Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-09
TIE OUTDOORS.
Details From Russia of Their Appeal
to the Sultan Of Turkey.

St Petersburg Corr London Times.
The St Petersburg Viedomosti publishes
some interesting Information concerning
the Dukhobors In Canada received from a
Russian living in that colony. He states
that the members Of the sect, who had been
welcomed with open arms by the Canadian
government were materially in a very good
position and could live happily and pros
perously had they not adopted an even
more extreme form Of vegetarianfsm than
that which they formerly held Not con-
tent with abstaining from meat, they now
regard 1t as a sin to use milk or to keep
any domestic animals for any purpose.
They refuse, moreover, to obey any laws
but those given them by God, and therefore
refuse to register their property OF even
their births, marriages. or deaths, as re-
Quired by the Canadian law. The writer
further gives the text OF an extraordinary
petition which the elders OF the sect have
addressed to the Sultan OF Turkey and
probably to other sovereigns. This docu-
ment throws such light on the fanaticism
of the Dukhobors that venture to repro
duce 1t in full 1t reads as follows:
Your Majesty, before appealing to your
kindness. we must tell you In few words
about ourselves. We emigrated from Rus
STA to Canada to the number of 1900 in the
years 1859. We had heard of Canada as
a land of religious freedom. but that ap-
pears to have been misunderstanding.
ada, but not the freedom OF conscience we
desired We believe that God rules our
lives and leads US to eternity by HIS own
holy ways. We obey only the commands
of the Lord in our hearts, and can obey no
other commands or laws We cannot sub
NIT ourselves to the laws or regulations or
any state or be the subjects of any other
ruler except God. Our expectation that we
should be allowed to live according to our
belief in Canada has not been fulfilled. IL
is true that we are exempted from mill
tary service because we cannot bear arms
or kill living beings, put they demand ina.
Britain and not Of the Lord. They refuse
to give US any land unless we promise to
obey all the laws OF Canada. We declare
before God that this is impossible. and that
we would sooner bear any oppression than
be false to Him. We only beg that COM
passion should be shown to us, and espe-
cially to our children, and that we should
not be needlessly ill-treated, for we are in
the Lords power and will be true to Him
unto the end.
Now we turn to your majesty and beg
you to show grace to US and to our fami-
lies, not only as a monarch. but also as a
fellow being. AS pilgrims of God in this
world we beg you to give us hospitality and
shelter in your wide dominions. We beg for
some tiny corner in your land where We
can live by thelabor of our hands and fol-
low the law of God, where we shall not be
compelled to obey laws made by man, ana
where It will not be demanded Of us to be
the subjects Of any monarch except the
Lord We venture to add that we eat
neither meat nor milk foods. but only vege-
tables and fruits. As we give freedom to
every living being we cannot bring our
selves to use force either toward men or
even toward animals. We keep no domestic
animals, but do all our work with our own
hands We therefore beg your majesty to
give US a parcel Of land such as we can
cultivate without employing beasts of bur-
den and such as we can use for vegetable
and fruit gardens in order to maintain our
selves. We pray God to move your heart
to have compassion upon us. and we de-
dictated by selfish motives, but solely by
the wish to be true to the Lord