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Leader (1850-1860), 11th October 1851, Edition Country of 2, Page 19, RONGK ON RUSSIAN ABSOLUTISM AND RELIGIOU...

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      We Have Already, In This Part Of Our Pap...

      erroneous one . Commonly they consider the Russian nation as a raw , ignorant , passive , herd of individuals , as a living mass of zeros , which , attached to the Tsarian unit , give to it an imposing position . This is a downright false idea : the Russian people is not at all so identified with the Tsar , as he and his paid Russian , German , French , and other journalists endeavour to persuade the world . It is the grossest lie when we read that every morning sixty-five millions of people pray for the Tsar , or that a ukaze of the autocrat finds unconditional credit from the banks of the Vistula to the Pacific Ocean . Nobody , indeed cares for it , and the Tsar himself is conscious

      of that fact . The agricultural , commercial , and trade ' people , as well as the bond men , the so-called black people , are split into more than 200 religious sects , which all bear a political character , and are unanimous in condemning the present order of things , and consider the regime of the Tsar as that of the Anti-Christ . These sects , some of which have even a communistic tendency , the community of property and of wives not excluded , are spread over the whole empire up to the Ural , and are the more fanatical as they are exceeding oppressed . Catherine II . of disgusting memory , persecuted them so relentlessly , that many communities set fire to their own with their wives

      villages , and precipitated themselves and children into the flames , thus to escape submission to the orthodox church , and the ukazes of the Empress . Alexander I . left these dissenters pretty well at peace ; Nicholas favours , from calculating motives , the priests of the state Church , and publicly feigns to be the most pious man of the empire . He resumed the persecution to a fearful extent , expelling many thousands of families , especially those belonging to the sect called the " Dookhobortsee , " * from eastern , central , and southern Russia to the steppes of Siberia , to the arid mountains of Imeritia , without , however , succeeding to entice them to disown their creed ; in short , without attaining anything , but rendering the propaganda of

      those sects more fanatical and effectual . To give an idea of the hatred of these sectarians towards the state Church , we quote the following instance . A young Dookhoborets made a journey ( by foot , of course ) of one thousand miles to St . Petersburg , merely for the sake of slapping the rubicond face of the metropolitan , he being the chief of the state Church . And there is an indefinite number of examples of the sectarians profaning the Lord ' s Supper ; as , for instance , their running into the inimical churches , and spitting on the holy wafers . After this , we may judge whether the " whole of the Russian People acknowledges the Tsar to be the Lieutenant of our Lord , and whether sixty-five millions pray every morning for him . "

      But there is one point in which the people , whether orthodox or sectarian , unanimously agreeviz ., the circumstance , that they each and all equally share in the bond of slavery , and that they strive to release themselves from it . Do not suppose that the Russian peasant is not conscious of deserving a better fate , a fate more in harmony with his human dignity ; nor is he less conscious that the soil he cultivates for the exclusive benefit of the Tsar , the state , or his master , is really his own . ( To be continued . )

      (Drgnnptos Af Tiff Fctfe, Political And Social.

      ( 0 rgrnii ? tttos af tiff $ rapfe , POLITICAL AND SOCIAL .

      Oct. 11, 1851.] Zfte Ht&Ktv. 975

      Oct . 11 , 1851 . ] Zfte Ht & KtV . 975

      * At The Same Time He Pretends To Tolera...

      * At the same time he pretends to tolerate every other religion and sect ; and under the head of " Freedom of Conscience" the following provisions are made in the " Collection of Laws , " made in virtue of a ukaze of his Majesty the Emperor Nicholas Pavlovich ; edition of 18-12 , in 15 volume *) . I . Freedom of Conscience . A free practice of all religions is unrestrictivcly conceded to all subjects , consequently also to the peasants ( vol . xiv . § 87 ) . Hence it is prohibited to debate about religious matters , and to quarrel or exercise outrages ( Ibid . $ 39 ) . The reigning religion is the Greoo-RuHsiaii , but the Sectarians in their bosom are not

      persecuted ; they are only forbidden to allure others over to their religious opinions ( vol . x . § GO ) . It is forbidden to every individual belonging to the Russian creed to pass over U ) another , should it even be to a Christian one ( vol . xii . $ 172 ) . But no obstacles whatever ought to be put in the way of those persons to / to would wish to enter the bosom of the Urcco- Russian Church ( vol . xii . § 170 ) . When a peasant takes an oath , it is always according to the custom of his own creed . Separate Christian sects , as the Moravian Brothers and t he Dook / iobortsee , are even dispensed from the taking of judicial oaths , thoir religious opinions being opposed to it ( vol . x . § 2382 , & c , and vol . xiv . $ 79 ) .

      III . Observance of Church Customs . Kvery countryman belonging to the Greek Church is obliijed to go at least once u year to the Lord's Supper ( voi . xii . $ 107 ) . Children of both sexes ought to attend likewise once a year to this rclwious custom , from their Beventh year ( vol . xii . $ 108 ) . The priests in the ¦ village are bound to watcli that the parishioners keep the iiungt'H of Sainta in good order ( vol . xiv . $ 120 ) . The pt-uKiinta ought to keen tho Sundays and other holidays , not only as duyH ot recreation and rest , but chiefly for _ piety ' s sake . They are , therefore , ordered to uBHist ut tlivine service , and to avoid on those days , more than on any others , drink , and any other extravagancies ivol . * u . $ 170 , huU Annun » g <> lUgulftUouB , vol . iv . $ 1 ) .

      National Charter Association—A Letter Fr...

      National Charter Association—A letter from Mr . Julian Harriey , containing an account of his progress in Scotland , was read at the meeting of the Executive on Wednesday . He has been visiting , between September 26 and 30 , Dumbarton , Alexandria , Vale of Leven , Hamilton , and " Wishaw . He speaks of forming new associations at Alexandria and Wishaw . The aggregate monthly meeting of the metropolitan members of the National Charter ^ Association was held on Sunday afternoon , October 5 th , at the South London-hall . Mr . C . F . Nicholls , of the Hoxton locality , having been called to the chair , explained the objects of the meeting , and called on the secretaries present to report the present state of their localities , when Mr . Fox well reported from

      Greenwich , Mr . Baker from Bermondsey , Mr . Bush from Hoxton , Mr- Fennell from Finsbury , Messrs . Peltret and H . T . Holyoake from Victoria-park , Mr . Henry Nicholls from Chelsea , and Mr . Fairow from Cripplegate . The reports , taken as a whole , were of an encouraging character . The Chairman read the address from the Executive , and strongly impressed on the meeting the necessity of responding thereto . Mr . Osborn moved , and Mr . Fennell seconded" That it is expedient that the Metropolitan Delegate Council be forthwith reformed . " After some discussion an amendment was agreed to , adjourning the question to Sunday , November 2 , to which day t ~ he meeting adjourned , then to meet at the Literary and Scientific Institution , Leicester-place , Little Saffron-hill .

      Mr . Thornton Hunt s lectures iw Manchester . —On October 5 , Mr . Thornton Hunt delivered two lectures in the Institution , Old Garratt , Manchester—one on ** The Practical Possibilities of bettering the condition of the People at once ; " one on The spirit in which successful popular Movements must be conducted . " The Prefatory Pieces , morning and evening , were read by Mr . Holyoake . Thomas Cooper's Lecturing Tour . —For the

      further information of pertinacious querists , we may state that , communications intended to reach Mr . Cooper next Monday , should be addressed , Swire ' s Temperance Hotel , Keighley , Yorkshire ; " next Tuesday or Wednesday , " Post-office , Staleybridge , Lancashire ; " next Thursday or Friday , " Postoffice , St . Helen ' s , Lancashire ; " next Saturday , or Sunday the 19 th instant , " Care of Mr . Abel Hey-¦ yvood , Bookseller , Manchester . " We trust this is explicit .

      Redemption Society . —Great preparations are being made to secure a large and comfortable meeting on the 20 th , to celebrate the third harvest-home of the Community in Wales . The Reverend E . R . Larken , M . A ., will preside , and Thornton Hunt , Esq . and E . V . Neale , Esq ., are expected to address the meeting . An account of the farming operations , crops , & c , will be read at the festival . A meeting will be held on Wednesday , October 8 , to enrol shareholders and appoint managers for the " Redemption Society ' s Cooperative Store . " Moneys received for the week : —Leeds , £ 1 13 s . 4 , Jd . ; Huddersfield , per Mr . Biddle , 18 a . ; Birstal . per Mr . Sands , £ 1 ; Halifax , per Mr . Buckle , £ 3 3 s . 2 d . ; Manchester , per Mr . Bloomer , ls . lOd . ; Hyde , per Mr . Bradley , £ 1 3 a . lOd . Building Fund : —Leeds , 2 s . 6 d . ; Halifax , £ l lls . Gd . ; Manchester , 2 s . ; Hyde , lls . Gd . Propagandist Fund : — 8 s . 8 Ad . —J . Henderson , Secretary .

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      There In No Learned Man But Will Confess...

      There in no learned man but will confess he hath much prollted by reading controversies hio hciihob awakened and his judgment s harpened . It , then , it bo proM . ublo for 11 m to read , why should it not , at leant , be tolerable lor hia udveraary to wnto . —Milton

      Rongk On Russian Absolutism And Religiou...

      RONGK ON RUSSIAN ABSOLUTISM AND RELIGIOUS PROGRESS IN EUROPE Lower Mount-cottago , Lower Heath , Out . 4 , 1851 . Sih , —Tho Emperor of Russia had tt remarkable ccwwutiou with the CathgUg Bishops of Poland , w

      1849 , just before he sent his barbarous hordes into Hungary to save the falling house of Hapsburg . The head of European Absolutism feared a Polish insurrection if his armed slaves were beaten by the Hungarian army of liberty ; and he -was , therefore , most anxious to secure the services of the Catholic clergy of Poland , and through , their agency the blind obedience of the Catholic people . He promised to protect their creed , which he said was endangered in the West of Europe . Amongst other things the Russian

      despot remarked to the Bishops : — " These innovators are the greatest insurrectionists . They have invented a new Catholic creed . Faith has disappeared in the West ; the true faith lives only in Russia . All disturbances and revolutions have their cause only in the deficiency of faith . I shall , therefore , lend all my aid to check this flood of infidelity and insurrection . " Though the ill-famed kiss which Nicholas gave to the Pope during his stay at Rome—and which certainly was not in the spirit of Schiller ' s fraternal sentiment—

      " Seid umschlungen , Millionen Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt , " Be embraced , ye millions all , This one kiss to all the world , — announced to Europe the league between the heads of absolutism and Jesuitry ; even then , the abovementioned words , and still more the deeds , of the northern Autocrat since 1849 , gave corroborative proof of its existence . Should any one still question the holy alliance between Cossackism and Popery ,

      the late ominous events in the centre of Europe , the suppression of the Reformation , and the abolition or nullification of the constitutions of Austria and Prusia must , I should think , settle all doubt for ever . It was the Jesuitico-Russian party , who , through their organ , " Die Kreuzzeitung , or the cross-emblazoned journal of that holy alliance , " hounded on the Prussian Ministry to suppress the free congregations , and sweep away every vestige of them ; it was the Hapsburg dynasty , notoriously moved by the same evil influence , that abrogated the Austrian

      constitution . They who are unacquainted with the fundamental ideas and principles of the Free Congregations may feel astonishment that the Emperor of all the Russias should deem it necessary to threaten to send his Cossack hosts to put down a band of'religious Reformers . A noble enterprise , truly ! The riddle is , however , easily solved . The instinct of Nicholas found out that spiritual slavery is the sure basis of a political yoke , and that a nation , intellectually blighted by castes of privileged priests with their dead-letter creeds and forms , and whose free religious thought is condemned as a sin against God and a sacrifice to the

      devil , is as an easy prey . Now , the Greek and Catholic Churches have the identical tenets of the pagan Christianity of Asia . Their common fundamental doctrine is the moral and intellectual incapacity and perversion of man , and their very first moral law is a blind obedience to prelates , popes , and princes , as the vicegerents of God on earth . The Pope and tho Czar are by principle , as well as interest , natural allies against all free nations and all efforts for the improvement of mankind . Protestantism , on the other hand , being a growth of the European mind , three centuries ago cast off much of the pagan spirit of this Asiatic creed , and opened b y the doctrine ,

      that , man can raise himself without priestly mediation to God , the free path to religious progress and a nobler knowledge of the Creater . The Free Church of Germany building on the conquered ground of Protestantism , abjured all Asiatic and despotic forms of Christianity , and with them all hierarchy and priestcraft . It declares humanity to be an issue of God , an image of the Divine ideal . Its very first tenet proclaims the unfettered dignity of , and its first morul precept enjoins a sacred respect for , thia dignity in man . It inculcates a love which is begotten by a recognition of the equal rights of all ;

      and it is manifest that nations arrived at this advanced stage of spiritual knowledge , must consider it a religious duty to resist all efforts of despots , princes , or priests , to trample on their native liberties . Tho Czar , who has been kept well informed , by his agents , of tho principles of the new Reformation , and who must have observed that they are the intellectual property of the larger part of the refined of all civilized nations , had some reuson to fear them as dangerous to tho rule of the knout , and termed this Buperior creed of tho Went the Flood of Infidelity . "

      We might smile at tho bombast of the Czar , and at Ilia championship of Popery , did wo not know that there was uinongut all nations of Europe a powerful organization of priests , whoso interest it ia to keep the People , and especially tho youth , in intellectual slavery . They prepare the way for Russian despotism . Cos » acki » m would never have succeeded in penetrating bo far into civilized Europe , if there had not been a privileged oasteof priests to keep down tho national intellect , mid to put out , rh far us it lies in them , tho divino spark , reason . Ia this way only could tho formidable threat of the Czar be partially carried out , and it will bo still more , if wo do not offor an earnest and effective resistance . Russia i » now paramouut iu ( he contw *) i Europe , mid Hussion

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 11, 1851, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_11101851/page/19/