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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/25126-8.txt b/25126-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..eb6cb89 --- /dev/null +++ b/25126-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6033 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Modern Saints and Seers, by Jean Finot + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Modern Saints and Seers + +Author: Jean Finot + +Translator: Evan Marrett + +Release Date: April 22, 2008 [EBook #25126] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODERN SAINTS AND SEERS *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +MODERN SAINTS AND SEERS + + +TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF + +JEAN FINOT + + +BY + +EVAN MARRETT + + + + + +LONDON + +WILLIAM RIDER & SON, LTD. + +CATHEDRAL HOUSE, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. + +1920 + + + + +PREFACE + + +_THE FOREST OF ILLUSIONS_ + +"Listen within yourselves, and gaze into the infinity of Space and +Time. There resounds the song of the Stars, the voice of Numbers, the +harmony of the Spheres."--HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. + + +_In these days the phenomenon of religion, which we believed to have +receded into the background of human life, is reappearing among us, +more vigorous than ever. The four years' desolation into which the +world was plunged has rendered the attraction of "the beyond" +irresistible, and man turns towards it with passionate curiosity and +undisguised longing. The millions of dead who have vanished from +mortal sight seem to be drawing the present towards the unsounded deeps +of the future. In many cases their loss has taken all joy and colour +from the lives of those who survive them, and tear-stained faces are +instinctively turned towards the portals of the Great Mystery._ + +_Occultism is triumphant. In its many different forms it now emerges +from obscurity and neglect. Its promises excite our deepest thoughts +and wishes. Eagerly we examine the strength of the bridge that it has +built between this world and the next; and though we may see our hopes +slip down between the crevices, though we may find those who have been +disappointed in a more despairing state than before--what matter? We +still owe thanks to occultism for some cherished moments of illusion._ + +_The number of its followers increases steadily, for never before has +man experienced so ardent a desire for direct contact with the +Unknowable. Science will have to reckon with this movement which is +carrying away even her own high-priests. She will have to widen her +frontiers to include the phenomena that she formerly contemned._ + +_The supernatural world, with its abnormal manifestations, fascinates +modern humanity. The idea of death becomes more and more familiar. We +even demand, as Renan happily expressed it, to know the truth which +shall enable us not to fear, but almost to love, death: and an +irresistible force urges us to explore the depths of subconsciousness, +whence, it is claimed, may spring the desired renewal and +intensification of man's spiritual life._ + + +_But why is it that we do not return to the old-established religions? +It is because, alas, the Great Agony through which the world has passed +has not dealt kindly with any form of established faith. Dogmatic +theology, which admits and exalts the direct interference of the +divinity in our affairs, has received some serious wounds. The useless +and unjustifiable sacrifice of so many innocent lives, of women, of old +men, of children, left us deeply perplexed. We could not grasp the +reason for so much suffering. Never, at any period in the past, have +the enemies of humanity and of God so blasphemed against the eternal +principles of the universe--yet how was it that the authors of such +crimes went unpunished?_ + +_Agonising doubts seized upon many faithful hearts, and amid all the +misery with which our planet was filled we seemed to distinguish a +creeping paralysis of the established faiths. Just at the time when we +most had need of religion, it seemed to weaken and vanish from our +sight, though we knew that human life, when not enriched and ennobled +by spiritual forces, sinks into abysmal depths, and that even any +diminution in the strength of these forces is fatally injurious to our +most sacred and essential interests._ + +_Attempts to revive our faith were bound to be made sooner or later, +and we shall no doubt yet witness innumerable pilgrimages towards the +source of religion._ + + +_The psychology of the foundations of the spiritual life; the +mysterious motives which draw men towards, or alienate them from, +religious leaders; the secret of the influence exercised by these +latter upon mankind in the mass--all these things are now and always of +intense interest. Through the examination of every kind of disease, +the science of medicine discovers the laws of health; and through +studying many religions and their followers we may likewise arrive at a +synthesis of a sane and wholesome faith. The ever-increasing numbers +of strange and attractive places of worship which are springing up in +all countries bear witness to man's invincible need to find shelter +behind immediate certainties, even as their elaborate outer forms +reflect the variety of his inward aspirations._ + + +_In the great forest of ecstasies and illusions which supplies +spiritual nourishment to so many of our fellow-humans, we have here +confined ourselves to the examination of the most picturesque and +unusual plants, and have gathered them for preference in the soil of +Russia and of the United States. These two countries, though in many +respects further apart than the Antipodes, furnish us with +characteristic examples of the thirst for renewal of faith which rages +equally in the simple soul of an uncultured peasant and in that of a +business man weary of the artificialities of modern life._ + +_Many of us held mistakenly that our contemporaries were incapable of +being fired to enthusiasm by new religions, whose exponents seemed to +us as questionable as their doctrines. But we need only observe the +facts to behold with what inconceivable ease an age considered prosaic +and incredulous has adopted spiritual principles which frequently show +up the lack of harmony between our manner of life and our hidden +longings._ + +_The religious phenomena which we see around us in so many complex +forms seem to foreshadow a spiritual future whose content is +illimitable._ + +_Such examples of human psychology, whether normal or morbid, as are +here offered to the reader, may well recall to mind some of the +strangest products of man's imagination. The tales of Hoffmann or of +Edgar Allan Poe pale before these inner histories of the human soul, +and the most moving novels and romances appear weak and artificial when +compared to the eruptions of light and darkness which burst forth from +the depths of man's subconsciousness._ + +_These phenomena will interest the reader of reflective temperament no +less than the lover of the sensational and the improbable in real life._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PREFACE: THE FOREST OF ILLUSIONS + + +PART I + +THE SALVATION OF THE POOR + +A. THE ORGANISED SECTS + +CHAPTER + + I. THE NEGATIVISTS + II. THE WHITE-ROBED BELIEVERS + III. THE STRANGLERS + IV. THE FUGITIVES + V. THE SOUTAÏEVTZI + VI. THE SONS OF GOD + VII. THE TOLSTOYANS + VIII. THE SPIRITUAL CHRISTIANS + IX. A LABORATORY OF SECTS + X. THE DOUCHOBORTZI + XI. THE MOLOKANES + XII. THE STOUNDISTS + XIII. THE MERCHANTS OF PARADISE + XIV. THE JUMPERS AND THE HOLY BROTHERS + XV. THE LITTLE GODS + XVI. THE FOLLOWERS OF GRIGORIEFF + XVII. THE NAPOLEONITES + XVIII. THE DIVINE MEN + XIX. THE RELIGION OF RASPUTIN + XX. THE INSPIRED SEERS + XXI. THE RELIGION OF SISTER HELEN + XXII. THE SELF-MUTILATORS + + +B. THE NON-SECTARIAN VISIONARIES + + I. THE BROTHERS OF DEATH + II. THE DIVINITY OF FATHER IVAN + III. AMONG THE MIRACLE-WORKERS + + +C. THE RISING FLOOD + + I. THE MAHOMETAN VISIONARIES + II. THE RELIGION OP THE POLAR MARSEILLAIS + III. THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT CANDLE + IV. THE NEW ISRAEL + V. CONCLUSION + + + +PART II + +THE SALVATION OF THE WEALTHY + +A. RELIGION AND ECONOMY + + I. THE MORMONS, OR LATTER-DAY SAINTS + II. THE RELIGION OF BUSINESS + III. THE ADEPTS OF THE SUN OF SUNS + + +B. RELIGION AND MIRACLES + + I. THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS + II. SCHLATTER, THE MIRACLE-MAN + + + +PART III + +THE DEPTHS OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND + + I. SECTS IN FRANCE AND ELSEWHERE + II. THE RELIGION OF MURDER + III. THE REINCARNATIONISTS' PARADISE + CONCLUSION + + + + +MODERN SAINTS AND SEERS + + +PART I + +THE SALVATION OF THE POOR + + +A. THE ORGANISED SECTS + +The tragic death of the monk Rasputin made a deep impression upon the +civilised world, and truth was lost to view amid the innumerable legends +that grew up around his life and activities. One leading question +dominated all discussions:--How could an individual so lacking in +refinement and culture influence the life of a great nation, and become +in indirect fashion one of the main factors in the struggle against the +Central Powers? Through what miracle did he succeed in making any +impression upon the thought and conduct of a social order infinitely +superior to himself? + +Psychologists are fascinated by the career of this adventurer who +ploughed so deep a furrow in the field of European history; but in +seeking to detach the monk from his background, we run the risk of +entirely failing to comprehend the mystery of his influence, itself the +product of a complex and little understood environment. The misery of +the Russian people, combined with their lack of education, contributed +largely towards it, for the desire to escape from material suffering +drove them to adopt the weirdest systems of salvation for the sake of +deliverance and forgetfulness. + +The perception of the ideal is often very acute among the uneducated. +They accept greedily every new "message" that is offered them, but alas, +they do not readily distinguish the true from the false, or the genuine +saint from the impostor. + +The orthodox clergy of the old Russian régime, recruited under deplorable +conditions, attained but rarely the moral and intellectual eminence +necessary to inspire their flock with feelings of love and confidence; +while, on the other hand, the false prophets and their followers, +vigorously persecuted by official religion, easily gained for themselves +the overwhelming attraction of martyrdom. Far from lessening the numbers +of those who deserted the established church, persecution only increased +them, and inflamed the zeal of its victims, so that they clung more +passionately than ever to the new dogmas and their hunted exponents. + +These sects and doctrines, though originating among the peasantry, did +not fail to spread even to the large towns, and waves of collective +hysteria, comparable to the dances of death of the Middle Ages, swept +away in their train all the hypersensitives and neurotics that abound in +the modern world. Even the highest ranks of Russian society did not +escape the contagion. + +We shall deal in these pages with the most recent and interesting sects, +and with those that are least known, or perhaps not known at all. +Beginning with the doctrines of melancholia, of tenderness, of suffering, +of exalted pietism, and of social despair--which, whether spontaneous or +inspired, demoniac or divine, undoubtedly embody many of the mysterious +aspirations of the human soul--we shall find ourselves in a strange and +moving world, peopled by those who accomplish, as a matter of course, +acts of faith, courage and endurance, foreign to the experience of most +of us. + +These pages must be read with an indulgent sympathy for the humble in +spirit who adventure forth in search of eternal truth. We might +paraphrase on their behalf the memorable discourse of the Athenian +statesman: "When you have been initiated into the mystery of their souls +you will love better those who in all times have sought to escape from +injustice." + +We should feel for them all the more because for so long they have been +infinitely unhappy and infinitely abused. Against the dark background of +the abominations committed by harsh rulers and worthless officials, the +spectacle of these simple souls recalls those angels described by Dante, +who give scarcely a sign of life and yet illuminate by their very +presence the fearful darkness of hell; or those beautiful Greek +sarcophagi upon which fair and graceful scenes are depicted upon a +background of desolation. These "pastorals" of religious faith have a +strangely archaic atmosphere, and I venture to think that my readers will +enjoy the contemplation of such virgin minds, untouched by science, in +their swift and effortless communings with the divine. + +The mental profundities of the _moujik_ exhale sweetness and faith like +mystic flowers opening under the breath of the Holy Spirit. In them, as +in the celebrated _Psychomachy_ of Prudence, the Christian virtues meet +with the shadows of forgotten gods, Holy Faith is linked to Idolatry, +Humility and Pride go hand in hand, and Libertinism seeks shelter beneath +the veils of Modesty. + +This thirst for the Supreme Good will in time find its appeasement in the +just reforms brought by an organised democracy to a long-suffering +people. Some day it may be that order, liberty and happiness shall +prevail in the Muscovite countries, and their inhabitants no longer need +to seek salvation by fleeing from reality. Then there will exist on +earth a new paradise, wherein God, to use Saint Theresa's expression, +shall henceforth "take His delight." + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE NEGATIVISTS + +The most propitious and fertile soil in which collective mania can grow +is that of unhappiness. Famine, unjust taxation, unemployment, +persecution by local authorities, and so on, frequently lead to a dull +hatred for the existing social, moral and religious order, which the +simple-minded peasant takes to be the direct cause of his misfortunes. + +Thus it was that the Negativists denied everything--God, the Devil, +heaven, hell, the law, and the power of the Tsar. They taught that +there is no such thing as right, religion, property, marriage, family +or family duties. All those have been invented by man, and it is man +who has created God, the Devil, and the Tsar. + +In the record of the proceedings taken against one of the principal +upholders of this sect, we find the following curious conversation +between him and the judge. + +"Your religion?" + +"I have none." + +"In what God do you believe?" + +"In none. Your God is your own, like the Devil, for you have created +both. They belong to you, like the Tsar, the priests, and the +officials." + +These people believe neither in generosity nor in gratitude. Men give +away only what is superfluous, and the superfluous is not theirs. +Labour should be free; consequently they kept no servants. They +rejected both trade and money as useless and unjust. "Give to thy +neighbour what thou canst of that of which he has need, and he in turn +will give thee what thou needest." Love should be entirely free. +Marriage is an absurdity and a sin, invented by man. All human beings +are free, and a woman cannot belong to any one man, or a man to any one +woman. + +Here are some extracts taken from some other legal records. Two of the +believers were brought before the judge, accompanied by a child. + +"Is this your wife?" the judge inquired of the man. + +"No, she is not my wife." + +"How is it then that you live together?" + +"We live together, but she is not mine. She belongs to herself." + +Turning to the woman, the judge asked: + +"Is this your husband?" + +"He is not _mine_. He does not belong to me, but to himself." + +"And the child? Is he yours?" + +"No, he is not ours. He lives with us; he is of our blood; but he +belongs to himself." + +"But the coat you are wearing--is that yours?" demanded the exasperated +judge. + +"It is on my back, but it is not mine. It belonged once to a sheep; +now it covers me; but who can say whose it will be to-morrow?" + +The Negativists invented, long before Tolstoi, the doctrine of inaction +and non-resistance to evil. They were deceived, robbed and ruined, but +would not apply to the law, or to the police. Their method of +reasoning and their way of speaking had a peculiar charm. A solicitor +who visited one of the Siberian prisons reports the following details +concerning a man named Rojnoff. Arrested and condemned to be deported +for vagabondage, he escaped repeatedly, but was at length imprisoned. +The inspector was calling the roll of the prisoners, but Rojnoff +refused to answer to his name. Purple with rage, the inspector +approached him and asked, "What is your name?" + +"It is you who have a name. I have none." + +After a series of questions and answers exchanged between the ever more +furious official and the prisoner, who remained perfectly calm, Rojnoff +was flogged--but in spite of raw and bleeding wounds he still continued +to philosophise. + +"Confess the truth," stormed the inspector. + +"Seek it," replied the peasant, "for yourself, for indeed you have need +of it. As to me, I keep my truth for myself. Let me be quiet--that is +all I ask." + +The solicitor visited him several months later, and implored him to +give his name, so that he might obtain his passport and permission to +rejoin his wife and children. + +"But I have no need of all that," he said. "Passports, laws, +names--all those are yours. Children, family, property, class, +marriage--so many of your cursed inventions. You can give me only one +single thing--quietness." + +The Siberian prisons swarmed with these mysterious beings. Poor souls! +Their one desire was to quit as soon as possible this vale of injustice +and of tears! + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE WHITE-ROBED BELIEVERS + +Sometimes this longing for a better world, where suffering would be +caused neither by hunger nor by laws, took touching and poetic forms. + +About the month of April, 1895, all eyes in the town of Simbirsk were +turned upon a sect founded by a peasant named Pistzoff. These poor +countryfolk protested against the injustices of the world by robing +themselves in white, "like celestial angels." + +"We do not live as we should," taught Pistzoff, an aged, white-haired +man. "We do not live as our fathers lived. We should act with +simplicity, and follow the truth, conquering our bodily passions. The +life that we lead now cannot continue long. This world will perish, and +from its ruins will arise another, a better world, wherein all will be +robed in white, as we are." + +The believers lived very frugally. They were strict vegetarians, and ate +neither meat nor fish. They did not smoke or drink alcohol, and +abstained from tea, milk and eggs. They took only two meals daily--at +ten in the morning, and six in the evening. Everything that they wore or +used they made with their own hands--boots, hats, underclothing, even +stoves and cooking utensils. + +The story of Pistzoff's conversion inevitably recalls that of Tolstoi. +He was a very rich merchant when, feeling himself inspired by heavenly +truth, he called his employés to him and gave them all that he had, +including furniture and works of art, retaining nothing but white +garments for himself and his family. His wife protested vehemently, +especially when Pistzoff forbade her to touch meat, on account of the +suffering endured by animals when their lives are taken from them. The +old lady did not share his tastes, and firmly upheld a contrary opinion, +declaring that animals went gladly to their death! Pistzoff then fetched +a fowl, ordered his wife to hold it, and procured a hatchet with which to +kill it. While threatening the poor creature he made his wife observe +its anguish and terror, and the fowl was saved at the same time as the +soul of Madame Pistzoff, who admitted that fowls, at any rate, do not go +gladly into the cooking-pot. + +The number of Pistzoff's followers increased daily, and the sect of the +"White-robed Believers" was formed. Their main tenet being +_loving-kindness_, they lived peacefully and harmed none, while awaiting +the supreme moment when "the whole world should become white." + +For the rest, the white-robed ones and their prophet followed the +doctrines of the _molokanes_, who drank excessive quantities of milk +during Lent--hence their name. This was one of the most flourishing of +all the Russian sects. Violently opposed to all ceremonies, they +recognised neither religious marriages, churches, priests nor dogmas, +claiming that the whole of religion was contained in the Old and New +Testaments. Though well-educated, they submitted meekly to a communal +authority, chosen from among themselves, and led peaceful and honest +working lives. All luxuries, even down to feminine ornaments or dainty +toilettes, were banned. They considered war a heathen invention--merely +"assassination on a large scale"--and though, when forced into military +service, they did their duty as soldiers in peace-time, the moment war +was in view it was their custom to throw away their arms and quietly +desert. There were no beggars and no poor among them, for all helped one +another, the richer setting aside one-tenth of their income for the less +fortunate. + +Hunted and persecuted by the government, they multiplied nevertheless, +and when banished to far-away districts they ended by transforming the +waste, uncultivated lands into flourishing gardens. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE STRANGLERS + +A sect no less extraordinary than the last was that of the Stranglers +(_douchiteli_). It originated towards the end of 1874, and profited by +a series of law cases, nearly all of which ended in acquittal. The +Stranglers flourished especially in the Tzarevokokschaisk district, and +first attained notoriety under the following circumstances. + +A large number of deaths by strangling had been recorded, and their +frequency began to arouse suspicion. Whether they were due to some +criminal organisation, or to a series of suicidal impulses, the local +police were long unable to decide, but in the end the culprits were +discovered. + +Were they, however, in reality culpable? + +The unfortunate peasants, after much reflection, had come to the +conclusion that death is not terrible, but that what is indubitably to +be feared is the last agony--the difficult departure from terrestrial +life. They decided, therefore, to come to the assistance of the Death +Angel, and, when any sufferer approached the final struggle, his +neighbours or relatives would carry him off to some isolated spot, tie +up his head firmly but kindly in a cushion--and soon all was over. + +Before, however, they had recourse to such drastic measures, they would +inquire from the wizards (or _znachar_) of the district, doctors being +almost unknown, whether the invalid still had any chance of recovery, +and it was only after receiving a negative reply that the pious +ceremony took place. We say "pious" because there is something +strangely pathetic in this "crowning of the martyrs," as the peasants +called it. Arising in the first place from compassion, the motive for +the deed was, after all, a belief in the need for human sacrifice. The +invalid who consents to give up his life for the honour of heaven +accomplishes thereby an act of sublime piety; but what merit has he who +dies only from necessity? + +The corpses were buried in the forest and covered with plants and +leaves, but no sign was left that might betray them to the suspicious +authorities. When a member of the community disappeared, and the +police made inquiries, they always had the greatest possible difficulty +in finding his remains. Sometimes even his nearest relations did not +know where the "saviours of his soul" had hidden him. + +But there was one thing that marked the discovery of a dead Strangler. +His body never bore any trace of violence, and as dissection always +proved, in addition, the existence of some more or less serious +disease, the sham "murderers" were eventually left in peace. A small +local paper, the _Volgar_ (April, 1895), from which these facts are +taken, reports that several actions brought against them ended in their +acquittal. + +Lord Avebury recounts that certain cannibal tribes kill those of their +members who have reached the stage of senile decay, and make them the +substance of a more or less succulent repast. These savages act, no +doubt, whether consciously or unconsciously, from some perception of +the misery and uselessness of old age, but the Russian peasants cannot +be compared to them. The Stranglers are not moved by any unconscious +sentiment. Their belief is the logical application of a doctrine of +pessimism, whose terrible consequences they have adopted, although they +know not its terminology. What is the life of a _moujik_ worth? +Nothing, or nearly nothing. Is it not well, then, to accelerate the +coming of deliverance? Let us end the life, and, snapping the chains +that bind us to mortals, offer it as a sacrifice to heaven! So reason +these simple creatures, inexorable in their logic, and weighed down by +untold misery. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE FUGITIVES + +The suffering of a people nourishes the spirit of rebellion, enabling +it to come to birth and to survive. There are some religious sects +based exclusively upon popular discontent. The _biegouny_, or +Fugitives, did nothing but flee from one district to another. They +wandered throughout Russia with no thought of home or shelter. Those +who joined the sect destroyed their passports, which were considered a +work of Satan, and adopted a belief in the Satanic origin of the State, +the Church and the Law. They repudiated the institution of marriage, +the payment of taxes, and all submission to authority. Their special +imagery included, among other things, the devil offering a candle to +the Tsar, and inviting him to become the agent for Satanic work upon +earth. Sometimes their feelings led them to commit acts of violence; +one, for instance, would interrupt divine service; another would strike +the priest. A peasant named Samarin threw himself upon the priest in a +Russian church, forced him away from the altar, and, having trampled +the Holy Sacraments under foot, cried out, "I tread upon the work of +Satan!" + +When arrested and condemned to penal servitude for life, Samarin was in +despair because the death sentence had not been passed, so sure was he +that he would have gone straight to heaven as a reward for his heroic +exploit. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE SOUTAÏEVTZI + +The Soutaïevtzi (founded in 1880 by a working-man of Tver, named +Soutaïeff) scoffed at the clergy, the ikons, the sacraments, and +military service, while upholding the principle of communal possession. +They very soon became notorious. Soutaïeff travelled all over the +country preaching that true Christianity consists in the love of one's +neighbour, and was welcomed with open arms by Tolstoi himself. He +taught that there was only one religion, the religion of love and pity, +and that churches, priests, religious ceremonies, angels and devils, +were mere inventions which must be rejected if one wished to live in +conformity with the truth. + +As to Paradise, when all the principles of love and compassion were +realised upon earth, earth itself would be Paradise. Private ownership +being the cause of all misery, as well as of crimes and lies, it must +be abolished, together with armies and war. Further, Soutaïeff +preached non-resistance to evil, and the avoidance of all violence. +One of his sons, when enrolled as a conscript, refused to carry a +rifle. Arguments and punishments had no effect. He proved that heaven +itself was opposed to the bearing of arms by quoting the Gospel to all +who tried to compel him; and in the end he was imprisoned. + +Neither did Soutaïeff allow that a man should be judged by his +neighbour. "Judge not, that ye be not judged," was his motto, and his +life filled his followers with enthusiasm, and many besides with +astonishment. This uncultured peasant, who had the courage to throw on +the fire the money he had earned as a mason in St. Petersburg, who +carried the idea of compassion to such lengths that he followed thieves +in order to give them good flour in place of the bad that they had +stolen from him by mistake--this simple-minded being, whose only desire +was to suffer for the "truth," possessed without doubt the soul of a +saint and a visionary. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE SONS OF GOD + +The "sons of God" held that men were really gods, and that as divinity +is manifested in our fellows and in ourselves, it is sufficient to +offer prayers unto--our neighbours! Every man being a god, there are +as many Christs as there are men, as many Holy Virgins as there are +women. + +The "sons of God" held assemblies at which they danced wildly, first +together and then separately, until the moment when the women, in +supreme ecstasy, turned from the left, and the men from the right, +towards the rising sun. The dance continued until all reached a state +of hysterical excitement. Then a voice was heard--"Behold the Holy +Spirit!"--and the whole company, emitting cries and groans, would +pursue the dizzy performance with redoubled vigour until they fell to +the ground exhausted. + +Their sect originated in the neighbourhood of a great hill, where dwelt +a man named Philipoff with his disciples. He had retired there to work +against the influence of anti-Christ, and it was there that God +appeared to him, and said, "Truth and divinity dwell in your own +conscience. Neither drink nor marry. Those among you who are already +married should live as brothers and sisters." + +Women were held in high esteem by the "sons of God," being venerated as +"mothers or nieces of the Saviour." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE TOLSTOYANS + +The numerous admirers of Count Tolstoi will find in his writings some +derivations, whether conscious or unconscious, from the principles +elaborated by many of the Russian sects. The doctrine of +non-resistance, or inaction, the abolition of the army, vegetarianism, +the defiance of law, and of dogmatic Christianity, together with many +other conceptions which either scandalised or enraptured his readers, +were already widespread among the Russian peasantry; though Tolstoi was +able to give them new forms of expression and an original, if +disquieting, philosophic basis. + +But even as the products of the earth which we consume return to earth +again, so do ideas and doctrines ever return to the source from which +they sprang. A great reformer usually gathers his ideas from his +environment, until, transformed by the workings of his brain, they +react once more upon those to whom they actually owed their origin. + +Renan has traced very accurately the evolution of a religious leader, +and Tolstoi passed through all its logical phases, only stopping short +of the martyrdom necessary ere he could enter the ranks of the prophets. + +Imbued with the hopes and dreams that flourished all around him, he +began, at a ripe age and in full possession of his faculties, to +express his philosophy in poetic and alluring parables, the hostility +of the government having only served to fire his enthusiasms and +embitter his individual opinions. After first declaring that the +masters of men are their equals, he taught later on that they are their +persecutors, and finally, in old age, arrived at the conclusion that +all who rule or direct others are simply criminals! + +"You are not at all obliged to fulfil your duties," he wrote, in the +_Life and Death of Drojine_, 1895, dedicated to a Tolstoyan martyr. +"You could, if you wished, find another occupation, so that you would +no longer have to tyrannise over men. . . . You men of power, emperors +and kings, you are not Christians, and it is time you renounced the +name as well as the moral code upon which you depend in order to +dominate others." + +It would be difficult to give a complete list either of the beliefs of +the Tolstoyans, or of their colonies, in many of which members of the +highest aristocracy were to be found. + +"We have in Russia tens of thousands of men who have refused to swear +allegiance to the new Tsar," wrote Tolstoi, a couple of years before +his death, "and who consider military service merely a school for +murder." + +We have no right to doubt his word--but did Tolstoi know all his +followers? Like all who have scattered seed, he was not in a position +to count it. But however that may be, he transformed the highest +aspirations of man's soul into a noble philosophy of human progress, +and attracted the uneducated as well as the cultured classes by his +genuine desire for equality and justice. + +Early in June, 1895, several hundreds of _verigintzi_ (members of a +sect named after Veregine, their leader) came from the south of Russia +to the Karsk district. The government's suspicions were aroused, and +at Karsk the pilgrims were stopped, and punished for having attempted +to emigrate without special permission. Inquiries showed that all were +Tolstoyans, who practised the doctrine of non-resistance to evil on a +large scale. For their co-religionists in Elisabethpol suddenly +refused to bear arms, and nine soldiers also belonging to the sect +repeated without ceasing that "our heavenly Father has forbidden us to +kill our fellowmen." Those who were in the reserve sent in their +papers, saying that they wished to have nothing more to do with the +army. + +One section of the _verigintzi_ especially distinguished themselves by +the zeal with which they practised the Tolstoyan doctrines. They +reverenced their leader under the name of "General Tolstoi," gave up +sugar as well as meat, drank only tea and ate only bread. They were +called "the fasters," and their gentleness became proverbial. In the +village of Orlovka they were exposed to most cruel outrages, the +inhabitants having been stirred up against them by the priests and +officials. They were spat upon, flogged, and generally ill-treated, +but never ceased to pray, "O God, help us to bear our misery." Their +meekness at last melted the hearts of their persecutors, who, becoming +infected by their religious ardour, went down on their knees before +those whom they had struck with whips a few minutes before. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE SPIRITUAL CHRISTIANS + +The Slavonic atmosphere exhales an intense longing for the ideal and +for heaven. Often a kind of religious ecstasy seems to sweep over the +whole length and breadth of the Russian territories, and Tolstoi's +celebrated doctrines reflected the dreamy soul of the _moujik_ and the +teachings of many Russian martyrs. It would, however, be a mistake to +suppose that it is only the peasants buried in the depths of the +country who provide favourable soil for the culture of the religious +bacillus. It is the same with all classes--merchants, peasants, +labourers and aristocrats. + +The working-classes, especially those of the large towns, usually offer +more resistance to the influence of religious fanatics, but in +Petrograd and Moscow they are apt to follow the general current. Lack +of space forbids us to study in all their picturesque details the birth +and growth of religious sects in these surroundings. We must confine +ourselves to one of the more recent manifestations--that of the +mysterious "spiritual Christians." + +In 1893, a man named Michael Raboff arrived in St. Petersburg. Peasant +by birth, carpenter by trade, he immediately began to preach the tenets +of his "spiritual Christianity." He became suspect, and with his +friend Nicholas Komiakoff was deported to a far-distant neighbourhood; +but in spite of this his seed began to bear fruit, for the entire +district where he and Komiakoff were sent to work was soon won over to +the new religion. The director himself, his wife, and all his workmen +embraced it, and though the workshops were closed by the police, the +various members distributed themselves throughout the town and +continued to spread Raboff's "message." Borykin, the master-carpenter, +took employment under a certain Grigorieff, and succeeded in converting +all his fellow-workers. Finally Grigorieff's house was turned into a +church for the new sect, and an illiterate woman named Vassilisa became +their prophetess. Under the influence of the general excitement, she +would fall into trances and give extravagant and incomprehensible +discourses, while her listeners laughed, danced and wept ecstatically. +By degrees the ceremonial grew more complex, and took forms worthy of a +cult of unbalanced minds. + +At the time when the police tried to disperse the sect it possessed a +quite considerable number of adherents; but it died out in May, 1895, +scarcely two years after its commencement. + +The "spiritual Christians" called themselves brothers and sisters, and +gave to Raboff the name of grandfather, and to the woman Vassilisa that +of mother. They considered themselves "spiritual Christians" because +they lived according to the spirit of Christianity. For the rest, +their doctrine was innocent enough, and, but for certain extravagances +and some dangerous dogmas borrowed from other sects, their diffusion +among the working-classes of the towns might even have been desirable. +Sexual chastity was one of their main postulates, and they also +recommended absolute abstention from meat, spirits, and tobacco. But +at the same time they desired to abolish marriage. + +When the police raided Grigorieff's workshops, they found there about +fifty people stretched on the ground, spent and exhausted as a result +of the excessive efforts which Raboff's cult demanded of them. At +their meetings a man or woman would first read aloud a chapter from +Holy Scripture. The listeners would make comments, and one of the more +intelligent would expound the selected passage. Growing more and more +animated, he would finally reach a state of ecstasy which communicated +itself to all present. The whole assembly would cry aloud, groan, +gesticulate and tear their hair. Some would fall to the ground, while +others foamed at the mouth, or rent their garments. Suddenly one of +the most uplifted would intone a psalm or hymn which, beginning with +familiar words, would end in incoherency, the whole company singing +aloud together, and covering the feet of their "spiritual mother" with +kisses. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A LABORATORY OF SECTS + +We will now travel to the south of Russia, and examine more closely +what might be called a laboratory of sects, or in other words a +breeding-ground of religions whose idealism, whether foolish or +sublime, is often sanctified by the blood of believers, and descends +like dew from Hermon into the midst of our busy civilisation. + +The mystical tendencies of the popular soul sometimes develop in a +fashion little short of prodigious, and to no country do we owe so many +remarkable varieties of religious faith as to that portion of Russia +which lies between Kherson and Nicolaïev. There is seen in full +activity the greatest religious laboratory in the world; there +originate, as a rule, the morbid bacilli which invade the rest of +Russia; and there do sects grow up like mushrooms, only to disappear +with equal rapidity. + +An orthodox missionary named Schalkinsky, who was concerned especially +with the erring souls of the region of Saratov, has published a work in +which he gives a fantastic picture of the events of quite recent years. +He was already the author of several books dealing with the sect of the +_bezpopovtzi_, and his high calling and official position combine to +give authority to his words. + +When we consider the immense variety of these sects, we can easily +imagine what takes place in every small village that becomes possessed +of the craving for religious perfection. Prophets, gods and demi-gods, +holy spirits and apostles, all kinds of saints and mystics, follow +thick and fast upon one another's heels, seeking to gain the ascendancy +over the pious souls of the villagers. Some are sincere and genuinely +convinced believers; others, mere shameless impostors; but all, +manifesting the greatest ardour and eloquence, traverse the +countryside, imploring the peasants to "abandon their old beliefs and +embrace the new holy and salutary dogmas." The orthodox missionaries +seem only to increase the babel by organising their own meetings under +the protection of the local authorities. + +Some of the sectarians will take part in public discussions, either in +the open air or in the churches, but most of them content themselves +with smiling mockingly at the assertions of the "anti-Christian faith" +(i.e. the orthodox official religion). With the new régime conditions +may undergo a radical change, but in former times religious doubts, +when too openly manifested by the followers of the "new truths," were +punished by imprisonment or deportation. + +Sometimes the zeal of the missionaries carried them too far, for, not +content with reporting the culprits to the ecclesiastical authorities, +they would denounce them publicly in their writings. The venerable +Father Arsenii, author of fifteen pamphlets against the _molokanes_, +delivered up to justice in this way sufficient individuals to fill a +large prison; and another orthodox missionary crowned his propaganda by +printing false accusations against those who refused to accept the +truth as taught by him. + +In a centre like Pokourleï, which represented in miniature the general +unrest of the national soul, there were to be found among the +classified sects more than a dozen small churches, each having its own +worshippers and its own martyrs. An illiterate peasant, Theodore +Kotkoff, formed what was called the "fair-spoken sect," consisting of a +hundred and fifty members who did him honour because he invented a new +sort of "Holy Communion" with a special kind of gingerbread. Another, +Chaïdaroff, nicknamed "Money-bags," bought a forest and built a house +wherein dwelt fifteen aged "holy men," who attracted the whole +neighbourhood. Many men in the prime of life followed the example of +the aged ones, and retired to live in the forest, while women went in +even greater numbers and for longer periods. Husbands grew uneasy, and +bitter disputes took place, in which one side upheld the moral +superiority of the holy men, while the other went so far as to forbid +the women to go and confess to them. One peasant claimed to be +inspired by the "Holy Ghost," and promenaded the village, summer and +winter, in a long blouse without boots or trousers, riding astride a +great stick on which he had hung a bell and a flag, and announcing +publicly the reign of Anti-Christ. In addition the village was visited +by orthodox missionaries, but, as the Reverend Father Schalkinsky +naïvely confesses, "the inhabitants fled them like the plague." They +interviewed, however, the so-called chiefs of the new religions, who +listened to them with gravity and made some pretence of being convinced +by the purveyors of official truth. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE DOUCHOBORTZI + +The religious ferment of South Russia was due to some special causes, +its provinces having served since the seventeenth century as lands of +exile for revolutionaries of all kinds, religious, political and +social. Dangerous criminals were also sent there, and a population of +this nature naturally received with open arms all who preached +rebellion against established principles and doctrines. + +About the year 1750, a Prussian non-commissioned officer, expatriated +on account of his revolutionary ideas, appeared in the neighbourhood of +Kharkov. He taught the equality of man and the uselessness of public +authority, and was the real founder of the _douchobortzi_, who believed +in direct communion with the divinity by aid of the spirit which dwells +in all men. The sparks scattered by this unknown vagabond flared up +some time later into a conflagration which swept away artisans, +peasants and priests, and embraced whole towns and villages. + +The beliefs of the sect were that the material world is merely a prison +for our souls, and that our passions carry in themselves the germs of +our punishments. Nothing is more to be decried than the desire for +worldly honour and glory. Did not Our Lord Himself say that He was not +of this world? Emperors 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 Oukleïne, 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 accordance 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 Andreïeff, 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 fate as Bezobrazoff. These misfortunes, however, did not +weaken the religious ardour of the _molokanes_. A regular series of +"false Christs," as the Russians called them, tormented the +imaginations of the southern peasantry. Some believed themselves to be +Elijah, some the angel Gabriel; while others considered themselves new +saviours of the world. + +One of these latter made his début in the rôle of Saviour about 1840, +and after having drained the peasants of Simbirsk and Saratov of money, +fled to Bessarabia with his funds and his disciples. Later he +returned, accompanied by twelve feminine "angels," and with them was +deported to Siberia. + +But the popular mind is not discouraged by such small matters. Side by +side with the impostors there existed men of true faith, simple and +devout dreamers. Taking advantage of freedom to expound the Gospel, +they profited by it for use and abuse, and it seemed to be a race as to +who should be the first to start a new creed. + +Even as the _douchobortzi_ had given birth to the _molokanes_, so were +the latter in turn the parents of the _stoundists_. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE STOUNDISTS + +This sect believed that man could attain to perfection of life and +health only by avoiding the fatigue of penance and fastings; and that +all men should equally enjoy the gifts of Nature, Jesus Christ having +suffered for all. Land and capital should belong to the community, and +should be equally divided, all men being brothers, and sons of the same +God. Wealth being thus equalised, it was useless to try to amass it. +Trade was similarly condemned, and a system of exchange of goods +advocated. The _stoundists_ did not attend church, and avoided +public-houses, "those sources of disease and misery." The government +made every effort to crush them, but the more they were persecuted, the +more they flourished. The seers and mystics among them were considered +particularly dangerous, and were frequently flogged and imprisoned--in +fact, the sect as a whole was held by the Russian administration, to be +one of the most dangerous in existence. It originated in the year +1862, and from then onwards its history was one of continuous martyrdom. + +Like the _molokanes_, the _stoundists_ refused to reverence the ikons, +the sacraments, or the hierarchy of the orthodox church, and considered +the Holy Scriptures to be simply a moral treatise. They abominated +war, referring to it as "murder _en masse_," and never entered a court +of law, avoiding all quarrels and arguments, and holding it to be the +most degrading of actions for a man to raise his hand against his +fellow. All their members learnt to read and write, in order to be +able to study the Scriptures. They recognised no power or authority +save that of God, refused to take oaths, and protested against the +public laws on every possible occasion. Their doctrine was really a +mixture of the _molokane_ teachings and of Communism as practised by +the German colonists, led by Gutter, who settled in Russia about the +end of the eighteenth century and were banished to New Russia in 1818. + +Strengthened by persecution and smacking of the soil, it was no wonder +that _stoundism_ became the religion _par excellence_ of the Russian +_moujik_, assuming in time proportions that were truly disquieting to +the authorities. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE MERCHANTS OF PARADISE + +Side by side with these flourishing sects whose followers could be +numbered by millions, there existed other communities, founded upon +naïve and child-like superstitions, strange fruits of the tree of +faith. The members of one of these believed that it was only necessary +to climb upon the roofs in order to take flight to heaven. The +deceptions practised on them by charlatans, the relentless persecution +of the government, even the loss of reason, all counted for nothing if +only they might enjoy some few moments of supreme felicity and live in +harmony with the divine! To experience such ecstasy they despoiled +themselves of their worldly goods, and gave away their money to +impostors in exchange for pardon for their sins. + +The famous sect called the "Merchants of Paradise" was founded by a +peasant, Athanasius Konovaloff. Together with his son Andrew, he +preached at Osikovka, from 1885 to 1892, the absolution of sins in +return for offerings "in kind." There was need for haste, he declared. +Time was flying, and there were but few vacant places left in Paradise. +These places were of two kinds--those of the first class, at ten +roubles each, which enabled the purchaser to repose upon a celestial +sofa; and those of the second class, at five roubles, whose occupiers +had to spend eternity seated upon footstools. The credulous peasants +actually deprived themselves of food in order to procure their places. + +In 1887, a man who was much respected in the village sold his crops, +and went to buy himself one of the first-class places. His son heard +of it, and was in despair over this lavish expenditure of ten roubles. +Why, he demanded, could not his father be content with a second-class +place, like so many of their neighbours? + +The dispute was brought into the courts, and the old man loudly +lamented the criminal indifference of his son. + +"In my poor old age," he cried, "after having worked so hard, am I to +be condemned to sit for ever on a footstool for the sake of five +roubles?" + +Then, addressing his offspring--"And you, my son, are you not ashamed +so to disregard the future life of your parent, who maintained you +throughout your childhood? It is a great sin with which you are +burdening your soul." + +Places in Paradise were promised not only to the living, but also to +those who had omitted to secure them before departing on their eternal +journey. The relatives would apply to the prophet, who fixed the price +according to the fortune left by the deceased. + +A curious ceremonial always accompanied the payment of money to +Konovaloff. It was first placed upon the ground; Konovaloff would lift +it with his teeth and lay it on the table; and it was finally put in +his pocket by his son, Andrew. He was also assisted in his operations +by two old women. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE JUMPERS AND THE HOLY BROTHERS + +The Jumpers, or _sopouny_, founded by one Petroff, considered it their +duty to blow upon one another during Divine Service. This arose from a +misinterpretation of the ninth verse of the fortieth psalm. It was +also their custom to pile benches one upon another and pray from the +top of them, until some hysterical female fell to the ground in a +religious paroxysm. One of those present would then lean over her and +act the scene of the resurrection. Petroff was a great admirer of King +David, and would sing his psalms to the accompaniment of dancing, like +the psalmist before the Ark. His successor, Roudometkin, reorganised +the Jumpers, and gave their performances a rhythmic basis. Foreseeing +the near advent of the Saviour, he caused himself to be crowned king of +the "spiritual Christians" in 1887, and married a "spiritual" wife, +though without discarding his "material" one. His successors all +called themselves "Kings of the spiritual Christians," but they had not +the authority of poor Roudometkin, who had been removed to prison in +Solovetzk. + +We may class with the Jumpers the Holy Brothers, or _chalapouts_, who +believed in the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost. They were +visionaries of a more exalted kind, and often attained to such a state +of religious enthusiasm that in their longing to enter heaven they +climbed to the roofs of houses and hurled themselves into space. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE LITTLE GODS + +The sect of the "little gods," or _bojki_, was founded about 1880 by a +peasant named Sava. Highly impressionable by nature, and influenced by +the activities of at least a dozen different sects that flourished in +his native village (Derabovka, near Volsk), Sava ended by believing +himself to be God. + +Though naturally aggressive, and of an irascible temperament, he soon +became as serious as a philosopher and as gentle as a lamb. His +intelligence seemed to increase visibly. He discoursed like a man +inspired, and said to the inhabitants of Derabovka:-- + +"If there be a God in Heaven, there must also be one on earth. And why +not? Is not the earth a creation of Heaven, and must it not resemble +that which created it? . . . Where then is this earthly God to be +found? Where is the Virgin Mary? Where are the twelve apostles?" + +The dreamer wandered about the village, uttering his thoughts aloud. +At first men shrugged their shoulders at his strange questions. But he +continued to hold forth, and in the end the peasants gathered round him. + +It was the sweetest moment of his life when the villagers of Derabovka +at last found the deity who had been sought so eagerly. For whom could +it be, if not Sava himself? . . . Thus Sava proclaimed himself God; +gave to his kinsman Samouil the name of Saviour; to a peasant-woman of +a neighbouring village that of the Virgin Mary; and chose the twelve +Apostles and the Holy Ghost from among his acquaintance. The +nomination of the latter presented, however, some difficulties. The +Holy Ghost, argued the peasants, had appeared to Jesus by the river +Jordan in the form of a dove, and how could one represent it by a man? +They refused to do so, and decided that in future all birds of the dove +species should be the Holy Ghost. + +The authorities began to seek out the "gods," as they were called +locally. Samouil was arrested and charged with being a false Saviour, +but defended himself with such child-like candour that the tribunal was +baffled. The movement therefore continued, and was indeed of a wholly +innocent nature, not in any way menacing the security of the +government, and filling with rapture all Sava's followers. + +It was the custom of the "little gods" to gather in some forest, and +there to hide the "Virgin Mary" in a leafy glade, and await her +"apparition." Sava himself, and Samouil, the "Saviour," would be +concealed close at hand, and she would emerge from her hiding-place in +their company. The lookers-on then gave vent to loud cries of joy, and +all united in glorifying the goodness of Heaven. The "Virgin" wore on +these occasions a rich and beautiful robe in which all the colours of +the rainbow were blended. The company would gather round her, while +the "Apostles" reverently kissed her feet. Sacred hymns were then +sung, and the worshippers dispersed filled with unbounded ecstasy. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE FOLLOWERS OF GRIGORIEFF + +The forms taken by religious mania are not always as harmless as in the +case of the "God Sava." Ivan Grigorieff, founder of the Russian +Mormons, began by preaching that God created the world in six days, but +by degrees he came to attack established religion as well as the +existing social order. According to him, the _molokanes_ were +"pestilent," the _douchobortzi_ were "destroyers of the faith," and the +_chlysty_ were "mad cattle." There was only one truth, the truth of +Grigorieff! + +The Bible should be interpreted "according to the spirit," and as the +Apostle Paul had said that Christ was to be found in those who believed +in Him, then Grigorieff could be no other than Christ. He went to +Turkey, returned in the rôle of "Saviour," and preached the necessity +for a "spiritual life." Several women were chosen to share his life +and that of the twelve "Apostles" whose duty it was to "glorify" him. + +Passing from one hallucination to another, he insisted on a general +cessation of labour. "Work not," he said, "for I will be gentle and +merciful to you. You shall be like the birds who are nourished without +need to till the earth: Work not, and all shall be yours, even to the +corn stored away in the government granaries." + +And so the peasants of Gaï-Orlov left their fields unfilled, and +cultivated nothing save hymns and prayers. They seemed to be uplifted +as by some wave of dreamy, poetic madness. Even the unlettered +imitated Grigorieff in composing psalms and hymns, some specimens of +which are to be found in Father Arsenii's collection. They breathe an +almost infantile mysticism. + + "The dweller in heaven, + The King Salim, + Saviour of the world, + Shall descend upon earth. + The clouds flee away, + The light shines. . . ." + + "We will climb the mountain, + It is Mount Sion that we climb, + And we will sing like angels." + + +When Grigorieff's mind began definitely to fail, and, forgetful of +divine service, he passed his time in the company of his "spiritual +wives," doubt seized upon the members of his church, and they composed +a melancholy psalm which was chanted to Grigorieff by his "Apostles." + + "Father, Saviour, + Hope of all men . . . + Thou gavest us the spark, + The spark of faith. + But to-day, little father, + Thou hidest the light, + Thou hidest the light. . . . + + Our life is changed. + We weep for thy faith, + Lost and deranged, + We weep for thy holy life. + Upon the Mount Sion + There grew a vine of God. . . ." + + +Grigorieff appeared to be touched, and replied with a psalm which +explained, in rhymed couplets, how the Holy Ghost (that is to say, +Grigorieff) was walking in a garden when brigands appeared, and tried +to carry him off--an allusion to some of his followers who had caused +dissension by proclaiming themselves to be "Holy Ghosts." But the sun +descended upon the Garden of Paradise, the celestial garden . . . and +so on. + +One day, however, "Anti-Christ," in the person of a travelling +magistrate, descended upon Gai-Orlov and carried off Grigorieff. He +was sent to prison, where he died of poison administered by one of his +"spiritual wives," who was jealous of her rivals. But his teachings +did not die with him. His work was continued by the peasant +Verestchagin, with the help of twelve venerable "apostles." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE NAPOLEONITES + +Imagination can scarcely conceive of some of the strange forms under +which the thirst for religious truth in Southern Russia was revealed. +In this great laboratory of sects, all the dreams of humanity had their +more or less "inspired" representatives. Even the smallest town was in +the same case as, for example, the prison of Solovetzk, which was +usually inhabited by large numbers of sectarian leaders. A Mr. +Sitzoff, who spent some time there, has published a description of this +modern Tower of Babel. + +It harboured, among others, a _douchoboretz_; a "god" of the Sava +persuasion, with his wife, representing the "Holy Ghost"; a _chlyst_, +who rotated indefatigably round a tub of water; a captain who claimed +the honour of brotherhood with Jesus Christ; a man named Pouchkin, who +supposed himself to be the Saviour reincarnated; a _skopetz_ who had +brought a number of people from Moscow to be initiated into the sect of +the Russian eunuchs; and the _staretz_ Israïl, a famous seer, who +desired to found a "Church Triumphant" among the inhabitants of the +prison. + +These ardent reformers of religion made a terrible uproar during the +hours for exercise, each one wishing to convert the rest, and +frequently the warders had to intervene, to save the terrified "Holy +Ghost," for example, from the "brother of Christ" or the prophet Elijah. + +Before taking leave of these and other equally bizarre products of the +"great laboratory," we must mention the sect of the Napoleonites, some +few members of which were still to be found recently in Southern +Russia. William Hepworth Dixon, who visited the country in 1870, +claims to have met some in Moscow, and according to him they were then +rapidly increasing in numbers. + +The _douchobortzi_ and the _molokanes_ were deeply impressed by the +advent of Napoleon the First. It seemed to them that a man who had +taken part in so many heroic adventures must be an envoy of the Deity. +They conceived it his mission to re-establish the throne of David and +to put an end to all their misfortunes, and there was great joy among +the "milk-drinkers" when the "Napoleonic mystery" was expounded to them +by their leaders. It was arranged to send five _molokane_ delegates to +greet the "heavenly messenger," and five old men set forth, clad in +garments white as their beards. But they arrived too late. Napoleon +had left Russia after the disaster of 1812, and when the _molokanes_ +tried to follow him they were arrested on the banks of the Vistula and +thrown into prison. + +The popular imagination, however, refused to abandon its idol, and the +idea of Napoleon ascending into heaven continued to arouse much +enthusiasm. Many of the Napoleonites lamented the wickedness of his +enemies, who had driven him out of Russia, thus depriving mortals of a +saviour from on high. + +At their meetings they spoke of Napoleon's heroic exploits, and knelt +before his bust. It was said that when he entered Russia a star had +appeared in the sky, like that which heralded the birth of Christ; that +he was not dead, but had escaped from St. Helena by sea and was living +in Irkutsk; that one day the heavens would be torn open by a great +storm, and Napoleon would appear as leader of the Slavonic people; that +he would put an end to all discord and, surrounded by angels and brave +soldiers, would re-establish justice and happiness on earth to the +sound of trumpets. + +"The hour draws near!" This cry of supremest hope was ever upon the +lips of the members of the Napoleonite church. + +But to become almost God was a promotion of which the "little corporal" +had surely never dreamed! + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE DIVINE MEN + +The origin of this sect seems to be lost in the mists of the past. +Some connect it with the teachings of Vishnu, some with mysterious +practices of antiquity; but the "divine men" were certainly children of +the Slavonic soil. + +Those who seek for resemblances may find certain analogies between +these adepts of "virginal virginity," or of "the great garden of the +Tsar"--for both these names were applied to them--and the _adamites_ or +_aryanists_; for eager minds seeking supreme salvation are apt to meet +upon the great road that leads to deliverance. + +The rather sarcastic name of _chlysty_ (or flagellants, by which they +were also known) indicates one of the methods used by them in their +desire to please the Lord. + +A life-and-death struggle, lasting for some centuries, took place +between Russian orthodoxy and this sect whose socialistic ideas +threatened to overthrow the aristocratic dogmas of the official church. + +The real founder of the sect was a man named Philipoff, who lived about +the middle of the seventeenth century. According to him, Jesus Christ +was only one of many Christs who have come to the succour of humanity +during the course of ages. The divine spirit incarnates in men of high +morality, so that Christs appear and disappear, living with and among +us from time to time. + +The chlysty, therefore, might always have one or more Christs among +them; but all were not of equal standing. Some were great and some +small! + +Philipoff was convinced that he was the great Christ, having the right +to choose the twelve Apostles and the Holy Mother. By degrees he came +to think himself God the Father, and adopted a "divine son" in the +person of a peasant named Sousloff, who succeeded him as leader of the +sect after his death. + +Another "Christ," named Loupkin, who bestowed the title of "Holy +Virgin" upon his wife, Akoumina, gave a great impetus to the growth of +the sect. His followers proclaimed him their spiritual Tsar, and +received him everywhere with imposing ceremonies. He allowed his feet +and hands to be kissed and obeisances to be made to the "Virgin." As a +result of his propaganda many prominent members of the orthodox church +were won over. + +On the death of Akoumina, the rôle of Holy Virgin was taken by the +Canoness Anastasia, of the convent of Ivanoff, and as time went on many +of the aristocracy of Moscow and other parts came to swell the ranks of +the believers in the "living Christs." + +Philipoff's doctrines differed to some extent from those of Loupkin. +Branches of his church were to be found in most of the Russian +provinces, and as time went on these emancipated themselves and became +independent, and many new "Christs" made their appearance. In 1903, +nearly every Russian province was said to be seriously affected by the +doctrines of the "divine men." + +Apart from the secondary articles of faith which differentiated the +churches, their main principles may be epitomised as follows:-- + +There are seven heavens, and the seventh is the Paradise of the "divine +men." There dwell the Holy Trinity, the Mother of Jesus, the +Archangels, and various Christs who have visited our planet. It is not +a question of material bodies, but of spiritual principles. God +incarnates in good men whenever He feels it to be necessary, and those +who are chosen for this divine honour become Christs. The Christ of +the Gospels died like all the rest. His body is interred at Jerusalem, +and his resurrection only meant the deliverance of his spirit. His +miracles were merely symbolical. Lazarus was a sinner; Christ cured +him and made him a good man; hence the legend of the raising from the +dead. The Gospels contain the teachings of the Christ of that epoch, +but the Christs of our time receive other teachings appropriate to the +needs of the present day. + +The orthodox religion of Russia is a material religion, lacking the +Spirit, whose presence is only to be found in the creed of the "divine +men." In order that their truth shall triumph, these latter may belong +nominally to the official religion. They may even attend its churches, +but must leave their souls on the threshold. A "divine man" must guard +his soul from the "infidels," the "wicked," the "voracious +wolves"--thus were the orthodox believers designated. The human soul +was created before the body. (A "divine mother," questioned as to her +age in a court of law, declared that though her body was only seventy +years old, her soul had lived through nearly as many centuries.) +Metempsychosis was one of their beliefs. Souls change their +habitations, and work upwards to supreme perfection. That of a Christ +on earth becomes an angel after death; that of an imperfect man +requires repeated incarnations. The body is the source of evil, and +the soul the source of good. The body, therefore, with all its +instincts and desires, must be dominated by the soul. "Divine men" +must abstain from meat and alcoholic drinks, and also from marriage in +the material sense. By a singular misapprehension of the idea of +dominating the body, they looked upon marriage as a spiritual +institution, believing that the soul of a man who had lived with his +wife in any but a fraternal relationship would enter that of a pig +after his death, and that children coming into the world through +marriage were the joy of Satan. But love between men and women should +exist outside the bonds of marriage, the sins of the flesh being then +redeemed by the virtues of the spirit. Adultery was thus tolerated, +and even held in high honour, by many branches of the sect, who +believed that the vulgar relations between the sexes were thus +spiritually purified, and that men and women who loved under these +conditions were like the doves and turtle-doves favoured by heaven. +They avoided having children, and abortion was not only tolerated but +encouraged. + + +Rasputin, who borrowed largely from the doctrines of the "divine men," +made great use of this strange idea of "spiritual love" in bringing +about the triumph of debauchery in the highest ranks of Russian society. + +The multiplicity of "Christs" caused some regrettable +misunderstandings, and at times actual duels took place. The +difficulty was resolved, however, by some of the churches in admirably +simple fashion--for, in spite of all, many of these strange people were +inspired by the Gospel teachings. The opponents exchanged blows, and +he who longest continued to offer his cheek to the other was considered +to have proved himself a superior Christ. + +The _chlysty_ were divided into sections, each having its angels, its +prophets, and its Christ. They met in their "Jerusalem," which was +usually a cellar, and their services took place at night, the +participants all wearing white robes. The ceremonies consisted chiefly +of graceful movements--first a solo dance, then evolutions in pairs, +after which a cross would be formed by a large number of dancers, and +finally the "dance of David" took place, in imitation of the Biblical +King before the Ark. The dancers then fell exhausted to the ground, +their tired bodies no longer opposing the manifestation of their souls, +and the prophets and prophetesses gave voice to divine inspirations. + +Once a year the "high ceremonial" was held. A tub filled with water +was placed in the middle of the room, and lit up by wax candles, and +when the surface of the water became ruffled the ecstatic watchers +believed God to be smiling upon them, and intoned in chorus their +favourite hymn--- + + "We dance, we dance, + And seek the Christ who is among us." + +In some of the churches this ceremony concluded with the celebration of +universal love. + + +On account of its numerous ramifications, the sect presented many +divergent aspects. The _teleschi_, following the example of Adam and +Eve in Paradise, performed their religious rites in a state of nature; +and there were other branches whose various dogmas and practices it +would be impossible to describe. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE RELIGION OF RASPUTIN + +The career of Rasputin provides one of the most disquieting chapters in +the history of sexual and religious emotions, and furnishes remarkable +proof of the close relationship which exists between these two sides of +human life, to all appearances diametrically opposed. + +The supposed monk had undoubted hypnotic powers, and through his +success in sending people to sleep in his native Siberian village (in +the neighbourhood of Tomsk), he earned the reputation of being a "holy +man." As they had never heard of either suggestion or hypnotism, the +Siberian peasants were all the more impressed by his miracles. Before +long he decided to make use of his mysterious power on a larger scale, +and departed for St. Petersburg, where the news of his exploits had +preceded him. The Tsarina, who suffered from insomnia, sent for him, +and--thanks also to certain qualities which it is best not to +specify--Rasputin's fortune was made in a day. + +The village of his origin had an undesirable reputation, for its +inhabitants were loose-livers, and the scandal of the surrounding +countryside. But even in this environment the monk's family had made +themselves conspicuous by their low and unmentionable customs. The +young Gregory, known by the diminutive of Gricha, began his exploits at +a very tender age, and earned the sobriquet of Rasputin, which means +"debauched." He was mixed up in all kinds of dubious affairs--for +instance, thefts of horses, the bearing of false witness, and many acts +of brigandage. He was even sentenced more than once to be flogged--a +penalty of which the local law-courts made generous use in those days. +One of his boon companions, a gardener named Vamava, later became +Bishop of Tobolsk through his influence. + +But the time came when Gricha thought it well to abandon his small +misdoings, and take up a more lucrative trade. He discarded his +peasant costume, and adopted a robe similar to that worn by monks. +Grave and serious, declaring that he was ranged "on the side of the +Lord," he went about begging importunately, on the pretext of wishing +to build a church. In this way he succeeded in amassing a very +considerable sum of money, and subsequently founded a new sect whose +bizarre nature surpassed that of any others that had recently seen the +light. + +Its chief doctrines were borrowed from the _chlysty_, with some +modifications to suit the decadent atmosphere of the Russian Court. It +taught that none could be saved without first having repented; and none +could repent without first having sinned. Therefore to sin became a +duty, and it may be imagined how full of attraction was this "religion +of sin" for those who had neither the will nor the desire to practise +virtue. + +Rasputin began proceedings in his native province. He was a marvellous +preacher, and easily attracted many followers, though some of the forms +taken by the new religion were indescribable. The believers of both +sexes were in the habit of assembling in an open field, in the midst of +which a bonfire was lighted. They would form a chain and dance round +the fire, praying for their sins to be forgiven, as they had repented +of them. Gradually the fire would die out, and the leader then +launched his command--"Now, my children, give yourselves up to sin!" +The sequel may be left untold, but truly the _saturnalia_ of ancient +Rome grow dim before the spectacle of the ceremonies established by +Rasputin. + +His hypnotic practices, combined with the attractions of his +"religion," only served to augment his popularity, and, burdened with +past glory, he arrived in the capital to win the favour not only of +ladies of high degree, but also of many prominent members of the +established church. + +Father John of Cronstadt, whom he first visited, was deeply impressed +when Rasputin revealed to him the extent of his "intimacy with the +Lord," and introduced him to the Archbishop Theophanus, almost as great +a celebrity as himself. + +Finding it impossible to establish the Siberian practices openly in St. +Petersburg, Rasputin made great use of hypnotism. The fascination that +he wielded over all in his vicinity gave authority to his words, and he +devoted himself to exorcising the demons that slept in the bodies of +the pretty sinners of high society. In this, scourging played a +considerable part, and as all sorts of illnesses and unsatisfied +desires were attributed to the "demons," the number of cases treated by +the "holy man" was almost incalculable. + +Even the prelates whom Rasputin ousted from their positions in some +cases still continued to believe in him after his death. The Bishop +Hermogen, whom he disgraced at Court, declared, the day after the +assassination, his conviction that Rasputin possessed "a spark of +godhead" when he first arrived in Petrograd. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE INSPIRED SEERS + +The official clergy, finding it incumbent on them to defend the +articles of the orthodox faith, were themselves frequently swept away +by the storm of religious mania. Before the war the fortress of +Solovetzk sheltered quite an army of these harmless rebels, who, +troubled by the general desire for human perfection, had ended in +blasphemy. Especially from the monasteries were they recruited. It +seemed as though their souls were violently assaulted by devils, like +those of the anchorites of olden days. Monks and nuns alike were +equally discontented, equally eager to uproot evil, whether real or +imaginary, by seeking out new ways of salvation. + +One such was the unfortunate Israïl, originally head of the monastery +of Selenginsk, later a prisoner at Solovetzk. He preached eloquently +and fervently the renunciation of property, and persuaded his mother +and sisters to abandon their worldly goods and devote themselves to the +service of the Virgin. "To a nunnery!" he cried, with all the +conviction of Hamlet driving Ophelia from this world, and they sang +psalms with him and went to conceal their misery in a convent. Then, +with a staff in his hand, he traversed Russia, and visited many +_staretz_, or holy men. They taught him "the beginning and the middle +of the end which does not exist," but poor Israïl was still conscious +of an emptiness in his heart. In the pursuit of truth he retired to a +virgin forest on the banks of the river Schouïa, near the desert of +Krivoziersk, and remained there for years engaged in prayer, until at +last, touched by such piety, the Lord gave peace to his soul. +Surrounded by holy books, he practised meditation, and God manifested +His love by sending him visions and dreams which, coming direct from +Heaven, promised salvation to himself and to all who should follow him. +In one dream he saw a great temple above the cave where he was praying. +Millions of people sought to enter it, but could not, and shed bitter +tears of disappointment. One man alone could approach the altar. It +was Israïl, the beloved of the Lord. He went straight through the +great doors, and all the rest followed him. + +The holy man then decided that he must act as guide to his fellows who, +like himself, were possessed by the fever for eternal salvation. He +knew how to distinguish between dreams sent by heaven, and those +emanating from the infernal regions. + +It was a great day for the new religion which was to be born in the +desert of Krivoziersk when the Father Joseph came to join Israïl, the +tale of whose glory by this time resounded throughout the whole +neighbourhood. They remained on their knees for whole weeks at a time, +praying together. Israïl painted sacred pictures, and Joseph carved +spoons, for the glory of the Lord. An inexplicable emotion filled +their souls; they trembled before the Eternal, fasted, and shed +scalding tears; then, overcome by fatigue, fell fainting to the ground. +Israïl beheld the heavens descending upon earth. They had no dread of +wild beasts, and, disregarding the need for food or sleep, they thus +dwelt far from the haunts of men, in the light of Eternity. + +One day Israïl rose abruptly in an access of religious frenzy, climbed +a hill, saluted the East three times, and returned radiant to his +companion. + +"The burden which lay at the door of my heart," he cried, "the burden +which hindered my spirit from soaring heavenwards, has disappeared! +Henceforward the Kingdom of Heaven is in me, in the depths of my soul, +in the soul of the Son of my Father!" + +He proceeded to share this kingdom with the brothers Warlaam, Nikanor, +and others who had been "touched by the finger of God." Unbelievers +were gradually won over, and a community was formed whose members lived +on prayers and celestial visions, and obeyed the rules laid down for +them by Israïl. The sick were cured by his prayers, and the +incredulous were abashed by the holiness of his appearance. + +His fame spread, and ever greater crowds were attracted, so that while +the faithful rejoiced in the triumph of "the belovéd," Israïl himself +deemed the time to be ripe for his promotion in the ranks of sanctity. +He proclaimed himself to be Jesus Christ. + +On Holy Thursday he washed the feet of his disciples, blessed the bread +and wine, and distributed it to the assembled believers. + +But, alas, by this time dreams of a strangely sensual nature had seized +upon him, and seemed to pervade his whole being. + +In one of these dreams he found himself in an empty temple, and on +approaching the altar, perceived a dead woman lying there. He lifted +her up, and as he touched her she showed signs of life. Suddenly, +slipping from his grasp, she leapt upon the altar, and, radiating +heavenly beauty, threw herself into his arms. "Come, come, my spouse!" +she said. "Come, that I may outpour for thee the wine of my love and +the delights of my Eternal Father!" + +On hearing these words from the Queen of Heaven, Israïl dissolved into +tears. He was filled with boundless rapture, and in his excitement +could not forbear from sharing this joyful experience with his +disciples. + +His Golgotha was drawing near. The new religion was openly denounced, +and rigorously suppressed. The apostles were imprisoned, and the Jesus +Christ of Krivoziersk was sent for to the town of Kostroma, that he +might give account of himself, his visions, and his crimes. Ultimately +he was condemned to a spell of confinement, and forced to perform the +most humiliating duties. His asceticism, his many virtues, his fasting +and prayers, the love which God had manifested for him--all were +forgotten, and Israïl, who had held the Queen of Heaven in his arms, +was in future obliged to clean out the stables of the monastery of +Makariev, to light the fires, and prepare the brothers' baths for them. + +The "beloved of the Lord" fully expected to see the earth open and +engulf his impious judges in its yawning depths--but no such thing +happened. His spirit grew uneasy, and, taking advantage of the Russian +Government's appeal for missionaries to convert the Siberian peoples, +he set forth to preach his own religion to them instead of that of +Tsarism. Arrived at Irkutsk, he sought first of all to save the souls +of the chief authorities, the Governor-General and the Archbishop. But +his efforts beat in vain against the indifference of these high +dignitaries. + +"Happy are those who follow me," he assured them, "for I will reveal to +them the secrets of this world, and assure them of a place in my +Father's kingdom." + +However, they did not heed him, and horrified at such lack of faith, +Israïl presented the Governor-General with a formal document on "the +Second Coming of Our Saviour Jesus Christ." Still the souls of his +contemporaries remained closed to the revelation, and while he +meditated upon their blindness and deplored their misfortune, he was +suddenly seized by their equally faithless representatives and +transported to the farthest limits of the country. + +There he found many of his old disciples, and proceeded to form the +sect of the "inspired seers." He taught them with all earnestness that +they would shortly see the Lord, Saint Simeon, and the Queen of Heaven, +and soon after this, when in a state of ecstatic exaltation, they did, +as by a miracle, behold God surrounded by His saints, and even the +Infant Jesus. + +But a new era of persecution was at hand for Israïl. Heaven was +merciful to him, but the powers of the earth were harsh. However, the +more he was persecuted, the more his followers' ardent belief in his +"divinity" increased, and their enthusiasm reached a climax when the +police had the audacity to lay hands on "the son of the Lord." But +Israïl was quite unmoved by the fate of his earthly body, or by the +prospect of earthly punishment. His soul dwelt with God the Father, +and it was with the profoundest disdain that he followed the +representatives of evil. + +During the trial his disciples loudly expressed their belief in him, +and what seemed to strengthen their faith was the fact that Israïl, +like the Divine Master, had been betrayed by a "Judas." They believed +also that his death would be followed by miracles. + +Israïl himself desired to be crucified, but Heaven withheld this +supreme grace, and also denied his followers the joy of witnessing +miracles at his graveside. The Holy Synod contented itself with +sentencing him to lifelong imprisonment at Solovetzk. + +We may add that the founder of the "inspired seers" left, at his death, +several volumes of verse. Unhappy poet! In the west he might have +been covered with honour and glory; in the far north his lot was merely +one of extreme unhappiness. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE RELIGION OF SISTER HELEN + +Sister Helen Petrov, of the convent of Pskov, declared in a moment of +"divine illumination" that the Church had no hierarchy, that priests +were harmful, that God had no need of intermediaries, that men should +not communicate, and should, indeed, absolutely refrain from entering +churches. + +It was the vision of an inspired soul, or of a diseased mind--for the +two extremes may meet. A pure religion, based upon the direct +communion of man's spirit with God, free from false and artificial +piety, having no churches or ceremonies, but exhaling the sentiment of +brotherly love--what a "vision splendid" is this, so often sought but +never yet attained! + +In the age preceding the birth of Christ many of the finer spirits were +already rebelling, like Sister Helen, against the use of agents between +the human soul and God. Simeon the Just, Hillel, Jesus, son of Sirach, +and many others, like Isaiah of old, besought men to cease importuning +God with offerings of incense and the blood of rams. "What is needed," +they said, "is to have a pure heart and to love virtue." No one, +however, succeeded in formulating this teaching in so sublime a fashion +as Christ Himself. For what is pure Christianity, as revealed by Him, +if not the divine aspiration towards Heaven of all men as brothers, +without fetters of creed and dogma, and without intermediaries? + +In the name of the Divine Messenger, Sister Helen protested against the +errors of men. She reproached them with their sins and their mistakes. +But though the same teachings eighteen centuries before had brought +about a moral renaissance, repeated by Helen they only caused untold +miseries to descend upon her head. Driven from the Church and +threatened with a prison-cell, her heart grew bitter within her, and +her once pure spirit was clouded over. + +A vision came to her, in which she learnt that the end of the world was +drawing near, Anti-Christ having already made his appearance. + +"We must prepare for the Last Judgment," she declared. "All family +life must be renounced, wives must leave their husbands, sisters their +brothers, and children their parents. The Day of God is at hand!" + +After being expelled from the convent, the beautiful Helen--for she was +beautiful when she first gave herself to God--carried her sacred +message to the simple-minded peasants. By them she was understood and +venerated, and their admiration filled her with ecstasy. + +Two priests and several other nuns were attracted by the reports of her +sanctity, and came to join her. She still repeated that Anti-Christ +was already upon earth, and that the end was near. One day she saw him +face to face and tried to kill him, for the glory of Heaven, but he +escaped. However, she remembered his appearance, and was able to +describe him to her followers. + +"He is no other," she said, "than Father John of Cronstadt who, +although a great worker of miracles, is in fact an evil genius in the +service of Satan." + +And all her hearers rejoiced, and paid homage to Helen's clairvoyant +powers. Their enthusiastic adulation, together with the conviction of +the love Christ bore her, threw the good sister into a frenzy of +intense excitement, until she, who formerly had only desired to +ameliorate the lot of mankind, suddenly perceived in herself an +incarnation of the divine. But she sought, nevertheless, to resist the +idea, and said to her followers, "I am only a poor daughter of the +Lord, and He has chosen me to spread the truth about His sufferings, +and to proclaim the great punishment of mankind--the end of the world." + +She spoke with such emotion that her hearers, visualising the agony to +come, shed tears abundantly, and prayed and fasted. But now the +prophetess had another vision, for on the night before Good Friday +Christ Himself appeared to her. + +"Weep not, _Helenouchka_ (little Helen)," He said. "The end of the +world approaches for the wicked, and for those who knew Me not--the +pagans, Jews, and priests. But you, my faithful Bride, shall be saved, +and all who follow you. On the day when the world is darkened and all +things crumble into ruins, the true kingdom of God shall dawn for the +beloved children of heaven." + +Another time Helen was overcome with joy because her heavenly Spouse +visited her by night. + +"Dost thou not see," said the divine Lover, "with what brilliance the +sun is shining, how the flowers are opening, and every face is +illumined with joy? These are the 'last rays' bidding farewell to +life. But thou, Helen, shalt peacefully enjoy the raptures of love. +On the appointed day thy celestial Spouse, accompanied by His angels, +shall come to rescue thee, and thou shalt dwell with Him three hundred +years." + +One of the priests who had adopted Helen's religion composed numerous +hymns in her honour, and these were chanted in chorus by the believers. +The opening line of one which was sung to greet her when she awoke each +morning, ran as follows: "Rejoice, Saint Helen, fair Bride of Christ, +rejoice!" + +Poor Saint Helen! She was not allowed to enjoy her heavenly idyll for +long. Just when the new religion promised consolation to so many, the +believers and their prophetess were delivered up to the rigours of the +justice of this world, which called down upon their heads in turn the +catastrophe of the "day of judgment." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE SELF-MUTILATORS + +The thirst for perfection, the ardent desire to draw near to God, +sometimes takes the form of an unhappy perversion of reason and common +sense. The popular soul knows no hesitation when laying its offerings +upon the Altar of the Good. It dares not only to flout the principles +of patriotism, of family love, and of respect for the power and the +dogmas of the established church, but, taking a step further, will even +trample underfoot man's deepest organic needs, and actually seek to +destroy the instinct of self-preservation. What even the strictest +reformers, the most hardened misanthropists, would hardly dare to +suggest, is accomplished as a matter of course by simple peasants in +their devotion to whatever method of salvation they believe to be in +accordance with God's will. Thus came into existence the +self-mutilators, or _skoptzi_, victims, no doubt, of some mental +aberration, some misdirected sense of duty, but yet how impressive in +their earnestness! + +The sect having been in existence for more than a century ought perhaps +to be excluded from our present survey; but it has constantly +developed, and even seemed to renew its youth, so merits consideration +even if only in the latter phases of its evolution. + +The _skoptzi_ were allowed, at the beginning of the twentieth century, +to form separate communities, and the life of these communities under +quite exceptional social conditions, without love, children, marriage +or family ties, offers a melancholy field for observation. Indeed, +these colonies of mutilated beings, hidden in the depths of Siberia, +give one a feeling as of some monstrous and unfamiliar growth, and +present one of the most puzzling aspects of the religious perversions +of the present age. + +After being denounced and sentenced, and after performing the forced +labour allotted to them--a punishment specially reserved for the +members of sects considered dangerous to orthodoxy--the _skoptzi_, men +and women alike, were permitted to establish their separate colonies, +like those of Olekminsk and Spasskoïe. + +The forced labour might cripple their limbs, but it did not weaken +their faith, which blossomed anew under the open skies of Siberia, and +seemed only to be intensified by their long sufferings in prison. + +The martyrs who took refuge in these Siberian paradises were very +numerous. It has been calculated that at the end of the nineteenth +century they numbered more than sixty-five thousand, and this is +probably less than the true figure, for, considering the terrible +ordinances of their religion, it is not likely that they would trouble +much about registering themselves for official statistics. We may +safely say that in 1889 there were about twelve hundred and fifty in +the neighbourhood of Yakutsk who had already accomplished their term of +forced labour. They formed ten villages, and it would be difficult to +specify their various nationalities, though it is known that in +Spasskoïe, in 1885, there were, among seven hundred and ten members of +the sect, six hundred and ninety-three Russians, one Pole, one Swede, +and fifteen Finns. + +To outward view their colonies were rather peculiar. Each village was +built with one long, wide street, and the houses were remarkable for +the solidity of their construction, for the flourishing gardens that +surrounded them, and for their unusual height in this desolate land +where, as a rule, nothing but low huts and hovels were to be seen. A +house was shared, generally, by three or four believers, and--perhaps +owing to their shattered nervous systems--they appeared to live in a +state of constant uneasiness, and always kept revolvers at hand. The +"brothers" occupied one side of the building, and the "sisters" the +other; and while the former practised their trades, or were engaged in +commerce, the women looked after the house, and led completely isolated +lives. On the arrival of a stranger they would hide, and if he offered +to shake hands with one of them, she would blush, saying, "Excuse me, +but that is forbidden to us," and escape into the house. + +The existence of the "sisters" was indeed a tragic one. Deprived of +the sweetness of love or family life, without children, and at the +mercy of hardened egoists, such as the _skoptzi_ usually became, their +sequestered lives seemed to be cut off from all normal human happiness. + +According to the author of an interesting article on the _skoptzi_ of +Olekminsk, which appeared in 1895 in the organ of the then-existing +Russian Ethnographical Society, these women were sometimes of an +astonishing beauty, and when opportunity offered, as it sometimes did +(their initiation not always being quite complete), they would marry +orthodox settlers, and leave their so-called "brothers." Cases are on +record of women acting in this way, and subsequently becoming mothers, +but any such event caused tremendous agitation among the "brothers" and +"sisters," similar to that provoked in ancient Rome by the spectacle of +a vestal virgin failing in her duty of chastity. + +Platonic unions between the self-mutilators and the Siberian +peasant-women were fairly frequent, so deeply-rooted in the heart of +man does the desire for a common life appear to be. + +The _skoptzi_ loved money for money's sake, and were considered the +enemies of the working-classes. Although drawn for the most part from +the Russian provinces, where ideas of communal property prevailed, they +developed into rigid individualists, and would exploit even their own +"brothers." Indeed they preyed upon one another to such an extent that +in the village of Spasskoïe there were, among a hundred and fifty-two +_skoptzi_, thirty-five without land, their portions having been seized +from them by the "capitalists" of the village. + +Their ranks were swelled chiefly by illiterate peasants. As to their +religion, it consisted almost exclusively in the practice of a ceremony +similar to that of the Valerians, the celebrated early Christian sect +who had recourse to self-mutilation in order to protect themselves from +the temptations of the flesh.[1] + +The lot of the _skoptzi_ was not a happy one, but they were upheld and +consoled by their belief in the imperial origin of their faith. +According to them, Selivanoff, the prophet and founder of the sect, was +no other than the Tsar Peter the Third himself (1728-1762). They did +not believe in his assassination by the Empress Catherine, but declared +that she, discovering to what initiation he had submitted, was seized +by so violent a passion of rage that she caused him to be incarcerated +in the fortress of Petropavlovsk. From there they believed that he had +escaped, with the help of his gaoler, Selivanoff, and had assumed the +latter's name. What strengthened them in this belief was the marked +favour shown by the Tsar Alexander I for Selivanoff. Alexander being +naturally inclined to mysticism, was impressed by this strange +character, and requested him to foretell the issue of the war with +Napoleon. He was equally well disposed to the sect of Madame +Tartarinoff, which closely resembled that of the self-mutilators, and, +influenced by his attitude, all the Russian high officials felt +themselves bound to pay court to the new religions. One of the +Imperial councillors, Piletzky, who was supposed to be writing a book +refuting the doctrines of the _skoptzi_, defended them, on the +contrary, with such warmth that his volume--obviously inspired by the +opinions of the Court--was prohibited by the Bishop Filarete as +Anti-Christian. + +But though they could talk volubly of the illustrious origin of their +leader Selivanoff, "the second Christ," and of their "divine mother," +Akoulina Ivanovna, their doctrines were in fact obscure and nebulous, +and they avoided--with good reason--all religious argument. They +insisted, however, upon the sacredness of their initiation +ceremony--which invariably ended in deportation for life, or the +delights of the prison-cell. + +From the physiological point of view, the _skoptzi_ resembled the +Egyptian eunuchs, described by M. Ernest Godard. Those who had +undergone the initiation at the age of puberty attained extraordinary +maxillary and dental proportions. Giants were common among them, and +there was frequently produced the same phenomenon that Darwin +discovered in the animal world--enlargement of the pelvic regions. + +This doctrine, which ought to have repelled the populace, attracted +them irresistibly. The young, the brave, and the wealthy, in the full +flower of their strength, abandoned at its call the religion of life +and yoked themselves to that of death. It seemed to fascinate them. +After conversion they despised all human passions and emotions, and +when persecuted and hunted down they took their revenge by expressing +profoundest pity for those who were powerless to accomplish the act of +sacrifice which had brought them "near to divinity." + +They often let this pity sway them to the extent of running into danger +by preaching their "holy word" to "infidels." Like the ascetics of +Ancient Judea, who left their retreats to make sudden appearances in +the midst of the orgies of their contemporaries, these devotees of +enforced virginity would appear among those who were disillusioned with +life, and instruct them in the delights of the supreme deliverance. In +their ardent desire to rescue all slaves of the flesh, some rich +merchants of Moscow, who had adopted the doctrine, placed the greater +part of their fortunes at the disposal of their co-religionists, and in +this way the sect was enabled to extend its influence throughout +Russia, and even into neighbouring countries. + +At one time in Bucharest and other towns certain carriages drawn by +superb horses attracted much admiration. These were some of the +strange presents--the price of a still stranger baptism--with which the +"Church of the Second Christ" rewarded its members! + + + +[1] Valerius, passionate and devout at the same time, was the first to +sacrifice himself thus on the altar of purity, following the example of +Origen, who had used this heroic method to safeguard the virtue of the +women of his _entourage_. But while Origen was rewarded for his action +by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Valerius was expelled from the church, +and retired to Arabia, where his sect flourished in the third century +(A.D.). + + + + +B. THE NON-SECTARIAN VISIONARIES + +In addition to the sects having their prophets and leaders and a +certain amount of organisation, almost every year in Russia saw--and +probably still sees--the birth of many separate heresies of short +duration. For instance, in one part a whole village would suddenly be +seized by religious ardour, its inhabitants deserting the fields and +passing their time in prayer, or in listening to the Gospel teachings +as expounded to them by some "inspired" peasant. Or elsewhere, the +women would all leave their husbands and depart into the forests, where +in the costume of Mother Eve they would give themselves up to +meditating upon the sins of humanity and the goodness of God. + +On the outskirts of a village near Samara, in East Russia, a forester +was one day attracted to a cabin by the resounding cries and groans +that issued from it. On entering, a strange sight met his eyes--three +women, completely naked, praying and weeping. They were like +skeletons, and one of them died soon after being forcibly brought back +to the village. In spite of all entreaties she refused to let the +orthodox priest come near her, and begged that no cross should be +placed over her grave. + +The police searched the forest, and found several other women in a +similar condition. Inquiry revealed that they had left their homes in +the neighbourhood of Viatka in order to expiate the sins of their +fellows. For nourishment they depended on herbs and strawberries, and +prayer was their sole occupation. Their unquenchable desire was to be +allowed to die "for the greater glory of Jesus Christ." They belonged +to no sect, and did not believe in sacred symbols or in priests. In +order to get into direct communication with God, they discarded their +garments and lived in a state of nature, eating nothing but what they +could find by the wayside. Thirty or forty of these women were +gathered in and sent back to their homes. + +The peasants of the Baltic Provinces, although better educated than +those of Southern Russia, became victims of religious mania just as +frequently. It was in the Pernov district that the cult of the god +Tonn was brought to light. The chief function of this god was to +preserve cattle and other livestock from disease, and to gain his +favour the peasants brought him offerings twice a year. His statue was +placed in a stable, and there his worshippers were wont to gather, +praying on bended knee for the health of their cows and horses. In +time, however, the statue was seized by the police, to the great grief +of the peasants of the district. + +In another part there dwelt a magician who was said to cure all bodily +ills by the aid of the sixth and seventh books of Moses. + +The tribunal of Kaschin, near Tver, once had occasion to judge a +peasant named Tvorojnikoff who, as a result of his private meditations, +had succeeded in evolving a new religion for himself and his friends. +After working for six months in St. Petersburg as a mechanic, and +studying the "vanity of human affairs," he came to the conclusion that +orthodox religious observances were an invention of the priests, and +that it was only necessary to believe in order to be saved. + +An action was brought against him, whereupon his mother and sister, who +were called as witnesses, refused to take the oath, that being "only an +invention of men." Tvorojnikoff described his doubts, his sufferings, +and the battle which had long raged in his soul, and declared that at +last, on reaching the conclusion that "faith is the only cure," he had +found happiness and peace. + +"What have I done to be punished?" he demanded. "What do you want with +me? Instead of sending me to prison, explain how I have sinned. Read +the Gospel with me!" + +But his entreaties were ignored. The "religious expert," who was +present in the person of a delegate of the ecclesiastical authorities, +thought it beneath his dignity to discuss eternal truths with a +peasant, and the poor dreamer received a sentence of imprisonment. + +The Russian legal records are full of the misdeeds of many such, whose +sole crimes consisted in dreaming with all sincerity, and in spite of +cruel deceptions and disappointments, of the day when man should at +last attain perfection upon earth. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE BROTHERS OF DEATH + +From time to time this thirst for the ideal, this dissatisfaction with +the actual, gave rise to a series of collective suicides. We may +recall the celebrated propaganda of the monk Falaley, who preached that +death was man's only means of salvation. He gathered his unhappy +hearers in a forest, and there expounded to them the emptiness of life +and the best method of escaping from it. His words bore fruit, and the +simple peasants who heard them decided to have done with "this life of +sin." + +One night eighty-four persons congregated in an underground cavern near +the river Perevozinka, and began to fast and to pray. The peasants +gathered round their improvised camp, built of straw and wood, ready to +die when the signal was given. But one woman, taking fright at the +idea of so horrible a death, fled and warned the authorities. When the +police arrived, one of the believers cried out that Anti-Christ was +approaching, and the poor creatures then set fire to the camp and +died--as they thought--for Christ. + +A few fanatics who were saved received sentences of imprisonment and +deportation, but one of them--Souchkoff--succeeded in escaping, and +continued to spread "the truth of God." Whether it was his own +eloquence or the misery and despair of the people that helped his +doctrine, it bore at any rate such fruits that soon afterwards sixty +families in one locality made up their minds to die _en masse_, +believing that simple murder--the murder of the faithful by the +faithful--would hasten the day of supreme deliverance. A peasant named +Petroff entered the house of his neighbour, and killed the latter's +wife and children, afterwards carrying his blood-stained hatchet in +triumph through the village. In the barn of another a dozen peasants +gathered with their wives, and the men and women laid their heads upon +the block in turn, while Petroff, in the rôle of the angel of death, +continued his work of deliverance. He then made his way to a hut near +by where a mother and three children awaited his services, and finally, +overcome with fatigue, he laid his own head on the block, and was +despatched to eternal glory by Souchkoff. + +But the kind of death recommended by Chadkin about the year 1860 was +even more terrible. In this case it was not a question of a wave of +madness that came and passed, but of the prolonged torture of death by +voluntary starvation. + +Chadkin's teaching was that as Anti-Christ had already come, there was +nothing left to do but escape into the forests and die of hunger. When +he and his adherents had reached a sufficiently isolated spot, he +ordered the women to prepare death-garments, and when all were suitably +arrayed, he informed them that in order to receive the heavenly grace +of death, they must remain there for twelve days and nights without +food or water. + +Frightful were the sufferings endured by these martyrs. The cries of +the children, as they writhed in agony, were heartrending, but Chadkin +and his followers never wavered. At last, however, one of the +sufferers, unable longer to face such tortures, managed to escape, and +Chadkin, fearing the arrival of the police, decided that all the rest +must die at once. They began by killing the children; next the women +and the men; and by the time the police appeared on the scene there +remained alive only Chadkin and two others, who had forgotten in their +frenzy to put an end to themselves. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE DIVINITY OF FATHER IVAN + +It seems enough, in Russia, when a single individual is obsessed by +some more or less ridiculous idea, for his whole environment to become +infected by it also. The ease with which suggestions make their way +into the popular mind is amazing, and this reveals its strong bias +towards the inner life, the life of dreams. The actual content of the +dreams is of small importance, provided that they facilitate the soul's +flight to a better world, and supply some link in a chain which shall +attach it more firmly to the things of eternity. Consequently, those +who have any supernatural experience to relate are almost sure to find +followers. + +An illiterate woman named Klipikoff one day proclaimed the good news of +the divinity of Father Ivan of Cronstadt. The incredulous smiles of +her fellow-citizens were gradually transformed into enthusiastic +expressions of belief, and Madame Klipikoff proceeded to found a +school. About twenty women began to proclaim openly throughout +Cronstadt that Father Ivan, the miracle-worker, was divine, and he had +difficulty in repudiating the honours that the infatuated women tried +to thrust upon him. According to the priestesses of this +"unrecognised" cult, Father Ivan was the Saviour Himself, though he hid +the fact on account of the "Anti-Christians"--that is to say, the +priests and the church authorities. Those who were converted to the +new doctrine placed his portrait beside that of the Divine Mother, and +prayed before it. They even fell on their knees before his garments, +or any articles belonging to him, and though the old man expressed +horror at such idolatry, he nevertheless permitted it. One of the +local papers described a ceremony that took place in one of the houses +where the pilgrims, who journeyed to Cronstadt from all parts of +Russia, were lodged. Father Ivan deigned to give his benediction to +the three glasses of tea that the hostess proffered him, and after his +departure she divided their contents among the assembled company, in +return for various offerings. + +There were, however, cases in which, instead of kneeling before the +garments of miracle-workers or committing suicide, the visionaries +strove to reach heaven by offering up the lives of their fellow-men in +sacrifice. + +In the law-courts of Kazan a terrible instance of one of these +religious murders was brought to light. It was revealed that the +inhabitants of a neighbouring village had suspended by the feet a +beggar named Matiounin, and then, opening one of his veins, had drunk +his blood. + +There are throughout Russia many records of proceedings brought against +such murderers--for instance, the tragic case of Anna Kloukin, who +threw her only daughter into an oven, and offered her charred body to +God; and that of a woman named Kourtin, who killed her seven-year-old +son that his mortal sins might be forgiven. + +The vague remembrance of Abraham, who offered up his only son, and the +conviction that Anti-Christ, "born of a depraved woman, a Jewess," +travels the earth in search of Christian souls--these are the most +obvious motives for murders such as we have described. Their real +cause sprang, however, from the misery of the people and their +weariness of life. + +By a kind of reaction these murders--whose perpetrators often could not +be found--frequently gave rise to even stranger crimes and +disturbances. Suspicion was apt to fall upon any Jews dwelling in the +district, and there resulted trials, such as that of Beilis, or Jewish +_pogroms_ which filled the civilised world with horror. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +AMONG THE MIRACLE-WORKERS + +The pilgrims and "workers of miracles" who wander through Russia can +always find, not only free lodging, but also opportunity for making +their fortunes. Their gains mount, often, to incredible figures, and +the faith and piety that they diffuse have both good and bad aspects. +There are places, for instance, like Cronstadt, which, at one time +inhabited mainly by drunkards, became before the war a "holy town." +Apart from Father Ivan and his peculiar reputation, there were hundreds +of other pilgrims who, though quite unknown on their arrival, soon +gained there a lucrative notoriety. + +One of these was the _staretz_ (ancient) Anthony, who in three or four +years amassed a considerable fortune. His popularity attracted +representatives of all classes of society. People wrote for +appointments in advance, and went in order of precedence as to a +fashionable doctor. It was quite common to have to wait ten or fifteen +days for the desired interview. In Petrograd, where the population +belonged half to the twentieth and half to the sixteenth century, +Anthony was quite the mode. The _salons_ literally seized upon him, +and, flattered and fondled, he displayed his rags in the carriages of +fashionable women of the world, while the mob, touched by the spectacle +of his acknowledged holiness, gave him enthusiastic ovations. His +journey from Petrograd to Cronstadt was a triumphal progress. The +crowds pressed around him and he walked among them barefooted, in spite +of this being expressly forbidden by law. Finally, however, the police +were roused, and one fine day he set forth at the government's expense +for the "far-off lands"--of Siberia. + +Cronstadt, town of drunkards and of miracle-workers _par excellence_, +boasted about two hundred _staretz_. The most famous among them were +the four brothers Triasogolovy--Hilarion, James, Ivan and Wasia. + +The crowds, who had formerly visited Cronstadt only on Father Ivan's +account, became ever greater, and were divided up among the various +saints of the town, one of the most popular being Brother James, who +undertook to exorcise demons. + +His methods were simple. A woman once came to him, begging to be +delivered from the numerous evil spirits that had taken possession of +her soul. In view of their numbers, Brother James felt it necessary to +have recourse to heroic measures. He rained blows upon the penitent, +who emitted piercing shrieks, and as this took place in the hotel where +the "holy man" was living, the servants intervened to put an end to the +sufferings of the "possessed" one. But Brother James, carried away by +enthusiasm in a good cause, continued to scourge the demons until the +woman, unable to bear more, broke the window-pane and leapt into the +street. Crowds gathered, and the Brother, turning to them, prophesied +that shortly he would be--arrested! Thereupon the police made their +appearance and removed him to the lock-up, and the crowds dispersed, +filled with admiration for Brother James, who not only coped with +demons, but actually foretold the evil that they would bring upon him. + +In addition to the genuine visionaries, there were many swindlers who +took advantage of the popular credulity. Such was the famous pilgrim +Nicodemus, who travelled throughout Russia performing miracles. In the +end the police discovered that he was really a celebrated criminal who +had escaped from prison. + +But Nicodemus was, as a matter of fact, better than his reputation, +for, in granting absolution for large numbers of sins, his charges were +relatively small. He is said to have assured whole villages of eternal +forgiveness for sums of from twenty to a hundred roubles. + +Frequently some out-of-work cobbler would leave his native village and +set forth on a pilgrimage in the character of a _staretz_; or some +"medical officer," unable to make a living out of his drugs, would +establish himself as a miracle-worker and promptly grow rich. When one +_staretz_ disappeared, there were always ten new ones to take his +place, and the flood mounted to such an extent that the authorities +were often powerless to cope with it. Persecution seemed only to +increase the popular hysteria, and caused the seekers after truth to +act as though intoxicated, seeing themselves surrounded by a halo of +martyrdom. + + + + +C. THE RISING FLOOD + +CHAPTER I + +THE MAHOMETAN VISIONARIES + +The flood of religious mania reached even beyond the borders of +European Russia, and its effects were seen as much among the followers +of other religions as among the Christians. + +Mahometanism, although noted for its unshakable fidelity to the dogmas +of Mahomet, did not by any means escape the mystic influences by which +it was surrounded. To take one example from among many: in the month +of April, 1895, a case of religious mania which had broken out among +the Mahometan inhabitants of the south of Russia was brought before the +law-courts at Kazan. It concerned a set of Tartars called the +_Vaïsoftzi_, which had been founded in 1880 by a man named _Vaïsoff_, +whose existence was revealed in unexpected fashion. A lawyer having +called at his house, at the request of one of his creditors, Vaïsoff +showed him the door, explaining that he did not consider himself under +any obligation "to repay what had been given to him." The other +returned later, however, accompanied by several policemen, and +Vaïsoff's adherents then attacked the latter, while chanting religious +hymns and proclaiming the greatness of their leader. They next +barricaded themselves into the house, which was besieged by the police +for some days, during which prayers issued from it towards heaven and +stones towards the representatives of the law. Finally the rebels were +overpowered, and sentenced to several years' imprisonment. + +The police had a similar experience on another occasion when they tried +to arrest one of the _Vaïsoftzi_, but in the end they got the upper +hand, and several Tartars were delivered up to justice. + +After being judged and sentenced, they presented themselves before the +Court of Appeal, but when the usual questions were put to them, all +began to pray and sing loudly. Silence was at last reestablished, and +the judge again asked one of them for his name and profession. "Who +are you, that you should question me?" was the reply, and once again +all chanted together in chorus. The Tartars who had crowded into the +court seemed deeply impressed by this attitude, and the judge thought +it well to dismiss the prisoners while the case was considered. They +were brought back to hear the sentence, and again began to sing their +prayers and hymns, while one of them cried out: "I am the chief of the +heavenly regiment; I am the representative of Vaïsoff upon earth; and +you, who are you that you should take upon yourself the right to judge +me?" The others then calmly continued their interrupted song to the +Lord, but they were all condemned to a period of forced labour, and +their spokesman, in addition, to twenty-five strokes with the birch. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE RELIGION OF THE POLAR MARSEILLAIS + +Let us now travel to the extreme north, to the land where dwell the +Yakuts, the Marseillais of the Polar regions. Living a life of gay and +careless vagabondage in this snowy world, they took part in one of the +most characteristic episodes of the general religious upheaval. + +At Guigiguinsk, a straggling village on the borders of the Arctic +Ocean, lived a Yakut tribe already converted to Christianity. Their +new faith had not in any way modified the happy-go-lucky nature of the +inhabitants of this frozen land; neither had it in any way clarified +their religious conceptions. "There are many gods," said they, "but +Nicholas is the chief"--and no matter how miserable their life, they +danced and sang, remembering no doubt how in their ancient home in the +far-off south, their ancestors also sang, filling the whole world with +their gaiety. Theirs was a fine climate and a fine country! The sun +often shone, the grass grew high, and the snow only lasted for six +months in the year. So everyone talked and danced and sang. There +were orators who held forth for whole days; there were dancers who +danced for weeks and weeks. From father to son these two ruling +passions have been handed down even to the Yakuts of the present day. +Now, as in former times--as when Artaman of Chamalga "so sang with his +whole soul that the trees shed their leaves and men lost their +reason"--the Yakuts sing, and their songs disturb the "spirits," who +crowd around the singer and make him unhappy. But he sings on, +nevertheless; though the whole order of nature be disturbed, still he +sings. + +Now, as in former times, the Yakut believes in "the soul of things," +and seeks for it everywhere. Every tree has a soul, every plant, every +object; even his hammer, his house, his knife, and his window. But +beyond these there is _Ai-toen_, the supreme, abstract soul of all +things, the incarnation of being, which is neither good nor bad, but +just _is_--and that suffices. Far from concerning himself with the +affairs of this world, Ai-toen looks down upon them from the seventh +heaven, and--leaves them alone. The country is full of "souls" and +"spirits," which appear constantly, and often incarnate in the shadows +of men. "Beware of him who has lost his shadow," say the Yakuts, for +such a one is thought to be dogged by misfortune, which is always ready +to fall upon him unawares. Even the children are forbidden to play +with their shadows. + +Those who desire to see spirits must go to the _Shamans_, of whom there +are only four great ones, but plenty of others sufficiently powerful to +heal the sick, swallow red-hot coals, walk about with knives sticking +into their bodies--and above all to rejoice the whole of nature with +their eloquence. For the Yakuts consider that there is nothing more +sacred than human speech, nothing more admirable than an eloquent +discourse. When a Yakut speaks, no one interrupts him. They believe +that in the spoken word justice and happiness are to be found, and in +their intense sociability they dread isolation, desiring always to be +within reach of the sound of human voices. By the magic of words, an +orator can enslave whole villages for days, weeks and months, the +population crowding round him, neglecting all its usual occupations, +and listening to his long discourses with unwearied rapture. + +Sirko Sierowszewski, who spent twelve years in the midst of these +people, studying them closely, affirms in his classic work on the +Yakuts (published in 1896 by the Geographical Society of St. +Petersburg) that their language belongs to a branch of the Turko-Tartar +group, and contains from ten to twelve thousand words. It holds, in +the Polar countries, a position similar to that held by the French +tongue in the rest of the world, and may be described as the French of +the Arctic regions. The Yakuts are one of the most curious races of +the earth, and one of the least known, in spite of the hundreds of +books and pamphlets already published about them. Their young men +frequently appear as students at the University of Tomsk, though they +are separated from this source of civilisation by more than three +thousand miles of almost impassable country. The journey takes from +fifteen months to two years, and they frequently stop _en route_ in +order to work in the gold mines, to make money to pay for their +studies. These are the future regenerators of the Yakut country. + +About thirty years ago there arrived among these care-free children of +nature a Russian functionary, a sub-prefect, who took up his residence +at Guigiguinsk, on the shores of the Arctic Sea. He was a tremendous +talker, though it is impossible to say whether this was the result of +his desire to found a new religious sect, or whether the sect was the +result of his passion for talking. At any rate, he harangued the +populace indefatigably, and they gathered from all quarters to listen +to the orator of the Tsar, and were charmed with him. + +In one of his outpourings he declared that he was none other than +Nicholas, the principal god of the whole country, and his listeners, +who had never before beheld any but "little gods," were filled with +enthusiasm at the honour thus bestowed upon their particular district. +The sub-prefect ended by believing his own statements, and accepted in +all good faith the homage that was paid to him, in spite of +Christianity. A writer named Dioneo, in a book dealing with the +extreme north-east of Siberia, tells us that even the local priest +himself was finally converted, and that after a year or so the Governor +of Vladivostock, who had heard rumours, began to grow uneasy about his +subordinate, and despatched a steamer to Guigiguinsk to find out what +had become of him. Upon arrival the captain hastened to fulfil his +mission, but the people suspected that some danger threatened their +"god" and took steps to hide him, assuring the inquirers that he had +gone away on a visit and would not return for a long time. As +navigation is only possible in those parts for a few weeks in the year, +the captain was obliged to return to Vladivostock. Another year +passed, and still there was no news of the sub-prefect. The captain +returned to Guigiguinsk, and having received the same reply as before +to his inquiries, made pretence of departure. He came back, however, +the next day, and with his sailors, appeared unexpectedly among the +Yakuts. + +An unforgettable spectacle met their eyes. + +The little town was _en fête_, church bells ringing, songs and reports +of firearms intermingling. Great bonfires flamed along the seashore, +and a solemn procession was passing through the streets. Seated on a +high throne in a carriage, the sub-prefect, the "great god" of +Guigiguinsk, was haranguing the crowds, with partridges' wings, +ribbons, tresses of human hair and other ornaments dear to the Yakuts, +dangling round his neck. To his carriage were harnessed eight men, who +drew it slowly through the town, while around it danced and sang +_shamans_ and other miracle-workers, accompanying themselves on +tambourines. Thus did the believers in the new religion celebrate the +happy escape of their "god" from danger. + +The appearance of the captain and his armed men produced a sensation. +The "great god" was seized and carried off, and forced to submit, +subsequently, to all kinds of humiliations. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT CANDLE + +On the outskirts of Jaransk, in the Viatka district, a race called the +_Tcheremis_ has dwelt from time immemorial. While Russian scholars, +like Smirnov, were employed in unveiling all the mysteries of their +past, the authorities were endeavouring to imbue them with Russian +conceptions of religion and government. But these people were not +easily persuaded to walk in the right way, and from time to time there +arose violent differences of opinion between them and the +representatives of officialdom. + +In 1890, at the time of the Scientific and Industrial Exhibition at +Kazan, an appeal was made to the Tcheremis to send some objects of +anthropological and ethnographical interest. They responded by sending +those representing their religion, for, having rejected orthodoxy, they +wished the beauties of their "new faith" to be admired. They therefore +exhibited at Kazan large spoons and candles, drums that were used to +summon the people to religious ceremonies, and various other articles +connected with their mysterious beliefs, and the Committee of the +Exhibition awarded them a medal for "a collection of invaluable objects +for the study of the pagan religion of the Tcheremis." + +The natives, knowing nothing of the complicated organisation of +scientific awards, simply concluded that the medal had been given to +them because their religion was the best, and the leader of their +community wore it round his neck, and recounted everywhere how "out of +all the religions that had been examined at Kazan, only that of the +'Great Candle' had been found to be perfect." All the believers +rejoiced over the prestige thus won by their faith, and a wave of +religious ecstasy swept over the country. Three of the fathers of the +church affixed copies of the medal to their front doors, with the +inscription: "This was given by the Tsar to the best of all religions," +and the people made merry, and gave themselves up to the bliss of +knowing that they had found the true and only way of salvation, as +acknowledged by the representatives of the Tsar himself. + +Poor creatures! They were not aware of the contents of Article 185 of +the Russian criminal code, which ordained that the goods of all who +abandoned the orthodox faith should be confiscated, until they +expressed repentance and once more acknowledged the holy truths of the +official church. So it came about that in spite of the triumph of +their religion at the Exhibition of Kazan, legal proceedings began, and +in 1891 and 1892, as many as fourteen actions were brought against the +adepts of the Great Candle, and numbers of them were sentenced to +imprisonment and to the confiscation of their goods. All this in spite +of the fact that their beliefs did not in any way threaten to undermine +the foundations of society. + +"There are six religions contained in the books which the Tsar has +given to his people"--they said, when brought before the tribunal--"and +there is a seventh oral religion, that of the Tcheremis. The seventh +recognises neither the sacraments nor the gospel. It glorifies God in +person, and the faith which has been handed down from father to son. +It has been given to the Tcheremis _exclusively_, because they are a +poor, unlettered people, and cannot afford to keep up priests and +churches. They call it the religion of the Great Candle, because in +their ceremonies a candle about two yards in length is used; and they +consider Friday a holiday because on it are ended the prayers which +they begin to say on Wednesday." + +When questioned by the judge, the accused complained that the orthodox +clergy expected too many sacrifices from them, and charged them heavily +for marriages and burials, this being their reason for returning to +"the more merciful religion of their forefathers." + +According to the _Journal of the Religious Consistory of the Province +of Viatka_, the Tcheremis were guilty of many other crimes. They did +not make the sign of the cross, and refused to allow their children to +be baptised or their dead to be buried with the rites of the orthodox +church. Truly there is no limit to the heresies of men, even as there +is none to the mercies of heaven! Further, the missionaries complained +with horror that, in addition to seven principal religions, the +Tcheremis acknowledged seventy-seven others, in accordance with the +division of humanity into seventy-seven races. + +"It is God," they said, "who has thus divided humanity, even as He has +divided the trees. As there are oaks, pines and firs, so are there +different religions, all of heavenly origin. But that of the Tcheremis +is the best. . . . The written Bible, known to all men, has been +falsified by the priests, but the Tcheremis have an oral Bible, which +has been handed down intact, even as it was taught to their forbears by +God. . . . The Tsar is the god of earth, but he has nothing to do with +religion, which is not of this world." + +The prayers of these dangerous heretics, who were punished like common +criminals, mirror the innocence of their souls. They implored God to +pardon all their sins, great and small; to grant good health to their +cattle and their children. They thanked Him for all His mercies, +prayed for the Tsar and all the Imperial family, for the soldiers, for +the civil authorities, and for all honest men; and finally for the dead +"who now labour in their celestial kingdom." + +The tribunal, however, implacably brought the law to bear upon them, +and thinking their punishment too great for their crimes, they had +recourse to the Court of Appeal, where they begged to be judged +"according to the good laws of the Tsar, not the bad ones of the +Consistory." But the sentence was ratified, and the religion of the +Great Candle procured for its followers the martyrdom that they had so +little desired. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE NEW ISRAEL + +Although most of the sects of which we have spoken sprang from the +orthodox church, the _molokanes_ and the _stoundists_ were indirect +fruits of the Protestant church, and even among the Jews there were +cases of religious mania to be found. + +Leaving out of account the _karaïtts_ of Southern Russia, formerly the +_frankists_--who ultimately became good Christians--we may remark from +time to time some who rejected the articles of the Jewish faith, and +even accepted the divinity of Christ. Such a one was Jacques Preloker, +founder of the "new Israel," a Russian-Jew philosopher who discovered +the divine sermon on the Mount eighteen hundred and seventy-eight years +after it had been delivered. This was the beginning of a revolution of +his whole religious thought, which resulted in 1879 in the founding of +a new sect at Odessa. The philosopher desired an intimate relationship +with the Christian faith, and dreamed of the supreme absorption of the +Jewish Church into that of Christ. In his new-found adoration for the +Christian Gospel, he tried by every means in his power to lessen the +distance between it and Judaism, but, though some were attracted by his +ardour, many were repelled by the boldness of his conceptions. + +Towards the end of his life, the bankrupt philosopher, still dignified +and serious, although fallen from the height of his early dreams, made +his appearance on the banks of the Thames, and there endeavoured to +continue his propaganda and to explain to an unheeding world the +beauties of the Jewish-Christian religion. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +CONCLUSION + +It is as difficult to pick out the most characteristic traits of the +innumerable Russian sects as it is to describe the contours of clouds +that fleet across the sky. Their numbers escape all official reckoning +and the variety of their beliefs renders classification very difficult. +In these pages the sectarian organism has been presented in its most +recent and most picturesque aspects, and its chief characteristic seems +to be that it develops by a process of subdivision. Each existing sect +divides itself up into various new ones, and these again reproduce +themselves by breaking apart, like the first organisms in which life +was manifested on the earth. Every separated portion of the parent +becomes an offspring resembling the parent, and the number of divisions +increases in proportion to the number of adherents. As in the +protozoa, multiplication commences with a mechanical rupture, and with +the passage of time and the influence of outside elements, the sects +thus born undergo visible modifications. By turns sublime or +outrageous, simple or depraved, they either aspire heavenwards or +debase the human spirit to the level of its lowest passions. + +Making common use of the truths of the Gospel revelations, they include +every phase of modern social life in their desire for perfection. +Liberty, equality, wealth, property, marriage, taxes, the relation +between the State and the individual, international peace, and the +abolition of arms--all these things, even down to the very food we eat, +become the prey of their reformatory ardour. + +The sects that abound in Anglo-Saxon countries do little but copy one +another in evolving new and amazing variations of Bible interpretation. +Confined within these limits, they rarely even touch upon the serious +problems that lie outside the text of the Gospels, and we might say of +them as Swift said of the religious sects of his day--"They are only +the same garments more or less embroidered." + +But the Russian sects vividly reveal to us the secret dreams and +aspirations of millions of simple and honest men, who have not yet been +infected by the doctrinal diseases of false science or confused +philosophy; and further, they permit us to study the manifestation in +human life of some new and disquieting conceptions. In their depths we +may see reflected the melancholy grandeur and goodness of the national +soul, its sublime piety, and its thirst for ideal perfection, which +sometimes uplifts the humble in spirit to the dignity and +self-abnegnation of a Francis of Assisi. + +The mysticism which is so deep-rooted in the Russian national +consciousness breaks out in many different forms. Not only poets and +writers, painters and musicians, philosophers and moralists, but +statesmen, socialists and anarchists are all impregnated with it--and +even financiers and economic reformers. + +Tolstoi, when he became a sociologist and moralist, was an eloquent +example of the mental influence of environment; for his teachings which +so delighted--or scandalised, as the case might be--the world, were +merely the expression of the dreams of his fellow-countrymen. So was +it also with the lofty thoughts of the philosopher Soloviev, the +_macâbre_ tales of Dostoïevsky, the realistic narratives of Gogol, or +the popular epics of Gorky and Ouspensky. + +The doctrines of Marx took some strange shapes in the Russian _milieu_. +Eminently materialistic, they were there reclothed in an abstract and +dogmatic idealism--in fact, Marxism in Russia was transformed into a +religion. The highly contestable laws of material economics, which +usually reduce the chief preoccupations of life to a miserable question +of wages or an abominable class-war, there gained the status of a +veritable Messianic campaign, and the triumphant revolution, imbued +with these dogmas, strove to bring the German paradox to an end, even +against the sacred interests of patriotism. The falling away of the +working-classes and of the soldiers, which so disconcerted the world, +was really nothing but the outer effect of their inner aspirations. +Having filled out the hollow Marxian phraseology with the mystic +idealism of their own dreams, having glimpsed the sublime brotherhood +which would arise out of the destruction of the inequality of wages and +incomes, they quite logically scorned to take further part in the +struggle of the nations for independence. Of what import to them was +the question of Teutonic domination, or the political future of other +races? + +It is much the same with the peasant class. The partition of the land +is their most sacred dogma, and they can scarcely imagine salvation +without it. This materialistic demand, embellished by the dream of +social equality, has become a religion. Mysticism throws round it an +aureole of divine justice, and the difficulty--or the impossibility--of +such a gigantic spoliation of individuals for the sake of a vague +ideal, has no power to deter them. + +The land--so they argue--belongs to the Lord, and the unequal way in +which it is divided up cannot be according to His desire. The kingdom +of heaven cannot descend upon earth until the latter is divided among +her children, the labourers. + +The far-off hope of victory faded before these more immediate dreams, +and the continuation of a war which seemed to involve their +postponement became hateful to the dreamers; while the emissaries of +Germany took advantage of this state of affairs to create an almost +impassable gap between the few who were clear-sighted and the mass who +were blinded by visions. + +The extreme rebelliousness which characterises the Russian religious +visionaries is manifested to an almost equal extent by all political +parties and their leaders. Consequently the spirit of unity which +prevailed (during the war) in other countries met with insuperable +difficulties in Russia. + +The whole nation seems to have been driven, by the long suppression of +free thought and belief, added to the miseries brought about by the old +régime, to take refuge in unrealities, and this has resulted in a kind +of deformity of the national soul. It was a strange irony that even +the aristocracy should end by falling victim to its own environment. +Exploited by miracle-mongers, thrown off its balance by paroxysms of +so-called mysticism, it disappeared from view in a welter of practices +and beliefs that were perverse and childish even at their best. + + + + +TRANSLATOR'S NOTE + +It seems appropriate to call attention here to an article from the pen +of Prince Eugène Troubetzkoy, Professor of Law at the University of +Moscow, which appeared in the _Hibbert Journal_ for January, 1920. +Writing apparently in the autumn of 1919, the Prince declared that the +civil war then in progress in Russia was "accompanied by a spiritual +conflict no less determined and portentous," and pointed out that the +doctrine of Bolshevism was a deliberate distortion of Marxism, +_immediate revolution_ having been substituted by the Bolshevists for +the _evolution_ preached by Marx. He went on to say that one of the +most striking characteristics of Bolshevism was its pronounced hatred +of religion, and especially of Christianity, the ideal of a life beyond +death being "diametrically opposed to the ideal of Bolshevism, which +tempts the masses by promising _the immediate realisation of the +earthly paradise_." And, Bolshevism's practical method for realising +its Utopia being "the armed conflict of classes . . . the dream of the +earthly paradise, to be brought into being through civil war, becomes +instantly the reality of hell let loose." After dwelling in detail on +various aspects of the situation, the writer makes some statements +which will be of special interest to readers of M. Finot's study of +pre-war religious conditions in Russia. He speaks of the growth of +unbelief among the masses, and declares that "the empty triumph of +Bolshevism would have been impossible but for the utter enfeeblement of +the religious life of the nation"; but--and this is the point of +interest--"thanks to the persecutions which the revolution has set on +foot, there has come into being a genuine religious revival. . . . The +Church, pillaged and persecuted, lost all the material advantages it +had hitherto enjoyed: in return, the loss of all these relative values +was made good by the absolute value of spiritual independence. . . . +This it is that explains the growing influence of the Church on the +masses of the people: the blood of the new martyrs won their +hearts. . . . These awful sufferings are becoming a source of new +power to religion in Russia." The Prince then describes the complete +reorganisation of the church which was carried through at Moscow in +1917-18, and the restoration of the patriarchal power in the person of +the Archbishop Tykone (now Patriarch), a man of great personal courage, +high spirituality, and remarkable sweetness of disposition. The people +rallied round him in enormous numbers, attracted by his courageous +resistance to the Bolshevist movement--(a resistance which had then +frequently endangered his life, and may since have ended it)--and by +his determined avoidance of all pomp and ostentation. In the great +religious processions which took place at that time, hundreds of +thousands passed before him, but he had no bishops and very few clergy +in his retinue, only one priest and one deacon. When urged to adopt +more ceremony and display in his public appearances, he replied, "For +the love of God, don't make an idol of me." He was always ready with a +humorous word, and filled with a serene and unshakable confidence, even +in the most dangerous situations. The people looked upon him as "Holy +Russia" personified, and said that "the persecutors who would have +buried her for ever had brought her back to life." + +In an appendix to the above-quoted article appears a statement "from a +responsible British source in Siberia" to the effect that "a strong +religious movement has begun among the laity and clergy of the Russian +Church. . . . The _moujiks_ are convinced that Lenin is Anti-Christ;" +and an urgent appeal for Russian Testaments and Bibles to be sent from +England, the writer having been told by a prominent ecclesiastic that +"Russian Bibles are now almost unprocurable." + +Thus, having long revolted from orthodoxy in the day of its material +prosperity, the masses seem, in the day of adversity, to be returning +to it. Further developments may, of course, take place in almost any +direction, but we may rest assured of one thing--that no changes of +government, however drastic, will ever succeed in stamping out the +mystical religious strain which is so deeply embedded in the soul of +the Russian people. + + + + +PART II + +THE SALVATION OF THE WEALTHY + + +A. RELIGION AND ECONOMY + +CHAPTER I + +THE MORMONS, OR LATTER-DAY SAINTS + +In the American of the United States there exist two distinctly opposed +natures: the one positive and practical, the other inclined to +mysticism. The two do not clash, but live, on the contrary, on +perfectly good terms with one another. This strange co-existence of +reality and vision is explained by the origin of the race. + +The American is, to a very great extent, a descendant of rigorous +Puritanism. The English, who preponderated in numbers over the other +elements of the European immigration into North America, never forgot +that they had been the comrades of Penn or of other militant +sectarians, and never lost the habit of keeping the Bible, the ledger, +and the cash-book side by side. They remained deeply attached to their +religion, which they looked upon as a social lever, although for many +of them their faith did not go beyond a conviction of the immanence of +the supernatural in human life. Thus it was that their spirits were +often dominated by a belief in miracles, all the more easily because +their intellectual culture was not always as highly developed as their +business ability, and consequently the clever manufacturers of +religious wonders were able to reap incredible harvests among them. + +There is perhaps no country where the seed sown by propagandists +springs up more rapidly, where an idea thrown to the winds finds more +surely a fertile soil in which to grow. A convinced and resolute man, +knowing how to influence crowds by authoritative words, gestures and +promises, can always be certain of attracting numerous followers. In +America the conditions are without doubt propitious for the founders of +new religions. + + +I + +How is a new religion started in the United States? Joe Smith wakes up +one morning with the thought that the hour has come for him to perform +miracles, that he is called thereto by the Divine Will, that the +existence and the secret hiding-place of a new Bible printed on sheets +of gold have been revealed to him by an angel, and that its discovery +will be the salvation of the world. He proclaims these things and +convinces those who hear him, and the Book of the Mormons which he +produces becomes sacred in the eyes of his followers. + +In ever-increasing numbers they hasten first to Illinois, then to Utah; +and when Brigham Young, Smith's successor, presents the Mormon colony +with religious and political laws which are a mixture of Christianity, +Judaism and Paganism, and include the consecration of polygamy, they +found a church which claims more than a hundred thousand adherents, and +is ruled by twelve apostles, sixty patriarchs, about three thousand +high priests, fifteen hundred bishops, and over four thousand deans. + +After being dissolved by the decree of the 10th of October, 1888, the +Church of the Latter-Day Saints seemed to be lost, without hope of +revival. The State of Utah, where Brigham Young had established it in +1848, was invaded by ever-growing numbers of "Gentiles," who were +hostile to the Mormons, but these latter, far from allowing the debris +of their faith to bestrew the shores of the Great Salt Lake, succeeded, +on the contrary, in strengthening the foundations of the edifice that +they had raised. The number of its adherents increased, and the colony +became more flourishing than ever. If, at one time, it was possible to +speak of its dying agonies, those who visit it to-day cannot deny the +fact of its triumphant resurrection. + +Two principal causes have been its safeguard: the firm and practical +working-out of the economic and philanthropic principles upon which its +organisation has always rested, and the resolute devotion and +capability of those who direct it as the heads of one great family. +Every member is concerned to maintain the regular and effective +functioning of its mechanism, and all work for the same ends in a +spirit of religious co-operation. + +We must not lose sight of the fact that in addition to the elements +they borrowed from Buddhism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam, the +Mormons introduced into their new Gospel a social ideal inspired by the +Communistic experiments of the first half of the nineteenth century. +The founders of Mormonism--Joseph Smith, Heber Kimball, George Smith, +the brothers Pratt, Reuben Hedlock, Willard Richards, and Brigham +Young--were not visionaries, but men risen from the people who desired +to acquire wealth while at the same time bringing wealth to those who +took part in their schemes. We find in their doctrine, and in their +legal and religious codes, not only the idea of multiple union claimed +by Enfantin and his forty disciples of Ménilmontant, but also the +theories of Buchez, who desired to free labour from the servitude of +wages, to bring about solidarity of production, and to communalise +capital, after first setting aside an inalienable reserve. They +followed the example of Cabet in making fraternity, which should +guarantee division of goods, the corner-stone of their social +structure, and, avoiding the delusions of Considérant and other +Communists, they brought about, stage by stage, the rapid and lasting +development which has characterised their successive establishments in +Missouri, Illinois, and on the borders of California. + + +II + +Militant as well as constructive, the Mormon leaders, like many other +reformers, believed themselves to be charged with a mission from on +high, and were quick to condemn as rebels all who failed to rally to +the standard of the "Latter-Day Saints." Joe Smith was not content +with making thousands of converts, but, after having turned his colony +at Independence into an "Arsenal of the Lord," and surrounding himself +with a veritable army, he proclaimed that, as the Bible gave the saints +empire over all the earth, the whole State of Missouri should be +incorporated in his "New Jerusalem." The "Gentiles" replied with a +declaration of war, and Joe Smith and his twelve apostles were seized, +publicly flogged, divested of their garments, tarred and feathered, and +chased out of the State with shouts and laughter and a hail of stones. + +The Mormons took up arms. The Governor of Missouri called out the +militia. Vanquished in the encounter that followed, the Mormons had to +abandon all their possessions and take flight. They then founded a +town called Far West, and remained there for three years, at the end of +which time fresh aggressions and more battles drove them out of the +State of Missouri into that of Illinois, where they built the large +town of Nauvoo. Many thousands of fresh recruits were won over, but +once again their designs for the acquisition of land--as well as of +souls--stirred up a crusade against them. Joe Smith and the other +leaders of the sect were taken prisoners and shot--a procedure which +endowed Mormonism with all the sacredness of martyrdom. To escape +further persecutions, the Saints decided on a general exodus, and the +whole sect, men and women, old people and children, numbering in all +about eighty thousand souls, set forth into the desert. + +It was a miserable journey. They were attacked by Red Indians, and +decimated by sickness; they strayed into wrong paths where no food was +to be found; they were buried in snowdrifts; and many of them perished. +But the others, sustained by an invulnerable faith, and by the undying +courage of their leaders, pushed on ever further and further, until in +the summer of 1847, after the cruel hardships of a journey on foot over +nearly three hundred leagues of salt plains, the head of the column +reached the valley of the great Salt Lake. Here Brigham Young's +strategic vision beheld a favourable situation for the re-establishment +of the sect. He himself, with a hundred and forty-three of his +companions--the elite of the church--directed the construction of the +beginnings of the colony, and then returned to those who had been left +behind, bringing back a caravan of about three thousand to the spot +where the New Jerusalem was to be built. + +It was given the name of Utah, and Filmore, the President of the United +States, appointed Brigham Young as governor. The latter, however, +desired to become completely autonomous. He was soon in conflict with +those under him, and his open hostility to the American constitution +caused him to be deposed. His successor, Colonel Stepton, finding the +situation untenable, resigned almost at once, and the Mormons, +recovering their former militancy and independence, then sought to free +themselves altogether from the guardianship of America, and to be sole +masters in their own territory. In order to reduce them to submission, +President Buchanan sent them a new governor in 1857 with some thousands +of soldiers. The Mormons resisted for some time, and finally demanded +admittance into the Union. Not only did Congress refuse this request, +but it passed a law rendering all polygamists liable to be brought +before the criminal courts. The War of Secession, however, interrupted +the measures taken against the sect, which remained neutral during the +military operations of the North and South. Brigham Young, who had +remained the Mormons' civil and religious head, occupied himself only +with the economic and worldly extension of his church, until in 1870, +five years after the termination of the war, the attention of Congress +was once more directed towards him. For the second time the Mormons +were forbidden by law to practise polygamy, under penalty of +deportation from America, but they resisted energetically and refused +to obey. Defying the governor of Utah, General Scheffer, they rallied +fanatically round Brigham Young, who was arraigned and acquitted--and +the Mormon Church remained ruler of the colony. + +After Young's death, government was carried on jointly by the twelve +apostles, until on October 17th, 1901, George Smith was elected +universal President of all branches. + +A Frenchman, Jules Rémy, who visited the Mormons some time back, has +given a striking description of them:-- + +"Order, peace and industry are revealed on every side. All these +people are engaged in useful work, like bees in a hive, thus justifying +the emblem on the roof of their President's palace. There are masons, +carpenters, and gardeners, all carrying out their respective duties; +blacksmiths busy at the forge, reapers gathering in the harvest, +furriers preparing rich skins, children picking maize, drovers tending +their flocks, wood-cutters returning heavily loaded from the mountains. +Others again are engaged in carding and combing wool, navvies are +digging irrigation canals, chemists are manufacturing saltpetre and +gunpowder, armourers are making or mending firearms. Tailors, +shoemakers, bricklayers, potters, millers, sawyers--every kind of +labourer or artisan is here to be found. There are no idlers, and no +unemployed. Everybody, from the humblest convert up to the bishop +himself, is occupied in some sort of manual labour. It is a curious +and interesting sight--a society so industrious and sober, so peaceful +and well-regulated, yet built up of such divers elements drawn from +such widely differing classes. . . . + +All these people, born in varied and often contradictory faiths, +brought up for the most part in ignorance and prejudice, having lived, +some virtuously, some indifferently, some in complete abandonment to +their lowest animal instincts, differing among themselves as to +climate, language, customs, tastes and nationality, are here drawn +together to live in a state of harmony far more perfect than that of +ordinary brotherhood. In the centre of the American continent they +form a new and compact nation, with independent social and religious +laws, and are as little subject to the United States government that +harbours them as to that, for instance, of the Turks." + +Such they were, and such they have remained, ever developing their +activities and industries, and--as another traveller has said--having +no aim save that of turning their arid and uncultivated "Promised Land" +into a fertile Judea--an aim in which they have marvellously succeeded. + + +III + +Mormonism owes its success chiefly to its practical interpretation of +the Communistic ideals, and to its determination to encourage labour by +means of religion and patriotism, setting before it as object the +satisfaction of each individual's social needs, under the direction of +those who have proved themselves capable and vigilant and worthy of +confidence. It is a republic from which are banished the two most +usual causes of social collapse--idleness and egotism; a hive, +according to its founder, in which each bee, having his particular +function, is always under the eye of those who direct individual +activities in the interests of collective welfare. The President of +the Mormon Church is its moving spirit. He surveys it as a whole, +encourages or moderates its energies, according to circumstances, +preserves order and regularity, and exercises his paternal influence +over every cell of the hive, giving counsel when needed, redressing +grievances, preventing false moves, yet leaving to every corporation +not only its administrative freedom but its own powers for industrial +extension. + +Under these conditions the Church of the Latter-Day Saints unites the +social and economic advantages of individual and collective labour. +The corporations are like stitches that form a net, holding together +through community of interests and a general desire for prosperity, yet +each having its own separate formation and the power to enlarge itself +and increase its activities without compromising the others or +lessening their respective importance. One of the most remarkable is +the "Mercantile Co-operative Society of Sion," the central department +of wholesale and retail trade. It was founded in 1863 by Brigham +Young, who was its first president, and is in direct relationship with +the Mormon colonies all over the world, having a capital fund of more +than a million dollars which belongs exclusively to the Mormons. Its +organisation, like that of all Mormon institutions, is based upon the +deduction of a tithe of all profits, which practically represents +income tax. The "Sugar Corporation" has an even larger capital, and +was founded directly by the church through the advice of Brigham Young, +who recommended that Mormon industries should be patronised to the +exclusion of all others. The salt industry also is of much importance, +the Inland Crystal Salt Company having at great expense erected +elaborate machinery in order to work the salt marshes around the Great +Lake, and to obtain, under the best possible conditions, grey salt +which is converted into white in their refineries. Other corporations +under the presidency of the supreme head of the Mormon Church are the +"Consolidated Company of Railway Carriages and Engines," the "Sion +Savings Bank," the "Co-operative Society for Lighting and Transport," +and the chief Mormon paper, the _Desert Evening News_, which is the +official organ of the church, and has a considerable circulation. + + +IV + +These corporations are not only commercial or industrial institutions, +but are animated by a spirit that is pre-eminently fraternal. Their +heads are concerned with the well-being of every member, and material, +moral or intellectual assistance is given to all according to their +needs. + +To each corporation is attached a "delegate," whose functions do not +appear to be of great importance, but who renders, in reality, services +of considerable value. The man who holds this post is one of +unimpeachable honesty and integrity, with a kind and conciliatory +disposition, chosen for these qualities to act as intermediary between +the bishop and the "saints" of all classes, from the highest to the +lowest. He has free entry into the Mormon homes, and is always ready +to give advice and counsel to any member of the church in his district; +and he even penetrates into the houses of the Gentiles, wherever a +Mormon, man or woman, may happen to be employed. Take, for instance, +the case of a young Scandinavian servant-girl, living with +"unbelievers." The mother, who had remained in Europe, wished to +rejoin her daughter, but the girl had not been able to raise more than +a third of the sum necessary to pay the expenses of the journey. The +delegate took note of this and referred the case to the bishop, who, +after inquiry, sent the old mother the required amount. + +Again, two neighbours might be disputing over the question of the +boundary between their respective properties. The delegate would do +all in his power to settle the affair amicably, and to restore harmony; +and failing in this would bring the two parties concerned before the +bishop. Or there might be an invalid requiring medicine and treatment, +an old person needing help, a layette to be bought for a new-born +child--in all such cases the delegate sees that the needs are supplied, +for the strength of this Church of the Latter-Day Saints lies in the +fact that all the Mormons, from the President down to the humblest +workman, call themselves brothers and sisters and act as such towards +one another. Thanks to the delegate, who is friend, confidant and +confessor in one, immediate help can be obtained in all instances, and +no suffering is left unrelieved. + +Thus it comes about that there are no poor among the Mormons, and very +few criminals. The delegate has no need to search into the secrets of +men's minds, for all are open to him. To a great extent he is able to +read their innermost hearts, for men speak freely to him, without veils +or reservations. As far as is possible he sees that their desires are +granted; he notifies all cases of need to the Relief Societies; he +conducts the sick and aged to the hospitals; he is the messenger and +mouthpiece for all communications from the people to the bishop and +from the bishop to his flock. + +It is the delegate also who is charged with the duty of seeing that +one-tenth of each person's income, whatever its total sum may be, is +contributed for the upkeep of the Mormon faith and its church. He +reminds the dilatory, and admonishes the forgetful, always in friendly +fashion. In fact it is he, who--to use a popular expression--brings +the grist to the mill. This contribution of a tenth part obviates all +other taxation, and as it is demanded from each in proportion to his +means, its fairness is disputed by none. + + +V + +Brotherly co-operation also prevails in the Mormon system of +colonisation. The leaders of the church have always been aware of the +dangers of overcrowding, and at all times have occupied themselves with +the founding of new settlements to receive the surplus population from +the centres already in activity. It is for this reason that the church +has been so urgent in seeking and demanding new territory to irrigate +and cultivate, in Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, Idaho, and even +as far afield as Canada. The transplanting of a swarm from the parent +hive is undertaken with the greatest care. Let us take for example the +colonisation of the Big Horn Valley, in the north of Wyoming. Before +coming to a decision the apostles themselves inspected the locality, +which had been recommended as suitable for a new colony of saints. +Finding that it fulfilled all requirements, they published their +resolve in the official Press, and invited all who desired to become +members of the colony to present themselves before their bishop with +the necessary guarantees. The President of the church then sought out +a brother capable of organising the scheme, and this brother, proud and +grateful at being chosen for such a mission, sold all his goods and +took up his new responsibilities. On the appointed day the new +colonists grouped themselves around their leader, with their wagons, +baggages, provisions, agricultural tools, horses and cattle, and so on. +One of the twelve apostles being appointed as guide, they set forth for +the Big Horn Valley. Here they built their dwelling-places, dug a +canal to provide water for the whole settlement, founded all kinds of +co-operative societies, including one for the breeding of cattle--and +prospered. + +In this way, upon a Socialism quite distinct from that of the European +theorists, and differing widely from that practised by the New +Zealanders, are built up institutions, which have given proof, wherever +started, of their power of resistance to human weaknesses. The Mormon +colonies, fundamentally collectivist, like the sect from which they +originally sprang, still bear the imprint given to them by the +initiators of the movement. Each one becomes industrially and +commercially autonomous, but all are firmly held together in a common +brotherhood by the ties of religion. The Big Horn Mormons, although so +far away, never for a single day forget their brothers of Salt Lake +City, and all alike hold themselves ever in readiness to render mutual +assistance and support. + + +VI + +The Mormon considers activity a duty. Co-operation implies for him not +only solidarity of labour but union of will, and these principles are +applied in all phases of his public or private life--in politics, +education, social conditions of every kind, and even amusements. He +holds it obligatory under all circumstances to contribute personal help +or money according to his means, knowing that his brothers and sisters +will do likewise, and that he can rely upon them with absolute +certainty. + +Nevertheless, dissension does occasionally arise in the heart of this +close-knit brotherhood. The authority of the President, or that of the +apostles and bishops may be the cause of rivalries and jealousies, as +in the case of Joseph Morris, Brigham Young's confidant, who wished to +supplant his chief. He and his partisans were assaulted and put to +death by Young's adherents. A spirit of discord also manifests itself +at times in the national elections, and there are plottings and +intrigues, especially when there seems to be hope of supremacy in +Congress, or when one of the twelve apostles offers himself as +candidate for the Senate without first consulting the Mormon Church. + +Such shadows are inseparable from all human communities. What it is +important to study in the Church of the Latter-Day Saints is the +evolution of a communism which has more than half a century of activity +to its credit, and which, in contrast to so many other fruitless +attempts, has given marked proofs of a vitality that shows no sign of +diminishing. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE RELIGION OF BUSINESS + +Joe Smith was, to speak plainly, nothing but an adventurer. Having +tried more than twenty avocations, ending up with that of a +gold-digger, he found himself at last at the end of his resources, and +decided, in truly American fashion, that he would now make his fortune. +He thereupon announced that he was in close communication with Moses, +and that he had in his possession the two mosaic talismans, Urim and +Thummim, and the manuscript of the Biblical prophet, Mormon--the latter +having as a matter of fact been obtained from Solomon Spaulding, pastor +of New Salem, Ohio, in 1812. + +It was different with John Alexander Dowie, who with remarkable wisdom +seized the psychological moment to appear in the United States as a +Barnum and a Pierpont Morgan of religion combined. By what was an +indisputable stroke of genius, he incorporated into his religion the +most outstanding features of American life--commerce, industry, and +finance, the tripod upon which the Union rests. What could be more +up-to-date than a commercial and industrial prophet, business man, +stock-jobber, and organiser of enterprises paying fabulous dividends? +And--surely the crowning point of the "new spirit!"--the man who now +declared himself to be the most direct representative of God upon earth +was accepted as such because people saw in him, not only the Messianic +power that he claimed, but an extraordinary knowledge of the value of +stocks and shares side by side with his knowledge of the value of souls! + +He was of Scottish origin, and had reached his thirtieth year before +his name became known. As a child he was disinclined to take religion +seriously, and had a habit of whistling the hymns in church instead of +singing them. Later he was distinguished by a timidity and reserve +which seemed to suggest that he would never rise above the environment +into which he had been born. His studies and his beliefs--which for +long showed no sign of deviating from the hereditary Scottish +faith--were under the direction of a rigidly severe father. At the age +of thirteen his parents, attracted by the Australian mirage of those +days, took him with them to Adelaide, and he became under-clerk in a +business house there, serving an apprenticeship which was to prove +useful later on. At twenty he returned to Edinburgh, desiring to enter +the ministry, as he believed he had a religious vocation, and plunged +into the study of theology with a deep hostility to everything that was +outside a strictly literal interpretation of the Scriptures. Full of +devotion and self-abnegation in his desperate struggle with the powers +of evil, he read the Holy Book with avidity, and was constant in his +attendance at theological conferences. Thus, nourished on the marrow +of the Scotch theologians, he returned to Australia and was ordained to +the priesthood at Alma. Soon afterwards he was appointed minister to +the Congregational Church in Sydney, where his profound learning was +highly appreciated. + +He who desires to attract and instruct the masses must have two gifts, +without which success is impossible--eloquence and charm. Dowie had +both. As an orator he was always master of himself, yet full of +emotion, passionate in his gestures, and easily moved to tears. + +We must admit that he did not, like so many others, owe his influence +to his environment. In New South Wales, where he made his _début_ as a +preacher at Sydney, his eloquence and his learning made so great an +impression--especially after he had emerged victorious from a +controversy with the Anglican bishop, Vaughan, brother to the +Cardinal--that the governor of the province, Sir Henry Parkes, offered +him an important Government position. He refused to accept it, +desiring, as he said, to consecrate his life to the work of God. +Persuaded--or wishing to persuade others--that he had been personally +chosen by God to fulfil the prophecy of St. Mark xvi. 17, 18, he took +up the practice of the laying-on of hands, claiming that in this way, +with the help of prayer, the sick could be cured. On these words of +the evangelist his whole doctrine was based. Through assiduous reading +he familiarised himself with medical science, as well as with +hypnotism, telepathy and suggestion, his aim being to organise and +direct a crusade against medicine as practised by the faculty. He +gathered together materials for a declaration of war against the +medicos, attacking them in their, apparently, most impregnable +positions, and showing up, often through their own observations, the +fatal inanity--in his eyes--of their therapeutics. At the same time he +managed to acquire experience of commerce, finance and administration, +and, thus equipped, he opened his campaign. Thaumaturgy, science, +occultism, eloquence, knowledge of men and of the world--all these he +brought into play. The prestige he gained was remarkable, and of +course the unimpeachable truth of Bible prophecy was sufficient to +establish the fact of his identity with the expected Elias! + +"Logic itself commands you to believe in me," he said in his official +manifesto. "John the Baptist was the messenger of the Alliance (which +is the Scotch Covenant), and Elias was its prophet. But Malachi and +Jesus promised the return of the messenger of the Alliance, and of +Elias the Restorer. . . . If we are deceived, it is God who has +deceived us, and that is impossible. For the office with which we are +charged is held directly from God, and those who have helped us in +founding our Church, and who have given us their devotion, testify that +they have been instructed to do so by personal revelations." + +All the believers in Dowieism affirmed that John Alexander Dowie was +Elias the Second, or Elias the Third (if John the Baptist were +considered to be the Second), but Dowie himself went further still. He +was too modern to base his influence on religion alone, and he actually +had the cleverness to become not only a banker, manufacturer, +hotel-keeper, newspaper proprietor, editor and multi-millionaire, but +also the principal of a college and the "boss" of a political party +which acknowledged him as spiritual and temporal pope and numbered over +sixty thousand adherents. He had ten tabernacles in Chicago, and ruled +despotically the municipal affairs of one of the suburbs of the city. + + +II + +It is interesting to study closely the way in which Dowie gradually +attained to such a powerful position. Up to his arrival in Chicago, +and even for some years after it, his career differed little from that +of the ordinary open-air evangelist with long hair and vague theories, +such as may be seen at the street-corners of so many English and +American towns. In New South Wales his excessive ardour at temperance +meetings in the public squares caused such disorder that he was twice +imprisoned, and he came to the conclusion that Melbourne would offer +better scope for his mission. He went there to establish a "Free +Christian Tabernacle," but almost immediately an epidemic of fever +broke out, and he became popular through his intrepidity in visiting +the sick, whom he claimed to be able to cure by a secret remedy, the +use of which, as a matter of fact, only resulted in augmenting the +lists of dead. But to his religious propaganda the Australians turned +a deaf ear, and after persevering for ten years he gave up, partly +because the authorities had intimated that he had best pitch his camp +elsewhere, partly, perhaps, because he was glad to leave what he later +referred to as "that nest of antipodean vipers." + +We find him in San Francisco in 1888, preaching his new religion at +street-corners, and once more causing almost daily disturbances by the +vigour of his eloquence. Here again his hopes miscarried, and from +thenceforward he fixed his eyes on Chicago, where he should "meet the +devil on his own ground." + +This final resolution bore good fruit, for Chicago is pre-eminently +"the city of Satan," and those who desire to wage war against him can +always be sure of plentiful hauls, whatever nets they use. It is that +type of American town where all is noise and animation, where the +population is cosmopolitan, and confusion of tongues is coupled with an +even greater confusion of beliefs; where it is possible to pursue the +avocations of theologian and pork-butcher side by side, and no one is +surprised. Called "Queen of the West" by some, Porkopolis (from its +chief industry) by others, it is a giant unique in its own kind. While +its inhabitants, in feverish activity, climb or are rushed in lifts to +the nineteenth and twentieth storeys of its immense buildings, there is +heard from time to time a call from regions beyond this life of +incessant bustle; the voice of a preacher dominates the tumult, and +this million and a half of slaughterers of sheep and oxen, jam-makers +and meat-exporters, factory-hands, distillers, brewers, tanners, +seekers of fortune by every possible means, suddenly remembers that it +has a soul to be saved, and throws it in passing, as it were, to +whoever is most dexterous in catching it. In such a _milieu_ Dowie +might indeed hope to pursue his aims with advantage. + +His personality had a certain hypnotic fascination. His eloquence, his +patriarchal appearance, his supposed power of curing even the most +intractable diseases, his use of modern catch-words, his talent for +decorating the walls of his little temple with symbols such as +crutches, bandages and other trophies of "divine healing," all combined +to bring him before the public eye. He had a dispute with the doctors, +who accused him of practising their profession illegally, and another +with the clergy, who attacked him in their sermons; the populace was +stirred up against him, and laid siege to his tabernacle, and he +himself threw oil upon these various fires, and became a prominent +personage in the daily Press. + +It is true that the arrest of some Dowieists whose zeal had carried +them beyond the limits of the law of Illinois was commented upon; that +long reports were published of the death of a member of the Church of +Sion who had succumbed through being refused any medical attention save +that of the high-priest of the sect; that much amusement was caused by +the dispersal of a meeting of Dowieists by firemen, who turned the hose +upon them; and much interest aroused by the legal actions brought +against Dowie for having refused to give information concerning the +Bank of Sion. All these affairs provided so many new "sensations." +But what is of importance is to attract the public, to hold their +attention, to keep them in suspense. The time came when it was +necessary to produce some more original idea, to strike a really +decisive blow, and so Dowie revealed to a stupefied Chicago that he was +the latest incarnation of the prophet Elijah. Then while the serious +Press denounced him for blasphemy, and the comic Press launched its +most highly poisoned shafts of wit against him, the whole of Sion +exulted in clamorous rejoicings. For the prophet knew his Chicago. +Credulity gained the upper hand, and the whole city flocked to the +tabernacle of Sion, desirous of beholding the new Elias at close +quarters. + + +III + +The definite organisation of Dowieism--or Sionism, as it is more +usually called--dates from 1894. From this time forward Dowie ceased +to be merely a shepherd offering the shelter of his fold to those +desiring salvation, and, allowing evangelisation as such to take a +secondary place, became the director, inspector and general overseer of +a religious society founded upon community of both material and moral +interests, and upon fair administration of the benefits of a commercial +and industrial enterprise having many sources of revenue. In this +society, political, sociological and religious views were combined, so +that it offered an attractive investment for financial as well as +spiritual capital. Dowie was not only the religious and temporal +leader of the movement, but also the contractor for and principal +beneficiary from this gigantic co-operative scheme, which combined +selling and purchasing, manufacture and distribution, therapeutics, +social questions and religion. + +Like most founders of sects, the prophet of the "New Sion" was at first +surrounded by those despairing invalids and cripples who try all kinds +of remedies, until at last they find one to which they attribute the +relief of their sufferings, whether real or fancied. Such as these +will do all that is required of them; they will give all their worldly +goods to be saved; and they paid gladly the tenth part which Dowie +immediately demanded from all who came to him, some of them even +pouring their entire fortunes into the coffers of the new Elias. The +ranks of his recruits were further swelled by crowds of hypochondriacs, +and by the superstitious, the idle, and the curious, who filled his +temple to such an extent that soon he was obliged to hire a large hall +for his Sunday meetings, at which he was wont to appear in great +magnificence with the cortège of a religious showman. + +These displays attracted widespread attention, and indeed Dowie +neglected nothing in his efforts to make a deep and lasting impression +on the public mind. Here is the account of an eye-witness:-- + +The prophet speaks. The audience preserves a religious silence. His +voice has a quality so strange as to be startling. To see that broad +chest, that robust and muscular frame, one would expect to hear rolling +waves of sound, roarings as of thunder. But not so. The voice is +shrill and sibilant, yet with a sonority so powerful that it vibrates +on the eardrums and penetrates to the farthest corners of the hall. + +Presently the real object of the sermon is revealed. The enemies of +Sion are denounced with a virulence that borders upon fury, and the +preacher attacks violently those whom he accuses of persecuting his +church. He poses as a martyr, and cries out that "the blood of the +martyr is the seed of faith"; he pours out imprecations upon other +religious sects; calls down maledictions upon the qualified doctors, +who are to him merely "sorcerers and poisoners"; consigns "the vipers +of the press" to destruction; and, carried away by the violence of his +anathemas, launches this peroration upon the ears of his admiring +audience: + +"If you wish to drink your reeking pots of beer, whisky, wine, or other +disgusting alcoholic liquors; if you wish to go to the theatre and +listen to Mephistopheles, to the devil, to Marguerite, the dissolute +hussy, and Doctor Faust, her foul accomplice; if you wish to gorge +yourselves upon the oyster, scavenger of the sea, and the pig, +scavenger of the earth--a scavenger that there is some question of +making use of in the streets of Chicago (_laughter_); it you wish, I +say, to do the work of the devil, and eat the meats of the devil, you +need only to remain with the Methodists, Baptists, or such-like. Sion +is no place for you. We want only clean people, and, thanks to God, we +can make them clean. There are many among you who need cleansing. You +know that I have scoured you as was necessary, and I shall continue to +do it, for you are far from clean yet." + +Then, entering into a dialogue with his hearers upon the vital point of +Sionism, he asks: + +"Does America pay her tithe to God?" + +The audience replies "No." + +"Do the churches pay their tithes to God?" + +"No." + +"Do you yourselves pay your tithes to God? Stand up, those of you who +do." + +The listeners stand up in thousands. + +"There are a number of robbers here who remain seated, and do not pay +their tithes to God. Now I know who are the robbers. Do you know what +should be done with you? I will tell you. There is nothing for you +but the fire--the fire! Is it not villainy to rob one's brother?" + +"Yes." + +"Is it not villainy to rob one's mother?" + +"Yes." + +"Is it not the vilest villainy to rob God?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, there are some among you who are not ashamed of committing it. +You are robbing God all the time. You are like Ahaz, the Judean king +famed for his impiety, and if you remain as you are, you will be doomed +to eternal death. To whom does the tithe belong? What is done with +it? I am going to answer that. If anyone here says that what I +possess is taken out of the tithes, he lies--and I will make his lie +stick in his throat. The tithes and all other offerings go straight to +the general fund, and do not even pass through my hands. But I have a +right to my share of the tithes. Have I--or not?" + +"Yes." + +"Yes, and I shall take it when I have need of it. It is you whom I +address--you vile robbers, hypocrites, liars, who pretend to belong to +Sion and do not pay the tithe. Do you know what is reserved for you? +You will burn in eternal fire. Rise--depart from Sion!" + +But no one departs. All the defaulters hasten to pay, for the prophet +inspires them with a terror very different from their dread of the +tax-collector, and there is no single example of one sufficiently +obstinate to brave his threats of damnation. + +In other ways also Elias was all-powerful. He made a mock of political +or ecclesiastical elections, holding that a leader's power should not +be subject to suffrages or renewals of confidence. Thanks to these +sermons, dialogues, and the general _mise en scène_, the autocracy of +Dowie was beyond question. + + +IV + +The new Elias called himself "the divine healer," and, like Schlatter, +he attracted all who believed in the direct intervention of God, acting +personally upon the sufferer. In their eyes he was simply the +representative of God, source of health and healing. It was not he who +brought about the cures, but God, and therefore the payments that were +made to him were in reality payments to God. This teaching was largely +the source of Dowie's power. + +There were two large hotels in Chicago which were continually filled to +overflowing with pilgrims from all parts who came to seek "divine +healing." These left behind them sums of money--often considerable--in +token of their gratitude to God; not to the prophet, who would accept +nothing. + +It is obvious that if none of his cures had been effectual, Dowie, in +spite of his power over credulous minds, could not have succeeded. +Thaumaturgy must perform its miracles. If it fails to do so, it is a +fraud, and its incapacity proves its ruin. But if it accomplishes +them, its fame becomes widespread. These miraculous cures generally +take place, not singly, but in numbers, because there are always people +who respond to suggestion, and invalids who become cured when the +obligation to be cured, in the name of God, is placed upon them. Thus +Chicago saw and wondered at the miracles, and had no doubts of their +genuineness. + +There was the case of Mr. Barnard, one of the heads of the National +Bank of Chicago, whose twelve-year-old daughter was suffering from +spinal curvature. She grew worse, in spite of all the efforts of the +most eminent doctors and surgeons, and it seemed that nothing could be +done. The child must either die, or remained deformed for the rest of +her life. The father and mother were overcome with grief, and after +having gone the round of all the big-wigs of the medical profession, +they tried first bone-setters, then Christian Scientists, without +avail. Finally they went to Dowie, who had already cured one of their +friends. Up till then they had not had confidence in him, and they +only went to him as a counsel of despair, so to speak, and because a +careful re-reading of the Bible had persuaded them that God could and +would cure all who had faith in His supreme power. Dowie, perceiving +that they and their daughter had true faith, laid his hands on the +child and prayed. In that same moment the curvature disappeared, and +the cure was complete, for there was never any return of the trouble. + +In recognition of this divine favour Mr. Barnard, who had hitherto +belonged to the Presbyterian Church, voluntarily joined the Sionists, +and became their chief auxiliary financier. Dowie made him manager of +the Bank of Sion, under his own supervision, and confided to him the +financial administration of the church. + +Similarly a Mr. Peckman, whose wife he cured, and who was leader of the +Baptist Church of Indiana, gave thanks to God and to Dowie, His +prophet, by founding a colony affiliated to Sionism which paid its +tithes regularly. + +There are many other examples of successful cures, but also many +failures. These, however, did not lower the prestige of the modern +Elias, who said to his detractors: "God has the power to cure, and all +cures are due to Him alone. He desires to cure all who suffer, for His +pity is infinite; but it may very well happen that the consumptives and +paralytics who come to me after being given up by the doctors, are not +always cured by God, however much I pray for them. Why is this? The +reason is simple. Disease and death must be looked upon as ills due to +the devil, who, since the fall of the rebellious angels, is always in a +state of insurrection against God. And it is certain that whoever has +not faith--absolute and unquestionable faith--is in the power of Satan. +The Scripture tells us precisely, 'he that believeth and is baptised +shall be saved; he that believeth not is condemned.' When a sufferer +is not healed through my intercession, it means that in the struggle +for that particular soul, the devil has been victorious." + +So, supported by this thesis, Dowie triumphed over the objections of +his critics, not only in the eyes of Sion, but of all Chicago. Even +when he lost his only daughter, Esther, his authority was in no way +affected. + +Esther Dowie was twenty-one, and the pride of her father's heart. She +had finished her studies at the University of Chicago, and a happy +future seemed to be opening out before her. One day in the month of +May she was preparing for a large reception which was being held in +honour of young Booth-Clibborn, grandson of General Booth of the +Salvation Army. The event was an important one, for it was hoped that +this meeting would bring about an understanding between the +Salvationists and the Sionists, and Miss Dowie wished to give the +visitor the most gracious welcome possible. She was lighting a +spirit-lamp, for the purpose of waving her hair, when a draught of air +blew her peignoir into the flame. It caught fire, and the poor girl +was so terribly burned that she succumbed soon afterwards, although her +father and all the elders of the Church prayed at her bedside, and +although Dowie permitted a doctor to attend her and to make copious use +of vaseline. After her death, the jury decided that she must have been +burnt internally, the flames having penetrated to her throat and lungs. +Before she died she begged her father to forgive her for having +disobeyed him--for Dowie strictly forbade the use of alcohol, even in a +spirit-lamp--and implored the adherents of Sionism not to expose +themselves to death through disobedience, as she had done. + +The attitude adopted by the prophet under this blow was almost sublime. +Letters of condolence and of admiration rained upon him. He wept over +his daughter's dead body, and was broken-hearted, while, instead of +drawing attention to the extenuating circumstances for his own +inability to save her--as he would have done in all other cases--he +fervently prayed to God to forgive her for having sinned against the +laws of Sion. His grief was so sincere that not only the Sionists but +the whole of Chicago joined in it. + +Lack of faith was not the only thing that prevented cures. Omitting to +pay the tithes could also render them impossible; for the tithes were +due to God, and those who failed to pay them committed a voluntary +offence against the divine power. When we remember that there were at +least sixty thousand Sionists, it is obvious that these tithes must +have amounted to an enormous sum--and of this sum Dowie never gave any +account. His spiritual power was founded upon his moral power. It is +certain that he tried to influence his followers for good in forbidding +them alcoholic drinks and gambling, and in advising exercise and +recreation in the open air, and the avoidance of medicaments and drugs +which he believed did more harm than good. He said to them--"Your +health is a natural thing, for health is the state of grace in man, and +the result of being in accord with God, and disease has no other cause +than the violation of law, religious or moral." He ordained that all +should live in a state of cleanliness, industry and order, so that +communal prosperity might be assured. And of this prosperity which +they owed to God and to His representative, what more just than that a +part of it should be given to God and to Dowie, His prophet? What more +legitimate than that there should be no separation between the material +life and the spiritual life? + +He had a special machine constructed which registered, by a kind of +clockwork, the intercessions made on behalf of the various applicants +for healing. Each one would receive a printed bulletin, stating, for +example--"Prayed on the 10th of March, at four o'clock in the +afternoon, John A. Dowie." If the patient was not in Chicago, Dowie +would pray by telephone, so that the immediate effect of the divine +power might be felt. He also made use of a phonograph for recording +his homilies, sermons and prayers, and these records were sent, at a +fixed price, to his adherents in all parts of the world. + + +V + +The city of Sion lies between Chicago and Milwaukee, about forty-two +miles to the north of the former. It comprises an estate of 6400 acres +on the shores of Lake Michigan. This land--some of the best in +Illinois--was let out in lots, on long lease, by Dowie to his +followers, and brought in thousands of dollars yearly. At the same +time that he created this principle of speculation in land, he was also +engaged in founding a special industry, whose products were sold as +"products of Sion." His choice fell upon the lace industry, and thanks +to very clever management he was able to establish large factories +modelled on those of Nottingham, employing many hundreds of workers +whose goods commanded a considerable sale. + +Before he undertook its organisation the possessions of the Church were +few. Fifteen years afterwards, it had a fortune of more than a million +pounds. + +In order to carry out his plan of building a town in which neither +spirits nor tobacco should be sold, and which should be inhabited only +by Sionists, it was necessary that all the land should belong to him, +and he had to reckon with the probably exorbitant demands of the +sellers. To circumvent these his real intentions had to be hidden, and +with the help of his faithful auxiliaries this was successfully +accomplished. + +I do not know what has become of Sionism during recent years. Will the +dynasty be continued after the reign of John Dowie by that of his son +William Gladstone Dowie; or will the death of the prophet, as stated by +those who have seen the eclipse of other stars of first magnitude, be +the signal for the dissolution of the sect? + +What matters, however, is the genesis and not the duration of an +enchantment which has united around one central figure, so many +thousands who thirsted for the simultaneous salvation of their souls +and of their purses. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE ADEPTS OF THE SUN OF SUNS + +Nearly all Communistic theories when applied in practice prove +failures, but there seems to be one infallible safeguard--that supplied +by religion. Faith, when mingled with the trials and disenchantments +of life, appears to mitigate them, and communal experiments based on +religious beliefs nearly always prosper. This applies to the +half-religious, half-communal sects of modern Russia, and the principle +has also been adopted by the American apostles of communism. + +One of these, Dr. Teed of Chicago, understood it well, and his sect +was, in fact, merely a religious sect based on the principle of +communal possessions. Its adherents took the name of _Koreshans_, +after the title _Koresh_ (or the sun) boasted by its founder. He, +_Koresh_, "Light of Lights," "Sun of Suns," was called by Heaven to +teach the truth to mortals, and to show them which road to eternal +salvation they should follow in order to prosper upon earth. Founded +in Chicago, the sect moved recently to Florida, and there, from day to +day, Teed had the satisfaction of seeing the number of believers +steadily increase. + +He had at first to put up with a good deal of ridicule, for his +teaching, based upon that of Fourier, and incorporating some of the +mystical ideas of Swedenborg, was not at all to the taste of his +fellow-citizens. The doctor then evolved the brilliant idea of +dividing his system into two doctrines--the way to heaven, or the +mystical doctrine; and the way to earthly prosperity, or the economic +doctrine. It was permissible to follow the second without adopting the +first, and the result may easily be guessed. Attracted by the prospect +of terrestrial benefits, believers flocked to the fold, and invariably +ended by accepting the second half of the teaching also (the mystical +doctrine), all the more willingly because their material happiness and +prosperity depended on the degree of their "union" with the founder. + +The mysticism of _Koresh_ had some novel features, for the American +doctor saw the wisdom of making use of some of the prestige lately +gained by science. His religion, consequently, was essentially +scientific. He, _Koresh_, was the "unique man," who, thanks to his +"scientific studies" and to "celestial inspiration," could understand +the mysteries of nature. He had reached the summit of scientific +knowledge and the greatest possible human perfection--that is to say, +"sainthood"--and all who approached him were made participators in his +"holiness." Thanks to this gift, pertaining only to _Koresh_, his +followers could "enjoy the bliss of heaven upon earth"; for the Kingdom +of God upon earth was near at hand, and _Koreshism_ was preparing the +way for its disciples. + +But what had to be done in order to attain the higher degrees of +salvation? Teed was a sufficiently clever psychologist to know that +nothing fascinates the crowd so much as mysteries and things that +cannot be understood, and he acted accordingly. + +His doctrine is so obscure that only those claiming divine illumination +could hope to find their way amid its cloudy precepts. Let us give an +example:-- + +"In recognition of the principal source of the force of the intrinsic +and innate life of the Christian revelation, the _Koreshan_ doctrine +elevates the founder of Christianity to the place of father, become +perfect, thanks to the sacrifice of his son, which it has been given to +us to understand by the flesh of Jehovah." + +The believers could give it whatever meaning they liked, and for those +who despaired of understanding this part of the _Koreshan_ revelation, +the prophet kept in reserve thousands of other dogmas, all equally +enigmatic and equally obscure. We will not attempt to discuss them! + +The teaching included the attainment of perfection through marriage, +and claimed omniscience for _Koreshism_, which could throw new light +upon all things, including such subjects as astronomy and philosophy. +The earth is not round, light is not diffused, as science teaches, and +man has not five senses, but seven--so said _Koresh_. He described his +doctrine as communistic and co-operative. The use of money was +forbidden, its place being taken by cheques representing the amount of +services rendered to the community. + +The colony founded at Estero, in Florida, was almost exclusively +commercial and industrial, not agricultural like most communal +settlements. Electric railways and factories were built--and are still +being built--there, for steam, like money, is banned in the colony of +_Koresh_; while being in possession of a seaport, the _Koreshans_ +propose to enter into commercial relationship with the whole world. + +The Bureau of Equitable Commerce directs the business affairs of the +community, and at its head is the chief of the Commonwealth (or public +fortune). All the inhabitants share in the general prosperity, and in +order to prevent the more capable individuals from developing into +capitalists, the fortunes of all are carefully equalised by means of a +progressive tax upon income. The land belongs to all, and is +non-transferable, like the factories. No payment is demanded of +new-comers; it is enough if they bring the moral capital of an +irreproachable life, and are good workers; and any poor people who +desire to seek salvation in the colony are enabled to travel to it by +contributions from the public funds. Absolute tolerance of all beliefs +forms the spiritual basis of the sect. + +New Jerusalem, the capital of the colony, covers about eighty-six +square miles, having streets four hundred feet in width, and separate +industrial quarters. The business affairs of the community are +undeniably prosperous. + + + + +B. RELIGION AND MIRACLES + + +"O men born upon earth, why abandon yourselves to death, when you are +permitted to obtain immortality?" + +HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS + +The marriage between Science and the Bible, brought about by Mary Baker +Eddy, has given birth to a most prosperous sect. In this amalgam, the +Christianity is not of the purest, and the Science appears rather in +the form of the negation of its own principles; but so great is +humanity's desire for the union of revelation and experience that +believers crowd from all parts to range themselves behind the hew +banner. + +There is something almost disconcerting in the ardour and devotion of +Mrs. Eddy's followers. Truly, in the success of Christian Science we +see one more proof of the ease with which a new religion can be started +if, in addition to faith, it concerns itself with man's earthly welfare. + +The founder of the sect was a clever woman. Well aware of the power +and fascination of the mysterious, she exploited it with a profound +understanding of the human heart. She mingled the realities of life +with the mysteries of thought, and the sun of her revelations is always +veiled by intangible clouds. From her gospel one might cull at random +scores of phrases that defy human understanding. "Evil is nothing, no +thing, mind or power," she says in _Science and Health_. "As +manifested by mankind, it stands for a lie, nothing claiming to be +something." And again--"Mortal existence has no real entity, but saith +'It is I.'" + +The nonsensicalness of her phraseology can find no comparison save in +the inconceivable chaos of her teachings. She goes so far as to imply +that the supreme effort of a woman's spirit should suffice to bring +about conception. Jesus Christ having been conceived of the Holy +Ghost, she suggests that man should follow this example, and renounce +the lusts of the flesh. "Proportionately as human generation ceases, +the unbroken links of eternal, harmonious being will be spiritually +discerned"--and in another place, "When this new birth takes place, the +Christian Science infant is born of the spirit, born of God, and can +cause the mother no more suffering." + +In the explanations of the Bible given in her _Key to the Scriptures_ +we are told that when we come upon the word "fire," we are to translate +it as "fear," and the word "fear" as "heat"; while we must remember +that Eve never put the blame for her sin upon the serpent, but, having +"learnt that corporeal sense is the serpent," she was the first to +confess her misdeed in having followed the dictates of the flesh +instead of those of the spirit. + +Like all prophets and saviours, Mrs. Eddy was crucified during her +lifetime. She had to engage in a continuous struggle with the envy and +jealousy of those who sought to misrepresent her teachings and bring +her glory to the dust. But she was far from being an ordinary woman, +and even in childhood seemed to be marked out for an exceptional +career. At the age of eight, like Joan of Arc, she heard mysterious +voices, and her mother, who was of Scottish origin and subject to +"attacks of religion," remembered the story of the Infant Samuel and +encouraged her to speak with the Lord. But Mary was alarmed by the +voices, and wept and trembled, instead of replying to them like a good +child. + +About her forty-fifth year, however, being in the grip of a serious +illness, she did hold converse with the Lord, who told her how she +might be cured. She listened and obeyed, and was cured. This was her +"great initiation." She then retired from the world, and spent several +years engaged in meditation and prayer, while her study of the Bible +revealed to her the key to all mysteries, human and divine. + +The deductions of her philosophy are often characterised by an +astonishing naïveté. "God being All-in-all, He made medicine," she +tells us; "but that medicine was Mind. . . . It is plain that God does +not employ drugs or hygiene, nor provide them for human use; else Jesus +would have recommended and employed them in His healing." + +She frequently makes use of ingenious statements whose very candour is +disarming, but she had considerable dialectical gifts, and can argue +persuasively, especially against spiritualism. In _Science and Health_ +she violently denies the authenticity of spiritualistic phenomena, "As +readily can you mingle fire and frost as spirit and matter. . . . The +belief that material bodies return to dust, hereafter to rise up as +spiritual bodies with material sensations and desires, is +incorrect. . . . The caterpillar, transformed into a beautiful insect, +is no longer a worm, nor does the insect return to fraternise with or +control the worm. . . . There is no bridge across the gulf which +divides two such opposite conditions as the spiritual, or incorporeal, +and the physical, or corporeal." + +In the confusion of precepts and principles championed by Mrs. Eddy +there are sometimes to be found thoughts worthy of a great +metaphysician. Her teaching, when purified from admixture, does at any +rate break away energetically from all materialistic doctrines. + +Her literary output was considerable, for in addition to her gospel, +_Science and Health_, she wrote _The Concordance of Science and +Health_, _Rudimentary Divine Science_, _Christian Science versus +Paganism_, and other works, including some verse. + +The Christian Science churches, with their adherents, who number more +than a million, are spread all over the world, each having an +independent existence. They are found chiefly in the United States, +England, Germany, and the British Colonies. The number of "healers" +exceeds several thousands, for the most part of the female sex. In +France the first "Church of Christ, Scientist" has been founded in +Paris, in the Rue Magellan, under the name of Washington Palace. + +The Christian Science leader denounced the established churches and +spared them no criticism, and her doctrine contained a seed of truth +which enabled it to triumph even over its own lack of logic and +coherence. + +The world, submerged in matter, either denies spirit or turns away from +it. Mrs. Eddy exalts the power of spirit above that of matter, the +universal goddess, by means of statements which are heroic rather than +scientific. + +Matter does not exist. God is all, and God is spirit; therefore all is +spirit. Matter is not spirit, but is a fiction which only exists for +those who persist in believing in it against the evidence of facts. As +matter does not exist, and is only a lie and the invention of Satan, +the body, which we see in the form of matter, does not exist either. +The suffering caused by the body is simply an "error of mortal mind," +for since the body does not exist, there can be no such thing as bodily +suffering. Therefore instead of concerning ourselves with the healing +of the supposed body, with the prevention or cure of pain and +suffering, we must go straight to spirit. Spirit is perfect, and the +thought of pain or disease can have no place in it. Let us then leave +the curing of our bodies, and seek to rectify our spirits. + +Doctors and surgeons, on the contrary, follow the errors of centuries +in concerning themselves with the body, and causing it to absorb drugs +which, having no connection with disease, can neither cure nor relieve +it. "Mind as far outweighs drugs in the cure of disease as in the cure +of sin. The more excellent way is divine Science in every case. . . . +The hosts of Aesculapius are flooding the world with diseases, because +they are ignorant that the human mind and body are myths." + +A follower of the "true doctrine," according to Mrs. Eddy, is never ill +for the simple reason that he does not believe in the body or in any of +its infirmities. If he should be overtaken by illness, it is because +his spirit is ill, and his faith not sufficiently pure. + +From this results a very simple method of healing. The "healer" merely +seeks to re-establish the faith of the sufferer, and to convince him of +the non-reality of his illness. No medicine is given, the treatment +consisting of thoughts and suggestions from _Science and Health_. +Christian Science healers need to have a robust and unshakable faith, +for if they do not succeed in their task it is because their own spirit +has been infected by doubt. + + +Mrs. Eddy declared that our concrete and practical age required, above +all, a religion of reality; that men could no longer be content with +vague promises of future bliss. What they needed was a religion of the +present that would end their sufferings and procure for them serenity +and happiness on earth. The title of "applied Christianity" has been +adopted by Christian Science, which advises us to make use of the +teachings of Jesus in our daily life, and to reap all the advantages of +such a practice. We have need of truth "applied" to life just as we +have need of telegraphs, telephones and electric apparatus, and +now--say the Scientists--for the first time in man's existence he is +offered a really practical religious machinery, which enables him to +overcome misfortune and to establish his happiness, his health, and his +salvation on a solid basis. + +The Scientists claim to have recourse to the same spiritual law by +means of which Jesus effected His cures, and they declare that its +efficacy is undeniable, since all Mrs. Eddy's pupils who use it are +able to heal the sick. One may suggest that Jesus performed miracles +because He was the Saviour of the world. Mrs. Eddy replies that +statements are attributed to Him which never issued from His lips; that +He said (in the Gospel according to St. John) that it was not He who +spoke or acted, but His Father; and stated elsewhere, that the Son +could do nothing of Himself. Also that Jesus never sent His disciples +forth to preach without adding that they should also heal. "Heal the +sick," was His supreme command. And that He never counselled the use +of drugs or medicines. + +The healing of the sick, according to Mrs. Eddy, was one of the chief +functions of the representatives of the Church during the first three +centuries of Christianity, her subsequent loss of importance and power +being largely due to the renunciation of this essential principle. + +Healing is not miraculous, but merely the result of a normal spiritual +law acting in conformity with the Divine Will. The leader of the new +"Scientists" explains that Jesus had no supernatural powers, and that +all He did was done according to natural law. Consequently everybody, +when once brought into harmony with spiritual truth, can accomplish +what He accomplished. + +Some of Mrs. Eddy's statements have an undeniable practical value. For +instance, she attacks "fear" as one of the chief causes of human +misery, and declares that it is wrong to fear draughts of air, or wet +feet, or the eating and drinking of certain substances--and wrong, +above all, to fear microbes. + +But exaggeration is always harmful. The total suppression of fear +would mean the suppression of often necessary and desirable +precautions. In order to succeed, however, a religion has need of the +absolute, for conditional truths are not likely to impress the public; +and the founder of Christian Science was well aware of this. + + +Health, according to the Scientists, is truth. In order to enjoy +existence, we must live in the truth and avoid sin, and ultimately +death itself will disappear, being entirely superfluous. Jesus said +that whoso believed on Him should never see death, and He would not +have said this if death were necessary for salvation. Therefore +believers are taught that humanity will in time conquer sickness and +death, and that this blessed consummation will be reached when human +beings attain to the heights of the Christian Science "gospel," and are +guided by it in all the thoughts and actions of their everyday life. +Other equally enchanting prospects are conjured up, like mirages in the +desert, before the dazzled eyes of Mrs. Eddy's followers. Making use +of the ancient conception of angels, she teaches that such beings are +always close at hand, for angels are "God's thoughts passing to man; +spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect." "These angels of His +presence . . . abound in the spiritual atmosphere of Mind." + +Thus Christian Science is seen to be a religion of health, longevity +and happiness, the fruits of spiritual action; a religion which denies +both the theoretical and practical existence of matter. + +There are, however, occasions when the invocations of "science" prove +powerless to deal with rebellious matter. But this does not embarrass +Mrs. Eddy. She considers that her doctrine is in advance of the age, +and that men themselves must progress in order to rise to its level. +Their spirits will then become pure and perfect, and matter will have +no more power over them. Man will be able to live quite differently, +for hygienic conditions--even those considered most indispensable--will +no longer be of any importance. + + +One of the most irresistible attractions of Christian Science lies in +its declaration that it will be possible at some future time to +overcome death--a dream that has been known in all epochs. Yet, for +all our love of life, how unprofitably we squander it! Our normal life +could be prolonged to a hundred and fifty, or even two hundred +years,[1] but we have stupidly imposed upon ourselves an artificial +barrier which we scarcely ever surpass! + +Mrs. Eddy knew well what charm the possibility of destroying the "King +of Terrors" would add to her doctrine, and she made effective use of it. + +We may note that the idea of overcoming death can be traced back for +some three thousand years or so. Hermes, the "Thrice Greatest One," +taught that only "by error" had death become installed upon our planet, +and that nothing in the world could ever be lost. "Death does not +exist; the word 'mortal' is void of meaning, and is merely the word +'immortal' without its first syllable." He taught further that the +world was the second God, immortal and alive, and that no part of it +could ever die; that "the eternal" and "the immortal" must not be +confused, for "the eternal" was God Uncreate, while the world which He +had created and made in His own image was endowed with His immortality. +Hermes also suggested that it was only necessary to send our bodily +sensations to sleep in order to awake in God and rejoice in immortality! + +There was a close relationship between Hermes, the Essenes of Egypt, +and St. John, the author of _Revelation_. Indeed, if we search +carefully, we find that the Gnostics of every school believed in the +possibility of banishing death from the earth. + +"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never +thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of +water springing up into everlasting life." (St. John iv. 14). + +And what superiority over the claims of Mrs. Eddy is shown by Hermes, +when he declares that in order to reach the spiritual worlds we only +need to free ourselves from sensation! + +Unsuspected sources of inspiration, as yet unutilised, abound in the +writings of the Pythagoreans, the Essenes, and even the Neo-Platonists. +The creators of future religions are likely to draw much water from +these wells, but Christian Science can lay claim to be the first to +have made use of the mysticism of the past in a practical fashion, so +that its adherents rejoice in the prospect of endless life, even as did +the visionaries of former ages. + +When one examines the doctrine closely, its lack of originality becomes +apparent. The idea that matter does not exist has had numerous +protagonists in the realms of philosophy, and is ardently defended by +Berkeley. In the dialogues of Hylas and Philonous, the latter speaks +of the "absolute impossibility" of matter, which has no existence apart +from spirit. But Mrs. Eddy succeeded in giving this purely +metaphysical conception a concrete value in the affairs of every-day +life. + +She opened the first _School of Christian Science Mind-healing_ in 1867 +with one student; towards the end of the century her followers numbered +close on a hundred thousand; while to-day the "Mother Church" can boast +over a million adherents, to say nothing of its financial resources. + +Without doubt suggestion is the basis of the miraculous cures which are +the pride of Christian Science, but the prophetess and her followers +have always denied this. As Jesus ignored the power of suggestion, +they also must not only ignore it, but wage merciless war upon it. +They deny both suggestion and matter, while making use of each--but +neither the use of suggestion nor the doctrine of the non-existence of +matter could alone or together have procured for the new sect its truly +phenomenal success. That is due largely to ingenious methods of +publicity, on the most modern lines (and is not advertisement itself +one of the most effective forms of suggestion?). When one miraculous +cure after another was announced, money flowed in, and Mrs. Eddy made +use of it to increase the numbers of believers. Adapting herself to +the mentality of her hearers, or readers, she demanded large fees for +the manifestations of the "spirit" which was incarnated in herself and +her helpers, and left behind her when she died, an immense personal +fortune, and hundreds of prosperous churches. "Matter" does not seem +to be altogether negligible, even for pure spirits who do not believe +in its existence, and consider it an invention of the devil! + + + +[1] See _La Philosophie de la Longevité_ (Bibliothèque de Philosophie +Contemporaine, Félix Alcan, 12th edition), by Jean Finot. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SCHLATTER, THE MIRACLE-MAN + +The town of Denver, the "pearl of Colorado," was _en fête_. Hundreds +of thousands of pilgrims were flocking to it from all parts of America, +and all, immediately they arrived, made straight for the house of +Alderman Fox, where dwelt Francis Schlatter, the greatest +miracle-worker of the century. For two months Denver was able to +contemplate an unparalleled variety of invalids with illnesses both +rare and common, all--or nearly all--of whom departed reassured as to +their progress, if not completely cured. The trains were overcrowded, +the hotels overflowed with visitors, and all the States rang with hymns +of praise in honour of Schlatter, the saint of Denver. + +But perpetual joy is not of this world. On the 14th of November, 1895, +there were still thousands of people outside Alderman Fox's house, but +their grief and despair were pitiable to witness. The women sobbed, +the men cursed, and all this, mingled with the woeful complaints of the +sick, created an extraordinary atmosphere in the usually gay and +cheerful town. + +The cause of it was that Saint Schlatter had fled from Colorado without +warning in the night--whether for a short time or for ever nobody knew. +The news spread far and wide, the affair assumed the proportions of a +public calamity, and the _Rocky Morning News_ and other Colorado +journals shed copious tears over the sad lot of the abandoned pilgrims. +Even the American newspapers, which so often foresee events that never +happen, had not been able to foresee this thunderbolt that had +descended in the midst of their readers. + +On the previous day the saint had, as usual, given his blessing to the +thousands of pilgrims gathered from all quarters, and had appeared to +be in his customary state of serene kindliness. Nothing had suggested +his desertion--for the disappointed crowds considered it a desertion +indeed. Even Alderman Fox, deeply troubled as he was, could offer no +consolation to his fellow-citizens. He, who was formerly stone-deaf, +had gone one day to see Schlatter at Omaha, and when the latter took +his hand his deafness had completely disappeared. Full of gratitude, +he offered Schlatter a large sum of money, which was refused. He then +offered the hospitality of his house at Denver, and this being +accepted, Schlatter arrived there, preceded by the glory of his saintly +reputation and his miraculous cures. Two months passed thus, and never +had prophet a more devoted and enthusiastic disciple than the worthy +alderman of Colorado's capital city. Then fell the blow! + +When Alderman Fox had entered his guest's room the night before, the +bed was empty. Dressed just as he had arrived, in his unique costume, +Schlatter had disappeared, leaving behind him as sole trace of his +visit this message:--"Mr. Fox--my mission is ended, and the Father +calls me. I salute you. Francis Schlatter. November 13th." + +After that he was sought for in vain. He who "intoxicated the weak +soul of the people"--to quote one of the Colorado clergy--and made the +land of sin ring with songs of heavenly triumph, had completely +disappeared. In the words of another of them, "the plant that had +grown up in barren soil was withered away by the wrath of God." + +But the grief of those who had believed in him lasted for many years. + + +Schlatter was born in Alsace in 1855, and after his arrival in America +he followed many avocations, finally adopting that of a "holy man." +With head and feet bare, he traversed the States from one end to +another, and proclaimed himself a messenger of heaven. He preached the +love of God and peace among men. He was imprisoned, and continued to +preach, and though his fellow-prisoners at first mocked at him, they +ended by listening. + +He only had to place his hand on the heads of the sick, and they were +cured. After being released from prison, he went to Texas. His +peculiar dress, bare feet, and long hair framing a face which seemed +indeed to be illuminated from within, drew crowds to follow him, and he +was looked upon as Elijah come to life again. + +"Hearken and come to me," he said. "I am only a humble messenger sent +by my Heavenly Father." + +And thousands came. He cured the incurable, and consoled the +inconsolable. Once he was shut up in a mad-house, but emerged more +popular than ever. Then he went on a pilgrimage through the towns of +Mexico, preaching his "Father's" word among the adulterers of goods and +the Worshippers of the Golden Calf. An object of reverence and +admiration, he blessed the children and rained miracles upon the heads +of the sick, finally arriving at San Francisco in 1894. From there, +still on foot and bare-headed, he crossed the Mohave Desert, spent +several weeks at Flagstaff, and then continued his wanderings among the +Indian tribes. They recognised his saintliness and came out in crowds +to meet him, amazed at the power of the Lord as manifested by him. He +spent five days in the company of the chief of the Navajos, performing +many miracles, and filling with wonder the simple souls who crowded +round to touch his hands. After having traversed several other +districts, he stopped at Denver, which became his favourite residence. +In this paradise of the New World his most startling miracles took +place. It became known as his special town, and from all parts there +flocked to it believers and unbelievers, good, bad and indifferent, +attracted by the fame of the heavenly messenger. Women and men +followed in his train, expressing their admiration and gratitude; even +the reporters who came to interview him were impressed by his +simplicity, and described in glowing terms the miracles accomplished by +the "prophet of Denver." + +The American journals which thus put themselves at his service throw a +strange light upon this twentieth-century saint. For Schlatter the +Silent, as some called him, only became eloquent when in the presence +of newspaper reporters. He took heed to "sin not with his tongue," as +the psalmist sings, and "kept his mouth with a bridle" and "held his +peace," as long as "the wicked" were before him; but when confronted by +reporters his thoughts became articulate, and it is only through them +that his simple "Gospel" has been handed down to us. "I am nothing," +he would say to them. "My Father is all. Have faith in Him, and all +will be well." Or--"My Father can replace a pair of diseased lungs as +easily as He can cure rheumatism. He has only to will, and the sick +man becomes well or the healthy one ill. You ask me in what does my +power consist. It is nothing--it is His will that is everything." + +One day when a crowd of several thousands was pressing round him, +Schlatter addressed a man in his vicinity. + +"Depart!" he said to him, with a violence that startled all who heard. +"Depart from Denver; you are a murderer!" + +The man fled, and the crowd applauded the "saint," remarking that "it +was not in his power to heal the wicked." + +Faith in him spread even to the railway companies of New Mexico, for +one day there appeared a placard of the Union Pacific Railway stating +that those of the employees, or their families, who wished to consult +Schlatter would be given their permits and their regular holiday. +Following on this announcement, the _Omaha World Herald_ describes the +impressive spectacle of the thousands of men, women and children, +belonging to all grades of the railway administration, who went to the +holy man of Denver to ask pardon for their sins, or to be healed of +their diseases. + +Thus did the transport systems, combined with the newspapers, pay +homage to the exploits of the new prophet. + + +And still the miracles continued. The blind saw, the deaf heard, and +the cripples walked. The lamp of faith lighted in New Mexico threw its +beams over the whole of America, and the remarkable charm of +Schlatter's personality influenced even the most incredulous. + +The fame of his deeds reached Europe, and some of the English papers +told of cures so marvellous that New Mexico bade fair to become the +refuge of all the incurables in the world. + +In the _Omaha World Herald_ a long article by General Test was +published, in which he said: "All those who approach him find +consolation and help. Dr. Keithley has been cured of deafness. . . . +I have used spectacles for many years, but a touch of his hand was +enough to make me have need of them no longer." + +One of the officials of the Union Pacific Railway, a Mr. Sutherland, +after an accident, could neither walk nor move his limbs. He was taken +to Denver, and returned completely cured, not only of his inability to +walk, but also of deafness that had troubled him for fifteen years. + +A Mr. Stewart, who had been deaf for twenty years, was also completely +cured by the saint. Nothing seemed able to resist his miraculous +powers. Blindness, diphtheria, phthisis, all disappeared like magic at +the touch of his hand; and gloves that he had worn proved equally +efficacious. + +A Mrs. Snook, of North Denver, had suffered from cancer for some +months, when, worn out by pain, she sent to the holy man for the loan +of one of his gloves. He sent her two, saying that she would be +cured--and she was cured. The same thing happened with John Davidson +of 17th Street, Denver; with Colonel Powers of Georgetown; and a dozen +others, all of whom had suffered for years from more or less incurable +maladies. + +An engineer named Morris was cured of cataract instantaneously. A +totally blind wood-cutter was able to distinguish colours after being +touched by Schlatter. A Mrs. Holmes of Havelock, Nebraska, had tumours +under the eyes. She pressed them with a glove given her by the +prophet, and they disappeared. (This case is reported in the _Denver +News_ of November 12th, 1895.) + +Gloves began to arrive from all parts, and lay in mountains on +Schlatter's doorstep. He touched them with his hand, and distributed +them to the crowd. _Faith_ being the sole cause of the cures, it was +unnecessary, he said, to lay hands on the sick. When he did so, it was +only in order to impress the souls of those who had need of this outer +sign in order to enjoy the benefits sent them by the Father through His +intermediary. This explains how Schlatter was able to treat from three +to five thousand people every day. He would stand with outstretched +hands blessing the crowds, who departed with peace in their souls. + +And the "pearl of Colorado" rejoiced, seeing how the deaf heard, the +cripples walked, the blind saw, and all glorified the name of the Saint +of Denver. + +His disinterestedness was above suspicion, and the contempt that he +showed for the "almighty dollar" filled all the believers with +astonishment and admiration. + +"What should I do with money?" he said. "Does not my Heavenly Father +supply all my needs? There is no greater wealth than faith, and I have +supreme faith in my Father." + +Gifts poured in upon him, but he refused them all with his customary +gentleness, so that at last people ceased to send him anything but +gloves. These, after having touched them with his hands, he +distributed among the sick and the unfortunate. + +His fame increased with the ardour of his faith. Suspicion was +disarmed, and great and small paid him homage. Out of touch as he was +with modern thought, and reading nothing but the prophets, he attained +to a condition of ecstasy which at last led him to announce that he was +Christ come down from heaven to save his fellow-men. Having lived so +long on the footing of a son of God, he now was convinced of his direct +descent, and his hearers going still further, were filled with +expectation of some great event which should astonish all unbelievers. + +Under the influence of this general excitement he proceeded to undergo +a forty days' fast. He announced this to his followers, who flocked to +see the miracle, preceded by the inevitable reporters; and while +fasting he still continued to heal the sick and give them his blessing, +attracting ever greater crowds by his haggard visage and his atmosphere +of religious exaltation. + +Then, having spent forty days and forty nights in this manner, he sat +down at table to replenish his enfeebled forces, and the beholders gave +voice to enthusiastic expressions of faith in his divine mission. + +But the famished Schlatter attacked the food laid before him with an +ardour that had in it nothing of the divine. The onlookers became +uneasy, and one of them went so far as to suggest that his health might +suffer from this abrupt transition. + +"Have faith," replied Schlatter. "The Father who has permitted me to +live without nourishment for forty days, will not cease to watch over +His Son." + + +The town of Denver formed a little world apart. Miracles were in the +air, faith was the only subject of conversation, and everyone dreamed +of celestial joys and the grace of salvation. In this supernatural +atmosphere distinctions between the possible and the impossible were +lost sight of, and the inhabitants believed that the usual order of +nature had been overthrown. + +For instance, James Eckman of Leadville, who had been blinded by an +explosion, recovered his sight immediately he arrived at Denver. +General Test declared that he had seen a legless cripple _walk_ when +the saint's gaze was bent upon him. A blind engineer named Stainthorp +became able to see daylight. A man named Dillon, bent and crippled by +an illness several decades before, recovered instantaneously. When the +saint touched him, he felt a warmth throughout his whole body; his +fingers, which he had not been able to use for years, suddenly +straightened themselves; he was conscious of a sensation of +inexpressible rapture, and rose up full of faith and joy. A man named +Welsh, of Colorado Springs, had a paralysed right hand which was +immediately cured when Schlatter touched it. + +All New Mexico rejoiced in the heavenly blessing that had fallen upon +Denver. Special trains disgorged thousands of travellers, who were +caught up in the wave of religious enthusiasm directly they arrived. +The whole town was flooded with a sort of exaltation, and there was a +recrudescence of childishly superstitious beliefs, which broke out with +all the spontaneity and vigour that usually characterises the +manifestation of popular religious phenomena. + +What would have been the end of it if Schlatter had not so decisively +and inexplicably disappeared? + + +It would be difficult to conceive of anything more extraordinary than +the exploits of this modern saint, which came near to revolutionising +the whole religious life of the New World. The fact that they took +place against a modern background, with the aid of newspaper interviews +and special trains, gives them a peculiar _cachet_. Indeed, the +spectacle of such child-like faith, allied to all the excesses of +civilisation, and backed up by the ground-work of prejudices from which +man has as yet by no means freed himself, is one to provide +considerable food for reflection for those who study the psychology of +crowds in general, and of religious mania in particular. + +The case of Schlatter is not a difficult one to diagnose. He suffered +from "ambulatory automatism," the disease investigated by Professor +Pitres of Bordeaux, and was a wanderer from his childhood up. +Incapable of resisting the lure of vagabondage, he thought it should be +possible to perform miracles because it was "God his Father" who thus +forced him to wander from place to place. "All nature being directed +according to His Will," said Schlatter, "and nothing being accomplished +without Him, I am driven to warn the earth in order to fulfil His +designs." + +Being simple-minded and highly impressionable, the first cure that he +succeeded in bringing about seemed to him a direct proof of his +alliance with God. As Diderot has said, it is sometimes only necessary +to be a little mad in order to prophesy and to enjoy poetic ecstasies; +and in the case of Schlatter the flower of altruism which often +blossoms in the hearts of such "madmen" was manifested in his complete +lack of self-seeking and in his compassion for the poor and suffering +which drew crowds around him. As to his miracles, we may--without +attempting to explain them--state decisively that they do not differ +from those accomplished by means of suggestion. The cases of blindness +treated by Schlatter have a remarkable resemblance to that of the girl +Marie described by Pierre Janet in his _Psychological Automatism_. + +This patient was admitted to the hospital at Havre, suffering, among +other things, from blindness of the left eye which she said dated from +infancy. But when by means of hypnotism she was "transformed" into a +child of five years of age, it was found that she saw well with both +eyes. The blindness must therefore have begun at the age of six +years--but from what cause? She was made to repeat, while in the +somnambulistic state, all the principal scenes of her life at that +time, and it was found that the blindness had commenced some days after +she had been forced to sleep with a child of her own age who had a rash +all over the left side of her face. Marie developed a similar rash and +became blind in the left eye soon afterwards. Pierre Janet made her +re-live the event which had had so terrible an effect upon her, induced +her to believe that the child had no rash, and after two attempts +succeeded in making her caress her (imaginary) bedfellow. The sight of +the left eye returned, and Marie awoke--cured! + +The saint of Denver could not, of course, make use of methods adopted +by doctors in the hospitals, but he had something much stronger and +more effective in his mysterious origin, his prophet-like appearance, +and his airs as of one illuminated by the spirit. Suggestion, when +acting upon those who are awake, spreads from one to another like an +attack of yawning or of infectious laughter. Crowds are credulous, +like children who look no further than their surface impressions. + +The case of W. C. Dillon, who had been bent and crippled for years, but +was able to straighten his limbs at once under Schlatter's influence, +recalls that of the young sailor in the household of Dr. Pillet, who +for several weeks was bent forward in a most painful position. He had +received a severe blow at the base of the chest, after which he seemed +unable to stand upright again. He was put into a hypnotic sleep, and +asked if he could raise himself. + +"Why not?" he replied. + +"Then do so," said the doctor--and he rose from his bed completely +cured. + +A remarkable thing with regard to Schlatter's cures is that they were +so frequently concerned with cases of paralysis. Now Charcot has +proved that such cases are usually found in hysterical subjects +suffering from amnesia or anaesthesia (general or partial loss of +sensation), and according to modern medical research paralysis and +anaesthesia are almost identical. We know, further, with what ease +hypnotic suggestion can either provoke or dispel partial or general +anaesthesia, and this applies equally to partial or general paralysis. + +Paralysis is often, if not always, due to a simple +amnesia--forgetfulness to make use of certain muscles--which can be +overcome by suggestion. Schlatter, with his undeniable hypnotic power, +had consequently small difficulty in accomplishing "miracles"--that is +to say, in producing incomprehensible and inexplicable phenomena. + +His custom of dealing with people in crowds gave him greater chances of +success than if he had merely treated individual cases. "Faith is the +only thing that cures," he declared--and, as if by magic, his hearers +became possessed of faith and intoxicated by the benefits obtained from +his divine intervention. + +Truly the life of this impulse-ridden vagabond, so lacking in +self-interest, so devoted to the needs of the sick and poor, throws a +new light upon the souls of our contemporaries. There seems to exist +in every human being, no matter how deeply hidden, an inexhaustible +desire for contact with the Infinite. And this desire can be as easily +played upon by the tricks of impostors as by the holiness of saints, or +the divine grace of saviours. + + + + +PART III + +THE DEPTHS OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND + + +CHAPTER I + +SECTS IN FRANCE AND ELSEWHERE + +During the second half of the nineteenth and the beginning of the +twentieth century, scarcely a single country has been free from +religious manifestations of the most varied kind, all concerned with +new ways and means of attaining salvation; and if one were to include +all the different phases of occultism as well, one would be astounded +at the mystical ardour of which modern humanity is possessed. + +From the spiritualists and the theosophists to the crystal-gazers and +the palmists, all these occult practices are, in reality, merely the +result of a more or less intensified desire to communicate with the +spiritual worlds. + +France, although considered a country pre-eminently sceptical, has not +escaped the general tendency, for even in what appeared to be the most +rationalistic epoch--that of the Revolution--the "Cult of Reason" was +founded, to be succeeded by the "Religion of the Supreme Being" +introduced by Robespierre. And what numbers of new sects and religions +can be recorded since then! + +There was, first of all, the _Theophilanthropy_ of Jean-Baptiste Chemin +and Valentine Haüy, representing the faith of those who love man in +God, and God in so far as He loves man. The Empire, in persecuting +this doctrine, only added to its vitality, for it has hot even yet +completely died out. + +The religion of Father Enfantin, which had a great vogue in the last +century, conformed in many respects to the name of its founder. Man +and woman, united by religion, were to form priests "in duplicate" for +the guidance of their flock, young and old, lovers and married couples +alike. The Saint-Simonites--so admirable in some ways--allied +themselves to this doctrine, and succeeded in attracting a number of +sympathisers. + +The life of French sects has always been of short duration, though +there have existed among them many that in other countries would +certainly have won for their founders the laurel-wreath of fame. Such +was, for instance, the _Church of France_, inaugurated by the Abbé +Chatel, whose idea was to entrust sacerdotal functions to the most +worthy among his followers, by means of a public vote. The sect +prospered for a time, but soon disappeared amid general indifference, +and the Abbé ended his days as a grocer. + +The doctrine of Fabre Palaprat had more success, being drawn from the +esoteric teachings of the Gospel of St. John. He either suppressed or +modified many of the Catholic dogmas, abandoned the use of Latin and +inaugurated prayers in French. + +The _Fusionists_ were founded by Jean-Baptiste de Tourreil. After a +divine revelation which came to him in the forest of Meudon, near +Paris, he broke with Catholicism and preached the intimate union of man +and nature. He anticipated to some extent the naturalist beliefs which +spread through both France and England at the beginning of the present +century, and his posthumous work entitled _The Fusionist Religion or +the Doctrine of Universalism_ gives an idea of his tendencies. There +was an element of consolation in his doctrine, for the harmony between +man and the universe, as taught by him, renders death only a +prolongation of life itself, and makes it both attractive and desirable. + +The _Neo-Gnostic Church_ of Fabre des Essarts was condemned by Leo XIII +with some severity as a revival of the old Albigensian heresy, with the +addition of new false and impious doctrines, but it still has many +followers. The Neo-Gnostics believe that this world is a work of +wickedness, and was created not by God but by some inferior power, +which shall ultimately disappear--and its creation also. While the +Manichaeans teach that the world is ruled by the powers of both good +and evil, God and Satan, the Neo-Gnostics declare that it is Satan who +reigns exclusively upon earth, and that it is man's duty to help to +free God from His powerful rival. They also preach the brotherhood of +man and of nations, and it is probably this altruistic doctrine which +has rendered them irresistible to many who are wearied and disheartened +by the enmities and hatreds that separate human beings. + +In 1900, after a letter from Jean Bricaut, the patriarch of universal +Gnosticism in Lyons, the Neo-Gnostics united with the Valentinians, and +their union was consecrated by the Council of Toulouse in 1903. But +some years afterwards, Dr. Fugairon of Lyons (who took the name of +Sophronius) amalgamated all the branches, with the exception of the +Valentinians, under the name of the _Gnostic Church of Lyons_. These +latter, although excluded, continued to follow their own way of +salvation, and addressed a legal declaration to the Republican +Government in 1906 in defence of their religious rights of association. + +In the Gnostic teaching, the Eons, corresponding to the archetypal +ideas of Plato, are never single; each god has his feminine +counterpart; and the Gnostic assemblies are composed of "perfected +ones," male and female. The Valentinians give the mystic bride the +name of Helen. + +The Gnostic rites and sacraments are complicated. There is the +_Consolamentum_, or laying on of hands; the breaking of bread, or means +of communication with the _Astral Body of Jesus_; and the +_Appareillamentum_, or means of receiving divine grace. + +In peculiarities of faith and of its expression some of our French +sects certainly have little to learn from those of America and Russia. + + +The _Religion of Satanism_--or, as it was sometimes called, the +_Religion of Mercy_--founded by Vintras and Boullan, deserves special +mention. Vintras was arrested--unjustly, it seems certain--for +swindling, and in the visions which he experienced as a result of his +undeserved sufferings he believed himself to be in communication with +the Archangel Michael and with Christ Himself. Having spent about +twelve years in London, he returned to Lyons to preach his doctrine, +and succeeded in making a number of proselytes. He died in 1875. Some +years afterwards a doctor of divinity named Boullan installed himself +at Lyons as his successor. He taught that women should be common +property, and preached the union with inferior beings (in order to +raise them), the "union of charity," and the "union of wisdom." He +healed the sick, exorcised demons, and treated domestic animals with +great success, so that the peasants soon looked upon him as superior to +the curé who was incapable of curing their sick horses and cattle. + +Vintras had proclaimed himself to be Elijah come to life; Boullan +adopted the title of John the Baptist resurrected. He died at the +beginning of the twentieth century, complaining of having been cruelly +slandered, especially by Stanislas de Guaita, who in his _Temple of +Satan_ had accused Boullan of being a priest of Lucifer, of making use +of spells and charms, and--worst of all--of celebrating the Black Mass. + + +The founder of the _Religion of Humanity_ had a tragic and troublous +career. Genius and madness have rarely been so harmoniously combined +for the creation of something that should be durable and of real value. +For one cannot doubt the madness of Auguste Comte. It was manifested +in public on the 12th of April, 1826, and interrupted the success of +his lectures, which had attracted all the leading minds of the time, +including Humboldt himself. After a violent attack of mania, the +founder of the philosophy of Positivism took refuge at Montmorency. +From there he was with difficulty brought back to Paris and placed +under the care of the celebrated alienist, Esquirol. He was released +when only partially cured, and at the instigation of his mother +consented to go through a religious marriage ceremony with Madame +Comte, after which he signed the official register _Brutus Bonaparte +Comte_! The following year he threw himself into the Seine, but was +miraculously saved, and, gradually recovering his strength, he +recommenced his courses of lectures, which aroused the greatest +interest both in France and abroad. + +The Positivist leader had always shown signs of morbid megalomania. +His early works are sufficient to prove that he was the prey to an +excessive form of pride, for he writes like a Messiah consciously +treading the path that leads to a martyr's crown. His private troubles +aggravated the malady, and the escapades of his wife, who frequently +left his house to rejoin her old associates, were the cause of violent +attacks of frenzy. + +Later the philosopher himself was seized by an overwhelming passion for +Clotilde de Vaux, a writer of pretensions who was, in reality, +distinguished neither by talent nor beauty. The feeling that she +inspired in him has no parallel in the annals of modern love-affairs. +After some years, however, she died of consumption, and the germ of +madness in Comte, which had been lying latent, again showed itself, +this time in the form of a passionate religious mysticism. His dead +mistress became transformed, for him, into a divinity, and he looked +upon everything that she had used or touched as sacred, shutting +himself up in the midst of the furniture and utensils that had +surrounded her during her life-time. Three times a day he prostrated +himself, and offered up fervent prayers to the spirit of Clotilde, and +he often visited her grave, or sat, wrapped in meditation, in the +church that she had frequented. He sought to evoke her image, and held +long conversations with it, and it was under her influence that he +founded a new religion based chiefly on his _Positivist Catechism_. In +this cult, Clotilde symbolised woman and the superior humanity which +shall proceed from her. + +Although a profound and original thinker, Comte was like the rest in +considering himself the High Priest of his own religion. He sought to +make converts, and wrote to many of the reigning sovereigns, including +the Tsar; and he even suggested an alliance, for the good of the +nations, with the Jesuits! + +But to do him justice we must admit that he led an ascetic and +saint-like life, renouncing all worldly pleasures. An Englishman who +saw much of him about 1851 declared that his goodness of soul surpassed +even his brilliancy of intellect. + +Though he had so little sympathy for the past and present religions +upon whose grave he erected his own system, he himself reverted, as a +matter of fact, to a sort of fetishism; and his "Humanity," with which +he replaced the former "gods," manifested nearly all their defects and +weaknesses. + +In his _Sacerdoce_ and _Nouvelle Foi Occidentale_ the principal ideas +are borrowed from inferior beliefs of the Asiatic races. He +incorporated the arts of hygiene and medicine in his creed, and +declared that medicine would reinstate the dominion of the priesthood +when the Positivist clergy succeeded in fulfilling the necessary +conditions. + +The remarkable success of this religion is well known. Numerous sects +based on Comte's doctrines were founded in all parts of the world, and +his philosophy made a deep impression on the minds of thinking men, who +assisted in spreading it through all branches of society. Even to-day +believers in Positivism are found not only in France, but above all in +North and South America. In Brazil, Comte's influence was both +widespread and beneficial, and the very laws of this great Republic are +based on the theories of the Positivist leader. + +The value of certain of his fundamental doctrines may be questioned, +equally with the ruling ideas of his religion, his Messianic rôle, and +his priesthood. But there is nevertheless something sublime in the +teaching that individual and social happiness depends upon the degree +of affection and goodwill manifested in the human heart. This is no +doubt one reason why the adherents of the Positivist Church are so +often distinguished by their high morality and their spirit of +self-sacrifice. + + +In addition to purely local sects and religions, France has always +harboured a number of _Swedenborgians_, whose beliefs have undergone +certain modifications on French soil. For instance, thaumaturgy was +introduced by Captain Bernard, and healing by means of prayer by Madame +de Saint-Amour. But Leboys des Guais, the acknowledged leader of the +sect about 1850, reverted to the unalloyed doctrines of the founder, +and thanks to Mlle. Holms and M. Humann, and their church in the Rue de +Thouin, the Swedenborgian religion still flourishes in France to-day. + +The _Irvingites_, founded in Scotland towards the end of the eighteenth +century, also made many French converts. Irving preached the second +coming of Christ, and believed that the Holy Ghost was present in +himself. He waited some time for God the Father to endow him with the +miraculous gifts needed for establishing the new Church, and then, +finding that many of his followers were able to heal the sick with +surprising success, he concluded that heaven had deigned to accept him +as the "second Saviour." He organised a Catholic Apostolic Church in +London, and proclaimed himself its head; while in Paris the principal +church of the sect, formerly in the Avenue de Ségur, has now been moved +to the Rue François-Bonvin. Woman is excluded from the cult, and +consequently the name of the Virgin is omitted from all Irvingite +ceremonies, while the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the +Virgin are denied. + + +But many other sects exist in addition to those already mentioned. +Often their life is short as a summer night, and they appear and +disappear, leaving no trace behind them save a passing exaltation in +the hearts of their followers. Those who join them seem for a time to +be satisfied with dreams and illusions, but usually end by returning to +the bosom of the established Church--or by being confined in an asylum. + +These innumerable sects with their illusory pretensions serve to +demonstrate the truth of our thesis--that the most ardent desire of +present-day humanity is for the renewal or transformation of the faith +to which it has grown accustomed. + +A well-known critic has claimed that it is possible for all the +dramatic or comic incidents that have been played in all theatres of +all ages to be reduced down to thirty-six situations from the use of +which not even a genius can escape. To how many main variations could +we reduce the desire for reform displayed by our religious +revolutionaries? The search for salvation takes on so many vague and +incalculable shapes that we can only compare them to clouds that float +across the sky on a windy day; but there are, all the same, signs of +kinship to be discovered even between the sects that appear to be +furthest apart. + +The _Chlysty_, from whom the religion of Rasputin was partly derived, +show some resemblance to the "Shakers," and to the Christian +Scientists, both of whom have evolved along lines diametrically +opposed. The "Shakers," direct descendants of the Huguenots, teach +that the end of the world is at hand, and that all men should repent in +preparation for the coming of the heavenly kingdom. Their meetings +have always been characterised by visions and revelations, and they +sing and dance for joy, leaping into the air and trembling with nervous +excitement--to which fact they owe their name. + +In tracing out their history we find many striking analogies with the +sects of our own day. It was in 1770 that the "Shakers" believed +Christ to have reincarnated in the body of Anne Lee, the daughter of a +Manchester blacksmith. Although married, she preached--like Mrs. Eddy +a hundred years later--the benefits of celibacy, the only state +approved by God. Her convictions were so sincere, and her expression +of them so eloquent, that when charged with heresy she succeeded in +converting her accusers. The cult of virginity was adopted by her +followers, who considered her their "Mother in Christ," inspired from +on high; and when she counselled them to leave England and emigrate to +the New World, they followed her unquestioningly, even to embarking in +an old and long-disused vessel for the Promised Land. Arrived there, +however, their lot was not a happy one, for they met with much +persecution, and Anne Lee herself was imprisoned. But after her +release she preached with greater force and conviction than ever the +end of sexual unions and the near approach of the Kingdom of God. Her +eloquence attracted many, and even today her religion still has +followers. Among their settlements we may mention that of Alfred, +Maine, where a number of "spiritual families" live harmoniously +together, convinced that the Kingdom of God has already descended upon +earth, and that they are existing in a state of celestial purity like +that of the angels in heaven. They refuse to eat pork or to make use +of fermented drinks, and dancing still plays a part in their religious +services. Sometimes, in the midst of the general excitement, a sister +or a brother will announce a message that has been delivered by some +unseen spirit, whereupon all the hearers leap and dance with redoubled +vigour. + +To-day, even as a hundred years ago, the "Shakers" affirm, not without +reason, that Heaven and Hell are within ourselves, and that that is why +we must live honestly and well in order to share in the heavenly +kingdom from which sinners are excluded. Just so do Christian +Scientists declare that we may be led by faith towards heaven, +happiness and health. + +Even murder, that most extreme perversion of all moral feeling, has +been adopted as a means of salvation by several Russian sects as well +as by the Hindus, evolving in widely contrasted environments. The +general desire to gain, somehow or other, the favour of the "Eternal +Principle of Things," thus expresses itself in the most varied and the +most unlikely forms, one of the most striking being that of the +"religion of murder," which throws a lurid light upon the hidden +regions of man's subconscious mind. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE RELIGION OF MURDER + +There are certain periodical publications which as a rule are neither +examined nor discussed. Yet their existence dates back for many years, +and in this age of filing and docketing they must by now provide a +regular gold-mine for the study of human psychology. What increases +their value is that they avoid all attempt at "literary effect." No +picked phrases, no situations invented or dramatised to suit the taste +of the author; nothing but facts taken from real life and recorded by +the functionaries of His Majesty the Emperor of India. We are +referring to those very interesting _Reports of the Indian Government_ +to which we owe practically all our knowledge of fakirism and its +miracles, of the artificial conservation of human life in the tomb, and +of the strangulation rites of the Thugs. They are indeed a valuable +contribution to the study of the perversions of religious faith--that +most alluring and yet least explored section of psychology. + +A librarian at the British Museum showed me some years ago one of the +most suggestive documents that the art of cartography has ever +produced. It was the famous map prepared by Captain Paton, about 1890, +for the British Government, showing the various neighbourhoods in which +the Thugs had strangled and buried their victims. Drawn up according +to precise information furnished by several leaders of the sect, it +indicated every tomb in the province of Oudh, where the majority of the +worshippers of the goddess Kali were to be found. The written +descriptions that accompanied the map were particularly interesting, +for--like Swift, when he enumerated the benefits that would accrue to +the starving Irish people if they killed their children like sheep and +ate them instead of mutton--Captain Paton felt himself compelled to +record the glorious deeds of some of the most valiant of the Thugs. He +gave details which would have rejoiced the imagination of a de Quincey +or an Edgar Allan Poe. About 5200 murders had been committed by a +company of forty people, all highly thought of and commanding general +respect. At their head was the venerable Buhram, who laid claim to 931 +assassinations during his forty years of religious activity in the +province of Oudh. The second in merit, one Ramson, had strangled 608 +people. The third, it is true, could only claim about 500, but he had +reached this figure in thirty years, and had made a record of 25 +murders in one year. Others had to their credit 377, 340 and 264 +assassinations respectively, after which one dropped from these heights +to figures of twenty, ten or even only five annual murders in honour of +Kali. This record undoubtedly represented the supreme flower of the +religion of this goddess, who not only taught her followers the art of +strangulation, but also succeeded in hiding their deeds from the +suspicious eyes of unbelievers. + +Murders followed thick and fast, one upon another, but though thousands +of Hindus, rich and poor, young and old, were known to disappear, their +terrified families scarcely dared to complain. English statisticians +go so far as to say that from thirty to fifty thousand human lives were +sacrificed every year on the altar of this fatal goddess, who, desiring +to thwart the growth of the too prolific life-principle in the +universe, incited her worshippers to the suppression and destruction of +human beings. But while using her power to shelter her followers from +suspicion and discovery, Kali expected them, for their part, to take +care that none witnessed the performance of her duties. One day +misfortune fell upon them. A novice of the cult had the daring to spy +upon the goddess while she was occupied in destroying the traces of her +rite, and Kali's divine modesty being wounded, she declared that in +future she would no longer watch over the earthly safety of her +followers, but that they themselves must be responsible for concealing +their deeds from the eyes of men. Thus, after having worshipped her +with impunity for centuries, the Thugs all at once found themselves +exposed to the suspicions of their fellow-countrymen, and above all, of +the British Government. Captain Sleeman played the part of their evil +genius, for in his anger at their abominable deeds he decided, in spite +of the resistance offered by the heads of the East India Company, to +wage war to the knife against the religion of Kali. Such alarming +reports were received in England that at last the home authorities were +aroused, and in 1830 a special official was appointed to direct +operations (the General Superintendent of Operations against Thuggee). +Captain Sleeman was chosen to fill the appointment, and he dedicated to +it all his courage and practically his whole life. The tale of the +twenty years' struggle that followed would put the most thrilling +dramas of fiction in the shade. + +In the works founded on Captain Sleeman's reports, and above all in his +own official documents, are found remarkable accounts of the ways in +which the Thugs lured their victims to their doom. + +A Mongol officer of noble bearing was travelling to the province of +Oudh accompanied by two faithful servants. He halted on his way near +the Ganges, and was there accosted by a group of men, polite in speech +and respectable in appearance, who asked permission to finish their +journey under his protection. The officer refused angrily and begged +them to let him go on his way alone. The strangers tried to persuade +him that his suspicions were unjust, but, seeing his nostrils inflate +and his eyes gleam with rage, they finally desisted. The next day he +met another group of travellers, dressed in Moslem fashion, who spoke +to him of the danger of travelling alone and begged him to accept their +escort. Once more the officer's eyes flashed with rage; he threatened +them with his sword, and was left to proceed in peace. Many times +again the brave Mongol, always on his guard, succeeded in thwarting the +designs of his mysterious fellow-travellers, but on the fourth day he +reached a barren plain where, a few steps from the track, six Moslems +were weeping over the body of one who had succumbed to the hardships of +the journey. They had already dug a hole in the earth to inter the +corpse, when it was discovered that not one of them could read the +Koran. On their knees they implored the Mongol officer to render this +service to the dead. He dismounted from his horse, unable to resist +their pleadings, and feeling bound by his religion to accede to their +request. + +Having discarded his sword and pistols, he performed the necessary +ablutions, and then approached the grave to recite the prayers for the +dead. Suddenly cloths were thrown over his own and his servants' +heads, and after a few moments all three were precipitated into the +yawning hole. + +It may be asked why so much cunning was needed in order to add a few +more members to the kingdom of the dead. The reason is that the Thugs +were forbidden to shed human blood. The sacrifice could only be +accomplished through death by strangling. It might often be easy +enough to fall upon solitary travellers, but woe to the Thug who in any +way brought about the shedding of blood! Consequently they had to have +recourse to all sorts of ingenious methods for allaying suspicion, so +that their victims might be hastened into the next world according to +the rites approved by their implacable goddess. They believed in +division of labour, and always acted collectively, employing some to +entice the victim into the trap, and others to perform the act of +strangulation, while in the third category were those who first dug the +graves and afterwards rendered them invisible. + +The murders were always accomplished with a kind of cold-blooded +fanaticism, admitting neither mercy nor pity, for the Thug, convinced +that his action would count as a special virtue for himself in the next +life, also believed that his victim would benefit from it. + +Feringhi, one of the most famous of Indian stranglers, who also held a +responsible official position, was once asked if he was not ashamed to +kill his neighbour. + +"No," he replied, "because one cannot be ashamed to fulfil the divine +will. In doing so one finds happiness. No man who has once understood +and practised the religion of Thuggee will ever cease to conform to it +to the end of his days. I was initiated into it by my father when I +was very young, and if I were to live for a thousand years I should +still continue to follow in his footsteps." + +The Thugs of each district were led by one whom they called their +_jemadar_, to whom they gave implicit obedience. The utmost discretion +reigned among them, and they never questioned the plans of their +superiors. We can imagine how difficult it was to combat a fanaticism +which feared nothing, not even death; for when death overtook them, as +it sometimes did, in the performance of their rites, they merely looked +upon it as a means of drawing nearer to their goddess. + +The origin of this extraordinary religion seems to be hidden in the +mists of the past, though European travellers claim to have met with it +in India in the seventeenth century. We may note that during the +Mahometan invasion all sorts of crimes were committed in the name of +religion, and possibly the murders in honour of Kali were a survival +from this time. As years went by the sect increased rapidly, and many +of the most peaceable Hindus were attracted by it, and joined it in the +capacity of grave-concealers, spies, or merely as passive adherents who +contributed large sums of money. In Sleeman's time about two thousand +Thugs were arrested and put to death every year, but nevertheless their +numbers, towards the end of the nineteenth century, were steadily +increasing. (Of recent years, however, a considerable diminution has +been shown.) In 1895 only three are recorded to have been condemned to +death for murder; in 1896, ten; and in 1897, twenty-five; while +travellers in Rajputana and the Hyderabad district speak of much higher +figures. The Thugs always bear in mind the maxim that "dead men tell +no tales," and their practice of killing all the companions of the +chosen victim, as well as himself, renders the detection of their +crimes extremely difficult; while their mastery of the art of getting +rid of corpses frequently baffles the authorities. Further, the +terrified families of the victims, dreading reprisals, often fail to +report the deaths, so that the sect has thus been enabled to continue +its murderous rites in spite of all measures taken to stamp it out. + +They avoid killing women, except in the case of women accompanying a +man who has been doomed to death, when they must be sacrificed in order +to prevent their reporting the crime. Stranger still, they admit that +murder is not always a virtuous action, but that there are criminal +murders which deserve punishment. + +"When a Thug is killed," said one of them to the celebrated Sleeman, +"or when one does not belong to the sect, and kills without conforming +to the rites, it is a crime, and should be punished." + +They seem to experience a strange and voluptuous pleasure when +performing their rites of strangulation--a pleasure increased, no +doubt, by the knowledge that their goddess looks on with approval. Yet +even the most hardened among them is capable of the greatest chivalry +when women are concerned, and a rigorous inquiry into the details of +thousands of their crimes has failed to reveal any single attempt at +violation. A Thug returning from one of his ritualistic expeditions +may show himself to be a good and affectionate husband and father, and +a charitable neighbour. Apart from numerous acts of assassination, on +which he prides himself, his conduct is usually irreproachable. No +wonder that he fills the English magistrates with stupefaction, and +that justice does not always dare to strike when it can act more +effectively by persuasion or seclusion. + +All things evolve with the passage of time, and in the twentieth +century even the rite of strangulation has undergone changes. From the +main sect of Thuggee, other branches of a new and unlooked-for type +have sprung. These, instead of strangling their neighbours, prefer to +poison them, the virtue being the same and the method easier and more +expeditious. Their proceedings, though more difficult to control, are +quite as lucrative for Kali, the devourer of human life, and if they +have made their goddess less notorious than did the Thugs, they +certainly worship her with equal ardour. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE REINCARNATIONIST'S PARADISE + +Amid luxuriant vegetation, in an enchanting position overlooking the +Pacific Ocean, flourishes the religion of reincarnation "without +beginning and without end." Its followers, gathered there from all +parts of the world, steep themselves in the atmosphere of fraternal +love and general benevolence which is exhaled by this doctrine of the +evolution of souls, leading to ultimate perfection. + +The scenes which greet the dazzled eyes of the visitor are of such +extreme beauty that he might well believe himself to have been +miraculously transported to ancient Hellas. Greek theatres and temples +gleam whitely in the shade of majestic palm-trees, and groups of young +people dressed like the youths and maidens of ancient Athens may be +seen taking part in rhythmic dances and elaborate processions. + +Amid the dirt and chaos of our modern world this Grecian city seems to +have sprung up as by a miracle, fully reconstituted not only in its +outer appearance but also in its inner life of harmony and peace. +Theosophists of every degree, who in other lands seem so often to lose +themselves in a mist of vague dreams and metaphysical speculations, +have here succeeded in expressing their ideals in concrete form. + +Why postpone the paradise promised by Karma, the fundamental law of +life? Why not seek to enjoy it now, without delay? So a number of the +scattered disciples of Madame Blavatsky, following their new guide, +Catherine Tingley, set to work to construct their holy city in +California, on the shores of the Pacific, like the Jews who followed +Moses to the Promised Land. + +These teachings, handed down through untold ages, rejoice to-day in a +setting that would surely have astonished their Hindu or Egyptian +progenitors; and the revelations which came to Madame Blavatsky after +her discovery of the forgotten truths of a dim and distant past bid +fair to revivify our time-worn planet. Since the war there has been a +tremendous revival of theosophical propaganda in allied and neutral +countries, in the Old World and in the New, and without doubt +Theosophy, together with Christian Science--to which it is in many ways +opposed--is destined to undergo striking developments. + + +The new theory of metempsychosis saw the light about fifty years ago. +It was brought to the United States by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, a +Russian lady of noble birth and high educational attainments, whose +thought had been influenced partly by the esoteric wisdom of the past +and partly by the religious unrest of her native land. + +The doctrine of reincarnation has been accepted in India and Egypt for +at least three thousand years. It was taught secretly in the +Eleusinian mysteries. The philosophy of Pythagoras and of Plato is +deeply impregnated with it. The Early Christian Church, as well as the +Gnostics, admitted it tacitly, but in the fourth century it was +condemned by the Fathers of the Church and banished from orthodox +Christianity. Nevertheless it has always had an irresistible +attraction for thoughtful minds, and many of the greatest thinkers, +artists and poets of all ages have been firmly convinced of its truth. + +Once installed in New York the Russian prophetess sowed far and wide +the seeds of her new faith, whose consolatory doctrine attracted many +who were saddened by the phenomenon of death, while at the same time it +brought her many enemies. + +After a time she departed for India, where her teachings became +considerably enriched and widened by local and historical influences. +She died in London in 1891. + +We will pass in silence over the calumnious and dishonourable +accusations which poisoned her years of triumph, and with which it has +been sought to tarnish her memory. In these days we slander our +prophets instead of killing them--a procedure which may cause them +greater suffering, but has no effect upon the spread of their doctrines. + + +Madame Blavatsky's philosophy is set forth in a series of elaborate +works of which the chief are _The Secret Doctrine_, the _Key to +Theosophy_, and _Isis Unveiled_, constituting, according to the author, +a key to the mysteries of ancient and modern science and theology. To +this medley of thoughts and facts drawn from the mystical wisdom of all +countries and all ages, the magic of the writer's style gives a +peculiar force and flavour, and though she may not always convince, she +certainly offers food for thought and speculation--which is, perhaps, +even more essential. + +Her frequent lack of precision and clearness seems only to enhance the +effect of her affirmations and revelations. A prophet who could easily +be understood by intelligences of all grades would soon come to grief, +for religious teachers, like philosophers and metaphysicians, seem to +be esteemed and admired largely in proportion to the vagueness of their +doctrines. The works of Madame Blavatsky are worthy of being classed +among the most obscure, and for that very reason have every chance of +endurance. + +In spite of the differences that arose among the principal Theosophists +(who included Colonel Olcott, William Q. Judge, and Annie Besant) after +their leader's death, Catherine Tingley succeeded in rallying large +numbers of the American believers to her banner, and founded a colony +at Point Loma, California, under the name of "the universal and +theosophical brotherhood," which was approved by the Theosophical +conferences held in New York and Chicago in 1898. + +Theosophy is in fact a philosophy of altruism, whose main tenets are +brotherly love and justice. By following truth the soul becomes +purified, and after a life consecrated to others and guided by the laws +of justice, the individual may hope to reincarnate in some higher form. +As the poet of Sakuntala has said--"In other existences we all have +loved and wept"--but the divine Kalidasa teaches that past lives should +not be spoken of, "for the mystery of rebirth is sacred." + +The duality of our being is shown, on the one hand, in our earthly sins +and failures, and on the other in the spiritual aspirations which ever +urge us on to greater heights. The law of Karma affirms the +relationship between cause and effect, and teaches that "as a man sows, +so shall he also reap"--and consequently, the better our thoughts and +actions now, the greater our advancement in the next life. + +It is in the teachings of the divine Krishna that we find the original +source of the greater part of modern Theosophy. His precepts are full +of consolation for restless minds, and have the power to reconcile us +not only to death, but to life. + +In the vast store-house of the world's legends there is none more +beautiful than that of the immaculate maiden Devaki, who in a divine +ecstasy, amid strains of celestial music, brought forth the child of +Mahadeva, Sun of Suns, in perfect serenity and bliss; while the story +of Krishna's life, his dangers and temptations, his virtues and his +beauty, his wisdom and his final supreme initiation, has provided the +Hindu world with conceptions of a grandeur, originality and depth +rarely met with elsewhere. To this well of wisdom came Plato and +Pythagoras, and drew from it the chief ingredients of their +philosophies; and here, too, we receive from the lips of Krishna, +thirty centuries before the birth of Christ, the first faint +intimations of the immortality of the soul. + +He taught his disciples that man, living upon earth, is triple in +essence, possessing spirit, mind and body. When he succeeds in +harmonising the two first, he attains the state of _Sattva_, and +rejoices in wisdom and peace. When he succeeds in harmonising mind and +body only, he is in the state of _Raja_, which is unstable and +dangerous. When the body preponderates, he is in the state of _Tamas_, +"that bindeth by heedlessness, indolence and sloth." Man's lot depends +therefore on the correlation of these three states. When he dies in +the state of _Sattva_, his soul rises to regions of the utmost purity +and bliss, and comprehends all mysteries, in close communion with the +Most High. This is true immortality. But those who have not escaped +from _Raja_ and _Tamas_ must return to earth and reincarnate in mortal +bodies. + + +In later years Hermes Trismegistus, the Thrice-Greatest One, further +developed these principles, adding to them the mystical treasures of +Egyptian wisdom. It has been said by Lactance that "Hermes, one knows +not how, succeeded in discovering nearly all the truth." During the +first few centuries of the Christian era his works enjoyed a +considerable vogue, and he also had a very great influence on the +Renaissance period. The Hermetic books, with all their mysteries, have +become part of the theosophical gospel, as well as the doctrines of +Plato and of the Neo-Platonists, Plutarch's treatises on Isis and +Osiris, the philosophies of Plotinus and Iamblichus, the teachings of +Philo and of the Gnostics, and the works of innumerable others, who in +seeking to throw light on the super-physical realms seem often only to +have succeeded in plunging them into greater darkness. Augmented by +all these obscure products of philosophy and metaphysics, the new +Theosophy gives the impression of a gigantic and impenetrable maze, but +it must be admitted that its followers have drawn from it maxims whose +justice and high morality are beyond question. + +The general trend of its teachings is indicated by the following +sublime passages from the Bhagavad Gita, or Lord's Song:-- + +"He attaineth Peace, into whom all desires flow as rivers flow into the +ocean, which is filled with water, but remaineth unmoved--not he who +desireth desires. Whoso forsaketh all desires and goeth onwards free +from yearnings, selfless and without egoism--he goeth to Peace. . . . +Freed from passion, fear and anger, filled with Me, taking refuge in +Me, purified in the fire of wisdom, many have entered into My Being. +However men approach Me, even so do I welcome them, for the path men +take from every side is Mine, O Pârtha." + +But the many imitations and variations of this wonderful Song have +despoiled it of some of its freshness and beauty, so that in these days +it is rather like the airs played on barrel-organs whose original +tunefulness is forgotten through wearisome repetition. + + +Theosophists are also concerned, with studying the sevenfold nature of +man and of the universe, with the existence of invisible worlds, the +graduated stages of death and rebirth, and the attainment of divine +wisdom through perfect purity of life and thought. They are opposed to +racial prejudices, social classifications, and all distinctions that +separate and divide mankind, and they inculcate the greatest possible +respect for, the widest possible tolerance between, the world's +different religions. Like Christian Scientists they do not believe in +the practice of hypnotic suggestion, but they disagree with the +materialism of the Scientists, holding that, in the search for truth, +purity of life is the one essential, and worldly prosperity of small +importance. + +In 1912 and 1913 Mrs. Tingley visited Europe and made numerous converts +in England, Italy, France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries, +while the Theosophical Conference held at Point Loma in 1915, in the +interests of peace and universal brotherhood, was an immense success. +The Theosophists have always been ardent workers in the cause of +international peace, and while awaiting the dawn of a New Age when war +shall be unknown, they strive to forestall its advent in their +Californian paradise. + +Dramatic and musical performances are given in theatres built in the +Greek style; there is a college of Raja-Yoga, where thousands of pupils +of all races are initiated into the mysteries of Karma and +Reincarnation; a School of Antiquity, "temple of the living light," +where the secret of living in harmony with nature is taught; frequent +lectures, conferences, sports and games; while animated conversations +concerning memories of past lives have an undying fascination for the +adherents of this doctrine which sends so many missionaries out into +the world every year. + +Unlike other sects, the Theosophists do not seem anxious to publish +their numbers abroad--whether because they make too many converts, or +too few, it is impossible to say!--but there must certainly be hundreds +of thousands scattered throughout the United States, India, and the +Anglo-Saxon countries. + + + + +TRANSLATOR'S NOTE + +The foregoing chapter scarcely seems complete without some reference to +the other two centres where an attempt has been made to express the +ideals of Theosophy in concrete form--one in the East, at Adyar, +Madras, the other in the West, at Krotona, near Los Angeles, +California. The former came into being in 1882 under Madame +Blavatsky's own leadership, and has grown from a small property of only +27 acres to one of 263 acres. With its many fine buildings it has a +river-frontage (on the Adyar river) of one mile, and a sea-frontage of +two-fifths of a mile. Here Mrs. Besant--World-President of the +Theosophical Society, apart from Mrs. Tingley's followers--makes her +home, leaving it only for periodical lecturing tours throughout India, +or for visits to London and other European centres. Her lectures at +Queen's Hall, London, in the years immediately preceding the war, and +again in 1919, were remarkable for the crowds who flocked to listen to +one who, whether her views find agreement or not, is universally +admitted to be in the front rank of living orators. Adyar possesses an +excellent library, with many valuable books and manuscripts relating to +the ancient religions of India; a publishing house, the Vasanta Press, +whence are issued yearly numerous theosophical books, pamphlets and +magazines, for purposes of study and propaganda; a lecture hall which +seats 1500 people, but into which as many as 2300 have found admittance +on special occasions; a Masonic temple; an extensive building for the +housing of resident students; and very beautiful grounds with a +palm-grove and an ancient banyan tree, in whose shade many of the most +important theosophical lectures and conferences are held, and around +which more than 3000 people of all nationalities have often been +gathered to hear the discourses of the President and her colleagues. A +striking feature of the grounds is the massive sculptured trilithons, +about 2000 years old, brought from a ruined temple in southern India, +and erected here in picturesque surroundings. + +The colony at Krotona is of more recent origin, and its environment is +similar in some respects to that of Point Loma. Founded in 1912 by A. +P. Warrington, the head of the American section of the Theosophical +Society under Mrs. Besant's leadership, it stands on high ground on the +outskirts of Hollywood, a suburb of Los Angeles, with magnificent views +of the Santa Monica Mountains and of the valley leading to the sea +twelve miles away. This "Institute of Theosophy" takes its name from +the School of Science, Art and Philosophy founded by the great +Pythagoras, and aspires to be to-day what his Krotona was in the +past--a centre of spiritual enlightenment. It is run on co-operative +lines, and on a non-profit basis. There are no "servants" in the +community, and the means of support is from a ground-rent or tax +charged to each house-builder, from the renting of rooms, and from +voluntary donations. The buildings are in picturesque Moorish or +Spanish style, their white walls gleaming amid the brilliant flowers +and luxuriant greenery of this favoured climate. They include a fine +Lending Library and Reference Room, a scientific research laboratory, a +publishing house, an administration building, and many pretty villas +and cottages. There is also a temple, in whose auditorium religious +ceremonies, meetings, lectures and concerts take place, and an open-air +stadium where each year a miracle play is to be produced, the one first +chosen being a dramatisation of Sir Edwin Arnold's "Light of Asia," +which ran for three weeks in the summer of 1918. + +The English Headquarters of the Society are now at 23 Bedford Square, +London. + + + + +CONCLUSION + +"Tell us then, Mary, what hast thou seen upon thy way?" + +"I have seen the shroud and the vestments and the angelic witnesses, +and I have seen the glory of the Resurrected." + + +Saints and prophets of all lands and all ages bear an unconscious +resemblance one to another. The craving for truth, the unquenchable +desire to escape from reality, leads them into realms of mystery and +dream, where simple peasants and labourers, religious men and +agnostics, philosophers and mystics, all meet together. Their +unsuspicious minds are easily dazzled by the least ray of light, and +deceived by the most unlikely promises, and it is not surprising that +they are often imposed upon and led to accept false ways of salvation. + +Many of the mystics show a desire to revert to the Esoteric +Christianity dear to Saint John, the disciple whom Jesus loved; or to +that of Mani, whose doctrine--unjustly distorted by his detractors--was +concerned with direct initiation and final mergence in the Divinity. +But it is not easy to progress against the stream of the centuries, and +with the Catharists of Hungary, the Albigenses of Provence, and the +Templars massacred in the name of St. Augustine--that ancient Manichean +who became the worst enemy of his fellow-believers--Esoteric +Christianity seemed to have died out. Nevertheless the desire for it +has never been destroyed, and continues to inspire the teachings of all +those who revolt against dogmas that tend to restrict the soul's +activities instead of widening them. + +Logically, all viable religious evolution is a departure from the +Christianity which has moulded our present-day thought and morality and +is the centre of all our hopes. But every new revival has to reckon +with it. Madame Blavatsky, for instance, made Gautama Buddha--the +king's son who became a beggar by reason of his immense compassion for +mankind--the central pivot of her esotericism, which was Buddhist +rather than Christian in essence; but Annie Besant, the spiritual +leader of modern Theosophy, has returned to Christianity and +acknowledges the divinity of the Son of Man. This symbolic example +should reassure Christian believers, showing how even those who depart +from Christianity contribute, in spite of themselves, to its continuous +growth. + + +Crowds of new phenomena are now demanding entry into the divine city of +religion. There is, first of all, science, undertaking to present us +with a morality conforming to the Gospel teachings, which it claims +have become a dead letter. But if twenty centuries of Christianity +have not transformed human nature, neither has science. Materialism +and commercialism have failed just as the Church, with her spirit of +exclusion and domination, has failed. The fact that all these have +worked separately and in hostility to one another is perhaps the +reason, for mutual understanding and respect, once established between +them, might well result in a new revelation worthy of the new humanity +which shall emerge from this tragic age. A superior idealism, at once +religious, social and scientific, must sooner or later bring new light +and warmth to the world, for a world-crisis which has shaken the very +foundations of our existence cannot leave intact its logical corollary, +faith, in whose vicinity threatening clouds have long been visible. As +at the dawn of Christianity, the whole world has seemed to be rent by +torturing doubts and by the menace of an approaching end. After having +been preserved from destruction by Christ for two thousand years, it +suddenly found itself in the throes of the most appalling upheaval yet +experienced, with the majority of its inhabitants engaged in a +murderous war. The dream of human brotherhood, glimpsed throughout the +centuries, seemed to be irretrievably threatened, and once more arose +the age-old question as to how the Reign of Love was to be introduced +upon earth. + +The present era shows other striking analogies to the early days of +Christianity, as, for instance, in the democratic movement tending to +establish the sovereignity of the people. But it is no longer +exceptional men, like prophets, who proclaim the dawn of the age of +equality, but the masses themselves, under the guidance of their chosen +leaders. In the book of Enoch the Son of Man tears kings from their +thrones and casts them into Hell; but this was only an isolated seer +daring to predict misfortune for those who built their palaces "with +the sweat of others." The old-time prophets desired to reduce the rich +to the level of the poor, and a man denuded of all worldly goods was +held up as an ideal to be followed. This naturally necessitated +mendicity, and it was not till some centuries had passed that the +Church herself became reconciled to the possession of riches. Our own +age, however, desires to uplift the poor to the level of the rich, and +a more generous spirit is manifested, in accordance with the progress +made by the science of social reform. Still it is, at bottom, the same +spirit of brotherhood, enlarged and deepened, which now seeks to level +from below upwards instead of from above downwards. Distrust and +suspicion are directed chiefly towards the "New Rich," products of the +war, who have built up their fortunes on the ruin and misery of others, +and to these might be addressed the words of Jesus to the wealthy of +His time--"Be ye faithful stewards"--that is to say, "Make good +investments for the Kingdom of God in the interests of your fellow-men." + +We are witnessing a revival of the "good tidings for the poor," in whom +may be included the whole human community. For the revolution of +to-day differs from that of the simple Galileans, and is of grave and +universal portent, proceeding, as it does, from men who have thought +and suffered, and profited by the disorder and misery of thousands of +years. + +The Gospel is in process of being renovated. All these new churches +and beliefs can only serve to strengthen the great work in which the +"Word" is incarnated. Whether produced by deliberate thought or by +unconscious cerebration, whether professed by "saints" or practised by +"initiates," they hold up a mirror to the soul of contemporary humanity +with all its miseries and doubts; and for this reason, whatever their +nature or origin, they are deserving of sympathetic study. + + +There are great religions and small ones, and as with works of art, we +are apt to find in each, more or less, what we ourselves bring to it. +Jeremiah, when travelling through Ancient Egypt, felt indignation at +the sight of gods with hawks' or jackals' heads; while the touching +confessions of the dead, consigned to papyrus--"I have not killed! I +have not been idle! I have not caused others to weep!"--only drew from +him exclamations of anger and contempt. Herodotus, a century later, +also understood nothing of this world of mysterious tombs, with its +moral teachings thousands of years old, or of the great spiritual +revelation with which the land of the Pharaohs is impregnated. Both +alike--Jeremiah, unmoved by the cruelty and hardness of Jehovah, +Herodotus, oblivious to the sensuality and immorality of his own gods, +who, according to Xenophon, were adepts at thieving and lying--shook +their heads in dismay before the Egyptian symbols. But Plato, on the +contrary, was able to appreciate the harmonious beauty of a divine +Trinity, sublime incarnation of that which is "eternal, unproduced, +indestructible . . . eternally uniform and consistent, and monoeidic +with itself." + +There are, no doubt, many Jeremiahs to-day, but there are also +understanding souls capable of taking an interest in even the most +bizarre manifestations of religious faith. These throw a revelatory +light upon some of the most painful problems of our time, as well as +upon the secret places of the human soul where lurks an ever eager +hope, often frustrated, and alas, often deceived. + + +All religious sects and reformers since the time of Christ have only +succeeded in modifying, renovating, uplifting or debasing the eternal +principles already enunciated by the Son of Man. He it was who founded +the integral religion for all time, but as it permits of the most +varied interpretations, innumerable and widely divergent sects have +been able to graft themselves upon its eternal trunk. After Him, said +Renan--who has been wrongly considered an opponent of Christ--there is +nothing to be done save to develop and to fertilize, for His perfect +idealism is the golden rule for a detached and virtuous life. He was +the first to proclaim the kingdom of the spirit, and has established +for ever the ideal of pure religion; and as His religion is a religion +of _feeling_, all movements which seek to bring about the kingdom of +heaven upon earth can attach themselves to His principles and to His +way of salvation. + +Further, any religious movement which appeals to our higher instincts +must eventually contribute to the triumph of human brotherhood and to +the beautifying of human life--which increases the interest of studying +all attempts at revival and reform. Such a study will prevent us from +being overwhelmed by the uglinesses of life, or from becoming sunk in a +morass of material pleasures, and will open up ways of escape into the +heavenly realms. + +The true teaching of Jesus has, as a matter of fact, never yet been +realised in practice. It holds up an ideal almost unattainable for +mortals, like the light of a fixed star which attracts us in spite of +its unthinkable distance. But we may, perhaps, by roundabout ways, +ultimately succeed in giving a definite form to the Platonic dreams +which ever hover around the shores of our consciousness. Among the +"saints" and "initiates" who work outside the borders of accepted +dogma, there are often to be found some whose originality and real +spiritual worth is not generally recognised, and instead of turning +away from their "visions" and "revelations," we should rather examine +them with close attention. Even if our faith gains nothing, we shall +be sure to pick up psychological treasures which could be turned to the +profit of science. + +We have been re-living, in these recent years, the "desolation" of the +prophets, only that the suffering of the few in former times became +with us the suffering of all. There is the same difference between the +troubles of ancient Judea and those of the modern world, as there is +between her miniature wars and the colossal conflict whose aftermath is +with us still. + +Yet now, as in the time of Isaiah, the nations long for eternal peace, +and the desire for a world more in harmony with man's deepest thoughts +and wishes is one of the dominant causes of religious schism and revolt. + +Let us hope that the world-wide catastrophe that we have witnessed may +yet lead to the realisation of the ideal expressed by Jesus, and by the +ancient prophet before Him:-- + +"And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: +and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears +into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, +neither shall they learn war any more." And again--"The work of +righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness +and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable +habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places." + + +Many are being stirred to new life and action by dreams which hold, in +almost every case, some fragment of the longed-for truth, however +foolish or illogical in expression; and we should in consequence +approach the dreamers with all the sympathy of which we are capable. +Often their countenances are made beautiful by love, and they will, at +the least, provide us with a golden key to the fascinating mysteries of +man's subconscious mind. What though their doctrines vanish from sight +under the scalpel of analysis? It is no small pleasure to contemplate, +and even to examine closely, such delightful phantoms. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Modern Saints and Seers, by Jean Finot + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODERN SAINTS AND SEERS *** + +***** This file should be named 25126-8.txt or 25126-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/1/2/25126/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Modern Saints and Seers + +Author: Jean Finot + +Translator: Evan Marrett + +Release Date: April 22, 2008 [EBook #25126] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODERN SAINTS AND SEERS *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +MODERN SAINTS AND SEERS + + +TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF + +JEAN FINOT + + +BY + +EVAN MARRETT + + + + + +LONDON + +WILLIAM RIDER & SON, LTD. + +CATHEDRAL HOUSE, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. + +1920 + + + + +PREFACE + + +_THE FOREST OF ILLUSIONS_ + +"Listen within yourselves, and gaze into the infinity of Space and +Time. There resounds the song of the Stars, the voice of Numbers, the +harmony of the Spheres."--HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. + + +_In these days the phenomenon of religion, which we believed to have +receded into the background of human life, is reappearing among us, +more vigorous than ever. The four years' desolation into which the +world was plunged has rendered the attraction of "the beyond" +irresistible, and man turns towards it with passionate curiosity and +undisguised longing. The millions of dead who have vanished from +mortal sight seem to be drawing the present towards the unsounded deeps +of the future. In many cases their loss has taken all joy and colour +from the lives of those who survive them, and tear-stained faces are +instinctively turned towards the portals of the Great Mystery._ + +_Occultism is triumphant. In its many different forms it now emerges +from obscurity and neglect. Its promises excite our deepest thoughts +and wishes. Eagerly we examine the strength of the bridge that it has +built between this world and the next; and though we may see our hopes +slip down between the crevices, though we may find those who have been +disappointed in a more despairing state than before--what matter? We +still owe thanks to occultism for some cherished moments of illusion._ + +_The number of its followers increases steadily, for never before has +man experienced so ardent a desire for direct contact with the +Unknowable. Science will have to reckon with this movement which is +carrying away even her own high-priests. She will have to widen her +frontiers to include the phenomena that she formerly contemned._ + +_The supernatural world, with its abnormal manifestations, fascinates +modern humanity. The idea of death becomes more and more familiar. We +even demand, as Renan happily expressed it, to know the truth which +shall enable us not to fear, but almost to love, death: and an +irresistible force urges us to explore the depths of subconsciousness, +whence, it is claimed, may spring the desired renewal and +intensification of man's spiritual life._ + + +_But why is it that we do not return to the old-established religions? +It is because, alas, the Great Agony through which the world has passed +has not dealt kindly with any form of established faith. Dogmatic +theology, which admits and exalts the direct interference of the +divinity in our affairs, has received some serious wounds. The useless +and unjustifiable sacrifice of so many innocent lives, of women, of old +men, of children, left us deeply perplexed. We could not grasp the +reason for so much suffering. Never, at any period in the past, have +the enemies of humanity and of God so blasphemed against the eternal +principles of the universe--yet how was it that the authors of such +crimes went unpunished?_ + +_Agonising doubts seized upon many faithful hearts, and amid all the +misery with which our planet was filled we seemed to distinguish a +creeping paralysis of the established faiths. Just at the time when we +most had need of religion, it seemed to weaken and vanish from our +sight, though we knew that human life, when not enriched and ennobled +by spiritual forces, sinks into abysmal depths, and that even any +diminution in the strength of these forces is fatally injurious to our +most sacred and essential interests._ + +_Attempts to revive our faith were bound to be made sooner or later, +and we shall no doubt yet witness innumerable pilgrimages towards the +source of religion._ + + +_The psychology of the foundations of the spiritual life; the +mysterious motives which draw men towards, or alienate them from, +religious leaders; the secret of the influence exercised by these +latter upon mankind in the mass--all these things are now and always of +intense interest. Through the examination of every kind of disease, +the science of medicine discovers the laws of health; and through +studying many religions and their followers we may likewise arrive at a +synthesis of a sane and wholesome faith. The ever-increasing numbers +of strange and attractive places of worship which are springing up in +all countries bear witness to man's invincible need to find shelter +behind immediate certainties, even as their elaborate outer forms +reflect the variety of his inward aspirations._ + + +_In the great forest of ecstasies and illusions which supplies +spiritual nourishment to so many of our fellow-humans, we have here +confined ourselves to the examination of the most picturesque and +unusual plants, and have gathered them for preference in the soil of +Russia and of the United States. These two countries, though in many +respects further apart than the Antipodes, furnish us with +characteristic examples of the thirst for renewal of faith which rages +equally in the simple soul of an uncultured peasant and in that of a +business man weary of the artificialities of modern life._ + +_Many of us held mistakenly that our contemporaries were incapable of +being fired to enthusiasm by new religions, whose exponents seemed to +us as questionable as their doctrines. But we need only observe the +facts to behold with what inconceivable ease an age considered prosaic +and incredulous has adopted spiritual principles which frequently show +up the lack of harmony between our manner of life and our hidden +longings._ + +_The religious phenomena which we see around us in so many complex +forms seem to foreshadow a spiritual future whose content is +illimitable._ + +_Such examples of human psychology, whether normal or morbid, as are +here offered to the reader, may well recall to mind some of the +strangest products of man's imagination. The tales of Hoffmann or of +Edgar Allan Poe pale before these inner histories of the human soul, +and the most moving novels and romances appear weak and artificial when +compared to the eruptions of light and darkness which burst forth from +the depths of man's subconsciousness._ + +_These phenomena will interest the reader of reflective temperament no +less than the lover of the sensational and the improbable in real life._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +PREFACE: THE FOREST OF ILLUSIONS + + +PART I + +THE SALVATION OF THE POOR + +A. THE ORGANISED SECTS + +CHAPTER + + I. THE NEGATIVISTS + II. THE WHITE-ROBED BELIEVERS + III. THE STRANGLERS + IV. THE FUGITIVES + V. THE SOUTAIEVTZI + VI. THE SONS OF GOD + VII. THE TOLSTOYANS + VIII. THE SPIRITUAL CHRISTIANS + IX. A LABORATORY OF SECTS + X. THE DOUCHOBORTZI + XI. THE MOLOKANES + XII. THE STOUNDISTS + XIII. THE MERCHANTS OF PARADISE + XIV. THE JUMPERS AND THE HOLY BROTHERS + XV. THE LITTLE GODS + XVI. THE FOLLOWERS OF GRIGORIEFF + XVII. THE NAPOLEONITES + XVIII. THE DIVINE MEN + XIX. THE RELIGION OF RASPUTIN + XX. THE INSPIRED SEERS + XXI. THE RELIGION OF SISTER HELEN + XXII. THE SELF-MUTILATORS + + +B. THE NON-SECTARIAN VISIONARIES + + I. THE BROTHERS OF DEATH + II. THE DIVINITY OF FATHER IVAN + III. AMONG THE MIRACLE-WORKERS + + +C. THE RISING FLOOD + + I. THE MAHOMETAN VISIONARIES + II. THE RELIGION OP THE POLAR MARSEILLAIS + III. THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT CANDLE + IV. THE NEW ISRAEL + V. CONCLUSION + + + +PART II + +THE SALVATION OF THE WEALTHY + +A. RELIGION AND ECONOMY + + I. THE MORMONS, OR LATTER-DAY SAINTS + II. THE RELIGION OF BUSINESS + III. THE ADEPTS OF THE SUN OF SUNS + + +B. RELIGION AND MIRACLES + + I. THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS + II. SCHLATTER, THE MIRACLE-MAN + + + +PART III + +THE DEPTHS OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND + + I. SECTS IN FRANCE AND ELSEWHERE + II. THE RELIGION OF MURDER + III. THE REINCARNATIONISTS' PARADISE + CONCLUSION + + + + +MODERN SAINTS AND SEERS + + +PART I + +THE SALVATION OF THE POOR + + +A. THE ORGANISED SECTS + +The tragic death of the monk Rasputin made a deep impression upon the +civilised world, and truth was lost to view amid the innumerable legends +that grew up around his life and activities. One leading question +dominated all discussions:--How could an individual so lacking in +refinement and culture influence the life of a great nation, and become +in indirect fashion one of the main factors in the struggle against the +Central Powers? Through what miracle did he succeed in making any +impression upon the thought and conduct of a social order infinitely +superior to himself? + +Psychologists are fascinated by the career of this adventurer who +ploughed so deep a furrow in the field of European history; but in +seeking to detach the monk from his background, we run the risk of +entirely failing to comprehend the mystery of his influence, itself the +product of a complex and little understood environment. The misery of +the Russian people, combined with their lack of education, contributed +largely towards it, for the desire to escape from material suffering +drove them to adopt the weirdest systems of salvation for the sake of +deliverance and forgetfulness. + +The perception of the ideal is often very acute among the uneducated. +They accept greedily every new "message" that is offered them, but alas, +they do not readily distinguish the true from the false, or the genuine +saint from the impostor. + +The orthodox clergy of the old Russian regime, recruited under deplorable +conditions, attained but rarely the moral and intellectual eminence +necessary to inspire their flock with feelings of love and confidence; +while, on the other hand, the false prophets and their followers, +vigorously persecuted by official religion, easily gained for themselves +the overwhelming attraction of martyrdom. Far from lessening the numbers +of those who deserted the established church, persecution only increased +them, and inflamed the zeal of its victims, so that they clung more +passionately than ever to the new dogmas and their hunted exponents. + +These sects and doctrines, though originating among the peasantry, did +not fail to spread even to the large towns, and waves of collective +hysteria, comparable to the dances of death of the Middle Ages, swept +away in their train all the hypersensitives and neurotics that abound in +the modern world. Even the highest ranks of Russian society did not +escape the contagion. + +We shall deal in these pages with the most recent and interesting sects, +and with those that are least known, or perhaps not known at all. +Beginning with the doctrines of melancholia, of tenderness, of suffering, +of exalted pietism, and of social despair--which, whether spontaneous or +inspired, demoniac or divine, undoubtedly embody many of the mysterious +aspirations of the human soul--we shall find ourselves in a strange and +moving world, peopled by those who accomplish, as a matter of course, +acts of faith, courage and endurance, foreign to the experience of most +of us. + +These pages must be read with an indulgent sympathy for the humble in +spirit who adventure forth in search of eternal truth. We might +paraphrase on their behalf the memorable discourse of the Athenian +statesman: "When you have been initiated into the mystery of their souls +you will love better those who in all times have sought to escape from +injustice." + +We should feel for them all the more because for so long they have been +infinitely unhappy and infinitely abused. Against the dark background of +the abominations committed by harsh rulers and worthless officials, the +spectacle of these simple souls recalls those angels described by Dante, +who give scarcely a sign of life and yet illuminate by their very +presence the fearful darkness of hell; or those beautiful Greek +sarcophagi upon which fair and graceful scenes are depicted upon a +background of desolation. These "pastorals" of religious faith have a +strangely archaic atmosphere, and I venture to think that my readers will +enjoy the contemplation of such virgin minds, untouched by science, in +their swift and effortless communings with the divine. + +The mental profundities of the _moujik_ exhale sweetness and faith like +mystic flowers opening under the breath of the Holy Spirit. In them, as +in the celebrated _Psychomachy_ of Prudence, the Christian virtues meet +with the shadows of forgotten gods, Holy Faith is linked to Idolatry, +Humility and Pride go hand in hand, and Libertinism seeks shelter beneath +the veils of Modesty. + +This thirst for the Supreme Good will in time find its appeasement in the +just reforms brought by an organised democracy to a long-suffering +people. Some day it may be that order, liberty and happiness shall +prevail in the Muscovite countries, and their inhabitants no longer need +to seek salvation by fleeing from reality. Then there will exist on +earth a new paradise, wherein God, to use Saint Theresa's expression, +shall henceforth "take His delight." + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE NEGATIVISTS + +The most propitious and fertile soil in which collective mania can grow +is that of unhappiness. Famine, unjust taxation, unemployment, +persecution by local authorities, and so on, frequently lead to a dull +hatred for the existing social, moral and religious order, which the +simple-minded peasant takes to be the direct cause of his misfortunes. + +Thus it was that the Negativists denied everything--God, the Devil, +heaven, hell, the law, and the power of the Tsar. They taught that +there is no such thing as right, religion, property, marriage, family +or family duties. All those have been invented by man, and it is man +who has created God, the Devil, and the Tsar. + +In the record of the proceedings taken against one of the principal +upholders of this sect, we find the following curious conversation +between him and the judge. + +"Your religion?" + +"I have none." + +"In what God do you believe?" + +"In none. Your God is your own, like the Devil, for you have created +both. They belong to you, like the Tsar, the priests, and the +officials." + +These people believe neither in generosity nor in gratitude. Men give +away only what is superfluous, and the superfluous is not theirs. +Labour should be free; consequently they kept no servants. They +rejected both trade and money as useless and unjust. "Give to thy +neighbour what thou canst of that of which he has need, and he in turn +will give thee what thou needest." Love should be entirely free. +Marriage is an absurdity and a sin, invented by man. All human beings +are free, and a woman cannot belong to any one man, or a man to any one +woman. + +Here are some extracts taken from some other legal records. Two of the +believers were brought before the judge, accompanied by a child. + +"Is this your wife?" the judge inquired of the man. + +"No, she is not my wife." + +"How is it then that you live together?" + +"We live together, but she is not mine. She belongs to herself." + +Turning to the woman, the judge asked: + +"Is this your husband?" + +"He is not _mine_. He does not belong to me, but to himself." + +"And the child? Is he yours?" + +"No, he is not ours. He lives with us; he is of our blood; but he +belongs to himself." + +"But the coat you are wearing--is that yours?" demanded the exasperated +judge. + +"It is on my back, but it is not mine. It belonged once to a sheep; +now it covers me; but who can say whose it will be to-morrow?" + +The Negativists invented, long before Tolstoi, the doctrine of inaction +and non-resistance to evil. They were deceived, robbed and ruined, but +would not apply to the law, or to the police. Their method of +reasoning and their way of speaking had a peculiar charm. A solicitor +who visited one of the Siberian prisons reports the following details +concerning a man named Rojnoff. Arrested and condemned to be deported +for vagabondage, he escaped repeatedly, but was at length imprisoned. +The inspector was calling the roll of the prisoners, but Rojnoff +refused to answer to his name. Purple with rage, the inspector +approached him and asked, "What is your name?" + +"It is you who have a name. I have none." + +After a series of questions and answers exchanged between the ever more +furious official and the prisoner, who remained perfectly calm, Rojnoff +was flogged--but in spite of raw and bleeding wounds he still continued +to philosophise. + +"Confess the truth," stormed the inspector. + +"Seek it," replied the peasant, "for yourself, for indeed you have need +of it. As to me, I keep my truth for myself. Let me be quiet--that is +all I ask." + +The solicitor visited him several months later, and implored him to +give his name, so that he might obtain his passport and permission to +rejoin his wife and children. + +"But I have no need of all that," he said. "Passports, laws, +names--all those are yours. Children, family, property, class, +marriage--so many of your cursed inventions. You can give me only one +single thing--quietness." + +The Siberian prisons swarmed with these mysterious beings. Poor souls! +Their one desire was to quit as soon as possible this vale of injustice +and of tears! + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE WHITE-ROBED BELIEVERS + +Sometimes this longing for a better world, where suffering would be +caused neither by hunger nor by laws, took touching and poetic forms. + +About the month of April, 1895, all eyes in the town of Simbirsk were +turned upon a sect founded by a peasant named Pistzoff. These poor +countryfolk protested against the injustices of the world by robing +themselves in white, "like celestial angels." + +"We do not live as we should," taught Pistzoff, an aged, white-haired +man. "We do not live as our fathers lived. We should act with +simplicity, and follow the truth, conquering our bodily passions. The +life that we lead now cannot continue long. This world will perish, and +from its ruins will arise another, a better world, wherein all will be +robed in white, as we are." + +The believers lived very frugally. They were strict vegetarians, and ate +neither meat nor fish. They did not smoke or drink alcohol, and +abstained from tea, milk and eggs. They took only two meals daily--at +ten in the morning, and six in the evening. Everything that they wore or +used they made with their own hands--boots, hats, underclothing, even +stoves and cooking utensils. + +The story of Pistzoff's conversion inevitably recalls that of Tolstoi. +He was a very rich merchant when, feeling himself inspired by heavenly +truth, he called his employes to him and gave them all that he had, +including furniture and works of art, retaining nothing but white +garments for himself and his family. His wife protested vehemently, +especially when Pistzoff forbade her to touch meat, on account of the +suffering endured by animals when their lives are taken from them. The +old lady did not share his tastes, and firmly upheld a contrary opinion, +declaring that animals went gladly to their death! Pistzoff then fetched +a fowl, ordered his wife to hold it, and procured a hatchet with which to +kill it. While threatening the poor creature he made his wife observe +its anguish and terror, and the fowl was saved at the same time as the +soul of Madame Pistzoff, who admitted that fowls, at any rate, do not go +gladly into the cooking-pot. + +The number of Pistzoff's followers increased daily, and the sect of the +"White-robed Believers" was formed. Their main tenet being +_loving-kindness_, they lived peacefully and harmed none, while awaiting +the supreme moment when "the whole world should become white." + +For the rest, the white-robed ones and their prophet followed the +doctrines of the _molokanes_, who drank excessive quantities of milk +during Lent--hence their name. This was one of the most flourishing of +all the Russian sects. Violently opposed to all ceremonies, they +recognised neither religious marriages, churches, priests nor dogmas, +claiming that the whole of religion was contained in the Old and New +Testaments. Though well-educated, they submitted meekly to a communal +authority, chosen from among themselves, and led peaceful and honest +working lives. All luxuries, even down to feminine ornaments or dainty +toilettes, were banned. They considered war a heathen invention--merely +"assassination on a large scale"--and though, when forced into military +service, they did their duty as soldiers in peace-time, the moment war +was in view it was their custom to throw away their arms and quietly +desert. There were no beggars and no poor among them, for all helped one +another, the richer setting aside one-tenth of their income for the less +fortunate. + +Hunted and persecuted by the government, they multiplied nevertheless, +and when banished to far-away districts they ended by transforming the +waste, uncultivated lands into flourishing gardens. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE STRANGLERS + +A sect no less extraordinary than the last was that of the Stranglers +(_douchiteli_). It originated towards the end of 1874, and profited by +a series of law cases, nearly all of which ended in acquittal. The +Stranglers flourished especially in the Tzarevokokschaisk district, and +first attained notoriety under the following circumstances. + +A large number of deaths by strangling had been recorded, and their +frequency began to arouse suspicion. Whether they were due to some +criminal organisation, or to a series of suicidal impulses, the local +police were long unable to decide, but in the end the culprits were +discovered. + +Were they, however, in reality culpable? + +The unfortunate peasants, after much reflection, had come to the +conclusion that death is not terrible, but that what is indubitably to +be feared is the last agony--the difficult departure from terrestrial +life. They decided, therefore, to come to the assistance of the Death +Angel, and, when any sufferer approached the final struggle, his +neighbours or relatives would carry him off to some isolated spot, tie +up his head firmly but kindly in a cushion--and soon all was over. + +Before, however, they had recourse to such drastic measures, they would +inquire from the wizards (or _znachar_) of the district, doctors being +almost unknown, whether the invalid still had any chance of recovery, +and it was only after receiving a negative reply that the pious +ceremony took place. We say "pious" because there is something +strangely pathetic in this "crowning of the martyrs," as the peasants +called it. Arising in the first place from compassion, the motive for +the deed was, after all, a belief in the need for human sacrifice. The +invalid who consents to give up his life for the honour of heaven +accomplishes thereby an act of sublime piety; but what merit has he who +dies only from necessity? + +The corpses were buried in the forest and covered with plants and +leaves, but no sign was left that might betray them to the suspicious +authorities. When a member of the community disappeared, and the +police made inquiries, they always had the greatest possible difficulty +in finding his remains. Sometimes even his nearest relations did not +know where the "saviours of his soul" had hidden him. + +But there was one thing that marked the discovery of a dead Strangler. +His body never bore any trace of violence, and as dissection always +proved, in addition, the existence of some more or less serious +disease, the sham "murderers" were eventually left in peace. A small +local paper, the _Volgar_ (April, 1895), from which these facts are +taken, reports that several actions brought against them ended in their +acquittal. + +Lord Avebury recounts that certain cannibal tribes kill those of their +members who have reached the stage of senile decay, and make them the +substance of a more or less succulent repast. These savages act, no +doubt, whether consciously or unconsciously, from some perception of +the misery and uselessness of old age, but the Russian peasants cannot +be compared to them. The Stranglers are not moved by any unconscious +sentiment. Their belief is the logical application of a doctrine of +pessimism, whose terrible consequences they have adopted, although they +know not its terminology. What is the life of a _moujik_ worth? +Nothing, or nearly nothing. Is it not well, then, to accelerate the +coming of deliverance? Let us end the life, and, snapping the chains +that bind us to mortals, offer it as a sacrifice to heaven! So reason +these simple creatures, inexorable in their logic, and weighed down by +untold misery. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE FUGITIVES + +The suffering of a people nourishes the spirit of rebellion, enabling +it to come to birth and to survive. There are some religious sects +based exclusively upon popular discontent. The _biegouny_, or +Fugitives, did nothing but flee from one district to another. They +wandered throughout Russia with no thought of home or shelter. Those +who joined the sect destroyed their passports, which were considered a +work of Satan, and adopted a belief in the Satanic origin of the State, +the Church and the Law. They repudiated the institution of marriage, +the payment of taxes, and all submission to authority. Their special +imagery included, among other things, the devil offering a candle to +the Tsar, and inviting him to become the agent for Satanic work upon +earth. Sometimes their feelings led them to commit acts of violence; +one, for instance, would interrupt divine service; another would strike +the priest. A peasant named Samarin threw himself upon the priest in a +Russian church, forced him away from the altar, and, having trampled +the Holy Sacraments under foot, cried out, "I tread upon the work of +Satan!" + +When arrested and condemned to penal servitude for life, Samarin was in +despair because the death sentence had not been passed, so sure was he +that he would have gone straight to heaven as a reward for his heroic +exploit. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE SOUTAIEVTZI + +The Soutaievtzi (founded in 1880 by a working-man of Tver, named +Soutaieff) scoffed at the clergy, the ikons, the sacraments, and +military service, while upholding the principle of communal possession. +They very soon became notorious. Soutaieff travelled all over the +country preaching that true Christianity consists in the love of one's +neighbour, and was welcomed with open arms by Tolstoi himself. He +taught that there was only one religion, the religion of love and pity, +and that churches, priests, religious ceremonies, angels and devils, +were mere inventions which must be rejected if one wished to live in +conformity with the truth. + +As to Paradise, when all the principles of love and compassion were +realised upon earth, earth itself would be Paradise. Private ownership +being the cause of all misery, as well as of crimes and lies, it must +be abolished, together with armies and war. Further, Soutaieff +preached non-resistance to evil, and the avoidance of all violence. +One of his sons, when enrolled as a conscript, refused to carry a +rifle. Arguments and punishments had no effect. He proved that heaven +itself was opposed to the bearing of arms by quoting the Gospel to all +who tried to compel him; and in the end he was imprisoned. + +Neither did Soutaieff allow that a man should be judged by his +neighbour. "Judge not, that ye be not judged," was his motto, and his +life filled his followers with enthusiasm, and many besides with +astonishment. This uncultured peasant, who had the courage to throw on +the fire the money he had earned as a mason in St. Petersburg, who +carried the idea of compassion to such lengths that he followed thieves +in order to give them good flour in place of the bad that they had +stolen from him by mistake--this simple-minded being, whose only desire +was to suffer for the "truth," possessed without doubt the soul of a +saint and a visionary. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE SONS OF GOD + +The "sons of God" held that men were really gods, and that as divinity +is manifested in our fellows and in ourselves, it is sufficient to +offer prayers unto--our neighbours! Every man being a god, there are +as many Christs as there are men, as many Holy Virgins as there are +women. + +The "sons of God" held assemblies at which they danced wildly, first +together and then separately, until the moment when the women, in +supreme ecstasy, turned from the left, and the men from the right, +towards the rising sun. The dance continued until all reached a state +of hysterical excitement. Then a voice was heard--"Behold the Holy +Spirit!"--and the whole company, emitting cries and groans, would +pursue the dizzy performance with redoubled vigour until they fell to +the ground exhausted. + +Their sect originated in the neighbourhood of a great hill, where dwelt +a man named Philipoff with his disciples. He had retired there to work +against the influence of anti-Christ, and it was there that God +appeared to him, and said, "Truth and divinity dwell in your own +conscience. Neither drink nor marry. Those among you who are already +married should live as brothers and sisters." + +Women were held in high esteem by the "sons of God," being venerated as +"mothers or nieces of the Saviour." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE TOLSTOYANS + +The numerous admirers of Count Tolstoi will find in his writings some +derivations, whether conscious or unconscious, from the principles +elaborated by many of the Russian sects. The doctrine of +non-resistance, or inaction, the abolition of the army, vegetarianism, +the defiance of law, and of dogmatic Christianity, together with many +other conceptions which either scandalised or enraptured his readers, +were already widespread among the Russian peasantry; though Tolstoi was +able to give them new forms of expression and an original, if +disquieting, philosophic basis. + +But even as the products of the earth which we consume return to earth +again, so do ideas and doctrines ever return to the source from which +they sprang. A great reformer usually gathers his ideas from his +environment, until, transformed by the workings of his brain, they +react once more upon those to whom they actually owed their origin. + +Renan has traced very accurately the evolution of a religious leader, +and Tolstoi passed through all its logical phases, only stopping short +of the martyrdom necessary ere he could enter the ranks of the prophets. + +Imbued with the hopes and dreams that flourished all around him, he +began, at a ripe age and in full possession of his faculties, to +express his philosophy in poetic and alluring parables, the hostility +of the government having only served to fire his enthusiasms and +embitter his individual opinions. After first declaring that the +masters of men are their equals, he taught later on that they are their +persecutors, and finally, in old age, arrived at the conclusion that +all who rule or direct others are simply criminals! + +"You are not at all obliged to fulfil your duties," he wrote, in the +_Life and Death of Drojine_, 1895, dedicated to a Tolstoyan martyr. +"You could, if you wished, find another occupation, so that you would +no longer have to tyrannise over men. . . . You men of power, emperors +and kings, you are not Christians, and it is time you renounced the +name as well as the moral code upon which you depend in order to +dominate others." + +It would be difficult to give a complete list either of the beliefs of +the Tolstoyans, or of their colonies, in many of which members of the +highest aristocracy were to be found. + +"We have in Russia tens of thousands of men who have refused to swear +allegiance to the new Tsar," wrote Tolstoi, a couple of years before +his death, "and who consider military service merely a school for +murder." + +We have no right to doubt his word--but did Tolstoi know all his +followers? Like all who have scattered seed, he was not in a position +to count it. But however that may be, he transformed the highest +aspirations of man's soul into a noble philosophy of human progress, +and attracted the uneducated as well as the cultured classes by his +genuine desire for equality and justice. + +Early in June, 1895, several hundreds of _verigintzi_ (members of a +sect named after Veregine, their leader) came from the south of Russia +to the Karsk district. The government's suspicions were aroused, and +at Karsk the pilgrims were stopped, and punished for having attempted +to emigrate without special permission. Inquiries showed that all were +Tolstoyans, who practised the doctrine of non-resistance to evil on a +large scale. For their co-religionists in Elisabethpol suddenly +refused to bear arms, and nine soldiers also belonging to the sect +repeated without ceasing that "our heavenly Father has forbidden us to +kill our fellowmen." Those who were in the reserve sent in their +papers, saying that they wished to have nothing more to do with the +army. + +One section of the _verigintzi_ especially distinguished themselves by +the zeal with which they practised the Tolstoyan doctrines. They +reverenced their leader under the name of "General Tolstoi," gave up +sugar as well as meat, drank only tea and ate only bread. They were +called "the fasters," and their gentleness became proverbial. In the +village of Orlovka they were exposed to most cruel outrages, the +inhabitants having been stirred up against them by the priests and +officials. They were spat upon, flogged, and generally ill-treated, +but never ceased to pray, "O God, help us to bear our misery." Their +meekness at last melted the hearts of their persecutors, who, becoming +infected by their religious ardour, went down on their knees before +those whom they had struck with whips a few minutes before. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE SPIRITUAL CHRISTIANS + +The Slavonic atmosphere exhales an intense longing for the ideal and +for heaven. Often a kind of religious ecstasy seems to sweep over the +whole length and breadth of the Russian territories, and Tolstoi's +celebrated doctrines reflected the dreamy soul of the _moujik_ and the +teachings of many Russian martyrs. It would, however, be a mistake to +suppose that it is only the peasants buried in the depths of the +country who provide favourable soil for the culture of the religious +bacillus. It is the same with all classes--merchants, peasants, +labourers and aristocrats. + +The working-classes, especially those of the large towns, usually offer +more resistance to the influence of religious fanatics, but in +Petrograd and Moscow they are apt to follow the general current. Lack +of space forbids us to study in all their picturesque details the birth +and growth of religious sects in these surroundings. We must confine +ourselves to one of the more recent manifestations--that of the +mysterious "spiritual Christians." + +In 1893, a man named Michael Raboff arrived in St. Petersburg. Peasant +by birth, carpenter by trade, he immediately began to preach the tenets +of his "spiritual Christianity." He became suspect, and with his +friend Nicholas Komiakoff was deported to a far-distant neighbourhood; +but in spite of this his seed began to bear fruit, for the entire +district where he and Komiakoff were sent to work was soon won over to +the new religion. The director himself, his wife, and all his workmen +embraced it, and though the workshops were closed by the police, the +various members distributed themselves throughout the town and +continued to spread Raboff's "message." Borykin, the master-carpenter, +took employment under a certain Grigorieff, and succeeded in converting +all his fellow-workers. Finally Grigorieff's house was turned into a +church for the new sect, and an illiterate woman named Vassilisa became +their prophetess. Under the influence of the general excitement, she +would fall into trances and give extravagant and incomprehensible +discourses, while her listeners laughed, danced and wept ecstatically. +By degrees the ceremonial grew more complex, and took forms worthy of a +cult of unbalanced minds. + +At the time when the police tried to disperse the sect it possessed a +quite considerable number of adherents; but it died out in May, 1895, +scarcely two years after its commencement. + +The "spiritual Christians" called themselves brothers and sisters, and +gave to Raboff the name of grandfather, and to the woman Vassilisa that +of mother. They considered themselves "spiritual Christians" because +they lived according to the spirit of Christianity. For the rest, +their doctrine was innocent enough, and, but for certain extravagances +and some dangerous dogmas borrowed from other sects, their diffusion +among the working-classes of the towns might even have been desirable. +Sexual chastity was one of their main postulates, and they also +recommended absolute abstention from meat, spirits, and tobacco. But +at the same time they desired to abolish marriage. + +When the police raided Grigorieff's workshops, they found there about +fifty people stretched on the ground, spent and exhausted as a result +of the excessive efforts which Raboff's cult demanded of them. At +their meetings a man or woman would first read aloud a chapter from +Holy Scripture. The listeners would make comments, and one of the more +intelligent would expound the selected passage. Growing more and more +animated, he would finally reach a state of ecstasy which communicated +itself to all present. The whole assembly would cry aloud, groan, +gesticulate and tear their hair. Some would fall to the ground, while +others foamed at the mouth, or rent their garments. Suddenly one of +the most uplifted would intone a psalm or hymn which, beginning with +familiar words, would end in incoherency, the whole company singing +aloud together, and covering the feet of their "spiritual mother" with +kisses. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A LABORATORY OF SECTS + +We will now travel to the south of Russia, and examine more closely +what might be called a laboratory of sects, or in other words a +breeding-ground of religions whose idealism, whether foolish or +sublime, is often sanctified by the blood of believers, and descends +like dew from Hermon into the midst of our busy civilisation. + +The mystical tendencies of the popular soul sometimes develop in a +fashion little short of prodigious, and to no country do we owe so many +remarkable varieties of religious faith as to that portion of Russia +which lies between Kherson and Nicolaiev. There is seen in full +activity the greatest religious laboratory in the world; there +originate, as a rule, the morbid bacilli which invade the rest of +Russia; and there do sects grow up like mushrooms, only to disappear +with equal rapidity. + +An orthodox missionary named Schalkinsky, who was concerned especially +with the erring souls of the region of Saratov, has published a work in +which he gives a fantastic picture of the events of quite recent years. +He was already the author of several books dealing with the sect of the +_bezpopovtzi_, and his high calling and official position combine to +give authority to his words. + +When we consider the immense variety of these sects, we can easily +imagine what takes place in every small village that becomes possessed +of the craving for religious perfection. Prophets, gods and demi-gods, +holy spirits and apostles, all kinds of saints and mystics, follow +thick and fast upon one another's heels, seeking to gain the ascendancy +over the pious souls of the villagers. Some are sincere and genuinely +convinced believers; others, mere shameless impostors; but all, +manifesting the greatest ardour and eloquence, traverse the +countryside, imploring the peasants to "abandon their old beliefs and +embrace the new holy and salutary dogmas." The orthodox missionaries +seem only to increase the babel by organising their own meetings under +the protection of the local authorities. + +Some of the sectarians will take part in public discussions, either in +the open air or in the churches, but most of them content themselves +with smiling mockingly at the assertions of the "anti-Christian faith" +(i.e. the orthodox official religion). With the new regime conditions +may undergo a radical change, but in former times religious doubts, +when too openly manifested by the followers of the "new truths," were +punished by imprisonment or deportation. + +Sometimes the zeal of the missionaries carried them too far, for, not +content with reporting the culprits to the ecclesiastical authorities, +they would denounce them publicly in their writings. The venerable +Father Arsenii, author of fifteen pamphlets against the _molokanes_, +delivered up to justice in this way sufficient individuals to fill a +large prison; and another orthodox missionary crowned his propaganda by +printing false accusations against those who refused to accept the +truth as taught by him. + +In a centre like Pokourlei, which represented in miniature the general +unrest of the national soul, there were to be found among the +classified sects more than a dozen small churches, each having its own +worshippers and its own martyrs. An illiterate peasant, Theodore +Kotkoff, formed what was called the "fair-spoken sect," consisting of a +hundred and fifty members who did him honour because he invented a new +sort of "Holy Communion" with a special kind of gingerbread. Another, +Chaidaroff, nicknamed "Money-bags," bought a forest and built a house +wherein dwelt fifteen aged "holy men," who attracted the whole +neighbourhood. Many men in the prime of life followed the example of +the aged ones, and retired to live in the forest, while women went in +even greater numbers and for longer periods. Husbands grew uneasy, and +bitter disputes took place, in which one side upheld the moral +superiority of the holy men, while the other went so far as to forbid +the women to go and confess to them. One peasant claimed to be +inspired by the "Holy Ghost," and promenaded the village, summer and +winter, in a long blouse without boots or trousers, riding astride a +great stick on which he had hung a bell and a flag, and announcing +publicly the reign of Anti-Christ. In addition the village was visited +by orthodox missionaries, but, as the Reverend Father Schalkinsky +naively confesses, "the inhabitants fled them like the plague." They +interviewed, however, the so-called chiefs of the new religions, who +listened to them with gravity and made some pretence of being convinced +by the purveyors of official truth. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE DOUCHOBORTZI + +The religious ferment of South Russia was due to some special causes, +its provinces having served since the seventeenth century as lands of +exile for revolutionaries of all kinds, religious, political and +social. Dangerous criminals were also sent there, and a population of +this nature naturally received with open arms all who preached +rebellion against established principles and doctrines. + +About the year 1750, a Prussian non-commissioned officer, expatriated +on account of his revolutionary ideas, appeared in the neighbourhood of +Kharkov. He taught the equality of man and the uselessness of public +authority, and was the real founder of the _douchobortzi_, who believed +in direct communion with the divinity by aid of the spirit which dwells +in all men. The sparks scattered by this unknown vagabond flared up +some time later into a conflagration which swept away artisans, +peasants and priests, and embraced whole towns and villages. + +The beliefs of the sect were that the material world is merely a prison +for our souls, and that our passions carry in themselves the germs of +our punishments. Nothing is more to be decried than the desire for +worldly honour and glory. Did not Our Lord Himself say that He was not +of this world? Emperors 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 accordance 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 fate as Bezobrazoff. These misfortunes, however, did not +weaken the religious ardour of the _molokanes_. A regular series of +"false Christs," as the Russians called them, tormented the +imaginations of the southern peasantry. Some believed themselves to be +Elijah, some the angel Gabriel; while others considered themselves new +saviours of the world. + +One of these latter made his debut in the role of Saviour about 1840, +and after having drained the peasants of Simbirsk and Saratov of money, +fled to Bessarabia with his funds and his disciples. Later he +returned, accompanied by twelve feminine "angels," and with them was +deported to Siberia. + +But the popular mind is not discouraged by such small matters. Side by +side with the impostors there existed men of true faith, simple and +devout dreamers. Taking advantage of freedom to expound the Gospel, +they profited by it for use and abuse, and it seemed to be a race as to +who should be the first to start a new creed. + +Even as the _douchobortzi_ had given birth to the _molokanes_, so were +the latter in turn the parents of the _stoundists_. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE STOUNDISTS + +This sect believed that man could attain to perfection of life and +health only by avoiding the fatigue of penance and fastings; and that +all men should equally enjoy the gifts of Nature, Jesus Christ having +suffered for all. Land and capital should belong to the community, and +should be equally divided, all men being brothers, and sons of the same +God. Wealth being thus equalised, it was useless to try to amass it. +Trade was similarly condemned, and a system of exchange of goods +advocated. The _stoundists_ did not attend church, and avoided +public-houses, "those sources of disease and misery." The government +made every effort to crush them, but the more they were persecuted, the +more they flourished. The seers and mystics among them were considered +particularly dangerous, and were frequently flogged and imprisoned--in +fact, the sect as a whole was held by the Russian administration, to be +one of the most dangerous in existence. It originated in the year +1862, and from then onwards its history was one of continuous martyrdom. + +Like the _molokanes_, the _stoundists_ refused to reverence the ikons, +the sacraments, or the hierarchy of the orthodox church, and considered +the Holy Scriptures to be simply a moral treatise. They abominated +war, referring to it as "murder _en masse_," and never entered a court +of law, avoiding all quarrels and arguments, and holding it to be the +most degrading of actions for a man to raise his hand against his +fellow. All their members learnt to read and write, in order to be +able to study the Scriptures. They recognised no power or authority +save that of God, refused to take oaths, and protested against the +public laws on every possible occasion. Their doctrine was really a +mixture of the _molokane_ teachings and of Communism as practised by +the German colonists, led by Gutter, who settled in Russia about the +end of the eighteenth century and were banished to New Russia in 1818. + +Strengthened by persecution and smacking of the soil, it was no wonder +that _stoundism_ became the religion _par excellence_ of the Russian +_moujik_, assuming in time proportions that were truly disquieting to +the authorities. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE MERCHANTS OF PARADISE + +Side by side with these flourishing sects whose followers could be +numbered by millions, there existed other communities, founded upon +naive and child-like superstitions, strange fruits of the tree of +faith. The members of one of these believed that it was only necessary +to climb upon the roofs in order to take flight to heaven. The +deceptions practised on them by charlatans, the relentless persecution +of the government, even the loss of reason, all counted for nothing if +only they might enjoy some few moments of supreme felicity and live in +harmony with the divine! To experience such ecstasy they despoiled +themselves of their worldly goods, and gave away their money to +impostors in exchange for pardon for their sins. + +The famous sect called the "Merchants of Paradise" was founded by a +peasant, Athanasius Konovaloff. Together with his son Andrew, he +preached at Osikovka, from 1885 to 1892, the absolution of sins in +return for offerings "in kind." There was need for haste, he declared. +Time was flying, and there were but few vacant places left in Paradise. +These places were of two kinds--those of the first class, at ten +roubles each, which enabled the purchaser to repose upon a celestial +sofa; and those of the second class, at five roubles, whose occupiers +had to spend eternity seated upon footstools. The credulous peasants +actually deprived themselves of food in order to procure their places. + +In 1887, a man who was much respected in the village sold his crops, +and went to buy himself one of the first-class places. His son heard +of it, and was in despair over this lavish expenditure of ten roubles. +Why, he demanded, could not his father be content with a second-class +place, like so many of their neighbours? + +The dispute was brought into the courts, and the old man loudly +lamented the criminal indifference of his son. + +"In my poor old age," he cried, "after having worked so hard, am I to +be condemned to sit for ever on a footstool for the sake of five +roubles?" + +Then, addressing his offspring--"And you, my son, are you not ashamed +so to disregard the future life of your parent, who maintained you +throughout your childhood? It is a great sin with which you are +burdening your soul." + +Places in Paradise were promised not only to the living, but also to +those who had omitted to secure them before departing on their eternal +journey. The relatives would apply to the prophet, who fixed the price +according to the fortune left by the deceased. + +A curious ceremonial always accompanied the payment of money to +Konovaloff. It was first placed upon the ground; Konovaloff would lift +it with his teeth and lay it on the table; and it was finally put in +his pocket by his son, Andrew. He was also assisted in his operations +by two old women. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE JUMPERS AND THE HOLY BROTHERS + +The Jumpers, or _sopouny_, founded by one Petroff, considered it their +duty to blow upon one another during Divine Service. This arose from a +misinterpretation of the ninth verse of the fortieth psalm. It was +also their custom to pile benches one upon another and pray from the +top of them, until some hysterical female fell to the ground in a +religious paroxysm. One of those present would then lean over her and +act the scene of the resurrection. Petroff was a great admirer of King +David, and would sing his psalms to the accompaniment of dancing, like +the psalmist before the Ark. His successor, Roudometkin, reorganised +the Jumpers, and gave their performances a rhythmic basis. Foreseeing +the near advent of the Saviour, he caused himself to be crowned king of +the "spiritual Christians" in 1887, and married a "spiritual" wife, +though without discarding his "material" one. His successors all +called themselves "Kings of the spiritual Christians," but they had not +the authority of poor Roudometkin, who had been removed to prison in +Solovetzk. + +We may class with the Jumpers the Holy Brothers, or _chalapouts_, who +believed in the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost. They were +visionaries of a more exalted kind, and often attained to such a state +of religious enthusiasm that in their longing to enter heaven they +climbed to the roofs of houses and hurled themselves into space. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE LITTLE GODS + +The sect of the "little gods," or _bojki_, was founded about 1880 by a +peasant named Sava. Highly impressionable by nature, and influenced by +the activities of at least a dozen different sects that flourished in +his native village (Derabovka, near Volsk), Sava ended by believing +himself to be God. + +Though naturally aggressive, and of an irascible temperament, he soon +became as serious as a philosopher and as gentle as a lamb. His +intelligence seemed to increase visibly. He discoursed like a man +inspired, and said to the inhabitants of Derabovka:-- + +"If there be a God in Heaven, there must also be one on earth. And why +not? Is not the earth a creation of Heaven, and must it not resemble +that which created it? . . . Where then is this earthly God to be +found? Where is the Virgin Mary? Where are the twelve apostles?" + +The dreamer wandered about the village, uttering his thoughts aloud. +At first men shrugged their shoulders at his strange questions. But he +continued to hold forth, and in the end the peasants gathered round him. + +It was the sweetest moment of his life when the villagers of Derabovka +at last found the deity who had been sought so eagerly. For whom could +it be, if not Sava himself? . . . Thus Sava proclaimed himself God; +gave to his kinsman Samouil the name of Saviour; to a peasant-woman of +a neighbouring village that of the Virgin Mary; and chose the twelve +Apostles and the Holy Ghost from among his acquaintance. The +nomination of the latter presented, however, some difficulties. The +Holy Ghost, argued the peasants, had appeared to Jesus by the river +Jordan in the form of a dove, and how could one represent it by a man? +They refused to do so, and decided that in future all birds of the dove +species should be the Holy Ghost. + +The authorities began to seek out the "gods," as they were called +locally. Samouil was arrested and charged with being a false Saviour, +but defended himself with such child-like candour that the tribunal was +baffled. The movement therefore continued, and was indeed of a wholly +innocent nature, not in any way menacing the security of the +government, and filling with rapture all Sava's followers. + +It was the custom of the "little gods" to gather in some forest, and +there to hide the "Virgin Mary" in a leafy glade, and await her +"apparition." Sava himself, and Samouil, the "Saviour," would be +concealed close at hand, and she would emerge from her hiding-place in +their company. The lookers-on then gave vent to loud cries of joy, and +all united in glorifying the goodness of Heaven. The "Virgin" wore on +these occasions a rich and beautiful robe in which all the colours of +the rainbow were blended. The company would gather round her, while +the "Apostles" reverently kissed her feet. Sacred hymns were then +sung, and the worshippers dispersed filled with unbounded ecstasy. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE FOLLOWERS OF GRIGORIEFF + +The forms taken by religious mania are not always as harmless as in the +case of the "God Sava." Ivan Grigorieff, founder of the Russian +Mormons, began by preaching that God created the world in six days, but +by degrees he came to attack established religion as well as the +existing social order. According to him, the _molokanes_ were +"pestilent," the _douchobortzi_ were "destroyers of the faith," and the +_chlysty_ were "mad cattle." There was only one truth, the truth of +Grigorieff! + +The Bible should be interpreted "according to the spirit," and as the +Apostle Paul had said that Christ was to be found in those who believed +in Him, then Grigorieff could be no other than Christ. He went to +Turkey, returned in the role of "Saviour," and preached the necessity +for a "spiritual life." Several women were chosen to share his life +and that of the twelve "Apostles" whose duty it was to "glorify" him. + +Passing from one hallucination to another, he insisted on a general +cessation of labour. "Work not," he said, "for I will be gentle and +merciful to you. You shall be like the birds who are nourished without +need to till the earth: Work not, and all shall be yours, even to the +corn stored away in the government granaries." + +And so the peasants of Gai-Orlov left their fields unfilled, and +cultivated nothing save hymns and prayers. They seemed to be uplifted +as by some wave of dreamy, poetic madness. Even the unlettered +imitated Grigorieff in composing psalms and hymns, some specimens of +which are to be found in Father Arsenii's collection. They breathe an +almost infantile mysticism. + + "The dweller in heaven, + The King Salim, + Saviour of the world, + Shall descend upon earth. + The clouds flee away, + The light shines. . . ." + + "We will climb the mountain, + It is Mount Sion that we climb, + And we will sing like angels." + + +When Grigorieff's mind began definitely to fail, and, forgetful of +divine service, he passed his time in the company of his "spiritual +wives," doubt seized upon the members of his church, and they composed +a melancholy psalm which was chanted to Grigorieff by his "Apostles." + + "Father, Saviour, + Hope of all men . . . + Thou gavest us the spark, + The spark of faith. + But to-day, little father, + Thou hidest the light, + Thou hidest the light. . . . + + Our life is changed. + We weep for thy faith, + Lost and deranged, + We weep for thy holy life. + Upon the Mount Sion + There grew a vine of God. . . ." + + +Grigorieff appeared to be touched, and replied with a psalm which +explained, in rhymed couplets, how the Holy Ghost (that is to say, +Grigorieff) was walking in a garden when brigands appeared, and tried +to carry him off--an allusion to some of his followers who had caused +dissension by proclaiming themselves to be "Holy Ghosts." But the sun +descended upon the Garden of Paradise, the celestial garden . . . and +so on. + +One day, however, "Anti-Christ," in the person of a travelling +magistrate, descended upon Gai-Orlov and carried off Grigorieff. He +was sent to prison, where he died of poison administered by one of his +"spiritual wives," who was jealous of her rivals. But his teachings +did not die with him. His work was continued by the peasant +Verestchagin, with the help of twelve venerable "apostles." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE NAPOLEONITES + +Imagination can scarcely conceive of some of the strange forms under +which the thirst for religious truth in Southern Russia was revealed. +In this great laboratory of sects, all the dreams of humanity had their +more or less "inspired" representatives. Even the smallest town was in +the same case as, for example, the prison of Solovetzk, which was +usually inhabited by large numbers of sectarian leaders. A Mr. +Sitzoff, who spent some time there, has published a description of this +modern Tower of Babel. + +It harboured, among others, a _douchoboretz_; a "god" of the Sava +persuasion, with his wife, representing the "Holy Ghost"; a _chlyst_, +who rotated indefatigably round a tub of water; a captain who claimed +the honour of brotherhood with Jesus Christ; a man named Pouchkin, who +supposed himself to be the Saviour reincarnated; a _skopetz_ who had +brought a number of people from Moscow to be initiated into the sect of +the Russian eunuchs; and the _staretz_ Israil, a famous seer, who +desired to found a "Church Triumphant" among the inhabitants of the +prison. + +These ardent reformers of religion made a terrible uproar during the +hours for exercise, each one wishing to convert the rest, and +frequently the warders had to intervene, to save the terrified "Holy +Ghost," for example, from the "brother of Christ" or the prophet Elijah. + +Before taking leave of these and other equally bizarre products of the +"great laboratory," we must mention the sect of the Napoleonites, some +few members of which were still to be found recently in Southern +Russia. William Hepworth Dixon, who visited the country in 1870, +claims to have met some in Moscow, and according to him they were then +rapidly increasing in numbers. + +The _douchobortzi_ and the _molokanes_ were deeply impressed by the +advent of Napoleon the First. It seemed to them that a man who had +taken part in so many heroic adventures must be an envoy of the Deity. +They conceived it his mission to re-establish the throne of David and +to put an end to all their misfortunes, and there was great joy among +the "milk-drinkers" when the "Napoleonic mystery" was expounded to them +by their leaders. It was arranged to send five _molokane_ delegates to +greet the "heavenly messenger," and five old men set forth, clad in +garments white as their beards. But they arrived too late. Napoleon +had left Russia after the disaster of 1812, and when the _molokanes_ +tried to follow him they were arrested on the banks of the Vistula and +thrown into prison. + +The popular imagination, however, refused to abandon its idol, and the +idea of Napoleon ascending into heaven continued to arouse much +enthusiasm. Many of the Napoleonites lamented the wickedness of his +enemies, who had driven him out of Russia, thus depriving mortals of a +saviour from on high. + +At their meetings they spoke of Napoleon's heroic exploits, and knelt +before his bust. It was said that when he entered Russia a star had +appeared in the sky, like that which heralded the birth of Christ; that +he was not dead, but had escaped from St. Helena by sea and was living +in Irkutsk; that one day the heavens would be torn open by a great +storm, and Napoleon would appear as leader of the Slavonic people; that +he would put an end to all discord and, surrounded by angels and brave +soldiers, would re-establish justice and happiness on earth to the +sound of trumpets. + +"The hour draws near!" This cry of supremest hope was ever upon the +lips of the members of the Napoleonite church. + +But to become almost God was a promotion of which the "little corporal" +had surely never dreamed! + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE DIVINE MEN + +The origin of this sect seems to be lost in the mists of the past. +Some connect it with the teachings of Vishnu, some with mysterious +practices of antiquity; but the "divine men" were certainly children of +the Slavonic soil. + +Those who seek for resemblances may find certain analogies between +these adepts of "virginal virginity," or of "the great garden of the +Tsar"--for both these names were applied to them--and the _adamites_ or +_aryanists_; for eager minds seeking supreme salvation are apt to meet +upon the great road that leads to deliverance. + +The rather sarcastic name of _chlysty_ (or flagellants, by which they +were also known) indicates one of the methods used by them in their +desire to please the Lord. + +A life-and-death struggle, lasting for some centuries, took place +between Russian orthodoxy and this sect whose socialistic ideas +threatened to overthrow the aristocratic dogmas of the official church. + +The real founder of the sect was a man named Philipoff, who lived about +the middle of the seventeenth century. According to him, Jesus Christ +was only one of many Christs who have come to the succour of humanity +during the course of ages. The divine spirit incarnates in men of high +morality, so that Christs appear and disappear, living with and among +us from time to time. + +The chlysty, therefore, might always have one or more Christs among +them; but all were not of equal standing. Some were great and some +small! + +Philipoff was convinced that he was the great Christ, having the right +to choose the twelve Apostles and the Holy Mother. By degrees he came +to think himself God the Father, and adopted a "divine son" in the +person of a peasant named Sousloff, who succeeded him as leader of the +sect after his death. + +Another "Christ," named Loupkin, who bestowed the title of "Holy +Virgin" upon his wife, Akoumina, gave a great impetus to the growth of +the sect. His followers proclaimed him their spiritual Tsar, and +received him everywhere with imposing ceremonies. He allowed his feet +and hands to be kissed and obeisances to be made to the "Virgin." As a +result of his propaganda many prominent members of the orthodox church +were won over. + +On the death of Akoumina, the role of Holy Virgin was taken by the +Canoness Anastasia, of the convent of Ivanoff, and as time went on many +of the aristocracy of Moscow and other parts came to swell the ranks of +the believers in the "living Christs." + +Philipoff's doctrines differed to some extent from those of Loupkin. +Branches of his church were to be found in most of the Russian +provinces, and as time went on these emancipated themselves and became +independent, and many new "Christs" made their appearance. In 1903, +nearly every Russian province was said to be seriously affected by the +doctrines of the "divine men." + +Apart from the secondary articles of faith which differentiated the +churches, their main principles may be epitomised as follows:-- + +There are seven heavens, and the seventh is the Paradise of the "divine +men." There dwell the Holy Trinity, the Mother of Jesus, the +Archangels, and various Christs who have visited our planet. It is not +a question of material bodies, but of spiritual principles. God +incarnates in good men whenever He feels it to be necessary, and those +who are chosen for this divine honour become Christs. The Christ of +the Gospels died like all the rest. His body is interred at Jerusalem, +and his resurrection only meant the deliverance of his spirit. His +miracles were merely symbolical. Lazarus was a sinner; Christ cured +him and made him a good man; hence the legend of the raising from the +dead. The Gospels contain the teachings of the Christ of that epoch, +but the Christs of our time receive other teachings appropriate to the +needs of the present day. + +The orthodox religion of Russia is a material religion, lacking the +Spirit, whose presence is only to be found in the creed of the "divine +men." In order that their truth shall triumph, these latter may belong +nominally to the official religion. They may even attend its churches, +but must leave their souls on the threshold. A "divine man" must guard +his soul from the "infidels," the "wicked," the "voracious +wolves"--thus were the orthodox believers designated. The human soul +was created before the body. (A "divine mother," questioned as to her +age in a court of law, declared that though her body was only seventy +years old, her soul had lived through nearly as many centuries.) +Metempsychosis was one of their beliefs. Souls change their +habitations, and work upwards to supreme perfection. That of a Christ +on earth becomes an angel after death; that of an imperfect man +requires repeated incarnations. The body is the source of evil, and +the soul the source of good. The body, therefore, with all its +instincts and desires, must be dominated by the soul. "Divine men" +must abstain from meat and alcoholic drinks, and also from marriage in +the material sense. By a singular misapprehension of the idea of +dominating the body, they looked upon marriage as a spiritual +institution, believing that the soul of a man who had lived with his +wife in any but a fraternal relationship would enter that of a pig +after his death, and that children coming into the world through +marriage were the joy of Satan. But love between men and women should +exist outside the bonds of marriage, the sins of the flesh being then +redeemed by the virtues of the spirit. Adultery was thus tolerated, +and even held in high honour, by many branches of the sect, who +believed that the vulgar relations between the sexes were thus +spiritually purified, and that men and women who loved under these +conditions were like the doves and turtle-doves favoured by heaven. +They avoided having children, and abortion was not only tolerated but +encouraged. + + +Rasputin, who borrowed largely from the doctrines of the "divine men," +made great use of this strange idea of "spiritual love" in bringing +about the triumph of debauchery in the highest ranks of Russian society. + +The multiplicity of "Christs" caused some regrettable +misunderstandings, and at times actual duels took place. The +difficulty was resolved, however, by some of the churches in admirably +simple fashion--for, in spite of all, many of these strange people were +inspired by the Gospel teachings. The opponents exchanged blows, and +he who longest continued to offer his cheek to the other was considered +to have proved himself a superior Christ. + +The _chlysty_ were divided into sections, each having its angels, its +prophets, and its Christ. They met in their "Jerusalem," which was +usually a cellar, and their services took place at night, the +participants all wearing white robes. The ceremonies consisted chiefly +of graceful movements--first a solo dance, then evolutions in pairs, +after which a cross would be formed by a large number of dancers, and +finally the "dance of David" took place, in imitation of the Biblical +King before the Ark. The dancers then fell exhausted to the ground, +their tired bodies no longer opposing the manifestation of their souls, +and the prophets and prophetesses gave voice to divine inspirations. + +Once a year the "high ceremonial" was held. A tub filled with water +was placed in the middle of the room, and lit up by wax candles, and +when the surface of the water became ruffled the ecstatic watchers +believed God to be smiling upon them, and intoned in chorus their +favourite hymn--- + + "We dance, we dance, + And seek the Christ who is among us." + +In some of the churches this ceremony concluded with the celebration of +universal love. + + +On account of its numerous ramifications, the sect presented many +divergent aspects. The _teleschi_, following the example of Adam and +Eve in Paradise, performed their religious rites in a state of nature; +and there were other branches whose various dogmas and practices it +would be impossible to describe. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE RELIGION OF RASPUTIN + +The career of Rasputin provides one of the most disquieting chapters in +the history of sexual and religious emotions, and furnishes remarkable +proof of the close relationship which exists between these two sides of +human life, to all appearances diametrically opposed. + +The supposed monk had undoubted hypnotic powers, and through his +success in sending people to sleep in his native Siberian village (in +the neighbourhood of Tomsk), he earned the reputation of being a "holy +man." As they had never heard of either suggestion or hypnotism, the +Siberian peasants were all the more impressed by his miracles. Before +long he decided to make use of his mysterious power on a larger scale, +and departed for St. Petersburg, where the news of his exploits had +preceded him. The Tsarina, who suffered from insomnia, sent for him, +and--thanks also to certain qualities which it is best not to +specify--Rasputin's fortune was made in a day. + +The village of his origin had an undesirable reputation, for its +inhabitants were loose-livers, and the scandal of the surrounding +countryside. But even in this environment the monk's family had made +themselves conspicuous by their low and unmentionable customs. The +young Gregory, known by the diminutive of Gricha, began his exploits at +a very tender age, and earned the sobriquet of Rasputin, which means +"debauched." He was mixed up in all kinds of dubious affairs--for +instance, thefts of horses, the bearing of false witness, and many acts +of brigandage. He was even sentenced more than once to be flogged--a +penalty of which the local law-courts made generous use in those days. +One of his boon companions, a gardener named Vamava, later became +Bishop of Tobolsk through his influence. + +But the time came when Gricha thought it well to abandon his small +misdoings, and take up a more lucrative trade. He discarded his +peasant costume, and adopted a robe similar to that worn by monks. +Grave and serious, declaring that he was ranged "on the side of the +Lord," he went about begging importunately, on the pretext of wishing +to build a church. In this way he succeeded in amassing a very +considerable sum of money, and subsequently founded a new sect whose +bizarre nature surpassed that of any others that had recently seen the +light. + +Its chief doctrines were borrowed from the _chlysty_, with some +modifications to suit the decadent atmosphere of the Russian Court. It +taught that none could be saved without first having repented; and none +could repent without first having sinned. Therefore to sin became a +duty, and it may be imagined how full of attraction was this "religion +of sin" for those who had neither the will nor the desire to practise +virtue. + +Rasputin began proceedings in his native province. He was a marvellous +preacher, and easily attracted many followers, though some of the forms +taken by the new religion were indescribable. The believers of both +sexes were in the habit of assembling in an open field, in the midst of +which a bonfire was lighted. They would form a chain and dance round +the fire, praying for their sins to be forgiven, as they had repented +of them. Gradually the fire would die out, and the leader then +launched his command--"Now, my children, give yourselves up to sin!" +The sequel may be left untold, but truly the _saturnalia_ of ancient +Rome grow dim before the spectacle of the ceremonies established by +Rasputin. + +His hypnotic practices, combined with the attractions of his +"religion," only served to augment his popularity, and, burdened with +past glory, he arrived in the capital to win the favour not only of +ladies of high degree, but also of many prominent members of the +established church. + +Father John of Cronstadt, whom he first visited, was deeply impressed +when Rasputin revealed to him the extent of his "intimacy with the +Lord," and introduced him to the Archbishop Theophanus, almost as great +a celebrity as himself. + +Finding it impossible to establish the Siberian practices openly in St. +Petersburg, Rasputin made great use of hypnotism. The fascination that +he wielded over all in his vicinity gave authority to his words, and he +devoted himself to exorcising the demons that slept in the bodies of +the pretty sinners of high society. In this, scourging played a +considerable part, and as all sorts of illnesses and unsatisfied +desires were attributed to the "demons," the number of cases treated by +the "holy man" was almost incalculable. + +Even the prelates whom Rasputin ousted from their positions in some +cases still continued to believe in him after his death. The Bishop +Hermogen, whom he disgraced at Court, declared, the day after the +assassination, his conviction that Rasputin possessed "a spark of +godhead" when he first arrived in Petrograd. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE INSPIRED SEERS + +The official clergy, finding it incumbent on them to defend the +articles of the orthodox faith, were themselves frequently swept away +by the storm of religious mania. Before the war the fortress of +Solovetzk sheltered quite an army of these harmless rebels, who, +troubled by the general desire for human perfection, had ended in +blasphemy. Especially from the monasteries were they recruited. It +seemed as though their souls were violently assaulted by devils, like +those of the anchorites of olden days. Monks and nuns alike were +equally discontented, equally eager to uproot evil, whether real or +imaginary, by seeking out new ways of salvation. + +One such was the unfortunate Israil, originally head of the monastery +of Selenginsk, later a prisoner at Solovetzk. He preached eloquently +and fervently the renunciation of property, and persuaded his mother +and sisters to abandon their worldly goods and devote themselves to the +service of the Virgin. "To a nunnery!" he cried, with all the +conviction of Hamlet driving Ophelia from this world, and they sang +psalms with him and went to conceal their misery in a convent. Then, +with a staff in his hand, he traversed Russia, and visited many +_staretz_, or holy men. They taught him "the beginning and the middle +of the end which does not exist," but poor Israil was still conscious +of an emptiness in his heart. In the pursuit of truth he retired to a +virgin forest on the banks of the river Schouia, near the desert of +Krivoziersk, and remained there for years engaged in prayer, until at +last, touched by such piety, the Lord gave peace to his soul. +Surrounded by holy books, he practised meditation, and God manifested +His love by sending him visions and dreams which, coming direct from +Heaven, promised salvation to himself and to all who should follow him. +In one dream he saw a great temple above the cave where he was praying. +Millions of people sought to enter it, but could not, and shed bitter +tears of disappointment. One man alone could approach the altar. It +was Israil, the beloved of the Lord. He went straight through the +great doors, and all the rest followed him. + +The holy man then decided that he must act as guide to his fellows who, +like himself, were possessed by the fever for eternal salvation. He +knew how to distinguish between dreams sent by heaven, and those +emanating from the infernal regions. + +It was a great day for the new religion which was to be born in the +desert of Krivoziersk when the Father Joseph came to join Israil, the +tale of whose glory by this time resounded throughout the whole +neighbourhood. They remained on their knees for whole weeks at a time, +praying together. Israil painted sacred pictures, and Joseph carved +spoons, for the glory of the Lord. An inexplicable emotion filled +their souls; they trembled before the Eternal, fasted, and shed +scalding tears; then, overcome by fatigue, fell fainting to the ground. +Israil beheld the heavens descending upon earth. They had no dread of +wild beasts, and, disregarding the need for food or sleep, they thus +dwelt far from the haunts of men, in the light of Eternity. + +One day Israil rose abruptly in an access of religious frenzy, climbed +a hill, saluted the East three times, and returned radiant to his +companion. + +"The burden which lay at the door of my heart," he cried, "the burden +which hindered my spirit from soaring heavenwards, has disappeared! +Henceforward the Kingdom of Heaven is in me, in the depths of my soul, +in the soul of the Son of my Father!" + +He proceeded to share this kingdom with the brothers Warlaam, Nikanor, +and others who had been "touched by the finger of God." Unbelievers +were gradually won over, and a community was formed whose members lived +on prayers and celestial visions, and obeyed the rules laid down for +them by Israil. The sick were cured by his prayers, and the +incredulous were abashed by the holiness of his appearance. + +His fame spread, and ever greater crowds were attracted, so that while +the faithful rejoiced in the triumph of "the beloved," Israil himself +deemed the time to be ripe for his promotion in the ranks of sanctity. +He proclaimed himself to be Jesus Christ. + +On Holy Thursday he washed the feet of his disciples, blessed the bread +and wine, and distributed it to the assembled believers. + +But, alas, by this time dreams of a strangely sensual nature had seized +upon him, and seemed to pervade his whole being. + +In one of these dreams he found himself in an empty temple, and on +approaching the altar, perceived a dead woman lying there. He lifted +her up, and as he touched her she showed signs of life. Suddenly, +slipping from his grasp, she leapt upon the altar, and, radiating +heavenly beauty, threw herself into his arms. "Come, come, my spouse!" +she said. "Come, that I may outpour for thee the wine of my love and +the delights of my Eternal Father!" + +On hearing these words from the Queen of Heaven, Israil dissolved into +tears. He was filled with boundless rapture, and in his excitement +could not forbear from sharing this joyful experience with his +disciples. + +His Golgotha was drawing near. The new religion was openly denounced, +and rigorously suppressed. The apostles were imprisoned, and the Jesus +Christ of Krivoziersk was sent for to the town of Kostroma, that he +might give account of himself, his visions, and his crimes. Ultimately +he was condemned to a spell of confinement, and forced to perform the +most humiliating duties. His asceticism, his many virtues, his fasting +and prayers, the love which God had manifested for him--all were +forgotten, and Israil, who had held the Queen of Heaven in his arms, +was in future obliged to clean out the stables of the monastery of +Makariev, to light the fires, and prepare the brothers' baths for them. + +The "beloved of the Lord" fully expected to see the earth open and +engulf his impious judges in its yawning depths--but no such thing +happened. His spirit grew uneasy, and, taking advantage of the Russian +Government's appeal for missionaries to convert the Siberian peoples, +he set forth to preach his own religion to them instead of that of +Tsarism. Arrived at Irkutsk, he sought first of all to save the souls +of the chief authorities, the Governor-General and the Archbishop. But +his efforts beat in vain against the indifference of these high +dignitaries. + +"Happy are those who follow me," he assured them, "for I will reveal to +them the secrets of this world, and assure them of a place in my +Father's kingdom." + +However, they did not heed him, and horrified at such lack of faith, +Israil presented the Governor-General with a formal document on "the +Second Coming of Our Saviour Jesus Christ." Still the souls of his +contemporaries remained closed to the revelation, and while he +meditated upon their blindness and deplored their misfortune, he was +suddenly seized by their equally faithless representatives and +transported to the farthest limits of the country. + +There he found many of his old disciples, and proceeded to form the +sect of the "inspired seers." He taught them with all earnestness that +they would shortly see the Lord, Saint Simeon, and the Queen of Heaven, +and soon after this, when in a state of ecstatic exaltation, they did, +as by a miracle, behold God surrounded by His saints, and even the +Infant Jesus. + +But a new era of persecution was at hand for Israil. Heaven was +merciful to him, but the powers of the earth were harsh. However, the +more he was persecuted, the more his followers' ardent belief in his +"divinity" increased, and their enthusiasm reached a climax when the +police had the audacity to lay hands on "the son of the Lord." But +Israil was quite unmoved by the fate of his earthly body, or by the +prospect of earthly punishment. His soul dwelt with God the Father, +and it was with the profoundest disdain that he followed the +representatives of evil. + +During the trial his disciples loudly expressed their belief in him, +and what seemed to strengthen their faith was the fact that Israil, +like the Divine Master, had been betrayed by a "Judas." They believed +also that his death would be followed by miracles. + +Israil himself desired to be crucified, but Heaven withheld this +supreme grace, and also denied his followers the joy of witnessing +miracles at his graveside. The Holy Synod contented itself with +sentencing him to lifelong imprisonment at Solovetzk. + +We may add that the founder of the "inspired seers" left, at his death, +several volumes of verse. Unhappy poet! In the west he might have +been covered with honour and glory; in the far north his lot was merely +one of extreme unhappiness. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE RELIGION OF SISTER HELEN + +Sister Helen Petrov, of the convent of Pskov, declared in a moment of +"divine illumination" that the Church had no hierarchy, that priests +were harmful, that God had no need of intermediaries, that men should +not communicate, and should, indeed, absolutely refrain from entering +churches. + +It was the vision of an inspired soul, or of a diseased mind--for the +two extremes may meet. A pure religion, based upon the direct +communion of man's spirit with God, free from false and artificial +piety, having no churches or ceremonies, but exhaling the sentiment of +brotherly love--what a "vision splendid" is this, so often sought but +never yet attained! + +In the age preceding the birth of Christ many of the finer spirits were +already rebelling, like Sister Helen, against the use of agents between +the human soul and God. Simeon the Just, Hillel, Jesus, son of Sirach, +and many others, like Isaiah of old, besought men to cease importuning +God with offerings of incense and the blood of rams. "What is needed," +they said, "is to have a pure heart and to love virtue." No one, +however, succeeded in formulating this teaching in so sublime a fashion +as Christ Himself. For what is pure Christianity, as revealed by Him, +if not the divine aspiration towards Heaven of all men as brothers, +without fetters of creed and dogma, and without intermediaries? + +In the name of the Divine Messenger, Sister Helen protested against the +errors of men. She reproached them with their sins and their mistakes. +But though the same teachings eighteen centuries before had brought +about a moral renaissance, repeated by Helen they only caused untold +miseries to descend upon her head. Driven from the Church and +threatened with a prison-cell, her heart grew bitter within her, and +her once pure spirit was clouded over. + +A vision came to her, in which she learnt that the end of the world was +drawing near, Anti-Christ having already made his appearance. + +"We must prepare for the Last Judgment," she declared. "All family +life must be renounced, wives must leave their husbands, sisters their +brothers, and children their parents. The Day of God is at hand!" + +After being expelled from the convent, the beautiful Helen--for she was +beautiful when she first gave herself to God--carried her sacred +message to the simple-minded peasants. By them she was understood and +venerated, and their admiration filled her with ecstasy. + +Two priests and several other nuns were attracted by the reports of her +sanctity, and came to join her. She still repeated that Anti-Christ +was already upon earth, and that the end was near. One day she saw him +face to face and tried to kill him, for the glory of Heaven, but he +escaped. However, she remembered his appearance, and was able to +describe him to her followers. + +"He is no other," she said, "than Father John of Cronstadt who, +although a great worker of miracles, is in fact an evil genius in the +service of Satan." + +And all her hearers rejoiced, and paid homage to Helen's clairvoyant +powers. Their enthusiastic adulation, together with the conviction of +the love Christ bore her, threw the good sister into a frenzy of +intense excitement, until she, who formerly had only desired to +ameliorate the lot of mankind, suddenly perceived in herself an +incarnation of the divine. But she sought, nevertheless, to resist the +idea, and said to her followers, "I am only a poor daughter of the +Lord, and He has chosen me to spread the truth about His sufferings, +and to proclaim the great punishment of mankind--the end of the world." + +She spoke with such emotion that her hearers, visualising the agony to +come, shed tears abundantly, and prayed and fasted. But now the +prophetess had another vision, for on the night before Good Friday +Christ Himself appeared to her. + +"Weep not, _Helenouchka_ (little Helen)," He said. "The end of the +world approaches for the wicked, and for those who knew Me not--the +pagans, Jews, and priests. But you, my faithful Bride, shall be saved, +and all who follow you. On the day when the world is darkened and all +things crumble into ruins, the true kingdom of God shall dawn for the +beloved children of heaven." + +Another time Helen was overcome with joy because her heavenly Spouse +visited her by night. + +"Dost thou not see," said the divine Lover, "with what brilliance the +sun is shining, how the flowers are opening, and every face is +illumined with joy? These are the 'last rays' bidding farewell to +life. But thou, Helen, shalt peacefully enjoy the raptures of love. +On the appointed day thy celestial Spouse, accompanied by His angels, +shall come to rescue thee, and thou shalt dwell with Him three hundred +years." + +One of the priests who had adopted Helen's religion composed numerous +hymns in her honour, and these were chanted in chorus by the believers. +The opening line of one which was sung to greet her when she awoke each +morning, ran as follows: "Rejoice, Saint Helen, fair Bride of Christ, +rejoice!" + +Poor Saint Helen! She was not allowed to enjoy her heavenly idyll for +long. Just when the new religion promised consolation to so many, the +believers and their prophetess were delivered up to the rigours of the +justice of this world, which called down upon their heads in turn the +catastrophe of the "day of judgment." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE SELF-MUTILATORS + +The thirst for perfection, the ardent desire to draw near to God, +sometimes takes the form of an unhappy perversion of reason and common +sense. The popular soul knows no hesitation when laying its offerings +upon the Altar of the Good. It dares not only to flout the principles +of patriotism, of family love, and of respect for the power and the +dogmas of the established church, but, taking a step further, will even +trample underfoot man's deepest organic needs, and actually seek to +destroy the instinct of self-preservation. What even the strictest +reformers, the most hardened misanthropists, would hardly dare to +suggest, is accomplished as a matter of course by simple peasants in +their devotion to whatever method of salvation they believe to be in +accordance with God's will. Thus came into existence the +self-mutilators, or _skoptzi_, victims, no doubt, of some mental +aberration, some misdirected sense of duty, but yet how impressive in +their earnestness! + +The sect having been in existence for more than a century ought perhaps +to be excluded from our present survey; but it has constantly +developed, and even seemed to renew its youth, so merits consideration +even if only in the latter phases of its evolution. + +The _skoptzi_ were allowed, at the beginning of the twentieth century, +to form separate communities, and the life of these communities under +quite exceptional social conditions, without love, children, marriage +or family ties, offers a melancholy field for observation. Indeed, +these colonies of mutilated beings, hidden in the depths of Siberia, +give one a feeling as of some monstrous and unfamiliar growth, and +present one of the most puzzling aspects of the religious perversions +of the present age. + +After being denounced and sentenced, and after performing the forced +labour allotted to them--a punishment specially reserved for the +members of sects considered dangerous to orthodoxy--the _skoptzi_, men +and women alike, were permitted to establish their separate colonies, +like those of Olekminsk and Spasskoie. + +The forced labour might cripple their limbs, but it did not weaken +their faith, which blossomed anew under the open skies of Siberia, and +seemed only to be intensified by their long sufferings in prison. + +The martyrs who took refuge in these Siberian paradises were very +numerous. It has been calculated that at the end of the nineteenth +century they numbered more than sixty-five thousand, and this is +probably less than the true figure, for, considering the terrible +ordinances of their religion, it is not likely that they would trouble +much about registering themselves for official statistics. We may +safely say that in 1889 there were about twelve hundred and fifty in +the neighbourhood of Yakutsk who had already accomplished their term of +forced labour. They formed ten villages, and it would be difficult to +specify their various nationalities, though it is known that in +Spasskoie, in 1885, there were, among seven hundred and ten members of +the sect, six hundred and ninety-three Russians, one Pole, one Swede, +and fifteen Finns. + +To outward view their colonies were rather peculiar. Each village was +built with one long, wide street, and the houses were remarkable for +the solidity of their construction, for the flourishing gardens that +surrounded them, and for their unusual height in this desolate land +where, as a rule, nothing but low huts and hovels were to be seen. A +house was shared, generally, by three or four believers, and--perhaps +owing to their shattered nervous systems--they appeared to live in a +state of constant uneasiness, and always kept revolvers at hand. The +"brothers" occupied one side of the building, and the "sisters" the +other; and while the former practised their trades, or were engaged in +commerce, the women looked after the house, and led completely isolated +lives. On the arrival of a stranger they would hide, and if he offered +to shake hands with one of them, she would blush, saying, "Excuse me, +but that is forbidden to us," and escape into the house. + +The existence of the "sisters" was indeed a tragic one. Deprived of +the sweetness of love or family life, without children, and at the +mercy of hardened egoists, such as the _skoptzi_ usually became, their +sequestered lives seemed to be cut off from all normal human happiness. + +According to the author of an interesting article on the _skoptzi_ of +Olekminsk, which appeared in 1895 in the organ of the then-existing +Russian Ethnographical Society, these women were sometimes of an +astonishing beauty, and when opportunity offered, as it sometimes did +(their initiation not always being quite complete), they would marry +orthodox settlers, and leave their so-called "brothers." Cases are on +record of women acting in this way, and subsequently becoming mothers, +but any such event caused tremendous agitation among the "brothers" and +"sisters," similar to that provoked in ancient Rome by the spectacle of +a vestal virgin failing in her duty of chastity. + +Platonic unions between the self-mutilators and the Siberian +peasant-women were fairly frequent, so deeply-rooted in the heart of +man does the desire for a common life appear to be. + +The _skoptzi_ loved money for money's sake, and were considered the +enemies of the working-classes. Although drawn for the most part from +the Russian provinces, where ideas of communal property prevailed, they +developed into rigid individualists, and would exploit even their own +"brothers." Indeed they preyed upon one another to such an extent that +in the village of Spasskoie there were, among a hundred and fifty-two +_skoptzi_, thirty-five without land, their portions having been seized +from them by the "capitalists" of the village. + +Their ranks were swelled chiefly by illiterate peasants. As to their +religion, it consisted almost exclusively in the practice of a ceremony +similar to that of the Valerians, the celebrated early Christian sect +who had recourse to self-mutilation in order to protect themselves from +the temptations of the flesh.[1] + +The lot of the _skoptzi_ was not a happy one, but they were upheld and +consoled by their belief in the imperial origin of their faith. +According to them, Selivanoff, the prophet and founder of the sect, was +no other than the Tsar Peter the Third himself (1728-1762). They did +not believe in his assassination by the Empress Catherine, but declared +that she, discovering to what initiation he had submitted, was seized +by so violent a passion of rage that she caused him to be incarcerated +in the fortress of Petropavlovsk. From there they believed that he had +escaped, with the help of his gaoler, Selivanoff, and had assumed the +latter's name. What strengthened them in this belief was the marked +favour shown by the Tsar Alexander I for Selivanoff. Alexander being +naturally inclined to mysticism, was impressed by this strange +character, and requested him to foretell the issue of the war with +Napoleon. He was equally well disposed to the sect of Madame +Tartarinoff, which closely resembled that of the self-mutilators, and, +influenced by his attitude, all the Russian high officials felt +themselves bound to pay court to the new religions. One of the +Imperial councillors, Piletzky, who was supposed to be writing a book +refuting the doctrines of the _skoptzi_, defended them, on the +contrary, with such warmth that his volume--obviously inspired by the +opinions of the Court--was prohibited by the Bishop Filarete as +Anti-Christian. + +But though they could talk volubly of the illustrious origin of their +leader Selivanoff, "the second Christ," and of their "divine mother," +Akoulina Ivanovna, their doctrines were in fact obscure and nebulous, +and they avoided--with good reason--all religious argument. They +insisted, however, upon the sacredness of their initiation +ceremony--which invariably ended in deportation for life, or the +delights of the prison-cell. + +From the physiological point of view, the _skoptzi_ resembled the +Egyptian eunuchs, described by M. Ernest Godard. Those who had +undergone the initiation at the age of puberty attained extraordinary +maxillary and dental proportions. Giants were common among them, and +there was frequently produced the same phenomenon that Darwin +discovered in the animal world--enlargement of the pelvic regions. + +This doctrine, which ought to have repelled the populace, attracted +them irresistibly. The young, the brave, and the wealthy, in the full +flower of their strength, abandoned at its call the religion of life +and yoked themselves to that of death. It seemed to fascinate them. +After conversion they despised all human passions and emotions, and +when persecuted and hunted down they took their revenge by expressing +profoundest pity for those who were powerless to accomplish the act of +sacrifice which had brought them "near to divinity." + +They often let this pity sway them to the extent of running into danger +by preaching their "holy word" to "infidels." Like the ascetics of +Ancient Judea, who left their retreats to make sudden appearances in +the midst of the orgies of their contemporaries, these devotees of +enforced virginity would appear among those who were disillusioned with +life, and instruct them in the delights of the supreme deliverance. In +their ardent desire to rescue all slaves of the flesh, some rich +merchants of Moscow, who had adopted the doctrine, placed the greater +part of their fortunes at the disposal of their co-religionists, and in +this way the sect was enabled to extend its influence throughout +Russia, and even into neighbouring countries. + +At one time in Bucharest and other towns certain carriages drawn by +superb horses attracted much admiration. These were some of the +strange presents--the price of a still stranger baptism--with which the +"Church of the Second Christ" rewarded its members! + + + +[1] Valerius, passionate and devout at the same time, was the first to +sacrifice himself thus on the altar of purity, following the example of +Origen, who had used this heroic method to safeguard the virtue of the +women of his _entourage_. But while Origen was rewarded for his action +by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Valerius was expelled from the church, +and retired to Arabia, where his sect flourished in the third century +(A.D.). + + + + +B. THE NON-SECTARIAN VISIONARIES + +In addition to the sects having their prophets and leaders and a +certain amount of organisation, almost every year in Russia saw--and +probably still sees--the birth of many separate heresies of short +duration. For instance, in one part a whole village would suddenly be +seized by religious ardour, its inhabitants deserting the fields and +passing their time in prayer, or in listening to the Gospel teachings +as expounded to them by some "inspired" peasant. Or elsewhere, the +women would all leave their husbands and depart into the forests, where +in the costume of Mother Eve they would give themselves up to +meditating upon the sins of humanity and the goodness of God. + +On the outskirts of a village near Samara, in East Russia, a forester +was one day attracted to a cabin by the resounding cries and groans +that issued from it. On entering, a strange sight met his eyes--three +women, completely naked, praying and weeping. They were like +skeletons, and one of them died soon after being forcibly brought back +to the village. In spite of all entreaties she refused to let the +orthodox priest come near her, and begged that no cross should be +placed over her grave. + +The police searched the forest, and found several other women in a +similar condition. Inquiry revealed that they had left their homes in +the neighbourhood of Viatka in order to expiate the sins of their +fellows. For nourishment they depended on herbs and strawberries, and +prayer was their sole occupation. Their unquenchable desire was to be +allowed to die "for the greater glory of Jesus Christ." They belonged +to no sect, and did not believe in sacred symbols or in priests. In +order to get into direct communication with God, they discarded their +garments and lived in a state of nature, eating nothing but what they +could find by the wayside. Thirty or forty of these women were +gathered in and sent back to their homes. + +The peasants of the Baltic Provinces, although better educated than +those of Southern Russia, became victims of religious mania just as +frequently. It was in the Pernov district that the cult of the god +Tonn was brought to light. The chief function of this god was to +preserve cattle and other livestock from disease, and to gain his +favour the peasants brought him offerings twice a year. His statue was +placed in a stable, and there his worshippers were wont to gather, +praying on bended knee for the health of their cows and horses. In +time, however, the statue was seized by the police, to the great grief +of the peasants of the district. + +In another part there dwelt a magician who was said to cure all bodily +ills by the aid of the sixth and seventh books of Moses. + +The tribunal of Kaschin, near Tver, once had occasion to judge a +peasant named Tvorojnikoff who, as a result of his private meditations, +had succeeded in evolving a new religion for himself and his friends. +After working for six months in St. Petersburg as a mechanic, and +studying the "vanity of human affairs," he came to the conclusion that +orthodox religious observances were an invention of the priests, and +that it was only necessary to believe in order to be saved. + +An action was brought against him, whereupon his mother and sister, who +were called as witnesses, refused to take the oath, that being "only an +invention of men." Tvorojnikoff described his doubts, his sufferings, +and the battle which had long raged in his soul, and declared that at +last, on reaching the conclusion that "faith is the only cure," he had +found happiness and peace. + +"What have I done to be punished?" he demanded. "What do you want with +me? Instead of sending me to prison, explain how I have sinned. Read +the Gospel with me!" + +But his entreaties were ignored. The "religious expert," who was +present in the person of a delegate of the ecclesiastical authorities, +thought it beneath his dignity to discuss eternal truths with a +peasant, and the poor dreamer received a sentence of imprisonment. + +The Russian legal records are full of the misdeeds of many such, whose +sole crimes consisted in dreaming with all sincerity, and in spite of +cruel deceptions and disappointments, of the day when man should at +last attain perfection upon earth. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE BROTHERS OF DEATH + +From time to time this thirst for the ideal, this dissatisfaction with +the actual, gave rise to a series of collective suicides. We may +recall the celebrated propaganda of the monk Falaley, who preached that +death was man's only means of salvation. He gathered his unhappy +hearers in a forest, and there expounded to them the emptiness of life +and the best method of escaping from it. His words bore fruit, and the +simple peasants who heard them decided to have done with "this life of +sin." + +One night eighty-four persons congregated in an underground cavern near +the river Perevozinka, and began to fast and to pray. The peasants +gathered round their improvised camp, built of straw and wood, ready to +die when the signal was given. But one woman, taking fright at the +idea of so horrible a death, fled and warned the authorities. When the +police arrived, one of the believers cried out that Anti-Christ was +approaching, and the poor creatures then set fire to the camp and +died--as they thought--for Christ. + +A few fanatics who were saved received sentences of imprisonment and +deportation, but one of them--Souchkoff--succeeded in escaping, and +continued to spread "the truth of God." Whether it was his own +eloquence or the misery and despair of the people that helped his +doctrine, it bore at any rate such fruits that soon afterwards sixty +families in one locality made up their minds to die _en masse_, +believing that simple murder--the murder of the faithful by the +faithful--would hasten the day of supreme deliverance. A peasant named +Petroff entered the house of his neighbour, and killed the latter's +wife and children, afterwards carrying his blood-stained hatchet in +triumph through the village. In the barn of another a dozen peasants +gathered with their wives, and the men and women laid their heads upon +the block in turn, while Petroff, in the role of the angel of death, +continued his work of deliverance. He then made his way to a hut near +by where a mother and three children awaited his services, and finally, +overcome with fatigue, he laid his own head on the block, and was +despatched to eternal glory by Souchkoff. + +But the kind of death recommended by Chadkin about the year 1860 was +even more terrible. In this case it was not a question of a wave of +madness that came and passed, but of the prolonged torture of death by +voluntary starvation. + +Chadkin's teaching was that as Anti-Christ had already come, there was +nothing left to do but escape into the forests and die of hunger. When +he and his adherents had reached a sufficiently isolated spot, he +ordered the women to prepare death-garments, and when all were suitably +arrayed, he informed them that in order to receive the heavenly grace +of death, they must remain there for twelve days and nights without +food or water. + +Frightful were the sufferings endured by these martyrs. The cries of +the children, as they writhed in agony, were heartrending, but Chadkin +and his followers never wavered. At last, however, one of the +sufferers, unable longer to face such tortures, managed to escape, and +Chadkin, fearing the arrival of the police, decided that all the rest +must die at once. They began by killing the children; next the women +and the men; and by the time the police appeared on the scene there +remained alive only Chadkin and two others, who had forgotten in their +frenzy to put an end to themselves. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE DIVINITY OF FATHER IVAN + +It seems enough, in Russia, when a single individual is obsessed by +some more or less ridiculous idea, for his whole environment to become +infected by it also. The ease with which suggestions make their way +into the popular mind is amazing, and this reveals its strong bias +towards the inner life, the life of dreams. The actual content of the +dreams is of small importance, provided that they facilitate the soul's +flight to a better world, and supply some link in a chain which shall +attach it more firmly to the things of eternity. Consequently, those +who have any supernatural experience to relate are almost sure to find +followers. + +An illiterate woman named Klipikoff one day proclaimed the good news of +the divinity of Father Ivan of Cronstadt. The incredulous smiles of +her fellow-citizens were gradually transformed into enthusiastic +expressions of belief, and Madame Klipikoff proceeded to found a +school. About twenty women began to proclaim openly throughout +Cronstadt that Father Ivan, the miracle-worker, was divine, and he had +difficulty in repudiating the honours that the infatuated women tried +to thrust upon him. According to the priestesses of this +"unrecognised" cult, Father Ivan was the Saviour Himself, though he hid +the fact on account of the "Anti-Christians"--that is to say, the +priests and the church authorities. Those who were converted to the +new doctrine placed his portrait beside that of the Divine Mother, and +prayed before it. They even fell on their knees before his garments, +or any articles belonging to him, and though the old man expressed +horror at such idolatry, he nevertheless permitted it. One of the +local papers described a ceremony that took place in one of the houses +where the pilgrims, who journeyed to Cronstadt from all parts of +Russia, were lodged. Father Ivan deigned to give his benediction to +the three glasses of tea that the hostess proffered him, and after his +departure she divided their contents among the assembled company, in +return for various offerings. + +There were, however, cases in which, instead of kneeling before the +garments of miracle-workers or committing suicide, the visionaries +strove to reach heaven by offering up the lives of their fellow-men in +sacrifice. + +In the law-courts of Kazan a terrible instance of one of these +religious murders was brought to light. It was revealed that the +inhabitants of a neighbouring village had suspended by the feet a +beggar named Matiounin, and then, opening one of his veins, had drunk +his blood. + +There are throughout Russia many records of proceedings brought against +such murderers--for instance, the tragic case of Anna Kloukin, who +threw her only daughter into an oven, and offered her charred body to +God; and that of a woman named Kourtin, who killed her seven-year-old +son that his mortal sins might be forgiven. + +The vague remembrance of Abraham, who offered up his only son, and the +conviction that Anti-Christ, "born of a depraved woman, a Jewess," +travels the earth in search of Christian souls--these are the most +obvious motives for murders such as we have described. Their real +cause sprang, however, from the misery of the people and their +weariness of life. + +By a kind of reaction these murders--whose perpetrators often could not +be found--frequently gave rise to even stranger crimes and +disturbances. Suspicion was apt to fall upon any Jews dwelling in the +district, and there resulted trials, such as that of Beilis, or Jewish +_pogroms_ which filled the civilised world with horror. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +AMONG THE MIRACLE-WORKERS + +The pilgrims and "workers of miracles" who wander through Russia can +always find, not only free lodging, but also opportunity for making +their fortunes. Their gains mount, often, to incredible figures, and +the faith and piety that they diffuse have both good and bad aspects. +There are places, for instance, like Cronstadt, which, at one time +inhabited mainly by drunkards, became before the war a "holy town." +Apart from Father Ivan and his peculiar reputation, there were hundreds +of other pilgrims who, though quite unknown on their arrival, soon +gained there a lucrative notoriety. + +One of these was the _staretz_ (ancient) Anthony, who in three or four +years amassed a considerable fortune. His popularity attracted +representatives of all classes of society. People wrote for +appointments in advance, and went in order of precedence as to a +fashionable doctor. It was quite common to have to wait ten or fifteen +days for the desired interview. In Petrograd, where the population +belonged half to the twentieth and half to the sixteenth century, +Anthony was quite the mode. The _salons_ literally seized upon him, +and, flattered and fondled, he displayed his rags in the carriages of +fashionable women of the world, while the mob, touched by the spectacle +of his acknowledged holiness, gave him enthusiastic ovations. His +journey from Petrograd to Cronstadt was a triumphal progress. The +crowds pressed around him and he walked among them barefooted, in spite +of this being expressly forbidden by law. Finally, however, the police +were roused, and one fine day he set forth at the government's expense +for the "far-off lands"--of Siberia. + +Cronstadt, town of drunkards and of miracle-workers _par excellence_, +boasted about two hundred _staretz_. The most famous among them were +the four brothers Triasogolovy--Hilarion, James, Ivan and Wasia. + +The crowds, who had formerly visited Cronstadt only on Father Ivan's +account, became ever greater, and were divided up among the various +saints of the town, one of the most popular being Brother James, who +undertook to exorcise demons. + +His methods were simple. A woman once came to him, begging to be +delivered from the numerous evil spirits that had taken possession of +her soul. In view of their numbers, Brother James felt it necessary to +have recourse to heroic measures. He rained blows upon the penitent, +who emitted piercing shrieks, and as this took place in the hotel where +the "holy man" was living, the servants intervened to put an end to the +sufferings of the "possessed" one. But Brother James, carried away by +enthusiasm in a good cause, continued to scourge the demons until the +woman, unable to bear more, broke the window-pane and leapt into the +street. Crowds gathered, and the Brother, turning to them, prophesied +that shortly he would be--arrested! Thereupon the police made their +appearance and removed him to the lock-up, and the crowds dispersed, +filled with admiration for Brother James, who not only coped with +demons, but actually foretold the evil that they would bring upon him. + +In addition to the genuine visionaries, there were many swindlers who +took advantage of the popular credulity. Such was the famous pilgrim +Nicodemus, who travelled throughout Russia performing miracles. In the +end the police discovered that he was really a celebrated criminal who +had escaped from prison. + +But Nicodemus was, as a matter of fact, better than his reputation, +for, in granting absolution for large numbers of sins, his charges were +relatively small. He is said to have assured whole villages of eternal +forgiveness for sums of from twenty to a hundred roubles. + +Frequently some out-of-work cobbler would leave his native village and +set forth on a pilgrimage in the character of a _staretz_; or some +"medical officer," unable to make a living out of his drugs, would +establish himself as a miracle-worker and promptly grow rich. When one +_staretz_ disappeared, there were always ten new ones to take his +place, and the flood mounted to such an extent that the authorities +were often powerless to cope with it. Persecution seemed only to +increase the popular hysteria, and caused the seekers after truth to +act as though intoxicated, seeing themselves surrounded by a halo of +martyrdom. + + + + +C. THE RISING FLOOD + +CHAPTER I + +THE MAHOMETAN VISIONARIES + +The flood of religious mania reached even beyond the borders of +European Russia, and its effects were seen as much among the followers +of other religions as among the Christians. + +Mahometanism, although noted for its unshakable fidelity to the dogmas +of Mahomet, did not by any means escape the mystic influences by which +it was surrounded. To take one example from among many: in the month +of April, 1895, a case of religious mania which had broken out among +the Mahometan inhabitants of the south of Russia was brought before the +law-courts at Kazan. It concerned a set of Tartars called the +_Vaisoftzi_, which had been founded in 1880 by a man named _Vaisoff_, +whose existence was revealed in unexpected fashion. A lawyer having +called at his house, at the request of one of his creditors, Vaisoff +showed him the door, explaining that he did not consider himself under +any obligation "to repay what had been given to him." The other +returned later, however, accompanied by several policemen, and +Vaisoff's adherents then attacked the latter, while chanting religious +hymns and proclaiming the greatness of their leader. They next +barricaded themselves into the house, which was besieged by the police +for some days, during which prayers issued from it towards heaven and +stones towards the representatives of the law. Finally the rebels were +overpowered, and sentenced to several years' imprisonment. + +The police had a similar experience on another occasion when they tried +to arrest one of the _Vaisoftzi_, but in the end they got the upper +hand, and several Tartars were delivered up to justice. + +After being judged and sentenced, they presented themselves before the +Court of Appeal, but when the usual questions were put to them, all +began to pray and sing loudly. Silence was at last reestablished, and +the judge again asked one of them for his name and profession. "Who +are you, that you should question me?" was the reply, and once again +all chanted together in chorus. The Tartars who had crowded into the +court seemed deeply impressed by this attitude, and the judge thought +it well to dismiss the prisoners while the case was considered. They +were brought back to hear the sentence, and again began to sing their +prayers and hymns, while one of them cried out: "I am the chief of the +heavenly regiment; I am the representative of Vaisoff upon earth; and +you, who are you that you should take upon yourself the right to judge +me?" The others then calmly continued their interrupted song to the +Lord, but they were all condemned to a period of forced labour, and +their spokesman, in addition, to twenty-five strokes with the birch. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE RELIGION OF THE POLAR MARSEILLAIS + +Let us now travel to the extreme north, to the land where dwell the +Yakuts, the Marseillais of the Polar regions. Living a life of gay and +careless vagabondage in this snowy world, they took part in one of the +most characteristic episodes of the general religious upheaval. + +At Guigiguinsk, a straggling village on the borders of the Arctic +Ocean, lived a Yakut tribe already converted to Christianity. Their +new faith had not in any way modified the happy-go-lucky nature of the +inhabitants of this frozen land; neither had it in any way clarified +their religious conceptions. "There are many gods," said they, "but +Nicholas is the chief"--and no matter how miserable their life, they +danced and sang, remembering no doubt how in their ancient home in the +far-off south, their ancestors also sang, filling the whole world with +their gaiety. Theirs was a fine climate and a fine country! The sun +often shone, the grass grew high, and the snow only lasted for six +months in the year. So everyone talked and danced and sang. There +were orators who held forth for whole days; there were dancers who +danced for weeks and weeks. From father to son these two ruling +passions have been handed down even to the Yakuts of the present day. +Now, as in former times--as when Artaman of Chamalga "so sang with his +whole soul that the trees shed their leaves and men lost their +reason"--the Yakuts sing, and their songs disturb the "spirits," who +crowd around the singer and make him unhappy. But he sings on, +nevertheless; though the whole order of nature be disturbed, still he +sings. + +Now, as in former times, the Yakut believes in "the soul of things," +and seeks for it everywhere. Every tree has a soul, every plant, every +object; even his hammer, his house, his knife, and his window. But +beyond these there is _Ai-toen_, the supreme, abstract soul of all +things, the incarnation of being, which is neither good nor bad, but +just _is_--and that suffices. Far from concerning himself with the +affairs of this world, Ai-toen looks down upon them from the seventh +heaven, and--leaves them alone. The country is full of "souls" and +"spirits," which appear constantly, and often incarnate in the shadows +of men. "Beware of him who has lost his shadow," say the Yakuts, for +such a one is thought to be dogged by misfortune, which is always ready +to fall upon him unawares. Even the children are forbidden to play +with their shadows. + +Those who desire to see spirits must go to the _Shamans_, of whom there +are only four great ones, but plenty of others sufficiently powerful to +heal the sick, swallow red-hot coals, walk about with knives sticking +into their bodies--and above all to rejoice the whole of nature with +their eloquence. For the Yakuts consider that there is nothing more +sacred than human speech, nothing more admirable than an eloquent +discourse. When a Yakut speaks, no one interrupts him. They believe +that in the spoken word justice and happiness are to be found, and in +their intense sociability they dread isolation, desiring always to be +within reach of the sound of human voices. By the magic of words, an +orator can enslave whole villages for days, weeks and months, the +population crowding round him, neglecting all its usual occupations, +and listening to his long discourses with unwearied rapture. + +Sirko Sierowszewski, who spent twelve years in the midst of these +people, studying them closely, affirms in his classic work on the +Yakuts (published in 1896 by the Geographical Society of St. +Petersburg) that their language belongs to a branch of the Turko-Tartar +group, and contains from ten to twelve thousand words. It holds, in +the Polar countries, a position similar to that held by the French +tongue in the rest of the world, and may be described as the French of +the Arctic regions. The Yakuts are one of the most curious races of +the earth, and one of the least known, in spite of the hundreds of +books and pamphlets already published about them. Their young men +frequently appear as students at the University of Tomsk, though they +are separated from this source of civilisation by more than three +thousand miles of almost impassable country. The journey takes from +fifteen months to two years, and they frequently stop _en route_ in +order to work in the gold mines, to make money to pay for their +studies. These are the future regenerators of the Yakut country. + +About thirty years ago there arrived among these care-free children of +nature a Russian functionary, a sub-prefect, who took up his residence +at Guigiguinsk, on the shores of the Arctic Sea. He was a tremendous +talker, though it is impossible to say whether this was the result of +his desire to found a new religious sect, or whether the sect was the +result of his passion for talking. At any rate, he harangued the +populace indefatigably, and they gathered from all quarters to listen +to the orator of the Tsar, and were charmed with him. + +In one of his outpourings he declared that he was none other than +Nicholas, the principal god of the whole country, and his listeners, +who had never before beheld any but "little gods," were filled with +enthusiasm at the honour thus bestowed upon their particular district. +The sub-prefect ended by believing his own statements, and accepted in +all good faith the homage that was paid to him, in spite of +Christianity. A writer named Dioneo, in a book dealing with the +extreme north-east of Siberia, tells us that even the local priest +himself was finally converted, and that after a year or so the Governor +of Vladivostock, who had heard rumours, began to grow uneasy about his +subordinate, and despatched a steamer to Guigiguinsk to find out what +had become of him. Upon arrival the captain hastened to fulfil his +mission, but the people suspected that some danger threatened their +"god" and took steps to hide him, assuring the inquirers that he had +gone away on a visit and would not return for a long time. As +navigation is only possible in those parts for a few weeks in the year, +the captain was obliged to return to Vladivostock. Another year +passed, and still there was no news of the sub-prefect. The captain +returned to Guigiguinsk, and having received the same reply as before +to his inquiries, made pretence of departure. He came back, however, +the next day, and with his sailors, appeared unexpectedly among the +Yakuts. + +An unforgettable spectacle met their eyes. + +The little town was _en fete_, church bells ringing, songs and reports +of firearms intermingling. Great bonfires flamed along the seashore, +and a solemn procession was passing through the streets. Seated on a +high throne in a carriage, the sub-prefect, the "great god" of +Guigiguinsk, was haranguing the crowds, with partridges' wings, +ribbons, tresses of human hair and other ornaments dear to the Yakuts, +dangling round his neck. To his carriage were harnessed eight men, who +drew it slowly through the town, while around it danced and sang +_shamans_ and other miracle-workers, accompanying themselves on +tambourines. Thus did the believers in the new religion celebrate the +happy escape of their "god" from danger. + +The appearance of the captain and his armed men produced a sensation. +The "great god" was seized and carried off, and forced to submit, +subsequently, to all kinds of humiliations. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE RELIGION OF THE GREAT CANDLE + +On the outskirts of Jaransk, in the Viatka district, a race called the +_Tcheremis_ has dwelt from time immemorial. While Russian scholars, +like Smirnov, were employed in unveiling all the mysteries of their +past, the authorities were endeavouring to imbue them with Russian +conceptions of religion and government. But these people were not +easily persuaded to walk in the right way, and from time to time there +arose violent differences of opinion between them and the +representatives of officialdom. + +In 1890, at the time of the Scientific and Industrial Exhibition at +Kazan, an appeal was made to the Tcheremis to send some objects of +anthropological and ethnographical interest. They responded by sending +those representing their religion, for, having rejected orthodoxy, they +wished the beauties of their "new faith" to be admired. They therefore +exhibited at Kazan large spoons and candles, drums that were used to +summon the people to religious ceremonies, and various other articles +connected with their mysterious beliefs, and the Committee of the +Exhibition awarded them a medal for "a collection of invaluable objects +for the study of the pagan religion of the Tcheremis." + +The natives, knowing nothing of the complicated organisation of +scientific awards, simply concluded that the medal had been given to +them because their religion was the best, and the leader of their +community wore it round his neck, and recounted everywhere how "out of +all the religions that had been examined at Kazan, only that of the +'Great Candle' had been found to be perfect." All the believers +rejoiced over the prestige thus won by their faith, and a wave of +religious ecstasy swept over the country. Three of the fathers of the +church affixed copies of the medal to their front doors, with the +inscription: "This was given by the Tsar to the best of all religions," +and the people made merry, and gave themselves up to the bliss of +knowing that they had found the true and only way of salvation, as +acknowledged by the representatives of the Tsar himself. + +Poor creatures! They were not aware of the contents of Article 185 of +the Russian criminal code, which ordained that the goods of all who +abandoned the orthodox faith should be confiscated, until they +expressed repentance and once more acknowledged the holy truths of the +official church. So it came about that in spite of the triumph of +their religion at the Exhibition of Kazan, legal proceedings began, and +in 1891 and 1892, as many as fourteen actions were brought against the +adepts of the Great Candle, and numbers of them were sentenced to +imprisonment and to the confiscation of their goods. All this in spite +of the fact that their beliefs did not in any way threaten to undermine +the foundations of society. + +"There are six religions contained in the books which the Tsar has +given to his people"--they said, when brought before the tribunal--"and +there is a seventh oral religion, that of the Tcheremis. The seventh +recognises neither the sacraments nor the gospel. It glorifies God in +person, and the faith which has been handed down from father to son. +It has been given to the Tcheremis _exclusively_, because they are a +poor, unlettered people, and cannot afford to keep up priests and +churches. They call it the religion of the Great Candle, because in +their ceremonies a candle about two yards in length is used; and they +consider Friday a holiday because on it are ended the prayers which +they begin to say on Wednesday." + +When questioned by the judge, the accused complained that the orthodox +clergy expected too many sacrifices from them, and charged them heavily +for marriages and burials, this being their reason for returning to +"the more merciful religion of their forefathers." + +According to the _Journal of the Religious Consistory of the Province +of Viatka_, the Tcheremis were guilty of many other crimes. They did +not make the sign of the cross, and refused to allow their children to +be baptised or their dead to be buried with the rites of the orthodox +church. Truly there is no limit to the heresies of men, even as there +is none to the mercies of heaven! Further, the missionaries complained +with horror that, in addition to seven principal religions, the +Tcheremis acknowledged seventy-seven others, in accordance with the +division of humanity into seventy-seven races. + +"It is God," they said, "who has thus divided humanity, even as He has +divided the trees. As there are oaks, pines and firs, so are there +different religions, all of heavenly origin. But that of the Tcheremis +is the best. . . . The written Bible, known to all men, has been +falsified by the priests, but the Tcheremis have an oral Bible, which +has been handed down intact, even as it was taught to their forbears by +God. . . . The Tsar is the god of earth, but he has nothing to do with +religion, which is not of this world." + +The prayers of these dangerous heretics, who were punished like common +criminals, mirror the innocence of their souls. They implored God to +pardon all their sins, great and small; to grant good health to their +cattle and their children. They thanked Him for all His mercies, +prayed for the Tsar and all the Imperial family, for the soldiers, for +the civil authorities, and for all honest men; and finally for the dead +"who now labour in their celestial kingdom." + +The tribunal, however, implacably brought the law to bear upon them, +and thinking their punishment too great for their crimes, they had +recourse to the Court of Appeal, where they begged to be judged +"according to the good laws of the Tsar, not the bad ones of the +Consistory." But the sentence was ratified, and the religion of the +Great Candle procured for its followers the martyrdom that they had so +little desired. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE NEW ISRAEL + +Although most of the sects of which we have spoken sprang from the +orthodox church, the _molokanes_ and the _stoundists_ were indirect +fruits of the Protestant church, and even among the Jews there were +cases of religious mania to be found. + +Leaving out of account the _karaitts_ of Southern Russia, formerly the +_frankists_--who ultimately became good Christians--we may remark from +time to time some who rejected the articles of the Jewish faith, and +even accepted the divinity of Christ. Such a one was Jacques Preloker, +founder of the "new Israel," a Russian-Jew philosopher who discovered +the divine sermon on the Mount eighteen hundred and seventy-eight years +after it had been delivered. This was the beginning of a revolution of +his whole religious thought, which resulted in 1879 in the founding of +a new sect at Odessa. The philosopher desired an intimate relationship +with the Christian faith, and dreamed of the supreme absorption of the +Jewish Church into that of Christ. In his new-found adoration for the +Christian Gospel, he tried by every means in his power to lessen the +distance between it and Judaism, but, though some were attracted by his +ardour, many were repelled by the boldness of his conceptions. + +Towards the end of his life, the bankrupt philosopher, still dignified +and serious, although fallen from the height of his early dreams, made +his appearance on the banks of the Thames, and there endeavoured to +continue his propaganda and to explain to an unheeding world the +beauties of the Jewish-Christian religion. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +CONCLUSION + +It is as difficult to pick out the most characteristic traits of the +innumerable Russian sects as it is to describe the contours of clouds +that fleet across the sky. Their numbers escape all official reckoning +and the variety of their beliefs renders classification very difficult. +In these pages the sectarian organism has been presented in its most +recent and most picturesque aspects, and its chief characteristic seems +to be that it develops by a process of subdivision. Each existing sect +divides itself up into various new ones, and these again reproduce +themselves by breaking apart, like the first organisms in which life +was manifested on the earth. Every separated portion of the parent +becomes an offspring resembling the parent, and the number of divisions +increases in proportion to the number of adherents. As in the +protozoa, multiplication commences with a mechanical rupture, and with +the passage of time and the influence of outside elements, the sects +thus born undergo visible modifications. By turns sublime or +outrageous, simple or depraved, they either aspire heavenwards or +debase the human spirit to the level of its lowest passions. + +Making common use of the truths of the Gospel revelations, they include +every phase of modern social life in their desire for perfection. +Liberty, equality, wealth, property, marriage, taxes, the relation +between the State and the individual, international peace, and the +abolition of arms--all these things, even down to the very food we eat, +become the prey of their reformatory ardour. + +The sects that abound in Anglo-Saxon countries do little but copy one +another in evolving new and amazing variations of Bible interpretation. +Confined within these limits, they rarely even touch upon the serious +problems that lie outside the text of the Gospels, and we might say of +them as Swift said of the religious sects of his day--"They are only +the same garments more or less embroidered." + +But the Russian sects vividly reveal to us the secret dreams and +aspirations of millions of simple and honest men, who have not yet been +infected by the doctrinal diseases of false science or confused +philosophy; and further, they permit us to study the manifestation in +human life of some new and disquieting conceptions. In their depths we +may see reflected the melancholy grandeur and goodness of the national +soul, its sublime piety, and its thirst for ideal perfection, which +sometimes uplifts the humble in spirit to the dignity and +self-abnegnation of a Francis of Assisi. + +The mysticism which is so deep-rooted in the Russian national +consciousness breaks out in many different forms. Not only poets and +writers, painters and musicians, philosophers and moralists, but +statesmen, socialists and anarchists are all impregnated with it--and +even financiers and economic reformers. + +Tolstoi, when he became a sociologist and moralist, was an eloquent +example of the mental influence of environment; for his teachings which +so delighted--or scandalised, as the case might be--the world, were +merely the expression of the dreams of his fellow-countrymen. So was +it also with the lofty thoughts of the philosopher Soloviev, the +_macabre_ tales of Dostoievsky, the realistic narratives of Gogol, or +the popular epics of Gorky and Ouspensky. + +The doctrines of Marx took some strange shapes in the Russian _milieu_. +Eminently materialistic, they were there reclothed in an abstract and +dogmatic idealism--in fact, Marxism in Russia was transformed into a +religion. The highly contestable laws of material economics, which +usually reduce the chief preoccupations of life to a miserable question +of wages or an abominable class-war, there gained the status of a +veritable Messianic campaign, and the triumphant revolution, imbued +with these dogmas, strove to bring the German paradox to an end, even +against the sacred interests of patriotism. The falling away of the +working-classes and of the soldiers, which so disconcerted the world, +was really nothing but the outer effect of their inner aspirations. +Having filled out the hollow Marxian phraseology with the mystic +idealism of their own dreams, having glimpsed the sublime brotherhood +which would arise out of the destruction of the inequality of wages and +incomes, they quite logically scorned to take further part in the +struggle of the nations for independence. Of what import to them was +the question of Teutonic domination, or the political future of other +races? + +It is much the same with the peasant class. The partition of the land +is their most sacred dogma, and they can scarcely imagine salvation +without it. This materialistic demand, embellished by the dream of +social equality, has become a religion. Mysticism throws round it an +aureole of divine justice, and the difficulty--or the impossibility--of +such a gigantic spoliation of individuals for the sake of a vague +ideal, has no power to deter them. + +The land--so they argue--belongs to the Lord, and the unequal way in +which it is divided up cannot be according to His desire. The kingdom +of heaven cannot descend upon earth until the latter is divided among +her children, the labourers. + +The far-off hope of victory faded before these more immediate dreams, +and the continuation of a war which seemed to involve their +postponement became hateful to the dreamers; while the emissaries of +Germany took advantage of this state of affairs to create an almost +impassable gap between the few who were clear-sighted and the mass who +were blinded by visions. + +The extreme rebelliousness which characterises the Russian religious +visionaries is manifested to an almost equal extent by all political +parties and their leaders. Consequently the spirit of unity which +prevailed (during the war) in other countries met with insuperable +difficulties in Russia. + +The whole nation seems to have been driven, by the long suppression of +free thought and belief, added to the miseries brought about by the old +regime, to take refuge in unrealities, and this has resulted in a kind +of deformity of the national soul. It was a strange irony that even +the aristocracy should end by falling victim to its own environment. +Exploited by miracle-mongers, thrown off its balance by paroxysms of +so-called mysticism, it disappeared from view in a welter of practices +and beliefs that were perverse and childish even at their best. + + + + +TRANSLATOR'S NOTE + +It seems appropriate to call attention here to an article from the pen +of Prince Eugene Troubetzkoy, Professor of Law at the University of +Moscow, which appeared in the _Hibbert Journal_ for January, 1920. +Writing apparently in the autumn of 1919, the Prince declared that the +civil war then in progress in Russia was "accompanied by a spiritual +conflict no less determined and portentous," and pointed out that the +doctrine of Bolshevism was a deliberate distortion of Marxism, +_immediate revolution_ having been substituted by the Bolshevists for +the _evolution_ preached by Marx. He went on to say that one of the +most striking characteristics of Bolshevism was its pronounced hatred +of religion, and especially of Christianity, the ideal of a life beyond +death being "diametrically opposed to the ideal of Bolshevism, which +tempts the masses by promising _the immediate realisation of the +earthly paradise_." And, Bolshevism's practical method for realising +its Utopia being "the armed conflict of classes . . . the dream of the +earthly paradise, to be brought into being through civil war, becomes +instantly the reality of hell let loose." After dwelling in detail on +various aspects of the situation, the writer makes some statements +which will be of special interest to readers of M. Finot's study of +pre-war religious conditions in Russia. He speaks of the growth of +unbelief among the masses, and declares that "the empty triumph of +Bolshevism would have been impossible but for the utter enfeeblement of +the religious life of the nation"; but--and this is the point of +interest--"thanks to the persecutions which the revolution has set on +foot, there has come into being a genuine religious revival. . . . The +Church, pillaged and persecuted, lost all the material advantages it +had hitherto enjoyed: in return, the loss of all these relative values +was made good by the absolute value of spiritual independence. . . . +This it is that explains the growing influence of the Church on the +masses of the people: the blood of the new martyrs won their +hearts. . . . These awful sufferings are becoming a source of new +power to religion in Russia." The Prince then describes the complete +reorganisation of the church which was carried through at Moscow in +1917-18, and the restoration of the patriarchal power in the person of +the Archbishop Tykone (now Patriarch), a man of great personal courage, +high spirituality, and remarkable sweetness of disposition. The people +rallied round him in enormous numbers, attracted by his courageous +resistance to the Bolshevist movement--(a resistance which had then +frequently endangered his life, and may since have ended it)--and by +his determined avoidance of all pomp and ostentation. In the great +religious processions which took place at that time, hundreds of +thousands passed before him, but he had no bishops and very few clergy +in his retinue, only one priest and one deacon. When urged to adopt +more ceremony and display in his public appearances, he replied, "For +the love of God, don't make an idol of me." He was always ready with a +humorous word, and filled with a serene and unshakable confidence, even +in the most dangerous situations. The people looked upon him as "Holy +Russia" personified, and said that "the persecutors who would have +buried her for ever had brought her back to life." + +In an appendix to the above-quoted article appears a statement "from a +responsible British source in Siberia" to the effect that "a strong +religious movement has begun among the laity and clergy of the Russian +Church. . . . The _moujiks_ are convinced that Lenin is Anti-Christ;" +and an urgent appeal for Russian Testaments and Bibles to be sent from +England, the writer having been told by a prominent ecclesiastic that +"Russian Bibles are now almost unprocurable." + +Thus, having long revolted from orthodoxy in the day of its material +prosperity, the masses seem, in the day of adversity, to be returning +to it. Further developments may, of course, take place in almost any +direction, but we may rest assured of one thing--that no changes of +government, however drastic, will ever succeed in stamping out the +mystical religious strain which is so deeply embedded in the soul of +the Russian people. + + + + +PART II + +THE SALVATION OF THE WEALTHY + + +A. RELIGION AND ECONOMY + +CHAPTER I + +THE MORMONS, OR LATTER-DAY SAINTS + +In the American of the United States there exist two distinctly opposed +natures: the one positive and practical, the other inclined to +mysticism. The two do not clash, but live, on the contrary, on +perfectly good terms with one another. This strange co-existence of +reality and vision is explained by the origin of the race. + +The American is, to a very great extent, a descendant of rigorous +Puritanism. The English, who preponderated in numbers over the other +elements of the European immigration into North America, never forgot +that they had been the comrades of Penn or of other militant +sectarians, and never lost the habit of keeping the Bible, the ledger, +and the cash-book side by side. They remained deeply attached to their +religion, which they looked upon as a social lever, although for many +of them their faith did not go beyond a conviction of the immanence of +the supernatural in human life. Thus it was that their spirits were +often dominated by a belief in miracles, all the more easily because +their intellectual culture was not always as highly developed as their +business ability, and consequently the clever manufacturers of +religious wonders were able to reap incredible harvests among them. + +There is perhaps no country where the seed sown by propagandists +springs up more rapidly, where an idea thrown to the winds finds more +surely a fertile soil in which to grow. A convinced and resolute man, +knowing how to influence crowds by authoritative words, gestures and +promises, can always be certain of attracting numerous followers. In +America the conditions are without doubt propitious for the founders of +new religions. + + +I + +How is a new religion started in the United States? Joe Smith wakes up +one morning with the thought that the hour has come for him to perform +miracles, that he is called thereto by the Divine Will, that the +existence and the secret hiding-place of a new Bible printed on sheets +of gold have been revealed to him by an angel, and that its discovery +will be the salvation of the world. He proclaims these things and +convinces those who hear him, and the Book of the Mormons which he +produces becomes sacred in the eyes of his followers. + +In ever-increasing numbers they hasten first to Illinois, then to Utah; +and when Brigham Young, Smith's successor, presents the Mormon colony +with religious and political laws which are a mixture of Christianity, +Judaism and Paganism, and include the consecration of polygamy, they +found a church which claims more than a hundred thousand adherents, and +is ruled by twelve apostles, sixty patriarchs, about three thousand +high priests, fifteen hundred bishops, and over four thousand deans. + +After being dissolved by the decree of the 10th of October, 1888, the +Church of the Latter-Day Saints seemed to be lost, without hope of +revival. The State of Utah, where Brigham Young had established it in +1848, was invaded by ever-growing numbers of "Gentiles," who were +hostile to the Mormons, but these latter, far from allowing the debris +of their faith to bestrew the shores of the Great Salt Lake, succeeded, +on the contrary, in strengthening the foundations of the edifice that +they had raised. The number of its adherents increased, and the colony +became more flourishing than ever. If, at one time, it was possible to +speak of its dying agonies, those who visit it to-day cannot deny the +fact of its triumphant resurrection. + +Two principal causes have been its safeguard: the firm and practical +working-out of the economic and philanthropic principles upon which its +organisation has always rested, and the resolute devotion and +capability of those who direct it as the heads of one great family. +Every member is concerned to maintain the regular and effective +functioning of its mechanism, and all work for the same ends in a +spirit of religious co-operation. + +We must not lose sight of the fact that in addition to the elements +they borrowed from Buddhism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam, the +Mormons introduced into their new Gospel a social ideal inspired by the +Communistic experiments of the first half of the nineteenth century. +The founders of Mormonism--Joseph Smith, Heber Kimball, George Smith, +the brothers Pratt, Reuben Hedlock, Willard Richards, and Brigham +Young--were not visionaries, but men risen from the people who desired +to acquire wealth while at the same time bringing wealth to those who +took part in their schemes. We find in their doctrine, and in their +legal and religious codes, not only the idea of multiple union claimed +by Enfantin and his forty disciples of Menilmontant, but also the +theories of Buchez, who desired to free labour from the servitude of +wages, to bring about solidarity of production, and to communalise +capital, after first setting aside an inalienable reserve. They +followed the example of Cabet in making fraternity, which should +guarantee division of goods, the corner-stone of their social +structure, and, avoiding the delusions of Considerant and other +Communists, they brought about, stage by stage, the rapid and lasting +development which has characterised their successive establishments in +Missouri, Illinois, and on the borders of California. + + +II + +Militant as well as constructive, the Mormon leaders, like many other +reformers, believed themselves to be charged with a mission from on +high, and were quick to condemn as rebels all who failed to rally to +the standard of the "Latter-Day Saints." Joe Smith was not content +with making thousands of converts, but, after having turned his colony +at Independence into an "Arsenal of the Lord," and surrounding himself +with a veritable army, he proclaimed that, as the Bible gave the saints +empire over all the earth, the whole State of Missouri should be +incorporated in his "New Jerusalem." The "Gentiles" replied with a +declaration of war, and Joe Smith and his twelve apostles were seized, +publicly flogged, divested of their garments, tarred and feathered, and +chased out of the State with shouts and laughter and a hail of stones. + +The Mormons took up arms. The Governor of Missouri called out the +militia. Vanquished in the encounter that followed, the Mormons had to +abandon all their possessions and take flight. They then founded a +town called Far West, and remained there for three years, at the end of +which time fresh aggressions and more battles drove them out of the +State of Missouri into that of Illinois, where they built the large +town of Nauvoo. Many thousands of fresh recruits were won over, but +once again their designs for the acquisition of land--as well as of +souls--stirred up a crusade against them. Joe Smith and the other +leaders of the sect were taken prisoners and shot--a procedure which +endowed Mormonism with all the sacredness of martyrdom. To escape +further persecutions, the Saints decided on a general exodus, and the +whole sect, men and women, old people and children, numbering in all +about eighty thousand souls, set forth into the desert. + +It was a miserable journey. They were attacked by Red Indians, and +decimated by sickness; they strayed into wrong paths where no food was +to be found; they were buried in snowdrifts; and many of them perished. +But the others, sustained by an invulnerable faith, and by the undying +courage of their leaders, pushed on ever further and further, until in +the summer of 1847, after the cruel hardships of a journey on foot over +nearly three hundred leagues of salt plains, the head of the column +reached the valley of the great Salt Lake. Here Brigham Young's +strategic vision beheld a favourable situation for the re-establishment +of the sect. He himself, with a hundred and forty-three of his +companions--the elite of the church--directed the construction of the +beginnings of the colony, and then returned to those who had been left +behind, bringing back a caravan of about three thousand to the spot +where the New Jerusalem was to be built. + +It was given the name of Utah, and Filmore, the President of the United +States, appointed Brigham Young as governor. The latter, however, +desired to become completely autonomous. He was soon in conflict with +those under him, and his open hostility to the American constitution +caused him to be deposed. His successor, Colonel Stepton, finding the +situation untenable, resigned almost at once, and the Mormons, +recovering their former militancy and independence, then sought to free +themselves altogether from the guardianship of America, and to be sole +masters in their own territory. In order to reduce them to submission, +President Buchanan sent them a new governor in 1857 with some thousands +of soldiers. The Mormons resisted for some time, and finally demanded +admittance into the Union. Not only did Congress refuse this request, +but it passed a law rendering all polygamists liable to be brought +before the criminal courts. The War of Secession, however, interrupted +the measures taken against the sect, which remained neutral during the +military operations of the North and South. Brigham Young, who had +remained the Mormons' civil and religious head, occupied himself only +with the economic and worldly extension of his church, until in 1870, +five years after the termination of the war, the attention of Congress +was once more directed towards him. For the second time the Mormons +were forbidden by law to practise polygamy, under penalty of +deportation from America, but they resisted energetically and refused +to obey. Defying the governor of Utah, General Scheffer, they rallied +fanatically round Brigham Young, who was arraigned and acquitted--and +the Mormon Church remained ruler of the colony. + +After Young's death, government was carried on jointly by the twelve +apostles, until on October 17th, 1901, George Smith was elected +universal President of all branches. + +A Frenchman, Jules Remy, who visited the Mormons some time back, has +given a striking description of them:-- + +"Order, peace and industry are revealed on every side. All these +people are engaged in useful work, like bees in a hive, thus justifying +the emblem on the roof of their President's palace. There are masons, +carpenters, and gardeners, all carrying out their respective duties; +blacksmiths busy at the forge, reapers gathering in the harvest, +furriers preparing rich skins, children picking maize, drovers tending +their flocks, wood-cutters returning heavily loaded from the mountains. +Others again are engaged in carding and combing wool, navvies are +digging irrigation canals, chemists are manufacturing saltpetre and +gunpowder, armourers are making or mending firearms. Tailors, +shoemakers, bricklayers, potters, millers, sawyers--every kind of +labourer or artisan is here to be found. There are no idlers, and no +unemployed. Everybody, from the humblest convert up to the bishop +himself, is occupied in some sort of manual labour. It is a curious +and interesting sight--a society so industrious and sober, so peaceful +and well-regulated, yet built up of such divers elements drawn from +such widely differing classes. . . . + +All these people, born in varied and often contradictory faiths, +brought up for the most part in ignorance and prejudice, having lived, +some virtuously, some indifferently, some in complete abandonment to +their lowest animal instincts, differing among themselves as to +climate, language, customs, tastes and nationality, are here drawn +together to live in a state of harmony far more perfect than that of +ordinary brotherhood. In the centre of the American continent they +form a new and compact nation, with independent social and religious +laws, and are as little subject to the United States government that +harbours them as to that, for instance, of the Turks." + +Such they were, and such they have remained, ever developing their +activities and industries, and--as another traveller has said--having +no aim save that of turning their arid and uncultivated "Promised Land" +into a fertile Judea--an aim in which they have marvellously succeeded. + + +III + +Mormonism owes its success chiefly to its practical interpretation of +the Communistic ideals, and to its determination to encourage labour by +means of religion and patriotism, setting before it as object the +satisfaction of each individual's social needs, under the direction of +those who have proved themselves capable and vigilant and worthy of +confidence. It is a republic from which are banished the two most +usual causes of social collapse--idleness and egotism; a hive, +according to its founder, in which each bee, having his particular +function, is always under the eye of those who direct individual +activities in the interests of collective welfare. The President of +the Mormon Church is its moving spirit. He surveys it as a whole, +encourages or moderates its energies, according to circumstances, +preserves order and regularity, and exercises his paternal influence +over every cell of the hive, giving counsel when needed, redressing +grievances, preventing false moves, yet leaving to every corporation +not only its administrative freedom but its own powers for industrial +extension. + +Under these conditions the Church of the Latter-Day Saints unites the +social and economic advantages of individual and collective labour. +The corporations are like stitches that form a net, holding together +through community of interests and a general desire for prosperity, yet +each having its own separate formation and the power to enlarge itself +and increase its activities without compromising the others or +lessening their respective importance. One of the most remarkable is +the "Mercantile Co-operative Society of Sion," the central department +of wholesale and retail trade. It was founded in 1863 by Brigham +Young, who was its first president, and is in direct relationship with +the Mormon colonies all over the world, having a capital fund of more +than a million dollars which belongs exclusively to the Mormons. Its +organisation, like that of all Mormon institutions, is based upon the +deduction of a tithe of all profits, which practically represents +income tax. The "Sugar Corporation" has an even larger capital, and +was founded directly by the church through the advice of Brigham Young, +who recommended that Mormon industries should be patronised to the +exclusion of all others. The salt industry also is of much importance, +the Inland Crystal Salt Company having at great expense erected +elaborate machinery in order to work the salt marshes around the Great +Lake, and to obtain, under the best possible conditions, grey salt +which is converted into white in their refineries. Other corporations +under the presidency of the supreme head of the Mormon Church are the +"Consolidated Company of Railway Carriages and Engines," the "Sion +Savings Bank," the "Co-operative Society for Lighting and Transport," +and the chief Mormon paper, the _Desert Evening News_, which is the +official organ of the church, and has a considerable circulation. + + +IV + +These corporations are not only commercial or industrial institutions, +but are animated by a spirit that is pre-eminently fraternal. Their +heads are concerned with the well-being of every member, and material, +moral or intellectual assistance is given to all according to their +needs. + +To each corporation is attached a "delegate," whose functions do not +appear to be of great importance, but who renders, in reality, services +of considerable value. The man who holds this post is one of +unimpeachable honesty and integrity, with a kind and conciliatory +disposition, chosen for these qualities to act as intermediary between +the bishop and the "saints" of all classes, from the highest to the +lowest. He has free entry into the Mormon homes, and is always ready +to give advice and counsel to any member of the church in his district; +and he even penetrates into the houses of the Gentiles, wherever a +Mormon, man or woman, may happen to be employed. Take, for instance, +the case of a young Scandinavian servant-girl, living with +"unbelievers." The mother, who had remained in Europe, wished to +rejoin her daughter, but the girl had not been able to raise more than +a third of the sum necessary to pay the expenses of the journey. The +delegate took note of this and referred the case to the bishop, who, +after inquiry, sent the old mother the required amount. + +Again, two neighbours might be disputing over the question of the +boundary between their respective properties. The delegate would do +all in his power to settle the affair amicably, and to restore harmony; +and failing in this would bring the two parties concerned before the +bishop. Or there might be an invalid requiring medicine and treatment, +an old person needing help, a layette to be bought for a new-born +child--in all such cases the delegate sees that the needs are supplied, +for the strength of this Church of the Latter-Day Saints lies in the +fact that all the Mormons, from the President down to the humblest +workman, call themselves brothers and sisters and act as such towards +one another. Thanks to the delegate, who is friend, confidant and +confessor in one, immediate help can be obtained in all instances, and +no suffering is left unrelieved. + +Thus it comes about that there are no poor among the Mormons, and very +few criminals. The delegate has no need to search into the secrets of +men's minds, for all are open to him. To a great extent he is able to +read their innermost hearts, for men speak freely to him, without veils +or reservations. As far as is possible he sees that their desires are +granted; he notifies all cases of need to the Relief Societies; he +conducts the sick and aged to the hospitals; he is the messenger and +mouthpiece for all communications from the people to the bishop and +from the bishop to his flock. + +It is the delegate also who is charged with the duty of seeing that +one-tenth of each person's income, whatever its total sum may be, is +contributed for the upkeep of the Mormon faith and its church. He +reminds the dilatory, and admonishes the forgetful, always in friendly +fashion. In fact it is he, who--to use a popular expression--brings +the grist to the mill. This contribution of a tenth part obviates all +other taxation, and as it is demanded from each in proportion to his +means, its fairness is disputed by none. + + +V + +Brotherly co-operation also prevails in the Mormon system of +colonisation. The leaders of the church have always been aware of the +dangers of overcrowding, and at all times have occupied themselves with +the founding of new settlements to receive the surplus population from +the centres already in activity. It is for this reason that the church +has been so urgent in seeking and demanding new territory to irrigate +and cultivate, in Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Arizona, Idaho, and even +as far afield as Canada. The transplanting of a swarm from the parent +hive is undertaken with the greatest care. Let us take for example the +colonisation of the Big Horn Valley, in the north of Wyoming. Before +coming to a decision the apostles themselves inspected the locality, +which had been recommended as suitable for a new colony of saints. +Finding that it fulfilled all requirements, they published their +resolve in the official Press, and invited all who desired to become +members of the colony to present themselves before their bishop with +the necessary guarantees. The President of the church then sought out +a brother capable of organising the scheme, and this brother, proud and +grateful at being chosen for such a mission, sold all his goods and +took up his new responsibilities. On the appointed day the new +colonists grouped themselves around their leader, with their wagons, +baggages, provisions, agricultural tools, horses and cattle, and so on. +One of the twelve apostles being appointed as guide, they set forth for +the Big Horn Valley. Here they built their dwelling-places, dug a +canal to provide water for the whole settlement, founded all kinds of +co-operative societies, including one for the breeding of cattle--and +prospered. + +In this way, upon a Socialism quite distinct from that of the European +theorists, and differing widely from that practised by the New +Zealanders, are built up institutions, which have given proof, wherever +started, of their power of resistance to human weaknesses. The Mormon +colonies, fundamentally collectivist, like the sect from which they +originally sprang, still bear the imprint given to them by the +initiators of the movement. Each one becomes industrially and +commercially autonomous, but all are firmly held together in a common +brotherhood by the ties of religion. The Big Horn Mormons, although so +far away, never for a single day forget their brothers of Salt Lake +City, and all alike hold themselves ever in readiness to render mutual +assistance and support. + + +VI + +The Mormon considers activity a duty. Co-operation implies for him not +only solidarity of labour but union of will, and these principles are +applied in all phases of his public or private life--in politics, +education, social conditions of every kind, and even amusements. He +holds it obligatory under all circumstances to contribute personal help +or money according to his means, knowing that his brothers and sisters +will do likewise, and that he can rely upon them with absolute +certainty. + +Nevertheless, dissension does occasionally arise in the heart of this +close-knit brotherhood. The authority of the President, or that of the +apostles and bishops may be the cause of rivalries and jealousies, as +in the case of Joseph Morris, Brigham Young's confidant, who wished to +supplant his chief. He and his partisans were assaulted and put to +death by Young's adherents. A spirit of discord also manifests itself +at times in the national elections, and there are plottings and +intrigues, especially when there seems to be hope of supremacy in +Congress, or when one of the twelve apostles offers himself as +candidate for the Senate without first consulting the Mormon Church. + +Such shadows are inseparable from all human communities. What it is +important to study in the Church of the Latter-Day Saints is the +evolution of a communism which has more than half a century of activity +to its credit, and which, in contrast to so many other fruitless +attempts, has given marked proofs of a vitality that shows no sign of +diminishing. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE RELIGION OF BUSINESS + +Joe Smith was, to speak plainly, nothing but an adventurer. Having +tried more than twenty avocations, ending up with that of a +gold-digger, he found himself at last at the end of his resources, and +decided, in truly American fashion, that he would now make his fortune. +He thereupon announced that he was in close communication with Moses, +and that he had in his possession the two mosaic talismans, Urim and +Thummim, and the manuscript of the Biblical prophet, Mormon--the latter +having as a matter of fact been obtained from Solomon Spaulding, pastor +of New Salem, Ohio, in 1812. + +It was different with John Alexander Dowie, who with remarkable wisdom +seized the psychological moment to appear in the United States as a +Barnum and a Pierpont Morgan of religion combined. By what was an +indisputable stroke of genius, he incorporated into his religion the +most outstanding features of American life--commerce, industry, and +finance, the tripod upon which the Union rests. What could be more +up-to-date than a commercial and industrial prophet, business man, +stock-jobber, and organiser of enterprises paying fabulous dividends? +And--surely the crowning point of the "new spirit!"--the man who now +declared himself to be the most direct representative of God upon earth +was accepted as such because people saw in him, not only the Messianic +power that he claimed, but an extraordinary knowledge of the value of +stocks and shares side by side with his knowledge of the value of souls! + +He was of Scottish origin, and had reached his thirtieth year before +his name became known. As a child he was disinclined to take religion +seriously, and had a habit of whistling the hymns in church instead of +singing them. Later he was distinguished by a timidity and reserve +which seemed to suggest that he would never rise above the environment +into which he had been born. His studies and his beliefs--which for +long showed no sign of deviating from the hereditary Scottish +faith--were under the direction of a rigidly severe father. At the age +of thirteen his parents, attracted by the Australian mirage of those +days, took him with them to Adelaide, and he became under-clerk in a +business house there, serving an apprenticeship which was to prove +useful later on. At twenty he returned to Edinburgh, desiring to enter +the ministry, as he believed he had a religious vocation, and plunged +into the study of theology with a deep hostility to everything that was +outside a strictly literal interpretation of the Scriptures. Full of +devotion and self-abnegation in his desperate struggle with the powers +of evil, he read the Holy Book with avidity, and was constant in his +attendance at theological conferences. Thus, nourished on the marrow +of the Scotch theologians, he returned to Australia and was ordained to +the priesthood at Alma. Soon afterwards he was appointed minister to +the Congregational Church in Sydney, where his profound learning was +highly appreciated. + +He who desires to attract and instruct the masses must have two gifts, +without which success is impossible--eloquence and charm. Dowie had +both. As an orator he was always master of himself, yet full of +emotion, passionate in his gestures, and easily moved to tears. + +We must admit that he did not, like so many others, owe his influence +to his environment. In New South Wales, where he made his _debut_ as a +preacher at Sydney, his eloquence and his learning made so great an +impression--especially after he had emerged victorious from a +controversy with the Anglican bishop, Vaughan, brother to the +Cardinal--that the governor of the province, Sir Henry Parkes, offered +him an important Government position. He refused to accept it, +desiring, as he said, to consecrate his life to the work of God. +Persuaded--or wishing to persuade others--that he had been personally +chosen by God to fulfil the prophecy of St. Mark xvi. 17, 18, he took +up the practice of the laying-on of hands, claiming that in this way, +with the help of prayer, the sick could be cured. On these words of +the evangelist his whole doctrine was based. Through assiduous reading +he familiarised himself with medical science, as well as with +hypnotism, telepathy and suggestion, his aim being to organise and +direct a crusade against medicine as practised by the faculty. He +gathered together materials for a declaration of war against the +medicos, attacking them in their, apparently, most impregnable +positions, and showing up, often through their own observations, the +fatal inanity--in his eyes--of their therapeutics. At the same time he +managed to acquire experience of commerce, finance and administration, +and, thus equipped, he opened his campaign. Thaumaturgy, science, +occultism, eloquence, knowledge of men and of the world--all these he +brought into play. The prestige he gained was remarkable, and of +course the unimpeachable truth of Bible prophecy was sufficient to +establish the fact of his identity with the expected Elias! + +"Logic itself commands you to believe in me," he said in his official +manifesto. "John the Baptist was the messenger of the Alliance (which +is the Scotch Covenant), and Elias was its prophet. But Malachi and +Jesus promised the return of the messenger of the Alliance, and of +Elias the Restorer. . . . If we are deceived, it is God who has +deceived us, and that is impossible. For the office with which we are +charged is held directly from God, and those who have helped us in +founding our Church, and who have given us their devotion, testify that +they have been instructed to do so by personal revelations." + +All the believers in Dowieism affirmed that John Alexander Dowie was +Elias the Second, or Elias the Third (if John the Baptist were +considered to be the Second), but Dowie himself went further still. He +was too modern to base his influence on religion alone, and he actually +had the cleverness to become not only a banker, manufacturer, +hotel-keeper, newspaper proprietor, editor and multi-millionaire, but +also the principal of a college and the "boss" of a political party +which acknowledged him as spiritual and temporal pope and numbered over +sixty thousand adherents. He had ten tabernacles in Chicago, and ruled +despotically the municipal affairs of one of the suburbs of the city. + + +II + +It is interesting to study closely the way in which Dowie gradually +attained to such a powerful position. Up to his arrival in Chicago, +and even for some years after it, his career differed little from that +of the ordinary open-air evangelist with long hair and vague theories, +such as may be seen at the street-corners of so many English and +American towns. In New South Wales his excessive ardour at temperance +meetings in the public squares caused such disorder that he was twice +imprisoned, and he came to the conclusion that Melbourne would offer +better scope for his mission. He went there to establish a "Free +Christian Tabernacle," but almost immediately an epidemic of fever +broke out, and he became popular through his intrepidity in visiting +the sick, whom he claimed to be able to cure by a secret remedy, the +use of which, as a matter of fact, only resulted in augmenting the +lists of dead. But to his religious propaganda the Australians turned +a deaf ear, and after persevering for ten years he gave up, partly +because the authorities had intimated that he had best pitch his camp +elsewhere, partly, perhaps, because he was glad to leave what he later +referred to as "that nest of antipodean vipers." + +We find him in San Francisco in 1888, preaching his new religion at +street-corners, and once more causing almost daily disturbances by the +vigour of his eloquence. Here again his hopes miscarried, and from +thenceforward he fixed his eyes on Chicago, where he should "meet the +devil on his own ground." + +This final resolution bore good fruit, for Chicago is pre-eminently +"the city of Satan," and those who desire to wage war against him can +always be sure of plentiful hauls, whatever nets they use. It is that +type of American town where all is noise and animation, where the +population is cosmopolitan, and confusion of tongues is coupled with an +even greater confusion of beliefs; where it is possible to pursue the +avocations of theologian and pork-butcher side by side, and no one is +surprised. Called "Queen of the West" by some, Porkopolis (from its +chief industry) by others, it is a giant unique in its own kind. While +its inhabitants, in feverish activity, climb or are rushed in lifts to +the nineteenth and twentieth storeys of its immense buildings, there is +heard from time to time a call from regions beyond this life of +incessant bustle; the voice of a preacher dominates the tumult, and +this million and a half of slaughterers of sheep and oxen, jam-makers +and meat-exporters, factory-hands, distillers, brewers, tanners, +seekers of fortune by every possible means, suddenly remembers that it +has a soul to be saved, and throws it in passing, as it were, to +whoever is most dexterous in catching it. In such a _milieu_ Dowie +might indeed hope to pursue his aims with advantage. + +His personality had a certain hypnotic fascination. His eloquence, his +patriarchal appearance, his supposed power of curing even the most +intractable diseases, his use of modern catch-words, his talent for +decorating the walls of his little temple with symbols such as +crutches, bandages and other trophies of "divine healing," all combined +to bring him before the public eye. He had a dispute with the doctors, +who accused him of practising their profession illegally, and another +with the clergy, who attacked him in their sermons; the populace was +stirred up against him, and laid siege to his tabernacle, and he +himself threw oil upon these various fires, and became a prominent +personage in the daily Press. + +It is true that the arrest of some Dowieists whose zeal had carried +them beyond the limits of the law of Illinois was commented upon; that +long reports were published of the death of a member of the Church of +Sion who had succumbed through being refused any medical attention save +that of the high-priest of the sect; that much amusement was caused by +the dispersal of a meeting of Dowieists by firemen, who turned the hose +upon them; and much interest aroused by the legal actions brought +against Dowie for having refused to give information concerning the +Bank of Sion. All these affairs provided so many new "sensations." +But what is of importance is to attract the public, to hold their +attention, to keep them in suspense. The time came when it was +necessary to produce some more original idea, to strike a really +decisive blow, and so Dowie revealed to a stupefied Chicago that he was +the latest incarnation of the prophet Elijah. Then while the serious +Press denounced him for blasphemy, and the comic Press launched its +most highly poisoned shafts of wit against him, the whole of Sion +exulted in clamorous rejoicings. For the prophet knew his Chicago. +Credulity gained the upper hand, and the whole city flocked to the +tabernacle of Sion, desirous of beholding the new Elias at close +quarters. + + +III + +The definite organisation of Dowieism--or Sionism, as it is more +usually called--dates from 1894. From this time forward Dowie ceased +to be merely a shepherd offering the shelter of his fold to those +desiring salvation, and, allowing evangelisation as such to take a +secondary place, became the director, inspector and general overseer of +a religious society founded upon community of both material and moral +interests, and upon fair administration of the benefits of a commercial +and industrial enterprise having many sources of revenue. In this +society, political, sociological and religious views were combined, so +that it offered an attractive investment for financial as well as +spiritual capital. Dowie was not only the religious and temporal +leader of the movement, but also the contractor for and principal +beneficiary from this gigantic co-operative scheme, which combined +selling and purchasing, manufacture and distribution, therapeutics, +social questions and religion. + +Like most founders of sects, the prophet of the "New Sion" was at first +surrounded by those despairing invalids and cripples who try all kinds +of remedies, until at last they find one to which they attribute the +relief of their sufferings, whether real or fancied. Such as these +will do all that is required of them; they will give all their worldly +goods to be saved; and they paid gladly the tenth part which Dowie +immediately demanded from all who came to him, some of them even +pouring their entire fortunes into the coffers of the new Elias. The +ranks of his recruits were further swelled by crowds of hypochondriacs, +and by the superstitious, the idle, and the curious, who filled his +temple to such an extent that soon he was obliged to hire a large hall +for his Sunday meetings, at which he was wont to appear in great +magnificence with the cortege of a religious showman. + +These displays attracted widespread attention, and indeed Dowie +neglected nothing in his efforts to make a deep and lasting impression +on the public mind. Here is the account of an eye-witness:-- + +The prophet speaks. The audience preserves a religious silence. His +voice has a quality so strange as to be startling. To see that broad +chest, that robust and muscular frame, one would expect to hear rolling +waves of sound, roarings as of thunder. But not so. The voice is +shrill and sibilant, yet with a sonority so powerful that it vibrates +on the eardrums and penetrates to the farthest corners of the hall. + +Presently the real object of the sermon is revealed. The enemies of +Sion are denounced with a virulence that borders upon fury, and the +preacher attacks violently those whom he accuses of persecuting his +church. He poses as a martyr, and cries out that "the blood of the +martyr is the seed of faith"; he pours out imprecations upon other +religious sects; calls down maledictions upon the qualified doctors, +who are to him merely "sorcerers and poisoners"; consigns "the vipers +of the press" to destruction; and, carried away by the violence of his +anathemas, launches this peroration upon the ears of his admiring +audience: + +"If you wish to drink your reeking pots of beer, whisky, wine, or other +disgusting alcoholic liquors; if you wish to go to the theatre and +listen to Mephistopheles, to the devil, to Marguerite, the dissolute +hussy, and Doctor Faust, her foul accomplice; if you wish to gorge +yourselves upon the oyster, scavenger of the sea, and the pig, +scavenger of the earth--a scavenger that there is some question of +making use of in the streets of Chicago (_laughter_); it you wish, I +say, to do the work of the devil, and eat the meats of the devil, you +need only to remain with the Methodists, Baptists, or such-like. Sion +is no place for you. We want only clean people, and, thanks to God, we +can make them clean. There are many among you who need cleansing. You +know that I have scoured you as was necessary, and I shall continue to +do it, for you are far from clean yet." + +Then, entering into a dialogue with his hearers upon the vital point of +Sionism, he asks: + +"Does America pay her tithe to God?" + +The audience replies "No." + +"Do the churches pay their tithes to God?" + +"No." + +"Do you yourselves pay your tithes to God? Stand up, those of you who +do." + +The listeners stand up in thousands. + +"There are a number of robbers here who remain seated, and do not pay +their tithes to God. Now I know who are the robbers. Do you know what +should be done with you? I will tell you. There is nothing for you +but the fire--the fire! Is it not villainy to rob one's brother?" + +"Yes." + +"Is it not villainy to rob one's mother?" + +"Yes." + +"Is it not the vilest villainy to rob God?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, there are some among you who are not ashamed of committing it. +You are robbing God all the time. You are like Ahaz, the Judean king +famed for his impiety, and if you remain as you are, you will be doomed +to eternal death. To whom does the tithe belong? What is done with +it? I am going to answer that. If anyone here says that what I +possess is taken out of the tithes, he lies--and I will make his lie +stick in his throat. The tithes and all other offerings go straight to +the general fund, and do not even pass through my hands. But I have a +right to my share of the tithes. Have I--or not?" + +"Yes." + +"Yes, and I shall take it when I have need of it. It is you whom I +address--you vile robbers, hypocrites, liars, who pretend to belong to +Sion and do not pay the tithe. Do you know what is reserved for you? +You will burn in eternal fire. Rise--depart from Sion!" + +But no one departs. All the defaulters hasten to pay, for the prophet +inspires them with a terror very different from their dread of the +tax-collector, and there is no single example of one sufficiently +obstinate to brave his threats of damnation. + +In other ways also Elias was all-powerful. He made a mock of political +or ecclesiastical elections, holding that a leader's power should not +be subject to suffrages or renewals of confidence. Thanks to these +sermons, dialogues, and the general _mise en scene_, the autocracy of +Dowie was beyond question. + + +IV + +The new Elias called himself "the divine healer," and, like Schlatter, +he attracted all who believed in the direct intervention of God, acting +personally upon the sufferer. In their eyes he was simply the +representative of God, source of health and healing. It was not he who +brought about the cures, but God, and therefore the payments that were +made to him were in reality payments to God. This teaching was largely +the source of Dowie's power. + +There were two large hotels in Chicago which were continually filled to +overflowing with pilgrims from all parts who came to seek "divine +healing." These left behind them sums of money--often considerable--in +token of their gratitude to God; not to the prophet, who would accept +nothing. + +It is obvious that if none of his cures had been effectual, Dowie, in +spite of his power over credulous minds, could not have succeeded. +Thaumaturgy must perform its miracles. If it fails to do so, it is a +fraud, and its incapacity proves its ruin. But if it accomplishes +them, its fame becomes widespread. These miraculous cures generally +take place, not singly, but in numbers, because there are always people +who respond to suggestion, and invalids who become cured when the +obligation to be cured, in the name of God, is placed upon them. Thus +Chicago saw and wondered at the miracles, and had no doubts of their +genuineness. + +There was the case of Mr. Barnard, one of the heads of the National +Bank of Chicago, whose twelve-year-old daughter was suffering from +spinal curvature. She grew worse, in spite of all the efforts of the +most eminent doctors and surgeons, and it seemed that nothing could be +done. The child must either die, or remained deformed for the rest of +her life. The father and mother were overcome with grief, and after +having gone the round of all the big-wigs of the medical profession, +they tried first bone-setters, then Christian Scientists, without +avail. Finally they went to Dowie, who had already cured one of their +friends. Up till then they had not had confidence in him, and they +only went to him as a counsel of despair, so to speak, and because a +careful re-reading of the Bible had persuaded them that God could and +would cure all who had faith in His supreme power. Dowie, perceiving +that they and their daughter had true faith, laid his hands on the +child and prayed. In that same moment the curvature disappeared, and +the cure was complete, for there was never any return of the trouble. + +In recognition of this divine favour Mr. Barnard, who had hitherto +belonged to the Presbyterian Church, voluntarily joined the Sionists, +and became their chief auxiliary financier. Dowie made him manager of +the Bank of Sion, under his own supervision, and confided to him the +financial administration of the church. + +Similarly a Mr. Peckman, whose wife he cured, and who was leader of the +Baptist Church of Indiana, gave thanks to God and to Dowie, His +prophet, by founding a colony affiliated to Sionism which paid its +tithes regularly. + +There are many other examples of successful cures, but also many +failures. These, however, did not lower the prestige of the modern +Elias, who said to his detractors: "God has the power to cure, and all +cures are due to Him alone. He desires to cure all who suffer, for His +pity is infinite; but it may very well happen that the consumptives and +paralytics who come to me after being given up by the doctors, are not +always cured by God, however much I pray for them. Why is this? The +reason is simple. Disease and death must be looked upon as ills due to +the devil, who, since the fall of the rebellious angels, is always in a +state of insurrection against God. And it is certain that whoever has +not faith--absolute and unquestionable faith--is in the power of Satan. +The Scripture tells us precisely, 'he that believeth and is baptised +shall be saved; he that believeth not is condemned.' When a sufferer +is not healed through my intercession, it means that in the struggle +for that particular soul, the devil has been victorious." + +So, supported by this thesis, Dowie triumphed over the objections of +his critics, not only in the eyes of Sion, but of all Chicago. Even +when he lost his only daughter, Esther, his authority was in no way +affected. + +Esther Dowie was twenty-one, and the pride of her father's heart. She +had finished her studies at the University of Chicago, and a happy +future seemed to be opening out before her. One day in the month of +May she was preparing for a large reception which was being held in +honour of young Booth-Clibborn, grandson of General Booth of the +Salvation Army. The event was an important one, for it was hoped that +this meeting would bring about an understanding between the +Salvationists and the Sionists, and Miss Dowie wished to give the +visitor the most gracious welcome possible. She was lighting a +spirit-lamp, for the purpose of waving her hair, when a draught of air +blew her peignoir into the flame. It caught fire, and the poor girl +was so terribly burned that she succumbed soon afterwards, although her +father and all the elders of the Church prayed at her bedside, and +although Dowie permitted a doctor to attend her and to make copious use +of vaseline. After her death, the jury decided that she must have been +burnt internally, the flames having penetrated to her throat and lungs. +Before she died she begged her father to forgive her for having +disobeyed him--for Dowie strictly forbade the use of alcohol, even in a +spirit-lamp--and implored the adherents of Sionism not to expose +themselves to death through disobedience, as she had done. + +The attitude adopted by the prophet under this blow was almost sublime. +Letters of condolence and of admiration rained upon him. He wept over +his daughter's dead body, and was broken-hearted, while, instead of +drawing attention to the extenuating circumstances for his own +inability to save her--as he would have done in all other cases--he +fervently prayed to God to forgive her for having sinned against the +laws of Sion. His grief was so sincere that not only the Sionists but +the whole of Chicago joined in it. + +Lack of faith was not the only thing that prevented cures. Omitting to +pay the tithes could also render them impossible; for the tithes were +due to God, and those who failed to pay them committed a voluntary +offence against the divine power. When we remember that there were at +least sixty thousand Sionists, it is obvious that these tithes must +have amounted to an enormous sum--and of this sum Dowie never gave any +account. His spiritual power was founded upon his moral power. It is +certain that he tried to influence his followers for good in forbidding +them alcoholic drinks and gambling, and in advising exercise and +recreation in the open air, and the avoidance of medicaments and drugs +which he believed did more harm than good. He said to them--"Your +health is a natural thing, for health is the state of grace in man, and +the result of being in accord with God, and disease has no other cause +than the violation of law, religious or moral." He ordained that all +should live in a state of cleanliness, industry and order, so that +communal prosperity might be assured. And of this prosperity which +they owed to God and to His representative, what more just than that a +part of it should be given to God and to Dowie, His prophet? What more +legitimate than that there should be no separation between the material +life and the spiritual life? + +He had a special machine constructed which registered, by a kind of +clockwork, the intercessions made on behalf of the various applicants +for healing. Each one would receive a printed bulletin, stating, for +example--"Prayed on the 10th of March, at four o'clock in the +afternoon, John A. Dowie." If the patient was not in Chicago, Dowie +would pray by telephone, so that the immediate effect of the divine +power might be felt. He also made use of a phonograph for recording +his homilies, sermons and prayers, and these records were sent, at a +fixed price, to his adherents in all parts of the world. + + +V + +The city of Sion lies between Chicago and Milwaukee, about forty-two +miles to the north of the former. It comprises an estate of 6400 acres +on the shores of Lake Michigan. This land--some of the best in +Illinois--was let out in lots, on long lease, by Dowie to his +followers, and brought in thousands of dollars yearly. At the same +time that he created this principle of speculation in land, he was also +engaged in founding a special industry, whose products were sold as +"products of Sion." His choice fell upon the lace industry, and thanks +to very clever management he was able to establish large factories +modelled on those of Nottingham, employing many hundreds of workers +whose goods commanded a considerable sale. + +Before he undertook its organisation the possessions of the Church were +few. Fifteen years afterwards, it had a fortune of more than a million +pounds. + +In order to carry out his plan of building a town in which neither +spirits nor tobacco should be sold, and which should be inhabited only +by Sionists, it was necessary that all the land should belong to him, +and he had to reckon with the probably exorbitant demands of the +sellers. To circumvent these his real intentions had to be hidden, and +with the help of his faithful auxiliaries this was successfully +accomplished. + +I do not know what has become of Sionism during recent years. Will the +dynasty be continued after the reign of John Dowie by that of his son +William Gladstone Dowie; or will the death of the prophet, as stated by +those who have seen the eclipse of other stars of first magnitude, be +the signal for the dissolution of the sect? + +What matters, however, is the genesis and not the duration of an +enchantment which has united around one central figure, so many +thousands who thirsted for the simultaneous salvation of their souls +and of their purses. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE ADEPTS OF THE SUN OF SUNS + +Nearly all Communistic theories when applied in practice prove +failures, but there seems to be one infallible safeguard--that supplied +by religion. Faith, when mingled with the trials and disenchantments +of life, appears to mitigate them, and communal experiments based on +religious beliefs nearly always prosper. This applies to the +half-religious, half-communal sects of modern Russia, and the principle +has also been adopted by the American apostles of communism. + +One of these, Dr. Teed of Chicago, understood it well, and his sect +was, in fact, merely a religious sect based on the principle of +communal possessions. Its adherents took the name of _Koreshans_, +after the title _Koresh_ (or the sun) boasted by its founder. He, +_Koresh_, "Light of Lights," "Sun of Suns," was called by Heaven to +teach the truth to mortals, and to show them which road to eternal +salvation they should follow in order to prosper upon earth. Founded +in Chicago, the sect moved recently to Florida, and there, from day to +day, Teed had the satisfaction of seeing the number of believers +steadily increase. + +He had at first to put up with a good deal of ridicule, for his +teaching, based upon that of Fourier, and incorporating some of the +mystical ideas of Swedenborg, was not at all to the taste of his +fellow-citizens. The doctor then evolved the brilliant idea of +dividing his system into two doctrines--the way to heaven, or the +mystical doctrine; and the way to earthly prosperity, or the economic +doctrine. It was permissible to follow the second without adopting the +first, and the result may easily be guessed. Attracted by the prospect +of terrestrial benefits, believers flocked to the fold, and invariably +ended by accepting the second half of the teaching also (the mystical +doctrine), all the more willingly because their material happiness and +prosperity depended on the degree of their "union" with the founder. + +The mysticism of _Koresh_ had some novel features, for the American +doctor saw the wisdom of making use of some of the prestige lately +gained by science. His religion, consequently, was essentially +scientific. He, _Koresh_, was the "unique man," who, thanks to his +"scientific studies" and to "celestial inspiration," could understand +the mysteries of nature. He had reached the summit of scientific +knowledge and the greatest possible human perfection--that is to say, +"sainthood"--and all who approached him were made participators in his +"holiness." Thanks to this gift, pertaining only to _Koresh_, his +followers could "enjoy the bliss of heaven upon earth"; for the Kingdom +of God upon earth was near at hand, and _Koreshism_ was preparing the +way for its disciples. + +But what had to be done in order to attain the higher degrees of +salvation? Teed was a sufficiently clever psychologist to know that +nothing fascinates the crowd so much as mysteries and things that +cannot be understood, and he acted accordingly. + +His doctrine is so obscure that only those claiming divine illumination +could hope to find their way amid its cloudy precepts. Let us give an +example:-- + +"In recognition of the principal source of the force of the intrinsic +and innate life of the Christian revelation, the _Koreshan_ doctrine +elevates the founder of Christianity to the place of father, become +perfect, thanks to the sacrifice of his son, which it has been given to +us to understand by the flesh of Jehovah." + +The believers could give it whatever meaning they liked, and for those +who despaired of understanding this part of the _Koreshan_ revelation, +the prophet kept in reserve thousands of other dogmas, all equally +enigmatic and equally obscure. We will not attempt to discuss them! + +The teaching included the attainment of perfection through marriage, +and claimed omniscience for _Koreshism_, which could throw new light +upon all things, including such subjects as astronomy and philosophy. +The earth is not round, light is not diffused, as science teaches, and +man has not five senses, but seven--so said _Koresh_. He described his +doctrine as communistic and co-operative. The use of money was +forbidden, its place being taken by cheques representing the amount of +services rendered to the community. + +The colony founded at Estero, in Florida, was almost exclusively +commercial and industrial, not agricultural like most communal +settlements. Electric railways and factories were built--and are still +being built--there, for steam, like money, is banned in the colony of +_Koresh_; while being in possession of a seaport, the _Koreshans_ +propose to enter into commercial relationship with the whole world. + +The Bureau of Equitable Commerce directs the business affairs of the +community, and at its head is the chief of the Commonwealth (or public +fortune). All the inhabitants share in the general prosperity, and in +order to prevent the more capable individuals from developing into +capitalists, the fortunes of all are carefully equalised by means of a +progressive tax upon income. The land belongs to all, and is +non-transferable, like the factories. No payment is demanded of +new-comers; it is enough if they bring the moral capital of an +irreproachable life, and are good workers; and any poor people who +desire to seek salvation in the colony are enabled to travel to it by +contributions from the public funds. Absolute tolerance of all beliefs +forms the spiritual basis of the sect. + +New Jerusalem, the capital of the colony, covers about eighty-six +square miles, having streets four hundred feet in width, and separate +industrial quarters. The business affairs of the community are +undeniably prosperous. + + + + +B. RELIGION AND MIRACLES + + +"O men born upon earth, why abandon yourselves to death, when you are +permitted to obtain immortality?" + +HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS + +The marriage between Science and the Bible, brought about by Mary Baker +Eddy, has given birth to a most prosperous sect. In this amalgam, the +Christianity is not of the purest, and the Science appears rather in +the form of the negation of its own principles; but so great is +humanity's desire for the union of revelation and experience that +believers crowd from all parts to range themselves behind the hew +banner. + +There is something almost disconcerting in the ardour and devotion of +Mrs. Eddy's followers. Truly, in the success of Christian Science we +see one more proof of the ease with which a new religion can be started +if, in addition to faith, it concerns itself with man's earthly welfare. + +The founder of the sect was a clever woman. Well aware of the power +and fascination of the mysterious, she exploited it with a profound +understanding of the human heart. She mingled the realities of life +with the mysteries of thought, and the sun of her revelations is always +veiled by intangible clouds. From her gospel one might cull at random +scores of phrases that defy human understanding. "Evil is nothing, no +thing, mind or power," she says in _Science and Health_. "As +manifested by mankind, it stands for a lie, nothing claiming to be +something." And again--"Mortal existence has no real entity, but saith +'It is I.'" + +The nonsensicalness of her phraseology can find no comparison save in +the inconceivable chaos of her teachings. She goes so far as to imply +that the supreme effort of a woman's spirit should suffice to bring +about conception. Jesus Christ having been conceived of the Holy +Ghost, she suggests that man should follow this example, and renounce +the lusts of the flesh. "Proportionately as human generation ceases, +the unbroken links of eternal, harmonious being will be spiritually +discerned"--and in another place, "When this new birth takes place, the +Christian Science infant is born of the spirit, born of God, and can +cause the mother no more suffering." + +In the explanations of the Bible given in her _Key to the Scriptures_ +we are told that when we come upon the word "fire," we are to translate +it as "fear," and the word "fear" as "heat"; while we must remember +that Eve never put the blame for her sin upon the serpent, but, having +"learnt that corporeal sense is the serpent," she was the first to +confess her misdeed in having followed the dictates of the flesh +instead of those of the spirit. + +Like all prophets and saviours, Mrs. Eddy was crucified during her +lifetime. She had to engage in a continuous struggle with the envy and +jealousy of those who sought to misrepresent her teachings and bring +her glory to the dust. But she was far from being an ordinary woman, +and even in childhood seemed to be marked out for an exceptional +career. At the age of eight, like Joan of Arc, she heard mysterious +voices, and her mother, who was of Scottish origin and subject to +"attacks of religion," remembered the story of the Infant Samuel and +encouraged her to speak with the Lord. But Mary was alarmed by the +voices, and wept and trembled, instead of replying to them like a good +child. + +About her forty-fifth year, however, being in the grip of a serious +illness, she did hold converse with the Lord, who told her how she +might be cured. She listened and obeyed, and was cured. This was her +"great initiation." She then retired from the world, and spent several +years engaged in meditation and prayer, while her study of the Bible +revealed to her the key to all mysteries, human and divine. + +The deductions of her philosophy are often characterised by an +astonishing naivete. "God being All-in-all, He made medicine," she +tells us; "but that medicine was Mind. . . . It is plain that God does +not employ drugs or hygiene, nor provide them for human use; else Jesus +would have recommended and employed them in His healing." + +She frequently makes use of ingenious statements whose very candour is +disarming, but she had considerable dialectical gifts, and can argue +persuasively, especially against spiritualism. In _Science and Health_ +she violently denies the authenticity of spiritualistic phenomena, "As +readily can you mingle fire and frost as spirit and matter. . . . The +belief that material bodies return to dust, hereafter to rise up as +spiritual bodies with material sensations and desires, is +incorrect. . . . The caterpillar, transformed into a beautiful insect, +is no longer a worm, nor does the insect return to fraternise with or +control the worm. . . . There is no bridge across the gulf which +divides two such opposite conditions as the spiritual, or incorporeal, +and the physical, or corporeal." + +In the confusion of precepts and principles championed by Mrs. Eddy +there are sometimes to be found thoughts worthy of a great +metaphysician. Her teaching, when purified from admixture, does at any +rate break away energetically from all materialistic doctrines. + +Her literary output was considerable, for in addition to her gospel, +_Science and Health_, she wrote _The Concordance of Science and +Health_, _Rudimentary Divine Science_, _Christian Science versus +Paganism_, and other works, including some verse. + +The Christian Science churches, with their adherents, who number more +than a million, are spread all over the world, each having an +independent existence. They are found chiefly in the United States, +England, Germany, and the British Colonies. The number of "healers" +exceeds several thousands, for the most part of the female sex. In +France the first "Church of Christ, Scientist" has been founded in +Paris, in the Rue Magellan, under the name of Washington Palace. + +The Christian Science leader denounced the established churches and +spared them no criticism, and her doctrine contained a seed of truth +which enabled it to triumph even over its own lack of logic and +coherence. + +The world, submerged in matter, either denies spirit or turns away from +it. Mrs. Eddy exalts the power of spirit above that of matter, the +universal goddess, by means of statements which are heroic rather than +scientific. + +Matter does not exist. God is all, and God is spirit; therefore all is +spirit. Matter is not spirit, but is a fiction which only exists for +those who persist in believing in it against the evidence of facts. As +matter does not exist, and is only a lie and the invention of Satan, +the body, which we see in the form of matter, does not exist either. +The suffering caused by the body is simply an "error of mortal mind," +for since the body does not exist, there can be no such thing as bodily +suffering. Therefore instead of concerning ourselves with the healing +of the supposed body, with the prevention or cure of pain and +suffering, we must go straight to spirit. Spirit is perfect, and the +thought of pain or disease can have no place in it. Let us then leave +the curing of our bodies, and seek to rectify our spirits. + +Doctors and surgeons, on the contrary, follow the errors of centuries +in concerning themselves with the body, and causing it to absorb drugs +which, having no connection with disease, can neither cure nor relieve +it. "Mind as far outweighs drugs in the cure of disease as in the cure +of sin. The more excellent way is divine Science in every case. . . . +The hosts of Aesculapius are flooding the world with diseases, because +they are ignorant that the human mind and body are myths." + +A follower of the "true doctrine," according to Mrs. Eddy, is never ill +for the simple reason that he does not believe in the body or in any of +its infirmities. If he should be overtaken by illness, it is because +his spirit is ill, and his faith not sufficiently pure. + +From this results a very simple method of healing. The "healer" merely +seeks to re-establish the faith of the sufferer, and to convince him of +the non-reality of his illness. No medicine is given, the treatment +consisting of thoughts and suggestions from _Science and Health_. +Christian Science healers need to have a robust and unshakable faith, +for if they do not succeed in their task it is because their own spirit +has been infected by doubt. + + +Mrs. Eddy declared that our concrete and practical age required, above +all, a religion of reality; that men could no longer be content with +vague promises of future bliss. What they needed was a religion of the +present that would end their sufferings and procure for them serenity +and happiness on earth. The title of "applied Christianity" has been +adopted by Christian Science, which advises us to make use of the +teachings of Jesus in our daily life, and to reap all the advantages of +such a practice. We have need of truth "applied" to life just as we +have need of telegraphs, telephones and electric apparatus, and +now--say the Scientists--for the first time in man's existence he is +offered a really practical religious machinery, which enables him to +overcome misfortune and to establish his happiness, his health, and his +salvation on a solid basis. + +The Scientists claim to have recourse to the same spiritual law by +means of which Jesus effected His cures, and they declare that its +efficacy is undeniable, since all Mrs. Eddy's pupils who use it are +able to heal the sick. One may suggest that Jesus performed miracles +because He was the Saviour of the world. Mrs. Eddy replies that +statements are attributed to Him which never issued from His lips; that +He said (in the Gospel according to St. John) that it was not He who +spoke or acted, but His Father; and stated elsewhere, that the Son +could do nothing of Himself. Also that Jesus never sent His disciples +forth to preach without adding that they should also heal. "Heal the +sick," was His supreme command. And that He never counselled the use +of drugs or medicines. + +The healing of the sick, according to Mrs. Eddy, was one of the chief +functions of the representatives of the Church during the first three +centuries of Christianity, her subsequent loss of importance and power +being largely due to the renunciation of this essential principle. + +Healing is not miraculous, but merely the result of a normal spiritual +law acting in conformity with the Divine Will. The leader of the new +"Scientists" explains that Jesus had no supernatural powers, and that +all He did was done according to natural law. Consequently everybody, +when once brought into harmony with spiritual truth, can accomplish +what He accomplished. + +Some of Mrs. Eddy's statements have an undeniable practical value. For +instance, she attacks "fear" as one of the chief causes of human +misery, and declares that it is wrong to fear draughts of air, or wet +feet, or the eating and drinking of certain substances--and wrong, +above all, to fear microbes. + +But exaggeration is always harmful. The total suppression of fear +would mean the suppression of often necessary and desirable +precautions. In order to succeed, however, a religion has need of the +absolute, for conditional truths are not likely to impress the public; +and the founder of Christian Science was well aware of this. + + +Health, according to the Scientists, is truth. In order to enjoy +existence, we must live in the truth and avoid sin, and ultimately +death itself will disappear, being entirely superfluous. Jesus said +that whoso believed on Him should never see death, and He would not +have said this if death were necessary for salvation. Therefore +believers are taught that humanity will in time conquer sickness and +death, and that this blessed consummation will be reached when human +beings attain to the heights of the Christian Science "gospel," and are +guided by it in all the thoughts and actions of their everyday life. +Other equally enchanting prospects are conjured up, like mirages in the +desert, before the dazzled eyes of Mrs. Eddy's followers. Making use +of the ancient conception of angels, she teaches that such beings are +always close at hand, for angels are "God's thoughts passing to man; +spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect." "These angels of His +presence . . . abound in the spiritual atmosphere of Mind." + +Thus Christian Science is seen to be a religion of health, longevity +and happiness, the fruits of spiritual action; a religion which denies +both the theoretical and practical existence of matter. + +There are, however, occasions when the invocations of "science" prove +powerless to deal with rebellious matter. But this does not embarrass +Mrs. Eddy. She considers that her doctrine is in advance of the age, +and that men themselves must progress in order to rise to its level. +Their spirits will then become pure and perfect, and matter will have +no more power over them. Man will be able to live quite differently, +for hygienic conditions--even those considered most indispensable--will +no longer be of any importance. + + +One of the most irresistible attractions of Christian Science lies in +its declaration that it will be possible at some future time to +overcome death--a dream that has been known in all epochs. Yet, for +all our love of life, how unprofitably we squander it! Our normal life +could be prolonged to a hundred and fifty, or even two hundred +years,[1] but we have stupidly imposed upon ourselves an artificial +barrier which we scarcely ever surpass! + +Mrs. Eddy knew well what charm the possibility of destroying the "King +of Terrors" would add to her doctrine, and she made effective use of it. + +We may note that the idea of overcoming death can be traced back for +some three thousand years or so. Hermes, the "Thrice Greatest One," +taught that only "by error" had death become installed upon our planet, +and that nothing in the world could ever be lost. "Death does not +exist; the word 'mortal' is void of meaning, and is merely the word +'immortal' without its first syllable." He taught further that the +world was the second God, immortal and alive, and that no part of it +could ever die; that "the eternal" and "the immortal" must not be +confused, for "the eternal" was God Uncreate, while the world which He +had created and made in His own image was endowed with His immortality. +Hermes also suggested that it was only necessary to send our bodily +sensations to sleep in order to awake in God and rejoice in immortality! + +There was a close relationship between Hermes, the Essenes of Egypt, +and St. John, the author of _Revelation_. Indeed, if we search +carefully, we find that the Gnostics of every school believed in the +possibility of banishing death from the earth. + +"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never +thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of +water springing up into everlasting life." (St. John iv. 14). + +And what superiority over the claims of Mrs. Eddy is shown by Hermes, +when he declares that in order to reach the spiritual worlds we only +need to free ourselves from sensation! + +Unsuspected sources of inspiration, as yet unutilised, abound in the +writings of the Pythagoreans, the Essenes, and even the Neo-Platonists. +The creators of future religions are likely to draw much water from +these wells, but Christian Science can lay claim to be the first to +have made use of the mysticism of the past in a practical fashion, so +that its adherents rejoice in the prospect of endless life, even as did +the visionaries of former ages. + +When one examines the doctrine closely, its lack of originality becomes +apparent. The idea that matter does not exist has had numerous +protagonists in the realms of philosophy, and is ardently defended by +Berkeley. In the dialogues of Hylas and Philonous, the latter speaks +of the "absolute impossibility" of matter, which has no existence apart +from spirit. But Mrs. Eddy succeeded in giving this purely +metaphysical conception a concrete value in the affairs of every-day +life. + +She opened the first _School of Christian Science Mind-healing_ in 1867 +with one student; towards the end of the century her followers numbered +close on a hundred thousand; while to-day the "Mother Church" can boast +over a million adherents, to say nothing of its financial resources. + +Without doubt suggestion is the basis of the miraculous cures which are +the pride of Christian Science, but the prophetess and her followers +have always denied this. As Jesus ignored the power of suggestion, +they also must not only ignore it, but wage merciless war upon it. +They deny both suggestion and matter, while making use of each--but +neither the use of suggestion nor the doctrine of the non-existence of +matter could alone or together have procured for the new sect its truly +phenomenal success. That is due largely to ingenious methods of +publicity, on the most modern lines (and is not advertisement itself +one of the most effective forms of suggestion?). When one miraculous +cure after another was announced, money flowed in, and Mrs. Eddy made +use of it to increase the numbers of believers. Adapting herself to +the mentality of her hearers, or readers, she demanded large fees for +the manifestations of the "spirit" which was incarnated in herself and +her helpers, and left behind her when she died, an immense personal +fortune, and hundreds of prosperous churches. "Matter" does not seem +to be altogether negligible, even for pure spirits who do not believe +in its existence, and consider it an invention of the devil! + + + +[1] See _La Philosophie de la Longevite_ (Bibliotheque de Philosophie +Contemporaine, Felix Alcan, 12th edition), by Jean Finot. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SCHLATTER, THE MIRACLE-MAN + +The town of Denver, the "pearl of Colorado," was _en fete_. Hundreds +of thousands of pilgrims were flocking to it from all parts of America, +and all, immediately they arrived, made straight for the house of +Alderman Fox, where dwelt Francis Schlatter, the greatest +miracle-worker of the century. For two months Denver was able to +contemplate an unparalleled variety of invalids with illnesses both +rare and common, all--or nearly all--of whom departed reassured as to +their progress, if not completely cured. The trains were overcrowded, +the hotels overflowed with visitors, and all the States rang with hymns +of praise in honour of Schlatter, the saint of Denver. + +But perpetual joy is not of this world. On the 14th of November, 1895, +there were still thousands of people outside Alderman Fox's house, but +their grief and despair were pitiable to witness. The women sobbed, +the men cursed, and all this, mingled with the woeful complaints of the +sick, created an extraordinary atmosphere in the usually gay and +cheerful town. + +The cause of it was that Saint Schlatter had fled from Colorado without +warning in the night--whether for a short time or for ever nobody knew. +The news spread far and wide, the affair assumed the proportions of a +public calamity, and the _Rocky Morning News_ and other Colorado +journals shed copious tears over the sad lot of the abandoned pilgrims. +Even the American newspapers, which so often foresee events that never +happen, had not been able to foresee this thunderbolt that had +descended in the midst of their readers. + +On the previous day the saint had, as usual, given his blessing to the +thousands of pilgrims gathered from all quarters, and had appeared to +be in his customary state of serene kindliness. Nothing had suggested +his desertion--for the disappointed crowds considered it a desertion +indeed. Even Alderman Fox, deeply troubled as he was, could offer no +consolation to his fellow-citizens. He, who was formerly stone-deaf, +had gone one day to see Schlatter at Omaha, and when the latter took +his hand his deafness had completely disappeared. Full of gratitude, +he offered Schlatter a large sum of money, which was refused. He then +offered the hospitality of his house at Denver, and this being +accepted, Schlatter arrived there, preceded by the glory of his saintly +reputation and his miraculous cures. Two months passed thus, and never +had prophet a more devoted and enthusiastic disciple than the worthy +alderman of Colorado's capital city. Then fell the blow! + +When Alderman Fox had entered his guest's room the night before, the +bed was empty. Dressed just as he had arrived, in his unique costume, +Schlatter had disappeared, leaving behind him as sole trace of his +visit this message:--"Mr. Fox--my mission is ended, and the Father +calls me. I salute you. Francis Schlatter. November 13th." + +After that he was sought for in vain. He who "intoxicated the weak +soul of the people"--to quote one of the Colorado clergy--and made the +land of sin ring with songs of heavenly triumph, had completely +disappeared. In the words of another of them, "the plant that had +grown up in barren soil was withered away by the wrath of God." + +But the grief of those who had believed in him lasted for many years. + + +Schlatter was born in Alsace in 1855, and after his arrival in America +he followed many avocations, finally adopting that of a "holy man." +With head and feet bare, he traversed the States from one end to +another, and proclaimed himself a messenger of heaven. He preached the +love of God and peace among men. He was imprisoned, and continued to +preach, and though his fellow-prisoners at first mocked at him, they +ended by listening. + +He only had to place his hand on the heads of the sick, and they were +cured. After being released from prison, he went to Texas. His +peculiar dress, bare feet, and long hair framing a face which seemed +indeed to be illuminated from within, drew crowds to follow him, and he +was looked upon as Elijah come to life again. + +"Hearken and come to me," he said. "I am only a humble messenger sent +by my Heavenly Father." + +And thousands came. He cured the incurable, and consoled the +inconsolable. Once he was shut up in a mad-house, but emerged more +popular than ever. Then he went on a pilgrimage through the towns of +Mexico, preaching his "Father's" word among the adulterers of goods and +the Worshippers of the Golden Calf. An object of reverence and +admiration, he blessed the children and rained miracles upon the heads +of the sick, finally arriving at San Francisco in 1894. From there, +still on foot and bare-headed, he crossed the Mohave Desert, spent +several weeks at Flagstaff, and then continued his wanderings among the +Indian tribes. They recognised his saintliness and came out in crowds +to meet him, amazed at the power of the Lord as manifested by him. He +spent five days in the company of the chief of the Navajos, performing +many miracles, and filling with wonder the simple souls who crowded +round to touch his hands. After having traversed several other +districts, he stopped at Denver, which became his favourite residence. +In this paradise of the New World his most startling miracles took +place. It became known as his special town, and from all parts there +flocked to it believers and unbelievers, good, bad and indifferent, +attracted by the fame of the heavenly messenger. Women and men +followed in his train, expressing their admiration and gratitude; even +the reporters who came to interview him were impressed by his +simplicity, and described in glowing terms the miracles accomplished by +the "prophet of Denver." + +The American journals which thus put themselves at his service throw a +strange light upon this twentieth-century saint. For Schlatter the +Silent, as some called him, only became eloquent when in the presence +of newspaper reporters. He took heed to "sin not with his tongue," as +the psalmist sings, and "kept his mouth with a bridle" and "held his +peace," as long as "the wicked" were before him; but when confronted by +reporters his thoughts became articulate, and it is only through them +that his simple "Gospel" has been handed down to us. "I am nothing," +he would say to them. "My Father is all. Have faith in Him, and all +will be well." Or--"My Father can replace a pair of diseased lungs as +easily as He can cure rheumatism. He has only to will, and the sick +man becomes well or the healthy one ill. You ask me in what does my +power consist. It is nothing--it is His will that is everything." + +One day when a crowd of several thousands was pressing round him, +Schlatter addressed a man in his vicinity. + +"Depart!" he said to him, with a violence that startled all who heard. +"Depart from Denver; you are a murderer!" + +The man fled, and the crowd applauded the "saint," remarking that "it +was not in his power to heal the wicked." + +Faith in him spread even to the railway companies of New Mexico, for +one day there appeared a placard of the Union Pacific Railway stating +that those of the employees, or their families, who wished to consult +Schlatter would be given their permits and their regular holiday. +Following on this announcement, the _Omaha World Herald_ describes the +impressive spectacle of the thousands of men, women and children, +belonging to all grades of the railway administration, who went to the +holy man of Denver to ask pardon for their sins, or to be healed of +their diseases. + +Thus did the transport systems, combined with the newspapers, pay +homage to the exploits of the new prophet. + + +And still the miracles continued. The blind saw, the deaf heard, and +the cripples walked. The lamp of faith lighted in New Mexico threw its +beams over the whole of America, and the remarkable charm of +Schlatter's personality influenced even the most incredulous. + +The fame of his deeds reached Europe, and some of the English papers +told of cures so marvellous that New Mexico bade fair to become the +refuge of all the incurables in the world. + +In the _Omaha World Herald_ a long article by General Test was +published, in which he said: "All those who approach him find +consolation and help. Dr. Keithley has been cured of deafness. . . . +I have used spectacles for many years, but a touch of his hand was +enough to make me have need of them no longer." + +One of the officials of the Union Pacific Railway, a Mr. Sutherland, +after an accident, could neither walk nor move his limbs. He was taken +to Denver, and returned completely cured, not only of his inability to +walk, but also of deafness that had troubled him for fifteen years. + +A Mr. Stewart, who had been deaf for twenty years, was also completely +cured by the saint. Nothing seemed able to resist his miraculous +powers. Blindness, diphtheria, phthisis, all disappeared like magic at +the touch of his hand; and gloves that he had worn proved equally +efficacious. + +A Mrs. Snook, of North Denver, had suffered from cancer for some +months, when, worn out by pain, she sent to the holy man for the loan +of one of his gloves. He sent her two, saying that she would be +cured--and she was cured. The same thing happened with John Davidson +of 17th Street, Denver; with Colonel Powers of Georgetown; and a dozen +others, all of whom had suffered for years from more or less incurable +maladies. + +An engineer named Morris was cured of cataract instantaneously. A +totally blind wood-cutter was able to distinguish colours after being +touched by Schlatter. A Mrs. Holmes of Havelock, Nebraska, had tumours +under the eyes. She pressed them with a glove given her by the +prophet, and they disappeared. (This case is reported in the _Denver +News_ of November 12th, 1895.) + +Gloves began to arrive from all parts, and lay in mountains on +Schlatter's doorstep. He touched them with his hand, and distributed +them to the crowd. _Faith_ being the sole cause of the cures, it was +unnecessary, he said, to lay hands on the sick. When he did so, it was +only in order to impress the souls of those who had need of this outer +sign in order to enjoy the benefits sent them by the Father through His +intermediary. This explains how Schlatter was able to treat from three +to five thousand people every day. He would stand with outstretched +hands blessing the crowds, who departed with peace in their souls. + +And the "pearl of Colorado" rejoiced, seeing how the deaf heard, the +cripples walked, the blind saw, and all glorified the name of the Saint +of Denver. + +His disinterestedness was above suspicion, and the contempt that he +showed for the "almighty dollar" filled all the believers with +astonishment and admiration. + +"What should I do with money?" he said. "Does not my Heavenly Father +supply all my needs? There is no greater wealth than faith, and I have +supreme faith in my Father." + +Gifts poured in upon him, but he refused them all with his customary +gentleness, so that at last people ceased to send him anything but +gloves. These, after having touched them with his hands, he +distributed among the sick and the unfortunate. + +His fame increased with the ardour of his faith. Suspicion was +disarmed, and great and small paid him homage. Out of touch as he was +with modern thought, and reading nothing but the prophets, he attained +to a condition of ecstasy which at last led him to announce that he was +Christ come down from heaven to save his fellow-men. Having lived so +long on the footing of a son of God, he now was convinced of his direct +descent, and his hearers going still further, were filled with +expectation of some great event which should astonish all unbelievers. + +Under the influence of this general excitement he proceeded to undergo +a forty days' fast. He announced this to his followers, who flocked to +see the miracle, preceded by the inevitable reporters; and while +fasting he still continued to heal the sick and give them his blessing, +attracting ever greater crowds by his haggard visage and his atmosphere +of religious exaltation. + +Then, having spent forty days and forty nights in this manner, he sat +down at table to replenish his enfeebled forces, and the beholders gave +voice to enthusiastic expressions of faith in his divine mission. + +But the famished Schlatter attacked the food laid before him with an +ardour that had in it nothing of the divine. The onlookers became +uneasy, and one of them went so far as to suggest that his health might +suffer from this abrupt transition. + +"Have faith," replied Schlatter. "The Father who has permitted me to +live without nourishment for forty days, will not cease to watch over +His Son." + + +The town of Denver formed a little world apart. Miracles were in the +air, faith was the only subject of conversation, and everyone dreamed +of celestial joys and the grace of salvation. In this supernatural +atmosphere distinctions between the possible and the impossible were +lost sight of, and the inhabitants believed that the usual order of +nature had been overthrown. + +For instance, James Eckman of Leadville, who had been blinded by an +explosion, recovered his sight immediately he arrived at Denver. +General Test declared that he had seen a legless cripple _walk_ when +the saint's gaze was bent upon him. A blind engineer named Stainthorp +became able to see daylight. A man named Dillon, bent and crippled by +an illness several decades before, recovered instantaneously. When the +saint touched him, he felt a warmth throughout his whole body; his +fingers, which he had not been able to use for years, suddenly +straightened themselves; he was conscious of a sensation of +inexpressible rapture, and rose up full of faith and joy. A man named +Welsh, of Colorado Springs, had a paralysed right hand which was +immediately cured when Schlatter touched it. + +All New Mexico rejoiced in the heavenly blessing that had fallen upon +Denver. Special trains disgorged thousands of travellers, who were +caught up in the wave of religious enthusiasm directly they arrived. +The whole town was flooded with a sort of exaltation, and there was a +recrudescence of childishly superstitious beliefs, which broke out with +all the spontaneity and vigour that usually characterises the +manifestation of popular religious phenomena. + +What would have been the end of it if Schlatter had not so decisively +and inexplicably disappeared? + + +It would be difficult to conceive of anything more extraordinary than +the exploits of this modern saint, which came near to revolutionising +the whole religious life of the New World. The fact that they took +place against a modern background, with the aid of newspaper interviews +and special trains, gives them a peculiar _cachet_. Indeed, the +spectacle of such child-like faith, allied to all the excesses of +civilisation, and backed up by the ground-work of prejudices from which +man has as yet by no means freed himself, is one to provide +considerable food for reflection for those who study the psychology of +crowds in general, and of religious mania in particular. + +The case of Schlatter is not a difficult one to diagnose. He suffered +from "ambulatory automatism," the disease investigated by Professor +Pitres of Bordeaux, and was a wanderer from his childhood up. +Incapable of resisting the lure of vagabondage, he thought it should be +possible to perform miracles because it was "God his Father" who thus +forced him to wander from place to place. "All nature being directed +according to His Will," said Schlatter, "and nothing being accomplished +without Him, I am driven to warn the earth in order to fulfil His +designs." + +Being simple-minded and highly impressionable, the first cure that he +succeeded in bringing about seemed to him a direct proof of his +alliance with God. As Diderot has said, it is sometimes only necessary +to be a little mad in order to prophesy and to enjoy poetic ecstasies; +and in the case of Schlatter the flower of altruism which often +blossoms in the hearts of such "madmen" was manifested in his complete +lack of self-seeking and in his compassion for the poor and suffering +which drew crowds around him. As to his miracles, we may--without +attempting to explain them--state decisively that they do not differ +from those accomplished by means of suggestion. The cases of blindness +treated by Schlatter have a remarkable resemblance to that of the girl +Marie described by Pierre Janet in his _Psychological Automatism_. + +This patient was admitted to the hospital at Havre, suffering, among +other things, from blindness of the left eye which she said dated from +infancy. But when by means of hypnotism she was "transformed" into a +child of five years of age, it was found that she saw well with both +eyes. The blindness must therefore have begun at the age of six +years--but from what cause? She was made to repeat, while in the +somnambulistic state, all the principal scenes of her life at that +time, and it was found that the blindness had commenced some days after +she had been forced to sleep with a child of her own age who had a rash +all over the left side of her face. Marie developed a similar rash and +became blind in the left eye soon afterwards. Pierre Janet made her +re-live the event which had had so terrible an effect upon her, induced +her to believe that the child had no rash, and after two attempts +succeeded in making her caress her (imaginary) bedfellow. The sight of +the left eye returned, and Marie awoke--cured! + +The saint of Denver could not, of course, make use of methods adopted +by doctors in the hospitals, but he had something much stronger and +more effective in his mysterious origin, his prophet-like appearance, +and his airs as of one illuminated by the spirit. Suggestion, when +acting upon those who are awake, spreads from one to another like an +attack of yawning or of infectious laughter. Crowds are credulous, +like children who look no further than their surface impressions. + +The case of W. C. Dillon, who had been bent and crippled for years, but +was able to straighten his limbs at once under Schlatter's influence, +recalls that of the young sailor in the household of Dr. Pillet, who +for several weeks was bent forward in a most painful position. He had +received a severe blow at the base of the chest, after which he seemed +unable to stand upright again. He was put into a hypnotic sleep, and +asked if he could raise himself. + +"Why not?" he replied. + +"Then do so," said the doctor--and he rose from his bed completely +cured. + +A remarkable thing with regard to Schlatter's cures is that they were +so frequently concerned with cases of paralysis. Now Charcot has +proved that such cases are usually found in hysterical subjects +suffering from amnesia or anaesthesia (general or partial loss of +sensation), and according to modern medical research paralysis and +anaesthesia are almost identical. We know, further, with what ease +hypnotic suggestion can either provoke or dispel partial or general +anaesthesia, and this applies equally to partial or general paralysis. + +Paralysis is often, if not always, due to a simple +amnesia--forgetfulness to make use of certain muscles--which can be +overcome by suggestion. Schlatter, with his undeniable hypnotic power, +had consequently small difficulty in accomplishing "miracles"--that is +to say, in producing incomprehensible and inexplicable phenomena. + +His custom of dealing with people in crowds gave him greater chances of +success than if he had merely treated individual cases. "Faith is the +only thing that cures," he declared--and, as if by magic, his hearers +became possessed of faith and intoxicated by the benefits obtained from +his divine intervention. + +Truly the life of this impulse-ridden vagabond, so lacking in +self-interest, so devoted to the needs of the sick and poor, throws a +new light upon the souls of our contemporaries. There seems to exist +in every human being, no matter how deeply hidden, an inexhaustible +desire for contact with the Infinite. And this desire can be as easily +played upon by the tricks of impostors as by the holiness of saints, or +the divine grace of saviours. + + + + +PART III + +THE DEPTHS OF THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND + + +CHAPTER I + +SECTS IN FRANCE AND ELSEWHERE + +During the second half of the nineteenth and the beginning of the +twentieth century, scarcely a single country has been free from +religious manifestations of the most varied kind, all concerned with +new ways and means of attaining salvation; and if one were to include +all the different phases of occultism as well, one would be astounded +at the mystical ardour of which modern humanity is possessed. + +From the spiritualists and the theosophists to the crystal-gazers and +the palmists, all these occult practices are, in reality, merely the +result of a more or less intensified desire to communicate with the +spiritual worlds. + +France, although considered a country pre-eminently sceptical, has not +escaped the general tendency, for even in what appeared to be the most +rationalistic epoch--that of the Revolution--the "Cult of Reason" was +founded, to be succeeded by the "Religion of the Supreme Being" +introduced by Robespierre. And what numbers of new sects and religions +can be recorded since then! + +There was, first of all, the _Theophilanthropy_ of Jean-Baptiste Chemin +and Valentine Hauy, representing the faith of those who love man in +God, and God in so far as He loves man. The Empire, in persecuting +this doctrine, only added to its vitality, for it has hot even yet +completely died out. + +The religion of Father Enfantin, which had a great vogue in the last +century, conformed in many respects to the name of its founder. Man +and woman, united by religion, were to form priests "in duplicate" for +the guidance of their flock, young and old, lovers and married couples +alike. The Saint-Simonites--so admirable in some ways--allied +themselves to this doctrine, and succeeded in attracting a number of +sympathisers. + +The life of French sects has always been of short duration, though +there have existed among them many that in other countries would +certainly have won for their founders the laurel-wreath of fame. Such +was, for instance, the _Church of France_, inaugurated by the Abbe +Chatel, whose idea was to entrust sacerdotal functions to the most +worthy among his followers, by means of a public vote. The sect +prospered for a time, but soon disappeared amid general indifference, +and the Abbe ended his days as a grocer. + +The doctrine of Fabre Palaprat had more success, being drawn from the +esoteric teachings of the Gospel of St. John. He either suppressed or +modified many of the Catholic dogmas, abandoned the use of Latin and +inaugurated prayers in French. + +The _Fusionists_ were founded by Jean-Baptiste de Tourreil. After a +divine revelation which came to him in the forest of Meudon, near +Paris, he broke with Catholicism and preached the intimate union of man +and nature. He anticipated to some extent the naturalist beliefs which +spread through both France and England at the beginning of the present +century, and his posthumous work entitled _The Fusionist Religion or +the Doctrine of Universalism_ gives an idea of his tendencies. There +was an element of consolation in his doctrine, for the harmony between +man and the universe, as taught by him, renders death only a +prolongation of life itself, and makes it both attractive and desirable. + +The _Neo-Gnostic Church_ of Fabre des Essarts was condemned by Leo XIII +with some severity as a revival of the old Albigensian heresy, with the +addition of new false and impious doctrines, but it still has many +followers. The Neo-Gnostics believe that this world is a work of +wickedness, and was created not by God but by some inferior power, +which shall ultimately disappear--and its creation also. While the +Manichaeans teach that the world is ruled by the powers of both good +and evil, God and Satan, the Neo-Gnostics declare that it is Satan who +reigns exclusively upon earth, and that it is man's duty to help to +free God from His powerful rival. They also preach the brotherhood of +man and of nations, and it is probably this altruistic doctrine which +has rendered them irresistible to many who are wearied and disheartened +by the enmities and hatreds that separate human beings. + +In 1900, after a letter from Jean Bricaut, the patriarch of universal +Gnosticism in Lyons, the Neo-Gnostics united with the Valentinians, and +their union was consecrated by the Council of Toulouse in 1903. But +some years afterwards, Dr. Fugairon of Lyons (who took the name of +Sophronius) amalgamated all the branches, with the exception of the +Valentinians, under the name of the _Gnostic Church of Lyons_. These +latter, although excluded, continued to follow their own way of +salvation, and addressed a legal declaration to the Republican +Government in 1906 in defence of their religious rights of association. + +In the Gnostic teaching, the Eons, corresponding to the archetypal +ideas of Plato, are never single; each god has his feminine +counterpart; and the Gnostic assemblies are composed of "perfected +ones," male and female. The Valentinians give the mystic bride the +name of Helen. + +The Gnostic rites and sacraments are complicated. There is the +_Consolamentum_, or laying on of hands; the breaking of bread, or means +of communication with the _Astral Body of Jesus_; and the +_Appareillamentum_, or means of receiving divine grace. + +In peculiarities of faith and of its expression some of our French +sects certainly have little to learn from those of America and Russia. + + +The _Religion of Satanism_--or, as it was sometimes called, the +_Religion of Mercy_--founded by Vintras and Boullan, deserves special +mention. Vintras was arrested--unjustly, it seems certain--for +swindling, and in the visions which he experienced as a result of his +undeserved sufferings he believed himself to be in communication with +the Archangel Michael and with Christ Himself. Having spent about +twelve years in London, he returned to Lyons to preach his doctrine, +and succeeded in making a number of proselytes. He died in 1875. Some +years afterwards a doctor of divinity named Boullan installed himself +at Lyons as his successor. He taught that women should be common +property, and preached the union with inferior beings (in order to +raise them), the "union of charity," and the "union of wisdom." He +healed the sick, exorcised demons, and treated domestic animals with +great success, so that the peasants soon looked upon him as superior to +the cure who was incapable of curing their sick horses and cattle. + +Vintras had proclaimed himself to be Elijah come to life; Boullan +adopted the title of John the Baptist resurrected. He died at the +beginning of the twentieth century, complaining of having been cruelly +slandered, especially by Stanislas de Guaita, who in his _Temple of +Satan_ had accused Boullan of being a priest of Lucifer, of making use +of spells and charms, and--worst of all--of celebrating the Black Mass. + + +The founder of the _Religion of Humanity_ had a tragic and troublous +career. Genius and madness have rarely been so harmoniously combined +for the creation of something that should be durable and of real value. +For one cannot doubt the madness of Auguste Comte. It was manifested +in public on the 12th of April, 1826, and interrupted the success of +his lectures, which had attracted all the leading minds of the time, +including Humboldt himself. After a violent attack of mania, the +founder of the philosophy of Positivism took refuge at Montmorency. +From there he was with difficulty brought back to Paris and placed +under the care of the celebrated alienist, Esquirol. He was released +when only partially cured, and at the instigation of his mother +consented to go through a religious marriage ceremony with Madame +Comte, after which he signed the official register _Brutus Bonaparte +Comte_! The following year he threw himself into the Seine, but was +miraculously saved, and, gradually recovering his strength, he +recommenced his courses of lectures, which aroused the greatest +interest both in France and abroad. + +The Positivist leader had always shown signs of morbid megalomania. +His early works are sufficient to prove that he was the prey to an +excessive form of pride, for he writes like a Messiah consciously +treading the path that leads to a martyr's crown. His private troubles +aggravated the malady, and the escapades of his wife, who frequently +left his house to rejoin her old associates, were the cause of violent +attacks of frenzy. + +Later the philosopher himself was seized by an overwhelming passion for +Clotilde de Vaux, a writer of pretensions who was, in reality, +distinguished neither by talent nor beauty. The feeling that she +inspired in him has no parallel in the annals of modern love-affairs. +After some years, however, she died of consumption, and the germ of +madness in Comte, which had been lying latent, again showed itself, +this time in the form of a passionate religious mysticism. His dead +mistress became transformed, for him, into a divinity, and he looked +upon everything that she had used or touched as sacred, shutting +himself up in the midst of the furniture and utensils that had +surrounded her during her life-time. Three times a day he prostrated +himself, and offered up fervent prayers to the spirit of Clotilde, and +he often visited her grave, or sat, wrapped in meditation, in the +church that she had frequented. He sought to evoke her image, and held +long conversations with it, and it was under her influence that he +founded a new religion based chiefly on his _Positivist Catechism_. In +this cult, Clotilde symbolised woman and the superior humanity which +shall proceed from her. + +Although a profound and original thinker, Comte was like the rest in +considering himself the High Priest of his own religion. He sought to +make converts, and wrote to many of the reigning sovereigns, including +the Tsar; and he even suggested an alliance, for the good of the +nations, with the Jesuits! + +But to do him justice we must admit that he led an ascetic and +saint-like life, renouncing all worldly pleasures. An Englishman who +saw much of him about 1851 declared that his goodness of soul surpassed +even his brilliancy of intellect. + +Though he had so little sympathy for the past and present religions +upon whose grave he erected his own system, he himself reverted, as a +matter of fact, to a sort of fetishism; and his "Humanity," with which +he replaced the former "gods," manifested nearly all their defects and +weaknesses. + +In his _Sacerdoce_ and _Nouvelle Foi Occidentale_ the principal ideas +are borrowed from inferior beliefs of the Asiatic races. He +incorporated the arts of hygiene and medicine in his creed, and +declared that medicine would reinstate the dominion of the priesthood +when the Positivist clergy succeeded in fulfilling the necessary +conditions. + +The remarkable success of this religion is well known. Numerous sects +based on Comte's doctrines were founded in all parts of the world, and +his philosophy made a deep impression on the minds of thinking men, who +assisted in spreading it through all branches of society. Even to-day +believers in Positivism are found not only in France, but above all in +North and South America. In Brazil, Comte's influence was both +widespread and beneficial, and the very laws of this great Republic are +based on the theories of the Positivist leader. + +The value of certain of his fundamental doctrines may be questioned, +equally with the ruling ideas of his religion, his Messianic role, and +his priesthood. But there is nevertheless something sublime in the +teaching that individual and social happiness depends upon the degree +of affection and goodwill manifested in the human heart. This is no +doubt one reason why the adherents of the Positivist Church are so +often distinguished by their high morality and their spirit of +self-sacrifice. + + +In addition to purely local sects and religions, France has always +harboured a number of _Swedenborgians_, whose beliefs have undergone +certain modifications on French soil. For instance, thaumaturgy was +introduced by Captain Bernard, and healing by means of prayer by Madame +de Saint-Amour. But Leboys des Guais, the acknowledged leader of the +sect about 1850, reverted to the unalloyed doctrines of the founder, +and thanks to Mlle. Holms and M. Humann, and their church in the Rue de +Thouin, the Swedenborgian religion still flourishes in France to-day. + +The _Irvingites_, founded in Scotland towards the end of the eighteenth +century, also made many French converts. Irving preached the second +coming of Christ, and believed that the Holy Ghost was present in +himself. He waited some time for God the Father to endow him with the +miraculous gifts needed for establishing the new Church, and then, +finding that many of his followers were able to heal the sick with +surprising success, he concluded that heaven had deigned to accept him +as the "second Saviour." He organised a Catholic Apostolic Church in +London, and proclaimed himself its head; while in Paris the principal +church of the sect, formerly in the Avenue de Segur, has now been moved +to the Rue Francois-Bonvin. Woman is excluded from the cult, and +consequently the name of the Virgin is omitted from all Irvingite +ceremonies, while the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the +Virgin are denied. + + +But many other sects exist in addition to those already mentioned. +Often their life is short as a summer night, and they appear and +disappear, leaving no trace behind them save a passing exaltation in +the hearts of their followers. Those who join them seem for a time to +be satisfied with dreams and illusions, but usually end by returning to +the bosom of the established Church--or by being confined in an asylum. + +These innumerable sects with their illusory pretensions serve to +demonstrate the truth of our thesis--that the most ardent desire of +present-day humanity is for the renewal or transformation of the faith +to which it has grown accustomed. + +A well-known critic has claimed that it is possible for all the +dramatic or comic incidents that have been played in all theatres of +all ages to be reduced down to thirty-six situations from the use of +which not even a genius can escape. To how many main variations could +we reduce the desire for reform displayed by our religious +revolutionaries? The search for salvation takes on so many vague and +incalculable shapes that we can only compare them to clouds that float +across the sky on a windy day; but there are, all the same, signs of +kinship to be discovered even between the sects that appear to be +furthest apart. + +The _Chlysty_, from whom the religion of Rasputin was partly derived, +show some resemblance to the "Shakers," and to the Christian +Scientists, both of whom have evolved along lines diametrically +opposed. The "Shakers," direct descendants of the Huguenots, teach +that the end of the world is at hand, and that all men should repent in +preparation for the coming of the heavenly kingdom. Their meetings +have always been characterised by visions and revelations, and they +sing and dance for joy, leaping into the air and trembling with nervous +excitement--to which fact they owe their name. + +In tracing out their history we find many striking analogies with the +sects of our own day. It was in 1770 that the "Shakers" believed +Christ to have reincarnated in the body of Anne Lee, the daughter of a +Manchester blacksmith. Although married, she preached--like Mrs. Eddy +a hundred years later--the benefits of celibacy, the only state +approved by God. Her convictions were so sincere, and her expression +of them so eloquent, that when charged with heresy she succeeded in +converting her accusers. The cult of virginity was adopted by her +followers, who considered her their "Mother in Christ," inspired from +on high; and when she counselled them to leave England and emigrate to +the New World, they followed her unquestioningly, even to embarking in +an old and long-disused vessel for the Promised Land. Arrived there, +however, their lot was not a happy one, for they met with much +persecution, and Anne Lee herself was imprisoned. But after her +release she preached with greater force and conviction than ever the +end of sexual unions and the near approach of the Kingdom of God. Her +eloquence attracted many, and even today her religion still has +followers. Among their settlements we may mention that of Alfred, +Maine, where a number of "spiritual families" live harmoniously +together, convinced that the Kingdom of God has already descended upon +earth, and that they are existing in a state of celestial purity like +that of the angels in heaven. They refuse to eat pork or to make use +of fermented drinks, and dancing still plays a part in their religious +services. Sometimes, in the midst of the general excitement, a sister +or a brother will announce a message that has been delivered by some +unseen spirit, whereupon all the hearers leap and dance with redoubled +vigour. + +To-day, even as a hundred years ago, the "Shakers" affirm, not without +reason, that Heaven and Hell are within ourselves, and that that is why +we must live honestly and well in order to share in the heavenly +kingdom from which sinners are excluded. Just so do Christian +Scientists declare that we may be led by faith towards heaven, +happiness and health. + +Even murder, that most extreme perversion of all moral feeling, has +been adopted as a means of salvation by several Russian sects as well +as by the Hindus, evolving in widely contrasted environments. The +general desire to gain, somehow or other, the favour of the "Eternal +Principle of Things," thus expresses itself in the most varied and the +most unlikely forms, one of the most striking being that of the +"religion of murder," which throws a lurid light upon the hidden +regions of man's subconscious mind. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE RELIGION OF MURDER + +There are certain periodical publications which as a rule are neither +examined nor discussed. Yet their existence dates back for many years, +and in this age of filing and docketing they must by now provide a +regular gold-mine for the study of human psychology. What increases +their value is that they avoid all attempt at "literary effect." No +picked phrases, no situations invented or dramatised to suit the taste +of the author; nothing but facts taken from real life and recorded by +the functionaries of His Majesty the Emperor of India. We are +referring to those very interesting _Reports of the Indian Government_ +to which we owe practically all our knowledge of fakirism and its +miracles, of the artificial conservation of human life in the tomb, and +of the strangulation rites of the Thugs. They are indeed a valuable +contribution to the study of the perversions of religious faith--that +most alluring and yet least explored section of psychology. + +A librarian at the British Museum showed me some years ago one of the +most suggestive documents that the art of cartography has ever +produced. It was the famous map prepared by Captain Paton, about 1890, +for the British Government, showing the various neighbourhoods in which +the Thugs had strangled and buried their victims. Drawn up according +to precise information furnished by several leaders of the sect, it +indicated every tomb in the province of Oudh, where the majority of the +worshippers of the goddess Kali were to be found. The written +descriptions that accompanied the map were particularly interesting, +for--like Swift, when he enumerated the benefits that would accrue to +the starving Irish people if they killed their children like sheep and +ate them instead of mutton--Captain Paton felt himself compelled to +record the glorious deeds of some of the most valiant of the Thugs. He +gave details which would have rejoiced the imagination of a de Quincey +or an Edgar Allan Poe. About 5200 murders had been committed by a +company of forty people, all highly thought of and commanding general +respect. At their head was the venerable Buhram, who laid claim to 931 +assassinations during his forty years of religious activity in the +province of Oudh. The second in merit, one Ramson, had strangled 608 +people. The third, it is true, could only claim about 500, but he had +reached this figure in thirty years, and had made a record of 25 +murders in one year. Others had to their credit 377, 340 and 264 +assassinations respectively, after which one dropped from these heights +to figures of twenty, ten or even only five annual murders in honour of +Kali. This record undoubtedly represented the supreme flower of the +religion of this goddess, who not only taught her followers the art of +strangulation, but also succeeded in hiding their deeds from the +suspicious eyes of unbelievers. + +Murders followed thick and fast, one upon another, but though thousands +of Hindus, rich and poor, young and old, were known to disappear, their +terrified families scarcely dared to complain. English statisticians +go so far as to say that from thirty to fifty thousand human lives were +sacrificed every year on the altar of this fatal goddess, who, desiring +to thwart the growth of the too prolific life-principle in the +universe, incited her worshippers to the suppression and destruction of +human beings. But while using her power to shelter her followers from +suspicion and discovery, Kali expected them, for their part, to take +care that none witnessed the performance of her duties. One day +misfortune fell upon them. A novice of the cult had the daring to spy +upon the goddess while she was occupied in destroying the traces of her +rite, and Kali's divine modesty being wounded, she declared that in +future she would no longer watch over the earthly safety of her +followers, but that they themselves must be responsible for concealing +their deeds from the eyes of men. Thus, after having worshipped her +with impunity for centuries, the Thugs all at once found themselves +exposed to the suspicions of their fellow-countrymen, and above all, of +the British Government. Captain Sleeman played the part of their evil +genius, for in his anger at their abominable deeds he decided, in spite +of the resistance offered by the heads of the East India Company, to +wage war to the knife against the religion of Kali. Such alarming +reports were received in England that at last the home authorities were +aroused, and in 1830 a special official was appointed to direct +operations (the General Superintendent of Operations against Thuggee). +Captain Sleeman was chosen to fill the appointment, and he dedicated to +it all his courage and practically his whole life. The tale of the +twenty years' struggle that followed would put the most thrilling +dramas of fiction in the shade. + +In the works founded on Captain Sleeman's reports, and above all in his +own official documents, are found remarkable accounts of the ways in +which the Thugs lured their victims to their doom. + +A Mongol officer of noble bearing was travelling to the province of +Oudh accompanied by two faithful servants. He halted on his way near +the Ganges, and was there accosted by a group of men, polite in speech +and respectable in appearance, who asked permission to finish their +journey under his protection. The officer refused angrily and begged +them to let him go on his way alone. The strangers tried to persuade +him that his suspicions were unjust, but, seeing his nostrils inflate +and his eyes gleam with rage, they finally desisted. The next day he +met another group of travellers, dressed in Moslem fashion, who spoke +to him of the danger of travelling alone and begged him to accept their +escort. Once more the officer's eyes flashed with rage; he threatened +them with his sword, and was left to proceed in peace. Many times +again the brave Mongol, always on his guard, succeeded in thwarting the +designs of his mysterious fellow-travellers, but on the fourth day he +reached a barren plain where, a few steps from the track, six Moslems +were weeping over the body of one who had succumbed to the hardships of +the journey. They had already dug a hole in the earth to inter the +corpse, when it was discovered that not one of them could read the +Koran. On their knees they implored the Mongol officer to render this +service to the dead. He dismounted from his horse, unable to resist +their pleadings, and feeling bound by his religion to accede to their +request. + +Having discarded his sword and pistols, he performed the necessary +ablutions, and then approached the grave to recite the prayers for the +dead. Suddenly cloths were thrown over his own and his servants' +heads, and after a few moments all three were precipitated into the +yawning hole. + +It may be asked why so much cunning was needed in order to add a few +more members to the kingdom of the dead. The reason is that the Thugs +were forbidden to shed human blood. The sacrifice could only be +accomplished through death by strangling. It might often be easy +enough to fall upon solitary travellers, but woe to the Thug who in any +way brought about the shedding of blood! Consequently they had to have +recourse to all sorts of ingenious methods for allaying suspicion, so +that their victims might be hastened into the next world according to +the rites approved by their implacable goddess. They believed in +division of labour, and always acted collectively, employing some to +entice the victim into the trap, and others to perform the act of +strangulation, while in the third category were those who first dug the +graves and afterwards rendered them invisible. + +The murders were always accomplished with a kind of cold-blooded +fanaticism, admitting neither mercy nor pity, for the Thug, convinced +that his action would count as a special virtue for himself in the next +life, also believed that his victim would benefit from it. + +Feringhi, one of the most famous of Indian stranglers, who also held a +responsible official position, was once asked if he was not ashamed to +kill his neighbour. + +"No," he replied, "because one cannot be ashamed to fulfil the divine +will. In doing so one finds happiness. No man who has once understood +and practised the religion of Thuggee will ever cease to conform to it +to the end of his days. I was initiated into it by my father when I +was very young, and if I were to live for a thousand years I should +still continue to follow in his footsteps." + +The Thugs of each district were led by one whom they called their +_jemadar_, to whom they gave implicit obedience. The utmost discretion +reigned among them, and they never questioned the plans of their +superiors. We can imagine how difficult it was to combat a fanaticism +which feared nothing, not even death; for when death overtook them, as +it sometimes did, in the performance of their rites, they merely looked +upon it as a means of drawing nearer to their goddess. + +The origin of this extraordinary religion seems to be hidden in the +mists of the past, though European travellers claim to have met with it +in India in the seventeenth century. We may note that during the +Mahometan invasion all sorts of crimes were committed in the name of +religion, and possibly the murders in honour of Kali were a survival +from this time. As years went by the sect increased rapidly, and many +of the most peaceable Hindus were attracted by it, and joined it in the +capacity of grave-concealers, spies, or merely as passive adherents who +contributed large sums of money. In Sleeman's time about two thousand +Thugs were arrested and put to death every year, but nevertheless their +numbers, towards the end of the nineteenth century, were steadily +increasing. (Of recent years, however, a considerable diminution has +been shown.) In 1895 only three are recorded to have been condemned to +death for murder; in 1896, ten; and in 1897, twenty-five; while +travellers in Rajputana and the Hyderabad district speak of much higher +figures. The Thugs always bear in mind the maxim that "dead men tell +no tales," and their practice of killing all the companions of the +chosen victim, as well as himself, renders the detection of their +crimes extremely difficult; while their mastery of the art of getting +rid of corpses frequently baffles the authorities. Further, the +terrified families of the victims, dreading reprisals, often fail to +report the deaths, so that the sect has thus been enabled to continue +its murderous rites in spite of all measures taken to stamp it out. + +They avoid killing women, except in the case of women accompanying a +man who has been doomed to death, when they must be sacrificed in order +to prevent their reporting the crime. Stranger still, they admit that +murder is not always a virtuous action, but that there are criminal +murders which deserve punishment. + +"When a Thug is killed," said one of them to the celebrated Sleeman, +"or when one does not belong to the sect, and kills without conforming +to the rites, it is a crime, and should be punished." + +They seem to experience a strange and voluptuous pleasure when +performing their rites of strangulation--a pleasure increased, no +doubt, by the knowledge that their goddess looks on with approval. Yet +even the most hardened among them is capable of the greatest chivalry +when women are concerned, and a rigorous inquiry into the details of +thousands of their crimes has failed to reveal any single attempt at +violation. A Thug returning from one of his ritualistic expeditions +may show himself to be a good and affectionate husband and father, and +a charitable neighbour. Apart from numerous acts of assassination, on +which he prides himself, his conduct is usually irreproachable. No +wonder that he fills the English magistrates with stupefaction, and +that justice does not always dare to strike when it can act more +effectively by persuasion or seclusion. + +All things evolve with the passage of time, and in the twentieth +century even the rite of strangulation has undergone changes. From the +main sect of Thuggee, other branches of a new and unlooked-for type +have sprung. These, instead of strangling their neighbours, prefer to +poison them, the virtue being the same and the method easier and more +expeditious. Their proceedings, though more difficult to control, are +quite as lucrative for Kali, the devourer of human life, and if they +have made their goddess less notorious than did the Thugs, they +certainly worship her with equal ardour. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE REINCARNATIONIST'S PARADISE + +Amid luxuriant vegetation, in an enchanting position overlooking the +Pacific Ocean, flourishes the religion of reincarnation "without +beginning and without end." Its followers, gathered there from all +parts of the world, steep themselves in the atmosphere of fraternal +love and general benevolence which is exhaled by this doctrine of the +evolution of souls, leading to ultimate perfection. + +The scenes which greet the dazzled eyes of the visitor are of such +extreme beauty that he might well believe himself to have been +miraculously transported to ancient Hellas. Greek theatres and temples +gleam whitely in the shade of majestic palm-trees, and groups of young +people dressed like the youths and maidens of ancient Athens may be +seen taking part in rhythmic dances and elaborate processions. + +Amid the dirt and chaos of our modern world this Grecian city seems to +have sprung up as by a miracle, fully reconstituted not only in its +outer appearance but also in its inner life of harmony and peace. +Theosophists of every degree, who in other lands seem so often to lose +themselves in a mist of vague dreams and metaphysical speculations, +have here succeeded in expressing their ideals in concrete form. + +Why postpone the paradise promised by Karma, the fundamental law of +life? Why not seek to enjoy it now, without delay? So a number of the +scattered disciples of Madame Blavatsky, following their new guide, +Catherine Tingley, set to work to construct their holy city in +California, on the shores of the Pacific, like the Jews who followed +Moses to the Promised Land. + +These teachings, handed down through untold ages, rejoice to-day in a +setting that would surely have astonished their Hindu or Egyptian +progenitors; and the revelations which came to Madame Blavatsky after +her discovery of the forgotten truths of a dim and distant past bid +fair to revivify our time-worn planet. Since the war there has been a +tremendous revival of theosophical propaganda in allied and neutral +countries, in the Old World and in the New, and without doubt +Theosophy, together with Christian Science--to which it is in many ways +opposed--is destined to undergo striking developments. + + +The new theory of metempsychosis saw the light about fifty years ago. +It was brought to the United States by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, a +Russian lady of noble birth and high educational attainments, whose +thought had been influenced partly by the esoteric wisdom of the past +and partly by the religious unrest of her native land. + +The doctrine of reincarnation has been accepted in India and Egypt for +at least three thousand years. It was taught secretly in the +Eleusinian mysteries. The philosophy of Pythagoras and of Plato is +deeply impregnated with it. The Early Christian Church, as well as the +Gnostics, admitted it tacitly, but in the fourth century it was +condemned by the Fathers of the Church and banished from orthodox +Christianity. Nevertheless it has always had an irresistible +attraction for thoughtful minds, and many of the greatest thinkers, +artists and poets of all ages have been firmly convinced of its truth. + +Once installed in New York the Russian prophetess sowed far and wide +the seeds of her new faith, whose consolatory doctrine attracted many +who were saddened by the phenomenon of death, while at the same time it +brought her many enemies. + +After a time she departed for India, where her teachings became +considerably enriched and widened by local and historical influences. +She died in London in 1891. + +We will pass in silence over the calumnious and dishonourable +accusations which poisoned her years of triumph, and with which it has +been sought to tarnish her memory. In these days we slander our +prophets instead of killing them--a procedure which may cause them +greater suffering, but has no effect upon the spread of their doctrines. + + +Madame Blavatsky's philosophy is set forth in a series of elaborate +works of which the chief are _The Secret Doctrine_, the _Key to +Theosophy_, and _Isis Unveiled_, constituting, according to the author, +a key to the mysteries of ancient and modern science and theology. To +this medley of thoughts and facts drawn from the mystical wisdom of all +countries and all ages, the magic of the writer's style gives a +peculiar force and flavour, and though she may not always convince, she +certainly offers food for thought and speculation--which is, perhaps, +even more essential. + +Her frequent lack of precision and clearness seems only to enhance the +effect of her affirmations and revelations. A prophet who could easily +be understood by intelligences of all grades would soon come to grief, +for religious teachers, like philosophers and metaphysicians, seem to +be esteemed and admired largely in proportion to the vagueness of their +doctrines. The works of Madame Blavatsky are worthy of being classed +among the most obscure, and for that very reason have every chance of +endurance. + +In spite of the differences that arose among the principal Theosophists +(who included Colonel Olcott, William Q. Judge, and Annie Besant) after +their leader's death, Catherine Tingley succeeded in rallying large +numbers of the American believers to her banner, and founded a colony +at Point Loma, California, under the name of "the universal and +theosophical brotherhood," which was approved by the Theosophical +conferences held in New York and Chicago in 1898. + +Theosophy is in fact a philosophy of altruism, whose main tenets are +brotherly love and justice. By following truth the soul becomes +purified, and after a life consecrated to others and guided by the laws +of justice, the individual may hope to reincarnate in some higher form. +As the poet of Sakuntala has said--"In other existences we all have +loved and wept"--but the divine Kalidasa teaches that past lives should +not be spoken of, "for the mystery of rebirth is sacred." + +The duality of our being is shown, on the one hand, in our earthly sins +and failures, and on the other in the spiritual aspirations which ever +urge us on to greater heights. The law of Karma affirms the +relationship between cause and effect, and teaches that "as a man sows, +so shall he also reap"--and consequently, the better our thoughts and +actions now, the greater our advancement in the next life. + +It is in the teachings of the divine Krishna that we find the original +source of the greater part of modern Theosophy. His precepts are full +of consolation for restless minds, and have the power to reconcile us +not only to death, but to life. + +In the vast store-house of the world's legends there is none more +beautiful than that of the immaculate maiden Devaki, who in a divine +ecstasy, amid strains of celestial music, brought forth the child of +Mahadeva, Sun of Suns, in perfect serenity and bliss; while the story +of Krishna's life, his dangers and temptations, his virtues and his +beauty, his wisdom and his final supreme initiation, has provided the +Hindu world with conceptions of a grandeur, originality and depth +rarely met with elsewhere. To this well of wisdom came Plato and +Pythagoras, and drew from it the chief ingredients of their +philosophies; and here, too, we receive from the lips of Krishna, +thirty centuries before the birth of Christ, the first faint +intimations of the immortality of the soul. + +He taught his disciples that man, living upon earth, is triple in +essence, possessing spirit, mind and body. When he succeeds in +harmonising the two first, he attains the state of _Sattva_, and +rejoices in wisdom and peace. When he succeeds in harmonising mind and +body only, he is in the state of _Raja_, which is unstable and +dangerous. When the body preponderates, he is in the state of _Tamas_, +"that bindeth by heedlessness, indolence and sloth." Man's lot depends +therefore on the correlation of these three states. When he dies in +the state of _Sattva_, his soul rises to regions of the utmost purity +and bliss, and comprehends all mysteries, in close communion with the +Most High. This is true immortality. But those who have not escaped +from _Raja_ and _Tamas_ must return to earth and reincarnate in mortal +bodies. + + +In later years Hermes Trismegistus, the Thrice-Greatest One, further +developed these principles, adding to them the mystical treasures of +Egyptian wisdom. It has been said by Lactance that "Hermes, one knows +not how, succeeded in discovering nearly all the truth." During the +first few centuries of the Christian era his works enjoyed a +considerable vogue, and he also had a very great influence on the +Renaissance period. The Hermetic books, with all their mysteries, have +become part of the theosophical gospel, as well as the doctrines of +Plato and of the Neo-Platonists, Plutarch's treatises on Isis and +Osiris, the philosophies of Plotinus and Iamblichus, the teachings of +Philo and of the Gnostics, and the works of innumerable others, who in +seeking to throw light on the super-physical realms seem often only to +have succeeded in plunging them into greater darkness. Augmented by +all these obscure products of philosophy and metaphysics, the new +Theosophy gives the impression of a gigantic and impenetrable maze, but +it must be admitted that its followers have drawn from it maxims whose +justice and high morality are beyond question. + +The general trend of its teachings is indicated by the following +sublime passages from the Bhagavad Gita, or Lord's Song:-- + +"He attaineth Peace, into whom all desires flow as rivers flow into the +ocean, which is filled with water, but remaineth unmoved--not he who +desireth desires. Whoso forsaketh all desires and goeth onwards free +from yearnings, selfless and without egoism--he goeth to Peace. . . . +Freed from passion, fear and anger, filled with Me, taking refuge in +Me, purified in the fire of wisdom, many have entered into My Being. +However men approach Me, even so do I welcome them, for the path men +take from every side is Mine, O Partha." + +But the many imitations and variations of this wonderful Song have +despoiled it of some of its freshness and beauty, so that in these days +it is rather like the airs played on barrel-organs whose original +tunefulness is forgotten through wearisome repetition. + + +Theosophists are also concerned, with studying the sevenfold nature of +man and of the universe, with the existence of invisible worlds, the +graduated stages of death and rebirth, and the attainment of divine +wisdom through perfect purity of life and thought. They are opposed to +racial prejudices, social classifications, and all distinctions that +separate and divide mankind, and they inculcate the greatest possible +respect for, the widest possible tolerance between, the world's +different religions. Like Christian Scientists they do not believe in +the practice of hypnotic suggestion, but they disagree with the +materialism of the Scientists, holding that, in the search for truth, +purity of life is the one essential, and worldly prosperity of small +importance. + +In 1912 and 1913 Mrs. Tingley visited Europe and made numerous converts +in England, Italy, France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries, +while the Theosophical Conference held at Point Loma in 1915, in the +interests of peace and universal brotherhood, was an immense success. +The Theosophists have always been ardent workers in the cause of +international peace, and while awaiting the dawn of a New Age when war +shall be unknown, they strive to forestall its advent in their +Californian paradise. + +Dramatic and musical performances are given in theatres built in the +Greek style; there is a college of Raja-Yoga, where thousands of pupils +of all races are initiated into the mysteries of Karma and +Reincarnation; a School of Antiquity, "temple of the living light," +where the secret of living in harmony with nature is taught; frequent +lectures, conferences, sports and games; while animated conversations +concerning memories of past lives have an undying fascination for the +adherents of this doctrine which sends so many missionaries out into +the world every year. + +Unlike other sects, the Theosophists do not seem anxious to publish +their numbers abroad--whether because they make too many converts, or +too few, it is impossible to say!--but there must certainly be hundreds +of thousands scattered throughout the United States, India, and the +Anglo-Saxon countries. + + + + +TRANSLATOR'S NOTE + +The foregoing chapter scarcely seems complete without some reference to +the other two centres where an attempt has been made to express the +ideals of Theosophy in concrete form--one in the East, at Adyar, +Madras, the other in the West, at Krotona, near Los Angeles, +California. The former came into being in 1882 under Madame +Blavatsky's own leadership, and has grown from a small property of only +27 acres to one of 263 acres. With its many fine buildings it has a +river-frontage (on the Adyar river) of one mile, and a sea-frontage of +two-fifths of a mile. Here Mrs. Besant--World-President of the +Theosophical Society, apart from Mrs. Tingley's followers--makes her +home, leaving it only for periodical lecturing tours throughout India, +or for visits to London and other European centres. Her lectures at +Queen's Hall, London, in the years immediately preceding the war, and +again in 1919, were remarkable for the crowds who flocked to listen to +one who, whether her views find agreement or not, is universally +admitted to be in the front rank of living orators. Adyar possesses an +excellent library, with many valuable books and manuscripts relating to +the ancient religions of India; a publishing house, the Vasanta Press, +whence are issued yearly numerous theosophical books, pamphlets and +magazines, for purposes of study and propaganda; a lecture hall which +seats 1500 people, but into which as many as 2300 have found admittance +on special occasions; a Masonic temple; an extensive building for the +housing of resident students; and very beautiful grounds with a +palm-grove and an ancient banyan tree, in whose shade many of the most +important theosophical lectures and conferences are held, and around +which more than 3000 people of all nationalities have often been +gathered to hear the discourses of the President and her colleagues. A +striking feature of the grounds is the massive sculptured trilithons, +about 2000 years old, brought from a ruined temple in southern India, +and erected here in picturesque surroundings. + +The colony at Krotona is of more recent origin, and its environment is +similar in some respects to that of Point Loma. Founded in 1912 by A. +P. Warrington, the head of the American section of the Theosophical +Society under Mrs. Besant's leadership, it stands on high ground on the +outskirts of Hollywood, a suburb of Los Angeles, with magnificent views +of the Santa Monica Mountains and of the valley leading to the sea +twelve miles away. This "Institute of Theosophy" takes its name from +the School of Science, Art and Philosophy founded by the great +Pythagoras, and aspires to be to-day what his Krotona was in the +past--a centre of spiritual enlightenment. It is run on co-operative +lines, and on a non-profit basis. There are no "servants" in the +community, and the means of support is from a ground-rent or tax +charged to each house-builder, from the renting of rooms, and from +voluntary donations. The buildings are in picturesque Moorish or +Spanish style, their white walls gleaming amid the brilliant flowers +and luxuriant greenery of this favoured climate. They include a fine +Lending Library and Reference Room, a scientific research laboratory, a +publishing house, an administration building, and many pretty villas +and cottages. There is also a temple, in whose auditorium religious +ceremonies, meetings, lectures and concerts take place, and an open-air +stadium where each year a miracle play is to be produced, the one first +chosen being a dramatisation of Sir Edwin Arnold's "Light of Asia," +which ran for three weeks in the summer of 1918. + +The English Headquarters of the Society are now at 23 Bedford Square, +London. + + + + +CONCLUSION + +"Tell us then, Mary, what hast thou seen upon thy way?" + +"I have seen the shroud and the vestments and the angelic witnesses, +and I have seen the glory of the Resurrected." + + +Saints and prophets of all lands and all ages bear an unconscious +resemblance one to another. The craving for truth, the unquenchable +desire to escape from reality, leads them into realms of mystery and +dream, where simple peasants and labourers, religious men and +agnostics, philosophers and mystics, all meet together. Their +unsuspicious minds are easily dazzled by the least ray of light, and +deceived by the most unlikely promises, and it is not surprising that +they are often imposed upon and led to accept false ways of salvation. + +Many of the mystics show a desire to revert to the Esoteric +Christianity dear to Saint John, the disciple whom Jesus loved; or to +that of Mani, whose doctrine--unjustly distorted by his detractors--was +concerned with direct initiation and final mergence in the Divinity. +But it is not easy to progress against the stream of the centuries, and +with the Catharists of Hungary, the Albigenses of Provence, and the +Templars massacred in the name of St. Augustine--that ancient Manichean +who became the worst enemy of his fellow-believers--Esoteric +Christianity seemed to have died out. Nevertheless the desire for it +has never been destroyed, and continues to inspire the teachings of all +those who revolt against dogmas that tend to restrict the soul's +activities instead of widening them. + +Logically, all viable religious evolution is a departure from the +Christianity which has moulded our present-day thought and morality and +is the centre of all our hopes. But every new revival has to reckon +with it. Madame Blavatsky, for instance, made Gautama Buddha--the +king's son who became a beggar by reason of his immense compassion for +mankind--the central pivot of her esotericism, which was Buddhist +rather than Christian in essence; but Annie Besant, the spiritual +leader of modern Theosophy, has returned to Christianity and +acknowledges the divinity of the Son of Man. This symbolic example +should reassure Christian believers, showing how even those who depart +from Christianity contribute, in spite of themselves, to its continuous +growth. + + +Crowds of new phenomena are now demanding entry into the divine city of +religion. There is, first of all, science, undertaking to present us +with a morality conforming to the Gospel teachings, which it claims +have become a dead letter. But if twenty centuries of Christianity +have not transformed human nature, neither has science. Materialism +and commercialism have failed just as the Church, with her spirit of +exclusion and domination, has failed. The fact that all these have +worked separately and in hostility to one another is perhaps the +reason, for mutual understanding and respect, once established between +them, might well result in a new revelation worthy of the new humanity +which shall emerge from this tragic age. A superior idealism, at once +religious, social and scientific, must sooner or later bring new light +and warmth to the world, for a world-crisis which has shaken the very +foundations of our existence cannot leave intact its logical corollary, +faith, in whose vicinity threatening clouds have long been visible. As +at the dawn of Christianity, the whole world has seemed to be rent by +torturing doubts and by the menace of an approaching end. After having +been preserved from destruction by Christ for two thousand years, it +suddenly found itself in the throes of the most appalling upheaval yet +experienced, with the majority of its inhabitants engaged in a +murderous war. The dream of human brotherhood, glimpsed throughout the +centuries, seemed to be irretrievably threatened, and once more arose +the age-old question as to how the Reign of Love was to be introduced +upon earth. + +The present era shows other striking analogies to the early days of +Christianity, as, for instance, in the democratic movement tending to +establish the sovereignity of the people. But it is no longer +exceptional men, like prophets, who proclaim the dawn of the age of +equality, but the masses themselves, under the guidance of their chosen +leaders. In the book of Enoch the Son of Man tears kings from their +thrones and casts them into Hell; but this was only an isolated seer +daring to predict misfortune for those who built their palaces "with +the sweat of others." The old-time prophets desired to reduce the rich +to the level of the poor, and a man denuded of all worldly goods was +held up as an ideal to be followed. This naturally necessitated +mendicity, and it was not till some centuries had passed that the +Church herself became reconciled to the possession of riches. Our own +age, however, desires to uplift the poor to the level of the rich, and +a more generous spirit is manifested, in accordance with the progress +made by the science of social reform. Still it is, at bottom, the same +spirit of brotherhood, enlarged and deepened, which now seeks to level +from below upwards instead of from above downwards. Distrust and +suspicion are directed chiefly towards the "New Rich," products of the +war, who have built up their fortunes on the ruin and misery of others, +and to these might be addressed the words of Jesus to the wealthy of +His time--"Be ye faithful stewards"--that is to say, "Make good +investments for the Kingdom of God in the interests of your fellow-men." + +We are witnessing a revival of the "good tidings for the poor," in whom +may be included the whole human community. For the revolution of +to-day differs from that of the simple Galileans, and is of grave and +universal portent, proceeding, as it does, from men who have thought +and suffered, and profited by the disorder and misery of thousands of +years. + +The Gospel is in process of being renovated. All these new churches +and beliefs can only serve to strengthen the great work in which the +"Word" is incarnated. Whether produced by deliberate thought or by +unconscious cerebration, whether professed by "saints" or practised by +"initiates," they hold up a mirror to the soul of contemporary humanity +with all its miseries and doubts; and for this reason, whatever their +nature or origin, they are deserving of sympathetic study. + + +There are great religions and small ones, and as with works of art, we +are apt to find in each, more or less, what we ourselves bring to it. +Jeremiah, when travelling through Ancient Egypt, felt indignation at +the sight of gods with hawks' or jackals' heads; while the touching +confessions of the dead, consigned to papyrus--"I have not killed! I +have not been idle! I have not caused others to weep!"--only drew from +him exclamations of anger and contempt. Herodotus, a century later, +also understood nothing of this world of mysterious tombs, with its +moral teachings thousands of years old, or of the great spiritual +revelation with which the land of the Pharaohs is impregnated. Both +alike--Jeremiah, unmoved by the cruelty and hardness of Jehovah, +Herodotus, oblivious to the sensuality and immorality of his own gods, +who, according to Xenophon, were adepts at thieving and lying--shook +their heads in dismay before the Egyptian symbols. But Plato, on the +contrary, was able to appreciate the harmonious beauty of a divine +Trinity, sublime incarnation of that which is "eternal, unproduced, +indestructible . . . eternally uniform and consistent, and monoeidic +with itself." + +There are, no doubt, many Jeremiahs to-day, but there are also +understanding souls capable of taking an interest in even the most +bizarre manifestations of religious faith. These throw a revelatory +light upon some of the most painful problems of our time, as well as +upon the secret places of the human soul where lurks an ever eager +hope, often frustrated, and alas, often deceived. + + +All religious sects and reformers since the time of Christ have only +succeeded in modifying, renovating, uplifting or debasing the eternal +principles already enunciated by the Son of Man. He it was who founded +the integral religion for all time, but as it permits of the most +varied interpretations, innumerable and widely divergent sects have +been able to graft themselves upon its eternal trunk. After Him, said +Renan--who has been wrongly considered an opponent of Christ--there is +nothing to be done save to develop and to fertilize, for His perfect +idealism is the golden rule for a detached and virtuous life. He was +the first to proclaim the kingdom of the spirit, and has established +for ever the ideal of pure religion; and as His religion is a religion +of _feeling_, all movements which seek to bring about the kingdom of +heaven upon earth can attach themselves to His principles and to His +way of salvation. + +Further, any religious movement which appeals to our higher instincts +must eventually contribute to the triumph of human brotherhood and to +the beautifying of human life--which increases the interest of studying +all attempts at revival and reform. Such a study will prevent us from +being overwhelmed by the uglinesses of life, or from becoming sunk in a +morass of material pleasures, and will open up ways of escape into the +heavenly realms. + +The true teaching of Jesus has, as a matter of fact, never yet been +realised in practice. It holds up an ideal almost unattainable for +mortals, like the light of a fixed star which attracts us in spite of +its unthinkable distance. But we may, perhaps, by roundabout ways, +ultimately succeed in giving a definite form to the Platonic dreams +which ever hover around the shores of our consciousness. Among the +"saints" and "initiates" who work outside the borders of accepted +dogma, there are often to be found some whose originality and real +spiritual worth is not generally recognised, and instead of turning +away from their "visions" and "revelations," we should rather examine +them with close attention. Even if our faith gains nothing, we shall +be sure to pick up psychological treasures which could be turned to the +profit of science. + +We have been re-living, in these recent years, the "desolation" of the +prophets, only that the suffering of the few in former times became +with us the suffering of all. There is the same difference between the +troubles of ancient Judea and those of the modern world, as there is +between her miniature wars and the colossal conflict whose aftermath is +with us still. + +Yet now, as in the time of Isaiah, the nations long for eternal peace, +and the desire for a world more in harmony with man's deepest thoughts +and wishes is one of the dominant causes of religious schism and revolt. + +Let us hope that the world-wide catastrophe that we have witnessed may +yet lead to the realisation of the ideal expressed by Jesus, and by the +ancient prophet before Him:-- + +"And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: +and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears +into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, +neither shall they learn war any more." And again--"The work of +righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness +and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable +habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places." + + +Many are being stirred to new life and action by dreams which hold, in +almost every case, some fragment of the longed-for truth, however +foolish or illogical in expression; and we should in consequence +approach the dreamers with all the sympathy of which we are capable. +Often their countenances are made beautiful by love, and they will, at +the least, provide us with a golden key to the fascinating mysteries of +man's subconscious mind. What though their doctrines vanish from sight +under the scalpel of analysis? It is no small pleasure to contemplate, +and even to examine closely, such delightful phantoms. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Modern Saints and Seers, by Jean Finot + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODERN SAINTS AND SEERS *** + +***** This file should be named 25126.txt or 25126.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/1/2/25126/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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