kolniks are included, and, by the census of 1871, they number about eleven hundred thousand. This figure is, by all competent authority, rejected as much below the actual truth, and the estimates made by those most capable of judging vary from two to fifteen millions. The Raskolniks do not themselves pretend to know with any degree of accuracy, and only affirm that "they are very numerous."
The government lists embrace only those who have, generation after generation, refused to be enrolled upon the parish registers, and who openly profess to be schismatics. Besides these there are the many who either timidly shun the avowal of their affiliation or who belong secretly to prohibited sects, and they comprise a very numerous class. A Russian writer, about twelve years ago, basing his calculation upon a careful examination of the reports of the Holy Synod regarding the religious condition of the people, arrived at a total of from nine to ten millions. Competent specialists of recent date[1] reckon them at fifteen millions. These latter figures may be excessive, but an estimate of ten or eleven millions is probably not an exaggerated one to-day (1886), and it agrees substantially with such information as can be derived from the Raskolniks themselves. It is certain that their number is rapidly increasing. Figures, however, give but a partial and inadequate idea of the extent and influence of the movement. Apart from those who may be said to be enrolled in its ranks, whether as public professors or as secret adherents, there is a very much larger number who, without actively joining, are in sympathy, more or less earnest, with it. As a general rule,
- ↑ Schédo-Ferroti, "La tolérance et le Schisme religieux en Russie," p. 158, cited by Leroy-Beaulieu, in an article of La Revue des Deux Mondes, Mai 1er, 1875.
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