Page:The Spirit of Russia by T G Masaryk, volume 2.pdf/217



E have now to turn to the contemporary opponents of the progressive and radical politicians hitherto considered, and shall begin with Mihail Nikiforovič Katkov (1818–1887), the publicist defender of the government and the theocracy.

At Moscow during the forties Katkov was a member of Stankevič's circle, being on intimate terms with Bělinskii and Bakunin, and beginning his publicist activities under Bělinskii's auspices. When Bělinskii left Moscow for St. Petersburg, Katkov, with Ketter and Bakunin, accompanied him part of the way. Shortly afterwards a breach occurred between Katkov and Bakunin, and in Bělinskii's house on one occasion (1840) the two men actually came to blows. At the end of the thirties, Katkov was under Hegel's influence, which, however, was soon replaced by that of Schelling—the Schelling of the later phase. In 1840 and 1841, Katkov attended Schelling's lectures in Berlin. Already in 1840, when the leaven of Schelling had begun to work, Katkov adopted as his program the three high-sounding words of Uvarov, Orthodoxy, autocracy, and nationality. Nevertheless the aspiring young thinker found it possible to conceive Uvarov's program in the sense of Peter. He wrote in 1840: "Russia first originated through Peter." In 1841 he expressed himself as strongly averse to the Old Russism of Pogodin and Pogodin's associates, defending Europe, and maintaining that Europe was not falling into decay.

In 1845 he had become professor of philosophy, but in 1850