Page:Russian Church and Russian Dissent.djvu/272

Rh and without fear of the knout, of the stake, or of the sword."

These injunctions to secrecy, common to all the mystical sects, together with the absence of all written testimony, explain why the existence of these communities remained so long unknown, and why, when it was first suspected, so little could be ascertained regarding them; the difficulty of detection was moreover enhanced by the fact that their disciples were ostensibly members of the established Church, and conformed strictly to its rites and regulations.

As has been the case with other secret bodies, the Khlysti have been accused of immoral and licentious practices; most probably, in recent days, these accusations are not unfounded, but when reprehensible excesses exist they are an incidental, not a necessary, consequence of their teachings, and may not be adduced as the attraction to which is due the rapid extension of the sect. In meetings of mystic enthusiasts there are always appeals to sensuous excitement, and appearances are often deceitful; similar suspicions were aroused against the agapæ of the early Christians. Exuberance of language and gesture, ardent and voluptuous expressions, tender and affectionate imagery, are resorted to, often involuntarily, as a means of quickening mental perceptions, kindling the imagination, and awakening the soul to holy ecstasy; even when the bounds of decency are passed it is with ulterior purpose, and not as an end.

Many of these Russian sectaries have, like their prototypes of old, or their modern Anglo-Saxon brethren, adopted violent and continuous corporal exercise as a part of their ritual. Dancing in some form, as well as singing, is an habitual ceremony. With the Khlysti a whirling rotatory movement, similar to that of Mahom- 17