es, they at once
launch into a sea of philosophical principles, and pay less attention to
the little objects close at hand than to the big ones that appear on
the distant horizon of the future. And when they set to work at
any political reform they begin ab ovo. As they have no traditional
prejudices to fetter them, and no traditional principles to lead
them, they naturally take for their guidance the latest conclusions of
political philosophy.

Bearing this in mind, let us see how it affected the Emancipation
question. The Proletariat--described as a dangerous monster which was
about to swallow up society in Western Europe, and which might at any
moment cross the frontier unless kept out by vigorous measures--took
possession of the popular imagination, and aroused the fears of the
reading public. To many it seemed that the best means of preventing the
formation of a Proletariat in Russia was the securing of land for the
emancipated serfs and the careful preservation of the rural Commune.
"Now is the moment," it was said, "for deciding the important question
whether Russia is to fall a prey, like the Western nations, to this
terrible evil, or whether she is to protect herself for ever against it.
In the decision of this question lies the future destiny of the country.
If the peasants be emancipated without land, or if those Communal
institutions which give to every man a share of the soil and secure this
inestimable boon for the generations still unborn be now abolished,
a Proletariat will be rapidly formed, and the peasantry will become a
disorganised mass of homeless wanderers like the English agricultural
labourers. If, on the contrary, a fair share of land be granted to them,
and if the Commune be made proprietor of the land ceded, the danger of a
Proletariat is for ever removed, and Russia will thereby set an example
to the civilised world! Never has a nation had such an opportunity of
making an enormous leap forward on the road of progress, and never again
will the opportunity occur. The Western nations have discovered their
error when it is too late--when the peasantry have been already deprived
of their land, and the labouring classes of the towns have already
fallen a prey to the insatiable cupidity of the capitalists. In vain
their most eminent thinkers warn and exhort. Ordinary remedies are no
longer of any avail. But Russia may avoid these dangers, if she but act
wisely and prudently in this great matter. Th