The Stundist in Siberian Exile AND OTHER POEMS, William Fetler, 1922

The Stundist in Siberian Exile AND OTHER POEMS William Fetler ! msam i THE STUNDIST IN SIBERIAN EXILE AND OTHER POEMS BY WILLIAM FETLER (“BASIL MALOF”) WITH A PROLOGUE BY GABRIEL DERZHAVIN AND AN EPILOGUE BY BARBARA FETLER WITH NINE ILLUSTRATIONS MORGAN 6? SCOTT L TD - (Office of t,e Gl\u Christian”) 12, PATERNOSTER BUILDINGS LONDON, E,C. 4 ENGLAND THE RUSSIAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY LONDON, ENGLAND CHICAGO, U.S.A. College Buildings, Temple St., S.E. ii 1844 W. Monroe St. COPYRIGHT I922 PRINTED IN SCOTLAND DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MY “SECOND MOTHER,” A FAITHFUL FRIEND AND NOBLE PARTNER IN THE GOSPEL, MADAME ELISABETH TCHERTKOFF N&B COUNTESS CHERNISHEFF-KROUGLIKOFF, THE FIRST OF THE RUSSIAN ARISTOCRACY TO RENOUNCE THE GRANDEURS OF THIS PASSING WORLD FOR THAT WHICH IS TO COME ; AND OF THAT APOSTLE OF SAVING GRACE LORD RADSTOCK WHO WAS USED OF GOD TO LEAD HER AND MANY OTHERS IN ST. PETERSBURG TO JESUS CHRIST AS TO A PERSONAL SAVIOUR; AND OF ALL THOSE WHO, FOLLOWING IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS, WERE COUNTED WORTHY TO SUFFER IMPRISONMENT AND EXILE AND MUCH PERSECUTION ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR FAITH. “Yea, saith the Spirit, . . . they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them ” Rev, xiv. 13. FOREWORD These songs have been extorted from a soul into which the iron has entered—the iron of utter¬ most suffering. They do not pretend to smooth elegance of phrase, having been forged in the furnace of the agony of a race. We find in them the heart of the peasant or noble to whom liberty is dear, but Christ is dearer ; who love home and children, but love the answer of a pure conscience more ; and we may be thankful for the revelation of a courage and faith, which burns as brightly in Siberian exile and Bolshevist torture-chambers as ever it did in pagan Rome. Pastor Fetler has entered deeply into sympathy with these persecuted ones ; and the revelation, given in the more personal poems, of his own heart-experience, reveals the intensity and passion of his personal character—these are the ground and warrant of his leadership. The following pages are dyed with the blood and tears of the saints, who, in the prisons and mines of the Bol¬ shevists, are sowing the seed for harvests that shall yet golden on the soil of “ Holy Russia.” Christ Church, London, S.E. F. B. MEYER. CONTENTS THE STUNDIST IN SIBERIAN EXILE OTHER POEMS Prologue by Gabriel Derzhavin: “God” RETURN TO GOD The Prodigal’s Confession . The Return of the Backslider Ecclesiastes Twelve . The Blessedness of Forgiveness FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD His Rest ..... “Blessed are the Meek" Calvary ..... Fellowship with Jesus Following the Lamb . “The Corn of Wheat must Die” . Redemption .... The Burial .... “Holiness" .... Refining ..... Pressing toward the Goal . My Light and my Salvation Free ..... SERVICE The City