produce indecision of purpose. The contradiction between theory and practice, whilst it is perfectly compatable with sincerity, must be destructive of will-power, and must be fatal to political advance.
On the other hand, it is equally obvious that the extraordinary variety of intellectual and political experiences which any educated Russian has to go through must produce a breadth of sympathy, a range of intellectual vision, a tolerant understanding, a receptivity for ideas which are the charm of the best Russian Society.
Some years ago a Russian prince sent me for approval a religious tract which proved to be a masterpiece of mystic lore. The writer had been living in a circle of English Puritans and pietists. Shortly after I made his acquaintance in England his nomadic instinct took him to Paris. A few months after he had settled in Paris he sent me a literary composition of a very different nature from the first, a Parisian love story, which in its bold cynicism and perverse wit reminded me of the most realistic tales of Maupassant. It was a characteristically Russian incident. In an incredibly short time, and with Slav thoroughness, my friend had adapted himself to the mystic surroundings
