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and Countess Lidia Ivanovna, assisted by Madame Stahl?”
“No one has declared war, but people sympathize with their neigh-
bors’ sufferings and are eager to help them,” said Sergey Ivanovitch.
“But the prince is not speaking of help,” said Levin, coming to the
assistance of his father-in-law, “but of war. The prince says that pri-
vate persons cannot take part in war without the permission of the
government.”
“Kostya, mind, that’s a bee! Really, they’ll sting us!” said Dolly,
waving away a wasp.
“But that’s not a bee, it’s a wasp,” said Levin.
“Well now, well, what’s your own theory?” Katavasov said to Levin
with a smile, distinctly challenging him to a discussion. “Why have not
private persons the right to do so?”
“Oh, my theory’s this: war is on one side such a beastly, cruel, and
awful thing, that no one man, not to speak of a Christian, can individu-
ally take upon himself the responsibility of beginning wars; that can
only be done by a government, which is called upon to do this, and is
driven inevitably into war. On the other hand, both political science
and common sense teach us that in matters of state, and especially in
the matter of war, private citizens must forego their personal individual
Sergey Ivanovitch and Katavasov had their replies ready, and both
began speaking at the same time.
“But the point is, my dear fellow, that there may be cases when the
government does not carry out the will of the citizens and then the
public asserts its will,” said Katavasov.
But evidently Sergey Ivanovitch did not approve of this answer.
His brows contracted at Katavasov’s words and he said something
else.
“You don’t put the matter in its true light. There is no question here
of a declaration of war, but simply the expression of a human Christian
feeling. Our brothers, one with us in religion and in race, are being
massacred. Even supposing they were not our brothers nor fellow-
Christians, but simply children, women, old people, feeling is aroused
and Russians go eagerly to help in stopping these atrocities. Fancy, if
you were going along the street and saw drunken men beating a woman
or a child—I imagine you would not stop to inquire whether war had
been declared on the men, but would throw yourself on them, and
protect the victim.”
“But I should not kill them,” said Levin.
“Yes, you would kill them.”
“I don’t know. If I saw that, I might give way to my impulse of the
moment, but I can’t say beforehand. And such a momentary impulse
there is not, and there cannot be, in the case of the oppression of the
Slavonic peoples.”
“Possibly for you there is not; but for others there is,” said Sergey
Ivanovitch, frowning with displeasure. “There are traditions still ex-
tant among the people of Slavs of the true faith suffering under the
yoke of the ‘unclean sons of Hagar.’ The people have heard of the
sufferings of their brethren and have spoken.”
“Perhaps so,” said Levin evasively; “but I don’t see it. I’m one of the
people myself, and I don’t feel it.”
“Here am I too,” said the old prince. “I’ve been staying abroad and
reading the papers, and I must own, up to the time of the Bulgarian
atrocities, I couldn’t make out why it was all the Russians were all of a
sudden so fond of their Slavonic brethren, while I didn’t feel the slight-
est affection for them. I was very much upset, thought I was a monster,
or that it was the influence of Carlsbad on me. But since I have been
here, my mind’s been set at rest. I see that there are people besides me
barré
(Barré)
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