Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-03-27
POWYS LECTURES ON WORK
OF RUSSIAN PHILOSOPHER
Calls Dostoicvsky the Shakespeare OF
Russian Life and Lit
craturc.
EAKS At WOMAN's CLUB
Warns Against Looking Down on
Russian People, and Says There Is
Much That Angfo-SaXonS May
Learn OF Them.


Learn OF Them.
In II profound and scholarly address
made before tho Womaus club yes
terday. John cowper powys set forth
tho life and writings and philosophy
of tho great Dostoievsky--the soul
OF Russia" MIR. powys is one of the
most brilliant and scintillating speak
erS who has honorcd tho club with his
presence in many years. ESSayiSt.
novelist and poet. this great English
scholar. with ready. swift flow OF
language. and tho ever ready word
and phrase for description. IS Ice.
turcr OF rare ability and charm. He
speaks in a vidid. forccful fashion. and
his lecture yesterday was full of the
color and imagination OF the poet ana
master eSsayiSt.
Mr.. Powys came. DIR. !. Allison
hodges said in Producing him, to tell
OF the land where tolerance was never
known until the last few years
"DostoicvSky." said the speaker, lis
more Russian than Tolstoy. He, is a
man of tho Russian people. Born. in
the so-called House Of Grace. Mt Mos
COW. in rather squalid circumstances.
an epilcp;ic. the genius OF the man
was TO blossom and develop In the
weary wastes of Siberia. where he
was held prisoner"
In early life this great Russian
writer produced his first book in the
form of letters. 1t was written with tho
idcaliStic charm and delicate beauty
which characterized all of his writings
oficialiy. postoicvsky was not rovo-
lutionist In the opinion of the
speaker. he is the greatest Of all
psychologists. the greatest Of all nov
clistS. Inspired by pain. and one
might almost say insanity. Dostoicvsky
is in many relations like Shakespeare.
There is certain lurid naginatiou.
certain element Of pcssimiSri that
Shakespeare also had. 1t is the eternal
protest against the eternal cruelty Of
the system Of things.
DESCRIBES HORRORS OF
RUSSIAN PRISONS
In the authors account in The
House of the Dead" of the Russian
spread upon its pages. one finds Dos
toicrsky supremacy has the power OF
physiological horror He Was ncr.lcd
with other prisoncrs--thc vlest crmi-
mails of the country. as we'll as polit-
zeal prisoners, in the dreadful prison
house OF Siberia. tortured and beaten.
and yet. the speaker stated. the
Russian attitude toward criminals is
more scientinc and more Christian tran
our own. Given the genius Of the man.
given his epilepsy. hcrded with these
criminals in Siberia. they were bur
moods. he lived. $" I" speak. Oh The
brink Of preciEice, and drew his in
spiration from the sea of humanity
which washed in s1ch great waves
against his life.
Mr.. Powys drew splendid compari-
son between the philosophy and teach
inGs of Nietzsche and Dostoievsky.
The Russian writer uses the psychoi-
oGy OF weakness on behalf OF the weak
maintaining that il is out of weakness
that il is out OF pain, that II is out
of madness that the secret of life must
come. When lie came back from ST.
IBERIA he did not !oathe the government.
he did no, return from his prison house
with malice in his heart, but rather Il
wonderful understanding that every
life needs TO suffer. Out of pain must
come the secret of life. All Russia
was present at his funeral-all hu-
manity came TO pay tribute At the bier
OF DostoieNSky. Only the death Of
such a man could unite the two en-
trcmes of. on one side, an aristocracy Of
wickedncss. and on the other. mad rev
olutionists, terrorists. nihilists. The
death Of Dostoievsky brought them to-
Gethcr.
Every Russian is first a Russian. but
TolStoy has attracted because he is a
great human figure: Dostoievsky is a
Russian, first and last. lie was a cui-
tfvated person and a great journalist
that we are AL OF us little mad
The Possessed" in Mr.. Powys's opin-
ion. is the greatest OF all the great au
thors books. What interests the writer
passinnately is passionate souls, and he
pictured alike his kings and his knaves.
As a matter OF fact. great revolution
lists and great despots are sinEularly
alike. Human nature looks out from
every printed page OF his works. Dos
toieNsky is the Russian Shakespeare,
in that he mirrors life from every view
point.
MUCH IN RUSSIA THAT
ANGLO-SA MAY LEARN
There was real spiritual democ-
racy in Russia long before the present
revolution" MIR. Powys stated. some
thing in Russian private life tina, was
freer than in England or America. We
must never patroniZe Russia. II is an
Insult Russia is certain to have a
great and prolonged influence I'm the
world. because OF her mysticism, her
imaginative mysticism. They are eX-
tremists the Russians but the Anglo
Saxon may we'll learn of them.
The Idiots was Dostoievsky's own
favoritc Of his novels. Mr.. Powys set
forth In mastery fashion the philos-
ophy OF the greatest of all the Slavs.
our own ideals are not high enough.
not terrible enough, for the needs Of
life
The ideal OF Russia and the philos &.
ophN OF Dostoievsky is that out of ex-
IRENE emotion. out of extreme pain.
out Of madness and sutferinE-out of
these things we approach the beatiiic
vision which is God"
Dostoicvsky is himself the expires
sion Of Russia. and his challenge TO
the world is that it needs not moral
ity. but san-tity.
Russia" said Mr.. rowyS. in con-
Guiding his wonderful address. Rus
STA is destined to lead humanity for
ward ana give II its clue for the flu
! ture."