after their leader, gave them pre-eminence among the Bezpopovtsi; about 1772 they founded the establishment of Praobrajenski at Moscow, which, under their skilful and energetic administration, became even more powerful than the neighboring institution of the Popovtsi at Rogojski. The more dangerous doctrines of these violent sectarians, and the greater prosperity attending their efforts, rendered them more liable to the jealous hostility of the public and to the suspicions of the government. Praobrajenski fell, as did Rogojski immediately afterwards; its funds were confiscated; its council was placed under official supervision; its religious edifices were purified and handed over to the clergy of the national Church; only the hospitals and cemeteries were left to the schismatics.
Reconciliation between the Bezpopovtsi on the one side, and the established Church and imperial government on the other, is still, as in the past, rendered more difficult than for the Popovtsi, by the double antagonism which exists, by apparently insurmountable obstacles of both a religious and political character.
Rejection of the priesthood and of the sacraments means utter condemnation of the whole Church, and leads to consequences totally at variance with Christianity, and subversive of all moral principle. Belief in the advent of Antichrist, and in his personal reign, inevitably results in hostility to existing institutions, in revolution, and in anarchy.
How to rightly comprehend the two-sided nature of their own doctrines, and to adjust them to the duties and exigencies of daily life, is the great problem which agitates and divides the numerous sects of the Bezpopovtsi, and the question for the government is not less grave or embarrassing. How can heretics and rebels, of whom
