the object of
the Russian's most fervid hope,--a fleet of British ironclads
prevented its consummation.

Peace negotiations were opened at San Stefano, when Russia imposed
exaggerated demands which the cunning sultan hastened to grant,
convinced that the other powers would prevent their execution. He was
right. Great Britain, Austria, and Turkey entered into an alliance.
England sent for Indian troops to occupy Malta, and called out the
reserves. The war had cost Russia $600,000,000 and 90,000 men, and she
was not in a condition to fight the three powers. Thus, for the second
time, Czargrad slipped out of Russia's clutches, and each time she
owed the disappointment to Great Britain.

The Balkan question was settled at the Congress at Berlin which opened
on June 13, 1878, and finished its sessions a month later. Turkey
ceded to Russia a part of Bessarabia, and in Asia, Kars, Ardahan, and
Batoum. This ending of the war, so different from what was expected by
the Slavophils, caused great dissatisfaction in Russia, and the czar
dissolved all Slavophil committees. This gained him the dislike of the
high officers and of the tchinovnik.

The absurd and dangerous doctrine of nihilism, that is, the destruction
of everything that constitutes society, penetrated into Russia by way
of Germany. At first it was nothing but a theory, fascinating for (p. 235)
young and inexperienced people such as students of the universities
who, unless properly guided, are apt to adopt any idea that appeals to
the generous sentiments of youth. In 1864, an exile named Bakunin
escaped from Siberia, and made his way to London where he secured
employment on the _Kolokol_ or "Bell," a revolutionary paper published
in Russia which was smuggled over the frontier and scattered broadcast
in the czar's domains. Under Bakunin's influence this paper became
hostile to society, and preached nihilism. In 1869, a Congress of
Nihilists was held at Basel, Switzerland; Bakunin proposed to create
an International Committee of active workers.

Soon unmistakable signs of trouble appeared in Russia, but the
government was on the alert and took strong means of suppression.
Nicholas I, the man with the iron will, had sent an average number of
9,000 persons annually to Siberia; this number under Alexander the
Liberator increased to from 16,000 to 20,000. Bakunin urged his
followers to "go among the people," and a host of young persons, male
and female, many of them belo