The Doukhobors.

Evening Post, Volume LXIV, Issue 131, 29 November 1902, Page 13 (Supplement)

The Doukhobors.

■oIn view of the recent information by cable of the movement of the Russian Doukhobors in Canada, the following article on "Russian Saints and Martyrs," contributed by "A Russian" to the Pall Mall Gazette will be of interest: — From time to time news is borne in upon English, ears from distant Russia, like a distinct echo of medifeval religious strife. "Kow we hear of scenes of horrible self-slaughter, as when some twenty or thirty religious fauatics allow themselves to be buried alive or immured; now it is the account' of some trial, the details of which, revoKing or sublime, tell us how a mighty Empire wrestles with schism ; now, again, it is the intelligence of a great exodus of a persecuted sect. Such news comes from Holy Russia, but reported laconically and with indifference, its gist merely prejudices the reader, or else deprives him of the light indispensable for the understanding of one of the most portentous phenomena of modern times— the. survival, namely, after the lapse of oenturies, of primitive religious ferment right ia the midst of sceptical civilisation. The most recent news comes from Canada, where the self-exiled sect of the Dookhoborlzee are said to 'have put in practice the extreme tenets of their teaching, disorganising the whole economy oi the thrifty and industrious lives about them. And the deduction from this journalistic information, meagre as usual, is that the people are getting to be a nuisance. Quite likely. But one i might consider the occurrence from another than an absolutely practical and material standpoint; reason and logic are not absolute criteria, and, wken they fail, our understanding may be allowed to lean upon a test no kss innate in mankind — upon sentiment. "To understand everything is to forgive everything," anold saying tells us ; and if we cannot excuse the poor mistaken exiles out Manitoba way, we need not condemn altogether the exce&ses of their religious aberration. Some details concerning these and others may nob be amiss here. RELIGIOUS FERMENT. The Dookhobortzee are a product of the religious ferment of Southern Russia, a tract of lands that may be considered a perfecb nursery of schi&m. Many factors have contributed towards the development of the inborn mystico-»elig*ous tendency of the Russian in this part of his-coun-try, and the chief was, no doubt, the setting aside of the South in the eighteenth century as a place of exile for the unruly religious, political, or social spirit*. 'lT*en followed the deportation thither of dangerous criminals to mix with these, and soon there arose an agglomeration of penitentiaries peopled with malcontents who received with open arms every revolutionary apostle, so long as he preached revolt \a gainst existing doctrines and established principles. In 1875 a Prussian subaltern, expelled foi preaching in Ger-man-Russian provinces, made his appearance at Kkotchem, in the government of Kharkov. He preached equality among men, and the uselessness of public powers. This man, a mere tranip, whose namo is not even recorded, was the real founder of the Bookhobortzee, or believers in direct communion with divinity by means of tke spirit that is within us. "The exterior world," they say, "is but a prison for our soul. Our passions carry in .themselves our punishments. There is nothing ,more criminal than the craving after honour and glory on this earth. Bid not the Lord say, 'My kingdom is nob of the world'? The Tsars reign only over the wicked and the criminal ; the honest and the true Dookhobortzee liave naught to do with his laws and his authority. War is against the will of God. Jesus Christ having taught that we aro all brothers and sislpra, the words 'father' and 'mother' have no sense, and go against the tea cluing. There is only one father : He who 'is in Heaven." These are the chief points of their creed, but around each there arose in time a fresh j doctrine, evolving schism within schism, until th-> number of seels within this sect 2-ose to 109. The most important offspring are the . Molokany, or drinkers of milk (from moloko, milk)', founded by one Oukleine, a simple peasant, towards the end of the eighteenth century. One of the successors in the pastor .1 mission, an- j other peasant, Kryloff by name, revolutionised the whole south by his ardent eloquence, and died under the knout. But the s>ced he had sown bore fruit, for the Molokany soldiers Unvw down their arms before the enemy at Perecop, of Crimean memory. \ ONE SECT BEGETS ANOTHER. As the Dnokhobortzee begat the Molokany, 60 did these in turn engender the Stoondifts, the most widely spread, and, though dating only- from 1862, the most dreaded of yll sects by the ilawsian Government. The Stooi'idnus b-?lievc that men can live a .perfect life only on the condition of not venrivg out the bcJy through suffering and fa»\ing. According to tfaeir doctrine the gifts of Nature ehould be equally enjoyed b^ all, as Jesus Christ bar, suffered for all. Laitfl and money should be h'cewiso equally divided among tnen. oil brothers and sons of the same God. Wealth thus being equalised, it becomes useless to rmass it. Commerce ought to be abolished, and exchange of goods in nature should take its place. The Stoondists do not frequent churches, and loathe drinking shops — "source's of unh.ppiness amd disease." They dwiy fche ikoues, the sacraments, and the hierarchy o: the Orthodox Church, and ack-nowledgf! the Holy Scriptures only asa moral treatise. They abhor wsr, never have recourse to law courts, avoid qunrre'.s-an.l discussions, and consider it d»gi t nhng to strike any one. All can read and write in order 'to be able sludv the Holy Srnplmvs. They dp not admit airy other power or authority but that of God, ami they refuse to be sworn. Strange to say," both the Dookhobortzee and the Molokany profess a particular worship of Napoleon I. '. A man who has accomplished so many exploits, they say, can be but a Messenger of God sent to re-establish the throne of David and put a term to their misfortunes. A deputation of Molokany set out in 1812 to greet Napoleon, but arrived too late; the Emperor hsd already letfc Russia. The men followed in his footsteps, but were arrested on the frontier, and imprisoned for life. —Ie cult continues, however, until this day, and at their gatherings the Molokany relate the deeds of the Emperor nnd bend their knees before his bust. They do not believe in his depth, but say he has ESCAPED FROM ST. HELENA, traversed the seas, and lives at Irkoutsk. Some day a mighty storm will disperse the clouds, and Hapoieon wiU appear as chief of all Slavs, putting an end to strife, and, surrounded by angvls and lwroic soldiers, he will establish justice and felicity on earth. This extraordinary variety of religious aberration is cited only as an object-lesson from whirh one can infer what the life of a people who cat'eh at such straws must be. It is oire long martyrdom from day to day through centuries, for Russian laws punish with terrible severity those who, in their thirst j after an ideal, look to religion to give j them that part of earthly happiness to I which they flitnk they are entitled. At times persecutions lend to collective suicide or religious murders. Volumes could be filled with such instances from the perusal of official documents alone ; a thankless task this, and best leb alone. Of greater moment is the psychological aspect of tne phenomenon itself, of that wonderful etat dame of tJae Russian peasant with his mystic aspirations, his dreams of ideal perfection, his sublime abnegation — all traits of grandeur and yearning mercy in the melancholy of a people's soul, unsoiled as yet by contacb

with a false science. The dissidents of other creeds are absorbed by a purely religious ideal; the Russian sectarian makes light of dogmatic arguments, bub in his thirst after perfection embraces every pliase of our social life. Liberty, equality, wealth, property, marriages, taxes, food, peace, abolition of armies, etc., etc., everything comes within the purview of his reforming spirit. But wihat is Tolstoism if not the faithful reflection of that etat dame" The non-resistance to evil, the general doctrine of passive inertia which is Tolstoy's principle, 'is but conscious or unconscious adaptation of doctrines proprunded by the humblest of his countrymen. Passed through the retort of his genius, and renovated by the power of his dialectic, these doctrines repcee now on a philosophical basis ; but, like other great reformers, it is to the prophets of the people that Tolstoy went for his conceptions, and the dreams of the moujik have become his own dreams. The exemplary life led by the apostles of every schism in Russia and the penalties they and their followers have to sufi'er are an apology for the title of this paper.