he clergy as
a class do not show signs of great progress, but I must do them the
justice to say that they do not obstruct. Toward science and culture the
Russian Church has always maintained an attitude of neutrality, and it
has rarely troubled the adherents of other confessions by aggressive
missionary propaganda, while among its own flock it has systematically
fostered a spirit of humility and resignation to the Divine will. This
helps to explain the wonderful tolerance habitually shown by all classes
toward people of another faith. I remember once asking a common laborer
what he thought of the Mussulman Tartars among whom he happened to be
living, and his reply, given with evident sincerity, was: "Not a bad
sort of people." "And what about their religion?" I inquired. "Not at
all a bad sort of faith; you see, they received it, like the color of
their skins, from God." He assumed, of course, in his simple piety, that
whatever comes from God must be good.

Why, then, it may be asked, is this tolerance not extended to the Jews?
They complain, and apparently not without reason, that they are subject
to certain disabilities and exposed to persecution in Russia. Thereby
hangs a tale! Peter the Great would not allow Jews to settle in his
dominions on the ground that his single-minded, ignorant subjects could
not compete with a naturally clever race endowed with a marvelous talent
for money-making. Under his successors, by the annexation of Poland,
several millions of Polish Jews became Russian subjects; but the policy
of exclusion, so far as Russia proper is concerned, has been maintained
down to the present day, so that, throughout the purely Russian
provinces, Jews are not yet allowed to settle in the villages. If you
ask the reason, you will probably be told that if a single Jew were
allowed to live in a village, all the Orthodox inhabitants would soon be
deeply in debt to him. In some respects, however, the old regulations
have been relaxed. A certain proportion of Jewish students are admitted
to the universities and higher schools, and such of them as pass their
examinations may settle in the towns and freely exercise their
professions. As a matter of fact, a considerable proportion of the most
capable barristers, physicians, bankers, &c., in Petrograd, Moscow, and
other cities are Jews by race and religion, and I have never heard of
any of them being persecuted. Anti-Semitic feeling, so far as it exists,
has nothing t