onstitutionalists, from whom, as I have said, the revolutionists of
the old school had stood sternly aloof. There was now no question of a
formal union, and certainly no idea of a "union of hearts," because the
Socialists knew that their ultimate aim would be strenuously opposed by
the Liberals, and the Liberals knew that an attempt was being made to
use them as a cat's-paw; but there seemed to be no reason why they
of the two groups should not observe towards each other a benevolent
neutrality, and march side by side as far as the half-way house, where
they could consider the conditions of the further advance.

When I first became acquainted with the Russian Social Democrats I
imagined that their plan of campaign was of a purely pacific character;
and that they were, unlike their predecessors, an evolutionary, as
distinguished from a revolutionary, party. Subsequently I discovered
that this conception was not quite accurate. In ordinary quiet times
they use merely pacific methods, and they feel that the Proletariat is
not yet sufficiently prepared, intellectually and politically, to assume
the great responsibilities which are reserved for it in the future.
Moreover, when the moment comes for getting rid of the Autocratic
Power, they would prefer a gradual process of liquidation to a sudden
cataclysm. So far they may be said to be evolutionaries rather than
revolutionaries, but their plan of campaign does not entirely exclude
violence. They would not consider it their duty to oppose the use
of violence on the part of the more impatient sections of the
revolutionists, and they would have no scruples about utilising
disturbances for the attainment of their own end. Public agitation,
which is always likely in Russia to provoke violent repression by
the authorities, they regard as necessary for keeping alive and
strengthening the spirit of opposition; and when force is used by the
police they approve of the agitators using force in return. To acts of
terrorism, however, they are opposed on principle.

Who, then, are the Terrorists, who have assassinated so many great
personages, including the Grand Duke Serge? In reply to this question
I must introduce the reader to another group of the revolutionists who
have usually been in hostile, rather than friendly, relations with the
Social Democrats, and who call themselves the Socialist-Revolutionaries
(Sotsialisty-Revolutsionery).

It will be remembered that the terrorist group