Page:The Slavs among the nations by T G Masaryk.djvu/29

 The Germans, who accuse the Slavs of aggressive Panslavism, do not hesitate at the same time to make a crime of their anarchism. But this theoretical anarchism is not intolerant or aggressive from the point of view of nationalities. The Slav theorists do not adore the State as do the Germans (witness Hegel); they are, on the contrary, democrats firmly attached to an idea in which they seek the salvation of their people. It is on this point that Russian and Polish Messianism is distinguished from the Pangermanic Messianism, such as de La Garde formulated.

IV.—The same ideal of humanity professed by the Slav philosophers is shown not only in the philosophy of the history of the Slav peoples, but also in their poetry; and poetry is the deepest and sincerest expression of the soul of a nation.

It is interesting to note that love of literature developed almost simultaneously among all the Slav peoples; they awoke to intellectual life almost at the same moment. The poets set themselves to analyse the problems presented to a people just emerged from a