Page:Stundists.pdf/46

34 of having done so. Every gang of criminals which left the central gaols in these provinces counted among its numbers some who were noble servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, who walked in chains with heads shaven, and clad in the ignominious prison garb, for no other offence than that they sought to worship God in accordance with the dictates of their consciences. There was no distinction drawn between such "criminals" and the worst desperadoes of the country. They walked in the same étape, they herded in the same vile dens at night, they were obliged to listen to the filthy conversation of their companions, they were treated with the same contumely by their soldier guards. Of course, many a Stundist rejoiced in the opportunities thus afforded him of doing noble evangelistic work. One man, a noble character, cast into the gaol at Tiflis amongst a crew of vile scoundrels, has recorded his joy at having had such an opportunity of preaching the Gospel. He describes how he was obliged to put on a filthy prison costume, swarming with vermin, and stained with every abomination. He describes the fetid atmosphere of the den in which he and twenty others passed the hours of the tropical nights. But the other prisoners grew to respect his gentle character; and he relates how some of them, unable otherwise to show him kindness, rolled up their prison shoes in a bag, and put this bundle under his head at night to serve him as a pillow. This man's sole offence was alleged disrespectful words against the Orthodox Church. He was not tried, there was no evidence against him save the suspicion of a priest, but his punishment was four years' banishment to a remote province of the empire, and the loss of most of his personal rights and privileges.