A Herzen Reader

This has become annoying, and not without reason, especially to the government. No matter what crack it is that the light shines through, it lights up something indecent, in no matter how distorted a form freedom of expression is given, it gets to the point. The government frowned, and

awaited some kind of disturbances in order to have a pretext; there were no disturbances, so it was necessary to take decisive measures. They came up with student lists and Putyatin, packed the Peter Paul Fortress with stu­dents, lured the students themselves onto Tverskaya Square in Moscow, but it did not work. The public opinion that had begun to develop was not in favor of such persecution, and journalism, still holding on to some sense of shame, displayed neither love for the students, nor tenderness toward Putyatin, nor approval of street battles with unarmed people, and young la­dies had no wish to dance with the conquering Preobrazhensky victors. The persecutions did not succeed; the government, in order to cover up its mis­take, got rid of Putyatin and Ignatiev. Revolution in Petersburg (according to The Moscow Gazette) continued, the terror continued, the government did not know what to fabricate next, what new lists of students. fortunately the fires came to their aid. There's a reason the Russian people love arson.

In 1812 Moscow saved the nation from foreign captivity with a fire, and fifty years later Petersburg with the same means freed imperial power of the yoke of liberalism and many commentators of the constraints of pre­tending to be honorable people.

The revolution and terror were defeated. The storm clouds hanging over their heads went away, and the stone lying on their chests was transformed into an order of Stanislav of the first degree. Frightened public opinion drew closer to the government and journalism supported it. At that time the first attempts at denunciations appeared in print, the first demands for energetic measures, i.e., executions. The government, seeing this mood, made use of it.

What would our unforgettable Chichikov⁴ say if he were to see how— on the ruins of make-believe barricades and on the ashes of the flea mar­ket—Golovnin and Valuev⁵ set up open markets at which "dead souls" of the literary world were bought up? Remount officers were sent to Moscow, where there had not been a living soul since the death of Granovsky, and, consequently, countless multitudes of dead souls. [. . .]

A confused society did not know where to turn; the fires had frightened them, but they weren't there and the government refrained from any ex­planation of this matter and began to explore the possibility of death sen­tences, and hard labor. Once again the grumbling began, but luckily for the government Poland rebelled. The gentry, which had shied away from the government because of the emancipation of the serfs, passionately dashed toward it at the first news of the enslavement of Poland and an­nounced its readiness to take part in this.

And now there are before us, instead of a single Nicholas, three enemies: the government, journalists, and the gentry—the sovereign, Katkov, and Sobakevich.⁶

Notes

Source: "V etape," Kolokol, l. i7o, September i, i863; i7:244-5i, 449-52.

The word used here is duga, or "shaft-bow," a wooden bar arching above an ani­mal's neck as it holds together two shafts and the harness.

Herzen is referring to From the Other Shore.

The Russian word used here is balagan, a temporary fair booth with room for a stage and benches for spectators, erected for performances during Shrovetide and other holiday seasons.

Chichikov is the picaresque hero of Nikolay Gogol's novel Dead Souls (Й42).

Alexander V. Golovnin (i82i-i886) was minister of education from i86i to i866.

Katkov edited The Moscow Gazette; Sobakevich is a character in Gogol's Dead Souls.

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