New-York tribune., 1912-02-24
Russia and the Russians, Past
and Present.
THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE. BY Msurs1SsS Ma sSs
Raring With 4 maps svo. up. AlN' 'O'
Tba George III. Doran Company.

Barring With maps. svo, pp: NiN' WV
The George ii. Doran Company
The number of reliable, authoritative
works in English on Russia is tar iareel
than the magnitude and the persistence
of popular ignorance, misconcepton anu
MISUNDERSTANDING of the country ana i's
,aonle in England and here would lead
one TO suppose. Sir Donald MacKehZie
waIlace's exhaustive study OF the sun
tect still remains the best one OF theh
all in its new edition Of 1900, but MI
Baring's book, in it's smaller compass Is
likely TO find its way more easily anu
readily to far wider circle OF readers
His closing chapters on the abortiVe
revolution of 1905 are, moreover, de-
cidedly we'll worth reading in connection
with those of Mackenzie Wallaces oook'
The English speaking worlds knoWi-
edge OF Russia and the Russians is gen
orally derived, Mr.. Barring complains
from the totally inaccurate sensational
ism of English and American fiction and
melodramas, which present a strange
whirl of cigarette smoking, bomb throw
ing Nihilist princesses pitiless generals,
brutal sleuths of the Third Section, brill
liant fetes tempered by assassinatlons'
the shadow OF Siberia, endless snow
fields, slelghs, wolves. escapes and pur-
suits, and ultimate happy reunions.
There are the translations of the Russian
novelists to turn to for information, 1t
Is true, but they, with the exception of
Tolstoy, are considered caviare by the
multitude. In his volume Of Lowell lect-
ures on Russian history and literature
Prince Serge Wolkonski told us of an
American girl who frankly confessed to
him that she did not like Russian books
representing Russian life. She thought
that the things they pictured were not
original enough, and decidedly lacking in
'1ocal color" She much preferred Eng
lish novels about Russia, because they
were 80 much more Russian"
1t is then. to correct these false popular
impressions and to substitute for them
a measure of accurate knowledge that
Mr.. Barring has primarily written this
. book, which may also be considered as
in a certain sense, a by-product of the
Anglo Russian entente cOrdtdle, a fact
that in no way detracts from its value.
The author served THE London Morning
Post" as correspondent in the field dur
ing the Russo japanese War, and for
four years thereafter was its special cor
respondent in Russia. Beginning with
the physical characteristics of the coun-
try, he traces the origins Of its people,
oh 70 ha
acter, another to native manners and
customs, and then takes up the history
of the nation from it's earliest traceable
beginnings down to the present reign,
devoting, as has already been said, a
generous amount Of we'll utilized space
to the revolution Of 1908, which, to the
mystifCation of the whole civilized
world, ended in smoke. He turns here
and there to Russian literature where
1t closely touches and interprets Russian
character, life and history, ending with
pitiless analysis Of the 'Intelectuals,"
of whom so much has been said. A study
of the Russian Church closes the book.
Most interesting OF, all, perhaps. among
Mr. Baring's numerous corrections of
current misconceptions is his assertion,
maintained throughout. that, next to the
physical nature of the country-the un-
broken plain of European Russia, which
made migration easy, because every
where 1t presented the same conditions
of life-Russian public opinion has been
the deciding factor in the determination
of the course of Russian history:
No greater mistake can be made than TO
say that public opinion does not exist and
has not existed in Russia, because the man.
ner OF Its expression has been and is diff
1erent from that of public opinion in other
countries. and less regular. . We have
seen how Ivan the Terrible relied on the
support of the clergy and the people to cut
on the. heads and to destroy the power OF
the nobility. We have seen how Peter the
Oreat created and made democratic an
aristocratic state service. The deposition
OF Peter III Is striking instance of the
manltestation Of public opinion in Russian
history Catherine ii owed the
throne TO public opinion, and maintained
herself there by means of It. We have seen
now Alexander | and Nicholas l failed to
deal with the question Of emancipation be-
cause OF the unreadiness of public opinion
and how Alexander III brought about that
reform by means of it; how public opinion
vas SCI PACK ana panic stricken by his muir
ger, ana accepted the reaction which fol-
lowed during the reign of Alexander III.
1t is certainly not public opinion in the
Western sense Of the word, as Mr.. Bar
Ing himself admits but his statement is
far more convincing in the context than
II appears in this isolated quotation.
Most convincing Of all is it in his treat
ment Of the revolution Of 1905, which
was undoubtedly put down by Russian
public opinion, and not, as is generally
believed, by ruthlessly repressive gov
ernment measures. The country was
drifting into anarchy the real leaders
OF the reform movement, the moderate
liberals with a stake in the country and
its fortunes, foresaw chaos-revolution
had already degenerated into robbery.
arson and murder The 'intellectuals."
the self-appointed champions of the peo-
pie, filled with foreign PHILOSOPHERS and
Western culture. proved themselves, ac-
cording to Mr.. Barring, entirely out of
touch with the real spirit Of Russia.
They failed, not only because they had
no programme of construction along with
the destruction they preached. but also
because they could not produce the great
leader needed. In fact, according to the
author, the Russian "intelligenzia" has
not as yet produced a single great man
in literature, art or craftsmanship. In
1905 they had the opportunity which the
French third estate had in 1850, land it
was perhaps merciful providence which
prevented the power from falling into
their hands, and saved them from prov