uddenly that it troubled him and was almost a blow to his modesty,
which is one of the sympathetic traits of his personality.

In fact, there came a time when the attention of the literary world,
especially among the younger generation, became so wrapped up in his
works that Gorky and Tchekoff sank to a second level. This
enthusiasm was caused by the fact that Veressayev's works answered a
general need. They brought into the world of literature a series of
characters who summed up the rising fermentation of new ideas and
seemed to be spokesmen, around whom the Russian revolutionary forces
gathered,--forces which, up to this time, had been scattered. An era
of struggle for liberty began.

It is rather important, I think, for the proper understanding of
this period to say a few words concerning its history.

The struggle of the younger generation against the autocracy began
about 1860, at the time of the freeing of the serfs, a period known
in Russia as the "epoch of great reforms." These ameliorations,
which extended into almost every domain of Russian life, left intact
the autocracy, which, under pretence of protecting itself, fought
successfully against all activity and thus brought about, among the
younger generation, a general movement towards freedom and
socialism. But the autocracy found its best help in the ignorance of
the people. Urban commerce, little developed at that time,
practically interested only the peasants--which means nine-tenths of
the population of Russia. It was natural, then, that the peasants
should become the principal object of the revolutionary propaganda,
and that tremendous efforts should be made on all sides in order to
awaken them from their dangerous sleep.

The peasant uprisings in the history of Russia, especially the two
revolts directed by Stepan Razin in the 17th century, and Pugachev
in the 18th, proved the fact that the masses could unite in a
general insurrection. This time, the "intellectuals" joined. As they
advocated a sort of communism, periodic redivisions of land
according to the growth of the population, and as they harped on the
tradition that land was a gift of God which no one had a right to
own, we can easily see that the agricultural proletariat would
welcome with open arms the socialistic ideas.

Although this popular movement did not affect many people, it was
attacked with such pitiless cruelty, that the revolutionists decided
to have recourse to the red terro