The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-12
RUSSIAN BEGGARS.
RELIGIOUS MENDICANTs MAKE a
GOOD LIVING.

The Begging Monk and His Convent.
How Nicholas 1 Relieved One Con-
vent of SuperhuOus wealth The
Pilgrims and the Giddy Nuns.
From New York Commercial Advertiser.
Religious beggars in Russia are class
/ by themselves. In giving aims to them
the average Russian thinks that he Is
making so much more likely his welcome
in heaven and they, of course, stand by
him in the conceit. 1t you give them
rouble they will swear that you are going
to heaven, and even 20 copecks makes
ones chances pretty good.
The most easily distinguished type is
what is called the religious lay mendicant
He is always standing around the churches
in St Petersburg and Moscow, and every
| body who has visited these cities will re
call him. He is generally an old peasant
begging for some village church. and the
! police or church authorities give him the
necessary passes and stamped documents
| He stands at church door or near some
| shrine, bareheaded and with a little plate
in his hand, covered with cloth on which
| is embroidered a cross. This is
| as an excuse for entering restaurants rail-
way stations and other public places. AS
a Russian gentleman said to me, You
can't drive a man out with the cross III
his hand" and he is consequently allowed
to go pretty much where he pleases. IN
fortunately. however, it is not very diff
hcult to initiate him, and there are n
number of ''Goriouns' in Russia, posing
as religious lay mendicants. They coun-
terfeit the necessary papers, buy the plate
and cross, and then beg with all their
might. Occasionally they are discovered
and severely punished, but the winnings
from this kind of begging are so tempting
some times as much as 10 roubles, or IS
a day-that they are willing to run the
risk. There are also monk beggars who
proceed in the same way as those of the
lay order except that they wear monk
costumes. 1t is consequently not easy for
the common tramp to initiate them, but il
has been done.
Authorized and permitted though these
monks are, there is but little need for
them to beg, for their converts are almost
without exception rich. The more they
have, however, the more they want, ana
so these monks are sent out to beg or
poor and rich alike. An amusing story
is told of how one of these converts was
relieved of some Of its superfluous wealth.
During the Crimean war Nicholas the
First borrowed 100000 900 roubles from the
Laura monastery at Kieff and gave in ex-
change his note like any other mortal.
Alexander the Second after his ascent to
the throne, made a tour of the provinces
and visited Kieff, where, according to GUS
tom, the first thing he did was to call at
the Laura" He was received by the
Metropolitan and clergy in great array,
and during the ceremony the note of Mich
olas was presented to him, of course, for
payment, on beautiful plate He took
Nf -
then, holding it high in the air, said in a
very solemn voice: "Rehold the most
touching proof of the patriotism of Rus
sia's clergy when She has need of them
cannot better thank you than by giving
YOU as a glorious memento, this auto
graph of my august fatherr' And that
ended the matter for all time.
The pilgrims are another type of re-
lisioGs beggar They are also mainly old
peasants, who have made a vow to go
afoot to some distant shrine. often a thou
sand miles away They take with them
only money enough to buy candles en-
route, and trust to the mercy of the peo-
pie they meet for food and shelter No
peasant would refuse them hospitality,
and they are taken in whenever they APP
pear Money is never offered them. be-
cause ii is known that they will not ac-
cept il. All they want is food enough
to keep body and soul together, and this
they feel free to ask for.
Inese pilgrimages are very frequent in
Russia, and are always the result of a
vow, made sometimes many years before.
Each famous monastery, like the Solo
wiecki, near The White sea; the Troitzki
near Moscow; the Laura" at Kieff, and
many others, has its days of Grand Par
dom" which attract pilgrims from the
farthest points of the empire. They travel
invariably on foot and occasionally IN
bands, but the typical pilgrim goes alone.
astf lie
lem. This is often the case among de-
voted monks, who make this the last act
of a life consecrated to the. church. The
peasants feed and shelter him, and he is
one of their main objects of venerat ton.
There is one more class of authorized
beggars in Russia-the nuns. These wo-
men, with long robes and pointed bonnets
generally travel in couples. They beg on
what is called "the contract system" An
arrangement is made with a convent by
which they are allowed to exploit certain
districts, and agree In return 10 give the
convent a certain percentage of their win
nings; all over this amount belongs to
them personally. They are taxed accord |
ing to theiri ability the percentage vary
ing from one TO three roubles a day When |
they are young and pretty, which is often !
the case, they do very well. AS a Russian |
who has often given 10 them said TO me:
you can't give copper to a pretty wo- |
man." and they know wonderfully well |
how to make their ATTRACTIONS tell. They |
are acquainted with all the good places. - |
and learn quickly 10 discern the generous |
giver. There Is no doubt, however. that |
much is given them without any thought |
of the church or religion, and It is an |
open secret in Russia that there is a great |
deal of corruption among them. / myself |
saw them in state of intoXcation several |
times and their conduct was not at all |
in keeping with their religious calling
LIGHTNING OPENS JACKPOT.