The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1883-05-16
From our Regular Corrsspoodsnt-
LETTER.
ST.. PErERRBuRe, April 20, 1888.

ST.. Petersburg, April 20, 1888.
Had not the large-minded Empe-
irons, Alexander l and III, tolerated
the publication and sale of Russian
New Testaments, many more years
might have elapsed before the lower
classes in Russia could have dis
covered the knowledge which their
church had carefully hidden from
them. The Sermon on the Mount,
the whole life and image of the Sa-
vior, came upon them in the shape
of a revelation, quite as much 20 as
it ever did to Hottentots, Esquimaux
or South Sea Islanders. Won der
Bruggen relates a remarkable cir
cumstance which he gathered from
the lips of landed proprietor. One
day the latter heard from one of his
men, who had ridden as fast as he
could to bring the news, that a great
brawl was going on in a neighboring
village. Carts full of "Stundisten D
had arrived, and were being attacked
with cudgels and stones. The coun-
try gentleman rode up to the spot
and found that Muscovite Methe-
dists had slowly driven up to the
village and through the streets,
singing psalms. These were the
people whom the priest had always
held up as enemies of God and the
church, and frequenters of taverns
and pot-houses. Hence the new
corners were received with SCOTS
and jeers, and ordered to depart.
AS they did not obey, the crowd
proceeded to hustle them about and
to throw stones at them. The con-
verts did not defend themselves, or
give blow for blow. They avoided
angry words, and calmly continued
to chant. The narrator arrived in
time to prevent worse from happen
ing, and to establish order. He
witnessed how more than one of the
orthodox peasants was SO forcibly
struck by the behavior of the Saliva
tionists as to fall on his knees, and
look after them as if they had been
real saints OF mis- own church. Two
days later the whole village had
gone over to the sect known as the
Stundists.
A similar movement has been be
gun in the aristocratic circles of st.
Petersburg by Wassili Alexandra
vich Pashkoff, a colonel in the guards
and a man of birth and wealth, who
was led to study the Gospel by Lord
Radstock. He has left the army
and now opens his palace regularly
to the rich, who hold prayer meet
ings in French and to the poor, to
whom the New Testament is read
and expounded in their native
tongue, III which the Colonel also
prays with them. The hymns sung
are translated from the German, and
adapted to the melodies in use
among German Protestants. In one
of the latest Russian publications on
the subject, either by Jassoff or
Prugavin, the total number of "here-
tics"in Russia is estimated at 1900
600. An official account distinguish
es 100000 of sectarians who have
priests of their own, 100000 who
have no priests, rather less than
100000 of spiritual christians"
and $1,000 enthusiasts" among
which we may, l presume, reckon
the Living-Dead, who bear their
strange name because they are in
the habit of sleeping in cofins-a
fact that reminds one of the Chi
nese colonists, whose first days
work in the new country is invaria-
bly, the construction of his own
coffin. The dissimilaritv among all
these sects is immense. Adherents
of the Ancient Faith are seriously
at variance with the official church
only in respect to the highly i'm
portant question whether two fingers
have to be lifted up in swearing an
oath, or three. Many a martyr
might have avoided persecution,
prison, torture and death had he
been less economical in the use of
his fingers, and raised three instead
of c~ontenting himself with two.
Se~ctarianism in Russia has until
lately been as superstitious and
ignorant as Orthodoxy. A kind
of partly evangelical, partly ra-
t~ionalist spiritualism seems to have
entered it as a ferment, which
may some day bring either de-
struction or reform to the Russian
church.