Page:Leo Tolstoy - The Russian Revolution (1907).djvu/42

 Rh teaching in its practical application has never ceased to be, and still continues to be, the chief guide of life.

From the earliest times till now, the Christian understanding of life has manifested, and still manifests, itself among the Russian people in most various traits, peculiar to them alone. It shows itself in their acknowledgment of the brotherhood and equality of all men, of whatever race or nationality; in their complete religious toleration; in their not condemning criminals, but regarding them as unfortunate; in the custom of begging one another's forgiveness on certain days; and even in the habitual use of a form of the word 'forgive' when taking leave of anybody; in the habit not merely of charity towards, but even of respect for beggars which is common among the people; in the perfect readiness (sometimes coarsely shown) for self-sacrifice for anything believed to be religious truth, which was shown and still is shown by those who burn themselves to death, or castrate themselves, and even (as in a recent case) by those who bury themselves alive.

The same Christian outlook always appeared in the relation of the Russian people towards those in power. The people always preferred to submit to power, rather than to share in it. They considered, and consider, the position of rulers to be sinful and not at all desirable. This Christian relation of the Russian people towards life generally, and especially towards those in power, is the third and most important condition which makes it most simple and natural for them at the present juncture to go on living their customary, agricultural, Christian life, without taking any part either in the old power, or in the struggle between the old and the new.

Such are the three conditions, different to those of the Western nations, in which the Russian people find themselves placed at the present important time. These conditions, it would seem, ought to induce them to choose the simplest way out of the difficulty, by not accepting and not submitting to any kind of force-using power. Yet the Russian people, at this difficult and important crisis, do not choose the natural way, but, wavering between Governmental