nging to the wealthy classes, adopted the
life of the moujik in the villages. But the Russian peasant possesses
a degree of cunning which shows his dormant intelligence, and
suspected the motives of those who said they wanted to benefit him,
and this, added to his real affection for the czar, rendered the
attempt of the nihilists a failure. The Russian peasant dreads a
change in his condition, because experience has taught him that it
will end to his disadvantage. In 1876 there were still 2,000,000
peasants who preferred serfdom.

The Turkish war, when the government was occupied elsewhere, (p. 236)
afforded an opportunity which was not neglected by the nihilists. On a
July night of the year 1877, fifteen young men met in the forest near
Litepsk, and formed a conspiracy against all existing institutions.
Two papers, _The Popular Will_ and _The Black Partition_ advised
assassination as the means to gain their object. We may judge of
conditions in Russia from knowing that many good and wealthy people
made contributions, well aware that arrest and punishment would follow
if the secret police should hear of it. In October, 1877, 253
nihilists were arrested, and 160 were convicted at the trial. In
February, 1878, General Trepof, Governor of St. Petersburg was openly
accused in the papers of gross cruelty toward a prisoner, and Vera
Zazulich, a young woman, sought to kill him. She was arrested,
tried,--and acquitted, much to the disgust of the authorities who made
every effort to re-arrest her. Then began a reign of terror. Officials
were condemned to death by an "Executive Committee," composed of
members whose names were unknown. The police did not know whom to
suspect, and therefore suspected everybody, and no one was safe. Often
the condemned officer was warned of his doom by letter or paper, but
the messenger could not be found. In April, the president of the Kief
University was dangerously wounded, and a police officer was stabbed
in public. In August, General Mezensof, Chief of the dreaded Secret
Police, was killed, and when the government abolished trial by jury in
favor of a military court, it seemed as if the public took the part of
the terrorists. These men grew bolder. On the 22d of February, (p. 237)
1878, Prince Krapotkine, the Governor of Kharkof, was shot, and his
death sentence was found posted in many cities. On the following 7th
of March, Colonel Knoop of the Odessa police, was killed, and as a
cl