Page:Russian Church and Russian Dissent.djvu/176

Rh lutely forbidden to the one and equally obligatory upon the other, interposes an impassable barrier between the two bodies. A constant struggle, seldom openly avowed, but none the less ardent for that reason, is going on, the chosen few seeking to maintain their superiority, the others, who comprise the great body of the Church militant; striving to rise from their inferior condition, and be free from control. As a consequence of this species of dualism in the Church, there are influences and tendencies at work in opposite directions; the black clergy is the more conservative, sympathizing with the principle of authority and the maintenance of ancient customs and traditions, while the white is inclined to liberalism, and is more ready to yield to the spirit of innovation and progress.

Monasticism has, since its introduction into Russia, been a prominent feature in the history, and in the civilization of the empire and of the people, but in its nature and influence it has been, and is, widely different from the same institution in the rest of Europe. It has always been simple and primitive in its character, preserving still the same unity as at its origin, without change or variety in its development; in form, similar to that known in the West during the Middle Ages, prior to the days of St. Bernard, never branching out, nor subdividing, into many denominations or orders, each with a special object or mission. It has lacked enterprise, and mental, moral, or spiritual energy; it has aimed at a contemplative life, at asceticism, penitence, and the correction of the inner man; it has sought retirement for meditation and prayer; it has withdrawn from, and renounced, the world, and its ideal of the perfect life has been that of the anchorite in the desert, or of the Stylite on his pillar; its communities have not been created, as in the West, for union in the struggle with evil, nor for works 11