SECRET SOCIETIES IN RUSSIA. 



407 



SECEET SOCIETIES IN EUSSIA. 



By D. MACKENZIE WALLACE. 



THE history of Russia and the history of Eng- 

 land present two clearly-defined and wide- 

 ly-different types of national progress. In Eng- 

 land we have had several important revolutions, 

 but we may fairly say that the thread of historic 

 continuity has never been broken, and accord- 

 ingly the history of the nation presents a long 

 and regular development little affected by foreign 

 influences. The reform movements, whether in 

 peaceful or in stormy times, have always pro- 

 ceeded — at least until quite recently, when theo- 

 retical considerations have been occasionally 

 used for party purposes — from keenly-felt prac- 

 tical wants, and have subsided as soon as those 

 wants were satisfied. The legislative and admin- 

 istrative authority has never slipped into the 

 hands of pedantic professoi'3 or bureaucratic 

 doctrinaires, but has always been wielded, or at 

 least controlled, by men of the world, who had 

 for the most part learned to manage their own 

 private affairs before undertaking to manage the 

 affairs of the State. Thus the upper classes, 

 having constantly received a political education, 

 have been preserved from political dreaming, and 

 the root-and-branch method of reform has never 

 come into fashion. 



Very different has been the history of Russia 

 during the last two centuries. In the reign of 

 Peter the Great the thread of historical continu- 

 ity was rudely snapped asunder. The old tradi- 

 tional methods of government were suddenly 

 abandoned, and since that time the czars and 

 their official advisers have ruled and reorganized 

 according to foreign principles, without the sym- 

 pathy or cooperation of the people. Being men 

 of theory, and trammeled neither by tradition 

 nor by practical knowledge, these legislators of 

 the new school have habitually launched into 

 grand schemes that would make a prosaic, prac- 

 tical House of Commons stand aghast, and the 

 country has been periodically subjected to " revo- 

 lutions from above " such as are inconceivable 

 among a people accustomed to self-government. 



I have no intention of discussing here the 

 various advantages and disadvantages of these 

 two systems of government, but I wish to point 

 out one practical result which is closely connect- 

 ed with the subject of the present paper. In 

 England the reform movement has been slow but 

 steady ; and where reformers have gained a new 



position, they have generally been able to hold it, 

 for the simple reason that a very large section of 

 the people has been ready to support them. In 

 Russia, on the contrary, the advance has been 

 rapid and spasmodic. It is easy, of course, to 

 make any number of grand schemes on paper, 

 and in a country where an uncontrolled autocrat 

 rules over a politically passive population it is 

 not difficult to transform any bit of paper into a 

 law ; but it is a very difficult thing, in Russia as 

 elsewhere, to make a grand legislative scheme 

 work well in real life among a people unprepared 

 for it. Unforeseen practical difficulties arise, 

 unknown disturbing forces are called into exist- 

 ence, the instruments do not effect what was ex- 

 pected of them — in a word, the plausible pro- 

 gramme, which looked so well on paper, cannot 

 be carried out, and the consequent despondency 

 is in proportion to the warmth of the preceding 

 inordinate expectations. Thus a period of vio- 

 lent reform is pretty sure to be succeeded by a 

 period of equally violent reaction. 



The history of the present campaign in Asia 

 Minor has so far illustrated well the Russian char- 

 acter and habitual mode of action. First, great 

 enthusiasm, inordinate expectations, and a haugh- 

 ty contempt for difficulties ; next, a rapid ad- 

 vance, obstacles surmounted with wonderful fa- 

 cility, difficult positions stormed with reckless, 

 dashing gallantry ; and, as a result of all this, 

 overweening confidence whispering to them that, 

 as one of their proverbs graphically and quaint- 

 ly puts it, " if they tried to ford the ocean, the 

 waters would not rise higher than their knees." 

 Then comes a check, obstacles are met which no 

 amount of dash and gallantry can surmount, the 

 over-heated enthusiasm cools, the retreat begins, 

 the imprudence of neglecting to secure firmly 

 and methodically the positions gained becomes 

 apparent, and the great shadowy conquest col- 

 lapses into the most modest of acquisitions. This 

 has been the history of tha campaign in Asia 

 Minor, and it has likewise been the political his- 

 tory of Russia since the time of Peter the Great 

 — a fact which may be recommended to the con- 

 sideration of those who imagine that impulsive- 

 ness and spasmodic enthusiasm can flourish only 

 in southern climes. In the opening chapter of 

 Macaulay's history, it will be remembered, there 

 is an eloquent passage in which national progress 



