Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1900-02-10
HUMAN SACRIFICES.
MODERN RELIGIOUS FANATICS WHO
BELIEVE IN THEM.

Many Peculiar sects In the Old
World. Particularly In Russia.
Whose Members Kill and Cruelty
That Salvation May De Attained.
That human sacrifices have been
made even in the nineteenth century,
and by protesting Christians. too, Is
brought out by The American Journal
Of Sociology in Il striking article:
The COnvulsiOnists. sect existing in
Paris about 1850. We're wont to cruelty
members of their order. in emulation
of the cruciliXion of the Saviour. in the
belief that the souls OF the surviving
members would be- saved by the sacri-
fees of their fellows. In 1917 the
"Paschrliuns." an Austrian sect. .nu'.
dered Il man. his wife and daughter
under the dclusion that the trio. who
refused to go with the fanatics. We're
possessed OF the aeyll. On the follow.
ing day they cruci!ied one Of their own
number. a girl of 10 yr"rs. who had
suffered herself for the death in imi.
tatiOn of the hraih of the Saviour. in
order to save ;hp souls of her fellow
believers.
In lS23 the leader Of Pictistic cir
Gle in Switzerland. after having dis.
patched her sister. who gave her life
as Il means Of saving the souls of her
relatives. WIS crucitied 10y her follow
ers ut her own command in order that
she might die. rise again after three
days and restore to life the sister she
had slain. In 1865 two mothers. adj
hcrents Of the Holy Men," slew their
sick children. believing them to he vic.
Tins OF demoniacal possession. In
1879 a Hungarian miller. belonging to
the "Nazarcnes." killed his son as an
offering for his own sins after the
fashion of Abraham. In 1870. in IT.
kutsk. Russia. one Of the "Schismat-
les" convinced himself by prayer and
fasting and much Scripture reading
that to save his soul he must be cruel
fed. Accordingly he attempted self
crucifiXion and succeeded so far as
the circumstances Of the case would
permit.
In $780, in the government Of PERM,
Russia. a peasant killed his child as
an offering for sin and buried the body
in an ant hill. Likewise In the gov
eminent of Vladimir. another peasant
killed both his children in due Ahra-
hamic form. and while the babies bled
under the fathers knife the devout
mother celebrated the service by read
ing aloud selected portions of the twen-
ty-second chapter of Genesis. In 1854.
In til" government Of Tambov, Russia.
soul Il man must have II sin to repent
Of. killed ncjghbOr with an AK In or
der to satisfy this highly imperative
condition.
1t is II part Of the creed Of the WAN
dercrs." a Russian sect that anti
Christ rules in high places there and
that accordingly good men must have
naught to do with governmental af- !
fairs OF any sort. In conformity with +,
this belief man murdered in various !
ingenious ways % men. women and
children, including his own wife ana
babies. in order to free them from the
danger Of losing their souls by suffer /
Ing the communicating contact of the
government census taker. This occur |
red in 1897.
The "Denierc." another quite inter- I
esting Russian sect. believe that evil |
tnints all earthly good and that the
only escape is death. In 1922 60 Of
these men. strong in the faith. after
having murdered their wives and chill
dren, permitted themselves to he put |
to death, one by one, by their leaders.
The "Scourgers." who also form n
widespread and influential sect in Rus
sla. in obedience to the behests Of their
''saviOrs." are in the habit of indulg,
ing In human sacrifices, cannibalistic
feasts, erOtic dances and other lewd
procedures as an extremely efficacous
method of keeping the hand Of evil
from off their immortal souls. So the
"Muckers" Of Konigsberg and the eel
ebrants of the black mass in Paris at
ford further examples of the use Of "A
ritual Of erOtism. coupled with n prac-
tice Of the most abandoned and OBJ
scene behavior. to promote the eternal
welfare Of the soul.