The present state of the Russian empire affords rich materials for those who study the reciprocal interests of the European States. Russia has not yet reached the maturity of her strength: remain stationary she cannot: and who is able to predict her future greatness, or to tell how far her limits may yet extend? Had Russia a revenue equal to that of England, her armies, under an enterprising spirit like Peter the Great, might soon overrun a great part of Europe. How desirable is it, therefore, that education and the pure principles of the Gospel should extend their influence among the nations of that mighty empire; so that this colossal power, raised up by the Almighty in these latter days to fulfil His inscrutable decrees-raised up from the descendants of those very tribes that once overturned the Roman empire in the meridian of its civilization, and which has now assumed such a commanding position on the frontiers of the nations of Europe and Asia-may become the minister of peace and happiness, and not of desolation and thraldom, to the human race!

But what, it may be said, is the moral and religious state of this mighty empire? and this inquiry naturally leads to impressions of a very varied and opposite character. In some parts of the empire Paganism or Mohammedanism exist; in others a corrupted and superstitious Christianity prevails, while in some, though we fear, comparatively speaking, few places, spiritual and vital religion is found. It is to inform our readers on these important inquiries, that the following extracts from Dr. P.'s work have been selected.

The villages of the peasantry are all built of block-wood, and covered with shingles or straw: they are nearly in the same style in every part of Russia, the gable end always turned to the road. Each hut has its own gate: leading into a court, from which is the entrance into the dwelling.

On entering the cottage, a large oven, built of brick, from six to eight feet square, five feet high, and level on the top, is always seen occupying a prominent part in the dwelling. Part of the family always sleep upon the top of it in the winter season; for regular bedsteads are not yet in general use among them. They spread down their mats and sheepskin coats in any place that best suits them, in summer very frequently in an out-house or in the open air. A common fir-table, near to the small glazed or unglazed window; benches placed along the sides of the apartment; a few earthen pots, in which the food is cooked in the oven (for they have no other fire-place for cooking); some wooden trenchers; a salt-box, and spoons made of the same material; a wooden vessel or two, for holding water; a trough cut out of the trunk of a tree, in which to wash their linen; with a chest to hold their clothesthese simple articles compose the whole amount of the furniture of a Russian izba or cottage. The poorest hut, however, is always supplied with one or more small pictures of their tutelary saints: sometimes, also, among the more wealthy, oné observes the pictures of the Saviour and the Virgin; and not a few possess a representation of the Holy Trinity--the Father appearing seated on a throne as the Ancient of Days, the Son on the one side, and the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, on the other. These small pictures are hung up in the corner of the hut, facing the door; so that they catch the eye of every one who enters, and remind him of his duty. The stranger having passed the threshold, and shut the door behind him, stands mute, bows before them, crosses himself several times, repeats a few words of ejaculation, and then, and not till then, turns to the inhabitants of the hut, with the salutation of "Peace be with you!" "Jesus Christ be with you!" and after this, he states the errand on which he comes.

In the huts of the common people, the sacred corner, which is considered the family altar, and where, on a small shelf before the pictures, the Bible, in many of them, of late years, has found a place, is the only part of the dwelling in which any symptoms of the arts of civilization are to be discovered; namely, in the pictures of the saints, neatly framed, and sometimes plated with silver and gilt: for there is

scarcely another article to be observed in the hut, but such as belong to the manu.. facture of the very rudest state of human society and how lamentable it is to find that this sacred corner, this family altar, should so often, to the rude and ignorant peasantry, few of whom are able to read, be little better than a temple of idols! Alas! they know no better. But when I had the gratification of beholding the Bible on the wooden support in the presence of the group of painted figures, and found the inmates anxiously inquiring after its contents, with one in their number who could read, I considered that the true antidote to the evil was provided.Pp. 23-26.

I went to see the Cathedral Church of St. Sophia, in the Kremlin; where I found the archbishop officiating, amidst a crowd of worshippers, on occasion of the annual procession of one of their sacred pictures, denominated "The Virgin of Pestchera" (the Virgin of the Cave).

After the mass was over, the whole clergy, except the archbishop, with a great concourse of the inhabitants dressed in their best clothes, carried the sacred picture above mentioned, in solemn procession, amidst loud psalmody and the ringing of bells, around the outer wall of the city. It was a truly humbling spectacle, to behold thousands of the ignorant and superstitious inhabitants of this city and neighbourhood crossing and prostrating themselves before a black ugly female portrait, as it passed by, decked out with gold and gems! What but the light of divine revelation can dispel this heathenish darkness, and point out to the inhabitants of modern Plescovia the only object of worship, and the only Mediator betwixt God and man!

This image of the Virgin

is very old; and is here on a visit for a few days,' as they express it, collecting money for the monastry to which she belongs.

The lower orders of the clergy were seen among the crowd, pleading for 'alms to the Queen of Heaven!!' Of what vast importance is it, then, to put the Bible into the hands of a people like this! for where it is unknown, or little known, spectacles like these must prevail: such has been the tendency of human nature, in all nations, and in all ages.

contains a very interesting comparison between the doctrines of the Greek and Romish churches, with remarks from the pen of Philaret, the present Metropolitan of Moscow, which affords a gratifying view of the freedom of the Greek church from many of the most pernicious doctrines of the Romish apostacy; especially the distinct recognition by the Greek church of the authority of the Holy Scriptures as the rule of faith in opposition to the Romish dogmas of tradition on the corruption of human nature, the satisfaction of Christ, Justification by faith, &c. which very much accord with the language of our own formularies. Dr. P. indeed disclaims the idea of insinuating that the body of the Russian people, or even many of the lower Clergy, possess such distinct views of the leading doctrines of the gospel as are exhibited in this comparison; and states that the people in general are illiterate, and sunk in ignorance and superstition to a degree which would scarcely be credited: he however well observes, that ;

The church that permits every one of its members to read the Holy Scriptures in a language which he understands, and acknowledges this word as the highest tribunal in matters of faith on earth, is still possessed of the best reformer of all superstition ;-a reformation which will no doubt take place with the increase of learning and Scriptural knowledge, both in Russia and Greece. And surely it is matter of joyful hope to the lovers of truth, that a system, in so many respects evangelical as the above presented to us by the present Metropolitan of Moscow, is still professed by the most enlightened of the prelates and clergy in Russia, and is taught in the spiritual academies and seminaries of that great empire to upwards of thirty thousand young men preparing for the sacred profession, that they, in their turn, may preach the same to the people.

The different views entertained by the Greek and Romish churches

tures, constitute the grand distinction in favour of the former, and will we doubt not eventually produce very important results. The influence indeed of the Romish party in Russia is considerable, and to this must in great measure be ascribed the suppression of the Russian Bible Society in 1826, and the difficulties which still in various respects impede the circulation of the Holy Scriptures in the modern Russ. On these points, much interesting information contained in the volume before us, which we are reluctantly compelled to pass over. In speaking of Telsh, Dr. P. observes

The

To the Mayor of the place, who is a Russian, I presented my letters of introduction; and at once found a most hearty welcome for the object I had at heartthe circulation of the word of God. Poles are so ignorant on this subject, and being Roman Catholics, so prejudiced against the reading of the Scriptures, that it was only after reasoning and persuasion that I could get even the better classes of them to allow that the object I was travelling to promote was a benevolent and good one. The prejudices of the Russians, on the contrary, were in favour of the cause of Scripture distribution; and they found no scruples of conscience, created and nourished by their priests, unfavourable to the principle, that it is the duty and privilege of every Christian to peruse the sacred volume for himself.

In treating of the Russian clergy, who are said to amount to 215,000 persons, Dr. P. introduces the following passage :

The Russian clergy, taken as a body, are tolerant in their principles towards other confessions of faith, especially towards Protestants. In my intercourse with the Greek patriarchs and prelates, the Russian metropolitans, bishops, and archimandrites, I have almost uniformly been treated with an open, fraternal cordiality. Very different has been my experience in my intercourse with the Roman Catholic legates, archbishops, bishops, canons, and clergy: there seemed always a kind of shyness and distrust expressed in their features, while their manner was

never easy and ingenuous. To what, I have sometimes asked myself, can this marked difference of character in the clergy of the Eastern and Western churches be attributed?-principally, I believe, to two causes. First. The Greek Church has never been a persecuting community, and its dogmas are nearer to the principles of the Reformation than to those of the Western church. Secondly. That prepos. terous principle of the Church of Rome, which condemns to everlasting woe all who are without the pale of her communion, a principle as much abhorred by the Greek as by the Protestant clergy, places an insurmountable obstacle in the way of Christian intercourse between the votaries of Rome, and the adherents of Protestantism. Before ever the Roman Catholic can have Christian feeling tow ards his Protestant fellow Christian, this principle must be given up. Nevertheless, no member of the Greek Church is permitted to join any other Christian communion, so that in this respect there is no liberty of conscience: and when a marriage takes place between one of its members and a person of another profession, the children must all be baptized into the dominant faith. As the regular clergy of Russia have all the spiritual schools and seminaries in their hands, together with the government of the Church, their time is occupied in active duties. After they have finished their own studies, they spend a great part of their lives as teachers in the seminaries, and then as egoumens and archimandrites over the monasteries, where they not unfrequently continue the same duties of teachers until they become bishops and as bishops, such is the extent of their dioceses, and the numbers of the secular clergy under them, that though they have the assistance of a consistory, yet their time and talents are fully occupied until old age: so that the Russian clergy of all ranks lead laborious lives, if they conscientiously apply to the duties of their station. The bishops officiate and preach in the cathedrals on all the principal festivals, and some of them on other days also; and when they do not, their place is taken by the archimandrite or other subordinate ecclesiastic. Their sermons are, in general, simple homiletical compositions, such as the bearded boors before them, in their sheepskin coats and sandals made of the rind of the linden-tree, can well understand.

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The published discourses of others display specimens of energetic and pathetic writing, not unworthy of men who are proud of having learnt eloquence in the school of Chrysostom. I have found among them persons of genuine piety, learning, and benevolence; abstemious in their habits, and exemplary in their lives; distinguished for candour, modesty, and a truly primitive simplicity of manners, As to the secular or parochial clergy, they form a kind of distinct tribe, like that of the Levites of old; because none but the sons of the clergy are educated for the church; nor is there one instance in a thousand of any person entering the sacred profession from the other classes of society. The regular clergy, on the contrary, though often sons of priests, not unfrequently receive additions to their numbers from among the nobles and other classes; and all the higher stations in the church are still filled up from their ranks. -Pp. 248-250.

In speaking of the peasantry, Dr. P. observes :

In general, the Russian, of whatever class, never undertakes any work of importance until he has crossed himself, and sought the divine protection. And before undertaking a journey, it is customary for the rich merchants, and many among the nobles, to go to church, and to have a special service for imploring that the divine blessing may go with them: the Emperor does the same. Others again invite the priest, with his deacon and psalmodists, to their own houses, where prayers are offered up, in the midst of the domestic circle, before the image of the tutelary saint of the family; domes tics, children, and friends attending. I do not mean to say that prayers are directly offered to the saints on this occa. sion, any more than on any other; but that, as it is the general custom of the Russians never to pray unless they have a crucifix, or the picture of the Saviour, of the Virgin, or of some saint of the Kalendar before them, so, on this occasion also, the prayers are offered up before the family obraz, (sacred picture). At the commencement of a battle, it is the custom of the Russian soldiers not merely to offer up prayers for mercy and deliverance, but also, whenever circumstances admit, to receive absolution and the holy sacrament.

In this immense empire there are many who strenuously employ their time and talents in the promotion of true Christianity. Among these the Princess Sophia Mestchersky holds a conspicuous place. This pious lady was the first who encouraged in 1811, the formation of a Bible Society at Moscow, and who has procured the translation and circulation in the modern Russian language, of a number of Religious and Moral Treatises, of which above 400,000 have been distributed chiefly at her own expence ; among these are Walker's Sermons, Buchanan's Christian Researches, Legh Richmond's Tracts, a Selection from Hannah More's Tracts, &c. most of which were sanctioned by the Russian spiritual canons, and to the circulation of which the late Emperor Alexander contributed 12,000 roubles.

This volume contains some highly interesting information concerning the late Emperor; among which is a letter of the Princess Mestchersky, from which we extract as follows:

View the Emperor Alexander, sovereign of an immense empire, at the head of a formidable army, proud of his power, full of the fire of youth, and ambitious of the glory of this world! He neglects, he misunderstands the source of all his blessings; and, trusting to an arm of flesh, he beholds victory and triumph before him, forgetting that “ no king is saved by the multitude of a host-a mighty man is not delivered by much strength." He is still totally destitute of true faith. Buonaparte, like a thunderbolt, smites his troops in all quarters-they flee before this genius of evil, this messenger of wrath; and, in a short time, the Emperor beholds a part of his empire devastated, the ancient capital of his dominion delivered to the flames, his people flying from city to city, his troops scattered in disorder, and without supplies: all around reigns desolation, and blood flows on every side. In this state of distress, the Lord yet supports him, but without revealing Himself to him: He inspires him with courage and firmness: then He approaches nearer,

and darts on his soul a ray of His grace, by the following means:

About the middle of the year 1812, the Emperor, about to quit St. Petersburg, and having already taken leave of his august family, had retired into his cabinet, and, quite alone, was employed in arranging some affairs before his departure. All at once he beheld a female enter, whom, at first, he did not recognise, there being little light in the room. Astonished at this apparition-for never was a woman permitted to enter his cabinet without leave, not even of his own family, and above all at this unseasonable hour-he, however, arose, went to meet her, and perceived it to be the Countess Tolstoi; who, excusing herself for the liberty she had taken from a desire to wish him a happy journey, presented him at the same time with a paper. The Emperor, at all times condescending, and sensible of the least proof of attachment, thanked her, and bade her adieu. The paper he supposed to contain a petition for something, and therefore put it into his pocket; and, when she was gone, resumed his former employment. Soon after, he took his departure, without thinking more about it.

At the first night's quarters, fatigued with cares, and alone, he wished to ease his thoughts by turning them to some specific object: he took out the paper from his pocket, opened it, and saw with surprise that it contained the Ninety-first Psalm. He read it with pleasure, and its divine contents calmed his troubled spirit; and his heart said in secret-Oh! that these words were addressed to me!' As this thought passed through his mind, some one entered the room and interrupted him he again set off, and all was forgotten.

A considerable time after this, he found himself in Moscow, in one of the most critical periods of his life-(who can be ignorant of the terrible events of the memorable year 1812?) Alone in his cabinet, he was arranging some books on a table, one of which caused a volume of the Bible to fall down (it was De Sacy's version, in 4to.) in falling, it opened, and the Emperor, on taking it up, happento cast his eye upon the page, and beheld again the Psalm which had once comforted him!-At this time he recognized the voice which called him; and he replied and said: "Here I am, Lord! speak to thy servant!" He read, he applied what he

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read, and he found every word suitable to himself; and ever after, until his last breath, he carried this Psalm about his person, learned it by heart, and evening and morning recited it at his devotions.

Now the bruised heart of the monarch received this light-beam with joy; and from the moment that the new creature was born, he applied himself incessantly to the study of the Divine word, which he never put from him. He now came to know his weakness; he cried unto God; and, without compulsion, or the instrumentality of any one, he fell at the feet of the Lord: and the Lord armed him, like David, with faith and experience; whereupon, behold! a new Goliah falls beneath the strokes of him, whom, but a short time before, he expected to vanquish.

We will not, however, attempt to follow this Christian hero in the brilliant career of his victories; but merely remark, that he himself spoke of them in the following terms:-'I felt myself,' said he, 'like a child; experience had taught me my insufficiency; faith made me commit myself entirely to Him, who had spoken to me in the Psalm, and had inspired me with a security and a force altogether new to me. At every fresh difficulty to be overcome, at every decision to be taken, or question to be solved, I went, if I had an opportunity, and threw myself at the feet of my Father who is in heaven-or, recollecting myself for a few moments, I cried to Him from the bottom of my heart-and all was smoothed, decided, and executed marvellously; all difficulties fled before the Lord, who marched before me. Without ceasing, I read His word. I remember, that one day, on entering a small town on the frontier of France, the name of which town I have forgotten, sitting in my calash, I was reading in the New Testament about the eunuch of Queen Candace reading the Prophet Isaiah, and desiring some one to explain to him what he read I then thought within myself-Oh! that God would also send me some one to help me rightly to understand His holy will.' And at the very time I was desiring this in my heart, Madame Krudner sent, asking permission to see me. For a short time I believed that it was she whom God intended to employ for this purpose; but very soon I perceived that this light was nothing more than an ignis fatuus.'-These are his own words.

And, truly, it was the will of God that