ide out of the difficulty on vague general
phrases; but I persistently kept him to the point, and maliciously
suggested that as an alternative he might cite to me a biological
principle which could NOT be used for such a purpose. Again he failed,
and it became evident to all present that of biology, about which he
talked so often, he knew absolutely nothing but the name! After this I
frequently employed the same pseudo-Socratic method of discussion,
and very often with a similar result. Not one in fifty, perhaps, ever
attempted to reduce the current hazy conceptions to a concrete form. The
enthusiasm was not the less intense, however, on that account.

At first the partisans of the movement seemed desirous of assisting,
rather than of opposing or undermining the Government, and so long as
they merely talked academically about scientific principles and
similar vague entities, the Government felt no necessity for energetic
interference; but as early as 1861 symptoms of a change in the character
of the movement became apparent. A secret society of officers organised
a small printing-press in the building of the Headquarters Staff and
issued clandestinely three numbers of a periodical called the Velikoruss
(Great Russian), which advocated administrative reform, the convocation
of a constituent assembly, and the emancipation of Poland from Russian
rule. A few months later (April, 1862) a seditious proclamation
appeared, professing to emanate from a central revolutionary committee,
and declaring that the Romanoffs must expiate with their blood the
misery of the people.

These symptoms of an underground revolutionary agitation caused alarm in
the official world, and repressive measures were at once adopted. Sunday
schools for the working classes, reading-rooms, students' clubs, and
similar institutions which might be used for purposes of revolutionary
propaganda were closed; several trials for political offences took
place; the most popular of the monthly periodicals (Sovremennik) was
suspended, and its editor, Tchernishevski, arrested. There was nothing
to show that Tchernishevski was implicated in any treasonable designs,
but he was undoubtedly the leader of a group of youthful writers whose
aspirations went far beyond the intentions of the Government, and it
was thought desirable to counteract his influence by shutting him up
in prison. Here he wrote and published, with the permission of the
authorities and the imprimatur