The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-09-01
PIETY OF THE
RUSSIAN PEASANTS
Rank and File of the Cars Great
Army Made Up of Men Sincere
ly Religious


Iy Religious
London, Spet 1.-The Russian
people believe in God. This is the
first fact that strikes every compe-
tent observer. Mr. Stephen Graham
is impressed by this belief all the
time. Mr.. Maurice Barring never
forgets it. Mr.. H. G. Wells discover
ed it with some establishment.
Let me quote Mr. Barring. In his
book, . What / saw in Russia he
says:
If you talk with a peasant for
two minutes you will notice that he
has fervent belief in a great, good,
and inscrutable Providence He
never accuses man of the calam;ties.
When the railway strike was at it's
height, and We were held up at a
small side station, the train attend
ants repeated all day long that God
had sent us severe trial, which He
had
Yesterday / had a talk with a
man who had returned from the
war; he had been soldier and sur
geon's assistant, and had received
the Cross of ST. George for rescuing
wounded officer under fire. ask
ed him if he had been wounded He
said, No, my clothes were not even
touched, men all around me were
wounded. This was the ordinance
of God. God had pity ON the or
phan's tears. 1t was all prearranged
thus that | was to come home. So it
was to be-
Il also had tea with stonemason
yesterday who said to me: i and my
whole family have prayed for you in
your absence, because these are
times of trouble, and we did not
know. what bitter cup you might not
have to drink Then he gave me
three new-laid egs with which to eat
his very good health
lit is important to remember the
faith of the great mass of the Rus
sian people,. because it implies most
of their other essential character
istics, and because it is the real ex-
PLANTATION of the anti-Russian feel
ing. Merely to believe in God now
adays is to be almost extensively &c
centric. In Russia on Palm Sunday
the policemen prays at the corner of
the street.
Russia is the land of peasants.
The growing industrial life of the
cities is naturally colored and af-
fected by the German and French in
terests, but the peasant still remains
the greatest factor in Russian life,
and still remains uninfiuenced chr.
Stephen Graham trusts he will re-
main unaffected) by. western ideas.
He is musical intensely charitable,
as distrustful as nearly all country
men are, and nightly imaginative.
Indeed, the descriptions of the Rus
sian peasant by Mr.. Barring inevitab-
ly reminds one of the peasants one
meets in Irelnad.
Inc 1uI0tI1S0uZla, as nave
said, is "Europeanized Mr.. Graham
has denounced its failings very Wig
orously, and it appears to have ac-
quired some of the deplorable un-
morality and decadence common in
modern Germany and probably ac-
countable for much that is vastly as
tonishing today.
But with all this, the qualities APP
parent in the peasant are TO be found
among Russian educated men and
women. Mr.. Wells says:
In Russia things are taken seri-
ously. The Russians soul, just as
much as his churches and his PIC
lures and his children's toys, is done
in a stronger, simpler. more en-
phatic coIors. His religion is real,
monarchy is real, his life is a pas
sionate self-explanation because he
has faith.
In the crisis of life the enamel
pated Russian stops to talk, philos-
ophy, weigh moral values, as his or