Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XIV. Older Russian Sects
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has been proofread at least once.
(diff)
(history)
Denna sida har korrekturlästs minst en gång.
(skillnad)
(historik)
endures so long as the consorts agree. Should strife arise,
they go their several ways. The same freedom is allowed to
the children, who are brought up to be “Wanderers” too.
In some places the free marriage is celebrated by the man
and woman walking through a village side by side, each holding
an end of the same handkerchief.
Among these and many other sectaries the Tsar is, for the
most part, regarded as Antichrist personified. It is a common
thing to find among them a curious picture, in which he is
depicted in royal robe and crown, receiving a candle from
Satan, who is saying, “Be thou the worker of my will.” At
the side of the Tsar the Orthodox Church is portrayed as a
common strumpet. The sectaries continue to increase in
number, but their mysticism is gradually giving place to
rationalism, and instead of the ideas concerning Antichrist we
find that the Tsar is simply looked upon as Despotism
incarnate, beneath whose iron yoke the Russian people are crushed
to the ground, and are in a perpetually perishing condition.
The way in which misery leads to religious fanaticism is
well illustrated by the following evidence, given by a
sectary before the tribunal that heard his case. “I lived in
the government R., and was body-slave to a landlord, but,
thanks to my ability to write and skill in reckoning, I was
promoted to be bookkeeper on Prince B.’s estate. The Prince
was of an altogether evil disposition; licentious, spendthrift,
and tyrannical, he had ruined the mushiks without mercy. As
bookkeeper I lived a happier life than the rest of the peasants,
and had nothing to complain of, until misfortune suddenly
overtook me. I loved Prasconia, the starost’s daughter, and
my love was returned. Our mutual passion was so strong that
we could not live apart. She was a splendid girl—beautiful,
high-spirited, and steadfast. All the lads contended for her
favour, but she gave to none so much as a glance; to me alone
was she gracious. We were already beginning to speak of the
wedding day, when, to our ruin, the Prince, our master, came
on the scene. The young girl took his fancy immensely; he
desired to possess her.
“One day two of the Prince’s men seized Paracha (her pet
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
