SUICIDAL FANATICISM IN RUSSIA. 443 



of a Eussian saint having been found, the whole state church underwent 

 a revival of religious enthusiasm, in which the schismatics did not 

 share, and which they had nothing to offset. One explanation of the 

 later proceedings is that there was a desire to create a 'holy place' for 

 the Old Believers. The head of the estate at that time was M.-idanie 

 Kovaleff, and the head of the skeet was a woman named Vitalia. The 

 former was an elderly lady, in easy circumstances, simple-minded and 

 benevolent. The latter was 35 or 40 years old, energetic, decided, 

 fanatical, narrow-minded and bigoted. She led and ruled the whole 

 establishment. She practised austerities (or pretended to), read re- 

 ligious books, and interpreted what little she heard of the outside 

 world by the absurdly ignorant and wrong-headed notions of the sect. 

 These facts about her account for her influence. She and one or two 

 of her intimates began to talk of persecution, war, enforced military 

 service and the end of the world. The Old Believers were to be exiled 

 or imprisoned. It was agreed, in this community, that, if they were 

 imprisoned, they would starve themselves. Tlien, however, a new 

 cause of anxiety arose; what would become of their children? They 

 thought that these would be forcibly baptized in the state church, and 

 such a consequence filled them with dismay. 



After Christmas there were rumors that a new national census was 

 to be taken with registration for military service. Vitalia declared 

 that war was imminent, that Anti-Christ was about to appear. .Regis- 

 tration was the seal of Anti-Christ and damnation. It would be far 

 better to die at once by voluntary starvation and so escape all these 

 terrors and persecutions. A girl of thirteen years, acting no doubt on 

 suggestion from Vitalia, first spoke of voluntary interment. She said: 

 'In prison they will torture and kill us. It would be better to bury 

 ourselves.' Her mother replied : 'Your idea is good. I agree with you.' 

 The only able-bodied man who could dig a large hole was Theodore 

 Kovaleff, son of the Madame Kovaleif above mentioned. His wife took 

 up the idea of voluntary burial, l^eferring to the fear that children, 

 if left behind, would be educated in the state church, she pressed her 

 babe to her breast and said: 'I cannot give him up to damnation. I 

 would rather go into the burial pit with him.' Vitalia warmly ap- 

 proved this sentiment. Theodore opposed the project, but his mother 

 favored it, partly on his account, lest he should lose his faith under 

 torture in' prison. Vitalia taught that as many drops as there are in 

 the rain so many years of torture are there in hell for the unfaithful, 

 ]jut the faithful would suffer only two or three days in the burial-pit, 

 and then enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. 



There was some scruple about suicide in the minds of some mem- 

 bers of the group. Voluntary death they considered different. The 



