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CHAPTER XV
PRO PATRIA
[A Defence against Hyper criticism)
A great national cataclysm invariably provokes a tendency
to blame those who are believed to be responsible for the
calamity. If such criticism is exaggerated, unjust, and
biased, it is right and proper to try to redress the wrong
without, however, indulging in an attack or a panegyric.
It is in this spirit I propose to submit some facts which
may substantiate the defence against an excess of criticism
concerning Russia.
If it be true that nothing succeeds like success, so is the
antithesis, that nothing fails like failure—" Sorrow comes
in battalions " ! Now that the Colossus of the North, an
idol of military and political power, once feared and courted,
lies broken and desolate, the floodgates of criticism surge
over the wreck ! No wonder that Russia’s enemies seize
the opportunity to heap abuse upon the country and her
people, but the " unkindest cut of all " comes from would-be
friends.
At a time when the Government and people of Great
Britain are trying to grapple with the intricate political and
economic problem of aiding the restoration of Russia, and
are endeavouring to promote friendliness and good feeling
between the two nations, some books and periodicals—
nomina sunt odiosa—have indulged in supercriticism
regarding Russia which cannot possibly do good to the interests
of both countries. It is even difficult to trace the practical
aims which are pursued by such excesses of criticism,
inasmuch as the publication of books detrimental to Russia
must scandalise the Russian nation, and to a certain extent
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