[From the Russkia Vedomosti, No. 223, Sept. 28, (Oct. 11,) 1914, P. 6.]
We appeal to our country, we appeal to the whole civilized world.
What our heart and our reason refused to believe has come indisputably
true, to the greatest shame of humanity. Every new day brings new
horrible proofs of the cruelty and the vandalism of the Germans in the
bloody clash of nations which we are witnessing, in that neutral
slaughtering of brothers provoked by the madness of these same Germans;
in their vainglorious ambition to rule the world with violence, they are
throwing upon the scales of the world's justice nothing but the sword.
We fancy that Germany, oblivious of her past fame, has turned to the
altars of her cruel national gods whose defeat has been accomplished by
the incarnation of the one gracious god upon earth. Her warriors seem to
have assumed the miserable duty of reminding humanity of the latent
vigor of the aboriginal beast within man, of the fact that even the
leading nations of civilization, by letting loose their ill-will, may
easily fall back on an equal footing with their forefathers--those half
naked bands that fifteen centuries ago trampled under their heavy feet
the ancient inheritance of civilization. As in the days of yore, again
priceless productions of art, temples, and libraries perish in
conflagration, whole cities and towns are wiped off the face of the
earth, rivers are overflowing with blood, through heaps of cadavers
savage men are hewing their path, and those whose lips are shouting in
honor of their criminal supreme commander are inflicting untold tortures
and infamies upon defenseless people, upon aged men and women, upon
captives and wounded.
Let these horrible crimes be entered upon the Book of Fate with eternal
letters! These crimes shall awake within us one sole burning wish--to
wrest the arms from the barbarous hands, to deprive Germany forever of
that brutal power upon whose achievement she has concentrated all her
thoughts. Already the seed of national pride and of hatred, widely sown
by her, has awakened a magnificent growth. This hatred may spread like
wildfire among other nations, and then will resound the voice of those
blinded by wrath, the voice of those demanding vengeance, the voice of
those repudiating everything great and beautiful among the creations of
the German genius to the rejoicing and for the benefit of all mankind.
But let us remember the disastrous results of such a course--for the
black crimes thrust by Germany upon herself by drawing the sword, and
the outrages in which she has indulged herself while drunk with victory
are the inevitable fruits of the darkness which she has voluntarily
entered. At present she is pursuing this course, encouraged even by her
poets, scientists, and social and political leaders.
Her adversaries, carrying peace and victory to their peoples, shall
indeed be inspired solely by holy motives.
_Signed by:_
K. ARSENIEV, I. BUNIN, A. VESSELOVSKI, NESTOR KOTLIAREVSKI, and D.
OVSIANIKO-KULIKOVSKI, Honorary Members of the Academy.
F. KORSCH, Regular Member of the Academy.
A. GRUZINSKI, President of the Society of the Amateurs of Russian
Literature.
Prof. P. SAKULIN, Vice President.
Prof. L. LOPATIN, President of the Moscow Psychological Association.
N. DAVYDOV, President of the Tolstoy League of Moscow.
Prince V. GOLYTZIN, President of the Literary, Dramatic and Musical
Society of A.N. Ostrovski.
S. SHPAZINSKI, President of the League of Russian Authors and Composers.