dance with St. Matthew
xxv. 35. Deserters or criminals--who knows why they flee? Laws are
often unjust, tribunals give verdicts to suit the wishes of the
authorities, and the authorities are iniquitous. Besides, the culprits
may repent, and then the crime is wiped out.

The _molokanes_ have always been led by clever and eloquent men.
Uplifted by a sense of the constant presence of the Holy Ghost, they
would fall into ecstatic trances, fully convinced of their own divinity
and desiring only to be transported to Heaven.

Of this type was the peasant Kryloff, a popular agitator who inflamed
the whole of South Russia at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
Intoxicated by the success of his oratory, he grew to believe in his
own mission of Saviour, and undertook a pilgrimage to St. Petersburg in
order to be made a priest of the "spiritual Christians." Poor
visionary! He was flogged to death.

Another _molokane_ leader was one Andreieff, who long preached the
coming of the prophet Elijah. One fine day, excited by the eloquence
of his own discourses, he set forth with his followers to conquer the
"promised land," a rich and fertile district in the neighbourhood of
Mount Ararat, but accomplished nothing save a few wounds gained in
altercations with the inhabitants. On returning to his own country, he
was deported to Siberia for having hidden some dangerous criminals from
justice.

As the number of _molokanes_ increased, they decided to emigrate _en
masse_ to the Caucasus. Their kind actions and enthusiastic songs
attracted crowds of the poor and sick, as well as many who were
troubled by religious doubts. At their head marched Terentii
Bezobrazoff, believed by his followers to be the prophet Elijah, who
announced that when his mission was accomplished he would ascend to
Heaven to rejoin God, his Father, Who had sent him. But alas, faith
does not always work miracles! The day being fixed beforehand, about
two thousand believers assembled to witness the ascension of their
Elijah. By the prophet's instructions, the crowd knelt down and prayed
while Elijah waved his arms frantically. Finally, with haggard mien,
he flung himself down the hillside, and fell to the ground. The
disillusioned spectators seized him and delivered him up to justice.
He spent many years in prison, but in the end confessed his errors and
was pardoned.

Many other Elijahs wished to be transported to heaven, but all met with
the same f