The Witness by Grace Livingston Hill Lutz (best fiction novels of all time .txt) 📖

Aid In Putting Down Revolution In

Germany; Or Than It Was For Nicholas I To Crush The Hungarian Revolution In

1849,  In The Interest Of Francis Joseph; Or Than It Was For Bismarck To

Rush To The Aid Of Alexander Ii In Putting Down The Polish Insurrection In

1863.

 

The Democrats Of Russia Knew,  Moreover,  That,  In Addition To The Natural

Affinity Which Served To Bind The Two Autocracies,  The Romanov And

Hohenzollern Dynasties Had Been Closely Knit Together In A Strong Union By

Years And Years Of Carefully Planned And Strongly Wrought Blood Ties. As

Isaac Don Lenine Reminds Us In His Admirable Study Of The Russian

Revolution,  Nicholas Ii Was More Than Seven-Eighths German,  Less Than

One-Eighth Of His Blood Heritage Being Romanov. Catherine The Great,  Wife

Of Peter Iii,  Was A Prussian By Birth And Heritage And Thoroughly

Prussianized Her Court. After Her--From 1796 To 1917--Six Czars Reigned In

Russia,  Five Of Whom Married German Wives. As Was Inevitable In Such

Circumstances,  The Russian Court Had Long Been Notoriously Subject To

German Influences And Strongly Pro-German In Its Sympathies--By No Means 

Chapter 4 Pg 26

Small Matter In An Autocratic Country. Fully Aware Of Their Advantage,  The

Kaiser And His Ministers Increased The German Influence And Power At The

Russian Court By Encouraging German Nobles To Marry Into Russian Court

Circles. The Closing Decade Of The Reign Of Nicholas Ii Was Marked By An

Extraordinary Increase Of Prussian Influence In His Court,  An Achievement

In Which The Kaiser Was Greatly Assisted By The Czarina,  Who Was,  It Will

Be Remembered,  A German Princess.

 

Naturally,  The German Composition And Character Of The Czar's Court Was

Reflected In The Diplomatic Service And In The Most Important Departments

Of The Russian Government,  Including The Army. The Russian Secret Service

Was Very Largely In The Hands Of Germans And Russians Who Had Married

German Wives. The Same Thing May Be Said Of The Police Department. Many Of

The Generals And Other High Officers In The Russian Army Were Either Of

German Parentage Or Connected With Germany By Marriage Ties. In Brief,  The

Whole Russian Bureaucracy Was Honeycombed By German Influence.

 

Outside Official Circles,  Much The Same Condition Existed Among The Great

Landowners. Those Of The Baltic Provinces Were Largely Of Teutonic Descent,

Of Course. Many Had Married German Wives. The Result Was That The Nobility

Of These Provinces,  Long Peculiarly Influential In The Political Life Of

Russia,  Was,  To A Very Large Degree,  Pro-German. In Addition To These,

There Were Numerous Large Landowners Of German Birth,  While Many,  Probably

A Big Majority,  Of The Superintendents Of The Large Industrial

Establishments And Landed Estates Were German Citizens. It Is Notorious

That The Principal Factories Upon Which Russia Had To Rely For Guns And

Munitions Were In Charge Of Germans,  Who Had Been Introduced Because Of

Their High Technical Efficiency.

 

In View Of These Facts,  And A Mass Of Similar Facts Which Might Be Cited,

It Was Natural For The Democrats Of Russia To Identify Germany And German

Intrigue And Influence With The Hated Bureaucracy. It Was As Natural As It

Was For The German Influence To Be Used Against The Democratic Movement In

Russia,  As It Invariably Was. Practically The Entire Mass Of Democratic

Opinion In Russia,  Including,  Of Course,  All The Socialist Factions,

Regarded These Royal,  Aristocratic,  And Bureaucratic German Influences As A

Menace To Russia,  A Cancer That Must Be Cut Out. With The Exception Of A

Section Of The Socialists,  Whose Position We Shall Presently Examine,  The

Mass Of Liberal-Thinking,  Progressive,  Democratic Russians Saw In The War A

Welcome Breaking Of The German Yoke. Believing That The Victory Of Germany

Would Restore The Yoke,  And That Her Defeat By Russia Would Eliminate The

Power Which Had Sustained Czarism,  They Welcomed The War And Rallied With

Laughed Aloud. "You Won't Find No Such Thing As Gas

Around This Part O' Town. There's About An Inch Of Candle Up On That

Shelf. The Distric' Nurse Left It There. I Was Thinkin' Mebbe I'd Get

Mr. Widymer To Light It Fer Me When He Come,  An' Then The Night

Chapter 4 Pg 27

Wouldn't Seem So Long. It's Awful,  When You're Sufferin' To Have The

Nights Long."

 

He Groped Till He Found The Shelf And Lit The Candle. By Degrees The

Flickering Light Revealed To Him A Small Bare Room With No Furniture

Except A Bed,  A Chair,  A Small Stove,  And A Table. A Box In The Corner

Apparently Contained A Few Worn Garments. Some Dishes And Provisions

Were Huddled On The Table. The Walls And Floor Were Bare. The District

Nurse Had Done Her Level Best To Clear Up,  Perhaps,  But There Had Been

No Attempt At Good Cheer. A Desolate Place Indeed To Spend A Weary Night

Of Suffering,  Even With An Inch Of Candle Sending Weird Flickerings

Across The Dusky Ceiling.

 

His Impulse Was To Flee,  But Somehow He Couldn't. "Here's This

Medicine," He Said. "Where Do You Want Me To Put It?"

 

The Woman Motioned With A Bony Hand Toward The Table. "There's A Cup And

Spoon Over There Somewhere," She Said,  Weakly. "If You Could Go Get Me A

Pitcher Of Water And Set It Here On A Chair I Could Manage To Take It

Durin' The Night."

 

He Could See Her Better Now,  For The Candle Was Flaring Bravely. She Was

Little And Old. Her Thin,  White Hair Straggled Pitifully About Her

Small,  Wrinkled Face,  Her Eyes Looked As If They Had Been Burned Almost

Out By Suffering. He Saw She Was Drawn And Quivering With Pain,  Even Now

As She Tried To Speak Cheerfully. A Something Rebellious In Him Yielded

To The Nerve Of The Little Old Woman,  And He Put Down His Impatience.

Sure He Would Get Her The Water!

 

She Explained That The Hydrant Was Down On The Street. He Took The

Doubtful-Looking Pitcher And Stumbled Out Upon Those Narrow,  Rickety

Stairs Again.

 

Way Down To The Street And Back In That Inky Blackness! "Gosh! Thunder!

The Deuce!" (He Didn't Allow Himself Any Stronger Words These Days.)

Was This The Kind Of Thing One Was Up Against When One Majored In

Sociology?

 

"I Be'n Thinkin'," Said The Old Lady,  Quaveringly,  When He Stumbled,

Blinking,  Back Into The Room Again With The Water,  "Ef You Wouldn't Mind

Jest Stirrin' Up The Fire An' Makin' Me A Sup O' Tea It Would Be Real

Heartenin'. I 'Ain't Et Nothin' All Day 'Cause The Pain Was So Bad,  But

I Think It'll Ease Up When I Git A Dose Of The Medicine,  And P'r'aps I

Might Eat A Bite."

 

Courtland Was Appalled,  But He Went Vigorously To Work At That Fire,

Although He Had Never Laid Eyes On Anything So Primitive As That Stove

In All His Life. Presently,  By Using Common Sense,  He Had The Thing

Going And A Forlorn Little Kettle Steaming Away Cheerfully.

 

The Old Woman Cautioned Him Against Using Too Much Tea. There Must Be At

Least Three Drawings Left,  And It Would Be A Long Time,  Perhaps,  Before

She Got Any More. Yes,  There Was A Little Mite Of Sugar In A Paper On

Chapter 4 Pg 28

"There's Some Bread There,  Too--Half A Loaf 'Most--But I Guess It's

Pretty Dry. You Don't Know How To Make Toast I 'Spose," She Added,

Wistfully.

 

Courtland Had Never Made Toast In His Life. He Abominated It. She Told

Him How To Hold It Up On A Fork In Front Of The Coals And He Managed To

Do Two Very Creditable Slices. He Had Forgotten His Own Supper Now.

There Was Something Quite Fresh And Original In The Whole Experience. It

Would Have Been Interesting To Have Told The Boys,  If There Weren't Some

Features About It That Were Almost Sacred. He Wondered What The Gang

Would Say When He Told Them About Wittemore! Poor Wittemore! He Wasn't

As Nutty As They Had Thought! He Had Good In His Heart! Courtland Poured

The Tea,  But The Sugar-Paper Had Proved Quite Empty When He Found It;

Likewise A Plate That Had Once Contained Butter.

 

The Toast And Tea,  However,  Seemed To Be Quite Acceptable Without Its

Usual Accessories. "Now," He Said,  With A Long Breath,  "Is There

Anything Else You'd Like Done Before I Go?--For I Must Be Gettingred A Free Outlet To The Warm

Waters Of The Mediterranean,  Which Alone Could Give Her Free Access To The

Great Ocean Highways. Therefore They Hoped That One Result Of A Victorious

War By The Entente Against The Central Empires,  In Which Russia Would Play

An Important Part,  Would Be The Acquisition Of Constantinople By Russia.

Thus The Old Vision Of The Czars Had Become The Vision Of An Influential

And Rising Class With A Solid Basis Of Economic Interest.

 

 

 

 

Iii

 

As In Every Other Country Involved,  The Socialist Movement Was Sharply

Divided By The War. Paradoxical As It Seems,  In Spite Of The Great Revival

Of Revolutionary Hope And Sentiment In The First Half Of The Year,  The

Socialist Parties And Groups Were Not Strong When The War Broke Out. They

Were,  Indeed,  At A Very Low State. They Had Not Yet Recovered From The

Reaction. The Manipulation Of The Electoral Laws Following The Dissolution

Of The Second Duma,  And The Systematic Oppression And Repression Of All

Radical Organizations By The Administration,  Had Greatly Reduced The

Socialist Parties In Membership And Influence. The Masses Were,  For A Long

Time,  Weary Of Struggle,  Despondent,  And Passive. The Socialist Factions

Meanwhile Were Engaged In An Apparently Interminable Controversy Upon

Theoretical And Tactical Questions In Which The Masses Of The

Working-People,  When They Began To Stir At Last,  Took No Interest,  And

Which They Could Hardly Be Supposed To Understand. The Socialist Parties

And Groups Were Subject To A Very Great Disability In That Their Leaders

Were Practically All In Exile. Had A Revolution Broken Out,  As It Would

Chapter 4 Pg 29