now gained its first recognition; although its adherents are scorned and flouted, their belief has become a subject of popular discussion, and is largely in the minds of the multitude. Compared with the enormous population of the Russian empire, the number of Stundists, whether two millions or only a quarter of a million, is insignificant; but the spirit of Stundism has spread, and is still spreading into regions as ultra-Orthodox as the heart of the most bigoted Greek Churchman could desire, and is slowly but surely leavening the whole mass. If we consider what the religious life of Russia promises to be, and compare this with what it was a quarter of a century ago, we must thank Stundism for the altered state of affairs. There is still room for enormous reforms—indeed, only the fringe of the matter has been touched; but what little has been done is largely owing to the new spirit of which the pious Bible readers of the Southern steppes were the means of breathing into the national sentiment. In the light of the Stundist revival it was soon seen that the old village clergy were utterly unable to cope with the healthful spirit of inquiry that was abroad; it was soon noticed that they were depraved, ignorant, sordid; it was seen that the church services were conducted in a manner that left everything to be desired, and that the absence of preaching was a grave evil to be remedied; it was felt that the village schools required overhauling; it gradually dawned on the Church that something must be done to preserve the sanctity of the Sabbath; it became a pious endeavour of the local authorities to diminish the curse of drunkenness, which was working such havoc in the villages. These are some of the ideas which the Stundists aroused, and which have gone circling and rippling into remote regions of the empire where Stundism has never been thought of. And if we turn to the other dissenting bodies in Russia, and especially to those of them who in
