German methods with war prisoners are vastly different from those of the Allies. The German is not content with using their bodies for carrying out his various schemes, but he strives to divert their minds from allegiance to their respective countries. It has been proved in a court of law, the witnesses giving evidence under oath, that in the case of the Irish soldiers, prisoners in Germany, endeavours were made to turn them into rebels. No form of duplicity or dishonour seems to come amiss to the German, and his methods with the Russian prisoners are not dissimilar to those practised against the Irish, and I can only hope that they will be as loyal to their country as were the splendid soldiers of our Ally. With the Russian prisoners the German authorities occupy themselves with torturing the souls of all that fall in their hands, sowing discord and despair for future generations to reap. It is a terrible but authentic fact that the minds of Russian prisoners in Germany are being systematically poisoned by means of the propagation of atheism, nihilism, and {277} anti-patriotism, through every variety of that pernicious literature that was always so well received and patronised in Germany. Our soldiers beg for religious and patriotic books, instead of which they receive the very opposite, their gaolers hoping thus to deprive them of their sole remaining consolation, that of an unshaken faith. One of the most encouraging things that I have heard recently came to my knowledge only as I was going over the manuscript of this book. The British authorities have taken up the question of sending educational books to the English prisoners in Germany. Apparently the men are tired of fiction, and they want some serious study, such as seamanship, engineering and various other crafts. What particularly interested me was the fact that simple Russian grammars and text-books are very much wanted, and these are being sent out. What greater link can there be between two nations than that each should speak the other's language? Our tongue, however, is by no means an easy one to acquire. Bismarck could not understand why Greek should be learnt at all. "If it is contended that the study of Greek is excellent mental discipline, to learn Russian would be still more so, and at the same time practically useful. Twenty-eight declensions and the innumerable niceties by which the deficiencies of conjugations are made up for are something to exercise the memory. And then, how are the words changed! Frequently nothing but a single letter of the original root remains." {278} CHAPTER XIX THE RUSSIAN PARISH The Revival of Parish Life--The Ancient Russian Parish--A Peaceful Community--Slavophils and the Parish--The Metropolitan and the Emperor Nicholas I--The Independence of the Church--Father John of Kronstadt--A Blessing to Russia