The relation of the Ukrainian people to religion is also original and entirely different from that of all the adjacent nations. To the Ukrainian, the essence of his faith, its ethical substance, is the important factor. This he feels deeply and respects in himself and others. Dogmas and rites are less significant in the Ukrainian's conception of religion. Hence, despite differences in faith, not the slightest disharmony exists between the great mass of the orthodox Ukrainians of Russia and the Bukowina, and the 4,000,000 Greek-Catholic Ukrainians of Galicia and Hungary. From the ancient culture and consideration of the individual comes, also, the great tolerance of the Ukrainians toward other religions, a tolerance which we do not find among the Poles and Russians. The spirit of the Ukrainians has, likewise, been very indifferent toward all sects and roskols. Among the Poles, sects flourished very luxuriantly in the 16th Century; among the Russians, there are to this day any number of sects, often very curious ones, and more are constantly arising. Among the Ukrainians, a single sect has been formed, the so-called stunda (a sort of Baptist creed). This sect is not the result of rite formalism, however, but merely an effect of the Russification of the Ukrainian national church. In order to be able to pray to God in their mother-tongue, more than a million of the Ukrainian peasantry is persevering in this faith, which came over from adjacent German colonies, despite harsh persecution on the part of the Russian clergy and government.
The worth of Ukrainian culture appears, in its most beautiful and its highest form, in the unwritten literature of the people. The philosophical feeling of the Ukrainian people finds expression in thousands and thousands of pregnant proverbs and parables, the like of which we do not find even in the most advanced nations of Europe. They reflect the great soul of the Ukrainian people and its worldly wisdom. But the national genius of the Ukrainians has risen to the greatest height in their popular poetry. Neither the Russian nor the Polish popular poetry can bear comparison with the Ukrainian. Beginning with the historical epics (dumy) and the extremely ancient and yet living songs of worship, as for example, Christmas songs (kolady), New Years' songs (shchedrivki), spring songs (vessilni), harvest songs (obzinkovi), down to the little songs for particular occasions (e. g. shumki, kozachki, kolomiyki), we find in all the productions of Ukrainian popular epic and lyric poetry, a rich content and a great perfection of form. In all of it the sympathy for nature, spiritualization of nature, and a lively comprehension of her moods, is superb; in all of it we find a fantastic but warm dreaminess; in all of it we find the glorification of the loftiest and purest feelings of the human soul. A glowing love of country reveals itself to us everywhere, but particularly in innumerable Cossack songs, a heartrending longing for a glorious past, a glorification, altho not without criticism, of their heroes. In their love-songs we find not a trace of sexuality; not the physical, but the spiritual beauty of woman is glorified above all. Even in jesting songs, and further, even in ribald songs, there is a great deal of anacreontic grace. And, at the same time, what beauty of diction, what wonderful agreement of content and form! No one would believe that this neglected, and for so many centuries, suppressed and tormented people could scatter so many pearls of true poetic inspiration thru its unhappy land.
This peculiarity of the poetical creative spirit enables us, just as do the other elements of culture, to recognize the vast difference between the Ukrainian and the Russian people. The Russian folk songs are smaller in number and variety, form and content. Sympathetic appreciation of nature is scant. The imagination either rises to supernatural heights or sinks to mere trifling. Criminal monstrosities and the spirit of destruction are glorified as objects of national worship. The conception of love is sensual, the jesting and ribald songs disgusting.
Like their popular poetry, the popular music of the Ukrainians far surpasses the popular music of the neighboring peoples, and differs from them very noticeably. Polish popular music is just as poor as Polish popular poetry, and almost thruout possesses a cheerful major character. Russian popular music has many minor elements in addition to the major elements. But the Russian popular melodies are quite different from the Ukrainian. They are either boisterously joyous or hopelessly sad. The differences in the character of the melodies are so great that one need not be a specialist to be able to tell at once whether a melody is Ukrainian or Russian.