o obtain
employment in the factories and conceal their real purpose, they
procured false passports, in which they were described as belonging
to the lower classes; and even those who settled in the villages lived
generally under assumed names. Thus was formed a class of professional
revolutionists, sometimes called the Illegals, who were liable to be
arrested at any moment by the police. As compensation for the privations
and hardships which they had to endure, they had the consolation of
believing that they were advancing the good cause. The means they
usually employed were formal conversations and pamphlets expressly
written for the purpose. The more enthusiastic and persevering of
these missionaries would continue their efforts for months and years,
remaining in communication with the headquarters in the capital or some
provincial town in order to report progress, obtain a fresh supply of
pamphlets, and get their forged passports renewed. This extraordinary
movement was called "going in among the people," and it spread among the
young generation like an epidemic. In 1873 it was suddenly reinforced
by a detachment of fresh recruits. Over a hundred Russian students were
recalled by the Government from Switzerland, in order to save them from
the baneful influence of Bakunin, Lavroff, and other noted Socialists,
and a large proportion of them joined the ranks of the propagandists.*

* Instances of going in among the people had happened as
early as 1864, but they did not become frequent till after
1870.

With regard to the aims and methods of the propagandists, a good deal of
information was obtained in the course of a judicial inquiry instituted
in 1875. A peasant, who was at the same time a factory worker, informed
the police that certain persons were distributing revolutionary
pamphlets among the factory-hands, and as a proof of what he said he
produced some pamphlets which he had himself received. This led to
an investigation, which showed that a number of young men and women,
evidently belonging to the educated classes, were disseminating
revolutionary ideas by means of pamphlets and conversation. Arrests
followed, and it was soon discovered that these agitators belonged to
a large secret association, which had its centre in Moscow and local
branches in Ivanovo, Tula, and Kief. In Ivanovo, for instance--a
manufacturing town about a hundred miles to the northeast of Moscow--the
police found a small ap