MAXIM GORKY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12892, 14 June 1905, Page 1 (Supplement)

MAXIM GORKY.

VISITED BY AN ANGLICAN BISHOP. Lv the Guardian, of April 26, the Anglican Bishop of North and Central Europe (Dr. Wilkinson) gives, the-.following account of a recent visit to Maxim Gorky, the famous Russian novelist: — ■-.-.- \ ■-...: On© clay during my visit to) Bilderlingshof [ called upon Gorky. All Russian names nave a meaning. : Gorky means " the bitter me," Kuropatkin, "the soe of a partridge," L'olstoi, "the stout one," and so forth. I >vent with my hostess, Mrs. Addison, who speaks Russian perfectly. We hod heard :hat he was ill, and it was doubtful if he ivould be able to receive lis, as we understood he had been refusing all visitors. We sent in our cards, and after some little delay i message came that he would be happy to see us. We were shown into a small but cheerful little rooin, the tables of which were scattered with books and writing materials. ' A sofa covered with rugs, upon, ffhich he Had! evidently been lying, stood awards the side of the room. In a few ninutes the novelist came in, and shaking [lands with much bowing begged us to be seated. He was a rather tall and slightly milt man, colourless as are all Russians, with light moustache and pointed beard, both of which he constantly twisted and stroked as be. conversed with an almost lervous persistence. His hair, coupe ala Russe, was long, and hanging down toehind He was dressed, as all Russians of bis class, entirely in black—black-belted Lunic, fitting close and high up to the chin; olack breeches tucked into high black boots, wid a silver chatelaine hanging from his rirdle. The interview lasted about an hour. Three times my hostess moved to go, urging ;.hat he was not well, and that we must not, Lire him; but as often he begged us to stay, Insisting that he. wished the English Bishop to hear everything he had to say, and hoping he would make it known. He opened the conversation by asking: "May I smoker' I had thought to see a common, coarse peasant, for he rose from that class, whereas he is refined, gentle, eloquent, and, is my hostess assured me, speaks beautiful Russian, expressing himself as a man of education and cultivation. His voice is dear and sweet, notwithstanding the cold from which lie was suffering, contracted, as he explained, during the month that he lay i prisoner in the fortress of Saints Peter and Paul at Petersburg. He sard that bis cell was damp and cold, and his prison dress of coarse canvas, not warm enough, but, he added, it was not so bad after all, the soldiers- on guard and his attendant gaolers knowing and admiring his writings and plavs, which are being acted very generally in"Russian theatres, treating him with kindness and consideration. • His conversation divided! itself into three parts. He said that he had travelled throughout. Russia on. foot, visiting the monasteries and inquiring into the religions condition of things. To this he had devoted years. The result of his observation and inquiries was to convince liini that the monks and clergy generally were ignorant, and unable to teach the religion which they professed, that superstition and formality pervaded their so-called religion, and that there were 60 or 70 Virgin Marys: they taught the saints and the Virgin, but not tho Gospel; it was sheer polytheism; as to dogmatic teacluug, it did not exist. Somewhat abruptly, he asked if -I disliked what he had written, and supposed 1 did. I replied that I had read some of his writings, but made no comment upon them. He then assured me, with an impressemeut that was evidently sincere, that- he had never written, and never would write,' anything against religion the reverse: that he earnestly desired to see his people taught true and vital religion. I told him that I was very glad to hear this from him. He asked me if I had heard of the various sects in Russia ; I mentioned some. Had 1 heard of the Duchobo'rzi, 50,000 of whom were anxious to emigrate to Canada, and seek there the religious freedom denied them in Russia? I replied that certainly I had heard of some of these people for years notably, the rascolniki (dissenters from the orthodox faith consequent upon the corrected translation of the Scriptures in 1666 by the Patriarch N-icon)), but should be glad to know what he had to say of them. He said, with much warmth and enthusiasm, that he himself was a man, and sought the freedom these sects were seeking ;.; that it was the wish of hi.* heart that his countrymen .should rise...above such ignorance and superstition, and be men also; He spoke eagerly and very rapidly, and my hostess told me it was most difficult to keep pace as interpreter with his utterances. I spoke of hi."? bonks having been translated into English, referring specially to one of his novels. He said that versions of his works, both in French and English, had been sent to him by the translators. I'then asked Gorky his opinion of the war. He said it was a most unpopular one, hated throughout Russia, that Russians neither wished for it nor understood for what reason or advantage it was being waged : that it had ruined the peasants, was ruining the country generally, and that the army went to it most reluctantly. He had seen vans, with no apparatus for heating, constructed to hold 40 men, crowded and crammed with 70, and when the soldiers remonstrated and resisted by shutting the doors, their officers would knock them about with their sabres and drive them in by force. Their wives and fannies would crowd round the trains and protest- against their being sent away to the Far East, throwing their children into the vans, unable to .support them unaided by their husbands. It was a war, lie said, waged not for the benefit of Russia, but for that of the bureaucracy. He then gave lis a detailed account of the events of what is now known as " Vladimir's Sunday.'' He told us at considerable length the part he took in those events, and the reason of, his being sent to the fortress. He and several of his literary friends holding the same views as himself went on the Saturday to M. Witte, and urged upon him not to allow the military to interfere with those who were coining iniarmed to seek constitutional reform from the Tsar. Ho insisted that they were peaceful people, and not revolutionists; that they intended only to march unarmed headed by Father Gapou—whom he called " a most religious " —bearing his cross, the Holy Pictures (the cherubim was his expression), and portraits of the Emperor and Empress. They implored the Ministry and those in authority to withdraw the troops from the positions they had taken up, or collision and bloodshed would ha the result. This was refused, and they were dismissed abruptly as disaffected and revolutionary leaders.

The next day (Sunday),- aa the crowds passed over the Vosili Ostroff, or Basil Island of the Neva, and mad:; their way towards the Winter Palace they were confronted with andlired upon by the soldiers, with the result, as all the world knows, of the slaughter of men, women, and children to the number,. he stated, of 2000. "We went," he said, with much excitement of gesture and speech, "as peaceful people seeking reform from the Tsar; we are now no longer such. I then wrote," he concluded; "to the Tsar to this effect:—'That we had warned the authorities; that we had- gone with peaceful intentions, our good faith being evidenced by. the women arid children who went with us; that we held the Tsar responsible for the massacre of defenceless men, women, and children.' For this," he said, " I was token and confined •in the fortress. My wife was at the time I very ill, supposed for a week to be dying, land I had no tidings of her condition. ■ I 1 am now let out on bail, but shall be had up again for trial, and no doubt Imprisoned again in the fortress of Saints Peter and Paul." I asked him if he would like to visit England. There was nothing, he replied, that he would like more. It was the wish of his heart; England was the home of liberty, and English in its champions •throughout the world. He was passionately i fond of; our history and literature, and i admired everything "English. He told me ! that he had that day been photographed, i and would send me a copy of his portrait.