A Poraoryau Teacher.
not to be considered unclean, h. To be ready for sui- cide by tire for the true faith.
i. The Fedvsijoftchins. — This is the second of the principal sects of the Bez]K)poftchins, which spread with the same rapidity in another part of the country. The principal promoter of it was a deacon i)y the name of Fedosei, a contemporary of Danilo Wiculin. Having removed with his family to Poland, he gathered around him in a short time a number of liaskolnik fugitives from Russia, and founded two abodes, one for males and the other for females, among wliom he acted as priest. He agreed in all points with the Pomoryans, except two, viz.: a. The inscription of "L N. K. L" is to be retained upon the cross, b. The food bought in the markets must be purified by prayer and adoration. These two jioints gave rise to the sect. The efforts of the Pomoryans to form a union will) the Fedosejoft- chins proved unsuccessful, and an open enmity between the two began, which increased just as soon as the Po- moryans commenced to pray for the czar. In the year 1771 they succeeded, at INloscow, in founding a cenobitical establishment, known as the Preobrashensky Cemeterv, which became the principal centre of the sect. The originator, and for tliirty-eight years the head of this institution, was Elijah Alexejew Kowilin, a dealer in bricks and wines. During tiie pestilence at Moscow in 1771, when all the poor workmen who had been there commenced to leave the town to return to their native places, and in that way carried the sickness to all parts of the country, Kowilin, with anotlier merchant, Zen- koff, applied for permission to establish, at their ex- pense, a quarantine on one of the principal roads lead- ing from the city, and with it to connect a cemetery for the burial of those that died. Having received the ))ermission, tliey established a barrier and building for the purpose proposed. He, with others, fed the hungry, nursed the sick, and comforted the dying. The news of the comfort provided by Kowilin spread very rapidly, and, besides the hungry and sick, the people en masse took refuge with him. He, on the other hand, did all he could to instil into the minds of the refngees that this woe from hunger and pestilence was sent upon Moscow by God as a just punishment for the Wikonian heresy, and exhorted them to repent and turn to God. The people, seeing that those dying as orthodox were
A Fedosejoftchin Teacher.
RUSSIAN SECTS
1V6
RUSSIAN SECTS
just thrown into a cart and hurled off. while those under Kowiliii's care were provided with all the necessaries of life, the sacraments in the last hours, and when dead were given a Christian funeral, chose, between the two, the latter, and submitted en masse to rebaptism and the conditions of Kowilin. At the same time, they turned over to Kowilin all their movable and real prop- erty. When the pestilence ceased, he retained many of his adherents and formed a kind of monastery, which, at the commencement of the present century, contained 1500 persons of both sexes. The sect numbered near- ly 10,000 members at Moscow. To perpetuate the in- stitution, he petitioned for assistants under the name of trustees, who were selected from among the members, and were of the richest merchants. The news of the wealth and good order of this establishment and the concern of Kowilin for the good of the Fedosejoftchins raised him in the eyes of the sect in other parts of the land, which by degrees placed all their communities under his protection and made them dependent upon the Preobrashensky Cemetery institution, from which they all began to get their leaders and singers, and bought all their books and ikonas, and to which they continued to send their annual contributions.
3. The Philipjynffchitis. — Besides the general doctrines of the Bezpopoftchins, the Fhilippoftchins hold : a. That only the eight-ended cross without inscription is to be venerated, b. Only the ikonas according to the old stj'le, and painted by themselves, are to be wor- shipped, c. No praj-ers are to be offered for the czar. d. Man and wife are to be separated after having been rebaptized. e. Suicide by fire or hunger is martyrdom for the true faith. This last point exjilains why the Philippoftchins are sometimes also called Samososhi- gately (Self-burners) and Morelshtchiky (Starvation- ists). Even Philip and a number of his followers burned themselves by setting fire to their monastery and re- maining in it. See Philippixs.
4. Among the minor sects are :
(1.) Tilt Pastushkoe, or Adamuntowa. — The origina- tor of this sect was a herdsman of Denlsow, Adam by name. Pastush, in Russian, means herdsman; and this his calling, combined with his name, forms the name of the sect. He censured the Philippins because of their passion for suicide, the Pomoryans on account of their aversion to eat and drink with others; and taught that it was sinful to walk on paved streets, to handle money, and possess passports, because the first is an invention of the Antichrist, and the last two bear the seal and im- print of the same.
(2.) The Spasova, or Kusminichin. — Its founder was Kusma, an illiterate peasant, and his doctrine was called Netovtchina (a word derived from the Russian word net, which means " there is not"), and is used in this form to show that he held that since the time of the correction of the books, and with them the prayers and faith in the orthodox Church, the Antichrist is reigiung, and, consequently, "there is no" grace, no sanctity, no sacraments. He taught that there is noth- ing holy remaining in the world, and that salvation is to be obtained only through the "Spassa," which is the Slavic word for the Russian Spassitel, meaning " Saviour." His followers do not rebaptize those that join them, nor do they always baptize their own chil- dren, believing that the '"Spassa" can save them with- out it. The marriage-tie, where or whenever performed, is with them considered indissoluble; but, with the ap- proach of age, they are forbidden to make use of its rites. They worship only their own ikonas and cross- es, which they always carry with them, and which, therefore, are small and made to fold together. This sect is principally to be found in the districts of Nish- gorod.