His soil, Alexander II, who confidently took over the legacy8, was much closer to Alexander I than to his father. He had the mediocre9 intellect of the dynasty (after Peter I), but the sunny temperament10 of Catherine, sobered. Unlike his father, who had listened only to the wrong teachers, Alexander II had been an exemplary pupil, and he had had good teachers. The new domestic atmosphere of the court is less interesting than the old, and we need not linger over it. The picture of Nicholas reading the Bible every night to his wife will suffice. The Tsarina was a model German Hausfrau on an imperial scale. Alexander breathed this atmosphere easily. He was an exemplary youth. On the night after the death of his father he took the Bible to his mother’s room and read to her. His chief tutor had learned teaching from Pestalozzi, and his lessons, which we have in part, were worthy11 of Marcus Aurelius. They were exalted12 in principle, if vague in application. Alexander was to make duty his star: his duty to his people and to civilisation13. He had travelled all over the Empire, even in Siberia; and the sight of the exiles had so touched his warm heart that he had persuaded his stern father to modify the treatment even of some of the conspirators14 at his accession.
What would a young monarch—Alexander was thirty-seven years old—of this type make of the formidable problem which his father had created? We are quite prepared to hear that he is going to disarm15 rebellion and win his subjects by kindness. He will make the autocracy16 so beneficent that men will love it. A comparatively simple thing, the young man thought. But the tragedy of the life of Alexander II is that it was during his reign18 that Nihilism arose, dagger19 in hand, and he himself fell by the bomb of an assassin who represented “the people.”
Russian funds rose in the European market when Alexander II mounted the throne. He was well known: an amiable20, kindly21 man, gently punctilious22 about etiquette23, very sober in meat and drink, very cold to flatterers. Europe looked to him for peace; his people, who sank under their burdens, looked to him for relief; liberals looked, not too confidently, to him for justice. But Alexander felt that his first duty was to bring the war, not merely to an end, but a successful end. He would not be crowned until that was attained24. A few weeks after the death of his father he sent a representative to Vienna to take part in a peace-conference. When France demanded that the Black Sea should be neutralised and the naval25 strength of Russia limited by agreement, he refused and he bade the war go on.
It went on, as is known, until Sevastopol fell, and Russia soothed26 her feelings a little by taking Kars. Then the diplomats27 gathered round a table to see what difference to the world the death of hundreds of thousands of men and the squandering28 of three nations’ resources must make. There was in Russia no chance of disguising the defeat. The Black Sea was neutralised. All the ships and forts on which so much had been spent must go. Kars must be surrendered. The mouth of the Danube must be yielded. The protectorate of the Christian29 subjects of the Sultan must be abandoned. One war had put Turkey at the feet of Russia; another war had put Turkey upon its own feet once more, and had set back Russia.
It was, however, peace, and the country looked eagerly for the domestic programme of the young Tsar. He was crowned in August, 1856, and he at once disclosed his policy. He would, of course, maintain the work of his revered30 father; but it soon fell to pieces. An amnesty was granted, and the rebels came back to the sunlight. The military colonies of Arakcheeff were finally abandoned. Arrears31 of taxes to the extent of twenty-four million rubles were remitted32 to the impoverished33 people. The censorship was suspended, and St. Petersburg poured into liberalism like a stream when the dam is broken. The manuscripts that had passed stealthily from hand to hand, and been read behind locked doors, were now sent to the press. Periodicals and pamphlets snowed upon the metropolis35. unions and leagues for everything new and beneficent and western sprang up like mushrooms. All the talk of English radicalism36 filled the salons38: self-government and emancipation39 of women, biblical criticism and Darwinism, banks and railways and manufactures, education and co-operation and political reform.
Presently the discussion would strike a deeper note. A certain Robert Owen of England had advocated a scheme which he called Socialism. Certain Germans were beginning to take the germ of Owen’s patriarchal theory and make a “scientific system” of it. Russia was now free to travel, and to import books. The mind which has been artificially repressed will, if the process be not continued too long, expand more rapidly than the mind which is suffered to grow normally.
In all this babel of humanitarian40 tongues, each reformer stridently denouncing his brother as a charlatan41, as is the way of reformers, there was one steady and persistent42 note. Serfdom must be abolished. Here the mass of the people agreed with the intellectuals. We are tempted43 to picture the great body of the Russian people as too stunted44 in mind, too dazed by labour and the stupefying conditions of their life, to understand anything of this reform-language. But there is plenty of evidence that they were quite alive to the idea of emancipation. They had looked to each new Tsar, as he eloquently45 unfolded his lofty aims on coronation-day, to abolish serfdom. They looked with particular eagerness to Alexander. “Constitution” was too large a word for them. But they knew what it meant to be free and to have their Mir and their bit of land.
Forty-two and a half million people in Russia were still serfs in the year 1856: nine centuries after the establishment of the Russian Church, two hundred years after the beginning of the rule of the Romanoffs. I have, incidentally, given sufficient evidence in earlier chapters that this serfdom differed little from slavery. The peasant was, in polite phraseology, attached to the glebe. When a rich man ruined himself in the dissipations of St. Petersburg and sold his estates, he sold the peasants with the land. When a man opened new estates, he bought peasants to work it. They had no liberty of movement, which is the fundamental condition of liberty. They owned no land (except a small number who secured the advantages offered by the last two Tsars) and were therefore hot masters of their own labour. Half their labour must be given gratuitously46 to their lord—this was the new, decent sort of serfdom—who would then allow them to wring47 a miserable48 living for themselves and family out of a fraction of his land with the other half of their time. Not much earlier, we saw, great land-owners, even women, could inflict49 on them such torture and death as few Romans are said to have inflicted50 on their slaves in the worst days of the Empire. They were still slaves, though humanely51 treated on the Crown Lands, much as a wise farmer gives good conditions to his cattle. The lot of the peasant of Russia to-day is hard enough. Imagine it sixty years ago with the added yoke52 of serfdom.
Assuredly serfdom was the first and most monstrous53 evil to be removed, and we saw that for fifty years or more the rulers of Russia had been ashamed of this great stigma54 on their civilisation. At the very beginning of the reign the rumour55 went out that Alexander would free the serfs, and their wealthy owners were anxious. Alexander reassured56 them to some extent. He would like to see an end of serfdom, but it was an evil to be remedied gradually. He would like to see individuals reduce it by freeing their Serfs. Soon after the close of the war the Tsar again addressed the nobles, and begged them to give serious attention to the emancipation of the serfs. It was plain that little would be done in this fashion, and a few months later he appointed Provincial58 Committees of land-owners to give practical consideration to the problem.
Historians seem to differ in discussing whether Alexander was moved by his own idealism or by the pressure of the growing liberalism of St. Petersburg and the clamours of the peasants. The point is of some interest in forming a general estimate of the Tsar-Emancipator. Professor Kornilov, while ascribing great reforms to Alexander II, maintains that he was impelled60 from without rather than within: that his moralising tutor had not been a liberal or a man of definite social views, and had implanted in his mind only such general regard for humanity and justice as a conservative may profess59. Others would represent the Tsar as a practical reformer of a liberal type, a little soured in the end by the excesses and violence of “advanced” people. Perhaps we are nearest to the truth if we picture Alexander II as a man who united a real detestation of serfdom with a sincere regard for justice in the abstract, yet would never have overcome the conservatism of many of his advisers61 and the immense practical difficulties but for the very effective pressure put upon him by the rising impatience62 of educated Russians.
Cathedral Erected63 in Petrograd in Memory of Alexander II
The Provincial Committees wasted many months in futile64 discussion and wrangling65. Around them there now waged a great battle of amateur sociologists, and half a dozen different theories of emancipation had their schools of defenders66. There was, to begin with, a vital difference of views between the serfs and their owners. The peasant wanted land even more than liberty; the owner felt that it was emancipation to give liberty, and he was, as a rule, unwilling67 to part with land. There was the question of compensation, which inspired endless discussion. A serf was worth a hundred dollars. In short, the committees of local owners did not want the work to proceed, and Alexander formed, at the beginning of 1857, a Central Committee of twelve members under his own presidency68. The work was to be done “from on high.” Emancipation was to be a voluntary gift from the Tsar.
The work still dragged. In 1855 Alexander had appointed the liberal Lanskoi Minister of the Interior, and he zealously69 promoted the scheme and secured the liberal Milyutin as colleague. But other ministers were of the old school and unsympathetic. They pointed57 out that behind the demand for emancipation other and more disturbing demands were becoming articulate. Liberal nobles who were ready to emancipate70 their serfs already claimed that this ought to be followed by their own political emancipation. They demanded a Duma. However, even members of the imperial family, like the Grand Duke Constantine, pressed for the reform, and the Tsar at length formed an Imperial Commission, on which the conservative opposition71 was checked. A law was drafted, and on February 19th, 1861, Alexander announced to Russia and the world, with a very natural exaltation, that the serfs were to be freed.
The serfs fell into three classes. Those on the Crown Lands were, as we saw, already in an improved condition. The law of 1861 did not affect them, but they were later (1866) put in the same position as the emancipated72 serfs. Then there were a million and a half serfs who were not on the land, but in personal service. These were ordered to continue their service for two further years, and they would then be free. The main body were the twenty-one million serfs on the estates of private owners. Each was now to own his house, and the small strip of land encircling it, and the entire community of peasants in a village were to have, in common, a part of the arable73 land of the owner. The Slavophiles had secured this reversion to the primitive74 custom of owning in common, and one may justly suspect that they felt that the arrangement would make the peasants more or less impervious75 to the new ideas about property which were being imported from Germany. The Mir was re-established. But the land-owners were to sell, not give, their land; and they were to be compensated76 for the loss of serf-labour. The entire value was estimated, the State paid it, and the peasants were to refund77 the sum within a space of forty-nine years. The Mir was responsible for the payments.
Alexander looked out upon his Empire for the signs of jubilation78, and at first he saw many. Even so drastic a rebel as Hertzen rejoiced. The journals and pamphlets of the metropolis turned from acidity79 to a temporary sweetness. Deputations of peasants, carefully chosen, were brought to thank the Tsar, and in the tearful accents of the aged17 serfs he thought that he heard the voice of twenty millions. But it was not long before the reaction began, and a chill affected80 the liberalism of the Tsar.
It was a very general belief of the peasants that the land belonged, by ancient right, to them, and it had been in some way stolen from them by the wealthy and noble. When, therefore, they heard of the scheme of compensation, the payments which must be made annually81 until the death of the youngest of them, they began to murmur4. The officials, they said in many places, must have falsified the words of the Tsar. There were other grievances82. The allowance of land to each had, in the heat of discussion, been cut down to very small proportions. The owners were not bound to sell even this, and in many places they refused; and, where they sold, they generally attempted to sell inferior land. Officials, charged with the administration of the law, took bribes83, and there was a vast amount of foul84 play. In fine, the emancipated serfs now found that a free man had to shoulder a burden of taxes heavier than they had imagined.
In short, hopes had been improperly85 inflated86, and the disillusion87 was exasperating88; nor was there now any lack of men imbued89 with the new ideas who fostered the discontent. Lanskoi and Milyutin were dismissed from office, through the intrigue90 of the conservatives, and the new minister, Valuyeff, had not the same scrupulous91 regard for the success of the law. In various places there were risings of the peasants, and the troops had to use their muskets92. In the government of Kazan ten thousand peasants revolted, under the lead of Anton Petroff, and the new era was stained heavily with blood. Petroff was executed; eighty of the emancipated serfs were shot with arms in their hands. At the university of Kazan the students boldly held a requiem93 service in honour of the dead, and Alexander had to punish even the monks94 who celebrated95 it. The “Tsar-Emancipator” did not long enjoy his popularity. The clouds closed slowly, after the short burst of sunshine, and would cover the skies of Russia henceforward until the last Romanoff quitted the throne.
An even graver cause of distrust now arose. Alexander had visited Poland soon after his accession and had paternally96 promised to make the Poles happy, if they were good. “No more dreams,” he said genially97 to them. His father’s work was to be maintained, he told them. Poland was to be a province of Russia. He appointed a moderate governor, Prince Gorchakoff, and declared an amnesty. Since the terrible repression98 of the rebellion by Nicholas I a large number of Poles had lived in the various capitals of Europe, and there they had been thoroughly99 educated in modern ideas. In London, particularly, they had been steeped in the sober radicalism that had followed the failure of the Chartist movement, the fervour for the deliverance of Hungarians and Italians, the popular indignation against Russia. Most of them would not return to a Poland which was not free, but some did, and they assisted in the education of the Poles. There arose a very general cry among the educated Poles for a constitution; and Alexander believed no more than his fathers, or than Pius IX, in giving a constitution that was asked as a right.
In November, 1860, a great demonstration100 was held in memory of the revolution of 1830, and the authorities were annoyed. Demonstrations101 increased for all kinds of undesirable102 objects, and the troops at Warsaw fired and killed five Poles. A vast crowd of one hundred thousand attended the funeral. The Tsar tried to conciliate them by small gifts. He appointed a Polish Director of Public Instruction and Cults103. He created municipal councils for the large towns, and electoral councils for each government and district. But he would not grant a constitution, and the agitation104 increased. A great crowd went to the Viceroy’s palace to formulate105 their demands, and soon two hundred of them lay dead upon the pavement. The whole city went into mourning.
A new Viceroy, General Lambert, was appointed, and the Tsar instructed him to carry out conscientiously106 the reforms he had promised. But the officials who were to carry them out were Russians, and the greater reforms were withheld107. There were further demonstrations, and further shootings. A reactionary108 soldier, Count Luders, was then made Viceroy. His life was attempted. The Poles now openly demanded independence and a restoration of Lithuania. Arrests and banishment109 were useless. The whole educated nation seemed to be aflame. So on January 15th the authorities decided110 to decimate the enthusiasts111 by an enforced recruiting for the army, and Poland entered upon another futile rebellion. Those who escaped the police fled to the country, secured arms, and formed guerilla bands.
It was one of the most pathetic of rebellions. The insurgents112 had no artillery113, no transport or medical service. They moved about, often led by priests, as they were hunted, living on the sympathetic gentry114 and peasants, occasionally hanging or shooting a pro-Russian landowner. It was not war, and the Russian troops hanged or shot all they captured. The most curious feature of it was that a secret committee or council guided the insurrection, levied115 taxes, and issued decrees from the University of Warsaw itself without being detected by the police. Poles abroad fierily116 preached the wrongs of their countrymen, and the English, French, and Austrian governments formally requested the Tsar (1863) to put an end to the anarchy117. Two months later they formulated118 for the Tsar what seemed to them the reasonable demands of the Poles; a general amnesty, parliamentary representation, reform of the law of recruiting, complete liberty of religion, admission of Poles to office, and so on. Alexander indignantly refused. He did not add—one wonders if he reflected—that it was precisely119 because the Sultan would not grant such rights to his Christian subjects that Russia had made war upon the Turk. Prussia supported, and promised assistance to, the Tsar.
The last sparks of the rebellion were stamped out in May (1864), and the punishment began. The few traces that Nicholas had left of a Polish nationality were now destroyed. The Polish language was banned from schools and universities, and the chief rebels were executed. It was the nobles, the educated class, that Alexander chiefly blamed; and it was on that account that he granted the peasants of Poland the right to share the land.
Alexander was less to blame in connection with another event, two years later, which moved Europe to express its indignation. The settlement of the Caucasic region was completed, and some hundreds of thousands of Mohammedan Circassians and Georgians migrated from the occupied territory and sought shelter in Turkey. The English Government again made a protest at St. Petersburg, which was neatly120 countered by a reminder121 that the state of Ireland hardly justified122 England in posing as a moralist. The Circassians were, in fact, handsome ruffians with whose ways the English were imperfectly acquainted. They freely sold their daughters, the famous Circassian maids, to the harems of Constantinople, and they were the most expert cattle-thieves and least industrious123 workers of Europe or Asia. They were largely settled by the Turks on the farms of the reluctant Bulgarians, and they willingly joined the bashi-bazouks in cutting off Christian ears.
The brutality125 that was used in the suppression of the Polish insurrection reacted upon the intellectuals of St. Petersburg, just as the insurrection itself reacted upon the more or less benevolent designs of the Tsar. But before we consider how the reign of Alexander II came to inaugurate the terror which would for the next sixty years brood over Russia, it is proper that we should briefly126 examine the remainder of his reforms.
The emancipation of the serfs, though a measure of elementary justice that had been too long denied, must nevertheless command our admiration127 when we consider the stubborn opposition which the Tsar had to overcome. It was not followed by the political emancipation of the nation at large, but the Tsar created a popular institution which would, at a later date, prove a valuable instrument of reform. The Mir was re-established by the communal128 ownership of the land. The district council, the Zemstvo, was now established (1864). Each government (or province) of Russia was already divided into districts, and there was to be in each of these a Zemstvo, or popular council, formed of deputies who were elected for a term of three years. They included representatives of the landowners, the artisans, and the peasants, and were to meet at least once a year, with a permanent executive committee. A general Zemstvo for each province was also created.
At the time the Zemstvo had, in so far as it was obliged to act, few and simple functions—the care of roads, bridges, sanitation129, etc.—and the imperial taxes were so heavy that it could not raise sufficient money for other work. The Imperial Government, moreover, jealously watched, and often interfered130 with, the work of the popular council. Yet it was an important instalment of reform, and at a later date we shall find the Zemstvo playing a greater part than the Tsar intended, in the enlightenment and emancipation of Russia. Already it had the option of building schools, and in many places it did so.
There was a corresponding improvement in the administration of justice. The slovenly131 and corrupt132 traditional system was condemned133, and an entire series of new tribunals, framed on western models, was created. There was a court for each district and a court of appeal, from which a final appeal for revision might be made to the Senate. On the French model the magistrates134 were to conduct the preliminary inquiry135 which had hitherto been left, with disastrous136 results, to the police, and public trial by jury was introduced. In the rural districts justices of the peace, who were generally large landed proprietors137, heard the petty cases which had earlier been made a matter of rough justice, or injustice138, between the serf and his master. In such cases an appeal might be made to a bench of justices if there was question of a fine of more than thirty rubles (fifteen dollars) or more than three days’ imprisonment139. Such appeals were rare, as it was found that the hardy140 peasant preferred a few strokes of the lash141, as in the old days, to a loss of his money or his time. In the higher courts, as well as in the army, flogging was abolished.
Here again the demands of the liberals were, in theory, generously met; and in practice they were largely evaded142. Incompetence143 was inevitable144 at the beginning of so large a reform, and some degree of ill-will and abuse of power had to be expected. These defects do not detract from the merit of the Tsar and his liberal ministers. But there was from the first a tendency on the part of the imperial government to regard cases as political and reserve them for the kind of treatment they had always received. As the radical37 agitation grew, and the Tsar was driven into the arms of the reactionaries145 at the court, this interference naturally increased. Long before the end of Alexander’s reign the civil courts were habitually146 ignored in precisely those cases which needed the most impartial147 consideration, and men were detained and punished in thousands at the whim148 of brutal124 and irresponsible servants of the autocracy.
These were the principal measures of reform granted by Alexander II in his period of benevolence149. With the fiscal150 improvements we are not much concerned, but it may be noted151 that for a time a Budget was published. Much was done in those early years (1861-1866) for education. The restriction152 upon the number of students attending the universities was removed, and there was a remarkable153 eagerness to obtain higher education. Youths earned their living while they attended the classes, and some scholarships were founded. Girls were excluded from the universities, but we shall see presently how they broke through the barriers and joined the youths of Russia in the demand for enlightenment. A large number of secondary and elementary schools were established. In 1877 it was claimed that there were 25,000 schools. The press was offered the alternative of submitting its copy to a censorship or risking the attentions of the police. The very name of Censor34 was hated, after the experience under Nicholas I, and for a time periodicals and books poured out upon an eager public. The restriction upon travel also was removed, and men passed freely to the outer world which terrified the Slavophiles, and came back with the language of Mazzini and other apostles upon their lips. Foreigners in Russia received civil rights for the first time. The restrictions154 upon the movements of the Jews were modified, though “the Pale” was not abolished.
The history of that stirring period has been so frequently written in the last thirty years that we no longer profess to find a mystery in the fact that this reforming Romanoff fell by the hand of an assassin. Here it is necessary only to give a short summary of the development after 1860 which entirely155 changed the character of his reign. We must remember that from the first Alexander II did not recognise the rights of man. In his best and most benevolent mood he was concerned only with the duties of monarchs156. The authority divinely entrusted157 to him was accompanied by a divine mandate158 to make his people virtuous159 and happy. Within the limits of a strict maintenance of the authority of the autocracy and of the clergy160 he would do so. The more enlightened of his subjects might respectfully offer suggestions, though that was properly the function of the ministers he chose to guide him, but the correct attitude of the people was to await, in patience and respect, the measures of reform which the wisdom of his council sanctioned him in granting.
This was a fundamental anachronism, and, however generous the intentions of the Tsar may have been and however misguided and exaggerated some of the radicals161, a conflict was as inevitable as the sunrise. Seeing that the policy of his early liberal ministers did not pacify162 the country, which became louder and bolder in its demands the more he gave it, Alexander fell back upon the worn maxims163 of autocracy and surrounded himself more and more with reactionaries. The wealth of the great land-owners and the power of the clergy and monks were as much threatened by the new spirit as was the autocracy of the Tsars. In the recesses164 of the court there was, therefore, a complacent165 agreement upon the kind of theory which has at all times reconciled the consciences of good men with persecution166. The “extremists,” it was said, were few in number and morbid167 or perverse168 in sentiment. They must not be suffered to abuse liberty to the detriment169 of the nation. Coercion170 was justified. To coercion—which meant, in practice, the most wanton brutality and violence on the part of baffled police—some replied with violence. In effect, war was declared.
The crowd of young men who flocked to the University of St. Petersburg when the restrictions were removed were the nucleus171 of the radical movement which was gradually raised to a revolutionary heat. The teaching of liberal professors, who were reconciled to gradual and moderate reforms, only prepared them for a more highly seasoned political diet, and there were powerful writers to purvey172 it. Hertzen, who was in exile, sent his propaganda into the country much as Mazzini taught the youth of Italy. His very radical organ, “The Bell,” was the delight of the young folk who, in all ages, scorn the timidity of age and are convinced that the immaturity173 of the youthful mind is amply compensated by its superior candour. Bakunin, who for a time joined Hertzen in London, and then settled in Switzerland, taught a gospel which gradually approached, and finally reached, anarchy. Tschaikovsky, who also was compelled to leave Russia, was the inspiration of a “circle,” or discussion-society, at St. Petersburg which had branches or affiliated174 societies in every town of Russia. Bielinski and other radicals assisted the ferment175 of emotions and philosophies. Krapotkin and Stepiak were coming upon the scene.
We have seen how the mind of Russian youth was prepared for these advanced gospels. The monotonous176 misery177 and poverty of the country in spite of every change of ruler, the corruption178 and brutality of officials, the harsh measures of Nicholas I, the disastrous issue of the Crimean War, the severity of the repression of the Poles, the disappointing results of the emancipation of the serfs, and the increasing perception that Russia lagged behind every other country in Europe put a mass of inflammable material into the minds of the educated. As early as 1862 a student was caught spreading a pamphlet in which he advocated a bloody179 revolution against the dynasty, and was exiled to Siberia. In the same year a series of mysterious fires in St. Petersburg increased the agitation. Conservatives ascribed them to the violent radicals: the radicals retorted that they were due to agents of the reactionaries who wanted to provide a ground for stringent180 action. The left wing of the reformers moved rapidly further west, and its language increased in violence. The authorities raised the fees at the universities and endeavoured to suppress the numerous students’ societies, but the agitation continued. Many of the nobles themselves were in sympathy with the intellectual revolt. In 1862 several gatherings181 of nobles and gentry passed a demand for parliamentary institutions.
At the other end of the movement the conviction increased that no form of centralised government would remain honest and disinterested182, and the philosophy of anarchy was framed. At first it was moral rather than political, as it is in the minds of many Anarchists183 to-day. The individual was to be relieved of the swathing bonds of all religious and moral and other traditions, and the theory was that he would then develop healthily. To this theory was first applied184 the name “Nihilism,” which was afterwards, as Anarchy became more and more political in complexion185, extended to the whole revolutionary movement; though Socialism gained considerably186 on Anarchy as time went on. It was the period of Karl Marx and the early German Socialists187, and the imposing188 structure of Marx’s argument won large numbers of adherents189.
One of the most disturbing features in the mind of conservatives was the way in which young women adopted the advanced creed190. The attempts of Peter the Great to break down the barriers which confined the life of women had almost ceased at his death. In the world of wealth, as Tolstoi’s novels show, women kept the liberty of the reigns191 of Elizabeth and Catherine. The new austerity of the court was not accompanied by any general asceticism192 amongst the aristocracy. The philosophy of anarchy provided a principle for what had hitherto been an inconsistent defiance193 of religious traditions which were nominally194 respected. But the mass of Russian women and girls, above the level of the peasantry, had hitherto been unaffected by these liberties of the aristocracy. Now the cry of the emancipation of woman penetrated195 remote country houses, and many a girl broke loose from the control of a tearful mother or an infuriated father, and sought the centre of enlightenment in the city. The authorities refused to allow unmarried women to attend the higher schools. They retorted, as Roman women had done nearly two thousand years before, by entering into fictitious196 marriages. Gradually they won the right to attend certain lectures at the university, and many of them were found in the students’ circles where the reconstruction197 of the universe was heatedly discussed.
The next development was that the intellectuals decided to educate the workers. An officer of the army resigned his commission and turned weaver198. Sophia Perovskaia and other daughters of wealthy parents got into touch with the working and domestic women. The police of the “Third Section” (the secret police created by Nicholas) grew in numbers and dogged the steps of these fiery199 young apostles. In 1866 a man named Karakosoff, who had formed a society to promote the welfare of the people, attempted to shoot the Tsar. An isolated201 fanatic202, the Tsar was told; and at that time there was certainly no real organisation203 of assassination204. But the pressure of the police and the daily risk of arrest drove the agitation underground, and to their new quarters the spies and informers and police followed them. There was now, plainly, no question of persuading Alexander II to complete his scheme of reform. There was increasing question of making war upon him and the autocracy. It was the Russian tradition. When a Tsar was obnoxious205 you removed him; but to do so in the name of justice, not in the name of a covetous206 group of courtiers, was revolution of the worst order.
By this time, the early seventies, the Tsar saw that he had not merely to deal with a few unbalanced individuals. The jails were full of political prisoners. All the well-known leaders were in jail or exile, yet the work proceeded amazingly. In 1874 there were 1,500 arrests. The new courts were not called upon to decide the guilt207 of the prisoners. They were knouted, or thrust into prison, or sent to Siberia. Large numbers died in the overcrowded jails. Some went insane or committed suicide. When the experiment of a public trial was at last made, in 1877, people were amazed at the calm courage and high idealism of the young “criminals.” In 1878 nearly two hundred of them were tried. Many received terms of imprisonment, or penal208 servitude, of from ten to twenty years.
The rebels were now at war with the brutal ministers of the autocracy, and they began to use the same weapons. A young girl from the country came to St. Petersburg and shot the head of the police; and, amidst great enthusiasm, she was acquitted209 by a jury. Another head of the police was in the same year (1878) stabbed at Odessa. Spies were shot. Groups of young men who were surprised in secret council by the police produced revolvers and fought. The governor of Kharkoff, who treated political prisoners with great brutality, was assassinated210. Another attempt was made to shoot the Tsar (1879).
In the meantime, it will be remembered, the Russo-Turkish war had occurred, and it had the customary effect of increasing the people’s burden and the discontent. The Slavophile party naturally gave birth to a Pan-Slav party, and the traditional Russian ambition to spread over the Balkans was revived. The Turks continued to treat their Balkan subjects with great brutality, and in 1874 Bosnia and Herzegovina broke into revolt, while Serbia and Montenegro, which were semi-independent, joined with their compatriots in the war. The Pan-Slavs now pressed for war, and there were those in the Tsar’s circle, such as his brother, the Grand Duke Nicholas, who warmly supported the agitation. The financial minister, on the other hand, who had carefully nursed the treasury into something like prosperity, strongly opposed the adventure. The Tsar wavered between his hope of getting the ignominous treaty of 1856 set aside and his love of peace and dread211 of the costly chances of war.
There is now no doubt that Bismarck helped to urge him to war. Alexander was pro-German, and had in 1870 secured the neutrality of Austria while Prussia attacked France. It is true that, when the Germans meditated212 a fresh attack upon the French in 1875, the Tsar interfered on behalf of France and greatly angered Bismarck. That statesman, however, retained influence at St. Petersburg, and, on the Frederician tradition of encouraging rivals to wear out each other, he urged Russia to attack Turkey. In 1877 (April) Russia entered the war, and its progress was so rapid that in the following March it compelled Turkey to sign the humiliating Treaty of San Stefano. Russia took from it very little territory directly, but, besides securing the recognition of the complete independence of Serbia and Rumania, it created a large principality of Bulgaria in which it hoped to have a predominant interest.
England was, unfortunately, still in its mood of favouring the Turk, through jealousy213 of Russia, and Austria was less openly hostile. A desultory214 war continued, and Bismarck astutely215 offered the services of Germany as mediator216, with the intention of curtailing217 its gains. By the Treaty of Berlin (July 13th, 1878) the San Stefano Treaty was torn up, and Bulgaria was cut down by half. Once more a costly war had, in the eyes of the people, done little for Russia; and there was the customary, and not unjust, cry that the course of the war had revealed a great deal of official corruption. The tragedy of the reign of Alexander ran on to its ghastly finale.
In 1878 it was decreed that in future political prisoners should be tried by courts martial218, and in the following year the Tsar appointed Governors General of St. Petersburg, Kharkoff, and Odessa, and gave additional and formidable powers to the Governors of Moscow, Warsaw, and Kieff. The system of repression was to be drastically pursued. The revolutionaries retorted by attempting to blow up the train in which Alexander returned from a visit to the Crimea. Three mines were laid. Near Moscow Sophia Perovskaia and a few associates had worked for two months digging a tunnel to the line from a house they had taken. The preparations were in this case perfect, but the Tsar escaped. The police had arranged three trains, and, as the Tsar changed train on approaching Moscow, leaving the middle for the first train, he was allowed to pass unharmed, and it was the second train that was blown to pieces. Sophia Perovskaia and her associates escaped and returned to their plotting. The heads of the revolutionary movement had decreed the death of Alexander II.
For the next fifteen months there was a thrilling war between the revolutionaries and the “Third Section.” Time and again the Tsar’s advisers declared that only a few dozen rebels were left, and the country was substantially loyal. But, although hundreds were arrested annually, though bribes and spies and all the ignominious219 machinery220 of the police were brought into play, the “red terror” held the field against the “white terror.” In February, 1880, not only the Tsar, but all the imperial family, had a narrow escape. A revolutionary named Halturin entered the service of the Winter Palace as waiter. He discovered that the waiters’ quarters were, with an intervening floor occupied by troops, directly underneath221 the dining-room, and he proposed to fire a mine there. Day by day he smuggled222 into the palace small quantities of dynamite223 and stored them with his belongings224. The police discovered a plan, on which the imperial dining-room was marked with a cross, and they searched the floors beneath it. They did not find the explosive, but from that day a stricter watch was kept, and no more dynamite could be introduced. Halturin believed that he had enough, and on February 17th he fired the mine at a time when the imperial family ought to be assembled for a festive225 dinner. But the Tsar was late for dinner, and again he escaped unhurt.
The closing scene is one of dramatic interest. It was decided to lay a mine under a street through which the Tsar had frequently to pass, near the palace, and at the same time station men with special bombs to throw at the carriage, in case the mine failed. The conspirators hired a shop, and, while some of them conducted a brisk and honest trade in eggs and butter, others tunnelled beneath the street. The soil was removed in the empty boxes, and, though the police several times visited the shop, they detected nothing beyond a popular grocery business. The tunnel was complete, and the mine ready, about the middle of March (1881).
The dramatic feature is that meantime Alexander II was being induced to consider proposals of reform. He had, after the outrage226 at the palace, removed the Governor General of St. Petersburg and entrusted the repression of anarchy to a Supreme227 Commanding Commission. The leading spirit of this was General Loris Melikoff, who had had some success as Governor General of Kharkoff. Melikoff’s method was to isolate200 the terrorists by granting reforms which would conciliate the general body of malcontents. He pressed this method upon the Tsar, as Alexander, distracted and weary, perhaps a little anxious about his life, decided to try it. The prisons and the settlements of Siberia were explored, and large numbers were restored to their homes. About two thousand students were permitted to return to the universities, and the scholarships were restored. Melikoff then proposed a scheme of popular representation which, though it did not exactly give Russia a constitution, might have conciliated many. The reactionary ministers and courtiers now doubled their efforts to restrain the Tsar, but he accepted Melikoff’s draft, and kept it several days for revision. He probably wavered and postponed228 the fatal decision. And it was during that week of delay that the conspirators completed their preparations.
On March 16th Alexander read the draft to his ministers and approved it. His relief at having reached a definite policy was great, and in happier mood he drove out to review his troops. As he returned to the palace a young woman in the street waved her handkerchief. She was the redoubtable229 Sophia Perovskaia, and was giving the signal. A bomb was thrown, and the carriage was wrapped in a cloud of smoke, while Cossacks writhed230 on the ground. But out of the smoke and litter the Tsar again emerged unhurt. Against the advice of his officers he lingered to say a word to the wounded, and it is said that he congratulated himself on his escape. “It is too early to congratulate yourself,” said a young man who, through some oversight231, had been permitted to approach. He flung his bomb, and the Tsar fell, fearfully and mortally wounded. He died at the palace two hours later. “They who draw the sword shall perish by the sword,” the rebels grimly commented. The doctrine232 of the assassination of tyrants—of men who stifled233 constitutional demands by the shedding of blood—was then held by even moderate radicals in many lands. There were others who pointed out that Alexander II, who had inherited an empty purse, left many millions of rubles to be divided amongst his family.
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1
costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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benevolent
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| adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的 | |
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outgrown
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| 长[发展] 得超过（某物）的范围( outgrow的过去分词 )； 长[发展]得不能再要（某物）； 长得比…快； 生长速度超过 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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legacy
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| n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西 | |
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mediocre
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| adj.平常的，普通的 | |
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temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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civilisation
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| n.文明，文化，开化，教化 | |
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conspirators
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| n.共谋者，阴谋家( conspirator的名词复数 ) | |
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disarm
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| v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和 | |
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autocracy
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| n.独裁政治，独裁政府 | |
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aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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dagger
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| n.匕首，短剑，剑号 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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punctilious
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| adj.谨慎的，谨小慎微的 | |
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23
etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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27
diplomats
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| n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人 | |
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28
squandering
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| v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的现在分词 ) | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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revered
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| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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arrears
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| n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作 | |
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remitted
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| v.免除（债务），宽恕( remit的过去式和过去分词 )；使某事缓和；寄回，传送 | |
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impoverished
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| adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化 | |
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34
censor
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| n./vt.审查，审查员；删改 | |
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metropolis
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| n.首府；大城市 | |
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36
radicalism
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| n. 急进主义, 根本的改革主义 | |
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radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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salons
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| n.（营业性质的）店( salon的名词复数 )；厅；沙龙（旧时在上流社会女主人家的例行聚会或聚会场所）；（大宅中的）客厅 | |
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39
emancipation
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| n.（从束缚、支配下）解放 | |
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40
humanitarian
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| n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者 | |
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41
charlatan
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| n.骗子；江湖医生；假内行 | |
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42
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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43
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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44
stunted
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| adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的 | |
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eloquently
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| adv. 雄辩地(有口才地, 富于表情地) | |
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46
gratuitously
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| 平白 | |
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47
wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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48
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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49
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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50
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
humanely
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| adv.仁慈地；人道地；富人情地；慈悲地 | |
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52
yoke
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| n.轭；支配；v.给...上轭，连接，使成配偶 | |
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53
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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54
stigma
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| n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头 | |
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55
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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56
reassured
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| adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词) | |
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57
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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58
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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profess
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| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
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impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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advisers
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| 顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授 | |
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62
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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63
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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64
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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wrangling
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 ) | |
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66
defenders
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| n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者 | |
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67
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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presidency
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| n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期) | |
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69
zealously
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| adv.热心地；热情地；积极地；狂热地 | |
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emancipate
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| v.解放，解除 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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emancipated
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| adj.被解放的，不受约束的v.解放某人（尤指摆脱政治、法律或社会的束缚）( emancipate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
arable
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| adj.可耕的，适合种植的 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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compensated
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| 补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款） | |
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refund
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| v.退还，偿还；n.归还，偿还额，退款 | |
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jubilation
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| n.欢庆，喜悦 | |
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acidity
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| n.酸度，酸性 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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grievances
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| n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚 | |
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bribes
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| n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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84
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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85
improperly
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| 不正确地，不适当地 | |
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86
inflated
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| adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨 | |
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disillusion
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| vt.使不再抱幻想，使理想破灭 | |
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88
exasperating
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| adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式 | |
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imbued
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| v.使（某人/某事）充满或激起（感情等）( imbue的过去式和过去分词 )；使充满；灌输；激发（强烈感情或品质等） | |
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intrigue
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| vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋 | |
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scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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requiem
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| n.安魂曲，安灵曲 | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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paternally
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| adv.父亲似地；父亲一般地 | |
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genially
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| adv.亲切地，和蔼地；快活地 | |
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98
repression
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| n.镇压，抑制，抑压 | |
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99
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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100
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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101
demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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102
undesirable
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| adj.不受欢迎的，不良的，不合意的，讨厌的；n.不受欢迎的人，不良分子 | |
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103
cults
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| n.迷信( cult的名词复数 )；狂热的崇拜；（有极端宗教信仰的）异教团体 | |
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104
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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105
formulate
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| v.用公式表示；规划；设计；系统地阐述 | |
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106
conscientiously
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| adv.凭良心地；认真地，负责尽职地；老老实实 | |
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107
withheld
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| withhold过去式及过去分词 | |
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108
reactionary
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| n.反动者，反动主义者；adj.反动的，反动主义的，反对改革的 | |
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109
banishment
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| n.放逐，驱逐 | |
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110
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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111
enthusiasts
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| n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 ) | |
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112
insurgents
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| n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 ) | |
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113
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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114
gentry
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| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
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115
levied
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| 征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税 | |
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116
fierily
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| 如火地，炽热地，猛烈地 | |
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117
anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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118
formulated
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| v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示 | |
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119
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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120
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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121
reminder
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| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
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122
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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123
industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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124
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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125
brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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126
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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127
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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128
communal
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| adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的 | |
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129
sanitation
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| n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备 | |
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130
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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131
slovenly
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|
| adj.懒散的，不整齐的，邋遢的 | |
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132
corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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133
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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134
magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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135
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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136
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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137
proprietors
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| n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 ) | |
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138
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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139
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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140
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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141
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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142
evaded
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| 逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出 | |
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143
incompetence
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| n.不胜任，不称职 | |
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144
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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145
reactionaries
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|
| n.反动分子，反动派( reactionary的名词复数 ) | |
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146
habitually
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| ad.习惯地，通常地 | |
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147
impartial
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|
| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
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148
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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149
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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150
fiscal
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|
| adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的 | |
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151
noted
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|
| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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152
restriction
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|
| n.限制，约束 | |
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153
remarkable
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|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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154
restrictions
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|
| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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155
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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156
monarchs
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| 君主，帝王( monarch的名词复数 ) | |
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157
entrusted
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|
| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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158
mandate
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| n.托管地；命令，指示 | |
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159
virtuous
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|
| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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160
clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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161
radicals
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|
| n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数 | |
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162
pacify
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|
| vt.使(某人)平静(或息怒)；抚慰 | |
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163
maxims
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|
| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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164
recesses
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|
| n.壁凹( recess的名词复数 )；（工作或业务活动的）中止或暂停期间；学校的课间休息；某物内部的凹形空间v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的第三人称单数 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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165
complacent
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|
| adj.自满的；自鸣得意的 | |
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166
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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167
morbid
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|
| adj.病的；致病的；病态的；可怕的 | |
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168
perverse
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|
| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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169
detriment
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| n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源 | |
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170
coercion
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| n.强制，高压统治 | |
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171
nucleus
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| n.核，核心，原子核 | |
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172
purvey
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| v.（大量）供给，供应 | |
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173
immaturity
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| n.不成熟；未充分成长；未成熟；粗糙 | |
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174
affiliated
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| adj. 附属的, 有关连的 | |
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175
ferment
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| vt.使发酵；n./vt.（使）激动，（使）动乱 | |
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176
monotonous
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|
| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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177
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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178
corruption
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|
| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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179
bloody
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|
| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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180
stringent
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|
| adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的 | |
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181
gatherings
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| 聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集 | |
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182
disinterested
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|
| adj.不关心的，不感兴趣的 | |
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183
anarchists
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|
| 无政府主义者( anarchist的名词复数 ) | |
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184
applied
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|
| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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185
complexion
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|
| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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186
considerably
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|
| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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187
socialists
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| 社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 ) | |
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188
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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189
adherents
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|
| n.支持者，拥护者( adherent的名词复数 )；党羽；徒子徒孙 | |
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190
creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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191
reigns
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| n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 )；君主统治时期；任期；当政期 | |
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192
asceticism
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| n.禁欲主义 | |
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193
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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194
nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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195
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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196
fictitious
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| adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的 | |
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197
reconstruction
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| n.重建，再现，复原 | |
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198
weaver
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| n.织布工；编织者 | |
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199
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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200
isolate
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| vt.使孤立，隔离 | |
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201
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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202
fanatic
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| n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的 | |
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203
organisation
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| n.组织，安排，团体，有机休 | |
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204
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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205
obnoxious
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| adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的 | |
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206
covetous
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| adj.贪婪的，贪心的 | |
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207
guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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208
penal
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| adj.刑罚的；刑法上的 | |
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209
acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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210
assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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211
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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212
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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213
jealousy
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|
| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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214
desultory
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| adj.散漫的，无方法的 | |
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215
astutely
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| adv.敏锐地；精明地；敏捷地；伶俐地 | |
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216
mediator
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| n.调解人，中介人 | |
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217
curtailing
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| v.截断，缩短( curtail的现在分词 ) | |
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218
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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219
ignominious
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| adj.可鄙的，不光彩的，耻辱的 | |
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220
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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221
underneath
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|
| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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222
smuggled
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| 水货 | |
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223
dynamite
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| n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
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224
belongings
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|
| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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225
festive
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| adj.欢宴的，节日的 | |
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226
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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227
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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228
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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229
redoubtable
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| adj.可敬的；可怕的 | |
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230
writhed
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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231
oversight
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| n.勘漏，失察，疏忽 | |
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232
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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233
stifled
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| （使）窒息， （使）窒闷( stifle的过去式和过去分词 )； 镇压，遏制； 堵 | |
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