strong without that--but simply because he wished to tell them all he
had upon his heart.

"I want to tell you, brother gentles, what our brotherhood is. You
have heard from your fathers and grandfathers in what honour our land
has always been held by all. We made ourselves known to the Greeks,
and we took gold from Constantinople, and our cities were luxurious,
and we had, too, our temples, and our princes--the princes of the
Russian people, our own princes, not Catholic unbelievers. But the
Mussulmans took all; all vanished, and we remained defenceless; yea,
like a widow after the death of a powerful husband: defenceless was
our land as well as ourselves! Such was the time, comrades, when we
joined hands in a brotherhood: that is what our fellowship consists
in. There is no more sacred brotherhood. The father loves his
children, the mother loves her children, the children love their
father and mother; but this is not like that, brothers. The wild beast
also loves its young. But a man can be related only by similarity of
mind and not of blood. There have been brotherhoods in other lands,
but never any such brotherhoods as on our Russian soil. It has
happened to many of you to be in foreign lands. You look: there are
people there also, God's creatures, too; and you talk with them as
with the men of your own country. But when it comes to saying a hearty
word--you will see. No! they are sensible people, but not the same;
the same kind of people, and yet not the same! No, brothers, to love
as the Russian soul loves, is to love not with the mind or anything
else, but with all that God has given, all that is within you. Ah!"
said Taras, and waved his hand, and wiped his grey head, and twitched
his moustache, and then went on: "No, no one else can love in that
way! I know that baseness has now made its way into our land. Men care
only to have their ricks of grain and hay, and their droves of horses,