_Russia: or Miscellaneous Observations on the Past and Present State of
that Country and its Inhabitants. Compiled from Notes made on the Spot,
during Travels at different times in the Service of the Bible Society,
and a Residence of many Years in that Country._ By ROBERT PINKERTON,
D.D., Author of "The Present State of the Greek Church in Russia," and
Foreign Agent to the British and Foreign Bible Society.--Seeley and
Sons; Hatchard and Son.
A traveller, like a witness in court, should be competent and
unexceptionable. Both these qualifications are indispensable to
secure the confidence of his reader, and the success of his work.
Dr. Pinkerton has very strong claims on the attention of the British
public. He resided in Russia many years. He lived in Moscow "the greater
part of the years 1810 and 1811, and left that city only forty-eight
hours before the French entered it in 1812." He is the author of
"The Present State of the Greek Church in Russia." His travels in the
service of the British and Foreign Bible Society have been extensive at
different times. His being Foreign Agent to that Society, has given him
facilities of intercourse with the higher as well as the lower orders of
the inhabitants. He is personally well known to many of the clergy and
of the nobility, and his intimate acquaintance with the language has
enabled him to converse with people of all ranks. The work before us has
been compiled from notes made on the spot. Of his competency, therefore,
no one can entertain a doubt; and his high Christian character renders
him an unexceptionable witness. We anticipate for this volume a cordial
welcome, especially among the friends of the Bible Society. The
information Dr. P. has given is clear, copious, and important. We shall
transcribe a few extracts which cannot fail to gratify our readers.
The territory of this vast empire has increased within the last 364
years nearly twenty-fold. According to the last statistical accounts,
the _population_ is upwards of fifty-four millions, of whom about
thirty-six millions are native Russians, speaking the same language, and
belonging to the national or oriental church. The _military forces_ have
also increased nearly ten-fold within the last hundred years; and at the
present time are estimated at about 900,000.
The _spiritual academies_ and seminaries contain upwards of 30,000 young
men preparing for the sacred profession. Dr. P. says:--
"It is much to be regretted that those young men have so
little time and opportunity, after finishing their academical
course, for making further progress in studies suited to
their profession. The cares of a family (for marriage must
indispensably precede ordination in the Russian church), their
labours among their flocks, the scanty support which most of
them receive, together with their isolated situation in country
villages, where few traces of education and civilized life have
yet entered, render this almost impracticable."
The _Jesuits_ were finally expelled from the empire in 1820. At that
time their number amounted to 674.
"On their reaching the frontiers of the empire, the emperor
Alexander ordered them to be supplied with from thirty to forty
ducats each, to bear their expenses to some other place of
residence. But though this mighty force of papal agency was
removed from the Russian territories by one stroke of the
autocratic pen, yet the influence which they had acquired was
not so easily to be annihilated; and there is no doubt, that in
the succeeding intrigues which were played off so successfully
against the Russian Bible Society, their powerful friends in
the capital took a part." p. 62.
_Drunkenness._ On this painful topic, the author has given most
melancholy information:--
"Instead of restraining the use of brandy, the government, even
of the present day, affords every facility to the people to
obtain it, in order to enhance the gain derived from this
iniquitous source; which _amounts to nearly one-fourth of the
whole revenue of the empire_."
From his calculation, it appears that there is "the enormous quantity of
eighty-one millions of gallons of brandy alone drunk every year by the
peasantry of this empire." pp. 75-77.
_Baptism._ Dr. P. says:--
"The cathedral church at Odessa is a noble building, in the
Grecian style, with domes and crosses. One day I entered it,
when the protopope, or dean, was baptizing an infant. The day
was excessively cold, there being upwards of ten degrees of
frost, and the water in the font almost freezing. After the
ceremony was over, I expressed to the priest my surprise that
they did not use tepid water, seeing the infant had to be three
times immersed over head and ears in the icy bath. He smiled at
my compassion, and exclaimed--'Ah, there is no danger: the
child is a Russian.' Indeed, such are the superstitious
opinions of the people, that were the chill taken off the
water, they would probably doubt the validity of the
ordinance." p. 153.
"In Great Russia, the child is baptized usually in the
church, or in a private house; and the prayers, exorcisms, and
ceremonies attending this ordinance, are long and complicated.
The Greeks and Russians always use the trine immersion; the
first, in the name of the Father--the second, in that of the
Son--and the third in that of the Holy Ghost. When a priest
cannot be obtained, they permit lay-baptism; and they never
rebaptize on any account whatever."