--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Joseph J. Cannon collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 7 number: 2 published: 1903-12 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Joseph J. Cannon, "President Lyman’s Travels and Ministry", *Improvement Era* 7, no. 2 (December 1903): 103–108.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0702unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0702unse start_page: 103 end_page: 108 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1903-12) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0702unse publication_year: 1903 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1903, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # President Lyman’s Travels and Ministry PRESIDENT LYMAN'S TRAVELS AND MINISTRY. BY JOSEPH J. CANNON, ASSISTANT EDITOR OF THE "MILLENNIAL STAR," LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND. III.— VISIT TO MOSCOW.— PRAYER FOR POLAND. All the Russias embrace about one-sixth of the land surface of the globe, and the great area extending from the Baltic to Ber- ing sea and from the Artie ocean to the Black and Caspian seas contains an estimated population of one hundred and thirty millions. The peoples of the great empire differ from one another as widely as do its parts, but they form a strangely cohesive political mass. True, there are fierce, strong influences at work to bring autocracy to an end, but the great majority of the people look upon the Czar not only as their absolute monarch but as their great high priest, for he is the head of their church. We saw at St. Petersburg and Moscow the people of the north. Like their Scandinavian and Fin- nish neighbors, they have blue eyes and in many cases light hair. They are a large, strong people of vital temperament. The lower classes are very ignorant, and a great part of them can neither read nor write. They are not over cleanly, apparently, for the peasants carry around with them a notoriously bad smell. The Russians are very intemperate drinkers, yet with all their faults they possess generally a kind disposition, and one could trust him- self among them, being sure of hospitable treatment. After three pleasant days in St. Petersburg, we took train for Moscow, the old capital and the second city of the realm. The dis- tance between the two places is four hundred and three miles, and our fast express covered it at about the rate of thirty miles an 104 IMPROVEMENT ERA. hour. Moscow is an ancient city, and its history, beginning in the twelfth century, is largely the history of the empire whose capital it soon became. It has been burned successively by the Tartars, the Poles, and the inhabitants themselves, the last time being when the army of Napoleon took possession, in 1812. It is hardly cor- rect to say that the inhabitants burned Moscow on that historic occasion, for the people as a whole were ignorant of the plan until the day of the terror-strickenflight. They had been led to think that the French army would be met and destroyed before ever reaching their beautiful city. The sagacious Russian generals, however, wisely withheld, and the commander of the city, after removing all the fire engines and apparatus, freed the criminals in the Moscow dungeons on condition "of their beginning the confla- gration. This they did, and the destruction though incomplete was very extensive. On the day of our arrival we visitedi]the Kremlin, and some of the interesting buildings it contains. The Kremlin, a Tartar word meaning fortification, is the original city, a strongly-walled, elevated, triangular space where the richest monasteries and churches, the palaces, and an arsenal now stand. We ascended the Ivan Veliki tower, at the side of which stands the great bell, broken and use- less now. There are enormous bells also up in the tower. From the top we had an unobstructed view of the beautiful city, and a rare sight it was. Far and near, high above the roofs of the other buildings, rose the pear-shaped cupolas of the churches, with an occasional dome or spire. These were resplendent in all the colors of the rainbow. Hundreds of them are covered with gold, and all are surmounted by a gilded Greek cross. There are in Moscow four hundred and fifty churches, and many of these are of priceless value. The roofs and walls of the other buildings are brightly colored, and the view over the city is enchanting. Within a few yards of the Veliki Tower are three quaint little cathedrals, the most sacred in the whole empire. The cathedral of the Assumption, where the Czars crown themselves, is pre-emi- nent. Within it are contained such treasurers as a piece of the cross, a nail of the cross, a fragment of cloth from the robe of the Lord, and a painting of the Virgin on wax, by St. Luke. Naturally there is more or less doubt regarding the genuineness of such PRESIDENT LYMAN'S TRAVELS AND MINISTRY. 105 relics. From this little church the French carried away five tons of silver and five hundred weight of gold. At least a part of this was recovered. Beside it is the cathedral of the Annunciation where the Czars were baptized and married. Here may be seen the crown of thorns, the sponge that was dipped in vinegar, a part of the stick with which the Savior was beaten, and a part of his blood. The French used this church as a stable for their horses. The cathedral of the Archangel Michael was formerly the burial place of royalty. Here lie side by side, near the altar, Ivan the Ter- rible and his son whom he murdered. The coffin of another son, slain when six years old by a relative, forms the principal shrine of the cathedral. Millions of knees have bowed before the silver casket, and unnumbered lips have kissed the glass lying upon the forehead of the corpse. Moscow with its million inhabitants is growing rapidily. The central position of the city, and the railways radiating in every direction, together with the large manufacturing interests located there, give it great commercial importance. But whether Moscow ever passes St. Petersburg as the industrial and political center, it is and always will be the sacred city of the empire. Pilgrims from every province throng its streets. Long-haired, rudely clad and barefooted, they go about in small bands. Women and girls as well as men travel from afar to worship at the ancient shrines, kiss the bones of dead men, adore the sacred relics, pray for mercy and sanctification over indistinct pictures incased with jeweled gold, buy candles to burn at the shrines of the saints, and lay their offer- ings in the coffers of the church. They listen to the wondrously deep and melodious voices of the priests, as they intone the ser- vices, and hear the •exquisite melody of the hidden choirs. The bearded, long-haired priests, in their rich, loose robes, seem to them the representatives of God (they reminded me so strongly of the priests of Baal), and the poor creatures take their toilsome journey back to their homes satisfied. We spent Sunday in Moscow, though we noticed nothing to indicate specially that it was a day of rest. Heavily loaded wagons were on the streets, the market places were full of buyers and and shops were open. On August 9th, or according to sellers, Russian time July 27th, near the Troitski gate of the Kremlin, in 106 IMPROVEMENT ERA. the grove that occupies what was once a great moat, President Lyman offered prayer. We faced the Kremlin with all its shrines. President Lyman besought the Lord to break the bondage of priest- craft that afflicts the people, that image worship and superstition might be overcome by the spread of truth in the land. He prayed that the hearts of the sincere and honest might be turned to seek for the gospel, and that servants of the Lord full of wisdom and faith might soon be there declaring it to the Russians in their own tongue. He petitioned the Lord to bless the Czar and his family that they may be preserved from violence, and that this ruler may live to extend the religious ' freedom his subjects need, so that all may have their free agency. In connection with the prayer in St. Petersburg, he dedicated Russia and turned the key for the preach- ing of the gospel in that land. The Jews and the gathered Saints, the work for the living and the dead, were presented before the Lord for his blessing; and we felt, though we were far from the body of his people, that he or his representatives were near us, and that our prayers were acceptable unto him. Opening up mission work in any new field is not easy, but there are conditions in Russia that will make it specially hard. The language is exceedingly difficult for a grown person to learn thor- oughly. The lower classes are ignorant and oppressed; the upper classes are proud and suspicious. The law forbids with heavy pen- alty the winning of proselytes from the Russian church, and the regulations of the public are such that the foreigner is always under their watchful eye. Pie cannot enter the realm without hav- ing his passport specially examined by the Russian consul. This must be examined again within twenty-four hours of his taking up quarters in any house. If he stays longer than six months, he must secure a regular passport for residence from the Russian government. Before he leaves the empire, he must also have a police certificate that there is no hindrance to his departure. If the stranger neglects this, he is looked upon as a criminal escaping from justice, an absconding debtor, or some other unworthy per- son, and is sent back to the place of his last residence. All for- eigners are regarded with more or less suspicion, and Jews and Catholic priests are not permitted to come into the empire, except under special conditions. PRESIDENT LYMAN S TRAVELS AND MINISTRY. 107 Yet, difficulties will not stand in the way, if the people are anxious for the truth. It is certain that many of them are dissat- isfied with what they have.About one-third of the number of the Russian church are dissenters, and these are said to represent almost every shade of religious belief upon the earth. Many of them, like the Doukhobors, are fanatics; and one sect, until the law interfered, carried on horrible practices of self- mutilation. The Popovtsy are moderate in their dissent, and are different from the orthodox in accepting an older form of worship. The Bezpopovtsy are more radical, and look upon the Czar as Anti-Christ, and his sub- jects, themselves excluded, as the children of Satan. They have, no priests, and even women can administer the only two sacra- ments of their faith, baptism and confession. Marriage they reject, and suicide by starvation or burning alive they believe to be the highest sanctification. Dissent is on the increase. Amid such a religious turmoil, there should certainly be some who are really hungering for the truth; and as the Russians, unlike the generality of the Roman Catholics, read the scriptures, there would be less difficulty, probably, to teach them the gospel. Though both the Roman and Greek churches are "Catholic," yet there are differences which seem to be irreconcilable. The Greek church is split up into many different divisions of which the Russian is only one, though by far the greatest. There is no Greek Pope, and in Russia nothing resembling one. There are monks who form the black priesthood, and pastors who are married men, and are called the white priesthood. No "graven images" of the Virgin or Saints are permitted, as in Roman Catholic shrines, for the Russians look upon such worship as a breach of the second commandment. They use pictures, apparently forgetting that the command includes "likeness." Babes are baptized by three immer- sions, and confirmed after baptism.Connected with this ordinance of baptism, a sacred mixed with spices, balsam and wine, is oil, placed on the body of the child. "The eyes are anointed, in order that the child may only see good, the ears that they may admit only what is pure, the mouth that he may speak as becomes a Christian, the hands that they may do no wrong, and the feet that they may tread in the path of virtue." . No tourist can buy a ticket through Russia. One can go to 103 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Cook's or other agencies and purchase a ticket around the world, or through almost any part of it, if one does not wish to go into and out of the Czar's dominions. The disagreeable task of buying tickets as one goes is inevitable, though the agents usually speak German or French or both. The journey from Moscow to Warsaw reminded us of travel in the States. The country is rolling, being covered here and there with woods. When we came to the habita- tions of man, however, there was contrast. Log houses, with thatched roofs, stand in a little group, and surrounding this village are the fields owned by the village community and the government. The peasants do not own their land independently. Men, women and children, frequently bare-footed, were gathering the harvest. Their tools were sickles and hand rakes. The village live stock, horses, cows, sheep, goats, and sometimes geese, were herded together on some grazing spot near by. The land is not very fer- tile, and the crops were poor. The journey to Warsaw was of thirty hours duration. We spent one day in Poland's capital; and in the Lazienski park, one of the finest in the world, we found a secluded place, and President Lyman prayed for the Polish people. He asked the Lord to prepare them to accept the gospel, and to prepare the way for his servants to bear it thither.He prayed that the spirit and love of liberty in the hearts of the people should never die, but that men might there enjoy personal and religious freedom and have their own agency. He prayed that all forms of anarchy, lawlessness and disorder might disappear, that Poland and the whole of Russia might have peace, and that the people and rulers might be prepared for a better state of things. He prayed that the Czar might be preserved and strengthened to carry out his plans of reform. He blessed and dedicated the land for the preaching of the gospel, and blessed the people that they might be receptive of the truth. President Lyman prayed, as he had done on all these occasions, for our beloved Zion and the great work of the Lord. The Poles, mostly Roman Catholic, are a pleasing and appar- ently prosperous people. Out in the country, they use the same primitive methods as in Russia proper. During our evening's ride toward Berlin, we saw thousands of bare-footed women and girls binding the sheaves, as the grain was cut by the men, or raking and