RUSSIAN MORALITY 435 



river, sledges are frequently to be seen laden and covered 

 over with reindeer skins ; they are perfectly safe, and 

 are often thus left for months. The natives used to be 

 truthful in their dealings with strangers, and their word 

 was formerly as good as their bond ; now they have 

 become corrupted by intercourse with the Russians. 

 Siberia is largely peopled with exiles, and even a political 

 exile, isolated from his own set, and removed from the 

 restraints of society, loses after a while the conscience 

 which formerly governed his conduct towards those 



BRONZE MIRROR FROM ANCIENT GRAVE NEAR KRASNOYARSK 



who formed his surroundings. Smarting also, perhaps, 

 under a keen sense of injustice, he gradually conforms 

 his thoughts and actions to the low standard of morality 

 sure to be found amongst exiled criminals. Truth and 

 honour are, at best, scarcely known in Russia. Like the 

 Greek, the Russian lies without shame, and looks upon 

 cunning as the highest virtue. Siberia is sorely in need 

 of a hero, a man who, having made a fortune honestly 

 by energy, enterprise, and ability, is capable of spending 

 it wisely. In a country where the rouble is worshipped 

 as devoutly as the almighty dollar is said to be in the 

 United States, such a man might do much to raise the 

 tone of society, infuse fresh intellectual life amongst the 

 better-educated few, and establish a new standard of 

 honour and morality in commercial intercourse. I believe 

 the only hope for Russian society lies in its merchants. 



