"G.O.M." OF REVOLUTION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12063, 19 July 1917, Page 4

"G.0.M." OF REVOLUTION.

PRINCE KROPOTKIN'S AMAZING CAREER. " Russia, will he freed before. 1 die," was the prophecy made over forty years ago by the venerablo Prince Kropotkin, tho famous Russian revolutionist, who has returned to the land of his birth, under the new regime alter spending nearly half a century of his crowded life, in exile.

Since tho eighties, the " father of revolution," has resided m an unpretentious cottage situated on the outskirts of Kemp Town, near Brighton, patiently awaiting tho fulfilment of his forecast, and few of those who passed by a little old man with a rusty slouch hat sitting in one of the shelters on the Brighton trout dreamt thati this courtly old gentleman was destined to play an important part, in the overthrowing of autocracy in the mighty Russian Empire and, incidentally, the dethronement of tho Great White Czar. The remarkable career of Prince Kropotkin is stranger than fiction.

As the son of a. great; serf owner, Prince. Kropotkin saw that odious sysrtem in full working in his youth. " When I was a child," recalled the/ prince, I used to weep to see the terrible condition of my less fortunate countrymen groaning under the iron heel of autocracy."

"With the possible exception of Tolstoi, ho if. tile most remarkable Russian of two generations. When arrested. aii the age of about thirty, he had. already become one of the leading scientific. men of Russia, and he was in. favour at, Court, where, after he had received several Imperial decorations for his scientific work, the office, of Chamberlain had heen forced on him. It was only after his arrest; that the "double, life'' he was leading as a, prince of the Imperial Household and a popular lecturer to working m«n became known. For a- long time Kropotkin had deliverer! lectures, or had written papers for circulation under the name of Borodin, and as Borodin his influence with the people had become great: before he attracted t'he attention of the. secret police. Their attempts to liml Borodin were long defeated by the high standing 'i Kropotkin at. Court'. Finally they I /"jed one of the associates of Borodin'to go with them through the streets of Petrograd no til tliey met tho once famous agitator. "When '' Borodin " was thus imprisoned, the police did not, recognise him or suspect, his identity as Kropotkin until his landlady reported thai the prince had mysteriously disappeared. After spending three years in prison, Kropotkin was transferred to a hospital. and his daring escape from Petrograd over forty years ago equals anything in the. pages of Dumas. He was allowed to walk in the grasscovered van! in front of the hospital, which faced a public, thoroughfare, and his friends arranged tor a carriage tr> he drawn up outside the open gate on a, certain day, when Kropotkin. discarding his hospital dressing-gown, was to run into the open street, and be driven off in a, vehicle. r l he signal lor "all right," was to be a, red balloon sen I up outside the prison wall, but on the appointed day nil ihe red balloons had been purchased for some \est.ival. An old one was obtained and inflated, but iti'would not ascend. A lady attempted to make it visible above the prison wall bv means of her umbrella, but the wall was too high. The plans were altered, and t'he signal tho next! rlay was a mazurka from a street, violinist. When the notes sounded, Kropotkin got away, chased by a. sentry, who made so sure of his capture that he rlid not: fire. The carriage dashed off, and while official Petrograd was vainly trying to obey the Czar's orders that "he must be found." Kropotkin and a friend were, brazenly feating at Donon's well-known restaurant, where, of course, no one thought of looking for him. Ho finally crossed Finland and reached a. Swedish port:, whence an English vessel carried him to Hull.