The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-11-06


Il fOrmiStS, n contingent of
whom some few years ago
einigrated to Canada to enjoy the lib
erty of worship" which they We're
ruthlessly denied at home. have broken
out into a marching or revival mania
Some sixteen hundred of them have
left their homes conveying their chill
dren, the sick and the halt. through
the country through which they pass.
enduring with characteristic stocism
hunger and suffering by the way. Some
few years ago during the persecution
of the DOukhoubors by the Orthodox
church it was generally believed out
some affinity, morally and religiously,
to the New England Puritans. They
were supposed to be the victims of ec-
clesiastical tyranny. and their hegira
to the northwest was spoken of as the
heroic Subordination of all worldly con-
siderations to "a passionate confidence
in their own Interpretation of the Scrip
lures and belief in things unseen, and
revolt from the sensuous superstitonS
and prieStly domination of the Greek
church. The mistake was as natural
as 1t was egregious.
The DoukhouborS We're undoubtedly
prosecuted by the Holy Synod for their
schismatic revolt. The Russian govern
ment does not tolerate sectarianism.
1t neither believes in nor processes
religious liberation. The Car is the
spiritual head of the Church. Confor-
nifty to its dogmas is as essential to
the supremacy of theocratical govern
ment as unquestioning political subor-
dlnation is to the autOcracy. Still
there are an appreciable if not a large
number of Protestant sectaries in Rus
sia who are not prosecuted. whose eX-
istence is more or less completely ig-
nored. The Doukhoubors, however,
have been Systematically prosecuted,
But the czar was glad to let them go
to Canada. He put forth no effort to
stop them.
The truth is the Doukhoubors are a
sect whose tenets are Incompatible with
the orderly and philanthropic elements
of society in moderating and regulat-
ing character. The Doukhoubors have
been represented as unqualitiedly the
most industrious and moral element
among the Russian peasantry. They
are abstemious but their ritualistic de-
Votees have less moral consciousness in
the common sense acceptation than
nDW1inp IerVi ishnS oh
less grossness of their ''revivals" and
Interpretations" that has led largely
to their persecution and inhibition in
Russia. They welcome, as fanatics of
this class always do, the peripatetic
impostor whose transcendent claims are
so frequently allied with the pursuit of
the main chances. They are much
given, too, to the sacrifcial rites of self
mutilation and burying alive and
erotic orgies for which civilization has
neither contenance nor toleration under
any pretence. The DOukhoubors We're
handled with rough hand by the Rus
sian authorities. To the Muscovite Of
fetal the discovery of an abuse of this
kind does not present itself as an oc-
cuSlpl ior compromise. his impulse
and training lead to immediate action
The Doukhoubors were welcomed To
Canada and might have proven valu-
able acquisition in its agricultural pro-
Sress, so far as mere animal strength
goes, but the Doukhoubors are, in in
tellectual and moral development, as
children of the night of the Middle
Ages. The Canadian authorities be-
lieve that these half-naked creatures
will be driven back to their villages by
the rigor OF the winter. This is very
likely; but it is equally certain that if
left to their own devices their villages
will become the theatres of scenes
which will stagger humanity.