688 



RUSSIA. 



in the reorganization of the army planned 

 over four years ago. Preparations continued 

 throughout March and April, and on AprH 

 24th Russia declared war against Turkey, and 

 the Russian troops crossed the Pruth. (See 

 TURKEY.) In the beginning of May, the Em- 

 peror, who had reviewed the array at Kishenev 

 previous to the crossing of the Pruth, returned 

 to St. Petersburg. He was everywhere re- 

 ceived with great demonstrations of joy, and 

 particularly at Moscow, where he held a recep- 

 tion of the estates, whom he addressed thus : 



Six months ago I expressed a hope here that the 

 Eastern Question would be peacefully solved. I 

 wished to the extreme limit to spare my subjects' 

 blood, but my efforts have been fruitless. God has 

 decided otherwise. The Kishenev .Manifesto an- 

 nounced to Europe that the foreseen moment had 

 come. Entire Bussia, and Moscow among the fore- 

 most, responded to my expectations. I am now 

 happy to be able, in concert with the Empress, to 

 thank the Muscovites for their patriotism, which 

 they have testified by acts. The spirit of sacrifice 

 and devotion of which Eussia is giving proof exceeds 

 my utmost hopes. May God help us to accomplish 

 our mission ! 



Quite a number of trials of socialists took 

 place in 1877. The first of these was of a num- 

 ber of students, who on December 18, 1876, 

 the name-day of the Grand-duke Nicholas, 

 arranged a riotous demonstration in front of 

 the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Of the 

 prisoners, 21 in number, 18 received various 

 severe sentences, while three were acquitted. 



This trial was followed by one in March of 150 

 persons of both sexes in Moscow. These per- 

 sons had formed themselves into a secret broth- 

 erhood, known as the Propagandists. The 

 real origin of the society, or rather its intro- 

 duction into Russia, for it is undoubtedly an 

 offshoot of the Commune of Zurich and Paris, 

 is a matter of doubt ; but as fast as members 

 were enrolled they bound themselves to give 

 all their property into the common fund, and 

 devoted themselves to the making of converts 

 to the doctrines of the Propaganda. These 

 were simple in the extreme. First, everything 

 was to be broken down. There were to be no 

 individual property, no religion, no govern- 

 ment, no laws, and no class distinctions of any 

 sort. Everybody was to return to the condi- 

 tion of Adam and Eve, excepting in the mat- 

 ter of clothing. They all starting even, all 

 were to work. Strange to say, the movement 

 began among the higher classes and spread 

 downward. Some of the wealthiest and proud- 

 est families of Russia were represented in it. 

 While many of the membi-rs ostensibly retained 

 their former habits of life, and sought to influ- 

 ence those with whom they came into contact, 

 there were others who were too impatient for 

 this kind of work, and sought employment as 

 factory hands, spreading their doctrines among 

 their companions in the night time. The first 

 news received by the Government was from 

 a workman in a factory near Moscow, who 

 brought to the police authorities a number of 



NIZHNI NOVGOROD. 



the books which had been given him by a young 

 girl, Mademoiselle Vassilieff, who was an agent 

 of the society there. This was in April, 1875 ; 

 and the police, by carefully working on the in- 

 formation given, managed to arrest privately 

 Mesdemoiselles Vassilieff and Barrinoff. It was 

 evident that these girls were involved in a con- 

 spiracy, and the whole force of the Government 

 was soon employed looking for the conspira- 



tors. A large number of arrests were made 

 from time to time, almost all the prisoners be- 

 longing to families of distinction. In March, 

 1877, they were brought to trial, and sentences 

 of various degrees of severity were imposed on 

 them. The socialistic tracts spread by the 

 Propagandists were little books, for the most 

 part of 80 or 40 pages each, in green or red 

 \vrappers, all professing to be published with 



