За океаном

Gateway to the New World - Marina and first impressions. - Thanksgiving Day. – General view of the city and attractions. - Traits of religiosity. -Yankee is the new Israel. – Terrible news from the homeland and worship in the Russian church. On November 14, at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the ocean steamer "Skifia" approached the shores of the New World. The magnificent bay presented a charming picture in clear, almost summer weather. Sailing ships and steamships glided along its quiet waters in all directions; along the hilly banks, dachas and country houses huddled in shady groves in picturesque disorder. Towards the mainland itself, the bay narrowed and only a narrow gate into the mainland opened in front of the ship - the mouth of the Hudson River, constrained by mountains. The steel muzzles of cannons peeked out from behind the coastal parapets and, like Cerberus, guarded the entrance to the New World. Behind the mouth, a charming panorama of a whole galaxy of cities opened up with New York in the center. With intense attention, the passengers peered at the majestic panorama, and it expanded more and more as the ship approached. For me, this whole picture for some reason surprisingly resembled the panorama that opens at the entrance to St. Petersburg from the Gulf of Finland. Only the banks here are somewhat higher, and the red-brown color of the buildings gave off something completely un-Russian and ruined the illusion. The Hudson River, constrained at its mouth by mountains, expands towards New York and presents a majestic area of ​​water, seething with extraordinary life and movement. Steamboats of all kinds and sizes - from a tiny dwarf to an ocean giant and a three-story hulk of steamships of the so-called “American type” on the Volga - thinned out this area in all directions, and their multi-voiced whistle - from the highest cutting soprano to a thickly roaring and air-shaking octave - represented a terribly heartbreaking concert for an unaccustomed ear. A few miles before the pier, unusually fast small steamers began to run up to the “Scythia” one after another, deftly attached themselves to it as they moved, threw on the gangplank, and correspondents of local newspapers literally on the fly grabbed news that was interesting to them and newspapers brought from Europe, and again quickly rushed to the city, overtaking each other. Steamships of various trade and industrial companies also circled in a swarm around the “Scythia”, attached themselves to it and, having made the necessary inquiries, also rushed to the city. Meanwhile, on the pier, a dense mass of people was waiting for us, in which countless hands waved handkerchiefs, welcoming the passengers. In front of the crowd, the tall hats with badges and long-brimmed caftans with gold buttons of police officials stood out sharply. Thus, the coast of the New World had a completely different appearance from the one in which it appeared to the first European who set foot on it. The large gangway made it possible to literally step on American soil. So, I was in the country given to humanity by the great Columbus - in the country where the goddess of freedom, according to the general idea, founded a powerful kingdom for herself! Walking along the huge dock, under the influence of such an idea, first and most of all I tried to find and grasp the features of the notorious freedom, but they were not visible. The mass, as elsewhere, was divided into rich and poor, and therefore free and unfree; and the black sons of the African deserts, performing hard day labor, not only recalled the recent complete barbaric slavery that flourished here under the banner of the goddess of freedom, but eloquently made it known that this slavery in economic form still exists. The policemen who blocked the road to the exit and invited us to inspect the luggage, and the customs officials who mercilessly stopped the luggage, digging into all the corners with an incomprehensible suspicion, finally discouraged us from thinking about the goddess of freedom. No, goddess! To establish the kingdom of freedom, it is not enough to move it across the seas and oceans; it must be founded in the hearts of people. We must know the truth: only it will liberate! It was already dark when I could freely go out into the open air. Then a decently dressed gentleman offered his services to take me in his carriage for an inexpensive fee to the nearest hotel. I was happy, of course, but my joy was short-lived: the free Yankee deceived the inexperienced foreigner on all counts. His carriage turned out to be a nasty car, the road to the hotel stretched for three miles, and the inexpensive fare turned out to be two dollars (at the exchange rate of more than four rubles). The combination of “freedom and deception” resonated like a cutting dissonance in my soul, but the dollars still had to be paid. A smartly dressed “colored gentleman” 5 met me at the hotel and, with a good-natured grinning black face, took me up to one of the floors in a car and escorted me to my room. Here I could calm down from the long journey. The inexpensive room was fairly well furnished; There was a well-bound book on the table. I unfolded it: it was the “holy Bible”. Wondering how it got here, I asked the colored gentleman who was waiting, and he explained that they had a “Holy Bible” in every room in their hotel and that it was taken care of by the American Bible Society, which distributes the Holy Bible. books in such establishments are free. This message alone made me forget and forgive my first not entirely pleasant impressions in America. This people must have great moral and religious strength when it allows the existence among itself of such a free society, supported exclusively by voluntary donations, which can give away tens and hundreds of thousands of Bibles for free. In the morning we could look around the city. The hotel turned out to be in one of the best parts of the city and overlooked a magnificent square surrounded by majestic buildings. To the right stood the imposing building of the city council, crowned with a tower and an American single-headed eagle; to the left were the palaces of American newspapers - tall buildings with towers and flags; Opposite them stood a colossal post office - like a palace; on the opposite side of the square ran the main street of the city - Broadway; further on, the Gothic towers of several churches pointed toward the sky with pointed spikes. People moved in masses through the streets, sharp-witted boys darted between them with piles of newspapers; Horse-drawn carriages stretched in continuous caravans along several parallel lines. In one corner, people were climbing stairs to some strange lattice platform reinforced with high pillars above the street. The puffing of the locomotive and the roar of the train explained what was happening. This is the so-called aerial railway. Its construction represents perhaps the most original example of the demonic ingenuity of the American mind. This is almost literally an overhead railway, since it runs along lattice tracks, apparently of very light construction, supported by occasional iron pillars. Usually it runs in two lines on the right and left sides of the streets, and at the main stations in four or more, so that their network covers the entire street, giving only a faint opening to the sky. For five cents or American pennies you can travel the entire city from end to end. However, you need to get used to the American puzzling turmoil in order to calmly enjoy such pleasure. Living in New York, for a long time I could not calmly endure the roar of a train rushing over my head and constantly looked back fearfully at it. This airway, with its monstrous grandeur, far leaves behind the London railway that struck me for the first time, running across the streets. In London, the only thing that can compete with it in this regard is the underground road that runs under the city - in the gloomy womb of this gloomy modern Babylon. Walking along one street, I noticed a huge crowd of street boys. The younger generation was noisy and raging. I became interested in this crowd and came closer; but what was my surprise when I noticed that most of these ragamuffins were armed with guns, with which they aimed at passers-by and at each other, desperately clicking the triggers. The policeman, who looked at this fun with indifference, explained to me that today (November 15th–27th) the Americans have a big holiday - “Thanksgiving Day” and that guns were distributed to the boys for their participation in the processions. By noon I actually had to witness these processions. Decorated boys with ribbons, flowers, banners and guns marched through the streets, led by a drummer and several buglers who desperately sang the national anthems. Crowds of onlookers saw them off with enthusiastic shouts. “Thanksgiving Day,” as I learned later, is a really big holiday for Americans. This is the day of solemn expression by the people of gratitude to God for all the blessings poured out on them throughout the year. It is surprisingly reminiscent of one biblical holiday, when the people also expressed gratitude to Jehovah for the harvested fruits of the earth. Judging by the huge posters that were dazzling at every step, one could see that local preachers were preparing the best sermons for this day and inviting the people to attend the “magnificent” service. Shops and some entertainment venues were closed. Various charitable institutions held annual gala dinners to which the public was invited. The boys carried invitation cards in piles through the streets and handed them out to passers-by. Having received such a ticket, I read on it a whole essay on the history and activities of one charitable institution and a rather coherent poem glorifying the proposed lunch, with a final appeal to benefactors about feasible alms. This form of publication is very common in New York and is used by various speculators for their own purposes. When I was examining and reading the curious invitation card, the sharp little boy thrust another similar ticket into my hands. I also began to look at it, but - to my surprise - I already read in it an outline of the history and activities of a shoemaker's company, which supposedly produces the best shoes in the world. The virtues and beauty of these shoes are immediately sung in the enthusiastic verses of some shoemaker who lures you into his shop. In all the cities I saw, in order to view them from a bird's eye view, it was necessary to climb high towers. In New York, the overhead railway serves this purpose, and in order to get a general view of the city, I climbed the stairs to one of the many stations. The train, puffing and knocking, quickly rushed towards it and, having accepted new passengers in half a minute, rushed on, stopping for a moment at each station - after five or six blocks. At first it’s creepy to look down, where the streets are swarming with masses of people under the latticework, but then, of course, habit takes its toll. The general appearance of the city, as it appears with such a cursory overview, is striking not with its beauty, but with its businesslike, industrial, bazaar character. Everyday vanity here, apparently, has founded its throne and, together with the greedy god Mammon, despotically rules over the loyal slaves. Among the red-brick mass of tall houses, here and there rise the slender spires of Gothic church towers, also mostly brownish in color. There are not very many similar tower-topped churches in New York; but every now and then you read inscriptions on the signs of ordinary houses that say that this is the church of such and such a community, and this is such and such. Religious thought, fragmented here into countless small rumors, manifests itself outwardly in small churches. There are an extremely large number of such churches in New York, and one list of them in the “guide” to the city takes up fourteen columns of neat print. Of the large churches here, the most remarkable are the Church of St. Trinity and Roman Catholic Cathedral. The first is remarkable for its antiquity, and its foundation dates back to 1696, when New York was no more than 50 years old. This church is of magnificent Gothic architecture with a high tower, on which a complex clockwork mechanism plays patriotic and religious hymns at certain moments. Inside, as well as outside, it is distinguished by elegant simplicity. Around it in the fence there are tombstones in orderly rows. The tall, skyward tower of this church with the surrounding place of eternal peace presents an instructive contrast with the bustle of the business and industrial part of the city seething around. The Roman Catholic Cathedral is a completely new church and is so remarkable that it deserves its own short rant. Walking along Fifth Avenue, one of the best streets in the city, towards the magnificent Central Park, you can completely, away from the noise, enjoy the contemplation of the luxurious chocolate buildings of the aristocratic part of the city. Quite often here, the Gothic towers of churches, also chocolate-colored, rising to the sky, complete the charm of the picture. Among these orderly rows of chocolate buildings and towers, like a magical bulk of a snow palace, the majestic white marble Cathedral of St. Patrick. The contrast of color gives the cathedral an unusually impressive appearance. Looking at these luxurious forms of white marble sparkling in the sun, you cannot help but think that you are standing in front of a church of the purest and most sublime human feelings. The cathedral began construction on August 15, 1858 and was consecrated on May 25, 1879; but at present it is not yet finished. It does not yet have the two tall Gothic towers proposed according to the plan. When the white marble towers rise above the cathedral, it will undoubtedly represent a marvel of architectural art. According to the explanation of the head of the cathedral, this church represents an example of the ornate geometric style of Gothic architecture, which flourished in Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries and was expressed in the construction of the famous cathedrals of Reims, Amiens and Cologne and the building of Westminster Abbey in London. But the new New York Cathedral - in purity of style, originality of design, harmony of parts, beauty of material and speed of construction - has no rival in Europe, among churches of a similar style. Inside, the cathedral is extremely spacious, and a mass of light spills over all its parts, giving it a very cheerful, solemn appearance. Slender rows of tall white marble columns and rich window paintings make up its incomparable interior decoration. Some painted windows are so expensive that when transporting them from abroad (they were prepared in France), duties alone had to be paid at $4,000 each. During evening services, the cathedral is illuminated with gas and for this purpose the capitals of the columns and domes are seated with whole bunches of gas jets (1,800 in total), which provide magnificent illumination. Heating is produced by steam, which is prepared in one of the neighboring streets and from there is carried through iron underground pipes into the walls of the church. I noticed tables posted on two side columns. The tables depicted the plan of the church with the numbered benches and the annual fee for them. After looking through these tables, I found that prayer in the cathedral is not cheap. Six-seater benches, which are something like boxes, range in price, depending on the convenience of location and proximity to the altar, between thirty and one hundred and fifty dollars (30–150). The custom of selling seats in the house of the Heavenly Father, of course, resonates for the Russian Orthodox feeling as bargaining and a flagrant violation of the rights of everyone - especially the poor, who does not have a penny to his name - to freely come to the house of the common Father with heartfelt prayer, and from this side the price rate for seats in the cathedral made a grave impression on me. This impression, however, found some counterbalance in another thought. The fee, of course, is in accordance with demand. If seats in the cathedral are occupied, despite the extremely high - in our Russian opinion - payment for them, then what kind of religious need does the local Roman Catholic society have and what a strong jealousy for the church it is animated by! Hesitating between these two opposing thoughts, I left the church. Americans, as one might notice even with a cursory observation, are quite religious. To satisfy their religious feelings, on Sundays they immediately stop the wheel of their seemingly endless bustle of life and go to churches with such zeal that one cannot help but envy. They consider being at the divine service on Sunday and listening to the morning and evening sermons one of the highest pleasures. What an important interest of the day Sunday sermons are here can be judged even by the fact that secular newspapers in their Monday issues open a special section “on the church pulpit,” where they review the sermons preached the day before with large excerpts from the best. The Bible is their daily reference book, and in bookstores, which in New York almost surpass even London stores in their beauty and wealth, in the first place and in the most elegant, luxurious and infinitely varied forms and bindings you will certainly see the “holy Bible,” as they usually call it. A sensitive sense of religiosity perhaps explains the striking fact that the name of “God” among them is surrounded by some kind of inaccessible holiness and the inappropriate use of this word is considered a great impropriety, so that the ordinary spoken language has erased it from its vocabulary. At the same time, in the religious life of Americans one can notice extremely strange—in our opinion—features. So, one adult eighteen-year-old girl - a Christian (!) invited my good friend to her christening; Another very educated girl of the same age, in a casual conversation on a religious issue, reported to my extreme surprise that her father was an Episcopalian, her mother a Methodist, and she did not yet belong to any confession and would choose one when she turned 18, and was now considered simply a Christian universalist. The church, as an outward expression of religious feelings of serving God, is also not surrounded by the respect required by our standards, and in newspaper advertisements one can often read a notice that such and such a church of such and such a community is about to be sold at auction for debts, or such and such a magnificent church is rented by such and such a theatrical entrepreneur, who intends to start a series of dramatic or operatic performances in it. And in relation to Sunday, strict puritanism is not always observed. Theaters are usually closed on this day, but some of them give what are called “sacred concerts” on their posters. Bribed by this name, I went to one of the nearest theaters (converted from a former church), but in the actual content of the concert there was not a single feature that would correspond to its name, and it all consisted of free and obscene songs and musical plays. With all this, the Yankees are proud of their Christianity and in this regard consider themselves the new chosen people, the new Israel. To my great surprise, I even came across a similar idea in a newspaper report about one Sunday sermon. The venerable preacher, surveying the historical destinies of mankind, dwells on the striking similarity of the history of Israel with the history of the American people. Europe was for him the land of Egyptian slavery; the ocean - the Red Sea, which had to be crossed to get rid of this slavery; England's claim to it is the pursuit of Pharaoh with his army; the fight against the Indians is a fight against the wicked Canaanites, etc., etc. If you take a closer look at the social life of the Americans, it seems that, in addition to this sermon, you can come to the conviction that the Yankees are the new Israel, only not in the biblical sense, but in the sense that is associated with the name of the current representatives of the ancient chosen people in Europe. Such Jewish trading, such speculative fever, such an abyss of deception and trickery, which a European can encounter here at every step, is difficult to find anywhere in Europe; and the emptying of state and public chests here is carried out on such a colossal scale that for our domestic lovers of the contents of state and zemstvo chests can only be - alas - an unrealizable ideal - if only simply because these chests are mostly empty. In New York, for example, most recently, one who built large public buildings managed to defraud the public of the enormous sum of 20 million dollars! As for petty trickery and deception, this is an ordinary phenomenon, and so ordinary that it does not even constitute a shame. “If you,” one of my local Russian acquaintances, who spent three years in New York, told me, “convict someone to their face of trickery or deception aimed at your pocket, then do not think that the person caught will be embarrassed! It didn’t happen at all: the cheeky Yankee will only grin and, giving you a friendly pat on the shoulder, slyly remark, “That means you’re a gentleman too—not a mistake!” – True Israel!.. The city, already constantly lively, became more and more animated day by day; preparing for “Merry Christmas,” as the holiday of the Nativity of Christ is called here. Among these cheerful preparations of a happy or rather self-satisfied people, the terrible news that came to us like thunder struck us Russians about a new terrible attempt (near Moscow) on the life of the Crowned Head of the Russian people... It was a shame to look at the world and at people when the Americans, outraged by this terrible violation of not only divine laws, but the laws and demands of simple humanity, turning to us Russians, indignantly asked: “What is this going on with you?” Our only consolation and justification was that Providence again miraculously averted the atrocity and again saved the Monarch. On the coming Sunday, a thanksgiving service was scheduled in the local Russian church for the miraculous deliverance of our Sovereign Emperor from terrible danger, and on this occasion all the Russians living here, with official representatives at their head, gathered for the service. Such a meeting of the people in the church happens, according to those serving in it, once or twice a year, no more. The Slavic liturgy with the good singing of two psalmists shed joy in the suffering soul of the praying sons of a distant fatherland tormented by atrocities. The motive of Simon's cherubic song, improvised, as is known, under the grave impression of the great patriotic disaster - the capture of Moscow by the French - with its heart-achingly sad appeal to “now putting aside all worldly cares,” pointed to the terrible situation of our fatherland, its captivity by a dark gang of villains... After the thanksgiving service and the final many years, hardly anyone among the people, when leaving the church, did not think a heavy thought: when will the common sense of the people finally rise up from criminal lethargy and tear out by the roots not only the “disgraceful” evil, but the evil that is destroying the Russian land?.. Preparations for Christmastide. – Celebrating the Nativity of Christ in churches, families and on the streets. – Russian and American holiday fun. -Russian Christmas overseas. In order to better examine the moral character of a people, one must see it not during everyday life, when the heavy worries of meeting everyday needs distort its features, but on a holiday, when a relieved soul can calmly be reflected in its “mirror,” openly showing its merits and demerits. By the attitude of a people towards their holidays, one can also determine the degree of their religious or moral development. The Feast of the Nativity of Christ, as the cornerstone holiday of the Christian world, for an observer of religious life therefore represents one of the most interesting moments in which one can notice the characteristic features of the religiosity or Christianity of a particular people. The capital of the American continent also presented some interesting data in this regard. The holiday of Christmas in America is extremely significant; it actually begins the new year. Therefore, preparations for it could be seen in the city for another three weeks. In ordinary everyday times, New York is a huge machine in which free citizens spin like soulless screws and work day after day from morning to evening. As the holiday approached, the cogs began to noticeably disintegrate and, dressed as gentlemen and ladies, they began to walk along the sidewalks in a festive manner, looking in stores for things to buy for the holiday. The shops were decorated with magnificent monograms, which announced “Merry Christmas” in multi-colored fiery letters; Christmas trees have turned green near houses and churches; newspaper advertisements for sermons were filled with topics closely related to the holiday. Among the masses of people who were crowding the streets day by day, the vast majority were children: Christmas, for the most part, is a children's holiday here and the custom imposes on parents to buy toys for their children for the whole year before the holiday. Special children's Christmas literature, also intended as holiday gifts for children, has enormous sales at this time. In this children's literature, at least two-thirds of the books contain stories about the birth of the Savior and the circumstances surrounding it, and all are exclusively imbued with a deeply religious, Christian spirit. Schools organize ceremonial processions. So, from the Sunday school at the Church of St. On the eve of Trinity Sunday, about 700 children formed a magnificent procession heading to the evening service. The boys walked with their class banners and sang Christmas carols in chorus. In the church after evening prayer they were given holiday gifts. Children are not the only ones interested in gifts: custom has imposed a duty on adults to give gifts to each other. Husband and wife, brother and sister, etc. certainly give each other gifts. “Evening Christmas Eve” 7, which here constitutes the actual beginning of the holiday, presents touching pictures of quiet joys in families. Under the shadow of the evergreen tree, which is indispensable in every home, this symbol of rebirth and eternal life, sweet hours of mutual satisfaction are experienced. The onset of the holiday in all churches is greeted with a literally “midnight” service, starting at 12 o’clock at night, as we do on Easter. The churches were decorated with Christmas trees and flowers and brilliantly illuminated with gas monograms. The preachers preached the best sermons. To give an example of both the church setting and the festive sermon, I will briefly describe the night service in the church of St. Thank you. This church is located on Broadway, the main street of the city, one might say in the very center of New York, and represents the usual type of Gothic church here, gray in color. On weekdays, masses of bustling people constantly scurry along the sidewalks running past the fence, and this point represents a true bazaar of everyday vanity. On the evening before Christmas, it was as if some invisible force swept away the human bustle from here - solemn silence reigned here. The fir trees were green and bright lights were burning in the fence. At about 12 o'clock a musical ringing was heard in the bell tower, that ringing which is so memorable to anyone who has visited England and which is sung by the poet in a wonderful poem beginning with the words: “Evening bells, evening bells! he gives me so many thoughts!” Almost instantly, at the sound of it, a multitude of people who had been awake that night appeared and filled the church. The church was magnificently decorated with greenery, the throne was buried in flowers, the fiery words of an angelic song burned brightly above the altar: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace!” Exactly at 12 o'clock the sounds of the organ were heard and a large choir sang behind him the magnificent hymn: “O Holy Night!”, followed by a full evening service. At the end of the service, the pastor ascended to a high pulpit, decorated with fir trees and flowers, and read the text of his sermon from the gospel of Luke II, 8: “In that country there were shepherds in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” The sonorous, distinct voice of the speaker-preacher attracted the attention of the listeners. After several moments of solemn silence, the preacher began his speech, inviting listeners to travel back in time 2,000 years ago, to the night that preceded the first day of the Nativity of Christ. Nothing could be less similar to each other than these two nights. On this night, thousands of people are awake to celebrate only the day of remembrance of the Nativity of the Savior; on the same night when His very birth took place, the whole world was asleep, and only the poor shepherds, who were awake due to duty, met Him. Some, however, think that Christians are mistaken in celebrating the birth of Christ at this time of year, since in Syria the flocks are kept in the countryside from November to March. But winter in Palestine is not constant. In the land of Bethlehem, around the 15th of December, something like “Indian summer” always sets in, the grass grows, the flowers bloom, and the herds are driven out to pasture. Therefore, there is nothing incongruous in the fact that the shepherds were guarding their flocks at night when angels appeared to them to announce the birth of Christ. Describing the circumstances of the birth of the Heavenly King, the speaker was transported in thought to the circumstances surrounding the birth of one of the earthly kings - Louis XIV, and in bright colors depicted the entire abyss of contrast separating these two events. On the one hand, wretched poverty, which has confined human beings in the abodes of animals; on the other, dazzling splendor that idolized man. And at the same time, in the clothes of squalor, the eternal King of glory was born, and in the robe of splendor - an insignificant worm, a mortal man!.. Masterfully drawn, this picture made a deep impression. After the speech, voluntary alms were collected for Christmas gifts for the poor living in the parish. During the gathering, one of the best opera singers sang the hymn: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,” and the whole service concluded with a choral singing of the Christmas carol: “Hosanna, Hosanna! sing the highest praise! The same thing happened in all other churches with changes in details, as could be seen from newspaper advertisements. Newspaper advertisements for services and sermons are common here; in Saturday and pre-holiday editions of newspapers they usually occupy several huge columns under the general title: “religious notices.” By Christmas they only got stronger and expanded. To give a sample of these advertisements, I write out a random one: “Methodist Episcopal Church. Address: 18th Street, near 8th Avenue. Morning worship at 11 o'clock. The sermon is preached by the venerable Dr. Godman. Subject: The highest problem. University colored singers sing. Magnificent scenery. In the evening at 7:30 am the venerable Pastor Strobrich preaches. Topic: Who were the wise men from the east. Spectacular illumination. Foreigners are cordially invited to attend the service.” Added to this is a special program of musical plays scheduled for performance, with a list of invited artists. According to the guidance of these announcements, everyone chooses to listen to the Sunday or holiday service the church in which the church decoration or the topic of the sermon, in his opinion, is more interesting. On the morning of Christmas Day, the weather was one of the most gloomy, with lead clouds moving across the usually clear sky and drizzling rain. Nevertheless, countless masses of people flowed to the musical ringing of the churches. Morning worship is usually held at 11 o'clock, and at this time bell music flowed throughout the city, which was all the more distinct because there was almost no horse traffic through the streets. Bells of the Church of St. The Trinity wonderfully sang the Christmas hymn: “Angels from the Kingdom of Glory.” This song is extremely popular in the city and a large crowd of people gathered to listen to its bell performance. The service was solemn with good sermons, the nature of which, however, can be judged from the description given above. Only some German Catholic churches were particularly unique; they introduced into their services, according to a custom left over from the Middle Ages, a dramatic scene called “The Manger.” It presents the story of the birth of Christ in dramatic form, more or less worked out in detail according to the means at the disposal of the clergy. A more or less artistically prepared manger is usually placed before the altar, and either a child or simply a figure representing him is placed in it. Straw is scattered around the manger, and his parents or one of the strangers take a position at the child’s head and feet to depict Joseph and Mary. A large set depicts Bethlehem in the distance, from behind it magicians with long gray beards appear in a mimic procession, and a gas or electric star shines above, showing them the way. In less wealthy churches, instead of a star, a pole with a lantern is simply carried in front of the magicians. After the worship of the magicians, everyone present approaches the manger, bows to the child and makes some offerings to his mother. Such participation of a child in the ceremony by local German mothers is considered the greatest happiness for him and the entire family, and therefore each of them tries to give her child for this ceremony. Having gone out into the street in the evening on the very day of the holiday (Christmas in America is celebrated for only one day), I wanted to make sure here of the truth of the name “merry” usually attached to Christmas. To my extreme surprise, there was nothing corresponding, according to Russian concepts, to such a name. The streets were completely deserted; shops and entertainment venues are closed; the electric suns, which on weekdays shine with magical light over the streets, supported by invisible wires, were only dark points; The silence reigned incredible for such an usually noisy city, and the occasional policemen standing there were noticeably burdened by their inactive state. At the sight of this festive deadness, the thought, by association of contrast, was transported to our Russian northern capital. Immense masses of people, like a stormy sea, agitated by that “spirit”, about which we can confidently say “where it comes from and where it is going,” spill out through the streets there; entertainment establishments are celebrating their time of suffering; a cry of delight groans over the city, and the desperate call of the “policeman,” like a scolding cry on a battlefield, is heard from all sides... What is the Yuletide “joy” of the Americans? – It simply consists of enjoying the quiet joys of family. Having undressed around the festive tree, family members talk about the holiday, read some kind of Christmas book or sing Christmas carols. To satisfy this need, newspapers usually publish several deeply religious articles and stories in their holiday issues; music magazines are filled with Christmas carols intended for family singing. I accidentally came across a holiday issue of one of these magazines. Having scanned its contents, I found that it consisted entirely of Christmas plays, the nature of which can be judged by the following list of them. There were: “A Christmas Song”, “A Bethlehem Carol”, “Once a Year Comes Christmas”, “God Rest You Merry Gentlemen”, “When Christ Was Born”, “Christmas Bells at Sea”, “Christmas Waltz”. All these plays are performed and sung in family circles, with a blazing fireplace and a green Christmas tree. Such Yuletide fun, obviously, is not at all similar to our Russian holiday “fun”, which, it must be admitted, still firmly retains its great-grandfather’s character and consists primarily of “drinking” ... The general impression drawn from observing the celebration of the great Christian holiday in New York is extremely good. It is clear that the people here are so Christianized in this regard that they consider it their deep need to celebrate Christian holidays in a Christian way, with an awareness of their sacred importance. This attitude towards the holidays shows at the same time that this people within themselves has enough moral content to find in it alone a source of festive joys, without resorting to any external, spurring means. The legends that are widespread here in Russia about excessive drunkenness in America require great limitation and special interpretation. If in Russia our Russian proverb: “Drink, drink, but understand your business,” found even a tenth of the practical application that it finds here, then the process of sobering up our people would be ensured. Twelve days after the American “Merry Christmas,” Russian Christmas arrived. Due to the difference between the Russian and Western calendars, Russians abroad find themselves in a difficult situation. Annual general Christian holidays abroad occur earlier than Russian ones, and Russian people, due to the general cessation of activities, must of necessity celebrate together with all others. These holidays pass, work time comes again, and in the midst of this time the native holidays are just beginning. The Americans celebrated their Christmastide, welcomed the New Year and already forgot about all this, plunging into the sea of ​​​​the usual bustle of life, while for us Russians, on January 6th, the great holiday of Christmas has just begun. This day is quite everyday for the Americans; they do not honor the Western European “three kings”. As a result, it was assumed that there would not be many people in the church, since most of them were busy with work and service. But the Orthodox man made himself known overseas, he shook off the burden of everyday bustle and came to church to listen to his native Christmas song. There were quite a lot of worshipers, led by official representatives. There were also many Americans, attracted by curiosity, which they actually showed by craning their heads to penetrate an area inaccessible and mysterious to them - the altar. The most curious, of course, were the newspaper reporters. One of them delivered the following interesting description of this service to the king of the American press “Herald”. “The cosmopolitan character of the New York population found an interesting illustration yesterday in the divine service held in the Greco-Russian chapel. The pilgrims began to gather early in the morning, and when the service began at 11 o'clock, there were many people in the chapel of all nationalities - Muscovites, Slavs, Greeks, Americans and others, attracted partly by curiosity, partly by a sense of duty in reverently observing Christmas according to the old calendar. The service was in almost every way similar to the Roman Catholic one, although, of course, there could not be such pompous ceremoniality, which is striking in the large cathedrals of the Western world. The decorations of the small chapel were simple but tasteful. (A detailed description of the paintings, i.e. icons, and candlesticks with the exact number of candles follows). The service was performed by Mr. Bjerring is wearing an interesting oriental robe and a tall cylindrical felt hat (it looked like an ordinary kamilavka to the reporter). The psalmist sang original oriental hymns well. But the most outstanding feature of the service was that it was performed in the Slavic language or the local dialect of the Russian people (?). A short speech in English, delivered by the venerable Bjerring, was the conclusion of the service. (Extract from the sermon). The meeting exchanged heartfelt congratulations and wished each other a “merry Christmas” in true Russian custom.” The entire festive service had great morally life-giving significance for the Orthodox. With what power the native Orthodox church sounds resonate in the Orthodox Russian soul, abandoned beyond the seas and oceans, was revealed during this mass. The pilgrims, mostly simple Russian sailors, listened attentively to the church singing and silently bowed. But then the psalmist sang the Christmas troparion, well-known and dear to everyone from memories: “Thy Nativity, O Christ our God,” and immediately, as if by the wave of a magic wand, a whole choir of simple Russian voices in the church took up the native song... Memories of the homeland, which after mass these simple Russian people immediately shared among themselves, were accompanied by tears for many. O homeland, homeland. What's cuter than you?.. Prince of the flesh and prince of the spirit. - Traits of religiosity. – A noble impulse of charity. – The royal sacrifice of the newspaper. – The power of persistence. If some magical force instantly removed the roofs from the houses of the capital of the American continent during the first ten days of February, then the eyes of an observer from a bird's eye view would be presented with an interesting picture of a completely dancing city. These are the days of the so-called carnival, days of supreme fun and continuous pleasure. The balls are announced one after another both by advertisements and by jester's carriages driving through the streets with flags, bells and fantastically dressed up riders. And the masses of people, faithful to their grandfather’s legends, flow uncontrollably to these balls to pay the traditional tribute to the prince of the carnival. Some balls are simply monstrous in terms of the number of people gathered at them and consisted of a huge number of 15 thousand visitors. Looking at this service to the prince of the carnival, or simply speaking, the prince of the flesh and its passions, an outside observer could only shrug his shoulders and exclaim: people are restless in vain! But the inventive American mind was able to benefit from this invisible aimless and fruitless madness; Most of the money collected from these balls goes to the poor population of the city and various charitable institutions. If we take into account that this collection at some balls reaches up to thirty thousand dollars, then even an outside observer is unlikely to find the carnival frenzy fruitless. As the end approached, the carnival revelry spread wider and wider and the whirlwind of pleasure powerfully captured and swirled the entire population of the city. The prince of the flesh celebrated his highest triumph, but at the same time his last: from behind the shoulder of his figure, satiated with pleasures, the stern face of the prince of the spirit—Lent—peeped out. On Sunday, February 8th, churches heard sermons about the “delights of this world,” “whose spirit is vain and its tongue is deceitful, which whispers sweet promises into people’s ears and fills their hearts with deceptive dreams that will never be realized,” as one preacher characterized it. And the respect for Sunday is remarkable: the most intense revelry of carnival pleasures did not distract the masses from worship; all the most remarkable churches were crowded with worshipers. Walking along Fifth Avenue, the richest and best street in the city, after 12 o'clock in the afternoon, when the service usually ends, I saw a spectacle that I had never seen in my homeland: immense masses of worshipers smoothly moved along the magnificent sidewalks, above which the Gothic towers of churches constantly rise, the final hymns of sonorous organs burst powerfully into the street from the open doors and a playful shine in the bright sun from thousands of gold-edged prayer books spread multi-colored lights among the masses and gave this living picture an extremely solemn appearance. The next two days were the last days of the carnival: its noisy fun concluded on Tuesday, February 10th. Wednesday was already the day of Lent, “the Wednesday of ashes,” as it is called here, and pious Catholics with ashy crosses on their foreheads moved to churches for prayer and patience. Newspapers now have rules for the content of a post; To give an example of them, I am writing out the rules published by Cardinal McClossky of New York for the guidance of local Catholics. These are the rules: “1) on all weekdays of Lent from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, it is allowed to have only one dish at lunch and a moderate snack in the evening; 2) the rule of fasting requires abstaining from eating meat, but out of leniency towards human weakness, we allow in our diocese the consumption of meat in a permitted dish on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays of Lent, excluding Maundy Thursday; 3) on Sundays there is no fasting or abstinence; 4) it is not allowed to eat fish and meat in the same dish; 5) it is not prohibited to consume eggs, butter and cheese, of course in the quantities prescribed by the general rules of fasting; 6) lard can be used constantly for preparing fish or vegetable dishes, etc.; 7) the church exempts the following persons from the obligation of fasting (but not from abstaining from meat, except in special cases of illness): the weak, those engaged in exhausting work, those growing up, women who are pregnant or nursing children, and those weak due to old age.” Secular newspapers welcomed the “lenten season” with editorials. The New York Herald wrote, among other things, the following: “According to the constant flow of times, fasting comes to you every year and, it must be said, every year it leaves the world better than it found it. Apart from any religious considerations, the effect of fasting is extremely beneficial even for those who keep it no more than what is accepted in society. Millions of hearts are busy with an involuntary analysis of their inner content, and the most stubborn skeptic, if only he has a heart, will not deny the moral greatness of that period when so many people are trying to rise above the level of simple material-animal life.” The post really, by its very appearance, introduces some kind of special atmosphere, which involuntarily affects those who move in it. With its onset, literary evenings began to be held more often, preachers began to speak sermons more often, and the newspapers themselves more often paid attention to what is eternal and holy. Already from the cited opinion of the best newspaper on the meaning of fasting, one can see with what seriousness the local secular press treats the established facts of religious life. But her religiosity is not limited to these. In the columns of secular newspapers you may now and then find articles on various religious and theological questions; the Monday editions are filled with excerpts from Sunday sermons, the recording of which reporters go to with the same seriousness as the recording of parliamentary speeches and debates. At one time, exactly two years ago, according to the testimony of one preacher, the entire secular press was completely occupied with the question of “eternity of torment”; and when the famous physicist Tyndall, who lectured here, allowed himself to hint at the uselessness of prayer, since, they say, everything is governed by immutable, fatal physical laws, there was no secular newspaper that would not publish a treatise on this issue - the overwhelming majority of an apologetic nature. All this, of course, is determined by the strong religious feeling of the local reading public. The extent to which the consciousness here is sensitive to the importance of the facts of religious life is shown by a very recent incident. One reputable newspaper published an article in which, with caustic feuilleton satire, he ridiculed the two Dutch pastors who published the annotated Bible for their indiscriminate rationalism, according to which they attribute half of the biblical facts to the realm of myth and fiction. What's better, it seems? – one could only sympathize with the newspaper. But no: the next day several “letters to the publisher” appeared in the newspaper, in which various people expressed their displeasure that the editors had entrusted such an important subject to a feuilletonist... Sunday in America is surrounded by the same rigoristic respect as in England. In one large city, namely Cincinnati, the owner of the theater decided to give several Sunday performances. This immediately raised a terrible storm in the city, meetings formed mainly among women of the upper classes, who worked out the following resolution: “Recognizing that theatrical and opera performances on Sundays are contrary to the good order and good morals of society, we, the undersigned, promise to refrain from attending those theaters and ballrooms that will open their doors for entertainment of this kind on Sundays after the 16th of February 1880.” This resolution for churches began to collect numerous signatures and, undoubtedly, would have resulted in complete ruin for the brave owner of the theater if he had not hastened to apologize to the society in print, with a promise never to give Sunday performances in the future. One Presbyterian newspaper found it possible to draw a lesson for Sunday breakers even from the terrible calamity that recently occurred one Sunday in Scotland, where a whole train fell over a bridge and was drowned with all the passengers, so that no one was left alive who could even tell about this terrible misfortune. “This catastrophe, in the opinion of the newspaper, can be considered as the judgment of the Almighty on those who, in such a Sabbath-keeping country as Scotland, commit lawlessness by insulting the sanctity of the Lord's day by idle travel on the railways. No amount of prayer or tears can free them (the lost passengers) from the place where God ceases to be merciful; but we can pray that this terrible judgment will be a saving and fruitless warning for all other violators of Sunday.” Americans are an extremely active and enthusiastic people, and their enthusiasm, directed in a good direction, often presents a wonderful spectacle. Such a spectacle was their noble impulse to help the starving Irish. We know the disaster that befell unfortunate Ireland in 1879, where hundreds of thousands of people, thanks to shameless exploitation on the part of the English lords, were reduced to appalling poverty, which, in conjunction with the crop failure of that year, gave rise to a real famine that exterminated the population of the unfortunate country. The famous Irish agitator Parnell came to America to arouse sympathy and collect alms in favor of the needy people; but his mission was not a great success, since the American press disapproved of his tactless campaign plan, in which he mixed extremely revolutionary elements with charitable elements. The editors of the local king-newspaper “Herald” took the collection of donations into their own hands, and as if by a wave of a magic wand, the eyes of Americans were riveted on the distressed country, hearts beat with an uncontrollable impulse to help the unfortunate, and dollars flowed like a golden river from wide open pockets. The newspaper itself opened the collection with its own, truly regal contribution of 100 thousand dollars, which at the exchange rate is about 200 thousand rubles. After 11 days, the editorial office already had more than 200 thousand dollars in its auxiliary fund. The inspiration that instantly gripped everyone can only be compared with the animation of the Russian people that gripped them during the great Slavic movement. Such is the moral power of this paper king, the enormous issues of which are sold in 120 thousand copies every day, and are undoubtedly read by ten times as many people. The grandiose sacrifice of the magnanimous newspaper constituted an important interest of the day, and the preachers of many churches chose it as the subject of their Sunday sermons. One of the most famous preachers, namely Dr. Talmich, said among other things that these “hundred thousand mean much more, they mean millions. This donation seemed to inspire other donors, its effect spread everywhere with electric speed and strength. If this offering had been made to encourage art, it would have been approving. If it were made for educational institutions, it would be nice. But its purpose is better and higher than all this: this offering was made to save the people from starvation. Let the people clasp their hands and sing hallelujah! The people living in the region of the telegraph network, which embraces the entire Christian world, should not be allowed to suffer. But stronger and faster than electric current, there is a bond of sympathy with which God will unite all nations. Let us never suppress this sympathy within ourselves. Pity and compassion for the misfortunes of the world ennoble the human heart, grind off the sharp corners of a vale of life and make us mutually grateful. 1,400,000,000 of the human race are all connected by strings of human affinity, and all these strings of affinity, binding us together, carry the majestic sound of love for the heart of God, so that we are all one: heaven and earth, God and humanity - all one.” The same preacher, regarding the American grain trade, with which, as is known, the Americans are beginning to suppress all other agricultural peoples and, by the way, are pushing back even Russia, taking advantage of its latest crop failures, said the following: “The United States can be the breadwinner of the world. Other nations shout to America: give us 230,000,000 squares of bread, and we answer them: we will give it if you pay us more than it costs! If this is indeed the case, 8 then I predict the ruin of the majority of American grain merchants. Such profiteering at the expense of hungry nations will not be tolerated in heaven if it exists on earth. God will destroy their full barns. If God strikes the fields and no grain is born from them, then we can only bow before the Mysterious. But if, after God has filled the people's granary, greedy people try to overfill it at the expense of the hungry, I sound the alarm and ring the alarm. He who plays with pieces of bread plays with human blood, and I, supported by the people's cry, will counteract this. Everything related to bread affects the essence of people's life. This blockade of the wheat market robs the masses of the people both here and in other countries, just to enrich the players with bread. If we are unjust to other nations, then we will have to fear retribution from them.” The language and techniques of this preacher are extremely original and his sermons always attract numerous listeners. Passion for an idea in America often turns into unyielding persistence, giving rise to curiosities of a purely American nature. An example of such a hobby is none other than the wife of former President Hayes. She is a member of the extensive Temperance Society, and has constantly been distinguished by extraordinary energy in spreading the ideas of the society. After her husband was elected president, she moved to the presidential residence in Washington - the so-called White House, decided with all the indispensable persistence of a true American lady to apply the rules of the Temperance Society to the highest Washington society, and decided not to offer wine to her guests. Giving a state official dinner without wine was considered a sheer impossibility; the entire Washington society was against it, and this issue almost became a state issue. For a whole year she was the target of various witticisms that are so difficult for a woman to endure. But she patiently endured all this and, with her unshakable stability, finally defeated social despotism. She never offered wine and so accustomed the highest fashionable Washington society to this that large formal dinners without wine finally became commonplace, and at present Washington can be considered the most sober capital in the world. This fact in itself, one might say, does not go beyond a curiosity, but the moral courage and perseverance with which an individual woman decided to fight a very significant habit of society and won is truly remarkable! Good Friday and Easter. – Easter service in the church of the famous preacher. – Music and preaching. – Ten cents to enter the cathedral. -Easter in everyday life. Americans call Holy Week Holy Week. Good Friday also serves as a turning point in the sorrowful life of the Christian spirit. Among the Americans, however, it does not have such a touching and solemn character as we have in Russia, and the country’s legislation does not have any special regulations for it. But the more remarkable is the fact that life itself, in addition to any law, surrounded her with signs of special respect. Many entertainment venues are closing, and the local Italian opera troupe, in the presence of numerous listeners, performed, instead of the usual performance, Rossini’s brilliant work “Stabat Mater”, this suffering cry of a mother’s heart, which at the same time is the cry of every Christian soul capable of being imbued with the consciousness of the immense importance of the remembered moment. In one of the best churches at the same time, a huge choir of 400 artists performed Bach’s famous “Music of Suffering,” which is a musical reproduction of chapters 26 and 27 of Matthew’s Gospel. It’s hard to imagine anything better, more sublime and more touching than this musical gospel poem. Earth and sky, man and nature here seemed to merge into one joyfully crying delight - in view of the greatness of the priceless sacrifice that had to be made to save humanity. In New York, as here in Russia, Holy Week already bears many signs of preparation for Easter. Easter business cards with images of Easter eggs, crosses and, of course, with words, texts and entire poems glorifying the Resurrection of Christ appeared outside the windows of stores. When Americans greet each other with Easter, these cards replace our Easter eggs. For children they are prepared with a special entertaining twist. You see, for example, a seemingly simple card with a bas-relief flower. But pull it by one tip: the flower will instantly rise and a whole scene of the resurrection of Christ with signed words taken either from the gospel or from liturgical books will open before you. On Holy Saturday, thousands of pious ladies were busy decorating churches with fresh flowers, and the florists made big profits. Due to the enormous demand for flowers, they were sold at extremely high prices. So roses were bought for 25 and 30 dollars per hundred, and lilies for 50–75 dollars apiece. If you take into account that the churches were buried in flowers, you can imagine how much such decoration cost New York. In newspapers and church advertisements, lush advertisements appeared about Easter services, with descriptions of church decorations, with programs of musical plays and a list of invited artists. Sunday March 28th New Style was Easter Sunday for the Western world in 1880. From 10 o'clock in the morning, bell music began to flow throughout the city, and countless masses of people flowed to its call. To give an idea of ​​the nature of the Easter service in America, I offer a description of the service in the church of one of the most famous preachers, namely in the so-called “Dr. Talmich’s Tabernacle” in Brooklyn 9 . Dr. Talmich's Tabernacle is extremely popular, and the program of Easter services there was one of the most elaborate and interesting. Upon entering the church, visitors were given leaflets with the program of the service and entire hymns assigned for performance. The text of the program was surrounded by a magnificent golden band, on top of which were the words: “Rejoice, our Savior lives!” The church itself was a real flower garden, the beauty of the flowers competing with their spring fragrance. Above the altar could be seen the words: “Christ is risen” from white and crimson roses mounted on ivy, above them a crown of flowers, and at the top of everything there was an electric star burning, spilling a magical light throughout the entire flower garden. On the sides of the altar there are two choirs of male and female voices, and at the top opposite the altar there is a huge orchestra of brass and instrumental music. The sounds of an organ were heard and a solemn silence reigned. The imposing figure of Dr. Talmich appeared from the side door of the altar. His movements were flexible and elastic, and his elderly cheeks glowed with a bright blush - foreshadowing an unusually animated sermon, as regular visitors and admirers of the famous preacher explained. Leaning on the throne, the preacher bowed his head as if with the weight of feelings and covered his face with his hands. The sounds of several instruments were heard, followed by the entire orchestra, followed by the choirs below, and everything merged into an enthusiastic song of the resurrection of Christ. Then followed the performance of the entire program, which consisted of the best plays by famous composers Handel, Beethoven, Mozart, Gounod, etc. The orchestra and choirs were replaced by instrumental and vocal soloists. By the way, music professor Ali performed the Easter hymn on the cornet. With a wave of the professor’s hand, all the pilgrims rose from their seats and stood listening to the artistic solo, which to American ears seemed like the trumpet voice of angels announcing the resurrection of Christ. The entire service consisted of music and songs, and only the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed were read by the pastor, after whom all the pilgrims repeated each word in chorus. At the end of the liturgical program, a festive gathering was made and, to the sound of dollars, the opera singer sang the hymn: “I know that my Savior lives.” The liturgical program was obviously designed to suit the tastes of the Americans and made a strong impression on them. When Dr. Talmich ascended the pulpit, his listeners were already electrified to the tips of their hair. For his Easter sermon, he chose the text from the Gospel of John XIX, 41: “There is a new tomb in the garden.” Having looked around him, the preacher said that he felt as if he were in the fragrant flower garden of heaven, and then indulged in personal elegiac reflection. “Flowers, flowers,” he said as if to himself, touching them with his hand. “Perhaps you will wither forever, or perhaps you will be immortal.” Your fragrance, perhaps, is your soul, and I would not be surprised,” the speaker said, raising his voice, “if, having crossed the valleys of temporality, I began to pick these roses on the unexplored hills of eternity.” Returning then to the text, the preacher said that his text referred to the time when a rich gentleman, Joseph by name, one of the seventy judges of Christ, passing through his garden, found a convenient place for a tomb, which he had prepared for the repose of his mortal remains. “Take a good look at this coffin,” the speaker exclaimed impressively, “this coffin is the most wonderful mausoleum in all history!” He then painted a strikingly picturesque picture of this world-historical burial; Nicodemus, another rich man, prepares fragrant herbs, both of them fumigate the body with them and prepare it for burial, together with two wives they carry the body to the tomb, placing it in a cleft in the rock. The door is closed and sealed, but not forever; at this door there will be a struggle, a struggle between heaven and hell, from which the gates of the tomb collapse. From this simple, but ever-memorable burial, the preacher moved on to the funeral of the present time and, depicting its magnificent vanity, advised those of his listeners who could only make a miserable burial for their relatives and friends, to remember that at the burial of Christ there was no endless procession of funeral carriages and masses of mourning spectators: there were only four sincere friends of the deceased. The current requirements for funerals are so great that a person cannot even die unless he is rich 10 . Whatever our coffin may be, we will rise from it. “Gather granite from all over the earth and heap it on our coffin: we will rise from under it too; the gates of the tomb will spring from their hinges and turn to dust. Rejoice, earth! rejoice sky! O my listeners! Be filled with joy this Easter morning!” One might have thought that the preacher had finished his speech, but he wanted to say a few more words in favor of distressed Ireland. “On this day of goodwill towards people,” he said, “there is something outside of New York that inexpressibly torments my heart. There is the old frigate "Constellation", sent by the United States to Ireland and loaded with five hundred thousand poods of grain. Direct the way of this ship, O Christ of Nazareth! You broke bread for five thousand, break this bread for fifty thousand! You hold the winds in Your hands, fill the sails of the ship with favorable winds! Wait a little longer, be patient a little longer, O dying people of Ireland, starving women, exhausted little ones! "Constellation" is coming to you! One must know the powerful power of Dr. Talmich's oratory in order to fully appreciate and understand the impression of these speeches on the listeners. Many of them were crying, and the preacher himself could hardly hold back his tears. The impression was so strong that when the preacher finished his speech and bowed his head in his hands, covering his face with them, the entire mass of pilgrims remained for several moments in mute stupor. And only the quiet sounds of the organ seemed to once again pour life into this frozen mass. The subsequent performance of the last part of the musical program completely revived the pilgrims and returned them to the Easter festive mood. In this regard, the execution of the so-called in the program probably had a particularly enlivening significance; "choral Easter hallelujah." It consists of a number of Easter verses, each of which concludes with a single alleluia. The music of the poems in composition is somewhat reminiscent of Berezovsky’s “I Believe”: the same transition in tones. But as soon as the choir reached the hallelujah, the orchestra struck, the choir broke into singing, like the singing of spring birds, and from the mass of all kinds of sounds, the sounds of the triangle were most clearly heard: ding-ding-ding, with which each hallelujah ended. At the end of the service, Dr. Talmich thanked everyone who made offerings to decorate the church with flowers, as well as the artists who took an active part in the service. From this we can conclude that the Easter splendor of the described service was largely due to the willing zeal of lovers of church splendor. Services similar to those described were performed in other churches. Only the music program has diversified indefinitely. In the churches of small religious communities, she lost the dividing line between worship and concert. The liturgical program of the church of the so-called “divine fatherland” even included Wagner’s march from Tannhäuser. The "Easter choral hallelujah" described above must be to the taste of Americans, since it was included in most religious programs. Of the Catholic churches, the most magnificent service was, of course, in the Cathedral of St. Patrick. I happened to be in the cathedral during the afternoon service at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. This service did not count towards the subscription and was intended specifically for the poor, who were not able to rent expensive places in it for a year. Thousands of poor people flocked from all sides to the cathedral and at the very doors took out their skinny wallets to pay 10 cents (20 kopecks at our exchange rate) for the right to enter the cathedral. The cathedral accommodates more than 15,000 people, which means the revenue this time was about or even more than one and a half thousand dollars or three thousand rubles. The service was magnificent - with an orchestra, a choir of 100 male and female voices and two choirs of children's voices, and a sermon at the conclusion. In everyday life, Easter in America is no different from ordinary Sundays; here there is absolutely none of the breathtaking festive delight with which it is welcomed in Russian life. It is celebrated here for only one day. But this entire day consists of almost continuous services: services in the morning, services in the afternoon and services in the evening, and the masses of people just move from one service to another and from one church to another. The next day - our bright Monday, the car of everyday life creaked its wheels again, children with books went to school, and adults again rushed in pursuit of dollars. V. Religion in a Free Country Freedom, culture and religion. – Weekdays and Sunday. – Society of business people. – Religious rallies. – Young Christian Society. Those brave liberals, but wretched thinkers who, according to the legend left to them by the last century, continue to insist that religion is an outdated phenomenon, the heritage of infancy humanity, and that for mature humanity positive science should replace religion, they repeat this only because they are unable to raise their foggy eyes and look sensibly at the phenomena around them. One such view of the phenomena of a free healthy life is enough for the traditional opinion to dissipate like smoke. The best and most convincing refutation of the frivolous theory regarding the temporary nature of religion can be found in the life of the American people. This people enjoys such political and religious freedom, which for many peoples of the old world can only be a dream, and in terms of the prevalence of their education and the degree of cultural development they have no rivals throughout the entire globe. Thanks to their complete freedom, this people could have long ago handed over religion with all its churches and hierarchies to the archives of eternity, and thanks to its development, it should have long ago worshiped only the idols of positive science. And yet the life of this people presents a completely opposite picture. Religion, one can safely say, nowhere has such intense vitality as in America, its external manifestations are nowhere so numerous as here, and positive science nowhere has less claims to supplant and replace religion than again precisely in the life of this freest and most developed people in the world. Life here at every step confirms the immutable truth that religion is an essential and therefore eternal need of the human spirit, that through freedom it is only strengthened and only elevated by culture. This, of course, does not mean that religion finds its highest and most correct expression in America. No, religion here often, and especially in those areas where freedom is not limited by sufficient education, turns into debauchery and vagrancy, and in the simple uneducated classes it degenerates into crude superstition. What is important here is the very fact of the vitality of religion, as well as the remarkable fact that the degree of religiosity among the American people is directly proportional to the degree of education. The more educated the classes of society, the more religious they are. Here you are more likely to meet an infidel in the person of an ignorant street vagabond who will desperately deny religion - and mainly because thanks to it, drinking establishments are closed on Sundays - than in the person of an educated person. The outward, everyday appearance of the life of the American people is of such a practical, soulless nature that it is difficult to even imagine that there could be any sublime, ideal aspirations in the life of this people. Practical materialism, this moloch of our century, here, apparently, devours the human heart, leaving only a cold, calculating mind, occupied solely with the interests of practical life, “making money,” as the Americans say. And yet, it is enough to look at this very life even on one Sunday to immediately change your opinion about it. Everything in it takes on a completely new look, yesterday’s idol is subjected to the strictest ostracism, and the interests of religious and moral life completely absorb the thoughts and desires of the people. The city itself shows a striking change in its appearance. Instead of an endless string of commercial and industrial rummages flooding the streets, and hurried masses of people running along the sidewalks; you see a realm of solemn calm. At certain times the streets are also flooded with masses of people, but a completely different force moves them and they have a completely different appearance. From the gold-edged prayer books sparkling in the hands of each, you will see that these masses are moving either to the church or from the church. Going to church here is considered so necessary that it is even required by ordinary public opinion, which punishes non-compliance with this requirement. This explains the curious fact that those who for some reason have not been to church hide this from their acquaintances and, when asked by them, are more likely to tell a lie than to admit their omission. Not having a subscription to church at all is considered in the local high society to be as disgraceful as in St. Petersburg high society it is considered not to have a subscription to the Italian opera, especially if some celebrity like Patti sings there. Heine, in his “English passages,” says that he hates the English with all his heart. “Their prayers,” he exclaims, “their mechanical piety, their going to church with a gold-edged prayer book in their hands, their absurd and boring way of spending Sunday - all this especially repels me. I am firmly convinced that a blasphemous Frenchman is more pleasing to God than a praying Englishman.” He would probably say the same thing about the Americans, as, by the way, German emigrants say about them, who are extremely dissatisfied with the American Sunday routine, due to which beer shops are closed and violation of the silence and sanctity of Sunday is severely punished. The same, unfortunately, must be said about some Russian compatriots, who are also dissatisfied with the local Sunday customs and feel somehow not “holiday-like”... But these routines appear in a completely different light for those who value the interests of religion and morality. This is an excellent moral discipline. Statistics show that where Sunday laws are stricter, there is less drunkenness and crime. Consequently, in many states, where the laws regarding the observance of Sunday have weakened over time, the desire to strengthen them is now again awakening, which is causing no small commotion among the German population, who are constantly agitating for the abolition of Sunday laws, which allegedly restrict public freedom. Sunday services are usually held twice, in some churches in the morning and in the evening, and in others in the morning at three o'clock in the afternoon, so that on Sunday you only see people with prayer books on the streets, going to or from church. The noon and evening services are attended as diligently as the morning ones. During evening services there are often even more people than during morning services. It can be more interesting: the best music, the best sermon and luxurious gas and even electric lighting are prepared for it. For an outsider, to attend such a service is a high aesthetic pleasure. Those who do not have a subscription to church seats usually pay an entrance fee, depending on the church and the nature of the service, from 10 cents to 1 dollar. Foreigners mostly have free entry. Worship is not limited, however, to churches. It happens outside of them. In New York there are an extremely large number of different public halls for political and private meetings, speeches, lectures, concerts, performances, balls, etc. On Sunday, all these halls turn into places of liturgical meetings, for which each of them is equipped with an organ, which equally serves both for concerts and for divine services. Sermons in these meetings are often delivered by professors of various educational institutions who are not invested with any holy dignity. In one of the best halls, the so-called “Chickering Hall”, on Sundays the “society of moral culture” gathers for worship and a sermon, or rather a speech, is given by Professor Adler, who usually takes his topics from the vast field of questions about the moral influence of Christianity. Americans have a highly developed corporate and social spirit. Each rank, occupation, craft, even age and gender has its own special corporations and societies, which rent special halls for themselves, where they gather to discuss various issues relating to the interests of the corporation. On Sundays, members of the societies gather in their halls to worship and listen to sermons, which are also often delivered by private individuals. In free time from worship, there are religious meetings here, at which measures to maintain the religious and moral character of the members of a particular community or corporation are discussed. On one of the last Sundays there was a similar meeting of members of the so-called “society of business people.” At the meeting, among other things, the question was raised about the very widespread habit of swearing, or rather swearing, among Americans. The society condemned this vice and, after deliberation, passed the following resolution: “As a frivolous oath violates the laws of good society and state, as well as of God; since it is unpleasant and painful for honest people to hear this in society, and since children who hear and learn the same oath are often much more harmful than being bitten by a mad dog, they decided: anyone who swears frivolously should be reminded that he is committing a cruel, ignoble and illegal deed.” Here in Russia, where social thought has not yet been able to develop into legislative force and where unbridled individualism often deliberately tramples and violates all sorts of social restrictions, according to the principle “do not interfere with our character,” this resolution would only cause a smile and frequent violations of it, as proof of personal independence. It’s not the same here, in the country of the freest people. The newspapers greeted her with sympathetic reviews, and for members of the “society of business people” itself, she is undoubtedly the law. Regarding this resolution and the leading article about it, the following letter was sent to the openly democratic newspaper “The Sun” 11. “Having read the leading article on the widespread bad habit of swearing, and also on the resolution worked out by the “society of business people,” we think it necessary to say that about two years ago there was a large anti-swearing society here, from which many others were formed in this and neighboring states. We are very glad that the Sun has drawn attention to this great and growing evil, especially between business men. Nothing humiliates a person in the eyes of another more than an oath. We ourselves form an anti-swearing society and impose a penalty of 50 cents 12 for each idle word of oath. Money is paid immediately and used as determined by society. We have very few cases of misconduct, and every member of society considers it an honor to catch his fellow member in a careless, oath-filled word. Mide, President of the Anti-Oath Society." If a simple resolution restricting “freedom of speech” is not enough, then here’s even a monetary penalty for violating the resolution. Wonderful, truly, these free people! One of the richest and most comfortable societies is the so-called “society of young Christians.” It has a huge house, which houses an extensive library, a newspaper reading room, halls for meetings, lectures, gymnastics, etc. The main goal of this society is to provide free education to young people and maintain the principles of Christian morality among them. Every day there are lectures on various subjects, mainly from the field of exact positive sciences, twice a week there are rallies of young people at which various issues and phenomena of social and political life are discussed, and every day at four o’clock in the afternoon there is a prayer meeting or a short service. I often had to be present at the latter. The large reading room, where many American and foreign newspapers and magazines are subscribed, is usually crowded with readers. But then four o'clock strikes and several sonorous piano chords are heard from the next room. This is a call to prayer. The prayer hall is filled with rows of chairs, each of which contains two books - the Bible and a book of hymns with their musical notation. In front of them is a table with the same books and a piano on the side. There are large artistic paintings on the walls, and one of them almost depicts the Moscow Kremlin. The chair at the table is usually occupied by some member or manager of the society. He says the number of the hymn, the pianist strikes the chords and the whole congregation sings this hymn to his accompaniment. After several hymns, the presiding member reads a biblical text and preaches a sermon on its theme. Americans are natural speakers; in everyday life they are extremely talkative and in public speaking it is difficult to find rivals for them. Their words flow easily, freely and gracefully: they always deliver speeches and sermons without notebooks. The vividness of the imagination is remarkable. The topics of the sermons are for the most part such that for Russians they would seem boring and scholastic. But American preachers know how to clothe the most abstract thoughts with living flesh and blood. The last time there was a sermon on the topic of repentance, about the relative participation in this act of human will and grace. In my opinion, the topic of this sermon requires a high level of theological education to understand. Otherwise, she may seem uninteresting. In America, it turns out, it has a vital, practical nature and is constantly subject to discussion in the struggle of various religious communities and sects, basing their teaching on one or another understanding of this issue. Therefore, the whole congregation listened to the sermon attentively and with interest. At the end of it, several people spoke who found facts in their own lives that confirmed the thoughts expressed by the preacher. Before the others, a venerable old man, white as a harrier, stood up and recalled several incidents from his youth, which happened about 60 years ago - cases in which he clearly saw the “voice of the Savior” calling him to the right path of life. Hearing such speeches from an educated secular man, to whom venerable gray hair and vigor of body were apparently given as a reward for this particular “right path of life,” was very interesting and instructive news for me. Then a young man of about 30 stood up among the others and told an incident from his life, which also served as a turning point in his life. About 10 years ago he was a desperate reveler and spendthrift and considered all vices to be virtues. Such a life, however, soon emptied his pockets, and one day, after a shameless revelry, without money in his pocket and without a spark of consolation in his heart, he fell into some kind of oppressed despair and the thought of committing suicide began to creep into his soul. Suddenly a young man unfamiliar to him met him, talked to him kindly and dispelled the terrible thought. When parting, the young man wished to consolidate his acquaintance with him and appointed one of the churches as the place for the next meeting. “I came to church at the appointed time, and this was the first time in my life! – he said with pathos of sincerity. “I did not find the young man there, but I listened to a sermon that was light for my dark soul, dew for a dry heart. Then I realized that it was the Lord Himself who was calling me to Himself, and I heeded His call. And now I am the happiest person. I have a good Christian wife and Christian children and enjoy complete prosperity, family happiness and spiritual contentment. I have never met the young stranger since and do not know who he is. I ask the congregation for a special prayer for him.” The story made a strong impression. When the presiding officer appointed a hymn for singing, the chords of the piano struck its notes more sonorously and the voices of the congregation picked them up with greater energy. After the anthem, one of those present said an impromptu prayer for the young stranger, after which the Lord's Prayer was recited, and the meeting was declared over. Something similar to what is described happens at every prayer meeting, at least it happened at all those that I attended. These rallies are always of great interest. Here the religious and moral life of the people appears in persons. One must only be amazed at the energy of religious feeling in this people. Young, twenty-year-old guys, in response to an ordinary sermon, tell various facts and incidents from their lives with such reverent and sincere piety, which to us may seem like an incredible invention of a sanctimonious narrator. I usually left these rallies with a feeling of deep satisfaction, and only one thought ran through my soul like a chill, that we have neither such societies, nor such energy of religious consciousness. And this would save our poor fatherland from many of the hardships that currently depress it. VI. Land of Positive Knowledge Religion and positive science. - Photophobia of unbelief. – Confession of faith by scientists. – New theories. - “Religion of the future.” Both the fact of the very existence of religion and its relationship to positive science are best observed where both manifest themselves freely, without any artificial support, but solely for internal reasons, determined by internal need. Here it will no longer be possible to get away with such arguments of disbelief that religion exists only because it is supported by the state, and that positive science does not replace religion only because it is oppressed by the state. In America, both religion and positive science are completely free, develop according to their own laws and completely freely establish mutual relations with each other, without any outside mediation. So what do we see? —In the last essay I noted a few fleeting facts of the energy of religious feeling in America; Now I will note several of the same facts characterizing the relationship of positive knowledge to religion. America is the very promised land of positive knowledge. No nation can compete with the Americans in the wealth and prevalence of this knowledge. All kinds of technical and natural science schools here play a vital role in public education, and almost the entire population goes through them. Every farmer here is at the same time a technician, he works with machines. The highest positive knowledge - mathematics, astronomy, medicine, etc. - has the most famous representatives here. In a word, positive science has found the most fertile soil for itself in America and is spreading luxuriously throughout it both in depth and in breadth. From the point of view that positive science should replace religion for “mature” humanity, one would have to assume that in America for a long time only the idols of the “new faith,” as Strauss called it, have been worshiped, while the “old faith,” somewhere in dark corners, is living out its last days. In fact, it's just the opposite. If religion nowhere has such energy and such a variety of manifestations as in America, then, on the contrary, unbelief is hardly anywhere on the entire globe distinguished by more modesty and unpretentiousness than again in this country of positive knowledge. Unbelief here seems to be afraid of the light and hides from prying eyes. Its manifestation is difficult to find. One of its best indicators is, of course, the book market. In Germany, this classic country of unbelief, bookstores are currently full of various treatises behind mirrored windows on “religions of the future,” on the “self-destruction of Christianity,” on the “new creed,” etc. Obviously, the demand for them is great, and the supply from generous suppliers corresponds to it. Not at all the same here. On display here are the classic works of your favorite writers, the Bible, treatises on theological, historical and positive knowledge, and the latest works of fiction. I was so interested in this fact that I took the trouble to deliberately inspect a good dozen of the best stores in order to find some of the outstanding works of unbelief. The work was in vain. Only in one imported bookshop did I find Renan’s latest work behind a mirrored window, where it was displayed next to Emile Zola’s latest novel. But even in this last refuge, the lively novelist completely hammered the unbelieving academician: the novel was published in as many as a dozen copies and in two languages, while Renan’s brainchild was published in only one copy and only in his native language. The fact is not large, but very eloquent. If you turn to living representatives of positive knowledge, they will speak even more eloquently. The first-class astronomer Dr. Proctor not only does not mock the various astronomical data of the Bible, as the old-world “positivists” do, but often places articles aimed at scientific explanation of them with a clear apologetic shade. In one of the Christmas issues of the Herald, he published a large article about the “star in the east” that guided the eastern sages, and proved the actual appearance of this star. One of the best naturalists, namely Prof. Gray, at the onset of the Lenten season, gave a series of lectures on “religion and science” in a conciliatory and apologetic spirit. The best geologist, Dawson, published a book entitled “The Bible and Nature,” in which he proved the truth of the first chapter of the Bible. Finally, one of the first-class mathematicians, Dr. Piers, also lectured on the relationship of science to religion and found evidence of the existence of God in mathematics. But this is not enough. Here even doctors, these, so to speak, professional materialists, boast of religiosity. Walking one day along the main New York street, Broadway, among the mass of all sorts of advertisements, I received a rather voluminous brochure from one doctor, in which he defined his specialty, described the diseases included in its range and exhibited his own, newly invented means of combating them. The brochure contained an eloquent article about the happiness of a healthy person and the bitter fate of a sick person with the final appeal that whoever wants to be happy should go to this doctor, the giver of health and happiness. This article contained many references to various authorities with excerpts from them. Having looked through them, I was surprised to find that several of these extracts were taken from the best preachers of New York, with their names indicated. A doctor in his advertisement referring to preachers - whatever you want, an original phenomenon! After all this, it is quite understandable that when Buchner arrived here ten years ago, who at one time made so much noise in Europe with his “strength and matter” and gave a series of brilliant materialist lectures, he met with a completely cold reception from the American public. The facts presented above may seem like a new discovery to many Russian readers, because American science, even in its best representatives, is little known in Russia. Some, however, will read these lines with bewilderment and say: “and Draper”? Yes, this is the only stronghold you can rely on. By some strange coincidence, this American professor was especially lucky with us. His meager works were constantly welcomed and translated with greater enthusiasm than in other countries. If it were not offensive to the Russian mind, then the reason for this could be indicated in his lack of taste for anything more serious. Draper, as a scientific medical specialist, is famous here and is considered one of the best professors!.. But in our country it is not his scientific works that are translated and distributed, but those works of his leisure time that have nothing to do with his specialty and in the subject of which he is therefore as competent as, according to the Krylov fable, a shoemaker is competent in baking pies. His last work: “The Clash of Religion and Science,” translated into Russian under the title “The Clash of Catholicism and Science,” was a significant success in America. In five years it went through eight editions. But this can only be explained by the fact that this work, in its essence, is a political pamphlet directed against Roman Catholicism, which every year spreads more and more widely throughout America and instills in politicians fears about the future fate of the republic. Any opposition to the invasion of papism is therefore welcome here and welcomed with delight; especially if it comes from the name of science. Thus, for Americans, the subject of this book is quite practical, vital, political, and its success is determined by political reasons. In our case, in the absence of these reasons, its appearance can only be explained by what was said above. Despite, however, the predominance of the political element over the religious in this book, its success can only be called great from the Russian point of view. In American terms, this is, in essence, a weak success, and is far from equal to the success of, for example. Farrar's last book about the Apostle Paul. Draper's book had eight editions in five years, and Farrar's book went through four editions on American soil in five months. The proportion is far from being in Draper's favor. Newly minted scientific theories, which in our country, as we know, are greedily absorbed by stomachs empty of their own contents, in America are far from enjoying such hospitality and are often persecuted by satire. In one of the best New York circus-museums (both together), among all sorts of entertaining rarities, I met an interesting group of mechanical monkey musicians who, by the movement of a hidden mechanism, magnificently performed various musical pieces - on violins, trumpets, drums, etc. Above them a golden inscription read: “Darwin's Troupe of People.” In one of the latest issues, the most widespread humor magazine (The Puck) published a hilarious poem glorifying the theory of spontaneous generation and gradual development. The poem represents a whole chorus of learned naturalists. One of them expounds these theories in rapturous verse, concluding each verse with the words: “So, gentlemen, it all happened naturally.” The choir of naturalists picks up this verse and sings with dashing stamps: A satirical attitude towards newly minted theories is manifested not only in publications that are satirical by profession, but also in ordinary newspapers. In one of the Sunday issues of the best American newspaper “N. Y. Times" published an interesting article in this regard under the title: "Religion of the Future." The article belongs to the so-called “publishing” or, in our opinion, editorial and so on. expresses not a private view, but the view of the entire publication. A certain Stephen, in one of the monthly magazines, published an article in which he proves that Christianity will sooner or later outlive its time and will cease to satisfy sensitive people; it will have to be replaced by a new religion based on the great truths of the positive sciences. The analysis of this opinion is the subject of the newspaper article mentioned above. Here's what it said, among other things: “Although Stephen is confident that the new religion will be in agreement with scientific truths and will open in them sources for pious reflection, he does not define this religion precisely or in detail. However, this is not at all difficult, and we will undertake the task of outlining the creed and features of this positive religion of the future. This religion, of course, will not recognize revelation, and therefore the associated truths about the existence of a personal God, the immortality of the soul. If there is no immortality, then, naturally, there is no reward or punishment after death; This means there is no difference between sinfulness and righteousness, and the rule of life can only be benefit. The new creed will consist of three members: 1) there is no future life; 2) profit is the only rule of life and 3) there may or may not be a personal God. In its simplicity, the new creed is much shorter than the old one and does not leave room for tedious theological speculation. “The new religion, of course, will not need either churches or priests, and the entire cult will consist only in the fact that poets will compose odes glorifying the Great, perhaps existing, but perhaps not, the First Cause. But it will, however, contain truths that people will resort to thinking about in joy and sorrow. These truths, of course, are positively scientific, and with them people will be consoled in grief and strengthened in weakness. The criminal approaching the gallows will prepare himself for death by contemplating the great and glorious truth of the binomial theorem. The priest, of course, will no longer admonish him, but some learned philanthropist will come and read him comforting excerpts from algebra and smooth his way into the kingdom of non-existence with a skillful outline of the Pythagorean Pants Theorem. This will have such a beneficial effect on the criminal that he will ascend the scaffold with truly scientific calm. When a person is exposed to some dangerous temptation and is unable to resist it, then all he has to do is retire to his office and spend a little time thinking about squaring the circle; this will strengthen him so much that he can fearlessly pass through the fiery furnace of all temptations. Such reflection will be extremely useful even in grief. For example, a man’s dearly beloved wife dies. He knows that he will never see her again and that instead of waiting for him in the future world, she will decompose into her chemical elements. In such circumstances, having returned from a scientific, of course, funeral, he retires in order to find solace in his religion. He ponders the elements of the orbit of a new comet, or concentrates his heartfelt feelings on the truth that the force of gravity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance. This will soon console and strengthen him, and he will emerge from his imprisonment with peace in his soul. – The new morality will also be different from Christian. Rejection of the theory that there is some kind of sin, in the Christian sense of the word, and acceptance of the doctrine that luck is the only rule of life, will lead to results that, when seen, are no longer worth living in a society where Christian prejudices still exist. People of the future will undoubtedly talk about morality as eloquently as the Stoic philosophers spoke about it; but if, on occasion, they find it profitable to rent out their wife to a neighbor, or convenient to end their life, then science cannot object to this, much less dissuade them. “After all this, it is clear that the new religion will be much better than Christianity, and we must try in every possible way to introduce and spread it as quickly as possible. Ignorant people and weak women will probably cling to Christianity for a long time, but the superiority of the new religion, with its scientific consolation and great promise of eternal death, is so obvious to all thinking people that they will undoubtedly joyfully accept the new faith. Here is one of many examples of the attitude of the free American press towards dreamy theories about various scientific religions. This calm but murderous sarcasm is more formidable for such theories than lengthy refutations of them: it falls like a death sentence on them, and they disappear without a trace in the darkness of oblivion. The Social Meaning of the Bible to the American People. – The Bible in language, literature, art and politics. – Newly revised translation of the New Testament and public interest about this event. – Nature of translation. – A newspaper half the size of a Bible. “The Bible contains 3,586,489 letters, 773,692 words, 31,173 verses, 1,189 chapters and 66 books. The word Lord occurs 1,855 times, the word and is repeated 46,277 times. The middle verse in the Bible is Ps. CXVIII, 8. All the letters of the alphabet except the letter j are found in verse 21 of chapter VII of the book of Ezra. The longest verse is Esther VIII, 9, and the shortest in the Gospel of John XI, 35." I recently read such a mathematical statement regarding the contents of the Bible in a New York newspaper, and it is not only an interesting curiosity, but also an interesting characteristic feature. Scrupulous attentiveness to the contents of the Bible on the part of an idle counter of letters and words in it is only one of many manifestations of the general attitude of Americans towards the holy book. Perhaps nowhere is the Bible of greater social importance than in America. Here it is not only a reference book in the ordinary sense of the word, but has become part of the flesh and blood of American society. If the Bible could be taken away from the American people, it would be to deprive them of half their being. The American has the sweetest memories of early childhood associated with the Bible. As soon as a child’s consciousness awakens, he begins to see a thick, gold-edged book, indispensable in every home, which a gray-haired grandfather or a wrinkled grandmother in silver glasses reads every morning and evening in front of a blazing fireplace. The monotonous and peculiar recitative of this reading is forever associated in the child’s mind with a blissful period of happy childhood. When the time comes for teaching, during the Christmas holidays the father, along with other gifts to his son or daughter, also gives a tiny, pretty Bible. Then school begins, and there again the sweet memories of the child's home life are revived and supported by the daily reading of the Bible. In American schools, learning begins each day with the reading of a chapter from the Bible, although without any explanation. On the other hand, Sunday school, which is at a high level of development in America, has as its special purpose the explanatory study of the Bible. The success achieved in this regard is remarkable. Children in America generally develop very early, but they acquire clear, distinct biblical knowledge at a time when European and especially Russian children still have no idea about the book itself. On Easter, in one of the New York churches, I had to attend the celebration of the anniversary of Sunday school. Up to seven hundred children gathered. After several hymns, the so-called annual review of work began in the program. The teacher of the law listed in order the Sunday days on which there was Sunday school, and turned to the children with questions about what text was explained on such and such a day, and immediately the whole mass of children with amazing clarity and cheerfulness read the text by heart. Since the explanation of texts in school is carried out according to the same system according to which the Bible is read in church, this has made it possible for the press to follow the teaching in Sunday school, and in the Sunday issues of secular daily newspapers one can always find a more or less detailed explanation of the text that is on the line in Sunday schools, so that children have the opportunity to encounter the same text three times - in its various forms - in church, in school and in the newspaper. In view of this, the influence that the Bible has on the life of American society is understandable. When you enter an American home, you will see a book on the table in the living room that, even by its appearance, you recognize as the Bible. Sometimes the Bible is kept as the legacy of distant ancestors, and in its margins lies a precious chronicle of family traditions. Often such a Bible serves as the only decider on controversial issues in court about the legality of an inheritance. Then look around, and you will see plates on the walls, which very elegantly harmonize their color with the wall decorations. If you look closely at these records, you will notice the biblical texts on them. Along with the Bible there is an album on the table. In it, in addition to photographic cards, you will find many Christmas and Easter cards that Americans give each other at Christmas and Easter. They are covered with holiday wishes and biblical texts. As a result, it is amazing the knowledge of texts that one can constantly encounter when talking with Americans. Their very conversation has a strong biblical connotation. Along with poems from Shakespeare, the American will certainly cite several biblical texts. When making comparisons, he often turns to biblical facts. The influence of the Bible on literature is even more noticeable. No literature bears such a strong biblical imprint as American literature. Texts and biblical figures of speech appear daily in newspaper articles claiming literary merit. “We have never had a book that has had such a profound influence on the thought and style of modern literature,” said the Herald on one recent occasion. – For any writer with a claim to thought it is impossible to avoid obligations to this sacred source. There is no other work that has been so deeply imprinted on the hearts and minds of all English speakers.” Texts sometimes begin editorials in secular newspapers, as for example. The Herald's editorial on the election of a new president. The Bible also plays an important role in art. Biblical subjects are diligently developed by American artists. At annual exhibitions of paintings, you will constantly encounter several either biblical paintings or genre scenes with the introduction of family Bible reading at the hearth. Bible reading is sometimes even introduced into theatrical plays when depicting the everyday family life of the American people. Finally, both in everyday life and in the midst of political struggle, one can constantly encounter traces of biblical influence. Political speakers, when addressing the masses, constantly clarify their ideas with biblical examples, although sometimes not of a very elegant nature. During last year's presidential election, the air vibrated with similar biblical-political speeches. One day, a zealous Democrat, with a voice hoarse from political zeal, with the whistle of rockets in the evening air, from a high platform tried to prove to the gray mass of people gathered before him that they should vote for the Democratic, and not the Republican, candidate. Having endowed the latter with all sorts of ponderous epithets, the speaker declared that his very appointment as a candidate was wicked and shameful. “Republicans say,” said the Democrat, “that the appointment of General Garfield as a candidate for the presidency was accomplished as if by inspiration. Yes, truly by inspiration, but by what kind? - Fellow citizens, it was indeed inspiration, but not any other, but that great inspiration, according to which the Gadarene pigs rushed from the steep slope into the water. Both the Gadarene pigs and the Republicans had the same inspirer, and this inspirer is none other than the evil spirit - Satan.” And then the Democratic speaker, finding approval in his listeners for his successful comparison, drew a long parallel in general between the Republicans and the Gadarene pigs. The gray mass only roared and cackled. Garfield himself explains his nomination for the presidential candidacy differently. As is known, he rose to the supreme position in the greatest republic of the world from a strap on the canal, where in childhood he earned his meager daily bread. Such an extraordinary elevation in itself inspires the idea of ​​​​divine providence, and even more so in Garfield, who himself was once a preacher in the church of the community of “disciples of Christ.” The effect of superterrestrial industry was also manifested in his nomination for presidential candidacy. This appointment was completely unexpected. The candidates were such famous figures as General Grant, but no one had a mention of Garfield. Nevertheless, Grant was defeated, and the canal strapper was appointed. On this occasion, Garfield himself relates the following incident. “The night before our appointment, we sat past midnight, trying to figure out the confusing state of affairs. Things were in a hopeless state and we, having rested a little, began to prepare for a new fruitless struggle. When I went to the convention the next day, I passed a man who was diligently handing out leaflets to everyone who passed by. I took one, thinking it was probably an advertisement for some patent medicine or something like that; but looking at it, I saw that it was a leaf from the Bible, and therefore I did not throw it away, but put it in my coat pocket, and forgot about it. Soon the appointment was made and telegrams fell en masse from all sides. I read them and put them in the same pocket. After the meeting, I went to my hotel, and telegrams kept pouring in in huge quantities, so that it was impossible to respond to everything, and I ordered my secretary to put them all in a bag so that he could look at them upon arrival home. Taking a stack of telegrams from my pocket, I handed it to him. “What is this?” – he asked me, showing me a printed piece of paper. It turned out that it was a leaf from the Bible, and it was folded in such a way that only one verse could be read, namely: “The stone that the builders neglected became the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s work and it is marvelous in your eyes.” Those around him then drew attention to this incident with surprise. “I believe, gentlemen, in Providence,” the president added. The sparrow cannot fall to the ground without it. But – I’m scared at the thought that such a high Power acted for my sake or for my elevation.” Given the enormous influence of the Bible on the life and thought of the American people, it is not surprising that any phenomenon concerning the Bible becomes a major social event. Such an event was the recent publication of a new revised English translation of the New Testament. The current English translation of the Bible, which is in general use among English-speaking peoples, was made under the English King James I and is therefore called James. This translation, according to experts in the English language, is distinguished by great literary merits. His language is distinguished by a majestic and at the same time simple style, elegant, clear, strong and musical. This is one of the best examples of English classical prose. These great advantages explain the remarkable fact that it came into general use, supplanted all other translations and became an “authorized” translation without being officially authorized by anyone. It is used in churches and families, and its somewhat outdated language has become a completely sacred language for a people like our Slavic. Over time, however, the popular English language underwent such changes that some words acquired a completely different meaning or completely fell out of use, so that the translation of the Bible itself in some places ceased to be understandable to ordinary readers. In view of the prevalence of the Bible among the people, this began to worry the preachers of the word of God, and they began to think about correcting the translation, especially since, with the development of biblical critical science, it turned out to be necessary, in their opinion, to make St. writing corrections are more significant than simply correcting a translation. Ten years ago, a special Bible society was formed for this purpose. It included all the best scientific forces in the field of biblical exegesis and philology, both in England and America, and it began to work with eighty members. The English and American parties worked completely independently, and only in certain periods did they present their works for comparison, and then, in case of disagreement, the matter was decided by a majority vote. The work consists not only in correcting the translation, but also in checking the text itself against newly discovered ancient manuscripts and in critically assessing and checking the meaning of every word of the Greek or Hebrew original. The work is obviously colossal, especially in view of the fact that the number of different readings (options) in various open manuscripts and translations of the New Testament goes back to 150,000. The public watched with interest the progress of the important work, and the interest naturally increased as it drew nearer to its end, until at last it developed into real impatience. Already at the end of last year, newspaper news began to appear about the translation approaching completion, but the translation itself appeared only on May 20 of this year. And this day, together with the entire week that followed it, was a day of extraordinary triumph of the word of God. America, as we know, is a country of literary sensations. Some literary work that strongly strikes a sensitive chord in public life and has sufficiently prepared the ground for itself through loud advertisements and original announcements, completely takes possession of the minds and feelings of society and quickly diverges in a number of successive publications. The new translation of the New Testament had no other artificial announcement for itself than the news that the all-pervasive and all-knowing reporters tried to spread, and yet the day of its publication was such a literary event as America does not remember. Even before the translation was published, up to 800,000 people had signed up for it in New York and Philadelphia! Then, on the very day of its release, all there was to talk about was a new translation. Newspapers carried editorials about the significance of the Bible in general for the English people; reporters scattered around the city, asking all the more or less competent persons about the merits of the new translation, rows of people crowded around the shops, impatiently waiting in line to receive a copy of the New Testament, and small booksellers delivered the new translation in bales to their shops. The extent to which the demand was great can be judged by the fact that on that one day up to 300,000 copies were sold, with prices ranging from 15 cents to 10 dollars. The next day, about 200,000 copies were sold again, and during the first week, the number of copies sold increased to a million - and this is only in New York and its immediate surroundings. For a whole week the newspapers were filled with articles and reviews about the merits of the new translation. In the Herald, in five consecutive issues, there was such a mass of articles and messages regarding the new translation that if they were collected together, a voluminous book of ten sheets of ordinary printing would come out. And if all this material were translated into Russian, then in view of the fact that each Russian word in the general output is at least twice as long as English, a substantial book of about twenty printed pages would be compiled. All this was published in five issues of the Herald newspaper. If we take into account that this newspaper sells 125,000 copies daily, and is read by at least five times as many people, then the public's acquaintance with the new translation has become complete and comprehensive. Even greater interest in this new translation was expressed by the Chicago Times newspaper, published in Chicago, three days away by rail from New York. To give his readers the opportunity to become acquainted with the nature of the new translation on the very day of its publication, the newspaper's New York correspondent telegraphed all twenty-eight chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. Over the next two Sundays, preachers chose a new translation of the New Testament as the topic of their sermons, and preaching reviews again took up entire pages in the Monday editions of the newspapers. It was a great and almost unprecedented day of the shining of the word of God. I do not have factual data to compare this public interest of Americans regarding the publication of a new translation of the New Testament with the public interest that manifested itself in Russia on the occasion of the publication of the first authorized translation of the Bible into Russian; but the thought of such a comparison scares me... As for the external and internal features of the new translation, they are too numerous to be included in this short essay. Translators and correctors not only changed and corrected the words and phrases of the previous translation, but also made corrections in the text itself. In some places they completely changed the accepted text and omitted many texts that had become fused with the religious consciousness of the people. So in the story of the apostle. Paul on the Last Supper in 1 Cor. XI, 24 art. the words “take, eat” are omitted, as if not justified by the best manuscripts. On the same basis, as a later insertion, the well-known verse 1 John. VII, 8: “These are the three who bear witness in heaven.” These and similar changes caused great confusion in a society accustomed to these texts. But the embarrassment turned almost into indignation over the fact that the translators, on the basis of scientific research, came to the conclusion that the well-known doxology that ends the Lord’s Prayer: “For Thine is the kingdom” is also a later insertion, and on this basis they also omitted it in the new text. In view of such radical changes, it is assumed that, despite its undoubted scientific merits, the new translation will never receive popular sanction. Americans are an extremely conservative people, and the most popular and widespread newspaper says that there should be no changes at all in the current Bible, since the most outdated words in it have acquired a special sacred meaning and tone in the minds of the people. Moreover, such changes as the omission of entire and, moreover, the most popular texts are inappropriate. Many preachers from church pulpits also openly and strongly spoke out against the new translation, so that, in all likelihood, it will remain only as a scholarly publication and will not penetrate the sanctuary of the church. Nevertheless, with his appearance he aroused unprecedented interest in the word of God, and on this occasion, one newspaper notes, the holy book was and will be read again by hundreds of thousands of people for whom it had hitherto been closed. And the benefits of this reading, even if it stemmed from simple curiosity, are beyond any doubt. In conclusion of the speech about the book of books, a few words about the newspaper newspaper - the New York Herald. Its Easter issue for this year constituted, according to the editors themselves, an epoch in the history of journalism. This is a gigantic number of 24 pages, the amount of printed material of which can be judged by the following considerations of the editors: “The New Testament is a book that people study throughout their lives, without reaching the depth of its sacred secrets. The Easter number of the Herald is almost twice the size of the New Testament. The Bible is the embodiment of centuries of faith, edification, history and revelation, and the pious reader, turning over its pages in the morning and evening, thinks how great this book is. Today's Herald has a word count equal to more than half the Bible. We could print most of Shakespeare, Byron, Macaulay, the best parts of any classical writer, on paper occupied by today's Herald and sold for five cents. In current literature there is no such thick magazine that would give as many words as today's Herald. It is more than three times the size of the monthly Harper's Magazine, and almost three times the size of the famous three-monthly Edinburgh Review. – In a word, the Herald would be published not in New York, but in white-stone Moscow, and would be called the Tsar Newspaper. VIII. Kingdom of the dollar and sermons Almighty dollar. – Sale of seats in churches. – Auction and good revenue. - A curious process. – Preachers and preaching. – Humor and telephone in the pulpit. Philosophers, as is known, have long been looking for the seat of the soul in man. The ancients indicated it in the chest, the new ones mainly in the cerebellum. But one new philosopher, who got an American to observe, found the seat of the soul - in his pocket. And he is largely right. If you look closely at the political and social life of Americans, you can see that the main lever that runs the entire mechanism of their life lies precisely in their pocket, filled, of course, with dollars. Everything is calculated in dollars. Politicians use dollars to pave their way to the presidency, dollars are used to evaluate the position and importance of a person in society, dollars are used to reward us for bodily injury, for example, on the railroads, for false arrest, for slander, etc. Finally, prayer itself is weighed in dollars. When a person suddenly has a desire to pray, he cannot immediately satisfy his desire. To enter the church of prayer, he must first check with his pocket to see if its contents are sufficient for free entry. This custom of paying for the right to enter the church positively developed into the custom of regular sale of seats in churches, carried out annually at a certain time. In every church you usually see tables posted on the front columns, which depict the plan of the church with the number of seats and the designation of fees. At the end of each year, resale is carried out according to the prices shown. Having paid the money, the pilgrim receives a key to his place, which he keeps until the next sale. This is the usual form of selling at set prices. But in many, and especially in the best churches, the sale takes the form of an auction, in the ordinary sense of the word. An announcement is usually made in the newspapers that on such and such a day there will be an auction in such and such a church and therefore everyone is invited. Such an auction recently took place in the church of the famous American preacher Dr. Beecher, brother of the famous writer Beecher Stowe. In addition to advertisements in the newspapers, at the very entrance to the church, sheets were distributed on which the prices for seats were indicated and the rules for auctioning them were outlined. The auction was scheduled at 7 pm and by this time a lot of people had gathered. On the platform, or in our opinion, on the pulpit, the trustees of the church took places at a special table with writing instruments and a hammer. At the appointed time, Dr. Beecher himself arrived and, having greeted the customers, addressed the meeting with the words: “Well, a pleasant evening has come to us again. You, gentlemen, of course, know the terms of sale, and if not, you can find out from the rules in your hands. For my part, I can give you only one instruction, which is usually given to children at school: “Speak, children, loudly and clearly.” This evening I give up my place to a man whose speech is to raise more money than the greatest preacher and orator can raise at one time. He will take my place and speak to you,” Dr. Beecher said with a smile and left. The chief trustee of the church took his place and opened the auction. The first place, worth $100, 13 quickly swept through the meeting and one after another voices shouted “loud and clear”: two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, five hundred. They stopped at five hundred and the hammer approved this price. The place was left to the respectfully looking out gentleman, whom his acquaintances immediately began to congratulate. All sales took place in this manner, with all seats being purchased at three and four times the nominal price. The face value of all seats in the church in the total account is equal to $12,852. The auction sale brought the amount to $40,289, i.e. $27,437 above the nominal value. If we take into account that the church still has up to 10 thousand dollars in side fees and its clergy consists of only one pastor-preacher, then one cannot help but say that its budget is very respectable. In special and exceptional circumstances, such as when selling seats in a church newly built and therefore in need of special financial assistance, the auction often presents remarkable facts of religious zeal. When the auction was held for the first time in the new Catholic Cathedral of St. Patrick, then for the first places, instead of the nominal price of $150, buyers paid five thousand (5000) dollars. Where matters are based on purely monetary grounds, disputes with their further consequences are inevitable. An interesting example of this was provided by one of the recent facts, which, by the way, characterizes the generally mercantile nature of Americans. In one of the churches, the venerable Yankee rented a place for $500 and calmly prayed there for several months. After Easter, a suspension of services was announced for two months in order to repair the church. When the church was reopened for worship, the venerable Yankee, having arrived at the church, could barely find and recognize his place: the staircase to the choir was built just above it. His spirit was indignant at such a change, and he could not pray, as he himself declared, and, without thinking twice, he filed a complaint in court against the leaders of the church. In his complaint, he accused them of unauthorized intrusion into his property and of causing him moral and material damage. Since his place now, not having the same amenities, is not worth the amount already paid for it, and since he can no longer pray in this place, then, as a reward for all this, he asked the court to fine the church managers a thousand dollars in his favor. But the American court is as calculating as the Yankees themselves, and it did not immediately give in to the petitioner’s complaints. He calculated on a monthly basis how many dollars the petitioner had already spent in his prayers before the church was repaired, and he discounted this amount. But then he finally weighed how many dollars his moral suffering from the break in prayer was worth and how much his current awkward position was worth before finding a new place in the church, and for this he threw down several hundred dollars. The penny result of these bills and deductions was that the court ordered six hundred dollars to be recovered in favor of the petitioner from the stewards of the church, so that the venerable Yankee could rent a new place in the church and have another hundred dollars left as a consolation for moral suffering. This curious process is not at all exceptional; in judicial practice, such facts are encountered every day, only, of course, from different spheres of life. What determines the comparative value of places in a church? It is determined partly by the position of the church in one or another part of the city, partly by the beauty and richness of the church decorations, music and singing, but most of all by preaching. The sermon in American churches forms the main part of the worship service and on it rests the meaning and glory of the church. The better and more brilliant the preaching in the church, the more visitors are attracted and at the same time the fees for seats rise and the church budget increases. With the weakening of preaching, the church becomes empty and poorer, gets entangled in debts and quickly goes to the usual sad fate - being sold for debts at auction. In view of this, it is the direct interest of church trustees to attract and hire the best possible preacher for their church. In this respect, American church trustees act in exactly the same way as theatrical entrepreneurs when they invite and hire famous and famous actors for their theaters. The calculations and interests are the same. To this end, the trustees closely monitor preachers throughout the country, send special agents to find the best preachers and, at the first opportunity, hire them for their church. The salaries paid to the best preachers sometimes amount to enormous sums. Thus Dr. Beecher, considered the most famous American preacher, receives half of the entire annual church budget, i.e., $25,000 a year. For a preacher, this is a very respectable figure, especially considering that the President of the United States receives only $50,000. Other preachers, depending on their talent and ability, receive 20, 10, 5 thousand, and in the poorest churches of New York 2-3 thousand dollars a year. This procedure for replacing preaching pulpits, making preaching a simple financial craft with ordinary competition, was at the same time the reason that preaching positively developed into a special art. American preachers are in the proper sense artists, whose success and fame depend exclusively on their literary and oratorical talents. A person with weak talents here has absolutely no chance of occupying the preaching pulpit, except perhaps somewhere in the outback, with no hope of ever getting out of them. The strict choice of preachers, determined by the very monetary system of their hiring, is supported at the same time by the free court of the community and the press. The press is keenly interested in preaching, and in the Monday editions of the newspaper they usually give reports on Sunday sermons with critical approval or censure. The community can at any time refuse its preacher from his place when he does not satisfy it, and hire another, more capable one. All this together supports preaching at a remarkable height, and preaching here is a tremendous social force. Besides the fact that churches are usually crowded with listeners, you can often hear conversations and judgments about this or that most remarkable sermon at home. It is not without interest for foreigners to know the very outer side of American preaching. In this respect, it is distinguished by its remarkable originality. Americans in general are an extremely lively and active people, and they usually energetically express their feelings by the movement of their members. For preacher-speakers, this mobility sometimes reaches comic proportions. They not only gesticulate with their faces and wave their arms, but give full scope to plasticity - in all its manifestations. The preacher, depending on the content of the speech, will either hang his head dejectedly and cover his face with his hands, or proudly throw it back and snap his fingers; he will either drop to his knees, or jump up, clap his palms, bang his fist on the pulpit; his voice either lowers to a caressing whisper, or raises it to a menacing peal of thunder, and you see before you either a humbly repentant sinner, or a formidable judge. Plastic drama plays a very important role in preaching, and in the best preachers it sometimes reaches artistic development. Along with external drama, American preachers combine an unusually light and picturesque language. In this respect the Americans have hardly any rivals even among the French. Among the French, the lightness and picturesqueness of the language often turns into soulless and meaningless phrases; here, on the contrary, clear and distinct thought is constantly combined with pictorial language. Possessing a strong imagination and healthy powers of observation, American preachers often paint pictures of public life with remarkable skill, and the discussion of some outstanding social phenomenon is often more interesting to listen to the best preachers in church than to read in the newspapers. On the formal side, preachers are not limited to a certain homiletical form of preaching; they use all possible literary forms and sprinkle the sermon with philosophical maxims and proverbs, poems and anecdotes, tragic tirades and comic passages, witticisms and puns. Sometimes the sermon takes on such a humorous character that all the listeners laugh until they cry. Once I had to be present at a similar sermon. The preacher examined the life of the “unbeliever” and depicted it in a number of such humorous anecdotes, from which the whole congregation positively died with laughter. I became so interested in this form of Christian apologetics that at the end of the service I thought it would be interesting to introduce myself to the humorous preacher and personally talk with him about this form of preaching. Having expressed my pleasure at such an entertaining sermon, I casually asked him whether its form did not contradict the generally accepted custom. The preacher quickly understood my thought and answered with a smile: “It in no way contradicts not only the generally accepted custom, but even the Holy Scriptures. Jesus, in his clashes with the unbelievers of his time, very often, with his questions and objections, put them in such a comical situation, at which those present undoubtedly laughed more than my listeners now. And the Old Testament prophets - what form did they give to their speeches, just to amaze, humiliate vice and exalt virtue? What can compare e.g. with this tirade of Ezekiel (and he recited several verses by heart), where sarcasm cuts harder than an Indian tomahawk and irony stings more deadly than the sting of a rattlesnake? For my part, I consider irony one of the best weapons for the elevation of humanity, and in ordinary secular literature, humorous works influence public consciousness more directly and more powerfully than any other type of literature. I am not, however, familiar with your Russian literature and do not know to what extent divine humor enjoys the right of citizenship among you. But your church doesn’t allow humor”? “Having answered this question, I took leave of the venerable preacher. Sometimes special phenomena, distinguished by some extraordinary qualities, act as preachers. Thus, recently in New York, the so-called “boy preacher” attracted numerous listeners. Scientific discoveries are also applied to preaching. On one of the last Sundays under Dr. Beecher's pulpit, a businessman installed a telephone set, so that his sermon was heard at the same time in fifty different places - in New York and in the cities of the neighboring state. Summer season and religion. – Exodus of pastors. – Religious camps. - On the ocean shore. - Warriors of salvation. - Sunday afternoon. —The Colored Preacher and the Negro Anthem. The American summer is a veritable fiery furnace. The heat starts very early; By the end of May, the mercury in the thermometer is approaching 40 degrees and soon then chooses this point as its permanent residence, making excursions higher only from time to time. Existence itself becomes a burden, and bulletins daily announce as many as tens of deaths from sunstroke. What is most difficult is that the fever does not subside at all by night; the night brings only depressing stuffiness. The bed is hot even to the touch of your hands, and Americans go to bed with a fan and a jug of iced water next to them. During the day there is no relief even under the shade of the chestnut trees that litter the sidewalks in abundance. Their very leaves, instead of coolness, breathe scorching heat. Therefore, there is nothing to say about the stuffiness that happens inside buildings with large gatherings of people. She's simply unbearable. Such stuffiness manifests itself with particular force in church meetings. Despite the fact that churches, thanks to a certain number of seats, are spacious, sweat appears on everyone’s faces and streams down their cheeks. Church trustees come to the aid of pilgrims and prepare whole mountains of Chinese five-kopeck fans, which are laid out in all places before the start of the service. Every pilgrim, regardless of gender or age, has in his hands this instrument of coolness. Men, women and children are all working hard with their fans, and the rustling they make fills the church with some strangely musical noise. In order to create coolness, other, more effective measures are taken. Thus, the walls and floor of the church are covered with ice and air is artificially passed through it, which, having passed through this cold purgatory, loses a significant share of its sultriness and becomes a pleasant marshmallow. But even such devices are valid only in the spring, when the mercury has not yet risen to its highest point. Already in the month of June, such measures turn out to be insufficient, and then the Americans resort to another way to combat the heat: closing churches completely. Thus begins the summer season in religion, church vacations. Announcements appear in newspapers every day announcing the closure of one church or another - until a certain date, and forms with the same content are hung on the front church columns. Of course, not all churches close, but at least two-thirds of them indulge in summer peace. Parishioners go to their dachas and the pastors themselves, breathing in the fresh air of the fields and forests, stock up on new strength for next year’s activities. Most of the pastors are very educated and rich people, and therefore they usually devote the summer to long-distance excursions and travel. A particularly large number of them are sent to Europe. Every summer, an ocean-going ship takes away dozens of them, and newspapers every now and then print lists of them under the title: “the exodus of pastors.” There they spend the summer in capital cities, mainly in Paris, London, Vienna, Rome and others, stocking up on new impressions from the moral and religious life of mankind. Some even go to Jerusalem and other holy cities. The mass of correspondence they send to newspapers serves in some way as a substitute for parishioners for their living teaching word. The parishioners themselves, however, are from the upper wealthy classes, thousands go to Europe for the summer and spend the summer season in Switzerland or other pleasant European corners. Europe is still a native country for Americans and they find in it many such delights that America does not represent. But, of course, not everyone goes to Europe; the mass stays at home. How to spend the summer season with this mass? I have previously noted facts about the energy of religious feeling among Americans. The presented fact of closing churches for the whole summer may seem like a contradiction. In fact, it only serves as confirmation. When churches close, religious need does not end; it demands its satisfaction, and in America it has found a remarkable outcome, representing one of the most unique aspects in the religious life of the American people. Not being able to perform worship in actual churches, the people moved the service to the open air and here they created summer movable churches made of linen, in the style of tabernacles. The new part of New York, the so-called “Upper City,” still features many undeveloped vacant lots covered with greenery. With the onset of summer, most of these vacant lots turned white with tents, on the front of which there was usually a large inscription: “Every evening - a sermon! Free entry! These are so-called religious camps, like military camps, but here they are not warriors of destruction, but warriors of salvation, fighting against the dark kingdom 14. Every evening the people gather in the tabernacle, where sacred hymns are sung and a sermon is preached. This is the simplest form of religious camp. But outside the city it takes on a more complex form, growing into a real camp, with many tents serving as a residence for thousands of people throughout the summer. To give a clear idea of ​​American religious camps, I will describe my trip to one of them - on the ocean, in the so-called Ocean Grove, in the neighboring state of New Jersey. There are two roads leading to Ocean Grove - sea and railway. During the summer heat, of course, the choice always leans towards the former, and I went to the shore of the Hudson, where, between many steamships of all kinds, stood the majestic four-story floating palace-steamer "Plymouth Rock". It was on Saturday, when the car of everyday life begins to slow down with its wheels and people flock in droves to the countryside summer refuges - to breathe fresh air and calm down from the six-day fever of work and the bustle of life. "Plymouth Rock" quickly filled with people, mostly from the middle class of artisans, mechanics, and clerks of all kinds. The last whistle sounded and the floating palace set off. The brown hulks of New York flashed on the sides, and on the right were picturesque heights with the capital of the neighboring state of New Jersey located on them. These two states are separated only by the flow of the Hudson River, and their capitals look at one another from two opposite banks, constituting, as it were, one city, but having their own different laws and their own special self-government. Ahead, the majestic stream of the river spread wider and wider, cut in all directions by a dense swarm of ships, ships and steamships, and in the distance the gates to the ocean were already opening. The sea breeze gracefully swept across the deck and, exhausted by the stuffiness of the city atmosphere, the people with greed and bliss began to inhale the life-giving breath of the grandfather-ocean. And here are the gates themselves, the ridges of which are hills with copper-headed Cerberus, silently looking out from behind the parapets. This is the same gate that constitutes the only access for ships to New York and through which I first entered the New World on the ship Scythia at the end of last year. Now I involuntarily remembered the mood in which I entered here. At present I don’t see anything special here: the hills are exactly the same as those I have seen a thousand times in Russia, and the sand is like any other sand. But then all this seemed like something completely different, and the very shore of America seemed more like the shore of the moon or some other planet, rather than the earth. With intense, trembling attention, I peered into every hillock, every bush and every grain of sand and - to my surprise - I saw in them something so extraordinary, new. Now there was nothing like that anymore and I could only laugh at myself internally and involuntarily repeat the thoughtful saying of the ancient sage that man is “the measure of all things.” Meanwhile, on deck the sounds of an orchestra of musicians, inevitable on every American steamship, were heard. As usual, I was waiting for some dashing, cheerful song - suddenly I heard a completely different tune. The orchestra took up the sacred hymn, the sounds were taken up by the mass of passengers, and soon the entire forward part of the ship merged in the animated singing of the extremely popular hymn: “There is a country brighter than the day,” with the final verse: “little by little we will meet there” (in the sweet by-and-by). The hymn celebrates the afterlife, and I could not help but wonder how these weary working people, going on holiday, preferred such hymns to others in which they could find more fun. But I remembered that this ship was not going to any ordinary country entertainment establishment, but to a “religious camp.” This was the ship of the warriors of salvation. Having looked closely at the inscriptions on the walls, I found that they were all covered with the texts of Holy Scripture: “love one another,” “praise God,” etc. and on the most life-saving belts there was the text: “In God we trust.” But most of all I was struck by one inscription that appeared in many places on the ship. The inscription read: “Plymouth Rock is a temperance steamship.” I guessed what was going on, but for further clarification I went to the buffet and asked myself a glass of California red wine. The barman looked at me in surprise and silently extended his hand towards the form hanging over the sideboard. The form again said abstinence. “Don’t you even have red grape wine?” I asked. “No, sir, not a drop at all! And no one asks,” added the manager of the “abstinence buffet” with a slight smile about the rule-breaker. Strange people, I thought. We don’t have such abstinence buffets in Russia. And the orchestra continued to play sacred hymns and the voices of the passengers supported them with a strong wave. It was already about 8 o'clock in the evening when the steamer, smoothly rocking on the calm swell of the ocean, was approaching Ocean Grove. The sun was already hiding behind the hills and spreading a sea of ​​fiery golden rays along the coast and along the horizon. Along the undulating shore, descending to the ocean with golden sand, there were many white tents and on the sides there were rows of wooden houses of simple summer construction. The steamer stopped at a pier with a long bridge extending into the sea. Not knowing what to do, I began to walk among the tents, which were spread out in endless rows along the hills. Everything was dead all around - not a sound, not a rustle of bushes. It felt terrible in my soul. After looking for about ten minutes at the magical play of the ocean with the rays of the setting sun, I did not notice where all the mass of passengers had gone. Suddenly, from behind one ridge of hills, the singing of numerous voices was heard, and I headed there. “Brother, do you love Jesus?” – suddenly a voice rang out as I walked past one tent. A trembling involuntarily ran through my body, and I embarrassedly babbled an affirmative answer. “Love your neighbor too and pray for me, a sinful old dog!” the same voice said in a heavy tone and I quickened my steps. Behind the hill a large clearing opened up and it was black with people. It was an evening service. The people sat on the grass and in front of them, on a special dais, stood the pastor in front of a table. The pastor appointed a hymn; someone's sonorous voice was heard close to him and the whole congregation instantly took it up; thousands of voices merged into one enthusiastic musical wave and it echoed with some monstrous echo in the neighboring hills, shrouded in the twilight of the night. After several hymns the preacher gave a speech. He first read a prayer that God would bless his word, make it fruitful, as spring rain is fruitful for crops, dew for those who thirst for truth, and a double-edged sword for hardened hearts. The prayer was lengthy and consisted of a list of various petitions, similar to those presented. It was read separately and to each petition the people answered in unison - “Amen.” The preacher chose the words as his text: God’s love is like mountains. When looking at the mountains, the preacher always had in his head the thought of their similarity to God’s love. Their foundations are as extensive as God’s love is all-encompassing, and their interior is as deep as God’s love is deep. They are as unchangeable as the love of God is unchangeable. Everything in nature changes over time, but mountains stand from century to century. Finally, they do not require proof of their existence, just as the love of God does not require proof. The blind man does not see them, but, climbing on them, he feels their presence; Thus, every weak person feels the effect of God’s love on himself. The impromptu speaker continued to draw out his comparisons in this way and, remarkably, they made a strong impression on the masses. Individual exclamations rang through the crowd every now and then - “Amen”, “Hallelujah”. Meanwhile, bright stars shone in the sky, speaking more eloquently than an orator about the love and glory of God, and a fiery ball of the moon floated out of the dark womb of the ocean. When its pale silver rays spread over the hills and over the mass crowded in the clearing, it was a wonderfully delightful sight, to which the final hymn, glorifying the greatness of the Creator, added even more charm. After the service, the people dispersed to their tents, and temporary visitors to hotels, located in rows in the vicinity of the camp. Speculation in America does not sleep and knows how to take advantage of every opportunity. The present place was recently a desert, but as soon as eight years ago it was chosen as the site of a religious camp, light but huge hotels appeared all around. Up to two thousand people constantly live in tents in the summer and up to three thousand in hotels, and by Sunday up to twenty thousand gather. Divine services similar to those described are performed every day, and all life in the “camp” is of a strictly religious nature. This can be said to be an American monastery, and if there were a separation of the sexes here, it would be a real monastery. In any case, these are undoubtedly warriors of the spirit, fighting against the world and its charms. The intensity of religious enthusiasm here sometimes reaches the point of frenzy, and during prayer often the whole crowd is seized with some kind of uncontrollable delight and begins to scream with fragmentary exclamations: “Glory! glory! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" These meetings are predominantly Methodist, but people of all denominations participate in them. All hotels have restaurants. But on the doors of all the restaurants, a large sign invariably says the same thing: “Abstinence Restaurant.” For a whole mile around the camp it is forbidden to have any other restaurant, except a restaurant of abstinence, that is, without a drop of wine and any intoxicating drinks. When I took my room and admired the starry sky through the window, across which the moon rolled majestically, spilling magical light across the tents, the sounds of sacred hymns were still heard in different corners of the camp and gradually faded into the silence of the night. Sunday opened with a gorgeous morning. This is a day of rest and all nature seems to be fulfilling the great commandment. Sunday is generally highly revered in America, but in the religious camp the strictness of its preservation reaches incredible rigor. On weekdays you can always get a newspaper here; on Sunday, bringing them is prohibited, since selling them constitutes trade, and any trade on Sunday is illegal. On the same basis, it is forbidden for various small traders to come to the camp - with fruit, milk, rolls, flowers, etc., for cab drivers to bring riders to the camp, and in general on Sunday it is forbidden to come to the camp on horseback. The extent to which these rules are strictly observed can be seen from the following case. One day, General Grant, when he was President of the United States, wanted to visit this religious camp. It was Sunday. Knowing the Sunday laws of the country and their strict additions in the camp, he first asked permission from the camp elders to ride his horse to the camp. But the warriors of salvation did not violate their strict rules for the president. They measured out one mile from the camp and marked a point to which the President could ride on horseback. He had to walk the rest and the president obeyed. Not far from the white camp there was a black one. The tents there are as white as here, but only the faces of their inhabitants are black. This is the camp of “colored” people or blacks. On Sunday evening I had to be at their worship service. A black mass was located in a green clearing, and among it stood the figure of a black preacher. The dresses were full of different colors and some of the “colored ladies” were dressed completely in white, but this only set off their black faces more. In the twilight of the night, this mass presented a strange sight: as if the entire assembly was headless and only the sparkling whites of the eyes let the quick-witted viewer know what was the matter. The eyes on the faces of colored people are like the stars in the midnight sky. The service consisted of hymns and a sermon. Being predominantly Methodists, the blacks use common Methodist hymns during worship; but they also have their own, and the latter are especially energetically taken up by Negro voices and resonate especially sweetly in Negro hearts. They belong to Negro poets, who alone could, with their poetic genius, comprehend the entire depth of the Negro heart and express its feeling in marvelous Negro verses. The forests and mountains all around trembled and marveled when the colored people sang one of their favorite hymns: "Jizos 15, let me wash myself in the river, In the river, in the river, in the river, in the river, Jizos, let me love my sister, in the river, In the river, in the river, - river”, etc. After several such hymns, a colored preacher spoke. The colored people here speak English, although with an African tint, reminiscent in the accent of the rough abruptness of our Kazan Tatars. The preacher was a true shepherd of his people and spoke with the same accent, which made it quite difficult for a foreigner to understand English. I, however, listened carefully and penetrated into the mystery of the Negro word. The preacher said among other things: “God created the earth, He created the sun, the moon and the stars. He created only one sun, one moon and one earth. Why didn't He create two suns, two moons and two earths? This is a secret we don't know. She baffled Plato and Demosthenes and all the great scientists. Even Moses did not know this secret, and he was the greatest historian who ever lived on earth. He studied in Egypt among the colored people and was their friend, yes, the best friend they ever had.” Turning then to the new testament, the preacher continued: “What was Jesus? He was the Son of God. Some ancient chronologists say that He was a Jew. I don't care what He was, whether He was a Jew, or an Indian, or an Arab, or a colored man. I know one thing: He was eternal and lives in eternity. The sun is not eternal; the moon is not eternal: this earth on which we live, on which we stand now, is not eternal; angels are not eternal: they will die over time, and we will all die; all the great people died. But He is eternal. Yes, brothers, God alone is eternal. Do you understand this, my friends? A thrill of tenderness and a chorus of “Amen!” visibly ran through the mass of colored people. every now and then he confirmed and approved the speaker’s sayings. At the end of the sermon, the mountains and valleys again trembled with the enthusiastic songs of the colored people. Passion for processions. - Revelation to the Masons. – Egyptian obelisk and Masonic ceremonies. – Social and religious position of Freemasons. Anyone who has not seen America can say that he has not seen processions. Probably no people in the world have a greater passion for them than the Americans, and nowhere do they play such an important socio-political role as here. Every more or less significant national holiday is celebrated with processions and every social event is marked by them. Every political party, every corporation, every club - has its own special annual holidays, and all of them are celebrated without fail in processions, and the members of each society or corporation, in their special original uniforms, with banners or torches, march majestically through the streets, beating out a military step to the sounds of the indispensable orchestra of musicians. With such a general love for processions, Americans nevertheless have special seasons when the passion for them simply turns into some kind of madness. This is precisely in the fall of the presidential year, before the November election of the president. The President of the United States is elected every four years in the month of November. During the elections, two main parties compete - the Republican and the Democratic, trying to elect a president from among themselves. To ensure the presidency of their candidate, parties use all sorts of permitted and unauthorized means, and solemn processions are considered one of the main means of campaigning - with banners glorifying their candidate and humiliating another. Last year was precisely the presidential year, and processions, one after the other, more magnificent, more solemn and more numerous, constantly marched through the streets of the city. These processions represent something like a puppet war and resonate with something naively childish, but for Americans there is almost a Hamlet-like question here - to be or not to be? And it is remarkable that in these tedious processions, certainly to the beat of a military march, not only young people, but often very old men take part, and they, with the greatest seriousness, straining all their last senile strength in order to keep up with their young brothers. Truly comoedia humana! Among the other processions on Saturday, October 9 last year, one stood out that was distinguished by its special character. This is precisely a brilliant procession of members of the local Masonic order. About three years ago, the Egyptian Khedive gave America a magnificent obelisk or the so-called “Cleopatra’s Needle.” При снятии обелиска с его древнего пьедестала открыты были странные эмблемы, которые озадачили ученый мир своею загадочностью. But what is a mystery to people of science turned out to be a clear revelation to the knights of mystery or Masons. In these mysterious Egyptian emblems the Freemasons found a striking resemblance to their own emblems, with which the mysterious order is known to abound. This discovery raised the entire Masonic world to its feet and there was no end to the rejoicings among it. The Order recognized the Egyptian emblems as Masonic, and they were for him a new revelation regarding the deep antiquity of the history of the existence of the Order and in what mysterious primitive antiquity one must look for its origin. Now this obelisk has arrived in New York and a place has been allocated for its installation in Central Park. On the named day, the foundation for the obelisk was laid; The Masons took the matter of laying it into their own hands and carried it out with such magnificent triumph and such ceremoniality as the means and ingenuity of the order allowed. In the center of the city, precisely on the corner of 6th Avenue and 23rd Street, there is a huge building that immediately catches your eye with the grandeur of its size, the originality of its architecture and the mass of mysterious bas-reliefs decorating it. Its huge windows are covered with gold-edged curtains and the whole house looks at the turmoil surrounding it with a kind of mysteriously thoughtful silence. Even the roar of the railway's air trains scurrying around it every now and then does not give it an enlivening character. This is a temple of mystery, a temple of the Masonic order. The organization of the order is remarkable. He enjoys complete freedom here, is considered on an equal basis with all other societies and clubs, performs worship and has periodic meetings, publishes magazines and - with all this, remains as mysterious and enigmatic as where he forms a secret society out of necessity. Everyone knows that this is a Masonic temple, that meetings take place there, everyone has a friend and acquaintance, a known Mason, and yet no one knows what, in essence, is done and said at these meetings. The secret of society remains a secret, despite all its external manifestations. On the named day, by 2 o’clock in the afternoon, all the surroundings of the mysterious church were filled with masses of elegant people. Then the knights gathered to open the procession to the place of celebration. At exactly two o'clock the procession moved along Fifth Avenue, the aristocratic street of the city. The music thundered and the knights, in detachments representing individual lodges, marched off, swords drawn, each detachment under the command of a great master and under the leadership of a standard bearer. In the bright sun the columns presented a brilliant picture. The knights, mainly representatives of the richest families, and their brilliant costumes with ribbons, various gold and silver decorations, triangular hats with feathers and naked swords played with the sun's rays with multi-colored lights. The hands were wearing high leather gloves reaching to the elbows with red crosses; on uniforms and banners in general there were an abundance of multi-colored crosses, giving the whole procession a religious character. Each lodge came with its own special banner, on which there was a special emblem and a special inscription - in Latin. Among many other inscriptions were the following: In hoc signo vinces; Rex regum; Dominus dominorum; Magna est veritas et prevalebit, etc. The musicians constantly played Masonic hymns and one of them simply struck me with its melody as being similar to the tune of a famous Russian folk song: “Along and along the river, along the Kazanka...” Was it of Masonic origin? The great masters shouted out words of military command every now and then, and the knights made graceful military evolutions with remarkable dexterity for non-soldiers; They either closed into one column, or split into pairs, triplets, etc., depending on the command. There were up to 10,000 people in the procession, and all of these were mostly respectable elderly people from the richest families of New York and surrounding cities. From the Masonic temple to the place where the obelisk was erected there are three miles or more than five miles, and one had only to be amazed at the patience with which the knights, many of whom were just deep gray-haired elders, walked all this space in calm order, with a slender military step, every now and then performing military evolutions on command. The sidewalks were strewn with people and ladies waved their handkerchiefs from the balconies of their houses. Upon arrival at the site of the celebration, the knights of mystery closed in quadrangular columns around the place where the foundation was laid. When order was completely established, the “great venerable master” stepped forward and made the following speech: “Brothers! We are gathered here to place the cornerstone of the foundation of the ancient monument known as Cleopatra's Needle. This is an incident of which our brotherhood can be proud and is of great importance for the history of our order. By thus appearing publicly before the world as members of a society which is entitled to the sympathy of all honest and fair-minded men, we openly declare our unswerving devotion to our sacred cause. The matter is before us, but in accordance with the ancient Masonic instructions, before it begins, we must unite in prayerful offering to the Divine.” The Grand Chaplain of the Masonic Temple read a prayer, after which the Great Worshipful Master turned to the Great Worshipful Treasurer with the words: “Now lay the charters of the order on the rock,” and he actually began to lay a whole mass of Masonic charters at the base of the foundation, minutes of Masonic meetings, charters and rules of all kinds, and finally a photographic picture of the Masonic temple. After completing the folding of the letters, the great venerable master approached the stone designated to serve as the foundation and sprinkled it with cement. He then took the working tools and handed them over to the Masonic bailiffs. The following conversation took place: – What is the true treasure of your position? – the venerable one asked the first bailiff. “Square,” he answered. – What is its moral and Masonic use? – Measure a person’s actions squarely by the square of virtue and justify one’s actions. – Apply the instrument of your office to that part of the stone that requires justification, and give an account. The bailiff applied the quadrangle to the stone and said: “Most revered master, I find the stone to be square. The workers did their duty." The Venerable One addressed the following: – What is the treasure of your position? “Level,” answered the bailiff. – What is its Masonic use? – Morally, it reminds us of equality and its purpose is to check horizontal lines. “Apply the jewel of your office to the stone, and give an account.” The bailiff applied the level to the stone and answered: “Most Worshipful One, I find the stone level. The workers did their duty." The Venerable One turned to the third bailiff: – What is the true treasure of your position? “Plumb line,” answered the bailiff. – Morally, it teaches us straightness of behavior, and we use it to check perpendicular lines. – Attach the tool of your position to different sides of the stone and give a report. The bailiff put a measuring instrument to the stone and answered: “Most Worshipful One, I find the stone plumb. The workers did their duty." Then the venerable one approached the stone, sprinkled cement on it and, striking it three times with the staff, solemnly said: “I, Jesse B. Anthony, Grand Master of the Masons of the State of New York, declare the stone plumb, even and square, well hewn, true, right and properly laid. Let the elements of initiation now be presented.” Then the deputy of the great master stepped forward, sprinkled the stone with grains of grain and said: “I sprinkle these grains as an emblem of completeness and contentment. May the generous blessings of heaven descend upon us and upon all such patriotic and charitable enterprises, and inspire the hearts of the people with virtue, wisdom and gratitude.” After him, the senior grand bailiff approached the stone and, pouring wine on the stone, said: “I pour this wine as an emblem of fun and joy. May the Great Ruler of the universe bless our national, state (New York county) and city governments with prosperity, preserve the union of the states, and may it be a union of friendship and brotherly love that will continue at all times.” Then the junior great bailiff approached the stone and, pouring oil on the stone, said: “I pour this oil as an emblem of peace. May his blessings be constantly with us and may the Great Chief of heaven and earth cover and protect widows and orphans and protect them from the trials and vicissitudes of this world, and so may he send down his mercy on the oppressed, the toiling and the mourning, so that they no longer grieve and toil.” Finally, the venerable great master, standing in the face of everyone, offered the following prayer: “May the all-generous Creator of nature bless the inhabitants of this city with an abundance of things - necessary, useful and comfortable for life, may he help in laying this foundation and in the completion of this enterprise, may he protect the workers from any accident, may he preserve for a long time this example of the work of the eastern workers from destruction, and may he grant us all an abundance of grains of nutrition, wine of refreshment and oil of joy. Amen". During all these ceremonies, dead silence reigned all around, thousands of Masonic faces seemed petrified in a reverent mood, and only the sun smiled in the sky and a light breeze playfully played with the feathers and ribbons of Masonic uniforms. The Venerable One then paid due honor to the great architect for the successful laying of the foundation; after him the Grand Marshal of the Grand Lodge spoke and in the name of the Grand Master of the Masons of the New York State finally proclaimed that the cornerstone of the Egyptian obelisk, known as Cleopatra's needle, was duly laid. He made such a proclamation to all four corners of the world - south and north, east and west, and for each proclamation, that side of the quadrangle formed by the Masonic columns, towards which the proclamation was directed, clapped his palms three times. As a sign of final approval of the case. In conclusion, the revered great master addressed the Freemasons with a long speech, in which he examined the significance of Egypt in the history of mankind, and showed a lot of knowledge - literary, scientific, archaeological, construction, astronomical, and argued that all modern sciences have their cradle on the banks of the Nile. There, in his opinion, Freemasonry also has its cradle, although that Freemasonry, of course, was much different from the modern one, into which many new elements developed by modern civilization were introduced. Having outlined the history of the obelisk, the venerable one concluded: “The ancient mason created not for one century, but for eternity. So, brothers, it should be with us. Let us work faithfully in the present, awaiting the reward promised to the one who fulfills all his duty, and the past, present and future will honor each and everyone with the greeting: “Well done, good and faithful servant”! The Masons applauded the speech with rapturous shouts, and the Grand Chaplain offered a prayer of thanksgiving to the Almighty for this glorious day, which had forever united Egypt, the land of the past, with America, the land of the future, and prayed that the union of the States might subsist for ever. “Amen, so be it!” - ten thousand voices thundered, and the echo repeated the Masonic cry several times in the grottoes of the park. The command was heard, the Masonic columns swayed, split into detachments and, to the sounds of the march, set off on their way back. And the sun had already disappeared behind the coastal heights of Hudson, and only the bright stars shining in the dark blue sky smiled at the Masons. The Masonic community is extremely large and numerous in America. Its individual lodges are scattered throughout the United States. It counts hundreds of thousands of its members, and in the New York state alone there are more than 100,000 of them. It conducts intensive propaganda and, at every opportunity, announces itself with loud and brilliant demonstrations. Three times a year there is usually a general council of Masons in one of the main cities of the country, and each time such an event is marked by solemn parades. The burial of every Mason is performed with general honors, with music and a ceremonial procession of knights. As a society, the Masonic Order enjoys great public respect, and it can be said without exaggeration that all the upper, rich and educated classes of American society belong to it. In its essence, the Masonic Order is a religious and charitable society, without any political admixture. At least from the political side, he does not declare himself at all, even during presidential elections, when the political passions of the entire people are inflamed to the point of impossibility. Its charity, however, is limited only to its own members, and from this side every member of the Masonic fraternity can consider himself provided for from need and disaster, wherever he is. Every Mason has a badge, which he only has to show in the Masonic lodge to be looked after in illness, given money in need, defended in court, etc. In religious terms, there are unclear ideas regarding the Masonic society. What is certain, however, is that quite a few pastors of American churches belong to it, and they obviously consider their representation in the Christian church compatible with membership in the Masonic society. There are, however, opponents to this order of things. In this regard, the reasoning that took place at one meeting of the General Synod of the Reformed Churches is not without interest. Some communities sent a statement to the synod expressing their decisive rejection of all sworn societies as anti-republican, anti-Christian and anti-Reformation. “We, the priests and elders,” the statement said, “do not allow Masons to be members in our churches. We forbid them to participate with us in celebrating the sacrament of the Eucharist. No Mason, in his opinion, can be true to himself, his family, his church or his God. It is impossible for a person to be a good Mason and a good Christian at the same time. The “divine doctor” Porter answered him in no less cruel terms. He said that he himself was a “royal arch-Mason” and at the same time a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, and denied that Freemasonry would prevent anyone from being a good Christian. “I wish before God,” he said, “that the Christian church would be sufficiently able to act in the image of the Masonic lodges, and then it will do more good. You will never find widows and orphans of Masons in almshouses.” After him, the venerable Lepeltak rose and again attacked Freemasonry. Masonic prayers, rituals and teachings, in the opinion of this speaker, are contrary to the idea of ​​the one and true God. Freemasonry mocks the word of God and promotes unbelief. He began to tell how the Freemasons depict Moses in front of a flaming bush and how a candidate for the third degree is initiated in a half-naked state, but the adherents of Freemasonry did not allow him to finish. One of them angrily interrupted Lepeltak with a question whether he knew what he was talking about from his own experience, or heard it from some Masonic apostate, and the other jumped up from his seat and shouted: “Every word said by a brother about Masonic rites is false, every word is a lie”! There was a terrible confusion, everyone was shouting, and no one was listening, the bell rattled hopelessly and pitifully in the chairman’s hand. The forces of the fighting parties turned out to be equal and therefore the confusion ceased only when everyone was tired of the fruitless struggle. However, it was impossible to leave the matter without a decision, and the synod developed the following definition; which could be accepted by both disputing parties: “The Synod, on the basis of the information and data at its disposal, cannot give its official decision either for or against Freemasonry and other secret societies bound by an oath. Considering as sacred and inalienable the right of all its priests and members to personal conviction of conscience and freedom of speech, subject only to Christ and His church, the synod hereby declares that no member or minister of the Reformed church in America shall have anything to do with such a society, secret or open, the principles and activities of which are repugnant to Christianity or repugnant to the faith and activities of the church to which we belong.” This definition, of course, did not resolve the controversial issue, but due to its uncertainty it satisfied both sides. The enemies, who had just been inflamed, were now talking pleasantly to each other and lighting each other’s cigars as a sign of peace. Quite a few blacks here cannot stand their original name “negro”, and are offended when they are called that; on the contrary, their black face lights up and grins with naive complacency when they are called “colored gentleman”, “colored lady”. New York is a completely southern city and is located at one degree C. w. with Madrid, Naples, Constantinople, etc. The preacher was based on newspaper news about a strike by American grain merchants to raise the price of bread when sent abroad. Brooklyn, the richest suburb of New York, separated from it only by the river, has half a million inhabitants and is known as the “city of churches.” Funerals in New York are indeed carried out with insane luxury, requiring enormous expenses. The Sun is a large democratic newspaper with 100 thousand subscribers. Half a dollar or at our exchange rate - a ruble. A dollar at the exchange rate is equal to two rubles. Camp meeting – lit. camp meeting, camp. Jeezos is the American pronunciation of the name Jesus.