if only the influence of religion and theology
could be destroyed. Very popular, too, was John Stuart Mill, because he
was "imbued with enthusiasm for humanity and female emancipation"; and
in his tract on Utilitarianism he showed that morality was simply
the crystallised experience of many generations as to what was most
conducive to the greatest good of the greatest number. The minor
prophets of the time, among whom Buchner occupied a prominent place, are
too numerous to mention.

Strange to say, the newest and most advanced doctrines appeared
regularly, under a very thin and transparent veil, in the St. Petersburg
daily Press, and especially in the thick monthly magazines, which were
as big as, or bigger than, our venerable quarterlies. The art of writing
and reading "between the lines," not altogether unknown under the
Draconian regime of Nicholas I., was now developed to such a marvellous
extent that almost any thing could be written clearly enough to be
understood by the initiated without calling for the thunderbolts of the
Press censors, which was now only intermittently severe. Indeed, the
Press censors themselves were sometimes carried away by the reform
enthusiasm. One of them long afterwards related to me that during
"the mad time," as he called it, in the course of a single year he
had received from his superiors no less than seventeen reprimands for
passing objectionable articles without remark.

The movement found its warmest partisans among the students and young
literary men, but not a few grey-beards were to be found among the
youthful apostles. All who read the periodical literature became more
or less imbued with the new spirit; but it must be presumed that many of
those who discoursed most eloquently had no clear idea of what they were
talking about; for even at a later date, when the novices had had
time to acquaint themselves with the doctrines they professed, I often
encountered the most astounding ignorance. Let me give one instance by
way of illustration:

A young gentleman who was in the habit of talking glibly about the
necessity of scientifically reorganising human society, declared to me
one day that not only sociology, but also biology should be taken into
consideration. Confessing my complete ignorance of the latter science,
I requested him to enlighten me by giving me an instance of a biological
principle which could be applied to social regeneration. He looked
confused, and tried to r