Literary Notes.
Mystic Russia.
There are two Russias in existence. One is the Russia of the sturdy, enterprising classes, of the progressive elements in every walk of life, fully alive to the opportunities of modern civilization; the Russia of the "intellectuals," of the enthusiastic and productive Zemstvo-workers in the field of education and social amelioration, school reform, co-operative movements, workingmen's and peasants' organizations. This Russia is revealed to us through the her rapid industrial growth, through her whole political and social development.
But there is also another Russia, and the two seem to be thriving more or less harmoniously within the bounds of the vast Eurasian Empire. The second Russia is that of the "Old Believers," of the fanatical haters of Europe's culture, civilization, and democracy. It is a truly mystic Russia, and its philosophy has never yet been adequately presented to the European or American reader.
There was a time, in the history of Russia's intellectual development, when some of the ablest exponents of Russian thought supported those conception of social and political inertness which usually go under the name of the Oriental philosophy of life. That time is now past. Only here and there do we come across exponents of this Eastern philosophy who are still seeking a definition of the "truly Russian idea," which is so different from the conception of the rest of the world.
Mr. Stephen Graham seems to have been attracted by this side of Russia, and, in his new book, appears to be an ardent believer in the idea that Russia is destined to follow a different road of progress from that followed by the other nations of the world. The charms of the peculiar traits in Russia's national character and life are never lost sight of throughout his fascinating book of travel. In his impression of old Russia, he portrays most vividly the conception of life as held by that peculiar "mystic" element of the Russian nation. Surely, this element could not find a more sympathetic, clear, and powerful presentation of its case before the bar of the world's public opinion.
Mr. Graham has travelled throughout the length and breadth of Russia. He went to the far East, to Siberia, and to the far North, to Archangel. He observed the Russian pilgrims, wandering thousands of miles in order to reach Novaya Zemlia, the silent snow-bound island of trappers and hunters to which steamers come but once a year. He followed the "pereselentzi," those migratory groups, wandering out to the extremities of Russia, and extending her inhabited territory to the east, and to the south, and to the north.
A keen observer, he was fascinated by the genuineness of the Christian spirit as it exists in Russia, and by the profound contrasts and contradictions that thrive side by side, as though vast Russia were the veritable home of toleration in every
