The greatest excitement has prevailed in Russia for the last few weeks since it became known that representatives of the Zemstvos of thirty-four provinces of the Empire were going to meet at St. Petersburg in order to discuss the necessary reforms in the general political organization of the country. The very fact that such an authorization had been granted was equivalent to an invitation to discuss a scheme of a Constitution; and so it was understood everywhere. When the Zemstvo delegates were leaving their respective provincial towns they were sent off by groups of enthusiastic friends, whose parting words were: 'Return with a Constitution!' Their original intention was to make of their conference a solemn official gathering which would s... (From : Anarchy Archives.)
Ideals and Realities of Russian Literature Peter Kropotkin CHAPTER VIII POLITICAL LITERATURE: SATIRE: ART CRITICISM: CONTEMPORARY NOVELISTS POLITICAL LITERATURE-Difficulties of Censorship-The Circles - Westerners and Slavophiles-Political Literature abroad: Herzen - Ogaryoff - Bakunin - Lavróff - Stepniak - The Contemporary and Tchernyshévskiy - SATIRE: Schedrin (Saltykóff) - ART CRITICISM: Its Importance in Russia - Byelinskiy - Dobroluboff - Pisareff - Mihailovskiy - Tolstoy's What is Art? - CONTEMPORARY NOVELISTS - Otel - Korolénko - Present Drift of Literature - Merezherovskiy - Boborykin - Potapenko - Tchéhoff. POLITICAL LITERATURE To speak of political literature in a country which has no political liberty, and where nothin...
This text was taken from the 1st edition of Memoirs of a Revolutionist, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York, 1899. MEMOIRS OF A REVOLUTIONIST PART FIRST CHILDHOOD VI1 To maintain such numbers of servants as were kept in our house would have been simply ruinous, if all provisions had to be bought at Moscow; but in those times of serfdom things were managed very simply. When winter came, father sat at his table and wrote the following: -- "To the manager of my estate, Nikóskoye, situated in the government of Kalúga, district of Meschóvsk, on the river Siréna, from the Prince Alexéi Petróvich Kropótkin Colonel and Commander of various orders. "On receipt of this, and as soon as winter communication is established, thou art ordered to send to my house, situated in the city of Moscow, twenty-five peasant-sledges, drawn by tw...