Centennial Expressions on Peter Kropotkin 1842-1942.

KROPOTKIN IN BRIGHTON
It was in August. 1914, that 1 met Peter
Kropotkin. Hie was then living in Brighton,
and I w\ent downi to see himi from ILondoin,
bearing a letter of introdluction from LEmma
Goldman..
I alwtays think of IFnuna as ti-; socio-intellectual mother. I mean that when I had
taken a college legree and drifted, with mind
still somnolent as far acs anv knowledge of
the contemporary world of struggling human 1
beings was concerned, into New York Cit\y,
and into a hall where Enmma was lecturingI was rudely awakened.
In the few -weeks
which followed I heardl everythingr challengedl which I'd alxways taken for granted.
in addition I learnetd that there existed a
vast literattire myiN university had seemingly
never heard of, althougth m any of its great
names were familiar to peasant immigrants.
This had happened to mile at a very critical
moment. For I suddenly came down with a
long illness; and during the months I lay in
bed recuperating att the sanitarium whither I
had been sent, I could read wvoraciously. Recalling the authors Emma was always dwelling on, I went through the complete works
of Ibsen and then so much as I couldl get of
the literature of Russia-chiefly Tolstoy and
-Kropotki n.
Page 38
By Pryns Hopkins, Editor:
Freedom Magazine
VWhtt ia treat I hadI fouond in his Introdeirtioin to Russiani Literature! And with what
fascinattion I read the autobiography of this
truly great hero, who, like a tmodern ( ',autantat, hIiad renouncedI his princely position and
estates to cast his lot with the caommnon people,
but whose ro(ato to salvation ha(l been a more
mili itant one leading through imprisonments,
escapes across winitry Siberia, aind exile.
When now, in August, 1914, my train
broughit me to Brighton, I quickly found the
famous anarchist's house. A\Irs. Kropotkin
opened the door-and, if I recall rightly after
so many years, she w as small of figure but
full of the warmth of welcome.
Prince Kropotkin, who receive(d me inl a
big armlchair in the living room
(for his
health was not good) was truly the original
by whomni all the stereotype(l cartoons of anarchists have been inspiredl. Anl enormous
mass of whiskers bristled from his face in
everyl direction. Within such a mane, one
might have looked for a leonine type of countenance-but his was far too benevolent to
be called that. He more truly radiated benevolence than anyone I had ever seen.
While I\irs. Kropotkin provided(l us with
cakes atnd sweet Russian tea, we launched
into a long and most interesting discussion.
I recall that there were three points on which
we never did( come to a truly satisfactory
"meeting of the min(ds," as laiwyers wotild
call it. I was at that time a pacifist, and
Kropotkin's support of the war against Germiany I could reconcile neither with his belief iii no-government nor my ownii (then)
belief that even (lefensive war brought on
greater evils than atny it protecte(l frnom. (I
was incred ulous of the d(lepths of German
mIlachinationlls. ) The third point on which
we could not meet was the boundless op)timllism expressed illn his Farias, factories and1
J'forkshops as to the unlimitetl fruitfulness
he thought could be writing by science aind
labor out of a tiny acreage of soil, so thatt allover population scares would be
nonsense. Failure to agree on these matters,
however, in no way clouded
the friendly
intercotirse of that delightful afternoon.
As I was leaving, a few neighbors dropped
in and I caught some hint of that veneration
rentlered