Letter to Iosif Dubrovinsky, May 4, 1909

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4/V. 09

Dear Friend,

I received your letter and I protest vehemently. Granted we made a mistake with regard to Pokrovsky (I am prepared to admit it and to take the blame wholly upon my self, for it was I who persuaded Grigory), but for you to leave because of that would be the height of absurdity. The Pokrovsky affair cannot be helped now. There’s no point in calling out Meshkovsky before Vlasov and the regional delegates (Shchur is safe and he vouches that from Moscow no otzovist will get in, Lyadov and Alexinsky... —he’s on Capri at the present time—won’t get in either. From Petrograd, they say, there will be an anti-otzovist). Now the thing to do is to wait for the B.C. plenary meeting. Otherwise the squabble will grow—and after all we have stopped it. There is no doubt that at a meeting with Pokrovsky present Bogdanov would have produced a dozen new grievances and involved Pokrovsky in them, now there has been only one. And this was inevitable: don’t exaggerate, please! The “resentment” of Nikitich and Lyadov and Pokrovsky, yesterday’s neutrals, is not accidental, it is inevitable; the thing has been festering, and now the boil is beginning to burst, and it is not always possible to keep one’s temper with this stinking squabble going on all around.

But for you to go would be madness. We will endure it here for another month, without making matters worse, you may rest assured. For you to wear out your nerves (and Paris is extremely nerve-racking) before the meeting would be the height of absurdity.

I protest a thousand times; you must stay in the sanatorium until the plenary meeting. To economise 200–300 francs is foolish. If you stay in the sanatorium we shall have at least one man at the plenary meeting with strong nerves, one man not involved in petty squabbles (here you will be dragged in, even if you were a Solomon). If you leave, you will augment the number of those with frayed nerves, without benefit to the cause.

I protest most vigorously: on no account leave, be sure to stay in the sanatorium right until the plenary meeting.

No news from Vlasov yet. Must be patient. There was a letter from Lindov: he agrees in principle to come within one or two months. That will be just right. Orlovsky hasn’t replied. In exactly a month from now we shall all be assembled and then we shall see. In the meantime get well properly and you, at least, keep calm, for heaven’s sake.

Received a letter today, dated April 18, saying that my book is ready. At last! The delay irritated me more than anything else. By April 25–26, old style, they promise to deliver it here.

Best regards,

Yours,

Lenin