The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-05-22

| Hmlts TO their pliability-that tncy can Dc Oent
twisted coled In all directions and into al
shapes 1t would need buts word from
his Majesty and tomorrow eighty millions Of
his subjects would unhesitatingly renounce
| Orthodoxy for Shamanism. autocracy for re-
publicanism and trial by Judges for ordeali
under judgment Of God"
It Is an axiom that has como down to Us from
| classical times that m endacity 10 characteris-
| tic vice OF servitude. We should not. there
| fore. expect truthfulness to be conspicuous IN
| Russians. crushed as they are said to be BY re-
! liglous and civil slavery. According to our
author. veracity. which has been Justly called
the vital element OF human progress. Is pre-
cisely the quality in which Russians are most
hopelessly deficient In this respect they are
said to Guido the ancient Cretans and put the
modern Persisns to shame. They are pro-
nounced constitutlonally incapable Of grasp
ing the relation Of words to things. and they
wholly lack the reverence for facts which lies
at the root Of the Anglo-Saxon character. A
Russian can no more bow to fact. acknowl-
edging 1t as final and decisive. than he can to
q personal appreciation or q mere opinion
founded upon insufficient grounds. We
arc assured that the most serious statesman
Will eagerly start o discussion upon such q
topic as the geographical position Of Borneo or
Madagascar with the same childlike e1pecta-
ton OF seeing entirely new light thrown upon
1t as II were one OF the Thirty-nine Articlea
The same airy independence OF facts is visible
like white thread upon black ground In oil
departments Of Russian life. public and pri-
vate II a peasant be asked. for example. how
many miles you have to walk to the next vii
lage he will scan your appearance. and II you
lNN1,H A4 L. I'LL An -
or four. Let another man. looking blithe and
sturdy. put the same question five minutes
later. and the peasant will answer fifteen.
Facts to the Russian are purely subjective. and
he arranges them according to his taste. which
is often caprlcious or according to circum.
stances which are ever changing. It seems that
you lie" Is common expression In the mouth
OF one gentleman to another whom he sus-
poets Of dealing arbitrarily With the facts.
whether deliberately or inadvertently: and
tho answer Of the corrected party
is not unfreauently. "Yes. 7 do lie: It is as you
say" Instead Of correcting himself BY saying.
I am mistaken" Russian who Is relating
an incident and has unwittingly misstated
some trivial circum stances. will gravely OBJ.
serve. I am lying to you: 1t was not SO. It
was otherwise" Tho universal aversion to
plain. unvarnishcd truth is illustrated in an
distinguished In diplomacy than in war. why
do you abstain from wine. General p asked the
host one day at dinner. seeing this Russian
dlplomatist persist in filling his glass with
water. Because" interposed one Of the
guests In loud aside {" In pino rer.itas"
As to the current notion that faces never lie,
this. according to Mr.. Lanin. is not borne out
by the study OF Russian physiognomy. There.
he says. the most atrocious lie. the lilo that
blasts and kills. is uttered with apparent re-
luctance. with visible pity clothed In a voice
trembling with compassion-a voice that
seems to come from the heart and to 60
straight to the heart. pleading as it were for
the wretched creature whom 1t dooms to ruin.
The features Of the speaker are open. manly.
noble: his expression is angelic; Carlo Dolce
would have been proud to transfer his face to
canvas. and yet his soul Dante would have
had grim satisfaction in burying in the
nethermost pit Of hell By way OF illustration
tho author recounts how he himself was
deliberately feeced by seraphic-looking
giant. an admirable specimen Of tho Russian
peasant OF the class Of men. In fact, whom
pan-Slavists and Liberals vic with each
other In idealizing. and who are re-
garded by most educated Russians as
inarticulate Homers. obscure Bayards. and
undeveoped Charlemagnea Apart. however,
from commercial dealings. 1t is admitted that
q Russian Is seldom conscious OF guilt whom
telling deliberate untruth. Mr.. Lanin even |
deems 1t doubtful whether In aggravated In |
stances OF misrepresentation for the sake OF |
gain the Russian Is really aware that he Is |
violating any law. divine or human. He suf- |
fers from complete annsthesia OF the moral
faculty which In moro developed peoples Is |
prompt to condemn lying. To Russian words
are his own. and he simply does what he likes
with them. thus exercising an indeieasible |
right which he freely comedies to others Be-
Ing. however. superstitious and impression-
able ne attaches great weight to religious and |
other ceremonies. and tho complicated
iormalities with which an oath Is some |
times administered will now and then |
determine man to change y spe-
cious and elaborate lilo into q simple |
statement OF facts. Nevertheless. perjury is |
extremely rifo In Russia. as tho quo ations |
IRON number OF newspapers demonstrate.
nus the Government organ. tho ,7raschddnin,
declares: You can get as many witnesses as |
you Iiko Tor measure OF rodka; witnesses |
VINO VIII SO anywhere and swear to anything |
you tell them" Another journal, the Srea, |
recalls that In Loez an admirably organized |
Oaho exists for the purpose OF bearing false |
witness. The chief Of tho gang has drawn up |
!. 'arin' FOR evidence In case Of Islander. |
1nree roublos; In cases Of violence to the per-
son' from 1--WE to nifty roubles. and 30 on" In |
one OF the Baltic provinces the Judge. who |
was Lutheran. refused to act upon tho testi-
mony OF two Russian witness es and dismissed
me case. nor did he reopen 1t until fresh
Witness. Lutheran. was produced. We are
Ioid that the Lutheran Judges. whether Finn
sh or German. have been taught by long ex-
perlence that average Russians. like tho
prophet Jeremiah's people. bend their
tongues. like their bow, for les" and
are not valiant for the truth upon the earth"
according to Prof. Nikitenko. q very patriotic
Russian. lying is the idol OF our society.
russian society lies every minute OF it's exist
'nce In word and In deed. con sclously and un-
Mr.. Lanin affirms that examples
u this systematic unveracity are as numerous
IS the sands OF the sea He points out for
Instance. that Turghenein sold one Of his
lovsls In manuscript three timer eysr Fret TO