A Herzen Reader

The amusing anecdote ought to have finished with this, but, unfortu­nately, with us nothing has been done as one would have expected it for a long time. The next day Klyauz was expelled. On whose complaint and on whose command no one knows even now; Barshev didn't complain and the commission was not even thinking about punishing Klyauz! Isn't this act worthy of the defenders of openness in court proceedings, as our men of science present themselves?

On the 28th the academic council met, on the 29th Minister Kovalevsky presided, and on December 4 the decision of the famous mock trial was read in the auditoriums: "i0 people are expelled for bad behavior, and about i00 with the right to return in a year."

Later, the second category were allowed to repent and given the form for an appeal: "I, the undersigned, promise to henceforth obey uncondition­ally all of the authorities' instructions." And out of 100 people only three refused this shameful appeal. That same day the minister strictly forbade students from gatherings in crowds, making speeches, etc., in the university garden and in the auditoriums.

What did the students in other divisions do? And, most of all, what about the young professors and associate professors. it would be interesting to have a record of these official opinions. [. . .]⁵

In conclusion, we address ourselves in a friendly and brotherly manner to young Russians with advice and, to be more exact, a fervent plea.

We do not in the least share the military-judicial tendencies of the Mos­cow professors' high court. It would be shameful for you to doubt our sym­pathy. Our entire life and all the separate events in it can serve as a witness to the fact that even if fate put us in the place of the Barshevs and Krylovs we would still be true to our convictions; that is why—with a clear con­science and the candor of affection—we have decided to implore you to be careful, because you may ruin not only yourselves, but much more.

Russia requires this sacrifice of you. There are stages in an organism's resistance that demand stricter hygiene. And precisely now Russia finds itself in such a condition. The old has been uprooted and the new has not yet taken root. There is nothing on which to rely. Besides the sovereign's noble instincts, on the one hand, and part of society, on the other, besides the redoubled intellectual activity and that anxious expectation that antici­pates a great future, there is nothing and nothing is guaranteed! Do not give any cause for the now-calm Andreevsky jackals and the secret executioners to be let loose on you. The memory of Novosiltsevs and Pelikans is not that old, and the five-year-old shoots are not so strong as to withstand a reaction.⁶ Right next to us there is an important example—look at the quiet ocean of the peasant world, awaiting in majestic peace the destruction of their shameful slavery. How happy the plantation owner-gentry would be if they could summon up a storm!

Your strength is Russia's strength, so preserve it, do not waste it in vain. Ahead of us there is so much to do, so many battles!

Notes

Source: "Sinkhedron Moskovskikh universitetskikh fariseev," Kolokol, l. 55, November 1, 1859; 14:191-97, 521-22.

The opening epigraph is a refrain from a song by the French poet Pierre Jean de Beranger (1780-1857).

Vladimir I. Nazimov (1802-1874) was a trustee of the Moscow educational district from 1849 to 1855, military governor of Vilna, and governor-general of Kovno, Minsk, and Grodno from 1855 to 1863. Evgraf P. Kovalevsky (1790-1867), also a trustee of the Moscow educational district from 1856 to 1858, was minister of education from 1858 to 1861.

Alexey N. Bakhmetev (1801-1861) was a trustee of the Moscow educational district in 1858-59.

Arkady A. Alfonsky (1796-1869) was a professor, a surgeon, and rector of Moscow University in 1842-48 and 1850-53; Sergey I. Barshev (1808-1882) was a professor of criminal law and rector from 1863 to 1870; Vasily N. Leshkov (1810-1881) was a lawyer and professor of police law at Moscow University; Nikita I. Krylov (1807-1879) taught Roman law, while Alexander O. Armfeld (1806-1868) taught forensic medicine.

Ilinsky was police inspector for the medical school at Moscow University from 1857

to 1860.

Here Herzen attaches an internal university council document about the case that outlines their deliberations in greater detail.

Count Nikolay N. Novosiltsev (1761-1836) held a number of senior government positions, including chairman of the Government Council and Committee of Ministers, and trustee of the St. Petersburg educational district. Ventseslav V. Pelikan (1790-1873) was professor of anatomy and surgery in Vilna, and chair of the military-medical aca­demic council; he helped to judge participants in the 1831 Polish uprising. Herzen al­ludes to the approximately five years since Nicholas I died.

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