Christianity and Patriotism
the hearts of the Tsar-loving Russian people; and when the Russian Ambassador in Paris, who is regarded as the representative of the Russian people, says, after a dish of ortolans à la soubise et logopèdes glacées with a glass of champagne Grand Moët in his hand, that all Russian hearts beat in unison with his heart, which is brimming over with sudden and exceptional love for la belle France—then we who are free from the prevailing intoxication regard it as our sacred duty, not in our own name only, but in the name of tens of millions of Russians, to protest in the most emphatic way against it, and to declare that our hearts do not beat in unison with the hearts of the journalists, the ministers of education, the admirals of squadrons, the head priests, and ambassadors, but are, on the contrary, filled with indignation and loathing at the pernicious lie, and at the evil which they, consciously or unconsciously, are spreading far and wide by their speeches and actions. Let them drink Moët as much as they please, and write articles and deliver speeches on their own account and in their own name, but we Christians, recognizing ourselves as such, cannot admit that all that these people say and write binds us. We cannot admit this because we know what lies hidden under those drunken ecstasies, speeches, and embraces that have nothing in common with the safeguarding of peace, as
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