Page:The Spirit of Russia by T G Masaryk, volume 1.pdf/330

304 of unity is not the issue of questions of grammar or linguistic research

The revolution (1905) brought the Little Russians certain freedoms in the matter of the public use of their tongue, the publication of Little Russian newspapers being permitted, and so on. The program formulated in 1863 by Minister Valuev on the ground that a Little Russian nationality "never has existed, does not exist, and cannot exist," has at least been modified by the government.

The religious question plays a certain part in the matter. The Little Russians of Austria are Uniats whilst those of Russia are Orthodox. Some of the Little Russians in Poland are Uniats.

Among the White Russians the idea of differentiation has originated only in very recent days.

HE Poles lost their political independence much later than the other northern and southern Slavs, and for this reason the national sentiment of the Poles is peculiarly political and is directed towards the re-establishment of the Polish state. This is manifested by the two revolutions against Russia, the country under whose sway the majority of the Poles are now living.

Polish philosophy developed under the influence of the German postkantian philosophy of history, being based in