A Herzen Reader

The January 10 issue of Le Siecle,¹ speaking about a charming address to Mu­ravyov by Petersburg ladies, asks with astonishment: "Don't these mothers, wives, and sisters have sons, husbands, and brothers?" etc. O naive Siecle! Don't they know what kind of beast is the female Russian landowner from Saltychikha²—jailed in chains by Catherine II—up to. here's one, for ex­ample: an Englishman, very well known and much respected, told the story in London that he was recently at a grand dinner in Moscow and sat next to an old maid (he said her name, which is from a minor princely family), who, displeased with the Polish uprising, said to him, an Englishman: "With all my heart and soul I wish they would string up every single Pole!"

It goes without saying that there are many exceptions, but the general type of the charming sex from our democratic nobility, the Russian lady landowner, is a kind of she-wolf who gobbles up ten or twenty chamber­maids and servants without the slightest regret, tirelessly, and without rest.

There is no way these Furies would have changed in the space of two years. The only thing new in the old maid's remark is cynicism. In the past they duped foreigners with humane sentiments, but now boast in their presence of energetic measures and homespun patriotism.

Here is a job for all the Old Maids and Baba-Yagas³ of our beau monde— to greet in Moscow and Petersburg, with garlands and bouquets, Muravyov,

who, it is said, is coming to preside over a new commission for the extinction and destruction of Poland⁴. [. . .]

Notes

Source: "Furii," Kolokol, l. i77, January i5, Й64; i8:37, 545.

Le Siecle was a politically liberal Parisian daily.

Darya N. Saltykova (i73o-i8oi), known by her nickname "Saltychikha," was a fa­mously cruel serf owner, whose i768 sentence included an hour in the pillory, after which she spent the rest of her life confined to a convent.

Baba Yaga is a well-known and fearsome character in Russian fairy tales.

At the beginning of January Й64, a committee of five was formed, under the chair­manship of Alexander II, to prepare a land reform plan for Poland.

* 63 *

The Bell, No. i79, February i5, Й64. Herzen carried on an emotional polemic with Ivan Aksakov's The Day, revealing a much harsher opinion of him than did Ogaryov.

They've Gone Completely Out of Their Minds [1864]

In several Russian newspapers (The Siberian Gazette, The Northern Bee) there is a description of an execution that took place on January 5 in the town of Ostrov. Felix Ambrozhinsky was accused of being a gendarme in the Polish service, executing someone (no name was given), and "providing food supplies to the rebels." None of this is surprising any more. But listen further: "Along with the troops, Ambrozhinsky's accomplices were present, gendarmes like him (whose crimes had not yet been investigated), who had to play the role of executioners. After the reading of the sentence, the criminal kneeled, kissed a cross that was held by the priest, said: 'Forgive me,' and stood up. The men—accomplices of the criminal—led him to the scaffold [. . .] and performed a task probably familiar to them with the noose."

We address all honest people. We address, yes, we address, for exam­ple, you, Mr. Aksakov, publisher of The Day [. . .] yes, we turn to you—you bear a pure and honest name, a name that we are accustomed to respect in your father and to love in your brother—take care with whom you stand and what kind of energetic actions you praise. People whose crimes had not yet been uncovered, were forced to kill their comrade! [. . .]

Words fail, for language cannot supply sufficient reprimands and swear­words for this evil deed. Take care, Mr. Aksakov, that in supporting, for your own important political reasons, this unleashing of blood and brutal measures of such refined artistry, you have accumulated, instead of aid for the Bosnyaks, Croats, and Dalmatians, terrible remorse. You felt badly for us in The Day¹ and we feel badly for you in The Bell.

Note

Source: "Oni sovsem soshli s uma," Kolokol, l. i79, February i5, i864; ^49-50, 548-49.

i. Ivan Aksakov said that he regretted that Herzen was friends with Bakunin, who had betrayed the Russian people through his support for the Й63 Polish uprising. While he had never respected Bakunin, from Herzen he still hoped for repentance.

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