New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-09-25

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press OF insensibi.ty left by generations Of serf-
| dom but they are also lighted up by the wistful.
natbetic expression Of loneliness and sadness
! which comes from daily life in solitude and for
est gloom. The Russian is by nature and en-
yironment sombre and silent creature. who
| finds little JOY in life. For him the Heaven is
! always nigh and the Car far OFF,
FORESTS AND TOWNS.
The first town west OF Moscow Is Mojaisk.
where Ivan tie Terrible built fortress which
is now in ruins. and where a French garrison
remained until the retreat from the capital was
I covered. Not far away is an insignificant village
with battle monument. The train rattles
through it, and the passengers. oblivious of his
toric memories. do not the little church and
the grove Of birches which mark the site OF
Eorodino where fifty thousand Russian
and French soldiers were slain. Further on IS
Wanna. which nearly destroyed in the
same campaign. and every village and town has
its legends of the stubbornly contested advance
OF Napoleon and the disastrous retreat Hour
after hour the sombre reaches Of the Ar forests.
where the wolves have not yet ceased 10 bay,
are traversed aud the only CLEANS OF cheerful
color arc the clmpses of fower-bed at the ends
Of the railway stations. This Is the real Russia,
mysterious and sad the endless woodlands
with their CreakinR Dougns ana SnHIlncIiHb
leaves. anC dreary and desolate the heaths
where the peasants build their huts and SOW
their corn. but armed with tremendous resources
of power FOR repslling nvasion and for working
out with inexhaustble patience the high ends
OF its destiny
The four cities between Moscow and Warsaw
ere SCARED with the race Of centuries.
Smolensk on the Dnieper. with white battlement-
cd walls end high watch towers. has withstood
more sieges than any other Russian stronghold
Tartars. Lithuanans. Poles and MuscoVites all
fought their battles there. and alternately lost
and regained it: and when it was fnaiy lelt al
peace for half q century under RUSSIAN RUE IL
was besieged and nearly destroyed by Napoleon
Borisof was the scene Of fierce battle when the
French in retreat were overwhelmed by SUI
perior Russian force Mnsk was for generations
the theatre OF race conflict. and paid tribute al
ternatey TO Lthuanians and Poles. Swedes ana
Muscovitee Brest-Litovsk changed masters for
centuries whenever there was a successful siege,
and is now Russian stronghold for the defence
OF Poland, with citadel and four miles or mod
ern Notifications. All these towns are popuous
trading centres, Mnsk being the largest. Smo-
lensk the most venerated for religious associ-
ations and Brest-Litovsk the most important
from its railway connections and military arse
nails Each bears record in turn TO the irreslst-
ibe onset of the conquering race. which bdes
its time waits patiently and adheres tenacorsly
to its purposes. until Poland is seized In the
west as Finland taken in the north. and
az Constan,inople and Jerusalem will ultimately
be wrested from Turkish rule in the south.
The same monotonous fir woodlands. which
have lined the railway from Moscow to Brest-
Litovsk extend through Poland TO Warsaw;
and such clearings there are In the sandy
levels are planted TO corn and rye. The forests
are denser as the Vistula ia approached. and
the country is more barren and desolate. Poland
has been completely Russianized in ts external
| aspects, Just as Warsaw. the third city in the
! Russian Empire has lost nearly everything that
| was characteristic of It's historic glory. The
nctle river flows through the town OF Old
and Sigismund's castle is there with q Gothic
cathedral OF the thirteenth century; but al
though n population It is to be ranked among
the great cities Of Europe 1t IS one OF the least
interesting The Russian proverb applies equally
to Warsaw and to Poland: when the wolves
fight the sheep lose their WOOL" The kingdom
fell. and was divided because che proud and
powerful barons quarIelled among themselves
and neglected to make sacrifices for the welfare
Of their race: and the people have lost their lib
critics the once prosperou' Hebrew middle -cass
has beer despoed Of It's possessions and driven
has departed. In Finland everything has been
done to fatter local pride. and TO reconcile an
ellen race to the conditions q conquest. Poland
remains heavily garrsoned and menaced with
Notifications and arse 1als, and Russian rule is
without hexibility or conoiliation. The one Idea
seems to have been to Russanize Poland with all
possible dispatch, and to leave few traces Of
separate existence and national tradition.
IDOLATRY OF POWER
II is easy for the traveller who gazes hour
after hour and day after day at the forest
scenery Of Northern Russia to understand the
superstition which underies the intense religious
life Of the PEOPLE. Nine out Of ten Russians arc
peasants who live in snail villages overshad-
owed by the gloom OF the boundless forests.
and the awe-irsriring solitude OF their surround
ings has tended to cloud their religion with igno-
rance and mysticism. What Is more difficult TO
comprehend Is the aspiration for conquest and
universal empire which has swayed for gener
atoms the sluggish national mind. The Russian
armies are recruited mainly from the peasant
class. which tenants the vast plains and gloomy
fcrests and as one looks at the vacant faces
and shaggy boards and anes Of these poverty
stricken farmers. one wonder how a nation ap-
rarcntly with so little ina gination can dream of
e. worldwide empire and tire conquest Of BY
zantum and the recovery Of the holy shrine
V ! ch tie Crusaders sought to regain for Chris
tendon. Yet the Slavonic not only has re-
sources OF endurance and power unknown else
where in Europe. but 1t is athirst for the in
toxicating delights Of conquest and universal
dominion. Constantnople Is not the supreme
goal Of Russian ambition. but only the stepping
stone to empire In Asia.
What the Russian peasant reverences Is q
sense Of power. II a sacred picture be a house
hold fetch, or be reputed to have miracle-work
Ing powers. he makes an idol OF IT, He bows his