A Herzen Reader

The third victory—"not unto us, not unto us," but also not unto the Rus­sian people.⁴ Apropos of the people: one of the most remarkable facts about the letter to Gagarin is the utter absence of the people, who were so recently being flattered. not one tender word, not one greeting, not even a thank you for saving his life! They are tired of the paysans. [. . .] The third victory goes to the tsar's old childhood friend—the gentry landowner. Like a weak little chick, the two-headed eagle takes it under both wings, and the govern­ment, like Mitrofanushka's mama,⁵ is prepared to scratch out anyone's eyes for the sake of the perpetual young oaf. The letter puts an end to any open discussion of the great process involving landowners and peasants.

That's all.

Then the sovereign, through Gagarin, tells the people that he wants to lead Russia along a different path. Which one? It seems that he himself does not thoroughly understand but it is clear that it will be a nasty one. From this letter the irritation is obvious, the desire to govern more severely, to tighten the reins, to press harder, to trample more firmly. With this goal, Prince Gagarin's sovereign correspondent proposes turning all department heads into spies over their subordinates, and then instructs them to "keep in mind those other healthy, conservative and reliable forces with which Russia is richly endowed." [. . .]

.We imagine how the sovereign, bored by this lengthy missive from Gagarin to Gagarin, wiped the sweat from his powerful face and, throw­ing down the pen with which he had signed it, said: Well, thank God, the throne, altar, nobility, property, morality, and order have been saved. [. . .]

The sovereign lets out a sigh.

And the nobility, who since the year i860 have been trembling with fear and anger, also let out a sigh. [. . .]

Sleep, brothers, rest yourselves!..

And you, poor exiles, held in captivity, surviving in chains, toiling in the mines, persecuted friends—take heart. Together we lived to see a great age. You do not suffer in vain, and we have not worked a lifetime in vain. This is the dawn of the harvest, a day which we have long awaited.

...When the Emperor Trajan sent Pliny to investigate the false teaching of the Nazarines, when the Roman senate pondered the spread of the ab­surd and immoral sect of the executed Judean, while Tertullian defended it from the vile accusation of murders, when earlier Nero had heaped blame upon them as arsonists for a fire, and other caesars tormented them openly and publicly, like naive Muravyovs let out of a menagerie—the case of the Christians was won.

And we march forward holding caesar's most recent missive. The tsar's countersignature is there and we will not forget May 13/25, 1866.

It is the beginning of the battle... it is the beginning of the war.

We shall not see its end... it is unlikely that even the very youngest will see it. History develops slowly, and what is passing away defends itself stubbornly, and what is establishing itself comes into being slowly and dimly... but the process itself, the very drama of historical gestation, is full of poetry. Every generation has its own experience, and we do not grumble over our share, we have lived not only to see a red patch of light in the east, but also long enough for our enemy to see it. What more can one ex­pect from life, especially when a man, with his hand on his heart, can say with a clear conscience: "And I took part in this massive struggle, and I did my bit... "

...And you, Pavel Pavlovich, write another letter to yourself, some sort of commentary on the Tsarskoe Selo missive, or like Pliny the Younger, write to Caesar himself about bringing down the new Christians, about their in­significance, about your contempt for them... just keep writing!

Notes

Source: "Ot gosudaria Kniaziu P. P. Gagarinu," Kolokol, l. 222, June i5, i866; i9:95-i0i, 396-98.

Prince Pavel P. Gagarin (i789-i872), a senator, served on the commission investigat­ing the Petrashevsky circle, the emancipation committee, and was chairman of the court that tried Karakozov.

Herzen: "In all probability, Gagarin wrote this letter 'to himself.' This is all a con­tinuation of the system set up after the infamous fire in Petersburg, the system of in­timidation of the sovereign. He is assured and frightened, and he assures and frightens himself, and signs, like a future constitutional monarch, not knowing what it is—il regne, mais ne gouvernepas."

The initial draft of the manifesto by Yu. Samarin and N. Milyutin was profoundly altered by the Moscow metropolitan Filaret.