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(English historian, 1818-1894)

The endurance of the inequalities of life by the poor is the marvel of human society.

Savva

(In this strange drama, which might be called a symbolic tragi-*comedy, the Russian writer has set forth the plight of the educated people of his country, confronted by the abject superstition of the peasantry. Savva, a fanatical revolutionist, endeavors to wipe out this superstition by blowing up a monastery full of drunken monks. But the plot is revealed to the monks, who carry out the ikon, or sacred image, before the explosion, and afterwards carry it back into the ruins. The peasants, arriving on the scene and finding the ikon uninjured, hail a supreme miracle; the whole country is swept by a wave of religious frenzy, in the course of which Savva is trampled to death by a mob.

In the following scene Savva argues with his sister, a religious believer. The tramp of pilgrims is heard outside)

(smiling):—The tramp of death!

consider himself happy in killing you, in crushing you like a reptile. Each one of these is your death. Why, they beat a simple thief to death, a horse thief. What would they not do to you? You who wanted to steal their God!
 * —Remember that each one of these would


 * —Quite true. That's property too.

gave you the right to do such a thing? Who gave you
 * —You still have the brazenness to joke? Who