Page:The Spirit of Russia by T G Masaryk, volume 2.pdf/70

44 Rusanov refuses to accept the idea that the man who returned from Siberia was but the shadow of the former Černyševskii. He considers that the Siberian letters furnish proof that the exile retained energy and independence of thought, but his "titanic logical apparatus" often worked in the void because he had no opportunity for busying himself practically with living social problems; because the great electric cable (I am paraphrasing Rusanov) which had connected him with his readers and disciples, had been severed, and it had become impossible for him to react directly upon real phenomena as writer and practitioner.

I am in agreement with Rusanov in holding that Černyševskii did not lose his intellectual powers in Siberia, but I differ in my estimate of these powers. Doubtless there was lacking to him in Siberia living contact with his reading public; but just as he had done in the St. Petersburg prison, he might have concentrated his mind upon some definite theme; and perhaps he might have found Siberia a better point of vantage than St. Petersburg from which to observe the evolution of Russia and of Europe. No one would expect him to produce in Siberia encyclopædic works of reference well supplied with citations and similar details, but so much material was sent to him that he might have produced a few monographs. At least he might have translated some scientific book by one of the thinkers he so greatly esteemed. But in Siberia, Černyševskii lived only upon his memories, and it is questionable whether and to what extent his belletristic works were the artistic elaboration of these memories. As far as philosophy and politics were concerned, his Siberian letters and other writings offer nothing new, and nowise contribute to the amplification of the ideas and arguments he had earlier put forward. But as intimate utterances the letters furnish a valuable commentary upon his philosophy and upon his mental development.

To come to a brief account of the matters treated in the letters, I will begin with family affairs. I am astounded to find that he counsels his wife to remarry. Černyševskii's letters to his sons have an educational purpose; his judgments concerning many leading men are often little more than crude depreciations, whilst he represents himself as a leading thinker and author.

It is noteworthy that in Siberia he breaks and casts aside