The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-12

nonent clements of divine incarnation,
hereditary right. tribal expediency and
personal pushfulness that go toward secur-
ing leadership to one particular man IL
Ia certain. however, that apart from any
which Pe,eT Verign may have
had to Peter Kalmikof many believe nm 10
be a son-he was, through his mother'
n nephew of Loukeriya, and, undoubtedly,
had been her favorite About seven-tenths
of all the Doukhobor population in the
Caucasus swore allegiance to Nerigin'
and with understanding faith in his in
fallibllity, committed their fate to ms
hands. The Protestant minority, how
ever. brought an action for the communal
funds in the Russian courts, and In 1887,
yerigin. as a disturber of the peace was
banished by administrative order, with
out any trial, and exiled. first TO one place
and then TO another, until, finally, he was
sent to Siberia The loyal Doukhobors
however, managed to keep up frequent
intercourse with their exiled leader IN
his places OF Punishment, supplying nm
with money and receiving his lnstruc-
tons The orders brought back by the
messengers from Verigin to bis adherents
were as follows; They were to serve one
therefore, since war onends God
they were not to perform military service
they were to divide up their property
equally, that none might be rich or poor
they must cease from killing animals Tor
food and from the use OF intoXicants ana
tobacco; and finally. they must refrain
from sexual relations. at least during the
time of their tribulation |. e.. their leaders
Punishment. 1t might have been presumed
that compliance with the last named pro-
hibition would have been imperfect. but
to how considerable an extent the Douk-
hobors followed their leaders orders. even
in this respect, il evident from the scarcity
OF young children among them when they
reached Canada in 1899. Marriage then
became epidemic.
These orders were issued in 1895 When,
in pursuance thereof, the Doukhobors
mustered courage to refuse CONSUMPTION,
they were subjected to severe persecution
at the hands OF the Russian Government.
Not only were individuals imprisoned,
beaten and sometimes killed. but a whole
settlement comprising some four thousand
persons. was broken up and the members
reduced to such straits that about thou
sand of them died in three years, before
Through Leo Tostoi and his friends. who
had recourse to the medium OF the English
press, the facts Of the persecution began
TO be partially known. and in 1893 the II.
Petersburg Government yielding TO the
pressure OF European opinion, gave the
Doukhobors permission to ernigrate' on
condition that they should go at their own
expense and that those who had refused
to perform military service should remain
to work out their sentences. Through
the mediation of some Jealous Tolstoians
the Doukhobors we're persuaded that they
would find in British North America the
promised land and before the winter OF
1890 1900 more than 1000 OF them were
housed in new settlements comprising
collectively more than 600 square miles on
the line of the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Here they were eventually joined by Vengin,
who for fifteen years had lived in exile.
The experience of the Doukhobors since
their establishment on this side OF the
Atlantic is part Of current history. and
need not be recapitulated in detail. 1t
will be remembered that before Verigin
arrived from Siberia many OF them evinced
symptoms Of religious mania. In 1902
section Of Doukhobors numbering about
600 followed zealot who proclaimed 1t
to be wrong to use metals, to employ horses
or cattle, to own property or money or to
till the ground. Under his leadership
they rendered unto Caesar the things that
were Cesars by handing over their money
to the nearest agent OF the immigration
Department; they let their horses and
cattle 20 free; they drove their sheep
al
to the care Of God; they cut the metal hooks
and eyes from their clothes; set every
| thing in order in their houses, and started
on a pilgrimage which. gathering volume,
| like SNOWFALL IA they passed from village
/ TO village, soon reached proportions that
/ alarmed the authorities. They took hardly
/ anything but their clothes and some bread
! and apples. Some went bareheaded and
/ barefooted all rejected leather footgear.
| The sick folk and cripples were carried on
| stretchers. After fnghtful sufferings from
/ hunger and cold-the pilgrimage did not
! begin until the close Of October-the pill
grins, who only offered passive resistance
were forced by the police into railway cars
and sent back to their villages. second
attempt at pilgrimage was made in May
1909. distinguished by the additional feature
TINT every now and then-espeoially wher
entering any town or settlement-.the pill
grims would divest themselves OF all gar.
ments. This second pilgrimage how
ever. was but a small affair. promptly
stopped by the police and discountenanceC
by Verigin, who by this time had JOINED
his followers Not only did Verigin thence
forward repress such mystical and fanat
ical vagaries. but he presently induced
the pilgrims themselves to comply with th'
regulations prescribed by the Canadian
Government for the acquisition Of home
steads. although in 1901 they had refuse;
to comply with them. on the ground tina
"the law Of God. which we must obey befor
ANYTHING else, cannot be changed a
all"
In his concluding chapter the author
recalling the hope and ardor OF the Tolsto
movement OF iss5-99 and the enthusiasm
with which he had promoted the emigra
ton Of the Doukhobors, asks himself
What OF gain or loss has resultedl Is
good or bad for Canada TO have some seve
thousand five hundred Doukhobors, consti
tuting what amounts to a separate kingdom
within her territory He points out tina
the question is the more pertinent becaus
the desirability of their becoming BIRTHS
subjects has lately been pressed on the