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THE SOCIALISM OF TO-DAY. 
the association from the fragment that they seize. The Ni 
hilists penetrate everywhere : they shrink from no means of 
executing the sentence of the secret tribunal. When they are 
shot or hung, they die without repenting, and they defy both 
judge and executioner. A real dread of them weighs upon the 
upper ranks of society in Russia, especially since the terrible 
death of the Emperor Alexander. The life of the present 
sovereign is in constant danger. It is hard to say which is the 
more astonishing, the audacity of the Nihilists or the impo 
tence of the police. 
The trial of Netchaieff also enables us to learn how the 
association enlisted its partisans. Netchaieff was Bakunin’s 
lieutenant. Ogareff had dedicated to him, in Herzen’s Kolokol, 
a poem entitled “The Student,” which has exercised a great 
influence over the revolutionary youth of Russia. Each of 
them learned it by heart, and it is the model they endeavour to 
realize. In this little poem the student devotes himself to 
science and to the redemption of the people. He is hunted 
down by the police of the Tsar and by the hatred of the 
Boyars. He adopts the poor and nomad life of a vagabond 
{skitanie), saying to the peasants from morn till eve, “ Arise, 
in union and with courage ! ” He was condemned to penal 
servitude in Siberia, where he died repeating, “The people 
must win land and liberty : Zemlia e Volyia.” This watchword 
became the title of a newspaper secretly published, up to quite 
recently, by the Nihilists. 
In September, 1865, Netchaieff, whom Ogareff’s poetry 
surrounded with the halo of an apostle and a martyr, arrived 
at Moscow. There he entered into relations with the students 
at the Academy of Agriculture. He made some recruits and 
formed a committee, which he called “The Russian Branch of 
the International Working Men’s Association.” He gave them 
some instructions on the organization of the Secret Society. 
The document was taken and read at the trial. The following 
is a remarkable extract “ The organization is founded on 
confidence towards the individual. No member knows in 
what degree he stands from the centre. Obedience to the 
orders of the committee must be absolute, without hesitation