s, Vampires, and
hosts of minor deities, good and evil. There were neither temples nor
priests, but the oak was venerated and consecrated to Perun; and rude
idols of wood stood upon the hills, where sacrifices were offered to
them and they were worshiped by the people.

They believed that their dead passed into a future life, and from the
time of the early Scythians it had been the custom to strangle a male
and a female servant of the deceased to accompany him on his journey to
the other land. The barbarity of their religious rites varied with the
different tribes, but the general characteristics were the same, and
the people everywhere were profoundly attached to their pagan
ceremonies and under the dominion of an intense form of superstition.

Slav society was everywhere founded upon the patriarchal principle.
The father was absolute head of the family, his authority passing
undiminished upon his death to the oldest surviving member. This was
the social unit.

The Commune, or _Mir_, was only the expansion of the family, and was
subject to the authority of a council, composed of the elders of the
several families, called the _vetche_. The village lands were held in
common by this association. The territory was the common property of
the whole. No hay could be cut nor fish caught without permission from
the _vetche_. Then all shared alike the benefit of the enterprise.

The communes nearest together formed a still larger group called a
_Volost_; that is, a canton or parish, which was governed by a council
composed of the elders of the communes, one of whom was recognized as
the chief. Beyond this the idea of combination or unity did not
extend. Such was the primitive form of society which was common to all
the Slavonic branches. It was communistic, patriarchal, and just to
the individual. They had no conception of tribal unity, nor of a
sovereignty which should include the whole. If the Slav ever came
under the despotism of a strong personal government, the idea must come
from some external source; it must be imposed, not grow; for it was not
indigenous in the character of the people. It would be perfectly
natural for them to submit to it if it came, for they were a passive
people, but they were incapable of creating it.

CHAPTER III

RURIK AND HIS DESCENDANTS

The Russian Slavs were an agricultural, not a warlike, people. They
fought bravely, but naked to the waist, and with no idea of milit