A Herzen Reader

A minority realizes some portion of its ideal only when—apparently separating itself from the majority—it expresses the same thought, aspira­tions, and suffering. The majority is in general undeveloped and sluggish; feeling the burden of its contemporary situation, it does nothing; agitated by questions, it can remain without having resolved them. People appear who make these sufferings and aspirations their life's work; they act in word as propagandists and in deed as revolutionaries, but in both cases the real basis of one and the other is the majority and the degree of their sympathy for it.

Since 1849 all attempts by the London emigration to publish journals were unsuccessful; they were supported by donations, did not pay for themselves, and failed; this was clear proof that the emigration no longer expressed the thoughts of its people. They had come to a halt and were reminiscing, while the people had set off in another direction. And at the same time as the last broadsheet of the French democratic party in London faded away, four editions of Proudhon's book A Manual of Speculation on the Stock Market were snapped up in Paris.

Of course, the importation of forbidden books into Russia is made dif­ficult by strict and ferocious measures. But hasn't simple contraband made its way despite all measures? Did the strictness of Nicholas stop theft by civil servants? There was courage enough for bribes, for robbing soldiers, and for contraband, but not for spreading free speech; it must mean there was no genuine demand for it. I was horrified to admit this. But inside there was enduring faith that caused me to hope despite my own conclu­sions; while waiting, I continued my work.

Suddenly the telegraphic dispatch about the death of Nicholas.

Now or never!

Under the influence of this great and beneficial news I wrote the pro­gram for The Polestar.³

[. . .] Twenty-nine years after the day our martyrs were executed the first Polestar appeared in London. With a strongly beating heart I awaited what would follow.

My faith began to be justified.

I soon started receiving letters full of youthful and ardent sympathy, notebooks of verse, and various articles. Sales began at first with difficulty and growing slowly; then, with the publication of the second issue (in April 1856), the number of requests increased to such an extent that some of our publications are completely sold out,⁴ others have been republished, and of a third group only a few copies remain. From the second issue of The Pole- star until the beginning of The Bell the sale of Russian books has covered all the expenses of the printing house.

There can be no stronger proof of the genuine demand for free speech in Russia, especially if one remembers the obstacles with customs.

Thus, our labor has not been in vain. Our speech, the free Russian word, is spreading throughout Russia, rousing some, frightening others, and threatening a third group with publicity.

The free Russian word will ring out in the Winter Palace, reminding them that steam under pressure can blow up a machine if one does not know how to manage it properly.

The word spreads among the younger generation to whom we will hand over our work. Let them, more fortunate than we, see in action what we have only talked about. We look at the new army, marching to replenish our numbers, without envy, and greet them amicably. For them, joyous holidays of liberation; for us, the ringing of bells with which we summon the living to the funeral of everything decrepit, outdated, ugly, slavish, and ignorant in Russia!

Notes

Source: "Predislovie k Kolokolu," Kolokol, l. i, July i, 1857; 13:7-12, 485-89.

Herzen proceeds to quote several paragraphs (concluding with the challenge that "if tranquility is dearer to you than free speech—keep silent") from his 1853 broadsheet announcing the beginning of the Free Russian Press. See Doc. 2.

Herzen: "The Old World and Russia was first placed in an English review and then in L'Homme and then printed on Jersey in a separate edition—and all sold down to the last copy."

Here Herzen includes sections from "An Announcement About The Polestar" (i855), which is translated in Doc. 4.

Herzen: "The press runs of Interrupted Stories, Prison and Exile, and the first and second issues of The Polestar are completely gone. Baptized Property came out in a sec­ond edition."

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