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Of course Russian peasant life with its sturdy, rugged virtues, is given to glaring vices. Many a one fells trees in the village forest without permission, and otherwise wrongs his neighbor. But the public sentiment of village communities, as represented in the assemblies, presents a moral grit and soundness which are pleasing to witness.

A Russian can endure extremes of heat which ruin the faith and morals of our and cold. These farmers take a vapor-youth! Political life is not cursed with bath every Saturday afternoon. Their the vices attending it in some other religion enjoins this as a duty. For countries. The elections are a sort of they must come to Church with a clean collective family consultations, conductskin. Some villages have a public bathed in a free and rational way, where for this purpose. Others generate the the office seeks the man and not the vapor in the bake-oven. Some of these man the office. Their trades unions hardy northmen rush out of the heated make themselves responsible for the bath in mid-winter and roll about in the debts of every individual member. snow, without any perceptible injury. The vicious and immoral are expelled. As in other countries the Russian They provide for the poor of their peasant often rises above his inherited craft, as a father provides for his station in life. In the larger cities he children. starts business on a small scale, and by industry and thrift becomes a wealthy merchant. With abundance of money his village home becomes too strait for him. He builds himself a grand house, expensively furnished with grounds around it. There is a spacious drawing-room or parlor. At one end is a sofa, before it a round table. On two sides of the table are three armchairs in a row. Other chairs are re gularly arranged around the room. The host enters with a stately step. He a long double-breasted black coat and well-polished long boots. His hair is parted in the middle, and his beard is bushy, unkempt and untrimmed. After the usual greetings, glasses of tea with slices of lemon and preserves, or a bottle of champagne are served as refreshments. Unless you are an intimate friend, the ladies of the family will not make their appearance. Very likely the host, although an uneducated man, will converse pretty well for a little while about the weather and the crops. Beyond these he will rarely

wears

venture.

The parlor is used only on rare occasions, at most only several times a year, somewhat after the fashion of the Holland farmers. This man and his family "live down stairs, in small dirty rooms, furnished in a very different, and for them more comfortable style."

The plain rustic habits of these Russian farmers, their quiet village life, and primitive simplicity are not with out their good. Away from the sinful enticements of city life, young people grow up in blissful ignorance of many of the miscalled refinements of modern society! What do they know about mischievous books and poisonous papers

One of the grandest acts of modern times was the abolition of serfdom in Russia. For centuries millions of people were held here as property. Not bought and sold like cattle, as were the slaves in America; they were attached to the soil. The nobles and other extensive land-owners or proprietors had from one hundred, to over one hundred thousand slaves. One nobleman owned 150,000 male serfs-more than 200,000 in all. Although less severe than our system of slavery, it was nevertheless debasing, and open to inhuman abuses. On the 19th of February, 1861, the Emperor of Russia signed the act which liberated over 20,000,000 of these bonds-men. Many of them, through the kindness of their masters and their own thrift, had acquired considerable intelligence and property. But as a class this people had mentally and morally deteriorated. To prepare them in part for their freedom their chains were gradually untied by a process of two years' preparation. But this time was too short. Like our emancipated negroes of the south, the masses of them were poorly fitted for individual freedom. During this process of emancipation, there was in some districts more flogging with the knout than during their bondage. The friends of freedom were disappointed in their expectations. These serfs when free, drank more and worked less.

mines. In rare cases an act of atrocious cruelty would be reported to the Czar, who would redress the wrongs of the injured serf without however restraining the cruelty of the masters by effective laws.

The serfs of humane masters led a quiet and peaceable life. They could own their cattle and get a certain proportion of the crops they raised. If a cow or a horse died the master would kindly relieve the misfortune. And acts of theft or dishonesty he would charitably overlook. But at best, they were the property of another. Are there any leading statesmen in Russia, any controlling minds in church or State who are earnestly striving to solve the problem what to do with the emancipated serfs? To make them free requires more than simply to sign an emancipation proclamation.

The Cossacks are the most effective warriors of Russia. With bow and arrow, or lances, 10 to 12 feet long, pistols and carbines, they are recklessly daring Their number is reported at from 1 to 3 millions. They are a mixture of Russian and Tartar blood. In character and territory they rove along the border of civilization. They live along the river Dnieper. Although they occupy much arable land, up to a recent period farming was a forbidden occupa

The right of voting at their village assemblies they abused by selling their votes for grog. In many districts prevailing drunkenness and a lack of thrift, even now yet, seem to indicate a worse moral condition than before 1861. Many old liberated serfs sicken at the sight: "There is no order now," they sadly exclaim: "The people have been spoiled; it was better in the time of the masters." Under the old system three and four generations would live under the same roof, and eat at the same table. Their wants and expenses were few. The gray-bearded grandfather was the patriarch and chief of the family. Now each married couple must have its own house and board. This costs much more. The old ties are too early severed, the strong hand of age and authority under the paternal roof is too early removed. Unbiased judges say that the moral condition of the Russian peasantry is low. Is it a wonder? Onefourth of the whole population, after being held in hereditary servitude for centuries, is turned loose. Without the necessary education and restraint they are left to govern themselves before they have been prepared for it. Without a "freedman's bureau," or institutions to train pastors and teachers for the emancipated serfs, there is no chance for individual and personal improve-tion among them. Raising cattle, huntment among the masses. Russia has a more serious problem to solve than the "Eastern Question "--that of the intellectual and moral elevation of its emancipated serfs. He only "is free whom the truth makes free, and all are slaves besides." The Czar seems to realize this. He has spent much money to have the Bible translated into the Russian tongue, and to circulate it among the masses. But this alone will not remedy the evil. Still it remains true that the libera-horse-back. tion of the serfs in Russia was one of the grandest events in modern history. Till 1861 a rich man's estate in Russia was not rated by the number of acres he possessed or the amount of his annual income, but it was said: He owns so many thousand "souls." Over these he exercised almost unlimited authority. When wronged by his master the serf could find no legal protection. Should he complain to the government he would be beaten with the knout or sent to the

ing, fishing, marauding, kidnapping slaves and Tartar children were their favorite pursuits. Like the Bedouin they are good judges of a horse, and know how to ride it. Horses form their chief riches. The poorer Cossack owns from five to ten, richer ones own hundreds. Their horses are small and scrawny, but fleet-footed and of great endurance.

In time of war all men from the age of 18 to 50 must serve on They are clothed, but must arm themselves. The most of them wear beards, round caps and wide trousers. They are equal among themselves, elect their own officers, none but the chief of whom receives a salary from the Government. They are a robust, active race, fearfully destructive in war, as Napoleon found them. They form no battle array, attack with fury, amid wild hurrahs. They dash hither and thither, turn up in unexpected quarters to the annoyance of the enemy They

are the "Bushwhackers" of Russia. The Russian word Kazaks means robbers in the Turkish. In many of their habits and tastes they resemble the wild sons of Ishmael. Their out-door active life has developed their bodily frame. Men of grand stature they are, and of reckless daring, barbaric in their virtues and vices. No cavalry in the Russian army is equal to the service of the Cossacks. Wild, and seemingly without order and organization, they perform daring and dashing feats of bravery, beyond the capacity of the rank and file of the Russian soldiery. They profess to adhere to the Russian Religion, but rarely heed its moral precepts. They are subjects of the Czar, yet in many things do as they please. And for wise reasons the Government gives them more rope-treats their civil misdemeanors with more leniency than those of any other class. One of their favorite pursuits used to be the stealing of Tartars, and using or selling them as slaves. They are a semi-independent military order, a species of mounted militia. Their officers have risen to a hereditary nobility among them. Their fertile land is free from taxation, perhaps in lieu of their services In time of peace many of them remain at home. With scarcely any school privileges, they are little troubled about the vexatious questions of civilized countries.

Until a recent period they were wholly ignorant of surveying. When the boundary of two contiguous farins was to be permanently fixed, the two owners would agree on its location. Then all the boys of both families were driven like so many sheep along the line, with the people of the village following them. At each turn or station every boy was vigorously flogged, and then allowed to run home. This was done that the boys, who were to be the future owners of the land, should remember the boundary as long as they lived. In course of time, however, the most retentive memory becomes unreliable. Thus with the many boundaries of the Cossack villages violent disputes arose. The owners remembered their early whippings, but not the exact boundary line. In that

case one of the oldest citizens was chosen to decide the dispute. After taking a solemn oath on the Scriptures that he would act honestly to the best of his knowledge, he took an Icon, or sacred picture, along the supposed old line. With the help of the picture he decided, and his ruling was accepted by both parties. This method was in vogue till 1850.

The home life of the Cossack, so far as he has any, is wholly controlled by the women. But for them his severe barbaric ways would leave him unprovided for. The Cossack children, like those of the Arabs, are early trained for their unsettled life. Like the Indian Squaw, the wife bears the drudgery of family work. And yet, though his slave, she rules him as a queen. On this subject we will let Count Tolotoy speak:

"The Cossack looks on women as the tools of his prosperity (a girl only has the right to amuse herself); he makes his wife work for him from youth to old age, and looks on woman with the eastern demand of obedience and labor. In consequence of this view, the women, who are strongly developed, both physically and morally-although externally obedient, have everywhere in the East incomparably more influence and weight in home-life than in the West. Their separation from social life, and their habit of heavy manual labor, give them more weight and force in home affairs. The Cossack, who before outsiders considers it unbecoming to speak affectionately or unnecessarily with his wife, always feels her superiority when left face to face with her. His whole house, his whole property, his whole fortune, have been got by her means, and are kept up only by her labor and efforts. Although he is firmly assured that labor is shameful for a Cossack, and is suitable only for a Tartar workman or for a woman, he feels, in a confused way, that all that he enjoys, and calls his own, is the product of that labor, and that it is in the power of the woman-his mother or his wife, whom he considers his slave--to deprive him of all that he enjoys. Besides this, the constant masculine heavy work and labor put upon her have given an especially independent and masculine charac

ter to the Cossack woman, and have developed in her in an astonishing way physical force, sound sense, decision, and firmness of character. The women for the most part, are stronger, more sensible, more developed, and finer looking than the men. The beauty of the Grebna Cossack woman is especially striking by the union of the purest type of the Circassian face with the broad and powerful frame of the northern woman. The Cossack women wear the Circassian dress-Tartar shirt, gown and drawers; but they tie up their heads in kerchiefs, in the Russian style. Elegance, neatness and beauty in their attire, and in the arrangement for their cottages, form a habit and a necessity of their life, In their relations to the men, women, and especially girls, enjoy complete freedom."

A Wonderful Prayer.

PSALM XXXI. 5. "Into Thy hand I commit my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of Truth."

These words were in part repeated by our Lord in His expiring agony, and by Stephen in the supreme moment of his martyrdom.

"Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,' is the prayer of Christ; "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," was the prayer of the first martyr.

The prayer in one or another of its forms is associated with some of the most solemn and impressive events of Christian biography and history. It has been the dying ejaculation of the most noble saints and martyrs of the church. It was uttered among the last words of Polycarp, of Basil, of Bernard, of Huss, of Luther, and Melanchthon. It was the dying petition of Columbus

and Silvio Pelico.

"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," prayed Knox.

In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum," prayed Ridley.

"Entre tes mains, Seigneur, je recommande mon âme," prayed the Princess of Conti.

"O Lord, what does man come to?" said John of Barneveld, on his way to execution. "O God, my Heavenly

Father, receive my spirit," he prayed at the block.

"Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," prayed Bishop Hooper.

Cranmer, putting his right hand that had signed the recantation into the flame, and saying, "This unworthy right hand," uttered the same prayer as did Latimer, Patrick Hamilton, and Rowland Taylor in the flames.

"O Lord, into Thy hands I commit my spirit, for Thou hast redeemed my soul, O Lord God of truth," prayed the young Scottish martyr, Hugh McKail.

Margaret Wilson, bound to the stake at the low water mark in the Bay of Weyton, saw the advancing tide. It rose slowly until it reached her throat, when she prayed, "Lord Jesus receive my spirit.

Lord Harant, a Protestant martyr of Bohemia, prayed, kneeling by the block,

Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit; in Thee have I always trusted; receive me my blessed Redeemer."

Lord Otto, another Bohemian martyr, prayed, "Almighty God, to Thee I commend my spirit; receive it for the sake of Christ, and admit it to the glory of Thy presence."

"Miserere mei, Deus," said Henry Gray, Duke of Suffolk, holding up his hands and looking up to heaven. He then said, "Into Thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit," and made the sign

to the executioner.

"Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit," prayed Lady Jane Gray, at the block.

Perhaps no prayer of the Bible has such dark and tragic and at the same time triumphant associations as this. It has been the last testimony of the most confident faith, the last cry upon penitent lips, the last petition of beggars and kings, and in all lands and Christian times, the martyr's exclamation of victory.-Hezekiah Butterworth in American Messenger.

A parrot who was always plunged into cold water as a punishment for swearing, happened to see passing his cage one rainy day some dripping, drenched chickens, and called out, "You miserable little fools, you have been swearing, eh?

The Sunday-School Department.

Good Instructors; and how to secure school as to lose sight of its main de

them.

BY THE EDITOR.

A good instructor is one who possesses the knowledge of what is to be taught, and the capacity to impart this knowledge to the scholars. We cannot expect the average Sunday-school teacher to be a thorough biblical scholar, an adept in theological lore. But specific aptitu de, certain intellectual qualifications are necessary. Not every pious person is fit to teach a Sunday-school class. Religious earnestness and zeal, a glib tongue, and a desire to do good are in themselves not sufficient.

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An efficient instructor, besides diligently equipping his mind with Bible study, must be able to tell what he knows: "be apt to teach." Many intelligent persons are dry and dull. Like a housewife unable to serve up the contents of her well-stored larder, so as to make her dishes palatable to her guests, so many a well-furnished mind fails to impress and instruct others. Addison could write the Spectator, yet Chesterfield says that in trying to impart oral instruction he was the most timorous and awkward man he ever saw. Many persons with a comparatively small stock of information can hold the unwearied attention of a class for an hour. And that not with empty talk about silly town-gossip, but impart edifying instruction on religious topics. This requires more than a glib tongue, the use of pointless phrases, a volubility of mere nothings.

This position requires a person of at least average intelligence. One who has sufficient intellectual grasp and vigor to study and understand the Sunday school lessons, with the aid of such helps as may be within reach. A thirst for Bible knowledge and a conscientious determination to spare no efforts to master the lesson, is essential to the forming of an efficient instructor. Certain so-called modern improvements in Sunday-school teaching attempt to An efficient teacher possesses unquesinterest and please the scholars but do not tioned piety. No one destitute of relifoster Bible study. Chatauqua notions, gion can teach religion. Max Müller black board performances, magic lanterns says: "To understand the ancients we or so called stereoscopic exhibitions, must become ancients." To understand may have their uses. Our Sunday- Christianity we must become Christians. school authorities speak and write so And this implies much: A childlike, much how to teach the most entertain- trustful faith; a heart burning with ingly, as to lose sight of the Bible, the love for Christ and for souls; a soul source of what we must teach. They that is in warm sympathy with the pecuremind one of a housewife spending her liar temptations and troubles of every time in studying a book on cookery in- scholar; which knows their parents, stead of going to market. It is ques- homes, associates and habits; one cultitionable whether they do much toward vating a spirit of prayer-praying for cultivating a habit of Bible study. In every scholar-and of accountability to Bible schools, as in boarding-houses, God for each one. Such a teacher does there may be dishes pleasant to the nothing which the scholars may not taste which lack nourishing properties. safely imitate. They can point to his We may have the artistic and decora- example with youthful pride. His own tive features so prominent in a Sunday-life illustrates the lessons he teaches.

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