that "there is no way to influence them to active revolutionary protest against their oppressors."
There yet remains between the civil authority, or rather between society at large and the Bezpopovtsi, the question of marriage and of family ties. With the rejection of the sacerdotal class the sacrament of marriage was abrogated; this doctrine is common to all the sects, and its conception and application is the chief source of differences among them.
Is marriage absolutely prohibited, and celibacy obligatory upon all, or may not some remedy be devised? Every conceivable variety of opinion has found advocates. The most reasonable and moderate recognize a conjugal tie, which may be created by the blessing of parents, and sanctified by kissing the cross and the Bible in presence of the family and of each other. This form of oath is, for the Russian, the most solemn that can be administered. Others hold that the mutual assent of the bridegroom and bride constitutes a marriage which is valid, but only while this mutual assent exists. Love being in its essence divine, union of hearts can alone authorize union of lives; and this estate is holy so long only as it is consecrated by mutual affection. Ties, thus easily formed, are often durable, for the reason that they are so fragile. A simple mode of life, earnest moral and religious convictions, the force of habit, and the existence of interests in common, tend greatly to mitigate the evils attendant upon a union which mere caprice may dissolve; but, notwithstanding this, and in spite of the glamour of fine phrases and of eloquent disquisitions upon the elevating and purifying influences of free love, such a condition of things is in itself vicious and the cause of vice. Human nature is weak, and carnal passions are strong among simple peasants, as well as in more civilized communities, and give rise to similar abuses.
