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OF VOLUME II

PART SEVEN

PAGE

XL. FROM HARMANNSDORF AND FROM CHICAGO 3

Slow increase. Far-reaching endeavors from our quiet corner. Childlessness. With Aunt Lotti. My brother. The World's Fair at Chicago, and the Peace Congress. Olga Wisinger-Florian. I am represented by Olga Wisinger. Congress of Religions. Petition of the various ecclesiastical bodies to the governments in favor of a court of arbitration.

Vereshch?gin in Vienna. He does the honors at his exhibition. "All Quiet before Plevna." "Apotheosis of War." Moltke standing before this picture. A picture of what Vereshch?gin himself had seen during the war and painted. Concerning a picture which he could not paint. Further reminiscences of his military life. His Napoleon pictures. A remark of William II regarding them. War and hunting.

Committee meeting of the Interparliamentary Union at Brussels. Letter from Senator Trarieux. Address to Gladstone. Address to the French and Italian deputies. Warning as to the duties of the Union. The "inevitable war" between France and Italy. The case of Aigues-Mortes. Settlement through the friends of peace in both countries.

Increase of correspondence. Countess Hedwig P?tting. Gift from Duke von Oldenburg. Schloss Erlaa. The duke's consort. Peace efforts of Prince Peter von Oldenburg thirty years ago. Letter from this prince to Bismarck. Letter from Bj?rnstjerne Bj?rnson.

Preparation for the Congress by the Belgian government. Houzeau de Lehaye. A reminiscence of the battlefield of Sedan. Concerning free trade. Audience with King Leopold. Invitation to the Interparliamentary Conference. Reception the evening before. Pithy sentences from Rahusen's address. Opening. "No other cause in the whole world...." Second day of deliberation. Stanhope. Gladstone's proposal. Debate over the tribunal plan. Dr. Hirsch puts on the brake. Rejoinder by Fr?d?ric Passy and Houzeau. Randal Cremer. Concluding festivities in Scheveningen.

The Union for Resistance to Anti-Semitism once more. Article by A. G. von Suttner. In the house of Christian Kinsky. Recollection of a home dinner with the Empress. War between Japan and China. Appeal of the Peace Congress to the Powers for intervention. Answer of the Russian Minister of War, Giers. The fruits of German military instruction in Japan. The Peace of Shimonoseki. Interparliamentary Conference in Brussels. Sending out the formulated and accepted plan for an arbitration tribunal. First appearance of the Hungarian Group, with Maurus J?kai and Count Apponyi at its head. Hopeful and distressful signs of the times. From the Congress of the Association Litt?raire in Dresden. Trip to Prague. At Professor Jodl's. Lecture in "The German House." Banquet. La Busca. Visit at Vrchlicky's. Trip to Budapest. Founding of the Hungarian Peace Society. War in sight between England and the United States. Removal of the danger.

Gumplowicz: father and son. The Italian campaign in Africa. Utterances of King Menelik. The defeat of Adowa. The warlike press. Demonstrations against war. Victory of the peace party. Correspondence with Carneri. From Armenia and Macedonia. Insurrection in Cuba and a sharp proclamation. Professor R?ntgen's discovery. The Anglo-American arbitration treaty. Death of Jules Simon. A letter from Jules Simon.

General T?rr's visit at Harmannsdorf. Anecdotes from his life. Garibaldi's appeal to the governments. Our journey to Budapest. Reception and preliminary festival. Opening of the Congress. From T?rr's address. The historical Millennial Exposition. ?lie Ducommun gives a report on the year's events. Debate: Armenian horrors. Address to the pope. Letter from Dr. Ofner. Excursion to the Margareteninsel. The youngest member of the Congress. Exciting debate about dueling. Nepluief and his institution. Deputation from the Society for the Protection of Animals. Conclusion of the Congress. Preliminary festival of the Conference. Soir?e at the Parkklub. Opening session in the House of Magnates. Second session. Soir?e at the Prime Minister's. From the protocol. Apponyi on the participation of Russia in the conferences. The Russian consul Vasily and his action. Excursion into the future. Visit at Maurus J?kai's. Gala operatic performance. End of the Conference. Opening of the "Iron Gate."

L. OTHER EVENTS OF THE YEAR 1896 134

News of his death. His last letter to me. The will. Letter from Moritz Adler. The will is contested. Letter from the executor. Emanuel Nobel's noble act. Fortunate solution. Distribution of the peace prize up to date.

Letter from Count Eugen Zichy. The Eighth Peace Congress at Hamburg. Letter from Prince Emil Sch?naich-Carolath. Egidy's d?but. Regarding the assassination of Canova. Public meeting in the Sagebiel. Egidy's speech. New adherents. Henri Dunant. Appeal to the Oriental peoples. Extracts from diary. Bad news from all sides. Attitude of the press. The Russian Emperor in Darmstadt. Letter from Marie B?chner. The Dreyfus affair. Dispatch of the European squadron to the Yellow Sea.

Outbreak of the Spanish-American War. Article in mourning borders. Fridtjof Nansen's lecture in Vienna. Extracts from diary. Bereavement in the family, Countess Lotti Sizzo's death. Johann von Bloch's book. Death of Bismarck. End of the Spanish-American War.

PART EIGHT, 1898-1908

Emperor Nicholas regarding the reception of his rescript. Discouragement in St. Petersburg. Stead's project for a peace crusade. Count Muravieff's second circular. The wedge driven into the peace question. The general conception and our conception. Journey to Berlin. Osten-Sacken. Formation of an information committee. Letter from Bebel. Service in honor of Egidy. Trip to Nice. Meeting with Madame Adam. Monsieur Catusse. A noteworthy Dreyfus reminiscence. My lecture. Madame Bashkirtseff. Trip to Cannes for a lecture. Lucien Murat's visit. Return to Harmannsdorf. Correspondence with Bloch, Scipione Borghese, and D'Estournelles de Constant. Letters from Hodgson Pratt and ?lie Ducommun. A plan of action suggested by Henri Dunant.

My Hague diary. Arrival. First interview. Stead's interviews with the Tsar and with B?low. Our call on the Austrian delegation. Divine service in the Russian chapel. Opening session. Johann von Bloch. Party at Beaufort's. Yang-Y? and his wife. Baron d'Estournelles. L?on Bourgeois. We give a dinner. Richet's call. Luncheon with Frau Moscheles. Andrew D. White. Extract from Staal's opening speech. Call on our ambassador's wife. Count Costantino Nigra. Reception at court. Lord Aberdeen. Sir Julian Pauncefote. Bloch plans a series of lectures. Plenary assembly of May 25. The Russian, English, and American motions.

J. Novikof. Reception at the Baroness Grovestins's. Dr. Holls. Utterances of the nationalistic press. Excursion to Scheveningen. We give a small dinner. Threatening letter to Herr von Staal. At Ten Kate's. Reports from Descamps. Beernaert on the Geneva Convention. Letter from Levysohn. Results in the matter of mediation. New acquaintances. First of Bloch's evening lectures: subject, "The Development of Firearms." Stead publishes a daily chronicle on the Conference. Young Vasily's album. Removal to Scheveningen. Baron Pirquet brings a letter from the Interparliamentary Union of Brussels. Bloch's second lecture: subject, "Mobilization." My birthday. Dinner at Okoliczany's. Lieutenant Pichon. Letters from a?ronauts. Discussion on the permanent tribunal. President Kruger and Sir Alfred Milner. An amusing incident. Bloch's third lecture: subject, "Naval Warfare." A conversation with L?on Bourgeois. His call to Paris. False reports and denials. What Emperor Nicholas said to Stead. Rumor of the blocking of the arbitration business. Bloch's final lecture: subject, "The War of the Future."

SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER, 1904

THREE WEEKS IN AMERICA 405

INDEX 431

PART SEVEN

XL FROM HARMANNSDORF AND FROM CHICAGO

Slow increase ? Far-reaching endeavors from our quiet corner ? Childlessness ? With Aunt Lotti ? My brother ? The World's Fair at Chicago, and the Peace Congress ? Olga Wisinger-Florian ? I am represented by Olga Wisinger ? Congress of Religions ? Petition of the various ecclesiastical bodies to the governments in favor of a court of arbitration

So now there existed in the capital of Germany a Peace Society, about which as a center branch societies would presumably group themselves in all the larger German cities. The proposed task of forming a widespread public opinion was, therefore, well underway. I saw with delight, in my imagination, an undeviating development of the movement. I clearly recognized, however, that the beginnings were comparatively insignificant. What were our two or three thousand organized members compared to the thousand five hundred millions that populate the earth? And how puny, not only in numbers but also in power and reputation, compared to the representatives and supporters of the old system! But what is the significance of the first violet-dotted patch of grass compared to the fields, stretching miles and miles, still covered with the snows of March? It signifies that the spring is at hand. What signifies the first gleam of dawn penetrating the mantle of night? It signifies that the sunrise is coming. Thus I accepted the modest results achieved up to that time by the peace idea, and harbored no doubt that the element of spring, the element of light that abides in it, must come to fulfillment in gradual but uninterrupted and ever swifter progression.

I have no doubt of it either, even at the present day; but I have learned from experience that such movements do not take place in so straight a line and in such a regular tempo as I then supposed. It is a zigzag line, now attaining great height and speed, then sinking down again; it apparently vanishes, and then with a new start reaches quite unexpected points. And all direct, methodical work--to use the tiresome, hackneyed word--is on the one hand hampered, on the other helped, by unanticipated, invisible secondary influences; more often helped than hampered, for, where any innovation is to be introduced, its forces converge from all directions.

Our life was now richly filled. We enjoyed two special blessings which one can hardly think of in combination,--impetuous reaching out into the wide world, and peace in our quiet corner. Full of hopes, expectations, struggles, in flaming enthusiasm or in overwhelming indignation, we set sail into the future; and a sheltered, safe little nest, beautifully pillowed with love and gayety, was ours at that time.

Many expressed their pity for us because we were childless. The blessing of children is, indeed, regarded as the highest happiness; but I have never expressed in these memoirs one single word of regret for this lack, nor have we, either of us, ever complained of it. Possibly, if we had known that good fortune, we should not have been able to comprehend how such a deprivation can be borne without pain; but it is a fact, our childlessness never cost us a sigh. I explain this in this way: not only did we find perfect satisfaction in each other, but that need of living for the future which lies at the basis of the desire to have offspring and to work and provide for them was satisfied in our case by our vocation, which also was striving for the future, and which delighted in something still in its infancy, but growing and flourishing. Besides, we had our literary activity, and it is well known and recognized in popular language that authorship is a kind of paternity .

And yet how absolutely different my life had shaped itself from what had been anticipated in my childhood and youth! I often had at this time occasion to turn my thoughts back to those days of youth and childhood, and to refresh my recollections of them. My old Aunt Lotti, Elvira's mother, who was now quite alone in the world and had nothing to love except me, had moved into our neighborhood. She lived about an hour's walk from Harmannsdorf, and I used to drive over to see her at least once a week, and chat with her for an hour or two, on old reminiscences for the most part. She took the liveliest interest in my domestic happiness and my labors, and yet we liked best to talk together of times gone by, of the days when Elvira and I played "puff" together.

Aunt Lotti was really the only link that connected me with my early life. My brother was still alive, to be sure, but, except for an exchange of letters once in a great while, we were quite out of touch with each other. So in these recollections I have had nothing to say of him. He was an odd fish, living perfectly aloof from mankind and isolated in a small Dalmatian city, occupying himself with floriculture and chess. His company consisted of a number of cats. Solitary walks along the seashore, the reading of botanical and mineralogical works, were his only passions. I had not seen him since 1872, and up to the time of his death, which occurred a few years ago, we never met again.

In the year of 1893 we did not attend any Peace Congress. Ever since I was carried away by this movement, I have counted the stations of my recollections for the most part by journeys to Peace Congresses, for these always brought visible tokens of the progress of the cause that was so dear to my heart and the possibility of taking an active part in helping it along. They brought me into touch, too, with the old friends, and led to the formation of new friendships; finally, they took us to new places in environments hitherto unknown, and they procured for us that enjoyment which My Own drank in with the greatest avidity,--travel itself. To get into a carriage together, and then to be off and away--it was an indescribable joy!

During the World's Fair, countless congresses were held in Chicago, and one of them was the Congress of Religions. All the great sects of the world had sent their dignitaries to represent them. This was certainly the first time that the promulgators of different creeds had come together, not to proselyte or to battle with one another, but to bring out the principles that are common to them all. And Christian bishops, Mosaic rabbis, Buddhist and Mohammedan priests, found themselves at one in the principle: God is the father of all; therefore all are brethren. So there was also a peace principle resulting from this Congress of Religions.

The actual Peace Congress which met August 14-19, in the Art Institute, under the Administrative Department of the Columbian Exposition, was presided over by Josiah Quincy, Assistant Secretary of State. Among the participants and speakers was William Jennings Bryan, who in the year 1904 ran as Roosevelt's opponent for the presidency of the United States, and who may perhaps at some future election win the victory.

In this Congress delegates from Africa and China participated. Europeans were only slimly represented. The journey across the great pond, which means for Americans only "a trip," still frightens the inhabitants of our continent. Dr. Adolf Richter went from Germany, Dr. Darby from England, Moneta from Italy, and from Austria--"Malaria." The Americans of course were well represented and by distinguished men,--scholars, judges, statesmen. A soldier even, General Charles H. Howard, gave an address on the International Tribunal. A special church convention joined the movement by referring to the projected petition of the various Christian bodies of the world to the governments in behalf of the Court of Arbitration. This plan was carried out, and the petition, which was signed by about a hundred ecclesiastical dignitaries of all countries, was subsequently laid before all the heads of governments. I was intrusted with the duty of presenting the copy destined for the Emperor of Austria.

XLI VAS?LI VERESHCH?GIN

Vereshch?gin in Vienna ? He does the honors at his exhibition ? "All Quiet before Plevna" ? "Apotheosis of War" ? Moltke standing before this picture ? A picture of what Vereshch?gin himself had seen during the war and painted ? Concerning a picture which he could not paint ? Further reminiscences of his military life ? His Napoleon pictures ? A remark of William II regarding them ? War and hunting

Now I will tell about Vas?li Vereshch?gin. When I learned that the great Russian painter, who was battling with his brush against the same foe that I was fighting with my pen, was staying in Vienna, where he was exhibiting a number of his pictures, I hastened to the city to see those celebrated paintings,--"All Quiet before Plevna," the "Apotheosis of War," and all those other variously named indictments of war. Even in the titles that he gave his pictures the artist expressed the bitterness which, next to the pain, animated his brush. The sentinel forgotten in the wilderness of snow, standing there until the drift reaches half to his breast,--that was what Vereshch?gin's genius saw back of the generals' well-known dispatch, "All quiet before Plevna"; and a pyramid of skulls surrounded by a flock of flapping ravens,--thus he depicted the "Apotheosis of War."

"We are colleagues and comrades, gracious lady"; such was his greeting. And then he led us from picture to picture, and related how each came to be painted and what idea was in his mind as he worked. At many of the paintings we could not suppress a cry of horror.

"Perhaps you believe that is exaggerated? No, the reality is much more terrible. I have often been reproached for representing war in its evil, repulsive aspect; as if war had two aspects,--a pleasing, attractive side, and another ugly, repulsive. There is only one kind of war, with only one end and aim: the enemy must suffer as much as possible; must lose as many as possible in killed, wounded, and prisoners; must receive one blow after another until he asks for quarter."

As we stopped in front of the "Apotheosis of War," he called our attention to an inscription in small Russian letters near the border of the picture.

"You can't read that; it is Russian and means, 'Dedicated to the Conquerors of the Past: the Present and the Future.' When the picture was on exhibition in Berlin, Moltke stood in front of it. I was by his side, and I translated the words for him; the dedication was a dig at him too."

Another painting represented a road buried in a thick covering of snow, with here and there hands or feet sticking out of it.

"What in heaven's name is that?" we cried.

"No work of the imagination. It is actual fact that in winter, both in the last Turko-Russian war and during other campaigns, the road along which the regiments were passing was covered with corpses; one who had not seen it would find it hard to believe. The wheels of the cannons, the tumbrels and other wagons, would crush the wretched men, still living, down into the ruts, where the dead bodies were deliberately left that the road might not be injured; and they were pressed way down under the snow, only the protruding legs and arms showing here and there that the road was a thickly populated graveyard...."

"I understand," said I, "that you were blamed for depicting the most horrible things that you saw."

"The most horrible? No. I found much dramatic material from which I absolutely recoiled, because I was utterly unable to put it on the canvas. For instance, I had the following experience: my brother, who was an aide to General Skobelef, was killed during the third assault on Plevna. The spot where he fell was held by the enemy, so I could not rescue his body. Three months later, when Plevna was in our hands, I went to the place and found it covered with bodies,--more correctly, with skeletons; wherever I looked I found skulls grinning at me, and here and there skeletons still wearing shirts and tattered clothes. They seemed to be pointing with their hands somewhere into the distance. Which of these was my brother? I carefully examined the tatters, the configuration of the skulls, the eye sockets, and I couldn't stand it; the tears streamed from my eyes, and for a long time I could not control my loud sobbing. Nevertheless, I sat down and made a sketch of this place, which reminded me of Dante's pictures of hell. I wanted to produce such a picture, with my own figure searching among all those skeletons--impossible! Again, a year later, two years later, when I began on the canvas, the same tears choked me and prevented me from proceeding; and so I have never been able to finish that picture."

"In order to get a clearer idea of what war is," continued Vereshch?gin, "I made up my mind to be an eyewitness of the whole thing. I participated in an infantry charge on the enemy, and, as it happened, I led the attack. I have been in a cavalry skirmish and victory, and I have been with the marines on board of a torpedo boat in an attack on great ships. On this last occasion I was punished for my curiosity by a severe wound, which almost sent me to kingdom come, to continue my observations there."

A few years later--let me here complete my personal recollections of Vereshch?gin--I met him a second time. He was giving in Vienna an exhibition of his series of Napoleon pictures. It is said that Emperor William II, on seeing one of these paintings, remarked to him: "With these, dear master, you are battling against war more effectually than all the Peace Congresses in the world."

Nevertheless, I believe that the artist's intention was not in the least to engage in that sort of battle. He wanted to be true. He did not hate war at all; he found in it the excitements of the chase.

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