Thus, we see, there is among the Russian Nonconformist sects what may be called a gradation of fanaticism, in which is reflected the history of the Great Schism.  In the Wanderers we have the representatives of those who adopted and preserved the Antichrist doctrine in its extreme form—­the successors of those who fled to the forests to escape from the rage of the Beast and to await the second coming of Christ.  In the Philipists we have the representatives of those who adopted these ideas in a somewhat softer form, and who came to recognise the necessity of having some regular means of subsistence until the last trump should be heard.  The Theodosians represent those who were in theory at one with the preceding category, but who, having less religious fanaticism, considered it necessary to yield to force and make peace with the Government without sacrificing their convictions.  In the Pomortsi we see those who preserved only the religious ideas of the schism, and became reconciled with the civil power.  Lastly we have the Old Ritualists, who differed from all the other sects in retaining the old ordinances, and who simply rejected the spiritual authority of the dominant Church.  Besides these chief sections of the Nonconformists there are a great many minor denominations (tolki), differing from each other on minor points of doctrine.  In certain districts, it is said, nearly every village has one or two independent sects.  This is especially the case among the Don Cossacks and the Cossacks of the Ural, who are in part descendants of the men who fled from the early persecutions.

Of all the sects the Old Ritualists stand nearest to the official Church.  They hold the same dogmas, practise the same rites, and differ only in trifling ceremonial matters, which few people consider essential.  In the hope of inducing them to return to the official fold the Government created at the beginning of last century special churches, in which they were allowed to retain their ceremonial peculiarities on condition of accepting regularly consecrated priests and submitting to ecclesiastical jurisdiction.  As yet the design has not met with much success.  The great majority of the Old Ritualists regard it as a trap, and assert that the Church in making this concession has been guilty of self-contradiction.  “The Ecclesiastical Council of Moscow,” they say, “anathematised our forefathers for holding to the old ritual, and declared that the whole course of nature would be changed sooner than the curse be withdrawn.  The course of nature has not been changed, but the anathema has been cancelled.”  This argument ought to have a certain weight with those who believe in the infallibility of Ecclesiastical Councils.