ker!"

That answer represents fairly enough the theological attainments of a
very large section of the peasantry. The anecdote is so often repeated
that it is probably an invention, but it is not a calumny of theology
and of what Protestants term the "inner religious life" the orthodox
Russian peasant--of Dissenters, to whom these remarks do not apply, if
shall speak later--has no conception. For him the ceremonial part of
religion suffices, and he has the most unbounded, childlike confidence
in the saving efficacy of the rites which he practises. If he has been
baptised in infancy, has regularly observed the fasts, has annually
partaken of the Holy Communion, and has just confessed and received
extreme unction, he feels death approach with the most perfect
tranquillity. He is tormented with no doubts as to the efficacy of faith
or works, and has no fears that his past life may possibly have rendered
him unfit for eternal felicity. Like a man in a sinking ship who has
buckled on his life-preserver, he feels perfectly secure. With no fear
for the future and little regret for the present or the past, he awaits
calmly the dread summons, and dies with a resignation which a Stoic
philosopher might envy.

In the above paragraph I have used the word Icon, and perhaps the reader
may not clearly understand the word. Let me explain then, briefly,
what an Icon is--a very necessary explanation, for the Icons play an
important part in the religious observances of the Russian people.

Icons are pictorial, usually half-length, representations of the
Saviour, of the Madonna, or of a saint, executed in archaic Byzantine
style, on a yellow or gold ground, and varying in size from a square
inch to several square feet. Very often the whole picture, with the
exception of the face and hands of the figure, is covered with a metal
plaque, embossed so as to represent the form of the figure and the
drapery. When this plaque is not used, the crown and costume are often
adorned with pearls and other precious stones--sometimes of great price.

In respect of religions significance, Icons are of two kinds: simple,
and miraculous or miracle-working (tchudotvorny). The former are
manufactured in enormous quantities--chiefly in the province of
Vladimir, where whole villages are employed in this kind of work--and
are to be found in every Russian house, from the hut of the peasant to
the palace of the Emperor. They are generally placed high up in a cor