Let these horrible crimes be entered upon the Book of Fate with eternal letters! These crimes shall awake within us one sole burning wish--to wrest the arms from the barbarous hands, to deprive Germany forever of that brutal power upon whose achievement she has concentrated all her thoughts. Already the seed of national pride and of hatred, widely sown by her, has awakened a magnificent growth. This hatred may spread like wildfire among other nations, and then will resound the voice of those blinded by wrath, the voice of those demanding vengeance, the voice of those repudiating everything great and beautiful among the creations of the German genius to the rejoicing and for the benefit of all mankind.
But let us remember the disastrous results of such a course--for the black crimes thrust by Germany upon herself by drawing the sword, and the outrages in which she has indulged herself while drunk with victory are the inevitable fruits of the darkness which she has voluntarily entered. At present she is pursuing this course, encouraged even by her poets, scientists, and social and political leaders.
Her adversaries, carrying peace and victory to their peoples, shall indeed be inspired solely by holy motives.
K. ARSENIEV, I. BUNIN, A. VESSELOVSKI, NESTOR KOTLIAREVSKI, and D. OVSIANIKO-KULIKOVSKI, Honorary Members of the Academy.
F. KORSCH, Regular Member of the Academy.
A. GRUZINSKI, President of the Society of the Amateurs of Russian Literature.
Prof. L. LOPATIN, President of the Moscow Psychological Association.
N. DAVYDOV, President of the Tolstoy League of Moscow.
Prince V. GOLYTZIN, President of the Literary, Dramatic and Musical Society of A.N. Ostrovski.
S. SHPAZINSKI, President of the League of Russian Authors and Composers.
I. POPOV, President of the Literary-Artistic Circle.
V. FRITSCHE, President of the Council of the Newspaper Writers and Authors' Association.
JULIUS BUNIN, President of the Literary Circle "Sreda" and the Vice President of the Moscow Society for Aid to Authors and Newspaper Writers.
N. TELESHEV, Chairman of the Moscow Board of the Mutual Aid Fund for Authors and Scientists.
A. BAKHRUSHIN, Chairman of the Board of the Literary-Theatrical Museum of the Academy of Sciences in Moscow.