| Show f 4 J 1V THE BALTIC TROVIJVCES I pelas Baltic provinces arc at the at limo busily engaged In mak a story so that tho following facts lo of Interest Esthonln Ktir and Livonia are the districts i pally Involved In nil three the kcrocy Is Gcrmnn In language and but composes only a small part i population In Esthonla the vast ty of the Inhabitants are Esths dta nlsh people pf UraloAltalc r t Livonia and Kurlntul are In l Id chiefly by the Letts closely lI Ij to the Lithuanians The Rns t S constitute but a small fraction cco Inhabitants of the district In 0 tilrtecnth century the lJ athens athen-s dwelling on the shores of theE the-E were subjugated by the Knights Hearers and Teutonic knights Introduced the German clvlllza WIth the Lithuanians the Letts Ituto n separate division of tho b or IndoEuropean family Tho t UBslans belonged to tho Lotto anlan stock cso LottoLithuanians are phys well built Tho face Is mostly ated the features fine Tho fair hair blue eyes and delicate distinguish them from the Poles Russians Their dress Is usually fin comparison with that of the Poles and feraylsh colors predornluat in it Their language has great similarity simi-larity to the Sanskrit The popular poetry of both the Letts and Llth uaulnans Is rich In both idyllic and lyric songs Imbued with the tenderest love and melancholy and a most poetical I po-etical feeling for nature and are remarkable re-markable for their absolute chastity Tho national character Is fully exPressed ex-pressed In themnot warlike at all but melancholy nnt sociable In tho Lettish song there Is an added characteristic char-acteristic tho hatred which the people peo-ple feel toward the German landholders landhold-ers ft Despite the fact that the people are either Lutherans or Roman or Greek Catholics the names of tho old pagan divinities very numerous In their former for-mer mythology are continually mentioned men-tioned In songs and also In common speech The forests of Livonia and Kurland have played an Important part In their history Their chief priest worshiped In the forests the people brought their offerings to their divinities at the foot qf mighty oaks and even during tho fourteenth century cen-tury the zlncz an inextinguishable fire was maintained To this day traces of the worship of oak trees may be seen |
