IN SESSION WITH THE HERETICS 51

tional speeches, the immobile countenances, are
the fruit of centuries of repression. Congresses are
permitted only under cast-iron regulations. The
secret pohce are always present incognito, and the
people are afraid to open their mouths freely lest
they should be misunderstood or misinterpreted by
the police.

It takes a brave man to speak his mind in Russia.
All the delegates at this Congress were brave men
and women who had suffered more or less for con-
science' and righteousness' sake. And they did not
hesitate to speak their minds ; but as in this instance
the programme of subjects discussed had been
sanctioned by the authorities, their course seemed
clear. Yet who could say ? Permission to hold the
Congress did not render the delegates immune from
police interference or imprisonment if the author-
ities saw fit to change their minds, as they have an
unhappy knack of doing in Russia ; or if the police
chose to misinterpret anything said. Yet it was
marvellous to note how calm these delegates were
throughout. There was certainly no fear of man
before their eyes, though danger lurked in the
corner of every policeman's eye, and the delegates
were fully aware that traps had been set to take
them unawares.

But the danger was outside the Congress hall
rather than inside. Wherever the delegates went
they were shadowed by the secret police. One night



52 AMONG THE HERETICS

at the Mission House, just after tea, a group of
delegates were sitting round the table eagerly
hstening to the story of a brother from the south
who had passed through great tribulation, and who
as a special favour to myself and Mr. Byford was
relating some of his experiences. Suddenly a lady
hurried up, and excitedly addressing another lady
who was interpreting for our benefit, asked :
" Sprechen sie Deutsch ? " On being answered in
the affirmative, she gave her warning. It was this :
" Be careful what you say ; there are spies present."
It was true. The secret agents, all unknown, had
been sitting at tea with us !

Is it any wonder that the average Russian keeps
a silent tongue in his head ? The people live in
constant terror of the poUce, are afraid to trust
anybody, and by long years of bitter experience
have learned that silence is their most effective
weapon of defence. It is most difficult to get them
to talk, especially about themselves. Had it not
been for the fact that I went to Russia in the fellow-
ship of the Gospel, and was received in the spirit
of that fellowship by these devoted men and women,
I should never have learned the story of their perse-
cutions. Nothing else would have persuaded them
to take me into their confidence.

It must not be inferred from this that these
Russian Baptists are people of a morose tempera-
ment and long, sad faces or strangers to joy. On



IN SESSION WITH THE HERETICS 53

the contrary, they are an extremely happy and joyous
people. God has anointed them with the oil of
gladness above their fellows, and they have counted
their sufferings as not worthy to be compared with
the glory that has already been revealed to them.
The Russians are naturally warm-hearted and big-
hearted — very quiet and reserved, it is true ; but
they feel deeply, and when touched exhibit an
emotion which corresponds to that of the Welsh.

As already explained, Mr. Byford, representing the
Baptist World Alliance, and the writer were the only
two persons at the Congress who were not Russians.
At one point in the discussion a delegate asked that
Mr. Byford should speak. He was promptly told,
" You must first pray for the day when he will be
allowed to speak." Later on Mr. Byford essayed
to speak through an interpreter, and the pohce
captain immediately protested. This led to an
argument between the pohce officer and the presi-
dent. Meanwhile, Mr. Byford proceeded with his
speech and had finished before the argument was
concluded.

The opening address by Pastor Fetler revealed
the spirit of the Congress. Translated, it read as
follows : —

" Brethren, we see from the words we have read
(the Bible lesson) that we must pray for all men.
We have prayed for the Congress — for ourselves.
Now we must pray for all Russia. We are going



54 AMONG THE HERETICS

to ask God to send us workers full of the Holy
Ghost. We hear from all parts that workers are
needed. The blood of Christ should be apphed to
the whole of Russia ; there is so much sin and
unbelief. If we forget others we shall get dried up
ourselves. Ours is a little Church; but I beheve
all the members are eager for the salvation of others.
While that spirit exists we shall prosper. Let us
pray for the salvation of Russia. Our next prayer
must be for all the world — not simply for ourselves,
for the Congress, for Russia, but for all the world.
We have here a brother from Australia. Half the
world is heathen, and I think that largely the fault
is in the churches having grown too narrow by
thinking only of their own interests and forgetting
the needs of the whole world.

" But the Bible injunction does not end here.
We are told to pray for the Kings and Rulers.
There are some people, I am afraid, even among
believers, who despise Rulers. This is not at all
according to God's Word. If we prayed more for
Kings and Rulers we should have freedom more
readily, for everything is given us by prayer. It
will be the same if we pray to-day for our Emperor
as we have never prayed before — ^not formal prayers,
to be heard only by those under this roof, but prayers
that will rise through and above the roof to the
ears of the Almighty."

Passionate prayers for the Tsar and Royal



IN SESSION WITH THE HERETICS 55

Family were followed by the singing of " God keeps
the Emperor."

The business of the Congress was entirely con-
fined to the work of the Russian Baptist Union and
the associated churches, such as methods of propa-
ganda and ways and means. The form of a petition
to be sent to the Minister for the Interior regarding
the new statutes granting liberty of worship to
Dissenters was discussed, and a commission was
appointed to examine the statutes. A good deal of
consideration was given to Sunday-school work.
One delegate naively remarked : " When I was a
boy we used to say that the young people were kept
back by the older brethren. As I got older I began
to think they had good reason for it. But to-day
matters are altogether reversed. The older people
have no place with the younger generation. They
are not wanted in their meetings. It is the societies
of young people who are the oppressors to-day, not
the older people."

Some of the discussions took what, to a visitor,
was an amusing turn, though the delegates were
serious enough about it. There was a proposal, for
instance, to insure the elders of the churches against
death, as, getting no salaries, it was impossible for
them to make the provision for their survivors
themselves. The proposal was negatived, chiefly
on the plea that it would prejudice his work if it
could be said that the elder was looking after the



56 AMONG THE HERETICS

future for his family as well as the present for him-
self, though where the present comes in for a man
who gets no stipend it would be hard for any but
a Russian Baptist to discover. Their own answer
would be that they do not labour for the bread that
perisheth, and are happy to be labourers together
with God if only their bread shall be given and their
water sure. The incident serves to illustrate how
jealous these devoted men are lest they should be
judged careful concerning material things.

In regard to the weekly denominational paper,
which it was proposed to pubHsh, there were diffi-
culties in the way of finding an editor. These
Russians had their own ideas as to editors and their
work. The opinion was freely expressed that a
pastor should not have any time to edit a paper,
and further, that the editor of a weekly paper should
not have time for anything else.

In nothing was the devotion of these people to
their work more strikingly shown than in their
manner of living during this fortnight in St. Peters-
burg. No comfortable quarters among fellow
Christians were available. Hotels were beyond
their means. Scarcely one of them had a rouble
(two shiUings) to jingle in his pocket. What did
they do ? They followed apostolic precedent and
had all things in common. The whole of the dele-
gates slept each night on the floor in one small
room, the men in one apartment and the women in



IN SESSION WITH THE HERETICS 57

another, at the half-finished Mission House. To
save their bones each was provided with a rough
mattress, and for the rest each had to shift as best
he could for himself. The meals were represented
by the scantiest of fare. It mainly consisted of
black bread and tea. At one special meal (dinner)
at which Mr. Byford and myself were guests, the
menu was comparatively sumptuous. It comprised
salt pork and potato soup ; stewed steak, potatoes
and carrots ; porridge (half rice and half wheat) ;
and black bread. Butter is an unheard-of luxury
in the ordinary Russian's home; at the hotels it
is charged for as an extra.



CHAPTER VI

BUILDING A HERETIC CHURCH

In England or Australia the laying of a foundation-
stone for a new church is a very simple matter. It
is not so in Russia, especially when it happens to
be a heretic church. It took weeks for Pastor
Fetler to persuade the authorities that the erection
of a Baptist Church in St. Petersburg would not
involve any revolutionary attack on the dynasty
or bring any dire peril to the nation. Of course,
the authorities knew as well as Mr. Fetler that the
mission of the Baptists was one of peace and right-
eousness, but they had to pretend otherwise. Their
policy was to make the way as difficult as possible,
and so they introduced all sorts of objections and
invented all sorts of subterfuges. By the time I
reached St. Petersburg all the difficulties had been
removed, and apparently everything was plain
saihng.

As a rule, you never know in Russia what is going
to happen as the result of official interference, but
in this instance Pastor Fetler had been optimistic.
In the first place he had to submit the plans of the

church to the Town Council, and by that body they

58



BUILDING A HERETIC CHURCH 59

were rejected on the plea that the plans were not
well drawn. " What do you mean ? " asked the
architect. " Why, you have not shown the seats ! "
Well, new plans were prepared, and the Town
Council, without expressing any further opinion,
sent them on to the police prefect. That gentle-
man in turn disapproved of the plans, and
ordered them to be remodelled. That done,
the senior inspector and the committee again
inspected and condemned on terms that made
the plans and the contracts of no effect and the
site useless.

The people prayed about it for some time and
then interviewed the Minister for the Interior. They
were received very kindly, and explained the whole
matter and mentioned the date that had been fixed
for the stone-laying. The Minister rang up the
head of the Technical Department for Buildings and
explained the situation, and that official advised
them to go on in defiance of the police. They saw
the Prefect, who, as a further excuse for delay,
ordered them to petition the Tsar for permission.
This petition was taken to the Minister, and he
ruled that sufficient justification had not been shown
by the Prefect for petitioning the Tsar, and declined
to forward the petition. After all this, the matter
had to go back to the Town Council, and a further
delay of a fortnight was experienced. Finally, the
Minister was induced to force the hands of the pohce,



6o AMONG THE HERETICS

and Pastor Fetler went on his way rejoicing, believ-
ing that the final word of official sanction had been
uttered.

His optimism was scarcely justified. The pro-
gramme allowed for the foundation-stone ceremony
to take place as the last and crowning feature of the
Congress. The bombshell fell before the Congress
was half over. One morning there was an unusual
delay in opening the Congress proceedings. Nearly
two hours went by. The delegates sat and looked
at each other mysteriously, but nobody understood
the cause. Presently Pastor Fetler arrived. At
previous sessions he had seemed to be treading on
air. To-day his feet dragged. He looked worried.
The reason was soon made clear. He had re-
ceived peremptory notice that the foundation-
stone ceremony must not take place. The
authorities refused to allow the building operations
to be continued.

Here was a nice set-back. Everything was
ready for the ceremony. The invitations had been
issued. Building operations had been in full swing
for weeks. Most of the material was on the ground,
and now the whole thing was prohibited. What
was to be done ? If the delegates at this Congress
had been Austrahan, EngUsh, or American Baptists
they would have risen up hke an army of suf-
fragettes ; they would have marched to the office of
the responsible Minister ; they would have demanded



" BUILDING A HERETIC CHURCH 6i

permission to do this thing ; and — they would have
been shot down for their pains or hurried off to
prison. But these Russian Baptists had a better
way — the apostoUc way. They gave themselves
to prayer. There was no hysteria, nothing in their
demeanour or in the character of their prayers to
indicate excitement. In quietness and confidence
they testified their faith in God and reahsed their
strength, and then sent Mr. Fetler to get the
answer.

Next morning Mr. Fetler appeared with a less
anxious face. He had interviewed the Minister,
who had again received him courteously, and after
listening to his tale of woe, had replied, "Go in
peace, brother ; we will help you all we can." It
was not, however, till the night before the date
fixed for the ceremony that official sanction was
formally conveyed to Mr. Fetler.

There was not going to be any further delay if
the brethren could help it. Immediately on receiv-
ing permission from the Minister, the hour for the
ceremony was changed from 2.30 p.m. to 9.30 a.m.,
so that the authorities should not have time in which
to change their minds.

The delegates, who were sleeping on the site of
the new building, rose early for prayer. To their
dismay it was raining heavily, and to all appear-
ances the ceremony was doomed. They went
in to prayer and prayed that if it pleased God



62 AMONG THE HERETICS

that the rain should continue they might have
the ceremony in the rain, or if not that He
would 'send the sunshine. When they rose from
their knees and looked outside the rain had
stopped, and before the ceremony began the
sun was shining.

The church is to cost 100,000 roubles (or £10,000),
and includes a Mission House and suite of rooms
requisite to a denominational headquarters. It is
a sort of church and church-house combined. The
building is two-storeyed, of brick on stone, the
walls 32 inches thick, the bricks 10 inch by 5 inches
by 3 inches. There is a large hall, with galleries
to seat 2,500, two smaller halls to seat 200 each,
reception rooms, residential rooms, kitchen, heating
and ventilating machinery, a book store, printing
and publishing department, and two Sunday-school
rooms.

This church at St. Petersburg occupies a strategic
position, because St. Petersburg is the seat of
Government, but the parish extends as far as Moscow.
Moscow is important as the centre of Russian life.
It is an educational centre with 60,000 students,
who if influenced for Christ will carry the enlighten-
ment of the Gospel all over the empire. There are
60,000 cabmen, moreover, who come to Moscow
from all the provinces and centres for the winter,
and who if won for Christ will take back the gospel
to the villages, for they are nearly all peasant



BUILDING A HERETIC CHURCH 63

farmers in the summer and droshki drivers in
the winter.

The significance of Pastor Fetler's work in St.
Petersburg lies here: Hitherto the EvangeHcal
religious movement has been more prominent in
the south than in the north of Russia. Lord Rad-
stock's visit to St. Petersburg and the conversion
of Madame Tchertkoff (whose husband commanded
the Russian troops in Warsaw), along with her sister,
the wife of the late Colonel Pashkoff, gave the work
in St. Petersburg its start, especially among the
aristocracy. Lord Radstock's first meetings were
held in Colonel Pashkoff' s house, which is now the
French Embassy. Previously the Pashkoffs were
of the Orthodox Greek faith. On professing con-
version to the Evangelical faith the Government
asked the Colonel to write out his creed and say
what he really professed. He declined, simply
declaring, "I am a Christian — a believer in the
Lord Jesus Christ." Refusing to declare himself
further, they prohibited him from preaching, and
asked him to promise not to preach. He refused
to promise, and was sent into exile. He went to
England and preached to his heart's content in the
open-air and elsewhere. Then he went to France
and bought a gospel van, with which he itinerated,
but met with great opposition from the French
Roman Catholics, who at one place nearly drove his
van into the sea. Next he went to Austria with



64 AMONG THE HERETICS

his van. Though the Colonel is dead, the van is
still intact, on an estate owned by the family in
Austria.

From the drawing-rooms of St. Petersburg the
Gospel went forth to the kitchens, to the maids, to
the janitors, to the coachmen, and so the work
spread. Madame Tchertkoff is still hving, at an
advanced age. She is a woman of queenly pre-
sence and great force of character. She abounds in
good works and is a noblewoman in the truest sense.
It was one of my greatest privileges in Russia to be
a guest at her table, to enjoy her hospitahty, and
converse with her concerning the things of God
and the coming of Christ's kingdom in Russia.
The Congress met in a hall built by Madame
Tchertkoff for the preaching of the gospel.
" She is the best friend I have ! " said Pastor
Fetler to me.

It is important to recognise, as the Baptists are
doing, the power of hterature in Russia, and the
need for sending out not only gospel preachers but
printed books. Means are wanted with which to
fight the Holy Synod, who at present have the
monopoly to print Bibles. The Holy Synod only
prints Bibles with the Apocrypha. Three years ago
the Bible Society persuaded the Holy Synod to print
20,000 copies of the Bible without the Apocrypha,
but had to pay them for it, and then only succeeded
through the intervention of powerful friends. As



BUILDING A HERETIC CHURCH 65

showing the demand for the Bible, those 20,000
copies were sold in less than two years, but the
Synod refused to print any more. Like the Vatican,
the Holy Synod is not anxious to see the people
reading the Bible for themselves. Consequently
in comparatively few homes in Russia is there to
be found a copy of the Bible.

Of Pastor Fetler, who is at the head of the
Evangelical movement identified with the Russian
Baptists in St. Petersburg, it may be said without
exaggeration that he is one of the most remarkable
men of his generation. Educated at Spurgeon's
College, London, he passed among the students as
quite an ordinary man, save for certain eccentricities
of manner and character. It is in his own land and
among his own people that WiUiam Fetler stands
out as the great man that he undoubtedly is. Strictly
speaking, he is a Lett, rather than a Russian, and
though the difference is not much to an outsider
it means a good deal to a Lett. The story of the
Lettish Baptists, their heroism amid barbarous
persecution, and their devotion to the Evangelical
faith, makes a page in Russian history that would
put Christians in more favoured lands to shame.
But that page has not yet been written, much less
printed, and it has only come down in fragments
by word of mouth from parents to children. Among
all the sections of Russian Christians, however,
there is none whose zeal for the Kingdom of God



66 AMONG THE HERETICS

has been more ardent or enduring than that of the
Letts.

Pastor Fetler is a child of this branch of the
great Russian family, and the fervour and devotion
of the whole race seems to have been born again
in him. Russia is on his heart. He honestly be-
lieves that Russia will be the greatest Christian
nation in Europe, and already it must be admitted
there is much to justify his sublime faith. His
passion for the souls of his countrymen is like a
fever in his blood. He is an orator in the highest
and truest sense. His power over large audiences
is electric.

I first met him in his room at the half-finished
mission premises in St. Petersburg, and before I
had been talking to him an hour I was rude enough
to tell him he was a madman. That was how his
conduct impressed me. He laughed me off by say-
ing that most of his friends had anticipated me in
my verdict.

Think of it ! He had already been living for
weeks on the site of this building, whose erection
brick by brick he was watching with jealous solici-
tude. The foundations were under water. There was
not a dry brick or a daub of paint in the building.
He had taken possession of his study before the walls
were up. I found the plaster wet on the walls,
wet paint on the doors, and the general mess and
muddle of a builder's stock-in-trade everywhere



BUILDING A HERETIC CHURCH 67

visible. Yet this was being occupied as Mr. Fetler's
study and living-room. His desk was in one corner,
his bed in another. He might almost as well have
been a prisoner in the fortress not far away on the
banks of the Neva, where the dungeons, three deep,
are all below the water-line.

But none of these things concerned him.
Thoughts of his own comfort and safety never
occurred to him. He was recklessly indifferent to
everything but his work. The furniture, the books,
the pictures in his study, were eloquent of the man's
character. On his desk was a framed card, bearing
these words : —

" I cared not where or how I lived, or what
hardships I went through, so that I could but gain
souls to Christ. While I was asleep I dreamed of
these things, and when I waked the first thing I
thought of was this great work. I longed to be a
flame of fire, continually glowing in the service of
God, and building up Christ's Kingdom to my
latest, my dying moment."

They were, of course, the words of David
Brainerd, one of the first apostles to the North
American Indians. But they were literally and as
sincerely the words of William Fetler. A character
sketch running into chapters could not more com-
pletely describe the man. His wonderful person-
ahty lays hold of you, mesmerises you. His moral
courage amounts to sanctified audacity. Russian



68 AMONG THE HERETICS

officials, from the highest to the lowest, stand in
awe of him. He has great influence in high places,
because great men admire his splendid courage and
devotion, smile at his audacity, and are attracted
by his personality.

When the Congress was sitting and the police
were busy taking notes to report to the Minister for
the Interior, WiUiam Fetler was the least perturbed
man in the room. When the Congress wanted a
man to stand before the Minister and obtain per-
mission to do something that had been forbidden,
they sent William Fetler, and the Minister could
not refuse him.

But it is in his power over large audiences in
preaching the Gospel that William Fetler stands out
so prominently as a great man. He goes through an
audience like a flame of fire. People are spellbound
by his arresting and convincing eloquence. As a
journalist I have vivid recollections of most of the
outstanding English and American evangeHsts of
the last thirty years, but I have never heard a man
whose preaching so pricked men to the heart. It
is withal winsome in its tenderness, and what Dr.
Jowett has termed the " wooing note " is never
absent. I heard Mr. Fetler preach eight or nine
times to audiences of between 2,000 and 3,000, and
every time the number of people unable to gain
admission was larger than the number inside the
building.



BUILDING A HERETIC CHURCH 69

His preaching has created a soul-hunger for the
Gospel message in St. Petersburg, and to such an
extent that since the date of my leaving he has
been compelled to engage six or seven of the largest
halls available in the city to meet the demand.



CHAPTER VII

TACTICS OF THE REACTIONARY PARTY

GuTCHKOFF, the famous Duma leader, had said