of the magazine employed all means to save it The re* suit of their efforts was that the " Spiritual Censor," a priest who probably understands art and is interested in art as much as I understand or am interested in church services, but who gets a good salary for destroying what- ever is likely to displease his superiors, struck out all that seemed to him to endanger his position, and substituted his thoughts for mine wherever he considered it neces- sary to do so. For instance, where I speak of Christ going to the Cross for the sake of the truth He professed, the " Censor " substituted a statement that Christ died for mankind, i.e. he attributed to me an assertion of the dogma of the Redemption, which I consider to be one of the most untrue and harmful of Church dogmas. After correcting the book in this way, the " Spiritual Censor " allowed it to be printed.
To protest in Russia is impossible — no newspaper would publish such a protest ; and to withdraw my book from the magazine, and place the editor in an awkward position with the public, was also not possible.
So the matter has remained. A book has appeared under my name containing thoughts attributed to me which are not mine.
I was persuaded to give my article to a Russian mag- azine in order that my thoughts, which may be useful, should become the possession of Russian readers ; and the result has been that my name is affixed to a work from which it might be assumed that I quite arbitrarily assert things contrary to the general opinion, without adducing my reasons ; that I only consider false patri- otism bad, but patriotism in general a very good feeling ; that I merely deny the absurdities of the Roman Catholic Church and disbelieve in the Madonna, but that I believe in the Orthodox Eastern faith and in the " Mother of God " ; that I consider all the writings collected in the Bible to be holy books, and see the chief importance of Christ's life in the Redemption of mankind by His death.
I have narrated all this in such detail because it strik- ingly illustrates the indubitable truth that all compromise
