'Y^LE-WMK^IEIESlIirY"

Deposited by the
Linonian and Brothers Library

nn.

RUSSIA,
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.

L^TIKHOMIROV.

Translated from the French by
EDWARD AVELING, D.Sc.

VOL II.

LONDON:
SWAN SONNENSCHEIN, LOWREY & CO.,
PATERNOSTER SQUARE.

BUTLER & TANNER,
The Selwood printing woiacs,
Frome, and London.

CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

BOOK VI.
THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. PAGE
Chap. I. The " Intelliguentia." — Its birth.— Its growth. —
Its leaders persecuted by the Government. — The " In
telliguentia " struggles in the name of the people. —
Knowledge of its own strength. — Its idealism. — Theo
retically, the " Intelliguentia " and the Revolutionists
are one .... .... 5
Chap. IL The woman question. — Why it presents itself
— Men's ideas ; women's ideas. — Errors in application.
— The real application. — The women of the " Intelli
guentia." — The family of the " Intelliguentia " . -33
Chap. III. The University. — Its role is secondary. —
Governmental idea of the University. — General need
of teaching. — Students and professors. — University
troubles. — Their cause. — Their uselessness. . . 54
Chap. IV. Literature. — Social part played by Russian litera
ture. — Literature a means of expressing ideas that the
press cannot. — Art an objet de luxe. — Literature under
the protection of fashion. — The social novel. — Birth of
the press. — Tendency of literature. — Evils caused by
it to artistic writers. — The censorship. — The illegal
press. — Literature swallowed up of satire. — Chtch^drine.
— Poets and story-tellers. — Ouspensky and Garchine . 73

IV CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
BOOK VII
POLITICAL RUSSIA. page
Chap. I. The Russian administration. — Medical adminis
tration. — The army.— The Skariatine trial ; its revela
tions. — Local administration ; its abuses . . -113
Chap. II. Political parties : Reactionary, Liberal, Revolu
tionary. — The mistakes of the Liberals and the Revolu
tionists. — Reaction. — The revolutionary staff. — Its
youth among the people. — Trials and persecutions. —
Terrorist movement. — Conspiracies. — Propaganda
among the army ....... 141
Chap. III. The Black partition. — The agrarian question.
— Anti-Semitic riots. — ^Agrarian crimes . . 187
Chap. IV. Liberal policy. — The zemstvos. — Coming to
power in 1880 of the Liberal party. — Loris Melikov. —
Struggle between the Liberal and Reactionary parties.
. — The crime of the 13th of March. — Coming to the
throne of Alexander III. — His policy. — Secret associ
ations. — Ministry of Count Ighnatiev. — The competent
men. — The police. — Ministry of Count Tolstoi. — Pre
ponderating influence of Katkov . . . .216
APPENDIXES.
A. Statistics of the National Revenue . . 259
B. The Term Nihilists  269
C. Subjects Forbidden by the Censorship . 279
D. Partition of the Land  285
E. Works and Publications Quoted. . . 295

BOOK VI.
THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT.

VOL. 11.

BOOK VI.
Chap. I. The "Intelliguentia." — Its birth.— Its growth. — Its
leaders persecuted by the Government. — The " Intelliguentia "
struggles in the name of the people. — Knowledge of its own
strength. — Its idealism. — Theoretically, the " Intelliguentia " and
the revolutionists are one.
Chap. II. The woman question. — Why it presents itself —
Men's ideas ; women's ideas. — Errors in application. — The real
application. — The women of the " Intelliguentia." — The family of
the " Intelliguentia."
Chap. III. The University. — Its role is secondary. — Govern
mental idea of the University. — General need of teaching. —
Students and professors. — University troubles. — Their cause. —
Their uselessness.
Chap. IV. Literature. — Social part played by our literature. —
Literature a means of expressing ideas that the press cannot. —
Art an objet de luxe. — Literature under the protection of fashion.
— The social novel. — Birth of the press. — Tendency of literature.
— Evils caused by it to artistic writers. — The censorship. — The
illegal press. — Literature swallowed up of satire. — Clitchddrine. —
Poets and story-tellers. — Ouspensky and Garchine.

CHAPTER I.
The " Intelliguentia." — Its birth. — Its growth. — Its leaders per
secuted by the Government — The " Intelliguentia " struggles
in the name of the people. — Knowledge of its own strength.
— Its idealism. — Theoretically, the "Intelliguentia" and the
revolutionists are one.
In studying the social classes of Russia, I have
said nothing about the enlightened Russian class,
the " intelliguentia." Yet the part it plays is at
once very curious and of capital importance in
Russian contemporary history.
First, what is the intelliguentia ?
Is education in Russia the special privilege of
any single class ? Have we not educated nobles,
merchants, artisans, peasants ? And if education is
spread over all classes, what connection can there
be between the ideas of an educated noble and those
of an educated peasant, between^ those of a manu
facturer and an artisan who are both well read .'' Is
not each of them impregnated with the ideas of his
class, ideas opposed and perhaps hostile to those of
other classes ?
This is the very thing that does not hold in
Russia. Certainly, among educated people, there
have been and are many who represent the ideas of

6 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
their class, i.e. those of the nobility, the clergy, tbe
dourgeoisie, e.g. But when all is said and done,
these are exceptions, and, what is more, they are
as a rule of no ability and of no note. They seem
purely accidental. They exercise very little influence
on the general march of Russian civilization ; they
have neither predecessors nor successors. The mass
of enlightened people in Russia, whether nobles
or workmen, think quite differently. The general
march of Russian civilization and its historic rSle
are by no means after the heart of Prince Chtcher-
batov, wbo in the time of Catherine II. represented
the nobility in this movement, or after that of the
representatives of bourgeois ideas in our own time,
such as Bezobrazov and others. It is a strange thing
that the people representative of a class-idea are so
insignificant, leave so little trace anywhere, that even
to mention a few names of mark and influence is
difficult. Especially to name any of influence.
At the present moment, Katkov has great in
fluence on the Government. On politics he has an
influence the like of which no writer has exercised
in any country at any time. But what influence has
he on society and, above all, on the intellectual
movement ? Ask the first Russian you meet. He
will burst out laughing : " Katkov and intelligence !
What an idea ! They are two things wide as the
poles asunder." Yet Katkov publishes two journals
and one review. A whole army of his comrades
and creatures are writers on other publications, pro
fessors in the universities ; hundreds of masters
chosen by him fill the gymnasiums. The ministry
of public instruction has been, this twenty years or

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 7
more, the ministry of Katkov. Finally, to make
his ideas take root more firmly, he has founded,
under his personal direction, the Lyceum of the
Crown Prince Nicolas. Now, if we know of many
revolutionists that have come from this Lyceum,
we do not know of any descendant of Katkov that
is of value, not even a journalist. If you read in
the Moscow Gazette a good article, you may be sure
that it is by Katkov himself
Russian civilization goes on its way, leaving
these people on one side and out of reckoning.
They have tried hard to check its current, to make
channels that may turn it in this direction or in that ;
they lessen the purity of the water, the depth of the
stream, but they have not the power to change its
course. It goes its own way, to its own end, the
fulfilling of its own mission, flowing whither the
social situation of the country compels.
Russian civilization is still very young ; scarcely
two hundred years old. Moreover its actual origin
is referable to the influence of Europe. Thence
it has, so to say, been transplanted to Russia, and
as a consequence it was long, and still is, very imita
tive. But the surroundings in which it was working
out had their influence on it, even before the time
when the civilized folk, the intelliguentia, under
stood and explained to their own minds their sym
pathies, their antipathies, in a word, the tendency
of their ideas. Since Russian civilization began, it
has been notable for its markedly democratic na
ture, wholly unintentional, innate, one may say. The
intelliguentia grew up side by side with the de
velopment of serfdom, at the time of the most

8 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
complete enslavement of the people, at the time of
the rapid growth of the nobility. And, moreover,
it seems to have no understanding of the public
welfare in any other sense than the interests of
the masses of the people. It is impregnated with
a profound sentiment of equality. This feeling of
democracy will influence all such development as
may result from the thought of the intelliguentia.
The history of Russia has certainly not solved the
question of the organization of the State, of the rights
and duties of the different classes, in the sense of the
interests of the people.
" Why is this ? " asks the enlightened class. "Is
it just ? "
" No," is the reply.
And so soon as it finds itself face to face with an
order of things opposed to justice, it condemns them.
Prince Kantemire, the first of our poets of ability
in point of time, in 1738, writes in his satires : —
" Adam begat no nobles."
Or,
" Noah saved alone within his ark
Men that were his equals.
Mere labourers, whose only fame
Was in their good behaviour."
Another eminent writer of the time of Catherine
11.^ delivered by the mouth of the hero of his tra
gedy, " Vadime," severe philippics against tyranny.
" Our autocrats, the source of all our ills.
Destroy the purest of all virtues pure.
They make a tyrant of our lord, the tzar."
1 Kniajnine.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 9
The most celebrated writers of this time, Novlkov
and Krylov, who soon acquired a universal reputa
tion by their fables, attacked strongly the abuses of
serfdom, railed at the pretensions of the nobles, and
showed that all men are equal. Radichtchev, author
of the well-known "Journey from St. Petersburg to
Moscow," cries out in the midst of fierce curses
against serfdom: — -

o

" Oh, Liberty,
Turn into light the dark of slavery.
Let Roman Brutus and Swiss Tell awake !
That on their very throne our Russian tzars
May feel them troubled at thy thunder-voice."
This is the kind of ideas with which the Russian
intelliguentia has come into being.
But was it not the tzars that brought civilization
to Russia ? Were not the nobility the first class
among whom it took origin ? How then is it that
the intelliguentia has so rapidly placed itself in
opposition to the tzars, and the nobility of whom it
was itself a part ?
I must remind the reader that the nobility, to
whom at the outset the greater part of the intelli
guentia belonged, were made up for the most part ^
of parvenus, who had and could have no idea of
class. One of the earliest Russian writers, Posso-
chkov, was a peasant. The first* Russian man of
science, a man of vast capacity, rival of Franklin in
the discovery of the laws of electricity, and at the
same time the real founder of our literary language
of to-day, Lomonossov, was a simple Archangelsk
fisherman, who left his cottage to seek in far off
Moscow the teaching of science. A poet of our

IO RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
time, seeing a poor little village lad going to school,
encourages him thus : —
" Soon shall you learn at school
How once a peasant of Archangelsk,
By his will and by God's,
Became a learned man and noble." ^
These lines the child learnt at school, and thus
the idea of human equality sank yet more deeply
into his soul.
As to the tzars, their civilizing mission is pure
invention. One only of our tzars was actually a
worker for civilization on a large scale — Peter I.
This strange man, brought up in the streets, far
away from the court that attempted his life, this
tzar who abolished the hereditary nature of the
monarchy,^ who tried to place the law above himself
and his own will, passed through all the military
grades he had founded, beginning with the lowest.
The successors of Peter I. had nothing of his ability.
Certainly they employed educated people, officials,
military men, mechanicians ; they loved art and
literature, as an ornament of their court ; but the
protection they gave the intellectual movement
went no further than this. As soon as civilization
emerged from its servile and obedient condition,
they began to persecute it. Anything other than
this was impossible. Russian civilization involun
tarily places in the foreground the good of the
1 Niekrassov.
2 The law of Peter I. gave the tzar the right to nominate his
own successor. This law was only repealed by Paul I., who
made the law that holds to-day as to the hereditary nature of the
throne.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. I I
people. Hence it is in revolt against the classes
that the monarchy tried to create, and against the
monarchy itself, as betrayer of the interests of the
mass of the people. Further, education developed
the personality of the individual, and as a con
sequence strengthened in him the sentiment of
dignity, his aspirations after liberty, and this to an
extent far greater than an absolute monarchy based
on serfdom could allow. Quite naturally the
monarchy tried to destroy these subversive ideas
to which education gave impetus and scope.
Persecutions began. To enumerate these is
literally impossible. To speak only of the authors
already quoted, Kniajnine was dead before his
tragedy was denounced by the censorship, but his
family was persecuted ; Novikov, as well as a large
number of his comrades, had to undergo a long
detention in the fortress of Peter and Paul, and saw
all his civilizing plans ruined by the Government ;
Radichtchev was condemned to death, and mercy
alone commuted this sentence into deportation to
Siberia. That is how Catherine II. behaved when she was
face to face with civilization. In the time of Paul
I. all attempts in the same direction were perse
cuted literally with fury. , Alexander I., who plumed
himself on his liberalism, yet organized the censor
ship ; the second half of his reign was the time of
the reaction at its worst. Since the time of Nico
las I., the Government has been openly hostile to
civilization ; to the intellectual movement this hos
tility has shown no truce.
Not to enter into lengthy historical details, it is

12 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
enough to say that to-day it is difficult to find
among the illustrious champions of the intelliguentia
a man who has not in the course of his life endured
Government persecutions, who has not been regarded
as " of evil intent," who has not been under police
surveillance, and so forth. Dostoievsky was a
veritable martyr. He was condemned to death ;
then he was reprieved, and sent to the galleys.
The celebrated romance writer described later on
in his " House of the Dead" the terrible life in the
midst of a world of crime, under the authority with
out limit of chiefs whom none controls, and who are
worse than the convicts themselves. But the actual
life was worse even than the romance. At the
galleys, Dostoievsky was beaten with rods because
he refused to denounce his comrades. This bar
barous torture shattered the nerves of the unhappy
artist. After it, he had an attack of epilepsy, a
malady from which he suffered to the end of his
days. Another writer, yet more celebrated, Alexander
Hertzen, was accused of " political crimes." He
was imprisoned for many years ; then he emigrated,
and all his goods were confiscated.
Tchernychevsky, after long years of the galleys,
passed many more in an out-of-the-way fort in
Siberia, under the strict surveillance of the gen
darmes, his only society. Only recently, after
twenty years of this martyrdom, prematurely old
from suffering, he has been transferred to a less
severe place of exile, at Astrakan.
Chtch^drine (Saltykov) was interned [confined to
a particular district] by administrative decree.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 1 3
Tourgueniev also was for many years banished to
his own estate, and all his life long was a suspect. /
Niekrassov, when dying, saw the police rum
maging in every corner of his lodging.
A perquisition [house-search] has just recently
been carried out at Leon Tolstoi's.
These examples might be multiplied to Infinity.
People like Ivan Aksakov, who Is now publishing a
reactionary Slavophile journal, have had to under
go banishment by administrative decree. It is, I
think, superfluous to speak of the unmitigated des
potism with which the Government constantly inter
feres in the private life of people that belong to the
intelliguentia. It literally makes no exception in
their favour.
Thus, e.g., when the first Slavophiles — some of
them very rich and of Illustrious family (Khomla-
khov, the KIreievskys, Alsakovs, Kochalevs), under
the influence of their national leanings, had a fancy
for wearing the Russian dress and letting their
beards grow, the Governor-General of Moscow
ordered them, through the police, to shave their
beards and to put on again the European costume.
All these persecutions, sometimes petty teaslngs,
sometimes terrible, could not but raise the spirit of
opposition In the civilized class, although this spirit
assumedly existed before the persecutions set In.
Had the ideas of the intelliguentia been "sound,
reasonable, accurate," in the eyes of the Govern
ment, no persecution would have occurred. They
could not be other than they were. Ignorance,
unconsciousness, had engendered the order of things
that reigned in Russia at the dawn of this move-

14 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
ment. Thought, developing, passing into con
sciousness, must Infallibly work out the destruction
of this social system, and this the more as Russia
was Influenced morally by Europe at the very time
when it was rushing Into its great revolutionary
cataclysm. As soon as he knew how to read, the
Russian was given up to the teaching of Voltaire
and Rousseau. In their school he learnt the doc
trines that supplied the Inspirations of his Instinct,
and strengthened these with scientific authority.
This was the manner of development of the in
telliguentia ; and it Is precisely this democratic idea,
this Idea of antagonism, that gives to Russian civili
zation Its originality. The history of that civilization
Is the history of this Idea. To the educated class,
Imbued with this idea, belong almost all the great
men of the country, all the talents, almost every
thing that leaves after Itself a tradition, all that
makes proselytes. Scattered through all classes, the
intelliguentia seems to form a special class, linked
together by a spiritual and moral unity, that of its
historic mission. In all classes, the Intelliguentia
plays the part of a kind of ferment that gives birth,
wherever It comes, to the critical spirit, to aspirations
after knowledge, after justice. Everywhere Its work
Is purely revolutionary. Everywhere It Is gnawing
at the edifice of authority, of class, of the prestige of
power. Everywhere it places In the van the rights
of the people and of the individual. By degrees,
the mere Idea of knowledge becomes In Russia
almost wholly blended with that of something sub
versive. And, as a matter of fact, throughout the
nineteenth century, all the plots, all the attempts at

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 1 5
political disturbance in Russia are due to the initia
tive of the intelliguentia, and that not In the Interests
of a class but of the whole people. This is the
cause not infrequently of an apparent contradiction
in the agitations set on foot by the upper classes — a
contradiction that Count Rostoptchine formulated
with as much acuteness as injustice when the
Decembrist outbreak took place. " I can under
stand," said the count, "the French bourgeois
bringing about the Revolution to get his rights,
but how am I to understand the Russian noble
making a revolution to lose them ? " The count's
mistake and the key to the enigma are in this — that
the noble who aimed at this revolution was not the
noble that had remained true to his class, but the
noble who had gone over to the ranks of the
intelliguentia. In fine, the educated class, with its democratic
tendencies and its spirit of opposition, is in some
sort a group of representatives of the people face
to face with the Government and the upper classes.
A strange situation, and largely one of profound
tragedy. Those of the irrfelliguentla who, like
Count Ldon Tolstoi, belong to the highest of the
aristocracy, have a strange, almost fleshly love for
the true working people.^ Aftec the fashion of
Nicolas Mllloutlne, they pledge themselves to de
stroy serfdom, because they themselves have un
wittingly made ill use of It. Tourgueniev, gentleman
by position, wealthy landed proprietor, whose mother
was ferocity itself to her serfs, took the oath of
Hannibal to destroy serfdom. Hertzen, heir to a
1 "Confession," p. 45.

1 6 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
rich patrimony stocked with serfs, declares proudly
he will never traffic In human beings. The thing
they hold most sacred is the good of the people,
the liberty of the people ; their pride is In serv
ing this cause. For it they become the foes of
their fathers, their brothers, their nearest relatives ;
they act against their own Interests. This little
knot of men beholds the forces of the Govern
ment arrayed against them. What matter ? They
have only the consciousness of their historic mis
sion. The people is nothing to them. The people
knows them not, and they know but little of It.
It is true that the intelliguentia has made gigantic
efforts to know the people, to get at Its heart. The
study of the people, of its costumes, its songs, its
legends, its needs, has this long time past been the
lodestone to the best of the forces of the Intelli-
CTuentla. Later on, when this class understood
more clearly the political task before it, with the
same energy it strove after a union with the people.
These struggles must last for years before the
people will begin to understand the Intelliguentia,
and to act to some extent In concert with it. For
years It has struggled in the name of the people,
knowing to the full that the people were not even
aware of its existence ; could In no wise distinguish
between It and the first comer of those that live
upon the people ; would not lift a finger to defend
or to maintain it. From the outset the enemies of
the Intelliguentia cried out at it : " You are without
support — an abnormal fact in Russia — an Importa
tion from no one knows where." If he refused to
admit the justice of this, the educated man none the

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 1 7
less felt in his heart, that for long, long years to
come his would be the martyr's part. He said to
himself: —
" Perhaps — what man may tell ? — my blood shall be
As drops of molten lead, that, falling, wake
The people's conscience from its long, deep sleep ;
Then, face to face with me, their own pale ghost.
At last that people's conscience understand
What horrors they allow, and yet are dumb." ^
Many died with this alone as their consolation.
Nevertheless, even In such straits as these, these
people never wavered in their unbounded faith in that
historic mission, whose end is the complete trans
formation of Russia ; they were never doubtful of
their strength to carry it out. At times, after specially
severe checks, they were something discouraged,
disenchanted, as after December 14th, 1825, ^ the
end of the reign of Nicolas I., and in the years
following the emancipation of the peasants and in
augurating the period of reaction of the reign of
Alexander II. But these moments of discourage
ment pass very quickly, and give place again to a
fanatical faith in the mission laid upon these men.
In Its intensity this faith recalls that of the early
Christians, who, even in the midst of the flames
that consumed them and almost all those that
thought with them, never doubted* the triumph of
Divine grace. Alexander Hertzen, depicting the
sad decadence of Russia in his youth, wrote : " The
moral level of society was lowered. Its development
Interrupted — everything of progress, of energy, smit
ten out of life. The vast peasant world was silent
1 Tcherny: "From Behind the Bars."
VOL. II. C

1 8 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
and indifferent." A terrible state of things, is It
not ? But do not imagine that Russia is doomed.
"The Russia of the future," Hertzen goes on, "was
a few young men, scarcely more than children, so
Insignificant, so little noted, that they might with
ease be held between the sole of the foot of the
autocracy and the ground. In them was the heritage
of the 14th of December, the heritage of universal
science and of a Russia wholly belonging to the
people." ^
Mikhel Mlkhailov, one of the most remarkable
poets, In 1 86 1, just when they were sending him to
the galleys,^ replied to the address of condolence of
the students : —
" Even within the shadow of my cell
I shall preserve most holy in my heart.
My firm belief and sovran in the young."
The most fervent faith of this man, who sealed
his creed with his life, was In that rising generation
that bore In Its bosom the principle of civilization.
Yet more characteristic is the propaganda of
/Dmitri PIssarev. This young writer, of great capacity,
had for some time Immense Influence In Russia.
During his long incarceration in the fortress of
Peter and Paul, he wrote from out that prison
articles for the Review, The Word of Russia, that
for many years made him the oracle of our educated
youth. What was his teaching to Russia ? Cease
lessly he pointed out the faults of Russian life. In
Russia, almost everything Is bad, since everythlno-
1 " The Pole Star," v. and vii.
2 He died there soon, on account, they say, of a shock to the
system due to the corporal punishment inflicted on him.

The INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 1 9
needs modification, and, outside the Intelliguentia,
there is no living force capable of doing anything.
The Intelligfuentia must do all. It will transform
morals, found civilization, reform institutions, develop
the productive forces of the country. Russia Is, In
the eyes of Pissarev, a kind of Inert mass, a lifeless
body, the whole of the strength of which Is in its
soul, the intelliguentia. It Is true that Russia has
not another laudator of the cultured class as loud in
his praises as PIssarev, and that his contempt for the
people soon overturned the throne of this oracle.
Yet, for some years, thousands admired him, looked
up to him as their master, and naturally found In his
ideas something In harmony with their own. We
find this same boundless confidence In their own
strength later on among the Russian revolutionists.
Frequently they propose plans that at first sight
seem Impossible. That Is because the consciousness
of their own strength Is strong In the soul of the
man of the Intelliguentia ; it makes all idea of
the Impossible only a question of degree to him.
In this connection the vivid remembrance of one
of the dearest comrades of my youth comes to my
mind. During his long confinement, D. was In constant
rebellion, asking from the authorities the most Illegal
privileges, permission, e.g., for the prisoners under
solitary confinement to talk and walk together.
" We must protest," he kept on saying. " But what
can you do ? " asked his more reasonable comrades.
" Remember, you are under lock and key, hemmed
In with bars, guarded by soldiers. Where are you
going to find the force, without which you cannot

20 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
make the authorities attend to you ? " The force ?
In me, in you ! I am the force." " My dear fellow,
that force Is no good. It will be broken In a minute."
"It will be broken ? Very well. Let them break
It ! Let them try to break It."
In 1878, I became acquainted with many terrorists,
as they were then called. Then I was not ac
quainted with this type, and I asked out of curiosity,
one of them, Ivltchdvitch, as to their plans. " It
is open to doubt," I ventured to say, " whether a
sufficient power can be got together to upset the
Government. Too great a conspiracy would be
needed for that." " The Government," he answered,
" may be forced to make concessions, even if we are
not strong enough to overturn It." " What then Is
your plan ? " " We shall punish It for each of Its
crimes. We shall terrorize it and force it to respect
the rights of man." " But do you really hope to
frighten the Government ? Do you forget It has at
Its disposal, police, army, vast means of defence ? It
will hang, whip, exterminate you more rapidly than
you will its servants." "We shall see."
He was a strong, sterling, joyous fellow of un
bounded courage. In war he would have performed
prodigies, A year later, he was mortally wounded
in a desperate struggle with the gendarmes.^
What is the meaning of this boundless belief in
1 I may here remark, that the idea of terrorizing the Government
was in existence before the party of the ^\'ill of the People was
formed in 1879. The plan of this organization is quite different.
It lays before itself as aim, the overturning of the Government by
one grand conspiracy. Those unfamiliar with the question gener
ally mix up the two movements, and incorrectly call the members
of the Will of the People party, terrorists.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 2 1
their own strength ? Is It not a sign of madness,
as our reactionaries say ? No ; In actual life, at
all events in Russian life. It Is often proved to the
astonishment of all, that the solitary man. Immured
in a dungeon, is In fact a force. In the Russian
prisons, the political prisoners, constantly liable to
be thrown Into cells and to be beaten, perishing
from aneurism or phthisis, are at times successful In
wearing out the authorities by this incessant struggle,
making them doubt the success of what they are
doing, making them let their prisoners do all they
wish. What happens In the prisons happens also
sometimes In politics. He that knows Russia, he
that knows the extent to which the life of the intel
liguentia manifests Itself in the national life, cannot
fall to see that this confidence of the cultured class
in itself Is the result of Its historic experience. The
Importance of the part played in our history by
the man of the intelliguentia was often Immense,
and quite justifies NIekrassov's words :
" Who doubts the men of prehistoric time.
Since in our own days heroes twain or three
Bear shoulder-high the burden of their time ?"
This belief has taken firm root In the mind of the
cultured class. Heroic as some of its members are,
it is assuredly not merely the abilities of these that
have given rise to this confidence of the Intelliguentia
in its own strength. It Is the more or less clear
understanding of this historic fact, that the intelli
guentia, even if not understanded of the people, is
the instrument of the organic laws of growth of the
whole country — it Is this consciousness that assures
the persistence of Its vitality.

2 2 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
This mode of growth of necessity has .two sides :
the development of the individual, the development
of the forces of the people. Both lead logically to
the ruin of the monarchy and of the upper classes at
present In existence. This Is the line along which
the country's development is moving. Thus it is
that it finds Its reflex in the thought of the cultured
class and produces there two chief currents that are
always noticeable in that cultured thought.
These two currents, as a rule, are without any clear
line of demarcation between them, and scarcely ever
come into conflict ; but each of them gives its own
hue to the different fractions of the Intelliguentia.
We have already noticed Dmitri PIssarev, the re
presentative of the more accentuated of the two — of
that which aims at the development of the individual,
has above all confidence in the Individual, and, as a
consequence, in that which is his chief strength,
science and moral Improvement. The same tendency
was seen In other forms later on — in what were called
the socialist propagandists. It is seen also in the
majority of our liberals. The other tendency is seen
In the Slavophiles, In many of our most noted writers,
such as Dobrolioubov, In a considerable fraction of the
revolutionary party, e.g.. In our democrats (narodniks).
These lay the main stress on the development of the
masses of the people, on trust in the strength of this
development. These two main currents generally
blend in different proportions in our intelliguentia ;
sometimes they combine in one harmonious whole In
the men of genius, in our intellectual movement.
This was the case, e.g., with Alexander Hertzen,
Besides this, In every case the development of the

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT, 23
different fractions of our cultured class depends on the
different stages in the march of the development of
Russia, Hence the strength and the Indestructibility
of the Intelliguentia, and also the confidence it has
In its own forces. Hence In like fashion, perhaps,
its idealism in part.
This is a characteristic on which It Is impossible
not to lay emphasis. So constantly does our cul
tured class show such an idealism, such a tendency
towards the absolute Ideal of right and justice, that
it Is in open conflict with reality. This idealism
gives our Intelliguentia an almost religious fervour.
It has probably for its foundation the more or less
confused consciousness that this movement is de
veloping conjointly with the development of the
country itself, on a plan of sufficient grandeur to
give rise to the Idea of a something absolute that
causes men to be wholly swallowed up of their ideal.
This idealism Is moreover a consequence of the
insufficiency and weakness of the actual rdgime.
This Inspires neither respect nor fear ; it gives the
Impression of an abortive attempt, good for nothing,
and that by consequence ought not to be modified,
but re-made from top to bottom. The European Is
in this respect much more circumspect, much more
reasonable, much less free. He cannot get away
from the Influence of facts as they are. In Russia,
on the contrary, but little attention Is paid to facts as
they are. This results, without doubt, from the fact
that the historic reality Itself Is not very lasting, and
contains within itself many circumstances that are,
In a sense, accidental. Russian State institutions
and laws spring up under the Influence of a too small

24 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
portion of the population. Thus they are for the
most part without the sanction of public opinion.
Very often, indeed, they are framed in direct con
tradiction to the needs, the Instincts, the desires of
the majority. That is why the laws and institutions
are far from having a prestige that can restrain the
bold flight of human thought. The Individual man,
having no respect for institutions, having nothing
of fear In face of them, feels naturally more Inde
pendent, more apt for realizing all he would. He
cannot understand why it Is that he ought to submit
to history, and not history to him. Thereupon, for the
Intelligent and cultured man, his own logic, his own
moral sentiment become his motive principles for
the good and for the true. Tradition, power, may
play their part through the pencil of the censor, by
the axe, by the bayonet ; they cannot chain the
inner soul, and that pushes to the extremest logical
deductions both its negations and its ideal aspira
tions. On account of this independence of volition, the
man of our intelliguentia always seeks for a moral
basis for his political and social philosophy. No-
Avhere are moral questions so much the vogue as in
Russia. All things that concern the part played
by the individual in history, free will, the responsi
bility of criminals, the nature of morals, etc., are
with us questions as burning as political and economic
ones are. They are much more burning questions
— they are those that excite the most passion, the
most discussion, enthusiasm, hate.
It Is a very remarkable thing that our intelliguentia,
apparently completely separated from the mass of

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 25
the people, yet is so extremely like It in this. Our
illiterate peasant, who believes that the earth rests
upon three whales, Is a great philosopher on moral
questions. His tales, his ballads, his songs analyse
these questions in such detail, with such poesy,
sometimes with such penetration, that It is evident
he puts his whole soul Into them. Our sects in
their manner of considering moral questions approxi
mate yet more closely to our cultured class. " Search
for the truth, search for the true faith," is so natural
an idea in the eyes of our people that our socialists
sometimes make use of it. A man who does not
travel, who Is altogether a stranger to the country,
is a wonder in a village. Rogatchev^ told me this.
"What Is your business?" the peasant asks this
intruder. "Why have you come here?" "lam
in search of the true faith," answered Rogatchev,
and that was enough. It may be that in the neigh
bourhood some sect is hidden, with which the new
comer might wish to enter into relation, or perhaps
he has come merely to consult a holy man. Further,
" faith " does not always mean to the sectaries
" religion." It is really an idea large enough to
explain to us the universe and man's place in it, his
sentiments, his tendencies and the questions of right
and wrong he asks himself The favourite phrase
pf the intelliguentia, obchtched hilrossozertsanie
^(general philosophy) has the same meaning. The
cultured man never makes a step without this
"general philosophy." It Is not enough for him to
have a political programme, a social theory ; he
must find In this programme and this theory a place
1 One of our best-known propagandists.

26 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
for him, his personality, his sentiments, his con-
-sclence. He must understand how his personality
is linked on to things generally, to society, to the
universe. These are the questions that in Russia
are called social questions.
An Idea that is certainly by no means a posltivlst
one, although the Russians love to call themselves
positlvlsts, realists, materialists. The Russians are,
it seems to me, still too young, too full of a deep-
rooted historical force to be able to be positlvlsts.
Involuntarily, they make a religion of every theory
that appears to be really positive. Hence their move
ment of civilization Is actually capable of producing
on society the deep, far-reaching effects of religious
movements. It penetrates the whole of social life,
modifies the most inner relations of the individual,
as e.g., those of man with woman, of parents with
children, comrade with comrade, and thus fashions
for social reform an Infinitely wide basis, built up of
these small and apparently purely personal relations.
What then are the moral ideas of the intelliguentia ?
Has It found them, or Is it still in search of them ?
It seems to me that as a rule all that is wanting Is
a definite formulation of ideas. The feeling of them,
vague and confused, has been present this long
while. In any case, these ideas are very clearly
defined, as far as the Intelliguentia Is concerned.
It bases Its morality on the most complete develop
ment of the individual ; It assumes that the more
the Individual is developed, the wider is the scope
of his interests. Now the widest in scope of all
interests is the social. Hence, as the individual
grows, he becomes more and more one with the

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 27
interests of society, as if these were his own. Thus
the individual comes into the possession of the true
morality. This is not the vulgar legal morality,
that is made of forms and restrictions, and Is held
in utter contempt by the man of the Intelliguentia.
Russian artists know how to find the " divine
spark " even In criminals apparently the most hard
ened ; they search it out with an unwearied solici
tude. In Dostoievsky's novel, e.g., Svidrigailov Is
at once a murderer and a man utterly depraved.
Yet as he Is about to shoot himself, you feel pity for
him rather than contempt, and ask yourself involun
tarily, why this moral strength of his has not been
employed for good. On the other hand. In Rus
sian books, he that obeys the conventional morality
is always the type of complete triviality. In him
the artist can find nothing good, nothing but what
excites disgust. I remember a character of George
Sand who constantly repeats, " Nothing illegal — that
Is my principle." This person takes part In the
abduction of a child from Its mother ; but at times
he inspires sympathy. Such a type Is impossible to
a Russian writer. If even this character had carried
off" the child from Interest or from hate. If he had not
troubled himself about legal or Illegal when he was
risking the galleys, the Russian writer would have
forgiven him, discovered something of human about
him, believed in his possible repentance. But —
" nothing illegal " as a principle ! That formula
alone would prove at once to an ai^tist that from
the Russian point of view he had before him a man
profoundly corrupt. It is easy enough to under
stand ; morality Is in the Inner tendency to good.

28 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
altogether Irrespective of what the law demands or
does not demand. If a man looks Into the law for
moral rules, that means that he himself has no
morality ; In other words, he Is not even a man, is
only ill outward seeming a human being.
These then are the ideas of thoughtful Russians.
Morality is an Inner tendency to good, a desire to
be useful, a longing to see those around one happy.
This Is the idea of the intelliguentia, an idea com
mon to people of opinions quite opposed to one
another. In this morality, the Intelliguentia tries to
find the method of harmonizing the exigencies of
the public welfare with unlimited Individual freedom.
The ideal morality Is the " immediate state," as we
call it, i.e., a given moral condition In which the
individual does good without even noticing it, with
out an effort on his part. This way of looking at
things, whether It wears the black coat of Bentham's
utilitarianism or the strait jacket of Dostoievsky,
seems the fundamental, universal base of the philo
sophy of the cultured classes. Clearly, this idea
can unite questions of politics and of morals in an
indivisible unity. It brings politics Into the region
of morals and makes morality a sort of controller of
political activity,
I am perforce obliged, so large is the subject of
this book, to confine myself to the broad outlines of
this characteristic, without entering Into the detailed
examination of the modifications the intelliguentia
tendencies undergo in the various subdivisions,
I have already stated that the educated class has
not an entirely homogeneous tendency. To that
cause of divergences, with which I have just been

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 29
dealing, must be further added the Influence of class
ideas, which In certain directions mar the purity of
the general civilization-Idea. Thus, e.g., we have
those who are mild partisans of the nobility, like
the celebrated poet Pouchklne, or like certain writers
of the Slavophile party, such as Kochelev or Prince
Vassiltchikov. In the same way a religious bias
sometimes is seen In the Intelliguentia, as with Dost
oievsky or even Count L6on Tolstoi ; and this whilst
the intelliguentia Is as a whole Irreligious, free-
thinking. With great force also European Ideas are making
their way In Russia ; those of France, of Germany,
of England. Thus In Russia one may meet Anglo-
maniacs, partisans of the aristocratlco-llberal consti
tution of England, and Anarchists, although the actual
condition of things In the country does not furnish
a favourable basis for the development of either of
these parties. All these causes of divergence pro
duce results the more marked as the Intelligent
Russian is always a dogged theorist, who follows
out any Idea he has taken up fo^its most extreme
logical conclusions.
Yet the general principle of the civilization-idea
Is clearly to be seen athwart all this diversity.
Dostoievsky, e.g., was by his political connections
reactionary and clerical, if these words can be applied
to Russian things. Yet he was unorthodox ; he
became a kind of fanatical sectary, who, perhaps
unconsciously, produced a greater revolution in ideas
than many another who would have considered him
self revolutionary. Dostoievsky goes down Into
the depths of the bagnios, the brothels, the most

30 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
terrible abysses of vice and misery. He seeks out
human equality where it Is most difficult to imagine
It as existing ; he shows how relative are the con-
ventlonal notions of the moral and the Immoral, and
places before us with a terrible clearness the fatal
question of the responsibility for crime and for virtue.
And what warmth of compassion for all that is
oppressed and humbled ; what faith In the man of
the people, who, appearing nowhere, is yet every
where In his novels the steadfast basis of society !
Dostoievsky was the political foe of socialist and
revolutionary theories, not, I think, because these
tend towards the rule of the masses and the en
franchisement of the individual, but because, accord
ing to him, they are Incapable of bringing about this
very enfranchisement. He preached his nebulous
and mystic Christianity as the only doctrine that
could inaugurate the reign on earth of liberty, equality
and fraternity.
Count Leon Tolstoi also calls himself a Christian.
He declares against the revolution in his famous
thesis upon non-resistance to evil. But his Chrlstl-
anityis only nominal. He Is In open opposition to the
Church, and all his teaching leads to the conclusion
that man can only be happy and live in conformity
with his nature. If he lives not for himself alone, lives
no mere personal life, but that of humanity as a whole.
As to non-resistance to evil, this thesis of Tolstoi Is
so illogical, so little In harmony with the rest of his
teaching, that It is permissible to think this Is only
a device of the new master, as it was of the early
Christians. These also did not openly resist until
they had strength enough to win. It Is said, how-

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 3 I
ever, that Count Tolstoi himself Is not strong enough
to be consistent with his own proposition. One day,
he was energetically proving that one ought not to use
force, not even to protect another against violence.
"And If a woman was being violated under your
very eyes, what would you do?" some one asked.
The Count was disconcerted, and admitted reluc
tantly that in such a case It would be allowable to
oppose force to violence. Of Tolstoi's democratic
spirit, of his firm belief that among the working '
people only can the true man be found. It Is super
fluous even to speak. He has more than once
himself written most clearly on this subject.
Among many of the writers and men of action
In Russia, these purely revolutionary principles are
admitted as the foundation of their general philo
sophy by people who do not look upon themselves,
and whom no one would regard, as belonging to the
revolutionary camp ; by people who are sometimes
In the ranks of its adversaries.
One of our writers, Lieskov, who Is not without
ability, and who has devoted a great part of his
literary life to the writing of libels against the
revolutionists. Is of this numbei". Katkov receives
him with open arms, for he Is, beyond dispute, the
most gifted of the reactionary writers. Strange, that
If you read carefully the attacks, violent to awkward
ness and sometimes made up of bare-faced lies,
of Lieskov, — he wrote under the pseudonym of
Stebnitsky, — you see in them, as it were, the anger
of a vexed co-religlonlst, who is thus violent and
unjust only because he does not find In the revolu
tionary movement the moral elevation he wanted to

32 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
see In It. Later on, Lieskov gave up writing poli
tical novels. In his romances, that often bear the
Impress of a strange mysticism, you feel at times
a striking kinship with the democrats ; the same
profound contempt for all high society, the same
profound sympathy with the people, and also the
same huge and unreasonable expectations of the
individual. Further, it is well to state in this connection, that
recently Lieskov, though he is an employd of the
Government, has been forbidden to write.
In short, the civilizing movement, with the excep
tion of one or two dissentients, has but one idea —
the enfranchisement of the masses, the enfranchise
ment of the individual ; an Idea that is in Russia of
necessity revolutionary, seeing that It saps the very
foundation of the present regime, established as this
is on the basis of the submission of the masses and
the thorough oppression of the individual. The
ideas of the intelliguentia, further, are held most
firmly and clearly by that part of this class which
calls itself openly revolutionary.^ It is here that
these ideas attain their full logical development. It
is here, above all, that they are transformed into
action and give rise to political parties.
In the currents of thought of the intelliguentia,
who do not knowingly wish to be revolutionary, the
general good work of freedom yet goes on. De
nounced as they are times and again by our reac
tionaries, this fact is beyond a doubt.
1 I use the word "revolutionary," and not "nihilist." The
reader will find the reason for this in Appendix B.

CHAPTER II.
The woman question. — Why it presents itself. — Men's ideas ;
women's ideas. — Errors in application. — The real application.
— The w^omen of the " Intelliguentia." — The family of the
" Intelliguentia."
If we made any pretence of examining the various
consequences that the Intellectual movement In
Russia has produced during the last two centuries,
we should have to devote to this subject a whole
monograph ; for It is questionable whether a single
trait in the national life could be found that this
movement has not more or less Influenced. This
influence is the more various, as here we have not
to do with a limited political movement, but with a
civilization- movement of the very largest nature. It
is the more far-reaching as, from the Inherent pro
perties of our Intelliguentia, the latter is frightened
by no obstacle, bows to no accomplished fact be
cause it Is an accomplished fact ; and, like the tide,
ceaselessly gnaws away on all sides at once, until it
falls, piece by piece, everything that is of savagery,
of Ignorance.
In this work I cannot analyse in detail the
immense work already done by the intelliguentia,
and I shall but pause for a little while on one phase
VOL. II. 33 D

34 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
only of this — the one that draws involuntarily
the attention of every observer — the one that no
writer can pass over who treats of Nihilism. The
reader, without doubt, will divine that I am speaking
of the position of women In Russia, of the Russian
family. A question full of Interest, of moment. In
truth ; for in the family, that minute cell of the social
organism, the social work of the nation Is reflected
more clearly than In its political Institutions.
The position of the woman In the upper classes of
Russian society, two hundred years ago, was almost
worse than that of woman in the peasant family.
Living isolated, after Tartar fashion, she was a
complete slave. The husband's horsewhip, with
which he brought up his wife, always hung over the
bed of the married pair. There was for the woman
( no society. When Peter I. decreed that men and
women should meet In the assemblies. It was looked
upon as one of the strangest innovations. To carry
out his orders, Peter I. was forced to Issue a decree
that made these meetings compulsory, and explained
In detail how the master of the house was to behave
to his guests, and they to him. Women neither
knew what to do nor what to say.
Now, the mutual relations between husband and
wife in the cultured class are full of a liberty and
equality far greater than In any other European
nation. This violent change, effected in a time
relatively very short, Is due in the first place to the
influence of the Intellectual movement. The man
educates the woman ; then in turn, he has to reckon
with her effect on the family and on himself
Henceforth the old order of things is not possible.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 35
This reciprocal action of man on woman, woman on
man. In more or less marked degree, may be looked
upon as of very recent origin. But even now it Is
far from having reached its final stage ; It is going
on under men's eyes.
At first the intellectual movement had especially
men to work upon. Man was labouring at the bet
tering of himself In the literature of the reign
of Nicolas I. even, we find a vivid portrayal of
the carrying of the Intellectual movement into the
feminine camp. There can be no doubt as to the
causes of this. As soon as he was actively working
out his own salvation, man saw that his former
treatment of woman was henceforth impossible.
The Intelliguentia, with Its customary idealism,
idealized love. In this It sought after a union of
men and women so harmonious, a feeling of such
depth, as mere physical passion could not give.
But where was the woman to be found who could
give birth to the kind of love that was a necessity
to such a man ?
" To love — but whom ? " asks Lermontov In
anguish. "In love there must be equality In phy
sical and In moral feeling." Lermontov's parado.x;,
written in the album of a maiden with whom he was
for some time In love,^ had a deep meaning for
people at that time. " Love ! What is it ? " asked
the poet. " To love more than one is loved — dis
gust ; to love less than one is loved — misery. What
a choice ! " The girl's answer shows that woman
was beginning to have a will of her own. " Mon
Dieu," said she, " one must love just so much as one
1 " Souvenirs of Madame Khvostova."

36 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
Is loved," But for this to be realized, the equality of
the two lovers Is Indispensable, and for a long, a very
long while, this equality was not possible. The man
is troubled, bemoans himself, curses the woman, like
Tchatsky ("Too much Intellect means misery")^ —
he avenges himself on her, like Petchorine (A Hero
of our Day) ; willy-nilly, he exacts vengeance because
she is his Inferior, because she can only offer him
her sincere affection, her fidelity, her self-abnegation.
This Is not enough for him. He does not want a
slave, the devotion of a dog, he cries out angrily.
He wants the love of a human being to whom he
also can cling with the same strength, the same
unrestraint, not as master or possessor, but as equal
to equal, giving life for life, soul for soul, liberty for
liberty. Hence arise multitudinous conflicts, poison
ing his life and placing her in this dilemma : either
she must rise to his level, or else fall even lower
than the slave of the ancient family — become a mis
tress for the time being, with whom a man allies
himself whilst he despises her, and whom he leaves
without a single memory.
It Is difficult for the intelliguentia of the present
day to understand all the tragedy of this position,
that seems to it now only ridiculous. In the lower
grades of society, however, it can still be seen on a
large scale. Among the artisans of the towns, e.g.,
influenced by the same intellectual movement, bitter
complaints are constantly heard as to the impossibility
of finding among the women of their own class, a
companion able to understand the aspirations of the
worker. In one of his latest novels, Ouspensky
1 In Griboiedov.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT, 37
treats this very subject with his usual ability. A.
provincial assistant surgeon, who cannot even use
literary language correctly, but who Is under the
influence of the movement, tells of his want of
success with the women. " Sometimes," says he,
" one wants some sort of shelter ; you're freezing,
freezing in the winter ; the desire takes you in your
leisure time to warm yourself and exchange a few
words with some one. Well — would you believe
it — you can't." What does he want exactly ? The
assistant surgeon sees himself assailed on all hands
by women. They hang on his neck. But are these
women ?j " No development at all," cries the
angered assistant surgeon ; " and In their heads
insanity, pure and simple." He is the victim of
lofty aspirations, and cannot live by bread alone.
" Although," he goes on, " I am only an assistant
surgeon, only a mere piece of machinery, I serve
society In other ways than by mere words or deeds.
. If, e.g., a. peasant comes looking for me, and
some koulak or other sends his carriage for me, I
should go to the peasant, and the koulak will have
to wait." He even manages to help the peasants
out of his poor means. " You come," says he, " to
some patient's house. No candle, no bread, no
wood, nothing to boll the water with. . , , Will
you give them something ? What else can you do ? "
That is the sort of man our assistant surgeon is.
But the women ? A young widow pleases him. It
seems to him as if she understood him. Unfortu
nately, the poor thing reveals to him In an outburst
of tenderness, that far from thinking of burdening
him In his services to society, she Is quite ready to

38 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
get rid of the three children of her departed husband
that she may give herself up without encumbrance
to the man whom she loves. The assistant surgeon
is stunned, " Really I was hot with shame on her
account, I hardly knew how to get back to my
apartments at top speed. This is the way they
understand the public welfare."
A number of adventures of this kind happen to
him. The one that finally overwhelms him Is
this. He thinks at last he has found a real jewel.
Anfissa Nicolaevna is very nice and intelligent.
She seems even capable of development. The
assistant surgeon sets to work developing her. He
takes her a pile of books with a purpose. He
notices with a certain amount of pride that Anfissa
Nicolaevna reads them all. Is Interested In them all.
The assistant surgeon has already set about the
preparations for his marriage : he has even come to
live at his partner's. But suddenly he learns, oh
horror ! that during the very months In which he
spoke to her so ardently of the public welfare, Anfissa
Nicolaevna had several times sent away the patients
who had come to consult him. The assistant
surgeon questions her severely, and Anfissa Nico
laevna Is forced to own with sorrow, that sometimes
she has sent patients away, because the tired-out
assistant surgeon was asleep, and It grieved her to
wake him. On several occasions she had sent away
patients suffering from the Siberian plague, or had
even failed to tell the assistant surgeon when he had
been summoned to a case of typhoid. " Even in the
books," she says, by way of justification, " it Is no
where said that one ought to expose one's beloved

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 39
to the Siberian plague." The assistant surgeon Is
prostrate. She also, this unique woman, Is Inca
pable of anything. Finally disillusioned, he deter
mines to run away. " I will give up all these
plans," says he ; "I will Install myself In a little
frequented place, give myself up wholly to my duty.
This love of women Is no use for me. It does me
harm, enfeebles my conscience. And when the
light of my conscience Is gone out, what should I
be ? Only fit to reproduce the race, and nothing
more ? No, It's of no use." When the assistant
surgeon has left, poor Anfissa Nicolaevna repents
sorely. She even writes him a letter In which she
says : " Now I understand all, and I shall never fail
to wake you after dinner, or at midnight, or after
midnight." But the assistant surgeon Is obdurate.
" They are without intellectual horizon," says he.
" Goodness, and all the rest of It, they have. But
as to intellectual development. In them It Is only
narrowness." Thus does a poor assistant surgeon. Isolated In an
out-of-the-way part of the world, describe for us In
his not very literate language, the same tragic conflict
that in the salons of the world wrung from Lermon
tov's disillusioned soul, these magnificent strophes : —
" When with an easy boldness, worldly danies
Touch my cold hands with hands that have not known
What trembling means this long time past, I think.
Could I but turn their merriment to dread.
And hurl into their teeth a verse of brass
All steeped in wrath and bitterness ! "
Can this appeal, this longing, strengthened by
passion and hate, remain without their echo ? The

40 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
answer to this is the rapid development of the
Russian woman, who, with the sincerity and the
special aptness of her sex for carrying everything
out to the end, soon becomes herself a stimulus of
vast strength to the man's perfectioning. She in
her turn is beginning to look for the virtuous and
cultured man. It is at least more easy to live with
him. Her liberty, her rights, the refinement of her
taste, urge her to find this man. But in Russia a
virtuous and educated man cannot be a stranger to
the historic Intellectual mandate to all — " Glve^
up serving society, be of use in the world," In her
turn, woman enters upon this same crusade. Niek
rassov In his poem, " The Russian Woman," has
already taught us that she loves not only her
husband, but the hero and the martyr. Such love
alone can make a woman give up escutcheons, titles,
wealth, to follow the hero and the martyr into the
mines, or the hard labour of Siberia. The free
woman Is herself beginning to urge man on. His
demands recoil upon himself, and in the political
movements of late years, instances are not rare In
which the Influence of the woman has urged on the
man to impossibilities, that he may be better, more
active, more energetic.
By degrees, the woman, once thrust into the strife
of human development, as they call it in Russia, more
than meets the demands of the man. She becomes
at once his intelligent and educated companion,
and a human being having her own personality,
and consequently living her own life ; leanings to
Independence appear In her. The woman question
arises. Ripening this long time past, it breaks out

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 4 1
at the beginning of Alexander I.'s reign. In the pas
sionate outburst of many women, who feel however
the need of Independence more than they actually
know how to use it. Hence a host of strange follies,
shot flying, of course, by the raillery and the calumny
of the foes of Nihilism. Certainly there were only
too many absurdities. At first woman only knew
how to ape man, just as he, a hundred years before,
had aped Europe. The tendency towards emanci
pation especially took external forms. Women wore
glasses, cut their hair short. Why should not they ?
Was It really necessary, that just to please men they
should be compelled to carry about these heavy,
uncomfortable plaits ? Women took to smoking
cigarettes. Strange customs were to be seen. All
this is in most cases ridiculous, and very often even
silly. But the behaviour of the masculine sex, during
the earlier time of Its taking on European habits,
abounds with stupidities just as ridiculous. They
rigged themselves out In the dress of marquises of
the eighteenth century, shaved their beards and wore
a queue. Nothing is more natural than childishness
of this sort. But In the woman movement towards
emancipation, there was something other than the
ridiculous side. There was in It, and that with all
women, something very serious. Our women quite
understood, that to be independent, thfey must above
all become man's equals In regard to Instruction and
aptitude for work. The education and labour of
women soon became the corner-stones of our woman-
question, and this even at the time of short hair, a
time that was, I need not say, of very short duration.
The aspirations of woman after education and

42 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
independent work, met with sympathetic welcome
In society. There, these are perhaps the most
popular questions. The Government, on the other
hand, regarded them unfavourably. Alexander II.
did not like these fancies ; and as to short hair, at
times he personally entered Into the struggle. I
remember a story that goes back to my university
days. At that time, short hair, short dresses, cuffs
purposely not as clean as they might be, were
already becoming things of the past ; they were
already the sign of a certain amount of want of
thought. I had, however, the opportunity of seeing
certain photographs of young ladles of my acquaint
ance In male dresses, and wearing a funny little hat
like a Polish cap. One day, one of these girls with
short hair, met the Emperor In the street. It was
at St. Petersburg. She bowed and went on her
way. Next day, she received a summons from the
police. Stupefied and terrified, she went to the
police station and found there the superintendent,
who, to do him justice, also seemed embarrassed.
She asked why she had been summoned. The
superintendent's embarrassment grew worse. " You
met his Majesty yesterday. . , . His Majesty Is
displeased, , , , His Majesty has deigned to order
— you'll have to sign an agreement not to cut your
hair for the future." The Emperor had noticed
the girl wearing her hair short, and had at once
directed the police to find her and tell her to alter
her personal appearance. The superintendent was
quite ashamed at playing such a part, and at having
to confess that the Emperor concerned himself with
such nonsense.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 43
The Government found itself obliged. In spite of
itself, to do something for the secondary education
of women. The demands of parents were too
unanimous. The number of gymnasiums for girls
was Increased, and now these institutes are more
than three hundred. Their programme Is almost
exactly that of the boys. As to higher education,
the women had to conquer each step almost by force.
From 1859 to 1861, the women flocked to the univer
sities, although they had no right there. For some
time they were tolerated. Then they were expressly^
forbidden. Thereupon, the women went abroad,
and were taught In the higher schools of France and
Switzerland. I have had the opportunity of seeing
the official correspondence of the Ministry of the
Interior, which shows how greatly this course of
action disturbed the Government, who thought that
even abroad the women students might come under
the influence of the Emigration. These considera
tions forced It to make concessions ; and the Govern
ment gave authorization for the founding at St.
Petersburg and Moscow of a pretence at universities
for women. Private enterprise, with Its insignifi
cant resources, had the honour of really starting these.
Nevertheless, these courses of lectures, especially
those of Guerie at Moscow and of Bestoujev at St.
Petersburg, were of some service to female eclucatlon.
At the same time, the Government allowed lectures
In medicine for women to be started near the St.
Petersburg Academy. This latter institution especi
ally got on very well, thanks to the liberalism of
Mllloutlne, the War Minister, who gave the women
a very good place for clinical work — the Nicolas

44 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
Hospital. What assured still more positively the
continuance of these lectures, was the sympathy of
the medical professors, who, though they had the
lowest of remuneration, for years gave up time and
strength to the teaching of the women students.
The latter worked zealously, and in 1883 the number
of them that had passed the examination for medicine
was already 221.^ At first, they studied without
any hope at all, not knowing whether the Govern
ment would or would not give them official rights.
The war with Turkey helped the women in some
measure. A large number of women medical
students went to the war. They showed a zeal so
tireless, and such skill, that the Medical Inspector
of the Military Hospitals sent the Government
a most enthusiastic report,^ and asked for some
reward for them. The reward was a medal founded
for women doctors ; a laurel crown closed In above
by a two-headed eagle ; within the crown the Slav
letters G. V. (woman doctor). Thus there was a sort
of half-recognition that women who had gone through
the course at Nicolas were really looked upon as
doctors. But they had no clearly defined rights ;
1 Souchtchinsky : " Medical Women in Russia." In 1883 the
whole number of women doctors was 350.
^ " The women medical students sent to the army since the open
ing of the campaign, with their infinite energy and their thorough
knowledge of their work, are beyond all praise. The surgical and
medical aid they have given have completely justified in this first
experiment the hopes of the higher medical authorities. The
labours, full of self-abnegation, of tlie female heads of hospitals, in
the midst of typhoid fever, to which more than one fell a victim,
have attracted general attention. This first experiment ought
to be noted and repeated." — " Summary of Works on Forensic
Medicine, published by the Medical Department, r878," p. 207.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 45
and at the present time, under Alexander III., the
lectures are on the point of being suppressed. It is
said that they are especially little beloved of the
Empress, who wants to restore the Russian woman
to the bosom of her family. At all events the new
War Minister has deprived the lectures of their
" local habitation," and thus puts In danger their very
existence. As to the right of the woman doctor to
practise, it Is at present only tolerated as an experi
ment. At the end of Alexander I I.'s reign, the
practising of women doctors In the zemstvo was
even forbidden completely ; and now the doing of
this kind of work by women depends on the
governor's caprice.
The Government permits women to practise only
in the lower medical walks, as assistant surgeons.
That Is why the bulk of the women attend the
lectures for assistant surgeons — of whom Russia had
a sufficiently large number In the last reign. In this
capacity, also, the women have shown excellent
qualities. In the official report of the Medical
Department one reads : " The zemstvos, having had
the opportunity of observing the amount of know
ledge and the way In which women conduct them
selves towards patients, were constantly appealing
to the community of Saint George to send them
female assistant surgeons."
Outside medicine, woman is finding work In the
schools. There are nearly 5,000 schoolmistresses,
besides a large number of women class-teachers In
secondary schools. Generally speaking, the women
fling themselves upon all work not formally inter
dicted to them. There have even been cases in

46 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
which women have practised as lawyers. But the
Government does all It can not to allow female -
labour, wherever this depends upon the Government.
Thus, e.g., the women, taking advantage of the law's
silence, filled for some time a number of places In the
telegraphic service. They did their work irreproach
ably. Despite this, a few years later, the Govern
ment turned all the women out of this department.
Thus women are only able to use their strength and
skill in private Institutions, in all sorts of offices. In
private teaching, and so forth.
It is Impossible also not to mention the very
notable part played by women In the literary move
ment. Notable from the point of view of quantity
rather than of quality. There have been authoresses
this long time past, like the poetess Rostopchina or
Madame Kokhanovskia. At the present time,
women writers must be reckoned almost by hun
dreds. There Is even a special feminine review,
into which men are not admitted. It is true, this
review Is a very poor affair. The women show
most capacity In paedagogic literature. In polite
literature may be noted especially Madame Mark-
evitch {iiom de plume Marko-Vovtchok), and another
writer who signs herself Vsdvolod Krestovsky. The
latter is among the most able of our literary workers.
Some women, like Madame Gorbounova, are known
for their excellent studies of popular life. We have,
moreover, women publicists, such as Madame
Tsebrikova.^ Some are like Madame Efimenko,
1 Among these let me especially mention Madame Nikitine,
who, under the name of Gendre, recently published at Paris some
social, philosophic, and moral studies, containing notably some

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 47
whose works are honourably known even In the
scientific world. I am not speaking of purely
medical and educational works written by our medi
cal and scholastic women. To sum up, however : I
repeat that the entrance of woman into the intel
lectual life of the country is as yet too recent for
her to have produced anything very remarkable.
She deserves attention rather for the good she has
already done In the country, by raising the moral
status of woman, as society and the people grow
accustomed to seeing female effort and thought
working along the same lines as those of man.
The woman question of equality of rights and of
the independence of woman Is as yet far from being
solved by what women have thus far done, with the
aid of the men of the intelliguentia. In Russia,
as everywhere else, the economic rule Is In man's
hands. In his hands also Is concentrated all the
force that gives superiority in knowledge and in
education. Yet the degree of equality the Russian
woman has attained, has been sufficient to modify
the old character of the mutual relations between
men and women, In fact. If not In law. Here, more
even than elsewhere, the law seems to ignore the
great changes going on In the social life of Russia.
Russians are often accused of an inclination
to pose as original and unlike other nations. It
is not without some hesitation a Russian uses this
word, " originality," In addressing the European
public. But how can It be avoided ? Must there
not be In the mutual relations between man and
brilliant passages on revolutionary Russia. [Unhappily dead in
1886. — Translator. ]

48 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
woman in Russia something new and of very special
nature, seeing that the European observer cannot
understand It ? Here once again my thoughts revert
involuntarily to M. Leroy-Beaulleu. See how he
misrepresents the nature of the Nihilists. A reign of
looseness where the principle of free-love has led up
to the manners of a tribe of apes, through the which
bestial tribe passes now and again a vestal virgin,
who forbids herself to actually enjoy the liberty she
demands as a principle. The fantastic picture ! It
Is unnecessary to say that M. Leroy-Beaulieu does
not draw It from his own observation, but from the
gossip of his Russian friends of the conservative
school. Why has he not been able to see at a
glance the falseness of their tales ? Herein Is to me
exactly the most convincing proof of the originality
of the family of the Intelliguentia. M. Leroy-Beau
lieu and the Intelliguentia say the same words, but
attach to them quite different meanings. Of free-love
there has been discussion among them this long time
past. It is in fact a principle that the intelliguentia
for some years has tried to give as the basis of the
family. Love should be free, and wherever the feel
ing of such love exists It should show Itself freely.
But the love of which they speak Is not sensuality.
Raising love to the height of holiness, the Intellectual
movement treats sensuality In quite other fashion.
Sensuality is a vice indecent in man, dishonourable
in a woman. For love — it Is a feeling founded on re-
ciprocal respect and sympathy, upon that harmony
of mental and physical natures which makes two
human beings seem the essential complement one
of the other. That is the sense in which the man

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 49
of the intelliguentia Is speaking, when he demands
freedom for love, and declares for love as the only
basis of marriage. This love sanctifies the union
of man with woman ; and when this bond does not
exist, marriage, even If accompanied by faithfulness
In outward forms, Is declared by him Immoral.
Those who have read the earlier part of this book
will easily see that In this the general tendency is
again shown of the intelliguentia to replace formal
ties by moral ones ; to destroy that which Is danger
ous, not by constraining but by developing the
individual ; so to manage matters, that the Individual
acting after his own heart, will only do what is good,
and without injury to any. And I ask the reader
to bear in mind that here I am only expounding a
theory, am only explaining a fact that every one
will observe as soon as he begins to take note of
the Russian youth.
In fact — this I say frankly — the mutual relations of
the young people belonging to the intelliguentia are
much more pure than In any other country known
to me. For this very reason they are more free.
The Russian mother is not afraid to let her daughter
go for a walk with a young man. She knows well
enough that from this nothing unpleasant will result.
Young people meet together to study or merely to
amuse themselves ; no one keeps watch and ward
over them. The girls have more liberty of action,
they are less held in than in other countries, less
hampered by the fear of " What will people say ? "
But their freedom is that of a pure imagination.
Two young Russian women I knew were studying
in Switzerland at the time of the ill-omened war of
VOL. II. E

50 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
1870. Bourbakl's army had to cross the Swiss
frontier. This great ma.ss of men, worn out by
forced marches, could not all find shelter at first.
One night, as a fierce storm was raging and a cold
rain rattling on the roof-tops, a number of French
soldiers knocked at the door of the house in which
my countrywomen were living. The soldiers said
they could find no shelter. The mistress of the
house, a Swiss, refused to allow them to come in,
saying there were no men In the place. The noise
woke up the students. They were quite indignant.
Why, for such folly as this, should people stay out In
the rain ? The girls dressed in all haste and asked
the soldiers Into their room, taking no notice of
the landlady's consternation. Of course the honour
neither of my countrywomen nor of the French sol
diers suffered for this hospitality.
Every Russian who lives abroad is very soon and
very often compelled to notice this difference of
manners. In Paris, e.g., the mothers of French girls
attending the university lectures often go with them.
In Russia, this would be so superfluous as to seem
a little ridiculous. A French student, on hearing
that a Russian girl had gone In a coupd with a young
fellow he knew, was terribly shocked, and could not
believe that such excursions would not lead to love
affairs. I do not wish to make generalizations, but
this opinion is without a doubt not singular. To
a Russian, on the other hand, such suspicions are
strangers as a rule. Cannot a man and woman be
alone together without at once yielding to tempta
tion ? " Then It Is you Russians who certainly are
deficient In passion," cried the student of whom I

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 5 I
have spoken, convinced at length by his friend's
proofs. It Is not, however, want of passion. The
Russian woman knows how to love without any
reservation, to the grave. Read our novels. And
look at the statistics that show how every year more
than two thousand women go of their own free will
Into Siberia to their exiled husbands, following them
to the very galleys. See the images of poesy and
love that woman calls up in this world of the repro
bates of society. In the midst of convicts. One of
them says to her lover, a criminal : —
" The world has cast thee off.
And darksome is thy soul ;
The world has cast thee off.
But I cling to thee still." 1
It Is not want of passion. Russian life swarms
with numberless crimes and miseries Into which
their passions hurry men and women. But a human
being Is less the slave of his passions In proportion
as his moral instincts are more developed. The
girl of the Intelliguentia has a thoughtful education.
From childhood she is accustomed to see In life
grave Interests In which she can take a greater or
less part. Her imagination Is not wholly taken up
with love affairs and suitors. She would have her
scruples about looking upon marriage as a career.
She has her Ideal in life. She desires so to live that
she may not remain a useless creature, but may
righteously respect herself. This Is why the girl
does not yield at once to the first outburst of passion.
For her, from her point of view, this would be really
a fall. A girl would not think it wrong to ent€;r
1 ladrintzev : " Prison and Exile."

52 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
Into alliance with a man without her parents' con
sent, without any marriage benediction, without any
legal formality, If only she loves seriously. But she
would be ashamed of marrying a man, even with
the full consent of her parents and quite legally, if
in marrying she was yielding to interest only or to
the sensual impulse. This would be a fall, not in
the banal sense of that word, but from the point of
view of the ideal that the woman has framed for
herself as result of the Intellectual movement, a fall
from the human dignity of woman.
As result of this tendency, love intrigues are far
more rare amongst the Intelliguentia than in other
grades of Russian society ; and love there more fre
quently than elsewhere brings in its train an alliance
that lasts, altogether independently of its legality or
non-legality. The family thus constituted Is without
doubt more pure and more enduring. Man and
woman join in it for mutual help, that they may live
their life well and usefully for mankind. Entering
Into their union with care and forethought, they the
less often find themselves deceived In the choice
each has made. The woinan, more evolved than of
old, more man's co-mate, becomes his friend, with
whom he does not break save for reasons of extreme
gravity. That despotism of the man in the family,
which becomes a monstrosity among our merchant
and small trading class, is very rare among the cul
tured folk. More frequently the opposite obtains ;
there Is a certain preponderance of the feminine
influence. In short, the family of the intelliguentia
has reached a position that is very Interesting and
makes it an object of envy to women of other classes.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 53
This small primordial association Is so well-organ
ized among the Intelliguentia that the cries of tbe
reactionaries, which twenty years ago filled the air
with declarations that the family was undermined of
Nihilism, that the cultured class was immoral, are
no longer heard. They are now only repeated by
foreigners. As to Russia, even the Katkovs only
groan now over the destruction of property, of the
State, and so forth : they say nothing about the
destruction of the family. A very characteristic
fact, that may, perchance, lead people to believe that
neither property nor social order will be ruined
when the influence of the cultured class has told on
them to the same extent as it has at present told
upon the family.

CHAPTER III.
The University. — Its role is secondary. — Governmental idea of
the University. — General need of teaching. — Students and
• professors. — University troubles. — Their cause. — Their use
lessness.
In Russia, as everywhere, literature and the school
were the chief weapons of education. In some
countries, e.g. Bulgaria, the school has been a weapon
of regeneration. In Russia, the part played by it is
much less startling, thrown into much less relief
Yet the university is of Immense importance to
the country. It is enough If I state that in our six
universities ^ there are nearly 9,000 students, and
that in the course of their existence, they have
probably Instructed at least 100,000 people, thus
keeping up continually in the country that scientific
thought which Is so little developed In Russia. It Is
difficult to Imagine the existence of the intelliguentia
without universities. But in this work of civilization,
1 There are in all nine universities in the empire : those of
St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Kiev, Kliarkov, Odessa, Helsing-
fors, Dorpat, Warsaw. But the last three are not Russian. The
number of Russian universities will, it is hoped, be increased
shortly by the creation of one at Tomsk, in Siberia. This is
already built and fitted up. All that it wants is students ; for the
Government, at the last moment, took fright, and will not inaugu->
rate it.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 55
the universities, like the higher schools, worked,
so to say. In silence, without thrusting themselves
into notice. They did not give the initiative to the
intellectual movement, but rather followed Its lead.
The part that literature plays is, on the other hand,
much more visible, much more striking ; its work,
not perhaps possible without the help of the uni
versity, is In the foreground of the picture of the
Intellectual movement.
The cause of this difference Is, beyond all contra
diction, this. Literature, though It is under the iron
heel of the censorship, none the less is always the
direct work of society, and is consequently much
more Independent. The university, on the other
hand, has always been a Government institution.
The university is not an institution walled round
with independence and growing up through the cen
turies as a republic of science with rights that are
to be respected by Governments the most despotic.
The university is but a school founded by the
Government, maintained at its expense, and giving
a superior education, in conformity with State
requirements. As to expenses, It must, however, be noted that
the donations from private persons for the higher
schools amount to a very considerable sum. Cer
tain of the higher schools, such as the Lyceums of
laroslav and Niejine are even founded in the main
by the money of Individuals. But all this affects
only very slightly the type of the higher school. This
Is a Crown institution like any tribunal or police
station.' That Is Its original nature. There was a
time when the students had a salary from Govern-

56 RU.SSIA, TOLITlCAL AND SOCIAL.
ment, as if by studying at the university they
rendered some sort of service. A university profes
sor is a servant of the Crown, a tchlnovnik. So
completely Is the university a Crown institution, that
sometimes the Government even entrusts It with the
censorship. This custom obtains at the present
time in the privilege the universities have of pub
lishing their scientific researches with the control of
their own censorship alone.
The passing of university examinations not under
the special control of the Government gave students,
until recently, the right of practising In medicine,
law, etc. The diploma carried with It even the
right to a " civil rank." Now, in point of fact, the
Government has, by the regulation of 18S5, taken
away from the university the right of granting
diplomas, and has created a special commission for
the granting of them. It is a characteristic fact,
that at the same time this regulation imposes on the
universities a more stringent Government control.
It Is illogical enough, no doubt, but the regulation
of 1885 is so completely a result of the struggle of
parties, that it is difficult to expect any logic in It.
Besides, the fiscal character of the university is clear
beyond all need of evidence.
Before the regulation of 1885, the Government
gave the Corporation of Professors various rights,
now small, now large, exactly as it did to any other
State institution. It arranged the relations of the
professors with the students, and shortened or length
ened, in this direction or in that, the programme
of studies, out of mere caprice. If the fancy took
it, the Government would shut up a university, or

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 57
transport it to another town, as if It were a post-
office. The university has no privilege, be it ever
so small, that the Government cannot take from it
without any violation of the law. The Government
even thinks it has the right to demand that the
professors give their lectures with a particular tone.
According to this theory, the ministry for the time
being changes the regulations. Any Inclination on
the part of a professor to teach his pupils the data
of science regardless of the fashion In which the
Government understands this science, is In Russia
always looked upon as the evidence of a certain
spirit of opposition or even of revolt. In the time
of Alexander I., the university, then only just insti
tuted, was the object of pitiless persecution. Certain
rumours as to a liberal spirit of which the university
of Kazan was accused, led to the sending of one
Maghnltzky as official investigator. He was a well-
known opponent of education, who, after having been
a Jacobin and an exile on that account, had repented
and turned coat. This contemptible person made a
report to the Emperor, that the university was so
imbued with an unhealthy spirit that the only thing
left was to destroy It, as an example to future
generations. Alexander I. thought he would play
the generous. " Why destroy that which can be
modified ? '' said he. And the modifications began.
To give an idea of the first demands of the
Government, It Is enough to say, that the mathe
matical professor, when talking about triangles,
was to direct the students' hearts heavenwards,
reminding them of the mystery of the Holy Trinity,
who form a unity just like the three angles of a

58 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
triangle. A student put under arrest could not be
liberated until he had received absolution for his
sins. In the time of the Emperor Nicolas, the
celebrated professor, Granovsky, complained to his
friends that he was not allowed, in his lectures on
universal history, to mention either the French Revo
lution or Luther and the Reformation. Moreover,
Nicolas himself laid bare very clearly his Ideas as
to education in the speech he made at Kiev in 1839.
" You are studying very nicely," said he to the
students ; " but that Is not enough. Science by
itself does not give good results. I want sons that
are faithful to the throne — a devotion without limits,
a submission that never reasons, an absolute obe
dience." Then turning to the professors, the Emperor
shook his finger at them. " And you," said he, " take
care ; science may go Its way, but If you are not
careful to develop moral Ideas in the students' minds,
if you do not work upon their political convictions,
I shall demand an account of you after my wont."
The last two Emperors have never visited the
universities, but the statesmen of to-day are capable
of repeating what Nicolas said, almost word for
word. Thus two years ago, in the university of
Kiev, the Governor-general, Drenteln, said plainly
to the professors, that on the university " lies the
heavy responsibility of the crimes recently committed
In Russia. The root of the evil," he went on, " Is
In you professors' hankering after popularity." In
short, the Government is always trying to Impose
on the university a certain political function : that
of preparing good " tchinovniks," and stirring up In
the minds of the yonng people a current of Ideas)

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 59
favourable to It. The university, as the Government
would have It, Is one of those offices of the De
partment of Public Opinion of which Napoleon 1.
dreamed. Yet the university, under no matter what pro
gramme, no matter what control, remains In Itself,
by the very nature of Its work, a source of know
ledge, and knowledge needs to be free. As a con
sequence, the university has a natural tendency to
free itself from administrative protection, to become
a free temple of free science. Certainly, it has never
yet been able to attain this end ; but it Is clear that
In receiving, no matter In how small doses, this
liberty. It unconsciously communicates to the students
Ideas that are not very likely to develop Into those
of a " devotion without limits, a submission that
never reasons, an absolute obedience." Thus the
university Is in conflict with the Government. The
latter has, doubtless. In Its hands, not only the general
control of the university, but the choice of the pro
fessors. This Is a powerful weapon ; but then the
Government Is forced to choose these professors
from the intelliguentia. Thanks to these compli
cations, the part played by the university becomes
comparatively of less moment. If the Government
is not sufficiently powerful to alter it exactly accord
ing to its own taste, the university is at all events
prevented from attaining the end for which It strives.
At the commencement of its existence, and for a
period of some fifty years, the Government pressure
upon it was helped by the presence of a large number
of foreigners among the professors. This time of
" the reign of the Germans" — they were for the most

6o RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
part Germans from Germany or the Baltic provinces
— left a painful after-effect. Of course, Russia had too
few men of learning to be able to do without these
foreigners ; and in any case she owed them a certain
debt of gratitude. But the service they rendered
her cost her dear. The predominance of the foreign
element sixty years ago was so great, that In some
universities the lectures were never given In the
Russian tongue, but always In German or Latin.
Those professors who lectured in Russian, were
regarded by the " German section " as Liberals.
Moreover, It was not easy then for Russians to get
the berth of professor, since the German section
did everything they could to prevent them from ob
taining degrees. The men belonging to the German
section, even when they were real men of science
and not mere assistants, had In any case this fault,
they did not know Russia or the Russians. They
despised the one as a savage country, the others as
an Inferior race. These men were Irreproachable
servants of the Government ; and until a party was
formed In the university of a certain number of
Russian savants by birth and by heart (for some
foreigners learned to love their new land), the
university was of course doomed to play a very
small part In the Intellectual movement. Science
held aloof from life of which it knew nothing and In
which It had no Interest. Nevertheless, even In this
earlier time of the universities' existence, we had an
instance of a higher school that founded a tradition
in Russian education. The Lyceum of Tzarskoie
Sielo, In the reign of Ale.xander I., thanks to his
liberal direction, created a school. It produced a

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 6 1
whole series of men of letters and of politics, who
perished In great numbers In the attempted co7ip
d Etat of December 14th, 1825. A professor of this
Lyceum, Kounltzine, has especially distinguished
himself in the history of Russian education. Pouch
klne, once a pupil in this same Lyceum, dedicated
to him this toast: —
" To Kounitzine, the homage of henrt and of drinking !
He has created us, kindled the flame of us,
Raised of the temple of knowledge the corner-stone.
Lighted the pure lamp of truth on the altar."
A second brilliant time in our university history
corresponds with the dark reign of Nicolas. This
was when the university of Moscow gathered to
gether a certain number of learned men, Russians
pure and simple, who tried to establish a connection
between the sciences and the demands of Russian
life. The celebrated Granovsky, of whom I have
spoken, was at the head of a complete school, and
played a part quite unique In the development of
Russian education. In this case, as in the others,
the influence of the professors was not of a political
character. To judge from the outcries of our
reactionaries, you would think that our professors
dealt only with politics. In reality, this is not the
case. The Hite of our professors, the very ones
against whom these outcries are directed, lay before
them a very different aim. They are trying to give
students the true and not the official science ; they
are trying to make their students men. Theirs Is a
purely humanitarian work, which may bring about
Indirectly certain political results, like anything else
that serves in one way or another to develop the

62 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
individual. This is what we see In Granovsky's
time, and this Is what Is going on up to the present
day. Already this is enough to arouse in the
Government the greatest uneasiness. In Nicolas'
time, the rulers frankly looked upon education as an
Inevitable evil not to be entirely got rid of, but to
be kept rigidly within due bounds. The number of
students in each university was reduced to three
hundred. When the nobility of the government of
the Baltic, not used to these homoeopathic doses of
education, begged the Emperor to Increase the
number of students, Nicolas refused, adding that
the nobles could enter the corps of cadets to any
extent, and that military service was the very thing
for the noble class. ^
Under Alexander II., the restrictions on the
number of students were abolished, but, by way of
compensation, the lecture fees were raised. Until
then they were about fifty roubles a year. The
students did not pay for any particular subject or
examination, but in the lump for their tuition. In
point of fact, under the new regulations, the fees
have been raised. They are 158 roubles on the
average, though they vary greatly, since now they
are paid for each particular subject taught. The
Government has not, however, shown any generosity
In the expenditure for national education. In 1884,
the total State expenditure was 800 million roubles,
whilst on education scarcely 34 millions were
spent. Even this expenditure was not under the
control of the Ministry of Education alone, but was
1 Russian translation of Lorentz' History, with Markov's Ap
pendices.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 63
spread over various departments ; since in Russia
almost every ministry has its own special schools.
Institutes, seminaries, academies.^ The Ministry of
Public Instruction has a budget of only 20 million
roubles (2,600,000 roubles for the universities).
Thus this ministry has only 2 "5 per cent, as Its share
of the total expenditure of the State.
Whilst It acts thus prudently on behalf of the
diffusion of education, the Government also tries
to keep education under watchful control, not that
science may flourish, but that It may not become a
source of perverse ideas. This constant pressure Is
perhaps the explanation of the modest part played by
the university in the Intellectual movement of the
country. It Is a remarkable fact, that the repre
sentatives of the university have not played a
striking part. Granovsky was in this respect quite
an exception. If we run over all the political or
social movements that have affected Russian society,
we find that they always emanate from journalists,
and not from professors : Bielinsky, Hertzen, Kho-
miakov, Aksakov, Tchernychevsky, Dobrolioubov,
PIssarev, Bakounine, LavrOv, etc. The same thing
may be said of the purely scientific doctrines that
have permeated Russia : Darwinism, positivism,
Karl Marx' economic theories, utilitarianism, etc.
Those who imported these theories were not pro
fessors. And if we do find some professors among
1 Besides the universities and primary schools, the Ministry
of Public Education has nearly 210 gymnasiums and pro-gym
nasiums, with 5 5, 000 pupils and nearly seventy real schools with
15,000 pupils. The clergy (the holy synod) keep up some sixty
academies and seminaries with r 5,000 pupils. The War Minister,
in his cadet schools, gives education to more than 12,000 youths.

64 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
those who exercise a greater or less Influence on
public opinion, they are always old ones who have
been unable to conform to the ways of the university
and have been turned out from It. A galaxy of
men of worth, In literature, In the social or political
life of the time, have had this origin : Stassioule-
vitch, Kostomarov, Kaveline, Spassovitch, Chtcha-
pov, Dragofnanov, Engelgard, Chelgounov, Pypine,
Ziber, and others. Of these, Dragomanov was
even compelled to emigrate. Chtchapov ended his
days in Siberia : Engelgard and Chelgounov were
in prison half their lives. The position of profes
sor is scarcely compatible with the playing of any
part of importance in the Intellectual movement.
Thus, eg., Sletchenov, although he took no part in
politics, but became an advocate of materialism,
soon lost his place. Pure patriotism alone has
prevented him from leaving his country, as he has
been offered a chair In several German universities.
The professor Is shut In by the walls of the
university. But even wldiln these walls it is not
he that rules, It is not he that gives tone to the
place, it Is not he that gives his students this or
that bent of mind. The university Is the dream of
our provincial youth. It Is for them an indescrib
able sanctuary, a temple of knowledge, a place
where the young man can solve all questions, ¦
whence he issues full-armed. All roads lead to
the university. I have seen a young seminarist go
on foot from Archangelsk to Moscow (nearly 1,200
verstes). Another young man of my acquaintance,
a Siberian, in order that he might get into the
university, entered as footman the service of a noble-

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT, 65
man, who was coming to St, Petersburg. There
is no privation our provincial youth will not undergo
to get to the university. When he does get there,
he is generally In great poverty, in some dirty room,
dying of hunger. The students in the various
schools belong most frequently to the class that Is
not very well off, often even to the quite poof
classes. In his dreams, the youth thinks but little of the
personality of his professors. Does their teaching
answer the expectations of youth or not — Is a
secondary question for him. If it Is answered In
the negative — well, he searches for a master in
books or in the writings of foreign authors. This
Is a most notable fact. Certainly, he will always
find among the professors some men belonging to
the best type of the intelliguentia, and hence always
ready to help the young in their desire to become
acquainted with true science. But these are not
very many in number, and are very often common
place enough. As a rule, the professors' influence
on the development of certain tendencies in our
youth Is quite insignificant. The young people
teach themselves under the influence of things quite
outside the university. The latter only plays a
mechanical part. It furnishes the students with
library, museums, laboratories. It brings them
together by hundreds, by thousands, and thus makes
It possible for them to develop themselves by their
education one of the other. The college of pro
fessors lives apart — is even fortunate if it is not in
direct antagonism to the students.
The- military and police discipline to which the
VOL, II, F

66 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
university was subject under Nicolas certainly did
not raise the authority of the professors in the eyes
of the students. By the regulation of 1863, the
college of professors was made more free of ad
ministrative despotism. On the other hand, the
students, as a body, were decidedly made more
amenable to the law. The law only recognised In
the student a mere Individual, and hunted down
with rigour every manifestation of esprit de corps.
As the students, by the mere fact of their position,
are a corporation, the college of professors directing
the university was In a completely false position.
Whenever a professor has to do with a student, he
comes into collision, not with an individual, but with
a collective personality, common needs. Interests and
actions. The corporation of the students could
only be Ignored by ignoring the students generally.
This the professors did, as the only way of avoiding
a breaking of the law at every step. Thus the law
of 1863, whilst It considerably strengthened the
professorial colleges, made yet more deep the abyss
between them and the students. As a matter ot
fact, this regulation, hated by the reactionaries for
its good points, is now abolished. The new law
of 1885 places the professors under an unlimited
power of Inspection, almost as complete as that over
the students. Perhaps this will bring them together ;
but the measure Is too recent for its consequences
to be seen as yet.
From what has gone before, it may be gathered
how slight is the foundation for the accusation
against the professors, of having urged the students
to revolt. Not only did the professors not want

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 67
to do this; they could not do it. If at times
the professors can be accused of the movement
among the students. It is only in the sense that the
students have very little confidence in them. Thus
the latest outbursts at the University of Kiev — all
the students, nearly two thousand young men, have
been expelled — broke out because the students did
not believe a word their rector said to them. He
deceived them every minute. The risings of the
students are due generally to causes that the pro
fessors, to their shame be it said, are sometimes
liable to accentuate, but that they can never remove.
These disorders are an unhappy accident of Russian
life, and perhaps there Is hardly one generation of
students In the four years of lectures that has not
gone through this experience.
What Is the cause of these events, and what Is
their significance ? What do the students desire ?
Do they really think they will actually effect any
change In Russia by their revolts ? These are the
questions the reader is likely to be asking, as he
never hears the students' explanations, and never
finds In the Russian journals a true description of
their rebellions. In fact, most frequently these have
no aim, but only causes. Our. students, like all the
cultured class, regard the Government u/ifavourably.
Not infrequently there are among them men of quite
revolutionary Ideas. And there are also among
them a few who are revolutionists by conviction
and conduct, who are already forming plans for
revolutionary action. But these are not the chief
actors in the disorders at the universities. On the
contrary, they do all they can to prevent agitations

68 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
during which their own position is made more diffi
cult. Not to support their comrades is impossible.
They would lose the position and popularity Indis
pensable to a conspirator. To take part In the
agitation Is to be almost certainly transported or at
least to find themselves under police surveillance,
i.e. to lose all chance of working for the revolu
tionary cause by plot or by propaganda. In most
cases, the agitation begins among the students who
have nothing in common with the revolutionists.
Why then do they get up these disturbances ? How
can they do otherwise, if to the student everything
is forbidden, so that he cannot move without com
mitting a crime, and as consequence bringing down
on him a lecture, a coarse and brutal call to order,
a punishment ? Some students meet for a simple
chat ; the suspicious police begin to prowl about
under their windows. Within the very walls of the
university, every step is spied out by the agents of
Government. The slightest subversive word uttered
by a student is at once followed by reprisals. A
forbidden book — and the forbidden books are the
interesting ones to read — Is a pretext for arrest,
and even for transportation. The students meet on
the school staircase : the inspector brutally disperses
them. Should the Idea take them of intervening
on behalf of their ill-treated comrades, the students
commit a crime If they present a petition. All these
futile pieces of red-tapism, going on day after day,
hour after hour, breed, by degrees, a discontent that
a mere nothing may turn into a wild outburst.
At Kharkov, in January, 1882, in some circus or
theatre, a dispute broke out between a number of

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 69
Students and a reactionary journalist who was in
the habit of writing pamphlets against the students.
One of the. latter called him a coward ; the journalist
flung his glass In the student's face. One would
think the university authorities would have taken no
notice of this quarrel outside the university precincts,
for, by law, the students outside the university are
under the jurisdiction of the general police alone.
But no. The university council must show Its zeal,
and expel these Insolent young men from the univer
sity. This Infamous kowtowing to the police
angered the students ; they set about defending
their comrades ; they held meetings ; they kicked up
a row. The despotic police came on the scene.
The university was closed. Fifty-five students were
expelled for disorder.
In October, 1882, disorder broke out In the uni
versity of St. Petersburg. A well known financier
organized for the students, as a free gift, a phalan-
stere to contain one hundred and fifty men. This
man of money has not a very high reputation In
Russia. They say the tzar himself on the occasion
In question said : " It is easy to make free gifts
with stolen money." The students felt more hurt
at, than grateful for, this present. But about a
hundred of them turned up at the solemn festival
organized on the occasion of the Inauguration, and
offered the donor. In the name of the students,
a flattering address of thanks. The rest were
indignant. What right had the others to speak
In their name and to say things that, as they
thought, compromised their honour ? They drew up
a declaration In which they stated that the address

JO RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
was the individual act of those who had signed It.
What follows ? Their conduct Is declared Illegal.
How dare they meet ? How dare they draw up a
declaration ? The university authorities appeal in
hot baste to the police for aid. Thereupon disorders.
It Is the same story in the late.st outbreak at Kiev
in 1884. The university was getting ready for the
celebration of its jubilee. Now, it must be said at
the outset, that the University of Kiev has a bad
reputation throughout Russia. A number of its
professors have been mixed up in abuses committed
by the municipality. Some of them are known as
informers,, and that to such an extent that theyare
despised by the police. " With us," said a well-
known, member of society in Kiev, "It Is not gen
darmes and police spies that are to be feared. It is
the university professors." It will be understood
that between the students and such a set of pro
fessors, the relations are not very harmonious.
Knowing this, the rector of the university, fearing
that during the jubilee the students' discontent would
show Itself In some form or other, tried to avoid this
by paying court to them. He even Invited them to
take part In the organising of the affair. Their
agreement did not last very long. The students
had no intention of creating a disturbance. They
really wished to organise the affair so that it might
be a f^te of knowledge, an intellectual festival.
Given the persecution, then in vogue, of all knowledge
and intellect, this plan Involuntarily took on the
character of a manifestation compact of opposition.
Suddenly the rector changed his tone, and declared
roundly that he was sole master In the business, and

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 7 1
would organise everything as he pleased. The
students set an agitation on foot. Why then had
they been invited ? Only for the purpose of insult
and of reminding them that legally they were of no
account ? The rector, seeing that the discontent
was growing, decided that. In order to prevent
disorders, the students should not be admitted to
the jubilee. This absurd and unexpected measure
soon bore fruit. The students who were not to be
admitted to their own festival, who had been Irritated
and Insulted anyhow, assembled a few hours before
the ceremony, In the street In front of the university,
hissed the rector and various notable representatives
of reaction, e.g. Pobiedonostsev, and threw stones
at their carriages. In the evening they went and
made a row at the rector's and broke his windows.
That Is the way in which the university celebrated
Its jubilee. Some days later, all the students, even
those who, to the knowledge of every one, had
taken no part in the demonstration, were expelled
from the university. Katkov had the impudence
to defend the equity of this punishment. " The
students who did not take part In the demonstra
tion," he declared in the Moscow Gazette, " are
responsible for not having prevented It." That is
reactionary logic. The students are not recognised
as a corporate body ; they are forbidden to hold any
meeting, to have any organisation, and at the same
time the principle of corporative responsibility Is
admitted. The great majority of university troubles are of
just this character. They are unpremeditated ; they
are a reflex protest, stimulated by one or other of

T^ RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
the numberless pretexts furnished by the entire ab
sence of all rights for the students. Despotism and
outbreak are always the two sides of one and the
same medal; but assuredly among young men easily
excited, despotism foments outbreak more frequently
than elsewhere. The university troubles, whose
result is the loss of so many hundreds of young
men, are thus an inevitable misfortune, and will be
until the time when at length Russia shall have
strong laws that shall hold sacred the rights of
every individual and of every body of Individuals.

CHAPTER IV.
Literature. — Social part played by our literature. — Literature a
means of expressing ideas that the press cannot. — Art an
objet de luxe. — Literature under the protection of fashion. —
The social novel. — Birth of the press. — Tendency of litera
ture. — Evils caused by it to artistic writers. — The censorship.
— The illegal press. — Literature swallowed up of satire. —
Chtch^drine. — Poets and story-tellers. — Ouspensky and
Garchine.
The part played by literature Is very different.
For 150 years, i.e. since Its blrth,^ literature has,
in the hands of the Intelliguentia, been the chief
motive power of political and social development in
Russia. During this time It was the most remark-
^ The written language has been in existence nearly two cen
turies. Ancient Russia, and Russia under the Muscovite tzars
had already some germs of literature, that at times gave rise
to works of great value — Nestor's Chronicle, the Song of the
Legion of Igor, or the Muscovite comedy " Froi Skibeiev.'' But
generally speaking, this literature is scholastic and without style.
Yet the popular literature — songs, ballads, tales — was a genuine
treasure of poesy. Written literature only began to grow after
Peter the Great ; in his reign the alphabet was actually formed.
The European influence, under which Russian literature came into
being, told also on the language, which in the eighteenth century
was so corrupt, that at the present time it seems a thing of ridicule to
many. The time of Pouchkine and of Gogol may be looked upon
as that in which the Russian language began to free itself, and
Russian literature to take on a truly national character.

74 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
able product of the national genius. Thus its study
is of deep interest, and It would be well If the
English public had a good rdsumd oi It. Interesting
in itself, by its original colours, its boldness of form
and sometimes of ideas, It is yet more interesting
as a faithful reflex of Russian life. In spite of the
rigour of the censorship, Russian literature, take it
altogether. Is characterised by Its extreme out
spokenness. Its marked leaning towards artistic truth.
In spite of the many translations that have been
published of late years, Russian literature Is still very
Imperfectly known. ^ Much to my regret, I cannot
In this place give to it that study the necessity of
which I feel, but which would demand also far too
much space. I shall therefore advisedly lay much
more stress on the social than on the purely literary
side of the question.
In the chapter that I devoted to explaining the
nature of the cultured class, I was constantly obliged
to speak of literature. Russian literature Is, In fact.
Its best beloved offspring and the reflex of all its
characteristic traits. The general tendencies of the
Intelliguentia have left their Impress on literature,
giving It at once a serious tone. I am not using the
1 The admission of articles such as Mademoiselle Olga Smir
noff has recently published in so important a periodical as the
iSiouvelle Revue, seems to me conclusive on this point. In them
Mademoiselle Smirnofif speaks of the literary merits of various
archbishops (Philarfete and Innocent), and at the same time
mentions in a patronising way Chtchedrine (S iltykov). This is not
even an inaccurate appreciation on her part. I seem to see the
smile of Madame Adam, if she herself were to read the ponderous
tomes of our Russian Bossuets, and with her fine literary taste
compare with such as they, authors of the brilliancy and power of
Chtchedrine.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 75
word " serious " In the sense of tiresome. What
I mean Is, that our literature by conviction, in
idea. Is not merely amusing, and does not set
before it as aim the creation of merely beautiful
or clever works. So much the more it is not.
Heaven preserve us ! a calling or a means of liveli
hood. It looks on Itself as a great social work,
a grand weapon of progress, a mighty means of
developing the national thought. For a genuine
Russian writer, nothing is more painful and humillat-
Ing than to be forced to prostitute himself to the
public taste, and to work only for filthy lucre. No
accusation Is a greater insult to a journalist than that
he thinks above all of the number of copies of his
work sold.
When M. Souvorlne,^ chief editor of the New
Time, declared it was time literature descended from
its pedestal and understood that it was a calling like
any other, that it was subject to the same laws
of supply and demand, and that In this there was
no humiliation — his article was received as the most
shameless, the most disgusting literary prostitution.
As yet, every writer of any worth, of any honesty,
holds quite other Ideas than these as to himself and
his work. He is a labourer in the social cause ; he
must do, not what the public wants, but that which
he himself thinks right and good. This conception
of literature, natural enough considering the char-
1 It may be that the article in question was not by M. Souvorine,
but by his most intimate co-worker, M. Bour^nine, but this comes
to the same thing, as they work together, and may be ranked at
exactly the same level as far as concerns the intellectual and moral
elements they introduce into Russian literature.

76 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
acter of the Intelliguentia, was strengthened greatly
by the school of Art for Art, by Pouchkine and
others. Later on, this same school was accused of
Indifference as to life, a reproach wholly devoid of
foundation. Certainly Pouchkine says Imperiously
to the public : — " Depart ! What need
Has peaceful poet of you ? "
Certainly he cries out :
" Oh poet, set no value on the people's love."
In the admirable words of Ivan Tourgueniev, he
has left a magnificent legacy to the Russian writer :^ —
" By the free way
Go where thy free mind will."
But to see In all this Indifference to life Is ridicu
lous. It is only a protest against the subjection of the
writer to the yoke of time and the hour. To serve
society and history honourably Is quite another thing.
Pouchkine will not be the slave of circumstances, just
because he will serve society and history. When
with the same pride he declares : " I have built a
monument grander than any human work," he at
once explains wherein consists the grandeur of this
monument. The poet was of use to men ; he sang
of pity for the pitiable. Art and thought are to be
free, but of course in the sense, that this free art and
free science are of the greatest use to man in raising
him, widening out his horizon, unveiling for him the
mysteries of life. So strong is this yearning to
serve humanity, that twice already two of the most
able men in Russian literature have been urged by It

T^IE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 77
to acts bordering on the foolish. Gogol left his
" Dead Souls," to publish an absurd " Correspond
ence with Some Friends," as soon as his " mind
diseased " fancied the latter " would be more useful."
Just now Ldon Tolstoi is abandoning art with con
tempt, as he is convinced that " he has been teaching
men without himself knowing what he was teaching."
The naturalist school Is Impregnated with this
Idea of serving humanity. This naturalist school,
which may be said to have founded Russian litera
ture. Itself came into being at the time of the cruelest
reaction, that of Nicolas I. The intelliguentia saw
too plainly the absolute impossibility of a direct
contest. The best of the strength of Russia, not
exterminated by the reprisals that followed the
outburst of December 14, set to work to prepare
the better future by the Intellectual development of
the country. This development became an object
of worship to It. That same reaction, however, that
persecuted science, enslaved the school, tolerated no
political or social activity, made the task of these
pioneers very hard. What method was to be fol
lowed — what means to be employed ? Everything
was crushed, but not to the same extent. Entering
upon the domain of art, the cultured man felt at
once that here he could do something, whilst in any
other nothing was to be done.
In reality, here also, the censorship was by no
means Idle, Our censors, e.g. forbade a poem,
because it spoke of love, which " Is unbecoming in
Lent." The .author had written :
" Oh, could I, silent, and in lonely lands.
Unseen of all, dwell near thee and at peace ! "

78 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
The censor struck this out, and added this note :
" This means that the author does not wish to con
tinue his service to the Emperor, so that he may be
always with his mistress. Besides, one cannot be
at peace except near the Gospel, not near women."^
The guard-house, In which young writers were shut
up like schoolboys, whenever the whim took the
administration, was always full. Nevertheless, art
was looked upon as too Insignificant to be feared.
The Emperor Nicolas was not a poltroon. He was
not going to be afraid of that which, as he thought,
had no real strength. And what strength could
art have ? A mind brought up amidst bayonets,
cannon,' the sabres of gendarmes, could only fancy
Itself a power In the crudest way. Certainly, a
seditious proclamation, or even a criticism of the
acts of the Government, any direct intervention on
the part of literature In political affairs — that was a
danger. But art ! What an Idea ! When he had
recalled from exile Pouchkine, the Emperor Nicolas
asked him this question : " Tell me frankly, Pouch
kine, If you had been on the 14th of December
in St. Petersburg, should you have taken part In the
rising ? " " Assuredly, sire," answered the poet.
This outspoken frankness pleased the Emperor;
and when Pouchkine promised him not to meddle
with politics any more, he believed him fully. If
he did not actually deal with politics, why should
he not be allowed to write ? What harm can any
poem do ? The Emperor Nicolas became the open
protector of Pouchkine, and his censor. Thanks to
1 Historical data as to the Russian censorship.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT, 79
this protection, the poet was able to withstand the
pernicious action of the censorship. In the same
way the Emperor accorded his protection to Gogol.
The celebrated comedy, " The Reviser," was for
bidden by the censorship. This Interdict displeased
the Emperor, and he gave the order to place on the
stage this cruel satire on his own administration.
In one of Its acts, the prefect cries out to the public,
who are roaring with laughter, " What are you
laughing at? At yourselves ? " The Emperor was
one of those who laughed, but not of those who
understood the bitter meaning of this apostrophe.
The Emperor did not stand alone In treating art
with this contemptuous Indulgence. The Idea was
general. Some amused themselves with it, as a
luxury. Others simply despised it. A general, a
superior officer of Lermontov, said to him once :
"Is it really possible you make verses ? Blush,
young man. You are an officer and a gentleman."
The general was not angry that Lermontov was
In his verses very revolutionary for his time and
country. No, he did not even know that he was.
But an occupation so useless seemed to him un
becoming an officer and a gentleman.
This contemptuous Inattention created for art a
position of privilege. Political literature, no matter
how mild, was not tolerated at any price. But,
under cover of polite literature, Gogol writes his
satires ; Herzen composes "Whose Fault is it ?" and
the " Memoirs of Doctor Kroupov," in which he
attacks the very basis of our society ; Slergueis
Aksakov, himself a censor, writes his " Family
Chronicle," and " The Early Years of Bagrov's

8o RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
Grandson." ^ These, It may be without their author
knowing it, pronounce a terrible sentence upon the
serf-owners. The law has no notion of the rights
of man : everything Is held in humiliation and
bondage. Lermontov is never weary of calling
men to freedom ; he places men above all conven
tional laws. The fundamental idea, " Art for art,"
was itself at that time in Russia most revolutionary.
Man there was In everything a cipher; nobody
cared about him. But In art, this humbled person
ality recognised no authority of Government or of
society as above itself " I do as I will," It says,
" at the dictates of my reason, my talent and my
conscience, and no one has power over me."
This relative liberty attracted a multitude of able
men to letters. Any one who did not try to write
verses, novelettes, a novel, was a rarity. Men
gave themselves up to art with a sort of religious
fervour. Able men were sought out and fostered
with care. To discover a man of literary talent
was an honour, a duty to every member of the
intelliguentia. In this way the Little Russian poet,
Chevtchenko was saved for literature, and when
later, after a satire on the tzar, he was sent into
Turkestan as a simple soldier, the help of his
admirers lightened considerably the weight of this
terrible punishment.^ Gogol, coming to St. Peters-
1 Aksakov's novels, not even properly appreciated in Russia, are
Wholly unknown outside it. Yet they are the best of the Russian
romances, except those of Ldon Tolstoi.
^ Chevtchenko did not write in Russian, but always in Little
Russian. " I can, but I will not," says he in his satire. In exile,
iie was forbidden to write or draw (he 'tvas a painter of ability).

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 8 1
burg from the provinces, without friends or money,
was only able to make his way and give himself
seriously to the development of his powers by virtue
of the protection of Pouchkine and some others.
In the same way also the talents of Koltzov were
enabled to evolve. He was a small provincial
tradesman, who composed admirable songs full of
the popular spirit. In this way, by the natural force
of circumstances, and by a conscious premeditation
also, many forces, almost all that intelligent Russia
owned, were drawn irresistibly towards polite litera
ture. The naturalist school, at whose head Gogol, him
self a disciple of Pouchkine, is usually placed, had
as its principle a strict fidelity to real life ; and this
principle, strengthened by the influence of Balzac,
was in harmony, as no other could have been, with
the tendencies of the intelliguentia towards the
service of society. Naturally, the more nearly art
approaches reality, the more It becomes the reflex
of tendencies. Thus is born the social romance,
which, with the satire. Is the characteristic of Russian
literature. The social romance describes society rather than
the Individual ; and this is the more true to art,
as in fact the individual only developes within the
society. Then this fact gives art a direct social
bearing. The artist becomes a politician, criticism
becomes more or less social criticism, since in
This punishment was as bad as the galleys in the time of Nicolas,
and was very often inflicted. Bestoujev-Marlinsky, Poldjaiev and
others of the most eminent authors of this period were subjected
to it. VOL. II. G

82 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
analysing artistic works criticism is only concerned
to speak of real life, its aspirations and its com
plications. In critical art, the name of VIssarion Bielinsky
must especially be borne in mind. Tourgueniev
compared his influence upon the development of
Russian civilization to that of Lessing In Germany.
Of Incomparable artistic Instinct, of extreme honesty,
gifted with intellect capable of the most profound
social conceptions, Bi^Insky made art criticism such
a chair for human teaching, that Russia, whatever
place she ultimately reaches, will never cease to
mourn for him. Bielinsky again was a master of
the Russian tongue, and in his work Is always as
powerful as he Is graceful. For style, Bielinsky
yields only to Granovsky, of whom I have already
spoken, and whose style is the final word of perfect-
ness as yet spoken by the Russian language.
Thus the intelliguentia, unable to play a social
part directly, compensated Itself with art, a little
world wholly Its own. In which it judged, analysed,
created its conceptions of the social Ideal. To the
powers that be, this little world apart seemed but
a toy. Really it Is the actual Russian life judged by
the nascent thought of the cultured class. This toy
teaches men to know themselves. It works out the
greater part of that stupendous labour of the national
conscience that later on forced Alexander II. to
undertake certain reforms. For twenty to thirty
years, letters and art criticism took the place of
everything In Russia — of philosophy, of sociology,
of political literature. By art, Russia became con
vinced that Individual rights were irrefragable, that

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 83.
the emancipation of the serfs was an absolute ne
cessity, that self-government was of primary im
portance. This noble work of artistic literature begot in
Russia a profound respect for art ; a respect not to
be destroyed by those vicissitudes of the after-time
that produced in art a genuine revolution.
This revolution took place at the beginning of
the reign of Alexander II. The forces that had
been gathered together during the preceding time,
at last began to make their mark upon politics, and
compelled the Government to give greater freedom
to the press. Until then, art literature had reigned
without a rival. Thenceforward, It had to fall back
upon Itself and give place to the political press.
This Is in itself quite normal, and to regret it would
be foolish. But political literature was not content
with occupying the place that was of right Its own ;
it transgressed its own limits, and even trenched on
those of the romance, thus taking for a long while
from art that moral freedom, without which it can
not develop.
This revolution, as always, had its fatal causes.
After the Crimean campaign, Russia seemed to
wake as from a heavy sleep. She saw herself on
the brink of an abyss. Confidence In the power of
the Government gave way. The country was in
danger. Every one was talking of the necessity for
reform. Political activity became on a sudden the
pressing need of the moment, and to this need
literature could not be irresponsive. The political
press seemed created perforce. I say "perforce,"
for Alexander I I.'s Government was by no means

84 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
disposed to put up with Its appearance. But the
Intelliguentia felt It was already strong enough to
act alone. The political press, Impossible In Russia,
should appear abroad. " Now or never," said Alex
ander Hertzen, when he heard the news of Nicolas'
death ; and at once he set on foot in London the
Polar Star, which thereupon took the place of the
celebrated Bell. " Vivos voco," the motto of the
Bell, was to become a prophecy. The journal, of
course forbidden In Russia, nevertheless went every
where, even to the Winter Palace, and made for
Hertzen a following. From that moment the for
bidding of political literature as a whole in. Russia
was an absurdity. The Government was forced to
relax the reins, and this the more as, under pressure
of circumstances, it was compelled to undertake
important reforms, and by virtue of these to admit
Into the ministry and into the Government com
missions those whom it most hated — the reds,
Nicolas Mllloutlne and his co-religionists. The
party of reform, once holding a certain position In
the Government, was not slow in appealing to the
press for support, knowing surely that If the least
liberty were given to it, the press would with all Its
strength defend reform. This foresight was splen
didly justified. The press, of which at last It was
possible to speak, produced many men of ability,
of whom let us note Tchernychevsky and Dobro
lioubov.^ In a few months the reactionaries were so
badgered by the press that they did not dare to
1 They both wrote in the Conteviporary, which soon became the
most influential organ of the Russian press.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 85
breathe a word, and if they did — as In the journal
of the nobility, Viest — it was only to become an
object of general derision. In a word, the press so
dealt with the question of the emancipation of the
serfs (the first on the orders of the day), that any
retrograde step was simply Impossible.
The press went far beyond the limits that the
reds of the Government thought necessary. The
cultured class then saw In its dreams a general
revolution in Russia — perhaps peaceful, perhaps
bloody — In the clouds, as to details ; but in any case
reconstructing the whole country on the basis of
liberty and justice. The press was preparing the
ground for this, was attacking at all points violence,
injustice, exploitation, was trying to exterminate "all
that was unworthy, savage, evil." Their certainty
that the revolution was at hand deceived all minds,
and threw them into a state of feverish excitement.
Every one was on the watch for great events. The
moment seemed and really was exceptional. It v/as
necessary to work without losing a second, s
How was the literature of art to shun this work —
that which for so long a time had served Russia so
bravely, and by its labour had built itself a monu
ment of greater grandeur than any human woVk ?
The answer was never In doubt. The tendency to
work for the commonweal carried literature along
with resistless force. Art, beauty, the eternal,
nature — all were perfect, had been perfect, and
would again be thus in the coming time. But now
there is fighting to be done. Romance, novel,
poetry, all become " with a purpose." They accuse,
hurl forth proclamations, arouse, paint the portrait

86 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
of virtuous citizens such as had never been seen.
Each of them tries to bring and urge forward some
idea. At the head of this romance with a purpose,
that has lasted long and even now has not wholly
vanished, must assuredly be placed Tchernychev-
sky's " What Is to be Done ? " This made In
Russia an unprecedented stir, was soon forbidden,
and for long years was the gospel of Russian youth.
They imitated Its heroes, and formed Ideas on
theirs. From the point of view of art this romance
is, however, quite commonplace. Tchernychevsky is
great as a thinker ; as an economist he Is the first
In Russia ; as publicist he has very few rivals ; but
he Is not a romance writer.^ Taken singly, many
scenes in "What is to be Done?" may be looked
upon as passable. They get hold of the reader by
their thought, not by their art. In the novels with
a purpose of Mlkhailov (Cheller), Kholodov, Ghirse,
and others, the qualities of " What is to be Done ? "
are only to be found in microscopic doses, whilst Its
faults have grown in quite an inverse proportion.
Writing with a moral does not exist in the pro
gressist camp alone. The works of the reactionaries
Stebnitsky, and, later, Avs^Ienko, Boleslas Marke
vitch, and others, are In this respect yet more
monstrous. Markevitch cannot picture to himself
an officer of gendarmes who is not "elegant," or a
1 There is another romance, unfinished, of Tchernychevsky;
" The Prologue to the Prologue." Certainly it is in no wise
remarkable from the point of view of art ; but it is very interest
ing, for it brings on the stage a large number of well-known
politicians of the last reign, whom Tchernychevsky had frequent
opportunities of observing.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 87
Nihilist who is not a " nionstrosity, weak and
wicked." To him a Liberal Is always a coward
and a sot ; the gentlemanly Conservative Is re
splendent with physical beauty, wit, strong will.
The romances are always depicting the fatal con
sequences of Nihilism.^ This tendency does Injury
even to men of great ability, such as Pieslemsky,
and makes a poet of talent, Alexis Tolstoi, write
absolutely bad verses against the Nihilists, The
same feeling In matters of policy tells against
Tourgueniev when he Is drawing the " portrait of
the generations." In " Fathers and Children " he
is driven to make false generalisations. In "Virgin
Soil " he describes things which he knows nothing
about. As a matter of course, this tendency-mania In
fluenced much more Injuriously the young men of
an ability not yet mature, such as Pomlalovsky,
Rechetnikov. Risen from the lower classes, these
romance writers were burning with indignation.
They did not trouble themselves about art. They
were only aflame with one desire — to show the full
extent of the evil. Had they lived twenty years
earlier, their intellect would without doubt have
expanded under happier influences, and — who
knows — they would perhaps have created some
great work. It has turned out quite otherwise.
The " Sketches of the Stock Exchange " of Pomla
lovsky were full of promise. The author died early,
and could not but die. He led a terrible life,
1 Mademoiselle Olga Smirnofif, in her article, calls this writer
a novelist of ability. Perhaps he was by nature, but it has been
killed by political bias. He has never written a good romance.

88 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
Shattered by the frightful struggle he had to carry
on to rid himself of his surroundings, filled with
fierce hatred of established order, he drank — drank
pitilessly ; was always in wretched holes, amongst
the hardened in crime and in debauchery, partly to
sound the depths of social ill, partly from a kind of
perverse desire to show respectable society that he
would not stay in its company, that he preferred
to its hypocritical virtues the society of thieves
and whores. Rechetnlkov's life was equally short.
"The Podlipovtzy," and "How is it Better?" de
spite the utter want of knowledge of art, showed
the germs of considerable talent. These never de
veloped. Son of a proletarian, a currier by trade,
of most ordinary education, Rechetnikov came into
literature with the one desire of showing how the
poor suffered. It is a question even If he felt
any wish at all to work with a view to artistic
improvement. If he did, he would have been able
to do nothing, crushed as he was by misery.
Art criticism was by no means in antagonism to
the excessive propagation of these political Ideas ;
on the contrary, It supported this with all Its power.
In point of fact, it had completely annihilated itself
of its own accord, and turned itself Into social criti
cism. Dobrolioubov, our latest literary critic, gave
almost all his attention to politics in the domain of
literary criticism. But Dobrolioubov as yet under
stood the demands of art, and yielded much to them.
His successor, Pissarev — Dobrolioubov died early —
went further. He simply declared war against art,
against the sesthetic. He squandered most of his
immense ability in bold paradox and in sophistry

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 89
that was destined to destroy the prestige of the
great art-masters, such as Pouchkine. The direc
tion of all this was to turn men of talent away from
art and force them into useful action. Yet In
PIssarev, as In many of his contemporaries, there
was, irrespective of utilitarian calculations, some
thing of greater power, an Instinctive sentiment —
the same sentiment that among the early Christians
drove them to destroy the masterpieces of ancient
art. All this art is the creature of sin ; it is bought
with the people's blood and tears. What groans
were resounding throughout Russia that the upper
classes might be able to hear the admirable harmony
of Pouchklne's verse or of Glinka's music ! The
" gentleman " did penance for his historic sin against
the people. He cried out with Niekrassov, —
" From the joyous and the babblers,
Bathing all their hands in blood.
Take me to the men that perish
For the mighty cause of love."
From a feeling very natural In a convertite, he,
like Pissarev, determined to hate all the good things
sin had given him or his fathers. He did not deny
that these high pleasures ought to be for men, but
they ought to be for all. Let art develop, but only
when all people are In a condltioft to enjoy It ;
and until then — down with all useless enjoyment !
We have drunk the people's blood enough. It Is
time to serve them, to do only what is of use to
them. One must study and teach, not enjoy one's
self But could not art also be of use as a teacher ?

90 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
" The repentant noble," Bielinsky, successor of
Pouchkine, knew perfectly well that this was the
case, but he did not want to think of It. He became
full of suspicion of himself As soon as It became
a question of aught that could give him pleasure, he
was ill at ease. Was he not being spoilt by his own
desire for pleasure ? No, he made up his mind, It
was safer to reject this altogether ; his conscience
would be more at ease.
Thus the very energy of the movement of reform
struck the strongest back-handed blows at art.
Many men gave it up altogether. The reforms of
Alexander II., limited as they were, yet made the
want felt in Russia of a great number of cultured
men able to devote themselves to social matters —
arbitrators, justices of the peace, lawyers, members
of the zemstvo, teachers, etc. This assuredly
lessened to a great extent the contingent of the
intellectual forces left for the work of literature.
Finally, even In literature, the press recruited Its
forces from among those who until then had been
devoted to art.
Such a condition of things would not, however,
have had particularly hurtful results had It not been
complicated with other circumstances as well. More
over, we must not exaggerate the evil caused by the
tendency-mania. After all, the respect for art per
se had become so deeply rooted in Russia that no
political tendencies could eradicate It. In the last
thirty years we have really seen In Russia a series
of men of great ability who would have done
honour to any epoch : Leon Tolstoi, Dostoievsky,
Niekrassov, Chtchddrine (Saltykov), Ostrovsky,

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 9 1
Tourgueniev,^ Glleb Ouspenky, men of perverse
but vast ability ; a certain number of writers less
powerful, but yet notable : Vsevolod Krestovsky
(pseudonym),^ Alexis Tolstoi, Kourotchklne ; and
among the quite young men, Cyanchlne. This Is not
a bad list already. It would certainly be difficult
to say that political feeling had exercised on any of
these writers an Irreparable influence. We may be
sure that, without other harmful influences, Russian
art, whilst yielding a certain amount of territory
to political literature, would yet have gone on de
veloping with sufficient force and fulness. Un
happily, the fatal lot of Russia struck blow on blow
at art as well as at political literature, and at last
has at the present time brought literature of every
kind Into an absolutely abnormal position.
The revolution expected by the Intelliguentia was
a fiasco. The reforming and reactionary forces of
the country were so proportioned that they para
lysed one the other, and all ended in a kind of
marking time, a species of decomposition. Why is
this, seeing that the reforming forces were much the
more numerous ? Because the reactionaries were
organized, their forces condensed In the hands of
a Government, and the reforming forces dispersed
through the land and utterly disorganized. The
1 Gontcharov, whose romance, " Oblomov," is one of the
greatest works in Russian literature, can hardly be regarded as
belonging to this epoch. His "Abyss" is not worth much, and
really his literary career closed with " Oblomov."
2 Besides Vsevolod Krestovsky {nom de plume), there is a real
man of that name, who has made no small stir with his inter
minable " Haunts of St. Petersburg," but who is a writer of no
worth.

92 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
moment when this state of things was clear on one
side and the other, was the signal for the Govern
ment reaction, which, with certain Intervals not
worth mentioning, has lasted until now. This
systematic reaction has not yet been able to create
in the country any Conservative support on which
the Government can rely. The Government is
constantly obliged to keep Itself on a war footing.
On its side, the intelliguentia sees also that reforms
are making almost no progress, and that in no case
Is anything lasting effected. Of course a revolu
tionary movement that goes beyond political reform,
and Is simply anti-governmental and Insurrectionary,
begins In the country.
Literature Is then in a very unfortunate position.
The press in the time preceding had been able to
acquire an Immense Influence, and to create In Rus
sia enormous forces. It had gained this end by the
development and preaching of general principles.
It spoke of God ; but It dared not touch either
priest or sacristan. It spoke of authority ; but made
no mention, of the tzar, nor even of a policeman.
It spoke of the laws of production and distrlbudon,
without caring to refer to the most unjust articles
of the code. All this was well enough for a time,
but it is evident that when the general bases of
philosophy are sufficiently worked out. It Is neces
sary to pass to practice, to deal with things that are
going on to-day, to-morrow ; in a word, there is
the advent of the political press In the narrow sense
of the phrase. But this advent was quite Impossible.
The severities of the censorship Increased more
and more. The press was of course obliged to be

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 93
silent, i.e. to perish. The best writers gave up
writing. Assuredly there were In Russia attempts
at a literature of politics every time this was
possible. Of this kind are, e.g. the works of
Golovatchev, Demert, Elisseiev, Gradovsky, and
others. But though they showed plenty of ability,
these writers did not touch on the Government
questions, i.e. on those that are actual In the strictest
sense. The most typical publicist of this unhappy
time is M. Mlkhailovsky.-'- He Is a man of great
ability, backed by very remarkable learning and
even depth of thought. He has only one fault :
he lives at the present time. What is the use of his
abilities at a time when a writer must treat of social
and political questions, and at the same time must
not utter one word that Is sincere and clear on
these questions ? The seal of sadness, of depres
sion. Is at the outset upon the works of this jour
nalist. He even gave up literature for some time,
and was employed on a railway. This is but a
typical example of the whole of the press. And
its reputation is waning ; the public are already
treating It with contempt and jeering.
I know that the press has in part emigrated
beyond the frontier. In the time before this, the
journalists In Russia had so completely got the ear
of the public that their influence became greater
than that of Hertzen or of Bakounine, greater than
that of the Emigration. Little by little the situation
is changing. The last echoes from the journalists
in Russia were the works of M. Flerovsky, and
especially the " History Letters " of M. Piotre
1 A contributor to the Annals of tJie Fatherland.

94 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
Lavrov, a work rather heavy but very profound.
In this the author makes a study of the duties of
man and of citizen, and tries to lay them down with
the precision of a mathematical formula. There
are very few books that can be compared with It
for importance In their bearing on the development
of the revolutionary party. But, as I have already
said, these are the last successes of our journalists.
Persecuted and beaten down, the press emigrates.
The voice of Bakounine rings out again. Lavrov
goes into exile. Abroad appear a series of journals,
of pamphlets, of proclamations.^ Then the printing
press of the revolutionists, that had hitherto only
been heard of at rare intervals beyond the frontiers,
was established In the heart of Russia — secredy,
of course. This literature by Its Influence brought
about one of the most Interesting phenomena of
present-day Russia — the revolutionary movement.
At the same time legalised literature remained
1 Among the works published abroad may be noted the publi
cations of Lavrov, " Forward," a summary, not issued at stated
times (five large volumes), and a monthly journal with the
same title. Among those of Bakounine, one has especially
made a stir, "Authoritative Principles and Anarchy." The
Tocsin, Tkatchev ; The Worker ; The Commune. Dragomanov
has published a summary in several volumes, called in the
Ukrainian language, "Gromada'' (Commune). Let me further
mention a constitutional journal. The Free Word, organ of the
alliance of the zemstvos, which has been accused of some con
nection with the ofificial world. As a matter of fact, it is published
abroad. The Ge?wal Cause (constitutional journal). The Messen
ger of the People's Will (revolutionary review), published as
occasion serves. Add the publications of a socialist group, " The
Deliverance of Labour," and those of M. Dragomanov. I do
not mention a mass of pamphlets and of proclamations that
form quite a literature in themselves.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 95
without any influence on this movement, and did
not even care to speak of It.
Of course the utter collapse of the press was
under these conditions Inevitable. Even If It does
try to turn to account every moment of freedom, and
say its say, these moments are rare and brief Only
journals can profit by them. That Is why the daily
press is developing so much more than heretofore.
Everywhere It is getting the better of the review.
But clever and pliant as the daily press is. It cannot
do the impossible, and as a whole Is of little use.
The literature " outside the law " cannot certainly
fill up the gaps caused by the oppression of the
Government. The free press. Irrespective of Its lean
ings, has connected with it men of very great ability
in the literary sense ; but the press of any country
can only develop normally, and with any degree of
fulness on Its native soil, in permanent relation to
the life of the people. Its place Is not abroad. The
revolutionary press within Russia, always crushed
out by the police, has never been able to get beyond
the Issuing of leaflets. Amongst these, the journal
Narodnata Volia (The Will of the People) has made
much stir ; yet It has only been able to get out ten
numbers In five years, not reckoning supplements.
Under such conditions, one can compose good
proclamations, but nothing more. Further, the
average duration of the active life of a Russian
revolutionist rarely exceeds six months to one year.
This Is clearly very little for ripening an incipient
talent. To sum up, the press withers under men's
eyes. As yet, even since the accession of Alexan
der III., It Is not reduced to the piteous condition

96 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
It was In under Nicolas I., — or to speak more
accurately, It Is not yet annihilated. It exists, but
It is powerless. The political press has passed Into
the hands of the actual agents of the Government,
who need not have any ability, and are not chosen.
It Is unnecessary to say, for their literary worth.-' Still
worse, the . Government . tolerates In the political
press traders like Souvorine, who turn In the direc
tion the wind blows. Finally, only men of no account
are allowed in the opposition ; but as men of ability
do not cease to go over to it, the opposition is as
ceaselessly crushed by the Government of Alexan
der III. This was the case with the Annals of
the Fatherland, The Voice, The Moscow Telegraph,
and a large number of other periodicals.
What the position of the press is actually, the
reader will be able to judge more exactly from the
list of subjects that It was forbidden to discuss in
1881 and 1882.^ The list of forbidden books Is also
very instructive. In 1884 the Government forbade
the reading at the libraries of a long list of books,
125 in all. In this list figure all the best Russian
reviews that have ever existed (except the Messen
ger of Ettrope^ and the works of almost all our
publicists.^ Of foreign writers, different works of
Louis Blanc, Proudhon, Lassalle, Marx, have been
1 There are many journals in Russia that are subsidised. Those
most openly in this position are The Moscow Gazette, of Katkov,
the St. Petersburg Gazette, The Kievien, etc. The last-named has
now given up its subsidy.
2 See Appendix C.
^ Blagoviestchensky, Bajine, Dobrolioubov, Joukovsky (Julian),
Zassodimsky, Zlatovratsky, Mirtov Mlkhailov (Cheller), Mlkhai
lovsky, Pissarev, Pomlalovsky, Priklonsky, Flerovsky.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 97
forbidden. Even Sudre's book, " Communism," was
forbidden. Now, this writer makes war on Com
munism. What does it matter ? Russian governors
are so highly educated that they do not even know
what the books they are forbidding contain. Next,
it Is the turn of the works of Agasslz, Quetelet,
Elisee Reclus' geography, Spencer's writings, and
even Adam Smith's. It is true that Adam Smith
was restored later on, so I will not insist upon him.
The reader sees now the position of Russian
literature under this enlightened despotism, as they
sometimes call the Russian monarchy In Europe.
To a certain extent the literature of art, as for
merly, takes the place of a political literature. Let
me note in this connection that the satire best holds
its own. This is a very characteristic fact. Satire
has been in existence In Russia from the most
remote times, and has become the national form of
art- work more than the social romance. The earliest
works of any importance In Russian literature took
on the satirical form : Kantemlr's satires. Von- VIzIne's
comedies, Krylov's writings. Derjavlne himself
sometimes inclined to satire : then come Griboiedov
(Too much Intellect means Unhappiness) and Gogol.
In our own times there are Niekrassov (poetry),
OstrowskI (comedies), Chtchedrine (Saltykov), with
out reckoning a dozen or so of men of ability not
so great as these, but yet very marked, — as Kou
rotchklne, Dobrolioubov, MInaiev, etc. As soon as
existence is possible to the press, satirical journals
rise instantly, and generally they are written with
ability. Of this type were the journals of Novikov
and Krylov, In the reign of Alexander II,, there
VOL, II, H

9 8 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
was the Svistok (Whistle) of Dobrolioubov, of
sparkling wit, the terror of the reactionaries ; then
the Iskra (Spark) of Kourotchklne, the best of our
caricature journals. At the beginning of the reign
of Alexander III., when the Government was not
yet strong enough to hamper the press too closely,
the best political journal of the time {The Moscow
Telegraph) published a satirical column, the very
clever articles In which were attributed' to MInaiev.
Further, satirical supplements were In abundance
among us, after the style of the Svistok. The
advent of satire Is the mark of an epoch In which
the discordance between the ideal conceptions of
society and reality Is patent. A certain amount
of idealism is Indispensable to satire, since it Is by
comparison with the ideal that actual life can be seen
to be ridiculous or vicious. The multiplicity and
depth of Russian satire are an Indication of the vast
Ideal of the Intelliguentia. Their satire summons
/before its tribunal the whole social order. If Gogol
and Griboiedov keep to the domain of bureaucracy
and nobility, the satires of the present time pene
trate more deeply into the life of the country.
Ostrovsky, the most important of our dramatic
writers after Gogol, has his speciality ; he writes
comedies on the life of our bourgeoisie. Several
types, his creations, are as immortal as those of
Griboiedov and Gogol. But Russia owes to Chtched
rine (Saltykov) the best of its satires. A writer
of extraordinary fertility and universality, he paints
in his satires every phase of real life. His Ingenuity
Is astounding ; it is a Fortunatus' purse of pleas
antry and railing, — now gay, no'vy tremendous. He

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. 99
vanquishes by his cleverness even those whom he
chastises. At times even the censorship will not
raise its hand against Chtchedrine, and at moments
when the press is muzzled, he lays his finger upon
the most malignant ulcer of society. He drags
on to the stage the founders of the Holy League,
brands the system of spying^ lays bare all the vul
garity of the Government reaction. Of course a
great many of his writings are proscribed ; but he
knows how to avoid difficulties. He has even
created a language of his own, the language of the
serfs, as he calls it ; a language of exceeding flexi
bility, which cuts like a razor and yet gives the
adversary no chance of picking a quarrel with it.
But for this thoroughly Russian language the Eng
lish public could form some idea of Chtchedrine
from Paul Louis Courier. Their methods have
many characteristics In common. If In style Paul
Louis Is far above Chtchedrine, on the other hand
he Is Inferior to him as an artist. Chtchedrine
is in the foremost rank as artist ; he has created
scores of types, and has engraved them with
astounding profundity and clearness. Let me
mention the types of our Incipient bourgeoisie
(Koloupaev and others), several of our bureaucracy,
loudouchka. In the romance "The Messrs. Golov-
lev." This last Is a miser of a quite special type, who
should be one of the collection to which Moliere,
Balzac, Gogol have contributed.
In studying Russian satire, we cannot pass over
the general tone of confidence In Itself By pre
ference It keeps to angry sarcasm, and very rarely
allows itself to be tempted to anathemas of despair.

ICO RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
The satire of the celebrated Niekrassov is the most
sombre. His genius, evolved during the later years
of serfdom, always bore the sad impress of this. If
it Is not In despair. It is at least In desolation.
"Be still, O Muse of vengeance and of grief !
I will not trouble more the sleep of men.
Have you and I not cursed enough ? "
cries the poet. Then he goes on :
" What is the good of writing or of speech ?
You will not make one Russian fool the less ;
And wise men you will sadden." \
Niekrassov, noble by birth. Is especially the poet
of the people's woes. He has drawn many a
poignant picture of the people's life ; he has created
many a type cast in bronze. The finest of these
are the repentant koulak, Vlas, and the bourlaks
(bargemen). But he scarcely ever paints a picture
of severity ; yet the poet does see such pictures.
His " Peasant Children " is a delightful piece, full
of warmth and colour ; and there Is In his writings
one scene of happy peasant life, a calm Idyll whose
charm It Is difficult to Interpret except in a quite
literal version. Where do you think this scene Is
enacted ? In a dream. It Is the dream of a pea
sant widow freezing to death in the forest,^ whither
she has gone to cut wood that she may warm her
children perishing with cold and hunger. All of
Niekrassov Is in this poem. Nevertheless cursing is
the exception In Russian satire, which is always, as
it were, astonished that such and^such absurd evil
' He that dies of cold falls asleep, and has, they say, pleasant
dreams.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. Id
can exist, and cannot believe that this or that wrong
has not passed away. At the present time, In this
present reign of Alexander III., Chtchedrine has
uttered a cry of despair. It is a magnificent satire
— " The Triumphant Pig." " Until now," says the
satirist, " I was wont to bear all Ills with the dull
unction, ' If God doesn't allow it, the pig won't eat
us ' (Russian proverb)." Now for the first time he
is alarmed. He cries out : " The pig will eat us,
he will eat us 1 " But do not make too much of this
terror. See how this man, frightened out of his
wits, treats the pig (the triumphant reaction), and
you will be convinced that this despair Is " not of
the right colour."
Eighteen months ago a photograph went the
round of Russia, where, of course, It was forbidden.
It may be taken as emblematic of Russian satire. It
Is a forest dark and pathless, on which the shadows of
night are falling. A terrified man Is gliding among
the trees, book In hand. It Is Chtchedrine, Face
and figure are admirably caught. He seems sad
dened, afraid. Monsters are swarming around him ;
a serpent is striking at him ; the " triumphant pig,"
that has just been scarified by his satire. Is threaten
ing him with its tusks and is about to seize him by
the leg, as it drags after it a huge policeman's sword,
buckled by a belt round its belly. Two will o' the
wisps are shining among the trees. They are the
eyes of the spies with which the country Is filled.
In the background, within the darkness of the night,
is seen the shadow of a policeman with shining
eyes. Amidst all these monsters, the satirist glides
timidly along. But whither ? Ah ! he sees an

I02 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
outlet. This forest, with its monsters, may. In truth,
be terrifying ; but through a glade the light is
stealing, and It falls on a plain beyond. The first
ray of the rising sun lights up the face of a peasant.
Towards this shining sun of the future, that is
scattering and will scatter the shadows and the
horrors of night, the satirist Is travelling. The
picture bears this inscription :
" The way is hard, but dawn is near."
Is this dawn near ? Meantime, the way of
literature is terribly hard. So hard that political
literature, worn out, no longer marches ; she drags
her slow length along. Satire holds out still, but
always In the person of Chtchedrine alone. The
social romance has suffered yet more. I said above
that the present position of art literature Is infinitely
more threatening to It than the political complica
tions of i860. That which Is crushing the press is
crushing also the literature of art.
Censorship in Russia has almost always been
excessively severe and stupid, but it has never
exercised so fatal an influence on the literature of
art as at the present time. The privileges of art
are abolished. It is no longer despised ; it is
dreaded. It has almost less of liberty than the
press. But, thanks to the development of the
revolutionary movement, the writer who can re
present life as it is, touches more and more, even in
spite of himself, on the thorny questions. A work,
be It poem or romance, Is only great if it repro
duces the social type. At the present moment, so
important Is the revolutionary type in Russia, that

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT, IO3
her society cannot be depicted without touching, in
sorne way or other, on revolutionists. Now this,
with the censorship, is quite impossible. Poetry
and romance are thus cut off at the root. It cannot
be said that the creative talent is exterminated
in Russia ; yet, if we do find any traces of poetic
attempts. It is in the revolutionary publications. An
Instance is the " Last Confessions," In No. i of The
Will of the People. It is a scene of real beauty,
powerful In conception. The author brings on the
stage two men of antagonistic philosophies — the one
a priest, honest, intelligent, convinced ; the other, a
revolutionist condemned to death for an attempted
assassination. " You are come to hear my confession," says the
latter to the pope. " I do not believe In your God ;
but if you will have It, listen !
" Pardon me, O God ! that I have loved with my
whole heart, as brothers, the poor and needy.
" Pardon me, that I have not believed the eternal
well-being of man a fable never to ' come true.'
" Pardon me, that I have worked for that well-
being, not with smooth-tongued talk alone, but with
all my being — my mind, my heart, my hands.
" Pardon me, that I have executed assassins for
their murders.
" Pardon me, who, born a slave among slaves, die
now among slaves a free man."
The meeting of these two types of men, drawn by
a man of genius, writing genuine Russian, might
have been the theme of a great poem.
The like ability Is shown in the " Songs of the
Rising Generation," recently published in the Mes-

I04 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
senger of the Will of the People. Once more we
see in these germs that, under favourable conditions,
might have ripened Into a great poem. But are
revolutionary journals. In truth, an asylum that Is
favourable for art ? They have their aim, their
ends — 'those of their party, and these weigh on the
poet like a second censorship. As to such literature
as is legalised. In this the poet can but be silent.
And this is why we have actually plenty of young
men of ability, like Minsky, Martov, lakoubovltch,
and no poetry. The last of the Mohicans of the
poetry of the past, such as A. Tolstoi, Maikov,
Polonsky, have died out, or are dying out, far from
the life of to-day, which they do not understand
and from which they derive no inspiration.
To their cry the Muse makes answer :
" O poet, call me not thy Muse !
For as this day of pain draws in,
I cannot sing for weariness.
All is forgotten, I know not
The song of rose or babbling stream.
Nor song of nightingale to rose.
I know not even if he sings."
This perplexity, face to face with life, overwhelms
art perhaps more than even the censorship of It.
Romance beneath this burden of actuality grows
weak, has become well-nigh impossible. Somebody
asked a Russian artist, " Why don't you write a
great romance ? " " Because," was the answer, " a
romance without revolutionists would be in Russia'^
a lie." And this Is true. It Is not, of course, here
a question of revolutionists only, but of political
complications In general. The romance Is a com-

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT, IO5
plete picture of life ; as consequence, if it is faithful
to the reality, it must come Into collision with these
complications. The only way to avoid these col
lisions is to falsify reality, i.e. to confine one's self to
outlines, sketches, Isolated facts. Thus the romance
with us is replaced by the tale. The average
dimensions of works of art are extremely limited.
The average length of a tale by Ouspensky Is thirty
pages. In the small volume of Garchine's works
before me there are eight tales in 207 pages. And,
to tell truth. If of late years one hears of the pub
lication of a romance of any size, one may be sure
beforehand that It will be commonplace. Our
writers even feel that it Is an Insult to suggest to
them the writing one. " Wait a while," said one of
them, with a bitter smile, " until my children have
grown up. I shall want a great deal of money
for their education. Well, then I will write you
a romance — In three volumes," he added bitterly.
" At present, thank God ! I am not reduced to
that." To these difficulties are added those that are
the result of Russian social life. To thrive, even to
exist In some measure, the romance needs conditions
of social life that are defined, social types clearly
marked. In the Russia of to-day, wherever you
turn, struggle, fermentation are, and the struggle Is
not always very definite. It Is not of the kind that
the organism maintains against a fever, against
typhus, or any other well-marked disease. More
often it is a sort of febrile condition, as to which the
ablest physician cannot be sure whether he has to do
with an ordinary fever or with typhus. The artist

I06 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
Is in the same perplexity face to face with the phe
nomena of our daily life. Where is to be found the
true type that sums up this or that social fact, so
complex, entangled, confused ? For the most part
the artist Is under an interdict. He finds that he
is obliged to begin a study of life detailed, minute.
The more familiar he becomes with It, the more
evident becomes its complexity. He Is disturbed,
in conflict with the same febrile unrest that dis
turbs life. He feels that he cannot discover the
keynote of life, and he begins to be afraid. This
feeling of amazement, In face of the complexity of
existence, sometimes hurls him right into mysticism,
as in the cases of Dostoievsky and Tolstoi. This
mystic condition of mind Is very evident In Russian
literature. The writer feels convinced that he does
not understand life, that in It something unknown
and of vast power plays a part, and that he cannot
grasp this vast unknown. To one, this " I know
not what " presents itself in supernatural guise ; to
another, it Is the revolution ; to a third. It is some
inconceivable reaction on the part of the people. In
the presence of this vast unknown, the realist school
of to-day has decided, almost In so many words, not
to attempt the representation of life as a whole, in
Its totality. It gives Itself up to study and to the
production of studies and studies only, without
making a single great picture. A whole series of
artists are working In this way : Ouspensky, Zlat
ovratsky, Ertel, Naoumov, and especially the young
writers, Karonine, Korolenko, Garchine, and the
rest. Their attention Is, above all, devoted to
studying the people.

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. IO7
Glleb Ouspensky holds the first place in this
school of modern naturalism. Garchine hardly
belongs to It. Garchine is absolutely original In
our literature. Still very young, already showing
many symptoms of mental aberration, a writer of
Immense ability, and with a nervous system mor
bidly Impressionable, he Is as one overwhelmed by
the life of his time. He Is struggling with all his
soul after I know not what ideal of the beautiful
and the good ; but he Is full of despair.
One of his best tales is " Attalea Princeps," the
name of a species of palm. A tree of tropical
climes, transported to an orangery In St. Petersburg,
longs for the clear air and burning sun of Its home.
It makes up Its mind to see them at all costs. It
begins to grow and grow, that It may burst the
orangery roof and regain its liberty. At last the
longed-for moment has come. The panes over
head are breaking under the pressure of the fertile
trunk ; the palm-tree, curved and bent, straightens
itself into the free air. And then ? It Is the grey
sky of St. Petersburg ; the sun is hidden by the
clouds ; the cold wind Is blowing over the damp
snow, and freezes this poor child of the south. Has
It strtjggled so hard to look on this grey sky and
snow ? Lo, the owner of the orangery ! He orders
the tree to be cut down.
Garchine Is embodied in this tale. He sees no
other outlet than this for all that is beautiful and
peaceful. He does not seek to get anything out
of life. He writes simply because he cannot help
it, because he must paint pictures. But there Is no
object in doing it. It may be that Garchine, If he

Io8 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
does not become altogether mad, or if he does not
follow Tolstoi into some religious body in search of
a mystical repose for his sick soul, — It may be that
Garchine will create some great work. But as he is
at present. It Is his doom to be reduced to creating
a few small episodes, fugitive as the beauty he has
found In life.
I have said that the naturalist school, named
realist about i860, and even then comprising certain
men of notable ability, such as Rechetnikov and
Pomlalovsky, has not as yet made itself mistress of
Russian life. It Is always studying. From this
point of view Glleb Ouspensky's works will always
remain the most valuable historical monument. A
writer of extraordinary gifts and fertility, Ous
pensky has written no less than ten or a dozen
volumes in French : they are all sketches, scenes.
The fidelity and accuracy of their rendering are at
times wonderful. Any other writer, with his immense
mass of materials, would long ere this have written
several romances. Ouspensky is more exacting for
himself and for art. He continues still to write
sketches only. Our celebrated painter, Ivanov,
does the same with his " Christ's Advent ;" he has
been at work at this picture for twenty years.
Perhaps one of these days Ouspensky will produce
some great work. Perhaps he will never be strong
enough to pass from study to creation. Yet his
studies will remain for ever the most perfect pro
ducts of the literature of our time. They are
sketches worth more to the lover of art than the
great pictures of the' other writers.
This then is the actual position of Russian litera-

THE INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT. IO9
ture, and from this position it will only pass when the
social fermentation now going on ends In a decisive
movement of the life of the people in one direction
or the other.

BOOK VLL.
POLITICAL RUSSIA.

BOOK VII.
Chap. I. The Russian administration. — Medical administra
tion. — The army. — The Skariatine trial ; its revelations. — Local
administration ; its abuses.
Chap. II. Political parties : Reactionary, Liberal, Revolution
ary. — -The mistakes of the Liberals and the Revolutionists. —
Reaction. — The revolutionary staff. — Its youth among the people.
—Trials and persecutions. — Terrorist movement. — Conspiracies.
— Propaganda among the army.
Chap. III. The black partition. — The agrarian question. —
Anti-Semitic riots. — Agrarian crimes.
Chap. IV. Liberal policy. — The zemstvos. — Coming to power
in 1880 of the Liberal party.-— Loris Melikov. — -Struggle between
the Liberal and Reactionary parties. — The crime of the 13th of
March. — Coming to the throne of Alexander III.— His policy. — ¦
Secret associations. — -Ministry of Count Ighnatiev. — The com
petent men. — The police.^Ministry of Count Tolstoi. — Prepon
derating influence of Katkov.

CHAPTER I.
The Russian administration. — Medical administration., — The
army. — The Skariatine trial ; its revelations. — Local adminis
tration ; its abuses.
In the popular Russian tales we often meet with a
mythical being — baba iaga — Kostianaia noga (the
old witch with the club foot). The dwelling of this
old witch Is generally represented as a small hut so
wretchedly dilapidated that It ought to have tum
bled down long ago, and only stands up because It
does not know on which side to fall. This picture
of the fancy rises unbidden Into the mind when one
thinks of the political constitution of Russia to-day.
By what does It hold together ?
Between the historic monarchy and the mass of
the people there is a profound contradiction, that a
misunderstanding of centuries alone conceals. The
educated class is openly hostile as much to the
principle of irresponsible and absolute 'authority, as
to its police and bureaucratic forms. The classes in
power exact from the monarchy more protection
than they can give It. Without any doubt there are
very few guarantees for the political tranquillity of
the country and for the lasting of the existing order
of things.
VOL. II. "3 J

I 14 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
At first sight. It may seem that an absolute mon
archy, holding In Its hands unlimited power and
supported by the trust without reservations of the
people, has full scope. If It has the least desire to
act really In the Interests of the people, for cuttino-
all the Gordlan knots of Russian internal policy.
The upper classes would be, whether they liked it
or not, compelled to submit and be contented with
the dole, pitiable as It might be, that people and
tzar would throw them as indemnification for the
privileges of which th'by, would be deprived.
There are believers in this dream In Russia ; some
trembling at such a fate, others founding on It all
their hopes. Even recently, when the Emperor
Alexander III. was not yet definitely pledged to
political reaction, many people hoped to induce him
to play the part of the revolutionary dictator for the
people, and were promising to Russia a development
of unheard-of swiftness, before which the world
should recoil in wonder, and to the emperor an
immortal glory, by the side of which that of Peter
the Great should be as dust.
But in sociology, as In biology, there are certain
limits to the variability of the type, that cannot be
transcended by the organism ; and in the Russian
historical monarchy the type Is very stable, and not
at all plastic. In order to solve the new problems
that the life of the State propounded as it became
more complex, the Russian Tzars tried times and
again to reform the mechanism of the State. All
these modifications, all these ameliorations, effected
no alteration in the type ; on the contrary, they make
it more and more marked. The power of the

POLITICAL RUSSIA. I I 5
bureaux and centralization Increased more and
more. In this sense the Russia of the Imperial
time leaves Muscovite Russia far In the rear, and
Russia of to-day outstrips that of all precedent
epochs. Government and bureaucratic authority
may be more gende, thanks to gentler manners, but
it Invests more and more straitly and thoroughly
the life of the country. The tchlnovnik becomes
all powerful ;
" For he is everywhere, knows all, sees all.
And pokes his nose in everything."
And yet the administrative machine is becoming
more vast, more complex. It is growing more and
more difficult to exercise a control over It on the
basis of the personal authority of the emperor, who,
surrounded on all sides by the bureaucracy, only
sees and hears that which it pleases them he should
see and hear. The Emperor Nicolas used to say
that Russia was governed by the stolonatchalnlks
chiefs of bureaux). The phrase is full of meaning.
Despotism in Russia Is stifling from plethora. In
point of fact, despotism Is limited on all sides.
Only the limitation is not at the hands of the coun
try, but at those of the tchinovnitchestvo (bureau
cracy), who In a sense draw up the laws, carry them
out, or see that they are regularly carried out.
It would be useless to point out the frightful
abuses, the despotism, resulting from such a state of
affairs. Bureaucratic centralization Is turned into
an oligarchy of tchinovniks. The various offices of
Government become, in fact, independent. The
chiefs of departments act often arbitrarily, on their

Il6 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
own initiative, and Independently of their respective
chiefs. In many cases the country Is thankful for
this despotism, for at times the despotism of the
local authorities alone mitigates and makes bearable
the measures decreed by Government. Thus, in a
comedy of Ostrowsky, a newly-fledged prefect asks
the people under his jurisdiction, who are come to
bid him welcome : " How do you wish me to treat
you ? According to the laws ? . , , But the
laws are numerous," he adds In a significant tone.
"H'm! Show them the laws." His secretary
brings in an enormous pile of volumes. The in
habitants In alarm : " No, no, father ! Why accord
ing to the laws ? We get on better without them." ^
Coming back to real life, a large number of facts
might be quoted that bear witness to the benefits
which at times accrue to Russia from this arbitrary
conduct of departments and of chiefs. How often
do we come across people who, like the statistician
Arseniev, have been preserved for Russian science
by individual despotism, and rescued from the fate
for which general despotism had marked them out !
In Russia it is quite possible to meet a prefect who,
whilst the Government policy aims at destroying
the agrarian commune, will say, when he is talking
privately with his friends, "Don't think I have taken
this place from ambition. I have become a prefect
only to maintain and develop the ?;«>." The reader
will understand that I cannot give names, but the
fact Is well known. If the beautiful land of the
Amour Is not taken from Russia, and if one of these
days It becomes the basis of the prosperity of Siberia
I am here quoting from memory.

POLITICAL RUSSIA, I 17
and the key to Russian power In the Pacific, a grateful
posterity will remember Russia owes the possession
of this land to the arbitrary action of Count Moura-
vlev, and will regret that his action was hampered
in all directions by the Government. It Is almost
superfluous to say that this same despotism is a
source of innumerable abuses, and gives the inhabi
tants up to the most tyrannical rule. The present
unhappy time is especially rich in facts that substan
tiate this. The scandal of the trial of the doctor in
medicine Bouche, in 1883, showed the almost in
credible influence of " tips " In the medical depart
ment. The head of this. Doctor Bouche, needing
doubtless a great deal of money — he had two
families, his wife's and his mistress's — levied a
regular tax on all doctors in quest of appointments.
His tips were paid openly, at a fixed rate. The
system was carried on for many years. Nor was
this all. In the course of his trial It was proved
that in other departments the same kind of thing
occurred. The Government was afraid of lifting
the curtain any higher, and did not enter upon any
further prosecutions.
The abuses that go on in the military commis
sariat are known to every one,' and have been proved
in a great many trials. In the last war with Turkey,
the Russian army was, as people said at the time,
between two fires : in front of It the Turks, behind
It the commissariat. In 1878 I met, at Vladikavkaz,
a commissary who, strange to say, was an honest
man. One day this commissary comes full of in
dignation to a friend's, whose acquaintance I had
just made. There he tells of the cheating of a

Il8 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
contractor, who had delivered to him a supply of
oats so damaged that the stink of them made It
unpleasant to come near the store-house. " Ah !
young man," said he to me, " you only dream of all
sorts of constitutions ; you would really be of more
use If you accepted some office, and at all events
lessened the number of these impudent swindles.
Can any horse eat such stuff as this ? " And he
opened his handkerchief and showed me a sample
of the oats. It really was something beyond imagi
nation — mere dirt. A few oat grains mixed with it
were already beginning to germinate ; the rest were
all rotten. " But is It possible that you put up
with such dirty tricks ? " " Of course not. But
these cheats are always on the look-out to take
advantage of the slightest negligence, and supply
provisions that are worth nothing. I have at once
telegraphed to TIflis." TIflls was the capital of
the namiestnik (lieutenant),^ the Tzar's brother, and
the administrative capital of the Caucasus. Several
days later I learned that the only answer the com
missary had was this laconic order from his chief :
" Accept the oats at once." I do not know if after
this he changed his opinion as to my dreams oi
constitutions. I never saw him again.
It Is a question whether the large number of facts
of this kind one meets at every turn in Russia can
be explained by the perversity of the administration
alone. I am Inclined to think that, placed In the
same conditions, i.e., with power to do just as they
like, the administration of any other country would
not be any better. In many cases they would be
' There is no lieutenantsliip now.

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 1 1 9
worse, and 'In most cases they would not be as con
siderate. The cause of the evil Is not In the persons,
but in a defective organization, unlimited power,
absence of all control. Men are everywhere pretty
much the same ; but the Impotence of the institu
tions that are supposed to have the direction of
affairs, and the impossibility of getting them under
effective contrpl, place the people of Russia under a
kind of feudal yoke, at times laughable, at times
cruel. From the Russian journals I take the first
facts I come across as to this administrative tyranny.
The prefect of the Perm government dies. The
head of the police of the town of Perm takes upon
himself thereon to order the population into mourn
ing. He stops a fete that was to have been held In
the public garden, forbids a soirde at the commercial
club, regardless of the protests of the public, who,
having paid for their tickets, do not so much as
have their money returned to them.
This case Is a ridiculous one. Here is one that
is by no means laughable. In 1880-81, the thefts
at the Kharkov railway-station became more and
more numerous, and assumed at last the character
of an epidemic. It was soon discovered that they
were the work of a regularly organized band with at
Its head — the police ! The matter came before the
courts, and in the course of the trial* it was proved
that Fillpov, the commissary of police, took part
directly In the thefts, and levied a fixed tax of 15 per
cent, on the results of them. In return he showed
special favour to the association. Neither gendarmes
nor police ever interfered with the thieves, or, when
it was Impossible not to Interfere, released them at

I20 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
once. Further, the gendarmes received a fixed per
centage, and the police did their best to bring about
the dismissal of all the guards who were in the way
of the thieves, and to secure the engagement of the
latter in their place, that they might rob passengers
at their ease. In a word, the intimate relations
between the police and the thieves were complete.
" Comrades, how is It you are so lazy ? " said the
sergeant, Rossolovsky, reproachfully to the thieves
when they brought him a poor lot of plunder. So
powerful was the organization of this band of police
men and thieves, that at the outset of the prosecu
tion, the juge d instruction was for a long while
unable to find out anything. The thefts were com
mitted under people's eyes, and yet the thieves
remained invisible. ThQ.fuge d instruction only got
hold of them after he had, unknown to the official
police, organized his own, made up of employes
placed In charge of the luggage. Once, with the
intention of catching the thieves In the act, they'z/^^
d" instruction, having learned that they had a ren
dezvous at the station, went at once and alone to
Korovlne, the head of the police, begging him to
say nothing to any of his subordinates. All the
same, the thieves were warned in time. I do not
wish to accuse Korovlne ; but the mere facts that
this strange incident has never been explained, and
that Korovlne calmly remained head of the police
In Kharkov, are very characteristic of Russian
administration. Let us note yet one more Important
point. M. Rossolovsky, himself a member of the
band (this was proved as result of the judicial
inquiry), but who had quarrelled with Filipov and

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 121
denounced him, escaped prosecution, and was indeed
rewarded by promotion to a higher position. Still,
to keep up appearances, he was shifted from his
original berth, and named adjunct to the commis
sary at Koursk.
It will be seen how difficult it Is for a Russian
citizen to feel easy as to the safety of his person and
property under the guardianship of such protectors
as this.
Here again Is a little picture of manners that was
also unveiled by a judicial Inquiry. In Russia there
is a small town called Voltchansk. Two years ago
the post of " ispravnik " in it was held by a certain
Zograf. According to the testimony of witnesses,
he was a good-enough sort of man ; but the role of
petty king, with full power to commit all kinds of
infamies, is more dangerous than all personal defects.
In this same town of Voltchansk lived one Pono-
marev, who kept a restaurant. His wife, Ouliana,
a very pretty woman, was not unpleasing to the
ispravnik, and was not too cruel to him. For some
time our two turtle-doves were content with meeting
at an aunt's. Later, they wanted to be more free,
and the ispravnik made up his mind to get rid of the
husband. " Russia has laws of such a kind," said
Zograf to Ouliana, " that there Is no one you can't
get rid of" Ouliana left her husband. The is
pravnik sent his man to bring away the woman's
things. They carried off, without any ceremony,
everything they had been told to, and added certain
things that by rights belonged to Ponomarev. As
to the latter, the Ispravnik, to make assurance doubly
sure, had him arrested and thrown into prison. The

122 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
justice of the peace, angrj'' at this abuse of power,
intervened ; the unlucky spouse was set at liberty.
The Ispravnik attacked from another side. He got
a number of people to denounce Ponomarev as
" evil-disposed," and upon this denunciation was for
transporting him. Thereupon, Ouliana, taking pity
no doubt at last on her husband, left the Ispravnik
and made It up with Ponomarev. Zograf desperate,
beside himself with rage, called together the police,
went to the shop, arrested the two of them and
imprisoned them, this time both together. In the
district of Staroblelsk. Of course the Ponomarevs
were completely ruined. Their business never re
covered Itself, and all their belongings were In part
lost. In part stolen. Ouliana paid dearly for her
little romance.
Let us now turn to the army, the chief object of
Government solicitude.
On May 3, 1882, the military surgeon, Skariatine,
had orders to go to Bobrouisk, to take the post of
surgeon in the military hospital of that town. He
did not go, and with his written refusal he sent
a report, in which he stated that he left the ser
vice because, in the existing state of affairs, the
position of a medical man in the department of the
ministry of war was Incompatible with honour and
with the oath he had taken. Skariatine was put on
his trial for such flagrant disobedience. His trial,
on March iith, 1883, revealed so many horrible
things that the publication of any account of it was
forbidden. In our judicial press only slight hints
appeared on the matter. I have in my hands, how
ever, a copy of the report of the sittings of the

POLITICAL RUSSIA. I 23
tribunal. Dr. Skariatine Is no revolutionist. He
is simply an honest man. For a long time he had
known of the ignominies of governmental Russia.
In the Turko-Russlan war, the Government, face to
face with the necessity of fighting the epidemic oi
typhus that was decimating the army, appealed to
the medical students. Skariatine, then a student
in the Academy of Medicine at St. Petersburg, was
among the number of generous youths that answered
this appeal. Then for the first time he had the
opportunity of appreciating the position of the
Russian soldier, and he was struck with that which
he saw. He saw. In his own words, such utter con
tempt for the life and personality of man, and such
thieving as he had never even thought possible.
At Odessa he was present at the embarkation of
the soldiers. The sea was very rough, and the
vessel that carried the soldiers was almost flat-
decked and had not even a handrail. Skariatine,
with one of his comrades, spoke to the harbour
master and asked him not to crowd the soldiers
together so near the vessel's edge, as they might
with the rolling of the ship fall into the water.
" And a good job too, was the answer. We have
quite enough of this cattle. They are not horses ;
we do have to keep accoufit of them."
What the young doctor saw in the hospitals was
even worse ; there the soldiers were literally pil
laged as by bandits. The regulations were, that
patients must leave their money In the hands of
the administration of the lazaretto. As a rule, the
soldiers never got it again. Then there were any
amount of protests. One day Skariatine tried In-

r 24 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
terfering on behalf of a soldier, who, at the impossi
bility of getting back his last 7 roubles, could not
keep back his tears. " It's no business of yours,"
they said to him. As he went from one hospital to
another, Skariatine was able to convince himself
that this state of things was general. Then the
soldiers tried to find people In whose hands their
money might be safe from these thieves. But the
latter did not give up their prey easily. Thus, e.g.,
the soldiers had special confidence in one of the
sisters of charity, named Feodorov. The inspector
of the hospital, learning one day that a soldier had
entrusted his money to her, did not even think it
worth while to hide his displeasure, but apostro
phized the sister of charity In Billingsgate. They
stole openly, without any attempt at concealment.
One of the witnesses, the officer Sytchevsky, had
also presented a report about two of his soldiers
who had been robbed ; but the report, although most
earnestly pressed, remained without any result.
Once, Skariatine complained to M. Prisslelkov, chief
Inspector of the sanitary service, who had the
highest reputation as an honest man. He, at the
first Impulse, seized a pencil to make a note of
the name of the person guilty of theft ; but as soon
as he heard it the pencil fell from his hand. " Mali-
nine ? Oh ! he's too well known. Nothing can
be done with a man in his position. . . . You
can't catch men like him with their hands in their
pocket." What Is the meaning of this last phrase ?
I do not exactly understand. Doubtless Mallnlne
had powerful friends.
It Is superfluous to say that robberies from the

POLITICAL RUSSIA. I 25
public funds go on even more openly. " I thought
then," said Skariatine at the trial, "that in our army
In Turkey all the dregs of our society were gathered
together. I said to myself — what Is possible in
Turkey is impossible In Russia. That is why,
despite my bitter experience, I entered anew (i.e ,
after I had finished my studies) into the service of
the ministry of war, with the view of being, accord
ing to my power, of use to the soldiers. But I was
cruelly mistaken ; the same dregs of society I had
seen scheming In Turkey, were scheming with the
same Impunity here."
Skariatine entered the service as second surgeon
In the 9th Uhlans,^ and set to work energetically.
A whole series of depositions are in existence to
prove that the young doctor gave himself up wholly
to his new duties. He visited no one, took no
amusement, stayed all day and far into the night
in the hospital, purchased out of his own pocket the
medicines the patients needed. Moreover he showed
the same solicitude for the sick in the town, so that
the representatives of Loubay gave him, as a mark
of gratitude, a silver album, with the inscription,
" To the physician and the man." But, at every
turn, experience showed Skariatine that to be useful
to the soldiers was very difficult. In the hospital
he saw the most shameless speculations In human
life. There were two divisions In the hospital : the
hospital proper, for serious Illnesses, and the ambu
lance for those of less Importance. In the latter,
most of the patients only stay a very short time. A
' Now that the Uhlan regiments have been disbanded, it is
known as the 26th Dragoons of Bougue.

126 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
regular account Is kept at the hospital only ; as to
the ambulance, there Is no sort of account of the
patients, who only come there just to see the doctors.
By this circumstance the military administration
and the doctors profit. The heads of the regiment
know the accounts record the minimum number of
patients ; that Is a proof that the soldiers are well
looked after. Then, not to spoil the accounts (the
technical expression), men suffering from the severest
diseases are sent to the ambulance as affected with
slight disorders. In August, 1881, when typhus
was beginning to rage In the regiment, thirty men
were crowded together in the ambulance, a prey to
delirium — suffering from diarrhoea. Yet the ambu
lance, according to regulations, gave out no more
food than the customary soldiers' rations, and found
for the sick men none of the comforts absolutely
necessary for them. All this time half the beds in
the hospital proper were empty. And all this that
the accounts might look pretty. Skariatine, taking
advantage of the absence of the head physician,
moved the worst cases to the hospital. He was
reprimanded on account of the unheard-of number
of patients.
If the doctors go on like this, the military ad
ministration observes still less ceremony with the
soldiers. Thus, e.g., at a review by the general of
brigade, the soldier Pietrenko was so ill in the
ambulance that he ought to have been shifted to
the hospital, and that he was discharged from the
service later on as invalided. The commander of
the squadron abused this unfortunate for daring to
lie down in the ambulance (In the ambulance a

POLITICAL RUSSIA, I 27
patient must not dare to be seriously ill). He
ordered him to present himself at the squadron for
punishment, and such punishment ! Nothing but
the firmness of the medical man prevented this
chastisement of a sick man. This all occurred
almost under the eyes of the general of brigade,
who all the time was occupied in receiving com
plaints. And this Is the care their superiors have
for the soldiers' health.
All through the two years that Skariatine passed
in the service, the pharmacy of the regiment was
without any drugs. An application for drugs ran
the risk of causing displeasure at the general depot
(where the same sort of thieving was going on, and
the head physician, in order to avoid disagreeables,
preferred keeping silence). Then, for the purchase
of drugs, only the sums apportioned to the hospital
from the purse of the regiment were used. And
the commander of the regiment only allowed 100
roubles a year to be taken from this, a sum that was
to suffice for the food of the patients (twenty-four
beds), for drugs, for repairs In the hospital. The
reason for this parsimony was the poverty of the
regiment, and the poverty of the regiment was due
to the fact that all the savings (70,000 to 80,000
roubles) had been stolen by the chiefs. Convinced
that to treat patients under these circumstances was
Impossible, Skariatine gave all his attention to pre
ventive hygiene, " And here It was," he said to
the tribunal, " that I came into collision with the
doings of the ministry of war."
Skarlatlne's conflicts with the higher departments
had, as prime cause, the cruel beatings of the sol-

128 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND S0CL\L.
diers. Corporal punishment has been long abolished
by law. Nevertheless the cases of illness due to
blows that had been received were common in the
regiment. This fact was proved at the trial by
the deposition of many witnesses. The trumpeter
Temvrloukov, as punishment for his slow progress
In music, was knocked down by the leader of the
orchestra with blows of the trumpet on the nose and
mouth. The soldier, covered with blood, went to
the hospital, where the doctor kept him for three
days. Another crime ! How dare he go to the
hospital ? As soon as he catne out of the hospital,
the colonel ordered him, as punishment, to the guard
room for ten days. Another trumpeter, larko, paid
yet more dearly, and, as It would appear, from no
fault of his. The music-master in a temper struck
Jarko's ear with his trumpet with such force that the
blood spurted from the other ear. The soldier was
obliged to stop in hospital a whole month. A young
soldier, Gostinsky, was so knocked about by blows
" In the muzzle " from an under officer, that he only
just escaped inflammation of the brain. A long
time after even, he suffered from atorrhoea. After
he had been in hospital many months, Gostinsky
was sent home as Incapable of service. The soldier
Zakhartchenko received a similar blow for having
presented arms at four paces off" Instead of tvventy.
The soldier Lloubezko, in consequence of blows In
the face and on the side of the head, was uncon
scious In the hospital. The doctors were afraid of
a rupture of the drum. The patient was fihally deaf
in one ear. The soldier Korneienko was beaten by
the officer Goriaysky until the blood spurted from

POLITICAL RUSSIA, I 29
his mouth. This did not appease the officer's anger,
and with his musket he forced the soldier to run In
front of him. The soldier ran along for two hours,
swallowing his blood, until he fell down. Many
persons have seen in the hospital a glass full of
Korneienko's blood that escaped at his death, and
was preserved. The soldier Krakh was beaten by
his colonel because he did not know how to cure
his horse. " He beat him for several days (deposi
tion of the officer Jikharev), and many times a day.
He would go and rest In his tent, then come back
and begin beating him anew." Enough of exam
ples ; and yet how many have I omitted ! The
colonel even threatened to give the assistant surgeon,
Svertchevsky, ex -medical student, five hundred
blows with a stick.
Sometimes these infamies provoked protests from
persons not connected with the army; e.g., a crowd
once rescued a soldier from the hands of the cornet
Arakine, who was beating him cruelly. On another
occasion, the indignation of the public was aroused
against the major Fllomonov, who horsewhipped the
recruits at drill.
These cruel punishments are encouraged by those
In authority, and ?ven elevated Into I know not
what sort of a principle. The chief of the regiment
declared openly "that one cannot but beat the Rus
sian soldier; one must beat the soldier, must destroy
him " (an actual expression, authenticated by wit
nesses). TIajelnlkov, the chief of brigade, who
came to hear complaints, declared before the assem
bled troops that " penalties of discipline are only
good for stupids ; for a good soldier the fist is the
VOL. IL K

130 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
thing." The fist ! Really an excellent means for
maintaining discipline, military honour, courage,
the art of music, and skill as a veterinary in the
army. Messieurs the generals cannot apply this magic
talisman to the officers ; but the principle of con
tempt for man as man finds Its reflex in the life of
these also. The soldiers are beaten, and the officers
are held of no account. The officer has the privi
lege of punching the nose of a soldier, but in his
turn he Is obliged to put up with every possible
injustice at the hands of his superiors. Complaints,
as a rule, are of no avail, even in the most crying
cases. The Infamies that especially distinguished the
first squadron of the regiment of the Bougue were
the work of the chief of the squadron, Matveienko,
on whose part inquiry has discovered a great
number of Illegal proceedings ; e.g., the squadron
suffered from hunger because its chief annexed the
soldiers' food, and sent It to his numerous relations.
The dragoons did not receive their pay ; they did
not even have the money sent them by their friends.
The young " rotmlstre," Sytchevsky, could not look
on with indifference at these abuses. He protested
times and again, but In vain. The dragoons them
selves, their patience exhausted, decided to com
plain to the general of brigade, Korevo, at a review
of the troops. The quartermasters (vahmlstres) in
vain threatened the soldiers. In an undertone, that
they would let them have It; saying that the general
was with them to-day, but that to-morrow they
would have to settle matters with them. Their

POLITICAL RUSSIA, I3I
complaints were Inquired Into. Sytchevsky, under
the general's orders, confirmed the justice of the
men's complaints. What was the end of the busi
ness ? Sytchevsky, who had been during the review
personally congratulated by the general, was put
under arrest on pretext that he did not know his
duty. The officer, Kopatch, against whom chiefly
the soldiers' complaints had been directed, was six
days after recommended for a reward. Matveienko,
in spite of this business, received a regiment.
But we must return to Skariatine, Indignant at
the corporal punishment of the soldiers, he tried
first to get his superior, the head physician, to pro
test. The latter preferred not to be mixed up
with disagreeables. Then Skariatine turned to the
colonel. No result, or rather an unexpected one.
The colonel, not wishing the protests of the young
enthusiast to be renewed, simply gave the order that
soldiers who had been beaten were not to be sent to
the hospital. Corporal punishment was still inflicted,
only the soldiers no longer received any medical
assistance. Skariatine, shocked as he was, declared
openly he would not give up the matter without
protest. Then a plot was formed against him. The
colonel asked the chief of division to recall Skariatine,
although he could only accuse him of presenting
arms carelessly, and smoking in places where It was
forbidden. The chief of division did not consider
these reasons sufficient : however, to maintain disci
pline, he sent orders that Skariatine should be put
under arrest for a month. This over, Skariatine
again addressed the doctor of his division on the
abuses. The doctor grew angry. " Why do you

132 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
make so much ill blood, my dear fellow ? We see
all this plainly enough, but we hold our tongues.
Are we more stupid than you ? " In order to injure
Skarlatlne's reputation, and thus diminish the im
portance of his protests, the doctor of the division
ordered an Inspection of the hospital, with the de
liberate intention of finding some mismanagement.
This was impossible ; but Skariatine was accused of
neglecting his duties, and a secret report was sent
stating that he was ignorant of medicine. This
was all done quietly, because had It been known in
the regiment, it would have provoked too much in
dignation. At the same time they spread the report
that Skariatine was mad. The young doctor was
not disconcerted. He demanded a medical inquiry
Into the affair of Korneienko, and as the delegation
was unwilling fo recognise the evident fact of the
mutilation of his body. It stated In the official report
that one of the doctors was " unworthy of his pro
fession." This report summoned him for the first
time to answer before a court ; and with this began
the second phase of his struggle with the adminis
tration. A juge d' instruction, commissioned to inquire
into the Skariatine affair, came to the regiment of
Bougue to check his affidavits. To this end he,
of course, questioned the officers. Some, such as
Savenkov, Jikharev, Danilevsky, obeyed the dictates
of honour and duty, and bore testlmon}^ to the In
famies that were known to them. This was a
terrible blow, it will be understood, to the party
of abuses. The chief of division came to the regi--
ment under pretext of reviewing It. After the

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 133
review, he called all the officers round him. He
began by saying that there was In the regiment
some sort of Intruder, Skariatine, who made it his
business to set all the world by the ears, and whom
certain officers had had the audacity to support.
" In my opinion," the chief wound up with, " it is
necessary to expel these officers from the regiment,
as one drives a scabby sheep out of the flock." It
is needless to say that this referred to those officers
who had given evidence before the juge dinstruc-
tion. Savenkov, who was one of them, understood
It In this sense. He spoke to the general, and asked
permission to explain. The general answered that
he could not accept any explanation, and that the
officer could speak to the colonel of the regiment.
This Savenkov did. The colonel also refused to
listen to him, adding that he was of exactly the same
opinion as his superior officer, and that he thought it
was not the thing for an officer to answer the ques
tions of ajztge d instruction. Savenkov, his honour
thus Impeached, demanded judgment by his peers.
Many witnesses affirm that a court-martial, properly
constituted, would have acquitted him. This the
colonel knew well enough, and therefore he decided
to manage differently from that. The court-martial
sanctioned in a case of this kind by law Is sur
rounded with formalities that make the exercise of
any pressure on the officers constituting it very
difficult. The chief of the regiment called together,
therefore, an ordinary meeting of officers, and had
an Interview beforehand with the chiefs of squadron,
with the object of securing Savenkov's condemna
tion. To exercise pressure on this meeting was

134 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
easy. The adjutant-major, Beneke, a man held In
contempt by the whole regiment, took part in the
discussion with a shameless pertinacity, repeating
at the top of his voice : " We (he and the colonel)
mean to drive out of the regiment all the Savenkovs
and Jikharevs," The other friends of the colonel
said openly that those who voted for Savenkov
would sooner or later be expelled the regiment.
After these warnings the chief demanded open
voting. Savenkov was condemned. And that is
the way they manage In Russia with a regimental
meeting. There was nothing left Savenkov but to
leave the regiment. Soon after, Jikharev, on the
requisition of the colonel, had his turn. In the same
way Danilevsky and Sytchevsky were expelled. Yet
one more curious Incident. When Savenkov lodged
a complaint against this unfair court, — for he was un
willing to submit to his fate without a protest, — the
colonel, who had up to that time only called him
an Insubordinate officer, warned the authorities that
Savenkov belonged to the Socialist party. This Is
a frequent accusation In Russia, and Involves terrible
consequences, however ill-founded It may be.
In the meantime Skariatine went on with his pro
tests ; but the president of the tribunal would not
allow the accused to dwell upon certain details
-of -the affair. Nevertheless, the trial brought out
a great many things. Three times did Skariatine
appeal to the minister of war ; he went himself to
St. Petersburg. Surmounting difficulties almost
insurmountable, he succeeded at last in submitting
his report to the minister himself To what end ?
It was proposed all at once to let him off his com-

POLITICAL RUSSIA. I 35
pulsory service,^ if he would withdraw his report.
" But I did not present It for that," he answered ;
and he refused categorically to be party to any such
arrangement. Then his excellency gave orders
that Skariatine should be at once expelled the regi
ment, and transferred to some other hospital. This
result of an affair In which justice was on his side,
after It had been carried as far as the foot of the
throne, was. It would seem, a terrible blow to Ska
riatine. He fell 111. As soon as he was well, he pre
sented his outspoken report again, with his refusal
to remain In the service. This served as pretext
for bringing him to trial a second time. This Is
how things can be managed In the Russian army.^
Yet to draw from these facts a conclusion adverse
to all Russian officers would be a great error. . Born
in a fortress, I know the military class, — among whom
I passed my younger days, — very well. It Is notable
for a very sympathetic nature. The feeling of honour
is In the Russian officer developed In its noblest
form. His sense of duty is very keen. But men
capable of abusing their power are to be found
everywhere, and the deplorable management of
the army permits such men to do just as they will,
and that Is the source of the wrong-doing that kindles
so much Indignation among the officers. It Is also
the cause of that success of revolutionary propaganda
among them, of which I shall speak a little later,
^ Skariatine had finished his studies at the Academy of Medi.
cine, and, as an exhibitioner, was now in the service.
^ I take the account of this Skariatine business from my article
published in 1884 in the Messenger of the Will of the People, an
article drawn up by me from the manuscript indictment.

136 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
On nobody does the disorder of the central Go
vernment, that finds its reflex in despotic abuses in
every branch of the administration, weigh so heavily
as on the peasants. Over them is exercised a
tyranny so incredible that the Russian saying —
" The peasants, freed from the pomiechtchiks, be
came the serfs of the administration," is by no
means an exaggeration. One has but to look hap
hazard into any number of any Russian journal to
come across examples of revolting violence. The
oppressions and extortions of all kinds by the ad
ministration crush down the peasant. Amongst the
people a whole literature has grown up of songs and
proverbs that commemorate their ill-treatment.
" Don't be afraid of the Tzar ; be afraid of the over
seer " : " The Tzar is not to be feared, his servants
are," say the peasants ; and one of their songs thus
sums up the stanovoi :
" Into some large field
Comes the stanovoi.
An important quest —
It is for a corpse.
And with him his thief
Secretary comes.
For his supper find
Victuals fresh, and then.
Just to cleanse his throat.
Brandy-bottles two."
The song finishes by saying that the stanovoi
goes away blind drunk, when he has eaten up all
the food. The ourladniks especially (a kind of
mounted police appointed in the last years of
Alexander I I.'s reign) became notorious in the
villages. These men — there are more than 5,000

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 137
of them, recruited from among the very worst riff
raff — are true adventurers in uniform. Their power
is Immense ; they use It to commit unimaginable
abuses. Here are, e.g., some facts taken at random
from the papers. The court of the arrondissetnent
of Odessa had to Inquire into the case of the
ourladnik Datzenko. This ourladnik, when going
his rounds, met a Jew, who appeared to him a sus
picious character, I do not know for what reason.
He made the Jew walk in front of him, and as he
followed on horseback, amused himself en route by
giving him cuts with his whip. In this fashion they
came to the office of the chief of the volost, who
knew and Identified Trantz. Datzenko did not
attach any belief to the words of the syndic, whom
he abused, and then he set to beating Trantz anew.
Again, at Odessa there was the case of another
ourladnik who violated, after robbing her, a woman
he met in the fields.
In the province of Kanev, the ourladnik Tcher-
nlavsky received as a present four wagon-loads of
straw. He ordered the peasants to carry It to his
house. The peasants refused to do this for nothing.
" What ! " cried the ourladnik, " you ask money for
the transport of Government straw! Hats off!"
and he knocked them off with his fist. The
peasants grew angry and told hirn his conduct
would justify them in chasing him out of the village.
Then the ourladnik noted down their names, and
ordered, the starosta to make them come before
him, in order to draw up a report of this outrage on
the police In the execution of their duty.
In the village of Balatzkote, government of Kher-

138 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
son, a fire broke out. The labourers of the pomi-
echtchik Rogatchev ran up and worked hard to put
it out. All at once the ourladnik appeared with a
furious outcry, and bustled about, blowing up the
labourers. The pomlechtchik called his attention to
the fact that the labourers had come of their own
accord, and that consequently he had no right to
order them about. At such high treason the ourl
adnik was beside himself, and began knocking the
men about with his whip. Just then the labourers
of the village of Khrlstoforovka came on the scene.
The ouriadnik, In his wrath, fell foul of them as well,
knocked them about, and put every one to flight.
Two peasants, at the end of this little drama, were
horribly mutilated from the blows of his naghaika
(whip). At Kakhovka (government of the Tauride), a
gendarme, — this is not an ourladnik, — going his
rounds, came to the house of a peasant with a pretty
wife. First of all he Insisted on their feasting him.
When he was drunk, he ordered the husband to
leave them ; but the gendarme's Intentions were so
palpable that the peasant refused to obey. The
gendarme flew Into a passion, and drawing his
revolver shot the man dead.
At Chadrlnsk, the secretary at a village fete was
struck by the beauty of two young girls. He went
to the bureau of common administration and ordered
the sotsky (guardian) to arrest these girls, under
pretext that they were creating disorders. This
was done ; then he violated both of them.
Perhaps the reader will think I am telling the
history of Bulgaria under an invasion of bachi-

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 139
bouzouks. No, unhappily, I am speaking of Russia ;
and yet these facts, horrible and revolting as they
are, cannot be called exceptional. From the journals
that are lying before me at the present moment, I
could fill pages with the enumeration of crimes
equally shocking. I could in like fashion tell of
bloody vengeance exacted by the peasants on the
ourladniks, who are detested beyond all conception
throughout Russia.
More than once even the Government has proved
these abominations. Here,:^.^., Is an extract from
the report of the senator Polovtzev, on his Inspection
of the government of Klev.^ " The Impunity of the
chiefs of police erected Into a system," cries the
senator, "and the absence of allmeans of defence
for the people against the despotism of the police, are
a source of corruption to the polidcal spirit of the
people. They do not believe In the possibility of
securing themselves against abuses by legal means.
The consciousness of Its powerlessness against police
despotism penetrates all classes of society ; so that
whilst the Ignorant peasant takes to the police
officer the products of his toil, men of education and
high place pay also their tribute to the police." Thus
the Government itself Is cognizant of the evil, and
now and then tries to limit It. But whatever may
be the Tzar's intentions, what can he do to abolish
effects If he does not touch causes ?
As a phrase well-known In Russia has It, the auto
cracy has for its autocrat the autocracy of the bureaux,
and this oligarchy Is reflected below In the oligarchy
of small chiefs, A power of real strength, and cap-
1 Students' Journal.

140 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
able of acting systematically. Is a myth. Order has
to such an extent disappeared, that the Idea of de
fending themselves by bribery, Intrigue, or violence
is making huge strides among Russians, Especially
among the peasants Is this idea spreading. Self-
defence is taking more and more the place of re
course to legal justice. Thus In Ouspensky, a
peasant making complaint of a merchant who has
had a dam made to stop the fish from passing into
the peasant's river, utters threats. " You must pre
fer a complaint against the merchant," says his inter
locutor ; "he can't really do this." " Prefer a com
plaint ! But his purse is chockful. There will be
an order, and he won't obey it. That's all. I think
this will be the best thing to do  " " What ? "
" Dig up Its foundation. Knock the dam down, and
knock the fellow down too. Then no one will have
anything to complain of It's not the same thing at
all, writing out a complaint. Whilst you're writing,
he's fishing and selling the fish. No, there Is no
thing better than acting for yourself And above all^
It is necessary to tan his hide. He won't be so ready
to steal again." This man, reasoning In this way,
sums up the Ideas of the time. What absence of
confidence In the Government this manner of think
ing and of acting shows on the part of the people !
And yet, In spite of all, this regime goes on. What
force Is It then that keeps it up ? Is it not the
exceeding weakness of those who are its foes, con
sciously or unconsciously ?

CHAPTER II.
Political parties : Reactionary, Liberal, Revolutionary. — The mis
takes of the Liberals and the Revolutionists. — -Reaction.—
The revolutionary staff. — Its youth among the people. —
Trials and persecutions. — -Terrorist movement. — Conspira
cies. — Propaganda among the army.
In a country where Individual liberty does not
exist, it Is difficult for public opinion to split itself
up into clearly defined parties. Such parties would
never have room to develop action ; thus the
majority of the people are not Impelled to adhere
one to another by anything. Further, without
liberty of speech, of meeting, of agitation in elec
tions, it Is extremely difficult even for the people
to find out what Is Its own opinion. From all these
causes, the great majority of Russians, even those
that have had a certain amount of education, manao-e
to hold political Ideas of the most opposed kinds.
This confusion of political convictions' makes Instinct
play in society and among the masses a much more
Important part In Russia than In any other land.
The Russian masses act more " after the fashion
of elements," as they say, than as if guided by any
definite conviction.
I ought, however, to say that if this circumstance
14'

142 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
makes the formation of regular programmes more
difficult. It Is very far from assuring the reign of
order and tranquillity In the country. It favours the
revolutionists, as few things could, for every Russian
is by Instinct a revolutionist. The political constitu
tion weighs so absurdly on all, that each feels
accumulating In himself an enormous quantity of
personal discontent, due to all sorts of injuries, in
justices, oppressions. For very different reasons,
every one In Russia Is discontented. In the clever
phrase of Lioublmov, one of Katkov's closest
friends In Russia, " only the mountains and the
forests do not complain : the mountains because
they have nothing of which to complain, the forests
because they are cut down." ^ This general dis
content asserts Itself on every favourable occasion
with the more energy and disorder since the Russian,
In his heart of hearts, scarcely ever feels that he Is
under the influence of any tradition or authority.
This circumstance Is of vast Importance, and none
of those who know Russia can doubt that, at the
moment of any political disturbance, the Russian
revolutionists will gain a large number of adherents
from among the very men who are now calling out
for the gallows on their behalf
Just now, however, this wave of popular ideas,
carried to absurdity among the people and to chaos
In society. Is a formidable obstacle to the formation
of parties. The latter in Russia are, as a conse
quence, very Insignificant In numbers. The mass of
the people, following impulses that are purely In
stinctive and accidental, approves, one after another,
' " Against the Current ; ' a dialogue between two friends.

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 143
with all Its heart, the opinion of this party or of
that, and keeps systematically to none. In this
is the greatest weakness of Russian parties, the
greatest obstacle to pacific and gradual reform in
the social order.
Generally, Russian parties are divided into three
chief groups: (i ) the Reactionaries or Conservatives ;
(2) the Liberals ; (3) the Revolutionists, or, as they
are commonly called, the Socialists. To this list
may be added a fourth group, the Slavophiles, al
though this does not actually exist In any large num
bers ; and a fifth, the Nationalists, whom foreigners
sometimes call the Russian party. This last does
not merit even the name of party, since It has Ideas
as ill-defined as those that the public generally hold.
In Russian literature, organs analogous to the New
Times [Novate Vremia), that forget to-day what they
said yesterday, and do not know what they are going
to say to-morrow, represent the nationalist Ideas.
They are the true representatives of the majority,
but not Its guides. They only go where the wind
carries them, without themselves knowing whither.
It is not a tendency, but the absence of all tendency,
which In literature serves as a spring-board for men
who care only about the sale of their paper. Their
influence on the fate of Russia Is limited merely to
furnishing their balance of force to whatever may be
the prevailing feeling for the moment.
Thus we have only three parties to examine, as
more or less independent and serious forces.
Numerical superiority is, without a doubt, on the
side of the Liberals, But my readers will fall Into
a great mistake if they form an idea of the Liberals

144 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
and of the Socialists from the parties that go by
these names in Europe. The Liberals, In the true
sense of the word are, with the exception of certain.
wholly isolated personalities, very few In Russia.
Taken as a whole, the Liberals are near akin to
French Radicals, and their opinions are on some
points distinctly socialistic. The most characteristic
organ of the Liberals, The Messenger of Europe,
has recently published, e.g., an article of M. Slonlm-
sky, in which the author shows the necessity of
nationalization of the land, and the absurdity of the
mere Idea of landed property. That the article
should be published In this review Is sufficiently
astonishing. The Messenger of Europe Is very
distinctly Liberal. But, If we turn to the bulk of
the Liberals, we find there many who are quite
Socialists by conviction. Among them, especially,
are a large number of followers of Karl Marx and
the socialism of the German school. For political
programme, the Liberals have liberty of speech and
of the press, local self-government, popular repre
sentation ; in a word, constitutional rule. Generally,
the Liberals, who have taken origin from the same
intellectual movement of which I spoke above, are
Imbued with all the ideas that it has thrown into
circulation. Their ideal Is a society based on liberty
and self-government, made up of advanced free
individuals, with equal rights, and a material position
guaranteed by a regular economic organization. If
after this, we look at the programmes of the
Socialist party, we shall find It very difficult to draw
a distinctive line between the Ideas of this party and
of the Liberals. The difficulty will be yet greater

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 145
if we pay more attention to what Socialists say than
to their published programmes. Generally, In their
familiar jargon, the Socialists call themselves Radi
cals, and in their Ideas they are really very closely
allied to the Radicals. I quote, as an Instance, the
programme of the party of the " Will of the People "
(Narodnaia Volia), published in 1879. Here are the
eight paragraphs of which it consists : —
(i) Popular representation, elected by universal
suffrage, and with supreme authority in all ques
tions of the general interest.
(2) A large local autonomy, and elective nomina
tion to all offices.
(3) Independence of the mir as an economic and
administrative unity.
(4) Nationalization of the land.
(5) A series of measures tending to bring all the
factories Into the hands of the workers.
(6) Liberty of conscience, of speech, of the press,
of meeting, of associations, and of electoral agita
tion. (7) Universal suffrage, without any restriction
whatever. (8) The replacing of the standing army by a
territorial army.
A large majority of Russian Liberals have but
one observation to make on this progiamme ; It can
only be realized at a blow, and, therefore. It is super
fluous to put forward all these demands.
The Socialists, who have published this pro
gramme, however, declare that they only want to
lay it before the people. As to demanding, they
demand from the Government one thing only — the
VOL. II, L

146 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
convention of a constituent assembly. In this they
will try to get their programme accepted, although
they declare beforehand that they will submit to the
decisions of the assembly. Assuredly, the other
fractions of Russian Socialism have issued, and
doubtless will yet issue, other programmes, some of
them diametrically opposed to this one. But this
in no sense alters the position of affairs. It only
proves that among the Socialists there are greater
differences than between some of the Socialists and
some of the Liberals. Further, the " Will of the
People " Is not a group without a future. It has
shown a strength that no other group, no other
fraction, has. For two or three years It was, beyond
a doubt, the strongest political party in Russia.
Thus, even without wishing in any sense to prophesy
as to Its future, the programme just quoted is in
itself a very Important fact.
Reflecting on this, it is Impossible not to come to
the conclusion that the effective cause of the differ
ences between the Soclialists and Liberals Is less in
their programmes and aims than in the fact that the
former are, and the latter are not, revolutionists. The
differences are rather due to personal qualities, to
temperament, to the degree of disinterestedness. A
man of energy, of animation, devoted unreservedly
to the public interest, will In Russia scarcely ever
become a Liberal ; he becomes a Socialist and
revolutionist. A man more circumspect, more
moderate, not In conviction, but in character, adheres
to the Liberals. Thus, without saying that there
is no difference of programme. It Is none the less
impossible not to state that the essential difference

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 147
between the two parties consists in this : that the one
is decided on an active and desperate struggle with
the Government, a struggle In which an enormous
majority of the combatants must Inevitably perish
after a year or so of contest ; whilst the other, on
the contrary, prefers to work by peaceful means,
even by legal ones, and by means that In any case
present no great danger. This is the reason the
Liberal party chiefly recruits itself from among well-
to-do fathers of families, holding some social position,
— In fine, from among discouraged revolutionists.
This Is why it is the more numerous, and at the
same time why, despite Its evident superiority in
material resources. It acts with excessive indolence
and Indecision, and is beaten hollow by any attack
made by any small body of determined revolutionists.
The revolutionary party recruits Itself preferably
from among- the young, especially the cultured pro
letariat, or even from the most energetic men of the
former group. As its resources are Insufficient, it
decides on the most desperate plans, and does not
recoil In face of ends the most difficult of attain
ment. In this sense the revolutionists may be looked
upon as the most characteristic Incarnation of the
spirit of the cultured class. That .Is their chief
strength. Unconsciously they say what others only
dare think. They are doing to-day what others
will only do to-morrow. This connection between
the two parties Is so thoroughly understood by both
of them, that many Liberals often help largely the
revolutionists and their enterprises.
But enough of theory !

148 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
Here is a little scene that tells much more. A
household visitation by the police is going on.
Amongst the lodgers is one MIrsky, who had now
just come out of prison, io which he has been con
demned for some trifling matter, and who, later on
made an attempt on the life of the chief of the
gendarmerie, Drenteln. After he has turned upside
down the room of the culprits, the police officer says
to MIrsky : " Ah, young man, why do you want to
complete your ruin ? You would do much better to
keep quiet. Let us grant that In fifty years they
will build you a monument. But what's the good
of It to you ? You will have long before this rotted
away In prison, you know ! " A police officer admits
that in time monuments will be erected to revolu
tionists ! In 1825 a small group belonging to the
cultured class In Russia attempted a military coup
dEtat. The Insurrection was crushed, and the long
reign of Nicolas Is a systematic answer In the ne
gative to the programme of the Decembrists. In
1856, at the worst time of the disastrous Crimean
war, Russian society from end to end saw that the
only salvation for Russia was In the programme of
the Decembrists. Their memory became sacred;
the scanty remnants of that heroic generation, re
called from transportation by the emperor, were
received as conquerors. The representatives of the
revolutionary tradition, who had not been false to
their colours in the reign of Nicolas, became the
oracles of society. Hertzen In London became a
sensation never known In Russia. This exile, this
editor of a forbidden journal, Kolc/kol (the Clock),
became a centre towards which thousands of

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 149

Russians converged. Statesmen took counsel of
him ; every Russian going abroad presented himself
first of all at Hertzen's. The Kolokol was, by official
order, sent to the Commission that was studying the
bases on which the peasant emancipation was to be
arranged. This was the time at which all the
elements of Russian Opposition rallied around the
programme of the Decembrists, that they might
bring to bear upon the Government an Irresistible
pressure. The Government was placed In a posi
tion from which there was no outlet ; the reformers
were around it on every side. Alexander II. said
of Nicolas Mllloutlne, that he was a revolutionist, a
man to be watched ; and he was compelled to place
him at the head of the work of the emancipation of
the peasants. The emperor felt so strong an aver
sion from the revolutionist, that even in appointing
him an adjunct of the minister, he only did so
provisionally. But events were stronger than the
will of the Tzar, and the minister's provisional
adjunct remained " provisionally permanent," as his
foes said In jest. What then was the Decembrists'
programme ? The emancipation of the peasants ;
the confirmation of the rights of Individuals by
stable laws ; the establishment of equitable justice —
in a word, the representation of the people In the
Government. The Emperor Alexander 1 1., when
heir to the throne, had little reputation for Liberalism.
In the secret commissions, instituted by Nicolas for
discussing the question of the serfs, the heir-apparent
declared against the emancipation of the peasants.
Immediately upon his coming to the throne,
Alexander II., by a circular of the Minister of the

150 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
Interior, declared himself resolved "to protect stead
fastly the rights granted by his august ancestors to
the nobility." But the pressure of public opinion
was too strong. All the forces of the Opposition
rallied together against the status quo. They might
even be supported by a movement of the people.
Everywhere, in point of fact, the peasants were
rising against serfdom. Then the emperor under
took a series of reforms. In 1863 Alexander II.
himself declared that the favourable moment had
arrived. He would summon the representatives of
the people to take part in the affairs of the State.
When In the same year he called together the Diet
of Finland, he spoke with sympathy of " free In
stitutions placed in the hands of a wise people." ^
By means of this policy the Emperor Alexander II.
succeeded very adroitly In breaking the coalition of
the forces of the Opposition, which had during this
time committed a series of blunders that showed
how little as yet was the advancement in political
development of the Russians. Right policy, that of
good sense, required the coalition to insist abso
lutely, and before anything else, on the convoking
of the people's representatives at the same time as
the emancipation of the peasants. Instead of this,
the Moderate Liberals, although they were not de
ceived as to the Tzar's sincerity, agreed to give up
the Constitution and to follow the Tzar, in order to
realize, if only gradually and with all kinds of re
strictions and reservations, the reforms indispensable
to Russia. The revolutionists v^ere not guiltless of
this enormous blunder. Bakounine himself wrote,
1 The Free Word, Na 56.

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 151
ev.in in 1862 : "Whom shall we follow ? Romanov,
Pougatchev, or even Pestel (one of the heroes of
December 14th, 1825), if a new Pestel should
appear ? Let us speak frankly. We would rather
follow Romanov, if Romanov could and would
translate himself from Petersburg's emperor to the
people's Tzar." It Is true that among the Russian
revolutionists, those, a small group, who did not
belong to the Emigration, felt it was ridiculous to
suppose that a Romanov could be a Tzar to the
people. But this group was without Influence.
Moreover, the revolutionists were Imprudent enough
to commit another huge blunder, that of losing their
reputation by taking part In the Polish rising of
1863. This rising was equally fatal to Poland and to
Russia. The Government of Alexander II. took
every step likely to provoke it. Really It was a
tempting bait by which the Polish revolutionists, as
well as the Russian, were allured. Russia owes
these last a capital reproach. The national claims
of the Poles were, as I have said, quite just, as far
as they concerned Poland proper ; but their pre
tentions to White Russia, and especially to the
Ukraine, were inadmissible for all Russians. The
Polish revolutionists, with whom the Russians allied
themselves, were willing to declare t^at they only
demanded the reunion of the Ukraine to Poland If
the people themselves had no objection to this.
Could a Russian, especially a revolutionist — had he
the right to — be satisfied with this reservation ? No
more than If It had relation to the Government of
Moscow, Had not the Ukraine proved, by a whole

152 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
century of ceaseless Insurrections, that she did not
wish to be Polish ? Did not the hetmans of the
Ukraine gather together, against Poland, volunteer
armies far larger than those that the Poles could
themselves put into the field against Russia ?
Negotiations of such a nature on the part of a
Russian are strange ; and an understanding with the
Poles, when these put forward pretensions of any
kind to these lands, can be allowed to no one. I
say nothing of the inopportuneness of an alliance of
this kind just at the time when the Russian revolu
tionists were In no particular favour with the people,
and were forced to speak to them of restrictions
that had to be put upon the Tzar's authority. These
the people could not listen to without suspecting
them, even though the proposals came from those
in whom they had full confidence, from those at
whose hands no noble or Polish plot was to be
feared. The Government made adroit use of this
blunder. The reactionary party for the first time
got the upper hand. Katkov proclaimed the per
fidy, the " treason of the Nihilists to Russia."
The cause was lost. The time favourable for
the restriction of absolute power was gone. The
Liberals and the revolutionists broke with one
another. The reforms emanating from the Tzar
worked very badly, and with an utter absence of
sincerity. But the Liberals were content with sulk
ing and groaning ; they hoped in the future. The
revolutionists remained alone, without support from
above or below ; they spent, too frequently In vain,
their strength In conspiracies In favour of the Polish
cause, and, moreover, without the least help to

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 153
Poland. The Government felt at last that Its hands
were free. During the last six years of the reign It
did not dare to show Its claws. Only In 1861 did
It Institute two political trials. Since the beginning
of the troubles in Poland, It gave itself up without
any fear to reprisals in Russia. From 1863 to 1867
It Instituted political prosecutions against 160 per
sons ; eight of these were executed. I am not
taking Into account punishments — the result of ad
ministrative measures — which, year by year, under
went a greater and greater extension. Neither am
I taking Into account the Polish trials. In Poland
at that time thousands of men perished. Taking
advantage of the Liberal Inaction, and seeing that
the support of the people was wanting to the revo
lutionists, the Government, with Increasing boldness,
abandoned the idea of large reforms, treated the
press without any consideration, vetoed all the in
dependent organs. These prosecutions, this policy,
irritated the re'volutionlsts more and more. In
1866 the stored-up discontent broke out In Kara-
kozov's attempt on the emperor's life. The
Government set the police going, and gave the
notorious Mouraviev, the Hangman, a veritable dic
tatorship. He had just finished his bloody work
In Poland. An actual reign of terror began, and in
society a violent reaction set In. Katkov was right
enough when he cried, " The blow Karakozov
struck has cleared the air."
The year 1866 was a year of crisis In the Govern
ment policy. Yet the reforms begun years before
were finished, but with every possible limitation.
In 1870 the last of them was promulgated : com-

154 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
pulsory military service for all. So enfeebled did
the revolutionary forces appear, that from 1866 to
1870, only one political action was brought against
only one person. Yet the revolutionary movement
had not disappeared. It was represented by a
youth so Inexperienced that It was incapable of
undertaking any serious attempt against the
Government. Netchaiev — a man of Indomitable
energy, child of the people, of only average edu
cation, despotic, not particular about the means he
employed, but a fanatic for revolution, a man
capable of playing In more favourable times a large
part In history — tried to get together In the ranks of
the young men a secret society. The Government
struck one more blow. In 1871 the great trial of
the eighty-eight initiates of Netchaiev took place ;
transportations by the hundred ate once more into
the ranks, small enough already, of the revolu
tionists. The years 1870-72 form one of the
dullest periods of Russian history. The Govern
ment, at last at rest, governed with a carelessness,
a contempt for the people and society, an absence
of any large conception, finally a licence, that re
called the worst days of Byzantium. I have told
already of the sombre hues In which Kochelev
paints the decay of the higher Government circles
of that time. How closely those Impressions of the
old Slavophile resemble mine, those of a young
student just come to the capital from the heart of
a far-away province ! How useless seemed to me
everything I saw and heard in the capital ! And
the contempt for the Government this spectacle
stirred within me !

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 155
I call to mind an episode that occurred, so to say,
under my own eyes. A business man, a rich cloth
manufacturer, was one day suddenly summoned to
St. Petersburg. On his return he told In wonderment
the story of what he had seen at court. This was
the state of affairs. One of the members of the Im
perial family had designed a blue uniform, the most
effective thing imaginable. The heir-apparent, the
present emperor, was enthusiastic about this uni
form. His father did not like to say no to his son,
but the War Minister was terrified at this fancy,
which would make all the store of cloth for the
army useless, and would involve Immense expense.
To Induce the Tzar to give up this fancy, he had com
manded the manufacturer to come, as an expert.
In a private conversation, the minister conjured the
manufacturer to invent something to convince the
heir-apparent and make him give up his whim.
On the morrow the manufacturer went to the
palace, and there saw a scene in no wise In
harmony with such Ideas as he held as to the
seriousness of the occupations of the Tzars. The
immense saloon was littered with scraps of cloth,
vy^ith engravings, with patterns. The heir-apparent,
very agitated and red In the face, was struggling
about on the floor, crawling over the cloth, measur
ing and arranging the scraps, so as to see which
colours harmonized best. Some officers were
crawling about on the floor with him. Certain
others stood around, showing the liveliest interest
In the question that enthralled the heir-apparent.
The manufacturer was received with open arms.
He was on their side, wasn't he ? Wasn't the cloth

156 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
excellent, and much better than the old kind ?
What was to be done ? The manufacturer, who
found it as much as he could do to keep serious,
pretended to discuss the matter seriously, and
examined the cloth closely. In reality he had
already studied his part ; his plan was made up
as he came along : he was to discover that the
cloth lost Its colour rapidly. He pointed this out
to the heir-apparent. The latter was sorely
troubled, but had to give way. Only in this way
was the exchequer able to escape a useless ex
penditure of millions of roubles. This was the sort
of thing that one heard of the Government, and It
was not the worst. There was talk of bribes re
ceived by the members of the Imperial family ; of
palace orgies. The better type of men were trans
ported, or abandoned themselves to idleness in the
depth of their despair; The administration system
atically crushed out self-government. The men of
the zemstvo folded their arms ; the press degraded
itself The remonstrances of the most thoughtful men,
the appeals made in the name of the interests of
Russia, met with brutal contempt. In 1870 the
Moscow nobility sent the Tzar an address on the
occasion of the issuing of the decree for compulsory
service. In this address, whilst testifying their
gratitude for this new measure, they expressed the
hope that the emperor would crown the edifice of
reform by granting the representatives of the people
the right to take part In the government of the
State. I cannot call to mind the exact words of
this address, but that was the general sense of It.

POLITICAL RUSSIA, 157
The emperor was beside himself with rage. At
Moscow the rumour ran that an exchange of laconic
despatches between him and the Governor-General
of Moscow had taken place In this fashion : " You
read the address?" "I read It." "Imbecile!"
The emperor was furious that the Governor-
General had not prevented the sending such an
address to him.
This Government, at once despotic and feeble,
which made social reforms a political dodge, threw
many people of the country Into discontent. On
the other hand, events showed only too clearly the
Impotence of the Liberal party, and even the Im
potence of society in general. The attention of
every man of energy, on the look-out for means of
action, was turned. In spite of himself, on the people.
In the hope of finding there more of life and strength.
The old democratic leanings of the Intelligent class
were quite favourable to this. Besides, socialist
ideas were spreading further and further in Russia.
The Interest taken In the development of Socialism
by the Russians is seen In the fact that the first
translation of Karl Marx' " Das Kapital " appeared
in Russian.-^ Finally, the trust In the people re
ceived a great Impulse from the great popular
movements In Europe, the development of the
International, which to those in the heart of Russia
seemed a giant force, the Commune of Paris, the
Spanish revolution. All these Influences told with the
more force on Russian youth, in that a multitude of
young people of both sexes, on account of the dlffi-
1 [An English translation just appeared this year. Trans
lator.]

158 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
cultles they met with In the higher schools, went
abroad, and there came under the Influence of the
Emigration. The latter numbered in its ranks
Bakounine, Lavrov, and, lastly, Tkatchev, although
the last-named cannot be compared with either of
the others In capacity or influence.
Mikhail Bakounine, a man of Immense worth,
eloquent orator. Indefatigable agitator. Indomitable
conspirator, had long ere this been renowned among
the revolutionists of Europe. In 1848 he was
already fighting on the barricades In Dresden, and
was for some time dictator there. It is said that
the news of the honour thus done to him greatly
flattered the Emperor Nicolas. " Ah," said he ;
" with me he was only a lieutenant ; with the Ger
mans he becomes ^ dictator. Brave fellow ! " In
spite of this enthusiasm, when Bakounine, arrested
by the Austrians, was given up to the Russian au
thorities, the emperor shut him up In the fortress
of Peter and Paul, wherein he passed nine years,
loaded with chains and enduring privations that
his athletic physique alone enabled him to bear.
Bakounine was then transported to Siberia. From
Siberia he escaped to America ; thence he went to
Europe, for a time helped Hertzen in his work as
publicist, then took an active part In the Polish
Insurrection, and at last became Karl Marx' rival In
the International, and the leader of the anarchists,
In whose founding he played a large part.
Piotre Lavrov is a man of quite another kind.
Formerly professor of mathematics In the Academy
of Artillery, he gained great renown In Russia by
his immense and rare learning, and by the extent

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 159
and varied nature of his knowledge. Interned in
the government of Vologda, he escaped and went
abroad. There he carried on his scientific work, A
confirmed Socialist, his theories are not the conse
quence of his temperament, but the result of a
profound conviction, constantly strengthened by a
multitude of facts that this learned writer takes with
equal success from history, anthropology, psycho
logy, and political economy. Lavrov is In short one
of the chief founders of Russian Socialism. The
" Historical Letters " and the " Element of Govern
ment in the Society of the Future " will always be
standard works In Russian literature. The former
of these had, especially In Russia, a special effect.
Both Bakounine and Lavrov look upon the
socialist rdgime as the only equitable one ; both
Imagine that In the Russian people, in Its com-,
munal customs, there are more or less evident
leanings in the direction of this. Also they agree
In the admission that a revolutionist ought to act,
not only for, but by, the people. But there Is a
difference between them. Lavrov has an especial
belief In the socialist Instincts of the people. He
believes that the creation among the people of a
small minority of thinking Socialists Is essential, and
that these would then form the nucleus of the revo
lutionary party. Upon these would rest the duty ot
bringing to a head the social revolution in Russia.
Thus Lavrov thinks of first Importance propaganda
armed with all the force of science. Bakounine had
an especial belief In the revolutionary tendencies of
the people, and made direct appeal to Immediate
outbreak. It Is necessary to make the people rise,

l60 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
and then all will go on of Itself This divergence
at the outset depends again In part on the different
ways in which they look upon the organization
of society. Bakounine Is an Anarchist ; Lavrov, a
Socialist of the Marx school, admits the importance
of the. element of government. The question of the
organization of the society of the future seems to
Bakounine of little importance ; to Lavrov it Is a
question of capital Importance.
Tkatchev came on the stage a little later, and
exercised but an insignificant influence compared
with that of Lavrov and Bakounine. His ideas are
those of a pure Jacobin. Not troubling about influ
encing the people, revolutionists must make a coup
d Etat, and seize upon the dictatorship. This was
repeating the Ideas of Netchaiev, Ideas that the
conduct of the latter had compromised. The fright
ful despotism of Netchaiev, and the freedom with
which he applied his principle that " the end justified
the means," had left, this long time past. In the
Intelligent Russian class a feeling of aversion from
Jacobinism. Besides, he had against him the feeling
of veneration for the people, for the sacredness of its
will. Yet It Is necessary to say that, in spite of the
larore number of men of ability under whose influ
ence the revolutionary movement of the intelli
guentia developed, it is doubtful whether the latter
would have found in any of these Its formula, and
the true meaning of its part In history. Read the
masters of the movement. You will not find In their
works the explanation of what was done by their
pupils, by this multitude often more under the Influ
ence of its Instinct as a crowd than under that of

POLITICAL RUSSIA. l6l
logical formulas. What theory in sociology will
explain to us that crusade, undertaken In 1873, by
thousands of young people who went among the
people ? It really was a crusade. The young folk
— for the most part they were young — gave up
the universities, gave up their relations ; young girls
gave up a brilliant life In society. No one thought
of himself, of his own existence. The great cause
engrossed all thoughts. Such was the nervous ten
sion of the time, that men and women bore without
falling ill the most frightful privations, to which they
were least accustomed. And all this without the
slightest personal interest of the calculating kind.
In opposition to personal comfort, acquired habits,
deeply-rooted affections. These people gave up all
their past. They no longer kept their own pro
perty. If any one hesitated to give his fortune
for the cause, he soon excited commiseration filled
with contempt. They destroyed their future. Like
early Christians, they said, " I renounce the devil
and all his works, and all his pride ; I spit upon
him." Often people holding a very good social
position were encountered among them. Voina-
ralsky, elected, at about forty years of age, justice
of the peace In his village, gave himself up to the
propaganda, after having given all his fortune, forty
million roubles, for the cause. Kovalik, president of
the assembly of justices of the peace in the govern
ment of Tchernlgov, landed proprietor, a man of
remarkable capacity, did the same. Prince Krapot-
klne, already known as a geologist, charged with
special missions by the Governor- General of Eastern
Siberia, master of an Independent fortune, became a
VOL. II. M

1 62 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
mere working painter. Young girls belonging to
good families, rich heiresses, came and worked in
the factories as ordinary workwomen ; Batiouchkova,
the Soubbotlnes, FIghner, Lioubatovltch, Bardina.
In many cases they were beautiful women who had
been the rage at aristocratic balls. They gave up
everything to go among the people. Why ? To
raise them ? To teach them ?
This would be answered In one manner by Ba
kounine, In another by Lavrov. It would be ex
plained in one manner or In another even by those
who went among the people ; but In point of fact
there was as foundation for this something stronger
than all reasoning and than all intentions. It was
a feeling like that home-sickness that draws the
exile towards his native land. The people were the
fatherland calling to the soul of the educated class.
To get back home, whence social conditions, the
accidents of birth, of education, of occupation, have
reft you ! More resonant than all reasoning, all in
tentions, sounded the voice of that inner spiritual
relationship between the intelliguentia and the
people. To be with the people, to share their
existence, to live with their joys and sorrows, to be
one with them In spirit, to act as a son or daughter
of the populace !
" To be in spirit father and the son
Of all the people, that's a life well worth
The labour, and a labour worthy hfe."
Every Russian can say from the heart these lines
of the Polish poet. It Is just at this time that the
word "narodnik", comes Into the language. It is
from " narod," the people, and signifies literally

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 163
democrat. It is applied to one who not only works
for, but in the spirit of, the people. Had political
life In Russia been free to any extent, this emigra
tion to the people would, without doubt, have given
over all the masterships in schools, all posts as
writers, as assistant surgeons, all trades (artisan and
agricultural) to the intelliguentia. Assuredly It
would have been successful in organizing a powerful
party among peasants and artisans. Many examples
show that the peasants lived In perfect agreement
with these emigrants, and that a strong influence
was exerted on them by the latter. On the other
hand, the peasants' Influence on the propagandists
who lived in their midst is beyond all doubt. This
influence brought them back from the far-away
region of theory to real questions of daily life. It
recalled them from the search after the most perfect
social regime to the struggle with the koulak, with
the stanovoi, to the question of the zemstvo, the
village, the school, to the organization of this or that
artel. In short, this peasant-artisan party, though
it had certainly a programme strongly tinged with
socialism, had nothing Utopian In it. Reality made
it quite other than that.
The persecutions the Government made the
propagandists endure were terrible. The official
returns prove that In six years, 1873 to 1879, 2,884
persons were prosecuted for political crimes. These
consisted sometimes In propaganda of a socialist or
revolutionary character, sometimes In the mere fact
that they were educating the people, or that they
preferred giving up some office and living as a
peasant in the country. In the famous trial of the

164 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
193, the Indictment in which included more than
700 people, the Immense majority were arrested
without having done anything. A body of emi
grants to the people gathers together, comes to a
village, starts some cooperage or forge, and begins
to associate with the peasants. After one or two
months, the police come down upon the emigrants
and arrest them all. The Inquiry begins. The pro
pagandists are in prison, and what prisons ! Out
of the whole 265 inculpated, who underwent pre
ventive imprisonment, until the trial that Is called
that of the 193, the majority were In prison before
hand two years, a smaller number three, several
four. When judgment was given, of the 700 ar
raigned In the Indictment, 100 were condemned.
Therefore 86 per cent, of them were arrested,
suffered preventive Imprisonment, In some cases
died or went mad, without having done anything ;
so clearly innocent that even the procureurs could
not bring any convincing proofs against them.
Now picture to yourself the position of a young
enthusiast, thrilled to fanaticism by the Idea of serv
ing the people's cause. Before him pass, as In a
dream, the short period of propaganda ; then the
prison ; the terrible solitary confinement in a cell
five paces long ; the prison rations at the rate of
five kopecks a day ; months, years of putrefaction, of
going mad — in which, looking back, he sees nothing,
looking forward, sees only transportation, the bagnio,
or death. And with all this, such longing for life
and work ! " Could 1, not as a cold and silent corpse
That rots beneath a narrow cofifiu-lid,

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 1 65
Bear but some aid in their devoted fight
To those that combat in the people's cause !
Yet when the austere moment comes, and when
The final battle rages down the blast.
From forth the darkness of this sepulchre
Shall pass my cry that biddeth them ' Good speed 1 ' "
These lines are those of the young revolutionary
poet, Verbovtchanine, who has passed In prison the
greater part of his young life. Cast into prison for
the crime of propaganda, he has undergone four
years of preventive seclusion, and must yet undergo
long years of hard labour. As If seized with a fatal
presentiment, he ends with an outcry of despair.
" Implacable is death ; when it has borne
My body to the tomb, it will release
No more ; will chain my will, my strength, my hate.
My love."
This implacable persecution, or to speak more
accurately, this extermination, at least produced on
the mind of the public the most painful Impression.
The mother of a young man condemned to the
bagnio, who was to undergo his penalty in the
frightful central prison, addressing a group of pro
cureurs and juges d instruction, cried aloud : " Until
this moment I loved the Tzar ; now I hate and
despise him." These terrible condemnations to
prison, hurled right and left by the hundred ; the
appearance of those young people emaciated, worn
out by torments, who but a little while before were
overflowing with life, produced an impression the
more terrible seeing that what was punished was
speech only — propaganda. From the bench of the
accused a woman rises, her face intellectual, her
manner modest, her voice thrilling with the convic-

1 66 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
tion of her words. It Is Sofia Bardina, one of the
most notable personalities of the movement. She
has just been listening to the astounding speech of
the procureur on the destruction of the family and
of property, on anarchy,' and she answers him :
"Property! I have never repudiated it. On the
contrary, I dare lay claim to defend it, for I recog
nise that every one has a right to the property
secured by his labour. Tell me, is it I who destroy
property, or the manufacturer, who, leaving to the
workman \s. 2,d. of the day's labour, takes the other
2s. 2,d. for nothing ? Or the speculator, who, gam
bling on the stock-exchange, ruins thousands of
families, and enriches himself at their expense,
without himself producing anything ?
" Communism as compulsory, neither I nor any
other of the propagandists preaches. We only
claim the right of the labourer to all the product of
his labour.
" As to the family, I should like to ask what It Is
that undermines it ? Is It the social regime that
compels the woman to abandon her family and go
Into the factory to earn a meagre wage — the factory
in which she and her children must become demoral
ized ; is it this regime, which forces the woman In
her misery to become a prostitute ? Or is It we who
are undermining the family, we who are trying to
root out this misery ?
" As to religion, I can but say that I have always
remained faithful to the spirit of religion, and to Its
fundamental principles as they were preached by
the very founder of Christianity.
" I am accused of exciting to revolt. But I have

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 167
never urged the people to direct revolt. . . .
Massacres, as massacres, are hateful to me. . .
I admit only that the revolution by force, under
certain given conditions, is a necessary evil."
At this time the Russian revolutionists were
much cried down as anarchists, and In fact, theoreti
cally, they did for the most part called themselves
anarchists. It was a very Inoffensive anarchy,
which translated Itself into a sort of nebulous Ideal
of limitless liberty that the future was to realize.
Sofia Bardina has thrown some light on this ques
tion. " The public ministry," she went on, " says
again that we wish to Introduce an era of anarchy ;
. . . but this word, in the sense in which the
literature of to-day employs It, and as I myself
understand It, does not mean disorder and despotism.
It is not despotism, for it recognises that the liberty
of one person ends where that of another begins.
It Is only the negation of that vexatious authority
which stifles the free development of society."
The speech of Sofia Bardina, some short frag
ments of which only I have quoted, produced an
Immense effect. She that spoke It was condemned
to nine years' hard labour. For what crime ? Every
one Involuntarily was asking himself this question.
Involuntarily then men gave themselves up to a
meditation full of anguish, put into wonderful
words by a poet no one will suspect of revolution
ary tendencies. — ^
" And what is she to me ? Nor wife, nor love.
Nor daughter well-beloved. Why all the night
Does this sad vision hold me from my rest?
' PuloDbky.

l68 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
Why does this dream eternally return ?
Young, in a prison without air, a cell
Whose narrow arches seem to crush the soul.
A bed within the damp and noisome dark,
From wliich two eyes that burn with fever-flame
Look out without a thought, without a tear.
And from the bed hang almost to the ground
Long trails of heavy hair. The lips are stone.
And the pale hands across the paler breast
Are clenched in weakness on the dauntless heart.
Whose future is without one single hope."
This dolorous nightmare weighed on every one
against his will. How many Russians has it driven
to risk their own lives. If by any means they might
alleviate In some measure the lot of these martyrs !
By this community of feeling, and by the affinity
of Ideas between the pacific and the militant party
of the cultured class, one can explain the help the
Liberals so often give to the revolutionists. The
Liberals are continually accused of cowardice, and
a.ssuredly severe reproaches are their due from
Russia on account of their cowardice. But for It the
Katkovs would not at the present time hold rule
in Russia. But It Is difficult to reproach Russian
society for failing in humanity on any occasion
where terrible peril was not Involved. I remember
perfectly that at the time of the liberation of some
hundred prisoners mixed up with the affair of the
193, these were to a man taken care of by people
out of kindness. The greater part of them were set
free, for some unknown reason. In the night. The
hour was late. For many hours women had been
standing at the prison gates, waiting for the coming
out of the prisoners. A group of political prisoners
appeared on the threshold, asking one another

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 1 69
where to go — to the right hand or the left. Not
one of them had any money. They had friends,
three years ago, but where were they ? Without
a doubt they had long since gone away. " Gentle
men," a voice came out of the darkness, "does not
one of you need an asylum ? " It was a high-born
woman in her private carriage. Many a fault shall
be forgiven to Russian society for this warmth of
compassion for suffering.
As to fear, who would not feel it ? Just for hav
ing shown pity, people are sent away, transported,
whole families are ruined. One's heart is torn at
the memory of certain scenes, such e.g. as happened
at Odessa in the terrible times of Governor-General
Todtleben. As you pass by the prison, suddenly at
a window with bars of rusty iron, two fair children's
heads look out, prattling upon the street. Yes,
these are children^— a little girl of five, a boy of four.
How is It these poor little flowers are In this place ?
Alas ! their father has been arrested for the crime
of compassion. He has contributed five roubles to
a proscribed fund for helping transported political
offenders ; he has said at his club that such cruel pro
secutions on the part of the Government are really
shocking ; he Is suspected of having known a revolu
tionist of importance. The unfortunate sympathizer
Is to be transported to Eastern Siberia by adminis
trative decree, and his family with him. It is im
possible not to fear, Impossible not to tremble. And
yet this society, trembling, terrorized as it Is, can
and does sacrifice Itself generously. A revolutionist
is trying to escape from prison. He is a man of
courage bordering on rashness, of great strength.

170 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
Two comrades help him. They attack the police,
who are taking the prisoner from one prison to
another. After a brief but severe skirmish, the
prisoner succeeds in escaping out of the hands of
his guards — bloody, covered with dust — In the
struggle he has been thrown down three times, —
his clothes in rags. He rushes at top speed In the
first direction that offers, separating from his com
rades, who also take flight. The police, aroused by
whistles, pursue them on all sides. Whither to flee
In such a terrible state of affairs ? He dashes Into
the first house he comes across. In It lives a Liberal,
whom he does not know, but of whom he has
accidentally heard mention. The runaway opens
the door abruptly. " Pardon me, but I am a poli
tical prisoner. I have run away. They are after
me. Let me wash and change my things." The
master of the house, stupefied, brings without a
word water and soap, opens at once his wardrobe.
All this time the police are rummaging from top to
bottom all the houses near, not knowing exactly
Into which the runaway has fled. In a few mo
ments his toilet Is finished. How to get out? The
master of the house shows him the servants' stair
case, and the fugitive escapes safely.
If these persecutions carry the fermentation even
Into the most peaceful divisions of the cultured class,
It Is easy to imagine the Impression they produce
on the revolutionists. Already, by its very com
position, the revolutionary party, that best of afl
the energy of Russia, is by no means disposed to
allow any one to strike it with Impunity. Appeals
to vengeance begin to be heard. The bitter

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 17I
reproach of Mlkhailov, hurled at the Russian
revolutionists of i86r, comes back to mind :
" Why then is hate so silent in you all ?
Why, O my brothers, is love silent too ?
Has love but tears for our atrocious wrongs ?
Has hate not strength to threaten and to strike ? "
In 1877 a pamphlet appeared full of violent
reproaches of the revolutionists. " Absorbed In
Ideal abstractions, they have managed to get rid
of the natural sentiments inherent In every free
man." This pamphlet, this appeal to vengeance, Is
significantly dedicated to the memory of Dmitri
Karakozov.^ If Dmitri Karakozov was only really
remembered two years later, yet by degrees the
revolutionists began to show their claws. In theory
they inclined more and more to the Idea of overturn
ing the Government, and that at once. Under the
influence of this Idea, their programme became
more revolutionary and less socialistic. The people
must be roused in the name of questions that are
even now stirring In their midst. A powerful or
ganization, " Land and Liberty," with many ramifi
cations in the provinces, where Its members founded
colonies among the people, then began to develop.
This organization hoped to formulate the people's
complaints, and to rouse the people under the rally
ing cry of those complaints. At the same time
defence against the police was necessary. They
must form themselves Into a defensive body, that
with armed hand should repulse the Government
attacks. The executive committee of the revo-
1 "The Bachi- bouzoucks of St. Petersburg," r877.

172 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
lutlonary socialist party at Kiev tried to fill this role.
In the minds of men and women, isolated but in
large number, the Idea dawned of getting political
rights by terror. This Idea was also taken up
by the executive committee of the revolutionary
socialist party. Under the influence of this frame
of mind, even before it took shape in the organiza
tion of secret societies, the revolutionists began
killing spies here and there. But the spark was
put to the fire by the famous pistol-shot fired by
Vera Zassoulitch at the Prefect Trepov, on January
24th, 1878, at St. Petersburg.
Some months before, on July 13th, 1877, by the
orders of this same Trepov, the political prisoner,
Bogolloubov, had been beaten with rods in the St.
Petersburg prison. His comrades, who could hear
the cries of the victim, set up a tremendous banging
at their barred windows — they hurled all sorts of In
sults at Trepov. In their Impotent anger, they tried
to break windows and bars, but the prison of stone
and iron was too strong for their pigmy efforts. One
by one the gaolers took them from their cells, beat
them until the blood flowed, and then flung them
into a dungeon. Many took an oath to kill Trepov
the first time he appeared In the prison. But he
never appeared. Vera Zassoulitch named herself as
Instrument of the public Indignation. Trepov was
wounded. Vera was brought to trial, and the jury
returned a verdict of acquittal. This unexpected
acquittal called forth an explosion of tremendous
enthusiasm throughout Russia. A Liberal publicist
of some ability. In one of his articles said : "The
righteous acquittal of Zassoulitch will take a heavy

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 173
weight from the public conscience." It seemed to
show that conscience that, as yet, it had not lost all
fine feeling. This estimate is true enough. In the
verdict of the jury, Russian society hailed the
triumph of Its conscience over the cowardice It had
shown In view of the despotic excesses of the Gov
ernment. The crowd that crammed the approaches
to the court of justice saluted the acquitted woman
with shouts of enthusiasm. The gendarmes tried
to re-arrest Zassoulitch, but they were driven back
by the crowd, and the heroine of the day set off at
full speed in a carriage placed at her disposal by
one of her admirers.
The shot fired by Zassoulitch was, as It were, the
signal for a whole series of political murders and
attempted murders. The Government, for a mo
ment discouraged, answered by Increased severity,
by more punishments. Kovalsky was executed at
Odessa. The Government's vengeance fell with
especial force on those Imprisoned In the central
prison. They were In fact buried alive. But
Stepniak has depicted with such eloquence, in
" Russia under the Tzars," life in the central prison,
that I need not draw again the frightful picture.
The struggle grew desperate on both sides. On
April 2nd, 1879, Alexander Solovlev, taking the
Initiative for himself, attempted the life of the Tzar.
The Tzar escaped, and answered the attempts by
the erection of gibbets and the declaration of a state
of siege. From the latter days of April to the
month of August, 1876, In St. Petersburg, Kiev,
and Odessa thirteen men were hanged. Among
them was Dmitri Lisogoub. Wholly devoted to the

174 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
cause of the Revolution, he had an Immense fortune,
valued at about 400,000 roubles, and this he gave
for the cause. As to himself, he lived like a beg
gar, dreading the expenditure of a farthing of this
money, which to him was the property of them
all. Lisogoub took no part in the revolutionary
enterprises ; all that he concerned himself with was
the turning of his wealth into ready money. This
was a veritable torture to him burning to fight for
the cause. But he had only time to give the
revolutionists a very small portion of his fortune.
A friend. In whom he had full confidence, denounced
his projects to the Government, and received as
recompense his fortune. Tho. procureur , not wishing
to make public the name of this wretch, could not at
the trial use his depositions, so that there was not
any legal proof against Lisogoub. But political
trials in Russia are only a formality. The fate of
the accused is almost always settled beforehand
in accordance with the Instructions given by the
secret police. Lisogoub was hanged. Vlttenberg,
who, as he died, implored his comrades to forgive
his death, and not to take vengeance on his exe
cutioners, was also among those hanged.
It Is necessary to note here that the penalty of
death Is absolutely foreign to Russian habits. It
does not even exist In the penal code. It Is only
in the military code, and outside that for attempts
on the person of the emperor only. If, e.g., the
Government deems It necessary to punish by death
some terrible assassin. It cites him by special decree
before a military tribunal ; until recently this ex
treme method of procedure was rarely employed.

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 175
The enforcement of the capital penalty wa in
Russia a terrible, unwonted spectacle that shocked
men. In 1825, when five of the conspirators were
to be hanged, no one would build their gallows.
Cases In which the rope breaks with the weight of
the man to be hanged are very frequent In Russia.
In 1825, in the cases of the five just referred to.
It broke three times. The same accident occurred
again at the execution of the authors of the attempt
of the 1 3th of March, at the execution of Ossinsky,
and In other Instances. It Is not easy to find an
executioner. Only criminals sentenced to death
and pardoned by way of salary for the performance
of this hideous function will undertake it. The
executioner lives in a prison himself, and is under
surveillance there. He is an outcast from all
society. It has happened ere now, that In a prison
full of convicts not one could be found willing to
undertake this office. Frolov, the notorious exe
cutioner, who for many years travelled up and
down Russia and performed all the executions, is
for this reason a man almost Impossible to replace.^
But even he only goes through his work dead-drunk
and scarcely conscious.
The following anecdote has been published be
fore now, and I have myself heard It from the lips
of men holding official position at the court of
justice. When Sofia Perovskaia was condemned
to death, the rumour was rife in the legal world
that she would be pardoned because Frolov said
he would not hang her. " I can't," he said. " I've
hanged lots of men. I can't lift my hand against
1 Frolov is at the present time in prison for stealing.

176 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
a woman." In any case, whether it was true or
not, this conversation was repeated In the smoking-
room of the Court of Justice at St. Petersburg.
A young man, a worthless fellow, despised by his
companions on account of his unnatural habits, was
present. He roared out, " Oh, well ; she shan't be
pardoned for want of an executioner ! If Frolov
can't hang her, I'll offer to take his place." This
zealous willingness delighted the authorities ; the
young monster was noted, and now holds a post
of considerable importance In the police.
Let me get back to my story. This applying
the penalty of capital punishment filled the revolu
tionists with despair and rage. Of course It did
not Inspire any fear. On the contrary, the longing
for vengeance was stirred to the greatest extent
possible. But on whom to take It ? " The Tzar ! "
answered miUions of voices ; " the Tzar," who himself
encourages the cruelties, who by his own authority
Increases the penalties that the courtS Inflict. This,
almost incredible as It seerns, did occur In 1878.
The Emperor Alexander II. used his supreme
power, not to mitigate the decree of the court, as
monarchs sometimes do, but to increase the penal
ties of some scores of the condemned. This was
done by way of reprisal for the pistol-shot of Vera
Zassoulitch. Then the thought of taking venge
ance on the emperor began to be In the air. On
all sides men and women were enkindled with a
desire to kill the Tzar. Among them were many
women, Perovskaia, Helfmann, FIghner, lakimova
— a very significant fact, as showing how deeply
the emperor had wounded Russian moral feelings.

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 177
But a certain reaction occurred In the Russian
revolutionary movement. The effect of this reaction
was seen in the two revolutionary congresses at
LIpietsk and Voronej In the summer of 1879. The
party most energetic among the revolutionists
fixed as its immediate aim the obtaining, first of all,
of political reforms. This reaction Is easily under
stood, for the tyranny of the Tzar, past all Imagining,
showed that It was peremptorily necessary to limit
absolutism. Quite recently, in 1878, the revolution
ists left completely on one side the question of the
limitation of the Tzar's authority, and demanded
(i) liberty of speech and of the press ; (2) trial
by jury for political offences ; (3) amnesty for all
past political crimes.^ In 1879 It seemed to them
that nothing of this sort could be gained unless
limits were placed to absolute power. The revolu
tionists, who took the name of the party of " The
Will of the People," demanded of the Government
the convocation of a constituent assembly. The
executive committee of the party proposed the
organization of a conspiracy to force the Govern
ment Into this convocation, or failing that, to over
turn it. An energetic organization of forces began.
In the early years of the movement no attention
had been paid to the organization of their forces.
There was even an opposition to'the centralization
and discipline indispensable to real work. As soon
as the democratic programme of the group, " Land
and Liberty," appeared, with the imminent probability
of a contest, a reaction towards organization set in.
1 " Assassination of Lieutenant-General Mezentsev, chief of
gendarmes, St. Petersburg," 1878.
VOL. II. N

178 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
The executive committee demanded a discipline and
centralization quite military in their character. This
Is a starting-point in the later years of the move
ment. At the same time, the executive committee
undertook a series of attempts on the emperor's
life. This was at that time the fatal duty of all
who wished to acquire popularity with the revolu
tionists. " Vengeance on the Tzar!" was the general
cry ; and whatever regret the leaders of the move
ment had at spending their strength In an under
taking of such difficulty, and that did not lead
directly to the end the party had in view, they
could not get out of It. The attempts on the life
of the Tzar began on November ioth-22nd, 1879,
and ended on March ist-i3th, 1881, in the death
of Alexander II.
Such was the end of this prince, who had shot
and hung thirty political offenders, had sent two
hundred into hard labour, and transported many
thousands. The memory he left behind him Is one
of pain ; and posterity, even If it pities the miserable
fate of this Tzar, who began life so brightly, will
not forget that among those hanged was a boy
Rozovsky, accused only of having posted up cer
tain proclamations.^
His successor, immediately upon his coming to
the throne, received from the revolutionists a declar
ation, in which they proposed to him that he should
put an end to the struggle by giving himself up to
the decision of the representatives of the people.
The Tzar made answer by fresh executions. At the
present time [1885], within four years,, he has already
1 Rozovsky vvas, I think, eighteen.

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 179
executed fifteen persons, among them one woman.
Condemnations to prison, and especially deportation
by administrative measure, "are going on finely.
The struggle is breaking out anew. I am not
about to write the history of the Russian revolu
tionary movement, much less that of any particular
party or organization. That is why I do not go
into the detafls of the Incidents of this contest.
Interesting as they are. But as I end, it is Impos
sible not to ask ourselves one grave question.
What is the importance of this movement — what
are Its results ?
Taking it as a whole, this question is easy. It
Is not as easy to solve in detail. Everything of
service In answering it Is shrouded in mystery.
The police keep their reports secret ; the revolu
tionists, of course, do the same. Yet the small
data that are available show that this movement Is
assuming very large proportions. The organized
revolutionary forces have always been very small,
although the organization of the executive com
mittee just before March ist-i3th, 1881, numbered
nearly 500 men.^ But the number of organized
forces gives no Idea as to the general revolutionary
strength. Official documents ^ give i,6ii persons
accused on account of political crimes from March,
1873, to December, 1876, Inclusive. In this list
are jumbled together those who were summoned
before the courts and those who had to undergo
punishment by administrative measure. From 1877
1 "Almanack of the Russian Revolutionists, 1883."
^ Malchinsky : " A Glance at the Socialist Revolutionary Move
ment in Russia.''

l8o RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
to 1879 the number of the latter Is unknown; but
the number of persons subject to judicial inquiries
rises to 1,273, crimes of high treason not Included,
and, including these, to 2,380.
As to Alexander 1 1 I.'s reign, reference only to
the Incomplete chronicles of the revolutionist publi
cations from 1 88 1 to 1884 shows us nearly 2,000
persons arrested on political grounds ; this also
without reckoning crimes of high treason. These
latter. It must be noted, are increasing in an
enormous porportlon. In 1877 there were 246 of
them ; In 1878, 368 ; In 1879, 493. After the death
of Alexander II., the number of crimes of high
treason grew to an astounding extent. In eight
months, March ist-i3th to November ist-i3th,
1881, there were 4,008 actions of this kind.^ This
scandalous number forced the Government to give
orders not to bring people before the courts for
affairs of this kind, but to punish the culprits by
administrative measures.
This increase in the number of high-treason cases
Is the more significant as the persons accused are
almost wholly soldiers, peasants, and other folk of
lowly position. In most cases they are even illiterate.
The revolutionary propaganda among the people Is,
in point of fact, far from remaining without influence.
At the present moment. In the large manufacturing
centres, are to be found a great many Intelligent
artisans who have read much, and are genuine revo
lutionists. They are always trying to organize, and
although, as a rule, they are unsuccessful In this, yet
certain of these organizations, e.g. The Workers'
J The Will of the People, Nos. 6, 8, 9.

POLITICAL RUSSIA. l8l
Alliance of the North, founded by Kaltourlne, who
blew up the Winter Palace, number many hundreds
of members. No political murder, not even the
assassination of the Tzar, has taken place In Russia
without the working classes taking part In it.
Rarely does a political trial occur In which the
workers are not implicated. In short, the artisans
of the towns to-day, like the intelliguentia, form an
integral part of the revolutionary movement. This
is, beyond a doubt, a very important result for the
revolutionists, since fifteen years ago it would, I
think, have been very difficult to find one revo-
tlonlst to ten thousand artisans.
It is difficult to estimate exactly the success of
revolutionary propaganda In the army among the
soldiers ; yet certain facts show it has not been
without results.
In 1881, at the time of the Tzar's death, the
revolutionists sent out a number of proclamations
explaining this deed to the peasants, to the Cos
sacks, to the factory hands, to the people of the
Ukraine. These proclamations went everywhere
In thousands, and this is what happened at Saratov.
Somebody dropped one of them In a barrack.
The soldiers picked it up and stuck It on the wall
of their w.c. They ran to read It by the hundred.
This going and coming attracted the attention of a
sergeant-major ; he followed them, tore down the
proclamation, and carried It to the chief of the
regiment. The colonel sent for the soldiers, and
called upon them quite earnestly to point out the
man that had stuck up the proclamation. " We
don't know, colonel." Then the colonel asked If

1 82 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
they had read it. The soldiers declared not one of
them had, and so obstinately that at last the colonel
believed them. The idea struck him that he might
turn the occasion to account by compromising the
revolutionists in the eyes of the soldiers. "Very
well, then," said he ; " listen. I'll read It to you,
that you may know what these wretches want."
And he, holding the paper before him, made up a
whole string of threats and Insults to the army. As
soon as the colonel had gone, the barrack was filled
with the sound of many triumphant voices. " You
see, comrades," they cried, " we told you so. The
chiefs only tell lies. You see he has lied In our
teeth. On the paper is printed one thing, and he
reads out to us another." And after this, amongst
the groups of soldiers could be heard eager discus
sions as to what means should be taken to find the
revolutionists and join them. One of the soldiers
knew a workman in the town who was supposed to
be a revolutionist. A number of soldiers came to
see him, and plied him with questions, that they
might know which of their officers were on their
side. " We know," said the soldiers, " that there
are some of your men among our officers. Tell us
their names, that we may know them. In case of
any rising, we will garotte the others, and give the
command to them." These same soldiers were
quite hurt that the revolutionists had not issued
a proclamation to the army. " They've written to
every one — peasants, workmen, Cossacks. They
only haven't done it to us, as if we soldiers really
didn't deserve anything."
In the political trials soldiers rarely figure. Yet,

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 1 83
in 1882, took place the trial of the soldiers (fifteen
in all) of the fortress of Peter and Paul, accused of
holding communication with the political prisoners,
and rendering them help. The judicial inquiry
proved that certain of the accused " look upon the
Tzar as the cause of all evils, and are waiting for a
rising." In an Interesting correspondence in The
Will of the People, there is a discussion among
soldiers at St. Petersburg, after March ist-i3th, as
to what they would have done had an insurrection
broken out. Some were of opinion that they ought
to go over to the insurgents ; others preferred wait
ing to see who got the upper hand. In short, the
mental condition of the army Is of a kind by no
means pleasant for the Government. But what is
still more dangerous for it, and denotes a consider
able advance In things revolutionary. Is the pro
pagation of the movement among the officers. It
is a characteristic phenomenon that a large num
ber of men educated in the military schools have
always taken part In the revolutionary movement.
Such were, e.g., Kravtchinsky, Rogatchev, Oussat-
chev, and others, who in 1874 were prosecuted for
propaganda. Only formerly, the officers, as they
became revolutionists, generally gave up their
position, and went away to the people, or took their
share in the civil plots. But of late years, in con
sequence of the spreading of the idea that for Russia
a political coup d' Etat Is the first essential, the
position of things has changed. The military men
stay In the army and make propaganda among their
comrades, among their soldiers. The idea of a
military plot Is In the air. Societies are coming

184 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
Into existence whose very name — the Militarists —
denotes their nature.
The military organization of The Will of the
People, which, as the political trials have shown, had
a very strong central body and many branches in
the army, has acquired a much greater renown.
The Government was greatly exercised at the dis
covery of this conspiracy, in which were Involved,
as the Inquiry showed, officers of high ability, such
as Colonel Achenbrenner ; lieutenants In the navy,
Soukhanov and Stromberg ; Pokltonov, lieutenant
of artillery, and others. The trial at St. Petersburg
in September, 1884, Involved scarcely any one but
military men. The condemned officers were among
the best In the army. The cavalry captain, Tik-
hotsky, transported to Siberia by administrative
measure, was personally known to the emperor for
his brilliant feats of arms in the last campaign with
Turkey. Soukhanov, shot for taking part in the
regicide, was looked upon as one of the most able
engineers in the navy. Lieutenant-Colonel Achen
brenner, condemned to hard labour, and shot a month
later, was highly esteemed by his chiefs. He had
won every grade in his successive positions on the
battle-field. He was decorated with the Order of
St. Ann of the fourth degree, for valour ; with the
Order of St. Ann of the third degree, with swords
and knot ; with the Order of Stanislas of the second
degree, with swords ; with that of Stanislas of the
third degree, and of St. Ann of the second. He
had received the medal for the war of 1877-8.
Captain Pokltonov, condemned to hard labour, had
done exceptionally well at the Academy of Artll-

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 1 85
lery, and, as early as twenty-seven years of age, had
received the Order of St. Ann of the third degree,
with swords and knot ; the Order of Stanislas of the
second degree, with swords ; the Order of Vladimir
of the fourth degree, with swords and knot. He had
the medal for the war with Turkey, and the insignia
of the Iron Cross of Roumanla. I need dwell no
longer on these symbols of military distinction, by
which the Government Itself had recognised the
abilities and the deserts of the officers hostile to
It. I will only say that we often find among the
revolutionists that belong to the army the same
enthusiasm, the same devotion to the cause, as
elsewhere. Lieutenant Baron Stromberg, member
of the military organization, gave to It all his for
tune ; the unexampled self-denial of Soukhanov has
given birth to legend on legend In the army, and
the memory of the founder of the revolutionary
military organization is held In profound veneration
In Russian reiglments.
Clearly nothing Is so dangerous to the Govern
ment as this movement of revolution In the army,
accompanied as it is by military plots. Hence It
treats the military men with inflexible rigour. It
hanged the officers Doubrovlne, Rogatchev, Strom
berg, and shot Soukhanov and Achenbrenner.
Dreading lest trials reveal the danger threatening It,
the Government avoids Indictments before courts.
It acts with redoubled sternness in its administrative
penalties. It spies with so much the more vigilance
upon the army. The Minister of War, by a circular
letter, which, secret as it was supposed to be, is known
through the medium of certain copies, recommended

1 86 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
the chiefs of regiments to so regulate the life of the
officers that they should have the least possible spare
time, and not to allow the officers to have inter
course with civilians, especially not with students.
If an officer is under the slightest suspicion of any
political want of faith, he must be expelled the
service, without any reason being given ; but the
governor Is to be at once informed of it, so that he
may put the suspect under secret surveillance. At
the same time the Government Is making some sort
of attempt to Improve the officers' position ; but thus
far it has only been able to take steps of the most
insignificant kind. The salary In certain grades
has been raised slightly ; and for the officers, as a
body, there has been a reduction In the price of
theatre and railway tickets.
Time will show whether the efforts of the Govern
ment to annul the revolutionary movement will be
crowned with more success In the army than they
have been elsewhere.

CHAPTER III.
The black partition. — The agrarian question. — Anti-Semitic riots.
— Agrarian crimes.
He that bears In mind the character of the people
as I have painted them, will assuredly not expect In
them any conscious political movement.
It is true that there are, besides the artisans of
the towns, some sections of the people more or less
developed, more capable than others of placing
before them a definite political aim. The Cossacks
and the Sectaries are Instances. But the sects as
yet only concern themselves with morality, or with
social reforms, and but rarely touch on political
matters. As to the Cossacks, their Influence on
the people, once on a time very great, has become
extremely weak, partly because of their too privi
leged position, partly because the Government em
ploys them by preference as policemen, and this,
of course, gives a thousand pretexts for popular dis
like. This fact largely diminishes the effect of the
movements that are noticeable among the Cossacks
— movements that formerly would have been a con
tagion throughout Russia. In point of fact, as one
result of the Government habit of stifling, little by
little, the freedom of the Cossacks, there occur
187

1 88 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
among the latter now and again movements of a
much more conscious nature than among the
peasants. Of this kind was the Insurrection, eight
years ago, of the Oural Cossacks, an insurrection
put down without pity. As punishment, almost the
whole of the male population of military age were
transported to Turkestan, and have only recently
received permission to return to their own land.
Two years back the Don Cossacks addressed to the
Government a remarkable petition, in which they
asked that nomination to all civil functions In the
army should be shared In by the men elected by the
people, and that the whole of the economic admin
istration should be placed in the hands of these
representatives. The petition aimed at Investing
this assembly with especial consideration, by asking
that In Its meeting-place there should be exhibited
all the symbols and all the Imperial edicts that
have at any time confirmed the liberties of the
Cossacks.^ These aspirations of the Cossacks so
disturbed the Government, that It disarmed them,
transferred the arsenals of the Don elsewhere,
gave no more cannon to their armies, and so on.
To such an extent do the Cossacks distinguish
their cause from the general cause of the peasants,
and stand upon a ground special to themselves,
that they cannot, and even would not, draw after
them the mass of the people, and are In no sense
the representatives of these as In the days of Razine
and Pougatchev. But If just now this role of the
Cossack does not exist. It is by no means Inad
missible as a possibility. The Government, by the
^ Messenger of the Will of the People, No. 3.

POLITICAL RUSSIA.

189

course it pursues. Is rending the Cossacks asunder
into two classes, — one of which, the lower, is con
tinually being restricted as to its rights and injured
as to its Interests. It would seem from this that
they will be forced Into a new relation with the
peasants. Examples of this have been more than
once noted in these later times. But should the
lower class of Cossacks, if only for the defence of
their own personal Interests, join with the peasants,
this might have an immense Influence In politics,
seeing that the Cossacks have strong republican
political traditions, and that the people are In the
habit of setting great store by the Cossacks' opinions.
To bear all this in mind is essential In thinking of
the eventualities that may or may not occur.
If we do not go beyond existing facts, — if we ask
ourselves, not what may happen, but what Is, — then,
assuredly. It must be owned that In the mass of the
Russian people, a certain number of artisans ex
cepted, there is no political movement at all. The
peasants are discontented, are uneasy ; but they
have no programme, and are not a party with
definite demands. Given this condition of things.
Is there yet need to inquire into the state of mind
of the mass of the population, when speaking of
Russia from the point of view of politics ? In my
opinion, only an affirmative answer is possible. In
point of fact, if political programmes give birth to
popular movements, they are also the offspring of
these. There Is an Intrinsic logic in social fact that
men may long fail to notice, but that nevertheless
forces them to act exactly as they would have
acted In obedience to an actual programme. In

190 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
this sense, the movements of the Russian peasants
are very dangerous to the present rigime.
At first sight the peasants' discontent and pro
tests may seem partial, and directed against isolated
facts and persons. But look a little more closely,
and you will see that these particular cases against
which the people are entering protests, are exactly
those in which the general policy of the Govern
ment comes out most clearly. The contradiction
between the leanings of populace and Government
Is to-day at least as evident as In the times of serf
dom. The Russian peasants, who remained calm
for some years at the time of the emancipation,
began their agitation again when the agrarian re
gulations came Into force. They were discontented
with the re-partition of the land, which, as I have
said already, had really been carried out not
at all fairly. This agitation, however, although
It extended over many provinces, and even neces
sitated at times armed repression, did not become
a general insurrection, because of the habitual illu
sions of the peasants. They hoped the reform of
1 86 1 was only to be the Tzar's first step, and that
he would soon set to work to solve the agrarian
question. Persistent reports in this connection have
been spread, and are yet being spread, in all direc
tions, — reports that more than once even settled the
term of the commencement of the "black partition."^
1 This phrase, which seems enigmatic to Vl. Leroy-Beaulieu,
is really quite clear. For centuries the word "black" has been
used by Russians to designate the masses. So that there have
been peasants of the black plough, the black ta.x, — i.e., capitation
lax, — and there are even now the black people, tchern {plebs).

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 19 1
The " black partition " means the general sharing of
land among all Russians without exception. Accord
ing to the peasants' ideas, the land ought to be
shared among all. It Is not a measure of a class
in view of the interest of that class alone — it Is a
national measure. A gentleman. In the confidence
of the peasants, hearing It said that the land ought
to be taken from the nobles, asked, " Then it will
be taken from me as well ? " " How much land
have you ? " asked the peasant. " Six dedatlnes."
"Then you need not disturb yourself; you'll have
another three given you."
So positive are the rumours as to the land par
tition, that the peasants even calculate how much
each will have : sometimes seven dedatlnes are
spoken of, sometimes fifteen. So firm Is the belief
of everyone in the partition, in the levelling up,
that by reason of It the peasants often abstain
from buying land. The eminent legal authority,
lakouchklne, tells how rich peasants of his acquaint
ance would come to him and ask if there was not
risk In buying land. "A nice piece has come in
our way," they said, " and not dear. But we are in
doubt." " Why ? " asked lakouchklne. " Suppos
ing that the partition comes, and it is taken away
from us again ? It's just to consult you on that
we've come. What rumours are abroad ? Will it
be soon or not ? Is it worth while buying ? "^ No
efforts of the Government can put an end to these
hopes of a fresh Increase of land, or even of the
black partition. Every one Is expecting the latter ;
a small number of rich koulaks are trying to sub-
1 " Common Law " : Preface.

192 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
stitute for It increase of general holdings at the
expense of the lands of the gentry and of the State.
The Government rejects both proposals, but no one
believes these denials. When he was Minister of
the Interior, Makov Issued a circular In which he
gave the lie categorically to all these rumours.
This circular was stuck up In all the village
mairies ; It was read In the churches. Some years
later Makov, compromised in some bribery affair,
committed suicide. Then the report ran round
among the peasants that he had killed himself on
account of his circular. " He wrote it," said the
peasants, " unknown to the Tzar. For a long time
the Tzar knew nothing of It ; then, when he did
learn, his anger was terrible. Makov was afraid,
and committed suicide.''
The people were not even shaken In their belief
by the personal declarations of the Tzar. On the
day of his coronation, Alexander II. made a declara
tion of this kind. His final speech was listened to
by 800 village mayors. It was sent out Into all the
villages by the hundred thousand. And yet In a
large number of places the peasants said all the
same, " that the mayors had doubtless heard In
correctly." They do not believe the actual words
of the Tzar, but prefer their own legends. " It was
night," — a tourist Is telling the tale, — "we were going
along the bank of a river, deep and still. On the
farther bank were the forests of the splendid estate
of N- N. For a long time the postilion looked
at this wonderful picture, bathed in the clear light
of the moon. ' See, sir !' he broke out on a sudden,
' all this will soon belong to us, and that,' — he

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 193
pointed with his hand, — ' and that' " He was
speaking of the partition. The tourist reminded
him that the Government Itself gave the lie to these
rumours. " Not at all, sir," said the postilion, with
the air of a man convinced ; " we know It for cer
tain. The Tzar himself went by here one day, and
our people went to ask him about the land. ' Wait,
my children,' said he to them ; ' we can't do every
thing at once. But patience ! Everything shall be
made fair and level soon. You see this river-
fair and level as It.'" In dreams such as these the
people are lulled to sleep, and the years flow on,
bringing with them nothing but new burdens.
Taxes unbridled, despotism of the administration,
want of land, the misery of being at the mercy of
every koulak who has a few pounds, how little Is
all this in harmony with the splendid dreams of
true liberty ! The discontent Is beginning to grow
serious. The peasants, weary of suffering, send to
the Tzar petitioners with complaints and requests.
But these petitioners very seldom even reach the
Tzar. Before this happens they are garotted or
thrown Into prison. Even If they get to Court, the
result is no better. They are not so much as re
ceived. In Russia the sending a petition is almost
a revolt, and at all events a case of sedition. In
stead of encouraging this action of the peasants.
Itself an evident proof of their trust In them, the
Tzars themselves order these peasant delegates Into
transportation. As some sort of defence of the Government, It
must, however, be said that the situation of the
Tzars, and of the administration generally, is fre-
VOL. n. o

194 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
quentiy very embarrassing. Sometimes the peasants
are wholly In the right, even from the legal point of
view. The landed proprietors and the capitalists,
taking advantage of their Ignorance, make the most
dishonest contracts with them ; the peasants put
their crosses, know nothing as to what they are
signing, and thus fall Into a real slavery. Often the
landed proprietors and other rich people get hold
of the peasants' lands by methods that are mere
cheating. The men In authority are bribed shock
ingly, and sometimes levy illegal taxes on their
own account. The story is told, that somewhere
in Siberia, a stanovoi, in league with a secretary of
some village malrle, levied on the peasants a tax
to pay, as he put It, for a gold coat for the heir-
apparent, who was going to be married. In this
case the Government had a chance ready to hand
of gaining the people's confidence without going
outside the law. If the peasants cannot get their
rights even In cases like this, have we not proof
formal of the disorganization and moral decadence
of the Government ? On other occasions the pea
sants, from a legal point of view, are In the wrong,
whilst from their own, they consider they are abso
lutely within their rights, and are terribly wroth
when accused. Here is a recent fact of this kind.
Some years ago, not far from the town of lelsk, on
lands belonging to the Cossack army of Kouban,
the peasants had just settled. An immense tract,
the property of the army, stretched out hard by lelsk,
and no one tried to make anything of It. Only
from time to time herds of half-wild horses came to
browse on it ; for the steppe was let out to some

POLITICAL RUSSIA, 195
speculators who bred herds of horses there. At
first, the administration of the army paid no atten
tion to certain families newly established there,
although they had no right to occupy the land of
the Cossacks.^ But the number of immigrants grew
rapidly ; they came In crowds. At the end of some
years an enormous straggling village had grown up
In the middle of the steppe, had encroached upon a
whole territory, and contained already more than
5,000 inhabitants. Its name was very characteristic
— Dournosiolovka (established without paying any
thing). Taking possession of land In this way Is
one of the customs of this people. If the land Is
unoccupied, that means to them that the worker can
occupy It. In the south of Russia, these arbitrary
occupyings were the origin of many populous towns;
Lately the town of Rostov gained In this way
a complete new arrondissement. The Immigrants
simply, without asking permission of any one, with
out paying the town a penny, built whole streets,
and two or three years later the municipality were
astonished to learn that the town had grown to the
extent of a new arrondissement occupied by several
thousand Inhabitants, who paid no tax, were answer
able to no authority. As to Dournosiolovka, the
Cossacks were by no means Inclined to give up
their territories. The Cossack • administration
pleaded, complained. Assuredly the Inhabitants of
Dournosiolovka were In the wrong ; they were con
demned to clear out from the land. But the doing
this meant the demolition of a whole village, made
1 As to the speculators, they were even content, for the
peasants paid them a small sum for the land.

196 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
up of many hundreds of dvors, and the ruin of a
thousand families, just to return this land to the
Cossacks, who made no use of it. The peasants
could not look upon this decision as one of equity.
They regarded themselves as oppressed ; and when
the attempt was made by the administration to
expel them by force, they opposed this by main
force. Thus a veritable outbreak occurred. The
peasants, foreseeing trouble, — for the Russian ad
ministration, when once disorder, which it has done
nothing to prevent, breaks out, puts this down
Tartar-fashion, — sent a petitioner to the Tzar to
complain and to ask help. After many fruitless
attempts, the unfortunate messenger managed to get
to the Tzar's palace. A friend of his, a soldier, let
him into a garden in which the Tzar and his family
were coming to walk. The peasant. In mortal dread
of the nobles that surrounded the Tzar, hid behind a
bush. Then, when at length Alexander III., with
the empress and their son, did appear, the peasant
sprang out on a sudden from his hiding-place and
fell on his knees, holding out the petition to the
Tzar. The effect of this unexpected scene can be
imagined. The empress fainted away. The
escort rushed upon the supposed nihilist, rained
blows upon him, and placed him under arrest. The
matter, however, was soon cleared up, to the con
fusion of all and sundry. The emperor was natu
rally anxious to efface the Impression produced on
the peasant by this scene of consternation. He sent
for him, gave him audience, and ordered an Inquiry
into the matter. For a while the peasants had the
best of It. But all that the Inquiry could do was to

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 197
reveal what had happened, i.e., the seizing by the
peasants of land that did not belong to them, and
then their resistance of the authorities by force.
The whilom petitioner, as promoter of all this, was
adjudged the chief offender, and thrown into prison.
Dournosiolovka was destroyed. See what a great
gulf there is fixed between the law and the popular
idea ! The peasants were, however, unwilling to
yield to violence, — and they looked on all this as
violence, — and only by aid of the military, who sur
rounded the village and starved It out, was the
decision of the court carried out. Now, where but
lately stood a busy village, over the charred ruins
of homes, the wind of the steppes sweeps free ; and
the bats, lurking In the chimneys, are the sole
dwellers In this abomination of desolation. This
story Is only hinted at very vaguely In the Russian
press, with the exception of the last number of the
Narodnaia Volia. My account differs, however,
to some extent from the one given there. I believe
the Information on which mine is based to be quite
correct. It Is necessary never to lose sight of this aspect
of the agrarian question. In studying the peasant
outbreaks. Their land theories, and those of the
law, are In complete divergence. In the everyday
language of the peasants, even down to the present
time, the word " sell," as applied to the land. Is
synonymous with "let." They say, "I have sold
It for ten years." The idea of agrarian property
never enters the mind of the peasant. That of the
right of him that tills the land to enjoy it is, on the
contrary, very strong. " What an ass our Govern-

198 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
ment is ! Why doesn't it give us the land ? Look
what a lot of It Is uncultivated with X, with Y, with
Z (and he names the local gentry). And 1 haven't
a lot belonging to me. I can't understand why
they put up with all this. Is it possible the Govern
ment doesn't understand that I have need of the
land ? " Thus spoke a retired policeman whom I
knew, a man who. has never in his life heard any
subversive propaganda. How could the Govern
ment satisfy demands based on ideas of this kind
without producing a general disturbance in agrarian
affairs ? The nationalization of the soil Is the only
thing that will appease the peasants and inaugurate
an equitable order of things from their point of
view. A really great Government alone could calm and
satisfy this people — a Government not afraid of
strong measures, understanding the national life and
the position of Its country, and not troubling Itself
as to whether In Europe or in Asia there has ever
been done that which ought to have been done, that
which can easily be decreed In Russia to-day. The
Government actually Is assuredly miles away from
these subversive Ideas. We have already seen
that It works against them. Certain paltry half-
measures. Intended to secure the possession of the
soil to the peasants, are only taken when the latter
begin to rise in revolt, and the revolutionists make
use of the Indifference of the Government to the
people as a means of agitation.
This collision between the tendencies of the
people and of the Government would render the
maintenance of order impossible, even In cases

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 199
where the Government only wished to maintain the
existing law, and not to subjugate the people to
despotism. But we have seen the position of the
Government, and in what fashion despotism, every
where and In all directions. Infringes the law. The
peasant's situation is becoming absolutely Insupport
able, He Is very patient. For a long time he
believes that the hour for the triumph of justice
may come at any moment. But the time passes,
and things only grow worse. Then disorders, more
and more pronounced In their nature, begin. At
times It is difficult to see In these outbreaks any
aim, any meaning at all. There is only to be seen
in them weariness of this condition that can be
borne no longer — only to be seen the reaction of a
morbid sensitiveness to any stimulus. A seditious
state of mind results, leading to outbursts the most
unexpected, the most Inexplicable. The very day
of the coronation of the present emperor, disturb
ances broke out in different places In Russia.
Apparently they had no Immediate cause, unless it
was that large bodies of police had been removed
from various localities to Moscow for the protection
of the Tzar.
At St. Petersburg, the crowd, excited by drink,
took it Into their heads to assault the nobility.
Spontaneously, as it were, the Idea spread through
the city. The -disturbances were simply scandalous.
Labouring men took away their hats from people
decently dressed, made them shout "Hurrah !" and
tried to beat them. The police interfered on be
half of the assaulted ones. This only excited the
crowd the more. One commissary of police was so

200 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
knocked about that some days later he died. The
prefect of police himself Gresser, was beaten, and
only escaped from the mob by flight. At Odessa,
the people were not satisfied with the feast provided
for them on the coronation-day. They set to work
and staved In the barrels ; beer and kvass Inundated
the place. The police tried to stop these untimely
demonstrations. Matters grew worse. The mob
came Into collision with the Cossacks; many on
both sides were wounded ; It was said even that
some were killed. At Oufa, the crowd, drunken
with wine, also set about assaulting the nobles. At
Sterlitamak It broke into a club where a banquet
in honour of the coronation was going on, drove
out the banqueters, and itself devoured the dinner.
At Rostov, on the occasion of the coronation, anti-
Semitic disturbances broke out. In these, the mob
sacked many houses that belonged to the Christians.
Then they tried to storm the prison, probably with
the Intention of freeing the prisoners. Thereupon
an actual fight broke out between the mob and the
military, who had surrounded the prison on all sides.
The people were vanquished and dispersed.
In a large proportion of these cases. It Is useless
to ask what was the cause of the outbreak. The
latter Is but a reflex action, — with for stimulus years
of suffering, abuse, humiliation, — breaking out on
the merest and most accidental pretext. Take, for
example, what happened In 1882 at St. Petersburg.
A policeman was taking a hack-driver to the station-
house for the Infringement of some regulation or
other. I think it was because the driver was stand
ing near his horse (by regulation he ought to be

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 20I
sitting on the box). The driver, afraid of losing
his day's work, and of perhaps having to pay a fine,
was In despair, and almost In tears begged the
policeman to let him off. At this scene a crowd
gradually gathered around the men. On a sudden
they began to insult the policeman ; then, aroused to
anger, they stopped him, threatened him. Insisted
on his letting the driver go. So furious was the
crowd, that the policeman and his fellows who ran
to his assistance, thought it wisest to liberate their
prisoner. The working men carried off the driver
In triumph, shouting "Hurrah ! we have freed him ! "
and, jubilant, they scattered in every direction.
Nearly at the same time, at Moscow, on Loublan-
skaia Place, a tramway car was upset, and Injured a
working man who was passing. In a moment a
crowd gathered, and began assaulting the conductor.
A policeman interfered ; the crowd grew more and
more excited. Threats and cries broke out. " Get
out of the way, you only want to bully the people."
Seeing the danger, the policeman and the tram con
ductor ran to a carriage hard by, and barricaded
themselves In. The crowd was only dispersed by
the police.
At Klimov (government of Tchernlgov) the mob
worked Itself up Into a passion over a quarrel be
tween a shopkeeper and a working-man customer,
both Russians, and sacked the shops ; not only the
one belonging to the particular shopkeeper, but
every one that they found open. " Brothers," cried
the shopkeepers, " aren't you ashamed to Ill-use your
own people, the orthodox believers ? " " It's all the
same to us," cried one of the crowd, " Come along.

202 RUSSIA; POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
give US some Jews. The old believers are worse
even than Jews." Probably the shopkeepers be
longed to the sect of old believers. This malicious
condition of mind in men, as ready to make rebellion
as a child to kick the stone that hurts him, without
thinking whether It has sensation or not. Is In a
measure reflected in the anti-Semitic disturbances.
I say in a measure, for these are a very complex
effect, begotten of many diverse causes.
In those countries where anti-Semitic disturbances
are most common, the Jews make up the majority of
the most implacable exploiters of men. Moreover,
their treatment of the people is irritating beyond
all conception, and of Inconceivable brutality. The
peasants' contempt of them Is audible in every word.
When, after the earlier disturbances, the military
that had suppressed them beat the people cruelly
with whips, the Jews could not keep from jeering at
the peasants. "Ah ! are the whips nice ? Will you
beat Jews again ? " Of course all the Jews are not
exploiters ; of course there are among them men of
honesty. But when the people see that seventy-five
or even ninety per cent, of those that devour them
are Jews, they soon look upon these as all In the
same boat, especially when traditional religious
superstitions and fanaticism lend their evil support.
As result of all this, anti-Semitic disturbances used
to break out from time to time in Russia also.
Ever since 1881 they have taken on the character
of a huge outbreak, and have occurred yearly.
Each year the mob has sacked the houses, destroyed
and pillaged the domains of the Jews, even going to
the length of massacre and violence of the most

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 2O3
revolting kind. In 1881 these disturbances took
place at Elisavetgrade, Golta, Znamenka, Kiev,
Kicheniev, Vassilkov, Jmerinka, Fastov, NIcolaiev,
Odessa, Smieia, Lozovaia, Romny, Volotchisk, Bier-
iozovka, Pierleiaslav, NIejin, Loubny, Borzna. The
disorder spread as far as Poland, and broke out In a
violent form In Warsaw. Next year It began again
at Balta, Doubossary, Lietychev, MIedjibojie, Nou
velle- Prague, Bereznovatovka, Vissounka, PIrlatIn,
Okny. In 1883 there were terrible anti-Semitic
riots at Rostov, Novomoskovsk, Ekaterinoslav,
Krivoi-Rog, Kharkov, producing most unexpected
consequences at the Russian court of Nijni- Novgo
rod, where there are scarcely any Jews. Next year
the disturbances grew less, without wholly ceasing.
Since then they seem to have become transformed
into agrarian crimes. Of these I shall speak
directly. The popular outburst of anger, manifested In anti-
Semitic riots, chose this particular form under the
influence of circumstances that admit of categorical
statement. "Jew and noble are alike," says a work
ing man; "only it is easier to beat the Jew, and
that's why he Is more often beaten." Why is It
more easy to beat the Jews ? The responsibility
for this rests wholly on Count Ighnatlev's ministry,
formed by the Tzar In 1881. This ministry, fright
ened by the events of the 1-13 of March, seeing all
over Russia a condition of high nervous tension,
thought It might distract the attention that society
and the people had fixed upon politics by re
awakening the national sentiment. " We owe all our
misfortunes to the foreigners. The Russian must

204 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
be restored to his proper position." The ministry,
with much vociferation, spread abroad these Ideas.
In a large number of journals that are always In
spired by the Government, a multitude of articles
appeared against all foreigners, and especially against
the Jews. So noisy were these clamourlngs, that
among the people the report spread far and wide,
and very deep, that the Government had decreed
the hunting down and exterminating of the Jews.
This was the sense of the general commentary In
the Ukraine upon that manifesto in which the Tzar
spoke of the very urgent necessity of " ridding the
country of rioters and of rapine." " Rapine !" said
the Little Russians one to another. " But who
practises that. If It isn't the Jews ? As to rioters
(kramolnlks), that's clearer still. They're the shop
keepers (kramorniks) ; that is to say, the Jews
again." The Little Russians do not understand the
old word " kramolnlk." The rival robbers to the
Jews in some places took advantage of this popular
feeling. They stirred up the people, with the two
fold object of getting rid of their competitors and
of diverting the attention of the people from
themselves. The policy of Count Ighnatiev In the higher
circles had its effect everywhere. Once given the
popular hatred of the Jews, and this policy was
bound to succeed. Disturbance began, and what
happened ? In the very first trial of the ringleaders
of the riot at Kiev, procureur Strlelnlkov, known
as one In the full confidence of the Tzar, Intrusted
directly after this with the repression of the revo
lutionary movement in the South, with the powers of

POLITICAL RUSSIA., 205
a dictator — Strlelnlkov, who was looked upon as
representing the policy of the Government, Instead
of accusing, seemed the rather to defend those who
had Ill-treated the Jews. Th& procureur deplored at
the top of his voice in open court the exploitation
by the Jews, the unbearable condition of the people;
All that he said was printed and commented on.
A Jewish deputation waited on Count Ighnatiev,
Imploring help against the repeated attacks of the
mob. The Count made answer that the western
frontier of Russia was open to the Jews. Governor-
General Drenteln, when the deputation was pre
sented to him, began to insult It, to reproach It with
its robberies. He said It was useless for the Jews
to try and gain over influential personages in St.
Petersburg. " They will take your money there,"
he said ; " but they will do nothing for you." All
utterances such as these were published In the news
papers, and circulated by thousands throughout
Russia. What could the people help but think as to
the intentions of the Government ?
It would have been Interesting to see what the
ministry would have done had the anti- Semi dc
movement taken on a purely national and religious
character, and thus turned popular attention from
political to social questions. But this experiment
was not to be.
The peasantry, excited by the movement, sacking
the houses of the Jews, cried aloud from the outset,
" It is our blood they have drained." They did not
think of Jesus as crucified by the Jews, but of them
selves. From the very beginning they said, " We'll
begin by hunting out the Jews, after them the

206 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
nobles ; then the priests shall have their deserts,
too." The social character of the movement became
in its turn prominent ; and this frightened the very
people who had set it going, or at all events had
regarded It with pleasure. The reactionary organs
began to cry out that the anti-Semitic disorders were
the doing of the socialists, were a school In which
the populace was educating Itself for revolution.
Then the Government put down the disturbances
with an extreme severity. In the South and at
Warsaw, in six months 6,826 rioters were arrested,
and 5,161 of these were tried. Cases of this kind
were adjudicated, by order of the emperor, without
waiting for their turn, and the procureurs called the
attention of the jurors to this decree as proof that
the Government demanded special severity in their
verdicts. Everywhere Cossack whips whistled about
the rebellious people ; everywhere gunshots were
heard. The anti-Semitic movement calmed down ; but it
may be doubted whether these reprisals had really
stifled It, for with the lessening of the Jewish perse
cution, the agrarian movement renewed Its strength.
It is far more likely that the popular risings followed
in all this the intrinsic law of their own develop
ment, as laid down In the formula : " We'll begin by
hunting out the Jews, after them the nobles, then
the priests shall have their deserts too."
I said above, that the risings and Inarticulate
protests of the peasants Increased during the period
immediately following the emancipation of the serfs.
The peasants, as if in despair of finding succour
from the legally appointed authorities, began more

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 207
and more frequently to take the law Into their own
hands. This Is shown, e.g., by the arson of the
wheat and oats of the landed proprietors and of the
rich koulaks, the assassination of guards and keep
ers, and so forth. The red cock (fire) was flying all
through Russia. About the beginning of the reign
of Alexander III., this movement was particularly
strong. It took the shape of a storm of revolts that
were at the outset anti-Semitic. Since that time the
coronation of Alexander III. seems to have given a
new stimulus to the movement.
At the time of the coronation, the emperor, who
had summoned to It 800 representatives of the
peasantry, was unwise enough to receive them in no
very hospitable fashion. Some of the mayors who
had been summoned to the ceremony, told after
wards, with indignation, how they had been thrust
like a herd Into the first barracks that came, with
out any attempt even to provide them with food.
Trusting to the emperor's hospitality, they had not
taken the precaution to bring any money. In
several cases they had to get assistance from their
compatriots, presidents of chambers of the zemstvo,
who had also come to the coronation. Some time
after, certain of these presidents presented to the
zemstvo official accounts of the sums they had dis
bursed for the maintenance of the mayors. More
over, the mayors were not less discontented with' the
conduct of the courtiers to them. When they were
presented to the Tzar, they could hear coming from
the crowd of courtiers mocking phrases : " Look at
that ! That's Russia ! " The contemptuous tone
was not lost on them. Finally, after the coronation,

2o8 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL. ¦
at the festival In honour of the mayors, the emperor
himself filled the cup to overflowing. The scene
was a strange one, wholly Incomprehensible to the
monarch. Representatives of the nobility were
among the guests. The emperor addressed In turn
the nobles and the peasantry, uttering two dis
courses, whose special aim seemed to be to throw
Into relief his predilection for the nobility. To the
peasants he said : " I am very glad to see you once
again. I thank you with all my heart for your
cordial participation In those solemnities of ours In
which the whole of Russia has taken so deep an
Interest. When you return to the bosom of your
families, express to every one my gratitude to them
all ; follow the counsels and direction of the nobility,
your leaders, and give no credence to the absurd
and nonsensical reports as to partition of the land,
free enlargement of holdings, and so forth. These
rumours are spread abroad by our enemies. All
property, just like your own, must remain Inviolable.
May God grant you health and happiness ! "
Then the emperor addressed the nobles. " Thank
you for your fidelity. I have always had the utmost
confidence In the sincerity of my nobility, and I
fervently hope that It will always be, as It always
has been, the bulwark of the throne and of the
fatherland. God grant all calm and peace to you !
I thank you with all my heart."
For the peasants, then, nothing but upbraiding
and orders of obedience to the nobles. It is not
even thought necessary to thank them for their
fidelity. They are thanked, like so many strangers,
for their participation In the ceremonies of the coro-

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 2O9
nation. On the other hand, the nobles are the
bulwark of the throne and of the fatherland, and In
them the Tzar has always had the utmost confidence.
It Is difficult to understand why the sovereign
addressed the people in words wounding in them
selves and of very doubtful service to the nobility,
whose existence depends on the popular belief In
the Tzar,
Many peasants, as I said, cannot believe that the
Tzar really did speak thus. But as the speeches
were made In the presence of eight hundred peasant
witnesses, a large number do believe In them.
Further, at the coronation, the peasants expected
God knows what granting of favours, and of course
their well-beloved " partition of the land." In point
of fact, the Tzar loaded the nobles alone with favours.
All he gave to the peasants was the reduction of
the capitation tax, the complete removal of which
had been decided upon a year before. Why did the
emperor not take advantage of his coronation and
grant the people this coronation present at least ?
Conduct so incredible will assuredly perplex
hugely the future historian of our time. But It is
certain that its effect was increased uneasiness
among the peasants. Throughout government after
government, the populace were agitated at hear
ing the rumour that the Tzar intended to restore
serfdom. It must be noted that these rumours
were current as early as March 1-13, 1881 ; an
evidence of the extent to which the popular belief
In the authority of the Tzar was shaken. The re
ports and pieces of gossip among the populace at
the time of Alexander I I.'s death were very strange.
VOL. II. p

2IO RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
In one place the mob were for avenging any insult
to the Tzar; In another they Insulted him themselves.
I have already pointed out how much more marked
this hostility became after the 1-13 of March. As
a rule, what was said was, " He's only got what he
deserved." Often, again, the people explained the
Tzar's death as a chastisement of God for his sins.
Thus, at St, Petersburg, a concierge said to me,
" It's because when he'd only just burled one wife
he married another " (Princess lourlevskaia). One
of the old believers explained at length In a railway
car, that God permitted the attempts on the life of
the Tzar " In the hope that he would mend his ways."
In the government of Kiev, the legend ran thus :
" He is fired at once ; God saves him. He is fired
at a second time ; God saves him again. The same
thing happens a third time. Then God calls to
gether St. Nicolas and the rest of them, and says,
' What am I to do with the Tzar ? He won't take
care of himself, I think he must treat his folk badly
since they keep shooting at him. If he doesn't
look sharp and repent, I shan't help him any more.
Let'em kill him.'" In the government of Voronej,
according to one traveller, reports as to the Tzar's
death vary. Some say, the nobles killed him.
Others are In doubt. " Perhaps it was to avenge
us ! " The idea is even prevalent that the Tzar was
killed by the " students, the peasants' friends.'' At
a meeting of sectaries, one of them proclaimed
the murder of the antichrist Tzar as a deed of the
highest worth. If, said he, the revolutionists are not
strong enough to strike antichrist a second time in
the person of Alexander III., the Christians ought

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 2 I I
to take upon themselves this holy mission. The
meeting negatived his proposal, but listened to the
very end of this violent harangue. In a word, no
particular sympathy for the Tzar Is to be found
among the people, and the general opinion was very
accurately expressed by an old village dame. A
passer-by asked her ; " Mother, why don't you go
to church for the emperor's funeral mass ? Aren't
you sorry for him ? " " Why should I be sorry
for him ? " the woman answered. " That one's dead
and we've got another already. We've enough to
do with our own troubles."
The Emperor Alexander III., although he came
to the throne under conditions such as these, made
no effort to restore the popularity of the Tzars.
He did not a little to destroy the last vestiges of It.
Whether as result of the Tzar's speeches or not, the
agitation Increased and Increased. It was dealt
with rigorously. One of the most terrible repres
sions, which ruined the huge volost of Vllchana
occurred almost on the day of the coronation. Set
upon and beaten by the soldiers, the peasants avenged
themselves by setting fire to fields and buildings.
" Fires are becoming d la mode," some one writes to
the papers from KIchlnlov. " The peculiarity," we
read In another place, " about the fires at Zolotchev,
is, that the domains of the rich are being destroyed.
. . The property set on fire Is that of people
hated for their oppression of the poor." In the
Dmitrlev district, the fires that wasted the posses
sions of the landowners are explained as due to the
ill-will of the populace. The same news comes
from Rylsk, Slavianoserbsk, and elsewhere. Many

212 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
details of the like nature are to be found In the
Russian newspapers. But fires are the least violent
expression of the popular wrath. Actual attacks on
the landlords are not infrequent, and in some places
these attacks lead to a panic so great that they run
away from their domains. This was the case in the
provinces of PIriatin, VIerkhniednieprovsk, Sosnitsa,
and others. This particular phase of the move
ment reached its acute stage in the southern
governments, which were also the chief seat of the
anti-Semitic outbreak. In the province of Novo
moskovsk, the movement against the Jews appeared
simultaneously with attacks upon landed proprietors.
In September, 1883, the peasants came to one of
the landowners and asked him to give up his estates
to them for nothing. " The soil needs us," said
they ; " we have scarcely anything to till. Taxes
swarm ; we have nothing to pay them with, and we
ourselves are in need of bread." These did not
appear to be very convincing reasons as far as the
landowner was concerned. He hurried off to give
notice to the Ispravnik. This official, when he
reached the village, told the peasants their demands
were illegal, and reminded them of the words of the
emperor on the coronation day. " It's not true,"
roared the peasants. " The mayors didn't under
stand him." Then they begged the ispravnik to
manage for them, or to set about getting for them,
an increase of holding. As their prayers remained
unanswered, the peasants began to make disturb
ances In different parts of the province. They
carried off the proprietors' cattle, their agricultural
implements, the harvest stored In their barns ; they

POLITICAL RUSSIA, 213
tilled the proprietors' lands. It is said that one
owner got frightened and signed a deed, by virtue
of Avhich he gave up his lands. This movement
vfas crushed by the governor of the province by
means of armed force.
That which took place in the government of Oufa
was not less characteristic. The nobility of this
government were even compelled to appeal to the
emperor In 1883, begging him "to take measures
for the restoration of order In the government of
Oufa, and for the defence of the agrarian rights
of the nobles against the violence that was growing
day by day." ^ I take several facts from this curious
document. In the spring of 1883, the house of a
gentleman named Tcherniavsky, with all the out
buildings, was burnt down. All the people In It,
five In number, were killed. The steward dis
appeared, and no trace of him was to be found.
The whole of the harvest of the owner was spirited
away from the barns. Not one of the culprits was
to be found. Certain peasants who had been serfs
of the wife of one Rail, came and told him that they
had made up their minds to sequester a portion of
his domains, fifty dedatlnes In area, and that they
meant to have It no matter what resistance was
made. As to the estate of one Fok, the bachkirs, his
neighbours, came In a crowd, destroyed his forests,
killed a number of keepers, and so terrified Fok
1 Resolution of the assembly of nobles of Oufa, July 27th, 1883.
Presented to the Minister of the Interior, and brought by the
nobles under the notice of his majesty. See my account in The
Messenger of the Will of the People, No. 4.

214 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
that he ran away from house and lands and set up
at Oufa. Prince Tchinghise was actually prevented
from visiting his estates by the violence of the
people dwelling on them. A mob of peasants made
a raid on the fields of the landowner lermalov, and
drove away the men working on them, swearing
that they meant holding the land themselves. And,
when the steward came, they attacked and wounded
him severely with their axes.
Numberless facts of the same nature have been
given In evidence by the marshals of the nobility
in the provinces of Oufa, BIrsk, Sterlitamak, and
Beiebey. Want of clear political Intelligence prevents the
people from setting before themselves a definite aim,
and therefore prevents organization. The Govern
ment, In spite of the terrible outbreaks of popular
discontent, prefer as a consequence to reckon with
these scattered outbreaks, rather than to allow the
formation of a regular peasant party, with a simple
programme around which could be grouped forces
of considerable extent. But It must be noted that
arson and agrarian crime are becoming systematic.
The peasants, who are by no means bad organizers,
are already forming in certain places regular bands.
This was noticeable during the anti-Semitic riots, in
which the attacks of the rioters, their military move
ments, their skill In dispersing just at the right
time, to re-form later In some place where there
were no police or soldiers, — all gave the impression
that the mob were under the direction of some
organization. So evident was this, that sometimes
the outbreaks were ascribed to the revolutionists ;

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 215
and, what Is still more astonishing, the peasants in
some places thought the same. But this idea had
to be once for all abandoned, when a number of
trials showed conclusively that no sort of revolu
tionists were concerned in the riots. It Is clear that
the people are learning to organize themselves ;
and this became yet more clear as soon as the
burning of the property of the landowners took a
systematic form. In the province of Slavianoserbsk,
In fact, the Incendiaries destroyed one after the other
the farms belonging to the landowners, and always
managed to escape the police. Finally, quite re
cently these organizations have been made public
by judicial investigations. Even a Jew is to be
found among the members of a secret society of
peasants, the aim of which was, according to the act
of accusation, the committing of agrarian outrages ;
and among the victims of this society Jews and
orthodox koulaks alike figure.
This last fact is of great significance. It seems
to show that the definite transition of anti-Semitic
Into agrarian troubles Is at hand. Thus, the abso
lute impossibility of forming peasant parties that
can take part In political work Is producing among
the people the same consequences that it has pro
duced in higher grades of society. The people are
organizing Into secret societies arfd resorting to
terrorism. But it is certain that this system, prac
tised by a people numbering so many millions, will. If
It develops, threaten the public peace with dangers
Infinitely greater than would be the case If It affected
only the cultured class.

CHAPTER IV.
Liberal policy. — The zemstvos. — Coming to power in 1880 of
the Liberal party. — Loris Melikov. — Struggle between the
Liberal and Reactionary parties. — The crime of the 13th of
March. — Coming to the throne of Alexander III. — His
policy. — Secret associations. — Ministry of Count Ighnatiev.
— The competent men. — The police. — Ministry of Count
Tolstoi.- — Preponderating influence of Katkov.
It Is easy to conceive the difficult position of the
Liberal party In Russia.
On the one hand, a Government autocratic to
the core, jealous as to Its authority, and yet unable
to give to the country a rigime that Is even toler
able ; on the other, revolutionists In utter despair as
to any pacific means, and not shrinking from the
most extreme measures — terrorism, regicide. Be
neath, the mass of the people, wronged, oppressed,
humiliated, angered, turning to the most desperate
resources — arson, agrarian outrage, riot. What sort
of a Liberal programme can be drawn up under
such circumstances ? In such a country is there
even room for Liberals ? Does not everything
point imperiously to the necessity of no longer
tolerating this plague, and of rooting-up, with ener
getic hand, absolutism, so as to clear the ground
for legal and pacific work ? Thus many quondam

POLITICAL RUSSIA, 21 7
Liberals think, and they join the ranks of the
revolutionists. But the tradition of the revolu
tionary disturbances, and especially of the con
spiracies In Russia, Is too recent for the number
of those who reason thus to be large.
The Tzar dictatorship, lasting for centuries, last
ing throughout the time in which Russia was
slowly and with effort attaining her natural limits,
was indispensable. Painful as this dictatorship was
for all, all understood Its necessity. People grew
used to the Tzars. The Idea of living without the
Tzar, of acting against him, i.e. of causing disorder,
of opposing that centralized authority which was
for Russia absolutely necessary — this idea could
only arise by degrees, as the state of affairs that
had made the Tzars necessary began to disappear.
Even now the idea Is strange to the mass of the
people. That is why society. Liberal, deeply Im
bued with constitutional ideas as It is, fears to act
openly against the Tzar. This fear enabled the auto
cracy to come out of the crisis that followed upon
the Crimean campaign without any practical limi
tation to its authority. But If the Tzar cannot be
antagonized, clearly an attempt must be made to
try to come to terms with him. But how ? The
question is not an easy one.
The Liberal party tried to do sbmething with
the fragments of Liberal institutions wrested from
Alexander 1 1. They tried to form a political press,
an independent justiciary that would have limited
the administrative despotism. They tried to work
In the zemstvo. In the municipalities. At once the
Government assumed the defensive. " Self-govern-

2l8 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
ment " in Russia was from the first organized in
the most detestable way. The towns were given
over to the power of an industrial and commercial
oligarchy. Municipal " self-government " was under
the superintendence of a municipal council, elected
certainly, but representative of the capital and not
of the people. In St. Petersburg, of the total popu
lation, 962,000, only 19,233 were electors. These
electors again were divided Into three classes,
according to the amount of taxes paid. In the
first class were 261 ; In the second, JIT ; In the
third, 18,195 voters. Each of these three classes
has the same number of representatives on the
Municipal Council as either of the others. Hence
two-thirds of the voters on that body belong to
1,038 persons, and one-third to 18,195. The rest
of the population, at least 800,000, has neither part
nor lot In the affairs of the town. What is to be
done under an arrangement of such absurdity as
this ? By virtue of It a large town, with a million
Inhabitants, is given over to a few thousand people
of the financial aristocracy. This Is the reason that
in Russia many of the smaller towns petition the
Government to reduce them to the rank of villages,
since In these every Inhabitant takes part In the
administration of affairs. What can any one who
has plans for useful reforms do in a municipality ?
Besides, are not the Liberal party in power there ?
In the zemstvo, the position Is somewhat different.
The Government — just as In the towns It gives the
power to the capitalists — gives here, as I said
above, the power to the nobles, and renders the
zemstvo powerless by the introduction within It

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 219
of class-antagonisms. Fortunately, among the
nobles the Liberal party is of considerable mag
nitude ; so that It makes use of the zemstvo In
a very hopeful spirit. The Government Is careful
to surround the zemstvo with conditions of such
a nature, that whatever Is done Is as If one were
fighting the air. By law the duty of the zemstvo
Is limited to defending the economic Interests of
the locality. Thus the zemstvo has no administra
tive power, whilst the maintenance of the adminis
tration makes a huge hole in Its budget. These
multitudinous compulsory expenditures upon which
the zemstvo has not the right to vote, swallow up
half or more than half Its resources. The zemstvo
of the Tver government, e.g. during the sixteen
years of Its existence, has spent more than twelve
millions, and of these more than six millions have
gone In compulsory expenses.^
In the Kherson government, the budget of 1884
shows 364,000 roubles compulsory, and 296,000
non-compulsory, expenses.^ From these figures we
see under what limitations the zemstvo is placed,
even in the disposal of its own revenues. The first
thing it must do is to satisfy the demands of the
Government, and then, if anything Is left, it Is at
liberty to enter upon non-compulsory expenditure.
And non-corrrfTulsory expenditure is that for im
provements In agriculture, for schools, sanitation,
i.e. for all that is most Indispensable.
Fettered In this fashion in the financial arena,
the zemstvo is at the same time under the jurls-
1 " Data for the History of the Tver Zemstvo."
- "Report of the Zemstvo of Kherson, 1884.''

2 20 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
diction of the administration. All its decisions are
subject to the approval of the governor, who can
annul them If he thinks they are illegal or even
contrary to the general Interests of the State. The
governor has even the power of dismissing any
of the officials of the zemstvo he thinks not quite
sound. The administration has made much use
of this Irresponsible power. Frequently It acts in
the most treacherous way ; frequently the only
explanation of what It does is a desire to discredit
the zemstvo In the eyes of the people.
For example, the zemstvos, anxious to put an
end to official corruption, petitioned that those in
arrears with their provincial taxes, and the con
tractors in account with the zemstvos, should not
be eligible for public offices. The Government
refused. The zemstvos also failed to obtain for
their members freedom from arrest at the hands
of the inferior police. This the Government re
fused, although cases had occurred In which the
administration had made use of arrests as a means
of Influencing elections.
In order to bring about participation by the
peasants in business matters, the zemstvos asked
permission to vote salaries for the deputies. The
Government refused. Their petitions as to ques
tions of local Interest are Invariably rejected. The
governors interfere, in despotic fashion, with their
business. Thus, in 1877, the Governor of the
Tauride forbade a statistical Inquiry into the con
dition of the people. The primary schools of the
zemstvos are subject to a control so elaborate and
so detailed by the ministry, that the zemstvos are

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 221
no longer masters in their own house, and are
losing even the wish to do something for the
schools. On the other hand, if the zemstvos are In the
mind to speculate, the Government Is far more
Indulgent. It grants them concessions for railroads,
for the which they will give guarantees later on.
And the Government says nothing when the zemstvo
spends its money on the founding asylums for the
children of the nobles.
After many years of this, the Liberal party
understood with increasing clearness that without
limitation of the autocracy on which the adminis
trative despotism Is based, it Is useless to think
of any social activity. Hence the calling together
of the representatives of the people, under what
ever form. Is their dream. An assembly of repre
sentatives of the people, even one not vested by
the Government with any special powers, would
naturally be a moral force that would restrain, even
unconsciously, absolutism. To this end all Liberal
thinking tends.
The Liberals, therefore, avail themselves of every
pretext in order to try and persuade the emperors
to call together, either the representatives of the
people, or, at least, those of the zemstvos. More
than once the zemstvos have taken steps to obtain
for their representatives the right to meet in
general assemblies, in which they might treat
of matters that come within the scope of their
work. To begin with, they asked the right of
assemblage only for " neighbouring " governments,
and they pointed out to the Government that In

222 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
case of epidemics or locust plagues in the south of
Russia, and the like, general measures taken simul
taneously In many governments are Indispensable.
The more the Liberals tried to bring about these
assemblies, the more the Government was afraid to
grant them.
The revolutionary movement gave the Liberals a
pretext for moving with greater rapidity ; but their
policy was, as a rule, timid. It lacked sincerity,
and thus its attempts were abortive. Instead of
demanding the convocation of the representatives
of the people and the guaranteeing of the rights of
the Russian citizen, as measures absolutely necessary
for the country, the Liberals tried to convince the
Government that these were measures necessary for
the extirpation of sedition, In the real interest of the
Government and of the Tzar. They pointed out to
it that the police was not In a condition to fight the
revolutionary movement with any chance of success,
and that the popular representatives would be able
to do this with much greater success. One revolu
tionary journal, Forward, said cynically, that the
Liberals were begging the Tzar to take them as
watchdogs. This sarcasm hit the mark. For the
Liberals seemed to say that political liberty, liberty
of the press, and so forth, are only needed to exter
minate the people who more energetically than all
others demand these very things.
This line of action, apart from its wrong-headed-
ness, had the further drawback of revealing the utter
weakness of the Liberals, and convincing the Govern
ment that they never would dare to enter into open
conflict with It. At the same time. It by no manner

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 2 23
of means deceived the Government, who quite un
derstood the close relationship between the ideas
of the Liberals and of the Revolutionists. The
Government kept Its ground, and, not yielding an
Inch, simply listened to them, and humbugged
them, now by this tale, now by that.
So much firmer did the policy of the Government
become In this respect, that In the time of Alexander
II. It was almost at one with the reactionary party.
Count Dmitri Tolstoi, Katkov's friend and pupil, was
practically a representative of the Moscow Gazette
at the cabinet of St. Petersburg. Katkov was con
stantly denouncing the Liberal Intrigues. The
Government now and again showed clearly enough
that It was by no means taken In. Once it engaged
Professor Tsitovitch as editor of The Precipice, a
journal subsidized by the Government. This jour
nal appeared to be devoted simply to showing that
there was no difference between the seditious under
ground (the Revolutionists) and the seditious above-
ground (the Liberals). I do not know to what extent
these revelations were of use to the Government.
In any case It spent 200,000 roubles on the paper. If
my memory serves me ; ^ but the money was well
spent. This sort of thing is the favourite pastime
of the reactionary press ; and Katkov's smartest
articles are on this theme.
But I have not yet said what the Conservatives
or reactionaries are. To speak accurately. It is very
difficult to call them Conservatives. They do not
1 Diakov (pseudonym, Niezlobine), one of Tsitovitch's staff,
published in the Russian journals the details, whicn I have to
some extent forgotten.

2 24 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
defend the existing condition of things, but are try
ing to change it as resolutely as their opponents.
Their right name Is reactionaries ; they are the
antipodes of revolutionists. Whilst the ideal of the
latter Is a free society of free and cultured men
and women, that of the reactionaries is a society
hemmed in on all sides by authority, an individual
with mind and soul fettered by the prestige of reli
gion, of tradition, and the like. Their ideal is the
Russia of Nicolas I. Not very many in number,
the reactionaries are so much the more obstinate, as
they know they are going, as one of them, LIou-
brlmov says, against the current. " Against the cur
rent " is their true motto. They are opposed. In
fact, not only to progressive society as a whole, but
to the tendencies of the Russian people. Their
strength Is in the Government and in the exploiters
of the country, who for their shady intrigues need
absence of all publicity and an arbitrary despotism.
Generally, one may say, and that without the
least prejudice, that Russia's reactionaries are Its
scourge, not so much on account of their principles
—these were conquered long ago In Russia Itself — as
on account of the men composing their party — men
from the dregs of society, the worst elements of all
classes. But this very mode of recruiting their
forces gives to the reactionaries what the Liberals
have not : energy, decision, passion, the readiness
to risk everything to gain everything, and In this
they remind us of our revolutionists. It Is not for
nothing that they give asylum to all revolutionary
traitors, whose energy they appreciate better than
most people.

POLITICAL RUSSIA, 225
The second half of the reign of Alexander II, was
marked by a yet closer approximation of the Govern
ment to the reactionary party. The growth of the
revolutlonar}' movement, however, gave the Liberals
several new pretexts for making requests of the
Government ; It even gave them a certain amount
of stimulus. The Liberals felt a sense of shame in
seeing that whilst their own papers and reviews were
growing more and more powerless In face of the
administrative despotism, the revolutionists were
publishing secretly a whole series of journals ; The
Beginning, Land of Liberty, The Black Divid
ing tip of the Land, The Will of the People, etc.
The official declaration of the assembly of the Tver
zemstvo. In 1879, in bitterness of spirit complains
that " whilst the number of secret organs Is In
credible, those of the lawful press are compelled,
one after the other, to cease to appear." Whilst the
revolutionists are organizing their societies and pass
ing sentence of death on high State dignitaries, even
on the emperor himself, the Liberals dare not meet
for deliberation on the simplest needs of the people,
and are forced to submit to the despotism of the
most insignificant officer of police.
Under these circumstances, the Liberals begin to
discuss their organization as a society. At all events
the police reports state that In 1878 the most nota
ble members of the zemstvo held secret meetings at
Moscow, Kiev, Khorkov.^ The same reports speak
of a certain Liberal League, which. In concert with
the members of the zemstvo, organized In 1880. a
secret congress, at which it was resolved that a real
1 The General Cause, No. 54.
VOL. II. Q

2 26 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
representation of the people must be obtained at all
costs. These first attempts at union were few and
clumsy ; although they were not, perhaps, without
effect on the declarations of the zemstvo In favour
of a Constitution. These declarations were made
In 1879 and 1880, when the emperor, under the
pressure of the terrorist movement amongst the
revolutionists, stated In public at Moscow to the
representatives of the various classes of society, that
he believed in the support of his people. This same
appeal to society was repeated In the Government
Messenger. On the one hand, society was smitten;
on the other, its support was asked for. The bitter
complaints of the zemstvos made answer like an
echo. The assembly of the Tver zemstvo says. In its
official declaration, that It is quite ready to struggle
with the growing evil, i.e., with the revolutionists,
but that its hands and feet are tied by the adminis
tration. The Ministry of Public Instruction denies
the zemstvo all share In the education of the people,
and yet is not itself In a position to preserve the
schools from harmful influences. Each year the
secondary schools discharge one-eighth of their
pupils before their time Is up. These, disinherited
thus of their future, form a nucleus for the favourable
reception of all subversive Ideas. The students are
environed by suspicions and constraints that embitter
and destroy within them all respect for the law.
So contemptuously is the zemstvo treated by the
administration, that not only are its most humble
applications left unsatisfied — they are left unan
swered. The dignity of the law courts is under-

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 227
mined by administrative measures. The courts of
law can no longer protect the Individual ; he is
wholly at the mercy of the despotism of the ad
ministration. The press is suppressed. " Thus,"
says the zemstvo, " It Is Impossible for us to do
anything." The emperor has lately recognised the
necessity of granting free Bulgaria true self govern
ment, the inviolability of the rights of the individual
and of justice, freedom of the press. The zemstvo
of the Tver government hopes " that the Russian
people may enjoy the same privileges. These alone
can, at a sign from the emperor, make It possible
for the people to enter upon the path of a develop
ment, gradual, peaceful, legal."
This again Is the spirit of the 1879 report from
the commission of the Tchernlgov zemstvo. After
running over the usual list of grievances, the report
concludes thus. " The zemstvo of the Tchernlgov
government with unspeakable sorrow announces its
utter inability to take any steps whatever against
the evil, and considers It as Its duty to Inform the
Government of this." ^ The Government, however,
did not so much as condescend to pay any attention
to these declarations. It merely gave orders to
governors and the marshals of the nobility ^ to
watch the zemstvos yet more strictly than before.
At the close of 1879, however, e-vents occurred
which produced on the emperor a deeper impression
than that made by the voice of the people upon him.
1 " Opinions of the Zemstvo Assemblies on the Actual Situation
in Russia." 1883, Berlin.
2 " The marshals of the nobility " is the legal name for the
presidents of the zemstvo assemblies.

2 28 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
On November the 19th, 1879, under the very walls
of Moscow, the Imperial train was blown up ; and
on February the 5th, 1880, at the Winter Palace,
there was the terrific explosion that destroyed the
dinlng-hall. The emperor, by accident a little late
for the dinner, actually witnessed the terrible cata
strophe at the threshold, which luckily for him he
had not crossed a moment earlier. Between the
two explosions many arrests were made in Moscow.
At the same time two secret printing-presses and
certain dynamite bombs were seized. Other inci
dents of that time, — the murder of the spy Jarkov,
the obstinate, desperate resistance to the seizure of
the Will of the People printing-press, during which
sixty revolver shots were fired on the two sides. —
showed the emperor the strength of the revolu
tionary movement. At that time this strength
was strangely exaggerated. At St. Petersburg there
was hourly expectation of the outbreak of the revo
lution. The emperor thought he was on the brink
of ruin, and on a sudden he made up his mind to
grant certain concessions. He sent for a well-
known Liberal, Count Loris Melikov, and gave him
unlimited power, with a view to the restoration
of order.
Here a very Interesting period of the contempo
rary history of Russia begins. It Is one of which It
Is difficult to speak. As yet everything is shrouded
in mystery, that the gossip of the town at once dis
pels and re-forms, and we find ourselves, strive as
we may, In the realm of tales and rumours. I know
that in what follows I shall blunder times and again.
Any one would, and I am simply frank enough to

&

POLITICAL RUSSIA, 229
tell the reader beforehand. The worth of my story
is only that I try to be strictly impartial, and so, I
hope, am more near the truth than most of the nar
rators of the end of Alexander I I.'s reign and the
beginning of that of Alexander III,
The Liberal party never had a more favourable
moment for action. The emperor had called to
office a man whom the Russian Liberals were will
ing to recognise as their representative and leader.
Count Loris Meilkov's popularity in Russia was
immense. Why, It Is difficult to say. Popiilarlty,
like Fortune, has favourites, and Count Loris Meli
kov had a grand opportunity. Of great ability, far
more Intelligent and cultured than the ordinary Rus
sian statesman. Count Melikov gained his reputation
when he was ataman of the Cossack army on the
Terek. It Is true that there were at that tlnre- those
who saw In the Count more of the shabby trickster
than of the really large-minded, capable man of
affairs. Of Armenian origin, he has retained some
thing of the Asiatic In his nature. Of great energy,
but with a distaste for, and distrust of, straightfor
ward dealing, he prefers all sorts of ruses, dodges,
devious ways.
He has shown these qualities even In war. In the
which he gained much glory by the taking of Kars.
His abilities as a general are beyond question, and
his personal bravery well known. Yet he took Kars
by money and Intrigue rather than force of arms.
At all events, everybody declared that the storming
of Kars was a " put-up job," and that the fortress
fell rather in consequence of the Count's secret
negotiations with the Turkish authorities and the

230 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
Armenian leaders of the town — negotiations watered
by a rain of gold.
Again, the Count was for a while Governor-Gene-
ral of Kharkov, a post to which he was appointed to
quell sedition there. In It he earned once again the
gratitude of the people. At a time when the life of
the Inhabitants of St. Petersburg, Kiev, Odessa, was
at the mercy of the police, Kharkov Wfis, so to say,
a quiet isle, wherein the dweller slept calmly, with
the certainty that the gendarmes would not, — at all
events without some special reason, — burst into his
wife's bedroom.
In 1879 Loris Melikov had again a chance of dis
tinguishing himself Towards the close of 1878,
Russia was terror-stricken by the news that the
plague had broken out in VIetllanka, at the mouth
of the Volga. The emperor appointed Loris Meli
kov director of the measures to be taken against the
pestilence. It Is said that the Count carried out
with great energy the sanitary measures necessary;
but it is difficult to say in this case where his virtues
end and chance begins ; for, as a matter of fact,
at the time of his appointment the epidemic was
already over.^ Whatever was the actual state
of affairs, there was not a single case of the plague
In the Volga after he came, and his success seemed
astounding. Again, when the Winter Palace cata
strophe occurred, the Count was called to St.
Petersburg. The calling Loris Melikov to the ministry. In
preference to any one else, was In itself a con
cession. He had the reputation of being a liberal
1 "Forensic Medicine Report, 1880."

POLITICAL RUSSIA, 23 1
man. Kochelev, In his " Memoirs," speaks more
than once of conversations with Loris Melikov, and
of the friendly relations between him and the count,
whom he regards as holding the same opinions as
himself Now the opinions of Kochelev, leader of
the Liberal party In the zemstvo, are well known.
He Is a monarchist, but he is at the same time the
sworn foe of bureaucracy, the friend of local self-
government, of freedom of speech and of the press.
Recognising In the Tzar an absolute monarch, he
looks upon the presence of a national assembly near
the Tzar, to be consulted by him, as essential. On
the necessity of this zemsky-sobor (national assem
bly) Kochelev had presented a memoir to the
terrible Nicolas himself
Loris Melikov was regarded as even more liberal.
It is quite likely that had Loris Melikov at once
made the calling together of the representatives
of the people by the emperor a condition sine qua
non, the emperor would have consented. But the
count did nothing of the sort. Perhaps he did not
himself understand all the Importance of this step ;
perhaps courage failed him, and he did not care to
put the question to the Tzar point-blank. Perhaps
he did not care to run the risk of a rupture, and pre
ferred to take a method less hasty. Whatever were
the reasons, he pursued a course altogether different.
He put an end to the State of siege. He allowed
the press to speak. He authorized the starting of
certain new journals. Deportations and arrests be
came quite rarities ; some repentant revolutionists
were pardoned by the count. For some months
Russia breathed freely. On his part, the count

232 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
seemed hesitating, feeling his way carefully. He
was as if preparing for he knew not what. He tried
to form a party in the Government ; he surrounded
the throne with new ministers. He induced Alex
ander II. to dismiss Count Dmitri Tolstoi. Every
one applauded this step. The press followed with
Its maledictions the fallen minister, and when Tol
stoi, after his retirement Into private life, presented
himself as candidate for the zemstvo in the province
of his birth, he was not elected. Alas ! press and
zemstvo little thought that in two years he whom
they were Insulting would take a startling ven
geance on them. They were in triumph, and the
Liberal press cried aloud, ''Ex oriente hix !"
Yet another surprise did Count Loris Melikov
give society ; although this one was much after the
habitual tricks of governments. He Induced the
Tzar to abolish the terrible Third Section.' This
was a mere phrase. The political police was not
got rid of by this decision ; only Its name was
changed. This reform only served to show to any
one of shrewdness that the count. Instead of under
taking real reforms, was already embarked on the
sea of mystifications. But society did not see this
yet ; It went on Its way rejoicing.
When the count came Into office, he found the per
sonal surroundings of the emperor in a very mixed
condition. For some time past Alexander II. had
been carrying on a liaison with the Princess Cathe
rine Dolgoroukova, scion of a noble but poor family.^
^ That of the political police.
^ 2 he Common Cause, No. 48, article on " Princess lourievskaia,
ex-empress."

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 233
The affair was not, however, as venal as are most of
the same sort. The emperor really cared for the
princess so much that the imperial family was uneasy
and dissatisfied. The wife of the heir-apparent,
they say, was especially offended.
In the middle of all this, just after the advent of
Loris Melikov to power, the empress died. A new
complication. Up to that time. It is said, that Loris
Melikov had been able to keep on the best of terms
with the Tzarevitch. According to the gossip of the
town, they were working together with the object
of making the Tzar favourable to certain necessary-
reforms. After the empress's death, the emperor
resolved to marry Princess Dolgoroukova, who. If
we may believe the statements made by Victor
Laferte,^ exercised a very great Influence over him.
Loris Melikov at once began to join forces with the
princess. He was to support the project of her
marriage with the emperor, whilst she was to give
him her help in respect to his plans for reform.
In any case. It Is said that at the outset the
Princess lourievskaia looked upon measures of
reform as Indispensable ; and In this there Is nothing
impossible, for as she did not belong in reality to
the world of courtesans, she had certainly the oppor
tunity of observing the situation of affairs In Russia.
The princess knew that in her wish to marry the
emperor, she would be opposed by all the upper
classes, and, as a consequence, she should try to
^ " Unpublished Details of Alexander II. 's Life and Death."
The writer, who signs himself Victor Laferte, is clearly an intimate
friend of the Most Serene Princess lourievskaia, the title of the
Princess Dolgoroukova.

2 34 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
make herself generally popular by supporting liberal
proposals. Her projected marriage with the em
peror was kept the closest secret, especially from
the heir-apparent, so that when, one fine morning,
the emperor presented her to the Tzarevitch and the
Tzarevna as his wife and their mother, it was a
thunder-clap to them. The Tzarevitch was very
angry with Count Loris Meilkov's conduct, and In
all probability this feeling had much to do with his
fall. At least this is the common gossip.
Strange to say, as soon as Princess lourievskaia
became almost an empress, for by law she could not
be a full-blown one — as soon as the rumour got
abroad that the Tzar Intended to have her crowned
(a false report probably) — as soon as Loris Melikov
was the close friend of the emperor, there was no
more talk of reforms. For over a year Loris
Melikov was In power ; for over a year no act of
violence was committed by the revolutionists ; for
over a year Russian society waited, and no reforms
came. But this was not all. Melikov urged the Liberals
not to give way to Illusory ideas. In a private talk
with Kochelev, he declared that he had lost all
hope of obtaining from the emperor his consent to
a summoning of the national assembly.^
Nor was even this the end. Gradually reprisals
against the press, arrests began again. It is true
Loris Melikov worked out a plan of Indispensable
reforms for Russia, among which. It Is said, were the
extension of the self-government of the zemstvo,
extension of the liberty of the press, certain
' " Kochelev's Memoirs."

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 235
measures for the bettering the peasants' condition.
He even had an Idea of convoking an assembly of
governors, marshals of the nobility, representatives
of high standing In the zemstvo and the towns,
whose work would be to discuss these proposals.
Victor Laferte, whose evidence Is confirmed by
certain statements in the public press, states even
that the decree for the summoning this assembly
was signed by the emperor almost on the eve of his
death. Of course all these plans were far other than
those that Russia had hoped for. Those to be
summoned were notables, not representatives. Only
certain measures were to be submitted to them, and
not the condition of the country as a whole. And
the calling of these men together was kept a pro
found mystery, as If It was the personal affair of the
emperor, and not any concern of the country that
was waiting, full of anxiety, for some solution of the
intolerable situation. Alexander II. was terrified;
he hesitated. It Is extremely probable that he
would have withdrawn his decree that .summoned
together the notables.
In the midst of his hesitation came the explosion
of the i-i3th of March, 1881. The emperor died
almost on the spot. As suddenly, Alexander III.
found himself master of Russia, at a time full of
embarrassment. The fatal element in all questions of political
reforms in Russia Is this : that when the country Is
silent, even from motives of policy, the emperors
draw thence the conclusion that It Is content, and
that concessions are therefore useless. When the

236 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
country begins to rebel, or even merely to formulate
Its demands, the autocrats discover that It Is not
consistent with their honour to grant concessions
under pressure.
On the coming to the throne of Alexander III.,
the voice of the people spoke out with no uncertain
sound. Here It is enough to call to mind the
opinions of the press during the days immediately
after the i-i3th of March, even whilst the emperor's
corpse was still lying In the Winter Palace. " The
will of the Most High is accomplished," wrote
Order. " Now nothing remains but to bow before
the immutable will of Providence, and, without
entering upon a useless struggle with that will, to
consecrate all efforts to the laying of a lasting
foundation for the future. It Is not of a pfernicious
reaction . . . that we now must speak. . . .
Sire ! severe restrictive measures have proved their
own Insufficiency. Ask your own people In the
person of their chosen representatives."
" Why," cried The Country, " why should the
responsibility of everything that Is done In Russia,
of economic blunders, of reactionary measures, of
deportations Into eastern Siberia, rest upon the head
of the Russian nation alone ? The Incapable coun
sellors, the leaders of reaction, are to-day safe and
sound, — and our Tzar, the emancipator, has perished."
And the same journal ends thus : " Fundamental
measures of internal policy ought to be Inspired by
the nation's representatives, and upon them should
rest all responsibility. The person of the Tzar
must be In the future no more than a symbol — of
equal significance to all men — of our national unity.

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 237
of our Strength, and of the growing prosperity of
Russia." The Voice said : " From all the foregoing facts
stands out clearly the necessity of founding a national
organization that will be able, in concert with the
Government, to contribute to the prosperity of the
country dear to us all. It Is absolutely necessary to
resume those reforms Interrupted by sedition, and to
do this by an appeal for help to all the forces of the
nation." Utterances of this kind were rife in most
of the journals. Kindred ones came from the
zemstvos. In the addresses of condolence to the
emperor on the death of his father, more or less
direct allusions were made to a constitution by the
governmental assemblies of Samara, Novgorod,
Kazan, Tver, RIazan, by the assembly of the
zemstvo of the provinces of Sollgalitch, by those of
the nobles of Samara and of Tchernlgov, and by
the municipal council of Kazan. In many places
this was not done, from a sentiment of delicacy.
This was the case e.g. In the zemstvo of the Tauride,
which was of opinion that " It would be wanting In
tact to speak of the Constitution to the Tzar just
at the time when his heart was torn with filial
anguish." This sentiment of delicacy was not unnatural,
and was shared by the revolutionists themselves. In
point of fact, when the executive committee sent to
Alexander III. its declaration as to the necessity of
convoking a constituent assembly, it made excuses
for speaking at such a time, and said that nothing
but the Impossibility of losing time when Russia
was In a position so Intolerable forced the com-

238 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
mittee to ignore " that natural sentiment of delicacy
which asked that a more favourable moment should
be waited for."
Even without these utterances from the country
generally, the emperor had still in his hands his
father's decree — probably bearing his father's signa
ture — convoking the notables.
It Is true that the Government's attention was
absorbed by something else — the securing the em
peror's personal safety. All through the city
numberless domiciliary visits, and arrests not less
numerous, took place. At the same time an asylum
of safety was sought for the emperor, and the
palaces were searched from roof to basement. All
round the Annitchkov Palace a deep ditch was
dug, if haply there might be a mine somewhere
or other.
Despite all these varied occupations, the fate of
the decree had to be settled. Whether to issue it
or not ? If the decree was a kind of last will and
testament of Alexander II. — the expression In
¦ some measure of his last wishes, — It was unbecoming
that It should not be carried out by his son. But
to summon the notables was to pledge himself at
a stroke to liberal views. The reactionary party
began to bestir Itself The Grand Duke Vladimir,
the Tzar's brother, and once, they say, pretender to
the throne, was especially noisy. It Is said that
the late empress for a time hoped she might be
able to induce Alexander to abdicate in favour of
Vladimir, who Is looked upon as the ablest of the
Imperial family. He Is, In fact, a man of great
energy, although a terrible despot and reactionary.

POLITICAL RUSSIA, 239
He protested loudly against any Idea of concession,
and was the very fulcrum of the reactionary party.
The Tzar was In doubt what to do. A week
after his father's death he summoned an extraor
dinary sitting of the ministerial council. At this
the storm broke out. Loris Melikov was accused
of desiring to overthrow the autocracy. He grew
angry, and showed with much warmth that reforms
were necessary to the consolidation of the monarchy
itself When the question was put to the vote, by
a majority of 9 to 5 the council declared for the
Issuing the decree. The emperor thanked the
majority for their plain speaking, — and did nothing.
All this time the reactionary party was not idle.
From every side It brought influence to bear on
the Tzar, Devotion without limit, full of self-
abnegation, was shown him. Seeing that the
question of the Tzar's personal safety dominated the
politics of the moment, the faithful conceived the
idea of founding a secret society, with as aims the
protection of the Tzar and the putting down of
sedition. Thus ere long the Holy League came
Into existence.
At the same time, with the help of the reactionary
press, an active agitation was got up that was
quoted as evidence of the monarchical tendency of
public opinion. The Moscow Gazette, Conteinporary
News, Aksakov s Russia, uttered loud outcries
against seditition and the Liberals, supported mutual
espionage among inmates of the same house, and
so forth. Russia essayed to prove to the emperor
that the real cause of all the trouble was the dread
that the Tzar would make concessions, and that

240 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
everything would settle down as soon as the em
peror declared solemnly to his people his Immutable
decision to maintain intact the autocratic power.
The like pressure was brought to bear on
the Tzar by personal influence. To this end,
Pobiedonostsev managed to bring together the
Tzar and Katkov. But the most useful man to the
reactionaries was Aksakov. This Slavophile, well
known for his opposition to bureaucracy, had the
reputation of a perfectly honest man, in favour of
liberty of speech, of local self-government, of the
national assembly. Unfortunately, with a Slavo
phile all this is perfectly consistent with autocracy
and with absolute antagonism to any constitutional
government. Russia Is a country with a civilization of Its own.
It must have a special arrangement, by virtue of
which an absolute autocracy should agree to grant
Its subjects the privilege of being free. This
theory, the absurdity of which Is perfectly under
stood by Pobiedonostsev and Katkov now, was
none the less very useful to them. Aksakov, with
much eloquence, proved to the Tzar that his first
duty was the guarding of absolute power, and after
that " to act according to his own inspirations."
No one understood the meaning of the second part
of this programme ; but the first part pleased the
Tzar all the more as It was laid down by a man
whom every one respected.
Thus the Reactionaries were a compact party,
acting In unison and with skill. Its leaders,
personally and without Intermediaries, directed the
great body of their followers, organizing them and

POLITICAL RUSSIA, 24 1
attaching them to the party by their individual
interests. The Liberals, on the other hand, acted
without any common agreement, each as seemed
good to him. Men of liberal opinions were still In
power, but there was no bond between them and
their own party. Whilst the Reactionaries In their
journals used every effort to accentuate the protests
against a Constitution, the Liberal ministers closed
the mouths of their party organs at the least
allusion to the subject. In March and April the
Liberal ministry Issued against newspapers twelve
warnings, three suspensions, two forblddings of sale,
without reckoning a large number of prohibitions
from speaking on particular questions, of which the
Constitution was one.
It Is no use to say that the Liberal ministers
were afraid of the mere Idea of taking part in the
organization of the Liberal party with as an end the
exertion of systematic pressure on the Government.
It is true that the timid attempts at union noted
above still went on In the zemstvo. But they were
insignificant and abortive. The police reports
mentioned already declare that the Liberal League
did not refuse a certain support to the revolution
ists. As soon as they knew this fact, the members
of the zemstvo decided to cut themselves off from
all connection with the league. Their Kharkov
congress, of thirty members, passed a resolution that
they should pursue single-handed the realization of
their programme. This Included centralized popular
representation and the decentralization of the admini
stration. This group, taking as name " the Alliance
of the Zemstvos," admitted as means to these ends —
VOL. II, R

242 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
(i) Influence on the personnel of the Government >'
(2) Propaganda In society ;
(3) Action on society through the press.
In all these there is no trace of a decision to act
In any case by force. Moreover, this group worked
In complete isolation, and quarrelled even with the
Liberal League, which had also ceased to take part
In any active measures.
In fine, from end to end, the Liberals showed
that they were worthy one of another. Whilst they
kept reasoning and procrastinating, the Reaction
aries were acting.
When the postponement of the decree was ob
tained on March the 8th, the Reactionaries thought
of a very smart device. This was to Induce the
emperor to take some step or other that would once
for all separate him from the constitutional party.
To bring this about they wrote secretly a manifesto,
in which the Tzar was made to say plainly, " The
voice of God ordains that we place ourselves firmly
at the head of the Governrnent, trusting In Divine
Providence, and full of hope in the strength and
the justice of those absolute powers which we are
called upon to consolidate and to protect from all
assault" ^
This manifesto, copied almost word for word in
Aksakov's articles, was, It is said, not only written,
but printed without the knowledge of the Liberal
ministers, on whose heads it fell like a thunderbolt.
" It is treason ! " cried Loris Melikov, when he knew
of it. It was a clever stroke, Loris Melikov con
sidered it his duty to hand in his resignation. As
^ Manifesto of April 29.

POLITICAL RUSSIA, 243
for the emperor, apparently he did not very clearly
understand the gravity of the step he had taken.
At all events he was greatly astonished that the
Liberal ministers handed in their resignations after
the Issuing of the manifesto.^
Thus, within scarce a month of the accession of
Alexander III., the Reactionaries had gained a whole
series of marked successes, without reckoning the
fact that by degrees all the Liberal ministers were
got rid of — Gortchakov, Sabourov, Loris Melikov,
Mllloutlne, Abaza. The edifice on the building of
which Loris Melikov had been at work a whole year
was broken up in four weeks.
The Government was in the hands of the Reaction
aries ; yet the Liberals, as a body, were not yet
defeated. Their foes were still afraid of them. It
was still looked upon as necessary to make certain
concessions to them, or at least to effect certain
changes. The Government felt that it was weak,
and was. In reality. In a very precarious condition.
The question might Indeed be asked, whether at
that time Russia even had any Government.
The emperor withdrew to Gatchlna. This silent
palace of Paul I., already more like a fortress than
a palace, was fortified yet more strongly, was iso
lated yet more completely from the rest of the
world. A great army surrounded the Tzar on all
sides, guarded all avenues of approach to him. The'
position of Gatchlna was exceptional. It was a
junction for four railroads, by which one could travel
any whither — to Moscow, Warsaw, St. Petersburg,
1 " The Fiasco of Alexander II.'s Reforms." Also the General
Cause, No. 41.

244 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
Kronstadt, abroad. And this could be done In
perfect secrecy. There the emperor passed his
time In perfect solitude. Access to him was exceed
ingly difficult ; every one that came to see him was
searched. With so much mystery did the Tzar in
vest his rare departures from Gatchlna, that when
he went to see the Emperor William, his own
ministers did not know he was gone, and came
with their usual reports to the palace.
Under such circumstances, to bring the personal
Influence of the Tzar to bear on the conduct of affairs
became a matter of great difficulty. This would
not have mattered much under ordinary circum
stances, where affairs are directed by statesmen.
But Alexander 1 1 I.'s most intimate councillors had
not any official character. Pobiedonostsev, as pro-
cureur-general of the synod, could of course only
Influence other departments indirectly. Katkov,
the journalist, held no official place. The other
favourites. In whom the emperor had special con
fidence, were complete nonentities. It was as if
the Reactionaries deliberately left the government
of the country In anybody's hands,' In order to con
centrate all their attention on one point alone — the
getting hold, once for all, of the emperor. In fact.
Instead of making ministries, they hid themselves
away In quite secondary positions, but worked hard
at organizing the Holy League, at whose head
were, it Is reported, the Grand Duke Vladimir and
Pobiedonostsev. This society had for aim, as I have said, the pro
tection of the emperor and antagonism to the revo
lutionists. It was organized, according to its own

POLITICAL RUSSIA.. 245
admission, upon the plan of the " Executive Com
mittee," i.e., as a secret society thoroughly centralized
and militant. The State police had no control over
the Holy League ; In point of fact they were under
the surveillance of the League. The leaders of this
body were very wealthy. One source of their
wealth, in addition to many others, was the enor
mous fortune of Prince Demidov San Donato. This
odd person is of European notoriety on account of
his many eccentricities. With a fortune whose ex
tent he does not himself know, he was long ago
weary of all the pleasures of life, and. It would seem,
only went In for politics to get rid of his ennui and
to give some occupation to his worn-out Imagination.
He was attracted by the mystery of a secret society,
by Its pass-words, ciphers, mystic signs. Its death-
sentences Is.sulng from an unseen authority and
striking the condemned man with an Invisible hand.
In point of fact the Holy League did try to find
employment for Its members In work of this kind.
It is said to have pronounced sentence of death on
Hartmann, Krapotkine, Lavrov. In Switzerland
this gave rise to a strange event. A Russian woman
made an attempt on the life of a peaceable citizen,
whom, according to her account, she took for Lavrov.
The woman was found to be insane, but rumour
gave the Holy League the credit of the affair.
The League organized a secret police, whose
members kept the revolutionists under surveillance^
and possibly were themselves enrolled in the ranks
of the revolutionists. All this, probably, did not
escape the notice of the emperor himself A secret
society, wealthy, militant, with Its own police, per-

246 RUSSIA,, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
haps Its own army, might one fine morning turn all
these against the .emperor himself, if he was not
amenable to the ideas of these fanatics of reaction.
This uneasiness has, possibly, led to the formation
of another secret society, the Voluntary Defence.
The police reports state that this society enjoys the
particular and special confidence of the monarch.
In this fact there would be nothing remarkable. If
it Is true that the head of this league is Count
Vorontsov Dachkov. It Is a strange coincidence
that in the life of Alexander III. one comes con
stantly upon mysterious points of resemblance to
the lives of the most Ill-starred of the Tzars. He
was born, like Paul I., of a father killed by con
spirators ; like Paul I. he has taken refuge at Gat
chlna ; like Peter III. he Is intimately connected
with the family of Vorontsov Dachkov, a fatal house
to Peter III. One of the Vorontsovs was his most
devoted lover, and the mother of this Mademoiselle
Dachkov led, with an energy more virile than
feminine, a plot against Peter III. The present
Count Vorontsov Dachkov Is, for the rest, looked
upon as a man lacking in political strength and
keenness, but an honest follower of Alexander III.,
to whom he Is devoted heart and soul.
That this devoted ally is at the head of the Volun
tary Defence should be a guarantee to the emperor
against any kind of uneasiness. The Defence worked
on a much larger scale and with much more pru
dence than the League. It had for aim the watch
ing over the emperor's safety and the bringing about
of his coronation ; but It rejected all idea of political
murders. Enjoying as It does the protection of

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 247
the Tzar, the society recruits its members almost, as
It were, by official invitations. As far as the army
Is concerned, this method of recruiting is actually
used. Connected as it is with the police, the society yet
Includes a considerable number of liberal members,
who thought that in this way they may be able to
Influence the Tzar in the direction of liberal reforms.
The most embittered reactionaries did not like this
society. Count Tolstoi hated it. But it grew, and.
It would seem, became for a time the centre of other
societies. Thus it entered into alliance with the
Holy League, on condition that the latter gave up
its plan of political murder, and at the same time it
came into relation with the Alliance of the Zemstvos.
For a time the latter, nevertheless, developed
rapidly, and even came to the determination to
publish a political journal for the benefit of the
world without, Free Speech.
The result of all these societies Is a general state
of confusion. Liberals, radicals, spies, honest re
actionaries, all are jumbled up together In a troubled
sea, wherein all men that are adroit enough can fish.
It is needless to say that in the ultimate Issue the
Liberals were not the fishermen. Mixed up with
spies, the men who might best have served them as
guides compromised, all their plans and all their
members known to the police, and yet no step of
importance having been resolved upon, the Liberals
were fore-ordained to defeat on the day that the
Government felt itself strong enough to overwhelm
them. In the bye-ways of politics, parties were forming

248 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
secret societies, trying to get hold of the Tzar, play
ing upon his fears and on his anxiety to be crowned
as soon as possible. At the same time, in the
official home policy of Russia there was a dead lock,
such as the country had never seen the like of
before. The Reactionaries of Intelligence and energy
either could not or would not take the reins ot
government. They confined themselves to urging
upon the Government the rooting out of the revo
lutionary spirit and the organization of the police.
The majority of the Liberals helped rather than
opposed them. Thus came to pass the terrible
" regulation as to measures to Insure the safety of
the State," to which Is appended, along with the
names of red-hot Reactionaries like Strlelnlkov, the
name of the well-known Liberal, Kokhanov. At
the same time the party of Reaction prevented any
Liberal of intelligence from reaching any of the
posts of Importance In the State. Power fell Inevit
ably Into the hands of people who, as nonentities,
excited no fear among either Liberals or Reaction
aries. Among these nonentities. Count Ighnatiev
stands out notably.
It is not my wish to enter into a discussion as to
the count's capacities ; but for a whole year the part
he played was of the saddest. He knew how to
prepare for the final triumph of reaction by means
from which Katkov and Pobiedonostsev had re
coiled. Nor do I know whether the count worked
by design or by accident. But on the assumption
that he knew what he was doing, and that he wanted
to do what he did, the principles of his system may
be analysed as follows : to remain passive, whilst at

POLITICAL RUSSIA. 249
the same time taking care that the most Incohei-ent,
meaningless rumours were spread everywhere
throughout the country, wearied out with a very
madness of disorder. It was necessary, to avoid
any concession to absolutism, to play off the
demands of the cultured class against those of the
so-called people, and at the same time to grant
nothing whatever to the latter.
In the solution of this problem — called the
" popular policy," — he made use of the reforms that
Loris Melikov had reckoned upon effecting. It
would have been awkward to leave untouched the
projects of Loris Melikov, seeing that they had
already been In part given to the public ; notably
the question of reform of the peasants' self-govern
ment, which, In the time of Alexander 1 1., had been
submitted to the zemstvos for consideration. These
reforms were the Instrument upon which Count
Ighnatiev played.
Before all things, he tried to secure himself
against the press. Terrible persecution of journals
set In. In the two years between the accession and
coronation of Alexander III., twenty- eight journals
suffered penalties of one kind or another. In all
they had forty-four warnings, and the same number
of penalties of other kinds — such as suspension. In
terdiction of sale, and so forth. Certain journals of
liberal tone did not bring out one-half their num
bers In the year. Thirteen journals were killed by
various means. At the same time Count Ighnatiev
created a Government press, entered Into negotia
tions with certain venal editors, started a journal for
the people. The Village Messenger, and created a

250 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
Special telegraphic agency, subsidizing it to the
extent of millions of roubles, for the promulgation
of " safe news,"
Thus Count Ighnatiev raised throughout Russia
a vast amount of discussion upon questions care
fully prepared by him. These were the reduction
of the sums to be paid as ransom for the land, the
hurrying on of that ransom, the facilities granted
the peasants by the renting of the Crown lands, the
direction and systematizing of peasant migration,
the suppression of drunkenness. The more Insigni
ficant the question raised, the greater fuss and stir
did Count Ighnatiev make about it. When drunken
ness was to be put down, masses were chanted
everywhere, appeals to the people made, the walls
placarded with proclamations against brandy. ¦
To make yet more noise. Count Ighnatiev called
together to deliberate upon these questions pre
tended representative people. In reality different
officials and others whom he thought fit to Invite,
for they were not elected. The suborned press went
Into ecstasies over this liberal Institution. Criticism
by independent organs was stifled by warnings and
suppressions, and the reactionary press, pointing to
the ridiculous meetings (and they were ridiculous)
of these " able men," showed with much raillery the
uselessness of " liberal measures."
With the inauguration, however, of the popular
policy, the Government could, without any difficulty,
declare In Its newspapers that the cultured class
ought not to be Impatient for political liberty. As
for the Constitution, that was quite useless, as the
emperor was now once again a Muscovite Tzar and

POLITICAL RUSSIA, 25 I
a popular Tzar. This playing at nationalism after
the old fashion gave quite a special flavour to the
" popular policy." For months together nothing
was spoken of In Russia but the necessity of re
storing the ancient regime in the court, the resto
ration of squires and chamberlains, alteration of
uniforms (even at times of great danger the em
peror busied himself with this) after the Russian
fashion. In accordance with the Russian taste. At
court and fashionable balls the grand folk appeared
rigged out in the dress of boyards, knights, diaks
(secretaries) with ink-horn at girdle.
All this was hailed with deep emotion and
ecstatic enthusiasm by Aksakov and Souvorine.
Clearly Russia was at last upon the highway to
national development. The newspapers pictured
to the nation a fantastic vision of a peasant Tzar,
benevolent, single-souled, the father of his people.
What was society generally doing ? What were
the Liberals ? Assuredly they were standing to
their guns. A liberal organ was proclaimed. They
straightway rallied round another. The members
of the zemstvo besieged the Government with
demands and suggestions on every possible oppor
tunity, e.g., the zemstvos of Novgorod, KIrilov,
Tver, again and again represented the absolute
necessity of a representation of the ' people. But
their voices were timid, and very soon, after one or
two attempts, fell silent. Moreover, the ministry
had taken steps to prevent any utterances of this
kind. The governors had orders not to permit for
the future any discussion in the zemstvos of
questions of this nature. The President of the

252 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
KIrilov zemstvo was unseated, and the statement
of his zemstvo was, by order of the governor, not
printed. In the government of Vladimir, the governor,
opening the session of the zemstvo, begged It "not
to go beyond the limits " of its programme. The
petition of the Samara zemstvo in respect to the
" eligibility of the able men " was never put to the
vote. At Kherson the governor refused to allow
a petition of the same kind to be discussed. In
view of these steps, the desire of the zemstvo to
ask for an assembly of representatives took a form
constantly more timid. Thus the assemblies of
Kharkov and Tchernlgov asked that questions
relating to the peasant administration, which the
Government had submitted to them for. discussion,
should be investigated by a " congress of represent
atives of all the zemstvos," and twelve governmental
assemblies of zemstvos expressed a hope that the
" able men " should be elected, and not merely
nominated by the Government.
Some of the assemblies, e.g., that of Novgorod,
had the audacity to support their petitions by
quoting the fact that their members were forbidden
to take any part In the congress of " able men."
unless at the direction of their zemstvo.
All these abortive attempts are of Interest In one
sense. They show the Inclinations of the Russian
people. Upon the Government they had no effect
seeing that the Government failed to see in them
any determination to support by force that which
was asked for. Such a determination was seen
neither In the alliance of the zemstvos, which, more-

POLITICAL RUSSIA, 253
over, was always very few in number, nor In the
small Liberal groups that had held on to the
" Defence." All these men, all these innumerable but dis
jointed groups, trembling before the Government,
trembling before the plebs, antagonistic to any act of
violence, making proof for a whole year of their
utter ineptitude for plans and plots — no longer
moved the Government to fear. They themselves,
to tell the truth, were anxious that this should come
about, as they thought that the moment fear was at
an end, a new era of political liberty Inaugurated by
the Tzar would begin. The very opposite of this
happened. The revolutionists alone continued to trouble the
Government. But the police at this time unearthed
many men of remarkable ability : Soudieikine es
pecially, a man almost of geniality In his particular
way, although Inwardly pondering ambitious plans
that would have made the Government's hair stand
on end had It known of them. Soudieikine or
ganized the police remarkably well, and on more
than one occasion completely spoilt the plans of the
revolutionists. As far as these were concerned,
Pobiedonostsev and Katkov, if not the emperor,
could be much more at ease.
Further, Ighnatlev's policy, certainly unworthy of
a real statesman like Tolstoi or Katkov, was already
played out. It had taken the heart out of all
Russian society, begotten a general chaos, jumbled
lip all men's ideas in an indistinguishable heap,
without form and void, so that even socialists and
democrats could group them around the " peasant

2 54 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
Tzar," and at the same time, under csgisoi that Tzar,
Jews and landlords could be massacred.
It was time to make an end of profiting by dis
order, and to Inaugurate order. The emperor dis
missed Ighnatiev, and summoned Count Tolstoi.
" Count," he may have said, " you are the only man
In Russia I can nominate Minister of the Interior."
Tolstoi made answer that he was at the Tzar's ser-
vice, but was not aware if his views had the honour
of meeting with his majesty's approval. " I do
not," he explained, " understand the peasantry of
Russia at all. To me the strength of Russia, as
of all countries, lies In the cultured classes and the
growth of civilization. I am quite conscious of the
fact that I was persistently the antagonist of the
reforms of the preceding reign." By the cultured
classes. Count Tolstoi understood the nobles ; by
the growth of civilization, increase in the police.
Although the emporer had for a year played the
part of the peasant Tzar, he. In his blindness, en
dorsed the ideas of the count, who did not under
stand the peasantry of Russia at all. The popular
policy dies out, and we enter upon the present con
dition of affairs.
The party of reaction had once for all resolved to
take an open part In the Government. For a time
it still was almost wholly inactive, and spent all Its
energies In bringing to a happy end the emperor's
coronation, which, as all the world knows, took place
In the most satisfactory way, in the midst of several
thousand members of the Defence, countless police,
and a fictitious populace hired at an exceedingly
moderate fee.

POLITICAL RUSSIA, 255
Thus the struggle between the two parties ended
in the complete victory of that of reaction. At the
present time all their energy is devoted to the con
solidation of their power, and to the establishing in
Russia of a condition of affairs In harmony with
their ideas. Secret societies are suppressed by the
Tzar. The police enter once again upon that arena
of activity allowed them by the law, and the limits
of which are infinitely wider than they have ever
been. Legislation is beginning to destroy, one by
one, the meagre reforms of Alexander II. The
press is subject to the censorship.^ The autonomy
of the universities Is suppressed. Trial by jury with
difficulty Is maintained, after undergoing infringe
ment upon infringement. All the dreams of the
days of Melikov and Ighnatiev are vanished.
But to this triumphal march of reaction, one thing
alone Is wanting — the support of the people. This
It tries to gain by an endeavour to make a resur
rection of the nobility and the clergy. The public
treasure Is squandered by the thousand, to resus
citate these moribund ones. The Reactionaries are
scheming to give over the zemstvo into the hands
of the nobility, the schools Into those of the clergy.
With a view to raising the caste feeling of the
nobles. It Is said that the Tzar will, from this time
forth, be the sole source of this high dignity. A
bank has been started in aid of the extension of the
landed property of the nobles.
The work of the party of reaction is In full swing.
What Is to be the issue ? Will the will of Katkov
1 By the new law, each journal or review is under the censor
ship after one warning.

256 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
make of Russia a country of gentlefolk, peacefully
taking their ease In the shadow of a policeman's
baton ." Or will this attempt to " turn currents
aside " end in a terrific explosion, like that of a
volume of steam hermetically sealed in a caldron
heated white-hot ?

APPENDIXES.

A. Statistics of the National Revenue.
B. The Term Nihilists.
C. Subjects interdicted by the Censorship.
D. Partition of Lands.
E. Works Quoted.

VOL. II.

APPENDIX A.
STATISTICS OF THE NATIONAL REVENUE.
In spite of my wish to do so, in estimating the
Russian national revenue, I have not been able
to make use of the estimates to be found in the
literature on this subject.
In most cases the figures are too much out of
date, and frequently I do not agree with the
authors, — not even with their system of reckoning ;
above all, I cannot endorse evident errors, such,
for example, as those Into which Schnltzler has
fallen.-^ He estimates the national revenue at
1 6 milliards, but he only arrives at this figure by
rating the silver rouble at 4 francs. This author,
whose erudition is beyond question, apparently
confounds the silver rouble, — which is simply the
name of the paper rouble, — with the metal rouble.
Russia Is thus made at least 20 to 30 per cent.
richer than she really Is. Next, we frequently find
In Schnltzler, as in the other statisticians, a two
fold enumeration of products ; thus they reckon
the labour of horses and cattle, forgetting that this
i
1 J. H. Schnitzler : "L'Empire des Tzars au point de vue actuel
de la Science." Paris, 1869.

26o RUSSIA, political AND SOCIAL.
labour Is already estimated under the agricultural
products, forests, and so forth.
Again, the statisticians try to reckon and include
In the general sum of the national revenue the
value given to products by commerce. Without
denying the scientific Interest of this question, I
believe that in practice this method of calculation
leads to confusion, and to a double estimate of the
same product. In. fact, if we estimate the product
by Its average price in the market, the value of
the merchant's labour Is already included. And
If we estimate the product otherwise than by Its
price in the market, we must Infallibly end In arbi
trary hypotheses. The wish to avoid errors, of
which I have here Indicated only a small portion,
and the necessity of conforming to the latest statis
tical reports, have Induced me to make a calculation
myself of the national revenue. Still I retain the
older figures of the economists wherever the figures
are In agreement with contemporary facts.
The greatest part of values in Russia Is produced
by rural economy. The following Is the quantity
of corn of the 1883 harvest, which I reckon accord
ing to the average market-price during the last few
years (the cost of seed deducted) : —
t. Wheat.
28,602,000 tchetv., at 9 roubles
each  = 257 million roubles.
2. Rye.
66,059,000 tchetv., at 7 roubles
each  = 492 miUion „
3. Oats.
67,67 r, 000 tchetv., at 4 roubles
each  = 270 million „

APPENDIXES. 261
4. Barley.
16,792,000 tchetv., at 5 roubles
each  = 83 million roubles.
5. Buck-wheat.
9,442,000 tchetv., at 7 roubles
each  = 66 million ,,
6. Other grains (millet, peas, beans, maize, etc.).
'SiT^SjOoo tchetv., at 6 roubles
each  = 95 million roubles.
The official returns of the harvest of 1883 do not
include the Northern Caucasus and Siberia. Yet
we must estimate the crop there as at least 20
millions (these figures probably are below the actual
ones), worth 120 million roubles. Thus the total
amount of the grain harvest is 224 million of
tchetv., worth 1,383 million roubles.
The potato crop, according to the same returns,
was in European Russia, 32,351,000 tchetv. Esti
mating the Caucasian and Siberian crops at \\
million tchetv., we have a total of 33,851,000
tchetv., yielding, at i rouble 50, a sum of 48 million
roubles. The quantity of hay and straw, according to the
latest returns, Is as follows : —
Hay.
4,000,000,000 pouds at 10 kop.
each  = 400 millton roubles.
Straw.
2,000,000,000 pouds at 5 kop.
each  = 100 million „
Plants for spinning. (" Military Statistics Report,"
vol. iv.)
(a) Flax in yarn, r2,ooo,ooo
pouds at 4 roubles each . = 48 million roubles.

262 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
{b) Flax in seed, 25,000,000
pouds at I rouble each . = 25 million roubles.
{c) Hemp in tow, 6,ooo,poo
pouds at 2 roubles each . = 12 million
{d) Hemp in seed, 25,000,000
pouds at I rouble each . = 25 million
The returns for orchards and kitchen-gardens
are so difficult to estimate, that I accept the old
figures of Tengoborsky (" Studies of the Producdve
Forces of Russia "), 60,000,000 roubles.
Beetroot. — The sugar refineries alone absorbed (in r883)
20,000,000 berkovets. This gives, reckoning the berkovet
at I rouble, 20,000,000 roubles.
Tobacco. — According to the returns of 1878, 3,500,000
pouds were gathered in. This, at 2 roubles the poud, gives
7,000,000 roubles.
Grapes. — The quantity of wine in Russia is estimated at
about 5,000,000 vedros, at 80 kop. the vedro, yielding
4,000,000 roubles.
Dyeing plants yield about 2,000,000 roubles.
The total products of agriculture may thus be reckoned
at 2,130 million roubles.
In spite of the absence of any regular forest
cultivation, the vast forests of Russia yield much
produce to the population. In many places wood-
rafting and the distilling of tar and resin are the
principal occupations of the people. Moreover, the
consumption of wood in Russia is very great. The
majority of the population live in wooden houses,
use wooden plates, dishes, . and utensils ; wood is
used for firing,' even In the factories, on railways, etc.
The sum total of products derived by the Russians
from their wood is, according to Bouchene, 750
million roubles. These figures are understated
rather than exaggerated. But It should be re-

APPENDIXES. 263
marked that in Russia the Income from the woods
Is not a revenue of capital, but a consumption of
capital. The destruction of the forests Is making
rapid strides, and gives rise to complaints all over
Russia. The other branch of rural economy, the breeding
of cattle, is also of the utmost importance to Russia.
According to the census of horses In 1882, their
number In European Russia alone was estimated at
twenty millions. There are not less than twenty-
four million head of cattle in Russia, fifty million
sheep, about 1,500,000 goats, over ten million pigs,
and, in smaller numbers, camels, reindeer, buffaloes,
etc. As to domesticated birds, their generally enor
mous number can only be guessed at. The products
due to this immense number of animals are varied
and abundant. Only, the value of the greater part
of the products due to the breeding of cattle has
already entered into the value of the agricultural
produce ; for example, everything created by the
labour of horses and cattle. In the same way the
value of manure, which brings In more to Russia
than her gold mines, has been reckoned in that of
the agricultural produce. We have at present, then,
only to take into consideration that part of the pro
duce of cattle-breeding whose value we have not
yet estimated. Thus, of the general valtie of horses,
we can set down only three million roubles for
hides, meat, and milk.
Cattle produce a mass of value beyond their worth.
Statistics give :
(a) Five million of hides, at five
roubles each . . . = 25,000,000 roubles.

264 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
(b) Meat(according to Bouchene) = 83,000,000 roubles.
W Fat  = r7,5oo,ooo „
{d) Milk (according to Tanson)
336 million vedros, at 30
kop. the vedro . . . . = 100,000,000 „
{e) Butter, over three million
pouds, at eight roubles
the poud  = 24,000,000 „

Total (cheese not included) . 250,000,000 roubles.

We cannot, however, Include the whole of this sum
in the national revenue, since the value of the fodder
consumed by the animals evidently enters into it,
and has already been considered in our calculation.
What sum must we deduct from 250 million roubles
for the sum that expresses the Increase of value which
the animals add to the fodder consumed ? Under
the conditions of Russian rural economy, the value of
the fodder may be set down at 60 per cent, upon the
general value of the products of breeding. I arrive
at this sum by the study of many tables. Conse
quently the actual Increase in the national revenue
created by the animals must reach about 1 00 million
roubles. The value of the products from the
breeding of wool-bearing animals is as follows : —
(a) Sheep-skins, two millions, at
one rouble apiece . . . = 2,000,000 roubles.
{b) . Mutton, ten million pouds . = 30,000,000 „
(c) Fat, three million pouds . . = 6,000,000 „
{d) Wool  = 42,000,000

Total  80,000,000 roubles.

Deducting the value of the fodder (about 50 per
cent), we have 40 million roubles.

APPENDIXES, 265
I believe about five million pigs are consumed in
Russia ; reckoning the average price per head at
about five roubles, and the value of the fodder at
about 30 per cent., we have a revenue of some
17,500,000 roubles.
The produce of bird-breeding Is rated — quite
arbitrarily — by Tengoborsky, at ten million roubles,
I have no data by which to correct these figures,
except that, taking into account the value of the
grain, they must be diminished by 20 per cent, that
is to say, they must be reduced to eight million
roubles. The actual yield of bird-breeding Is pro
bably much greater.
Finally, Russia exports abroad nineteen million
roubles' worth of cattle. Supposing that the value
of the forage is 50 per cent, of this sum, we may
add 9,500,000 roubles to the national revenue.
Altogether, the general sum of values added to
the national revenue by the breeding of animals may
perhaps be estimated at 1 76 million of roubles.
Bee culture and silk culture are not very import
ant branches of rural economy in Russia.
In Russia, properly so-called, silk culture is little
practised beyond the Caucasus, and does not enter
Into my calculations. Thus Russian silk culture
cannot produce more than Tengoborsky supposes,
— that is to say, about 1,200,000 roubles.
Bee culture, on the contrary. Is a purely national
branch of industry. At present In Russia nearly
700,000 pouds of honey are gathered, which, at
five roubles the poud, give 3,500,000 roubles; and
200,000 pouds of wax, at ten roubles the poud, i.e.
2,000,000 roubles. As a whole, the yield of bee

266

RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.

and of silk culture cannot be less than 7,000,000
roubles. The revenue from hunting Is estimated at about
four million roubles, that from the fisheries at twenty-
four million roubles. These figures are both, espe
cially the latter, much understated. Nevertheless,
In the absence of data by which to correct them,
they must be taken. It is, however, to be noted
that Russian fisheries, which might In such well-
stocked waters as the Sea of Azov and the Caspian
become a very lucrative branch of commerce, have
been for centuries carried on with a waste that Is
exhausting the supply with extraordinary rapidity.
Let us now pass to the working of the mines.
Here again the natural riches are very badly turned
to account.

{a) Gold .
(b) Silver . .
{c) Platinum .
{d) Lead . .
(e) Copper . , . 190,000
(/) Cast Iron . 22,000,000
{g) Iron & steel 30,000,000
{h) Coal. . . 120,000,000
(/) Salt . . 47,000,000
Total . .

Pouds. 2,641 .... 40 million roubles.
616 . more than | million ,,
r79 . less than ^ million „
74,000 . . . 2^ million ,,
2 million „

} ¦

78 million
8 million
24 million

155^ milhon roubles.

As to naphtha, it is but little worked In Russia
proper (Northern Caucasus). There are also large
naphtha springs in the land beyond the Caucasus,
but I do not include these In the Russian national
revenue. Let us pass on to industry proper.

APPENDIXES. 267
According to recent official returns (1882), in
European Russia (exclusive of Poland and Finland)
there are 57,000 workshops and factories, producing
a total of 1,126 million roubles. From these figures
however, 78 million roubles, already considered by
us under the preceding category, must be deducted.
The value of the raw material Is, according to
Schnitzler, 23 per cent, of the value of the product.
This figure differs absolutely from the returns of
Russian statistics. To judge from the factories of
Moscow, where the value of the raw material varies
from 10 per cent to 85 per cent upon the value
of the product, we may assume an average value
for raw material of 60 per cent Thus the Industry
of factories and workshops in European Russia
adds about 420 million roubles to the national
revenue of Russia. We must further add to this
sum nearly three million roubles created by the
Russian Industries of the Caucasus and Siberia.
Finally, a very considerable amount of value is
produced by small industries, that of the koustars
and artisans. Here the data of official statistics
are even less reliable than for the great Industry.
If we took the figures put together in the " Summary
of Military Statistics," and if we rated the value of
raw material at sixty per cent (although it must be
less), the general Increase of national revenue for
this kind of Industry would be about 80 million
roubles.^ Altogether, industry gives the national
revenue 503 million roubles.
' I select this figure as the least disputed one ; but occasionally
the production of the koustars is valued at three times this
amount.

208 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
As a general total, we get for the national Rus
sian revenue the sum of 3,740 million roubles, which
is equal to about 1 1 milliard francs, if we reckon the
rouble at three francs.
I regret, however, that these figures can only be
considered as approximately accurate.

APPENDIX B.
THE TERM NIHILISTS.
The militant section of the intelligtientia, that which
I call the revolutionary, has In Europe received the
strange name of Nihilist.
This title proves that the most erroneous notions
on the subject of Russian revolutionists are current
outside Russia. If In fact Europe understood the
Russian revolutionary movement, and that which Is
going on among the intelliguentia, this word would
certainly not have been used, any more than It Is
In Russia. The name. Indeed, Is only used among
us In a bad sense, and only by persons capable of
saying, " The anarchist party has at last attained
to power In England ; Mr. Labouchere Is Prime
Minister." In Russia there are journals capable of
writing such a phrase ; but if, relying on a telegram
of this description, I were to call Mr. Labouchere
an anarchist, it would prove only one thing — that I
was totally Ignorant of who Mr. Labouchere Is, and
of what anarchism Is.
The name of Nihilist arose In Russia under those
merely passing and fortuitous circumstances which
accompanied the Initial movement of the intelli-
269

270 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
guentia at the beginning of the reign of Alex
ander II,
Russia had just escaped from the yoke of the
rdgime of Nicolas, and was preparing to throw off
that of serfdom. Ideas, having burst their chains,
began to work feverishly. All Russia cursed the
past, and leaned out towards the future. A multi
tude of elements — but little enlightened, but little
educated — elements that came straight from the
streets, spontaneously gathered round the intelli-
gitentia. All men began reasoning, criticizing,
denying. Inquiring.
The fathers — the older generation of Russia, —
were frightfully corrupted by the reign of Nicolas ;
they felt themselves guilty towards Russia, towards
their children, towards their conscience. How had
they been able to bear the despotism of Nicolas ?
How had they been able to suffer, — and had they
suffered alone, — and to participate In all the frightful
abuses of serfdom ? How had they allowed science
to be persecuted for thirty-five years ? Whither had
all this led Russia? "^h^ fathers felt guilty; they
would have liked to have made themselves scarce,
to have sunk under the earth. The children — the
younger generation — could cry out with perfect free
dom, with all the force of a really honest indignation,
of young enthusiasm, and of Inexperience. Then
certain sides of Russian general philosophy, certain
characteristic traits of the intelliguentia, manifested
themselves in the most ridiculous and most exag-
gerated fashion. The tendency towards demo
cratic ideas manifested itself occasionally by the
most exaggerated aversion from everything that was

APPENDIXES. 271
aristocratic, from everything that smacked of the
nobility, and consequently from all the formalities of
superficial civilization. Uncleanly faces, dishevelled
hair, dirty and fantastic clothes were to be seen.
In conversation, to give proof of a wilful coarseness,
the language of peasants was used. Contempt for
the hypocritical and conventional formal morality,
contempt for the ridiculous traditions which had so
long been considered the expression of the wisdom
of the State, indignation at the oppression borne
by the individual — were expressed by an absolute
negation of authority of all kinds, and in the most
exaggerated tendency towards liberty.
All this certainly lent itself to caricature ; all this
allowed prejudiced persons to formulate against
the inteltigzientia the accusation of wanting to de
stroy everything, of admitting the sacredness of
nothing, of being without heart, without morality,
and so forth. Naturally the enemies of the intelli
guentia took advantage of this, and adopted with
delight the nickname invented by Tourgeniev In
his novel. Among the intelligitentia a few, from a
spirit of contradiction, and by way of provoking the
reactionists, began to adopt this name. Thus In
Niekrassov, a son, answering his father's reproaches,
says: "Nihilist; 'tis a foolish word. But if by It
you understand a frank man, who does not care to
live on the possessions of others, who works, who
seeks after the truth, tries that his life may not be
useless, who bites his thumb at every rogue and
occasionally knocks one down, then I don't see any
harm ; call me Nihilist Why not ? " ^
1 The works of Niekrassov. " The Library."

272 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
Nevertheless, only a small number among well-
known persons, like Dmitri PIssarev, for example,
accepted this nickname, and even then only, so to
say, for the moment Pissarev soon Invented another
title for himself and his co-religionists — the Realists,
a name which however met with but little success.
The absurdity of the word Nihilism was too pal
pable. Besides, the very facts which had called
forth the nickname naturally disappeared very
rapidly. The leaning towards outward manifes
tations gave way to positive work with redoubled
energy, and soon all these childish things, — the
women cutting their hair short, or exaggerated
rudeness of manner, — became discredited. Thus the
word Nihilism, which In earlier times had some
meaning, at least as caricature, a few years later lost
all definite significance. In Russia no serious writer,
even though he were reactionary, would use it to
designate the revolutionists. The word has passed
for ever into the domain of pamphlets and of Insults.
In Europe, on the contrary, the word Nihilism
has the greatest vogue. The strangest thing is,
this caricature is believed In as something real.
Nihilism is considered a special doctrine, founded
on personal negation of all positive Ideals. This is
repeated again and again, even In other works than
those of Cheddo-Ferottl.^ And this Is not remark
able. But It Is to be regretted that we do not find
much more accuracy In a writer so conscientious
and so erudite as M. Leroy-Beaulieu.
1 " Nihilism and the Future of Russia," by Cheddo-Ferotti.
This is a pseudonym under which a Russian who knows nothing
about Russia hides himself

APPENDIXES. 273
What is nihilism? M. Leroy-Beaulieu asks,
himself He answers that It is a morbid fact ; he
speaks of gross materialism, of absurd negation, of
immorality. He is even ready to enter Into an In
vestigation of the question whether the alimate of
Russia has or has not influenced the development
of nihilism. He Is even ready to say. In concert
with that poor old dotard of a prince, Mechtchersky,
that nihilism is a sort of neurosis engendered by
anaemia and the poor-bloodedness of the enlightened
class, who have probably not the means to live well.
A Russian, grateful to M. Leroy-Beaulieu for his
fine work, excepting only a few mistakes, could
only wish him from the bottom of his heart such
health as was enjoyed by the apostles of nihilism
quoted by him, — Hertzen, Bakounine, Lavrov,
Tchernychevsky, Netchaiev, etc. M, Leroy-Beau
lieu even sinks as low as giving the following
definition of " the doctrine of nihilism." " Take
the heavens and the earth, take the State and the
Church, the kings and the gods, and spit upon them.
That Is our symbol." ^
We may certainly admit that If by nihilism we
understand nonsense, nihilism and nonsense will
have one and the same meaning. But it is equally
true that with such methods of inquiry it is very
difficult to succeed In understanding the real mean
ing of words and of facts. And If we begin to ask
where in Russia is the " actual' fact" that might cor
respond to the word nihilism, we shall find nothing
but the general Intellectual movement that I tried to
describe in Books VI. and VII. This, as any one
' " Empire des Tzars," vol. i. p. 76.
VOL. II. T

2 74 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
can soon see for himself, has very little resemblance
to the definition given by M. Leroy-Beaulieu.
Assuredly the intellectual movement In Russia, as
elsewhere, may in certain individual cases give rise
to some ridiculous results, silly, lending themselves
to caricature, sometimes perhaps even criminal. It
Is precisely from these special facts that the notion
of nihilism has been built up, uniting them without
any reason Into one single Idea, although they had
no connection in reality. Thus In nature there are
creatures who have tails, others that have the scales
of lizards, others again with paws and claws like
tigers, some finally with wings. When you com
bine all these attributes In a dragon, you have before
you a creature of your imagination, and not a real
being. But although the dragon plays a very useful
part In stories with which to frighten children, it
has no place In natural history. In a serious
study of Russia, neither can nihilism as a doctrine
or a special tendency have a place. This Is why
the reader will not find the word nihilism in my
work. I use In this work, the Russian terminology,
which Is certainly the most correct in this matter,
and includes the following names : the enlightened
folk, or intelliguentia, the whole civilized class, that
bears within Itself the Ideas of light, of liberty, ot
democracy ; the revolutionists — that portion of this
social class that enters into an open struggle with
the Government
That which marks off the enlightened class Is not
a difference of opinion — there are only shades of
difference — but rather the choice of methods of

APPENDIXES. 275
action. Even quite recently, the Government Itself
has borne striking witness to the small theoretical
difference between the revolutionists and the in
telliguentia. " The liberty granted the press (?) has
been used by it," says the Government, speaking ot
the Liberal organs, " to preach theories found to be
In evident opposition to the fundamental basis of the
State and of society. . . . It was so formerly,
and to our deep regret It continues so now. The
columns of journals and reviews of a certain shade
of opinion are always marked by this tendency,
which has engendered Incalculable 111, and whose
connection with the criminal doctrines set forth In
the clandestine publications, cannot be doubted."
The similarity, not merely of ideas, but of tone and
manner of expression. In the clandestine press and
In a great many articles appearing in authorized
periodical publications. Is so great that It has In
duced the Government to suppose that In both cases
the same persons had written them.
The Ideas of the revolutionists are then far from
being so criminal, so subversive, so nihilist We
find in the revolutionists no special negation. The
enlightened class cannot deny, as a matter of
principle. But how could It do otherwise towards
a rigime that weighs so heavily upon the people,
and upon Individuality Itself ? Under such circum
stances the tendency towards negation cannot fail to
find expression ; and to understand It there is no
need for fantastic arguments as to the influence of
the Russian climate on nihilism. This negation has,
moreover, very definite limits. Tourgeniev, for
example, has declared In the press that he agreed

2'.76 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
In everything with Bazarov (his celebrated type of
the nihilist), with the exception of his Ideas upon
aesthetics. Consequently, Tourgeniev must be con
sidered a "nihilist" by those who use that word.
But did Tourgeniev deny everything, wish to
destroy everything ? English readers know this
writer well, and they know that to make such a
statement would be simply ridiculous. It follows,
then, that the violent words of Bazarov are not at
all based upon an exclusively negative philosophy.
Let us turn, moreover, to the " apostles of
nihilism " themselves. Could a man be found
believing more ardently In Russia than Alexander
Hertzen ? Who has defended our popular institu
tions with greater ardour than did Tchernychevsky
and Dobrolioubov ? These are by no means
antagonistic to their country ; on the contrary they
see In It many points on which one can and does
rely. It was so also with Bakounine, the apostle
of anarchism In Russia. A little later the largest
section of the Russian revolutionary party, the
narodniks (democrats) considered It their chief aim
to formulate the " aspirations of the people," and to
realize the " demands of the people." Still later
the programme of the party of the Will of the People,
whose aim is the overthrow of the Government by
means of a conspiracy, takes as its starting point the
affirmation that the popular institutions of Russia con
tain the healthiest germs of a social rc'gime, and that
In virtue of this fact, it will suffice to " give the people
the possibility of living, and organizing themselves
In conformity with their natural Inclinations." The
party expresses a conviction that then the history

APPENDIXES. 277
of Russia would really take a true direction " In
conformity with the national spirit"
To whom among these could we apply the name
of nihilist, of one willing to acknowledge nothing
but an implacable negation,. of nihilist spitting upon
earth and heaven ?
It is high time to end these empty, senseless
phrases, and to renounce belief In the spirit of
destruction as supposed to animate the Intellectual
and revolutionary movement of Russia. If indeed,
It has destroyed many superstitions, much brutality
and grossness in certain strata of Russian society, it
has given many healthy Ideas, and has set forth In
our society the bases of the development of equitable
social conditions. All other nations, for example,
may envy us the Russian family of our time. If
the enlightened class finds Itself forced to speak so
much of destruction, of revolution, the fault lies,
above all, with our absurd political rdgime, which
impedes every creative work. The enlightened
class has always devoted itself with the utmost
eagerness to this creative work, as soon as it was
at all possible. Tchernychevsky, for Instance,
joined ardently In the peasant reform, and wrote a
series of sketches on the means of effecting the
emancipation of the serfs. Certainly no one will
consider these projects Utopian. ' Then Tcherny
chevsky set forth his conception of the political man :
he is at once a Robert Owen and a Gladstone, who
might In England be considered one of the greatest
statesmen. Is it the fault of the intelliguentia If
with us the activity of Gladstone is Impossible ?
Recently the Executive Committee, in Its letter

278 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
to Alexander III. demanding from him a constituent
assembly, declares that in this event " the party
would in the future permit no violent act of oppo
sition towards the Government sanctioned by a
national assembly. . . . The Executive Com
mittee," continues the letter, " will spontaneously put
an end to its existence, and the forces organized
about it will disperse in all directions, to devote
themselves to the civilizing work necessary to the
salvation of the fatherland. The pacific struggle of
Ideas will replace the violence that Inspires us with
greater aversion than your followers, and that we
only employ because of the sad impossibility of
acting otherwise." The same Executive Committee,
on the occasion of the murder of President Garfield,
published a declaration openly disapproving political
murder in a country where every opinion can be
freely expressed, and where the choice of governor
depends on the nation. " It is," says the committee,
" an act of despotism analogous to that against which
we are fighting In Russia."
I confine myself to these few examples. They
prove sufficiently, I think, how unfounded is the
idea of the existence of Russian nihilism. If we
wish to study the true Russia, we must strike out
from our dictionaries this word, to which a mass of
false notions cling, and hardly one real fact

APPENDIX C.
SUBJECTS FORBIDDEN BY THE CENSORSHIP.
The circulars of the Minister of the Interior that
prohibit the discussion of such or such a question,
are not handed over to the journals ; they are
only " communicated," and then taken away again.
Consequently we cannot find in editorial offices a
collection of these curious documents ; and It is no
easy task to seek out the innumerable questions
and events which, at some time or other, were for
bidden public discussion. I am anxious, therefore,
to collect here some fragments of these statistics,
published In a supplement of The Will of the People.
The reader must bear in mind that these deal only
with a certain period of time, the year 1 881-1882,
and only with some of the " interdictions."
ifth March, 1881.
Certain organs of the press, on the plea ot the extraordinary
circumstances of the moment, permit themselves to insert articles
absolutely unbecoming, on the necessity of reforming our political
order, and in which doubts are also expressed as to the existence
of true patriotism in the highest circles of Russian society, which
are indifferent, it is said, to the interests of the people. The
insertion of articles of this nature will infallibly lead to the sus.
pension of the journal.

28o RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
2^th March.
Considering the approaching trial for the villainous crime of
the ist March,! t^g general director of the press, in conformity
with an order of his excellency the Minister of the Interior, again
calls attention to the prohibition, on pain of suspension, of
inserting non-ofScial information on political trials in journals.
i6M April.
Considering the coup d'Etat accomplished in Bulgaria, consider
ing also the necessity of giving support to Prince Alexander, it is
considered desirable for our own press to speak of the actual
events at Sophia with prudence. \st May.
It is considered necessary that the rumours as to the illness
of the Minister of the Interior, of the War Minister, and of the
Financial Minister, as well as those concerning the programme of
Loris Melikov, should 'find no echo in the journals. The publish
ing any reports as to the change of personnel of the high digni
taries of the State is also forbidden. <^th May.
Another circular explaining that, by the circular of the 29th
April, it is in no wise prohibited to speak of the Bulgarian coup
d'Etat " with sympathy." i8th May.
To refrain from publishing any kind of information on to-day's
sitting of the douma (municipal council), at which the question
of proffering Count Loris Melikov the title of honorary citizen of
St. Petersburg was discussed ; reprinting the debates is also pro
hibited. 28//? May.
To refrain from publishing any kind of information on the
orders in council, or addresses of the doumas and the zemstvos,
or from reprinting their minutes without the authorization of the
authorities appointed by the law.
2,\st May.
The periodical ^press is beginning to publish untruthful or sug
gestive notes on the incidents that have occurred in secular or
1 The murder of the Tzar.

APPENDIXES. 281
Church schools. Morality will not permit us to transform schools
into an arena for party struggles or journalistic polemics. The
schools must not serve as an arena for the diversion of the public
by means of amusing stories about the irritation of professors and
scholars. To punish publications of this kind, par. 56 of the
Supplement to par. 4 of the Code of Censorship may be applied.^
3rj'/ May.
It is beyond dispute, and that more especially during the
present difficult and unhappy circumstances, that the systematic
publication of trenchant opinions, of information from private
sources, and false rumours, whose principal aim is to excite dis
content with the measures of the Government, cannot be per
mitted. Consequently his excellency the Minister of the Interior
finds it necessary to make known that henceforth the exciting of
passions by means of the press, or the diffusion of information
likely to compromise public tranquillity, will no longer be allowed.
12th June.
The publication of rumours and sensational news on the
relations of peasants and landlords, as well as articles like thof-t
which have been devoted to the trial of Lioutoritchi,^ will entail
the application of § 55 of the Supplement to § 4 of the Code of
Censorship. 1 2,lh June.
The work of the commissions entrusted with the question of
the diminution of the btiying-in tax, to be spoken of only with
the utmost prudence. 16th July.
The publication beforehand of the places or institutions which
H. M. the Emperor and the members of the imperial family
intend visiting, is prohibited.^
, ! The incidents referred to are the suici|3es of several scholars
in consequence of the injustice of heads of schools ; sometimes
the schoolboys ill-using their professors in the same way from
revenge ; on two or three occasions preparing an explosion of
powder-mines against them.
2 The affair of the peasants in the village of Lioutoritchi, a
revolting picture of the abuses of the noble proprietors and their
stewards. ^ A reminder of the prohibition made in 1880.

282 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
\1th August.
To refrain from any unfavourable allusion to the activity of the
ex-prefect of St. Petersburg, General Baranov.
r9/^ September.
It is considered indispensable to prohibit the publication of
any measures of the Government on the subject of the inquiries
into the economic relations of the Jews and the inhabitants of
certain provinces. ifth October.
In some foreign journals there has appeared the news that
Count Valoniev is to be prosecuted for the affair of the annexa
tion of the lands of Orenburg. The general director of the press
recommends that this information be not reproduced or quoted.^
\oth October.
His excellency the minister thinks it necessary to allow the
press the freedom of speech indispensable to the thorough dis
cussion of the question of migration, but it will be very regrettable
if the unbecoming, improper conduct of certain organs of the
press forces him to curtail this liberty. All reports and all com
munications touching the question of migration must be sub
mitted to his excellency for revision.
13//% November.
Nothing to be published as to the attempt on the life of
General Tcherevine.^ ¦^rd December.
In certain journals the grossest typographical errors in the title
of his Majesty are allowed to pass, which gives rise to various
rumours among the public as to the meaning of these errors. The
general director recommends watching with special care the
accuracy of the imperial name and title.^
1 The annexation of the land at Orenburg is notorious ; the
functionaries of the place, in agreement with several dignitaries of
the State, robbed the Bachkir population as well as the State.
2 He was the chief of gendarmes.
^ Certain journals had published an appeal to subscribers for
the monument of Alexander III. (instead of Alexander II. ). An
editor of the Police Gazette, who had been the first to make this
mistake, was punished by a week's arrest in the guard room.

APPENDIXES. 283
^'ith January, 1882.
Considering the approaching alterations in the statutes of the
Real Schools, the publication of the discussions and the notices of
the approaching inquiries is forbidden.
^th February.
No information as to the affairs of the family of the privy coun
cillor, Markousse, is to be published.i\']th March.
The insertion of correspondences mentioning the rumours
current among the peasants on the partition of the land, the black
partition, etc., is absolutely prohibited, as also articles speaking of
the necessity or the justice of changing the agrarian condition of
the peasants. 2rj'/ March.
The insertion of unofficial information on the trial of the
assassins of General Stiielnikov is prohibited.
20th April.
Nothing on the Jewish question is to be published.
j,oth May.
To refrain from all reflections on the Zemsky Sobor.
26/,^ June.
Several journals are discussing, in a subversive and violent form,
the affair of Prince Chtcherbatov with his peasants. Considering
that such articles have an injurious effect on the relations of
peasants and proprietors, reference to this affair is prohibited.
\()th August.
With regard to the accident on the Koursk railway, certain
articles have appeared, accusing, without grounds, the employes
of the Ministry of the Means of Communication. From to-day
onwards the publications of such subversive articles may necessi
tate the infliction of the severest administrative punishments.
1 Markousse had committed suicide, as he had not strength
to bear the insolent treatment of one of the imperial princes, and
had no means of satisfaction.

284 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
29//^ October.
The insertion of any sort of reflections on the subject of the
student Fougalevitch and his expulsion from college is prohibited. ^
ist November.
Nothing to be inserted on the disturbances at the University
of Kazan. 25/72 NoT.wmber.
Nothing to be inserted on the misunderstanding between
Vleigard and Kvatz. 2^ih November.
Nothing to be inserted concerning the secret society whose
aim is to act against the Terrorists. i6//i December.
The report on the tribunal at Kazan is not to be published, nor
is any information to be inserted with regard to the affair of the
ex-student Semionov, condemned to imprisonment for having
offended the rector of the University.
As this work Is passing through the press, I am
receiving fresh documents to add to those which I
have just quoted. These are from the rdsumd of
a circular of the Department of General Business
(the Minister of the Interior), dated i8th September,
1885, No. 3,188. This circular absolutely prohibits
every discussion and the publication of any Informa
tion on the subject of the approaching anniversary
(September 25th) of the emancipation of the serfs.
' I have been unable to obtain any information about this
affair, or about that which led to the circular of November 25th.

APPENDIX D.
PARTITION OF THE LAND.
Since the Act of Emancipation (1861) partition of
the land had not for a long time been practised,
especially in fertile regions. In the North, and In
the central governments, where the value of the
land is not great, and sometimes even hardly covers
the taxes, the land, as a rule, was more equally
distributed. In the South, and generally in the
fertile regions, where land is very valuable, equal
partition is, for the most part, rarely practised.
The land remained divided among the households
(families) as in 1861, In spite of the numerical
changes naturally noticeable In each family. Thus
the distribution of land became very unequal.
Here Is an example, the first that occurs to me : —
The commune Soukmanka (government of
Zambov) has 5,338 Inhabitants, and 13,376 deda
tlnes of land. So that each Inhabitant ought to
have 2 '5 dedatlnes. But in reality we find a
number of peasants (945 men) in the commune
who have only i "2 dedatlnes per head ; while, on
the contrary, a happy minority (13 men) have on
an average 3 "6 dedatines per head. The rest of
285

2 86 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
the lots on the property balance between these two
extreme poles of inequality.
Why, then, do the peasants not make equal di
vision of the land ? Very often this question has
been answered by the supposition that the spirit of
equality and of collectivism is dying out amongst
the peasantry. But this supposition Is not correct
Of course those peasants who have succeeded in
accumulating In their own hands a great deal of
land, did all In their power to postpone a new
division. But these efforts of a privileged minority
were only successful because the peasants were
waiting for the census {revisia). They are accus
tomed to divide the land at the time of the official
census ; and, moreover, at that moment they were
expecting that the census would be accompanied by
a " black division," — a general, national division of
the land. But time passed, the patience of the
peasants was exhausted, and then here and there
the division was commenced.
This movement, like all popular movements,
grew very rapidly, and to an extent almost un
expected even by very conscientious observers of
the Hfe of the people. It is not uninteresting to
compare, for example, the opinions of the statisticians
of the government of Zambov in the few years
1880-1882. In the year 1880 they think that
among the peasant ex-serfs the commune Is being
slowly transformed into private property. A year
later they already say : "If the statistical Inquiry
Into the district of Kozlev had been made a little
earlier, before 1879, for example,^ we should only
1 This opinion is based upon the inquiry into the district made
by Borisoghlishk, and concluded before the year i88o.

APPENDIXE.S, 287
know that the peasants make no divisions of the
land except at the time of the census.
Twenty years had passed since the last census,
without the peasants beginning a new partition. But
now there arose rumours among the peasants of the
necessity of dividing the land ' for the new souls,'
without waiting for the census. These rumours
finally ended In 1880 and 1881 by several com
munes in the district of Kozlev making new and
equal partitions." The movement manifests itsel
chiefly among the Crown peasants, but statisticians
are already changing their opinion with regard to
peasants formerly serfs. " Among the peasants
who are ex-serfs," they say, " discussions are begin
ning on the subject of equal partition. We cannot
but believe that with them also these discussions will
sooner or later lead to resolutions of the Communal
Assemblies on the division of the land, just as was
the case with the Crown peasants."
The next year, 1882, many partitions of land
among the ex-serfs of the district of Morchansk^
took place, and the statisticians are astonished to
see that " the communes referred to carried out
the equal partition of land, although they had quite
paid off the supplementary sum for its redemption
to the former lords." And this fact certainly
deserves attention, for It is supposed that the re
demption of the land once accomplished, the
peasants would no longer be willing to re-divide it
To give statistics of this movement Is Impossible,
for after all we have only a very small amount of
positive Information. I therefore confine myself to
1 All these districts are in the same government of Zambov.

288 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL,
a few examples, which I take from those fertile
regions so long quoted as proof of the dying out
of collective property.
The general outlines of the movement are every
where the same. Everywhere the re-partltlon Is
preceded by a formidable agitation. The peasants
begin the discussion In private conversations. The
enemies of the re-partitlon try to prevent It by
every kind of means. They declare that the
partition without the official census Is illegal. They
invent fairy tales ; for example, that after the re
partition each one of the " new souls " will have
to pay a tax per head which at present is only paid
by those Inscribed in the census. Sometimes they
spread the rumour that a black partition Is about
to take place, and that the peasants will get the
supplementary lots of the Crown and manorial
lands. One other method employed by the enemies
of re-partition should be noted, as something quite
new : they threaten — should the partition be
decided upon — to Immediately buy back their lots
as private property (this being permitted by law).
For a while all these tricks succeed. But the
movement grows, gathers strength. The partisans
of re-partition at last decide to put the question
to the vote In the Assembly, At the first trial,
however, they often do not get the two-thirds of
the votes required by law. Still the agitation goes
on. The proposition, although rejected, is brought
forward In the assemblies again and again, till the
partisans of re-partition get the upper hand — and
the division takes place.
It is among the Crown peasants that the move-

APPENDIXES, 289
ment begins in each locality, and moreover in the
large communes. The small communes usually
wait for the large ones to take the initiative ; but
the partition once accomplished, in no matter what
commune, the example tempts all the neighbouring
ones, and little by little the dividing up of land
spreads right round the whole district. The ex-serf
peasants let themselves be drawn Into the move
ment later on, and sometimes even the tchetvertniks
and other private proprietors, themselves join it.
In the above-mentioned districts of the govern
ment of Zambov, the first example of re-partition
was set by the Crown peasants of the district of
Morchansk. The first divisions were carried out
there in the year 1875 (two communes of 1,800
Inhabitants). The example was followed. In
1876-77 there were already several communes, with
populations of 24,200 souls, who made re-partitions.
In 1877-78 again, 11,120 souls; In 1878-79, 15,200;
in 1880-81, 34,313 souls. Beyond this I have no
information as to this locality. The total number
of persons who had carried out the re-partition
was. In the years 1880-81, a third of the population
of the district An immense majority of these
belonged to the Crown peasants. The ex-serfs did
not begin the movement until 1880, and In 1881
there were already 4,000 who hkd made a re
partition. As It spread among the ex-serfs, the
movement was also carried into the neighbouring
district (Kozlov), where the conditions were evl-
denriy favourable, for from 1880-81 a population
of 37,068 souls had made a re-partitlon. This,
too, was among the Crown peasants. As to the
VOL. II. u

290 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
ex-serfs, an agitation was started, and even in 1880
one commune had decided to divide its lands. In
the district of Borisogeschsk the movement Is
growing more slowly ; begun In 1 880, so far only
12,516 souls have been drawn Into It.-^
Unfortunately I have only reliable Information as
to the commencement of the movement. This holds
also In regard to that In the government of RIazan.
In the latter It began at the same time, but promised
to assume colossal proportions. Of the 313 com
munes In the district of Ronnenbourg, concerning
which we have reliable information, there are only
90 In which the question of re-partltlon Is not being
discussed. In the other 223 communes, it is occa
sionally discussed favourably (in 63 communes), but
more frequently (in 160 communes) the debates are
very heated. In the 63 communes the partisans of
partition believe themselves strong enough to raise
the question even in the assemblies of the mir, and
very often (In 2 3 cases) only two or three votes were
needed to secure the majority of two-thirds demand
ed by law. In 29 cases an absolute majority voted
In favour of re-partition. Finally, In 12 communes
all opposition was overcome, and the re-partitions
were carried out during the years 1880 and 1881.
Such was the situation In the year 1882, as set
forth by the Statistical Committee. It is almost
identical in the district of Dankov. Here the move
ment was started a little earlier. There had been
re-partitions even before 1876-77 ; since the year
1879 the movement has become very pronounced,
concerning which we have some very precise- details.
1 The total number of communes in the district is 340.

common ....
2. Crown peasants, with semi-communa
land .....
3. Tchetvertniks
4. Ex-serfs .

APPENDIXES. 291
But here the agitation Is carried on with much
greater difficulty. The reason for this lies in the
distribution of the peasants, as may be seen from
the following table : Ronnenljourg. Daiiliov.
T. Crown peasants holding the land in 42,297 r9,8i7
8,248 2,789
2,740 t2,13I
40,614 63,787
Thus in Ronnenbourg the element of Crown
peasants holding land In common predominates ;
while, on the contrary, in Dankov, the ex-serfs and
tchetvertniks are In a majority. This accounts for
the difference.
However this may be, the movement spread In
1882 In 135 communes,^ and 25 of these even carried
outre-partitions during 1879-1882.
The population of these 25 communes (16,407) is
about one-sixth of the entire population of the dis
trict From this the reader can gather that these
are lar^e communes which are at the head of the
movement In fact, every commune in the district
has, on an average, a population of 314 souls. The
population of the communes that have carried out
re-partitions Is twice as large (63^^!). The same
holds with regard to Ronnenbourg, the average for
all communes being 400 ; the average of the com
munes which have re-dlvlded their lands, 6527.
Let us now pass to the government of Veronej,
contigfuous to the south and to that of Zambov,
1 Of the 254 communes carefully examined, there still remain
59 communes in the district whose position is not clear.

292

RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.

The following Is a table showing the number of com
munes, and of their inhabitants, who have divided
their land :

Year.

Communes.

Population.

1878

2

489

i88t

2t

32,080

1882

13

i5>5°°

1883

13

17,999

1884

8

13,798

18851 .

3
60

9>i74

89,040

The population of the district being 162,259, the
number of partisans of re- partition is over one half
As In all other cases, It Is the large communes that
divide their lands. The average population per
commune In this district Is 500, of those that divided
their lands,' 1,520.
In the beginning of my work, the reader will find
some details on analogous movements at Koursk
and Ekaterinoslav. Prougatlne has just published
some very Interesting facts on the government
of Simbirsk. These refer to the year 1884.
Among the peasants of the government of Sim
birsk, says Prougatlne, a very Important movement Is
going on In favour of re-dividing the land according
to the "new souls" [sic). The movement is most
pronounced In the districts of Alatyr, Ardatov, and
Boulnsk; Its centre Is In Bouinsk. In 48 communes
of this district decisions as to the re-partition have
been come to, and In 38 of these communes they
have already been put Into execution. The rest
1 The data here very incomplete.

APPENDIXES. 293
are waiting to have their decisions ratified by the
committee on peasant affairs. The agrarian dis
cussions between the partisans and enemies of re-
pardtlon daily grow more violent and more hostile.
The most powerful arm in the hands of the anti-re-
partltlonists is Article 54 of the General Statutes.^
The expression "head of the family" being extremely
vague, and the difficulty of getting together all the
" heads of families " being insurmountable, there are
always plenty of pretexts for declaring any decision
Illegal according to Article 54. Thus It happens that
a decision for re-partition which Is already being put
Into execution is suddenly annulled, because some
votes required to make up the legal two-thirds are
wanting. The committees on peasant affairs go over
the counting of the votes several times, and very
often the same decree Is ratified in one case and
annulled in another. Then the Communal Assembly
again decrees the partition of the land, the count
ing of the votes Is begun over again, and again
the decrees are ratified or annulled. In the mean
time the struggle within the commune grows more
and more bitter, causing dissensions, menaces, and
very often violence and murder.
But the re-partition of land Is even more Impeded
by par. 164 of the statutes on there-purchase of land.
When, after long discussions and quarrels, the com
mune at last decides on dividing the land, theanti-re-
partltionlsts oppose the collective decision, and begin
re-purchasIng their lots as private property. More
over, this Is not bad business for them, as to buy
iThis declares that two-thirds of the votes of "heads of
families " must be given for dividing land

294 RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.
back land they have to pay i8 roubles per dedatlne,
while the actual price of land In the government of
Simbirsk fluctuates between 40 and 150 roubles.
Several heads of families thus appropriate the lots
of others by advancing the money for their re-pur
chase. Generally speaking, section 164 is largely
put into practice here. Since the years 1877-81
there have thus been re-purchased (as private
property) 1 1,000 dedatlnes. The struggles of the
mir against some of the peasants are evidence of its
apogee in the communes where this occurs. The
hostility of the peasants is full of a hate that recalls
that of the South Russian to the Jews.

APPENDIX E.

RUSSIAN WORKS AND PUBLICATIONS QUOTED.

Novoie Vremia {newspaper)
Viestnik Narodnoi Voli (review)
Sievernyi Viestnik (review)
Volnoie Slovo (newspaper)
Rousskya Viedomosti (newspaper)
Penzenskya Eparkialnya Viedo
mosti (newspaper)
Golos (newspaper)
Narodnaia Volia (newspaper)
Zemlia i Volia
Grajdanine
Zemskyi Obzor (netvspaper)
louriditcheskyi Viestnik (review)
Poliarndia Zviezda (collection)
Moskovskya Viedomosti (news
paper)
Rousskaia Mysl (review)
Otetchestvennya Zapiski (review)
Nabate (newspaper)
Obchtchina (newspaper)
Peterbourgskya Viedomosti (news
paper)
Kievlianine (newspaper)
Iskra (newspaper)
Moskovsksy Telegrafe (newspaper) 295

The New Time.
The Messenger of the Will of
the People.
The Messenger of the North.
Free Speech.
The Russian Gazette.
The Diocesan Gazette of Penza.
The Voice.
The Will of the People.
Land and Liberty. ¦
The Citizen.
The Review of the Zemstvos.
The Judicial Messenger.
The Polar Star.
The Moscow Gazette.
Russinn Thought.
The Annals of the Fatherland.
The Tocsin.
The Commune.
The St. Petersburg Gazette.
The Kievian.
The Spark.
The Moscow Telegraph.

296

RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.

Svistok (supplemeiit of the " Con
temporary ")
ObchtcMe Dielo (newspaper)
Rousse (Aksakov's newspaper)
Studentchestvo (review)
Strana (newspaper)
Viestnik Evropy (review)
SoKOLOVSKY. Sbornika materialov
dlia izoutchenia selsko poze-
nielnoi obchtchiny.
Sbornik sotchinienii po soudebnoi
Medicinie, etc., published by
the Meditcinskii Deperta-
mente
Vperied (review)
Gromada (in Ukrainian)
Sravnitelnaia Statistika, by Ian-
son.
Voenno-Siatistitcheskyi Sbornik
ScHEiN. Bielorousskia piesni
ScHEiN. Narodnyaivusskia piesni
Kostomarov. Monografi
Kostomarov. Istoria Novgoroda,
Pskova i Viatki
Vsenaoutchnyi Slovar, by Kliou-
CHNIKOV
Kalendar by Souvorine
Kalendar by Hoppe
Boiarskdia Douma drevneiRoussii,
by Klioutchevsky
Lorentz. Istoria novieichiago,
vremeni. Russian Transla
tion, with supplement, by
Markov
Romanovitch-Slavatinskv.
Dvorianstvo v Rossii

The Whistle.
The General Cause.
Russia. Student^ Journal.
The Country.
The Messenger of Europe.
SoKOLOVSKY. Collection of
materials on the Agrarian
Commune.
Collection of Works on Forensic
Medicine, etc., published by
the Medical Department.
Forwards I Edited by P.
Lavrov.
The Commune (in Ukrainian).
Edited by Dragomanov.
Comparative Statistics, by Ian-
son.
Collection of Military Statistics.
ScHEiN. White Russian Songs.
Schein. Great Russian Songs.
Kostomarov. Monographs.
Kostomarov. History of Nov
gorod, Pskov, and Viatka.
Encyclopczdic Dictionary, by
Kliouchnikov.
Almanack by Souvorine.
Almanack by Hoppe.
The Council of Boyards oj
Ancicjit Russia. By
Klioutchevsky.
Lorentz. Contemporary
History. Russian transla
tion, with supplement, by
Markov.
Romanovitch-Slavatinsky.
2 he Nobility in Russia.

APPENDIXES.

297

Ditiatine. Istorii jalovannych
gramot (Rousskaia Mysl)

Semevsky. Krestiane v Tzarst-
vovanie Ekateriny II.
Kochelev. Zapiski
Karnovitch. Zamietchatelnyia
bogatstva v Rossii
Ivaniukov. Padenik Krieposi-
nago prava
Zemskie " Sbornik statistitcheskikh
Sviedenii " of provinces whose
names are mentioned in the
book.
Otcherk dvijenia pozemelnoi sob.
stvennosti v Poltavskoi gou-
bernii
Kak oplatchivaetsia troud srednei
krestianskoy semii v Tverskoi
gouber?iii (pamphlet)
Ejegodnik Ministerstva Finansov
Golovatchev. Istoria jelesno-
dorojnago diela v Rossii
Doklady Vyssotchdiche outverjden-
noiKomissiipoizsliedovaniiounyniechniago polojenia sels-
kago choziaistva, etc.
Pieskov. Fabritchnyi byt Vladi
mir skoi goubernii
Ianjoul. Fabritchnyi byt Mos-
kovskoi goubernii
Souchtchinsky. Jenchtchina
vratch v Rossii
Iadrintzev. Tiourma i ssylka.
Bachi-bouzouki Peterbourga (pam
phlet)

Ditiatine. Contributions to
the History of Royal
Gratits. (In Russian
Thought.)
Semevsky. 2 he Peasants under
Catharine II.
Kochelev. Memoirs.
Karnovitch. The Great For
tunes of Russia.
Ivaniukov. The Overthrow of
Serfdom.
Collection of Statistical Infor
mation relating to the
Zemstvos.
A Sketch of the Movement of
Landed Property in the
Governme7it of Poltava.
How the Labour of an ordinary
Peasant Family of the
Government of Tver is
paid.
Annual Report of the Finance
Ministry.
Golovatchev. History of
Raihvays in Russia.
Report of the Coinmission ap
pointed by Imperial Order
to inquire into the present
state of Agriculture.
Pieskov. Factory Life in the
'Government of Vladimir.
Ianjoul. Factory Life in the
Government of Moscow.
Souchtchinsky. Medical
Women in Russia.
Iadrintzev. Prison and
Transportation.
The Bazi-Bouzouks of St.
Petersburg.

298

RUSSIA, POLITICAL AND SOCIAL.

Oubiistvo chefa jandartnov ghene-
ral adioutanta Mezentzeva
(tamphlet)
Malchinsky. Obzor sotzialno-
^evolioHstsonnago dvijenia v
Rossii (secret publication of
the third division of the Im
perial Chancellorship)
Kalendar Narodnoi Voli
Iakouchkine. Obytchno'epravo.
Sbornik materialov dlia Istorii
Tverskago Zemstva
Sbornik Khersonskago zemstva
AInienia Zemskikh sobranii o sov-
remen7iom polojenii Rossii
(pamphlet)
Tchernyi perediel reform Aleks-
andra IL (iamphlet)
Orlov. Formy krestianskago
zemlevladenia (Part I, vol.
IV. of the Statistics of the
Moscoiv Zemstvo)
Blumenfeld. O formakh zem
levladenia V drevnei Rossii
Iefimenko. Jzsliedovania nar
odnoi jizni
Chtcherbina. Otcherki iouj-
rouskich artielei
LoUTCHiTZKY. Sbornik materialov
dia istorii obchtchiny i obcht-
chestvennych semel v lievober-
ejnoi Oukrainie XVIII
vieka
Klaus. Nachi Kolonii

The Assassination oj the Chiej
of Gendarmes, General
Mezentzov.
Malchinsky. Survey of the
Socialist Movement in
Russia.

Almanack of the Will of the
People.
Iakouchkine. The Common
Law.
Summary of the History of the
Zemstvo of Tver.
Summary of the Zemsti'o of
Kherson.
The Opinions of the Assemblies
of the Zemstvo on the Pre
sent Situation of Russia.
The Fiasco of the Reforms oj
Alexander II.
Orlov. Forms of Peasant
Land Tenure.

Blumenfeld. Forms of Land
Tenure in Ancient Russia.
Iefimenko. Inquiries into
the Life of the People.
Chtcherbina. Sketches oj
the artels of Southern
Russia.
Loutchitzky. Collection oj
Alaterials for the History
of the Commune and Com
munal Land in the Ukraine
of the left bank in the iSth
Century.
Klaus. Our Colonies.

APPENDIXES. 299
Istoritcheskia Sviedenia 0 tzenzourie Historical Researches on the
V Rossii (Publication by the Censorship in Russia.
Ministry of Public Instruc
tion, 1862)
Varfolomei Kotchniev. Protiv Varfolomei Kotchniev,
tetchenia Against the Current.
Dialogue of Two Friends.
Dragomanov. Novi oukrainski Dragomanov. The Spirit of
pisni pro gromadski spravi the Modern Ukrainian.
Political Ballads. (In
Ukrainian).
Iz za riechetki Behind the Bars.
Khvostova Zapiski Souvenirs of Madame Khvos
tova.

THE END.

Butler & Tannar, tha SelWood Prlntirtg Works, Erome, and London.

¦m^w