176 Hoii' io Pay /or tlic War 



1 received, emboldened me, when I heard that the ex- 

 President of the United States had written to Count Ilya 

 Tolstoy congratulating Russia through him on the over- 

 throw of the old pro-German regime, to again write asking 

 for a copy of that letter as well; having done so I am glad 

 to say, a reply came to hand, which ran as follows : — 



Metropolitan, 

 432, Fourth Avenue, New York. 

 May 27, 1917. 

 j\Iy dear Mr. Smith, — In connection with your request 

 of May 3, I enclose herewith copy of my letter to Count 

 Tolstoy. 



Sincerely yours, 



i\Ir. H. Hamel Smith, c/o Tropical Life, 



Russian Department, 112, Fenchurch Street, E.C., 

 London, England. 



Here is a copy of the letter : — 



May I, 1917. 



My dear Count Tolstoy, — Through you I send my 

 most hearty congratulations and good wishes to the men 

 who have led the Russian people in this great movement 

 for democratic freedom. I speak to them as a fellow- 

 democrat and a fellow-radical, when I urge them, for the 

 sake of the ultimate welfare of the mass of the people of 

 Russia, to see that their striking victory is used with such 

 moderation and wisdom as to prevent all possibility of 

 reaction. I have the keenest sympathy with your pro- 

 gramnie for religious, political, and industrial freedom for 

 all, and for equality of opportunity for all. It is not a 

 very easy thing to carry through such a programme ; and 

 in any such great movement as yours, the danger, at the 

 point you have reached, comes almost as much from well- 

 meaning, unbalanced extremists who favour the revolu- 

 tion, as from the reactionaries themselves. As you have 

 put it, the torch of enlightenment fired the revolt ; see 

 that the light of the torch is not dimmed by any unwise 

 and extreme action, and above all, not by any such 

 sinister and dreadful deeds as those which a century and 

 a quarter ago in France produced the Red Terror, and 



