his state of affairs to create an almost
impassable gap between the few who were clear-sighted and the mass who
were blinded by visions.

The extreme rebelliousness which characterises the Russian religious
visionaries is manifested to an almost equal extent by all political
parties and their leaders. Consequently the spirit of unity which
prevailed (during the war) in other countries met with insuperable
difficulties in Russia.

The whole nation seems to have been driven, by the long suppression of
free thought and belief, added to the miseries brought about by the old
regime, to take refuge in unrealities, and this has resulted in a kind
of deformity of the national soul. It was a strange irony that even
the aristocracy should end by falling victim to its own environment.
Exploited by miracle-mongers, thrown off its balance by paroxysms of
so-called mysticism, it disappeared from view in a welter of practices
and beliefs that were perverse and childish even at their best.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE

It seems appropriate to call attention here to an article from the pen
of Prince Eugene Troubetzkoy, Professor of Law at the University of
Moscow, which appeared in the _Hibbert Journal_ for January, 1920.
Writing apparently in the autumn of 1919, the Prince declared that the
civil war then in progress in Russia was "accompanied by a spiritual
conflict no less determined and portentous," and pointed out that the
doctrine of Bolshevism was a deliberate distortion of Marxism,
_immediate revolution_ having been substituted by the Bolshevists for
the _evolution_ preached by Marx. He went on to say that one of the
most striking characteristics of Bolshevism was its pronounced hatred
of religion, and especially of Christianity, the ideal of a life beyond
death being "diametrically opposed to the ideal of Bolshevism, which
tempts the masses by promising _the immediate realisation of the
earthly paradise_." And, Bolshevism's practical method for realising
its Utopia being "the armed conflict of classes . . . the dream of the
earthly paradise, to be brought into being through civil war, becomes
instantly the reality of hell let loose." After dwelling in detail on
various aspects of the situation, the writer makes some statements
which will be of special interest to readers of M. Finot's study of
pre-war religious conditions in Russia. He speaks of the growth of
unbelief among the masses, and declares that "the empty triumph