Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-05-17
THE WHITE DOVES.

Peculiar Religious Sect-A Peasant
Whose Conscience Made Him Murder.
From the Pail HALL Gazette.
The Russian government has been
unsuccessful hitherto in it's attempts to
stamp out q religious sect known as the
Skoptzi, or White Doves" the chief
tenet of whose faith is the duty of &C.
ibacy. 1t is not very long since a large
number of these people, including their
chief, Koudrine, were put npon their
trial which exceeded in length, if not
in interest, that of the " unhappy noble
man" to whom reference is occasion
ally made in the House of Commons;
and now fresh Association of Skoptzi
has been discovered in Southern Rus
STA, and 800 of their number are about
to be tried in Simpheropol. The
strength of this sect is to be found in
the wealth of several of its most jealous
adherents, and in the mingled igno-
rance and superstition of the people
among whom converts are sought. To
illustrate this combination of two not
very attractive qualities, the St. Peters
burg Journal mentions case recently
tried at the Moscow Assizes. A peas
ant, accused of numbering an old
woman who was upon pilgrimage,
was asked by the judge why he had
committed the crime, and replied that
he had been driven to it by hunger.
The judge pointed out that the provis-
ions which the victim had in her bas-
ket were not touched, upon which the
prisoner replied, in quite an indignant
tone: "Do you take me for heather?
1t was Friday, and you surely don't
suppose should eat meat on that day?'
It is upon such imaginations az these
that the Skoptzi work, and the number
of conversions which they effect is so
great that the government is getting
alarmed as to their progress. Each sec
ton has it's prophet, who presides at the
religious meetings, which are not held
upon any fixed day or at any particular
place, in order the more efectually to
elude discovery The service takes
place at night, and commences by
the singing of hymns composed by
the prophet and committed to heart by
his congregation. Men and women take
it in tnrns to sing, after which they
dance until they are exhausted The
Greek Church they consider to be the
receptacle of every sort of sin, and is
termed by them the "Church of Baby
lon;" but some Of the Russian Emper-
ors, including Paul I. and Alexander l.,
and also the Empress Elizabeth, are
claimed as members of their sect and
raised to the rank of saints. They re-
ject the sacraments, and express their
opinions of priests by saying that ample
sleeves-the Russian priests wear them
very large-hide a deceitful mind.
Neophytes are only admitted after the
celebration of elaborate rites, chief
among which are invocations to their
saints, and especially to Akoulina Evan
ovna, their Holy Virgin. After this
singing and dancing take place, as at
the ordinary religious meetings, the
prophet puts on white stockings, and,
with a Bible in his hand, prays for
strength to work mirscles. He then tells
different members Of the congregation
what fate is in store for them. These
doctrines may seem more ludicrous
than baneful; but they are said to be
accompanied by other practices Of the
grOssest immortality.