t 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 fle