,,the ,,complete ,,works ,,of ,,count ,,tolst,y ,,volume ,,xx4 ,illustration3 ,the ,yellow ,peril ,photogravure after ,original ,design by ,emperor ,william ,,ii4 ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god ,,is ,,within ,,you ,,christianity ,,and ,,patriotism ,,miscellanies ,by ,,count ,,lev ,n4 ,,tolst,y ,translated from the ,original ,russian and ,edited by ,,leo ,,wiener ,assistant ,professor of ,slavic ,languages at ,harvard ,university ,illustration3 ,tolstoy ,,boston--,,dana ,,estes ,,company--,,publishers ,,edition ,,de ,,luxe ,limited to ,one ,thousand ,copies1 of which this is ,no4 ,copyright1 #aije ,,by ,,dana ,,estes ,,company ,entered at ,stationers' ,hall ,colonial ,press3 ,electrotyped and ,printed by ,c4 ,h4 ,simonds ,co41 ,boston1 ,mass41 ,u4 ,s4 ,a4 ,,contents ,,page ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god ,,is ,,within ,,you #a ,,christianity ,,and ,,patriotism #cha ,,reason ,,and ,,religion #dei ,,patriotism ,,or ,,peace #dfg ,,letter ,,to ,,ernest ,,howard ,,crosby #dha ,,introductions ,,to ,,books ,a4 ,,stockham',s ,,tokology #dii ,,amiel',s ,,diary #eja ,s4 ,t4 ,,sem,,nov',s ,,peasant ,,stories #ejf ,,works ,,of ,,guy ,,de ,,maupassant #eji ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,,page ,,the ,,yellow ,,peril 7p4 #dgg7 ,frontispiece ,,william ,,lloyd ,,garrison #f ,,russian ,,peasants ,,at ,,mass #ge ,,church ,,of ,,vas,,li ,,the ,,blessed1 ,,moscow #he ,,mal,,vannians #cie ,,alexander ,,iii4 #ddi ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god ,,is ,,within ,,you ,or1 ,christianity ,not as a ,mystical ,teaching but as a ,new ,concept of ,life #ahic ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god ,,is ,,within ,,you ,or1 ,christianity ,not as a ,mystical ,teaching but as a ,new ,concept of ,life ,and ye shall know the truth1 and the truth shall make you free 7,john viii4 #bc74 ,and fear not them which kill the body1 but are not able to kill the soul3 but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell 7,matt4 x4 #bh74 ,ye are bought with a price2 be not ye the servants of men 7#a4 ,cor4 vii4 #bc74 ,in the year #ahhd ,i wrote a book under the title1 ,my ,religion4 ,in this book ,i really expounded what my religion is4 ,in expounding my belief in ,christ's teaching1 ,i could not help but express the reason why ,i do not believe in the ecclesiastic faith1 which is generally called ,christianity1 and why ,i consider it to be a delusion4 ,among the many deviations of this teaching of ,christ1 ,i pointed out the chief deviation1 namely1 the failure to acknowledge the commandment of non-resistance to evil1 which more obviously than any other shows the distortion of ,christ's teaching in the church doctrine4 ,i knew very little1 like the rest of us1 as to what had been done and preached and written in former days on this subject of non-resistance to evil4 ,i knew what had been said on this subject by the fathers of the church1 ,origen1 ,tertullian1 and others1 and ,i knew also that there have existed certain so-called sects of the ,mennonites1 ,herrnhuters1 ,quakers1 who do not admit for a ,christian the use of weapons and who do not enter military service1 but what had been done by these so-called sects for the solution of this question was quite unknown to me4 ,my book1 as ,i expected1 was held back by the ,russian censor1 but1 partly in consequence of my reputation as a writer1 partly because it interested people1 this book was disseminated in manuscripts and lithographic reprints in ,russia and in translations abroad1 and called forth1 on the one hand1 on the part of men who shared my views1 a series of references to works written on the subject1 and1 on the other1 a series of criticisms on the thoughts expressed in that book itself4 ,both1 together with the historical phenomena of recent times1 have made many things clear to me and have brought me to new deductions and conclusions1 which ,i wish to express4 ,first ,i shall tell of the information which ,i received concerning the history of the question of non-resistance to evil1 then of the opinions on this subject which were expressed by ecclesiastic critics1 that is1 such as profess the ,christian religion1 and also by laymen1 that is1 such as do not profess the ,christian religion2 and finally1 those deductions to which ,i was brought by both and by the historical events of recent times4 ,i4 ,among the first answers to my book there came some letters from the ,american ,quakers4 ,in these letters1 which express their sympathy with my views concerning the unlawfulness for ,christianity of all violence and war1 the ,quakers informed me of the details of their so-called sect1 which for more than two hundred years has in fact professed ,christ's teaching about non-resistance to evil1 and which has used no arms in order to defend itself4 ,with their letters1 the ,quakers sent me their pamphlets1 periodicals1 and books4 ,from these periodicals1 pamphlets1 and books which they sent me ,i learned to what extent they had many years ago incontestably proved the obligation for a ,christian to fulfil the commandment about non-resistance to evil and had laid bare the incorrectness of the church teaching1 which admitted executions and wars4 ,having proved1 by a whole series of considerations and texts1 that war1 that is1 the maiming and killing of men1 is incompatible with a religion which is based on love of peace and good-will to men1 the ,quakers affirm and prove that nothing has so much contributed to the obscuration of ,christ's truth in the eyes of the pagans and impeded the dissemination of ,christianity in the world as the non-acknowledgment of this commandment by men who called themselves ,christians1--as the permission granted to a ,christian to wage war and use violence4 ,christ's teaching1 which entered into the consciousness of men1 not by means of the sword and of violence1 they say1 but by means of non-resistance to evil1 can be disseminated in the world only through humility1 meekness1 peace1 concord1 and love among its followers4 ,a ,christian1 according to the teaching of ,god ,himself1 can be guided in his relations to men by peace only1 and so there cannot be such an authority as would compel a ,christian to act contrary to ,god's teaching and contrary to the chief property of a ,christian in relation to those who are near to him4 ,the rule of state necessity1 they say1 may compel those to become untrue to ,god's law1 who for the sake of worldly advantages try to harmonize what cannot be harmonized1 but for a ,christian1 who sincerely believes in this1 that the adherence to ,christ's teaching gives him salvation1 this rule can have no meaning4 ,my acquaintance with the activity of the ,quakers and with their writings1--with ,fox1 ,paine1 and especially with ,dymond's book 7#ahbg71--showed me that not only had the impossibility of uniting ,christianity with violence and war been recognized long ago1 but that this incompatibility had long ago been proved so clearly and so incontestably that one has only to marvel how this impossible connection of the ,christian teaching with violence1 which has been preached all this time by the churches1 could have been continued4 ,besides the information received by me from the ,quakers1 ,i1 at about the same time1 received1 again from ,america1 information in regard to the same subject from an entirely different source1 which had been quite unknown to me before4 ,the son of ,william ,lloyd ,garrison1 the famous champion for the liberation of the negroes1 wrote to me that1 when he read my book1 in which he found ideas resembling those expressed by his father in #ahch1 he1 assuming that it might be interesting for me to know this1 sent me the ,declaration of ,non-resistance1 which his father had made about fifty years ago4 ,illustration3 ,william ,lloyd ,garrison ,photogravure from ,photograph ,this declaration had its origin under the following conditions3 ,william ,lloyd ,garrison1 in speaking before a society for the establishment of peace among men1 which existed in ,america in #ahch1 about the measures for abolishing war1 came to the conclusion that the establishment of universal peace could be based only on the obvious recognition of the commandment of non-resistance to evil 7,matt4 v4 #ci7 in all its significance1 as this was understood by the ,quakers1 with whom ,garrison stood in friendly relations4 ,when he came to this conclusion1 he formulated and proposed to the society the following declaration1 which was then1 in #ahch1 signed by many members4 ,,declaration ,,of ,,sentiments ,,adopted ,,by ,,the ,,peace ,,convention1 ,,held ,,in ,,boston ,,in #ahch ,we1 the undersigned1 regard it as due to ourselves1 to the cause which we love1 to the country in which we live1 and to the world1 to publish a ,declaration1 expressive of the principles we cherish1 the purposes we aim to accomplish1 and the measures we shall adopt to carry forward the work of peaceful and universal reformation4 ,we cannot acknowledge allegiance to any human government4444 ,we recognize but one ,king and ,lawgiver1 one ,judge and ,ruler of mankind4444 ,our country is the world1 our countrymen are all mankind4 ,we love the land of our nativity1 only as we love all other lands4 ,the interests1 rights1 and liberties of ,american citizens are no more dear to us than are those of the whole human race4 ,hence we can allow no appeal to patriotism1 to revenge any national insult or injury4444 ,we conceive1 that if a nation has no right to defend itself against foreign enemies1 or to punish its invaders1 no individual possesses that right in his own case4 ,the unit cannot be of greater importance than the aggregate4444 ,but if a rapacious and bloodthirsty soldiery1 thronging these shores from abroad1 with intent to commit rapine and destroy life1 may not be resisted by the people or magistracy1 then ought no resistance to be offered to domestic troublers of the public peace1 or of private security4444 ,the dogma1 that all the governments of the world are approvingly ordained of ,god1 and that the powers that be in the ,united ,states1 in ,russia1 in ,turkey1 are in accordance with ,his will1 is not less absurd than impious4 ,it makes the impartial ,author of human freedom and equality unequal and tyrannical4 ,it cannot be affirmed that the powers that be1 in any nation1 are actuated by the spirit1 or guided by the example of ,christ1 in the treatment of enemies3 therefore1 they cannot be agreeable to the will of ,god3 and1 therefore1 their overthrow1 by a spiritual regeneration of their subjects1 is inevitable4 ,we register our testimony1 not only against all wars1 whether offensive or defensive1 but all preparations for war2 against every naval ship1 every arsenal1 every fortification2 against the militia system and a standing army2 against all military chieftains and soldiers2 against all monuments commemorative of victory over a foreign foe1 all trophies won in battle1 all celebrations in honour of military or naval exploits3 against all appropriations for the defence of a nation by force and arms on the part of any legislative body2 against every edict of government1 requiring of its subjects military service4 ,hence1 we deem it unlawful to bear arms1 or to hold a military office4 ,as every human government is upheld by physical strength1 and its laws are enforced virtually at the point of the bayonet1 we cannot hold any office which imposes upon its incumbent the obligation to do right1 on pain of imprisonment or death4 ,we therefore voluntarily exclude ourselves from every legislative and judicial body1 and repudiate all human politics1 worldly honours1 and stations of authority4 ,if we cannot occupy a seat in the legislature1 or on the bench1 neither can we elect others to act as our substitutes in any such capacity4 ,it follows that we cannot sue any man at law1 to compel him by force to restore anything which he may have wrongfully taken from us or others2 but1 if he has seized our coat1 we shall surrender up our cloak1 rather than subject him to punishment4 ,we believe that the penal code of the old covenant1 ,an eye for an eye1 and a tooth for a tooth1 has been abrogated by ,jesus ,christ2 and that1 under the new covenant1 the forgiveness1 instead of the punishment of enemies1 has been enjoined upon all ,his disciples1 in all cases whatsoever4 ,to extort money from enemies1 or set them upon a pillory1 or cast them into prison1 or hang them upon a gallows1 is obviously not to forgive1 but to take retribution4444 ,the history of mankind is crowded with evidences1 proving that physical coercion is not adapted to moral regeneration2 that the sinful disposition of man can be subdued only by love2 that evil can be exterminated from the earth only by goodness2 that it is not safe to rely upon an arm of flesh 444 to preserve us from harm2 that there is great security in being gentle1 harmless1 long-suffering1 and abundant in mercy2 that it is only the meek who shall inherit the earth1 for the violent1 who resort to the sword1 shall perish with the sword4 ,hence1 as a measure of sound policy1 of safety to property1 life1 and liberty1 of public quietude1 and private enjoyment1 as well as on the ground of allegiance to ,him who is ,king of kings1 and ,lord of lords1 we cordially adopt the non-resistance principle2 being confident that it provides for all possible consequences1 will ensure all things needful to us1 is armed with omnipotent power1 and must ultimately triumph over every assailing foe4 ,we advocate no jacobinical doctrines4 ,the spirit of jacobinism is the spirit of retaliation1 violence1 and murder4 ,it neither fears ,god1 nor regards man4 ,we would be filled with the spirit of ,christ4 ,if we abide by our principles1 it is impossible for us to be disorderly1 or plot treason1 or participate in any evil work3 we shall submit to every ordinance of man1 for the ,lord's sake2 obey all the requirements of government1 except such as we deem contrary to the commands of the gospel2 and in no wise resist the operation of law1 except by meekly submitting to the penalty of disobedience4 ,but1 while we shall adhere to the doctrines of non-resistance and passive submission to enemies1 we purpose1 in a moral and spiritual sense1 to speak and act boldly in the cause of ,god2 to assail iniquity in high places and in low places2 to apply our principles to all existing civil1 political1 legal1 and ecclesiastical institutions2 and to hasten the time when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our ,lord and of ,his ,christ1 and ,he shall reign for ever4 ,it appears to us as a self-evident truth1 that1 whatever the gospel is designed to destroy1 any period of the world1 being contrary to it1 ought now to be abandoned4 ,if1 then1 the time is predicted1 when swords shall be beaten into ploughshares1 and spears into pruning-hooks1 and men shall not learn the art of war any more1 it follows that all who manufacture1 sell1 or wield these deadly weapons do thus array themselves against the peaceful dominion of the ,son of ,god on earth4 ,having thus briefly1 but frankly1 stated our principles and purposes1 we proceed to specify the measures we propose to adopt1 in carrying our object into effect4 ,we expect to prevail through the foolishness of preaching--striving to commend ourselves unto every man's conscience1 in the sight of ,god4 ,from the press1 we shall promulgate our sentiments as widely as practicable4 ,we shall endeavour to secure the coperation of all persons1 of whatever name or sect4444 ,hence we shall employ lectures1 circulate tracts and publications1 form societies1 and petition our ,state and national governments in relation to the subject of universal peace4 ,it will be our leading object to devise ways and means for effecting a radical change in the views1 feelings1 and practices of society respecting the sinfulness of war1 and the treatment of enemies4 ,in entering upon the great work before us1 we are not unmindful that1 in its prosecution1 we may be called to test our sincerity1 even as in a fiery ordeal4 ,it may subject us to insult1 outrage1 suffering1 yea1 even death itself4 ,we anticipate no small amount of misconception1 misrepresentation1 calumny4 ,tumults may arise against us4 ,the ungodly and the violent1 the proud and pharisaical1 the ambitious and tyrannical1 principalities and powers1 and spiritual wickedness in high places1 may combine to crush us4 ,so they treated the ,messiah1 whose example we are humbly striving to imitate4444 ,we shall not be afraid of their terror1 neither be troubled4 ,our confidence is in the ,lord ,almighty1 not in man4 ,having withdrawn from human protection1 what can sustain us but that faith which overcomes the world8 ,we shall not think it strange concerning the fiery ordeal which is to try us1 as though some strange thing had happened unto us2 but rejoice1 inasmuch as we are partakers of ,christ's sufferings4 ,wherefore1 we commit the keeping of our souls to ,god1 in well-doing1 as unto a faithful ,creator4 ',for every one that forsakes houses1 or brethren1 or sisters1 or father1 or mother1 or wife1 or children1 or lands1 for ,christ's sake1 shall receive an hundredfold1 and shall inherit everlasting life4' ,firmly relying upon the certain and universal triumph of the sentiments contained in this ,declaration1 however formidable may be the opposition arrayed against them1 in solemn testimony of our faith in their divine origin1 we hereby affix our signatures to it2 commending it to the reason and conscience of mankind1 giving ourselves no anxiety as to what may befall us1 and resolving1 in the strength of the ,lord ,god1 calmly and meekly to abide the issue4 99 99 99 99 99 ,immediately after this declaration ,garrison founded a society of non-resistance1 and a periodical1 called ,the ,non-,resistant1 in which was preached the doctrine of non-resistance in all its significance and with all its consequences1 as it had been expressed in the ,declaration4 ,the information as to the later fate of the society and the periodical of non-resistance ,i received from the beautiful biography of ,william ,lloyd ,garrison1 written by his sons4 ,the society and the periodical did not exist long3 the majority of ,garrison's collaborators in matters of freeing the slaves1 fearing lest the too radical demands1 as expressed in ,the ,non-,resistant1 might repel people from the practical work of the liberation of the negroes1 refused to profess the principle of non-resistance1 as it had been expressed in the ,declaration1 and the society and the periodical ceased to exist4 ,this ,declaration by ,garrison1 which so powerfully and so beautifully expressed such an important profession of faith1 ought1 it seems1 to have startled men and to have become universally known and a subject of wide discussion4 ,but nothing of the kind happened4 ,it is not only unknown in ,europe1 but even among the ,americans1 who so highly esteem ,garrison's memory1 this declaration is almost unknown4 ,the same ingloriousness has fallen to the share of another champion of non-resistance to evil1 the ,american ,adin ,ballou1 who lately died1 and who preached this doctrine for fifty years4 ,how little is known of what refers to the question of non-resistance may be seen from the fact that ,garrison's son1 who has written an excellent biography of his father in four volumes1 this son of ,garrison1 in reply to my question whether the society of non-resistance was still in existence1 and whether there were any followers of it1 answered me that so far as he knew the society had fallen to pieces1 and there existed no followers of this doctrine1 whereas at the time of his writing1 there lived in ,hopedale1 ,massachusetts1 ,adin ,ballou1 who had taken part in ,garrison's labours and had devoted fifty years of his life to the oral and printed propaganda of the doctrine of non-resistance4 ,later on ,i received a letter from ,wilson1 a disciple and assistant of ,ballou1 and entered into direct communication with ,ballou himself4 ,i wrote to ,ballou1 and he answered me and sent me his writings4 ,here are a few extracts from them3 ,jesus ,christ is my ,lord and ,master1 says ,ballou in one of the articles1#a in which he arraigns the inconsistency of the ,christians who recognize the right of defence and war4 ,i have covenanted to forsake all and follow ,him1 through good and evil report1 until death4 ,but ,i am nevertheless a ,democratic-,republican citizen of the ,united ,states1 implicitly sworn to bear true allegiance to my country1 and to support its ,constitution1 if need be1 with my life4 ,jesus ,christ requires me to do unto others as ,i would that others should do unto me4 ,the ,constitution of the ,united ,states requires me to do unto twenty-seven hundred slaves 7there were slaves then1 now we may put the working people in their place7 the very contrary of what ,i would have them do unto me1 viz41 assist to keep them in a grievous bondage4444 ,but ,i am quite easy4 ,i vote on4 ,i help govern on4 ,i am willing to hold any office ,i may be elected to under the ,constitution4 ,and ,i am still a ,christian4 ,i profess on4 ,i find no difficulty in keeping covenant both with ,christ and the ,constitution4444 #a ,in ,the ,non-,resistant1 ,vol4 i41 ,no4 #d1 ,hopedale1 ,milford1 ,mass41 ,feb4 #ae1 #ahde4 ,jesus ,christ forbids me to resist evil-doers by taking 'eye for eye1 tooth for tooth1 blood for blood1 and life for life4' ,my government requires the very reverse1 and depends1 for its own self-preservation1 on the halter1 the musket1 and the sword1 seasonably employed against its domestic and foreign enemies4 ,accordingly1 the land is well furnished with gibbets1 prisons1 arsenals1 train-bands1 soldiers1 and ships-of-war4 ,in the maintenance and use of this expensive life-destroying apparatus1 we can exemplify the virtues of forgiving our injurers1 loving our enemies1 blessing them that curse us1 and doing good to those that hate us4 ,for this reason1 we have regular ,christian chaplains to pray for us1 and call down the sins of ,god on our holy murderers4444 ,i see it all2 and yet ,i insist that ,i am as good a ,christian as ever4 ,i fellowship all2 ,i vote on2 ,i help govern on2 ,i profess on2 and ,i glory in being at once a devoted ,christian1 and a no less devoted adherent to the existing government4 ,i will not give in to those miserable non-resistant notions4 ,i will not throw away my political influence1 and leave unprincipled men to carry on government alone4444 ,the ,constitution says1 ',congress shall have power to declare war4'444 ,i agree to this4 ,i endorse it4 ,i swear to help carry it through4444 ,what then1 am ,i less a ,christian8 ,is not war a ,christian service8 ,is it not perfectly ,christian to murder hundreds of thousands of fellow human beings2 to ravish defenceless females1 sack and burn cities1 and exact all the other cruelties of war8 ,out upon these new-fangled scruples6 ,this is the very way to forgive injuries1 and love our enemies6 ,if we only do it all in true love1 nothing can be more ,christian than wholesale murder6 ,in another pamphlet1 under the title1 ,how ,many ,does ,it ,take8#b he says1 ,how many does it take to metamorphose wickedness into righteousness8 ,one man must not kill4 ,if he does1 it is murder4 ,two1 ten1 one hundred men1 acting on their own responsibility1 must not kill4 ,if they do1 it is still murder4 ,but a state or nation may kill as many as they please1 and it is no murder4 ,it is just1 necessary1 commendable1 and right4 ,only get people enough to agree to it1 and the butchery of myriads of human beings is perfectly innocent4 ,but how many men does it take8 ,this is the question4 ,just so with theft1 robbery1 burglary1 and all other crimes4444 ,but a whole nation can commit it4444 ,but how many does it take8#c #b ,not a pamphlet1 but an article in ,the ,non-,resistant1 ,vol4 i4 ,no4 #d1 and very imperfectly quoted by ,tolsty4 #c ,to this ,tolsty adds1 on his own responsibility3 ,why must one1 ten1 one hundred men not violate ,god's law1 while very many may8 ,here is ,ballou's catechism1 composed for his flock 7,the ,catechism of ,non-,resistance#d73 #d ,translated freely1 with some omissions4--,author's ,note4 ,i fail to find this ,catechism in any of ,ballou's writings accessible in and about ,boston4 ,the nearest approach to these questions and answers is found scattered throughout his ,christian ,non-,resistance1 in ,its ,important ,bearings1 ,illustrated and ,defended1 ,philadelphia1 #ahdf4 ,q4 ,whence originated the term non-resistance8 ,a4 ,from the injunction1 ,resist not evil1 ,matt4 v4 #ci4 ,q4 ,what does the term signify8 ,a4 ,it expresses a high ,christian virtue1 prescribed by ,christ4 ,q4 ,is the word resistance to be taken in its widest meaning1 that is1 as showing that no resistance whatever is to be shown to evil8 ,a4 ,no1 it is to be taken in the strict sense of the ,saviour's injunction2 that is1 we are not to retaliate evil with evil4 ,evil is to be resisted by all just means1 but never with evil4 ,q4 ,from what can we see that ,christ in such cases prescribed non-resistance8 ,a4 ,from the words which ,he then used4 ,he said1 ,ye have heard that it hath been said1 ,an eye for an eye1 and a tooth for a tooth4 ,but ,i say unto you that ye resist not evil2 but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek1 turn to him the other also4 ,and if any man will sue thee at the law1 and take away thy coat1 let him have thy cloak also4 ,q4 ,to whom does ,jesus refer in the words1 ,it has been said8 ,a4 ,to the patriarchs and prophets1 to what they said1--to what is contained in the writings of the ,old ,testament1 which the ,jews generally call the ,law and the ,prophets4 ,q4 ,what injunctions did ,christ mean by ,it hath been said8 ,a4 ,those injunctions by which ,noah1 ,moses1 and other prophets authorize men to inflict personal injury on injurers1 in order to punish and destroy evil4 ,q4 ,quote these precepts4 ,a4 ,whoso sheddeth man's blood1 by man shall his blood be shed3 for in the image of ,god made ,he man 7,gen4 ix4 #f74 ,he that smiteth a man1 so that he die1 shall be surely put to death1 and if any mischief follow1 then thou shalt give life for life1 eye for eye1 tooth for tooth1 hand for hand1 foot for foot1 burning for burning1 wound for wound1 stripe for stripe 7,ex4 xxi4 #ab1 #bc-be74 ,and he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death4 ,and if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour2 as he hath done1 so shall it be done to him3 breach for breach1 eye for eye1 tooth for tooth3 as he hath caused a blemish in a man1 so shall it be done to him again 7,lev4 xxiv4 #ag1 #ai1 #bj74 ,and the judges shall make diligent inquisition3 and1 behold1 if the witness be a false witness1 and hath testified falsely against his brother2 then shall ye do unto him1 as he had thought to have done unto his brother3 and thine eye shall not pity2 but life shall go for life1 eye for eye1 tooth for tooth1 hand for hand1 foot for foot 7,deut4 xix4 #ah1 #ai1 #ba74 ,these are the precepts of which ,jesus is speaking4 ,noah1 ,moses1 and the prophets taught that he who kills1 maims1 and tortures his neighbours does evil4 ,to resist such evil and destroy it1 the doer of evil is to be punished by death or maiming or some personal injury4 ,insult is to be opposed to insult1 murder to murder1 torture to torture1 evil to evil4 ,thus taught ,noah1 ,moses1 and the prophets4 ,but ,christ denies it all4 ,but ,i say unto you1 it says in the ,gospel1 that ye resist not evil1 resist not an insult with an insult1 but rather bear the repeated insult from the doer of evil4 ,what was authorized is prohibited4 ,if we understand what kind of resistance they taught1 we clearly see what we are taught by ,christ's non-resistance4 ,q4 ,did the ancients authorize the resistance of insult with insult8 ,a4 ,yes2 but ,jesus prohibited this4 ,a ,christian has under no condition the right to deprive of life or to subject to insult him who does evil to his neighbour4 ,q4 ,may a man kill or maim another in self-defence8 ,a4 ,no4 ,q4 ,may he enter a court with a complaint1 to have his insulter punished8 ,a4 ,no2 for what he is doing through others1 he is in reality doing in his own person4 ,q4 ,may he fight with an army against enemies1 or against domestic rebels8 ,a4 ,of course not4 ,he cannot take any part in war or warlike preparations4 ,he cannot use death-dealing arms4 ,he cannot resist injury with injury1 no matter whether he be alone or with others1 through himself or through others4 ,q4 ,may he choose or fit out military men for the government8 ,a4 ,he can do nothing of the kind1 if he wishes to be true to ,christ's law4 ,q4 ,may he voluntarily give money1 to aid the government1 which is supported by military forces1 capital punishment1 and violence in general8 ,a4 ,no1 if the money is not intended for some special object1 just in itself1 where the aim and means are good4 ,q4 ,may he pay taxes to such a government8 ,a4 ,no2 he must not voluntarily pay the taxes1 but he must also not resist their collection4 ,the taxes imposed by the government are collected independently of the will of the subjects4 ,it is impossible to resist the collection1 without having recourse to violence2 but a ,christian must not use violence1 and so he must give up his property to the violence which is exerted by the powers4 ,q4 ,may a ,christian vote at elections and take part in a court or in the government8 ,a4 ,no2 the participation in elections1 in the court1 or in the government1 is a participation in governmental violence4 ,q4 ,in what does the chief significance of the doctrine of non-resistance consist8 ,a4 ,in that it alone makes it possible to tear the evil out by the root1 both out of one's own heart and out of the neighbour's heart4 ,this doctrine forbids doing that by which evil is perpetuated and multiplied4 ,he who attacks another and insults him1 engenders in another the sentiment of hatred1 the root of all evil4 ,to offend another1 because he offended us1 for the specious reason of removing an evil1 means to repeat an evil deed1 both against him and against ourselves1--to beget1 or at least to free1 to encourage1 the very demon whom we claim we wish to expel4 ,satan cannot be driven out by ,satan1 untruth cannot be cleansed by untruth1 and evil cannot be vanquished by evil4 ,true non-resistance is the one true resistance to evil4 ,it kills and finally destroys the evil sentiment4 ,q4 ,but1 if the idea of the doctrine is right1 is it practicable8 ,a4 ,it is as practicable as any good prescribed by the ,law of ,god4 ,the good cannot under all circumstances be executed without self-renunciation1 privation1 suffering1 and1 in extreme cases1 without the loss of life itself4 ,but he who values life more than the fulfilment of ,god's will is already dead to the one true life4 ,such a man1 in trying to save his life1 shall lose it4 ,besides1 in general1 where non-resistance costs the sacrifice of one life1 or the sacrifice of some essential good of life1 resistance costs thousands of such sacrifices4 ,non-resistance preserves1 resistance destroys4 ,it is incomparably safer to act justly than unjustly2 to bear an insult than to resist it with violence1--it is safer even in relation to the present life4 ,if all men did not resist evil with evil1 the world would be blessed4 ,q4 ,but if only a few shall act thus1 what will become of them8 ,a4 ,if only one man acted thus1 and all the others agreed to crucify him1 would it not be more glorious for him to die in the triumph of non-resisting love1 praying for his enemies1 than to live wearing the crown of ,csar1 bespattered with the blood of the slain8 ,but one or thousands who have firmly determined not to resist evil with evil1 whether among the enlightened or among savage neighbours1 are much safer from violence than those who rely on violence4 ,a robber1 murderer1 deceiver1 will more quickly leave them alone than those who resist with weapons4 ,they who take the sword perish with the sword1 and those who seek peace1 who act in a friendly manner1 inoffensively1 who forget and forgive offences1 for the most part enjoy peace or1 if they die1 die blessed4 ,thus1 if all kept the commandment of non-resistance1 it is evident that there would be no offences1 no evil deeds4 ,if these formed a majority1 they would establish the reign of love and good-will1 even toward the ill-disposed1 by never resisting evil with evil1 never using violence4 ,if there were a considerable minority of these1 they would have such a corrective1 moral effect upon society that every cruel punishment would be abolished1 and violence and enmity would be changed to peace and love4 ,if there were but a small minority of them1 they would rarely experience anything worse than the contempt of the world1 and the world would in the meantime1 without noticing it1 and without feeling itself under obligation1 become wiser and better from this secret influence4 ,and if1 in the very worst case1 a few members of the minority should be persecuted to death1 these men1 dying for the truth1 would leave behind them their teaching1 which is already sanctified by their martyr's death4 ,peace be with all who seek peace1 and all-conquering love be the imperishable inheritance of every soul1 which voluntarily submits to the ,law of ,christ3 ,resist not evil4 ,in the course of fifty years1 ,ballou wrote and edited books dealing mainly with the question of non-resistance to evil4 ,in these works1 which are beautiful in their lucidity of thought and elegance of expression1 the question is discussed from every possible side4 ,he establishes the obligatoriness of this commandment for every ,christian who professes the ,bible as a divine revelation4 ,he adduces all the customary retorts to the commandment of non-resistance1 both from the ,old ,testament and from the ,new1 as1 for example1 the expulsion from the temple1 and so forth1 and all these are overthrown2 he shows1 independently of ,scripture1 the practical wisdom of this rule1 and adduces all the objections which are usually made to it1 and meets all these objections4 ,thus one chapter of a work of his treats of non-resistance to evil in exclusive cases1 and here he acknowledges that1 if there were cases when the application of non-resistance to evil were impossible1 this would prove that the rule is altogether untenable4 ,in adducing these special cases1 he proves that it is precisely in them that the application of this rule is necessary and rational4 ,there is not a single side of the question1 either for his followers or for his adversaries1 which is not investigated in these works4 ,i say all this1 in order to show the unquestionable interest which such works ought to have for men who profess ,christianity1 and that1 therefore1 one would think ,ballou's activity ought to have been known1 and the thoughts expressed by him ought to have been accepted or refuted2 but there has been nothing of the kind4 ,the activity of ,garrison the father1 with his foundation of a society of non-resistants and his declaration1 convinced me even more than my relations with the ,quakers1 that the departure of state ,christianity from ,christ's law about non-resistance to evil is something that has been observed and pointed out long ago1 and that men have without cessation worked to arraign it4 ,ballou's activity still more confirmed this fact to me4 ,but the fate of ,garrison and especially of ,ballou1 who is not known to any one1 in spite of his fifty years of stubborn and constant work in one and the same direction1 has also confirmed to me the other fact1 that there exists some kind of unexpressed but firm understanding as to passing all such attempts in silence4 ,ballou died in ,august1 #ahij1 and his obituary was given in an ,american periodical with a ,christian tendency 7,religio-,philosophical ,journal1 ,august #bc;d74 ,in this eulogistic obituary it says that ,ballou was a spiritual guide of a community1 that he delivered between eight and nine thousand sermons1 married one thousand pairs1 and wrote about five hundred articles1 but not a word is said about the aim to which he devoted all his life1--the word non-resistance is not even used4 ,like all that which the ,quakers have been preaching for two hundred years1 like the activity of ,garrison the father1 the foundation of his society and periodical1 and his declaration1 so ,ballou's whole activity does not seem to have existed at all4 ,a striking example of such an ingloriousness of writings intended to elucidate non-resistance to evil1 and to arraign those who do not recognize this commandment1 is found in the fate of the book by the ,bohemian ,chelcick1 which has but lately become known and has so far not yet been printed4 ,soon after the publication of my book in ,german1 ,i received a letter from a professor of the ,prague ,university1 which informed me of the existence of a still unpublished work by the ,bohemian ,chelcick1 of the fifteenth century1 by the name of ,the ,drawnet of ,faith4 ,in this work1 as the professor wrote me1 ,chelcick about four centuries ago expressed the same view in regard to the true and the false ,christianity1 which ,i had expressed in my work1 ,my ,religion4 ,the professor wrote to me that ,chelcick's work was for the first time to be published in ,bohemian in the periodical of the ,st4 ,petersburg ,academy of ,sciences4 ,as ,i was unable to procure the work itself1 ,i tried to become acquainted with what was known of ,chelcick1 and such information ,i got from a ,german book sent me by the same ,prague professor1 and from ,ppin's ,history of ,bohemian ,literature4 ,this is what ,ppin says3 ,the ,drawnet of ,faith is that teaching of ,christ which is to draw man out from the dark depths of the sea of life and its untruths4 ,true faith consists in believing in ,god's words2 but now there has come a time when men consider the true faith to be heresy1 and so reason must show wherein the true faith consists1 if one does not know it4 ,darkness has concealed it from men1 and they do not know ,christ's true law4 ,to explain this law1 ,chelcick points out the original structure of ,christian society1 which1 he says1 is now regarded as rank heresy by the ,roman ,church4 ,this primitive church was his own ideal of a social structure1 based on equality1 freedom1 and brotherhood4 ,christianity1 according to ,chelcick1 still treasures these principles1 and all that is necessary is1 that society should return to its pure teaching1 and then any other order1 in which kings and popes are needed1 would seem superfluous3 in everything the law of love alone is sufficient4 ,historically ,chelcick refers the fall of ,christianity to the times of ,constantine the ,great1 whom ,pope ,sylvester introduced into ,christianity with all the pagan customs and life4 ,constantine1 in his turn1 invested the ,pope with worldly wealth and power4 ,since then both powers have been aiding one another and have striven after external glory4 ,doctors and masters and the clergy have begun to care only for the subjugation of the whole world to their dominion1 have armed men against one another for the purpose of murdering and plundering1 and have completely destroyed ,christianity in faith and in life4 ,chelcick absolutely denies the right to wage war and administer capital punishment2 every warrior and even 'knight' is only an oppressor1 malefactor1 and murderer4 ,the same1 except for some biographical details and excerpts from ,chelcick's correspondence1 is said in the ,german book4 ,having thus learned the essence of ,chelcick's teaching1 ,i with much greater impatience waited for the appearance of ,the ,drawnet of ,faith in the journal of the ,academy4 ,but a year1 two1 three years passed1 and the book did not appear4 ,only in #ahhh ,i learned that the printing of the book1 which had been begun1 had come to a stop4 ,i got the proof-sheets of as much as had been printed1 and ,i read the book4 ,the book is in every respect remarkable4 ,the contents are quite correctly rendered by ,ppin4 ,chelcick's fundamental idea is this1 that ,christianity1 having united with the power in the time of ,constantine and having continued to develop under these conditions1 has become absolutely corrupt and has ceased to be ,christianity4 ,the title ,the ,drawnet of ,faith1 was given by ,chelcick to his work1 because1 taking for his motto the verse of the ,gospel about calling the disciples to become fishers of men1 ,chelcick1 continuing this comparison1 says1 ,christ by means of ,his disciples caught in ,his drawnet of faith the whole world1 but the larger fish1 tearing the net1 jumped out of it1 and through the holes1 which these larger fish had made1 all the others went away1 and the net was left almost empty4 ,the large fish that broke through the net are the rulers1 emperors1 popes1 kings1 who1 in not renouncing their power1 did not accept ,christianity1 but its semblance only4 ,chelcick taught what has been taught until the present by the ,mennonites and ,quakers1 and what in former years was taught by the ,bogomils1 ,paulicians1 and many others4 ,he teaches that ,christianity1 which demands from its followers meekness1 humility1 kindness1 forgiveness of sins1 the offering of the other cheek when one cheek has been smitten1 love of enemies1 is incompatible with violence1 which forms an indispensable condition of power4 ,a ,christian1 according to ,chelcick's interpretation1 can not only not be a chief or a soldier1 but cannot even take part in the government1 be a merchant or even a landowner2 he can be only an artisan or an agriculturist4 ,this book is one of the extremely few that have survived the auto-da-fs of books in which the official ,christianity is arraigned4 ,all such books1 which are called heretical1 have been burned together with the authors1 so that there are very few ancient works which arraign the departure of official ,christianity1 and so this book is especially interesting4 ,but besides being interesting1 no matter how we look upon it1 this book is one of the most remarkable productions of thoughts1 as judged by the depth of its contents1 and the wonderful force and beauty of the popular language1 and its antiquity4 ,and yet this book has for more than four centuries remained unprinted1 and continues to be unknown1 except to learned specialists4 ,one would think that all these kinds of works1 by the ,quakers1 and ,garrison1 and ,ballou1 and ,chelcick1 which assert and prove1 on the basis of the ,gospel1 that our world comprehends ,christ's teaching falsely1 ought to rouse interest1 agitation1 discussions1 in the midst of the pastors and of the flock4 ,works of this kind1 which touch on the essence of the ,christian teaching1 ought1 it seems1 to be analyzed and recognized as true1 or to be rejected and overthrown4 ,but nothing of the kind has happened4 ,one and the same thing is repeated with all these works4 ,people of the most different views1 both those who believe and1 what is most surprising1 those who are unbelieving liberals1 seem to have an agreement to pass them stubbornly in silence1 and all that has been done by men to elucidate the true meaning of ,christ's teaching remains unknown or forgotten4 ,but still more startling is the ingloriousness of two works1 of which ,i learned also in connection with the appearance of my book4 ,these are ,dymond's book ,on ,war1 published for the first time in ,london1 in #ahbd1 and ,daniel ,musser's book ,on ,non-,resistance1 written in #ahfd4 ,the ignorance about these two books is particularly remarkable1 because1 to say nothing of their worth1 both books treat not so much of the theory as of the practical application of the theory to life1 of the relation of ,christianity to military service1 which is particularly important and interesting now1 in connection with the universal liability to do military service4 ,people will1 perhaps1 ask3 ,what are the duties of a subject1 who believes that war is incompatible with his religion1 but of whom the government demands a participation in military service8 ,it seems that this is a very living question1 one1 the answer to which is particularly important in connection with the military service of the present time4 ,all1 or a vast majority of men1--,christians1--all males1 are called on to perform military service4 ,what must a man1 as a ,christian1 answer in reply to this demand8 ,dymond's answer is as follows3 ,it is his duty1 mildly and temperately1 yet firmly1 to refuse to serve4 ,there are some persons1 who1 without any determinate process of reasoning1 appear to conclude that responsibility for national measures attaches solely to those who direct them2 that it is the business of governments to consider what is good for the community1 and that1 in these cases1 the duty of the subject is merged in the will of the sovereign4 ,considerations like these are1 ,i believe1 often voluntarily permitted to become opiates of the conscience4 ',i have no part1' it is said1 'in the councils of the government1 and am not therefore responsible for its crimes4' ,we are1 indeed1 not responsible for the crimes of our rulers1 but we are responsible for our own2 and the crimes of our rulers are our own1 if1 whilst we believe them to be crimes1 we promote them by our coperation4 ,but those who suppose that obedience in all things is required1 or that responsibility in political affairs is transferred from the subject to the sovereign1 reduce themselves to a great dilemma4 ,it is to say that we must resign our conduct and our consciences to the will of others1 and act wickedly or well1 as their good or evil may preponderate1 without merit for virtue1 or responsibility for crime4 ,what is remarkable is this1 that precisely the same is expressed in the instruction to the soldiers1 which they are made to learn by rote3 it says there that only the general is responsible for the consequences of his command4 ,but this is not true4 ,a man cannot shift the responsibility for his acts4 ,and this may be seen from what follows3 ,if the government direct you to fire your neighbour's property1 or to throw him over a precipice1 will you obey8#e ,if you will not1 there is an end of the argument1 for if you may reject its authority in one instance1 where is the limit to rejection8 ,there is no rational limit but that which is assigned by ,christianity1 and that is both rational and practicable4 #e ,tolsty's translation from the ,english1 which is generally loose1 here departs entirely from the text4 ,tolsty writes3 ,if a chief direct you to kill your neighbour's child1 or your father1 or your mother1 will you obey8 ,we think1 then1 that it is the business of every man1 who believes that war is inconsistent with our religion1 respectfully1 but steadfastly1 to refuse to engage in it4 ,let such as these remember that an honourable and an awful duty is laid upon them4 ,it is upon their fidelity1 so far as human agency is concerned1 that the cause of peace is suspended4 ,let them be willing to avow their opinions and to defend them4 ,neither let them be contented with words1 if more than words1 if suffering also1 is required4 ,if you believe that ,jesus ,christ has prohibited slaughter1 let not the opinion or the commands of a world induce you to join in it4 ,by this 'steady and determinate pursuit of virtue1' the benediction which attaches to those who hear the sayings of ,god and do them1 will rest upon you1 and the time will come when even the world will honour you1 as contributors to the work of human reformation4 ,musser's book is called ,non-,resistance ,asserted2 or1 ,kingdom of ,christ and ,kingdom of ,this ,world ,separated1 #ahfd4f #f ,a thorough search through bibliographies1 catalogues1 and libraries has failed to reveal such a book or such an author1 and as ,tolsty speaks above of the book as being written1 it may be that ,tolsty had a manuscript before him4 ,the book is devoted to the same question1 which it analyzes in relation with the demand made by the government of the ,united ,states on its citizens as regards military service during that ,civil ,war1 and it has the same contemporary importance1 in that it analyzes the question as to how and under what conditions men must and can refuse to do military service4 ,in the introduction the author says3 ,it is well known that in the ,united ,states there are many people who consciously deny war4 ,they are called 'non-resistant' or 'defenceless' ,christians4 ,these ,christians refuse to defend their country or to bear arms1 or to engage1 at the request of the government1 in war against its enemies4 ,until now this religious cause has been respected by the government1 and those who professed it were excused from service4 ,but with the beginning of our civil war public opinion has been wrought up by this state of affairs4 ,naturally1 people who consider it their duty to bear all the burdens and perils of a military life for the defence of their country feel harsh toward those who for a long time have with them enjoyed the protection and the advantages of the government1 but in time of necessity and danger do not wish to share in bearing the labours and dangers in its defence4 ,it is also natural for the condition of such men to be considered irrational1 monstrous1 and suspicious4 ,many orators and writers1 says the author1 have raised their voice against this state and have tried to prove the injustice of non-resistance from common sense and from ,scripture2 and this is quite natural1 and in many cases these authors are right1--they are right in relation to those persons who1 declining the labours connected with military service1 do not decline the advantages which they receive from the governments1--but they are not right in relation to the principle of non-resistance itself4 ,first of all the author proves the obligatoriness of the rule of non-resistance for every ,christian in that it is clear and that it is given to a ,christian beyond any possibility of misinterpretation4 ,judge yourselves whether it is right to obey man more than ,god1 said ,peter and ,john4 ,similarly every man who wants to be a ,christian must act in relation to the demand that he should go to war1 since ,christ has told him1 ,resist not evil with violence4 ,with this the author considers the question as to principle itself completely solved4 ,the author analyzes in detail the other question as to whether persons1 who do not decline the advantages which are obtained through the violence of government1 have a right to refuse to do military service1 and comes to the conclusion that a ,christian1 who follows ,christ's law and refuses to go to war1 can just as little take part in any governmental affairs1--either in courts or in elections1--nor can he in private matters have recourse to power1 police or court4 ,then the book proceeds to analyze the relation of the ,old ,testament to the ,new1--the significance of government for non-,christians2 there are offered objections to the doctrine of non-resistance1 and these are refuted4 ,the author concludes his book with the following3 ,christ chose ,his disciples in the world1 he says4 ,they do not expect any worldly goods or worldly happiness1 but1 on the contrary1 everlasting life4 ,the spirit in which they live makes them satisfied and happy in every situation4 ,if the world tolerates them1 they are always satisfied4 ,but if the world will not leave them in peace1 they will go elsewhere1 since they are wanderers on the earth and have no definite place of abode4 ,they consider that the dead can bury the dead1--they need but one thing1 and that is to follow their teacher4 ,without touching the question whether the duty of a ,christian in relation to war1 as established in these two books1 is correct or not1 it is impossible not to see the practical importance and urgency of the solution of this question4 ,there are some people1--hundreds of thousands of ,quakers1--and all our ,spirit ,wrestlers and ,milkers1 and people belonging to no definite sects1 who assert that violence--and so military service--is not compatible with ,christianity1 and therefore every year several recruits in ,russia refuse to do military service on the basis of their religious convictions4 ,what does the government do8 ,does it excuse them8 ,no4 ,does it compel them to serve1 and1 in case of a refusal1 punish them8 ,no4 ,in #ahah the government acted as follows4 ,here is an excerpt1 which is almost unknown in ,russia1 from a diary by ,n4 ,n4 ,muravv-,krski1 which was not sanctioned by the censor4 ,,tiflis1 ,october #b1 #ahah4 ,in the morning the commandant told me that lately five manorial peasants from the ,government of ,tmbov had been sent to ,georgia4 ,these men had been sent to the army1 but they refused to serve2 they have been flogged several times and have been sent between the rows1 but they gladly undergo the most cruel torments and are prepared for death1 if only they can avoid serving4 ',send us away1' they say1 'and do not touch us2 we shall not touch any one4 ,all men are equal and the ,tsar is just such a man as we are4 ,why should we pay him tribute8 ,why should ,i subject my life to danger in order to kill in war a man who has done me no wrong8 ,you may cut us into small pieces1 but we will not change our ideas1 we will not put on the military cloak1 and will not eat rations4 ,he who will pity us will give us an alms1 but we have nothing belonging to the ,crown and we want nothing4' ,such are the words of these peasants1 who assert that there is a large number like them in ,russia4 ,they have four times been taken before the ,committee of ,ministers1 and it was finally decided to refer the matter to the ,tsar1 who commanded that they be sent to ,georgia to mend their ways1 and ordered the commander-in-chief to report to him every month concerning the gradual success in turning these peasants to the proper ideas4 ,it is not known how this improvement ended1 just as nothing is known of the whole episode1 which was kept a profound secret4 ,thus the government acted seventy-five years ago1--thus it has acted in the vast majority of cases1 which are always cautiously concealed from the people4 ,thus it acts even at present1 except in relation to the ,german ,mennonites1 who live in the ,government of ,khersn1 for their refusal to do military service is heeded and they are made to serve their time in connection with forestry work4 ,in the late cases of refusal to do military service in consequence of religious convictions1 other than those of the ,mennonites1 the authorities have acted as follows3 ,at first they use all means of violence employed in our time for the purpose of mending them and bringing them back to the proper ideas1 and the whole matter is kept a profound secret4 ,i know that in the case of one man in ,moscow1 who in #ahhd refused to serve1 they wrote up voluminous documents two months after his refusal1 and these were kept in the ministry as the greatest secret4 ,they generally begin by sending the one who refuses to the priests1 who1 to their shame be it said1 always admonish the person refusing4 ,but since the admonition1 in the name of ,christ1 to renounce ,christ is generally fruitless1 the refusing person is after the admonition by the clergy sent to the gendarmes4 ,the gendarmes1 finding nothing of a political nature in the case1 generally return him1 and then the refusing person is sent to the learned1 to the physicians1 and into the insane asylum4 ,in all these recommitments the refuser1 who is deprived of his liberty1 undergoes all kinds of humiliations and sufferings1 like a condemned criminal4 7,this was repeated in four cases47 ,the physicians dismiss the refuser from the insane asylum1 and then begin all kinds of secret1 cunning measures1 in order not to dismiss the refuser and thus encourage others to refuse like him1 and at the same time not to leave him amidst the soldiers1 lest the soldiers might find out from him that the levy for military service does not at all take place in accordance with ,god's law1 as they are assured1 but contrary to it4 ,the most convenient thing for the government to do would be to have the refuser executed1 beaten to death with sticks1 as they used to do of old1 or executed in some other manner4 ,but it is impossible openly to execute a man for being true to a teaching which we all profess1 and it is equally impossible to let a man alone1 who refuses to serve4 ,and so the government tries either through suffering to compel the man to renounce ,christ1 or in some way imperceptibly to get rid of the man1 without having him publicly executed1--in some way to conceal this man's act and the man himself from other people4 ,and so there begin all kinds of devices and cunning and tortures of this man4 ,either he is sent to some outlying region1 or he is provoked to commit some act of insubordination1 and then he is tried for breach of discipline and is locked up in prison1 in a disciplinary battalion1 where he is freely tortured in secret1 or he is declared insane and is locked up in an insane asylum4 ,thus one man was sent to ,tashknt1 that is1 as though he were transferred to the ,tashknt army1 another to ,omsk1 a third was tried for insubordination and sent to prison1 and a fourth was put into a lunatic asylum4 ,everywhere the same is repeated4 ,not only the government1 but also the majority of liberals1 of freethinkers1 as though by agreement1 carefully turn away from everything which has been said1 written1 and done by men to show the incompatibility of violence in its most terrible1 rude1 and lurid form1 in the form of militarism1 that is1 the readiness to kill anybody1 with the teaching1 not only of ,christianity1 but even of humanitarianism1 which society pretends to be professing4 ,thus the information which ,i received concerning the extent to which the true significance of ,christ's teaching has been elucidated and is being elucidated more and more1 and concerning the attitude which the highest ruling classes1 not only in ,russia1 but also in ,europe and in ,america1 take toward this elucidation and execution of the teaching1 convinced me that in these ruling classes there existed a consciously hostile relation toward true ,christianity1 which found its expression mainly in the silence observed concerning all its manifestations4 ,,ii4 ,the same impression of a desire to conceal1 to pass in silence1 what ,i attempted so carefully to express in my book1 has been produced on me by the criticisms upon it4 ,when my book appeared1 it was1 as ,i had expected1 prohibited1 and according to the law it ought to have been burned4 ,but1 instead of being burned1 it was distributed among the officials1 and it was disseminated in a large number of written copies and lithographic reprints1 and in translations printed abroad4 ,very soon there appeared criticisms upon the book1 not only by the clergy1 but also by the laity1 which the government not only sanctioned1 but even encouraged1 so that the refutation of the book1 which was assumed to be unknown to any one1 was made a theme for theological essays in the academies4 ,the critics upon my books1 both the ,russian and the foreign critics1 can be divided into two classes3 into the religious critics1--people who consider themselves to be believers1--and lay critics1 who are freethinkers4 ,i shall begin with the first3 ,in my book ,i accuse the church teachers of teaching contrary to ,christ's commandments1 which are clearly and definitely expressed in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 and especially contrary to the commandment about non-resistance to evil1 thus depriving ,christ's teaching of all significance4 ,the church teachers recognize the ,sermon on the ,mount with the commandment about non-resistance to evil as a divine revelation1 and so1 if they have found it necessary to write about my book at all1 they ought1 it would seem1 first of all to answer this chief point of accusation and say outright whether they consider the teaching of the ,sermon on the ,mount and of the commandment about non-resistance to evil obligatory for a ,christian1 or not1--and they must not answer it as this is generally done1 that is1 by saying that1 although on the one hand it cannot properly be denied1 on the other it cannot be affirmed1 the more so that1 and so forth1--but must answer it just as the question is put by me in my book3 did ,christ actually demand from ,his disciples the fulfilment of what ,he taught in the ,sermon on the ,mount8 and so1 can a ,christian1 remaining a ,christian1 go to court1 taking part in it and condemning people1 or seeking in it defence by means of violence1 or can he not8 ,can a ,christian1 still remaining a ,christian1 take part in the government1 using violence against his neighbours1 or not8 ,and the chief question1 which now1 with the universal military service1 stands before all men1--can a ,christian1 remaining a ,christian1 contrary to ,christ's injunction1 make any promises as to future acts1 which are directly contrary to the teaching1 and1 taking part in military service1 prepare himself for the murder of men and commit it8 ,the questions are put clearly and frankly1 and1 it would seem1 they ought to be answered clearly and frankly4 ,but nothing of the kind has been done in all the criticisms upon my book1 just as nothing of the kind has been done in the case of all those arraignments of the church teachers for departing from ,christ's law1 with which history is filled since the time of ,constantine4 ,very much has been said in reference to my book about how incorrectly ,i interpret this or that passage in the ,gospel1 how ,i err in not acknowledging the ,trinity1 the redemption1 and the immortality of the soul2 very much has been said1 but this one thing1 which for every ,christian forms the chief1 essential question of life3 how to harmonize what was clearly expressed in the teacher's words and is clearly expressed in the heart of every one of us1--the teaching about forgiveness1 humility1 renunciation1 and love of all men1 of our neighbours and of our enemies1--with the demand of military violence exerted against the men of one's own nation or another nation4 ,everything which may be called semblances of answers to this question may be reduced to the five following divisions4 ,i have tried in this respect to collect everything ,i could1 not only in reference to the criticisms upon my book1 but also in reference to what has been written upon the subject in former times4 ,the first1 the rudest way of answering1 consists in the bold assertion that violence does not contradict ,christ's teaching1 and that it is permitted and even prescribed by the ,old and the ,new ,testament4 ,assertions of this kind issue for the most part from people high up in the governmental or ecclesiastic hierarchy1 who are1 therefore1 quite convinced that no one will dare to contradict their assertions1 and that if one actually dared to do so1 they would not hear these objections4 ,these men have1 in consequence of their intoxication with their power1 for the most part to such an extent lost the concept of what that ,christianity is1 in the name of which they occupy their places1 that everything of a ,christian nature in ,christianity presents itself to them as sectarian2 but everything which in the writings of the ,old and the ,new ,testament may be interpreted in an anti-,christian and pagan sense1 they consider to be the foundation of ,christianity4 ,in favour of their assertion that ,christianity does not contradict violence1 these men with the greatest boldness generally bring forward the most offensive passages from the ,old and the ,new ,testament1 and interpret them in the most non-,christian manner3 the execution of ,ananias and ,sapphira1 the execution of ,simon ,magus1 and so forth4 ,they adduce all those words of ,christ which may be interpreted as a justification of cruelty1 such as the expulsion from the temple1 ,it shall be more tolerable on that day for ,sodom1 than for that city1 and so forth4 ,according to the concepts of these men1 the ,christian government is not in the least obliged to be guided by the spirit of humility1 forgiveness of offences1 and love of our enemies4 ,it is useless to refute such an assertion1 because the men who assert this refute themselves1 or rather1 turn away from ,christ1 inventing their own ,christ and their own ,christianity in place of ,him in whose name the church exists and also the position which they occupy in it4 ,if all men knew that the church preaches ,christ punishing1 and not forgiving1 and warring1 no one would be believing in this church1 and there would be no one to prove what it is proving4 ,the second method is a little less rude4 ,it consists in asserting that1 although ,christ really taught to offer one's cheek and give up a shirt1 and this is a very high moral demand1 there are malefactors in the world1 and if these are not curbed by the exercise of force1 the whole world and all good men will perish4 ,this proof ,i found for the first time in ,john ,chrysostom and ,i pointed out its incorrectness in my book1 ,my ,religion4 ,this argument is ungrounded1 because1 in the first place1 if we allow ourselves to recognize any men as special malefactors 7,raca71 we thus destroy the whole meaning of the ,christian teaching1 according to which we are all equal and brothers1 as the sons of one heavenly ,father2 in the second place1 because1 even if ,god permitted the exertion of violence against malefactors1 it is absolutely impossible to find that safe and indubitable sign by which a malefactor may be unerringly told from one who is not1 and so every man1 or society of men1 would recognize another as a malefactor1 which is the case now2 in the third place1 because even if it were possible unerringly to tell malefactors from those who are not malefactors1 it would still not be possible in a ,christian society to execute1 or maim1 or lock up these malefactors1 because in ,christian society there would be no one to do this1 because every ,christian1 as a ,christian1 is enjoined not to use violence against a malefactor4 ,the third method of answering is still shrewder than the previous one4 ,it consists in asserting that1 although the commandment of non-resistance to evil is obligatory for a ,christian when the evil is directed against him personally1 it ceases to be obligatory when the evil is directed against his neighbours1 and that then a ,christian is not only not obliged to fulfil the commandments1 but is also obliged in the defence of his neighbours1 contrary to the commandment1 to use violence against the violators4 ,this assertion is quite arbitrary1 and in the whole of ,christ's teaching no confirmation of such an interpretation can be found4 ,such an interpretation is not only a limitation of the commandment1 but a direct negation and annihilation of it4 ,if any man has a right to use violence when another is threatened by danger1 then the question as to the use of violence reduces itself to the question of defining what constitutes a danger for another person4 ,but if my private judgment decides the question of danger for another1 then there does not exist such a case of violence that it could not be explained on the basis of a danger with which another is threatened4 ,wizards were executed and burned1 aristocrats and ,girondists were executed1 and so were their enemies1 because those who were in power considered them to be dangerous for others4 ,if this important limitation1 which radically undermines the meaning of the commandment1 entered ,christ's mind1 there ought somewhere to be mention made of it4 ,but in all the preaching and the life of the teacher there is not only no such limitation1 but1 on the contrary1 there is expressed a particular caution against such a false and offensive limitation1 which destroys the commandment4 ,the mistake and the blunder of such a limitation is with particular clearness shown in the ,gospel in connection with the judgment of ,caiaphas1 who made this very limitation4 ,he recognized that it was not good to execute innocent ,jesus1 but he saw in ,him danger1 not for himself1 but for the whole nation1 and so he said3 ,it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people1 and that the whole nation perish not4 ,and more clearly still was the negation of such a limitation expressed in the words said to ,peter when he attempted with violence to resist the evil which was directed against ,jesus 7,matt4 xxvi4 #eb74 ,peter was not defending himself1 but his beloved and divine teacher4 ,and ,christ directly forbade him to do so1 saying that he who takes the sword shall perish with the sword4 ,besides1 the justification of violence used against a neighbour for the sake of defending another man against worse violence is always incorrect1 because in using violence against an evil which is not yet accomplished1 it is impossible to know which evil will be greater1--whether the evil of my violence or of that against which ,i wish to defend my neighbour4 ,we execute a criminal1 thus freeing society from him1 and we are positively unable to tell whether the criminal would not have changed on the morrow and whether our execution is not a useless cruelty4 ,we lock up a man whom we suppose to be a dangerous member of society1 but beginning with to-morrow this man may cease to be dangerous1 and his incarceration is futile4 ,i see that a man whom ,i know to be a robber is pursuing a girl1 and ,i have a gun in my hand1--,i kill the robber and save the girl2 the robber has certainly been killed or wounded1 but it is unknown to me what would happen if that were not the case4 ,what an enormous amount of evil must take place1 as it actually does1 as the result of arrogating to ourselves the right to prevent an evil that may occur6 ,ninety-nine hundredths of the evil of the world1 from the ,inquisition to dynamite bombs and the executions and sufferings of tens of thousands of so-called political criminals1 are based on this reflection4 ,the fourth1 still more refined answer to the question as to how a ,christian should act toward ,christ's commandment of non-resistance to evil consists in asserting that the commandment of non-resistance to evil is not denied by them1 but is accepted like any other2 but that they do not ascribe to this commandment any special exclusive significance1 as the sectarians do4 ,to ascribe to this commandment an invariable condition of ,christian life1 as do ,garrison1 ,ballou1 ,dymond1 the ,quakers1 the ,mennonites1 the ,shakers1 and as did the ,moravian brothers1 the ,waldenses1 ,albigenses1 ,bogomils1 ,paulicians1 is one-sided sectarianism4 ,this commandment has neither more nor less significance than all the others1 and a man who in his weakness transgresses any one of the commandments about non-resistance does not cease to be a ,christian1 provided he believes correctly4 ,this subterfuge is very clever1 and men who wish to be deceived are easily deceived by it4 ,the subterfuge consists in reducing the direct conscious negation of the commandment to an accidental violation of the same4 ,but we need only compare the relation of the church teachers to this commandment and to others1 which they actually recognize1 in order that we may convince ourselves that the relation of the church teachers to the commandments which they recognize is quite different from their relation to this one4 ,they actually recognize the commandment against fornication1 and so never1 under any condition1 admit that fornication is not an evil4 ,the preachers of the church never point out any cases when the commandment against fornication ought to be broken1 and they always teach that we must avoid the offences which lead to the temptation of fornication4 ,but this is not the case with the commandment about non-resistance4 ,all the church preachers know cases when this commandment may be broken4 ,and thus they teach men4 ,and they not only do not teach how to avoid these offences1 of which the chief one is the oath1 but themselves commit them4 ,the church preachers never and under no condition preach the violation of any other commandment2 but in relation to the commandment of non-resistance they teach outright that this prohibition must not be understood in too direct a sense1 and not only that this commandment must not be carried out at all times1 but that there are conditions1 situations1 when directly the opposite should be done1 that is1 that we should judge1 wage war1 execute4 ,thus1 in reference to the commandment about non-resistance to evil1 they in the majority of cases preach how not to fulfil it4 ,the fulfilment of this commandment1 they say1 is very difficult and is characteristic only of perfection4 ,but how can it help but be difficult1 when its breach is not only not prohibited1 but is also directly encouraged1 when they directly bless the courts1 prisons1 guns1 cannon1 armies1 battles8 ,consequently it is not true that this commandment is recognized by the church preachers as of equal significance with the other commandments4 ,the church preachers simply do not recognize it1 and only because they do not dare to confess it1 try to conceal their failure to recognize it4 ,such is the fourth method of answers4 ,the fifth method1 the most refined1 most popular1 and most powerful one1 consists in begging the question1 in making it appear as though the question had long ago been decided by some one in an absolutely clear and satisfactory manner1 and as though it were not worth while to speak of it4 ,this method is employed by more or less cultivated ecclesiastic writers1 that is1 such as feel the laws of logic to be obligatory for them4 ,knowing that the contradiction which exists between ,christ's teaching1 which we profess in words1 and the whole structure of our life cannot be solved with words1 and that1 by touching it1 we can only make it more obvious1 they with greater or lesser agility get around it1 making it appear that the question about the connection of ,christianity with violence has been decided or does not exist at all4#g #g ,i know but one piece of writing1 not a criticism in the strict sense of the word1 but an article which treats the same subject1 and which has my book in view1 that departs from this common definition4 ,it is ,tritski's pamphlet 7,kazn7 ,the ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,the author obviously recognizes ,christ's teaching in its real significance4 ,he says that the commandment about non-resistance to evil means what it does1 and the same is true of the commandment about swearing2 he does not deny1 as others do1 the significance of ,christ's teaching1 but unfortunately he does not make from this recognition those inevitable deductions1 which in our life beg for recognition in connection with such a comprehension of ,christ's teaching4 ,if it is not right to resist evil and to swear1 every man will naturally ask3 ,how about military service8 ,and to this question the author gives no answer1 though an answer is demanded4 ,and if it cannot be answered1 it is best not to speak at all1 because silence produces error4--,author's ,note4 ,the majority of the ecclesiastic critics of my book employ this method4 ,i could adduce dozens of such criticisms1 in which without exception one and the same thing is repeated3 they speak of everything but the chief subject of the book4 ,as a characteristic example of such criticisms1 ,i shall quote an article by the famous1 refined ,english writer and preacher1 ,farrar1 a great master1 like many learned theologians1 of evasions and reticence4 ,this article was printed in the ,american periodical1 ,forum1 in ,october1 #ahhh4 ,having conscientiously given a short review of my book1 ,farrar says3 ,tolsty came to the conclusion that a coarse deceit was palmed upon the world when these words were held by civil society to be compatible with war1 courts of justice1 capital punishment1 divorce1 oaths1 national prejudice1 and indeed with most of the institutions of civil and social life4 ,he now believes that the kingdom of ,god would come if all men kept these five commandments1 444 7#a7 ,live in peace with all men2 7#b7 be pure2 7#c7 take no oaths2 7#d7 never resist evil2 7#e7 renounce national distinctions4 ,tolsty1 he says1 rejects the divine inspiration of the ,old ,testament and of the epistles2 he rejects all the dogmas of the church1 that of the atonement by blood1 that of the ,trinity1 that of the descent of the ,holy ,ghost upon the apostles 444 and recognizes only the words and commandments of ,christ4 ,is this interpretation of ,christ a true one8 he asks4 ,are all men bound1 or is any man bound1 to act as ,tolsty has taught1 that is1 to fulfil the five commandments of ,christ8 ,one just hopes that in reply to this essential question1 which alone could have urged the man to write an article on the book1 he will say that this interpretation of ,christ's teaching is correct1 or that it is not correct1 and so will prove why1 and will give another1 a correct interpretation to the words which ,i interpret incorrectly4 ,but nothing of the kind is done4 ,farrar only expresses his conviction that1 though actuated by the noblest sincerity1 ,tolsty has been misled by partial and one-sided interpretations of the meaning of the ,gospel and the mind and will of ,christ4 ,no explanation is given as to what this error consists in1 but all there is said1 is3 ,to enter into the proof of this is impossible in this article1 for ,i have already exceeded the space at my command4 ,and he concludes with an easy mind3 ,meanwhile the reader who feels troubled lest it should be his duty also to forsake all conditions of his life1 and to take up the position and work of a common labourer1 may rest for the present on the principle1 ,securus judicat orbis terrarum4 ,with few and rare exceptions1 he continues1 the whole of ,christendom1 from the days of the apostles down to our own1 has come to the firm conclusion that it was the object of ,christ to lay down great eternal principles1 but not disturb the bases and revolutionize the institutions of all human society1 which themselves rest on divine sanction as well as on inevitable conditions4 ,were it my object to prove how untenable is the doctrine of communism1 based by ,tolsty upon the divine paradoxes 7sic671 which can be interpreted on only historical principles in accordance with the whole method of the teaching of ,jesus1 it would require an ampler canvas than ,i have here at my disposal4 ,what a misfortune1--he has not any space6 ,and1 strange to say1 space has been lacking for fifteen centuries1 to prove that ,christ1 whom we profess1 said something different from what ,he said4 ,they could prove it1 if they only wanted to4 ,however1 it does not pay to prove what everybody knows4 ,it is enough to say3 ,securus judicat orbis terrarum4 ,and such are1 without exception1 all the criticisms of the cultivated believers1 who1 therefore1 do not understand the perilousness of their position4 ,the only way out for them is the hope that1 by using the authority of the church1 of antiquity1 of holiness1 they may be able to confuse the reader and draw him away from the thought of reading the ,gospel for himself and of considering the question with his own mind4 ,and in this they are successful4 ,to whom1 indeed1 will it occur that all that which with such assurance and solemnity is repeated from century to century by all these archdeacons1 bishops1 archbishops1 most holy synods1 and ,popes1 is a base lie and calumny1 which they foist on ,christ in order to secure the money which they need for the purpose of leading a life of pleasure1 while sitting on the backs of others1--a lie and a calumny1 which is so obvious1 especially now that the only possibility of continuing this lie consists in frightening men into belief by their assurance1 their unscrupulousness8 ,it is precisely the same that of late years has taken place in the ,recruiting ,sessions3 at the head of the table1 with the ,mirror of ,laws upon it1 and beneath the full-sized portrait of the emperor1 sit dignified old officials in their regalia1 conversing freely and unreservedly1 noting down1 commanding1 calling out4 ,here also1 with the cross over his breast and in silk vestments1 with his gray hair falling down straight over his scapulary1 stands an imposing old man1 the priest1 in front of the pulpit1 on which lies a gold cross and a gold-trimmed ,gospel4 ,ivn ,petrv is called out4 ,a young man steps out4 ,he is poorly and dirtily dressed and looks frightened1 and the muscles of his face tremble1 and his fugitive eyes sparkle1 and in a faltering voice1 almost in a whisper1 he says3 ,i--according to the law ,i1 a ,christian--,i cannot-- ,what is he muttering there8 impatiently asks the presiding officer1 half-closing his eyes and listening1 as he raises his head from the book4 ,speak louder6 shouts to him the colonel with the shining shoulder-straps4 ,i--,i--,i--as a ,christian-- ,it finally turns out that the young man refuses to do military service1 because he is a ,christian4 ,talk no nonsense6 ,get your measure6 ,doctor1 be so kind as to take his measure4 ,is he fit for the army8 ,he is4 ,reverend father1 have him sworn in4 ,no one is confused2 no one even pays any attention to what this frightened1 pitiable young man is muttering4 ,they all mutter something1 but we have no time3 we have to receive so many recruits4 ,the recruit wants to say something again4 ,this is against ,christ's law4 ,go1 go1 we know without you what is according to the law1--but you get out of here4 ,reverend father1 admonish him4 ,next3 ,vasli ,niktin4 ,and the trembling youth is taken away4 ,and to whom--whether the janitor1 or ,vasli ,niktin1 who is being brought in1 or any one else who witnessed this scene from the side--will it occur that those indistinct1 short words of the youth1 which were at once put out of court by the authorities1 contain the truth1 while those loud1 solemn speeches of the self-possessed1 calm officials and of the priest are a lie1 a deception8 ,a similar impression is produced1 not only by the articles of a ,farrar but by all those solemn sermons1 articles1 and books1 which appear on all sides1 the moment the truth peeps out and arraigns the ruling lie4 ,immediately there begin long1 clever1 elegant conversations or writings about questions which touch closely upon the subject with a shrewd reticence concerning the question itself4 ,in this consists the fifth and most effective means for removing the contradiction in which the ecclesiastic ,christianity has placed itself by professing ,christ in words and denying ,his teaching in life1 and teaching the same to others4 ,those who justify themselves by the first method1 asserting outright and rudely that ,christ has permitted violence1--wars1 murder1--withdraw themselves from ,christ's teaching2 those who defend themselves according to the second1 the third1 and the fourth methods get themselves entangled1 and it is easy to point out their untruth2 but these last1 who do not discuss1 who do not condescend to discuss1 but hide themselves behind their greatness and make it appear that all this has been decided long ago by them1 or by somebody else1 and that it no longer is subject to any doubt1 seem invulnerable1 and they will be invulnerable so long as people will remain under the influence of hypnotic suggestion1 which is induced in them by governments and churches1 and will not shake it off4 ,such was the attitude which the ecclesiastics1 that is1 those who profess ,christ's faith1 assumed toward me4 ,nor could they have acted otherwise3 they are bound by the contradiction in which they live1--the faith in the divinity of the teacher and the unbelief in ,his clearest words1--from which they must in some way extricate themselves1 and so it was not possible to expect from them any free opinion concerning the essence of the question1 concerning that change in the lives of men which results from the application of ,christ's teaching to the existing order4 ,such opinions ,i expected from the freethinking lay critics1 who are in no way bound to ,christ's teaching and who can look upon it without restraint4 ,i expected that the freethinking writers would look upon ,christ not only as the establisher of a religion of worship and personal salvation 7as which the ecclesiastics understand him71 but1 to express myself in their language1 as a reformer1 who destroys the old1 and gives the new foundations of life1 the reform of which is not yet accomplished1 but continues until the present4 ,such a view of ,christ and ,his teaching results from my book1 but1 to my surprise1 out of the large number of criticisms upon my book1 there was not one1 either ,russian or foreign1 which treated the subject from the same side from which it is expounded in my book1 that is1 which looked upon ,christ's teaching as a philosophical1 moral1 and social doctrine 7again to speak in the language of the learned74 ,this was not the case in a single criticism4 ,the ,russian lay critics1 who understood my book in such a way that all its contents reduced themselves to non-resistance to evil1 and who understood the teaching about non-resistance to evil itself 7apparently for convenience of refutal7 as meaning that it prohibited any struggle against evil1 furiously attacked this teaching and very successfully proved for the period of several years that ,christ's teaching was incorrect1 since it taught us not to resist evil4 ,their refutals of this supposed teaching of ,christ were the more successful1 since they knew in advance that their views could neither be overthrown nor corrected1 because the censorship1 having failed to sanction the book itself1 did not sanction the articles in its defence either4 ,what is remarkable in connection with the matter is this1 that with us1 where not a word may be said about the ,holy ,scripture without a prohibition by the censorship1 the clearly and directly expressed commandment of ,matt4 v4 #ci has for several years been openly contorted1 criticized1 condemned1 and ridiculed in all the periodicals4 ,the ,russian lay critics1 who evidently did not know all that had been done in the development of the question as to non-resistance to evil1 and who at times even seemed to assume that ,i personally invented the rule of not resisting evil with violence1 attacked the idea itself1 rejecting and contorting it1 and with much fervour advancing arguments which have long ago been analyzed from every side and rejected1 proved that a man is obliged 7with violence7 to defend all the insulted and the oppressed1 and that1 therefore1 the doctrine about not resisting evil with violence is immoral4 ,the whole significance of ,christ's preaching presented itself to the ,russian critics as though maliciously interfering with a certain activity1 which was directed against what they at a given moment considered to be an evil1 so that it turned out that the principle of not resisting evil with violence was attacked by two opposite camps1--by the conservatives1 because this principle interfered with their activity of resisting the evil which was produced by the revolutionists1 and with their persecutions and executions2 and by the revolutionists1 because this principle interfered with the resistance to the evil which was produced by the conservatives1 and with the overthrow of the conservatives4 ,the conservatives were provoked1 because the doctrine of non-resistance to evil interfered with the energetic suppression of the revolutionary elements1 who are likely to ruin the welfare of the nation2 while the revolutionists were provoked1 because the doctrine of non-resistance to evil interfered with the overthrow of the conservatives1 who were ruining the well-being of the nation4 ,what is remarkable is1 that the revolutionists attacked the principle of non-resistance1 although it is most terrible and most dangerous for every despotism1 because ever since the beginning of the world the opposite principle of the necessity of resisting evil with violence has been lying at the basis of all violence1 from the ,inquisition to the ,schlsselburg ,fortress4 ,besides1 the ,russian critics pointed out that the application to life of the commandment about non-resistance to evil would turn humanity away from the path of civilization1 on which it was marching now2 but the path of civilization1 on which the ,european civilization is marching1 is1 in their opinion1 the one on which all humanity must always march4 ,such was the chief character of the ,russian criticisms4 ,the foreign critics proceeded from the same bases1 but their reviews of my book differed from those of the ,russian critics not only in a lesser degree of irritability and a greater degree of culture1 but also in the essence of the matter4 ,in discussing my book and the ,gospel teaching in general1 as it is expressed in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 the foreign critics asserted that such a teaching is really not ,christian 7,christian in their opinion is ,catholicism and ,protestantism71 and that the doctrine of the ,sermon on the ,mount is only a series of very charming1 impracticable reveries du charmant docteur1 as ,renan used to say1 which were good enough for the nave and half-wild inhabitants of ,galilee1 who lived eighteen hundred years ago1 and for the ,russian peasants1 ,syutev and ,bondarv1 and the ,russian mystic1 ,tolsty1 but can in no way be applied to the high degree of ,european culture4 ,the foreign lay critics tried1 in a refined manner1 without giving me any offence1 to let me know that my opinion that humanity can be guided by such a nave teaching as the ,sermon on the ,mount is due partly to my ignorance1 lack of acquaintance with history1 lack of knowledge of all those vain attempts to realize in life the principles of the ,sermon on the ,mount1 which have been made in history1 and have led to nothing1 thanks to ignorance concerning the whole significance of that high degree of culture on which ,european civilization now stands1 with its ,krupp guns1 smokeless powder1 the colonization of ,africa1 the government of ,ireland1 parliaments1 journalism1 strikes1 constitutions1 and ,eiffel ,tower4 ,thus wrote ,vog1 and ,leroy ,beaulieu1 and ,matthew ,arnold1 and the ,american writer ,savage1 and ,ingersoll1 a popular ,american preacher of free thought1 and many others4 ,christ's teaching is no good1 because it does not harmonize with our industrial age1 navely says ,ingersoll1 thus expressing with absolute precision and navet what the refined and cultured men of our time think about ,christ's teaching4 ,the teaching is no good for our industrial age1 as though the existence of the industrial age is something sacred which must not and cannot be changed4 ,it is something like what drunkards would do1 if1 in response to advice about how to get themselves into a sober state1 they should reply that the advice is out of place in connection with their present alcoholic state4 ,the discussions of all the lay writers1 both ,russian and foreign1 no matter how different their tone and the manner of their arguments may be1 in reality reduce themselves to one and the same strange misunderstanding1 namely1 that ,christ's teaching1 one of the consequences of which is non-resistance to evil1 is useless to us1 because it demands that our life be changed4 ,christ's teaching is useless1 because1 if it were put into practice1 our life could not continue2 in other words1--if we began to live well1 as ,christ has taught us1 we could not continue to live badly1 as we live and are accustomed to live4 ,the question of non-resistance to evil is not discussed1 and the very mention of the fact that the demand for non-resistance to evil enters into ,christ's teaching is considered a sufficient proof of the inapplicability of the whole teaching4 ,and yet1 it would seem1 it is indispensable to point out some kind of a solution to this question1 because it lies at the foundation of nearly all affairs which interest us4 ,the question consists in this3 how are we to harmonize the conflicts of men1 when some consider an evil what others consider to be good1 and vice versa8 ,and so1 to consider that an evil which ,i consider an evil1 although my adversary may consider it good1 is no answer4 ,there can be but two answers3 either we have to find a true and indisputable criterion of what an evil is1 or we must not resist evil with violence4 ,the first solution has been tried since the beginning of historical times1 and1 as we all know1 has so far led to no satisfactory results4 ,the second answer1 not to resist with violence what we consider evil1 so long as we have found no common criterion1 was proposed by ,christ4 ,it may be found that ,christ's answer is not correct3 it may be possible to put in its place another1 better answer1 by finding a criterion which would indubitably and simultaneously for all define the evil2 we may simply not recognize the essence of the question1 as it is not recognized by the savage nations1--but it is impossible1 as the learned critics of the ,christian teaching do1 to make it appear that such a question does not at all exist1 or that the relegation of the right to determine the evil and resist it with violence to certain persons or assemblies of men 7much less1 if we are these men71 solves the question2 whereas we all know that such a relegation does not at all solve the question1 since there are some people who do not recognize this right as belonging to certain people or to assemblies of men4 ,but it is this recognition that what to us appears evil is evil1 or an absolute failure to comprehend the question1 which serves as a foundation for the judgment of the lay critics concerning the ,christian teaching1 so that the opinions concerning my book1 both of the ecclesiastic and the lay critics1 showed me that the majority of men absolutely fail to comprehend1 not only ,christ's very teaching1 but even those questions to which it serves as an answer4 ,,iii4 ,thus1 both the information received by me after the publication of my book1 as to how the ,christian teaching in its direct and true sense has without interruption been understood by the minority of men1 and the criticisms upon it1 both the ecclesiastic and the lay criticisms1 which denied the possibility of understanding ,christ's teaching in the direct sense1 convinced me that1 while1 on the one hand1 the true comprehension of this teaching never ceased for the minority1 and became clearer and clearer to them1 on the other hand1 for the majority1 its meaning became more and more obscure1 finally reaching such a degree of obscuration that men no longer comprehend the simplest propositions1 which are expressed in the ,gospel in the simplest words4 ,the failure to comprehend ,christ's teaching in its true1 simple1 and direct sense in our time1 when the light of this teaching has penetrated all the darkest corners of human consciousness2 when1 as ,christ has said1 that which ,he has spoken in the ear1 they now proclaim upon the housetops2 when this teaching permeates all the sides of human life1--the domestic1 the economic1 the civil1 the political1 and the international1--this failure to comprehend would be incomprehensible1 if there were no causes for it4 ,one of these causes is this1 that both the believers and the unbelievers are firmly convinced that ,christ's teaching has been comprehended by them long ago1 and so completely1 indubitably1 and finally1 that there can be no other meaning in it than the one they ascribe to it4 ,this cause is due to the duration of the tradition of the false comprehension1 and so of the failure to understand the true teaching4 ,the most powerful stream of water cannot add a drop to a vessel that is full4 ,it is possible to explain the most intricate matters to a man of very hard comprehension1 so long as he has not formed any idea about them2 but it is impossible to explain the simplest thing to a very clever man1 if he is firmly convinced that he knows1 and1 besides1 incontestably knows1 what has been transmitted to him4 ,the ,christian teaching presents itself to the men of our world precisely as such a teaching1 which has for a long time and in a most indubitable manner been known in its minutest details1 and which cannot be comprehended in any other manner than it now is4 ,christianity is now understood by those who profess the church doctrines as a supernatural1 miraculous revelation concerning everything which is given in the symbol of faith1 and by those who do not believe1 as an obsolete manifestation of humanity's need of believing in something supernatural1 as a historical phenomenon1 which is completely expressed in ,catholicism1 ,orthodoxy1 ,protestantism1 and which has no longer any vital meaning for us4 ,for the believers the meaning of the teaching is concealed by the church1 for unbelievers by science4 ,i shall begin with the first3 ,eighteen hundred years ago there appeared in the pagan ,roman world a strange1 new teaching1 which resembled nothing which preceded it1 and which was ascribed to the man ,christ4 ,this new teaching was absolutely new1 both in form and in contents1 for the ,european world1 in the midst of which it arose1 and especially in the ,roman world1 where it was preached and became diffused4 ,amidst the elaborateness of the religious rules of ,judaism1 where1 according to ,isaiah1 there was rule upon rule1 and amidst the ,roman legislation1 which was worked out to a great degree of perfection1 there appeared a teaching which not only denied all the divinities1--every fear of them1 every divination and faith in them1--but also all human institutions and every necessity for them4 ,in the place of all the rules of former faiths1 this teaching advanced only the model of an inner perfection of truth and of love in the person of ,christ1 and the consequences of this inner perfection1 attainable by men1--the external perfection1 as predicted by the prophets1--the kingdom of ,god1 in which all men will stop warring1 and all will be taught by ,god and united in love1 and the lion will lie with the lamb4 ,in place of the threats of punishments for the non-compliance with the rules1 which were made by the former laws1 both religious and political1 in place of the enticement of rewards for fulfilling them1 this teaching called men to itself only by its being the truth4 ,john vii4 #ag3 ,if any man wants to know of this doctrine1 whether it be of ,god1 let him fulfil it4 ,john viii4 #df3 ,if ,i say the truth1 why do ye not believe me8 ,why do you seek to kill a man who has told you the truth8 ,the truth alone will free you4 ,god must be professed in truth only4 ,the whole teaching will be revealed and will be made clear by the spirit of truth4 ,do what ,i say1 and you will know whether what ,i say is true4 ,no proofs were given of the teaching1 except the truth1 except the correspondence of the teaching with the truth4 ,the whole teaching consisted in the knowledge of the truth and in following it1 in a greater and ever greater approximation to it1 in matters of life4 ,according to this teaching1 there are no acts which can justify a man1 make him righteous2 there is only the model of truth which attracts all hearts1 for the inner perfection--in the person of ,christ1 and for the outer--in the realization of the kingdom of ,god4 ,the fulfilment of the teaching is only in the motion along a given path1 in the approximation to perfection1--the inner1--the imitation of ,christ1 and the outer1--the establishment of the kingdom of ,god4 ,a man's greater or lesser good1 according to this teaching1 depends1 not on the degree of perfection which he attains1 but on the greater or lesser acceleration of motion4 ,the motion toward perfection of the publican1 of ,zacchus1 of the harlot1 of the robber on the cross1 is1 according to this teaching1 a greater good than the immovable righteousness of the ,pharisee4 ,a sheep gone astray is more precious than ninety-nine who have not4 ,the prodigal son1 the lost coin which is found again1 is more precious1 more loved by ,god than those who were not lost4 ,every condition is1 according to this teaching1 only a certain step on the road toward the unattainable inner and outer perfection1 and so has no meaning4 ,the good is only in the motion toward perfection2 but the stopping at any stage whatsoever is only a cessation of the good4 ,let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth1 and ,no man1 having put his hand to the plough1 and looking back1 is fit for the kingdom of ,god4 ,rejoice not1 that the spirits are subject unto you2 but rather rejoice1 because your names are written in heaven4 ,be ye perfect as your ,father which is in ,heaven is perfect4 ,seek the kingdom of ,god and ,his righteousness4 ,the fulfilment of the teaching is only in unceasing motion1--in the attainment of a higher and ever higher truth1 and in an ever greater realization of the same in oneself by means of an ever increasing love1 and outside of oneself by an ever greater realization of the kingdom of ,god4 ,it is evident that1 having appeared in the midst of the ,jewish and the pagan world1 this teaching could not have been accepted by the majority of men1 who lived a life entirely different from the one which this teaching demanded2 and that it could not even be comprehended in its full significance by those who accepted it1 as it was diametrically opposed to their former views4 ,only by a series of misconceptions1 blunders1 one-sided explanations1 corrected and supplemented by generations of men1 was the meaning of the ,christian teaching made more and more clear to men4 ,the ,christian world-conception affected the ,jewish and the pagan conceptions1 and the ,jewish and pagan conceptions affected the ,christian world-conception4 ,and the ,christian1 as being vital1 penetrated the reviving ,jewish and pagan conceptions more and more1 and stood forth more and more clearly1 freeing itself from the false admixture1 which was imposed upon it4 ,men came to comprehend the meaning better and better1 and more and more realized it in life4 ,the longer humanity lived1 the more and more was the meaning of ,christianity made clear to it1 as indeed it could not and cannot be otherwise with any teaching about life4 ,the subsequent generations corrected the mistakes of their predecessors1 and more and more approached the comprehension of its true meaning4 ,thus it has been since the earliest times of ,christianity4 ,and here1 in the earliest times1 there appeared men1 who began to assert that the meaning which they ascribed to the teaching was the only true one1 and that as a proof of it served the supernatural phenomena which confirmed the correctness of their comprehension4 ,it was this that was the chief cause1 at first1 of the failure to comprehend the teaching1 and later1 of its complete corruption4 ,it was assumed that ,christ's teaching was not transmitted to men like any other truth1 but in a special1 supernatural manner1 so that the truth of the comprehension of the teaching was not proved by the correspondence of what was transmitted with the demands of reason and of the whole human nature1 but by the miraculousness of the transmission1 which served as an incontrovertible proof of the correctness of the comprehension4 ,this proposition arose from a lack of comprehension1 and its consequence was an impossibility of comprehending4 ,this began with the very first times1 when the teaching was still understood incompletely and often perversely1 as we may see from the gospels and from the ,acts4 ,the less the teaching was understood1 the more obscurely did it present itself1 and the more necessary were the external proofs of its veracity4 ,the proposition about not doing unto another what one does not wish to have done to oneself did not need any proof by means of miracles1 and there was no need for demanding belief in this proposition1 because it is convincing in itself1 in that it corresponds to both man's reason and nature1 but the proposition as to ,christ being ,god had to be proved by means of miracles1 which are absolutely incomprehensible4 ,the more obscure the comprehension of ,christ's teaching was1 the more miraculous elements were mixed in with it2 and the more miraculous elements were mixed in1 the more did the teaching deviate from its meaning and become obscure2 and the more it deviated from its meaning and became obscure1 the more strongly it was necessary to assert one's infallibility1 and the less did the teaching become comprehensible4 ,we can see from the gospels1 the ,acts1 the epistles1 how from the earliest times the failure to comprehend the teaching called forth the necessity of proving its truth by means of the miraculous and the incomprehensible4 ,according to the ,acts1 this began with the meeting of the disciples at ,jerusalem1 who assembled to settle the question which had arisen as to baptizing or not baptizing the uncircumcised who were still eating meats offered to idols4 ,the very putting of the question showed that those who were discussing it did not understand the teaching of ,christ1 who rejected all external rites--ablutions1 purifications1 fasts1 ,sabbaths4 ,it says directly that not the things which enter a man's mouth1 but those which come out of his heart1 defile him1 and so the question as to the baptism of the uncircumcised could have arisen only among men who loved their teacher1 dimly felt ,his greatness1 but still very obscurely comprehended the teaching itself4 ,and so it was4 ,in proportion as the members of the assembly did not understand the teaching1 they needed an external confirmation of their incomplete understanding4 ,and so1 to solve the question1 the very putting of which shows the failure to comprehend the teaching1 the strange words1 ,it has seemed good to the ,holy ,ghost1 and to us1 which were in an external manner to confirm the justice of certain establishments1 and which have caused so much evil1 were1 as described in the ,book of ,acts1 for the first time pronounced at this meeting1 that is1 it was asserted that the justice of what they decreed was testified to by the miraculous participation of the ,holy ,ghost1 that is1 of ,god1 in this solution4 ,but the assertion that the ,holy ,ghost1 that is1 ,god1 spoke through the apostles1 had again to be proved4 ,and for this it was necessary to assert that on the day of ,pentecost the ,holy ,ghost came down in the shape of tongues of fire on those who asserted this4 7,in the description the descent of the ,holy ,ghost precedes the assembly1 but the ,acts were written down much later than either47 ,but the descent of the ,holy ,ghost had to be confirmed for those who had not seen the tongues of fire 7though it is incomprehensible why a tongue of fire burning above a man's head should prove that what a man says is an indisputable truth71 and there were needed new miracles1 cures1 resurrections1 putting to death1 and all those offensive miracles1 with which the ,acts are filled1 and which not only can never convince a man of the truth of the ,christian teaching1 but can only repel him from it4 ,the consequence of such a method of confirmation was this1 that the more these confirmations of the truth by means of stories of miracles heaped up upon one another1 the more did the teaching itself depart from its original meaning1 and the less comprehensible did it become4 ,thus it has been since the earliest times1 and it has been increasingly so all the time1 until it logically reached in our time the dogmas of the transubstantiation and of the infallibility of the ,pope1 or of the bishops1 or of the writings1 that is1 something absolutely incomprehensible1 which has reached the point of absurdity and the demand for a blind faith1 not in ,god1 not in ,christ1 not even in the teaching1 but in a person1 as is the case in ,catholicism1 or in several persons1 as in ,orthodoxy1 or in a book1 as in ,protestantism4 ,the more ,christianity became diffused1 and the greater was the crowd of unprepared men which it embraced1 the less it was understood1 the more definitely was the infallibility of the comprehension asserted1 and the less did it become possible to understand the true meaning of the teaching4 ,as early as the time of ,constantine the whole comprehension of the teaching was reduced to a rsum1 confirmed by the worldly power1--a rsum of disputes which took place in a council1--to a symbol of faith1 in which it says1 ,i believe in so and so1 and so and so1 and finally1 in the one1 holy1 catholic1 and apostolic church1 that is1 in the infallibility of those persons who call themselves the church1 so that everything was reduced to this1 that a man no longer believes in ,god1 nor in ,christ1 as they have been revealed to him1 but in what the church commands him to believe4 ,but the church is holy1--the church was founded by ,christ4 ,god could not have left it to men to give an arbitrary interpretation to ,his teaching1--and so ,he established the church4 ,all these expositions are to such an extent unjust and bold that one feels some compunction in overthrowing them4 ,there is nothing but the assertion of the churches to show that ,god or ,christ founded anything resembling what the churchmen understand by church4 ,in the ,gospel there is an indication against the church1 as an external authority1 and this indication is most obvious and clear in that place where it says that ,christ's disciples should not call any one teachers and fathers4 ,but nowhere is there anything said about the establishment of what the churchmen call a church4 ,in the gospels the word church is used twice1--once1 in the sense of an assembly of men deciding a dispute2 the other time1 in connection with the obscure words about the rock1 ,peter1 and the gates of hell4 ,from these two mentions of the word church1 which has the meaning of nothing but an assembly1 they deduce what we now understand by the word church4 ,but ,christ could certainly not have founded a church1 that is1 what we now understand by the word1 because neither in ,christ's words1 nor in the conceptions of the men of that time1 was there anything resembling the concept of a church1 as we know it now1 with its sacraments1 its hierarchy1 and1 above all1 its assertion of infallibility4 ,the fact that men named what was formed later by the same word which ,christ had used in respect to something else1 does in no way give them the right to assert that ,christ established the one1 true church4 ,besides1 if ,christ had really founded such an institution as the church1 on which the whole doctrine and the whole faith are based1 ,he would most likely have expressed this establishment in such definite and clear words1 and would have given the one1 true church1 outside of the stories about the miracles1 which are used in connection with every superstition1 such signs as to leave no doubts concerning its authenticity2 there is nothing of the kind1 but there are now1 as there have been1 all kinds of institutions which1 each of them1 call themselves the one1 true church4 ,the ,catholic catechism says3 ,l'glise est la socit de fidles tablie par notre ,seigneur ,jsus-,christ1 rpandue sur toute la terre et soumise l'autorit des pasteurs lgitimes1 principalement notre ,saint ,pre--le ,pape1 meaning by pasteurs lgitimes a human institution1 which has the ,pope at its head and which is composed of certain persons who are connected among themselves by a certain organization4 ,the ,orthodox catechism says3 ,the church is a society1 established by ,jesus ,christ upon earth1 united among themselves into one whole by the one1 divine teaching and the sacraments1 under the guidance and management of the ,god-established hierarchy1 meaning by ,god-established hierarchy the ,greek hierarchy1 which is composed of such and such persons1 who are to be found in such and such places4 ,the ,lutheran catechism says3 ,the church is holy ,christianity1 or an assembly of all believers1 under ,christ1 their chief1 in which the ,holy ,ghost through the ,gospel and the sacraments offers1 communicates1 and secures divine salvation1 meaning1 by this1 that the ,catholic ,church has gone astray and has fallen away1 and that the true tradition is preserved in ,lutheranism4 ,for the ,catholics the divine church coincides with the ,roman hierarchy and the ,pope4 ,for the ,greek ,orthodox the divine church coincides with the establishment of the ,eastern and the ,russian ,church4#h ,for the ,lutherans the divine church coincides with the assembly of men who recognize the ,bible and ,luther's catechism4 #h ,khomyakv's definition of the church1 which has some currency among ,russians1 does not mend matters1 if we recognize with ,khomyakv that the ,orthodox is the one true church4 ,khomyakv asserts that the church is an assembly of men 7of all1 both the clergy and the congregation7 united in love1 and that the truth is revealed only to those who are united in love 7,let us love one another1 so that in agreement of thought1 and so forth71 and that such a church is the one which1 in the first place1 recognizes the ,nicene symbol1 and1 in the second1 after the division of the churches1 does not recognize the ,pope and the new dogmas4 ,but with such a definition of the church there appears a still greater difficulty in harmonizing1 as ,khomyakv wants to1 the church which is united in love with the church which recognizes the ,nicene symbol and the justice of ,photius4 ,thus ,khomyakv's assertion that this church1 which is united in love and so is holy1 is the church as professed by the ,greek hierarchy1 is still more arbitrary than the assertions of the ,catholics and of the ancient ,orthodox4 ,if we admit the concept of the church in the sense which ,khomyakv gives to it1 that is1 as an assembly of men united in love and in truth1 then everything a man can say in relation to this assembly is1 that it is very desirable to be a member of such an assembly1 if such exists1 that is1 to be in love and truth2 but there are no external signs by which it would be possible to count oneself or another in with this holy assembly1 or to exclude oneself from it1 as no external institution can correspond to this concept4--,author's ,note4 ,speaking of the origin of ,christianity1 men who belong to one or the other of the existing churches generally use the word church in the singular1 as though there has been but one church4 ,but this is quite untrue4 ,the church1 as an institution which asserts of itself that it is in possession of the unquestionable truth1 appeared only when it was not alone1 but there were at least two of them4 ,so long as the believers agreed among themselves1 and the assembly was one1 it had no need of asserting that it was the church4 ,only when the believers divided into opposite parties1 which denied one another1 did there appear the necessity for each side to assert its authenticity1 ascribing infallibility to itself4 ,the concept of the one church arose only from this1 that1 when two sides disagreed and quarrelled1 each of them1 calling the other a heresy1 recognized only its own as the infallible church4 ,if we know that there was a church1 which in the year #ea decided to receive the uncircumcised1 this church made its appearance only because there was another church1 that of the ,judaizing1 which had decided not to receive the uncircumcised4 ,if there now is a ,catholic ,church1 which asserts its infallibility1 it does this only because there are the ,grco-,russian1 ,orthodox1 ,lutheran ,churches1 each of which asserts its own infallibility1 and thus rejects all the other churches4 ,thus the one church is only a fantastic conception1 which has not the slightest sign of reality4 ,as an actual1 historical phenomenon there have existed only many assemblies of men1 each of which has asserted that it is the one church1 established by ,christ1 and that all the others1 which call themselves churches1 are heresies and schisms4 ,the catechisms of the most widely diffused churches1 the ,catholic1 the ,orthodox1 and the ,lutheran1 say so outright4 ,in the ,catholic catechism it says3 ,quels sont ceux1 qui sont hors de l'glise8 ,les infidles1 les hrtiques1 les schismatiques4 ,as schismatics are regarded the so-called ,orthodox4 ,the ,lutherans are considered to be heretics2 thus1 according to the ,catholic catechism1 the ,catholics alone are in the church4 ,in the so-called ,orthodox catechism it says3 ,by the one church of ,christ is meant nothing but the ,orthodox1 which remains in complete agreement with the cumenical church4 ,but as to the ,roman ,church and the other confessions 7the church does not even mention the ,lutherans and others71 they cannot be referred to the one1 true church1 since they have themselves separated from it4 ,according to this definition the ,catholics and ,lutherans are outside the church1 and in the church are only the ,orthodox4 ,but the ,lutheran catechism runs as follows3 ,die wahre ,kirche wird daran erkannt1 dass in ihr das ,wort ,gottes lauter und rein ohne ,menschenzustze gelehrt und die ,sacramente treu nach ,christi ,einsetzung gewahrt werden4 ,according to this definition1 all those who have added anything to the teaching of ,christ and the apostles1 as the ,catholic and ,greek ,churches have done1 are outside the church4 ,and in the church are only the ,protestants4 ,the ,catholics assert that the ,holy ,ghost has uninterruptedly operated in their hierarchy2 the ,orthodox assert that the same ,holy ,ghost has operated in their hierarchy2 the ,arians asserted that the ,holy ,ghost operated in their hierarchy 7this they asserted with as much right as the now ruling churches assert it72 the ,protestants of every description1 ,lutherans1 ,reformers1 ,presbyterians1 ,methodists1 ,swedenborgians1 ,mormons1 assert that the ,holy ,ghost operates only in their assemblies4 ,if the ,catholics assert that the ,holy ,ghost during the division of the ,arian and of the ,greek ,churches left the apostatizing churches and remained only in the one1 true church1 the ,protestants of every denomination can with the same right assert that during the separation of their church from the ,catholic the ,holy ,ghost left the ,catholic ,church and passed over to the one which they recognize4 ,and so they do4 ,every church deduces its profession through an uninterrupted tradition from ,christ and the apostles4 ,and1 indeed1 every ,christian confession1 arising from ,christ1 must have inevitably reached the present generation through a certain tradition4 ,but this does not prove that any one of these traditions1 excluding all the others1 is indubitably the correct one4 ,every twig on the tree goes uninterruptedly back to the root2 but the fact that every twig comes from the same root does in no way prove that there is but one twig4 ,the same is true of the churches4 ,every church offers precisely the same proofs of its succession and even of the miracles in favour of its own authenticity2 thus there is but one strict and precise definition of what the church is 7not as something fantastic1 which we should like it to be1 but as something which in reality exists71 and this is3 the church is an assembly of men1 who assert that they1 and they only1 are in the full possession of the truth4 ,it was these assemblies1 which later on1 with the aid of the support of the temporal power1 passed into mighty institutions1 that were the chief impediments in the dissemination of the true comprehension of ,christ's teaching4 ,nor could it be otherwise3 the chief peculiarity of ,christ's teaching1 as distinguished from all the former teachings1 consisted in this1 that the men who accepted it tried more and more to understand and fulfil the teaching1 whereas the church doctrine asserted the full and final comprehension and fulfilment of this teaching4 ,however strange it may seem to us people educated in the false doctrine about the church as a ,christian institution1 and in the contempt for heresy1 it was only in what is called heresy that there was true motion1 that is1 true ,christianity1 and it ceased to be such when it stopped its motion in these heresies and became itself arrested in the immovable forms of the church4 ,indeed1 what is a heresy8 ,read all the theological works which treat about heresies1 a subject which is the first to present itself for definition1 since every theology speaks of the true teaching amidst the surrounding false teachings1 that is1 heresies1 and you will nowhere find anything resembling a definition of heresy4 ,as a specimen of that complete absence of any semblance of a definition of what is understood by the word heresy may serve the opinion on this subject expressed by the learned historian of ,christianity1 ,e4 de ,pressens1 in his ,histoire du ,dogme1 with the epigraph1 ,ubi ,christus1 ibi ,ecclesia 7,paris1 #ahfi74 ,this is what he says in his introduction3 ,je sais que l'on nous conteste le droit de califier ainsi1 that is1 to call heresies les tendances qui furent si vivement combattues par les premiers ,pres4 ,la dsignation mme d'hrsie semble une atteinte porte la libert de conscience et de pense4 ,nous ne pouvons partager ces scrupules1 car ils n'iraient rien moins qu' enlever au christianisme tout caractre distinctif4 ,and after saying that after ,constantine the church actually misused its power in defining the dissenters as heretics and persecuting them1 he passes judgment on the early times and says3 ,l'glise est une libre association2 il y a tout profit se sparer d'elle4 ,la polmique contre l'erreur n'a d'autres resources que la pense et le sentiment4 ,un type doctrinal uniforme n'a pas encore t labor2 les divergences secondaires se produisent en ,orient et en ,occident avec une entire libert1 la thologie n'est point lie d'invariables formules4 ,si au sein de cette diversit apparait un fond commun de croyances1 n'est-on pas en droit d'y voir non pas un systme formul et compos par les reprsentants d'une autorit d'cole1 mais la foi elle mme1 dans son instinct le plus sr et sa manifestation la plus spontane8 ,si cette mme unanimit qui se revle dans les croyances essentielles1 se retrouve pour repousser telles ou telles tendances1 ne seront-nous pas en droit de conclure que ces tendances taient en dsaccord flagrant avec les principes fondamentaux du christianisme8 ,cette prsomption ne se transformera-t-elle pas en certitude si nous reconnaissons dans la doctrine universellement repousse par l'glise les traits caractristiques de l'une des religions du pass8 ,pour dire que le gnosticisme ou l'ebionitisme sont les formes lgitimes de la pense chrtienne1 il faut dire hardiment qu'il n'y a pas de pense chrtienne1 ni de caractre specifique qui la fasse reconnatre4 ,sous prtexte de l'largir on la dissent4 ,personne1 au temps de ,platon1 n'eut os de couvrir de son nom1 une doctrine qui n'eut pas fait place la thorie des ides1 et l'on eut excit les justes moqueries de la ,grce1 en voulant faire d',epicure ou de ,znon un disciple de l',acadmie4 ,reconnaissons donc que s'il existe une religion et une doctrine qui s'appelle le christianisme elle peut avoir ses hrsies4 ,the whole discussion of the author reduces itself to this1 that every opinion which is not in agreement with a code of dogmas professed by us at a given time is a heresy2 but at a given time and in a given place people profess something1 and this profession of something in some place cannot be a criterion of the truth4 ,everything reduces itself to this1 that ,ubi ,christus1 ibi ,ecclesia2 but ,christ is where we are4 ,every so-called heresy1 by recognizing as the truth what it professes1 can in a similar manner find in the history of the churches a consistent explanation of what it professes1 using for itself all the arguments of ,de ,pressens and calling only its own confession truly ,christian1 precisely what all the heresies have been doing4 ,the only definition of heresy 7the word means part7 is the name given by an assembly of men to every judgment which rejects part of the teaching1 as professed by the assembly4 ,a more particular meaning1 which more frequently than any other is ascribed to heresy1 is that of an opinion which rejects the church doctrine1 as established and supported by the worldly power4 ,there is a remarkable1 little known1 very large work 7,unpartheyische ,kirchen und ,ketzer-,historia1 #agbi71 by ,gottfried ,arnold1 which treats directly on this subject and which shows all the illegality1 arbitrariness1 senselessness1 and cruelty of using the word heresy in the sense of rejection4 ,this book is an attempt at describing the history of ,christianity in the form of a history of the heresies4 ,in the introduction the author puts a number of questions3 7#a7 regarding those who make heretics 7von den ,ketzermachern selbst72 7#b7 concerning those who were made heretics2 7#c7 concerning the subjects of heresy2 7#d7 concerning the method of making heretics1 and 7#e7 concerning the aims and consequences of making heretics4 ,in connection with each of these points he puts dozens of questions1 answers to which he later gives from the works of well-known theologians1 but he chiefly leaves it to the reader himself to make the deduction from the exposition of the whole book4 ,i shall quote the following as samples of these questions1 which partly contain the answers4 ,in reference to the fourth point1 as to how heretics are made1 he says in one of his questions 7the seventh73 ,does not all history show that the greatest makers of heretics and the masters of this work were those same wise men from whom the ,father has hidden ,his secrets1 that is1 the hypocrites1 ,pharisees1 and lawyers1 or entirely godless and corrupt people8 ,questions #bj and #ba3 ,and did not1 in the most corrupt times of ,christianity1 the hypocrites and envious people reject those very men who were particularly endowed by ,god with great gifts1 and who in the time of pure ,christianity would have been highly esteemed8 ,and1 on the contrary1 would not these men1 who during the decadence of ,christianity elevated themselves above everything and recognized themselves to be the teachers of the purest ,christianity1 have been recognized1 in apostolic times1 as the basest heretics and antichristians8 ,expressing in these questions this thought1 among others1 that the verbal expression of the essence of faith1 which was demanded by the church1 and a departure from which was considered a heresy1 could never completely cover the world-conception of the believer1 and that1 therefore1 the demand for an expression of faith by means of particular words was the cause of heresy1 he says1 in ,questions #ba and #cc3 ,and if the divine acts and thoughts present themselves to a man as so great and profound that he does not find corresponding words in which to express them1 must he be recognized as a heretic1 if he is not able precisely to express his ideas8 ,and is not this true1 that in the early times there was no heresy1 because the ,christians did not judge one another according to verbal expressions1 but according to the heart and acts1 in connection with a complete liberty of expression1 without fear of being recognized as a heretic8 ,was it not a very common and easy method with the church1 he says in ,question #ba1 when the clergy wanted to get rid of a person or ruin him1 to make him suspected as regards his doctrine and to throw over him the cloak of heresy1 and thus to condemn and remove him8 ,though it is true that amidst the so-called heretics there were errors and sins1 yet it is not less true and obvious from the numberless examples here adduced 7that is1 in the history of the church and of heresy71 he says farther on1 that there has not been a single sincere and conscientious man with some standing who has not been ruined by the churchmen out of envy or for other causes4 ,thus1 nearly two hundred years ago1 was the significance of heresy understood1 and yet this conception continues to exist until the present time4 ,nor can it fail to exist1 so long as there is a concept of the church4 ,heresy is the reverse of the church4 ,where there is the church1 there is also heresy4 ,the church is an assembly of men asserting that they are in possession of the indisputable truth4 ,heresy is the opinion of people who do not recognize the indisputableness of the church truth4 ,heresy is a manifestation of motion in the church1 an attempt at destroying the ossified assertion of the church1 an attempt at a living comprehension of the teaching4 ,every step of moving forward1 of comprehending and fulfilling the teaching has been accomplished by the heretics3 such heretics were ,tertullian1 and ,origen1 and ,augustine1 and ,luther1 and ,huss1 and ,savonarola1 and ,chelcick1 and others4 ,nor could it be otherwise4 ,a disciple of ,christ1 whose teaching consists in an eternally greater and greater comprehension of the teaching and in a greater and greater fulfilment of it1 in a motion toward perfection1 cannot1 for the very reason that he is a disciple of ,christ1 assert concerning himself or concerning any one else1 that he fully understands ,christ's teaching and fulfils it2 still less can he assert this concerning any assembly4 ,no matter at what stage of comprehension and perfection a disciple of ,christ may be1 he always feels the insufficiency of his comprehension and of his fulfilment1 and always strives after a greater comprehension and fulfilment4 ,and so the assertion about myself or about an assembly1 that ,i1 or we1 possess the complete comprehension of ,christ's teaching1 and completely fulfil it1 is a renunciation of the spirit of ,christ's teaching4 ,no matter how strange this may seem1 the churches1 as churches1 have always been1 and cannot help but be1 institutions that are not only foreign1 but even directly hostile1 to ,christ's teaching4 ,with good reason ,voltaire called the church l'infme2 with good reason all1 or nearly all1 the ,christian so-called sects have recognized the church to be that whore of whom ,revelation prophesies2 with good reason the history of the church is the history of the greatest cruelties and horrors4 ,the churches1 as churches1 are not certain institutions which have at their base the ,christian principle1 though slightly deviated from the straight path1 as some think2 the churches1 as churches1 as assemblies1 which assert their infallibility1 are antichristian institutions4 ,between the churches1 as churches1 and ,christianity there is not only nothing in common but the name1 but they are two absolutely divergent and mutually hostile principles4 ,one is pride1 violence1 self-assertion1 immobility1 and death2 the other is meekness1 repentance1 humility1 motion1 and life4 ,it is impossible at the same time to serve both masters1--one or the other has to be chosen4 ,the servants of the churches of all denominations have tried1 especially of late1 to appear as advocates of motion in ,christianity2 they make concessions1 wish to mend the abuses which have stolen into the church1 and say that for the sake of the abuses we ought not to deny the principle of the ,christian church itself1 which alone can unite all men and be a mediator between men and ,god4 ,but all this is not true4 ,the churches have not only never united1 but have always been one of the chief causes of the disunion of men1 of the hatred of one another1 of wars1 slaughters1 inquisitions1 nights of ,st4 ,bartholomew1 and so forth1 and the churches never serve as mediators between men and ,god1 which is1 indeed1 unnecessary and is directly forbidden by ,christ1 who has revealed the teaching directly to every man1 and they put up dead forms in the place of ,god1 and not only fail to reveal ,god to man1 but even conceal ,him from them4 ,churches which have arisen from the failure to comprehend1 and which maintain this lack of comprehension by their immobility1 cannot help persecuting and oppressing every comprehension of the teaching4 ,they try to conceal this1 but this is impossible1 because every motion forward along the path indicated by ,christ destroys their existence4 ,as one hears and reads the articles and sermons1 in which the church writers of modern times of all denominations speak of ,christian truths and virtues1 as one hears and reads these clever discussions1 admonitions1 confessions1 which have been worked out by the ages1 and which sometimes look very much as though they were sincere1 one is prepared to doubt that the churches could be hostile to ,christianity3 ,it certainly cannot be that these people1 who have produced such men as ,chrysostom1 ,fnelon1 ,butler1 and other preachers of ,christianity1 should be hostile to it4 ,one feels like saying3 ,the churches may have deviated from ,christianity1 may be in error1 but cannot be hostile to it4 ,but as one looks at the fruits1 in order to judge the tree1 as ,christ has taught us to do1 and sees that their fruits have been evil1 that the consequence of their activity has been the distortion of ,christianity1 one cannot help but feel that1 no matter how good the men have been1 the cause of the churches in which they have taken part has not been ,christian4 ,the goodness and the deserts of all these men1 who served the churches1 were the goodness and the deserts of men1 but not of the cause which they served4 ,all these good men--like ,francis d',assisi and ,francis de ,lobes1 our ,tkhon ,zadnski1 ,thomas ,kempis1 and others--were good men1 in spite of their having served a cause which is hostile to ,christianity1 and they would have been better and more deserving still1 if they had not succumbed to the error which they served4 ,but why speak of the past1 judge of the past1 which may have been falsely represented to us8 ,the churches with their foundations and with their activity are not a work of the past3 the churches are now before us1 and we can judge of them directly1 by their activity1 their influence upon men4 ,in what does the activity of the churches now consist8 ,how do they act upon men8 ,what do the churches do in our country1 among the ,catholics1 among the ,protestants of every denomination8 ,in what does their activity consist1 and what are the consequences of their activity8 ,the activity of our ,russian1 so-called ,orthodox1 ,church is in full sight4 ,it is a vast fact1 which cannot be concealed1 and about which there can be no dispute4 ,in what consists the activity of this ,russian ,church1 this enormous1 tensely active institution1 which consists of an army of half a million1 costing the nation tens of millions8 ,the activity of this church consists in using every possible means for the purpose of instilling in the one hundred millions of the ,russian population those obsolete1 backward faiths1 which now have no justification whatsoever1 and which sometime in the past were professed by people that are alien to our nation1 and in which hardly any one now believes1 frequently even not those whose duty it is to disseminate these false doctrines4 ,the inculcation of these alien1 obsolete formulas of the ,byzantine clergy1 which no longer have any meaning for the men of our time1 about the ,trinity1 the ,holy ,virgin1 the sacraments1 grace1 and so forth1 forms one part of the activity of the ,russian ,church2 another part of its activity consists in the activity of maintaining idolatry in the direct sense of the word1--worshipping holy relics and images1 bringing sacrifices to them1 and expecting from them the fulfilment of their wishes4 ,i shall not speak of what is spoken and written by the clergy with a shade of learning and liberalism in the clerical periodicals1 but of what actually is done by the clergy over the breadth of the ,russian land among a population of one hundred million people4 ,what do they carefully1 persistently1 tensely1 everywhere without exception1 teach the people8 ,what is demanded of them on the strength of the so-called ,christian faith8 ,illustration3 ,russian ,peasants at ,mass ,photogravure from ,drawing by ,carl ,buddeus ,i will begin with the beginning1 with the birth of a child3 at the birth of a child1 the clergy teaches that a prayer has to be read over the mother and the child1 in order to purify them1 since without this prayer the mother who has given birth to a child is accursed4 ,for this purpose the priest takes the child in his hands in front of the representations of the saints1 which the masses simply call gods1 and pronounces exorcising words1 and thus purifies the mother4 ,then it is impressed on the parents1 and even demanded of them under threat of punishment in case of non-fulfilment1 that the child shall be baptized1 that is1 dipped three times in water by the priest1 in connection with which incomprehensible words are pronounced and even less comprehensible acts performed1--the smearing of various parts of the body with oil1 the shearing of the hair1 and the blowing and spitting of the sponsors on the imaginary devil4 ,all this is supposed to cleanse the child and make him a ,christian4 ,then the parents are impressed with the necessity of giving the holy sacrament to the child1 that is1 of giving him under the form of bread and wine a particle of ,christ's body to eat1 in consequence of which the child will receive the grace of ,christ1 and so forth4 ,then it is demanded that this child1 according to his age1 shall learn to pray4 ,to pray means to stand straight in front of the boards on which the faces of ,christ1 the ,virgin1 the saints1 are represented1 and incline his head and his whole body1 and with his right hand1 with fingers put together in a certain form1 to touch his brow1 shoulders1 and stomach1 and pronounce ,church-,slavic words1 of which all the children are particularly enjoined to repeat1 ,mother of ,god1 ,virgin1 rejoice6 etc4 ,then the pupil is impressed with the necessity of doing the same1 that is1 crossing himself1 in presence of any church or image2 then he is told that on holidays 7holidays are days on which ,christ was born1 though no one knows when that was1 and circumcised1 on which the ,mother of ,god died1 the cross was brought1 the image was carried in1 a saintly fool saw a vision1 etc417 he must put on his best clothes and go to church1 buy tapers there and place them in front of images of saints1 hand in little notes and commemorations and loaves1 that triangles may be cut in them1 and then pray many times for the health and welfare of the ,tsar and the bishops1 and for himself and his acts1 and then kiss the cross and the priest's hand4 ,besides this prayer he is enjoined to prepare himself at least once a year for the holy sacrament4 ,to prepare himself for the holy sacrament means to go to church and tell the priest his sins1 on the supposition that his imparting his sins to a stranger will completely cleanse him of his sins1 and then to eat from a spoon a bit of bread with wine1 which purifies him even more4 ,then it is impressed upon a man and a woman1 who want their carnal intercourse to be sacred1 that they must come to church1 put on metallic crowns1 drink potions1 to the sound of singing walk three times around a table1 and that then their carnal intercourse will become sacred and quite distinct from any other carnal intercourse4 ,in life people are impressed with the necessity of observing the following rules3 not to eat meat or milk food on certain days1 on other certain days to celebrate masses for the dead1 on holidays to receive the priest and give him money1 and several times a year to take the boards with the representations out of the church and carry them on sashes over fields and through houses4 ,before death a man is enjoined to eat from a spoon bread with wine1 and still better1 if he has time1 to have himself smeared with oil4 ,this secures for him happiness in the next world4 ,after a man's death1 his relatives are enjoined1 for the purpose of saving the soul of the defunct1 to put into his hands a printed sheet with a prayer2 it is also useful to have a certain book read over the dead body and the name of the dead man pronounced several times in church4 ,all this is considered an obligatory faith for everybody4 ,but if one wants to care for his soul1 he is taught1 according to this faith1 that the greatest amount of blessedness is secured for the soul in the world to come by contributing money for churches and monasteries1 by putting holy men thus under obligation to pray for him4 ,other soul-saving measures1 according to this faith1 are the visiting of monasteries and the kissing of miracle-working images and relics4 ,according to this faith1 miracle-working images and relics concentrate in themselves particular holiness1 strength1 and grace1 and nearness to these objects--touching1 kissing them1 placing tapers before them1 crawling up to them--contributes very much to a man's salvation1 and so do masses1 which are ordered before these sacred objects4 ,it is this faith1 and no other1 which is called ,orthodox1 that is1 the right faith1 and which has1 under the guise of ,christianity1 been impressed upon the people for many centuries by the exercise of all kinds of force1 and is now being impressed with particular effort4 ,and let it not be said that the ,orthodox teachers place the essence of the teaching in something else1 and that these are only ancient forms which it is not considered right to destroy4 ,that is not true3 throughout all of ,russia1 nothing but this faith has of late been impressed upon the people with particular effort4 ,there is nothing else4 ,of something else they talk and write in the capitals1 but only this is being impressed on one hundred million of people1 and nothing else4 ,the churchmen talk of other things1 but they enjoin only this with every means at their command4 ,all this1 and the worship of persons and images1 is introduced into theologies1 into catechisms2 the masses are carefully taught this theoretically1 and1 being hypnotized practically1 with every means of solemnity1 splendour1 authority1 and violence1 are made to believe in this1 and are jealously guarded against every endeavour to be freed from these savage superstitions4 ,in my very presence1 as ,i said in reference to my book1 ,christ's teaching and his own words concerning non-resistance to evil were a subject of ridicule and circus jokes1 and the churchmen not only did not oppose this1 but even encouraged the blasphemy2 but allow yourself to say a disrespectful word concerning the monstrous idol1 which is blasphemously carried about in ,moscow by drunken persons under the name of the ,iberian ,virgin1 and a groan of indignation will be raised by these same churchmen4 ,all that is preached is the external cult of idolatry4 ,let no one say that one thing does not interfere with the other1 that these ought ye to have done1 and not to have left the other undone1 that all1 therefore1 whatsoever they bid you observe1 that observe and do2 but do not ye after their works3 for they say1 and do not 7,matt4 xxiii4 #bc1 #c74 ,this is said of the ,pharisees1 who fulfilled all the external injunctions of the law1 and so the words1 whatsoever they bid you observe1 that observe1 refer to works of charity and of goodness1 and the words1 but do ye not after their works1 for they say1 and do not1 refer to the execution of ceremonies and to the omission of good works1 and have precisely the opposite meaning to what the churchmen want to ascribe to this passage1 when they interpret it as meaning that ceremonies are to be observed4 ,an external cult and serving charity and truth are hard to harmonize2 for the most part one thing excludes the other4 ,thus it was with the ,pharisees1 and thus it is now with the church ,christians4 ,if a man can save himself through redemption1 sacraments1 prayer1 he no longer needs any good deeds4 ,the ,sermon on the ,mount1 or the symbol of faith3 it is impossible to believe in both4 ,and the churchmen have chosen the latter3 the symbol of faith is taught and read as a prayer in the churches2 and the ,sermon on the ,mount is excluded even from the ,gospel teachings in the churches1 so that in the churches the parishioners never hear it1 except on the days when the whole ,gospel is read4 ,nor can it be otherwise3 men who believe in a bad and senseless ,god1 who has cursed the human race and who has doomed ,his son to be a victim1 and has doomed a part of humanity to everlasting torment1 cannot believe in a ,god of love4 ,a man who believes in ,god-,christ1 who will come again in glory to judge and punish the living and the dead1 cannot believe in ,christ1 who commands a man to offer his cheek to the offender1 not to judge1 but to forgive1 and to love our enemies4 ,a man who believes in the divine inspiration of the ,old ,testament and the holiness of ,david1 who on his death-bed orders the killing of an old man who has offended him and whom he could not kill himself1 because he was bound by an oath 7,book of ,kings1 ii4 #c71 and similar abominations1 of which the ,old ,testament is full1 cannot believe in ,christ's moral law2 a man who believes in the doctrine and the preaching of the church about the compatibility of executions and wars with ,christianity1 cannot believe in the brotherhood of men4 ,above all else1 a man who believes in the salvation of men through faith1 in redemption1 or in the sacraments1 can no longer employ all his strength in the fulfilment in life of the moral teaching of ,christ4 ,a man who is taught by the church the blasphemous doctrine about his not being able to be saved by his own efforts1 but that there is another means1 will inevitably have recourse to this means1 and not to his efforts1 on which he is assured it is a sin to depend4 ,the church doctrine1 any church doctrine1 with its redemption and its sacraments1 excludes ,christ's teaching1 and the ,orthodox doctrine1 with its idolatry1 does so especially4 ,but the masses have always believed so themselves1 and believe so now1 people will say to this4 ,the whole history of the ,russian masses proves this4 ,it is not right to deprive the masses of their tradition4 ,in this does the deception consist4 ,the masses at one time1 indeed1 professed something like what the church professes now1 though it was far from being the same 7among the masses1 there has existed1 not only this superstition of the images1 house spirits1 relics1 and the seventh ,thursday after ,easter1 with its wreaths and birches1 but also a deep moral1 vital comprehension of ,christianity1 which has never existed in the whole church1 and was met with only in its best representatives72 but the masses1 in spite of all the obstacles1 which the government and the church have opposed to them1 have long ago in their best representatives outlived this coarse stage of comprehension1 which is proved by the spontaneous birth of rationalistic sects1 with which one meets everywhere1 with which ,russia swarms at the present time1 and with which the churchmen struggle in vain4 ,the masses move on in the consciousness of the moral1 vital side of ,christianity4 ,and it is here that the church appears with its failure to support1 and with its intensified inculcation of an obsolete paganism in its ossified form1 with its tendency to push the masses back into that darkness1 from which they are struggling with so much effort to get out4 ,we do not teach the masses anything new1 but only what they believe in1 and that in a more perfect form1 say the churchmen4 ,this is the same as tying up a growing chick and pushing it back into the shell from which it has come4 ,i have often been struck by this observation1 which would be comical1 if its consequences were not so terrible1 that men1 taking hold of each other in a circle1 deceive one another1 without being able to get out of the enchanted circle4 ,the first question1 the first doubt of a ,russian who is beginning to think1 is the question about the miracle-working images and1 above all1 the relics3 ,is it true that they are imperishable1 and that they work miracles8 ,hundreds and thousands of men put these questions to themselves and are troubled about their solution1 especially because the bishops1 metropolitans1 and all the dignitaries kiss the relics and the miracle-working images4 ,ask the bishops and the dignitaries why they do so1 and they will tell you that they do so for the sake of the masses1 and the masses worship the images and relics1 because the bishops and dignitaries do so4 ,the activity of the ,russian ,church1 in spite of its external veneer of modernness1 learning1 spirituality1 which its members are beginning to assume in their writings1 articles1 clerical periodicals1 and sermons1 consists not only in keeping the masses in that consciousness of rude and savage idolatry1 in which they are1 but also in intensifying and disseminating superstition and religious ignorance1 by pushing out of the masses the vital comprehension of ,christianity1 which has been living in them by the side of the idolatry4 ,i remember1 ,i was once present in the monastery bookstore of ptin ,cloister1 when an old peasant was choosing some religious books for his grandson1 who could read4 ,the monk kept pushing the description of relics1 holidays1 miraculous images1 psalters1 etc41 into his hands4 ,i asked the old man if he had the ,gospel4 ,no4 ,give him the ,russian ,gospel1 ,i said to the monk4 ,that is not proper for him1 said the monk4 ,this is in compressed form the activity of our church4 ,but this is only true in barbarous ,russia1 a ,european or ,american reader will say4 ,and such an opinion will be correct1 but only in the measure in which it refers to the government which aids the church in accomplishing its stultifying and corrupting influence in ,russia4 ,it is true that nowhere in ,europe is there such a despotic government and one to such a degree in accord with the ruling church1 and so the participation of the power in the corruption of the masses in ,russia is very strong2 but it is not true that the ,russian ,church in its influence upon the masses in any way differs from any other church4 ,the churches are everything the same1 and if the ,catholic1 the ,anglican1 and the ,lutheran ,churches have not in hand such an obedient government as is the ,russian1 this is not due to the absence of any desire to make use of the same4 ,the church1 as a church1 no matter what it may be1 ,catholic1 ,anglican1 ,lutheran1 ,presbyterian1--every church1 insomuch as it is a church1 cannot help but tend toward the same as the ,russian ,church1--toward concealing the true meaning of ,christ's teaching and substituting in its place its own doctrine1 which does not put a person under any obligations1 excludes the possibility of understanding the true activity of ,christ's teaching1 and1 above all else1 justifies the existence of priests who are living at the expense of the nation4 ,has ,catholicism been doing anything else with its prohibition of the reading of the ,gospel1 and with its demand for unreasoning obedience to the ecclesiastic guides and the infallible ,pope8 ,does ,catholicism preach anything different from what the ,russian ,church preaches8 ,we have here the same external cult1 the same relics1 miracles1 and statues1 the miracle-working ,notre-,dames1 and processions4 ,the same elatedly misty judgments concerning ,christianity in books and sermons1 and1 when it comes to facts1 the same maintenance of a coarse idolatry4 ,and is not the same being done in ,anglicanism1 ,lutheranism1 and in every ,protestantism which has formed itself into a church8 ,the same demands from the congregation for a belief in dogmas which were expressed in the fourth century and have lost all meaning for the men of our time1 and the same demand for idolatry1 if not before relics and images1 at least before the ,sabbath and the letter of the ,bible4 ,it is still the same activity1 which is directed upon concealing the real demands of ,christianity and substituting for them externals1 which do not put a man under any obligations1 and cant1 as the ,english beautifully define the occupation to which they are particularly subject4 ,among the ,protestants this activity is particularly noticeable1 since they do not even have the excuse of antiquity4 ,and does not the same take place in the modern ,revivalism1--the renovated ,calvinism1 ,evangelism1--out of which has grown up the ,salvation ,army8 ,just as the condition of all the church doctrines is the same in reference to ,christ's teaching1 so are also their methods4 ,their condition is such that they cannot help but strain all their efforts1 in order to conceal the teaching of ,christ1 whose name they use4 ,the incompatibility of all the church confessions with ,christ's teaching is such that it takes especial efforts to conceal this incompatibility from men4 ,indeed1 we need but stop and think of the condition of any adult1 not only cultured1 but even simple1 man of our time1 who has filled himself with conceptions1 which are in the air1 from the fields of geology1 physics1 chemistry1 cosmography1 history1 when he for the first time looks consciously at the beliefs1 instilled in him in childhood and supported by the churches1 that ,god created the world in six days2 that there was light before the sun2 that ,noah stuck all the animals into his ark1 and so forth2 that ,jesus is the same ,god1 the son1 who created everything before this2 that this ,god descended upon earth for ,adam's sin2 that ,he rose from the dead1 ascended to heaven1 and sits on the right of the ,father1 and will come in the clouds to judge the world1 and so forth4 ,all these propositions1 which were worked out by the men of the fourth century and had a certain meaning for the men of that time1 have no meaning for the men of the present4 ,the men of our time may repeat these words with their lips1 but they cannot believe1 because these words1 like the statements that ,god lives in heaven1 that the heavens opened and a voice said something from there1 that ,christ rose from the dead and flew somewhere to heaven and will again come from somewhere in the clouds1 and so forth1 have no meaning for us4 ,it was possible for a man1 who regarded the heaven as a finite1 firm vault1 to believe1 or not1 that ,god created the heaven1 that heaven was opened1 that ,christ flew to heaven2 but for us these words have no meaning whatsoever4 ,men of our time can only believe that they must believe so2 but they cannot believe in what has no meaning for them4 ,but if all these expressions are to have a figurative meaning and are emblems1 we know that1 in the first place1 not all churchmen agree in this1 but that1 on the contrary1 the majority insist on understanding ,holy ,scripture in a direct sense1 and1 secondly1 that these interpretations are varied and not confirmed by anything4 ,but even if a man wishes to make himself believe in the doctrine of the churches1 as it is imparted1--the general diffusion of knowledge and of the ,gospels1 and the intercourse of men of various denominations among themselves1 form for this another1 even more insuperable obstacle4 ,a man of our time need but buy himself a ,gospel for three kopeks and read ,christ's clear words to the woman of ,samaria1 which are not subject to any other interpretation1 about the ,father needing no worshippers in ,jerusalem1 neither in this mountain1 nor in that1 worshippers in spirit and in truth1 or the words about a ,christian's being obliged to pray1 not in temples1 as the pagans do1 and in the sight of all1 but in secret1 that is1 in his closet1 or that a disciple of ,christ must not call any one father or teacher1--a man needs but read these words1 to become convinced that no ecclesiastic pastors1 who call themselves teachers in opposition to ,christ's teaching1 and who quarrel among themselves1 form an authority1 and that that which the churchmen teach us is not ,christianity4 ,but more than that3 if a man of our time continues to believe in miracles and does not read the ,gospel1 his mere intercourse with men of other denominations and faiths1 which has become so easy in our time1 will make him doubt in the authenticity of his faith4 ,it was all very well for a man who never saw any men of another faith than his own to believe that his own faith was the correct one2 but a thinking man need only come in contact1 as he now does all the time1 with equally good and equally bad men of various denominations1 which condemn the doctrines of one another1 in order to lose faith in the truth of the religion which he professes4 ,in our time only a very ignorant man or one who is quite indifferent to the questions of life1 which are sanctified by religion1 can stay in the church faith4 ,illustration3 ,church of ,vasili the ,blessed1 ,moscow ,photogravure from ,drawing by ,e4 ,thrond ,what cunning and what effort must be exerted by the churches1 if1 in spite of all these conditions which are subversive of faith1 they are to continue building churches1 celebrating masses1 preaching1 teaching1 converting1 and1 above all1 receiving for it a fat income1 like all these priests1 pastors1 intendants1 superintendents1 abbots1 archdeacons1 bishops1 and archbishops4 ,especial1 supernatural efforts are needed4 ,and such efforts1 which are strained more and more1 are used by the churches4 ,with us1 in ,russia1 they use 7in addition to all other means7 the simple1 coarse violence of the civil power1 which is obedient to the church4 ,persons who depart from the external expression of faith and who give expression to it are either directly punished or deprived of their rights2 while persons who strictly adhere to the external forms of faith are rewarded and given rights4 ,thus do the ,orthodox2 but even all other churches1 without exception1 use for this all such means1 of which the chief is what now is called hypnotization4 ,all the arts1 from architecture to poetry1 are put into action1 to affect the souls of men and to stultify them1 and this action takes place without interruption4 ,particularly evident is this necessity of the hypnotizing action upon men1 in order to bring them to a state of stupefaction1 in the activity of the ,salvation ,army1 which uses new1 unfamiliar methods of horns1 drums1 songs1 banners1 uniforms1 processions1 dances1 tears1 and dramatic attitudes4 ,but we are startled by them only because they are new methods4 ,are not the old methods of the temples1 with especial illumination1 with gold1 splendour1 candles1 choirs1 organs1 bells1 vestments1 lackadaisical sermons1 and so forth1 the same8 ,but1 no matter how strong this action of hypnotization may be1 the chief and most deleterious activity of the churches does not lie in this4 ,the chief1 most pernicious activity of the church is the one which is directed to the deception of the children1 those very children of whom ,christ said that it will be woe to him who shall offend one of these little ones4 ,with the very first awakening of the child1 they begin to deceive him and to impress upon him with solemnity what those who impress do not believe in themselves1 and they continue to impress him1 until the deception1 becoming a habit1 is engrafted on the child's nature4 ,the child is methodically deceived in the most important matter of life1 and when the deception has so grown up with his life that it is difficult to tear it away1 there is revealed to him the whole world of science and of reality1 which can in no way harmonize with the beliefs instilled in him1 and he is left to make the best he can out of these contradictions4 ,if we should set ourselves the task of entangling a man in such a way that he should not be able with his sound reason to get away from the two opposite world-conceptions1 which have been instilled in him since his childhood1 we could not invent anything more powerful than what is accomplished in the case of every young man who is educated in our so-called ,christian society4 ,what the churches do to people is terrible1 but if we reflect on their condition1 we shall find that those men who form the institution of the churches cannot act otherwise4 ,the churches are confronted with a dilemma1--the ,sermon on the ,mount1 or the ,nicene ,creed1--one excludes the other3 if a man sincerely believes in the ,sermon on the ,mount1 the ,nicene ,creed1 and with it the church and its representatives1 inevitably lose all meaning and significance for him2 but if a man believes in the ,nicene ,creed1 that is1 in the church1 that is1 in those who call themselves its representatives1 the ,sermon on the ,mount will become superfluous to him4 ,and so the churches cannot help but use every possible effort to obscure the meaning of the ,sermon on the ,mount and to attract people toward itself4 ,only thanks to the tense activity of the churches in this direction has the influence of the churches held itself until now4 ,let a church for the shortest time arrest this action upon the masses by means of hypnotizing them and deceiving the children1 and people will understand ,christ's teaching4 ,but the comprehension of the teaching destroys the churches and their significance4 ,and so the churches do not for a moment interrupt the tense activity and hypnotization of the adults and the deception of the children4 ,and it is this activity of the churches1 which instils a false comprehension of ,christ's teaching in men1 and serves as an obstacle in its comprehension for the majority of so-called believers4 ,,iv4 ,now ,i will speak of another putative comprehension of ,christianity1 which interferes with the correct comprehension of it1--the scientific comprehension4 ,the churchmen regard as ,christianity that conception of it which they have formed1 and this comprehension of ,christianity they regard as the one indubitably true one4 ,the men of science regard as ,christianity only what the different churches have been professing1 and1 assuming that these professions exhaust the whole significance of ,christianity1 they recognize it as a religious teaching which has outlived its time4 ,to have it made clear how impossible it is with such a view to understand the ,christian teaching1 we must form an idea of the place which the religions in general and ,christianity in particular have in reality occupied in the life of humanity1 and of the significance which is ascribed to religion by science4 ,as an individual man cannot live without having a definite idea of the meaning of his life1 and always1 though often unconsciously1 conforms his acts to this meaning which he ascribes to his life1 even so aggregates of men living under the same conditions1--nations cannot help but have a conception about the meaning of their collective life and the activity resulting therefrom4 ,and as an individual1 entering into a new age1 invariably changes his comprehension of life1 and a grown man sees its meaning in something else than in what a child sees it1 so an aggregate of people1 a nation1 inevitably1 according to its age1 changes its comprehension of life and the activity which results from it4 ,the difference between the individual and the whole of humanity in this respect consists in this1 that while the individual in the determination of the comprehension of life1 proper to the new stage of life into which he enters1 and in the activity which arises from it1 makes use of the indications of men who have lived before him and who have already passed through the period of life upon which he is entering1 humanity cannot have these indications1 because it all moves along an untrodden path1 and there is no one who can tell how life is to be understood1 and how one is to act under the new conditions into which it is entering1 and in which no one has lived before4 ,and yet1 as a married man with children cannot continue to understand life as he understood it when he was a child1 so humanity cannot in connection with all the various changes which have taken place1--the density of the population1 and the established intercourse between the nations1 and the improvement of the means for struggling against ,nature1 and the accumulation of science1--continue to understand life as before1 but must establish a new concept of life1 from which should result the activity which corresponds to that new condition into which it has entered or is about to enter4 ,to this demand responds the peculiar ability of humanity to segregate certain people who give a new meaning to the whole of human life1--a meaning from which results the whole new activity which is different from the preceding one4 ,the establishment of the new life-conception1 which is proper for humanity under the new conditions into which it is entering1 and of the activity resulting from it1 is what is called religion4 ,and so religion1 in the first place1 is not1 as science thinks1 a phenomenon which at one time accompanied the evolution of humanity1 and later became obsolete1 but is a phenomenon always inherent in the life of humanity1 and is in our time as inevitably inherent in humanity as at any other time4 ,in the second place1 religion is always a determination of the activity of the future1 and not of the past1 and so it is obvious that the investigation of past phenomena can in no way include the essence of religion4 ,the essence of every religious teaching does not consist in the desire to express the forces of ,nature symbolically1 or in the fear of them1 or in the demand for the miraculous1 or in the external forms of its manifestation1 as the men of science imagine4 ,the essence of religion lies in the property of men prophetically to foresee and point out the path of life1 over which humanity must travel1 in a new definition of the meaning of life1 from which also results a new1 the whole future activity of humanity4 ,this property of foreseeing the path on which humanity must travel is in a greater or lesser degree common to all men1 but there have always1 at all times1 been men1 in whom this quality has been manifested with particular force1 and these men expressed clearly and precisely what was dimly felt by all men1 and established a new comprehension of life1 from which resulted an entirely new activity1 for hundreds and thousands of years4 ,we know three such conceptions of life3 two of them humanity has already outlived1 and the third is the one through which we are now passing in ,christianity4 ,there are three1 and only three1 such conceptions1 not because we have arbitrarily united all kinds of life-conceptions into these three1 but because the acts of men always have for their base one of these three life-conceptions1 because we cannot understand life in any other way than by one of these three means4 ,the three life-conceptions are these3 the first--the personal1 or animal2 the second--the social1 or the pagan2 and the third--the universal1 or the divine4 ,according to the first life-conception1 man's life is contained in nothing but his personality2 the aim of his life is the gratification of the will of this personality4 ,according to the second life-conception1 man's life is not contained in his personality alone1 but in the aggregate and sequence of personalities1--in the tribe1 the family1 the race1 the state2 the aim of life consists in the gratification of the will of this aggregate of personalities4 ,according to the third life-conception1 man's life is contained neither in his personality1 nor in the aggregate and sequence of personalities1 but in the beginning and source of life1 in ,god4 ,these three life-conceptions serve as the foundation of all past and present religions4 ,the savage recognizes life only in himself1 in his personal desires4 ,the good of his life is centred in himself alone4 ,the highest good for him is the greatest gratification of his lust4 ,the prime mover of his life is his personal enjoyment4 ,his religion consists in appeasing the divinity in his favour1 and in the worship of imaginary personalities of gods1 who live only for personal ends4 ,a pagan1 a social man1 no longer recognizes life in himself alone1 but in the aggregate of personalities1--in the tribe1 the family1 the race1 the state1--and sacrifices his personal good for these aggregates4 ,the prime mover of his life is glory4 ,his religion consists in the glorification of the heads of unions1--of eponyms1 ancestors1 kings1 and in the worship of gods1 the exclusive protectors of his family1 his race1 his nation1 his state4#i #i ,the unity of this life-conception is not impaired by the fact that so many various forms of life1 as that of the tribe1 the family1 the race1 the state1 and even the life of humanity1 according to the theoretical speculations of the positivists1 are based on this social1 or pagan1 life-conception4 ,all these various forms of life are based on the same concept that the life of the personality is not a sufficient aim of life and that the meaning of life can be found only in the aggregate of personalities4--,author's ,note4 ,the man with the divine life-conception no longer recognizes life to consist in his personality1 or in the aggregate of personalities 7in the family1 the race1 the people1 the country1 or the state71 but in the source of the everlasting1 immortal life1 in ,god2 and to do ,god's will he sacrifices his personal and domestic and social good4 ,the prime mover of his religion is love4 ,and his religion is the worship in deed and in truth of the beginning of everything1 of ,god4 ,the whole historical life of humanity is nothing but a gradual transition from the personal1 the animal life-conception1 to the social1 and from the social to the divine4 ,the whole history of the ancient nations1 which lasted for thousands of years and which came to a conclusion with the history of ,rome1 is the history of the substitution of the social and the political life-conception for the animal1 the personal4 ,the whole history since the time of imperial ,rome and the appearance of ,christianity has been the history of the substitution of the divine life-conception for the political1 and we are passing through it even now4 ,it is this last life-conception1 and the ,christian teaching which is based upon it and which governs our whole life and lies at the foundation of our whole activity1 both the practical and the theoretical1 that the men of so-called science1 considering it in reference to its external signs only1 recognize as something obsolete and meaningless for us4 ,this teaching1 which1 according to the men of science1 is contained only in its dogmatic part1--in the doctrine of the ,trinity1 the redemption1 the miracles1 the church1 the sacraments1 and so forth1--is only one out of a vast number of religions which have arisen in humanity1 and now1 having played its part in history1 is outliving its usefulness1 melting in the light of science and true culture4 ,what is taking place is what in the majority of cases serves as a source of the coarsest human errors1--men who are standing on a lower level of comprehension1 coming in contact with phenomena of a higher order1 instead of making efforts to understand them1 instead of rising to the point of view from which they ought to look upon a subject1 judge it from their lower point of view1 and that1 too1 with greater daring and determination the less they understand what they are talking about4 ,for the majority of scientific men1 who view ,christ's vital1 moral teaching from the lower point of the social conception of life1 this teaching is only a very indefinite1 clumsy combination of ,hindoo asceticism1 ,stoical and ,neo-platonic teachings1 and ,utopian antisocial reveries1 which have no serious significance for our time1 and its whole meaning is centred in its external manifestations1--in ,catholicism1 ,protestantism1 the dogmas1 the struggle with the worldly power4 ,in defining the significance of ,christianity according to these phenomena1 they are like deaf persons who should judge of the meaning and the worth of music according to the appearance of the motions which the musicians make4 ,the result of it is this1 that all these men1 beginning with ,comte1 ,strauss1 ,spencer1 and ,renan1 who do not understand the meaning of ,christ's sermons1 who do not understand why they are uttered and for what purpose1 who do not even understand the question to which they serve as an answer1 who do not even take the trouble to grasp their meaning1 if they are inimically inclined1 deny outright the rationality of the teaching2 but if they wish to be condescending to it1 they correct it from the height of their grandeur1 assuming that ,christ wanted to say precisely what they have in mind1 but did not know how to say it4 ,they treat his teaching as1 in correcting the words of an interlocutor1 self-confident men generally speak to one whom they regard as standing below them1 ,yes1 what you mean to say is this4 ,this correction is always made in the sense of reducing the higher1 divine life-conception to the lower1 social conception4 ,people generally say that the moral teaching of ,christianity is good1 but exaggerated1--that1 in order that it should be absolutely good1 we must reject from it what is superfluous1 what does not fit in with our structure of life4 ,for otherwise the teaching1 which demands too much1 which cannot be carried out1 is worse than one which demands from men what is possible and in conformity with their strength1 think and assert the wise interpreters of ,christianity1 repeating what was long ago affirmed and still is affirmed1 and could not help but be affirmed1 in relation to the ,christian teaching1 by those who1 having failed to comprehend the teacher of it1 crucified ,him1--by the ,jews4 ,it turns out that before the judgment of the learned of our time1 the ,jewish law1 ,a tooth for a tooth1 and an eye for an eye1--the law of just retaliation1 which was known to humanity five thousand years ago1--is more useful than the law of love which eighteen hundred years ago was preached by ,christ in place of this very law of justice4 ,it turns out that everything which has been done by the men who comprehended ,christ's teaching in a direct manner and lived in conformity with such a comprehension1 everything which all true ,christians1 all ,christian champions1 have done1 everything which now transforms the world under the guise of socialism and communism1--is exaggeration1 of which it is not worth while to speak4 ,men who have been educated in ,christianity for eighteen centuries have convinced themselves in the persons of their foremost men1 the scholars1 that the ,christian teaching is a teaching of dogmas1 that the vital teaching is a misconception1 an exaggeration1 which violates the true legitimate demands of morality1 which correspond to man's nature1 and that the doctrine of justice1 which ,christ rejected and in the place of which he put his own teaching1 is much more profitable for us4 ,the learned consider the commandment of non-resistance to evil an exaggeration and even madness4 ,if it be rejected1 it would be much better1 they think1 without observing that they are not talking of ,christ's teaching at all1 but of what presents itself to them as such4 ,they do not notice that to say that ,christ's commandment about non-resistance to evil is an exaggeration is the same as saying that in the theory of the circle the statement about the equality of the radii of a circle is an exaggeration4 ,and those who say so do precisely what a man1 who did not have any conception as to what a circle is1 would do if he asserted that the demand that all the points on the circumference should be equally distant from the centre is an exaggeration4 ,to advise that the statement concerning the equality of the radii in a circle be rejected or moderated is the same as not understanding what a circle is4 ,to advise that the commandment about non-resistance to evil in the vital teaching of ,christ be rejected or moderated means not to understand the teaching4 ,and those who do so actually do not understand it at all4 ,they do not understand that this teaching is the establishment of a new comprehension of life1 which corresponds to the new condition into which men have been entering for these eighteen hundred years1 and the determination of the new activity which results from it4 ,they do not believe that ,christ wanted to say what he did2 or it seems to them that what he said in the ,sermon on the ,mount and in other passages ,he said from infatuation1 from lack of comprehension1 from insufficient development4#aj #aj ,here1 for example1 is a characteristic judgment of the kind in an article of an ,american periodical1 ,arena1 ,october1 #ahij4 ,the article is entitled ,a ,new ,basis of ,church ,life4 ,in discussing the significance of the ,sermon on the ,mount1 and especially its non-resistance to evil1 the author1 who is not obliged1 like the ecclesiastic writers1 to conceal its meaning1 says3 ,christ actually preached complete communism and anarchy2 but we must know how to look upon ,christ in ,his historical and psychologic significance4 ,this sentence is not in the ,english article4--,tr4 ,devout common sense must gradually come to look upon ,christ as a philanthropic teacher who1 like every enthusiast who ever taught1 went to an ,utopian extreme of ,his own philosophy4 ,every great agitation for the betterment of the world has been led by men who beheld their own mission with such absorbing intensity that they could see little else4 ,it is no reproach to ,christ to say that ,he had the typical reformer's temperament2 that ,his precepts cannot be literally accepted as a complete philosophy of life2 and that men are to analyze them reverently1 but1 at the same time1 in the spirit of ordinary1 truth-seeking criticism1 and so forth4 ,christ would have liked to speak well1 but ,he did not know how to express ,himself as precisely and clearly as we1 in the spirit of criticism1 and so we will correct him4 ,everything ,he said about meekness1 sacrifice1 poverty1 the thoughtlessness for the morrow1 ,he said by chance1 having been unable to express himself scientifically4--,author's ,note4 ,therefore ,i say unto you1 ,take no thought for your life1 what ye shall eat1 or what ye shall drink2 nor yet for your body1 what ye shall put on4 ,is not the life more than meat1 and the body than raiment8 ,behold the fowls of the air3 for they sow not1 neither do they reap1 nor gather into barns2 yet your heavenly ,father feedeth them4 ,are ye not much better than they8 ,which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature8 ,and why take ye thought for raiment8 ,consider the lilies of the field1 how they grow2 they toil not1 neither do they spin3 and yet ,i say unto you1 ,that even ,solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these4 ,wherefore1 if ,god so clothe the grass of the field1 which to-day is1 and to-morrow is cast into the oven1 shall ,he not much more clothe you1 ,o ye of little faith8 ,therefore take no thought1 saying1 ,what shall we eat8 or1 ,what shall we drink1 or1 ,wherewithal shall we be clothed8 7,for after all these things do the ,gentiles seek37 for your heavenly ,father knoweth that ye have need of all these things4 ,but seek ye first the kingdom of ,god1 and ,his righteousness2 and all these things shall be added unto you4 ,take therefore no thought for the morrow3 for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself4 ,sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof 7,matt4 vi4 #be-cd74 ,sell that ye have1 and give alms2 provide yourselves bags which wax not old1 a treasure in the heavens that faileth not1 where no thief approacheth1 neither moth corrupteth4 ,for where your treasure is there will your heart be also 7,luke xii4 #cc-cd74 ,go and sell that thou hast1 and follow me1 and who hath not forsaken father or mother1 or children1 or brethren1 or fields1 or house1 cannot be my disciple4 ,turn away from thyself1 take thy cross for every day1 and come after me4 ,my meat is to do the will of ,him that sent me1 and to do ,his work4 ,not my will be done1 but ,thine2 not what ,i want1 but what ,thou wantest1 and not as ,i want1 but as ,thou wantest4 ,the life is in this1 not to do one's will1 but the will of ,god4 ,all these propositions seem to men who are standing on a lower life-conception to be an expression of an ecstatic transport1 which has no direct applicability to life4 ,and yet these propositions just as strictly result from the ,christian conception of life as the tenet about giving up one's labour for the common good1 about sacrificing one's life in the defence of one's country1 results from the social conception4 ,just as a man of the social life-conception says to a savage1 ,come to your senses1 bethink yourself6 ,the life of your personality cannot be the true life1 because it is wretched and transitory4 ,only the life of the aggregate and of the sequence of personalities1 of the tribe1 the family1 the race1 the state1 is continued and lives1 and so a man must sacrifice his personality for the life of the family1 the state4 ,precisely the same the ,christian teaching says to a man of the aggregate1 of the social conception of life4 ,repent1 1 that is1 bethink yourselves1 or else you will perish4 ,remember that this carnal1 personal life1 which originated to-day and will be destroyed to-morrow1 cannot be made secure in any way1 that no external measures1 no arrangement of it1 can add firmness and rationality to it4 ,bethink yourselves and understand that the life which you live is not the true life3 the life of the family1 the life of society1 the life of the state will not save you from ruin4 ,the true1 rational life is possible for man only in proportion as he can be a participant1 not in the family or the state1 but in the source of life1 the ,father2 in proportion as he can blend his life with the life of the ,father4 ,such indubitably is the ,christian life-comprehension1 which may be seen in every utterance of the ,gospel4 ,it is possible not to share this life-conception2 it is possible to reject it2 it is possible to prove its inexactness and irregularity2 but it is impossible to judge of the teaching1 without having first grasped the life-conception from which it results2 still less possible is it to judge about a subject of a higher order from a lower point of view1 to judge of the tower by looking at the foundation4 ,but it is precisely this that the learned men of our time are doing4 ,they do so because they abide in an error1 which is like the one of the churchmen1 the belief that they are in possession of such methods of the study of the subject that1 as soon as these methods1 called scientific1 are used1 there can be no longer any doubt as to the correctness of the comprehension of the subject under advisement4 ,it is this possession of an instrument of cognition1 which they deem infallible1 that serves as the chief obstacle in the comprehension of the ,christian teaching by unbelievers and so-called scientific men1 by whose opinion the vast majority of unbelievers1 the so-called cultured men1 are guided4 ,from this imaginary comprehension of theirs arise all the errors of the scientific men in respect to the ,christian teaching1 and especially two strange misconceptions which more than any other impede the correct comprehension of it4 ,one of these misconceptions is this1 that the ,christian vital teaching is impracticable1 and so is either entirely unobligatory1 that is1 need not be taken for a guide1 or else must be modified and moderated to such an extent as to make it practicable in our society4 ,another misunderstanding is this1 that the ,christian teaching of love of ,god1 and so the service of ,him1 is an obscure1 mystical demand1 which has no definite object of love1 and so must give way to a more precise and comprehensible teaching about loving men and serving humanity4 ,the first misconception about the impracticableness of the teaching consists in this1 that the men of the social comprehension of life1 being unable to comprehend the method by means of which the ,christian teaching guides men1 and taking the ,christian indications of perfection to be rules which determine life1 think and say that it is impossible to follow ,christ's teaching1 because a complete fulfilment of this teaching destroys life4 ,if a man fulfilled what was preached by ,christ1 he would destroy his life2 and if all men should fulfil it1 the whole human race would come to an end1 they say4 ,if we care not for the morrow1 for what we shall eat and drink and be clothed in2 if we do not defend our lives2 if we do not resist evil with force2 if we give our lives for our friends1 and observe absolute chastity1 no man1 nor the whole human race1 can exist1 they think and say4 ,and they are quite correct1 if we take the indications of perfection1 as given by ,christ1 for rules1 which every man is obliged to carry out1 just as in the social teaching everybody is obliged to carry out the rule about paying the taxes1 about taking part in court1 etc4 ,the misconception consists in this1 that ,christ's teaching guides men in a different way from the way those teachings guide which are based on a lower life-conception4 ,the teachings of the social life-conception guide only by demanding a precise execution of the rules or laws4 ,christ's teaching guides men by indicating to them that infinite perfection of the ,father in heaven1 toward which it is proper for each man to strive voluntarily1 no matter at what stage of perfection he may be4 ,the misconception of people who judge about the ,christian teaching from the social point of view consists in this1 that they1 assuming that the perfection pointed out by ,christ may be attained completely1 ask themselves 7even as they question themselves1 assuming that the social laws will be fulfilled7 what will happen when all this shall be fulfilled4 ,this assumption is false1 because the perfection pointed out by ,christ is infinite and can never be attained2 and ,christ gives ,his teaching with this in view1 that complete perfection will never be attained1 but that the striving toward complete1 infinite perfection will constantly increase the good of men1 and that this good can1 therefore1 be increased infinitely4 ,christ does not teach angels1 but men1 who live an animal life1 who are moved by it4 ,and it is to this animal force of motion that ,christ seems to apply a new1 a different force of the consciousness of divine perfection1 and with this ,he directs the motion of life along the resultant of two forces4 ,to assume that human life will go in the direction indicated by ,christ is the same as assuming that a boatman1 in crossing a rapid river and directing his boat almost against the current1 will move in that direction4 ,christ recognizes the existence of both sides of the parallelogram1 of both the eternal1 indestructible forces1 of which man's life is composed1--the force of the animal nature and the force of the consciousness of a filial relation to ,god4 ,without saying anything of the animal force1 which1 asserting itself1 always remains equal to itself and exists outside of man's power1 ,christ speaks only of the divine force1 calling man to recognize it in the highest degree1 to free it as much as possible from what is retarding it1 and to bring it to the highest degree of tension4 ,in this liberation and increase of the force does man's true life1 according to ,christ's teaching1 consist4 ,the true life1 according to the previous conditions1 consisted in the execution of rules1 of the law2 according to ,christ's teaching1 it consists in the greatest approach to the divine perfection1 as pointed out to every man and inwardly felt by him1 in a greater and ever greater approach toward blending our will with the will of ,god1 a blending toward which a man strives1 and which would be a destruction of life as we know it4 ,divine perfection is the asymptote of the human life1 toward which it always tends and approaches1 and which can be attained by it only at infinity4 ,the ,christian teaching seems to exclude the possibility of life only when men take the indication of the ideal to be a rule4 ,it is only then that the demands put forth by ,christ's teaching appear to be destructive of life4 ,without these demands the true life would be impossible4 ,too much should not be demanded1 people generally say1 in discussing the demands of the ,christian teaching4 ,it is impossible to demand that we should not care for the future1 as it says in the ,gospel2 all that we should do is not to care too much4 ,it is impossible to give everything to the poor2 but we should give a certain1 definite part to them4 ,it is not necessary to strive after chastity2 but debauchery should be avoided4 ,we must not leave our wives and children2 but we should not be too much attached to them1 and so forth4 ,but to speak in this manner is the same as telling a man who is crossing a rapid river1 and who is directing his course against the current1 that it is impossible to cross the river by going against the current1 but that to cross it he should row in the direction he wishes to go4 ,christ's teaching differs from previous teachings in that it guides men1 not by external rules1 but by the internal consciousness of the possibility of attaining divine perfection4 ,and in man's soul there are not moderated rules of justice and of philanthropy1 but the ideal of the complete1 infinite1 divine perfection4 ,only the striving after this perfection deflects the direction of man's life from the animal condition toward the divine1 to the extent to which this is possible in this life4 ,in order to land where you wish1 you must direct your course much higher up4 ,to lower the demands of the ideal means not only to diminish the possibility of perfection1 but to destroy the ideal itself4 ,the ideal which operates upon people is not an invented one1 but one which is borne in the soul of every man4 ,only this ideal of the complete1 infinite perfection acts upon people and moves them to activity4 ,a moderated perfection loses its power to act upon men's souls4 ,christ's teaching only then has force1 when it demands full perfection1 that is1 the blending of ,god's essence1 which abides in the soul of every man1 with the will of ,god1--the union of the son and the ,father4 ,only this liberation of the son of ,god1 who lives in every man1 from the animal1 and his approximation to the ,father form life according to ,christ's teaching4 ,the existence of the animal in man1 of nothing but the animal1 is not the human life4 ,life according to the will of ,god alone is also not the human life4 ,the human life is the resultant from the animal and the divine lives1 and the more this resultant approaches the divine life1 the more there is of life4 ,life1 according to the ,christian teaching1 is a motion toward divine perfection4 ,no condition1 according to this teaching1 can be higher or lower than another4 ,every condition1 according to this teaching1 is only a certain step1 indifferent in itself1 toward the unattainable perfection1 and so in itself forms neither a greater nor a lesser degree of life4 ,the increase of life1 according to this teaching1 is only an acceleration of motion toward perfection1 and so the motion toward perfection of the publican ,zacchus1 of the harlot1 of the robber on the cross1 forms a higher degree of life than the immovable righteousness of the ,pharisee4 ,and so there can be no obligatory rules for this teaching4 ,a man who stands on a lower step1 in moving toward perfection1 lives more morally and better1 and better performs the teaching1 than a man who stands on a much higher stage of morality1 but who does not move toward perfection4 ,in this sense the lost sheep is dearer to the ,father than one which is not lost4 ,the prodigal son1 the lost coin which is found again1 are dearer than those which were not lost4 ,the fulfilment of the teaching consists in the motion from oneself toward ,god4 ,it is evident that for such a fulfilment of the teaching there can be no definite laws and rules4 ,all degrees of perfection and all degrees of imperfection are equal before this teaching2 no fulfilment of the laws constitutes a fulfilment of the teaching2 and so1 for this teaching there are1 and there can be1 no rules and no laws4 ,from this radical distinction of ,christ's teaching as compared with previous teachings1 which are based on the social conception of life1 there results the difference between the social and the ,christian commandments4 ,the social commandments are for the most part positive1 prescribing certain acts1 justifying men1 giving them righteousness4 ,but the ,christian commandments 7the commandment of love is not a commandment in the strict sense of the word1 but an expression of the very essence of the teaching7--the five commandments of the ,sermon on the ,mount--are all negative1 and they all show only what men may not do at a certain stage of human development4 ,these commandments are1 as it were1 signals on the infinite road to perfection1 toward which humanity walks1 signals of that stage of perfection which is possible at a given period of the development of humanity4 ,in the ,sermon on the ,mount ,christ has expressed the eternal ideal toward which it is proper for men to tend1 and that degree of its attainment which can be reached even in our time4 ,the ideal consists in having no ill-will against any one1 in calling forth no ill-will1 in loving all2 but the commandment1 below which1 in the attainment of this ideal1 it is absolutely possible not to descend1 consists in not offending any one with a word4 ,and this forms the first commandment4 ,the ideal is complete chastity1 even in thought2 the commandment which points out the degree of attainment1 below which1 in the attainment of this ideal1 it is absolutely possible not to descend1 is the purity of the marital life1 the abstaining from fornication4 ,and this forms the second commandment4 ,the ideal is not to care for the future1 to live only in the present2 the commandment which points out the degree of the attainment1 below which it is absolutely possible not to descend is not to swear1 not to promise anything to men4 ,and this is the third commandment4 ,the ideal is never1 under any condition1 to make use of violence2 the commandment which points out the degree below which it is absolutely possible not to descend is not to repay evil with evil1 but to suffer insult1 to give up one's cloak4 ,and this is the fourth commandment4 ,the ideal is to love our enemies1 who hate us2 the commandment which points out the degree of the attainment1 below which it is possible not to descend1 is to do no evil to our enemies1 to speak well of them1 to make no distinction between them and our fellow citizens4 ,all these commandments are indications of what we are fully able not to do on the path of striving after perfection1 of what we ought to work over now1 of what we must by degrees transfer into the sphere of habit1 into the sphere of the unconscious4 ,but these commandments fail to form a teaching1 and do not exhaust it1 and form only one of the endless steps in the approximation toward perfection4 ,after these commandments there must and will follow higher and higher ones on the path to perfection1 which is indicated by the teaching4 ,and so it is the peculiarity of the ,christian teaching that it makes higher demands than those which are expressed in these commandments1 but under no condition minimizes the demands1 either of the ideal itself1 or of these commandments1 as is done by people who judge the teaching of ,christianity free from the standpoint of the social conception of life4 ,such is one misconception of the scientific men concerning the meaning and significance of ,christ's teaching2 the other1 which flows from the same source1 consists in the substitution of the love and service of men1 of humanity1 for the ,christian demand for loving ,god and serving ,him4 ,the ,christian teaching of loving ,god and serving ,him1 and 7only in consequence of this love and this service7 of the love and service of our neighbour1 appears obscure1 mystical1 and arbitrary to the men of science1 and they completely exclude the demand of love of ,god and of serving ,him1 assuming that the teaching about this love of men1 of humanity1 is much more intelligible and firm and better grounded4 ,the men of science teach theoretically that the good and sensible life is only the life of serving the whole of humanity1 and in this alone do they see the meaning of the ,christian teaching2 to this teaching do they reduce the ,christian teaching2 for this their teaching do they seek a confirmation in the ,christian teaching1 assuming that their teaching and the ,christian teaching are one and the same4 ,this opinion is quite faulty4 ,the ,christian teaching1 and that of the positivists1 communists1 and all the preachers of a universal brotherhood of men1 which is based on the profitableness of such a brotherhood1 have nothing in common among themselves1 and differ from one another more especially in this1 that the ,christian teaching has firm1 clear foundations in the human soul1 while the teaching of the love of humanity is only a theoretical deduction from analogy4 ,the teaching of the love of humanity alone has for its basis the social conception of life4 ,the essence of the social conception of life consists in the transference of the meaning of our personal lives into the life of the aggregate of personalities1--the tribe1 the family1 the race1 the state4 ,this transference has taken place easily and naturally in its first forms1 in the transference of the meaning of life from the personality to the tribe1 the family4 ,but the transference to the race or nation is more difficult and demands a special education for it2 and the transference of the consciousness to the state forms the limit of such a transference4 ,it is natural for any one to love himself1 and every person loves himself without any special incitement2 to love my tribe1 which supports and defends me1 to love my wife1 the joy and helpmate of my life1 my children1 the pleasure and hope of my life1 and my parents1 who have given me life and an education1 is natural3 and this kind of love1 though far from being as strong as the love of self1 is met with quite frequently4 ,to love one's race1 one's nation1 for the sake of oneself1 of one's pride1 though not so natural1 is still to be met with4 ,the love of one's nation1 which is of the same race1 tongue1 and faith with one1 is still possible1 though this sentiment is far from being as strong as the love of self1 or even of family and race2 but the love of a country1 like ,turkey1 ,germany1 ,england1 ,austria1 ,russia1 is almost an impossible thing1 and1 in spite of the intensified education in this direction1 is only assumed and does not exist in reality4 ,with this aggregate there ends for man the possibility of transferring his consciousness and of experiencing in this fiction any immediate sensation4 ,but the positivists and all the preachers of a scientific brotherhood1 who do not take into consideration the weakening of the sentiment in proportion as the subject is widened1 continue the discussion theoretically along the same direction3 ,if1 they say1 it was more advantageous for the personality to transfer its consciousness to the tribe1 the family1 and then to the nation1 the state1 it will be still more advantageous to transfer the consciousness to the whole aggregate of humanity1 and for all to live for humanity1 just as individuals live for the family1 the state4 ,theoretically it really comes out that way4 ,since the consciousness and the love of personality are transferred to the family1 from the family to the race1 the nation1 the state1 it would be quite logical for men1 to save themselves from struggle and calamities1 which are due to the division of humanity into nations and states1 most naturally to transfer their love to humanity4 ,this would seem to be the most logical thing1 and this is theoretically advocated by men1 who do not observe that love is a sentiment which one may have1 but cannot preach1 and that1 besides1 for love there must be an object1 whereas humanity is not an object1 but only a fiction4 ,the tribe1 the family1 even the state1 are not invented by men1 but were formed naturally like a swarm of bees or ants1 and actually exist4 ,a man who loves his family for the sake of his animal personality1 knows whom he loves3 ,anna1 ,mary1 ,john1 ,peter1 and so forth4 ,a man who loves a race and is proud of it1 knows that he loves the whole race of the ,guelphs1 or all the ,ghibellines2 he who loves the state knows that he loves ,france as far as the ,rhine and the ,pyrenees1 and its capital1 ,paris1 and its history1 and so forth4 ,but what does a man love1 when he loves humanity8 ,there is the state1 the nation2 there is the abstract conception--man2 but there is not1 and there cannot be1 a real conception of humanity4 ,humanity8 ,where is the limit of humanity8 ,where does it end and where does it begin8 ,does humanity stop short of a savage1 an idiot1 an alcoholic1 an insane person8 ,if we are going to draw a line of demarcation for humanity1 so as to exclude the lower representatives of the human race1 where are we going to draw it8 ,are we going to exclude the negroes1 as the ,americans do1 and the ,hindoos1 as some ,english do1 and the ,jews1 as some do8 ,but if we are going to include all men without exception1 why include men only1 and not the higher animals1 many of whom stand higher than the lower representatives of the human race8 ,we do not know humanity as an external object1--we do not know its limits4 ,humanity is a fiction1 and it cannot be loved4 ,it would indeed be very convenient1 if men could love humanity just as they love the family2 it would be very convenient1 as the communists talk of doing1 to substitute the communal for the competitive tendency of human activity1 and the universal for the individual1 so that every man may be for all1 and all for every man1 only there are no motives whatever for it4 ,the positivists1 the communists1 and all the preachers of the scientific brotherhood preach the widening of that love which men have for themselves and for their families and for the state1 so as to embrace all humanity1 forgetting that the love which they advocate is the personal love1 which1 by spreading out thinner1 could extend to the family2 which1 by spreading out still thinner1 could extend to the natural country of birth1 which completely vanishes as soon as it reaches an artificial state1 as ,austria1 ,turkey1 ,england1 and which we are not even able to imagine1 when we come to humanity1 an entirely mystical subject4 ,man loves himself 7his animal life71 loves his family1 loves even his country4 ,why should he not love also humanity8 ,how nice that would be6 ,by the way1 this is precisely what ,christianity teaches4 ,thus think the preachers of the positivist1 communistic1 socialistic brotherhoods4 ,it would indeed be very nice1 but it cannot be1 because love which is based on the personal and the social conception of life cannot go beyond the state4 ,the error of judgment consists in this1 that the social life-conception1 on which is based the love of family and of country1 is built on the love of personality1 and that this love1 being transferred from the personality to the family1 the race1 the nationality1 the state1 keeps growing weaker and weaker1 and in the state reaches its extreme limit1 beyond which it cannot go4 ,the necessity for widening the sphere of love is incontestable2 but at the same time this very necessity for its widening in reality destroys the possibility of love and proves the insufficiency of the personal1 the human love4 ,and here the preachers of the positivist1 communistic1 socialistic brotherhoods1 to succour the human love1 which has proved insufficient1 propose the ,christian love1--in its consequences alone1 and not in its foundations3 they propose the love of humanity alone1 without the love of ,god4 ,but there can be no such love4 ,there exists no motive for it4 ,christian love results only from the ,christian conception of life1 according to which the meaning of life consists in the love of ,god and in serving ,him4 ,by a natural progression1 from the love of self to the love of family1 of the race1 of the nation1 of the state1 the social conception of life has brought men to the consciousness of the necessity for a love of humanity1 which has no limits and blends with everything in existence1--to something which evokes no sensations in man2 it has brought them to a contradiction1 which cannot be solved by the social conception of life4 ,only the ,christian teaching in all its significance1 by giving a new meaning to life1 solves it4 ,christianity recognizes the love of self1 and of the family1 and of the nation1 and of humanity1--not only of humanity1 but of everything living1 of everything in existence2 it recognizes the necessity for an endless widening of the sphere of love2 but the object of this love it does not find outside of self1 or in the aggregate of personalities1--in the family1 the race1 the state1 humanity1 in the whole external world1 but in oneself1 in one's personality1--which1 however1 is a divine personality1 the essence of which is the same love1 to the necessity of widening which the animal personality was brought1 in saving itself from the consciousness of its perdition4 ,the difference between the ,christian teaching and what preceded it is this1 that the preceding social teaching said3 ,live contrary to your nature 7meaning only the animal nature71 subordinate it to the external law of the family1 the society1 the state2 but ,christianity says3 ,live in accordance with your nature 7meaning the divine nature71 subordinating it to nothing1--neither to your own1 nor to anybody else's animal nature1--and you will attain what you are striving after by subordinating your external nature to external laws4 ,the ,christian teaching takes man back to the primitive consciousness of self1 not of self--the animal1 but of self--,god1 the divine spark1 of self--the son of ,god1 of just such a ,god as the ,father himself1 but included in an animal integument4 ,and the recognition of self as this son of ,god1 whose chief quality is love1 satisfies also all those demands for the widening of the sphere of love1 to which the man of the social conception of life was brought4 ,there1 with a greater and ever greater widening of the sphere of love for the salvation of the personality1 love was a necessity and was applied to certain objects1--self1 the family1 society1 humanity2 with the ,christian conception of life1 love is not a necessity and is not adapted to anything1 but is an essential quality of man's soul4 ,man does not love because it is advantageous for him to love this man or these men1 but because love is the essence of his soul1--because he cannot help loving4 ,the ,christian teaching consists in pointing out to man that the essence of his soul is love1 that his good is derived not from the fact that he will love this or that man1 but from the fact that he will love the beginning of everything1 ,god1 whom he recognizes in himself through love1 and so will love everybody and everything4 ,in this does the fundamental difference between the ,christian teaching and the teaching of the positivists and of all the theorists of the non-,christian universal brotherhood consist4 ,such are the two chief misconceptions concerning the ,christian teaching1 from which originate the majority of the false opinions in regard to it4 ,one is1 that1 like the preceding teachings1 ,christ's teaching inculcates rules1 which men are obliged to follow1 and that these rules are impracticable2 the other is1 that the whole significance of ,christianity consists in the teaching about the advantageous cohabitation of humanity1 as one family1 for which1 without mentioning the love of ,god1 it is necessary only to follow the rule of love toward humanity4 ,the false opinion of the scientific men1 that the teaching of the supernatural forms the essence of the ,christian teaching1 and that ,christ's vital teaching is impracticable1 together with the misconception which arises from this false opinion1 forms the second cause why ,christianity is not understood by the men of our time4 ,v4 ,there are many causes for the failure to comprehend ,christ's teaching4 ,one cause lies in this1 that men assume that they understand the teaching1 when they decide1 as the churchmen do1 that it was transmitted to us in a supernatural manner2 or1 as the scientific men do1 that they understand it1 when they have studied a part of those external phenomena in which it is expressed4 ,another cause of a failure to comprehend lies in the misconceptions as to the impracticability of the teaching and as to this1 that it ought to give way to the teaching about the love of humanity2 but the chief cause which has engendered all these misconceptions is this1 that ,christ's teaching is considered to be such as can be accepted1 or not1 without changing one's life4 ,the men who are accustomed to the existing order of things1 who love it and are afraid to change it1 try to comprehend the teaching as a collection of revelations and rules1 which may be accepted1 without changing their lives1 whereas ,christ's teaching is not merely a teaching about rules which a man may follow1 but the elucidation of a new meaning of life1 which determines the whole1 entirely new activity of humanity for the period upon which it is entering4 ,human life moves1 passes1 like the life of the individual1 and every age has its corresponding life-conception1 and this life-conception is inevitably accepted by men4 ,those men who do not consciously accept the life-conception proper for their age are brought to it unconsciously4 ,what takes place with the change of views on life in the case of individuals1 takes place also with the change of the views on life in the case of nations and of all humanity4 ,if a man with a family continues to be guided in his activity by a childish comprehension of life1 his life will become so hard for him that he will involuntarily seek another comprehension of life1 and will gladly accept the one which is proper for his age4 ,the same is now taking place in our humanity in the transition from the pagan conception of life to the ,christian1 which is now going on4 ,the social man of our time is brought by life itself to the necessity of renouncing the pagan conception of life1 which is no longer proper for the present age of humanity1 and of submitting to the demands of the ,christian teaching1 the truths of which1 no matter how distorted and misinterpreted they may be1 are still known to him and alone furnish a solution to those contradictions in which he is losing himself4 ,if the demands of the ,christian teaching seem strange and even perilous to the man of the social life-conception1 the demands of the social teaching anciently seemed just as incomprehensible and perilous to a savage1 when he did not yet fully comprehend them and was unable to foresee their consequences4 ,it is irrational for me to sacrifice my peace or even my life1 says the savage1 in order to defend something incomprehensible1 intangible1 conventional1--the family1 the race1 the country1 and1 above all else1 it is dangerous to give myself over to the disposition of a foreign power4 ,but the time came when the savage1 on the one hand1 comprehended1 however dimly1 the significance of the social life1 the significance of its prime mover1--the public approval or condemnation1--glory2 on the other hand1 when the sufferings of his personal life became so great that he no longer continued to believe in the truth of his former conception of life1 and accepted the social1 the political teaching and submitted to it4 ,the same now takes place with the social1 the political man4 ,it is irrational for me1 says the social man1 to sacrifice my good1 the good of my family1 my country1 for the fulfilment of the conditions of some higher law1 which demands from me the renunciation of the most natural and the best sentiments of love for myself1 my family1 my country1 and1 above all1 it is dangerous to reject the security of life1 which is given by the political structure4 ,but the time comes when1 on the one hand1 the dim consciousness in his soul of a higher law of love for ,god and for his neighbour1 and1 on the other1 the sufferings which arise from the contradictions of life1 compel him to reject the social life-conception and to accept the new1 ,christian conception of life1 which is offered to him1 and which solves all the contradictions and removes the sufferings of his life4 ,and this time has now come4 ,to us1 who thousands of years ago experienced the transition from the animal1 personal life-conception to the social one1 it seems that that transition was necessary and natural1 and this1 the one through which we have been passing these eighteen hundred years1 is arbitrary1 unnatural1 and terrible4 ,but that only seems so to us1 because the other transition is already accomplished1 and its activity has already passed into the subconscious1 while the present transition is not yet accomplished1 and we have to accomplish it consciously4 ,the social life-conception entered into the consciousness of men through centuries and millenniums1 passed through several forms1 and has now passed for humanity into the sphere of the subconscious1 which is transmitted through heredity1 education1 and habit1 and so it seems natural to us4 ,but five thousand years ago it seemed to men just as unnatural and terrible as now the ,christian teaching seems to us in its true meaning4 ,it now seems to us that the demands of the ,christian teaching for a universal brotherhood1 abolition of nationalities1 absence of property1 the apparently so strange non-resistance to evil1 are impossible demands4 ,but just so strange1 thousands of years ago1 seemed the demands1 not only of the state1 but also of the family1 as1 for example1 the demand that the parents should support their children1 and the young--the old1 and that husband and wife should be true to one another4 ,still more strange1 even senseless1 seemed the political demands1--that the citizens should submit to the powers that be1 pay taxes1 go to war in the defence of their country1 and so forth4 ,it now seems to us that all such demands are simple1 intelligible1 natural1 and have nothing mystical or even strange about them2 but five or three thousand years ago1 these demands seemed impossible4 ,the social life-conception served as a basis for religions for the very reason that1 when it manifested itself to men1 it seemed to them quite unintelligible1 mystical1 and supernatural4 ,now1 since we have outlived this phase of the life of humanity1 we understand the rational causes of the union of men in families1 communes1 states2 but in antiquity the demands for such a union were manifested in the name of the supernatural1 and were confirmed by it4 ,the patriarchal religion deified the families1 races1 nations3 the political religions deified kings and states4 ,even now the majority of the men of little culture1 such as our peasants1 who call the ,tsar an earthly ,god1 submit to the social laws1 not from a rational consciousness of their necessity1 not because they have a conception of the idea of the state1 but from a religious sentiment4 ,even so now the ,christian teaching represents itself to the men of the social1 or pagan1 world-conception in the form of a supernatural religion1 whereas in reality there is in it nothing mysterious1 or mystical1 or supernatural2 it is nothing but the teaching about life1 which corresponds to that stage of the material development1 to that age1 in which humanity is1 and which must therefore inevitably be accepted by it4 ,the time will come1 and is already at hand1 when the ,christian foundations of life1 equality1 brotherhood of men1 community of possession1 non-resistance to evil1 will become as natural and as simple as the foundations of the family1 the social1 and the political life now appear to us4 ,neither man nor humanity can in their motion turn back4 ,the social1 family1 and political life-conceptions have been outlived by men1 and it is necessary to go ahead and accept the higher life-conception1 which indeed is being done now4 ,this motion takes place from two sides1 consciously1 in consequence of spiritual causes1 and unconsciously1 in consequence of material causes4 ,just as the individual seldom changes his life merely in accordance with the indications of reason1 but as a rule1 in spite of the new meaning and the new aims indicated by reason1 continues to live his former life and changes it only when his life becomes entirely contradictory to his consciousness1 and1 therefore1 agonizing1 so also humanity1 having come through its religious guides to know the new meaning of life1 the new aims1 toward which it must tend1 even after this knowledge continues for a long time1 in the case of the majority of men1 to live the previous life1 and is guided to the acceptance of a new life-conception only through the impossibility of continuing the former life4 ,in spite of the demands for the change of life1 as cognized and expressed by the religious guides and accepted by the wisest men1 the majority of men1 in spite of the religious relation to these guides1 that is1 the faith in their teaching1 continue in the more complex life to be guided by the previous teaching1 just as a man of a family would act1 if1 knowing how he ought to live at his age1 he should from habit and frivolity continue to live a child's life4 ,it is this that takes place in the matter of the transition of humanity from one age to another1 such as is now going on4 ,humanity has outgrown its social1 political age1 and has entered upon a new one4 ,it knows the teaching which ought to be put at the foundation of the life of this new age1 but from inertia continues to hold on to the previous forms of life4 ,from this lack of correspondence between the life-conception and the practice of life there arises a series of contradictions and sufferings1 which poison our life and demand its change4 ,we need only to compare the practice of life with its theory1 in order that we may be frightened at the crying contradiction of the conditions of life and of our consciousness1 in which we live4 ,our whole life is one solid contradiction to everything we know and consider necessary and right4 ,this contradiction is in everything1--in the economic1 the political1 the international life4 ,as though forgetting what we know1 and for a time putting aside what we believe in 7we cannot help but believe1 because this constitutes our only foundations of life71 we do everything contrary to what our conscience and our common sense demand of us4 ,in economic1 political1 and international relations we are guided by those foundations which were useful to men three and five thousand years ago1 and which directly contradict our present consciousness and those conditions of life in which we now are4 ,it was well enough for a man of antiquity to live amidst a division of men into slaves and masters1 when he believed that this division was from ,god1 and that it could not be otherwise4 ,but is a similar division possible in our day8 ,a man of the ancient world could consider himself in the right to use the benefits of this world to the disadvantage of other men1 causing them to suffer for generations1 because he believed that men are born of various breeds1 noble and base1 of the generation of ,japheth and of ,ham4 ,not only the greatest sages of the world1 the teachers of humanity1 ,plato1 ,aristotle1 justified the existence of slaves and proved the legality of it1 but even three centuries ago men who wrote of the imaginary society of the future1 of ,utopia1 could not imagine it without slaves4 ,the men of antiquity1 and even of the ,middle ,ages1 believed1 believed firmly1 that men are not equal1 that only the ,persians1 only the ,greeks1 only the ,romans1 only the ,french were real men4 ,but those men who in our time champion aristocratism and patriotism do not believe1 cannot believe1 in what they say4 ,we all know1 and we cannot help but know1 even if we have never heard or read this thought clearly expressed and have never expressed it ourselves1 we1 having imbibed this consciousness1 which is borne in the ,christian atmosphere1 know with our whole heart1 and we cannot help but know1 that fundamental truth of the ,christian teaching1 that we all are the sons of one ,father1 all of us1 no matter where we may live or what language we may speak1--that we are all brothers and are subject only to the law of love1 which by our common ,father is implanted in our hearts4 ,no matter what the manner of thought and degree of culture of a man of our time may be1 be he a cultured liberal of any shade whatever1 be he a philosopher of any camp1 be he a scientific man1 an economist1 of any school1 be he an uncultured1 even a religious man of any confession of faith1--every man of our time knows that all men have the same right to life and to the benefits of this world1 that no man is better or worse than any one else1 that all men are equal4 ,everybody knows this with absolute certainty and with his whole being1 and at the same time not only sees all about him the division of men into two castes3 one1 which is working1 is oppressed1 in need1 in suffering1 and the other1 idle1 oppressing1 and living in luxury and pleasure1--he not only sees this1 but involuntarily from one side or another takes part in this division of men1 which his reason rejects1 and he cannot help but suffer from the consciousness of such a contradiction and from participation in it4 ,be he master or slave1 a man of our time cannot help but experience a constant agonizing contradiction between his consciousness and reality1 and sufferings which arise from it4 ,the working masses1 the great majority of people1 suffering from the constant1 all-absorbing1 senseless1 dawnless labour and sufferings1 suffer most of all from the consciousness of the crying contradiction between what exists and what ought to be1 as the result of everything which is professed by them and by those who have placed them in this position and maintain them in it4 ,they know that they are in slavery1 and are perishing in want and darkness1 in order to serve the lust of the minority1 which keeps them in slavery4 ,they know this and give expression to it4 ,and this consciousness not only increases their sufferings1 but even forms the essence of their sufferings4 ,the ancient slave knew that he was a slave by nature1 but our workman1 feeling himself to be a slave1 knows that he should not be a slave1 and so experiences the torments of ,tantalus1 eternally wishing for and not receiving what not only could1 but even should be4 ,the sufferings of the working classes which result from the contradiction between what is and what ought to be1 are increased tenfold by the envy and hatred which result from them4 ,a workman of our time1 even though his work may be lighter than that of an ancient slave and he may have attained an eight-hour work-day and a wage of three dollars per day1 will not cease suffering1 because1 in manufacturing articles which he will not make use of1 and working1 not for himself and at his pleasure1 but from necessity1 for whims of luxurious and idle people in general and for the enrichment of one man1 the rich owner of the factory or plant1 in particular1 he knows that all this is taking place in a world in which not only they have accepted the scientific proposition that only work is wealth1 that the exploitation of other men's labour is unjust1 illegal1 amenable to punishment by law1 but also they profess ,christ's teaching1 according to which all are brothers1 and a man's worth and merit consists only in serving his neighbour1 and not in making use of him4 ,he knows all this1 and he cannot help but suffer torments from this crying contradiction between what ought to be and what actually exists4 ,from all the data and from everything which ,i know all men profess1 the labouring man says to himself1 ,i ought to be free1 equal to all other men1 and loved2 but ,i am a slave1--,i am humiliated and hated4 ,and he himself hates and seeks for means to save himself from this position1 to throw off his foe1 who is pressing down on him1 and himself to get on top of him4 ,they say1 ,the working men are not right in their desire to take the place of the capitalists1 nor the poor in their desire to take the place of the rich4 ,this is not true3 the working men and the poor would be in the wrong1 if they wished for it in a world in which slaves and masters1 the rich and the poor1 are established by ,god2 but they wish for it in a world in which is professed the ,gospel teaching1 the first proposition of which is the filial relation of men to ,god1 and so the brotherhood and equality of all men4 ,and no matter how much men may try1 it is impossible to conceal the fact that one of the first conditions of a ,christian life is love1 not in words1 but in work4 ,in a still greater contradiction and in still greater sufferings lives the man of the so-called cultured class4 ,every such man1 if he believes in anything1 believes1 if not in the brotherhood of men1 at least in humanitarianism2 if not in humanitarianism1 at least in justice2 if not in justice1 at least in science1--and with all that knows that his whole life is built on conditions which are quite the reverse of all that1 of all the tenets of ,christianity1 and humanity1 and justice1 and science4 ,he knows that all the habits in which he is brought up1 and the deprivation of which would be a torment for him1 can be gratified only by the painful1 often perilous labour of oppressed working men1 that is1 by the most palpable1 coarse violation of those principles of ,christianity1 humanitarianism1 justice1 and even science 7,i mean the demands of political economy71 which he professes4 ,he professes the principles of brotherhood1 humanitarianism1 justice1 science1 and yet lives in such a way that he needs that oppression of the labouring men which he denies1 and even in such a way that his whole life is an exploitation of this oppression1 and not only does he live in this way1 but also he directs his activity to the maintenance of this order of things1 which is directly opposed to everything in which he believes4 ,we are all brothers1 and yet every morning my brother or my sister carries out my vessel4 ,we are all brothers1 and ,i need every morning my cigar1 sugar1 a mirror1 and so forth1 objects in the manufacture of which my brothers and my sisters1 who are my equals1 have been losing their health1 and ,i employ these articles and even demand them4 ,we are all brothers1 and ,i live by working in a bank1 or in a business house1 or a shop1 in order to make all the wares which my brothers need more expensive for them4 ,we are all brothers1 and yet ,i live by receiving a salary for arraigning1 judging1 and punishing a thief or a prostitute1 whose existence is conditioned by the whole composition of my life1 and who1 ,i know myself1 ought not to be punished1 but corrected4 ,we are all brothers1 and ,i live by receiving a salary for collecting the taxes from poor working men1 to be used for the luxury of the idle and the rich4 ,we are all brothers1 and ,i receive a salary for preaching to people what is supposed to be the ,christian religion1 in which ,i do not believe myself1 and which deprives them of the possibility of finding out the real faith4 ,i receive a salary as a priest1 a bishop1 for deceiving people in what is the most important matter for them4 ,we are all brothers1 but ,i give to the poor my pedagogical1 medical1 literary labours for money only4 ,we are all brothers1 but ,i receive a salary for preparing myself to commit murder1 studying how to kill1 or making a gun1 powder1 fortresses4 ,the whole life of our higher classes is one solid contradiction1 which is the more agonizing1 the more sensitive man's conscience is4 ,the man with a sensitive conscience cannot help but suffer1 if he lives this life4 ,there is one means by which he can free himself from this suffering1--it consists in drowning his conscience2 but even if such men succeed in drowning their conscience1 they cannot drown their terror4 ,insensitive people of the higher1 the oppressing classes1 and those who have drowned their consciences1 if they do not suffer from their consciences1 suffer from fear and hatred4 ,nor can they help but suffer4 ,they know of that hatred against them which exists1 and cannot help but exist1 among the labouring classes2 and they know that the working men know that they are deceived and outraged1 and they are beginning to organize for the purpose of throwing off the oppression and retaliating upon the oppressors4 ,the higher classes see the unions1 strikes1 the ,first of ,may1 and they feel the calamity which is threatening them1 and this terror poisons their life4 ,they feel the calamity which is threatening them1 and the terror which they experience passes into a feeling of self-defence and hatred4 ,they know that if they weaken for a moment in their struggle with the slaves oppressed by them1 they will themselves perish1 because the slaves are enraged1 and this rage is growing with every day of the oppression4 ,the oppressors cannot stop oppressing1 even if they should wish to do so4 ,they know that they themselves will perish1 the moment they stop or even weaken in their oppressions4 ,and they do oppress1 in spite of their seeming concern for the welfare of the labouring people1 for an eight-hour day1 for the prohibition to employ children and women1 for pensions and rewards4 ,all this is a deception or a provision for eliciting work from the slave2 but the slave remains a slave1 and the master1 who could not live without the slave1 is less than ever prepared to free him4 ,the ruling classes are1 in relation to the workingmen1 in the position of a man who is astride a man whom he holds down and does not let go of1 not so much because he does not want to let go of him1 as because he knows that he need but for a moment let go of the subdued man1 and the subdued man will cut his throat1 because the subdued man is enraged and has a knife in his hand4 ,and so1 whether they be sensitive or not1 our wealthy classes cannot enjoy the good things which they have taken from the poor1 as the ancients did1 who believed in their right4 ,their whole life and all their pleasures are poisoned by rebukes of conscience or by terror4 ,such is the economical contradiction4 ,more striking still is the political contradiction4 ,all men are above all else educated in the habits of obedience to the laws of the state4 ,the whole life of the men of our time is determined by the law of the state4 ,a man marries or gets a divorce1 educates his children1 even professes a faith 7in many states7 in accordance with the law4 ,what is this law1 which determines the whole life of men8 ,do the men believe in this law8 ,do they consider it to be true8 ,not in the least4 ,in the majority of cases1 the men of our time do not believe in the justice of this law1 despise it1 and yet obey it4 ,it was all very well for the men of antiquity to carry out their laws4 ,they believed firmly that their law 7which for the most part was also religious7 was the one true law which all men must obey4 ,but we8 ,we know1 and we cannot help but know1 that the law of our state is not only not the one eternal law1 but that it is only one of many laws of various countries1 equally imperfect1 and frequently and palpably false and unjust1 and widely discussed in the newspapers4 ,it was all very well for a ,jew to submit to his laws1 when he had no doubt but that they were written by ,god's finger2 or1 for a ,roman1 when he thought that the nymph ,egeria had written his laws2 or even when they believed that the kings who gave the laws were the anointed of the ,lord1 or even that the legislative bodies had a desire to find the best laws1 and were able to do so4 ,but we know how laws are made2 we have all been behind the scenes2 we all know that laws are the results of greed1 deception1 the struggle of parties1--that in them there is and there can be no true justice4 ,and so the men of our time cannot believe that obedience to civil or political laws would satisfy the demands of the rationality of human nature4 ,men have known for a long time that it is not sensible to obey a law of the correctness of which there can be any doubt1 and so they cannot help but suffer1 if they obey a law the rationality and obligatoriness of which they do not acknowledge4 ,a man cannot help but suffer1 when his whole life is determined in advance by laws which he must obey under the menace of punishment1 and in the rationality and justice of which he does not believe1 and the unnaturalness1 cruelty1 injustice of which he clearly recognizes4 ,we recognize the uselessness of custom-houses and import duties1 and we must pay the duties2 we recognize the uselessness of the expenses for the support of royal courts and many governmental offices2 we recognize the harmfulness of the church propaganda1 and we must contribute to the support of these institutions2 we recognize the cruelty and unscrupulousness of the penalties imposed by courts of justice1 and we must take part in them2 we recognize the irregularity and harmfulness of the distribution of land-ownership1 and we must submit to it2 we do not recognize the indispensableness of armies and of war1 and must bear terrible burdens for the maintenance of armies and the waging of wars1 and so forth4 ,but these contradictions are as nothing in comparison with the contradiction which has now arisen among men in their international relations1 and which1 under threat of ruining both human reason and human life1 demands a solution4 ,this is the contradiction between the ,christian conscience and war4 ,we are all ,christian nations1 who live the same spiritual life1 so that every good1 fruitful thought1 which springs up in one corner of the earth1 is at once communicated to the whole ,christian world1 evoking similar sensations of joy and pride1 independently of nationality2 we1 who not only love the thinkers1 benefactors1 poets1 scholars of other nations1 but also pride ourselves on the exploit of a ,damien1 as though it were our own2 we1 who just love the men of other nationalities1--the ,french1 the ,germans1 the ,americans1 the ,english2 we1 who not only respect their qualities1 but rejoice when we meet them1 who give them a smile of recognition1 who not only could not regard a war with them as something to be proud of1 but who could not even think without horror that any disagreement may arise between these men and us1--we are all called to take part in murder1 which must inevitably take place1 to-morrow1 if not to-day4 ,it was all very well for a ,jew1 a ,greek1 a ,roman not only to defend the independence of his nation by means of murder1 but by the means of murder also to cause other nations to submit to him1 for he believed firmly that his nation was the one true1 good1 kind nation1 which was loved by ,god1 and that all the other nations were ,philistines1 barbarians4 ,even the men of the ,middle ,ages and the men of the end of the last and the beginning of this century could have believed so4 ,but we1 no matter how much we may be teased to do so1 can no longer believe in this1 and this contradiction is so terrible for the men of our time that it is impossible to live1 if we do not destroy it4 ,we live in a time which is full of contradictions1 ,count ,komrovski1 professor of international law1 writes in his learned treatise4 ,in the press of all countries there is constantly shown a universal tendency toward peace1 toward its necessity for all nations4 ,in the same sense express themselves the representatives of governments1 as private individuals and as official organs1 in parliamentary debates1 in diplomatic exchanges of opinion1 and even in international treaties4 ,at the same time1 however1 the governments annually increase the military forces of their countries1 impose new taxes1 make loans1 and leave to future generations1 as a legacy1 the obligation to bear the blunders of the present senseless politics4 ,what a crying contradiction between words and deeds6 ,of course1 the governments1 to justify these measures1 point to the exclusively defensive character of all these expenditures and armaments1 but none the less it remains a puzzle for every unbiassed man1 whence we are to expect attacks1 since all the great powers unanimously in their politics pursue the one aim of defence4 ,in reality this looks as though each of these powers waited every moment to be attacked by another1 and these are the consequences1--universal distrust and a preternatural endeavour of one power to surpass the force of the others4 ,such an emulation in itself increases the danger of war3 the nations cannot for any length of time stand the intensified arming1 and sooner or later will prefer war to all the disadvantages of the present condition and constant menace4 ,thus the most insignificant cause will be sufficient to make the fire of a universal war flame up in the whole of ,europe4 ,it is incorrect to think that such a crisis can cure us of the political and economical calamities which oppress us4 ,experience from the wars which have been waged in recent years teaches us that every war has only sharpened the hostility of the nations1 increased the burden and the unendurableness of the pressure of militarism1 and made the politico-economic condition of ,europe more hopeless and complex4 ,modern ,europe keeps under arms an active army of nine millions of men1 writes ,enrico ,ferri1 and fifteen millions of reserves1 expending on them four milliards of francs per year4 ,by arming itself more and more1 it paralyzes the sources of the social and the individual welfare1 and may easily be compared to a man who1 to provide himself with a gun1 condemns himself to anmia1 at the same time wasting all his strength for the purpose of making use of the very gun with which he is providing himself1 and under the burden of which he will finally fall4 ,the same was said by ,charles ,butt1#aa in his speech which he delivered in ,london before the ,association for the ,reform and ,codification of the ,law of ,nations1 ,july #bf1 #ahhg4 ,after pointing out the same nine millions and over of the active armies and seventeen millions of reserves1 and the enormous expenses of the governments for the support of these armies and equipments1 he says3 ,but this forms only a small part of the actual cost1 for besides the figures mentioned1 which constitute merely the war budgets of the nations1 we have to take into account the enormous loss to society by the withdrawal of so many able-bodied men 444 from the occupations of productive industry1 together with the prodigious capital invested in all warlike preparations and appliances1 and which is absolutely unproductive4444 ,one necessary result of the expenditure on wars and preparations for war is the steady growth of national debts4444 ,the aggregate national debts of ,europe1 by far the larger proportion of which has been contracted for war purposes1 amount at the present time to #d1fhj1jjj1jjj4 #aa ,not ,charles ,butt1 but ,henry ,richard4 ,the same ,komrovski says in another place3 ,we are living in a hard time4 ,everywhere do we hear complaints as to the slackness of business and industry and in general as to the bad economic conditions3 people point out the hard conditions of the life of the labouring classes and the universal impoverishment of the masses4 ,but1 in spite of it1 the governments1 in their endeavour to maintain their independence1 reach the extreme limits of madness4 ,everywhere they invent new taxes and imposts1 and the financial oppression of the nations knows no limits4 ,if we look at the budgets of the ,european states for the last one hundred years1 we shall first of all be struck by their constantly progressive and rapid growth4 ,how can we explain this extraordinary phenomenon1 which sooner or later threatens us with inevitable bankruptcy8 ,this is incontestably due to the expenditures caused by the maintenance of an army1 which swallow one-third and even one-half of the budgets of the ,european states4 ,what is most lamentable in connection with it is this1 that no end can be foreseen to this increase of the budgets and impoverishment of the masses4 ,what is socialism1 if not a protest against this abnormal condition1 in which the greater part of the population of our part of the world finds itself8 ,we ruin ourselves1 says ,frederic ,passy1 in a note read at the last ,congress 7#ahij7 of ,universal ,peace1 at ,london1 in preparing the means for taking part in the mad butcheries of the future1 or in paying the interests of debts bequeathed to us by the mad and culpable butcheries of the past4 ,we die of starvation1 in order to be able to kill one another off4 ,farther on1 speaking of how ,france looks upon this subject1 he says3 ,we believe that one hundred years after the ,declaration of the rights of man and of a citizen it is time to recognize the rights of nations and to renounce for ever all these enterprises of force and violence1 which1 under the name of conquests1 are real crimes against humanity1 and which1 whatever the ambition of the sovereigns or the pride of the races 444 weaken even those who seem to profit from them4 ,i am always very much surprised at the way religion is carried on in this country1 says ,sir ,wilfrid ,lawson1 at the same ,congress4 ,you send a boy to the ,sunday school1 and you tell him1 ',my dear boy1 you must love your enemies2 if any boy strikes you1 don't strike him again2 try to reform him by loving him4' ,well1 the boy stays in the ,sunday school till he is fourteen or fifteen years of age1 and then his friends say1 ',put him in the army4' ,what has he to do in the army8 ,why1 not to love his enemies1 but whenever he sees an enemy to run him through the body with a bayonet4 ,that is the nature of all religious teaching in this country4 ,i do not think that that is a very good way of carrying out the precepts of religion4 ,i think if it is a good thing for the boy to love his enemy1 it is a good thing for the man to love his enemy4 ,and farther3 ,the nations of ,europe 444 keep somewhere about twenty-eight millions of armed men to settle quarrels by killing one another1 instead of by arguing4 ,that is what the ,christian nations of the world are doing at this moment4 ,it is a very expensive way also2 for this publication which ,i saw made out that since the year #ahgb these nations had spent the almost incredible amount of #a1ejj1jjj1jjj of money in preparing1 and settling their quarrels by killing one another4 ,now it seems to me that with that state of things one of two positions must be accepted3 either that ,christianity is a failure or1 that those who profess to expound ,christianity have failed in expounding it properly4 ,until our ironclads are withdrawn1 and our army disbanded1 we are not entitled to call ourselves a ,christian nation1 says ,mr4 ,j4 ,jowet ,wilson4 ,in a discussion which arose in connection with the question of the obligatoriness of ,christian pastors to preach against war1 ,mr4 ,g4 ,d4 ,bartlett said1 among other things3 ,if ,i understand the ,scriptures1 ,i say that men are only playing with ,christianity when they ignore this question1 that is1 say nothing about war4 ,i have lived a longish life1 ,i have heard many sermons1 and ,i can say without any exaggeration that ,i never heard universal peace recommended from the pulpit half a dozen times in my life4444 ,some twenty years ago ,i happened to stand in a drawing-room where there were forty or fifty people1 and ,i dared to moot the proposition that war was incompatible with ,christianity4 ,they looked upon me as an arrant fanatic4 ,the idea that we could get on without war was regarded as unmitigated weakness and folly4 ,in the same sense spoke the ,catholic ,abb ,defourny3 ,one of the first precepts of this eternal law which burns in the consciences of men is the one which forbids taking the life of one's like1 shedding human blood without just cause1 and without being constrained by necessity4 ,it is one of those laws which are most indelibly engraved in the human heart4444 ,but if it is a question of war1 that is1 of the shedding of human blood in torrents1 the men of the present do not trouble themselves about a just cause4 ,those who take part in it do not think of asking themselves whether these innumerable murders are justifed or not1 that is1 if the wars1 or what goes by that name1 are just or iniquitous1 legal or illegal1 permissible or criminal 444 whether they violate1 or not1 the primordial law which prohibits homicide and murder 444 without just cause4 ,but their conscience is mute in this matter4 ,war has ceased for them to be an act which has anything to do with morality4 ,they have no other joy1 in the fatigue and perils of the camp1 than that of being victorious1 and no other sadness than that of being vanquished4444 ,do not tell me that they serve their country4 ,a long time ago a great genius told you these words1 which have become proverbial1 ',reject justice1 and what are the empires but great societies of brigands8' ,and are not a band of brigands themselves small empires8 ,brigands themselves have certain laws or conventions by which they are ruled4 ,there1 too1 they fight for the conquest of booty and for the honour of the band4444 ,the principle of the institution 7he is talking of the establishment of an international tribunal7 is this1 that the ,european nations should stop being a nation of thieves1 and the armies gangs of brigands and of pirates1 and1 ,i must add1 of slaves4 ,yes1 the armies are gangs of slaves1 slaves of one or two rulers1 or one or two ministers1 who dispose of them tyrannically1 without any other guarantee1 we know1 than a nominal one4 ,what characterizes the slave is this1 that he is in the hands of his master like a chattel1 a tool1 and no longer a man4 ,just so it is with a soldier1 an officer1 a general1 who march to murder and to death without any care as to justice1 by the arbitrary will of ministers4444 ,thus military slavery exists1 and it is the worst of slaveries1 particularly now1 when by means of enforced military service it puts the chain about the necks of all free and strong men of the nations1 in order to make of them tools of murder1 killers by profession1 butchers of human flesh1 for this is the only opus servile for which they are chained up and trained4444 ,rulers1 to the number of two or three 444 united into a secret cabinet1 deliberate without control and without minutes which are intended for publicity 444 consequently without any guarantee for the conscience of those whom they send out to be killed4 ,the protests against the heavy arming do not date from our day1 says ,signor ,e4 ,t4 ,moneta4 ,listen to what ,montesquieu wrote in his time4 ',france' 7you may substitute the word ',europe'7 'will be ruined by the military4 ,a new malady has spread through ,europe2 it has infected our princes and has made them keep a disproportionate number of troops4 ,it has its exacerbations1 and it necessarily becomes contagious1 because1 as soon as one state increases what it calls its troops1 the others suddenly increase theirs1 so that nothing is gained by it but the common ruin4 ',every monarch keeps on a war footing all the troops which he might need in case his people were in danger of being exterminated1 and this state of tension1 of all against all1 is called peace4 ,as a result1 ,europe is so ruined that if private individuals were in the condition in which the powers are in this part of the world1 the richest of them would not have anything to live on4 ,we are poor with the riches and the commerce of the whole universe4' ,this was written almost #aej years ago2 the picture seems to be made for to-day4 ,one single thing has changed1--the system of government4 ,in the time of ,montesquieu1 and also afterward1 they used to say that the cause for the maintenance of great armies lay in the absolute kings1 who waged war in the hope of finding in the conquests the means for enriching their private budgets and passing down to history in the aureole of glory4 ,then they said1 ',oh1 if the peoples could choose themselves those who have the right to refuse the governments soldiers and money1 for then the politics of war would come to an end4' ,we have to-day representative governments in nearly all of ,europe1 and none the less the expenditures for war and for its preparation are increased in a frightful proportion4 ,evidently the folly of the princes has passed down to the governing classes4 ,at the present time they no longer make war because a prince was disrespectful to a courtesan1 as such things happened in the time of ,louis ,,xiv41 but by exaggerating the respectable sentiments1 like that of the national dignity and of patriotism1 by exciting public opinion against a neighbouring nation1 there will come a day when it will be sufficient to say1 though the information may not be true1 that the ambassador of your government was not received by the chief of a state1 in order to make break forth the most terrible and disastrous of wars ever seen4 ,at the present time ,europe keeps under arms more soldiers than there were in the time of ,napoleon's great wars4 ,all citizens1 with few exceptions1 are obliged on our continent to pass several years in the barracks4 ,they build fortresses1 construct arsenals and ships1 constantly manufacture arms1 which after awhile have to be replaced by others1 because science1 which ought always to be directed toward the well-being of men1 unfortunately lends its aid to works of destruction1 invents at every instant new engines for killing great masses of men as rapidly as possible4 ,and in order to maintain so many soldiers and to make such vast preparations for murder1 they spend yearly hundreds of millions1 that is1 what would be sufficient for the education of the people1 for the execution of the greatest works of public utility1 and would furnish the means for solving pacifically the social question4 ,europe1 therefore1 finds itself1 in spite of the scientific conquests1 in a condition as though it were still living in the worst times of the ferocious ,middle ,ages4 ,all men complain of this situation1 which is not yet war1 but which is not peace either1 and everybody would like to get out of it4 ,the chiefs of governments protest that they want peace1 and it is a matter of emulation between them as to who will make the most solemn pacific declarations4 ,but on the same day1 or the day following1 they present to the legislative chambers propositions for increasing the standing army1 and they say that it is for the purpose of maintaining and assuring peace that they take so many precautions4 ,but it is not the kind of peace we like2 nor are the nations deceived4 ,true peace has reciprocal confidence for its basis1 while these enormous preparations betray a profound distrust1 if not a concealed hostility1 between the states4 ,what would we say of a man who1 wishing to prove his sentiments of friendship for his neighbour1 should invite him to discuss some question with him1 while he himself is holding a revolver in his hand8 ,it is this flagrant contradiction between the pacific declarations and the warlike policy of the governments that all good citizens want to see stopped at any price and as quickly as possible4 ,they marvel why annually sixty thousand suicides are committed in ,europe1 and those only the ones that are recorded1 which excludes ,russia and ,turkey2 but what we ought to marvel at is not that there are so many suicides1 but so few4 ,every man of our time1 if he grasps the contradiction between his consciousness and his life1 is in a very desperate condition4 ,to say nothing of all the other contradictions between life and consciousness1 which fill the life of a man of our time1 the contradiction between this last military condition1 in which ,europe is1 and the ,christian profession of ,europe is enough to make a man despair1 doubt the rationality of human nature1 and put an end to his life in this mad and beastly world4 ,this contradiction1 the military contradiction1 which is the quintessence of all others1 is so terrible that a man can live and take part in it only by not thinking of it1 by being able to forget it4 ,how is this8 ,we are all ,christians1--we not only profess love of one another1 but actually live one common life1 the pulse of our life beats with the same beats1 we aid one another1 learn from one another1 more and more approach one another1 for a common joy6 ,in this closer union lies the meaning of the whole of life1--and to-morrow some maddened head of a government will say something foolish1 another man like him will answer him1 and ,i shall go1 making myself liable to be killed1 to kill men who not only have done me no harm1 but whom ,i love4 ,and this is not a distant accident1 but what we are preparing ourselves for1 and it is not only a possible1 but even an inevitable event4 ,it is enough to understand this clearly1 in order to lose our mind and shoot ourselves4 ,and it is precisely what happens with especial frequency among the military4 ,we need but think for a moment1 in order that we may come to the necessity of such an ending4 ,it is only thus that we can explain that terrible tension with which the men of our time incline to intoxicate themselves with wine1 tobacco1 opium1 cards1 the reading of newspapers1 travelling1 all kinds of spectacles1 and amusements4 ,all these things are done like serious1 important affairs4 ,they are indeed important affairs4 ,if there existed no external means for dimming their consciences1 one-half of the men would at once shoot themselves1 because to live contrary to one's reason is a most intolerable state1 and all men of our time are in such a state4 ,all men of our time live in a constant crying contradiction between consciousness and life4 ,these contradictions are expressed in the economic and political relations1 but most startling is this contradiction between the recognition of the law of the brotherhood of men1 as professed by ,christians1 and the necessity1 in which all men are placed by the universal military service1 of being prepared for hostility1 for murder1--of being at the same time a ,christian and a gladiator4 ,,vi4 ,the removal of the contradiction between life and consciousness is possible in two ways1--by a change of life or by a change of consciousness1 and in the choice of one of the two there can be no doubt4 ,a man may stop doing what he considers bad1 but he cannot stop considering bad what is bad4 ,even so the whole of humanity may stop doing what it considers bad1 but is powerless1 not only to change1 but even for a time to retard the all-elucidating and expanding consciousness of what is bad and what1 therefore1 ought not to be4 ,it would seem that the choice between the change of life and that of the consciousness ought to be clear and above doubt4 ,and so1 it would seem1 it is indispensable for the ,christian humanity of our time to renounce the pagan forms of life1 which it condemns1 and to build up its life on the ,christian foundations1 which it professes4 ,but so it would be1 if there did not exist the law of inertia1 which is as invariable in the lives of men and nations as in inanimate bodies1 and which is for men expressed by the psychological law1 so well stated in the ,gospel with the words1 and did not walk toward the light1 because their deeds were evil4 ,this law consists in this1 that the majority of men do not think in order to know the truth1 but in order to assure themselves that the life which they lead1 and which is agreeable and habitual to them1 is the one which coincides with the truth4 ,slavery was contrary to all the moral principles which were preached by ,plato and ,aristotle1 and yet neither the one nor the other saw this1 because the negation of slavery destroyed all that life which they lived4 ,the same happens in our world4 ,the division of men into two castes1 like the violence of the state and of the army1 is repugnant to all those moral principles by which our world lives1 and at the same time the leading men of culture of our time do not seem to see it4 ,the majority1 if not all1 of the cultured people of our time unconsciously try to maintain the previous social concept of life which justifies their position1 and to conceal from themselves and from men its inadequacy1 and1 above all1 the necessity of the condition of the ,christian life-conception1 which destroys the whole structure of the existing life4 ,they strive to maintain the orders that are based on the social life-conception1 but themselves do not believe in it1 because it is obsolete1 and it is impossible to believe in it any longer4 ,all literature1 the philosophic1 the political1 and that of the belles-lettres1 of our time is striking in this respect4 ,what a wealth of ideas1 forms1 colours1 what erudition1 elegance1 abundance of thoughts1 and what total absence of serious contents1 and even what fear of every definiteness of thought and of its expression6 ,circumlocutions1 allegories1 jests1 general1 extremely broad reflections1 and nothing simple1 clear1 pertinent to the matter1 that is1 to the question of life4 ,but it is not enough that they write and say graceful vapidities2 they even write and say abominable1 vile things1 they in the most refined manner adduce reflections which take men back to primeval savagery1 to the foundations1 not only of pagan1 but even of animal life1 which we outlived as far back as five thousand years ago4 ,it can1 indeed1 not be otherwise4 ,in keeping shy of the ,christian life-conception1 which for some impairs only the habitual order1 and for others both the habitual and the advantageous order1 men cannot help but return to the pagan concept of life1 and to the teachings which are based on them4 ,in our time they not only preach patriotism and aristocratism1 as it was preached two thousand years ago1 but they even preach the coarsest epicurism1 animality1 with this one difference1 that the men who then preached it believed in what they preached1 while now the preachers themselves do not believe in what they say1 and they cannot believe1 because what they preach no longer has any meaning4 ,it is impossible to remain in one place1 when the soil is in motion4 ,if you do not go ahead1 you fall behind4 ,and1 though it is strange and terrible to say so1 the cultured people of our time1 the leaders1 with their refined reflections1 in reality are dragging society back1 not even to the pagan state1 but to the state of primeval savagery4 ,in nothing may this direction of the activity of the leading men of our time be seen so clearly as in their relation to the phenomenon in which in our time the whole inadequacy of the social concept of life has been expressed in a concentrated form1--in their relation to war1 to universal armaments1 and to universal military service4 ,the indefiniteness1 if not the insincerity1 of the relation of the cultured men of our time to this phenomenon is striking4 ,the relation to this matter in our cultured society is threefold3 some look upon this phenomenon as something accidental1 which arose from the peculiar political condition of ,europe1 and consider it corrigible1 without the change of the whole structure of life1 by means of external1 diplomatic1 international measures2 others look upon this phenomenon as upon something terrible and cruel1 but inevitable and fatal1 like a disease or death2 others again calmly and coolly look upon war as an indispensable1 beneficent1 and therefore desirable phenomenon4 ,these people look differently at the matter1 but all of them discuss war as an incident which is quite independent of the will of men who take part in it1 and so do not even admit that natural question1 which presents itself to every simple man1 ,must ,i take part in it8 ,according to the opinion of all these men1 these questions do not even exist1 and every person1 no matter how he himself may look upon war1 must in this respect slavishly submit to the demands of the government4 ,the relation of the first1 of those who see a salvation from wars in diplomatic1 international measures1 is beautifully expressed in the result of the last ,congress of ,peace in ,london1 and in an article and letters concerning war by prominent authors in ,no4 #h of the ,revue des ,revues for #ahia4 ,here are the results of the ,congress3 having collected the personal or written opinions from learned men all over the world1 the ,congress began by a ,te ,deum in the ,cathedral1 and ended with a dinner with speeches1 having for the period of five days listened to a large number of speeches1 and having arrived at the following resolutions3 #a4 ,the ,congress affirms its belief that the brotherhood of man involves as a necessary consequence a brotherhood of nations1 in which the true interests of all are acknowledged to be identical4 #b4 ,the ,congress recognizes the important influence which ,christianity exercises upon the moral and political progress of mankind1 and earnestly urges upon ministers of the ,gospel1 and other teachers of religion and morality1 the duty of setting forth the principles of ,peace and ,good-will1 and recommends that the third ,sunday in ,december in each year be set apart for that purpose4 #c4 ,this ,congress expresses its opinion that all teachers of history should call the attention of the young to the grave evils inflicted on mankind in all ages by war1 and to the fact that such war has been waged1 as a rule1 for most inadequate causes4 #d4 ,the ,congress protests against the use of military exercises in connection with the physical exercises of school1 and suggests the formation of brigades for saving life rather than any of a quasi-military character2 and it urges the desirability of impressing on the ,board of ,examiners1 who formulate the questions for examination1 the propriety of guiding the minds of children into the principles of ,peace4 #e4 ,the ,congress holds that the doctrine of the universal rights of man requires that aboriginal and weaker races shall be guarded from injustice and fraud when brought into contact with civilized peoples1 alike as to their territories1 their liberties1 and their property1 and that they shall be shielded from the vices which are so prevalent among the so-called advanced races of men4 ,it further expresses its conviction that there should be concert of action among the nations for the accomplishment of these ends4 ,the ,congress desires to express its hearty appreciation of the conclusions arrived at by the late ,anti-,slavery ,conference1 held in ,brussels1 for the amelioration of the condition of the peoples of ,africa4 #f4 ,the ,congress believes that the warlike prejudices and traditions which are still fostered in the various nationalities1 and the misrepresentations by leaders of public opinion in legislative assemblies1 or through the press1 are not infrequently indirect causes of war4 ,the ,congress is therefore of opinion that these evils should be counteracted by the publication of accurate statements and information that would tend to the removal of misunderstanding among nations1 and recommends to the ,inter-,parliamentary ,committee the importance of considering the question of commencing an international newspaper1 which should have such a purpose as one of its primary objects4 #g4 ,the ,congress proposes to the ,inter-,parliamentary ,conference that the utmost support should be given to every project for the unification of weights and measures1 of coinage1 tariffs1 postal and telegraphic arrangements1 means of transport1 etc41 which would assist in constituting a commercial1 industrial1 and scientific union of the peoples4 #h4 ,the ,congress1 in view of the vast moral and social influence of woman1 urges upon every woman throughout the world to sustain the things that make for peace2 as otherwise she incurs grave responsibilities for the continuance of the systems of war and militarism4 #i4 ,this ,congress expresses the hope that the ,financial ,reform ,association1 and other ,similar ,societies in ,europe and ,america1 should unite in convoking at an early date a ,conference to consider the best means of establishing equitable commercial relations between states by the reduction of import duties4 ,the ,congress feels that it can affirm that the whole of ,europe desires ,peace1 and is impatiently waiting for the moment when it shall see the end of those crushing armaments which1 under the plea of defence1 become in their turn a danger1 by keeping alive mutual distrust1 and are at the same time the cause of that economic disturbance which stands in the way of settling in a satisfactory manner the problems of labour and poverty1 which should take precedence of all others4 #aj4 ,the ,congress1 recognizing that a general disarmament would be the best guarantee of ,peace1 and would lead to the solution1 in the general interest1 of those questions which must now divide states1 expresses the wish that a ,congress of ,representatives of all the states of ,europe may be assembled as soon as possible1 to consider the means of accepting a gradual general disarmament4 #aa4 ,the ,congress1 considering the timidity of the single ,powers or other causes might delay indefinitely the convocation of the above-mentioned ,congress1 is of opinion that the ,government which should first dismiss any considerable number of soldiers would confer a signal benefit on ,europe and mankind1 because it would oblige other ,governments1 urged on by public opinion1 to follow its example1 and by the moral force of this accomplished fact1 would have increased rather than diminished the condition of its national defence4 #ab4 ,this ,congress1 considering the question of disarmament1 as well as the ,peace question generally1 depends upon public opinion1 recommends the ,peace ,societies here represented1 and all friends of ,peace1 to carry on an active propaganda among the people1 especially at the time of ,parliamentary elections1 in order that the electors should give their vote to those candidates who have included in their programme ,peace1 ,disarmament1 and ,arbitration4 #ac4 ,the ,congress congratulates the friends of ,peace on the resolution adopted by the ,international ,american ,conference at ,washington in ,april last1 by which it was recommended that arbitration should be obligatory in all controversies concerning diplomatic and consular privileges1 boundaries1 territories1 indemnities1 right of navigation1 and the validity1 construction1 and enforcement of treaties1 and in all other cases1 whatever their origin1 nature1 or occasion1 except only those which1 in the judgment of any of the nations involved in the controversy1 may imperil its independence4 #ad4 ,the ,congress respectfully recommends this resolution to the attention of the statesmen of ,europe1 and expresses the ardent desire that treaties in similar terms be speedily entered into between the other nations of the world4 #ae4 ,the ,congress expresses its satisfaction at the adoption by the ,spanish ,senate1 on ,june #afth last1 of a project of law authorizing the ,government to negotiate general or special treaties of arbitration for the settlement of all disputes1 except those relating to the independence and internal government of the state affected2 also at the adoption of resolutions to a like effect by the ,norwegian ,storthing1 and by the ,italian ,chamber1 on ,july #aath4 #af4 ,the ,congress addresses official communications to the principal religious1 political1 commercial1 labour1 and peace organizations in civilized countries1 requesting them to send petitions to governmental authorities of their respective countries1 praying that measures be taken for the formation of suitable tribunals for the adjudicature of any international questions1 so as to avoid the resort to war4 #ag4 ,seeing 7a7 that the object pursued by all ,peace ,societies is the establishment of juridical order between nations2 7b7 that neutralization by international treaties constitutes a step toward this juridical state1 and lessens the number of districts in which war can be carried on2 the ,congress recommends a larger extension of the rule of neutralization1 and expresses the wish3 7a7 that all treaties which at present assure to a certain state the benefit of neutrality remain in force1 or1 if necessary1 be amended in a manner to render the neutrality more effective1 either by extending neutralization to the whole of the state1 of which a part only may be neutralized1 or by ordering the demolition of fortresses which constitute rather a peril than a guarantee of neutrality2 7b7 that new treaties1 provided they are in harmony with the wishes of the population1 be concluded for the establishment of the neutralization of other states4 #ah4 ,the ,sub-,committee of the ,congress recommends3 ,i4 ,that the next ,congress be held immediately before or immediately after the next session of the ,inter-,parliamentary ,conference1 and at the same place4 ,,ii4 ,that the question of an international ,peace ,emblem be postponed sine die4 ,,iii4 ,the adoption of the following resolution3 7a7 ,resolved1 that we express our satisfaction at the formal and official overtures of the ,presbyterian ,church in the ,united ,states of ,america1 addressed to the highest representatives of each church organization in ,christendom1 inviting the same to unite with itself in a general conference1 the object of which shall be to promote the substitution of international arbitration for war2 7b7 that this ,congress1 assembled in ,london from the #adth to the #aith ,july1 desires to express its profound reverence for the memory of ,aurelio ,saffi1 the great ,italian jurist1 a member of the ,committee of the ,international ,league of ,peace and ,liberty4 ,,iv4 ,that the ,memorial to the various ,heads of ,civilized ,states1 adopted by this ,congress and signed by the ,president1 should so far as practicable be presented to each power1 by an influential deputation4 ,v4 ,that the ,organization ,committee be empowered to make the needful verbal emendations in the papers and resolutions presented4 ,,vi4 ,that the following resolutions be adopted3 7a7 ,a resolution of thanks to the ,presidents of the various sittings of the ,congress2 7b7 a resolution of thanks to the ,chairman1 the ,secretary1 and the ,members of the ,bureau of the ,congress2 7c7 a resolution of thanks to the conveners and members of ,sectional ,committees2 7d7 a resolution of thanks to ,rev4 ,cannon ,scott ,holland1 ,rev4 ,doctor ,reuen1 and ,rev4 ,j4 ,morgan ,gibbon1 for their pulpit addresses before the ,congress1 and that they be requested to furnish copies of the same for publication2 and also to the ,authorities of ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral1 the ,city ,temple1 and ,stamford ,hill ,congregational ,church for the use of those buildings for public services2 7e7 a letter of thanks to ,her ,majesty for permission to visit ,windsor ,castle2 7f7 and also a resolution of thanks to the ,lord ,mayor and ,lady ,mayoress1 to ,mr4 ,passmore ,edwards1 and other friends1 who had extended their hospitality to the members of the ,congress4 #ai4 ,this ,congress places on record a heartfelt expression of gratitude to ,almighty ,god for the remarkable harmony and concord which have characterized the meetings of the ,assembly1 in which so many men and women of varied nations1 creeds1 tongues1 and races have gathered in closest coperation1 and in the conclusion of the labours of the ,congress2 it expresses its firm and unshaken belief in the ultimate triumph of the cause of ,peace and of the principles which have been advocated at these meetings4 ,the fundamental idea of the ,congress is this1 that it is necessary1 in the first place1 to diffuse by all means possible the conviction among men that war is very unprofitable for people and that peace is a great good1 and in the second1 to act upon the governments1 impressing them with the superiority of the international tribunal over wars1 and1 therefore1 the advantages and the necessity of disarmament4 ,to attain the first end1 the ,congress turns to the teachers of history1 to the women1 and to the clergy with the advice that the evil of war and the good of peace be preached to men on every third ,sunday in ,december2 to attain the second end1 the ,congress addresses the governments1 proposing that they disarm and substitute arbitration for war4 ,to preach the evil of war and the good of peace to men6 ,but the evil of war and the good of peace are so well known to men that1 so long as we have known men1 the best greeting has been1 ,peace be with you4 ,what need is there1 then1 in preaching8 ,not only the ,christians1 but all the pagans thousands of years ago knew the evil of war and the good of peace1--consequently the advice given to the preachers of the ,gospel to preach on the evil of war and the good of peace on every third ,sunday in ,december is quite superfluous4 ,a ,christian cannot help but preach this at all times1 on all the days of his life4 ,if ,christians and preachers of ,christianity do not do so1 there must be causes for this1 and so long as these causes are not removed1 no advice will be effective4 ,still less effective can be the advice given to the governments1 to dismiss the armies and substitute international tribunals for them4 ,the governments themselves know very well all the difficulty and burdensomeness of collecting and maintaining armies1 and if1 in spite of it1 they continue with terrible efforts and tension to collect and maintain armies1 they obviously cannot do otherwise1 and the advice of the ,congress cannot change anything4 ,but the learned do not want to see this1 and all hope to find a combination by which the governments1 who produce the wars1 will limit themselves4 ,is it possible to be freed from war8 writes a learned man in the ,revue des ,revues4 ,all admit that when it breaks loose in ,europe1 its consequences will be like a great incursion of the barbarians4 ,in a forthcoming war the existence of whole nationalities will be at stake1 and so it will be sanguinary1 desperate1 cruel4 ,it is these considerations1 combined with those terrible implements of war which are at the disposal of modern science1 that are retarding the moment of the declaration of war and are maintaining the existing temporary order of things1 which might be prolonged for an indefinite time1 if it were not for those terrible expenses that oppress the ,european nations and threaten to bring them to no lesser calamities than those which are produced by war4 ,startled by this idea1 the men of the various countries have sought for a means for stopping or at least mitigating the consequences of the terrible slaughter which is menacing us4 ,such are the questions that are propounded by the ,congress soon to be held in ,rome and in pamphlets dealing with disarmament4 ,unfortunately it is certain that with the present structure of the majority of the ,european states1 which are removed from one another and are guided by various interests1 the complete cessation of war is a dream with which it would be dangerous to console ourselves4 ,still1 some more reasonable laws and regulations1 accepted by all1 in these duels of the nations might considerably reduce the horrors of war4 ,similarly ,utopian would be the hope of disarmament1 which is almost impossible1 from considerations of a national character1 which are intelligible to our readers4 7,this1 no doubt1 means that ,france cannot disarm previous to avenging its wrongs47 ,public opinion is not prepared for the adoption of projects of disarmament1 and1 besides1 the international relations are not such as to make their adoption possible4 ,disarmament1 demanded by one nation of another1 is tantamount to a declaration of war4 ,it must1 however1 be admitted that the exchange of views between the interested nations will to a certain extent aid in the international agreement and will make possible a considerable diminution of the military expenses1 which now oppress the ,european nations at the expense of the solution of social questions1 the necessity of which is felt by every state individually1 threatening to provoke an internal war in the effort to avert one from without4 ,it is possible at least to assume a diminution of the enormous expenses which are needed in connection with the present business of war1 which aims at the possibility of seizing the adversary's possessions within twenty-four hours and giving a decisive battle a week after the declaration of war4 ,what is needed is1 that states should not be able to attack other states and in twenty-four hours to seize the possessions of others4 ,this practical idea was expressed by ,maxime du ,camp1 and to this the conclusion of the article is reduced4 ,m4 du ,camp's propositions are these3 7#a7 ,a diplomatic congress ought to meet every year4 7#b7 ,no war can be declared sooner than two months after the incident provoking it4 7,the difficulty will be to determine which incident it is that provokes the war1 because with every war there are a very large number of such incidents1 and it would be necessary to decide from which incident the two months are to be counted47 7#c7 ,war cannot be declared before it is submitted to the vote of the nations preparing for it4 ,military action cannot begin sooner than a month after the declaration of war4 ,war cannot be begun 444 must 444 and so forth4 ,but who will see to it that war cannot be begun8 ,who will see to it that men must do so and so8 ,who will compel the power to wait until the proper time8 ,all the other powers need just as much to be moderated and placed within bounds and compelled4 ,who will do the compelling8 and how8--,public opinion4--,but if there is a public opinion which can compel a power to wait for a given time1 the same public opinion can compel the power not to begin the war at all4 ,but1 they reply to all this1 we can have such a balance of forces1 ponderation des forces1 that the powers will support one another4 ,this has been tried and is being tried even now4 ,such were the ,holy ,alliance1 the ,league of ,peace1 and so forth4 ,but if all should agree to it8 we are told4 ,if all should agree to it1 there would be no war1 and there would be no need for supreme tribunals and courts of arbitration4 ,arbitration will take the place of war4 ,the questions will be decided by a court of arbitration4 ,the ,alabama question was decided by a court of arbitration1 it was proposed to have the question about the ,caroline ,islands submitted to the arbitration of the ,pope4 ,switzerland1 and ,belgium1 and ,denmark1 and ,holland1--all have declared that they prefer the decisions of a court of arbitration to war4 ,monaco1 it seems1 also declared itself in this way4 ,what is a pity is1 that ,germany1 ,russia1 ,austria1 ,france have not yet made such declarations4 ,it is wonderful how men can deceive themselves4 ,the governments will decide to submit their differences to a court of arbitration and so will disband their armies4 ,the differences between ,russia and ,poland1 between ,england and ,ireland1 between ,austria and ,bohemia1 between ,turkey and the ,slavs1 between ,france and ,germany will be decided by voluntary consent4 ,this is the same as though it should be proposed that merchants and bankers should not sell anything at a higher price than at what they have bought the articles1 should busy themselves with the distribution of wealth without profit1 and should abolish the money which has thus become useless4 ,but commerce and the banking industry consist in nothing but selling at a higher price than that at which the purchases are made1 and so the proposition that articles should not be sold except at a purchase price1 and that money should be abolished1 is tantamount to a proposition that they should abolish themselves4 ,the same is true of the governments4 ,the proposition made to the governments that no violence be used1 and that the differences be decided on their merits1 is a proposition that the government as such should abolish itself1 and to this no government can consent4 ,learned men gather in societies 7there are many such societies1 more than a hundred of them71 congresses are called 7lately such met at ,paris and ,london1 and one will soon meet at ,rome71 speeches are made1 people dine1 make toasts1 publish periodicals1 which are devoted to the cause1 and in all of them it is proved that the tension of the nations1 who are compelled to support millions of troops1 has reached the utmost limit1 and that this armament contradicts all the aims1 properties1 and desires of all the nations1 but that1 if a lot of paper is covered with writing1 and a lot of speeches are made1 it is possible to make all people agree and to cause them not to have any opposing interests1 and then there will be no war4 ,when ,i was a little fellow1 ,i was assured that to catch a bird it was just necessary to pour some salt on its tail4 ,i went out with the salt to the birds1 and immediately convinced myself that1 if ,i could get near enough to pour the salt on a bird's tail1 ,i could catch it1 and ,i understood that they were making fun of me4 ,it is the same that must be understood by those who read books and pamphlets on courts of arbitration and disarmament4 ,if it is possible to pour salt on a bird's tail1 this means that it does not fly1 and that there is no need of catching it4 ,but if a bird has wings and does not want to be caught1 it does not allow any one to pour salt on its tail1 because it is the property of a bird to fly4 ,even so the property of a government does not consist in being subjected1 but in subjecting1 and a government is a government only in so far as it is able1 not to be subjected1 but to subject1 and so it strives to do so1 and can never voluntarily renounce its power2 but the power gives it the army1 and so it will never give up the army and its use for purposes of war4 ,the mistake is based on this1 that learned jurists1 deceiving themselves and others1 assert in their books that the government is not what it is1--a collection of one set of men1 doing violence to another1--but1 as science makes it out to be1 a representation of the aggregate of citizens4 ,the learned have for so long a time assured others of this fact that they have come themselves to believe in it1 and they often think seriously that justice can be obligatory for the governments4 ,but history shows that from ,csar to ,napoleon1 both the first and the third1 and ,bismarck1 the government has by its essence always been a justice-impairing force1 as1 indeed1 it cannot be otherwise4 ,justice cannot be obligatory for a man or for men1 who keep in hand deceived men1 drilled for violence1--the soldiers1--and by means of them rule others4 ,and so the governments cannot agree to the diminution of the number of these drilled men1 who obey them and who form all their strength and significance4 ,such is the relation of one set of learned men to the contradiction which weighs heavily on our world1 and such are the means for its solution4 ,tell these men that the question is only in the personal relation of every man to the moral1 religious question1 now standing before all1 of the legitimacy and illegitimacy of his participation in the universal military service1 and these savants will only shrug their shoulders1 and will not even deign to give you an answer1 or pay attention to you4 ,the solution of the question for them consists in reading addresses1 writing books1 choosing presidents1 vice-presidents1 secretaries1 and meeting and talking1 now in this city1 and now in that4 ,from these talks and writings there will1 in their opinion1 come this result1 that the governments will cease drafting soldiers1 on whom their whole power is based1 but will listen to their speeches and will dismiss their soldiers1 will remain defenceless1 not only against their neighbours1 but even against their subjects1--like robbers who1 having bound defenceless men1 for the purpose of robbing them1 upon hearing speeches about the pain caused to the bound men by the rope1 should immediately set them free4 ,but there are people who believe in it1 who busy themselves with peace congresses1 deliver addresses1 write little books2 and the governments1 of course1 express their sympathy with this1 let it appear that they are supporting this1 just as they make it appear that they are supporting a temperance society1 whereas they for the most part live by the drunkenness of the masses2 just as they make it appear that they are supporting education1 whereas their strength is based on ignorance2 just as they make it appear that they are supporting the liberty of the constitution1 whereas their strength is based only on the absence of a constitution2 just as they make it appear that they are concerned about the betterment of the labouring classes1 whereas it is on the oppression of the labourer that their existence is2 just as they make it appear that they are supporting ,christianity1 whereas ,christianity destroys every government4 ,to be able to do this1 they have long ago worked out such provisions for temperance1 that drunkenness is not impaired2 such provisions for education1 that ignorance is not only not interfered with1 but is even strengthened2 such provisions for liberty and for the constitution1 that despotism is not impeded2 such provisions for the labourers1 that they are not freed from slavery2 such ,christianity as does not destroy1 but maintains the governments4 ,now they have also added their concern about peace4 ,the governments1 simply the kings1 who travel about with their ministers1 of their own accord deciding the questions as to whether they shall begin the slaughter of millions this year or next1 know full well that their talks about peace will not keep them1 whenever they feel like it1 from sending millions to slaughter4 ,the kings even listen with pleasure to these talks1 encourage them1 and take part in them4 ,all this is not only harmless1 but even useful to the governments1 in that it takes people's minds away from the most essential question1 as to whether each individual man1 who is called to become a soldier1 should perform the universal military service or not4 ,peace will soon be established1 thanks to alliances and congresses and in consequence of books and pamphlets1 but in the meantime go1 put on uniforms1 and be prepared to oppress and torture yourselves for our advantage1 say the governments4 ,and the learned authors of congresses and of writings fully agree to this4 ,this is one relation1 the most advantageous one for the governments1 and so it is encouraged by all wise governments4 ,another relation is the tragic relation of the men who assert that the contradiction between the striving and love for peace and the necessity of war is terrible1 but that such is the fate of men4 ,these for the most part sensitive1 gifted men see and comprehend the whole terror and the whole madness and cruelty of war1 but by some strange turn of mind do not see and do not look for any issue from this condition1 and1 as though irritating their wound1 enjoy the desperate plight of humanity4 ,here is a remarkable specimen of such a relation to war1 by a famous ,french author 7,maupassant74 ,as he looks from his yacht at the exercises and target-shooting of the ,french soldiers1 the following ideas come to him3 ,war6 ,when ,i but think of this word1 ,i feel bewildered1 as though they were speaking to me of sorcery1 of the ,inquisition1 of a distant1 finished1 abominable1 monstrous1 unnatural thing4 ,when they speak to us of cannibals1 we smile proudly1 as we proclaim our superiority to these savages4 ,who are the savages1 the real savages8 ,those who struggle in order to eat those whom they vanquish1 or those who struggle to kill1 merely to kill8 ,the little soldiers of the rank and file who are running down there are destined for death1 like flocks of sheep1 whom a butcher drives before him on the highway4 ,they will fall in a plain1 their heads cut open by a sword-stroke1 or their chests pierced by bullets2 and these are young men who might have worked1 produced1 been useful4 ,their fathers are old and poor2 their mothers1 who have loved them for twenty years and adored them as only mothers can1 will learn in six months or1 perhaps1 in a year that their son1 their child1 their grandchild1 who had been reared with so much love1 was thrown into a hole1 like a dead dog1 after he had been eviscerated by a ball1 trampled underfoot1 crushed1 mashed into pulp by the charges of cavalry4 ,why did they kill her boy1 her fine boy1 her only hope1 her pride1 her life8 ,she does not know4 ,yes1 why8 ,war6 ,to fight6 ,to butcher6 ,to massacre people6 ,and to-day1 at our period of the world1 with our civilization1 with the expansion of science and the degree of philosophy which we deem the human genius to have attained1 we have schools in which they teach how to kill2 to kill at a great distance1 with perfection1 a lot of people at the same time1--to kill poor innocent fellows1 who have the care of a family and are under no judicial sentence4 ,and what is most startling is the fact that the people do not rise against the governments6 ,what difference is there really between the monarchies and the republics8 ,it is most startling that society does not rise in a body and revolt at the very mention of the word 'war4' ,oh1 we shall always live under the burden of the ancient and odious customs1 criminal prejudices1 and savage ideas of our barbarous ancestors1 because we are beasts1 and shall remain beasts1 who are dominated by instinct and do not change4 ,would not any other man than ,victor ,hugo have been disgraced1 if he sent forth this cry of deliverance and truth8 ',to-day force is called violence and is about to be judged2 war is summoned to court4 ,civilization1 at the instigation of the human race1 institutes proceedings and prepares the great criminal brief of the conquerors and captains4 ,the nations are coming to understand that the increase of an offence cannot be its diminution2 that if it is a crime to kill1 killing much cannot be an extenuating circumstance2 that if stealing is a disgrace1 forcible seizing cannot be a glory4 ,oh1 let us proclaim these absolute verities1--let us disgrace war6' ,vain fury and indignation of a poet6 ,war is honoured more than ever4 ,a versatile artist in these matters1 a gifted butcher of men1 ,mr4 von ,moltke1 one day spoke the following words to some delegates of peace3 ',war is sacred and divinely instituted2 it is one of the sacred laws of the world2 it nurtures in men all the great and noble sentiments1--honour1 disinterestedness1 virtue1 courage1--and1 to be short1 keeps men from falling into the most hideous materialism4' ,thus1 uniting into herds of four hundred thousand men1 marching day and night without any rest1 not thinking of anything1 nor studying anything1 nor learning anything1 nor reading anything1 not being useful to a single person1 rotting from dirt1 sleeping in the mire1 living like the brutes in a constant stupor1 pillaging cities1 burning villages1 ruining peoples1 then meeting another conglomeration of human flesh1 rushing against it1 making lakes of blood and fields of battered flesh1 mingled with muddy and blood-stained earth and mounds of corpses1 being deprived of arms or legs1 or having the skull crushed without profit to any one1 and dying in the corner of a field1 while your old parents1 your wife1 and your children are starving1--that's what is called not to fall into the most hideous materialism4 ,the men of war are the scourges of the world4 ,we struggle against ,nature1 against ignorance1 against obstacles of every sort1 in order to make our miserable life less hard4 ,men1 benefactors1 savants use their existence in order to work1 to find what may help1 may succour1 may ease their brothers4 ,they go with vim about their useful business1 accumulate discovery upon discovery1 increasing the human spirit1 expanding science1 giving every day a sum of new knowledge to the intelligence of man1 giving every day well-being1 ease1 and force to their country4 ,war arrives4 ,in six months the generals destroy twenty years of effort1 of patience1 and of genius4 ,this is what is called not to fall into the most hideous materialism4 ,we have seen what war is4 ,we have seen men turned into brutes1 maddened1 killing for the sake of pleasure1 of terror1 of bravado1 of ostentation4 ,then1 when law no longer exists1 when law is dead1 when every notion of right has disappeared1 we have seen men shoot innocent people who are found on the road and who have roused suspicion only because they showed fear4 ,we have seen dogs chained near the doors of their masters killed1 just to try new revolvers on them2 we have seen cows lying in the field shot to pieces1 for the sake of pleasure1 only to try a gun on them1 to have something to laugh at4 ,this is what is called not to fall into the most hideous materialism4 ,to enter a country1 to kill a man who is defending his home1 simply because he wears a blouse and has no cap on his head1 to burn the habitations of wretched people who have no bread1 to smash the furniture1 to steal some of it1 to drink the wine which is found in the cellars1 to rape the women who are found in the streets1 to burn millions of dollars' worth of powder1 and to leave behind them misery and the cholera1--this is what is called not to fall into the most hideous materialism4 ,what have the men of war done to give evidence of even a little intelligence8 ,nothing4 ,what have they invented8 ,cannon and guns4 ,that is all4 ,what has ,greece left to us8 ,books1 marbles4 ,is she great because she has conquered1 or because she has produced8 ,is it the invasion of the ,persians that kept her from falling into the most hideous materialism8 ,is it the invasions of the barbarians that saved ,rome and regenerated her8 ,was it ,napoleon ,i4 who continued the great intellectual movement which was begun by the philosophers at the end of the last century8 ,oh1 well1 if the governments arrogate to themselves the right to kill the nations1 there is nothing surprising in the fact that the nations now and then take upon themselves the right to do away with the governments4 ,they defend themselves4 ,they are right4 ,nobody has the absolute right to govern others4 ,this can be done only for the good of the governed4 ,whoever rules is as much obliged to avoid war as a captain of a boat is obliged to avoid a shipwreck4 ,when a captain has lost his boat1 he is judged and condemned1 if he is found guilty of negligence or even of incapacity4 ,why should not the governments be judged after the declaration of a war8 ,if the nations understood this1 if they themselves sat in judgment over the death-dealing powers1 if they refused to allow themselves to be killed without reason1 if they made use of their weapons against those who gave them to them for the purpose of massacring1 war would be dead at once6 ,but this day will not come6 7,sur l',eau1 pp4 #ga-hj47 ,the author sees all the horror of war2 he sees that its cause is in this1 that the governments1 deceiving people1 compel them to go out to kill and die without any need2 he sees also that the men composing the armies might turn their weapons against the governments and demand accounts from them4 ,but the author thinks that this will never happen1 and that1 therefore1 there is no way out of this situation4 ,he thinks that the business of war is terrible1 but that it is inevitable and that the demands of the governments that the soldiers shall go and fight are as inevitable as death1 and that1 since the governments will always demand it1 there will always exist wars4 ,thus writes a talented1 sincere author1 who is endowed with that penetration into the essence of the matter which forms the essence of the poetical genius4 ,he presents to us all the cruelty of the contradiction between men's conscience and their activity1 and1 without solving it1 seems to recognize that this contradiction must exist and that in it consists the tragedy of life4 ,another1 not less gifted author 7,e4 ,rod71 describes the cruelty and madness of the present situation in still more glaring colours1 and similarly1 recognizing the tragical element in it1 does not offer or foresee any way out of it4 ,what good is there in doing anything8 ,what good is there in undertaking anything8 he says4 ,how can we love men in these troubled times1 when the morrow is but a menace8 ,everything we have begun1 our maturing ideas1 our incepted works1 the little good which we shall have been able to do1--will it not all be carried away by the coming hurricane8 ,everywhere the earth is trembling under our feet1 and the clouds that are gathering upon our horizon will not pass by us4 ,oh1 if it were only the ,revolution1 with which we are frightened1 that we had to fear6 ,as ,i am incapable of imagining a more detestable society than is ours1 ,i have more mistrust than fear for the one which will succeed it4 ,if ,i were to suffer from the transformation1 ,i should console myself with the thought that the executioners of to-day are the victims of yesterday1 and the expectation of what is better would make me put up with what is worse4 ,but it is not this distant peril that frightens me1--,i see another1 nearer1 above all1 a more cruel peril1 more cruel1 because it has no excuse1 because it is absurd1 because no good can result from it4 ,every day men weigh the chances of war for the morrow1 and every day they are more merciless4 ,thought staggers before the catastrophe which appears at the end of the century as the limit of the progress of our era1--but we must get used to it3 for twenty years all the forces of science have been exhausting themselves to invent engines of destruction1 and soon a few cannon-shots will suffice to annihilate a whole army2 they no longer arm1 as formerly1 a few thousands of poor devils1 whose blood was paid for1 but whole nations1 who go out to cut each others' throats2 they steal their time1 in order later more surely to steal their lives2 to prepare them for the massacre1 their hatred is fanned1 by pretending that they are hated4 ,and good people are tricked1 and we shall see furious masses of peaceful citizens1 into whose hands the guns will be placed by a stupid order1 rush against one another with the ferocity of wild animals1 ,god knows for the sake of what ridiculous incident of the border or of what mercantile colonial interests6 ,they will march1 like sheep1 to the slaughter1--but knowing whither they are going1 knowing that they are leaving their wives1 knowing that their children will be hungry1 and they will go with anxious fear1 but none the less intoxicated by the sonorous1 deceptive words that will be trumpeted into their ears4 ,they will go without revolt1 passive and resigned1 though they are the mass and the force1 and could be the power1 if they wished and if they knew how to establish common sense and brotherhood in the place of the savage trickeries of diplomacy4 ,they will go1 so deceived1 so duped1 that they will believe the carnage to be a duty1 and will ask ,god to bless their sanguinary appetites4 ,they will go1 trampling on the crops which they have sown1 burning the cities which they have built1 with enthusiastic songs1 joyous cries1 and festive music4 ,and their sons will erect statues to those who shall have massacred them better than any one else6 ,the fate of a whole generation depends on the hour at which some sombre politician will give the signal1 which will be followed4 ,we know that the best among us will be mowed down and that our work will be destroyed in the germ4 ,we know this1 and we tremble from anger1 and we are unable to do anything4 ,we are caught in the net of offices and red tape1 which it would take too violent an effort to break4 ,we belong to the laws which we have called into life to protect us1 but which oppress us4 ,we are only things of this ,antinomian abstraction1 the state1 which makes every individual a slave in the name of the will of all1 who1 taken separately1 would want the very opposite of what they are compelled to do4 ,if it were only one generation that is to be sacrificed6 ,but there are other interests as well4 ,all these salaried shouters1 these ambitious exploiters of the evil passions of the masses and the poor in spirit1 who are deceived by the sonority of words1 have to such an extent envenomed the national hatreds that the war of to-morrow will stake the existence of a race3 one of the elements which have constituted the modern world is menaced1--he who will be vanquished must disappear morally1--and1 whatever it be1 we shall see a force annihilated1 as if there were one too many for the good6 ,we shall see a new ,europe formed1 on bases that are so unjust1 so brutal1 so bloody1 so soiled with a monstrous blotch1 that it cannot help but be worse than that of to-day1--more iniquitous1 more barbarous1 more violent4 ,one feels oneself oppressed by a terrible discouragement4 ,we are tossing about in a blind alley1 with guns trained on us from all the roofs4 ,our work is that of sailors going through their last exercise before the ship goes down4 ,our pleasures are those of the condemned criminal1 who fifteen minutes before his execution is offered a choice morsel4 ,anguish paralyzes our thought1 and the best effort of which it is capable is to calculate--by spelling out the vague discourses of ministers1 by twisting the sense of the words uttered by sovereigns1 by contorting the words ascribed to diplomats and reported by the newspapers at the uncertain risk of their information--whether it is to-morrow or the day after1 this year or next year1 that we shall be crushed4 ,we should1 indeed1 seek in vain in history for a more uncertain epoch1 one which is so full of anxieties 7,e4 ,rod1 ,le ,sens de la ,vie1 pp4 #bjh-bac74 ,it is pointed out that the power is in the hands of those who are ruining themselves1 in the hands of the separate individuals forming the mass2 it is pointed out that the source of evil is in the state4 ,it would seem clear that the contradiction of the consciousness and of life has reached the limit beyond which it is impossible to go and after which its solution must ensue4 ,but the author does not think so4 ,he sees in this the tragedy of human life1 and1 having pointed out all the terror of the situation1 concludes that human life must take place in this terror4 ,such is the second relation to war of those men who see something fatal and tragical in it4 ,the third relation is that of men who have lost their conscience1 and so their common sense and human feeling4 ,to this class belong ,moltke1 whose opinion is quoted by ,maupassant1 and the majority of military men1 who are educated in this cruel superstition1 who live by it1 and so are often navely convinced that war is not only an inevitable1 but even a useful matter4 ,thus1 judge also non-military1 so-called learned1 cultured1 refined people4 ,here is what the famous ,academician1 ,dousset1 writes in the number of the ,revue des ,revues in which the letters about war are collected1 in reply to the editor's inquiry as to his views on war3 ,,dear ,,sir3--,when you ask the most peaceable of ,academicians whether he is an advocate of war1 his answer is ready in advance3 unfortunately1 dear sir1 you yourself regard as a dream the peaceful thoughts which at the present time inspire our magnanimous countrymen4 ,ever since ,i have been living in the world1 ,i have heard many private people express their indignation against this terrifying habit of international slaughter4 ,all men recognize and deplore this evil2 but how is it to be mended8 ,people have very often tried to abolish duels1--this seemed so easy6 ,but no6 ,all the efforts made for the attainment of this end have done no good and never will do any good4 ,no matter how much may be said against war and against duelling at all the congresses of the world1 above all arbitrations1 above all treaties1 above all legislations1 will eternally stand man's honour1 which has ever demanded duelling1 and the national advantages1 which will eternally demand war4 ,i none the less with all my heart hope that the ,congress of ,universal ,peace will succeed in its very grave and very honourable problem4 ,receive the assurance1 etc4 ,k4 ,,dousset4 ,the meaning is this1 that men's honour demands that people should fight1 and the advantages of the nations demand that they should ruin and destroy one another1 and that the attempts at stopping war are only worthy of smiles4 ,similar is the opinion of another famous man1 ,jules ,claretie3 ,dear ,sir1 he writes3 ,for an intelligent man there can exist but one opinion in respect to the question of peace and war4 ,humanity was created that it should live1 being free to perfect and better 7its fate7 its condition by means of peaceful labour4 ,the universal agreement1 for which the ,universal ,congress of ,peace is asking and which it preaches1 may present but a beautiful dream1 but it is in any case the most beautiful dream of all4 ,man has always before him the promised land of the future1--the harvest will mature1 without fear of harm from grenades and cannon-wheels4 ,but4444 ,yes1 but6 ,since the world is not ruled by philosophers and benefactors1 it is fortunate that our soldiers protect our borders and our hearths1 and that their arms1 correctly aimed1 appear to us1 perhaps1 as the very best guarantee of this peace1 which is so fervently loved by all of us4 ,peace is given only to the strong and the determined4 ,receive the assurance1 etc4 ,j4 ,,claretie4 ,the meaning of this is1 that it does no harm to talk of what no one intends to do1 and what ought not to be done at all4 ,but when it comes to business1 we must fight4 ,here is another recent expression of opinion concerning war1 by the most popular novelist of ,europe1 ,e4 ,zola3 ,i consider war a fatal necessity1 which appears inevitable to us in view of its close connection with human nature and the whole world-structure4 ,i wish war could be removed for the longest possible time2 none the less the moment will arrive when we shall be compelled to fight4 ,i1 at the present moment1 am placing myself on the universal point of view1 and in no way have any reference to our difference with ,germany1 which presents itself only as an insignificant incident in the history of humanity4 ,i say that war is indispensable and useful1 because it appears to humanity as one of the conditions of its existence4 ,we everywhere meet with war1 not only among various tribes and nations1 but also in domestic and private life4 ,it appears as one of the chief elements of progress1 and every step forward1 which humanity has taken1 has been accompanied by bloodshed4 ,people used to speak1 and even now speak1 of disarmament1 but disarmament is something impossible1 and even if it were possible1 we should be obliged to reject it4 ,only an armed nation appears powerful and great4 ,i am convinced that a universal disarmament would bring with it something like a moral fall1 which would find its expression in universal impotence1 and would be in the way of a progressive advancement of humanity4 ,a martial nation has always enjoyed virile strength4 ,military art has brought with it the development of all the other arts4 ,history testifies to that4 ,thus1 in ,athens and in ,rome1 commerce1 industry1 and literature never reached such development as at the time when these cities ruled over the then known world by force of arms4 ,to take an example from times nearer to us1 let us recall the age of ,louis ,,xiv4 ,the wars of the great king not only did not retard the progress of the arts and sciences1 but1 on the contrary1 seemed to aid and foster their development4 ,war is a useful thing6 ,but best of all in this sense is the opinion of the most talented writer of this camp1 the opinion of the ,academician ,vog4 ,here is what he writes in an article about the exhibition1 in visiting the military department3 ,in the ,esplanade des ,invalides1 amidst exotic and colonial buildings1 one structure of a more severe style rises in the picturesque bazaar2 all these representatives of the terrestrial globe adjoin the ,palace of ,war4 ,a superb subject of antitheses for humanitarian rhetorics6 ,indeed1 it does not let pass an occasion for deploring such juxtaposition and for asserting that this will kill that 7ceci tuera cela71#ab that the union of the nations through science and labour will conquer the martial instincts4 ,we shall not keep it from fondling the hope of the chimera of a golden age1 which1 if it should be realized1 would soon become an age of mire4 ,all history teaches us that blood is needed to speed and confirm the union of the nations4 ,the natural sciences have in our time confirmed the mysterious law which was revealed to ,joseph de ,maistre by the inspiration of his genius and the consideration of primitive dogmas2 he saw how the world redeems its hereditary falls by a sacrifice2 the sciences show us how the world is perfected by struggle and by compulsory selection2 this is the assertion from two sides of the same decree1 written out in different expressions4 ,the assertion is naturally not a pleasant one2 but the laws of the world are not established for our pleasure1--they are established for our perfection4 ,let us1 then1 enter into this unavoidable1 indispensable ,palace of ,war2 and we shall have occasion to observe in what manner the most stubborn of our instincts1 without losing anything of its force1 is transformed1 in submitting to the different demands of historic moments4 #ab ,words from ,victor ,hugo's novel1 ,notre ,dame1 in regard to printing1 which will kill architecture4--,author's ,note4 ,this idea1 that the proof of the necessity of war is to be found in two expressions of ,maistre and ,darwin1 two great thinkers according to his opinion1 pleases ,vog so much that he repeats it4 ,dear ,sir1 he writes to the editor of the ,revue des ,revues3 ,you ask for my opinion in regard to the success of the ,universal ,congress of ,peace4 ,i believe1 with ,darwin1 that a violent struggle is a law of ,nature1 by which all beings are ruled4 ,like ,joseph de ,maistre1 ,i believe that it is a divine law1--two different appellations for one and the same thing4 ,if1 past all expectation1 some particle of humanity1 say the whole civilized ,west1 succeeded in arresting the action of this law1 other1 more primitive nations would apply it against us4 ,in these nations the voice of ,nature would vanquish the voice of human reason1 and they would act with success1 because the assurance of peace--,i do not say 'peace' itself1 but the 'full assurance of peace'--would evoke in men corruption and fall1 which act more destructively than the most terrible war4 ,i find that for that criminal law1 war1 it is necessary to do the same as for all the other criminal laws1--to mitigate them1 to try to make them unnecessary1 and to apply them as rarely as possible4 ,but the whole of history teaches us that it is impossible to abolish these laws1 so long as there are left in the world two men1 money1 and a woman between them4 ,i should be very happy1 if the ,congress could prove the contrary to me4 ,but ,i doubt whether it will be able to overthrow history1 the law of ,nature1 and the law of ,god4 ,accept the assurance1 etc4 ,e4 ,m4 ,,vog4 ,the idea is this1 that history1 man's nature1 and ,god show us that1 so long as there shall be two men and between them bread1 money1 and a woman1 there will be war2 that is1 that no progress will bring men to get away from the one conception of life1 where it is impossible without quarrelling to divide the bread1 the money 7the money is very good here71 and the woman4 ,how strange the people are that assemble in congresses1 to talk about how to catch birds by throwing salt on their tails1 though they cannot help but know that it is impossible to do so2 queer are those who1 like ,maupassant1 ,rod1 and many others1 see clearly the whole horror of war1 the whole contradiction which arises from this1 that men do not do what they ought to do1 what is advantageous and necessary for them to do1 deplore the tragedy of life1 and do not see that all this tragedy will stop as soon as men will cease to discuss what they ought not to discuss1 and will begin not to do what is painful for them to do1 what displeases and disgusts them4 ,these people are queer1 but those who1 like ,vog and others1 professing the law of evolution1 recognize war not only as unavoidable1 but even as useful1 and so as desirable1 are strange and terrible with their moral perversion4 ,the others at least say that they hate the evil and love the good1 but these simply recognize that there is no good and no evil4 ,all the talk about establishing peace1 in the place of eternal war1 is a harmful sentimental rodomontade of babblers4 ,there is a law of evolution1 from which it follows that ,i must live and act badly4 ,what is to be done8 ,i am an educated man1 and ,i know the law of evolution1 and so ,i will act badly4 ,entrons au palais de la guerre4 ,there is a law of evolution1 and so there is nothing bad1 nor good1 and we must live for nothing but our personal life1 leaving everything else to the law of evolution4 ,this is the last expression of refined culture1 and at the same time of that obscuration of consciousness with which all the cultured classes of our time are occupied4 ,the desire of the cultured classes in one way or another to maintain their favourite ideas and their life1 which is based upon them1 has reached its utmost limits4 ,they lie1 deceive themselves and others in the most refined way1 if only they can in some way obscure and drown their consciences4 ,instead of changing the life in accord with the consciousness1 they try in every manner possible to obscure and drown their consciousness4 ,but the light shines even in the dark1 and so it is beginning to shine in our time4 ,,vii4 ,the cultured people of the higher classes try to drown the consciousness of the necessity of changing the present order of things1 which is becoming all the time clearer and clearer2 but life1 continuing to develop and to become more complex in the former direction and intensifying the contradictions and sufferings of men1 brings them to that last limit1 beyond which it is impossible to go4 ,such a last limit1 beyond which it is impossible to go1 is the universal military service4 ,people generally think that universal military service and the ever increased arming1 which is connected with it1 and the consequent increase of taxation and of state debts among all the nations1 are an accidental phenomenon1 due to some political condition of ,europe1 and may also be removed by some political considerations1 without an internal change of life4 ,this is quite erroneous4 ,universal military service is nothing but an inner contradiction which1 having been carried to its utmost limits and having at a certain stage of material development become obvious1 has stolen its way into the social concept of life4 ,the social concept of life consists in this very fact1 that the meaning of life is transferred from the individual to the aggregate1 and its consequence is transferred to the tribe1 the family1 the race1 or the state4 ,from the social concept of life it follows that1 in so far as the meaning of life is contained in the aggregate of individuals1 the individuals themselves voluntarily sacrifice their interests for the interests of the aggregate4 ,thus it has always been in reality in the case of certain forms of the aggregate1 in the family or the tribe1 independently of which preceded1 or in the race1 or even in the patriarchal state4 ,in consequence of the habit1 which is transmitted by education and confirmed by religious influences1 the individuals have without compulsion blended their interests with the interests of the aggregate and have sacrificed their own interests for the common interest4 ,but the more societies became complex1 the greater they grew1 especially the more frequently conquests were the causes why men united into societies1 the more frequently did individuals strive after attaining their ends to the disadvantage of the common good1 and the more frequently was there felt the need of the exercise of power1 that is1 of violence1 for the sake of curbing these insubmissive individuals4 ,the defenders of the social concept of life generally try to mix up the concept of power1 that is1 of violence1 with that of spiritual influence1 but this admixture is quite impossible4 ,a spiritual influence is an action upon a man1 such that in consequence of it the very desires of a man are changed and coincide with what is demanded of him4 ,a man who submits to a spiritual influence acts in accordance with his desires4 ,but power1 as this word is generally understood1 is a means for compelling a man to act contrary to his wishes4 ,a man who submits to power does not act as he would wish1 but as the power compels him to act4 ,now what can compel a man to do1 not what he wishes1 but what he does not wish1 is physical violence1 or a threat of using such1 that is1 the deprivation of liberty1 beating1 maiming1 or executable menaces that such actions will be carried out4 ,in this has power always consisted4 ,in spite of the unceasing efforts made by men in power to conceal this and to ascribe a different meaning to power1 power is the application of a rope1 a chain1 by which a man will be bound and dragged along1 or of a whip1 with which he will be flogged1 or of a knife1 an axe1 with which they will cut off his hands1 feet1 ears1 head1--an application of these means1 or a threat that they will be used4 ,thus it was in the time of ,nero and of ,dzhingis-,khan1 and thus it is even now1 in the most liberal of governments1 in the republic of ,america and in that of ,france4 ,if men submit to power1 they do so only because they are afraid that in case they do not submit these actions will be applied to them4 ,all governmental demands1 the payment of taxes1 the execution of public works1 the submission to punishments imposed upon one1 exile1 penalties1 and so forth1 to which men seem voluntarily to submit1 have always had bodily violence1 or a threat that such will be used1 for their base4 ,the basis of power is bodily violence4 ,the possibility of exerting bodily violence against people is first of all given by an organization of armed men in which all the armed men act in agreement1 submitting to one will4 ,such assemblies of armed men1 who submit to one will1 are formed by the army4 ,the army has always stood at the base of power4 ,power is always found in the hands of those who command an army1 and all potentates--from the ,roman ,csars to the ,russian and ,german emperors--are more than anything else concerned about the army1 knowing that if the army is with them1 the power will remain in their hands4 ,it is this formation and increase of the army1 which is necessary for the support of power1 that has introduced a decomposing principle into the social concept of life4 ,the end of power and its justification consists in the limitation of those men who might wish to attain their interests to the disadvantage of the interests of the aggregate4 ,but whether the power has been acquired by the formation of a new power1 by inheritance1 or by election1 men who possess power by means of an army have in no way differed from other men1 and so have1 like other men1 been prone not to subordinate their interests to those of the aggregate1 but1 on the contrary1 having in their hands the possibility of doing so1 have been more prone than any one else to subordinate the common interests to their own4 ,no matter how much men have devised means for depriving men in power of the possibility of subordinating the common interests to their own1 or for entrusting the power only into the hands of infallible men1 there have so far been discovered no means for doing either4 ,all methods employed1 either of divine sanction1 or of election1 or of heredity1 or of suffrage1 or of assemblies1 or of parliaments1 or of senates1 have proved ineffective4 ,all men know that not one of these methods attains the aim of entrusting the power into none but infallible hands1 or of preventing its being misused4 ,all know that1 on the contrary1 men in power1 be they emperors1 ministers1 chiefs of police1 policemen1 become1 by the very fact of having power1 more prone to commit immoralities1 that is1 to subordinate the common interests to their own1 than men who have no power1 as indeed it could not be otherwise4 ,the social concept of life justified itself only so long as all men voluntarily sacrificed their interests to the common interests2 but the moment there appeared men who did not voluntarily sacrifice their interests1 and power was needed1 that is1 violence1 for the purpose of limiting these individuals1 the decomposing principle of power1 that is1 violence exerted by one set of people against another1 entered into the social concept of life and the structure which is based upon it4 ,for the power of one set of men over another to attain its end of limiting men who strove after their individual interests to the disadvantage of those of the aggregate1 it was necessary to have the power vested in the hands of infallible men1 as is assumed to be the case by the ,chinese1 and as has been assumed in the ,middle ,ages and at the present time by men who believe in the sanctity of anointment4 ,it was only under this condition that the social structure received its justification4 ,but since this does not exist1 and men in power1 on the contrary1 by the very fact of their possession of power1 are never saintly1 the social structure1 which is based on power1 should not have any justification4 ,even if there was a time when1 with a certain low level of morality and with the universal tendency of men to exert violence against each other1 the existence of the power which limited this violence was advantageous1 that is1 when the violence of the state was not so great as that exerted by individuals against each other1 it is impossible to overlook the fact that such a superiority of the state over its absence could not be permanent4 ,the more the tendency of individuals to exert violence was diminished1 the more the manners were softened1 and the more the power was corrupted in consequence of its unrestraint1 the more did this superiority grow less and less4 ,in this change of the relation between the moral development of the masses and the corruption of the governments does the whole history of the last two thousand years consist4 ,in the simplest form the case was like this3 men lived by tribes1 families1 races1 and waged war1 committed acts of violence1 and destroyed and killed one another4 ,these cases of violence took place on a small and on a large scale3 individual struggled with individual1 tribe with tribe1 family with family1 race with race1 nation with nation4 ,larger1 more powerful aggregates conquered the weaker1 and the larger and the more powerful the aggregate of people became1 the less internal violence took place in it1 and the more secure did the continuance of the life of the aggregate seem to be4 ,the members of the tribe or of the family1 uniting into one aggregate1 war less among themselves1 and the tribe and the family do not die1 like one man1 but continue their existence2 between the members of one state1 who are subject to one power1 the struggle seems even weaker1 and the life of the state seems even more secure4 ,these unions into greater and ever greater aggregates did not take place because men consciously recognized such unions as more advantageous to themselves1 as is described in the story about the calling of the ,varangians1 but in consequence1 on the one hand1 of natural growth1 and on the other1 of struggle and conquests4 ,when the conquest is accomplished1 the power of the conqueror actually puts an end to internecine strife1 and the social concept of life receives its justification4 ,but this confirmation is only temporary4 ,internal strifes cease only in proportion as the pressure of the power is exerted upon individuals who heretofore have been warring against one another4 ,the violence of internal struggle1 which is destroyed by the power1 is conceived in the power itself4 ,the power is in the hands of just such people as all men are1 that is1 of such as are always or frequently prepared to sacrifice the common good for the sake of their personal good1 with this one difference1 that these men do not have the tempering force of the counter-action of the violated1 and are subjected to the full corrupting influence of power4 ,thus the evil of violence1 passing over into the hands of power1 keeps growing more and more1 and in time comes to be greater than the one which it is supposed to destroy1 whereas in the members of society the proneness to violence keeps weakening more and more1 and the violence of power grows less and less necessary4 ,the governmental power1 even if it destroys inner violence1 invariably introduces new forms of violence into the lives of men1 and this grows greater and greater in proportion with its continuance and intensification4 ,thus1 although the violence is less perceptible in the state than the violence of the members of society against one another1 since it is not expressed by struggle1 but by submission1 the violence none the less exists and for the most part in a much more powerful degree than before4 ,this cannot be otherwise1 because the possession of power not only corrupts men1 but the purpose or even unconscious tendency of the violators will consist in bringing the violated to the greatest degree of weakening1 since1 the weaker the violated man is1 the less effort will it take to suppress him4 ,for this reason the violence which is exerted against him who is violated keeps growing to the farthest limit which it can attain without killing the hen that is laying the golden eggs4 ,but if this hen does not lay1 as in the case of the ,american ,indians1 the ,fijians1 the ,negroes1 it is killed1 in spite of the sincere protestations of the philanthropists against such a mode of action4 ,the best confirmation of this is found in the condition of the labouring classes of our time1 who in reality are nothing but subjugated people4 ,in spite of all the hypocritical endeavours of the higher classes to alleviate the condition of the working people1 all the working people of our world are subject to an invariable iron law1 according to which they have only as much as they need to be always incited by necessity to work and to have the strength for working for their masters1 that is1 for the conquerors4 ,thus it has always been4 ,in proportion with the duration and increase of power1 its advantages have always been lost for those who subjected themselves to it1 and its disadvantages have been increased4 ,thus it has been independently of those forms of government under which the nations have lived4 ,the only difference is this1 that in a despotic form of government the power is concentrated in a small number of violators1 and the form of the violence is more pronounced2 in the constitutional monarchies and republics1 as in ,france and in ,america1 the power is distributed among a larger number of violators1 and its forms are less pronounced2 but the matter of violence1 with which the disadvantages of the power are greater than its advantages1 and its process1 which brings the violated to the extreme limit of weakening to which they can be brought for the advantage of the violators1 are always one and the same4 ,such has been the condition of all the violated1 but before this they did not know it1 and in the majority of cases they believed navely that governments existed for their good2 that without government they would perish2 that the thought that men could live without governments was a blasphemy which ought not even be uttered2 that this was for some reason a terrible doctrine of anarchism1 with which is connected the conception of everything terrible4 ,men believed1 as in something absolutely proved and so needing no further proofs1 that1 since until now all the nations have developed in a governmental form1 this form was for ever an indispensable condition of the development of humanity4 ,thus it went on for hundreds and for thousands of years1 and the governments1 that is1 men in power1 have tried1 and now try more and more1 to keep the nations in this error4 ,thus it was in the time of the ,roman emperors1 and thus it is at present4 ,in spite of the fact that the idea of the uselessness and even harm of the governmental violence more and more enters into the consciousness of men1 this would last for ever1 if the governments were not obliged to increase the armies for the purpose of maintaining their power4 ,people generally think that the armies are increased by the governments for the purpose of defending the states against other states1 forgetting the fact that armies are needed by the governments for the purpose of protecting themselves against their own crushed and enslaved subjects4 ,this has always been indispensable1 and has become more and more necessary in proportion as culture has been developed among the nations1 in proportion as the intercourse among the men of the same and of different nations has been increased1 and it has become particularly indispensable now in connection with the communistic1 socialistic1 anarchistic1 and universal movements among the labouring classes4 ,the governments feel this1 and so increase their main force of the disciplined army4#ac #ac ,the fact that in ,america there exist abuses of power1 in spite of the small number of troops1 not only does not contradict1 but even supports this proposition4 ,in ,america there is a smaller army than in other countries1 and so there is nowhere a lesser oppression of the oppressed classes1 and nowhere can we foresee so soon the abolition of the abuses of power and of the power itself4 ,but in ,america itself there have of late1 in proportion as the labouring classes become more unified1 been heard voices asking more and more frequently for an increase of the army1 although ,america is not threatened by any external attack4 ,the higher ruling classes know that fifty thousand soldiers will soon be insufficient1 and1 no longer depending on ,pinkerton's army1 they feel that the security of their position lies only in an increase of the army4--,author's ,note4 ,answering lately to a question why money was needed for the increase of the wages of under-officers1 the ,german chancellor declared frankly in the ,german ,reichstag that there was a need of reliable under-officers1 in order to fight against socialism4 ,caprivi only said in the hearing of all what everybody knows1 though it is carefully concealed from the nations2 he explained why guards of ,swiss and ,scotchmen were hired out to ,french kings and ,popes1 and why in ,russia they carefully shuffle up the recruits in such a way that the regiments which are located in the centre are made up of recruits from the outlying districts1 while the regiments in the outlying districts are completed by soldiers from the centre of ,russia4 ,the meaning of ,caprivi's speech1 translated into simple language1 is this1 that money was not needed for counteracting the foreign enemies1 but for bribing the under-officers1 so as to make them willing to act against the oppressed labouring masses4 ,caprivi accidentally gave utterance to what everybody knows1 or feels1 if he does not know1 namely1 that the existing structure of life is such as it is1 not because it naturally must be such1 because the nation wants it to be such1 but because it is maintained as such by the violence of the governments1 by the army with its bribed under-officers1 officers1 and generals4 ,if a labouring man has no land1 no chance of making use of the right1 so natural for every man1 to obtain from the land his own means of support and those of his family1 this is not so because the nation wants it to be so1 but because certain men1 the owners of land1 are granted the right to admit1 or not to admit1 the labouring people to it4 ,and this unnatural order of things is maintained by means of the army4 ,if the immense wealth1 accumulated by the labouring people1 is not considered as belonging to all men1 but to an exclusive number of men2 if the power to collect taxes from labour and to use the money for anything they may see fit is entrusted to a few men2 if a few men are permitted to select the method of the religious and civil instruction and education of the children2 if strikes of the labourers are opposed and strikes of the capitalists are encouraged2 if a few men are granted the right to compose laws1 which all must obey1 and to dispose of men's property and life1--all this does not take place because the nation wants it so1 but because the governments and the ruling classes want it so1 and by means of bodily violence establish it so4 ,every person who does not know this will find it out in every attempt at not conforming or at changing this order of things4 ,therefore armies are first of all indispensable to the governments and the ruling classes1 in order to maintain the order of things which not only does not result from the necessity of the nation1 but is frequently opposed to it and is advantageous only to the government and to the ruling classes4 ,every government needs armies1 first of all1 in order to keep its subjects in submission1 and to exploit their labours4 ,but the government is not alone2 side by side with it there is another government1 which exploits its subjects by means of the same violence1 and which is always ready to take away from another government the labours of its already enslaved subjects4 ,and so every government needs an army1 not only for internal use1 but also for the protection of its booty against neighbouring ravishers4 ,every government is in consequence of this involuntarily led to the necessity of increasing its army in emulation with the other governments2 but the increasing of armies is contagious1 as ,montesquieu remarked #aej years ago4 ,every increase of an army in a state1 directed against its subjects1 becomes dangerous even for its neighbours1 and evokes an increase in the neighbouring states4 ,the armies have reached their present millions not merely because the neighbours threatened the states2 this resulted above all from the necessity of crushing all attempts at revolt on the part of the subjects4 ,the increase of armies arises simultaneously from two causes1 which provoke one another3 armies are needed against domestic enemies and for the purpose of defending one's position against one's neighbours4 ,one conditions the other4 ,the despotism of a government always increases with the increase and strengthening of armies and external successes1 and the aggressiveness of governments is increased with the intensification of the internal despotism4 ,in consequence of this1 the ,european governments1 in emulating one another in the greater and ever greater increase of the army1 arrived at the inevitable necessity of the universal military service1 since the universal military service was a means for obtaining in time of war the greatest quantity of soldiers at the least expense4 ,germany was the first to hit upon this plan1 and the moment one government did it1 all the others were obliged to do the same4 ,the moment this happened1 it happened that all the citizens were put under arms for the purpose of maintaining all that injustice which was committed against them2 what happened was that all the citizens became oppressors of themselves4 ,the universal military service was an inevitable logical necessity1 at which it was impossible not to arrive2 at the same time it is the last expression of the inner contradiction of the social concept of life1 which arose at a time when violence was needed in order to maintain it4 ,in the universal military service this contradiction became obvious4 ,indeed1 the meaning of the social concept of life consists in this1 that a man1 recognizing the cruelty of the struggle of individuals among themselves and the perishableness of the individual himself1 transfers the meaning of his life to the aggregate of individuals2 but in the universal military service it turns out that men1 having brought all the sacrifices demanded of them1 in order to free themselves from the cruelty of the struggle and the insecurity of life1 are1 after all the sacrifices which they have made1 again called to bear all those dangers from which they thought they had freed themselves1 and1 besides1 that aggregate1 the state1 in the name of which the individuals renounced their advantages1 is again subjected to the same danger of destruction to which the individual himself was subjected before4 ,the governments were to have freed men from the cruelty of the struggle of individuals and to have given them the assurance of the inviolability of the order of the state life2 but1 instead1 they impose upon the individuals the necessity of the same struggle1 except that the struggle with the nearest individuals is transferred to the struggle with the individuals of other states1 and they leave the same danger of the destruction of the individual and of the state4 ,the establishment of the universal military service is like what would happen if a man were to brace up a dilapidated house3 the walls bend inwards--supports are put up2 the ceiling is sagging down--other supports are put up2 boards hang down between the supports--some more supports are put up4 ,a point is finally reached when the supports indeed hold the house together1 but it is impossible to live in the house because there are so many supports4 ,the same is true of the universal military service4 ,it destroys all those advantages of the social life which it is called to preserve4 ,the advantages of the social life consist in the security of property and labour and in the coperation in the aggregate perfection of life1--the universal military service destroys all that4 ,the taxes which are collected from the masses for war preparations swallow the greater share of the production of labour which the army is supposed to protect4 ,the tearing away of the men from the habitual course of life impairs the possibility of the work itself4 ,the menaces of a war that is likely to break out at any time make all the perfections of the social life useless and in vain4 ,if a man was formerly told that if he did not submit to the power of the state he would be subjected to the attacks of evil men1 of external and internal enemies2 that he would be compelled himself to struggle with them and to subject himself to being killed2 that therefore it would be advantageous for him to bear certain privations1 in order to free himself from these calamities1--he was able to believe it all1 because the sacrifices which he made for the state were only private sacrifices and gave him the hope for a peaceful life in an imperishable state1 in the name of which he made these sacrifices4 ,but now1 when these sacrifices have not only increased tenfold1 but the advantages promised to him are absent1 it is natural for any one to imagine that his submission to power is quite useless4 ,but not in this alone lies the fatal significance of the universal military service1 as a manifestation of that contradiction which is contained in the social concept of life4 ,the main manifestation of this contradiction consists in the fact that with the universal military service every citizen1 upon becoming a soldier1 becomes a supporter of the state structure1 and a participant in everything which the government does and the legality of which he does not recognize4 ,the governments assert that the armies are needed mainly for the purpose of external defence2 but that is not true4 ,they are needed first of all against their subjects1 and every man who does military service involuntarily becomes a participant in all the violence which the state exerts over its own subjects4 ,to convince himself that every man who does his military service becomes a participant in such deeds of the government as he does not acknowledge and cannot acknowledge1 let a man only remember what is being done in every state in the name of order and of the good of the nation1 things which the army appears as the executor of4 ,all the struggles of dynasties and of the various parties1 all the executions1 which are connected with these disturbances1 all the suppressions of revolts1 all the employment of military force for the dispersion of popular crowds1 the suppression of strikes1 all the extortions of taxes1 all the injustice of the distribution of the ownership of land1 all the oppressions of labour1--all this is produced1 if not directly by the armies1 at least by the police1 which is supported by the armies4 ,he who does military service becomes a participant in all these matters1 which in some cases are doubtful to him and in many cases are directly opposed to his conscience4 ,some people do not wish to leave the land which they have been working for generations2 people do not wish to disperse1 as they are commanded to do by the government2 people do not want to pay the taxes which are exacted of them2 people do not wish to recognize the obligatoriness for them of laws which they have not made2 people do not wish to be deprived of their nationality1--and ,i1 by doing military service1 am obliged to come and beat these people4 ,being a participant in these deeds1 ,i cannot help but ask myself whether these deeds are good1 and whether ,i ought to contribute to their execution4 ,universal military service is for the government the last degree of violence1 which is necessary for the support of the whole structure2 and for the subjects it is the extreme limit of the possibility of their obedience4 ,it is that keystone which holds the walls and the extraction of which causes the building to cave in4 ,the time came when the growing abuses of the governments and their strifes among themselves had this effect1 that from every subject there were demanded1 not only material1 but also moral sacrifices1 when every man had to stop and ask himself1 ,can ,i make these sacrifices8 ,and in the name of what must ,i make these sacrifices8 ,these sacrifices are demanded in the name of the state4 ,in the name of the state they demand of me the renunciation of everything which may be dear to man1 of peace1 of family1 of security1 of human dignity4 ,what is that state in the name of which such terrible sacrifices are demanded of me8 ,and why is it so indispensably necessary8 ,the state1 we are told1 is indispensably necessary1 in the first place1 because without the state1 ,i and all of us would not be protected against violence and the attack of evil men2 in the second place1 without the state all of us would be savages1 and would have no religious1 nor educational1 nor mercantile institutions1 nor roads of communication1 nor any other public establishments2 and1 in the third place1 because without the state we should be subject to enslavement by neighbouring nations4 ,without the state1 we are told1 we should be subject to violence and to the attacks of evil men in our own country4 ,but who among us are these evil men1 from the violence and attacks of whom the state and its army save us8 ,if three1 four centuries ago1 when men boasted of their military art and their accoutrements1 when it was considered a virtue to kill men1 there existed such men1 there are none now1 for no men of the present time use or carry weapons1 and all1 professing the rules of philanthropy and of compassion for their neighbours1 wish the same as we1--the possibility of a calm and peaceful life4 ,there now are no longer those particular violators against whom the state should defend us4 ,but if1 by the people1 from whose attack the state saves us1 we are to understand those men who commit crimes1 we know that they are not some especial beings1 like rapacious animals among the sheep1 but just such people as we are1 who are just as disinclined to commit crimes as those against whom they commit them4 ,we know now that threats and punishments cannot diminish the number of such men1 and that it is only the change of surroundings and the moral influence upon people that diminish it4 ,thus the explanation of the necessity of governmental violence for the purpose of defending men against violators may have had a basis three or four centuries ago1 but has none at the present time4 ,now the contrary would be more correct1 namely1 that the activity of the governments1 with their morality which has fallen behind the common level1 with their cruel methods of punishments1 of prisons1 of hard labour1 of gallows1 of guillotines1 rather contributes to the brutalization of the masses than to the softening of their manners1 and so rather to the increase than to the diminution of the number of violators4 ,without the state1 they also say1 there would not be all those institutions of education1 of learning1 of religion1 of roads of communication1 and others4 ,without the state men would not be able to establish the public things which are indispensable for all men4 ,but this argument1 too1 could have a basis only several centuries ago4 ,if there was a time when men were so disunited among themselves and the means for a closer union and for the transmission of thought were so little worked out that they could not come to any understanding nor agree upon any common mercantile1 or economical1 or cultural matter without the medium of the state1 there now no longer exists such a disunion4 ,the widely developed means for communion and for the transmission of thought have had this effect1 that1 for the formation of societies1 assemblies1 corporations1 congresses1 learned1 economic1 or political institutions1 the men of our time can get along without any government1 and the governments in the majority of cases are more likely to interfere with the attainment of these ends than to coperate with it4 ,beginning with the end of the last century1 almost every forward step of humanity has not only not been encouraged by the government1 but has always been retarded by it4 ,thus it was with the abolition of corporal punishment1 of torture1 of slavery1 and with the establishment of the freedom of the press and of assemblies4 ,in our time the power of the state and the governments not only fail to coperate with1 but are distinctly opposed to1 all that activity by means of which men work out new forms of life4 ,the solutions of labouring1 agronomic1 political1 religious questions are not only not encouraged1 but directly interfered with by the power of the state4 ,without the state and the government1 the nations would be enslaved by their neighbours4 ,it is hardly necessary to retort to this last argument4 ,the retort is found in itself4 ,the governments1 so we are told1 are necessary with their armies for the purpose of defending us against our neighbours1 who might enslave us4 ,but this is what all the governments say of one another1 and at the same time we know that all the ,european nations profess the same principles of freedom and of brotherhood1 and so are in no need of defending themselves against one another4 ,but if protection against barbarians is meant1 then one-thousandth of all the armies now under arms would suffice4 ,thus the contrary to what is asserted is what actually happens3 the power of the state1 far from saving us from the attacks of our neighbours1 on the contrary causes the danger of the attacks4 ,thus a man1 who by means of his military service is placed under the necessity of thinking about the significance of the state1 in the name of which the sacrifice of his peace1 his security1 and his life is demanded of him1 cannot help but see clearly that for these sacrifices there no longer exists any basis in our time4 ,but it is not only by theoretical reflections that any man may see that the sacrifices demanded of him by the state have no foundation whatever2 even by reflecting practically1 that is1 by weighing all those hard conditions in which a man is placed by the state1 no one can fail to see that for him personally the fulfilment of the demands of the state and his submission to military service is in the majority of cases more disadvantageous than a refusal to do military service4 ,if the majority of men prefer submission to insubmission1 this is not due to any sober weighing of the advantages and disadvantages1 but because the men are attracted to submission by means of the hypnotization to which they are subjected in the matter4 ,in submitting1 men only surrender themselves to those demands which are made upon them1 without reflection1 and without making any effort of the will2 for insubmission there is a need of independent reflection and of effort1 of which not every man is capable4 ,but if1 excluding the moral significance of submission and insubmission1 we should consider nothing but the advantages1 insubmission would in general always be more advantageous to us than submission4 ,no matter who ,i may be1 whether ,i belong to the well-to-do1 oppressing classes1 or to the oppressed labouring classes1 the disadvantages of insubmission are less than the disadvantages of submission1 and the advantages of insubmission are greater than the advantages of submission4 ,if ,i belong to the minority of oppressors1 the disadvantages of insubmission to the demands of the government will consist in this1 that ,i1 refusing to comply with the demands of the government1 shall be tried and at best shall be discharged or1 as they do with the ,mennonites1 shall be compelled to serve out my time at some unmilitary work2 in the worst case ,i shall be condemned to deportation or imprisonment for two or three years 7,i speak from examples that have happened in ,russia71 or1 perhaps1 to a longer term of incarceration1 or to death1 though the probability of such a penalty is very small4 ,such are the disadvantages of insubmission2 but the disadvantages of submission will consist in this3 at best ,i shall not be sent out to kill men1 and ,i myself shall not be subjected to any great probability of crippling or death1 but shall only be enlisted as a military slave1--,i shall be dressed up in a fool's garments2 ,i shall be at the mercy of every man above me in rank1 from a corporal to a field-marshal2 ,i shall be compelled to contort my body according to their desire1 and1 after being kept from one to five years1 ,i shall be left for ten years in a condition of readiness to appear at any moment for the purpose of going through all these things again4 ,in the worst case ,i shall1 in addition to all those previous conditions of slavery1 be sent to war1 where ,i shall be compelled to kill men of other nations1 who have done me no harm1 where ,i may be crippled and killed1 and where ,i may get into a place1 as happened at ,sevastopol and as happens in every war1 where men are sent to certain death2 and1 what is most agonizing1 ,i may be sent out against my own countrymen1 when ,i shall be compelled to kill my brothers for dynastic or other reasons1 which are entirely alien to me4 ,such are the comparative disadvantages4 ,the comparative advantages of submission and of insubmission are these3 ,for him who has not refused1 the advantages will consist in this1 that1 having submitted to all the humiliations and having executed all the cruelties demanded of him1 he may1 if he is not killed1 receive red1 golden1 tin-foil decorations over his fool's garments1 and he may at best command hundreds of thousands of just such bestialized men as himself1 and be called a field-marshal1 and receive a lot of money4 ,but the advantages of him who refuses will consist in this1 that he will retain his human dignity1 will earn the respect of good men1 and1 above all else1 will know without fail that he is doing ,god's work1 and so an incontestable good to men4 ,such are the advantages and the disadvantages on both sides for a man from the wealthy classes1 for an oppressor2 for a man of the poor1 working classes the advantages and disadvantages will be the same1 but with an important addition of disadvantages4 ,the disadvantages for a man of the labouring classes1 who has not refused to do military service1 will also consist in this1 that1 by entering upon military service1 he by his participation and seeming consent confirms the very oppression under which he is suffering4 ,but it is not the reflections as to how much the state which men are called upon to support by their participation in the military service is necessary and useful to men1 much less the reflections as to the advantages or disadvantages accruing to each man from his submission or insubmission to the demands of the government1 that decide the question as to the necessity of the existence or the abolition of the state4 ,what irrevocably and without appeal decides this question is the religious consciousness or conscience of every individual man1 before whom1 in connection with the universal military service1 involuntarily rises the question as to the existence or non-existence of the state4 ,,viii4 ,people frequently say that if ,christianity is a truth1 it ought to have been accepted by all men at its very appearance1 and ought at that very moment to have changed the lives of men and made them better4 ,but to say this is the same as saying that if the seed is fertile1 it must immediately produce a sprout1 a flower1 and a fruit4 ,the ,christian teaching is no legislation which1 being introduced by violence1 can at once change the lives of men4 ,christianity is another1 newer1 higher concept of life1 which is different from the previous one4 ,but the new concept of life cannot be prescribed2 it can only be freely adopted4 ,now the new life-conception can be acquired only in two ways3 in a spiritual 7internal7 and an experimental 7external7 way4 ,some people--the minority--immediately1 at once1 by a prophetic feeling divine the truth of the teaching1 abandon themselves to it1 and execute it4 ,others--the majority--are led only through a long path of errors1 experiences1 and sufferings to the recognition of the truth of the teaching and the necessity of acquiring it4 ,it is to this necessity of acquiring the teaching in an experimental external way that the whole mass of the men of the ,christian world have now been brought4 ,sometimes we think3 what need was there for that corruption of ,christianity which even now more than anything else interferes with its adoption in its real sense8 ,and yet this corruption of ,christianity1 having brought men to the condition in which they now are1 was a necessary condition for the majority of men to be able to receive it in its real significance4 ,if ,christianity had been offered to men in its real1 and not its corrupted1 form1 it would not have been accepted by the majority of men1 and the majority of men would have remained alien to it1 as the nations of ,asia are alien to it at the present time4 ,but1 having received it in its corrupted form1 the nations who received it were subjected to its certain1 though slow1 action1 and by a long experimental road of errors and of sufferings resulting therefrom are now brought to the necessity of acquiring it in its true sense4 ,the corruption of ,christianity and its acceptance in its corrupted form by the majority of men was as indispensable as that a seed1 to sprout1 should be for a time concealed by the earth4 ,the ,christian teaching is a teaching of the truth and at the same time a prophecy4 ,eighteen hundred years ago the ,christian teaching revealed to men the truth of how they should live1 and at the same time predicted what human life would be if men would not live thus1 but would continue to live by those principles by which they had lived heretofore1 and what it would be if they should accept the ,christian teaching and should carry it out in life4 ,in imparting in the ,sermon on the ,mount the teaching which was to guide the lives of men1 ,christ said3 ,therefore1 whosoever heareth these sayings of mine1 and doeth them1 ,i will liken him unto a wise man1 which built his house upon a rock3 and the rain descended1 and the floods came1 and the winds blew1 and beat upon that house2 and it fell not3 for it was founded upon a rock4 ,and every one that heareth these sayings of mine1 and doeth them not1 shall be likened unto a foolish man1 which built his house upon the sand3 and the rain descended1 and the floods came1 and the winds blew1 and beat upon that house2 and it fell3 and great was the fall of it 7,matt4 vii4 #bd-bg74 ,now1 after eighteen hundred years1 the prophecy has been fulfilled4 ,by not following ,christ's teaching in general and its manifestation in public life as non-resistance to evil1 men involuntarily came to that position of inevitable ruin which was promised by ,christ to those who would not follow ,his teaching4 ,people frequently think that the question of non-resistance to evil is an invented question1 a question which it is possible to circumvent4 ,it is1 however1 a question which life itself puts before all men and before every thinking man1 and which invariably demands a solution4 ,for men in their public life this question has1 ever since the ,christian teaching has been preached1 been the same as the question for a traveller which road to take1 when he comes to a fork on the highway on which he has been walking4 ,he must go on1 and he cannot say1 ,i will not think1 and ,i will continue to walk as before4 ,before this there was one road1 and now there are two of them1 and it is impossible to walk as before1 and one of the two roads must inevitably be chosen4 ,even so it has been impossible to say1 ever since ,christ's teaching was made known to men1 ,i will continue to live as ,i lived before1 without solving the question as to resisting or not resisting evil by means of violence4 ,it is inevitably necessary at the appearance of every struggle to solve the question1 ,shall ,i with violence resist that which ,i consider to be an evil and violence1 or not8 ,the question as to resisting or not resisting evil by means of violence appeared when there arose the first struggle among men1 since every struggle is nothing but a resistance by means of violence to what each of the contending parties considers to be an evil4 ,but the men before ,christ did not see that the resistance by means of violence to what each considers to be an evil1 only because he regards as an evil what another regards as a good1 is only one of the means of solving the struggle1 and that another means consists in not at all resisting evil by means of violence4 ,previous to ,christ's teaching it appeared to men that there was but one way of solving a struggle1 and that was by resisting evil with violence1 and so they did1 each of the contending parties trying to convince himself and others that what each of them considered to be an evil was a real1 absolute evil4 ,and so since most remote times men have endeavoured to discover such definitions of evil as would be obligatory for all men1 and as such were given out the statutes of law which1 it was assumed1 were received in a supernatural manner1 or the injunctions of men or of assemblies of men1 to whom is ascribed the quality of infallibility4 ,men have employed violence against other men and have assured themselves and others that they have employed this violence against the evil1 which was acknowledged by all men4 ,this means has been employed since remote antiquity1 especially by those men who usurped the power1 and men for a long time did not see the irrationality of this means4 ,but the longer men lived1 the more complex their relations became1 the more obvious did it become that it was irrational by means of violence to resist that which is by every one regarded as an evil1 that the struggle was not diminished by doing so1 and that no human definitions could succeed in making that which was considered to be evil by one set of men considered such by others4 ,even at the time of the appearance of ,christianity1 in the place where it made its appearance1 in the ,roman ,empire1 it was clear for the majority of men that what by ,nero and ,caligula was considered to be an evil which ought to be resisted with violence could not be considered an evil by other men4 ,even then men began to understand that human laws which were given out as being divine had been written by men1 that men could not be infallible1 no matter with what external grandeur they might be vested1 and that erring men could not become infallible simply because they came together and called themselves a senate or some such name4 ,this was even then felt and understood by many1 and it was then that ,christ preached ,his teaching1 which did not consist simply in this1 that evil ought not to be resisted by means of violence1 but in the teaching of the new comprehension of life1 a part1 or rather an application of which to public life was the teaching about the means for abolishing the struggle among all men1 not by obliging only one part of men without a struggle to submit to what would be prescribed to them by certain authorities1 but by having no one1 consequently even not those 7and preminently not those7 who rule1 employ violence against any one1 and under no consideration4 ,the teaching was at that time accepted by but a small number of disciples2 but the majority of men1 especially all those who ruled over men1 continued after the nominal acceptance of ,christianity to hold to the rule of violently resisting that which they considered to be evil4 ,thus it was in the time of the ,roman and the ,byzantine emperors1 and so it continued even afterward4 ,the inadequacy of the principle of defining with authority what is evil and resisting it with violence1 which was already obvious in the first centuries of ,christianity1 became even more obvious during the decomposition of the ,roman ,empire into many states of equal right1 with their mutual hostilities and the inner struggles which took place in the separate states4 ,but men were not prepared to receive the solution which was given by ,christ1 and the former means for the definition of the evil1 which had to be resisted by establishing laws which1 being obligatory for all1 were carried out by the use of force1 continued to be applied4 ,the arbiter of what was to be considered an evil and what was to be resisted by means of force was now the ,pope1 now the emperor1 now the king1 now an assembly of the elect1 now the whole nation4 ,but both inside and outside the state there always existed some men who did not recognize the obligatoriness for themselves either of the injunctions which were given out to be the commands of the divinity1 or of the decrees of men who were vested with sanctity1 or of the institutions which purported to represent the will of the people1 and these men1 who considered to be good what the existing powers regarded as evil1 fought against the powers1 using the same violence which was directed against themselves4 ,men who were vested with sanctity regarded as evil what men and institutions that were vested with civil power considered to be good1 and vice versa1 and the struggle became ever more acute4 ,and the more such people held to this method for solving their struggle1 the more obvious did it become that this method was useless1 because there is and there can be no such external authority for the definition of evil as would be recognized by all men4 ,thus it lasted for eighteen hundred years1 and it reached the present point1--the complete obviousness of the fact that there is and there can be no external definition of evil which would be obligatory for all men4 ,it reached such a point that men ceased to believe in the possibility of finding this common definition which would be obligatory for all men1 and even in the necessity of putting forward such a definition4 ,it came to such a pass that the men in power stopped proving that that which they considered to be an evil was an evil1 and said outright that they considered that an evil which did not please them2 and the men who obeyed the power began to obey it1 not because they believed that the definitions of evil given by this power were correct1 but only because they could not help but obey4 ,nice is added to ,france1 ,lorraine to ,germany1 ,bohemia to ,austria2 ,poland is divided2 ,ireland and ,india are subjected to ,english rule2 war is waged against ,china and the ,africans2 the ,americans expel the ,chinese1 and the ,russians oppress the ,jews2 the landowners use the land which they do not work1 and the capitalists make use of the labours of others1 not because this is good1 useful1 and needful to men and because the contrary is evil1 but because those who are in power want it to be so4 ,what has happened is what happens now3 one set of men commit acts of violence1 no longer in the name of resisting evil1 but in the name of their advantage or whim1 while another set submit to violence1 not because they assume1 as was the case formerly1 that violence is exerted against them in the name of freeing them from evil and for their good1 but only because they cannot free themselves from this violence4 ,if a ,roman1 a man of the ,middle ,ages1 a ,russian1 as ,i remember him to have been fifty years ago1 was incontestably convinced that the existing violence of the power was necessary in order to free him from evil1 that taxes1 levies1 serf law1 prisons1 whips1 knouts1 hard labour1 capital punishment1 militarism1 wars1 must exist1--it will be hard now to find a man who either believes that all acts of violence free any one from anything1 or even does not see clearly that the majority of all those cases of violence to which he is subject and in which he partly shares are in themselves a great and useless evil4 ,there is now no such a man who does not see1 not only the uselessness1 but even the insipidity1 of collecting taxes from the labouring classes for the purpose of enriching idle officials2 or the senselessness of imposing punishments upon corrupt and weak people in the shape of deportation from one place to another1 or in the form of imprisonment in jails1 where they live in security and idleness and become more corrupted and weakened2 or1 not the uselessness and insipidity1 but simply the madness and cruelty of military preparations and wars1 which ruin and destroy the masses and have no explanation and justification1--and yet these cases of violence are continued and even maintained by the very men who see their uselessness1 insipidity1 and cruelty1 and suffer from them4 ,if fifty years ago a rich idle man and an ignorant labouring man were both equally convinced that their condition of an eternal holiday for the one and of eternal labour for the other was ordained by ,god ,himself1 it is now1 not only in ,europe1 but even in ,russia1 thanks to the migration of the populace1 and the dissemination of culture and printing1 hard to find either a rich or a poor man who1 from one side or another1 has not been assailed by doubts of the justice of such an order of things4 ,not only do the rich know that they are guilty even because they are rich1 and try to redeem their guilt by offering contributions to art and science1 as formerly they redeemed their sins by means of contributions to the churches1 but even the greater half of the working people recognize the present order as being false and subject to destruction or change4 ,one set of religious people1 of whom there are millions in ,russia1 the so-called sectarians1 recognize this order as false and subject to destruction on the basis of the ,gospel teaching as taken in its real meaning2 others consider it to be false on the basis of socialistic1 communistic1 anarchistic theories1 which now have penetrated into the lower strata of the working people4 ,violence is now no longer maintained on the ground that it is necessary1 but only that it has existed for a long time1 and has been so organized by men to whom it is advantageous1 that is1 by governments and the ruling classes1 that the men who are in their power cannot tear themselves away from it4 ,the governments in our time--all governments1 the most despotic and the most liberal--have become what ,herzen so aptly called ,dzhingis-,khans with telegraphs1 that is1 organizations of violence1 which have nothing at their base but the coarsest arbitrary will1 and yet use all those means which science has worked out for the aggregate social peaceful activity of free and equal men1 and which they now employ for the enslavement and oppression of men4 ,the governments and the ruling classes do not now lean on the right1 not even on the semblance of justice1 but on an artificial organization which1 with the aid of the perfections of science1 encloses all men in the circle of violence1 from which there is no possibility of tearing themselves away4 ,this circle is now composed of four means of influencing men4 ,all those means are connected and sustain one another1 as the links in the ring of a united chain4 ,the first1 the oldest1 means is the means of intimidation4 ,this means consists in representing the existing state structure 7no matter what it may be1--whether a free republic or the wildest despotism7 as something sacred and invariable1 and so in inflicting the severest penalties for any attempt at changing it4 ,this means1 having been used before1 is even now used in an unchanged form wherever there are governments3 in ,russia--against the so-called nihilists2 in ,america--against the anarchists2 in ,france--against the imperialists1 monarchists1 communists1 and anarchists4 ,the railways1 telegraphs1 photographs1 and the perfected method of removing people1 without killing them1 into eternal solitary confinement1 where1 hidden from men1 they perish and are forgotten1 and many other modern inventions1 which governments employ more freely than any one else1 give them such strength that as soon as the power has fallen into certain hands1 and the visible and the secret police1 and the administration1 and all kinds of prosecutors1 and jailers1 and executioners are earnestly at work1 there is no possibility of overthrowing the government1 no matter how senseless or cruel it may be4 ,the second means is that of bribery4 ,it consists in taking the wealth away from the labouring classes in the shape of monetary taxes1 and distributing this wealth among the officials1 who for this remuneration are obliged to maintain and strengthen the enslavement of the masses4 ,these bribed officials1 from the highest ministers to the lowest scribes1 who1 forming one continuous chain of men1 are united by the same interest of supporting themselves by the labours of the masses1 and grow wealthier in proportion as they more humbly do the will of their governments1 always and everywhere1 stopping short before no means1 in all branches of activity1 in word and deed1 defend the governmental violence1 upon which their very well-being is based4 ,the third means is what ,i cannot call by any other name than the hypnotization of the people4 ,this means consists in retarding the spiritual development of men and maintaining them with all kinds of suggestions in a concept of life which humanity has already outlived1 and on which the power of the governments is based4 ,this hypnotization is at the present time organized in the most complex manner1 and1 beginning its action in childhood1 continues over men to their death4 ,this hypnotization begins at early youth in compulsory schools which are established for the purpose1 and in which the children are instilled with world-conceptions which were peculiar to their ancestors and are directly opposed to the modern consciousness of humanity4 ,in countries in which there is a state religion1 the children are taught the senseless blasphemies of ecclesiastical catechisms1 in which the necessity of obeying the powers is pointed out2 in republican governments they are taught the savage superstition of patriotism1 and the same imaginary obligation of obeying the authorities4 ,at a more advanced age1 this hypnotization is continued by encouraging the religious and the patriotic superstitions4 ,the religious superstition is encouraged by means of the institution of churches1 processions1 monuments1 festivities1 from the money collected from the masses1 and these1 with the aid of painting1 architecture1 music1 incense1 but chiefly by the maintenance of the so-called clergy1 stupefy the masses3 their duty consists in this1 that with their representations1 the pathos of the services1 their sermons1 their interference in the private lives of the people1--at births1 marriages1 deaths1--they bedim the people and keep them in an eternal condition of stupefaction4 ,the patriotic superstition is encouraged by means of public celebrations1 spectacles1 monuments1 festivities1 which are arranged by the governments and the ruling classes on the money collected from the masses1 and which make people prone to recognize the exclusive importance of their own nation and the grandeur of their own state and rulers1 and to be ill inclined toward all other nations and even hate them4 ,in connection with this1 the despotic governments directly prohibit the printing and dissemination of books and the utterance of speeches which enlighten the masses1 and deport or incarcerate all men who are likely to rouse the masses from their lethargy2 besides1 all governments without exception conceal from the masses everything which could free them1 and encourage everything which could corrupt them1 such as the authorship of books which maintain the masses in the savagery of their religious and patriotic superstitions1 all kinds of sensuous amusements1 spectacles1 circuses1 theatres1 and even all kinds of physical intoxications1 such as tobacco1 and brandy1 which furnish the chief income of states2 they even encourage prostitution1 which is not only acknowledged1 but even organized by the majority of governments4 ,such is the third means4 ,the fourth means consists in this1 that with the aid of the three preceding means there is segregated1 from the men so fettered and stupefied1 a certain small number of men1 who are subjected to intensified methods of stupefaction and brutalization1 and are turned into involuntary tools of all those cruelties and bestialities which the governments may need4 ,this stupefaction and brutalization is accomplished by taking the men at that youthful age when they have not yet had time to form any firm convictions in regard to morality1 and1 having removed them from all natural conditions of human life1 from home1 family1 native district1 rational labour1 locking them all up together in narrow barracks1 dressing them up in peculiar garments1 and making them1 under the influence of shouts1 drums1 music1 glittering objects1 perform daily exercises specially invented for the purpose1 and thus inducing such a state of hypnosis in them that they cease to be men1 and become unthinking machines1 which are obedient to the command of the hypnotizer4 ,these hypnotized1 physically strong young men 7all young men1 on account of the present universal military service71 who are provided with instruments of murder1 and who are always obedient to the power of the governments and are prepared to commit any act of violence at their command1 form the fourth and chief means for the enslavement of men4 ,with this means the circle of violence is closed4 ,intimidation1 bribery1 hypnotization1 make men desirous to become soldiers2 but it is the soldiers who give the power and the possibility for punishing people1 and picking them clean 7and bribing the officials with the money thus obtained71 and for hypnotizing and enlisting them again as soldiers1 who in turn afford the possibility for doing all this4 ,the circle is closed1 and there is no way of tearing oneself away from it by means of force4 ,if some men affirm that the liberation from violence1 or even its weakening1 may be effected1 should the oppressed people overthrow the oppressing government by force and substitute a new one for it1 a government in which such violence and enslavement would not be necessary1 and if some men actually try to do so1 they only deceive themselves and others by it1 and thus fail to improve men's condition1 and even make it worse4 ,the activity of these men only intensifies the despotism of the governments4 ,the attempts of these men at freeing themselves only give the governments a convenient excuse for strengthening their power1 and actually provoke its strengthening4 ,even if we admit that1 in consequence of an unfortunate concurrence of events in the government1 as1 for example1 in ,france in the year #ahgj1 some governments may be overthrown by force and the power pass into other hands1 this power would in no case be less oppressive than the former one1 and1 defending itself against the infuriated deposed enemies1 would always be more despotic and cruel than the former1 as indeed has been the case in every revolution4 ,if the socialists and communists consider the individualistic1 capitalistic structure of society to be an evil1 and the anarchists consider the government itself to be an evil1 there are also monarchists1 conservatives1 capitalists1 who consider the socialistic1 communistic1 and anarchistic order to be evil2 and all these parties have no other means than force for the purpose of uniting men4 ,no matter which of these parties may triumph1 it will be compelled1 for the materialization of its tenets1 as well as for the maintenance of its power1 not only to make use of all the existing means of violence1 but also to invent new ones4 ,other men will be enslaved1 and men will be compelled to do something else2 but there will be1 not only the same1 but even a more cruel form of violence and enslavement1 because1 in consequence of the struggle1 the hatred of men toward one another will be intensified1 and at the same time new means of enslavement will be worked out and confirmed4 ,thus it has always been after every revolution1 every attempt at a revolution1 every plot1 every violent change of government4 ,every struggle only strengthens the means of the enslavement of those who at a given time are in power4 ,the condition of the men of our ,christian world1 and especially the current ideals themselves prove this in a striking manner4 ,there is left but one sphere of human activity which is not usurped by the governmental power1--the domestic1 economic sphere1 the sphere of the private life and of labour4 ,but even this sphere1 thanks to the struggle of the communists and socialists1 is slowly being usurped by the governments1 so that labour and rest1 the domicile1 the attire1 the food of men will by degrees be determined and directed by the governments1 if the wishes of the reformers are to be fulfilled4 ,the whole long1 eighteen-centuries-old course of the life of the ,christian nations has inevitably brought them back to the necessity of solving the question1 so long evaded by them1 as to the acceptance or non-acceptance of ,christ's teaching1 and the solution of the question resulting from it as regards the social life1 whether to resist or not to resist evil with violence1 but with this difference1 that formerly men could accept the solution which ,christianity offered1 or not accept it1 while now the solution has become imperative1 because it alone frees them from that condition of slavery in which they have become entangled as in a snare4 ,but it is not merely the wretchedness of men's condition that brings them to this necessity4 ,side by side with the negative proof of the falseness of the pagan structure1 there went the positive proof of the truth of the ,christian teaching4 ,there was a good reason why1 in the course of eighteen centuries1 the best men of the whole ,christian world1 having recognized the truths of the teaching by means of an inner1 spiritual method1 should have borne witness to them before men1 in spite of all threats1 privations1 calamities1 and torments4 ,with this their martyrdom these best men have put the stamp of truthfulness upon the teaching and have transmitted it to the masses4 ,christianity penetrated into the consciousness of humanity1 not merely by the one negative way of proving the impossibility of continuing the pagan life1 but also by its simplification1 elucidation1 liberation from the dross of superstitions1 and dissemination among all the classes of people4 ,eighteen hundred years of the profession of ,christianity did not pass in vain for the men who accepted it1 even though only in an external manner4 ,these eighteen centuries have had this effect that1 continuing to live a pagan life1 which does not correspond to the age of humanity1 men have not only come to see clearly the whole wretchedness of the condition in which they are1 but believe in the depth of their hearts 7they live only because they believe7 in this1 that the salvation from this condition is only in the fulfilment of the ,christian teaching in its true significance4 ,as to when and how this salvation will take place1 all men think differently1 in accordance with their mental development and the current prejudices of their circle2 but every man of our world recognizes the fact that our salvation lies in the fulfilment of the ,christian teaching4 ,some believers1 recognizing the ,christian teaching as divine1 think that the salvation will come when all men shall believe in ,christ1 and the second advent shall approach2 others1 who also recognize the divinity of ,christ's teaching1 think that this salvation will come through the church1 which1 subjecting all men to itself1 will educate in them ,christian virtues and will change their lives4 ,others again1 who do not recognize ,christ as ,god1 think that the salvation of men will come through a slow1 gradual progress1 when the foundations of the pagan life will slowly give way to the foundations of liberty1 equality1 fraternity1 that is1 to ,christian principles2 others again1 who preach a social transformation1 think that the salvation will come when men by a violent revolution shall be compelled to adopt community of possession1 absence of government1 and collective1 not individual1 labour1 that is1 the materialization of one of the sides of the ,christian teaching4 ,in one way or another1 all men of our time in their consciousness not only reject the present obsolete pagan order of life1 but recognize1 frequently not knowing it themselves and regarding themselves as enemies of ,christianity1 that our salvation lies only in the application of the ,christian teaching1 or of a part of it1 in its true meaning1 to life4 ,for the majority of men1 as its teacher has said1 ,christianity could not be realized at once1 but had to grow1 like an immense tree1 from a small seed4 ,and so it grew and has spread1 if not in reality1 at least in the consciousness of the men of our time4 ,now it is not merely the minority of men1 who always comprehended ,christianity internally1 that recognizes it in its true meaning1 but also that vast majority of men which on account of its social life seems to be so far removed from ,christianity4 ,look at the private life of separate individuals2 listen to those valuations of acts1 which men make in judging one another2 listen1 not only to the public sermons and lectures1 but also to those instructions which parents and educators give to their charges1 and you will see that1 no matter how far the political1 social life of men1 which is united through violence1 is from the realization of ,christian truths in private life1 it is only the ,christian virtues that are by all and for all1 without exception and indubitably1 considered to be good1 and that the anti-,christian vices are by all and for all1 without exception and indubitably1 considered to be bad4 ,those are considered to be the best of men who renounce and sacrifice their lives in the service of humanity and who sacrifice themselves for others2 those are considered to be the worst who are selfish1 who exploit the misery of their neighbours for their own personal advantage4 ,if by some1 who have not yet been touched by ,christianity1 are recognized the non-,christian ideals1 force1 valour1 wealth1 these are ideals which are not experienced and shared by all men1 and certainly not by men who are considered to be the best4 ,the condition of our ,christian humanity1 if viewed from without1 with its cruelty and its slavery1 is really terrible4 ,but if we look upon it from the side of its consciousness1 an entirely different spectacle is presented to us4 ,the whole evil of our life seems to exist for no other reason than that it was done long ago1 and the men who have done it have not yet had time to learn how not to do it1 though none of them wish to do it4 ,all this evil seems to exist for some other reason1 which is independent of the consciousness of men4 ,no matter how strange and contradictory this may seem1 all the men of our time despise the very order of things which they help to maintain4 ,i think it is ,max ,mller who tells of the surprise of an ,indian converted to ,christianity1 who1 having grasped the essence of the ,christian teaching1 arrived in ,europe and saw the life of the ,christians4 ,he could not recover from his astonishment in the presence of the reality1 which was the very opposite of what he had expected to find among the ,christian nations4 ,if we are not surprised at the contradiction between our beliefs1 convictions1 and acts1 this is due only to the fact that the influences which conceal this contradiction from men act also upon us4 ,we need only look upon our life from the standpoint of the ,indian1 who understood ,christianity in its real significance1 without any compromises and adaptations1 and upon those savage bestialities1 with which our life is filled1 in order that we may be frightened at the contradictions amidst which we live1 frequently without noticing them4 ,we need but think of warlike preparations1 mitrailleuses1 silver-plated bullets1 torpedoes1--and the ,red ,cross2 of the construction of prisons with solitary cells1 of the experiments at electrocution1--and of the benevolent cares for the imprisoned2 of the philanthropic activity of rich men1--and of their lives1 which are productive of those very poor whom they benefit4 ,and these contradictions do not result1 as may appear1 because people pretend to be ,christians1 when in reality they are pagans1 but1 on the contrary1 because people lack something1 or because there is some force which keeps them from being what they already feel themselves to be in their consciousness and what they actually wish to be4 ,the men of our time do not pretend to hate oppression1 inequality1 the division of men1 and all kinds of cruelty1 not only toward men1 but also toward animals1--they actually do hate all this1 but they do not know how to destroy it all1 and they have not the courage to part with what maintains all this and seems to them to be indispensable4 ,indeed1 ask any man of our time privately1 whether he considers it laudable or even worthy of a man of our time to busy himself with collecting taxes from the masses1 who frequently are poverty-stricken1 receiving for this work a salary which is entirely out of proportion with his labour1 this money to be used for the construction of cannon1 torpedoes1 and implements for murdering men1 with whom we wish to be at peace1 and who wish to be at peace with us2 or for a salary to devote all his life to the construction of these implements of murder2 or to prepare himself and others to commit murder4 ,and ask him whether it is laudable and worthy of a man1 and proper for a ,christian1 to busy himself1 again for money1 with catching unfortunate1 erring1 frequently ignorant1 drunken men for appropriating to themselves other people's possessions in much smaller quantities than we appropriate things to ourselves1 and for killing men differently from what we are accustomed to kill men1 and for this to put them in prisons1 and torment1 and kill them1 and whether it is laudable and worthy of a man and a ,christian1 again for money1 to preach to the masses1 instead of ,christianity1 what is well known to be insipid and harmful superstitions2 and whether it is laudable and worthy of a man to take from his neighbour1 for the sake of his own lust1 what his neighbour needs for the gratification of his prime necessities1 as is done by the large landowners2 or to compel him to perform labour above his strength1 which ruins his life1 in order to increase his own wealth1 as is done by manufacturers1 by owners of factories2 or to exploit men's want for the purpose of increasing his wealth1 as is done by merchants4 ,and each of them taken privately1 especially in speaking of another1 will tell you that it is not4 ,and yet this same man1 who sees all the execrableness of these acts1 who is himself not urged by any one1 will himself voluntarily1 and frequently without the monetary advantage of a salary1 for the sake of childish vanity1 for the sake of a porcelain trinket1 a ribbon1 a piece of lace1 which he is permitted to put on1 go into military service1 become an examining magistrate1 a justice of the peace1 a minister1 a rural officer1 a bishop1 a sexton1 that is1 he will take an office in which he is obliged to do things the disgrace and execrableness of which he cannot help but know4 ,i know many of these men will self-conceitedly prove that they consider their positions not only legitimate1 but even indispensable2 they will say in their defence that the power is from ,god1 that political offices are necessary for the good of humanity1 that wealth is not contrary to ,christianity1 that the rich young man was told to give up his wealth only if he wished to be perfect1 that the now existing distribution of wealth and commerce must be so and is advantageous for everybody1 and so forth4 ,but1 no matter how they may try to deceive themselves and others1 all these men know that what they do is contrary to everything they believe in1 and in the name of which they live1 and in the depth of their hearts1 when they are left alone with their consciences1 they think with shame and pain of what they are doing1 especially if the execrableness of their activity has been pointed out to them4 ,a man of our time1 whether he professes the divinity of ,christ or not1 cannot help but know that to take part1 whether as a king1 a minister1 a governor1 or a rural officer1 in the sale of a poor family's last cow for taxes1 with which to pay for cannon or the salaries and pensions of luxuriating1 idle1 and harmful officials2 or to have a share in putting the provider of a family into prison1 because we ourselves have corrupted him1 and let his family go a-begging2 or to take part in the plunders and murders of war2 or to help substitute savage and idolatrous superstitions for ,christ's law2 or to detain a trespassing cow of a man who has no land of his own2 or to deduct a sum from the wages of a factory hand for an article which he accidentally ruined2 or to extort a double price from a poor fellow1 only because he is in need1--a man of our time cannot help but know that all these things are disgraceful and execrable1 and that they should not be done4 ,they all know it3 they know that what they do is bad1 and they would not be doing it under any consideration1 if they were able to withstand those forces which1 closing their eyes to the criminality of their acts1 draw them on to committing them4 ,in nothing is the degree of the contradiction which the lives of the men of our time have reached so striking1 as in that phenomenon which forms the last means and expression of violence1--in the universal military service4 ,only because this condition of universal arming and military service has come step by step and imperceptibly1 and because for its maintenance the governments employ all means in their power for intimidating1 bribing1 stupefying1 and ravishing men1 we do not see the crying contradiction between this condition and those ,christian feelings and thoughts1 with which all the men of our time are really permeated4 ,this contradiction has become so habitual to us that we do not even see all the terrifying senselessness and immorality of the acts1 not only of the men who voluntarily choose the profession of killing as something honourable1 but even of those unfortunate men who agree to perform military duty1 or even of those who in countries where military service is not introduced1 voluntarily give up their labours to hire soldiers and prepare them to commit murder4 ,all these men1 be they ,christians or men who profess humanity and liberalism1 certainly know that1 in committing these crimes1 they become the participants1 and1 in personal military service1 the actors1 in the most senseless1 aimless1 cruel of murders1 and yet they commit them4 ,but more than this3 in ,germany1 whence comes the universal military service1 ,caprivi said openly1 what before was carefully concealed1 that the men who had to be killed were not merely the foreigners1 but the working people1 from whom come the majority of the soldiers4 ,and this confession did not open men's eyes1 did not frighten them4 ,even after this1 as before1 they continue to go like sheep to the enlistment and to submit to everything demanded of them4 ,and this is not enough3 lately the ,german ,emperor stated more definitely the significance and the calling of a soldier1 when distinguishing1 thanking1 and rewarding a soldier for having shot a defenceless prisoner1 who had attempted to run away4 ,in thanking and rewarding the man for an act which has always been regarded as the lowest and basest by men who stand on the lowest stage of morality1 ,william showed that the chief duty of a soldier1 the one most valued by the authorities1 consisted in being an executioner1 not one like the professional executioners1 who kill only condemned criminals1 but one who kills all those innocent men whom he is ordered by his superiors to kill4 ,but more than this3 in #ahia this same ,william1 the enfant terrible of the political power1 who expresses what others think1 in speaking with some soldiers1 said the following in public1 and the next day thousands of newspapers reprinted these words3 ,recruits6 ,in the sight of the altar and the servant of ,god you swore allegiance to me4 ,you are still too young to understand the true meaning of everything which is said here1 but see to this1 that you first of all follow the commands and instructions given you4 ,you have sworn allegiance to me2 this1 children of my guard1 means that you are now my soldiers1 that you have surrendered your souls and bodies to me4 ,for you there now exists but one enemy1 namely1 the one who is my enemy4 ,with the present socialistic propaganda it may happen that ,i will command you to shoot at your own relatives1 your brothers1 even parents1--which ,god forfend1--and then you are obliged without murmuring to do my commands4 ,this man expresses what all wise men know1 but carefully conceal4 ,he says frankly that men who serve in the army serve him and his advantage1 and must be prepared for his advantage to kill their brothers and fathers4 ,he expresses frankly and with the coarsest of words all the horror of the crime for which the men who enter into military service are prepared1 all that abyss of degradation which they reach1 when they promise obedience4 ,like a bold hypnotizer1 he tests the degree of the hypnotized man's sleep3 he puts the glowing iron to his body1 the body sizzles and smokes1 but the hypnotized man does not wake4 ,this miserable1 ill man1 who has lost his mind from the exercise of power1 with these words offends everything which can be holy for a man of our time1 and men1--,christians1 liberals1 cultured men of our time1--all of them1 are not only not provoked by this insult1 but even do not notice it4 ,the last1 extreme trial1 in its coarsest1 most glaring form1 is offered to men1 and men do not even seem to notice that this is a trial1 that they have a choice4 ,it looks as though it seemed to them that there was not even any choice1 and that there was but the one path of slavish obedience4 ,one would think that these senseless words1 which offend everything which a man of our time considers to be sacred1 ought to have provoked people1 but nothing of the kind took place4 ,all the young men of all ,europe are year after year subjected to this trial1 and with the rarest exceptions they all renounce everything which is and can be sacred to a man1 they all express their readiness to kill their brothers1 even their fathers1 at the command of the first erring man who is clad in a red livery embroidered with gold1 and all they ask is when and whom to kill4 ,and they are ready4 ,every savage has something sacred for which he is prepared to suffer and for which he will make no concessions4 ,but where is this sacredness for a man of our time8 ,he is told1 ,go into slavery to me1 into a slavery in which you have to kill your own father1 and he1 who very frequently is a learned man1 who has studied all the sciences in a university1 submissively puts his neck into the yoke4 ,he is dressed up in a fool's attire1 is commanded to jump1 to contort his body1 to bow1 to kill1--and he does everything submissively4 ,and when he is let out1 he returns briskly to his former life and continues to talk of man's dignity1 liberty1 equality1 and fraternity4 ,yes1 but what is to be done8 people frequently ask1 in sincere perplexity4 ,if all should refuse1 it would be well2 otherwise ,i alone shall suffer1 and no one will be helped by it4 ,and1 indeed1 a man of the social concept of life cannot refuse4 ,the meaning of his life is the good of his personality4 ,for the sake of his personality it is better for him to submit1 and he submits4 ,no matter what may be done to him1 no matter how he may be tortured and degraded1 he will submit1 because he can do nothing himself1 because he has not that foundation in the name of which he could by himself withstand the violence2 but those who govern men will never give them a chance to unite4 ,it is frequently said that the invention of terrible implements of murder will abolish war and that war will abolish itself4 ,that is not true4 ,as it is possible to increase the means for the slaughter of men1 so it is possible to increase the means for subjugating the men of the social concept of life4 ,let them be killed by the thousand1 by the million1 and be torn to pieces1--they will none the less go to the slaughter like senseless cattle1 because they are driven with a goad2 others will go1 because for this they will be permitted to put on ribbons and galloons1 and they will even be proud of it4 ,and it is in connection with such a contingent of men1 who are so stupefied that they promise to kill their parents1 that the public leaders--the conservatives1 liberals1 socialists1 anarchists--talk of building up a rational and moral society4 ,what rational and moral society can be built up with such men8 ,just as it is impossible to build a house with rotten and crooked logs1 no matter how one may transpose them1 so it is impossible with such people to construct a rational and moral society4 ,such people can only form a herd of animals which is directed by the shouts and goads of the shepherds4 ,and so it is4 ,and so1 on the one hand1 ,christians by name1 who profess liberty1 equality1 and fraternity1 are side by side with that prepared in the name of liberty for the most slavish and degraded submission1 in the name of equality for the most glaring and senseless divisions of men by external signs alone into superiors and inferiors1 their allies and their enemies1 and in the name of fraternity for the murder of these brothers4#ad #ad ,the fact that some nations1 the ,english and the ,americans1 have not yet any universal military service 7though voices in its favour are already heard71 but only the enlistment and hire of soldiers1 does in no way change the condition of slavery in which the citizens stand relative to the governments4 ,here everybody has to go himself to kill and be killed2 there everybody has to give his labours for the hire and preparation of murderers4--,author's ,note4 ,the contradictions of consciousness and the resulting wretchedness of life have reached the extremest point1 beyond which it is impossible to go4 ,the life which is built up on the principles of violence has reached the negation of those very principles in the name of which it was built up4 ,the establishment of society on the principles of violence1 which had for its aim the security of the personal1 domestic1 and social good1 has led men to a complete negation and destruction of this good4 ,the first part of the prophecy has been fulfilled in respect to men and their generations1 who did not accept the teaching1 and their descendants have now been brought to the necessity of experiencing the justice of its second part4 ,,ix4 ,the condition of the ,christian nations in our time has remained as cruel as it was in the times of paganism4 ,in many relations1 especially in the enslavement of men1 it has become even more cruel than in the times of paganism4 ,but between the condition of the men of that time and of our time there is the same difference that there is for the plants between the last days of autumn and the first days of spring4 ,there1 in the autumnal ,nature1 the external lifelessness corresponds to the internal condition of decay2 but here1 in the spring1 the external lifelessness is in the sharpest contradiction to the condition of the internal restoration and the change to a new form of life4 ,the same is true of the external resemblance between the previous pagan life and the present one3 the external condition of men in the times of paganism and in our time is quite different4 ,there the external condition of cruelty and slavery was in full agreement with the internal consciousness of men1 and every forward movement increased this agreement2 but here the external condition of cruelty and slavery is in complete disagreement with the ,christian consciousness of men1 and every forward step only increases this disagreement4 ,what is taking place is1 as it were1 useless sufferings1--something resembling childbirth4 ,everything is prepared for the new life1 but the life itself has not made its appearance4 ,the situation seems to be without an issue1 and it would be so1 if the individual man1 and so all men1 were not given the possibility of another1 higher conception of life1 which at once frees him from all those fetters which1 it seemed1 bound him indissolubly4 ,such is the ,christian concept of life1 which was pointed out to humanity eighteen hundred years ago4 ,a man need only make this life-concept his own1 in order that the chains which seemed to have fettered him so indissolubly may fall off of themselves1 and that he may feel himself quite free1 something the way a bird would feel free when it expanded its wings in a place which is fenced in all around4 ,people speak of the liberation of the ,christian church from the state1 of granting or not granting liberty to ,christians4 ,in these thoughts and expressions there is some terrible misconception4 ,liberty cannot be granted to a ,christian or to ,christians1 or taken from them4 ,liberty is a ,christian's inalienable property4 ,when people speak of granting liberty to ,christians1 or taking it from them1 it is evident that they are not speaking of real ,christians1 but of men who call themselves ,christians4 ,a ,christian cannot be anything else but free1 because the attainment of the end which he has set before himself cannot be retarded or detained by any one or anything4 ,a man need but understand his life as ,christianity teaches him to understand it1 that is1 understand that life does not belong to him1 his personality1 or the family1 or the state1 but to ,him who sent him into this life2 that1 therefore1 he must not fulfil the law of his personality1 his family1 or the state1 but the unlimited law of ,him from whom he has come1 in order that he may feel himself quite free from every human power and may even stop seeing this power as something which may be oppressive for any one4 ,a man need but understand that the aim of his life is the fulfilment of ,god's law1 in order that this law1 taking for him the place of all other laws and subjugating him to itself1 by this very subjugation may deprive all the human laws in his eyes of all their obligatoriness and oppression4 ,a ,christian is freed from every human power in that he considers for his life and for the lives of others the divine law of love1 which is implanted in the soul of every man and is brought into consciousness by ,christ1 as the only guide of his life and of that of other men4 ,a ,christian may submit to external violence1 may be deprived of his bodily freedom1 may not be free from his passions 7he who commits a sin is a slave of sin71 but he cannot help but be free1 in the sense of not being compelled by some danger or external threat to commit an act which is contrary to his consciousness4 ,he cannot be compelled to do this1 because the privations and sufferings which are produced by violence1 and which form a mighty tool against the men of the social concept of life1 have no compulsory force with him4 ,the privations and sufferings which take from the men of the social concept of life the good for which they live1 cannot impair the ,christian's good1 which consists in the fulfilment of ,god's will2 they can only strengthen him1 when they assail him in the performance of this will4 ,and so a ,christian1 in submitting to the internal1 divine law1 cannot only not perform the prescription of the external law1 when it is not in accord with the divine law of love as recognized by him1 as is the case in the demands set forth by the government1 but cannot even recognize the obligation of obeying any one or anything1--he cannot recognize what is called the subject's allegiance4 ,for a ,christian the promise of allegiance to any government--that very act which is regarded as the foundation of the political life--is a direct renunciation of ,christianity1 because a man who unconditionally promises in advance to submit to laws which are made and will be made by men1 by this very promise in a very definite manner renounces ,christianity1 which consists in this1 that in all problems of life he is to submit only to the divine law of love1 of which he is conscious in himself4 ,it was possible with the pagan world-conception to promise to do the will of the civil authorities1 without violating the will of ,god1 which consisted in circumcision1 the ,sabbath1 praying at set times1 abstaining from a certain kind of food1 and so forth4 ,one did not contradict the other4 ,but the ,christian profession differs in this very thing from the pagan1 in that it does not demand of a man certain external negative acts1 but places him in another relation to man from what he was in before1 a relation from which may result the most varied acts1 which cannot be ascertained in advance1 and so a ,christian cannot promise to do another person's will1 without knowing in what the demands of this will may consist1 and cannot obey the variable human laws2 he cannot even promise to do anything definite at a certain time or to abstain from anything at a certain time1 because he cannot know what at any time that ,christian law of love1 the submission to which forms the meaning of his life1 may demand of him4 ,in promising in advance unconditionally to fulfil the laws of men1 a ,christian would by this very promise indicate that the inner law of ,god does not form for him the only law of his life4 ,for a ,christian to promise that he will obey men or human laws is the same as for a labourer who has hired out to a master to promise at the same time that he will do everything which other men may command him to do4 ,it is impossible to serve two masters4 ,a ,christian frees himself from human power by recognizing over himself nothing but ,god's power1 the law of which1 revealed to him by ,christ1 he recognizes in himself1 and to which alone he submits4 ,and this liberation is not accomplished by means of a struggle1 not by the destruction of existing forms of life1 but only by means of the changed comprehension of life4 ,the liberation takes place in consequence of this1 in the first place1 that a ,christian recognizes the law of love1 which was revealed to him by his teacher1 as quite sufficient for human relations1 and so regards all violence as superfluous and illegal1 and1 in the second place1 that those privations1 sufferings1 threats of sufferings and privations1 with which the public man is brought to the necessity of obeying1 present themselves to a ,christian1 with his different concept of life1 only as inevitable conditions of existence1 which he1 without struggling against them by exercising violence1 bears patiently1 like diseases1 hunger1 and all other calamities1 but which by no means can serve as a guide for his acts4 ,what serves as a guide for a ,christian's acts is only the divine principle that lives within him and that cannot be oppressed or directed by anything4 ,a ,christian acts according to the word of the prophecy applied to his teacher1 ,he shall not strive1 nor cry2 neither shall any man hear ,his voice in the streets2 a bruised reed shall ,he not break1 and smoking flax shall ,he not quench1 till ,he send forth judgment unto victory 7,matt4 xii4 #ai-bj74 ,a ,christian does not quarrel with any one1 does not attack any one1 nor use violence against one2 on the contrary1 he himself without murmuring bears violence2 but by this very relation to violence he not only frees himself1 but also the world from external power4 ,and ye shall know the truth1 and the truth shall make you free 7,john viii4 #cb74 ,if there were any doubt as to ,christianity being truth1 that complete freedom1 which cannot be oppressed by anything1 and which a man experiences the moment he makes the ,christian life-conception his own1 would be an undoubted proof of its truth4 ,in their present condition men are like bees which have just swarmed and are hanging down a limb in a cluster4 ,the position of the bees on the limb is temporary1 and must inevitably be changed4 ,they must rise and find a new home for themselves4 ,every one of the bees knows that and wishes to change its position and that of the others1 but not one is able to do so before the others are going to do so4 ,they cannot rise all at once1 because one hangs down from the other1 keeping it from separating itself from the swarm1 and so all continue to hang4 ,it would seem that the bees could not get out of this state1 just as it seems to worldly men who are entangled in the snare of the social world-conception4 ,but there would be no way out for the bees1 if each of the bees were not separately a living being1 endowed with wings4 ,so there would also be no way out for men1 if each of them were not a separate living being1 endowed with the ability of acquiring the ,christian concept of life4 ,if every bee which can fly did not fly1 the rest1 too1 would not move1 and the swarm would never change its position4 ,and as one bee need but open its wings1 rise up1 and fly away1 and after it a second1 third1 tenth1 hundredth1 in order that the immovable cluster may become a freely flying swarm of bees1 so one man need but understand life as ,christianity teaches him to understand it1 and begin to live accordingly1 and a second1 third1 hundredth1 to do so after him1 in order that the magic circle of the social life1 from which there seemed to be no way out1 be destroyed4 ,but people think that the liberation of all men in this manner is too slow1 and that it is necessary to find and use another such a means1 so as to free all at once2 something like what the bees would do1 if1 wishing to rise and fly away1 they should find that it was too long for them to wait for the whole swarm to rise one after another1 and should try to find a way where every individual bee would not have to unfold its wings and fly away1 but the whole swarm could fly at once wherever it wanted4 ,but that is impossible3 so long as the first1 second1 third1 hundredth bee does not unfold its wings and fly1 the swarm1 too1 will not fly away or find the new life4 ,so long as every individual man does not make the ,christian life-conception his own1 and does not live in accordance with it1 the contradiction of the human life will not be solved and the new form of life will not be established4 ,one of the striking phenomena of our time is that preaching of slavery which is disseminated among the masses1 not only by the governments1 which need it1 but also by those men who1 preaching socialistic theories1 imagine that they are the champions of liberty4 ,these people preach that the improvement of life1 the bringing of reality in agreement with consciousness1 will not take place in consequence of personal efforts of separate men1 but of itself1 in consequence of a certain violent transformation of society1 which will be inaugurated by somebody4 ,what is preached is that men do not have to go with their own feet whither they want and have to go1 but that some kind of a floor will be put under their feet1 so that1 without walking1 they will get whither they have to go4 ,and so all their efforts must not be directed toward going according to one's strength whither one has to go1 but toward constructing this imaginary floor while standing in one spot4 ,in the economic relation they preach a theory1 the essence of which consists in this1 that the worse it is1 the better it is1 that the more there shall be an accumulation of capital1 and so an oppression of the labourer1 the nearer will the liberation be1 and so every personal effort of a man to free himself from the oppression of capital is useless2 in the relation of the state1 they preach that the greater the power of the state1 which according to this theory has to take in the still unoccupied field of the private life1 the better it will be1 and that1 therefore1 the interference of the governments in the private life has to be invoked2 in the political and international relations they preach that the increase of the means of destruction1 the increase of the armies1 will lead to the necessity of disarmament by means of congresses1 arbitrations1 and so forth4 ,and1 strange to say1 the obstinacy of men is so great that they believe in these theories1 although the whole course of life1 every step in advance1 betrays its incorrectness4 ,men suffer from oppression1 and to save themselves from this oppression1 they are advised to invent common means for the improvement of their situation1 to be applied by the authorities1 while they themselves continue to submit to them4 ,obviously1 nothing results from it but a strengthening of the power1 and consequently the intensification of the oppression4 ,not one of the errors of men removes them so much from the end which they have set for themselves as this one4 ,in order to attain the end which they have set before themselves1 men do all kinds of things1 only not the one1 simple thing which all have to do4 ,they invent the most cunning of ways for changing the situation which oppresses them1 except the one1 simple one that none of them should do that which produces this situation4 ,i was told of an incident which happened with a brave rural judge who1 upon arriving at a village where the peasants had been riotous and whither the army had been called out1 undertook to settle the riot in the spirit of ,nicholas ,i41 all by himself1 through his personal influence4 ,he sent for several wagon-loads of switches1 and1 collecting all the peasants in the corn-kiln1 locked himself up with them1 and so intimidated the peasants with his shouts1 that they1 obeying him1 began at his command to flog one another4 ,they continued flogging one another until there was found a little fool who did not submit and shouted to his companions to stop flogging one another4 ,it was only then that the flogging stopped1 and the rural judge ran away from the kiln4 ,it is this advice of the fool that the men of the social order do not know how to follow1 for they flog one another without cessation1 and men teach this mutual flogging as the last word of human wisdom4 ,indeed1 can we imagine a more striking example of how men flog themselves than the humbleness with which the men of our time carry out the very obligations which are imposed upon them and which lead them into servitude1 especially the military service8 ,men obviously enslave themselves1 suffer from this slavery1 and believe that it must be so1 that it is all right and does not interfere with the liberation of men1 which is being prepared somewhere and somehow1 in spite of the ever increasing and increasing slavery4 ,indeed1 let us take a man of our time1 whoever he be 7,i am not speaking of a true ,christian1 but of a man of the rank and file of our time71 cultured or uncultured1 a believer or unbeliever1 rich or poor1 a man of a family or a single man4 ,such a man of our time lives1 doing his work or enjoying himself1 employing the fruits of his own labour or those of others for his own sake or for the sake of those who are near to him1 like any other man1 despising all kinds of oppressions and privations1 hostility1 and sufferings4 ,the man lives peacefully2 suddenly people come to him1 who say3 ,in the first place1 promise and swear to us that you will slavishly obey us in everything which we shall prescribe to you1 and that everything we shall invent1 determine1 and call a law you will consider an indubitable truth and will submit to2 in the second place1 give part of your earnings into our keeping3 we shall use this money for keeping you in slavery and preventing you from forcibly opposing our decrees2 in the third place1 choose yourself and others as imaginary participants in the government1 knowing full well that the government will take place entirely independently of those stupid speeches which you will utter to your like1 and that it will take place according to our will1 in whose hands is the army2 in the fourth place1 appear at a set time in court and take part in all those senseless cruelties which we commit against the erring men1 whom we ourselves have corrupted1 in the shape of imprisonments1 exiles1 solitary confinements1 and capital punishments4 ,and finally1 in the fifth place1 besides all this1 though you may be in the most friendly relations with people belonging to other nations1 be prepared at once1 when we command you1 to consider such of these men as we shall point out to you your enemies1 and to coperate personally or by hiring others in the ruin1 pillage1 and murder of their men1 women1 children1 old people1 and1 perhaps1 your own countrymen1 even your parents1 if we want it4 ,what could any man of our time who is not stupefied answer to such demands8 ,why should ,i do all this8 every spiritually healthy man1 we should think1 ought to say4 ,why should ,i promise to do all that which ,i am commanded to do1 to-day by ,salisbury1 to-morrow by ,gladstone1 to-day by ,boulanger1 to-morrow by a ,chamber of just such ,boulangers1 to-day by ,peter ,,iii41 to-morrow by ,catherine1 day after to-morrow by ,pugachv1 to-day by the crazy ,king of ,bavaria1 to-morrow by ,william8 ,why should ,i promise to obey them1 since ,i know them to be bad or trifling men1 or do not know them at all8 ,why should ,i in the shape of taxes give them the fruits of my labours1 knowing that the money will be used for bribing the officials1 for prisons1 churches1 armies1 for bad things and my own enslavement8 ,why should ,i flog myself8 ,why should ,i go1 losing my time and pulling the wool over my eyes1 and ascribing to the violators a semblance of legality1 and take part in the government1 when ,i know full well that the government of the state is in the hands of those in whose hands is the army8 ,why should ,i go into courts and take part in the torture and punishments of men for having erred1 since ,i know1 if ,i am a ,christian1 that the law of revenge has given way to the law of love1 and1 if ,i am a cultured man1 that punishments do not make men who are subjected to them better1 but worse8 ,and why should ,i1 above all1 simply because the keys of the temple at ,jerusalem will be in the hands of this bishop and not of that1 because in ,bulgaria this and not that ,german will be prince1 and because ,english and not ,american merchants will catch seals1 recognize as enemies the men of a neighbouring nation1 with whom ,i have heretofore lived at peace and wish to live in love and concord1 and why should ,i hire soldiers or myself go and kill and destroy them1 and myself be subjected to their attack8 ,and why1 above all else1 should ,i coperate personally or by the hiring of a military force in the enslavement and murder of my own brothers and fathers8 ,why should ,i flog myself8 ,all this ,i do not need1 and all this is harmful for me1 and all this on all sides of me is immoral1 abominable4 ,so why should ,i do it all8 ,if you tell me that without it ,i shall fare ill at somebody's hands1 ,i1 in the first place1 do not foresee anything so bad as that which you cause me if ,i listen to you2 in the second place1 it is quite clear to me that1 if you do not flog yourself1 nobody is going to flog us4 ,the government is the kings1 the ministers1 the officials with their pens1 who cannot compel me to do anything like what the rural judge compelled the peasants to do3 those who will take me forcibly to court1 to prison1 to the execution are not the kings and the officials with their pens1 but those very people who are in the same condition in which ,i am4 ,it is just as useless and harmful and disagreeable for them to be flogged as it is for me1 and so in all probability1 if ,i open their eyes1 they not only must do me no violence1 but must even do as ,i do4 ,in the third place1 even if it should happen that ,i must suffer for it1 it still is more advantageous for me to be exiled or shut up in a prison1 while defending common sense and the good1 which shall triumph1 if not to-day1 certainly to-morrow1 or in a very short time1 than to suffer for a foolish thing and an evil1 which sooner or later must come to an end4 ,and so it is even in this case more advantageous for me to risk being deported1 locked up in a prison1 or even executed1 than through my own fault to pass my whole life as a slave to other bad men1 than to be ruined by an enemy making an incursion and stupidly to be maimed or killed by him1 while defending a cannon1 or a useless piece of land1 or a stupid rag which they call a flag4 ,i do not want to flog myself1 and ,i won't4 ,there is no reason why ,i should4 ,do it yourselves1 if you are so minded1 but ,i won't4 ,it would seem that not only the religious or moral feeling1 but the simplest reflection and calculation would make a man of our time answer and act in this manner4 ,but no3 the men of the social life-conception find that it is not right to act in this manner1 and that it is even harmful to act thus if we wish to obtain the end of the liberation of men from slavery1 and that it is necessary for us1 as in the case of the rural judge and the peasants1 to continue to flog one another1 consoling ourselves with the thought that the fact that we prattle in ,chambers and assemblies1 form labour-unions1 parade the streets on the first of ,may1 form plots1 and secretly tease the government which flogs us1--that all this will have the effect of freeing us very soon1 though we are enslaving ourselves more and more4 ,nothing so much impedes the liberation of men as this remarkable delusion4 ,instead of directing all his forces to the liberation of himself1 to the change of his world-conception1 every man seeks for an external aggregate means for freeing himself1 and thus fetters himself more and more4 ,it is as though men should affirm that1 in order to fan a fire1 it is not necessary to make every coal catch fire1 but to place the coals in a certain order4 ,in the meantime it has been getting more and more obvious of late that the liberation of all men will take place only through the liberation of the individual men4 ,the liberation of individual persons in the name of the ,christian life-conception from the enslavement of the state1 which used to be an exclusive and imperceptible phenomenon1 has of late received a significance which is menacing to the power of state4 ,if formerly1 in the days of ,rome1 in the ,middle ,ages1 it happened that a ,christian1 professing his teaching1 refused to take part in sacrifices1 to worship the emperors and gods1 or in the ,middle ,ages refused to worship the images1 to recognize the papal power1 these refusals were1 in the first place1 accidental2 a man might have been put to the necessity of professing his faith1 and he might have lived a life without being placed in this necessity4 ,but now all men without exception are subject to these trials4 ,every man of our time is put to the necessity of recognizing his participation in the cruelties of the pagan life1 or rejecting it4 ,and1 in the second place1 in those days the refusals to worship the gods1 the images1 the ,pope1 did not present any essential phenomena for the state3 no matter how many men worshipped the gods1 the images1 or the ,pope1 the state remained as strong as ever4 ,but now the refusal to comply with the non-,christian demands of governments undermines the power of state to the root1 because all the power of the state is based on these non-,christian demands4 ,the worldly powers were led by the course of life to the proposition that for their own preservation they had to demand from all men such acts as could not be performed by those who professed true ,christianity4 ,and so in our time every profession of true ,christianity by a separate individual most materially undermines the power of the government and inevitably leads to the emancipation of all men4 ,what importance can there be in such phenomena as the refusals of a few dozens of madmen1 as they are called1 who do not wish to swear to the government1 or pay taxes1 or take part in courts and military service8 ,these men are punished and removed1 and life continues as of old4 ,it would seem that there is nothing important in these phenomena1 and yet it is these very phenomena that more than anything else undermine the power of the state and prepare the emancipation of men4 ,they are those individual bees which begin to separate from the swarm and fly about1 awaiting what cannot be delayed1--the rising of the whole swarm after them4 ,the governments know this1 and are afraid of these phenomena more than of all socialists1 communists1 anarchists1 and their plots with their dynamite bombs4 ,a new reign begins3 according to the general rule and customary order all the subjects are ordered to swear allegiance to the new government4 ,a general order is sent out1 and everybody is called to the cathedral to swear4 ,suddenly one man in ,perm1 another in ,tla1 a third in ,moscow1 a fourth in ,kalga declare that they will not swear1 and they base their refusal1 every one of them1 without having plotted together1 on one and the same reason1 which is1 that the oath is prohibited by the ,christian law1 and that1 even if it were not prohibited1 they could not1 according to the spirit of the ,christian law1 promise to commit the evil acts which are demanded of them in the oath1 such as denouncing all those who will violate the interests of the government1 defending their government with weapons in their hands1 or attacking its enemies4 ,they are summoned before the rural judges or chiefs1 priests1 or governors1 are admonished1 implored1 threatened1 and punished1 but they stick to their determination and do not swear4 ,among millions of those who swear1 there are a few dozens who do not4 ,and they are asked3 ,so you have not sworn8 ,we have not4 ,well1 nothing happened8 ,nothing4 ,all the subjects of a state are obliged to pay taxes4 ,and all pay2 but one man in ,khrkov1 another in ,tver1 a third in ,samra1 refuse to pay their taxes1 all of them repeating1 as though by agreement1 one and the same thing4 ,one says that he will pay only when he is told what the money taken from him will be used for3 if for good things1 he says1 he will himself give more than is asked of him2 but if for bad things1 he will not give anything voluntarily1 because1 according to ,christ's teaching1 which he follows1 he cannot contribute to evil deeds4 ,the same1 though with different words1 is said by the others1 who do not voluntarily pay their taxes4 ,from those who possess anything1 the property is taken by force1 but those who have nothing to give are left alone4 ,well1 you did not pay the taxes8 ,i did not4 ,well1 and nothing happened to you8 ,nothing4 ,passports are established4 ,all who remove themselves from their place of abode are obliged to take them and pay a revenue for them4 ,suddenly on all sides appear men who say that it is not necessary to take passports and that it is not right to recognize one's dependence on a government which lives by violence1 and they take no passports and pay no revenue4 ,again it is impossible to make these people carry out what is demanded of them4 ,they are locked up in prisons and let out again1 and they continue to live without passports4 ,all the peasants are obliged to serve as hundred-men1 ten-men1 and so forth4 ,suddenly a peasant refuses in ,khrkov to perform this office1 explaining his refusal by this1 that1 according to the ,christian law which he professes1 he cannot bind1 lock up1 and lead a man from one place to another4 ,the same is asserted by a peasant in ,tver1 in ,tmbov4 ,the peasants are cursed1 beaten1 locked up1 but they stick to their determination and do not do what is contrary to their faith4 ,and they are no longer chosen as hundred-men1 and that is the end of it4 ,all the citizens must take part in court proceedings in the capacity of jurymen4 ,suddenly the greatest variety of men1 wheelwrights1 professors1 merchants1 peasants1 gentlemen1 as though by agreement1 all refuse to serve1 not for causes which are recognized by the law1 but because the court itself1 according to their conviction1 is an illegal1 non-,christian thing1 which ought not to exist4 ,these men are fined1 without being allowed publicly to express the motives of their refusal1 and others are put in their places4 ,the same is done to those who on the same grounds refuse to be witnesses at court4 ,and nothing more happens4 ,all men of twenty-one years of age are obliged to draw lots4 ,suddenly one young man in ,moscow1 another in ,tver1 a third in ,khrkov1 a fourth in ,kiev1 appear1 as though by previous agreement1 in court1 and declare that they will neither swear nor serve1 because they are ,christians4 ,here are the details of one of the first cases 7since then these refusals have become more and more frequent71 with which ,i am acquainted4#ae ,in all the other cases approximately the same was done4 ,a young man of medium culture refuses in the ,moscow ,council to serve4 ,no attention is paid to his words1 and he is ordered to pronounce the words of the oath1 just like the rest4 ,he refuses1 pointing out the definite place in the ,gospel where taking an oath is prohibited4 ,no attention is paid to his arguments1 and they demand that he fulfil their command1 but he does not do so4 ,then it is assumed that he is a sectarian and so understands ,christianity incorrectly1 that is1 not in the way the clergy in the government pay understand it1 and so the young man is sent under convoy to the priests1 to be admonished4 ,the priests begin to admonish the young man1 but their admonitions in the name of ,christ to renounce ,christ have apparently no effect upon the young man1 and he is sent back to the army1 having been declared incorrigible4 ,the young man still refuses to take the oath and openly declines to fulfil his military duties4 ,this case is not provided for in the laws4 ,it is impossible to admit a refusal to do the will of the authorities1 and it is equally impossible to rate this as a case of simple disobedience4 ,in a consultation the military authorities determine to get rid of the troublesome young man by declaring him to be a revolutionist1 and send him under guard into the office of the secret police4 ,the police and the gendarmes examine the young man1 but nothing of what he says fits in with the crimes dealt with in their departments1 and there is absolutely no way of accusing him of revolutionary acts1 or of plotting1 since he declares that he does not wish to destroy anything1 but1 on the contrary1 rejects all violence1 and conceals nothing1 but seeks an opportunity for saying and doing in a most open manner what he says and does4 ,and the gendarmes1 though no laws are binding on them1 like the clergy1 find no cause for an accusation and return the young man to the army4 ,again the chiefs confer and decide to enlist the young man in the army1 though he refuses to take the oath4 ,he is dressed up1 entered on the lists1 and sent under guard to the place where the troops are distributed4 ,here the chief of the section into which he enters again demands of the young man the fulfilment of military duties1 and he again refuses to obey1 and in the presence of other soldiers gives the cause for his refusal1 saying that1 as a ,christian1 he cannot voluntarily prepare himself to commit murder1 which was prohibited even by the laws of ,moses4 #ae ,all the details of this and the preceding cases are authentic4--,author's ,note4 ,the case takes place in a provincial city4 ,it evokes interest and even sympathy1 not only among outsiders1 but also among officers1 and so the superiors do not dare to apply the usual disciplinary measures for a refusal to serve4 ,however1 for decency's sake the young man is locked up in prison1 and an inquiry is sent to the higher military authority1 requesting it to say what is to be done4 ,from the official point of view a refusal to take part in military service1 in which the ,tsar himself serves and which is blessed by the church1 presents itself as madness1 and so they write from ,st4 ,petersburg that1 since the young man is1 no doubt1 out of his mind1 no severe measures are to be used against him1 but he is to be sent to an insane asylum1 where his mental health is to be investigated and he is to be cured4 ,he is sent there in the hope that he will stay there1 just as happened ten years before with another young man1 who in ,tver refused to do military service and who was tortured in an insane asylum until he gave in4 ,but even this measure does not save the military authorities from the inconvenient young man4 ,the doctors examine him1 are very much interested in him1 and1 finding in him no symptoms whatever of any mental trouble1 naturally return him to the army4 ,he is received1 and1 pretending that his refusal and motives are forgotten1 they again propose to him that he go to the exercises2 but he again1 in the presence of other soldiers1 refuses1 and gives the cause for his refusal4 ,this case more and more attracts the attention of the soldiers and the inhabitants of the town4 ,again they write to ,st4 ,petersburg1 and from there comes the decision that the young man be transferred to the army at the frontier1 where it is in a state of siege1 and where he may be shot for refusing to serve1 and where the matter may pass unnoticed1 since in that distant country there are few ,russians and ,christians1 and mostly natives and ,mohammedans4 ,and so they do4 ,the young man is attached to the troops located in the ,transcaspian ,territory1 and with criminals he is despatched to a chief who is known for his determination and severity4 ,during all this time1 with all these transportations from one place to another1 the young man is treated rudely3 he is kept cold1 hungry1 and dirty1 and his life in general is made a burden for him4 ,but all these tortures do not make him change his determination4 ,in the ,transcaspian ,territory1 when told to stand sentry with his gun1 he again refuses to obey4 ,he does not refuse to go and stand near some haystacks1 whither he is sent1 but he refuses to take his gun1 declaring that under no condition would he use violence against any one4 ,all this takes place in the presence of other soldiers4 ,it is impossible to let such a case go unpunished1 and the young man is tried for violation of discipline4 ,the trial takes place1 and the young man is sentenced to incarceration in a military prison for two years4 ,he is again sent by tapes with other criminals to the ,caucasus and is shut up in a prison1 where he falls a prey to the uncontrolled power of the jailer4 ,there he is tormented for one year and six months1 but he still refuses to change his decision about taking up arms1 and he explains to all those with whom he comes in contact why he does not do so1 and at the end of his second year he is discharged before the expiration of his term1 by counting1 contrary to the law1 his time in prison as part of his service1 only to get rid of him as quickly as possible4 ,just like this man1 as though having plotted together1 act other men in various parts of ,russia1 and in all those cases the mode of the government's action is as timid1 indefinite1 and secretive4 ,some of these men are sent to insane asylums1 others are enlisted as scribes and are transferred to service in ,siberia1 others are made to serve in the forestry department1 others are locked up in prisons1 and others are fined4 ,even now a few such men who have refused are sitting in prisons1 not for the essential point in the case1 the rejection of the legality of the government's action1 but for the non-fulfilment of the private demands of the government4 ,thus an officer of the reserve1 who did not keep the authorities informed of his residence and who declared that he would not again serve as a military man1 was lately1 for not fulfilling the commands of the authorities1 fined thirty roubles1 which1 too1 he refused to pay voluntarily4 ,thus several peasants and soldiers1 who lately refused to take part in military exercises and take up arms1 were locked up for disobedience and contempt4 ,and such cases of refusing to comply with the government demands which are contrary to ,christianity1 especially refusals to do military service1 have of late occurred not in ,russia alone1 but even elsewhere4 ,thus1 ,i know that in ,servia men of the so-called sect of ,nazarenes constantly refuse to do military service1 and the ,austrian government has for several years been vainly struggling with them1 subjecting them to imprisonment4 ,in the year #ahhe there were #acj such refusals4 ,in ,switzerland1 ,i know men were incarcerated in the ,chillon ,fortress in the year #ahij for refusing to do military service1 and they did not change their determination in consequence of their imprisonment4 ,such refusals have also happened in ,prussia4 ,i know of an under-officer of the ,guard1 who in #ahia declared to the authorities in ,berlin that as a ,christian he would not continue to serve1 and1 in spite of all admonitions1 threats1 and punishments1 he stuck to his decision4 ,in ,france there has of late arisen in the south a community of men1 who bear the name of ,hinschists 7this information is received from the ,peace ,herald1 ,july1 #ahia71 the members of which on the basis of the ,christian profession refuse to do military service1 and at first were inscribed in hospitals1 but now1 having increased in numbers1 are subjected to punishments for disobedience1 but still refuse to take up arms4 ,the socialists1 communists1 anarchists1 with their bombs1 riots1 and revolutions1 are by no means so terrible to the governments as these scattered people1 who from various sides refuse to do military service1--all of them on the basis of the same well-known teaching4 ,every government knows how and why to defend itself against revolutionists1 and they have means for it1 and so are not afraid of these external enemies4 ,but what are the governments to do against those men who point out the uselessness1 superfluity1 and harmfulness of all governments1 and do not struggle with them1 but only have no use for them1 get along without them1 and do not wish to take part in them8 ,the revolutionists say1 ,the governmental structure is bad for this and that reason1--it is necessary to put this or that in its place4 ,but a ,christian says1 ,i know nothing of the governmental structure1 about its being good or bad1 and do not wish to destroy it for the very reason that ,i do not know whether it is good or bad1 but for the same reason ,i do not wish to sustain it4 ,i not only do not wish to1 but even cannot do so1 because what is demanded of me is contrary to my conscience4 ,what is contrary to a ,christian's conscience is all obligations of state1--the oath1 the taxes1 the courts1 the army4 ,but on all these obligations the state is founded4 ,the revolutionary enemies struggle with the state from without2 but ,christianity does not struggle at all1--it inwardly destroys all the foundations of government4 ,among the ,russian people1 where1 especially since the time of ,peter ,i41 the protest of ,christianity against the government has never ceased1 where the structure of life is such that men have gone away by whole communities to ,turkey1 to ,china1 to uninhabitable lands1 and not only are in no need of the government1 but always look upon it as an unnecessary burden1 and only bear it as a calamity1 be it ,turkish1 ,russian1 or ,chinese1--among the ,russian people there have of late been occurring more and more frequently cases of the ,christian conscious emancipation of separate individuals from submission to the government4 ,and now especially these manifestations are very terrible to the government1 because those who refuse frequently do not belong to the so-called lower uncultured classes1 but to the people with a medium or higher education1 and because these men no longer base their refusals on some mystical exclusive beliefs1 as was the case formerly1 nor connect them with some superstition or savage practices1 as is the case with the ,self-,consumers and ,runners1 but put forth the simplest and clearest truths1 which are accessible to all men and recognized by them all4 ,thus they refuse to pay their taxes voluntarily1 because the taxes are used for acts of violence1 for salaries to violators and military men1 for the construction of prisons1 fortresses1 cannon1 while they1 as ,christians1 consider it sinful and immoral to take part in these things4 ,those who refuse to take the common oath do so because to promise to obey the authorities1 that is1 men who are given to acts of violence1 is contrary to the ,christian teaching2 they refuse to take their oath in courts1 because the oath is directly forbidden in the ,gospel4 ,they decline to serve in the police1 because in connection with these duties they have to use force against their own brothers and torment them1 whereas a ,christian may not do so4 ,they decline to take part in court proceedings1 because they consider every court proceeding a fulfilment of the law of revenge1 which is incompatible with the ,christian law of forgiveness and love4 ,they decline to take part in all military preparations and in the army1 because they do not wish to be and cannot be executioners1 and do not want to prepare themselves for the office of executioner4 ,all the motives of these refusals are such that1 no matter how despotic a government may be1 it cannot punish them openly4 ,to punish them for such refusals1 a government must itself irretrievably renounce reason and the good2 whereas it assures men that it serves only in the name of reason and of the good4 ,what are the governments to do against these men8 ,indeed1 the governments can kill off1 for ever shut up in prisons and at hard labour their enemies1 who wish by the exercise of violence to overthrow them2 they can bury in gold half of the men1 such as they may need1 and bribe them2 they can subject to themselves millions of armed men1 who will be ready to destroy all the enemies of the governments4 ,but what can they do with men who1 not wishing to destroy anything1 nor to establish anything1 wish only for their own sakes1 for the sake of their lives1 to do nothing which is contrary to the ,christian law1 and so refuse to fulfil the most common obligations1 which are most indispensable to the governments8 ,if they were revolutionists1 who preach violence and murder1 and who practise all these things1 it would be easy to oppose them3 part of them would be bribed1 part deceived1 part frightened into subjection2 and those who could not be bribed1 or deceived1 or frightened1 would be declared malefactors and enemies of society1 would be executed or locked up1 and the crowd would applaud the action of the government4 ,if they were some horrible sectarians who preached a peculiar faith1 it would be possible1 thanks to those superstitions of falsehood1 which by them are mixed in with their doctrine1 to overthrow whatever truth there is in their faith4 ,but what is to be done with men who preach neither revolution1 nor any special religious dogmas1 but only1 because they do not wish to harm any one1 refuse to take the oath of allegiance1 to pay taxes1 to take part in court proceedings1 in military service1 and in duties on which the whole structure of the government is based8 ,what is to be done with such men8 ,it is impossible to bribe them3 the very risk which they take shows their unselfishness4 ,nor can they be deceived by claiming that ,god wants it so1 because their refusal is based on the explicit1 undoubted law of ,god1 which is professed by the very men who wish to make them act contrary to it4 ,still less is it possible to intimidate them with threats1 because the privations and sufferings to which they are subjected for their faith only strengthen their desire1 and because it says distinctly in their law that ,god must be obeyed more than men1 and that they should not fear those who may ruin their bodies1 but that which may ruin both their bodies and their souls4 ,nor can they be executed or locked up for ever4 ,these men have a past1 and friends1 and their manner of thinking and acting is known2 all know them as meek1 good1 peaceful men1 and it is impossible to declare them to be malefactors who ought to be removed for the safety of society4 ,the execution of men who by all men are recognized to be good will only call forth defenders of the refusal and commentators on it2 and the causes of the refusal need but be made clear1 in order that it may become clear to all men that the causes which make these ,christians refuse to comply with the demands of the state are the same for all other men1 and that all men ought to have done so long ago4 ,in the presence of the refusals of the ,christians the governments are in a desperate plight4 ,they see that the prophecy of ,christianity is being fulfilled1--it tears asunder the fetters of the fettered and sets free the men who lived in slavery1 and they see that this liberation will inevitably destroy those who keep others in slavery4 ,the governments see this2 they know that their hours are numbered1 and are unable to do anything4 ,all they can do for their salvation is to defer the hour of their ruin4 ,this they do1 but their situation is none the less desperate4 ,the situation of the governments is like the situation of a conqueror who wants to save the city that is fired by its own inhabitants4 ,he no sooner puts out the fire in one place than it begins to burn in two other places2 he no sooner gives way to the fire and breaks off what is burning in a large building1 than even this building begins to burn from two sides4 ,these individual fires are still rare1 but having started with a spark1 they will not stop until everything is consumed4 ,and just as the governments find themselves in such unprotected straits in the presence of men who profess ,christianity1 and when but very little is wanting for this force1 which seems so powerful and which was reared through so many centuries1 to fall to pieces1 the public leaders preach that it is not only unnecessary1 but even harmful and immoral1 for every individual to try and free himself from slavery4 ,it is as though some people1 to free a dammed up river1 should have all but cut through a ditch1 when nothing but an opening is necessary for the water to flow into this ditch and do the rest1 and there should appear some people who would persuade them that1 rather than let off the water1 they should construct above the river a machine with buckets1 which1 drawing the water up on one side1 would drop it into the same river from the other side4 ,but the matter has gone too far3 the governments feel their indefensibleness and weakness1 and the men of the ,christian consciousness are awakening from their lethargy and are beginning to feel their strength4 ,i brought the fire upon earth1 said ,christ1 and how ,i long for it to burn up6 ,and this fire is beginning to burn up4 ,x4 ,christianity in its true meaning destroys the state4 ,thus it was understood from the very beginning1 and ,christ was crucified for this very reason1 and thus it has always been understood by men who are not fettered by the necessity of proving the justification of the ,christian state4 ,only when the heads of the states accepted the external nominal ,christianity did they begin to invent all those impossible finely spun theories1 according to which ,christianity was compatible with the state4 ,but for every sincere and serious man of our time it is quite obvious that true ,christianity--the teaching of humility1 of forgiveness of offences1 of love--is incompatible with the state1 with its magnificence1 its violence1 its executions1 and its wars4 ,the profession of true ,christianity not only excludes the possibility of recognizing the state1 but even destroys its very foundations4 ,but if this is so1 and it is true that ,christianity is incompatible with the state1 there naturally arises the question3 ,what is more necessary for the good of humanity1 what more permanently secures the good of men1 the political form of life1 or its destruction and the substitution of ,christianity in its place8 ,some men say that the state is most necessary for humanity1 that the destruction of the political form would lead to the destruction of everything worked out by humanity1 that the state has been and continues to be the only form of the development of humanity1 and that all that evil which we see among the nations who live in the political form is not due to this form1 but to the abuses1 which can be mended without destruction1 and that humanity1 without impairing the political form1 can develop and reach a high degree of well-being4 ,and the men who think so adduce in confirmation of their opinion philosophic1 historic1 and even religious arguments1 which to them seem incontrovertible4 ,but there are men who assume the opposite1 namely1 that1 as there was a time when humanity lived without a political form1 this form is only temporary1 and the time must arrive when men shall need a new form1 and that this time has arrived even now4 ,and the men who think so also adduce in confirmation of their opinion philosophic1 and historic1 and religious arguments1 which also seem incontrovertible to them4 ,it is possible to write volumes in the defence of the first opinion 7they have been written long ago1 and there is still no end to them71 and there can be written much against it 7though but lately begun1 many a brilliant thing has been written against it74 ,it is impossible to prove1 as the defenders of the state claim1 that the destruction of the state will lead to a social chaos1 mutual rapine1 murder1 and the destruction of all public institutions1 and the return of humanity to barbarism2 nor can it be proved1 as the opponents of the state claim1 that men have already become so wise and good that they do not rob or kill one another1 that they prefer peace to hostility1 that they will themselves without the aid of the state arrange everything they need1 and that therefore the state not only does not contribute to all this1 but1 on the contrary1 under the guise of defending men1 exerts a harmful and bestializing influence upon them4 ,it is impossible to prove either the one or the other by means of abstract reflections4 ,still less can it be proved by experience1 since the question consists in this1 whether the experiment is to be made or not4 ,the question as to whether the time has come for abolishing the state1 or not1 would be insoluble1 if there did not exist another vital method for an incontestable solution of the same4 ,quite independently of anybody's reflections as to whether the chicks are sufficiently matured for him to drive the hen away from the nest and let the chicks out of their eggs1 or whether they are not yet sufficiently matured1 the incontestable judges of the case will be the chicks themselves1 when1 unable to find enough room in their eggs1 they will begin to pick them with their bills1 and will themselves come out of them4 ,the same is true of the question whether the time for destroying the political form and for substituting another form has come1 or not4 ,if a man1 in consequence of the higher consciousness matured in him1 is no longer able to comply with the demands of the state1 no longer finds room in it1 and at the same time no longer is in need of the preservation of the political form1 the question as to whether men have matured for the change of the political form1 or not1 is decided from an entirely different side1 and just as incontestably as for the chick that has picked its shell1 into which no power in the world can again return it1 by the men themselves who have outgrown the state and who cannot be returned to it by any power in the world4 ,it is very likely that the state was necessary and even now is necessary for all those purposes which you ascribe to it1 says the man who has made the ,christian life-conception his own1 but all ,i know is that1 on the one hand1 ,i no longer need the state1 and1 on the other1 ,i can no longer perform those acts which are necessary for the existence of the state4 ,arrange for yourselves what you need for your lives3 ,i cannot prove either the common necessity1 or the common harm of the state2 all ,i know is what ,i need and what not1 what ,i may do and what not4 ,i know for myself that ,i do not need any separation from the other nations1 and so ,i cannot recognize my exclusive belonging to some one nation or state1 and my subjection to any government2 ,i know in my own case that ,i do not need all those government offices and courts1 which are the product of violence1 and so ,i cannot take part in any of them2 ,i know in my own case that ,i do not need to attack other nations and kill them1 nor defend myself by taking up arms1 and so ,i cannot take part in wars and in preparations for them4 ,it is very likely that there are some people who cannot regard all that as necessary and indispensable4 ,i cannot dispute with them1--all ,i know concerning myself1 but that ,i know incontestably1 is that ,i do not need it all and am not able to do it4 ,i do not need it1 and ,i cannot do it1 not because ,i1 my personality1 do not want it1 but because ,he who has sent me into life1 and has given me the incontestable law for guidance in my life1 does not want it4 ,no matter what arguments men may adduce in proof of the danger of abolishing the power of the state and that this abolition may beget calamities1 the men who have outgrown the political form can no longer find their place in it4 ,and1 no matter what arguments may be adduced to a man who has outgrown the political form1 about its indispensableness1 he cannot return to it1 cannot take part in the affairs which are denied by his consciousness1 just as the full-grown chicks can no longer return into the shell which they have outgrown4 ,but even if this is so1 say the defenders of the existing order1 the abolition of the violence of state would be possible and desirable only if all men became ,christians4 ,so long as this is not the case1 so long as among men who only call themselves ,christians there are men who are no ,christians1 evil men1 who for the sake of their personal lust are prepared to do harm to others1 the abolition of the power of state would not only fail to be a good for all the rest1 but would even increase their wretchedness4 ,the abolition of the political form of life is undesirable1 not only when there is a small proportion of true ,christians1 but even when all shall be ,christians1 while in their midst or all about them1 among other nations1 there shall remain non-,christians1 because the non-,christians will with impunity rob1 violate1 kill the ,christians and make their life miserable4 ,what will happen will be that the evil men will with impunity rule the good and do violence to them4 ,and so the power of state must not be abolished until all the bad1 rapacious men in the world are destroyed4 ,and as this will not happen for a long time to come1 if at all1 this power1 in spite of the attempts of individual ,christians at emancipating themselves from the power of state1 must be maintained for the sake of the majority of men4 ,thus speak the defenders of the state4 ,without the state the evil men do violence to the good and rule over them1 but the power of state makes it possible for the good to keep the evil in check1 they say4 ,but1 in asserting this1 the defenders of the existing order of things decide in advance the justice of the position which it is for them to prove4 ,in saying that without the power of state the evil men would rule over the good1 they take it for granted that the good are precisely those who at the present time have power1 and the bad the same who are now subjugated4 ,but it is precisely this that has to be proved4 ,this would be true only if in our world took place what really does not take place1 but is supposed to take place1 in ,china1 namely1 that the good are always in power1 and that1 as soon as at the helm of the government stand men who are not better than those over whom they rule1 the citizens are obliged to depose them4 ,thus it is supposed to be in ,china1 but in reality this is not so1 and cannot be so1 because1 in order to overthrow the power of the violating government1 it is not enough to have the right to do so1--one must also have the force4 ,consequently this is only assumed to be so even in ,china2 but in our ,christian world this has never even been assumed4 ,in our world there is not even any foundation for assuming that better men or the best should rule1 and not those who have seized the power and retain it for themselves and for their descendants4 ,better men are absolutely unable to seize the power and to retain it4 ,in order to get the power and retain it1 it is necessary to love power2 but love of power is not connected with goodness1 but with qualities which are the opposite of goodness1 such as pride1 cunning1 cruelty4 ,without self-aggrandizement and debasement of others1 without hypocrisy1 deceit1 prisons1 fortresses1 executions1 murders1 a power can neither arise nor maintain itself4 ,if the power of state be abolished1 the more evil men will rule over the less evil ones1 say the defenders of the state4 ,but if the ,egyptians subjugated the ,jews1 the ,persians the ,egyptians1 the ,macedonians the ,persians1 the ,romans the ,greeks1 the barbarians the ,romans1 is it possible that all those who have subjugated were better than those whom they subjugated8 ,and similarly1 in the transference of the power in one state from one set of persons to another1 has the power always passed into the hands of those who were better8 ,when ,louis ,,xvi4 was deposed1 and ,robespierre and later ,napoleon ruled1 who did rule8 ,better or worse men8 ,and when did better men rule1 when men from ,versailles or from the ,commune were in power8 or when ,charles ,i4 or ,cromwell was at the head of the government8 or when ,peter ,,iii4 was ,tsar or when he was killed1 and the sovereign was ,catherine for one part of ,russia and ,pugachv for the other8 ,who was then evil and who good8 ,all men in power assert that their power is necessary in order that the evil men may not do violence to the good1 meaning by this that they are those same good men1 who protect others against the evil men4 ,but to rule means to do violence1 and to do violence means to do what the other man1 on whom the violence is exerted1 does not wish to have done to him1 and what1 no doubt1 he who exerts the violence would not wish to have done to himself2 consequently1 to rule means to do to another what we do not wish to have done to ourselves1 that is1 to do evil4 ,to submit means to prefer suffering to violence4 ,but to prefer suffering to violence means to be good1 or at least less evil than those who do to another what they do not wish to have done to themselves4 ,and so all the probabilities are in favour of the fact that not those who are better than those over whom they rule1 but1 on the contrary1 those who are worse1 have always been and even now are in power4 ,there may also be worse men among those who submit to the power1 but it cannot be that better men should rule over worse men4 ,this was impossible to assume in case of the pagan inexact definition of goodness2 but with the ,christian lucid and exact definition of goodness and evil1 it is impossible to think so4 ,if more or less good men1 more or less bad men1 cannot be distinguished in the pagan world1 the ,christian conception of good and evil has so clearly defined the symptoms of the good and the evil1 that they can no longer be mistaken4 ,according to ,christ's teaching the good are those who humble themselves1 suffer1 do not resist evil with force1 forgive offences1 love their enemies2 the evil are those who exalt themselves1 rule1 struggle1 and do violence to people1 and so1 according to ,christ's teaching1 there is no doubt as to where the good are among the ruling and the subjugated4 ,it even sounds ridiculous to speak of ruling ,christians4 ,the non-,christians1 that is1 those who base their lives on the worldly good1 must always rule over ,christians1 over those who assume that their lives consist in the renunciation of this good4 ,thus it has always been and it has become more and more definite1 in proportion as the ,christian teaching has been disseminated and elucidated4 ,the more the true ,christianity spread and entered into the consciousness of men1 the less it was possible for ,christians to be among the rulers1 and the easier it grew for non-,christians to rule over ,christians4 ,the abolition of the violence of state at a time when not all men in society have become true ,christians would have this effect1 that the bad would rule over the good and would with impunity do violence to them1 say the defenders of the existing order of life4 ,the bad will rule over the good and will do violence to them4 ,but it has never been different1 and it never can be4 ,thus it has always been since the beginning of the world1 and thus it is now4 ,the bad always rule over the good and always do violence to them4 ,cain did violence to ,abel1 cunning ,jacob to trustful ,esau1 deceitful ,laban to ,jacob2 ,caiaphas and ,pilate ruled over ,christ1 the ,roman emperors ruled over a ,seneca1 an ,epictetus1 and good ,romans who lived in their time4 ,john ,,iv4 with his oprchniks1 the drunken syphilitic ,peter with his fools1 the harlot ,catherine with her lovers1 ruled over the industrious religious ,russians of their time and did violence to them4 ,william rules over the ,germans1 ,stambulov over the ,bulgarians1 ,russian officials over the ,russian people4 ,the ,germans ruled over the ,italians1 now they rule over ,hungarians and ,slavs2 the ,turks have ruled over ,greeks and ,slavs2 the ,english rule over ,hindoos2 the ,mongolians rule over the ,chinese4 ,thus1 whether the political violence be abolished or not1 the condition of the good men who are violated by the bad will not be changed thereby4 ,it is absolutely impossible to frighten men with this1 that the bad will rule over the good1 because what they are frightened with is precisely what has always been and cannot be otherwise4 ,the whole pagan history of humanity consists of only those cases when the worse seized the power over the less bad1 and1 having seized it1 maintained it by cruelties and cunning1 and1 proclaiming themselves as guardians of justice and defenders of the good against the bad1 ruled over the good4 ,as to the rulers' saying that1 if it were not for their power1 the worse would do violence to the good1 it means only this1 that the violators in power do not wish to cede this power to other violators1 who may wish to take it from them4 ,but1 in saying this1 the rulers only give themselves away4 ,they say that their power1 that is1 violence1 is necessary for the defence of men against some other violators1 or such as may still appear4#af #af ,comically striking in this respect is the nave assertion of the ,russian authorities in doing violence to other nationalities1 the ,poles1 ,baltic ,germans1 ,jews4 ,the ,russian government practises extortion on its subjects1 for centuries has not troubled itself about the ,little ,russians in ,poland1 nor about the ,letts in the ,baltic provinces1 nor about the ,russian peasants who have been exploited by all manner of men1 and suddenly it becomes a defender of the oppressed against the oppressors1 those very oppressors whom it oppresses4--,author's ,note4 ,the exercise of violence is dangerous for the very reason that1 as soon as it is exercised1 all the arguments adduced by the violators can1 not only with the same1 but even with greater force1 be applied against them4 ,they speak of the past1 and more frequently of the imaginary future of violence1 but themselves without cessation commit acts of violence4 ,you say that men used to rob and kill others1 and you are afraid that men will rob and kill one another1 if your power does not exist4 ,that may be so or not1 but your ruining thousands of men in prisons1 at hard labour1 in fortresses1 in exile2 your ruining millions of families with your militarism1 and destroying millions of people physically and morally1 is not imaginary1 but real violence1 against which1 according to your own statement1 people ought to fight by exercising violence4 ,consequently1 those evil men1 against whom1 according to your own reflection1 it is absolutely necessary to exercise violence1 are you yourselves1 is what the violated ought to say to the violators1 and the non-,christians have always spoken and thought and acted in this manner4 ,if the violated are worse than those who exercise violence1 they attack them and try to overthrow them1 and1 under favourable conditions1 do overthrow them1 or1 what is most usual1 enter the ranks of the violators and take part in their acts of violence4 ,thus the very thing with which the defenders of the state frighten men1 that1 if there did not exist a violating power1 the bad would be ruling over the good1 is what without cessation has been accomplished in the life of humanity1 and so the abolition of political violence can in no case be the cause of the increase of the violence of the bad over the good4 ,when the violence of the government is destroyed1 acts of violence will1 probably1 be committed by other men than before2 but the sum of the violence will in no case be increased1 simply because the power will pass from the hands of one set of men into those of another4 ,the violence of state will be stopped only when the bad men in society shall be destroyed1 say the defenders of the existing order1 meaning by this that1 since there will always be bad men1 violence will never come to a stop4 ,that would be true only if what they assume actually existed1 namely1 that the violators are better1 and that the only means for the emancipation of men from evil is violence4 ,in that case violence could1 indeed1 never be stopped4 ,but as this is not the case1 and the very opposite is true1 namely1 that it is not the better men who exercise violence against the bad1 but the bad who do violence to the good1 and that outside of violence1 which never puts a stop to evil1 there is another means for the abolition of violence1 the assertion that violence will never stop is not correct4 ,violence grows less and less1 and must evidently stop1 but not1 as the defenders of the existing order imagine1 because men who are subject to violence will in consequence of the influence exerted upon them by the governments become better and better 7in consequence of this they will1 on the contrary1 always become worse71 but because1 since all men are constantly growing better and better1 even the worst men in power1 growing less and less evil1 will become sufficiently good to be incapable of exercising violence4 ,the forward movement of humanity takes place1 not in this way1 that the best elements of society1 seizing the power and using violence against those men who are in their power1 make them better1 as the conservatives and revolutionists think1 but1 in the first and chief place1 in that all men in general unswervingly and without cessation more and more consciously acquire the ,christian life-conception1 and in the second place1 in that1 even independently of the conscious spiritual activity of men1 men unconsciously1 in consequence of the very process of seizure of power by one set of men and transference to another set1 and involuntarily are brought to a more ,christian relation to life4 ,this process takes place in the following manner3 the worst elements of society1 having seized the power and being in possession of it1 under the influence of the sobering quality which always accompanies it1 become less and less cruel and less able to make use of the cruel forms of violence1 and1 in consequence of this1 give place to others1 in whom again goes on the process of softening and1 so to speak1 unconscious ,christianization4 ,what takes place in men is something like the process of boiling4 ,all the men of the majority of the non-,christian life-conception strive after power and struggle to obtain it4 ,in this struggle the most cruel and coarse1 and the least ,christian elements of society1 by doing violence to the meeker1 more ,christian people1 who are more sensible to the good1 rise to the higher strata of society4 ,and here with the men in this condition there takes place what ,christ predicted1 saying3 ,woe unto you that are rich1 that are full now1 and when all are glorified4 ,what happens is that men in power1 who are in possession of the consequences of power1--of glory and wealth1--having reached certain different aims1 which they have set to themselves in their desires1 recognize their vanity and return to the position which they left4 ,charles ,v41 ,john ,,iv41 ,alexander ,i41 having recognized all the vanity and evil of power1 renounced it1 because they saw all its evil and were no longer able calmly to make use of violence as of a good deed1 as they had done before4 ,but it is not only a ,charles and an ,alexander who travel on this road and recognize the vanity and evil of power3 through this unconscious process of softening of manners passes every man who has acquired the power toward which he has been striving1 not only every minister1 general1 millionaire1 merchant1 but also every head of an office1 who has obtained the place he has been ten years waiting for1 every well-to-do peasant1 who has laid by a hundred or two hundred roubles4 ,through this process pass not only separate individuals1 but also aggregates of men1 whole nations4 ,the temptations of power and of everything which it gives1 of wealth1 honours1 luxurious life1 present themselves as a worthy aim for the activity of men only so long as the power is not attained2 but the moment a man attains it1 they reveal their emptiness and slowly lose their force of attraction1 like clouds1 which have form and beauty only from a distance3 one needs but enter them1 in order that that which seemed beautiful in them should disappear4 ,men who have attained power and wealth1 frequently the very men who have gained them1 more frequently their descendants1 stop being so anxious for power and so cruel in attaining it4 ,having through experience1 under the influence of ,christianity1 learned the vanity of the fruits of violence1 men1 at times in one1 at others in a few generations1 lose those vices which are evoked by the passion for power and wealth1 and1 becoming less cruel1 do not hold their position1 and are pushed out of power by other1 less ,christian1 more evil men1 and return to strata of society lower in position1 but higher in morality1 increasing the average of the ,christian consciousness of all men4 ,but immediately after them other1 worse1 coarser1 less ,christian elements of society rise to the top1 again are subjected to the same process as their predecessors1 and again in one or a few generations1 having experienced the vanity of the fruits of violence and being permeated by ,christianity1 descend to the level of the violated1 and again make place for new1 less coarse violators than the preceding ones1 but coarser than those whom they oppress4 ,thus1 despite the fact that the power remains externally the same that it was1 there is with every change of men in power a greater increase in the number of men who by experience are brought to the necessity of accepting the ,christian life-conception1 and with every change the coarsest1 most cruel1 and least ,christian of all enter into the possession of the power1 but they are such as are constantly less coarse and cruel and more ,christian than their predecessors4 ,violence selects and attracts the worst elements of society1 works them over1 and1 improving and softening them1 returns them to society4 ,such is the process by means of which ,christianity1 in spite of the violence which is exercised by the power of the state and which impedes the forward movement of humanity1 takes possession of men more and more4 ,christianity is penetrating into the consciousness of men1 not only despite the violence exerted by the power1 but even by means of it4 ,and thus the assertion of the defenders of the political structure that1 if the violence of the state be abolished1 the evil men will rule over the good1 not only does not prove that this 7the ruling of the bad over the good7 is dangerous1 for it is precisely what is taking place now1 but1 on the contrary1 proves that the violence of the state1 which gives the bad a chance to rule over the good1 is the very evil which it is desirable to destroy1 and which is continuously destroyed by life itself4 ,but even if it were true that the violence of the state will come to an end when those who are in power shall become ,christian enough to renounce the power of their own choice1 and there shall no longer be found any men who are prepared to take their places1 and if it is true that this process is taking place1 say the defenders of the existing order1 when will that be8 ,if eighteen hundred years have passed and there are still so many volunteers who are ready to rule1 and so few who are ready to submit1 there is no probability that this will happen very soon1 or ever at all4 ,if there are1 as there have been among all men1 such as prefer to refuse power rather than to use it1 the supply of men who prefer ruling to submitting is so great that it is hard to imagine the time when it shall be exhausted4 ,for this process of the ,christianization of all men to take place1 for all men one after another to pass over from the pagan concept of life to the ,christian1 and voluntarily renounce power and wealth1 and for no one to desire to make use of them1 it is necessary that not only all those rude1 semisavage men1 who are entirely incapable of adopting ,christianity and following it1 and of whom there are always such a great number amidst every ,christian society1 but also all savage and non-,christian nations in general1 of whom there are so many outside the ,christian society1 should be made ,christian4 ,and so1 even if we admit that the process of ,christianization will some day be accomplished in the case of all men1 we must assume1 judging from how much the matter has advanced in eighteen hundred years1 that this will happen in several times eighteen hundred years1--and so it is impossible and useless to think now of the impossible abolition of power1 and all we should think of is that the power should be vested in the best of hands4 ,thus retort the defenders of the existing order4 ,and this reflection would be quite correct if the transition of men from one concept of life to another took place only by force of the one process where every man learns individually and one after another by experience the vanity of power1 and by an inner way reaches the ,christian truths4 ,this process takes place without cessation1 and by this way men one after another pass over to the side of ,christianity4 ,but men pass over to the side of ,christianity not by this inner path alone2 there is also an external method1 with which the gradualness of this transition is destroyed4 ,the transition of men from one structure of life to another does not always take place in the manner in which the sand is poured out from an hour-glass1--one kernel of sand after another1 from the first to the last1--but rather like water pouring into a vessel that is immerged in the water1 when it at first admits the water evenly and slowly at one side1 and then1 from the weight of the water already taken in1 suddenly dips down fast and almost all at once receives all the water which it can hold4 ,the same occurs with societies of men at the transition from one concept1 and so from one structure of life1 to another4 ,it is only at first that one after another slowly and gradually receives the new truth by an inner way and follows it through life2 but after a certain diffusion it is no longer received in an internal manner1 nor gradually1 but all at once1 almost involuntarily4 ,and so there is no truth in the reflection of the defenders of the existing order that1 if in the course of eighteen hundred years only a small part of mankind has passed over to the side of ,christianity1 it will take several times eighteen hundred years before the rest of humanity will pass over to its side2 there is no truth in it1 because with this reflection no attention is paid to any other than the internal attainment of the truth1 and the transition from one form of life to another4 ,this other method of attaining a newly revealed truth and transition to a new structure of life consists in this1 that men do not attain the truth simply because they perceive it with a prophetic feeling or experience of life1 but also because at a certain stage of the dissemination of the truth all men who stand on a lower stage of development accept it all at once1 out of confidence in those who have accepted it in an internal way1 and apply it to life4 ,every new truth1 which changes the composition of human life and moves humanity forward1 is at first accepted by only a very small number of men1 who understand it in an internal way4 ,the rest1 who out of confidence had accepted the previous truth1 on which the existing order is based1 always oppose the dissemination of the new truth4 ,but since1 in the first place1 men do not stand still1 but incessantly move forward1 comprehending the truth more and more1 and approaching it with their lives1 and1 in the second place1 all of them1 through their age1 education1 and race1 are predisposed to a gradation of men1 from those who are most capable to comprehend newly revealed truths in an internal way to those who are least capable to do so1 the men who stand nearest to those who have attained the truth in an internal way one after another1 at first after long periods of time1 and then more and more frequently1 pass over to the side of the new truth1 and the number of men who recognize the new truth grows larger and larger1 and the truth grows all the time more and more comprehensible4 ,the greater the number of men who attain the truth and the more the truth is comprehensible1 the more confidence is evoked in the rest of the men1 who in their ability to comprehend stand on a lower stage1 and the easier does the attainment of the truth grow for them1 and the greater is the number who make the truth their own4 ,thus the movement keeps accelerating and accelerating1 expanding and expanding1 like a snowball1 until there germinates a public opinion which is in accord with the new truth1 and the remaining mass of men no longer singly1 but in a body1 under the pressure of this force1 passes over to the side of the new truth1 and a new structure of life is established1 which is in agreement with this truth4 ,men who pass over to the side of a new truth which has reached a certain degree of dissemination always do so all at once1 in a mass1 and they are like that ballast with which every vessel is laden all at once for its stable equilibrium and regular course4 ,if there were no ballast1 the vessel would not stay in the water1 and would be changing its course with the least change in conditions4 ,this ballast1 though at first it seems to be superfluous and even to retard the ship's motion1 is a necessary condition of its regular motion4 ,the same is true of that mass of men who1 not one by one1 but always all together1 under the influence of a new public opinion1 pass over from one concept of life to another4 ,by its inertia this mass always retards the rapid1 frequent transitions1 unverified by human wisdom1 from one structure of life to another1 and for a long time retains every truth which1 verified by a long experience of a struggle1 has entered into the consciousness of humanity4 ,and so there is no truth in the reflection that1 if only a small1 a very small1 part of humanity has attained the ,christian truth in the course of eighteen centuries1 the whole of humanity will attain it only in many1 many times eighteen hundred years1 that is1 that it is so far away that we of the present time need not even think of it4 ,it is untrue1 because the men who stand on a lower stage of development1 those very nations and people whom the defenders of the existing order represent as a hindrance for the realization of the ,christian structure of life1 are the same people who always at once1 in a mass1 pass over to the side of a truth which is accepted by public opinion4 ,therefore the change in the life of humanity1 the one in consequence of which men in power will renounce the power and among the men who submit to power there will not be found such as are desirous of seizing it1 will not arrive when all men one after another to the very last shall have consciously attained the ,christian life-conception1 but when there arises a definite1 easily comprehensible ,christian public opinion which will conquer all that inert mass that is unable by an internal way to attain the truths and so is always subject to the effect of public opinion4 ,but public opinion to arise and be diffused does not need hundreds and thousands of years1 and has the property of acting infectiously upon people and with great rapidity embracing large numbers of men4 ,but if it is even true1 the defenders of the existing order will say1 that public opinion1 at a certain stage of its definiteness and lucidity1 is able to make the inert mass of men outside the ,christian societies1--the non-,christian nations1--and corrupt and coarse men1 who live within the societies1 submit to it1 what are the symptoms that this ,christian public opinion has arisen and may take the place of violence8 ,it is not right for us to take the risk and reject violence1 by which the existing order is maintained1 and to depend on the impalpable and indefinite force of public opinion1 leaving it to the savage men outside and inside the societies with impunity to rob1 kill1 and in every way violate the ,christians4 ,if with the aid of the power we with difficulty eddy away from the non-,christian elements1 which are ever ready to inundate us and destroy all the progress of the ,christian civilization1 is there1 in the first place1 a probability that public opinion can take the part of this force and make us secure1 and1 in the second1 how are we to find that moment when public opinion has become so strong that it can take the place of the power8 ,to remove the power and to depend for our self-defence on nothing but public opinion means to act as senselessly as would a man who in a menagerie would throw away his weapons and let out all the lions and tigers from their cages1 depending on the fact that the animals in the cages and in the presence of heated rods appeared tame4 ,and so the men who have the power1 who by fate or by ,god are placed in the position of the ruling1 have no right to risk the ruin of all the progress of civilization1 only because they would like to make an experiment as to whether public opinion can take the place of the protection of power1 and so must not give up their power4 ,the ,french writer1 ,alphonse ,karr1 now forgotten1 has said somewhere1 when speaking of the impossibility of abolishing capital punishment1 ,que ,messieurs les assassins commencent par nous donner l'exemple1 and many times after that have ,i heard the repetition of this joke by men who thought that with these words they gave a conclusive and clever argument against the abolition of capital punishment4 ,and yet it is impossible more lucidly to express all that falseness of the argument of those who think that the governments cannot give up their power so long as men are capable of it1 than by this very joke4 ,let the assassins1 say the defenders of the violence of state1 set us the example1 by abolishing murder1 and then we shall abolish it4 ,but the assassins say the same1 only with greater right4 ,the assassins say1 ,let those who have undertaken to teach and guide us set us the example of abolishing murder1 and then we will follow them4 ,and they do not say so for a joke1 but in all seriousness1 because such indeed is the state of affairs4 ,we cannot desist from violence1 because we are on all sides surrounded by violators4 ,nothing in our day interferes more than this false consideration with the forward motion of humanity and the establishment among it of that structure of life which is already proper for its present consciousness4 ,the men in power are convinced that it is only violence that moves and guides men1 and so they boldly use violence for the maintenance of the present order of things4 ,but the existing order is not maintained through violence1 but through public opinion1 the effect of which is impaired by violence4 ,thus the activity of violence weakens and impairs precisely what it intends to maintain4 ,violence1 in the best case1 if it does not pursue only the personal ends of men in power1 always denies and condemns by the one immovable form of the law what for the most part has been denied and condemned before by public opinion1 but with this difference1 that1 while public opinion denies and condemns all acts which are contrary to the moral law1 embracing in its condemnation the most varied propositions1 the law which is supported by violence condemns and persecutes only a certain1 very narrow order of acts1 thus1 as it were1 justifying all the acts of the same order which have not entered into its definition4 ,public opinion has ever since the time of ,moses considered avarice1 debauchery1 and cruelty to be evil1 and has condemned them2 and this public opinion denies and condemns every kind of a manifestation of avarice1--not only the acquisition of another man's property by means of violence1 deceit1 and cunning1 but also a cruel usufruct of the same2 it condemns every kind of debauchery1 be it fornication with a concubine1 or a slave1 a divorced wife1 or even one's own wife2 it condemns every cruelty which is expressed in assaults1 in bad treatment1 in the murder1 not only of men1 but also of animals4 ,but the law1 which is based on violence1 prosecutes only certain forms of avarice1 such as theft1 rascality1 and certain forms of debauchery and cruelty1 such as the violation of marital fidelity1 murders1 crippling1--therefore1 as it were1 permitting all those phases of avarice1 debauchery1 and cruelty which do not fit in with the narrow definition1 which is subject to misinterpretations4 ,but not only does violence distort public opinion1--it also produces in men that pernicious conviction that men are not moved by spiritual force1 which is the source of every forward movement of humanity1 but by violence1--that very action which not only does not bring people nearer to truth1 but always removes them from it4 ,this delusion is pernicious in that it compels men to neglect the fundamental force of their life1--their spiritual activity1--and to transfer all their attention and energy to the superficial1 idle1 and for the most part harmful1 activity of violence4 ,this delusion is like the one men would be in if they wished to make a locomotive move by turning its wheels with their hands1 forgetting entirely that the prime cause of its motion is the expansion of steam and not the motion of the wheels4 ,men who would turn the wheels with their hands and with levers would produce nothing but a semblance of motion1 in the meantime bending the wheels and interfering with the possibility of the locomotive's real motion4 ,it is this that men do when they want to move men by means of external violence4 ,men say that a ,christian life without violence cannot be established1 because there are savage nations outside of ,christian society1--in ,africa1 in ,asia 7some people represent the ,chinese as such a peril for our civilization71--and there are such savage1 corrupt1 and1 according to the new theory of heredity1 confirmed criminals amidst ,christian societies2 and that violence is needed for the purpose of keeping either from destroying our civilization4 ,but those savage men1 outside and within the societies1 with whom we frighten ourselves and others1 have never submitted to violence1 and are not even now conquered by it4 ,nations have never subjugated other nations by violence alone4 ,if a nation which subjugated another stood on a lower stage of development1 there was always repeated the phenomenon that it did not introduce its structure of life by means of violence1 but1 on the contrary1 always submitted to the structure of life which existed in the conquered nation4 ,if a nation1 crushed by force1 is subjugated or close to subjugation1 it is so only through public opinion1 and by no means through violence1 which1 on the contrary1 provokes the nation more and more4 ,if men have ever been subjugated by whole nations to a new religious confession1 and by whole nations have been baptized or have passed over to ,mohammedanism1 these transformations did not take place because men in power compelled them to do so 7violence has1 on the contrary1 more frequently encouraged the movements in the opposite direction71 but because public opinion compelled them to do so2 but the nations that were compelled by force to accept the faiths of their conquerors have never accepted them4 ,the same is true in respect to those savage elements which exist within the societies3 it is not the increase nor the decrease of the severity of punishments1 nor the change of prisons1 nor the increase of the police1 that diminish or increase the number of crimes1--it is changed only in consequence of the change in public opinion4 ,no severities have eradicated duels and vendettas in some countries4 ,no matter how much the ,circassians may be punished for theft1 they continue to steal out of bravado1 because not one maiden will marry a man who has not shown his daring1 by stealing a horse1 or at least a sheep4 ,if men shall stop fighting duels and ,circassians shall stop stealing1 this will not be so because they are afraid of punishment 7the fear of being punished only increases the charm of the daring71 but because public opinion will be changed4 ,the same is true in all other crimes4 ,violence can never destroy what is accepted by public opinion4 ,on the contrary1 public opinion need only be diametrically opposed to violence to destroy its every action1 as has always been the case with every martyrdom4 ,we do not know what would happen if no violence were exerted against hostile nations and criminal elements of society4 ,but that the employment of violence at the present time does not subjugate either of them1 that we know from protracted experience4 ,indeed1 how can we subjugate by force the nations whose whole education1 all whose traditions1 even religious teaching1 leads them to see the highest virtue in a struggle with their enslavers and in striving after liberty8 ,and how are we forcibly to eradicate crimes in the midst of our societies1 when what by the governments are considered to be crimes are considered to be virtues by public opinion4 ,it is possible by means of violence to destroy such nations and such men1 as is indeed done1 but it is impossible to subjugate them4 ,the judge of everything1 the fundamental force which moves men and nations1 has always been the one invisible1 impalpable force1--the resultant of all the spiritual forces of a certain aggregate of men and of all humanity1 which is expressed in public opinion4 ,violence only weakens this force1 retards1 and distorts it1 and puts in its place another activity1 which is not only not useful1 but even harmful for the forward movement of humanity4 ,to subjugate to ,christianity all the wild people outside the ,christian world1--all the ,zulus1 ,manchurians1 and ,chinese1 whom many consider to be wild1--and the savages within the ,christian world1 there is one1 only one means1--the dissemination among these nations of a ,christian public opinion1 which is established only through a ,christian life1 ,christian acts1 ,christian examples4 ,and so in order to conquer the nations which have remained unconquered by ,christianity1 the men of our time1 who possess one1 and only one1 means for this purpose1 do precisely the opposite of what might attain their end4 ,to conquer to ,christianity the wild nations1 who do not touch us and who do not in any way provoke us to oppress them1 we--instead of leaving them first of all alone1 and1 in case of necessity or of a wish to get in closer relations with them1 acting upon them only through a ,christian relation to them1 through the ,christian teaching as proved by truly ,christian acts of suffering1 humility1 abstinence1 purity1 brotherhood1 love--begin by this1 that we open among them new markets for our commerce1 with nothing but our advantage in view1 seize their land1 that is1 rob them1 sell them wine1 tobacco1 opium1 that is1 corrupt them1 and establish among them our order1 teach them violence and all its methods1 that is1 the following of nothing but the animal law of struggle1 below which no man can descend1 and we do everything which can be done in order to conceal from them whatever of ,christianity there is in us4 ,and after that we send to them about two dozen missionaries1 who prattle some hypocritical ecclesiastic absurdities and1 in the shape of incontrovertible proofs of the impossibility of applying the ,christian truths to life1 adduce these our experiments at the ,christianization of the savages4 ,the same is true of the so-called criminals1 who live within our societies4 ,to subjugate these men to ,christianity1 there is but one1 the only way1--the ,christian public opinion1 which can be established among these men only by means of the true ,christian teaching1 confirmed by a true1 ,christian example of life4 ,and so1 to preach this ,christian teaching and confirm it by a ,christian example1 we establish among these people agonizing prisons1 guillotines1 gallows1 capital punishments1 preparations for murder1 for which we use all our strength2 we establish for the common people idolatrous doctrines1 which are to stupefy them2 we establish the governmental sale of intoxicants1--wine1 tobacco1 opium2 we establish even prostitution2 we give the land to those who do not need it2 we establish spectacles of senseless luxury amidst wretchedness2 we destroy every possibility of every semblance of a ,christian public opinion2 we cautiously destroy the established ,christian public opinion1--and then we quote these very men1 who have carefully been corrupted by ourselves1 and whom we lock up1 like wild beasts1 in places from which they cannot get away1 and in which they grow more bestial still1 or whom we kill1 as examples of the impossibility of acting upon them otherwise than through violence4 ,what takes place is like what happens when conscientious ignorant physicians place a patient who has been cured by the force of ,nature under most unhygienic conditions and stuff him full of poisonous medicines1 and then claim that it was only thanks to their hygiene and care that the patient did not die1 whereas the sick man would have been well long ago1 if they had left him alone4 ,violence1 which is put forth as the instrument for maintaining the ,christian structure of life1 not only does not produce this effect1 but1 on the contrary1 prevents the social structure from being what it could and should be4 ,the social structure is such as it is1 not thanks to violence1 but in spite of it4 ,and so there is no truth in the assertion of the defenders of the existing order1 that1 if violence barely keeps the evil non-,christian elements of humanity from attacking us1 the abolition of violence and the substitution of public opinion for it will not protect humanity4 ,it is not true1 because violence does not protect humanity1 but1 on the contrary1 deprives humanity of the one possibility of a true protection through the establishment and diffusion of the ,christian public opinion as regards the existing order of life4 ,only with the abolition of violence will ,christian public opinion cease to be corrupt1 and receive the possibility of an unimpeded diffusion1 and men will not direct their strength toward what they do not need1 but toward the one spiritual force which moves them4 ,but how can we reject the visible1 palpable protection of the policeman with his revolver1 and depend on something invisible1 impalpable1--the public opinion8 ,does it still exist1 or not8 ,above all else1 we know the order of things in which we live4 ,be it good or bad1 we know its defects and are used to it2 we know how to act1 what to do under present conditions2 but what will happen when we reject them and depend on something invisible1 impalpable1 and entirely unknown8 ,and the uncertainty upon which men enter1 when rejecting the known order of things1 seems terrible to them4 ,it is all very well to be afraid of the uncertainty1 when our position is firm and secure2 but our position is not only not secure1--we know for certain that we are standing on the brink of perdition4 ,if we have to be afraid of something1 let us be afraid of what is really terrible1 and not of what we only imagine to be terrible4 ,in our fear to make an effort to tear ourselves away from the conditions which ruin us1 only because the future is not quite certain to us1 we resemble the passengers of a sinking ship1 who1 for fear of stepping into a boat which is to take them to the shore1 retreat to their cabins and refuse to come out from them2 or those sheep which1 out of fear of the fire which has enveloped the whole yard1 press close under the penthouses and do not walk through the open gates4 ,how can we1 who are standing on the threshold of a war of inner revolutions1 which is terrifying by its wretchedness and destructiveness1 and in comparison with which1 as those who are preparing it say1 the terrors of the year '#ic will be play1 speak of a danger which is threatened us by the ,dahomeans1 the ,zulus1 etc41 who live far1 far away1 and do not think of attacking us1 and by those few thousands of robbers1 thieves1 and murderers1 whom we ourselves have stupefied and corrupted1 and whose number is not at all diminishing as the result of all our courts1 prisons1 and capital punishments8 ,besides1 this fear of the abolition of the visible protection of the policeman is preminently a fear of city people1 that is1 of people who live under abnormal and artificial conditions4 ,men who live under normal conditions of life1 not amidst cities1 but amidst ,nature1 struggling with it1 live without this protection and know how little violence can protect them against the actual dangers with which they are surrounded4 ,in this fear there is something morbid1 which depends mainly on those false conditions under which many of us live and have grown up4 ,an alienist told me how one summer day he was accompanied by his insane patients as far as the gate of the hospital which he was leaving4 ,come with me to the city1 the doctor proposed to them4 ,the patients agreed to it1 and a small crowd followed the doctor4 ,but the farther they proceeded along the street1 where took place the free motion of sound men1 the more did they feel timid1 and the more did they press close to the doctor1 retarding his walk4 ,finally1 they all began to ask him to take them back to the hospital1 to their senseless1 but habitual mode of life1 to their guards1 their blows1 their long sleeves1 their solitary cells4 ,even thus men press close and hanker after their senseless structure of life1 their factories1 courts1 prisons1 capital punishments1 wars1 though ,christianity calls them to freedom1 to the free1 rational life of the future1 the imminent age4 ,men say1 ,by what shall we be made secure1 when the existing order is destroyed8 ,what will the new orders be which will take the place of those of the present time1 and in what will they consist8 ,so long as we do not know how our life will be composed1 we shall not move on or budge from our place4 ,this demand is what the explorer of new countries might put forth1 in demanding a detailed description of the country into which he is entering4 ,if the life of the individual man1 in passing from one age to another1 were fully known to him1 he would have no reason for living4 ,the same is true of the life of humanity3 if it had a programme of the life which awaits it as it enters upon its new age1 this would be the surest symptom that it is not living1 does not move on1 but is whirling about in one spot4 ,the conditions of the new structure of life cannot be known to us1 because they have to be worked out by ourselves4 ,in this alone does life consist1 namely1 in recognizing the unknown and conforming our activity to this new cognition4 ,in this does the life of every individual and the life of human societies and of humanity consist4 ,,xi4 ,the condition of ,christian humanity1 with its prisons1 hard labour1 gallows1 with its factories1 accumulations of capital1 with its taxes1 churches1 saloons1 houses of ill fame1 ever growing armaments1 and millions of stupefied men1 who are ready1 like chained dogs1 to thrust themselves upon those the masters may set them on1 would be terrible if it were the product of violence1 whereas it is above all the product of public opinion4 ,but what is established by public opinion not only can be1 but actually is1 destroyed by it4 ,hundreds of millions in money1 tens of millions of disciplined men1 implements of destruction of wonderful power1 with an organization which of late has been carried to the highest degree of perfection1 with a whole army of men whose calling it is to deceive and hypnotize the masses1 and all this1 by means of electricity1 which annihilates space1 subjected to men1 who not only consider such a structure of society to be advantageous for them1 but even such that without it they would inevitably perish1 and who1 therefore1 use every effort of their minds in order to maintain it1--what an invincible force1 one would think6 ,and yet1 one needs but get a conception of what it all tends to and what no one can keep back1--that among men there will be established a ,christian public opinion1 with the same force and universality as the pagan public opinion1 and that it will take the place of the pagan one1 that the majority of men will be just as ashamed of all participation in violence and its exploitation as men are now ashamed of rascality1 stealing1 beggary1 cowardice1 and immediately this complex and apparently powerful structure of life falls of its own accord1 without any struggle4 ,it is not necessary for anything new to enter into the consciousness of men1 but only for the mist to disappear1 which conceals from men the true meaning of some acts of violence1 in order that this may happen and the growing ,christian public opinion should get the better of the obsolescent pagan public opinion1 which admitted and justified acts of violence4 ,all that is needed is that men should feel as much ashamed of doing acts of violence1 of taking part in them1 and exploiting them1 as it is now a disgrace to pass for a rascal1 a thief1 a coward1 a beggar4 ,and it is precisely this that is beginning to happen4 ,we do not notice it1 just as men do not notice any motion1 when they move together with everything surrounding them4 ,it is true1 the structure of life in its main features remains as violent in nature as it was one hundred years ago1 and not only the same1 but in some relations1 especially in the preparations for war and in the wars themselves1 it appears to be even more cruel2 but the germinating ,christian public opinion1 which at a certain stage of its development is to change the whole pagan structure of life1 is beginning to be active4 ,the dried-up tree stands apparently as firm as before1--it even looks firmer1 because it is rougher1--but it is already weakened at the pith and is getting ready to fall4 ,the same is true of the present structure of life1 which is based on violence4 ,the external condition of men is the same3 some are the violators1 as before1 and others are the violated2 but the view of the violators and the violated upon the meaning and worth of the position of either has changed4 ,the violating people1 that is1 those who take part in the government1 and those who make use of the violence1 that is1 the rich1 no longer represent1 as formerly1 the flower of society and the ideal of human well-being and grandeur1 toward which all the violated used to strive4 ,now very frequently it is not so much the violated who strive after the position of the violators and try to imitate them1 as the violators1 who frequently of their own free will renounce the advantages of their position1 choose the condition of the violated1 and try in simplicity of life to emulate the violated4 ,to say nothing of the now openly despised occupations and offices1 such as those of spies1 agents of secret police1 usurers1 saloon-keepers1 a large number of occupations of violators1 which formerly used to be considered respectable1 such as those of policemen1 courtiers1 members of courts1 the administration1 the clergy1 the military1 monopolists1 bankers1 not only are not considered by all to be desirable1 but are even condemned by a certain most respectable circle of men4 ,there are now men who voluntarily renounce these positions1 which heretofore were considered to be above reproach1 and who prefer less advantageous positions1 which are not connected with violence4 ,it is not only men of the state1 but also rich men1 who1 not from a religious feeling1 as used to be the case1 but only from a peculiar sensitiveness for the germinating public opinion1 refuse to receive their inherited fortunes1 considering it just to use only so much as they earn by their own labour4 ,the conditions of the participant in the government and of the rich man no longer present themselves1 as they presented themselves formerly and even now present themselves among the non-,christian nations1 as unquestionably honourable and worthy of respect and as divine blessings4 ,very sensitive1 moral men 7they are for the most part the most highly cultured7 avoid these conditions and prefer more modest ones1 which are independent of violence4 ,the best young men1 at an age when they are not yet corrupted by life and when they choose a career1 prefer the activities of physicians1 technologists1 teachers1 artists1 writers1 even simply of agriculturists1 who live by their own labour1 to positions in courts1 in the administration1 in the church1 and in the army1 which are paid by the government1 or the positions of men who live on their own incomes4 ,the majority of monuments which are now erected are no longer in commemoration of men of state1 of generals1 and less certainly not of the rich1 but of the learned1 of artists1 of inventors1 of men who have not only had nothing in common with the governments1 or with the authorities1 but who frequently have struggled against them4 ,it is not so much men of state and rich men1 as learned men and artists1 who are extolled in poetry1 represented in plastic art1 and honoured with festive jubilees4 ,the best men of our time tend toward these most honoured positions1 and so the circle from which the men of state and the rich come is growing smaller and smaller1 so that in intellect1 culture1 and especially in moral qualities1 the men who now stand at the head of governments1 and the rich no longer represent1 as in olden times1 the flower of society1 but1 on the contrary1 stand below the average4 ,as in ,russia and in ,turkey1 so in ,america and in ,france1 no matter how much the governments may change their officials1 the majority of them are selfish and venal men1 who stand on so low a level of morality that they do not satisfy even those low demands of simple integrity which the governments make upon them4 ,we now frequently get to hear the nave regrets of men of state1 because the best men by some strange accident1 as they think1 are always in the hostile camp4 ,it is as though men should complain that by a strange accident it is always men with little refinement1 who are not particularly good1 that become hangmen4 ,the majority of rich men1 similarly1 in our time are no longer composed of the most refined and cultured men of society1 as used to be the case1 but of coarse accumulators of wealth1 who are interested only in their enrichment1 for the most part by dishonest means1 or of degenerating descendants of these accumulators1 who not only do not play any prominent part in society1 but in the majority of cases are subject to universal contempt4 ,not only is the circle of men1 from which the servants of the government and the rich men are chosen1 growing all the time smaller and smaller1 and more and more debased1 but these men themselves no longer ascribe to the positions which they hold their former significance1 and frequently1 being ashamed of them1 to the disadvantage of the cause which they serve1 neglect to carry out what by their position they are called upon to do4 ,kings and emperors have the management of hardly anything1 hardly ever have the courage to make internal changes and to enter into new external political conditions1 but for the most part leave the solution of these questions to state institutions or to public opinion4 ,all their duties reduce themselves to being the representatives of state unity and supremacy4 ,but even this duty they are performing worse and worse4 ,the majority of them not only do not keep themselves in their former inaccessible grandeur1 but1 on the contrary1 are becoming more and more democratized1 and even keep low company1 throwing off their last external prestige1 that is1 violating precisely what they are called upon to maintain4 ,the same takes place among the military4 ,the military men of the higher ranks1 instead of encouraging the coarseness and cruelty of the soldiers1 which are necessary for their business1 themselves disseminate culture among the military1 preach humanitarianism1 and frequently themselves share the socialistic convictions of the masses1 and reject war4 ,in the late plots against the ,russian government1 many of those mixed up with them were army men4 ,the number of these military plotters is growing larger and larger4 ,very frequently it happens1 as was the case lately1 that the soldiers1 who are called upon to pacify the inhabitants1 refuse to shoot at them4 ,military bravado is directly condemned by army men themselves1 and frequently serves as a subject for ridicule4 ,the same is true of judges and prosecuting attorneys3 judges1 whose duty it is to judge and sentence criminals1 manage the proceedings in such a way as to discharge them1 so that the ,russian government1 to have men sentenced that it wants to have sentenced1 never subjects them to common courts1 but turns them over to so-called military courts1 which represent but a semblance of courts4 ,the same is true of prosecuting attorneys1 who frequently refuse to prosecute1 and1 instead of prosecuting1 circumvent the law1 defending those whom they should prosecute4 ,learned jurists1 who are obliged to justify the violence of power1 more and more deny the right to punish1 and in its place introduce theories of irresponsibility1 and even not of the correction1 but of the cure of those whom they call criminals4 ,jailers and superintendents of hard-labour convicts for the most part become defenders of those whom they are supposed to torture4 ,gendarmes and spies constantly save those whom they are supposed to ruin4 ,clerical persons preach toleration1 often also the negation of violence1 and the more cultured among them try in their sermons to avoid the lie which forms the whole meaning of their position and which they are called upon to preach4 ,executioners refuse to carry out their duties1 so that in ,russia capital punishment can frequently not be carried out for want of executioners1 since1 in spite of the advantages held out to make hard-labour convicts become executioners1 there is an ever decreasing number of such as are willing to take up the duty4 ,governors1 rural judges and officers1 collectors of taxes1 publicans1 pitying the people1 frequently try to find excuses for not collecting the taxes from them4 ,rich men cannot make up their minds to use their wealth for themselves alone1 but distribute it for public purposes4 ,landowners erect on their lands hospitals and schools1 and some of them even renounce the ownership of land and transfer it to the agriculturists1 or establish communes on it4 ,manufacturers build hospitals1 schools1 houses for their workmen1 and establish savings-banks and pensions2 some establish companies1 in which they take an equal share with other shareholders4 ,capitalists give part of their capital for public1 educational1 artistic1 philanthropic institutions4 ,unable to part from their wealth during their lifetime1 many of them will it away after their death in favour of public institutions4 ,all these phenomena might appear accidental1 if they did not all reduce themselves to one common cause1 just as it might seem accidental that the buds should swell on some of the trees in spring1 if we did not know that the cause of it is the common spring1 and that1 if the buds have begun to swell on some of the trees1 the same no doubt will happen with all of the trees4 ,the same is true in the manifestation of the ,christian public opinion as regards the significance of violence and of what is based upon it4 ,if this public opinion is already influencing some very sensitive men1 and causes them1 each in his own business1 to renounce the privileges which violence grants1 or not to use them1 it will continue to act on others1 and will act until it will change the whole activity of men and will bring them in agreement with that ,christian consciousness which is already living among the leading men of humanity4 ,and if there now are rulers who do not have the courage to undertake anything in the name of their own power1 and who try as much as possible to resemble1 not monarchs1 but the simplest mortals1 and who show their readiness to renounce their prerogatives and to become the first citizens of their republics2 and if there are now army men who understand all the evil and sinfulness of war and do not wish to shoot at men belonging to another nation1 or to their own2 and judges and prosecuting attorneys1 who do not wish to prosecute and condemn criminals2 and clergymen1 who renounce their lie2 and publicans1 who try as little as possible to perform what they are called upon to perform2 and rich men1 who give up their wealth1--the same will inevitably happen with other governments1 other army men1 other members of the court1 clergymen1 publicans1 and rich men4 ,and when there shall be no men to hold these positions1 there will be none of these positions and no violence4 ,but it is not by this road alone that public opinion leads men to the abolition of the existing order and the substitution of another for it4 ,in proportion as the positions of violence become less and less attractive1 and there are fewer and fewer men willing to occupy them1 their uselessness becomes more and more apparent4 ,in the ,christian world there are the same rulers and governments1 the same courts1 the same publicans1 the same clergy1 the same rich men1 landowners1 manufacturers1 and capitalists1 as before1 but there is an entirely different relation of men toward men and of the men themselves toward their positions4 ,it is still the same rulers1 the same meetings1 and chases1 and feasts1 and balls1 and uniforms1 and the same diplomats1 and talks about alliances and wars2 the same parliaments1 in which they still discuss ,eastern and ,african questions1 and alliances1 and breaches of relations1 and ,home ,rule1 and an eight-hour day4 ,and the ministries give way to one another in the same way1 and there are the same speeches1 the same incidents4 ,but men who see how one article in a newspaper changes the state of affairs more than dozens of meetings of monarchs and sessions of parliaments1 see more and more clearly that it is not the meetings and rendezvous and the discussions in the parliaments that guide the affairs of men1 but something independent of all this1 which is not centred anywhere4 ,there are the same generals1 and officers1 and soldiers1 and guns1 and fortresses1 and parades1 and manuvres1 but there has been no war for a year1 ten1 twenty years1 and1 besides1 one can depend less on the military for the suppression of riots1 and it is getting clearer and clearer that1 therefore1 generals1 and officers1 and soldiers are only members of festive processions1--objects of amusement for rulers1 large1 rather expensive corps-de-ballet4 ,there are the same prosecutors and judges1 and the same proceedings1 but it is getting clearer and clearer that1 since civil cases are decided on the basis of all kinds of considerations except that of justice1 and since criminal cases have no sense1 because punishments attain no purpose admitted even by the judges1 these institutions have no other significance than that of serving as a means for supporting men who are not fit for anything more useful4 ,there are the same clergymen1 and bishops1 and churches1 and synods1 but it is becoming clearer and clearer to all men that these men have long ago ceased to believe in what they preach1 and that1 therefore1 they cannot convince any one of the necessity of believing in what they themselves do not believe4 ,there are the same collectors of taxes1 but they are becoming less and less capable of taking away by force people's property1 and it is becoming clearer and clearer that people can without collectors of taxes collect all that is necessary by subscribing it voluntarily4 ,there are the same rich men1 but it is becoming clearer and clearer that they can be useful only in proportion as they cease to be personal managers of their wealth and give to society all1 or at least a part1 of their fortunes4 ,when all this shall become completely clear to all1 it will be natural for men to ask themselves1 ,but why should we feed and maintain all these kings1 emperors1 presidents1 and members of all kinds of ,chambers and ministries1 if nothing results from all their meetings and discussions8 ,would it not be better1 as some jester said1 to make a queen out of rubber8 ,and what good to us are the armies1 with their generals1 and music1 and cavalry1 and drums8 ,what good are they when there is no war and no one wants to conquer any one1 and when1 even if there is a war1 the other nations do not let us profit from it1 and the troops refuse to shoot at their own people8 ,and what good are judges and prosecutors who in civil cases do not decide according to justice and in criminal cases know themselves that all punishments are useless8 ,and of what use are collectors of taxes who unwillingly collect the taxes1 while what is needed is collected without them8 ,and of what use is the clergy1 which has long ago ceased to believe in what it preaches8 ,and of what use is capital in private hands1 when it can be of use only by becoming the common possession8 ,and having once asked themselves this1 people cannot help but come to the conclusion that they ought not to support all these useless institutions4 ,but not only will the men who support these institutions arrive at the necessity of abolishing them1--the men themselves who occupy these positions will simultaneously or even earlier be brought to the necessity of giving up their positions4 ,public opinion more and more condemns violence1 and so men1 more and more submitting to public opinion1 are less and less desirous of holding their positions1 which are maintained by violence1 and those who hold these positions are less and less able to make use of violence4 ,but by not using violence1 and yet remaining in positions which are conditioned by violence1 the men who occupy these positions become more and more useless4 ,and this uselessness1 which is more and more felt by those who maintain these positions and by those who hold them1 will finally be such that there will be found no men to maintain them and none who would be willing to hold them4 ,once ,i was present in ,moscow at some discussions about faith1 which1 as usual1 took place during ,quasimodo week near a church in ,hunter's ,row4 ,about twenty men were gathered on the sidewalk1 and a serious discussion on religion was going on4 ,at the same time there was some kind of a concert in the adjoining building of the ,assembly of ,noblemen1 and an officer of police1 noticing a crowd of people gathered near the church1 sent a mounted gendarme to order them to disperse4 ,the officer had personally no desire that they should disperse4 ,the crowd of twenty men were in nobody's way1 but the officer had been standing there the whole morning1 and he had to do something4 ,the gendarme1 a young lad1 with his right arm jauntily akimbo and clattering sword1 rode up to us and shouted commandingly1 ,scatter6 ,what are you doing there8 ,everybody looked at the gendarme1 and one of the speakers1 a modest man in a long coat1 said calmly and kindly3 ,we are talking about something important1 and there is no reason why we should scatter4 ,young man1 you had better get down and listen to what we are talking about1--it will do you good1 and turning away1 he continued his discourse4 ,the gendarme made no reply1 wheeled his horse around1 and rode off4 ,the same thing must happen in all matters of violence4 ,the officer feels ennui1 he has nothing to do2 the poor fellow is placed in a position where he must command4 ,he is deprived of all human life1 and all he can do is to look and command1 to command and look1 though his commands and his watching are of no earthly use4 ,in such a condition all those unfortunate rulers1 ministers1 members of parliaments1 governors1 generals1 officers1 bishops1 clergymen1 even rich men are now partly and soon will be completely4 ,they can do nothing else but command1 and they command and send their messengers1 as the officer sends his gendarme1 to be in people's way1 and since the people whom they trouble turn to them with the request that they be left alone1 they imagine that they are indispensable4 ,but the time is coming1 and will soon be here1 when it shall be quite clear for all men that they are not any good and are only in the way of people1 and the people whom they bother will say to them kindly and meekly1 as that man in the long overcoat1 ,please1 do not bother us4 ,and all the messengers and senders will have to follow that good advice1 that is1 stop riding with arms akimbo among the people1 bothering them1 and get down from their hobbies1 take off their attire1 listen to what people have to say1 and1 joining them1 take hold with them of the true human work4 ,the time is coming1 and will inevitably come1 when all the institutions of violence of our time will be destroyed in consequence of their too obvious uselessness1 silliness1 and even indecency4 ,the time must come1 when with the men of our world1 who hold positions that are given by violence1 will happen what happened with the king in ,andersen's fable1 ,the ,new ,royal ,garment1 when a small child1 seeing the naked king1 navely called out1 ,behold1 he is naked6 and all those who had seen it before1 but had not expressed it1 could no longer conceal it4 ,the point of the fable is this1 that to the king1 a lover of new garments1 there come some tailors who promise to make him an extraordinary garment4 ,the king hires the tailors1 and they begin to sew1 having informed him that the peculiarity of their garment is this1 that he who is useless in his office cannot see the garments4 ,the courtiers come to see the work of the tailors1 but they see nothing1 as the tailors stick their needles into empty space4 ,but1 mindful of the condition1 all the courtiers say that they see the garment1 and they praise it4 ,the king does the same4 ,the time arrives for the procession1 when the king is to appear in his new garment4 ,the king undresses himself and puts on his new garments1 that is1 he remains naked1 and goes naked through the city4 ,but1 mindful of the condition1 no one dares to say that there are no garments1 until a small child calls out1 ,behold1 he is naked6 ,the same thing must happen with all those who from inertia hold offices which have long ago become useless1 when the first man who is not interested 7as the proverb has it1 ,one hand washes the other71 in concealing the uselessness of these institutions1 will point out their uselessness and will navely call out1 ,but1 good people1 they have long ago ceased to be good for anything4 ,the condition of ,christian humanity1 with its fortresses1 guns1 dynamite1 cannon1 torpedoes1 prisons1 gallows1 churches1 factories1 custom-houses1 palaces1 is indeed terrible2 but neither fortresses1 nor cannon1 nor guns shoot themselves at any one1 prisons do not themselves lock any one up1 the gallows does not hang any one1 the churches do not of themselves deceive any one1 the custom-houses hold no one back1 palaces and factories do not erect and maintain themselves1 but everything is done by men4 ,but when men understand that this ought not to be done1 there will be none of these things4 ,men are already beginning to understand this4 ,if not all men understand it as yet1 the leaders among men do1 those after whom follow all other men4 ,and what the leaders have once come to understand1 they can never stop understanding1 and what the leaders have come to understand1 all other men not only can1 but inevitably must understand4 ,thus the prediction that the time will come when all men shall be instructed by ,god1 shall stop warring1 shall forge the swords into ploughshares and the spears into pruning-hooks1 that is1 translating into our language1 when all the prisons1 fortresses1 barracks1 palaces1 churches1 shall remain empty1 and all the gallows1 guns1 cannon1 shall remain unused1 is no longer a dream1 but a definite1 new form of life1 toward which humanity is moving with ever increasing rapidity4 ,but when shall this be8 ,eighteen hundred years ago ,christ answered this question by saying that the end of the present world1 that is1 of the pagan structure of the world1 would come when the calamities of men should be increased to their farthest limit and at the same time the gospel of the kingdom of ,god1 that is1 the possibility of a new1 violenceless structure of the world1 should be preached in all the world 7,matt4 xxiv4 #c-bh74 ,but of that day and hour knoweth no man1 but my ,father only 7,matt4 xxiv4 #cf71 is what ,christ says1 for it may come any time1 at any moment1 even when we do not expect it4 ,in reply to the question when this hour shall arrive1 ,christ says that we cannot know it2 but for the very reason that we do not know the time of its coming1 we should not only be at all times prepared to meet it1 as must be the goodman watching the house1 and the virgins with their lamps going forth to meet the bridegroom1 but also we should work with all our strength for the coming of that hour1 as the servants had to work for the talents given to them 7,matt4 xxiv4 #dc2 xxv4 #a-cj74 ,in reply to the question when this hour should come1 ,christ admonished all men to work with all their strength for its quicker coming4 ,there can be no other answer4 ,people can nowise know when the day and the hour of the kingdom of ,god shall arrive1 because the coming of that hour depends on no one but the men themselves4 ,the answer is the same as that of the sage1 who in reply to the question of a passer-by1 how far it was to the city1 answered1 ,go4 ,how can we know how far it is to the goal toward which humanity is moving1 since we do not know how humanity1 on whom it depends whether to go or not1 to stop1 to temper the motion1 or to accelerate it1 will move toward that goal8 ,all we can know is1 what we1 who compose humanity1 must do1 and what not1 in order that the kingdom of ,god may come4 ,that we all know4 ,and every one need but begin to do what we must do1 and stop doing what we must not do2 every one of us need only live by all that light which is within us1 in order that the promised kingdom of ,god1 toward which the heart of every man is drawn1 may come at once4 ,,xii4 ,,conclusion #a ,i had ended this two years' labour1 when1 on the ninth of ,september1 ,i happened to travel on a train to a locality in the ,governments of ,tla and ,ryazn1 where the peasants had been starving the year before1 and were starving still more in the present year4 ,at one of the stations the train in which ,i was travelling met a special train which1 under the leadership of the governor1 was transporting troops with guns1 cartridges1 and rods for the torture and killing of those very famine-stricken peasants4 ,the torturing of the peasants with rods for the purpose of enforcing the decision of the authorities1 although corporal punishment was abolished by law thirty years ago1 has of late been applied more and more freely in ,russia4 ,i had heard of it1 had even read in newspapers of the terrible tortures of which the ,governor of ,nzhni-,nvgorod1 ,barnov1 is said to have boasted1 of the tortures which had taken place in ,cherngov1 ,tambv1 ,sartov1 ,astrakhn1 ,orl1 but not once had ,i had a chance to see men in the process of executing these deeds4 ,here ,i saw with my own eyes good ,russians1 men who are permeated with the ,christian spirit1 travelling with guns and rods1 to kill and torture their starving brothers4 ,the cause that brought them out was the following3 ,in one of the estates of a wealthy landowner the peasants had raised a forest on a pasture which they owned in common with the proprietor 7had raised1 that is1 had watched it during its growth71 and had always made use of it1 and so regarded this forest as their own1 at least as a common possession2 but the proprietor1 appropriating to himself this forest1 began to cut it down4 ,the peasants handed in a complaint4 ,the judge of the first instance irregularly 7,i say irregularly1 using the word employed by the prosecuting attorney and the governor1 men who ought to know the case7 decided the case in favour of the proprietor4 ,all the higher courts1 among them the senate1 though they could see that the case had been decided irregularly1 confirmed the decision1 and the forest was adjudged to the proprietor4 ,the proprietor began to cut down the forest1 but the peasants1 unable to believe that such an obvious injustice could be done them by a higher court1 did not submit to the decree1 and drove away the workmen who were sent to cut down the forest1 declaring that the forest belonged to them1 and that they would petition the ,tsar1 but would not allow the proprietor to cut down the forest4 ,the case was reported to ,st4 ,petersburg1 whence the governor was ordered to enforce the decree of the court4 ,the governor asked for troops1 and now the soldiers1 armed with bayonets1 ball-cartridges1 and1 besides1 a supply of rods1 purposely prepared for this occasion and carried in a separate car1 were travelling to enforce this decree of the higher authorities4 ,the enforcement of the decree of the higher authorities is accomplished by means of killing1 of torturing men1 or by means of a threat of doing one or the other1 according as to whether any opposition is shown or not4 ,in the first case1 if the peasants show any opposition1 the following takes place in ,russia 7the same things happen wherever there are a state structure and property rights73 the chief makes a speech and demands submission4 ,the excited crowd1 generally deceived by its leaders1 does not understand a word that the representative of the power says in official book language1 and continues to be agitated4 ,then the chief declares that if they do not submit and disperse1 he will be compelled to have recourse to arms4 ,if the crowd does not submit even then1 the chief commands his men to load their guns and shoot above the heads of the crowd4 ,if the crowd does not disperse even then1 he commands the soldiers to shoot straight into the crowd1 at haphazard1 and the soldiers shoot1 and in the street fall wounded and killed men1 and then the crowd generally runs away1 and the troops at the command of the chiefs seize those who present themselves to them as the main rioters1 and lead them away under guard4 ,after that they pick up the blood-stained1 dying1 maimed1 killed1 and wounded men1 frequently also women and children2 the dead are buried1 and the maimed are sent to the hospital4 ,but those who are considered to be the plotters are taken to the city and tried by a special military court4 ,if on their part there was any violence1 they are sentenced to be hanged4 ,then they put up a gallows and with the help of ropes choke to death a few defenceless people1 as has many times been done in ,russia and as is being done1 and must be done where the public structure is based on violence4 ,thus they do in case of opposition4 ,in the second case1 when the peasants submit1 there takes place something special and peculiarly ,russian4 ,what happens is this3 the governor arrives at the place of action1 makes a speech to the people1 rebuking them for their disobedience1 and either stations troops in the farms of the village1 where the soldiers1 quartering at times as much as a month at a time1 ruin the peasants1 or1 satisfied with threatening them1 graciously pardons the people and returns home1 or1 which happens more frequently than anything else1 announces to them that the instigators ought to be punished1 and arbitrarily1 without trial1 selects a certain number of men1 who are declared to be the instigators and in his presence are subjected to tortures4 ,in order to give an idea as to how these things are done1 ,i will describe an affair which took place at ,orl and received the approval of the higher authorities4 ,what happened in ,orl was this3 just as here1 in the ,government of ,tla1 a proprietor wanted to take away some property from certain peasants1 and the peasants opposed him1 just as they did here4 ,the point was that the landed proprietor wanted without the consent of the peasants to keep the water in his mill-pond at so high a level that their fields were inundated4 ,the peasants objected4 ,the proprietor entered a complaint before the ,county ,council chief4 ,the ,county ,council chief illegally 7as was later declared by the court7 decided the case in favour of the proprietor1 by permitting him to raise the water4 ,the proprietor sent his workmen to raise the ditch through which the water ran down4 ,the peasants were provoked by this irregular decision1 and called out their wives1 to prevent the proprietor's workmen from raising the ditch4 ,the women went to the dam1 overturned the carts1 and drove off the workmen4 ,the proprietor entered a complaint against the women for taking the law into their hands4 ,the ,county ,council chief ordered one woman from each peasant farm in the whole village to be locked up 7in the cold room74 ,the decision could not well be carried out2 since there were several women on each farm1 it was impossible to determine which of them was liable to arrest1 and so the police did not carry out the decree4 ,the proprietor complained to the governor of the inactivity of the police1 and the governor1 without looking into the matter1 gave the rural chief the strict order immediately to enforce the decision of the ,county ,council chief4 ,obeying the higher authorities1 the rural chief arrived in the village and1 with a disrespect for men which is characteristic of the ,russian authorities1 commanded the policemen to seize one woman from each house4 ,but since there was more than one woman in each house1 and it was impossible to tell which one of them was subject to incarceration1 there began quarrels1 and opposition was shown4 ,in spite of these quarrels and this opposition1 the rural chief commanded that one woman1 no matter who she be1 be seized in each house and led to a place of confinement4 ,the peasants began to defend their wives and mothers1 did not give them up1 and upon this occasion beat the police and the rural chief4 ,there appeared the first terrible crime1--an assault on the authorities1--and this new crime was reported to the city4 ,and so the governor1 like the ,governor of ,tla1 arrived on a special train with a battalion of soldiers1 with guns and rods1 having made use of the telegraph1 of telephones1 and of the railway1 and brought with him a learned doctor1 who was to watch the hygienic conditions of the flogging1 thus fully personifying ,dzhingis ,khan with the telegraphs1 as predicted by ,herzen4 ,near the township office stood the troops1 a squad of policemen with red cords1 to which is attached the revolver1 official persons from among the peasants1 and the accused4 ,round about stood a crowd of one thousand people or more4 ,upon driving up to the township office1 the governor alighted from his carriage1 delivered a speech previously prepared1 and called for the guilty and for a bench4 ,this command was not understood at first4 ,but a policeman1 whom the governor always took with him1 and who attended to the preparation of the tortures1 which had more than once been employed in the ,government1 explained that what was meant was a bench for flogging4 ,a bench was brought1 the rods1 which had been carried on the train1 were piled up1 and the executioners were called for4 ,these had been previously chosen from among the horse-thieves of the village1 because the soldiers refused to perform this duty4 ,when everything was ready1 the governor commanded the first of the twelve men pointed out by the proprietor as the most guilty to step forward4 ,the one that came out was the father of a family1 a respected member of society of about forty years of age1 who had bravely defended the rights of society and so enjoyed the respect of the inhabitants4 ,he was led up to the bench1 his body was bared1 and he was ordered to lie down4 ,the peasant tried to beg for mercy1 but when he saw that this was useless1 he made the sign of the cross and lay down4 ,two policemen rushed forward to hold him down4 ,the learned doctor stood near by1 ready to offer learned medical aid4 ,the prisoners1 spitting into their hands1 swished the rods and began to strike4 ,however1 it turned out that the bench was too narrow and that it was too difficult to keep the writhing1 tortured man upon it4 ,then the governor ordered another bench to be brought and to be cleated to the first4 ,putting their hands to their visors and muttering3 ,yes1 your ,excellency1 some men hurriedly and humbly fulfilled the commands2 meanwhile the half-naked1 pale1 tortured man1 frowning and looking earthward1 waited with trembling jaws and bared legs4 ,when the second bench was attached1 he was again put down1 and the horse-thieves began to beat him again4 ,the back1 hips1 and thighs1 and even the sides of the tortured man began more and more to be covered with wales and bloody streaks1 and with every blow there were heard dull sounds1 which the tortured man was unable to repress4 ,in the surrounding crowd were heard the sobs of the wives1 mothers1 children1 relatives of the tortured man and of all those who were selected for the punishment4 ,the unfortunate governor1 intoxicated by his power1 thought that he could not do otherwise1 and1 bending his fingers1 counted the blows1 and without stopping smoked cigarettes1 to light which several officious persons hastened every time to hand him a lighted match4 ,when fifty blows had been dealt1 the peasant stopped crying and stirring1 and the doctor1 who had been educated in a ,crown institution for the purpose of serving his ,tsar and country with his scientific knowledge1 walked over to the tortured man1 felt his pulse1 listened to the beating of his heart1 and announced to the representative of power that the punished man had lost consciousness and that according to the data of science it might be dangerous to his life to continue the punishment4 ,but the unfortunate governor1 who was now completely intoxicated by the sight of blood1 commanded the men to go on1 and the torture lasted until they had dealt seventy blows1 to which number it for some reason seemed to him necessary to carry the number of the blows4 ,when the seventieth blow was dealt1 the governor said1 ,enough6 ,the next6 ,and the disfigured man1 with his swollen back1 was lifted up and carried away in a swoon1 and another was taken up4 ,the sobs and groans of the crowd became louder2 but the representative of the governmental power continued the torture4 ,thus they flogged the second1 third1 fourth1 fifth1 sixth1 seventh1 eighth1 ninth1 tenth1 eleventh1 twelfth man1--each man receiving seventy blows4 ,all of them begged for mercy1 groaned1 cried4 ,the sobs and groans of the mass of women grew louder and more heartrending1 and the faces of the men grew gloomier and gloomier2 but the troops stood all about them1 and the torture did not stop until the work was accomplished in the measure which for some reason appeared indispensable to the caprice of the unfortunate1 half-drunken1 deluded man1 called a governor4 ,not only were officials1 officers1 soldiers present1 but with their presence they took part in this matter and kept this order of the fulfilment of the state act from being impaired on the part of the crowd4 ,when ,i asked one of the governors why these tortures are committed on men1 when they have already submitted and troops are stationed in the village1 he replied to me1 with the significant look of a man who has come to know all the intricacies of state wisdom1 that this is done because experience has shown that if the peasants are not subjected to torture they will again counteract the decrees of the power1 while the performance of the torture in the case of a few men for ever confirms the decrees of the authorities4 ,and so now the ,governor of ,tla was travelling with his officials1 officers1 and soldiers1 in order to perform just such a work4 ,in just the same manner1 that is1 by means of murder or torture1 were to be carried out the decree of the higher authorities1 which consisted in this1 that a young fellow1 a landed proprietor1 who had an income of one hundred thousand roubles per year1 was to receive another three thousand roubles1 for a forest which he had in a rascally manner taken away from a whole society of hungry and cold peasants1 and be able to spend this money in two or three weeks in the restaurants of ,moscow1 ,st4 ,petersburg1 or ,paris4 ,it was to do such a deed that the men whom ,i met were travelling4 ,fate1 as though on purpose1 after my two years' tension of thought in one and the same direction1 for the first time in my life brought me in contact with this phenomenon1 which showed me with absolute obviousness in practice what had become clear to me in theory1 namely1 that the whole structure of our life is not based1 as men who enjoy an advantageous position in the existing order of things are fond of imagining1 on any juridical principles1 but on the simplest1 coarsest violence1 on the murder and torture of men4 ,men who own large tracts of land or have large capitals1 or who receive large salaries1 which are collected from the working people1 who are in need of the simplest necessities1 as also those who1 as merchants1 doctors1 artists1 clerks1 savants1 coachmen1 cooks1 authors1 lackeys1 lawyers1 live parasitically about these rich people1 are fond of believing that those prerogatives which they enjoy are not due to violence1 but to an absolutely free and regular exchange of services1 and that these prerogatives are not only not the result of assault upon people1 and the murder of them1 like what took place this year in ,orl and in many other places in ,russia1 and continually takes place in all of ,europe and of ,america1 but has even no connection whatsoever with these cases of violence4 ,they are fond of believing that the privileges which they enjoy exist in themselves and take place and are due to a voluntary agreement among people1 while the violence exerted against people also exists in itself and is due to some universal and higher juridical1 political1 and economical laws4 ,these men try not to see that they enjoy the privileges which they enjoy only by dint of the same thing which now would force the peasants1 who raised the forest and who were very much in need of it1 to give it up to the rich proprietor1 who took no part in the preservation of the forest and had no need of it1 that is1 that they would be flogged or killed if they did not give up this forest4 ,and yet1 if it is quite clear that the ,orl mill began to bring greater returns to the proprietor1 and that the forest1 which the peasants raised1 is turned over to the proprietor1 only in consequence of assaults or murders1 or the threat of them1 it must be just as clear that all the other exclusive rights of the rich1 which deprive the poor of their prime necessities1 are based on the same thing4 ,if the peasants1 who are in need of the land for the support of their families1 do not plough the land which adjoins their very farms1 while this land1 which is capable of supporting something like one thousand families1 is in the hands of one man1--a ,russian1 ,englishman1 ,austrian1 or some large landed proprietor1--who does not work on this land1 and if the merchant1 buying up the corn from the needy agriculturists1 can securely keep this corn in his granaries1 amidst starving people1 and sell it at three times its price to the same agriculturists from whom he bought it at one-third its present worth1 it is evident that this takes place from the same causes4 ,and if one man cannot buy cheap goods1 which are sold to him from beyond a conventional line called a border1 without paying customs dues to people who had no share whatsoever in the production of the goods2 and if people cannot help but give up their last cow for taxes1 which are distributed by the government to officials and are used for the maintenance of soldiers who will kill these very taxpayers1 it would seem to be obvious that even this does not take place in consequence of some abstract rights1 but in consequence of the same that happened in ,orl and that now may happen in the ,government of ,tla1 and periodically in one form or another takes place in the whole world1 wherever there is a state structure and there are the rich and the poor4 ,because not all human relations of violence are accompanied by tortures and murders1 the men who enjoy the exclusive prerogatives of the ruling classes assure themselves and others that the privileges which they enjoy are not due to any tortures or murders1 but to other mysterious common causes1 abstract rights1 and so forth4 ,and yet1 it would seem1 it is clear that1 if people1 though they consider this to be an injustice 7all working people now do71 give the main portion of their work to the capitalist1 the landed proprietor1 and pay taxes1 though they know that bad use is made of them1 they do so first of all1 not because they recognize any abstract rights1 of which they have never heard1 but only because they know that they will be flogged and killed1 if they do not do so4 ,but if there is no occasion to imprison1 flog1 and kill men1 every time the rent for the land is collected by the landed proprietor1 and the man in need of corn pays to the merchant who has cheated him a threefold price1 and the factory hand is satisfied with a wage which represents proportionately half the master's income1 and if a poor man gives up his last rouble for customs dues and taxes1 this is due to the fact that so many men have been beaten and killed for their attempts to avoid doing what is demanded of them1 that they keep this well in mind4 ,as the trained tiger in the cage does not take the meat which is placed under his mouth1 and does not lie quiet1 but jumps over a stick1 whenever he is ordered to do so1 not because he wants to do so1 but because he remembers the heated iron rod or the hunger to which he was subjected every time he did not obey1--even so men who submit to what is not advantageous for them1 what even is ruinous to them1 do so because they remember what happened to them for their disobedience4 ,but the men who enjoy prerogatives which are the result of old violence1 frequently forget1 and like to forget1 how these prerogatives were obtained4 ,we need1 however1 only think of history1 not the history of the successes of various dynasties of rulers1 but real history1 the history of the oppression of the majority by a small number of men1 to see that the bases of all the prerogatives of the rich over the poor have originated from nothing but switches1 prisons1 hard labour1 murders4 ,we need but think of that constant1 stubborn tendency of men to increase their well-being1 which guides the men of our time1 to become convinced that the prerogatives of the rich over the poor could not and cannot be maintained in any other way4 ,there may be oppressions1 assaults1 prisons1 executions1 which have not for their purpose the preservation of the prerogatives of the wealthy classes 7though this is very rare71 but we may boldly say that in our society1 for each well-to-do1 comfortably living man1 there are ten who are exhausted by labour1 who are envious and greedy1 and who frequently suffer with their whole families1--all the prerogatives of the rich1 all their luxury1 all that superfluity which the rich enjoy above the average labourer1 all that is acquired and supported only by tortures1 incarcerations1 and executions4 #b ,the train which ,i came across the ninth of ,september1 and which carried soldiers1 with their guns1 cartridges1 and rods1 to the starving peasants1 in order to secure to the rich proprietor the small forest1 which he had taken from the peasants and which the peasants were in dire need of1 showed me with striking obviousness to what extent men have worked out the ability of committing acts which are most revolting to their convictions and to their conscience1 without seeing that they are doing so4 ,the special train with which ,i fell in consisted of one car of the first class for the governor1 the officials1 and the officers1 and of several freight-cars1 which were cram-full of soldiers4 ,the dashing young soldiers1 in their clean new uniforms1 stood crowding or sat with dangling legs in the wide-open doors of the freight-cars4 ,some smoked1 others jostled one another1 jested1 laughed1 displaying their teeth2 others again cracked pumpkin seeds1 spitting out the shells with an air of self-confidence4 ,some of them were running up and down the platform1 toward the water-barrel1 in order to get a drink1 and1 upon meeting an officer1 tempered their gait1 went through the stupid gesture of putting their hands to their brows1 and with serious faces1 as though they were doing not only something sensible1 but even important1 walked past them1 seeing them off with their eyes1 and then raced more merrily1 thumping with their feet on the planks of the platform1 laughing1 and chattering1 as is characteristic of healthy1 good lads1 who in good company travel from one place to another4 ,they were travelling to slay their hungry fathers and grandfathers1 as though going to some very jolly1 or at least very usual1 piece of work4 ,the same impression was conveyed by the officials and officers in gala-uniform1 who were scattered on the platform and in the hall of the first class4 ,at the table1 which was covered with bottles1 dressed in his semi-military uniform1 sat the governor1 the chief of the expedition1 eating something1 and speaking calmly about the weather with an acquaintance whom he had met1 as though the matter which he was about to attend to were so simple and so common that it could not impair his calm and his interest in the change of the weather4 ,at some distance away from the table1 not partaking of any food1 sat a general of gendarmes1 with an impenetrable1 but gloomy look1 as though annoyed by the tedious formality4 ,on all sides moved and chattered officers1 in their beautiful1 gold-bedecked uniforms3 one1 sitting at the table1 was finishing a bottle of beer2 another1 standing at the buffet1 munched at an appetizing patty1 shaking off the crumbs1 which had lodged on the breast of his uniform1 and throwing the money on the table with a self-confident gesture2 a third1 vibrating both legs1 was walking past the cars of our train1 ogling the feminine faces4 ,all these men1 who were on their way to torture or kill hungry1 defenceless men1 the same that fed them1 had the appearance of men who know conclusively that they are doing what is right1 and even are proud1 stuck up1 at what they are doing4 ,what is this8 ,all these men are one half-hour's ride away from the place where1 to secure to a rich fellow some three thousand useless roubles1 which he has taken away from a whole community of starving peasants1 they may be compelled to perform the most terrible acts that one can imagine1 may begin1 just as in ,orl1 to kill or to torture innocent men1 their brothers1 and they calmly approach the place and time where and when this may happen4 ,it is impossible to say that these men1 all these officials1 officers1 and soldiers1 do not know what awaits them1 because they prepared themselves for it4 ,the governor had to give his orders concerning the rods1 the officials had to purchase birch switches1 to haggle for them1 and to enter this item as an expense4 ,the military gave and received and executed commands concerning the ball-cartridges4 ,all of them know that they are on the way to torture and1 perhaps1 to kill their famished brothers1 and that they will begin to do this1 perhaps1 within an hour4 ,it would be incorrect to say that they do this from conviction1--as is frequently said and as they themselves repeat1--from the conviction that they do this because it is necessary to maintain the state structure1 in the first place1 because all these men have hardly ever even thought of the state structure and of its necessity2 in the second place1 they can in no way be convinced that the business in which they take part maintains the state1 instead of destroying it1 and1 in the third place1 in reality the majority of these men1 if not all1 will not only never sacrifice their peace and pleasure for the purpose of supporting the state1 but will even never miss a chance of making use1 for their peace and pleasure1 of everything they can1 even though it be to the disadvantage of the state4 ,consequently they do not do so for the sake of the abstract principle of the state4 ,what is it1 then8 ,i know all these men4 ,if ,i do not know them personally1 ,i know approximately their characters1 their past1 their manner of thought4 ,all of them have mothers1 and some have wives and children4 ,they are1 for the most part1 good-hearted1 meek1 frequently tender men1 who despise every cruelty1 to say nothing of the murder of men1 and many of them would be incapable of killing or torturing animals2 besides1 they are all people who profess ,christianity and consider violence exerted against defenceless men a low and disgraceful matter4 ,not one of these men would be able for the sake of his smallest advantage to do even one-hundredth part of what the ,governor of ,orl did to those people2 and any of them would even be offended1 if it were assumed that in his private life he would be capable of doing anything like it4 ,and yet1 here they are1 within half an hour's ride from the place1 where they may be led inevitably to the necessity of doing it4 ,what is it1 then8 ,but1 besides these people who are travelling on the train1 and who are ready to commit murder and tortures1 how could those people with whom the whole matter began1--the proprietor1 the superintendent1 the judges1 and those who from ,st4 ,petersburg prescribed this matter and by their commands are taking part in it1--how could these men1 the minister1 the emperor1 also good men1 who are professing the ,christian religion1 have undertaken and ordered such a thing1 knowing its consequences8 ,how can even those who do not take part in this matter1 the spectators1 who are provoked at every special case of violence or at the torture of a horse1 admit the performance of so terrible a deed8 ,how can they help being provoked at it1 standing on the road1 and shouting1 ,no1 we shall not allow hungry people to be killed and flogged for not giving up their property1 which has been seized from them by force8 ,but not only does no one do so1--the majority of men1 even those who were the instigators of the whole thing1 like the superintendent1 the proprietor1 the judges1 and those who were the participants in it and who gave the orders1 like the governor1 the minister1 the emperor1 are calm1 and do not even feel any pangs of conscience4 ,just as calm are apparently all those men who are travelling to commit this evil deed4 ,the spectators1 too1 it seemed1 who were not in any way interested in the matter1 for the most part looked with sympathy1 rather than with disapproval1 upon the men who were getting ready for this execrable deed4 ,in the same car with me there was travelling a merchant1 a lumber dealer from the peasant class1 and he loudly proclaimed his sympathy for those tortures to which the peasants were about to be subjected3 ,it is not right not to obey the authorities1 he said2 that's what the authorities are for4 ,just wait1 they will have their fleas driven out of them1--they won't think of rioting after that4 ,serves them right4 ,what is it1 then8 ,it is equally impossible to say that all these men--the instigators1 participants1 abettors of this matter--are such rascals that1 knowing all the baseness of what they are doing1 they1 either for a salary1 or for an advantage1 or out of fear of being punished1 do a thing which is contrary to their convictions4 ,all these men know how1 in certain situations1 to defend their convictions4 ,not one of these officials would steal a purse1 or read another person's letter1 or bear an insult without demanding satisfaction from the insulter4 ,not one of these officers would have the courage to cheat at cards1 not to pay his card debts1 to betray a friend1 to run away from the field of battle1 or to abandon his flag4 ,not one of these soldiers would have the courage to spit out the sacrament or to eat meat on ,good ,friday4 ,all these men are prepared to bear all kinds of privations1 sufferings1 and dangers1 rather than do something which they consider to be bad4 ,consequently1 there is in these men a counteracting force1 whenever they have to do something which is contrary to their convictions4 ,still less is it possible to say that all these men are such beasts that it is proper and not at all painful for them to do such things4 ,we need but have a talk with these men1 to see that all of them1 the proprietor1 the judges1 the minister1 the ,tsar1 the governor1 the officers1 and the soldiers not only in the depth of their hearts do not approve of such deeds1 but even suffer from the consciousness of their part in them1 when they are reminded of the significance of this matter4 ,they simply try not to think of it4 ,we need but have a talk with them1 with all the participants in this matter1 from the proprietor to the last policeman and soldier1 to see that all of them in the depth of their hearts know that this is a bad thing and that it would be better not to take part in it1 and that they suffer from it4 ,a lady of liberal tendencies1 who was travelling on the same train with us1 upon noticing the governor and the officers in the hall of the first class1 and learning of the purpose of their journey1 began on purpose in a loud voice1 so as to be heard1 to curse the orders of our time and to put to shame the men who were taking part in this matter4 ,all persons present felt ill at ease4 ,nobody knew whither to look1 but no one dared to answer her4 ,the passengers looked as though it were not worth while to reply to such empty talk4 ,but it was evident from the faces and fugitive eyes that all felt ashamed4 ,this also ,i noticed in the case of the soldiers4 ,they1 too1 knew that the business for which they were travelling was a bad one1 but they did not wish to think of what awaited them4 ,when the lumber dealer began insincerely1 as ,i thought1 merely to show his culture1 to speak of how necessary such measures were1 the soldiers who heard it turned away from him1 as though they did not hear him1 and frowned4 ,all these men1 both those who1 like the proprietor1 the superintendent1 the minister1 the ,tsar1 participated in the performance of this act1 and those who are just now travelling on the train1 and even those who1 without taking part in this matter1 look on at the accomplishment of it1 know every one of them that this is a bad business1 and are ashamed of the part which they are taking in it and even of their presence during its execution4 ,why1 then1 have they been doing and tolerating it8 ,ask those who1 like the proprietor1 started this matter1 and those who1 like the judges1 handed down a formally legal1 but obviously unjust decision1 and those who ordered the enforcement of the decree1 and those who1 like the soldiers1 the policemen1 and the peasants1 will with their own hands carry it into execution1--who will beat and kill their brothers1--all of them1 the instigators1 and the accomplices1 and the executors1 and the abettors of these crimes1 and all will give you essentially the same answer4 ,the men in authority1 who provoked the matter and coperated in it and directed it1 will say that they are doing what they are doing because such matters are necessary for the maintenance of the existing order2 and the maintenance of the existing order is necessary for the good of the country and of humanity1 for the possibility of a social life and a forward movement of progress4 ,the men from the lower spheres1 the peasants and the soldiers1 those who will be compelled with their own hands to exercise the violence1 will say that they are doing what they are doing because this is prescribed by the higher authorities1 and that the higher authorities know what they are doing4 ,that the authorities consist of the very men who ought to be the authorities and that they know what they are doing1 presents itself to them as an incontestable truth4 ,if these lower executors even admit the possibility of an error or delusion1 they admit it only in the case of the lower authorities2 but the highest power1 from whom all this proceeds1 seems to them to be unquestionably infallible4 ,though explaining the motives for their activities in a different manner1 both the rulers and the ruled agree in this1 that they do what they do because the existing order is precisely the one which is indispensable and which must exist at the present time1 and which1 therefore1 it is the sacred duty of every person to maintain4 ,on this recognition of the necessity1 and so of the unchangeableness of the existing order1 is based the reflection1 which has always been adduced by all the participants in state violence in their justification1 that1 since the present order is unchangeable1 the refusal of a single individual to perform the duties imposed upon him will not change the essence of the matter1 and will have no other effect than that in place of the person refusing there will be another man1 who may perform the duty less well1 that is1 more cruelly1 more harmfully for those men against whom the violence is practised4 ,this conviction that the existing order is indispensable1 and so unchangeable1 and that it is the sacred duty of every man to maintain it1 is what gives to good people and1 in private life1 to moral people the possibility of participating with a more or less calm conscience in such affairs as the one which took place in ,orl and the one which the people who were travelling in the ,tla train were getting ready to act in4 ,but on what is this conviction based8 ,it is naturally agreeable and desirable for the proprietor to believe that the existing order is indispensable and unchangeable1 because it is this very existing order which secures for him the income from his hundreds and thousands of desyatnas1 thanks to which he leads his habitual idle and luxurious life4 ,naturally enough1 the judge1 too1 readily believes in the necessity of the order in consequence of which he receives fifty times as much as the most industrious labourer4 ,this is just as comprehensible in the case of the supreme judge1 who receives a salary of six or more thousand1 and in the case of all the higher officials4 ,only with the present order can he1 as a governor1 prosecutor1 senator1 member of various councils1 receive his salary of several thousands1 without which he would at once perish with all his family1 because1 except by the position which he holds1 he would not be able1 with his ability1 industry1 and knowledge1 to earn one hundredth part of what he is getting4 ,in the same situation are the minister1 the emperor1 and every higher authority1 but with this difference1 that1 the higher they are and the more exclusive their position is1 the more indispensable it is for them to believe that the existing order is the only possible order1 because outside of it they not only cannot get an equal position1 but will have to stand much lower than the rest of mankind4 ,a man who voluntarily hires himself out as a policeman at a salary of ten roubles1 which he can easily get in any other position1 has little need of the preservation of the existing order1 and so can get along without believing in its unchangeableness4 ,but a king or an emperor1 who in his position receives millions2 who knows that all around him there are thousands of men who are willing to depose him and take his place2 who knows that in no other position will he get such an income and such honours2 who in the majority of cases1 with a more or less despotic rule1 knows even this1 that1 if he should be deposed1 he would be tried for everything he did while in possession of his power1 cannot help but believe in the unchangeableness and sacredness of the existing order4 ,the higher the position which a man occupies1 the more advantageous and1 therefore1 the more unstable it is1 and the more terrible and dangerous a fall from it is1 the more does a man who holds that position believe in the unchangeableness of the existing order1 and with so much greater peace of mind can such a man1 as though not for himself1 but for the support of the existing order1 do bad and cruel deeds4 ,thus it is in the case of all the men of the ruling classes who hold positions that are more advantageous than those which they could hold without the existing order1--beginning with the lowest police officials and ending with the highest authorities4 ,all these men more or less believe in the unchangeableness of the existing order1 because1 above all else1 it is advantageous for them4 ,but what is it that compels the peasants1 the soldiers1 who stand on the lowest rung of the ladder1 who have no profit from the existing order1 who are in a condition of the most abject submission and humiliation1 to believe that the existing order1 in consequence of which they are in a most disadvantageous and humble state1 is the very order which must be1 and which1 therefore1 must be maintained1 even by performing the basest and most unconscionable acts for it4 ,what is it that compels these men to make the false reflection that the existing order is invariable and1 therefore1 must be maintained1 whereas it is evident that1 on the contrary1 it is unchangeable only because it is maintained as such8 ,what is it that compels the men who were but yesterday taken from the plough1 and who are dressed up in these monstrous1 indecent garments with blue collars and gilt buttons1 to travel with guns and swords1 in order to kill their hungry fathers and brothers8 ,they certainly have no advantages1 and are in no danger of losing the position which they hold1 because their condition is worse than the one from which they are taken4 ,the men of the higher ruling classes1 the proprietors1 ministers1 kings1 officers1 take part in these matters1 thus supporting the existing order1 because it is advantageous for them4 ,besides1 these frequently good1 meek men feel themselves able to take part in these things for this other reason1 that their participation is limited to instigations1 decrees1 and commands4 ,none of these men in authority do themselves those things which they instigate1 determine upon1 and order to be done4 ,for the most part they do not even see how all those terrible things which they provoke and prescribe are carried out4 ,but the unfortunate people of the lower classes1 who derive no advantage from the existing order1 who1 on the contrary1 in consequence of this order are held in the greatest contempt1 why do they1 who1 for the maintenance of this order1 with their own hands tear people away from their families1 who bind them1 who lock them up in prisons and at hard labour1 who watch and shoot them1 do all these things8 ,what is it that compels these men to believe that the existing order is unchangeable and that it is necessary to maintain it8 ,all violence is based only on them1 on those men who with their own hands beat1 bind1 lock up1 kill4 ,if these men did not exist1--these soldiers and policemen1--the armed men in general1 who are prepared on command to commit violence and to kill all those whom they are commanded to kill1 not one of the men who sign the decrees for executions1 life imprisonment1 hard labour1 would ever have the courage himself to hang1 lock up1 torture to death one thousandth part of those whom now1 sitting quietly in their studies1 they order to be hung and to be tortured in every way1 only because they do not see it and it is not done by them1 but somewhere far away by obedient executors4 ,all those injustices and cruelties which have entered into the curriculum of the existing life1 have entered there only because there exist these people1 who are always prepared to maintain these injustices and cruelties4 ,if these men did not exist1 there would not be any one to offer violence to all these enormous masses of violated people1 and those who give orders would never even dare either to command or even to dream of what they now command with so much self-assurance4 ,if there were no people who would be ready at the command of those whom they obey to torture or to kill him who is pointed out to them1 no one would ever dare to affirm1 what is with so much self-confidence asserted by the non-working landowners1 that the land which surrounds the peasants1 who are dying for lack of land1 is the property of a man who does not work on it1 and that the supply of corn1 which has been garnered in a rascally manner1 ought to be kept intact amidst a starving population1 because the merchant needs some profit1 and so forth4 ,if there were no men who would be ready at the will of the authorities to torture and kill every person pointed out to them1 it could never occur to a landed proprietor to take away from the peasants a forest which had been raised by them1 nor to the officials to consider legal the payment to them of salaries1 which are collected from the hungry masses1 for oppressing them1 to say nothing of executing men1 or locking them up1 or exiling them1 because they overthrow the lie and preach the truth4 ,all this is demanded and done only because these ruling people are firmly convinced that they have always at hand submissive people1 who will be ready to carry any of their demands into execution by means of tortures and murders4 ,the only reason why they commit deeds like those committed by all the tyrants from ,napoleon down to the last commander of a company1 who shoots into a crowd1 is because they are stupefied by the power behind them1 consisting of subservient men who are ready to do anything they are commanded4 ,the whole strength1 therefore1 lies in the men who with their hands do acts of violence1 in the men who serve with the police1 among the soldiers1 more especially among the soldiers1 because the police do their work only when they have an army behind them4 ,what is it1 then1 that has led these good men1 who derive no advantage from it1 who are compelled with their hands to do all these terrible things1 men on whom the whole matter depends1 into that remarkable delusion that assures them that the existing disadvantageous1 pernicious1 and for them painful order is the one which must be8 ,who has led them into this remarkable delusion8 ,they have certainly not assured themselves that they must do what is not only painful1 disadvantageous1 and pernicious to them and their whole class1 which forms nine-tenths of the whole population1 and what is even contrary to their conscience4 ,how are you going to kill men1 when in ,god's law it says1 ',thou shalt not kill'8 ,i frequently asked soldiers1 and1 by reminding them of what they did not like to think about1 ,i always made them feel awkward and embarrassed4 ,such a soldier knew that there was an obligatory law of ,god1 ,thou shalt not kill1 and he knew that there was an obligatory military service1 but it had never occurred to him that there was any contradiction there4 ,the sense of the timid answers that ,i always received to this question consisted approximately in this1 that murder in war and the execution of criminals at the command of the government were not included in the common prohibition of murders4 ,but when ,i told them that no such limitation was made in ,god's law1 and reminded them of the doctrine of brotherhood1 of the forgiveness of offences1 of love1 which are obligatory for all ,christians and which could in no way be harmonized with murder1 the men of the people generally agreed with me1 and on their side put the question to me as to how it happened that the government1 which1 according to their ideas1 could not err1 commanded the armies1 when necessary1 to go to war1 and ordered the execution of prisoners4 ,when ,i answered them that the government acted incorrectly when it commanded these things to be done1 my interlocutors became even more embarrassed1 and either broke off the conversation or grew provoked at me4 ,there must be such a law4 ,i guess the bishops know better than we1 ,i was told by a ,russian soldier4 ,and1 having said this1 the soldier apparently felt his conscience eased1 being fully convinced that his guides had found a law1 the same under which his ancestors had served1 and the kings and the kings' heirs1 and millions of people1 and he himself served1 and that what ,i was telling him was some piece of cunning or cleverness1 like a riddle4 ,all the men of our ,christian world know1 know firmly1 from tradition1 and from revelation1 and from the irrefutable voice of conscience1 that murder is one of the most terrible crimes which a man can commit1 as the ,gospel says1 and that this sin cannot be limited to certain men1 that is1 that it is a sin to kill some men1 but not a sin to kill others4 ,all know that if the sin of murder is a sin1 it is always a sin1 independently of what men are the victims of it1 just like the sin of adultery and thieving and any other2 at the same time men have seen1 since childhood1 since youth1 that murder is not only admitted1 but even blessed by all those whom they are accustomed to respect as their spiritual guides1 ordained by ,god2 they see that their worldly guides with calm assurance institute murders1 bear arms of murder1 of which they are proud1 and demand of all1 in the name of the civil and even the divine law1 that they shall take part in murder4 ,men see that there is here some contradiction1 and1 being unable to solve it1 they involuntarily assume that this contradiction is due only to their ignorance4 ,the very coarseness and obviousness of the contradiction sustains them in this conviction4 ,they cannot imagine that their enlighteners1 learned men1 should be able with such confidence to preach two such seemingly contradictory propositions1--the obligatoriness for every one of the law and of murder4 ,a simple1 innocent child1 and later a youth1 cannot imagine that men who stand so high in his opinion1 whom he considers to be either holy or learned1 should for any reason be deceiving him so unscrupulously4 ,but it is precisely this that has been done to him all the time4 ,this is accomplished1 in the first place1 by impressing all the labouring people1 who have not themselves any time to solve moral and religious questions1 from childhood1 and up to old age1 by example and direct teaching1 with the idea that tortures and murders are compatible with ,christianity1 and that1 for certain purposes of state1 tortures and murders are not only admissible1 but even peremptory2 in the second place1 by impressing some of them1 who are chosen by enlistment or levy1 with the idea that the performance of tortures and murders with their own hands forms a sacred duty and even an act which is valorous and worthy of praise and of reward4 ,the common deception1 which is disseminated among all men1 consists in this1 that in all the catechisms1 or the books which have taken their place and which are now the subject of obligatory instruction for the children1 it says that violence1 that is1 tortures1 imprisonments1 and executions1 as also murders in civil or external wars for the purpose of maintaining and defending the existing order of the state 7whatever it be1 autocratic1 monarchical1 a convention1 a consulship1 an empire of either ,napoleon or of ,boulanger1 a constitutional monarchy1 a commune1 or a republic71 is quite legitimate1 and does not contradict either morality or ,christianity4 ,this it says in all the catechisms or books used in the schools4 ,and men are so convinced of it that they grow up1 live1 and die in this conviction1 without doubting it even once4 ,this is one deception1 a common deception1 which is practised on all men2 there is another1 a private deception1 which is practised on soldiers or policemen1 who are chosen in one way or another and who perform the tortures and the murders which are needed for the support and the defence of the existing order4 ,in all the military codes it says in so many words what in the ,russian military code is expressed as follows3 7,art4 #hg7 ,precisely and without discussion to carry out the commands of the authorities means to carry out precisely the command given by the authorities1 without discussing whether it is good or bad1 and whether it is possible to carry it out4 ,the chief himself answers for the consequences of a command given out by him4 7,art4 #hh7 ,the subject may refuse to carry out the commands of his superior only when he sees clearly that by carrying out his superior's command he--one involuntarily imagines that what will follow is when he sees clearly that by carrying out his superior's command he violates the law of ,god2 but that is not at all the case3 when he sees clearly that he is violating the oath of allegiance and fidelity1 and his service to the emperor4 ,it says that a man1 being a soldier1 must carry out all the commands of his chief without any exception whatever1 which for a soldier mainly means murder1 and so must violate all divine and human laws1 except his fidelity and service to him who at the given moment happens to be in power4 ,thus it says in the ,russian military code1 and precisely the same1 though in different words1 is said in all the military codes1 as indeed it cannot be otherwise1 because in reality upon this deception of emancipating men from their obedience to ,god or to their conscience1 and of substituting for this obedience the obedience to the accidental superior1 is all the power of the army and the state based4 ,so it is this on which is founded that strange conviction of the lower classes that the existing order1 which is pernicious for them1 is as it ought to be1 and that they are1 therefore1 obliged to support it with tortures and murders4 ,this conviction is based on a conscious deception1 which is practised upon them by the upper classes4 ,nor can it be otherwise4 ,to compel the lower1 most numerous classes of men to oppress and torment themselves1 committing with this such acts as are contrary to their conscience1 it was necessary to deceive these lower1 most numerous classes4 ,and so it was done4 ,the other day ,i again saw an open practice of this shameless deceit1 and ,i was again surprised to see with what boldness and freedom it was practised4 ,in the beginning of ,november1 as ,i was passing through ,tla1 ,i again saw at the gate of the ,county ,council ,office the familiar dense crowd of people1 from which proceeded drunken shouts and the pitiful wail of mothers and of wives4 ,this was a levy of recruits4 ,as upon other occasions1 ,i was unable to drive past this spectacle3 it attracts me as by some evil charm4 ,i again entered among the crowd1 stood1 looked1 asked questions1 and marvelled at the freedom with which this most terrible crime is perpetrated in broad daylight and in a populous city4 ,as in former years1 the elders in all the villages of ,russia1 with its one hundred millions of inhabitants1 on the first of ,november selected from lists a given number of lads1 frequently their own sons1 and took them to the city4 ,on the way the recruits went on an uninterrupted spree1 in which they were not interfered with by their elders1 who felt that going to such a mad business as the one to which the recruits were going1 abandoning their wives and mothers and renouncing everything holy to them1 in order to become somebody's senseless instruments of murder1 was too painful a matter1 if they did not intoxicate themselves with liquor4 ,and so they travelled1 drinking1 cursing1 singing1 fighting1 and maiming themselves4 ,the nights they passed in inns4 ,in the morning they again became drunk and gathered in front of the ,county ,council ,office4 ,one part of them1 in new short fur coats1 with knitted shawls about their necks1 with moist drunken eyes or with savage self-encouraging shouts1 or quiet and dejected1 crowd at the gate amidst weeping mothers and wives1 waiting for their turns 7,i fell in with them on the very day of the levy1 that is1 when those who were sent up were to be examined72 another part at this time crowds in the waiting-room of the ,office4 ,in the ,office they are busy working4 ,the door is opened1 and the janitor calls ,peter ,sdorov4 ,peter ,sdorov is startled1 makes the sign of the cross1 and enters into a small room with a glass door4 ,here the prospective recruits undress themselves4 ,a naked recruit1 a companion of ,peter ,sdorov1 just accepted1 comes in from the ,office1 with trembling jaws1 and puts on his clothes4 ,peter ,sdorov has heard and sees by his face that he is accepted4 ,peter ,sdorov wants to ask him something1 but he is told to hurry and undress himself as quickly as possible4 ,he throws off his fur coat1 pulls off his boots with his feet1 takes off his vest1 draws his shirt over his head1 and with protruding ribs1 naked1 with shivering body1 and emitting an odour of liquor1 tobacco1 and perspiration1 with bare feet1 enters into the ,office1 without knowing what to do with his bared muscular arms4 ,in the ,office there hangs in full sight and in a large gilt frame the portrait of the emperor in a uniform with a sash1 and in the corner a small portrait of ,christ in a shirt and a crown of thorns4 ,in the middle of the room there stands a table covered with green cloth1 upon which lie papers and stands a triangular thing with an eagle1 which is called the ,mirror of ,laws4 ,around the table sit the chiefs1 with confident1 calm looks4 ,one of them smokes1 another examines some papers4 ,the moment ,sdorov has entered1 a janitor comes up to him1 and he is put on the measuring-scale1 receives a knock under his chin1 and has his legs straightened out4 ,there walks up a man with a cigarette4 ,it is the doctor1 and he1 without looking into the recruit's face1 but somewhere past him1 loathingly touches his body1 and measures and feels1 and tells the janitor to open the recruit's mouth wide1 and commands him to breathe and to say something4 ,somebody makes some notes4 ,finally1 without looking once into his eyes1 the doctor says1 ,able-bodied6 ,next6 and with a fatigued expression again seats himself at the table4 ,again soldiers push the lad and hurry him off4 ,he somehow manages in his hurry to pull the shirt over him1 after missing the sleeves1 somehow puts on his trousers and leg-rags1 draws on his boots1 looks for his shawl and cap1 grasps his fur coat1 and is led into the hall1 where he is placed behind a bench4 ,beyond this bench wait all the accepted recruits4 ,a village lad1 like him1 but from a distant ,government1 a full-fledged soldier with a gun1 with a sharp bayonet attached to it1 keeps watch on him1 ready to run the bayonet through him1 if he should think of running away4 ,meanwhile the crowd of fathers1 mothers1 wives1 pushed by the policemen1 press close to the gate1 to find out who is accepted1 and who not4 ,there appears one of the rejected1 and he announces that ,peter has been accepted1 and there is heard the wail of ,peter's wife1 for whom the word accepted means a separation of four or five years1 and the life of a soldier's wife as a cook1 in debauchery4 ,but just then a long-haired man in a special attire1 which distinguishes him from all other men1 drives up and1 getting down from the carriage1 walks up to the house of the ,county ,council ,office4 ,the policemen clear a path for him through the crowd4 ,the father has come to administer the oath4 ,and this father1 who has been assured that he is a special1 exclusive servant of ,christ1 who for the most part does not himself see the deception under which he is1 enters into the room where the accepted recruits are waiting1 puts on a gold-embroidered apron1 draws his hair out from underneath it1 opens the very ,gospel in which taking an oath is prohibited1 lifts up a cross1 the very cross on which ,christ was crucified for not doing what this ,his imaginary servant orders to be done1 and puts it on the pulpit1 and all these defenceless and deceived lads repeat after him the lie which he pronounces boldly and by habit4 ,he reads1 and they repeat after him3 ,i promise and swear by the ,almighty ,god1 before ,his holy ,gospel 444 etc41 to defend1 that is1 to kill all those whom ,i am commanded to kill1 and to do everything ,i am ordered to do by those people whom ,i do not know1 and who need me for nothing else but that ,i should commit the evil deeds by which they are kept in their positions1 and by which they oppress my brothers4 ,all the accepted recruits senselessly repeat these wild words1 and the so-called father drives away with the consciousness of having correctly and scrupulously done his duty1 and all these deceived lads think that all those insipid1 incomprehensible words1 which they have just pronounced1 have now1 for the whole time of their military service1 freed them from their human obligations and have bound them to new1 more obligatory military obligations4 ,and this is done publicly1 and no one will shout to the deceivers and to the deceived3 ,bethink yourselves and scatter1 for this is the basest and meanest lie1 which ruins not only our bodies1 but also our souls4 ,no one does so2 on the contrary1 when all are accepted1 and it becomes necessary to let them out1 the military chief1 as though to scorn them1 enters with self-confident1 majestic mien into the hall where the deceived1 drunken lads are locked up1 and boldly exclaims to them in military fashion1 ,your health1 boys6 ,i congratulate you on your ,tsar's service4 ,and the poor fellows 7somebody has instructed them what to do7 babble something with an unaccustomed1 half-intoxicated tongue to the effect that they are glad of it4 ,in the meantime1 the crowd of fathers1 mothers1 and wives stand at the door and wait4 ,the women look with tearful1 arrested eyes through the door4 ,and the door opens1 and out come1 staggering1 and with a look of bravado1 the accepted recruits1--,petrkha1 and ,vanykha1 and ,makr1--trying not to look at their relatives4 ,the wail of the mothers and wives is heard4 ,some embrace one another and weep2 others try to look brave2 others again console their people4 ,mothers and wives1 knowing that now they will be orphaned for three1 four1 or five years1 without a supporter1 wail and lament at the top of their voices4 ,the fathers do not speak much1 and only pitifully smack their tongues and sigh1 knowing that now they will no longer see their helpers1 whom they have raised and instructed1 and that there will return to them1 not those peaceful1 industrious agriculturists that they have been1 but generally debauched1 dandyish soldiers1 who are no longer used to a simple life4 ,and now the whole crowd take up seats in their sleighs and start down the street1 in the direction of inns and restaurants1 and still louder are heard1 interfering with one another1 songs1 sobs1 drunken shouts1 the laments of the mothers and wives1 the sounds of the accordion1 and curses4 ,all make for saloons and restaurants1 the revenue from which goes to the government1 and they abandon themselves to intoxication1 which drowns in them the percepted consciousness of the illegality of what is being done to them4 ,for two or three weeks they live at home1 and for the most part are having a good time1 that is1 are out on a spree4 ,on a set day they are collected1 and driven like cattle to one place1 and are taught military methods and exercises4 ,they are instructed by just such deceived and bestialized men as they1 who entered the service two or three years ago4 ,the means of instruction are deception1 stupefaction1 kicks1 vdka4 ,and not a year passes but that spiritually sound1 bright1 good fellows are turned into just such wild beings as their teachers4 ,well1 and if the prisoner1 your father1 runs away8 ,i asked a young soldier4 ,i can run the bayonet through him1 he replied1 in the peculiar1 senseless voice of a soldier4 ,and if he 'removes himself1' ,i must shoot1 he added1 apparently proud of his knowledge of what to do when his father removes himself4 ,when he1 the good young man1 is brought to a condition lower than an animal1 he is such as those who use him as an instrument of violence want him to be4 ,he is all ready3 the man is lost1 and a new instrument of violence has been created4 ,and all this takes place every year1 every autumn1 everywhere1 in the whole of ,russia1 in broad daylight1 in a populous city1 in the sight of all men1 and the deception is so clever1 so cunning1 that all see it and in the depth of their hearts know all its baseness1 all its terrible consequences1 and are unable to free themselves from it4 #c ,when the eyes shall be opened to this terrible deception which is practised on men1 one must marvel how preachers of the religion of ,christianity and morality1 educators of youth1 simply good1 intelligent parents1 who always exist in every society1 can preach any doctrine of morality amidst a society in which all the churches and governments openly acknowledge that tortures and murders form an indispensable condition of the life of all men1 and that amidst all men there must always be some special men1 who are prepared to kill their brothers1 and that every one of us may be such4 ,how can children and youths be taught and men in general be enlightened1 to say nothing of the enlightenment in the ,christian spirit1 how can they be taught any morality by the side of the doctrine that murder is indispensable for the maintenance of the common1 consequently of our own1 well-being1 and so is legitimate1 and that there are men 7any of us may be these men7 whose duty it is to torture and kill our neighbours and to commit all kinds of crime at the will of those who have the power in their hands8 ,if it is possible and right to torture and kill and commit all kinds of crimes by the will of those who have the power in their hands1 there is1 and there can be1 no moral teaching1 but there is only the right of the stronger4 ,and so it is4 ,in reality1 such a teaching1 which for some men is theoretically justified by the theory of the struggle for existence1 does exist in our society4 ,really1 what kind of a moral teaching can there be1 which would admit murder for any purposes whatsoever8 ,this is as impossible as any mathematical doctrine1 which would admit that two is equal to three4 ,with the admission of the fact that two is equal to three there may be a semblance of mathematics1 but there can be no real mathematical knowledge4 ,with the admission of murder in the form of executions1 wars1 self-defence1 there may be a semblance of morality1 but no real morality4 ,the recognition of the sacredness of every man's life is the first and only foundation of all morality4 ,the doctrine of an eye for an eye1 a tooth for a tooth1 a life for a life was put aside by ,christianity for the very reason that this doctrine is only a justification of immorality1 only a semblance of justice1 and is devoid of sense4 ,life is a quantity which has no weight and no measure and which cannot be equalized to any other1 and so the destruction of one life for another can have no meaning4 ,besides1 every social law is a law which has for its purpose the improvement of human life4 ,but in what way can the destruction of the lives of a few individuals improve the lives of men8 ,the destruction of life is not like its improvement1 but an act of suicide4 ,the destruction of another man's life for the purpose of preserving justice is like what a man would do who1 to mend the calamity which consists in his having lost one arm1 should for the sake of justice cut off his other arm4 ,but1 to say nothing of the sin of deception1 with which the most terrible crime presents itself to men as their duty2 to say nothing of the terrible crime of using ,christ's name and authority for the purpose of legalizing what is most denied by this same ,christ1 as is done in the case of the oath2 to say nothing of the offence by means of which not only the bodies1 but even the souls of these little ones are ruined2 to say nothing of all that1 how can men1 even in view of their personal security1 men who think highly of their forms of life1 their progress1 admit the formation among them of that terrible1 senseless1 cruel1 pernicious force which is established by every organized government that rests on the army8 ,the most cruel and terrible of robber bands is not so terrible as such a state organization4 ,every leader of robbers is none the less limited in his power1 because the men who form his band retain at least a small part of their human liberty and may oppose the performance of acts contrary to their conscience4 ,but for men forming a part of a regularly organized government with an army1 with discipline carried to the point to which it is at the present time1 there are no barriers whatsoever4 ,there are no crimes so terrible that they would not be committed by men forming a part of the government and of the army1 by the will of him who accidentally 7,boulanger1 ,pugachv1 ,napoleon7 may stand at its head4 ,frequently1 when ,i see1 not only the levies of recruits1 the military exercises1 the manuvres1 but also the policemen with loaded revolvers1 the sentries standing with guns and adjusted bayonets2 when ,i hear 7as ,i do in the ,khamvniki1 where ,i live7 for whole days the whistling and the pinging of bullets striking the target2 and when ,i see1 in the very city where every attempt at self-help and violence is prohibited1 where there is a prohibition against the sale of powder1 medicines1 fast driving1 unlicensed medical practice1 and so forth1 when ,i see in this same city thousands of disciplined men1 who have been taught to commit murder and who are subject to one man1--,i ask myself3 ,how can the men who think so highly of their security bear all this8 ,to say nothing of the harmfulness and immorality1 nothing can be more dangerous than this4 ,how can all men1 ,i do not say ,christians1 ,christian pastors1 but all philanthropists1 moralists1 all those men who value their lives1 their security1 their well-being1 quietly look on8 ,this organization will certainly act in the same way1 no matter in whose hands it may be3 to-day1 let us say1 this power is in the hands of an endurable ruler2 to-morrow a ,biron1 an ,elizabeth1 a ,catherine1 a ,pugachv1 a ,napoleon the ,first1 a ,napoleon the ,third may usurp it4 ,and again1 the man in whose hands is the power1 and who to-day may be endurable1 may to-morrow turn into a beast1 or his place may be taken by an insane or half-witted heir of his1 as was the case with the ,king of ,bavaria and ,paul4 ,and not only these higher rulers1 but also all those minor satraps1 who are distributed everywhere like so many ,barnovs1 chiefs of police1 even rural officers1 commanders of companies1 under-officers1 may commit terrible crimes before there has been time to depose them1 as happens constantly4 ,involuntarily one asks himself3 ,how can men permit such things to happen1 if not for the sake of higher considerations of state1 at least for the sake of their security8 ,the answer to this question is this1 that it is not all men who permit this to happen 7one part of them1--the great majority of men1--the deceived and the subjected1 cannot help but permit anything to be done71 but those who with such an organization hold an advantageous position2 they permit it1 because for them the risk of suffering1 because at the head of the government or the army there may be a senseless or cruel man1 is always less than the disadvantages to which they would be subjected in case of the destruction of the organization itself4 ,the judge1 policeman1 governor1 officer will hold his position equally under ,boulanger1 or a republic1 or ,pugachv or ,catherine2 but he will certainly lose his position1 if the existing order1 which secures for him his advantageous position1 falls to pieces4 ,and so all these men are not afraid of who will stand at the head of the organization of violence1--they adapt themselves to anybody1--but only of the destruction of the organization itself1 and so they always support it1 often unconsciously4 ,one often marvels why free men1 who are not urged to it by anything1 the so-called flower of society1 enter the army1 in ,russia1 in ,england1 ,germany1 ,austria1 even ,france1 and why they seek an opportunity for becoming murderers4 ,why do parents1 moral men1 send their children to institutions which prepare them for military matters8 ,why do mothers buy their children helmets1 guns1 swords as their favourite toys8 7,the children of peasants never play soldier47 ,why do good men1 and even women1 who are in no way connected with military affairs1 go into ecstasies over the exploits of a ,skobelvski and of others1 and why do they take so much pains to praise them8 ,why do men1 who are not urged to do so1 who do not receive any salary for it1 like the marshals of nobility in ,russia1 devote whole months of assiduous work to performing a physically hard and morally agonizing piece of business1--the reception of recruits8 ,why do all the emperors and kings wear military costumes1 attend manuvres and parades1 distribute rewards to soldiers1 erect monuments to generals and conquerors8 ,why do free1 wealthy men consider it an honour to perform lackeys' duties to crowned heads1 why do they humble themselves1 and flatter them1 and pretend that they believe in the special grandeur of these persons8 ,why do men1 who have long ago stopped believing in the medival superstitions of the church1 and who are unable to believe in them1 seriously and invariably pretend that they believe1 thus maintaining the offensive and blasphemous religious institution8 ,why is the ignorance of the masses so zealously guarded1 not only by the governments1 but also by the free men from the higher classes8 ,why do they with such fury attack every attempt at destroying the religious superstitions1 and every true enlightenment of the masses8 ,why do men1--historians1 novelists1 poets1--who can certainly receive nothing for their flattery1 describe as heroes long deceased emperors1 kings1 or generals8 ,why do men who call themselves learned devote their whole lives to the formation of theories1 from which it follows that violence which is exerted by the power against the nation is not violence1 but some especial right8 ,one often marvels why1 for what reason a lady of the world or an artist1 who1 it would seem1 is interested neither in social1 nor in military questions1 condemns labour strikes and preaches war1 and always definitely attacks one side and defends the other8 ,but one marvels at this only so long as one does not know that this is all done so because all the men of the ruling classes feel instinctively what it is that maintains and what destroys the organization under which they can enjoy the privileges they are enjoying4 ,the lady of the world has not even made the reflection that1 if there are no capitalists1 and no armies to defend them1 her husband will have no money1 and she will have no salon and no costumes2 and the artist has not made the reflection as to this1 that he needs the capitalists1 who are protected by the armies1 to buy his pictures2 but the instinct1 which in this case takes the place of reason1 guides them unerringly4 ,it is precisely the same instinct that with few exceptions guides all those men who support all those political1 religious1 economic establishments1 which are advantageous to them4 ,but can the men of the upper classes maintain this order of things1 only because it is advantageous for them8 ,these men cannot help but see that this order of things is in itself irrational1 no longer corresponds to the degree of men's consciousness1 not even to public opinion1 and is full of dangers4 ,the men of the ruling classes--the honest1 good1 clever men among them--cannot help but suffer from these internal contradictions1 and cannot help but see the dangers with which this order threatens them4 ,is it possible the men of the lower classes1 all the millions of these people1 can with a calm conscience perform all these obviously bad acts1 tortures1 and murders1 which they are compelled to perform1 only because they are afraid of punishment8 ,indeed1 that could not have been1 and neither the men of the one class nor of the other could help but see the irrationality of their activity1 if the peculiarity of the state structure did not conceal from them the whole unnaturalness and irrationality of the acts committed by them4 ,this irrationality is concealed by the fact that in the commission of each of these acts there are so many instigators1 accomplices1 abettors1 that not one of the men taking part in it feels himself to be morally responsible4 ,murderers compel all the persons who are present at a murder to strike the dead victim1 so that the responsibility may be distributed among the largest possible number of men4 ,the same thing1 having assumed definite forms1 has established itself in the structure of the state in the commission of all those crimes1 without the constant commission of which no state organization is thinkable4 ,the rulers of the state always try to draw as large a number of citizens as possible into the greatest possible participation in all the crimes committed by them and indispensable for them4 ,of late this has found a most lucid expression in the drafting of the citizens into the courts in the form of jurors1 into the armies in the form of soldiers1 and into the local government and into the legislative assembly in the form of electors and representatives4 ,in the structure of the state1 in which1 as in a basket made of rods1 all the ends are so concealed that it is not possible to find them1 the responsibility for crimes committed is so concealed from men that they1 in committing the most awful deeds1 do not see their own responsibility in them4 ,in olden times the tyrants were blamed for the commission of evil deeds1 but in our time most awful crimes1 unthinkable even in the time of a ,nero1 are committed1 and there is no one to blame4 ,some men demanded1 others decreed1 others again confirmed1 others proposed1 others reported1 others prescribed1 others executed4 ,women1 old men1 innocent people1 are killed1 hanged1 flogged to death1 as lately happened in ,russia in the ,yzov ,plant1 and as happens everywhere in ,europe and in ,america1 in the struggle with anarchists and all kinds of violators of the existing order2 hundreds1 thousands of men will be shot to death1 killed1 and hanged1 or1 as is done in wars1 millions of men will be killed or ruined1 or1 as is constantly done1 the souls of men are ruined in solitary confinement1 in the debauched condition of militarism1--and no one is to blame4 ,on the lowest stage of the social ladder1 soldiers with guns1 pistols1 swords1 torture and kill men1 and with the same tortures and murders compel men to enter the army1 and are fully convinced that the responsibility for these acts is taken from them by those authorities who prescribe these acts to them4 ,on the highest stage1 kings1 presidents1 ministers1 ,chambers1 prescribe these tortures and murders and the enlistment of soldiers1 and are fully convinced that1 since they are put into their places by ,god1 or since the society which they rule over demands from them precisely what they prescribe1 they cannot be blamed4 ,in the middle between the two are the intermediate persons1 who order the tortures and murders and the enlistment of soldiers1 and they are fully convinced that their responsibility has been taken from them1 partly by the commands from above1 and partly because the same orders are demanded of them by all those who stand on the lower stages4 ,the administrative and the executive powers1 which lie at the two extremes of the structure of the state1 meet like two ends that are united into a ring1 and one conditions and maintains the other and all the intervening links4 ,without the conviction that there exists such a person1 or such a number of persons1 who take upon themselves the responsibility for the acts committed1 not one soldier would be able to raise his hands for the purpose of torturing or killing4 ,without the conviction that this is demanded by the whole nation1 not one emperor1 king1 president1 not one assembly would be able to prescribe these same tortures and murders4 ,without the conviction that there are persons who stand above him and take upon themselves the responsibility for his act1 and men who stand below him and demand the fulfilment of such acts for their own good1 not one of the men who stand on the stages intermediate between the ruler and the soldier would be able to commit those acts which he is committing4 ,the structure of the state is such that1 no matter on what rung of the social ladder a man may stand1 his degree of irresponsibility is always one and the same3 the higher he stands1 the more is he subjected to the influence of the demand for orders from below and the less he is subjected to the influence of the prescriptions from above1 and vice versa4 ,thus1 in the case before me1 every one who had taken part in the matter was the more under the influence of the demand for orders from below and the less under the influence of prescriptions from above1 the higher his position was1 and vice versa4 ,but not only do all men who are connected with the structure of the state shift their responsibility for deeds committed upon others3 the peasant who is drafted into the army1 upon the nobleman or merchant who has become an officer2 and the officer1 upon the nobleman who holds the position of governor2 and the governor1 upon the son of an official or nobleman who occupies the position of minister2 and the minister1 upon a member of the imperial house who holds the position of emperor2 and the emperor again1 upon all these officials1 noblemen1 merchants1 and peasants2 not only do men in this manner free themselves from the consciousness of responsibility for acts committed by them1--they even lose the moral consciousness of their responsibility for this other reason1 that1 uniting into a political structure1 they so constantly1 continuously1 and tensely convince themselves and others that they are not all identical men1 but men who differ from one another as does one star from another1 that they begin themselves sincerely to believe so4 ,thus they convince one set of men that they are not simple men1 identical with others1 but a special kind of men1 who have to be honoured1 while they impress others with the idea that they stand beneath all other men and so must unflinchingly submit to what they are commanded to do by their superiors4 ,on this inequality and exaltation of one class of men and the annihilation of the other is mainly based the inability of men to see the irrationality of the existing order and its cruelty and criminality1 and of that deception which is practised by some and to which the others submit4 ,some1 those who are impressed with the idea that they are vested with some supernatural significance and grandeur1 are so intoxicated by this imaginary grandeur that they stop seeing their responsibility in the acts committed by them2 the other men1 who1 on the contrary1 are impressed with the idea that they are insignificant creatures1 who must in everything submit to the higher1 in consequence of this constant condition of humiliation fall into a strange condition of intoxication of servility1 and under the influence of their intoxication also fail to see the significance of their acts1 and lose the consciousness of their responsibility for them4 ,the intermediate people1 who1 partly submitting to the higher1 and partly considering themselves to be superior1 succumb simultaneously to the intoxication of power and that of servility1 and so lose the consciousness of their responsibility4 ,we need but look in any country at a superior chief1 intoxicated by his grandeur1 accompanied by his staff1 all of them on magnificently caparisoned horses1 in special uniforms and signs of distinction1 as he1 to the sound of the harmonious and festive music produced by wind-instruments1 rides past a line of soldiers stiffened up from a sense of servility and presenting arms1--we need but look at him1 in order that we may understand that at these moments the highest chief and the soldier and all the intermediate persons1 being in a state of intoxication1 are equally capable of committing acts which they would not think of committing under other circumstances4 ,but the intoxication experienced by men under such phenomena as are parades1 imperial receptions1 church solemnities1 coronations1 is a temporary and acute condition2 there are also other1 chronic1 constant conditions of intoxication1 which are equally experienced by all men who have any power1 from the power of the emperor to that of a policeman in the street1 and by men who submit to power and who are in a condition of intoxication through servility1 and who in justification of this their condition always ascribe1 as has always shown itself in the case of slaves1 the greatest significance and dignity to him whom they obey4 ,on this deception of the inequality of men and the resulting intoxication of power and of servility is pre-eminently based the ability of men united into a political structure to commit1 without experiencing any pangs of conscience1 acts which are contrary to their conscience4 ,under the influence of such an intoxication1 both of power and of servility1 men present themselves to themselves and to others1 not as what they are in reality1--men1--but as especial1 conventional beings1--noblemen1 merchants1 governors1 judges1 officers1 kings1 ministers1 soldiers1 who no longer are subject to common human obligations1 but1 above all else1 and before all human1 to nobiliary1 commercial1 gubernatorial1 judicial1 military1 royal1 ministerial obligations4 ,thus1 the proprietor who litigated concerning the forest did what he did only because he did not present himself to himself as a simple man1 like any of the peasants who were living by his side1 but as a large landed proprietor and a member of the gentry1 and so1 under the influence of the intoxication of power1 he felt himself insulted by the pretensions of the peasants4 ,it was only for this reason that1 without paying any attention to the consequences which might arise from his demand1 he handed in the petition requesting the restitution of his imaginary right4 ,similarly1 the judges who irregularly adjudged the forest to the proprietor did so only because they do not imagine themselves to be simple men1 just like all other men1 and so under obligation in all cases to be guided only by what is the truth1 but under the intoxication of power they imagine themselves to be the guardians of justice1 who cannot err2 but under the influence of the intoxication of servility they imagine themselves to be men who are obliged to carry out certain words which are written in a certain book and are called the law4 ,as just such conventional persons1 and not as what they are in reality1 present themselves1 under the influence of the intoxication of power and of servility1 to themselves and to others1 all the other participants in this matter1 from the highest representatives of power1 who sign their approval on documents1 from the marshal1 who drafts recruits at the levy of soldiers1 and the priest1 who deceives them1 to the last soldier1 who is now getting ready to shoot at his brothers4 ,they all did what they did1 and are preparing themselves to do what awaits them1 only because they present themselves to themselves and to others1 not as what they are in reality1--men who are confronted with the question as to whether they should take part in a matter which is condemned by their conscience1 or not1--but as different conventional persons1--one1 as an anointed king1 a special being1 who is called upon to care for the well-being of one hundred million men2 another1 as a representative of nobility2 a third1 as a priest1 who with his ordainment has received a special grace2 a fourth1 as a soldier1 who is obliged by his oath to fulfil without reflection what he is commanded to do4 ,only under the influence of the intoxication of power and servility1 which result from their imaginary positions1 can all these men do what they do4 ,if all these men did not have a firm conviction that the callings of kings1 ministers1 governors1 judges1 noblemen1 landed proprietors1 marshals1 officers1 soldiers1 are something actually in existence and very important1 not one of these men would think without terror and disgust of participating in the acts which he is committing now4 ,the conventional positions1 which were established hundreds of years ago1 which have been recognized through the ages1 and which are now recognized by all men about us1 and which are designated by especial names and particular attires1 and which1 besides1 are maintained by means of every kind of magnificence and effects on the outer senses1 are to such a degree instilled in people that they1 forgetting the habitual conditions of life1 common to all1 begin to look upon themselves and upon all men only from this conventional point of view1 and are guided by nothing but this conventional point of view in the valuation of other men's acts4 ,thus a mentally sound old man1 for no other reason than that some trinket or fool's dress is put over him1 some keys on his buttocks1 or a blue ribbon1 which is proper only for a dressed-up little girl1 and that he is on that occasion impressed with the idea that he is a general1 a chamberlain1 a ,cavalier of ,st4 ,andrews1 or some such silliness1 suddenly becomes self-confident1 proud1 and even happy2 or1 on the contrary1 because he loses or does not receive a desired trinket or name1 becomes so sad and unhappy that he even grows sick4 ,or1 what is even more startling1 an otherwise mentally sound1 free1 and even well-to-do young man1 for no other reason than that he calls himself1 and others call him1 an investigating magistrate or ,county ,council chief1 seizes an unfortunate widow away from her minor children1 and locks her up1 or has her locked up in a prison1 leaving her children without a mother1 and all that because this unfortunate woman secretly trafficked in liquor and thus deprived the ,crown of twenty-five roubles of revenue1 and he does not feel the least compunction about it4 ,or1 what is even more startling1 an otherwise intelligent and meek man1 only because a brass plate or a uniform is put on him and he is told that he is a watchman or a customs soldier1 begins to shoot with bullets at men1 and neither he nor those who surround him consider him blameworthy for it1 and would even blame him if he did not shoot2 ,i do not even speak of the judges and jurors1 who sentence to executions1 and of the military1 who kill thousands without the least compunction1 only because they have been impressed with the idea that they are not simply men1 but jurors1 judges1 generals1 soldiers4 ,such a constant1 unnatural1 and strange condition of men in the life of the state is generally expressed in words as follows3 ,as a man ,i pity him1 but as a watchman1 judge1 general1 governor1 king1 soldier1 ,i must kill or torture him1 as though there can exist a given position1 acknowledged by men1 which can make void duties which are imposed upon each of us by a man's position4 ,thus1 for example1 in the present case1 men are travelling to commit murder and tortures on hungry people1 and they recognize that in the dispute between the peasants and the proprietor the peasants are in the right 7all men in authority told me so71 and know that the peasants are unfortunate1 poor1 and hungry2 the proprietor is rich and does not inspire sympathy1 and all these men none the less are on their way to kill the peasants1 in order thus to secure three thousand roubles to the proprietor1 for no other reason than that these men at this moment do not consider themselves to be men1 but a governor1 a general of gendarmes1 an officer1 a soldier1 and think that not the eternal demands of their consciences1 but the accidental1 temporary demands of their positions as officers and soldiers are binding on them4 ,however strange this may seem1 the only explanation for this remarkable phenomenon is this1 that these men are in the same position as those hypnotized persons who are commanded to imagine and feel themselves in certain conventional positions1 and to act like those beings whom they represent2 thus1 for example1 when a hypnotized person receives the suggestion that he is lame1 he begins to limp1 or that he is blind1 he does not see1 or that he is an animal1 he begins to bite4 ,in this state are not only the men who are travelling on this train1 but also all men who preferably perform their social and their political duties1 to the disadvantage of their human duties4 ,the essence of this condition is this1 that the men under the influence of the one idea suggested to them are not able to reflect upon their acts1 and so do1 without any reflection1 what is prescribed to them in correspondence with the suggested idea1 and what they are led up to through example1 advice1 or hints4 ,the difference between those who are hypnotized by artificial means and those who are under the influence of the political suggestion consists in this1 that to the artificially hypnotized their imaginary condition is suggested at once1 by one person1 and for the briefest space of time1 and so the suggestion presents itself to us in a glaring form1 which sets us to wondering1 while to the men who act under the political suggestion their imaginary position is suggested by degrees1 slowly1 imperceptibly1 from childhood1 at times not only in a certain number of years1 but through whole generations1 and1 besides1 is not suggested by one person1 but by all those who surround them4 ,but1 ,i shall be told1 in all societies the majority of men1--all the children1 all the women1 who are absorbed in the labour of pregnancy1 child-bearing1 and nursing1 all the enormous masses of the working people1 who are placed under the necessity of tense and assiduous physical labour1 all the mentally weak by nature1 all abnormal men with a weakened spiritual activity in consequence of nicotine1 alcohol1 and opium poisoning1 or for some other reason1--all these men are always in such a condition that1 not being able to reason independently1 they submit either to those men who stand on a higher stage of rational consciousness1 or to family and political traditions1 to what is called public opinion1 and in this submission there is nothing unnatural or contradictory4 ,and1 indeed1 there is nothing unnatural in it1 and the ability of unthinking people to submit to the indications of men standing on a higher stage of consciousness is a constant property of men1 that property in consequence of which men1 submitting to the same rational principles1 are able to live in societies3 some1--the minority1--by consciously submitting to the same rational principles1 on account of their agreement with the demands of their reason2 the others1--the majority1--by submitting unconsciously to the same principles1 only because these demands have become the public opinion4 ,such a subjection of the unthinking to public opinion presents nothing unnatural so long as the public opinion is not split up4 ,but there are times when the higher truth1 as compared with the former degree of the consciousness of the truth1 which at first is revealed to a few men1 in passing by degrees from one set to another1 embraces such a large number of men that the former public opinion1 which is based on a lower stage of consciousness1 begins to waver1 and the new is ready to establish itself1 but is not yet established4 ,there are times1 resembling spring1 when the old public opinion has not yet been destroyed and the new is not yet established1 and when men begin to criticize their own acts and those of others on the basis of the new consciousness1 and yet in life1 from inertia1 from tradition1 continue to submit to principles which only in former times formed the higher degree of rational consciousness1 but which now are already in an obvious contradiction to it4 ,and then the men1 feeling1 on the one hand1 the necessity of submitting to the new public opinion1 and not daring1 on the other1 to depart from the former1 find themselves in an unnatural1 wavering state4 ,it is in such a condition that1 in relation to the ,christian truths1 are not only the men on this train1 but also the majority of the men of our time4 ,in the same condition are equally the men of the higher classes1 who enjoy exclusive1 advantageous positions1 and the men of the lower classes1 who without opposition obey what they are commanded to obey4 ,some1 the men of the ruling classes1 who no longer possess any rational explanation for the advantageous positions held by them1 are put to the necessity1 for the purpose of maintaining these positions1 of suppressing in themselves the higher rational faculties of love and of impressing upon themselves the necessity for their exclusive position2 the others1 the lower classes1 who are oppressed by labour and purposely stupefied1 are in a constant state of suggestion1 which is unflinchingly and constantly produced on them by the men of the higher classes4 ,only thus can be explained those remarkable phenomena with which our life is filled1 and as a striking example of which there presented themselves to me my good1 peaceful acquaintances1 whom ,i met on ,september #ith1 and who with peace of mind were travelling to commit a most beastly1 senseless1 and base crime4 ,if the consciences of these men had not been in some way put to sleep1 not one of them would be able to do one hundredth part of what they are getting ready to do1 and1 in all probability1 will do4 ,it cannot be said that they do not have the conscience which forbids them to do what they are about to do1 as there was no such conscience in men four hundred1 three hundred1 two hundred1 one hundred years ago1 when they burned people at the stake1 tortured people1 and flogged them to death2 it exists in all these men1 but it is put to sleep in them1--in some1 the ruling men1 who are in exclusive1 advantageous positions1 by means of auto-suggestion1 as the psychiaters call it2 in the others1 the executors1 the soldiers by a direct1 conscious suggestion1 hypnotization1 produced by the upper classes4 ,the conscience is in these men put to sleep1 but it exists in them1 and through the auto-suggestion and suggestion1 which hold sway over them1 it already speaks in them and may awaken any moment4 ,all these men are in a condition resembling the one a hypnotized man would be in1 if it were suggested to him and he were commanded to do an act which is contrary to everything which he considers rational and good1--to kill his mother or child4 ,the hypnotized man feels himself bound by the suggestion induced in him1 and it seems to him that he cannot stop2 at the same time1 the nearer he comes to the time and the place of the commission of the crime1 the stronger does the drowned voice of the conscience rise in him1 and he begins to show more and more opposition and to writhe1 and wants to wake up4 ,and it is impossible to say in advance whether he will do the suggested act1 or not1 and what it is that will win1 the rational consciousness or the irrational suggestion4 ,everything depends on the relative strength of the two4 ,precisely the same is now taking place in all the men on this train1 and in general in all the men who in our time commit political acts of violence and exploit them4 ,there was a time when men1 who went out for the purpose of torturing and killing people1 for the purpose of setting an example1 did not return otherwise than having performed the act for which they had gone out1 and1 having performed the act1 they were not tormented by repentance and doubt1 but1 having flogged men to death1 calmly returned home to their family1 and petted their children1--jested1 laughed1 and abandoned themselves to quiet domestic pleasures4 ,it did not then occur even to those who gained by these acts of violence1 to the landed proprietors and the rich men1 that the advantages which they enjoyed had any direct connection with these cruelties4 ,but now it is not so3 men know already1 or are very near to knowing1 what they are doing1 and for what purpose they are doing what they are doing4 ,they may shut their eyes and cause their consciences to be inactive1 but with eyes unshut and consciences unimpaired they--both those who commit the acts and those who gain by them--no longer can fail to see the significance which these acts have4 ,it happens that men understand the significance of what they have done only after they have performed the act2 or it happens that they understand it before the very act4 ,thus the men who had in charge the tortures in ,nzhni-,nvgorod1 ,sartov1 ,orl1 ,yzov ,plant1 understood the significance of what they did only after the commission of the act1 and now they are tormented with shame before public opinion and before their consciences4 ,both those who ordered the tortures and those who executed them are tormented4 ,i have spoken with soldiers who have executed such acts1 and they have always cautiously evaded all conversation about it2 when they spoke1 they did so with perplexity and terror4 ,cases happen when men come to their senses immediately before the commission of the act4 ,thus ,i know a case of a sergeant1 who during a pacification was beaten by two peasants1 and who reported accordingly1 but who the next day1 when he saw the tortures to which the peasants were subjected1 begged the commander of the company to tear up the report and to discharge the peasants who had beaten him4 ,i know a case when the soldiers1 who were commanded to shoot some men1 declined to obey2 and ,i know many cases where the commanders refused to take charge of tortures and murders4 ,thus it happens that the men who establish violence and those who commit acts of violence at times come to their senses long before the commission of the act suggested to them1 at others before the very act1 and at others again after the act4 ,the men who are travelling on this train have gone out to torture and kill their brothers1 but not one of them knows whether he will do what he has set out to do1 or not4 ,no matter how hidden for each of them is the responsibility in this matter1 no matter how strong the suggestion may be1 in all these men1 that they are not men1 but governors1 rural judges1 officers1 soldiers1 and that1 as such beings1 they may violate their human obligations1 the nearer they approach the place of their destination1 the stronger will the doubt rise in them whether they should do what they have started out to do1 and this doubt will reach the highest degree when they reach the very moment of the execution4 ,the governor1 in spite of all the intoxication of the surrounding circumstance1 cannot help but reflect for a moment1 when he has to give his last decisive command concerning the murder or the torture4 ,he knows that the case of the ,governor of ,orl provoked the indignation of the best men of society1 and he himself1 under the influence of the public opinion of those circles to which he belongs1 has more than once expressed his disapproval of it2 he knows that the prosecutor1 who was to have gone with them1 refused outright to take part in this business1 because he considered it disgraceful2 he knows also that changes may take place in the government at any time1 and that in consequence of them that which was a desert to-day may to-morrow be the cause of disfavour2 he knows1 too1 that there is a press1 if not in ,russia1 at least abroad1 which may describe this matter and so disgrace him for life4 ,he already scents that new public opinion which is making void what the former public opinion demanded4 ,besides1 he cannot be absolutely sure that at the last moment the executors will obey him4 ,he wavers1 and it is impossible to foretell what he will do4 ,the same thing1 in a greater or lesser measure1 is experienced by all the officials and officers who are travelling with him4 ,they all know in the depth of their hearts that the deed which is to be done is disgraceful1 that participation in it lowers and defiles a man in the eyes of a few men1 whose opinion they already value4 ,they know that it is a shame to appear after the torture or murder of defenceless men in the presence of their fiances or wives1 whom they treat with a show of tenderness4 ,besides1 like the governor1 they are in doubt whether the soldiers are sure to obey them4 ,and1 no matter how unlike it is to the self-confident look with which all these ruling men now move in the station and up and down the platform1 they all in the depth of their hearts suffer and even waver4 ,it is for this very reason that they assume this confident tone1 in order to conceal their inner wavering4 ,and this sensation increases in proportion as they come nearer to the place of action4 ,however imperceptible this may be1 and however strange it may appear1 all this mass of young soldiers1 who seem so subservient1 is in the same state4 ,they are all of them no longer the soldiers of former days1 men who have renounced their natural life of labour1 and who have devoted their lives exclusively to dissipation1 rapine1 and murder1 like some ,roman legionaries or the warriors of the ,thirty-,years ,war1 or even the late soldiers of twenty-five years of service2 they are1 for the most part1 men who have but lately been taken away from their families1 all of them full of recollections of that good1 natural1 and sensible life from which they have been taken away4 ,all these lads1 who for the most part come from the country1 know what business is taking them out on the train2 they know that the proprietors always offend their brothers1 the peasants1 and that therefore the same thing is taking place here4 ,besides1 the greater half of these men know how to read books1 and not all books are those in which the business of war is lauded1--there are also those in which its immorality is pointed out4 ,amidst them frequently serve freethinking companions1--volunteer soldiers1--and just such liberal young officers1 and into their midst has been thrown the seed of doubt as to the unconditional legality and valour of their activity4 ,it is true1 all of them have passed through that terrible1 artificial drill1 worked out by ages1 which kills all independence in a man1 and they are so accustomed to mechanical obedience that at the words of command1 ,fire by company6 ,company1 fire6 and so forth1 their guns rise mechanically and the habitual motions take place4 ,but ,fire6 will not mean now having fun while shooting at a target1 but killing their tormented1 offended fathers and brothers1 who--here they are--are standing in crowds1 with their women and children in the street1 and shouting and waving their hands4 ,here they are1--one of them1 with a sparse beard1 in a patched caftan and in bast shoes1 just like their own fathers at home in the ,government of ,kazn or of ,ryazn2 another1 with a gray beard and stooping shoulders1 carrying a large stick1 just like their father's father1 their grandfather2 another1 a young lad in boots and red shirt1 exactly as the soldier who is now to shoot at him was a year ago4 ,and here is a woman in bast shoes and linen skirt1 just like mother at home---- ,are they really going to shoot at them8 ,god knows what each soldier will do during this last moment4 ,one slightest indication as to its not being right1 above all as to the possibility of not doing it1 one such word1 one hint1 will be sufficient1 in order to stop them4 ,all men who are travelling on this train will1 when they proceed to execute the deed for which they have set out1 be in the same position in which a hypnotized person would be1 who has received the suggestion to chop a log1 and1 having walked up to what has been pointed out to him as a log and having raised the axe to strike1 suddenly sees or is told that it is not a log1 but his sleeping brother4 ,he may perform the act suggested to him1 and he may wake up before its performance4 ,even so all these men may awaken1 or not4 ,if they do not1 as terrible a deed as the one in ,orl will be done1 and in other men the auto-suggestion and the suggestion under which they act will be increased2 if they awaken1 such a deed will not only not be performed1 but many others1 upon finding out the turn which the affair has taken1 will be freed from that suggestion in which they are1 or at least will approach such a liberation4 ,but if not all men travelling on this train shall awaken and refrain from doing the deed which has been begun1 if only a few of them shall do so and shall boldly express to other men the criminality of this affair1 these few men even may have the effect of awakening all the other men from the suggestion1 under which they are1 and the proposed evil deed will not take place4 ,more than that3 if only a few men1 who do not take part in this affair1 but are only present at the preparations for the same1 or who have heard of similar acts previously committed1 will not remain indifferent1 but will frankly and boldly express their disgust with the participants in these matters1 and will point out to them their whole senselessness1 cruelty1 and criminality1 even that will not pass unnoticed4 ,even so it was in the present case4 ,a few persons1 participants and non-participants in this affair1 who were free from suggestion1 needed but at the time when they were getting ready for this affair boldly to express their indignation with tortures administered in other places1 and their disgust and contempt for those men who took part in them2 in the present ,tla affair a few persons needed but to express their unwillingness to take part in it2 the lady passenger and a few other persons at the station needed but in the presence of those who were travelling on the train to express their indignation at the act which was about to be committed2 one of the regimental commanders1 a part of whose troops were demanded for the pacification1 needed but to express his opinion that the military cannot be executioners1--and thanks to these and certain other1 seemingly unimportant1 private influences exerted against people under suggestion1 the affair would take a different turn1 and the troops1 upon arriving on the spot1 would not commit any tortures1 but would cut down the forest and give it to the proprietor4 ,if there should not be in certain men any clear consciousness as to their doing wrong1 and if there should be1 in consequence of this1 no mutual influence of men in this sense1 there would take place the same as in ,orl4 ,but if this consciousness should be even stronger1 and so the amount of the interactions even greater than what it was1 it is very likely that the governor and his troops would not even dare to cut down the forest1 in order to give it to the proprietor4 ,if this consciousness had been even stronger and the amount of interactions greater1 it is very likely the governor would not even have dared to travel to the place of action4 ,if the consciousness had been stronger still and the amount of interactions even greater1 it is very likely that the minister would not have made up his mind to prescribe1 and the emperor to confirm such a decree4 ,everything1 consequently1 depends on the force with which the ,christian truth is cognized by every individual man4 ,and so1 it would seem1 the activity of all the men of our time1 who assert that they wish to continue to the welfare of humanity1 should be directed to the increase of the lucidity of the demands of the ,christian truth4 #d ,but1 strange to say1 those very men1 who in our time assert more than any one else that they care for the amelioration of human life1 and who are regarded as the leaders in public opinion1 affirm that it is not necessary to do that1 and that for the amelioration of the condition of men there exist other1 more efficacious means4 ,these men assert that the amelioration of human life does not take place in consequence of the internal efforts of the consciousness of individual men and the elucidation and profession of the truth1 but in consequence of the gradual change of the common external conditions of life1 and that the profession by every individual man of the truth which is not in conformity with the existing order is not only useless1 but even harmful1 because on the part of the power it provokes oppressions1 which keep these individuals from continuing their useful activity in the service of society4 ,according to this doctrine1 all the changes in human life take place under the same laws under which they take place in the life of the animals4 ,thus1 according to this doctrine1 all the founders of religions1 such as ,moses and the prophets1 ,confucius1 ,lao-tse1 ,buddha1 ,christ1 and others preached their teachings1 and their followers accepted them1 not because they loved truth1 elucidated it to themselves1 and professed it1 but because the political1 social1 and1 above all1 economic conditions of the nations among whom these teachings appeared and were disseminated were favourable for their manifestation and diffusion4 ,and so the chief activity of a man wishing to serve society and ameliorate the condition of humanity must according to this doctrine be directed1 not to the elucidation of the truth and its profession1 but to the amelioration of the external political1 social1 and1 above all else1 economic conditions4 ,now the change of these political1 social1 and economic conditions is accomplished partly by means of serving the government and of introducing into it liberal and progressive principles1 partly by contributing to the development of industry and the dissemination of socialistic ideas1 and chiefly by the diffusion of scientific education4 ,according to this teaching it is not important for a man to profess in life the truth that has been revealed to him1 and so inevitably be compelled to realize it in life1 or at least not to do acts which are contrary to the professed truth2 not to serve the government and not to increase its power1 if he considers this power to be deleterious2 not to make use of the capitalistic structure1 if he considers this structure to be irregular2 not to show any respect for various ceremonies1 if he considers them to be a dangerous superstition2 not to take part in the courts1 if he considers their establishment to be false2 not to serve as a soldier2 not to swear2 in general1 not to lie1 not to act as a scoundrel1 but1 without changing the existing forms of life1 and submitting to them1 contrary to his opinion1 he should introduce liberalism into the existing institutions2 coperate with industry1 the propaganda of socialism1 the advancement of what is called the sciences1 and the diffusion of culture4 ,according to this theory is it possible1 though remaining a landed proprietor1 a merchant1 a manufacturer1 a judge1 an official1 receiving a salary from the government1 a soldier1 an officer1 to be1 withal1 not only a humane man1 but even a socialist and revolutionist4 ,hypocrisy1 which formerly used to have a religious foundation in the doctrine about the fall of the human race1 about redemption1 and about the church1 in this teaching received in our time a new scientific foundation1 and so has caught in its net all those men who from the degree of their development can no longer fall back on the religious hypocrisy4 ,thus1 if formerly only a man who professed the ecclesiastic religious doctrine could1 considering himself with it pure from every sin1 take part in all kinds of crimes committed by the government1 and make use of them1 so long as he at the same time fulfilled the external demands of his profession1 now all men1 who do not believe in the church ,christianity1 have the same kind of a worldly scientific basis for recognizing themselves as pure1 and even highly moral men1 in spite of their participation in the evil deeds of the state and of their making use of them4 ,there lives--not in ,russia alone1 but anywhere you please1 in ,france1 ,england1 ,germany1 ,america--a rich landed proprietor1 and for the right which he gives to certain people living on his land1 to draw their sustenance from it1 he fleeces these for the most part hungry people to their fullest extent4 ,this man's right to the possession of the land is based on this1 that at every attempt of the oppressed people at making use of the lands which he considers his own1 without his consent1 there arrive some troops which subject the men who have seized the lands to tortures and extermination4 ,one would think that it is evident that a man who lives in this manner is an egotistical being and in no way can call himself a ,christian or a liberal4 ,it would seem to be obvious that the first thing such a man ought to do1 if he only wants in some way to come near to ,christianity or to liberalism1 would be to stop plundering and ruining men by means of his right to the land1 which is supported by murders and tortures practised by the government4 ,thus it would be if there did not exist the metaphysics of hypocrisy1 which says that from a religious point of view the possession or non-possession of the land is a matter of indifference as regards salvation1 and that from the scientific point of view the renunciation of the ownership of land would be a useless personal effort1 and that the coperation with the good of men is not accomplished in this manner1 but through the gradual change of external forms4 ,and so this man1 without the least compunction1 and without any misgivings as to his being believed1 arranges an agricultural exhibition1 or a temperance society1 or through his wife and children sends jackets and soup to three old women1 and in his family1 in drawing-rooms1 committees1 the press1 boldly preaches the ,gospel or humane love of one's neighbour in general1 and of that working agricultural class in particular which he constantly torments and oppresses4 ,and the men who are in the same condition with him believe him1 praise him1 and with him solemnly discuss the questions as to what measures should be used for the amelioration of the condition of the working masses1 on the spoliation of whom their life is based1 inventing for the purpose all kinds of means1 except the one without which no amelioration of the people's condition is possible1 of ceasing to take away from these people the land1 which is necessary for their maintenance4 ,a most striking example of such hypocrisy is to be found in the measures taken last year by the ,russian landed proprietors in the struggle with the famine1 which they themselves had produced1 and which they immediately set out to exploit1 when they not only sold the corn at the highest possible price1 but even sold to the freezing peasants as fuel the potato-tops at five roubles per desyatna4 ,or there lives a merchant1 whose whole commerce1 like any commerce1 is based on a series of rascalities1 by means of which1 exploiting the ignorance and need of men1 articles are bought of them below their value1 and1 again exploiting the ignorance1 need1 and temptation of men1 are sold back at prices above their value4 ,it would seem to be obvious that a man whose activity is based on what in his own language is called rascality1 so long as these same acts are performed under different conditions1 ought to be ashamed of his position1 and is by no means able1 continuing to be a merchant1 to represent himself as a ,christian or a liberal4 ,but the metaphysics of hypocrisy says to him that he may pass for a virtuous man1 even though continuing his harmful activity3 a religious man need only be believed1 but a liberal has only to coperate with the change of external conditions1--the progress of industry4 ,and so this merchant1 who frequently1 in addition1 performs a whole series of direct rascalities1 by selling bad wares for good ones1 cheating in weights and measures1 or trading exclusively in articles which are pernicious to the people's health 7such as wine or opium71 boldly considers himself1 and is considered by others1 so long as he in business does not directly cheat his fellows in deception1 that is1 his fellow merchants1 to be a model of honesty and conscientiousness4 ,if he spends one-thousandth of the money stolen by him on some public institution1 a hospital1 a museum1 an institution of learning1 he is also regarded as a benefactor of those very people on the deception and corruption of whom all his fortune is based2 but if he contributes part of his stolen money to a church and for the poor1 he is regarded even as a model ,christian4 ,or there lives a manufacturer1 whose whole income consists of the pay which is taken away from the workmen1 and whose whole activity is based on compulsory1 unnatural labour1 which ruins whole generations of men2 it would seem to be obvious that first of all1 if this man professes any ,christian or liberal principles1 he must stop ruining human lives for the sake of his profit4 ,but according to the existing theory1 he is contributing to industry1 and he must not--it would even be injurious to men and to society--stop his activity4 ,and here this man1 the cruel slaveholder of thousands of men1 building for those who have been crippled while working for him little houses with little gardens five feet square1 and a savings-bank1 and a poorhouse1 and a hospital1 is fully convinced that in this way he has more than paid for all those physically and mentally ruined lives of men1 for which he is responsible1 and quietly continues his activity1 of which he is proud4 ,or there lives a head of a department1 or some civil1 clerical1 military servant of the state1 who serves for the purpose of satisfying his ambition or love of power1 or1 what is most common1 for the purpose of receiving a salary1 which is collected from the masses that are emaciated and exhausted with labour 7taxes1 no matter from whom they come1 always originate in labour1 that is1 in the labouring people71 and if he1 which is extremely rare1 does not directly steal the government's money in some unusual manner1 he considers himself and is considered by others like him to be a most useful and virtuous member of society4 ,there lives some judge1 prosecutor1 head of a department1 and he knows that as the result of his sentence or decree hundreds and thousands of unfortunate people1 torn away from their families1 are lingering in solitary confinement1 at hard labour1 going mad and killing themselves with glass1 or starving to death2 he knows that these thousands of people have thousands of mothers1 wives1 children1 who are suffering from the separation1 are deprived of the possibility of meeting them1 are disgraced1 vainly implore forgiveness or even alleviation of the fates of their fathers1 sons1 husbands1 brothers1--and the judge or head of a department is so hardened in his hypocrisy that he himself and his like and their wives and relatives are firmly convinced that he can with all this be a very good and sensitive man4 ,according to the metaphysics of hypocrisy1 it turns out that he is doing useful public work4 ,and this man1 having ruined hundreds1 thousands of men1 who curse him1 and who are in despair1 thanks to his activity1 believing in the good and in ,god1 with a beaming1 benevolent smile on his smooth face1 goes to mass1 hears the ,gospel1 makes liberal speeches1 pets his children1 preaches to them morality1 and feels meek of spirit in the presence of imaginary sufferings4 ,all these men and those who live on them1 their wives1 teachers1 children1 cooks1 actors1 jockeys1 and so forth1 live by the blood which in one way or another1 by one class of leeches or by another1 is sucked out of the working people2 thus they live1 devouring each day for their pleasures hundreds and thousands of work-days of the exhausted labourers1 who are driven to work by the threat of being killed2 they see the privations and sufferings of these labourers1 of their children1 old men1 women1 sick people2 they know of the penalties to which the violators of this established spoliation are subjected1 and they not only do not diminish their luxury1 do not conceal it1 but impudently display before these oppressed labourers1 who for the most part hate them1 as though on purpose to provoke them1 their parks1 castles1 theatres1 chases1 races1 and at the same time assure themselves and one another that they are all very much concerned about the good of the masses1 whom they never stop treading underfoot2 and on ,sundays they dress themselves in costly attire and drive in expensive carriages into houses especially built for the purpose of making fun of ,christianity1 and there listen to men especially trained in this lie1 who in every manner possible1 in vestments and without vestments1 in white neckties1 preach to one another the love of men1 which they all deny with their whole lives4 ,and1 while doing all this1 these men so enter into their parts that they seriously believe that they actually are what they pretend to be4 ,the universal hypocrisy1 which has entered into the flesh and blood of all the classes of our time1 has reached such limits that nothing of this kind ever fills any one with indignation4 ,hypocrisy with good reason means the same as acting1 and anybody can pretend1--act a part4 ,nobody is amazed at such phenomena as that the successors of ,christ bless the murderers who are lined up and hold the guns which are loaded for their brothers2 that the priests1 the pastors of all kinds of ,christian confessions1 always1 as inevitably as the executioners1 take part in executions1 with their presence recognizing the murder as compatible with ,christianity 7at an electrocution in ,america1 a preacher was present74 ,lately there was an international prison exhibition in ,st4 ,petersburg1 where implements of torture were exhibited1 such as manacles1 models of solitary cells1 that is1 worse implements of torture than knouts and rods1 and sensitive gentlemen and ladies went to look at all this1 and they enjoyed the sight4 ,nor is any one surprised at the way the liberal science proves1 by the side of the assumption of equality1 fraternity1 liberty1 the necessity of an army1 of executions1 custom-houses1 the censorship1 the regulation of prostitution1 the expulsion of cheap labour1 and the prohibition of immigration1 and the necessity and justice of colonization1 which is based on the poisoning1 plundering1 and destruction of whole tribes of men who are called savage1 and so forth4 ,people talk of what will happen when all men shall profess what is called ,christianity 7that is1 various mutually hostile professions72 when all shall be well fed and well clothed2 when all shall be united with one another from one end of the world to the other by means of telegraphs and telephones1 and shall communicate with one another by means of balloons2 when all the labourers shall be permeated with social teachings1 and the labour-unions shall have collected so many millions of members and of roubles2 when all men shall be cultured1 and all shall read the papers and know the sciences4 ,but of what use or good can all these improvements be1 if people shall not at the same time speak and do what they consider to be the truth8 ,the calamities of men are certainly due to their disunion1 and the disunion is due to this1 that men do not follow the truth1 which is one1 but the lies1 of which there are many4 ,the only means for the union of men into one is the union in truth2 and so1 the more sincerely men strive toward the truth1 the nearer they are to this union4 ,but how can men be united in truth1 or even approach it1 if they not only do not express the truth which they know1 but even think that it is unnecessary to do so1 and pretend that they consider to be the truth what they do not regard as the truth4 ,and so no amelioration of the condition of men is possible1 so long as men will pretend1 that is1 conceal the truth from themselves1 so long as they do not recognize that their union1 and so their good1 is possible only in the truth1 and so will not place the recognition and profession of the truth1 the one which has been revealed to them1 higher than anything else4 ,let all those external improvements1 of which religious and scientific men may dream1 be accomplished2 let all men accept ,christianity1 and let all those ameliorations1 which all kinds of ,bellamys and ,richets wish for1 take place1 with every imaginable addition and correction--but let with all that the same hypocrisy remain as before2 let men not profess the truth which they know1 but continue to pretend that they believe in what they really do not believe1 and respect what they really do not respect1 and the condition of men will not only remain the same1 but will even grow worse and worse4 ,the more people shall have to eat1 the more there shall be of telegraphs1 telephones1 books1 newspapers1 journals1 the more means will there be for the dissemination of discordant lies and of hypocrisy1 and the more will men be disunited and1 therefore1 wretched1 as is indeed the case at present4 ,let all these external changes take place1 and the condition of humanity will not improve4 ,but let each man at once in his life1 according to his strength1 profess the truth1 as he knows it1 or let him at least not defend the untruth1 which he does1 giving it out as the truth1 and there would at once1 in this present year #ahic1 take place such changes in the direction of the emancipation of men and the establishment of truth upon earth as we do not dare even to dream of for centuries to come4 ,for good reason ,christ's only speech which is not meek1 but reproachful and cruel1 was directed to the hypocrites and against hypocrisy4 ,what corrupts1 angers1 bestializes1 and1 therefore1 disunites men1 is not thieving1 nor spoliation1 nor murder1 nor fornication1 nor forgery1 but the lie1 that especial lie of hypocrisy which in the consciousness of men destroys the distinction between good and evil1 deprives them of the possibility of avoiding the evil and seeking the good1 deprives them of what forms the essence of the true human life1 and so stands in the way of every perfection of men4 ,men who do not know the truth and who do evil1 awakening in others a sympathetic feeling for their victims and a contempt for their acts1 do evil only to those whom they injure2 but the men who know the truth and do the evil1 which is concealed under hypocrisy1 do evil to themselves and to those whom they injure1 and to thousands of others who are offended by the lie1 with which they attempt to conceal the evil done by them4 ,thieves1 plunderers1 murderers1 cheats1 who commit acts that are recognized as evil by themselves and by all men1 serve as an example of what ought not to be done1 and deter men from evil4 ,but the men who commit the same act of thieving1 plundering1 torturing1 killing1 mantling themselves with religious and scientific liberal justifications1 as is done by all landed proprietors1 merchants1 manufacturers1 and all kinds of servants of the government of our time1 invite others to emulate their acts1 and do evil1 not only to those who suffer from it1 but also to thousands and millions of men1 whom they corrupt1 by destroying for these men the difference between good and evil4 ,one fortune acquired by the trade in articles necessary for the masses or by corrupting the people1 or by speculations on ',change1 or by the acquisition of cheap land1 which later grows more expensive on account of the popular want1 or by the establishment of plants ruining the health and the life of men1 or by civil or military service to the state1 or by any means which pamper to the vices of men--a fortune gained by such means1 not only with the consent1 but even with the approval of the leaders of society1 corrupts people incomparably more than millions of thefts1 rascalities1 plunderings1 which are committed outside the forms recognized by law and subject to criminal prosecution4 ,one execution1 which is performed by well-to-do1 cultured men1 not under the influence of passion1 but with the approval and coperation of ,christian pastors1 and presented as something necessary1 corrupts and bestializes men more than hundreds and thousands of murders1 committed by uncultured labouring men1 especially under the incitement of passion4 ,an execution1 such as ,zhukvski proposed to arrange1 when men1 as ,zhukvski assumed1 would even experience a religious feeling of meekness of spirit1 would be the most corrupting action that can be imagined4 7,see ,vol4 ,,vi4 of ,zhukvski's ,complete ,works47 ,every war1 however short its duration1 with its usual accompanying losses1 destruction of the crops1 thieving1 admissible debauchery1 looting1 murders1 with the invented justifications of its necessity and its justice1 with the exaltation and eulogizing of military exploits1 of love of flag and country1 with the hypocritical cares for the wounded1 and so forth1 corrupts in one year more than do millions of robberies1 incendiarisms1 murders1 committed in the course of hundreds of years by individual men under the influence of the passions4 ,one luxurious life1 running temperately within the limits of decency1 on the part of one respectable1 so-called virtuous1 family1 which1 none the less1 spends on itself the products of as many labouring days as would suffice for the support of thousands of people living in misery side by side with this family1 corrupts people more than do thousands of monstrous orgies of coarse merchants1 officers1 labouring men1 who abandon themselves to drunkenness and debauchery1 who for fun break mirrors1 dishes1 and so forth4 ,one solemn procession1 ,te ,deum1 or sermon from the ambo or pulpit1 dealing with a lie in which the preachers themselves do not believe1 produces incomparably more evil than do thousands of forgeries and adulterations of food1 and so forth4 ,we talk of the hypocrisy of the ,pharisees4 ,but the hypocrisy of the men of our time far surpasses the comparatively innocent hypocrisy of the ,pharisees4 ,they had at least an external religious law1 in the fulfilment of which they could overlook their obligations in relation to their neighbours1 and1 besides1 these obligations were at that time not yet clearly pointed out2 in our time1 in the first place1 there is no such religious law which frees men from their obligations to their neighbours1 to all their neighbours without exception 7,i do not count those coarse and stupid men who even now think that sacraments or the decision of the ,pope can absolve one from sins73 on the contrary1 that ,gospel law1 which we all profess in one way or another1 directly points out these obligations1 and besides these obligations1 which at that time were expressed in dim words by only a few prophets1 are now expressed so clearly that they have become truisms1 which are repeated by gymnasiasts and writers of feuilletons4 ,and so the men of our time1 it would seem1 cannot possibly pretend that they do not know these their obligations4 ,the men of our time1 who exploit the order of things which is supported by violence1 and who at the same time assert that they are very fond of their neighbours1 and entirely fail to observe that they are with their whole lives doing evil to these their neighbours1 are like a man who has incessantly robbed people1 and who1 being finally caught with his knife raised over his victim1 who is calling for aid in a desperate voice1 should assert that he did not know that what he was doing was unpleasant for him whom he was robbing and getting ready to kill4 ,just as this robber and murderer cannot deny what is obvious to all men1 so1 it would seem1 it is impossible for the men of our time1 who live at the expense of the sufferings of oppressed men1 to assure themselves and others that they wish for the good of those men whom they rob incessantly1 and that they did not know in what manner they acquire what they use as their own4 ,it is impossible for us to believe that we do not know of those one hundred thousand men in ,russia alone1 who are always locked up in prisons and at hard labour1 for the purpose of securing our property and our peace2 and that we do not know of those courts1 in which we ourselves take part1 and which in consequence of our petitions sentence the men who assault our property or endanger our security to imprisonment1 deportation1 and hard labour1 where the men1 who are in no way worse than those who sentence them1 perish and are corrupted2 that we do not know that everything we have we have only because it is acquired and secured for us by means of murders and tortures4 ,we cannot pretend that we do not see the policeman who walks in front of the windows with a loaded revolver1 defending us1 while we eat our savoury dinner or view a new performance1 or those soldiers who will immediately go with their guns and loaded cartridges to where our property will be violated4 ,we certainly know that if we shall finish eating our dinner1 or seeing the latest drama1 or having our fun at a ball1 at the ,christmas tree1 at the skating1 at the races1 or at the chase1 we do so only thanks to the bullet in the policeman's revolver and in the soldier's gun1 which will at once bore a hole through the hungry stomach of the dispossessed man who1 with watering mouth1 is staying around the corner and watching our amusements1 and is prepared to violate them the moment the policeman with the revolver shall go away1 or as soon as there shall be no soldier in the barracks ready to appear at our first call4 ,and so1 just as a man caught in broad daylight in a robbery can in no way assure all men that he did not raise his hand over the man about to be robbed by him1 in order to take his purse from him1 and did not threaten to cut his throat1 so we1 it would seem1 cannot assure ourselves and others that the soldiers and policemen with the revolvers are all about us1 not in order to protect us1 but to defend us against external enemies1 for the sake of order1 for ornament1 amusement1 and parades2 and that we did not know that men do not like to starve1 having no right to make a living off the land on which they live1 do not like to work underground1 in the water1 in hellish heat1 from ten to fourteen hours a day1 and in the night1 in all kinds of factories and plants1 for the purpose of manufacturing articles for our enjoyment4 ,it would seem to be impossible to deny that which is so obvious4 ,and yet it is precisely what is being done4 ,though there are among the rich some honest people1--fortunately ,i meet more and more of them1 especially among the young and among women1--who1 at the mention of how and with what their pleasures are bought1 do not try to conceal the truth1 and grasp their heads and say1 ,oh1 do not speak of it4 ,if it is so1 it is impossible to go on living2 though there are such sincere people1 who1 unable to free themselves from their sin1 none the less see it1 the vast majority of the men of our time have so entered into their rle of hypocrisy1 that they boldly deny what is so startlingly obvious to every seeing person4 ,all this is unjust1 they say2 nobody compels the people to work for the proprietors and in factories4 ,this is a question of free agreement4 ,large possessions and capital are indispensable1 because they organize labour and give work to the labouring classes2 and the work in the factories and plants is not at all as terrible as you imagine it to be4 ,if there are some abuses in the factories1 the government and society will see to it that they be removed and that the work be made still more easy and even more agreeable for the labourers4 ,the working people are used to physical labour1 and so far are not good for anything else4 ,the poverty of the masses is not at all due to the ownership of land1 nor to the oppression of capital1 but to other causes3 it is due to the ignorance1 the coarseness1 the drunkenness of the masses4 ,we1 the men of state1 who are counteracting this impoverishment by wise enactments1 and we1 the capitalists1 who are counteracting it by the dissemination of useful inventions1 we1 the clergy1 by religious instruction1 and we1 the liberals1 by the establishment of labour-unions1 the increase and diffusion of knowledge1 in this manner1 without changing our position1 increase the welfare of the masses4 ,we do not want all men to be poor1 like the poor1 but want them to be rich1 like the rich4 ,the statement that men are tortured and killed to compel them to work for the rich is nothing but sophistry2 troops are sent out against the masses only when they1 misunderstanding their advantages1 become riotous and disturb the peace1 which is necessary for the common good4 ,just as much do we need the curbing of malefactors1 for whom are intended the prisons1 gallows1 and hard labour4 ,we should ourselves like to do away with them1 and we are working in this direction4 ,the hypocrisy of our time1 which is supported from two sides1 by the quasi-religion and the quasi-science1 has reached such a point that1 if we did not live in the midst of it1 we should not be able to believe that men could reach such a degree of self-deception4 ,the people have in our time reached the remarkable state when their hearts are so hardened that they look and do not see1 that they listen and do not hear or understand4 ,men have long been living a life which is contrary to their consciousness4 ,if it were not for hypocrisy1 they would not be able to live this life4 ,this order of life1 which is contrary to their consciousness1 is continued only because it is hidden under hypocrisy4 ,the more the distance is growing between reality and the consciousness of men1 the more does hypocrisy expand1 but there are limits even to hypocrisy1 and it seems to me that in our time we have reached that limit4 ,every man of our time1 with the ,christian consciousness1 which is involuntarily acquired by him1 finds himself in a situation which is exactly like that of a sleeping man1 who sees in his sleep that he must do what he knows even in his sleep is not right for him to do4 ,he knows this in the very depth of his heart1 and yet1 as though unable to change his position1 he cannot stop and cease doing what he knows he ought not to do4 ,and1 as happens in sleep1 his condition1 becoming more and more agonizing1 finally reaches the utmost degree of tension1 and then he begins to doubt the reality of what presents itself to him1 and he makes an effort of consciousness1 in order to break the spell that holds him fettered4 ,in the same condition is the average man of our ,christian world4 ,he feels that everything which is done by himself and about him is something insipid1 monstrous1 impossible1 and contrary to his consciousness1 that this condition is becoming more and more agonizing1 and has reached the utmost limit of tension4 ,it cannot be3 it cannot be that the men of our time1 with our ,christian consciousness of the dignity of man1 the equality of men1 which has permeated our flesh and blood1 with our need for a peaceful intercourse and union among the nations1 should actually be living in such a way that every joy of ours1 every comfort1 should be paid for by the sufferings1 the lives of our brothers1 and that we1 besides1 should every moment be within a hair's breadth of throwing ourselves1 like wild beasts1 upon one another1 nation upon nation1 mercilessly destroying labour and life1 for no other reason than that some deluded diplomatist or ruler has said or written something stupid to another deluded diplomatist or ruler like himself4 ,it cannot be4 ,and yet every man of our time sees that it is precisely what is being done1 and that the same thing awaits him4 ,the state of affairs is getting more and more agonizing4 ,as the man in his sleep does not believe that what presents itself to him as reality is actually real1 and wants to awaken to the other1 the actual reality1 so also the average man of our time cannot in the depth of his heart believe that the terrible state in which he is1 and which is getting worse and worse1 is the reality1 and he wants to awaken to the actual reality1 the reality of the consciousness which already abides in him4 ,and as the man asleep needs but make an effort of his consciousness and ask himself whether it is not a dream1 in order that what to him appeared as such a hopeless state may be at once destroyed1 and he may awaken to a calm and joyous reality1 even so the modern man needs only make an effort of his consciousness1 needs only doubt in the reality of what his own and the surrounding hypocrisy presents to him1 and ask himself whether it is not all a deception1 in order that he may immediately feel himself at once passing over1 like the awakened man1 from the imaginary1 terrible world to the real1 to the calm and joyous reality4 ,this man need not perform any acts or exploits1 but has only to make an internal effort of consciousness4 #e ,cannot man make this effort8 ,according to the existing theory1 indispensable for hypocrisy1 man is not free and cannot change his life4 ,man cannot change his life1 because he is not free2 he is not free1 because all of his acts are conditioned by previous causes4 ,no matter what a man may do1 there always exist these or those causes1 from which the man has committed these or those acts1 and so man cannot be free and himself change his life1 say the defenders of the metaphysics of hypocrisy4 ,they would be absolutely right1 if man were an unconscious being1 immovable in relation to truth2 that is1 if1 having once come to know the truth1 he always remained on the selfsame stage of his cognition4 ,but man is a conscious being1 recognizing a higher and still higher degree of the truth1 and so1 if a man is not free in the commission of this or that act1 because for every act there exists a cause1 the very causes of these acts1 which for conscious man consist in his recognizing this or that truth as an adequate cause for his action1 are within man's power4 ,thus man1 who is not free in the commission of these or those acts1 is free as regards the basis for his acts1 something as the engineer of a locomotive1 who is not free as regards the change of an accomplished or actual motion of the locomotive1 is none the less free in determining beforehand its future motions4 ,no matter what a conscious man may do1 he acts in this way or that1 and not otherwise1 only because he either now recognizes that the truth is that he ought to act as he does1 or because he formerly recognized it1 and now from inertia1 from habit1 acts in a manner which now he recognizes to be false4 ,in either case the cause of his act was not a given phenomenon1 but the recognition of a given condition as the truth and1 consequently1 the recognition of this or that phenomenon as an adequate cause of his act4 ,whether a man eats or abstains from food1 whether he works or rests1 runs from danger or is subject to it1 if he is a conscious man1 he acts as he does only because he now considers this to be proper and rational3 he considers the truth to consist in his acting this way1 and not otherwise1 or he has considered it so for a long time4 ,the recognition of a certain truth or the non-recognition of it does not depend on external causes1 but on some others1 which are in man himself4 ,thus with all the external1 apparently advantageous conditions for the recognition of truth1 one man at times does not recognize it1 and1 on the contrary1 another1 under all the most unfavourable conditions1 without any apparent cause1 does recognize it4 ,as it says in the ,gospel3 ,no man can come to me1 except the ,father draw him 7,john vi4 #dd71 that is1 the recognition of the truth1 which forms the cause of all the phenomena of human life1 does not depend on external phenomena1 but on some internal qualities of man1 which are not subject to his observation4 ,and so a man1 who is not free in his acts1 always feels himself free in what serves as the cause of his actions1--in the recognition or non-recognition of the truth1 and feels himself free1 not only independently of external conditions taking place outside him1 but even of his own acts4 ,thus a man1 having under the influence of passion committed an act which is contrary to the cognized truth1 none the less remains free in its recognition or non-recognition1 that is1 he can1 without recognizing the truth1 regard his act as necessary and justify himself in its commission1 and can1 by recognizing the truth1 consider his act bad and condemn it in himself4 ,thus a gambler or a drunkard1 who has not withstood temptation and has succumbed to his passion1 remains none the less free to recognize his gambling or his intoxication either as an evil or as an indifferent amusement4 ,in the first case1 he1 though not at once1 frees himself from his passion1 the more1 as he the more sincerely recognizes the truth2 in the second1 he strengthens his passion and deprives himself of every possibility of liberation4 ,even so a man1 who could not stand the heat and ran out of a burning house without having saved his companion1 remains free 7by recognizing the truth that a man must serve the lives of others at the risk of his own life7 to consider his act bad1 and so to condemn himself for it1 or 7by not recognizing this truth7 to consider his act natural1 and necessary1 and to justify himself in it4 ,in the first case1 in recognizing the truth1 he1 in spite of his departure from it1 prepares for himself a whole series of self-sacrificing acts1 which inevitably must result from such a recognition2 in the second case1 he prepares a whole series of egotistical acts1 which are opposed to the first4 ,not that a man is always free to recognize every truth1 or not4 ,there are truths which have long ago been recognized by a man himself or have been transmitted to him by education and tradition1 and have been taken by him on faith1 the execution of which has become to him a habit1 a second nature2 and there are truths which present themselves to him indistinctly1 in the distance4 ,a man is equally unfree in the non-recognition of the first and the recognition of the second4 ,but there is a third class of truths1 which have not yet become for man an unconscious motive for his activity1 but which at the same time have already revealed themselves to him with such lucidity that he cannot evade them1 and must inevitably take up this or that relation to them1 by recognizing or not recognizing them4 ,it is in relation to these same truths that man's freedom is manifested4 ,every man finds himself in his life in relation to truth in the position of a wanderer who walks in the dark by the light of a lantern moving in front of him3 he does not see what is not yet illuminated by the lantern1 nor what he has passed over and what is again enveloped in darkness1 and it is not in his power to change his relation to either2 but he sees1 no matter on what part of the path he may stand1 what is illuminated by the lantern1 and it is always in his power to select one side of the road on which he is moving1 or the other4 ,for every man there always are truths1 invisible to him1 which have not yet been revealed to his mental vision2 there are other truths1 already outlived1 forgotten1 and made his own2 and there are certain truths which have arisen before him in the light of his reason and which demand his recognition4 ,it is in the recognition or non-recognition of these truths that there is manifested what we cognize as our freedom4 ,the whole difficulty and seeming insolubility of the question about man's freedom is due to this1 that the men who decide this question present man to themselves as immovable in relation to truth4 ,man is unquestionably not free1 if we represent him to ourselves as immovable1 if we forget that the life of man and of humanity is only a constant motion from darkness to the light1 from the lower stage of the truth to the higher1 from a truth which is mixed with errors to a truth which is more free from them4 ,man would not be free1 if he did not know any truth1 and he would not be free and would not even have any idea about freedom1 if the whole truth1 which is to guide him in his life1 were revealed to him in all its purity1 without any admixture of errors4 ,but man is not immovable in relation to truth1 and every individual man1 as also all humanity1 in proportion to its movement in life1 constantly cognizes a greater and ever greater degree of the truth1 and is more and more freed from error4 ,therefore men always are in a threefold relation to truth3 one set of truths has been so acquired by them that these truths have become unconscious causes of their actions1 others have only begun to be revealed to them1 and the third1 though not yet made their own1 are revealed to them with such a degree of lucidity that inevitably1 in one way or another1 they must take up some stand in relation to them1 must recognize them1 or not4 ,it is in the recognition or non-recognition of these truths that man is free4 ,man's freedom does not consist in this1 that he can1 independently of the course of his life and of causes already existing and acting upon him1 commit arbitrary acts1 but in this1 that he can1 by recognizing the truth revealed to him and by professing it1 become a free and joyous performer of the eternal and infinite act performed by ,god or the life of the world1 and can1 by not recognizing the truth1 become its slave and be forcibly and painfully drawn in a direction which he does not wish to take4 ,truth not only indicates the path of human life1 but also reveals that one path1 on which human life can proceed4 ,and so all men will inevitably1 freely or not freely1 walk on the path of life3 some1 by naturally doing the work of life destined for them1 others1 by involuntarily submitting to the law of life4 ,man's freedom is in this choice4 ,such a freedom1 within such narrow limits1 seems to men to be so insignificant that they do not notice it3 some 7the determinists7 consider this portion of freedom to be so small that they do not recognize it at all2 others1 the defenders of complete freedom1 having in view their imaginary freedom1 neglect this seemingly insignificant degree of freedom4 ,the freedom which is contained between the limits of the ignorance of the truth and of the recognition of a certain degree of it does not seem to men to be any freedom1 the more so since1 whether a man wants to recognize the truth which is revealed to him or not1 he inevitably will be compelled to fulfil it in life4 ,a horse that is hitched with others to a wagon is not free not to walk in front of the wagon2 and if it will not draw1 the wagon will strike its legs1 and it will go whither the wagon goes1 and will pull it involuntarily4 ,but1 in spite of this limited freedom1 it is free itself to pull the wagon or be dragged along by it4 ,the same is true of man4 ,whether this freedom is great or not1 in comparison with that fantastic freedom which we should like to have1 this freedom unquestionably exists1 and this freedom is freedom1 and in this freedom is contained the good which is accessible to man4 ,not only does this freedom give the good to men1 but it is also the one means for the accomplishment of the work which is done by the life of the world4 ,according to ,christ's teaching1 the man who sees the meaning of life in the sphere in which it is not free1 in the sphere of consequences1 that is1 of acts1 has not the true life4 ,according to the ,christian teaching1 only he has the true life who has transferred his life into that sphere in which it is free1 into the sphere of causes1 that is1 of the cognition and the recognition of the truth which is revealing itself1 of its profession1 and so inevitably of its consequent fulfilment as the wagon's following the horse4 ,in placing his life in carnal things1 a man does that work which is always in dependence on spatial and temporal causes1 which are outside of him4 ,he himself really does nothing1--it only seems to him that he is doing something1 but in reality all those things which it seems to him he is doing are done through him by a higher power1 and he is not the creator of life1 but its slave2 but in placing his life in the recognition and profession of the truth that is revealed to him1 he1 by uniting with the source of the universal life1 does not do personal1 private works1 which depend on conditions of space and time1 but works which have no causes and themselves form causes of everything else1 and have an endless1 unlimited significance4 ,by neglecting the essence of the true life1 which consists in the recognition and profession of the truth1 and by straining their efforts for the amelioration of their lives upon external acts1 the men of the pagan life-conception are like men on a boat1 who1 in order to reach their goal1 should put out the boiler1 which keeps them from distributing the oarsmen1 and1 instead of proceeding under steam and screw1 should try in a storm to row with oars that do not reach to the water4 ,the kingdom of ,god is taken by force and only those who make an effort get hold of it1--and it is this effort of the renunciation of the change of the external conditions for the recognition and profession of truth which is the effort by means of which the kingdom of ,god is taken and which must and can be made in our time4 ,men need but understand this3 they need but stop troubling themselves about external and general matters1 in which they are not free1 and use but one hundredth part of the energy1 which they employ on external matters1 on what they are free in1 on the recognition and profession of the truth which stands before them1 on the emancipation of themselves and of men from the lie and hypocrisy which conceal the truth1 in order that without effort and struggle there should at once be destroyed that false structure of life which torments people and threatens them with still worse calamities1 and that there should be realized that kingdom of ,god or at least that first step of it1 for which men are already prepared according to their consciousness4 ,just as one jolt is sufficient for a liquid that is saturated with salt suddenly to become crystallized1 thus1 perhaps1 the smallest effort will suffice for the truth1 which is already revealed to men1 to take hold of hundreds1 thousands1 millions of men1--for a public opinion to be established to correspond to the consciousness1 and1 in consequence of its establishment1 for the whole structure of the existing life to be changed4 ,and it depends on us to make this effort4 ,if every one of us would only try to understand and recognize the ,christian truth which surrounds us on all sides in the most varied forms1 and begs for admission into our souls2 if we only stopped lying and pretending that we do not see that truth1 or that we wish to carry it out1 only not in what it first of all demands of us2 if we only recognized the truth which calls us and boldly professed it1 we should immediately see that hundreds1 thousands1 millions of men are in the same condition that we are in1 that they see the truth1 just as we do1 and that1 like us1 they are only waiting for others to recognize it4 ,if men only stopped being hypocritical1 they would see at once that the cruel structure of life1 which alone binds them and which presents itself to them as something firm1 indispensable1 and sacred1 as something established by ,god1 is shaking already and is holding only by that lie of hypocrisy by means of which we and our like support it4 ,but if this is so1 if it is true that it depends on us to destroy the existing order of life1 have we the right to destroy it1 without knowing clearly what we shall put in its place8 ,what will become of the world1 if the existing order of things shall be destroyed8 ,what will be there1 beyond the walls of the world which we leave behind8 7,herzen's words47 ,terror seizes us1--the void1 expanse1 freedom4444 ,how can we go1 without knowing whither8 ,how can we lose1 without seeing any acquisition8 ,if ,columbus had reflected thus1 he would never have weighed anchor4 ,it is madness to sail the sea without knowing the way1 to sail the sea no one has traversed before1 to make for a country1 the existence of which is a question4 ,with this madness he discovered a new world4 ,of course1 if the nations could move from one htel garni into another1 a better one1 it would be easier1 but unfortunately there is no one to arrange the new quarters4 ,in the future it is worse than on the sea1--there is nothing1--it will be what circumstances and men make it4 ,if you are satisfied with the old world1 try to preserve it1--it is very decrepit and will not last long2 but if it is unbearable for you to live in an eternal discord between convictions and life1 to think one thing and do another1 come out from under the whited medival vaults at your risk4 ,i know full well that this is not easy4 ,it is not a trifling matter to part from everything a man is accustomed to from the day of his birth1 with what he has grown up with from childhood4 ,men are prepared for terrible sacrifices1 but not for those which the new life demands of them4 ,are they prepared to sacrifice modern civilization1 their manner of life1 their religion1 the accepted conventional morality8 ,are they prepared to be deprived of all the fruits which have been worked out with such efforts1 of the fruits we have been boasting of for three centuries1 to be deprived of all the comforts and charms of our existence1 to prefer wild youth to cultured debility1 to break up their inherited palace from the mere pleasure of taking part in laying the foundation for the new house1 which will1 no doubt1 be built after us8 7,herzen1 ,vol4 ,v41 p4 #ee47 ,thus spoke almost half a century ago a ,russian author1 who with his penetrating mind even at that time saw very clearly what now is seen by the least reflecting man of our time1--the impossibility of continuing life on its former foundations1 and the necessity for establishing some new forms of life4 ,from the simplest1 lowest1 worldly point of view it is already clear that it is madness to remain under the vault of a building1 which does not sustain its weight1 and that it is necessary to leave it4 ,indeed1 it is hard to imagine a state which is more wretched than the one in which is now the ,christian world1 with its nations armed against each other1 with the ever growing taxes for the support of these ever growing armaments1 with the hatred of the labouring class against the rich1 which is being fanned more and more1 with ,damocles's sword of war hanging over all1 and ready at any moment to drop down1 and inevitably certain to do so sooner or later4 ,hardly any revolution can be more wretched for the great mass of the people than the constantly existing order1 or rather disorder1 of our life1 with its habitual sacrifices of unnatural labour1 poverty1 drunkenness1 debauchery1 and with all the horrors of an imminent war1 which is in one year to swallow up more victims than all the revolutions of the present century4 ,what will happen with us1 with all humanity1 when each one of us shall perform what is demanded of him by ,god through the conscience which is implanted in him8 ,will there be no calamity1 because1 finding myself entirely in the power of the ,master1 ,i in the establishment built up and guided by ,him shall do what ,he commands me to do1 but what seems strange to me1 who do not know the final ends of the ,master8 ,but it is not even this question as to what will happen that troubles men1 when they hesitate to do the ,master's will3 they are troubled by the question as to how they could live without those conditions of their life which they have become accustomed to1 and which we call science1 art1 civilization1 culture4 ,we feel for ourselves personally the whole burden of the present life1 we even see that the order of this life1 if continued1 will inevitably cause our ruin2 but1 at the same time1 we want the conditions of this our life1 which have grown out of it1 our arts1 sciences1 civilizations1 cultures1 to remain unharmed in the change of our life4 ,it is as though a man living in an old house1 suffering from the cold and the inconveniences of this house1 and knowing1 besides1 that this house is about to fall in1 should consent to its rebuilding only on condition that he should not come out of it3 a condition which is equal to a refusal to rebuild the house4 ,what if ,i leave the house1 for a time am deprived of all comforts1 and the new house will not be built at all or will be built in such a way that it will lack what ,i am used to8 ,but1 if the material is on hand and the builders are there1 all the probabilities are in favour of the new house being better than the old one1 and at the same time there is not only a probability1 but even a certainty1 that the old house will fall in and will crush those who are left in it4 ,whether the former1 habitual conditions of life will be retained1 whether they will be destroyed1 or whether entirely new ones1 better ones1 will arise1 it is inevitably necessary to leave the old conditions of our life1 which have become impossible and pernicious1 and to go ahead and meet the future conditions4 ,the sciences1 arts1 civilizations1 and cultures will disappear6 ,all these are only different manifestations of the truth1 and the imminent change is to take place only in the name of an approximation to truth and its realization4 ,how1 then1 can the manifestations of the truth disappear in consequence of its realization8 ,they will be different1 better1 and higher1 but they will by no means be destroyed4 ,what will be destroyed in them is what is false2 but what there was of truth in them will only blossom out and be strengthened4 #f ,come to your senses1 men1 and believe in the ,gospel1 in the teaching of the good4 ,if you shall not come to your senses1 you will all perish1 as perished the men who were killed by ,pilate1 as perished those who were crushed by the tower of ,siloam1 as perished millions and millions of men1 slayers and slain1 executioners and executed1 tormentors and tormented1 and as foolishly perished that man who filled up his granaries and prepared himself to live for a long time1 and died the same night on which he wanted to begin his new life4 ,come to your senses and believe in the ,gospel1 ,christ said eighteen hundred years ago1 and says now with even greater convincingness1 through the utter wretchedness and irrationality of our life1 predicted by ,him and now an accomplished fact4 ,now1 after so many centuries of vain endeavours to make our life secure by means of the pagan institution of violence1 it would seem to be absolutely obvious to everybody that all the efforts which are directed toward this end only introduce new dangers into our personal and social life1 but in no way make it secure4 ,no matter what we may call ourselves2 what attires we may put on2 what we may smear ourselves with1 and in the presence of what priests2 how many millions we may have2 what protection there may be along our path2 how many policemen may protect our wealth2 how much we may execute the so-called revolutionary malefactors and anarchists2 what exploits we ourselves may perform2 what kingdoms we may found1 and what fortresses and towers we may erect1 from that of ,babel to that of ,eiffel1--we are all of us at all times confronted by two inevitable conditions of our life1 which destroy its whole meaning3 7#a7 by death1 which may overtake any of us at any moment1 and 7#b7 by the impermanency of all the acts performed by us1 which are rapidly and tracklessly destroyed4 ,no matter what we may do1 whether we found kingdoms1 build palaces1 erect monuments1 compose poems1 it is but for a short time1 and everything passes1 without leaving a trace4 ,and so1 no matter how much we may conceal the fact from ourselves1 we cannot help but see that the meaning of our life can be neither in our personal1 carnal existence1 which is subject to inevitable sufferings and inevitable death1 nor in any worldly institution or structure4 ,whoever you1 the reader of these lines1 may be1 think of your condition and of your duties1--not of the condition of landowner1 merchant1 judge1 emperor1 president1 minister1 priest1 soldier1 which people temporarily ascribe to you1 nor of those imaginary duties1 which these positions impose upon you1 but of that real1 eternal condition of existence1 which by somebody's will after a whole eternity of non-existence has issued forth from unconsciousness1 and at any moment by somebody's will may return to where you come from4 ,think of your duties1--not of your imaginary duties as a landowner to your estate1 of a merchant to your capital1 of an emperor1 minister1 official to the state1--but of those real duties of yours1 which result from your real condition of existence1 which is called into life and is endowed with reason and love4 ,are you doing what is demanded of you by ,him who has sent you into the world1 and to whom you will very soon return8 ,are you doing what ,he is demanding of you8 ,are you doing what is right1 when1 being a landowner1 manufacturer1 you take away the productions of labour from the poor1 building up your life on this spoliation1 or when1 being a ruler1 a judge1 you do violence to people and sentence them to capital punishment1 or when1 being a soldier1 you prepare yourself for wars1 and wage war1 plunder1 and kill8 ,you say that the world is constructed that way1 that this is unavoidable1 that you are not doing this of your own will1 but that you are compelled to do so4 ,but is it possible that the aversion for human sufferings1 for tortures1 for the killing of men should be so deeply implanted in you2 that you should be so imbued with the necessity for loving men and the still more potent necessity of being loved by them2 that you should clearly see that only with the recognition of the equality of all men1 with their mutual service1 is possible the realization of the greatest good which is accessible to men2 that your heart1 your intellect1 the religion professed by you should tell you the same2 that science should tell you the same1--and that1 in spite of it1 you should be by some very dim1 complex considerations compelled to do what is precisely opposed to it8 that1 being a landowner or a capitalist1 you should be compelled to construct all your life on the oppression of the masses8 or that1 being an emperor or a president1 you should be compelled to command troops1 that is1 to be the leader and guide of murderers8 or that1 being a government official1 you should be compelled by violence to take from poor people their hard-earned money1 in order to use it yourself and give it to the rich8 or that1 being a judge1 a juror1 you should be compelled to sentence erring men to tortures and to death1 because the truth has not been revealed to them8 or that1--a thing on which all the evil of the world is chiefly based1--you1 every young man1 should be compelled to become a soldier and1 renouncing your own will and all human sentiments1 should promise1 at the will of men who are alien to you1 to kill all those men whom they may command you to kill8 ,it cannot be4 ,even though men tell you that all this is necessary for the maintenance of the existing structure of life2 that the existing order1 with its wretchedness1 hunger1 prisons1 executions1 armies1 wars1 is indispensable for society2 that1 if this order should be impaired1 there would come worse calamities1--it is only those to whom this structure of life is advantageous that tell you this1 while those--and there are ten times as many of them--who are suffering from this structure of life think and say the very opposite4 ,you yourself know in the depth of your heart that this is not true1 that the existing structure of life has outlived its time and soon must be reconstructed on new principles1 and that1 therefore1 there is no need to maintain it1 while sacrificing human sentiments4 ,above all else1 even if we admit that the existing order is necessary1 why do you feel yourself obliged to maintain it1 while trampling on all better human sentiments8 ,who has engaged you as a nurse to this decaying order8 ,neither society1 nor the state1 nor any men have ever asked you to maintain this order1 by holding the place of landowner1 merchant1 emperor1 priest1 soldier1 which you now hold2 and you know full well that you took up your position1 not at all with the self-sacrificing purpose of maintaining an order of life which is indispensable for the good of men1 but for your own sake1--for the sake of your greed1 love of glory1 ambition1 indolence1 cowardice4 ,if you did not want this position1 you would not be doing everything it is necessary for you to do all the time1 in order to keep your place4 ,just try to stop doing those complex1 cruel1 tricky1 and mean things1 which you are doing without cessation in order to keep your place1 and you will immediately lose it4 ,just try1 while being a ruler or an official1 to stop lying1 committing base acts1 taking part in acts of violence1 in executions2 being a priest1 to stop deceiving2 being a soldier1 to stop killing2 being a landowner1 a manufacturer1 to stop protecting your property by means of the courts and of violence1--and you will at once lose the position which1 you say1 is imposed upon you1 and which1 you say1 weighs heavily upon you4 ,it cannot be that a man should be placed against his will in a position which is contrary to his consciousness4 ,if you are in this position1 it is not because that is necessary for anybody1 but because you want it4 ,and so1 knowing that this position is directly opposed to your heart1 your reason1 your faith1 and even to science1 in which you believe1 you cannot help but meditate on the question as to whether you are doing right by staying in this position and1 above all1 by trying to justify it4 ,you might be able to risk making a mistake1 if you had time to see and correct your mistake1 and if that in the name of which you should take your risk had any importance4 ,but when you know for certain that you may vanish any second1 without the slightest chance of correcting the mistake1 either for your own sake or for the sake of those whom you will draw into your error1 and when you know1 besides1 that1 no matter what you may do in the external structure of the world1 it will disappear very soon1 and just as certainly as you yourself1 without leaving any trace1 it is obvious to you that you have no reason to risk such a terrible mistake4 ,this is all so simple and so clear1 if only we did not with hypocrisy bedim the truth which is revealed to us4 ,share with others what you have1 do not amass any wealth1 do not glorify yourself1 do not plunder1 do not torture1 do not kill any one1 do not do unto others what you do not wish to have done to yourself1 was said1 not eighteen hundred1 but five thousand years ago1 and there could be no doubt as to the truth of this law1 if there were no hypocrisy3 it would have been impossible1 if not to do so1 at least not to recognize that we ought always to do so1 and that he who does not do so is doing wrong4 ,but you say that there also exists a common good1 for which it is possible and necessary to depart from these rules1--for the common good it is right to kill1 torture1 rob4 ,it is better for one man to perish1 than that a whole nation should perish1 you say1 like ,caiaphas1 and you sign one1 two1 three death-warrants1 load your gun for that man who is to perish for the common good1 put him in prison1 take away his property4 ,you say that you do these cruel things1 because you feel yourself to be a man of society1 the state1 under obligation to serve it and to carry out its laws1 a landowner1 a judge1 an emperor1 a soldier4 ,but1 besides your belonging to a certain state1 and the obligations resulting therefrom1 you also belong to the infinite life of the world and to ,god1 and have certain obligations resulting from this relation4 ,and as your duties1 which result from your belonging to a certain family1 a certain society1 are always subordinated to the higher duties1 which result from your belonging to the state1 so also your obligations1 which result from your belonging to the state1 must necessarily be subordinated to the duties which result from your belonging to the life of the world1 to ,god4 ,and as it would be senseless to cut down the telegraph-posts1 in order to provide fuel for the family or society1 and to increase its well-being1 because this would violate the laws which preserve the good of the state1 so it would be senseless1 for the purpose of making the state secure and increasing its well-being1 to torture1 execute1 kill a man1 because this violates the unquestionable laws which preserve the good of the world4 ,your obligations1 which result from your belonging to the state1 cannot help but be subordinated to the higher eternal duty1 which results from your belonging to the infinite life of the world1 or to ,god1 and cannot contradict them1 as ,christ's disciples said eighteen hundred years ago3 ,whether it be right in the sight of ,god to hearken unto you more than unto ,god1 judge ye 7,acts iv4 #ai71 and1 ,we ought to obey ,god rather than men 7,acts v4 #bi74 ,you are assured that1 in order not to violate the constantly changing order1 which was yesterday established by some men in some corner of the world1 you must commit acts of torture and murder separate men1 who violate the eternal1 invariable order of the universe1 which was established by ,god1 or by reason4 ,can that be8 ,and so you cannot help but meditate on your position as a landowner1 merchant1 judge1 emperor1 president1 minister1 priest1 soldier1 which is connected with oppression1 violence1 deception1 tortures1 and murders1 and you cannot help but recognize their illegality4 ,i do not say that1 if you are a landowner1 you should at once give your land to the poor2 if you are a capitalist1 you should at once give your money1 your factory to the labourers2 if you are a king1 a minister1 an official1 a judge1 a general1 you should at once give up your advantageous position2 if you are a soldier 7that is1 occupy a position on which all violence is based71 you should1 in spite of all the dangers of a refusal to obey1 at once throw up your position4 ,if you do so1 you will do the very best possible2 but it may happen--and this is most likely--that you will not have the strength to do so3 you have connections1 a family1 inferiors1 superiors2 you may be under such a strong influence of temptations that you will not be able to do so1--but you are always able to recognize the truth as a truth1 and to stop lying4 ,do not assert that you remain a landed proprietor1 a manufacturer1 a merchant1 an artist1 a writer1 because this is useful for men2 that you are serving as a governor1 a prosecutor1 a king1 not because that gives you pleasure and you are used to it1 but for the good of humanity2 that you continue to be a soldier1 not because you are afraid of punishment1 but because you consider the army indispensable for the security of human life2 you can always keep from lying thus to yourself and to men1 and you are not only able1 but even must do so1 because in this alone1 in the liberation of oneself from the lie and in the profession of the truth1 does the only good of your life consist4 ,you need but do this1 and your position will inevitably change of its own accord4 ,there is one1 only one thing in which you are free and almighty in your life1--everything else is beyond your power4 ,this thing is1 to recognize the truth and to profess it4 ,suddenly1 because just such miserable1 erring people like yourself have assured you that you are a soldier1 emperor1 landed proprietor1 rich man1 priest1 general1 you begin to do evil1 which is obviously and unquestionably contrary to your reason and heart3 you begin to torture1 rob1 kill men1 to build up your life on their sufferings1 and1 above all1 instead of doing the one work of your life1--recognizing and professing the truth which is known to you1--you carefully pretend that you do not know it1 and conceal it from yourself and from others1 doing thus what is directly opposed to the one thing to which you have been called4 ,and under what conditions do you do that8 ,you1 who are likely to die at any moment1 sign a sentence of death1 declare war1 go to war1 sit in judgment1 torture1 fleece the labourers1 live luxuriously among the poor1 and teach weak1 trustful people that this must be so1 and that in this does the duty of men consist1 and you are running the chance that1 at the moment that you are doing this1 a bacterium or a bullet will fly into you1 and you will rattle in your throat and die1 and will for ever be deprived of the possibility of correcting and changing the evil which you have done to others and1 above all1 to yourself1 losing for nothing the life which is given to you but once in a whole eternity1 without having done the one thing which you ought unquestionably to have done4 ,however simple and old this may be1 and however much we may have stupefied ourselves by hypocrisy and the auto-suggestion resulting from it1 nothing can destroy the absolute certainty of that simple and clear truth that no external efforts can safeguard our life1 which is inevitably connected with unavoidable sufferings and which ends in still more unavoidable death1 that may come to each of us at any moment1 and that1 therefore1 our life can have no other meaning than the fulfilment1 at any moment1 of what is wanted from us by the power that sent us into life and gave us in this life one sure guide1--our rational consciousness4 ,and so this power cannot want from us what is irrational and impossible1--the establishment of our temporal1 carnal life1 the life of society or of the state4 ,this power demands of us what alone is certain and rational and possible1--our serving the kingdom of ,god1 that is1 our coperation in the establishment of the greatest union of everything living1 which is possible only in the truth1 and1 therefore1 the recognition of the truth revealed to us1 and the profession of it1 precisely what alone is always in our power4 ,seek ye the kingdom of ,god and ,his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you4 ,the only meaning of man's life consists in serving the world by coperating in the establishment of the kingdom of ,god2 but this service can be rendered only through the recognition of the truth1 and the profession of it1 by every separate individual4 ,the kingdom of ,god cometh not with observation3 neither shall they say1 ,lo here6 or1 ,lo there6 for1 behold1 the kingdom of ,god is within you4 ,ysnaya ,polyna1 ,may #ad1 #ahic4 ,,christianity ,,and ,,patriotism #ahid ,,christianity ,,and ,,patriotism ,the ,franco-,russian celebrations which took place in ,france1 in the month of ,october of last year1 provoked in me1 as no doubt in many other people1 at first a feeling of amusement1 then of perplexity1 and at last of indignation1 which ,i intended to express in a short article in a periodical2 but1 the more ,i dwelt on the chief causes of this strange phenomenon1 the more did ,i arrive at the considerations which ,i now offer to my readers4 ,i4 ,russians and ,frenchmen have lived for many centuries1 knowing one another1 entering with one another at times into friendly1 more often1 ,i am sorry to say1 into very hostile relations1 which have been provoked by their governments2 suddenly1 because two years ago a ,french squadron arrived at ,kronstadt1 and the officers of the squadron1 upon landing1 ate and drank a lot of wine in various places1 hearing and uttering upon these occasions many lying and stupid words1 and because1 in the year #ahic1 a similar ,russian squadron arrived at ,toulon1 and the officers of the ,russian squadron ate and drank a lot in ,paris1 hearing and uttering upon that occasion more lying and stupid words than before1 it happened that not only the men who ate1 drank1 and talked1 but even those who were present1 and even those who were not present1 but only heard and read of it in newspapers1 all these millions of ,russians and ,frenchmen suddenly imagined that they somehow were particularly in love with one another1 that is1 that all the ,french loved all the ,russians1 and all the ,russians loved all the ,french4 ,these sentiments were last ,october expressed in ,france in a most unusual manner4 ,here is the way the reception of the ,russian sailors is described in the ,rural ,messenger1 a newspaper which collects its information from all the others3 ,at the meeting of the ,russian and ,french vessels1 both1 besides the salvos of guns1 greeted one another with hearty1 ecstatic shouts1 ',hurrah1' ',long live ,russia1' ',long live ,france6' ,these were joined by bands of music 7which came on many private steamers71 playing the ,russian hymn1 ',god save the ,tsar1' and the ,french ,marseillaise2 the public on the private vessels waved their hats1 flags1 handkerchiefs1 and bouquets2 on many barques there were peasants with their wives and children1 and they all had bouquets in their hands1 and even the children waved the bouquets and shouted at the top of their voices1 ',vive la ,russie6' ,our sailors1 upon seeing such national transport1 were unable to restrain their tears4444 ,in the harbour all the ships-of-war which were then at ,toulon were drawn out in two lines1 and our squadron passed between them2 in front was the ironclad of the admiralty1 and this was followed by the rest4 ,there ensued a most solemn minute4 ,on the ,russian ironclad1 fifteen salvos were fired in honour of the ,french squadron1 and a ,french ironclad replied with double the number1 with thirty salvos4 ,from the ,french vessels thundered the sounds of the ,russian hymn4 ,the ,french sailors climbed up on the sail-yards and masts2 loud exclamations of greeting proceeded uninterruptedly from the two squadrons and from the private vessels2 the caps of the sailors1 the hats and handkerchiefs of the public1--all were thrown up triumphantly in honour of the dear guests4 ,on all sides1 on the water and on the shore1 there boomed one common call1 ',long live ,russia6 ,long live ,france6' ,in conformity with naval law1 ,admiral ,aveln and the officers of his staff landed1 in order to greet the local authorities4 ,on the quay the ,russian sailors were met by the chief marine staff of ,france and the superior officers of the port of ,toulon4 ,there ensued a universal friendly hand-shaking1 accompanied by the boom of cannon and the ringing of bells4 ,a band of marine music played the hymn ',god save the ,tsar1' drowned by the thunderous shouts of the public1 ',long live the ,tsar6 ,long live ,russia6' ,these exclamations blended into one mighty sound1 which drowned the music and the salvos from the guns4 ,eye-witnesses declare that at this moment the enthusiasm of the innumerable mass of people reached its highest limits1 and that it is impossible to express in words with what sensations the hearts of all those present were filled4 ,admiral ,aveln1 with bared head1 and accompanied by ,russian and ,french officers1 directed his steps to the building of the ,marine ,office1 where the ,french minister of marine was waiting for him4 ,in receiving the admiral1 the minister said3 ',kronstadt and ,toulon are two places which bear witness to the sympathy between the ,russian and the ,french nations2 you will everywhere be met as dear friends4 ,the government and all of ,france welcome you upon your arrival and that of your companions1 who represent a great and noble nation4' ,the admiral replied that he was not able to express all his gratitude4 ',the ,russian squadron and all of ,russia1' he said1 'will remember the reception you have given us4' ,after a short conversation1 the admiral1 saying good-bye to the minister1 a second time thanked him for the reception1 and added1 ',i do not want to part from you before pronouncing those words which are imprinted in all ,russian hearts3 ,long live ,france6' 7,rural ,messenger1 #ahic1 ,no4 #da47 ,such was the meeting at ,toulon4 ,in ,paris the meeting and the celebrations were more remarkable still4 ,here is the way the meeting in ,paris was described in the newspapers3 ,all eyes were directed to the ,boulevard des ,italiens1 whence the ,russian sailors were to appear4 ,finally the boom of a whole hurricane of exclamations and applauses is heard in the distance4 ,the boom grows stronger and more audible4 ,the hurricane is apparently approaching4 ,a mighty motion takes place on the square4 ,policemen rush forward to clear a path toward the ,cercle ,militaire1 but this is by no means an easy task4 ,there is an incredible crush and pressure in the crowd4444 ,finally the head of the procession appears in the square4 ,at the same moment a deafening shout1 ',vive la ,russie6 ,vive les ,russes6' rises over it4 ,all bare their heads1 the public1 packed close in the windows1 on the balconies1 perched even on the roofs1 wave handkerchiefs1 flags1 and hats1 applaud madly1 and from the windows of the upper stories throw clouds of small many-coloured cockades4 ,a whole sea of handkerchiefs1 hats1 and flags surges above the heads of the crowd in the square3 ',vive la ,russie6 ,vive les ,russes6' shouts this mass of one hundred thousand people1 trying to get a look at the dear guests1 extending their hands to them1 and in every way expressing their sympathies 7,new ,time74 ,another correspondent writes that the transport of the crowd bordered on delirium4 ,a ,russian publicist1 who was in ,paris at that time1 describes this entrance of the sailors in the following manner3 ,they tell the truth1--it was an incident of world-wide import1 wondrous1 touching1 soul-stirring1 making the heart quiver with that love which discerns the brothers in men1 and which detests bloodshed and concomitant acts of violence1 the tearing away of the children from their beloved mother4 ,i have been in some kind of an intoxication for several hours4 ,i felt so strange1 and even so weak1 as ,i stood at the station of the ,lyons ,railway1 among the representatives of the ,french administration in their gold-embroidered uniforms1 among the members of the municipality in full dress1 and heard the shouts1 ',vive la ,russie6 ,vive le ,czar6' and our national hymn1 which was played several times in succession4 ,where am ,i8 ,what has happened8 ,what magic stream has united all this into one feeling1 into one mind8 ,does one not feel here the presence of the ,god of love and brotherhood1 the presence of something higher1 something ideal1 which descends upon men only in lofty moments8 ,the heart is so full of something beautiful and pure and exalted1 that the pen is not able to express it all4 ,words pale before what ,i saw1 what ,i felt4 ,it is not transport1--the word is too banal1--it is something better than transport4 ,it is more picturesque1 profounder1 more joyous1 more varied4 ,it is impossible to describe what happened at the ,cercle ,militaire1 when ,admiral ,aveln appeared on the balcony of a second story4 ,words will not tell anything here4 ,during the ,te ,deum1 when the choristers sang in the church ',save1 ,o ,lord1 thy people1' there burst through the open door the solemn sounds of the ,marseillaise1 which was played in the street by an orchestra of wind-instruments4 ,there was something astounding and inexpressible in the impression conveyed 7,new ,time1 ,october1 #ahic74 ,,ii4 ,after arriving in ,france1 the ,russian sailors for two weeks went from one celebration to another1 and in the middle or at the end of every celebration they ate1 drank1 and talked2 and the information as to what they ate and drank on ,wednesday and where and what on ,friday1 and what was said upon that occasion1 was wired home and conveyed to the whole of ,russia4 ,the moment some ,russian captain drank the health of ,france1 this at once became known to the whole world1 and the moment the ,russian admiral said1 ,i drink to fair ,france6 these words were immediately borne over the whole world4 ,but more than that3 the scrupulousness of the newspapers was such that they reported not only the toasts1 but even many dinners1 with the cakes and appetizers which were used at these dinners4 ,thus it said in one issue of a newspaper that the dinner was an artistic production3 ,consomm de volailles1 petits pts ,mousse de hommard parisienne ,noisette de buf la barnaise ,faisans la ,prigord ,casseroles de truffes au champagne ,chaufroid de volailles la ,toulouse ,salade russe ,croute de fruits toulonaise ,parfait l'ananas ,desserts ,in the next number it said3 ,in a culinary sense the dinner left nothing to be desired4 ,the menu consisted of the following3 ,potage livonien et ,st4 ,germain ,zphyrs ,nantua ,esturgeon brais moldave ,selle de daguet grand veneur1 and so forth4 ,the next number described another menu4 ,with every menu a detailed description was given of the wines which the fted men consumed1--such and such voodka such and such ,bourgogne vieux1 ,grand ,mot1 and so forth4 ,in an ,english paper there was an account of all the intoxicants consumed by the celebrators4 ,this amount is so enormous that it is doubtful if all the drunkards of ,russia and of ,france could have drunk so much in so short a time4 ,they reported also the speeches which were made by the celebrators1 but the menus were more varied than the speeches4 ,the speeches consisted invariably of the same words in all kinds of combinations and permutations4 ,the meaning of these words was always one and the same3 ,we love one another tenderly1 we are in transport1 because we have so suddenly fallen in love with one another4 ,our aim is not war and not revanche1 and not the return of provinces taken1 but only peace1 the benefaction of peace1 the security of peace1 the rest and peace of ,europe4 ,long live the ,emperor of ,russia and the empress1--we love them and we love peace4 ,long live the president of the republic and his wife1--we love them1 too1 and we love peace4 ,long live ,france1 ,russia1 their fleets1 and their armies4 ,we love the army1 too1 and peace1 and the chief of the squadron4 ,the speeches generally ended1 as in couplets1 with the words1 ,toulon1 ,kronstadt1 or ,kronstadt1 ,toulon4 ,and the names of these places1 where so much food was eaten and so many kinds of wine were consumed1 were pronounced like words reminding one of the loftiest1 most valorous of acts of the representatives of both nations1 words after which there was nothing else to be said1 because everything was comprehensible4 ,we love one another1 and we love peace4 ,kronstadt1 ,toulon6 ,what else can be added to this8 ,especially with the accompaniment of solemn music1 playing simultaneously two hymns1 one--praising the ,tsar and asking ,god for all kinds of benefactions for him1 and the other--cursing all kings and promising their ruin4 ,the men who expressed their sentiments of love particularly well received decorations and rewards2 other men for the same services1 or simply out of a superabundance of feelings1 were given the strangest and most unexpected presents1--thus the ,emperor of ,russia received from the ,french squadron some kind of a golden book1 in which1 ,i think1 nothing was written1 and if there was1 it was something that nobody needed to know1 and the chief of the ,russian squadron received1 among other presents1 a still more remarkable object1 an aluminum plough1 covered with flowers1 and many other just as unexpected presents4 ,besides1 all these strange acts were accompanied by still stranger religious ceremonies and public prayers1 which1 it would seem1 the ,french had long ago outlived4 ,since the days of the ,concordat there had hardly been offered so many prayers as in that short time4 ,all the ,french suddenly became unusually pious1 and carefully hung up in the rooms of the ,russian sailors those very images which they had just as carefully removed from their schools1 as being harmful tools of superstition1 and they kept praying all the time4 ,cardinals and bishops everywhere prescribed prayers1 and themselves prayed1 uttering the strangest prayers4 ,thus the ,bishop of ,toulon at the launching of the ironclad ,joriguiberi prayed to the ,god of peace1 making people feel1 however1 that1 if it came to a pinch1 he could address also the ,god of war4 ,what her fate will be1 said the bishop1 in reference to the ironclad1 ,god alone knows4 ,no one knows whether she will belch forth death from her appalling bosom4 ,but if1 invoking now the ,god of peace1 we should later have occasion to invoke the ,god of war1 we are firmly convinced that the ,joriguiberi will go forth side by side with the mighty boats whose crews have this day entered into such a close fraternal union with our own4 ,far from us be such a prospect1 and may the present festivity leave nothing but a peaceful recollection1 like the recollection of the ,grand ,duke ,constantine1 which was present here 7in #aheg7 at the launching of the ship ,quirinal1 and may the friendship of ,france and of ,russia make these two nations the guardians of peace4 ,in the meantime tens of thousands of telegrams flew from ,russia to ,france1 and from ,france to ,russia4 ,french women greeted ,russian women4 ,russian women expressed their gratitude to the ,french women4 ,a troupe of ,russian actors greeted some ,french actors1 and the ,french actors informed them that they harboured deeply in their hearts the greeting of the ,russian actors4 ,some ,russian candidates for judicial positions1 who served in a ,circuit ,court of some town or other1 expressed their enthusiasm for the ,french nation4 ,general ,so and ,so thanked ,madame ,so and ,so1 and ,madame ,so and ,so assured ,general ,so and ,so of her sentiments for the ,russian nation2 ,russian children wrote verses of welcome to ,french children1 and the ,french children answered in verse and in prose2 the ,russian minister of education assured the ,french minister of education of the sentiments of sudden love for the ,french1 which were experienced by all the children1 scholars1 and authors subject to his ministry2 members of a society for the protection of animals expressed their ardent attachment for the ,french1 and so did the ,council of the ,city of ,kazn4 ,the canon of the eparchy of ,arras informed his ,worship1 the chief priest of the ,russian court clergy1 that he could affirm that deep in the hearts of all the ,french cardinals and archbishops there was imprinted a love for ,russia and his ,majesty ,alexander ,,iii4 and his most august family1 and that the ,russian and ,french clergy professed almost the selfsame religion and equally honoured the ,virgin2 to which his ,worship1 the chief priest1 replied that the prayers of the ,french clergy for the most august family rechoed joyfully in the hearts of the whole ,russian ,tsar-loving family1 and that1 since the ,russian people also worshipped the ,holy ,virgin1 it could count on ,france in life and in death4 ,almost the same information was vouchsafed by different generals1 telegraph operators1 and dealers in groceries4 ,everybody congratulated somebody on something and thanked somebody for something4 ,the excitement was so great that the most unusual acts were committed1 but no one observed their unusual character1 and all1 on the contrary1 approved of them1 went into ecstasies over them1 and1 as though fearing lest they should be too late1 hastened to commit similar acts1 so as not to fall behind the rest4 ,if protests were expressed in words and in writing and in printing against these mad acts1 pointing out their irrationality1 such protests were concealed or squelched4#ag #ag ,thus ,i know of the following protest of students1 sent to ,paris1 which was not accepted by a single newspaper3 ,,open ,,letter ,,to ,,the ,,french ,,students ,lately a group of ,moscow students of law1 with the university authorities at their head1 took it upon themselves to speak in behalf of all the student body of ,moscow ,university in respect to the ,toulon festivities4 ,we1 the representatives of the association of student societies1 protest in the most emphatic manner possible both against the arrogation of this group and substantially against the exchange of civilities between it and the ,french students4 ,we1 too1 look with ardent love and profound respect upon ,france1 and we do so1 because we see in it a great nation1 which formerly used to appear before the whole world as the herald and proclaimer of great ideals of liberty1 equality1 and fraternity2 and which was also the first in the matter of bold endeavour for the materialization of these great ideals1--and the best part of the ,russian youth has always been ready to welcome ,france as the leading champion for the best future of humanity2 but we do not consider such festivities as those of ,kronstadt and ,toulon a suitable occasion for such civilities4 ,on the contrary1 these festivities signal a sad but1 let us hope1 temporary phenomenon1--the disloyalty of ,france to its former great historic rle3 the country1 which once called the whole world to break the fetters of despotism and offered its fraternal aid to every nation that revolted for the sake of its freedom1 now burns incense before the ,russian government1 which systematically trigs the normal1 organic1 and vital growth of the national life1 and mercilessly crushes1 without stopping at anything1 all the strivings of ,russian society toward the light1 toward freedom1 and toward independence4 ,the ,toulon manifestations are one of the acts of that drama which is presented by the antagonism--the creation of ,napoleon ,,iii4 and ,bismarck--between two great nations1 ,france and ,germany4 ,this antagonism keeps all of ,europe under arms1 and makes the ,russian absolutism1 which has always been the stay of despotism and arbitrariness against freedom1 of the exploiters against the exploited1 the executor of the political destinies of the world4 ,a sensation of anguish for our country1 of pity for the blindness of a considerable part of ,french society1 such are the sensations evoked in us by these festivities4 ,we are fully convinced that the young generation of ,france will not be carried away by the national ,chauvinism1 and that1 prepared to struggle for that better social structure toward which humanity is marching1 it will know how to render to itself an account of the present events and to take the proper stand about them2 we hope that our fervent protest will find a sympathetic echo in the hearts of the ,french youth4 ,the union council of twenty-four united ,moscow student societies4--,author's ,note4 ,to say nothing of all the millions of work-days which were wasted on these festivities1 of the wholesale drunkenness of all the participants1 which was encouraged by all the powers1 to say nothing of the insipidity of the speeches made1 the maddest and most cruel things were done1 and no one paid any attention to them4 ,thus several dozens of men were crushed to death1 and no one found it necessary to mention this fact4 ,one correspondent wrote that a ,frenchman told him at a ball that now there could hardly be found a woman in ,paris who would not be false to her duties1 in order to satisfy the wishes of some ,russian sailor--and all this passed by unnoticed1 as something that ought to be4 ,there occurred cases of distinct madness4 ,thus one woman1 dressing herself in a garment of the colours of the ,franco-,russian flags1 waited for the sailors and1 exclaiming1 ,vive la ,russie6 jumped from the bridge into the river and was drowned4 ,women in general played in these festivities a prominent part and even guided the men4 ,besides throwing flowers and all kinds of ribbons1 and offering presents and addresses1 ,french women made for the ,russian sailors and kissed them2 some of them for some reason brought their children to them1 to be kissed by them1 and when the ,russian sailors complied with their wish1 all persons present went into ecstasies and wept4 ,this strange excitement was so infectious that1 as one correspondent tells1 an apparently absolutely sound ,russian sailor1 after two days of contemplation of what took place around him1 in the middle of the day jumped from the ship into the sea and1 swimming1 shouted1 ,vive la ,france6 ,when he was taken aboard and asked why he had done so1 he replied that he had made a vow that in honour of ,france he would swim around the ship4 ,thus the undisturbed excitement grew and grew1 like a ball of rolling wet snow1 and finally reached such dimensions that not only the persons present1 not only predisposed1 weak-nerved1 but even strong1 normal men fell a prey to the general mood and became abnormally affected4 ,i remember how ,i1 absent-mindedly reading one of these descriptions of the solemnity of the reception of the sailors1 suddenly felt a feeling1 akin to meekness of spirit1 even a readiness for tears1 communicated to me1 so that ,i had to make an effort to overcome this feeling4 ,illustration3 ,malvannians ,photogravure from ,photograph ,,iii4 ,lately ,sikrski1 a professor of psychiatry1 described in the ,kev ,university ,record the psychopathic epidemic1 as he calls it1 of the ,malvannians1 as manifested in a few villages of ,vasilkv ,county of the ,government of ,kev4 ,the essence of this epidemic1 as ,mr4 ,sikrski1 the investigator of it1 says1 consisted in this1 that certain persons of these villages1 under the influence of their leader1 by the name of ,malvanny1 came to imagine that the end of the world was at hand1 and so1 changing their whole mode of life1 began to distribute their property1 to dress up1 and to eat savoury food1 and stopped working4 ,the professor found the condition of these men to be abnormal4 ,he says3 ,their unusual good nature frequently passed into exaltation1 a joyous condition1 which was devoid of external motives4 ,they were sentimentally disposed3 excessively polite1 talkative1 mobile1 with tears of joy appearing easily and just as easily disappearing4 ,they sold their necessaries1 in order to provide themselves with umbrellas1 silk kerchiefs1 and similar objects1 and at that the kerchiefs served them only as ornaments for their toilet4 ,they ate many sweet things4 ,they were always in a cheerful mood1 and they led an idle life1--visited one another1 walked together4444 ,when the obviously absurd character of their refusal to work was pointed out to them1 one every time heard in reply the stereotyped phrase1 ',if ,i want to1 ,i shall work1 and if ,i do not want to1 why should ,i compel myself8' ,the learned professor considers the condition of these men a pronounced case of a psychopathic epidemic1 and1 advising the government to take certain measures against its spread1 ends his communication with the words3 ,malvannism is the wail of a morbidly sick population and a supplication to be freed from liquor and to have education and sanitary conditions improved4 ,but if ,malvannism is the wail of a morbidly sick population and a supplication to be freed from liquor and from harmful social conditions1 then this new disease1 which has appeared in ,paris and has with alarming rapidity embraced a great part of the city population of ,france and almost the whole of governmental and cultured ,russia1 is just such an alarming wail of a morbid population and just such a supplication to be freed from liquor and from false social conditions4 ,and if we must admit that the psychopathic suffering of ,malvannism is dangerous1 and that the government has done well to follow the professor's advice and remove the leaders of ,malvannism by confining some of them in lunatic asylums and monasteries and by deporting others to distant places1 how much more dangerous must be considered to be this new epidemic1 which appeared in ,toulon and ,paris and from there spread over the whole of ,france and of ,russia1 and how much more necessary it is1 if not for the government1 at least for society1 to take decisive measures against the spread of such epidemics6 ,the resemblance between the diseases is complete4 ,there is the same good nature1 passing into causeless and joyful exaltation1 the same sentimentality1 excessive politeness1 talkativeness1 the same constant tears of meekness of spirit1 which come and go without cause1 the same festive mood1 the same walking for pleasure and visiting one another1 the same dressing up in the best clothes1 the same proneness for sweet food1 the same senseless talks1 the same idleness1 the same singing and music1 the same leadership of the women1 and the same clownish phase of attitudes passionelles1 which ,mr4 ,sikrski has noticed in the case of the ,malvannians2 that is1 as ,i understand this word1 those different1 unnatural poses1 which men assume during solemn meetings1 receptions1 and after-dinner speeches4 ,the resemblance is complete4 ,the only difference is this1--and the difference is very great for the society in which these phenomena are taking place1--that there it is the aberration of a few dozen peaceful1 poor village people1 who live on their small means and1 therefore1 cannot exert any violence on their neighbours1 and who infect others only by the personal and oral transmission of their mood1 while here it is the aberration of millions of people1 who possess enormous sums of money and means for exerting violence against other people1--guns1 bayonets1 fortresses1 ironclads1 melinite1 dynamite1 and who1 besides1 have at their command the most energetic means for the dissemination of their madness1 the post1 the telegraph1 an enormous number of newspapers1 and all kinds of publications1 which are printed without cessation and carry the infection to all the corners of the globe4 ,there is also this difference1 that the first not only do not get themselves drunk1 but even do not use any intoxicating liquor1 while the second are constantly in a state of semi-intoxication1 which they never stop maintaining in themselves4 ,and so for a society in which these phenomena are taking place1 there is the same difference between the ,kev epidemic1 during which1 according to ,mr4 ,sikrski's information1 it does not appear that they commit any violence or murders1 and the one which made its appearance in ,paris1 where in one procession twenty women were crushed to death1 as there is between a piece of coal1 which has leaped out of the stove and is glowing on the floor without igniting it1 and a fire which is already enveloping the door and walls of the house4 ,in the worst case the consequences of the ,kev epidemic will consist in this1 that the peasants of one millionth part of ,russia will spend what they have earned by hard labour1 and will be unable to pay the ,crown taxes2 but the consequences from the ,toulon-,paris epidemic1 which is embracing men who are in possession of a terrible power1 of vast sums of money1 and of implements of violence and of the dissemination of their madness1 can and must be terrible4 ,,iv4 ,we can with pity listen to the delirium of a feeble1 defenceless1 crazy old man1 in his cap and cloak1 and even not contradict him1 and even jestingly agree with him2 but when it is a whole crowd of sound insane people1 who have broken away from their confinement1 and these people bristle from head to foot with sharp daggers1 swords1 and loaded revolvers1 and madly flourish these death-dealing weapons1 we can no longer agree with them1 and we cannot be at rest even for a minute4 ,the same is true of that condition of excitement1 provoked by the ,french celebrations1 in which ,russian and ,french society finds itself at the present time4 ,it is true1 in all the speeches1 in all the toasts1 pronounced at these celebrations1 in all the articles concerning these celebrations1 they never stopped talking of the importance of everything which was taking place for the guarantee of peace4 ,even the advocates of war did not speak of hatred of those who snatch away provinces1 but of some kind of a love which somehow hates4 ,but we know of the slyness of all men who are mentally diseased1 and it is this most persistent repetition of our not wanting war1 but peace1 and the reticence regarding that of which all think1 that form a most menacing phenomenon4 ,in answering a toast at a dinner given in the ,palace of the ,elyses1 the ,russian ambassador said3 ,before drinking a toast to which will respond from the depth of their hearts1 not only those who are within these walls1 but even those--and1 that1 too1 with equal force--whose hearts near by and far away1 at all the points of great1 fair ,france1 as also in all of ,russia1 at the present moment are beating in unison with ours1--permit me to offer to you the expression of our profoundest gratitude for the words of welcome which were addressed by you to our admiral1 whom our ,tsar has charged with the mission of paying back your visit at ,kronstadt4 ,considering the high importance which you enjoy1 your words characterize the true significance of the magnificent peaceful festivities1 which are celebrated with such wonderful unanimity1 loyalty1 and sincerity4 ,the same unjustifiable mention of peace is found in the speech of the ,french president3 ,the ties of love1 which unite ,russia and ,france1 he said1 and which two years ago were strengthened by touching manifestations1 of which our fleet was the object at ,kronstadt1 become tighter and tighter with every day1 and the honourable exchange of our amicable sentiments must inspire all those who take to heart the benefactions of peace1 confidence1 and security1 and so forth4 ,both speeches quite unexpectedly and without any cause refer to the benefactions of peace and to peaceful celebrations4 ,the same occurs in the telegrams which were exchanged between the ,emperor of ,russia and the ,president of ,france4 ,the ,emperor of ,russia telegraphed3 ,au moment o l'escadre russe quitte la ,france1 il me tient cur de vous exprimer combien je suis touch et reconnaissant de l'accueil chaleureux et splendide1 que mes marins ont trouv partout sur le sol franais4 ,les tmoignages de vive sympathie qui se sont manifests encore une fois avec tant d'loquence1 joindront un nouveau lien ceux qui unissent les deux pays et contribueront1 je l'espre1 l'affermissement de la paix gnrale1 objet de leurs efforts et de leurs vux les plus constants1 etc4 ,the ,president of ,france in his reply telegraphed as follows3 ,la dpche dont je remercie votre ,majest m'est parvenue au moment ou je quittais ,toulon pour rentrer ,paris4 ,la belle escadre sur laquelle j'ai eu la vive satisfaction de saluer le pavillon russe dans les eaux franaises1 l'accueil cordial et spontan que vos braves marins ont rencontr partout en ,france affirment une fois de plus avec clat les sympathies sincres qui unissent nos deux pays4 ,ils marquent en mme temps une foi profonde dans l'influence bienfaisante que peuvent exercer ensemble deux grandes nations devoues la cause de la paix4 ,again there is in both telegrams a gratuitous mention of peace1 which has nothing in common with the celebrations of the sailors4 ,there is not one speech1 not one article1 in which mention is not made of this1 that the aim of all these past orgies is the peace of ,europe4 ,at a dinner1 which is given by the representatives of the ,russian press1 everybody speaks of peace4 ,mr4 ,zola1 who lately wrote about the necessity and even usefulness of war1 and ,mr4 ,vog1 who more than once expressed the same idea1 do not say one word about war1 but speak only of peace4 ,the meetings of the ,chambers are opened with speeches respecting the past celebrations1 and the orators affirm that these festivities are the declaration of the peace of ,europe4 ,it is as though a man1 coming into some peaceful society1 should go out of his way on every occasion to assure the persons present that he has not the slightest intention of knocking out anybody's teeth1 smashing eyes1 or breaking arms1 but means only to pass a peaceable evening4 ,but nobody has any doubts about that1 one feels like saying to him4 ,but if you have such base intentions1 at least do not dare speak of them to us4 ,in many articles1 which were written about these celebrations1 there is even a direct and nave expression of pleasure1 because during the festivities no one gave utterance to what by tacit consent it had been decided to conceal from everybody1 and what only one incautious man1 who was immediately removed by the police1 dared to shout1 giving expression to the secret thought of all1 namely1 ,a bas l',allemagne6 ,thus children are frequently so happy at having concealed their naughtiness1 that their very joy gives them away4 ,why should we so rejoice at the fact that no mention was made of war1 if we indeed are not thinking of it8 ,v4 ,no one is thinking of war1 but yet milliards are wasted on military preparations1 and1 millions of men are under arms in ,russia and in ,france4 ,but all this is being done for the security of peace4 ,si vis pacem1 para bellum4 ,l'empire c'est la paix1 la republique c'est la paix4 ,but if it is so1 why are the military advantages of our alliance with ,france in case of a war with ,germany explained1 not only in all the periodicals and newspapers published for the so-called cultured people1 but also in the ,rural ,messenger1 a newspaper published by the ,russian government for the masses1 by means of which these unfortunate masses1 deceived by the government1 are impressed with this1 that to be friendly with ,france is also useful and profitable1 because1 if1 beyond all expectation1 the above-mentioned powers 7,germany1 ,austria1 ,italy7 should decide to violate the peace with ,russia1 ,russia1 though able with ,god's aid to protect itself and handle a very powerful alliance of adversaries1 would not find this to be an easy task1 and for a successful struggle great sacrifices and losses would be needed1 and so forth 7,rural ,messenger1 ,no4 #dc1 #ahic74 ,and why do they in all the ,french colleges teach history from a text-book composed by ,mr4 ,lavisse1 twenty-first edition1 #ahhi1 in which the following passage is found3 ,depuis que l'insurrection de la ,commune a t vaincue1 la ,france n'a plus t trouble4 ,au lendemain de la guerre1 elle s'est remise au travail4 ,elle a pay aux ,allemands sans difficult l'norme contribution de guerre de cinq milliards4 ,mais la ,france a perdu sa renomme militaire pendant la guerre de #ahgj4 ,elle a perdu une partie de son territoire4 ,plus de quinze cents mille hommes1 qui habitaient nos departements du ,haut ,rhin1 du ,bas ,rhin et de la ,moselle1 et qui taient de bons ,franais1 ont t obligs de devenir ,allemands4 ,ils ne sont pas resigns leur sort4 ,ils dtestent l',allemagne2 ils esprent toujours redevenir ,franais4 ,mais l',allemagne tient sa conqute1 et c'est un grand pays1 dont tous les habitants aiment sincrement leur patrie et dont les soldats sont braves et disciplins4 ,pour reprendre l',allemagne ce qu'elle nous a pris1 il faut que nous soyons de bons citoyens et de bons soldats4 ,c'est pour que vous deveniez de bons soldats1 que vos matres vous apprennent l'histoire de la ,france4 ,l'histoire de la ,france montre que dans notre pays les fils ont toujours veng les dsastres de leurs pres4 ,les ,franais du temps de ,charles ,,vii4 ont veng leurs pres vaincus ,crcy1 ,poitiers1 ,azincourt4 ,c'est vous1 enfants lves aujourd'hui dans nos coles1 qu'il appartient de venger vos pres1 vaincus ,sdan et ,metz4 ,c'est votre devoir1 le grand devoir de votre vie4 ,vous devez y penser toujours1 etc4 ,at the foot of the page there is a whole series of questions1 to correspond to the articles4 ,the questions are as follows3 ,what did ,france lose when she lost part of her territory8 ,how many ,frenchmen became ,german with the loss of this territory8 ,do the ,french love ,germany8 ,what must we do1 in order to regain what was taken away from us by ,germany8 ,in addition to these there are also ,rflexions sur le ,livre ,,vii41 in which it says that the children of ,france must remember our defeats of #ahgj1 that they must feel on their hearts the burden of this memory1 but that this memory must not discourage them3 it should1 on the contrary1 incite them to bravery4 ,thus1 if in official speeches peace is mentioned with great persistency1 the masses1 the younger generations1 yes1 all the ,russians and ,frenchmen in general1 are imperturbably impressed with the necessity1 legality1 profitableness1 and even virtue of war4 ,we are not thinking of war1--we are concerned only about peace4 ,one feels like asking ,qui1 diable1 trompe-t-on ici8 if it were necessary to ask this1 and if it were not quite clear who the unfortunate cheated are4 ,the cheated are the same eternally deceived1 stupid1 labouring masses1 the same who with their callous hands have built all these ships1 and fortresses1 and arsenals1 and barracks1 and guns1 and steamboats1 and quays1 and moles1 and all these palaces1 halls1 and platforms1 and triumphal arches2 and have set and printed all these newspapers and books2 and have secured and brought all those pheasants1 and ortolans1 and oysters1 and wines1 which are consumed by all those men1 whom they1 again1 have nurtured and brought up and sustained1--men who1 deceiving the masses1 prepare the most terrible calamities for them2 the same good-natured1 stupid masses1 who1 displaying their sound1 white teeth1 have grinned in childish fashion1 navely enjoying the sight of all the dressed-up admirals and presidents1 of the flags fluttering above them1 the fireworks1 the thundering music1 and who will hardly have time to look around1 when there shall be no longer any admirals1 nor presidents1 nor flags1 nor music1 but there will be only a wet1 waste field1 hunger1 cold1 gloom1 in front the slaying enemy1 behind the goading authorities1 blood1 wounds1 sufferings1 rotting corpses1 and a senseless1 useless death4 ,and the men like those who now are celebrating at the festivities in ,toulon and ,paris1 will be sitting1 after a good dinner1 with unfinished glasses of good wine1 with a cigar between their teeth1 in a dark cloth tent1 and will with pins mark down the places on the map where so much food for cannon1 composed of the masses1 should be left1 in order to seize such and such a fortress1 and in order to obtain such or such a ribbon or promotion4 ,,vi4 ,but there is nothing of the kind1 and there are no warlike intentions1 we are told4 ,all there is1 is that two nations feeling a mutual sympathy are expressing this sentiment to one another4 ,what harm is there in this1 that the representatives of a friendly nation were received with especial solemnity and honour by the representatives of the other nation8 ,what harm is there in it1 even if it be admitted that the alliance may have the significance of a protection against a dangerous neighbour1 threatening the peace of ,europe8 ,the harm is this1 that all this is a most palpable and bold lie1 an unjustifiable1 bad lie4 ,the sudden outburst of an exclusive love of the ,russians for the ,french1 and of the ,french for the ,russians1 is a lie2 and our hatred for the ,germans1 our distrust of them1 which is understood by it1 is also a lie4 ,and the statement that the aim of all these indecent and mad orgies is the guarantee of ,european peace1 is a still greater lie4 ,we all know that we have experienced no particular love for the ,french1 neither before1 nor even now1 even as we have not experienced any hostile feeling toward the ,germans4 ,we are told that ,germany has some intentions against ,russia1 that the ,triple ,alliance threatens the peace of ,europe and us1 and that our alliance with ,france balances the forces1 and so guarantees the peace4 ,but this assertion is so obviously absurd1 that it makes one feel ashamed to give it a serious denial4 ,for this to be so1 that is1 for the alliance to guarantee peace1 it is necessary that the forces be mathematically even4 ,if now the excess is on the side of the ,franco-,russian alliance1 the danger is still the same4 ,it is even greater1 because1 if there was a danger that ,william1 who stood at the head of the ,european alliance1 would violate the peace1 there is a much greater danger that ,france1 which cannot get used to the loss of her provinces1 will do so4 ,the ,triple ,alliance was called a league of peace1 but for us it was a league of war4 ,even so now the ,franco-,russian alliance cannot present itself as anything else than what it is1--a league of war4 ,and then1 if peace depends on the balance of the powers1 how are the units to be determined1 between whom the balance is to be established8 ,now the ,english say that the alliance between ,russia and ,france menaces them1 and that they must1 therefore1 form another alliance4 ,and into how many units of alliances must ,europe be divided1 in order that there be a balance8 ,if so1 then every man stronger than another in society is already a danger1 and the others must form into alliances1 to withstand him4 ,they ask1 ,what harm is there in this1 that ,france and ,russia have expressed their mutual sympathies for the guarantee of peace8 ,what is bad is1 that it is a lie1 and a lie is never spoken with impunity1 and does not pass unpunished4 ,the devil is a slayer of men and the father of lies4 ,and the lies always lead to the slaying of men1--in this case more obviously than ever4 ,in just the same manner as now1 the ,turkish war was preceded by a sudden outburst of love of our ,russians for their brothers1 the ,slavs1 whom no one had known for hundreds of years1 while the ,germans1 the ,french1 the ,english have always been incomparably nearer and more closely related to us than ,montenegrins1 ,servians1 or ,bulgarians4 ,and there began transports1 receptions1 and festivities1 which were fanned by such men as ,akskov and ,katkv1 who are mentioned now in ,paris as models of patriotism4 ,then1 as now1 they spoke of nothing but the mutual sudden outburst of love between the ,russians and the ,slavs4 ,in the beginning they ate and drank in ,moscow1 even as now in ,paris1 and talked nonsense to one another1 becoming affected by their own exalted sentiments1 spoke of union and peace1 and did not say anything about the chief thing1 the intentions against ,turkey4 ,the newspapers fanned the excitement1 and the government by degrees entered into the game4 ,servia revolted4 ,there began an exchange of diplomatic notes and the publication of semiofficial articles2 the newspapers lied more and more1 invented and waxed wroth1 and the end of it all was that ,alexander ,,ii41 who really did not want any war1 could not help but agree to it1 and we all know what happened3 the destruction of hundreds of thousands of innocent people and the bestialization and dulling of millions4 ,what was done in ,toulon and in ,paris1 and now continues to be done in the newspapers1 obviously leads to the same1 or to a still more terrible calamity4 ,just so all kinds of generals and ministers will at first1 to the sounds of ,god save the ,tsar and the ,marseillaise drink the health of ,france1 of ,russia1 of the various regiments of the army and the navy2 the newspapers will print their lies2 the idle crowd of the rich1 who do not know what to do with their powers and with their time1 will babble patriotic speeches1 fanning hatred against ,germany1 and no matter how peaceful ,alexander ,,iii4 may be1 the conditions will be such that he will be unable to decline a war which will be demanded by all those who surround him1 by all the newspapers1 and1 as always seems1 by the public opinion of the whole nation4 ,and before we shall have had time to look around1 there will appear in the columns of the newspapers the usual1 ominous1 stupid proclamation3 ,by ,god's grace1 we1 the most autocratic great ,emperor of all ,russia1 the ,king of ,poland1 the ,grand ,duke of ,finland1 etc41 etc41 inform all our faithful subjects that for the good of these dear subjects1 entrusted to us by ,god1 we have considered it our duty before ,god to send them out to slaughter4 ,god be with them1 and so forth4 ,the bells will be rung1 and long-haired men will throw gold-embroidered bags over themselves and will begin to pray for the slaughter4 ,and there will begin again the old1 well-known1 terrible deed4 ,the newspaper writers1 who under the guise of patriotism stir people up to hatred and murder1 will be about1 in the hope of double earnings4 ,manufacturers1 merchants1 purveyors of military supplies1 will bestir themselves joyfully1 expecting double profits4 ,all kinds of officials will bestir themselves1 foreseeing a chance to steal more than they usually do4 ,the military authorities will bestir themselves1 for they will receive double salaries and rations1 and will hope to get for the killing of people all kinds of trifles1 which they value very much1--ribbons1 crosses1 galloons1 stars4 ,idle gentlemen and ladies will bestir themselves1 inscribing themselves in advance in the ,red ,cross1 preparing themselves to dress the wounds of those whom their own husbands and brothers will kill1 and imagining that they are thus doing a most ,christian work4 ,and1 drowning in their hearts their despair by means of songs1 debauches1 and vdka1 hundreds of thousands of simple1 good people1 torn away from peaceful labour1 from their wives1 mothers1 children1 will march1 with weapons of murder in their hands1 whither they will be driven4 ,they will go to freeze1 to starve1 to be sick1 to die from diseases1 and finally they will arrive at the place where they will be killed by the thousand1 and they will kill by the thousand1 themselves not knowing why1 men whom they have never seen and who have done them and can do them no harm4 ,and when there shall be collected so many sick1 wounded1 and killed that nobody will have the time to pick them up1 and when the air shall already be so infected by this rotting food for cannon that even the authorities will feel uncomfortable1 then they will stop for awhile1 will somehow manage to pick up the wounded1 will haul off and somewhere throw into a pile the sick1 and will bury the dead1 covering them with lime1 and again they will lead on the whole crowd of the deceived1 and will continue to lead them on in this manner until those who have started the whole thing will get tired of it1 or until those who needed it will get what they needed4 ,and again will men become infuriated1 brutalized1 and bestialized1 and love will be diminished in the world1 and the incipient ,christianization of humanity will be delayed for decades and for centuries4 ,and again will the people1 who gain thereby1 begin to say with assurance that1 if there is a war1 this means that it is necessary1 and again they will begin to prepare for it the future generations1 by corrupting them from childhood4 ,,vii4 ,and so1 when there appear such patriotic manifestations as were the ,toulon celebrations1 which1 though still at a distance1 in advance bind the wills of men and oblige them to commit those customary malefactions which always result from patriotism1 every one who understands the significance of these celebrations cannot help but protest against everything which is tacitly included in them4 ,and so1 when the journalists say in print that all the ,russians sympathize with what took place at ,kronstadt1 ,toulon1 and ,paris2 that this alliance for life and death is confirmed by the will of the whole nation2 and when the ,russian minister of education assures the ,french ministers that his whole company1 the ,russian children1 the learned1 and the authors1 share his sentiments2 or when the commander of the ,russian squadron assures the ,french that the whole of ,russia will be grateful to them for their reception2 and when the chief priests speak for their flocks and assure the ,french that their prayers for the life of the most august house have rechoed joyfully in the hearts of the ,russian ,tsar-loving nation2 and when the ,russian ambassador in ,paris1 who is considered to be the representative of the ,russian nation1 says after a dinner of ortolans la soubise et logopdes glacs1 with a glass of champagne ,grand ,mot in his hand1 that all ,russian hearts are beating in unison with his heart1 which is filled with a sudden outburst of exclusive love for fair ,france 7la belle ,france71--we1 the people who are free from the stultification1 consider it our sacred duty1 not only for our own sakes1 but also for the sake of tens of millions of ,russians1 in the most emphatic manner to protest against it and to declare that our hearts do not beat in unison with the hearts of the journalists1 ministers of education1 commanders of squadrons1 chief priests1 and ambassadors1 but1 on the contrary1 are full to the brim with indignation and loathing for that harmful lie and that evil which they consciously and unconsciously disseminate with their acts and their speeches4 ,let them drink ,mot as much as they please1 and let them write articles and deliver addresses in their own name1 but we1 all the ,christians1 who recognize ourselves as such1 cannot admit that we are bound by everything that these men say and write4 ,we cannot admit it1 because we know what is concealed beneath all these drunken transports1 speeches1 and embraces1 which do not resemble the confirmation of peace1 as we are assured1 but rather those orgies and that drunkenness to which evil-doers abandon themselves when they prepare themselves for a joint crime4 ,,viii4 ,about four years ago1--the first swallow of the ,toulon spring1--a certain ,french agitator in favour of a war with ,germany came to ,russia for the purpose of preparing the ,franco-,russian alliance1 and he visited us in the country4 ,he arrived at our house when we were working in the mowing4 ,at breakfast1 as we returned home1 we made the acquaintance of the guest1 and he immediately proceeded to tell us how he had fought1 had been in captivity1 had run away from it1 and how he had made a patriotic vow1 of which he was apparently proud1 that he would not stop agitating a war against ,germany until the integrity and glory of ,france should be restablished4 ,in our circle all the convictions of our guest as to how necessary an alliance between ,russia and ,france was for the restablishment of the former borders of ,france and its might and glory1 and for making us secure against the malevolent intentions of ,germany1 were of no avail to him4 ,in reply to his arguments that ,france could not be at peace so long as the provinces taken from it were not returned to it1 we said that similarly ,prussia could not be at rest1 so long as it had not paid back for ,jena1 and that1 if the ,french revanche should now be successful1 the ,germans would have to pay them back1 and so on without end4 ,in reply to his arguments that the ,french were obliged to save their brothers1 who had been torn away from them1 we said that the condition of the inhabitants1 of the majority of the inhabitants1 of the working people in ,alsace-,lorraine1 was hardly any worse under ,german rule than it had been under ,france1 and that1 because some ,alsatians preferred to belong to ,france rather than to ,germany1 and he1 our guest1 found it desirable to reestablish the glory of ,french arms1 it was not worth while1 either to begin those terrible calamities which result from war1 or even to sacrifice one single human life4 ,in reply to his arguments that it was all very well for us to speak thus1 since we had not experienced the same1 and that we should be speaking differently1 if we had the ,baltic provinces and ,poland taken away from us1 we said that even from the political standpoint the loss of ,poland and of the ,baltic provinces could not be a calamity for us1 but might rather be considered an advantage1 since it would diminish the necessity for a military force and the expenses of state2 and from the ,christian point of view we never could permit a war1 since a war demanded the killing of men1 whereas ,christianity not only forbade every murder1 but even demanded that we do good to all men1 considering all1 without distinction of nationalities1 as our brothers4 ,the ,christian state1 we said1 which enters upon war1 to be consistent1 must not only haul down the crosses from the churches1 turn all the churches into buildings for different purposes1 give the clergy other offices1 and1 above all1 prohibit the ,gospel1 but must also renounce all the demands of morality which result from the ,christian law4 ,c'est prendre ou laisser1 we said4 ,but until ,christianity was abolished1 it would be possible to entice men to war only by cunning and deceit1 as indeed is being done nowadays4 ,we see this cunning and deception1 and so cannot submit to it4 ,as there was no music1 no champagne1 nothing intoxicating about us1 our guest only shrugged his shoulders and with customary ,french amiability remarked that he was very thankful for the fine reception accorded to him in our house1 but that he was sorry that his ideas were not treated in the same way4 ,,ix4 ,after this conversation we went to the mowing1 and there he1 in the hope of finding more sympathy for his ideas among the masses1 asked me to translate to the peasant ,prokfi1 an old1 sickly man1 with an enormous rupture1 who none the less stuck to his work1 and was my companion in the mowing1 his plan of attacking the ,germans1 which was to squeeze the ,germans1 who were between the ,french and the ,russians1 from both sides4 ,the ,frenchman gave an ocular demonstration of this to ,prokfi1 by touching from two sides ,prokfi's sweaty hempen shirt with his white fingers4 ,i recall ,prokfi's good-naturedly scornful surprise1 when ,i explained to him the ,frenchman's words and gestures4 ,the proposition to squeeze the ,germans from both sides was apparently taken by ,prokfi as a joke1 for he would not admit the idea that a grown man and a scholar should calmly and when he was sober talk of the desirability of war4 ,well1 if we squeeze the ,german from both sides1 he replied jestingly to what he thought was a joke1 he will have no place to go to4 ,we must give him room4 ,i translated this to my guest4 ,dites lui que nous aimons les ,russes1 he said4 ,these words obviously startled ,prokfi even more than the proposition to squeeze the ,german1 and provoked a certain sentiment of suspicion4 ,who is he8 ,prokfi asked me1 with mistrust1 indicating my guest with his head4 ,i told him that he was a ,frenchman1 a rich man4 ,what is his business8 ,prokfi asked me4 ,when ,i explained to him that he had come to invite the ,russians to form an alliance with ,france in case of a war with ,germany1 ,prokfi apparently became quite dissatisfied1 and1 turning to the women1 who were sitting near a haycock1 he shouted at them in a strong voice1 which involuntarily betrayed the feelings which this conversation had provoked in him1 that they should go and rake up the unraked hay4 ,come now1 you crows6 ,have you fallen asleep8 ,come6 ,much time we have to squeeze the ,german6 ,we have not finished the mowing yet1 and it looks likely that we shall be mowing on ,wednesday1 he said4 ,and then1 as though fearing to offend the stranger by such a remark1 he added1 displaying his half-worn-off teeth in a good-natured smile1 ,you had better come and work with us1 and send the ,german1 too4 ,when we get through working1 we shall have a good time4 ,well take the ,german along4 ,they are just such folk as we4 ,and1 having said this1 ,prokfi took his muscular arm out of the crotch of the fork1 on which he had been leaning1 threw the fork over his shoulders1 and went away to the women4 ,oh1 le brave homme6 the polite ,frenchman exclaimed1 smiling4 ,and with this he then concluded his diplomatic mission to the ,russian people4 ,the sight of these so radically different men1--the one beaming with freshness1 alacrity1 elegance1 the well-fed ,frenchman1 in a silk hat and long overcoat of the latest fashion1 energetically illustrating with his white hands1 unused to labour1 how to squeeze the ,germans1 and the sight of the dishevelled ,prokfi1 with hay-seed in his hair1 dried up from work1 sunburnt1 always tired and always working1 in spite of his immense rupture1 with fingers swollen from work1 with his loosely hanging homespun trousers1 battered bast shoes1 jogging along with an immense forkful of hay over his shoulder in that indolent pace of a labouring man1 which economizes motion1--the sight of these two so radically different men elucidated to me then many things1 and has occurred to me now1 after the ,toulon-,paris celebrations4 ,one of them personified all those men1 nurtured by the labours of the masses1 who later use these masses as food for cannon2 and ,prokfi personified to me that food for cannon1 which nurtures and makes secure the men who dispose of it4 ,x4 ,but ,france has been deprived of two provinces1--two children have been violently removed from their mother4 ,but ,russia cannot permit ,germany to prescribe laws to it and to deprive it of its historic destiny in the ,east1--it cannot tolerate the chance of having its provinces1 the ,baltic provinces1 ,poland1 the ,caucasus1 taken from it1 as was done in the case of ,france4 ,but ,germany cannot tolerate the possibility of losing its prerogatives1 which it has gained through so many sacrifices4 ,but ,england cannot yield its supremacy on the seas to any one4 ,and1 having spoken such words1 it is generally assumed that a ,frenchman1 a ,russian1 a ,german1 an ,englishman must be prepared to sacrifice everything in order to regain the lost provinces1 to establish their predominance in the ,east1 to maintain their unity and power1 their supremacy on the seas1 and so forth4 ,it is assumed that the sentiment of patriotism is1 in the first place1 a sentiment which is always inherent in men1 and1 in the second1 such an exalted moral sentiment that1 if it is absent1 it has to be evoked in those who do not have it4 ,but neither is correct4 ,i have passed half a century among the ,russian masses1 and among the great majority of the real ,russian people ,i have in all that time never seen or heard even once any manifestation or expression of this sentiment of patriotism1 if we do not count those patriotic phrases1 which are learned by rote during military service or are repeated from books by the most frivolous and spoiled men of the nation4 ,i have never heard any expression of patriotic sentiments from the people2 but1 ,i have1 on the contrary1 frequently heard the most serious and respectable men from among the masses giving utterance to the most absolute indifference and even contempt for all kinds of manifestations of patriotism4 ,the same thing ,i have observed among the labouring classes of other nations1 and ,i have often been assured of the same by cultured ,frenchmen1 ,germans1 and ,englishmen concerning their own working people4 ,the working people are too busy with the all-absorbing business of supporting themselves and their families1 to be interested in those political questions1 which present themselves as the chief motive of patriotism1--the questions of ,russia's influence in the ,east1 the unity of ,germany1 or the restitution of the lost provinces to ,france1 or the acts of this or that part of one state toward another1 and so forth1 do not interest them1 not only because they hardly ever know the conditions under which these questions have arisen1 but also because the interests of their lives are quite independent of the political interests4 ,it is always very much a matter of indifference to a man from the masses1 where certain borders will be marked down1 or to whom ,constantinople will belong1 or whether ,saxony or ,brunswick will be a member of the ,german union1 or whether ,australia or ,matabeleland will belong to ,england1 or even to what government he will have to pay taxes and to what army he will have to send his sons2 but it is always very important for him to know how much he will have to pay in taxes1 how long he has to serve1 and how much he will receive for his labour1--and these are questions that are quite independent of the common political interests4 ,it is for this reason that1 in spite of all the intensified means used by the governments for the inoculation of the masses with a patriotism which is alien to them and for the suppression of the ideas of socialism1 which are developing among them1 the socialism more and more penetrates into the masses1 and the patriotism1 which is so carefully inoculated by the governments1 is not only not adopted by the masses1 but is disappearing more and more1 maintaining itself only among the upper classes1 to whom it is advantageous4 ,if it happens that at times patriotism takes hold of the popular crowd1 as was the case in ,paris1 this is only so when the masses are subjected to an intensified hypnotic influence by the governments and the ruling classes1 and the patriotism is maintained among the masses only so long at this influence lasts4 ,thus1 for example1 in ,russia1 where patriotism1 in the form of love and loyalty for the faith1 the ,tsar1 and the country1 is inoculated in the masses with extraordinary tension and with the use of all the tools at the command of the governments1 such as the church1 the school1 the press1 and all kinds of solemnities1 the ,russian labouring classes1--one hundred millions of the ,russian nation1--in spite of ,russia's unearned reputation as a nation that is particularly devoted to its faith1 its ,tsar1 and its country1 are most free from the deception of patriotism and from loyalty to faith1 the ,tsar1 and country4 ,the men of the masses for the most part do not know their ,orthodox1 state faith1 to which they are supposed to be so loyal1 and when they come to know it1 they immediately give it up and become rationalists1 that is1 accept a faith which it is impossible to attack or to defend2 on their ,tsar they1 in spite of the constant and persistent influences brought to bear upon them1 look as upon all the powers of violence1 if not with condemnation1 at least with absolute indifference2 but their country1 if by that we do not mean their village or township1 they do not know at all1 or1 if they do1 they do not distinguish it from any other countries1 so that1 as ,russian colonists used to go to ,austria and to ,turkey1 they now with just as much indifference settle in ,russia1 outside of ,russia1 in ,turkey or in ,china4 ,,xi4 ,my old friend ,d----1 who in the winter lived alone in the country1 while his wife1 whom he went to see but rarely1 lived in ,paris1 used to talk during the long autumn evenings with an illiterate1 but very clever and respectable peasant1 an elder1 who came in the evening to report1 and my friend told him1 among other things1 of the superiority of the ,french political order over our own4 ,this was on the eve of the last ,polish insurrection and the interference of the ,french government in our affairs4 ,the patriotic ,russian newspapers at that time burned with indignation on account of such interference1 and so heated up the ruling classes that they talked of a war with ,france4 ,my friend1 who had read the papers1 told the elder also of these relations between ,russia and ,france4 ,submitting to the tone of the papers1 my friend said that if there should be any war 7he was an old soldier71 he would serve and fight against ,france4 ,at that time the revanche against the ,french seemed necessary to the ,russians on account of ,sevastopol4 ,but why should we wage war8 asked the elder4 ,how can we permit ,france to manage our affairs8 ,but you say yourself that things are better arranged with them than with us1 the elder said1 quite seriously4 ,let them arrange matters in our country1 too4 ,my friend told me that this reflection so startled him that he was absolutely at a loss what to say1 and only laughed1 as laugh those who awaken from a deceptive dream4 ,such reflections one may hear from any sober ,russian labouring man1 if only he is not under any hypnotic influence of the government4 ,they talk of the love of the ,russian masses for their faith1 their ,tsar1 and their government1 and yet there will not be found one commune of peasants in the whole of ,russia1 which would hesitate for a moment1 which of the two places to choose for its colonization1--,russia1 with the ,tsar1 the little father1 as they write in books1 and with the holy ,orthodox faith in its adored country1 but with less and worse land1 or without the little father1 the white ,tsar1 and without the ,orthodox faith1 somewhere outside of ,russia1 in ,prussia1 ,china1 ,turkey1 ,austria1 but with some greater and better advantages1 as indeed we have seen before and see at present4 ,for every ,russian peasant the question as to what government he will be under 7since he knows that1 no matter under what government he may be1 he will be fleeced just the same7 has incomparably less meaning than the question as to whether1 ,i will not say the water is good1 but as to whether the clay is soft and as to whether there will be a good crop of cabbage4 ,but it may be thought that the indifference of the ,russians is due to this1 that any other government under whose power they may come will certainly be better than the ,russian1 because in ,europe there is not one that is worse than the ,russian2 but that is not so3 so far as ,i know1 we have seen the same in the case of the ,english1 ,dutch1 ,german immigrants in ,america1 and of all the other colonists in ,russia4 ,the transference of the ,european nations from the power of one government to another1 from the ,turkish to the ,austrian1 or from the ,french to the ,german1 changes the condition of the nations so little that in no case can they provoke the dissatisfaction of the working classes1 so long as they are not artificially subjected to the suggestions of the governments and the ruling classes4 ,,xii4 ,people generally adduce1 in proof of the existence of patriotism1 the manifestations of patriotic sentiments in a nation during a time of all kinds of celebrations1 as1 for example1 in ,russia during a coronation or the meeting of the emperor after the calamity of the seventeenth of ,october1 or in ,france during the proclamation of war against ,prussia1 or in ,germany during the festivities of victory1 or during the ,franco-,russian celebrations4 ,but it ought to be known how these manifestations are prepared4 ,in ,russia1 for example1 people are especially dressed up by the village commune and the owners of factories to meet and welcome the emperor whenever he passes through a given locality4 ,the transports of the masses are generally prepared artificially by those who need them1 and the degree of transport expressed by the crowd shows only the degree of the art of the arrangers of these transports4 ,this business has long been practised1 and so the specialists in arranging such transports have reached a high degree of virtuosity in these arrangements4 ,when ,alexander ,,ii4 was still an heir apparent1 and was in command1 as is usually the case1 of the ,preobrzhenski regiment1 he once drove out after dinner to the regiment in camp4 ,the moment his carriage appeared1 the soldiers1 coatless as they were1 rushed out to meet him1 and with such transport welcomed1 as they say1 their most august commander1 that all ran a race behind his carriage1 and many of them made the sign of the cross while on a run1 looking all the time at the heir apparent4 ,all those who saw this meeting were deeply touched by this nave loyalty and love of the ,russian soldiers for their ,tsar and his heir1 and by that sincere religious and apparently unprepared transport which was expressed in the faces1 the motions1 and especially in the signs of the cross1 which the soldiers made4 ,however1 all that was done artificially and prepared in the following manner3 after the inspection of the previous day the heir said to the brigade commander that he would drive up the next day to the regiment4 ,when are we to expect your ,imperial ,majesty8 ,in all probability in the evening4 ,only1 please1 no preparations4 ,the moment the heir drove off1 the brigade commander called together the commanders of the companies and gave the order that on the following day all the soldiers were to appear in clean shirts1 and1 as soon as they saw the heir's carriage1 which the signallers were to announce1 they were to run at haphazard after the carriage1 shouting ,hurrah6 and that1 at the same time1 every tenth man in the company was to run and make the sign of the cross4 ,the sergeants drew up the companies1 and1 counting the soldiers1 stopped at every tenth man3 ,one1 two1 three 444 eight1 nine1 ten1--,sidornko--the sign of the cross2 one1 two1 three1 four 444 ,ivnov--the sign of the cross4444 ,everything was carried out as by command1 and the impression of transport was complete1 both on the heir apparent and on all the persons present1 even on the soldiers and the officers1 and even on the commander of the brigade1 who had invented all that4 ,just so1 though less coarsely1 they do in all places1 wherever there are any patriotic manifestations4 ,thus the ,franco-,russian celebrations1 which present themselves to us as free expressions of the people's sentiments1 did not originate with the people1 but were1 on the contrary1 very artfully and quite obviously prepared and provoked by the ,french government4 ,the moment the arrival of the ,russian sailors became known1 ,i am again quoting the same ,rural ,messenger1 the official organ1 which collects its information from all the other newspapers1 committees for the arrangement of celebrations were being formed1 not only in all the large and small cities lying on the route from ,toulon to ,paris1 a considerable distance1 but also in a large number of towns and villages which lie quite to either side of this route4 ,everywhere a subscription was opened for contributions to meet the expenses for these celebrations4 ,many cities sent deputations to ,paris to our imperial ambassador1 imploring him to let the sailors visit their cities even for one day or even for one hour4 ,the municipal governments of all those cities in which our sailors were ordered to stay set aside vast sums1 averaging more than one hundred thousand roubles1 for the arrangement of all kinds of festivities and amusements1 and expressed their willingness to expend even greater sums1 as much as should be needed1 provided the welcome and the celebrations should be as magnificent as possible4 ,in ,paris itself a private committee collected1 in addition to the sum set aside by the city government for this purpose1 an immense sum by private subscription1 also for the arrangement of amusements1 and the ,french government assigned more than one hundred thousand roubles for expenses incurred by the ministers and other authorities in welcoming the guests4 ,in many cities1 where our sailors will not set foot at all1 they none the less decided to celebrate the first of ,october with all kinds of festivities in honour of ,russia4 ,a vast number of cities and provinces decided to send special deputations to ,toulon and ,paris1 in order to welcome the ,russian guests and to offer them presents to remember ,france by1 or to send to them addresses and telegrams of welcome4 ,it was decided everywhere to consider the first of ,october a national holiday and to dismiss the pupils of all the educational institutions for that day1 and in ,paris for two days4 ,officials of lower rank had their penalties remitted1 that they might gratefully remember the joyful day for ,france1--the first of ,october4 ,to make it easier for those who wished to visit ,toulon and take part in the welcome to the ,russian squadron1 the railways lowered the rates to one-half and sent out special trains4 ,and thus1 when by means of a whole series of universal1 simultaneous measures1 which the government can always take by dint of the power which it has in its hands1 a certain part of the nation1 preminently the scum of the people1 the city crowd1 is brought to a condition of abnormal excitement1 they say3 ,behold1 this is the free expression of the will of the whole nation4 ,manifestations like those which just took place in ,toulon and in ,paris1 which in ,germany take place at the meeting of the emperor or of ,bismarck1 or at manuvres in ,lorraine1 and which are constantly repeated in ,russia at every meeting circumstanced with solemnity1 prove only this1 that the means of an artificial excitation of the people1 which now are in the hands of the governments and the ruling classes1 are so powerful that the governments and the ruling classes1 which are in possession of them1 are always able at will to provoke any kind of a patriotic manifestation they may wish by rousing the patriotic sentiments of the masses4 ,nothing1 on the contrary1 proves the absence of patriotism in the masses with such obviousness as those tense efforts which now are made by the governments and the ruling classes for the artificial excitation of patriotism1 and the insignificant results which are obtained in spite of all the efforts4 ,if patriotic sentiments are so proper to the nations1 they should be permitted to manifest themselves freely1 and should not be provoked by all kinds of exclusive and artificial means1 applied on every possible occasion4 ,let them even for a time1 for one year1 stop in ,russia compelling all the people1 as they are doing now1 upon the accession of every ,tsar1 to swear allegiance to him2 let them at every divine service stop solemnly repeating several times the customary prayers for the ,tsar2 let them stop celebrating his birthdays and name-days with ringing of bells1 illumination1 and the prohibition to work2 let them stop everywhere hanging out and displaying representations of him2 let them stop1 in prayer-books1 almanacs1 text-books1 printing his name and the names of his family1 and even the pronouns referring to him1 in capitals2 let them stop glorifying him in special books and newspapers printed for the purpose2 let them stop imprisoning men for the slightest disrespectful word uttered concerning the ,tsar1--let them stop doing all that for a time only1 and then we should see how proper it is for the masses1 for the real labouring masses1 for ,prokfi1 for elder ,ivn1 and for all the men of the ,russian masses1--as the nation is made to believe and as all the foreigners are convinced of it1--to worship the ,tsar1 who in one way or another turns them over into the hands of a landed proprietor or of the rich in general4 ,so it is in ,russia2 but let them similarly stop in ,germany1 ,france1 ,italy1 ,england1 ,america doing all that which is done there with the same tension by the ruling classes in order to rouse patriotism and loyalty and submission to the existing government1 and we should see in how far this imaginary patriotism is characteristic of the nations of our time4 ,but1 as it is1 the masses are stultified from childhood by all possible means1 by school-books1 divine services1 sermons1 books1 newspapers1 verses1 monuments1 which all tend in one and the same direction2 then they select by force or bribery a few thousands of the people1 and when these assembled thousands1 joined by all the loafers who are always happy to be present at any spectacle1 to the sounds of cannon-shots and of music1 and at the sight of every kind of splendour and light begin to shout what the leaders shout to them1 we are told that this is an expression of the sentiments of the whole nation4 ,but1 in the first place1 these thousands1 or1 if it is a great crowd1 these tens of thousands1 who shout something at such celebrations1 form but a tiny1 a ten-thousandth part of the whole nation2 in the second place1 out of these tens of thousands of shouting men1 who wave their hats1 the greater part are either collected by force1 as is the case with us in ,russia1 or artificially provoked by some enticement2 in the third place1 among all these thousands1 there are scarcely tens who know what it is all about1 and all the rest would as gladly shout and wave their hats if the very opposite took place2 and1 in the fourth place1 the police are always present1 and they will make any one shut up if he does not shout what the government wants and demands shall be shouted1 and lock him up at once1 as was done with much force during the ,franco-,russian festivities4 ,in ,france they welcomed with equal enthusiasm the war with ,russia under ,napoleon ,i41 and then ,alexander ,i41 against whom the war was waged1 and then again ,napoleon1 and again the allies1 and ,bourbon1 and ,orleans1 and the ,republic1 and ,napoleon ,,iii41 and ,boulanger2 and in ,russia they acclaim with the same enthusiasm1 to-day ,peter1 to-morrow ,catherine1 the next day ,paul1 ,alexander1 ,constantine1 ,nicholas1 the ,duke of ,leuchtenberg1 the brother ,slavs1 the ,king of ,prussia1 the ,french sailors1 and all those whom the government wants them to welcome4 ,the same happens in ,england1 ,america1 ,germany1 ,italy4 ,what in our time is called patriotism is1 on the one hand1 only a certain mood1 which is constantly produced and maintained in the masses by the schools1 the religion1 the venal press1 having such a tendency as the government demands1 and1 on the other1 a temporary excitation1 produced with exclusive means by the ruling classes1 in the masses1 who stand on a lower moral and even mental plane1--an excitation1 which later is given out as a constant expression of the will of the whole nation4 ,the patriotism of the oppressed nationalities does not form an exception to this4 ,it is as little characteristic of the working classes1 and is artificially inculcated upon them by the upper classes4 ,,xiii4 ,but if the men of the masses do not experience the sentiment of patriotism1 this is due to the fact that they have not yet reached that exalted sentiment1 which is characteristic of every cultured man4 ,if they do not experience this exalted sentiment1 it has to be educated in them4 ,it is this that the government is doing4 ,thus generally speak the men of the ruling classes1 with such full confidence that patriotism is an exalted sentiment1 that the nave men of the masses1 who do not experience it1 consider themselves at fault1 because they do not experience this sentiment1 and try to assure themselves that they experience it1 or at least pretend that they do4 ,but what is this exalted sentiment1 which1 in the opinion of the ruling classes1 ought to be educated in the nations8 ,this sentiment is in its most precise definition nothing but a preference shown to one's own state or nation in comparison with any other state or nation1 a sentiment which is fully expressed in the ,german patriotic song1 ,deutschland1 ,deutschland ber alles1 in which we need only substitute ,russland1 ,frankreich1 ,italien1 or any other state for ,deutschland1 and we shall get the clearest formula of the exalted sentiment of patriotism4 ,it may be that this sentiment is very desirable and useful for the governments and the integrity of the state1 but one cannot help but observe that this sentiment is not at all exalted1 but1 on the contrary1 very stupid and very immoral3 stupid1 because1 if every state will consider itself better than any other1 it is obvious that they will all be in the wrong2 and immoral1 because it inevitably leads every man who experiences the feeling to try to obtain advantages for his own state and nation1 at the expense of other states and nations--a tendency which is directly opposed to the fundamental moral law recognized by all men3 not to do unto another what we do not wish to have done to ourselves4 ,patriotism may have been a virtue in the ancient world1 when it demanded of man that he serve the highest ideal accessible to him at the time1--the ideal of his country4 ,but how can patriotism be a virtue in our time1 when it demands of men what is directly opposed to what forms the ideal of our religion and morality1--not the recognition of the equality and brotherhood of all men1 but the recognition of one state and nationality as predominating over all the others4 ,this sentiment is in our time not only not a virtue1 but unquestionably a vice2 no such sentiment of patriotism in its true sense does or can exist in our time1 because the material and moral foundations for it are lacking4 ,patriotism could have some sense in the ancient world1 when every nation1 more or less homogeneous in its structure1 professing one and the same state religion1 and submitting to the same unlimited power of its supreme1 deified ruler1 appeared to itself as an island in the ocean of the barbarians1 which ever threatened to inundate it4 ,we can see how with such a state of affairs1 patriotism1 that is1 the desire to ward off the attacks of the barbarians1 who were not only prepared to destroy the social order1 but who also threatened wholesale plundering and murder1 with the enslavement of men and the rape of women1 was a natural feeling1 and we can see why a man1 to free himself and his compatriots from such calamities1 could have preferred his nation to all the others1 and could experience a hostile feeling toward the barbarians around him1 and could kill them1 in order to protect his nation4 ,but what significance can this sentiment have in our ,christian time8 ,on what ground and for what purpose can a man of our time1 a ,russian1 go and kill ,frenchmen or ,germans1 or a ,frenchman ,germans1 when he knows full well1 no matter how little educated he may be1 that the men of the other state and nation1 against which they are rousing his patriotic hostility1 are not barbarians1 but just such ,christians as he1 frequently of the same faith and profession with him1 desiring like him nothing but peace and a peaceful exchange of labour1 and that1 besides1 they are for the most part united with him either by the interests of common labour1 or by commercial or spiritual interests1 or by all together8 ,thus frequently the men of another country are nearer and more indispensable to a man than his own countrymen1 as is the case with labourers who are connected with employers of other nationalities1 and as is the case with commercial people1 and especially with scholars and artists4 ,besides1 the conditions of life themselves have so changed now that what we call our country1 what we are supposed to distinguish from everything else1 has ceased to be something clearly defined1 as it was with the ancients1 where the men forming one country belonged to one nationality1 one state1 and one faith4 ,we can understand the patriotism of an ,egyptian1 a ,jew1 a ,greek1 who1 defending his country1 was at the same time defending his faith1 and his nationality1 and his home1 and his state4 ,but in what way will in our time be expressed the patriotism of an ,irishman in the ,united ,states1 who by his faith belongs to ,rome1 by his nationality to ,ireland1 by his state allegiance to the ,united ,states8 ,in the same condition are a ,bohemian in ,austria1 a ,pole in ,russia1 ,prussia1 and ,austria1 a ,hindoo in ,england1 a ,tartar and an ,armenian in ,russia and in ,turkey4 ,but1 even leaving out these men of the separate conquered nationalities1 the men of the most homogeneous states1 such as are ,russia1 ,france1 ,prussia1 can no longer experience that sentiment of patriotism1 which was peculiar to the ancients1 because frequently all the chief interests of their life 7sometimes their domestic ones1--they are married to women of another nation2 the economic ones1--their capital is abroad2 their spiritual1 scientific1 or artistic ones7 are not in their own country1 but outside it1 in that state against which the government is rousing his patriotic hatred4 ,but most of all is patriotism impossible in our time1 because1 no matter how much we have tried for eighteen hundred years to conceal the meaning of ,christianity1 it has none the less trickled through into our life1 and is guiding it in such a way that the coarsest and most stupid of men cannot help but see the absolute incompatibility of patriotism with those moral rules by which they live4 ,,xiv4 ,patriotism was necessary for the formation1 out of heterogeneous nationalities1 of strong1 united kingdoms1 protected against the barbarians4 ,but as soon as the ,christian enlightenment transformed all these kingdoms alike from within1 by giving them the same foundations1 patriotism not only became unnecessary1 but was also the one barrier against that union of the nations for which they are prepared by dint of their ,christian consciousness4 ,patriotism is in our time the cruel tradition of a long-gone-by period of time1 which holds itself only through inertia and because the governments and the ruling classes feel that with this patriotism is connected not only their power1 but also their existence1 and so with care and cunning and violence rouse and sustain it in the nations4 ,patriotism is in our time like the scaffolding1 which at one time was necessary for the construction of the walls of a building1 but which now1 though it only interferes with the proper use of the building1 is not taken down1 because its existence is advantageous for some persons4 ,among the ,christian nations there has for a long time ceased to exist any cause for discord1 and there can be no such cause4 ,it is even impossible to imagine why and how ,russian and ,german labourers1 who peacefully work together near the border and in the capital cities1 should begin to quarrel among themselves4 ,and much less can we imagine any hostility between1 let us say1 a ,kazn peasant1 who supplies a ,german with corn1 and the ,german1 who supplies him with scythes and machines1 and similarly among ,french1 ,german1 and ,italian labourers4 ,it is even ridiculous to talk of quarrels among the scholars1 artists1 writers of various nationalities1 who live by the same interests1 that are independent of nationality and the state structure4 ,but the governments cannot leave the nations alone1 that is1 in peaceful relations among themselves1 because the chief1 if not the only justification of the existence of the governments consists in making peace between the nations1 that is1 in allaying their hostile relations4 ,and so the governments provoke these hostile relations under the guise of patriotism1 and then make it appear that they are making peace among the nations4 ,it is something like what a gipsy does1 who pours some pepper under his horse's tail1 and lashes it in the stall1 and then leads it out1 while hanging on to the bridle1 pretending that he has the hardest time to restrain the mettled horse4 ,we are assured that the governments are concerned about preserving the peace among the nations4 ,in what way do they preserve this peace8 ,people are living along the ,rhine in peaceful intercourse among themselves1--suddenly1 in consequence of all kinds of disputes and intrigues between the kings and emperors1 war breaks out1 and the ,french government finds it necessary to recognize some of these inhabitants as ,frenchmen4 ,ages pass1 men have become accustomed to this state of affairs2 again there begin hostilities between the governments of the great nations1 and war breaks out on the slightest pretence1 and the ,germans find it necessary to recognize these inhabitants once more as ,germans1 and in all the ,french and the ,germans ill-will flames up toward one another4 ,or ,germans and ,russians are living peacefully near the border1 peacefully exchanging their labour and the products of labour1 and suddenly the same institutions which exist only in the name of the pacification of the nations begin to quarrel1 to do one foolish thing after another1 and are not able to invent anything better than the coarsest childish method of self-inflicted punishment1 if only they can thus have their will and do something nasty to their adversary 7which in this case is especially advantageous1 since not those who start a customs war1 but others1 suffer from it72 thus the ,customs ,war between ,russia and ,germany was lately started4 ,then1 with the aid of the newspapers1 there flames up a malevolent feeling1 which is still farther fanned by the ,franco-,russian celebrations1 and which1 before we know it1 may lead to a sanguinary war4 ,i have cited the last two examples of the manner in which the governments affect the people by rousing in them a hostile feeling toward other nations1 because they are contemporary2 but there is not one war in all history1 which was not provoked by the governments1 by the governments alone1 independently of the advantages to the nations1 to which war1 even if it is successful1 is always harmful4 ,the governments assure the nations that they are in danger of an incursion from other nations and from internal enemies1 and that the only salvation from this danger consists in the slavish obedience of the nations to their governments4 ,this is most obvious in the time of revolutions and dictatorships1 and this takes place at all times and in all places1 wherever there is power4 ,every government explains its existence and justifies all its violence by insisting that1 if it did not exist1 things would be worse4 ,by assuring the nations that they are in danger1 the governments subject them to themselves4 ,when the nations submit to the governments1 these governments compel these nations to attack the other nations4 ,in this manner the nations find confirmed the assurances of their governments in regard to the danger from being attacked by other nations4 ,divide et impera4 ,patriotism in its simplest1 clearest1 and most unquestionable significance is for the rulers nothing but a tool for attaining their ambitious and selfish ends1 and for the ruled a renunciation of human dignity1 reason1 conscience1 and a slavish submission to those who are in power4 ,thus is patriotism actually preached1 wherever it is preached4 ,patriotism is slavery4 ,the advocates of peace through arbitration judge like this3 two animals cannot divide their prey otherwise than by fighting1 as do children1 barbarians1 and barbarous nations4 ,but sensible people settle their differences by discussion1 conviction1 the transmission of the solution of the question to disinterested1 sensible men4 ,even thus must the sensible nations of our time act4 ,these reflections seem quite correct4 ,the nations of our time have reached an age of discretion1 are not hostile to one another1 and should be able to settle their differences in a peaceable manner4 ,but the reflection is correct only in reference to the nations1 to the nations alone1 if they were not under the power of their governments4 ,but the nations which submit to their governments cannot be sensible1 because submission to the governments is already a sign of the greatest senselessness4 ,how can we talk of the sensibleness of men who promise in advance to do everything 7including the murder of men7 which the government1 that is1 certain men who have accidentally come to hold this position1 may command them to do8 ,men who are able to accept such a duty of unflinching submission to what certain strangers will1 from ,st4 ,petersburg1 ,vienna1 ,paris1 command them to do1 cannot be sensible1 and the governments1 that is1 the men who possess such power1 can still less be sensible1 and cannot help abusing it1--they cannot help losing their minds from such a senselessly terrible power4 ,for that reason the peace among the nations cannot be attained by any sensible means1 through conventions1 through arbitrations1 so long as there exists a submission to the governments1 which is always senseless and always pernicious4 ,but the submission of men to the governments will always exist1 so long as there is any patriotism1 because every power is based on patriotism1 that is1 on the readiness of men1 for the sake of defending their nation1 their country1 that is1 the state1 against supposed dangers that are threatening it1 to submit to the power4 ,on this patriotism was based the power of the ,french kings over the whole nation previous to the ,revolution2 on the same patriotism was based the power of the ,committee of ,public ,safety after the ,revolution2 on the same patriotism was reared the power of ,napoleon 7as consul and as emperor72 and on the same patriotism1 after the downfall of ,napoleon1 was established the power of the ,bourbons1 and later of the ,republic1 and of ,louis ,philippe1 and again of the ,republic1 and again of ,bonaparte1 and again of the ,republic1 and on the same patriotism came very near being established the power of ,mr4 ,boulanger4 ,it is terrible to say so1 but there does not exist1 and there has not existed1 a case of aggregate violence committed by one set of men against another which has not been committed in the name of patriotism4 ,in the name of patriotism the ,russians fought with the ,french1 and the ,french with the ,russians1 and in the name of patriotism the ,russians and the ,french are now preparing themselves to wage war against the ,germans1--to fight from two flanks4 ,but war is not all1--in the name of patriotism the ,russians crush the ,poles1 and the ,germans the ,slavs2 in the name of patriotism the ,communists killed the ,versaillians1 and the ,versaillians1 the ,communists4 ,,xv4 ,it would seem that with the dissemination of culture1 of improved means of locomotion1 of frequent intercourse among the men of the various nations1 in connection with the diffusion of the press1 and1 above all1 in connection with the complete absence of danger from other nations1 the deception of patriotism ought to become harder and harder1 and ought in the end to become impossible4 ,but the point is1 that these same means of a universal external culture1 of improved methods of locomotion1 and of intercommunication1 and above all1 of the press1 which the governments have seized upon and seize upon more and more1 give them now such a power of exciting in the nations hostile feelings toward one another1 that1 though on the one hand the obviousness of the uselessness and harm of patriotism has increased1 there has1 on the other1 increased the power of the governments and of the ruling classes to influence the masses1 by rousing patriotism in them4 ,the difference between what was and what now is consists only in this1 that1 since now a much greater number of men share in the advantages which patriotism affords to the upper classes1 a much greater number of men take part in the dissemination and maintenance of this wonderful superstition4 ,the more difficult it is to maintain the power1 the greater and greater is the number of men with whom the government shares it4 ,formerly a small group of rulers had the power1--emperors1 kings1 dukes1 their officials1 and warriors2 but now the participants in this power and in the advantages which it affords are not only the officials and the clergy1 but also capitalists1 great and small1 the landowners1 bankers1 members of ,chambers1 teachers1 rural officers1 scholars1 even artists1 and especially journalists4 ,and all these persons consciously and unconsciously spread the deception of patriotism1 which is indispensable to them for the maintenance of their advantageous position4 ,and the deception1 thanks to the fact that the means of deception have become more powerful and that now an ever-growing number of men are taking part in it1 is produced so successfully that1 in spite of the great difficulty of deceiving1 the degree of the deception remains the same4 ,one hundred years ago1 the illiterate masses1 who had no conception as to who composed their government and as to what nations surrounded them1 blindly obeyed those local officials and gentry1 whose slaves they were4 ,and it sufficed for the government by means of bribes and rewards to keep these officials and this gentry in their power1 in order that the masses might obediently do what was demanded of them4 ,but now1 when the masses for the most part can read and more or less know of whom their government is composed1 and what nations surround them2 when the men of the masses constantly move about with ease from one place to another1 bringing to the masses information about what is going on in the world1 a mere demand to carry out the commands of the government no longer suffices3 it becomes necessary to obscure the true conceptions which the masses have concerning life1 and to impress them with improper ideas concerning the conditions of their life and concerning the relation of other nations toward them4 ,and so1 thanks to the diffusion of the press1 of the rudiments1 and of the means of communication1 the governments1 having their agents everywhere1 by means of decrees1 church sermons1 the schools1 the newspapers inculcate on the masses the wildest and most perverse conceptions about their advantages1 about the relation of the peoples among themselves1 about their properties and intentions2 and the masses1 which are so crushed by labour that they have no time and no chance to understand the significance and verify the correctness of those conceptions which are inculcated upon them1 and of those demands which are made on them in the name of their good1 submit to them without a murmur4 ,but the men from the masses who free themselves from constant labour and who educate themselves1 and who1 it would seem1 should be able to understand the deception which is practised upon them1 are subjected to such an intensified effect of menaces1 bribery1 and hypnotization by the governments1 that they almost without an exception pass over to the side of the governments and1 accepting advantageous and well-paid positions as teachers1 priests1 officers1 officials1 become participants in the dissemination of the deception which ruins their fellow men4 ,it is as though at the door of education stood a snare1 into which inevitably fall those who in one way or another leave the masses that are absorbed in labour4 ,at first1 as one comes to understand the cruelty of the deception1 there involuntarily rises an indignation against those who for their personal1 selfish1 ambitious advantage produce this cruel deception1 which destroys1 not only men's bodies1 but also their souls1 and one feels like showing up these cruel deceivers4 ,but the point is1 that the deceivers do not deceive because they want to deceive1 but because they almost cannot do otherwise4 ,and they do not deceive in any ,machiavellian way1 with a consciousness of the deception which they practise1 but for the most part with the nave assurance that they are doing something good and elevated1 in which opinion they are constantly maintained by the sympathy and approval of all the men who surround them4 ,it is true that1 feeling dimly that their power and their advantageous position is based on this deception1 they are involuntarily drawn toward it2 but they do not act because they wish to deceive the masses1 but because they think that the work which they are doing is useful for the masses4 ,thus emperors and kings and their ministers1 performing their coronations1 manuvres1 inspections1 mutual visits1 during which time they1 dressing themselves up in all kinds of uniforms and travelling from one place to another1 consult with one another with serious faces about how to pacify presumably hostile nations 7who will never think of fighting with one another71 are absolutely convinced that everything they do is exceedingly sensible and useful4 ,similarly all the ministers1 diplomatists1 and all kinds of officials1 who dress themselves up in their uniforms1 with all kinds of ribbons and little crosses1 and with preoccupation write on fine paper their obscure1 twisted1 useless numbered reports1 communications1 prescriptions1 projects1 are absolutely convinced that without this their activity the whole life of the nations will come to a standstill or will be entirely destroyed4 ,similarly the military1 who dress themselves up in their ridiculous costumes and who seriously discuss with what guns or cannon it is better to kill people1 are fully convinced that their manuvres and parades are most important and necessary for the nation4 ,the same conviction is held by the preachers1 journalists1 and writers of patriotic verses and text-books1 who receive a liberal reward for preaching patriotism4 ,nor is any doubt concerning this harboured by the managers of celebrations1 like the ,franco-,russian ones1 who are sincerely affected when they utter their patriotic speeches and toasts4 ,all people do unconsciously what they do1 because that is necessary1 or because their whole life is based on this deception and they are unable to do anything else1 while these same acts evoke the sympathy and the approval of all those men among whom they are committed4 ,not only do they1 being all connected with one another1 approve and justify the acts and the activities of one another1--the emperors and kings1 the acts of the soldiers1 the officials1 and the clergy2 and the military1 the officials1 and the clergy1 the acts of the emperors1 the kings1 and one another1--the popular crowd1 especially the city crowd1 which sees no comprehensible meaning in everything which is being done by these men1 involuntarily ascribes a special1 almost a supernatural significance to them4 ,the crowd sees1 for example1 that triumphal arches are being erected2 that men masquerade in crowns1 uniforms1 vestments2 that fireworks are displayed1 cannon are fired1 bells are rung1 regiments are marching with music1 documents1 telegrams1 and couriers fly from one place to another1 and strangely masquerading men with preoccupation keep riding from one place to another1 saying and writing something1 and so forth1--and1 not being able to verify whether there is the slightest need for what is being done 7as1 indeed1 there is none71 ascribes to all this a special1 mysterious1 and important meaning1 and with shouts of transport or with silent awe meets all these manifestations4 ,but in the meantime these expressions of transport and the constant respect of the crowd still more strengthen the assurance of the men who are doing all these foolish things4 ,lately ,william ,,ii4 ordered a new throne for himself1 with some special ornaments1 and1 dressing himself up in a white uniform with patches1 in tight trousers1 and in a helmet with a bird on it1 and throwing a red mantle over all1 came out to his subjects and seated himself on this throne1 with the full assurance that this was a very necessary and important act1 and his subjects not only did not see anything funny in all this1 but even found this spectacle to be very majestic4 ,,xvi4 ,the power of the governments has now for a long time ceased to be based on force1 as it was based in those times when one nationality conquered another and by force of arms held it in subjection1 or when the rulers1 amidst a defenceless people1 maintained separate armed troops of janissaries1 oprchniks1 or guardsmen4 ,the power of the governments has now for a long time been based on what is called public opinion4 ,there exists a public opinion that patriotism is a great moral sentiment1 and that it is good and right to consider one's own nation1 one's own state1 the best in the world1 and from this there naturally establishes itself a public opinion that it is necessary to recognize the power of the government over ourselves and to submit to it2 that it is good and right to serve in the army and to submit to discipline2 that it is good and right to give up our savings in the shape of taxes to the government2 that it is good and right to submit to the decisions of the courts2 that it is good and right to believe without verification in what is given out as a divine truth by the men of the government4 ,once such a public opinion exists1 there establishes itself a mighty power1 which in our time has command of milliards of money1 of an organized mechanism of government1 the post1 the telegraphs1 the telephones1 disciplined armies1 courts1 the police1 a submissive clergy1 the school1 even the press1 and this power maintains in the nations that public opinion which it needs4 ,the power of the governments is maintained through public opinion2 but1 having the power1 the governments by means of all their organs1 the officers of the courts1 the school1 the church1 even the press1 are always able to keep up the public opinion which they need4 ,public opinion produces power1--power produces public opinion4 ,there seems to be no way out from this situation4 ,thus it would1 indeed1 be1 if public opinion were something stable and unchanging1 and if the governments were able to produce the public opinion which they need4 ,but fortunately this is not the case1 and public opinion is1 in the first place1 not something which is constant1 unchanging1 stable1 but1 on the contrary1 something eternally changing1 moving together with the motion of humanity2 and1 in the second1 public opinion not only cannot be produced by the will of the governments1 but is that which produces the governments and gives them power or takes it away from them4 ,it may appear that public opinion remains immovable and now is such as it was decades ago1 and it may appear that public opinion wavers in relation to certain special cases1 as though going back1 so that1 for example1 it now destroys the republic1 putting the monarchy in its place1 and now again destroys the monarchy1 putting the republic in its place2 but that only seems so when we view the external manifestations of that public opinion which is artificially produced by the governments4 ,we need only take public opinion in its relation to the whole life of men1 and we shall see that public opinion1 just like the time of the day or year1 never stands in one place1 but is always in motion1 always marching unrestrictedly ahead along the path on which humanity proceeds1 just as1 in spite of retardations and waverings1 day or spring moves on unrestrictedly along the path over which the sun travels4 ,thus1 though by the external signs the condition of the nations of ,europe in our time is nearly the same that it was fifty years ago1 the relation of the nations toward it is now entirely different from what it was fifty years ago4 ,though there exist1 even as fifty years ago1 the same rulers1 armies1 wars1 taxes1 luxury1 and misery1 the same ,catholicism1 ,orthodoxy1 ,lutheranism1 these existed before because the public opinion of the nations demanded them1 but now they all exist because the governments artificially maintain that which formerly was a living public opinion4 ,if we frequently do not notice this motion of public opinion1 as we do not notice the motion of water in the river1 with the current of which we are swimming1 this is due to the fact that those imperceptible changes of public opinion which form its motion are taking place in ourselves4 ,the property of public opinion is that of constant and unrestricted motion4 ,if it seems to us that it is standing in one place1 this is due to the fact that everywhere there are people who have established an advantageous position for themselves at a certain moment of public opinion1 and so with all their strength try to maintain it and not to admit the manifestation of the new1 the present public opinion which1 though not yet fully expressed1 is living in the consciousness of men4 ,such people1 who retain the obsolete public opinion and conceal the new1 are all those who at the present time form the governments and the ruling classes1 and who profess patriotism as an indispensable condition of human life4 ,the means which are at the command of these people are enormous1 but since public opinion is something eternally flowing and increasing1 all their efforts cannot help but be vain3 the old grows old1 and the youthful grows4 ,the longer the expression of the new public opinion shall be retained1 the more it will grow1 and the greater will be the force with which it will express itself4 ,the government and the ruling classes try with all their strength to retain that old public opinion of patriotism1 on which their power is based1 and to retard the manifestation of the new1 which will destroy it4 ,but it is possible only within certain limits to retain the old and retard the new1 just as running water can be held back by a dam only within certain limits4 ,no matter how much the governments may try to rouse in the nations the past public opinion1 now no longer characteristic of them1 concerning the dignity and virtue of patriotism1 the men of our time no longer believe in patriotism1 but more and more believe in the solidarity and brotherhood of the nations4 ,patriotism now presents to men nothing but the most terrible future2 but the brotherhood of the nations forms that ideal which more and more grows to be comprehensible and desirable for humanity4 ,and so the transition of men from the former obsolete public opinion to the new must inevitably be accomplished4 ,this transition is as inevitable as the falling of the last sere leaves in autumn and the unfolding of the young leaves in swelling buds4 ,the longer this transition is delayed1 the more imperative does it become1 and the more obvious is its necessity4 ,indeed1 we need only recall what it is we are professing1 as ,christians1 and simply as men of our time1 we need but recall those moral bases which guide us in our public1 domestic1 and private life1 and that position in which we have placed ourselves in the name of patriotism1 in order that we may see what degree of contradiction we have reached between our consciousness and that which among us1 thanks to the intensified influence of the government in this respect1 is regarded as our public opinion4 ,we need only reflect on those very usual demands of patriotism1 which present themselves to us as something very simple and natural1 in order that we may understand to what extent these demands contradict that real public opinion which we all share now4 ,we all consider ourselves free1 cultured1 humane men1 and even ,christians1 and at the same time we are in such a position that if to-morrow ,william takes umbrage at ,alexander1 or ,mr4 ,n---- writes a clever article on the ,eastern question1 or some prince robs the ,bulgarians or the ,servians1 or some queen or empress takes offence at something1 we all1 the cultured1 humane ,christians1 must go out to kill men1 whom we do not know1 and toward whom we are friendly disposed1 as toward all men4 ,if this has not yet happened1 we owe this1 as we are assured1 to the peaceful mind of ,alexander ,,iii41 or to this1 that ,nicholas ,aleksndrovich is going to marry ,victoria's grandchild4 ,but let another man be in the place of ,alexander1 or let ,alexander himself change his mood1 or ,nicholas ,aleksndrovich marry ,amalia1 and not ,alice1 and we shall throw ourselves like bloodthirsty animals upon one another1 to take out one another's guts4 ,such is the supposed public opinion of our time4 ,such opinions are calmly repeated in all the leading and liberal organs of the press4 ,illustration3 ,alexander ,,iii4 ,photogravure from ,photograph ,if we1 the ,christians of one thousand years' standing1 have not yet cut one another's throats1 it is because ,alexander ,,iii4 does not let us do so4 ,this is1 indeed1 terrible4 ,,xvii4 ,for the greatest and most important changes to take place in the life of humanity1 no exploits are needed1--neither the armament of millions of soldiers1 nor the construction of new roads and machines1 nor the establishment of exhibitions1 nor the establishment of labour-unions1 nor revolutions1 nor barricades1 nor explosions1 nor the invention of aerial motion1 and so forth1 but only a change in public opinion4 ,but for public opinion to change1 no efforts of the mind are needed1 nor the rejection of anything existing1 nor the invention of anything unusual and new2 all that is needed is1 that every separate man should say what he actually thinks and feels1 or at least should not say what he does not think4 ,let men1 even a small number of them1 do so1 and the obsolete public opinion will fall of its own accord and there will be manifested the youthful1 live1 present public opinion4 ,and let public opinion change1 and the inner structure of men's life1 which torments and pains them1 will be changed without any effort4 ,it is really a shame to think how little is needed for all men to be freed from all those calamities which now oppress them2 they need only stop lying4 ,let men only not succumb to that lie which is inculcated on them1 let them not say what they do not think or feel1 and immediately a revolution will take place in the whole structure of our life1 such as the revolutionists will not accomplish in centuries1 even if all the power were in their hands4 ,if men only believed that the strength is not in strength1 but in the truth1 and if they boldly expressed it1 or at least did not depart from it in words and deeds1--if they did not say what they do not think1 and did not do what they consider bad and stupid4 ,what harm is there in crying ',vive la ,france6' or ',hurrah6' to some emperor1 king1 victor1 or in going in a uniform1 with the chamberlain's key1 to wait for him in the antechamber1 to bow1 and to address him by strange titles1 and then to impress all young and uncultured men with the fact that this is very praiseworthy8 ,or1 ,what harm is there in writing an article in defence of the ,franco-,russian alliance or the ,customs ,war1 or in condemnation of the ,germans1 ,russians1 ,frenchmen1 ,englishmen8 ,or1 ,what harm is there in attending some patriotic celebration and eulogizing men whom you do not care for and have nothing to do with1 and drinking their health8 ,or even1 ,what harm is there in recognizing1 in a conversation1 the benefit and usefulness of treaties1 or alliances1 or even in keeping silent1 when your nation and state is praised in your presence1 and other nationalities are cursed and blackened1 or when ,catholicism1 ,orthodoxy1 ,lutheranism are praised1 or when some war hero or ruler1 like ,napoleon1 ,peter1 or the contemporary ,boulanger or ,skbelev1 are praised8 ,all that seems so unimportant1 and yet in these seemingly unimportant acts1 in our aloofness from them1 in our readiness to point out1 according to our strength1 the irrationality of what is obviously irrational1--in this does our great1 invincible power consist1 the power which composes that insuperable force which forms the real1 actual1 public opinion1 which1 moving itself1 moves the whole of humanity4 ,the governments know this1 and tremble before this force1 and with all the means at their command try to counteract it and to get possession of it4 ,they know that the force is not in force1 but in thought and in its clear enunciation1 and so they are more afraid of the expression of independent thought than of armies1 and establish censorships1 bribe newspapers1 take possession of the management of religion and of schools4 ,but the spiritual force which moves the world slips away from them3 it is not even in a book1 a newspaper1--it is intangible and always free1--it is in the depth of men's consciousness4 ,the most powerful1 intangible1 freest force is the one which is manifested in man's soul1 when he by himself reflects on the phenomena of the world1 and then involuntarily expresses his thoughts to his wife1 brother1 friend1 to all those men with whom he comes together1 and from whom he considers it a sin to conceal what he regards as the truth4 ,no milliards of roubles1 millions of soldiers1 no institutions1 nor wars1 nor revolutions will produce what will be produced by the simple expression of a free man as to what he considers just1 independently of what exists and what is inculcated upon him4 ,one free man will truthfully say what he thinks and feels1 amidst thousands of men1 who by their acts and words affirm the very opposite4 ,it would seem that the man who frankly expressed his thought would remain alone1 while in reality it happens that all those men1 or the majority of them1 have long been thinking and feeling the same1 but have not expressed their thought4 ,and what yesterday was the new opinion of one man1 to-day becomes the common opinion of all men4 ,and as soon as this opinion has established itself1 men's acts begin to change imperceptibly1 slowly1 but irresistibly4 ,for1 as it is1 every free man says to himself3 ,what can ,i do against all this sea of evil and deceit1 which inundates me8 ,why should ,i give expression to my thought8 ,why even give form to it8 ,it is better not to think of these obscure and intricate questions4 ,maybe these contradictions form an inevitable condition of all the phenomena of life4 ,and why should ,i alone struggle against all this evil of the world8 ,would it not be better if ,i abandoned myself to the current which sweeps me along8 ,if anything can be done1 it can be done only in conjunction with other men4 ,and1 abandoning that powerful instrument of thought and its expression1 which moves the world1 this man takes up the instrument of public activity1 without noticing that all public activity is based on the very principles against which he has to struggle1 that in entering upon any public activity which exists amidst our world1 he must at least partially depart from the truth1 make such concessions as will destroy the whole force of that powerful instrument of the struggle which is given to him4 ,it is as though a man1 into whose hands an unusually sharp dagger is given1 one that cuts everything1 should drive in nails with the blade4 ,we all deplore the senseless order of life which contradicts all our existence1 and yet not only fail to make use of the one most powerful tool1 which is in our hands1--the recognition of the truth and its expression1--but1 on the contrary1 under the pretext of struggling with evil1 destroy this tool and sacrifice it to the imaginary struggle against this order4 ,one man does not tell the truth which he knows1 because he feels himself under obligation to the men with whom he is connected2 another1--because the truth might deprive him of the advantageous position by means of which he is supporting his family2 a third1--because he wants to attain glory and power1 to use them later in the service of men2 a fourth1--because he does not wish to violate the ancient sacred traditions2 a fifth1--because the expression of the truth will provoke persecution and will impair that good public activity to which he is devoting himself1 or intends to devote himself4 ,one man serves as an emperor1 king1 minister1 official1 soldier1 and assures himself and others that the deviation from the truth which is necessary in his position is more than redeemed by his usefulness4 ,another exercises the office of a spiritual pastor1 though in the depth of his heart he does not believe in what he teaches1 permitting himself a deviation from the truth in view of the good which he does4 ,a third instructs men in literature and1 in spite of the suppression of the whole truth1 in order not to provoke the government and society against himself1 has no doubt as to the good which he does2 a fourth simply struggles against the existing order1 as do the revolutionists and anarchists1 and is fully convinced that the aim which he pursues is so beneficent that the suppression of the truth1 which is indispensable in his activity1 and even lying will not destroy the good effect of his activity4 ,for the order of life which is contrary to the consciousness of men to give way to one in accord with it1 it is necessary for the obsolete public opinion to give way to a live and new one4 ,for the old1 obsolete public opinion to give way to the new1 live one1 it is necessary that the men who are conscious of the new demands of life should clearly express them4 ,meanwhile all the men who recognize all these new demands1 one in the name of one thing1 and another in the name of another1 not only repress them1 but even in words and deeds confirm what is directly opposed to these demands4 ,only the truth and its expression can establish that new public opinion which will change the obsolete and harmful order of life2 we1 however1 not only do not express the truth which we know1 but frequently even express precisely what we consider to be an untruth4 ,if free men would only not depend on what has no force and is never free1--on external power1--and would always believe in what is always powerful and free1--in the truth and its expression4 ,if men only expressed boldly the truth1 already revealed to them1 about the brotherhood of all the nations and about the criminality of the exclusive membership in one nation1 the dead1 false public opinion1 on which the whole power of the governments is based1 and all the evil produced by them1 would fall off by itself like a dried-up skin1 and there would appear that new1 live public opinion1 which is only waiting for the sloughing off of the hampering old opinion1 in order clearly and boldly to proclaim its demands and establish the new forms of life in accordance with the consciousness of men4 ,,xviii4 ,men need but understand that what is given out to them as public opinion1 what is maintained by such complex and artificial means1 is not public opinion1 but only the dead consequence of the quondam public opinion2 they need only1 above all1 believe in themselves1 in this1 that what is cognized by them in the depth of their hearts1 what begs for recognition and finds no expression only because it contradicts public opinion1 is that force which changes the world1 and the manifestation of which forms man's destiny2 men need but believe that the truth is not what men about him say1 but what his conscience1 that is1 ,god1 says to him1 and immediately there will disappear the false1 artificially sustained public opinion1 and the true one will be established4 ,if men only said what they believe1 and did not say what they do not believe1 there would immediately disappear the superstitions that result from patriotism1 and all the evil feelings and all the violence1 which are based on them4 ,there would disappear the hatred and hostility of states against states and of nationalities against nationalities1 which are fanned by the governments2 there would disappear the eulogizing of military exploits1 that is1 of murder2 there would1 above all else1 disappear the respect for the authorities1 the surrender of people's labours and the submission to them1 for which there are no foundations outside of patriotism4 ,let all this be done1 and immediately all that vast mass of weak men1 who are always guided from without1 will sweep over to the side of the new public opinion4 ,and the new public opinion will become the ruling one in the place of the old public opinion4 ,let the governments have possession of the school1 the church1 the press1 milliards of roubles1 and millions of disciplined men turned into machines1--all that apparently terrible organization of rude force is nothing in comparison with the recognition of the truth1 which arises in the heart of one man who knows the force of the truth1 and is communicated by this man to another1 a third man1 just as an endless number of candles are lighted from one4 ,this light need only burn1 and1 like the wax before the face of the fire1 all this seemingly so powerful organization will waste away4 ,if men only understood that terrible power which is given them in the word which expresses the truth4 ,if men only did not sell their birthright for a mess of pottage4 ,if men only made use of this power of theirs1--the rulers would not only not dare1 as they dare now1 to threaten men with universal slaughter1 to which they will drive men or not1 as they may see fit1 but would not even dare in the sight of peaceable citizens to bring the disciplined murderers out on parade or in manuvres2 the governments would not dare for their own profit1 for the advantage of their accomplices1 to make and unmake customs treaties1 and they would not dare to collect from the people those millions of roubles which they distribute to their accomplices and for which they prepare themselves for the commission of murder4 ,and so the change is not only possible1 but it is even impossible for it not to take place1 as it is impossible for an overgrown1 dead tree not to rot1 and for a young one not to grow4 ,peace ,i leave with you1 my peace ,i give unto you3 not as the world giveth give ,i unto you2 let not your heart be troubled1 neither let it be afraid1 said ,christ4 ,and this peace is actually already among us1 and it depends on us to attain it4 ,if only the hearts of separate men did not grow faint from those temptations with which they are tempted every hour1 and if they were not frightened by those imaginary fears with which they are terrified4 ,if men only knew in what their mighty1 all-conquering force consists1 the peace for which men have always wished1 not the one which is obtained by means of diplomatic treaties1 journeys of emperors and kings from one city to another1 dinners1 speeches1 fortresses1 cannon1 dynamite1 and melenite1 but the one which is obtained not by the exhaustion of the masses by taxes1 not by tearing the flower of the population away from work and debauching them1 but by the free profession of the truth by every separate individual1 would long ago have come to us4 ,moscow1 ,march #ag1 #ahid4 ,,reason ,,and ,,religion #ahie ,,reason ,,and ,,religion ,you ask me3 #a4 ,should people who are not particularly advanced mentally seek an expression in words for the truths of the inner life1 as comprehended by them8 #b4 ,is it worth while in one's inner life to strive after complete consciousness8 #c4 ,what are we to be guided by in moments of struggle and wavering1 that we may know whether it is indeed our conscience that is speaking in us1 or whether it is reflection1 which is bribed by our weakness8 7,the third question ,i for brevity's sake expressed in my own words1 without having changed its meaning1 ,i hope47 ,these three questions in my opinion reduce themselves to one1--the second1 because1 if it is not necessary for us to strive after a full consciousness of our inner life1 it will be also unnecessary and impossible for us to express in words the truths which we have grasped1 and in moments of wavering we shall have nothing to be guided by1 in order to ascertain whether it is our conscience or a false reflection that is speaking within us4 ,but if it is necessary to strive after the greatest consciousness accessible to human reason 7whatever this reason may be71 it is also necessary to express the truths grasped by us in words1 and it is these expressed truths which have been carried into full consciousness that we have to be guided by in moments of struggle and wavering4 ,and so ,i answer your radical question in the affirmative1 namely1 that every man1 for the fulfilment of his destiny upon earth and for the attainment of the true good 7the two things go together71 must strain all the forces of his mind for the purpose of elucidating to himself those religious bases by which he lives1 that is1 the meaning of his life4 ,i have frequently met among illiterate earth-diggers1 who have to figure out cubic contents1 the wide-spread conviction that the mathematical calculation is deceptive1 and that it is not to be trusted4 ,either because they do not know any mathematics1 or because the men who figured things out mathematically for them had frequently consciously or unconsciously deceived them1 the opinion that mathematics was inadequate and useless for the calculation of measures has established itself as an undoubted truth which they think it is even unnecessary to prove4 ,just such an opinion has established itself among1 ,i shall say it boldly1 irreligious men1--an opinion that reason cannot solve any religious questions1--that the application of reason to these questions is the chief cause of errors1 that the solution of religious questions by means of reason is criminal pride4 ,i say this1 because the doubt1 expressed in your questions1 as to whether it is necessary to strive after consciousness in our religious convictions1 can be based only on this supposition1 namely1 that reason cannot be applied to the solution of religious questions4 ,however1 such a supposition is as strange and obviously false as the supposition that calculation cannot settle any mathematical questions4 ,god has given man but one tool for the cognition of himself and his relation to the world1--there is no other1--and this tool is reason1 and suddenly he is told that he can use his reason for the elucidation of his domestic1 economic1 political1 scientific1 artistic questions1 but not for the elucidation of what it is given him for4 ,it turns out that for the elucidation of the most important truths1 of those on which his whole life depends1 a man must by no means employ reason1 but must recognize these truths as beyond reason1 whereas beyond reason a man cannot cognize anything4 ,they say1 ,find it out1 through revelation1 faith4 ,but a man cannot even believe outside of reason4 ,if a man believes in this1 and not in that1 he does so only because his reason tells him that he ought to believe in this1 and not to believe in that4 ,to say that a man should not be guided by reason is the same as saying to a man1 who in a dark underground room is carrying a lamp1 that1 to get out from this underground room and find his way1 he ought to put out his lamp and be guided by something different from the light4 ,but1 perhaps1 ,i shall be told1 as you say in your letter1 that not all men are endowed with a great mind and with a special ability for expressing their thoughts1 and that1 therefore1 an awkward expression of their thoughts concerning religion may lead to error4 ,to this ,i will answer in the words of the ,gospel1 ,what is hidden from the wise is revealed to babes4 ,this saying is not an exaggeration and not a paradox1 as people generally judge of those utterances of the ,gospel which do not please them1 but the assertion of a most simple and unquestionable truth1 which is1 that to every being in the world a law is given1 which this being must follow1 and that for the cognition of this law every being is endowed with corresponding organs4 ,and so every man is endowed with reason1 and in this reason there is revealed to him the law which he must follow4 ,this law is hidden only from those who do not want to follow it and who1 in order not to follow it1 renounce reason and1 instead of using their reason for the cognition of the truth1 use for this purpose the indications1 taken upon faith1 of people like themselves1 who also reject reason4 ,but the law which a man must follow is so simple that it is accessible to any child1 the more so since a man has no longer any need of discovering the law of his life4 ,men who lived before him discovered and expressed it1 and all a man has to do is to verify them with his reason1 to accept or not to accept the propositions which he finds expressed in the tradition1 that is1 not as people1 who wish not to fulfil the law1 advise us to do1 by verifying reason through tradition1 but by verifying tradition through reason4 ,tradition may be from men1 and false1 but reason is certainly from ,god1 and cannot be false4 ,and so1 for the cognition and the expression of truth1 there is no need of any especial prominent capacity1 but only of the faith that reason is not only the highest divine quality of man1 but also the only tool for the cognition of truth4 ,a special mind and gifts are not needed for the cognition and exposition of the truth1 but for the invention and exposition of the lie4 ,having once departed from the indications of reason1 men heap up and take upon faith1 generally in the shape of laws1 revelations1 dogmas1 such complicated1 unnatural1 and contradictory propositions that1 in order to expound them and harmonize them with the lie1 there is actually a need of astuteness of mind and of a special gift4 ,we need only think of a man of our world1 educated in the religious tenets of any ,christian profession1--,catholic1 ,orthodox1 ,protestant1--who wants to elucidate to himself the religious tenets inculcated upon him since childhood1 and to harmonize them with life1--what a complicated mental labour he must go through in order to harmonize all the contradictions which are found in the profession inoculated in him by his education3 ,god1 the ,creator and the good1 created evil1 punishes people1 and demands redemption1 and so forth1 and we profess the law of love and of forgiveness1 and we punish1 wage war1 take away the property from poor people1 and so forth1 and so forth4 ,it is for the unravelling of these contradictions1 or rather1 for the concealment of them from ourselves1 that a great mind and special gifts are needed2 but for the discovery of the law of our life1 or1 as you express it1 in order to bring our faith into full consciousness1 no special mental gifts are needed1--all that is necessary is not to admit anything that is contrary to reason1 not to reject reason1 religiously to guard reason1 and to believe in nothing else4 ,if the meaning of a man's life presents itself to him indistinctly1 that does not prove that reason is of no use for the elucidation of this meaning1 but only this1 that too much of what is irrational has been taken upon faith1 and that it is necessary to reject everything which is not confirmed by reason4 ,and so my answer to your fundamental question1 as to whether it is necessary to strive after consciousness in our inner life1 is this1 that this is the most necessary and important work of our life4 ,it is necessary and important because the only rational meaning of our life consists in the fulfilment of the will of ,god who sent us into this life4 ,but the will of ,god is not recognized by any special miracle1 by the writing of the law on tablets with ,god's finger1 or by the composition of an infallible book with the aid of the ,holy ,ghost1 or by the infallibility of some holy person or of an assembly of men1--but only by the activity of the reason of all men who in deeds and words transmit to one another the truths which have become more and more elucidated to their consciousness4 ,this cognition has never been and never will be complete1 but is constantly increased with the movement of humanity3 the longer we live1 the more clearly do we recognize ,god's will and1 consequently1 what we ought to do for its fulfilment4 ,and so ,i think that the elucidation by any man 7no matter how small he himself and others may consider him to be--it is the little ones who are great7 of the whole religious truth1 as it is accessible to him1 and its expression in words 7since the expression in words is the one unquestionable symptom of a complete clearness of ideas7 is one of the most important and most sacred duties of man4 ,i shall be very much pleased if my answer shall satisfy you even in part4 ,,patriotism ,,or ,,peace ,letter to ,manson #ahif ,,patriotism ,,or ,,peace ,letter to ,manson ,,dear ,,sir3--,you write to me asking me to express myself in respect to the ,united ,states of ,north ,america in the interests of ,christian consistency and true peace1 and express the hope that the nations will soon awaken to the one means of securing national peace4 ,i harbour the same hope4 ,i harbour the same hope1 because the blindness in our time of the nations that extol patriotism1 bring up their young generations in the superstition of patriotism1 and1 at the same time1 do not wish for the inevitable consequences of patriotism1--war1--has1 it seems to me1 reached such a last stage that the simplest reflection1 which begs for utterance in the mouth of every unprejudiced man1 is sufficient1 in order that men may see the crying contradiction in which they are4 ,frequently1 when you ask children which they will choose of two things which are incompatible1 but which they want alike1 they answer1 ,both4 ,which do you want1--to go out driving or to stay at home8--,both1--go out driving and stay at home4 ,just so the ,christian nations answer the question which life puts to them1 as to which they will choose1 patriotism or peace1 they answer ,both patriotism and peace1 though it is as impossible to unite patriotism with peace1 as at the same time to go out driving and stay at home4 ,the other day there arose a difference between the ,united ,states and ,england concerning the borders of ,venezuela4 ,salisbury for some reason did not agree to something2 ,cleveland wrote a message to the ,senate2 from either side were raised patriotic warlike cries2 a panic ensued upon ',change2 people lost millions of pounds and of dollars2 ,edison announced that he would invent engines with which it would be possible to kill more men in an hour than ,attila had killed in all his wars1 and both nations began energetically to arm themselves for war4 ,but because1 simultaneously with these preparations for war1 both in ,england and in ,america1 all kinds of literary men1 princes1 and statesmen began to admonish their respective governments to abstain from war1 saying that the subject under discussion was not sufficiently important to begin a war for1 especially between two related ,anglo-,saxon nations1 speaking the same language1 who ought not to war among themselves1 but ought calmly to govern others2 or because all kinds of bishops1 archdeacons1 canons prayed and preached concerning the matter in all the churches2 or because neither side considered itself sufficiently prepared1--it happened that there was no war just then4 ,and people calmed down4 ,but a person has to have too little perspicacity not to see that the causes which now are leading to a conflict between ,england and ,america have remained the same1 and that1 if even the present conflict shall be settled without a war1 there will inevitably to-morrow or the day after appear other conflicts1 between ,england and ,russia1 between ,england and ,turkey1 in all possible permutations1 as they arise every day1 and one of these will lead to war4 ,if two armed men live side by side1 having been impressed from childhood with the idea that power1 wealth1 and glory are the highest virtues1 and that1 therefore1 to acquire power1 wealth1 and glory by means of arms1 to the detriment of other neighbouring possessors1 is a very praiseworthy matter1 and if at the same time there is no moral1 religious1 or political restraint for these men1 is it not evident that such people will always fight1 that the normal relation between them will be war8 and that1 if such people1 having clutched one another1 have separated for awhile1 they have done so only1 as the ,french proverb says1 pour mieux sauter1 that is1 they have separated to take a better run1 to throw themselves with greater fury upon one another8 ,strange is the egotism of private individuals1 but the egotists of private life are not armed1 do not consider it right either to prepare or use arms against their adversaries2 the egotism of private individuals is under the control of the political power and of public opinion4 ,a private person who with gun in his hand takes away his neighbour's cow1 or a desyatna of his crop1 will immediately be seized by a policeman and put into prison4 ,besides1 such a man will be condemned by public opinion1--he will be called a thief and robber4 ,it is quite different with the states3 they are all armed1--there is no power over them1 except the comical attempts at catching a bird by pouring some salt on its tail1--attempts at establishing international congresses1 which1 apparently1 will never be accepted by the powerful states 7who are armed for the very purpose that they may not pay any attention to any one71 and1 above all1 public opinion1 which rebukes every act of violence in a private individual1 extols1 raises to the virtue of patriotism every appropriation of what belong to others1 for the increase of the power of the country4 ,open the newspapers for any period you may wish1 and at any moment you will see the black spot1--the cause of every possible war3 now it is ,korea1 now the ,pamir1 now the lands in ,africa1 now ,abyssinia1 now ,turkey1 now ,venezuela1 now the ,transvaal4 ,the work of the robbers does not stop for a moment1 and here and there a small war1 like an exchange of shots in the cordon1 is going on all the time1 and the real war can and will begin at any moment4 ,if an ,american wishes the preferential grandeur and well-being of ,america above all other nations1 and the same is desired for his state by an ,englishman1 and a ,russian1 and a ,turk1 and a ,dutchman1 and an ,abyssinian1 and a citizen of ,venezuela and of the ,transvaal1 and an ,armenian1 and a ,pole1 and a ,bohemian1 and all of them are convinced that these desires need not only not be concealed or repressed1 but should be a matter of pride and be developed in themselves and in others2 and if the greatness and well-being of one country or nation cannot be obtained except to the detriment of another nation1 frequently of many countries and nations1--how can war be avoided8 ,and so1 not to have any war1 it is not necessary to preach and pray to ,god about peace1 to persuade the ,english-speaking nations that they ought to be friendly toward one another1 in order to be able to rule over other nations2 to form double and triple alliances against one another2 to marry princes to princesses of other nations1--but to destroy what produces war4 ,but what produces war is the desire for an exclusive good for one's own nation1--what is called patriotism4 ,and so to abolish war1 it is necessary to abolish patriotism1 and to abolish patriotism1 it is necessary first to become convinced that it is an evil1 and that it is hard to do4 ,tell people that war is bad1 and they will laugh at you3 who does not know that8 ,tell them that patriotism is bad1 and the majority of people will agree with you1 but with a small proviso4 ,yes1 bad patriotism is bad1 but there is also another patriotism1 the one we adhere to4 ,but wherein this good patriotism consists no one can explain4 ,if good patriotism consists in not being acquisitive1 as many say1 it is none the less retentive2 that is1 men want to retain what was formerly acquired1 since there is no country which was not based on conquest1 and it is impossible to retain what is conquered by any other means than those by which it was acquired1 that is1 by violence and murder4 ,but even if patriotism is not retentive1 it is restorative1--the patriotism of the vanquished and oppressed nations1 the ,armenians1 ,poles1 ,bohemians1 ,irish1 and so forth4 ,this patriotism is almost the very worst1 because it is the most enraged and demands the greatest degree of violence4 ,patriotism cannot be good4 ,why do not people say that egotism can be good1 though this may be asserted more easily1 because egotism is a natural sentiment1 with which a man is born1 while patriotism is an unnatural sentiment1 which is artificially inoculated in him8 ,it will be said3 ,patriotism has united men in states and keeps up the unity of the states4 ,but the men are already united in states1--the work is all done3 why should men now maintain an exclusive loyalty for their state1 when this loyalty produces calamities for all states and nations8 ,the same patriotism which produced the unification of men into states is now destroying those states4 ,if there were but one patriotism1--the patriotism of none but the ,english1--it might be regarded as unificatory or beneficent1 but when1 as now1 there are ,american1 ,english1 ,german1 ,french1 ,russian patriotisms1 all of them opposed to one another1 patriotism no longer unites1 but disunites4 ,to say that1 if patriotism was beneficent1 by uniting men into states1 as was the case during its highest development in ,greece and ,rome1 patriotism even now1 after eighteen hundred years of ,christian life1 is just as beneficent1 is the same as saying that1 since the ploughing was useful and beneficent for the field before the sowing1 it will be as useful now1 after the crop has grown up4 ,it would be very well to retain patriotism in memory of the use which it once had1 as people preserve and retain the ancient monuments of temples1 mausoleums1 and so forth4 ,but the temples and mausoleums stand1 without causing any harm to men1 while patriotism produces without cessation innumerable calamities4 ,what now causes the ,armenians and the ,turks to suffer and cut each other's throats and act like wild beasts8 ,why do ,england and ,russia1 each of them concerned about her share of the inheritance from ,turkey1 lie in wait and do not put a stop to the ,armenian atrocities8 ,why do the ,abyssinians and ,italians fight one another8 ,why did a terrible war come very near breaking out on account of ,venezuela1 and now on account of the ,transvaal8 ,and the ,chino-,japanese ,war1 and the ,turkish1 and the ,german1 and the ,french wars8 ,and the rage of the subdued nations1 the ,armenians1 the ,poles1 the ,irish8 ,and the preparation for war by all the nations8 ,all that is the fruits of patriotism4 ,seas of blood have been shed for the sake of this sentiment1 and more blood will be shed for its sake1 if men do not free themselves from this outlived bit of antiquity4 ,i have several times had occasion to write about patriotism1 about its absolute incompatibility1 not only with the teaching of ,christ in its ideal sense1 but even with the lowest demands of the morality of ,christian society1 and every time my arguments have been met with silence or with the supercilious hint that the ideas expressed by me were ,utopian expressions of mysticism1 anarchism1 and cosmopolitanism4 ,my ideas have frequently been repeated in a compressed form1 and1 instead of retorting to them1 it was added that it was nothing but cosmopolitanism1 as though this word cosmopolitanism unanswerably overthrew all my arguments4 ,serious1 old1 clever1 good men1 who1 above all else1 stand like the city on a hill1 and who involuntarily guide the masses by their example1 make it appear that the legality and beneficence of patriotism are so obvious and incontestable that it is not worth while to answer the frivolous and senseless attacks upon this sentiment1 and the majority of men1 who have since childhood been deceived and infected by patriotism1 take this supercilious silence to be a most convincing proof1 and continue to stick fast in their ignorance4 ,and so those people who from their position can free the masses from their calamities1 and do not do so1 commit a great sin4 ,the most terrible thing in the world is hypocrisy4 ,there was good reason why ,christ once got angry1--that was against the hypocrisy of the ,pharisees4 ,but what was the hypocrisy of the ,pharisees in comparison with the hypocrisy of our time8 ,in comparison with our men1 the ,pharisees were the most truthful of men1 and their art of hypocrisy was as child's play in comparison with the hypocrisy of our time2 nor can it be otherwise4 ,our whole life1 with the profession of ,christianity1 the teaching of humility and love1 in connection with the life of an armed den of robbers1 can be nothing but one solid1 terrible hypocrisy4 ,it is very convenient to profess a teaching at one end of which is ,christian sanctity and infallibility1 and at the other--the pagan sword and gallows1 so that1 when it is possible to impose or deceive by means of sanctity1 sanctity is put into effect1 and when the deception does not work1 the sword and the gallows are put into effect4 ,such a teaching is very convenient1 but the time comes when this spider-web of lie is dispersed1 and it is no longer possible to continue to keep both1 and it is necessary to ally oneself with either one or the other4 ,it is this which is now getting to be the case in relation to the teaching about patriotism4 ,whether people want it or not1 the question stands clearly before humanity3 how can that patriotism1 from which result innumerable physical and moral calamities of men1 be necessary and a virtue8 ,it is indispensable to give an answer to this question4 ,it is necessary either to show that patriotism is such a great good that it redeems all those terrible calamities which it produces in humanity2 or to recognize that patriotism is an evil1 which must not only not be inoculated in men and impressed upon them1 but from which also we must try to free ourselves at all cost4 ,c'est prendre ou laisser1 as the ,french say4 ,if patriotism is good1 then ,christianity1 which gives peace1 is an idle dream1 and the sooner this teaching is eradicated1 the better4 ,but if ,christianity really gives peace1 and we really want peace1 patriotism is a survival from barbarous times1 which must not only not be evoked and educated1 as we now do1 but which must be eradicated by all means1 by means of preaching1 persuasion1 contempt1 and ridicule4 ,if ,christianity is the truth1 and we wish to live in peace1 we must not only have no sympathy for the power of our country1 but must even rejoice in its weakening1 and contribute to it4 ,a ,russian must rejoice when ,poland1 the ,baltic provinces1 ,finland1 ,armenia1 are separated from ,russia and made free2 and an ,englishman must similarly rejoice in relation to ,ireland1 ,australia1 ,india1 and the other colonies1 and coperate in it1 because1 the greater the country1 the more evil and cruel is its patriotism1 and the greater is the amount of the suffering on which its power is based4 ,and so1 if we actually want to be what we profess1 we must not1 as we do now1 wish for the increase of our country1 but wish for its diminution and weakening1 and contribute to it with all our means4 ,and thus must we educate the younger generations3 we must bring up the younger generations in such a way that1 as it is now disgraceful for a young man to manifest his coarse egotism1 for example1 by eating everything up1 without leaving anything for others1 to push a weaker person down from the road1 in order to pass by himself1 to take away by force what another needs1 it should be just as disgraceful to wish for the increase of his country's power2 and1 as it now is considered stupid and ridiculous for a person to praise himself1 it should be considered stupid to extol one's nation1 as is now done in various lying patriotic histories1 pictures1 monuments1 text-books1 articles1 sermons1 and stupid national hymns4 ,but it must be understood that so long as we are going to extol patriotism and educate the younger generations in it1 we shall have armaments1 which ruin the physical and spiritual life of the nations1 and wars1 terrible1 horrible wars1 like those for which we are preparing ourselves1 and into the circle of which we are introducing1 corrupting them with our patriotism1 the new1 terrible fighters of the distant ,east4 ,emperor ,william1 one of the most comical persons of our time1 orator1 poet1 musician1 dramatic writer1 and artist1 and1 above all1 patriot1 has lately painted a picture representing all the nations of ,europe with swords1 standing at the seashore and1 at the indication of ,archangel ,michael1 looking at the sitting figures of ,buddha and ,confucius in the distance4 ,according to ,william's intention1 this should mean that the nations of ,europe ought to unite in order to defend themselves against the peril which is proceeding from there4 ,he is quite right from his coarse1 pagan1 patriotic point of view1 which is eighteen hundred years behind the times4 ,the ,european nations1 forgetting ,christ1 have in the name of their patriotism more and more irritated these peaceful nations1 and have taught them patriotism and war1 and have now irritated them so much that1 indeed1 if ,japan and ,china will as fully forget the teachings of ,buddha and of ,confucius as we have forgotten the teaching of ,christ1 they will soon learn the art of killing people 7they learn these things quickly1 as ,japan has proved71 and1 being fearless1 agile1 strong1 and populous1 they will inevitably very soon make of the countries of ,europe1 if ,europe does not invent something stronger than guns and ,edison's inventions1 what the countries of ,europe are making of ,africa4 ,the disciple is not above his master3 but every one that is perfect shall be as his master 7,luke vi4 #dj74 ,in reply to a prince's question how to increase his army1 in order to conquer a southern tribe which did not submit to him1 ,confucius replied3 ,destroy all thy army1 and use the money1 which thou art wasting now on the army1 on the enlightenment of thy people and on the improvement of agriculture1 and the southern tribe will drive away its prince and will submit to thy rule without war4 ,thus taught ,confucius1 whom we are advised to fear4 ,but we1 having forgotten ,christ's teaching1 having renounced it1 wish to vanquish the nations by force1 and thus are only preparing for ourselves new and stronger enemies than our neighbours4 ,a friend of mine1 who saw ,william's picture1 said3 ,the picture is beautiful1 only it does not at all represent what the legend says4 ,it means that ,archangel ,michael shows to all the governments of ,europe1 which are represented as robbers bedecked with arms1 what it is that will cause their ruin and annihilation1 namely1 the meekness of ,buddha and the wisdom of ,confucius4 ,he might have added1 ,and the humility of ,lao-tse4 ,indeed1 we1 thanks to our hypocrisy1 have forgotten ,christ to such an extent1 have so squeezed out of our life everything ,christian1 that the teachings of ,buddha and ,confucius stand incomparably higher than that beastly patriotism1 by which our so-called ,christian nations are guided4 ,and so the salvation of ,europe and of the ,christian world at large does not consist in this1 that1 bedecking themselves with swords1 as ,william has represented them1 they should1 like robbers1 cast themselves upon their brothers beyond the sea1 in order to kill them1 but1 on the contrary1 they should renounce the survival of barbarous times1--patriotism1--and1 having renounced it1 should take off their arms and show the ,eastern nations1 not an example of savage patriotism and beastliness1 but an example of brotherly love1 which ,christ has taught us4 ,moscow1 ,january #b1 #ahif4 ,,letter ,,to ,,ernest ,,howard ,,crosby ,on ,non-,resistance #ahif ,,letter ,,to ,,ernest ,,howard ,,crosby ,on ,non-,resistance ,,my ,,dear ,,crosby3--,i am very glad to hear of your activity and that it is beginning to attract attention4 ,fifty years ago ,garrison's proclamation of non-resistance only cooled people toward him1 and the whole fifty years' activity of ,ballou in this direction was met with stubborn silence4 ,i read with great pleasure in ,peace the beautiful ideas of the ,american authors in regard to non-resistance4 ,i make an exception only in the case of ,mr4 ,bemis's old1 unfounded opinion1 which calumniates ,christ in assuming that ,christ's expulsion of the cattle from the temple means that he struck the men with a whip1 and commanded his disciples to do likewise4 ,the ideas expressed by these writers1 especially by ,h4 ,newton and ,g4 ,herron1 are beautiful1 but it is to be regretted that they do not answer the question which ,christ put before men1 but answer the question which the so-called orthodox teachers of the churches1 the chief and most dangerous enemies of ,christianity1 have put in its place4 ,mr4 ,higginson says that the law of non-resistance is not admissible as a general rule4 ,h4 ,newton says that the practical results of the application of ,christ's teaching will depend on the degree of faith which men will have in this teaching4 ,mr4 ,c4 ,martyn assumes that the stage at which we are is not yet suited for the application of the teaching about non-resistance4 ,g4 ,herron says that in order to fulfil the law of non-resistance1 it is necessary to learn to apply it to life4 ,mrs4 ,livermore says the same1 thinking that the fulfilment of the law of non-resistance is possible only in the future4 ,all these opinions treat only the question as to what would happen to people if all were put to the necessity of fulfilling the law of non-resistance2 but1 in the first place1 it is quite impossible to compel all men to accept the law of non-resistance1 and1 in the second1 if this were possible1 it would be a most glaring negation of the very principle which is being established4 ,to compel all men not to practise violence against others6 ,who is going to compel men8 ,in the third place1 and above all else1 the question1 as put by ,christ1 does not consist in this1 whether non-resistance may become a universal law for all humanity1 but what each man must do in order to fulfil his destiny1 to save his soul1 and do ,god's work1 which reduces itself to the same4 ,the ,christian teaching does not prescribe any laws for all men2 it does not say1 ,follow such and such rules under fear of punishment1 and you will all be happy1 but explains to each separate man his position in the world and shows him what for him personally results from this position4 ,the ,christian teaching says to each individual man that his life1 if he recognizes his life to be his1 and its aim1 the worldly good of his personality or of the personalities of other men1 can have no rational meaning1 because this good1 posited as the end of life1 can never be attained1 because1 in the first place1 all beings strive after the goods of the worldly life1 and these goods are always attained by one set of beings to the detriment of others1 so that every separate man cannot receive the desired good1 but1 in all probability1 must even endure many unnecessary sufferings in his struggle for these unattained goods2 in the second place1 because if a man even attains the worldly goods1 these1 the more of them he attains1 satisfy him less and less1 and he wishes for more and more new ones2 in the third place1 mainly because the longer a man lives1 the more inevitably do old age1 diseases1 and finally death1 which destroys the possibility of any worldly good1 come to him4 ,thus1 if a man considers his life to be his1 and its end to be the worldly good1 for himself or for other men1 this life can have for him no rational meaning4 ,life receives a rational meaning only when a man understands that the recognition of his life as his own1 and the good of personality1 of his own or of that of others1 as its end1 is an error1 and that the human life does not belong to him1 who has received this life from some one1 but to ,him who produced this life1 and so its end must not consist in the attainment of his own good or of the good of others1 but only in the fulfilment of the will of ,him who produced it4 ,only with such a comprehension of life does it receive a rational meaning1 and its end1 which consists in the fulfilment of ,god's will1 become attainable1 and1 above all1 only with such a comprehension does man's activity become clearly defined1 and he no longer is subject to despair and suffering1 which were inevitable with his former comprehension4 ,the world and ,i in it1 such a man says to himself1 exist by the will of ,god4 ,i cannot know the whole world and my relation to it1 but ,i can know what is wanted of me by ,god1 who sent men into this world1 endless in time and space1 and therefore inaccessible to my understanding1 because this is revealed to me in the tradition1 that is1 in the aggregate reason of the best people in the world1 who lived before me1 and in my reason1 and in my heart1 that is1 in the striving of my whole being4 ,in the tradition1 the aggregate of the wisdom of all the best men1 who lived before me1 ,i am told that ,i must act toward others as ,i wish that others should act toward me2 my reason tells me that the greatest good of men is possible only when all men will act likewise4 ,my heart is at peace and joyful only when ,i abandon myself to the feeling of love for men1 which demands the same4 ,and then ,i can not only know what ,i must do1 but also the cause for which my activity is necessary and defined4 ,i cannot grasp the whole divine work1 for which the world exists and lives1 but the divine work which is being accomplished in this world and in which ,i am taking part with my life is accessible to me4 ,this work is the destruction of the discord and of the struggle among men and other beings1 and the establishment among men of the greatest union1 concord1 and love2 this work is the realization of what the ,jewish prophets promised1 saying that the time will come when all men shall be taught the truth1 when the spears shall be forged into pruning-hooks1 and the scythes and swords into ploughshares1 and when the lion shall lie with the lamb4 ,thus the man of the ,christian comprehension of life not only knows how he must act in life1 but also what he must do4 ,he must do what contributes to the establishment of the kingdom of ,god in the world4 ,to do this1 a man must fulfil the inner demands of ,god's will1 that is1 he must act amicably toward others1 as he would like others to do to him4 ,thus the inner demands of a man's soul coincide with that external end of life which is placed before him4 ,and here though we have an indication which is so clear to a man of the ,christian comprehension1 and incontestable from two sides1 as to what the meaning and end of human life consists in1 and how a man must act1 and what he must do1 and what not1 there appear certain people1 who call themselves ,christians1 who decide that in such and such cases a man must depart from ,god's law and the common cause of life1 which are given to him1 and must act contrary to the law and the common cause of life1 because1 according to their ratiocination1 the consequences of the acts committed according to ,god's law may be profitless and disadvantageous for men4 ,man1 according to the ,christian teaching1 is ,god's workman4 ,the workman does not know his master's whole business1 but the nearest aim to be attained by his work is revealed to him1 and he is given definite indications as to what he should do2 especially definite are the indications as to what he must not do1 in order that he may not work against the aim for the attainment of which he was sent to work4 ,in everything else he is given complete liberty4 ,and so for a man who has grasped the ,christian conception of life the meaning of his life is clear and rational1 and he cannot have a moment of wavering as to how he should act in life and what he ought to do1 in order to fulfil the destiny of his life4 ,according to the law given him in the tradition1 in his reason1 and in his heart1 a man must always act toward another as he wishes to have done to him3 he must contribute to the establishment of love and union among men2 but according to the decision of these far-sighted people1 a man must1 while the fulfilment of the law1 according to their opinion1 is still premature1 do violence1 deprive of liberty1 kill people1 and with this contribute1 not to union of love1 but to the irritation and enragement of people4 ,it is as though a mason1 who is put to do certain definite work1 who knows that he is taking part with others in the building of a house1 and who has received a clear and indubitable command from the master himself that he is to lay a wall1 should receive the command from other masons like him1 who1 like him1 do not know the general plan of the structure and what is useful for the common work1 to stop laying the wall1 and to undo the work of the others4 ,wonderful delusion6 ,the being that breathes to-day and disappears to-morrow1 that has one definite1 incontestable law given to him1 as to how he is to pass his short term of life1 imagines that he knows what is necessary and useful and appropriate for all men1 for the whole world1 for that world which moves without cessation1 and goes on developing1 and in the name of this usefulness1 which is differently understood by each of them1 he prescribes to himself and to others for a time to depart from the unquestionable law1 which is given to him and to all men1 and not to act toward all men as he wants others to act toward him1 not to bring love into the world1 but to practise violence1 to deprive of freedom1 to punish1 to kill1 to introduce malice into the world1 when it is found that this is necessary4 ,and he enjoins us to do so knowing that the most terrible cruelties1 tortures1 murders of men1 from the ,inquisitions and punishments and terrors of all the revolutions to the present bestialities of the anarchists and the massacres of them1 have all proceeded from this1 that men suppose that they know what people and the world need2 knowing that at any given moment there are always two opposite parties1 each of which asserts that it is necessary to use violence against the opposite party1--the men of state against the anarchists1 the anarchists against the men of state2 the ,english against the ,americans1 the ,americans against the ,english2 the ,english against the ,germans2 and so forth1 in all possible combinations and permutations4 ,not only does a man of the ,christian concept of life see clearly by reflection that there is no ground whatever for his departure from the law of his life1 as clearly indicated to him by ,god1 in order to follow the accidental1 frail1 frequently contradictory demands of men2 but if he has been living the ,christian life for some time1 and has developed in himself the ,christian moral sensitiveness1 he can positively not act as people demand that he shall1 not only as the result of reflection1 but also of feeling4 ,as it is for many men of our world impossible to subject a child to torture and to kill it1 though such a torture may save a hundred other people1 so a whole series of acts becomes impossible for a man who has developed the ,christian sensitiveness of his heart in himself4 ,a ,christian1 for example1 who is compelled to take part in court proceedings1 where a man may be sentenced to capital punishment1 to take part in matters of forcible seizure of other people's property1 in discussions about the declaration of war1 or in preparations for the same1 to say nothing of war itself1 finds himself in the same position in which a good man would be1 if he were compelled to torture or kill a child4 ,it is not that he decides by reflection what he ought not to do1 but that he cannot do what is demanded of him1 because for a man there exists the moral impossibility1 just as there is a physical impossibility1 of committing certain acts4 ,just as it is impossible for a man to lift up a mountain1 as it is impossible for a good man to kill a child1 so it is impossible for a man who lives a ,christian life to take part in violence4 ,of what significance for such a man can be the reflections that for some imaginary good he must do what has become morally impossible for him8 ,how1 then1 is a man to act when he sees the obvious harm of following the law of love and the law of non-resistance1 which results from it8 ,how is a man to act--this example is always adduced--when a robber in his sight kills or injures a child1 and when the child cannot be saved otherwise than by killing the robber8 ,it is generally assumed that1 when they adduce such an example1 there can be no other answer to the question than that the robber ought to be killed1 in order that the child be saved4 ,but this answer is given so emphatically and so quickly only because we are not only in the habit of acting in this manner in the case of the defence of a child1 but also in the case of the expansion of the borders of a neighbouring state to the detriment of our own1 or in the case of the transportation of lace across the border1 or even in the case of the defence of the fruits of our garden against depredations by passers-by4 ,it is assumed that it is necessary to kill the robber in order to save the child1 but we need only stop and think on what ground a man should act thus1 be he a ,christian or a non-,christian1 to convince ourselves that such an act can have no rational foundations1 and is considered necessary only because two thousand years ago such a mode of action was considered just and people were in the habit of acting thus4 ,why should a non-,christian1 who does not recognize ,god and the meaning of life in the fulfilment of ,his will1 kill the robber1 in defending the child8 ,to say nothing of this1 that in killing the robber he is certainly killing1 but does not know for certain until the very last moment whether the robber will kill the child or not1 to say nothing of this irregularity3 who has decided that the life of the child is more necessary and better than the life of the robber8 ,if a non-,christian does not recognize ,god1 and does not consider the meaning of life to consist in the fulfilment of ,god's will1 it is only calculation1 that is1 the consideration as to what is more profitable for him and for all men1 the continuation of the robber's life or that of the child1 which guides the choice of his acts4 ,but to decide this1 he must know what will become of the child which he saves1 and what would become of the robber if he did not kill him4 ,but that he cannot know4 ,and so1 if he is a non-,christian1 he has no rational foundation for saving the child through the death of the robber4 ,but if a man is a ,christian1 and so recognizes ,god and sees the meaning of life in the fulfilment of ,his will1 no matter what terrible robber may attack any innocent and beautiful child1 he has still less cause to depart from the law given him by ,god and to do to the robber what the robber wants to do to the child2 he may implore the robber1 may place his body between the robber and his victim1 but there is one thing he cannot do1--he cannot consciously depart from the law of ,god1 the fulfilment of which forms the meaning of his life4 ,it is very likely that1 as the result of his bad bringing up and of his animality1 a man1 being a pagan or a ,christian1 will kill the robber1 not only in the defence of the child1 but also in his own defence or in the defence of his purse1 but that will by no means signify that it is right to do so1 that it is right to accustom ourselves and others to think that that ought to be done4 ,this will only mean that1 in spite of the external education and ,christianity1 the habits of the stone age are still strong in man1 that he is capable of committing acts which have long ago been disavowed by his consciousness4 ,a robber in my sight is about to kill a child and ,i can save it by killing the robber2 consequently it is necessary under certain conditions to resist evil with violence4 ,a man is in danger of his life and can be saved only through my lie2 consequently it is necessary in certain cases to lie4 ,a man is starving1 and ,i cannot save him otherwise than by stealing2 consequently it is necessary in certain cases to steal4 ,i lately read a story by ,coppe1 in which an orderly kills his officer1 who has his life insured1 and thus saves his honour and the life of his family4 ,consequently in certain cases it is right to kill4 ,such imaginary cases and the conclusions drawn from them prove only this1 that there are men who know that it is not right to steal1 to lie1 to kill1 but who are so loath to stop doing this that they use all the efforts of their mind in order to justify their acts4 ,there does not exist a moral rule for which it would be impossible to invent a situation when it would be hard to decide which is more moral1 the departure from the rule or its fulfilment4 ,the same is true of the question of non-resistance to evil3 men know that it is bad1 but they are so anxious to live by violence1 that they use all the efforts of their mind1 not for the elucidation of all the evil which is produced by man's recognition of the right to do violence to others1 but for the defence of this right4 ,but such invented cases in no way prove that the rules about not lying1 stealing1 killing are incorrect4 ,fais ce que doit1 advienne que pourra1--do what is right1 and let come what may1--is an expression of profound wisdom4 ,each of us knows unquestionably what he ought to do1 but none of us knows or can know what will happen4 ,thus we are brought to the same1 not only by this1 that we must do what is right1 but also by this1 that we know what is right1 and do not know at all what will come and result from our acts4 ,the ,christian teaching is a teaching as to what a man must do for the fulfilment of the will of ,him who sent him into the world4 ,but the reflections as to what consequences we assume to result from such or such acts of men not only have nothing in common with ,christianity1 but are that very delusion which destroys ,christianity4 ,no one has yet seen the imaginary robber with the imaginary child1 and all the horrors1 which fill history and contemporary events1 have been produced only because men imagine that they can know the consequences of the possible acts4 ,how is this8 ,men used to live a beastly life1 violating and killing all those whom it was advantageous for them to violate and kill1 and even eating one another1 thinking that that was right4 ,then there came a time1 when1 thousands of years ago1 even in the time of ,moses1 there appeared the consciousness in men that it was bad to violate and kill one another4 ,but there were some men for whom violence was advantageous1 and they did not recognize the fact1 and assured themselves and others that it was not always bad to violate and kill men1 but that there were cases when this was necessary1 useful1 and even good4 ,and acts of violence and murder1 though not as frequent and cruel1 were continued1 but with this difference1 that those who committed them justified them on the ground of usefulness to men4 ,it was this false justification of violence that ,christ arraigned4 ,he showed that1 since every act of violence could be justified1 as actually happens1 when two enemies do violence to one another and both consider their violence justifiable1 and there is no chance of verifying the justice of the determination of either1 it is necessary not to believe in any justifications of violence1 and under no condition1 as at first was thought right by humanity1 is it necessary to make use of them4 ,it would seem that men who profess ,christianity would have carefully to unveil this deception1 because in the unveiling of this deception does one of the chief manifestations of ,christianity consist4 ,but the very opposite has happened3 men to whom violence was advantageous1 and who did not want to give up these advantages1 took upon themselves the exclusive propaganda of ,christianity1 and1 preaching it1 asserted that1 since there are cases in which the non-application of violence produces more evil than its application 7the imaginary robber who kills the child71 we must not fully accept ,christ's teaching about non-resistance to evil1 and that we may depart from this teaching in the defence of our lives and of those of other men1 in the defence of our country1 the protection of society from madmen and malefactors1 and in many other cases4 ,but the decision of the question as to when ,christ's teaching ought to be set aside was left to those very men who made use of violence4 ,thus ,christ's teaching about non-resistance to evil turned out to be absolutely set aside1 and1 what is worse than all that1 those very men whom ,christ arraigned began to consider themselves the exclusive preachers and expounders of ,his teaching4 ,but the light shineth in the dark1 and the false preachers of ,christianity are again arraigned by ,his teaching4 ,we can think of the structure of the world as we please1 we may do what is advantageous and agreeable for us to do1 and use violence against people under the pretext of doing good to men1 but it is absolutely impossible to assert that1 in doing so1 we are professing ,christ's teaching1 because ,christ arraigned that very deception4 ,the truth will sooner or later be made manifest1 and will arraign the deceivers1 even as it does now4 ,let only the question of the human life be put correctly1 as it was put by ,christ1 and not as it was corrupted by the churches1 and all the deceptions which by the churches have been heaped on ,christ's teaching will fall of their own accord4 ,the question is not whether it will be good or bad for human society to follow the law of love and the resulting law of non-resistance1 but whether you--a being that lives to-day and is dying by degrees to-morrow and every moment--will now1 this very minute1 fully do the will of ,him who sent you and clearly expressed it in tradition and in your reason and heart1 or whether you want to act contrary to this will4 ,as soon as the question is put in this form1 there will be but one answer3 ,i want at once1 this very minute1 without any delay1 without waiting for any one1 and without considering the seeming consequences1 with all my strength to fulfil what alone ,i am indubitably commanded to do by ,him who sent me into the world1 and in no case1 under no condition1 will ,i1 can ,i1 do what is contrary to it1 because in this lies the only possibility of my rational1 unwretched life4 ,january #ab1 #ahif4 ,,introductions ,,to ,,books #ahij-id ,,introductions ,,to ,,books ,a4 ,,stockham',s ,,tokology ,the present book does not belong to the vast number of all kinds of books1 from the philosophical and the scientific to the artistic and practical1 which1 with other words1 in other permutations and combinations1 say and repeat the old familiar1 sickeningly familiar1 commonplaces4 ,this book is one of those rare books which do not treat of what everybody talks about and nobody needs1 but of what nobody talks about and what is important and necessary for all4 ,it is important for the parents to know how they should act1 in order without unnecessary suffering to bring forth uncorrupted and healthy children1 and still more important it is for the future children to be born under the best of conditions1 as1 indeed1 it says in one of the mottoes of the book1 ,to be well-born is the right of every child4 ,the book is not one of those which are read only that no one may say that he has not read this book1 but one of those the reading of which leaves traces1 compelling men to change their lives1 to mend what is irregular in them1 or at least to think of doing so4 ,this book is called ,tokology1 the science of the bearing of children4 ,there are all kinds of strange sciences1 but there is no such science1 and yet1 after the science of how to live and die1 this is the most important science4 ,this book has had enormous success in ,america1 and has greatly influenced ,american mothers and fathers4 ,in ,russia it ought to have an even greater influence4 ,the questions about abstaining from tobacco and all kinds of exciting beverages1 beginning with alcohol and ending with tea1 the questions about eating without the slaughter of living beings1 vegetarianism1 the questions about sexual continence in domestic life1 and many others1 which partly have been solved and partly are being worked out1 and possess a vast literature in ,europe and in ,america1 have not yet been touched upon by us1 and so ,mrs4 ,stockham's book is particularly important for us3 it at once transfers the reader into a new world of a living human movement4 ,in this book every thinking woman--for this book is chiefly intended for women--will find first of all an indication that there is absolutely no need of continuing to live as insipidly as her forefathers lived1 but that it is possible to find better paths of life1 using for this purpose science1 the experience of men1 and her own free thought1 and1 as the first model of such a use she will find in this book many precious counsels and hints1 which will make life easier for herself1 her husband1 and her children4 ,february #b1 #ahij4 ,,amiel',s ,,diary ,about a year and a half ago ,i chanced for the first time to read ,amiel's book1 ,fragments d'un ,journal ,intime4 ,i was struck by the significance and profundity of its contents1 the beauty of the exposition1 and1 above all1 the sincerity of this book4 ,as ,i read it1 ,i marked down the passages which more particularly startled me4 ,my daughter undertook to translate these passages1 and thus were formed the extracts from the ,fragments d'un ,journal ,intime1 that is1 the extracts from the extracts of ,amiel's diary in several volumes not yet printed1 which he conducted from day to day for the period of thirty years4 ,henri ,amiel was born in ,geneva in #ahba and was early left an orphan4 ,having graduated from the higher courses in ,geneva1 ,amiel went abroad and there passed several years at the universities of ,heidelberg and ,berlin4 ,upon returning in #ahdi to his home1 he at the age of twenty-eight years received in the ,geneva ,academy a professorship1 at first of sthetics1 and later of philosophy1 and this he held until his death4 ,amiel's whole life was passed in ,geneva1 where he died in #ahha1 having in no way risen above the large number of the most ordinary of professors1 who1 mechanically compiling their lectures from the latest books in their particular specialties1 just as mechanically transmit them to their hearers1 and from a still greater number of poets without contents1 who furnish these quite useless1 but still marketable wares to periodicals that are published in tens of thousands of copies4 ,amiel did not have the slightest success either in the learned or in the literary field4 ,as he was approaching old age1 he wrote of himself as follows3 ,what have ,i been able to extract from those gifts which were bestowed upon me1 from the peculiar conditions of my life of half a century8 ,are all my collected scribblings1 my correspondence1 these thousands of intimate pages1 my lectures1 my articles1 my verses1 my different notes anything but dry leaves8 ,to whom and for what have ,i ever been of any use8 ,and will my name live a day longer than ,i myself1 and will it have any significance for any one8 ,insignificant1 empty life6 ,vie nulle4 ,about ,amiel and his diary two well-known ,french writers1 his friend1 the well-known critic1 ,e4 ,scherer1 and the philosopher1 ,caro1 have written after his death4 ,interesting is that sympathetic1 but partially patronizing air with which both these authors treat ,amiel1 when they regret that he was deprived of those qualities which are necessary for the performance of real work4 ,and yet1 the real work of these two writers--the critical labours of ,e4 ,scherer and the philosophic labours of ,caro--will hardly much outlive their authors1 while the accidental1 not real work of ,amiel1 his diary1 will always remain a live book1 necessary for men and influencing them for the good4 ,a writer is dear and necessary for us only in the measure in which he reveals to us the inner working of his soul1 of course1 if this work is new1 and not previously accomplished4 ,no matter what he may write1 a drama1 a learned work1 a story1 a philosophic treatise1 a lyric poem1 a criticism1 a satire1 it is only this inner work of his soul which is dear to us1 and not the architectural structure in which he1 for the most part1 and ,i think1 always1 distorting them1 clothes his thoughts and feelings4 ,everything which ,amiel poured into a ready mould1 his lectures1 treatises1 poems1 was completely dead2 but his diary1 where1 without thinking of the form1 he spoke only to himself1 full of life1 wisdom1 instruction1 consolation1 will for ever remain one of the best books accidentally left to us by such men as ,marcus ,aurelius1 ,pascal1 ,epictetus4 ,pascal says3 ,there are but three kinds of people3 those who1 having found ,god1 serve ,him2 those who1 not having found ,him1 are busy seeking ,him1 and those who1 not having found ,him1 none the less do not seek ,him4 ,the first are sensible and happy1 the last are senseless and unhappy1 the second are unhappy1 but sensible4 ,i think that the difference established by ,pascal between the first and the second1 between those who1 as he says in another passage1 having found ,god1 serve ,him with their whole hearts1 and those who1 not having found ,him1 seek ,him with their whole hearts1 is not only not so great as he thought1 but does not even exist4 ,i think that those who with their whole hearts and suffering 7en gemissant1 as ,pascal says7 seek ,god1 already serve ,him4 ,they serve ,him with this1 that with these sufferings of their seeking they lay out and open for others the road to ,god1 as ,pascal himself did in his thoughts1 and as ,amiel did all his life in his diary4 ,amiel's whole life1 as it is presented to us in this diary1 is full of this seeking after ,god1 which is suffering with the whole heart4 ,the contemplation of this seeking is the more instructive in that it never ceases to be a seeking1 never stops1 never passes into the consciousness of the acquisition of truth and into instruction4 ,amiel says neither to himself nor to others3 ,i now know the truth1--hear me6 ,on the contrary1 it seems to him1 as is proper for him who sincerely seeks the truth1 that the more he finds out1 the more he has still left to know1 and he1 without stopping1 does everything he can for the purpose of finding out more and more of the truth1 and so constantly feels his ignorance4 ,he constantly dwells upon what ,christianity and the condition of a ,christian ought to be1 without for a moment dwelling on the thought that ,christianity is precisely what he professes1 and that he himself personifies the condition of a ,christian4 ,and yet his whole diary is full of expressions of the profoundest ,christian understanding and feeling4 ,these expressions act most powerfully on the reader on account of their very unconsciousness and sincerity4 ,he speaks with himself1 without thinking that he is heard1 without trying to appear sure of what he is not sure1 without concealing his suffering and his seeking4 ,it is as though we were present1 without the master's knowledge1 at the most secret1 profound1 impassioned inner work of the soul1 which is generally concealed from the view of an outsider4 ,for this reason it is possible to find many statelier and more eloquent expressions of ,amiel's religious feeling1 but it is hard to find such as are more intimate and more heart-stirring4 ,shortly before his death1 when he knew that his disease might any day end in strangulation1 he wrote3 ,when you no longer reflect that you have tens of years1 one year1 a month free before yourself1 when you already count tens of hours1 and the future night bears in itself the menace of the unexplored1 it is evident that you decline art1 science1 politics1 and are satisfied with conversing with yourself1 and that is possible until the very end4 ,this inward conversation is the only thing which is left to him who is sentenced to death and whose execution is delayed4 ,he 7this condemned man7 concentrates upon himself4 ,he no longer emits rays1 but only converses with his soul4 ,he no longer acts1 but only contemplates4444 ,like a hare1 he returns to his lair to die2 and this lair is his conscience1 his thought4 ,so long as he can hold a pen and has a moment of solitude1 he concentrates himself before this echo of himself and holds converse with ,god4 ,this1 by the way1 is not a moral investigation1 a repentance1 a call4 ,it is only the 'amen' of submission4 ,my child1 give me your heart4 ,renunciation and agreement are less difficult for me than for others1 because ,i want nothing4 ,i should only want not to suffer4 ,christ in the ,garden of ,gethsemane asked for the same4 ,let us do the same that ,he did4 ',nevertheless not as ,i will but as ,thou wilt1'--and we will wait4 ,such he is on the day before his death4 ,he is not less sincere and serious throughout his whole diary1 in spite of the elegance1 and now and then choiceness of his diction1 which became a habit with him4 ,in the course of all the thirty years of his diary he feels that we all so thoroughly forget1 that we are all condemned to death and that our execution is only delayed4 ,and it is for this very reason that this book is so sincere1 serious1 and useful4 #ahic4 ,s4 ,t4 ,,sem,,nov',s ,,peasant ,,stories ,i have long ago formed a rule to judge every artistic production from three sides3 7#a7 from the side of its contents1--in how far that which is revealed by the artist from a new side is important and necessary for men1 because every production is a production of art only when it reveals a new side of life2 7#b7 to what extent the form of the production is good1 beautiful1 and in correspondence with the contents2 and 7#c7 in how far the relation of the artist to his subject is sincere1 that is1 in how far he believes in what he represents4 ,this last quality always seems to me to be the most important one in an artistic production4 ,it gives to an artistic production its force1 makes an artistic production infectious1 that is1 evokes in the hearer and reader those sensations which the artist experiences4 ,semnov possesses this quality in the highest degree4 ,there is a certain story by ,flaubert1 translated by ,turgnev1 ,julian the ,merciful4 ,the last episode of the story1 which is intended to be most touching1 consists in this1 that ,julian lies down in the same bed with a leper1 whom he warms up with his body4 ,this leper is ,christ1 who carries ,julian off to heaven with ,him4 ,all that is told with great mastery1 but ,i always remain very cold during the reading of this story4 ,i feel that the author himself would not have done1 and would not even have wished to do so1 and ,i never feel any agitation in reading about this wonderful exploit4 ,but ,semnov describes the simplest story1 and it always touches me4 ,a village lad comes to ,moscow to find himself a place1 and with the influence of a countryman of his1 a coachman1 who is living with a wealthy merchant1 he here gets the position of assistant janitor4 ,this place was formerly occupied by an old man4 ,it was by the advice of his coachman that the merchant sent away the old man and in his place put the young lad4 ,the lad arrives in the evening to begin his work1 and in the yard hears the old man's complaints in the servants' room1 for having been discharged for no cause whatsoever1 only to make room for the young fellow4 ,the lad suddenly feels pity for the old man and is ashamed to have pushed him out4 ,he reflects for a moment1 wavers1 and finally decides to give up the place1 which he needs and which has pleased him so much4 ,all this is told in such a way that every time when ,i read it ,i feel that the author not only would have wished to act similarly in such a case1 but would certainly have done so1 and his feeling infects me1 and ,i am happy1 and it seems to me that ,i have done something good or would be glad to do something good4 ,sincerity is ,semnov's chief characteristic4 ,but1 besides it1 the contents are always significant1--significant1 because they deal with the most important class of ,russia1 the peasantry1 which ,semnov knows as only a peasant1 who himself lives the hard life of a peasant1 can know4 ,the contents of his stories are also significant1 because in all of them the chief interest is not in the external events1 not in the peculiarities of the situations1 but in the approximation to and the removal from the ideal of ,christian truth1 which stands firm and clear in the soul of the author and serves him as a safe measure for the valuation of the worth and importance of human acts4 ,the form of the stories fully corresponds to the contents3 it is serious and simple1 and the details are always correct1--there are no false notes4 ,what is particularly good is the figurative language of the persons in the stories1 which is frequently quite new1 and always artless and strikingly powerful4 ,march #bc1 #ahid4 ,,the ,,works ,,of ,,guy ,,de ,,maupassant ,it was1 ,i think1 in the year #ahha that ,turgnev1 during a visit at my house1 took a ,french novel1 under the name of ,maison ,tellier1 out of his satchel and gave it to me4 ,read it1 if you have a chance1 he said1 apparently with indifference1 just as the year before he had handed me a number of the ,russian ,wealth1 in which there was an article by ,garshn1 who was making his dbut4 ,evidently1 as in the case of ,garshn1 so even now1 he was afraid he might influence me in one way or another1 and wished to know my uninfluenced opinion4 ,he is a young ,french author1 he said2 look at it1--it is not bad2 he knows you and esteems you very much1 he added1 as though to encourage me4 ,as a man he reminds me of ,druzhnin4 ,he is just as excellent a son and friend1 un homme d'un commerce sur1 as was ,druzhnin1 and1 besides1 he has relations with the labouring people1 whom he guides and aids4 ,even in his relations to women he reminds me of ,druzhnin4 ,and ,turgnev told me something remarkable and incredible in regard to ,maupassant's relations in this respect4 ,this time1 the year #ahha1 was for me the most ardent time of the inner reconstruction of my whole world-conception1 and in this reconstruction the activity which is called artistic1 and to which ,i formerly used to devote all my strength1 not only lost for me the significance formerly ascribed to it1 but even became distinctly distasteful to me on account of the improper place which it had occupied in my life and which in general it occupies in the concepts of the men of the wealthy classes4 ,for this reason ,i was at that time not in the least interested in such productions as the one which ,turgnev recommended to me4 ,but1 to oblige him1 ,i read the book which he gave me4 ,judging from the first story1 ,maison ,tellier1 ,i could not help but see1 in spite of the indecent and insignificant subject of the story1 that the author possessed what is called talent4 ,the author was endowed with that particular gift1 called talent1 which consists in the author's ability to direct1 according to his tastes1 his intensified1 strained attention to this or that subject1 in consequence of which the author who is endowed with this ability sees in those subjects1 upon which he directs his attention1 something new1 something which others did not see4 ,maupassant evidently possessed that gift of seeing in subjects something which others did not see4 ,but1 to judge from the small volume which ,i had read1 he was devoid of the chief condition necessary1 besides talent1 for a truly artistic production4 ,of the three conditions3 7#a7 a correct1 that is1 a moral relation of the author to the subject1 7#b7 the clearness of exposition1 or the beauty of form1 which is the same1 and 7#c7 sincerity1 that is1 an undisguised feeling of love or hatred for what the artist describes1--,maupassant possessed only the last two1 and was entirely devoid of the first4 ,he had no correct1 that is1 no moral relation to the subjects described4 ,from what ,i had read1 ,i was convinced that ,maupassant possessed talent1 that is1 the gift of attention1 which in the objects and phenomena of life revealed to him those qualities which are not visible to other men2 he also possessed a beautiful form1 that is1 he expressed clearly1 simply1 and beautifully what he wished to say1 and also possessed that condition of the worth of an artistic production1 without which it does not produce any effect1--sincerity1--that is1 he did not simulate love or hatred1 but actually loved and hated what he described4 ,but1 unfortunately1 being devoid of the first1 almost the most important condition of the worth of an artistic production1 of the correct1 moral relation to what he represented1 that is1 of the knowledge of the difference between good and evil1 he loved and represented what it was not right to love and represent1 and did not love and did not represent what he ought to have loved and represented4 ,thus the author in this little volume describes with much detail and love how women tempt men and men tempt women1 and even some incomprehensible obscenities1 which are represented in ,la ,femme de ,paul1 and he describes the labouring country people1 not only with indifference1 but even with contempt1 as so many animals4 ,particularly striking was that lack of distinction between bad and good in the story ,une ,partie de ,campagne1 in which1 in the form of a most clever and amusing jest1 he gives a detailed account of how two gentlemen with bared arms1 rowing in a boat1 simultaneously tempted1 the one an old mother1 and the other a young maiden1 her daughter4 ,the author's sympathy is during the whole time obviously to such an extent on the side of the two rascals1 that he ignores1 or1 rather1 does not see what the tempted mother1 the girl1 the father1 and the young man1 evidently the fianc of the daughter1 must have suffered1 and so we not only get a shocking description of a disgusting crime in the form of an amusing jest1 but the event itself is described falsely1 because only the most insignificant side of the subject1 the pleasure afforded to the rascals1 is described4 ,in the same volume there is a story1 ,histoire d'une ,fille de ,ferme1 which ,turgnev recommended to me more particularly1 and which more particularly displeased me on account of the author's incorrect relation to the subject4 ,the author apparently sees in all the working people whom he describes nothing but animals1 who do not rise above sexual and maternal love1 and so the description leaves us with an incomplete1 artificial impression4 ,the insufficient comprehension of the lives and interests of the working classes1 and the representation of the men from those classes in the form of half-animals1 which are moved only by sensuality1 malice1 and greed1 forms one of the chief and most important defects of the majority of the modern ,french authors1 among them ,maupassant1 not only in this story1 but also in all the other stories1 in which he touches on the people and always describes them as coarse1 dull animals1 whom one can only ridicule4 ,of course1 the ,french authors must know the conditions of their people better than ,i know them2 but1 although ,i am a ,russian and have not lived with the ,french people1 ,i none the less assert that1 in describing their masses1 the ,french authors are wrong1 and that the ,french masses cannot be such as they are described4 ,if there exists a ,france as we know it1 with her truly great men and with those great contributions which these great men have made to science1 art1 civil polity1 and the moral perfection of humanity1 those labouring masses1 which have held upon their shoulders this ,france and her great men1 do not consist of animals1 but of men with great spiritual qualities2 and so ,i do not believe what ,i am told in novels like ,la ,terre1 and in ,maupassant's stories1 just as ,i should not believe if ,i were told of the existence of a beautiful house standing on no foundation4 ,it is very possible that the high qualities of the masses are not such as are described in ,la petite ,fadette and in ,la ,mare au ,diable1 but these qualities exist1 that ,i know for certain1 and the writer who describes the masses1 as ,maupassant does1 by telling sympathetically of the hanches and gorges of ,breton domestics1 and with contempt and ridicule the life of the labouring people1 commits a great error in an artistic sense1 because he describes the subject from only one1 the most uninteresting1 physical side1 and completely overlooks the other1 the most important1 spiritual side1 which forms the essence of the subject4 ,in general1 the reading of the volume which ,turgnev gave me left me completely indifferent to the young writer4 ,i was at that time so disgusted with the stories1 ,une ,partie de ,campagne1 ,la ,femme de ,paul1 and ,l',histoire d'une ,fille de ,ferme1 that ,i did not at that time notice the beautiful story1 ,le ,papa de ,simon1 and the superb story1 so far as the description of a night is concerned1 ,sur l',eau4 ,there are in our time1 when there are so many who are willing to write1 a number of people with talent1 who do not know to what to apply it1 or who boldly apply it to what ought not and should not be described1 ,i thought4 ,i told ,turgnev so4 ,and ,i entirely forgot about ,maupassant4 ,the first thing from ,maupassant's writings which after that fell into my hands was ,une ,vie1 which somebody advised me to read4 ,this book at once made me change my opinion concerning ,maupassant1 and after that ,i read with interest everything which was written over his name4 ,une ,vie is an excellent novel1 not only incomparably the best novel by ,maupassant1 but almost the best ,french novel since ,hugo's ,les ,misrables4 ,besides the remarkable power of his talent1 that is1 of that peculiar1 strained attention1 directed upon an object1 in consequence of which the author sees entirely new features in the life which he is describing1 this novel combines1 almost to an equal degree1 all three conditions of a true artistic production3 7#a7 the correct1 that is1 the moral1 relation of the author to the subject1 7#b7 the beauty of form1 and 7#c7 sincerity1 that is1 love for what the author describes4 ,here the meaning of life no longer presents itself to the author in the experiences of all kinds of debauched persons1--here the contents1 as the title says1 are formed by the description of a ruined1 innocent1 sweet woman1 who is prepared for anything beautiful1 a woman who is ruined by that very gross1 animal sensuality which in the former stories presented itself to the author as the central phenomenon of life1 which dominates everything1 and the author's whole sympathy is on the side of the good4 ,the form1 which is beautiful even in the first stories1 is here carried to a high degree of perfection1 such as1 in my opinion1 has not been reached by any other ,french prose writer4 ,and1 besides1 what is most important1 the author here really loves1 and loves strongly1 the good family which he describes1 and actually despises that coarse male who destroys the happiness and peace of this dear family and especially of the heroine of the novel4 ,it is for that reason that all the events and persons of this novel are so vivid and impress themselves on our memory3 the weak1 good1 slatternly mother2 the noble1 weak1 dear father1 and the daughter1 who is still dearer in her simplicity1 absence of exaggeration1 and readiness for everything good2 their mutual relations1 their first journey1 their servants1 their neighbours1 the calculating1 coarsely sensuous1 stingy1 petty1 impudent fianc1 who1 as always1 deceives the innocent girl with the customary base idealization of the grossest of sentiments2 the marriage2 ,corsica1 with the charming descriptions of nature2 then the life in the country2 the coarse deception of the husband2 the seizure of the power over the estate2 his conflicts with his father-in-law2 the yielding of the good people2 the victory of impudence2 the relation to the neighbours1--all that is life itself1 with all its complexity and variety4 ,but not only is all this described vividly and well1--there is over all a sincere1 pathetic tone1 which involuntarily affects the reader4 ,one feels that the author loves this woman1 and that he does not love her merely for her external forms1 but for her soul1 for what there is good in it1 and that he sympathizes with her and suffers for her1 and this sensation is involuntarily transferred to the reader4 ,and the questions as to why1 for what purpose1 this fair creature was ruined1 and why it should be so1 naturally arise in the reader's soul1 and make him stop and reflect on the meaning and significance of human life4 ,in spite of the false notes1 which here and there occur in the novel1 as1 for example1 the detailed account of the girl's skin1 or the impossible and unnecessary details about how the deserted wife1 by the advice of the abbot1 again becomes a mother1 details which destroy all the charm of the heroine's purity2 in spite of the melodramatic and unnatural history of the revenge of the insulted husband1--in spite of these blemishes1 the novel not only appears to me to be beautiful1 but through it ,i no longer saw in the author the talented babbler and jester1 who does not know and does not want to know what is good and what bad1 such as he had appeared to me to be1 judging him from the first book1 but a serious man1 who looks deeply into man's life and is beginning to make things out in it4 ,the next novel of ,maupassant which ,i read was ,bel-,ami4 ,bel-,ami is a very filthy book4 ,the author apparently gives himself the reins in the description of what attracts him1 and at times seems to be losing the fundamental1 negative point of view upon his hero and passes over to his side2 but in general1 ,bel-,ami1 like ,une ,vie1 has for its basis a serious thought and sentiment4 ,in ,une ,vie the fundamental thought is the perplexity in the presence of the cruel senselessness of the agonizing life of a beautiful woman1 who is ruined by the gross sensuality of a man2 here it is not only the perplexity1 but also the indignation of the author at the sight of the welfare and success of a gross sensuous beast1 who by his very sensuality makes a career for himself and attains a high position in the world1 an indignation also at the sight of the corruption of that milieu in which the hero attains his success4 ,there the author seems to ask3 ,why1 for what purpose1 is the fair creature ruined8 ,why did it happen8 ,here he seems to be answering the questions3 ,everything pure and good has perished and continues to perish in our society1 because this society is corrupt1 senseless1 and terrible4 ,the last scene of the novel1 the marriage in a fashionable church of the triumphant rascal1 who is adorned with the ,order of the ,legion of ,honour1 with the pure young maiden1 the daughter of the old1 formerly irreproachable mother of the family1 whom he seduced1 the marriage1 which is blessed by the bishop and is recognized as something good and proper by all the persons present1 expresses this idea with unusual force4 ,in this novel1 in spite of its being clogged with obscene details1 in which the author unfortunately seems to delight1 we can see the same serious relations of the author to life4 ,read the conversation of the old poet with ,duroy1 when they come out after dinner from the ,walters1 ,i think4 ,the old poet lays bare life before his young interlocutor and shows it to him such as it is1 with its eternal1 unavoidable companion and end1--death4 ,it already holds me1 la gueuse1 he says of death4 ,it has already loosened my teeth1 pulled out my hair1 mauled my limbs1 and is about to swallow me4 ,i am already in its power1--it only plays with me1 as a cat plays with a mouse1 knowing that ,i cannot get away from it4 ,glory1 wealth1--what is it all good for1 since it is not possible to buy a woman's love with them1 and it is only a woman's love that makes life worth living4 ,and death will take that away4 ,it will take this first1 and then health1 strength1 and life itself4 ,and it is the same with everybody4 ,and that is all4 ,such is the meaning of the remarks of the aging poet4 ,but ,duroy1 the fortunate lover of all those women whom he likes1 is so full of sensuous energy and strength that he hears1 and yet does not hear1 and understands1 and yet does not understand1 the words of the old poet4 ,he hears and understands1 but the spring of his sensuous life bubbles up with such force that the incontestable truth1 which promises the same end to him1 does not appal him4 ,it is this inner contradiction which1 besides its satirical significance1 forms the chief meaning of ,bel-,ami4 ,the same thought sparkles in the beautiful scenes of the death of the consumptive journalist4 ,the author puts the question to himself as to what life is and how the contradiction between the love of life and the knowledge of unavoidable death is to be solved1--and he does not answer the questions4 ,he seems to be seeking and waiting1 and does not decide one way or another4 ,consequently the moral relation to life continues to be correct in this novel also4 ,but in the next novels after that this moral relation to life begins to become entangled1 the valuation of the phenomena of life begins to waver1 to grow dim1 and in the last novels is completely distorted4 ,in ,mont-,oriol ,maupassant seems to combine the motives of the two preceding novels1 and repeats himself as regards contents4 ,in spite of the beautiful descriptions1 full of refined humour1 of a fashionable watering-place and of the activity of the doctors in this place1 we have here the same male1 ,paul1 who is just as base and heartless as the husband in ,une ,vie1 and the same deceived1 ruined1 yielding1 weak1 lonely1 always lonely1 dear woman1 and the same indifferent triumph of insignificance and baseness as in ,bel-,ami4 ,the thought is the same1 but the author's relation to what he describes is now considerably lower1 especially lower than in the first novel4 ,the inner valuation of the author as to what is good and bad begins to become entangled4 ,in spite of all the mental desire of the author to be objective without any bias1 the rascal ,paul apparently enjoys the author's complete sympathy4 ,for this reason the history of ,paul's love1 his attempts to seduce1 and his success in this produce a false impression4 ,the reader does not know what the author wants1--whether he wants to show the whole emptiness and baseness of ,paul1 who with indifference turns away from the woman and offends her1 only because her form is spoiled from being pregnant with a child by him1 or whether he wants1 on the contrary1 to show how agreeable and nice it is to live the way this ,paul lives4 ,in the next novels after that1 ,pierre et ,jean1 ,fort comme la ,mort1 and ,notre ,cur1 the moral relation of the author to his persons is still more entangled1 and is entirely lost in the last4 ,on all these novels already lies the stamp of indifference1 haste1 fictitiousness1 and1 above all1 again that absence of a correct moral relation to life which was noticeable in his first writings4 ,this begins at the same time that ,maupassant's reputation as a fashionable author becomes established1 and he is subject to that terrible temptation to which every well-known author1 particularly such an attractive one as ,maupassant1 falls a prey4 ,on the one side1 the success of the first novels1 newspaper laudations1 and flattery of society1 especially of the women2 on the second1 the evergrowing rewards1 which1 however1 do not keep pace with the constantly growing demands2 on the third1--the insistence of publishers1 who vie with one another1 flatter1 implore1 and no longer judge of the quality of the productions offered by the author1 but in ecstasy accept everything which appears over the name that has established its reputation with the reading public4 ,all these temptations are so great that they evidently intoxicate the author3 he succumbs to them1 and1 though he continues to work out his novels as regards their forms1 and does it even better than before1 and even loves what he describes1 he no longer loves what he describes because it is good and moral1 that is1 because it is loved by everybody1 and hates what he describes not because it is bad and despised by everybody1 but only because one thing accidentally pleases and another displeases him4 ,upon all the novels of ,maupassant1 beginning with ,bel-,ami1 lies this stamp of haste and1 above all1 of fictitiousness4 ,from that time on ,maupassant no longer does what he did in his first two novels1--he does not take for the foundation of his novels certain moral demands and on their basis describe the activity of his persons1 but writes his novels as all artisan novelists write theirs1 that is1 he invents the most interesting and the most pathetic or most contemporary persons and situations1 and from these composes his novel1 adorning it with all those observations which he has happened to make and which fit into the canvas of the novel1 without the slightest concern how the events described are related to the demands of morality4 ,such are ,pierre et ,jean1 ,fort comme la ,mort1 and ,notre ,cur4 ,no matter how much we are accustomed to read in ,french novels about how families live by threes1 and how there is always a lover1 whom all but the husband know1 it still remains quite incomprehensible to us how it is that all husbands are always fools1 cocus1 and ridicules1 and all lovers1 who in the end marry and become husbands1 are neither ridicules nor cocus1 but heroes4 ,and still less can we understand in what way all women are loose in morals and all mothers holy4 ,it is on these unnatural and improbable and1 above all1 profoundly immoral situations that ,pierre et ,jean and ,fort comme la ,mort are constructed4 ,and so the sufferings of the persons who are in these situations do not touch us much4 ,pierre's and ,jean's mother1 who was able to pass all her life in deceiving her husband1 evokes little sympathy for herself when she is compelled to confess her sin to her son1 and still less when she justifies herself1 asserting that she could not help making use of the opportunity of happiness which presented itself to her4 ,still less can we sympathize with the gentleman who1 in ,fort comme la ,mort1 during his whole life deceived his friend1 corrupted his wife1 and now laments because1 having grown old1 he is not able to corrupt also the daughter of his paramour4 ,but the last novel1 ,notre ,cur1 does not even have any inner problem1 except the description of all kinds of shades of sexual love4 ,what is described is a satiated1 idle debauchee1 who does not know what he wants1 and who now falls in with just as debauched1 mentally debauched1 a woman1 without even any justification of sensuality1 and now parts from her and falls in with a servant girl1 and now again falls in with the first and1 it seems1 lives with both4 ,though in ,pierre et ,jean and ,fort comme la ,mort there are touching scenes1 this last novel provokes nothing but disgust in us4 ,the question in ,maupassant's first novel1 ,une ,vie1 stands like this4 ,here is a good1 clever1 dear human being1 ready for anything good1 and this being for some reason is sacrificed1 at first to a coarse1 petty1 stupid animal of a husband1 and then to just such a son1 and perishes aimlessly1 without having given anything to the world4 ,what is this for8 ,the author puts the question like that1 and does not seem to give any answer4 ,but his whole novel1 all his sentiments of sympathy for her and disgust with what ruined her serve as an answer to his question4 ,if there is one man who has understood her sufferings and has given expression to this understanding1 these sufferings are redeemed1 as ,job says to his friends1 when they say that no one will find out about his suffering4 ,let a suffering be made known and understood1 and it is redeemed4 ,here the author saw and comprehended this suffering and showed it to men4 ,and this suffering is redeemed1 because1 as soon as it is understood by men1 it will sooner or later be destroyed4 ,in the next novel1 ,bel-,ami1 the question is no longer as to why there is any suffering for the worthy1 but why there is wealth and glory for the unworthy4 ,and what are this wealth and glory1 and how are they acquired8 ,and just as before1 this question includes an answer1 which consists in the negation of everything which is so highly valued by the crowd4 ,the contents of this second novel are still serious1 but the moral relation of the author to the subject described is considerably weakened1 and while in the first novel only here and there occur blemishes of sensuality1 which spoil the novel1 in ,bel-,ami these blemishes expand1 and many chapters are written in mere obscenity1 in which the author seems to revel4 ,in the next novel1 ,mont-,oriol1 the questions as to why and for what purpose are the sufferings of the dear woman and the success and joys of the savage male are no longer put1 but it seems to be assumed that it ought to be so1 and the moral demands are almost not felt2 instead there appear1 without any need and evoked by no artistic demands1 obscene1 sensuous descriptions4 ,as a striking example of this violation of art1 in consequence of the incorrect relation of the author to the subject1 may with particular vividness serve the detailed description of the appearance of the heroine in the bathtub1 which is given in this novel4 ,this description is of no use whatsoever1 and is in no way connected with the external or the internal meaning of the novel3 bubbles cling to the pink body4 ,well8 asks the reader4 ,that's all1 replies the author4 ,i describe1 because ,i like such descriptions4 ,in the next two novels1 ,pierre et ,jean and ,fort comme la ,mort1 no moral demand whatever is to be found4 ,both novels are constructed on debauchery1 deception1 and lying1 which bring the dramatis person to tragic situations4 ,in the last novel1 ,notre ,cur1 the condition of the dramatis person is most monstrous1 savage1 and immoral1 and these persons no longer struggle against anything1 but only seek enjoyments1 of ambition1 of the senses1 of the sexual passion1 and the author seems to sympathize completely with their strivings4 ,the only conclusion one can draw from this last novel is this1 that the greatest happiness in life is sexual intercourse1 and that1 therefore1 we must in the most agreeable manner make use of this happiness4 ,still more startling is this immoral relation to life as it is expressed in the quasi-novel1 ,yvette4 ,the contents of this terribly immoral production are as follows3 a charming girl1 with an innocent soul1 but corrupted in the forms which she has acquired in the corrupt surroundings of her mother1 deludes the debauchee4 ,he falls in love with her1 but1 imagining that this girl consciously talks that insinuating nonsense which she has learned in her mother's company1 and which she repeats like a parrot1 without understanding it1 he imagines that the girl is corrupt1 and coarsely proposes a liaison with her4 ,this proposition frightens and offends her 7she loves him71 opens her eyes to her position and to that of her mother1 and makes her suffer deeply4 ,the touching situation--the conflict of the beauty of the innocent soul with the immorality of the world--is beautifully described1 and it would have been well to stop here1 but the author1 without the least external or internal need1 continues his narration and causes this gentleman to make his way to the girl at night and seduce her4 ,in the first part of the novel the author had evidently been on the side of the girl1 and in the second he suddenly passed over to the side of the debauchee4 ,one impression destroys the other1 and the whole novel falls to pieces and breaks up1 like bread which has not been kneaded4 ,in all his novels after ,bel-,ami 7,i am not speaking now of his shorter stories1 which form his chief desert and fame1--of them ,i shall speak later71 ,maupassant obviously surrendered himself to the theory1 which not only existed in his circle in ,paris1 but which now exists everywhere among artists1 that for an artistic production we not only need have no clear conception of what is good and what bad1 but that1 on the contrary1 the artist must absolutely ignore all moral questions1--that in this does a certain merit of the artist consist4 ,according to this theory an artist can and must represent what is true1 what exists1 or what is beautiful1 what1 consequently1 pleases him1 or even what can be useful as material for science1 but it is not the business of the artist to trouble himself about what is moral or immoral1 good or bad4 ,i remember1 a famous painter showed me once his painting1 which represented a religious procession4 ,everything was exquisitely painted1 but ,i could not see any relation of the artist to his subject4 ,well1 do you consider these rites good1 and do you think that they ought to be performed1 or do you not8 ,i asked the artist4 ,the artist said to me1 with a certain condescension to my navet1 that he did not know and did not consider it necessary to know3 his business was to represent life4 ,but do you at least love this8 ,i cannot tell you4 ,well1 do you despise these rites8 ,neither the one nor the other1 replied1 with a smile of compassion for my stupidity1 the modern highly cultured artist1 who represented life without understanding its meaning and without either loving or hating its phenomena4 ,even so unfortunately thought ,maupassant4 ,in his introduction to ,pierre et ,jean he says that people tell the writer3 ,consolez-moi1 attristez-moi1 attendrissez-moi1 faites-moi rcer1 faites-moi rire1 faites-moi frmir1 faites-moi pleurer1 faites-moi penser4 ,seuls quelques esprits d'lites demandent l'artiste3 faites-moi quelque chose de beau dans la forme qui vous conviendra le mieux d'aprs votre temprament4 ,it was to satisfy the demand of these chosen spirits that ,maupassant wrote his novels1 imagining navely that that which was considered beautiful in his circle was the beautiful which art ought to serve4 ,in the same circle in which ,maupassant moved1 it is woman1 a young1 beautiful1 for the most part a nude woman1 and the sexual intercourse with her that have preminently been considered to be that beauty which art must serve4 ,such an opinion was held not only by ,maupassant's fellows in art1 by painters1 sculptors1 novelists1 and poets1 but also by philosophers1 the teachers of the younger generations4 ,thus the famous ,renan says frankly in his work1 ,marc ,aurle1 while condemning ,christianity for its lack of appreciation of feminine beauty3 ,le dfaut du christianisme apparait bien ici1 il est trop uniquement moral3 la beaut chez-lui est tout--fait sacrifie4 ,or1 aux yeux d'une philosophie complte1 la beaut1 loin d'tre un avantage superficiel1 un danger1 un inconvnient1 est un don de ,dieu1 comme la vertu4 ,elle vaut la rertu2 la femme belle exprime aussi bien une face du but divin1 une des fins de ,dieu1 que l'homme de gnie ou la femme vertueuse4 ,elle le sait et de l sa fiert4 ,elle sent instinctivement le trsor infini qu'elle porte en son corps2 elle sait bien1 que sans esprit1 sans talent1 sans grace vertu1 elle compte entre les premires manifestations de ,dieu3 et pourquoi lui interdire de mettre en valeur le don1 qui lui a t fait1 de sortir le diamant qui lui est chu8 ,la femme1 en se passant1 accomplit un devoir2 elle pratique un art1 art exquis1 en un sens le plus charmant des arts4 ,ne nous laissons pas garer par le sourire que certains mots provoquent chez les gens frivoles4 ,on dcerne la palme du gnie l'artiste grec qui a su rsoudre le plus dlicat des problmes1 orner le corps humain1 c'est orner la perfection mme1 et l'on ne veut voir qu'une affaire de chiffons dans l'essai de collaborer la plus belle uvre de ,dieu1 la beaut de la femme6 ,la toilette de la femme1 avec tous ses raffinements1 est du grand art sa manire4 ,les sicles et les pays1 qui savent y russir1--sont les grands sicles1 les grands pays1 et le christianisme montra par l'exclusion dont il frappa le genre de recherches que l'idal social qu'il concevait ne deviendrait le cadre d'une socit complte que bien plus tard1 quand la rvolte des gens du monde aurait bris le joug troit impos primitivement la secte par un pitisme exalt 7,marc ,aurle1 p4 #eee74 7,thus1 according to the opinion of this guide of the younger generations1 it is only now that the ,parisian tailors and wigmakers have mended the mistake made by ,christianity1 and have reestablished beauty in its real1 high significance47 ,to leave no doubt in what sense beauty is to be taken1 this same famous writer1 historian1 and scholar wrote a drama1 ,l',abbesse de ,jouarre1 in which he showed that sexual intercourse with a woman is that very ministration to beauty1 that is1 a high and good work4 ,in this drama1 which is remarkable for its absence of talent and especially for the coarseness of ,darcy's conversations with the ,abbess1 where we can see from the very first words of what love this gentleman is speaking with the apparently innocent and highly moral girl1 who is not in the least offended by this1--it appears that the most highly moral people1 in the sight of death1 to which they are condemned1 a few hours before it can do nothing more beautiful than surrender themselves to their animal passion4 ,thus1 in the circle in which ,maupassant grew up and was educated1 the representation of feminine beauty and love has quite seriously1 and as something long ago decided and determined by the cleverest and most learned of men1 been considered to be the true problem of the highest art1--le grand art4 ,it is to this theory1 frightful in its insipidity1 that ,maupassant was subjected1 when he became a fashionable writer4 ,and1 as was to have been expected1 in the novels this false ideal led ,maupassant to a series of mistakes and to weaker and ever weaker productions4 ,in this showed itself the radical difference which exists between the demands of the novel and those of the story4 ,the novel has for its problem1 even for its external problem1 the description of the whole human life or of many human lives1 and so the writer of a novel must have a clear and firm idea of what is good and what bad in life1 and ,maupassant did not possess that2 on the contrary1 according to the theory to which he held1 it was thought that that was not necessary4 ,if he had been a novelist like some untalented writers of sensuous novels1 he would have calmly described as good what is bad1 and his novels would be complete and interesting for people sharing the same views as the author4 ,but ,maupassant had talent1 that is1 he saw things in their real form1 and so he involuntarily revealed the truth3 he involuntarily saw the bad in what he wanted to regard as good4 ,for this reason his sympathy is constantly wavering in all his novels1 with the exception of the first3 now he represents the bad as being good1 now he recognizes the bad to be bad and the good to be good1 and now again he keeps all the time jumping from one to the other4 ,but this destroys the very essence of every artistic impression1 the charpente1 on which he stands4 ,people who are not very sensitive to art frequently imagine that an artistic production forms one whole1 because the same persons act in it all the time1 because everything is constructed on one plot1 or because the life of one man is described4 ,that is not true4 ,that only seems so to the superficial observer3 the cement which binds every artistic production into one whole and so produces the illusion of a reflection of life is not the unity of persons and situations1 but the unity of the original1 moral relation of the author to his subject4 ,in reality1 when we read or contemplate an artistic production by a new author1 the fundamental question which arises in our soul is always this3 ,well1 what kind of a man are you8 ,how do you differ from all other men whom ,i know1 and what new thing can you tell me about the way we ought to look upon our life8 ,no matter what the artist may represent1--saints1 robbers1 kings1 lackeys1--we seek and see only the artist's soul4 ,if he is an old1 familiar artist1 the question is no longer1 ,who are you8 but1 ,well1 what new thing can you tell me8 ,from what new side will you now illumine my life for me8 ,and so an author who has no definite1 clear1 new view of the world1 and still more so the one who does not consider this to be necessary1 cannot give an artistic production4 ,he can write beautifully1 and a great deal1 but there will be no artistic production4 ,even so it was with ,maupassant in his novels4 ,in his first two novels1 especially in the first1 ,une ,vie1 there was that clear1 definite1 new relation to life1 and so there was an artistic production2 but as soon as he1 submitting to the fashionable theory1 decided that there is no need whatever for this relation of the author to life1 and began to write only in order to faire quelque chose de beau1 his novels ceased to be artistic productions4 ,in ,une ,vie and ,bel-,ami the author knows who is to be loved and who is to be hated1 and the reader agrees with him and believes him1 believes in those persons and events which are described to him4 ,but in ,notre ,cur and in ,yvette the author does not know who is to be loved and who is to be hated2 nor does the reader know it4 ,and as the reader does not know it1 he does not believe in the events described and is not interested in them4 ,and so1 with the exception of the first two1 or1 speaking strictly1 of the one first novel1 all of ,maupassant's novels1 as novels1 are weak2 and if ,maupassant had left us only his novels1 he would be a striking example of how a brilliant gift may perish in consequence of that false milieu in which it was evolved1 and of those false theories of art which are invented by men who do not love it and so do not understand it4 ,but1 fortunately1 ,maupassant has written short stories1 in which he did not succumb to the false theory which he adopted1 and wrote1 not quelque chose de beau1 but what touched and provoked his moral feeling4 ,it is in these stories1 not in all1 but in the best of them1 that we see how the moral feeling grew in the author4 ,in this1 indeed1 does the remarkable quality of every true talent consist1 so long as it does not do violence to itself under the influence of a false theory1 that it teaches its possessor1 leads him on over the path of moral development1 makes him love what is worthy of love1 and hate what is worthy of hatred4 ,an artist is an artist for the very reason that he sees the objects1 not as he wants to see them1 but as they are4 ,the bearer of talent1--man1--may make mistakes1 but the talent1 as soon as the reins are given to it1 as was done by ,maupassant in his stories1 will reveal and lay bare the subject and will make the writer love it1 if it is worthy of love1 and hate it1 if it is worthy of hatred4 ,what happens to every true artist1 when1 under the influence of his surroundings1 he begins to describe something different from what he ought to describe1 is what happened to ,balaam1 who1 when he wanted to bless1 cursed that which ought to have been cursed1 and1 when he wanted to curse1 began to bless that which ought to have been blessed2 he will involuntarily do1 not what he wants1 but what he ought to do4 ,the same happened with ,maupassant4 ,there has hardly been another such an author1 who thought so sincerely that all the good1 the whole meaning of life was in woman1 in love1 and who with such force of passion described woman and the love of her from all sides1 and there has hardly been another author1 who with such clearness and precision has pointed out all the terrible sides of the same phenomenon1 which to him seemed to be the highest1 and one that gives the greatest good to men4 ,the more he comprehended this phenomenon1 the more did it become unveiled2 the shrouds fell off1 and all there was left was its terrible consequences and its still more terrible reality4 ,read his ,idiot ,son1 ,a ,night with the ,daughter 7,l',ermite71 ,the ,sailor and ,his ,sister 7,le ,port71 ,field of ,olives1 ,la ,petite ,roque1 the ,english ,miss ,harriet1 ,monsieur ,parent1 ,l',armoire 7the girl that fell asleep in the safe71 ,the ,marriage in ,sur l',eau1 and the last expression of everything1 ,un ,cas de ,divorce4 ,what ,marcus ,aurelius said1 trying to find means with which to destroy in imagination the attractiveness of this sin1 ,maupassant does in glaring1 artistic pictures1 which upset one completely4 ,he wants to laud love1 but the more he knew of it1 the more he cursed it4 ,he cursed it for the calamities and sufferings which it brings with it1 and for the disappointments1 and1 above all1 for the simulation of true love1 for the deception which is in it1 and from which man suffers the more1 the more he abandons himself to this deception4 ,the mighty moral growth of the author1 during his literary activity1 is written in indelible characters in these exquisite short stories and in his best book1 ,sur l',eau4 ,and not merely in this discrowning1 this involuntary and1 therefore1 so much more powerful discrowning of sexual love1 do we see the author's moral growth2 we see it also in all those higher and ever higher demands which he makes on life4 ,not only in sexual love does he see the inner contradiction between the demands of the animal and of the rational man1--he sees it in the whole structure of the world4 ,he sees that the world1 the material world1 such as it is1 is not only not the best of worlds1 but1 on the contrary1 might have been quite different1--this idea is strikingly expressed in ,horla1--and does not satisfy the demands of reason and of love2 he sees that there is a certain other world1 or at least there are the demands for such a world1 in man's soul4 ,he is tormented1 not only by the irrationality of the material world and the absence of beauty in it1 but also by its lack of love1 by its disunion4 ,i know of no more heartrending cry of despair of an erring man who recognizes his loneliness1 than the expression of this idea in the exquisite story1 ,solitude4 ,the phenomenon which more than any other tortured ,maupassant1 and to which he frequently returned1 is the agonizing state of loneliness1 the spiritual loneliness of a man1 that barrier which stands between a man and others1 that barrier which1 as he says1 is felt the more painfully1 the closer the bodily contact4 ,what is it that tortures him8 ,and what would he have8 ,what destroys this barrier1 what puts a stop to this loneliness8 ,love1 not love of woman1 of which he is tired1 but pure1 spiritual1 divine love4 ,and it is this that ,maupassant seeks2 toward this saviour of life1 which was long ago clearly revealed to all1 that he painfully tugs at the fetters with which he feels himself bound4 ,he is not yet able to name what he is seeking1 he does not want to name it with his lips alone1 for fear of defiling his sanctuary4 ,but his unnamed striving1 which is expressed by his terror in the presence of solitude1 is so sincere that it infects us and draws us more powerfully than many1 very many sermons of love1 which are enunciated with the lips alone4 ,the tragedy of ,maupassant's life consists in this1 that1 living in surroundings that are terrible because of their monstrousness and immorality1 he by the force of his talent1 that unusual light which was in him1 broke away from the world-conception of his circle1 was near to liberation1 already breathed the air of freedom1 but1 having spent his last strength in this struggle1 perished without becoming free1 because he did not have the strength to make this one last effort4 ,the tragedy of this ruin consists in the same in which it even now continues to consist for the majority of the so-called men of our time4 ,men have in general never lived without an explanation of the meaning of the life they live4 ,everywhere and at all times there have appeared advanced1 highly gifted men1 prophets1 as they are called1 who have explained to men this meaning and significance of life1 and at all times the men of the rank and file1 who have no strength to make this meaning clear to themselves1 have followed that explanation of life which their prophets revealed to them4 ,this meaning was eighteen hundred years ago simply1 lucidly1 indubitably1 and joyously explained by ,christianity1 as is proved by the life of all those who have accepted this meaning and follow that guide of life which follows from this meaning4 ,but there appeared men who interpreted this meaning in such a way that it became nonsense4 ,and people are in a dilemma1--whether to recognize ,christianity1 as it is interpreted by ,catholicism1 ,lourdes1 the ,pope1 the dogma of the seedless conception1 and so forth1 or to live on1 being guided by the instructions of ,renan and his like1 that is1 to live without any guidance and comprehension of life1 surrendering themselves to their lusts1 so long as they are strong1 and to their habits1 when the passions have subsided4 ,and the people1 the people of the rank and file1 choose one or the other1 sometimes both1 at first libertinism1 and then ,catholicism4 ,and people continue to live thus for generations1 shielding themselves with different theories1 which are not invented in order to find out the truth1 but in order to conceal it4 ,and the people of the rank and file1 especially the dull ones among them1 feel at ease4 ,but there are also other people1--there are but a few of them and they are far between1--and such was ,maupassant1 who with their own eyes see things as they are1 see their meaning1 see the contradictions of life1 which are hidden from others1 and vividly present to themselves that to which these contradictions must inevitably lead them1 and seek for their solutions in advance4 ,they seek for them everywhere except where they are to be found1 in ,christianity1 because ,christianity seems to them to have outlived its usefulness1 to be obsolete and foolish and repellent by its monstrosity4 ,trying in vain to arrive by themselves at these solutions1 they come to the conclusion that there are no solutions1 that the property of life consists in carrying within oneself these unsolved contradictions4 ,having arrived at such a solution1 these people1 if they are weak1 unenergetic natures1 make their peace with such a senseless life1 are even proud of their condition1 considering their lack of knowledge to be a desert1 a sign of culture2 but if they are energetic1 truthful1 and talented natures1 such as was ,maupassant1 they cannot bear it and in one way or another go out of this insipid life4 ,it is as though thirsty people in the desert should be looking everywhere for water1 except near those men who1 standing near a spring1 pollute it and offer ill-smelling mud instead of water1 which still keeps on flowing farther down1 below the mud4 ,maupassant was in that position2 he could not believe1--it even never occurred to him that the truth which he was seeking had been discovered long ago and was near him2 nor could he believe that it was possible for a man to live in a contradiction such as he felt himself to be living in4 ,life1 according to those theories in which he was brought up1 which surrounded him1 and which were verified by all the passions of his youthful and spiritually and physically strong being1 consists in enjoyment1 chief of which is woman and the love of her1 and in the doubly reflected enjoyment1--in the representation of this love and the excitation of this love in others4 ,all that would be very well1 but1 as we look closely at these enjoyments1 we see amidst them appear phenomena which are quite alien and hostile to this love and this beauty3 woman for some reason grows homely1 looks horrid in her pregnancy1 bears a child in nastiness1 then more children1 unwished-for children1 then deceptions1 cruelties1 then moral sufferings1 then simply old age1 and finally death4 ,and then1 is this beauty really beauty8 ,and then1 what is it all for8 ,it would be nice1 if it were possible to arrest life4 ,but it goes on4 ,what does it mean1--life goes on8 ,life goes on1 means1--the hair falls out and grows gray1 the teeth decay1 there appear wrinkles1 and there is an odour in the mouth4 ,even before everything ends1 everything becomes terrible and disgusting3 you perceive the pasty paint and powder1 the sweat1 the stench1 the homeliness4 ,where is that which ,i served8 ,where is beauty8 ,and it is all4 ,if it is not1--there is nothing4 ,there is no life4 ,not only is there no life in what seemed to have life1 but you1 too1 begin to get away from it1 to grow feeble1 to look homely1 to decay1 while others before your very eyes seize from you those pleasures in which was the whole good of life4 ,more than that3 there begins to glint the possibility of another life1 something else1 some other union of men with the whole world1 such as excludes all those deceptions1 something else1 something that cannot be impaired by anything1 that is true and always beautiful4 ,but that cannot be1--it is only the provoking sight of an oasis1 when we know that it is not there and that everything is sand4 ,maupassant lived down to that tragic moment of life1 when there began the struggle between the lie of the life which surrounded him1 and the truth which he was beginning to see4 ,he already had symptoms of spiritual birth4 ,it is these labours of birth that are expressed in his best productions1 especially in his short stories4 ,if it had been his fate not to die in the labour of birth1 but to be born1 he would have given great1 instructive productions1 but even what he gave us during the process of his birth is much4 ,let us be grateful to this strong1 truthful man for what he gave us4 ,vornezh1 ,april #b1 #ahid4 ,,the ,,end4 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's note3 ,text enclosed by underscores is in italics 7italics74 ,small capital text has been replaced with all capitals4 ,variations in spelling1 punctuation and hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of typographical error4 ,missing page numbers are page numbers that were not shown in the original text4 ,the illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up paragraphs1 thus the page number of the illustration might not match the page number in the ,list of ,illustrations4 ,page #bij3 ,the transcriber has removed were from ,but since there were was more than one woman in each house4