| OCR Text |
Show Traits of tho Bussian Soldier. -jM SInccro and unaffected lovo of his mon- jH arch, profound religious piety Intimately H united with tho Idea of the Czar and of JH tho fatherland, attachment to tho father- jH land, unlimited conlldcnco in Ida chiefs, H strong esprit do corps, and a faculty of jM enduring gayly and naturally tlio greatest IjH privations such aro tho mo3t marked HH characteristics of tbo Bussian soldier. To . H theso traits must bo added remarkable i bravery and a ruro contompt of death. M combined with nalvo kindhcartcdness and H a gentle and, Indulgoat. disposition. Tho jH Russian soldier Is distinguished by a good B humor that nover abandons him. oven In jH tho most difficult moments, by his broth-. ' jH crly understanding with his comrades.'; M and by his gav and contended way of fac-; H lng all tho docrocs of fate. Obedience Is M bo dcoply rooted la the mind of tho Rus-! M fclon soldier that during my thirty years' ' B experience of tlio army, I do not rcmcm-j Ixsr to have witnessed ono slnglo case of ; jBI insubordination, eltlior In times of pcc4 I "ll or In times of war. I Tho. Russian Eoldior dies at his post. T) iiH havo seon blm In winter on sentry duty jlH on tho heights of Shlpka dlo standing, sur-ji iH rounded with snow and transformed liter-; 'H ally Into a statuo of Ice. I havo seen him lH die on tho march, striding over tho sandy- Hl desert :ind yielding tip his last breath wlth , H his lose, step: I havo seen him dlo of hla IHI wounds on tho battlefield or In tho hospw- fH tal, nt a distance of 3000 miles from his, 'll native village and in thoso supremo mo-. fjB aientn I havo always found tho Russian; -V soldier sublime. IH Although a child of the plain, whero his 'HU cyo rarely descries the moat modost hill, 1 H we see him boldly scalo tho topmoHt num-j HH mlts of the Caucasus and climb tho rocks HB and glaciers of the Thlaushan. lighting all! H tho time. Uo feels at home everywhere, j HiflH whether in tho sloppcs of tho fnthorland, . iHBIHI In the tundras of Siberia, or tho mouu--' IHiH tains and deserts of central Asia. He has', inH an exceptional faculty of putting himself' jHHH at his easo wherever h may be, oven in IHHi places whero others would dlo of hunger I BHO and thirst. IREifl I have seen tho Russian soldier at homo HSlBS in tlmo of peace, or during truces in tho f BHfwS oneniv's country, rocking the peasant's. Bwmf tloned; I havo seen him blvouacldng lnj IHEHB tho desert, with his tongue parched and' HraNEH burning, receive his rations of a quarter' 29H3 litro of Halt water; I have seen him liu BPSB heat and In cold. In hunger and In thirst, j HwISS In peace and In war and Uuuvo always) ffilaw found In him the same deslro to oblige. 'BvUW tho same abnegation of self for tne safety : HDRVa and tho good of others. These special j 'HKfln! charaeteriatlcs of tho RiiHslan soldier hla llKvm self-denial, his simple and natural self- HBaSfW? sacrifice give him peculiar powers as a' IE.?s23Hi warrior. From the chapter on Russia In . IKHj "Tho Armies of Today." written by a Rus-! HlBfTit slan General. 'MSiJE |
