrim staff. Thus robed and armed, a -man may get from Perm to Archangel with little risk, even -though his flesh may be burnt and his papers forged. Pietrowski -has told the story of his flight, and many such tales -may be heard on the Dvina praams.</p> - -<p>A peasant living in a village near Archangel killed his father -in a quarrel, but in such a way that he was not suspected -of the crime; and he would never have been brought to justice -had not Vanka, a friend and neighbor, been a witness of -the deed. Now Vanka was weak and superstitious, and every -day as he passed the image of his angel in the street, he -felt an inner yearning to tell what he had seen. The murderer, -watching him day and night, observed that he prayed very -much, and crossed himself very often, as though he were deeply -troubled in his mind. On asking what ailed him, he heard -to his alarm that Vanka could neither eat nor sleep while -that terrible secret lay upon his soul. But what could he do? -Nothing; absolutely nothing? Yes; he could threaten to do -for him what he had done by accident for a better man. -"Listen to me, Vanka," he said, in a resolute tone; "you are -a fool; but you would not like to have a knife in your throat, -would you?" "God take care of me!" cried Vanka. "Mind -me, then," said the murderer: "if you prate, I will have your -blood." Vanka was so much frightened that he went to the -police that very night and told them all he knew; on which -his friend was arrested, brought to trial in Archangel, and -condemned to labor on the public works for life. Vanka was -the main witness, and on his evidence the judge pronounced -his sentence. Then a scene arose in court which those who -saw it say they shall not forget. The man in the dock was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">{39}</a></span> -bold and calm, while Vanka, his accuser, trembled from crown -to sole; and when the sentence of perpetual exile to the mines -was read, the murderer turned to his friend and said, in a clear, -firm voice, "Vanka! remember my words. To-day is yours: -I am going to Siberia; but I shall come to your house again, -and then I shall take your life. You know!" Years went -by, and the threat, forgotten by every one else, was only remembered -by Vanka, who, knowing his old friend too well, -expected each passing night would be his last on earth. At -length the tragedy came in a ghastly form. Vanka was found -dead in his bed; his throat was cut from ear to ear; and in a -drinking-den close by lay his murderer, snoring in his cups. -He had made his escape from the mines; he had traversed the -whole length of Asiatic Russia; he had climbed the Ural -chain, and walked through the snow and ice of Perm, travelling -in a pilgrim's garb, and singing the pilgrim's song, until -he came to the suburbs of Archangel, where he slipped away -from his raft, hid himself in the wood until nightfall, crept to -the familiar shed and drew his knife across Vanka's throat.</p> - -<p>No one suspects a pilgrim. With a staff in his hand, a -sheepskin on his back, a water-bottle at his belt, and a clot -of bass tied loosely round his feet, a peasant of the Ural -Mountains quits his home, and makes no merit of trudging his -two or three thousand miles. On the river he takes an oar, -on the wayside he endures with incredible fortitude the burning -sun by day, the biting frost at night. In Moscow I heard -the history of three sisters, born in that city, who have taken -up the pilgrim's staff for life. They are clever women, milliners -by trade, and much employed by ladies of high rank. If -they could only rest in their shop, they might live in comfort, -and end their days in peace. But the religious and nomadic -passions of their race are strong upon them. Every year they -go to Kief, Solovetsk, and Jerusalem; and the journey occupies -them forty-nine weeks. Every year they spend three -weeks at home, and then set out again—alone, on foot—to -seek, in winter snow and summer heat, salvation for their -souls. No force on earth, save that which drives an Arab -across the desert, and a Mormon across the prairie, is like this -force.</p> - -<p>In the hope of seeing these pilgrim bands, of going with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">{40}</a></span> -them to Solovetsk, and studying them on the spot, as also of -inquiring about the convent spectre, and solving the mystery -which for many years past connected that spectre with the -Romanof family, I rounded the North Cape, and my regret is -deep, when landing at Archangel, to hear that the last pilgrim -band has sailed, and that no more boats will cross the Frozen -Sea until the ice breaks up in May next year.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER VII.<br /> - -<span class="small">FATHER JOHN.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Stung</span> by this news of the pilgrim-boat having sailed, and -haunting, unquietly, the Pilgrim's Court in the upper town, I -notice a good many sheepskin garbs, with wearers of the burnt -and hungry sort you meet in all seasons on the Syrian roads. -They are exceedingly devout, and even in their rags and filth -they have a certain grace of aspect and of mien. A pious -purpose seems to inform their gestures and their speech. -Yon poor old man going home with his morsel of dried fish -has the air of an Arab sheikh. These pilgrims, like myself, -have been detained by storms; and a hope shoots up into my -heart that as the monks must either send away all these thirsty -souls unslaked, or lodge and feed them for several months, -they may yet contrive to send a boat.</p> - -<p>A very small monk, not five feet high, with girl-like hair and -rippling beard, which parts and flows out wildly in the wind, -is standing in the gateway of the Pilgrim's Court; and hardly -knowing how it might be best to put the matter in my feeble -Russ, I ask him in that tongue where a man should look -for the Solovetsk boat.</p> - -<p>"English?" inquires the girl-like monk.</p> - -<p>"Yes, English," I reply, in some surprise; having never -before seen a monk in Russia who could speak in any other -tongue than Russ. "The boat," he adds, "has ceased to run, -and is now at Solovetsk laid up in dock."</p> - -<p>In dock! This dwarf must be a wag; for such a conjunction -as monks and docks in a country where you find a quay -like that of Solambola is, of course, a joke. "In dock!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">{41}</a></span> -"Oh yes, in dock."</p> - -<p>"Then have you a dock in the Holy Isle?"</p> - -<p>"A dock—why not? The merchants of Archangel have -no docks, you say? Well, that is true; but merchants are -not monks. You see, the monks of Solovetsk labor while the -merchants of Archangel trade. Slava Bogu! A good monk -does his work; no shuffling, and no waste. In London you -have docks?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, many: but they were not built by monks."</p> - -<p>"In England you have no monks; once you had them; and -then they built things—eh?"</p> - -<p>This dwarf is certainly a wag. What, monks who work, and -docks in the Frozen Sea! After telling me where he learned -his English (which is of nautical and naughty pattern), the -manikin comforts me with news that although the pilgrim-boat -has gone back to Solovetsk (where her engines are to be -taken out, and put by in warm boxes near a stove for the winter -months), a provision-boat may sail for the monastery in -about a week.</p> - -<p>"Can you tell me where to find the captain of that boat?"</p> - -<p>"Hum!" says the dwarf, slowly, crossing himself the while, -and lipping his silent prayer, "<i>I</i> am the skipper!"</p> - -<p>My surprise is great. This dwarf, in a monk's gown and -cap, with a woman's auburn curls, the captain of a sea-going -ship! On a second glance at his slight figure, I notice that his -eyes are bright, that his cheek is bronze, that his teeth, though -small, are bony and well set. In spite of his serge gown and -his girl-like face, there <i>is</i> about the tiny monk that look of -mastery which becomes the captain of a ship.</p> - -<p>"And can you give me a passage in your boat?"</p> - -<p>"You! English, and you wish to see the holy tombs? -Well, that is something new. No men of your nation ever -sail to Solovetsk. They come over here to buy, and not to -pray. Sometimes they come to fight."</p> - -<p>The last five words, spoken in a low key, come out from -between his teeth with a snap which is highly comic in a man -so lowly and so small. A lady living at Onega told me some -days ago that once, when she was staying for a week at Solovetsk -with a Russian party, she was compelled to hide her -English birth, from fear lest the monks should kill her. A -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">{42}</a></span> -woman's fancy, doubtless; but her words came back upon -my mind with a very odd sort of start as the manikin knits -his brow and hisses at the English fleet.</p> - -<p>"Where is your boat, and what is she called?"</p> - -<p>"She lies in the lower port, by the Pilgrim's Wharf; her -name is the 'Vera;' as you would say, the 'Faith.'"</p> - -<p>"How do you call your captain?" I inquire of a second -monk, who is evidently a sailor also; in fact, he is the first -mate, serving on board the "Faith."</p> - -<p>"Ivan," says the monk; a huge fellow, with hasty eyes and -audacious front; "but we mostly call him Vanoushka, because -he is little, and because we like him." Vanoushka is -one of the affectionate forms of Ivan: Little Ivan, Little John. -The skipper, then, is properly Father John.</p> - -<p>As for the next ten days and nights we are to keep company, -it may be best for me to say at once what I came to -know of the queer little skipper in the long gown and with -the woman's curls.</p> - -<p>Father John is an infant of the soil. Born in a Lapland -village, he had before him from his cradle the hard and hopeless -life of a woodman and cod-fisher—the two trades carried -on by all poor people in these countries, where the modes of -life are fixed by the climate and the soil. In the summer he -would cut logs and grass; in the winter he would hunt the -sea in search of seal and cod. But the lad was smart and -lively. He wished to see the world, and hoped in some future -time to sail a boat of his own. In order to rise, he must -learn; in order to become a skipper, he must study the art of -guiding ships at sea. Some thirty miles from the hamlet -where he lived stood Kem, an ancient town established on the -Lapland coast by colonists from Novgorod the Great, in which -town there was a school of navigation; rude and simple as -became so poor a place, but better than none at all; and to -this provincial school Father John contrived to go. That -movement was his first great step in life.</p> - -<p>From Kem you can see a group of high and wooded islands -towards the rising sun, the shores of which shine with a peculiar -light in the early dawn. They seem to call you, as it -were, by a spell, into some paradise of the north. Every view -is green, and every height is crowned by a church with a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">{43}</a></span> -golden cross. These islands are the Solovetsk group; and -once, at least, the lad went over from Kem in a boat to pray -in that holy place. The lights, the music, and the ample -cheer appealed to his fancy and his stomach; leaving on his -mind an impression of peace and fullness never to be effaced.</p> - -<p>He got his pass as a seaman, came over to Archangel, fell -into loose ways, and meeting with some German sailors from -the Baltic, listened to their lusty songs and merry tales, until -he felt a desire to leave his own country and go with them on -a voyage. Now sailors are scarce in the Russian ports; the -Emperor Nicolas was in those days drafting his seamen into -the Black Sea fleets; and for a man to quit Russia without a -pass from the police was a great offense. Such a pass the -lad felt sure he could never get; and when the German vessel -was about to sail he crept on board her in the night, and -got away to sea without being found out by the port police.</p> - -<p>The vessel in which he escaped from his country was the -"Hero," of Passenburg, in Hanover, plying as a rule between -German and Danish ports, but sometimes running over to the -Tyne and the Thames. Entered on the ship's books in a foreign -name, Father John adopted the tastes of his new comrades; -learned to eat English beef, to drink German beer, -and to carry himself like a man of the world. But the teaching -of his father and his pope was not lost upon him, even in -the slums of Wapping and on the quays of Rotterdam. He -began to pine for religion, as a Switzer pines for his Alp and -an Egyptian for his Nile. What could he do? The thought -of going home to Kem was a fearful dream. The lash, the -jail, the mine awaited him—he thought—in his native land.</p> - -<p>Cut off from access to a priest of his own religion, he talked -to his fellows before the mast about their faith. Some -laughed at him; some cursed him; but one old sailor took -him to the house of a Catholic priest. For four or five weeks -Father John received a lesson every day in the creed of -Rome; but his mind misgave him as to what he heard; and -when his vessel left the port he was still without a church. -In the Levant, he met with creeds of all nations—Greek, Italian, -Lutheran, Armenian—but he could not choose between -them, and his mind was troubled with continual longings for -a better life.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">{44}</a></span> -Then he was wrecked in the Gulf of Venice, and having -nearly lost his life, he grew more and more uneasy about his -soul. A few months later he was wrecked on the coast of -Norway; and for the second time in one year he found himself -at the gates of death. He could not live without religion; -and the only religion to whisper peace to his soul was -that of his early and better days. But then the service of his -country is one of strict observance, and a man who can not -go to church can not exercise his faith. How was he to seek -for God in a foreign port?</p> - -<p>A chance of coming back to Russia threw itself in his path. -The ship in which he served—a German ship—was chartered -by an English firm for Archangel; and as Father John was -the only Russ on board, the skipper saw that his man would -be useful in such a voyage. But the news was to John a fearful -joy. He longed to see his country once more, to kneel at -his native shrines, to give his mother some money he had -saved; but he had now been twelve years absent without -leave, and he knew that for such an offense he could be sent -to Siberia, as he phrased it, "like a slave." His fear overcame -his love, and he answered the skipper that he would not -go, and must quit the ship.</p> - -<p>But the skipper understood his trade. Owing John some -sixteen pounds for pay, he told him that he had no money -where he lay, and could not settle accounts until they arrived -in Archangel, where he would receive his freight. "Money," -says the Russ proverb, "likes to be counted," and when Father -John thrust his hands into empty pockets, he began to think, -after all, it might be better to go home, to get his wages, and -see what would be done.</p> - -<p>With a shaven chin and foreign name, he might have kept -his secret and got away from Archangel undiscovered by the -port police, had he not yielded the night before he should -have sailed, and gone with some Germans of the crew to a -drinking-den. Twelve years of abstinence from vodka had -caused him to forget the power of that evil spirit; he drank -too much, he lost his senses; and when he woke next day he -found that his mates had left him, that his ship had sailed. -What could he do? If he spoke to the German consul, he -would be treated as a deserter from his post. If he went to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">{45}</a></span> -the Russian police, he fancied they would knout him to death. -Not knowing what to say or how to act, he was mooning in -the port, when he met an old schoolfellow from Kem, one -Jacob Kollownoff (whom I afterwards came to know). Like -most of the hardy men of Kem, Jacob was prospering in the -world; he was a skipper, with a boat of his own, in which he -made distant and daring voyages. At the moment when he -met Father John he was preparing for a run to Spitzbergen -in search of cod, to be salted at sea, and carried to the markets -of Cronstadt. Jacob saw no harm in a sailor drinking a -glass too much, and knowing that John was a good hand, he -gave him a place in his boat and took him out on his voyage. -The cod was caught, and Cronstadt reached; but the return -was luckless; and John was cast away for a third time in his -life. A wrecked and broken man, he now made up his mind -to quit the sea, and even to take his chance of what his people -might do with him at home.</p> - -<p>Returning to Kem with the skipper, he was seized by the -police on the ground of his papers being out of order, and cast -into the common jail of the town, where he lay for twelve -months untried. The life in jail was not harder than his life -on deck; for the Government paid him, as a prisoner, six -kopecks a day; enough to supply his wants. He was never -brought before a court. Once, if not more than once, the -elder hinted that a little money would make things straight, -and he might go his way. The sum suggested as enough -for the purpose was seventy-five rubles—nearly ten pounds -in English coin. "Tell him," said John to his brother, who -brought this message to the jail, "he shall not get from me -so much as one kopeck."</p> - -<p>A week later he was sent in a boat from Kem to Archangel, -under sentence, he was told, of two years' hard labor in the -fort; but either the elder talked too big, or his message was -misread; for on going up to the police-office in that city, the -prisoner was examined and discharged.</p> - -<p>A dream of the summer isles and golden pinnacles came -back to him; he had lived his worldly life, and longed for -rest. Who can wonder that he wished to become a monk of -Solovetsk!</p> - -<p>To the convent his skill in seamanship was of instant use. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">{46}</a></span> -A steamer had just been bought in Glasgow for the carriage -of pilgrims to and fro; and on her arrival in Archangel, Feofan, -Archimandrite of Solovetsk, discharged her Scottish crew and -manned her with his monks. At first these holy men felt -strange on deck; they crossed themselves; they sang a hymn; -and as the pistons would not move, they begged the Scottish engineer -to return; since the machine—being made by heretics—had -not grace enough to obey the voice of a holy man. They -made two or three midsummer trips across the gulf, getting -hints from the native skippers, and gradually warming to their -work. A priest was appointed captain, and monks were sent -into the kitchen and the engine-room. All went well for a -time; Savatie and Zosima—the local saints of Solovetsk—taking -care of their followers in the fashion of St. Nicolas and -St. George.</p> - -<p>Yet Father John was a real God's gift to the convent, for -the voyage is not often to be described as a summer trip; and -even so good a person as an Archimandrite likes to know, -when he goes down into the Frozen Sea, that his saints are -acting through a man who has sailed in the roughest waters -of the world.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> - -<span class="small">THE VLADIKA.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">"You</span> have a letter of introduction to the Archimandrite of -Solovetsk?" asks Father John, as we are shaking hands under -the pilgrim's lamp. "No! Then you must get one."</p> - -<p>"Why? Are you so formal when a pilgrim comes to the -holy shrine?"</p> - -<p>"You are not quite a pilgrim. You will need a room in -the guest-house for yourself. You may wish to have horses, -boats, and people to go about. You will want to see the -sacristy, the jewels, and the books. You may like to eat at -the Archimandrite's board."</p> - -<p>"But how are these things to be done?"</p> - -<p>"You know the Most Sacred Vladika of Archangel, perhaps?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">{47}</a></span> -"Well, yes, a little. One of the Vladika's closest friends -has been talking to me of that sacred personage, and has promised -to present me this very day."</p> - -<p>"Get from him a line to the Archimandrite. That will -make all things smooth," says Father John.</p> - -<p>"Are they great friends?"</p> - -<p>"Ha! who can tell? You see, the Most Sacred Vladika -used to be master of every one in the Holy Isles; and -now ... but then the Vladika of Archangel and the Archimandrite -of Solovetsk are holy men, not likely to fall out. -You'll get a line?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, if he will give me one; good-bye."</p> - -<p>"Count on a week for the voyage, and bring white bread," -adds the dwarf. "Prosteté—Pardon me."</p> - -<p>Of course, the Vladika (bishop or archbishop) is a monk; -for every high-priest in the Orthodox Church, whether his -rank be that of vicar, archimandrite, bishop, or metropolite, -must wear the hood, and must have taken vows. The rule -that a bishop must be "the husband of one wife," is set aside -so far as regards the clergy of higher grades. A parish priest -is a married man; must, in fact, be a married man; and no -young deacon can obtain a church until he has first obtained -a bride. The social offices of the Church are done by these -family men; baptism, purifying, marriage, confession, burial; -yet the higher seats in the hierarchy are all reserved (as yet) -for celibates who are under vows.</p> - -<p>The Holy Governing Synod—highest court of the Orthodox -Church—consists of monks, with one lay member to assist -them by his knowledge of the world. No married priest -has ever had a seat on that governing board. The metropolites -are monks; and not only monks, but actual rulers of -monastic houses, Isidore, metropolite of Novgorod, is archimandrite -of the great Convent of St. George. Arseny, metropolite -of Kief, is archimandrite of the great Convent of -Pechersk. Innocent, metropolite of Moscow, is archimandrite -of the great Convent of Troitsa. All the vicars of these -high-priests are monks. The case of Archangel and Solovetsk -is, therefore, the exception to a general rule. St. -George, Pechersk, and Troitsa, are governed by the nearest -prince of the Church; and in former times this was also the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">{48}</a></span> -case with Solovetsk; but Peter the Great, in one of his fits -of reverence, broke this old connection of the convent and the -see of Archangel; endowing the Archimandrite of Solovetsk -with a separate standing and an independent power. Some -people think the Archbishop of Archangel nurses a grudge -against the civil power for this infringement of his ancient -rights; and this idea was probably present in the mind of -Father John.</p> - -<p>Acting on Father John's advice, I put on my clothes of -state—a plain dress suit; the only attire in which you can -wait on a man of rank—and drive to my friend's abode, and -finding him ready to go with me, gallop through a gust of -freezing rain to the palace-door.</p> - -<p>The archbishop is at home, though it is not yet twelve -o'clock. It is said of him that he seldom goes abroad; affecting -the airs of an exile and a martyr; but doing—in a -sad, submissive way, as if the weapon were unworthy of its -work—a great deal of good; watching over his church, admonishing -his clergy, both white and black, and thinking, like -a father, for the poor.</p> - -<p>Leaving our wraps in an outer hall (the proper etiquette of -guests), we send in our cards by an usher, and are received at -once.</p> - -<p>The Most Sacred Vladika, pale as a ghost, dressed in a -black gown, on which hangs a sapphire cross, and wearing his -hood of serge, rises to greet us; and coming forward with a -sweet and vanishing smile, first blesses his penitent, and then -shakes hands with his English guest.</p> - -<p>This Most Sacred Father Nathaniel is now an aged, shadowy -man, with long white beard, and a failing light in his -meek blue eyes. But in his prime he is said to have been -handsome in person, eager in gait, caressing in style. In his -youth he was a village pastor—one of the White Clergy—married, -and a family man; but his wife died early; and as -a pastor in his church can not marry a second time, he followed -a fashion long ago set by his aspiring brethren—he -took the vows of chastity, became a monk, and began to rise. -His fine face, his courtly wit, his graceful bearing, brought -him hosts of fair penitents, and these fair penitents made for -him high friends at court. He was appointed Vicar of St. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">{49}</a></span> -Petersburg—a post not higher in actual rank than that of a -Dean of St. Paul's, but one which a popular and ambitious -man prefers to most of the Russian sees. Father Nathaniel -was an idol of the city. Fine ladies sought his advice, and -women of all classes came to confess to him their sins. -Princes fell beneath his sway; princesses adored him; and -no rank in the Church, however high, appeared to stand beyond -his reach. But these court triumphs were his ruin. -He was such a favorite with ladies that his brethren began -to smile with malicious leer when his back was turned, and -drop their poisonous hints about the ways in which he walked. -They said he was too fond of power; they said he -spent more time with his female penitents than became a -monk. It is the misery of these vicars and bishops that they -can not be married men, with wives of their own to turn the -edges of such shafts. Men's tongues kept wagging against -Nathaniel's fame; and even those who knew him to be earnest -in his faith began to think it might be well for the Church -if this fascinating father could be honorably sent to some distant -see.</p> - -<p>Whither was he to go?</p> - -<p>While a place was being sought for him, he happened to -give deep offense in high quarters; and as Father Alexander, -Vladika of Archangel (hero of Solovetsk), was eager to go -south and be near the court, Father Nathaniel was promoted -to that hero's place.</p> - -<p>He left St. Petersburg amidst the tears of fair women, who -could not protect their idol against the malice of envious -monks. Taking his promotion meekly as became his robe, he -sighed to think that his day was come, and in the future he -would count in his church as a fallen man. Arriving in -Archangel, he shut himself up in his palace near the monastery -of St. Michael; a house which he found too big for his -simple wants. Soon after his coming he abandoned this palace -for a smaller house; giving up his more princely pile to -the monks of St. Michael for a public school.</p> - -<p>A spirit of sacrifice is the pre-eminent virtue of the Russian -Church.</p> - -<p>The shadowy old man compels me to sit on the sofa by his -side; talks of my voyage round the North Cape; shows me -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">{50}</a></span> -a copy in Russian of my book on the Holy Land; inquires -whether I know the Pastor Xatli in London. Fancying that -he means the Russian pope in Welbeck Street, I answer yes; -on which we get into much confusion of tongues; until it -flashes upon me that he is talking of Mr. Hatherley of Wolverhampton, -the gentleman who has gone over from the English -to the Russian rite, and is said to have carried some -twenty souls of the Black Country with him. What little -there is to tell of this Oriental Church in our Black Country -is told; and in return for my scanty supply of facts, the Vladika -is good enough to show me the pictures hanging on his -wall. These pictures are of two classes, holy and loyal; first -the sacred images—those heads of our Saviour and of the -Virgin Mother which hang in the corners of every Russian -room, the tutelary presence, to be adored with reverence at -the dawn of day and the hour of rest; then the loyal and local -pictures—portraits of the reigning house, and of former -archbishops—which you would expect to find in such a -house; a first Alexander, with flat and dreamy face; a Nicolas, -with stiff and haughty figure; a second Alexander, hung -in the place of honor, and wearing a pensive and benignant -smile. More to my mind, as less familiar than these great -ones of the hour, is the fading image of a lady, thoroughly -Russ in garb and aspect—Marfa, boyarine of Novgorod and -colonizer of the North.</p> - -<p>Nathaniel marks with kindling eyes my interest in this -grand old creature—builder alike of convents and of towns—who -sent out from Novgorod two of her sons, and hundreds -of her people, to the bleak north country, then inhabited by -pagan Lapps and Karels, worshippers of the thunder-cloud, -and children of the Golden Hag. Her story is the epic of -these northern shores.</p> - -<p>While Red and White Rose were wasting our English -counties with sword and fire, this energetic princess sent her -sons and her people down the Volkhoff, into Lake Ladoga, -whence they crept up the Swir into Lake Onega; from the -banks of which lake they marched upward, through the forests -of birch and pine, into the frozen north. She sent them -to explore the woods, to lay down rivers and lakes, to tell the -natives of a living God. They came to Holmogory, on the -Dvina, then a poor fishing-village occupied by Karels, a tribe -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">{51}</a></span> -not higher in type than the Samoyeds of the present day. -They founded Suma, Soroka, and Kem. They took possession -of the Frozen Sea and its clustering isles. In dropping down -a main arm of the river, Marfa's two sons were pitched from -their boat and drowned. Their bodies being washed on -shore and buried in the sand, she caused a cloister to be raised -on the spot, which she called the Monastery of St. Nicolas, -after the patron of drowning men.</p> - -<p>That cloister of St. Nicolas was the point first made by -Challoner when he entered the Dvina from the Frozen Sea.</p> - -<p>"You are going over to Solovetsk?" says the Vladika, -coming back to his sofa. "We have no authority in the -isles, although they lie within our See. It pleased the Emperor -Peter, on his return from a stormy voyage, to raise the -Convent of Savatie to independent rank, to give it the title -of Lavra—making it the equal, in our ecclesiastical system, -with Troitsa, Pechersk, and St. George. From that day Solovetsk -became a separate province of the Church, dependent on -the Holy Governing Synod and the Tsar. Still I can give you -a line to Feofan, the Archimandrite."</p> - -<p>Slipping into an inner room for five minutes, he composes a -mandate in my favor, in the highest Oriental style.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER IX.<br /> - -<span class="small">A PILGRIM-BOAT.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">A lady,</span> who knows the country, puts up in a crate such -things as a pilgrim may chance to need in a monastic cell—good -tea, calf's tongue, fresh butter, cheese, roast beef, and -indispensable white bread. These dainties being piled on a -drojki, propped on pillows and covered with quilts—my bedding -in the convent and the boat—we rattle away to the Pilgrim's -Wharf.</p> - -<p>Yes, there it is, an actual wharf—the only wharf in Archangel -along which boats can lie, and land their passengers by -a common sea-side plank!</p> - -<p>Moored to the capstan by a rope, lies the pretty craft; a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">{52}</a></span> -gilt cross on her foremast, a saintly pennant on her main. -Four large gold letters tell her name:</p> - -<p class="cyrillic">ВѢРА</p> - -<p class="nodent">(pronounced Verra), and meaning Faith. Father John is -standing on his bridge, giving orders in a low voice to his officers -and crew, many of whom are monks—mate, steward, cook, -and engineer—each and all arrayed in the cowl and frock.</p> - -<p>On the Pilgrim's Wharf, which lies in a yard cut off by -gates from the street, and paved with chips and shavings to -form a dry approach, stands a new pile of monastic buildings; -chapels, cells, store-rooms, offices, stalls, dormitories; in fact, -a new Pilgrim's Court. A steamer can not reach the port in -the upper town, where the original Pilgrim's Court was built; -and the fathers, keeping pace with the times, have let their -ancient lodgings in the town, and built a new house lower -down the stream.</p> - -<p>Crowds of men and women—pilgrims, tramps, and soldiers—strew -the wharf with a litter of baskets, tea-pots, beds, dried-fish, -felt boots, old rugs and furs, salt-girkins, black bread; -through which the monks step softly and sadly; helping a -child to trot on board, getting a free pass for a beggar, buying -rye-loaves for a lame wretch, and otherwise aiding the poorest -of these poor creatures in their need. For, even though the -season is now far spent, nearly two hundred pilgrims are in -waiting on the Pilgrim's Wharf; all hoping to get over to the -Holy Isles. Most of these men have money to pay their fare; -and some among the groups are said to be rich. A dozen of -the better sort, natives of Archangel, too busy to pass over -the sea in June, when their river was full of ships, are taking -advantage of the lull in trade, and of the extra boat. Each -man brings with him a basket of bread and fish, a box of tea, -a thick quilt, and a pair of felt leggings, to be worn over his -boots at night. These local pilgrims carry a staff; but in -place of the leathern belt and water-bottle, they carry a teapot -and a cup. One man wears a cowl and gown, who is not of -the crew; a jolly, riotous monk, going back to his convent as -a prisoner. "What has he been doing?" "Women and -drink," says Father John. The fares are low: first-class, six -rubles (fifteen shillings); second-class, four rubles. Third-class, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">{53}</a></span> -three rubles. This tariff covers the cost of going out -and coming back—a voyage of four hundred miles—with -lodgings in the guest-house, and rations at the common tables, -during a stay of five or six days. A dozen of these poor pilgrims -have no rubles in their purse, and the question rises on -the wharf, whether these paupers shall be left behind. Father -John and his fellow-skipper have a general rule; they -must refuse no man, however poor, who asks them for a passage -to Solovetsk in the name of God.</p> - -<p>A bell tolls, a plank is drawn, and we are off. As we back -from the wharf, getting clear, a hundred heads bow down, a -hundred hands sign the cross, and every soul commends itself -to God. Every time that, in dropping down the river, we -pass a church, the work of bowing and crossing begins afresh. -Each head uncovers; each back is bent; each lip is moved -by prayer. Some kneel on deck; some kiss the planks. The -men look contrite, and the women are sedate. The crews on -fishing-craft salute us, oftentimes kneeling and bowing as we -glide past, and always crossing themselves with uncovered -heads. Some beg that we will pray for them; and the most -worldly sailors pause in their work and hope that the Lord -will give us a prosperous wind.</p> - -<p>A gale is blowing from west and north. In the river it is -not much felt, excepting for the chill, which bites into your -bone. Father John, with a monk's contempt for caution, -gives the Maimax Channel a free berth, and having a boat in -hand of very light draught, drops down the ancient arm as a -shorter passage into the gulf.</p> - -<p>Before we quit the river, our provident worshippers have -begun to brew their tea and eat their supper of girkin and -black bread.</p> - -<p>The distribution on board is simple. Only one passenger -has paid the first-class fare. He has the whole state cabin to -himself; a room some nine feet square, with bench and mat -to sleep on; a cabin in which he might live very well, had it -not pleased the monks to stow their winter supply of tallow -in the boxes beneath his couch. Two persons have paid the -second-class fare—a skipper and his wife, who have been sailing -about the world for years, have made their fortunes, and -are now going home to Kem. "Ah!" says the fair, fat woman, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">{54}</a></span> -"you English have a nice country to live in, and you get -very good tea; but...." The man is like his wife. "Prefer -to live in Kem? Why not? In London you have beef -and stout; but you have no summer and no winter; all your -seasons are the same; never hot, never cold. If you want to -enjoy life, you should drive in a reindeer sledge over a Lapland -plain, in thirty degrees of frost."</p> - -<p>The rest of our fellow-pilgrims are on deck and in the hold; -rich and poor, lame and blind, merchant and beggar, charlatan -and saint; a motley group, in which a painter might find models -for a Cantwell, a Torquemada, a St. John. You see by -their garb, and hear in their speech, that they have come from -every province of the Empire; from the Ukraine and from -Georgia, from the Crimea and from the Ural heights, from -the Gulf of Finland and from the shores of the Yellow Sea. -Some of these men have been on foot, trudging through summer -sands and winter snows, for more than a year.</p> - -<p>The lives of many of my fellow-passengers are like an old -wife's tales.</p> - -<p>One poor fellow, having no feet, has to be lifted on board the -boat. He is clothed in rags; yet this poor pilgrim's face has -such a patient look that one can hardly help feeling he has -made his peace. He tells me that he lives beyond Viatka, in -the province of Perm; that he lost his feet by frost-bite years -ago; that he lay sick a long time; that while he was lying -in his pain he called on Savatie to help him, promising that -saint, on his recovery, to make a pilgrimage to his shrine in -the Frozen Sea. By losing his legs he saved his life; and -then, in his poverty and rags, he set forth on his journey, -crawling on his stumps, around which he has twisted a coarse -leather splinth, over fifteen hundred miles of broken road.</p> - -<p>Another pilgrim, wearing a felt boot on one leg, a bass shoe -on the other, has a most abject look. He is a drunkard, sailing -to Solovetsk to redeem a vow. Lying tipsy on the canal -bank at Vietegra, he rolled into the water, and narrowly escaped -being drowned. As he lay on his face, the foam oozing -slowly from his mouth, he called on his saints to save him, -promising them to do a good work in return for such help. -To keep that vow he is going to the holy shrines.</p> - -<p>A woman is carrying her child, a fine little lad of six or -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">{55}</a></span> -seven years, to be offered to the monks and educated for the -cowl. She has passed through trouble, having lost her husband, -and her fortune, and she is bent on sacrificing the only -gift now left to her on earth. To put her son in the monastery -of Solovetsk is to secure him, she believes, against all -temporal and all spiritual harm. Poor creature! It is sad -to think of her lot when the sacrifice is made; and the lonely -woman, turning back from the incense and glory of Solovetsk, -has to go once more into the world, and without her child.</p> - -<p>An aged man, with flowing beard and priestly mien, though -he is wrapped in rags, is noticeable in the groups among which -he moves. He is a vowed pilgrim; that is to say, a pilgrim -for life, as another man would be a monk for life; his whole -time being spent in walking from shrine to shrine. He has -the highest rank of a pilgrim; for he has been to Nazareth -and Bethlehem, as well as to Novgorod and Kief. This is the -third time he has come to Solovetsk; and it is his hope, if -God should spare him for the work, to make yet another -round of the four most potent shrines, and then lay up his -dust in these holy isles.</p> - -<p>Some of these pilgrims, even those in rags, are bringing -gifts of no small value to the convent fund. Each pilgrim -drops his offering into the box: some more, some less, according -to his means. Many bear gifts from neighbors and friends -who can not afford the time for so long and perilous a voyage, -but who wish to walk with God, and lay up their portion -with His saints.</p> - -<p>On reaching the river mouth we find a fleet of fishing-boats -in dire distress; and the two ships that we passed a week -since, bobbing and reeling on the bar like tipsy men, are completely -gone. The "Thera" is a Norwegian clipper, carrying -deals; the "Olga" a Prussian bark, carrying oats; they are -now aground, and raked by the wash from stem to stern. We -pass these hulls in prayer; for the gale blows dead in our -teeth; and we are only too well aware that before daylight -comes again we shall need to be helped by all the spirits that -wait on mortal men.</p> - -<p>With hood and gown wrapped up in a storm-cape, made for -such nights, Father John is standing on his bridge, directing -the course of his boat like an English tar. His monks meet -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">{56}</a></span> -the wind with a psalm, in the singing of which the pilgrims and -soldiers join. The passenger comes for a moment from his -cabin into the sleet and rain; for the voices of these enthusiasts, -pealing to the heavens through rack and roar, are like no -sounds he has ever yet heard at sea. Many of the singers lie -below in the hold; penned up between sacks of rye and casks -of grease; some of them deadly sick, some groaning as though -their hearts would break; yet more than half these sufferers -follow with lifted eyes and strenuous lungs the swelling of -that beautiful monkish chant. It is their even-song, and they -could not let the sun go down into the surge until that duty -to their Maker was said and sung.</p> - -<p>Next day there comes no dawn. A man on the bridge declares -that the sun is up; but no one else can see it; for a -veil of mist droops everywhere about us, out of which comes -nothing but a roar of wind and a flood of rain.</p> - -<p>The "Faith" is bound to arrive in the Bay of Solovetsk by -twelve o'clock; but early in the day Father John comes to -tell me (apart) that he shall not be able to reach his port until -five o'clock; and when five is long since past, he returns to -tell me, with a patient shrug, that we want more room, and -must change our course. The entrance to Solovetsk is through -a reef of rocks.</p> - -<p>"Must we lie out all night?"</p> - -<p>"We must." Two hours are spent in feeling for the shore; -Father John having no objection to use his lead. When anchorage -is found, we let the chain go, and swinging round, -under a lee shore, in eight fathoms of water, find ourselves lying -out no more than a mile from land.</p> - -<p>Then we drink tea; the pilgrims sing their even-song; and, -with a thousand crossings and bendings, we commit our souls -to heaven. Lying close in shore, under cover of a ridge of -pines, we swing and lurch at our ease; but the storm howls -angrily in our wake; and we know that many a poor crew, on -their frail northern barks, are struggling all night with the -powers of life and death. A Dutch clipper, called the "Ena," -runs aground; her crew is saved, and her cargo lost. Two -Russian sloops are shattered and riven in our track; one of -them parting amidships and going down in a trough of sea -with every soul on board.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">{57}</a></span> -In the early watch the wind goes down; sunlight streaks -the north-eastern sky; and, in the pink dawn, we catch, in -our front, a little to the west, a glimpse of the green cupolas -and golden crosses of Solovetsk—a joy and wonder to all -eyes; not more to pilgrims, who have walked a thousand -miles to greet them, than they are to their English guest.</p> - -<p>Saluting the holy place with prayer, and steaming by a -coast-line broken by rocks and beautified by verdure, we pass, -in a flood of soft warm sunshine, up a short inland reach, in -which seals are plashing, over which doves are darting, each -in their happy sport, and, by eight o'clock of a lovely August -morning, swing ourselves round in a secluded bay under the -convent walls.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER X.<br /> - -<span class="small">THE HOLY ISLES.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Chief</span> in a group of rocks and banks lying off the Karel -coast—a group not yet surveyed, and badly laid down in charts—Solovetsk -is a small, green island, ten or twelve miles long, -by eight or nine miles wide. The waters raging round her in -this stormy sea have torn a way into the mass of stones and -peat; forming many little coves and creeks; and near the -middle, where the convent stands, these waters have almost -met. Hardly a mile of land divides the eastern bay from the -western bay.</p> - -<p>Solovetsk stands a little farther north than Vatna Jökull; -the sixty-fifth degree of latitude passing close to the monastic -pile. The rocks and islets lying round her are numerous and -lovely, for the sea runs in and out among them, crisp with -motion and light with foam; and their shores are everywhere -green with mosses and fringed with forests of birch and pine. -The lines are not tame, as on the Karel and Lapland coasts, -for the ground swells upward into bluffs and downs, and one -at least of these ridges may be called a hill. Each height is -crowned by a white church, a green cupola, and a golden cross. -On the down which may be called a hill stands a larger church, -the belfry of which contains a light. Land, sea, and sky are -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">{58}</a></span> -all in keeping; each a wonder and a beauty in the eyes of -pilgrims of the stormy night.</p> - -<p>Running alongside the wharf, on to which we step as easily -as on to Dover Pier, we notice that beyond this beauty of -nature, which man has done so much to point and gild, there -is a bright and even a busy look about the commonest things. -Groups of strange men dot the quays; Lopars, Karels, what -not; but we soon perceive that Solovetsk is a civilized no less -than an enchanted isle. The quay is spacious, the port is -sweet and fresh. On our right lies that dock of which Father -John was speaking with such pride. The "Hope," a more -commodious pilgrim-boat than the "Faith," is lying on her -stays. On our left stands a guest-house, looking so airy, light, -and clean, that no hostelry on Italian lake could wear a more -cheerful and inviting face. We notice a lift and crane, as -things not seen in the trading ports; and one has hardly time -to mark these signs of science ere noticing an iron tramway, -running from the wharf to a great magazine of stores and -goods.</p> - -<p>A line of wall, with gates and towers, extends along the upper -quay; and high above this line of wall, spring convent, -palace, dome, and cross. A stair leads up from the water to -the Sacred Gates; and near the pathway from this stair we -see two votive chapels; marking the spots on which the Imperial -pilgrims, Peter the Great and Alexander the Beneficent, -landed from their boats.</p> - -<p>Every thing looks solid, many things look old. Not to -speak of the fortress walls and turrets, built of vast boulders -torn up from the sea-bed in the days of our own Queen Bess, -the groups of palace, church, and belfry rising within those -walls are of older date than any other work of man in this -far-away corner of the globe. One cathedral—that of the -Transfiguration—is older than the fortress walls. A second -cathedral—that of the Ascension—dates from the time when -St. Philip was prior of Solovetsk. Besides having this air of -antiquity, the place is alive with color, and instinct with a -sense of art. The votive chapels which peep out here and -there from among the trees are so many pictures; and these -red crosses by the water-margin have been so arranged as to -add a motive and a moral to the scene. Some broad but not -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">{59}</a></span> -unsightly frescoes brighten the main front of the old cathedral, -and similar pictures light the spandrel of the Sacred -Gates; while turrets and cupolas of church and chapel are -everywhere gay with green and gold.</p> - -<p>One dome, much noticed, and of rarest value in a pilgrim's -eye, is painted azure, fretted with golden stars. That dome is -the crown of a new cathedral built in commemoration of 1854—that -year of wonders—when an English fleet was vanquished -by the Mother of God. Within, the convent looks more durable -and splendid than without. Wall, rampart, guest-house, -prison, tower, and church, are all of brick and stone. Every -lobby is painted; often in a rude and early style; but these -rough passages from Holy Writ have a sense and keeping -higher than the morals conveyed by a coat of lime. The -screens and columns in the churches glow with a nobler art; -though here, again, an eye accustomed to admire no other -than the highest of Italian work will be only too ready to -slight and scorn. The drawing is often weak, the pigment -raw, the metal tawdry; yet these great breadths of gold and -color impress both eye and brain, especially when the lamps -are lit, the psalm is raised, the incense burning, and the monks, -attired in their long black hoods and robes, are ranged in -front of the royal gates.</p> - -<p>This pretty white house under the convent wall, near the -Sacred Gates, was built in witness of a miracle, and is known -as the Miracle Church. A pilgrim, eating a bit of white bread, -which a pope had given him, let a crumb of it fall to the -ground, when a strange dog tried to snatch it up. The crumb -seemed to rise into the dog's mouth and then slip away from -him, as though it were alive. That dog was the devil. Many -persons saw this victory of the holy bread, and the monks of -Solovetsk built a shrine on the spot to keep the memory of -that miracle alive; and here it stands on the bay, between the -chapels erected on the spots where Peter the Great and Alexander -the Second landed from their ships.</p> - -<p>When we come to drive, and sail, and walk into the recesses -of this group of isles, we find them not less lovely than -the first sweet promise of the bay in which we land. Forests -surround, and lakelets pursue us, at every step. The -wood is birch and pine; birch of the sort called silver, pine -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">{60}</a></span> -of the alpine stock. The trees are big enough for beauty, and -the undergrowths are red with berries and bright with Arctic -flowers. Here and there we come upon a clearing, with a dip -into some green valley, in the bed of which slumbers a lovely -lake. A scent of hay is in the air, and a perfume new to my -nostrils, which my companions tell me breathes from the cotton-grass -growing on the margin of every pool. At every -turn of the road we find a cross, well shaped and carved, and -stained dark red; while the end of every forest lane is closed -by a painted chapel, a lonely father's cell. A deep, soft silence -reigns through earth and sky.</p> - -<p>But the beauty of beauties lies in the lakes. More than a -hundred of these lovely sheets of water nestle in the depths -of pine-wood and birch-wood. Most famous of all these sheets -is the Holy Lake, lying close behind the convent wall; most -beautiful of all, to my poor taste, is the White Lake, on the -road to St. Savatie's Cell and Striking Hill.</p> - -<p>Holy Lake, a sheet of black water, deep and fresh, though -it is not a hundred yards from the sea, has a function in the -pilgrim's course. Arriving at Solovetsk, the bands of pilgrims -march to this lake and strip to bathe. The waters are -holy, and refresh the spirit while they purify the flesh. Without -a word, the pilgrims enter a shed, throw off their rags, -and leap into the flood; except some six or seven city-folk, -who shiver in their shoes at the thought of that wholesome -plunge. Their bath being finished, the pilgrims go to dinner -and to prayers.</p> - -<p>White Lake lies seven or eight miles from the convent, -sunk in a green hollow, with wooded banks, and a number of -islets, stopping the lovely view with a yet more lovely pause. -If St. Savatie had been an artist, one need not have wondered -at his wandering into such a spot.</p> - -<p>Yet the chief islet in this paradise of the Frozen Sea has -one defect. When looking down from the belfry of Striking -Hill on the intricate maze of sea and land, of lake and ridge, -of copse and brake, of lawn and dell; each tender breadth of -bright green grass, each sombre belt of dark-green pine, being -marked by a white memorial church; you gaze and wonder, -conscious of some hunger of the sense; it may be of the eye, -it may be of the ear; your heart declaring all the while that, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">{61}</a></span> -wealthy as the landscape seems, it lacks some last poetic -charm. It is the want of animal life. No flock is in the -meadow, and no herd is on the slope. No bark of dog comes -on the air; no low of kine is on the lake. Neither cow nor -calf, neither sheep nor lamb, neither goat nor kid, is seen in -all the length of country from Striking Hill to the convent -gate. Man is here alone, and feels that he is alone.</p> - -<p>This defect in the landscape is radical; not to be denied, -and never to be cured. Not that cattle would not graze on -these slopes and thrive in these woods. Three miles in front -of Solovetsk stands the isle called Zaet, on which sheep and -cattle browse; and five or six miles in the rear lies Moksalma, -a large grassy isle, on which the poultry cackle, the horses -feed, and the cows give milk. These animals would thrive -on the holy isle, if they were not driven away by monastic -rule; but Solovetsk has been sworn of the celibate order; and -love is banished from the saintly soil. No mother is here permitted -to fondle and protect her young; a great defect in -landscapes otherwise lovely to eye and heart—a denial of -nature in her tenderest forms.</p> - -<p>The law is uniform, and kept with a rigor to which the imperial -power itself must bend. No creature of the female sex -may dwell on the isle. The peasants from the Karel coast -are said to be so strongly impressed with the sin of breaking -this rule, that they would rather leap into the sea than bring -over a female cat. A woman may come in the pilgrim season -to say her prayers, but that duty done she must go her way. -Summer is a time of license—a sort of carnival season, during -which the letter of a golden rule is suspended for the good of -souls. A woman may lodge in the guest-house, feed in the -refectory; but she must quit the wards before nine at night. -Some of the more holy chapels she may not enter: and her -day of privilege is always short. A male pilgrim can reside -at Solovetsk for a year; a female must be gone with the boats -that bring her to the shrine. By an act of imperial grace, -the commander of his majesty's forces in the island—an army -some sixty strong—is allowed to have his wife and children -with him during the pilgrim's year; that is to say, from June -to August; but when the last boat returns to Archangel with -the men of prayer, the lady and her little folk must leave their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">{62}</a></span> -home in this holy place. A reign of piety and order is supposed -to come with the early snows, and it is a question -whether the empress herself would be allowed to set her foot -on the island in that better time.</p> - -<p>The rule is easily enforced in the bay of Solovetsk, under -the convent walls; not so easily enforced at Zaet, Moksalma, -and the still more distant isles, where tiny little convents have -been built on spots inhabited by famous saints. In these -more distant settlements it is hard to protect the holy men -from female intrusion; for the Karel girls are fond of mischief, -and they paddle about these isles in their light summer -craft by day and night. The aged fathers only are allowed to -live in such perilous spots.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XI.<br /> - -<span class="small">THE LOCAL SAINTS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">This</span> exclusion of women from the Holy Isle was the doing -of Savatie, first of the Local Saints.</p> - -<p>Savatie, the original anchoret of Solovetsk, was one day -praying near a lake, when he heard a cry, as of a woman in -pain. His comrade said it must have been a dream: for no -woman was living nearer to their "desert" than the Karel -coast. The saint went forth again to pray; but once again -his devotions were disturbed by cries and sobs. Going round -by the banks of the lake to see, he found a young woman -lying on the ground, with her flesh all bruised, her back all -bleeding from recent blows. She was a fisherman's wife. On -being asked who had done her this harm, she said that two -young men, with bright faces and dressed in white raiment, -came to her hut while her husband was away, and telling her -she must go after him, as the land belonged to God, and no -woman must sleep on it a single night, they threw her on the -ground, struck her with rods, and made her cry with pain.</p> - -<p>When she could walk, the poor creature got into her boat, -and St. Savatie saw her no more. The fisherman came to fish, -but his wife remained at home; and in this way woman was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">{63}</a></span> -driven by angels from the Holy Isle. No monk, no layman, -ever doubts this story. How can he? Here, to this day, -stands the log house in which Savatie dwelt, and twenty paces -from it lies the mossy bank on which he knelt. Across the -water there, beside yon clump of pines, rose the fisherman's -shed. The sharp ascent on which the church and lighthouse -glisten, is still called Striking Hill.</p> - -<p>This St. Savatie was a monk from Novgorod living at the -old convent of Belozersk, in which he served the office of tonsurer—shaver -of heads; but longing for a life of greater solitude -than his convent gave him, he persuaded one of his -brethren, named Valaam, to go up with him into the deserts -near the Polar Sea. Boyars from his country-side were then -going up into the north; and why should holy men not bear -as much for Christ as boyars and traders bore for pelf? On -praying all night in their chapels, these boyars and traders -ran to their archbishop with the cry: "Oh, give us leave, -Vladika, to go forth, man and horse, and win new lands for -St. Sophia." Settling in Kem, in Suma, in Soroka, and at -other points, these men were adding a region larger than the -mother-country to the territories ruled by Novgorod the -Great. The story of these boyars stirred up Savatie to follow -in their wake, and labor in the desolate land which they were -opening up.</p> - -<p>Toiling through the virgin woods and sandy plains, Savatie -and his companion Valaam arrived on the Vieg (in 1429), and -found a pious monk, named German, who had also come from -the south country. Looking towards the east, these monks -perceived, in the watery waste, a group of isles; and trimming -a light skiff, Savatie and German crossed the sea. -Landing on the largest isle, they made a "desert" on the -shore of a lakelet, lying at the foot of a hill on which birch -and pine trees grew to the top. Their lake was sheltered, the -knoll was high; and from the summit they could see the -sprinkle of isles and their embracing waves, as far as Orloff -Cape to the south, the downs of Kem on the west.</p> - -<p>Savatie brought with him a picture of the Virgin, not then -known to possess miraculous virtues, which he hung up in a -chapel built of logs. Near to this chapel he made for himself -and his companion a hut of reeds and sticks, in which -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">{64}</a></span> -they lived in peace and prayer until the rigor of the climate -wore them out. After six years spent in solitude, German -sailed back to the Vieg; and Savatie, finding himself alone on -the rock, in that desert from which he had banished woman -and love, became afraid of dying without a priest being at -hand to shrive and put him beneath the grass. Getting into -his skiff, he also crossed to Soroka, where he obtained from -Father Nathaniel, a prior who chanced to visit that town, the -bread and cup; and then, his work on earth being done, he -passed away to his eternal rest.</p> - -<p>Laying him in the sands at Soroka, Nathaniel raised a -chapel of pine logs, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, above his -grave; and there Savatie would have lain forever, his name -unknown, his saintly rank unrecognized on earth, had he not -fallen in the path of a man of stronger and more enduring -spirit.</p> - -<p>One of the bold adventurers from Novgorod, named Gabriel, -settling with his wife Barbara in the new village of Tolvui, -on the banks of Lake Onega, had a son, whom he called -Zosima, and devoted to God. Zosima, a monk while he was -yet a child, took his vows in the monastery of Palaostrofsk, -near his father's home; and on reaching the age when he -could act for himself, he divided his inheritance among his -kin, and taking up his pilgrim's staff departed for the north. -At Suma he fell in with German, who told him of the life he -had lived six years in his desert on the lonely rock. Zosima, -taken by this tale, persuaded German to show him the spot -where he and Savatie had dwelt so long. They crossed the -sea. A lucky breeze bore them past Zaet, into a small and -quiet bay; and when they leaped on shore—then strewn with -boulders, and green with forest trees—they found themselves -not only on the salt sea, but close to a deep and lustrous lake, -the waters of which were sweet to the taste, and swarming -with fish, the necessary food of monks.</p> - -<p>Kneeling on the sand in prayer, Zosima was nerved by a -miraculous vision to found a religious colony in that lonely -island, even as Marfa's people were founding secular colonies -at Suma, Soroka, and Kem. He saw, as in a dream, a bright -and comely monastic pile, with swelling domes and lofty turrets, -standing on the brink of that lovely sheet of water—henceforth -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">{65}</a></span> -to be known as the Holy Lake. Starting from his -knees, he told his companion, German, of the vision he had -seen; described the walls, the Sacred Gates, the clusters of -spires and domes; in a word, the convent in the splendor of -its present form. They cut down a pine, and framed it into -a cross, which they planted in the ground; in token that this -island in the frozen deep belonged to God and to His saints. -This act of consecrating the isle took place (in 1436) a year -after St. Savatie died.</p> - -<p>The monks erected cabins near this cross; in which cabins -they dwelt, about a mile apart, so as not to crowd upon each -other in their desert home. The sites are marked by chapels -erected to perpetuate their fame.</p> - -<p>The tale of these young hermits living in their desert on -the Frozen Sea being noised abroad in cloisters, monks from -all sides of the north country came to join them; bringing -strong thews and eager souls to aid in their task of raising up -in that wild region, and among those savage tribes, a temple -of the living God. In time a church grew round and above -the original cross; and as none of the hermits were in holy -orders, they sent a messenger to Yon, then archbishop of -Novgorod, asking him for a blessing on their work, and praying -him to send them a prior who could celebrate mass. -Yon gave them his benediction and his servant Pavel. Pavel -travelled into the north, and consecrated their humble church; -but the climate was too hard for him to bear. A second prior -came out in Feodosie; a third prior in Yon; both of -whom staid some time in the Frozen Sea, and only went back -to Novgorod when they were broken in health and advanced -in years.</p> - -<p>When Yon, the third prior, left them, the fathers held a -meeting to consider their future course. Sixteen years had -now passed by since Zosima and German crossed the sea -from Suma; ten or twelve years since Pavel consecrated -their humble church. In less than a dozen years three priors -had come and gone; and every one saw that monks who had -grown old in the Volkhoff district could not live in the Frozen -Sea. The brethren asked their archbishop to give them a -prior from their own more hardy ranks; and all these brethren -joined in the prayer that Zosima, leader of the colony -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">{66}</a></span> -from first to last, would take this office of prior upon himself. -His poor opinion of himself gave place to a sense of the public -good.</p> - -<p>Marching on foot to Novgorod, a journey of more than a -thousand miles, through a country without a road, Zosima -went up to the great city, where he was received by the Vladika, -and was ordained a priest. From the mayor and chief -boyars he obtained a more definite cession of the isles than -Prior Yon had been able to secure; and thus he came back -to his convent as pope and prior, with the fame of a holy -man, to whom nothing might be denied. Getting leave to -remove the bones of Savatie from Soroka to Solovetsk, he -took up his body from the earth, and finding it pure and -fresh, he laid the incorruptible relics in the crypt of his infant -church.</p> - -<p>More and more monks arrived in the lonely isles; and pilgrims -from far and near began to cross the sea; for the -tomb of Savatie was said to work miraculous cures. But as -the monastery grew in fame and wealth, the troubles of the -world came down upon the prior and his monks. The men -of Kem began to see that this bank in the Frozen Sea was a -valuable prize; and the lords of Anzersk and Moksalma quarrelled -with the monks; disputing their right over the foreshores, -and pressing them with claims about the waifs and -strays. At length, in his green old age, Zosima girded up his -loins, and taking his pastoral staff in hand, set out for Novgorod, -in the hope of seeing Marfa in person, and of settling, -once and forever, the question of his claim to these rocks by -asking for the lordship of Kem itself to be vested in the prior -of Solovetsk!</p> - -<p>On a column of the great cathedral of St. Sophia, in the -Kremlin of Novgorod, a series of frescoes tells the story of -this visit of St. Zosima to the parent state. One picture -takes the eye with a singular and abiding force—a banquet -in a noble hall, in which the table is surrounded by headless -guests.</p> - -<p>Passing through the city from house to house, Zosima was -received in nearly all with honor, as became his years and -fame; but not in all. The boyars of Kem had friends in the -city; and the Marfa's ear had been filled with tales against -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">{67}</a></span> -his monkish guile and monkish greed. From her door he -was driven with scorn; and her house was that in which he -was most desirous of being received in peace. Knowing that -he could do nothing without her aid, Zosima set himself, by -patient waiting on events, to overcome her fury against the -cause which he was there to plead. At length, her feeling -being subdued, she granted him a new charter (dated 1470, -and still preserved at Solovetsk), confirming his right over all -the lands, lakes, forests and fore-shores of the Holy Isles, together -with the lordship of Kem, made over, then and for all -coming time, to the service of God.</p> - -<p>Before Zosima left the great city, Marfa invited him to her -table, where he was to take his leave, not only of herself, but -of the chief boyars. As the prior sat at meat, the company -noticed that his face was sad, that his eyes were fixed on -space, that his soul seemed moved by some unseen cause. -"What is the matter?" cried the guests. He would not -speak; and when they pressed around him closely, they perceived -that burning drops were rolling down his cheeks. -More eagerly than ever, they demanded to know what he -saw in his fixed and terrible stare. "I see," said the monk, -"six boyars at a feast, all seated at a table without their -heads!"</p> - -<p>That dinner-party is the subject painted on the column in -St. Sophia; and the legend says that every man who sat with -him that day at Marfa's table had his head sliced off by Ivan -the Third, when the proud and ancient republic fell before -the destroyer of the Golden Horde.</p> - -<p>Strengthened by his new titles, Zosima came back to -Solovetsk a prince; and the pile which he governed took the -style, which it has ever since borne, of</p> - - <p id="convent">The Convent that Endureth Forever.</p> - -<p>Zosima ruled his convent as prior for twenty-six years; and -after a hermitage of forty-two years on his lowly rock he passed -away into his rest.</p> - -<p>On his dying couch he told his disciples that he was about -to quit them in the flesh, but only in the flesh. He promised -to be with them in the spirit; watching in the same cells, and -kneeling at the same graves. He bade them thank God daily -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">{68}</a></span> -for the promise that their convent should endure forever; safe -as a rock, and sacred as a shrine—even though it stood in the -centre of a raging sea—in the reach of pitiless foes. And -then he passed away—the second of these local saints—leaving, -as his legacy to mankind, the temporal and spiritual -germs of this great sanctuary in the Frozen Sea.</p> - -<p>About that time the third monk also died—German, the -companion of Savatie, in his cabin near Striking Hill; afterwards -of Zosima, in his hut by the Holy Lake. He died at -Novgorod, to which city he had again returned from the -north. His bones were begged from the monks in whose -grounds they lay, and being carried to Solovetsk, were laid in -a shrine near the graves of his ancient and more famous -friends.</p> - -<p>Such was the origin of the convent over which the Archimandrite -Feofan now rules and reigns.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XII.<br /> - -<span class="small">A MONASTIC HOUSEHOLD.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">My</span> letter from his Sanctity of Archangel having been sent -in to Feofan, Archimandrite of Solovetsk, an invitation to the -palace arrives in due form by the mouth of Father Hilarion; -who may be described to the lay world as the Archimandrite's -minister for secular affairs. Father Hilarion is attended by -Father John, who seems to have taken upon himself the office -of my companion-in-chief. Attiring myself in befitting robes, -we pass through the Sacred Gates, and after pausing for a -moment to glance at the models of Peter's yacht and frigate, -there laid up, and to notice some ancient frescoes which line -the passage, we mount a flight of steps, and find ourselves -standing at the Archimandrite's door.</p> - -<p>The chief of this monastery is a great man; one of the -greatest men in the Russian Church; higher, as some folks say, -than many a man who calls himself bishop, and even metropolite. -Since the days of Peter the Great, the monastery of -Solovetsk has been an independent spiritual power; owning -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">{69}</a></span> -no master in the Church, and answering to no authority save -that of the Holy Governing Synod.</p> - -<p>Like an archbishop, the Archimandrite of Solovetsk has the -right to bless his congregation by waving three tapers in his -right hand over two tapers in his left. He lives in a palace; -he receives four thousand rubles a year in money; and the -cost of his house, his table, his vestments, and his boats, comes -out of the monastic fund. He has a garden, a vineyard, and -a country-house; and his choice of a cell in the sunniest nooks -of these sacred isles. His personal rank is that of a prince, -with a dignity which no secular rank can give; since he reigns -alike over the bodies and the souls of men.</p> - -<p>Dressed in his cowl and frock, on which hangs a splendid -sapphire cross, Feofan, a small, slight man—with the ascetic -face, the womanlike curls, and vanishing figure, which you -note in nearly all these celibate priests—advances to meet us -near the door, and after blessing Father John, and shaking me -by the hand, he leads us to an inner room, hung with choice -prints, and warmed by carpets and rugs, where he places me -on the sofa by his side, while the two fathers stand apart, in -respectful attitude, as though they were in church.</p> - -<p>"You are not English?" he inquires, in a tender tone, just -marked by a touch—a very light touch—of humor.</p> - -<p>"Yes, English, certainly."</p> - -<p>A turn of his eye, made slowly, and by design, directs my -attention to his finger, which reclines on an object hardly to -have been expected on an Archimandrite's table; an iron shell! -The Tower-mark proves that it must have been fired from an -English gun. A faint smile flits across the Archimandrite's -face. There it stands; an English shell, unburst; the stopper -drawn; and two plugs near it on a tray. That missile, it is -clear, must have fallen into some soft bed of sand or peat.</p> - -<p>"You are the first pilgrim who ever came from your country -to Solovetsk," says Feofan, smiling. "One man came before -you in a steamship; he was an engineer—one Anderson; -you know him, maybe? No! He was a good man—he -minded his engines well; but he could not live on fish and -quass—he asked for beef and beer; and when we told him we -had none to give him, he went away. No other English ever -came."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">{70}</a></span> -He passes on to talk of the Holy Sepulchre and the Russian -convent near the Jaffa Gate.</p> - -<p>"You are welcome to Solovetsk," he says at parting; "see -what you wish to see, go where you wish to go, and come to -me when you like." Nothing could be sweeter than his voice, -nothing softer than his smile, as he spake these words; and -seeing the twinkle in his eye, as we stand near the English -shell, I also smile and add: "On the mantel-piece of my writing-room -in London there lies just such another shell, a trifle -thinner in the girth."</p> - -<p>"Yes?" he asks, a little curious—for a monk.</p> - -<p>"My shell has the Russian mark; it was fired from Sebastopol, -and picked up by a friend of my own in his trench before -the Russian lines."</p> - -<p>Feofan laughs, so far as an Archimandrite ever laughs—in -the eyes and about the mouth. From this hour his house -and household are at my disposal—his boat, his carriage, and -his driver; every thing is done to make my residence in the -convent pleasant; and every night my host is good enough to -receive from his officers a full report of what I have seen and -what I have said during the day!</p> - -<p>Three hundred monks of all classes reside on the Holy Isle. -The chief is, of course, the Archimandrite; next to him come -forty monks, who are also popes; then come seventy or -eighty monks who wear the hood and have taken the final -vows; after these orders come the postulants, acolytes, singers, -servants. Lodgers, scholars, and hired laymen fall into a -second class.</p> - -<p>These brethren are of all ages and conditions, from the pretty -child who serves at table to the decrepit father who can not -leave his cell; from the monk of noble birth and ample fortune -to the brother who landed on these islands as a tramp. -They wear the same habit, eat at the same board, listen to the -same chants, and live the same life. Each brother has his separate -cell, in which he sleeps and works; but every one, unless -infirm with years and sickness, must appear in chapel at the -hour of prayer, in refectory at the hour of meals. Hood and -gown, made of the same serge, and cut in the same style, must -be worn by all, excepting only by the priest who reads the service -for the day. They suffer their beards and locks to grow, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">{71}</a></span> -and spend much time in combing and smoothing these abundant -growths. A flowing beard is the pride of monks and men; but -while the beard is coming, a young fellow combs and parts his -hair with all the coquetry of a girl. When looking at a bevy -of boys in a church, their heads uncovered, their locks, shed -down the centre, hanging about their shoulders, you might -easily mistake them for singers of the sweeter sex.</p> - -<p>Not many of these fathers could be truly described as ordinary -men. A few are pure fanatics, who fear to lose their souls; -still more are men with a natural calling for religious life. A -goodly list are prisoners of the church, sent up from convents -in the south and west. These last are the salt and wine of -Solovetsk; the men who keep it sweet and make it strong. -The offense for which they suffer is too much zeal: a learned -and critical spirit, a disposition to find fault, a craving for reform, -a wish to fall back on the purity of ancient times. For -such disorders of the mind an ordinary monk has no compassion; -and a journey to the desert of Solovetsk is thought to -be for such diseases the only cure.</p> - -<p>An Archimandrite, appointed to his office by the Holy -Governing Synod, must be a man of learning and ability, able -to instruct his brethren and to rule his house. He is expected -to burn like a shining light, to fast very often, to pray very -much, to rise very early, and to live like a saint. The brethren -keep an eye upon their chief. If he is hard with himself -he may be hard with them; but woe to him if he is weak in the -flesh—if he wears fine linen about his throat, if savory dishes -steam upon his board, if the riumka—that tiny glass out of -which whisky is drunk—goes often to his lips. In every -monk about his chamber he finds a critic; in nearly every one -he fears a spy. It is not easy to satisfy them all. One father -wishes for a sterner life, another thinks the discipline too strict. -By every post some letters of complaint go out, and every -member of the Holy Governing Synod may be told in secret -of the Archimandrite's sins. If he fails to win his critics, the -appeals against his rule increase in number and in boldness, -till at length inquiry is begun, bad feeling is provoked on every -side, and the offending chieftain is promoted—for the sake -of peace—to some other place.</p> - -<p>The Archimandrite of Solovetsk has the assistance of three -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">{72}</a></span> -great officers, who may be called his manager, his treasurer, -and his custodian; officers who must be not only monks but -popes.</p> - -<p>Father Hilarion is the manager, with the duty of conducting -the more worldly business of his convent. It is he who -lodges the guests when they arrive, who looks after the ships -and docks, who employs the laborers and conducts the farms, -who sends out smacks to fish, who deals with skippers, who -buys and sells stores, who keeps the workshops in order, and -who regulates the coming and going of the pilgrim's boat. It -is he who keeps church and tomb in repair, who sees that the -fathers are warmly clad, who takes charge of the buildings and -furniture, who superintends the kitchen, who keeps an eye on -corridor and yard, who orders books and prints, who manages -the painting-room and the photographer's office, who inspects -the cells, and provides that every one has a bench, a press, a -looking-glass, and a comb.</p> - -<p>Father Michael is the treasurer, with the duty of receiving -all gifts and paying all accounts. The income of the monastery -is derived from two sources: from the sale of what is made -in the monkish workshops, and from the gifts of pilgrims -and of those who send offerings by pilgrims. No one can -learn how much they receive from either source; for the receiving-boxes -are placed in corners, and the contributor is encouraged -to conceal from his left hand what his right hand -drops in. Forty thousand rubles a year has been mentioned -to me as the sum received in gifts; but five thousand pounds -must be far below the amount of money passing in a year under -Father Michael's eye. It is probably eight or ten. The charities -of these monks are bounded only by the power of the -people to come near them; and in the harder class of winters -the peasants and fishermen push through the floes of ice -from beyond Orloff Cape and Kandalax Bay in search of a -basket of convent bread. These folks are always fed when -they arrive, are always supplied with loaves when they depart. -The schools, too, cost no little; for the monks receive -all boys who come to them—sent as they hold, by the Father -whom they serve.</p> - -<p>Father Alexander is the custodian, with the duty of keeping -the monastic wardrobe, together with the ritual books, the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">{73}</a></span> -charters and papers, the jewels and the altar plate. His office is -in the sacristy, with the treasures of which he is perfectly familiar, -from the letter, in Cyrilian character and Slavonic -phrase, by which Marfa of Novgorod gave this islet to the -monks, down to that pious reliquary in which are kept some -fragments of English shells; kept with as much veneration -as bones of saints and chips from the genuine cross!</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> - -<span class="small">A PILGRIM'S DAY.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">A pilgrim's</span> day begins in the early morning, and lengthens -late into the night.</p> - -<p>At two o'clock, when it has hardly yet grown dark in our -cells, a monk comes down the passage, tinkling his bell and -droning out, "Rise and come to prayer." Starting at his -cry, we huddle on our clothes, and rush from our hot rooms, -heated by stoves, into the open air; men and women, boys -and girls, boatmen and woodmen, hurrying through the night -towards the Sacred Gates.</p> - -<p>At half-past two the first matins commence in the new -church—the Miracle Church—dedicated to the Victress, -Mother of God; in which lie the bones of St. Savatie and St. -Zosima, in the corner, as the highest place. A hundred lamps -are lit, and the wall-screen of pictured saints glows richly in -our sleepy eyes. Men and women, soldiers and peasants, turn -into that sacred corner where the saints repose, cross themselves -seven times, bow their foreheads to the ground, and -kiss the pavement before the shrine.</p> - -<p>Falling into our places near the altar-screen; arranging -ourselves in files, rank behind rank, in open order, so that -each can kneel and kiss the ground without pushing against -his neighbor; we stand erect, uncovered, while the pope recites -his office, and the monks respond their chant. These -matins are not over until four o'clock.</p> - -<p>A second service opens in the old cathedral at half-past -three, and lasts until half-past five; and when the first pope -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">{74}</a></span> -has given his blessing, some of the more ardent pilgrims rush -from the Virgin's church to the cathedral, where they stand -in prayer, and kneel to kiss the stones for ninety minutes -more; at the end of which time they receive a second benediction -from a second pope.</p> - -<p>An hour is now spent by the pilgrims in either praying at -the tombs of saints, or pacing a long gallery, so contrived as -to connect the several churches and other monastic buildings -by a covered way. Along the walls of this gallery rude and -early Russian artists have painted the joys of heaven, the -pains of purgatory, and the pangs of hell. These pictures -seize the eyes of my fellow-pilgrims, though in quaint and -dramatic terror they sink below the level of such old work in -the Gothic cloisters of the Rhine. A Russian painter has no -variety of invention; a devil is to him a monkey with a spiked -tail and a tongue of flame; and hell itself is only a hot place -in which sinners are either fried by a fiend, or chawed up, -flesh and bone, by a monstrous bear. Yet, children sometimes -swoon, and women go mad from fright, on seeing these -threats of a future state. My own poor time is given to scanning -a miraculous picture of Jerusalem, said to have been -painted on the staircase by a monk of Solovetsk, as a vision -of the Holy City, seen by him in a dream. After studying -the details for a while, I recognize in this vision of the holy -man a plan of Olivet and Zion copied from an old Greek -print!</p> - -<p>All this time the pilgrims are bound to fast.</p> - -<p>At seven o'clock the bells announce early mass, and we repair -to the Miracle Church, where, after due crossings and -prostration before the tomb, we fall into rank as before, and -listen for an hour and a half to the sacred ritual, chanted with -increasing fire.</p> - -<p>When this first mass is over, the time being nearly nine -o'clock, the weaker brethren may indulge themselves with a -cup of tea; but the better pilgrim denies himself this solace, -as a temptation of the Evil Spirit; and even his weaker brother -has not much time to dally with the fumes of his darling -herb. The great bell in the convent yard, a gift of the reigning -Emperor, and one more witness to the year of wonders, -warns us that the highest service of the day is close at hand.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">{75}</a></span> -Precisely at nine o'clock the monks assemble in the cathedral -to celebrate high mass; and the congregation being already -met, the tapers are lit, the deacon begins to read, the -clergy take up the responses, and the officiating priest, arrayed -in his shining cope and cap, recites the old and mystical -forms of Slavonic prayer and praise. Two hours by the clock -we stand in front of that golden shrine; stand on the granite -pavement—all uncovered, many unshod—listening with ravished -ears to what is certainly the noblest ceremonial music -of the Russian Church.</p> - -<p>High mass being sung and said, we ebb back slowly from -the cathedral into the long gallery, where we have a few minutes -more of purgatorial fire, and then a monk announces dinner, -and the devoutest pilgrim in the band accepts his signal -with a thankful look.</p> - -<p>The dining-hall to which we adjourn with some irregular -haste is a vaulted chamber below the cathedral, and in any -other country than Russia would be called a crypt. But men -must build according to their clime. The same church would -not serve for winter and summer, on account of the cold and -heat; and hence a sacred edifice is nearly always divided into -an upper and a lower church; the upper tier being used in -summer, the lower tier in winter. Our dining-hall at Solovetsk -is the winter church.</p> - -<p>Long tables run down the room, and curl round the circular -shaft which sustains the cathedral floor. On these tables -the first course is already laid; a tin plate for each guest, in -which lies a wooden spoon, a knife and fork; and by the side -of this tin platter a pound of rye bread. The pilgrims are expected -to dine in messes of four, like monks. A small tin -dish is laid between each mess, containing one salted sprat, -divided into four bits by a knife, and four small slices of raw -onion. To each mess is given a copper tureen of sour quass, -and a dish of salt codfish, broken into small lumps, boiled -down, and left to cool.</p> - -<p>A bell rings briskly; up we start, cross ourselves seven -times, bow towards the floor, sit down again. The captain of -each mess throws pepper and salt into the dish, and stirs up -our pottage with the ladle out of which he drinks his quass. -A second bell rings; we dip our wooden ladles into the dish -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">{76}</a></span> -of cod. A reader climbs into the desk, and drawls the story -of some saint, while a youth carries round a basket of white -bread, already blessed by the priest and broken into bits. -Each pilgrim takes his piece and eats it, crossing himself, time -after time, until the morsel gets completely down his throat.</p> - -<p>A third bell rings. Hush of silence; sound of prayer. -Serving-men appear; our platters are swept away; a second -course is served. The boys who wait on us, with rosy cheeks, -smooth chins, and hanging locks, look very much like girls. -This second course, consisting of a tureen of cabbage-soup, -takes no long time to eat. A new reader mounts the desk, -and gives us a little more life of saint. A fourth bell jangles; -much more crossing takes place; the serving-men rush in; -our tables are again swept clean.</p> - -<p>Another course is served; a soup of fresh herrings, caught -in the convent bay; the fish very good and sweet. Another -reader; still more life of saint; and then a fifth bell rings.</p> - -<p>A fourth and last course now comes in; a dainty of barley -paste, boiled rather soft, and eaten with sour milk. Another -reader; still more life of saint; and then sixth bell. The -pilgrims rise; the reader stops, not caring to finish his story; -and our meal is done.</p> - -<p>Our meal, but not the ritual of that meal. Rising from our -bench, we fall once more into rank and file; the women, who -have dined in a room apart, crowd back into the crypt; and -we join our voices in a sacred song. Then we stand for a little -while in silence, each with his head bent down, as humbling -ourselves before the screen, during which a pope distributes -to each pilgrim a second morsel of consecrated bread. Brisk -bell rings again; the monks raise a psalm of thanksgiving; a -pope pronounces the benediction; and then the diners go -their way refreshed with the bread and fish.</p> - -<p>It is now near twelve o'clock. The next church service will -not be held until a quarter to four in the afternoon. In the -interval we have the long cloister to walk in; the holy lake to -see; the shrine of St. Philip to inspect; the tombs of good -monks to visit; the priestly robes and monastic jewels to admire; -with other distractions to devour the time. We go -off, each his own way; some into the country, which is full -of tombs and shrines of the lesser saints; others to lave their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">{77}</a></span> -limbs in the holy lake; not a few to the cells of monks who -vend crosses, amulets, and charms. A Russian is a believer in -stones, in rings, in rosaries, in rods; for he bears about him a -hundred relics of his ancient pagan creeds. His favorite amulet -is a cross, which he can buy in brass for a kopeck; one -form for a man, a second form for a woman; the masculine -form being Nikon's cross, with a true Greek cross in relief; -the feminine form being a mixture of the two. Once tied -round the neck, this amulet is never to be taken off, on peril -of sickness and sudden death. To drop it is a fault, to lose it -is a sin. A second talisman is a bone ball, big as a pea, hollow, -drilled and fitted with a screw. A drop of mercury is -coaxed into the hole, and the screw being turned, the charm -is perfect, and the ball is fastened to the cross. This talisman -protects the wearer from contagion in the public baths.</p> - -<p>Some pilgrims go in boats to the farther isles; to Zaet, -where two aged monks reside, and a flock of sheep browses -on the herbage; to Moksalma, a yet more secular spot, where -the cattle feed, and the poultry cluck and crow, in spite of St. -Savatie's rule. These islets supply the convent with milk -and eggs—in which holy men rejoice, as a relief from fish—in -nature's own old-fashioned ways.</p> - -<p>Not a few of the pilgrims, finding that a special pope has -been appointed to show things to their English guest, perceive -that the way to see sights is to follow that pope. They -have to be told—in a kindly voice—that they are not to follow -him into the Archimandrite's room. To-day they march -in his train into the wardrobe of the convent, where the copes, -crowns, staffs and crosses employed in these church services -are kept; a rich and costly collection of robes, embroidered -with flowers and gold, and sparkling with rubies, diamonds -and pearls. Many of these robes are gifts of emperors and -tsars. One of the costliest is the gift of Ivan the Terrible; -but even this splendid garment pales before a gift of Alexander, -the reigning prince, who sent the Archimandrite—in remembrance -of the Virgin's victory—a full set of canonicals, -from crown and staff to robe and shoe.</p> - -<p>Exactly at a quarter before four o'clock, a bell commands -us to return; for vespers are commencing in the Miracle -Church. Again we kneel at the tombs and kiss the stones, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">{78}</a></span> -the hangings, and the iron rails; after which we fall in as before, -and listen while the vespers are intoned by monks and -boys. This service concludes at half-past four. Adjourning -to the long gallery, we have another look at the fires of purgatory -and the abodes of bliss. Five minutes before six we file -into the cathedral for second vespers, and remain there standing -and uncovered—some of us unshod—until half-past seven.</p> - -<p>At eight the supper-bell rings. Our company gathers at -the welcome sound; the monks form a procession; the pilgrims -trail on; all moving with a hungry solemnity to the -crypt, where we find the long tables groaning, as at dinner, -with the pound of black bread, the salt sprat, the onion parted -into four small pieces with a knife, and the copper tureen -of quass. Our supper is the dinner served up afresh, with the -same prayers, the same bowing and crossing, the same bell-ringing, -and the same life of saint. The only difference is, -that in the evening we have no barley-paste and no stale -milk.</p> - -<p>When every one is filled and the fragments are picked up, -we rise to our feet, recite a thanksgiving, and join the fathers -in their evening song. A pope pronounces a blessing, and -then we are free to go into our cells.</p> - -<p>A pilgrim who can read, and may happen to have good -books about him, is expected, on retiring to his cell, to read -through a Psalm of David, and to ponder a little on the Lives -of Saints. The convent gates are closed at nine o'clock; when -it is thought well for the pilgrim to be in bed.</p> - -<p>At two in the morning a monk will come into his lobby, -tinkle the bell, and call him to the duties of another day.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> - -<span class="small">PRAYER AND LABOR.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">But</span> if the hours given up to prayer at Solovetsk are many, -the hours given up to toil are more. This convent is a hive -of industry, not less remarkable for what it does in the way -of work than for what it is in the way of art and prayer.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">{79}</a></span> -"Pray and work" was the maxim of monastic houses, when -monastic houses had a mission in the West. "Pray and -work," said Peter the Great to his council. But such a maxim -is not in harmony with the existing system; not in harmony -with the Byzantine Church; and what you find at Solovetsk -is traceable to an older and a better source. No monk -in this sanctuary leads an idle life. Not only the fathers who -are not yet popes, but many of those who hold the staff and -give the benediction, devote their talents to the production of -things which may be useful in the church, in the refectory, -and in the cell. A few make articles for sale in the outer -world; such articles as bread, clothes, rosaries and spoons. -All round these ramparts, within the walls, you find a row of -workshops, in which there is a hum of labor from early dawn -until long after dark; forges, dairies, salting-rooms, studies, -ship-yards, bake-houses, weaving-sheds, rope-walks, sewing-rooms, -fruit-stores, breweries, boot-stalls, and the like, through -all the forms which industry takes in a civilized age. These -monks appear to be masters of every craft. They make nearly -every thing you can name, from beads to frigates; and they -turn out every thing they touch in admirable style. No -whiter bread is baked, no sweeter quass is brewed, than you -can buy in Solovetsk. To go with Father Hilarion on his -round of inspection is to meet a dozen surprises face to face. -At first the whole exhibition is like a dream; and you can -hardly fancy that such things are being done by a body of -monks, in a lonely islet, locked up from the world for eight -months in the twelve by storms of sleet and deserts of ice.</p> - -<p>These monks make seal-skin caps and belts; they paint in -oil and carve in wood; they cure and tan leather; they knit -woollen hose; they cast shafts of iron; they wind and spin -thread; they polish stones; they cut out shoes and felts; -they mould pewter plates; they dry fruit; they fell and trim -forest trees; they clip paper flowers; they build carts and -sledges; they embroider capes and bands; they bake bricks; -they weave baskets and panniers of silver bark; they quarry -and hew blocks of stone; they paint soup-ladles; they design -altar-pieces, chapels, and convents; they refine bees'-wax; -they twist cord and rope; they forge anchors and marling-spikes; -they knit and sew, and ply their needles in every -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">{80}</a></span> -branch of useful and decorative art. In all these departments -of industry, the thing which they turn out is an example of -honest work.</p> - -<p>Many of the fathers find a field for their talents on the -farm: in breeding cattle, in growing potatoes, in cutting -grass, in shearing sheep, in rearing poultry, in churning butter, -and making cheese. A few prefer the more poetic labor -of the garden: pruning grapes, bedding strawberries, hiving -bees, and preserving fruit. The honey made at Mount Alexander -is pure and good, the wax is also white and fine.</p> - -<p>The convent bakehouse is a thing to see. Boats run over -from every village on the coast to buy convent bread; often -to beg it; and every pilgrim who comes to pray takes with -him one loaf as a parting gift. This convent bread is of two -sorts—black and white—leavened and unleavened—domestic -and consecrated. The first is cheap, and eaten at every meal; -the second is dear, and eaten as an act of grace. Both kinds -are good. A consecrated loaf is small, weighing six or eight -ounces, and is stamped with a sacred sign and blessed by a -pope. The stamp is a cross, with a legend running round the -border in old Slavonic type. These small white loaves of unleavened -bread are highly prized by pious people; and a man -who visits such a monastery as either Solovetsk, St. George, -or Troitsa, can not bring back to his servants a gift more -precious in their eyes than a small white loaf.</p> - -<p>The brewery is no less perfect in its line than the bakehouse. -Quass is the Russian ale and beer in one; the national -drink; consumed by all classes, mixed with nearly every -dish. Solovetsk has a name and fame for this Russian -brew.</p> - -<p>Connected with these good things of the table are the workshops -for carving platters and painting spoons. The arts of -life are simple in these northern wilds; forks are seldom seen; -and knives are not much used. The instrument by which a -man mostly helps himself to his dinner is a spoon. Nearly -all his food is boiled; his cabbage-soup, his barley mess, his -hash of salt-cod, his dish of sour milk. A deep platter lies in -the centre of his table, and his homely guests sit round it, -armed with their capacious spoons. Platter and spoon are -carved of wood, and sometimes they are painted, with skill -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">{81}</a></span> -and taste; though the better sorts are kept by pilgrims rather -as keepsakes than for actual use.</p> - -<p>A branch of industry allied to carving spoons and platters -is that of twisting baskets and panniers into shape. Crockery -in the forest is rude and dear, and in a long land-journey -the weight of three or four pots and cups would be a serious -strain. From bark of trees they weave a set of baskets for -personal and domestic use, which are lighter than cork and -handier than tin. You close them by a lid, and carry them -by a loop. They are perfectly dry and sweet; with just a -flavor, but no more, of the delicious resin of the tree. They -hold milk. You buy them of all sizes, from that of a pepper-box -to that of a water-jar; obtaining a dozen for a few kopecks.</p> - -<p>The panniers are bigger and less delicate, made for rough -passage over stony roads and through bogs of mire. These -panniers are fitted with compartments, like a vintner's crate, -in which you can stow away bottles of wine and insinuate -knives and forks. In the open part of your pannier it is well -(if you are packing for a long drive) to have an assortment -of bark baskets, in which to carry such trifles as mustard, -cream, and salt.</p> - -<p>Among the odds and ends of workshops into which you -drop, is that of the weaving-shed, in one of the turrets on the -convent wall; a turret which is noticeable not only for the -good work done in the looms, but for the part which it had to -play in the defense of Solovetsk against the English fleet. -The shot which is said to have driven off the "Brisk" was -fired from this Weaver's Tower.</p> - -<p>Peering above a sunny corner of the rampart stands the -photographic chamber, and near to this chamber, in a new -range of buildings, are the cells in which the painters and enamellers -toil. The sun makes pictures of any thing in his -range; boats, islets, pilgrims, monks; but the artists toiling -in these cells are all employed in devotional art. Some are -only copiers; and the most expert are artists only in a conventional -sense. This country is not yet rich in art, except in -that hard Byzantine style which Nikon the Patriarch allowed -in private houses, and enforced in convent, shrine, and church.</p> - -<p>But these fathers pride themselves, not without cause, on -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">{82}</a></span> -being greater in their works by sea than even in their works -by land. Many of them live on board, and take to the water -as to their mother's milk. They are rich in boats, in rigging, -and in nets. They wind excellent rope and cord. They know -how to light and buoy dangerous points and armlets. They -keep their own lighthouses. They build lorchas and sloops; -and they have found by trial that a steamship can be turned -off the stocks at Solovetsk, of which every part, from the -smallest brass nail to the mainmast (with the sole exception -of her engines), is the produce of their toil.</p> - -<p>That vessel is called the "Hope." Her crew is mainly a -crew of monks; and her captain is not only a monk—like Father -John—but an actual pope. My first sight of this priestly -skipper is in front of the royal gates where he is celebrating -mass.</p> - -<p>This reverend father takes me after service to see his vessel -and the dock in which she lies. Home-built and rigged, -the "Hope" has charms in my eyes possessed by very few -ships. A steamer made by monks in the Frozen Sea, is, in -her way, as high a feat of mind as the spire of Notre Dame -in Antwerp, as the cathedral front at Wells. The thought of -building that steamer was conceived in a monkish brain; the -lines were fashioned by a monkish pen; monks felled the -trees, and forged the bolts, and wove the canvas, and curled -the ropes. Monks put her together; monks painted her cabin; -monks stuffed her seats and pillows. Monks launched -her on the sea, and, since they have launched her, they have -sailed in her from port to port.</p> - -<p>"How did you learn your trade of skipper?"</p> - -<p>The father smiles. He is a young fellow—younger than -Father John; a fellow of thirty or thirty-two, with swarthy -cheek, black eye, and tawny mane; a man to play the pirate -in some drama of virtuous love. "I was a seaman in my -youth," he says, "and when we wanted a skipper in the convent, -I went over to Kem, where we have a school of navigation, -and got the certificate of a master; that entitled me to -command my ship."</p> - -<p>"The council of that school are not very strict?"</p> - -<p>"No; not with monks. We have our own ways; we labor -in the Lord; and He protects us in what we do for Him."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">{83}</a></span> -"Through human means?"</p> - -<p>"No; by His own right hand, put forth under all men's -eyes. You see, the first time that we left the convent for -Archangel, we were weak in hands and strange to our work. -A storm came on; the 'Hope' was driven on shore. Another -crew would have taken to their boats and lost their -ship, if not their lives. We prayed to the Most Pure Mother -of God: at first she would not hear us on account of our sins; -but we would not be denied, and sang our psalms until the -wind went down."</p> - -<p>"You were still ashore?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; grooved in a bed of sand; but when the wind -veered round, the ship began to heave and stir. We tackled -her with ropes and got her afloat once more. Slava Bogu! -It was her act!"</p> - -<p>The dock of which Father John spoke with pride turns out -to be not a dock only, but a dry dock! Now, a dock, even -where it is a common dock, is one of those signs by which -one may gauge—as by the strength of a city wall, the splendor -of a court of justice and the beauty of a public garden—the -height to which a people have attained. In Russia docks -are extremely rare. Not a dozen ports in the empire can -boast a dock. Archangel has no dock; Astrachan has no -dock; Rostoff has no dock. It is only in such cities as Riga -and Odessa, built and occupied by foreigners, that you find -such things. The dry dock at Solovetsk is the only sample -of its kind in the whole of Russia Proper! Cronstadt has a -dry dock; but Cronstadt is in the Finnish waters—a German -port, with a German name. The only work of this kind -existing on Russian ground is the product of monkish enterprise -and skill.</p> - -<p>Priests take their share in all these labors. When a monk -enters into orders he is free to devote himself, if he chooses, -to the Church service only, since the Holy Governing Synod -recognizes the right of a pope to a maintenance in his office; -but in the Convent of Solovetsk, a priest rarely confines his -activity to his sacred duties. Work is the sign of a religious -life. If any man shows a talent for either art or business, he -is excited by the praise of his fellows and superiors to pursue -the call of his genius, devoting the produce of his labor to the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">{84}</a></span> -glory of God. One pope is a farmer, a second a painter, a -third a fisherman; this man is a collector of simples, that a -copier of manuscripts, and this, again, a binder of books.</p> - -<p>Of these vocations that of the schoolmaster is not the least -coveted. All children who come to Solovetsk are kept for a -year, if not for a longer time. The lodging is homely and -the teaching rough; for the schools are adapted to the state -of the country; and the food and sleeping-rooms are raised -only a little above the comforts of a peasant's home. No one -is sent away untaught; but only a few are kept beyond a -year. If a man likes to remain and work in the convent he -can hire himself out as a laborer, either in the fishing-boats -or on the farms. He dines in summer, like the monks, on -bread, fish and quass; in winter he is provided with salt mutton, -cured on the farm—a luxury his masters may not touch. -Many of these boys remain for life, living in a celibate state, -like the monks; but sure of a dinner and a bed, safe from the -conscription, and free from family cares. Some of them take -vows. If they go back into the world they are likely to find -places on account of their past; in any case they can shift for -themselves, since a lad who has lived a few years in this convent -is pretty sure to be able to fish and farm, to cook his -own dinner, and to mend his own boots.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XV.<br /> - -<span class="small">BLACK CLERGY.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">All</span> men of the higher classes in Russia talk of their Black -Clergy as a body of worthless fellows; idle, ignorant, profligate; -set apart by their vows as unsocial; to whom no -terms should be offered, with whom no capitulations need be -kept. "Away with them, root and branch!" is a general cry, -delivered by young and liberal Russians in the undertone of -a fixed resolve.</p> - -<p>The men who raise this cry are not simply scoffers and -scorners, making war on religious ideas and ecclesiastical institutions. -Only too often they are men who love their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">{85}</a></span> -church, who support their parish priests, and who wish to -plant their country in the foremost line of Christian states. -Russia, they say, possesses ten thousand monks; and these -ten thousand monks they would hand over to a drill sergeant -and convert into regiments of the line.</p> - -<p>This rancor of the educated classes towards the monks—a -rancor roused and fed by their undying hatred of reforms in -Church and State—compels one to mark the extent and study -the sources of monastic power. This study will take us far -and wide: though it will also bring us in the end to Solovetsk -once more.</p> - -<p>"A desert dotted with cloisters," would be no untrue description -of the country spreading southward from the Polar -Sea to the Tartar Steppe. In New Russia, in the khanates of -Kazan and Crimea, in the steppes of the Lower Volga, and -in the wastes of Siberia, it would not be true. But Great -Russia is a paradise of monks. In the vast regions stretching -from Kem to Belgorod—an eagle's flight from north to south -of a thousand miles—from Pskoff on Lake Peipus, to Vasil on -the Middle Volga—a similar flight from west to east of seven -hundred miles—the land is everywhere bright with cloisters, -musical with monastic bells.</p> - -<p>Nothing on this earth's surface can be drearier than a Russian -forest, unless it be a Russian plain. The forest is a -growth of stunted birch and pine; the trees of one height and -girth; the fringe of black shoots unvaried save by some -break of bog, some length of colorless lake. The plain is a -stretch of moor, without a swell, without a tree, without a -town, for perhaps a hundred leagues; on which the grass, if -grass such herbage can be called, is brown; while the village, -if such a scatter of cabins can be called by a name so tender -and picturesque, is nothing but log and mud. A traveller's -eye would weary, and his heart would sicken, at the long succession -of such lines, were it not that here and there, in the opening -of some forest glade, on the ridge of some formless plain, -the radiant cross and sparkling towers of a convent spring towards -heaven; a convent with its fringe of verdure, its white -front, its clustering domes and chains. The woods round -Kargopol, the marshes near Lake Ilmen, and the plains of -Moscow, are alive with light and color; while the smaller convents -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">{86}</a></span> -on river bank and in misty wood, being railed and painted, -look like works of art. One of my sweetest recollections -in a long, dull journey, is that of our descent into the valley of -Siya, when we sighted the great monastery, lying in a watery -dell amidst groves of trees, with the rays of a setting sun on -her golden cross and her shining domes—a happy valley and -a consecrated home; not to speak of such trifles as the clean -cell and the wholesome bread which a pilgrim finds within -her walls!</p> - -<p>The old cities of Great Russia—Novgorod, Moscow, Pskoff, -Vladimir—are much richer in monastic institutions than their -rivals of a later time. For leagues above and leagues below -the ancient capital of Russia, the river Volkhoff, on the banks -of which it stands, is bright with these old mansions of the -Church. Novgorod enriched her suburbs with the splendid -Convents of St. George, St. Cyril, and of St. Anton of Rome. -Moscow lies swathed in a belt and mantle of monastic houses—Simonoff, -Donskoi, Danieloff, Alexiefski, Ivanofski, and many -more; the belfries and domes of which lighten the wonderful -panorama seen from the Sparrow Hills. Pskoff has her glorious -Convent of the Catacombs, all but rivalling that of Kief.</p> - -<p>Within the walls, these cloisters are no less splendid than -the promise from without. Their altars and chapels are always -fine, the refectories neat and roomy, the sacristies rich in -crosses and priestly robes. Many fine pictures—fine of their -school—adorn the screens and the royal gates. Nearly all possess -portraits of the Mother and Child encased in gold, and -some have lamps and croziers worth their weight in sterling -coin. The greater part of what is visible of Russian wealth -appears to hang around these shrines.</p> - -<p>These old monastic houses sprang out of the social life -around them. They were centres of learning, industry, and -art. A convent was a school, and in these schools a special -excellence was sought and won. This stamp has never been -effaced; and many of the convents still aspire to excellence in -some special craft. The Convent of St. Sergie, near Strelna, -is famed for music; the New Monastery, near Kherson, for -melons; the Troitsa, near Moscow, for carving; the Catacombs, -near Kief, for service-books.</p> - -<p>In the belfry of the old Cathedral of St. Sophia at Novgorod -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">{87}</a></span> -you are shown a chamber which was formerly used as a treasure-room -by the citizens—in fact, as their place of safety and -their tower of strength. You enter it through a series of -dark and difficult passages, barred by no less than twelve iron -doors; each door to be unfastened by bolt and bar, secured in -the catches under separate lock and key. In this strong place -the burghers kept, in times of peril, their silver plate, their -costly icons, and their ropes of pearl. A robber would not—and -a boyar dared not—force the sanctuary of God. Each -convent was, in this respect, a smaller St. Sophia; and every -man who laid up gold and jewels in such a bank could sleep -in peace.</p> - -<p>"You must understand," said the antiquary of Novgorod, -as we paddled in our boat down the Volkhoff, "that in ancient -times a convent was a home—a family house. A man -who made money by trade was minded in his old age to retire -from the city and end his days in peace. In England such a -man would buy him a country-house in the neighborhood of -his native town, in which he would live with his wife and children -until he died. In a country like Old Russia, with brigands -always at his gates, the man who saved money had to -put his wealth under the protection of his church. Selecting -a pleasant site, he would build his house in the name of his -patron saint, adorn it with an altar, furnish it with a kitchen, -dormitory, and cellar, and taking with him his wife, his children, -and his pope, would set up his tent in that secure and -comfortable place for the remainder of his days on earth."</p> - -<p>"Could such a man have his wife and children near him?"</p> - -<p>"Near him! With him; not only in his chapel but in his -cell. The convent was his home—his country-house; and at his -death descended to his son, who had probably become a monk. -In some such fashion, many of the prettiest of these smaller -convents on the Volkhoff came to be."</p> - -<p>Half the convents in Great Russia were established as country-houses; -the other half as deserts—like Solovetsk; and -many a poor fellow toiled like Zosima who has not been blessed -with Zosima's fame.</p> - -<p>But such a thing is possible, even now; for Russia has not -yet passed beyond the legendary and heroic periods of her -growth. The latest case is that of the new desert founded -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">{88}</a></span> -at Gethsemane, on the plateau of the Troitsa, near Moscow; -one of the most singular notes of the present time.</p> - -<p>In the year 1803 was born in a log cabin, in a small village -called Prechistoe (Very Clean), near the city of Vladimir, a -male serf, so obscure that his family name has perished. For -many years he lived on his lord's estate, like any other serf, -marrying in his own class (twice), and rearing three strapping -sons. At thirty-seven he was freed by his owner; when -he moved from his village to Troitsa, took the name of Philip, -put on cowl and gown, and dug for himself a vault in the -earth. In this catacomb he spent five years of his life, until -he found a more congenial home among the convent graves, -where he lived for twenty years. Too fond of freedom to -take monastic vows, he never placed himself under convent -rule. Yet seeing, in spite of the proverb, that the hood makes -the monk in Russia, if not elsewhere, he robed his limbs in -coarse serge, girdled his waist with a heavy chain, and walked -to the palace of Philaret, Metropolite of Moscow, begged -that dignitary's blessing, and craved permission to adopt -his name. Philaret took a fancy to the mendicant; and from -that time forth the whilom serf from Very Clean was known -in every street as Philaret-oushka—Philaret the Less.</p> - -<p>Those grave-yards of the Troitsa lay in a pretty and silent -spot on the edge of a lake, inclosed in dark green woods. -Among those mounds the mendicant made his desert. Buying -a few images and crosses in Troitsa and Gethsemane at two -kopecks apiece, he carried them into the streets and houses of -Moscow, where he gave them to people, with his blessing; -taking, in exchange, such gifts as his penitents pleased; a ruble, -ten rubles, a hundred rubles each. He very soon had money -in the bank. His images brought more rubles than his -crosses; for his followers found that his images gave them -luck, while his crosses sent them trouble. Hence a woman to -whom he gave a cross went home with a heavy heart. Unlike -the practice in western countries, no peasant woman adorns -herself with this memorial of her faith; nor is the cross a -familiar ornament even in mansions of the rich. A priest -wears a cross; a spire is crowned by a cross; but this symbol -of our salvation is rarely seen among the painted and plated -icons in a private house. To "bear the cross" is to suffer -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">{89}</a></span> -pain, and no one wishes to suffer pain. One cross a man is -bound to bear—that hung about his neck at the baptismal -font; but few men care to carry a second weight.</p> - -<p>An oddity in dress and speech, Philaret-oushka wore no -shoes and socks, and his greeting in the market was, "I wish -you a merry angel's day," instead of "I wish you well." In -his desert, and in his rambles, he was attended by as strange -an oddity as himself; one Ivanoushka, John the Less. This -man was never known to speak; he only sang. He sang in -his cell; he sang on the road; he sang by the Holy Gate. -The tone in which he sang reflected his master's mood; and -the voice of John the Less told many a poor creature whether -Philaret the Less would give her that day an image or a -cross.</p> - -<p>This mendicant had much success in merchants' shops. -The more delicate ladies shrank from him with loathing, not -because he begged their money, but because he defiled their -rooms. Though born in Very Clean, this serf was dirtier than -a monk; but his followers saw in his rusty chains, his grimy -skin, his unkempt hair, so many signs of grace. The women -of the trading classes courted him. A lady told me, that on -calling to see a female friend, the wife of a merchant of the -first guild, she found her kneeling on the floor, and washing -this beggar's feet. Her act was not a form; for the mendicant -wore no shoes, and the streets of Moscow are foul with -mire and hard with flints. One old maid, Miss Seribrikof, -used to boast, as the glory of her life, that she had once been -allowed to wash the good man's sores. Young brides would -beg him to attend their nuptial feasts; at which he would -"prophesy" as they call it; hinting darkly at their future of -weal or woe. Sometimes he made a lucky hit. One day, at the -wedding-feast of Gospodin Sorokine, one of the richest men in -Moscow, he turned to the bride and said, "When your feastings -are over, you will have to smear your husband with honey." -No one knew what he meant, until three days later, -when Sorokine died; on which event every one remembered -that honey is tasted at all Russian funerals; and the words of -Philaret the Less were likened to that Vision of Zosima, which -has since been painted on the pillar in Novgorod the Great.</p> - -<p>Madame Loguinof, one of his rich disciples, gave this mendicant -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">{90}</a></span> -money enough to build a church and convent, and when -these edifices were raised in the grave-yard of Troitsa his -"desert" was complete.</p> - -<p>At the age of sixty-five, this idol of the people passed away. -When his high patron died, Philaret the Less was not so happy -in his desert as of yore; for Innocent, the new Metropolite, -was a real missionary of his faith, and not a man to look -with favor on monks in masquerade. Deserting his desert, -the holy man went his way from Troitsa into the province of -Tula, where, in the village of Tcheglovo, he built a second -convent, in which he died about a year ago. The two convents -built by his rusty chains and dirty feet are now occupied -by bodies of regular monks.</p> - -<p>In these morbid growths of the religious sentiment, the -Black Clergy seek support against the scorn and malice of a -reforming world.</p> - -<p>These monks have great advantages on their side. If liberal -thought and science are against them, usage and repute -are in their favor. All the high places are in their gift; all -the chief forces are in their hands. The women are with -them; and the ignorant rustics are mostly with them. -Monks have always attracted the sex from which they fly; -and every city in the empire has some story of a favorite father -followed, like Philaret the Less, by a female crowd. -Vicar Nathaniel was not worshipped in the Nevski Prospect -with a softer flattery than is Bishop Leonidas in the Kremlin -gardens. Comedy but rarely touches these holy men; yet -one may see in Moscow albums an amusing sketch of this -gifted and fascinating man being lifted into higher place -upon ladies' skirts.</p> - -<p>The monks have not only got possession of the spiritual -power; but they hold in their hands nearly all the sources of -that spiritual power. They have the convents, catacombs, -and shrines. They guard the bones of saints, and are themselves -the stuff of which saints are made. In the golden -book of the Russian Church there is not one instance of a -canonized parish priest.</p> - -<p>These celibate fathers affect to keep the two great keys of -influence in a land like Russia—the gift of sacrifice, and the -gift of miracles.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">{91}</a></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> - -<span class="small">SACRIFICE.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sacrifice</span> is a cardinal virtue of the Church. To the Russian -mind it is the highest form of good; the surest sign of a -perfect faith. Sacrifice is the evidence of a soul given up to -God.</p> - -<p>A child can only be received into the church through sacrifice; -and one of the forms in which a man gives himself up -to heaven is that of becoming insane "for the sake of -Christ."</p> - -<p>Last year (1868), a poor creature called Ivan Jacovlevitch -died in the Lunatic Asylum in Moscow, after winning for -himself a curious kind of fame. One-half the world pronounced -him mad; a second half respected him as a holy -man. The first half, being the stronger, locked him up, and -kept him under medical watch and ward until he died.</p> - -<p>This Ivan, a burgher in the small town of Cherkesovo, -made a "sacrifice" of his health and comfort to the Lord. -By sacred vows, he bound himself never to wash his face and -comb his hair, never to change his rags, never to sit on chair -and stool, never to eat at table, never to handle knife and -fork. In virtue of this sacrifice, he lived like a dog; crouching -on the floor, and licking up his food with lips and tongue. -When brought into the madhouse, he was washed with soap -and dressed in calico; but he began to mess himself on purpose; -and his keepers soon gave up the task of trying to -keep him clean.</p> - -<p>No saint in the calendar draws such crowds to his shrine -as Ivan Jacovlevitch drew to his chamber in this lunatic's -house. Not only servant girls and farmers' wives, but women -of the trading classes, came to him daily; bringing him -dainties to eat, making him presents in money, and telling -him all the secrets of their hearts. Sitting on the ground, -and gobbling up his food, he stared at these visitors, mumbling -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">{92}</a></span> -some words between his teeth, which his listeners racked -their brains to twist and frame into sense. He rolled the -crumbs of his patties into pills, and when sick persons came -to him to be cured, he put these dirty little balls into their -mouths. This man was said to have become "insane for the -Lord."</p> - -<p>The authorities of the asylum lent him a spacious room in -which to receive his guests. They knew that he was mad; -they knew that a crowded room was bad for him; but the -public rush was so strong, that they could neither stand upon -their science, nor enforce their rules. The lunatic died -amidst the tears and groans of half the city. When the -news of his death was noised abroad, a stranger would have -thought the city was also mad. Men stopped in the street to -kneel and pray; women threw themselves on the ground in -grief; and a crowd of the lower classes ran about the bazars -and markets, crying, "Ivan is dead! Ivan is dead! Ah! -who will tell us what to do for ourselves, now Ivan is dead?"</p> - -<p>On my table, as I write these words, lies a copy of the <i>Moscow -Gazette</i>—the journal which Katkoff edits, in which Samarin -writes—containing a proposal, made by the clergy, for -a public monument to Ivan Jacovlevitch, in the village where -this poor lunatic was born!</p> - -<p>All monks prefer to live a life of sacrifice; the highest -forms of sacrifice being that of the recluse and the anchorite.</p> - -<p>Every branch of the Oriental Church—Armenian, Coptic, -Greek—encourages this form; but no Church on earth has -given the world so many hermits as the Russ. Her calendar -is full of anchorites, and the stories told of these self-denying -men and women are often past belief. One Sister Maria was -nailed up in a niche at Hotkoff, fed through a hole in the -rock, and lingered in her living tomb twelve years.</p> - -<p>On the great plateau of the Troitsa, forty miles from Moscow, -stands a monastic village, called Gethsemane. This monastic -village is divided into two parts; the convent and the -catacombs; separated by a black and silent lake.</p> - -<p>A type of poverty and misery, the convent is built of rough -logs, colored with coarse paint. Not a trace of gold or silver -is allowed, and the only ornaments are of cypress. Gowns of -the poorest serge, and food of the simplest kind, are given to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">{93}</a></span> -the monks. No female is allowed to enter this holy place, excepting -once a year, on the feast of the Virgin's ascent into -heaven. Three women were standing humbly at the gate as -we drove in; perhaps wondering why their sex should be -shut out of Gethsemane, since their Lord was not betrayed in -the garden by a female kiss!</p> - -<p>Across the black lake lie the catacombs, cut off from the -convent by a gate and fence; for into these living graves it is -lawful for a female to descend. Deep down from the light of -day, below the level of that sombre lake, these catacombs extend. -We light each man his taper, as we stand above the -narrow opening into the vaults. A monk, first crossing his -breast and muttering his pass-words in an unknown tongue, -goes down the winding stairs. We follow slowly, one by one -in silence; shading the light and holding to the wall. A -faint smell fills our nostrils; a dull sound greets our ears; -heavily comes our breath in the damp and fetid air. The -tapers faint and flicker in the gloom. Gaining a passage, we -observe some grated windows, narrow holes, and iron-bound -doors. These openings lead into cells. The roof above is wet -with slime, the floor is foul with crawling, nameless things.</p> - -<p>"Hush!" drones the monk, as he creeps past some grated -window and some iron-clad door, as though he were afraid that -we should wake the dead.</p> - -<p>"What is this hole in the stone?" The monk stops short -and waves his lurid light: "A cell; a good man lies here; -hush! his soul is now with God!"</p> - -<p>"Dead?"</p> - -<p>"Yea—dead to the world."</p> - -<p>"How long has he been here?"</p> - -<p>"How long? Eleven years and more."</p> - -<p>Passing this living tomb with a shiver, we catch the boom -of a bell, and soon emerge from the narrow passage into a tiny -church. A lamp is burning before the shrine; two monks are -kneeling with their temples on the floor; a priest is singing in -a low, dull tone. The fittings of this church are all of brass; -for pine and birch would rot into paste in a single year. Beyond -the chapel we come to the holy well, the water of which -is said to be good for body and soul. It is certainly earthy to -the taste.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">{94}</a></span> -On coming into the light of day, we question the father -sharply as to that recluse who is said to have lived eleven -years behind the iron-clad door; and learn without surprise -that he comes out from time to time, to ring the convent-bell, -to fetch in wood, and hear the news! We learn that a man -retired with his son into one of these catacombs; that he remained -in his grave—so to speak—two years and a half, and -then came out completely broken in his health. My eminent -Russian friend, Professor Kapoustin, turns to me and says, -"When our country was covered with forests, when our best -road was a rut, and our villages were all shut in, a man who -wished for peace of mind might wall himself up in a cell; but -the country is now open, monks read newspapers, travellers -come and go, and the recluse likes to hear the news and see -the light of day."</p> - -<p>Instead of living in their catacombs, the monks now turn a -penny by showing them to pilgrims, at the price of a taper, -and by selling to visitors the portraits of monks and nuns who -lived in the sturdier days of their church.</p> - -<p>The spirit of sacrifice takes other and milder forms. In the -court-yards of Solovetsk one sees a strange creature, dressed -in rags, fed on garbage, and lodged in gutters, who belongs to -the monastic order, without being vowed as a regular monk. -He lives by sufferance, not by right. He offers himself up as -a daily sacrifice. He follows, so to speak, the calling of abjectness; -and makes himself an example of the worthlessness of -earthly things. This strange being is much run after by the -poorer pilgrims, who regard him as a holy man; and he is -noticeable as a type of what the Black Clergy think meritorious -in the Christian life.</p> - -<p>Father Nikita, the name by which this man is known, is a -dwarf, four feet ten inches high, with thin, gray beard, black -face, and rat-like eyes. He never pollutes his skin with water -and soap; for what is man that he should foster pride of the -flesh? His garb is a string of rags and shreds; for he spurns -the warmer and more decent habit of a monk. Instead of going -to the store when he needs a frock, he crawls into the -waste-closet, where he begs as a favor that the father having -charge of the castaway clothes will give him the tatters which -some poor brother has thrown aside. A room is left for his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">{95}</a></span> -use in the cloister; but a bench of wood and a pillow of straw -are things too good for dust and clay; and in token of his unworthiness, -he lives on the open quay and sleeps in the convent -yard. Nobody can persuade him to sit down to the common -meal; the sup of sour quass, the pound of black bread, -the morsel of salt cod being far too sumptuous food for him; -but when the meal is over, and the crumbs are swept up, he -will slink into the pantry, scrape into one dish the slops and -bones, and make a repast of what peasants and beggars have -thrown away.</p> - -<p>He will not take his place in church; he will not pass -through the Sacred Gates. When service is going on, he -crouches in the darkest corner of the church, and listens to the -prayers and chants with his head upon the ground. He likes -to be spurned and buffeted by the crowd. A servant of every -one, he is only too happy if folk will order him about; and -when he can find a wretch so poor and dirty that every one -else shuns him, he will take that dirty wretch to be his lord. -In winter, when the snow lies deep on the ground, he will sleep -in the open yard; in summer, when the heat is fierce, he will -expose his shaven crown to the sun. He loves to be scorned, -and spit upon, and robbed. Like all his class, he is fond of -money; and this love of dross he turns into his sharpest discipline -of soul. Twisting plaits of birch-bark into creels and -crates, he vends these articles to boatmen and pilgrims at two -kopecks apiece; ties the copper coins in a filthy rag; and then -creeps away to hide his money under a stone, in the hope that -some one will watch him and steal it when he is gone.</p> - -<p>The first monk who held the chair of abjectness in Solovetsk, -before Nikita came in, was a miracle of self-denial, and -his death was commemorated by an act of the rarest grace. -Father Nahum is that elder and worthier sacrifice to heaven.</p> - -<p>Nahum is said to have been more abject in manner, more -self-denying in habit, than Nikita; being a person of higher -order, and having more method in his scheme of sacrifice. -He abstained from the refuse of fish, as too great a delicacy -for sinful men. He liked to sleep in the snow. He was only -too happy to lie down at a beggar's door. Once, when he -slept outside the convent gates all night, some humorous brother -suggested that perhaps he had been looking out for girls; -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">{96}</a></span> -and on hearing of this ribald jest he stripped himself nearly -naked, poked a hole in the ice, and sat down in the frozen lake -until his feet were chilled to the bone. A wing of the convent -once took fire, and the monks began to run about with -pails; but Nahum rolled a ball of snow in his palms and threw -it among the flames; and as the tongues lapped higher and -higher, he ran to the church, threw himself on the floor, and -begged the Lord to put them out. Instantly, say the monks, -the fire died down. An archimandrite saw him groping in a -garden for potatoes, tearing up the roots with his fingers. -"That is cold work, is it not, Nahum?" asked his kindly chief. -"Humph!" said the monk; "try it." When the present -emperor came to Solovetsk, and every one was anxious to do -him service, Nahum walked up to him with a wooden cup, -half full of dirty water, saying, "Drink; it is good enough."</p> - -<p>When this professor of abjectness died, he was honored by -his brethren with a special funeral, inside the convent gates. -He was buried in the yard, beneath the cathedral dome; -where all day long, in the pilgrim season, a crowd of people -may be seen about the block of granite which marks his -grave; some praying beside the stone, as though he were already -a "friend of God," while others are listening to the -stories told of this uncanonized saint. Only one other monk -of Solovetsk has ever been distinguished by such a mark of -grace. Time—and time only—now seems wanting to Father -Nahum's glory. In another generation—if the Black Clergy -hold their own—Nahum of Solovetsk, canonized already by -the popular voice of monks and pilgrims, will be taken up in -St. Isaac's Square, and raised by imperial edict to his heavenly -seat.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XVII.<br /> - -<span class="small">MIRACLES.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Yet</span> the gift of miracles is greater than the gift of sacrifice. -The Black Clergy stand out for miracles; not in a mystical -sense, but in a natural sense; not only in times long past, -but in the present hour; not only in the dark and in obscure -hamlets, but in populous places and in the light of day.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">{97}</a></span> -At Kief a friend drives me out to the caves of Anton and -Feodosie, where we find some men and women standing by -the gates, expecting the father who keeps the keys to bring -them and unlock the doors. As these living pilgrims occupy -us more than the dead anchorets, we join this party, pay our -five kopecks, light our tapers, and descend with them the -rocky stairs into the vault. Candle in hand, an aged monk -goes forward, muttering in the gloom; stopping for an instant, -here and there, to show us, lying on a ledge of rock, -some coffin muffled in a pall. We thread a mile of lanes, saluting -saint on saint, and twice or thrice we come into dwarf -chapels, in each of which a lamp burns dimly before a shrine. -The women kneel; the men cross themselves and pray. Moving -forward in the dark, we come upon a niche in the wall, -covered by a curtain and a glass door, on the ledge of which -stands a silver dish, a little water, and a human skull. Our -pilgrims cross themselves and mutter a voiceless prayer, -while the aged monk lays down his taper and unlocks the -door. A woman sinks on her knees before the niche, turns up -her face, and shuts her eyes, while the father, dipping a quill -into the water, drops a little of the fluid on her eyelids. One -by one, each pilgrim undergoes this rite; and then, on rising -from his knees, lays down an offering of a few kopecks on the -ledge of rock.</p> - -<p>"What does this ceremony mean?" I ask the father. -"Mean?" says he: "a mystery—a miracle! This skull is -the relic of a holy man whose eye had suffered from a blow. -He called upon the Most Pure Mother of God; she heard his -cry of pain; and in her pity she cured him of his wound."</p> - -<p>"What is the name of that holy man?"—"We do not know."</p> - -<p>"When did he live and die?"—"We do not know."</p> - -<p>"Was he a monk of Kief?"—"He was; and after he died -his skull was kept, because his fame was great, and every one -with pain in his eyes came hither to obtain relief."</p> - -<p>Not one of our fellow-pilgrims has sore eyes; but who, as -the father urges, knows what the morrow may have in store? -Bad eyes may come; and who would not like to insure himself -forever against pain and blindness at the cost of five kopecks?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">{98}</a></span> -Such miracles are performed by the bones of saints in cities -less holy and old than Kief.</p> - -<p>Seraphim, a merchant of Kursk, abandoned his wife, his -children, and his shop, to become a monk. Wandering to -the cloister called the Desert of Sarof, in the province of Tambof, -he dug for himself a hole in the ground, in which he lay -down and slept. Some robbers came to his cave, where they -beat and searched him; but, on finding his pockets empty, -they knew that he must be a holy man. From that lucky day -his fame spread rapidly abroad; and people came to see him -from far and near; bringing presents of bread, of raiment, -and of money; all of which he took into his cave, and doled -out afterwards to the poor. A second window had to be cut -into his cell; at one he received gifts, at the other he dispensed -them. His desert became a populous place, and the -Convent of Sarof grew into vast repute.</p> - -<p>Seraphim founded a second desert for women, ten miles -distant from his own. A gentleman gave him a piece of -ground; merchants sent him money; for his favor was by -that time reckoned as of higher value than house and land. -Lovely and wealthy women drove to see him, and to stay -with him; entering into the desert which he formed for them, -and living apart from the world, without taking on their heads -the burden of conventual vows. At length a miracle was announced. -A lamp which hung in front of a picture of the -Virgin died out while Seraphim was kneeling on the ground; -the chapel grew dark and the face of the Virgin faint; the -pilgrims were much alarmed; when, to the surprise of every -one who saw it, a light came out from the picture and re-lit -the lamp! A second miracle soon followed. One day, a -crowd of poor people came to the desert for bread, when Seraphim -had little in his cell to give. Counting his loaves, he -saw that he had only two; and how was he to divide two -loaves among all those hungry folk? He lifted up his voice—and -lo! not two, but twenty loaves were standing on his -board. From that time wonders were reported every year -from Sarof; cures of all kinds; and the court in front of Seraphim's -cell was thronged by the lame and blind, the deaf and -dumb, by day and night.</p> - -<p>Seraphim died in 1833; yet miracles are said to be effected -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">{99}</a></span> -at his tomb to this very hour. Already called a saint, the -people ask his canonization from the Church. Every new -Emperor makes a saint; as in Turkey every new Sultan -builds a mosque; and Seraphim is fixed upon by the public -voice as the man whom Alexander the Third will have to -make a saint.</p> - -<p>One Motovilof, a landowner in the province of Penza, lame, -unable to walk, applied for help to Seraphim, who promised -the invalid, on conditions, a certain cure. Motovilof was to -become a friend of Sarof; a supporter of the female desert. -Yielding to these terms, he was told to go down to Voronej, -and to make his reverence at the shrine of Metrofanes, a local -saint, on which he would find himself free from pain. Motovilof -went to Voronej, and came back cured. With grateful -heart he gave Seraphim a patch of land for his female desert; -and then, being busy with his affairs, he gradually forgot his -pilgrimage and his miraculous cure. The pain came back -into his leg; he could hardly walk; and not until he sent a -supply of bread and clothes to Seraphim was he restored in -health. Not once, but many times, the worldly man was -warned to keep his pledge; a journey to the desert became a -habit of his life; until he fell into love for one of Seraphim's -fair penitents, and taking her home from her refuge, made -that recluse his wife.</p> - -<p>More noticeable still is the story of Tikhon, sometime Bishop -of Voronej, now a recognized saint of the Orthodox Church. -Tikhon is the official saint of the present reign; the living Emperor's -contribution to the heavenly ranks.</p> - -<p>Timothy Sokolof, son of a poor reader in a village church, -was born (in 1724) in that province of Novgorod which has -given to Russia most of her popular saints. The reader's -family was large, his income small, and Timothy was sent to -work on a neighbor's farm. Toiling in the fields by day, in -the sheds by night; sleeping little, eating less; he yet contrived -to learn how to read and write. Sent from this farm -to a school, just opened in Novgorod, he toiled so patiently at -his tasks, and made such progress in his studies, that on finishing -his course he was appointed master of the school.</p> - -<p>His heart was not in this work of teaching. From his cradle -he had been fond of singing hymns and hearing mass, of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">{100}</a></span> -being left alone with his books and thoughts, of flying from -the face of man and the allurements of the world. A vision -shaped for him his future course. "When I was yet a teacher -in the school," he said to a friend in after life, "I sat up -whole nights, reading and thinking. Once, when I was sitting -up in May, the air being very soft, the sky very bright, I -left my cell, and stood under the starry dome, admiring the -lights, and thinking of our eternal life. Heaven opened to -my sight—a vision such as human words can never paint! -My heart was filled with joy, and from that hour I felt a passionate -longing to quit the world."</p> - -<p>A few years after he took the cowl and changed the name -of Timothy for Tikhon, he was raised from his humble cell to -the episcopal bench; first in Novgorod, afterwards at Voronej; -the second a missionary see; the province of Voronej -lying close to the Don Kozak country and the Tartar steppe.</p> - -<p>The people of this district were lawless tribes; Kozaks, -Kalmuks, Malo-Russ; a tipsy, idle, vagabond crew; the clergy -worse, it may be, than their flocks. Voronej had no schools; -the popes could hardly read; the services were badly sung and -said. All classes of the people lived in sin. Tikhon began a -patient wrestle with these disorders. Opening with the -priests, and with the schools, he put an end to flogging in the -seminaries; in order, as he said, to raise the standing of a -priest, and cause the student to respect himself. This change -was but a sign of things to come. By easy steps he won his -clergy to live like priests; to drink less, to pray more; and -generally to act as ministers of God. In two years he purged -the schools and purified the Church.</p> - -<p>No less care was given to lay disorders. Often he had to -be plain in speech; but such was the reverence felt for him -by burgher and peasant that no one dared to disregard his -voice. "You must do so, if Tikhon tells you," they would -say to each other; "if not, he will complain of you to God." -He dressed in a coarse robe; he ate plain food; he sent the -wine untouched from his table to the sick. He was the poor -man's friend; and only waited on the rich when he found no -wretched ones at his gates. The power of Tikhon lay in his -faultless life, in his tender tones, and in his loving heart. -"Want of love," he used to urge, "is the cause of all our -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">{101}</a></span> -misery; had we more love for our brothers, pain and grief -would be more easy to bear; love soothes away all grief and -pain."</p> - -<p>Two years in Novgorod, five years in Voronej, he spent in -these gracious labors, till the longing of his heart for solitude -grew too strong. Laying down his mitre, he retired from his -palace in Voronej to the convent of Zadonsk, a little town on -the river Don, where he gave up his time to writing tracts -and visiting the poor. These labors were of highest use; for -Tikhon was among the first (if not the first of all) to write in -favor of the serf. Fifteen volumes of his works are printed; -fifteen more are said to lie in manuscript; and some of these -works have gone through fifty editions from the Russian press.</p> - -<p>Tikhon's great merit as a writer lies in the fact that he foresaw, -prepared, and urged emancipation of the serfs.</p> - -<p>For fifteen years he lived the life of a holy man. As a -friend of serfs, he one day went to the house of a prince, in -the district of Voronej, to point out some wrong which they -were suffering on his estate, and to beg him, for the sake of -Jesus and Mary, to be tender with the poor. The prince got -angry with his guest for putting the thing so plainly into -words; and in the midst of some sharp speech between them, -struck him in the face. Tikhon rose up and left the house; -but when he had walked some time, he began to see that he—no -less than his host—was in the wrong. This man, he said -to himself, has done a deed of which, on cooling down, he will -feel ashamed. Who has caused him to do that wrong? "It -was my doing," sighed the reprover, turning on his heel, and -going straight back into the house. Falling at the prince's -feet, Tikhon craved his pardon for having stirred him into -wrath, and caused him to commit a sin. The man was so astonished, -that he knelt down by the monk, and, kissing his -hands, implored his forgiveness and his benediction. From -that hour, it is said, the prince was another man; noticeable -through all the province of Voronej for his kindness to the -serfs.</p> - -<p>Tikhon lived into his eightieth year. Before he passed -away, he told the brethren of his convent he would live until -such a day and then depart. He died, as he had told them -he should die—on the day foreseen, and in the midst of his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">{102}</a></span> -weeping friends. From the day of his funeral, his shrine in -Zadonsk was visited by an ever-increasing crush; for cures -of many kinds were wrought; the sick recovered, the lame -walked home, the blind saw, the crooked became straight. -A thousand voices claimed the canonization of this friend of -serfs; until the reigning emperor, struck by this appeal, invited -the Holy Governing Synod to conduct the inquiries -which precede the canonization of a Russian saint.</p> - -<p>The commission sat; the miracles were proved; and then -the tomb was opened. Out from the coffin came a scent of -flowers; the flesh was pure and sweet; and the act of canonization -was decreed and signed in 1861, the emancipation year. -Tikhon of Zadonsk is the emancipation saint.</p> - -<p>Yet, according to the Black Clergy, the newest and the -greatest miracle of modern times is the Virgin's defense of -Solovetsk against the Anglo-French squadron in 1854.</p> - -<p>The wardrobe of Solovetsk contains the chief treasures of -the cloister; old charters and letters; original grants of lands; -the rescript of Peter; manuscript lives of Savatie and Zosima; -service-books, richly bound in golden plates; Pojarski's -sword; cups, lamps, crosses, candlesticks in gold and silver; -but the treasure of treasures is the evidence of that stupendous -miracle wrought by the Most Pure Mother of God.</p> - -<p>On the centre stand, under a glass case, strongly locked, lie -an English shell and two round-shot. They are carefully inscribed. -A reliquary in a closet holds a dozen bits of brass, -the rent fusees of exploded shells. A number of prints are -sold to the devout, in which the English gun-boats are moored -under the convent wall, so near that men might easily have -leaped on shore. Among this mass of evidence is a new and -splendid ornamental cup; the gift of Russia to Solovetsk—in -memory of the day when human help had failed, and "the -convent that endureth forever" was saved by the Virgin Mother -of God.</p> - -<p>A scoffer here and there may smile. "Savatie! Zosima!" -laughed a Russian cynic in my face; "you English made the -fortune of these saints. How so? You see a peasant has -but two notions in his pate—the Empire and the Church; a -power of the flesh and a power of the spirit. Now, see what -you have done. You wage war upon us; you send your fleets -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">{103}</a></span> -into the Black Sea and into the White Sea; in the first to fight -against the Empire, in the second to fight against the Church. -In one sea, you win; in the other sea, you lose. Sevastopol -falls to your arms; while Solovetsk drives away your ships. -The arm of the spirit is seen to be stronger than the arm of -flesh. What then? 'Heaven,' says the rustic to his neighbor, -as they dawdle home from church, 'is mightier than the -Tsar.' For fifty years to come our superstitions will lie on -English heads!"</p> - -<p>The tale of that miracle, told me on the spot, will sound in -some ears like a piece of high comedy, in others like a chapter -from some ancient and forgotten book. A dry dispatch from -Admiral Ommanney contains the little that we know of our -"Operations in the White Sea;" the next Chapter gives the -story, as they tell it on the other side.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> - -<span class="small">THE GREAT MIRACLE.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">So</span> soon as news arrived in the winter palace that an English -fleet was under steam for the Polar seas, the War Office -set to work in the usual way; sending out arms and men; -such arms and men as could be found and spared in these -northern towns. Six old siege-guns, fit for a museum, were -shipped from Archangel to the convent, with five artillerymen, -and fifty troopers of the line, selected from the Invalid Corps. -An officer came with these forces to conduct the defense.</p> - -<p>Just as the English ships were entering on their task this -officer died (June, 1854); no doubt by the hand of God, in -order to rebuke the pride of man, while adding fresh lustre to -the auriol of His saints. The arm of flesh having failed, the -fathers threw themselves on the only power that can never -fail.</p> - -<p>Father Alexander, then the Archimandrite, ordered a series -of services to be held in the several chapels within the walls. -A special office was appointed for Sunday, with a separate -appeal to Heaven for guidance; first in the name of the Most -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">{104}</a></span> -Sweet Infant Jesus; afterwards in that of the Most Pure -Mother of God. Midnight services were also given; the effect -of which is said to have been great and strange; firing -the monks with a new and wonderful spirit of confidence in -their cause. The Archimandrite sang mass in person before -the tombs of Savatie and Zosima, in the crypt of the cathedral -church, and also before the miracle-working picture of -the Virgin brought by Savatie to his desert. This picture—so -important in the story—came from Greece. The service -sung before it filled the monks with gladness; warmth and -comfort flowed from the Madonna's face; and her adorers felt -themselves conquerors, in her name, before the English warships -hove in sight.</p> - -<p>In their first trouble, the copes and missals, charters and -jewels, had been sent away into the inland towns. This act -of doubt occurred before the officer died, and the monks had -taken upon themselves the burden of defense. To those who -carried away the cups and crosses, robes and books, the Archimandrite -gave his blessing and his counsel. "Know," he -said to them at parting, "that, whether you be on sea or land, -every Friday we shall be fasting and praying for you; do -you the same; and God will preserve the things which belong -to His service, and which you are carrying away; follow -my commands, and come back to me in a better time, sound -in health, with the things of which you go in charge." When -news came in that English ships were cruising off the bar of -Archangel, some of the brethren fainted; "left by the Emperor," -they sighed, "to be made a sacrifice for his sins." -Ten days before the squadron came in sight, the Archimandrite -held a service in his church, to encourage these feeble -souls; and when his prayers were ended, he addressed them -thus: "Grieve not that the defense seems weak while the -foe is strong. Rely upon our Lord, upon His Most Pure -Mother, upon the two excellent saints who have promised that -this convent shall endure forever. Jesus will perform a miracle, -for their sake, such as the world has never seen." A ray -of comfort stole into their hearts; and rolling out barrels of -pitch and tar, they smeared the wooden shingles of wall and -tower, filled pails of water in readiness to drench out fires, and -took down from the convent armory the rusty pikes and bills -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">{105}</a></span> -which had been lying up since the attack of Swedish ships in -the days of Peter the Great.</p> - -<p>A hundred texts were found to show that these old weapons -could be used again, even as the arms of David were used -once more by the Lion of Judah in defense of Solomon's -shrine. Young children came into the monastery from Kem -and Suma, vowed by their fathers to the cause of God; and -many old pikes and bills were put into these infant hands. -"The fire of your ships," said one of the monks, "did not -frighten these innocents, who played with the shells as though -they had been harmless toys." Not a child was hurt.</p> - -<p>When the fleet was signalled from the outlooks, Alexander -spoke to his brethren after meat: "Have a good heart," he -cried; "we are not weak, as we appear; for God is on our -side. If we were saved by an army, where would be our -credit? With the soldiery, with the world! What would -be our gain? But if by prayer alone we drive the squadron -from our shores, the glory will belong to our convent and our -faith. Have a good heart! Slava Bogu—Glory to God!"</p> - -<p>On Tuesday morning (July 18th, 1854) the watchers signalled -two frigates, which were rounding Beluga Point: the -Archimandrite proclaimed a three days' fast. The two frigates -anchored seven miles from the shore: the Archimandrite -ordered the convent bell to toll for a special service to the -Most Pure Mother of God. Like a Hebrew king, he took off -his gorgeous robes, and, humbling himself before the fathers, -read a prayer in front of the tombs of Savatie and Zosima, -and, taking down the miraculous picture of the Virgin, -marched with it in procession round the walls. Then—but -not till then—the frigates sailed away.</p> - -<p>As the ships steamed off towards Kem, it was feared they -might still come back; and Ensign Niconovitch, commanding -the Company of Invalids, went out to survey the shores, dragging -two three-pounder guns through the sand; while many -of the pilgrims and workmen offered their services as scouts. -Niconovitch built a battery of sods and sand, behind which -he trained his guns; and eight small pieces were laid upon -the towers and walls, after which the fathers fell once more -to prayer.</p> - -<p>Next day a trail of smoke was seen in the summer sky. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">{106}</a></span> -The two ships, soon known to them as the "Brisk" and the -"Miranda," steamed into the bay. The "Brisk," say the -monks, was the first to speak, and she opened her parley with -a rattling shot. Standing on the quay, the Archimandrite -was nearly struck by a ball, and his people, frightened at the -crashing roar, ran up into the convent yard, and tried to close -behind them the Sacred Gates.</p> - -<p>A petty officer, one Drushlevski, having charge of ten men -and a gun in the Weaver's Tower, returned the fire; on which -the English frigate is said to have opened her broadside on -the tower and wall. Drushlevski took up her challenge; but -with aim and prudence, having very little powder in his casks. -The "Brisk," they say, fired thirty rounds, while the officer in -the Weaver's Tower discharged his gun three times. The -English then sheered off; a shot from the convent gun having -struck her side, and killed a man.</p> - -<p>That night was spent in joy and prayer. The Archimandrite -kissed Drushlevski, and gave his blessing to every gunner -in the Weaver's Tower. When night came on—the summer -night of the Frozen Sea—the frigates were out of sight; -but no one felt secure, and least of all Drushlevski, that this -triumph of the cross was yet complete. Not a soul in the -convent slept.</p> - -<p>Dawn brought them one of the holiest festivals of the Russian -year; Thursday, July 20th, the feast of our Lady of Kazan; -a day on which no plough is driven, no mill is opened, no -school is kept, in any part of Russia, from the White Sea to -the Black. Matins were sung, as usual, in the Cathedral -Church at half-past two; the Archimandrite steadily going -through his chant, as though the peril were not nigh. Te -Deum was just being finished, when a boat came ashore from -the "Brisk," carrying a white flag, and bringing a summons -for the convent to yield her keys. The letter was in English, -accompanied by a bad translation, in which the word for -"squadron of ships," was rendered by the Russian term for -squadrons of horse. Consulting with his monks—who laughed -in good hearty mood at the idea of being set upon by cavalry -from the sea—the Archimandrite told the messenger to say his -answer should be sent to the "Brisk" by an officer of his own.</p> - -<p>Two "insolent conditions" were imposed by the admiral: -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">{107}</a></span> -(1.) The commander was to yield his sword in person; (2.) -The garrison were to become prisoners of war. Ommanney's -letter informed the fathers that if a gun were fired from the -wall, his bombardment would begin at once; alleging in explanation -that on the previous day a gun in the convent had -opened on his ship.</p> - -<p>One Soltikoff, a pilgrim, carried the Archimandrite's answer -to the "Brisk:"—a proud refusal to give up his keys. Denying -that the convent had opened fire on the English boat, -he said the first shot came from the frigate, and the convent -simply replied to it in self-defense. The paper was unsigned; -the monk declaring that as a man of peace he could not write -his name on a document treating of blood and death.</p> - -<p>Admiral Ommanney told the pilgrim there was nothing -more to say; the bombardment would begin at once; and the -convent would be swept from the earth. Soltikoff asked for -time, and Ommanney offered him three hours' grace. It was -now five in the morning, and the admiral gave the fathers -until eight o'clock; but on the pilgrim saying the time was -short, Ommanney is said to have sworn a great oath, and lessened -his term of grace three-quarters of an hour. He kept -his oath; the bombardment opened at a quarter to eight -o'clock of that holy day—inscribed to Our Lady of Kazan—our -Lady of Victory; the first shell flying over the convent -shingles almost as soon as Soltikoff reached the Sacred Gates.</p> - -<p>On the English frigates opening fire, the bell in the courtyard -tolled the monks to prayer. Shot, shell, grenade and -cartridge rained on the walls and domes; yet the services -went on all day; a hurricane of fire without; an agony of -prayer within! While the people were on their knees, a -shell struck the cathedral dome—the rent of which is piously -preserved—and, tearing through the wooden framework, -dashed down the ceiling on the supplicants' heads. The rafters -were on fire; the church was suddenly filled with smoke. -A sacred image was grazed and singed. The windows -cracked; the doors flew open; the buildings reeled and shivered; -and the terrified people fell with their faces on the -stones. One man only kept his feet. Standing before the -royal gates, the Archimandrite cried: "Stay! stay! Be not -afraid, the Lord will guard His own!" The monks and pilgrims, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">{108}</a></span> -lifting up their eyes, beheld the old man standing before -his altar, quiet and erect, with big tears rolling down his -cheeks. They sprang to their feet; they ran to fetch water; -they put out the flames; they swept off the wreck of dust and -rafters; and when the floor was cleansed, they sank on their -knees and bowed their heads once more in prayer.</p> - -<p>When mass was over, three poor women remained in the -cathedral on their knees; a shell came through the roof, and -burst; on which the poor things crawled towards the shrines -where men were praying, and women are not allowed to come. -A good pope let them in, and suffered them to pray with the -men; an act which the monks regard as one of the highest -wonders of that miraculous day.</p> - -<p>A petty officer named Ponomareff occupied with his gun a -spit of rock, from which he could tease the frigates, and draw -upon himself no little of their wrath. Every shot from the -"Miranda" splashed the mire about his men, who were often -buried, though they were not killed that day. Leaping to his -feet, and shaking the dirt from his clothes, Ponomareff stood -to his gun, until he was called away. He and three other -men crept through the stones and trees, to places far apart; -whence they discharged their carbines, and ran away into the -scrub, after drawing upon these points a rattle of shot and -shell. At length he was recalled. "It is a sad day for the -monastery," sighed the gunner, "but we are willing to die with -the saints."</p> - -<p>Services were sung all day in front of the shrines of Savatie -and Zosima. Once a shot struck the altar; the pope shrank -back from his desk, and the people fell on their faces. Every -one supposed that his hour was come, and many cried out in -their fear for the bread and wine. Father Varnau, the confessor, -took his seat, confessed the people, and gave them the -sacrament. Alexander was the first to confess his sins, and -make up his account with God. The elders followed; then -the lay monks, pilgrims, soldiers, women; and when all were -shriven, the body of penitents pressed around the shrines of -Philip, Savatie, Zosima, and the Mother of God.</p> - -<p>A little after noon, the convent bells in the yard were tolled, -the monks and pilgrims gathered on the wall, and lines of -procession were ordered to be formed. The monks stood -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">{109}</a></span> -first, the pilgrims next, the women and children last; and -when they were all got ready to march, the Archimandrite -took down from the screen beside his altar the Miraculous -Virgin and the principal cross; and placing himself in front -of his people, with the cross in his right hand, the Virgin in -his left, conducted them round the ramparts under fire. He -waved his cross, and blessed the pilgrims with the Miraculous -Virgin as he strode along. The great bell tolled, the monks -and pilgrims sang a psalm. Shot and shell rained overhead; -the boulders trembled in the wall; the shingles cracked and -split on the roof. Near the corner tower by the Holy Lake -the procession came to a halt. A shell had struck the windmill, -setting the fans on fire. Pealing their psalm, and calling -on their saints, they waited till the flames died down, and -then resumed their march. A shot came dashing through the -rampart; splintering the logs and planks in their very midst, -and cutting the line of procession into head and heel. "Advance!" -cried the Archimandrite, waving his cross and picture, -and the people instantly advanced. On reaching the -Weaver's Tower, from which the shot of destiny had been -fired the previous day, the Archimandrite, calling the monk -Gennadie to his side, gave him the cross, with orders to carry -it up into the tower, and let the gunners kiss the image of our -Lord. While Gennadie was absent on this errand, the Archimandrite -showed the monks and pilgrims that the convent -doves were not fluttered in their nests by the English guns.</p> - -<p>A miracle! When the procession moved from the Weaver's -Tower, they came near some open ground, which they were -obliged to cross, under showers of shot. No man of flesh and -blood—unless protected from on high—could pass through -that fire unscathed. But now was the time to try men's faith. -A moment only the procession paused; the Archimandrite, -holding up his miraculous picture of the Mother of God, advanced -into the cloud of dust and smoke; the people pealed -their psalm; and the shells and balls from the English ships -were seen to curve in their flight, to whirl over dome and -tower, and come down splashing into the Holy Lake! Every -eye saw that miracle; and every heart confessed the Most -Pure Mother of God.</p> - -<p>The frigates then drew off, and went their way; to be seen -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">{110}</a></span> -from the watch-towers of the sacred isles no more; vanquished -and put to shame; though visibly not by the hand of man. -Not a soul in the convent had been hurt; though hurricanes -of brass and iron had been fired from the English decks.</p> - -<p>A Norwegian named Harder, a visitor by chance to Solovetsk, -was so much struck by this miraculous defense, that he -cried in the convent yard, "How great is the Russian God!" -and begged to be admitted a member of their Church.</p> - -<p>The news of this attack by an English Admiral on Solovetsk -was carried into every part of Russia, and the effect which it -produced on the Russian mind may be conceived by any one -who will take the pains to imagine how he would feel on hearing -reports from Palestine that a Turkish Pasha had opened -fire on the dome and cross of the Holy Sepulchre. Shame, -astonishment, and fury filled the land, until the further news -arrived that this abominable raid among the holy graves and -shrines had come to naught. Since that year of miracles, -young and old, rich and poor, have come to regard a journey -to Solovetsk as only second in merit to a voyage to Bethlehem -and the tomb of Christ. Peasants set the fashion, which Emperors -and grand dukes are taking up. Alexander the Second -has made a pilgrimage to these holy isles; his brother Constantine -has done the same; and two of his sons will make -the trip next year. The Empress, too, is said to have made a -vow, that if Heaven restores her strength, she will pay a visit -to Savatie's shrine.</p> - -<p>Some people think these visits of the imperial race are due, -not only to the wish to lead where they might otherwise have -to follow, but to matters connected with that mystery of a -buried grand duke which lends so dark a fame to the convent -in the Frozen Sea.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XIX.<br /> - -<span class="small">A CONVENT SPECTRE.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">A land</span> alive with goblins and sorceries, in which every -monk sees visions, in which every woman is thought to be a -witch, presents the proper scenery for such a legend as that -of the convent spectre, called the Spirit of the Frozen Sea.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">{111}</a></span> -Faith in the existence of this phantom is widely spread. I -have met with evidences of this faith not only in the northern -seas, but on the Volga, in hamlets of the Ukraine, and -among old believers in Moscow, Novgorod, and Kief. All the -Ruthenians, most of the Don Kozaks, and many of the Poles, -give credit to this tale, in either a spiritualized or physical -form.</p> - -<p>Rufin Pietrowski, the Pole who escaped from his Siberian -mine, and, crossing the Ural Mountains, dropped down the -river Dvina on a raft, and got as near to Solovetsk as Onega -Point, reports the spectre as a fact, and offers the explanation -which was given of it by his fellow-pilgrims. He says it is -not a ghost, but a living man. Other and later writers than -Pietrowski hint at such a mystery; but the tale is one of -which men would rather whisper in corners than prate in -books.</p> - -<p>"You have been to Solovetsk?" exclaimed to me a native -of Kalatch, on the Don, a man of wit and spirit. "May I ask -whether you saw any thing there that struck you much?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, many things; the convent itself, the farms and gardens, -the dry-dock, the fishing-boats, the salt-pits, the tombs -of saints."</p> - -<p>"Ah! yes, they would let you see all those things; but -they would not let you go into their secret prison."</p> - -<p>"Why not?" I said, to lead him on.</p> - -<p>"They have a prisoner in that building whom they dare -not show."</p> - -<p>The same thing happened to me several times, with variations -of time and place.</p> - -<p>Some boatman from the Lapland ports, while striving, in -the first hard days of winter, with the floes of ice, is driven -beneath the fortress curtain, where he sees, on looking up, in -the faint light of dusk, a venerable figure passing behind a -loop-hole in the wall; his white hair cut, which proves that -he is not a monk; his eyes upraised to heaven; his hands -clasped fervently, as though he were in prayer; his whole appearance -that of a man appealing to the justice of God -against the tyranny of man. A sentry passes the loop-hole, -and the boatman sees no more.</p> - -<p>This figure is not seen at other times and by other folk. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">{112}</a></span> -Three months in the year these islands swarm with pilgrims, -many of whom come and go in their craft from Onega and -Kem. These visitors paddle below the ramparts day and -night; yet nothing is seen by them of the aged prisoner and -his sentry on the convent wall. Clearly, then, if the figure is -that of a living man, there must be reasons for concealing -him from notice during the pilgrim months.</p> - -<p>"Hush!" said a boatman once to a friend of mine, as he lay -in a tiny cove under the convent wall; you must not speak so -loud; these rocks can hear. One dares not whisper in one's -sleep, much less on the open sea, that the phantom walks yon -wall. The pope tells you it is an imp; the elder laughs in -your face and calls you a fool. If you believe your eyes, they -say you are crazed, not fit to pull a boat."</p> - -<p>"You have not seen the figure?"</p> - -<p>"Seen him—no; he is a wretched one, and brings a man -bad luck. God help him ... if he is yet alive!"</p> - -<p>"You think he is a man of flesh and blood?"</p> - -<p>"Holy Virgin keep us! Who can tell?"</p> - -<p>"When was he last seen?"</p> - -<p>"Who knows? A boatman seldom pulls this way at -dusk; and when he finds himself here by chance, he turns his -eyes from the castle wall. Last year, a man got into trouble -by his chatter. He came to sell his fish, and fetching a -course to the south, brought up his yawl under the castle -guns. A voice called out to him, and when he looked up -suddenly, he saw behind the loop-hole a bare and venerable -head. While he stood staring in his yawl, a crack ran -through the air, and looking along the line of roof, he saw, behind -a puff of smoke, a sentinel with his gun. A moment -more and he was off. When the drink was in his head, he -prated about the ghost, until the elder took away his boat and -told him he was mad."</p> - -<p>"What is the figure like?"</p> - -<p>"A tall old man, white locks, bare head, and eyes upraised, -as if he were trying to cool his brain."</p> - -<p>"Does he walk the same place always?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, they say so; always. Yonder, between the turrets, -is the phantom's walk. Let us go back. Hist! That is the -convent bell."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">{113}</a></span> -The explanation hinted by Pietrowski, and widely taken -for the truth, is that the figure which walks these ramparts in -the winter months is not only that of a living man, but of a -popular and noble prince; no less a personage than the Grand -Duke Constantine, elder brother of the late Emperor Nicolas, -and natural heir to the imperial crown!</p> - -<p>This prince, in whose cause so many patriots lost their -lives, is commonly supposed to have given up the world for -love; to have willingly renounced his rights of succession to -the throne; to have acquiesced in his younger brother's -reign; to have died of cholera in Minsk; to have been buried -in the fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul. But many persons -look on this story as a mere official tale. Their version is, -that the prince was a liberal prince; that he married for -love; that he never consented to waive his rights of birth; -that the documents published by the Senate were forged; -that the Polish rising of 1831 was not directed against him; -that the attack on his summer palace was a feint; that his retirement -to Minsk was involuntary; that he did not die of -cholera, as announced; that he was seized in the night, and -whisked away in a tarantass, while Russia was deceived by -funeral rites; that he was driven in the tarantass to Archangel, -whence he was borne to Solovetsk; that he escaped from -the convent; that in the year of Emancipation he suddenly -appeared in Penza; that he announced a reign of liberty and -peace; that he was followed by thousands of peasants; that, -on being defeated by General Dreniakine, he was suffered to -escape; that he was afterwards seized in secret, and sent back -to Solovetsk; where he is still occasionally seen by fishermen -walking on the convent wall.</p> - -<p>The facts which underlie these versions of the same historical -events are wrapped in not a little doubt; and what is -actually known is of the kind that may be read in a different -sense by different eyes.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">{114}</a></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER XX.<br /> - -<span class="small">STORY OF A GRAND DUKE.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">When</span> Alexander the First—elder brother of Constantine -and Nicolas—died, unexpectedly, at Taganrog, on the distant -Sea of Azof, leaving no son to reign in his stead, the crown -descended, by law and usage, to the brother next in birth. -Constantine was then at Warsaw, with his Polish wife; Nicolas -was at St. Petersburg, with his guards. Constantine was -called the heir; and up to that hour no one seems to have -doubted that he would wear the crown, in case the Emperor's -life should fail. There was, however, a party in the Senate -and the barrack against him; the old Russian party, who could -not pardon him his Polish wife.</p> - -<p>When couriers brought the news from Taganrog to St. Petersburg, -Nicolas, having formed no plans as yet, called up the -guards, announced his brother's advent to the throne, and -set them an example of loyalty by taking the oath of allegiance -to his Imperial Majesty Constantine the First. The -guards being sworn, the generals and staff-officers signed the -act of accession and took the oaths. Cantering off to their -several barracks, these officers put the various regiments of -St. Petersburg under fealty to Constantine the First; and -Nicolas sent news that night to Warsaw that the new Emperor -had begun to reign.</p> - -<p>But while the messengers were tearing through the winter -snows, some members of the Senate came to Nicolas with yet -more startling news. Alexander, they said, had left with them -a sealed paper, contents unknown, which they were not to open -until they heard that he was dead. On opening this packet, -they found in it two papers; one a letter from the Grand -Duke Constantine, written in 1822, renouncing his rights in -the crown; the second, a manifesto by the dead Emperor, -written in 1823, accepting that renunciation and adopting his -brother Nicolas as his lawful heir. A similar packet, they alleged, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">{115}</a></span> -had been secretly left with Philaret of Moscow, and -would be found in the sacristy of his cathedral church. Nicolas -scanned these documents closely; saw good reason to put -them by; and urged the whole body of the Senate to swear -fidelity to Constantine the First. In every office of the State -the imperial functionaries took this oath. All Russia, in fact -all Europe, saw that Constantine had opened his reign in peace.</p> - -<p>Then followed a surprise. Some letters passed between -the two grand dukes, in which (it was said) the brothers were -each endeavoring to force the other to ascend the throne; -Nicolas urging that Constantine was the elder born and rightful -heir; Constantine urging that Nicolas had better health -and a more active spirit. Ten days rolled by. The Empire -was without a chief. A plot, of which Pestel, Rostovtsef, and -Mouravief were leading spirits, was on the point of explosion. -But on Christmas Eve, the Grand Duke Nicolas made up his -mind to take the crown. He spent the night in drawing up -a manifesto, setting forth the facts which led him to occupy -his brother's seat; and on Christmas Day he read this paper -in the Senate, by which body he was at once proclaimed Autocrat -and Tsar. A hundred generals rode to the various -barracks, to read the new proclamation, and to get those troops -who had sworn but a week ago to uphold his majesty Constantine -the First, to cast that oath to the winds, and swear a -second time to uphold his majesty Nicolas the First. But, if -most of the regiments were quick to unswear themselves by -word of command, a part of the guards, and chiefly the marines -and grenadiers, refused; and, marching from their quarters -into St. Isaac's Square, took up a menacing position towards -the new Emperor, while a cry rose wildly from the -crowd, of "Long live Constantine the First!"</p> - -<p>A shot was heard.</p> - -<p>Count Miloradovitch, governor-general of St. Petersburg, -fell dead; a brave general who had passed through fifty battles, -killed as he was trying to harangue his troops. A line -of fire now opened on the square. Colonel Stürler fell, at the -head of his regiment of guards. When night came down, the -ground was covered with dead and dying men; but Nicolas -was master of the square. A charge of grape-shot swept the -streets clear of rioters just as night was coming down.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">{116}</a></span> -When the trials to which the events of that day gave rise -came on, it suited both the Government and the conspirators -to keep the grand duke out of sight. Count Nesselrode told -the courts that this revolt was revolutionary, not dynastic; -and Nicolas denounced the leaders to his people as men who -wished to bring "a foreign contagion upon their sacred soil."</p> - -<p>The grand duke and his Polish wife remained in Warsaw, -living at the summer garden of Belvedere, in the midst of -woods and lakes, of pictures, and works of art. Once, indeed, -he left his charming villa for a season; to appear, quite unexpectedly -(the court declared), in the Kremlin, and assist in -placing the Imperial crown on his brother's head. That act -of grace accomplished, he returned to Warsaw; where he -reigned as viceroy; keeping a modest court, and leading an -almost private life. But the country was excited, the army -was not content. One war was forced by Nicolas on Persia, -a second on Turkey; both of them glorious for the Russian -arms; yet men were said to be troubled at the sight of a -younger brother on the throne; a sentiment of reverence for -the elder son being one of the strongest feelings in a Slavonic -breast; and all these troubles were kept alive by the social -and political writhings of the Poles.</p> - -<p>Two prosperous wars had made the Emperor so proud and -haughty that when news came in from Paris, telling him of -the fall of Charles the Tenth, he summoned his minister of -war, and ordered his troops to march. He said he would -move on Paris, and his Kozaks began to talk of picqueting -their horses on the Seine. But the French have agencies of -mischief in every town of Poland; and in less than five months -after Charles the Tenth left Paris, Warsaw was in arms.</p> - -<p>Every act of this Polish rising seems, so far as concerns the -Grand Duke Constantine, to admit of being told in different -ways.</p> - -<p>A band of young men stole into the Belvedere in the gloom -of a November night, and ravaged through the rooms. They -killed General Gendre; they killed the vice-president of police, -Lubowicki; and they suffered the grand duke to escape -by the garden gate. These are the facts; but whether he escaped -by chance is what remains in doubt. The Russian version -was that these young fellows came to kill the prince, as -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">{117}</a></span> -well as Gendre and Lubowicki; that a servant, hearing the -tumult near the palace, ran to his master's room, and led him -through the domestic passages into the open air. The Polish -version was, that these young men desired to find the prince; -not to murder him, but to use him as either hostage or emperor -in their revolt against his brother's rule.</p> - -<p>Arriving in Warsaw from his country-house, the grand duke, -finding that city in the power of a revolted soldiery, moved -some posts on the road towards the Russian frontier. Agents -came to assure him that no harm was meant to him; that he -was free to march with his guards and stores; that no one -would follow him or molest him on the road. Some Polish -companies were with him; and four days after his departure -from Belvedere, he received in his camp near Warsaw a deputation, -sent to him by his own request, from the insurgent -chiefs. Then came the act which roused the anger of his -brother's court; and led, as some folk think, to the mystery -and sympathy which cling around his name.</p> - -<p>He asked the deputation to state their terms. "A living -Poland!" they replied; "the charter of Alexander the First; -a Polish army and police; the restoration of our ancient frontier." -In return, he told these deputies that he had not sent -to Lithuania for troops; and he consented that the Polish companies -in his camp should return to Warsaw and join the insurgent -bands! For such a surrender to the rebels any other -general in the service would certainly have been tried and -shot. The Emperor, when he heard the news, went almost -mad with rage; and every one wishing to stand well at court -began to whisper that the Grand Duke Constantine had forfeited -his honor and his life.</p> - -<p>Constantine died suddenly at Minsk. The disease was -cholera; the corpse was carried to St. Petersburg; and the -prince, who had lost a crown for love, was laid with honor -among the ashes of his race, in the gloomy fortress of St. Peter -and St. Paul.</p> - -<p>But no gazetteer could make the common people believe -that their prince was gone from them forever. Like his father -Paul, and like his grandfather Peter, he was only hiding -in some secret place; and putting their heads together by the -winter fires they told each other he would come again.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">{118}</a></span> -In the year of emancipation (1861) a man appeared in the -province of Penza, who announced himself not only as the -grand duke, but as a prophet, a leader, and a messenger from -the Tsar. He told the people they were being deceived by -their priests and lords, that the Emperor was on their side, -that the emancipation act gave them the land without purchase -and rent-charge, and that they must support the Emperor -in his design to do them good. A crowd of peasants, -gathering to his voice, and carrying a red banner, marched -through the villages, crying death to the priests and nobles. -General Dreniakine, an aide-de-camp of the Emperor, a prompt -and confidential officer, was sent from St. Petersburg against -the grand duke, whom in his proclamation he called Egortsof, -and after a smart affair, in which eight men were killed and -twenty-six badly hurt, the peasants fled before the troops. -The grand duke was suffered to escape; and nothing more -has been heard of him, except an official hint that he is dead.</p> - -<p>What wonder that a credulous people fancies the hero of -such adventures may be still alive?</p> - -<p>In every country which has virtue enough to keep the -memory of a better day, the popular mind is apt to clothe its -hopes in this legendary form. In England, the commons expected -Arthur to awake; in Portugal, they expected Sebastian -to return; in Germany they believed that Barbarossa sat -on his lonely peak. Masses of men believe that Peter the -Third is living, and will yet resume his throne.</p> - -<p>Before landing in the Holy Isles, I gave much thought to -this mystery of the grand duke, and nursed a very faint hope -of being able to resolve the spectre into some mortal shape.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXI.<br /> - -<span class="small">DUNGEONS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">My</span> mind being full of this story, I keep an eye on every -gate and trap that might lead me either up or down into a -prisoner's cell. My leave to roam about the convent-yards is -free; and though I am seldom left alone, except when lodged -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">{119}</a></span> -in my private room, some chance of loitering round the ramparts -falls in my way from time to time. The monks retire -about seven o'clock, and as the sun sets late in the summer -months, I stroll through the woods and round by the Holy -Lake, while Father John is laying our supper of cucumbers -and sprats. Sometimes I get a peep at strange places while -the fathers are at mass.</p> - -<p>One day, when strolling at my ease, I come into a small -court-yard, which my clerical guides have often passed by. -A flutter of wings attracts me to the spot, and, throwing a few -crumbs of biscuit on the ground, I am instantly surrounded -by a thousand beautiful doves. They are perfectly tame. -Here, then, is that colony of doves which the Archimandrite -told his people were not disturbed by the English guns; -and looking at the tall buildings and the narrow yard, I -am less surprised by the miracle than when the story was -told me by the monks. Lifting my eyes to the sills from -which these birds come fluttering down, I see that the windows -are barred, that the door is strongly bound. In short, -this well-masked edifice is the convent jail; and it flashes -on me quickly that behind these grated frames, against -which the doves are pecking and cooing, lies the mystery of -Solovetsk.</p> - -<p>In going next day round the convent-yards and walls, with -my two attending fathers, dropping into the quass-house, the -school, the dyeing-room, the tan-yard, and the Weaver's Tower, -I lead the way, as if by merest chance, into this pigeons' -court. Referring to the Archimandrite's tale of the doves, I -ask to have that story told again. Hundreds of birds are cooing -and crying on the window-sills, just as they may have -done on the eventful feast of Our Lady of Kazan.</p> - -<p>"How pretty these doves! What a song they sing!"</p> - -<p>"Pigeons have a good place in the convent," says the father -at my side. "You see we never touch them; doves being -sacred in our eyes on account of that scene on the Jordan, -when the Holy Ghost came down to our Lord in the form of -a dove."</p> - -<p>"They seem to build by preference in this court."</p> - -<p>"Yes, it is a quiet corner; no one comes into this yard; -yon windows are never opened from within."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">{120}</a></span> -"Ah! this is the convent prison?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; this is the old monastic prison."</p> - -<p>"Are any of the fathers now confined in the place?"</p> - -<p>"Not one. We have no criminals at Solovetsk."</p> - -<p>"But some of the fathers are in durance, eh? For instance, -where is that monk whom we brought over from Archangel in -disgrace? Is he not here?"</p> - -<p>"No; he has been sent to the desert near Striking Hill."</p> - -<p>"Is that considered much of a penalty?"</p> - -<p>"By men like him, it is. In the desert he will be alone; -will see no women, and get no drink. In twelve months he -will come back to the convent another man."</p> - -<p>"Let us go up into this prison and see the empty cells."</p> - -<p>"Not now."</p> - -<p>"Why not? I am curious about old prisons; especially -about church prisons; and can tell you how the dungeons of -Solovetsk would look beside those of Seville, Antwerp, and -Rome."</p> - -<p>"We can not enter; it is not allowed."</p> - -<p>"Not allowed to see empty cells! Were you not told to -show me every part of the convent? Is there a place into -which visitors must not come?"</p> - -<p>The two fathers step aside for a private talk, during which -I feed the pigeons and hum a tune.</p> - -<p>"We can not go in there—at least, to-day."</p> - -<p>"Good!" I answer, in a careless tone; "get leave, and we -will come this way to-morrow.... Stay! To-morrow we -sail to Zaet. Why not go in at once and finish what we have -yet to see down here?"</p> - -<p>They feel that time would be gained by going in now; but -then, they have no keys. All keys are kept in the guardroom, -under the lieutenant's eyes. More talk takes place between -the monks; and doubt on doubt arises, as to the limit -of their powers. Their visitor hums a tune, and throws more -crumbs of bread among the doves, who frisk and flutter to -his feet, until the windows are left quite bare. A father passes -into a house; is absent some time; returns with an officer -in uniform, carrying keys. While they are mounting steps -and opening doors, the pilgrim goes on feeding doves, as -though he did not care one whit to follow and see the cells. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">{121}</a></span> -But when the doors roll back on their rusty hinges, he carelessly -follows his guides up the prison steps.</p> - -<p>The first floor consists of a long dark corridor, underground; -ten or twelve vaults arranged in a double row. -These cells are dark and empty. The visitor enters them -one by one, pokes the wall with his stick, and strikes a light -in each, to be sure that no one lies there unobserved; telling -the officer and the monks long yarns about underground vaults -and wells in Antwerp, Rome, and Seville. Climbing the stairs -to an upper floor, he finds a sentinel on duty, pacing a strong -anteroom; and feels that here, at least, some prisoner must -be kept under watch and ward. An iron-bound door is -now unlocked, and the visitor passes with his guides into -an empty corridor with cells on either side, corresponding -in size and number with the vaults below. Every door in -that corridor save one is open. That one door is closed and -barred.</p> - -<p>"Some one in there?"</p> - -<p>"No one?" says the father; but in a puzzled tone of voice, -and looking at the officer with inquiring eyes.</p> - -<p>"Well, yes; a prisoner," says that personage.</p> - -<p>"Let us go in. Open the door."</p> - -<p>Looking at the monks, and seeing no sign of opposition on -their part, the soldier turns the key; and as we push the door -back on its rusty hinge, a young man, tall and soldier-like, -with long black beard and curious eyes, springs up from a -pallet; and snatching a coverlet, wraps the loose garment -round his all but naked limbs.</p> - -<p>"What is your name?" the visitor asks; going in at once, -and taking him by the hand.</p> - -<p>"Pushkin," he answers softly; "Adrian Pushkin."</p> - -<p>"How long have you been confined at Solovetsk?"</p> - -<p>"Three years; about three years."</p> - -<p>"For what offense?"</p> - -<p>He stares in wonder, with a wandering light in his eye that -tells his secret in a flash.</p> - -<p>"Have you been tried by any court?"</p> - -<p>The officer interferes; the sentinel on guard is called; and -we are huddled by the soldiers—doing what they are told—from -the prisoner's cell.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">{122}</a></span> -"What has he done?" I ask the fathers, when the door is -slammed upon the captive's face.</p> - -<p>"We do not know, except in part. He is condemned by -the Holy Governing Synod. He denies our Lord." More -than this could not be learned.</p> - -<p>"A mad young man," sighs the monk; "he might have -gone home long ago; but he would not send for a pope, and -kiss the cross. He is now of better mind; if one can say he -has any mind. A mad young man!"</p> - -<p>There is yet another flight of steps. "Let us go up and -see the whole."</p> - -<p>We climb the stair, and find a second sentinel in the second -anteroom. More prisoners, then, in this upper ward! The -door which leads into the corridor being opened, the visitor -sees that here again the cells are empty, and the doors ajar—in -every case but one. A door is locked; and in the cell -behind that door they say an old man lodges; a prisoner in -the convent for many years.</p> - -<p>"How long?"</p> - -<p>"One hardly knows," replies the monk: "he was here -when most of us came to Solovetsk. He is an obstinate fellow; -quiet in his ways; but full of talk; he worries you to -death; and you can teach him nothing. More than one of -our Archimandrites, having pity on his case, has striven to -lead him into a better path. An evil spirit is in his soul."</p> - -<p>"Who is he?"</p> - -<p>"A man of rank; in his youth an officer in the army."</p> - -<p>"Then you know his name?"</p> - -<p>"We never talk of him; it is against the rules. We pray -for him, and such as he is; and he needs our prayers. A bad -Russian, a bad Christian, he denies our holy Church."</p> - -<p>"Does he ever go out?"</p> - -<p>"In winter, yes; in summer, no. He might go to mass; -but he refuses to accept the boon. He says we do not worship -God aright; he thinks himself wiser than the Holy Governing -Synod—he! But in winter days, when the pilgrims -have gone away, he is allowed to walk on the rampart wall, -attended by a sentinel to prevent his flight."</p> - -<p>"Has he ever attempted flight?"</p> - -<p>"Attempted! Yes; he got away from the convent; crossed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">{123}</a></span> -the sea; went inland, and we lost him. If he could have -held his peace, he might have been free to this very hour; but -he could not hold his tongue; and then he was captured and -brought back."</p> - -<p>"Where was he taken?"</p> - -<p>"No one knows. He came back pale and worn. Since then -he has been guarded with greater care."</p> - -<p>Here, then, is the prisoner whom I wish to see; the spectre -of the wall; the figure taken for the prince; the man in -whom centre so many hopes. "Open the door!" My tone -compels them either to obey at once or go for orders to the -Archimandrite's house. A parley of the officer and monks -takes place; ending, after much ado, in the door being unlocked -(to save them trouble), and the whole party passing -into the prisoner's cell.</p> - -<p>An aged, handsome man, like Kossuth in appearance, starts -astonished from his seat; unused, as it would seem, to such -disturbance of his cell. A small table, a few books, a pallet -bed, are the only furnishings of his room, the window of which -is ribbed and crossed with iron, and the sill bespattered with -dirt of doves. A table holds some scraps of books and journals; -the prisoner being allowed, it seems, to receive such things -from the outer world, though he is not permitted to send out -a single line of writing. Pencils and pens are banished from -his cell. Tall, upright, spare; with the bearing of a soldier -and a gentleman; he wraps his cloak round his shoulder, and -comes forward to meet his unexpected guests. The monks -present me in form as a stranger visiting Solovetsk, without -mentioning <i>his</i> name to me. He holds out his hand and -smiles; receiving me with the grace of a gentleman offering -the courtesies of his house. A man of noble presence and -courtly bearing: <i>not</i>, however, the Grand Duke Constantine, -as fishermen and pilgrims say!</p> - -<p>"Your name is—?"</p> - -<p>"Ilyin; Nicolas Ilyin."</p> - -<p>"You have been here long?"</p> - -<p>Shaking his head in a feeble way, he mutters to himself, as -it were, like one who is trying to recall a dream. I put the -question again; this time in German. Then he faintly smiles; -a big tear starting in his eye. "Excuse me, sir," he sighs, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">{124}</a></span> -"I have forgotten most things; even the use of speech. Once -I spoke French easily. Now I have all but forgotten my -mother tongue."</p> - -<p>"You have been here for years?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; many. I wait upon the Lord. In His own time my -prayer will be heard, and my deliverance come."</p> - -<p>"You must not speak with this prisoner," says the officer -on duty; "no one is allowed to speak with him." The lieutenant -is not uncivil; but he stands in a place of trust; and -he has to think of duty to his colonel before he can dream of -courtesy to his guest.</p> - -<p>In a moment we are in the pigeons' court. The iron gates -are locked; the birds are fluttering on the sills; and the prisoners -are alone once more.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXII.<br /> - -<span class="small">NICOLAS ILYIN.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Leaving</span> Solovetsk for the south, I keep the figure of this -aged prisoner in my mind, and by asking questions here and -there, acquire in time a general notion of his course of life. -But much of it remains dark to me, until, on my return from -Kertch and Kief to St. Petersburg, the means are found for -me of opening up a secret source.</p> - -<p>The details now to be given from this secret source—controlled -by other and independent facts—will throw a flood of -light into some of the darkest corners of Russian life, and -bring to the front some part of the obstacles through which a -reforming Emperor has to march.</p> - -<p>It will be also seen that in the story of Ilyin's career, there -are points—apart from what relates to the convent spectre, -and the likeness to Constantine the First—which might account -for some of the sympathy shown for him by Poles.</p> - -<p>Ilyin seems to have been born in Poland; his mother was -certainly a Pole. His father, though of Swedish origin, held -the rank of general in the imperial service. At an early age -the boy was sent by General Ilyin to the Jesuits' College in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">{125}</a></span> -Polotsk; that famous school in which, according to report, -so many young men of family were led astray in the opening -years of Alexander the First. The names he bore inclined -him to devote his mind to sacred studies. Nicolas is the poor -man's saint, and Ilyin is the Russian form of Elias, the Hebrew -prophet. It is not by chance, he thought, that men inherit -and receive such names.</p> - -<p>He was highly trained. In the school-room he was noted -for his gentle ways, his studious habits, his religious turn of -mind. He neither drank nor swore; he neither danced nor -gamed. When the time arrived for him to leave his college -and join the army, he passed a good examination, took a high -degree, and entered an artillery corps with the rank of ensign. -By his new comrades he was noted for his power of work, for -his scorn of pleasure, for his purity of life. A hard reader, he -gave up his nights and days to studies which were then unusual -in the mess-room and the camp. While other young men -were drinking deep and dancing late in their garrison-towns, -he was giving up the hours that could be snatched from drill -and gunnery to Newton on the Apocalypse, to Swedenborg -on Heaven and Hell, to Bengel on the Number of the Beast. -What his religious doctrines were in these early days, we can -only guess. His father seems to have been a Greek Catholic, -his mother a Roman Catholic; and we know too much of the -genius which inspired the Jesuits' College in Polotsk to doubt -that every effort would be made by the fathers to win such a -student as Nicolas Ilyin to their side.</p> - -<p>In Polotsk, as in nearly all Polish towns, reside a good -many learned Jews. Led by his Apocalyptic studies to seek -the acquaintance of Rabbins, Ilyin talked with these new -friends about his studies, and even went with them to their -synagogue; in the ritual of which he found a world of mystical -meaning not suspected by the Jews themselves. In conning -the Mishna and Gemara, he began to dream that a confession -of faith, a form of prayer, a mode of communion, -might be framed, by help of God's Holy Spirit, which would -place the great family of Abraham under a common flag. A -dream, it may be, yet a noble dream!</p> - -<p>Ilyin toyed with this idea, until he fancied that the time for -a reconciliation of all the religious societies owning the God -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">{126}</a></span> -of Abraham for their father was close at hand; and that he, -Nicolas Ilyin—born of a Greek father and a Catholic mother; -bearing the names of a Hebrew prophet and a Russian saint; -instructed, first by Jesuits and then by Rabbins; serving in -the armies of an Orthodox emperor—was the chosen prophet -of this reign of grace and peace. A vision helped him to accept -his mission, and to form his plan.</p> - -<p>Taking the Hebrew creed, not only as more ancient and -venerable, but as simpler in form than any rival, he made it -the foundation for a wide and comprehensive church. Beginning -with God, he closed with man. Setting aside, as things -indifferent, all the points on which men disagree, he got rid -of the immaculate conception, the symbol of the cross, the -form of baptism, the practice of confession, the official Church, -and the sacerdotal caste. In his broad review, nothing was -of first importance save the unity of God, the fraternity of -men.</p> - -<p>Gifted with a noble presence and an eloquent tongue, he began -to teach this doctrine of the coming time; announcing -his belief in a general reconciliation of all the friends of God. -The monks who have lodged him in the Frozen Sea, accuse -him of deceit; alleging that he affected zeal for the Orthodox -faith; and that on converting General Vronbel, his superior -officer, from the Roman Church to the Russian Church, he -sought, as a reward for this service, a license to go about and -preach. The facts may be truly stated; yet the moral may -be falsely drawn. A general in the Russian service, not of -the national creed, has very few means of satisfying his spiritual -wants. Unless he is serving in some great city, a Roman -Catholic can no more go to mass than a Lutheran can go to -sermon; and an officer of either confession is apt to smoke a -pipe and play at cards, while his Orthodox troops are attending -mass. Ilyin may have deemed it better for Vronbel to -become a good Greek than remain a bad Catholic. In these -early days of his religious strife, he seems to have dreamt that -the Orthodox Church afforded him the readiest means of -reconciling creeds and men. In bringing strangers into that -fold, he was putting them into the better way. Anyhow, he -converted his general, and obtained from his bishop the right -to preach.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">{127}</a></span> -It was the hope of his bishop that he would bring in stragglers -to the fold; not that he should set up for himself a -broader camp in another name and under a bolder flag. Ilyin -went out among the sectaries who abound in every province -of the empire; and to these men of wayward mind he preached -a doctrine which his ecclesiastical patrons fancied to be -that of the Orthodox faith. In every place he drew to himself -the hearts of men; winning them alike by the splendor of his -eloquence and by the purity of his life.</p> - -<p>Early married, early blessed with children, happy in his -home, Ilyin could give up hand and heart to the work he had -found. He took from the Book of Revelation the name of -Right-hand Brethren, as an appropriate title for all true members -of the church; his purpose being to proclaim the present -unity and future salvation of all the friends of God.</p> - -<p>A good soldier, a good man of business, Ilyin was sent to -the government works, in the province of Perm, in the Ural -Mountains, where he found time, in the midst of his purely -military duties, for preaching among the poor, and drawing -some of those who had strayed into separation back into the -orthodox fold. His enemies admit that in those days of his -work in the Ural Mountains he lived a holy life. Going on -state affairs to the mines of Barancha, where the Government -owns a great many iron works and steel works, he saw among -the sectaries of that district, most of whom were exiles suffering -for their conscience' sake, a field for the exercise of his -talents as a preacher of the word, a reconciler of men. But -the martyrs of free thought whom he met in the mines of -Barancha, were to him what the Kaffir chieftains were to the -Bishop of Natal. They put him to the test. They showed -him the darker side of his cause. They led him to doubt -whether reconciliation was to be expected from metropolites -and monks. Forced into a sharper scrutiny of his own belief, -Ilyin at length gave up his advocacy of the Orthodox faith, -and even ceased to attend the Orthodox mass.</p> - -<p>A secret Church was slowly formed in the province of -Perm, of which Ilyin was the chief. Not much was known in -high quarters about his doings, until Protopopoff, one of his -pupils, was accused of some trifling offense, connected with -the public service, and brought to trial. Protopopoff was a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">{128}</a></span> -leading man among the Ural dissenters. His true offense was -some expression against the Church. Ilyin appeared in public -as his friend and advocate. Protopopoff was condemned: -and Ilyin closely watched. Ere long, the director-general of -the Ural Mines reported to his chief, the minister of finance -in St. Petersburg, that in one of his districts he had found existing -among the miners a new religious body, calling themselves, -in secret, Right-hand Brethren, of which body Nicolas -Ilyin, captain of artillery in the Emperor's service, was the -chief and priest.</p> - -<p>Not a little frightened by his discoveries, the director-general -lost his head. In his report to the minister of finance, -he said a good deal of these reconcilers that was not true. -He charged them with circumcising children, with advocating -a community of goods and lands, with propagating doctrines -fatally at war with imperial order in Church and State.</p> - -<p>It is true that under the name of Gospel love, the followers -of Ilyin taught very strongly the necessity and sanctity of -mutual help. They spoke to the poor, and bade them take -heart of grace; bidding them look, not only for bliss in a better -world, but for a reign of peace and plenty on the earth. -In the great questions of serf and soil, two points around which -all popular politics then moved, they took a part with the -peasant against his lord, though Ilyin was himself of noble -birth. These things appeared to the director-general of mines -anarchical and dangerous, and Ilyin was denounced by him to -the minister of finance as a man who was compromising the -public peace.</p> - -<p>But the fact which more than all else struck the council in -St. Petersburg, was the zeal of Ilyin's pupils in spreading his -doctrine of the unity and brotherhood of mankind. The new -society was said to be perfect in unity. The first article of -their association was the need for missionary work; and every -member of the sect was an apostle, eager to spend his -strength and give his life in building up the friends of God. -A man who either could not or would not convert the Gentile -was considered unworthy of a place on His right hand. -At the end of seven years a man who brought no sheep into -the fold was expelled as wanting in holy fire. Ilyin is alleged -to have declared that there was no salvation beyond the pale -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">{129}</a></span> -of this new church, and that all those who professed any other -creed would find their position at the last day on the left -hand of God, while the true brethren found their seats on His -right. This story is not likely to be true; and an intolerant -Church is always ready with such a cry. It is not asserted -that the new Church had any printed books, or even circulars, -in which these things were taught. The doctrine was alleged -to be contained in certain manuscript gospels, copied by proselytes -and passed from one member to another; such manuscript -gospels having been written, in the first instance at -least, by Ilyin himself.</p> - -<p>A special commission was named by the ministers to investigate -the facts; and this commission, proceeding at once into -the Ural Mines, arrested many of the members, and seized -some specimens of these fugitive gospel sheets. Ilyin, questioned -by the commissioners, avowed himself the author of -these Gospel tracts, which he showed them were chiefly copies -of sayings extracted from the Sermon on the Mount. In -scathing terms, he challenged the right of these commissioners -to judge and condemn the words of Christ. Struck by his -eloquence and courage, the commission hardly knew what to -say; but as practical men, they hinted that a captain of the -imperial artillery holding such doctrines must be unsound in -mind.</p> - -<p>A report from these commissioners being sent, as usual, to -the Holy Governing Synod, that board of monks made very -short work of this pretender to sacred gifts. The reconciler -of creeds and men was lodged in the Convent of the Frozen -Sea until he should put away his tolerance, give up his dream -of reconciliation, and submit his conscience to the guidance of -a monk.</p> - -<p>And so the reconciler rests in his convent ward. The Holy -Governing Synod treats such men as children who have gone -astray; looking forward to the wanderer coming round to his -former state. The sentence, therefore, runs in some such form -as this: "You will be sent to ...., where you will stay, under -sound discipline, until you have been brought to a better -mind." Unless the man is a rogue, and yields in policy, one -sees how long such sentences are likely to endure!</p> - -<p>Nicolas Ilyin is a learned man, with whom no monk in the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">{130}</a></span> -Convent of Solovetsk is able to contend in speech. A former -Archimandrite tried his skill; but the prisoner's verbal fence -and knowledge of Scripture were too much for his feeble powers; -and the man who had repulsed the English fleet retired -discomfited from Ilyin's cell.</p> - -<p>Once the prisoner got away, by help of soldiers who had -known him in his happier days. Escaping in a boat to Onega -Point, he might have gone his way overland, protected by -the people; but instead of hiding himself from his pursuers, -he began to teach and preach. Denounced by the police, he -was quickly sent back to his dungeon; while the soldiers who -had borne some share in his escape were sent to the Siberian -mines for life.</p> - -<p>The noble name and courtly family of Ilyin are supposed to -have saved the arrested fugitive from convict labor in the -mines.</p> - -<p>My efforts to procure a pardon for the old man failed; at -least, for a time; the answer to my plea being sent to me in -these vague words: "Après l'examin du dossier de l'affaire -d'Ilyin, il resulte qu'il n'y a pas eu d'arrêt de mise en liberté." -Yet men like Nicolas Ilyin are the salt of this earth; men -who will go through fire and water for their thought; men -who would live a true life in a dungeon rather than a false -life in the richest mansions of the world!</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXIII.<br /> - -<span class="small">ADRIAN PUSHKIN.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Except</span> the fact of their having been lodged in the Convent -of Solovetsk in neighboring cells, under the same hard -rule, Adrian Pushkin and Nicolas Ilyin have nothing in common; -neither age nor rank; neither learning nor talent; not -an opinion; not a sympathy; not a purpose. Pushkin is -young, Ilyin is old. Pushkin is of burgher, Ilyin of noble -birth. Pushkin is uneducated in the higher sense; Ilyin is a -scholar to whom all systems of philosophy lie open. Pushkin -is not clever; Ilyin is considered, even by his persecutors, -as a man of the highest powers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">{131}</a></span> -Yet Pushkin's story, from the man's obscurity, affords a -still more curious instance of the dark and difficult way -through which a beneficent and reforming government has to -pass.</p> - -<p>Early in the spring of 1866, a youth of good repute in his -class and district, that of a small burgher, in the town of -Perm, began to make a stir on the Ural slopes, by announcing -to the peasant dissenters of that region the second coming -of our Lord, and offering himself as the reigning Christ!</p> - -<p>Such an event is too common to excite remark in the upper -ranks, until it has been seen by trial whether the announcement -takes much hold on the peasant mind. In Pushkin's -case, the neighbors knew their prophet well. From his -cradle he had been frail in body and flushed in mind. When -he was twenty years old, the doctors were consulted on his -state of mind; and though they would not then pronounce -him crazy, they reported him as a youth of weak and febrile -pulse, afflicted with disease of the heart; a boy who might, at -any moment of his life, go mad. Easy work, in country air, -was recommended. A place was got for him in the country, -on the Countess Strogonof's estate, not far from Perm. He -was made a kind of clerk and overseer; a place of trust, in -which the work was light; but even this light labor proved -too great for him to bear. In doing his duty to his mistress, -his mind gave way; and when the light went out on earth, -the poor idiot offered his help in leading other men up to -heaven.</p> - -<p>Many of the people near him knew that he was crazed; -but his unsettled wits were rather a help than hindrance to -his success in stirring up the village wine-shop and the workman's -shed. In every part of the East some touch of idiotcy -is looked for in a holy man; the wandering eye, the broken -phrase, the distracted mien, being read as signs of the Holy -Spirit. The province of Perm is rich in sectaries; many of -whom watch and pray continually for the second coming of -our Lord. Among these sectaries, Adrian found some listeners -to his tale. He spoke to the poor, and of the poor. Calling -the peasants to his side, he pictured to them a kingdom -of heaven in which they would owe no taxes and pay no rent. -The earth, he told them, was the Lord's; a paradise given by -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">{132}</a></span> -Him as a possession to His saints. What peasant would not -hear such news with joy? A gospel preached in the village -wine-shop and the workman's shed was soon made known by -its fruits; and the Governor of Perm was told that tenants -were refusing to pay their rent and to render service, on the -ground that the kingdom of heaven was come and that -Christ had begun to reign.</p> - -<p>Adrian was now arrested, and being placed before the Secret -Consultative Committee of Perm, he was found guilty of -having preached false doctrine and advocated unsocial measures; -of having taught that the taxes were heavy, that the -peasants should possess the land, that dues and service ought -to be refused. Knowing that the young man was mad, the -Secret Consultative Committee saw that they could never -treat his case like that of a man in perfect health of body and -mind. They thought the Governor of Perm might request -the Holy Governing Synod to consent that Pushkin should -be simply lodged in some country convent, where he might -live in peace, and, under gentle treatment, hope to regain his -wandering sense.</p> - -<p>But the Holy Governing Synod pays scant heed to lay opinion. -Judging the young man's fault with sharper anger than -the Secret Consultative Committee of Perm had done, they -sent him to Solovetsk; not until he should recover his sense -and could resume his duties as a clerk, but until such time as -he should recant his doctrines and publicly return to the Orthodox -fold.</p> - -<p>Valouef, Minister of the Interior, received from Perm a -copy of this synodal resolution, which he saw, as a layman, -that he could not carry out, except by flying in the face of -Russian law. The man was mad. The Holy Governing -Synod treated him as sane. But how could he, a jurist, cast -a man into prison for being of unsound mind? No code in -the world would sanction such a course; no court in Russia -would sustain him in such an act. Of course, the Holy Governing -Synod was a light unto itself; but here the civil power -was asked to take a part which in the minister's conscience -was against the spirit and letter of the imperial code.</p> - -<p>It was a case of peril on either side. Such things had -been done so often in former years, that the Church expected -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">{133}</a></span> -them to go on forever; and the monks were certain to resist, -to slander, and destroy the man who should come between -them and their prey. Valouef, acting with prudence, brought -the report before a council of ministers, and after much debate, -not only of the special facts but of the guiding rules, -the council of ministers agreed upon these two points: first, -that such a man as Pushkin could not be safely left at large -in Perm; second, that it would be against the whole spirit of -Russian law to punish a man for being out of his mind.</p> - -<p>On these two principles being adopted, Valouef was recommended -by the Council of Ministers to procure the Emperor's -leave for Adrian Pushkin to be brought from Perm to St. -Petersburg, for the purpose of undergoing other and more -searching medical tests. Carrying his minute-book to the -Emperor, Valouef explained the facts, together with the rules -laid down, and his majesty, adopting the suggestion, wrote -with his own hand these words across the page: "Let this be -done according to the Minister of the Interior's advice, Oct. -21, 1866."</p> - -<p>On this humane order, Pushkin was brought from Perm to -St. Petersburg, where he was placed before a board of medical -men. After much care and thought had been given to -the subject, this medical board declared that Pushkin was -unsound of brain, and could not be held responsible for his -words and acts.</p> - -<p>So far then as Emperor and ministers could go, the course -of justice was smooth and straight; but then came up the -question of what the Church would say. A board of monks -had ordered Pushkin to be lodged in the dungeons of Solovetsk -until he repented of his sins. A board of medical men -had found him out of his mind; and a council of ministers, -acting on their report, had come to the conclusion that, according -to law, he could not be lodged in jail. His majesty -was become a party to the course of secular justice by having -signed, with his own hand, the order for Adrian to be fetched -from Perm and subjected to a higher class of medical tests. -Emperor, ministers, physicians, stood on one side; on the -other side stood a board of monks. Which was to have their -way?</p> - -<p>The Holy Governing Synod held their ground; and in a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">{134}</a></span> -question of false teaching it was impossible to oppose their -vote. They knew, as well as the doctors, that Adrian was insane; -but then, they said, all heretics are more or less insane. -The malady of unbelief is not a thing for men of science to -understand. They, and not a medical board, could purge a -sufferer like Pushkin of his evil spirit. They said he must be -sent, as ordered, to the Frozen Sea.</p> - -<p>No minister could sign the warrant for his removal after -what had passed; and, powerful as they are, the Holy Governing -Synod have to use the civil arm. The dead-lock was -complete. But here came into play the silent and inscrutable -agency of the secret police. These secret police have a life -apart from that of every other body in the State. They think -for every one; they act for every one. So long as law is -clear and justice prompt, they may be silent—looking on; -but when the hour of conflict comes, when great tribunals are -at feud, when no one else can see their way, these officers step -to the front, set aside codes and rules, precedents and decisions, -as so much idle stuff, assume a right to judge the judges, -to replace the ministers, and, in the name of public safety, do -what they consider, in their wisdom, best for all.</p> - -<p>The men who form this secret body are not called police, -but "members of the third section of his imperial majesty's -chancellery." They are highly conservative, not to say despotic, -in their views; and said to feel a particular joy when -thwarting men of science and overruling judgments given -in the courts of law. One general rule defines the power -which they can bring to bear in such a case as that of Adrian -Pushkin. If justice seems to them to have failed, and they -are firmly persuaded—they must be "firmly persuaded"—that -the public service requires "exclusive measures" to be -adopted, they are free to act.</p> - -<p>On the whole, these secret agents side with power against -law, with usage against reform, with all that is old against -every thing that is new. In Pushkin's case they sided with -the monks. Overriding Emperor, minister, council, medical -board, they carried Pushkin to the White Sea, where he was -placed by the Archimandrite, not in a monastic cell, but in the -dismal corridor in which I found him. He is perfectly submissive, -and clearly mad. He goes to mass without ado, says -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">{135}</a></span> -his prayers, confesses his sins, and seems to have returned into -the arms of the official Church. The monks in charge of him -have told their chiefs that he is now of right mind with regard -to the true faith; and the Governor of Archangel has -written to advise that he should be allowed to go back to his -friends in Perm.</p> - -<p>It is hard, however, for a man to get away from Solovetsk. -A year ago, General Timashef, who has now replaced Valouef -in the Ministry of the Interior, wrote to ask whether the Holy -Governing Synod had not heard from the Archimandrite of -Solovetsk in favor of the prisoner; and whether the time had -not come for him to be given up to his friends. No answer -to that letter has been received to the present day (Dec., 1869). -The board of monks are slow to undo their work; the dissidents -in Perm are gaining ground; and this poor madman remains -a prisoner in the pigeons' yard!</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXIV.<br /> - -<span class="small">DISSENT.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">These</span> dissidents, who ruffle so much the patient faces of -the monks, are gaining ground in other provinces of the empire -as well as Perm.</p> - -<p>Such tales as those of Ilyin and Pushkin open a passage, as -it were, beneath an observer's feet; going down into crypts -and chambers below the visible edifice of the Orthodox Church -and Government; showing that, in the secret depths of Russian -life there may be other contentions than those which are -arming the married clergy against the monks. On prying -into these crypts and chambers, we find a hundred points on -which some part of the people differ from their Official -Church.</p> - -<p>The Emperor Nicolas would not hear of any one falling -from his Church; "autocracy and orthodoxy" was his motto; -and what the master would not deign to hear, the Minister -of Education tried his utmost not to see. That millions -of Mussulmans, Jews, and Buddhists lived beneath his sceptre, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">{136}</a></span> -Nicolas was fond of saying; but for a countryman of his -own to differ in opinion from himself was like a mutiny in -his camp. The Church had fixed the belief of one and all; -the only terms on which they could be saved from hell. Had -<i>he</i> not sworn to observe those terms? While Nicolas lived -it was silently assumed in the Winter Palace that the dissenting -bodies were all put down. One Christian church existed -in his empire; and never, perhaps, until his dying hour did -Nicolas learn the truth about those men whom the breath of -his anger was supposed to have swept away!</p> - -<p>Outside the Winter Palace and the Official Church dissent -was growing and thriving throughout his reign. No doubt -some few conformed—with halters round their throats. -When autocrat and monk combined to crush all those who -held aloof from the State religion, the sincere dissenter had -to pass through bitter times; but spiritual passion is not -calmed by firing volleys into the house of prayer; and the -result of thirty years of savage persecution is, that these -non-conformists are to-day more numerous, wealthy, concentrated, -than they were on the day when Nicolas began -his reign.</p> - -<p>No man in Russia pretends to know the names, the numbers, -and the tenets of these sects, still less the secrets of their -growth. A mystery is made of them on every side. The -Minister of Police divides them into four large groups, which -he names and classifies as follows:</p> - -<div id="dissidents"> -<ol> - <li>—<span class="smcap">Dukhobortsi</span>, Champions of the Holy Spirit.</li> - <li>—<span class="smcap">Molokani</span>, Milk Drinkers.</li> - <li>—<span class="smcap">Khlysti</span>, Flagellants.</li> - <li>—<span class="smcap">Skoptsi</span>, Eunuchs.</li> -</ol> -</div> - -<p>In our day it is rare to find self-deception carried to so high -a point as in this official list. Four groups! Why, the Russian -dissenters boast, like their Hindoo brethren, of a hundred -sects. The classification is no less strange. The Champions -of the Holy Spirit are neither an ancient nor a strong society. -The Milk Drinkers are of later times than the Flagellants and -the Eunuchs. The Flagellants are not so numerous as the -Eunuchs, though they probably surpass in strength the Champions -of the Holy Spirit.</p> - -<p>The Flagellants and Eunuchs are of ancient date—no one -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">{137}</a></span> -knows how ancient; the Flagellants going back to the fourteenth -century at least; the Eunuchs going back to the Scythian -ages; while the Milk Drinkers and the Champions of the -Holy Spirit sprang into life in the times of Peter the Great.</p> - -<h3>CHAMPIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.</h3> - -<p>Though standing first in the official list, the Champions of -the Holy Spirit are one of the less important sects. They -write nothing, and never preach. The only book which contains -their doctrine is "The Dukhobortsi," written by a satirist -and a foe! Novitski, a professor in the University of -Kief, having heard of these champions from time to time, -threw what he learned about them into a squib of some eighty -pages; meaning to laugh at them, and do his worst to injure -them, according to his lights. His tract was offered for twenty -kopecks, but no one seemed disposed to buy, until the -Champions took it up, read it in simple faith, and sent a deputation -to thank the professor for his service to their cause! -Novitski was amused by their gravity; especially when they -told him a fact of which he was not aware; that the articles -of their creed had never until then been gathered into a connected -group! Of this droll deputation the police got hints. -Novitski, being an officer of state, was, of course, orthodox; -and his book bore every sign of having been written to expose -and deride the non-conforming sect. Yet the police, on hearing -of that deputation, began to fear there was something -wrong; and in the hope of setting things right, they put his -tract on their prohibited list of books. What more could an -author ask? On finding the work condemned by the police, -the Champions sent to the writer, paying him many compliments -and buying up every copy of his tract at fifty rubles -each. Novitski made a fortune by his squib; and now, in -spite of his jokes, the laughing Professor of Kief is held to be -the great expounder of their creed!</p> - -<p>The Champions build no churches and they read no Scriptures; -holding, like some of our Puritan sects, that a church -is but a house of logs and stones, while the temple of God is -the living heart; that books are only words, deceitful words, -while the conscience of man must be led and ruled by the inner -light. They show a tendency towards the most ancient -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">{138}</a></span> -form of worship; holding that every father of a family is a -priest. Many of them join the Jews, and undergo the rite of -circumcision. Now and then they buy a copy of the Hebrew -Bible, though they can not read one word of the sacred text. -They keep it in their houses as a charm.</p> - -<h3>MILK DRINKERS.</h3> - -<p>The Milk Drinkers are of more importance than these -Champions of the Holy Spirit.</p> - -<p>Critics dispute the meaning of Molokani. The original -seats of the Milk Drinkers are certain villages in the south -country, lying on the banks of a river called the Molotchnaya -(Milky Stream); a river flowing past the city of Melitopol -into the Sea of Azof, through a district rich in saltpetre, and -pushing its waters into the sea as white as milk. But some -of the secretaries whom I meet at Volsk, on the Lower Volga, -tell me this resemblance of name is an accident, no more. According -to my local guides, the term Milk Drinker, like that -of Shaker, Mormon, and, indeed, of Christian, is a term of contempt -applied to them by their enemies, because they decline -to keep the ordinary fasts in Lent. Milk—and what comes of -milk; butter, whey, and cheese—are staples of food in every -house; and a sinner who breaks his fast in Lent is pretty sure -to break it on one of the articles derived from milk; chiefly -by frying his potato in a pat of butter instead of in a drop of -vegetable oil.</p> - -<p>These milk people deny the sanctity and the use of fasts, -holding that men who have to work require good food, to be -eaten in moderation all the year round; no day stinted, no -day in excess. They prefer to live by the laws of nature; -asking and giving a reason for every thing they do. They set -their faces against monks and popes. They look on Christ -with reverence, as the purest being ever born of woman; but -they deny his oneness with the Father, and treat the miraculous -part of his career on earth as a tale of later times. In a -word, the Milk Drinkers are Rationalists.</p> - -<p>The name which they give themselves is Gospel Men; for -they profess to stand by the Evangelists; live with exceeding -purity, and base their daily lives on what they understand to -be the laws laid down for all mankind in the Sermon on the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">{139}</a></span> -Mount. Under Nicolas they were sorely harried. Sixteen -thousand men and women were seized by the police; arranged -in gangs; and driven with rods and thongs across the dreary -steppes and yet more dreary mountain crests into the Caucasus. -In that fearful day a great many of the Milk Drinkers fled -across the Pruth into Turkey, where the Sultan gave them a -village, called Tulcha, for their residence. Wise and tolerant -Turk! These emigrants carried their virtues and their wealth -into the new country, prospered in their shops and farms, and -made for their protectors beyond the Danube a thousand -friends in their ancient homes.</p> - -<h3>FLAGELLANTS.</h3> - -<p>The Flagellants are older in date, stronger in number than -the Champions and the Milk Drinkers. They go back to the -first year of Alexie (1645); to a time of deep distress, when -the heads of men were troubled with a sense of their guilty -neglect of God.</p> - -<p>One Daniel Philipitch, a peasant in the province of Kostroma, -serving in the wars of his country, ran away from his -flag, declared himself the Almighty, and wandered about the -empire, teaching those who would listen to his voice his doctrine -in the form of three great assertions: I. I am God, announced -by the prophets; there is no other God but me. II. -There is no other doctrine. III. There is nothing new.</p> - -<p>To these three assertions were added nine precepts: (1.) -drink no wine; (2.) remain where you are, and what you are; -(3.) never marry; (4.) never swear, or name the devil; (5.) -attend no wedding, christening, or other feast; (6.) never -steal; (7.) keep my doctrine secret; (8.) love each other, and -keep my laws; (9.) believe in the Holy Spirit. Daniel roamed -about the country, preaching this gospel for several years, -gathering to himself disciples in many places, though his headquarters -remained at Kostroma. He was God; and his converts -called themselves God's people. Daniel chose a son, -one Ivan Susloff, a peasant of Vladimir; and this Ivan Susloff -chose a pretty young girl as his Virgin Mother, together -with twelve apostles. Flung into prison with forty of his -disciples, Susloff saw the heresy spread. It ran through the -empire, and it has followers at this hour in every part of Central -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">{140}</a></span> -Russia. "God's House," Daniel's residence in the village -of Staroï, still remains—held in the utmost veneration by -country folk.</p> - -<p>The chief article of their faith is the last precept given by -Daniel, "Believe in the Holy Ghost." All their discipline -and service is meant to weaken the flesh and strengthen the -spirit; to which end they fast very often and flog each other -very much.</p> - -<p>Great numbers of these Flagellants have been sent into the -Caucasus and Siberia, where many of them have been forced -to serve in the armies and in the mines.</p> - -<h3>EUNUCHS.</h3> - -<p>A more singular body is that of the Beliegolubi (White -Doves), called by their enemies Skoptsi (Eunuchs). These -people "make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's -sake," and look on Peter the Third, whom they take to -be still alive, as their priest and king. They profess to lead -a life of absolute purity in the Lord; spotless, they say, as -the sacrificial doves! The White Doves are believed to live -like anchorites; all except a few of their prophets and leading -men. They drink no whisky and no wine. They think -it a sin to indulge in fish; their staple food is milk, with -bread and walnut oil. White, weak, and wasting, they appear -in the shops and streets like ghosts. The monks admit -that they are free from most of the vices which afflict mankind. -It is affirmed of them that they neither game nor quarrel; -that they neither lie nor steal. The sect is secret; and -any profession of the faith would make a martyr of the man -upon whom was found the sign of his high calling. Seeming -to be what other men are, they often escape detection, not -for years only, but for life; many of them filling high places -in the world; their tenets unknown to those who are counted -in the ranks of their nearest friends.</p> - -<p>The White Doves have no visible church, no visible chief. -Christ is their king, and heaven their church. But the reign -of Christ has not yet come; nor will the Prince of Light appear -until the earth is worthy to receive Him. Two or three -persons, gathered in His name, may hope to find Him in the -spirit; but not until three hundred thousand saints confess -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">{141}</a></span> -His reign will He come to abide with them in visible flesh. -One day that sacred host will be complete; the old earth and -the old heaven will pass away, consumed like a scroll in the -fire.</p> - -<p>So far as I can see (for the Eunuchs print no books, and -frame no articles), their leading tenet, borrowed from the -East, appears to be that of a recurring Incarnation of the -Word. Just as a pundit of Benares teaches that Vishnu has -been born into the world many times, probably many hundred -times, a White Dove holds that the Messiah is for evermore -being born again into the world which He has saved. -Once He came as a peasant's child in Galilee, when the soldiers -and high-priests rose on Him and slew Him. Once -again He came as an emperor's grandson in Russia, when the -soldiers and high-priests rose on Him again and slew Him. -He did not die; for how could God be killed by man? But -He withdrew into the unseen until His hour should come. -Meantime he is with His Church, though not in His majestic -and potential shape, as hero, king, and God.</p> - -<p>The White Doves have amongst them, only known to few, -a living Virgin and a living Christ. These incarnations are -not Son and Mother in their mortal shapes; in fact, the Son -is generally older than the Mother; and they are not of kin, -except in the Holy Spirit. The present Christ exists in his -lower form; holy, not royal; pure, not perfect; waiting for -the ripeness of his time, when he will once again take flesh in -all his majesty as God. A Virgin is chosen in the hope that -when the ripeness of His time has come, He will be born -again from that Virgin's side.</p> - -<p>Alexander the First was deeply moved by what he heard -of these sectaries. He went amongst them, and held much -talk with their learned men. It has been imagined that he -joined their church. Under Nicolas, the "Doves" were -chased and seized by the police. On proof of the fact they -were tied in gangs, and sent into the Caucasus, where they -lived—and live—at the town of Maran, a post on the road -from Poti to Kutais, waiting for Peter to arrive. A second -colony exists in the town of Shemakha, on the road from -Tiflis to the Caspian Sea. They are said to be docile men, -doing little work on scanty food, giving no trouble, and leading -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">{142}</a></span> -an innocent and sober life. At present, they are not -much worried by the police; except when some discovery, -like the Plotitsen case in Tambof, excites the public mind. A -Dove who keeps his counsel, and refrains from trying to convert -his neighbors, need not live in fear. The law is against -him; his faith is forbidden; he is not allowed to sing in the -streets, to hold public meetings, and to bury his dead with -any of his adopted rites; these ceremonies of his faith must -be done in private and in secret; yet this singular body is -said to be increasing fast. They are known to be rich; they -are reported to be generous. A poor man is never suspected -of being a Eunuch. When the love of woman dies out, from -any cause, in a man's heart, it is always succeeded by the love -of money; and all the bankers and goldsmiths who have made -great fortunes are suspected of being Doves. In Kertch and -Moscow, you will hear of vast sums in gold and silver being -paid to a single convert for submitting to their rite.</p> - -<p>The richest Doves are said to pay large sums of money to -converts, on the strength of a prophecy made by one of their -holy men, that so soon as three hundred thousand disciples -have been gathered into his fold, the Lord will come to reign -over them in person, and to give up to them all the riches of -the earth.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXV.<br /> - -<span class="small">NEW SECTS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">These</span> groups, so far from ending the volume of dissent, -do little more than open it up to sight. Stories of the Flagellants -and the Eunuchs are like old-world tales, the sceneries -of which lie in other ages and other climes. These sects -exist, no doubt; but they draw the nurture of their life from -a distant world; and they have little more enmity to Church -and State than what descends with them from sire to son. -Committees have sat upon them; laws have been framed to -suit them; ministerial papers have described them. They -figure in many books, and are the subjects of much song and -art. In short, they are historical sects, like the Anabaptists -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">{143}</a></span> -in Germany, the Quakers in England, the Alumbradros in -Spain.</p> - -<p>But the genius of dissent is change; and every passing day -gives birth to some new form of faith. As education spreads, -the sectaries multiply. "I am very much puzzled," said to -me a parish priest, "by what is going on. I wish to think -the best; but I have never known a peasant learn to read, and -think for himself, who did not fall away into dissent." The -minds of men are vexed with a thousand fears, excited by a -thousand hopes; every one seems listening for a voice; and -every man who has the daring to announce himself is instantly -followed by an adoring crowd. These births are in the -time, and of the time; apostles born of events, and creeds -arising out of present needs. They have a political side as -well as a religious side. Some samples of these recent -growths may be described from notes collected by me in -provinces of the empire far apart; dissenting bodies of a -growth so recent, that society—even in Russia—has not yet -heard their names.</p> - -<h3>LITTLE CHRISTIANS.</h3> - -<p>In the past year (1868) a new sect broke out in Atkarsk, -in the province of Saratof, and diocese of the Bishop of Tsaritzin. -Sixteen persons left the Orthodox Church, without -giving notice to their parish priest. They set up a new religion, -and began to preach a gospel of their own devising. -Saints and altar-pieces, said these dissidents, were idols. -Even the bread and wine were things of an olden time. They -had a call of their own to teach, to suffer, and to build a -Church. This call was from Christ. They obeyed the summons -by going down into the Volga, dipping each other into -the flood, changing their names, and holding together a solemn -feast. This scene took place in winter—Ash Wednesday, -February 26th, when the waters of the Volga are locked in -ice, and had to be pierced with poles. From that day they -have called themselves humbly, after the Lord's name, Little -Christians.</p> - -<p>They have no priests, and hardly any form of prayer. They -keep no images, use no wafers, and make no sacred oil. Instead -of the consecrated bread, they bake a cake, which they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">{144}</a></span> -afterwards worship, as a special gift from God. This cake -is like a penny bun in shape and size; but in the minds of -these Little Christians it possesses a potent virtue and a mystic -charm.</p> - -<p>Hearing of these secessions from his flock, the Bishop of -Tsaritzin wrote to Count Tolstoi, Minister of Education, who -in turn dispatched his orders to the district police. These -orders were, that the men were to be closely watched; that -no more baptisms in the ice were to be allowed; that no -more cakes were to be baked of the size and shape of a penny -bun. All preaching of these new tenets was to be stopped. -The bishop, living on the spot, was to be consulted on every -point of procedure against the sectaries. All these orders, -and some others, have been carried out; the police are happy -in their labor of repression; and the heresy of the Little -Christians is increasing fast.</p> - -<h3>HELPERS.</h3> - -<p>A few months ago the Governor of Kherson was amused -by hearing that some villagers in his province had been arrested -by the police on the ground of their being a great deal -too good for honest men. It was said the men who had been -cast into prison never drank, never swore, never lied, owed -no money, and never confessed their sins to the parish priest. -Nobody could make them out; and the police, annoyed at -not being able to make them out, whipped them off their -fields, threw them into prison, and laid a statement of their -suspicions before the prince.</p> - -<p>These over-good peasants were brothers, by name Ratushni, -living in the hamlet of Osnova, in which they owned some -land. Not far from Osnova stands a small town called Ananief, -in which lived a burgher named Vonsarski, who was also -marked by the police with a black line, as being a man too -good for his class. Vonsarski paid his debts and kept his -word; he lived with his wife in peace; and he never attended -his parish church. He, too, was seized by the police and -lodged in jail, until such time as he should explain himself, -and the governor's pleasure could be learned.</p> - -<p>It is surmised that the monks set the police at work; in the -hope that if nothing could be proved at first against these offenders, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">{145}</a></span> -tongues might be loosened, tattle might come out, -and some sort of charge might be framed, so soon as the fact -of their lying in jail was noised abroad through the southern -steppe.</p> - -<p>Ratushni and Vonsarski were known to be clever men; to -have talked with Moravian settlers in the south. They were -suspected of looking with a lenient eye on the foreign style of -harnessing bullocks and driving carts. They were accused of -underrating the advantages of rural communes, in favor of a -more equitable and religious system of mutual help. They -were called the Helpers. But their chief offense appears to -have been their preference for domestic worship over that of -the parish priest.</p> - -<p>The Governor of Kherson thought his duty in the matter -clear; he set the prisoners free. When the Black Clergy of -his province stormed upon him, as a man abetting heresy and -schism, he quoted Paragraph 11 in his imperial master's minute -on the treatment of Dissent; a paragraph laying down the -rule that every man is free to believe as he likes, so long as he -abstains from troubling his neighbors by attempting to convert -them to his creed. The prince added a recommendation -of his own, that the clergy of his province should strive in -their own vocation to bring these wanderers back into the fold -of God.</p> - -<h3>NON-PAYEES OF RENT.</h3> - -<p>Near Kazan I hear of a new sect having sprung up in -the province of Viatka, which is giving the ministry much -trouble. It may have been the fruit of poor Adrian Pushkin's -labor (though I have not heard his name in connection -with it); the main doctrine of the Non-payers of Rent being -the second article of Pushkin's creed.</p> - -<p>The canton of Mostovinsk, in the district of Sarapul, is the -scene of this rising of poor saints against the tyrants of this -world. Viatka, lying on the frontiers of Asia, with a mixed -population of Russ, Finns, Bashkirs, Tartars, is one of the -most curious provinces of the empire. Every sort of religion -flourishes in its difficult dales; Christian, Mussulman, Buddhist, -Pagan; each under scores of differing forms and names. -Twenty Christian sects might be found in this single province; -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">{146}</a></span> -and as all aliens and idolaters living there have the right of -being ruled by their own chiefs, it is not easy for the police to -follow up all the clues of discovery on which they light. But -such a body as the Non-payers of Rent could hardly conceal -themselves from the public eye. If they were to live their life -and obey their teachers, they must come into the open day, -avow their doctrine, and defend their creed. Such was the -necessary logic of their conversion, and when rents became -due they refused to pay. The debt was not so much a rental, -as a rent-charge on their land. Like all crown-peasants (and -these reformers had been all crown-peasants), they had received -their homesteads and holdings subject to a certain liquidating -charge. This charge they declined to meet on religious -grounds.</p> - -<p>Alarmed by such a revolt, the Governor of Viatka wrote to -St. Petersburg for orders. He was told, in answer, to make -inquiries; to arrest the leaders; and to watch with care for -signs of trouble. Nearly two hundred Non-payers of Rent -were seized by the police, parted into groups, and put under -question. Some were released on the governor's recommendation; -but when I left the neighborhood, twenty-three of these -Non-paying prisoners were still in jail.</p> - -<p>They could not see the error of their creed; they would not -promise to abstain from teaching it; and, worst of all, they -obstinately declined to bear the stipulated burdens on their -land.</p> - -<p>What is a practical statesman to do with men who say their -conscience will not suffer them to pay their rent?</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXVI.<br /> - -<span class="small">MORE NEW SECTS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">On</span> my arrival in the province of Simbirsk, every one is -talking of a singular people, whose proceedings have been recently -brought to light. One Peter Mironoff, a private soldier -in the Syzran regiment, has set up a new religion, which is to -be professed in secret and to have no name. Peter is known -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">{147}</a></span> -as a good sort of man; pious, orderly, sedate; a soldier never -absent from his drill; a penitent who never shirked his priest. -Nothing fantastic was expected from him. It is said that he -began by converting fourteen of his comrades, all of whom -swore that they would hold the truth in private, that they -would act so as to divert suspicion, that they would suffer exile, -torture, death itself, but never reveal the gospel they had -heard.</p> - -<p>Not being a learned man, and having no respect for books, -Peter rejects all rituals, derides all services, tears up all lives -of saints. He holds that reading and writing are dangerous -things, and takes tradition and a living teacher for his guides. -Though waging war against icons and crosses, on which he -stamps and frowns in his secret rites, he ostentatiously hangs -a silver icon in his chamber, and wears a copper cross suspended -from his neck. Teaching his pupils that true religion -lies in a daily battle with the flesh, he urges them to fast and -fast; abstaining, when they fast, from every kind of food, so -as not to mock the Lord; and when they indulge the senses, -to reject as luxuries unfit for children of grace such food as -meat and wine, as milk and eggs, as oil and fish. He warns -young people against the sin of marriage, and he bids the married -people live as though they were not; urging them to lead -a life of purity and peace, even such as the angels are supposed -to lead in heaven. By day and night he declares that -the heart of man is full of good and evil; that the good may -be encouraged, the evil discouraged; that fasting and prayer -are the only means of driving out the evil spirits which enter -into human flesh.</p> - -<p>The men whom Peter has drawn into order reject all mysteries -and signs; they wash themselves in quass, and then -drink the slops. They live in peace with the world, they help -each other to get on, and they implicitly obey a holy virgin -whom they have chosen for themselves.</p> - -<p>This virgin, a peasant-woman named Anicia, living in the -village of Perevoz, in the province of Tambof, is their actual -ruler; one who is even higher in authority than Peter Mironoff -himself. Anicia has been married about nineteen years. -Fallen man, they say, can only have one teacher; and that one -teacher must be a woman and a virgin. After Anicia, they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">{148}</a></span> -recognize the Saviour and St. Nicolas as standing next in -rank.</p> - -<p>Their service, held in secret, with closed doors and shutters, -begins and ends with songs; brisk music of the romping sort, -accompanied by jumping, hopping, twirling; and a part of -their worship has been borrowed from the Tartar mosques. -They stand in prayer. They bow to the ground in adoration. -They make no sign of the cross. Instead of crying "Save -me, pardon me, Mother Mary!" they cry "Save me, pardon -me, Mother Anicia Ivanovna!"</p> - -<p>Like all the sectaries, these Nameless Ones reject the official -empire and the official church.</p> - -<p>A long time passed before Peter and his fellows were betrayed -to the police, and now that the prophet and virgin -have been seized, attempts are made to pass the matter by as -a harmless joke. The Government is puzzled how to act; -nearly all the men and women accused of belonging to this -lawless and blasphemous sect being known through the province -of Simbirsk for their sober and decent lives. The leaders -are noted men, not only as church-goers, but supporters -of the clergy in their struggles against the world. Every -man whom the police has seized on suspicion holds a certificate -from his priest, in which his regularity in coming to confess -his sins and receive the sacrament is duly set forth and -signed. Nay, more, the parish priests come forward to testify -in their behalf; for in a society which does not commonly -regard priests with favor, the men who are now accused of -irreligion have set an example of respect for God's ministers -by asking them, on suitable occasions, to their homes.</p> - -<p>Mother Anicia, arrested in her village, has been put under -the severest trials; yet nothing has been found against her -credit and her fame. She is forty years old. She has been -married nineteen years. A medical board, appointed by the -governor, reports that she is still a virgin, and her neighbors, -far and near, declare that she has lived amongst them a perfectly -blameless life.</p> - -<p>The police are not yet beaten in their game. An agent of -their own has sworn to having been present in one of the -sheds in which they conducted their indecent rites. Peter -Mironoff, he declares, took down the ordinary icons from the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">{149}</a></span> -wall, spat on them, cursed them, banged them on the floor, -leaped on them, and ground them beneath his feet. After -cursing the images, Mironoff kneaded a peculiar cake of ashes, -foul water, and paste, in mockery of the sacred bread, and -gave to every man in the shed a piece of this cake to eat. -When they had eaten this cake, he called on them to strip, -each one as naked as when he was born—garments being a -sign of sin; and when they had all obeyed his words he bade -them sing and pray together, in testimony against the world.</p> - -<p>Each man, says this agent, is bound by the rules to choose -for himself a bride of the Spirit, with whom he must live in -the utmost purity of life.</p> - -<p>What can a reforming minister do in such a case? A jurist -would be glad to leave such folk alone; but the Holy -Governing Synod will not suffer them to be left alone. Peter -and Anicia remain in jail; their case is under consideration; -and the model soldier and blameless villager will probably end -their days in a Siberian mine.</p> - -<h3>COUNTERS.</h3> - -<p>In the province of Saratof, a wild steppe country, lying between -the lands of the Kalmuks and the Don Kozaks, I hear -of a new sect, called the Counters or Enumerators (Chislenniki). -The high-priest of this congregation is one Taras Maxim, -a peasant of Semenof, one of the bleak log villages in the -black-soil country.</p> - -<p>Taras speaks of having been out one night in a wood, when -he met a venerable man, holding in his hands a book. This -book had been given to the old man by an angel, and the old -man offered to let Taras read it. Parting the leaves, he -found the writing in the sacred Slavonic tongue, and the -words a message of salvation to all living men. The book -declared that the people of God must be counted and set -apart from the world. It spoke of the Official Church as the -Devil's Church. It showed that men have confused the order -of time, so as to profane with secular work the day originally -set apart for rest; that Thursday is the seventh day, -the true Sabbath, to be kept forever holy in the name of God. -It mentioned saints and angels with contempt; denounced -the official fasts as works of Satan; and proclaimed in future -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">{150}</a></span> -only one fast a year. It spoke of the seven sacraments as delusions, -to be wholly banished from the Church of God. It -said the priesthood was unnecessary and unlawful; every man -was a priest, empowered by Heaven to confess penitents, to -read the service, and inter the dead.</p> - -<p>Having read all these things, and some others, in the book, -Taras Maxim left his venerable host in the wood, and going -back into Semenof, told a friend what he had seen and learned. -Men and women listened to his tale, and, being anxious -for salvation, they counted themselves off from a corrupt society, -and founded the Secret Semenof Church.</p> - -<p>So far as I could learn—the sect being unlawful, and the -rites performed in private—one great purpose seems to inspire -these Counters; that of pouring contempt, in phrase -and gesture, on the forms of legal and official life. Sometimes, -I can hardly doubt, they carry this protest to the -length of indecent riot. Holding that Sunday is not a holy -day, they meet in their sheds and barns on Sunday morning, -while the village pope is saying mass, and having closed the -door and planted watchers in the street, they sing and dance, -they gibe and sneer; using, it is said, the roughest Biblical -language to denounce, the coarsest Oriental methods to defile, -the neighbors whom they regard as enemies of God.</p> - -<p>Semenof stands east of Jerusalem, and even east of Mecca.</p> - -<p>Maxim's chief theological tenet refers to sin. Man has to -be saved from sin. Unless he sins, he can not be saved. To -commit sin, is therefore the first step towards redemption. -Hence it is inferred by the police that Maxim and his pupils -rather smile on sinners, especially on female sinners, as persons -who are likely to become the objects of peculiar grace. -Outside their body, these Counters are regarded, even by liberal -men, as an immoral and unsocial sect.</p> - -<h3>NAPOLEONISTS.</h3> - -<p>In Moscow I hear of a body of worshippers who have the -singular quality of drawing their hope from a foreign soil. -These men are Napoleonists. Like all the dissenting sects, -they hate the official empire and deride the Official Church. -Seeing that the chief enemy of Russia in modern times was -Napoleon, they take him to have been, literally, that Messiah -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">{151}</a></span> -which he assumed to be, in a certain mystical sense, to the -oppressed and divided Poles; and they have raised the Corsican -hero into the rank of a Slavonic god.</p> - -<p>Their society is secret, and their worship private. That -they live and thrive, as an organized society, is affirmed by -those who know their country well. Their meetings are held -with closed doors and windows, under the very eyes of the -police; but this is the case with so many sects in Moscow, -that their immunity from detection need excite no wonder in -our eyes. Making a sort of altar in their room, they place on -it a bust of the foreign prince, and fall on their knees before -it. Busts of Napoleon are found in many houses; in none -more frequently than in those of the imperial race. I have -been in most of these imperial dwellings, and do not recollect -one, from the Winter Palace to the Farm, in which there was -not a bust of their splendid foe.</p> - -<p>The Napoleonists say their Messiah is still alive, and in the -flesh; that he escaped from the snares of his enemies; that -he crossed the seas from St. Helena to Central Asia; that he -dwells in Irkutsk, near Lake Baikal, on the borders of Chinese -Tartary; that in his own good time he will come back -to them, heal their sectional quarrels, raise a great army, and -put the partisans of Satan, the reigning dynasty and acting -ministers, to the sword.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXVII.<br /> - -<span class="small">THE POPULAR CHURCH.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">"These</span> secret sects and parties would be curious studies—and -little more—if they stood apart, and had to live or die by -forces of their own. In such a case they would be hardly -more important than the English Levellers and the Yankee -Come-outers; but these Russian dissidents are symptoms of -a disease in the imperial body, not the disease itself. They -live on the popular aversion to an official church.</p> - -<p>It is not yet understood in England and America that a -Popular Church exists in Russia side by side with the Official -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">{152}</a></span> -Church. It is not yet suspected in England and America -that this Popular Church exists in sleepless enmity and eternal -conflict with this Official Church. Yet in this fact of -facts lies the key to every estimate of Russian progress and -Russian power.</p> - -<p>This Popular Church consists of the Old Believers; men -who reject the pretended "reforms" of Patriarch Nikon, and -follow their fathers in observing the more ancient rite. "You -will find in our country," said to me a priest of this ancient -faith, "a Church of Byzantine, and a Church of Bethlehem; -a new voice and an old voice; a system framed by man, and -a gospel given by God."</p> - -<p>No one has ever yet counted the men who stand aloof from -the State Church as Old Believers. By the Government they -have been sometimes treated in a vague and foolish way as -dissenters; though the governments have never had the -courage to count them as dissenters in the official papers. -Known to be sources of weakness in the empire, they have -been hated, feared, cajoled, maligned; observed by spies, arrested -by police, entreated by ministers; every thing but -counted; for the governments have not dared to face the -truths which counting these Old Believers would reveal. A -wiser spirit rules to-day in the Winter Palace; and this great -question—greatest of all domestic questions—is being studied -under all its lights. Already it is felt in governing circles—let -the monks say what they will—that nothing can be -safely done in Russia, unless these Old Believers like it. Every -new suggestion laid before the Council of Ministers is -met (I have been told) by the query—"What will the Old -Believers say?"</p> - -<p>The points to be ascertained about these Old Believers are -these: How many do they count? What doctrines do they -profess? What is their present relation to the empire? -What concessions would reconcile them to the country and -the laws?</p> - -<p>How many do they count?</p> - -<p>A bishop, who has travelled much in his country, tells me -they are ten or eleven millions strong. A minister of state -informs me they are sixteen or seventeen millions strong. -"Half the people, even now, are Old Believers," says a priest -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">{153}</a></span> -from Kem; "more than three-fourths will be, the moment we -are free." My own experience leads me to think this priest -is right. "I tell you what I find in going through the country," -writes to me a German who has lived in Russia for -thirty years, knowing the people well, yet standing free (as a -Lutheran) from their local brawls; "I find, on taking the -population, man by man, that <i>four</i> persons <i>in five</i> are either -Old Believers now, or would be Old Believers next week, if -it were understood among them that the Government left -them free." This statement goes beyond my point; yet I -see good reason every day to recognize the fact—so long concealed -in official papers—that the Old Believers are the Russian -people, while the Orthodox Believers are but a courtly, -official, and monastic sect.</p> - -<p>Nearly all the northern peasants are Old Believers; nearly -all the Don Kozaks are Old Believers; more than half the -population of Nijni and Kazan are Old Believers; most of -the Moscow merchants are Old Believers. Excepting princes -and generals, who owe their riches to imperial favor, the -wealthiest men in Russia are Old Believers. The men who -are making money, the men who are rising, the captains of -industry, the ministers of commerce, the giants of finance—in -one word, the men of the instant future—are members of the -Popular Church.</p> - -<p>Driving through the streets of Moscow, day by day, admiring -the noble houses in town and suburb, your eye and ear -are taken by surprise at every turn. "Whose house is this?" -you ask. "Morozof's." "What is he?" "Morozof! why, -sir, Morozof is the richest man in Moscow; the greatest mill-owner -in Russia. Fifty thousand men are toiling in his mills. -He is an Old Believer."</p> - -<p>"Who lives here?" "Soldatenkof." "What is he!" "A -great merchant; a great manufacturer; one of the most powerful -men in Russia. He is an Old Believer."</p> - -<p>"Who lives in yonder palace?"</p> - -<p>"Miss Rokhmanof. In London you have such a lady; -Miss Burdett Coutts is richer, perhaps, than Miss Rokhmanof, -but not more swift to do good deeds. Her house, as you -see, is big; it has thirty reception-rooms. She is an Old Believer." -So you drive on from dawn to dusk. You go into -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">{154}</a></span> -the bazar—to find Old Believers owning most of the shops; -you go into the University—to find Old Believers giving most -of the burses; you go into the hospitals—to find Old Believers -feeding nearly all the sick. The old Russ virtues—even -the old Russ vices—will be found among these Old Believers; -not among the polite and enervated followers of the -official form. "In Russia," said to me a judge of men, "society -has a ritual of her own; a ritual for the palace, for the -convent, for the camp; a gorgeous ritual, fit for emperors and -princes, such as the purple-born might offer to barbaric kings, -not such as fishermen in Galilee would invent for fishermen -on the Frozen Sea."</p> - -<p>An Old Believer clings to the baldest forms of village worship, -and the simplest usages of village life. Conservative in -the bad sense, as in the good, he objects to every new thing, -whether it be a synod of monks, a capital on foreign soil, a cup -of tea sweetened with sugar, a city lit by gas. Show him a -thing unknown to his fathers in Nikon's time, and you show -him a thing which he will spurn as a work of the nether -fiend.</p> - -<p>These Old Believers are as much the enemies of an official -empire as they are of an official church. The test of loyalty -in Russia is praying for the reigning prince as a good Emperor -and a good Christian; but many of these Old Believers -will not pray for the reigning prince at all. Some will pray -for him as Tsar, though not as Emperor; but none will pray -for him as a Christian man. They look on him as reigning -by a dubious title and a doubtful right. The word emperor, -they say, means Chert—Black One; the double eagle an evil -spirit; the autocracy a kingdom of Antichrist.</p> - -<p>All this confusion in her moral and political life is traceable -to the times of Nikon the Patriarch; a person hardly less important -to a modern observer of Russia, than the great prince -who is said by Old Believers to have been his bastard son.</p> - -<p>About the time when our own Burton and Prynne were being -laid in the pillory, when Hampden and Cromwell were being -stayed in the Thames, a man of middle age and sour expression -landed from a boat at Solovetsk to pray at the shrine -of St. Philip, and beg an asylum from the monks. He described -himself as a peasant from the Volga, his father as a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">{155}</a></span> -field laborer in a village near Nijni. He was a married -man and his wife was still alive. In his youth he had spent -some time in a monastery, and after trying domestic life for -ten years, he had persuaded his partner to become a bride of -Christ. Leaving her in the convent of St. Alexie in Moscow, -he had pushed out boldly into the frozen north.</p> - -<p>At that time certain hermits lived on the isle of Anzersk, -where the farm now stands, in whose "desert" this stranger -found a home. There he took the cowl, and the name of -Nikon; but his nature was so rough, that he was soon engaged -in bickering with his chief as he had bickered with his wife. -Eleazar, founder of the desert, desired to build a church of -stone in lieu of his church of pines, and the two men set out -for Moscow to collect some funds. They quarrelled on their -road; they quarrelled on their return. At length, the brethren -rose on the new-comer, expelled him from the desert, -placed him in a canoe, with bread and water, and told him to -go whither he pleased, so that he never came back. Chance -threw him on shore at Ki, a rock in Onega Bay; where he set -up a cross, and promised to erect a chapel, if the virgin whom -he served would help him to get rich.</p> - -<p>On crossing to the main land, he became the organizer of a -band of hermits on Leather Lake (Kojeozersk) in the province -of Olonetz. From Leather Lake he made his spring into -power and fame; for having an occasion to see the Tsar Alexie -on some business, he so impressed that very poor judge of -men that in a few years he was raised to the seats of Archimandrite, -Bishop, Metropolite, and Patriarch.</p> - -<p>Combining the pride of Wolsey with the subtlety of Cranmer, -Nikon set his heart on governing the Church with a -sharper rod than had been used by his faint and shadowy predecessors. -A burly fellow, flushed of face, red of nose, and -bleary of eye, Nikon resembled a Friesland boor much more -than a Moscovite monk. He revelled in pomp and show; he -swelled with vanity as he sat enthroned in his cathedral near -the Tsar. Feeling a priest's delight in the splendor of the -Byzantine clergy, even under Turkish rule, he sought to model -his own ceremonial rites on those of the Byzantine clergy, not -aware that in going back to the Lower Empire he was seeking -guidance from the Greeks in their corruptest time. His -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">{156}</a></span> -earlier steps were not unwise. Sending out a body of scribes, -he obtained from Mount Athos copies of the most ancient and -authentic sacred books, which he caused to be translated into -Slavonic and compared with the books in ordinary use; and -finding that errors had crept into the text, he bade his scribes -prepare for him a new edition of the Scriptures and Rituals, -in which the better readings should be introduced. But here -his merit ends. Nikon knew no Greek; yet when the work -was done for him by others, he proceeded, with an arrogant -frown on his brow, to force his version on the Church. The -Church objected; Nikon called upon the Tsar. The priests -demurred to this intrusion of the civil power; and Nikon -handed the protesting clergy over to the police. Alexie lent -him every aid in carrying out his scheme. Yet the opposition -was strong, not only in town and village, but in the -council, in the convent, and in the Church. Peasants and -popes were equally against the changes he proposed to make. -The service-books were old and venerable; they sounded -musical in every ear; their very accents seemed divine. -These books had been used in their sacred offices time out of -mind, and twenty generations of their fathers had by them -been christened, married, and laid at rest. Why should these -books be thrown aside? The writings offered in their stead -were foreign books. Nikon said they were better; how -could Nikon know? The Patriarch was not a critic; many -persons denied that he was a learned man. Instead of trying -to gain support for his innovations, he forced them on the -Church. Nor was he satisfied to deal with the texts alone. -He changed the old cross. He trifled with the sacraments. -He brought in a new mode of benediction. He altered the -stamp on consecrated bread. By order of the Tsar, who could -not see the end of what he was about, the Council adopted -Nikon's reforms in the Church; and these new Scriptures, -these new services, these new sacraments, this new cross, and -this new benediction, were introduced, by order of the civil -power, in every church and convent throughout the land. -The Nikonian Church was recognized as an Official Church.</p> - -<p>Most of the people and their parish clergy stood up boldly -for their ancient texts, especially in the far north countries, -where the court had scarcely any power over the thoughts of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">{157}</a></span> -men. The view taken in the north appears to have been -something like that of our English Puritans when judging the -merits and demerits of King James's version: they thought -the new Scriptures rather too worldly in tone; over-just to -high dignitaries in Church and State; less likely to promote -holy living and holy dying than the old. In a word, they -thought them too political in their accent and their spirit.</p> - -<p>No convent in the empire showed a sterner will to reject -these innovations than the great establishment in the Frozen -Sea. When Nikon's service-books arrived at Solovetsk, the -brethren threw them aside in scorn. The Archimandrite, as -an officer of state, took part with the Patriarch and the Tsar; -but the fathers put their Archimandrite in a boat and carried -him to Kem. Having called a council of their body, they -chose two leaders; Azariah, whom they elected caterer; and -Gerontie, whom they elected bursar. All the Kozaks in the -fortress joined them; and, supported from the mainland by -people who shared their minds, the monks of Solovetsk maintained -their armed revolt against the Nikonian Church for upward -of ten years, and only fell by treachery at last.</p> - -<p>In Orthodox accounts of this siege the captors are represented -as behaving as men should behave in war. They are -said to have put to the sword only such as they took in arms; -and borne the rest away from Solovetsk, to be placed in convents -at a distance till they came to a better mind. But many -old books, possessed by peasants round the Frozen Sea, put -another face on such tales. A peasant, living in the Delta, -pulled up a book from a well under his kitchen floor, and -showed me a passage in red and black ink, to the effect that -the whole brotherhood of resisting monks was put to the -sword and perished to a man.</p> - -<p>What the besiegers won, the nation lost. This victory -clove the Church in twain, and the end of Nikon's triumph -has not yet been reached.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">{158}</a></div> - - -<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII.<br /> - -<span class="small">OLD BELIEVERS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> new service-books and crosses were ordered to be used -in every Church. The Church which used them was declared -official, orthodox, and holy. Every other form of public worship -was put under curse and ban.</p> - -<p>Princes, Vladikas, generals, all made haste to pray in the -form most pleasing to their Tsar. Cajoled and terrified by -turns, the monks became in a few years orthodox enough; -and many of the parish priests, on being much pressed by the -police, marched over to the stronger side. Not all; not -nearly all; for thousands of the country clergymen resisted all -commands to introduce into their services these suspected -books; contending that the changes wrought in the sacred -texts were neither warranted by fact nor justified by law. -They treated them as the daring labor of a single man. Not -all of those who held out against Nikon could pretend to be -scholars and critics; but neither, they alleged, was Nikon -himself a scholar and a critic. When he came to Solovetsk -he was an ignorant peasant, too old to learn; when he was -driven from Anzersk by his outraged brethren, he was as ignorant -of letters as when he came. Since that time he had -led a life of travel and intrigue. If they were feeble judges, -he was also a feeble judge.</p> - -<p>Clinging fast to their venerable forms, the clergy kept their -altars open to a people whom neither soldiers nor police could -drive to the new matins and the new mass. Many of the -burghers, most of the peasants, doggedly refused to budge -from their ancient chapels, to forego their favorite texts. -They were Old Believers; they were the Russian Church; -Nikon was the heretic, the sectarian, the dissident; and, -strong in these convictions, they set their teeth against every -man who fell away from the old national rite to the new official -rite.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">{159}</a></span> -From those evil times, the people have been parted into two -hostile camps; a camp of the Ancient Faith, and a camp of -the Orthodox Faith; a parting which it is no abuse of words -to describe as the heaviest blow that has ever fallen upon this -nation; heavier than the Polish invasion, heavier than the Tartar -conquest; since it sets brother against brother, and puts -their common sovereign at the head of a persecuting board of -monks.</p> - -<p>One consequence of these Old Believers being driven into -relations of enmity towards the Government is the weakening -of Russia on every side. The Church is shorn of her native -strength; the civil power usurps her functions; and the man -who brought these evils on her was deposed from his high -rank. Nikon was hardly in his grave before the office of -Patriarch was abolished; and the Church was virtually absorbed -into the State. The Orthodox Church became a Political -Church; extending her limits, and ruling her congregations -by the secular arm. Imperious and intolerant, she allows -no reading of the Bible, no exercise of thought, no freedom -of opinion, within her pale. The Old Believers suffer, in -their turn, not only from the persecutions to which their -"obstinacy" lays them open, but from the isolation into -which they have fallen.</p> - -<p>From the moment of their protest down to the present -time, these Old Believers have been driven, by their higher -virtues, into giving an unnatural prominence to ancient habits -and ancient texts. Living in an old world, they see no merit -in the new. According to their earnest faith, the reign of -Antichrist began with Nikon; and since the time of Nikon -every word spoken in their country has been false, every act -committed has been wrong.</p> - -<p>Like a Moslem and like a Jew, an Old Believer of the severer -classes may be known by sight. "An Old Believer?" -says a Russian friend, as we stand in a posting-yard, watching -some pilgrims eat and drink; "an Old Believer? Yes."</p> - -<p>"How do you read the signs?"</p> - -<p>"Observe him; see how he puts the potatoes from him -with a shrug. That is a sign. He eats no sugar with his -glass of tea; that also is a sign. The chances are that he -will not smoke."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">{160}</a></span> -"Are all these notes of an Old Believer?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; in these northern parts. At Moscow, Nijni, and -Kazan, you will find the rule less strict—especially as to -drinking and smoking—least of all strict among the Don Kozaks."</p> - -<p>"Are the Don Kozaks Old Believers?"</p> - -<p>"Most of them are so; some say all. But the Government -of Nicolas strove very hard to bring them round; and seeing -that these Kozaks live under martial law, their officers could -press them in a hundred ways to obey the wishes of their -Tsar. Their Atamans conformed to the Emperor's creed; -and many of his troopers so far yielded as to hear an official -mass. Yet most of them stood out; and many a fine young -fellow from the Don country went to the Caucasus, rather -than abandon his ancient rite. You should not trust appearances -too far, even among those Don Kozaks; for it is known -that in spite of all that popes and police could do, more than -half the Kozaks kept their faith; and fear of pressing them -too far has led, in some degree, to the more tolerant system -now in vogue."</p> - -<p>"You find some difference, then, even as regards adherence -to the ancient rite, between the north country and the south?"</p> - -<p>"It must be so; for in the north we live the true Russian -life. We come of a good stock; we live apart from the -world; and we walk in our fathers' ways. We never saw a -noble in our midst; we hold to our native saints and to our -genuine Church."</p> - -<p>The signs by which an Old Believer is to be distinguished -from the Orthodox are of many kinds; some domestic—such -as his way of eating and drinking; others devotional—such -as his way of making the cross and marking the consecrated -bread.</p> - -<p>An Old Believer has a strong dislike to certain articles; not -because they are bad in themselves, but simply because they -have come into use since Nikon's time. Thus, he eats no -sugar; he drinks no wine; he repudiates whisky; he smokes -no pipe.</p> - -<p>An Old Believer of the sterner sort has come to live alone; -even as a Hebrew or a Parsee lives alone. He has taken hold -of the Eastern doctrine that a thing is either clean or unclean, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">{161}</a></span> -as it may happen to have been touched by men of another -creed. Hence he must live apart. He can neither break -bread with a stranger, nor eat of flesh which a heretic has -killed. He can not drink from a pitcher that a stranger's lip -has pressed. In his opinion false belief defiles a man in body -and in soul; and when he is going on a journey, he is tortured -like a Hebrew with the fear of rendering himself unclean. -He carries his water-jug and cup, from which no -stranger is allowed to drink. He calls upon his comrades -only, since he dares not eat his brown bread, and drain his -basin of milk in a stranger's house. Yet homely morals cling -to these men no less than homely ways. An Old Believer is -not more completely set apart from his neighbors of the Orthodox -rite by his peculiar habits, than by his personal virtues. -Even in the north country, where folk are sober, honest, -industrious, far beyond the average Russian, these members -of the Popular Church are noticeable for their probity and -thrift. "If you want a good workman," said to me an English -mill-owner, "take an Old Believer, especially in a flax-mill."</p> - -<p>"Why in a flax-mill?"</p> - -<p>"You see," replied my host, "the great enemy of flax is -fire; and these men neither drink nor smoke. In their hands -you are always safe."</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXIX.<br /> - -<span class="small">A FAMILY OF OLD BELIEVERS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the forest village of Kondmazaro lives a family of Old -Believers, named Afanasevitch; two brothers, who till the -soil, fell pines, and manufacture tar. Their house is a pile of -logs; a large place, with barn and cow-shed, and a patch of -field and forest. These brothers are wealthy farmers, with -manly ways, blue eyes, and gentle manners. Fedor and Michael -are the brothers, and Fedor has a young and dainty -wife.</p> - -<p>The family of Afanasevitch is clerical, and the two men, -Fedor and Michael, were brought up as priests. On going -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">{162}</a></span> -into their house you see the signs of their calling, and on going -into their barn you see a chapel, with an altar and sacred -books.</p> - -<p>That barn was built by their grandfather, in evil days, as a -chapel for his flock; and during many years, the father of -these men—now gone to a better place—kept up, in the privacy -of his farm, the forms of worship which had come down -to him from his sire, and his sire's sire. This barn has no -cupola, no cross, no bell. So far as takes the eye, it is a simple -barn. Inside, it is a quaint little chapel, with screen and -cross, with icon and crown. It has a regular altar, with step -and desk, and the customary pair of royal gates.</p> - -<p>The father of Fedor and Michael, following in his father's -wake, appeared to the outside world a farmer and woodman, -while to his faithful people he was a priest of God.</p> - -<p>These lads assisted him in the service, while his neighbors -took their turn of either dropping in to mass, or mounting -guard in the lane. His altars were often stripped, his books -put in a well, his pictures hidden in a loft; for the police, informed -of what was going on by monkish spies, were often at -his gates. At length a brighter day is dawning on the Popular -Church. A new prince is on the throne; and under the -White Tsar, the congregations which keep within the rules laid -down are left in peace.</p> - -<p>"You hold a service in this church?"</p> - -<p>"My brother holds it; not myself," says Fedor, with a -sigh. "My priesthood is gone from me."</p> - -<p>"Your priesthood gone? How can a priesthood go away? -Is not the law, once a priest always a priest?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, in a regular church; but we are not now a regular -church, with a sacred order and an apostolic grace. We are -a village priesthood only; chosen by our neighbors to serve -the Lord in our common name."</p> - -<p>"How was your personal priesthood lost?"</p> - -<p>"By falling into sin through love. My wife, though village -born, had scruples about the form of marriage in use among -our people, and begged me to indulge her weakness on that -point by marrying her in the parish church. It was a proper -thing for her to ask; a very hard thing for me to grant; for -law and right are here at strife, and one must take his chance -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">{163}</a></span> -of rejecting either man or God. The time is not a reign of -grace, and nothing that we do is lawful in the sight of Heaven. -We take no sacraments; for the apostolic priesthood has -passed away. No man alive has power to bind and loose, or -even to marry and to shrive."</p> - -<p>"Still you marry?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; outwardly, according to a form; not inwardly, according -to the Spirit. Besides, the law does not admit our -form; the Orthodox say we are not married, and the courts -declare our children basely born. Hence, some of our women -crave to be wedded as the code directs, in the parish church, -by an Orthodox priest. I could not blame poor Mary for her -weakness, though she wished me to marry her in a way that -would insult my kindred, harass my mother, and cause me to -be removed from my office, and degraded from my rank as -priest. I loved the girl and we went to church."</p> - -<p>Fedor stands beside me, tall and lank, with mild blue eyes -and yellow locks, a serge blouse hanging round his figure, -caught at the waist by a broad red belt; his figure and face -suggesting less of the meek Russ peasant than of the fiery -northern skald. Quaint books, with old bronze clasps and -leather ties, are in his arms. These books he spreads before -me with mysterious silence, pointing out passage after passage, -written in a dashing style—partly in red letters, partly in black—in -the dead Slavonic tongue. He looks a very unlikely man -to have lost the world for love.</p> - -<p>"Your marriage got you into trouble?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; a man who marries plunges into care."</p> - -<p>"But though you have lost your priesthood, you are not -expelled from the community?"</p> - -<p>"Not expelled in words; yet I am not received into fellowship; -not having yet performed the necessary acts."</p> - -<p>"What acts?"</p> - -<p>"The acts of penitence. Being married, I am not allowed -to pass the church door; only to stand on the outer steps, salute -the worshippers, and listen to the sacred sounds. I am -expected to stand in the street, bareheaded, through the summer's -sun and the winter frost; to bend my knee to every one -going in; to beg his pardon of my offense; and to solicit his -prayers at the throne of grace."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">{164}</a></span> -"How long will your time of penitence last?"</p> - -<p>"Years, years!" he answers sadly; "if I were rich enough -to do nothing else, I could be purified in six weeks. The penance -is for forty days; but forty successive days; and I have -never yet found time to give up forty days, in any one season, to -the cleansing of my fame. But some year I shall find them."</p> - -<p>"How does this failure affect your wife? Is she received -into the church?"</p> - -<p>"If you note this house of God, you will observe a part -railed off behind the screen; this is the female side, and has -an entrance by a separate door. No woman goes in at the -principal gate. The space behind the screen is not considered -as lying within the church; and there my wife can stand -during service; bending to our neighbors as they enter, asking -every woman to forgive her offense, and help her in prayer -with her patron saint."</p> - -<p>"Are you considered impure?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; until our peace is made. You see, an Old Believer -thinks that for most people a single life is better than a wedded -life. It is the will of God that some should marry, in order -that His children shall not die off the earth. Sometimes -it is the will of Satan, that hell may be replenished with fallen -souls. In either case, it is a sign of our lost estate; an act to -be atoned by penitence and prayer. But getting married is -not the whole of our offense. We went into the world: we -held communion with the heathen; and we put ourselves beyond -the pale of law."</p> - -<p>"You hold the outer world to be unclean?"</p> - -<p>"In one sense, yes. The world has been defiled by sin. -A man who goes from our village into the world—who crosses -the river in order to sell his deals and buy white flour—must -purify himself on coming back. He may have to cut -his bread with an unclean knife, to drink his water from an -unclean glass. He carries his knife and cup beneath his girdle -for common use; yet he may be forced, by accident, to eat -with a strange knife, to drink out of a strange mug. On his -return, he has to stand at the chapel door, and beg the forgiveness -of every member of the community for his sins."</p> - -<p>"Yet you are said to differ from the Orthodox clergy only -in a few points?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">{165}</a></span> -"On many points. We differ on the existence of a State -Church; on the Holy Governing Synod; on the number of -sacraments; on the benediction; on the cross; on the service-books; -on the apostolical succession; and on many more. -We object to the civil power in matters of faith; object to -Byzantine pomp in our worship. What we want in our -Church is the old Russian homeliness and heartiness; priests -who are learned and sober men; bishops who are actual fathers -of their flocks."</p> - -<p>"Show me how you give the benediction."</p> - -<p>"Christ and His apostles gave the blessing so; the first and -second finger extended; the thumb on the third finger; not -as the Byzantines give it, with the thumb on the first finger. -We follow the usage introduced by Christ."</p> - -<p>"You make much of that form?"</p> - -<p>"Much for what it proves; not much for what it is. Pardon -me, and I will show you. Here is a small bronze figure -of our Lord; the work good and ancient; older than Nikon, -older than St. Vladimir; it is said to have come from Kherson, -on the Black Sea. This figure proves our case against -Nikon the Monk, who altered things without reason, only to -puff himself out with pride. Our Lord, you will observe, is -giving the blessing, just as our saints, from Philip to Vladimir, -gave it. The Greek fathers in Bethlehem bless a pilgrim -in this way now. Our form is Syrian Greek, the Orthodox -form is Byzantine Greek."</p> - -<p>"And the cross?"</p> - -<p>"We keep the old traditions of the cross. On every ancient -spire and belfry in the land you find a true cross. Observe -the spires in Moscow, Novgorod, and Kief. In places -it has been removed, to make way for the Latin cross; but -on many towers and steeples it remains; a lofty and silent -witness for the truth."</p> - -<p>"How do you prove that your cross is the true one? Think -of it; the cross was a Roman gibbet: a thing unknown to -either Jew or Greek. Are not the Latins likely to have -known the shape of their own penal cross?"</p> - -<p>"All that is true; but the Holy Cross on which our Lord -expired in the flesh was not a common cross, made of two -logs. We know that it was built of four different trees; -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">{166}</a></span> -cypress, cedar, palm, and olive; therefore it must have had -three arms."</p> - -<p>"You take no sacraments?"</p> - -<p>"At present, none. We have no priests ordained to bless -the bread and wine. Saved without them? Yes; in the -providence of God. Men were saved before sacraments; Judas -Iscariot took them and was lost. A sacrament is a good -form, not a saving means."</p> - -<p>Fedor is a type of those Old Believers who are said to be -slackening at the joints, in consequence of their present freedom -from persecution. He has not learned to smoke; but -he sees no harm in a pipe, except so far as it might cause a -brother to fail and fall. He does not care for wine; but he -will toss off his glass of whisky like a genuine child of the -north. Some strict ones in his village drink no tea, having -doubts on their mind whether tea came into use before Nikon's -reign; and nearly all his neighbors refuse to mix sugar -with their food, to put pipes into their mouths, to plant potatoes -in their soil. Fedor objects to sugar, as being a devil's -offering, purified with blood. Whisky he thinks lawful and -beneficial, St. Paul having commanded Timothy to drink a -little wine—which Fedor says is a shorter name for whisky—for -his stomach's sake. Fedor is willing to obey St. Paul.</p> - -<p>Fedor is a Bible-reader. Every phrase from his lips is -streaked with text, and every point in his argument backed -by chapter and verse. Except in some New England homesteads, -I have never heard such floods of reference and quotation -in my life.</p> - -<p>"You say your Church has lost the priesthood?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; our priests are all destroyed; the heavenly gift is -lost, and we are wandering in the desert without a guide. -This is our trial. Our bishops have all died off; we can not -consecrate a priest; the consecrating power is in the devil's -camp."</p> - -<p>"How can you get back this gift?"</p> - -<p>"By miracle; in no other way. The priesthood came by -miracle; by miracle it will be restored."</p> - -<p>"In our own day?"</p> - -<p>"No; we do not hope it. Miracles come in an age of -faith. <i>We</i> are not worthy of such a sign. We have to walk -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">{167}</a></span> -in our fathers' ways; to keep our children true; and hope -that they may live into that better day."</p> - -<p>"You think the Orthodox rite will be overthrown?"</p> - -<p>"In time. In God's own time His kingdom will be restored; -and Russia will be one people and one Church."</p> - -<p>"What would you like the Government to do?"</p> - -<p>"We want a free Church; we want to walk with our fathers; -we want our old Church discipline; we want our old -books, our old rituals, our old fashions; we want to read the -Bible in our native tongue."</p> - -<p>"Are the Old Believers all of one mind about these -points?"</p> - -<p>"Ha, no! There are Old Believers and Old Believers. In -the north we are pretty nearly of one mind; in the south they -are divided into two bodies, if not more. The Government -is active in Moscow; Moscow being our ancient capital; and -most of the traders in that city Old Believers. Ministers are -trying to win them over to the Orthodox Church. Visit the -Cemetery of the Transfiguration near Moscow; there you will -see what Government has done."</p> - -<p>Let us follow Fedor's hint.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXX.<br /> - -<span class="small">CEMETERY OF THE TRANSFIGURATION.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Four</span> or five miles from the Holy Gate, beyond the walls -of Moscow, in a populous suburb, near the edge of a pool of -water, lies a field containing multitudes of graves—the graves -of people who were long ago struck down by plague. This -field is fenced with stakes, and part of the inclosure guarded -by a wall. Within this wall stand a hospital and a convent; -hospital on your left, convent on your right. A huge gateway, -built of stones from older piles, and quaintly colored in -Tartar panels, opens in your front. Driving up to this gate, -we send in our cards—a councillor of state, an English -friend, and myself—and are instantly admitted by the chief.</p> - -<p>"This cemetery," says our friendly guide, "is called Preobrajenski -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">{168}</a></span> -(Transfiguration), from the village close by. In the -plague time (1770) it was steppe, and people threw out their -dead upon it, laying them in trenches, hardly covered with a -pinch of dust. The plague growing worse and worse, the -village elder got permission from Empress Catharine to build -a house on the spot, to keep the peace and fumigate the dead. -That house was built among the trenches. Ten years later -(1781), Elia Kovielin, a brickmaker in Moscow, built among -these graves a church, a cloister, and a hospital. This Kovielin -was a clever man; rich in money and in friends; living in -a fine house, and having the master of police, with governors, -generals, princes, always at his board. Catharine was not -aware of his being an Old Believer; but her ministers and -courtiers knew him well enough. His house was a church; -the pictures in his private chapel cost him fifty thousand rubles. -Kovielin <i>was</i> a rich man. The monks were afraid of -him, because he had friends at court; the priests, because he -had the streets and suburbs at his back. Besides, what monk -or priest could rail against a man for building a cemetery for -the dead? A very clever man! You have heard the story -of his magic loaf? You have not! Then you shall hear it. -Paul the First, becoming aware that this edifice of the Transfiguration -was an Old Believer's church, resolved to have it -taken down. Kovielin drove to St. Petersburg, and found the -Emperor deaf to his pleas. Voiékof, master of police in Moscow, -having the Emperor's orders to pull down tower and -wall, rode out to the cemetery, where he was received by -Kovielin, and on going away was honored by the present of -a convent loaf. A loaf! A magic loaf! Voiékof liked that -lump of bread so well, that he went home and forgot to pull -the cemetery about our ears. Folk say that loaf contained a -purse—five thousand rubles coined in gold. Who knows? -Elia Kovielin was a clever man."</p> - -<p>Our guide through the courts and chapels is not an Old -Believer, but an officer of state. In 1852, Nicolas seized the -cemetery, sequestered the funds, and threw the management -into official hands. The hospital he left to the Old Believers; -for this great hospital is maintained in funds by the gifts of -pious men; and the Emperor saw that if his officers seized -the hospital, either his budget must be charged with a new -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">{169}</a></span> -burden, or the sick and aged people must be thrown into the -streets. He seized their church, and left them their sick and -aged poor.</p> - -<p>"Kovielin's magic loaf was not the best," says the officer -in charge; "these Old Believers are always rogues. When -Bonaparte was lodging at the Kremlin, they went to him -with gift and speech—the gift, a dish of golden rubles; saying, -they came to greet him, and acknowledge him as Tsar."</p> - -<p>"They thought he would deliver them from the tyranny of -monks and priests?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; that was what they dreamt. Napoleon humored -them like fools, and even rode down hither to see them in -their village. Kovielin was dead; <i>he</i> would not have done -such things. Napoleon rode round their graves, and ate of -their bread and porridge; but he could not make them out. -They wanted a White Tsar; not a soldier in uniform and -spurs. He went away puzzled; and when he was gone the -rascals took to forging government notes."</p> - -<p>"Odd trade to conduct in a cemetery!"</p> - -<p>"You doubt me! Ask the police; ask any friend in Moscow; -ask the councillor."</p> - -<p>"They were suspected," says the councillor of state, "and -their chapel was suppressed; but these events occurred in a -former reign."</p> - -<p>"What became of their chapel? Was it pulled down?"</p> - -<p>"No; there it stands. The chapel is a rich one; Kovielin -transferred to it all those pictures from his private house -which had cost him fifty thousand rubles; and many rich -merchants of Moscow graced it with works of art. It has -been purified since, and turned into an Orthodox Church."</p> - -<p>"An Orthodox Church?"</p> - -<p>"Well, yes; in a sort of way. You see, the people here -about are Old Believers; warm in their faith; attached to -their ancient rites. In numbers only they are strong: ten -millions—fifteen millions—twenty millions; no one knows -how many. Long oppressed, they have lost alike their love -of country and their loyalty to the Tsar; some looking wistfully -for help to the Austrian Kaiser; others again dreaming -of a king of France. It is of vast political moment to recover -their lost allegiance; and the ministers of Nicolas conceived -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">{170}</a></span> -a plan which has been steadily carried out. The Old -Believers are to be reconciled to the empire by—what shall -we say?"</p> - -<p>"A trick?"</p> - -<p>"Well, this is the plan. The chapel is to be declared orthodox; -it is to be opened by thirty monks and a dozen -priests; but the monks are to be dressed in homely calico, -and the ritual to be used is that employed before Nikon's -time."</p> - -<p>"You mean me to understand that the Official Church is -willing to adopt the Ancient Rites, if she may do so with her -present priests?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; the object of the Government is to prove that custom, -not belief, divides the Ancient from the Orthodox -Church."</p> - -<p>"It is an object that compels the Government to meet the -Old Believers more than half-way; for to give up Nikon's -ritual is to give up all the principle at stake. Has the experiment -of an Orthodox priest performing the Ancient Rite succeeded -in bringing people to the purified church?"</p> - -<p>"Old Believers say it has completely failed. The chapel is -now divided from the hospital by a moral barrier; and outside -people scorn to pass the door and fall into what they call -a trap. Last year the chiefs of the asylum prayed for leave -to build a new wall across this courtyard, cutting off all communication -with what they call their desecrated shrine. The -home minister saw no harm in their request; but on sending -their petition to the Holy Governing Synod, he met a firm refusal -of the boon. The Popular Church has nothing to expect -from these mitred monks."</p> - -<p>On passing into this "desecrated shrine," we find a sombre -church, in which vespers are being chanted by a dozen monks, -without a single soul to listen. Most of these monks are aged -men, with long hair and beards, attired in black calico robes, -and wearing the ancient Russian cowl. Each monk has a -small black pillow, on which he kneels and knocks his head. -Church, costume, service, every point is so arranged as to take -the eye and ear as homely, old and weird, in fact, the Ancient -Rite.</p> - -<p>"Do any of the Old Believers come to see you?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">{171}</a></span> -"Yes, on Sundays, many," says the chief pope; "for on -Sundays we allow them to dispute in church, and they are -fond of disputing with us, phrase by phrase, and rite by rite. -Five or six hundred come to us—after service—to hear us -questioned by their popes. We try to show them that we all -belong to one and the same Church; that the difference between -us lies in ceremony and not in faith."</p> - -<p>"Have you made converts to that view?"</p> - -<p>"In Moscow, no; in Vilna, Penza, and elsewhere, our work -of conciliation is said to have been more blessed."</p> - -<p>"Those places are a long way off."</p> - -<p>"Yes; bread that is scattered on the waters may be found -in distant parts."</p> - -<p>When I ask in official quarters, on what pretense the Emperor -Nicolas seized the Popular Cemetery, the answer is—that -under the guise of a cemetery, the Old Believers were establishing -a college of their faith; from which they were -sending forth missionaries, full of Bible learning, into other -provinces; and that these priests and elders were attracting -crowds of men from the Orthodox Church into dissent. It -was alleged that they were spreading far and fast; that the -parish priests were favoring them; and that every public -trouble swelled their ranks. To wit, the cholera is said to -have changed a thousand Orthodox persons into Old Believers -every week. If it had raged two years, the Orthodox -faith would have died a natural death. For in cases of public -panic the Russian people have an irresistible longing to -fall back upon their ancient ways. It is the cry of Hebrews -in dismay: "Your tents! back to your tents!" All Eastern -nations have this homely and conservative passion in their -blood.</p> - -<p>"These were the actual reasons," says the councillor of -state; "but the cause assigned for interference was the -scandal of the forged bank-notes."</p> - -<p>"Surely no one believes that scandal?"</p> - -<p>"Every one believes it. Only last year this scandal led to -the perpetration of a curious crime."</p> - -<p>"What sort of crime?"</p> - -<p>"At dusk on a wintry day, when all the offices in the -cemetery were closed, a cavalcade dashed suddenly to the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">{172}</a></span> -door. A colonel of gendarmes leaped from a drojki, followed -by a master of police. Four gendarmes and four citizens -of Moscow came with them. Pushing into the chief office, -they asked to see the strong-box, and to have it opened in their -presence. As the clerk looked shy, the colonel of gendarmes -was sharp and rude. They were accused, he said, of forging -ruble notes, and he had come by order of the Governor-general, -Prince Vladimir Dolgorouki, to open their strong-box -under the eyes of four eminent merchants and the master of -police. He laid the prince's mandate down; he showed his -own commission; and then in an imperial tone, demanded to -have the keys! The keys could not be found; the treasurer -was gone to Moscow, and would not return that night. -'Then seal your box,' said the colonel of gendarmes; 'the -police will keep it! Come to-morrow, with your keys, to -Prince Dolgorouki's house in the Tverskoi Place, at ten -o'clock.' The box was sealed; the police master hauled it -into his drojki; in half an hour the cavalcade was gone. -Next day the treasurer, with his clerk and manager, drove -into Moscow with their keys, and on arriving in the Tverskoi -Place were smitten pale with news that no search for ruble -notes had been ordered by the prince."</p> - -<p>"Who, then, was that colonel of gendarmes?"</p> - -<p>"A thief; the master of police a thief; the four gendarmes -were thieves; the four eminent citizens thieves!"</p> - -<p>"And what was done?"</p> - -<p>"Prince Dolgorouki sent for Rebrof, head of the police -(a very fine head), and told him what these thieves had done. -'Superb!' laughed Rebrof, as he heard the tale; and when -the prince had come to an end of his details, he again cried -out, in genuine admiration, 'Ha! superb! One man, and -only one in Moscow, has the brain for such a deed. The -thief is Simonoff. Give me a little time, say nothing to the -world, and Simonoff shall be yours.' Rebrof kept his word; -in three months Simonoff was tried, found guilty on the clearest -proof, and sentenced to the mines for life. Rebrof traced -him through the cabmen, followed him to his haunts, learned -what he had done with the scrip and bonds, and then arrested -him in a public bath. The money—two hundred thousand -rubles—he had shared and spent. 'Siberia,' cried the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">{173}</a></span> -brazen rogue, when the judge pronounced his doom, 'Siberia -is a jolly place; I have plenty of money, and shall have -a merry time.' Had there been no false reports about the -cemetery, a theft like Simonoff's could hardly have taken -place."</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXI.<br /> - -<span class="small">RAGOSKI.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ragoski,</span> another cemetery of the Old Believers, in the -suburbs of Moscow, has a different story, and belongs to a -second branch of the Popular Church. There is a party of -Old Believers "with priests" and a party "without priests." -Ragoski belongs to the party with priests; Preobrajenski to -the party without priests.</p> - -<p>One party in the Popular Church believes that the priesthood -has been lost; the other party believes that it has been -saved. Both parties deny the Orthodox Church; but the -more liberal branch of the Popular Church allows that a true -priesthood may exist in other Greek communions, by the -bishops of which a line of genuine pastors may be ordained.</p> - -<p>"You wish to visit the Ragoski?" asks my host. "Then -we must look to our means. The chiefs of Ragoski are suspicious; -and no wonder; the times of persecution are near -them still. In the reign of Nicolas, the Ragoski was shut up, -the treasury was seized, and many of the worshippers were -sent away—no one knows whither; to Siberia, to Archangel, -to Imeritia—who shall say? Alexander has given them back -their own; but they can not tell how long the reign of grace -may last. An order from Prince Dolgorouki might come to-morrow; -their property might be seized, their chapel closed, -their hospital emptied, and their graves profaned. It is not -likely; it is not probable; for the favor shown to this cemetery -is a part of our general progress, not an isolated act of -imperial grace. But these Old Believers, caring little about -general progress, give the glory to God. If you told them -they are tolerated, as Jews are tolerated, they would think -you mad; 'The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away; -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">{174}</a></span> -blessed be the name of the Lord.' Who among them knows -when the evil day may come? Hence, they suspect a -stranger. Not twenty men in Moscow, out of their own communion, -have been within their gates. The cemetery will be -hard to enter; hard as to enter your own Abode of Love."</p> - -<p>By happy chance, a gentleman calls while we are talking -of ways and means, who is not only an Old Believer, but an -Old Believer of the branch with priests. A short man, white -and wrinkled, with a keen gray eye, a serious face, and speech -that takes you by its wonderful force and fire, this gentleman -is a trader in the city, living in a fine house, and giving away -in charities the income of a prince. I know one man to whom -he sends every year a thousand rubles, as a help for poor -students at the university. This good citizen is a banker, -trader, mill-owner, what not; he is able, prompt, adroit; he -gives good dinners; and is hand-and-glove with every one in -power. I have heard folks say—by way of parable, no doubt—that -all the police of Moscow are in his pay. You also -hear whispers that this banker, trader, what not, is a priest; -not of the ordained and apostolic order, but one of those -popular priests whom the Synod hunts to death. Who -knows?</p> - -<p>"You are an Old Believer," he begins, addressing his -speech to me. "I know that from your book on The Holy -Land; every word of which expresses the doctrines held by -the Russian Church in her better days."</p> - -<p>My host explains my great desire to see the cemetery of -Ragoski. "You shall be welcomed there like a friend. Let me -see; shall I go with you? No; it will be better for you to go -alone. The governor, Ivan Kruchinin, shall be there to receive -you. I will write." He dashes off a dozen lines of introduction, -written in the tone and haste of a recognized chief.</p> - -<p>Armed with this letter we start next day, and driving -through the court-yards of the Kremlin, have to pull up our -drojki, to allow a train of big black horses to go prancing by. -It is the train of Innocent, metropolite of Moscow, taking the -air in a coach-and-six!</p> - -<p>"This Ragoski cemetery," says the councillor of state, as -we push through the China Town into the suburbs, "had an -origin like that of the Transfiguration. It was opened on account -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">{175}</a></span> -of plague (1770), not by a single founder, like its rival, -but by a company of pious persons, anxious to consecrate the -ground in which they had already begun to lay their dead. -A chapel was erected, and a daily service was performed in -that chapel for eighty-six years. Of late, the police are said -to have troubled them very much; no one knows why; and -no one dares to ask any questions on such a point. We are -all too much afraid of the gentlemen in cowl and gown."</p> - -<p>In about an hour we are at the gates. The place is like a -desert, brightened by one gaudy pile. An open yard and silent -office; a wall of brick; a painted chapel, in the old Russ -style; a huge tabernacle of plain red brick; a wilderness of -mounds and tombs: this is Ragoski. Not a soul is seen except -one aged man in homely garb, who is carrying logs of -wood. This man uncaps as we drive past; but turns and -watches us with furtive eyes. Our letter is soon sent in; -but we are evidently scanned like pilgrims at Marsaba; and -twenty minutes elapse before the governor comes to us, cap -in hand, and begs us to walk in.</p> - -<p>A small, round man, with ruddy face and laughing eyes, -and tender, plaintive manner, Ivan Kruchinin is not much like -the men we see about—men who have a lean, sad look and -fearful eyes, as though they lived in the conscious eclipse of -light and faith. Coming to our carriage-door, he begs us to -step in, and puts his service smilingly at our will.</p> - -<p>"What is this new edifice with the gay old Tartar lozenges -and bars?"</p> - -<p>"Ugh?" sighs the governor.</p> - -<p>"One of the last efforts made to win these Old Believers -over," says the councillor of state. "You see the monks -have gone to work with craft. The pile is Russ outside, like -many old chapels in Moscow; piles which catch the eye and -impress the mind. They call it an Old Believers' Chapel; -they have built it as the Roman centurion built the Jews a synagogue; -and they hold a service in it, as they hold a service -in the Transfiguration; said and sung by Orthodox popes, but -in the language and the forms employed before Nikon's time."</p> - -<p>Inside, the chapel is arranged to suit an Old Believer's taste; -and every point of ritual, phrase and form is yielded to such -as will accept the ministry of an Orthodox priest.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">{176}</a></span> -"Do they draw any part of your flock?"</p> - -<p>"Not a soul," says the governor. "A few of those 'without -priests,' have joined them in despair; not many—not a -hundred; while thousands of their people are coming round -to us."</p> - -<p>"These converts, who accept an Orthodox priest and the -ancient ritual, are called the United Old Believers—are they -not?"</p> - -<p>"United! They—the new schismatics! We know them -not; we hate all sects; and these misguided men are adding -to our country another sect."</p> - -<p>Passing the cemetery yards, ascending some broad stone -steps, we stand at a chapel door. This door is closed, and all -around us reigns the silence which befits a tomb. Kruchinin -makes a sign; his tap is answered from within; a door swings -back; and out upon us floats a low, weird chant. Going -through the door, we find ourselves in a spacious church, -columned and pictured, with a noble dome. This is the Old -Believers' church. A few dim lamps are burning on the -shrines; some tapers flit and mingle near the royal gates; a -crowd of women kneel on the iron floor, not only in the aisles, -but across the nave. Advancing with our guide, up the central -aisle, we come upon a line of men, some prostrate on the -ground, some standing erect in prayer. A group of singers -and readers stands apart, in front of the royal gates, with -service-books and candles in their hands, reciting in a sweet, -monotonous drone the ritual of the day.</p> - -<p>As a surprise the scene is perfect.</p> - -<p>"Who are these readers and singers?"</p> - -<p>"Citizens of Moscow," says the governor; "bankers, farmers, -men of every trade and class."</p> - -<p>We stand aside until the service ends—a most impressive -service, with louder prayers and livelier bendings than you -hear and see in Orthodox cathedrals. Then we move about. -"What is the service just concluded?" Kruchinin bends his -eyes to the ground, and answers, "Only a layman's service; -one that can be said without a priest. You noticed, perhaps, -that neither the royal gates nor the deacon's doors were opened?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; how is that?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">{177}</a></span> -"Our altars have been sealed."</p> - -<p>"Your altars sealed?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; you shall see. Come round this way," and the governor -leads us to the deacon's door. Sealed; certainly sealed; -the door being nailed by a piece of leather to the screen; and -the leather itself attached by a fresh blotch of official wax. It -looks as if the persecution were come again.</p> - -<p>"How can such things be done?"</p> - -<p>"Our Emperor does not know it," sighs the governor, who -seems to be a thoroughly patriotic man; "it is the doing of -our clerical police. We ask to have the use of our own altar, -in our own church, according to the law. They say we shall -have it, on one condition. They will give us our altar, if we -accept their priest!"</p> - -<p>"And you refuse?"</p> - -<p>"What can we do? Their priests have not been properly -ordained; they have lost their virtue; they can not give the -blessing and absolve from sin. We have declined; our altars -continue sealed; and our people have to sing and pray, as in -the synagogues of Galilee, without a priest."</p> - -<p>"That was not always so?"</p> - -<p>"In other days we had our clergy, living with us openly in -the light of day; but when our cemetery was restored to us -by our good Emperor in 1856, some trouble came upon us -from the Synod on the subject of consecration, and we have -not yet lived that trouble down."</p> - -<p>"The prelates in St. Isaac's Square object to your priests -receiving ordination at the hands of foreign bishops?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; they wish us to receive the Holy Spirit from them; -from men who have it not to give! We can not live a lie; -and we decline their offer to consecrate our priests."</p> - -<p>"You have no popular priests?" "No."</p> - -<p>"If you have no priests, how can you marry and baptize -infants?"</p> - -<p>"According to the law of God."</p> - -<p>"Without a priest?"</p> - -<p>"No; with a priest. We have a priest for such things; -though we can not suffer him to risk Siberia by performing a -public office in our church. Father Anton lives in secret. In -the bazar of Moscow he is known as a merchant, dealing in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">{178}</a></span> -grain and stuffs. The world knows nothing else about him; -even the police have never suspected <i>him</i> of being a priest."</p> - -<p>"He is ordained?"</p> - -<p>"You know that some of our brethren live in Turkey and -in Austria, where the Turks and Germans grant them asylums -which they have not always found at home. A good many -Old Believers dwell in a village, called Belia Krinitza, in the -country lying at the feet of the Carpathians, just beyond the -frontiers of Podolia and Bessarabia. One Ambrosius, a Greek -prelate from Bulgaria, visited these refugees, and consecrated -their Bishop Cyril, who is still alive. Cyril consecrated Father -Anton, our Moscow priest."</p> - -<p>"Father Anton marries and christens the members of your -church?"</p> - -<p>"He does, in secret. In his worldly name he buys and -sells, like any other dealer in his shop."</p> - -<p>"You live in hope that the persecution will not come -again?"</p> - -<p>"We live to suffer, and <i>not</i> to yield."</p> - -<p>Passing into the hospital, we find a hundred men, in one -large edifice; four hundred women in a second large edifice. -The rooms are very clean; the beds arranged in rows, the -kitchens and baking houses bright. A woman stands at a -desk, before a Virgin, and reads out passages from the gospels -and the psalms. Each poor old creature drops a courtesy -as we pass her bed, and after we have eaten of their bread -and salt, in the common dining-hall, they gather in a line and -cross themselves, bending to the ground, thanking us, as though -we had conferred on them some special grace.</p> - -<p>These asylums of the Old Believers are the only free charities -in Russia; for the hospitals in towns are Government -works, supported by the state. The Black Clergy does little -for the poor, except to supply them with crops of saints, and -bring down persecution on the Popular Church.</p> - -<p>On driving back to Moscow, in the afternoon—pondering -on what we have seen and heard—the lay singers, the clean -asylum, and the sealed-up altar—we arrive under the Kremlin -wall in time to find the mitred monk in our front again, just -dashing with his splendid coach and six black horses through -the Holy Gate!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">{179}</a></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXII.<br /> - -<span class="small">DISSENTING POLITICS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> revolution made by Nikon, ending in the rupture of -his Church, gave vast importance to dissenting bodies, while -opening up a field for missionaries and impostors of every -kind. Before his reign as patriarch, the chief dissidents were -the Eunuchs, the Self-burners, the Flagellants, the Sabbath-keepers, -and the Silent Men; all of whom could trace their -origin to foreign sources and distant times. They had no -strong grip on the public mind. But, in setting up a state -religion—an official religion—a persecuting religion—from -which a majority of the people held aloof, in scorn and fear, -the patriarch provided a common ground on which the wildest -spirits could meet and mix. Aiming at one rule for all, -the Government put these Old Believers on a level with Flagellants -and Eunuchs; the most conservative men in Russia -with the most revolutionary men in Europe. All shades of -difference were confounded by an ignorant police, inspired in -their malign activities by a band of ignorant monks. So long -as the persecution lasted, a man who would not go to his parish -church, pray in the new fashion, cross himself in the legal -way, and bend his knee to Baal, was classed as a separatist, -and treated by the civil power as a man false to his Emperor -and his God.</p> - -<p>Thus the Old Believers came to support such bodies as the -Milk Drinkers and Champions of the Holy Spirit, much as the -old English Catholics joined hands with Quakers and Millennialists -in their common war against a persecuting Church. -These dissidents have learned to keep their own secrets, and -to fight the persecutor with his own carnal weapons. They, -too, keep spies. They have secret funds. They place their -friends on the press. They send agents to court whom the -Emperor never suspects. They have relations with monks -and ministers, with bishops and aides-de-camp; they not unfrequently -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">{180}</a></span> -occupy the position of monk and minister, bishop -and aide-de-camp. They go to church; they confess their -sins; they help the parish priest in his need; they give money -to adorn convents; and in some important cases they don the -cowl and take religious vows. These persons are not easily -detected in their guile; unless, indeed, fanaticism takes with -them a visible shape. In passing through the province of -Harkof, I hear in whispers of a frightful secret having come -to light; no less than a discovery by the police that in the -great monastery of Holy Mount, in that province, a number -of Eunuchs are living in the guise of Orthodox monks!</p> - -<p>Every day the council is surprised by reports that some -man noted for his piety and charity is a dissenter; nay, is a -dissenting pope; though he owns a great mill and seems to -devote his energies to trade.</p> - -<p>The reigning Emperor, hating deceit, and most of all self-deceit, -looks steadily at the facts. No doubt, if he could put -these dissidents down he would; but, like a man of genius, -he knows that he must work in this field of thought by wit -and not by power. "No illusions, gentlemen." From the -first year of his reign he has been asking for true reports, and -searching into the statements made with a steadfast yearning -to find the truth.</p> - -<p>What comes of his study is now beginning to be seen of -men. The Official Church has not ceased to be official, and -even tyrannical; but the violence of her persecution is going -down; the regular clergy have been softened; the monkish -fury has been curbed; and lay opinion has been coaxed into -making a first display of strength.</p> - -<p>A minute was laid by the Emperor before his council of -ministers so early as Oct. 15 and 27, 1858, for their future -guidance in dealing with dissenters; under which title the -Holy Governing Synod still classed the Old Believers with -the Flagellants and Eunuchs! The minute written by his -father was not removed from the books; it was simply explained -and carried forward; yet the change was radical; -since the police, in all their dealings with religious bodies, -were instructed to talk in a gentler tone, and to give accused -persons the benefit of every doubt which should occur on -points of law. A change of spirit is often of higher moment -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">{181}</a></span> -than a change of phrase. Without implying that either his -father was wrong, or the Holy Governing Synod unjust, the -Emperor opened a door by which many of the nonconformists -could at once escape. But what was done only shows too -plainly how much remains to do. The Emperor has checked -the persecutor's arm; he has not crushed the persecuting -spirit.</p> - -<p>A special committee was named by him to study the whole -subject of dissent; with the practical view of seeing how far -it could be conscientiously tolerated, and in what way it could -be honestly repressed.</p> - -<p>This committee made their report in August, 1864; a voluminous -document (of which some folios only have been -printed); and adopting their report, the Emperor added to -the paper a second minute, which is still the rule of his ministers -in dealing with such affairs. In this minute he recognizes -the existence of dissent. He acknowledges that dissidents -may have civil and religious rights. Of course, as head -of the Church, he can not suffer that Church to be injured; -but he desires his ministers, after taking counsel with the -Holy Governing Synod, and obtaining their consent at every -step, to see that justice is always done.</p> - -<p>The spirit of this imperial minute is so good that the monks -attack it; not in open day and with honest words; for such -is not their method and their manner; but with sly suggestions -in the confessor's closet and serpentine whispers near -the sacred shrines. It is unpopular with the Holy Governing -Synod. But the conservatives and sectaries, long cast down, -look up into what they call a new heaven and a new earth. -They say the day of peace has come, and finding a door of appeal -thrown open to them in St. Petersburg, they are sending -in hundreds of petitions; here requesting leave to open a cemetery, -there to construct an altar, here again to build a church. -In thirty-two months (Jan. 1866 to Sept. 1868), the home ministry -received no less than three hundred and sixty-seven petitions -of various kinds.</p> - -<p>Valouef, the minister in power when this imperial minute -was first drawn up, had a difficult part to play between his -liberal master and the retrograde monks. No man is strong -enough to quarrel with the tribunal sitting in St. Isaac's -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">{182}</a></span> -Square; and Valouef was wrecked by his zeal in carrying out -the imperial plan. The minister had to get these fathers to -consent in every case to the petitioner's prayer; these fathers, -who thought dissenters had no right to live, and kept on quoting -to him the edicts of Nicolas, as though that sovereign -were still alive! On counting his papers at the end of those -thirty-two months of trial, Valouef found that out of three -hundred and sixty-seven petitions in his office, the Holy Governing -Synod consented to his granting twenty-one, postponing -fifty, and rejecting all the rest.</p> - -<p>A man, who said he was born in the Official Church, begged -leave to profess dissenting doctrine, which he had come to -see was right: refused. A merchant offered to build a chapel -for dissenters in a dissenting village: refused. A builder proposed -to throw a wall across a convent garden, so as to divide -the male from the female part: refused. A dissenting minister -asked to be relieved from the daily superintendence of his -city police: refused. Michaeloff, a rich merchant of St. Petersburg, -offered to found a hospital for the use of dissenters -near the capital, at his personal charge: refused. Last year -an asylum for poor dissenters was opened at Kluga; an asylum -built by peasants for persons of their class: the Synod -orders it to be closed.</p> - -<p>Hundreds of petitions come in from Archangel, Siberia, and -the Caucasus, from men who were in other days transported -to those districts for conscience' sake, requesting leave to -come back. These petitions are divided by the Holy Governing -Synod, into two groups: (1.) those of men who have been -judged by some kind of court; (2.) those of men who have -been exiled by a simple order of the police. The first class -are refused in mass without inquiry; a few of the second class, -after counsel taken with the provincial quorum, are allowed.</p> - -<p>From these examples, it will be seen that the liberal movement -is not reckless; but the movement is along the line; the -work goes on; and every day some progress is being made. -A minister who has to work with a board of monks must feel -his way.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">{183}</a></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXIII.<br /> - -<span class="small">CONCILIATION.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">One</span> point has been gained in the mere fact of the imperial -minute having drawn a distinction between things which may -be thought and things which may be done. The right of -holding a particular article of faith stands on a different -ground to the right of preaching that article of faith in open -day. The first is private, and concerns one's self; the second -is public, and concerns the general weal. What is private -only may be left to conscience; what is public must be always -subject to the law.</p> - -<p>The ministers have come to see that every man has a right -to think for himself about his duty to God; and under their -directions the police have orders to leave a man alone, so long -as he refrains from exciting the public mind, and disturbing -the public peace. In fact, the Russians have been brought -into line with their neighbors the Turks.</p> - -<p>In Moscow a man is now as free to believe what he likes as -he would be in Stamboul; though he must exercise his liberty -in both these cities with the deference due from the unit to -the mass. He must not meddle with the dominant creed. -He must not trifle with the followers of that creed; though -his action on other points may be perfectly free. Having full -possession of the field, the Church will not allow herself to be -attacked; even though it should please her to fall on you with -fire and sword.</p> - -<p>In Moscow, a Mussulman may try to convert a Jew; in -Stamboul, an Armenian may try to convert a Copt; but woe -to the Mussulman in Russia who tempts a Christian to his -mosque, to the Christian in Turkey who tempts a Mussulman -to his church! As on the higher, so it stands on the lower -plane. The right of propagand lies with the ruling power. -In Russia, a monk may try to convert a dissenter; the dissenter -will be sent to Siberia should he happen to convert the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">{184}</a></span> -monk. A rule exactly parallel holds in Turkey and in Persia, -where a mollah may try to convert a giaour; but the giaour -will be beaten and imprisoned should he have the misfortune -to convert the mollah.</p> - -<p>Some men may fancy that little has been gained so long as -toleration stops at free thought, and interdicts free speech. -In England or America that would seem true and even trite; -but the rules applied to Moscow are not the rules which -would be suitable in London or New York. The gain is vast -when a man is permitted to say his prayers in peace.</p> - -<p>One day last week I came upon striking evidence of the -value of this freedom. Riding into a large village, known to -me by fame for its dissenting virtues, I exclaimed, on seeing -the usual Orthodox domes and crosses—"Not many dissidents -here!" My companion smiled. A moment later we entered -the elder's house. "Have you any Old Believers here?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, many."</p> - -<p>"But here is a church, big enough to hold every man, woman, -and child in your village."</p> - -<p>"Yes, that is true. You find it empty now; in other times -you might have found it full."</p> - -<p>"How was that? Were your people drawn away from -their ancient rites?"</p> - -<p>"Never. We were driven to church by the police. When -God gave us Alexander we left off going to mass."</p> - -<p>"Was the persecution sharp?"</p> - -<p>"So sharp, that only four stout men lived through it; never -going to church for a dozen years. When Nicolas died, -the police pretended that we had only those four Old Believers -in this place; the next day it was suspected, the next year -it was known, that every soul in it was an Old Believer."</p> - -<p>All these dissenting bodies are political parties, more or -less openly pronounced; and have to be dealt with on political, -no less than on religious grounds. Rejecting the State -Church, they reject the Emperor, so far as he assumes to be -head of that Church. A State Church, they say, is Antichrist; -a devil's kingdom, set up by Satan himself in the -form of Nikon the Monk. So far as Alexander is a royal -prince they take him, and even pray for him; but they will -not place his image in their chapel; they refuse to pray for -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">{185}</a></span> -him as a true believer; and they fear he is dead to religion, -and lost to God.</p> - -<p>The Popular Church contends that since the reign of Peter -the Great every thing has been lawless and provisional. Peter, -they say, was a bastard son of Nikon the Monk; in other -words, of the devil himself. The first object of this child of -the Evil One being to destroy the Russian people, he abandoned -the country, and built him a palace among the Swedes -and Finns. His second object being to destroy the Russian -Church, he abolished the office of Patriarch, and made himself -her spiritual chief.</p> - -<p>The consequences which they draw from these facts are instant -and terrible; for these consequences touch with a deadly -sorcery the business of their daily lives.</p> - -<p>Since Satan began his reign in the person of Peter the -Great, all authorities and rules have been suspended on the -earth. According to them, nothing is lawful, for the reign of -law is over. Contracts are waste; no trust can be executed; -no sacrament can be truly held; not even that of marriage. -Hence, it is a matter of conscience with thousands of Old Believers, -that they shall not undergo the nuptial rite. They -live without it, in the hope of heaven providing them with a -remedy on earth for what would otherwise be a wrong in -heaven. And thus their lives are passed in the shadow of a -terrible doom.</p> - -<p>The absence of marriage-ties among the best of these Old -Believers is not the most frightful evil. So far as the men -and women are concerned, the case is bad enough; but as -regards their children, it is worse. These children are regarded -by the law as basely born. "By the devil's law," -say the Old Believers sadly; but the fact remains, that under -the Russian code these "bastards" do not inherit their fathers' -wealth. In other states, an issue might be found in -the making of a will, by which a father could dispose of his -property to his children as he pleased. But an Old Believer -dares not make a will. A will is a public act, and he disclaims -the present public powers. The common course is, -for an Old Believer to <i>give</i> his money to some friend whom -he can trust, and for that friend to <i>give it back</i> to his children -when he is no more.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">{186}</a></span> -The Emperor, studying remedies for these grave disorders -among his people, has conceived the bold idea of legalizing in -Russia the system of civil marriage, already established in -every free country of Europe, and in each of the United -States. A bill has been drawn, so as to spare the Orthodox -clergy, as much as could be done. The Council of State is -favorable to this bill; but the Holy Governing Synod, frightened -at all these changes, refuse to admit that a "sacrament" -can be given by a magistrate; and a bill which would bring -peace and order into a million of households is delayed, -though it is not likely to be sacrificed, in deference to their -monastic doubts.</p> - -<p>"What else would you have the Emperor do?" I ask a -man of confidence in this Popular Church.</p> - -<p>"Do! Restore our ancient rights. In Nikon's time the -crown procured our condemnation by a council of the Eastern -Churches; we survive the curse; and now we ask to have -that ban removed."</p> - -<p>"You stand condemned by a council?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; by a deceived and corrupted council. That curse -must be taken off our heads."</p> - -<p>"Is the Government aware of your demands?"</p> - -<p>"It is aware."</p> - -<p>"Have any steps been taken to that end?"</p> - -<p>"A great one. Alexander has proposed to remove the -ban; and even the Synod, calling itself holy, has consented to -recall the curse; but we reject all offers from this band of -monks; they have no power to bind and loose. The Eastern -Churches put us in the wrong; the Eastern Churches must -concur to set us right. They cursed us in their ignorance; -they must bless us in their knowledge. We have passed -through fire, and know our weakness and our strength. No -other method will suffice. We ask a general council of the -Oriental Church."</p> - -<p>"Can the Emperor call that council?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; if Russia needs it for her peace; and who can say -she does not need it for her peace?"</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">{187}</a></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXIV.<br /> - -<span class="small">ROADS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">A man</span> who loads himself with common luggage would find -these Russian roads rather rough, whether his journey lay -through the forest or across the steppe. An outfit for a journey -is a work of art. A hundred things useful to the traveller -are needed on these roads, from candle and cushion down -to knife and fork; but there are two things which he can not -live without—a tea-pot and a bed.</p> - -<p>My line from the Arctic Sea to the southern slopes of the -Ural range, from the Straits of Yeni Kale to the Gulf of Riga -runs over land and lake, forest and fen, hill and steppe. My -means of travel are those of the country; drojki, cart, barge, -tarantass, steamer, sledge, and train. The first stage of my -journey from north to south is from Solovetsk to Archangel; -made in the provision-boat, under the eyes of Father John. -This stage is easy, the grouping picturesque, the weather good, -and the voyage accomplished in the allotted time. The second -stage is from Archangel to Vietegra; done by posting in five -or six days and nights; a drive of eight hundred versts, through -one vast forest of birch and pine. My cares set in at this second -stage. There is trouble about the podorojna—paper -signed by the police, giving you a right to claim horses at the -posting stations, at a regulated price. As very few persons -drive to Holmogory, the police make a fuss about my papers, -wondering why the gentleman could not sail in a boat up the -Dvina like other folk, instead of tearing through a region in -which there is hardly any road. Wish to see the birthplace -of Lomonosof! What is there to see? A log cabin, a poor -town, a scrubby country—that is all! Yet after some delays -the police give in, the paper is signed. Then comes the question: -carriage, cart, or sledge? No public vehicle runs to -the capital; nothing but a light cart, just big enough to hold -a bag of letters and a boy. That cart goes twice a week -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">{188}</a></span> -through the forest-tracks, but no one save the boy in charge -can ride with the imperial mail. A stranger has to find his -means of getting forward, and his choice is limited to a cart, -a tarantass, and a sledge.</p> - -<p>"A sledge is the thing," says a voice at my elbow; "but to -use a sledge you must wait until the snow is deep and the -frost sets in. In summer we have no roads; in some long -reaches not a path; but from the day when we get five degrees -of frost, we have the noblest roads in the world."</p> - -<p>"That may be six or seven weeks hence?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, true; then you must have a tarantass. Come over -with me to the maker's yard."</p> - -<p>A tarantass is a better sort of cart, with the addition of -splash-board, hood, and step. It has no springs; for a carriage -slung on steel could not be sent through these desert -wastes. A spring might snap; and a broken coach some -thirty or forty miles from the nearest hamlet, is a vehicle in -which very few people would like to trust their feet. A good -coach is a sight to see; but a good coach implies a smooth -road, with a blacksmith's forge at every turn. A man with -rubles in his purse can do many things; but a man with a -million rubles in his purse could not venture to drive through -forest and steppe in a carriage which no one in the country -could repair.</p> - -<p>A tarantass lies lightly on a raft of poles; mere lengths of -green pine, cut down and trimmed with a peasant's axe, and -lashed on the axles of two pairs of wheels, some nine or ten -feet apart. The body is an empty shell, into which you drop -your trunks and traps, and then fill up with hay and straw. -A leather blind and apron to match, keep out a little of the -rain; not much; for the drifts and squalls defy all efforts to -shut them out. The thing is light and airy, needing no skill -to make and mend. A pole may split as you jolt along; you -stop in the forest skirt, cut down a pine, smooth off the leaves -and twigs; and there, you have another pole! All damage is -repaired in half an hour.</p> - -<p>On scanning this vehicle closely in and out, my mind is -clear that the drive to St. Petersburg should be done in a tarantass—not -in a common cart. But I am dreaming all this -while that the tarantass before me can be hired. A sad mistake! -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">{189}</a></span> -No maker can be found to part from his carriage on -any terms short of purchase out and out. "St. Petersburg is a -long way off," says he; "how shall I get my tarantass back?"</p> - -<p>"By sending your man along with it. Charge me for his -time, and let him bring it home."</p> - -<p>The maker shakes his head.</p> - -<p>"Too far! Will you send him to Vietegra, near the lake?"</p> - -<p>"No," says the man, after some little pause, "not even to -Vietegra. You see, when you pay off my man, he has still to -get back; his journey will be worse than yours, on account -of the autumn rains; he may sink in the marsh; he may -stick in the sand; not to speak of his being robbed by bandits, -and devoured by wolves."</p> - -<p>"He is not afraid of robbers and wolves?"</p> - -<p>"Why not? The forests are full of wild men, runaways, -and thieves; and three weeks hence the wolves will be out in -packs. How, then, can he be sure of getting home with my -tarantass?"</p> - -<p>Things look as though the vehicle must be bought. How -much will it cost? A strong tarantass is said to be worth -three hundred and fifty rubles. But the waste of money is -not all. What can you do with it, when it is yours? A tarantass -in these northern forests is like the white elephant in -the Eastern story. "Can one sell such a thing in Vietegra?"</p> - -<p>"Ha, ha!" laughs my friend. "In Vietegra, the people -are not fools; in fact, they are rather sharp ones. They will -say they have no use for a tarantass; they know you can't -wait to chaffer about the price. Your best plan will be to -drive into a station, pay the driver, and run away."</p> - -<p>"Leaving my tarantass in the yard?"</p> - -<p>"Exactly; that will be cheaper in the end. Some years -ago I drove to Vietegra in a fine tarantass; no one would buy -it from me. One fellow offered me ten kopecks. Enraged -at his impudence, I put up my carriage in a yard to be kept -for me; and every six months I received a bill for rent. In -ten years' time that tarantass had cost me thrice its original -price. In vain I begged the man to sell it; no buyer could -be found. I offered to give it him, out and out; he declined -my gift. At length I sent a man to fetch it home; but when -my servant got to Vietegra he could find neither keeper nor -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">{190}</a></span> -tarantass. He only learned that in years gone by the yard -was closed, and my tarantass sold with the other traps."</p> - -<p>A God-speed dinner is the happy means of lifting this cloud -of trouble from my mind. "The man," says our helpful consul, -"thinks he will never see his tarantass again. Now, take -my servant, Dimitri, with you; he is a clever fellow, not afraid -of wolves and runaways; he may be trusted to bring it safely -back."</p> - -<p>"If Dimitri goes with you," adds a friendly merchant, "I -will lend you my tarantass; it is strong and roomy; big -enough for two."</p> - -<p>"You will!" A grip of hands, a flutter of thanks, and the -thing is done.</p> - -<p>"Why, now," cries my host, "you will travel like a Tsar."</p> - -<p>This private tarantass is brought round to the gates; an -empty shell, into which they toss our luggage; first the hard -pieces—hat-box, gun-case, trunk; then piles of hay to fill up -chinks and holes, and wisps of straw to bind the mass; on all -of which they lay your bedding, coats and skins. A woodman's -axe, a coil of rope, a ball of string, a bag of nails, a pot -of grease, a basket of bread and wine, a joint of roast beef, a -tea-pot, and a case of cigars are afterwards coaxed into nooks -and crannies of the shell.</p> - -<p>Starting at dusk, so as to reach the ferry, at which you are -to cross the river by day-break, we plash the mud and grind -the planks of Archangel beneath our hoofs. "Good-bye! -Look out for wolves! Take care of brigands! Good-bye, -good-bye!" shout a dozen voices; and then that friendly and -frozen city is left behind.</p> - -<p>All night, under murky stars, we tear along a dreary path; -pines on our right, pines on our left, and pines in our front. -We bump through a village, waking up houseless dogs; we -reach a ferry, and pass the river on a raft; we grind over -stones and sand; we tug through slush and bog; all night, -all day; all night again, and after that, all day; winding -through the maze of forest leaves, now burnt and sear, and -swirling on every blast that blows. Each day of our drive -is like its fellow. A clearing, thirty yards wide, runs out before -us for a thousand versts. The pines are all alike, the -birches all alike. The villages are still more like each other -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">{191}</a></span> -than the trees. Our only change is in the track itself, which -passes from sandy rifts to slimy beds, from grassy fields to -rolling logs. In a thousand versts we count a hundred versts -of log, two hundred versts of sand, three hundred versts of -grass, four hundred versts of water-way and marsh.</p> - -<p>We smile at the Russians for laying down lines of rail in -districts where they have neither a turnpike road nor a country -lane. But how are they to blame? An iron path is the -natural way in forest lands, where stone is scarce, as in Russia -and the United States.</p> - -<p>If the sands are bad, the logs are worse. One night we -spend in a kind of protest; dreaming that our luggage has -been badly packed, and that on daylight coming it shall be -laid in some easier way. The trunk calls loudly for a change. -My seat by day, my bed by night, this box has a leading part -in our little play; but no adjustment of the other traps, no -stuffing in of hay and straw, no coaxing of the furs and skins -suffice to appease the fretful spirit of that trunk. It slips -and jerks beneath me; rising in pain at every plunge. Coaxing -it with skins is useless; soothing it with wisps of straw -is vain. We tie it with bands and belts; but nothing will induce -it to lie down. How can we blame it? Trunks have -rights as well as men; they claim a proper place to lie in; -and my poor box has just been tossed into this tarantass, and -told to lie quiet on logs and stones.</p> - -<p>Still more fretful than this trunk are the lumbar vertebræ -in my spine. They hate this jolting day and night; they -have been jerked out of their sockets, pounded into dust, and -churned into curds. But then these mutineers are under -more control than the trunk; and when they begin to murmur -seriously, I still them in a moment by hints of taking -them for a drive through Bitter Creek.</p> - -<p>Ha! here is Holmogory! Standing on a bluff above the -river, pretty and bright, with her golden cross, her grassy -roads, her pink and white houses, her boats on the water, and -her stretches of yellow sands; a village with open spaces; here -a church, there a cloister; gay with gilt and paint, and shanties -of a better class than you see in such small country towns; -and forests of pine and birch around her—Holmogory looks -the very spot on which a poet of the people might be born!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">{192}</a></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXV.<br /> - -<span class="small">A PEASANT POET.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the grass-grown square of Archangel, between the fire-tower -and the court of justice, stands a bronze figure on a -round marble shaft; a figure showing a good deal of naked -chest, and holding (with a Cupid's help) a lyre on the left -arm. A Roman robe flows down the back. You wonder -what such a figure is doing in such a place; a bit of false -French art in a city of monks and trade! The man in whose -name it has been raised was a poet; a poet racy of the soil; -a village genius; who, among merits of many kinds, had the -high quality of being a genuine Russian, and of writing in -his native tongue.</p> - -<p>For fifty years Lomonosoff was called a fool—a clever fool—for -having wasted his genius on coachmen and cooks. -Court ladies laughed at his whimsy of writing verses for the -common herd to read; and learned dons considered him crazy -for not doing all his more serious work in French. A -change has come; the court speaks Russ; and society sees -some merit in the phrases which it once contemned. The -language of books and science is no longer foreign to the -soil; and all classes of the people have the sense to read and -speak in their musical and copious native speech. This happy -change is due to Michael Lomonosoff, the peasant boy!</p> - -<p>Born in this forest village on the Dvina bluffs (in 1711), he -sprang from that race of free colonists who had come into -the north country from Novgorod the Great. His father, -Vassili Lomonosoff, a boatman, getting his bread by netting -and spearing fish on the great river, brought him up among -nets and boats, until the lad was big enough to slip his chain, -throw down his pole, and push into the outer sea. Not many -books were then to be got in a forest town like Holmogory, -and some lives of saints and a Slavonic Bible were his only -reading for many years. A good priest (as I learn on the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">{193}</a></span> -spot) took notice of the child, and taught him to read the old -Slavonic words. These books he got by heart; making heroes -of the Hebrew prophets, and reading with ardor of his -native saints. The priest soon taught him all he knew, and -being a man of good heart, he sought around him for the -means of sending the lad to school. But where, in those -dark ages, could a school be found? He knew of schools for -priests, and for the sons of priests; but schools for peasants, -and for the sons of peasants, did not then exist. Could he -be placed with a priest and sent to school? The village pastor -wrote to a friend in Moscow, who, though poor himself, -agreed to take the lad into his house. A train of carts came -through the village on its way to Moscow, carrying fur and -fish for sale; and the priest arranged with the drivers that -Michael should go with them, trudging at their side, and -helping them on the road. At ten years old he left his forest -home, and walked to the great city, a distance of nearly -a thousand miles.</p> - -<p>The priest in Moscow sent him to the clerical school, where -he learned some Latin, French, and German; in all of which -tongues, as well as in Russian, he afterwards spoke and wrote. -He also learned to work for his living as a polisher and setter -of stones. A lad who can dine off a crust of rye bread and a -cup of cabbage broth, is easily fed; and Michael, though he -stuck to his craft, and lived by it, found plenty of time for the -cultivation of his higher gifts. He was a good artist; for the -time and place a very good artist; as the Jove-like head in -the great hall of the University of Moscow proves. This -head—the poet's own gift—was executed in mosaic by his -hands.</p> - -<p>After learning all that the monks could teach him in Moscow, -he left that city for Germany, where he lived some years -as artist, teacher, and professor; mastering thoroughly the -modern languages and the liberal arts. When he came back -to his native soil he was one of the deepest pundits of his -time; a man of name and proof; respected in foreign universities -for his wonderful sweep and grasp of mind. Studying -many branches of science, he made himself a reputation in -every branch. A Russian has a variety of gifts, and Michael -was in every sense a Russ. While yet a lad it was said of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">{194}</a></span> -him that he could mend a net, sing a ditty, drive a cart, build -a cabin, and guide a boat with equal skill. When he grew -up to be a man, it was said of him with no less truth, that he -could at the same time crack a joke and heat a crucible; pose -a logician and criticise a poet; draw the human figure and -make a map of the stars. Coming back to Russia with such -a name, he found the world at his feet; a professor's chair, -with the rank of a nobleman, and the office of a councillor of -state; dignities which a professor now enjoys by legal right. -A strong Germanic influence met him, as a native intruder in -a region of learning closed in that age to the Russ; but -he joked and pushed, and fought his way into the highest -seats. He not only won a place in the academy which Peter -the Great had founded on the Neva, but in a few years he -became its living soul.</p> - -<p>Yet Michael remained a peasant and a Russian all his days. -He drank a great many drams, and was never ashamed of being -drunk. One day—as the members of that academy tell -the tale—he was picked up from the gutter by one who knew -him. "Hush! take care," said the good Samaritan softly; -"get up quietly and come home, lest some one of the academy -should see us." "Fool!" cried the tipsy professor, -"Academy? I am the Academy!"</p> - -<p>Not without cause is this proud boast attributed to the -peasant's son; for Lomonosoff was the academy, at least on -the Russian side. The breadth of his knowledge seems a -marvel, even in days when a special student is expected to be -an encyclopedic man, with the whole of nature for his province. -He wrote in Latin and in German before he wrote in -Russ. He was a miner, a physician, and a poet. He was a -painter, a carver, and draughtsman. He wrote on grammar, -on drugs, on music, and on the theory of ice. One of his -best books is a criticism on the Varegs in Russia; one of his -best papers is a treatise on microscopes and telescopes. He -wrote on the aurora borealis, on the duties of a journalist, on -the uses of a barometer, and on explorations in the Polar Sea. -In the records of nearly every science and art his name is -found. Astronomy owes him something, chemistry something, -metallurgy something. But the glory of Lomonosoff -was his verse, of which he wrote a great deal, and in many -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">{195}</a></span> -different styles; lays, odes, tragedies, an unfinished epic, and -moral pieces without end.</p> - -<p>The rank of a great poet is not claimed for Michael Lomonosoff -by judicious critics. No creation like Oneghin, not -even like Lavretski, came from his pen. His merit lies in the -fact that he was the first writer who dared to be Russian in -his art. But though it is the chief, it is far from being the -only distinction which Lomonosoff enjoys, even as a poet. -The mechanism of literature owes to his daring a reform, of -which no man now living will see the end. The Russ are a -religious people, to whom phrases of devotion are as their -daily bread; but the language of their Church is not the language -of their streets; and their books, though calling themselves -Russ, were printed in a dialect which few except their -popes and the Old Believers could understand. This dialect -Lomonosoff laid aside, and took up in its stead the fluent and -racy idiom of the market and the quay. But he had a poetic -music to invent, as well as a poetic idiom to adapt. The poetry -of a kindred race—the Poles—supplied him with a model, -on which he built for the Russ that tonical lilt and flow, which -ever since his time has been adopted by writers of verse as -the most perfect vehicle for their poetic speech.</p> - -<p>But greater than his poetic merit is the fact on which -writers like Lamanski love to dwell, that Lomonosoff was a -thorough Russian in his habits and ideas; and that after his -election into the academy, he set his heart upon nationalizing -that body, so as to render it Russian; just as the Berlin -Academy was German, and the Paris Academy was French.</p> - -<p>In his own time Lomonosoff met with little encouragement -from the court. That court was German; the society nearest -it was German; and German was the language of scientific -thought. A Russian was a savage; and the speech of the -common people was condemned to the bazars and streets. -Lomonosoff introduced that speech into literature and into -the discussions of learned men.</p> - -<p>A statue to such a peasant marks a period in the nation's -upward course. A line on the marble shaft records the fact -that this figure was cast in 1829; and a second line states -that it was removed in 1867 to its present site. Here, too, is -progress. Forty years ago, a place behind the courts was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">{196}</a></span> -good enough for a poet who was also a fisherman's son; even -though he had done a fine thing in writing his verses in his -native tongue; but thirty years later it had come to be understood -by the people that no place is good enough for the -man who has crowned them with his own glory; and as they -see that this figure of Michael Lomonosoff is an honor to the -province even more than to the poet, they have raised his -pedestal in the public square.</p> - -<p>Would that it had fallen into native hands! Modelled by -a French sculptor, in the worst days of a bad school, it is a -stupid travestie of truth and art. The rustics and fishermen, -staring at the lyre and Cupid, at the naked shoulders and the -Roman robe, wonder how their poet came to wear such a -dress. This man is not the fellow whom their fathers knew—that -laughing lad who laid down his tackle to become the -peer of emperors and kings. Some day a native sculptor, -working in the local spirit, will make a worthier monument -of the peasant bard. A tall young fellow, with broad, white -brow and flashing eyes, in shaggy sheep-skin wrap, broad -belt, capacious boots, and high fur cap; his right hand grasping -a pole and net, his left hand holding an open Bible; that -would be Michael as he lived, and as men remember him now -that he is dead.</p> - -<p>Four years ago (the anniversary of his death in 1765), -busts were set up, and burses founded in many colleges and -schools, in honor of the peasant's son. Moscow took the lead; -St. Petersburg followed; and the example spread to Harkof -and Kazan. A school was built at Holmogory in the poet's -name; to smooth the path of any new child of genius who -may spring from this virgin soil. May it live forever!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">{197}</a></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXVI.<br /> - -<span class="small">FOREST SCENES.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">From</span> Holgomory to Kargopol, from Kargopol to Vietegra, -we pass through an empire of villages; not a single place on -a road four hundred miles in length that could by any form -of courtesy be called a town. The track runs on and on, now -winding by the river bank, now eating its way through the -forest growths; but always flowing, as it were, in one thin -line from north to south; ferrying deep rivers; dragging -through shingle, slime, and peat; crashing over broken rocks; -and crawling up gentle heights. His horses four abreast, and -lashed to the tarantass with ropes and chains, the driver tears -along the road as though he were racing with his Chert—his -Evil One; and all in the hope of getting from his thankless -fare an extra cup of tea. It is the joke of a Russian jarvy, -that he will "drive you out of your senses for ten kopecks." -From dawn to sunset, day by day, it is one long race through -bogs and pines. The landscape shows no dikes, no hedges, -and no gates; no signs that tell of a personal owning of the -land. We whisk by a log-fire, and a group of tramps, who -flash upon us with a sullen greeting, some of them starting -to their feet. "What are those fellows, Dimitri?"</p> - -<p>"They seem to be some of the runaways."</p> - -<p>"Runaways! Who are the runaways, and what are they -running away from?"</p> - -<p>"Queer fellows, who don't like work, who won't obey -orders, who never rest in one place. You find them in the -woods about here everywhere. They are savages. In Kargopol -you can learn about them."</p> - -<p>At the town of Kargopol, on the river Onega, in the province -of Olonetz, I hear something of these runaways, as of a -troublesome and dangerous set of men, bad in themselves, -and still worse as a sign. I hear of them afterwards in Novgorod -the Great, and in Kazan. The community is widely -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">{198}</a></span> -spread. Timashef is aware that these unsocial bodies exist -in the provinces of Yaroslav, Archangel, Vologda, Novgorod, -Kostroma, and Perm.</p> - -<p>These runaways are vagabonds. Leaving house and land, -throwing down their rights as peasants and burghers, they -dress themselves in rags, assume the pilgrim's staff, retire -from their families, push into forest depths, and dwell in -quagmires and sandy rifts, protesting against the official empire -and the official church. Some may lead a harmless life; -the peasants helping them with food and drink; while they -spend their days in dozing and their nights in prayer. Even -when their resistance to the world is passive only; it is a -protest hard to bear and harder still to meet. They will not -labor for the things that perish. They will not bend their -necks to magistrate and prince. They do not admit the law -under which they live. They hold that the present imperial -system is the devil's work; that the Prince of Darkness sits -enthroned in the winter palace; that the lords and ladies who -surround him are the lying witnesses and the fallen saints. -Their part is not with the world, from which they fly, as -Abraham fled from the cities of the plain.</p> - -<p>Many of the peasants, either sympathizing with their views -or fearing their vengeance, help them to support their life in -the woods. No door is ever closed on them; no voice is -ever raised against them. Even in the districts which they -are said to ravage occasionally in search of food, hardly any -thing can be learned about them, least of all by the masters -of police.</p> - -<p>Fifteen months ago the governor of Olonetz reported to -General Timashef, minister of the interior, that a great number -of these runaways were known to be living in his province -and in the adjoining provinces, who were more or less openly -supported by the peasantry in their revolt against social order -and the reigning prince. On being asked by the minister -what should be done, he hinted that nothing else would -meet the evil but a seizure of vagabonds on all the roads, and -in all the forest paths, in the vast countries lying north of the -Volga, from Lake Ilmen to the Ural crests. His hints were -taken in St. Petersburg, and hundreds of arrests were made; -but whether the real runaways were caught by the police was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">{199}</a></span> -a question open to no less doubt than that of how to deal with -them when they were caught—according to the new and liberal -code.</p> - -<p>Roused by a sense of danger, the Government has been led -into making inquiries far and near, the replies to which are -of a kind to flutter the kindest hearts and puzzle the wisest -heads. To wit: the Governor of Kazan reports to General -Timashef that he has collected proof—(1.) that in his province -the runaways have a regular organization; (2.) that they have -secret places for meeting and worship; (3.) that they have -chiefs whom they obey and trust. How can a legal minister -deal with cases of an aspect so completely Oriental? Is it a -crime to give up house and land? Is it an offense to live in -deserts and lonely caves? What article in the civil code prevents -a man from living like Seraphim in a desert; like Philaret -the Less, in a grave-yard? Yet, on the other side, how -can a reforming Emperor suffer his people to fall back into -the nomadic state? A runaway is not a weakness only, but -a peril; since the spirit of his revolt against social order is -precisely that which the reformers have most cause to dread. -In going back from his country, he is going back into chaos.</p> - -<p>The mighty drama now proceeding in his country, turns -on the question raised by the runaway. Can the Russian -peasant live under law? If it shall prove on trial that any -large portion of the Russian peasantry shares this passion for -a vagabond life—as some folk hope, and still more fear—the -great experiment will fail, and civil freedom will be lost for a -hundred years.</p> - -<p>The facts collected by the minister have been laid before a -special committee, named by the crown. That committee is -now sitting; but no conclusion has yet been reached, and no -suggestion for meeting the evil can be pointed out.</p> - -<p>Village after village passes to the rear!</p> - -<p>Russ hamlets are so closely modelled on a common type, -that when you have seen one, you have seen a host; when you -have seen two, you have seen the whole. Your sample may -be either large or small, either log-built or mud-built, either -hidden in forest or exposed on steppe; yet in the thousands -on thousands to come, you will observe no change in the prevailing -forms. There is a Great Russ hamlet and a Little -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">{200}</a></span> -Russ hamlet; one with its centre in Moscow, as the capital of -Great Russia; the second with its centre in Kief, the capital -of Little Russia.</p> - -<p>A Great Russ village consists of two lines of cabins parted -from each other by a wide and dirty lane. Each homestead -stands alone. From ten to a hundred cabins make a village. -Built of the same pine-logs, notched and bound together, each -house is like its fellow, except in size. The elder's hut is bigger -than the rest; and after the elder's house comes the whisky -shop. Four squat walls, two tiers in height, and pierced by -doors and windows; such is the shell. The floor is mud, the -shingle deal. The walls are rough, the crannies stuffed with -moss. No paint is used, and the log fronts soon become -grimy with rain and smoke. The space between each hut lies -open and unfenced; a slough of mud and mire, in which the -pigs grunt and wallow, and the wolf-dogs snarl and fight. -The lane is planked. One house here and there may have a -balcony, a cow-shed, an upper story. Near the hamlet rises a -chapel built of logs, and roofed with plank; but here you find -a flush of color, if not a gleam of gold. The walls of the chapel -are sure to be painted white, the roof is sure to be painted -green. Some wealthy peasant may have gilt the cross.</p> - -<p>Beyond these dreary cabins lie the still more dreary fields, -which the people till. Flat, unfenced, and lowly, they have -nothing of the poetry of our fields in the Suffolk and Essex -plains; no hedgerow ferns, no clumps of fruit-trees, and no -hints of home. The patches set apart for kitchen-stuff are -not like gardens even of their homely kind; they look like -workhouse plots of space laid out by yard and rule, in which -no living soul had any part. These patches are always mean, -and you search in vain for such a dainty as a flower.</p> - -<p>Among the Little Russ—in the old Polish circles of the -south and west, you see a village group of another kind. Instead -of the grimy logs, you have a predominant mixture of -green and white; instead of the formal blocks, you have a scatter -of cottages in the midst of trees. The cabins are built of -earth and reeds; the roof is thatched with straw; and the -walls of the homestead are washed with lime. A fence of mats -and thorns runs round the group. If every house appears to be -small, it stands in a yard and garden of its own. The village -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">{201}</a></span> -has no streets. Two, and only two, openings pierce the outer -fence—one north, one south; and in feeling your way from -one opening in the fence to another, you push through a maze -of lanes between reeds and spines, beset by savage dogs. -Each new-comer would seem to have pitched his tent where -he pleased; taking care to cover his hut and yard by the common -fence.</p> - -<p>A village built without a plan, in which every house is surrounded -by a garden, covers an immense extent of ground. -Some of the Kozak villages are as widely spread as towns. -Of course there is a church, with its glow of color and poetic -charm.</p> - -<p>From Kief on the Dnieper to Kalatch on the Don, you find -the villages of this second type. The points of difference lie -in the house and in the garden; and must spring from difference -of education, if not of race. The Great Russians are -of a timid, soft, and fluent type. They like to huddle in a -crowd, to club their means, to live under a common roof, and -stand or fall by the family tree. The Little Russians are of a -quick, adventurous, and hardy type; who like to stand apart, -each for himself, with scope and range enough for the play of -all his powers. A Great Russian carries his bride to his father's -shed; a Little Russian carries her to a cabin of his -own.</p> - -<p>The forest melts and melts! We meet a woman driving in -a cart alone; a girl darts past us in the mail; anon we come -upon a wagon, guarded by troops on foot, containing prisoners, -partly chained, in charge of an ancient dame.</p> - -<p>This service of the road is due from village to village; and -on a party of travellers coming into a hamlet, the elder must -provide for them the things required—carts, horses, drivers—in -accordance with their podorojna; but in many villages the -party finds no men, or none except the very young or the very -old. Husbands are leagues away; fishing in the Polar seas, -cutting timber in the Kargopol forests, trapping fox and -beaver in the Ural Mountains; leaving their wives alone for -months. These female villages are curious things, in which a -man of pleasant manners may find a chance of flirting to his -heart's content.</p> - -<p>Villages, more villages, yet more villages! We pass a gang -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">{202}</a></span> -of soldiers marching by the side of a peasant's cart, in which -lies a prisoner, chained; we spy a wolf in the copse; we meet -a pilgrim on his way to Solovetsk; we come upon a gang of -boys whose clothes appear to be out at wash; we pass a -broken wagon; we start at the howl of some village dogs; -and then go winding forward hour by hour, through the silent -woods. Some touch of grace and poetry charms our eyes -in the most desolate scenes. A virgin freshness crisps and -shakes the leaves. The air is pure. If nearly all the lines are -level, the sky is blue, the sunshine gold. Many of the trees -are rich with amber, pink and brown; and every vagrant -breeze makes music in the pines. A peasant and his dog -troop past, reminding me of scenes in Kent. A convent here -and there peeps out. A patch of forest is on fire, from the -burning mass of which a tongue of pale pink flame laps out -and up through a pall of purple smoke. A clearing, swept by -some former fire, is all aglow with autumnal flowers. A bright -beck dashes through the falling leaves. A comely child, with -flaxen curls and innocent northern eyes, stands bowing in the -road, with an almost Syrian grace. A woman comes up with -a bowl of milk. A group of girls are washing at a stream, -under the care of either the Virgin Mother or some local -saint. On every point, the folk, if homely, are devotional and -polite; brightening their forest breaks with chapel and cross, -and making their dreary road, as it were, a path of light towards -heaven.</p> - -<p>We dash into a village near a small black lake.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXVII.<br /> - -<span class="small">PATRIARCHAL LIFE.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">"No</span> horses to be got till night!"</p> - -<p>"You see," smirks the village elder, "we are making holiday; -it is a bridal afternoon, and the patriarch gives a feast -on account of Vanka's nuptials with Nadia."</p> - -<p>"Nadia! Well, a pretty name. We shall have horses in -the evening, eh? Then let it be so. Who are yon people? -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">{203}</a></span> -Ha! the church! Come, let us follow them, and see the -crowning. Is this Vanka a fine young fellow?"</p> - -<p>"Vanka! yes; in the bud. He is a lad of seventeen -years; said to be eighteen years—the legal age—but, hem! -he counts for nothing in the match."</p> - -<p>"Why, then, is he going to take a wife?"</p> - -<p>"Hem! that is the patriarch's business. Daniel wants -some help in the house. Old Dan, you see, is Vanka's father, -and the poor old motherkin has been worn by him to the -skin and bone. She is ten years older than he, and the patriarch -wants a younger woman at his beck and call; a woman -to milk his cow, to warm his stove, and to make his tea."</p> - -<p>"He wants a good servant?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; he wants a good servant, and he will get one in -Nadia."</p> - -<p>"Then this affair is not a love-match?"</p> - -<p>"Much as most. The lad, though young, is said to have -been in love; for lads are silly and girls are sly; but he is -not in love with the woman whom his father chooses for -him."</p> - -<p>"One of your village girls?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Lousha; a pretty minx, with round blue eyes and -pouting lips; and not a ruble in the world. Now, Nadia has -five brass samovars and fifteen silver spoons. The heart of -Daniel melted towards those fifteen silver spoons."</p> - -<p>"And what says Vanka to the match?"</p> - -<p>"Nothing. What can he say? The patriarch has done it -all: tested the spoons, accepted the bride, arranged the feast, -and fixed the day."</p> - -<p>"Russia is the land for you fathers, eh?"</p> - -<p>"Each in his time; the father first, the offspring next. -Each in his day; the boy will be a patriarch in his turn. A -son is nobody till his parent dies."</p> - -<p>"Not in such an affair as choosing his own wife?"</p> - -<p>"No; least of all in choosing his own wife. You see our -ways are old and homely, like the Bible ways. A patriarch -rules under every roof—not only lives but rules; and where -in the patriarchal times do you read that the young men went -out into the world and chose them partners for themselves? -Our patriarch settles such things; he and the proposeress."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">{204}</a></span> -"Proposeress! Pray what is a proposeress?"</p> - -<p>"An ancient crone, who lives in yon cabin, near the bridge; -a poor old waif, who feeds upon her craft, who tells your fortune -by a card, who acts as agent for the girls, and is feared -by every body as a witch."</p> - -<p>"Have you such a proposeress in every village?"</p> - -<p>"Not in every one. Some villages are too poor, for these -old women must be paid in good kopecks. The craftier sisters -live in towns, where they can tell you a good deal more. -These city witches can rule the planets, while the village -witches can only rule the cards."</p> - -<p>"You really think they rule the planets?"</p> - -<p>"Who can tell? We see they rule the men and women; -yet every man has his planet and his angel. You must know, -the girls who go to the proposeress leave with her a list of -what they have—so many samovars, so much linen and household -stuff. It is not often they have silver spoons. These -lists the patriarchs come to her house and read. A sly fellow, -like Old Dan, will steal to her door at dusk, when no one is -about, and putting down his flask of whisky on the table, ask -the old crone to drink. 'Come, motherkin,' he will giggle, -'bring out your list, and let us talk it over.' 'What are you -seeking, Father Daniel?' leers the crone. 'A wife for Vanka, -motherkin, a wife! Here, take a drink; the dram will do -you good; and now bring out your book. A fine stout lass, -with plenty of sticks and stones for me!' 'Ha!' pouts the -witch, her finger on the glass, 'you want to see my book! -Well, fatherkin, I have two nice lasses on my hands—good -girls, and well to do; either one or other just the bride for -Vanka. Here, now, is Lousha; pretty thing, but no household -stuff; blue eyes, but not yet twenty; teeth like pearls, -but shaky on her feet. Not do for you and your son? Why -not? Well, as you please; I show my wares, you take them -or you leave them. Lousha is a dainty thing—you need not -blow the shingles off! Come, come, there's Dounia; well-built, -buxom lassie; never raised a scandal in her life; had -but one lover, a neighbor's boy. What sticks and stones? -Dounia is a prize in herself—she eats very little, and she -works like a horse. She has four samovars (Russian tea-urns). -Not do for you! Well, now you <i>are</i> in luck tonight, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">{205}</a></span> -little father. Here's Nadia!'—on which comes out -the story of her samovars and her silver spoons."</p> - -<p>"And so the match is made?"</p> - -<p>"A fee is paid to the parish priest, a day for the rite is -fixed, and all is over—except the feast, the drinking, and the -headache."</p> - -<p>"Tell me about Nadia?"</p> - -<p>"You think Nadia such a pretty name. For my part, I -prefer Marfousha. My wife was Marfa; called Marfousha -when the woman is a pet."</p> - -<p>"Is Nadia young and fair?"</p> - -<p>"Young? Twenty-nine. Fair? Brown as a turf."</p> - -<p>"Twenty-nine, and Vanka seventeen!"</p> - -<p>"But she is big and bony; strong as a mule, and she can -go all day on very little food."</p> - -<p>"All that would be well enough, if what you wanted was a -slave to thrust a spade and drive a cart."</p> - -<p>"That is what the patriarch wants; a servant for himself, -a partner for his boy."</p> - -<p>"How came Vanka to accept her?"</p> - -<p>"Daniel shows him her silver spoons, her shining urns, and -her chest of household stuff. The lad stares wistfully at -these fine things; Lousha is absent, and the old man nods. -The woman kisses him, and all is done."</p> - -<p>"Poor Lousha! where is she to-day?"</p> - -<p>"Left in the fields to grow. She is not strong enough yet -to marry. She could not work for her husband and her husband's -father as a wife must do. Far better wait awhile. -At twenty-nine she will be big and bony like Nadia; then -she will be fit to marry, for then her wild young spirits will -be gone."</p> - -<p>We walk along the plank-road from the station to the -church; which is crowded with men and women in their holiday -attire; the girls in red skirts and bodices, trimmed with -fur, and even with silver lace; the men in clean capotes and -round fur caps, with golden tassels and scarlet tops. The -rite is nearly over; the priest has joined the pair in holy -matrimony; and the bride and groom come forth, arrayed in -their tinsel crowns. The king leads out the queen, who certainly -looks old enough to be his dam. One hears so much -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">{206}</a></span> -about marital rights in Russia, and the claim of women to be -thrashed in evidence of their husband's love, that one can -hardly help wondering how long it will be before Vanka can -beat his wife. Not at present, clearly; so that one would -feel some doubt of their "sober certainty of bliss," except for -our knowledge that if Vanka fails, the patriarch will not scruple -to use his whip.</p> - -<p>Crowned with her rim of gilt brass, the bony bride, in stiff -brocade and looking her fifteen silver spoons, slides down the -sloppy lane to her future home.</p> - -<p>The whisky-shops—we have two in our village for the -comfort of eighty or ninety souls—are loud and busy, pouring -out nips and nippets of their liquid death. Fat, bearded -men are hugging and kissing each other in their pots, while -the younger fry of lads and lasses wend in demure and pensive -silence to an open ground, where they mean to wind up -the day's festivities with a dance. This frolic is a thing to -see. A ring of villagers, old and young, get ready to applaud -the sport. The dancers stand apart; a knot of young men -here, a knot of maidens there, each sex by itself, and silent as -a crowd of mutes. A piper breaks into a tune; a youth pulls -off his cap, and challenges his girl with a wave and bow. If -the girl is willing, she waves her handkerchief in token of assent; -the youth advances, takes a corner of the kerchief in -his hand, and leads his lassie round and round. No word is -spoken, and no laugh is heard. Stiff with cords and rich -with braid, the girl moves heavily by herself, going round -and round, and never allowing her partner to touch her -hand. The pipe goes droning on for hours in the same sad -key and measure; and the prize of merit in this "circling," -as the dance is called, is given by spectators to the lassie -who in all that summer revelry has never spoken and never -smiled!</p> - -<p>Men chat with men, and laugh with men; but if they approach -the women, they are speechless; making signs with -their caps only; and their dumb appeal is answered by a -wave of the kerchief—answered without words. These -romps go on till bed-time; when the men, being warm with -drink, if not with love, begin to reel and shout like Comus -and his tipsy crew.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">{207}</a></span> -The patriarch stops at home, delighted to spend his evening -with Nadia and her silver spoons.</p> - -<p>Even when her husband is a grown-up man, a woman has -to come under the common roof, and live by the common -rule. If she would like to get her share of the cabbage soup -and the buckwheat pudding, not to speak of a new bodice -now and then, she must contrive to please the old man, and -she can only please him by doing at once whatever he bids -her do. The Greek church knows of no divorce; and once -married, you are tied for life: but neither party has imagination -enough to be wretched in his lot, unless the beans should -fail or the patriarch lay on the whip.</p> - -<p>"Would not a husband protect his wife?"</p> - -<p>"No," says the elder, "not where his father is concerned."</p> - -<p>A patriarch is lord in his own house and family, and no -man has a right to interfere with him; not even the village -elder and the imperial judge. He stands above oral and -written law. His cabin is not only a castle, but a church, -and every act of his done within that cabin is supposed to be -private and divine.</p> - -<p>"If a woman flew to her husband from blows and stripes?"</p> - -<p>"The husband must submit. What would you have? -Two wills under one roof? The shingles would fly off."</p> - -<p>"The young men always yield?"</p> - -<p>"What should they do but yield? Is not old age to be -revered? Is not experience good? Can a man have lived -his life and not learned wisdom with his years? Now, it is -said, the fashion is about to change; the young men are to -rule the house; the patriarchs are to hide their beards. But -not in my time; not in my time!"</p> - -<p>"Do the women readily submit to what the patriarch -says?"</p> - -<p>"They must. Suppose Nadia beaten by Old Dan. She -comes to me with her shoulders black and blue. I call a meeting -of patriarchs to hear her tale. What comes of it? She -tells them her father beats her. She shows her scars. The -patriarchs ask her why he beats her? She owns that she -refused to do this or that, as he bade her; something, it may -be, which he ought not to have asked, and she ought not to -have done; but the principle of authority is felt to be at -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">{208}</a></span> -stake; for, if a patriarch is not to rule his house, how is the -elder to rule his village, the governor his province, the Tsar -his empire? All authorities stand or fall together; and the -patriarchs find that the woman is a fool, and that a second -drubbing will do her good."</p> - -<p>"They would not order her to be flogged?"</p> - -<p>"Not now; the new law forbids it; that is to say, in public. -In his own cabin Daniel may flog Nadia when he likes."</p> - -<p>This "new law" against flogging women in public is an -edict of the present reign; a part of that mighty scheme of -social reform which the Emperor is carrying out on every -side. It is not popular in the village, since it interferes with -the rights of men, and cripples the patriarchs in dealing with -the defenseless sex. Since this edict put an end to the open -flogging of women, the men have been forced to invent new -modes of punishing their wives, and their sons' wives, since -they fancy that a private beating does but little good, because -it carries no sting of shame. A news-sheet gives the -following as a sample: Euphrosine M——, a peasant woman -living in the province of Kherson, is accused by her husband -of unfaithfulness to her vows. The rustic calls a meeting of -patriarchs, who hear his story, and without hearing the wife -in her defense, condemn her to be walked through the village -stark naked, in broad daylight, in the presence of all her -friends. That sentence is executed on a frosty day. Her -guilt is never proved; yet she has no appeal from the decision -of that village court!</p> - -<p>A village is an original and separate power; in every sense -a state within the state.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXVIII.<br /> - -<span class="small">VILLAGE REPUBLICS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">A village</span> is a republic, governed by a law, a custom, and -a ruler of its own.</p> - -<p>In Western Europe and the United States a hamlet is no -more than a little town in which certain gentlefolk, farmers, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">{209}</a></span> -tradesmen, and their dependents dwell; people who are as -free to go away as they were free to come. A Russian village -is not a small town, with this mixture of ranks, but a -collection of cabins, tenanted by men of one class and one -calling; men who have no power to quit the fields they sow; -who have to stand and fall by each other; who hold their -lands under a common bond; who pay their taxes in a common -sum; who give up their sons as soldiers in the common -name.</p> - -<p>These village republics are confined in practice to Great -Russia, and the genuine Russ. In Finland, in the Baltic provinces, -they are unknown; in Astrakhan, Siberia, and Kazan, -they are unknown; in Kief, Podolia, and the Ukraine steppe, -they are unknown; in the Georgian highlands, in the Circassian -valleys, on the Ural slopes, they are equally unknown. -In fact, the existence of these peasant republics in a province -is the first and safest test of nationality. Wherever they are -found, the soil is Russian, and the people Russ.</p> - -<p>The provinces over which they spread are many in number, -vast in extent, and rich in patriotic virtue. They extend -from the walls of Smolensk to the neighborhood of Viatka; -from the Gulf of Onega to the Kozak settlements on the -Don. They cover an empire fifteen or sixteen times as large -as France; the empire of Ivan the Terrible; that Russia -which lay around the four ancient capitals—Novgorod, Vladimir, -Moscow, Pskoff.</p> - -<p>What is a village republic?</p> - -<p>Is it Arcady, Utopia, New Jerusalem, Brook Farm, Oneida -Creek, Abode of Love? Not one of these societies can -boast of more than a passing resemblance to a Russian commune.</p> - -<p>A village republic is an association of peasants, living like -a body of monks and nuns, in a convent; living on lands of -their own, protected by chiefs of their own, and ruled by customs -of their own; but here the analogy between a commune -and a convent ends; for a peasant marries, multiplies, and -fills the earth. It is an agricultural family, holding an estate -in hand like a Shaker union; but instead of flying from the -world and having no friendship beyond the village bounds, -they knit their interests up, by marrying with those of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">{210}</a></span> -adjacent communes. It is an association of laymen like a -phalanx; but instead of dividing the harvest, they divide the -land; and that division having taken place, their rule is for -every man to do the best he can for himself, without regard -to his brother's needs. It is a working company, in which -the field and forest belong to all the partners in equal shares, -as in a Gaelic clan and a Celtic sept; but the Russian rustic -differs from a Highland chiel, and an Irish kerne, in owning -no hereditary chief. It is a socialistic group, with property—the -most solid and lasting property—in common, like the Bible -votaries at Oneida Creek; but these partners in the soil -never dream of sharing their goods and wives. It is a tribal -unit, holding what it owns under a common obligation, like a -Jewish house; but the associates differ from a Jewish house -in bearing different names, and not affecting unity of blood.</p> - -<p>By seeing what a village republic is not, we gain some insight -into what it is.</p> - -<p>We find some sixty or eighty men of the same class, with -the same pursuits; who have consented, they and their fathers -for them, to stay in one spot; to build a hamlet; to -elect an elder with unusual powers; to hold their land in -general, not in several; and to dwell in cabins near each other, -face to face. The purpose of their association is mutual -help.</p> - -<p>A pack of wolves may have been the founders of the first -village republic. Even now, when the forests are thinner, -and the villages stronger than of yore, the cry of "wolf" is -no welcome sound; and when the frost is keen, the village -homesteads have to be watched in turns, by day and night. -A wolf in the Russian forests is like a red-skin on the Kansas -plains. The strength of a party led by an elder, fighting in -defense of a common home, having once been proved by success -against wolves, it would be easy to rouse that strength -against the fox and the bear, the vagabond and the thief. In -a region full of forests, lakes, and bogs, a lonely settler has no -chance, and Russia is even yet a country of forests, lakes, and -bogs. The settlers must club their means and powers, and -bind themselves to stand by each other in weal and woe. -Wild beasts are not their only foes. A fall of snow is worse -than a raid of wolves; for the snow may bury their sheds, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">{211}</a></span> -destroy their roads, imprison them in tombs, from which a -single man would never be able to fight his way. The wolves -are now driven into the woods, but the snow can never be -beaten back into the sky; and while the northern storms go -raging on, a peasant who tills the northern soil will need for -his protection an enduring social bond.</p> - -<p>These peasant republicans find this bond of union in the -soil. They own the soil in common, not each in his own -right, but every one in the name of all. They own it forever, -and in equal shares. A man and his wife make the social -unit, recognized by the commune as a house, and every house -has a claim to a fair division of the family estate; to so much -field, to so much wood, to so much kitchen-ground, as that estate -will yield to each. Once in three years all claims fall in, all -holdings cease, a fresh division of the land is made. A commune -being a republic, and the men all peers, each voice must -be heard in council, and every claim must be considered in -parcelling the estate. The whole is parted into as many lots -as there are married couples in the village; so much arable, -so much forest, so much cabbage-bed for each. Goodness of -soil and distance from the home are set against each other -in every case.</p> - -<p>But the principle of association passes, like the needs out -of which it springs, beyond the village bounds. Eight or ten -communes join themselves into a canton (a sort of parish); -ten or twelves cantons form a volost, (a sort of hundred). -Each circle is self-governed; in fact, a local republic.</p> - -<p>From ancient times the members of these village democracies -derive a body of local rights; of kin to those family -rights which reforming ministers and judges think it wiser -to leave alone. They choose their own elders, hold their own -courts, inflict their own fines. They have a right to call meetings, -draw up motions, and debate their communal affairs. -They have authority over all their members, whether these -are rich or poor. They can depose their elders, and set up -others in their stead. A peasant republic is a patriarchal -circle, exercising powers which the Emperor has not given, -and dares not take away.</p> - -<p>The elder—called in Russian starosta—is the village chief.</p> - -<p>This elder is elected by the peasants from their own body; -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">{212}</a></span> -elected for three years; though he is seldom changed at the -end of his term; and men have been known to serve their -neighbors in this office from the age of forty until they died. -Every one is qualified for the post; though it seldom falls, -in practice, to a man who is either unable or unwilling to pay -for drink. The rule is, for the richest peasant of the village -to be chosen, and a stranger driving into a hamlet in search -of the elder will not often be wrong in pulling up his tarantass -at the biggest door. These peasants meet in a chapel, in a -barn, in a dram-shop, as the case may be; they whisper to -each other their selected name; they raise a loud shout and a -clatter of horny hands; and when the man of their choice -has bowed his head, accepting their vote, they sally to a -drinking-shop, where they shake hands and kiss each other -over nippets of whisky and jorums of quass. An unpaid -servant of his village, the Russian elder, like an Arab sheikh, -is held accountable for every thing that happens to go wrong. -Let the summer be hot, let the winter be dure, let the crop -be scant, let the whisky be thin, let the roads be unsafe, let -the wolves be out—the elder is always the man to blame. -Sometimes, not often, a rich peasant tries to shirk this office, -as a London banker shuns the dignity of lord mayor. But -such a man, if he escape, will not escape scot free. A commune -claims the service of her members, and no one can avoid -her call without suffering a fine in either meal or malt. The -man who wishes to escape election has to smirk and smile -like the man who wishes to win the prize. He has to court -his neighbor in the grog-shop, in the church, and in the field; -flattering their weakness, treating them to drink, and whispering -in their ear that he is either too young, too old, or too -busy, for the office they would thrust upon him. When the -time comes round for a choice to be made, the villagers pass -him by with winks and shrugs, expecting, when the day is -over, to have one more chance of drinking at his expense.</p> - -<p>An elder chosen by this village parliament is clothed with -strange, unclassified powers; for he is mayor and sheikh in -one; a personage known to the law, as well as a patriarch -clothed with domestic rights. Some of his functions lie beyond -the law, and clash with articles in the imperial code.</p> - -<p>To wit: an elder sitting in his village court, retains the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">{213}</a></span> -power to beat and flog. No one else in Russia, from the -lord on his lawn and the general on parade, down to the -merchant in his shop and the rider on a sledge, can lawfully -strike his man. By one wise stroke of his pen, the Emperor -made all men equal before the stick; and breaches of this rule -are judged with such wholesome zeal, that the savage energy -of the upper ranks is completely checked. Once only have I -seen a man beat another—an officer who pushed, and struck -a soldier, to prevent him getting entangled in floes of ice. -But a village elder, backed by his meeting, can defeat the -imperial will, and set the beneficent public code aside.</p> - -<p>A majority of peasants, meeting in a barn, or even in a -whisky-shop, can fine and flog their fellows beyond appeal. -Some rights have been taken from these village republicans -in recent years; they are not allowed, as in former times, -to lay the lash on women; and though they can sentence a man -to twenty blows, they may not club him to death. Yet two-thirds -of a village mob, in which every voter may be drunk, -can send a man to Siberia for his term of life!</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XXXIX.<br /> - -<span class="small">COMMUNISM.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Such</span> cases of village justice are not rare. Should a man -have the misfortune, from any cause, to make himself odious -to his neighbors, they can "cry a meeting," summon -him to appear, and find him worthy to be expelled. They -can pass a vote which may have the effect of sending for -the police, give the expelled member into custody, and send -him up to the nearest district town. He is now a waif -and stray. Rejected from his commune, he has no place in -society; he can not live in a town, he can not enter a village; -he is simply a vagabond and an outcast, living beyond the -pale of human law. The provincial governor can do little for -him, even if he be minded to do any thing at all. He has no -means of forcing the commune to receive him back; in fact, -he has no choice, beyond that of sending such a waif to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">{214}</a></span> -either the army or the public works. If all the forms have -been observed, the village judgment is final, and the man expelled -from it by such a vote is pretty sure of passing the -remainder of his days on earth in either a Circassian regiment -or a Siberian mine.</p> - -<p>In the more serious cases dealt with by courts of law, a -commune has the power of reviewing the sentence passed, -and even of setting it aside.</p> - -<p>Some lout (say) is suspected of setting a barn on fire. -Seized by his elder and given in charge to the police, he is -carried up to the assize town, where he is tried for his alleged -offense, and after proof being given on either side, he is acquitted -by the jury and discharged by the judge. It might -be fancied that such a man would return to his cabin and his -field, protected by the courts. But no; the commune, which -has done him so much wrong already, may complete the injury -by refusing to receive him back. A meeting may review -the jurors and the judge, decline their verdict, try the -man once more in secret, and condemn him, in his absence, -to the loss—not simply of his house and land—but of his -fame and caste.</p> - -<p>The communes have other, and not less curious, rights. -No member of a commune can quit his village without the -general leave, without a passport signed by the elder, who can -call him home without giving reasons for his acts. The absent -brother must obey, on penalty of being expelled from -his commune: that is to say—in a Russian village, as in an -Indian caste—being flung out of organized society into infinite -space.</p> - -<p>Nor can the absent member escape from this tribunal by -forfeiting his personal rights. An elder grants him leave to -travel in very rare cases, and for very short terms; often for -a month, now and then a quarter, never for more than a -year. That term, whether long or short, is the limit of a -man's freedom; when it expires, he must return to his commune, -under penalty of seizure by the police as a vagabond -living without a pass.</p> - -<p>A village parliament is holden once a year, when every -holder of house and field has the right to be heard. The -suffrage is general, the voting by ballot. Any member can -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">{215}</a></span> -bring up a motion, which the elder is compelled to put. An -unpopular elder may be deposed, and some one else elected in -his stead. Subjects of contention are not lacking in these -peasant parliaments; but the fiercest battles are those fought -over roads, imperial taxes, conscripts, wood-rights, water-rights, -whisky licenses, and the choice of lots.</p> - -<p>What may be termed the external affairs of the village—highways, -fisheries, and forest-rights—are settled, not with -imperial officers, but with their neighbors of the canton and -the volost. The canton and the volost treat with the general, -governor, and police. A minister looks for what he -needs to the association, not to the separate members, and -when rates are levied and men are wanted, the canton and the -volost receive their orders and proceed to raise alike the money -and the men. The crown has only to send out orders; -and the money is paid, the men are raised. A system so effective -and so cheap, is a convenience to the ministers of -finance and war so great that the haughtiest despots and the -wisest reformers have not dared to touch the interior life of -these peasant commonwealths.</p> - -<p>Thus the village system remains a thing apart, not only -from the outer world, but from the neighboring town. The -men who live in these sheds, who plough these fields, who angle -in this lake, are living by an underived and original light. -Their law is an oral law, their charter bears no seat, their -franchise knows no date. They vote their own taxes, and -they frame their own rules. Except in crimes of serious dye, -they act as an independent court. They fine, they punish, -they expel, they send unpopular men to Siberia; and even -call up the civil arm in execution of their will.</p> - -<p>Friends of these rustic republics urge as merits in the village -system, that the men are peers, that public opinion governs, -that no one is exempt from the general law, that rich -men find no privilege in their wealth. All this sounds well -in words; and probably in seven or eight cases out of ten -the peasants treat their brethren fairly; though it will not be -denied that in the other two or three cases gross and comical -burlesques of justice may be seen. I hear of a man being -flogged for writing a paragraph in a local paper, which half, -at least, of his judges could not read. Still worse, and still -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">{216}</a></span> -more flagrant, is the abuse of extorting money from the rich. -A charge is made, a meeting cried, and evidence heard. If -the offender falls on his knees, admits his guilt, and offers to -pay a fine, the charge is dropped. The whole party marches -to the whisky shop, and spends the fine in drams. Now the -villagers know pretty well the brother who is rich enough to -give his rubles in place of baring his back; and when they -thirst for a dram at some other man's cost, they have only to -get up some flimsy charge on which that yielding brother can -be tried. The man is sure to buy himself off. Then comes -the farce of charge and proof, admission and fine; followed -by the drinking bout, in which from policy the offender joins; -until the virtuous villagers, warm with the fiery demon, kiss -and slobber upon each other's beards, and darkness covers -them up in their drunken sleep.</p> - -<p>In Moscow I know a man, a clerk, a thrifty fellow, born in -the province of Tamboff, who has saved some money, and the -fact coming out, he has been thrice called home to his village, -thrice accused of trumpery offenses, thrice corrected by a fine. -In every case, the man was sentenced to be flogged; and he -paid his money, as they knew he would, to escape from suffering -and disgrace. His fines were instantly spent in drink. -A member of a village republic who has prospered by his -thrift and genius finds no way of guarding himself from such -assaults, except by craftily lending sums of money to the -heads of houses, so as to get the leading men completely into -his power.</p> - -<p>In spite of some patent virtues, a rural system which compels -the more enterprising and successful men to take up such -a position against their fellows in actual self-defense, can -hardly be said to serve the higher purposes for which societies -exist.</p> - -<p>These village republics are an open question; one about -which there is daily strife in every office of Government, in -every organ of the press. Men who differ on every other -point, agree in praising the rural communes. Men who agree -on every other point, part company on the merits and vices -of the rural communes.</p> - -<p>Not a few of the ablest reformers wish to see them thrive; -royalists, like Samarin and Cherkaski, and republicans, like -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">{217}</a></span> -Herzen and Ogareff, see in these village societies the germs -of a new civilization for East and West. Men of science, like -Valouef, Bungay, and Besobrazof, on the contrary, find in -these communes nothing but evil, nothing but a legacy from -the dark ages, which must pass away as the light of personal -freedom dawns.</p> - -<p>That the village communes have some virtues may be safely -said. A minister of war and a minister of finance are -keenly alive to these virtues, since a man who wishes to levy -troops and taxes in a quick, uncostly fashion, finds it easier -to deal with fifty thousand elders, than with fifty million -peasants. A minister of justice thinks with comfort of the -host of watchful, unpaid eyes that are kept in self-defense on -such as are suspected of falling into evil ways. These virtues -are not all, not nearly all. A rural system, in which every -married man has a stake in the soil, produces a conservative -and pacific people. No race on earth either clings to old -ways or prays for peace so fervently as the Russ. Where -each man is a landholder, abject poverty is unknown; and -Russia has scant need for poor-laws and work-houses, since -she has no such misery in her midst as a permanent pauper -class. Every body has a cabin, a field, a cow; perhaps a -horse and cart. Even when a fellow is lazy enough and base -enough to ruin himself, he can not ruin his sons. They hold -their place in the commune, as peers of all, and when they -grow up to man's estate, they will obtain their lots, and set -up life on their own account. The bad man dies, and leaves -to his province no legacy of poverty and crime. The communes -cherish love for parents, and respect for age. They -keep alive the feeling of brotherhood and equality, and inspire -the country with a sentiment of mutual dependence and -mutual help.</p> - -<p>On the other side, they foster a parish spirit, tend to separate -village from town, strengthen the ideas of class and -caste, and favor that worst delusion in a country—of there -being a state within a state! Living in his own republic, a -peasant is apt to consider the burgher as a stranger living -under a different and inferior rule. A peasant hears little of -the civil code, except in his relations with the townsfolk; and -he learns to despise the men who are bound by the letter of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">{218}</a></span> -that civil code. Between his own institutions and those of -his burgher neighbors there is a chasm, like that which separates -America from France.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XL.<br /> - -<span class="small">TOWNS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">A town</span> is a community lying beyond the canton and volost, -in which people live by burgher right and not by communal -law. Unlike the peasant, a burgher has power to buy -and sell, to make and mend, to enter crafts and guilds; but -he is chained to his trade very much as the rustic is chained -to his field. His house is built of logs, his roads are laid -with planks; but then his house is painted green or pink, and -his road is wide and properly laid out. In place of a free local -government, the town finds a master in the minister, in the -governor, in the chief of police. While the village is a separate -republic, the town is a parcel of the empire; and as parcel -of the empire it must follow the imperial code.</p> - -<p>Saving the great cities, not above five or six in number, all -Russian towns have a common character, and when you have -seen two or three in different parts of the empire, you have -seen them all. Take any riverside town of the second class -(and most of these towns are built on the banks of streams) -from Onega to Rostoff, from Nijni to Kremenchug. A fire-tower, -a jail, a fish-market, a bazar, and a cathedral, catch the -eye at once. Above and below the town you see monastic -piles. A bridge of boats connects the two banks, and a poorer -suburb lies before the town. The port is crowded with -smacks and rafts; the smacks bringing fish, the rafts bringing -pines. What swarms of people on the wharf! How -grave, how dirty, and how pinched, they look! Their sadness -comes of the climate, and their dirt is of the East. -"Yes, yes!" you may hear a mujik say to his fellow, speaking -of some neighbor, "he is a respectable man—quite; he -has a clean shirt once a week." The rustic eats but little -flesh; his dinner, even on days that are not kept as fasts, being -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">{219}</a></span> -a slice of black bread, a girkin, and a piece of dried cod. -Just watch them, how they higgle for a kopeck! A Russ -craftsman is a fellow to deal with; ever hopeful and acquiescent; -ready to please in word and act; but you are never -sure that he will keep his word. He has hardly any sense of -time and space. To him one hour of the day is like another, -and if he has promised to make you a coat by ten in the -morning, he can not be got to see the wrong of sending it -home by eleven at night.</p> - -<p>The market reeks with oil and salt, with vinegar and fruit, -with the refuse of halibut, cod, and sprats. The chief articles -of sale are rings of bread, salt girkins, pottery, tin plates, iron -nails, and images of saints. The street is paved with pools, -in which lie a few rough stones, to help you in stepping from -stall to stall. To walk is an effort; to walk with clean feet -a miracle. Such filth is too deep for shoes.</p> - -<p>A fish-wife is of either sex; and even when she belongs of -right to the better side of human nature, she is not easy to -distinguish from her lord by any thing in her face and garb. -Seeing her in the sharp wind, quilted in her sheep-skin coat, -and legged in her deer-skin hose, her features pinched by -frost, her hands blackened by toil, it would be hard to say -which was the female and which the male, if Providence had -not blessed the men with beards. By these two signs a Russ -may be known from all other men—by his beard and by his -boots; but since many of his female folk wear boots, he is -only to be safely known from his partner in life by the bunch -of hair upon his chin.</p> - -<p>In the bazar stand the shops; dark holes in the wall, like -the old Moorish shops in Seville and Granada; in which the -dealer stands before his counter and shows you his poor assortment -of prints and stuffs, his pots and pans, his saints, his -candles, and his packs of cards. Next to rye-bread and salt -fish, saints and cards are the articles mostly bought and sold; -for in Russia every body prays and plays; the noble in his -club, the dealer at his shop, the boatman on his barge, the pilgrim -by his wayside cross. The propensities to pray and -gamble may be traced to a common root; a kind of moral -fetichism, a trust in the grace of things unseen, in the merit -of dead men, and even in the power of chance. A Russian -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">{220}</a></span> -takes, like a child, to every strange thing, and prides himself -on the completeness of his faith. When he is not kneeling to -his angel, nothing renders him so happy as the sight of a pack -of cards.</p> - -<p>Nearly every one plays high for his means; and nothing is -more common than for a burgher to stake and lose, first his -money, then his boots, his cap, his caftan, every scrap of his -garments, down to his very shirt. Whisky excepted, nothing -drives a Russian to the devil so quickly as a pack of -cards.</p> - -<p>But see, these gamblers throw down their cards, unbonnet -their heads, and fall upon their knees. The priest is coming -down the street with his sacred picture and his cross. It is -market-day in the town, and he is going to open and bless -some shop in the bazar; and fellows who were gambling for -their shirts are now upon their knees in prayer.</p> - -<p>The rite by which a shop, a shed, a house, is dedicated to -God is not without touches of poetic beauty. Notice must -be given aforetime to the parish priest, who fixes the hour of -consecration, so that a man's kinsfolk and neighbors may be -present if they like. The time having come, the priest takes -down his cross from the altar, a boy lights the embers in his -censer, and, preceded by his reader and deacon, the pope moves -down the streets through crowds of kneeling men and women, -most of whom rise and follow in his wake, only too eager -to catch so easily and cheaply some of the celestial fire.</p> - -<p>Entering the shop or house, the pope first purges the room -by prayer, then blesses the tenant or dweller, and lastly sanctifies -the place by hanging in the "corner of honor" an image -of the dealer's guardian angel, so that in the time to come -no act can be done in that house or shop except under the -eyes of its patron saint.</p> - -<p>Though poor as art, such icons, placed in rooms, have power -upon men's minds. Not far from Tamboff lived an old -lady who was more than commonly hard upon her serfs, until -the poor wretches, maddened by her use of the whip and the -black hole, broke into her room at night, some dozen men, and -told her, with a sudden brevity, that her hour had come and -she must die. Springing from her bed, she snatched her image -from the wall, and held it out against her assailants, daring -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">{221}</a></span> -them to strike the Mother of God. Dropping their clubs, -they fled from before her face. Taking courage from her victory, -she hung up the picture, drew on her wrapper, and followed -her serfs into the yard, where, seeing that she was unprotected -by her image, they set upon her with a shout, and -clubbed her instantly to death.</p> - -<p>In driving through the town we note how many are the -dram-shops, and how many the tipsy men. Among the smaller -reforms under which the burgher has now to live is that -of a thinner drink. The Emperor has put water into the -whisky, and reduced the price from fifteen kopecks a glass to -five. The change is not much relished by the topers, who call -their thin potation, dechofka—cheap stuff; but simpler souls -give thanks to the reformer for his boon, saying, "Is he not -good—our Tsar—in giving us three glasses of whisky for the -price of a single glass!" Yet, thin as it is, a nippet of the fiery -spirit throws a sinner off his legs, for his stomach is empty, -his nerves are lax, and his blood is poor. If he were better fed -he would crave less drink. Happily a Russian is not quarrelsome -in his cups; he sings and smiles, and wishes to hug you -in the public street. No richer comedy is seen on any stage -than that presented by two tipsy mujiks riding on a sledge, -putting their beards together and throwing their arms about -each other's neck. A happy fellow lies in the gutter, fast -asleep; another, just as tipsy, comes across the roadway, looks -at his brother, draws his own wrapper round his limbs, and -asking gods and men to pardon him, lies down tenderly in the -puddle by his brother's side.</p> - -<p>The social instincts are, in a Russian, of exceeding strength. -He likes a crowd. The very hermits of his country are a social -crew—not men who rush away into lonely nooks, where, -hidden from all eyes, they grub out caves in the rock and burrow -under roots of trees; but brothers of some popular cloister, -famous for its saints and pilgrims, where they drive a -shaft under the convent wall, secrete themselves in a hole, and -receive their food through a chink, in sight of wondering visitors -and advertising monks. Such were the founders of his -church, the anchorets of Kief.</p> - -<p>The first towns of Russia are Kief and Novgorod the -Great; her capitals and holy places long before she built herself -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">{222}</a></span> -a kremlin on the Moskva, and a winter palace on the Neva. -Kief and Novgorod are still her pious and poetic cities; one -the tower of her religious faith, the other of her imperial power. -From Vich Gorod at Kief springs the dome which celebrates -her conversion to the Church of Christ; in the Kremlin -of Novgorod stands the bronze group which typifies her -empire of a thousand years.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLI.<br /> - -<span class="small">KIEF.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kief,</span> the oldest of Russian sees, is not in Russia Proper, -and many historians treat it as a Polish town. The people -are Ruthenians, and for hundreds of years the city belonged -to the Polish crown. The plain in front of it is the Ukraine -steppe; the land of hetman and zaporogue; of stirring legends -and riotous song. The manners are Polish and the people -Poles. Yet here lies the cradle of that church which has -shaped into its own likeness every quality of Russian political -and domestic life.</p> - -<p>The city consists of three parts, of three several towns—Podol, -Vich Gorod, Pechersk; a business town, an imperial -town, and a sacred town. All these quarters are crowded -with offices, shops, and convents; yet Podol is the merchant -quarter, Vich Gorod the Government quarter, and Pechersk -the pilgrim quarter. These towns overhang the Dnieper, on -a range of broken cliffs; contain about seventy thousand -souls; and hold, in two several places of interment, all that -was mortal of the Pagan duke who became her foremost -saint.</p> - -<p>Kief is a city of legends and events; the preaching of St. -Andrew, the piety of St. Olga, the conversion of St. Vladimir; -the Mongolian assault, the Polish conquest, the recovery by -Peter the Great. The provinces round Kief resemble it, and -rival it, in historic fame. Country of Mazeppa and Gonta, the -Ukraine teems with story; tales of the raid, the flight, the -night attack, the violated town. Every village has its legend, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">{223}</a></span> -every town its epic, of love and war. The land is aglow -with personal life. Yon chapel marks the spot where a grand -duke was killed; this mound is the tomb of a Tartar horde; -that field is the site of a battle with the Poles. The men are -brighter and livelier, the houses are better built, and the -fields are better trimmed than in the North and East. The -music is quicker, the brandy is stronger, the love is warmer, -the hatred is keener, than you find elsewhere. These provinces -are Gogol's country, and the scenery is that of his most -popular tales.</p> - -<p>Like all the southern cities, Kief fell into the power of Batu -Khan, the Mongol chief, and groaned for ages under the yoke -of Asiatic begs. These begs were idol-worshippers, and under -their savage and idolatrous rule the children of Vladimir -had to pass through heavy trials; but Kief can boast that in -the worst of times she kept in her humble churches and her -underground caves the sacred embers of her faith alive.</p> - -<p>Below the tops of two high hills, three miles from that Vich -Gorod in which Vladimir built his harem, and raised the statue -of his Pagan god, some Christian hermits, Anton, Feodosie, -and their fellows, dug for themselves in the loose red -rock a series of corridors and caves, in which they lived and -died, examples of lowly virtue and the Christian life. The -Russian word for cave is pechera, and the site of these caves -was called Pechersk. Above the cells in which these hermits -dwelt, two convents gradually arose, and took the names of -Anton and Feodosie, now become the patron saints of Kief, -and the reputed fathers of all men living in Russia a monastic -life.</p> - -<p>A green dip between the old town, now trimmed and planted, -parts the first convent—that of Anton—from the city; a -second dip divides the convent of Feodosie, from that of his -fellow-saint. These convents, nobly planned and strongly -built, take rank among the finest piles in Eastern Europe. -Domes and pinnacles of gold surmount each edifice; and every -wall is pictured with legends from the lives of saints. The -ground is holy. More than a hundred hermits lie in the catacombs, -and crowds of holy men lie mouldering in every niche -of the solid wall. Mouldering! I crave their pardons. Holy -men never rust and rot. For purity of the flesh in death is -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">{224}</a></span> -evidence of purity of the flesh in life; and saints are just as -incorruptible of body as of soul. In Anton's Convent you are -shown the skull of St. Vladimir; that is to say, a velvet pall -in which his skull is said to be wrapped and swathed. You -are told that the flesh is pure, the skin uncracked, the odor -sweet. A line of dead bodies fills the underground passages -and lanes—each body in a niche of the rock; and all these -martyrs of the faith are said to be, like Vladimir, also fresh -and sweet.</p> - -<p>A stranger can not say whether this tale of the incorruptibility -of early saints and monks is true or not; since nothing -can be seen of the outward eye except a coffin, a velvet pall, -and an inscription newly painted in the Slavonic tongue. A -great deal turns on the amount of faith in which you seek for -proof. For monks are men, and a critic can hardly press -them with his doubts. Suppose you try to persuade your -guides to lift the pall from St. Anton's face. Your own opinion -is that even though human frames might resist the dissolving -action of an atmosphere like that of Sicily and Egypt, -nothing less than a miracle could have preserved intact the -bodies of saints who died a thousand years ago, in a cold, -damp climate like that of Kief. You wish to put your science -to the test of fact. You wish in vain. The monk will -answer for the miracle, but no one answers for the monk.</p> - -<p>Fifty thousand pilgrims, chiefly Ruthenians from the populous -provinces of Podolia, Kief, and Volhynia, come in summer -to these shrines.</p> - -<p>When Kief recovered her freedom from the Tartar begs, -she found herself by the chance of war a city of Polonia, not -of Moscovy—a member of the Western, not of the Eastern -section of her race. Kief had never been Russ, as Moscow -was Russ; a rude, barbaric town, with crowds of traders and -rustics, ruled by a Tartarized court; and now that her lot -was cast with the more liberal and enlightened West, she -grew into a yet more Oriental Prague. For many reigns she -lay open to the arts of Germany and France; and when she -returned to Russia, in the times of Peter the Great, she was -not alone the noblest jewel in his crown, but a point of union, -nowhere else to be found, for all the Slavonic nations in the -world.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">{225}</a></span> -As an inland city Kief has the finest site in Russia. Standing -on a range of bluffs, she overlooks a splendid length of -steppe, a broad and navigable stream. She is the port and -capital of the Ukraine; and the Malo-Russians, whether settled -on the Don, the Ural, or the Dniester, look to her for -orders of the day. She touches Poland with her right hand, -Russia with her left; she flanks Galicia and Moldavia, and -keeps her front towards the Bulgarians, the Montenegrins, -and the Serbs. In her races and religions she is much in little; -an epitome of all the Slavonic tribes. One-third of her -population is Moscovite, one-third Russine, and one-third Polack; -while in faith she is Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and -United Greek. If any city in Europe offers itself to Panslavonic -dreamers as their natural capital, it is Kief.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLII.<br /> - -<span class="small">PANSLAVONIA.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Until</span> a year ago, these Panslavonic dreamers were a party -in the State; and even now they have powerful friends at -Court. Their cry is Panslavonia for the Slavonians. Last -year the members of this party called a congress in Moscow, -to which they invited—first, their fellow-countrymen, from -the White Sea to the Black, from the Vistula to the Amoor; -and next, the representatives of their race who dwell under -foreign sceptres—the Czeck from Prague, the Pole from Cracow, -the Bulgar from Shumla, the Montenegrin from Cettigne, -the Serb from Belgrade; but this gathering of the -clans in Moscow opened the eyes of moderate men to the -dangerous nature of this Panslavonic dream. A deep distrust -of Russian life, as now existing, lies at the root of it; -the dreamers hoping to fall back upon forms inspired by what -they call a nobler national spirit. They read the chronicles -of their race, they collect popular songs, they print peasant -tales; and in these Ossianic legends of the steppe they find -the germ of a policy which they call a natural product of their -soil.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">{226}</a></span> -Like the Old Believers, these Panslavonians deny the Emperor -and own the Tsar. To them Peter the Great is Antichrist, -and the success of his reforms a temporary triumph -of the Evil Spirit. He left his country, they allege, in order -to study in foreign lands the arts by which it could be overthrown. -On his return to Russia no one recognized him as -their prince. He came with a shaven face, a pipe in his -mouth, a jug of beer in his hand. A single stroke of his pen -threw down an edifice which his people had been rearing for -a thousand years. He carried his government beyond the -Russian soil; and, in a strange swamp, by the shores of a -Swedish gulf, he built a palace for his court, a market for his -purveyors, a fortress for his troops. This city he stamped -with a foreign genius and baptized with a foreign name.</p> - -<p>For these good reasons, the Panslavonians set their teeth -against all that Peter did, against nearly all that his followers -on the throne have done. They wish to put these alien -things away, to resume their capital, to grow their beards, to -wear their fur caps, to draw on their long boots, without being -mocked as savages, and coerced like serfs. They deny -that civilization consists in a razor and a felt hat. Finding -much to complain of in the judicial sharpness of German rule, -they leaped to the conclusion that every thing brought from -beyond the Vistula is bad for Russia and the Russ. In the -list of things to be kept out of their country they include -German philosophy, French morals, and English cotton-prints.</p> - -<p>A thorough Panslavonian is a man to make one smile; -with him it is enough that a thing is Russian in order to be -sworn the best of its kind. Now, many things in Russia are -good enough for proud people to be proud of. The church-bells -are musical, the furs warm and handsome, the horses -swift, the hounds above all praise. The dinners are well-served; -the sterlet is good to eat; but the wines are not -first-rate and the native knives and forks are bad. Yet -patriots in Kief and Moscow tell you, with gravest face, that -the vintage of the Don is finer than that of the Garonne, that -the cutlery of Tula is superior to that of Sheffield. Yet these -dreamers say and unsay in a breath, as seems for the moment -best; for while they crack up their country right and wrong, -in the face of strangers; they abuse it right and wrong when -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">{227}</a></span> -speaking of it among themselves. "We are sick, we are sick -to death," was a saying in the streets, a cry in the public -journals, long before Nicolas transferred the ailment of his -country to that of his enemy the Turk. "We have never -done a thing," wrote Khomakof, the Panslavonic poet; "not -even made a rat-trap."</p> - -<p>A Panslavonian fears free trade. He wants cheap cotton -shirts, he wants good knives and forks; but then he shudders -at the sight of a cheap shirt and a good fork on hearing from -his priest that Manchester and Sheffield are two heretical -towns, in which the spinners who weave cloth, the grinders -who polish steel, have never been taught by their pastors how -to sign themselves with the true Greek cross. What shall it -profit a man to have a cheap shirt and lose his soul? The -Orthodox clergy, seizing the Panslavonic banner, wrote on -its front their own exclusive motto: "Russia and the Byzantine -Church;" and this priestly motto made a Panslavistic -unity impossible; since the Western branches of the race are -not disciples of that Byzantine Church. At Moscow every -thing was done to keep down these dissensions; and the -question of a future capital was put off, as one too dangerous -for debate. Nine men in ten of every party urge the abandonment -of St. Petersburg; but Moscow, standing in the heart -of Russia, can not yield her claims to Kief.</p> - -<p>The partisans of Old Russia join hands with those of Young -Russia in assailing these Panslavistic dreamers, who prate of -saving their country from the vices and errors of Europe, -and offer—these assailants say—no other plan than that of -changing a German yoke for either a Byzantine or a Polish -yoke.</p> - -<p>The clever men who guide this party are well aware that -the laws and ceremonies of the Lower Empire offer them no -good models; but in returning to the Greeks, they expect to -gain a firmer hold on the practices of their Church. For the -rest, they are willing to rest in the hands of God, in the -Oriental hope of finding that all is well at last. If nothing -else is gained, they will have saved their souls.</p> - -<p>"Their souls!" laugh the Young Russians, trained in what -are called the infidel schools of France; "these fellows who -have no souls to be saved!" "Their souls!" frown the Old -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">{228}</a></span> -Believers, strong in their ancient customs and ancient faith; -"these men whose souls are already damned!" With a pitiless -logic, these opponents of the Panslavonic dreamers call -on them to put their thoughts into simple words. What is -the use of dreaming dreams? "How can you promote Slavonic -nationality," ask the Young Russians, "by excluding -the most liberal and enlightened of our brethren? How can -you promote civilization by excluding cotton-prints?" The -Old Believers ask, on the other side, "How can you extend -the true faith by going back to the Lower Empire, in which -religion was lost? How can you, who are not the children of -Christ, promote his kingdom on the earth? You regenerate -Russia! you, who are not the inheritors of her ancient -and holy faith!"</p> - -<p>Reformers of every school and type have come to see the -force which lies in a Western idea—not yet, practically, known -in Russia—that of individual right. They ask for every sort -of freedom; the right to live, the right to think, the right to -speak, the right to hold land, the right to travel, the right to -buy and sell, <i>as personal rights</i>. "How," they demand from -the Panslavonians, "can the Russian become a free man while -his personality is absorbed in the commune, in the empire, -and in the church?"</p> - -<p>"An old Russian," replies the Panslavonian, "was a free -man, and a modern Russian is a free man, but in a higher -sense than is understood by a trading-people like the English, -an infidel people like the French. Inspired by his Church, a -Russian has obtained the gifts of resignation and of sacrifice. -By an act of devotion he has conveyed his individual rights -to his native prince, even as a son might give up his rights to -a father in whose love and care he had perfect trust. A right -is not lost which has been openly lodged in the hands of a -compassionate and benevolent Tsar. The Western nations -have retained a liberty which they find a curse, while the -Russians have been saved by obeying the Holy Spirit."</p> - -<p>Imagine the mockery by which an argument so patriarchal -has been met!</p> - -<p>"No illusion, gentlemen," said the Emperor to his first -deputation of Poles. So far as they are linked in fortune -with their Eastern brethren, the Poles are invited to an equal -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">{229}</a></span> -place in a great empire, having its centre of gravity in Moscow, -its port of communication in St. Petersburg; not to a -Japanese kingdom of the Slavonic tribes, with a mysterious -and secluded throne in Kief.</p> - -<p>Yet the Poles and Ruthenians who people the western provinces -and the southern steppe will not readily give up their -dream; and their genius for affairs, their oratorical gifts, their -love of war, all tend to make them enemies equally dangerous -in the court and in the field. Plastic, clever, adroit, with the -advantage of speaking the language of the country, these -dreamers get into places of high trust; into the professor's -chair, into the secretary's office, into the aide-de-camp's saddle; -in which they carry on their plot in favor of some form of -government other than that under which they live.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLIII.<br /> - -<span class="small">EXILE.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">A week</span> before the last rising of the Poles took place, an -officer of high rank in the Russian service came in the dead -of night, and wrapped in a great fur cloak, to a friend of mine -living in St. Petersburg, with whom he had little more than a -passing acquaintance—</p> - -<p>"I am going out," he said, "and I have come to ask a favor -and say good-bye."</p> - -<p>"Going out!"</p> - -<p>"Yes," said his visitor. "My commission is signed, my -post is marked. Next week you will hear strange news."</p> - -<p>"Good God!" cried my friend; "think better of it. You, -an officer of state, attached to the ministry of war!"</p> - -<p>"I am a Pole, and my country calls me. You, a stranger, -can not feel with the passions burning in my heart. I know -that by quitting the service I disgrace my general; that the -Government will call me a deserter; that if we fail, I shall -be deemed unworthy of a soldier's death. All this I know, -yet go I must."</p> - -<p>"But your wife—and married one year!"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">{230}</a></span> -"She will be safe. I have asked for three months' leave. -Our passes have been signed; in a week she will be lodged in -Paris with our friends. You are English; that is the reason -why I seek you. In the drojki at your door is a box; it is -full of coin. I want to leave this box with you; to be given -up only in case we fail; and then to a man who will come to -you and make this sign. I need not tell you that the money -is all my own, and that the charge of it will not compromise -you, since it is sacred to charity, and not to be used for -war."</p> - -<p>"It is a part, I suppose," said my friend, "of your Siberian -fund?"</p> - -<p>"It is," said the soldier; "you will accept my trust?"</p> - -<p>The box was left; the soldier went his way. In less than a -week the revolt broke out in many places; slight collisions -took place, and the Poles, under various leaders, met with the -success which always attends surprise. Three or four names, -till then unknown, began to attract the public eye; but the -name of my friend's midnight visitor was not amongst them. -General —— grew into sudden fame; his rapid march, his -dashing onset, his daily victory, alarmed the Russian court, -until a very strong corps was ordered to be massed against -him. Then he was crushed; some said he was slain. One -night, my friend was seated in his chamber, reading an account -of this action in a journal, when his servant came into -the room with a card, on which was printed:</p> - -<p class="center smcap">The Countess R——.</p> - -<p>The lady was below, and begged to see my friend that night. -Her name was strange to him; but he went out into the passage, -where he found a pale, slim lady of middle age, attired -in the deepest black.</p> - -<p>"I have come to you," she said at once, "on a work of -charity. A young soldier crawled to my house from the field -of battle, so slashed and shot that we expected him to die -that night. He was a patriot; and his papers showed that -he was the young General ——. He lived through the -night, but wandered in his mind. He spoke much of Marie; -perhaps she is his wife. By daylight he was tracked, and -carried from my house; but ere he was dragged away, he -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">{231}</a></span> -gave me this card, and with the look of a dying man, implored -me to place it in your hands."</p> - -<p>"You have brought it yourself from Poland?"</p> - -<p>"I am a sufferer too," she said; "no time could be lost; -in three days I am here."</p> - -<p>"You knew him in other days?"</p> - -<p>"No; never. He was miserable, and I wished to help him. -I have not learned his actual name."</p> - -<p>Glancing at the card, my friend saw that it contained nothing -but his own name and address written in English letters; -as it might be:</p> - -<div class="foot"> - -<div class="left5">George Herbert,</div> -<div class="left7">Sergie Street,</div> -<div class="left9">St. Petersburg.</div> - -</div> - -<p>He knew the handwriting. "Gracious heavens!" he exclaimed, -"was this card given to you by General ——?"</p> - -<p>"It was."</p> - -<p>In half an hour my friend was closeted with a man who -might intervene with some small hope. The minister of war -was reached. Surprised and grieved at the news conveyed -to him, the minister said he would see what could be done. -"General Mouravieff," he explained, "is stern, his power unlimited; -and my poor adjutant was taken on the field. Deserter, -rebel—what can be urged in arrest of death?" In -truth, he had no time to plead, for Mouravieff's next dispatch -from Poland gave an account of the execution of General -—— <i>by the rope</i>. On my friend calling at the war-office -to hear if any thing could be done, he was told the story by -a sign.</p> - -<p>"Can you tell me," inquired the minister, "under what -name my second adjutant is in the field? He also is missing." -The caller could not help a smile. "You are thinking," -said the minister, "that this Polish revolt was organized -in my office? You are not far wrong."</p> - -<p>Archangel, Caucasus, Siberia—every frontier of the empire -had her batch of hapless prisoners to receive. The present -reign has seen the system of sending men to the frontiers -much relaxed; and the public works of Archangel occupied, -for a time, the place once held in the public mind by the Siberian -mines. Not that the Asiatic waste has been abandoned -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">{232}</a></span> -as an imperial Cayenne. Many great criminals, and some -unhappy politicians, are still sent over the Ural heights; but -the system has been much relaxed of late, and the name of -Siberia is no longer that word of fear which once appalled -the imagination like a living death. It is no uncommon -thing to meet bands of young fellows going up the Ural -slopes from Mesen and Archangel, in search of fortune; going -over into Siberia as into a promised land!</p> - -<p>Many of the terrors which served to shroud Siberia in a -pall have been swept away by science. The country has been -opened up. The tribes have become better known. Tomsk, -a name at which the blood ran cold, is seen to be a pleasant -town, lying in a green valley at the foot of a noble range of -heights. It is not far from Perm, which may be regarded as -a distant suburb of Kazan. The tracks have been laid down, -and in a few months a railroad will be made from Perm to -Tomsk.</p> - -<p>The world, too, has begun to see that a penal settlement -has, at best, a limited lease of life. A man will make his -home anywhere, and when a place has become his home, it -must have already ceased to be his jail. It is in the nature -of every penal settlement to become unsafe in time; and a -province of Siberia, peopled by Poles, would be a vast embarrassment -to the empire, a second Poland in her rear. -Even now, long heads are counting the years when the sons -of political exiles will occupy all the leading posts in Asia. -Will they not plant in that region the seeds of a Polish power, -and of a Catholic Church? It is the opinion of liberal -Russians that Siberia will one day serve their country as -England is served by the United States.</p> - -<p>The exiles sent to the frontiers are of many kinds; noble, -ignoble; clerical, lay; political offenders, cut-throats, heretics, -coiners, schismatics; prisoners of the Court, prisoners of the -Law, and prisoners of the Church. The exiles sent away by -a minister of police, by the governor of a province, are not -kept in jail, are not compelled to work. The police has -charge of them in a certain sense; they are numbered, and -registered in books; and they have to report themselves at -head-quarters from time to time. Beyond these limits they -are free. You meet them in society; and if you guess they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">{233}</a></span> -are exiles, it is mainly on account of their keener intelligence -and their greater reserve of words. They either live on their -private means, or follow the professions to which they have -been trained. Some teach music and languages, some practise -medicine or law; still more become secretaries and clerks -to the official Russ. A great many occupy offices in the village -system. In one day's drive in a tarantass I saw a dozen -hamlets, in which every man serving as a justice of the peace -was a Pole.</p> - -<p>Not less than three thousand of the insurgents taken with -arms in their hands during the last rising at Warsaw, were -sent on to Archangel. At first the number was so great that -an insurrection of prisoners threatened the safety of the -town. The governor had to call in troops from the surrounding -country, and the war-office had to fetch back all the -Prussian and Austrian Poles whom, in the first hours of repression, -they had hurried to the confines of the Frozen Sea.</p> - -<p>They lived in a great yellow building, once used as the arsenal -of Archangel, before the Government works were carried -to the South; and their lot, though hard enough, was -not harder than that of the people amongst whom they lived. -They were gently used by the officers, who felt a soldierly respect -for their courage, and a committee of foreign residents -was allowed to visit them in their rooms. The food allowed -to them was plentiful and good, and many a poor sentinel -standing with his musket in their doorways must have envied -them the abundance of bread and soup.</p> - -<p>In squads and companies these prisoners have been brought -back to their homes; some to their families, others to the -provinces in which they had lived. Many have been freed -without terms; some have been suffered to return to Poland -on the sole condition of their not going to Warsaw. A hundred, -perhaps, remain in the arsenal building, waiting for -their turn to march. Their lot is hard, no doubt; but where -is the country in which the lot of a political prisoner is not -hard? Is it Virginia? is it Ireland? is it France?</p> - -<p>These prisoners are closely watched, and the chances of escape -are faint; not one adventurer getting off in a dozen -years. A Pole of desperate spirit, who had been sent to -Mesen as a place of greater security than the open city of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">{234}</a></span> -Archangel, slipped his guard, crawled through the pine woods -to the sea, hid himself in the forest, until he found an opportunity -of stealing a fisherman's boat, and then pushed boldly -from the shore in his tiny craft, in the hope of being picked -up by some English or Swedish ship on her outward voyage. -Four days and nights he lived on the open sea; suffering -from chill and damp, and torn by the pangs of hunger and -thirst, until the paddle dropped from his hands. His strength -being spent, he drifted with the tide on shore, only too glad -to exchange his liberty for bread. When the officer sent to -make inquiries drove into Mesen, he found the poor fellow -lying half dead in the convict ward.</p> - -<p>Beyond this confinement in a bleak and distant land, the -Polish insurgents do not seem to be physically ill-used. -Their tasks are light, their pay is higher than that of the soldiers -guarding them, and some of the better class are allowed -to work in cities as messengers and clerks. At one time they -were allowed to teach—one man dancing, a second drawing, -a third languages; but this privilege has been taken from them -on the ground that in the exercise of these arts they were -received into families, and abused their trust.</p> - -<p>It is no easy thing to mix these Polish malcontents with -the general race, without producing these results which a -jealous police regard as a "corruption" of youth.</p> - -<p>Man for man, a Pole is better taught than a Russian. He -has more ideas, more invention, more practical talent. Having -more resources, he can not be thrown in the midst of his -fellows without taking the lead. He can put their wishes -into words, and show them how to act. A prisoner, he becomes -a clerk: an exile, he becomes on overseer, a teacher—in -fact, a leader of men. Sent out into a distant province, he -gradually but surely asserts his rank. An order from the -police can not rob him of his genius; and when the ban is -taken from his name, he may remain as a citizen in the town -which gives him a career and perhaps supplies him with a -wife. He may get a professor's chair; he may be made a -judge; if he has been a soldier, he may be put on the general's -staff.</p> - -<p>All this time, and through all these changes, he may hold -on to his hope; continuing to be a Pole at heart, and cherishing -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">{235}</a></span> -the dream of independence which has proved his bane. -The country that employs him in her service is not sure of -him. In her hour of trial he may betray her to an enemy; -he may use the power in which she clothes him to deal her a -mortal blow. She can not trust him. She fears his tact, his -suppleness, his capacity for work. In fact, she can neither -get on with him nor without him.</p> - -<p>In the mean time, Poles who have passed through years of -exile into a second freedom are coming to be known as a class -apart, with qualities and virtues of their own—the growth of -suffering and experience acting on a sensitive and poetic -frame. These men are known as the Siberians. A Pole with -whom I travel some days is one of these Siberians, and from -his lips I hear another side of this strange story of exile life.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLIV.<br /> - -<span class="small">THE SIBERIANS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">"He</span> is one of the Siberians," says my comrade of the road, -after quoting some verses from a Polish poet.</p> - -<p>"One of the Siberians?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," replies the Pole. "In these countries you find a -people of whom the world has scarcely heard; a new people, -I might say; for, while in physique they are like the fighting -men who followed Sobieski to the walls of Vienna, they are in -mind akin to the patient and laborious monks who have built -up the shrines of Solovetsk. Time has done his work upon -them. A sad and sober folk, they go among us by the name -of our Siberians."</p> - -<p>"They are Poles by birth?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, Poles by genius and by birth. They are our children -who have passed through fire; our children whom we -never hoped to see in the living world. Once they were -called our Lost Ones. In Poland we have a tragic phrase, -much used by parting friends: 'We never meet again!' -For many years that parting phrase was fate. An exile, sent -beyond the Ural Mountains, never came back; he was said to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">{236}</a></span> -have joined our Lost Ones; he became to us a memory like -the dead. We could not hope to see his face again, except -in dreams. To-day that line is but a song, a recollection of -the past; a refrain sung by the waters of Babylon. In Vilna, -in Kazan, in Kief, in a hundred cities widely parted from each -other, you will find a colony of Poles, now happy in their -homes, who have crossed and recrossed those heights; men -of high birth, and of higher culture than their birth; men -who have ploughed through the snows of Tomsk; who have -brought back into the West a pure and bruised, though not -a broken spirit."</p> - -<p>"Are these pardoned men reconciled to the Emperor?"</p> - -<p>"They are reconciled to God. Do not mistake me. No -one doubts that the reigning Emperor is a good and brave -man; high enough to see his duty; strong enough to face it, -even though his feet should have to stumble long and often -on the rocks. But God is over all, and his Son died for all. -Alexander is but an instrument in His hands. You think me -mystical! Because my countrymen believe in the higher -powers, they are described by Franks, who believe in nothing, -as dreamers and spiritualists. We dream our dreams, we see -our signs, we practise our religion, we respect our clergy, we -obey our God."</p> - -<p>"I have heard the Poles described as women in prayer, as -gods in battle!"</p> - -<p>"Like the young men of my circle," he continues, after a -pause, "I took a part in the rising of '48; a poor affair, without -the merit of being either Polish or Slavonic. That rising -was entirely French. While young in years I had travelled -with a comrade in the west of Europe; living on the Rhine, -and on the Seine, where we forgot the religion of our mothers -and our country, and learned to think and to speak of Poland -as of a northern France. We called ourselves republicans, -and thought we were great philosophers; but the idol of our -fancies was Napoleon the Great, under whose banner so -many of our countrymen threw away their lives. We ceased -to appear at church, and even denied ourselves to the Polish -priest. We hated the Tsar, and we despised the Russians -with all our souls. Two years before the republic was proclaimed -in the streets of Paris, we returned to Warsaw, in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">{237}</a></span> -the hope of finding some field of service against the Tsar; -but the powers had been too swift for us; and Cracow, the -last free city of our country, was incorporated with the kaisar's -empire on the day when I was dropped from the tarantass -at my father's door. France bade us trust in her, and in -the secret meetings which we called among our youthful -friends, we gave up the good old Polish psalms and signs for -Parisian songs and passwords. In other days we sang 'The -Babe in Bethlehem,' but now, inspired with a foreign hope, -we rioted through the Marseillaise. We had become strangers -in the land, and the hearts of our people were not with us. -The women fell away, the clergy looked askance, but the unpopularity -of our new devices only made us laugh. We said -to ourselves, we could do without these priests and fools; -men who were always slaves, and women who were always -dupes. As to the crowd of grocers and bakers—we thought -of them only with contempt. Who ever heard of a revolution -made by chandlers? We were noble, and how could we -accept their help? The year of illusion came at length. -That France to which every Polish eye was strained, became -a republic; and then a troop of revellers, strong enough to -whirl through a polka, threw themselves on the Russian guns, -and were instantly sabred and shot down. Ridden over in -the street, I was carried into a house; and, when my wounds -were dressed, was taken to the castle royal, with a hundred -others like myself, to await our trial by commission, and our -sentence of degradation from nobility, exile to Siberia, and -perpetual service in the mines. My friend was with me in -the street, and shared my doom."</p> - -<p>"Had you to go on foot?"</p> - -<p>"Well—no. For Nicolas, though stern in temper, was -not a man to break the law. Himself a prince, he felt a proud -respect for the rights of birth; and as a noble could not be -reduced to march in the gangs like a peddler and a serf, our -papers were made out in such a way that our privileges were -not to end until we reached Tobolsk. There the permanent -commission of Siberia sat; and there each man received his -order for the mines. We rode in a light cart, to which three -strong ponies were tied with ropes; and when the roads were -hard, we made two hundred versts a day. Our feet were -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">{238}</a></span> -chained, so that we could not take off our boots by night or -day; but the people of the steppe over which we tore at our -topmost speed, were good and kind to us, as they are to exiles; -giving us bread, dried fish, and whisky, on the sly. -They knew that we were Poles, and, as a rule, their popes are -only too much inclined to abuse the Poles as enemies of God; -but the Russians, even when they are savages, have a tenderness -of heart. They know the difference between a political -exile and a thief; for the Government stamps the thief and -murderer on the forehead and the two cheeks with a triple -vor; a black and ghastly stamp which neither fire nor acid -will remove; and if they think a Pole very wicked in being -a Catholic they feel for his sufferings as a man. Twice I -tried to escape from the mines; and on both occasions, though -I failed to get away, the kindness of the poor surprised me. -They dared not openly assist my flight, but they were sometimes -blind and deaf; and often, when in hunger and despair -I ventured to crawl near a cabin in the night, I found a ration -of bread and fish, and even a cup of quass, laid ready on the -window-ledge."</p> - -<p>"Who put them there, and why?"</p> - -<p>"Poor peasants, to whom bread and fish are scarce; in order -to relieve the wants of some poor devil like myself."</p> - -<p>"Then you began to like the people?"</p> - -<p>"Like them! To understand them, and to see they were -my brothers; but my heart was hard with them for years. -I was a man of science, as they call it; and I told myself that -in giving food to the hungry they were only obeying the first -rude instincts of a savage horde. At length a poor priest -came in a cart to the mines. Before his coming I had heard -of him—his name—his mission—and his perils; for Father -Paul was a free agent in his travels; having chosen this service -in the desert snows, instead of a stall in some cathedral-town, -from a belief that poor Catholic exiles had a higher -claim on him than sleek and fashionable folk. I knew, from -the report of others, that he made the round of Siberia, sledging -from mine to mine, from mill to mill, in order to keep -alive in these Catholic exiles some remembrance of their early -faith; to say mass, to hear confessions, to marry and baptize, -to sanctify the new-made grave. Yet I hardly gave to him a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">{239}</a></span> -second thought. What could he do for me; a poor priest, -dwelling by choice in a savage waste, with no high sympathies -and no great friends? He was not likely to adore Napoleon, -and he was certain to detest Mazzini's name. How could I -talk with such a man? The night when he arrived was cold, -his sledge was injured, and the wolves had been upon his -track. Some natural pity for his age and danger drew me to -his side in our wooden shed, and after he was thawed into -life, he spoke to us, even before he tasted food, of that love of -God which was his only strength. When he had supped on -our coarse turnip soup and a little black bread, he lay down -on a mattress and fell asleep. For hours that night I sat and -gazed into his face, his white hair falling on his pillow, and his -two arms folded like a cross upon his breast. If ever man -looked like an angel in his sleep it was Father Paul. Of such -men is the Church of Christ.</p> - -<p>"Next day I sought him in his shed, for our inspector turned -this visit into a holiday for his Catholic prisoners; and -there he spoke to me of my country and of my mother, until -my heart was softened, and the tears ran down my face. -Pausing softly in his speech, he bent his eyes upon me, as my -father might have looked, and pressing me tenderly by the -hand, said: 'Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy -laden, and I will give you rest.' 'Blessed are they that -mourn; for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek; -for they shall inherit the earth.' I had read these words a -hundred times, for I was fond of the New Testament as a -book of democratic texts; but I had never felt their force until -they fell from the lips of Father Paul. I saw they were -addressed to me. My mother was about me in the air. I -laid down my philosophy, and felt once more like a little -child."</p> - -<p>His voice is low and mellow, but the tones are firm, and -touch my ear like strings in perfect tune. After a pause, I -asked him how his change of feeling worked in his relations -to the Russians.</p> - -<p>"A Christian," he replies, "is not a slave of the flesh. His -first consideration is for God; his second for the children of -God, not as they chance to dwell on the Vistula, on the Alps, -on the Frozen Sea, but in every land alike. He yields up the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">{240}</a></span> -sword to those who will one day perish by the sword. His -weapon is the spirit, and he hopes to subdue mankind by -love."</p> - -<p>"Then you would yield the sword to any one who is proud -and prompt enough to seize it."</p> - -<p>"No; the sword is God's to give, not mine to yield; and -for His purposes He gives it unto whom He will. It is a -fearful gift, and no man can be happy in whose grasp it lies."</p> - -<p>"Yet many would like to hold it?"</p> - -<p>"That is so. The man who first sees fire will burn himself. -Observe how differently one thinks of war when one -comes to see that men are really the sons of God. All war -means killing some one. Which one? Would you like to -think that in a future world some awful coil of fate should -draw you into slaying an angel?"</p> - -<p>"No; assuredly."</p> - -<p>"Yet men are angels in a lower stage! We see things as -we feel them. Men are blind, until their eyes are opened by -the love of God; and God is nearest to the bruised and broken -heart. Hosts of Siberians have come back to Poland; but -among these exiles there is hardly one who has returned as he -went forth."</p> - -<p>"They are older."</p> - -<p>"They are wiser. Father Paul, and priests like Father -Paul—for he is not alone in his devotion—have not toiled in -vain. Perhaps I should say they have not lived in vain; for -the service which they render to the proud and broken spirit -of the exile, is not the word they utter, but the doctrine they -live. The poets and critics who have passed through fire are -known by their chastened style. They have put away France -and the French. They read more serious books; they speak -in more sober phrase. In every thing except their love of -God and love of country you might think them tame. They -preach but little, and they practise much; above all, they look -to what is high and noble, if remote, and set their faces sternly -against the wanton waste of blood. They know the Russians -better, and they did not need the amnesty, and what has -followed it, in order to feel the brotherhood of all the Slavonic -tribes."</p> - -<p>"You are a Panslavonist?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">{241}</a></span> -"No! We want a wider policy and a nobler word. The -Panslavonic party has built a wall round Kief, and they would -build a wall round Russia. They have a Chinese love of walls. -Just look at Moscow; one wall round the Kremlin, a second -wall round China-town, a third wall round the city proper. -What we need is the old war-cry of St. George—the patron of -our early dukes, our free cities, and our missionary church."</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLV.<br /> - -<span class="small">ST. GEORGE.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">St. George</span> is a patron saint of all the Slavonic nations; -whether Wend or Serb, Russine or Russ, Polack or Czeck; -but he is worshipped with peculiar reverence by the elder -Russ. His days are their chief festivals; the days on which -it is good for them to buy and sell, to pledge and marry, to -hire a house, to lease a field, to start an enterprise. Two days -in the year are dedicated in his name, corresponding in their -idiom and their climate to the first day of spring and the last -day of autumn; days of gladness to all men and women who -live by tending flocks and tilling fields. On the first of these -days the sheds are opened, the cattle go forth to graze, the -shepherd takes up his crook, the dairy-maid polishes her pots -and pans. The second day is a kind of harvest-home, the labor -of the year being over, the harvest garnered, and the flocks -penned up. But George is a city saint as well as a rustic -saint. His image is the cognizance of their free cities, and of -their old republics; and the figure of the knight in conflict with -the dragon has been borne in every period by their dukes, -their grand dukes, and their Tsars. His badge occurs on a -thousand crosses, amulets, and charms; dividing the affections -of a pious and superstitious race with images of the Holy -Trinity and the Mother of God. The knight in conflict with -the dragon was proudly borne on the shield of Moscow hundreds -of years before the Black Eagle was added to the Russian -flag. That eagle was introduced by Ivan the Third; a -prince who began the work (completed by his grandson, Ivan -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">{242}</a></span> -the Fourth) of crushing the great boyars and destroying the -free cities. Ivan copied that emblem from the Byzantine -flag; a symbol of his autocratic power, which many of his -people read as a sign that devil-worship was the new religion -of his army and his court. They saw in this black and ravening -bird the Evil Spirit, just as they saw in the white and innocent -dove the Holy Ghost. To soothe their fears, St. George -was quartered on the Black Eagle; not in his talons, but on -his breast; and in this form the Christian warrior figures on -every Russian flag and Russian coin.</p> - -<p>St. George was the patron of an agricultural and pacific race; -a country that was pious, rich, and free; and what he was in -ancient times he still remains in the national heart. As the -patron of soldiers he is hardly less popular with princes than -peasants. Peter the Great engraved the figure of St. George -on his sword; the Empress Catharine founded an order in -his name; and Nicolas built in his honor a magnificent marble -hall. Yet the high place and typical shrine of St. George -is Novgorod the Great.</p> - -<p>For miles above and miles below the red kremlin walls at -Novgorod, the Volkhof banks are beautiful with gardens, -country houses, and monastic piles. These swards are bright -with grass and dark with firs; the houses are of Swiss-like -pattern; and the convents are a wonder of the land. St. -Cyril and St. Anton lend their names to masses of picturesque -building; but the glory of this river-side scenery is the splendid -monastery of St. George.</p> - -<p>Built by Jaroslav, a son of St. Vladimir, on a ridge of high -ground, near the point where Lake Ilmen flows into the river -Volkhof, the Convent of St. George stood close to an ancient -town called Gorod Itski—City of Strength—literally, Fenced -Town. Of this fenced town, a church, with frescoes older -than those of Giotto, still remains; a church on a bluff, with a -quaint old name of Spas Nereditsa: literally, Our Saviour Beyond -Bounds. In these old names old tales lie half-entombed. -From this fenced town, the burghers, troubled by a fierce democracy, -appear to have crossed the river and built for themselves -a kremlin (that is to say, a stone inclosure) two miles -lower down the stream, on a second ridge of ground, separated -from the first by an impassable swamp. This new city, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">{243}</a></span> -called Novgorod (New Town), was to become a wonder of -the earth; a trading republic, a rival of Florence and Augsburg, -a mother of colonies, a station of the Hanseatic League.</p> - -<p>The old Church of our Saviour Beyond Bounds, and the -still older Convent of St. George on the opposite bank, were -left in the open country; left to the neglects of time and to -the ravages of those Tartar begs who swept these plains from -Moscow to the gates of Pskof.</p> - -<p>Neglect, if slow, was steady in her task of ruining that ancient -church, now become a landmark only; but a landmark -equally useful to the critic of church history, and to the raftsman -guiding his float across the lake. As we leave the porch, -an old man, standing uncovered near the door, calls out, "You -come to see the church—the poor old church—but no one -gives a ruble to repair the poor old church! It is St. George's -Day; yet no one here remembers the dear old church! Look -up at the Mother of God; see how she is tumbling down; yet -no man comes to save her! Give some rubles, Gospodin, to -our Blessed Lady, Mother of God!" The old man sighs and -sobs these words in a voice that seems to come from a breaking -heart.</p> - -<p>St. George was able to defend his cells and shrines; and in -all the ravages committed by Tartar hordes, the rich convent -near Lake Ilmen was never profaned by Moslem hoof. Cold -critics assume that the belt of peat and bog lying south of -Novgorod for a hundred miles was the true defense; but the -poets of Novgorod assert, in many a song and tale, that they -owed their safety from the infidel spoilers to no freak of nature -and no arm of flesh. St. George defended his convent -and his city by a standing miracle; and, in return for his protecting -grace, the people of this province came to kneel and -pray, as their fathers for a thousand years have knelt and -prayed, before his holy shrine.</p> - -<p>My visit to the Convent of St. George is paid (in company -with Father Bogoslovski, Russian pope, and Mr. Michell, English -diplomat) on the autumnal festival of the saint. Three or -four thousand pilgrims, chiefly from the town and province of -Novgorod, camp in a green meadow; their carts unyoked; -their horses tethered to the ground; their camp-fires lighted -here and there. Each pilgrim brings a present to St. George; -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">{244}</a></span> -a load of hay, a sack of flour, a pot of wax, a roll of linen, an -embroidered flag. That poor old creature, who can hardly -walk, has brought him a ball of thread; a widow's mite, as -welcome as an offering in gold and silver. Booths are built -for the sale of bread and fruit; tea is fizzing on fifty stalls; -grapes, nuts, and apples are sold on every side. The peasants -are warmly and brightly clad: the men in sheep-skin vests, fur -caps, and boots; the women in damask gowns and jackets, quilted -and puckered, the edges fringed with silver lace. A fine -day tempts the women and children to throw themselves on -the green in groups. Monks move among the crowd; country -folk stare at the finery; hawkers chaffer with the girls; and -more than one transparent humbug makes a market of relics -and pious ware. Every one is in holiday humor; and the -general aspect of the field in front of the convent gates is that -of a village fair, with just a dash of the revival camp.</p> - -<p>The worshippers are a placid, kindly, and (for the moment) -a sober folk, with quaint expressions and old-world manners. -On the boat we hear a rustic say to his neighbor, "If you are -not a noble, take your bundle off that bench and let me sit -down; if you are a noble, go into the best cabin, your proper -place." The neighbor sets his bundle down, and the newcomer -drops into his seat, saying, "See, there is room for all -Christians; we are equal here, being all baptized." An English -churl might have said he had "paid his fare." On board -the same boat a man replies to the steward, who wishes to -turn him out of the dining-room, "Am I not a Christian, and -why should I go out?" On hiring a boat to cross the river, -Father Bogoslovski says to the oarsman, "Take your sheep-skin; -you will get a cold." "No; thank you," answers the -waterman, "we never take cold if God is with us." Another -boatman tells us we are doing a "good work" in visiting the -shrines. "Once," he says, "I was sick, and died; but I prayed -to my angel Lazarus to let me live again. He listened to -my prayers, not for my own sake, but for that of my brother, -who had just come back from Solovetsk. My soul came back, -and we were very glad. Your angel can always fetch back -your soul, unless it has gone too far." Here stands a group -of men; a young fellow with a basket of red apples, two or -three lads, and an old peasant, evidently a stranger to these -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">{245}</a></span> -parts. "Eat an apple with me, uncle," says the young fellow -to his elder; for a rustic, who addresses a stranger of his own -age as "brother," always speaks to elderly ones as "uncle." -"Very nice apples," says the stranger, "where were they -blessed?" "In St. Sophia's, yonder; try them." Apples are -blessed in church on August 6th, the feast of the transfiguration; -the earliest day on which such garden fruit is certain -to be ripe. It is an old popular custom, maintained by the -Church, in the simple interest of the public health.</p> - -<p>The scene is lovely. From the belfry of St. George—a -shaft to compare with the Porcelain Tower—you command a -world of encircling pines, through which flow, past your feet, -the broad and idle waters of the Volkhof; draining the ample -lake, here shining on your right. Below you spreads the -deep and difficult marsh; and on the crests of a second ridge -of land springs up a forest of spires and battlements, rich in -all radiant hues; red walls, white towers, green domes, and -golden pinnacles; here the kremlin and cathedral, there the -city gate and bridge; and yonder, across the stream, the -trading town, the bazar, and Yaroslav's Tower; the long and -picturesque line of Novgorod the Great.</p> - -<p>A bell of singular sweetness soothes the senses like a spell. -At one stall you drink tea; no stronger liquor being sold at -the convent gate. At a second stall you buy candles; to be -lighted and left on the shrines within. At a third you get -consecrated bread; a present for your friends and domestics -far away. This fine white bread, being stamped with the -cross and blessed, is not to be bought with money; for how -could the flesh of our Lord be sold for coin? It is exchanged. -You give a man twenty kopecks; he gives you a -loaf of bread. Gift for gift is not barter—you are told—but -brotherly love. On trying the same thing at an apple-stall, -the result appears to you much the same. You pay down so -many kopecks; you take up so much fruit; the quantity -strictly measured by the amount of coin laid down. You see -no difference between the two? Then you are not an Oriental, -not a pilgrim of St. George.</p> - -<p>Some twelve or fifteen thousand men and women bring -their offerings, in kind and money, every spring and autumn, -to the shrine of this famous saint.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">{246}</a></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLVI.<br /> - -<span class="small">NOVGOROD THE GREAT.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Sitting</span> at my window, gazing into space—in front of me -that famous tower of Yaroslav, from which once pealed the -Vechie bell; and, lying beyond this tower, the public square, -the bridge, the Kremlin walls, Sophia's golden domes, and -that proud pedestal of the present reign, which tells of a -Russia counting already her thousand years of political life—I -fall a dreaming of the past, until the sceneries and the people -come and go in a procession; not of dead things, but of -quick and passionate men, alive with the energies of past and -coming times.</p> - -<p>What were the shapes and meanings of that dream? A -wide expanse of wood and waste; forests of fir and silver-birch; -with tarns and lakes on which the wild fowl of the -country feed their young; and by the shores of which the -shepherds and herdsmen watch their scanty flocks. In the -midst of this wood and water stands a low red wall of stone, -engirding a mass of cabins, with here and there a bigger cabin, -from the peak of which springs a cross. A river rolls beneath -the wall, the waters of which come from a dark and -sombre lake. The space within the wall is a kremlin, an inclosure, -and in this kremlin dwell a band of traders and -craftsmen; holding their own, with watchful eye and ready -hand, like the lodgers in a Syrian khan, against wild and predatory -tribes. The life of these men is hard and mean; the -air is bleak, the soil unfruitful; and the marauders prowl forever -at their gates.</p> - -<p>A mist of time rolls up and hides the red stone wall and -shingles from my sight, and, when it clears away, a vast and -shining city stands exposed to view, with miles of street and -garden, and an outer wall, of sweep so vast that the eye can -hardly take it in, with massive gates and towers to defend these -gates, of enormous strength. The river is now alive with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">{247}</a></span> -boats and rafts; the streets are thronged with people, and a -hundred domes and steeples glitter in the sun. The red -kremlin, not now used as a castle of defense, is covered with -public buildings; one a cathedral of gigantic size and surpassing -beauty; another, a palace with a garden, belted by a -moat; the citadel in which the traders nestled together for -their common safety having now become the seat of temporal -and spiritual power. Long trains of horses file through the -city gates, bringing in the produce of a thousand hamlets, -which the merchants store in their magazines for export and -expose in their bazars for sale. These merchants bring their -wares from East and West, and send them in exchange to -the farthest ports and cities of the earth. Their town is a -free town, to which men from all nations come and go; a republic -in the wilderness; a station of the Hanseatic league, -devoting itself to freedom, commerce, and the liberal arts. -The life of a great country flows into their streets and -squares; from which run out again the prosperous purple -tides into the unknown regions of ice and storm. Forth from -her gates march out the colonists of the North; the men of -Kem and Holmogory; men who are going forth to plant on -the shores of the Arctic Sea the free institutions under which -they live at home. A prince, elected by the people, serving -while they list, sits in the chair of state, like a Podesta in -Italian towns; but the actual power is in the hands of the -Vetchie: a popular council, summoned by the ringing of a -bell—the great city bell—which swings in Yaroslav's Tower.</p> - -<p>Now comes a change, which seems to be less a change in -the outward show than in the inner spirit of the place. The -merchant has become a boyar, the nobleman a prince. Pride -of the eye, and lust of the heart, are stamped upon every face. -The rich are very rich; the poor are very poor; and men in -cloth of gold affront and trample on men in rags. The -streets—so spacious and so busy!—are disturbed by faction -fights; and the Vetchie bell is swinging day and night, as -though some Tartar horde were at the gates. The boyars -have grown too rich for freedom, and the ancients of the city -sell their consciences for gold and state. Deeming themselves -the equals of kings, they give their city not only the -name of Great, but the name of Lord. On public documents -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">{248}</a></span> -they ask—as if in mockery—Who can stand against God, and -Novgorod the Great?</p> - -<p>Again falls the mist of time; and as it rolls away, the city, -still as vast, though not so busy as of yore, seems troubled in -her splendor by a sudden fear. The bell which tolls her citizens -to council, seems wild with pain, and men are hurrying -to and fro along her streets; none daring, as in olden days, to -snatch down lance and sword, and counsel his fellows to go -forth and fight. For an enemy is nigh their gates, whom they -have much offended, without having virtue enough to resist -his arms. Ivan the Fourth, returning from a disastrous raid -on the Baltic seaboard, hears that in his absence from Moscow, -the citizens of Novgorod, hating his rule, have sent an embassy -to the Prince of Sweden, praying him to take them under -his protection; and in his fury the tyrant swears to destroy -that city, and to sow the site with salt. An army of Tartars -and Kozaks is at the gates; an army sullen from defeat and -loss, and only to be rallied by an orgy of drink and blood. -Pale with terror, the citizens run to and fro; the women -shriek and swoon; and help for them is none, until Father -Nicolas, an ancient man, with flowing beard and saintly face, -stands forward in their midst. A wild creature; an Elisha -the prophet, a John the Baptist; he stands up in their meeting, -naked from head to feet. Such a man suits the times; -and as he offers to go forth and save the city from ruin, they -gladly let him try. Nicolas marches forth, in his nakedness, -to denounce his prince in the midst of his ravenous hordes; -and when he comes into the camp, he walks up boldly to the -Tsar. Ivan, himself a fanatic, listens to this naked man with -a patience which his guards and ministers observe with wonder. -"Bloodsucker and unbeliever!" cries the hermit, "thou -who art a devourer of Christian flesh—listen to my words. -If thou, or any of these thy servants, touch a hair of a child's -head in yon city—which God preserves for a great purpose—then, -I swear by the angel whom God has given unto me to -serve me, thou shalt surely die; die on the instant, by a flash -from heaven!" As he speaks, the sky grows dark, a storm -springs up, and rages through the tents. A pall comes down, -and covers the earth. "Spare me, fearful saint," shrieks the -Tsar, "the city is forgiven; and let me, in remembrance of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">{249}</a></span> -this day, have thy constant prayers." On these conditions -Nicolas withdraws his curse; and Ivan, marching into the -city with his captives and his treasures, lodges in the Kremlin -and the palace, and kneeling before the shrine of St. Sophia, -makes himself gracious to the people for the hermit's sake.</p> - -<p>Once more a mist comes down—a thin white veil, which -passes like a pout from an infant's face. The city is the -same in size, in splendor, in the fullness of her fearful life. -The Tsar, who went away from her gates low and humble, -has come back, like a wild beast thirsting for blood and prey. -His army camps beyond the walls, and a whisper passes -through the city that the place is to be razed, the women given -up to the Tartars, while the men and boys are to be put -without mercy to the sword. The city razed! No fancy -can take in the fact; for Novgorod is one of the largest cities -in Europe, a republic older than Florence, a capital larger -than London, a shrine more sacred than Kief. Her walls -measure fifty miles, her houses contain eight hundred thousand -souls. Yet Ivan has doomed her to the dust. Telling -off ten thousand gunners of his guard, and thirty thousand -Tartars from the steppe, he gives up the republic to their lust, -bidding them sack and burn, and spare neither man nor maid. -They rush upon the gates; they scale the wall; they seize the -bridge, the Kremlin, the cathedral; and they make themselves -masters of the city, quarter by quarter and street by street. -No pen will paint the horrors of that sack. The wines are -drunk, the people butchered, the houses fired. Day by day, -and week after week, the club, the musket, and the torch are -in constant use. The streets run blood, the river is choked -with bodies of the slain. When the work of slaughter stops, -and the Tartars are recalled into their camp, the tale of murdered -men, women, and children is found to be greater than -the population of Petersburg in the present day. The desolation -is Oriental and complete.</p> - -<p>The city bell—the bell of council and of prayer—is taken -down from Yaroslav's Tower and sent to Moscow, where it -hangs beside the Holy Gate—an exile from the city it roused -to arms, and haply speaking to some burgher's ear and student's -heart of a time when Russian cities were equal to -those of Italy and England, and her people were as free as -those of Germany and France!</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">{250}</a></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLVII.<br /> - -<span class="small">SERFAGE.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Serfage</span> has but a vague resemblance to the system of -villeinage once so common in the West; and serfage was not -villeinage under another name. Villeinage was Occidental, -serfage Oriental.</p> - -<p>Villein, aldion, colonus, fiscal, homme de pooste, are words -which, in various tongues of Western Europe, mark the man -who belonged to a master, and was bound by law to serve -him. Whether he lived in England, Italy, or France, the -man was stamped with the same character, and laden with -the same obligation. He was a hedger and ditcher—churl, -clod, lout, and boor—heavy as the earth he tilled, and swinish -as the herds he fed. He could not leave his lord; he could -not quit his homestead and his field. In turn, his master -could not drive him from the soil, though he might beat him, -force him to work, throw him into prison, and sell his services -when he sold the land. But here the likeness of serf to -either villein, aldion, colonus, fiscal, or homme de pooste ends -sharply. No one thought the villein was an actual owner of -the soil he tilled, and in no country was the emancipation of -his class accompanied by a cession of the land.</p> - -<p>Serfage sprang from a different root, and in a different -time. The great settlement, which is the glory of Alexander's -reign, can only be understood by reference to the causes from -which serfage sprang.</p> - -<p>Some of the facts which prove this difference between -Western villeinage and Eastern serfage lie beyond dispute. -Villeinage was introduced by foreign princes, serfage by native -tsars. Villeinage followed a disastrous war; serfage -followed liberation from a foreign yoke. Villeinage came -with the dark ages and passed away with them. Serfage -came with the spreading light, with the rising of independence, -with the sentiment of national life. Villeinage was forgotten -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">{251}</a></span> -by the Rhine, the Severn, and the Seine, before serfage -was established on the Moskva and the Don.</p> - -<p>In short, serfage is a historical phase.</p> - -<p>In one of the book-rooms of the Academy of Sciences, in -Vassile Ostrof, St. Petersburg, you turn over the leaves of an -early copy—said to be the first—of "Nestor's Chronicle," in -which are many fine drawings of scenes and figures, helping -you to understand the text. This copy is known as the -Radzivil codex. Nestor wrote his book in Kief, a hundred -years before that city was sacked by Batu Khan; and the -pictures in the Radzivil codex give you the early Russian in -his dress, his garb, and his ways of life. Was he in that -early time an Asiatic, dressed in a sheep-skin robe and a -sheep-skin cap? In no degree. The Russian boyar dressed -like a German knight; the Russian mujik dressed like an -English churl.</p> - -<p>In Nestor's time the Russians were a free people, ruled in -one place by elective chiefs, in another place by family chiefs. -They were a trading and pacific race; in the western countries -settled in towns; in the eastern countries living in tents -and huts. Novgorod, Pskof, and Illynof were free cities, -ruled by elected magistrates, on the pattern of Florence and -Pisa, Hamburg and Lubeck. In those days there was neither -serf nor need of serf. But this old Russia fell under the -Mongol yoke. Broken in the great battle on the Kalka, the -country writhed in febrile agony for a hundred and eighty -years; during which time her fields were scorched, her cities -sacked, her peasants driven from their homes into the forest -and the steppe. She had not yet raised her head from this -blow, when Timur Beg swept over her prostrate form; an -Asiatic of higher reach and nobler type than Batu Khan; a -scholar, an artist, a statesman; though he was still an Asiatic -in faith and spirit. Timur brought with him into Russia -the code of Mecca, the art of Samarcand, the song of Ispahan. -His begs were dashing, his mirzas polished. In the khanates -which he left behind him on the Volga and in the Crimea, -there was a courtesy, a beauty, and a splendor, not to be -found in the native duchies of Nijni, Moscow, Riazan, and -Tver. The native dukes and boyars of these provinces held -from the Crim Tartar, known to our poets as the Great -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">{252}</a></span> -Cham. They swore allegiance to him; they paid him annual -tribute; they flattered him by adopting his clothes and arms. -The humblest vassals of this Great Cham were the Moscovite -dukes, who called themselves his slaves, and were his slaves. -Standing before him in the streets, they held his reins, and -fed his horses out of their Tartar caps. They copied his -fashions and assumed his names. Their armies, raised by his -consent, were dressed and mounted in the Tartar style. They -fought for him against their country, crushing those free republics -in the north which his cavalry could not reach.</p> - -<p>This fawning of dukes and boyars on the Great Cham -brought no good to the rustic; who might see his patch of -rye trodden down, his homestead fired, and his village cross -profaned by gangs of marauding horse. Even when a Tartar -khan set up his flag on some river bank, as at Kazan, in some -mountain gorge, as at Bakchi Serai, he was still a nomad and -a rider, with his natural seat in the saddle and his natural -home in the tent. A little provocation stirred his blood, and -when his feet were in the stirrups, it was not easy for shepherds -and villagers to turn his lance. A cloud of fire went -with him; a trail of smoke and embers lay behind him. No -man could be sure of reaping what he sowed; for an angry -word, an insolent gesture of his duke, might bring that fiery -whirlwind of the Tartar horse upon his crops. What could -he do, except run away? When year by year this ruin fell -upon him, he left his cabin and his field; working a little -here, and begging a little there; but never striking root into -the soil. Now he was a pilgrim, then a shepherd, oftener -still a tramp. To pass more easily to and fro, he donned -the Tartar dress; a sheep-skin robe and cap; the robe caught -in at the waist by a belt, and made to turn, so that the wool -could be worn outwardly by day and inwardly by night. In -self-defense he picked up Tartar words, and passed, where he -could pass, for one of the conquering race.</p> - -<p>Why should he plough his land for other men to spoil? -While he was watching his corn grow ripe, the khan of Crim -Tartary, stung by some insult from the duke, might spur out -rapidly from his luxurious camp at Bakchi Serai, and, sweeping -through the plains from Perekop to Moscow, waste his -fields with fire.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">{253}</a></span> -Like causes produce like effects. Nomadic lords produce -nomadic slaves. The Russian peasant became a vagabond, -just as the Syrian fellah becomes a vagabond, when from -year to year his crops have been plundered by the Bedouin -tribes.</p> - -<p>When Ivan the Fourth, having learned from the Tartar -Begs how to rule and fight, broke up the khanates of Kazan -and Astrakhan, and ventured to defy the lord of Bakchi -Serai, he found himself an independent prince at the head of -a country, rich in soil, in capital, and in labor, but with fields -deserted, villages destroyed, populations scattered, and public -roads unsafe. The land was not unpeopled; but the peasants -had lost their sense of home, and the mujiks wandered from -town to town. Labor was dear in one place, worthless in another. -Half the land, even in the richer provinces, lay waste; -and every year some district was scourged by famine, and by -the epidemics which follow in the wake of famine. How -were the peasants to be "fixed" upon the land?</p> - -<p>For seventy years this question troubled the court in the -Kremlin, even more than that court was troubled by Church -controversy, Tartar raid, and family strife; although within -this period of seventy years St. Philip was murdered, the -Great Cham burnt a portion of Moscow, Dimitri the legitimate -heir was killed, and Boris Godounof usurped the throne. -Ivan the Fourth tried hard to induce his people to return -upon their lands; by giving up many of the crown estates; -by building villages at his own expense; by coaxing, thrashing, -forcing his people into order. Even if this reformer -never used the term serf (krepostnoi, a man "fixed" or "fastened,)" -he is not the less—for good and ill—the author of -that Russian serfage which is passing away before our eyes.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">{254}</a></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLVIII.<br /> - -<span class="small">A TARTAR COURT.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> that gorgeous chamber of the Kremlin known as the -treasury of Moscow, stands an armed and mounted figure, -richly dight, and called a boyar of the times of Ivan the -Fourth. Arms, dress, accoutrements, are those of a mirza, a -Tartar noble; and an inscription on the drawn Damascus -blade informs the pious Russian that there is but One God, -and that Mohammed is the prophet of God! Yet the figure -is really that of a boyar of the times of Ivan the Fourth.</p> - -<p>No prince in the line of Russian rulers is so great a puzzle -as this Ivan the Fourth. In spite of his many atrocious -deeds, he is still regarded by many of his critics as an able -reformer and a patriotic prince. Much, indeed, must be said -in his favor by all fair writers. To him the Moscovites owe -their deliverance from the Tartar yoke. For them he conquered -the kingdom of Kazan, the empire of Siberia, the -khanate of Astrakhan. On all their frontiers he subdued the -crescent to the cross. With Swedes and Poles he waged an -equal, sometimes a glorious war. He opened his country to -foreign trade; he built ports on the Baltic, on the Caspian, -on the Frozen Seas. The glories of his reign were of many -kinds. He brought printers from the Rhine, and published -the Acts of the Apostles in his native tongue. He sent to -Frankfort for skillful physicians, to London for artificers in -wood and brass. Collecting shipwrights at his river-town -of Vologda, he caused them to build for him a fleet of rafts -and boats, on which he could descend with his treasures to -the sea. He called a parliament of his estates to consult on -the public weal. He reduced the unwritten laws of his -country to a code. He put down mendicancy in his empire; -laid his reforming hand on the clergy; and published a uniform -confession of faith.</p> - -<p>Ivan was a savage; though he was a popular savage. Terrible -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">{255}</a></span> -he was; but terrible to the rich and great. In fact, he -was a reforming Tartar khan. If he taxed the merchants, he -built hamlets for peasants at his private cost. If he crushed -the free cities, he settled thousands of poor on the public -lands. If he destroyed the princes and boyars as a ruling -caste, he put into their places the official <i>chins</i>. If he ruled -by the club, he also tried to rule by the printing-press. If -he sacked Novgorod and Pskoff, he built a vast number of -churches, villages, and shrines. A builder by policy, as well -as by nature, he found an empire of logs, which he hoped to -bequeath to his son as an empire of stone. Forty stone -churches, sixty stone monasteries, owe their foundation to -his care. He raised the quaint edifice of St. Vassili, near the -Kremlin wall, which he called after his father's patron saint. -He is said to have built a hundred and fifty castles, and more -than three hundred communes.</p> - -<p>Wishing to settle and civilize his people, the reformer -sought his models in those Tartar provinces which he had -recently subdued. Kazan and Bakchi Serai were nobler -cities than Vladimir and Moscow; while the poorest mirza -of the Great Cham's court was far more splendid in arms -and dress than any boyar in Ivan's court.</p> - -<p>Ivan began to tartarize his kingdom by dividing it into two -parts—personal and provincial; the first of which he ruled in -person; the second by deputies wielding the power of Tartar -begs. He raised a regular army—then the only one in Europe—which -he armed and mounted in the Tartar style. He -raised a body-guard to whom he gave the Tartar tafia; a cap -that no Christian in his duchy was allowed to wear. Like -the Great Cham, he set apart rooms in his palace for a -harem; shut up his wives and daughters from the public -eye; and changed the new fashion of excluding women from -his court into a binding rule. His dukes and boyars followed -him, until every house had a harem, and the seclusion of females -was as strict in Moscow as in Bokhara and Bagdad.</p> - -<p>These customs kept their ground until the times of Peter -the Great. The land was governed by provincial begs, called -boyars and voyevods; the army was drilled and dressed like -Turkish troops; and the women were kept in harems like the -Sultan's odalisques. Breaking through the customs introduced -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">{256}</a></span> -by Ivan, Peter opened the imperial harem; showed -his wife in public; and invited ladies to appear at court. -Yet something of this Turkish fashion may still be traced in -Russian family life, especially in the country towns. As -every great house had its harem—a woman's quarter, into -which no stranger was allowed to set his foot—so every great -family had a separate cemetery for the female sex. A few -of these old cemeteries still remain as convents; for example, -the Novo-Devictchie, Maidens' Convent, in the suburbs of -Moscow; and the Convent of the Ascension, in the Kremlin, -near the Holy Gate; the burial-place of all the Tsarinas, from -the time of Ivan the Terrible down to that of Peter the Great.</p> - -<p>By subtle tricks and surprises, Ivan set his dukes and boyars -quarrelling with each other, and when they were hot with -speech he would get them to accuse each other, and so despoil -them both. In time he procured the surrender to him of -nearly all their historical rights and titles; when, like a sultan, -he forced them to receive his gifts and graces, under their -hands, <i>as slaves</i>. He introduced the Oriental practice of -sending men, under forms of honor, into distant parts; inventing -the political Siberia. His dukes were reduced in -power, his boyars plundered of their wealth. The princes -were too numerous to be touched, for in Ivan's time every -third man in Moscow was a prince; and an English trader -used to hire such a man to groom his horse or clean his boots. -Not many of the ancient dukes survived this reign; but the -Narichkins, the Dolgoroukis, the Golitsin, and four or five -others, escaped; and these historical families look with patronizing -airs on the imperial race. The Narichkins have -married with Romanofs. One of this house was offered the -title of imperial highness, and declined it, saying proudly to -his sovereign, "No, sir, I am Narichkin." In the same -spirit, Peter Dolgorouki, when he heard that the Emperor -had taken away his title of prince, wrote to his majesty, -"How can <i>you</i> pretend to degrade <i>me</i>? Can you rob me of -my ancestors, who were grand dukes in Russia when yours -were not yet counts of Holstein Gottorp?"</p> - -<p>Moscow was governed like a Tartar camp. Ivan's bodyguards -(opritchniki), roved about the streets in their Tartar -caps, abusing the people of every grade, boyar and burgher, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">{257}</a></span> -mujik and peasant, as though they had been men of a different -race and faith; robbing houses, carrying off women, murdering -men; so that a stranger who met a company of these -fellows in the Chinese town or under the Kremlin wall, imagined -that the city had been given up to the soldiery for -spoil.</p> - -<p>This effort to settle the country on Tartar principles turned -the Church against the Tsar, and led to the retirement of -Athanasius, the dismissal of German, and the murder of -Philip. St. Philip was the martyr of Russia—slain for defending -his country and his Church against this tartarizing -Tsar.</p> - -<p>Walk into the great Cathedral of the Ascension any hour -of the day in any season of the year, and—on the right wing -of the altar—you will find a crowd of men and women prostrate -before one silver shrine. It is the tomb of St. Philip, -martyr and saint. Every one comes to him, every one kisses -his temples and his feet. The murder of this saint is one of -those national offenses which a thousand years of penitence -will not cleanse away. The penitent prays in his name; fasts -in his name; burns candles in his name; and groans in spirit -before the tomb, as though he were seeking forgiveness for -some personal crime.</p> - -<p>The tale of Philip's conflict with Ivan—a conflict of the -Christian Church against the Tartar court—may be briefly -told.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER XLIX.<br /> - -<span class="small">ST. PHILIP.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Early</span> in the reign of Ivan the Fourth (1539), a pilgrim, -poor in garb and purse, but of handsome presence, landed -from a boat at the Convent of Solovetsk. He came to pray; -but after resting in the island for a little while, he took the -vows and became a monk. Under the name of Philip, he -lived for nine or ten years in his lowly cell. The monks, his -brethren, saw there was some mystery in his life; his taste, -his learning, and his manner, all announcing him as one of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">{258}</a></span> -those men who belong to the higher ranks. But the lowly -brother held his peace. Nine years after his arrival, the prior -of his convent died, and he was called by common assent to -the vacant chair.</p> - -<p>There was, in truth, a mystery in this monk. Among the -proudest people in Moscow lived, in those days, the family of -Kolicheff; to whom a son, Fedor, was born; the heir to a -vast estate no less than to a glorious name. A pious mother -taught the child to be good, according to her lights; to read -about saints, to say long prayers, to listen for church-bells, -and run with ardor to the sacrifice of mass. But being of -noble birth, and having to serve his prince, Fedor was -trained to ride and fence, to hunt and shoot, as well as to -manage his father's forests, fisheries, and farms. At twenty-six -he was introduced to Ivan, then a child of four; and as -the young prince took a fancy for him, he was much at court, -admired by all women, envied by many men. It seemed as -though Fedor Kolicheff had only to stay at court in order to -become a minister of state. But his heart was never in the -life he led; the Kremlin was a nest of intrigue; the country -round the city was troubled by a thousand crimes. Distressed -by what he saw going on, the favorite pined for a religious -life; and quitting the world in silence, giving up all he possessed, -he wandered from Moscow in a pilgrim's garb. -Trudging on foot, a staff in his hand, a wallet by his side, he -found his way through the trackless forests of the north; -now stopping in a peasant's hut, where he toiled on the land -for his daily food; now dropping down the Dvina on a raft, -and tugging for his passage at the oars. Crossing over to -the convent, he became a monk, a priest, a prior, without betraying -the secret of his noble birth and his place at court.</p> - -<p>On coming into power, he set his heart on bringing back -the convent to her ancient life. He wore the frock of Zosima, -and set up an image over Savatie's tomb. Taking these -worthies as his guides, he introduced the rule of assiduous -work; invented forms of labor; making wax and salt; improving -the fisheries and farms; building stone chapels; and -teaching some of the fathers how to write and paint. Much -of what is best in the convent, in the way of chapel, shrine, -and picture, dates from his reign as prior. But Philip was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">{259}</a></span> -called from his cell in the Frozen Sea to occupy a loftier and -more perilous throne.</p> - -<p>Ivan, liking the old friend of his youth, consulted him on -state affairs, and called him to the Kremlin to give advice. -On these occasions, Philip was startled at the change in Ivan; -who, from being a paladin of the cross, had settled down in -his middle age into a mixture of the gloomy monk and the -savage khan. The change came on him with the death of -his wife and the conquest of Kazan; after which events in his -life he married two women, dressed himself in Tartar clothes, -and adopted Asiatic ways. Like a chief of the Golden horde, -he went about the streets of Moscow, ordering this man to be -beaten, that man to be killed. The square in front of the -Holy Gate was red with blood; and every house in the city -was filled with sighs and groans.</p> - -<p>Driving from their altars two aged prelates who rebuked -his crimes, Ivan (in 1566) selected the Prior of Solovetsk as a -man who would shed a light on his reign without disturbing -him by personal reproof. Philip tried to escape this perilous -post, but the Tsar insisted on his obedience; and with heavy -heart he sailed from his asylum in the islands, conscious of -going to meet his martyr's crown.</p> - -<p>Ivan had judged the monk in haste. Philip was no courtier; -not a man to say smooth things to princes; for under -his monk's attire he carried a heart to feel, an eye to see, and -a tongue to speak. In passing from Solovetsk to Moscow, -he passed through Novgorod—a city disliked by Ivan on account -of her wealth, her freedom, and her laws; when a crowd -of burghers poured from the gates, fell on their knees before -him, and implored him, as a pastor of the poor, to plead their -cause before the Tsar, then threatening to ravage their district -and destroy their town. On reaching Moscow, he spoke -to Ivan as to a son; beseeching him to dismiss his guards, to -put off his strange habits, to live a holy life, and to rule his -people in the spirit of their ancient dukes.</p> - -<p>Ivan waxed red and wroth; he wanted a priest to bless, and -not to curse. The tyrant grew more violent in his moods; -but the new Metropolite held out in patient and unyielding -meekness for the ancient ways. Once, when Philip was performing -mass, the Tsar and his guards, attired in their Tartar -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">{260}</a></span> -dress, came into his church, and took up their ranks, while -Ivan himself strode up to the royal gates. As Philip went on -with his service, taking no notice of the prince, a boyar cried, -"It is the Tsar!" "I do not recognize the Tsar," said Philip, -"in such a dress." The Tartar cap, the Tartar whip, were -seen in every public place. The Tartar guards were masters -of the city, and the streets were everywhere filled with the tumult -of their evil deeds. They felt no reverence for holy -things, and hurt the popular mind by treating the sacred images -with disdain. In a procession, the Metropolite noticed one -of these courtiers insolently wearing his Tartar cap. "Who -is that man," asked Philip of the Tsar, "that he should profane -with his Tartar costume this holy day?" Doffing his -cap, the courtier denied that he was covered, and even charged -the Metropolite with saying what was false. As every man -in trouble went to his Metropolite for counsel, the boyars accused -him of inciting the people against their prince. When -Ivan married his fourth wife, a thing unlawful and unclean, -the Metropolite refused to admit the marriage, and bade the -Tsar absent himself from mass. Rushing from his palace into -the Cathedral of the Annunciation, Ivan took his seat and -scowled. Instead of pausing to bless him, Philip went on -with the service, until one of the favorites strode up to the altar, -looked him boldly in the face, and said, in a saucy voice, -"The Tsar demands thy blessing, priest!" Paying no heed -to the courtier, Philip turned round to Ivan on his throne. -"Pious Tsar!" he sighed; "why art thou here? In this -place we offer a bloodless sacrifice to God." Ivan threatened -him, by gesture and by word. "I am a stranger and a pilgrim -on earth," said Philip; "I am ready to suffer for the -truth."</p> - -<p>He was made to suffer much, and soon. Dragged from his -altar, stripped of his robe, arrayed in rags, he was beaten with -brooms, tossed into a sledge, driven through the streets, mocked -and hooted by armed men, and thrown into a dungeon in -one of the obscurest convents of the town. Poor people knelt -as the sledge drove past them, every eye being wet with tears, -and every throat being choked with sobs. Philip blessed them -as he went, saying, "Do not grieve; it is the will of God; pray, -pray!" The more patiently he bore his cross the more these -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">{261}</a></span> -people sobbed and cried. Locked in his jail and laden with -chains, not only round his ankles but round his neck, he was -left for seven days and nights without food and drink, in the -hope that he would die. A courtier who came to see him was -surprised to find him engaged in prayer. His friends and -kinsmen were arrested, judged, and put to death, for no offense -save that of sharing his name and blood. "Sorcerer! dost -thou know this head?" was one laconic message sent to Philip -from the Tsar. "Yea!" murmured the prisoner, sadly; -"it is that of my nephew Ivan." Day and night a crowd of -people gathered round his convent-door, until the Tsar, who -feared a rising in his favor, caused him to be secretly removed -to a stronger prison in the town of Tver.</p> - -<p>One year after this removal of Philip from Moscow (1569), -Ivan, setting out for Novgorod, and calling to mind the speech -once made by Philip in favor of that city, sent a ruffian to kill -him. "Give me thy blessing!" said the murderer, coming -into his cell. "Do thy master's work," replied the holy man; -and the deed was quickly done.</p> - -<p>The martyred saint remained a few years in Tver—whence -he was removed to Solovetsk, an incorruptible frame; and lay -in that isle until 1660, in the reign of Alexie, father of Peter -the Great, in the days of tribulation, when the country was -tried by sickness, famine, and foreign wars, his body was -brought to Moscow, as a solemn and penitential act, by which -the ruler and his people hoped to appease the wrath of heaven. -The Tsar's penitent letter of recall was read aloud before his -tomb in Solovetsk, as though the saint could see and hear. -The body was found entire, as on the day of sepulture—a -sweet smell, as of herbs and flowers, coming out from beneath -the coffin-lid. A grand procession of monks and pilgrims -marched with the saint from Archangel to Moscow, where -Alexie met them in the Kremlin gate, and carried the sacred -dust into the cathedral, where it was laid, in the corner of -glory, in a magnificent silver shrine.</p> - -<p>On the day of his coronation, every Emperor of Russia has -to kneel before his shrine and kiss his feet.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">{262}</a></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER L.<br /> - -<span class="small">SERFS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Boris</span> Godunof, general, kinsman, successor of Ivan the -Fourth, reduced the principle of serfage into legal form -(1601). An able and patriotic man, Godunof, designed to -colonize his bare river-banks and his empty steppe. He -meant no harm to the rustic—on the contrary, he hoped to -do him good; his project of "fixing" the rustic on his land -was treated as a great reform; and after taking counsel with -his boyars, he selected the festival of St. George, the patron -of free cities and of the ancient Russians, for his announcement -that every peasant in the empire should in future till -and own forever the lands which he then tilled and held.</p> - -<p>Down to that time, the theory of land was that of an Asiatic -horde. From the Gulf of Venice to the Bay of Bengal -the tenure of land might vary with race and clime; yet in -every country where the Tartars reigned, the original property -in the soil was everywhere said to be lodged in sultan, -shah, mogul, and khan. The Russians, having lost the usage -of their better time, transferred the rights which they acquired -from Tartar begs and khans to their victorious -prince.</p> - -<p>This prince divided the soil according to his will; in one -place founding villages for peasants, in a second place settling -lands on a deserving voyaved, in a third place buying off an -enemy with gifts of forests, fisheries, and lands; exactly in -the fashion of Batu Khan and Timur Beg. This system of -giving away crown lands was carried so far that when Godunof -came to the throne (in 1598), he found his duchies -and khanates consisting of a great many estates without laborers, -and a great many laborers without estates. The peasants -were roving hordes; and Godunof meant to fix these -restless classes, by assigning to every family a personal and -hereditary interest in the soil. The evil to be cured was an -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">{263}</a></span> -Oriental evil; and he sought to cure it in the Oriental way. -The khans had done the same; and Godunof only extended -and defined their method, so as to bring a larger area of -country under spade and plough.</p> - -<p>There is reason to believe that this festival of St. George -(in 1601) was hailed by peasant and boyar as a glorious day; -that the decree which established serfage in Russia was accepted -as a great and popular reform. To understand it, we -must lay aside all notion of serfage in Moscow and Tamboff -being the same thing as villeinage in Surrey and the Isle of -France.</p> - -<p>Serfage was a great act of colonization. Much of what was -done by Godunof was politic, and even noble; for he gave -up to his people millions of acres of the crown estates. The -soil was given to the peasant on easy terms. He was to live -on his land, to plough his field, to build his house, to pay his -rates, and to serve his country in time of war. The chief concession -made by the peasant, in exchange for his plot of -ground, was his vagabond life.</p> - -<p>To see that the serf—the man "fixed" on the soil—observed -the terms of settlement, the prince appointed boyars and voyevods -in every province as overseers; a necessary, and yet a -fatal step. The overseer, a strong man dealing with a weak -one, had been trained under Tartar rule; and just as the Tsar -succeeded to the khan, the boyar looked upon himself as a -successor to the beg. Abuses of the system soon crept in; -most of all that Oriental use of the stick, which the boyar borrowed -from the beg; but a serf had to endure this evil—not -in his quality of serf, but in his quality of Russian. Every -man struck the one below him. A Tsar boxed a boyar, a -boyar beat a prince. A colonel kicked his captain, and a captain -clubbed his men. This use of the stick is in every region -of the East a sign of lordship; and a boyar who could flog a -peasant for neglecting to till his field, to repair his cabin, and -to pay his rates, would have been more than man if he had not -learned to consider himself as that peasant's lord.</p> - -<p>Yet the theory of their holding was, that the peasant held -his land of the crown; even as the boyar held his land of the -crown. A bargain was made between two consenting parties—peasant -and noble—under the authority of law, for their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">{264}</a></span> -mutual dealing with a certain estate—consisting (say) of land, -lake, and forest, with the various rites attached to ownership—hunting, -shooting, fishing, fowling, trespass, right of way, -right of stoppage, right of dealing, and the like. It was a -bargain binding the one above as much as it bound the one -below. If a serf could not quit his homestead, neither could -the lord eject him from it. If the serf was bound to serve -his master, he was free to save and hold a property of his -own. If local custom and lawless temper led a master to fine -and flog the serf, that serf could find some comfort in the -thought that the fields which he tilled belonged to himself -and to his commune by a title never to be gainsaid. A peasant's -rhyme, addressed to his lord, defines the series of his -rights and liabilities:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse quote">"My soul is God's,</div> - <div class="verse indent">My land is mine,</div> - <div class="verse">My head's the Tsar's,</div> - <div class="verse indent">My back is thine!"</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>A likeness to the serf may be found in the East, not in the -West. The closest copy of a serf is the ryot of Bengal.</p> - -<p>Down to the reign of Peter the Great the system went on -darkening in abuse. The overseer of serfs became the owner. -In lonely districts who was to protect a serf? I have myself -heard a rustic ordered to be flogged by his elder, on the -bare request of two gentlemen, who said he was drunk and -could not drive. The two gentlemen were tipsy; but the -elder knew them, and he never thought of asking for their -proofs. A clown accused by a gentleman must be in the -wrong. "God is too high, the Tsar too distant," says the -peasant's saw. In those hard times the inner spirit overcame -the legal form; and serfs were beaten, starved, transported, -sold; but always in defiance of the law.</p> - -<p>Peter introduced some changes, which, in spite of his good -intentions, made the evil worse. He stopped the sale of serfs, -apart from the estate on which they lived—a long step forward; -but he clogged the beneficial action of his edict by -converting the old house-tax into a poll-tax, and levying the -whole amount of tax upon the lord, to whom he gave the -right of collecting his quota from the serfs. A master armed -with such a power is likely to be either worse than a devil or -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">{265}</a></span> -better than a man. Peter took from the religious bodies the -right, which they held in common with boyars and princes, -of possessing serfs. The monks had proved themselves unfit -for such a trust; and as they held their lands by a title higher -than the law can give, it was hard for a convent serf to believe -that any part of the fields he tilled was actually his own.</p> - -<p>Catharine followed Peter in his war on Tartar dress, -beards, manners, and traditions; but she also set her face, as -Peter had done, on much that was native to the soil. She -meant well by her people, and the charter of rights, which -she granted to her nobles, laid the foundation in her country -of a permanent, educated, middle class. She studied the -question of converting the serf's occupancy into freehold. -She confiscated the serfs attached to convents, placing them -under a separate jurisdiction; and she published edicts tending -to improve the position of the peasant towards his lord. -But these imperial acts, intended to do him good, brought -still worse evils on his head; for serfage, heretofore a local -custom—found in one province, not in the adjoining province—found -in Moscow and Voronej, not in Harkof and Kief—was -now recognized, guarded and defined by general law. -Catharine's yearning for an ideal order in her states induced -her to "fix" the peasant of Lithuania and Little Russia on -the soil, just as Godunof had "fixed" the peasant of Great -Russia, giving him a homestead and a property forever on -the soil. Paul, her son, took one stride forward in limiting -the right of the lord to three days' labor in the seven—an -edict which, though never put in force, endeared Paul's memory -to the commons, many of whom regard him as a martyr -in their cause. Yet Paul is one of those princes who extended -the serf-empire. Paul created a new order of serfs in the -appanage peasants, serfs belonging to members of the imperial -house, just as the crown peasants belonged to the crown -domain.</p> - -<p>Alexander the First set an example of dealing with the -question by establishing his class of free peasants; but the -wars of his reign left him neither time nor means for conducting -a social revolution more imposing and more perilous -than a political revolution, and after a few years had passed -his free peasants fell back into their former state. Nicolas -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">{266}</a></span> -was not inclined by nature to reform; the old, unchanging -Tartar spirit was strong within him; and he rounded the -serfage system by placing the free peasants, colonists, foresters, -and miners, under a special administration of the state. -Every rustic in the land who had no master of his own became -a peasant of the crown.</p> - -<p>But, from the reign of Ivan (ending in 1598) to the reign -of Nicolas (ending in 1855), every patriot who dared to speak -his mind inveighed against the abuse of serfage—as a thing -unknown to his country in her happier times. Every false -pretender, every reckless rebel, who took up arms against his -sovereign, wrote on his banner, "freedom to the serf." Stenka -Razin (c. 1670) proclaimed, from his camp near Astrakhan, -four articles, of which the first and second ran—deposition of -the reigning house and liberation of the serfs! Pugacheff, -in a revolt more recent and more formidable than that of Razin -(c. 1770), publicly abolished serfage in the empire, taking -the peasants from their lords, and leaving them in full possession -of their lands. Pestel and the conspirators of 1825 put -the abolition of serfage in the front of their demands.</p> - -<p>Catharine's wish to deal with the question was inspired by -Pugacheff's letters of emancipation; and on the very eve of -his triumph in St. Isaac's Square, the Emperor Nicolas named -a secret committee, to report on the social condition of his -empire, chiefly with the serf in view. At the end of three -years, Nicolas, warned by their reports, drew up a series of -acts (1828-'9), by which he founded an order of honorary citizens -(not members of a guild), and set the peasants free from -their lords. These acts were never printed, for as time wore -on, and things kept quiet, the Emperor saw less need for -change. The July days in Paris frightened him; and having -already sent out orders for the masters to treat their serfs -like Christian men, and to be content in exacting three days' -work in seven, according to the wish of Paul, the sovereign -thought he had done enough. His act of emancipation was -not to see the light.</p> - -<p>In his later years the question troubled the Emperor Nicolas -day and night. In spite of his glittering array of troops, -he felt that serfage left him weak, even as the great division -of his people into Orthodox and Old Believers left him weak. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">{267}</a></span> -How weak these maladies of his country made him he only -learned in the closing hours of his eventful life; and then (it -is said) he told his son what he had done and left undone, enjoining -him to study and complete his work.</p> - -<p>It was well for the serf that Nicolas made him wait. The -project of emancipation, drawn up under the eyes of Nicolas, -was not a Russian document in either form or spirit; but a -German state paper, based on the misleading western notion -that serfage was but villeinage under a better name. The -principle laid down by Nicolas was, that the serf should obtain -his personal freedom, and the lord should take possession -of his land!</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER LI.<br /> - -<span class="small">EMANCIPATION.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">On</span> the day when Alexander the Second came to his crown -(1855), both lord and serf expected from his hands some great -and healing act. The peasants trusted him, the nobles feared -him. A panic seized upon the landlords. "What," they -cried, "do you expect? The country is disturbed; our -property will be destroyed. Look at these louts whom you -talk of rendering free! They can neither read nor write; -they have no capital; they have no credit; they have no enterprise. -When they are not praying they are getting drunk. -A change may do in the Polish provinces; in the heart of -Russia, never!" The Government met this storm in the -higher circles by pacific words and vigorous acts; the Emperor -saying to every one whom his voice could reach that -the peril lay in doing nothing, not in doing much. Slowly -but surely his opinion made its way.</p> - -<p>Addresses from the several provinces came in. Committees -of advice were formed, and the Emperor sought to engage -the most active and liberal spirits in his task. When -the public mind was opened to new lights, a grand committee -was named in St. Petersburg, consisting of the ministers -of state, and a few members of the imperial council, over -whom his majesty undertook to preside. A second body, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">{268}</a></span> -called the reporting committee, was also named, under the -presidency of Count Rostovtsef, one of the pardoned rebels -of 1825. The grand committee studied the principles which -ought to govern emancipation; the reporting committee studied -and arranged the facts. A mighty heap of papers was -collected; eighteen volumes of facts and figures were printed; -and the net results were thrown into a draft.</p> - -<p>The reporting committee having done their work, two -bodies of delegates from the provinces, elected by the lords, -were invited to meet in the capital and consider this draft. -These provincial delegates raised objections, which they sent -in writing to the committee; and the new articles drawn up -by them were laid before the Emperor and the grand committee -in an amended draft.</p> - -<p>Up to this point the draft was in the hands of nobles and -land-owners; who drew it up in their class-interests, and according -to their class-ideas. If it recognized the serf's right -to personal freedom, it denied him any rights in the soil. -This principle of "liberty without land" was the battle-cry of -all parties in the upper ranks; and many persons knew that -such was the principle laid down in the late Emperor's secret -and abortive act. How could a committee of landlords, trembling -for their rents, do otherwise? "Emancipation, if we -must," they sighed, "but emancipation without the land." -The provincial delegates stoutly urged this principle; the reporting -committee embodied it in their draft. Supported by -these two bodies, it came before the grand committee. England, -France, and Germany were cited; and as the villeins in -those countries had received no grants of lands, it was resolved -that the emancipated serfs should have no grants of -land. The grand committee passed the amended draft.</p> - -<p>Then, happily, the man was found. Whatever these scribes -could say, the Emperor knew that forty-eight millions of his -people looked to him for justice; and that every man in those -forty-eight millions felt that his right in the soil was just as -good as that of the Emperor in his crown. He saw that freedom -without the means of living would be to the peasant a -fatal gift. Unwilling to see a popular revolution turned into -the movement of a class, he would not consent to make men -paupers by the act which pretended to make them free. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">{269}</a></span> -"Liberty and land"—that was the Alexandrine principle; a -golden precept which he held against the best and oldest -councillors in his court.</p> - -<p>The acts of his committees left him one course, and only -one. He could appeal to a higher court. Some members of -the grand committee, knowing their master's mind, had voted -against the draft; and now the Emperor laid that draft before -the full council, on the ground that a measure of such -importance should not be settled in a lower assembly by a -divided vote. Again he met with selfish views. The full -council consists of princes, counts, and generals—old men -mostly—who have little more to expect from the crown, and -every reason to look after the estates they have acquired. -They voted against the Emperor and the serfs.</p> - -<p>When all seemed lost, however, the fight was won. Not -until the full council had decided to adopt the draft, could -the Emperor be persuaded to use his power and to save his -country; but on the morrow of their vote, the prince, in his -quality of autocrat, declared that the principle of "Liberty -and land" was the principle of his emancipation act.</p> - -<p>On the third of March, 1861 (Feb. 19, O.S.), the emancipation -act was signed.</p> - -<p>The rustic population then consisted of twenty-two millions -of common serfs, three millions of appanage peasants, and -twenty-three millions of crown peasants. The first class were -enfranchised by that act; and a separate law has since been -passed in favor of these crown peasants and appanage peasants, -who are now as free in fact as they formerly were in -name.</p> - -<p>A certain portion of land, varying in different provinces -according to soil and climate, was affixed to every "soul;" -and government aid was promised to the peasants in buying -their homesteads and allotments. The serfs were not slow to -take this hint. Down to January 1, 1869, more than half the -enfranchised male serfs have taken advantage of this promise; -and the debt now owing from the people to the crown (that -is, to the bondholders) is an enormous sum.</p> - -<p>The Alexandrine principle of "liberty and land" being -made the governing rule of the emancipation act, all reasonable -fear lest the rustic, in receiving his freedom, might -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">{270}</a></span> -at once go wandering, was taken into account. Nobody -knew how far the serf had been broken of those nomadic -habits which led to serfage. Every one felt some doubt as -to whether he could live with liberty and law; and rules were -framed to prevent the return to those social anarchies which -had forced the crown to "settle" the country under Boris -Godunof and Peter the Great. These restrictive rules were -nine in number: (1.) a peasant was not to quit his village -unless he gave up, once and forever, his share of the communal -lands; (2.) in case of the commune refusing to accept -his portion, he was to yield his plot to the general landlord; -(3.) he must have met his liabilities, if any, to the Emperor's -recruiting officers; (4.) he must have paid up all arrears of -local and imperial rates, and also paid in advance such taxes -for the current year; (5.) he must have satisfied all private -claims, fulfilled all personal contracts, under the authority of -his cantonal administration; (6.) he must be free from legal -judgment and pursuit; (7.) he must provide for the maintenance -of all such members of his family to be left in the commune, -as from either youth or age might become a burden to -his village; (8.) he must make good any arrears of rent which -may be due on his allotment to the lord; (9.) he must produce -either a resolution passed by some other commune, admitting -him as a member, or a certificate, properly signed, -that he has bought the freehold of a plot of land, equal to two -allotments, not above ten miles distant from the commune -named. These rules—which are provisional only—are found -to tie a peasant with enduring strictness to his fields.</p> - -<p>The question, whether the serf is so far cured of his Tartar -habit that he can live a settled life without being bound to -his patch of ground, is still unasked. The answer to that -question must come with time, province by province and -town by town. Nature is slow, and habit is a growth. Reform -must wait on nature, and observe her laws.</p> - -<p>As in all such grand reforms, the parties most affected by the -change were much dissatisfied at first. The serf had got too -much; the lords had kept too much. In many provinces the -peasants refused to hear the imperial rescript read in church. -They said the priest was keeping them in the dark; for, ruled -by the nobles, and playing a false part against the Emperor, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">{271}</a></span> -he was holding back the real letters of liberation, and reading -them papers forged by their lords. Fanatics and impostors -took advantage of their discontent to excite sedition, -and these fanatics and impostors met with some success in -provinces occupied by the Poles and Malo-Russ.</p> - -<p>Two of these risings were important. At the village of -Bezdna, province of Kazan, one Anton Petrof announced -himself as a prophet of God and an ambassador from the -Tsar. He told the peasants that they were now free men, -and that their good Emperor had given them all the land. -Four thousand rustics followed him about; and when General -Count Apraxine, overtaking the mob and calling upon -them to give up their leader, and disperse under pain of being -instantly shot down, the poor fellows cried, "We shall -not give him up; we are all for the Tsar." Apraxine gave -the word to fire; a hundred men dropped down with bullets -in their bodies—fifty-one dead, the others badly hurt. In -horror of this butchery, the people cried, "You are firing into -Alexander Nicolaivitch himself!" Petrof was taken, tried by -court-martial, and shot in the presence of his stupefied friends, -who could not understand that a soldier was doing his duty -to the crown by firing into masses of unarmed men.</p> - -<p>A more singular and serious rising of serfs took place in -the rich province of Penza, where a strange personage proclaimed -himself the Grand Duke Constantine, brother of -Nicolas, once a captive. Affecting radical opinions, the -"grand duke" raised a red flag, collected bands of peasants, -and alarmed the country far and near. A body of soldiers, -sent against them by General Dreniakine, were received with -clubs and stones, and forced to run away. Dreniakine marched -against the rebels, and in a smart action he dispersed them -through the steppe, after killing eight and seriously maiming -twenty-six. The "grand duke" was suffered to get away. -The country was much excited by the rising, and on Easter -Sunday General Dreniakine telegraphed to St. Petersburg his -duty to the minister, and asked for power to punish the revolters -by martial law. The minister sent him orders to act -according to his judgment; and he began to flog and shoot -the villagers until order was restored within the limits of his -command. The "grand duke" was denounced as one Egortsof, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">{272}</a></span> -a Milk-Drinker; and Dreniakine soon afterwards spread -a report that he was dead.</p> - -<p>The agitation was not stilled until the Emperor himself appeared -on the scene. On his way to Yalta he convoked a -meeting of elders, to whom he addressed a few wise and -solacing words: "I have given you all the liberties defined -by the statutes; I have given you no liberties save those defined -by the statutes." It was the very first time these peasants -had heard of their Emperor's will being limited by law.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER LII.<br /> - -<span class="small">FREEDOM.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">"What</span> were the first effects of emancipation in your province?" -I ask a lady.</p> - -<p>"Rather droll," replies the Princess B. "In the morning, -the poor fellows could not believe their senses; in the afternoon, -they got tipsy; next day, they wanted to be married."</p> - -<p>"Doubt—drunkenness—matrimony! Yes, it was rather -droll."</p> - -<p>"You see, a serf was not suffered to drink whisky and -make love as he pleased. It was a wild outburst of liberty; -and perhaps the two things brought their own punishments?"</p> - -<p>"Not the marrying, surely?"</p> - -<p>"Ha! who knows?"</p> - -<p>The upper ranks are much divided in opinion as to the true -results of emancipation. If the liberal circles of the Winter -Palace look on things in the rosiest light, the two extreme -parties which stand aside as chorus and critics—the Whites -and Reds, Obstructives and Socialists—regard them from two -opposite points of view, as in the last degree unsound, unsafe.</p> - -<p>When a Russian takes upon himself the office of critic, he -is always gloomy, Oriental, and prophetic. He turns his face -to the darker side of things; he groans in spirit, and picks up -words of woe. If he has to deal as critic with the sins of his -own time and country, he prepares his tongue to denounce -and his soul to curse; and his self-examination, whether in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">{273}</a></span> -respect to his private vices or his public failings, is conducted -in a dark, reproachful, and inquisitorial spirit.</p> - -<p>In one house you fall among the Whites—a charming set -of men to meet in drawing-room or club; urbane, accomplished, -profligate; owners who never saw their serfs, landlords -who never lived on their estates; fine fellows—whether -young or old—who spent their lives in roving from St. Petersburg -to Paris, and were known by sight in every gaming-house, -in every theatre, from the Neva to the Seine. These -men will tell you, with an exquisite smile, that Russia has -come to the dogs. "Free labor!" they exclaim with scorn, -"the country is sinking under these free institutions year by -year—sinking in morals, sinking in production, sinking in -political strength. A peasant works less, drinks more than -ever. While he was a serf he could be flogged into industry, -if not into sobriety. Now he is master, he will please himself; -and his pleasure is to dawdle in the dram-shop and to -slumber on the stove. Not only is he going down himself, -but he is pulling every one else down in his wake. The -burgher is worse off; the merchant finds nothing to buy and -sell. Less land is under plough and spade; the quantity of -corn, oats, barley, and maize produced is less than in the -good old times. Russia is poorer than she was, financially -and physically. Famines have become more frequent; arson -is increasing; while the crimes of burglary and murder are -keeping pace with the strides of fire and famine. As rich -and poor, we are more divided than we were as lords and -serfs. The rich used to care for the poor, and the poorer -classes lived on the waste of rich men's boards. They had an -influence on each other, and always for their mutual good. -In this new scheme we are strangers when we are not rivals, -competitors when we are not foes. A rustic cares for neither -lord nor priest. A landlord who desires to live on his estate -must bow and smile, must bend and cringe, in order to keep -his own. The rustics rob his farm, they net his lake, they -beat his bailiff, they insult his wife. His time is wasted in -complaining—now to the police, now to the magistrate, now -again to the cantonal chief. All classes are at strife, and the -seeds of revolution are broadly sown."</p> - -<p>In a second house you fall among the Reds—a far more -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">{274}</a></span> -dashing and excited set; many of whom have also spent -much time in passing from St. Petersburg to Paris, though -not with the hope of becoming known to croupiers and ballet-girls; -men with pallid brows and sparkling eyes, who make -a science of their social whims, and treat the emancipating -acts as so many paths to that republic of rustics which they -desire to see. "These circulars, reports, and edicts were necessary," -they allege, "in order to open men's eyes to the -tragic facts. Our miseries were hidden; our princes were so -rich, our palaces so splendid, and our troops so numerous, -that the world—and even we ourselves—believed the imperial -government strong enough to march in any direction, to -strike down every foe. The Tsar was so great that no one -thought of his serfs; the sun was so brilliant that you could -not see the motes. But now that reign of deceit is gone forever, -and our wretchedness is exposed to every eye. You -say we are free, and prospering in our freedom; but the facts -are otherwise; we are neither free nor prosperous. The act -of emancipation was a snare. Men fancied they were going -to be freed from their lords; but when the day of deliverance -came they found themselves taken from a bad master -and delivered to a worse. A man who was once a serf became -a slave. He had belonged to a neighbor, often to a -friend, and now he became a property of the crown. Branded -with the Black Eagle, he was fastened to the soil by a stronger -chain. A false civilization seized him, held him in her -embrace, and made him pass into the fire. What has that -civilization done for him? Starved him; stripped him; -ruined him. Go into our cities. Look at our burghers; -watch how they lie and cheat; hear how they bear false witness; -note how they buy with one yard, sell with another -yard. Go into our communes. Mark the dull eye and the -stupid face of the village lout, who lives alone, like a wild -beast, far from his fellows—part of the forest, as a log of -wood is part of the forest. Observe how he drinks and -shuffles; how he says his prayers, and shirks his duty, and -begets his kind, with hardly more thought in his head than a -wolf and a bear. This state of things must be swept away. -The poor man is the victim of all tyrants, all impostors; the -minister cheats him of his freedom, and the landlord of his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">{275}</a></span> -field; but the hour of revolution is drawing nigh; and people -will greet that coming hour with their rallying cry—More -liberty and more land!"</p> - -<p>A stranger listening to every one, looking into every thing, -will see that on the fringe of actual fact there are appearances -which might seem to justify, according to the point of -view, these opposite and extreme opinions; yet, on massing -and balancing his observations of the country as a whole, a -stranger must perceive that under emancipation the peasant -is better dressed, better lodged, and better fed; that his wife -is healthier, his children cleaner, his homestead tidier; that he -and his belongings are improved by the gift which changed -him from a chattel into a man.</p> - -<p>A peasant spends much money, it is true, in drams; but -he spends yet more in clothing for his wife. He builds his -cabin of better wood, and in the eastern provinces, if not in -all, you find improvements in the walls and roof. He paints -the logs, and fills up cracks with plaster, where he formerly -left them bare and stuffed with moss. He sends his boys to -school, and goes himself more frequently to church. If he -exports less corn and fur to other countries, it is because, being -richer, he can now afford to eat white bread and wear a -cat-skin cap.</p> - -<p>The burgher class and the merchant class have been equally -benefited by the change. A good many peasants have become -burghers, and a good many burghers merchants. All the domestic -and useful trades have been quickened into life. More -shoes are worn, more carts are wanted, more cabins are built. -Hats, coats, and cloaks are in higher demand; the bakeries -and breweries find more to do; the teacher gets more pupils, -and the banker has more customers on his books.</p> - -<p>This movement runs along the line; for in the wake of -emancipation every other liberty and right is following fast. -Five years ago (1864), the Emperor called into existence two -local parliaments in every province; a district assembly and -a provincial assembly: in which every class, from prince to -peasant, was to have his voice. The district assembly is -elected by classes; nobles, clergy, merchants, husbandmen; -each apart, and free; the provincial assembly consists of delegates -from the several district assemblies. The district assembly -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">{276}</a></span> -settles all questions as to roads and bridges; the -provincial assembly looks to building prisons, draining pools, -damming rivers, and the like. The peasant interest is strong -in the district assembly, the landlord interest in the provincial -assembly; and they are equally useful as schools of freedom, -eloquence, and public spirit. On these local boards, the cleverest -men in every province are being trained for civic, and, -if need be, parliamentary life.</p> - -<p>On every side, an observer notes with pleasure a tendency -of the villagers to move upon the towns and enter into the -higher activities of civic life. This tendency is carrying them -back beyond the Tartar times into the better days of Novgorod -and Pskoff.</p> - -<p>In his commune, a peasant may hope to pass through the -dreary existence led by his mule and ox; his thoughts given -up to his cabbage-soup, his buckwheat porridge, his loaf of -black bread, and his darling dram. If he acquires in his village -some patriarchal virtues—love of home, respect for age, -delight in tales and songs, and preference for oral over written -law—he also learns, without knowing why, to think and feel -like a Bedouin in his tent, and a Kirghiz on his steppe. A -rustic is nearly always humming old tunes. Whether you see -him felling his pine, unloading his team, or sitting at his door, -he is nearly always singing the same old dirge of love or war. -When he breaks into a brisker stave, it is always into a song -of revenge and hate. Bandits are his heroes; and the staid -young fellow who dares not whisper to his partner in a dance, -will roar out such a riotous squall:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse quote">"I'll toil in the fields no more!</div> - <div class="verse indent">For what can I gain by the spade?</div> - <div class="verse">My hands are empty, my heart is sore;</div> - <div class="verse indent">A knife! my friend's in the forest glade!"</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Another youth may sing:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse quote">"I'll rob the merchant at his stall,</div> - <div class="verse">I'll slay the noble in his hall;</div> - <div class="verse">With girls and whisky I'll have my fling,</div> - <div class="verse">And the world will honor me like a king."</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>One of the most popular of these robber songs has a chorus -running thus, addressed in menace to the noble and the rich:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">{277}</a></div> - <div class="verse quote">"We have come to drink your wine,</div> - <div class="verse indent">We have come to steal your gold,</div> - <div class="verse">We have come to kiss your wives!</div> - <div class="verse indent">Ha! ha!"</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>This reckless sense of right and wrong is due to that serfage -under which the peasants groaned for two hundred and -sixty years. Serfage made men indifferent to life and death. -The crimes of serfage have scarcely any parallel, except among -savage tribes; and the liberty which some of the freed peasants -enjoyed the most was the liberty of revenge.</p> - -<p>Ivan Gorski was living in Tamboff, in very close friendship -with a family of seven persons, when he conceived a grudge -against them on some unknown ground, obtained a gun, and -asked his friends to let him practice firing in their yard. They -let him put up his target, and blaze away till he became a very -fair shot, and people got used to the noise of his gun. When -these two points were gained, he took off every member of -the house. He could not tell the reason of his crime.</p> - -<p>Daria Sokolof was employed as nurse in a family, and when -the child grew up went back to her village, parting from her -master and mistress on the best of terms. Some years passed -by. On going into the town to sell her fruit and herbs, and -finding a bad market, she went to her old home and asked for -a lodging for the night. Her master was ill, and her mistress -put her to bed. At two in the morning she got up, seized -an Italian iron, crept to her master's room, and beat his -brains out; then to her mistress's room, and killed her also. -Afterwards she went into the servant's room, and murdered -her; into the boy's room, and murdered him. A pet dog -lay on the lad's coverlet, and she smashed its skull. She -took a little money—not much; went home, and slept till -daylight. No one suspected her, for no living creature knew -she had been to the house. Twelve months elapsed before a -clue was found; but as no witness of the crime was left, she -could only be condemned to a dozen years in the Siberian -mines. Her case excited much remark, and persons are even -now petitioning the ministry of justice to let her off!</p> - -<p>It is only by living in a wider field, by acting for himself, -by gaining a higher knowledge of men and things, that the -peasant can escape from the bad traditions and morbid sentiments -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">{278}</a></span> -of his former life. It will be an immense advantage -for the empire of villages to become, as other nations are, an -empire of both villages and towns.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER LIII.<br /> - -<span class="small">TSEK AND ARTEL.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> obstacles which lie in the way of a peasant wishing to -become a townsman are very great. After he has freed himself -from his obligations to the commune and the crown, and -arrived at the gates of Moscow, with his papers in perfect -order, how is a rustic to live in that great city? By getting -work. That would be the only trouble of a French paysan or -an English plough-boy. In Russia it is different. The towns -are not open and unwalled, so that men may come and go as -they list. They are strongholds; held, in each case, by an -army, in the ranks of which every man has his appointed -place.</p> - -<p>No man—not of noble birth—can live the burgher life in -Moscow, save by gaining a place in one of the recognized -orders of society—in a tsek, a guild, or a chin.</p> - -<p>A tsek is an association of craftsmen and petty traders, such -as the tailoring tsek, the cooking tsek, and the peddling tsek; -the members of which pay a small sum of money, elect their -own elders, and manage their own affairs. The elder of a -tsek gives to each member a printed form, which must be -countersigned by the police not less than once a year. A -guild is a higher kind of tsek, the members of which pay a tax -to the state for the privilege of buying and selling, and for -immunity from serving in the ranks. A chin is a grade in -the public service, parted somewhat sharply into fourteen -stages—from that of a certified collegian up to that of an acting -privy-councillor. A peasant might enter a guild if he -could pay the tax; but the impost is heavy, even for the lowest -guild; and a man who comes into Moscow in search of -work must seek a place in some cheap and humble tsek. He -need not follow the calling of his tsek—a clerk may belong to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">{279}</a></span> -a shoemaker's tsek, and a gentleman's servant to a hawker's -tsek. But in one or other of these societies a peasant must -get his name inscribed and his papers signed, under penalty -of being seized by the police and hustled into the ranks.</p> - -<p>Every year he must go in person to the Office of Addresses, -a vast establishment on the Tverskoi Boulevard, where the -name, residence, and occupation of every man and woman -living in this great city is entered on the public books. At -this Office of Addresses he has to leave his regular papers, -taking a receipt which serves him as a passport for a week; -in the mean while the police examine his papers, verify the -elder's signature, and mark them afresh with an official stamp. -Every time he changes his lodging he must go in person to -the Office of Addresses and record the change. A tax of -three or four shillings a year is levied on his papers by the -police, half of which money goes to the crown and half to the -provincial hospitals. In case of poverty and sickness, his inscription -in a tsek entitles a man to be received into a government -hospital should there be room for him in any of the wards.</p> - -<p>To lose his papers is a calamity for the rustic hardly less -serious than to lose his leg. Without his papers he is an outlaw -at the mercy of every one who hates him. He must go -back at once to his village; if he has been lucky enough to -get his name on the books of a tsek, he must find the elder, -prove his loss, procure fresh evidence of his identity, and get -this evidence countersigned by the police. Yet when a rustic -comes to Moscow nothing is more likely than that his -passport will be stolen. In China-town there is a rag fair, -called the Hustling Market, where cheap-jacks sell every sort -of ware—old sheep-skins, rusty locks and keys, felt boots -(third wear), and span-new saints in brass and tin. This market -is a hiring-place for servants; and lads who have no friends -in Moscow flock to this market in search of work. A fellow -walks up to the rustic with a town-bred air: "You want a -place? Very well; let me see your passport." Taking his -papers from his boot—a peasant always puts his purse and -papers in his boot—he offers them gladly to the man, who -dodges through the crowd in a moment, while the rustic is -gaping at him with open mouth. A thief knows where he -can sell these papers, just as he could sell a stolen watch.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">{280}</a></span> -Having got his name inscribed in a tsek, his passport -signed by his elder and countersigned by the police, the peasant, -now become a burgher, looks about him for an artel, -which, if he have money enough, he proceeds to join.</p> - -<p>An artel is an association of workmen following the same -craft, and organized on certain lines, with the principles of -which they are made familiar in their village life. An artel -is a commune carried from the country into the town. The -members of an artel join together for their mutual benefit -and insurance. They elect an elder, and confide to him the -management of their concerns. They agree to work in common -at their craft, to have no private interests, to throw their -earnings into a single fund, and, after paying the very light -cost of their association, to divide the sum total into equal -shares. In practical effect, the artel is a finer form of communism -than the commune itself. In the village commune -they only divide the land; in the city artel they divide the -produce.</p> - -<p>The origin of artels is involved in mist. Some writers of -the Panslavonic school profess to find traces of such an association -in the tenth century; but the only proof adduced is -the existence of a rule making towns and villages responsible, -in cases of murder, for the fines inflicted on the criminal—a -rule which these writers would find in the Frankish, Saxon, -and other codes. The safer view appears to be, that the artel -came from Asia. No one knows the origin of this term -artel—it seems to be a Tartar word, and it is nowhere found -in use until the reign of those tartarized Grand Dukes of -Moscow, Ivan the Third and Ivan the Fourth. In fact, the -artel seems to have been planted in Russia with the commune -and the serf.</p> - -<p>The first artel of which we have any notice was a gang of -thieves, who roamed about the country taking what they -liked with a rude hand—inviting themselves to weddings and -merry-makings, where they not only ate and drank as they -pleased, but carried away the wine, the victuals, and the plate. -These freebooters elected a chief, whom they called their ataman. -They were bound to stand by each other in weal and -woe. No rogue could go where he pleased—no thief could -plunder on his personal account. The spoil was thrown into -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">{281}</a></span> -a common heap, from which every member of the artel got -an equal share.</p> - -<p>These bandit artels must have been strong and prosperous, -since the principle of their association passed with little or no -change into ordinary city life and trade. The burghers kept -the word artel; they translated ataman into elder (starost); -and in every minor detail they copied their original, rule by -rule. These early artels had very few articles of association; -and the principal were: that the members formed one body, -bound to stand by each other; that they were to be governed -by a chief, elected by general suffrage; that every man was -appointed to his post by the artel; that a member could not -refuse to do the thing required of him; that no one should -be suffered to drink, swear, game, and quarrel; that every -one should bear himself towards his comrade like a brother; -that no present should be received, unless it were shared by -each; that a member could not name a man to serve in his -stead, except with the consent of all. In after times these -simple rules were supplemented by provisions for restoring -to the member's heirs the value of his rights in the common -fund. In case of death, these additional rules provided that -the subscriber's share should go to his son, if he had a son; -if not, to his next of kin, as any other property would descend. -So far the estate was held to be a joint concern as regards -the question of use, and a series of personal properties as regards -the actual ownership. All these city artels took the -motto of "Honesty and truth."</p> - -<p>An artel, then, was, in its origin, no other than an association -of craftsmen for their mutual support against the miseries -of city life, just as the commune was an association of -laborers for their mutual support against the miseries of -country life. Each sprang, in its turn, from a sense of the -weakness of individual men in struggling with the hard necessities -of time and place. One body sought protection in -numbers and mutual help against occasional lack of employment; -the other against occasional attacks from wolves and -bears, and against the annual floods of rain and drifts of -snow. An artel was a republic like a commune; with a right -of meeting, a right of election, a right of fine and punishment. -No one interfered with the members, save in a general -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">{282}</a></span> -way. They made their own rules, obeyed their own -chiefs, and were in every sense a state within the state. Yet -these societies lived and throve, because they proved, on trial, -to be as beneficial to the upper as they were to the lower -class; an artel offering advantages to employers of labor -like those offered by a commune to the ministers of finance -and war.</p> - -<p>If an English banker wants a clerk, he must go into the -open market and find a servant, whom he has to hire on the -strength of his character as certified from his latest place. -He takes him on trial, subject to the chance of his proving -an honest man. If a Russian banker wants a clerk, he sends -for the elder of an artel, looks at his list, and hires his servant -from the society, in that society's name. He seeks no character, -takes no guaranty. The artel is responsible for the -clerk, and the banker trusts him in perfect confidence to the -full extent of the artel fund. If the clerk should prove to be -a rogue—a thing which sometimes happens—the banker calls -in the elder, certifies the fact, and gets his money paid back -at once.</p> - -<p>These things may happen, yet they are not common. Petty -thieving is the vice of every Eastern race, and Russians of -the lower class are not exceptions to the rule; yet, in the artels, -it is certain that this tendency to pick and steal is greatly -curbed, if not wholly suppressed. "Honesty and truth," -from being a phrase on the tongue, may come at length to be -a habit of the mind. A decent life is strenuously enjoined, -and no member is allowed to drink and game; thus many of -the vices which lead to theft are held in check by the public -opinion of his circle; yet the temptation sometimes grows too -strong, and a confidential clerk decamps with his employer's -box. Another merit of these artels then comes out.</p> - -<p>A robbery has taken place in the bank, a clerk is missing, -and the banker feels assured that the money and the man are -gone together. Notice is sent to the police; but Moscow is -a very big city; and Rebrof, clever as he may be in catching -thieves, has no instant means of following a man who has just -committed in a bank parlor his virgin crime. But the elder -knows his man, and the members, who will have to suffer for -his fault, are well acquainted with his haunts. Setting their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">{283}</a></span> -eyes and tongues at work, they follow him with the energy -of a pack of wolves on a trail of blood, never slackening in -their race until they hunt him down and yield him up to trial, -judgment, and the mines.</p> - -<p>Bankers like Baron Stieglitz, of St. Petersburg, merchants -like Mazourin and Alexief, in Moscow, have artels of their -own, founded in the first instance for their own work-people. -On entering an artel, a man pays a considerable sum of money—the -average is a thousand rubles, one hundred and fifty -pounds—though he need not always pay the whole sum down -at once. That payment is the good-will; what is called the -buying in. He goes to work wherever the artel may appoint -him. He gets no separate wages; for the payment is made -to the elder for one and all. So far this is share and share -alike. But then the old rule about receiving presents has -been much relaxed of late; and a good servant often receives -from his master more than he receives as his share from the -general fund. This innovation, it is true, destroys the old -character of the artel as a society for the mutual assurance of -strong and weak; but in the progress of free thought and action -it is a revolution not to be withstood, and hardly to be -gainsaid.</p> - -<p>One day, when dining with a Swede, a banker in St. Petersburg, -I was struck by the quick eyes and ready hands of my -host's butler, and, on my dropping a word in his praise, my -host broke out, "Ha, that fellow is a golden man; he is my -butler, valet, clerk, cashier, and master of the household—all -in one."</p> - -<p>"Is he a peasant?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; a peasant from the South. I get him for nothing—for -the price of a common lout."</p> - -<p>"He comes to you from an artel?"</p> - -<p>"Yes, he and some dozen more; he is worth the other -twelve."</p> - -<p>"You pay the same wage for each and all?"</p> - -<p>"To the artel, so; but, hist! We make up for extra care -and service by a thumping New-Year's gift."</p> - -<p>"Then the artel is beginning to fail of its original purpose—that -of securing to the weak, the idle, and the stupid men -as high a wage as it gave to the strong, the enterprising, and -the able men?"</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">{284}</a></span> -"Can you suppose that clever and pushing fellows will -work like horses, all for nothing, now that they are free? A -serf might do so; he lived in terror of the stick; he had no -notion of his rights; and he had worked for others all his -life. An artel is a useful thing, and no one (least of all a foreign -banker) wishes to see the institution fail; but it must -go with the times. If it can not find the means of drawing -the best men into it by paying them fairly for what they do, -it will pass away."</p> - -<p>An artel is a vast convenience to the foreign masters, whatever -it may be to the native men.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER LIV.<br /> - -<span class="small">MASTERS AND MEN.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Not</span> in one town, in one province only, but in every town, -we find two nations living in presence of each other; just as -we find them in Finland and Livonia; an upper race and a -lower; a foreign race and a native; and in nearly all these -towns and provinces the foreign race are the masters, the native -race their men.</p> - -<p>On the open plains and in the forest lands this division -into masters and men is not so strongly marked as in the -towns. Here and there we find a stranger in possession of -the soil; but the rule is not so; and while the towns may be -said to belong in a rough way to the German, the country, as -a whole, is the property of the Russ. The people may be -parted into these two classes; not in commercial things only, -but in professional study and in official life. The trade, the -art, the science, and the power of Russia have all been lodged -by law in the stranger's hand—the Russ being made an underling, -even when he was not made a serf; and it is only in -our own time—since the close of the Crimean war—that the -crown has come, as it were, to the help of nature in recovering -Russia for the Russ.</p> - -<p>The dynasty is foreign. The fact is too common to excite -remark; the first and most liberal countries in the world, so -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">{285}</a></span> -far as they have kings at all, being governed by princes of -alien blood. In London the dynasty is Hanoverian; in Berlin -it is Swabian; in Paris it is Corsican; in Vienna it is -Swiss; in Florence it is Savoyard; in Copenhagen it is Holstein; -in Stockholm it is French; in Brussels it is Cobourg; -at the Hague it is Rhenish; in Lisbon it is Kohary; in Athens -it is Danish; in Rio it is Portuguese. No bad moral -would be, therefore, drawn from the fact of a Gottorp reigning -on the Neva and the Moskva, were it not a fact that the Russian -peasant had some reason to regard his prince as being -not less foreign in spirit than he was in blood. The two -princes who are best known to him—Ivan the Terrible and -Peter the Great—announced, in season and out of season, that -they were not Russ. "Take care of the weight," said Ivan to -an English artist, giving him some bars of gold to be worked -into plate, "for the Russians are all thieves." The artist -smiled. "Why are you laughing?" asked the Tsar. "I was -thinking that, when you called the Russians thieves, your -Majesty forgot that you were Russ yourself." "Pooh!" replied -the Tsar, "I am a German, not a Russ." Peter was loud -in his scorn of every thing Muscovite. He spoke the German -tongue; he wore the German garb. He shaved his beard and -trimmed his hair in the German style. He built a German -city, which he made his capital and his home, and he called -that city by a German name. He loved to smoke his German -pipe, and to quicken his brain with German beer. To him -the new empire which he meant to found was a German empire, -with ports like Hamburg, cities like Frankfort and Berlin; -and he thought little more of his faithful Russ than as a -horde of savages whom it had become his duty to improve -into the likeness of Dutch and German boors.</p> - -<p>To the imperial mind, itself foreign, the stranger has always -been a type of order, peace, and progress; while the native has -been a type of waste, disorder, and stagnation. Hence favors -without end have been heaped on Germans by the reigning -house, while Russians have been left to feel the presence of -their Government chiefly in the tax-collector and the sergeant -of police. This difference has become a subject for proverbs -and jokes. When the Emperor asked a man who had done -him service how he would like to be remembered in return, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">{286}</a></span> -he said: "If your Majesty will only make me a German, every -thing else will come in time."</p> - -<p>Ministers, ambassadors, chamberlains, have almost all been -German; and when a Russian has been employed in a great -command, it has been rather in war than in the more delicate -affairs of state. The German, as a rule, is better taught and -trained than the Russian; knowing arts and sciences, to which -the Russian is supposed to be a stranger, now and forever, as -if learning were a thing beyond his reach. Peter made a law -by which certain arts and crafts were to remain forever in -German hands. A Russian could not be a druggist, lest he -should poison his neighbor; nor a chimney-sweep, lest he -should set his shed on fire.</p> - -<p>Such laws have been repealed by edicts; yet many remain -in force, in virtue of a wider power than that of minister and -prince. No Russian would take his dose of salts, his camomile -pill, from the hands of his brother Russ. He has no confidence -in native skill and care. A Russ may be a good physician, -being quick, alert, and sympathetic; yet no amount of -training seems to fit him for the delicate office of mixing -drugs. He likes to lash out, and can not curb his fury to -the minute accuracy of an eye-glass and a pair of scales. A -few grains, more or less, in a potion are to him nothing at -all. In Moscow, where the Panslavonic hope is strong, I -heard of more than one case in which the desire to deal at a -native shop had sent the patriot to an untimely grave.</p> - -<p>"You can not teach a Russian girl," said a lady, who was -speaking to me about her servants. "That girl, now, is a -good sort of creature in her way; she never tires of work, -never utters a complaint; she goes to mass on Saints'-days -and Sundays; and she would rather die of hunger than taste -eggs and milk in Lent. But I can not persuade her to wash -a sheet, to sweep a room, and to rock a cradle in my English -way. If I show her how to do it, she says, with a pensive -look, that her people do things thus and thus; and if I insist -on having my own way in my own house, she will submit to -force under a sort of protest, and will then run home to tell -her parents and her pope that her English lady is possessed -by an evil spirit."</p> - -<p>The strangers who hold so many offices of trust in the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">{287}</a></span> -country, and who form its intellectual aristocracy, are not considered -in Berlin as of pure Germanic stock. They come -from the Baltic provinces—from Livonia and Lithuania; but -they trace their houses, not to the Letts and Wends of those -regions, but to the old Teutonic knights. There can be no -mistake about their energy and power.</p> - -<p>Long before the days of Peter the Great they had a footing -in the land; under Peter they became its masters; and -ever since his reign they have been striving to subdue and -civilize the people as their ancestors in Ost and West Preussen -civilized the ancient Letts and Finns.</p> - -<p>No love is lost between these strangers and natives, masters -and men. The two races have nothing in common; neither -blood, nor speech, nor faith. They differ like West and East. -A German cuts his hair short, and trims his beard and mustache. -He wears a hat and shoes, and wraps his limbs in soft, -warm cloth. He strips himself at night, and prefers to sleep -in a bed to frying his body on a stove. He washes himself -once a day. He never drinks whisky, and he loves sour-krout. -A German believes in science, a Russian believes in fate. One -looks for his guide to experience, while the other is turning -to his invisible powers. If a German child falls sick, his father -sends for a doctor; if a Russian child falls sick, his father -kneels to his saint.</p> - -<p>In the North country, where wolves abound, a foreigner -brings in his lambs at night; but the native says, a lamb is -either born to be devoured by wolves or not, and any attempt -to cross his fate is flying in the face of heaven. A German -is a man of ideas and methods. He believes in details. From -his wide experience of the world he knows that one man can -make carts, while a second can write poems, and a third can -drill troops. He loves to see things in order, and his business -going on with the smoothness of a machine. He rises early, -and goes to bed late. With a pipe in his mouth, a glass of -beer at his side, a pair of spectacles on his nose, he can toil for -sixteen hours a day, nor fancy that the labor is beyond his -strength. He seldom faints at his desk, and he never forgets -the respect which may be due to his chief. In offices of trust -he is the soul of probity and intelligence. It is a rare thing, -even in Russia, for a German to be bought with money; and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">{288}</a></span> -his own strict dealing makes him hard with the wretch whom -he has reason to suspect of yielding to a bribe. In the higher -reaches cf character he is still more of a puzzle to his men. -With all his love of order and routine, he is a dreamer and an -idealist; and on the moral side of his nature he is capable of -a tenderness, a chivalry, an enthusiasm, of which the Russian -finds no traces in himself.</p> - -<p>A Russ, on the other side, is a man of facts and of illusions; -but his facts are in the region of his ideas, while his illusions -rest in the region of his habits. It has been said, in irony, of -course, that a Russian never dreams—except when he is wide -awake!</p> - -<p>Let us go into a Russian work-shop and a German work-shop; -two flax-mills, say, at one of the great river towns.</p> - -<p>In the first we find the master and his men of one race, -with habits of life and thought essentially the same. They -dine at the same table, eat the same kind of food. They wear -the same long hair and beards, and dress in the same caftan -and boots; they play the same games of draughts and whist; -they drink the same whisky and quass; they kneel at the same -village shrine; they kiss the same cross; and they confess their -sins to a common priest. If one gets tipsy on Sunday night, -the other is likely to have a fellow-feeling for his fault. If -the master strikes the man, it is an affair between the two. -The man either bears the blow with patience or returns it -with the nearest cudgel. Of this family quarrel the magistrate -never hears.</p> - -<p>In the second we find a more perfect industrial order, and -a master with a shaven chin. This master, though he may be -kind and just, is foreign in custom and severe in drill. To -him his craft is first and his workmen next. He insists on -regular hours, on work that knows no pause. He keeps the -men to their tasks; allows no Monday loss on account of Sunday -drink; and sets his face against the singing of those -brigand songs in which the Russian delights to spend his -time. If his men are absent, he stops their wages—not wishing -them to make up by night for what they waste by day. -In case of need, he hauls them up before the nearest judge.</p> - -<p>The races stand apart. A hundred German colonies exist -on Russian soil; old colonies, new colonies, farming colonies, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">{289}</a></span> -religious colonies. Every thing about these foreign villages -is clean and bright. The roads are well kept, the cabins well -built, the gardens well trimmed. The carts are better made, -the teams are better groomed, the harvests are better housed -than among the natives; yet no perceptible influence flows -from the German colony into the Russian commune; and a -hamlet lying a league from such a settlement as Strelna or -Sarepta is not unlikely to be worse for the example of its -smiling face.</p> - -<p>The natives see their master in an odious light. They look -on his clean face as that of a girl, and express the utmost contempt -for his pipe of tobacco, his pair of spectacles, and his -pot of beer. Whisky, they say, is the drink for men. Worse -than all else, they regard him as a heretic, to whom Heaven -may have given (as Arabs say) the power of the stick, but -who is not the less disowned by the Church and cast out -from God.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER LV.<br /> - -<span class="small">THE BIBLE.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">A learned</span> father of the ancient rite made some remarks -to me on the Bible in Russia, which live in my mind as parts -of the picture of this great country.</p> - -<p>I knew that our Bible Society have a branch in Petersburg, -and that copies of the New Testament and the Psalms have -been scattered, through their agency, from the White Sea to -the Black; but, being well aware that the right to found that -branch of our Society in Russia was originally urged by men -of the world in London upon men of the same class in St. Petersburg, -and that the ministers of Alexander the First gave -their consent in a time of war, when they wanted English -help in men and money against the French, I supposed that -the purposes in view had been political, and that this heavenly -seed was cast into ungrateful soil. I had no conception of -the good which our Society has been doing in silence for so -many years.</p> - -<p>"The Scriptures which came to us from England," said -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">{290}</a></span> -this priest, "have been the mainstay, not of our religion only, -but of our national life."</p> - -<p>"Then they have been much read?"</p> - -<p>"In thousands, in ten thousands of pious homes. The -true Russian likes his Bible—yes, even better than his dram—for -the Bible tells him of a world beyond his daily field of -toil, a world of angels and of spirits, in which he believes -with a nearer faith than he puts in the wood and water about -his feet. In every second house of Great Russia—the true, -old Russia, in which we speak the same language and have -the same God—you will find a copy of the Bible, and men -who have the promise in their hearts."</p> - -<p>In my journey through the country I find this true, though -not so much in the letter as in the spirit. Except in New -England and in Scotland, no people in the world, so far as -they can read at all, are greater Bible-readers than the Russians.</p> - -<p>In thinking of Russia we forget the time when she was -free, even as she is now again growing free, and take scant -heed of the fact that she possessed a popular version of -Scripture, used in all her churches and chapels, long before -such a treasure was obtained by England, Germany, and -France.</p> - -<p>"Love for the Bible and love for Russia," said the priest, -"go with us hand in hand, as the Tsar in his palace and the -monk in his convent know. A patriotic government gives -us the Bible, a monastic government takes it away."</p> - -<p>"What do you mean by a patriotic government and a monastic -government, when speaking of the Bible?"</p> - -<p>"By a patriotic government, that of Alexander the First -and Alexander the Second; by a monastic government, that -of Nicolas. The first Alexander gave us the Bible; Nicolas -took it away; the second Alexander gave it us again. The -first Alexander was a prince of gentle ways and simple -thoughts—a mystic, as men of worldly training call a man -who lives with God. Like all true Russians, he had a deep -and quick perception of the presence of things unseen. In -the midst of his earthly troubles—and they were great—he -turned into himself. He was a Bible-reader. In the Holy -Word he found that peace which the world could neither -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">{291}</a></span> -give nor take away; and what he found for himself he set -his heart on sharing with his children everywhere. Consulting -Prince Golitsin, then his minister of public worship, he -found that pious and noble man—Golitsin was a Russian—of -his mind. They read the Book together, and, seeing that it -was good for them, they sent for Stanislaus, archbishop of -Mohiloff, and asked him why people should not read the Bible, -each man for himself, and in his native tongue? Up to -that time our sacred books were printed only in Bulgaric; a -Slavonic speech which people used to understand; but which -is now an unknown dialect, even to the popes who drone it -every day from the altar steps. Two English doctors—the -good Patterson and the good Pinkerton—brought us the -New Testament, printed in the Russian tongue; and, by help -of the Tsar and his council, scattered the copies into every -province and every town, from the frontiers of Poland to -those of China. I am an old man now; but my veins still -throb with the fervor of that day when we first received, in -our native speech, the word that was to bring us eternal life. -The books were instantly bought up and read; friends lent -them to each other; and family meetings were held, in which -the Promise was read aloud. The popes explained the text; -the elders gave out chapter and verse. Even in parties which -met to drink whisky and play cards, some neighbor would -produce his Bible, when the company gave up their games to -listen while an aged man read out the story of the passion -and the cross. That story spoke to the Russian heart; for -the Russ, when left alone, has something of the Galilean in -his nature—a something soft and feminine, almost sacrificial; -helping him to feel, with a force which he could never reach -by reasoning, the patient beauty of his Redeemer's life and -death."</p> - -<p>"And what were the effects of this Bible-reading?"</p> - -<p>"Who can tell! You plant the acorn, your descendants -sit beneath the oak. One thing it did for us, which we could -never have done without its help—the Bible drove the Jesuits -from our midst—and if we had it now in every house it -would drive away these monks."</p> - -<p>The story of the battle of the Bible Society and the Order -of Jesus may be read in Joly, and in other writers. When -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">{292}</a></span> -that Order was suppressed in Rome, and the Fathers were -banished from every Catholic state in Europe, a remnant was -received into Russia by the insane Emperor Paul, who took -them into his favor in the hope of vexing the Roman Court, -and of making them useful agents in his Catholic provinces. -Well they repaid him for the shelter given—not only in the -Polish cities, but in the privatest recesses of his home. Father -Gruber is said to have been familiar with every secret of -the palace under Paul. These exiles were a band of outlaws, -living in defiance of their spiritual chief and of their temporal -prince; but while they clung with unslackening grasp to -the great traditions of their Society, they sought, by visible -service to mankind, the means of overcoming the hostility of -popes and kings. No honest writer will deny that they were -useful to the Russians in a secular sense, whatever trouble -they may have caused them in a religious sense. They -brought into this country the light of science and the love of -art then flourishing in the West; and the colleges which they -opened for the education of youth were far in advance of the -native schools. They built their schools at Moscow, Riga, -Petersburg, Odessa, on the banks of the Volga, on the shores -of the Caspian Sea. They sought to be useful in a thousand -ways; in the foreign colony, at the military station, in the city -prison, at the Siberian mine. They went out as doctors and -as teachers. They followed the army into Astrakhan, and -toiled among the Kozaks of the Don; but while they labored -to do good, they labored in a foreign and offensive spirit. -To the Russ people they were strangers and enemies; subjects -of a foreign prince, and members of a hostile church. -Some ladies of the court went over to their rite; a youth of -high family followed these court ladies; then the clergy took -alarm, and raised their voices against the strangers. What -offended the Russians most of all was the assumption by -these Jesuits of the name of missionaries, as though the people -were a savage horde not yet reclaimed to God and His -Holy Church. Unhappily for the fathers, this title was expressly -forbidden to the Catholic clergy by Russian law, and -this assumption was an act of disobedience which left them -at the mercy of the crown.</p> - -<p>But while the Emperor Paul was kind to them, these acts -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">{293}</a></span> -were passed in silence, and Alexander seemed unlikely to -withdraw his favor from his father's friends. The issue of a -New Testament in the native speech brought on the conflict -and insured their fate.</p> - -<p>Following the traditions of their Order, the Jesuits heard -the proposal to print the Bible in the Russian tongue, so that -every man should read it for himself, with fear, and armed -themselves to oppose the scheme. They spoke, they wrote, -they preached against it. Calling it an error, they showed -how much it was disliked in Rome. They said it was an -English invasion of the country; and they stirred up the -popes to attack it; saying it would be the ruin, not only of -the Roman clergy, but of the Greek.</p> - -<p>Alexander's eyes were opened to the character of his guests. -The Bible was a comfort to himself, and why should others -be refused the blessing he had found? Who were these men, -that they should prevent his people reading the Word of -Life?</p> - -<p>A dangerous question for the Tsar to ask; for Prince -Golitsin was close at hand with his reply. The worst day's -work the Jesuits had ever done was to disturb this prince's -family by converting his nephew to the Roman Church. -Golitsin called it seduction; and seduction from the national -faith is a public crime. When, therefore, Alexander came to -ask who these men were, Golitsin answered that they were -teachers of false doctrine; disturbers of the public peace; -men who were banished by their sovereigns; a body disbanded -by their popes. And then, in spite of their good -deeds, they were sent away—first from Moscow and Petersburg, -afterwards from every city of the empire. Their expulsion -was one of the most popular acts of a long and -glorious reign.</p> - -<p>The Jesuit writers lay the blame of their expulsion on the -Bible Societies.</p> - -<p>From other sources I learn that the New Testament was -free until Alexander's death, and that the copies found their -way into every city and village of the land. With the death -of Alexander the First came a change. After the conspiracy -of 1825, the new Emperor listened to his black clergy, and -the Bible was placed under close arrest.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">{294}</a></span> -The Russian Bible Society was called a Russian parliament. -All parties in the state were represented on the board -of management; Orthodox bishops sitting next to Old Believers, -and Old Believers next to Dissenting priests. The -Bible, in which they all believed, was a common ground, on -which they could meet and exchange the words of peace. -But Nicolas, ruling by the sword, had no desire to see these -boards pursuing their active and independent course; and his -monks had little trouble in persuading him to replace the Bible -by an official Book of Saints.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER LVI.<br /> - -<span class="small">PARISH PRIESTS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> this empire of villages there is a force of six hundred -and ten thousand parish priests (a little more or less); each -parish priest the centre of a circle, who regard him not only -as a man of God, ordained to bless in His holy name, but as -a father to advise them in weal and woe. These priests are -not only popular, but in country villages they are themselves -the people.</p> - -<p>Father Peter, the village pope, is a countryman like the -members of his flock. In his youth, he must have been at -school and college—a smart lad, perhaps, alert of tongue and -learned in decrees and canons; but he has long since sobered -down into the dull and patient priest you see. In speech, in -gait, in dress, he is exactly like the peasants in yon dram-shop -and yon field. His cabin is built of logs; his wife grows -girkins, which she carries in a creel to the nearest town for -sale; and the reverend gentleman puts his right hand on the -plough. He does not preach and teach; for he has little to -say, and not a word that any of his neighbors would care to -hear. Knowing that his lot in life is fixed, he has no inducement -to refresh his mind with learning, and to burnish up his -oratorical arms. The world slips past him, unperceived; and, -with his grip on the peasant's spade, he sinks insensibly into -the peasant's class. Yet Peter's life, though it may be hard -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">{295}</a></span> -and poor, is not without lines of natural grace, the more affecting -from the homeliness of every thing around. His cabin -is very clean; some flower-pots stand on his window-sill; a -heap of books loads his presses; and his walls are picturesque -with pictures of chapel and saint. A pale and comely wife -is sitting near his door, knitting her children's hose, and watching -the urchins at their play. Those boys are singing beneath -a tree—singing with soft, sad faces one of their ritual -psalms. A calm and tender influence flows from his house -into the neighboring sheds. The dullest hind in the hamlet -sees that the pastor's little ones are kept in order, and that -his cabin is the pattern of a tidy village hut.</p> - -<p>The pastor has his patch of land to till, his bit of garden -ground to tend; but on every side you find the homely folk -about him helping in his labor, each peasant in his turn, so as -to make his duties light. Presents of many kinds are made -to him—ducklings, fish, cucumbers, even shoes and wraps, as -well as angel-day offerings and benediction-fees. A priest is -so great a man in a village, that, even when he is a tipsy, idle -fellow, he is treated by his parishioners with a child-like duty -and respect. The pastor can do much to help his flock, not -only in their spiritual wants, but in their secular affairs. In -any quarrel with the police, it is of great importance to a -peasant that his priest should take his part; and the pastor -commonly takes his neighbor's part, not only because he himself -is poor, and knows the man, but because he hates all public -officers and suspects all men in power.</p> - -<p>A great day for the parish priest is that on which a child is -born in his commune.</p> - -<p>When Dimitri (the peasant living in yon big house is called -Dimitri) hears that a son has been given to him, he runs for -his priest, and Father Peter comes in stately haste to welcome -and bless the little one. Finding the baby swinging in his -liulka, Father Peter puts on his cope, unclasps his book, turns -his face to the holy icons, and begins his prayer. "Lord -God," he cries, "we beg Thee to send down the light of Thy -face upon this child, Thy servant Constantine; and be he -signed with the cross of Thy only-begotten Son. Amen."</p> - -<p>In two or three weeks the christening of little Constantine, -"servant of God," takes place. When the rite is performed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">{296}</a></span> -at home, the house has to be turned, as it were, into a chapel -for the nonce; no difficult thing, as parlor, kitchen, hall, saloon, -are decorated with the Son, the Mother, and the patron -saint. A room is set apart for the office; a rug is spread before -the sacred pictures; and on a table are laid three candles, -a fine napkin, and a glass of water from the well. A silver-gilt -basin is sent from the village church. Attended by his -reader and his deacon, each carrying a bundle, Father Peter -walks to the house, bearing a cross and singing a psalm, while -the censer is swung before him in the street.</p> - -<p>The rite then given is long and solemn, the ceremony consisting -of many parts. First comes the act of driving out the -fiends: when the pope, not yet in his perfect robes, takes up -the baby, breathes on his face, crosses him three times—on -temple, breast, and lips—and exorcises the devil and all his -imps; ending with the words, "May every evil and unclean -spirit that has taken up his abode in this infant's heart depart -from hence!" Then comes the act of renouncing the -Evil One and all his works, in the baby's name. "Dost thou -renounce the devil?" asks the pope; on which the sponsors -turn, with the child, towards the setting sun, that land of -shadows in which the Prince of Darkness is supposed to -dwell, and answer, each, "I have renounced him." "Spit on -him!" cries the pope, who jets his own saliva into a corner, -as though the devil were present in the room. The sponsors -spit in turn. Here follows the confession of faith; the sponsors -being asked whether they believe that Christ is King and -God; and, on answering that they believe in Him as King and -God, are told to fall down and worship Him as such. Next -comes the rite of baptism, when the pope puts on his brightest -robe, the parents are sent away, and the child is left to his -godfathers and godmothers. A taper is put into each sponsor's -hand; the candles near the font are lighted; incense is -flung about; the reader and deacon sing; and the pope inaudibly -recites a prayer. The water is blessed by the pope dipping -his right hand into it three times, by breathing on it, -praying over it, and signing it with the cross. He uses for -that purpose a feather which has been dipped into holy oil. -The child is anointed five times; first on the forehead, with -this phrase: "Constantine, the servant of God, is anointed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">{297}</a></span> -with the oil of gladness;" next on the chest, to heal his soul -and body; then on the two ears, to quicken his sense of the -Word; afterwards on his hands and feet, to do God's will and -walk in his way. Seized by the pope, the child is now plunged -into the font three times by rapid dips, the priest repeating -at each dip, "Constantine, the servant of God, is now baptized -in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy -Ghost." If the young Christian is not drowned in the font -(as sometimes happens), he is clad in white, he receives his -name, his guardian angel, and his cross.</p> - -<p>The rite of baptism ended, the sacrament of unction opens. -This sacrament, called the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit, -is said to represent the "laying on of hands" in the early -Christian Church. With a small feather, dipped once more -into the sacred oil, the pope again touches the baby's forehead, -chest, lips, hands, and feet, saying each time, "The seal of the -gift of the Holy Spirit;" on which reader, deacon, and priest -all break into chants of hallelujah! After unction comes the -act of sacrifice; when the child, who has nothing else of his -own to give, offers up the <i>hair of his head</i>. Taking a pair -of shears, the pope snips off the down in four places from the -baby's head, making a cross, and saying, as he cuts each piece -away, "Constantine, the servant of God, is shorn in Thy -name." The hair is thrown into the font; more litany is -sung; and the child is at length given back, fatigued and -sleepy, into his mother's arms.</p> - -<p>Ten or twelve days later, Constantine must be taken by his -mother to mass, and receive the sacrament, as a sign of his -visible acceptance in the Church. A nurse walks up the steps -before the royal gates; and when the deacon comes forward -with the cup in his hand, she goes to meet him. He takes a -small spoon and puts a drop of wine into the infant's mouth, -saying, "Constantine, the servant of God, communicates in -the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." Later in the -service, the pope himself takes up the child, and, pressing his -nose against the icons on the screen, cries, loudly, "Constantine, -the servant of God, is now received into the Church of -Christ."</p> - -<p>Not less grand a time for Father Peter is a wedding-day. -The rite is longer, and the fees are more. Old Tartar customs -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">{298}</a></span> -keep their hold on these common folk, if not on the -higher ranks, and courtship, as we understand it, is a thing -unknown. A match is made by the proposeress and the -parents, not by the youth and maiden—for in habit, if not in -law, the sexes live apart, and do not see much of each other -until the knot is tied.</p> - -<p>A servant came into the parlor of a house in which I was -staying as a guest—came in simpering and crying—to say -that she wished to leave her place. "To leave! For what -cause?"</p> - -<p>Well, she was going to be married.</p> - -<p>"Married, Maria!" cried her mistress; "when?" "The -day after next," replied the woman, shedding tears.</p> - -<p>"So soon, Maria! And what sort of man are you going to -wed?"</p> - -<p>The woman dropped her eyes. She could not say; she had -not seen him yet. The proposeress had done it all, and sent -her word to appear in church at four o'clock, the hour for -marrying persons of her class.</p> - -<p>"You really mean to take this man whom you have never -seen?"</p> - -<p>"I must," said the woman; "the prayers have been put up -in church."</p> - -<p>"Do the parish popes raise no objections to such marriages?"</p> - -<p>"No," laughed the lady. "Why should they object? A -wedding brings them fees; and in their cabins you will find -more children than kopecks."</p> - -<p>The livings held by the parish clergy are not rich. Some -few city holdings may be worth three or four hundred pounds -a year; these are the prizes. Few of the country pastors have -an income, over and above the kitchen-garden and plough of -land, exceeding forty or fifty pounds a year. The city priest, -like the country priest, has neither rank nor power in the -Church. The only chance for an ambitious man is, that his -wife may die; in which event he can take the vows, put on -cowl and frock, obtain a career, become a fellow in the corporation -of monks, and rise, if he be daring, supple, and -adroit, to high places in his church.</p> - -<p>That the parish priests are not content with their position, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">{299}</a></span> -is one of those open secrets in the Church which every day -become more difficult to keep. As married men, they feel -that they are needlessly depressed in public esteem, and that -the higher offices in the system should lie open to them no -less than to the monks. Being many in number, rich in learning, -intimate with the people, they ought to be strong in favor; -yet through the craft of their black rivals, they have -been left, not only without the right of meeting, but without -the means of making their voices heard. The peasant was -never beaten down so low in the scale of life as his parish -priest; for the serf had always his communal meeting, his -choice of elders, his right of speech, and his faculty of appeal. -The parish priests expect a change; they expect it, not from -within the clerical body, but from without; not from a synod -of monks, but from a married and reforming Tsar.</p> - -<p>This change is coming on; a great and healing revolution; -an act of emancipation for the working clergy, not less striking -and beneficent than the act of emancipation for the toiling -serfs.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER LVII.<br /> - -<span class="small">A CONSERVATIVE REVOLUTION.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">In</span> the great conflict between monks and parish priests, the -ignorant classes side with the monks, the educated classes -with the parish priests.</p> - -<p>The Black Clergy, having no wives and children, stand -apart from the world, and hold a doctrine hostile to the family -spirit. Their rivals—though they have faults, from which -the clergy in countries more advanced are free—are educated -and social beings; and taking them man for man through all -their grades, it is impossible to deny that the parish priests -are vastly superior to the monks.</p> - -<p>Yet the White Clergy occupied (until 1869) a place in -every way inferior to the Black. They were an isolated -caste; they held no certain rank; they could not rise in the -Church; they exercised no power in her councils. Once a -priest, a man was a priest forever. A monk might live to be -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">{300}</a></span> -Rector, Archimandrite, Bishop, and Metropolite. Not so a -married priest; the round of whose duty was confined to his -parish work—to christening infants, to confessing women, to -marrying lovers, to reading prayers for the dead, to saying -mass, to collecting fees, and quarrelling with the peasants -about his tithe. A monk directed his education; a monk appointed -him to his cure of souls; a monk inspected his labor, -and loaded him with either praise or blame. A body of -monks could drive him from his parish church; throw him -into prison; utterly destroy the prospects of his life.</p> - -<p>Great changes have been made in the present year; changes -of deeper moment to the nation than any thing effected in the -Church since the reforms of Peter the Great.</p> - -<p>This work of reform was started by the Emperor throwing -open the clerical service to all the world, and putting an end -to that customary succession of father and son as popes. -Down to this year, the clergy has been a class apart, a sacred -body, a Levitical order—in brief, a <i>caste</i>. Russia had her -priestly families, like the Tartars and the Jews; and all the -sons of a pope were bound to enter into the Church. This -Oriental usage has been broken through. The clergy has -been freed from a galling yoke, and the service has been opened -to every one who may acquire the learning and enjoy the -call. Young men, who would otherwise have been forced to -take orders, will now be able to live by trade; the crowd of -clerical idlers will melt away; and many a poor student with -brains will be drawn into the spiritual ranks. This great reform -is being carried forward less by edicts which would -fret the consciences of ignorant men than by the application -of general rules. To wit: a question has arisen whether, under -this open system, the old rule of "once a priest, always a -priest," holds good. It is a serious question, not for individuals -only, but for the clerical society; and the monks have -been moving heaven and earth to have their rule of "once a -priest, always a priest" confirmed. But they have failed. -No rule has been laid down in words, but a precedent has -been laid down in fact.</p> - -<p>Father Goumilef, a parish priest in the town of Riazan, applies -for leave to give up his frock and re-enter the world. -Count Tolstoi, Minister of Education, and the Emperor's personal -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">{301}</a></span> -representative in the Holy Governing Synod, persuades -that body to support Goumilef's prayer. On the 12th of -November (Oct. 31, O.S.)—a red-letter day henceforth in -the Russian calendar—the Emperor signs his release; allowing -Goumilef to return from the clerical to the secular life. -All his rights as a citizen are restored, and he is free to enter -the public service in any province of the empire, save only -that of Riazan, in which he has served the altar as a parish -priest.</p> - -<p>Connected with the abolition of caste came the new laws -regulating the standing of a parish priest's children—laws -conceived in a most gracious spirit. All sons of a parish -priest are in future to rank as nobles; sons of a deacon are -to be accounted gentlemen; sons of readers are to rank as -burghers.</p> - -<p>In his task of raising the parish clergy to a higher level, -the reforming Emperor has found a tower of strength in Innocent, -the noticeable man who occupies, in Troitsa, the Archimandrite's -chair, in Moscow, the Metropolite's throne.</p> - -<p>Innocent passed his early years as a married priest in Siberia—doing, -in the wild countries around the shores of Lake -Baikal, genuine missionary work. A noble wife went with -him to and fro; heaven blessed him with children; and the -father learned how to speak with effect to sire and son. -Thousands of converts blessed the devoted pair. At length -the woman fainted by the way, and Innocent was left to -mourn her loss; but not alone; their children remained to be -his pride and stay.</p> - -<p>When the Holy Governing Synod raised the missionary -region of Irkutsk into a bishop's see, the crozier was forced -upon Innocent by events. Already known as the Apostle of -Siberia, the synod could do little more than note the fact, and -give him official rank. Of course, a mitre implied a cowl and -gown; but Innocent, though his wife was dead, refused to become -a monk. In stronger words than he was wont to use, -he urged that the exclusion of married popes from high office -in the priesthood was a custom, not a canon, of his Church. -To every call from the monks he answered that every man -should be called to labor in the vineyard of the Lord according -to his gifts. He yielded for the sake of peace; but -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">{302}</a></span> -though he took the vows, he held to his views on clerical celibacy, -and the White Clergy had now a bishop to whom they -could look up as a worthy champion of their cause.</p> - -<p>On the death of Philaret, two years ago, this friend of the -White Clergy was chosen by the Emperor to take his seat; -so that now the actual Archimandrite of Troitsa, and Metropolite -of Moscow, though he wears the cowl, is looked -upon in Church society as a supporter of the married priests.</p> - -<p>By happy chance, a first step had been taken towards one -great reform by Philaret, in raising to the chair of Rector of -the Ecclesiastical Academy of Moscow a priest who was not -a monk.</p> - -<p>Forty miles to the north of Moscow rises a table-land, on -the edge of which is built a convent dedicated to the Holy -Trinity, called in Russian, Troitsa. This convent is said to -be the richest in the world; not only in sacred dust and miraculous -images, but in cups and coffers, in wands and crosses, -in lamps and crowns. The shrine of St. Sergie, wrought -in the purest silver, weighs a thousand pounds; and in the -same cathedral with St. Sergie's shrine there is a relievo of -the Last Supper, in which all the figures, save that of Judas, -are of finest gold. But these costly gauds are not the things -which draw pilgrims to the Troitsa. They come to kneel before -that Talking Madonna which, once upon a time, held -speech with Serapion, a holy monk. They crowd round that -portrait of St. Nicolas, which was struck by a shot from a -Polish siege-gun, in the year of tribulation, when the Poles -had made themselves masters of Moscow and the surrounding -plains. They come still more to kiss the forehead of St. -Sergie, the self-denying monk, who founded the convent, and -blessed the banner of Dimitri, before that prince set forth on -his campaign against the Tartar hordes on the Don. St. -Sergie is the defense of his country, and his grave in the convent -has never been polluted by the footprint of a foe. Often -as Moscow fell, the Troitsa remained inviolate ground. -The Tartars never reached it. Twice, if not more, the Poles -advanced against it; once with a mighty power, and the will -to reduce it, cost them what lives it might. They lay before -it sixteen months, and had to retire from before the walls at -last. The French under Napoleon wished to seize it, and a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">{303}</a></span> -body of troops was sent to the attack; but the saintly presence -which had driven off the Poles was too much for the -French. The troops returned, and the virgin convent stood.</p> - -<p>These miracles of defense have given a vast celebrity to -the saint, who has come to be thought not only holy himself, -but a cause of holiness in others. On the way from Moscow -to Troitsa stands the hamlet of Hotkoff, in which lies the -dust of Sergie's father and mother; over whose tombs a -church and convent have been built. Every pilgrim on the -road to Troitsa stops at this convent and adores their bones. -"Have you been to Troitsa before?" we heard a pilgrim ask -his fellow, as they trudged along the road. "Yes, thanks be -to God." "Has Sergie given you what you came to seek?" -"Well, no, not all." "Then you neglected to stop at Hotkoff -and adore his parents; he was angry with you." "Perhaps; -God knows. It may be so. Next time I will go to Hotkoff. -Overlook my sin!" A railway has been made from Moscow -to Troitsa, and the lazy herd of pilgrims go by train. The -better sort still march along the dirty road, and count their -beads in front of the wooden chapels and many rich crosses, -as of old. St. Sergie has gained in wealth, and lost in credit, -by the convenience offered to pilgrims in the railway line.</p> - -<p>In the centre of this fortress and sanctuary the monks -erected an academy, in which priests were to be trained for -their future work. A young man lives in it under Troitsa -rule, and leaves it with the Troitsa brand. The rector is a -man of rank in the church, equal to the Master of Trinity -among ourselves. Until the day when Philaret brought Father -Gorski into office, his post had always been filled by an -Archimandrite. Now Father Gorski was a learned man, a -good writer, and a great authority on points of church antiquity -and ceremonial. Great in reputation, he was also advanced -in years. Some objected to him on the ground that -he was not a monk; but his fame as a learned man, his noticeable -piety, and his nearness with the Metropolite, carried -him through. Even the monks forgave him when they found -that he lived, like themselves, a secluded and cloistered life.</p> - -<p>They hardly saw how much they were giving up in that -early fight; for this man of monk-like habit had not taken -vows; and in one of the strongholds of their power they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">{304}</a></span> -were placing the education of their clergy in charge of a parish -priest!</p> - -<p>A second step in the line of march has been taken in the -nomination of a married pope to the post of Rector of the -Ecclesiastical Academy of St. Petersburg. Father Yanycheff -is this new rector; and Father Yanycheff's wife is still -alive. This call of a married man to such a chair has fired the -Church with hope and fear—the White Clergy looking on it -with surprise and joy, the Black Clergy with amazement and -despair.</p> - -<p>Dr. Yanycheff—in whose person the fight is raging between -these benedicts and celibates—is a young priest, who -was educated in the academy, until he took his degree of doctor, -on which he was placed in the chair of theology at the -University of St. Petersburg. In that chair he became popular; -his lectures being eloquent, his manners easy, and his -opinions liberal. Some of the sleepy old prelates took alarm. -Yanycheff, they said, was exciting his pupils; he was telling -them to read and think; and the sleepy old prelates could -see no good in such exercises of the brain. Reading and -thinking lead men into doubt, and doubt is the plague by -which souls are lost. They moved the Holy Governing Synod -to interfere, and on the synod interfering, the professor resigned -his chair. Resolved on keeping his conscience free, -he married, and accepted the office of pope in a city on the -Rhine. His intellectual worth was widely known; and when, -in process of time, a teacher was required for the young Princess -Dagmar, a man skillful in languages and arts, as well as -learned and liberal, Dr. Yanycheff, was chosen for the task of -preparing the imperial bride. The way in which he discharged -his delicate office brought him into favor with the -great; and on his return to his own country with the princess, -Count Tolstoi got him appointed rector of the academy—a -position of highest trust in the Church, since it gives -him a leading influence in the education of future popes.</p> - -<p>The monks are all aghast; the Holy Governing Synod protests; -and even the Metropolite refuses to recognize this act. -But Count Tolstoi is firm, and the synod knows but too well -how the enemy stands at court. Yanycheff, on his side, has -been prudent; and the wonder caused by his nomination is -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">{305}</a></span> -sensibly dying down. Meantime, people are getting used to -the idea of a man with wife and child conducting the education -of their future parish priests.</p> - -<p>Once launched on a career of clerical reform, the court has -moved with regular, if with cautious strides. All men can -see that the first work to be done is to be done in the schoolroom -and the college; for in Russia, as elsewhere, the teachers -make the taught; and as the rectors train the priests, -ideas prevalent in the rectorial chairs will come in a few -years to be the paramount views of the Church.</p> - -<p>A law has recently been passed by the Council of State, and -promulgated by the Emperor, which deals the hardest blow -yet suffered by the monks; a law taking away the right of -nominating rectors of seminaries and academies from the -archbishops, and vesting it in a board of teachers and professors; -subject only to approval—which may soon become a -thing of course—by the higher spiritual powers. This law is -opposed by all the convents and their chiefs; even Innocent, -though friendly to the married clergy, stands, on this point, -with his class.</p> - -<p>A first election under this new law has just occurred in -Moscow. When the law was published, Prof. Nicodemus, -holding the chair of Rector in the Ecclesiastical Seminary of -Moscow, sent in his resignation, on the ground that his position -was become that of a rector on sufferance. Every one -felt that by resigning his chair he was doing a noble thing; -and if it had been possible for a monk to get a majority of -votes in an open board, Nicodemus would, on that account, -have been the popular choice. But no man wearing a cowl -and gown had any chance. The contest lay between two -married priests: Father Blagorazumof, a teacher in the seminary, -and Father Smirnof, editor of the Orthodox Review. -Innocent took some part against Father Smirnof, whose writings -he did not like; and Father Blagorazumof was elected -to the vacant chair.</p> - -<p>What has been done in Moscow will probably be done in -other cities; so that in twenty years from the present time -the education of youths for the ministry will have fallen entirely -into the hands of married men.</p> - -<p>The same principle of election has been applied to the appointment -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">{306}</a></span> -of rural deans. These officers were formerly -named by the bishop, according to his sole will and pleasure. -Now, by imperial order, they are elected by deputies from -the parish priests.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER LVIII.<br /> - -<span class="small">SECRET POLICE.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> new principle of referring things to a popular vote is -coming into play on every side; nowhere in a form more -striking than in the courts of law. Some twenty years ago -the administration of justice was the darkest blot on Russian -life.</p> - -<p>What the Emperor had to meet and put away, on this side -of his government, was a colossal evil.</p> - -<p>In a country over which the prince has to rule as well as -reign, a good many men must have a share in the exercise of -irresponsible and imperial power—more perhaps than would -have to divide the beneficent authority of a constitutional -king. A prince has only two eyes, two ears, and two hands. -The circle which he can see, and hear, and reach, is drawn -closely round his person, and in all that he would do beyond -that line he must act through an intelligence other than his -own; and for the blunders of this second self he has to bear -the blame.</p> - -<p>The parties who exercise this power in the imperial name -are the secret police and the provincial governors, general and -local.</p> - -<p>The secret police have an authority which knows no bounds, -save that of the Emperor's direct command. They have a -province of their own, apart from, and above, all other provinces -in the state. Their chief, Count Shouvalof, is the first -functionary of the empire, the only man who has a right of -audience by day and night. In Eastern nations rank is -measured in no small degree by a person's right of access to -the sovereign. Now, the right of audience in the winter palace -is governed by the clearest rules. Ordinary ministers of -the crown—home office, education, finance—can only see the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">{307}</a></span> -Emperor once a week. Greater ministers—war and foreign -affairs—can see him once a day, but only at certain stated -hours. A minister of police can walk into his cabinet any -hour of the day, into his bedroom any hour of the night.</p> - -<p>Not many years ago the power of this minister was equal -to his rank at court; in home affairs he was supreme; and -many a poor ruler found himself at once his tool and dupe. -Much of this power has now been lodged in courts of law, -over which the police have no control; but over and beyond -the law, a vast reserve is left with the police, who can still -revise a sentence, and, as an "administrative measure," send -a man into exile who has been acquitted by the courts.</p> - -<p>While I was staying at Archangel, an actor and actress -were brought from St. Petersburg in a tarantass, set down in -the grass-grown square, near the poet's pedestal, and told to -shift for themselves, though they were on no account to quit -the town without the governor's pass. No one could tell -what they had done. Their lips were closed; the newspapers -were silent; but a thousand tongues were busy with their -tale; and the likelier story seemed to be, that they had been -playing a part in some drama of actual life. Clandestine -marriages are not so rare in Russia as they are in England -and the United States. Young princes love to run away with -dancers, singers, and their like. Now these exiles in the -North country were said to have been concerned in a runaway -match, by which the pride of a powerful family had been -stung; and since it was impossible to punish the offending -parties, these poor artists had been whisked off their tinsel -thrones in order to appease a parent's wounded pride. The -man and woman were not man and wife; but care for such -loss of fame as a pretty woman might undergo by riding in a -tarantass, day and night, twelve hundred versts, through a -wild country, with a man who was not her spouse, seems never -to have troubled the director of police. Stage heroines have -no character in official eyes. There they were, in the North; -and there they would have to stay, until the real offenders -should be able to make their peace, whether they could manage -to live in that city of trade, as honest folks should live, or not. -Clever in their art, they opened a barn long closed, and the -parlors of Archangel were agog with glee. What they performed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">{308}</a></span> -could hardly be called a play. Two persons make a -poor company, and these artists were of no high rank. They -just contrived to keep their visitors awake by doing easy -tricks in magic, and by acting short scenes from some of the -naughtiest pieces in the world. It is to be hoped, on every -ground, that the angry gods may be appeased, that the hero -and heroine of this comedy may come back to the great city -in which their talents are better known.</p> - -<p>These actors were sent from the capital on a simple order -from the police. They have not been tried; they have not -been heard in defense; they have not been told the nature of -their crime. An agent drove to their door in a drojki, asked -to see So-and-so, and on going up, said, in tones which only -the police can use: "Get ready; in three hours we start—for -Archangel." Young or aged, male or female, the victim in -such a case must snatch up what he can, follow his captor to -the street, get into his drojki, and obey in silence the invisible -powers. Not a word can be said in bar of his sentence; -no court will open its doors to his appeal; no judge can hear -his case.</p> - -<p>Their case is far from being a rare one. In the same -streets of Archangel you meet a lady of middle age, who has -been exiled from St. Petersburg on simple suspicion of being -concerned in seducing students of the university from their -allegiance to the country and the Church.</p> - -<p>Following in the wake of other changes, some reforms have -been made in the universities; made, on the whole, in a liberal -and pacific sense. Nicolas put the students into uniform; -hung swords in their belts; and gave them a certain standing -in the public eye, as officers of the crown. They were his -servants; and as his servants they enjoyed some rights which -they dearly prized. They ranked as nobles. They had their -own police. They stood apart, as a separate corporation; and, -whether they sang through the street or sat in the play-house, -they appeared in public as a corporate body, and always in -the front. But the reforming Emperor seeks to restore these -civilian youths to the habits of civil life. Their swords have -been hung up, their uniforms laid aside, their right of singing -songs and damning plays in a body put away. All these distinctions -are now abolished; and, like other civilians, the students -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">{309}</a></span> -have been placed under the city police and the ordinary -courts.</p> - -<p>These changes are unpopular with the students, who imagine -that their dignity has been lessened by stripping them of -uniform and sword; and some of these young men, professing -all the while republican and communistic creeds, are -clamoring for their class distinctions, and even hankering for -the times when they were "servants of the Tsar."</p> - -<p>In the month of March (1869) some noisy meetings of these -young men took place. The Emperor heard of them, and -sent for Trepof, his first master of police—a man of shrewd -wit and generous temper, under whom the police have become -all but popular. "What do these students want?" his Majesty -began. "Two things," replied the master; "bread and -state." "Bread?" exclaimed the Emperor. "Yes," said -the master; "many of them are poor; with empty bellies, -active brains, and saucy tongues."</p> - -<p>"What can be done for them, poor fellows?"</p> - -<p>"A few purses, sire, would keep them quiet; twenty thousand -rubles now, and promise of a yearly grant in aid of poor -students." "Let it be so," said the prince.</p> - -<p>These rubles were sent at once to the rector and professors -to dispense, according to their knowledge of the students' -needs; but, unluckily, the rector and professors treated the -imperial gift as a bit of personal patronage, and they gave -the purses to each others' sons and nephews, lads who could -well afford to pay their fees. The students called fresh meetings, -talked much nonsense, and drew up an appeal to the -people, written in a florid and offensive style.</p> - -<p>Treating the Government as an equal power, these madcaps -printed what they called an ultimatum of four articles: (1.) -they demanded the right of establishing a students' club; (2.) -the right of meeting and addressing the Government as a corporate -body; (3.) the control of all purses and scholarships -given to poor students; (4.) the abolition of university fees. -Following these articles came an appeal to the people for support -against the minions of the crown!</p> - -<p>A party in the state—the enemies of reform—were said to -have raised a fund for the purpose of corrupting these young -men; and this party were suspected of employing the agency -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">{310}</a></span> -of clever women in carrying out their plans. It was not easy -to detect these female plotters at their work, for the revolution -they were trying to bring about was made with smiles and -banter over cups of tea; but ladies were arrested in several -streets, and the lady to be seen in Archangel was one of these -victims—exiled on "suspicion" of having been concerned in -printing the appeal.</p> - -<p>When she came into exile every one was amazed; she seemed -so weak and broken; she showed so little spirit; and when -people talked with her they found she had none of the talents -necessary for intrigue. The comedy of government by "suspicion" -stood confessed. Here was a prince, the idol of his -country, armed in his mail of proof, surrounded by a million -bayonets, not to speak of artillery, cavalry, and ships; and -there was a frail creature, fifty years old, with neither beauty, -followers, nor fortune to promote her views: in such a foe, -what could the Emperor be supposed to fear?</p> - -<p>A young writer of some talent in St. Petersburg, one Dimitri -Pisareff, was bathing in the sea near his summer-house, -and, getting beyond his depth, was drowned. The young man -was a politician, and, having caused much scandal by his writings, -he had passed some years in the fortress of St. Peter and -St. Paul. Freed by the Emperor, he resumed his pen. After -his death, Pavlenkoff, a bookseller in the city, who admired -his talents, and thought he had served his country, opened a -subscription among his readers for the purpose of erecting a -stone above the young author's grave. The secret police took -notice of the fact, and as Dimitri Pisareff was one of the -names in their black list, they understood this effort to do him -honor as a public censure of their zeal. Pavlenkoff was arrested -in his shop, put into a cart, and, with neither charge -nor hearing, driven to the province of Viatka, twelve hundred -versts from home. That poor bookseller still remains -in exile.</p> - -<p>A more curious case is that of Gierst, a young novelist of -mark, who began, in the year 1868, to publish in a monthly -magazine, called "Russian Notes" ("Otetchestvenniva Zapiski"), -a romance which he called "Old and Young Russia." -The opening chapters showed that his tale was likely to be -clever; bold in thought and brilliant in style. Gierst took -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">{311}</a></span> -the part of Young Russia against Old Russia, and his chapters -were devoured by youths in all the colleges and schools. -Every one began to talk of the story, and to discuss the questions -raised by it—men and things in the past, in contrast -with the hopes and talents of the present reign. The police -took part with the elders; and when the novelist who made -the stir could not be answered with argument, they silenced -him by a midnight call. An officer came to his lodgings with -the usual order to depart at once. Away sped the horses, he -knew not whither—driving on night and day, until they arrived -at Totma, one of the smaller towns in the province of -Vologda, nine hundred versts from St. Petersburg. There he -was tossed out of his cart, and told to remain until fresh orders -came from the minister of police.</p> - -<p>None of Gierst's friends, at first, knew where he was. His -rooms in St. Petersburg were empty; he had gone away; and -the only trace which he had left behind was the tale of a domestic, -who had seen him carried off. No one dared to ask -about him. Reference to him in the journals was forbidden; -and the public only learned from the non-appearance of his -story in the "Notes" that the police had somehow interfered -with the free exercise of his pen. The letters which he wrote -to the papers were laid aside as being too dangerous for the -public eye; and it was only by a ruse that he conveyed to his -readers the knowledge of his whereabouts.</p> - -<p>Gierst sent to the editor of "Notes" a letter of apology for -the interruption of his tale. He merely said it would not be -carried farther for the present; and the police raised no objection -to the publication of this letter in the "Notes." They -overlooked the date which the letter bore; and the one word -"Totma" told the public all.</p> - -<p>The world enjoyed a laugh at the police; and the irritated -officials tried to vent their rage on the young wit who had -proved that they were fools. Gierst remains an exile at Totma, -and the public still awaits the story from his hands. But -a thousand novels, rich in art and red in spirit, could not have -touched the public conscience like the haunting memory of -this unfinished tale.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">{312}</a></div> - - -<h2>CHAPTER LIX.<br /> - -<span class="small">PROVINCIAL RULERS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Russia</span> is divided into provinces, each of which is ruled by -a governor and a vice-governor named by the crown.</p> - -<p>A dozen years ago the governor and his lieutenant was each -a petty Tsar—doing what he pleased in his department, and -answering only now and then, like a Turkish pasha, by forfeiture -of office, for the public good. Charged with the maintenance -of public order, he was armed with a power as terrible -as that of the imperial police—the right to suspect his neighbor -of discontent, and act on this bare suspicion as though the -fault were proved in a court of law. In England and the -United States the word suspicion has lost its use, and well-nigh -lost its sense. Our officers of police are not permitted -to "suspect" a thief. They must either take him in the fact -or leave him alone. From Calais to Perm, however, the word -"suspicion" is still a name of fear; for in all the countries -lying between the English Channel and the Ural Mountains, -"ordre superieure" is a force to which rights of man and -courts of law must equally give way.</p> - -<p>The governor, or vice-governor, of a Russian province, -representing his sovereign lord, might find, or fancy that he -found, some reason to suspect a man of disaffection to the -crown. He might be wrong, he might even be absurdly -wrong. The man might be loyal as himself; might even be -in a position to prove that loyalty in open court; and yet his -innocence would avail him nothing. Proofs are idle when -the courts are not open to appeal; and judges have no power -to hear the facts. "Done by superior orders," was the answer -to all cries and protests. A resistless power was about -his feet, and he was swept away by a force from which there -was no appeal—not even to the ruling prince; and the victim -of an erring, perhaps a malicious, governor, had no resource -against the wrong, except in resignation to what might seem -to be the will of God.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">{313}</a></span> -The men who could use and abuse this terrible power were -many. Russia is divided into forty-nine provinces, besides -the kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Finland, the -Empire of Siberia, the khanates and principalities of the Caucasus. -In these forty-nine provinces the governors and vice-governors -had the power to exile any body on mere suspicion -of political discontent. In other regions of the empire this -power was even more diffused than it was in the purely Russian -districts. Taking all the Russians in one mass, there -can hardly have been less than two hundred men (excluding -the police) who could seize a citizen in the name of public -order, and condemn him, unheard, to live in any part of the -empire from the Persian frontiers to the Polar Sea.</p> - -<p>The Princess V——, a native of Podolia, young, accomplished, -wealthy, was loved by all her friends, adored by all -the young men of her province. One happy youth possessed -her heart, and this young man was worthy of the fortune he -had won. Their days of courtship passed, and they were -looking forward to the day when they would wear together -their sacred crowns; but then an unseen agent crossed their -path and broke their hearts. Some days before their betrothal -should have taken place, an officer of police appeared -at the lover's door with a peremptory order for him to quit -Poltava for the distant government of Perm. Taken from -his house at a moment's notice, he was hurried to the general -office of police, where his papers were made out, and, being put -into a common cart, he was whisked away in the company of -two gendarmes. A month was occupied in his journey; two -or three months elapsed before his friends in Podolia knew -that he was safe. He found a friend in the mountain town, by -whom his life as an exile was made a little less rugged than -it might have been. An advocate was won for him at court; -the senate was moved, though cautiously, in his behalf; and -at the end of two years his tormentor was persuaded to relax -his grip. But though he was suffered to leave his place of -banishment, he was forbidden to return to his native town.</p> - -<p>The princess kept her faith to him—staying in Podolia -while he was still at Perm; living down the suspicions in -which they were both involved—and joined him at St. Petersburg -so soon as he got leave to enter that city. There -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">{314}</a></span> -they were married, and there I met them in society. Not a -cloud is on their fame. They are free to go and come, except -that they must not live in their native town. No power save -that which sent the bridegroom into exile can recall them to -their home. Yet down to this hour the gentleman has never -been able to ascertain the nature of his offense.</p> - -<p>In time the country will free herself from this Asiatic abuse -of power. With bold but cautious hand the Emperor has -felt his way. His governors of provinces have been told to -act with prudence; not to think of sending men into exile -unless the case is flagrant, and only then after reference of all -the facts to St. Petersburg.</p> - -<p>Some dozen years ago, before the new reforms had taken -hold, and officers in the public service had come to count on -the appeal being heard, a case occurred which allows one to -give, in the form of an anecdote, a picture of the evils now -being slowly rooted out. Count A——, a young vice-governor, -fresh from college, came to live in a certain town of -the Black Soil country. Fond of dogs and horses, fond of -wines and dinners, the young gentleman found his official income -far below his wants. He took "his own" (what Russian -officials used to call vzietka) from every side; for he -loved to keep his house open, his stable full, his card-room -merry; and a nice house, a good stable, and a merry card-room, -cost a good many rubles in the year. He was lucky -with his cards—luckier, some losers said, than a perfectly -honest player should be; yet the two ends of his income and -his outgo never could be made to meet.</p> - -<p>The treasurer of the town was Andrew Ivanovitch Gorr, a -man of peasant birth, who had been sent to college, and, after -taking a good degree, had been put into the civil service, -where, by his soft ways, his patient deference to those above -him, and his perfect loyalty to his trust, he had risen to the -post of treasurer in this provincial town.</p> - -<p>Count A—— called Andrew into his chamber, and bade -him, with a careless gesture, pay a small debt for him. Andrew -bowed, and waited for the rubles. A—— just waived -him off; but seeing that he would not take the hint, the count -said, "Yes, yes, pay the debt; we will arrange it in the afternoon." -Then Andrew paid the money, and in less than a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">{315}</a></span> -week he was asked to pay again. From week to week he -went on paying, with due submission to his chief, but with -an inward doubt as to whether this paying would come out -well. Twice or thrice the count was good enough to speak -of his affairs, and even to name a day when the money which -he was taking from the public coffers should be replaced. -In the mean time the debt was every week increasing in -amount; so that the provincial chest was all but drained to -pay the vice-governor's personal debts.</p> - -<p>Andrew was in despair, for the day was fast coming round -when the Imperial auditors would come to revise his books -and count the money in his box. Unless the fund was restored -before they came he would be lost; for the balance -was in his charge, and the count could hardly cover his default. -On Andrew telling his wife what he had been drawn, -by his habit of obeying orders, into doing, he was urged by -that sage adviser to go at once to the governor and beg him -to replace the cash before the auditors arrived.</p> - -<p>"The auditors will come next week?" asked A——. "All -will be well. I will send a messenger to my estates. In five -days he will come back, and the money shall be paid. Prepare -a draft of the account, and bring it to my house, with -the proper receipt and seal."</p> - -<p>On the fifth day the auditors arrived, a little before their -time; and being eager to push on, they named the next morning, -at ten o'clock, for going into the accounts. The treasurer -ran to the palace, and saw the count in his public room, -surrounded by his secretaries. "It is well," he said to Andrew, -with his pleasant smile; "the messenger has come -back with the money; bring the paper and the receipt to my -smoking-room at ten o'clock to-night, and we'll put the account -to rights."</p> - -<p>Andrew was at his door by ten o'clock with the statement -of his debts, and a receipt for the money. "Yes," said the -count, dropping his eye down the line of figures, "the account -is just—fifteen thousand seven hundred rubles. Let -me look at the receipt. Yes, that is well drawn. You deserve -to be promoted, Andrew! Talents like yours are lost -in a provincial town. You ought to be a minister of state! -Oblige me by asking my man to come in."</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">{316}</a></span> -A servant entered.</p> - -<p>"Go up to the madame, and ask her if she can come down -stairs for a moment," said the count. The servant slipped -away, and the count, while waiting for his return, made many -jokes and pleasantries, so that the time ran swiftly past. He -kept the papers in his hand.</p> - -<p>When Andrew saw that it was near eleven o'clock, he ventured -to ask if the man was not long in coming. "Long," -exclaimed the vice-governor, starting up, "an age. Where -can the fellow be? He must have fallen asleep on the stairs."</p> - -<p>Going out of the room in search of him, the count closed -the door behind him, saying, "Wait a few minutes; I will go -myself." Andrew sat still as a stone. He noticed that the -count had taken with him the schedule of debts and the -signed receipt. He felt uneasy in his mind. He stared about -the room, and counted the beatings of the clock. His head -grew hot; his heart was beating with a throb that could be -heard. No other sound broke the night; and when he opened -the door and put his ear to the passage, the silence seemed -to him like that of a crypt.</p> - -<p>The clock struck twelve.</p> - -<p>Leaping up from his stupor, he banged the door and shouted -up the stairs, but no one answered him; and snatching a -fearful daring from his misery, he ran along several corridors -until he tripped and fell over a man in a great fur cloak. -"Get up, and show me to the vice-governor's room," said -Andrew fiercely, on which the domestic shook his cloak -and rubbed his eyes. "The vice-governor's room?" "Yes, -fellow; come, be quick." The man led him back to the room -he had left; which was, in fact, the private reception-room. -"Stay here, and I will seek him." Shortly the man returned -with news that his master was in bed. "In bed!" cried -Andrew, more and more excited; "go to him again, and ask -him if he has forgotten me. Tell him I am waiting his return." -A minute later he came back to say the count was -fast asleep, and that his valet dared not wake him for the -world. "Asleep!" groaned the poor treasurer; "you must -awake him. I can not leave without seeing him. It is the -Emperor's service, and will not wait."</p> - -<p>At the Emperor's name the servant said he would try -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">{317}</a></span> -again. An hour of misery went by before he came to say -the count was in bed, and would not see him. If he had business -to transact, he must come another day, and at the reception -hour.</p> - -<p>In a moment Andrew was at the count's door and in his -room, to which the noise brought up a dozen people. "What -is this tumult all about?" frowned the count, rising sharply in -his bed. "Tumult!" said Andrew, waxing hot with terror; -"I want the rubles." "Rubles!" said the count, with feigned -astonishment; "what rubles do you mean?" "The rubles -we have taken from the provincial coffer." "That we have -taken from the coffer! We? What we? What rubles? -Go to bed, man, and forget your dreams."</p> - -<p>"Then give me back my paper and receipt."</p> - -<p>"Paper and receipt!" said the count, with affected pity; -"look to him well. See him safe home; and tell his wife to -look that he does not wander in his sleep. He might fall into -the river in such fits. Look to him;" and the vice-governor -fell back upon his pillow as the servant bowed.</p> - -<p>Put to the door, and left to seek his way, the treasurer felt -that he was lost. The count, he saw, would swear and forswear. -Even if he confessed his fault to the auditors, telling -them how he had been persuaded against his duty, the count -could produce his receipt in proof that the funds had been repaid.</p> - -<p>Going back to his office, he sat down on a stool, and after -looking at his books and papers once again, to see that the -whole night's work was not a dream, as the count had said, -he took up his pen and wrote a history of his affairs.</p> - -<p>Restless in her bed, his wife got up to seek him; and knowing -that he was busy with his accounts, and would be likely -to stay late with his chief, she went into his office, where the -light was burning dimly on the desk—to find him hanging -from a beam. Piercing the air with her cries, she brought -in a crowd of people, some of whom cut down the body, -while others ran for the doctor. He was dead.</p> - -<p>Like an Oriental, he killed himself in order that, in his -death, he might punish the man whom he could not touch in -life.</p> - -<p>The paper which he left on his desk was open, and as many -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">{318}</a></span> -persons saw it in part, and still more knew of its existence, -the matter could not be hushed up, even though the vice-governor -had been twenty times a count. The people cried -for justice on the culprit; and by orders from St. Petersburg -the count was relieved of his office, arrested on the charge of -abusing a public trust, and placed on his defense before a secret -commission in the town over which he had lately reigned.</p> - -<p>The Emperor, it is said, was anxious to send him to the -mines, from which so many nobler men had recently come -away; but the interest of his family was great at court; the -secret commission was a friendly one; and he escaped with -the sentence of perpetual dismissal from the public service—not -a light sentence to a man who is at once a beggar and a -count.</p> - -<p>Alexander, feeling for the widow of his dead servant, ordered -the pension which would have been due to her husband to -be paid to her for life.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER LX.<br /> - -<span class="small">OPEN COURTS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Offenses</span> like those of A—— (some twelve years old), -in which a great offense was proved, yet justice was defeated -more than half, in spite of the imperial wishes, led the council -of state into considering how far it would be well to replace -the secret commissions by regular courts of law.</p> - -<p>The public benefits of such a change were obvious. Justice -would be done, with little or no respect to persons; and -the Emperor would be relieved from his direct and personal -action in the punishment of crime. But what the public -gained the circles round the prince were not unlikely to lose; -and these court circles raised a cry against this project of reform. -"The obstacles," they said, "were vast. Except in -Moscow and St. Petersburg, no lawyers could be found; the -code was cumbrous and imperfect; and the public was unprepared -for such a change. If it was difficult to find judges, -it was impossible to find jurors." Listening to every one, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">{319}</a></span> -and weighing facts, the Emperor held his own. He got reports -drawn up; he won his opponents over one by one; and -in 1865 the council of state was ready with a volume of legal -reform, as vast and noble as his plan for emancipating serfs.</p> - -<p>Courts of justice were to be open in every province, and all -these courts of justice were to be public courts. Trained -judges were to preside. The system of written evidence was -abolished. A prisoner was to be charged in a formal act; he -was to see the witnesses face to face; he was to have the -right, in person or by his counsel, of questioning those witnesses -on points of fact. A jury was to decide the question -of guilt or innocence. The judges were to be paid by the -crown, and were on no pretext whatever to receive a fee. A -juror was to be a man of means—a trader, a well-off peasant, -an officer of not less than five hundred rubles a year. A majority -of jurors was to decide.</p> - -<p>The Imperial code was brought into harmony with these -new methods of procedure. Capital punishment was abolished -for civil crimes; Siberia was exchanged for the club and the -axe; Archangel and the Caucasus were substituted for the -mines. The Tartar punishments of beating, flogging, running -the ranks, were stopped at once, and every branch of criminal -treatment was brought up—in theory, at least—to the level -of England and the United States.</p> - -<p>Term by term this new system of trial by judge and jury, -instead of by secret commissions, is now being introduced -into all the larger towns. I have watched the working of -this new system in several provinces; but give an account, by -preference, of a trial in a new court, in a new district, under -circumstances which put the virtues of a jury to some local -strain.</p> - -<p>Dining one evening with a friend in Rostof, on the Lower -Don, I find myself seated next to President Gravy, to whom -I am introduced by our common host as an English barrister -and justice of the peace. The Assize is sitting, and as a curious -case of child-exposure is coming on next day, about the -facts of which provincial feeling is much excited, President -Gravy offers me a seat in his court.</p> - -<p>This court is a new court, opened in the present year; a -movable court, consisting of a president and two assistant -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">{320}</a></span> -judges; sitting in turn at Taganrog, Berdiansk, and Rostof, -towns between which there is a good deal of rivalry in business, -often degenerating into local strife. The female accused -of exposing her infant comes from a Tartar village near Taganrog; -and as no good thing was ever known to come from -the district of Taganrog, the voice of Rostof has condemned -this female, still untried, to a felon's doom.</p> - -<p>Next morning we are in court by ten o'clock—a span-new -chamber, on which the paint is not yet dry, with a portrait of -the Imperial law-reformer hung above the judgment-seat. A -long hall is parted into three portions by a dais and two silken -cords. The judges, with the clerk and public prosecutor, -sit on the dais, at a table; and the citizens of Rostof occupy -the benches on either wing. In front of the dais sit the jurors, -the short-hand writer (a young lady), the advocates, and -witnesses; and near these latter stands the accused woman, -attended by a civil officer of the court. Nothing in the room -suggests the idea of feudal state and barbaric power. President -Gravy wears no wig, no robe—nothing but a golden -chain and the pattern civilian's coat. No halberts follow -him, no mace and crown are borne before him. He enters by -the common door. A priest in his robes of office stands beside -a book and cross; he is the only man in costume, as the -advocates wear neither wig nor gown. No soldier is seen; -and no policeman except the officer in charge of the accused. -There is no dock; the prisoner stands or sits as she is placed, -her back against the wall. If violence is feared, the judges -order in a couple of soldiers, who stand on either side the -prisoner holding their naked swords; but this precaution is -seldom used. An open gallery is filled with persons who -come and go all day, without disturbing the court below.</p> - -<p>President Gravy, the senior judge, is a man of forty-five. -The son of a captain of gendarmerie in Odessa, he took by -choice to the profession of advocate, and after three years' -practice in the courts of St. Petersburg, he was sent to the -new Azof circuit. His assistant judges are younger men.</p> - -<p>President Gravy opens his court; the priest asks a blessing; -the jurors are selected from a panel; the prisoner is told -to stand forth; and the indictment is read by the clerk. A -keen desire to see the culprit and to hear the details of her -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">{321}</a></span> -crime has filled the benches with a better class than commonly -attends the court, and many of the Rostof ladies flutter in -the gayest of morning robes. The case is one to excite the -female heart.</p> - -<p>Anna Kovalenka, eighteen years of age, and living, when at -home, in a village on the Sea of Azof, is tall, elastic, dark, -with ruddy complexion, and braided hair bound up in a crimson -scarf. Some Tartar blood is in her veins, and the young -woman is the ideal portrait of a Bokhara bandit's wife. A -motherly old creature stands by her side—an aunt, her mother -being long since dead. Her father is a peasant, badly off, -with five girls; this Anna eldest of the five.</p> - -<p>Her case is, that she had a lover, that she bore a child, that -she concealed the birth, and that her infant died. In her defense, -it is alleged, according to the manners of her country, -that her lover was a man of her own village, not a stranger; -one of those governing points which, on the Sea of Azof, -make a young woman's amours right or wrong. So far, it is -assumed, no fault is fairly to be charged. Her child was -born and died; the facts are not disputed; but the defendants -urge, in explanation, that she was very young in years; -that her couching was very hard; that milk-fever set in, with -loss of blood and wandering of the brain; that the young -mother was helpless, that the infant was neglected unconsciously, -and that it died.</p> - -<p>Very few persons in the court appear inclined to take this -view; but those who take it feel that the lover of this girl is -far more guilty than the girl herself; and they ask each -other why the seducer is not standing at her side to answer -for his life. His name is known; he is even supposed to be -in court. Gospodin Lebedeff, the public prosecutor, has done -his best to include him in the criminal charge; but he is -foiled by the woman's love and wit. By the Imperial code, -the fellow can not be touched unless she names him as the -father of her child; and all Lebedeff's appeals and menaces -are thrown away upon her, this heroine of a Tartar village -baffling the veteran lawyer's arts with a steadiness worthy of -a better cause and a nobler man.</p> - -<p>The first witness called is a peasant woman from the village -in which Anna Kovalenka lives. She is not sworn in the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">{322}</a></span> -English way, the court having been put, as it were, under -sacred obligations by the priest; but the bench instructs her -as to the nature of evidence, and enjoins her to speak no -word that is not true. She says, in few and simple words, -she found the dead body; she carried it into Anna's cabin; -the young woman admitted that the child was hers; and, on -further questions, that she had concealed the birth. She -gives her evidence quietly in a breathless court, her neighbor -standing near her all the while, and the judge assisting her -by questions now and then. The audience sighs when she -stands down; her evidence being full enough to send the prisoner -to Siberia for her natural life.</p> - -<p>The second witness is a doctor—bland, and fat, and scientific—the -witness on whose evidence the defense will lie. A -quickened curiosity is felt as the fat and fatherly man, with -big blue spectacles and kindly aspect, rises, bows to the bench, -and enters into a long and delicate report on the maladies under -which females suffer in and after the throes of labor, when -the regular functions of mind and body have been deranged -by a sudden call upon the powers reserved by nature for the -sustenance of infant life. A buzz of talk on the ladies' bench -is speedily put down by a tinkle of President Gravy's bell. -The judges put minute and searching questions to this witness; -but they make no notes of what he says in answer; the -general purpose of which is to show that the first medical evidence -picked up by the police was defective; that a woman -in the situation of Anna, poor, neglected, inexperienced, might -conceal her child without intending to do it harm, and might -cause it to die of cold without being morally guilty of its -death. Two or three questions are put to him by Lebedeff, -and then the kindly, fat old gentleman wipes his spectacles -and drops behind.</p> - -<p>Lebedeff deals in a lenient spirit with the case. The facts, -he says (in effect), are strong, and tell their own tale. This -woman bears a child; she conceals the birth; this concealment -is a crime. She puts her child away in a secret place; -her child is found dead—dead of hunger and neglect. Who -can doubt that she exposed and killed this child in order to -rid herself at once of her burden and her shame? "The -crime of child-murder is so common in our villages," he concludes, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">{323}</a></span> -"that it cries to heaven against us. Let all good -men combine to put it down, by a rigorous execution of the -law."</p> - -<p>Gospodin Tseborenko, a young advocate from Taganrog, -sent over specially to conduct the defense, replies by a brief -examination of the facts; contending that his client is a girl -of good character, who has never had a lover beyond her village, -and is not likely to have committed a crime against nature. -He suggests that her child may have been dead at the -birth—that in her pain and loneliness, not knowing what she -was about, and never dreaming about the Code, she concealed -the dead body from her father's eyes. Admitting that infant -murder is the besetting sin of villagers in the south of Russia, -he contends that the children put away are only such as -the villagers consider things of shame—that is to say, the -offspring of their women by strangers and men of rank.</p> - -<p>President Gravy rings his bell—the court is all alert—and, -after a brief presentment of the leading points to the jury, -who on their side listen with grave attention to every word, -he puts three several queries into writing:</p> - -<p>I. Whether in their opinion Anna Kovalenka exposed her -child with a view to kill it?</p> - -<p>II. Whether, if she did not in their opinion expose it with -a view to kill it, she willfully concealed the birth?</p> - -<p>III. Whether, if she either knowingly exposed and killed -her child, or willfully concealed the birth, there were any circumstances -in the case which call for mitigation of the penalties -provided by the penal code?</p> - -<p>The sheet of paper on which he writes these queries is -signed by the three judges, and handed over to the foreman, -who takes it and retires with his brethren of the jury to find -as they shall see fit.</p> - -<p>While the trial has been proceeding, Anna Kovalenka has -been looking on with patient unconcern, neither bold nor -timid, but with a look of resignation singular to watch. -Only once she kindled into spirit; that was when the peasant -woman was describing how she found the body of her -child. She smiled a little when her advocate was speaking—only -a faint and vanishing smile. Lebedeff seemed to strike -her as something sacred; and she listened to his not unkindly -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">{324}</a></span> -speech as she might have listened to a sermon by her village -priest.</p> - -<p>In twenty minutes the jury comes into court with their -finding written by the foreman on the sheet of paper given to -him by the judge. President Gravy rings his bell, and bids -the foreman read his answer to the first query.</p> - -<p>"No!" says the foreman, in a grave, loud voice. The audience -starts, for this is the capital charge.</p> - -<p>To the second query, "No!"</p> - -<p>"That is enough," says the judge; and, turning to the -woman, he tells her in a tender voice that she has been tried -by her country and acquitted, that she is now a free woman, -and may go and sit down among her friends and neighbors.</p> - -<p>Now for the first time she melts a little; shrinks behind -the policeman; snatches up the corner of her gown; and -steadying herself in a moment, wipes her eyes, kisses her -aunt, and creeps away by a private door.</p> - -<p>Every body in this court has done his duty well, the jurors -best of all; for these twelve men, who never saw an open -court in their lives until the current year, have found a verdict -of acquittal in accordance with the facts, but in the teeth -of local prejudice, bent on sending the woman from Taganrog -to the mines for life.</p> - -<p>What schools for liberty and tolerance have been opened -in these courts of law!</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXI.<br /> - -<span class="small">ISLAM.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Kazan</span> is the point where Europe and Asia meet. The -paper frontiers lie a hundred miles farther east, along the -crests of the Ural Mountains and the banks of the Ural River; -but the actual line on which the Tartar and the Russian -stand face to face, on which mosque and church salute the -eye together, is that of the Lower Volga, flowing through the -Eastern Steppe, from Kazan to the Caspian Sea. This frontier -line lies eastward of Bagdad.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">{325}</a></span> -Kazan, a colony of Bokhara, an outpost of Khiva, was not -very long ago the seat of a splendid khanate; and she is still -regarded by the fierce and languid Asiatics as the western -frontier of their race and faith. In site and aspect this old -city is extremely fine, especially when the floods run high, -and the swamps beneath her walls become a glorious lake. -A crest of hill—which poets have likened to a wave, a keel, -and a stallion's back—runs parallel to the stream. This crest -is the Kremlin, the strong place, the seat of empire; scarped, -and walled, and armed; the battlements crowned with gateways, -towers, and domes. Beyond the crest of hill, inland -from the Volga, runs a fine plateau, on which stand remnants -of rich old courts and towers—a plateau somewhat bare, -though brightened here and there by garden, promenade, and -chalet. Under this ridge lies Kaban Lake, a long, dark sheet -of water, on the banks of which are built the business quarters, -in which the craftsmen labor and the merchants buy -and sell—a wonderfully busy and thriving town. Each quarter -has a character of its own. The Kremlin is Christian; -the High Street Germanesque. A fine old Tartar gateway, -called the Tower of Soyonbeka, stands in front of the cathedral; -but much of the citadel has been built since the khanate -fell before the troops of Ivan the Fourth. Down in the -lower city, by the Kaban Lake, dwell the children of Islam, -the descendants of Batu Khan, the countrymen of the Golden -horde.</p> - -<p>The birth-place of these Tartar nations was the Eastern -Steppe; their line of march was the Volga bank; and their -affections turn still warmly to their ancient seats. The names -of Khiva and Bokhara sound to a Tartar as the names of Shechem -and Jerusalem sound to a Jew. In his poetry these -countries are his ideal lands. He sings to his mistress of the -groves of Bokhara; he compares her cheek to the apples of -Khiva; and he tells her the fervor of his passion is like the -summer heat of Balkh.</p> - -<p>An Arab legend puts into the Prophet's mouth a saying, -which is taken by his children as a promise, that in countries -where the palm-trees bear fruit his followers should possess -the land; but that in countries where the palm-trees bear no -fruit, though they might be dwellers for a time, the land -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">{326}</a></span> -would never be their own. The promise, if it were a promise, -has been kept in the spirit for a thousand years. No -date-bearing country known to the Arabs defied their arms; -from no date-bearing country, once overrun, have they been -yet dislodged. When Islam pushed her outposts beyond the -line of palms, as in Spain and Russia, she had to fall back, -after her trial of strength on the colder fields, into her natural -zones. As she fell back from Granada on Tangiers and -Fez, so she retired from Kazan on Khiva and Bokhara—a -most unwilling retreat, the grief of which she assuaged in -some degree by passionate hope of her return. The Moors, -expecting to reconquer Seville and Granada, keep the keys of -their ancient palaces, the title-deeds of their ancient lands in -Spain. The Kirghiz, also, claim the lands and houses of their -countrymen, and the Kirghiz khan describes himself as lineal -heir to the reigning princes of Kazan. In the East, as in the -West, the children of Islam look on their present state as a -correction laid upon them by a father for their faults. Some -day they trust to find fresh favor in his sight. The term of -their captivity may be long; but it will surely pass away, and -when the Compassionate yields in his mercy, they will return -in triumph to their ancient homes.</p> - -<p>In the mean time, it is right to mark the different spirit in -which the vanquished sons of Islam have been treated in the -West and in the East. From Granada every Moor was driven -by fire and sword; for many generations no Moor was -suffered to come back into Spain, under pain of death. In -Russia the Tartars were allowed to live in peace; and after -forty years they were allowed to trade in the city which had -formerly been their own. No doubt there have been fierce -and frequent persecutions of the weaker side in these countries; -for the great conflict of cross and crescent has grown -into a second nature, equally with the Russian and Tartar, -and the rivalries which once divided Moscow and Kazan still -burn along the Kirghiz Steppe. The capitals may be farther -off, but the causes of enmity are not removed by space and -time. The cross is at St. Petersburg and Kief, the crescent -at Bokhara and Khiva; but between these points there is a -sympathy and an antipathy, like that which fights between -the two magnetic poles. The Tartars have captured Nijni -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">{327}</a></span> -and Moscow many times; the Russians will some day plant -their standards on the Tower of Timour Beg.</p> - -<p>A man who walks through the Tartar town in Kazan, admiring -the painted houses, the handsome figures, the Oriental -garbs, the graceful minarets, can hardly help feeling that these -children of Islam hold their own with a grace and dignity -worthy of a prouder epoch. "Given to theft and eating -horse-flesh," is the verdict of a Russian officer; "otherwise -not so bad." "Your servants seem to be Tartar?" "Yes, -the rascals make good servants; for, look you, they never -drink, and when they are trusted they never steal." In all -the great houses of St. Petersburg and Moscow, and in the -large hotels everywhere, we have Tartar servants, chosen on -account of their sobriety and honesty. The Begs and Mirzas -fled from the country when their city was stormed, and only -the craftsmen and shepherds remained behind; yet a new -aristocracy of trade and learning has sprung up; and the -titles of mirza and mollah are now enjoyed by men whose -grandfathers held the plough. These Tartars of Kazan are -better schooled than their Russian neighbors; most of them -can read, write, and cipher; and their youths are in high demand -as merchants, salesmen, and bankers' clerks—offices of -trust in which, with care and patience, they are sure to rise. -Mirza Yunasoff, Mirza Burnaief, and Mirza Apakof, three of -the richest traders in the province, are self-made men. No -one denies them the rank of mirza (lord, or prince). Mirza -Yunasoff has built, at his private charge, a mosque and -school.</p> - -<p>It is very hard for a Christian to get any sort of clue to -the feelings of these sober and industrious folk. That they -value their religion more than their lives is easy to find out; -but whether they share the dreams of their brethren in Khiva -and Bokhara is not known. Meanwhile they work and pray, -grow rich and strong. An innocent and useful body in the -empire, they are wisely left alone, so far as they can be left -alone.</p> - -<p>They can not, however, be treated as of no importance in -the state. They are of vast importance; not as enemies only, -but as enemies camped on the soil, and drawing their supports -from a foreign land. Even those among the Tartars who are -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">{328}</a></span> -least excited by events around them, feel that they are out of -their natural place. They hate the cross. They are Asiatics; -with their faces and affections turning day and night, not towards -Moscow and St. Petersburg, but towards Khiva, Bokhara, -and Samarcand. A foreign city is their holy place, a -foreign ruler their anointed chief. They get their mollahs -from Bokhara, and they wait for conquerors from the Kirghiz -Steppes. They have not learned to be Russians, and they will -not learn; so that, whether the Government wishes it or not, -the conflict of race and creed will rage through the coming -years, even as it has raged through the past.</p> - -<p>Reforming the country on every side, the Emperor is not -neglecting this Eastern point; and in the spirit of all his -more recent changes, he is taking up a new position as regards -the Tartar race and creed. Nature and policy combine -to prevent him trying to convert the Mussulmans by -force; but nothing prevents him from trying to draw them -over by the moral agencies of education and humanity. Feeling -that, where the magistrate would fail, the teacher may -succeed, the Emperor is opening schools in his Eastern provinces, -under the care of Professor Ilminski, a learned Russian, -holding the chair of Tartar languages and literature in -the university of Kazan. These schools already number -twenty four, of which the one near Kazan is the chief and -model.</p> - -<p>Professor Ilminski drives me over to these Tartar schools. -We visit a school for boys and a school for girls; for the -sexes are kept apart, in deference to Oriental notions about -the female sex. The rooms are clean and well kept; the children -neat in dress, and orderly in manner. They are taught -by young priests especially trained for the office, and learn to -sing, as well as to read and cipher. Books are printed for -them in Russian type, and a Tartar press is working in connection -with the university. This printing of books, especially -of the Psalms and Gospels, in the Tartar tongue, is doing -much good; for the natives of Kazan are a pushing and inquisitive -people, fond of reading and singing; and the poorest -people are glad to have good books brought to their doors, -in a speech that every one can hear and judge for himself. -In the same spirit the Emperor has ordered mass to be said -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">{329}</a></span> -in the Tartar tongue; a wise and thoughtful step; a hint, -it may be, to the mollahs, who have not come to see, and -never may come to see, that any other idioms than Arabic -and Persian should be used in their mosques. If these -clever traders and craftsmen of Kazan are ever to be converted -from Islam to Christianity, they must be drawn over in -these gentle ways, and not by the jailer's whip and the Kozak's -brand.</p> - -<p>The children sing a psalm, their bright eyes gleaming at -the sound. They sing in time and tune; but in a fierce, -marauding style, as though the anthem were a bandit's stave.</p> - -<p>Not much fruit has yet been gathered from this field. -"Have you any converts from the better classes?" "No; -not yet," the professor sighs; "the citizens of Kazan are -hard to win; but we get some little folk from villages on the -steppe, and train them up in the fear of God. Once they are -with us, they can never turn back."</p> - -<p>Such is the present spirit of the law. A Moslem may become -a Christian; a Christian may not become a Moslem; -and a convert who has taken upon himself the cross can never -legally lay it down. It is an Eastern, not a Western rule; -and while it remains in force, the cross will be denied the use -of her noblest arms. Not until conscience is left to work in -its own way, as God shall guide it, free from all fear of what -the police may rule, will the final victory lie with the faith of -Christ.</p> - -<p>Shi Abu Din, chief mollah of Kazan, receives me in Asiatic -fashion; introduces me to two brother mollahs, licensed to -travel as merchants; and leads me over the native colleges -and schools. This mollah, born in a village near Kazan, was -sent to the university of Bokhara, in which city he was trained -for his labors among the Moslems living on Russian soil, -just as our Puritan clergy used to seek their education in -Holland, our Catholic clergy in Spain. Shi Abu Din is considered, -even by the Professor of Tartar languages, as a learned -and upright man. His swarthy brethren have just arrived -from Bokhara, by way of the Kirghiz Steppe. They tell me -the roads are dangerous, and the countries lying east of the -Caspian Sea disturbed. Still the roads, though closed to the -Russians, are open to caravan merchants, if they know the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">{330}</a></span> -dialects and ways of men. No doubt they are open to mollahs -travelling with caravans through friendly tribes.</p> - -<p>The Tartars of Kazan are, of course, polygamists; so that -their social life is as much unlike the Russian as their religious -life.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXII.<br /> - -<span class="small">THE VOLGA.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">From</span> Kazan to the Caspian Sea, the Volga flows between -Islam and Christendom. One small town, Samara, has been -planted on the eastern bank—a landing-place for Orenburg -and the Kirghiz Steppe. All other towns—Simbirsk, Volsk, -Saratof, Tsaritzin—rise on the western bank, and look across -the river towards the Ural Ridge. Samara is a Kirghiz, rather -than a Russian town, and but for the military posts, and -the traffic brought along the military roads, the place would -be wholly in Moslem hands. Samara has a name in the East -as a place for invalids—the cure being wrought by means of -fermented mare's milk, the diet and medicine of rovers on the -Tartar Steppe.</p> - -<p>A Christian settlement of the Volga line from Kazan to the -Caspian Sea must be a work of time. Three hundred and -seventeen years have passed since Ivan the Terrible stormed -Kazan; three hundred and twelve years since his armies captured -Astrakhan and opened a passage through Russia to the -Caspian Sea; yet the Volga is a frontier river to this very -hour; and it is not too much to say that the noblest watercourse -in Europe is less familiar to English merchants in -Victoria's time than it was in Elizabeth's time.</p> - -<p>The first boats which sailed the Volga, from her upper waters -to her mouth, were laden with English goods. So soon -as Challoner found a way up the Dvina, a body of merchants -formed themselves into a society for discovering unknown -lands, and this body of London merchants was the means of -opening up Eastern Russia to the world.</p> - -<p>The man who first struck the Volga was Anthony Jenkinson, -agent of these discoverers, who brought out a cargo of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">{331}</a></span> -cottons and kerseys, ready dyed and dressed, of lead and tin -for roofing churches; and a vast assortment of pewter pots; -all of which his masters in London expected him to exchange -for the gums and silks, the gold and pearls, of mythical Cathay. -Coming from the Frozen Sea, he noticed with a trader's -eye that the land through which he passed was rich in hides, -in fish, in salt, in train-oil, in furs, in pitch, and timber; while -it was poor in many other things besides cotton shirts and -pewter pots. Sailing up the Dvina to Vologda, he noted that -town as a place for future trade; crossed the water-shed of -Central Russia to Jaroslav and Moscow; dropped down the -river Oka; and fell into the Volga at Nijni, the only town in -which trade was being done, until he reached the Caspian -Sea. The Volga banks were overrun by Tartar hordes, who -took their spoil from every farm, and only spared the towns -from fear. In ten weeks his rafts reached Astrakhan, where -he saw, to his great surprise and joy, the riches of Persia and -Bokhara lying about in the bazars in heaps; the alum, galls, -and spices; the gems and filigrees, the shawls and bands, -which he knew would fetch more in the London markets than -their weight in gold. By hugging the northern shores of the -Caspian Sea, he made the port of Mangishlak, in the Khanate -of Khiva, early in autumn; and hiring from the natives a thousand -camels, he loaded these patient beasts with his pots and -pans, his sheetings and shirtings, and marched by the caravan -road over the Tamdi Kuduk to Khiva, and thence across the -range of Shiekh Djeli, and along the skirts of the great desert -of Kizil Kum to Bokhara, near the gates of which he encamped -on the day before Christmas-eve. There, to his grief, he learned -that the caravan road farther east was stopped, in consequence -of a war between tribes in the hill country of Turkestan; -and after resting in the city of Bokhara for some weeks, he gave -up his project, and, turning his face to the westward, returned -to Moscow and London by the roads which he had found.</p> - -<p>Three years later he was again in Moscow, chaffering with -raftsmen for a voyage to the Caspian Sea. Queen Bess was -now on the throne, and Jenkinson bore a letter from his sovereign -to the Tsar, suggesting the benefits of trade and intercourse -between his people and the society; and asking for his -kingly help in opening up his towns and ports.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">{332}</a></span> -Ivan the Terrible was quick to perceive how much his -power might be increased by the arts and arms which these -strangers could bring him in their ships. Like Peter the -Great in his genius for war, Ivan was only too well aware -that, in comparison with the Swedes and Poles, his people -were savages; and that his troops, though brave as wolves -and hardy as bears, were still no match for such armies as the -Baltic powers could send into the field. The glory of his -early triumphs in the East and South had been dimmed by -defeats inflicted upon him by his civilized enemies, the Poles; -and the conquests of Kazan, Siberia, and Astrakhan, were all -but forgotten in the reverses of his later years. He wanted -ships, he wanted guns; the best of which, he had heard, could -be bought for money in Elizabeth's ports, and brought to the -Dvina in English ships. He was too great a savage to read -the queen's letter in the way she wished; he cared no whit for -maps, and could not bend his mind to the sale of hemp and -pewter pots; but he saw in the queen's letter, which was addressed -to him as Tsar, a recognition of the rank he had assumed, -and the offer of a connection which he hoped to turn -into a political alliance of the two powers.</p> - -<p>While Ivan was weaving his net of policy, the English rafts -were dropping down the Volga, towards Astrakhan, through -hordes of Tartar horse. From Astrakhan they coasted the -Caspian towards the south, landed at the port of Shabran, -and, passing over the Georgian Alps, rode on camels through -Shemaka and Ardabil, to Kasbin, then a residence of the Persian -Shah. To him the queen had also sent a letter of friendship, -and Jenkinson proposed to draw the great lines of Persian -traffic by the Caspian and the Volga, to Archangel; connecting -London and Kasbin by a near, a cheap, and an easy -road; passing through the countries of a single prince, a natural -ally of the Shah and of the Queen, instead of through the -territories and waters of the Turk—the Venetian, the Almaigne, -and the Dutch. The scheme was bold and new; of -vast importance to the Russ, who had then no second outlet -to the sea. But the Shah had just made peace with his enemy -the Sultan, which compelled him to restore the ancient -course of trade between the East and West.</p> - -<p>Four years later, William Johnson, also an agent of the society, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">{333}</a></span> -was sent from Archangel to Kasbin, with orders to -make a good map of the River Volga and the Caspian Sea, -and to build an English factory at Astrakhan for the Persian -and Chinese trade. The Dvina was also studied and laid -down, and the countries dividing her upper waters from the -Volga were explored. A track had been worn by the natives -from Vologda, one of the antique towns of Moscovy, famous -for bells and candles, to Jaroslav, on the Volga; and along -this track it was possible to transport the bales and boxes of -English goods. This line was now laid down for the Persian -and Oriental trade to follow, and factories were built in convenient -spots along the route; the headquarters being fixed -at Archangel and Astrakhan.</p> - -<p>The Tsar sent home by Jenkinson not only a public letter -to the queen, in which he asked her to send him cannon and -ships, with men who could sail them; but a secret and verbal -message, in which he proposed to make such a treaty of peace -and alliance with her as that they should have the same -friends and the same foes; and that if either of the two rulers -should have need to quit his states, he might retire with safety -and honor into those of the other. To the first he received -no answer, and when Jenkinson returned to Russia on his -trade affairs, the Tsar, who thought he had not delivered his -message word for word, received him coldly, and ill-used the -merchants in his empire; on which Thomas Randolph, a wily -and able minister, was sent from London to pacify the tyrant, -and protect our countrymen from his rage. But Randolph -was treated worse than all; for on his arrival at Moscow, he -was not only refused an audience, but placed in such custody -that every one saw he was a prisoner. The letters sent to -him by the queen were kept back, and those which he wrote -to her were opened and returned. After eight months were -passed in these insults, he was called to Vologda, received by -the Tsar, and commanded to quit the Russian soil. So much -insolence was used, that he was told by one of the boyars if -he were not quick in going they would pitch his baggage out-of-doors.</p> - -<p>Yet Randolph, patient and experienced, kept his temper, -and when he left the Tsar he had a commercial charter in his -trunk, and a special agent of Ivan in his train. This agent, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">{334}</a></span> -Andrew Gregorivitch, bore a letter to the queen (in Russ), in -which he prayed her to sign a treaty of war and peace against -all the world; and to grant him an asylum in her realm in case -he should be driven from his own. Andrew found that the -queen could make no treaty of the kind, though she was ready -to promise his master an asylum in her states, where he might -practise his own religion, and live at his own expense. He -then gave ear to an impostor named Eli Bomel, a native of -Wesel, whom he found in an English jail. This wretch, who -professed to work by magic and the stars, proposed to go -with Andrew to Russia and serve the Tsar. The agent asked -for a pardon, and took him out to Moscow, where he soon -became master in the tyrant's house. For Bomel made the -Tsar believe that the queen, whom he described as a young and -lovely virgin, was in love with him, and could be brought by -sorcery to accept an offer of his hand and throne. The Tsar, -who was past his prime, and feeble in health and power, never -tired of doing honor to the man who promised him an alliance -which would raise him above the proudest emperors and -kings.</p> - -<p>Horsey, following Randolph to Russia, saw the end of this -wizard. When the Tsar found out that Bomel was deceiving -him with lies, and that the queen would not write to him except -on questions of trade, he sent for his favorite, laid him on -the rack, drew his legs out of their sockets, flayed him with -wire whips, roasted him before a fire, drew him on a sledge -through the snow, and pitched him into a dungeon, where he -was left to die.</p> - -<p>Traders poured into Russia, through the line now opened -from the Dvina to the Volga, stores of dyed cotton, copper -pots and pans, sheets of lead rolled up for use, and articles in -tin and iron of sundry sorts. Thomas Bannister and Geoffrey -Ducket reached Jaroslav early in July, and, loading a fleet of -rafts, dropped down the Volga to Astrakhan, where they staid -six weeks in daily peril of their lives. The Turks, now friends -with the Persians, were trying to recover that city, with the -low countries of the Volga, from the Christian Russ; and the -traders could not put to sea until the Moslem forces were -drawn off. They put into Shabran, where they left their ship -and crossed the mountains on camels to Shemaka, where they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">{335}</a></span> -staid for the winter. Not before April could they venture -to take the road. They pushed on to Ardabil, where they began -to trade, while Bannister went on to Kasbin and procured -a charter of commerce from the Shah. Only one objection -was raised at Kasbin; Bannister wished to send horses through -the Shah's dominions into India; but an article which he had -inserted in his paper to this effect was left out by the Persian -scribes. The successful trader sickened near Shemaka and -died; leaving the command of his adventure to Ducket, who -gathered up the goods for which they had exchanged their -cloth and hardware, crossed the mountains to Shabran, and -put to sea. Storm met them in the teeth; they rolled and -tumbled through the waves; and after buffeting the winds -for twenty days, they anchored in shallow water, where they -were suddenly attacked by a horde of Moslem rievers, and -after a gallant fight were overcome by superior strength. -The Tartars pulled them from their ship, of which they made -a prize, and, putting them into their own cutter, let them drift -to sea. The cargo lost was worth no less than forty thousand -pounds—a quarter of a million in our present coin.</p> - -<p>At Astrakhan, which they reached in safety, they made -some efforts to recover from the brigands part of what they -had lost, and by the general's help some trifles were recovered -from the wreck; but this salvage was lost once more in -ascending the Volga, on which their boat was crushed by a -ridge of ice. Every thing on board went down, and the grim -old tyrant, Ivan the Terrible, sore about his failing suit for -Elizabeth's hand, would render them no help.</p> - -<p>Ten years elapsed before the traders sent another caravan -across the Georgian Alps, but the road from Archangel to -Astrakhan was never closed again; and for many years to -come the English public heard far more about the Eastern -Steppe than they hear in the present day.</p> - -<p>This Eastern Steppe is overrun to-day, as it was overrun in -the time of Ducket, by a tameless rabble of Asiatic tribes.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">{336}</a></div> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXIII.<br /> - -<span class="small">EASTERN STEPPE.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> main attempt to colonize any portion of the Eastern -Steppe with Christians was the planting of a line of Kozak -camps in the countries lying between the Volga and the Don—a -region in which the soil is less parched, the sand less -deep, the herbage less scanty, than elsewhere in these sterile -plains. But even in this favored region the fight for life is so -hard and constant, that these Kozak colonists hail with joy -the bugles that call them to arm and mount for a distant -raid.</p> - -<p>A wide and windy plain, sooty in color, level to the sight, -with thin brown moss, and withered weeds; a herd of half-wild -horses here and there; a Kalmuk rider dashing through a -cloud of dust; a stray camel; a wagon drawn by oxen, ploughing -heavily in the mud and marl; a hollow, dark and amber, in -which lies a gypsy village; caravans of carts carrying hay and -melons; a flock of sheep, watched by a Kozak lad attired in -a fur cap, a skin capote, and enormous boots; a windmill on -a lonely ridge; a mighty arch of sky overhead, shot with -long lines of green and crimson light—such is an evening picture -of the Eastern Steppe.</p> - -<p>Time out of mind two hostile forces have been flowing -from the deserts of Central Asia through this Eastern Steppe -towards the fertile districts watered by the Don. These -forces are the Turkish and Mongolian tribes. A cloud hangs -over the earlier movements of these tribes; but when the invaders -come under European ken, they are seen to be divided -by differences of type and creed. The Turkish races rank -among the handsomest on earth, the Mongolian races rank -among the ugliest on earth. The Turkish tribes are children -of Mohammed, the Mongolian tribes are children of Buddha. -The first are a settled people, living in towns, and tilling the -soil; the second a nomadic people, dwelling in tents, and -roving from plain to plain with their flocks and herds.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">{337}</a></span> -The Moslem hordes which crossed the Ural River settled -on the steppe, built cities on the Volga and the Donets, -pushed their conquests up to the gates of Kief. The Buddhistic -hordes which fought under Batu Khan destroyed this -earlier work; but when they settled on the steppe, and married -Moslem women, many of these heirs of Batu Khan embraced -the religion of their wives, and helped the True Believers -to erect such cities in their rear as Khiva, Bokhara, -Samarcand, and Balkh, which afterwards became the strongholds -of their faith. Yet most of the Mongol princes held -by their ancient creed, and all the new-comers from their -country added to their strength on this Eastern Steppe. -These Turks and Mongols, enemies in Asia, kept up their -feuds in Europe; and the early Moslem settlers in these -plains were sorely pressed by their Buddhistic rulers, until -the arrival of Timour Beg restored the Crescent to its old -supremacy on the Eastern Steppe.</p> - -<p>This feud between Buddha and Mohammed led in these -countries to the final triumphs of the Cross.</p> - -<p>The plains on which they fought for twenty generations -are even now tented and cropped by Asiatic tribes—Kalmuks, -Kirghiz, Nogays, Gypsies. The Kalmuks are Buddhists, the -Kirghiz and Nogays are Moslem, the Gypsies are simply -Gypsies.</p> - -<p>The Kalmuks, a pastoral and warlike people, never yet confined -in houses, are the true proprietors of the steppe. But -they have given it up, at least in part; for in the reign of -Empress Catharine, five hundred thousand wanderers crossed -the Ural River, never to come back. The Kirghiz, Turkomans, -and Nogays came in and occupied their lands.</p> - -<p>The Kalmuks who remain in the country live in corrals -(temporary camps), formed by raising a number of lodges -near each other, round the tent of their high-priest. A -Kalmuk lodge is a frame of poles set up in the form of a -ring, tented at the top, and hung with coarse brown cloth. -Inside, the ground is covered with skins and furs, on which -the inmates lounge and sleep. Ten, twenty, fifty persons of -all ages live under a common roof. A savage is not afraid of -crowding; least of all when he lies down at night. Crowds -comfort him and keep him warm. A flock of sheep, a string -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">{338}</a></span> -of camels, and a herd of horses, browse around the corral; -for horses, sheep, and camels are the only wealth of tribes -who plant no tree, who build no house, who sow no field. -Flat in feature, bronze in color, bony in frame, the Kalmuk -is one of the ugliest types of living men, though he is said to -produce, by mixture with the more flexible and feminine -Hindoo, the splendid face and figure of the Circassian chief.</p> - -<p>The Kalmuk, as a Buddhist, keeping to his ancient Mongol -traditions, and worshipping the Dalai-Lama, eats bull beef -but slightly cooked, and drinks mare's milk in his favorite -forms of kumis and spirit; the first being milk fermented -only, the second milk fermented and distilled. Like all his -race, he will steal a cow, a camel, or a horse, from either -friend or foe, whenever he finds his chance. He owes no -allegiance, he knows no law. Some formal acts of obedience -are expected from him; such as paying his taxes, and supplying -his tale of men for the ranks; but these payments and -supplies are nominal only, save in districts where the rover -has settled down under Kozak rule.</p> - -<p>These wild men come and go as they list, roving with their -sheep and camels from the wall of China to the countries -watered by the Don. They come in hordes, and go in armies. -In the reign of Michael Romanoff fifty thousand Kalmuks -poured along the Eastern Steppe; and these unwelcome -guests were afterwards strengthened by a second horde of -ten thousand tents. These Kalmuks treated with Peter the -Great as an independent power, and for several generations -they paid no tribute to the crown except by furnishing cavalry -in time of war. Another horde of ten thousand tents -arrived. Their prince, Ubasha, led an army of thirty thousand -horsemen towards the Danube against the Turks, whom -they hated as only Asiatics hate hereditary foes. Yet, on the -Empress Catharine trying to place the hordes under rule and -law, the same Ubasha led his tribes—five hundred thousand -souls, with countless herds of cattle, camels, and horses—back -from the Eastern Steppe across the Ural River into Asia; -stripping whole provinces of their wealth, producing famine -in the towns, and robbing the empire of her most powerful -arm. Hurt in his pride by some light word from the imperial -lips, the prince proposed to carry off all his people, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">{339}</a></span> -leaving not a soul behind; but fifteen thousand tents were -left, because the winter came down late, and the Volga ice -was thin. The children of these laggers are the men you -meet on the plains, surprise at their religious rites, and sup -with in their homely tents. Steps have been often taken to -reclaim and fix these rovers, but with little or no effect. -Some families have joined the Kozaks, come under law, and -even embraced the cross; but the vast majority cling to their -wild life, their Asiatic dress, and their Buddhistic creed.</p> - -<p>The upper classes are called White (literally, white bones), -the lower classes Black, just as in Asiatic fashion the Russian -nobles are called White, while the peasants are called -Black.</p> - -<p>The Kirghiz are of Turkish origin, and speak the Uzbek -idiom of their race. Divided into three branches, called the -Great Horde, the Middle Horde, and the Little Horde, they -roam over, if they do not own, the steppes and deserts lying -between the Volga and Lake Balkash. Much of this tract is -sandy waste, with dots of herbage here and there, and most -of it lies beyond the Russian lines. Within these lines some -order may be kept; beyond them, in what is called the Independent -Steppe, the Kirghiz devilry finds an open field. -These children of the desert plunder friend and foe, not only -lifting cattle and robbing caravans, but stealing men and -women to sell as slaves. All through these deserts, from -Fort Aralsk to Daman-i-koh, the slave-trade is in vogue; -the Kirghiz bandits keeping the markets of Khiva and -Bokhara well supplied with boys and girls for sale. Nor is -the traffic likely to decline until the flag of some civilized people -floats from the Tower of Timour Beg. Fired by hereditary -hate, these Kirghiz bandits look on every man of Mongolian -birth and Buddhistic faith as lawful spoil. They follow -him to his pastures, plunder his tent, drive off his herds, and -sell him as a slave. But when this lawful prey escapes their -hands they raid and rob on more friendly soil; and many of -the captives whom they carry to Khiva and Bokhara come -from the Persian valleys of Atrek and Meshid. Girls from -these valleys fetch a higher price, and Persia has not strength -enough to protect her children from their raids.</p> - -<p>When Ubasha fled from the Volga with his Kalmuk hosts, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">{340}</a></span> -these Kirghiz had a year of sweet revenge. They lay in wait -for their retiring foes; they broke upon their camps by night; -they stole their horses; they devoured their food; they carried -off their women. Hanging on the flank and rear of this -moving mass, they cut off stragglers, stopped communications, -hid the wells; inflicting far more miseries on the Kalmuks -than these rovers suffered from all the generals sent -against them by the crown.</p> - -<p>These Kalmuks gone, the Kirghiz crossed the borders and -appeared on the Volga, where they have been well received. -Their khan is rich and powerful, and in coming in contact with -Europe he has learned to value science; but the attempts -which have been made to settle some portions of his tribe at -Ryn Peski have met with no success. The Emperor has -built a house for the khan, but the khan himself, preferring -to live out-of-doors, has pitched his tent on the lawn! A -Bedouin of the desert is not more untamable than a Kirghiz -of the steppe.</p> - -<p>The Nogays are Mongolians of a separate horde. Coming -into the country with Jani Beg, they spread themselves through -the southern plains, took wives of the people, and embraced -the Mussulman faith. At first they were a nomadic soldiery, -living in camps; and even after the war had died out, they -kept to their wagons, and roamed through the country as the -seasons came and went. "We live on wheels," they used to -say: "one man has a house on the ground, another man has -a house on wheels. It is the will of God." Yet, in the -course of five hundred years, these Nogays have in some -measure changed their habits of life, though they have not -changed their creed. Many of them are settlers on the land, -which they farm in a rough style; growing millet, grapes, -and melons for their daily food. Being strict Mohammedans, -they drink no wine, and marry two or three wives apiece. -All wives are bought with money; and divorce, though easy -to obtain, is seldom tried. The men are proud of their descent -and their religion, and the crown allows their cadis and -mollahs to settle most of their disputes. They pay a tax, but -they are not enrolled for war.</p> - -<p>These Mongolians occupy the Russian Steppe between the -Molochnaya River and the Sea of Azof.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">{341}</a></span> -The Gypsies, here called Tsiganie, live a nomadic life in the -Eastern Steppe, as in other countries, sleeping in wretched -tents of coarse brown cloth, and grovelling like dogs and -swine in the mire. They own a few carts, and ponies to -match the carts, in which they carry their wives and little -folk from fair to fair, stealing poultry, telling fortunes, shoeing -horses, and existing only from hand to mouth. They -will not labor—they will not learn. Some Gypsies show a -talent for music, and many of their girls have a beauty of -person which is highly prized. A few become public singers; -and a splendid specimen of her race may marry—like -the present Princess Sergie Golitsin of Moscow—into the -highest rank; but as a race they live apart, in true Asiatic -style; reiving and prowling on their neighbors' farms, begging -at one house, thieving at the next; a class of outlaws, -objects of fear to many, and of disgust to all. In summer -they lodge on the grass, in winter they burrow in the ground; -taking no more thought of the heat and dew than of the frost -and snow. In color they are almost bronze, with big fierce -eyes and famished looks, as though they were the embodied -life of the dirt in which they wallow by day and dream by -night. Some efforts have been made by Government to civilize -these mysterious tribes, but hitherto without results; -and the marauders are only to be kept in check on the Eastern -Steppe by occasional onsets of Kozak horse.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXIV.<br /> - -<span class="small">DON KOZAKS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">Since</span> the flight of their countrymen under Ubasha, the -Kalmuks have been closely pressed by their Moslem foes.</p> - -<p>Their chief tormentors came from the Caucasus; from the -hills of which countries, Nogays and Turkomans, eternal enemies -of their race and faith, descended on their pasture lands, -drove out their sheep and camels, broke up their corrals, and -insulted their religious rites. No government could prevent -these raids, except by following the raiders home. But then, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">{342}</a></span> -these Nogays and Turkomans were independent tribes; their -homes were built on the heights beyond the Russian lines; -and the necessities under which Russia lay—first, to protect -her own plains from insult; next, to preserve the peace between -these Buddhists and Moslems, gave her a better excuse -for occupying the hill-countries in her front than the sympathy -felt in high quarters for the Georgian Church. Pressed -by these enemies, some of the Kalmuks have appealed to the -crown for help, and have even quitted their camps, and sought -protection within the Kozak lines.</p> - -<p>The Kozak camps along the outer and inner frontiers—the -Ural line and the Volga line—are peopled by a mixed race of -Malo-Russians, Kalmuks, and Kirghiz; but the element that -fuses and connects these rival forces comes from the old free -Ukraine, and is thoroughly Slavonic in creed and race.</p> - -<p>A Kozak of the Volga and the Don is not a Russian of -Moscow, but of Novgorod and Kief; a man who for hundreds -of years has held his own. His horse is always saddled; -his lance is always sharp. By day and night his face -is towards the enemy; his camp is in a state of siege. Compared -with a Russian of Moscow, the Kozak is a jovial fellow, -heady and ready, prompt in remark, and keen in jest; his -mouth full of song, his head full of romance, and his heart -full of love.</p> - -<p>On the Ural River the Kozak has a little less of the Kalmuk, -a little more of the Kirghiz, in his veins; but the -Ukraine blood is dominant in both. It would be impossible -for the Kalmuk and Kirghiz to live in peace, if these followers -of the Grand Lama and the Arabian Prophet were not -held in check by the Kozak camps.</p> - -<p>First at St. Romanof, afterwards at Cemikarakorskoe, and -other camps on the Don, I find the Kozaks in these camps; -eat and drink with them, join in their festivals, watch their -dances, hear their national songs, and observe them fight their -fights. An aged story-teller comes into my room at St. Romanof -to spin long yarns about Kozak daring and adventure -in the Caucasian wars. I notice, as a peculiarity of these -gallant recitals, that the old warrior's stories turn on practices -and stratagems, never on open and manly fights; the tricks -by which a picket was misled, a village captured, a caravan -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">{343}</a></span> -cut off, a heap of booty won. As the old man speaks of a -farm-yard entered, of a herd of cows surprised, his face will -gleam with a sudden joy; and then the younkers listening to -his tale will clap their hands and stamp their feet, impatient -to mount their stallions and ride away. When he tells of -harems forced and mosques profaned, the Kalmuks who are -present color and pant with Asiatic glee.</p> - -<p>These Kozaks live in villages, composed of houses and gardens -built in a kind of maze; the houses thatched with straw, -the walls painted yellow, and a ring-fence running round the -cluster of habitations, with an opening only at two or three -points. The ins and outs are difficult; the passages guarded -by savage dogs; the whole camp being a pen for the cattle as -well as a fortress for the men. A church, of no great size and -splendor, springs from the highest mound in the hamlet; for -these Kozaks of the Eastern Steppe are nearly all attached to -the ancient Slavonic rite. A flock of sheep is baa-ing on the -steppe, a train of carts and oxen moving on the road. A -fowler crushes through the herbage with his gun. On every -side we see some evidence of life; and if the plain is still dark -and bare, the Kozak love of garden, fence, and color lends a -charm to the Southern country never to be seen in the North.</p> - -<p>A thousand souls are camped at St. Romanof, in a rude -hamlet, with the usual paint and fence. Each house stands -by itself, with its own yard and garden, vines, and melon-beds, -guarded by a savage dog. The type is Malo-Russ, the complexion -yellow and Tartar-like; the teeth are very fine, the -eyes are burning with hidden fire. Men and boys all ride, -and every child appears to possess a horse. Yet half the men -are nursing babies, while the women are doing the heavier -kinds of work. A superstition of the steppe accounts for the -fact of half these men carrying infants in their arms, the naked -brats pressed closely beneath their coats. They think that -unless a father nurses his first-born son his wife will die of -the second child; and as a woman costs so many cows and -horses, it is a serious thing—apart from his affections—for a -man on the Eastern Steppe to lose his wife.</p> - -<p>No smoking is allowed in a Kozak camp, for dread of fire; -though my host at Cemikarakorskoe smokes himself, and invites -his guests to smoke. Outside the fence the women are -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">{344}</a></span> -frying melons and making wine—a strong and curious liquor, -thick as treacle, with a finer taste. It is an ancient custom, -lost, except on the Don. A plain church, with a lofty belfry, -adorns the camp; but a majority of the Kozaks being Old -Believers, the camp may be said to absent itself from mass. -These rough fellows, ready as they seem for raiding and -thieving, are just now overwhelmed with sorrow on account -of their church affairs!</p> - -<p>Their bishop, Father Plato, has been seized in his house at -Novo Cherkask, and sent up the Don to Kremenskoe, a convent -near Kalatch. A very old man, he has now been two -years a prisoner in that convent; and no one in the camp can -learn the nature of his offense. The Kozaks bear his trouble -with saddened hearts and flashing eyes; for these colonists -look on the board of Black Clergy sitting in St. Isaac's Square, -not only as a conclave going beyond its functions, but as the -Chert, the Black One, the incarnate Evil Spirit.</p> - -<p>Cemikarakorskoe is a chief camp or town on the Lower -Don. "How many souls have you in camp?" I ask my host, -as we stroll about. "We do not know; our folk don't relish -counting; but we have always five hundred saddles ready -in the stalls." The men look wild, but they are gradually -taming down. Fine herds of cattle dot the plains beyond -their fence, and some of the families sow fields of corn and -maize. They grow abundance of purple grapes, from which -they press a strong and sparkling wine. My host puts on -his table a vintage as good as Asti; and some folk say the -vineyards of the Don are finer than those of the Garonne and -the Marne!</p> - -<p>These Kozaks have soil enough to grow their food, and fill -the markets with their surplus. No division of land has -taken place for thirty-two years. A plain extends in front -as far as the eye can reach; it is a common property, and -every man can take what he likes. The poorest fellows have -thirty acres apiece. In their home affairs, these colonists are -still a state within the state. Their hetman has been abolished; -their grand ataman is the crown prince; but his work is -wholly nominal, and they elect their own atamans and judges -for a limited term. Every one is eligible for the office of -local ataman—a colonel of the camp, who commands the village -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">{345}</a></span> -in peace and war; but he must not leave his quarters -for the whole of his three years. An officer is sent from St. -Petersburg to drill and command the troops. Every one is -eligible as judge—an officer who tries all cases under forty -rubles of account, and, like an ataman, the judge may not -quit his village even in time of war.</p> - -<p>A great reform is taking place among these camps. All -officers above the rank of ataman and judge are now appointed -by the crown, as such men are in every branch of the public -force. An ataman-general resides with an effective staff -at Novo Cherkask, a town lying back from the Don, in a position -to guard against surprise—a town with streets and -houses, and with thoroughfares lit by lamps instead of being -watched by savage dogs. But Novo Cherkask is a Russian -city, not a Kozak camp; the ataman-general is a Russian soldier, -not a Kozak chief; and the object kept in view at Novo -Cherkask is that of safely and steadily bringing these old military -colonists on the Eastern Steppe under the action of imperial -law.</p> - -<p>But such a change must be a work of time. General Potapoff, -the last ruler in Novo Cherkask, a man of high talents, -fell to his work so fast that a revolt seemed likely to occur -along the whole line of the Don. On proof that he was -not the man for such a post, this general was promoted to -Vilna, as commander-in-chief in the fourth military district; -while General Chertkoff, an old man of conservative views, -was sent down from St. Petersburg to soothe the camps and -keep things quiet in the steppe. The Emperor made a little -joke on his officers' names:—"After the flood, the devil;" -Potap meaning deluge, and Chert the Evil One; and when -his brave Kozaks had laughed at the jest, every thing fell -back for a time into the ancient ruts.</p> - -<p>Of course, in a free Russia all men must be put on an equal -footing before the law, and Kozak privilege must go the way -that every other privilege is going. Yet where is the class -of men that willingly gives up a special right?</p> - -<p>A Kozak is a being slow to change; and a prince who has -to keep his eye fixed day and night on these Eastern steppes, -and on the cities lying beyond them, Khiva and Bokhara, out -of which have come from age to age those rolling swarms of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">{346}</a></span> -savage tribes, can hardly be expected, even in the cause of uniform -law, to break his lines, of defense, and drive his faithful -pickets into open revolt against his rule.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXV.<br /> - -<span class="small">UNDER ARMS.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">An</span> army is in every state, whether bond or free, a thing of -privilege and tradition; and in giving a new spirit to his -Government, it is essential that the Emperor should bring his -army into some closer relation to the country he is making -free.</p> - -<p>The first thing is to raise the profession of arms to a higher -grade, by giving to every soldier in the ranks the old privilege -of a prince and boyar—his immunity from blows and stripes. -A soldier can not now be flogged. Before the present reign, -the army was in theory an open school of merit, and occasionally -a man like General Skobeleff rose from the rank of peasant -to the highest posts. But Skobeleff was a man of genius—a -good writer, as well as a splendid soldier; and his nomination -as commander of St. Petersburg took no one by surprise. -Such cases of advancement are extremely rare; rare as in the -Austrian service, and in our own. But the reforms now introduced -into the army are making this opening for talent -wide enough to give every one a chance. The soldiers are -better taught, better clothed, and better lodged. In distant -provinces they are not yet equal to the show-troops seen on a -summer day at Tsarskoe Seloe; but they are lodged and treated, -even in these far-off stations, with a care to which aforetime -they were never used. Every man has a pair of strong -boots, a good overcoat, a bashlik for his head. His rations -are much improved; good beef is weighed to him; and he is -not compelled to fast. The brutal punishment of running the -ranks has been put down.</p> - -<p>A man who served in the army, just before the Crimean -war broke out, put the difference between the old system -and the new in a luminous way.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">{347}</a></span> -"God bless the Emperor," he said "he gave me life, and -all that I can give him in return is his."</p> - -<p>"You were a prisoner, then?"</p> - -<p>"I was a soldier, young and hot. Some Kozak blood was -in my veins; unlike the serfs, I could not bear a blow, and -broke my duty as a soldier to escape an act of shame."</p> - -<p>"For what were you degraded?"</p> - -<p>"Well! I was a fool. A fool? I was in love; and staked -my liberty for a pretty girl. I kissed her, and was lost."</p> - -<p>"That is what the greatest conquerors have done. You -lost yourself for a rosy lip?"</p> - -<p>"Well—yes; and—no," said Michael. "You see, I was a -youngster then. A man is not a graybeard when he counts -his nineteen summers; and a pair of bright eyes, backed by a -saucy tongue, is more than a lad of spirit can pass without a -singe. Katinka's eyes were bright as her words were arch. -You see, in those days we were all young troops on the road; -going down from Yaroslav into the South, to fight for the Holy -Cross and the Golden Keys. The Frank and Turk were coming -up into our towns, to mock our religion and to steal our -wives; and after a great festa in the Church, when the golden -icon was brought round the ranks, and every man kissed it in -his turn, we marched out of Yaroslav with rolling drums, and -pious hymns, and blessings on our arms. The town soon dropped -behind us, and with the steppe in front, we turned back -more than once to look at the shining domes and towers, -which few of us could hope to see again. For three days we -kept well on; the fourth day some of our lads were missing; -for the roads were heavy, the wells were almost dry, and the -regiment was badly shod. Many were sick; but some were -feigning; and the punishment for shamming is the rod. Our -colonel, a tall, gaunt fellow, stiff as a pike and tight as a cord, -whom no fatigue could touch, began to flog the stragglers; -and as every man in the ranks had to take his turn in whipping -his fellows, the temper of the whole regiment became -morose and savage. In those old times—some eighteen years -ago—we had a rough-and-ready sort of punishment, called -running the ranks."</p> - -<p>"Running the ranks?"</p> - -<p>"It is done so: if a lad has either fallen asleep on his post, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">{348}</a></span> -or vexed his officer, or stolen his comrade's pipe, or failed to -answer at the roll, he is called to the parade-ground of his -company, told to give up his gun, and strip himself naked to -the waist. A soldier grounds the musket, to which the culprit's -two hands are now tied fast near the muzzle; the bayonet -is then fixed, and the butt-end lifted from the ground so -as to bring the point of the bayonet close to the culprit's -heart. The company is then drawn up in two long lines, in -open order; and into every man's hand is given a rod newly -cut and steeped for a night in water to make it hard. The -offender is led between these lines; led by the butt-end of -his gun, the slightest motion of which he must obey, on pain -of being pricked to death; and the troops lay on his naked -back, with a will or not, as their mood may chance to be. -The pain is always great, and the sufferer dares not shrink -before the rod; as in doing so he would fall on the bayonet-point. -But the shame of running the ranks was greater than -the pain. Some fellows learned to bear it; but these were -men who had lost all sense of shame. For my own part, I -think it was worse than death and hell."</p> - -<p>"You have not borne it?"</p> - -<p>"Never! I will tell you. We had marched about a -thousand versts towards the South. Our companies were -greatly thinned; for every second man who had left Yaroslav -with beating heart and singing his joyous psalm, was left behind -us, either in the sick-ward or on the steppe—most of -them on the steppe. Many of the men had run away; some -because they did not want to fight, and others because they -had vexed their officers by petty faults. We had a fortnight -yet to march before reaching those lines of Perikop, where -the Tartars used to fight us; and our stiff colonel cried out -daily down our squads, that if we skulked on the march the -Turks would be in Moscow, not the Russians at Stamboul."</p> - -<p>"Yes!"</p> - -<p>"We had a fortnight yet to march; but the men were so -spent and sore that we halted in a roadside village three days -to mend our shoes and recruit our strength. That halt unmade -me. What with her laughing eyes and her merry -tricks, the girl who served out whisky and halibut to our -company won my heart. Her father kept the inn and posting-house -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">{349}</a></span> -of the village; he had to find us quarters, and supply -us with meat and drink. The girl was about the sheds -in which we lay from early morning until late at night. I -don't say she cared for me, though I was thought a handsome -lad; but she was like a wild kitten, and would purr and play -about you till your blood was all on fire; and into the stable -or the straw-shed, screaming with laughter, and daring you -to chase and capture her—with a kiss, of course. It was -rare good sport; but some of the men, too broken to engage -in making love, were jealous of the fun, and said it would -end in trouble. Well, when the drum tapped for our companies -to fall in, my cloak was missing, and I began to hunt -through the shed in which we had slept the last three nights. -The cloak could not be found. While running up and down, -upsetting stools and scattering sheaves of straw, I caught -Katinka's laughing face at the window of the shed, and at -the very same instant heard the word of command to march. -I had no intention to quit the ranks; but I wanted my cloak, -the loss of which would have been visited upon me by the -anger of my captain and by the wintry frosts. I ran after -Katinka, who darted round the sheds with the cloak on her -arm, crowing with delight as she slipped through the stakes -and past the corners, until she bounded into the straw-yard, -panting and spent. To get the cloak from her was the work -of a second; but to smother her red mouth with kisses was a -task which must have taken me some time; for just as I was -getting free from her, two men of my company came up and -took me prisoner. Graybeards of twenty-five, who had seen -what they call the world, these fellows cared no more for a -pretty girl than for a holy saint. They told the colonel lies; -they said I meant to straggle and desert; and the colonel -sentenced me to run the ranks."</p> - -<p>"You escaped the shame?"</p> - -<p>"By taking my chance of death. The colonel stood before -me, bolt upright, his hand upon the shoulder of his horse. -Too well I knew how to merit death in a time of war; and -striding up to him, by a rapid motion, ere any one could pull -me back, I struck that officer with my open palm across his -cheek. A minute later I was pinioned, thrown into a cart, -and placed under a double guard. At Perikop I was brought -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">{350}</a></span> -before commissioners and condemned to die; but the Franks -were now coming up the Bosphorus in ships, and the prince -commanding in the Crimea, being anxious to make the war -popular, was in a tender mood; and finding that my record -in the regiment was good, he changed my sentence of death -into one of imprisonment in a fortress during life. My comrades -thought I should be pardoned in a few weeks and placed -in some other company for service; but my crime was too -black to be forgiven in that iron reign."</p> - -<p>"Iron reign?"</p> - -<p>"The reign of Nicolas was the iron reign. I was sent to a -fortress, where I lay, a prisoner, until Nicolas went to heaven."</p> - -<p>"You lived two years in jail?"</p> - -<p>"Lived! No; you do not live in prison, you die. But -when the saints are cross you take a very long time to die."</p> - -<p>"You wished to die?"</p> - -<p>"Well, no; you only wish to sleep, to forget your pain, to -escape from the watcher's eyes. When the rings are soldered -round your ankles, and the cuffs are fastened round your -wrists, you feel that you have ceased to be a man. Cold, -passive, cruel in your temper, you are now a savage beast, -without the savage freedom of the wolf and bear. Your legs -swell out, and the bones grow gritty, and like to snap."</p> - -<p>"Which are the worse to bear—the leg-rings or the cuffs?"</p> - -<p>"The cuffs. When they are taken off, a man goes all but -mad. He clasps and claps his hands for joy; he can lift his -palms in prayer, besides being able to chase the spiders and -kill the fleas. Worst of all to the prisoner are the eyelets -in his door, through which the sentinel watches him from -dawn to dusk. Though lonely, he is never alone. Do what -he may, the passionless holes are open, and a freezing glance -may be fixed upon him. In his sleeping and in his waking -hour those eyes are on him, and he gladly waits for darkness -to come down, that he may feel secure from that maddening -watch. Sometimes a man goes boldly to the door, spits -through the holes, yells like a wild beast, and forces the -sentinel to retire in shame."</p> - -<p>"You gained your freedom in the general amnesty?"</p> - -<p>"Yes; when the young prince came to his throne he opened -our prison-doors and set us free. Were you ever a prisoner? -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">{351}</a></span> -No! Then you can never know what it is to be free. -You walk out of darkness into light; you wake out of misery -into joy. The air you breathe makes you strong like a draught -of wine. You feel that you belong to God."</p> - -<p>Under Nicolas the soldiers were so dressed and drilled that -they were always falling sick. A third of the army was in -hospital the whole year round, and little more than half the -men could ever be returned as fit to march. Being badly -clothed and poorly fed, they flew to drink. They died in -heaps, and rather like sheep than men.</p> - -<p>The case is different now; for the soldier is better clothed -and fed than persons of his class in ordinary life. The men -are allowed to stand and walk in their natural way; and, having -more bread to eat, they show less craving after drink. -A school is opened in every barrack, and pressure is put on -the men to make them learn. Many of the soldiers can read, -and some can write. Gazettes and papers are taken in; libraries -are being formed; and the Russian army promises to become -as bright as that of Germany or France. The change -is great; and every one finds the root of this reform in that -abolition of the Tartar stick, which comes, like other great reforms, -from the Crimean war.</p> - -<hr /> - -<h2>CHAPTER LXVI.<br /> - -<span class="small">ALEXANDER.</span></h2> - -<p><span class="smcap">The</span> Crimean war restored the people to their national life. -"Sebastopol!" said a general officer to me just now, "Sebastopol -perished, that our country might be free." The Tartar -kingdom, founded by Ivan the Terrible, reformed by Peter -the Great, existed in the spirit, even where it clothed itself in -Western names and forms, until the allies landed from their -transports. Routed on the Alma, beaten at Balaclava, that -kingdom made her final effort on the heights of Inkermann; -hurling, in Tartar force and fashion, her last "great horde" -across that Baidar valley, in the rocks and caves of which a -remnant of the tribes of Batu Khan and Timour Beg still -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">{352}</a></span> -lingers; fighting in mist and fog, on wooded slope and stony -ridge, her gallant and despairing fight. What followed Inkermann -was detail only. Met and foiled that wintry day, she -reeled and bled to death. A grave was made for her, as one -may say, not far from the spot on which she fought and fell. -Before the landing-place in Sebastopol sprang the walls and -frowned the guns of an imperial fort—the strongest pile in -Russia, perhaps in Europe; rising tier on tier, and armed -with two hundred and sixty guns; a fort in the fire of which -no ship then floating on the sea could live. It bore the builder's -name—the name of Nicolas, Autocrat of all the Russians; -a colossal sovereign, who for thirty years had awed and stifled -men like Genghis Khan. That fort became a ruin. The -guns were torn to rags, the walls were shivered into dust. No -stone was left in its place to tell the tale of its former pride; -and it is even now an easier task to trace the outlines of -Kherson, dead for five hundred years, than to restore, from -what remains of them, the features of that proud, imperial -fort. The prince, the fortress, and the kingdom fell; their -work on earth accomplished to the final act. This ruin is -their grave.</p> - -<p>Asiatic Russia passed away, and European Russia struggled -into life.</p> - -<p>Holding under the "Great Cham," the Duke of Moscow -was in ancient times a dependent prince, like the Hospodar -of Valachia, like the Pasha of Egypt in modern days. Doing -homage, paying tribute to his Tartar lord, the duke ruled in -his place, coined money in his name, adopted his dress and -habits, fought his battles, and took into pay his officers and -troops. Cities which the Tartar could not reach, his vassal -crushed.</p> - -<p>The Tartar system was a village system, as it is with every -pastoral and predatory race; a village for the followers, and -a camp or residence for the prince. The Russian system was -a mixed system, as it was in Germany and France; a village -for the husbandman, a town for the boyar, merchant, and professional -man. The old Russian towns were rich and free; -ruled by codes of law, by popular assemblies, and by elected -dukes. Novgorod, Moscow, Pskoff, Vladimir, Nijni, were -models of a hundred prosperous towns; but when the Duke -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">{353}</a></span> -of Moscow wrested his independence from the khan in the -seventeenth century, he took up the Tartar policy of weakening -the free cities, and centring all authority in his camp. That -camp was Moscow, which Ivan put under martial law, and -governed, in Asiatic fashion, by the stick. The court became -a Tartar court. The dress and manners of Bakchi Serai were -imitated in the Kremlin; women were put into harems; the -Tartar distinction of white and black (noble and ignoble) was -established. From the time when the grand dukes became -Tsars they were called White, the peasants Black; and the -poor of every class, whether they lived in towns or villages, -were styled, in contempt, as their Moslem masters had always -styled them, Christians—bearers of the cross—a name which -descended to the serfs, and clung to them so long as a serf -existed on Russian soil.</p> - -<p>In leaving Moscow, Peter the Great was only acting like -the Crim Tartar who had changed his camp from Eski-Crim -to Bakchi Serai. The camp was his country, and where he -rested for a season was his camp. In Old Russia, as in Germany -and France, authority was historical; in Crim-Tartary, -as in Turkey and Bokhara, it was personal. Ivan the Terrible -introduced, and Peter the Great extended, the personal system. -In her better days Russia had a noble class, as well as a citizen -class and a peasant class; but these signs of a glorious -past were gradually put away. "No man is noble in my -empire, unless I make him so," said Peter. "No man is noble -in my empire, except when I speak to him, and only while -I speak to him," said Paul. The governors of provinces became -pashas, with the right of living on the districts they were -sent to rule; that is to say, of taking from the people meat, -drink, house, dogs, horses, women, at their sovereign will.</p> - -<p>Though softened from time to time, here by fine phrases, -there by mystic patriotism, this Tartar system lived into the -present reign. Under this system, the prince was every -thing, the people nothing; the army a horde, the nobility an -official mob, the Church a department of police, the commons -a herd of slaves.</p> - -<p>Nicolas prized that system, and being a man of powerful -frame and daring mind, he carried it forward to a point from -which it had been falling back since the reign of Peter the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">{354}</a></span> -Great. Unlike Peter, Nicolas saw no use in Western science -and Western arts. He hated railways, he abhorred the press. -He made his court a camp; he dressed his students in uniform; -he turned education into drill. He was the State, the -Church, the Army, all in one. Desiring to shut up his empire, -as the Khans of Khiva and Bokhara close their states, he drew -a cordon round his frontier, over which it was nearly as difficult -for a stranger to enter as for a subject to escape; and -while he occupied the throne, his country was almost as much -a mystery to mankind as the realm of Prester John. With -mystery came distrust, for the unknown is always feared; -and Europe lay in front of this Tartar prince, exactly as in -former ages Moscow lay before Timour Beg. A system such -as Nicolas loved could not exist in presence of free and powerful -states; and Europe had to march upon the armies of Nicolas, -even as Ivan the Terrible had to march upon the troops -of Yediguer Khan.</p> - -<p>The system was Mongolian, not Slavonic; and the mighty -sovereign who upheld it, and perished with it, will be regarded -in future ages as the prince who was at once the last Asiatic -emperor and the last European khan.</p> - -<p>When Alexander the Second came to his sceptre, what was -his estate? His empire was a wreck. The allies were upon -his soil; his ports were closed; his ships were sunk; his -armies were held at bay. Looking from the Neva to the -Thames, he could not see one friend on whom in his trouble -he could call for help. The system was perfect; the isolation -was complete. But why had that system, reared at such a -price, collapsed so thoroughly at the point where it seemed to -be most strong?</p> - -<p>His armies counted a million men. Why were these hosts -unable to protect their soil? They were at home; they knew -the country; they were used to its windy plains, its summer -heats, and its wintry snows. They were fighting, too, for every -thing that men hold dear on earth. When Alexander -compared his million men against the forces of his rivals actually -in the field, his wonder grew into amazement. These -soldiers of his foes were weak in number, far from home, and -fighting only for pride and pay. How were such armies able -to maintain themselves on Russian ground?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">{355}</a></span> -Before the Emperor Nicolas died, he read the truth—read -it in the light of his burning towns, his wasting armies, and -his fruitless cannonades. He found that he and his million -troops were matched against a hundred millions of eager and -adventurous foes. Free nations were all against him; and -the serf nation which he ruled so sternly was not for him. -Russia was not with him. Here he was weak, with an incurable -fret and sore. The serfs, the Old Believers, and the -sectaries of every name, were all against him, looking on his -system as a foreign, not to say an abominable thing, and -praying night and day that the hour of their deliverance from -his rule might quickly come. No people stood behind the -soldiery in his war against the Western Powers.</p> - -<p>In spite of genius, valor, enterprise, success, an army fighting -for itself, unwarmed by popular applause, is sure in the -end to fail. The discovery that he and his troops were fighting -against the world of free thought and liberal science killed -him. When the blow was dealt, and his pride was gone, -Nicolas is said to have confided to his son Alexander the -causes of his failure as he had come to see them, and to have -urged the prince to pursue another and more liberal course. -Who can say whether this is true or not, for who can know -the secrets of that dying bed?</p> - -<p>Yet every man can see that the new sovereign acted as if -some such warning had been given. He began his reign with -acts of mercy. Hundreds of prison doors were opened, thousands -of exiles were released from bonds. An honorable -peace was made with the Western Powers, and the dream of -marching on Stamboul was brushed aside. An empire of -seventy millions was found big enough to hold her own. Alexander -proved that he had none of the Tartar's lust of territory -by giving up part of Bessarabia for the sake of peace.</p> - -<p>Secured on his frontiers, Alexander turned his eyes on the -people and the provinces committed to his care. A vast majority -of his countrymen were serfs. Not one in ten could -read; not one in fifty could sign his name. Great numbers -of his people stood aloof from the Official Church. The serfs -were much oppressed by the nobles; the Old Believers were -bitterly persecuted by the monks; yet these two classes were -the bone and sinew of the land. If strength was sought beyond -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">{356}</a></span> -the army and the official classes, where could he find it, -save among these serfs in the country, these Old Believers in -the towns? In no other places. How could such populations, -suffering as they were from physical bondage and religious -hate, be reconciled to the empire, added to the national -force?</p> - -<p>Studying the men over whom he was called to rule, the -Emperor went down among his people; living on their river -banks and in their rural communes; passing from the Arctic -to the Caspian Sea, from the Vistula to the Ural mines; -kneeling with them at Solovetsk and Troitsa; parleying with -them on the roadside and by the inland lake; observing them -in the forest and in the mine; until he felt that he had seen -more of the Russian soil, knew more of the Russian people, -than any of the ministers about his court.</p> - -<p>In the light of knowledge thus carefully acquired, he opened -the great question of the serfs; and feeling strong in his -minute acquaintance with his country, had the happy courage -to insist on his principle of "liberty with land," against the -views of his councils and committees in favor of "liberty -without land."</p> - -<p>Before that act was carried out in every part, he began his -great reform in the army. He put down flogging, beating, -and striking in the ranks. He opened schools in the camp, -cleared the avenues of promotion, and raised the soldier's -condition on the moral, not less than on the material side.</p> - -<p>The universities were then reformed in a pacific sense. -Swords were put down, uniforms laid aside, and corporate -privileges withdrawn. Education was divorced from its connection -with the camp. Lay professors occupied the chairs, -and the young men attending lectures stood on the same level -with their fellows, subject to the same magistrate, amenable -to the common code. The schools became free, and students -ceased to be feared as "servants of the Tsar."</p> - -<p>This change was followed by that immense reform in the -administration of justice which transferred the trial of offenders -from the police office to the courts of law; replacing an -always arbitrary and often corrupted official by an impartial -jury, acting in union with an educated judge.</p> - -<p>At the same period he opened those local parliaments, the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">{357}</a></span> -district assemblies and the provincial assemblies, which are -training men to think and speak, to listen and decide—to believe -in argument, to respect opposing views, and exercise the -virtues required in public life.</p> - -<p>In the wake of these reforms came the still more delicate -question of Church reform; including the relations of the -Black clergy to the White; of the Orthodox clergy, whether -Black or White, to the Old Believers; of the Holy Governing -Synod to Dissenters; as also the influence which the Church -should exercise over secular education, and the supremacy of -the canon law over the civil law.</p> - -<p>Each of these great reforms would seem, in a country like -Russia, to require a lifetime; yet under this daring and beneficent -ruler they are all proceeding side by side. Opposed -by the three most powerful parties in the empire—the Black -Clergy, who feel that power is slipping from their hands—the -old military chiefs, who think their soldiers should be kept -in order by the stick—the thriftless nobles, who prefer Homberg -and Paris to a dull life on their estates—the Emperor -not the less keeps steadily working out his ends. What -wonder that he is adored by peasants, burghers, and parish -priests, by all who wish to live in peace, to till their fields, to -mind their shops, and to say their prayers!</p> - -<p>A free Russia is a pacific Russia. By his genius and his -occupation, a Russian is less inclined to war than either a -Briton or a Gaul; and as the right of voting on public questions -comes to be his habit, his voice will be more and more -cast for the policy that gives him peace. In one direction -only he looks with dread—across that opening of the Eastern -Steppe through which he has seen so many hordes of his -enemies swarm into his towns and fields. Through that -opening he has pushed—is now pushing—and will push his -way, until Khiva and Bokhara fall into his power, as Tashkend -and Kokan have fallen into his power.</p> - -<p>Why should we English regret his march, repine at his -success? Is he not fighting, for all the world, a battle of law, -of order, and of civilization? Would not Russia at Bokhara -mean the English at Bokhara also? Would not roads be -made, and stations built, and passes guarded through the -steppe for traders and travellers of every race? Could any -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">{358}</a></span> -other people undertake this task? Why then should we cry -down the Moscovite? Even in our selfish interests, it would -be well for us to have a civilized neighbor on our frontier -rather than a savage tribe; a neighbor bound by law and -courtesy, instead of a savage khan who murders our envoy -and rejects our trade!</p> - -<p>Russia requires a hundred years of peace; but she will not -find that peace until she has closed the passage of her Eastern -Steppe by planting the banner of St. George on the Tower -of Timour Beg.</p> - -<p>Meantime, the reforming Emperor holds his course—a lonely -man, much crossed by care, much tried by family afflictions, -much enduring in his public life.</p> - -<p>One dark December day, near dusk, two Englishmen hail a -boat on the Neva brink, and push out rapidly through the -bars of ice towards that grim fortress of St. Peter and St. -Paul, in which lie buried under marble slab and golden cross -the emperors and empresses (with one exception) since the -reign of Peter the Great. As they are pushing onward, they -observe the watermen drop their oars and doff their caps; -and looking round, they see the imperial barge, propelled by -twenty rowers, athwart their stern. The Emperor sits in that -barge alone; an officer is standing by his side, and the helmsman -directs the rowers how to pull. Saluting as he glides -past their boat, the Emperor jumps to land, and muffling his -loose gray cloak about his neck, steps hastily along the planks -and up the roadway leading to the church. No one goes -with him. The six or eight idlers whom he meets on the -road just touch their hats, and stand aside to let him pass. -Trying the front door of that sombre church, he finds it -locked; and striding off quickly to a second door, he sees a -man in plain clothes, and beckons to him. The door is quickly -opened, and the lord of seventy millions walks into the -church that is to be his final home. The English visitors are -near. "Wait for an instant," says the man in plain clothes; -"the Emperor is within;" but adds, "you can step into the -porch; his majesty will not keep you long." The porch is -parted from the church by glass doors only, and the English -visitors look down upon the scene within. Long aisles and -columns stretch and rise before them. Flags and trophies, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">{359}</a></span> -won in a hundred battles, fought against the Swede and -Frank, the Perse and Turk, adorn the walls, and here and -there a silver lamp burns fitfully in front of a pictured saint. -Between the columns stand, in white sepulchral rows, the imperial -tombs—a weird and ghastly vista, gleaming in that red -and sombre light.</p> - -<p>Alone, his cap drawn tightly on his brow, and muffled in -his loose gray coat, the Emperor passes from slab to slab; -now pausing for an instant, as if conning an inscription on -the stone, now crossing the nave absorbed and bent; here -hidden for a moment in the gloom, there moving furtively -along the aisle. The dead are all around him—Peter, Catharine, -Paul—fierce warriors, tender women, innocent babes, -and overhead the dust and glory of a hundred wars. What -brings him hither in this wintry dusk? The weight of life? -The love of death? He stops, unbonnets, kneels—at the foot -of his mother's tomb! Once more he pauses, kneels—kneels -a long time, as it in prayer; then, rising, kisses the golden -cross. That slab is the tomb of his eldest son!</p> - -<p>A moment later he is gone.</p> - -<div id="end"> -<p>THE END.</p> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<div id="booklist"> - -<h2>VALUABLE STANDARD WORKS<br /> - -<span class="smaller">FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES,</span></h2> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, -New York.</span></p> - -<p class="hand">☞<i>For a full List of Books suitable for -Libraries, see</i> <span class="smcap">Harper & Brothers' -Trade-List</span> and <span class="smcap">Catalogue</span>, <i>which -may be had gratuitously on application to the Publishers personally, -or by letter enclosing Five Cents.</i></p> - -<p class="hand">☞<span class="smcap">Harper & Brothers</span> -<i>will send any of the following works by mail, postage prepaid, to -any part of the United States, on receipt of the price.</i></p> - -<hr /> - -<p>MOTLEY'S DUTCH REPUBLIC. The Rise of the Dutch Republic. -By <span class="smcap">John Lothrop Motley</span>, LL.D., D.C.L. -With a Portrait of William of Orange. 3 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $10 50.</p> - -<p>MOTLEY'S UNITED NETHERLANDS. -History of the United Netherlands: from the Death of William the -Silent to the Twelve Years' Truce—1609. With a full View of the -English-Dutch Struggle against Spain, and of the Origin and -Destruction of the Spanish Armada. -By <span class="smcap">John Lothrop Motley</span>, LL.D., D.C.L. -Portraits. 4 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $14 00.</p> - -<p>NAPOLEON'S LIFE OF CÆSAR. The History of Julius Cæsar. -By His Imperial Majesty <span class="smcap">Napoleon III</span>. -Two Volumes ready. Library Edition, 8vo, Cloth, $3 50 per vol.</p> - -<p class="bk2"><i>Maps to Vols. I. and II. sold separately. -Price $1 50 each,</i> <span class="x-small">NET</span>.</p> - -<p>HAYDN'S DICTIONARY OF DATES, relating to all Ages and Nations. -For Universal Reference. -Edited by <span class="smcap">Benjamin Vincent</span>, -Assistant Secretary and Keeper of the Library of the Royal Institution of Great Britain; -and Revised for the Use of American Readers. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00; Sheep, $6 00.</p> - -<p>HARTWIG'S POLAR WORLD. The Polar World: a Popular Description of Man -and Nature in the Arctic and Antarctic Regions of the Globe. -By Dr. <span class="smcap">G. Hartwig</span>, Author of "The Sea and its -Living Wonders," "The Harmonies of Nature," and "The Tropical World." -With Additional Chapters and 163 Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, Beveled Edges, $3 75.</p> - -<p>WALLACE'S MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. The Malay Archipelago: the Land of the -Orang-Utan and the Bird of Paradise. A Narrative of Travel, 1854-1862. -With Studies of Man and Nature. -By <span class="smcap">Alfred Russel Wallace</span>. -With Ten Maps and Fifty-one Elegant Illustrations. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.</p> - -<p>WHYMPER'S ALASKA. Travel and Adventure in the Territory of Alaska, formerly -Russian America—now Ceded to the United States—and in various other parts of -the North Pacific. -By <span class="smcap">Frederick Whymper</span>. -With Map and Illustrations. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $2 50.</p> - -<p>ORTON'S ANDES AND THE AMAZON. -The Andes and the Amazon; or, Across the Continent of South America. -By <span class="smcap">James Orton</span>, M.A., Professor of Natural -History in Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and Corresponding Member of the -Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. -With a New Map of Equatorial America and numerous Illustrations. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $2 00.</p> - -<p>WINCHELL'S SKETCHES OF CREATION. -Sketches of Creation: a Popular View of some of the Grand Conclusions -of the Sciences in reference to the History of Matter and of Life. -Together with a Statement of the Intimations of Science respecting the -Primordial Condition and the Ultimate Destiny of the Earth and the Solar System. -By <span class="smcap">Alexander Winchell</span>, LL.D., Professor of Geology, -Zoology, and Botany in the University of Michigan, and Director of the State -Geological Survey. With Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.</p> - -<p>WHITE'S MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW. The Massacre of St. Bartholomew: -Preceded by a History of the Religious Wars in the Reign of Charles IX. -By <span class="smcap">Henry White</span>, M.A. With Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $1 75.</p> - -<p>LOSSING'S FIELD-BOOK OF THE REVOLUTION. Pictorial Field-Book of the -Revolution; or, Illustrations, by Pen and Pencil, of the History, -Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for Independence. -By <span class="smcap">Benson J. Lossing</span>. -2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $14 00; Sheep, $15 00; Half Calf, $18 00; Full -Turkey Morocco, $22 00.</p> - -<p>LOSSING'S FIELD-BOOK OF THE WAR OF 1812. Pictorial Field-Book of the -War of 1812; or, Illustrations, by Pen and Pencil, of the History, Biography, -Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the Last War for American Independence. -By <span class="smcap">Benson J. Lossing</span>. -With several hundred Engravings on Wood, by Lossing and Barritt, -chiefly from Original Sketches by the Author. -1088 pages, 8vo, Cloth, $7 00; Sheep, $8 50; Half Calf, $10 00.</p> - -<p>ALFORD'S GREEK TESTAMENT. The Greek Testament: with a critically-revised -Text; a Digest of Various Readings; Marginal References to Verbal and Idiomatic -Usage; Prolegomena; and a Critical and Exegetical Commentary. For -the Use of Theological Students and Ministers. -By <span class="smcap">Henry Alford</span>, D.D., Dean of Canterbury. -Vol. I., containing the Four Gospels. 944 pages, 8vo, Cloth, $6 00; Sheep, $6 50.</p> - -<p>ABBOTT'S HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. The French Revolution -of 1789, as viewed in the Light of Republican Institutions. -By <span class="smcap">John S. C. Abbott</span>. -With 100 Engravings. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p> - -<p>ABBOTT'S NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. The History of Napoleon Bonaparte. -By <span class="smcap">John S. C. Abbott</span>. -With Maps, Woodcuts, and Portraits on Steel. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $10 00.</p> - -<p>ABBOTT'S NAPOLEON AT ST. HELENA; or, Interesting Anecdotes and Remarkable -Conversations of the Emperor during the Five and a Half Years of his -Captivity. Collected from the Memorials of Las Casas, O'Meara, Montholon, -Antommarchi, and others. -By <span class="smcap">John S. C. Abbott</span>. With Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p> - -<p>ADDISON'S COMPLETE WORKS. The Works of Joseph Addison, embracing the -whole of the "Spectator." Complete in 3 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $6 00.</p> - -<p>ALCOCK'S JAPAN. The Capital of the Tycoon: a Narrative of a Three Years' -Residence in Japan. -By Sir <span class="smcap">Rutherford Alcock</span>, K.C.B., Her Majesty's Envoy -Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Japan. -With Maps and Engravings. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.</p> - -<p>ALISON'S HISTORY OF EUROPE. <span class="smcap">First Series</span>: -From the Commencement of the French Revolution, in 1789, -to the Restoration of the Bourbons, in 1815. -[In addition to the Notes on Chapter LXXVI., which correct the errors of the -original work concerning the United States, a copious Analytical Index has been -appended to this American edition.] -<span class="smcap">Second Series</span>: From the Fall of Napoleon, -in 1815, to the Accession of Louis Napoleon, in 1852. -8 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $16 00.</p> - -<p>BANCROFT'S MISCELLANIES. Literary and Historical Miscellanies. -By <span class="smcap">George Bancroft</span>. 8vo, Cloth, $3 00.</p> - -<p>BALDWIN'S PRE-HISTORIC NATIONS. Pre-Historic Nations: or, Inquiries concerning -some of the Great Peoples and Civilizations of Antiquity, and their Probable -Relation to a still Older Civilization of the Ethiopians or Cushites of Arabia. -By <span class="smcap">John D. Baldwin</span>, Member of the American Oriental Society. -12mo, Cloth, $1 75.</p> - -<p>BARTH'S NORTH AND CENTRAL AFRICA. Travels and Discoveries in North -and Central Africa: being a Journal of an Expedition undertaken under the -Auspices of H.B.M.'s Government, in the Years 1849-1855. -By <span class="smcap">Henry Barth</span>, Ph.D., D.C.L. -Illustrated. 3 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $12 00.</p> - -<p>HENRY WARD BEECHER'S SERMONS. Sermons by <span class="smcap">Henry Ward Beecher</span>, -Plymouth Church, Brooklyn. Selected from Published and Unpublished Discourses, -and Revised by their Author. With Steel Portrait. Complete in 2 vols., -8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p> - -<p>LYMAN BEECHER'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY, &c. -Autobiography, Correspondence, &c., of Lyman Beecher, D.D. -Edited by his Son, <span class="smcap">Charles Beecher</span>. -With Three Steel Portraits, and Engravings on Wood. In 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $5 00.</p> - -<p>BOSWELL'S JOHNSON. The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. -Including a Journey to the Hebrides. -By <span class="smcap">James Boswell</span>, Esq. -A New Edition, with numerous Additions and Notes. -By <span class="smcap">John Wilson Croker</span>, LL.D., F.R.S. -Portrait of Boswell. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.</p> - -<p>DRAPER'S CIVIL WAR. History of the American Civil War. -By <span class="smcap">John W. Draper</span>, M.D., LL.D., Professor -of Chemistry and Physiology in the University of New York. -In Three Vols. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50 per vol.</p> - -<p>DRAPER'S INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPE. -A History of the Intellectual Development of Europe. -By <span class="smcap">John W. Draper</span>, M.D., LL.D., Professor -of Chemistry and Physiology in the University of New York. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p> - -<p>DRAPER'S AMERICAN CIVIL POLICY. Thoughts on the Future Civil Policy of America. -By <span class="smcap">John W. Draper</span>, M.D., LL.D., Professor of Chemistry and Physiology -in the University of New York. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $2 50.</p> - -<p>DU CHAILLU'S AFRICA. Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa: -with Accounts of the Manners and Customs of the People, and of the Chase of the Gorilla, -the Crocodile, Leopard, Elephant, Hippopotamus, and other Animals. -By <span class="smcap">Paul B. Du Chaillu</span>. -Numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p> - -<p>DU CHAILLU'S ASHANGO LAND. -A Journey to Ashango Land: and Further Penetration into Equatorial Africa. -By <span class="smcap">Paul B. Du Chaillu</span>. New Edition. -Handsomely Illustrated. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p> - -<p>BURNS'S LIFE AND WORKS. The Life and Works of Robert Burns. -Edited by <span class="smcap">Robert Chambers</span>. 4 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $6 00.</p> - -<p>BELLOWS'S OLD WORLD. -The Old World in its New Face: Impressions of Europe in 1867-1868. -By <span class="smcap">Henry W. Bellows</span>. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.</p> - -<p>BRODHEAD'S HISTORY OF NEW YORK. History of the State of New York. -By <span class="smcap">John Romeyn Brodhead</span>. -First Period, 1609-1664. 8vo, Cloth, $3 00.</p> - -<p>BULWER'S PROSE WORKS. -Miscellaneous Prose Works of Edward Bulwer, Lord Lytton. -2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.</p> - -<p>CARLYLE'S FREDERICK THE GREAT. History of Friedrich II., called Frederick the Great. -By <span class="smcap">Thomas Carlyle</span>. -Portraits, Maps, Plans, &c. 6 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $12 00.</p> - -<p>CARLYLE'S FRENCH REVOLUTION. History of the French Revolution. -Newly Revised by the Author, with Index, &c. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.</p> - -<p>CARLYLE'S OLIVER CROMWELL. Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell. -With Elucidations and Connecting Narrative. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 50.</p> - -<p>CHALMERS'S POSTHUMOUS WORKS. The Posthumous Works of Dr. Chalmers. -Edited by his Son-in-Law, Rev. <span class="smcap">William Hanna</span>, LL.D. -Complete in 9 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $13 50.</p> - -<p>COLERIDGE'S COMPLETE WORKS. The Complete Works of Samuel Taylor -Coleridge. With an Introductory Essay upon his Philosophical and Theological Opinions. -Edited by Professor <span class="smcap">Shedd</span>. -Complete in Seven Vols. With a fine Portrait. Small 8vo, Cloth, $10 50.</p> - -<p>CURTIS'S HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION. History of the Origin, -Formation, and Adoption of the Constitution of the United States. -By <span class="smcap">George Ticknor Curtis</span>. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $6 00.</p> - -<p>DOOLITTLE'S CHINA. Social Life of the Chinese: with some Account of their Religious, -Governmental, Educational, and Business Customs and Opinions. With -special but not exclusive Reference to Fuhchau. -By Rev. <span class="smcap">Justus Doolittle</span>, -Fourteen Years Member of the Fuhchau Mission of the American Board. -Illustrated with more than 150 characteristic Engravings on Wood. -2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $5 00.</p> - -<p>DAVIS'S CARTHAGE. Carthage and her Remains: being an Account of the Excavations -and Researches on the Site of the Phœnician Metropolis in Africa and other -adjacent Places. Conducted under the Auspices of Her Majesty's Government. -By Dr. <span class="smcap">Davis</span>, F.R.G.S. -Profusely Illustrated with Maps, Woodcuts, Chromo-Lithographs, &c. 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.</p> - -<p>EDGEWORTH'S (<span class="smcap">Miss</span>) NOVELS. -With Engravings. 10 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $15 00.</p> - -<p>GIBBON'S ROME. History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. -By <span class="smcap">Edward Gibbon</span>. With Notes by Rev. <span -class="smcap">H. H. Milman</span> and <span class="smcap">M. Guizot</span>. -A new cheap Edition. To which is added a complete Index of the whole Work, -and a Portrait of the Author. 6 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $9 00.</p> - -<p>HARPER'S PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE REBELLION. Harper's Pictorial -History of the Great Rebellion in the United States. With nearly 1000 Illustrations. -In Two Vols., 4to. Price $6 00 per vol.</p> - -<p>HARPER'S NEW CLASSICAL LIBRARY. Literal Translations.<br /> -The following Volumes are now ready. Portraits. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50 each.</p> - - <p class="bk2"><span class="smcap">Cæsar.—Virgil.—Sallust.—Horace.—Cicero's - Orations.—Cicero's Offices, &c.—Cicero on Oratory and Orators.—Tacitus</span> - (2 vols.).—<span class="smcap">Terence.—Sophocles.—Juvenal.—Xenophon.—Homer's - Iliad.—Homer's Odyssey.—Herodotus.—Demosthenes.—Thucydides.—Æschylus.—Euripides</span> (2 vols.).</p> - -<p>HELPS'S SPANISH CONQUEST. The Spanish Conquest in America, and its -Relation to the History of Slavery and to the Government of Colonies. -By <span class="smcap">Arthur Helps</span>. 4 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $6 00.</p> - -<p>HUME'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. History of England, from the Invasion of Julius -Cæsar to the Abdication of James II., 1688. -By <span class="smcap">David Hume</span>. -A new Edition, with the Author's last Corrections and Improvements. -To which is Prefixed a short Account of his Life, written by Himself. -With a Portrait of the Author. 6 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $9 00.</p> - -<p>GROTE'S HISTORY OF GREECE. 12 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $18 00.</p> - -<p>HALE'S (<span class="smcap">Mrs.</span>) WOMAN'S RECORD. -Woman's Record; or, Biographical Sketches of all Distinguished Women, -from the Creation to the Present Time. Arranged in Four Eras, -with Selections from Female Writers of each Era. -By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Sarah Josepha Hale</span>. -Illustrated with more than 200 Portraits. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p> - -<p>HALL'S ARCTIC RESEARCHES. Arctic Researches and Life among the Esquimaux: -being the Narrative of an Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin, in -the Years 1860, 1861, and 1862. -By <span class="smcap">Charles Francis Hall</span>. -With Maps and 100 Illustrations. -The Illustrations are from Original Drawings by Charles Parsons, -Henry L. Stephens, Solomon Eytinge, W. S. L. Jewett, and Granville Perkins, -after Sketches by Captain Hall. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p> - -<p>HALLAM'S CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND, from the Accession of -Henry VII. to the Death of George II. 8vo, Cloth, $2 00.</p> - -<p>HALLAM'S LITERATURE. Introduction to the Literature of Europe during the -Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries. -By <span class="smcap">Henry Hallam</span>. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.</p> - -<p>HALLAM'S MIDDLE AGES. State of Europe during the Middle Ages. -By <span class="smcap">Henry Hallam</span>. 8vo, Cloth, $2 00.</p> - -<p>HILDRETH'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. -<span class="smcap">First Series</span>: From the First Settlement of the -Country to the Adoption of the Federal Constitution. -<span class="smcap">Second Series</span>: From the Adoption of the Federal -Constitution to the End of the Sixteenth Congress. 6 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $18 00.</p> - -<p>JAY'S WORKS. Complete Works of Rev. William Jay: comprising his Sermons, -Family Discourses, Morning and Evening Exercises for every Day in the Year, -Family Prayers, &c. -Author's enlarged Edition, revised. 3 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $6 00.</p> - -<p>JOHNSON'S COMPLETE WORKS. The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. -With an Essay on his Life and Genius, -by <span class="smcap">Arthur Murphy</span>, Esq. -Portrait of Johnson. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.</p> - -<p>KINGLAKE'S CRIMEAN WAR. The Invasion of the Crimea, and an Account of -its Progress down to the Death of Lord Raglan. -By <span class="smcap">Alexander William Kinglake</span>. -With Maps and Plans. Two Vols. ready. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00 per vol.</p> - -<p>KRUMMACHER'S DAVID, KING OF ISRAEL. David, the King of Israel: -a Portrait drawn from Bible History and the Book of Psalms. -By <span class="smcap">Frederick William Krummacher</span>, D.D., -Author of "Elijah the Tishbite," &c. -Translated under the express Sanction of the Author -by the Rev. <span class="smcap">M. G. Easton</span>, M.A. -With a Letter from Dr. Krummacher to his American Readers, and a Portrait. -12mo, Cloth, $1 75.</p> - -<p>LAMB'S COMPLETE WORKS. The Works of Charles Lamb. -Comprising his Letters, Poems, Essays of Elia, Essays upon Shakspeare, -Hogarth, &c., and a Sketch of his Life, with the Final Memorials, -by <span class="smcap">T. Noon Talfourd</span>. Portrait. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 00.</p> - -<p>LIVINGSTONE'S SOUTH AFRICA. -Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa; including a Sketch -of Sixteen Years' Residence in the Interior of Africa, and a Journey -from the Cape of Good Hope to Loando on the West Coast; thence across -the Continent, down the River Zambesi, to the Eastern Ocean. -By <span class="smcap">David Livingstone</span>, LL.D., D.C.L. -With Portrait, Maps by Arrowsmith, and numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $4 50.</p> - -<p>LIVINGSTONES' ZAMBESI. Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and its -Tributaries, and of the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa. 1858-1864. -By <span class="smcap">David</span> and <span class="smcap">Charles Livingstone</span>. -With Map and Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p> - -<p>M'CLINTOCK & STRONG'S CYCLOPÆDIA. -Cyclopaædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. -Prepared by the Rev. <span class="smcap">John M'Clintock</span>, D.D., -and <span class="smcap">James Strong</span>, S.T.D. -<i>3 vols. now ready.</i> Royal 8vo. -Price per vol., Cloth, $5 00; Sheep, $6 00; Half Morocco, $8 00.</p> - -<p>MARCY'S ARMY LIFE ON THE BORDER. Thirty Years of Army Life on the -Border. Comprising Descriptions of the Indian Nomads of the Plains; -Explorations of New Territory; a Trip across the Rocky Mountains in -the Winter; Descriptions of the Habits of Different Animals found in -the West, and the Methods of Hunting them; with Incidents in the Life -of Different Frontier Men, &c., &c. -By Brevet Brigadier-General <span class="smcap">R. B. Marcy</span>, U.S.A., -Author of "The Prairie Traveller." -With numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, Beveled Edges, $3 00.</p> - -<p>MACAULAY'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. -The History of England from the Accession of James II. -By <span class="smcap">Thomas Babington Macaulay</span>. -With an Original Portrait of the Author. -5 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $10 00; 12mo, Cloth, $7 50.</p> - -<p>MOSHEIM'S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, Ancient and Modern; in which the -Rise, Progress, and Variation of Church Power are considered in their Connection -with the State of Learning and Philosophy, and the Political History of Europe -during that Period. -Translated, with Notes, &c., by <span class="smcap">A. Maclaine</span>, D.D. -A new Edition, continued to 1826, by <span class="smcap">C. Coote</span>, LL.D. -2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.</p> - -<p>NEVIUS'S CHINA. China and the Chinese: a General Description of the Country -and its Inhabitants; its Civilization and Form of Government; its Religious and -Social Institutions; its Intercourse with other Nations; and its Present Condition -and Prospects. -By the Rev. <span class="smcap">John L. Nevius</span>, Ten Years a Missionary in China. -With a Map and Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75.</p> - -<p>OLIN'S (<span class="smcap">Dr.</span>) LIFE AND LETTERS. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 00.</p> - -<p>OLIN'S (<span class="smcap">Dr.</span>) TRAVELS. Travels in Egypt, -Arabia Petræa, and the Holy Land. Engravings. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, -$3 00.</p> - -<p>OLIN'S (<span class="smcap">Dr.</span>) WORKS. The Works of Stephen -Olin, D.D., late President of the Wesleyan University. 2 vols., 12mo, -Cloth, $3 00.</p> - -<p>OLIPHANT'S CHINA AND JAPAN. Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission to -China and Japan, in the Years 1857, '58, '59. -By <span class="smcap">Laurence Oliphant</span>, Private Secretary to Lord Elgin. -Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.</p> - -<p>OLIPHANT'S (<span class="smcap">Mrs.</span>) LIFE OF EDWARD IRVING. -The Life of Edward Irving, Minister of the National Scotch Church, London. -Illustrated by his Journals and Correspondence. -By Mrs. <span class="smcap">Oliphant</span>. Portrait. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.</p> - -<p>PAGE'S LA PLATA. La Plata, the Argentine Confederation, and -Paraguay. Being a Narrative of the Exploration of the Tributaries of -the River La Plata and Adjacent Countries, during the Years 1853, '54, -'55, and '56, under the Orders of the United States Government. -New Edition, containing Farther Explorations in La Plata, during 1859 and '60. -By <span class="smcap">Thomas J. Page</span>, U.S.N., Commander of the Expeditions. -With Map and numerous Engravings. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p> - -<p>PRIME'S COINS, MEDALS, AND SEALS. Coins, Medals, and Seals, Ancient and -Modern. Illustrated and Described. With a Sketch of the History of Coins and -Coinage, Instructions for Young Collectors, Tables of Comparative Rarity, Price-Lists -of English and American Coins, Medals, and Tokens, &c., &c. -Edited by <span class="smcap">W. C. Prime</span>, -Author of "Boat Life in Egypt and Nubia," "Tent Life in the Holy Land," &c., &c. -8vo, Cloth, $3 50.</p> - -<p>SPRING'S SERMONS. Pulpit Ministrations; or, Sabbath Readings. A -Series of Discourses on Christian Doctrine and Duty. -By Rev. <span class="smcap">Gardiner Spring</span>, D.D., -Pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church in the City of New York. -Portrait on Steel. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $6 00.</p> - -<p>POETS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. The Poets of the Nineteenth Century. -Selected and Edited by the Rev. <span class="smcap">Robert Aris Willmott</span>. -With English and American Additions, arranged by <span class="smcap">Evert A. Duyckinck</span>, -Editor of "Cyclopædia of American Literature." -Comprising Selections from the Greatest Authors of the Age. -Superbly Illustrated with 132 Engravings from Designs by the most Eminent Artists. -In elegant small 4to form, printed on Superfine Tinted Paper, richly bound -in extra Cloth, Beveled, Gilt Edges, $6 00; Half Calf, $6 00; Full Turkey Morocco, $10 00.</p> - -<p>SHAKSPEARE. The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare, with the -Corrections and Illustrations of Dr. <span class="smcap">Johnson</span>, -<span class="smcap">G. Steevens</span>, and others. -Revised by <span class="smcap">Isaac Reed</span>. -Engravings. 6 vols., Royal 12mo, Cloth, $9 00.</p> - -<p>SMILES'S LIFE OF THE STEPHENSONS. The Life of George Stephenson, and -of his Son, Robert Stephenson; comprising, also, a History of the Invention and -Introduction of the Railway Locomotive. -By <span class="smcap">Samuel Smiles</span>, Author of "Self-Help," &c. -With Steel Portraits and numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 00.</p> - -<p>SMILES'S HISTORY OF THE HUGUENOTS. The Huguenots: their Settlements, -Churches, and Industries in England and Ireland. -By <span class="smcap">Samuel Smiles</span>. -With an Appendix relating to the Huguenots in America. -Crown 8vo, Cloth, Beveled, $1 75.</p> - -<p>SMILES'S SELF-HELP. Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character, Conduct, -and Perseverance. -By <span class="smcap">Samuel Smiles</span>. -New Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 12mo, Cloth, $1 00.</p> - -<p>SPEKE'S AFRICA. Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile. -By Captain <span class="smcap">John Hanning Speke</span>, Captain H.M. Indian Army, -Fellow and Gold Medalist of the Royal Geographical Society, -Hon. Corresponding Member and Gold Medalist of the French Geographical Society, &c. -With Maps and Portraits and numerous Illustrations, -chiefly from Drawings by Captain <span class="smcap">Grant</span>. -8vo, Cloth, uniform with Livingstone, Barth, Burton, &c., $4 00.</p> - -<p>STRICKLAND'S (<span class="smcap">Miss</span>) QUEENS OF SCOTLAND. -Lives of the Queens of Scotland and English Princesses -connected with the Regal Succession of Great Britain. -By <span class="smcap">Agnes Strickland</span>. 8 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $12 00.</p> - -<p>THE STUDENT'S HISTORIES.</p> - -<ul> - <li>France. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.</li> - <li>Gibbon. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.</li> - <li>Greece. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.</li> - <li>Hume. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.</li> - <li>Rome. By Liddell. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.</li> - <li>Old Testament History. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.</li> - <li>New Testament History. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.</li> - <li>Strickland's Queens of England. Abridged. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00.</li> -</ul> - -<p>TENNYSON'S COMPLETE POEMS. The Complete Poems of Alfred Tennyson, -Poet Laureate. With numerous Illustrations by Eminent Artists, and Three -Characteristic Portraits. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents; Cloth, $1 00.</p> - -<p>THOMSON'S LAND AND THE BOOK. The Land and the Book; or, Biblical -Illustrations drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and the -Scenery of the Holy Land. -By <span class="smcap">W. M. Thomson</span>, D.D., -Twenty-five Years a Missionary of the A.B.C.F.M. in Syria and Palestine. -With two elaborate Maps of Palestine, an accurate Plan of Jerusalem, -and several hundred Engravings, representing the Scenery, Topography, -and Productions of the Holy Land, and the Costumes, Manners, and -Habits of the People. -2 large 12mo vols., Cloth, $5 00.</p> - -<p>TICKNOR'S HISTORY OF SPANISH LITERATURE. -With Criticisms on the particular Works, -and Biographical Notices of Prominent Writers. 3 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.</p> - -<p>VÁMBÉRY'S CENTRAL ASIA. Travels in Central Asia. Being the Account of a -Journey from Teheran across the Turkoman Desert, on the Eastern Shore of the -Caspian, to Khiva, Bokhara, and Samarcand, performed in the Year 1863. -By <span class="smcap">Arminius Vámbéry</span>, Member of the Hungarian Academy of Pesth, -by whom he was sent on this Scientific Mission. With Map and Woodcuts. 8vo, Cloth, $4 50.</p> - -<p>WOOD'S HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. Homes Without Hands: being a Description -of the Habitations of Animals, classed according to their Principle of Construction. -By <span class="smcap">J. G. Wood</span>, M.A., F.L.S., Author of "Illustrated Natural History." -With about 140 Illustrations, engraved by G. Pearson, from Original Designs -made by F. W. Keyl and E. A. Smith under the Author's Superintendence. -8vo, Cloth, Beveled Edges, $4 50.</p> - -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Free Russia, by William Hepworth Dixon - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FREE RUSSIA *** - -***** This file should be named 51117-h.htm or 51117-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/1/1/1/51117/ - -Produced by David Edwards, Chris Pinfield and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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