Much of his own preaching he did not himself believe, and he had a secret contempt for those who naively accepted it all.

Not only was he cunning, but he knew he was cunning, and he was conscious that he was playing an assumed part.

And yet perhaps it would be unjust to say that he was merely an impostor exclusively occupied with his own personal advantage.

Though he was naturally a man of sensual tastes, and could not resist convenient opportunities of gratifying them, he seemed to believe that his communistic schemes would, if realised, be beneficial not only to himself, but also to the people.

Altogether a curious mixture of the prophet, the social reformer, and the cunning impostor! Besides the Molokanye, there are in Russia many other heretical sects.
Some of them are simply Evangelical Protestants, like the Stundisti, who have adopted the religious conceptions of their neighbours, the German colonists; whilst others are composed of wild enthusiasts, who give a loose rein to their excited imagination, and revel in what the Germans aptly term "der hohere Blodsinn." I cannot here attempt to convey even a general idea of these fantastic sects with their doctrinal and ceremonial absurdities, but I may offer the following classification of them for the benefit of those who may desire to study the subject: 1.