They had a simple shrewdness, which, under a better system, had
made them enterprising; but this quality soon degenerated into cunning
and cheatery--the weapons which the hopelessly oppressed always use.
They had a reverence for things sacred, which under a better system
might have given the nation a strengthening religion; but they now stood
among the most religious peoples on earth and among the least moral. To
the picture of Our Lady of Kazan they were ever ready to burn wax and
oil; to truth and justice they constantly omitted the tribute of mere
common honesty. They kept the Church fasts like saints; they kept the
Church feasts like satyrs.
They had curiosity, which under a better system would have made them
inventive; but their plough, in common use, was behind the plough
described by Vergil. They had a love of gain, which under a better
system would have made them hardworking; but it took ten serfs to do,
languidly and poorly, what two free men in America would do quickly and
well.
Pages:
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803