The herald., 1897-09-28
that are not adequately represented
there will indeed be short-sighted.
TOLsTo1 AND RUSSIA

stoi, the famous Russian novelist and
philosopher, has been placed under the
ban by the Russian government for be-
ing "too sectariar." whatever that term
| may express In the land Of the czar.
This announcement was not unexpected.
Many have looked for 1t for years. and
the real surprise is that it has been de-
layed 80 long.
1t seems that Count Tolstoi, in his
writings and teachings has gotter. too
far away from the Greek church. which
Is the established church Of Russia. Yet
one could hardly conceive Of the British
government seeking to discipline Mr..
Gladstone or Mr.. Darwin or Professor
Tyndall because they did not happen to
approve of all that is laid down by the
Church of England. 1t is hardly nee
essary to say, by way Of parerthesis,
that the case of Mr.. Gladstone, who is
q devout churchman, is purely supposi-
tional. It seems almost incredible,
breathing the free western atmosphere,
to see, with such distinguished sub
ject, practical illustration of the union
Of church and state.
Just what Count Tolstoi's exact and
particular offense is does not appear.
Probably from the Greek church point
of view there is something to complain
of. The church, doubtless, does r"ot
agree with the distinguished critic who
said of Tolstoi's writings: "All other
fiction at times seems fiction; these
alone seem the very truth always"
1t is too bad that the great novelist
should be subjected to annoyance in his
old age. During the past few years he
has been living in retirement with his
wife and children upon. his estate, de-
voting himself to that career of useful
ness which he believes to be the true
Christian life. Some pleasing and
touching stories are told of that life, of
his kindly deeds and the great esteem
in which he is held in the surrounding
country by the poor and lowly as we'll as
by the rich and mighty.
But what of Russia ard the Greek
church? There is in the September Fo-
rum an article on 1.-The supremacy of
Russia" by Prof. Thomas Davidson,
that throws light on the question. The
Russian empire is over thousand years
old. 1t dates back to the invasion of the
Norsemen and the reign of Rurik In
957. Olga, widow of Rurik's son, Igor,
undertook to introduce Christianity
among her people. Here was the first
step toward saddling Russia with the
unprogressive Christianity of the Greek
church. While western Europe de-
rived its Christianity and enlargement
Of civilization from Rome, Rus
sia borrowed hers from IAN empire de-
crepit from its birth and corrupt in ev-
cry member"
Then came the Tartar invasion and
the reign of Ivan the Great, who was the
real founder Of the Russian empire.
Here note the paradox The nation
founded by the Morse pagan Rurik had
been nation of freemen. The empire
founded by the Christian Ivan was an
empire Of subjects governed despotic-
ally by an irresponsible sovereign,
claiming to derive his authority from
supernatural sources.
In 1853 Constantinople had fallen into
the hands of the Turks, and the Greek
empire had come to an end. Ivan. felt
that If he could succeed to the place Of
the Greek emperors, take over Byzan-
tine civilization and make Russia the
chief champion of orthodox Greek
Christianity, he would add. greatly to his
own prestige and authority give his
people place among the nations of
Europe, and consolidate the empire. He
succeeded in large degree.
Then came the Romaroff dynasty, and
a little later Peter the Great. Rurik de-
livered Russia from Internal anarchism;
Ivan redeemed it from external barbar-
ism and Peter launched it on the path
of positive civilization. So, since the
days Of Peter, there have been in Russia
two well-defined, disruptive, spiritual
tGuuGHCleS, uTd W lHS dSQLu6T al Inherent
directions; the one to Orientalism, the
other to Occidentalism. The former
seeks to cultivate a narrow Slavism,
with an inert official church to attend to
spiritual interests. and rigid imperial
despotism to manage political matters;
while the other aims at elevating the
whole people into spiritual and political
| autonomy with free thought and popu-
| lar government. These tendencies tri-
| umph alternately, and the policy Of each
czar Is mainly determined by the one
for which he decides.
| Professor Davidson says: "It must be
admitted that, at the present moment,
| the outlook is gloomy; that the new,
young and inexperienced czar seems 10
have beer. lured by upwise and cunning
counsellors back into the dark forest
of reactionary absolutism and obscur-
| antism."
Here we see the meaning of the perse-
cution of Count Tolstoi by the Russian
government explained in the political
situation Of the empire today, a situa-
ton whose genesis dates back almost a