Dukhobors

“ Echoes came to us of the persecution of the Doukhobors, a Russian religious communistic sect, whose creed bears resemblance to that of the Friends. Like the active revolutionists, these people had suffered flogging, imprisonment, and exile, but in their case for espousing the doctrine of non-resistance. ”

“ The Doukhobors are abstainers from alcohol, non-smokers, and for the most part vegetarians. Communism is with them a religious principle. [11]
The first known apostle of the doctrine of the Doukhobors was a returned soldier, or a German prisoner, who appeared at a village in Ukraina about the year 1740. Therefore the sect is more recent than the kindred body of the Molokans. They are said to have issued a confession of faith in the year 1791. By the end of the eighteenth century they had spread from Moscow to the Volga. ”

“ Dagobert, when his first grief was a little appeased, seemed to gather new vigor from this healthy life of the fields; and, during his exile in Siberia, he had already learned to till the ground. Finally, my dear adopted mother and sister, and Agricola’s good wife, have divided between them the household cares; and God has blessed this little colony of people, who, alas! have been sorely tried by misfortune, and who now only ask of toil and solitude, a quite, laborious, innocent life, and oblivion of great sorrows. ”

“ Music floats in at the open door; seven girls have come to entertain us, sitting on the ledge outside and singing hymns while we eat. For this is a village of Doukhobors.
We have all heard of the little gang of fanatical extremists bearing that name, who now and then make trouble for the police. The members of the Doukhobor community, as a whole, are distressed by such proceedings, for which they are often blamed. The saddler, when we go for the mended girth, expounds their views in quite good English. ”

“ Duchômar begged the maiden to pluck the sword from his breast that he might die; and when she approached him for the purpose, "he seized the sword from her, and slew her."
"Duchômar, most gloomy of men; dark are thy brows and terrible; red are thy rolling eyes ... I love thee not," said Morna; "hard is thy heart of rock, and dark is thy terrible brow."—Ossian, Fingal, i.
Duchran (The laird of) , a friend of Baron Bradwardine.—Sir W. Scott, Waverley (time, George II.) . ”

“ VII.) ; the latter belong almost exclusively to the Dukhobortsy and Molokan sects, expelled by the Russian Church-State from the home provinces of the Russian Empire. The Dukhobortsy must have diminished in numbers to an appreciable extent since the date of these statistics, owing to the recent emigration of large numbers into the bosom of the British Empire (p. 116) .
When one reflects upon the social condition of the country, no circumstance is perhaps more striking than the complete separation of one race from another. ”

“ Men of strong minds, and the veteran was of the number, prefer great perils, positions of danger accurately defined, to the vague anxieties which precede a settled misfortune. Guided by his good sense and admirable devotion, Dagobert understood at once, that his only resource was now in the justice of the burgomaster, and that all his efforts should tend to conciliate the favor of that magistrate. He therefore dried his eyes with the sheet, rose from the ground, erect, calm, and resolute, and said to the orphans: “Fear nothing, my children; it is our deliverer who is at hand.” ”

“ Douglas echoed, in astonishment. “Is that the only answer your Majesty has to make?”
“The only answer, Douglas. What can we do?”
“Do!—blow them to pieces with our guns!” was the reply of the brave Englishman.
Through the open windows of the Palace came the cry of the insurgents—
“We have killed the English in Meerut. Long live the King of Delhi. We have come to restore the Dynasty, to raise the House of Timour, to fight for the Faith!”
The King smiled with satisfaction, and Douglas, seeing the treachery of the King, hurried away to join the other Europeans of the guard. ”

“ I was told that the customs in that barbarian country reminded one of prehistoric times. The prison at Kermineh consists of three deep pits in which swarm pell-mell women, men, and children. On approaching the station we saw fires lighted in tar-barrels, showing two battalions of Bokhara soldiers ranged along the railway-line. In the semi-darkness we could have easily taken these men dressed in Russian-cut uniforms, for Russian soldiers, especially whilst they shouted in chorus loud hurras when my husband appeared at the door of his car. ”

“ CHAPTER IV. MOROK and DAGOBERT
Goliath had not been mistaken, for Dagobert was washing with that imperturbable gravity with which he did everything else.
When we remember the habits of a soldier a-field, we need not be astonished at this apparent eccentricity. Dagobert only thought of sparing the scanty purse of the orphans, and of saving them all care and trouble; so every evening when they came to a halt he devoted himself to all sorts of feminine occupations. ”

“ When the carriage stopped at our door, three women, wrapped up in black veils, stepped out of the chariot and entered our drawing-room. The President’s wife, an outrageously painted young woman, was followed by her little son and two female slaves, a white one and a negress; Turkish ladies of fashion never go out without their attendants. The negress in her scarlet vestment with large printed black flowers reminded me of “Asucena” the Troubadour’s mother. She has been brought over from Stamboul where her mother still resides in the Sultan’s harem. ”

“ The country between Jubbulpoor and Nagpoor is a wild waste. Villages are not met with for miles and miles, the road is stony and uneven, and the jungle thick and dangerous for nearly the whole way. On this account the tract has always been a favourite resort of Thugs, and more affairs have come off in those few marches than perhaps in any other part of the country frequented by us. ”

“ I took advantage [21] of this, to convince him that the town was no safe residence for a traveller, even for a night, and discovered that he was a Persian mootsuddee, or writer in the service of the rajah of Nagpoor, whither he was travelling with his son. I of course alarmed him as much as I could with accounts of the thieves and Thugs on the road, and represented ourselves to be a company of travellers proceeding also to Nagpoor, on our way to the Dukhun, and associated together for mutual protection ”

“ Dagobert shrugged his shoulders, made a bundle of his linen in his handkerchief, dried his soap, and put it carefully into a little oil-silk bag—then, whistling his favorite air of Tirlemont, moved to depart.
The Prophet frowned; he began to fear that his challenge would not be accepted. He advanced a step or so to encounter Dagobert, placed himself before him, as if to intercept his passage, and, folding his arms, and scanning him from head to foot with bitter insolence, said to him: "So! an old soldier of that arch-robber, Napoleon, is only fit for a washerwoman, and refuses to fight!" ”

“ Never, perhaps, had the soldier given to his orphan charge such a proof of tenderness and devotion. For a man of his character to let himself be insulted with impunity, and refuse to fight—the sacrifice was immense.
"So you are a coward—you are afraid of me—and you confess it?"
At these words Dagobert made, as it were, a pull upon himself—as if a sudden thought had restrained him the moment he was about to rush on the Prophet. Indeed, he had remembered the two maidens, and the fatal hindrance which a duel, whatever might be the result, would occasion to their journey. ”

“ There are a thousand little shades, a thousand trifles, which wound the heart, but which it is impossible to notice—"
"What you are now saying, general, quite confounds me," replied Dagobert.
"You assure me of it, and I am forced to believe you."
"Oh, it is intolerable! I was resolved to ease my heart of it; so, this morning, I went to General d'Havrincourt, who was colonel with me in the Imperial Guard; he is honor and honesty itself. I went to him with open heart. 'I perceive,' said I, 'the coldness that is shown me. Some calumny must be circulating to my disadvantage. ”

“ These events cause impurity and hence all the clothes of all the members of the family must be washed when the impurity ceases. In Saugor when a man dies the Dhobi receives eight annas and for a woman four annas, and similar rates in the case of the birth of a male or female child. When the first son is born in a family the Dhobi and barber place a brass vessel on the top of a pole and tie a flag to it as a cloth and take it round to all the friends and relations of the family, announcing the event. They receive presents of grain and money which they expend on a drinking-bout. ”

“ The orphans looked at each other with pride, and a rich crimson mantled their cheeks, as they exclaimed: "Oh, our brave father!"
"Ah, those children," said Dagobert, as he proudly twirled his moustache. "One sees they have soldier's blood in their veins! Well," he continued, "we were now prisoners. The general's last horse had been killed under him; and, to perform the journey, he mounted Jovial, who had not been wounded that day. We arrived at Warsaw, and there it was that the general first saw your mother. She was called the Pearl of Warsaw; that is saying everything. ”

“ In such a position, ought a man to fight about trifles? If he should be killed or put in prison, what would become of them, poor children?”
Dagobert turned towards the person who had pronounced these last words. He saw a stout fellow, with a frank and simple countenance; the soldier offered him his hand, and said with emotion:
“Thank you, sir.”
The German shook cordially the hand, which Dagobert had proffered, and, holding it still in his own, he added: “Do one thing, sir—share a bowl of punch with us. ”

“ I have half a mind to go and fetch him."
"Oh, no, Dagobert! do not leave us alone," cried the maidens; "we are too much afraid."
"Well, the dog is not likely to remain away much longer, and I am sure we shall soon hear him scratching at the door, so we will continue our story," said Dagobert, as he again seated himself near the head of the bed, but this time with his face towards the window.
"Now the general was prisoner at Warsaw," continued he, "and in love with your mother, whom they wished to marry to another. ”

“ Douban, the physician, cured a Greek king of leprosy by some drug concealed in a racket handle. The king gave Douban such great rewards that the envy of his nobles was excited, and his vizier suggested that a man like Douban was very dangerous to be near the throne. The fears of the weak king being aroused, he ordered Douban to be put to death. When the physician saw there was no remedy, he gave the king a book, saying, "On the sixth leaf the king will find something affecting his life." ”

“ Musical talent, however—besides a thorough knowledge of languages—are the least of the accomplishments of this young prince, who is barely out of his “teens.” Under the able [Pg 210] tuition and guardianship of Colonel Deniehy the Maharajah of Dholpore has become a first-rate soldier, an able politician, and a thorough sportsman. His feats of horsemanship on bare-backed Arab horses would rank far above the best performances at Astley’s or Franconi’s.
Yet, strange to say, like all his countrymen, Dholpore has never been out of India—indeed, very seldom crossed the boundaries of his kingdom. ”

“ On the next day Sergy sent a telegram to Vladivostock to the agent of the Volunteer Fleet with inquiries about the fate of the Nijni-Novgorod and received on the same night a reassuring answer that the boat was safe and sound, and had just left Colombo.
Our house is so large that we can easily be lost in it. One of the immense halls is decorated with life-size portraits of our Emperor and the Heir to the throne, under which, on a silver plate, was engraved that His Imperial Highness had stopped in the house during his recent visit to the Orient. ”

“ Dubois gained upon him as a child while his preceptor; he seized upon him as a young man by favouring his liking for liberty, sham fashionable manners and debauchery, and his disdain of all rule. He ruined his heart, his mind, and his habits, by instilling into him the principles of libertines, which this poor prince could no more deliver himself from than from those ideas of reason, truth, and conscience which he always took care to stifle.
Dubois having insinuated himself into the favour of his master in this manner, was incessantly engaged in studying how to preserve his position. ”

“ We had met several bands of such men on our road down to Nagpoor, so that our company presented no extraordinary or suspicious appearance, especially under my father, who looked like a soldier, was always well armed and dressed, rode a fine horse, and on occasions of residing in, or even passing through a city, was always attended by a number of the Thugs as his escort; and his appearance was certainly what he represented himself to be to the Sahoukar. ”

“ In resigning himself thus to play the part of a courtier, Dagobert softened as much as possible his gruff voice, and strove to give to his austere countenance a smiling, agreeable, and flattering expression. "A man like you," he added, with redoubled suavity of manner, "a respectable judge like you, never shuts his ears to one side or the other."
"Ears are not in question, but eyes; and, though mine smart as if I had rubbed them with nettles, I have seen the hand of the brute-tamer, with a frightful wound on it." ”