CURRENT LITERATURE.
In the Land of Tolstoi. By Jonas Stadling and Will Reason. (James Clarke and Co.)—This is an account (translated from the original Swedish by Will Reason) of the Russian famine of 1892 compiled by Herr Stadling, who was the bearer of contributions from American and English sympathisers, and personally aided Count Tolstoi in his humane work of relief. Such accounts of grind- ing poverty and almost chronic suffering must fill the mind with profound sadness, nor do any philanthropic efforts seem to arrive at the root of the evils. Education refused and suppressed, re- ligious freedom denied, heavy burthens imposed on impoverished peasants, poverty enhanced by cruel punishments, such are the indictments against the Government of the Czar, while the miseries of famine and its attendant pestilence are not incidental to any peculiarly unfavourable season, but are the result of the heavy burdens on land and the impoverished condition of the mushiks. To flog starving peasants who are unable to pay heavy taxes seems to English ideas a cruel act of injustice, only calcu- lated to stir up the bitterest feelings of revolt. Herr Stadling gives an interesting account of Count Tolstoi and his family, and sincerely sympathises with their endeavours to spread the gospel of love. His account of religion in Russia is deeply tinged with Evangelical views, but there can be no doubt that fanaticism and superstition must be the outcome of religious persecution and want of education.
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