Tolstoi's Terrific Rebuke of Russia's Crimes
A
.
Fell Text of His Awful Excoriation of the Impe rial Government That Has Startled the World.
f .OLLOWING to the iuu
V Tolstoi1, recent arraignment of the
t Russian Imperial Government;
t". "Seven death sentences," the scathing
S buke begin, "two In St. Petersburg.
,7.ne In Moscow, two In Penxa, and two
n Riga. Four executions; two In Kher
on. one in VII na. one In Odessa.
"This Wi daily reported In every news-
aaper and continued, not for weeks, not
for months, not for one year, but for
A' years' And this Is Russia, that same
Russia where the people regard every
criminal a a man to be pitied and where
A till quite recently capital punishment wa
i not recognised by law! I remember how
proud I used to be of that, when talklnaT
- to Western Europeans; but now fora.ec
ond and even a third year we have exe
cution, executions, executlona unceas
ingly: Awful Record of Executions.
"I take up today's paper.
"Today. May 9. it is something awful.
The paper contains these few words: 'To
day in Kherson on me o(renmj
twentv . . . peasants were hanged for
n attack made with Intent to rob on a
. anded proprietor's estate In the Llixa-
'; j , etgrad district. '
' ' "Twelve of those by whose labor we
',, ' ve. the very men whom we have de
raved and are still depraving by every
, near, in our power-front the Poison of
.odka to the terrible falsehood of a. creed
. i..- KiiArc in. but lm-
,v co not qui so to "
rns- on them with all our might-twelve
f these men strangled with cords by
those whom they feed and clothe and
honse. and who have depraved, and still
continue to deprave them. Telve,h"8
banda, fathers, sons, from among those
on whose kindness. Industry, and sim
plicity alone rests the whole of Ruian
life. were seised. Imprisoned and
.hackled. Then their hands were tied be
hind their backs, lest they should seize
the ropea by which they would be hanged
and they were led to the gallow..
Noose Soaped by Hangmen.
, .imilar to those who
V ' are about to be hanged, but armed dress
1 d in clean soldiers' uniforms, with good
boots on their feet, and wnn guns
their hands, accompany the condemned
men. Beside them walks a long-haired
man wearing a stole and vestment of
gold and ailver cloth and beanng a cross
The procession stops. The manager of
the whole business says something, the
secretary reads a paper, and when
V the paper has been rrao. iu.
haired man. addressing those whom other
V -eople are about to strangle with cords.
,vs something about God and Christ,
.wnmedlately after these words the hang-
an (there are several, for one man
.uld not manage so complicated a busl
V -s) dissolve, some soap. and. having
taped the loops in the cords, that they
' . . : hatllPfl
av tighten oetier, icno -t
en. put shrouds on them, lead them to
scaffold, and place the well-aoaped
around their necks.
rnsneu v w
"And then, one after another, living
men are pushed off the benches, which
are drawn from under their feet, and
by their own weight suddenly tighten
the nooses around their neck and are
painfully strangled. Men alive a minute
before become corpses dangling from
rope, at first slowly swinging, and then
Testing motionless.
All thla is carefully arranged and plan
'ned by learned and enlightened people of
the upper class. They arrange to do
these things secretly at daybreak, so
that no one .hould see them done and
they arrange that the responsibility for
these iniquities .hall be o divided among
those who commit them that each may
think and say that it is nut ... -responsible
for them. They arrange to
.eek out the moat depraved and unfor
tunate of men. and. while obliging them
to do this business, planned and approved
by us. still keep up an appearance of ab
horring those who do It.
nesponsibility Shifted to Army.
Even such a aubtle device la planned as
this: Sentences are pronounced by am Hi
lary tribunal, yet It 1. not the military
jut civilian, who have to be present at
.he execution. And the business la per
ormer by unhappy, deluded, perverted
nd desperate men who have ""thing
eft them but to soap the cords well that
they may grip the necks without fa I.
then to get well drunk on poison sold
them bv these same enlightened upper
class people. In order more quickly and
fullv to forget their souls and their qual
ity as men. A doctor make. hiB round of
th bodies, feels them, and reports to
those In authority that the business has
been done properly; all are certainly
dad. And those in authority depart to
their ordinary occupations with the con
sciousness of a necessary though painful
task performed. The bodies, now grown
cold, are taken down and buried.
The thing is awful.
And this Is not done once and not to
those 12 unhappy, misguided men from
among the best class of the Russian peo
ple only, but It Is done unceasingly for
years, to hundred, and thousands of simi
lar misguided men. misguided by the
very people who do these awful things
to them.
Tortures, and Violence In Prisons.
And not thla kind of dreadful thing
lone la being done but In the same plea
and with the same cold-blooded cruelty
all sorts of other torture, and violence
are being perpetrated in prisons, for
tresses, and convict settlements.
And while this goes on for years all
over Russia, the chief culprita of these
acts, those by whose order these things
are done, those who could put a atop to
them, fully convinced that such deeda are
useful and even absolutely necessary,
either devise, methods and make up
speeches on how to prevent the Finns
from living aa they want to live and how
to compel them to live aa certain Russian
personages wish them to live or else
publish order, to the effect that "In
hussar regimenta the cuff, and collar,
of the men'. Jacket, are to be of the
color of the latter, while the pelisse, of
those entitled to wear them are not to
have braid around the cuff, over the
fur."
Thla la awful.
Evil by Spreading Depravity.
What la most dreadful In the whole
matter I. that all thi. inhuman violence
and killing, beaide. the direct evil done
to the victim, and their families, brings
a yet more enormou. evil on the whole
people by spreading depravity, aa fire
spreads amid dry straw, among the sim
ple working folk, because all these Iniqui
ties, exceeding aa they do a hundred
fold all that has been done by thieves,
robbers, and by all the revolutionaries put
together, are done as though they were
something necessary, good, and unavoid
able, and are not merely excused but
supported by different institution. Insep
arably connected in the people's minds
with Justice, and even with sanctity
namely: The aenate and the synod, the
Duma, the church, and the Car.
And thi. depravity spreads with re
markable rapidity.
Executioner I'aed to Ba Rare.
A short time ago there were not two
executioners to be found In all Russia.
In the '90s there waa only one. I remem
ber how Joyfully Vladimir Solovyof told
me at that time no second executioner
could be found in all Russia, and so the
one waa taken from place to place. Not
so now.
A, mill shopkeeper In Moscow, whose
, , .-
It . - '
vJ y
ft
COrjJfT LEO
affair, were In a bad way. having offered
his sen-ices to perform the murders ar
ranged by the government, and receiving
100 rubles ItM) tor each person hung, soon
mended his affairs so well that he no
longer required this additional business,
and Is now carrying on his former trade.
In Orel last month, aa everywhere else,
an executioner was wanted, and at once
a man waa found who agreed with the
organisers of governmental murder to do
business for 50 rubles (fc per head. But
the volunteer hangman after making this
agreement heard that more was paid in
other towns, and at the time of the exe
cution, having put the shroud sack on
the victim, instead of leading him to
the scaffold stopped, and. approached the
auperlntendent. said: "You must add an
other & rubles, your excellency, or I
won't do it."
He got the Increase and he did the Job.
Cut Rates for Murders.
The next time five were to be hanged.
The day before the execution a stranger
came to see the organizer of govern
mental murders on a private matter.
The organizer went out to hira and the
stranger aaid:
"The other day so and so charged you
16 rubles per man. Today I hear five are
to be done. Let me have the whole Job
and I'll do It at 15 rubles a head, and
you may be sure It shall be done prop
erly." T An nnl bnnw vhMllBP tilA OfffT WaS
accepted or not. but 1 know It was made:
Inhuman Brutality Made Honorable.
That is how the crimes committed by
the government act on the worst, the
least moral, of the people; and these
terrible deeds must also have an In
fluence on the majority of men of average
morality. Continually hearing and read
ing about the most terrible Inhuman
brutality committed by the authorities,
that is. by persons whom the people are
accustomed to honor as the best of men,
the majority of average people, especially
the young, preoccupied with their own
affairs. Instead of realizing that those
who. do such horrid deeds are unworthy
of honor. Involuntarily come to the op
posite conclusion, and argue that If men
generally honored do thing that seem
to us horrihle, probably these thing,
were not a. horrible a. we suppose.
Crime Become. Natural.
Of executions, hangings, murders and
bombs people now write and speak as
hv iijtd to idmIc about the weather.
Children play at hangings. Lads from
the high school, who are almost children,
go out on expropriating expeditions,
ready to kill. Just as they used to go out
hunting. To kill off the large landed pro
prietors In order to seise their estates
appears now to many people to be the
beet solution of the land question.
In general, thanks to the activity of the
government, whirh has allowed killing as
a means of obtaining Its end, all crimes
robbery, theft, lies, tortures and mur
j.r Rre now considered by the miserable
wink who have been perverted by the
government to be most natural deeds,
proper to a man.
Xa, awful as are the deed, themselves,
the moral, spiritual, unseen evil they
produce Is Incomparably more terrible.
Answers to Peace) Excuse.
Ton say you commit all these horror,
to restore peace and order.
By what means do you restore them?
By the fact that you. representatives of
a Christian authority. leaders and
teachers approved and encouraged by the
servant, of the church, destroy the last
vestige of faith and morality In men by
committing the greatest crime. le..
perfidy, torture of all sorts, and the last,
most awful of crime., the one most ab
horrent to every human heart not utterly
depraved not Just a murder, a single
murder, but murder, innumerable, which
you think to Justify by stupid reference,
to .uoh and uch statutes written by
yourselves In these stupid and lying book,
of youra which you blasphemously call
the law. .. .U1D
Murders Will Not Pacify.
"You .ay that thi. 1. the only means
of pacifying the people and quelling the
revolution; but that Is evidently false.
It I. plain that you cannot pacify the
people unless you satisfy the demand of
most elementary Justice advanced by
Russia's whole agricultural population,
namely, the demand for the abolition of
private property in land and refrain from
confirming It and in various way. Irri
tating the peasants a. well a. those un
balanced and envenomed people who have
begun a violent struggle with you. You
cannot pacify people by tormenting them
and worrying, exiling. Imprisoning and
hanging women and children. However
hard you may try to stifle In yourselves
the reason and love natural to human
beings, you still have them within you
and need only come to your senses and
think In order to .ee that by acting as
you do that is. by taking part in such
terrible crimes you not only fall to cure
the disease, but, by driving It Inward,
make tt worse.
Cause Lies In Spiritual Mood.
"Thi. I. only too evident. The cause
of what la happening; doe. not lie in
physical events, but depends entirely
on the spiritual mood of the people,
which has changed, and which no ef
'?'-''. f
. v'.;'.''-
tat--
TOLSTOI.
forts can bring back to it. former
condition. Just as no efforts can turn
a grown-up man Into a child again.
c ... I i..lt.t!nn fw trannilttlitv cannot
depend on whether Peter is alive or
hanged or on whether John lives in
Tambof or in penal servitude at Kert
Cni..l t rr to ti rrt nr tranaulllitv
must.depend not on how Peter or John
alone but how the great majority ot
the nation regard their position, and
on the attitude of this majority to the
g-overnment. to landed property, to the
religion taught them, and on what this
mainpitv tf.rtnaMof tf hit COOd OT bad.
The power of events by no means lies
in the material conditions ot me. dui
In the spiritual condition of the people.
Though you were even to kill and tor
ture a whole tenth of the Russian na
tion the spiritual condition of the rest
could not become such as you desire.
Pacification Further orf.
"So that all you are now doing with
all your searchlngs. spylngs. evlllng.
prisons, penal settlements, and gallows
does not bring the people to the state
you desire, but on the contrary In
creases the irritation and destroys all
possibility of pacification.
"'But what is to be done? you say.
ia n a HnnAf Mow are the
Iniquities that are now perpetrated to
te stoppea .'
Key to Freedom la Land.
"The answer is simple: 'Cease to do
what you are doing.'
I.'i-... if ti r, nn n knew what Ought
to be done to pacify 'the people.' the
. . . - 1 l. ...
wnoie people umuy cupic " . " .
that what is most wanted for the paci
fying of the Russian . people is the
freeing of the land from private own
ership. Just as 60 years ago what was
serfdom if no one knew this it would
still be eviaent tnai 10 paciry me peo
nU rn ftucht Tint tO do What but in
creases its irritation.- Yet that Is Just
what you are doing.
"What you are doing you do not for
the people out lor yourselves io reiam
the position you occupy, a position you
erroneously consider advantageous, but
vklfh la rfl11v m. most nitlful and
you do It for the people: that la not
true. All tne aoominauons you oo are
done for yourselves. ror your own
.mkltinlla vain vi i ff 1 V
personal ends, in order to continue a
little longer in ins aepraviiy in wnicn
you live ana wnicn seems 10 you ae
slrable.
People See Through Selfishness.
"TJin-.f or n. i w K ..mi mnv rlerlnrA that
all you do is done for the good of the
t i. i i .. Kn,a
people, men nr t'esiiuiiuei mum
mn.Q t n imHorttaTiH vim and more and
more to despise you. and to regard your
measures ui icpiiaiiii o.iiu (."!''' ."-'i "
. ..A ..h 1, I. K rAO-ar-Hal
collective being, the government but
as tne personal evil aeeas or separata
i.ll a.lf-aaalrara.
"Again you say: 'Not we, but the
revolutionaries, began all this, and the
terrible crimes of the revolutionaries
...... n1 Ha iiinnnai.il hv Arm maaa-
ures (so you call your crimes) on the
part or in provernmeni.
"You say the atrocities committed by
the revolutionaries are. terrible. I do
not dispute it. but add that besides
being terrible they are also stupid, and
like your own actions hit beside
the mark. Yet, however terrible and
stupid may be their actions, all those
bombs and tunnellngs. and those re
volting murders and thefts of money
where near tha criminality and stu
pldity of the deeds you commit.
Xo Better Than Rebels.-
Thev are doing Just the same a.
you, and for the same motive.. They
are In the same I should .ay 'coml
cai no . .v.... ......... . " "
ful delusion that men having formed
for themselves a plan of what In their
opinion 1. the desirable and proper ar
rangement of society, have the right
.. .4 n.a.innilv nt Arranfflnr Atha- rai-
pie's live according to that plan. The
delusion 1. me same. xueso mcLiioua
are violence of all kinds Including
taking life. And the excuse Is that
an evil deed committed for the benefit
of many ceases to be immoral; and
that, therefore. without offending
against the moral law, one may lie.
rob and kill whenever this leads to
the realisation of that proposed good
condition for the many which we
imagine that we can fore.ee, and which
we wisn to esiao.iBii.
"You. srovernment men, call the act
. . , l. .1nna v.!.. 'l.nfllll.a1 an.4
'great crimes, but they have done and
are doing noming iimi you nave not
done, and done to an Incomparably
greater extent. They only do what
you do; you keep spies, deceive and
You take people'a property by all sorts
of violent means and use It as you
con.ider best, and they do the same.
Government Crimes Greater.
"You execute those whom you think
dangerous, and so do they. So that while
employing the same Immoral means as
thev ao xor me aLiainmenb ui juur aim.
you certainly cannot blame the revolu
tionaries. All you can adduce for your
own Justification, they can equally aa
duce for theirs: not to mention that you
j v. ..,11 rin. Tint rnmmlt such as
squandering the wealth of the nation,
preparing for war, making war. ana suo
duing ths oppressing foreign nationali
ties and much else.
"You say you have the traditions of
the past to guard, and the' action of the
great . men of the past as examples.
They, too. have their traditions also aris
ing from the past, even before the French
Revolution; and as to great men. models
to copy, martyrs that perished for truth
and freedom, they have no fewer of these
than you.
So that, if there is any difference be-
,AAn . .... it- i nniv that vmi wish every
thing to remain as it has been and is.
while they wish for a cnange. jvna in
thinking that everything cannot always
Hm.fn oa it tn bp. thPV WOUld be
more right than you had they not adopted
from you that curious, oesinranc ue
lusion that one set of men, can know a
form of life suitable for all men In the
future, and that this form can be estab
lished by force.
Exist by Leave of Government.
"For the rest, they only do what you
do. using the same means. They are al
together your disciples;' they have, as the
saying is. picked up all your little dodges;
they are not only your disciples, they are
your products, your children. If you did
not exist, neither would they: so that
when vov try to suppress them by force
you behave like a-man who presses with
his whole weight againat a door tnai
opens toward him.
'If there is any difference between you
and them, it is certainly not In your but
in their favor. The mitigating circum
stances on their side are, firstly, that
their crimes are committed under condi
tions of greater personal oanger than you
are exposed to. and risks and dangers
excuse much in. the eye. of impression
able youth. Secondly, that the Immense
majority of them are quite young people.
to whom It is natural to go astray, wnue
you are for the moat part men of ma
ture age; old men to whom reasonable
calmness and leniency toward the de
luded should be natural. Thirdly, a miti
gating clreumstanoe In their favor is
that, however odlou their murders may
be, they are not so coldly, systematically
cruel a. your Sohlusselburgs, transporta
tions, gt low. and shootings.
"The fourth mitigating circumstance
for the revolutionaries is that they all
quite categorically repudiate all religious
teaching and consider that the end Jus
tifies the means, and therefore they act
quite consistently when they kill one or
more men for the sake of the Imaginary
welfare of the many; whereas, you
government men from the lowest hang
man to the highest of those who com
mand them you all support religion and
Christianity, which is altogether Incom
patible with the deeds you commit.
"And K is you elderly men, leaders 01
other, men, professing Christianity, it is
you who say, like children who have been
fighting, 'we didn't begin It. they aiov
And that is the best you can say, you
who have taken on yourselves the role of
rulers of the people.
Sort of Man He Addresses.'
'Ann mlint mrt rtf mn nrft vou? Men
who acknowledge as God one who most
definitely forbade not only judgment and
punishment but even the condemnation of
nn.'. Vm-iaf nnn vhlt in clPArPHt tetTTlS
repudiated all punishment and affirmed
the necessity or continual iorgiveness,
however often a crime may be repeated;
one who oommanded us to turn the other
cheek to the smiter and not to return evil
for evil: one who, in the story of the wo
man sentenced to be stoned, showed so
simply and clearly the impossibility of
Judgment and punishment between man
.i man Ann vni i a.k n o wlp d an n tr that
teacher to be God. can And nothing better
to say in your aerense man uii tuejr
began, they kill; so let us kill them.'.
An artist of my (acquaintance mousm
of painting a picture. 'The Execution.'
and he wanted a model ior tne execu-
-i . i r nsavn thot tViA H lit V nf the
liunei . J-iw .... .
executioner at Moscow was at that time
performed by a watchman. xne artist
went to the watchman's house. It waa
Bastertime. The family were sitting in
their best clothes at the tea table, but
the master of the house waa not there.
rt that on catching
sight of a stranger he had hidden himself.
His wife also seemed atasnea ana saia
that her husband was not at home; but
his little girl betrayed, mm Dy savins.
Daddv's n the garret.' ne aio not. nuow
that her father was aware that he was
j-: ,-ti arA tfittlri not helo. therefore.
being afriUd of anybody. The artist ex
plained tO tne WJie Xnai lie wuii;u
husband as a moaei to paun. ucouao
faoe suited the picture he had planned
(of course, the artist did not say what
the picture vu for which he wanted the
watchman's face). Having got into con
versation with the wife, the artist, to
conciliate her. offered to lane ner
son aa . pupil.' This offer evidenUy
tempted the woman.
Man Suspect His Motive.
... nA ftar a time the
cne w:itt- 1 . ...-. -
. . . . J iMlrlmr ankatice. TTlOrOSe.
nuRoana euicn, . r - ...
restless and frightened. He long tried to
get the artist to say wny tutu t
he required Just him. When the artist
told him I e had met him in the .tijeet and
. 1 .ntt.v. tn thft nrolected
nis .ace eccmcu . -- ---- - -
picture, tne watchman asked where lie
had met himi at mi i. , m
clothe.? luid. evidently fearing and sus
pecting something evil, wouiu nui uume
to terms.
.vi. ...rutinncr at first hand
knowa'that he Is an executioner and that
he. does irons', and Is, therefore .bated,
and he Is afraid of men, and I think this
consciousness and this fear before men
atone for at least a pari 01
Seem Callous to Guilt.
. -tt tha apcrptnrv of the
riut you an. ."-
court to the Premier and the Czar-you
Indirect participators in me ....m... r -
. - . .. .. a rtrtt RPPm trt feel
petratPd every u.j --
your guilt, nor the .ham. your ParUclpa-
tlOIl ill tnftM norruio -v
. , v.. aa-rnpiirlnnar. vou rear
men. and' fear the more the
re.pon.lbillty for the crime. , .he public
prosecutor more imt . -- -
" . r r .t miT-t the reiieral Gov-
..r mor than th president th presl-
lent of tne touncu 01 ..-
itill and the Cxar mo.t of all. You are
: lr:. .,. nliu that executioner.
all airaiu, tmt, . --
you are afraid not because you know you
'uu . ,. IUU..II8A vou think
are doing evn, '
other people do evil. '
therefore I think that, low a. that un
fortunate watchman has fallen, he .lands
morally immeasurably higher than you.
.7 tturt authors ot these
parucipawia f ,
ri.ful crimes: you who condemn others
Instead of yourselves, and carry your
heads so Iilgn.
Quits Struggling- and Speaka.
. na- ant but human, that
we .11 are weak, that we all err and that
one cannot Juage anow.e..
.truggled against the feeling that was
and" aroused In me by thoe"P0"8,b'
for thee awful crimes and aroused the
more the higher the stand on the social
ladder. But 1 neimer can - -.--
. . ...... .iinir anv longer.
"I cannot and will n ot, first, because
an exposure of these people who do not
iee the full criminality of their actions
la necessary for them as well as for the
multitude that. Influenced by the external
m i...4.Mnn ni-nn Tried TO tnOB6
nonor ana muuow . .
persons, approve their terrib.e deeds and
even try to immw -
even "J , ..-..jr-i- anv lonaer.
because (I frankly confess it) I hope my
exposure of tnese men w. t, .
--.v.. tha . expulsion I desire
ai 1 1 . l 11 1-. , ......... -
. . . ... 4- nrhidh T Am IIOW 11 VI II kT
and In which I cannot but feel myself to
be a participator In tne crimes vuiuuuiLeu
around me. ,
"Everything now being done in Russia
1. done In the name 01 me genorivi net.
fare. In the name of the protection and
tranquaillity of the Inhabitants of u8sta
For me. therefore, exists the destitution
of the people, deprived of the first, most
natural right of men. the right to use
the land on which he Is born: for me the
half million men torn away from whole
some peasant life and dressed in uni
forms and taught to kill; for me that
false so-called priesthood, whose cniet
duty it is to prevent and conceal true
Christianity; for me all these transporta
tions of men from place to place: for
me these hundreds of thousands of nun-
.nndrlniT RbOtlt RUSSla:
for me these hundreds of thousands of
unfortunates dying of typhus and scurvy
In the fortresses and prisons which do
not suffice for such a multitude: for me
the mothers, wives and fathers of tno
exiles, the prisoners and those who are
hung, are suffering; for me are these
spies and this bribery; for me the inter
ment of these dozens and hundreds of
men rfho have been shot: for me the
horrible work goes on of these hangmen,
at first enlisted with difficulty, but now
co longer so loathing their work; ,for me
exist these gallows, with well soaped
cords, from which hang women, children
and peasants; for me exists mis ieiittc
e.mbitterment of man against his fellow
man. Room Even Connected With Crime.
"Strange as is the statement that all
this is done for me. and that I am a
participator in these terrible deeds, I
cannot but feel that there is an in
dubitable interdependence between my
spacious room, my dinner, my clothing,
my leisure, and these terrible crimes
committed to get rid of those who would
like to take from me what I use. And
though I know that these homeless, em
bittered, depraved people who but for
the government's threats would deprive
me of all I am using are products of
that cam.. tritvftrnmpnt'B action. Still I
..,nr.t twin fopHticr that at oresent my
peace really Is dependent upon all the
horrors that are now Demg perpen t
by the government.
"And being conscious of this. I can no
longer endure it, but must free myself
from tills intoleraole position, n. is im
possible to live so. n I. at any rate, can
not and will not live so.
Would Take Noose Himself.
"That is why I write this, and wi
circulate it by all means In my power,
both in Russia and abroad: that one of
two things may happen: either that these
inhuman deeds may be stopped, or that
mv connection with them may be
snapped and I put in prison, where I may
be clearly conscious that tnese norrors
are not committed on my behalf: or
still better (so good that I dare not even
dream of such happiness) they my put
on me, as on those 20 or 12 peasants, a
shroud and a cap and may push me also
off a bench, so that by my own weight
I may tighten the well-soaped noose
around my old throat.
To attain one of these two alms 1 ad
dress myself to all the participators in
these terrible deeds, beginning with those
who put on their brother men and women
and children those caps and nooses
from the prison warders up to you, chief
organizers and authorizers of these ter
rible crimes.
'Brother men! come to your senses!
stop and think! consider what you are
doing! remember who you are!
Are' You Not Men Above All?
"RofnrA hplnc- hanernpn. crenerals. pub
lic prosecutors. Judges, premiers, or czar
are you not men ; loaay auowea a peep
into God's world, tomorrow ceasing to
be. (You hangmen of all grades In par
ticular who have evoked and are evok
ing special hatred, should remember this.)
Is It possible that you, who have had
thla jthnrt frlimnap. of (?od'S WOrld (for
even If you be not murdered death is
always close behind us all), is It possiDie
that In your lucid moments you do not
see that your vocation In life cannot be
to torment and kill men; yourselves
trembling with fear of being killed, lying
to yourselves, to others and to God, as
suring yourselves and others that by
participation in those things you are do
ing an important and grand work for the
welfare of millions? Is it possible that,
when not intoxicated by your surround
ings, by flattery, and by the customary
sophistries, you do not each one of you
know that all this is mere talk, only ln
tAaA that wMIa rinlnir most evil deeds
you may still consider yourself a good
man?
Must Live by Love. Alone.
"You cannot but know that you, like
each of us. have but one real duty, which
Includes all others the duty of living the
short space granted us In accord with the
will that sent you into this world and
of leaving tt In accora wun umi. win.
And that will desires only one thing love
from man to man.
"But what are you doing? To what
are you devoting your spiritual strength?
Whom do you love? Who loves you?
Your wife, your child? But that Is not
love. The love of wife and children is
not human love. Animals love In that
wav even more . strongly. Human love
is the love of man for woman for every
man as a son of God, and, therefore, a
a brother.
"Whom do you love in that way? No
one. Who loves you In that way? No
one.
Feared as Hangman Is Feared.
"You are feared as the hangman or a
wild animal is feared. People flatter you
because at heart they despise and hate
you and how they do hate you. And you
know it, and are afraid of men.
"Yes. consider It. all of yon. from the
highest to the lowest accomplllces In
murder: consider who you are, and cease
to do what you are doing. Cease not for
your own sakes. -not for the sake of
your own personality, not for the gake of
men, not that any of you may cease to
be blamed, but for your soul s sake and
for the God who lives within you.
Makes Change in Numbers.
"June IS, 190S The papers have since
contradicted the statement, that 20 peas
ant were hanged. I can. only be glad
of the mistake, glad not only that eight
men less have been strangled than was
stated at first, but glad also that the
awful figures moved me to express In
these page, a feeling that has long
tormented me. Therefore, merely substi
tuting the word twelve for the word
twenty, I leave all the rest unchanged,
since what I said refers not only to the
1J who were hanged lUt to all the thou
sands who have likely been crushed and
killed."
THE COLUMBIA RIVER.
Stop not. O Wand'rer, In thy search for
Nature's grandest sights
Upon the banks of Rhone or Rhino, to find
supreme delights;
And linger not beside the Nile, upon the
desert sands.
Nor pitch thy tent on Mississippi's broad
and flowery lands.
But hither come upon this mighty river's
rugged shore.
Behold Its banks in evergreen and hear its
waters roar;
Then look above and feast thine eyes upon
the trackless heights,
I"ar o'er the realm of man where fearless
yet the eagle lights.
The woods that stretch from snowy peaks to
vales of fertile land
Have yet tho breath of purity as from their
Maker's hand. '
The Pyramids raised on thi. river's shore
since time began
In silent greatness shame the proud but
pigmy works of man.
Go stand before each waterfall that thun
dera from its height.
And feel the thrill of grandeur there, the
awe of Nature's might.
Then dream no more ot grander scenes
beneath this planet's skies
The masterpiece of Nature's work lios here
before thine eyes.
"There's no music like a little river's. It play, the
same tune (and that's the favorite) over and over aga.n
and yet does not weary of it. It takes the mind out-of-doors;
and though we should be grateful for good houses
there is, after all no house like God's out-of-doors. And
lastly, sir. it quiets a man down like saying hi PrftYeV
y -ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
. i
TO SAY NOTHING OT THE MAN
The Widow: To Say Nothing of the Man,
by Helen Rowland. Illustrated. I. Dodge
Publishing Co.. New York City.
One who bears a reputation .'or being
a man of the world and wh I thor
oughly experienced In the waywof what
Is called society, has remarked: "People
in books talk more amusingly .han peo
ple In real life." And this is demon
strated in this gossipy chocolate-cream,
augar-candy collection of wit now pre
sented as a typical Summer story. As
a laugh-maker, "The Widow" fills the
bill. It Is Just the cozy little book that
you can slip into your handbag when
about to undergo a railroad or steamboat
Journey, and expect to be entertained
during the trip.
What is it all about? Just conversa
tion, and then more conversation, be
tween a widow and a bachelor, the said
bachelor being William Travers, a young
man with more money than sense. It
must be understood that the widow,
Marlon, Is a captivating young person,
used to the ways of men. and that she
Is one who "gives one shy glance and
then looks down." She and her adorer
talk about nearly every conceivable sub
ject, their chief topic of course, being
marriage. They are both cynic but
happy ones, if that phrase be admissible.
Some of the .aytngs of thi. pair:
Ten years of married life will rub all the
varnish ofr your manners, all the color oft:
your Illusions, and all the finish off your
conversation-
Who la the wrong woman? The ether
woman, of course.
Isn't all Ihls talk absurd about trial
marriages? It ia considering that all mar
riages are-triala.
A man's Ideal woman la the one hi didn t
marry. , .
A man should choose a wife as he would
a dish at the Mitt, not because he flnds
her attractive, or dsllcloua. or spicy, but
because he knows she will agree with him.
and auataln him and won't keep him awake
nights nor give him a titter taste In his
mouth In the morning.
Custom, not the wedding certificate is the
tie that binds most of us. A wife or h
bsnd becomes a habit thet we And It diffi
cult to break away frr-m.
A man hates being pinned down: but a
woman doean't want anything around that
she can't pin down, from her belt and her
theories to ber hat and her huaband.
The lover who promise, all things ia like
the man who disputes the price because he
has no Intention of paying the bill.
Tha book cover is of that smart charac
ter that can be vaguely described as
"cute." The picture shows a young
woman In white under a red parasol, with
the big feet of a man next her. The
two people are apparently viewing a sea
shore, with Summer cloud, overhead.
Consumption; Its Prevention and Cure
Without Medicine, by Dr. Charles H.
Stanley Davis. $1. E. B. Treat & Co.;
New York City.
This little book comes with a de
servedly earned reputation, because of
the success of Its first edition. It is so
rational, and has the ring of experi
ence. The author emphasize, the necessity
of an open-air life and a rational sys
tem of diet in the absence of which
little help can be hoped for. The gen
eral opinion is expressed that there Is
no specific Influence in any climate, but
that different climates are suited to
different cases.
Two meals a day are shown to be
better than three, and in denouncing
the eviis of bad cooking it is stated
that "the Lord has provided plenty of
good food for us, but the devil has
eent along an army of bad cooks to
spoil it all." The use of refined white
flour, pastry, cake and .potatoes are
frowned upon, and a plea for more
universol eating of rice is made. A list
of principal Institutions in this couh
try for the treatment of pulmonary
tuberculosis is given, but It Is noticed
that in the list of states Oregon is not
Included.
The Irresistible Curve nt, by Mrs. I. Low
enbprg illustrated. $1.25. Broadway
Publishing Company, New York City.
I have never before heard of Mrs. I.
Lowenberg is an authoress, but assured
that she is not accustomed to write novels
although she seems to be a woman of
ambition, and has reverence for sacred
things and intellectual life. In "The
Irresistible Current" she has written an
Interesting but gloomy story of 558 pages
so gloomy that it ought to specially In
terest those who fear the approach of
sudden death. Too many of the people
in it die; painful scenes are enacted at
their deathbeds, and the one disturbing
feature of the story is the distressing
suicide of Henry Field, drunkard and
gambler, told on page 294.
The tale opens in the suburbs of Wies
baden. Germany, describing a conversa
tion between Mrs. Kheinberg and her
daughter. Buth. On page eight, Mrs.
Rhelnberg la sick with typhoid fever.
on page nine she dies, and on page ten
her husband dies. And so on. The grin
ning skeleton seems to peer at you from
every chapter. The story swiftly changes
to this country, it. principal characters
being Jewish people, and they learnedly
discuss their faith. They are-at inter
vals joined by Catholics and Unitarians,
and the conversations often have a
sombre, theological flavor, the general
trend being deep seriousness.
The heroine Is Miss Grace Feld, who
changes from the faith of Israel to that
of the Catholic Church, and under tlt
name of Sister Catharine she Joins a
convent. And of course she dies before
very long, under distressing condition,
and the general atmosphere of tears Is
Increased.
The title of the novel may be under
stood by this quotation from the closing
chapter:
The Idea of a uniform belief in God and
the Immortality of the aoul In conjunction
with the precepts of Moe, Jeatia. and
other great teachera, "O that all m"
dwell together In concord, and ao thai no
difference of creeds will exist to Intervene
and destroy human happtnea. is to me a
beautiful one. If we can only plant the
seed of thla conception of a universal har
mony, it will surely go on aa surely as the
propagation of sounds, and in future gen
sratlona It will sweep all before It. as It
la the trend of the times. . . It la The
Irrealatlble Current."
The authoress must be complimented
on her charming word pictures of Jewish
family life.
Value. Frlee and Pro fit, by Karl Marx. Ed
ited by Eleanor Marx Avellng. Charles H.
Karr A CO., Chicago.
The socialistic lessons taught in thla
little book were never published dur
ing the lifetime of Marx, but the papers
on which they were written were found
after the death of Kngle.
In a measure what Is now so clearly
given is an epitome of the first volume
of "Capital." On being asked what Is
the best succession of books for the
student to acquire the fundamental
principals ot socialism. Edward Ave
llng answers, first. Engel's "Socialism.
Utopian and Scientific." then the pres
ent work; and afterward the flr.t vol
ume of "Capital" and the students
Mane.
"Value, Price and Troflt" is a terrific
arraignment of capitalism, and ia a
plea for the abolition of the wages sys
tem. What ought to he placed In plar
of these said wages, by which we !lv
at present, is not clearly explained.
Glittering generalities are used In
speaking of the final emancipation of
the working class.
The Voice of the City, by O Henry. The
McClure Company, New Tork City.
I don't know if the remark has struck
many people, but O. Henry, king of short
story tellers. Is tho Guy de Maupassant
of America. No other writer comes near
him for crisp, delicious fiction, and this
Is again seen In 25 delightful stories of
modern New Tork life issued under the
head "The Voice of the City," the voire
being each character's particular cry.
The stories have a smile and also a
chuckle In them, and I don't know- a
better natural volume to take away on
a vacation trip than this one. "A Lick
penny Lover," "Little Speck In Gar
nered Fruit." "Dougherty's Eye Opener,"
and "The Momento" are the strongest
stories. They can be enjoyed without
working your brain too much, and all
tell about human, work-a-day Americans.
No Lady Clara Vere de Vere for our
author.
Henry James and William Dean
Howells may be the solid, roast-beef on
the tahle of fiction. O. Henry is the
delicate salad.
J. M. QUENTON.
IS LIBRARY AND WORKSHOP.
"Japan" Is the central theme of the Pa
cific Monthly for August. A representation
of an "old" Japanese faco appears oa the
front cover, aa a Mikado ma?k. and one of
the frankest diacusslous to be read any
where on Japan's new expansion policy la
Bhlnlehro Baito'a article. "The Coming
Struggle In the Far Kaet." Charlton B.
Perkins contribution on "Chinese Absence
of Feeling," showing the utier lsxk of sym
pathy of the race. Is remarkable for Us
calm study of an often misunderstood sub
ject. The biggest fiction feature is "Tha
Backsliding of Kzeklel." a well-written story
by John Fleming Wilson. C. E. S. Wood.
It la announced, will contribute two poems
to the September number of the magaxlne a
rollicking "Hong of Summer." and a ron
deau. Of courae. the biggest literary an
nouncement of the month la that In next
month's number the opening chapters of
Jack Itntlon'l new novel. "Martin Eden."
will appear. The publishers of the Taclflc
Monthly bave advertised thla opening at
traction of Ixmdon's ao well that interest In
It la widespread.