Norwich bulletin., 1921-08-01

 ven preserve up from Russian law as interpreted by Germansl The Russian official may not take a Russian law very seriously, but one can be sure that the German officials will.
 "One must go far back into Es- thonian history to trace the origin of this duplicate despotism. And to the student of human geography the em- gence to sudden independence of a tpeople so long submerged will make an experiment worth watching.
 'The Esths are an aboriginal peo- pie of northern Europe who once ter rorized the Baltic by piracy, and later clashed often with Swedes and Danes.
 Tradition has it that the oldest flag of Europe, that of Denmark. dates ] from 1219 when the Danish Waldemar | Great, was conducting campaign to subdue Esthonia. A great silver cross appeared against fiery background in the Heavens as an omen of success | This same Waldemar, in the same year. i founded the town of Reval, now capital and seaport of Esthonia.
 Few nations can show so consis- tant a record of conquest under the | guise of conversion as the Esthonians. i The Danes came to baptize them at the point of the sword; then entered the Knights of the Sword, coming in the role of Crusaders and remain ing for some six centuries as overlords. During the long era of German as- cendancy the country became thor oughly protestant.
 'eWithin the past half century the Russians undertook strenuous methods to gather the Esths into the fold Of their Orthodox church. Long experience taught these people the wisdom of ac- l cepting conversion and then returning to their field. But when they tried this expedieiit after the visits of Rus sian priests they found 1t civil crime to withdraw from the Russian church Il after having entered it. Moreover a Protestant clergyman to marry man Or woman who be.onged 10 the Rus sian church was punishable by i'm pr.scrment.
 'erhe rugged endurance of this north. M ern people, their vitality an l spirit, !. N sufficiently shown by their bearing uT
 under oppression that was both relig. ous and political, and from the politi- cal standpoint both Prussian and Rus
 sian. Perhaps their Mongolia descent . helps account for that.
 Before the world war Esthonis
 was accounted one of the most pro- kpressive regions. agriculturally. ir
 Russia. Nature is scarcely kinder tC the Esths than nations. They live ir a low swamp country nowhere al |, high above sea level as the base tS top height of the Washington monu.
 ment. Their summers are hot; theil winters cold.
 "The people have an especial lov, . for song, are industrious and progres SiVe, and their struggle to gain-a live lihcod from the soil rather than
 lack of enterprise accounts for tn v fact that some of their smaller village , have been described as being amoni ' the most nondescript and least iovel, ir all Europe.
 "It should be noted that the ire , Esthonia recognized by many EurOp can governments comprises more thel T 1.-the old Russian Esthonia. A part. O
 Livonia, a,Cng with Courland. goes t |, make up Latvia- The EsthoHians an' Il the Let's have less in common thal
 ore might expect of two neighbor peo
 pies who have sufi cred for centuria I the same slings of outrageous nat
 ionai fortune.
 "Reval. busy seaport city. betrays f.
 German influence, an has been lescrib | ieval German town. It has had com
 el by some isitors as akin t9 med | manding position in commerce sine | it was one of the S5 city members O | the first giant trust, the Hanseati = League. But 1t has Russian hall mark 5 notably the Tower of St Olaf. one O
 the tallest in Russia, which woul I OCT top the Times Building in NeN York.
 "Dorpat is the Cambridge of Esthon
 ia-perhaps the Heidelberg German in
 fluence. The University of Dorpat wa 2 founded by Gustavus Adolphus lively ' years before the Pilgrims set foot O Plymouth Rock and more than a cen T. l turv before the next oldest uniyersit
 in prewar Russia, that at Moscow"