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102 PROBLEMS CONFRONTING RUSSIA
an independent course of action is evidently outside business
etiquette, and, consequently, does harm to Russo-British
intercourse. A little more attention to the business formality
to which the British are accustomed and the matter would
soon be put right.
From the point of view of humanitarianism Great Britain
is already in close and sympathetic touch with Russia by
the great work done by the Red Cross Society in tending
the sick and wounded, in feeding the hungry and relieving
much of the distress entailed by the conditions of war.
That work appeals to the British, who are themselves so
untiring in their zeal for philanthropic institutions and in
their lavish liberality and munificence extended to the poor
and needy. The moral sense of the human race is rooted in
sympathy. Where this quality predominates, there the moral
sense can be fostered and will grow and develop strongly.
A prominent characteristic of the Russian is sympathy,
showing itself in an unreserved readiness to help, without
any calculation or reflection of a selfish nature. Christian
love and brotherhood are deeply rooted in the Russian soul,
which is closely akin to British humanitarianism in
indissoluble co-ordination of purpose.
The encouraging and strengthening of the ties of
intellectual affinity between the twro countries may be best
attained by fostering mutual earnest study of things Russian
in Great Britain, and of things British in Russia by means of
textbooks, the acquirement of scholarships, professorships,
the attending of lectures, interchange of the results of
research in the domain of science and knowledge, and last,
but not least, by personal visits each in the other’s country.
Much has been done already, but much more can be done
in future.
In the symphony of friendly coalescence the present
Russian chaos has struck a strident note of dissonance.
Just as during the great French Revolution, Burke, in the
House of Commons, passionately denounced the rule of the
mob, so in the case of the Russian proletariat, now
proclaiming themselves masters of the situation, the British find
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