ens shuddering and the
flight of the angels in the height, and the moving of the beasts that
are under the waters, and the noise of the growth of the branches in
the valley. He bent down over me and he looked upon my lips; and he
tore out my sinful tongue, and he took away that which is idle and
that which is evil with his right hand, and his right hand was dabbled
with blood; and he set there in its stead, between my perishing lips,
the tongue of a wise serpent. And he clove my breast asunder with a
sword, and he plucked out my trembling heart, and in my cloven breast
he set a burning coal of fire. Like a corpse in the desert I lay, and
the voice of God called and said unto me, 'Prophet, arise, and take
heed, and hear; be filled with My will, and go forth over the sea and
over the land and set light with My word to the hearts of the
people.'"

In 1837 came the catastrophe which brought about Pushkin's death. It
was caused by the clash of evil tongues engaged in frivolous gossip,
and Pushkin's own susceptible and violent temperament. A guardsman,
Heckeren-Dantes, had been flirting with his wife. Pushkin received an
anonymous letter, and being wrongly convinced that Heckeren-Dantes was
the author of it, wrote him a violent letter which made a duel
inevitable. A duel was fought on the 27th of February, 1837, and
Pushkin was mortally wounded. Such was his frenzy of rage that, after
lying wounded and unconscious in the snow, on regaining consciousness,
he insisted on going on with the duel, and fired another shot, giving
a great cry of joy when he saw that he had wounded his adversary. It
was only a slight wound in the hand. It was not until he reached home
that his anger passed away. He died on the 29th of February, after
forty-five hours of excruciating suffering, heroically borne; he
forgave his enemies; he wished no one to avenge him; he received the
last sacraments; and he expressed feelings of loyalty and gratitude
to his sovereign. He was thirty-seven years and eight months old.

Pushkin's career falls naturally into two divisions: his life until he
was thirty, and his life after he was thirty. Pushkin began his career
with liberal aspirations, and he disappointed some in the loyalty to
the throne, the Church, the autocracy, and the established order of
things which he manifested later; in turning to religion; in remaining
in the Government service; in writing patriotic poems; in holding the
position of Gentleman o