mperors and kings reign only over the wicked and
sinful, for honest men, like the _douchobortzi_, have nothing to do
with their laws or their authority. War is contrary to the will of
God. Christ having declared that we are all brothers and sisters, the
words "father" and "mother" are illogical, and opposed to His
teachings. There is only one Father, the Father in Heaven, and
children should call their parents by their Christian names.

Except for these leading tenets, their doctrine was variable, and they
not only gave rise to about a hundred other sects, but were themselves
in a continual state of evolution and change. At one time it was their
custom to put to death all children who were diseased in mind or body.
As God dwells in us, they said, we cannot condemn Him to inhabit a body
that is diseased. One leader of the sect believed himself to be the
judge of the universe, and terrorised his co-religionists. Another
ordered all who betrayed the doctrines of the sect to be buried alive,
and legal proceedings which were taken against him and lasted several
years showed him to be responsible for twenty-one "religious murders."

CHAPTER XI

THE MOLOKANES

A sect of considerable importance, that of the _molokanes_, owed its
origin to the _douchobortzi_. It was founded by a sincere and ardent
man named Oukleine, about the end of the eighteenth century. _Moloko_
means milk; hence the name of the sect, whose adherents drank nothing
else.

Improving upon the principles of liberty professed by the
_douchobortzi_, the _molokanes_ taught that "where the Holy Ghost is,
there is liberty"; and as they believed the Holy Ghost to be in
themselves they consequently needed neither laws nor government. Had
not Christ said that His true followers were not of this world? Down,
then, with all law and all authority! The Apostle Paul states that all
are equal, men and women, servants and masters; therefore, the Tsar
being a man like other men, it is unnecessary to obey him.

The Tsar has ten fingers and makes money; why then should not the
_molokanes_ make it, who also have ten fingers? (This was the reply
given by some of them when brought up for trial on a charge of
manufacturing false coinage.) War is a crime, for the bearing of arms
has been forbidden. (It is on record that soldiers belonging to the
sect threw away their arms in face of the enemy in the Crimean War.)
One should always shelter fugitives, in accor