Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1915-05-17
WORLDS MOST INTERESTING
ASSEMBLY OF PEOPLE
Contained Within the Vast Borders of
Russia-The Let's.
(special to The Bulletin. J


| Washington. D. c.. May 16.-"Russia
contains within it's vast borders prob
ably the worlds most interesting as
| sembly of peoples and fragments OF
| peoples; peoples. not as in tho Uni
| ted States melted to a certain uniform
ground-tone of character, forced to lose
| much of the peculiar under the pres
sure of a more complex, more highly
developed social organization, but peo-
pies still distinctively peoples, preserv-
markings handed down from tribal
days, when a journey between coun-
tries was an undertaking, and a jour-
ney between nations fell only to the
| lot of the soldier of fortune, the dip
lomat, the statesman, and the fore
most of artists and scholars.
Among these interesting, stil1 per-
sistently individual peoples of Russia,
the Let's, the indwellers of the Baltic
Provinces, whose fields are now once
more the scene of invasion and battle
| captivate the imagination and reflec-
| ton through the mystery of their ORR
| gin, the romance of their history, and
| the pecuHarities of their present rela-
tionships to mighty Russia The Let's
are a branch of the Lithuanian nation,
a Slavonic division whose past in the
marshy sWampS of Lithuania lies as
deeply hidden as the mystic ritual of
| the Druids. Lithuania was once a
great kingdom, later an element of the
unfortunate Polish nation. and now a
| part of the States of Russia and Prus-
STA. The Let's, a subdivision of this
| people, haYe survived as it's most dis
tinctive representatives"
Thus begins the bulletin issued to-
day by the National Geographic So
ciety, which deals with the native
peasant population, the patient, long
suffering farmers, fishermen and small
tradesmen among whom Russian and
German armies are contesting for the
| mastery of the regions around the
eastern elbow of the Baltic. The state
| ment continues:
| "The Borussians, whose name per-
sists in Prussia survive as the mod
| ern Prussians, or, at least, as an i'm
portant element that has gone into
| the makeup of Prussia's citizenry
| They, however, are lost as a lithuanian
tribe; have been thoroughly assimi-
lated to a modern amalgamated type
| that feels itself a unit and not a COM
posite, that feels itself more nearly
| akin to the German than to the Sla-
vonian. The Lithuanian of the inter-
| ior Russian Lithuanian provinces feels
a kinship with the Pole, whose politi-
| cal fortunes he shared so long He
| is beginning to feel kinship with the
| Pole, whose political fortunes he shar-
ed so long. He is beginning to feel a
kinship with the Russian, whose for
tunes have now become his own. The
ASCIls O11 I1C Ol1lSI Ild1u, the
anian tribesman of the Baltic Prov
inces where the German invaders are
now marching and fighting, still feels
himself an element apart.
"The Lett is taciturn, morose, little
given to welcoming the stranger. He
dwells apart, not as the communists
tic Russian in villages whose houses
closes press one another. The Lett
preserves his own tongue, traditions
and dreams, and remains in this TWEEN
tieth century more than half a wor-
shipper of Nature and a believer in
omens and black craft. The old gods
whom he cherished and reverenced the
longest, whom he sought long after
Europe all around him had accepted
the teachings of Christ. still exert an
influence upon him, still survive for
him In thousand superstitions, even
though he is as devout as any of the
other pFesent-day Christians.
1.-The Lett was Christianied by the
sword welded in the hands of the Ger
mans and the Swedes. Shortly after
the year 1900, a religious order, known
as the Order of the Sword Bearers,
was formed, and began the process of
converting the inhabitants of the Bal
tic Provinces. Members of the order
wore white nantes with a red cross on
the shoulder They were recruited
and, with their superior weapons, they
had little difficulty in overrunning the
Lett provinces. The Let's were dis
possessed of the land; German land
lords and merchants came, outposts of
the Hanseatic League were strength
ened and the Lett sank into serdom.
There are more than 100000 Let's.
Well built, of average height, seldom
tall; the face elongated and the feature
finely cut; very fair hair, keen blue
eyes and delicate skins are among the
external characteristics that distin-
guisk a Lett from a Pole or Russian.
They are highly imaginative people,
and from their ranks have come some
of Russia's gifted artists. They pos
sess an immense treasure of folk
songs, and many wonderful legends,
born in the dark of the swampy for
~-t-. of c-eat IIitl.nauia-''