ey all failed. A certain Degaief, who had taken part in the formation
of military circles, turned informer, and aided the police. By his
treachery not only a considerable number of officers, but also Vera
Filipof, a young lady of remarkable ability and courage, who was the
leading spirit in the attempts at reorganisation, were arrested. There
were still a number of leaders living abroad, and from time to time they
sent emissaries to revive the propaganda, but these efforts were all
fruitless. One of the active members of the revolutionary party, Leo
Deutsch, who has since published his Memoirs, relates how the tide of
revolution ebbed rapidly at this time. "Both in Russia and abroad,"
he says, "I had seen how the earlier enthusiasm had given way to
scepticism; men had lost faith, though many of them would not allow
that it was so. It was clear to me that a reaction had set in for
many years." Of the attempts to resuscitate the movement he says: "The
untried and unskilfully managed societies were run to death before they
could undertake anything definite, and the unity and interdependence
which characterised the original band of members had disappeared." With
regard to the want of unity, another prominent revolutionist (Maslof)
wrote to a friend (Dragomanof) at Geneva in 1882 in terms of bitter
complaint. He accused the Executive Committee of trying to play the
part of chief of the whole revolutionary party, and declared that its
centralising tendencies were more despotic than those of the Government.
Distributing orders among its adherents without initiating them into
its plans, it insisted on unquestioning obedience. The Socialist youth,
ardent adherents of Federalism, were indignant at this treatment, and
began to understand that the Committee used them simply as chair a
canon. The writer described in vivid colours the mutual hostility which
reigned among various fractions of the party, and which manifested
itself in accusations and even in denunciations; and he predicted that
the Narodnaya Volya, which had organised the various acts of terrorism
culminating in the assassination of the Emperor, would never develop
into a powerful revolutionary party. It had sunk into the slough of
untruth, and it could only continue to deceive the Government and the
public.

In the mutual recriminations several interesting admissions were made.
It was recognised that neither the educated classes nor the common
people were capable of b