Page:Tolstoy - A Great Iniquity.djvu/32

24 now look down upon the men who did these things.

But we are wrong. Amongst us there are many such people; the difference lies only here—that those men of old did these things then in the name of God, and of His true service, whilst now those who commit the same evil amongst us do so in the name of “the people,” “for the true service of the people.” And as amongst the former there were men insanely self-convinced that they knew the truth, and there were others hypocrites taking up their position under the pretext of serving God, and there was a crowd without consideration following the more dexterous and bold, so also now those who do evil in the name of serving the people consist of men insanely self-convinced that they alone know the truth, of hypocrites and of the crowd. Much evil have the self-proclaimed servants of God done in their time, thanks to the teaching which they called Theology, but the servants of the people, thanks to the teaching which they call Science, if they have done less evil it is only because they have not yet had time to do it, but already on their conscience there lie rivers of blood and great divisions and exasperation amongst men.

The features of both these activities are the same.

First, there is the dissolute bad life of the majority of these “servants,” both of God and of the people. (Their calling themselves servants of God or of the people, according to their ideas, frees them from restricting themselves in their conduct.)

The second feature is the utter absence of interest, attention, or love towards that which they desire to serve. God, with these servants of His, has been and is only a banner, whilst in reality these servants of His did not seek