n the evidence
of many peasants--some of them Orthodox--that the only immediate effect
was to stir up religious fanaticism, and to induce a certain number of
Orthodox to go over to the heretical camp.

In their public discussions the disputants could find no common
ground on which to argue, for the simple reason that their fundamental
conceptions were different. The monk spoke of the Church as the
terrestrial representative of Christ and the sole possessor of truth,
whilst his opponents knew nothing of a Church in this sense, and held
simply that all men should live in accordance with the dictates of
Scripture. Once the monk consented to argue with them on their own
ground, and on that occasion he sustained a signal defeat, for he could
not produce a single passage recommending the veneration of Icons--a
practice which the Russian peasants consider an essential part of
Orthodoxy. After this he always insisted on the authority of the early
Ecumenical Councils and the Fathers of the Church--an authority which
his antagonists did not recognise. Altogether the mission was a complete
failure, and all parties regretted that it had been undertaken. "It was
a great mistake," remarked to me confidentially an Orthodox peasant; "a
very great mistake. The Molokanye are a cunning people. The monk was
no match for them; they knew the Scriptures a great deal better than he
did. The Church should not condescend to discuss with heretics."

It is often said that these heretical sects are politically disaffected,
and the Molokanye are thought to be specially dangerous in this respect.
Perhaps there is a certain foundation for this opinion, for men
are naturally disposed to doubt the legitimacy of a power that
systematically persecutes them. With regard to the Molokanye, I believe
the accusation to be a groundless calumny. Political ideas seemed
entirely foreign to their modes of thought. During my intercourse with
them I often heard them refer to the police as "wolves which have to
be fed," but I never heard them speak of the Emperor otherwise than in
terms of filial affection and veneration.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE DISSENTERS

Dissenters not to be Confounded with Heretics--Extreme Importance
Attached to Ritual Observances--The Raskol, or Great Schism in the
Seventeenth Century--Antichrist Appears!--Policy of Peter the Great
and Catherine II.--Present Ingenious Method of Securing Religious
Toleration--Internal Development of the R