ther 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