n them. When the
husband died, the widow was compelled to cast herself upon the funeral
pile which consumed his remains. It is said that this barbarous
custom, which Christianity abolished, was introduced to prevent the
wife from secretly killing her husband. The wife was also regarded as
the slave of the husband, and they imagined that if she died at the
same time with her husband, she would serve him in another world. The
wives often followed their husbands to the wars. From infancy the boys
were trained to fight, and were taught that nothing was more
disgraceful than to forgive an injury.

A mother was permitted, if she wished, to destroy her female children;
but the boys were all preserved to add to the military strength of the
nation. It was lawful, also, for the children to put their parents to
death when they had become infirm and useless. "Behold," exclaims a
Russian historian, "how a people naturally kind, when deprived of the
light of revelation can remorselessly outrage nature, and surpass in
cruelty the most ferocious animals."

In different sections of this vast region there were different degrees
of debasement, influenced by causes no longer known. A tribe called
Drevliens, Nestor states, lived in the most gloomy forests with the
beasts and like the beasts. They ate any food which a pig would
devour, and had as little idea of marriage as have sheep or goats.
Among the Sclavonians generally there appears to have been no
aristocracy. Each family was an independent republic. Different tribes
occasionally met to consult upon questions of common interest, when
the men of age, and who had acquired reputation for wisdom, guided in
counsel.

Gradually during the progress of their wars an aristocracy arose.
Warriors of renown became chiefs, and created for themselves posts of
authority and honor. By prowess and plunder they acquired wealth. In
their incursions into the empire, they saw the architecture of Greece
and Rome, and thus incited, they began to rear castles and fortresses.
He who was recognized as the leading warrior in time of battle,
retained his authority in the days of peace, which were very few. The
castle became necessary for the defense of the tribe or clan, and the
chieftain became the feudal noble, invested with unlimited power. At
one time every man who was rich enough to own a horse was deemed a
noble. The first power recognized was only military authority. But the
progress of civilization d