Page:Russian Church and Russian Dissent.djvu/310

Rh at different times by various motives, now acting simply in defence of political and social interests, and, again, solicitous for the welfare of the Church and the advancement of religion. It had no fixed, permanent policy, and adopted no clear or well-defined system of legislation. Authoritative enactments, dictated by the presumed necessities of the moment, or by the caprice of the sovereign, followed one upon another, the last abrogating or modifying the preceding. Such laws as did exist were arbitrarily applied, altered by special instructions, and tampered with by venal officials.

The emperor Nicholas, for the first time, ordered a special investigation of the subject, and was amazed at the extent and influence of the movement, which, with his accustomed energy and decision, he attempted to regulate with a view to its entire suppression. A secret commission was charged with the affairs appertaining to the Raskol, and administered them under ordinances framed by itself, but never publicly promulgated. Dissenters of every creed and denomination, subjected to regulations of which they were frequently left in ignorance until enforced, became a defenceless prey to the cupidity of government employees and to the rancorous hostility of the lower clergy. Such of them as belonged to the peasant class were inhibited from holding positions of trust in the rural districts; those who were traders or merchants were excluded from mercantile guilds, and deprived of the privileges of their order. A Raskolnik could not testify in courts of justice against an Orthodox; he was not allowed to change his residence without permission, and was forbidden to leave the empire; the erection of new churches and the repairing of the old ones were prohibited.

To these severe and legally authorized restrictions was