but his heart was filled with rage when he saw Russia being stifled by the brutality of a despotism. He saw the system crushing the Finns, and stamping out the last vestiges of national life in Poland. His own people, and they were least of all in his estimation, were being harried like wild beasts; and he was determined not to endure it. He was cool and calculating, and though an agnostic, a materialist by instinct, he was filled with the noblest ideal for the relief of his people.
"He was a member of the revolutionary section. When, after much deliberation, it was decided that it was necessary to make an example of the Governor of P——for his murder of twelve defenceless workmen, Herman offered his services. He spoke calmly; he told of the death of his only sister in faraway Siberia; of himself, expelled from the University for asserting the right to free speech; of the premature death of his father and mother; he was prepared to die; give him the opportunity and he was ready to be the last arm in the chain of forces that were to hurl death at the savage who allowed himself to be the tool of Russian criminal law.
"The plans were set in motion. The instrument was to be the pistol. Herman was kept in retirement in the meantime, under strict orders to do nothing which might bring him into prominence, and from that day on he was a tool, trusting in those who were laying the wires. Those days were full of comfort to Herman. He felt like a priest purifying himself for the sacrifice. He ate sparingly, lived carefully, and read, with great calmness, Epictetus, and Plato, and Spinoza and other great thinkers. He was determined to place himself in the right state of mind; he was no delirious wretch
stung to the act by some special act of brutality. He was the mailed hand of the lovers of Russia, and that hand must be free from rage. . . .
"But, after a few days, when the plot was almost completed, the Governor was called away on official business, and Herman's offer to die on the altar of freedom, was impossible of realization.
“But the daring soul was not daunted. He became a fierce spirit in the propaganda.. He was sent to Odessa. He was given a mission to St. Petersburg. He became known as one who, when the need arrived, could be depended upon to deliver his life to the cause. He was one of that band who publicly distributed literature on the streets of Warsaw. He fomented the revolt among the students of Kieff. He displayed himself on every occasion, and wrote violent letters to the police, taunting them. Once he playfully sent an imitation bomb to the Governor of M— which shocked that gentleman for weeks. He spoke on the street corners of St. Petersburg, in spite of the police. But he escaped unharmed. He wanted to die for the cause, but the cause had no occasion to let him.
"Again he was tested. Word was carried among the sections to pay less attention to public agitation, in order to make it appear as if the propaganda of the deed was subsiding. The personage involved was none other than P., the arch-fiend, who ruled over church and state, the master of the tool, the Minister of Police; this personage, as you know, was the power behind the throne and the author of all the measures that were diverting Holy Russia into the decline of stagnation and terror. P. was to be attacked by the organization with deadly intentions. His public appearances had been noted. His possible au-