Excerpt from Russian Traits and Terrors: A Faithful Picture of the Russia of to-Day

I may state here, what should be obvious enough without any express declaration, that neither these general asser tions nor the facts that I Shall presently bring forward to illustrate and support them, imply anything in the nature of censure or reproach. To blame a people for habits which are the outcome of conditions over which they had practically no control, would argue ignorance of their his tory and of the nature of morality itself. It would be just as reasonable to condemn the moth for eating woollen stuffs, or to wax indignant at the depravity of those female spiders of certain species of Epeirides, who coolly devour the males as soon as the latter have discharged their natural functions, as to allot praise or blame for conduct and principles which are practically as independent of the will of the nation as its physical type. One Should bring to the study of the ways and habits of men, no less than of animals, if the results are to be worth having, a spirit of intelligent curi osity equally free from prejudice and passion. When, therefore, I affirm that a careful survey of the facts of Russian social life warrants - nay, imperatively calls for - the employment of a standard of judgment widely dif ferent from that which we are wont to apply to other European people - the Russians being, as Burke would say, still in the gristle, not yet hardened in the bone of manhood - I merely state a fact which can at worst dis credit their spiritual or political guides, if proved to be the result of their negligence or malice. And even a Slight acquaintance with the facts of the case is sufficient to Show that an abyss divides Russian civilization from that of Western Europe on the one hand, and that this is, to a very considerable extent, the result of what may be termed artificially arrested development on the other.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.