Page:The Spirit of Russia by T G Masaryk, volume 2.pdf/479

Rh itself, is the means by which an escape can be secured from this dull variety entertainment which is life.

Much more might be said on this topic, but my present aim is merely to display the significance of The Pale Horse in relation to the contemporary crisis in revolutionism.

I have little space to devote to Ropšin as artist and man of letters, for the philosophic content of his book has so largely absorbed my attention. His style contrasts with that of the more modern decadents. It is extremely simple; he loves short, staccato sentences, this being in keeping with the diary form. As a whole and in its details the work is skilfully composed. For example, George's relationships with women are indicated at the outset, and the ethical and religious problem as propounded by Dostoevskii is placed in the foreground of the discussion. Ropšin's analysis of nihilism is at the same time an analysis of the Karamazov disease; Ivan Karamazov is Faust and Don Juan rolled into one. Revolutionary technique, which plays a great part in Stepniak's writings, is but cursorily sketched by Ropšin, whose leading interest is in the metaphysics of revolution. We feel that for the author these metaphysical problems have been matters of personal experience, that he has himself lived the Faust-Ivan life.

I must not be taken as implying that in George, Ropšin is merely describing himself and his own experiences. He deliberately distributes his personal experiences among the various characters, among George and his comrades. Dostoevskii employed a similar method. Much in the book is personal experience, but Ropšin is not analysing himself merely, for he considers also the psychology of his associates and of the whole revolutionary movement since the close of the nineties.

In A Mother's Reminiscences, S. A. Savinkova tells us that her two sons went to St. Petersburg in 1897 to study at the university. The two young men took part in the demonstration in Khazan Square. They were arrested, and one night the prescribed domiciliary visit was made at their parents' house. The mother hastened to the capital and was able to secure certain mitigations; but again and again the effects of her intervention and of that of influential persons (Lopuhin is mentioned among others) was overborne by the arbitrary powers of the police. The upshot was the ruin of the whole family. The father, a judge in Poland, died insane; the