New-York tribune., 1911-12-17
RUSSIA'S MYSTERY
An Inquiry Into the National Soul
of Slavdom.

I.NDrscOvERED RUSSIA By BY: SteH,,re ,5 iiors
Graham. With twenty-siN illustIati1T 1',iS
and three maps. SvO, PIP. XVI ""'' i''
John Lane Company.
The Russian temperament remains
nuzzle To the West no less cOmpllcdted
and impenetrablc than the Chinese NINA
The autocracy tempered by assass'i'd-
ton We all know. or at least believe t'ia'
we know. but the soul of the mass ol
the people. the mystic mind OF the nlou-
iik remains hidden from MS, not"ilh-
standing our exhaustive studies in Rus
sian literature. The title Of Joseph Con-
RAIDS latest contribution 10 our sources
oC information Under Western Eyes
ie q misnomer. Conrad. a SlaV, sees
with the eyes of his own kindred race
NOT with those of the West To which he
would serve as Interpreter
4 contribution of uncommon value anu
intere st to our knowledge of the heart ol
Russia is this new book of Mr.. Grahaih'
which takes MS to the furthest north ol
the empire. among the moujiks dwelling
in the region of the White Sea, beyond
Archangel. a region where western
dress. Western culture. never pehetraIeS'
If is in concrete instances IS the OASIS
for the deduction of CONGRATULATIONS. that
Mr. Graham attempts 70 bring this real
Russia before our eyes and to our
understanding. He loves il. he SYM
pathizes with IL and ne considers 1t the
saving complement of the civilization OF
the West. In the words of MercZhoYsky:
We Russians resemble YOU as the lett
hand resembles the right. WHAT you nave
we also have. but i'm reversed order. =.
Your genius is Of the definite, ours OF the
Infinite You know how 10 save your
selves i'm time. to ind way around walls
or to return: we rush onward ana pieah
our heads IT is difficult 10 stop uS. go.
You love the middle; We the eNtrenllleS'
You are sober-Ve drunken. you reason
able. we--lawiess. You guard ana kee'
your souls. We always seek to lose ours
You possess. we seek. For you
nolitics-knowled for us--reigior. Not
i'm reason and sense in which We often
reach complete ncCation- -nlhilism-out H.
our occult will we are mystics
Holy Russia Mr.. Graham finds in TIA"
hearts of the women of peasant Russia.
who keep themselves pure and the race
stinencc from the omnipresent intemper-
ancc Of their men. As for the young
'intellectuals" he met eXiled from the
universities under suspicion. ne found
them as little well balanced as young
enthusiasts are elsewhere and as ig-
norant Of the real Russia as he was
himself In an argument with one Of
them Mr.. Graham. who had just been
told that England is no longer the cham
pion Of the oppressed. declared:
"ru tell Won why wouldn't take par;
in your political struggle. II l. because
all Russian are liars.
You arc speaking from German point
Of view replied the revolutionary. You
think fact is or * not We instinctlVciN
know that every fact both is. and is
OF.
The work has great charm. also. as a
book Of travel pure and simple to him
who chooses to take the character
sketches at their surface value. Mr..
Graham found strange beliefs and
supcrstitions. paganism. material con
dirions. ways and customs antedating
Christianity. The danger is ever
present there Of being mistaken FOR
Antchrist. and dealt with accordingly
with headlonc religious enthusiasm
And. auropos of his discourse on Rus
.ian intemperancc. ono cannot help
wondering if an" "drunkard's mclan-
choll" OF the day after has not some
connection with the puzzle Of the Slay
soul