used was that of Vera Zasulitch, who shot
General Trepof, Prefect of St. Petersburg; but the circumstances were
so peculiar that they will hardly support any general conclusion.
I happened to be present, and watched the proceedings closely. Vera
Zasulitch, a young woman who had for some time taken part in the
revolutionary movement, heard that a young revolutionist called
Bogoliubof, imprisoned in St. Petersburg, had been flogged by orders of
General Trepof,* and though she did not know the victim personally she
determined to avenge the indignity to which he had been subjected.
With this intention she appeared at the Prefecture, ostensibly for the
purpose of presenting a petition, and when she found herself in the
presence of the Prefect she fired a revolver at him, wounding him
seriously, but not mortally. At the trial the main facts were not
disputed, and yet the jury brought in a verdict of not guilty. This
unexpected result was due, I believe, partly to a desire to make a
little political demonstration, and partly to a strong suspicion that
the prison authorities, in carrying out the Prefect's orders, had acted
in summary fashion without observing the tedious formalities prescribed
by the law. Certainly one of the prison officials, when under
cross-examination, made on me, and on the public generally, the
impression that he was prevaricating in order to shield his superiors.

* The reason alleged by General Trepof for giving these
orders was that, during a visit of inspection, Bogoliubof
had behaved disrespectfully towards him, and had thereby
committed an infraction of prison discipline, for which the
law prescribes the use of corporal punishment.

At the close of the proceedings, which were dexterously conducted by
Counsel in such a way that, as the Emperor is reported to have said,
it was not Vera Zasulitch but General Trepof who was being tried,
an eminent Russian journalist rushed up to me in a state of intense
excitement and said: "Is not this a great day for the cause of political
freedom in Russia?" I could not agree with him and I ventured to predict
that neither of us would ever again see a political case tried publicly
by jury in an ordinary court. The prediction has proved true. Since that
time political offenders have been tried by special tribunals without
a jury or dealt with "by administrative procedure," that is to say,
inquisitorially, without any regular trial.

The def