No More Learning

LADY. Somuchthebetter. Butwhatawonderful
"
moralist he is, indeed !
Sin, if you must, but above
allneverrepent. " Itappealstomemightily! GENERAL. I suppose he did not talk like this to
everyone? In dealing with a murderer or a scoundrel he must surely have adopted quite a different tone.
MR. Z. That should be obvious. But as soon as he observes a man overwhelmed with moral doubts he at once becomes a philosopher and even a fatalist. He once delighted a very clever and educated old
? PROGRESS 63
lady. Though she was Russian by faith, she was
educated abroad, and having heard a great deal
about our Barsanophius, she looked to him as to
"
un directeur de conscience" He, however, did not let her talk much about the worries of her soul.
"And why do you worry yourself about all this rubbish? Who wants to hear it? I am only a
common peasant, and yet it bores me to death.
How can you imagine, then, that God can take any interest in it ? And what is the good of talking about
it?
You are too old and too weak to begin improve-
ment now. " She afterwards herself told me this
conversation, laughing and weeping at the same
time. True, she tried to argue with him, but he
completely persuaded her by a story from the life of two ancient hermits Barsanophius narrated it
to me and N. very often. It is a very fine story, only it will perhaps take too long to tell it.
LADY. Tell us in brief.
MR. Z. Well, I will. Two hermits had gone out into the Nitrian desert to save their souls. Their caves were not far distant from each other, but they themselves never talked together, except that they
occasionally sang psalms, so that each could hear
the other. In this way they spent many years, and their fame began to spread in Egypt and the sur-
rounding countries. It came to pass that one day the Devil managed to put into their minds, both at the same time, one and the same desire, and without saying a word to each other they collected their
? 64 SOLOVIEV
work, baskets and mats made of palm leaves and branches, and went off to Alexandria. They sold their work there, and then for three days and three
nights they sought pleasure in the company of drunkards and libertines, after which they went
back to their desert.
And one of them cried out in bitterness and
agony of soul :
"
prayers and penance can atone for such madness,
The other man, however, was walking by his side
and singing psalms in a cheerful voice.
""
Brother," said the repentant one, have you
gone mad? "
"" Why do you ask that ?
"" But why aren't you afflicting yourself ?
"What is it that I should feel afflicted about? "
"
I am lost eternally !
Cursed am I !
For no
All my years of fasting and
such abominations !
prayer gone for nothing ! I am ruined, body and
" soul !
Have you forgotten Alex- "Well, what about Alexandria? Glory to God
"
But we, what did we do in Alexandria? " "You know well enough yourself; we sold our baskets, worshipped St. Mark, visited other churches, called on the pious governor of the city, conversed
with the good prioress Leonilla, who is always kind to monks.
Listen to him! andria? "
who preserves that famous and pious city !
"
? night in the patriarch's court. " "
PROGRESS 65
"
But didn't we spend the night in a house of ill fame? "
" God save us !
No!
We spent the evening and
He has lost his mind. .
Holy martyrs !
Where then did we treat ourselves to wine ?
:' We ofwineandfoodatthe partook
. .
patriarch's table on the occasion of the Presentation of the
Blessed Virgin. "
"
Poor, miserable creature !
And who was it
"
whom we kissed, not to mention worse things ?
" We were honoured with a holy kiss on departing by the Father of Fathers, the most blessed arch- bishop of the great city of Alexandria and the whole
of Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis, and judge of the World, Cyrus-Timotheus, with all the fathers and brothers of his God-chosen clergy. "
" Are you making a fool of me?
Or is it that the
Devil himself has entered your soul as punishment
for the abominations of yesterday? They were
wretched libertines, you blackguard, that you
" kissed !
:'
entered :
Well, I don't know which of us the Devil has
whether he has entered me, who am
rejoicing in the gifts of God and in the benevolence
of the godly priests, and am praising my Maker, as
should every other living thing or whether he has entered you, who are now raving like a madman and calling the house of our blessed father and pastor a house of ill fame, all the time insulting
"
F
? 66 SOLOVIEV
him and his God-loved clergy by calling them libertines. "
"
Accursed mouth of Apollinarius that you are !
At this the hermit who had been bewailing his lapse from virtue fell upon his comrade and began beatinghimwithallhismight. Whentheoutburst was over, they walked silently to their caves. All
night long the repentant one was wearing himself out with grief, filling the desert with his groans and
cries, tearing his hair, throwing himself on the ground and dashing his head against it, whilst the
other was quietly and happily singing his psalms. Next morning the repentant hermit was struck by
"
Oh, heretic you are ! You offspring of Arian !
"
a sudden thought :
By my many years of self-
denial I had been granted a special blessing of the
Holy Spirit which had already begun to reveal itself
in miracles and apparitions. Now, if after this I
gave myself up to the abominations of the flesh, I
must have committed a sin against the Holy Spirit,
which, according to the word of God, is for all
eternity unpardonable. I cast a pearl, pure as heaven,beforetheswineofmyreason thosedevils
and they have crushed it to powder. Now they will most certainly turn on me and tear me to pieces. If, however, I am irrevocably doomed, what can I
" do here in the desert ?
And so he went to Alex-
andria and gave himself up to a wanton life. It so
happened that soon he badly wanted money, and, in company with other dissolute fellows like him-
? PROGRESS 67
self, he murdered and robbed a wealthy merchant. The crime was discovered ; he was tried by the city court and sentenced to death. He died an un-
repentant sinner.
At the same time his old friend, continuing his
life of devotion, attained to the highest degree of
and became famous for his miracles, so that by the virtue of his mere word, women who had had no children for many years gave birthtomen-children. Whenfinallythedayofhis death arrived, his decrepit and withered body sud-
denly became resplendent with the beauty of youth. A wondrous light surrounded it; from it proceeded
the perfume of sweet spices. After his death a
monastery was built up over his relics, and his name
passed from the Alexandrian Church to the Byzan-
tine, and so to the church calendars of Kiev and
"
It proves that I am telling the truth," Barsanophius used to say, in conclusion, "when I say that there is only one sin which does harm, and
that is despondency. " You see, every other crime the pilgrims both committed, but only one met his doom he who gave himself up to grief.
GENERAL. You see, even monks have to be cheerful; whereas nowadays some would like to see soldiers bemoan their sins.
MR. Z. After all, then, though we have departed
from the question of politeness, we have again
approached our main subject.
LADY. And just at the psychological moment.
saintliness,
great
Moscow.
F2
? 68 SOLOVIEV
For here comes the Prince at last. We have been
talking, Prince, in your absence, about politeness. PRINCE. Please pardon me ; I could not get here
earlier. A bundle of all sorts of papers from our people, and various parcels of books, have arrived. I'll show you them by and bye.
LADY. Very well. Later, too, I will tell you the legend of two monks with which we have been con- soling ourselves in your absence. At present our Secret Monte-Carlist holds the floor. Now let us hear from you what you have to say about war after our discussion of yesterday.
POLITICIAN. From the. discussion of yesterday I have retained in my memory Mr. Z. 's reference to Vladimir Monomach, and the war story told by the General. Let these be our starting points for further discussion of the question. It is impossible to argue against the fact that Vladimir Monomach acted well when he fought and overcame the Polovtziens, and that the General also acted well when he annihilated the bashi-bazouks.
LADY. Then you agree with them?
POLITICIAN. I agree with that which I have the honour of stating before you now, viz. , that both Monomach and the General acted in the way in which, in the given circumstances, they should have acted. But what follows from this to help us in judging the circumstances themselves, or for the justification and immortalisation of war and mili- tarism ?
? PROGRESS 69
PRINCE. This is just what I was about to say. LADY. Then you agree with the Prince now, don't
you?
POLITICIAN. If you will allow me to explain my
view of the subject, you will see yourself with whom andwithwhatIdoagree. Myviewisonlyalogical conclusion drawn from actual life and the facts of history. How can one argue against the historical importance of war when it is the main, if not the only, instrument by which the State has been created and gradually consolidated? Show me a single State which was founded and made secure otherwise than by war.
LADY. What about the United States?
POLITICIAN. I thank you for an excellent example. I am, however, speaking of the creation of a State. The United States, as a European colony, was, of
course, founded not by war but by exploration, just as all other colonies were. But the moment this colony wished to become a State, it had to earn
its political independence by means of a long war.
PRINCE. From the fact that the State has been
created by war, which is, I agree, indisputable, you seem to conclude that war is all-important. In my
opinion, however, the only conclusion which can be
drawn from this fact is the unimportance of the
State for those people, of course, who no longer believe in the worship of violence.
POLITICIAN. Why all at once the worship of
? 70 SOLOVIEV
violence? What would it be for? Just you try to establish a stable human community outside the
compulsory forms of the State, or yourself reject in practice everything that takes its life from the State
then you will be able to speak legitimately of the unimportanceoftheState. Butuntilyoudoso,the
State, and everything for which you and I are in- debted to it, will remain a colossal fact, whilst your attacksagainstitremainbutemptywords. Now,I
say again that the supreme historical importance of war, as the principal condition in the creation of a
State, is beyond any doubt. But I ask you : Is it
not right to regard this great task of creating States as already completed in its broad outlines? As to
the details, these can be settled without having
recourse to such a heroic instrument as war. In
ancient times and during the Middle Ages, when the
world of European culture was merely an island in
the midst of an ocean of more or less barbarous
tribes, the military system was necessitated by the
very instinct of self-preservation. It was at that
time necessary to be always ready to repel any hordes which suddenly swooped down from an un-
suspected quarter to trample down the feeble growth of civilisation. At present it is only the non-
European element which can be described as the islands, for European culture has become the ocean whichisgraduallywashingtheseislandsaway. Our scientists, explorers, and missionaries have searched the whole earth without finding anything which is
? PROGRESS 71
likely to menace seriously our civilised world.
Savages are being successfully exterminated, or are dyingout; whilstmilitantbarbarians,liketheTurks
and Japanese, are being civilised and losing their likingforwarfare. Inthemeanwhile,theprocessof uniting all the European nations in the common bond of civilised life . . .
LADY (in a whisper}. Monte Carlo. . . .
POLITICIAN. . . . In the common bond of civilised life has grown to such an extent that war amongst these nations would really be something in the nature of fratricide, which could not be excused on any grounds now that peaceful settlement of inter- nationaldisputeshasbecomepossible. Itwouldbe as fantastic in our time to solve such disputes by war as it would be to travel from St. Petersburg to
Marseilles in a sailing boat or in a coach driven by
a"troika. " Iquiteagree,ofcourse,that"Alonely sail is looming white in the blue mist of the sea" or "See the troika flitting wild" 1 sounds vastly more
poetic than the screeching of railway engines or criesof"Envoiture,messieurs! " Inthesameway
I am prepared to admit the aesthetic superiority of the "bristling steel of lances" and of "with swing-
ing step in shining array the army is marching
along" over the portfolios of diplomats and the cloth-covered tables of peaceful Congresses. But
the serious attitude towards this vital question must,
1 Quotations from popular poems by Lermontov and
Poushkin.
(Translator. )
? 7'2 SOLOVIEV
obviously, be entirely independent of the aesthetic
appreciation of the beauty which belongs not to real war (this, I can assure you, has very little of
the beautiful), but to its reflection in the imagina- tion of the poet and artist. Well, then, once it has been understood by everybody that war, however
interesting for poetry and painters (these, of course, could be well satisfied with past wars), is useless
now, for it is a costly and risky means of achieving ends which can be achieved at much less cost and in a more certain way by other methods, it follows
then that the military period of history is over. I amspeaking,ofcourse,engrand. Theimmediate disarmamentofnationsisoutofthequestion. But I firmly believe that neither ourselves nor our sons will ever see a great war a real European war and that our grandsons will learn only of little wars
somewhereinAsiaorAfrica andofthosefrom historical works.
Now, here is my answer with regard to Vladimir Monomach. When it became necessary to protect the future of the newly-born Russian State, first from the Polovtziens, then from the Tartars, and so on, war was a most necessary and important enterprise. Thesame,withcertainlimitations,may be applied to the period of Peter the Great, when it was necessary to ensure the future of Russia as a European Power. But after that its importance has been becoming ever more disputable, and at the
present day, as I have already said, the military
? PROGRESS 73
period of history is over in Russia, just as it is everywhere else. And what I have said about our
country can be applied, of course, mutatis mutandis, to the other European countries. In every one of them war was, in days gone by, the main and inevit-
able means of defending and strengthening the existence of the State and the nation, and has
everywhere lost its raison d'etre when once this object has been attained.
I may say, by way of parenthesis, that I am puzzled to find some modern philosophers dis-
cussing the rational basis of war, independently of the time. Has war any rational basis ? Oest selon.
Yesterday it probably had everywhere a rational basis ; to-day it has a rational basis only somewhere
in Africa and Middle Asia, where there are still savages. To-morrow it will be justified nowhere. It is remarkable that with the loss of its rational
basis war is, though slowly, losing its glamour.
This can be seen even in a nation so backward in
the mass as our own.
Judge yourself : the other
day the General triumphantly pointed out the fact that all our saints are either monks or soldiers. I
ask you, however, to what historical period does all this military holiness or holy militarism actually belong? Is it not that very period in which war
was in reality the most necessary, salutary, and, if you will, most holy enterprise. Our saint-warriors
were all princes of the Kiev and Mongolian periods, but I fail to recollect any lieutenant-general amongst
? 74 SOLOVIEV
them. Now, what is the meaning of it all? You have two famous warriors, having exactly the same
personal right to saintship, and it is granted to one and refused to the other. Why is it ? Tell me, why
is Alexander the Nevsky, who overthrew the Livonians and Swedes in the thirteenth century, a saint, whereas Alexander Suvorov, who overcame the Turks and the French in the eighteenth century, is not? You cannot reproach Suvorov with any-
thingincompatiblewithholiness. Hewassincerely pious, used to sing publicly in the church choir and
read out the Bible from the lectern, led an irre-
proachable life, was not even any woman's lover, whilst his eccentricities make no obstacle to, but
rather supply, a further argument for his being canonised. The sole difference is that Alexander
the Nevsky fought for the national and political future of his country, which, half battered down in
the East, could scarcely survive another battering in the West. The intuitive sense of the people
grasped the vital importance of the position, and gave the Prince the highest reward they could
possibly bestow upon him by canonising him.
Whereas the achievements of
Suvorov,
though
greatly superior in the military sense, particularly his Hannibalian passage of the Alps, did not
respond to any pressing need; he was not obliged to save Russia, and so, you see, he has for ever
remained merely a military celebrity.
LADY. But the leaders of the Russian army in
? PROGRESS 75
1812, though they were saving Russia from Napo- leon, yet failed to get canonised either.
POLITICIAN. Oh, well, "saving Russia from
Napoleon" that is merely patriotic rhetoric. Napoleon wouldn't have swallowed us up, nor was
he going to. The fact that we finally got the upper hand certainly revealed our power as a nation and a State, and helped to awaken our national consciousness. But I can never admit that the war
of1812wascausedbyanypressingnecessity. We could very well have come to terms with Napoleon.
But, naturally enough, we could not oppose him without taking some risks, and though the risks
proved lucky for us, and the war was brought to an end in a way that greatly flattered our national
self-esteem, yet its subsequent effects could hardly be regarded as really useful. If I see two athletes suddenly without any conceivable reason falling upon each other and one worsting the other, both suffering no harm to their health, I would perhaps
ofthe
victop,
"Heis a "butthe good sport !
say
need of just this particular form of sportsmanship and of no other would remain for me very obscure.
The fame of 1812, the national virtues revealed at that time, remain with us, whatever the causes of the war may have been.
This verity !
"
the sacred
"
is very good for poetry :
But I turn to what came out of that verity,
"The sacred verity of 1812
Was still alive in people's eyes. "
? 76 SOLOVIEV
and I find on the one side archimandrite Photius, Magnitsky, Araktcheiev, and on the other side, the
Decabrists' conspiracy, and, en somme, that thirty years' long regime of belated militarism, which eventually brought us to the debacle of the Crimean War.
LADY. And what about Poushkin?
POLITICIAN. Poushkin? Why Poushkin?
LADY. I have recently read in the papers that the
national poetry of Poushkin owed its inspiration to
the military glories of 1812.
MR. Z. And not without some special participa-
tion of artillery, as the poet's name indicates. 1
POLITICIAN. Yes; perhaps that is really how it is.
Tocontinuemyargument,however. Asyearsroll
on the uselessness of our wars becomes ever clearer
and clearer. The Crimean War is regarded in
Russia as very important, as it is generally believed
that the liberation of serfs and all the other reforms
of Alexander II. were due to its failure. Even sup-
posing this was so, the beneficial effects of an
unsuccessful war, and only because it was unsuc-
cessful, cannot, of course, serve as an apology for
war in general. If I, without any satisfactory
reason, try jumping off the balcony and put my arm out of joint, and later on this dislocation prevents
me from signing a ruinous promissory note, I shall be glad afterwards that it had happened like that ;
luPoushkin" of the "poushka" of the gun. (Translator. )
? PROGRESS 77
but I will not say that it is generally recommended to jump off a balcony and not to walk down by the stairs. You will agree that when the head is not hurt there is no need for hurting the arm in order
to escape signing ruinous agreements; one and the same good sense will save a man both from
foolish leaps from a balcony and from foolish signa- tures. I believe that even if there were no Crimean War the reforms of Alexander II. would most prob- ably have been carried out, and perhaps in a more
secure and far-reaching way. But I am not going toprovethisnow; wemustseethatwedonotdepart
fromoursubject. Atanyrate,politicalactscannot be rated at their indirect and unforeseen conse- quences; andastotheCrimeanWar,thatis,itscom- mencement brought about by the advance of our army to the Danube in 1853, it had no reasonable justification. I cannot call sensible the policy which one day saves Turkey from the smashing defeat inflicted on Mehmet Ali by the Pasha of Egypt, thus hindering the division of the Moslem world round two centres, Stambul and Cairo, which, it seems, would not have done us much harm; and which next day tries to destroy this same redeemed and reinforced Turkey, with the risk of running against the whole of the European coalition. This is not policy, but a sort of Quixotism. The same name I will apply also I hope the General will pardon me this to our last Turkish war.
LADY. And the bashi-bazouks in Armenia?
? 78 SOLOVIEV
Didn't you approve of the General for annihilating them?
POLITICIAN. Pardon me, I maintain that at the present time war has become useless, and the story told by the General the other day bears this out
particularly well. I quite understand that anybody
whose military duty made him an active participant in the war, and who happened to come across irre-
gular Turkish troops inflicting terrible barbarities
upon the peaceful population, I say that that man,
that man at the Prince1 free from every (looking )
"
preconceived absoluteprinciples,"wasobligedby
sentiment and by duty alike to exterminate those bashi-bazouks without mercy, as the General did, and not to worry about their moral regeneration, as the Prince suggests. But, I ask, in the first place, who was the real cause of all this wretched business ? And, in the second place, what has been achieved by the military intervention? To the first question I can answer in all honour only by pointing to that bad militant policy which irritated the Turks by
inflaming the passions and supporting the preten- sionsoftheChristianpopulations. Itwasonlywhen
Bulgaria began to swarm with revolutionary com- mittees and the Turks became alarmed at possible
interference on the part of the European Powers, which would have led the State to inevitable ruin,
that the Turks began to slaughter the Bulgarians. ThesamethingalsohappenedinArmenia. Asto
the second question, what has come out of it? The
? PROGRESS 79
answer supplied by recent events is so striking that
nobody can help noticing it. Judge yourself : in 1877 our General destroys a few thousands of
bashi-bazouks and by this probably saves a few hun- dreds of Armenians. In 1895, in the very same place, very much the same bashi-bazouks slaughter not hundreds but thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of the population. If various corre-
spondents can be trusted (though I myself would not advise anyone to do so), the number of people
massacred was nearly half a million. Of course, this is all a fairy tale. But there can be little doubt that these later Armenian massacres were carried out on a much larger scale than the old Bulgarian ones. There you have the beneficent results of our
patriotic and philanthropic war.
GENERAL. Now, understand it who can !
Now it is bad policy which is to be blamed, now it is the patriotic war. One might believe that Prince Gorchakov and M. Hirs were soldiers, or that Disraeli and Bismarck were Russian patriots and
philanthropists.
POLITICIAN. Is my statement really not clear
enough? I have in view the indisputable connec- tion, and not some abstract or ideal one, but the wholly real, pragmatic connection between the war
of 1877, which was brought about by our bad policy, and the recent massacres of Christians in Armenia.
You probably know, and if you don't you will profit by learning it, that after 1878 Turkey, who could
? 80 SOLOVIEV
see her future prospects in Europe from the terms
of the St. Stephen's agreement, resolved at any ratetosecureherpositioninAsia. Firstofallshe
secured an English guarantee at the Berlin Con-
gress. She,however,rightlybelievedthatEngland would help her if she helped herself, and com- menced to reinforce and establish her irregular
" armiesinArmenia,moreorlessthosevery devils"
which the General had to deal with. This proved
a very sound policy; only fifteen years passed after Disraeli had, in exchange for Cyprus, guaranteed Turkey her Asiatic dominions, when English policy, in view of changed circumstances, became anti-
Turkish and Armeniophile, whilst English agitators
appeared in Armenia as Slavophile agitators did
earlierinBulgaria. Atthatmomentthosefamiliar
"""
to the General as devils found themselves the
men of the hour," and with the most polished manners helped themselves to the largest portion of Christian meat which had ever reached their teeth.
GENERAL. It is disgusting to listen to ! And why should the war be blamed for this ? Good Heavens ! if only the wise statesmen had finished their business in 1877 as well as the soldiers did theirs, you may be sure there would have been not even a mention of any reinforcement or establishment of irregular armies in Armenia. Consequently, there would have been no massacres.
POLITICIAN. In other words, you mean to say that
? PROGRESS 81
the Turkish Empire ought to have been totally destroyed ?
GENERAL. Emphatically I do. I am sincerely fond of the Turks, and have much esteem for them.
They are a fine people, especially when compared
with all these nondescript Ethiopians. Yet I verily believe that it is well-nigh time for us to put an end
to this Turkish Empire.
POLITICIAN. I should have nothing to say against
this, if those Ethiopians of yours would be able to establish in its place some sort of Ethiopian Empire of their own. But up to the present they can only fight each other, and a Turkish Government is as much necessary for them as the presence of Turkish
troops is necessary in Jerusalem for preserving the peace and well-being of the various Christian
denominations there.
LADY. Indeed !
I have always suspected that
you would not object to handing over the Sepulchre to the Turks for ever.
POLITICIAN. And you, of course, think that this would be owing to my atheism or indifference, don't you ? As a matter of fact, however, my wish to see the Turks in Jerusalem is the reflection of a faint
but inextinguishable spark of religious sentiment which I still preserve from my childhood. I know
positively that the moment the Turkish soldiers are withdrawn from the streets of Jerusalem all the Christians in the city will massacre each other, after having destroyed all the Christian shrines. If you
? 82 SOLOVIEV
doubt my impressions and conclusions, just ask any
pilgrims whom you may trust, or, what is even better,
go and see for yourself.
LADY. That I should go to Jerusalem ? Oh, no !
WhatcouldI seethere? . . . No; I shouldthinktwice before I did that !
POLITICIAN. Well, that only bears out my state- ment.
LADY. I cannot understand this at all. You argue with the General, and yet you both extol the Turks.
POLITICIAN. The General values them apparently as brave soldiers, and I do so as the guardians of peace and order in the East.
LADY. Fine peace and order, indeed, when some tens of thousands of people are suddenly and
mercilesslyslaughtered. Personally,Iwouldprefer disorder.
POLITICIAN. As I have already had the honour of stating, the massacres were caused by the revolu-
tionary agitation. Why should you then demand from the Turks a higher degree of Christian meek-
ness and forbearance than is ever demanded from any other nation, not excepting a Christian one? Can you quote me a country where an insurrection has ever been quelled without recourse to harsh and cruel measures? In the case before us, in the first place the instigators of the massacres were not the Turks. In the second place, Turks proper took
hardly any part in them, acting in most cases
? PROGRESS 83
throughtheGeneral's"devils. " Andinthethird place, I am prepared to admit that the Turkish
Government, by letting loose these "devils," over- did the thing; as Ivan IV. overdid it when he drowned ten thousand peaceful inhabitants of Novgorod; or as the commissioners of the French Convention overdid it by their noiades and fusil- lades \ or lastly, as the English overdid it in India
when they quelled the Mutiny of 1857. And yet there can be little doubt that should these various
Ethiopians be left alone, there would be much more massacre than under the Turks.
GENERAL. Who told you I want to put these Ethiopians in the place of Turkey? Surely, the
thing is very simple :
we should take Constanti-
nople, we should take Jerusalem, and in the place of the Turkish Empire should form a few Russian
military provinces, like Samarkand or Askhabad. As to the Turks, they, after they had laid down their arms, should in every way be satisfied and
pleased, in religion as much as in everything else. POLITICIAN. I hope you are not serious now, or
I shall be obliged to doubt . . . your patriotism. Don't you see that if we started a war with such
radical ends in view, this would certainly bring to life once more a European coalition against us, which our Ethiopians, liberated or promised libera- tion, would ultimately join. These latter under- stand very well that under the Russian power they would not be so free to express their national spirit.
G2
? 84 SOLOVIEV
And the end of it all would be that, instead of destroying the Turkish Empire, we should have a
repetition only on a grander scale of the Sebas- topoldebacle. No,thoughwehaveindulgedinbad
politics sufficiently often, I am sure that we shall never see such madness as a new war with Turkey. If we do see it, then every Russian patriot must
exclaim with despair : Quern deus vult perdere, prim dementat.
LADY. What does that mean?
POLITICIAN. It means : Him whom God would destroy, He first makes mad.
LADY. I am glad history is not made according
to your argument. You are, I suppose, as much in favour of Austria as of Turkey, aren't you?
POLITICIAN. I need not enlarge upon this, as
people more competent than myself the national leaders of Bohemia, for example have declared
"
If there were no Austria, Austria
long ago:
should be invented. " The recent affrays in the
Vienna Parliament supply the best possible illus- tration of this maxim, and are a vision in miniature of what must happen in these countries should the
Hapsburg Empire be destroyed.
LADY. And what is your opinion about the
Franco-Russian Alliance? You seem always to reserve it somehow.
POLITICIAN. Neither do I propose to go into the details of this delicate question just now. Speak-
ing generally, I can say that rapprochement with
? PROGRESS 85
such a progressive and rich nation as France is, at any rate, beneficial to us. On the other hand, this alliance is, of course, an alliance of peace and pre- caution. This is, at any rate, the meaning which is put on it in the high circles where it was concluded
and is still supported.
MR. Z. As to the benefits of rapprochement
between two nations for the development of their
morals and culture, this is a complicated matter, which to me seems very obscure. But looking at
it from the political point of view, don't you think that by joining one of the two hostile camps on the European continent we lose the advantages of our free position as neutral judge or arbiter between
them; we lose our impartiality? By joining one
side, and thereby balancing the powers of both groups, don't we create the possibility of an armed
conflict between them? It is, for instance, clear that France alone could not fight against the Triple Alliance, whereas with the help of Russia she could certainly do so.
POLITICIAN. Your considerations would be quite
correct if anybody had any wish to begin a European war. But I can assure you that nobody has such a
wish. At any rate, it is much easier for Russia to
prevent France from leaving the path of peace than it is for France to lure Russia to the path of war,
undesirable, as a matter of fact, to both of them.
The most reassuring thing, however, is the fact that not only are modern nations averse to waging war,
? 86 SOLOVIEV
but, what is more important, they begin to forget how to do it. Take, for example, the latest con-
flict, the Spanish-American war. Well, was this a war? Now, I ask you : was it really a war? Mere dolls' play it was; an affray between a street
"
brawler and a constable !