The Icon and the Axe

Saint-Martin attracted many Russian followers through his promise to lead men to this reintegrating principal, or-as he also called it-"the thing" (la chose). Nobody knew exactly what "the thing" was; but the place to look for it was in occult writings and the higher Masonic lodges. More than any other single man, Saint-Martin established the idea among Russian thinkers that the real world was the world of spirit, and that the key to truth lay in establishing some kind of contact with, or understanding of, that world. This introduction of spiritualism within the intellectual community gave it a potential community of interest with sectarian "spiritual Christianity." Catherine seems to have sensed instinctively that some such unified opposition to her might develop on a religious basis under the "Martinists," and that firm action was necessary to defend the strength of the state.

Whatever her reasoning, Catherine's arrest of Novikov and dispersal of the Moscow Martinists also brought an end to her program of enlightenment. For Novikov had combined within himself both aspects of the Russian Enlightenment: the St. Petersburg and Moscow, practical philanthropy and theoretical mysticism. His early career shows the predominance of satire, moralism, and Anglo-French influences. All of this was typical of the early, casual forms of English Masonry and of the cosmopolitan and activistic capital.

With his move to Moscow, he became preoccupied with religious themes. From the world of Addison and Steele, he moved to that of Bunyan and Milton. Novikov encouraged the translation of Paradise Lost and Pilgrim's Progress, and began his own Selected Library of Christian Readings in 1784 with the first Russian translation of a Kempis' Imitation of Christ. He involved himself less in practical activities than in the search for a new esoteric religion through studying the theosophy of Boehme and the older religious traditions of the Russian people.

The later struggle between "Westernizers" and "Slavophiles" is anticipated in the difference of perspective between lower and higher order Masonry. In both cases the Westernized activism of St. Petersburg contrasts with the more contemplative Eastern preoccupations of Moscow. But in both cases, there was a close bond between the parties. Herzen said of the Westernizers' relationship with the Slavophiles: "Like Janus or like a two-headed eagle we looked in different directions while the same heart throbbed

within us."115 In like manner the rationalist Radishchev dedicated his Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow to the mystic Kutuzov a half century earlier: "My opinion differs from thine … but thy heart beats as one with mine."116

Thus, the real sense of solidarity among the alienated, aristocratic intellectuals lay not so much in the mind as in the "heart": in their common sense of caring. The word "intelligence" included "desire" and "spirit" for Saint-Martin, and these qualities were important to men whose heirs were to call themselves collectively the intelligentsiia. It was Catherine's lack of concern, rather than her lack of intelligence, that alienated the intellectuals.

The quality most highly valued by these dedicated aristocratic circles in the late years of Catherine's reign was "love of truth" (pravda-liubov'). This was the pen name of Novikov and a favorite inscription on gravestones. The aristocratic intellectuals believed that there was such a thing as Truth; in search of it they joined higher Masonic orders, set off on travels, and read new books from the West with special intensity. Following Boehme and Saint-Martin, they attributed their failure to read the "hieroglyphics" of truth to their own fallen sinfulness. Reading came to be regarded not as a casual form of leisure activity but as part of an over-all program of spiritual and moral regeneration. Foreign books became sacred objects that were thought to possess redeeming powers; key sections were often read in an intoned, semi-liturgical manner. Yet behind all these mystical activities of the "circle" stood the supreme Enlightenment belief in an "inner reason," an "ultimate harmony" behind all the seeming incongruity and misfortune in the world. Thus there was a logical connection between the "rational" and the "mystical" side of the Enlightenment, as well as a psychological connection through the personality of Novikov.