[Frontispiece: The Empress of Russia and Queen Alexandra]
RUSSIAN MEMORIES
BY
MADAME OLGA NOVIKOFF "O.K."
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY STEPHEN GRAHAM
AND FIFTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS
HERBERT JENKINS LIMITED 12 ARUNDEL PLACE HAYMARKET LONDON S.W. MCMXVII
WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LTD., PRINTERS, PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND
{1}
INTRODUCTION
BY STEPHEN GRAHAM
It is perhaps a little superfluous for one of my years to write an
introduction for one so well known and so much esteemed and admired as
Madame Novikoff. And yet it may seem just, if it does not seem vain,
that a full-hearted tribute should come to her from this generation
which profits by the result of her life and her work--the great new
friendship between England and Russia.
She is one of the most interesting women in European diplomatic
circles. She is a picturesque personality, but more than that she is
one who has really done a great deal in her life. You cannot say of
her, as of so many brilliant women, "She was born, she was admired, she
passed!" Destiny used her to accomplish great ends.
For many in our society life, she stood for Russia, was Russia. For
the poor people of England Russia was represented by the filth of the
Ghetto and the crimes of the so-called "political" refugees; for the
middle classes who read Seton Merriman, Russia was a fantastic country
of revolutionaries and bloodthirsty police; but fortunately the ruling
and upper classes always have had some better vision, they have had the
means of travel, they have seen real representative Russians in their
midst. {2} "They are barbarians, these Russians!" says someone to his
friend. But the friend turns a deaf ear. "I happen to know one of
them," says he.
A beautiful and clever woman always charms, whatever her nationality
may be, and it is possible for her to make conquests that predicate
nothing of the nation to which she belongs. That is true, and therein
lay the true grace and genius of Madame Novikoff. She was not merely a
clever and charming woman, she was Russia herself. Russia lent her
charm. Thus her friends were drawn from serious and vital England.
Gladstone learned from her what Russia was. The great Liberal, the man
who, whatever his virtues, and despite his high religious fervour, yet
committed Liberalism to anti-clericalism and secularism, learned from
her to pronounce the phrase, "Holy Russia." He esteemed her. With his
whole spiritual nature he exalted her. She was his Beatrice, and to
her more than to anyone in his life he brought flowers. Morley has
somehow omitted this in his biography of Gladstone. Like so many
intellectual Radicals he is afraid of idealism. But in truth the key
to the more beautiful side of Gladstone's character might have been
found in his relationship to Madame Novikoff. And possibly that
friendship laid the real foundation of the understanding between the
two nations.
Incidentally let me remark the growing friendliness towards Russia
which is noticeable in the work of Carlyle at that time. A tendency
towards friendship came thus into the air far back in the Victorian era.
{3}
Another most intimate friendship was that of Kinglake and Madame
Novikoff, where again was real appreciation of a fine woman. Anthony
Froude worshipped at the same shrine, and W. T. Stead with many another
in whose heart and hand was the making of modern England.
A marvellously generous and unselfish nature, incapacity to be dull or
feel dull or think that life is dull--a delicious sense of the
humorous, an ingenious mind, a courtliness, and with all this something
of the goddess. She had a presence into which people came. And then
she had a visible Russian soul. There was in her features that
unfamiliar gleam which we are all pursuing now, through opera,
literature and art--the Russian genius.
Madame Novikoff was useful to Russia, it has been reproachfully said.
Yes, she was useful in promoting peace between the two Empires, she was
worth an army in the field to Russia. Yes, and now it may be said she
has been worth an army in the field to us.
When Stead went down on the _Titanic_ one of the last of the great men
who worshipped at her shrine had died. Be it remarked how great was
Stead's faith in Russia, and especially in the Russia of the Tsar and
the Church. And it is well to remember that Madame Novikoff belongs to
orthodox Russia and has never had any sympathy whatever with
revolutionary Russia. This has obtained for her not a few enemies.
There are many Russians with strong political views, estimable but
misguided men, who have issued in the past such harmful rubbish as
_Darkest Russia_, journals and pamphlets wherein {4} systematically
everything to the discredit of the Tsar and his Government, every ugly
scandal or enigmatical happening in Russian contemporary life was
written up and then sent post free to our clergy, etc. To them Madame
Novikoff is naturally distasteful. But as English people we ask, who
has helped us to understand "Brightest Russia"--the Russia in arms
to-day? And the praise and the thanks are to her.
STEPHEN GRAHAM.
Moscow,
27_th August_, 1916.
{5}
EDITOR'S PREFACE
The late W. T. Stead in saying to Madame Novikoff, "When you die, what
an obituary I will write of you," was paying her a great compliment;
just as was Disraeli, although unconsciously, in referring to her as
"the M.P. for Russia in England." With that consummate tact which
never fails her, Madame Novikoff has evaded the compliment and
justified the sarcasm. Disraeli might with justice have added that she
was also "M.P. for England in Russia"; for if she has appeared
pro-Russian in England, she has many times been reproached in Russia as
pro-English.
Of few women have such contradictory things been said and written,
things that clearly show the gradual change in the political barometer;
but her most severe critics indirectly paid tribute to her remarkable
personality by fearing the influence she possessed. In the dark days
when Great Britain and Russia were thinking of each other only as
potential antagonists, she was regarded in this country as a Russian
agent, whose every action was a subject for suspicious speculation, a
national danger, a syren whose object it was to entice British {6}
politicians from their allegiance. Wherever she went it was, according
to public opinion, with some fell purpose in view. If she came to
London for the simple purpose of improving her English, it meant to a
certain section of the Press Russian "diplomatic activity." The Tsar
was told by an English journalist that he ought to "be very proud of
her," as she succeeded where "Russian papers, Ambassadors and Envoys
failed"; another said that she was "worth an army of 100,000 men to her
country"; a third that she was a "stormy petrel." She was, in fact,
everything from a Russian agent to a national danger, everything in
short but the one thing she professed to be, a Russian woman anxious
for her country's peace and progress.
In Serbia there is a little village whose name commemorates the death
of a Russian hero, Nicolas Kiréef, Madame Novikoff's brother. In his
death lay the seed of the Anglo-Russian Alliance. Distraught with
grief, Madame Novikoff blamed Great Britain for her loss. She argued
that, had this country refused to countenance the unspeakableness of
the Turk in 1876, there would have been no atrocities, no Russian
Volunteers, and no war. From that date she determined to do everything
that lay in her power to bring about a better understanding between
Great Britain and Russia. For years she has never relaxed her efforts,
and she has lived to see what is perhaps the greatest monument ever
erected by a sister to a brother's memory--the Anglo-Russian Alliance.
{7}
Nothing discouraged her, and at times, when war seemed inevitable, she
redoubled her efforts. In all her work, she had chiefly to depend on
her own ardour and sincerity. It was this sincerity, and a deep
conviction as to the rightness of her object, that caused Gladstone to
become her fearless ally. Politically he compromised himself by his
frank support of her pleadings for peace and understanding.
For many years feeling ran too high in this country for a reasoned
consideration of Madame Novikoff's appeals. "Peace with honour" talk
became a meaningless catch phrase, otherwise it would have been seen
that it was "peace with honour" that she advocated, and has never
ceased to advocate, peace with honour, not to one, but to two great
peoples.
Slowly the eyes of empire shifted from one continent to another, and
gradually Madame Novikoff found her voice commanding more and more
attention, until at last the Anglo-Russian Agreement paved the way for
the present Alliance.
Her success is largely due to the methods she adopted. She gave and
received hard knocks, and she never fell back upon her sex as an
argument or a defence. She was fighting with men, and she fought with
men's weapons, and this gained for her respect as an honourable and
worthy antagonist. Even at the time when feeling was most strongly
against her work, there appeared in the newspapers many spontaneous
tributes to her ability and personality. {8} The very suspicion with
which she was regarded was in itself a tribute.
Later when Russia and Great Britain had drawn closer together, there
appeared in the Press some of the most remarkable tributes ever paid to
a woman, from which in justice to her and the Press I venture to quote
a few of the many that appeared.
"If we were writing at a date which we hope is a good many years
distant of the career of Madame Olga Novikoff, we should begin by
saying that she was one of the most remarkable women of her
time."--_Daily Graphic_.
"Whatever the reader's political predilections may be, he is unlikely
to dispute the claim of Madame Novikoff to rank as one of the most
remarkable women of her generation."--_Daily Telegraph_.
"No one will deny the right of Madame Novikoff to a record in history:
... For nearly ten years her influence was probably greater than any
other woman's upon the course of national politics."--_Daily News_.
Madame Novikoff, "who for so many years held a social and political
position in London which few women, and no ambassador, have ever
equalled."--_Observer_.
"From beginning to end Madame Novikoff's record is clear and
honourable. There is not the slightest evidence of any intrigue on her
part, of any effort to use the statesman she influenced for underhand
purposes, or to work for or against any {9} particular individual in
her own country."--_Westminster Gazette_.
"It is seldom that anyone sees such a fruition of his labours as does
this marvellous lady, who has worked all her life for one thing and
almost one thing only--an Anglo-Russian understanding."--_Daily Mail_.
And now in the autumn of her life (it is impossible to associate the
word winter with so vital a personality) Madame Novikoff has seen her
years of work crowned with success. To-day she is as keen in regard to
public affairs, especially where her beloved Russia is concerned, as
she was in the days when her life was one continuous fight with the
war-spirit. In the preparation of these Memories I have seen something
of her application, her industry and her personality. In the past I
have often asked myself what was the secret of Madame Novikoff's
remarkable success. But now I know. Time after time when we have seen
things from a different angle, I have found myself accepting her point
of view before I was even conscious of weakening.
Of all the compliments ever paid to Madame Novikoff, the one that
probably pleases her most is that which recently appeared in a London
daily written by a famous writer upon Russian life, who described her
as "a true Russian."
This is not an autobiography; for Madame Novikoff has always refused to
undertake such a responsibility. In the first place she thinks it {10}
would be too long, and in the second too personal. "I have been talked
about quite enough," she will say, "without starting to talk about
myself." In 1909 there appeared _The M.P. for Russia_, edited by the
late W. T. Stead, which told much of her association with her
distinguished friends, Gladstone, Kinglake, Villiers, Clarendon,
Carlyle, Tyndall, Froude and others. "These have been taken," she
says, "and I am left." But she has continued her work, and many of her
friends have told her that at this time, above all others, she should
tell personally something of her Russian memories. As she phrases it,
"For forty years I have been wandering in the Wilderness, and now I
have been permitted the happiness of entering the Promised Land. At
last the gates have been opened. We are now brothers-in-arms."
THE EDITOR.
{11}
CONTENTS
EDITOR'S PREFACE
CHAPTER I
THE RUSSIAN SPIRIT
July 1914--Enthusiasm at Moscow--My Ambition Realised--England and
Russia Allies--A War of Right--Wounded Heroes--Russia's Faith in
Victory--Our Emperor's Call--England's Greatness--I am Introduced to
Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Disraeli--"The M.P. for Russia in England"--Mr.
Gladstone's Championship--An Unpopular Cause
CHAPTER II
THE AWAKENING OF RUSSIA
A New Era--My Brother Nicholas--Hadji Ghiray: Hero--Terrible News--A
Heroic Advance--My Brother's Death--Aksakoff's Famous Speech--Russia
Aflame--A Nation's Sacrifice--My Heart-broken Letters--Mr. Gladstone's
Response--Mutual Suspicion--My Visits to England
CHAPTER III
MR. GLADSTONE AND I STRIVE FOR PEACE
The Real England--The St. James's Hall Meeting--Remarkable
Enthusiasm--Mr. Gladstone's Speech--He Escorts Me Home--Newspaper
Comment--Lord Salisbury and General Ignatieff--Mutual Regard--The Turks
Displeased--An Embarrassing Tribute--The End of the Constantinople
Conference--Mr. Gladstone Compromised--War Declared--"What Will England
Do?"--Bismarck's Policy--Prince Gortschakoff's Opinion
CHAPTER IV
MR. GLADSTONE
His Last Utterance.--His Fearlessness---His Opinion of _Russia and
England_--A Christian Revolution--Cardinal Manning's Tribute--Gladstone
and the Old Catholics--The Question of Immortality--Mr. Gladstone's
Remarkable Letter--A Delightful Listener--His Power of
Concentration--Hayward and Gladstone--Their Discussion--Miss Helen
Gladstone--We Talk Gladstone--The Old Lady's Delight--I Miss my Train
{12}
CHAPTER V
SOME SOCIAL MEMORIES
My Thursdays in Russia--Khalil Pasha's Death--Lord Napier and the
Lady-in-Waiting--Madame Volnys--My Parents-in-law's _ménage_--An
Exceptional Type--Prince Vladimir Dolgorouki's Embarrassment--The Grand
Duchess Helen--A Brilliant Woman--The Emperor's Enjoyment--The
Campbell-Bannermans--A Royal Diplomatist--Mark Twain on Couriers--In
Serious Vein--Verestchagin--"The Retreat from Moscow"--The Kaiser's
Remarkable Utterance
CHAPTER VI
THE EMPEROR NICHOLAS I
A Pacific Emperor--An Imperial Fault--The Pauper's Funeral--The
Emperor's Visit to my Mother--My Dilemma--The Emperor's Kindness--He is
Snubbed by an _Ingénue_--The Emperor's Desire for an Alliance with
England--Prince Gortschakoff's Rejoinder--The Slav Ideal--Russia and
Constantinople--Bismarck's Admiration--He Discomfits a Member of the
Reichstag
CHAPTER VII
"AS OTHERS SEE US"
"A Russian Agent"--"To Lure British Statesmen"--A Charming Tribute--The
Press at Sea--Wild Stories--A Musical Political Agitator--"An
Unofficial Ambassador"--Baron de Staal's Indifference--Prince
Lobanoff's Kindness--Count Shouvaloft's Dislike of my Work--Prince
Gortschakoff and the Slavs--Baron Brunow and the French
Ambassador--English Sportsmanship--A Shakespeare Banquet
CHAPTER VIII
JEWISH RUSSOPHOBIA
The Jews and the War--Their Attitude in 1876--Their Hatred of
Slavism--The Problems of Other Countries--English Sympathy--The
Guildhall Meeting--The Russian Government Blamed--Tolstoy and the
Jews--My Jewish Friends--A Curious Tradition--Self-protection
CHAPTER IX
ENGLAND AND THE GREAT FAMINE IN RUSSIA
My Russian Home--The Horrors of Famine--The Peasants' Heroism--Starving
yet Patient--The Society of Friends--I am Invited to
Meeting--Magnificent Munificence--Among the Starving--Terrible
Hardships--Some Illustrations--Living in Dug-outs--The Stoical
Russian--Cinder Bread
{13}
CHAPTER X
MUSICAL MEMORIES
My Mother--Her Musical Friends--I Study with Masset--His Generous
Offer--Litolff's Visit--My Mother's Musicales Develop into a
Conservatoire--Rubinstein's Anger--His Refusal to Play for the Grand
Duchess Helen--The Idols of the Musical World--A Friendly Jealousy--My
Stratagem with Liszt--Glasounoff's Kindness--the Musicless
CHAPTER XI
THE ARMENIAN QUESTION
A Fatal Treaty--Gladstone's Opinion--The Concert of Europe--The
Unspeakable Turk and His Methods--England's Responsibility--Mr.
Gladstone's Energetic Action--Lord Rosebery Resigns--Gladstone's
Astounding Letter--"I Shall Keep Myself to Myself"--"Abdul the
Damned"--"A Man whose Every Impulse is Good"--The Convention of
Cyprus--Russia and England
CHAPTER XII
THE SOBERING OF RUSSIA
Russian Dreamers--Fighting a Curse--First Steps--An Interesting
Encounter--A Great Reform--Its Acceptance by the Peasants--The Cabman's
Interrogative--He Begs me to Intercede with the Tsar--The Temptation of
Drink--My Peasant Teas--The Drink Habit--Our Courageous Emperor
CHAPTER XIII
MISCELLANEOUS MEMORIES
My Embarrassment--A Spy--I Am Easily Taken In--A Demand for Fifty
Pounds--A Threat--I Defy the Blackmailer--A Warning--Gladstone's
Refusal to meet Gambetta--My Husband's Dilemma--Russian Views on
Duelling--Kinglake Challenges Prince Louis Napoleon--My Brother's
Views--Kinglake's Charm--The Value of an Englishman--The Dogger Bank
Incident
CHAPTER XIV
THE PHANTOM OF NIHILISM
England's Sympathy with the Nihilists--Cabinet Ministers'
Indiscretion--Mr. Gladstone's Incredulity--I Prove my Words--Mr.
Gladstone's Action--A Strange Confusion--A Reformed Nihilist--His
Significant Admission--The Nihilist's Regret--The Death of
Revolutionary Russia--The Greatness of the Future--The Reckless,
Impulsive Russian--The Russian Refugees at Buenos Ayres--They Crave for
a Priest
{14}
CHAPTER XV
RUSSIAN PRISONS AND PRISONERS
Our Convict System--Misunderstood in England--Siberia, an Emigration
Field--A Lax Discipline--Capt. Wiggins' Opinion--A Land of Stoicism--My
Experiences as a Prison Visitor--Divine Literature--Helen Voronoff's
Work--A Russian Heroine--Her Descriptions of Prison Life
CHAPTER XVI
POLITICAL PRISONERS
Dostoyevsky's Call--His Retort to a Dandy--Russia and the
Revolution--The Court of Imperial Mercy--How Political Prisoners May
Solicit Pardon--The Coach-driver's Letter--The People's Belief in the
Emperor--A Typical Russian Appeal--Military Offenders--How They Have
Justified the Emperor's Clemency--Political Prisoners and the War
CHAPTER XVII
THE GRAND DUKE CONSTANTINE AND PRINCE OLEG
A Remarkable Personality--The Grand Duke's Graciousness--His Tact and
Sympathy--The Wounded Soldier--A Censored Book--Prince Oleg and my
Brother Alexander--A Talented Child--A Strange Premonition--The
Prince's Interest in Public Affairs--His Studious Nature--The Prince
Wounded--His Joy on Receiving the Cross of St. George--He Becomes
Worse--The End
CHAPTER XVIII
BULGARIA'S DEFECTION AND PRISONERS OF WAR
Russia Blamed for the Balkan Muddle--Bulgaria's Treachery--Gen. Grant
on the Russians and Constantinople--Bulgaria's Dissatisfaction--The
Reign of the Fox--The Treatment of Prisoners of War--The German
Method--The Allies' Failure--Lack of Organisation--Insidious German
Propagandism--Britain and Her Prisoners in Germany
CHAPTER XIX
THE RUSSIAN PARISH
The Revival of Parish Life--The Ancient Russian Parish--A Peaceful
Community--Slavophils and the Parish--The Metropolitan and the Emperor
Nicholas I--The Independence of the Church--Father John of Kronstadt--A
Blessing to Russia
CHAPTER XX
RUSSIA AND ENGLAND
A New Era--The Russian Ideal--The Trick of Double Nationality--Lord
Kitchener's Legacy--The Armenian Inventor--The Kaiser and Double
Nationality--The Future of Prussia--Russia's Hope of Victory--Germany's
Influence on Anglo-Russian Friendship--Days of Suspicion--Lord
Clarendon's Opinion--An ex-Cabinet Minister's Boast--Russian Memories
of England--A Glorious Future
{15}
ILLUSTRATIONS
The Empress of Russia and Queen Alexandra . . . Frontispiece
W. E. Gladstone (April 5, 1892)
Nicolas Kiréeff
Myself in 1876
Seminary for 125 School Teachers built by Alexander Novikoff at
Novo-Alexandrofka
Sr. Olga's School for Girl Teachers at Novo-Alexandrofka
My Son, Alexander Novikoff
Nicolas Rubinstein, Anton Rubinstein
The Clergy and Choir of Novo-Alexandrofka, 1900, on the Day of the
Consecration of the Church
Alexander Kiréeff
Church built by Alexander Novikoff on his Father's Grave at
Novo-Alexandrofka
Miss Helen Voronoff
The Grand Duke Constantine Nicolaévitch
St. Olga's School for Girl Teachers at Nova-Alexandrofka
Myself with my Faithful Max at Brunswick Place, N.W.
{17}
RUSSIAN MEMORIES
CHAPTER I
THE RUSSIAN SPIRIT
July 1914--Enthusiasm at Moscow--My Ambition Realised--England and
Russia Allies--A War of Right--Wounded Heroes--Russia's Faith in
Victory--Our Emperor's Call--England's Greatness--I am Introduced to
Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Disraeli--"The M.P. for Russia in England"--Mr.
Gladstone's Championship--An Unpopular Cause
I was in Moscow when our Monarch's mighty voice sounded in defence of
little Serbia. I was driving near the Tverskoi Boulevard, when a
shouting crowd rushed past me, and burst into a neighbouring restaurant.
"What does it all mean?" I exclaimed. "Is it a riot? do they want
drink?"
"Oh no," said the bystanders. "They only want to call out the
orchestra and make them play the national hymn."
I stopped my carriage.
The orchestra appeared, and played our God save the Tzar, while the
whole crowd, wild with enthusiasm, joined in.
Delighted and touched, I followed them. Most were singing and shouting
"Hurrah," some praying and making the sign of the cross, while the
throng continually increased.
{18}
Similar scenes occurred daily in various quarters of the town. One
evening, an idle crowd had assembled near St. Saviour's Church. A
priest appeared with a cross. The whole crowd fell on their knees and
prayed. Such moments one cannot forget--indeed one can only thank God
for them.
People say that in Petrograd the demonstrations were still grander. It
may be so--but whenever the Emperor visits Moscow, and speaks there
with his powerful, animating voice, the old capital rises to
unapproachable heights of enthusiasm and to resolutions of unbounded
self-sacrifice.
A few days later I realised that the great ambition of my life was
about to be realised, not only by an _entente_, but by an alliance
between Russia and the country that has given me so many friends and
shown me such splendid hospitality. Yet how differently everything had
happened from what I had anticipated after the signing of the
Anglo-Russian Agreement. It was not the gradual drawing together of
the two countries that each might enjoy the peaceful friendship of the
other: but the sudden discovery that they had a common foe to fight, a
common ideal to preserve, a common civilisation to save.
Years ago I wrote, "I want to be a harbinger of peace, of hope, of
prosperity to come," and yet here was my great ambition being realised
to the sound of the drum and midst the thunder of the destroying guns.
History was repeating itself. As in 1875, a Slav nation was being
oppressed, threatened with annihilation, and the great heart of Russia
was moved. {19} I remember so well those days forty years ago when our
Foreign Office tried all it could to stop the reckless chivalry of the
Russian people--determined as all classes were to sacrifice everything,
life itself even, for the sake of their oppressed co-religionists, the
Bulgarians.
In that August thirty-eight years before (1876), Petrograd itself
(always more cautious and reserved than Moscow) showed an enthusiasm
for the cause of the Christian Slavs that daily gathered strength. It
pervaded all classes from prince to peasant.
The sympathy of the masses had been evoked by the atrocities, committed
in the usual unspeakable Turkish fashion, in Bulgaria. That sympathy,
however, bore chiefly a religious, not a political character, and as in
almost all great national movements our Emperor identified himself with
his people. Public collections were being made for the sick and
wounded.
Officers of the Red Cross and ladies of the Court and society went from
house to house requesting subscriptions.
At railway stations, on the steam-boats, even on the tramways, the "Red
Cross" was present everywhere, with a sealed box for donations. Every
effort was made to animate feelings of compassion for the suffering
Christians, and to swell the funds for providing ambulances for the
sick and wounded.
And now in 1914 another great national emotion had swept over three
hundred millions of people. This was not a war of greed or gain; it
was not concerned with some insult levelled at Russia or the violation
of her frontiers; it was the result of a {20} deep religious sense of
justice in the hearts of the people. It was what in England would be
called "the sporting instinct" which forbids a big man to hit another
smaller than himself.
No power could have held back the chivalrous Russians from going to the
aid of threatened Serbia. All recognised that a terrible and fateful
day had dawned, and throughout the dark days of the autumn of 1915, the
people never flinched from the task they had undertaken. They were
pledged to save Serbia.
Russians believed, still believe and will always believe, in the
sacredness of an oath given in the name of God. Certain words indeed
are not meaningless sounds! To such sacred promises naturally belongs
also the oath of allegiance.
For centuries confidence and harmony reigned between all the Russian
subjects. Now, the blasphemous Kaiser was trying to abolish every
moral and religious tie. Could anything be more cruel and mischievous?
Everywhere it was the same. When I visited the wounded in my Tamboff
country place, our poor soldiers, in answer to my queries as to their
wants and desires, answered quite simply, not in the least realising
the nobleness of their feeling:
"If God would only make us strong enough to go and punish the infamous
enemy. You do not know the harm done to our fields, our churches, our
brothers."
The tone of this and similar remarks was very striking. One of the
wounded was a Mohammedan. I do not know whether it is wise or not, but
the {21} Mohammedans in Russia are treated exactly like other Russian
subjects, and they know that in serving Russia they may attain the
highest military positions, as did, for instance, General Ali Khanoff,
and others of the same creed.
Russia, as a whole, has an unlimited faith in victory. The Russian
Emperor's New Year's address echoed far and wide, like a clarion call,
through the ranks of the Imperial army and fleet. All doubts vanished
beyond recall, for the utterance of the Sovereign was more decided,
definite and determined than any that had gone before. Here are words
that must ring like a knell in the ears of exhausted Germany, trembling
under the strain of her last efforts.
"A half-victory--an unfinished war"--this was the hideous phantom
before which the hearts of our brave soldiers sank, and which, like a
ceaseless nightmare, disturbed the rest, even of our most illiterate
peasants. Far and wide, indeed, Russian hearts to-day thrill and
respond to their beloved Emperor's call:
"Remember that without complete victory our dear Russia cannot ensure
for herself and her people the independence that is her pride and her
birthright, cannot enjoy and develop to the full the fruits of her
labour and her natural wealth. Let your hearts be permeated with the
consciousness that there can be no peace without victory. However
great may be the sacrifice required of us, we must march onward
unflinchingly, onward to triumph for our country and our cause."
The air vibrated with the echoes of these splendid {22} words--and the
bereaved mothers, sisters, wives, weeping in the loneliness and despair
of their broken hearts, look up and smile again, because Russia's blood
has not been shed in vain. The news travelled on the wings of the
wind, and over countless distant, unknown graves, it brought its
message to our fallen heroes: "You shall be revenged, brave warriors;
your souls shall celebrate the moment of triumph, together with your
living brothers!"
It is good also to know that we are not alone in our determination,
that our Allies are with us, and share our views.
Therefore, if we assume that Germany's entire population numbers about
seventy millions, the outside limit for the numerical strength of her
army can in no circumstance exceed ten millions, this being already 14
per cent of the whole nation, and a completely unprecedented percentage
of the nation's manhood. Such figures, indeed, represent an entire
people in arms--a people, however, that has taken upon itself the
impossible task of measuring its strength against that of three other
mighty peoples, armed, also, to the teeth. In this uneven struggle,
Germany must ultimately, in spite of Austrian, Bulgarian and Turkish
help, meet her ruin, and bleed to death.
We, in Russia, look forward to the future without fear. We stand
united as one man. All political strifes and disagreements are
forgotten; there is no division of parties, no discussion of any
affairs of State except those connected with the war. "War war, war,
till victory, till triumph. There lies our future, and so shall it
be." With these words our {23} Home Secretary, Monsieur Khvostoff,
concluded his recent speech to the members of the Press Bureau. The
same sentiments are echoed everywhere. We are determined and hopeful,
and ready for every sacrifice, because, to quote our Empress Alexandra
in her New Year's telegram to the Secretary of State, "A war that has
been forced on us by our enemies, and that has attained dimensions
unprecedented in history, naturally calls for immense sacrifices. But
I know that the Russian people will not hesitate before these
sacrifices, and will fight on nobly until the moment when God's
blessing will bring to the glorious warriors who are shedding their
blood for their fatherland and their Emperor, the peace that shall be
bought by complete victory over our foes."
By these words may English people discern the spirit of their Russian
friends, their faith in victory.
The difference between 1876 and 1914 is our attitude towards Great
Britain. Whereas forty years ago we suspected, even hated, her, now we
see her in her true colours. She is doing for Belgium what we once did
for Bulgaria, and from a sense of right and political honour. She
could have remained neutral, safe in her sea defences, devoting her
time to capturing the trade of the combatants. Instead of which she
chose to risk all in honouring her pledge. This fact brought Russia
very near to Great Britain, and I hope the years that are coming will
see a better understanding in Great Britain of the Russian Spirit.
And now something about myself. In 1873 Baron Brunow, the Russian
Ambassador in London, introduced me to Mr. Gladstone and {24} Mr.
Disraeli in the same evening. The one was to become a dear friend who
was to give powerful support to my efforts to bring Russia and England
closer together, whilst the other a few years later was to confer upon
me the honorary title of which I have always been so proud. "Madame
Novikoff," he said, during the Bulgarian agitation, when Mr. Gladstone
and I were doing our utmost to negative his pro-Turkish activities, "I
call Madame Novikoff the M.P. for Russia in England."
This remark was not intended to give me pleasure, although, now that my
years of work have ended successfully, it may appear, as Mr. W. T.
Stead said, "a flattering compliment."
At that time, however, Lord Beaconsfield was not feeling so cordial
towards me as to frame graceful compliments, and he probably knew that,
expert as he was in the art of flattery, nothing he could say would
divert me from the path of antagonism towards his policy that I had
chosen for myself.
"Ambassadors represent Governments, M.P.'s represent the people," Mr.
Stead wrote, apropos Beaconsfield's remark, and I have always striven,
however unworthily, to represent Russia, the most peace-loving nation
in the world.
[Illustration: W. E. Gladstone (April 5, 1892)]
It was to the enjoyment of peace to my country that I first undertook
my self-imposed work, the bringing of Great Britain and Russia to a
better understanding that would result in their working together
towards a common end--peace. It is a strange trick of fate that the
two countries should eventually be brought together, not by peace but
{25} by war; but the workings of Providence are inscrutable, and out of
this great evil perhaps a still greater good may come.
By the Anglo-Russian Agreement of 1908 the two countries became good
friends, now they are allies. Britons are fighting in Russia under the
Russian High Command, and it is no secret that British sailors are
fighting ship by ship with Russian sailors in the Baltic; and with
those who have fought together for a common cause, friendship and
understanding are inevitable.
It is strange to look back upon what have come to be known as the
"jingo days," when in the streets and music-halls was sung a ditty in
which Britons told each other--I quote from memory:
We don't want to fight; but, by jingo, if we do,
We've got the men, we've got the ships, we've got the money too.
and all this was levelled at Russia, because she chose to do what Great
Britain to her everlasting honour is doing to-day, avenging a
downtrodden, but uncrushed people.
There was one man who saw clearly and stood up fearlessly against the
popular clamour, and that was Mr. Gladstone. For twenty years he
worked with me loyally towards the end I had in view. He never
faltered in his denunciations of the unspeakable Turk and all his ways.
From 1876 to 1880 the crisis was acute, and at any time war between
Great Britain and Russia was possible.
During the whole of this time Mr. Gladstone was doing his utmost to
counteract the evils of the Disraeli policy, and he was always in close
touch {26} and constant communication with me. His support and
unflinching championship of what he thought to be the cause of right
was to me a great comfort. I was a woman in a foreign land, fighting
against the prejudices that I saw everywhere about me.
In the early part of 1876 ugly rumours were afloat as to wholesale
massacres of Bulgarians by the Turks. On June the 23rd there appeared
in _The Daily News_ a letter from its Constantinople correspondent
(Mr., now Sir, Edwin Pears), and the attention of the House of Commons
was directed to the appalling allegations it contained. Mr. Disraeli,
then Prime Minister, treated the whole matter with airy unconcern, but
the members on both sides of the House were irritated rather than
soothed by his manner.
With a caution that was infinitely to his credit, for I know from our
talks how deeply he felt, Mr. Gladstone waited the report of Mr. Walter
Baring, the British Commissioner, which confirmed in all their
revolting detail the rumours of the slaughter of harmless Bulgarians,
men, women and children. Convinced that the evidence was
uncontrovertible, Mr. Gladstone plunged into the fray, first by
publishing his pamphlet, _The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the
East_, and later by urging an understanding with Russia that would
render this wholesale slaughter of a Christian people impossible in
future.
In Russia there was only one thought in the people's minds--war, which
no human power could have prevented. The nation insisted that they
{27} should be allowed to stand beside their co-religionists and fight
in defence of their freedom.
As for myself, those were busy days. I saw around me nothing but
suspicion of Russia, perhaps even of myself: but I had a noble example
set me, if one were needed, by Mr. Gladstone. Ours was a fight for
Christianity and civilisation. Every hour of my day and sometimes far
into the night was occupied. I rushed fearlessly into print, as I have
done for the last forty years when I felt that my pen might serve the
purpose I had in mind. In those days editors were less hospitable
towards me than they have since become. Mine was an unpopular cause, I
wrote as a Russian patriot, which meant that I sometimes showed a
tendency to injure British susceptibilities. "But what matter that?" I
asked myself with Jesuitical satisfaction. "The end is good, and it is
the end that matters." I think there are very few of my friends in
England to-day who will not echo my words.
The day on which I write these words is the Russian Flag Day, the
second since the war broke out. In the streets are English and Russian
girls and women selling small flags, for the most exorbitant sum they
can extract from the purchasers, "to help Russia."
When I look back upon those days of gloom, when Mr. Gladstone used to
come and see "the Russian agent," "the M.P. for Russia in England," and
talk anxiously about the near future, and whether the storm would pass
or break, it is with gratitude and expressions of heartfelt thanks to
the people who have so often shown me hospitality and {28} in time
began to listen to my words. They must have found some difficulty in
avoiding the words I showered upon them; for I frankly confess I lost
no opportunity of "rushing into print."
{29}