New-York tribune., 1912-02-24
Literary Nes0s and Criticism

Perhaps the reason why so many peopISS
have accustomed themselves 10 tnihh tni a.
the Russians as n semi-Oriental nation Is
that they have roughly considered SldNs'
Mongols, Firms and Tartars TO be all mem mem
bers of the same family, and have neeIe't!cu !
TO ascertain that the SlaV, so lar IIoIh ".
mo an Asiatic, is no more and no less
Turopean than a Greek. an Italian, 1el-
man, an Irishman or an Engfshmah'
notwithstanding all this, Mr.. Barring
states, almost in the same breath thAI
the difference between the Russian ana
the Western European is greater thah
that between the Russian and the ASH
attic. His study Of the national char-
acter is wisely based on a close STUDY OIL
the peasantry. He approaches this most
intriguing of literary psychological puz-
zles in a commonsense way, endeavorlhs
to prove that its paradoxes are apparent
only, the logical results Of the Russians S
antecedents. The hardships of the peas
ants life have taught him TO suiter, ana
to sympathize with suffering; but they
have also taught him to bear suffering
stoically, wherefore he innicts it with IN
sensibility on occasion. He is naturaily
humane, peaceful, averse to quarreIhAS
even in his cups Capable OF amazing
energy and dogged persistence in the
face of obstacles-Peter the Great is held
up to us by Mr.. Barring as the type OF
the race-he at the same time maniieSts
a happy easy spirit. 'Nicher0' Ono
matter'O is as typical of him as is 'P0
RuSSki" CRussian fashion'O, which
means "a power to accomplish a little
more than the maximum" as at Sebas-
topol, on tho trans-Siberian railroad dur
ing the war, or at Messina during the
rescue work after the disaster. Mr.. Bar
ing tells us that the superhuman daring
and unflagging energy of the Russian
sailors, their tender care for the suffer-
ing and their stern way with ghouls,
have already become legendary among
the Sicilian peasantry. This extra flip"
Of energy and daring is also seen in the
Russians inability to recognize a con-
ventional limit. TOO much is just
enough" in his play as in his work, and
in his logic. Mr.. Barring returns to this
trait at the end of his book in his chap
ter on nihilism:
I have already dwelt on the speculative
audacity of the Russian temperament its
Inability to recognize n final why not?'
It's passion for carrying out an idea TO
It's logical conclusion. The younger gem
Grafton saw that the logical conclusion of
what their elders had preached meant ter
rorism, and they said 'Why not?" 1t
meant death to others and death to them
selves, and again they said: why not?"
This is what is native, original. in
digenous, and peculiar to the movement.
The Russians carried out in practice what
the Westerners preached In theory The
and stopped. The Russians said THAT
way lies dynamite" and went on.
Elasticity, power Of comprehension,
assimilation and imitation, accompanied
by a corresponding lack of originality
and creative power; a great deal Of
human charity and moral indulgence,
with a corresponding absence of disci-
pline and tendency toward laxity; an
absence of "the cement of hypocrisy"
and often a corresponding lack Of hard
moral fibre; a faculty for all-round
adaptability, these are the leading char
acter traits Of the Russian people as Mr..
Barring sums them up. But their "fdcult6
mGitreSSe," as Taine put IT, is their un-
limited suppleness of mind-their "all-
humanness," as DostoYevsky put it. 1t
is found among the peasants as among
the supremely cultured, cosmopolitan
mobiles. 1t is an interesting analysis Mr.
Barring gives us, even though at times 1t
leads him, who would explain the seem
ing paradox" perilously close to para
doxes of his own.
Enough has already been said to sug-
gest the varied interest Of this capital
book, but room must be made for its
authors destruction Of another misrep-
resentatiOn, that, namely, which accuses
the Russian government Of deliberately
encouraging intemperance for the sake
of the revenue which the alcohol monop-
oily brings to it's Golfers:
The idea in making vodka" a monopoly
was that since you could not prevent the
peasant from drinking, he should at least
drink pure spirit undiluted with paraffin,
Before the monopoly was established, not
only anybody could sell vodka" but any
body could sell what. he pleased to call
vodka" The Introduction of the
monopoly, although II has improved the
quality Of the liquor sold, has not decreased
the quantity consumed
Mr.. Barings discussion Of Russian
peasant folksongs and music and super
stitions, and of the curious ways Of the
Russian censorship may be mentioned in
cIoSinp this review