fasts and feasts and ceremonies of the Church, though admirable in itself, is perfectly consistent with a great deal of scepticism with regard to the truths of Christianity. It is not uncharitable to suspect such scepticism when a great profession of Christianity is accompanied by a low moral tone. The Church has felt her weakness and has sought the help of the State, and has therefore not succeeded in her mission. Now happier days have opened for Russia which it is hoped may lead on to happier ones beyond. The State no {333} longer helps the Church by silencing her critics, by exiling those who cannot agree with her: the Buddhist who lately at the definite command of the Government had accepted Christianity has returned to sincerity and open profession of Buddhism. The Church no longer so supported by the State may feel her weakness, but she will grow rather than diminish in strength as she learns to use more and more the real weapon of Christianity, namely, the sacred truths of our religion published both by writing and by preaching. Russia is one of the great nations of the world. The Orthodox Church which dominates Russia is both true and faithful, and she will guide her people into prosperity and peace when she has learned to follow her Master's example and to order the sword drawn in her defence to be returned altogether to its sheath. Nothing can be at present expected from the unorthodox bodies who until lately have been persecuted to such a degree that they have scarcely been able to exist. In external matters the Orthodox Church commands the obedience of the nation to a wonderful degree, but in controlling the deep convictions of the heart she lacks power. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the moral tone which prevails in Russian society. Perhaps it is not just or fair to take the capital of Siberia as a specimen of ordinary moral life in Russia, but one might well say at Irkutsk that all save the spirit of man is divine. We had been to a certain extent prepared by our previous tour to disbelieve in the horrors of the climate of Siberia, but what we saw and heard at Irkutsk has convinced me that Siberia should rank high among the places that are reckoned pleasant for human habitation. Siberia, or certainly the eastern part of Siberia, is not the dreary plain, wind-swept and miserable, that one read of in one's childhood. On the contrary, it is a land of constant calms and steady sunshine, a land of lakes and hills, and though it is cold, the cold seems but trifling in the glorious sunshine of a Siberian winter. I feel certain that if Lake Baikal were {334} somewhere within reach of London it would be one of the most frequented centres for pleasure-seekers. And from the point of view of wealth it is a most favoured land; a land where there is gold and where there is coal; a land where there is copper and silver, and where a hot summer ripens thoroughly all cereal crops. For sportsmen it seems a veritable paradise.