lîELIGlON IN THE LIFK OF NATIONS. 71 



to tlio molluT, from -wlioin it tr-ars the joy ui' tlio little 

 liome ; and to the young man liimsclf, from whom it 

 takos away the noblest period of his free and hlooming 

 youth. 



All those sacrifices the failli of patriotism — that is, 

 the national sentiment purified and transfigured by 

 religion — counts as nothing. It leads the soldier to the 

 lield of carnage, there to fight like a hero, and to die 

 like a Christian. Let me cite one instance of it, to the 

 honor of our enemies ; those were enemies grand even 

 in defeat, and their valor magnified our victory. Well, 

 on the field of Inkermann, the battle over, when they 

 came to observe the dead with that regard for science 

 which is not inconsistent with a tender heart, the sur- 

 geons were struck with the look of religious and almost 

 ecstatic serenity impressed upon the laces of the l\us- 

 sian dead. 



2. Tlie Ilumanitarian Sentiment. 



[Father Hyacinthe remarked that, in our da3's, patriotic faith 

 has not, as formerly, to react only against personal selfishness, 

 but against the perversion of that sentiment, otherwise so just 

 and noble, the humanitarian sentiment.] 



When I was yet a boy, I used to read those noble lines 

 of one of our greatest poets : 



•' Yc nations ! (pompous name for savaj^c hate !) 

 Can love be halted at your boundarj'-lincs ? 

 Tear down those envious flags ! and hear the voice- 

 That other voice — that speaks this stem reproach : 

 ' Self-love and hate alone possess a country', 

 But brotherly love has none/ "* 



* Nations ! mot pompeux pour dire barbarie ! 

 L'amour s'arrête-t-il où s'arrêtent vos pas ? 

 Déchirez ces drapeaux ; une autre voix vous crie : 

 L'égoïsme et la haine ont seuls une patrie, 

 La fraternité n'en a pas î 



De LAMAnTiNK, La MarstVJai(>e de la jmix. 



